Mikago

According to the rules passed down from generation to generation in Daning, when the new emperor ascends the throne, the Yuan will be changed from the new year onwards.Zhao Jing set his year name as "Yuanping", taking the good idea of ​​"the beginning of one yuan, the world is peaceful".

However, if one wants long-term peace and stability, it is obviously not enough to just change the auspicious year name.

Near the end of the year, Zhao Jing successively summoned several important officials in the court to enter the Yanying Hall to listen to their views on governing the country and the world.Shangshu Ling Tang Quan and Huangmen servant Tang Ruilang and his son are naturally also on the list to be summoned.

On the night before Yanying called for a match, Lu You and Tang Ruilang met for a tryst in the medicine garden.

Lu You had already found out the countermeasures that several courtiers were about to announce, and now he told Tang Ruilang all of them, and asked Ruilang what he thought.

Naturally, Tang Ruilang had been prepared for a long time, so he took out a copy of the written text from his arms at this moment, and began to preach to Lu You quite proudly.

The first item he proposed was to strengthen the selection of imperial examinations and appoint wise men.

As we all know, although the Daning Dynasty had imperial examinations and admitted a large number of people every year, it was almost impossible for Jinshi selected through the imperial examinations to hold important positions above the fifth rank.

High-ranking officials and nobles are still under the control of a group of aristocratic families, and have been inherited from generation to generation.Over time, the strong in the court will take advantage of them and lead to bandits, and greed for ink will become common;

If the family is prosperous, the imperial power will be empty; if the rituals and laws are destroyed, corruption will arise;

Therefore, only by raising scholars can the emperor effectively divide the power of the aristocrats, and then eradicate corruption, return to military power, and revitalize the people's livelihood.

Since then, there have been several articles, about tax law, corvee, and even criminal law and garrison, with thousands of words eloquent.

Tang Ruilang finished reading it in one go, as if enjoying himself, he raised his head again and waited for Lu You's judgment.

Lu You turned on the oil lamp with one hand, and asked slowly, "Are you really going to read this policy statement to Zhao Jing?"

Tang Ruilang was noncommittal, and only asked him, "What do you think?"

"I don't know what to say..."

Lu You didn't play charades with him either: "You are a son of a nobleman yourself, so the first thing is to tell Zhao Jing that he wants you to be stabbed?"

But Tang Ruilang didn't take it seriously: "Don't worry about my identity, just say this one, is it reasonable?"

"Of course it makes sense. Now that the Xiao family has collapsed, it's not a day or two for your Tang family to be domineering in the court. If I were Zhao Jing, I would come to clean up you sooner or later. It's just a matter of time." .”

"That's exactly what worries me."

Tang Ruilang took Lu You's injured hand and caressed it carefully.

"My brother-in-law, it's really hard to guess what's going on in my head. Although my sister is now a queen, she hasn't given birth to a boy or a girl for many years after marrying him. How many doctors have seen it in private I can’t even tell why. Do you know? We even suspect that Zhao Kyung drugged my sister..."

"Drugs? Why?"

"In this way, my sister will not be able to give birth to his heir, and the queen's position will not be secure, and our Tang family will be afraid."

Hearing what Tang Ruilang said, Lu You's heart trembled slightly, and he vaguely realized something.

He kept this guess in his heart, and deliberately asked Rui Lang: "The king wants the minister to die, and the minister has to die. If Zhao Jing really wants to kill your Tang family, what else can you do except obey?"

Tang Ruilang touched his chest in a sad state: "If there is no skin, how can I get it? Do you really want to see me lose everything, be displaced, and even hang my head on the city gate?"

Lu You deliberately misunderstood: "At that time, at worst, I will find a golden house to hide you, so that I can raise you. How about you just be a safe and secure face?"

Tang Ruilang laughed twice: "Okay, why don't you let Shaojian Lu and General Lu have a taste of my prowess?"

As he said that, he inserted one hand into Lu You's lapel and groped around, and with the other hand he hugged Lu You and threw him on the bed.

After a while, the room finally became quiet again.Tang Ruilang touched Lu You's earlobe with his hand, and spoke seriously against his ear.

"No kidding, if Zhao Jing really made a move against the Tang family, which side would you be on?"

Lu You was silent for a moment, and did not directly answer this question.

"The ancients said: prosperity must decline. Zhao Jing can't understand your Tang family, and it's not all because the Tang family used to act ostentatiously and arbitrarily. What if the Tang family was not greedy for honor and wealth, and was humble and self-confident? Will something bad happen?"

Tang Ruilang smiled wryly and said, "I will not deny what you said. It's just that the Tang family was not in my hands, and the reason why I have achieved what I have today is more or less due to the power of the family... Maybe I can't Change all these fait accomplis, but I can swear to you: starting from myself, there will be a completely different Tang family. Do you believe me or not?"

Lu You turned his head and stroked Rui Lang's cheek: "You tell me this, of course I believe you. However, the person you need to persuade is not me, but Zhao Jing. Do you think you are sure to make him trust you? "

Tang Ruilang frowned slightly, thinking very seriously for a while.

"To be honest, I think that even if the Tang family handed over everything, some people would still not be satisfied. You can't try this kind of thing lightly, I'm afraid that being naive for a while will make you die without a place to bury yourself."

"……makes sense."

Although Lu You hated the Tang family, he had to admit that Tang Ruilang's words were indeed reasonable.

If in the future, Tang Ruilang handed over all the power of the Tang family to Zhao Jing in order to show his loyalty, it would be tantamount to disarming all his weapons and letting Zhao Jing take whatever he wanted.

This is naturally a good thing for the emperor, but it may be a disaster for Swiss francs and innocent people.

Lu You then recalled some sighs that Qi Yunchu had made when he bid farewell to him not long ago—is the so-called Daning the emperor sitting on the Zichen throne, the officials in the court, or the thousands of people?

If it's not the former, then why do you have to sacrifice yourself to maintain the inviolability of Zhao Kyung's imperial power?

Thinking of this, he seemed to have an epiphany, and looked at Tang Ruilang seriously.

"In any case, the Tang family needs to change. Work hard to change the Tang family according to your ideas, do things that are beneficial to the country and the people, and let go of interests that do not belong to you, but don't hand over power easily... If Zhao Jing is really a A wise monarch may eliminate the estrangement against you; but if he is really hopeless, then at least you still have the ability to protect yourself. We will think of another countermeasure at that time."

"Okay, just do as you say."

Tang Ruilang nodded, and then leaned over to chat with Lu You: "I'm very happy that my Zuo Lan can take care of me like this."

Lu You smiled wryly and said, "What are you talking about, do I look like that kind of loyal fool? Compared with Zhao Jing, how could I choose him?"

Tang Ruilang shivered, bit Lu You's throat, and said vaguely while sucking a kiss: "With your words, even if you give me the throne of the emperor, I will not change it."

In the middle of the night, the two embraced each other and fell asleep after loving each other for a while.

----

The next day, Tang Ruilang went to Yanying Hall to meet Zhao Jing.He still took the policy from last night, but made a few changes, deleted all the words and sentences that brought about his own destruction, and only said that he wanted to clean up the imperial court, so that all the ministers would withdraw from their duties.

Zhao Jing also attached great importance to his suggestion, listened carefully throughout the whole process, and raised many questions at the end.

In this way, it took another ten days until Zhao Jing finished summoning all the officials appointed by him.Between the sun and the moon, the brand-new first year of Yuanping has finally arrived.

Since it was the first day of the new year and the new king's arrival, the ceremony was naturally much more grand than in previous years.

When the sky is chaotic in the early morning of winter, all civil and military officials, envoys from all directions, and ministers from all countries have all lined up outside Chaotian Gate.Thousands of red candles flickered brightly, reflecting the majestic imperial city like a city of fire.

At Maoshi, the morning light first appeared.The new monarch Zhao Jing and the new empress Tang Manhua came to Chengtianmen to accept the worship of hundreds of officials and people.For a time, the sound of "long live" was like the wind and the tide, and it reached heaven to listen.

There are also congratulatory forms from all parties, tribute from various states, and rare and exotic animals from Fanbang are listed on the side.

The new emperor Zhao Jing added the honorary title "Jinghui" and changed the name to "Yuanping" to amnesty the world. Afterwards, there were sacrificial banquets, which were lively for more than ten days, and then the Lantern Festival.

On the other hand, what the officials in the court really cared about was the series of new policies that Emperor Jing Hui promulgated immediately after the Great Court Meeting.

A careful study of the content of the New Deal is the result of Zhao Jing's discussions with his ministers in Yanying.Among them, many of them came from Tang Ruilang's countermeasures, and Tang Ruilang's staff and planning were naturally indispensable for implementation.

As for the reform of the imperial examination, Tang Ruilang did not mention it in the end, and it is naturally impossible for others to be in a cocoon.On the contrary, Jiang Qiguang, the servant of the sect, as the head of the six ministries, put forward some suggestions for the selection of officials by the ministries of officials.

According to Jiang Qiguang's proposition, the Ministry of Officials will focus on promoting out-of-state officials from this year, and directly fill the ranks of in-flow officials below the fifth rank.And most of these officials who were exceptionally promoted were included in Yushitai.

In Lizao Hall, Lu You, who also received the New Deal documents, seemed worried.

"According to Daning's practice, if an official wants to be promoted, he must pass the exam. Civil servants take the exam every year for three consecutive years, and military officials for five years. Only if they pass all of them can they move to the right. Much shorter than other officials. Even the supervisory censor under the eighth rank only needs 25 months to be promoted. It takes fifteen months to serve the censor from the palace under the seventh rank; , it only takes one year... you say, what does this mean?"

Although he received this question out of the blue, Tang Ruilang, who was sitting by the fire, blurted out: "Scholars are selected through the imperial examination, and they need to stay in Beijing to wait for the election before they can be appointed. This means that it only takes one year at the shortest, and Jiang Qiguang can be appointed." Organize a new court force of considerable scale."

"Yes."

Lu You nodded worriedly: "And these new forces in the imperial court are all people who have lived in the officialdom for a long time and are familiar with the world. In terms of means, sometimes the officials in Liunei are even inferior to them."

"Zoran, it looks like... we have indeed met our opponent."

Tang Ruilang put down the scroll in his hand, turned his head to look at the bleak courtyard outside Zhizhai's window.

Winter is about to pass, but spring has not yet arrived.