Your Majesty, please draw the card

Liu Xi obviously underestimated Li Bai's poetry skills.

The emperor said to write one poem, but Li Bai wrote at least twenty poems that night!This does not include the private challenges of the people around him because they were not convinced.In contrast, the young poet consumed no less than ten jugs of fine wine, which made Liu Xi somewhat suspect that the ability to compose poetry actually needed the prop "wine" to activate it.

Li Bai is unrestrained and unrestrained, and has extraordinary insights. He is really a person who is easy to be liked.What's more, he has no official position now, and there is no conflict of interest with the people present. Everyone who meets friends through poetry has become a little more scholarly and less intriguing.There were almost as many people drinking Li Baijiu as there were people admiring his poetic talent. In the end, even though Li Bai had a lot of alcohol, his steps were still messed up, his hands were shaking violently, but his eyes became brighter and brighter.

"Caomin dares to invite... hiccup... wants to invite Eunuch Gao..."

Boots off?The emperor almost blurted out, but luckily he didn't drink much and didn't ignore Gao Lishi's murderous eyes.

"I want... I want to ask Eunuch Gao to send the grass people down to rest... in case... in case the grass people lose their dignity in front of the imperial court..." Li Bai's voice became softer and softer, and finally he fell asleep lying on the table.

"Why don't you help him down so you can catch up?" Liu Xi asked Gao Lishi beside him in a discussing tone.

"According to the order."

Gao Lishi put on an uncharacteristically submissive look, which sent a chill down Liu Xi's spine, and he stretched out his hand involuntarily to pull Zhao Yun closer.But seeing how Gao Lishi really carefully helped Li Bai out of the imperial garden, Liu Xi thought that maybe the two of them actually got along well?

In this way, the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Appreciation Conference came to a successful conclusion. On the surface, the big winner was Li Bai, a rising star in the poetry circle.Although he has not been appointed as an official yet, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this person has fallen into the eyes of the emperor, and his soaring to the sky is just around the corner.

Secretly, the officials couldn't help thinking about the emperor's question after returning.The emperor didn't like the emperor who demoted his relatives, and he didn't like the emperor who praised his relatives. So it seems that only Bao Zheng, who is dedicated to promoting law and discipline, and Li Bai, who is full of rhetoric in poetry and prose, are quite suitable for the emperor?Leaving aside Li Bai, Bao Zheng is the emperor's confidant and will be summoned every three to five days. Bao Zheng's thinking is probably the emperor's thinking. Is the emperor planning to... adopt Legalism?

Because Emperor Gaozu of Great Yan overthrew the country established by Taizu, all laws and regulations were adopted hundreds of years ago, which were completely different from the previous dynasties.Although this kind of restoration of the law is not a bad thing, it also allows many loopholes to be exploited in Dayan's law, especially the tolerance for scholar-bureaucrats and strictness for slaves, which is almost unreasonable. People who commit crimes can take advantage of it.The emperor wants to change the status quo, how and how much does he plan to change?

All of a sudden, the sharp-eyed courtiers had already begun to write letters to their disciples and family members in their hometowns, and the two prime ministers on the left and right were also urgently contacting their confidants, trying to figure out the emperor's mind and find the most suitable for all possible changes in the future. position.These changes happened quietly, and the next day's court meeting was still going on as before, but the two prime ministers seemed to want to sway the emperor's power more than before, and the officials were also much more afraid of Bao Zheng.

On the other hand, after the Mid-Autumn Poetry Appreciation Conference, the emperor completely offended Cao Zizhen, an important person on his grandmother's side, without knowing it.Empress Dowager Cao was at a loss for what to do about it, and she couldn't figure out how her good grandson became a narrow-minded king of her nephew.

And that's not the worst.A few days later, Cao Zizhen was reciting poems and painting with his former friends, and happened to meet Li Bai, who had the most beautiful scenery in Chang'an City.Cao Zizhen ridiculed Li Bai for flattering a eunuch and inviting him to drink in a restaurant, and the two played another open match.Although the saying goes that there is no first in writing and no second in martial arts, this is also based on the fact that the abilities of both parties are similar.This time Li Bai didn't give Cao Zizhen any face. He was completely defeated. After returning, he couldn't get sick. After two months of recuperation, he went back to his hometown angrily.

In this way, the Cao family had to stay dormant for a while because there was no one who could stand on the stage.The Wang and Zhao families kept putting pressure on the emperor, trying to make the emperor more obedient and obedient, and stop thinking about dangerous things such as political reform.The emperor devoted himself to cultivating his confidants and expanding his influence.The undercurrent is raging in Chang'an City, but the New Year's Eve is approaching quietly.

There are many things for the emperor to do after the new year, but the most important thing is that after the new year, he will set his first country name and hold the first grand court meeting in his life.

The so-called Dachaohui was the process in which feudal lords from all over the country and all officials above the fifth rank went to the capital Chang'an to meet the emperor. It also included presenting auspicious omens from all over the place, proposing to the emperor who should be commended within this year, and many other matters.Although not all vassal kings and foreign ministers may be required to attend the annual grand court meeting thereafter, but this is the first time that everyone must be present.In addition, Dayan's vassal states and neighbors with good relations will also send envoys to confirm with the emperor the future relationship between the two countries at this relatively important court meeting.Officially presiding over the Great Court Conference marks the transition of the throne smoothly, and the status of the emperor has since been recognized by the people of the world.

Therefore, regardless of the cumbersome ceremonies of offering sacrifices, sealing pens, giving rewards, etc., the most important thing before Liu Xi is to decide on the candidates for welcoming the people from all walks of life to participate in the Great Court Meeting.Fortunately, in Chang'an City, officials and vassal princes from other places often leave as soon as the New Year is over, and some even celebrate the New Year in Chang'an earlier.What's more, the farthest foreign envoys have to set off half a year in advance.The imperial court must send competent people to arrange the board and lodging of these people, and pass some information to them in advance.

Because there are mainly three types of people who come.Liu Xi asked a group of people headed by Prime Minister Wang Ting and assisted by Gao Lishi to meet the vassal princes from all over the country.Prime Minister You represented the Empress Dowager, and had spent more time dealing with feudal lords than anyone else, so it was a perfect fit.However, in order to prevent his relatives from colluding with the vassals, Liu Xi specially sent Gao Lishi to contact the vassals in the name of his cronies, and at the same time monitor the royal court.

Recently, Gao Lishi often showed a dazed expression. Although Liu Xi really wanted to gossip about what happened between him and Li Bai, he didn't dare to ask directly.He could see that there seemed to be an extremely complicated knot between the two of them, and he didn't know when Li Bai's method of boiling frogs in warm water would be effective.Gao Lishi is quick-witted and should be able to meet the task.As expected by Liu Xi, after the news got out, Li Bai immediately expressed that he also wanted to follow.

As early as the end of the Poetry Appreciation Conference, Liu Xi wanted to give Li Bai an official position, but Li Bai resolutely refused, saying that his character was not suitable for being an official.The very handsome young poet patted the sword case, and said loudly: "Compared to being an official, the grass-roots would rather be a pair of eyes and a pair of ears for His Majesty among the people."

Liu Xi was greatly surprised by this. Didn't Li Bai in history have been an official and was alienated because of Gao Lishi's slander? Why did he not even want to be an official when he came to him?However, Li Bai seemed to be someone's aide in the second half of his life, and he was implicated because of this. Probably his character is really not suitable for being an official!

Liu Xi asked Li Bai about Gao Lishi's plan to make Tang Xuanzong alienate him, but Li Bai explained that he once drunk and asked Concubine Yang to pour wine for him, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the Yang family, and he wanted to kill him quickly.Gao Lishi tried to get him out of the vortex of power, but he intended to preserve it, and it was not as bad as the rumors outside.Li Bai also said that history books are written by literati, and literati and eunuchs have always been the most difficult to deal with. Although Gao Lishi has a virtuous name, he still can't stop the dirty water poured on the eunuchs in the past dynasties, which makes him very distressed.

Liu Xi thought about it, and felt that it would be a pity to leave Li Bai alone.On the side, Zhao Yun suggested that the emperor appoint Li Bai as the master of swordsmanship, so that Li Bai can have a reason to enter the palace from time to time.

In Liu Xi's heart, he didn't really want to learn martial arts from a boy who was not a few years older than himself. If he really wanted to practice martial arts, he wanted to learn martial arts from his idol Zhao Yun. For this reason, he asked Zhao Yun and Li Bai's swordsmanship.Zhao Yun replied: "If you fight life and death, he is not as good as me. If you make friends with martial arts, I am not as good as him."

The reason for this difference is that Zhao Yun's marksmanship was practiced by millions of soldiers, and the emphasis is on courage and speed.It was obviously a move that would hurt both sides, yet he had the guts to use it, and he was absolutely confident that the opponent would die before him.Li Bai's swordsmanship has been passed down by a master, and every move and style is quite ancient, and his achievements in moves are far higher than Zhao Yun's straight-forward marksmanship.But on the other hand, this set of swordsmanship has immortal aura, but not murderous aura. If you really want to kill everyone, it's not as good as Zhao Yun.Considering that his marksmanship was extremely hard to practice, Zhao Yun strongly recommended the emperor to learn Li Bai's swordsmanship.

Liu Xi thought about it for a while, and accepted Zhao Yun's suggestion.Even if he really wants to fight the enemy one day, he also knows that the possibility of his personal conquest is very small, and it would be good to learn a little swordsmanship to strengthen his body.In addition, he was also very moved by Li Bai's proposal.

When Li Bai proposed to be the emperor's eyes and ears, what he thought was to extend the topic of the poetry appreciation conference and reflect the real folk situation to the emperor.What Liu Xi was thinking about was the intelligence agency directly under the emperor!

The benefits of a good intelligence agency to rulers are obvious from ancient times to the present.The intelligence that Liu Xi wants includes not only political news, but also military intelligence, civilian intelligence, commercial intelligence, intelligence from other countries, and so on.The most difficult thing in intelligence work is the trust in intelligence personnel and the quality of intelligence personnel themselves.Liu Xi could trust Li Bai, and Li Bai himself was versatile in both civil and military affairs. He had a good identity as a cover and could easily contact people from all walks of life. He was really a good seed for intelligence work.

In this way, the emperor appointed Li Bai as the master of swordsmanship, and at the same time began to prepare his own intelligence organization.The first person he thought of who could help Li Bai was Yan Qi.Zhang Dequan had already returned to the palace before the Chinese New Year, and after that, Yan Qi reported to him every move of Zhang Dequan outside.With just a few words, Liu Xi learned that although Eunuch Zhang worked hard, he also pocketed a lot of money.Yan Qi's martial art is mainly based on concealment, which is extremely beneficial for finding out information.His observation ability is also very strong, and he can spot problems very sharply. He is a good candidate to assist Li Bai.

In the second month of Li Bai's master swordsmanship, Liu Xi arranged for him to meet with Yan Qi, and gave him two iron plates engraved with the words "Neiwei", and let them start to build the first swordsman of the Great Yan Dynasty. Intelligence agency.

On the other hand, Liu Xi sent Zhao Wenshan, Prime Minister of Zuo, and Bao Zheng, Prime Minister of Dali Temple, to welcome officials from all over the country who came to attend the Great Court Meeting.Zhao Wenshan was originally responsible for the appointment and promotion of officials, so this was a perfect fit.The reason why Bao Zheng was sent was to give Bao Zheng the opportunity to contact these officials from other places first, and prepare for the emperor to meet them.

As for the task of welcoming the envoys from various countries, the two prime ministers' opinion is that it is enough to send the Minister of Honglu Temple to the post station to allocate a residence.Dayan has always been quite proud in front of his vassal states, even holding a superior attitude towards his old rivals the Xiongnu and Xiqiang.Liu Xi felt that it was not good to give up diplomatic mediation in this way and let the enemy huddle together, but he couldn't make up his mind about who to send.But this time, God seemed to silently help him once——

"Zhou Yu?" The emperor looked at the words on the jade tablet and was ecstatic.