One of the passers-by

In the sky of the twelfth lunar month, the sky is clear, but if you can't see it, there will be a little snow.

Standing in front of the gate of the Taiji Palace, shaking the falling snow floating on his head and shoulders, he untied his cloak and took off his boots to enter the hall.The warmth of the room warmed up the eyes that had endured the cold wind, and the young Wei Wang Zhuangtao couldn't help but sneezed.Xue Yan actually felt itchy nose too.Looking back at Prince Zhuang Xi whose nose and cheeks were equally red, everyone looked at each other and smiled.

Laughter came faintly from the inner hall separated by several lacquer-carved peony-patterned screens.It was the empress and princess Pingyang who arrived first who were talking with the master of the Tai Chi Palace.

Hearing from Xiaohuangmen that Emperor Yong'an and his ministers came to greet the Supreme Emperor, there was a sudden silence in the hall.

Emperor Yong'an didn't realize it, and walked slowly to the center of the hall with Crown Prince Zhuang Xi and King Wei Qingniao, and said in a leisurely manner, "My son pays his respects to father."

The Supreme Emperor waved his hand, and said with a smile, "Erlang is free to come here today, I heard that the imperial court is preparing for the end-of-year assessment, and the civil and military officials are panicking, and all the state capitals are also devastated." , A lot of official affairs have piled up and no one has dealt with them.”

"Oh?" Emperor Yong'an raised his eyebrows indifferently, and asked, "Who did father hear it from? It seems that this person is full of grievances and complaints."

The Taishang Emperor was stunned for a moment, and then smiled again: "It's not those old ministers of Pei Ji. They said that they were afraid that I would be lonely in the Taiji Palace, so they often came to chat with me. In fact, each of them came to chatter. Yes, I feel even more bored. What's more, what's the use of them coming to complain to me? I'm the Supreme Emperor, not the Emperor."

Emperor Yong'an smiled slightly, as if explaining and seemed to have other intentions, and said: "The new dynasty is established, and the court must take measures if it wants to implement the government orders smoothly. That's why it is also the meaning of asking them to conduct year-end assessments. Those who are capable and willing to do things will be rewarded, and those who are not capable and unwilling to do things will naturally be punished. There are rewards and punishments, and only when rewards and punishments are measured can we make a difference. It is not good to let the people of the world think that our court officials are just dead bodies. generation."

The Supreme Emperor perfunctorily hooked the corners of his mouth, dangling the residual wine in his glass, and said, "Erlang doesn't need to explain to me, I understand everything. One courtier is one courtier!"

This time Emperor Yong'an could only smile back, turning a deaf ear to what the Supreme Emperor meant.

The atmosphere in the hall froze for a moment.

Seeing this, Wei Wuji, Duke of Zhen and Xue Ji, Duke of Wei, rushed forward and bowed to salute, and said: "My minister pays homage to the Supreme Emperor."

Xue Yan and Wei Ziqi followed behind to pay an audience.

Princess Pingyang interrupted, pointed at Xue Yan and said, "Father, this is Yan'er. My husband and I met each other in Youzhou...Yan'er, come here and give grandfather a bow."

Hearing this, Xiao Huangmen, who was standing in the hall, hurriedly moved a futon for Xue Yan to kneel and worship.

Xue Yan stepped forward respectfully, and after saluting, he heard the person at the head say hurriedly: "It turns out that it is Yan'er, who has grown up so much, come to grandfather soon, and ask him to take a good look at you."

Xue Yan heard the words and had no choice but to get up and go to the right hand of the Supreme Emperor.A small yellow door had already moved in to take a seat.Just as Xue Yan was about to sit down, he listened to the Supreme Emperor's order: "Come closer."

So Xiao Huangmen moved the seat to the food table in front of the Supreme Emperor.Xue Yan went over and sat down.As soon as the Supreme Emperor grabbed Xue Yan's hand, he squinted his eyes and looked at Xue Yan for a while, then turned his head and smiled at Princess Pingyang: "This child looks like you. Human nature is the father of Xiao who gave birth to a daughter, and the mother of Xiao Xiao who gave birth to a son must be a Blessed are you."

Princess Pingyang heard the words, glanced at Queen Wei with a smile, and said, "The queen said that just now, but I still don't believe it. Father said it, so it must be."

The Supreme Emperor laughed loudly when he heard the words, shook his head while nodding Princess Pingyang with empty hands.Turning back to look at Xue Yan carefully, his cloudy and hazy old eyes gradually became moist.He held Xue Yan's hand tightly, and sighed, "Okay, okay, it's good to be back."

Xue Yan was quietly looking at the Supreme Emperor while the Supreme Emperor was looking at him.

The hair on the temples is grizzled and untied, and the bun on the head is loose because of sitting and lying down. Some broken hair breaks free and spreads teeth and claws between the bun and temples, making the whole person look haggard and sparse.

The overlord was also only wearing a worn-out brown round neck shirt, and a brown robe that was also worn-out. There were wrinkles on the clothes... It vividly interpreted the image of a frustrated monarch with power at his side.

However, after the Supreme Emperor was forced to abdicate, was he really as disheartened as he had shown?

I'm afraid not at all.

Xue Yan wentssip secretly while letting the Supreme Emperor hold his hand, and smiled at Emperor Yong'an as if casually: "I heard from Pei Ji that Yan'er invented the double-entry bookkeeping method when he was in Youzhou. He quickly sorted out the food, grass and military accounts of the entire Youzhou camp, and because of this forced the rebellion of Yan County King, it can be seen that the tiger father has no dogs."

Emperor Yong'an smiled slightly, only to hear the Supreme Emperor say again: "I also heard that there was a military report from Lizhou a few days ago. King Yi'an and Liu Deyu were dissatisfied with the court's reduction of the title of king, and they turned against it?"

Emperor Yong'an coughed lightly, and said, "It's rebellion, but troops have been sent to suppress it, and the bandits at the head have all been executed."

The Supreme Emperor sighed, shook his head and said: "More than ten years ago, when I raised troops in Jinyang, King Yi'an offered Yongfeng warehouse to me. This Yongfeng warehouse was one of the four major granaries in the previous dynasty. If Da Chu didn't have the grain of Yongfeng warehouse Support, and may not be able to achieve today's achievements...Erlang acted a little too hastily. We can't make the people of the world think that the court is heartless and ungrateful. When the food is finished, forget the hero who contributed the food."

Hearing that the Emperor Taishang accused him of being a dead dog, Emperor Yong'an was sullen, and just about to speak, he listened to Wei Zhen, the Minister of the Xiaohuangmen Tongchuan, asking to see him.

When the Supreme Emperor heard the words, he looked at Emperor Yong'an curiously, and asked, "What is he here for?"

Emperor Yong'an didn't know either.He was a little afraid of this critical minister who loved to make trouble for him.

The Supreme Emperor also knew how Emperor Yong'an and Wei Zhen got along with each other.For the purpose of watching a good show, the Supreme Emperor ordered people to come in.

Then, a middle-aged scribe, wearing a Jinxian crown on his head, wearing a red official robe, and holding an ivory wat board, entered the hall aggressively.Having met His Majesty and the Empress Dowager according to worship, Emperor Yong'an hastily signaled Xiaohuangmen to spread the mat for them.

However, the menacing Shangshu Youcheng glanced at the mat on the ground, and arrogantly raised the wat board to remonstrate: "The sage has a saying that if the mat is not upright, you will not sit. Because you stand upright, you can't treat everyone with a correct attitude." Everything. Since His Majesty took the throne, he has repeatedly shown to the courtiers and the people of the world that he is eager to seek talents. But is this how His Majesty treats the virtuous in private?"

Those who are familiar with Wei Zhen will know what Wei Zhen said when they heard it.

Well, it's here to choke His Majesty again.

Emperor Yong'an had a headache thinking about what he did wrong, which made this outspoken minister who dared to advise even ignore the winter wind and snow, so he insisted on entering the palace at this time to speak out.On the one hand, with a very good attitude, he ordered the waiter to arrange the seats, and respectfully invited Shangshu Youcheng to take his seat.

However, Shangshu Youcheng still did not sit down.He bowed to Emperor Yong'an with a wat board in his hand, and said in his mouth: "Your Majesty is always admonishing, this is the demeanor of a wise emperor. However, Your Majesty knows that the laws of the court cannot be changed at will, and even more so that all officials, civil and military, should be loyal to their duties and not engage in favoritism. But why does His Majesty disregard the imperial court’s laws and employ nepotism? How can His Majesty set an example for all the subjects in the world? How can you demand that all officials, civil and military, enforce the law impartially?”

When Emperor Yong'an heard the words, he subconsciously glanced at Xue Yan who was sitting next to the Supreme Emperor.Duke Wei and Princess Pingyang also heard what Wei Zhen meant, and they all frowned disapprovingly.

Zhen Guogong glanced at the crowd with lowered eyebrows, and said softly, "Why did Shangshu Youcheng say that? When did His Majesty disregard the court law and use nepotism? Why don't we know?"

Wei Zhen snorted coldly, looked at Wei Wuji coldly, pointed at Xue Yan who was beside the Supreme Emperor with a wat board, and said: "At the Great Court Meeting today, the Duke of Wei will invite you to be the crown prince. This is the Duke of Wei. Household affairs, His Majesty agrees or not has nothing to do with others, and I have nothing to say about it. But why did His Majesty directly order Xue Yan to be selected as a Thousand Bull Guard? I dare to ask Your Majesty, Xue Yan is facing the Holy Spirit today, and His Majesty is taking an exam for Xue Yan The Four Books and Five Classics, or Xue Yan’s bow and horse riding and archery? Is his martial arts riding and archery really qualified to be selected as a thousand bull guards?"

As soon as this remark came out, Xue Ji, Duke of Wei who was eager to protect the calf, was especially angry with Princess Pingyang, regardless of others.However, Wei Zhen didn't wait for others to speak, and said: "The Qianniu Guard is a sixth-rank official in the imperial court. He is responsible for guarding His Majesty's safety and has a heavy responsibility. Moreover, there are only 270 people in this guard. The court has laws. The children of the above officials, who are under the age of 14 and have both civil and military skills, can be selected as Qianniu Guards. This is only a candidate. From the candidate to the selection, there is still a lot of preparation to be done. Now His Majesty has neglected all kinds of assessments , directly appoint a young man under the age of 14 to be a guard of a thousand cattle, to guard the safety of His Majesty. Isn’t this nepotism, what else is it?”

The eldest princess of Pingyang raised her brows upside down, and said rather domineeringly: "Your Majesty has already issued a decree for Yan'er to be selected as a guard of thousands of cattle. Why should Shangshu Youcheng make such a fuss here? Besides, although Your Majesty has not had time to take the school exam Yan'er's riding and arching horses, but since our family Yan'er entered the Youzhou camp, he has offered double-entry accounting methods, battlefield rescue methods, and strong wine and white medicine formulas to save countless soldiers at the border. Could it be that these credits are not equal to those of those aristocratic families? Is it a show?"

Facing Princess Pingyang's fierce arrogance, Shangshu Youcheng bowed slightly, and said reservedly: "No one can obliterate Mr. Xue Xiaolang's contribution in Youzhou Camp. But this is not enough to show that His Majesty can do whatever he wants in disregard of the court's laws and regulations. Besides Mr. Xue Xiaolang is good at economics and the way of Mohism, not martial arts riding and shooting. Forcing him to enter Qianniuwei to do something he is not good at is just to make a joke and make the world laugh at His Majesty for being unseemly. It is better to let him enter the Imperial College. First, you can learn more about the words of sages while you are still young. Second, when you are a little older, you can become an official, you can join the household department, the labor department, and even serve as a prisoner. Why must you hang yourself on a tree? Woolen cloth."

Everyone was taken aback when they heard Wei Zhen's words.Immediately looked at each other.Half a day later, Lord Zhen coughed in embarrassment, and said as if to smooth things over: "Anyway... Mr. Xue Xiaolang's achievements can still be selected as the guards of thousands of cattle. What's more, His Majesty's decree has been issued. You are not joking!"

Wei Zhen snorted arrogantly again, but did not speak again.Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.Emperor Yong'an's expression also relaxed, and he hurriedly gave up his seat.

Unexpectedly, Wei Zhen picked up the wat board again and said, "It's one thing to advise His Majesty to disregard the court law and appoint crony, but when a humble official enters the palace today, there is another important matter to speak to His Majesty about the stability of the society and the peace of mind of the people! "