female concubine

In May of the 14th year of Qianyuan, the female officials recorded by the Secretary of the Ministry were newly appointed, and the national court stipulated that all those who passed the assessment of women were all officials of Shangshu Liucao; Appointment, Ling Shi and below are officials, and the chief of the Sixth Department of Internal Affairs of Shangshu can recruit officials by himself.

In the same month, the Imperial Arms Manufacturing Institute was set up under the Ministry of Industry. In addition to the east and west workshops manufacturing weapons, Wanquan Workshop was established under the Imperial Arms Manufacturing Institute. Thousands of craftsmen were recruited to manufacture weapons, making it the largest arsenal in the country.

On the first day of May, the Ministry of Officials sent the signed edict and official report to the residence of the woman who granted the official in Beijing. The post is to be in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of War of Shangshu Province, and to assist in the affairs of the Ministry of Internal History and Supervision of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

The woman bowed to the green-robed official like a man, "I'm sorry, all the officials, to make this trip."

The officials presented the edict together with the official report, "Since the reform of the official system, the Ministry of War has been the most valued, and the Minister of the Ministry of War is also the official's confidant, and the officials are in their posts. The future is boundless."

"Thank you." The woman bowed again.

next day

Lu Jian wore the official uniform of a female officer received from the Ministry of Household Affairs, showed her waist amulet, and entered the Military Department of Shangshu Province. The Military Department was not like the other five Caos. Because it was in charge of the country's military affairs and important confidential affairs, it was guarded by imperial guards. The female officials recorded by the Military Department did not have permission. You are not allowed to enter the center without permission, so you only get some transcriptions and chores.

Sizheng Neishi led the new Zhizhong into the office of the Ministry of War Minister, cupped his hands and said, "Master, Lu Zhizhong has arrived."

Han Bang handed over the written document to the servant beside him, "Remember that the governors of both the eastern and western prefectures must sign it."

"Yes."

Han Si turned his head, and the female officer bowed again, "Mr. Han."

Han Bang looked at the new face next to the female officer, "Si Zhengzhong's surname is Lu, right?"

The woman stepped forward and cupped her hands, "Return to Mr. Lu Jian, my next official."

"I have read your status report, you are not too young, and it says you are still unmarried?"

Lu Jian bowed, "Mr. Hui, the inferior official came from a lowly background. If the emperor's holy virtue hadn't removed the lowly status, the inferior official might not be able to stand here."

Han Si nodded, "When the officials were young, they outlived the folks and knew the sufferings of the common people. They are rare emperors."

Lu Jian lowered his head and smiled slightly, and Han Si continued to pick up his pen, "I think Lu Zhizhong should know where the Ministry of War is?"

"The Great Sima of the Ministry of War is in charge of the military affairs of the whole country, and is one of the important structures of the country.

"The most important thing in a country is sacrifice and military affairs. The most important thing in every country is to wait for the victory of the army. Although the country has entered peace, there are still foreign troubles. You and I are all subjects of the Song Dynasty. Apart from being loyal to the emperor and loving the people, the most important thing for a minister is patriotism. , I have nothing else to do, I just call you to tell you a few words, I hope you can understand your responsibilities, from now on you can follow the internal history, the Secretary of State has a book history, but there are some confidential and important matters that cannot be handed over to you These official books are transcribed, so in the future, we will have to trouble the internal servants and the government."

"Your Majesty understands."

--------------------------------

May [-]rd, East Palace.

From February to the last day of the Dragon Boat Festival Jingyan lectures, the lecturer was not in Zishan Hall, but the lecturer personally went to the East Palace to give lectures. Crown Prince Wei Xu listened very carefully the whole day. After the lecture, the lecturer put down the book and said slowly: "There are three months from the Dragon Boat Festival to August. Although I don't give lectures during this period, I hope that Your Highness will not slack off. Although a ruler governs the world with the help of a hundred ministers and a hundred bureaucrats to offer advice and brainstorm ideas, he cannot relax himself because of this. Monarch Chanaya In other words, listening to advice is actually a science, and there is a difference between being able to listen to opinions and being good at listening to them.”

The crown prince sat on the chair and nodded repeatedly, then sat up and folded his sleeves and bowed, "The students have been taught. Mr. Liu's lectures are better than those taught by the master and the other bachelors."

"Your Highness is very intelligent, and he is also a monarch who is good at listening to opinions." Liu Miaoyi packed the books away.

The crown prince stared at Liu Miaoyi, lowered his head and hesitantly hesitated to speak, but Liu Miaoyi stopped his hands and straightened up after realizing it, "Is there anything else your Highness wants?"

"If you are not busy, can the student invite you to sit down and have a cup of tea?"

Liu Miaoyi saw that there were other thoughts in the crown prince's seemingly sincere eyes, and immediately bowed slightly to him, "Your Highness orders the ministers to obey."

"This is not an order from this palace. This is that as a student, this palace wants to invite the teacher to have a drink together. Tomorrow will be two days, and the day after tomorrow will be the Dragon Boat Festival. Today is the last day of the Spring and Summer Sutra Feast. There are still three months to go before autumn and winter." , I don't know when I will see you, sir, so I came up with this idea."

Liu Miaoyi straightened up, "Okay."

"Please sir."

The crown prince invited Liu Miaoyi to sit in the tea room. After the servants and palace servants in the East Palace brought the tea set together, he was screened away. The crown prince took out the tea cake and ground the tea powder himself.

"Your Highness, let the minister come..."

"Since my palace invites you to have tea, there are no monarchs and ministers here." The crown prince took out a small piece of cake tea from the box, hammered it, crushed it and ground it into fine powder. , Jianxi is not only famous for its Jianzhan, but also its official tea is unrivaled in the world, which was rewarded by His Majesty during the crowning ceremony of this palace."

Liu Miaoyi withdrew her hand and saw that the crown prince was orderly lighting the tea soup with the tea whisk, so she asked, "Your Highness is keeping your ministers today, maybe it's not as simple as drinking tea?"

The crown prince did not answer immediately, but only watched the changes in the tea milk in the teacup intently, "What I learned in the tea ceremony was taught by my mother herself." It was not until the seven soups were finished that the tea milk was delicate and could not be bitten. I want to invite Mr. to drink tea," and immediately used a spoon to separate out the tea in the teacup, "asked."

"If your Highness wants to ask questions, you should ask Prime Minister Wang You. The minister is neither Taoist nor Confucian, but an idler with no background or affiliation."

The crown prince brought the cup of tea soup to Liu Miaoyi with his own hands, "One way is not the other way, and the confusion in Wei Xu's heart can only be solved by Mr. Wei."

Liu Miaoyi calmly stretched out her hand to bring the cup of tea to her lips, raised her sleeve to cover it up and took a small sip, then nodded and praised repeatedly: "It is worthy of being taught by His Royal Highness, the kung fu for making this tea is also my own. I'm ashamed."

"Her Royal Highness is the mother of the country, the head of women in the world, the most honorable woman in the country, and the only wife of the official family."

Liu Miaoyi raised her eyes, "What exactly does His Royal Highness want to say?"

"Mr.'s ancestral home is Kaifeng, but he was born in Qishan and... grew up in Qishan. When his father was the king of Chu, Weng Weng sent him to Qishan to serve as the county magistrate," the crown prince stared at Liu Miaoyi, "for two whole years."

The prince's words immediately made Liu Miaoyi laugh, "You father and son really look alike, even the staring eyes are equally terrifying."

The crown prince lowered his head and clasped his hands in his sleeves, "In the eyes of Mr., what kind of person is Daddy?"

"Does Your Highness want to hear the truth?"

The Crown Prince nodded, and Liu Miaoyi took another sip of tea to moisten her throat, "It goes without saying that you are talented and courageous, but what I want to talk about is the bad things about the officials. I hope Your Highness will not sue you."

"What's wrong?"

"Noble men in the world are all three wives and four concubines. The responsibility of the clan is not only the family, but also the heirs. For prosperity and stability, the royal family has become the most important thing. The disadvantages of the official family are also what others say missing advantages.”

The crown prince buried his head again, "Father and mother are deeply in love with each other, so they don't want to accept concubines..." Then he looked at Liu Miaoyi, "Then you treat the official family..."

"It's a friend first, and then a monarch and minister. If His Highness insists on being suspicious, the minister has nothing to say. Your Highness grew up in the inner palace. Could it be that the official family can't see their hearts for His Highness the Empress?"

The crown prince stared blankly at Liu Miaoyi, "Does the gentleman have someone he likes?"

Liu Miaoyi was stunned for a moment, she seemed to have heard this sentence from someone before, and a charming voice could not help appearing in her mind, she immediately lowered her head and smiled, "A few years ago when I was in Shangyuan, a sister asked me the same thing, but I don't know what to say." I can't answer, because I don't know how to answer, what is like, probably is what the heart wants."

"Sister?" The crown prince opened his clean eyes, "Daddy also likes to call your mother a sister, but I have never understood why."

"The minister doesn't understand either. Maybe the officials call it like this, and only they know the meaning."

The crown prince took a sip of the tea he had ordered with his hand on his belly, and said, "A little while ago, there was a villain around my ears like a fly, which disturbed my sleep not only badly but also often Nightmare, he brought up some past events between father and mother, with the intention of letting me seize power."

"Your Highness is the eldest son of the official family, the sole heir to the dynasty, and has a good mother like Her Highness the Queen. Remember, Your Highness, the bastard only wins the heir. The eldest son should have the mind and spirit of the eldest son."

"I know that my father's current disposition is due to his childhood, and I also know that Weng Weng who loves me has never liked my father. It is more difficult to be a father in this family than to be a king, because not only the mutual suspicion of the monarch and his ministers, but also When a father and son turn against each other, first comes courtesy and then love, courtesy is easy but love is hard to give up."

"The officials have always known His Highness's wishes," Liu Miaoyi looked deeply at the Crown Prince, "He is looking forward to His Highness."

The crown prince squeezed his hands in his sleeves, "I'm actually very afraid that I will let down everything His Majesty has given, just like I have followed Master since I was a child, and the palace people beside me said that Master is His Majesty's most trusted confidant."

"His Royal Highness, you only need to remember that the biggest difficulty for a person is himself, and playing games with others is also playing games with yourself. Persistence is the most valuable thing."

The crown prince sat up and walked to Liu Miaoyi and bowed sideways, "The students have been taught."

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On the fifth day of May in the 14th year of Qianyuan, when it was the Dragon Boat Festival, all officials were closed for one day, and a Dragon Boat Festival was held in the palace.

In mid-August, the emperor held a banquet in the Zichen Hall for his birthday, and the world was amnesty. All prefectures and counties held autumn ceremonies, and until October entered winter, all localities sent people to Beijing to register with the Ministry of Rites.

In October, the cold winter came, and the cold wind blew around the hills to the basin. The cold wind howled, but the craftsmen and engineers in the manufacturing department were sweating profusely. A gray-haired old man held a cup made of water essence Looking carefully at the drawing, "After so many years of grace, if it doesn't make you and me this time, then we won't be able to tie our heads."

"Master, it will definitely work this time, but this master has been away for so long, but the officials are still putting pressure on him. Can this matter be rushed?"

The old man looked at the bronze cylindrical tube and the pig iron cylindrical tube on the wooden frame beside him, "This time, if we can withstand the explosive force of the gunpowder and push the shell out, it is estimated that it will be hundreds of steps away. What we need to calculate now is this □□The time when it was last ignited."

In the almost uninhabited mountains and forests, several officials took the old man to hide in a ditch, and several soldiers who signed the death contract held torches and rolled their throats, and a huge deep pit was dug beside the cannon , the soldiers jumped into the pit after igniting it.

With a loud noise, the fuse ignited the gunpowder in the bronze cylinder, and the power of the explosion pushed the warhead out of the bronze tube. The fuse on the warhead was ignited, and immediately exploded on the barren hill hundreds of meters away.

--boom! ——

The sound of the explosion was deafening, and even standing in the trench could feel the shaking of the mountains and the ground. Several young men held the old man and stood firm, crying with excitement, "Master, it's done!"

On the winter solstice in November of the 14th year of Qianyuan, the emperor brought his clan and courtiers to offer sacrifices to the Taimiao. On the next day, the crown prince's birthday, the emperor issued an edict to grant a one-day rest for all officials to hold a banquet in the East Palace.

In mid-November, a fast horse galloped into Beijing from the southwest official road.

Han Bo received the southwestern military affairs from the Ministry of Industry, and excitedly called the female officer, "The Ministry of War still has some important matters to deal with. Lu Zhizhong submitted this document to the officials for me. The officials should be very happy. .”

When Lu Jian took it and was about to turn around and leave, Han Si suddenly stood up, "Forget it, I'll go to meet His Majesty in person." Then he took it back from the female officer, and said: "You have been in the Ministry of War for some time. You are even more outstanding than Nei Shi, and I will recommend you to Nei Zai when this year passes to the annual assessment."

"Thank you, Mr. Xiang, for your support." The female officer bowed.