Don't steal a man from me

Chu Yunqi sat quietly beside the desk in the side hall, carefully reading Su Jue's commentary "Zonghengji" under the lamp.

Long black hair tied with a white jade crown, dressed in a black gown of Zhu Fengxuan, her slender fingers tapped on the desk again and again, as if in deep thought.

"Your Majesty, Lord Xiangguo has returned and is waiting outside the hall to see you." The waiter walked in and broke the silence of the side hall.

Chu Yunqi raised his head, his joy was beyond words, he put down the letter and got up and said, "Xuan!"

The waiter bowed to Chu Yunqi and quickly retreated.

Not long after, Su Jue, who was dressed in white and golden phoenix court uniform, walked in, waved his sleeves and saluted: "The minister Su Jue has returned from Xixi, and handed over the letter of the alliance between the two countries to the king!"

Chu Yunqi quickly walked down the white jade steps, took the letter of credence from him, opened it, read it, nodded and handed it to Shizhong.

He smiled and held Su Jue's hand and said: "Xiangguo has worked hard, and he was sent to Xiguo to promote the alliance between the two countries, breaking the alliance without form. In this way, it is impossible for Qingguo to restrain me through the alliance."

Then he turned his head to look at Shizhong and said, "Draft an imperial edict to pass on the will of the widow, Xiangguo Su Jue lives up to the king's order, and conferred the title of Lord Zhaowen!"

After receiving the order from the matter, he bowed to Chu Yunqi and Su Huifang each, and retreated.

Su Jue bowed to Chu Yunqi and said, "I--Su Jue thanked my king."

After explaining the details of the alliance with Xi to Chu Yunqi, it was already the end of the day. During his mission to Xi, Chu Yunqi was also ready for the reform. The arrow was on the string, waiting for Su Jue to return to Chu to sit in charge.

"Xiangguo has been exhausted all the way, go back and rest quickly, and don't rush to reform in the past few days." Chu Yunqi said.

"Farewell, sir." Su Jue bowed to Chu Yunqi and exited the side hall.

After taking a bath, Su Jue changed into a moon-white gown, with her long hair like black jade loose, and sat by the desk to look at the population size and arable land of Chu State in recent years.

Suddenly, the noise outside the room interrupted Su Jue's contemplation. He frowned, got up and went out and asked, "Why is there such a noise?"

"Going back to Xiangguo, the general is asking to see you outside the mansion." The guard saluted.

"Oh? Why didn't you invite the general in?" Su Jue frowned and walked towards the gate of the mansion.

The guard at the gate stood at a loss, the general Wei Ran covered his shoulders and bowed to Su Huifang, "Wei Ran doesn't know that Xiangguo has worked so hard for me, and even speaks rudely, so I'm here to plead guilty."

Su Jue stepped forward to help Wei Ran, and said, "The general licked blood with his knife, and died for Chu. Su should have received a few words from the general. What is the general's fault?"

After this incident, Wei Ran no longer looked down on the great Chu Xiangguo who he said had a "face like a crown of jade, and a scholarly look", and the two of them devoted themselves to serving the country, and brought the reform to the stage vigorously.

In Xiangguo's mansion, there was an endless stream of officials coming and going. From time to time, some people hurried out of the mansion with a pile of bamboo slips and got into a carriage. The dust raised by the carriage had not yet dissipated, and another cart stopped in front of the Xiangguo's mansion. , also hastily entered the prime minister's mansion with a look on his face.

In the prime minister's mansion, it can be described as "overcrowded".

The mansion with two entrances and two exits covering an area of ​​more than an acre now seems so small, except for the east and west rooms, kitchen, and bedroom of the servants, the rest of the guest rooms are used to accommodate the clerks who revise and transcribe the reform plan.

It didn't take long for the "Order of Seeking Talents" to be handed down, and people with lofty ideals sprung up to Yancheng, the capital of Chu State, like mushrooms after rain.

There were five or six scholars staying in the Yancheng inn within a day. Due to time constraints, the reform was already imminent, and it was too late to build a school to accommodate these scholars. "Xianle Palace" was changed to Xuegong, he removed all the actors and singers, and changed the name of Xianle Palace to Jixian Xuegong.

In order to make full use of the time of Su Jue's mission to Xi State and prepare for the reform, Chu Yun Qi ordered the princesses of various counties, county magistrates and other officials of all sizes to explain the laws of Chu State to the scholars in Jixian Academy, the population size of each place , arable land area, and even folklore.

After ten days, the scholars of Jixian Academy already had a clearer picture of Chu in their hearts.

Wei Ran was quite puzzled by Chu Yunqi's move at the time. The monarchs of other vassal states always asked about the strategy of governing the country when they got talents. In the Xianxue Palace, the policy of governing the country was ignored, but officials of all sizes were called to give lectures to the scholars all day and all night.

He wanted to ask, but he didn't know where to ask, and he was restless because of this matter.

It wasn't until Xiangguo Su Jue returned to the country with the alliance's credentials and the reform began that he realized the significance of what Chu Yunqi had done.

Scholars are familiar with the state of Chu, and they are familiar with the population and laws of the state of Chu. Therefore, after the new law is promulgated, they can know how to implement it at the first time, so that each set of laws and regulations can truly play its role. .

When they copy the new law and pass it down layer by layer, they will not lose the core purpose of the new law, and they can question the content of the new law according to local conditions and discuss revisions.

In Xiangguo Mansion's study room, after Su Jue finished writing the last word, she breathed a sigh of relief and blew on the wet ink on the bamboo slips, relaxing her tense body.

The waiter standing beside him picked up the bamboo slips he had finished writing, placed them respectfully on the desk next to Chu Yunqi, and went back to stand beside Su Jue in an orderly manner.

Chu Yunqi had just finished reading a copy, and handed the bamboo slips in his hand to the guard standing beside him, waved his hand, and the guard walked out knowingly and handed it to the waiter standing outside the study.

The waiter nodded and quickly walked to another room, where the scholars of the Jixian Academy dressed in the official uniforms of Chu State were copying the content of the new law at their desks.

The waiter quickly stepped forward and solemnly placed the bamboo slips on the desk next to Chu Ping, saluted Chu Ping and walked out quickly.

Chu Ping handed the bamboo slips in his hand to a scholar sitting on his lower right, sighed slightly, rubbed his sore eyes, picked up the teacup that the waiter had just filled for him, took a sip , Picked up the bamboo slips that were sent just now and looked at them.

Time passed in the midst of everyone's busyness, and the prime minister's mansion seemed like a great blessing. Everyone didn't know day and night, but only knew that after one bamboo slip was copied, the next one would start.

The morning sun rose little by little from the east, covering the palace of Chu State in golden sunlight, and a ray of sunlight shone through the window on the bamboo slips that Chu Yunqi held in his hand.

The characters on the bamboo slips are neat, clean and soft, giving people the feeling of gentleness and tranquility like dew condensing on orchids.

"The strength of the country lies in the strength of the soldiers, and the first is the method of rewarding military merit. The titles of Chu are divided into [-] grades. The officials and people in the country are not allowed to be knighted unless they have made meritorious service, and the public and clan are no exception. Slaves beheaded the enemy's head If you kill one of the enemy's heads, you can get one rank of title. If you behead the enemy's head, you will be rewarded according to the merits. Even if you are a slave, if you have done more meritorious service, you can The number of slaves, wives and concubines in the fields and houses of subjects also depends on the rank. Those without ranks should not occupy more land, use more slaves, and marry more wives and concubines. Those who have more will be returned to the state and rewarded to those who have ranks. ....."(Note)

Slowly closing the bamboo slips, Chu Yunqi raised his eyes and took a deep look at Su Jue——

The sun shone on the man's face, revealing a morbid paleness. The white-clothed boy heaved a sigh of relief, his tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he seemed a little exhausted.

Su Jue leaned gently on the bookshelf behind her, closed her eyes to rest, and gently rubbed the center of her brows with white jade-like hands.

He was wearing a simple white shirt, and the sun shone on him, making him look like an immortal.

For more than two months, Chu Yunqi personally participated in the formulation and promulgation of the reform, and each decree after another, every single word, hit the key points of Chu State.

Su Jue summed up the contradictions of changes in the past dynasties into three points: agriculture, war, and state.

In these three volumes, each is subdivided. The agricultural volume contains two parts, one for the land and one for the people, including twelve decrees. Expand; the battle book mainly revolves around the formation of the army, rewards and punishments, etc.; the country book makes a detailed description of the king's ruling strategy, and puts forward concepts such as monarch and minister, and prudent law.

A muffled thunder exploded in the sky, followed by the spring of the 26th year of King Shangyou. The ice and snow gradually melted, and everything began to recover. Since then, "Three Volumes of Dingguo" has begun its extraordinary mission.

Su Jue did not expect that after thousands of generations, the core system of his set of laws and regulations would still continue.

Chu Yunqi stood quietly on the city wall of Yan City and looked at the Xiangting Lake in the distance. Beside him was Su Jue in white.

"Spring seems to have come earlier this year." Chu Yunqi said.

"En." Su Jue nodded and said, suddenly thought of something, then turned around and continued: "The ceremony of starting farming is scheduled for seven days later."

"Haha, Xiangguo is so serious, is it possible that he will go to the farm with the widow in seven days?" Chu Yunqi glanced at Su Jue and said with a smile.

Su Jue was stunned for a moment, and then became angry. He glared at Chu Yunqi and said, "Not serious!"

The Ceremony of Initiation of Plowing is a ceremony in which the king strongly encourages farming and mulberry. Generally, the king of a country joins hands with the queen. After offering sacrifices to the gods of heaven, earth and grains, the king plows in person and the queen picks mulberry in person to achieve the purpose of persuading agriculture and mulberry.Didn't Chu Yunqi's words make fun of him for making him his queen? !

The more Su Jue thought about it, the more angry she became, she turned around and flung her sleeves to leave, but was grabbed by Chu Yunqi, Su Jue turned her head and met a pair of deep eyes, as if she had crashed into the vast night sky.

Chu Yunqi pretended to be serious, coughed a few times, shook his head and said in a deep voice: "Longnanzi said: A gentleman is respectful without loss, he is respectful and courteous to others, and everyone is a brother in the world. How can Mr. Zhaowen learn such a little bit of etiquette?" don't know?"

Su Jue was amused by his words. Who on earth doesn't understand "respect without loss", Su Jue really wants to see how thick his skin is to say this without changing his face?

"Heh..." Su Jue laughed out loud, the sun shone on his slightly pale face, his brows and eyes were curved, and his beautiful eyes seemed to be engulfed in the entire starry sky, reflecting different shades of light, layer by layer The ground spread outward, like ripples frozen in time.

His smile was like a spring breeze blowing away the ice-breaking lake, or like an orchid in an empty valley slowly blooming in the moonlight.

It was the first time for Chu Yunqi to see him laughing so easily, cleanly without any emotion, just happy, laughing for happiness.

Chu Yunqi's heart was bumped lightly, and his hand holding Su Jue trembled a little. The inexplicable emotion became deeper and deeper, and Chu Yunqi became inexplicably irritable. Let go of Su Jue's hand, turn around and look into the distance.

The chilly spring breeze gradually blew away his irritability. He took a deep breath and summed up his inexplicable emotions into one sentence, so he turned his head and looked at Su Jue. One sentence said: "It is really a blessing for three lives to have a Xiangguo in Chu State."

The hope in Su Jue's eyes gradually dimmed. He smiled self-deprecatingly and turned around to look at the setting sun that was about to set in the distance, and said softly, "Meeting you is indeed the luck of Lord Lan's life."

"Huh? What did Xiangguo just say?" Chu Yunqi didn't hear his words clearly, so he took a step forward and asked.

Su Jue smiled lightly, shook her head, and remained silent.

When he was young, he was begging for a living, and later followed Xiaoyaozi to visit famous mountains and rivers, birth, old age, sickness and death, parting with love, not getting what he asked for, he had seen and experienced the joys and sorrows in the world, and the fireworks in the world were nothing more than these, so he has no doubts about everything. No interest, those whom he helped with little effort respected him, were grateful to him, but did not understand him.If there was no dramatic encounter in the East of the Liyuan, Su Jue would have accompanied Master to spend his life peacefully, with a calm heart, peaceful but lonely.

Chu Yunqi was different.The first time she saw him, Su Jue felt that the man had a unique temperament - born to be a king.

Those who understand heaven, earth and people are kings.

There is a kind of attraction that makes people want to surrender involuntarily in that person's gestures. He knows how to "speed", and he will not do anything or say anything too much. Sometimes you will feel that he is real and within reach, and sometimes he will be I feel like he's invisible.

He can be a literati, reciting the wind and playing the moon, tasting tea and playing the piano, or he can stand on a horse with a sword and stare at the world. The appearance of Chu Yunqi makes Su Jue clearly feel that he is still alive, and that he will also feel sorrow, joy, shame and anger. When Chu Yunqi visited the Mohists in Yingcheng all over, just to make a copper cabinet for himself to cool off, Su Jue knew that this person was his for the rest of his life.

But, how could that person not understand his heart?

Su Jue lowered her eyes, sighed lightly, and chanted softly: "There are trees in the mountains, and there are branches in the trees, and you don't know if your heart pleases you."

·

After Chu Yunqi came to power, the old ministers of Chu Chengwang's period, who knew the current affairs, returned to their hometowns early, and they could be regarded as retired. Anyway, I just stayed in the court and didn't intend to leave.

Chu Yunqi was kind to them, thinking that they were all highly respected veterans, so they were given idle positions such as Tai Tuo. In this way, after Chu Yunqi came to power, the big ship of Chu State, with this old and new imperial court, The situation is steady driving in the deep sea.

The new law was implemented in an orderly manner throughout Chu.

The old officials in the court saw that the new king was determined to change Chu from head to toe. Seeing that not only the foundation of his ancestors was in danger, even the younger generations were about to be recruited by the "Order of Seeking Talents" The sage was kicked out of the court, so the old matriarch and several veteran ministers decided: the next day the court strongly advised the king to abolish the new law!

So, in the early morning of the next day, the veterans drove to the palace early, waiting for Chu Yunqi in royal clothes to sit down.

"Your Majesty," the old lady Fu went out to the court and said, "Your Majesty has just established the government and all other affairs have not yet stabilized. As a king, he should protect the country with integrity and keep the people in order, instead of being bewitched by the prime minister and disturbing the country by changing laws. !"

Then all the courtiers knelt down and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, please abolish the new law!"

The courtiers who supported the new law were taken aback when they saw the old courtiers coming. They looked at Su Jue, who was the head of the courtiers, and saw that he was calm and still standing quietly without saying a word. His eyes turned to Chu Yunqi who was sitting on the throne.

Chu Yunqi was sitting on the throne, he squinted his eyes, and said slowly: "The old master's words are too absolute."

All the officials were swept away by Chu Yunqi's stern gaze like a sword, and they all bowed their heads in silence.

Chu Yunqi got up and walked to the black jade case, and said in a loud voice: "Since my country of Chu has claimed to be king for 700 years, which generation of kings has not been aggressive and aggressive, expanding the land and strengthening the country? In a world of great struggle, the strong will be strong, and the weak will perish! Is this a law that harms the country and disturbs the people? No! This is the law that enriches the country and strengthens the people, and I, Da Chu, must obey it!"

The words were sonorous and forceful, and the courtiers heard them like thunder. Chu Yunqi paused, and said in a slow tone: "Old Madam Fu has worked hard for the country, and I will allow you to go back to your hometown to live your life."

When the old lady Fu heard this, she was taken aback, thinking about what to say.

Chu Yunqi raised his voice and said: "The old grand master is getting old, and his legs and feet are somewhat inconvenient. Come here! Carry the old grand master out for the widow!"

As soon as the words were finished, a team of guards entered the palace well-trained, and lifted up the old officials who were kneeling on the ground. Those officials were shocked and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Chu Yunqi patted the black jade case with a "slap", turned around and waved his sleeves and said, "They are all veterans of the two generations of Chu, how can it be proper to make such a noise in the court? Let the widow take them out!"

The old matriarch shook off the guard's arm, snorted coldly, and said, "Thank you, the king, for your concern, the old minister can still walk!" After speaking, he left with his last arrogance on crutches.

From the beginning to the end, Su Jue never glanced at these people, as if the old minister forced the palace was just a farce to him.

Wearing armor, Wei Ran walked in hurriedly, stood at the lower right of Su Jue and bowed to Chu Yunqi, saying, "Your Majesty, those plotting rebellion have been caught, what should we do?"

Only then did the ministers notice that General Wei Ran was not there early, and Empress Dowager Wei was not listening.

On the throne, Chu Yunqi straightened his sleeves and said calmly, "Kill it."

Wei Ran trembled a bit, thinking he didn't hear clearly, he raised his head and said, "Taifu Xiong's clan and Priest Officer Baili's clan conspired to rebel, and I have captured the rebels, about 5000 people, how will the king deal with them? "

"Kill it, isn't there a mass grave five hundred miles to the south of the city? Just build a mausoleum for them." Chu Yunqi lowered his head, tidying his sleeves slowly, with the twelve-pronged crown covering his face, Can't see his expression clearly.

Wei Ran swallowed his saliva, he collected himself, cupped his fists and saluted, "No!"

All the ministers fell to their knees with a clatter. During the past two months of working in the Chu court, they had seen the mind and extraordinary leadership ability of the youngest king of the Chu Kingdom, Jing Tianwei, who was weak on the throne. Today, they saw the king's iron-blooded political skills again.

They began to understand the reason why King Cheng of Chu died suddenly at that time, Zhao and Zhaohe's rebellion failed to stir up waves in Chu, and the young Chu king failed to cause civil strife in Chu.

Su Jue raised her eyes and looked at Chu Yunqi, just in time to meet his gaze, and the two of them looked at each other silently after twelve minutes.Su Jue nodded at him and smiled slightly.

The king himself is the loneliest person in the world.

They are leaders, they jump out of the game when everyone else is panicking, and give orders rationally and calmly, so for the subjects, they are unpredictable and unpredictable.

A good king is not just abiding by the etiquette system, it is as simple as following the rules of goodness. The art of the emperor is Tai Chi. It is necessary to find a balance between the treacherous villain and the honest gentleman. The court is full of flattery. The upright Confucian scholars in the hall are even worse. The emperor wants his subjects to fear him, admire him, and have no second thoughts.

Chu Yunqi did all of these.After Chu Yunqi came to power, he set his sights on the old matriarch Fu's group of veterans with big families and careers. He put a long line to catch big fish and turned a blind eye to their behavior of staying in the court hall. He waited like a frog in warm water for this time. While tidying up a group of old ministers, it is announced to the world that there are only a few manpower to promote the reform, and those who go against the current - die!

What is 5000 people? Su Jue knew that even if tens of thousands of people were involved this time, Chu Yunqi would let them die without blinking an eyelid.

Chu Yunqi glanced at the courtiers who were lying on the ground trembling slightly, sneered, and turned his gaze to Su Jue. Those courtiers didn't understand his intentions, but he knew that Su Jue would understand.

Sure enough, the young man in white and golden phoenix did not disappoint him. In the huge and magnificent palace, Xiangguo in white stood quietly, and he nodded towards himself.

At that moment, Chu Yunqi felt a feeling of "Knowing that he is like Su Jue, death is worth it". He took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to rush down and hug Su Jue, stood up and waved his hands: " Get up and retreat if there is nothing to do."

All the ministers raised their sleeves and wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads, got up one after another, saluted Chu Yunqi and said, "My king is Wannian." After that, they retreated one after another.

The author has something to say: The military system in this article is a legal regulation in the "Book of Shang Jun", and the author translated the ancient book into modern Chinese.