Lao Zhu pondered for a while, without saying anything, and waved Han Du away.
Han Du was helpless when he saw this and had to resign.
The next day, morning.
As a capital official, Han Du was naturally promoted to stand on duty.
However, Han Du, an eighth-grade official, was not qualified to stand inside the Fengtian Hall and could only stand at the steps outside the hall. Fortunately, the weather was good today and it didn't rain. Otherwise, Han Du would have been embarrassed and hid under the corridor with the eunuchs.
However, the air in Yanyu Jiangnan was humid, and Han Du, who had gone out in the middle of the night, felt uncomfortable because his official uniform was stained with dew and was a little damp. It wasn't until the sun came out and dried the moisture on my body that I felt better.
From the time the sun first rises, to when it reaches the middle of the sky, and when the sun is almost setting in the west.
Not only Han Du, but everyone who participated in the morning court felt hungry.
In order to avoid being anxious when going to court, causing the king to lose his etiquette. The civil and military officials who went to court did not even take a sip of water.
But today's court meeting was extraordinarily long, which made all the officials feel their chests pressed against their backs with hunger. Some of the older ones looked like they were about to faint from hunger.
Lao Zhu was sitting on the dragon chair. Seeing the hungry bodies of the officials below him swaying here and there, he said loudly: "There are a lot of things today. The court meeting lasted a long time. My beloved ministers have worked hard. In order to avoid starving. Dear dear friends, I have specially prepared a banquet to reward all my dear friends."
After speaking, he told the old eunuch on the side: "Pass the meal around."
When all the officials heard this, they were not flattered by the emperor's invitation to dinner. Instead, they all thought that the banquet was not a good one.
It turns out that in order to advocate frugality, Lao Zhu once took advantage of Queen Ma's birthday to entertain hundreds of officials at the Queen's birthday banquet. However, this banquet not only did not include big fish or meat, but it was not even as good as the usual meals, with only four dishes and one soup.
That was stir-fried radish, stir-fried leeks, two large bowls of green vegetables, and finally a very ordinary scallion tofu soup. If these dishes were placed in a poor farmer's house, they would certainly be considered a good meal. But if you put it in the Fengtian Palace of the Forbidden City and among the people of this group of high-ranking officials and well-paid people, it will naturally become a vulgar food that is difficult to swallow.
But now that I am so hungry, no matter how vulgar food is, it is just a timely gift. It is good if it can fill the stomach and relieve the pain of searching the intestines and stomach. As for eating vulgarly, what does that matter? People are so hungry that they can even eat grass roots and tree bark.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
All the officials replied feebly.
When the food was served, it was not the four dishes and one soup that Bai Guan had imagined. Although it looks weird, every piece is arranged with a sense of exquisiteness. It is obvious that the imperial chef also put a lot of thought into making these things.
At this time, Lao Zhu spoke.
He stood up from the dragon chair and said as he walked, "I know that in order to make you frugal, I once treated you to four dishes and one soup. Some of you were quite complaining about this. I'm afraid you didn't say it with your mouth, but you were scolding it in your heart. Am I stingy?"
"I don't dare." After hearing the emperor's words, all the officials shouted and knelt down.
"Hmph, have you ever thought that you know better than me?" Lao Zhu waved his sleeves and returned to the dragon chair.
The same seafood as the previous ministers was also placed in front of him.
In the entire Fengtian Hall, hundreds of officials knelt on the ground with their heads bowed. In front of each person was a low wooden table, on which, from Han Du's point of view, was placed a sumptuous seafood.
Lao Zhu sat back and sighed: "I asked someone a question before, that is, what kind of emperor is a good emperor, and what kind of officials are good officials? I want to ask you this too today, What kind of emperor do you think is a good emperor, and what kind of officials do you think are good officials?"
After Lao Zhu finished speaking, the Fengtian Palace fell silent.
This problem is too big, so I won’t say whether it can be explained well or not. Even if you can speak well, your show will be destroyed by Lin Feng, and if you speak rashly, you may get burned. Therefore, all the civil and military officials knelt and said nothing.
"What, no one can answer?" Lao Zhu waited for a moment and asked when no one said anything.
Do you think you can escape by being silent?
Lao Zhu sneered and began to name names.
"Xue Aiqing, what do you think?"
Seeing that he couldn't escape, Xue Xiang bit the bullet and replied: "A king who works hard to govern, broadens his voice, and is good at accepting advice can be regarded as a wise king, just like Taizong of the Tang Dynasty."
Hearing this, Lao Zhu took a deep look at Xue Xiang. He knew that this was because the civil servants were still immersed in the dream of the former Song Dynasty that "the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats ruled the world together" and had not woken up. He hoped that he could accept the advice.
Lao Zhu starts with a bowl and clears a country. For five thousand years in China, he was the only one. The power of controlling the imperial courts in the world far exceeds that of ordinary emperors. It has always been Qian Gang's dictatorship, and there is no such thing as co-governance. How can it be compared to the snot-nosed Emperor of the Song Dynasty?
But the purpose of today is not to argue about this, and Lao Zhu couldn't say anything, so he had to put this section down.
He continued to ask: "What do you think Aiqing wants to be an official? How can I be considered a good official?"
"Self-denial, honesty and integrity are considered a good official." Xue Xiang didn't know how to answer, so he had to say it in a popular tone.
After hearing this, Lao Zhu had a calm expression on his face.
He pondered for a moment and did not evaluate whether what Xue Xiang said was right or wrong, good or bad. Instead, he said to the officials: "Everyone, get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The officials responded.
Baiguan looked at Lao Zhu's expression, and then related to what he had just said with Xue Xiang. Everyone knew that the emperor was not very satisfied with Xue Xiang's words.
Lao Zhu glanced at the officials and said, "Do you want to know how that person answered me when I asked him?"
After hearing this, all the officials were really curious about the answer from the emperor. After all, it can be seen from the emperor's expression that the emperor is not satisfied with Xue Gongbu's answer, but he is obviously very satisfied with that man's answer.
Regarding the emperor's question, these officials asked themselves. Even if it was asked to them, they could only give an answer similar to that of Xue Gongbu. Since someone gave a better answer, the officials naturally wanted to know what that person said.
Lao Zhu didn't care what the officials thought. He thought about it in his mind and continued: "He said to me, an official who can lead the people under his rule to have enough food and clothing is a good official. Likewise, an official who can lead the people in the world to have enough food and clothing is a good official." An emperor who dresses warmly is a good emperor."
That's it?
The official originally thought that the answer that would satisfy the emperor must be a famous saying that would be remembered forever, but he did not expect that it would be these two simple sentences.
The language is crude, just two spoken sentences.
