Daming prepares the emperor

"Brown sugar fried noodles?"

"Yes, the taste is not bad." Ju Fei squatted on the table, licking his paws, his beard shaking, and seemed to have a little aftertaste, "Yuan Kai's wife is very good at cooking, it tastes like eating glutinous rice cakes."

Zhu Biao looked at the cloth bag spread out on the side: "You don't even let this go, how has your food and drink been short in the palace?"

"What's the matter!" Ju Fei said, "It's just that it doesn't look good. Wouldn't it be a waste to leave it alone?"

"Did the thing be put down by him?"

"Put it down." Ju Fei said, "But he doesn't seem to have any reaction to that boy Hu Shuo's charity performance. Boss, let me tell you, he won't take the bait, he is determined to pretend to be crazy."

"It's up to him whether he takes the bait or not." Zhu Biao said, "There's only so much I can do."

"When he returns to the officialdom, everyone will know that he has eaten shit, how can he keep his face?" Ju Fei jumped to the ground, followed him into the study with catwalks, looked up at Zhu Biao's face, and said doubtfully, "What if If he said he hadn't eaten it, it would be considered deceitful."

"As long as Yuan Kai himself doesn't say anything, everything else will be just rumors."

"what?"

"The only one who can decide whether to bully you or not." Zhu Biao took out a copper coin and handed it to Ju Fei, "Why is Yuan Kai pretending to be crazy? The root cause is not only his father's bullying, but also his own retreat and cowardice. After this incident, if he is willing to return to the court, he will definitely do something, because he is not afraid of anything anymore."

Seeing the salary, Ju Fei forgot everything. He couldn't care less about Yuan Kai. He jumped up and grabbed the copper coin, spit it on the ground and looked at it several times before putting it in the fluff on his back.

"I'm just a kitten, and it's hard work to live every day. What else is there to care about? I'm leaving. Boss, remember to call me next time there is such a good thing."

"Is your life very hard?"

Ju Fei said awkwardly: "The rice in Kunning Palace is too delicious. Our Jinhua cat demon is easy to get fat. If you get fat, your life span will be short. Oh, let's not talk about it. Boss, your mother is cooking pork ribs at noon today. I'll go first .”

After saying this, it jumped onto the window sill and was about to leave, but suddenly felt that someone was holding the back of its neck, its feet flew into the air, turned its head, and met Zhu Biao's squinted eyes.

"I do still have such a good thing." Zhu Biao said, "You continue to keep an eye on Yuan Kai for me. This matter is a bet between me and my father. It is not good to use Jin Yiwei. It still depends on you."

"Boss, ribs..."

"Five copper coins."

"But there are not many ribs..."

"Ten."

"...Money, it doesn't matter whether it's money or not, the main thing is that I love to work, and I feel uncomfortable when I don't work!" Ju Fei's tail flicked and slapped Zhu Biao's wrist, obviously extremely excited , the face is even tougher.

As soon as Zhu Biao let go, it rushed out like an arrow from the string, and went straight to the outside of the palace.

Seeing the orange shadow disappear, Zhu Biao stood up: "Wei Zhongde, go to Kunning Palace and tell the queen mother for me that I will eat at her place today, and ask her to leave me the cat's portion."

---

Zhu Yuanzhang was lying on the chair with a blanket covering his body. He seemed to be about to fall asleep. His whole body was relaxed and he hadn't moved for a long time. The scroll in his hand was falling straight down.

When it was about to touch the ground, one hand lightly caught it, closed it and put it aside.

Zhu Yuanzhang opened one eye and said confusedly, "Biao'er? Is it you? We remember that they are all on holiday these days, what are you doing here?"

"Father." Seeing that he was awake, Zhu Biao spoke in a louder voice, and no longer acted softly, "Have you read the playbook handed over by the household department?"

"Which one are you talking about?" Zhu Yuanzhang didn't seem to be very clear-headed, "There are a lot of memorials from the Ministry of Household Affairs."

"Sichuan will be attacked after the next year." Zhu Biao piled all the documents he brought on Lao Zhu's lap so that he could take a copy from them. Let them calculate an approximate amount, and it's all here."

"Is there a problem inside?"

Zhu Biao said: "It's just the budget, and the problem is still invisible."

"Oh——Biao'er, do you think it's a waste of national power?"

"The warehouses in various places can afford it." Zhu Biao shook his head: "Sooner or later, we will fight. Instead of giving military merit to the young generals in the future, it is better to train them when the father is in his prime."

"That's what we mean." Zhu Yuanzhang said comfortingly, "Hold up the blue jade first, and then we will beat it for you, and it will be easy to use in the future."

"That's right. The new nobles are spoiled. They don't fight a few more battles, so they can't recognize themselves." Zhu Biao said, "But this is not what I want to talk about this time. In all dynasties, there have been people who were greedy for ink during wars. From top to bottom, there are many moths hiding. In the past, we couldn’t deal with them and let them grow bigger. I wonder if we can catch some typical ones this time.”

"I hear what you mean..." Zhu Yuanzhang sat up and held onto the precarious notebook with his hands, "Whose braids have you already caught?"

"In the early morning, the town demon came to report that some aquariums had found something unusual." Zhu Biao said, "The new grain ship made by the Ministry of Industry has been launched in Zhejiang."

"Go into the water?"

Zhu Biao nodded: "The location is quite hidden. I don't know whether the Hedao Yamen has been bought or is incompetent. This news has not been reported at all. If it wasn't for a monster who happened to go to Beijing for the exam and chose a small road to catch up with time, it is estimated that Erchen would not Informed. Father, your Jinyiwei..."

"Our Jinyiwei has not moved." Zhu Yuanzhang's face was ugly, feeling that his impregnable empire was being shaken secretly by someone, and he was furious, "Investigate, we must thoroughly investigate!"

"It's been a long time since the founding of the People's Republic of China. One by one, they said that they should be good for Ming Dynasty, let our name go down in history, and save his head!" Zhu Yuanzhang stood up. He wanted to be angry and throw something, but found that the person closest to him was What I got was the memorandum brought by my son, so I had to suppress my anger, "It's fine to fight back and forth, let's help them, now it's good, and I'm going to focus on food, what kind of guts!"

Seeing that his father was angry, Zhu Biao felt more confident, and continued: "I think they are preparing for next year's war. According to the time reported, the new ship should be completed in early March and launched in mid-March. Things It’s done quickly, and there’s no reason to cover it up. The wood, iron, and hidden space must have been secretly altered for their own profit.”

"For example, if the number of stones that can accommodate grain is reported high, a ship that originally needs nine hundred stones to be filled needs to be transported to a thousand stones of grain, and the difference will be erased, but the boat on the surface is full. Yes, no one can tell it's wrong."

"The most frightening thing is that the grain ships will also be used after the war, and the provinces still have to be greedy to transport taxes. If officials who don't know about it find problems, they can't report them in time, and they will only be forced to get involved. After a long time, they will become tacit No one dares to mention the undeclared practice, no one will mention it, and the food is inexplicably scarce like this."

"It's just the shipping, and I've been deceiving so far. I don't know how many problems there are in the remaining military households and trophies." Zhu Biao concluded, "If we can rectify it and get evidence, it will definitely weaken Huaixi's power. more prestigious."

"Okay." For Zhu Yuanzhang, whether he has a title or not is a trivial matter. He can kill people whenever he wants. To walk away with a grain or two is also an insult to its rule, "start here."

"Then, my minister recommends Yuan Kai."

"Who?" Zhu Yuanzhang was taken aback, "Yuan Kai? Biaoer, why do you still miss him? Didn't you read the report sent by Jin Yiwei?"

"I've seen it." Zhu Biao said, "But I still believe him."

Zhu Yuanzhang is so keen, he immediately guessed the truth from Zhu Biao's attitude, narrowed his eyes: "He lied to us, he really pretended to be crazy."

Zhu Biao seemed to have suddenly lost his hearing, and changed the topic with a smile: "I have agreed that my younger brothers will go out with the army."

"Hmph." Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, and fell down reluctantly.

---

The charity show was still going on, and Yuan Kai sat in a restaurant on both sides of the long street. When he took out the cat charity sign, the attitude of the boss who had ignored him as if he was empty changed 180 degrees, and suddenly became attentive. , took him to the box, and served him a table of wine and food.

He tentatively asked what was the use of the brand in his hand.

The boss pointed to the other private rooms, and told Yuan Kai that this was a gift from Zhenyaosi to the dignitaries, and he could enjoy the treatment of a distinguished guest in this restaurant, regardless of his background or status, as long as he held it, he would be able to travel freely. There are demon town activities to enjoy.

Yuan Kai asked: "Besides these repertoires, is there any other activities that Zhenyaosi is doing here?"

"Yes." The boss doesn't know Yuan Kai, and he doesn't think he looks like a lunatic. He just thinks that the town demon master has recruited capable people and strangers, and he happens to have a habit of begging—this is not uncommon, isn't it? Rumor has it that Zhou Dian, who served the royal family, was Ying Tian who came as a beggar?The gold turned from radish leaves in Mr. Hu's house has not been used up yet.

He is really a lucky old man. He opened a soy milk shop, and his business is booming.

After thinking about some things, the boss continued to introduce: "We sometimes auction some good things here, such as magic weapons such as evil spirit gourds, which are all made by the demon town. If the monsters executed by the adults inside can be kept The corpses will also be sent to us for processing, and some distinguished guests like to eat this."

Yuan Kai frowned, he happened to be the type of person who couldn't get used to eating intelligent creatures.

The boss has been watching his words all the year round, and he found out immediately, so he didn't say much, and started a different story: "But guests, your brand is limited, and you are the VIP of this month. Tie. The Taoist masters of the town demon division have already given the news, saying that they will go back to the sect to visit relatives. So this month there will only be charity performances, and I am afraid that there will not be so many benefits to enjoy. Of course, don’t worry, we still take care of the food, drinks and accommodation .”

"...Only charity performances?"

"Yeah." The boss nodded, and glanced downstairs, "These little monsters are very clever, and they are more popular than the famous spider spirits and snake spirits who came here before. Plus It's a good new drama, and it has caught the limelight of Mr. Dao Dao of Panyu and our Mr. Ying Tianlu. In the past two days, half of the people in the capital have been running here. I'm afraid I can make a lot of money."

After speaking, seeing that Yuan Kai had no intention of chatting, he shrugged and went down the stairs by himself.

When no one was around, Yuan Kai finally took the sign out of his pocket again, looked at it again and again, his mind was in a mess, he had all kinds of conjectures, but he couldn't think of who the owner of the cat was or what its purpose was.

He is already a trash who has been exiled from the court by himself, and will spend the rest of his life in madness. Who will entertain such a person?What is he drawing?For this reason, he did not hesitate to fight against the Holy One.

After much deliberation, Yuan Kai had no idea, and Yuan Kai could only draw the most superficial conclusion, that is, since the people behind the scenes gave him food and a place to rest, they should be kind to help, and there is only one request, which is to see what is going on below. new play.

Let's see.

Yuan Kai came to the window, wiped his face with the basin and towel in the store, shook his head, let go of the worries in his heart, and focused on studying the sage books before, looking at the lively stage.

"Master Ju, is he Yuan Kai?"

On top of Yuan Kai's head, where ordinary people would not notice, there was a golden toad squatting there. It was a member of the band in the morning who beat gongs and drums, Jin Rong, the teacher in charge of training monsters in Fengdu.

Now its body is only as big as a palm after being shrunk by magic, not much different from the ridge beast on the eaves, its skin glows faintly in the sun, and its two bulging eyes are staring down without blinking.

Some soft sounds came from behind, followed by a nervous order: "Hush your voice, don't let him hear you."

"Don't worry, my lord, I've placed the sound-proofing signs." Jin Rong said, "He won't pay attention to what we say."

"That's good." Ju Fei, who walked over on the tiles, heaved a sigh of relief, thinking of the five golden copper coins, he said solemnly, "You don't even know how important he is to me."

Jin Rongrong didn't know what he had imagined, and looked at Yuan Kai with serious and shocked eyes: "This person looks like an ordinary human being, but he can make the city lord and adults pay so much attention to him. It must be because of my lack of cultivation. I can't penetrate the mystery. I hope the adults can point out, what is worthy of our art student group changing the place and time of his performance? What is worthy of the city lord's oblique hint?"

Tachibana became nervous inexplicably, it was blown up by Jin Rong's adults, and he didn't want to expose the fact that he was an idiot, so he made it up.

"Well, he looks ordinary, but he used to work for the boss in the imperial court, and his official position is not low. I can't say more about the rest of the reasons, I can only tell you that this is a secret, a secret!" Ju Fei stammered , "There are too many monsters who know, it will affect the boss's plan, and it will not be good for Yuan Kai's future."

A series of words came out, and Ju Fei didn't know what he was talking about, or it knew that he didn't say anything, but after Jin Rong thought for a while, he suddenly realized, and said excitedly: "So In this way, Your Highness is really far-sighted. You are also really loyal, my lord!"

"Well, that's right." Ju Fei bit the bullet and said, "You already understand, don't you?"

"I totally understand!" Toad vowed.

"Very good. I will be in charge of observing Yuan Kai's reaction. You must let your apprentices perform well, and don't let the boss down."

"It's natural." Jin Rong said, "Even if it's not for Master Yuan below, it's for the common people who came to watch our charity performance. This is the original intention of our Fengdu Art Group! Master Ju, you don't need to say, We will do the same."

"Original intention?" Ju Fei looked at it in surprise, "You still have this? Isn't your original intention to accompany the big monster to drink and talk, just like those Tanhuas."

Jin Rongrong was even more surprised than it was, looking back with hurt eyes, saying nothing but saying nothing.

Ju Fei was startled, only felt that his image of being wise and considerate was about to collapse, so he hurriedly said, "I didn't mean that, but I'm a little, uh, a little unaccustomed."

"Oh." Toad felt relieved, "If you don't even understand us, Mr. Ju, who is a close servant of the city lord, I really doubt our team's status in Fengdu."

It changed the subject, looked at "Dao Tong" on the stage, and said: "But I'm ashamed to say that my previous thinking was the same as that of an adult, and I only regarded art students as a different kind of talent. Thanks to my disciple who woke me up, Let me understand how great the harmonious unity of humans and demons is! Ah, that little fox is truly an unborn genius, but it is a pity that in terms of cultivation, no, it should be said that although there is no talent in cultivation, this is what human beings often do. It is said that heaven is jealous of talents!"

"Hmm." Ju Fei nodded frantically.

"We want to use art to eliminate the barriers between humans and monsters, and create the truth, goodness and beauty in the world." Jin Rong turned and left: "I'm going to tell them about His Highness's plan, Lord Ju, and Lord Yuan, please."

"Oh." Ju Fei replied blankly.

What do you mean, it really understands?Can it understand the vague plan of the boss?

I was just talking nonsense.

---

"Fox Shuo!" Jin Rongrong stopped the retreating white fox in the background.

Hu Shuo doesn't have much magic power, but he has a very good transformation spell, so he has taken on many roles such as "Dao Tong" and "Zhou Bantou", and he is so busy that he does not touch the ground. Now it is the role of "Zhu Liangzu" outside. Let it take a breather, seeing Jinrong stop him, the words stick out like a machine gun: "Teacher, what's the matter with you? If it's okay, I still have to prepare for the next scene. I think there are a few lines..."

Saying so, it is about to run sideways

Jin Rong grabbed it by the tail: "I have something very important for the teacher! You can spare some time for me!"

"What's the matter?" Hu Shuo asked anxiously.

"Didn't you always want to know why we performed this time? I got the news from Mr. Tachibana for my teacher."

Hu Shuo was stunned for a moment, then immediately calmed down, followed Jinrong to the corner, and said in a low voice, "Teacher, do you know the reason? Please tell me, I've been thinking about it for several days, but I really have no idea."

"Listen, Hu Shuo." Jin Rong said, "In a room on the second floor next to the street, a friend of the city lord is sitting."

Hu Shuo's level is not enough to know Zhu Biao's identity.

"He is a member of the officialdom. He has been frustrated recently and can't find a direction to work hard. Tell me the play we wrote, what's good about it?"

"Of course it's about punishing evil and promoting good!" Hu Shuo said without hesitation, "Integrity officials have defeated corrupt officials, and the common people have a peaceful life and can live a good life. Isn't this a popular theme, everyone likes it."

"Wrong, there are other things!"

"What else?" Hu Shuo thought for a while, "Also, it can publicize the good reputation of the emperor and the prince, so that the common people can trust the court, report corrupt officials spontaneously, and cultivate their courage."

"This is all superficial stuff, you have to think deeply."

"In the depths? What's in the depths?" Hu Shuo began to recall the books he studied during the exam. "Could it be that this has something to do with the imperial court?"

"You know that the chief city god of Fengdu was General Zhao before he was alive." Jin Rong said, "In principle, although the deceased is not involved in the funeral affairs, he is a general who served His Majesty after all, and the relationship is not insignificant. This is why we It has a good relationship with the town monster, one of the reasons why it is affiliated there."

This is the news on the surface, and everyone knows that Hu Shuo, as the official monster of the previous batches, of course remembers it.

"You can give us what happened in the court to make up the storybook, how could it be without deep meaning?" Jin Rong said, "You have to know that the officialdom is so hot now that Liu Bowen, who ruled the world, has resigned, and the others are still there. Are you okay? I heard that they have to wear knee pads every day when they go to court, and they have to keep a suicide note at home, and no one can tell when they will be buried."

"Oh." Hu Shuo didn't pay much attention to this, as if he had found a treasure, "Please enlighten me, teacher."

"This play is made up to tell everyone one thing!" Jin Rong said, "What is it? It is good to be the emperor's pure minister, and it is wonderful to be the emperor's pure minister. As long as you are devoted to the emperor and the prince, you can do anything. If you have backing, what kind of nobles are you, but if you really bully the people, you can chop it off!"

"Hiss—" Hu Shuo took a breath.

"Moreover, the emperor was brave enough to take the blame and not pass it on to his subordinates when things happened. At first he confused right and wrong, and ordered to kill Daotong, but he dared to correct it very quickly. If he didn't make mistakes, he would make mistakes. Whatever the facts are, they are what they are, and it's not a problem like this. Protect your own face, become the backer of a pure minister, and will never withdraw. This alone, no number of emperors in ancient and modern times can compare."

It has to be said that Jin Rong's research on history is very deep, and he really figured out the truth based on the three melons and two dates in Ju Fei's words.

In the past, to be an official, you have to find either a seat master or a teacher, or even a classmate or two. There are people in the court who are easy to handle, and the relationship between the court and China makes it easy to be an official.Otherwise, if you have been a magistrate for 30 years, you may not be able to be promoted to magistrate, but if you take refuge in the party, it will really be a career, and the officials in the frontier can also think about it.

The interests of the courtiers and the interests of the emperor have always been calculated separately.

Changing dynasties, whoever sits in the country will inevitably please the local clan. The world belongs to the royal family, not the world of ministers. The emperor wants to maintain his own rule, while others only want to make more money from the emperor's house. The country is down. It's not my own, it's just another dynasty to continue to be an official, there are more people who are wise and protect their lives, and thieves who fish in troubled waters.

But as a pure minister of the emperor, he is undoubtedly the same as the eunuchs and royal guards. His interests are tied to the royal family. In the eyes of others, he represents the imperial power, and his every move symbolizes the will of the emperor. Li went on a rampage without any scruples.

This is what the so-called cut first and play later, imperial power franchise.

Lu Jinai was born in Fengyang, he was the emperor's hometown friend, and he was trusted by the prince, so he was undoubtedly a pure minister of the emperor.

Hu Shuo was convinced, and then realized that the teacher is a teacher, and he still has to learn, respectfully said: "Then do we have to let the person in the restaurant realize the benefits of being a pure minister? What should we do?"

"Act well." Jin Rong's eyes sharpened, "Act well the part where you kneel down to accept the imperial edict, show your housekeeping skills, and make yourself feel clearly. If that person has the heart, he will understand."

"Yes!" Hu Shuo put his paws on Fluffy's chest, "The task must be completed!"

There was a sound of Yueqin and Erhu outside, and it happened that it was Hushuo's turn to play. He walked away, transformed himself into Daotong's clothes, made an appearance at the front stage, and then sang, his sonorous voice filled the audience.

Ju Fei, who was still squatting in the restaurant, noticed the excellent acting skills of "Dao Tong", and was inevitably attracted for a moment, immersed in the play, thinking that this fox does have some tricks, although the skills are not as good as our Jinhua school, they are not far behind Yes, it really deserves to be bragged by that toad.

When it came back to its senses, it cast its eyes on Yuan Kai, and suddenly found something unusual,

I saw that he suddenly realized that he was very similar to the previous Jinrong, and his fists were getting tighter and tighter. After a while, he stood up and ran to the side of the railing to lie on his stomach. He became more and more excited, waving his arms, smashing a jug without knowing it, as if he had a sudden enlightenment.

This, what happened?

Am I really the fool?

"Isn't it that the emperor wanted to kill Daotong's head, but was stopped by the new imperial decree?" Ju Fei stayed in the palace. I can't understand the obsessive power shown in this drama, which is devolved due to the favor of the imperial power.

But it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter whether it understands it or not, as long as Yuan Kai understands the meaning, then Zhu Biao will not lose the bet.