Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 130 Chu Shizhao is determined to become a vassal, and Da Zhou also wants to change rice to mulberry
What was beyond Chu Shizhao's expectation was.

The Great Zhou Dynasty seemed to have a delayed response to the rebellion in the south. It could not be said that it did not care, but it completely regarded it as a trivial matter that it ignored.

When this battle report reached Chang'an, almost no ministers took it to heart. Chu Shizhao was a little surprised at first, until he discovered that a local uprising occurred every two or three years in the Zhou Dynasty on average.

He suddenly realized why the Great Zhou Dynasty never cared about these uprisings.

Only if an uprising is successful will it be recorded in history books.

It didn't succeed. It was just that someone started a rebellion in a certain place and year and it was put down.

In the view of the ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty, this group of rebels would never cause any big waves, so they would not take it seriously.

Only Emperor Yongjin took this very seriously.

Without him.

He personally experienced the Battle of Poyang and was well aware that there was an insurgent force in the south that was gradually growing stronger after his death.

Based on this point alone, Emperor Yongjin cannot let down his guard.

However, there is still a huge mountain in the heart of Emperor Yongjin, which is the rising aristocratic families whose voice in the court is gradually gaining strength.

The Wang family was highly valued by Emperor Yongjin because, as a prominent family in Jingzhao, they were the first family to openly submit to Emperor Yongjin and truly support his rule.

The most important point is that over the years, the extra financial taxes of the Great Zhou Dynasty were collected by the Wang family on behalf of Emperor Yongjin.

Wang Ruizhen was considered a special favor of Emperor Yongjin.

However, Emperor Yongjin certainly knew that the reason why Wang supported him so desperately was to make a profit from it, so after Chu Shizhao said those words, Emperor Yongjin had no intention of targeting Chu Shizhao.

From the perspective of the fourth son, the threat posed by the Wang family to him was real. Apart from anything else, just considering the fight for the throne, the Wang family would never agree to let other princes who were not of the "Wang family bloodline" succeed to the throne.

The threats and concerns Chu Shizhao expressed were all from the bottom of his heart.

After much deliberation, Emperor Yongjin specially summoned Guo Qian, the commander of the Wude Division, to the palace.

All the officials in the court have their own personal connections to a greater or lesser extent, and many of them are in contact with each other, some even forming cliques in the true sense of the word.

On the side of Emperor Yongjin, Guo Qian was both a childhood friend and a lone minister who was not very close to the big families in the court. After all, Guo Qian's background made it impossible for him to play together with people from those big families.

When Guo Qian walked into the West Garden where Emperor Yongjin often worked, Emperor Yongjin, dressed in a Taoist robe, was playing a game of Go.

Emperor Yongjin did not look up at Guo Qian, whom he had called over, and was still arranging something on the chessboard. Guo Qian was also very patient, just half-bowed respectfully, waiting for Emperor Yongjin to speak.

"You're here?" Emperor Yongjin raised his head and smiled, then stared at Guo Qian for a few seconds, and said as if reminiscing about the past: "We have known each other for more than 30 years, right?"

Guo Qian replied cautiously, "I have known Your Majesty since I was young. It is by sheer luck that I have this job. I am truly honored."

"If it weren't for Your Majesty, I don't know where I would make a living."

Emperor Yongjin asked again: "I heard that your son is very smart and proficient in archery and horse riding. Is that true?"

Guo Qian lowered his head and said, "It's just nonsense between children and flattering words from some ministers."

The two of them exchanged a few words, and it was unclear whether they were exchanging pleasantries or chatting about family matters. After a while, Emperor Yongjin took Guo Qian's hand and said, "You are too distant from me, not like before."

"The king is the king, and the minister is the minister." Guo Qian answered cautiously: "Now that your majesty has summoned me to the palace, it must be for an important matter. How can I forget my duty as a minister just because we were close in the past?"

Emperor Yongjin stared at Guo Qian in front of him and said, "Who do you think is better, the King of Qin or the King of Jin?"

These sudden words caught Guo Qian off guard. Guo Qian did not dare to ask and answer quickly as before, and fell into a long-lost silence.

King of Qin was the title of the Eastern Palace Chu Shixu, and King of Jin was the title of the fourth prince Chu Shizhao.

In terms of the meaning of the titles, Qin refers to the area from Tianshui to Longxi Guanzhong, which is the Chang'an area, and Jin refers to the Jinyang area.

If Chu Shizhao wanted to be enfeoffed, according to the scale and meaning of his title, he should be enfeoffed in Jinyang.

To be honest, Guo Qian could answer any question, respond to any question, and do anything, but he didn't want to get involved in the family affairs of the Zhou Dynasty court at all.

The battle for the crown prince throughout history has always been a bloody battle. No matter who the ministers support, they will be held accountable by the other side afterwards, unless you choose the right person from the beginning.

People like Guo Qian, who relied on connections to reach this level of position, had actually already had the opportunity to follow the dragon once, but he did not dare to bet that he could succeed again.

Now Guo Qian wants to get out of this situation safely and enjoy his old age in peace.

"The Prince of Qin in the Eastern Palace comes from a prominent family and is the legitimate son of the Queen. He has been taught and mentored by countless ministers, so he should be the best candidate." When Guo Qian said this, he suddenly paused.

"But the King of Jin is a man who can accomplish great things."

This is a very interesting statement.

First he praised the King of Qin, and then turned around. It seemed that he was not biased towards anyone, but by saying this, he was actually inclined to the latter.

The main reason is that Chu Shixu really looked down on ministers with backgrounds like Guo Qian.

Although King Qin Chu Shixu had a good reputation and was taught many Confucian classics by his ministers, he was also extremely considerate and courteous to those ministers, and even often used the good advice of the ministers to admonish himself.

But Guo Qian was a rough man. He knew that what the King of Qin did was all bullshit and nothing more than a show.

A truly virtuous and capable person will do practical things instead of seeking false fame like this.

"Can he accomplish great things?" Emperor Yongjin fell into deep thought, "How can we tell?"

The main reason why Emperor Yongjin could clearly see that Chu Shizhao was a man capable of great things was because of that dream-like experience.

But Guo Qian had no such experience, so he wanted to hear the reason.

"Not to mention the memorial on public security." Emperor Yongjin made a special addition, because in the eyes of Emperor Yongjin, the memorial on public security submitted by Chu Shizhao was more of a criticism of the court, and in fact failed to change the political situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Although Chu Shizhao wanted to change the atmosphere by issuing public security memorials, it would be ineffective under the current circumstances. "The King of Jin patrolled around Chang'an and punished many evildoers." Guo Qian said immediately, "The arrogant people from the big families in the past dare not show up at this time."

Guo Qian has a lot to say about maintaining public order.

Among the positions given to him by Emperor Yongjin, the one that could be said to have actual power was that Guo Qian could arrest those who "disrupted public order" in Chang'an.

The main function of the Wude Division, in addition to guarding the imperial city and protecting the emperor, was to maintain public order in Chang'an.

However, this position is not easy to hold, and Guo Qian has wanted to retire for many years.

Does he dare to arrest the children of officials in Chang'an?

Most of the time, Guo Qian dared to be angry but not to speak out. Every time he captured someone, he had to persuade the other party in a humble manner. In fact, many people did not give Guo Qian any face.

The King of Qin was close to the children of officials, so he naturally looked down on a peasant like Guo Qian.

Thinking about it this way, the King of Jin treated Guo Qian with great humility, and hated evil. He did not spare the faces of those children of officials and punished those who were guilty. Compared with Guo Qian's attitude that sometimes had to be humble, the King of Jin was indeed upright and not the kind of person who flattered the superiors and bullied the subordinates.

Although he had some dislikes towards the King of Qin, the reason why Guo Qian praised the King of Jin was not because he hated the King of Qin and wanted to elevate the King of Jin, but because he admired the things that the King of Jin did in certain areas.

Emperor Yongjin was not surprised by Guo Qian's affinity with Chu Shizhao. After all, the Zhou Dynasty was increasingly biased towards family background, as evidenced by the intermarriage between the big families. Many daughters of famous families in Jingzhao only married descendants of the same famous families.

Ministers with backgrounds like Guo Qian are often the ones who are excluded, and the Emperor Yongjin's questioning this time was also to observe and consider other people's views on Prince of Jin Chu Shizhao.

Because the more Emperor Yongjin paid attention to Chu Shizhao, the more he discovered characteristics in Chu Shizhao that were different from ordinary people.

Chu Shizhao had no desires. He did not seek wealth or women. In fact, he had no desire for power and repeatedly expressed his desire to become a vassal.

There is no difference between becoming a vassal and voluntarily giving up the throne.

It would have been fine if he had mentioned it once, but he brought up the idea of ​​becoming a vassal every time, which showed that Chu Shizhao was not afraid that his father would make up his mind and immediately make him a vassal.

He really wanted to escape from Chang'an.

This also made it increasingly difficult for Emperor Yongjin to figure out Chu Shizhao's true intentions. Looking at what Chu Shizhao had done in recent days, the most you could say was that he liked fame.

But Chu Shizhao was not simply interested in fame. He did what he should do, and he also did things that he should not do as a prince.

Is it true that Chu Shizhao is really devoted to the country and only cares about the affairs of the country?
Thinking of this, Emperor Yongjin frowned and changed the subject. The succession of the throne was too sensitive. He sought out Guo Qian to talk just to see which of his sons were capable of being useful from other people's perspectives.

The result was exactly what Emperor Yongjin had in mind.

Emperor Yongjin sighed and said, "He is just a boy who wants fame."

Emperor Yongjin took out another memorial and said, "The national treasury has been in serious deficit these days. Confiscating all of Wang Ruizhen's property was just a relief. Now there is another uprising in the southeast. Someone has come up with an idea for me to replace rice with mulberry to generate income for the country. What do you think?"

Guo Qian was slightly startled.

The literal meaning of "changing rice fields to mulberry fields" is very simple, which is to let farmers change rice fields into mulberry fields and plant mulberry trees to increase income.

Because the income from growing crops on the land is not as great as that from growing mulberry trees.

Moreover, by planting mulberry trees, one can cultivate silkworms, which can then be made into silk. In the Zhou Dynasty, silk was a luxury item with extremely high value.

At first glance, this seems to be a good policy for generating revenue.

"I think it is feasible." Guo Qian was not a civil official to begin with. He knew that the policy of replacing rice with mulberry was proposed by wise officials in the court. He had no ability or vision, but it sounded like it was true and could make up for the deficit of the country.

"The people who came up with this policy are the Jingzhao Du family." Emperor Yongjin continued, "Their ancestors were wise ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Three generations in a row produced famous prime ministers who governed the country and made our Great Zhou flourish."

The Jingzhao Du family had a very good reputation in Chang'an.

If the Wei family is the most arrogant aristocratic family in Chang'an and the Wang family is the most powerful and elegant family, then the Du family is the family with the deepest roots in the whole Chang'an, but also the most low-key. They work diligently, and until now, the Du family has a group of ministers serving in the court.

Since the founding of the country, it has had a good position in the court.

As a result, when Guo Qian heard that it was the Du family who came up with the policy, he became even more supportive. "The Du family has always been calm and far-sighted. They dared to come up with such a strategy, which should be beneficial to the country."

"But," Emperor Yongjin pondered, "When the fourth son heard about the policy of replacing rice with mulberry, he immediately submitted a memorial to refute it."

"One is that the fourth brother believes that the court has no right to interfere in local management. Even if we issue an order, the people will not give up farming and plant mulberry trees."

"It is true that planting mulberry trees can raise silkworms and make silk, but for the common people, silk production has nothing to do with them. They can neither get money nor have food to eat, so they will not agree to plant mulberry trees in the court."

"Secondly, once such a policy is implemented, the court may not be able to manage the local areas in time, which may easily allow landlords to seize the land of the farmers below, which will bring a lot of unnecessary troubles."

"And now that there are uprisings in the south, it will be even more difficult to implement such a policy."

Hearing this, Guo Qian added: "But the deficit in the national treasury must be remedied. Facing these problems, Your Majesty should not give up just because there are some difficult issues to deal with. Otherwise, if you put everything aside when you encounter difficulties, then when will you be able to truly solve the problem?"

Guo Qian had long heard the Emperor Yongjin's intentions, but because of Chu Shizhao's advice, he began to hesitate. Guo Qian, who had judged the Emperor Yongjin's true thoughts, naturally continued to push the Emperor Yongjin's intentions.

He has been doing this for so many years, and he knows that only by supporting the true intentions of Emperor Yongjin can his position last.

"If there are dissents in the local areas and they cannot be governed, then let those who can control the local areas govern them. If there are rebellions in the south, let those who can suppress rebellions suppress them." Guo Qian added: "I think Huan Sheng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, is quite talented."

"He is from Liangzhou. He has known military affairs since he was young and has the talent for governing. Let him promote the rice-to-mulberry policy and then send him to quell the salt merchant's rebellion. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"

Emperor Yongjin was already troubled by the rebellion and wanted to dispatch his ministers to quell the rebellion, but he had not found a suitable candidate so far.

Now that the policy of replacing rice with mulberry trees has been put on the table, and there has been a rebellion in the south, it is very necessary to have a minister who understands domestic affairs and can quell the rebellion to go to the south.

Huan Sheng was indeed a good talent and he handled many things well, which immediately attracted Emperor Yongjin.

He looked at Guo Qian in front of him.

After a moment's silence, Emperor Yongjin seemed to have made up his mind and said, "Then let Huan Sheng come to the palace. I want to have a good talk with him about these important government affairs."

(End of this chapter)