Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Kou Zhun's temper came and went quickly.

After a while, he let go of the officials who had been trained so hard that they didn't dare to show their anger. He coughed lightly, tried to show a pleasant expression, looked at Lu Ci and said, "It's also tiring after working hard for more than three months. I'm following you."

Just when Lu Ci thought that Kou Zhun's next sentence would be "Allow you to go home and rest for a few more days", the topic changed: "The prince is waiting in the East Palace, don't delay, go quickly. "

Although Lu Ci felt somewhat unexpected about this, he still complied without hesitation.

He knew that for the little prince who was surrounded by famous teachers, restrained and self-disciplined by nature, but lived a very boring life, he was not so much a simple teacher or subject, but a friend and brother.

Moreover, there are really very few people around the other party who are willing to listen to the little prince confide in his heart, and can make the little prince willing to confide in his heart.

Now that I haven't seen each other for several months, I can't wait to call him, even if I am just curious about the specific situation of water control, it is only natural.

Although Zhao Zhen took on the role of supervisor of the country, he was only the prince after all, so unlike Zhao Heng who had been dealing with official affairs in Da Nei all year round, he had to bring government affairs back to the East Palace.

And this temporarily serving as the location of Lizhengtang is Zishantang, which used to listen to lectures and study.

Not long after Lu Ci walked into the gate of the East Palace, he saw the imposing Zhao Zhen, who was followed by a dozen or so internal servants, walking towards him, raised his chin slightly, and smiled shyly at him: "Lu Zuo Yude."

The crown prince supervises the country, the pomp is really not what it used to be.

But after seeing Zhao Zhen's gentle and serious face as always, Lu Ci knew that although the other party had started to learn how to exercise power, he was still the kind and considerate person who cared about Zuo Yude in his heart. An Wei, the little prince who didn't hesitate to tell a lie about "walking" so that he could come out to pick him up in person.

Lu Ci smiled back: "His Royal Highness."

The upward arc of Zhao Zhen's lips couldn't help but be a little higher.

He waited in place for a while, and when Lu Ci approached, he turned around and walked back shoulder to shoulder with Lu Ci.

Although Zhao Zhen didn't show any signs other than a decent smile on Zhao Zhen's face, Lu Ci still keenly noticed that there was a slight lightness of joy in the steps of this half-mature gentleman.

In order to prevent Lu Ci from misunderstood that he was not doing his job properly, Zhao Zhen explained specifically: "Since I heard from Xiang Kou, Lu Zuo Yude is going to submit a memorial to the Political Affairs Hall today, and I will take care of the urgent affairs after the morning break. "

How could Lu Ci still not understand, Zhao Zhen was implicitly expressing to himself that he has a lot of time, so he must have a good chat with him?

He nodded with a smile: "His Royal Highness has always been diligent. He was like this in his studies back then, and now he is also in government affairs."

Zhao Zhen's cheeks flushed slightly after being praised, he couldn't help smiling again, and whispered to Lu Ci to speed up his pace, and soon entered Zishan Hall.

As soon as he returned to a familiar place, with his beloved and trusted young master sitting beside him, Zhao Zhen's whole body was obviously relaxed a lot.

Without hesitation, he turned away all the servants and maidservants, leaving only the two most trusted cronies inside to guard the gate.

Although the voice still has the clear and bright characteristic of a teenager, but the majesty unique to an emperor has begun to be slowly tempered.

In the East Palace, because of the benevolence of the prince, the slight laxity that had always existed among the servants was no longer obvious this time.

Lu Ci was thoughtful.

After careful observation of the little prince, he discovered even more subtle changes.

He was a little taller, the chin of the small round face became sharper, and the warm eyes brought a kind of sharpness that had never been seen before, and the movements of his hands and feet were no longer the stereotype of following the ancient etiquette before, but Added a bit of casualness, but the momentum did not decrease but increased.

I have to admit that the little prince has worked hard during the past few months of supervising the country, but the growth he has gained can almost be called rapid progress.

Even with the help of capable ministers such as Kou Zhun and Li Di, one must distinguish right from wrong, listen to the best, and control the old fritters who have been struggling for many years without being fooled because of their youth. Extremely difficult.

Zhao Zhen didn't know that he was being closely observed, because no outsiders were present, he even poured a bowl of tea for Lu Ci graciously, and the foot under the table quietly pushed the ice basin towards Lu Ci, and then Trying to put on a serious look, he asked, "Did Lu Zuoyude encounter any difficulties when governing Caihe?"

Looking at Zhao Zhen's eyes sparkling with anticipation, Lu Ci silently replaced the "difficulties" in the question with "interesting facts", and then readily described the strange things that he encountered or heard during the governance of the river. Ordinary things, told the curious little prince to listen.

For example, when a river worker broke up the dry and hard sand, he suddenly saw a corpse in women's clothing wrapped in it, which scared the surrounding people out of their wits on the spot; Because the hole is small and long, it is difficult to clean it with ordinary tools. In the end, the naughty children playing on the street figured out a way; and the common people just stood on the sidelines to watch at first, but later they took the initiative to help, regardless of the mess. People cooked steamed cakes at home and enthusiastically gave Hegong their warmth...

Zhao Zhen listened with gusto, and kept his eyes on it. When Lu Ci finished speaking, he still had something to say.

Especially those that Lu Ci didn't mention the follow-up, he kept the question in his heart and didn't want to interrupt the other party.

It wasn't until Lu Ci finished speaking that he threw out one by one: "How did the nameless corpse be disposed of afterwards? Did it fall into the water by mistake, or was it murdered?"

Lu Ci smiled: "I'm afraid the follow-up will disappoint His Highness. Since the duty of the minister is only to repair the Cai River, at most we will add piles to prevent waterlogging. The murder case involves criminals, so the Kaifeng Mansion has to investigate and detect it before making a judgment. "

Sure enough, Zhao Zhen let out a disappointed 'ah'.

Seeing that the little prince was quite persistent in letting the truth out of the murder case, Lu Ci had no choice but to add a fair word: "But judging from the thickness and hardness of the river sand that wrapped the corpse, it has been three or five years at least. Finding out the murderer, even if only finding out the identity of the deceased, is as difficult as going to heaven."

What he didn't say was that he would live in the south of the city, where the environment was poor. Even the people who were not willing to move their places due to waterlogging, most of them were from poor families, might not be able to attract the attention of Kaifeng government officials.

Zhao Zhen nodded seriously, and accepted Lu Ci's words humbly: "What Lu Zuo Yude said is very true."

Lu Ci smiled gratifiedly, and was about to praise him a few words, when he heard that the most well-behaved and sensible student suddenly changed into a gossip-filled expression, smiling slyly: "The order I sent the Jinwu Guard that day , can it be called a foresight?"

Lu Ci was caught off guard.

——Which bastard took advantage of his absence to spoil the little prince?

Seeing that the smile on Lu Ci's face disappeared suddenly, Zhao Zhen wisely chose to change the subject immediately: "I don't know if Wang Sui, the Governor of Kaifeng, hinders Lu Zuo Yude from doing business?"

Lu Ci was slightly taken aback.

For a moment, he couldn't guess the reason behind Zhao Zhen's sudden roll call. His first instinct was that he thought that Wang Sui's political opponents had whispered something in the little prince's ear, so he answered very cautiously: "Although I don't know why Your Highness made such a sudden move." Ask, as far as I know, the prince of the palace has never shown up, nor has he obstructed it."

After Zhao Zhen heard Lu Ci's words, he became even more angry, and said directly: "Wang Sui is very hateful. When I heard him say it, I thought he had something against you, but I didn't want you to have never met him before. Clearly It is your meritorious service in controlling the floods that prevents the city from being flooded this summer, but he is talking nonsense and detaining all the credit for it..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly realized that he shouldn't lie about his father's faults, so he blurted out the word "Book of Heaven" that he almost blurted out, "This kind of confusion makes me wonder whether he is unworthy of virtue."

However, Lu Ci was almost amused by Zhao Zhen's indignant and cute little appearance who defended himself.

After comforting the angry little prince, Lu Ci said, "Wang Sui's actions are certainly inappropriate, but we can't blame him entirely on his personal misconduct."

Zhao Zhen took a deep breath and managed to regain his composure: "Why is that?"

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Ci said softly: "May I ask your Highness, what is the current situation of Zhu Neng who presented the 'New Heavenly Book'?"

Although the project of building a new temple to enshrine the scriptures was temporarily stranded due to the sudden illness of the official family, in order to maintain the big lie he told, so as not to go out together and become a big joke, even if Zhao Heng knew it I am afraid that there is something tricky in the book, so I can only bite the bullet and have a half-believing mentality, and ask people to enshrine the newly descended so-called heavenly book in the side hall of the original heavenly book.

Zhao Zhen was always smart, so he immediately understood what Lu Ci meant, and fell silent immediately.

Whether it is Wang Sui or Zhu Neng, it is nothing more than the eight characters of "what is good at the top, and what is effective at the bottom".

Countless people have studied hard for ten years, hoping that one day they will be named on the gold list, promoted to rank, honor their ancestors, and govern the world.

Even Kou Zhun, who has been the chief assistant and has made great achievements in the past, still deeply loves power in his heart.

Existing people can surpass all the people who have worked so hard for qualifications by forging the "Book of Heaven", and take a shortcut that makes people jealous, so how can they not cause people to rush to follow suit?

Lu Ci stopped, and only smiled slightly: "It is really the blessing of the minister to have His Highness's enlightenment."

Only then did Zhao Zhen regain his senses from his solemn mood, and shook his head, but he didn't want to get entangled in this topic anymore, but remembered a serious matter that called Lu Ci to come: "In the past few months, Lu Zuoyu De really worked hard."

Lu Ci's eyes brightened slightly.

He heard the tone of this understanding little prince, it meant to give him a long vacation.

Even though he has a little awareness of "being in his position and seeking his own government" and is willing to do some practical things for the people, he is still lazy in his bones.After months of hard work, I am indeed very tired.

If he could take advantage of the situation and take a break, he didn't intend to refuse.

It's just that Zhao Zhen's next words completely exceeded Lu Ci's expectations, and the smile completely disappeared from his face——

"I ordered someone to promulgate the decree for the tribute ceremony this year. I must have heard about it." Seeing Lu Ci nod his head, Zhao Zhen was even happier. The plan was confided: "Now that the water control work is over, you are also free. You just happen to be the supervisor of the Kaifeng government's examination. After the courtyard is locked, you will be free for more than [-] days."

When Zhao Zhen was finally able to tell the first step of the "Lu Ci Promotion Plan" that he had prepared long before the prison, his tone was uncontrollably excited.

Lu Ci felt bitter after being shocked.

He silently looked at Zhao Zhen with a slightly happy face, like looking at a little devil.

... The so-called "leisure" in the little prince's mouth for more than [-] days, but you can't go out of the courtyard, you can't communicate with relatives and friends, and you have to read tens of thousands of public files during the lock-up period!