Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

Kou Xiao has been away for several days, and the palace has returned to calm. Although the third prince was not found, most of them thought he was dead, and it didn't matter if he was found or not.

Therefore, there have been more and more people showing courtesy to Li Xu recently, Li Xu refused to respond at all, just kidding, the emperor is in an extremely bad mood at the moment, if he shows his pride and forms a party for personal gain, isn't it just rubbing salt on the emperor's wounds? ?

Calculating the time, they had already stayed in Xishan for more than ten days, and Li Xu proposed to return to Beijing. The emperor rested for a few days and his health was almost recovered, so he immediately arranged to return to Beijing.

The capital had been trembling after receiving the news. Su Ziyan led the rest of the soldiers of the Jingji Battalion to stay in the capital and lost a chance to make meritorious deeds. After hearing the news, he quickly organized people, closed the city gate, and guarded the capital day by day. I am deeply afraid that the emptiness behind will be taken advantage of by others.

Fortunately, good news soon came from Xishan, the rebel army was defeated and defeated, but Su Ziyan still did not dare to take it lightly, fearing that the rebel army would turn around and attack the capital.

The officials left behind in the capital are also panicked, especially those who have taken refuge in the Third Prince's camp. They never expected that the Third Prince would be so courageous. He not only privately recruited troops, but also dared to force the palace. Who gave him the courage?

But the spring hunt is indeed the best opportunity. The emperor is in Xishan, and there are not enough troops. It would be the best if he can succeed. History is written by the victors. Who cares whether the person in power got the throne through a proper way.

It's a pity that there was no news of the third prince for a long time, and he didn't know whether he was dead or alive. The emperor even announced the matter to the world. The whole world arrested the third prince and directly classified him as the leader of the rebels. The treatment was much worse than that of King Shun back then.

When the emperor returned to the court, the backlog of official affairs was like a hill, and he didn't have time to grieve about his age. He thought about whether there was something wrong with his education. Xu himself said that he would share the government affairs for him.

Dealing with major national affairs is not just as simple as managing a company. If a company is not managed well, it will lose money at most, and if the country is not managed well, people will die.

Time has entered May, when the rain in the south is the most abundant. Last year, several counties suffered disasters, and Nanyue helped them through the difficulties. At this time, Li Xu was in the court, with Quan Dayan as his backing, but he found that he could use the supplies Not as good as a South Vietnamese.

"What's going on here? The treasury is empty? Where did the money go? There seems to be a lot of grain in the granary, but why didn't this king see a single grain of rice?"

The officials kneeling below lowered their heads tremblingly. No one knew how to answer. It is normal for the national treasury to be empty. Regardless of the high income in a year, the expenditure is higher. The military expenditure on the border is a big one, and the disaster relief in various places is also a big one. The salaries of officials and the expenses of the court, which one is not a large amount?

"Your Highness, you can check the accounts. The treasury is indeed out of money. At this time of year, the little money left is not enough to divide up the disaster-stricken counties. The new season's taxes have not been collected. It is normal to make ends meet."

"The account book king will naturally send someone to check it, but Ku Yin will not say it first, what about the granary? The amount in the account is quite a lot, but in reality? Could it be that the food has been eaten by mice?"

"This... the lord doesn't know that the military rations at the frontier are sent out of the warehouse firstly every season. Maybe... maybe the little officials below didn't make up the account."

Li Xu said "hehe" directly, he didn't want to mention how many loopholes there were in these words, "Okay, I don't want to listen to your nonsense anymore, I will file a case and check the accounts directly, if I find out that someone has enriched private pockets or embezzled public funds , what you have to be careful of is not your own head."

"My lord..."

Li Xu threw up his sleeves and left. He asked the Jingzhao Mansion to issue an announcement on the same day, to recruit [-] experienced accountants. The salary will be settled every day. When will the accounts be checked and when will they be dismissed? Anyone with experience is welcome. Register and pass the interview and written test to be selected.

The government has never done this before. After all, there are many small officials who can count and write in the government. They are not high-ranking officials, but they are still very good at calculation and accounting. In the past, people were selected from among them when checking accounts. Recruited from outside.

The people below are talking about it, but the smart people know that the officials in the government have a complicated relationship, maybe they are relatives of some family or partisan, since the prince wants to check the accounts, it is right not to use them, but the accountant outside is reliable ?

Li Xu's salary is very high, one day's income is equivalent to one month's salary of an ordinary accounting office, so there are many applicants, good and bad, and they don't know what account they want to check. Anyway, the notice posted by the government cannot be fooled them.

The interviewer was a small official picked by Li Xu, and he met through Lei Luo, who had the same temperament as him, and it was said that he almost wanted to resign and go into business.

However, there are still a few officials who are as courageous as Hong Liang, especially their families, who do not have a strong backing. They are not the children of a family like Mr. Yu. After smoking, no one dares to give up easily.

"Brother Lei, you and Brother Wei have an affair, is it true that the prince asked Wei Brother to recruit people by name?" Wu Yufeng asked Lei Luo for news full of apprehension.

Lei Luo scolded with a smile: "What's the matter with you, what's so surprising about such a trivial matter, the prince asked me yesterday if there is someone I know who is good at accounting, so I recommended you."

Wu Yufeng rubbed his hands, and said with a resentful expression: "Why didn't you inform me? You don't know that I was shocked when I heard the news today. Fortunately, the prince just sent someone to notify me, otherwise I would be ashamed in front of the prince." gone."

Lei Luo said bluntly: "It's not shameful, but if you don't do the errands well, it's shameful, and I have no face, so you know how to do it?"

"Of course, it's a great thing for me, a seventh-rank petty official, to have such an opportunity. How dare I not handle it carefully. I won't tell you. I have to watch it, but you still need to tell me first." , What kind of accountant does the prince like? Young? Handsome? Lively or quiet? "

Lei Luo sneered and said, "Are you a prince in a beauty pageant? Didn't you say that you need to be experienced? Of course, the most important thing is to be reliable. You should think about the selection yourself."

Li Xu didn't give him too much time, and after three days, he asked to send the hired accountant to the palace. Wu Yufeng didn't dare to delay, so he went to work with confidence.

Li Xu reported this matter to the emperor, and the latter was often troubled by money and food matters. He had checked the treasury from inside to outside for countless times. There were many small problems and no major problems, so he let Li go. Xu went to check.

Regardless of whether there is a problem or not, Li Xu must always let Li Xu take care of major financial matters, so that it will be smoother to take over in the future.

Within a few days, Li Xu really set up a team of auditors to check the accounts of the state treasury. The government and the opposition were all waiting to see the show. If one were to say where the best accountants in the country were, it must be in the state treasury, otherwise it would be impossible Make clear the account of the whole Dayan. If such a person wants to make a fake, it must be very difficult to find out. It is not like this has never happened before.

Li Xu didn't care about sending the account books. He gave these people a one-month deadline. He didn't care what the results would be after one month. He was just doing it this time for those who dared to tamper with public funds. Just a warning.

Letters from Nanyue arrived every month as scheduled, most of them were copies of official documents sent by Ji Hanyu, there were also some requests for instructions on major decisions, and after that, he would write some daily life in Nanyue to Li Xu.

This time, Li Xu saw the news that after the spring plowing in Nanyue, Ji Hanyu recruited people from all over the country to build dams. The rivers in Nanyue are mostly small rivers, and the only rivers that traverse east and west in one day, but even small rivers will be submerged when the storm comes. The rice fields on both sides of the strait, and many villages and towns are built along the river, and the loss of houses and property will be great.

Guanshi Cen was appointed as the engineering supervisor, the prime minister of the river workers of Quannan Vietnam. I heard that he has been running around since he took office. Everyone thought that he could not hold on physically, but he was in better spirits, like a young man.

Ji Hanyu also mentioned that according to Li Xu's request, Kou's army expanded its enrollment by 2 people, and the Kou's army who followed Li Xu to the capital were all included in the guard army by him. The South Vietnamese military has been wandering outside the government. The court does not allocate funds or food, and does not pay much attention to the number of people, as long as the number of people reported is not excessive.

Li Xu said to Liu Shu: "There are so many things to do in a small Nanyue, not to mention a whole Yan, do you think this king is really qualified for the position of emperor?"

Liu Shu has always been Li Xu's brainless bragging, and he immediately praised: "My lord, you are too modest. Looking at the whole world, who can have your ability, not to mention that you have royal blood in your body. Compared with the other princes, you It’s simply the Wenqu star descending to earth, the Jade Emperor reincarnated, the incarnation of Tathagata Buddha, look at Nanyue, it has become like this in just a few years, if Dayan is in charge of you, it will definitely become more prosperous and stronger.”

Li Xu found that it makes sense for those in power to keep a few flattering slaves around. After listening to it, not only will they feel happy physically and mentally, but they will also boost their confidence.

"But when the emperor is tired, look at how many government affairs the emperor has to deal with every day. The memorials pile up into mountains, and there are many big and small things. The most important thing is that everything needs money. This king can imagine what his life will be like in the future." It's time." As an emperor, if you want to be diligent, it is impossible to sleep late, travel is even more impossible, and even a normal sex life has to be counted as a day, in case Kou Xiao is sent out to execute Tasks, like this time, he still has to be a widow, this day is definitely not enjoyment but suffering.

"My lord, you don't have to worry about this, others are fine, but you have a concubine, your concubine is both civil and military, capable of military affairs, security, state and culture, and can rule the world. You can completely divide half of the work between general Kou and two people for one job." It will not be so tiring if you do it, and the husband and wife must share the joys and sorrows, so that it will last for a long time."

Li Xu squeezed Liu Shu's face, he really likes this kid, "You are right, so, this king wants to ask Kou Xiao some gentlemen to teach him the principles of governing the country, the more capable he is, the better this king will be." Relax, and Shu'er, she has to learn something, there is no hostess in this house, so I will leave it to her to receive the female relatives in the future."

The little princess doesn't know that her future has already been planned by others. She has made several close friends of the same age in Xishan, both boys and girls. These children are basically the best dudes in Beijing. After getting acquainted with the little princess and seeing her abilities, this group of future dandy gangs changed their leader in an instant, and the activities of gathering people to have fun every day have also changed from the previous cockfighting and dog fighting to horseback riding and archery, Cuju and polo, etc. and other items beneficial to physical and mental health.

Dayan's atmosphere is quite open, but girls should pay attention to what they should pay attention to when they reach a certain age, especially the more they value rules, the more strict they are for girls not to show their faces frequently. Playing piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, learning how to be a housekeeper, learning how to be a qualified daughter of aristocratic family, instead of gathering people outside to have fun all day long.

Many people can't discipline their own children, so they report to Li Xu. After hearing this, Li Xu sneered, and retorted: "My daughter didn't do anything bad, right? What's wrong with her loving sports? It's because girls from other families like embroidery. My girl likes horseback riding and archery, which is not a bad thing, it's better than a dude who bullies men and women, right?"

Many ministers persuaded: "Her Royal Highness has a noble status and is a member of the royal family. She should set an example. How can she be allowed to show her face outside? This is too reckless and will damage the face of the royal family."

Li Xu was almost laughed at by this group of old antiques. They wanted to teach their daughter to behave themselves, so they wanted to instigate him to do the same. Why?

"Don't worry about it, adults. If you have time to pay attention to what other people's children are playing, you might as well think about whether you have done your own things clearly. Don't be as prudent as a child. It will be ridiculous."

Seeing that Li Xu didn't listen to persuasion, everyone sued the emperor. The emperor's favorite granddaughter is this granddaughter. How wonderful the granddaughter is, she won't fight for power, won't be mischievous, a caring little padded jacket, she Just play as you like, Princess Royal, is self-willedness a disadvantage?

Not only did the emperor not listen to the persuasion, he even gave the little princess a manor with a large pasture for horse racing and a built court. It was so convenient to play polo with Cuju. He even went to see the little one in person. Their game was bluntly more exciting than the previous game in Xishan, especially in the end when the men's team lost to the women's team, and it became the emperor's capital to show off in the court. If there is nothing to do, the little princess will be used as a positive teaching material, and he will teach him a lesson earnestly. Those nosy veterans said, "You guys, don't think that Princess Shu Ning is unruly. If everyone can be both civil and military if they don't obey the rules, then Dayan's future will be stable."

Prime Minister Wei disapproved and said: "Your Majesty, you are exaggerating. What does it mean to play polo well? It's just a good player. It can neither govern the country nor make the country safe. Girls keep the house in order, and they will get married in the future. Husbands teach children, boys study and progress, and will manage the world for His Majesty in the future, this is their duty."

The emperor put on a tiger face, knowing that what he said made sense, but he was right, no one stipulated that his princess needs a husband and a child, but ordinary girls still have to abide by the rules, so no one can convince him of this matter Who, just put it on hold.

However, Li Xu does not want history to go in the direction of patriarchy in the feudal dynasty. Women have three obediences and four virtues, and no talent is virtue. These fallacies have imprisoned girls for thousands of years, making them miserable. Even if Li Xu can't let the world People accept equality between men and women, and they don't want people in the world to despise women even more.

As a result, a phenomenon gradually appeared in the capital. Many shops began to recruit female employees. At first, they were shops selling jewelry and rouge, and then gradually spread to places like cloth, restaurants, and tea houses. Some people found that such shops are large. Most of them belong to Shun Wang's property, there are many rumors and criticisms, but the merchants are looking for profit, and they follow suit after seeing the profit, so they don't care about those who don't follow the rules.

And many jobs are indeed more competent for women, and the wages are still low. The merchants have benefited, so naturally they don't take the rules seriously, and those women are paid, not only can supplement their families, but also be financially independent. I have more confidence, my waist is straightened, and I am no longer the only obedient role at home.

Li Xu can only do this at the moment. Freezing three feet does not happen in a day. To change a society's values ​​and worldview is by no means an easy task, and one can only do it gradually.

Kou Xiao led his men along the Western Mountains to pursue Tongzhou, creating a false appearance of missing people, and wiped out the fleeing rebels by the way. Every day, military reports were sent to the emperor, but the news of the third prince has always been unknown.

After a month like this, the emperor finally let go of his mouth and let Kou Xiao come back. He also finally remembered that there was another Zhao Shu imprisoned. If he wanted to know the whereabouts of the third prince, it was undoubtedly the most direct way to ask him.

Li Xu entered the palace when he heard the news that the emperor personally interrogated Zhao Shu. He was powerless to stop it, and there was no need to stop it. The emperor's summoning was more like a talisman. When the emperor finished asking what he wanted to ask, he didn't It is necessary to keep it.

Zhao Shu also knew this. After entering the palace, he frantically kowtowed to the emperor, begging for mercy and crying, how could he see the appearance of his former favorite minister.

"Tell me, where did Li Xian go?" the emperor asked straight to the point.

Zhao Shu was stunned for a moment, then howled loudly, "Your Majesty, the third prince died. He died that day, outside the Xishan hunting ground. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so aggressive and besiege the hunting ground. Your majesty, my minister!" It was because of the third prince's death that he was so stunned that he did such a rebellious thing, I want to avenge the third prince."

Li Xu crossed his chest and sneered: "Master Zhao is really good at joking. Could it be that your army of one hundred thousand people was created in an instant? Even if the third prince really died, how could you create people to avenge him?"

Zhao Shu knew that he was doomed, but if he could drag Shun Wang into the water before he died, he would not be alone if he had someone to accompany him on Huangquan Road, so he pointed at Li Xu and shouted: "His Royal Highness, you know what you have done. You killed the third prince, do you think it was done seamlessly and no one knew about it? The third prince knew in advance that you had evil intentions, and these 10 people were indeed assembled by the minister, but the minister was only for the side of the Qing emperor!"

Li Xu had expected that he would bite him, so he looked at him calmly, and asked, "Mr. Qing? Do you know the meaning of these three words? Father is having a good time in Xishan. Except for your rebellion, no one else came to make trouble. gone."

"That's just because we acted one step ahead of you. If it weren't for us, King Shun would be forced into the palace. Your Majesty, you must see his true face. From the beginning to the end, he was the one who played tricks in the dark. The purpose is to let you Father and son turned against each other!"

Li Xu really admired Zhao Shu's ability to frame him. The last time he slandered him for being greedy for military pay. This time, as long as he insisted that he was a traitor, his eloquence really had the potential of a diplomat.

Li Xu rolled his eyes, snorted coldly and stopped talking, he seemed guilty of talking too much at this time, and this was not what the emperor wanted to hear.

"Gag him and let him wake up first." The emperor ordered calmly, and soon there was a muffled groan in the hall. Li Xu watched Zhao Shu's skin and flesh bruised from the beating, and frowned slightly, with a look of unbearable Look at the expression.

The emperor glanced at him from time to time, and laughed when he saw this, his son was as soft-hearted as ever, how could such a child really rebel?He is very tolerant even to girls, how could he kill his own brother.

"Okay, let him continue." As soon as the emperor waved his hand, the executioner stopped, and Zhao Shu moaned and said, "Your Majesty, think about it carefully, who is most beneficial to the death of the third prince, and what is more beneficial to us that day?" To besiege the hunting ground, traps have been dug around the hunting ground, if King Shun hadn't planned it long ago, how could he have made such preparations."

Li Xu said coldly: "Yes, this king has learned some untrue news, and this kind of unsubstantiated news does not dare to tell my father, lest my father think that my son deliberately framed my brother, and the trap is not enough. It's just a little precaution, but I didn't know it was actually used, other than that, I didn't do any other superfluous things."

The emperor knew about this, and Situ Yong exaggeratedly said at the time: "Thanks to your highness who dug some traps without telling everyone, otherwise the rebels would rush up and break through the defense. We would not even have time to organize resistance, and we would even hide in the camp. It is impossible for the ministers to be safe and sound."

Afterwards, the emperor also asked Li Xu, and Li Xu said that he also accidentally learned that the third prince had been out in Tongzhou, and that there were traces of soldiers and horses in Tongzhou, so he guessed that the Spring Hunt would be It was the best time for the other party to attack, but because there was no evidence, he didn't even dare to say it. Digging a trap was still a stupid trick made on a whim, and it was better than nothing.

"Master Zhao, you have decided that this king has evil intentions, but if this king really has this intention, then the battle at Xishan will not have such a result." Li Xu glanced at the emperor, cupped his hands, and said loudly: "Father Your Majesty, if you have objections, the Xishan hunting ground is the best time for you. You can wipe out the influence of the third prince, and in the name of King Qin... I dare to swear to the sky, if you think so, The sky is struck by lightning, and you will die!"

The emperor believed it in his heart, not because Li Xu made a poisonous oath, but because what Li Xu said was right, if he wanted to rebel, Xishan was the best time, especially when the rebels were defeated, he could completely kill himself. Killed and planted to the rebels, and he can justifiably inherit the throne, most of the officials in the court will support him.

Thinking about it this way, the emperor distrusted Zhao Shu even more, and even doubted whether the third prince was alive or dead. If the third prince really died, what about his body?

The emperor asked this question directly. Zhao Shu was arrested on the mountain that day and had no idea that the place where the third prince's body was buried had been moved, so he immediately pointed out the location.

The emperor ordered people to dig up the corpse, and he sent secret guards, absolute confidantes, to rush over from the capital and arrive in one day. Therefore, on this day, Li Xu directly stayed overnight in the palace, and waited for the other party to bring him back the next day. The news that he was released from the palace.

The place where the corpse was hidden was not found, not even a trace of digging. The emperor concluded that Zhao Shu was lying, and he didn't want to interrogate him. He directly sentenced Zhao Shu to be cut in half, or execute it immediately. When Li Xu left the palace, he bypassed the place of execution. Back at the palace, looking at the blue sky, he thought: In the future, we still have to invent guns. At least shooting is more humane than beheading and Ling Chi. Li Xu really can't see too cruel and bloody scenes.