Daiyu of the Red Chamber raised a cat

Li Zhao also felt that Zhou Hang's idea of ​​the assessment officer was good.What do officials care most about?Naturally, it is the road to promotion!What they are most afraid of is naturally someone blocking their way to promotion.

Moreover, once the officials' promotion assessment is mastered, they can take the opportunity to remove the moths in the corpses, and it will be much easier to implement their own measures to improve the government.The purpose of this assessment is to get rid of those mediocre and incompetent moths.

But mediocre and incompetent people often don't think they are mediocre and incompetent. On the contrary, they think they are capable ministers who govern the country.These people will not be willing to be dismissed, and there will inevitably be all kinds of resistance.

The most difficult ones are those veterans who have been reused by the Supreme Emperor.

They are not afraid of making trouble, after all, the imperial court has so many officials and not all of them just eat, there is always a way to deal with them.However, I am afraid that these old ministers will go to the Supreme Emperor to complain. One is that the Supreme Emperor is disturbed, and the other is that although the Supreme Emperor is not in charge of things now, he still has residual prestige, and he will give the Supreme Emperor some face both internally and externally.If the Supreme Emperor really wanted to protect these veterans, not to mention the officials in charge of the assessment, even he, the emperor, would have nothing to do.

After all, the Celestial Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety, if they blatantly disobeyed the Supreme Emperor, they would definitely be criticized and their reputation would be damaged.

How can an emperor who has lost his personal morality be loved and convinced by the people of the world?

Zhou Hang was overjoyed at first when he saw Li Zhao's hearing, then he frowned in thought, and after a little thought, he understood why he was worried.Lin Ruhai has been in the ups and downs of his official career for many years, so naturally he will not fail to guess.But what if you guessed it?He is not the same as Zhou Hang, he is a father and son, so naturally they can talk about everything, even if they say something wrong, it doesn't matter, just smile and hate each other.As a foreign minister, it is not good for him to comment on the royal affairs, so it is better not to say anything, otherwise it is not good to say whether he is wrong or right.

Zhou Hang glanced at Lin Ruhai, pursed his lips, and said, "Father is worried that the old minister will make noise at the Supreme Emperor?"

Li Zhao nodded, sighed, and said in a deep voice, "I have to consider the emotions of the Supreme Emperor!"

Zhou Hang said: "Father, don't worry, my ministers will naturally have a way to prevent them from seeing the Supreme Emperor."

Li Zhao shook his head, "Blindly tough measures may not be effective, not to mention there are nearly ten thousand people in the palace, whose mouths have you blocked? One, two, three? hold him..."

Zhou Hang pursed his lips, meaning that the Supreme Emperor also has his own cronies?

"Since that's the case, father, I don't want to block it. Let them go to the Supreme Emperor. According to my son, since the Supreme Emperor has abdicated to enjoy his old age, he doesn't want to take care of the messy affairs of the court, so they go. It may not be useful. Besides, the Supreme Emperor may not be ignorant of the harm of redundant officials and redundant personnel. Father's promotion of advantages and elimination of disadvantages is for the sake of the imperial court, and this is also the long-cherished wish of the Supreme Emperor."

"Having said that, after all, those officials were rewarded by the Supreme Emperor in the past. As soon as I ascended the throne, I had to abolish the officials. It would be unsightly for the Supreme Emperor, and it would not be useful in my heart. If I have anger in my heart, it would be bad. .”

Zhou Hang's eyeballs rolled, "Father is smart and confused for a while."

"How do you say that?"

Zhou Hangdao: "It's not easy to want the Supreme Emperor to be open-minded. Wouldn't it be good for the father to often announce that the emperor's uncle would come to the palace to visit the Supreme Emperor? The emperor's uncle is funny, and he is the youngest son of the Supreme Emperor. When Uncle is around, there are more smiles on the Emperor's face."

"I forgot about this." Li Zhao smiled, "That's fine, your uncle has a lot of tricks, and he can talk to the Supreme Emperor, and he can often persuade the Supreme Emperor." The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was good. Even if some indifferent courtiers disturb the Supreme Emperor's cleanliness, with Li Xu around, they won't be allowed to arrange and distort to fool the Supreme Emperor at will.

On the same day, Li Zhao summoned Li Xu into the palace to explain the abolition of the examination officials.

Li Xu also came up with a lot of ideas.

There is one more thing that is more urgent than the assessment officials, and that is the matter of the prince accepting the concubine.

Ordinarily, this matter is not so urgent, at least Zhou Hang is not in a hurry, but he can't bear the anxiety of the officials. If there is no accident, the prince usually gets married at the age of 15. Before that, there are not many concubines in the house.Now that Zhou Hang is 17 years old, not to mention getting married, he has not even decided on an engagement, and there is no room for concubines. The ministers frequently submit memorials to ask for the crown prince to choose a concubine.

Therefore, Li Zhao also had to get anxious.

Zhou Hang made a bold statement that Lin Daiyu would not marry, but as usual, the prince and concubine had to go through the selection of beautiful women. Li Zhao wanted to make decisions for his son, and wanted to directly marry without selection. Although it was against the rules, there were precedents to follow.Back then, Emperor Tai*zu married a concubine for Emperor Taizong, but he was not selected, but directly pointed to the daughter of a minister as the concubine.

It's just that Daiyu is still young, less than 12 years old, and there are at least three years before Jiji gets married.At that time, the prince will be 20 years old, and he has changed to another powerful family. At this age, there will be several children.

Not to mention the officials, even the emperor and empress dowager may not be able to wait.

The memorials of the ministers fell on the imperial case like origami, most of which were to invite the selection of princes and concubines in the families of officials above the fifth rank.Li Zhao tested Zhou Hang, asking if he wanted to take two concubines first or put a few people in the palace, but Zhou Hang flatly refused.Claiming that apart from Lin Daiyu, she would never marry another in this life, Li Zhao sighed, feeling helpless.

On this day, the father and son sat together to discuss the matter of assessing officials, and initially drafted a charter.

After the end, the two sat and chatted for a while, Zhou Hang saw the word "Zhen Yuan" written on a piece of rice paper on the imperial case, he couldn't help but stepped forward, stretched his head to look, then turned to look at Li Zhao, "The Ministry of Rites has drawn up several year names, such as Da'an, Daxing, Shenlong, etc., and my ministers are all good. Why did the father choose this one?"

Li Zhao also turned his head to look at his son, raised his eyebrows with a smile, and said in a sonorous and firm voice, "Of course these two words are good, so I use this one."

"What do you say?"

Li Zhao took the tea from Wei Xing'an, raised his head and drank it in one gulp, and proudly put the tea bowl on the tray, and with a "clang" sound, the tea bowl fell heavily on the tray.Wei Xing'an didn't expect that His Majesty would suddenly use such great strength to place the tea bowl, his body could not help shaking, and almost dropped the tray.

Li Zhao glanced at Wei Xing'an and laughed out loud.

Wei Xing'an also sneered a few times, and said in a low voice: "Long Live Lord has great strength!"

Li Zhao turned his head suddenly and stared at Wei Xing'an with his glasses sharply, but he didn't mean to blame him, "It's not that I have great strength, it's that your strength is too weak!" Xing'an threw himself into his son's warm embrace, uh, no, he hugged Er Zi's shoulders.

Bringing Zhou Hang to the front of the case, he patted Zhou Hang on the shoulder, and said: "The chaste ones are also righteous. In ancient times, there were Zhongzheng officials who were in charge of picking up the mistakes of the officials. I hope that officials in this world can also use Zhongzheng as a guide. Ben, stick to the way of the sage, and the people will be blessed. The Yuan is the beginning. I hope that the new dynasty is also a new beginning. The monarchs and ministers will work together to promote the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages. We will get rid of the bad things in the past and start a new era. The country will be strong and the people will be strong. A new era of tranquility!"

Hearing these words, Zhou Hang couldn't help feeling a little passionate and a little guilty. The emperor has worked so hard to govern. As the crown prince, it doesn't seem good for him to be too decadent...

He also talked about the selection of the crown prince and concubines, and even the Supreme Emperor became anxious.

On this day, Li Zhao went to pay his respects to the Supreme Emperor, who asked him to have breakfast with him.The Supreme Emperor didn't often have meals with Li Zhao, especially when he shunned the palace people after the meal and left him to talk alone, Li Zhao knew that something must be up.

The Supreme Emperor sat on the big kang at Yingmen, and Li Zhao sat on the first armchair on the left under the kang.The Taishang Emperor's ear strength has declined a bit due to his age, and he seemed to feel that it was inconvenient to speak when he was too far away, so he knocked on the kang table and told Li Zhao not to sit under the kang, but to sit on the kang.

Li Zhao got up and sat down on the kang opposite the Supreme Emperor.The Supreme Emperor likes to drink, and at the moment there is an exquisite wine pot carved in red gold and a crystal clear white jade wine cup on the kang table.Li Zhao tilted his head slightly, leaned forward, poured a full cup of wine, held it to the Supreme Emperor with both hands, and said with a smile: "The Supreme Emperor, please use..."

The Taishang Emperor smiled, touched the beard at the corner of his mouth with one hand, took the wine cup with the other, raised his head to drink, and sighed: "Good wine, good wine!" He shook his head and stared at the wine cup in his hand for a long time, sighing and worrying "Old man, I don't know how many years you can drink such a good wine?"

Li Zhao glanced at the Supreme Emperor, who was also looking at him.

Li Zhao smiled and said, "The Supreme Emperor is blessed with the same blessings as the heavens. With such a good wine, you can drink it for as long as you want in the future."

"Really?" The Supreme Emperor raised his eyebrows and looked at Li Zhao, with a faint smile on his lips.

Li Zhao knelt upright on the kang, cupped his hands and was about to say something when the Supreme Emperor waved him to sit down.Li Zhao didn't know what the Supreme Emperor meant, so he had to sit down first.The Supreme Emperor drank another glass of wine before slowly saying: "I heard that you want to choose a concubine for the crown prince?"

Li Zhaodao: "It was the officials who asked to choose a concubine for the prince, but the ministers did not agree."

The Supreme Emperor sighed: "It's time for the crown prince to choose a concubine..."

Li Zhao straightened his body, bowed his head and said yes, paused, and said: "I have already chosen the candidate for the crown princess."

"Oh?" The Supreme Emperor was squinting his eyes and resting his mind. Hearing this, he opened his eyes suddenly and stared at Li Zhao, "Which family is the girl from?"

"Father Huang, she is the daughter of Lin Ruhai, the prince's young teacher."

"Lin Ruhai's daughter..." The Supreme Emperor narrowed his eyes, "It's a girl from his family... how old is she?"

Li Zhaodao: "After the Flower Festival, you will be twelve years old."

"12 years old, a little young!" The Taishang adjusted his body and leaned on the big pillow beside him, "Lin Ruhai is loyal and pure, the children he raises must be the same, even at this age, they are a little younger ...by the time this girl reaches Ji, won't the crown prince already be twenty?"

Li Zhaodao: "Twenty is not too much. The prince has been living among the people since he was a child. In the past few years, he still has to focus on his studies, and study hard to be the way of the king."

The overlord's complexion was a little bad.Li Zhao took the initiative to talk about the former prince, and slowly brought the topic to Li Chengtian and Li Chengyu.Speaking of which, the most beloved descendants of the Supreme Emperor, apart from the late former prince, are his two sons, Li Chengtian and Li Chengyu.When talking about these two people, a smile appeared on the Taishanghuang's face.

Li Zhao expressed his concern for the two nephews, and said that they would be transferred to the capital and entrusted with important tasks.

"Are you really relieved to let Tian'er and Yu'er enter the court as officials?" The Supreme Emperor was a little suspicious.

Li Zhaodao: "They are all Erchen's nephews, and Erchen loves them just as he loves his own son. Why don't you worry?"

The Supreme Emperor thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "It's all right for the two of them to be rich and honored, and it's better not to give them official positions. You are doing it for their own good, but those who don't know outside don't know what to think. I don't know how you treat them. Well, sometimes it hurts them too."

Li Zhao pleaded guilty, saying that he hadn't considered it carefully, thanked the Supreme Emperor for his teaching, and said that he really didn't want to let his two nephews be wronged. Although one of them is a prince and the other is a county king, because of their special identities, it is inevitable that someone will see them clearly. , so extra favors should be given.Li Chengtian bestowed a double salary, and Li Chengyu was changed from Zhongshan County King to Yue King, and gave a lot of treasures.

The Supreme Emperor was very happy, took Li Zhao's hand and said with a smile: "You are generous by nature, I know you will not treat your brother or nephew badly!"

Li Zhao poured another cup of wine for the Supreme Emperor and offered it with both hands. The Supreme Emperor took it, but put it on the table and did not drink it. He patted his legs and said with a smile, "Emperor!" Li Zhao hurriedly listened, and the Supreme Emperor He smiled very kindly, "I know Lin Ruhai is a man and a father. He is a loyal minister and capable. I heard that he has only one daughter, right?"

Li Zhaodao: "Yes."

The Supreme Emperor said: "As the saying goes, like a father, like a daughter, the daughter he taught can't be wrong. You are the master of the prince's affairs."

Li Zhao hurriedly said "Yes!", the Supreme Emperor seemed a little exhausted, and narrowed his eyes, Li Zhao winked at Wei Xing'an, and quietly pushed him down.

The matter of the crown princess was approved by the Supreme Emperor, and it was a certainty. Li Zhao informed Zhou Hang of the matter, and Zhou Hang immediately informed Lin Ruhai that he was preparing for these days, and the imperial decree referring to the marriage might be issued to the Lin family at any time.

After solving this matter, the matter of assessing officials was put on the agenda.

This matter is easy to say, but it is not difficult to do it.After all, this would violate the interests of many aristocratic families, wealthy families, and dignitaries.Although there were assessments in previous years, they were just going through the motions and nothing serious, but this time it was a real injury.Take the various ministries in central Beijing as an example. At present, there are no less than 3000 officials in the upper and lower levels. More than half of the redundant officials will be cut off, and the number will be kept to about 500. As soon as the news was released, it caused an uproar in the court.

Officials are now voices of opposition before, and everyone is in danger.

But this matter is not done now and it is impossible. In recent years, there have been disasters and accidents among the people. In the past year alone, there were several cases. There are alien races on the border, and the imperial court urgently needs to save money, and can no longer keep these moths.

The one who suffered the most pressure was Chu Hongliang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials. In just one month, his hair had turned gray and he had aged a lot.Those officials who are ill-informed and only rely on their in-laws to get to the top hate him to the core. It is nothing to curse and abuse every day, and some even plan to beat him with a sap on the way to court.

Although Chu Hongliang had expected it, he couldn't bear it now.

Several times, Chu Hongliang asked to resign from the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Zhao agreed.Chu Hongliang had some old illnesses, and these days he worked day and night, and under the tremendous pressure, his body became much weaker.Li Zhao saw that Chu Hongliang would go down again, not to mention dismissing the officials, he would have to fall down first, so he called Li Xu to discuss.

Li Xu entered the hall wearing a brand new crane cloak, and after seeing the ceremony, he asked, "Brother Emperor, where is the crown prince's nephew?"

Li Zhaodao: "What do you want him for?"

Li Xu replied: "The crown prince asked my younger brother to find him a good bow. My younger brother found it with great difficulty, but I haven't seen anyone else for several days."