The king is not the king, the minister is not the minister

In the first year of Yongheng, in July, Wang Xin, the son of Taiwei Wang Lian and the governor of Jianghuai Province, committed ten crimes including raising salt prices, taking bribes privately, and not being strict with his orders, and was sentenced to beheaded after autumn.

In order to stabilize the salt price along the Yangtze River and Huaihe River and reduce corruption of local officials, Emperor Wu appointed a Minister of Salt Administration, and the local government dispatched salt inspectors and salt transport envoys.

In August of the same year, a number of courtiers jointly impeached Wang Lian for teaching his son Wufang and allowing his son to commit murder, and then uncovered many ties to the previous dynasty.

The position of Taiwei is free, and it will be decided after the spring next year.

When she was young, the Empress Dowager Yan was beautiful.Now that he is over [-] years old, he does not lose the slightest elegance, but adds a moving charm.When Yu Zhuo and Xia Houzhan went to visit, the Queen Mother Yan was busy teasing the two little grandchildren.

After the two saluted each other, Leng Yue brought tea and snacks.

"The Ai family would like to thank Prime Minister Zuo for taking care of Zhan'er during this trip." The Empress Dowager Yan said with a smile on her face, "However, Prime Minister Zuo has been busy during this trip, and Mr. Zuo has reduced a lot."

Xia Houzhan's complexion changed slightly, and he said first: "The Jianghuai matter has not been completely resolved until now. Prime Minister Zuo has had a hard time these days, so let's go back to the residence to rest now."

"Thank you for your great love, I don't feel tired, it's just that your majesty..." Yu Zhuo once felt that the behavior of the mother and son in front of him was a bit awkward.

"This is the inner palace, foreign ministers should not stay for a long time." Xia Houzhan immediately said to Yu Zhuo, "The harem is not involved in politics, Hengqing should go back."

The tea was not cold yet, so he let him go.Yu Zhuo could only smile, say hello, and leave with Xia Houzhan.

At the beginning of September, there is a cool breeze, and golden chrysanthemums are everywhere in the imperial garden.

"Your Majesty, I dare to ask, is there any estrangement between you and the Empress Dowager?" Yu Zhuo thought for a long time, and could only guess such a conclusion.

Xia Houzhan frowned, stopped, and happened to see Concubine Yun Gui in a goose yellow dress not far away, carrying a flower basket.Yu Zhuo immediately turned around and said, "I avoid you."

"You still know how to avoid it!" Xia Houzhan closed his eyes, with a slightly angry expression on his face, and walked back to the palace as if he hadn't seen Concubine Yun Gui.

Yu Zhuo felt even more confused.

Su Qing waited in the imperial study for a long time, when she saw Xia Houzhan and Yu Zhuo came back, she hurriedly said: "This autumn will be the examiner's official, I ask your Majesty to think twice."

"Why not Zhou Yu?" Xia Houzhan asked.

It's strange to say that Xia Houzhan has always been afraid of the Zhou family, but wants Zhou Xi's eldest son to be the examiner.And Yu Zhuo thought that Xia Houzhan was not an emperor who could bear the burden of humiliation, so this move must have deep meaning.

"How can a person who bullies others by taking advantage of his power and acts as an evildoer be fair!" Su Qing asked.

"I have my own plan." Xia Houzhan pointed to the memorial in the corner after finishing speaking, and said, "These are all accusing me of neglecting the government and not going to court for days. The teacher will take a look for me and write a self-examination again."

Picking up the stack of memorials, Su Qing had no choice but to say: "I obey the order."

"Teacher, Hengqing, during this period of time, I can only wrong you two." Xia Houzhan said.

Those memorials were all seen by Zhou Xi, but they were still transferred to Xia Houzhan's eyes. It can be seen that Zhou Xi wanted to make the emperor unhappy.

Yu Zhuo said sincerely: "Your Majesty's strategy is right, and the ministers will not feel wronged."

He just felt that it was very boring for the court to not be able to confront that old fox.

"There is one more thing that needs to be decided as soon as possible." Xia Houzhan picked up the memorial at hand and wrote thousands of words eloquently. It wrote that more than a hundred Japanese ships from Zhejiang and Fujian landed on the coast and traded with the local people, causing chaos among the residents along the coast.

Zhou Xi just commented: Strengthen law and order.

It's not a big deal, but referring to the time when the former emperor was in power, Japanese thieves invaded the people in Zhejiang and Fujian many times. In Xiahouzhan's eyes, it must not be a trivial matter.

"Your Majesty wants to send troops?"

"Yes, but this is a naval battle. There are not enough warships, and we are at a disadvantage." Xia Houzhan looked to the east, and Yu Zhuo always felt that there was some ambition brewing in his eyes.

Su Qing thought for a moment and said: "I think that mere Japanese pirates are not suitable for mobilizing teachers and mobilizing people."

"Although our Jing Dynasty has thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, the west of the Western Regions, the north of the Northern Border, the east of Dongying, and the south of the South China Sea are all foreign lands, and we don't know the geometry of the territory. When I was young, I saw overseas islands, and there were foreigners Came here by boat, with blond hair and blue eyes, thought it was strange, but later found out that I was an ignorant minister."

Yu Zhuo paused, seeing Xia Houzhan's expression of interest, and then said: "The shipbuilding team, on the one hand, resists the invasion of Japanese pirates, facilitates maritime trade, and on the other hand, can go as far as the Southeast Asia and the West Ocean, demonstrating the national prestige of our Jing Dynasty. "

"Having said that, I still have doubts." Su Qing was also a little moved by the words, "The construction of ships is a waste of money. And the sea is not as vast as China, how to ensure that the warships will not lose their way?"

"Lost on the way will naturally be solved by the sailing master." Xia Houzhan replied.

Borrowing a piece of white paper, Yu Zhuo drew a curved line and clicked it one by one: "Look, this is Yangzhou Mansion, Suzhou Mansion, Songjiang Mansion, and Ningbo Mansion. The areas around Jiangsu and Zhejiang have always been rich and prosperous. If your majesty can figure it out, Not only does the imperial court not need to pay a penny for the construction of ships, but it can also reap a lot of money."

"What about Fujian province?" Su Qing asked.

"Always do it gradually."

The matter of Japanese pirates and ships cannot be done just by the three of them talking about nothing.Xia Houzhan pondered for a long time before saying: "When the court is no longer a private office of a certain family, we can make plans for building ships and dispatching troops."

After Su Qing left, Yu Zhuo "naturally" stayed for dinner.

In the bedroom, two distinct types of dishes have been set on the table, and there are also a pair of bowls and chopsticks.Xia Houzhan sat down and said: "The food in the imperial dining room is not cheap, Hengqing, I will deduct it from your monthly salary."

Yu Zhuo looked at these dishes, gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, in the future, the ministers will no longer eat in the palace, is it possible?"

"Zhen..." Xia Houzhan thought he was just trying to make a joke with him, but as the saying goes, "You don't joke", Yu Zhuo probably took it seriously.

Putting down his chopsticks, Yu Zhuo got up and saluted, as if he was planning to leave.

"Eat, I won't be so stingy."

Hearing this, Yu Zhuo thought it was the emperor who was looking for him, and just wanted to laugh, but he still asked tentatively: "So, Your Majesty was laughing at the minister earlier?"

"Don't talk when you eat, don't talk when you sleep." After Xia Houzhan finished speaking, he moved his chopsticks.

"Your Majesty must have disliked the minister. It's alright. I won't come to nagging Your Majesty in the future." Yu Zhuo said regretfully, and took his eyes off the table with difficulty, and added: The minister resigned.

Eunuch Zhao couldn't see what the two were competing for at all. After Yu Zhuo left, Xia Houzhan extended his chopsticks to the light dishes and ate a few mouthfuls. He felt that they were bland and tasteless, so he said, "Let the imperial dining room not use it in the future." Cook for him."

"Your Majesty, don't you want to eat?"

"no appetite."

The autumn wind is late, the sun is setting fast, and people in the streets are in a hurry.

After blowing the cool breeze for a while, Yu Zhuo guessed that the uncomfortable feeling in his heart gradually disappeared.Xia Houzhan wanted to attack Zhou Xi, but the old fox was very cautious now. Even Zhou Yu, the little fox, was not easy to deal with. Only by showing weakness can the old fox be less vigilant.

In this way, let Zhou Yu be the chief examiner and pretend that there was a rift between the two, which can be explained clearly.

Seeing Yu Zhuo who came back alone, Xia Yubing asked with doubts on his face, "My lord, why did you come back early? Did you have dinner in the palace?"

Looking at the busy servants in the Zuo Xiangfu, Yu Zhuo couldn't tell if there would be the Zhou family's eyes and ears, so he replied: "With dinner, I will be full enough."

"Sir, you are..."

"Why, turn your back, and you will tell your master that I don't like him, he is really a good dog." Yu Zhuo took off the crown from his head and threw it into his arms.

Being scolded for no reason, Xia Yubing was extremely wronged, her eyes turned red immediately, and she said in a low voice, "Young one, go and tell the kitchen to prepare dinner."

Yu Zhuo looked at his back and became even more irritable: "One or two, don't need to think about it."

Walking to the study room, he glanced at the sword tassel exposed in the cabinet, which belonged to an old dusty sword.Seeing this, Yu Zhuo was in a daze for a moment—after all these years, something had finally happened that made him unsteady.

It wasn't until Xia Yubing called him to have dinner that Yu Zhuo found himself standing here for nearly a quarter of an hour.

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