set of flowers

An Qingxuan turned his eyes back from Wang Meng, and after his eyes fell on Wei Zhongliang, he glanced at all the officials, and said, "I have obtained evidence for Wang Meng's matter. He has been greedy for food for seven years. Could it be that every year is to supply the army? 20 years ago , when I ascended the throne, the sea ban was lifted in the same year, and the rogue bandits disappeared afterwards, even if he helped fight against the Japanese for three years, what is the reason for the next four years?"

As soon as the word "seven years" came out, Wei Zhongliang was shocked, and he couldn't explain the reason when he was asked this question, he hesitated: "How could it be..."

"No matter what the reason is, this is not a court - this matter is handed over to Supervisor Hua and the Fourth Prince, Yushitai assists in the investigation, and other departments and departments cooperate in collecting evidence."

All officials said in unison: "Yes."

"I want to know where this food has been used for so many years, and moreover, I want to know whether other officials have been involved in it——Xiao Yushi."

"The minister is here."

"Your mission is closely related to Huajian, I hope you can work together."

"Yes."

"Wei Shangshu, although you said that you conspired with Wang Zhongshu long before I became the throne, but this is a felony! Privately seizing military rations comes first, and bullying the king comes later—according to the laws of Daning, you know the consequences."

"The guilty minister should be beheaded—" Wei Zhongliang kowtowed, "I didn't want to implicate Wang Zhongshu back then, so I cheated with Wang Zhongshu as a last resort. I thought I was benevolent and righteous, but I didn't know that I was helping the tyrant and harming the country and the people for more than [-] years—the minister was willing to die. !"

The words of righteousness swayed in the hall, and after a moment of silence, An Qingxuan waved his hands: "Forget it, I think you have made great achievements in fighting the Japanese, and you are not too young now, so deduct your salary for a year, and reflect on it!"

Wei Zhongliang remained silent, raised his upper body and kowtowed again, kowtowed three times, and said with a choked voice, "Thank you, Lord Long En."

An Qingxuan raised his forehead: "If you have something to play, you will leave the court if you have nothing to do."

No one moved for a moment, he got up from the dragon chair, and raised his voice; "Back—towards—"

……

Hua Qianyu, who was being praised among the crowd, put away the bamboo wat, and while coping with it with a smile, looked for An Mingxi through the gap between people——the moment she saw An Mingxi's side face, Hua Qianyu Qianyu didn't even have time to talk about the scene, and walked towards An Mingxi with one pair of legs.

Out of the crowd, Hua Qianyu raised his voice: "Your Highness, are you going to the prison?" Even though An Mingxi didn't answer, didn't stop, and even turned around, he still trotted to An Mingxi's side, Turning his head, he asked again: "Should we go to Dali Temple first?"

I don't know if An Qingxuan did it on purpose, even though he mentioned the "Fourth Prince", An Mingxi, the Fourth Prince, was not treated as well as Hua Qianyu, a small supervisory censor, and he didn't even have a chance to respond to half a sentence.Since he was not taken seriously, in the hearts of some people who were good at flattering people, the status of the Fourth Prince was naturally not as good as Hua Qianyu, who was the prince's cousin, the prime minister's son, and the number one scholar.What's more, before the new emperor came to the throne, the princes, apart from the relationship of brothers, competed with each other. In order to please a useless fourth prince, they stood on the opposite side of the prince, which was harmful but not beneficial.

"Good brother, don't ignore me, okay?" Hua Qianyu kept an appropriate distance, not daring to get too close in front of the public, and lowered his voice.

An Mingxi looked at the steps under his feet and concentrated on going downstairs. Hua Qianyu stared at him for a while before he said: "Since you don't want people to know that you are close to me, why bother to come?"

"Brother... I'm sorry, I'm not..."

An Mingxi is right, Hua Qianyu really does not want An Mingxi to attract attention because of his closeness, his every move represents the Hua family in the eyes of some people, he does not want people to think that the Hua family intends to support An Mingxi As the superior, he didn't want An Mingxi to have the slightest chance of touching the throne, and the monarch in his heart was still An Mingjing.

He was really selfish, so he couldn't even explain it.

——Before you come, you have to shout to show that you are only approaching the fourth prince for business. How could An Mingxi not know what Hua Qianyu thought?

Unwillingness and loneliness filled An Mingxi's heart, it was the same when he attended the court, and it was the same after the next court.

I thought that his father's attitude towards him had changed, and that he, who has been underestimated until now, had a chance to lose his edge, but today in the hall, even if he could stand in front of all the officials because of his status as a prince, he still existed like a shadow Feeling, not even qualified to serve as a foil for Hua Qianyu.

An Mingxi wanted to leave Hua Qianyu behind, so he was quiet for a while.But when he looked up and saw An Mingjing waiting under the stone steps, he immediately pulled Hua Qianyu's wrist, went down the stone steps, and walked towards the city gate with all his might.

Walking in a hurry, Hua Qianyu only had time to nod to An Mingjing as a greeting.After walking far away, An Mingxi let go of Hua Qianyu's hand, because he didn't hear Hua Qianyu's words all the way, he asked: "Do you hate me?" Whether you don't care or are afraid to face it.

"Why?" Hua Qianyu asked, with a smile in his voice.

"You know why."

"Because of the prince? If I hate you like this, how can I say love to you?"

An Mingxi couldn't respond with words - he should have expected the current situation, he chose to put it down temporarily and save it for the future, but now that the "future" has come, does he still want to send the problem to the next future?

"What should I do with you..." An Mingxi lowered his head and muttered.

"Huh?" Hua Qianyu poked his ears, but he didn't have time to hear An Mingxi's whisper.

"It's nothing, go see Lan Haiyi."

Again he left the question in the future.

……

Fang stepped into the Wei mansion, and Wei Shang asked: "Grandfather spoke for Wang Zhongshu in the court hall, and revealed what happened 20 years ago, so he is not afraid of His Majesty's anger, and he will deal with it according to the law? What happened today, Shang'er is terrified."

Wei Zhongliang took off the Futou, handed it to the servants, and waved for them to retreat, and then replied: "Why don't you wait for Wang Meng to open his mouth and betray me? Your Majesty is a benevolent monarch, and he also knows the attitude of the late emperor towards me. It has to be justified, His Majesty can't punish him severely, it's just this year's salary...it's a pity."

"How did grandfather know this, so Wang Zhongshu wouldn't tell the whole story?"

"Wang Meng is not a fool, even if I tell the mastermind behind the scenes..."

Walking in the long corridor, when the maid approached to salute, Wei Zhongliang stopped talking, nodded, and after passing by the maid, he continued: "He still cannot escape death. If you don't drag me into the water, and don't involve in rebellion, at least you can do it." Save the lives of his people."

"It's too risky to expect Wang Meng to stay awake when the catastrophe is approaching."

"That's why I spoke for him and made it clear to him that I was on his side. Even though he confessed me, when I stood up to intercede for him, he suddenly identified me as the mastermind, and no one should be allowed to Do you think he was talking nonsense to get rid of the crime?"

"He may have evidence in his hand."

"No matter how strong the evidence is, he can't come out for a while, and he has a chance to calm down. It's the same sentence: don't confess me, let me deal with this mess, don't involve rebellion, at least his family is still alive-he won't want to When jade and stone burn together, I can always gain the upper hand, and I will always have a backhand."

"Then why not kill Wang Meng's mouth when His Majesty sent people to Suzhou to investigate, and pretended to commit suicide, and it's over once and for all?"

"Zhang Huai disappeared, and Wang Meng committed suicide immediately. No matter how you think about this situation, someone is behind the scenes. I don't want people to continue to investigate. After all, there are not many people who can hide behind Zhongshu Ling."

Wei Shang cupped his hands: "Grandfather has always made good plans, but Shang'er is talking too much."

Wei Zhongliang suddenly laughed, smiling kindly, the creases in the corners of his eyes concealed his love for his eldest grandson: "Shang'er is a good boy, grandpa is willing to teach you more, if you have any questions, just ask."

"Then... grandfather took the risk of sending someone to assassinate the fourth prince, was it to solve Wang Zhongshu from the beginning?"

Wei Zhongliang shook his head: "This ending was also within my expectations, and I was prepared for it... After Wang Meng became the Zhongshu Ling, he sat on an equal footing with me, and the weight of power and responsibility even tended to surpass mine. , indeed arouses my apprehension, but the exposure of grain harvesting, although it is beneficial to eradicate this Zhongshu order, but for me, the consequences are immeasurable, and I try to avoid the current situation...Compared to Wang Meng, who has a lot of bad records, he is watertight Hua Jueming is the hidden danger that I urgently need to solve. Even though I privately sent people to publicize the reputation and power of the Hua family, which endangered the royal family's orthodoxy, His Majesty still seemed unmoved... He is the emperor, it is impossible not to be unmoved, Maybe it’s just one primer missing—if one primer is not enough, then two, if two are not enough, then three, and one day I will be able to drag Hua Jueming from the position under one person.”

"Xian'er has never understood that Prime Minister Hua is just a civil servant, no matter how powerful he is, he has no military power. Why is grandfather so obsessed with eradicating him?"

"Because he is the prime minister, a prime minister who is under one person and above ten thousand people. As long as he is in his position, half of the officials will still follow him in private. He has been in power for many years, and he still has this prestige. Look at him on the surface. As for factional disputes, in fact, he only needs to stand among the hundreds of officials, and several officials will follow behind him, many of whom are military generals... Using Hua Jueming's method, to say that he is rigid and upright is to look down on him."

Wei Shang lowered his head, thoughtful, for a while, suddenly, and asked again: "Isn't the step of killing the fourth prince a failure? Although no one in the hall today talked about this time, it doesn't matter whether your majesty really loves the fourth prince." Prince, it is impossible for His Majesty not to care that someone wants to attack the prince."

Wei Zhongliang smiled, and patted Wei Shang on the back: "This step has already been done. Lan'er is lurking beside Prince Gong, not just to inquire about news, but also to prepare for me to get rid of Wang Meng's hidden danger." .”

"How...how does this work?"

"Since His Majesty has disclosed the matter of traveling south to Prince Gong, once something happens, His Majesty will not summon Prince Gong. If Prince Gong refuses to admit it, then this matter may be over. If Lan'er is found out, what Lan'er brought out will be the same. It can only be Wang Meng."

"After not being around for so many years, isn't grandfather afraid of uncle's betrayal?"

"Betrayal? He is the child I raised, my own flesh and blood. If I don't even trust my child, who else can I trust? ——I believe, and only my blood."

Wei Zhongliang put his hand on Wei Shang's shoulder: "That dragon chair, perhaps before my grandfather can sit on it, he will drive west of Hexi. When the time comes, you will be my grandfather's hope."

Wei Shang knelt down on one knee and lowered his head: "Shang'er will definitely fulfill his mission."

"Get up," Wei Zhongliang stretched out his hand and asked Wei Shang to hold his hand and stand up. "You are still immature, and you still have a lot to learn. If you want to ask grandpa for advice, just ask."

"Yes, Zhang'er thanked grandfather!" Wei Shang bowed, and when he lowered his head, he suddenly rolled his eyes, put down his hands, straightened his waist, and said to Wei Zhongliang: "If Wang Zhongshu was tempted by someone in prison, in order to protect himself, he would confess to his grandfather. , what should I do?"

"Yes, so he should commit suicide."

The author has something to say:

Here are the additional notes (at my sister's request):

You may have seen the most notable feature of the system of the Ning Dynasty. It was changed on the basis of the system of three provinces and six ministries. The main feature is that a prime minister was added on top of the three provinces to integrate the work of the three provinces. superior.In fact, according to the rank, Shizhong (the governor of the door) = Zhongshuling (Wang Meng) < Shangshuling (Wei Zhongliang) < Prime Minister (Hua Jueming).

Then there was no prime minister in the previous dynasty, and since the founding of the Ning Dynasty, the prime minister has always been a member of the Hua family, so for Wei Zhongliang, Hua Caesar is redundant (unless he replaces Hua Cassia as the prime minister).

Then, although Shangshu Ling is higher in grade than Zhongshu Ling, because of the work content of Zhongshu Province (the decision-making body responsible for drafting and issuing emperor's edicts), Zhongshu Ling Wang Meng and Emperor An Qingxuan are getting closer, and their powers and responsibilities are also different. It was getting bigger and bigger, which made Wei Zhongliang worry that Wang Meng would break away from his control and set up another branch... Then Wei Zhongliang felt that this position should be replaced by a newcomer.

I wish you all a Happy New Year!