The days when I pretended to be a cat in the Forbidden City[Comprehensive]

Liu Che hadn't slept so soundly for a long time.

In order to welcome the vassal king into Beijing, the quilt that had just been dried was soft and fresh, all the attendants were covered outside, the room was very quiet, and no one would come to wake him up early.

In Elder brother's place, he is neither the crown prince nor His Highness Liu Che, but just a younger brother favored by Elder brother.

Liu Che buried his face in the bed, hey, why does it stink in here, oh yes, this is the place where he gnawed on the quilt yesterday, cough, cough, the little boy rolled a little to the side, where brother slept yesterday It is fragrant.

Xia Anran himself doesn't like incense very much, he has a sensitive nose, and incense is a bit hurtful to him, and today's incense needs to be ignited to smoke clothes.

Even though some spices are well matched, he can still smell the smoke.The only thing he can tolerate this smell is barbecue, and he doesn't like anything else.

However, as a feudal lord, he would be underestimated for not offering incense, and his maverick in this respect at this age would give people a feeling... Zhongshan is very poor, so the female officials of Zhongshan started to give Xia An Ran concocted an incense that he could accept.

The little king didn't know how they thought of it. These female officials who were worried about the little king used the cold extraction or distillation of herbs to make a fragrance, which may be inspired by orange peel essential oil.

Whether this kind of sesame oil is put in the sachet or sprinkled on the clothes, it emits a rather light smell as he walks - after all, it is pure natural and fragrance-free, and it can't be strong if you want to.Because it does not need to be burned, although it is a bit sweet, Xia Anran still likes it.

The secret recipe of this fragrance was placed on the female officer's side, and Xia Anran gave a reward of silver in recognition of the lady's serious work attitude.

Liu Che is also familiar with this smell, because the earliest essence was made by the little king and given to him. To this day, when Liu Che is in a bad mood, he will sprinkle some orange peel oil in the water and take a bath.

The elder brother also has a little orange fragrance, and they smell like a family.

He laughed for a while, and then the expression on his face faded little by little.

There was no one else in the room, and of course he didn't need to deliberately maintain his expression.Liu Che was a smart boy, he could see the sudden change in brother's attitude after meeting his father yesterday, and then related to his brother's habit of telling him stories in the past, the little prince knew something was wrong.

Although my elder brother liked to bring some truths into the stories before, he usually would not take the initiative to ask him. Most of the time, he would ask his elder brother, and then the two brothers would dig together. But this time the elder brother is so tough... he must be with him. It is related to the "homework" that the father gave to the elder brother.

Maybe it has something to do with the father saying that he would use a legitimate reason to keep brother.

Liu Che looked around, his brother seemed to have taken the bamboo scroll away, and he couldn't see what was written on it for a while.

But it doesn't matter, you will see it sooner or later.The little boy bulged his cheeks, jumped out of the bed and dressed himself without calling anyone, and sat on the bed instead of asking anyone to wash his mouth.

He was still thinking about yesterday's story about Nezha.

Brother yesterday gave him an example of the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion and the Xiongnu. Both of these things are the confidant of the big man.

The Xiongnu were only temporarily repelled, or they were only temporarily retreated by the emperor's tricks, and they will definitely attack again when they think about it.The vassal states are even more... Liu Qi told him more than once about the harm of the vassal states, but Liu Che couldn't imagine that his brothers would plot against him like this in the future, let alone believe that they would betray him.

Especially his brother Sheng.

...Leaving this aside, Liu Che substituted himself into the story. The Dragon King is the Huns who made great progress, and he himself is Li Jing. ... He, he is too happy to be happy!How could it be possible to blame him!

If there really is such a bloody general who can still fight, and most importantly, he will never listen to any objections, and will support him wholeheartedly!

If this person can fight on the prairie... then give him the title of general, let him be under one person, above ten thousand people, if someone wants to scold him... that's okay, when the time comes, he will put this person's tomb Put it next to his own mausoleum. In the future, he will give him a share of incense if he can eat it. If anyone scolds him, I will block it for him. Thinking about it, I feel very happy, hehe, hehe.

Liu Che was daydreaming, when he suddenly heard the voice of a female officer approaching outside the door, "His Royal Highness is awake? Can this servant come in to serve you?"

The little prince sat upright, "Come in."

"Here." But after a while, the female officials filed in, and the first one put down the basin filled with warm water and asked him to rinse his mouth, "His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness King Zhongshan is waiting for you in the courtyard. He said...he has a gift to bring." here you are."

Hearing this, Liu Che raised his head and drank the water. After rinsing his mouth, he spit it out. Then, the little prince finished washing his face, applying ointment and combing his hair at an extraordinary speed, and stepped out of the room in two or three steps. .

Gift?And put it in the garden!I don't know what my brother brought him, but yesterday he said he would put it together!

Liu Che was shocked when he stepped into the courtyard. He saw a huge wooden box!

"His Royal Highness?" A young man happened to pass by, seeing him hurriedly bowing and saluting, several people inside were startled.

Xia Anran saw that it was his younger brother who came and greeted him, and the two saluted each other.Liu Che took his brother's hand and followed him to the front of the wooden box, only to realize that it was not a wooden box, but rather big, at least as tall as an adult and as wide as two adults.

This... what is this?

The little king pulled him back, and then asked someone to bring a bow and arrow. At the same time, he signaled his attendants to start shaking the handle on the side. Liu Che immediately saw a piece of paper with a flying bird flying inside, and the movement was without track. to speak of.

Liu Che immediately understood, "Brother, is this for me to practice archery?"

"Yes." Xia Anran thought of this when his younger brother wrote to say that he had started training moving targets.

According to the current training method, one shot is either a person walking around against the target, or a group of birds flying. The cost is quite high, and it is limited by the venue and the weather, so Liu Che sometimes has to secretly catch it by himself with a slingshot. Bird shot to find the touch.

This thing is similar to the modern shooting training mechanism, and the principle is also very simple. There are several tracks inside, and the moving speed of the "bird" depends on the gear engagement on the tracks. The left joystick controls the speed, and the right controls the altitude. So it looks like flying randomly without rules, but in fact there is a rhythm to be found.But it doesn't hurt to find the pattern, just change a gear of a different size.

"If you have this thing, you won't be afraid of the weather, and you can play at any time!" Liu Che was extremely happy, "And you don't have to worry about losing the prey, so it won't be easy to compare! Brother, can I invite Aqing and Ayan to play together?"

Xia Anran nodded with a smile, "You can make up your own mind about the gift I gave you."

"That!" Liu Xiaozhu looked up excitedly, "Brother, can we play now?"

Xia Anran's expression froze, and he patted his younger brother's shoulder calmly, "Che'er, it will take some time to adjust this thing, and the craftsman needs to teach the local master craftsman how to repair and rebuild, so we can't play it yet."

"Oh..." Liu Che looked at this gift very reluctantly, but Xia Anran mercilessly pulled his brother away.

The only fighting skill that the little king is good at is swordsmanship, and his archery skills can only be said to be average, and he can pretend to be a fool to hunt.If he played with his younger brother, in order not to lose face, he could only use the crossbow... No, that would be a shame, Liu Xiaozhu could already pull a stone bow.

There is no way, there are some shorts and some good ones, Xia Anran is not not working hard, her talent is indeed limited.Fortunately, it's good to be able to use swordsmanship to bluff people. Cheng Bushi said that his swordsmanship is quite spiritual. In the early Western Han Dynasty, the main weapon hadn't changed from the sword to the knife, so the little king can be regarded as stepping on the context of the times.

The gift for Liu Che was quickly put on a cart and transported to his own palace. Xia Anran turned a blind eye to his younger brother's reluctant eyes, but suddenly remembered that something was missing.

"Ah Qing and the others? Why didn't they accompany you?"

When Liu Che was asked this question, he was secretly eating the lotus root clip made by his elder brother.Liu Xiaozhu rolled around coquettishly to his brother and said that he wanted to eat the lotus root clips he had eaten when he was a child. The little king who doted on his brother could only cook for him, but he ate it while frying it, causing Xia Anran to stare at him: When I was a child, I was not so greedy, and I could still take care of Ah Qing.

"Ah Qing went to look for Mr. Li." Liu Che held up his chopsticks, pouting and blowing on the hot lotus root, "Ayan and Aqian went to help."

"...Help?" Xia Anran's eyes widened, "Help for what?"

"I don't know." Liu Che said with a cute face, "Maybe it's to see what my future brother-in-law will look like!"

Still say I don't know! !Ah Qing, an honest child, was tricked by you to find trouble with Mr. Li!Xia Anran couldn't laugh or cry.

Wei Ru is a few years older than Xia Anran, and has already passed the marriageable age. At first, she was afraid to marry because of her status, but later she found that she could afford the fines, and her career was on the rise. .If it weren't for meeting Li Danghu, a stalker, I'm afraid he really didn't want to get married for a while.

Li Danghu has gone through several twists and turns since he came to take the exam at the beginning and is now bound in Zhongshan Kingdom. Wei Ru nodded, and immediately asked his parents to come and hire him without hesitation.

Both Li Guang and Mrs. Li were taken aback by his son's aggressive behavior.After knowing the subtlety of Wei Ru's life experience, both parties were also a little embarrassed. According to the family background, Wei Ru is already a single family with a younger brother, but in terms of blood and relationship, she has a mother and a large group of brothers and sisters. Where to go is also a question.

In particular, the Wei family is still in the Pingyang Princess Mansion, which is some distance away from the Dai County where the Li family is located.

In the end, it was negotiated that after Li Danghu came to the capital this time, he went to the Wei family to discuss how to operate.After all, the relationship between the Wei family is very good, and the Li family and Wei Ru don't mind that their mother and family members are slaves. If possible, they still hope that the Wei family can participate in the process of the ritual as Wei Ru's family.

But before Wei Ru wrote the letter, she was rejected by Wei Wei. This woman who could refuse to recognize her for the sake of her children's future also decided not to admit it for her daughter's future happiness.

In fact, after Wei Qing came to Chang'an, he often met with the Wei family outside the Princess Mansion, and the relationship with the Wei family was relatively close, but sons and daughters are different.

Wei Wei said to her sons and daughters in this way: "Ah Qing will follow His Highness, and he will have his own destiny in the future. What kind of girl he can marry at that time depends on his ability. The girls marry their children at home. What he values ​​is also that he can take good care of the girl in the future. After all, Aru is a woman, and our mother's failure to stand up will make her be looked down upon by her husband's family, not to mention that Aru will marry into an ordinary family."

"Don't say I'm biased." Wei Wei looked at the expressions on the faces of one son and two daughters, especially the two beautiful daughters, "I was confused and sent Ah Qing to that jackal's house. A Ru was alone. Going to find your elder brother alone, it is her blessing that she was taken in by the king of Zhongshan, and she earned it with her life."

"Your sister is valued not because of how she looks, but because she has a job and is safe." After that, she glared at the most beautiful second daughter, "All the things your sister has acquired now She got it all by herself, and my mother doesn't have the face to ask her what she wants."

"Mother, don't talk about it, we understand." Wei Dalang held Wei Wei's hand that kept waving because of excitement, "We won't bother A Ru."

"You'd better be like this!" Wei Wei looked at the faces of each of the children, "If it's not that the mother is partial, it will be the same for any of you to be successful in the future. You will live your own life. It doesn't matter if you marry or marry a wife. Well, Mother will not force you to support your own family."

"If you can rely on yourself, you can rely on yourself. Only when you stand up can you really stand up. Relying on others will always be a weak bone, and you will be worthless."

Several sons and daughters stood up one after another when they heard the words and bowed down to promise.Unexpectedly, at this time, there was a female voice outside laughing and said: "It's good to stand up on your own, who lives here? It's quite temperamental, and bring it out for me to see."

After Wei Qing, who brought his little friends to find trouble for his prospective brother-in-law, came back, he saw his own family members who were bewildered and hadn't recovered from it. He hurried forward, and hurriedly held his mother's hand, " Mother, brother, sister, why are you here?"

Wei Wei's gaze became the focus on her son's face, and she said a little weakly: "My lord, the princess has sent us out of slavery..."

The Wei family were the slaves of the Marquis of Pingyang, and after Princess Pingyang Marquis Shang, they naturally went to serve the princess' mansion.A few years ago, Pingyang Hou was entrusted by Liu Sheng, one of his brother-in-law, to send them to Zhongshan country to recognize their relatives. Later, a few of them came back and naturally asked, but Cao Shou was a big man after all, with a big heart. After the twists and turns in the middle, I just sighed a few words, and then I didn't care much.

The Wei family continued to work in the mansion, but this family has been in the eyes of the master after all, and the subordinates will naturally take care of one or two when assigning work, plus Wei Qing and Wei Ru give subsidies from time to time, so the life of the Wei family is real Not upset.

But no matter how well they live, they are still slaves, but now, they are free.

The few people after freedom were naturally released from Princess Pingyang's mansion, and now they have nowhere to stay, so they can only come to look for Wei Qing.

Wei Qing's residence was sponsored by two brothers, Liu Che and Liu Sheng. It was located in a small house in the northern civilian area of ​​Chang'an City. He lived with Zhang Qian.The house is not big, so many people suddenly came and it was a bit crowded. Seeing this, Zhang Qian felt embarrassed, so he said that he was going to join Ayan and gave the place to Wei's family.

Wei Qing learned from Mrs. Wei that when she was teaching her children not to cause trouble to Wei Ru who was about to marry, the pregnant Princess Pingyang happened to be taking a walk in the mansion—although she couldn't figure out how the princess would walk to the servant girl. Where servants live.

Anyway, the princess is coming.

Princess Pingyang was pregnant with her first child, her mood was really soft, and she was shocked by Wei Wei's love for her daughter, so she raised her bare hand and led her out.She herself wanted to reward this mother, but later people around her told her about the Wei family, how smart this princess is, she immediately ordered the Wei family to be exempted from slavery.

As a woman and also Liu Che's older sister, she is very clear about her identity.Now she relies on her father Liu Qi, and in the future it will be her younger brother Liu Che, so it is more important for her younger brother to be able to secure the throne.

Now my brother's companion's sister is married to the Li family who holds military power. Of course, this is a good thing, and it's still a great thing.With this in-law relationship, the Li family is bound to stand by Cheer's side. The best thing is that the two young people see each other on their own, and because of fate, they will see each other with Shenger. Can't blame either.

Another one, I heard that the Wei family has a close relationship, so she removed the Wei family's native place at this time, so that the Wei family could participate in the ceremony as Wei Wei's family, and didn't let the Li family have any difficulties. She gave this favor, and the Li family must also accept it.

Therefore, Princess Pingyang not only released the man, but also allowed Wei Wei to take away all the money and property she had saved, and she also rewarded him with ten gold pieces for them to settle down. The series of actions were extremely generous and kind, and the Wei family was very grateful .

Princess Pingyang spoke, and the household registration was quickly completed that afternoon. The Wei family who had been freed were completely stunned by the series of sudden changes in the situation. They were not familiar with the situation in Chang'an City, so they could only do so under Wei Zifu's suggestion. First run to Wei Qing for help.

At this critical moment, the youngest girl in the family was the most sober. She said softly to Wei Qing: "Brother, we have been in the Princess Mansion and are not very familiar with the foreign market. I don't know if you know which one is more reliable. Let's find a way to find a house to live in first, and then find other things."

"Yaren..." Wei Qing didn't know about this problem either, so he went to Zhang Qian.Zhang Qian was at Han Yan's place. When the two little friends heard that there was such a good thing, they immediately asked someone to help find a place for the Wei family. So the next day, Li Danghu came to visit with a gift, and both parties were very happy After confirming the wedding process, Li Danghu also invited Wei's family to go to Zhongshan Country at that time. He and Wei Ru are both working in Zhongshan Country, so they will naturally be married in Zhongshan Country.

Li Danghu also suggested that for safety reasons, it is better to ask the Wei family to follow after the vassal king returns to the country. At that time, the Wei family can accompany Wei Ru for a period of time before sending her to marry.Wei Wei agreed after thinking about it.

Although Li Danghu was suspended from the post of guard this time, in fact Xia Anran asked him to solve the major issues in life.The little king was a little upset when he saw his face, and drove him away as soon as he arrived.So it took him several days to learn the news.

The Wei family... left Princess Pingyang's mansion.

Xia Anran blinked, then blinked again, then, what about Huo Qubing?What about Wei Zifu?This butterfly storm is awesome.

But today he is still calm. After all, this mission object and mission goal doomed the world to go in a strange direction, and it would be fine if Wei Zifu wasn't with Liu Che.

With her future family, if she married anyone other than Liu Che, she would not end up committing suicide.But I just don't know which beautiful life Liu Ju will be in by then!

Xia Anran looked at Liu Che with loving eyes, I'm sorry, my brother, I messed up your two wives.

Liu Che shivered in his brother's eyes. He looked up at his brother who was smiling gently, and then looked down at his brother's homework that was even more than his father assigned. The bitterness in his heart was like that of Shuitangzi. Generally gurgling and gurgling.

Fortunately, after a while, he saw his elder brother bowed his head and started to do his homework.Liu Che touched his head, then looked at his brother's extremely tricky question, and finally felt unable to sit still.He got up and walked to his elder brother, and said as he walked, "Brother, what are you writing..."

He glanced casually, and saw the central word of the little king—to prevent the princes and kings from governing the country again, and the emperor is to set up officials.

Varied……

He widened his eyes and couldn't believe it as he read the part that his brother had written now word by word, and his whole body was stunned by astonishment.

"Ah, brother." He asked dryly, "What are you writing?"

"Big brother, what do I think I'm writing?" Xia Anran stopped writing after hearing the words, he tilted his head slightly, his soft and docile almond eyes sparkled sharply at this moment, he rubbed his brother's cheek viciously, "You If you don’t understand, brother will beat you!”

Liu Che didn't care about his elder brother's hands raging on his face, but hurriedly grabbed his elder brother's sleeve, "Brother, once you make this remonstrance, you will definitely become the enemy in the hearts of princes and kings! Even, even other elder brothers I won't forgive you either!"

Not being able to govern the country is directly eradicating all the management rights of the princes and kings over the fiefdoms.Of course, in theory they still have military power, but military power can only be used once every few years, and it doesn't make much difference whether they have it or not.

And this move... will undoubtedly raise and abolish the princes and kings and their descendants.

An important factor in why their grandfather was elected to the throne of God was that he was in charge of the country.Dai State lacks resources and is close to the Han-Hungarian border, and its people are tough and full of crises. It is precisely because the late emperor was able to govern Dai State that it has been in the eyes of everyone in the court.

To put it bluntly, you can take up the job directly if you have enough work experience.

But if the ruling power of the vassal kings is removed, then even if the central government has an emergency, there will be no vassal kings in various places who can directly work because everyone has no experience.

The most important thing is that the emperor set up officials. If it is said that the inability to manage the government is sparse, it is a complete root removal.

At that time, there will be no selection right, and the power of the princes and kings will become weaker and weaker, and eventually they will become just like the marquis, just holding domestic salaries.

The threat of this decree is no less than that of Chao Cuo's decree to cut the feudal vassal, but it is a little milder.How could the other brothers not see the problem that Liu Che could see.

He squeezed his elder brother's hand tightly, preventing Xia Anran from writing, "Brother, you can't say this!"

Xia Anran smiled, "No, this can only be said by me. Cheer, did Emperor Father tell you about the advantages of choosing talent and trying?"

Liu Che blinked, but said nothing.

"Then did he tell you about his shortcomings?"

Liu Che pursed his mouth stubbornly, not allowing himself the chance to be persuaded by his brother.

Both of Xia Anran's hands were held down by his younger brother, so he lightly tapped his forehead on his younger brother's forehead, "It's okay for a year or two, have you ever thought that if the father chooses talents frequently, there will be no room for the talents in the end?" What about Seki?"

Liu Che was stunned.

Xia Anran patiently explained to his younger brother, "How many bureaucrats are there in Chang'an City? How many counties and counties are under the jurisdiction of Chang'an by the Han Dynasty? Once a talent selection was made with great fanfare, three or four hundred talents were sent from the whole country. If they are selected by the aristocratic family, it is necessary to reduce the influence of the local wealthy family and increase the attractiveness of Chang'an."

"Che'er, do you think being an official in Chang'an is attractive enough?"

Liu Che didn't answer, but his stubborn little eyes showed the answer.

Xia Anran sighed, "Wrong, the homeland is hard to leave. If given the choice, except for a very small number of people, most people are still willing to be officials in their ancestral land, the cost of living is low and they can bless their family to protect their family, and the same salary goes far away. Freer than being an official in Chang'an."

"So think about it, if all the vassal kings of the Han Dynasty are now open to talent selection... Do you know what the consequences will be?"

Liu Che was silent.

"The treatment of the vassal states is the same as Chang'an, which means that the salary of an official in the vassal state is the same, and he can take care of the family without needing to buy another property. Moreover, most of the vassal states are economically developed and prosperous in trade, which is no less than Chang'an." Xia Anran He sighed softly, "If the princes and princes can choose their own officials, it will not only affect the Hou country itself, but also the surrounding counties."

"Father can...can..."

"What can you do? Let the princes and kings hand over their talents?" Xia Anran smiled and shook her head, "Do you still remember what my elder brother said to you? To be at ease with your subordinates, you must either give honor or salary."

"If you come to Chang'an to be an official, you can honor your ancestors, but you can be an official in a vassal state, but you have a lot of salary. If you exclude those who have a big family and a career that can support his living costs in Chang'an and those who are difficult to leave their homeland, think about it, stay in the place for money. What kind of talent are you?"

Liu Che slowly let go of Xia Anran's hands, and murmured, "Profit seekers."

"That's right," Xia Anran sighed, "And what is the most beneficial thing in this world?"

He said without hesitation: "Only from the merits of the dragon."

"If the vassal king is surrounded by such courtiers, how can there be no chaos? Therefore, the vassal king must not have the right to appoint officials, and the selection of talents can only be executed by the central government."

"A country can have many voices, but there can only be one political center, and only one regime. Therefore, the existence of vassal states must be weakened."

Liu Che stared blankly at his elder brother who turned around to continue writing after saying this, and his eyes became hot, "Then, why do you have to write it brother? You can't ask a courtier to write it..."

"Because Zecai started from Zhongshan country." His elder brother said calmly, "So it must end from Zhongshan country."

The author has something to say:

Explain, Xia Miaomiao made a decision early on, so don't pity him! (refer to)

It is indeed a great thing to select talents for the imperial examination, but the premise is that it does not start with the vassal state.Don't forget what was the reason why Qin was able to become strong from the vassal states? ——Release talents in an eclectic manner.

In the same situation, the Zhongshan Kingdom has indeed collected a lot of talents, and it’s okay if you use them yourself, but what if other vassals also start to use this method?

At that time, in addition to Chang'an, more than 30 vassal states will be divided in the most economically developed eastern region, and reading resources will be easier to obtain in economically developed places, so there will be more talents.

Moreover, in the Han Dynasty, central officials were not superior. For example, they would not feel downgraded if they were transferred from two thousand stones from the imperial court to a local county prefect.In the same way, it is not an upgrade if the local government is transferred to the central government.

So in this case, the local government will compete with the central government for talents.

After all, everyone's salary is the same, and even the vassal state will offer high wages in order to attract talents.

A modern example is that in addition to the national civil service examination (plus occupational assignment), various localities have opened up local system civil service examinations and said - you come to my place to take the examination, our civil servants here have higher salaries than those in Beijing 10 percent.What will happen?

It is not allowed in modern times, let alone ancient times where the relationship is delicate.

This operation will greatly strengthen the local power, so even if Xia Miao doesn't say it, Liu Qi will actually do it

Cough, he has indeed done this in history!

To put it simply, Xia Miaomiao stabbed the leak by herself and is now working hard to fix it, and Liu Xiaozhu feels that brother has been wronged a lot.