old grace

Hua Zheyun presided over the funeral of Concubine Jiang outside the palace, Xie Qinghe and Fu Chuan had to be busy rewarding their merits and conferring titles.

At this time, heroes and veterans from all walks of life were inquiring about the appointment of officials, but Shan Xugang was unmoved, and seemed to be retreating bravely.

Xie Qinghe personally went to Shuzhou, handed over the brochure of conferring titles drafted by Fu Chuan and approved by Shangguan Shiyi to Shan Xugang for review, but Shan Xugang refused to read it, saying that disabled people have nothing to ask for for the rest of their lives, just want to be alone Wife and children are hot on the kang.

This made Xie Qinghe quite embarrassed.

The older generation knows the tragic story of Shan Xugang and the girl from the Chen family. Shan Xugang obviously wanted to beg the daughter of the Chen family, so he took advantage of the situation and retired.

Shangguan Shiyi is not happy.

Chen Qi once said to Shan Xugang that if he wants to share the world with Shan Xugang, according to Shan Xugang's merits, it is not too much to reward the king.However, the previous dynasty had learned the lessons of the struggle between powerful ministers and the division of the old dynasty. At the beginning of the establishment of the dynasty, it was strictly forbidden to have different surnames as kings, and a consensus has been reached.

No matter how great Shan Xugang's contribution is, he can only be named a Marquis.Chen Ji, Chen Xiu and his like can easily become kings no matter how useless they are.

Shangguan Shiyi flipped the table: "Why!"

Fu Chuan was so cowardly that he changed his words immediately: "Yes, why. This has nothing to do with the same surname and different surnames. If the local influence is not cut off, the kings with different surnames are prone to chaos, and it is more convenient for the kings with the same surname to rebel! It doesn't matter if the king is not the king, It is serious to take back military power and governance power!"

Shangguan Shiyi felt relieved, and lovingly patted Fu Chuan's head: "You know what it means to be a father."

Xie Qinghe: "..."

Xie Qinghe could only try his best to persuade Shan Xugang to let go of his worries, accept the royal title, and share the wealth with the dynasty.

He would really like to give a few examples of famous officials of later generations who lived with the country under the same surname Rongguang, but this era is too early, and the examples are all in later generations where imperial power is highly concentrated.How can it be convincing to take examples from later generations?Shan Xugang might think that he is making up things now.

I have no choice but to stick my tongue out, talk about old feelings, talk about the past, and pat my chest to promise so...

Shan Xugang didn't take over at all, he wouldn't be crowned king anyway, he could just give it to a son-in-law.Otherwise, I will retire and return to the field. Anyway, they are all disabled with missing arms. I can't stand your Chen family's orders, so quit and retire!

Shangguan Shiyi was very persistent in this matter, and the first decree of conferring the title went to Shuzhou, and made Shan Xugang the king of Shuzhou.

——Shan Xugang's resident is in Shuzhou, if he is sealed in Shuzhou again, his power will be too great.

Shan Xugang had no choice but to express his loyalty and eliminate hidden dangers with this imperial edict for conferring the king. He had no choice but to leave the soldiers of Shuzhou behind and rush to Qingzhou with only [-] light cavalry to personally resign the edict for conferring the king.

Shangguan Shiyi received him in Chang'an Palace.

"It's been 30 years." Shangguan Shiyi dug up Chen Qi's memory, and said in a very emotional tone, "Second brother, it's been 30 years."

Shan Xugang was by his side, looking at the emperor in pajamas, leaning on the altar in front of the palace without dignity, looking up at the new moon in the summer night, his mood was very complicated.The people below are all vying for the title and official status, and what he has to consider is how to get out unscathed.

"Cong'er went to Shuzhou to look for you. You told him routines, played charades, and asked me to hire you a daughter from the Chen family."

"Where can I give you the 'Chen's Daughter' that you want most in your heart?"

Shan Xugang no longer remembers the girl he loved so much in the past. The past is like a small bug wrapped in a cocoon, which may turn into a butterfly, or die in the cocoon, becoming a shriveled empty shell.For so many years, he was pure-hearted and devoted himself to leading the army and fighting on the battlefield for Chen Qi. Those who knew him thought that he missed his old love, but he couldn't even remember the girl's face.

"What merits does Chen Ji have? What does Chen Xiu have to do? Why should I crown them kings? My descendants, my Cong'er, do I need such mediocre people to assist and defend? If I don't give them King Feng, who will help me protect me? —Second brother, do you want to leave me?"

Shangguan Shiyi speaks in Chen Qi's tone, but what he says is his own thoughts.

Shan Xugang could feel the subtle difference.

He and Chen Qi have been sworn brothers for 30 years. He helped Chen Qi seize power and lead the army when he met him at a young age. It's all clear.

Even though he felt the emperor's sincerity, he still refused to compromise easily: "I assist Your Majesty, what is the official rank?"

"At the beginning of the dynasty, all kinds of wastes are waiting for prosperity. Manpower is needed everywhere. Employers must be appointed officials, and before the appointment of officials, the titles of heroes must be determined. You, Shan Erlang, are the first to bear the brunt of the award. You and I have been brothers for many years. Come to me at this time Mo skin careless, could it be that Wang Jue can't bear you, and still wants to be my queen?!" Shangguan Shiyi suddenly let out a thunderbolt.

This is also Shangguan Shiyi's unique brain circuit when he is used to seeing his apprentices show affection every day.

He said it with confidence, and Shan Xugang broke his skills in an instant, and burst out laughing: "Then...that's naturally not. Don't dare, don't dare."

Shangguan Shiyi climbed up from the danji, reached out and patted Shan Xugang on the head: "Take the order."

He is an old man who has lived for two hundred years, and Shan Xugang is just a young child in front of him.He wanted to single out a great general like Shan Xugang to go to Hanshan, how could Shangguan Shiyi treat him badly?

This slap on Shan Xugang's head was more like blaming a junior disciple who was too far-sighted, full of kindness and compassion.

Shan Xugang's head buzzed when he slapped him, and he really had the illusion that his elder brother was like a father.

Before Shan Xugang could react, Shangguan Shiyi had already entered the main hall.Xia Shang came up with his servants and said: "General, Your Majesty said that it's getting late, please go back to the residence to rest first. In the past two days, I will go around Qingzhou, loosely."

Shan Xugang didn't understand what this meant.Drive him out of the palace and tell him to go around Qingzhou?

He was also prepared to be forced to stay in the palace for a short time by the emperor, and he had to resign repeatedly, but he didn't know that the emperor had no intention of keeping him in the palace at all.This abnormal behavior made Shan Xugang also start to doubt, was the feeling just now wrong?Is the emperor talking about scenes?Did the emperor not want to grant him the title of prince at all, and just waited for him to reject it desperately?

With all kinds of doubts and worries, Shan Xugang resigned from the palace with the palace slaves, and temporarily lived outside the palace in the residences for officials from all over the world.

That night, Shan Xugang had a very difficult time.

He never believed in the emperor's rhetoric that he wanted to share the world with him, nor did he ever think of power over the world.

Not accepting Wang Jue was the bottom line he had already decided. However, the emperor's words were affectionate and his actions were so repeated, which made him very sad.Even if the emperor was more ruthless and straightforward, asking him to confiscate military power, provoke him and commit crimes, and not allow him to occupy a high position, it would be better than such a honeyed sword.

30 years of affectionate brotherhood, mixed with the poor and lovely Chen girl from the past, has fallen to this point.

Shan Xugang only felt that his heart was broken.

He tossed and tossed all night, and felt hungry at dawn, so he got up to look for something to eat.

Before breakfast was finished, the guards came to report that General XX had come to pay homage.

Shan Xugang's reputation in the army is extremely high, veterans all admire his military exploits, and the younger generation is basically brought out by him. It is normal for everyone to come to pay homage to him when he stays in Qingzhou.He was not very shocked, he passed the person in, just thinking of greeting a few words.

Who knows that these people come in a steady stream, the first one has not left, and the latter one has come in again.

Shan Xugang was so disturbed that he had a miscellaneous breakfast and didn't finish eating until noon, and there were more and more guests squatting in the living room of his apartment.

There are thick and thin people in this group, some are polite and some are straightforward. It didn't take long for Shan Xugang to taste it.Good guy, they all came here to persuade him to accept the award as soon as possible - if you, General Shan Erlang, don't accept the award, won't our conferment have to be delayed?

The most important thing is that Shan Xugang was conferred the title of king, and those who are inferior to him can be granted the title of first-class marquis.

Then if Shan Xugang insisted on resigning from the prince, he would only confer the first-class marquis, wouldn't those who are inferior to him only be conferred the second-class marquis?Following everyone is decreasing layer by layer.

Some of these people are close to Shan Xugang, and some of them are just out of respect for Shan Xugang.

Shan Xugang was so entangled that he couldn't help it, so he made an excuse and ran out of the apartment in a hurry.

Who would have thought that this group of veterans were also cunning and cunning people, someone had been watching the situation long ago, and when they saw him running out of Gong's room, someone immediately called out: "Second brother ran out! Brothers, hurry up!"

This group of people were all veterans in the army, and the guards brought by Shan Xugang couldn't really do anything, and the long street was suddenly in chaos.

Poor Shan Xugang, a generation of powerful generals who have always been majestic and majestic, was kicked out by his gang of old brothers in Qingzhou City, and finally fell into the hands of the "enemy" and was "arrested" back to the apartment. "Recounting the past of old friendship".

Shan Xugang's mouth twitched in anger.

Dare to love the emperor for not keeping him in the palace, just to make it easier for these unreasonable wine beasts to come and feed him!

After being blocked in the apartment by his old brothers for three days, all kinds of persuasion made his ears callused, Shan Xugang raised his hand and surrendered.

"I'm entering the palace to meet His Majesty, I'll go right away, okay?"

What made him change his mind was not the old brothers who came together to block the door and drink.

But the emperor's mind.

——If the emperor really didn't want to give him the title, why did he deliberately drive him to the apartment, and let the group of veterans complain?

Such sincerity is willing to pay with life.

Even if the emperor regrets it later, it is nothing more than this life.

Just take it.

■

Phase, the first year of Taichu, April.

The imperial court conferred titles based on merit. There were eight kings, six dukes, 22 marquises, 670 earls, and [-] viscounts.There are also three thousand concubines.

In May, officials were elected in three provinces.

In June, six officials were selected.

It wasn't until July that the emperor remembered to enshrine the harem.His wife, Jiang, was made the queen, and his concubine, Hua, was the noble concubine.

In the same month, Chen Cong, the only son, was made the crown prince.

■

"I think Chen Xiu will be beaten to death by Father sooner or later." Fu Chuan shook his head.

Xie Qinghe's meditation skills are excellent, and he can sit steadily in July, but the sweat rolls out uncontrollably.With peace of mind, he doesn't feel hot and irritable, and he can still read the playbook sent by Shang Shusheng - Fu Chuan has already passed it, and he only needs to copy a few words from the important notebook.

"Aqiu came to look for you again?" Xie Qinghe asked without looking up.

"Yeah. He also knows that his father is unreliable. Ever since he was awarded the title, Chen Ji has been honest and silent, and Chen Xiu has danced happily. He thinks that he and his father and mother should be given to a king. .” Fu Chuan explained.

When conferring titles, eight kings were conferred at one go. Except for Shan Xugang who is the first-class prince, the other seven are all relatives of the Chen family.

When being an official, it is advisable not to care about the distance of the blood, and to confer the title entirely on the basis of merit.In addition to Shan Xugang, the old generals of the Chen family have more soldiers and horses. Of course, it is advantageous to remember the merits when attacking the city. However, the relationship between these seven princes and Chen Qi is beyond the three. Of course not as close as Chen Ji and Chen Xiu.

"How many times can you stop me?" Xie Qinghe is not a person who repays grievances with virtue. Chen Qiu has never dealt with him since he was a child. He is good, he thinks you are a traitor who prevents him from seeing his brother, and a villain who separates his brotherhood—so he asks Father to teach him the principles of life."

Fu Chuan chuckled, and said, "I'm not kind either. Stop him a few more times, and he will definitely ask my father to sue me."

Xie Qinghe raised his head and glanced at him.Little junior brother is heartbroken.

Shangguan Shiyi is the most defensive, Chen Xiu went to him to ask for Wang Jue, he may not be angry with an ordinary person.However, Chen Xiu went to him to speak ill of Fu Chuan, and Shangguan Shi Yi would probably spray her skin off.

"What do you think about Chen Ji?" Xie Qinghe asked again.

"I don't think much about it." Fu Chuan had always been the one who insisted against granting Chen Ji the title of king. "Do I still need to rely on him for the title?"

There are also many difficulties here.After all, Fu Chuan is young, even if he has the merits of the king's capital, it is not easy to give him the title of king at the age of ten without leaving his many clan relatives.If it was granted directly to Chen Ji, Fu Chuan would be a prince, at least a noble status.

Fu Chuan disagreed.

After Mrs. Chang faked her death and left, Chen Ji married another wife in Xiangzhou and had another child.

If Chen Ji was named king and his second wife was named concubine, but Mrs. Chang was hidden as an unidentified servant beside Empress Jiang, how could Fu Chuan tolerate it.

He would rather not be a prince, but also firmly choke on the possibility of Chen Ji's success.

"Neither this nor that." Xie Qinghe pinched his face, "Are you really going to be a princess?"

When Shangguan Shiyi registered Xie Qinghe as the prince, he also planned to formally adopt Fu Chuan as the prince.He was also rejected by Fu Chuan.

Fu Chuan blinked and looked at the fine sweat on Xie Qinghe's forehead due to the heat: "I don't want to be the eldest brother's concubine, who else does the eldest brother want to marry? Since the wife became the queen, every family has found a proper way , brought a fragrant and tender little girl to visit Zhonggong, wishing to marry the prince right away!"

"Jealous?" Xie Qinghe laughed.

"It's not that I'm jealous. I just hate that I'm two years younger, otherwise, I would have gone to Wangyue Palace to propose." Fu Chuan sighed hypocritically.

"You are still young, and you have just established a court, and everything is not stable. When you grow up," Xie Qinghe looked sideways at Fu Chuan's hypocritical face, with eyes full of seriousness and a smile, "I must marry you."

A voice came from outside the window: "No!"

The little girl squeezed a few times in front of the window, but she was too short to get in, so she had to walk around the door angrily.

She climbed onto the couch, hugged Fu Chuan's arm with one hand, and pulled Xie Qinghe's clothes with the other: "Eldest brother and elder brother both want to be the husband of the book!"

After Sanlang rushed in, he looked at Fu Chuan and Xie Qinghe nervously, but he still remembered bowing his knees to pay respects, but he got up before his elder brother told him to excuse him, walked to the couch, looked at the face of the concubine, Aggrieved and said: "...you just said you called me your husband."

The concubine didn't have any extra hands to pull him, so he had to signal with his eyes: "You too. We are a family!"

Obviously, the little girl still doesn't understand what a husband means, and the relationship between Concubine Jiang and Hua Zheyun has given her the illusion that she can build a happy family by recognizing everyone she likes as a husband.

Fu Chuan said with a smile, "Even if I'm not a husband, I'm still Ce'er's elder brother. We're already a family."

The concubine said nervously: "But brother, I want to be the princess."

"Brother, if you don't want to be the princess, someone else will." Fu said.

"I can do it." The concubine assured her.

"Then what about brother?" Fu Chuan asked.

"Brother can also be Ce'er's husband." Yun Ce's thinking was very clear.

"Ce'er can't be a princess and brother's wife at the same time." Fu said.

"why not?"

"Because..." Fu Chuan actually stuttered, "Ce'er will understand when he grows up."

Xie Qinghe took a jade horse and a jade sword from the cabinet, and handed them to concubine: "Go and play."

The concubine book was naturally handed over to Saburo, who asked him to choose: "Which one do you want?"

Saburo looked at it and said, "I'll give it all to you."

"Brother, I'll give you two, one for you and one for me. Whichever one do you want, hurry up and choose." Yan Chi urged.

Saburo thought for a while and said, "Then let's play differently. Which one do you want to play first?"

Concubine hesitated for a moment, then gave the jade sword to Sanlang, and picked up the jade horse: "I like horses. Horses can take me far, far away, to see the house of the sun, the end of the river... da da, da Da." She quickly forgot about her husband and ran out with the jade horse.

Saburo still remembers paying homage to the two elder brothers: "Eldest brother, second brother, I will leave first."

Fu Chuan didn't like being called "Second Brother", and Yu Chi learned to call him "Brother" very early on.

After seeing off the two brats, Xie Qinghe continued to copy the tickets that Fu Chuan had prepared. Fu Chuan rested next to him for a while, and then suddenly said: "Zan Zuan came to me, saying that he wanted to follow back to the capital of the former dynasty. , to collect the bones for her mother."

"Tell her to follow. It's also a filial piety." Xie Qinghe said.

"Aren't we going?" Fu Chuan asked again.

Xie Qinghe looked up unexpectedly: "Do you want to go?"

"That's not true, but Father went to the capital alone, and we all squatted in Qingzhou to hide and relax..." To put it bluntly, Fu Chuan didn't take it for granted to watch Master work, he sat still.The lesson of disciples who have troubles to do their best has been deeply rooted in the bone marrow.

Xie Qinghe pointed to the memorials all over the table, and said, "You call this hiding leisurely?"

All right.Fu Chuan poured a cup of tea to Xie Qinghe: "Brother, you have worked hard."

■

It was September of that year, and I was on a tour of the old capital.

■

Fu Chuan received a thick pile of family letters, which were said to be given by the emperor, and asked him to open them by name.

"Twenty pages, nineteen pages are full of scolding." Fu Chuan asked Xie Qinghe for help, "I'm afraid I'll be skinned when I come back."

Xie Qinghe was deeply surprised when he heard that, he felt that Shangguan Shiyi shouldn't have such a temper, how could he write letters to scold people with great fanfare?He asked Fu Chuan to take out the letter to read, but Fu Chuan was also timid, asking three times before handing over the letter.

It turned out that after Shangguan Shiyi arrived in the capital, he forgave the official ceremonies such as the offering of the jade seal of the previous dynasty by the queen and descendants.

Just after staying at the hotel, the people below sent a lot of gorgeously dressed stunning beauties over.Ask in detail, this is the concubine of the former emperor, that is the concubine of the former emperor, and there is even the concubine Wang Hu who is far from being able to fight...

Jun Xiaolang said, the women in the entire harem must be protected, no one is allowed to move, they all belong to my father!

Shangguan Shiyi almost vomited blood.

After tossing and dismissing the former concubine in the middle of the night, Shangguan Shiyi only slept for a few hours, and was invited to appreciate the treasure house of the former dynasty the next day.

Shangguan Shiyi thought about taking a look at the more important treasury, as long as there is something interesting.How can I watch and watch, watch and watch, I can't bear to watch it, and I can't finish it.Xia Shang went to ask, and learned that there were more than [-] treasuries that had not been visited.

——What Mr. Jun Xiaolang said, seal it all up, it belongs to my father!

The ugly image of being greedy for money, lustful and focused on money, just stuck on Chen Qi's head.

Shangguan Shiyi didn't care about Chen Qi's reputation, he was just angry, why did the little apprentice make trouble for him like that? !

After returning to the bedroom, Shangguan Shiyi brought a pen and paper, and began to spray passionately on the little apprentice.

Sprayed a full twenty pages.

Xie Qinghe laughed while watching, and stretched out his arms to embrace the little junior brother who was chasing back and forth: "I've scolded everything that should be scolded, and I ordered to turn off the fire when I came back."

Fu Chuan lay listlessly in his arms and sighed.