How many buildings are in the mist

In March, the spring breeze is unexpectedly warm, and the people in Jiankang City are discussing how long the peach blossoms will last this year.People don't talk about Magnolia, because they have already opened up in a low-key way, and the fragrance is all over the city.The palace was no exception, when Cui Xuanji walked towards Feng Zihuan's bedroom, thick white petals fell to the ground.Because she didn't want to step on the petals, she could hardly find a place to put her foot down.Walking past one of the magnolia trees, the entire magnolia flower fell on her shoulders, which did not match the navy blue clothes.She was enjoying the flowers, when a female official came up immediately and asked if the adults could give them to her when they finished enjoying them.

"What do you want this for?" she asked with a smile.

"My lord doesn't know that magnolia petals can be used for cooking. Dou Shangshi ordered us to pick and store more in the palace and marinate them with sugar. They are delicious."

Cui Xuanji nodded, then gently blew the dust off the flowers and handed them to the female officer.

"Thank you, Master Cui." It was Dou Shangshi who spoke, and she came from behind Cui Xuanji, curtsying when she met Cui Xuanji's eyes.

Cui Xuanji smiled and said to her: "I met Dou Shangshi. Dou Shangshi is knowledgeable and talented. I only know that magnolia {129} can be used as medicine, but I don't know that after flowering, it can still be eaten."

"Master Cui was born in a noble family. Mr. Cui may have eaten this kind of food before, but he just doesn't know how to make it."

Cui Xuanji knew that this person had always spoken like this—never concealed her dislike for the nobles—but she didn’t care, she just laughed and said: “Dou Shangshi was joking, my family’s food is never full of delicacies; I'm used to being rough, and I don't like sweets very much, so I'm so ignorant now." He asked His Majesty how he was today, and when Dou Shangshi finished his answer, he retired with his subordinates.Cui Xuanji went to see Feng Zihuan himself.

"coming?"

"See Your Majesty."

"Get up." Feng Zihuan said while waving his hands, and the others also retreated knowingly.Cui Xuanji went to the seat below her and sat down, poured himself a drink, and went up to pour Feng Zihuan a good glass. "Why did Your Majesty come to the side hall today?"

"The front hall is full of magnolia fragrance, almost stuffy. I have to hide."

Cui Xuanji laughed, Feng Zihuan feigned anger, "What are you laughing at?!"

"Your Majesty has something to hide from."

"Hey! The scent of flowers is too strong, who can stand it! You haven't seen how little incense I use."

"Then what fragrance does His Majesty like?"

"Scent..."

Seeing that she was in a good mood, Cui Xuanji wanted to use small things to make her happy and relieve her recent pressure.The list agreed upon by Feng Zizhang and Cui Yi was submitted a few days ago. Feng Zihuan first discussed it directly in the court, and then revised it together with the two.Gu Heng was very dissatisfied with this, because it completely excluded another faction in the imperial court, which was neither fair nor suspected of being partisan.Feng Zihuan sneered in the court hall, stopped Cui Yi who wanted to respond, and said directly to Gu Heng that the list was discussed in the court hall, and it will be revised again, and will be sent back to the court for trial after revision.I didn't say no to the trial and sent it directly. Besides, Gu Aiqing is the supervisor of Zhongshu. According to the regulations of our dynasty, the appointment and dismissal of personnel above the prefect, and the number of three or more people must go through me, the prime minister, the left and right servants and you. A total of five people from Zhongshujian agreed. What is Aiqing worried about?

"Did you already assume that I will definitely act over you? Do you force yourself to do it knowing you can't do it? This is technically impossible, and you still want to speculate on what I mean and convict me of nothing?"

Gu Heng had nothing to say.He understood that among the five people who needed to be stamped, Feng Zihuan was not mentioned, and the list was drawn up by Cui Yi and Feng Zizhang together, so it can be seen that the positions of these three people must be unified.Although You Servant Fan Deng acted impartially, he had always been at odds with Gu Heng, not to mention he also came from a poor family, so it was obvious that he would stand with those three people.What else is there to say?If he didn't try his best to stop them during the court meeting, he would never have the chance to resist them again.

Therefore, the day before the revised list was submitted to the imperial court, Gu Heng had a rare banquet for many descendants of the royal families who were officials in the imperial court. He hoped that everyone could work together, not to obstruct this matter, but to reduce the possible harm it might cause.Cui Xuanji knew the news early in the morning, she struggled for a while, and finally told Feng Zihuan and Cui Yi.The reactions of the two were quite different, although they both smiled, Feng Zihuan nodded, while Cui Yi shook her head.

During the court meeting that day, they kept saying that it was lunch time, but the quarrel did not end.Courtiers with insufficient grades were not allowed to enter, so Xie Yan could only wait outside. When she met Cui Xuanji who was on patrol, she asked her to go in and have a look.Cui Xuanji came out soon and said to her, why don't I take you in and wait.Xie Yan was surprised and said, "Although you are the general of Yubayashi Zhonglang, isn't it against the law to bring people into and out of Taicheng casually?"

"Don't worry, I believe His Majesty would like to see you today."

The quarrel ended in an implacable manner, because Cui Yi worked hard to make peace, no one quarreled, and the list had to be handed over for retrial.Especially on the issue of candidates for several important states and counties, the two sides were in dispute and refused to compromise with each other.Cui Xuanji simply brought Xie Yan in front of the emperor. Xie Yan felt that he had come to the wrong place, but the three of them invited her to join the discussion.

As a result, the final plan reached the day before yesterday had a more complicated design in terms of number of people and methods.Send a team of three to each state and county, including two civil servants and one accompanying military officer, to send back a report every three days, which can be written jointly or separately; Cross-selection is carried out, even the guards selected by states and counties are no exception.Especially when choosing high-ranking families among the civil servants, Feng Zihuan finally listened to Xie Yan's suggestion, not only cross-dispatching and reviewing in different places, but also kept the reviewers as far away as possible from other families with relatives and friends, and even chose to have enmity with each other family, in order to achieve the purpose of restraining each other.

In this regard, Cui Yi expressed her disapproval, thinking that although it was a last resort, troubles would inevitably arise.Unexpectedly, Feng Zihuan retorted that it would be good if something happened, I don't want anything, the only bad thing may be that doing so will make these clans who have enmity with each other become one.

Cui Yi pushed the boat along the way and suggested that the family members should be carefully selected in this matter.Feng Zihuan said in his heart, I really lost to you, an old fox.But Feng Zizhang secretly admired him, and promptly threw out his backup plan.Only then did Xie Yan realize that this was the way the emperor was designed.So when she came out, Xie Yan asked Cui Xuanji if she knew about it, but Cui Xuanji didn't speak, just glanced at her and nodded.

When the officials set off that morning—the day after the announcement was deliberately chosen, so as not to give anyone time to collude with each other—Feng Zihuan spoke to the crowd, impassioned and said many things related to the future of the country, to the Our great ambition to expel Yan and Xianbei and restore the Central Plains is a great cause for thousands of years.Cui Xuanji looked at the officials below with different expressions, but still had no idea.

Looking at Feng Zihuan's demeanor, it's probably the same.Of course, she also has a lot of pressure, much greater than herself.I want to share it for her, but it is difficult to share one ten-thousandth of it.

At this moment Feng Zihuan was still thinking, when suddenly a gust of wind blew and rustled the bamboo grove outside the hall, "If you want to talk about the fragrance, ah, it's the bamboo fragrance."

"Bamboo fragrance?"

"Yes, bamboo originally has its own fragrance. Although it is hidden and not obvious, it is often the base of the fragrance of other plants and trees, and it lasts for a long time. Whether it grows there, cut it down, or made it into furniture mats, it will not Disappear. Pine or plum, although they stand upright like a gentleman, but in the matter of fragrance, they are still ostentatious, I don’t like it.”

There was another gust of wind, Cui Xuanji tried to smell it, but still only smelled magnolia flowers.

"Hey, the cover is gone." Feng Zihuan disliked it like a child, Cui Xuanji said with a smile, "If Your Majesty doesn't like it, the imperial palace is His Majesty's home, just remove all the magnolia trees."

Unexpectedly, Feng Zihuan just sighed, "The world is also my world, and there are so many people and things that I don't like but I have to keep, let alone this tree? Compared with other flowers, I can only say that it is relatively different. Then you hate Yulan. Xuanji, do you think everything will go well when you go out to investigate this time?"

You gotta be honest with me, I know you will.

"Success will never happen, and His Majesty is also aware of this." Cui Xuanji deliberately put his tone softly, "As long as you can get the result your Majesty wants and make it easier for you to take the next step, that's enough."

"Well... In the court hall, looking at Gu Heng's posture, it seems that I am deliberately opposing him. If they don't do this, if they don't annex the land and occupy the population, what will I do? Don't I want to fight back directly, and don't need to be here Robbing tax revenues with them?"

Cui Xuanji was speechless, she also hated and disgusted, and also thought that what the family did was wrong.In her previous life, for her, these things were just unacceptable but could not be changed.Later, when I came to Feng Zihuan's side, it seemed that there was a chance to change it all of a sudden, but I didn't know that it seemed to be a major event that hurt my muscles and bones, so I couldn't do it lightly; once I started, I had to do it step by step carefully.

"Xuanji."

"exist."

"From Zizhang's letter, I read that the Xie family did not annex excessively, nor occupy the population. I... probably believe it. What about your family? I know about Cui Xiang's family, the one with the fewest slaves in Jiankang Men's mansion. Is your home in Yuzhang?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, my family is in Yuzhang, and the land is about [-]% more than when it was originally rewarded. As far as I know, the tenants, slaves and maidservants probably don't move, because they are used to it, and their bodies are still healthy. .”

"What about the private soldiers?"

"There should be more than [-] private soldiers. It is unknown whether there has been an increase or decrease in the past two years."

"five hundred?"

"Yes, many of them are tenants and workers. They usually receive wages and serve as private soldiers."

"Where's your uncle Cui Ren?"

"As far as I know, uncle has never had any private soldiers. There may be servants."

"It violates the law of the country, so there is no?"

"Yes. What's more, uncle is not the eldest house, so he can't be assigned."

"If what you said today is inconsistent with what you find out tomorrow, what should you do?"

"It shall be dealt with according to the laws of the country."

Feng Zihuan chuckled, and Cui Xuanji also knew that she was just asking, and might not really have the intention of investigating and punishing her.What's more, there is not much difference in the family, and my father was notified by my aunt early in the morning, so he will not be uncooperative.According to everyone's investigation, her Cui family has the loyalty of the sun and the moon.

"National law. I don't even know if the national law has been written, or how to deal with it."

"Speaking of this, Your Majesty, have you ever thought about finding out and how to deal with it?"

Feng Zihuan took a quick look at her, his eyes were sharp, Cui Xuanji was used to it, and it always existed, reminding her that Feng Zihuan was the emperor no matter what. "I've thought about it, but I don't know if it's feasible or not. Let's talk about it when the result comes out. When it comes out, I'll hand it over to Zizhang first. I see that she has Xie Yan's help and is willing to take on some things. Very good, why not let her come more Do it. Otherwise, look like royalty."

The two chatted with Xie Yan and Feng Zizhang for a while, and Cui Xuanji was "unscrupulously" betraying Xie Yan's childhood and trying to amuse Feng Zihuan, but Feng Zihuan suddenly asked: "Xuan Ji, do you want to bear the infamy for the country? Have you ever regretted it?" She originally wanted to ask "for my sake", but after all, she felt that this not only revealed her own thoughts, but also belittled the importance of what Cui Xuanji had done.

But Cui Xuanji was stunned for a moment, and said with a long breath: "Your Majesty has recently lost his memory, and even forgot my sincerity."

"I just..." I don't want you to be hurt unnecessarily. "That's all." Those who hurt you, aren't they hurting me and endangering the country?I will catch them all.If, if everything will be as I expected.

She wanted them to have a mountain of evidence, she wanted them to be ashamed, she hoped they would give in quickly so that she could give them a step down.

However, everyone is unavoidable for a moment of naivety.

The officials who went out in early March arrived at the places they wanted to check at the earliest three days later.In mid-March, reports came back one after another.Feng Zihuan thought that she had given such a long time to let the rumors out, and told these people to calm down as soon as possible, and not to make too much trouble, or these people still had basic morality and conscience, so they would not go too far.Unexpectedly, the honest and upright officials who harbor hatred for the family and compassion for the people will truthfully report everything they see and hear to the court.It is not uncommon for Feng Zizhang to see things on the road. There are also loan sharks that have increased to ten thousand yuan in just half a year; People watched their wives and daughters become other people's prostitutes; they beat the bitter master to death and took the good land as their own; Han Ping's younger brother Han Xu's family alone owned a thousand hectares of fertile land in Yongjia County, and a few of them There are many tenants and maidservants, and many maidservants have the bad news of recruiting tenants and maidservants, resulting in the fact that the population of Lecheng County is less than [-]% of what it should be.

When Feng Zihuan heard this, he picked up the censer on the table and threw it out—the censer hit the doorpost and shattered—and said angrily, “Is the eunuch a fool? But there is so little cloth, and he said there is no problem! Tingwei!! Pass the decree, bring the county magistrate and the prefect together, and send people to arrest them, and if they are detained, they will be sent to prison immediately!!" Tingwei agreed, and Feng Zihuan again Order him to do it immediately, without waiting for the end of the court meeting.

She glanced at Gu Heng, the old man's face was expressionless, he probably thought it was a trivial matter, not related to the real mainstream clan, so don't worry about it.Feng Zihuan became even more angry.Cui Yi observed the situation carefully, and felt that it was acceptable to let it go, so she told Cui Xuanji to be careful not to ignite lightly or rush to put it out in the palace.

Unexpectedly, for several days in a row, the reports that came like snowflakes became more and more shocking.Kuaiji County, which had not heard from him for a long time, also sent back a report, telling all the good things Chen Bo did near Shanyin.Even Feng Zizhang was surprised that this Chen Bo didn't hold back, even intensified, and even personally participated in many things.Feng Zihuan was furious at the court, and ordered Tingwei to immediately send someone to arrest Shanyin County Chancellor and Chen Bo himself, and specifically asked to use shackles to come all the way. "And his father! He was far away in Yulin, and immediately summoned Shangjing—no, lock him up!!" Unexpectedly, an ignorant son of a family admonished Chen Tong in the court hall, saying that Chen Tong was an official of one party, and he was arrested in violation of the crime. , I'm afraid it's not suitable for etiquette.

"Okay, you want to wait for Chen Bo to commit some crime against the barbarians, and then let Chen Tong go to Beijing?!" The kid who felt that he had made a slip of the tongue had no time to apologize, and was immediately reprimanded by Feng Zihuan and dismissed on the spot.Cui Yi knew that something was wrong, and after the court meeting ended, she took the initiative to tell Feng Zihuan not to discuss the report in the court hall from now on, "to avoid such disasters."

No matter how resigned Feng Zihuan was, his anger did not subside, and he immediately began to curse.

At this moment, Cui Xuanji came outside the gate of the palace, and naturally heard Feng Zihuan angrily scolding Cui Yi whether sending herself to the emperor was for the purpose of surveillance, and if it was for this, what was her intention!

She didn't know if Feng Zizhang was in there, but she didn't have time to think about it.There were only Feng Zihuan's words in his ears, when he was at his most angry, constantly accusing Cui Yi of failing to live up to the emperor's respect and trust.The rain didn't fall on him, but his body was already wet.Feng Zihuan didn't deny herself, but she already felt that everything she did was in vain.

Normally she would not be so irrational, but this is Feng Zihuan.

The author has something to say:

{129} is the flower bud of magnolia flower, the kind with fine hairs.