The King of Liang, the feudal lords outside the town, and the generals inside

Above the Yeye court hall, all the officials stood like clay puppets, only Zhongshu ordered Meng Xiuyuan to stand in the center, bowed and said: "I heard that there are frequent disturbances in the harem, and the queen mother is seriously ill. There were ministers who wanted to go to visit, but the emperor did not." There is a decree that no one is allowed to step into the Palace of Compassion and Ning. The minister is terrified, not knowing whether the Empress Dowager's phoenix body is healthy, and I am really worried."

The emperor took a deep breath, and his eyes sank slightly, "The queen mother can't see the wind and don't be tired, that's the doctor's order. As for when the queen mother will recover from this disease, I really don't know. But if the ministers really care about the queen mother, then I can convey your loyalty on your behalf. Presumably the Queen Mother will be relieved when she finds out."

The word "loyalty" was emphasized by the emperor, and all the officials were silent, looking at each other quietly. Guang Luqing took a step forward and said: "The ministers are all dressed in court clothes and standing on the golden palace. Junzhilu is the emperor's subject, and any loyalty is to the emperor."

The emperor was silent, and Zhongshuling immediately shuddered, "I am worried that the emperor will miss the queen mother and hurt the dragon's body. Presumably with the blessing of heaven and the care of the imperial physician, the queen mother will recover soon."

The emperor's face improved slightly, and he smiled and said, "Ai Qing's words won my heart."

The Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment said: "The minister Qi Zou. The former Shen Gonghou's matter was rehabilitated by General Zhengxi, who was framed by gangsters. Yan Zun, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, was also involved in the case. He was tried in prison, but he has not yet signed a confession. General Xi took Yan Zun away, but he didn't specify how to deal with it. I don't know if the emperor will continue to appoint him as a servant, and how should the Ministry of Punishment punish him?"

The emperor glanced at Yan Xun, and said: "If you are guilty, you should be punished. For the time being, I will pardon him from death. Let him be dismissed from all official positions and become a commoner. The servant's mansion is still for him to live in, and there is no need to take it back."

The Minister of the Ministry of Punishment took the decree and retreated.General Dingyuan Fucheng came out and said: "Chen Qizuo. Since the matter of the general... the general who conquered the West has been rehabilitated, then his position..."

"What does General Fu mean by that?" Cen An turned his head to stare at him, "Even if he didn't kill Shen Gonghou, then Qin Ran was let go by him? Could it be that it's all over?"

Just as Fucheng was about to refute, the emperor raised his hand and said, "I'm going to discuss this matter with my dear friends. Take a look around, the civil and military classes are all officials in the fifth grade of Jingzheng, but the military generals are only civil servants." I have a lot of generals who can charge forward, but there are really not many handsome talents who are capable of writing and martial arts. Therefore, I intend to expand the number of generals and promote the talents of generals. What do you think?"

Shen Qing immediately said: "The emperor is wise."

A group of civil servants also said: "The emperor is wise."

Dian Zhongcheng was still puzzled, "The emperor means..."

The emperor did not avoid the burning eyes of the courtiers, and said in a serious voice: "On the third rank, there were four generals at the front, right, left, rear, and now, General Dingyuan and General Yunhui are added. There are vacancies. General Jiaguide, Chunyu Xuan took over. General Zhongwu on the fifth rank, and General Mingwei on the sixth rank are all vacancies."

Chunyu Xuan hurriedly received the decree to thank him.

These are trivial matters that do not threaten his status. Cen An was frowning inwardly and thinking about it. The emperor continued: "All the princes and relatives of the first rank, so the generals of the second rank..."

The emperor paused and smiled, "I have always had only one position as a general in my dynasty. Now I am changing it and dividing this position into two. One is the general who protects the country, and the other is the general who assists the country."

Hearing this, all the officials unconsciously exclaimed, and the one who reacted the most was Cen An, who was stunned, but Chunyu Xuan and the others couldn't contain their joy.

The emperor said loudly: "Then, Yan Xun, the great general who protects the country, accepts the order."

Said it was a discussion, but now Yan Xun had already knelt down to accept the order to thank him, Cen An couldn't help being anxious, and said: "But your majesty, there is only one general, this is the ancestral system, this..."

The emperor was not annoyed, and said with a smile: "Rules are dead, but people are alive. The ancestral system established back then is a matter of that year. I always have to make some adjustments and changes in consideration of the current situation of the Great Zhou. If anything According to the ancestral system, the position of general must lead troops for fifteen years, and only those with hundreds of pages in the credit book are eligible to take the position."

The implication is that Cen An does not meet the conditions of a great general stipulated by the ancestral system.

Cen An naturally understood, and bowed his head in embarrassment.

The emperor and Yan Yuese instructed: "You are all great generals, but Cen An doesn't have much experience on the battlefield, so you should follow Yan Xun's wishes in everything, and Yan Xun should let Cen An practice more."

As soon as these words came out, although they did not clearly state the principal and deputy of the two great generals, the implication was already very obvious.

The two respectfully agreed, and the emperor said again: "As for Qin Ran's matter... Yan Xun has done something wrong, and he should be punished. I will not be partial. Then you will be fined for one year, and within three years, you have to do it for yourself. I have cultivated a general who is several times better than Qin Ran, and will make up for the mistakes."

He said it was a punishment, but he had high hopes for Yan Zun. After the emperor finished speaking, he exchanged a glance with Shen Qing, and both the monarch and his ministers showed a triumphant smile.

After the court, the emperor left Yan Xun behind, and the two entered the imperial study, the emperor said: "You can play chess with me."

The chess pieces were quickly served, and the emperor took a sip of tea, saying as usual, "I always have some questions in my heart these days, and I just wanted to ask you."

Yan Xun said: "My Majesty, please."

The emperor seemed to be making a casual joke, without much seriousness, "Tell me, where did Qin Ran go after he left your residence?"

Yan Xun heard the words, raised his eyes to look at the emperor, "I don't know this minister, he probably went back to Yeluo, his hometown."

The emperor was silent for a moment, smiled slowly, nodded and said: "Yan Xun, I want to thank you and King Liang for letting me know the truth about this matter."

Yan Xun's astonishment lasted only for a moment, and then he understood: "I just do my duty, this careful trick makes the emperor laugh."

The emperor smiled knowingly, "I knew this imperial sister was restless, but I didn't know that she was hiding such serious thoughts. Her brother is stupid, but she is exquisite. Now marrying Ye Luo as queen is not a bad treatment for her. She Since it took so much effort to curry favor with the queen mother and climb up to the position of princess, one should know what the price of being a princess is."

"But the emperor can't keep the empress dowager locked up. Her illness is always better."

The emperor just nodded, and dropped a piece on the chessboard, "With such a strong backing from the Cen family, the queen mother must be cured of all illnesses."

Yan Xun concentrated for a moment, and then dropped a piece, the ivory piece landed on the white marble board with a ringing sound.

"Then after the Empress Dowager recovers, the Cen family will come to pay her respects. The Cen family is no less powerful than the Yan family, Grand Master Cen, Cen Sikong, Duke Hu Guo, Chief Protector, Supreme Protector, Secretary Supervisor... There are also several generals, members of the Cen family. The in-laws are old, almost occupying half of the court. Even with Shen Xiang, the elder of the four dynasties, the emperor may be in trouble."

The emperor's gesture faltered, and he said in a deep voice: "Of the four great gentry families of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Meng family has already fallen, so I won't mention it. The Shen family has Prime Minister Shen, and the Yan family has you, so I won't be isolated and helpless. But you are right Yes, the Cen family has grown rapidly during the years when the Empress Dowager was in power, and it is indeed not a matter of overnight if they want to suppress it now, and it will cause disaster if they do it rashly."

"Then the emperor must be patient, dismantle the Cen family's influence step by step, promote ministers and generals who are not close to the Cen family, and finally be able to completely control the government in his own hands."

The emperor said: "The expansion of the number of military generals above the sixth rank today was decided by Shen Xiang and I in private. Although you and Cen An are both great generals and have the seal of a great general, in wartime I will only give you the tiger talisman. He is just a false name. Cen An is a clumsy and flamboyant person, nothing to be afraid of, what you have to be careful of is those invisible places."

Yan Xun responded, and said in a deep voice: "Dazhou's in-laws, Weiyan and Yeluo, Weiyan is very on the emperor's side, and Yeluo's position is also very clear. I think that sometimes it is difficult to have the help of other countries. It's also a good thing, after all, no matter what, they can't interfere in the internal affairs of Great Zhou."

The emperor nodded, "Weiyan is my greatest friend and neighbor, intermarriage for generations has made Dazhou and Weiyan inseparable. Yeluo..." He seemed to remember something, smiled, and said: "They gave The male pet I sent is quite in line with my wishes."

Yan Xun also smiled a little, "I didn't know before, that the emperor also likes Zuo Feng."

The emperor smiled and said: "Women have the advantages of women. But Ye Zhiyan is really rare. You have seen his appearance. It's not worth mentioning that he is outstanding. Sometimes when I talk to him, I think he has read a lot of books. Every time he talks about poetry and history, he can answer it, and he can answer it with emotion and reason, and he can often comfort me. This is far behind the concubines in the harem."

Yan Xundao: "That's strange, how come the people of Yeluo are going in the direction of being a scholar when raising male pets?"

Today's sky is as blue as a jade, as if a piece of fine glass is crisp, transparent and clear.Snow-white flocks of birds circled and chirped, fluttering past.

Bai Yu yawned on the sedan chair, lazily leaned on it and closed her eyes to rest.The sedan chair landed outside the Chongming Hall.

Bai Yu got out of the sedan chair, and while walking, she was massaging the waist that had suffered a great crime last night.Just when he was about to enter the main gate of Chongming Hall, he saw Ye Zhiyan bowing to him.Some people are obsequious and flattering, some are arrogant, and few have Ye Zhiyan's neither humble nor overbearing bearing.

White jade is the sunset glow and neon lights after the rain in the flourishing age, which is so brilliant that people can't help but be fascinated.And Ye Zhiyan is like an elegant ink painting, without strong colors, light and unassuming, gentle and melancholy like a lamb.

For some reason, although Bai Yu saw Ye Zhiyan very few times, and they were completely different from each other, he still felt affectionate for no reason.

Bai Yu's eyes fell on the racks carried by the servants behind Ye Zhiyan. On each of the two racks stood a huge macaw, fluffing its feathers leisurely with its colorful long tail, not afraid of people.

Seeing the freshness, Bai Yu couldn't help asking curiously: "You raised this for fun?"

Ye Zhiyan said: "Yes, I have nothing to do to entertain the emperor, the emperor really likes them."

Bai Yu stretched out his hand to touch it, and the parrot's feathers were as smooth as satin, and the color was very bright, as if it was made of carefully extracted dye.

"They are so beautiful, can they talk?"

Ye Zhiyan took a melon seed from a servant and fed it to one of the parrots. The parrot held the shelf firmly with one paw, and knocked the melon seeds very skillfully with the other paw.

After knocking the melon seeds, the parrot tilted its head, "Delicious! Delicious!"

"Wow, so smart!" Bai Yu exclaimed.

Ye Zhiyan said: "They know a lot of things, I raised them from a young age." He looked at Bai Yu's staring eyes, and said: "If Your Highness likes it, can I give one to His Highness?"

"Really? Thank you, Young Master Ye!" Bai Yu didn't refuse, picked out the one with a longer tail, took the shelf from the servant, and handed it to Qiu Ye.

Ye Zhiyan glanced at the closed palace door and said, "Is Your Highness here to pick up General Yan?"

Bai Yu thought that Ye Zhiyan's memory was wrong, and reminded him, "He is General Zhengxi now."

Ye Zhiyan smiled and said: "It seems that His Highness's ear report is not good enough. In the early court, the emperor's decree added a general to the second rank, and now there are two generals."

Bai Yu was overjoyed and couldn't help being surprised, "You are well-informed."

Ye Zhiyan said slowly: "I didn't know about the important affairs of the government. It's just that I ran into General Cen on the way here. He looked desperate and yelled something, 'What about the two generals? I always want to call Yan Xun I know how powerful'. Speaking of which, he is only relying on his aunt, what is so great about him. Still so impatient."

Bai Yu sneered and said, "If he is so strong that he can hold his breath, how can he still fish out his aunt?"

Ye Zhiyan stared at Bai Yu, raised the corner of his mouth, and said, "Yes, General Cen's thoughts are all on General Yan now, and he doesn't even care about his aunt."

Bai Yu vaguely understood something, was slightly stunned, and doubts surfaced in her heart.

Ye Zhiyan didn't say any more, looked up at the washed blue sky, and bowed to leave.

The moment he turned around, Bai Yu suddenly smelled a familiar smell.

Xiqiang lotus!

"Wait a moment!"

His heart twitched violently, before he had time to think, Bai Yu quickly grabbed Ye Zhiyan's wrist.

There was nothing on Ye Zhiyan's wrist, and the small box with the mechanism was not tied.

Ye Zhiyan was not at all surprised by Bai Yu's sudden action, he looked down at Bai Yu's hand, "Your Highness?"

Bai Yu secretly scolded himself for being stupid in a hurry, even if it was really Ye Zhiyan, he wouldn't just tie the small box to his wrist, so that the wide sleeves would be seen when he raised his hand.

Bai Yu let go of his hand, took a deep look at Ye Zhiyan, and stepped into Chongming Hall.