Dress to be a celebrity

King Zhou returned to Beijing.

He returned to Beijing unscathed.

The Holy Majesty has promised King Zhou to pay homage after returning to the capital. At that time, he will return with the merits of the governor of the Nine Frontiers... If the Holy Majesty wants him to return to the court, who else can stop him?

But who else can hold him down?

Wei Guogong's painstaking arrangements in Liaodong had no results, but many elite private soldiers who had been stockpiled for many years were lost, which is really depressing.But when he was sent to Hanzhong Mansion to search for his secret confidant in return, he actually said that he had lived a normal life in Hanzhong and hadn't done anything.

How could he be willing to live an ordinary life?Even if he was willing, his concubine's elder brother Huan Yushi and the prefect of the Song Dynasty who had reached the third Yuan Dynasty were not willing to accompany him in Hanzhong all day long.I hate that the people sent there are useless, but they can't find out anything about the private discussions between the king of Zhou and Huan and Song. They only know some useless news such as "the magistrate of Song Dynasty recruited refugees", "building an economic park" and "farming with relatives".

King Zhou had already written about these things, and the Holy Majesty changed the method of exchanging salt for silver for silver for him, so why should they report it?

What Song Sanyuan built workshops and hired refugees to work, what Song Sanyuan taught women to weave cotton and wool clothes, what Song Sanyuan went to the fields to farm in person... These small things that local officials used to make political achievements and whitewash, except for Song Shi and the group who praised Sanyuan Literati in the sky, who would care!A person who once worked as a prime minister in the Hanlin, busy with these craftsmen and farmers' things every day, and asked the people under his rule to promote it for him, wouldn't he feel ashamed?

What he wants is not these trivial matters of working and farming, but the real evidence that the King of Zhou raised private soldiers, forged weapons, etc. that could bring him down!

Wei Guogong couldn't find out what he wanted to investigate, and didn't stop what he wanted to stop. The only consolation is that the confidants he sent did not fall into the hands of King Zhou.

That's it.

The King of Zhou has been the eldest son of the emperor for so many years, but the Holy Majesty has never made him a prince; the emperor's eldest grandson has been born for more than a month, and the Holy Majesty still has not made him a prince.After all, his patrol around the Nine Sides was just wandering around the military town guards. He never actually fought the captives like Huan Ling did back then, so what credit can he take?

Even if the sage is partial to the king of Zhou, not to mention their royal family, the merchants behind the third prince, King Wei, will also have a few advocacy ministers, who will use the ancestral family law to compete with the sage, and will not let him just go out of the customs and earn Out of the feats of pacifying the captives.

After clarifying the current situation, Duke Wei finally settled down, summoned his confidants, and asked them to prepare a congratulatory gift for King Zhou, and by the way, prepare a gift for King Qi.

King Zhou is the elder brother of King Qi. Whether it is to congratulate him on his eldest son or to congratulate him on his safe return, this gift is unavoidable.And he is also willing to thank that brother-in-law of the king of Zhou, thank him for pulling the Ma family down from the military department, so that he taught them that Duke Wei's mansion won the trust of the emperor and won the military power of the nine border towns.

After arranging the congratulatory gift, he sent a nephew who was accompanying him in Beijing to Qi Wang's mansion, advising Qi Wang to be patient and at least act respectful to his elder brother in front of His Majesty.

King Qi smiled: "Of course I know this, why do I need my grandfather and my cousin to tell me? I will arrange for the court to entertain you in the days when the emperor returns to Beijing."

Now that he is working in the Ministry of Rituals, his younger brother will preside over the etiquette of the emperor's entry into Beijing. He will definitely be a good master, welcome his brother to Beijing in a safe and sound manner, and then send him back to Hanzhong properly.

Not only one family has been busy and made full preparations for King Zhou's entry into the capital, but only Emperor Xintai, who is in the Jiuzhong Palace, is the most insipid about this matter.After accepting the post that King Zhou requested to enter Beijing, he only asked someone to reply the date of entry to Beijing, and arranged for officials from the Ministry of Rites to lead King Zhou, his entourage and guards into Beijing.

On the tenth day of November, the chariots and horses of King Zhou and his party slowly drove into the capital and returned to the long-lost palace.Behind him, Man Jing's eyes were fixed on Zhou Wang's mansion who suddenly welcomed the master, and on the group of people who followed the king into the capital.

King Zhou was summoned to the palace immediately, lingered in the Qianqing Palace for a long time and was released back to the palace.

But he never entered the harem, and after leaving the palace, he didn't invite his younger brothers and relatives to the mansion to meet him, as if he had just returned from outside the city, he went back to live in the mansion silently.The left and right Changshi, Yiwei, Qinwei and others who accompanied him back to the capital also stayed in the palace in silence. Huan Ling, the only official who was not counted as a member of the palace, also lived in the Zhou palace in the name of visiting his younger sister, Princess Huan.

It wasn't until the early morning of the next day, after the Great Court Meeting began, that everyone saw King Zhou for the first time——

But it is no longer like when he was still king in Beijing, standing under Dan Chi at the beginning of the court meeting, participating in politics as a prince, but entering the side hall to wait for the order.Huan Ling, who came back from outside the pass with him, also stayed in the side hall and was not able to stand in the Yushi class.

Standing positions at the court meeting are all regulated by etiquette, and it is not only the etiquette that distinguishes the positions of courtiers in the court hall, but also the position of power.The change of the shift often represents the rise and fall of a person's power. Being closer to the emperor is a symbol of power crushing others. What's the situation?

The faces of Lu Shoufu and Zhang Cifu became very stiff, and Li Sanfu also hesitated to speak.The officials in the hall all speculated secretly, standing in the first class of the six subjects in front of the steps, they all held up Yugui and asked His Majesty to call the King of Zhou into the hall.

Although the king of Zhou was released, he was still a vassal king, and he should have a place in the palace when he entered the pilgrimage.

The King of Qi first stepped to the foot of Danchi, knelt down on his knees, and interceded for his elder brother: "Although Brother Dahuang has been sent to other provinces to guard the soldiers on the nine borders, according to the family law of my Dazheng ancestor, since he returns to the capital, They should be ranked with the ministers. If the elder brother cannot go to the court, the ministers who are younger brothers will not dare to stand in the hall."

His immature face was determined, he raised his eyes, and looked stubbornly at Yuzuo, as if as long as his father refused to let his elder brother go to court, he would take off his clothes and go out to stay.

Emperor Xintai glanced at him and the ministers behind him, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, as if he was persuaded by the crowd, nodded and said: "Since King Qi and all the ministers invited him, I asked King Zhou to go to the palace immediately to report his duties."

The eunuch responded and went out to send an order to invite King Zhou to the palace.

Some people breathed a sigh of relief, some raised their hearts, and some turned to the outside of the palace with a hint of malice, wanting to see how the eldest son of the emperor, who was in touch with the position of prince in the past, endured the grievance of not being able to participate in the great court.

King Qi stood back down the steps again, watching his elder brother step into the hall amidst the shouts of "King Zhou sees you".

The light came from the back of King Zhou, making his complexion darker than under the daylight outside, and it was no longer fair and delicate as he was raised in the palace in his early years.But those eyes, which had seen all over the important towns on the Nine Sides, were dazzlingly bright. After entering the hall, they only scanned him once, but it gave him the illusion of being seen through.

Maybe it's an illusion...

King Qi recalled his elder brother who was gentle and even somewhat docile in the past. Compared with the tall and valiant Zhou King in front of him, who acted like a trained general, he was afraid to recognize him.But after the shock of his brother's big change passed, he was filled with envy again.

Why didn't his father allow him to go out and lead troops?

When he was in a daze, the king of Zhou had strode to the front of the steps, lifted his robe and knelt down, and said in a loud voice: "I will see you, and I wish my father a long life. When I was in Hanzhong Mansion, I wrote a letter to my father, It is common practice to inspect the matter of forcibly conscripting civilians and strong men from the nine borders to serve as soldiers, and now I have not disgraceed my order, and I have investigated and understood it, so I have come here to hand over the order to my father."

Not only has he changed in person, but his style of doing things is also much more decisive than when he was in Beijing before. He ordered the accompanying servants to present the records left by them.He kept in mind the appearances of soldiers and soldiers from all over the place, the lack of military equipment and rations he found out, and the generals who violated orders and conscripted civilians. It's as if all the records are familiar to me.

The last time he stood in the court hall and pointed out the military situation of the Nine Frontiers, wasn't it Huan Ling who was sent to him by the Holy Majesty as a guide and sent to Hanzhong with him?

This person really didn't give him anything in vain. The Zhou king who was gentle and gentle in the past, now has a bit of a sharp and decisive look.Several generals newly sent to the border asked him to find out what was wrong, and he didn't even think about whether it was his brother's relative, so he directly told the other party's name and identity in court.

King Qi seemed to have been slapped in the face, his face was flushed, and he felt thorns all over his body, as if all the civil and military officials in the court were watching him quietly, saying that he, King Qi's subordinates, were all greedy and despicable, not as good as his brother .

King Qi hurriedly knelt before the emperor, swallowed his grievances, and took the initiative to plead for orders: "Since the emperor finds out that these people have committed illegal acts, they should be punished severely. My son is willing to go out of the customs according to the order, and send those privately recruited civilian husbands for misbehaving. Those who are caught are brought back to Beijing to be punished!"

Emperor Xintai frowned, King Zhou sighed softly, and covered his younger brother: "Although the second younger brother is loyal to the country, but Gu Nian's nine sides will change soon, it is not appropriate to move. My son dares to ask father The emperor will temporarily give these people a chance to reform themselves, and the governors and chief military officers from all over the country will be able to supervise them."

Emperor Xintai nodded lightly on the throne, and responded: "Since I asked you to appease the Nine Frontiers, you will do your duty to appease the Nine Frontiers. If there is a case of disturbing the people in the frontier army, I will hand it over to you. , Those who disobey and do not obey orders, you can take them down first, and then release them to Beijing for questioning after the matter settles down."

King Qi also followed his elder brother and stood back to his own position, silently.

He still felt resentful and wronged, and his grandfather was full of turmoil: Doesn't this mean that the nine borders and the soldiers stationed on the border will be handed over to the King of Zhou for restraint?

At first it was thought that the Holy Majesty sent him to Hanzhong, just because there was no prince in the previous dynasty who was a vassal when the Emperor was in power, just to find a good explanation for him; The experience of traveling all over the Nine Passes has given him the real power to "repress and appease" him!

He is just a frail boy with no knowledge of military affairs, plus a wife and brother who can settle accounts. The two of them walked through the border once, and charged some crimes that are not counted.

No, how can a prince handle military affairs!

Although King Zhou did not have the right to mobilize troops, he had the power to seize them. How could all the generals not be secretly afraid, the future will be subtle, and I don't know how many people may sway towards him!

Wei Guogong glanced down, winking at the censor he usually bought, and wanted them to persuade the emperor.He doesn't even need to hint, many people who never want him to return to the center have thought of the danger: If Zhou Wang sits on the nine border towns and thousands of elite soldiers, who will sit securely on the throne?Even if his nature is pure and filial at this time, he will not be self-respecting and disobedient. When the new emperor ascends the throne in the future, he will be the eldest brother in charge of the Xuanfu, Datong, Jizhen and other places. The capital is only a hundred miles away——

How can you allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the collapse?

Just now, he urged His Majesty to let the King of Zhou go to the court to discuss the state affairs, but immediately changed the direction and advised the Holy One not to favor the King of Zhou too much, and to act in accordance with the rules of etiquette...

The military power cannot be held in the hands of the princes.

Emperor Xintai took the expressions of all the people in his highness into his eyes, and then looked at the two sons standing beside him in front of the steps, and said indifferently: "The words of the ministers are wrong, why did I ever order King Zhou to become a vassal?"

The king of Zhou was only a governor, and he went to the Nine Frontier Army to practice, not a vassal king.Since he has experienced in the army, he naturally has the right to control the generals. Otherwise, can't he be treated as a prince who disobeys the orders of his subordinates?

"There has been a decree on this matter for a long time. At that time, the cabinet did not have the right to refute it, so there is no need to discuss it now." Emperor Xintai reprimanded the officer and ordered his eldest son: "Now that you are on business abroad, you must act like you are doing business. Greedy for your children's affair. I only allow you to stay in Beijing for three days, and then return to Hanzhong to sit in town."

Three days...

Well, at least three more days.

If he hadn't taken the initiative to tour the east this time, he wouldn't have even had these three days. I don't know how many years later he would have the opportunity to go to Beijing to visit his father and queen mother, and then return to the mansion to accompany Yuanniang and Xian'er.

The king of Zhou sighed silently, lowered his eyes, and responded respectfully: "My son complies with the order. My father's holy birthday is coming soon, and my son knew that he could not celebrate in Beijing, so he sent someone back to Hanzhong to pick up a congratulatory gift. Today So I brought it into the palace to honor my father and emperor, so as to show the filial piety of my children and ministers."

The emperor agreed with a smile, and ordered his servants to go out to deliver the decree.

The supporters behind the princes and the orthodox faction who were looking forward to the new queen entering the palace and giving birth to a son to ascend the throne were all immersed in the pain of not being able to stop the king of Zhou from taking charge of the army, and were not interested in any birthday gifts he offered.Only Wei Guogong and others felt a little unexpected comfort when they heard the news:

It turned out that he was just going back to get a congratulatory gift, no wonder his men sent out his sentries and found nothing.Hanzhong Mansion is not as prosperous as the capital city, and what they can find are gold, jade, jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings, all of which are common things in the palace. No matter how good things he offers, the Wang family can find even better ones for King Qi.

If it was as he predicted, what the waiter brought up soon was just an ordinary suitcase.It is five feet wide, more than three feet thick and high. It is square and thick, but it does not seem to be very heavy, and the two servants did not use much force to carry it in.

What should be packed in such a big box?Is it an ancient painting?Famous piano?But it's not enough to use such a box, just put it on a pallet?

King Zhou untied the copper spoon from his wrist, opened the lid of the box under the gaze of the courtiers, and took out a wooden box wrapped thickly with cotton and cloth.

The material of the box is just an ordinary wooden board, but it is inlaid with a piece of extremely clear crystal glass.When it was taken out, the glass surface reflected the light coming in from outside the hall, and a spot of snow-white light flashed across everyone's eyes.After enduring the afterimage left by the white light, I can see through the water-transparent glass sheet that there is a plant with roots, stems, leaves, ears and ears full of seeds arranged in the shape of an acacia flower. hay.

The ministers whose shifts were a little closer stretched their necks to look at the hay in the box, and those who knew the grains immediately recognized it as rice and whispered to their colleagues.It's just that how did the rice produce so many spikes, so it was different from what they had seen in the countryside?

There is really nothing to offer a rice plant, unless it is the Jiusui Jiahe recorded in the history books?

When Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty was born, Jiyang County produced a stalk of Jiahe with nine ears as a sign of auspiciousness; this year, when the emperor's grandson was born, Hanzhong produced nine ears of Jiahe?

Then they just wanted to advise His Majesty not to let go of military power and what to do with King Zhou!

The whole hall was suffocatingly quiet for a moment, and Wei Guogong's heart that had just been relaxed suddenly picked up, his face was pale and white, and he subconsciously looked at his grandson—— King Qi didn't recognize the whole rice plant, so he asked King Zhou directly: "What is this?" Something? Could it be that the emperor brother offered some kind of elixir?"

Zhou Wang lowered his eyes and smiled, and replied: "This is rice."

Holding the box in both hands, he lifted it above his head, and said loudly: "This is the thirteen ears of Jiahe grown by Song Zhifu of Hanzhong Prefecture himself. My son is living in Hanzhong, so he borrowed flowers to present Buddha, and presented the Jiahe he bred to his father to celebrate his birthday. "

Thirteen spikes, not nine spikes, fortunately...

Wei Guogong hadn’t breathed out the last breath when he suddenly remembered—Nine spikes is still a story in history, but this thirteen spikes of Jiahe has never been seen since ancient times!Since it has never been seen before, isn't it the auspiciousness that is more precious than Jiusuihe?

How could he grow such a baby!

This is really the auspiciousness of thirteen ears, isn't it made up of several rice plants?

Wei Guogong had this thought in his mind, and there was someone who connected with him, and asked aloud: "The gift from His Highness is really a golden harvest from the sky, isn't it a patchwork of several rice plants?"

It was Wei Huke who spoke, and it was right to ask about it. The king of Zhou opened the lid of the box and gave it to the eunuch in charge of the Yangxin Palace who came to pick up Jiahe, saying: "This Jiahe is nailed to the cloth with thin threads. Yes, the father-in-law can take a closer look at the stems and ears to see if they are growing from the roots."

The prince in charge took the box to the imperial front, and the emperor stretched out his fingers to pick out the full ears of rice. Looking at the branches full of rice grains, he showed a little surprise for the first time: "These are not all ears of rice. Why do you say there are only thirteen spikes?"

Fortunately, Wang Gonggong saw people planting grains when he was young, and he explained in detail: "The one that grows from this stalk is called an ear, and there are many such small ears in an ear... But the slaves have never seen it." The rice that produces so many spikelets..."

In his memory, two or three small spikes can grow from one spike, which is considered too many.The King of Zhou...Which immortal gave the magistrate Song the seed to grow such a good grain?

He was ignorantly trying to count how many ears there were on the rice branches, when the emperor pushed his hand away and slowly read out the introduction posted beside the rice.

A stalk of rice bears thirteen ears, and there are a total of one thousand and forty grains of rice on it.

"Sure enough, it's Jiahe, King Zhou's gift really suits my heart."

Emperor Xintai has practiced the Xiannong ceremony for more than [-] years, but he has never grown rice that can produce so many rice grains.There are many ministers from farming families in the hall, who have been farming and studying for generations. They have never seen such a good rice seed for several generations.

But with the emperor's golden words, no one dared to point out that Jiahe was a fake.And if it wasn't for the fraud, this would mean that their Dazheng Dynasty, today's day, had achieved unprecedented auspiciousness.

Lu Shoufu couldn't help but ask the sage to give him a view of the rice, and Mr. Guo, the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, and the two servants also came out to agree.Emperor Xintai ordered the eunuch Wang to carry the box down to show to all the ministers, and asked his son with a smile, "I sent you a prefect of Hanzhong, but you only presented a copy of Jiahe planted by him as a birthday present?"

The King of Zhou cupped his hands and said: "I am ashamed, what I found in Hanzhong was just some ordinary literature, calligraphy and paintings, which cannot be used to defile the eyes of the emperor, and what I can get is the Jiahe planted by the prefect of Song Dynasty. But fortunately, Mr. Song has achieved remarkable results this year, and he has not only planted one kind of Jiahe."

He nodded to the servant next to him, and the servant leaned over and took out another box from the box.

He untied the cloth tied on the new box with his own hands, and presented this box of extra-large rice ears to nearly a foot in size to his father.

Originally, the imperial court only got a few Jiahe plants a year, but the box was full of piles, maybe there should be more than a dozen wooden boxes?If the king of Zhou has such an auspicious physique, then everyone should not be afraid of him holding a heavy army, and don't think about the Holy Majesty marrying a new queen to have a son. Just ask him to be the new king. Wouldn't it be the best choice for Dazheng Jiangshan?

Fortunately, King Zhou first said that the Jiahe was planted by Song Shi, not from heaven. The ministers who were unwilling to make him superior still struggled a bit, and put all the meritorious deeds on Song Shi, only praising him for farming.

A censor who was the closest to the box and saw a box full of Jiahe couldn't bear to listen to this, and couldn't help asking: "Is this auspicious or he can plant it whenever he wants, and it's all over the field?!"

Those who were touting that Song Shi was good at farming also felt that it was better to believe that he could grow so much Jiahe than to believe in King Zhou's destiny. Their cheeks and ears were quietly flushed, and they silently avoided his gaze and questions, and refused to say more.

Instead, Zhou Wang, who was forcibly stripped of his aura of destiny, relieved them with a smile: "It's not that the fields are all over the place, but Mr. Song ordered people to open up more than [-] experimental fields, all of which were grown in the prefectures and counties of the prefecture. , and even the fine varieties purchased from other provinces. Pick out a few good rice plants with different appearances from each field, and the collection will be quite a lot.”

As for how Mr. Song planted these golden harvests, it has nothing to do with gods.When he was farming, he had already written down the notes in detail, and he was willing to present it to the Holy Emperor as a gift for this year's holy birthday.

"I don't often go out of the prefecture, so I don't know the details of farming, but Huan Ling, the censor of Youqin Capital, has also handled this matter, and knows the key points. Mr. Huan has brought Mr. Song's rice planting notes into the palace and is waiting in the side hall. , please summon my father."

What!This Golden Harvest is really something he can grow if he wants to?

His Highness was in an uproar, and Zhang Cifu was even more in a trance—he was teaching the champion of "Spring and Autumn", not the champion of "Nongjing", right?In the Song Dynasty in Beijing, he was obviously a romantic talent who read books, listened to operas, printed books and compiled books. How could he be transformed into a character like Xu Xing, the ancestor of the peasant family?