"The right minister of the Ministry of War has achieved the same results, and the northern noble family has unified the family. I remember that I was born as a second-class Jinshi in the third year of Kangyang. It took one step at a time to reach the third position in the Ministry of War. He can be regarded as a high official in the dynasty, and he will even be in the future. There is hope to become the chief officer of the Ministry of War, one of the six departments, and a member of the central committee!" Yuan Dongxiang recalled the information about Qi Ji.
Liu Xin frowned on the side, holding the teacup and blowing on it one mouthful at a time, but didn't even drink a sip.
He had considered that there must be a big figure behind the Royal Horse Supervisor case, but he did not expect that it was a high-ranking official like the Right Minister of the Ministry of War. The two ministers of the Ministry of War are actually the reserves of the Minister of the Ministry of War. Once the Minister of the Ministry of War becomes an official, the position of the Minister is actually Choose from these two.
With such a bright future, why would he commit such a "small case" as stealing the secret technique of guarding and raising horses?
Yes, for some people, the Royal Horse Supervisor case is already a huge case, but for someone with Qi Ji's status, it is just a small case, completely unnecessary.
So what if you succeed?
Especially, Qi Ji is the right minister of the Ministry of War!
Obviously as long as he becomes the Minister of the Ministry of War, there is no secret skill in raising horses. Is there any secret for him in the army?
Why rush?
Is it out of necessity?
Who can force the right minister of the Ministry of War?
Liu Xin felt that it was better not to find out the mastermind behind the scenes.
Once the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes was revealed, it immediately became a brain-burning activity.
Liu Xin put down the tea cup. He remembered that he was not alone. He also had a loyal and smart partner: the second-in-command of Dongchang, Yuan Dongxiang!
Turning his head, Liu Xin found that Yuan Dongxiang also had a frown on his face. Liu Xin asked, "Yuan Qianhu, what are you thinking of?"
Yuan Dongxiang seemed to really regard Liu Xin as a partner, so he did not hide it and said: "I was just thinking that Qi Ji, as the mastermind behind the scenes, is more than enough to control these actions in the imperial capital. But. We know that the person behind this case has already plotted at the Hanzhong Military Horse Farm. I just realized it now. In fact, those who are capable of planning in a place like the Military Horse Farm must have a high status, even such a figure in the dynasty. There are only a handful of them!”
Liu Xin understood what Yuan Dongxiang meant. The Hanzhong Military Racecourse was a high-end game, and ordinary people were not qualified to play there.
"What about the qualifications for Qi Zhi? Are they enough?" Liu Xin asked.
Yuan Dongxiang shook his head and said with certainty: "It's a thousand miles away!"
Yuan Dongxiang's answer surprised Liu Xin. He was not familiar with Hanzhong Military Racecourse, so he didn't know what rank he should reach to make trouble there. Yuan Dongxiang's answer also made Liu Xin think, if Qi Ji is not qualified to cause trouble at the Hanzhong Military Racecourse, then is the mastermind behind it really Qi Ji?
But that's what Jian Fangliang said!
No, although Jian Fangliang said that, it only meant that he thought the mastermind behind the scenes was Qi Ji, and whether there was a higher-level person behind Qi Ji, he might not be qualified to know.
Liu Xin stroked his forehead and felt that the Yuma Jian's case was getting more and more complicated. Although it was not a big case, the level of involvement seemed to be getting higher and higher.
"Hey, let's wait until the Admiral calls me for a detailed discussion before we delve deeper into these matters. Higher-level planes are not something we can speculate on." Yuan Dongxiang sighed.
The note left by Kuang Huaizhi had been sent to Admiral Mi Yusong at the first moment, but Mi Yusong was at the court meeting at this time and could not summon Yuan Dongxiang until the court meeting was over.
Nothing happened for a moment, Yuan Dongxiang looked at Liu Xin, stared blankly for a moment, and asked:
"Liu Baihu, the matter here is settled. We will wait for the Admiral to make a decision next."
Liu Xin: "Yeah."
Yuan Dongxiang: "Then why are you still here?"
Liu Xin: "Waiting for dinner! The food in Dongchang is better than that in Jinyiwei. I have always wanted to ask, is the chef here the imperial chef?"
Yuan Dongxiang: "..."
————
Imperial City, Hall of Supreme Harmony
Today is the daily small court meeting, so there are only a few dozen people in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. They are all ministers of the Xuyang Dynasty, and each one of them is a boss-level figure who can trigger a shock in an area with just a stamp of his feet.
Because it was a small court meeting, Emperor Xuyang simply wore a bright yellow uniform with bright yellow and dark patterns. The collar and cuffs were inlaid with two-finger-wide golden flowing cloud patterns. He wore a jade belt around his waist, with a jade belt in the middle. A blue field jade the size of a fist.
He was half leaning on the dragon chair. Although his posture was lazy, he still exuded royal power in his movements.
Mi Yusong, who was dressed in the attire of a great eunuch, stood tall and straight, standing on the left side of Emperor Xuyang's head, with his hands hanging naturally on both sides. He did not look like a flattering eunuch, but looked like a general who was looking forward to his ambition.
The eyes of Emperor Xuyang and Mi Yusong were all focused on an official in Fei Pao who was enveloped in an orthodox atmosphere and looked calm and confident. This person was the leader of today's civil servants, a bachelor of Zhongji Palace and a concurrent official. Kong Xiaolian, minister of the Ministry of Finance.
"Your Majesty, the Prince of Xuzhou has come to report that there are many bandits in Xuzhou. The Prince wants to order his personal guards to attack them, and I request your Majesty's approval."
Emperor Xuyang stood up slowly, pinched his brows, and said with a smile: "My uncle is too cautious. Naturally, he can make such a small matter by himself!"
After a pause, Emperor Xuyang's eyes fell on the face of Kong Xiaolian, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who looked upright, and said:
"Kong Qing, if it's just a small matter, there's no need for you to report it to me."
Although Emperor Xuyang's gaze was calm, to Kong Xiaolian, it was like being stared at by a giant dragon, with pressure like a sea and a landslide hanging above his head, as if it was about to be suppressed at any moment.
But Kong Xiaolian's expression did not change, and his tone was even calmer and more upright: "Your Majesty! Of course what I want to say is not a trivial matter like the Duke of Xuzhou!"
Haha, for the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, there are probably not many people who dare to say that the affairs of a county prince are trivial.
Emperor Xuyang nodded slightly and motioned for Kong Xiaolian to continue.
Kong Xiaolian continued: "Although the world is generally peaceful now, bandits have emerged one after another in recent years, and there are signs of growing in power in many places. Not to mention the group of bandits who have been entrenched in Shuibo Liangshan for more than ten years, other bandits such as Shaanxi, Mo In places like the north, there are bandits with more than a thousand people gathered. Although these bandits are not a problem for our Zhengyang army, I am afraid they can be easily wiped out by just sending any veteran!"
"But!" Kong Xiaolian's voice suddenly became louder. He took two steps forward and got a little closer to the dragon chair. He raised his head and said to Emperor Xuyang with bright eyes:
"Your Majesty, since the late emperor suppressed culture and promoted military power, our Zhengyang military strength has indeed grown greatly! We have indeed suppressed the Northern Barbarians in the grasslands and dare not move arbitrarily. Our Zhengyang people have enjoyed a rare time of peace. But the current situation in the world It also shows that the barbaric growth of force has caused harm to the stability of the country!"
Kong Xiaolian's eyes inadvertently glanced at the several generals on the left side of the hall, and continued to speak loudly: "It is a good thing that the people are so brave, but if civility and ethics cannot keep up, it will only make countless people with brute force but no morals Disturbing the world. This constant emergence of banditry is proof! None of those bandit leaders are so-called green forest heroes, but there are many people, even young people, who blindly follow and even worship such figures!"
"Although the world is poor in literature and rich in martial arts, the number of warriors in the world today is countless times greater than before the Kangyang Dynasty. There are even 30 million students in the world, and the number of brave people may have reached this scale. ! The old minister is not asking your Majesty to suppress the warriors, because the Northern Barbarians are eyeing us, and for the stability and peace of the country, we need warriors."
"But at the same time, the importance of literati is also very important! Literati can educate the people and spread moral ideas. What I really want to ask for today is for your majesty to reopen Enke and restore the spring period every three years!"
Emperor Xuyang raised his eyebrows, and anger flashed across his face for a moment, but disappeared in an instant.
Enke, Chunwei, imperial examination
Ever since the southern gentry collectively scolded Emperor Xuyang's father and Emperor Kangyang's militarism, Emperor Kangyang canceled the imperial examination with a stroke of his pen.
But a few months later, with a stroke of his pen, he opened Enke again, but that time, he only faced scholars from the north.
In the following years, until the death of Emperor Kangyang, there were several favors, but most of them were selected by Emperor Kangyang himself, and most of them were scholars from the north.
In the Xuyang Dynasty, Emperor Xuyang basically opened an Enke every two or three years, and arranged for scholars from the north and south to participate, but in the end it was the emperor himself who received the scholarship.
What Kong Xiaolian wanted to hold was a formal imperial examination. The emperor could not directly select candidates, but could only wait for the imperial examination to be opened and select candidates after interviews.
The key point is the opening of the list. The opening of the list actually means fairness. Everyone takes the exam based on their ability.
When it comes to examination skills, southerners will only look at northerners with disdain and say nothing.
The reason why Emperor Xuyang's anger disappeared in a flash was because his first reaction was that the southern nobles wanted to cause trouble. But the thought flashed, Kong Xiaolian was from Henan, oh, that would be okay. Kong Qing has always been a person who treats things differently. Naturally, he would not have selfish motives for making this suggestion, but would really do the best for the country.
Emperor Xuyang was silent for a long time, and then looked at the cabinet members behind Kong Xiaolian, as well as the leaders of the six departments.
Among the six current ministries, except for Kong Xiaolian, all others are from the south, so they naturally agree to Kong Xiaolian's proposal.
With some calculation in his mind, Emperor Xuyang said: "I understand."
Four simple words, no statement, but Kong Xiaolian took two steps back calmly, then lowered his head, no longer as impassioned as before.
The ministers present are all veterans who are familiar with Emperor Xuyang. Emperor Xuyang's performance is actually telling everyone that I will consider it.
With this attitude, Kong Xiaolian was satisfied, and the other six ministers were also satisfied.
"By the way, the Duke of Qin is coming back. Since Kong Qing just mentioned that banditry is happening everywhere, after he comes back, we will work with the Ministry of War to discuss how to solve this problem, especially Liangshanshuibo! It's already too big to fall. For more than ten years, it is because of its existence that so many people have followed suit. After we have discussed the countermeasures, give me a break."
After Emperor Xuyang finished speaking, the generals took a step forward and responded with Wu Yanai, the Secretary of the Ministry of War who also came out on the other side.
Then Emperor Xu Yang straightened his back and looked at Mi Yusong. Mi Yusong understood. With a wave of one hand, a eunuch took out a huge map and laid it directly on the ground of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
This is the real big deal today!
The ministers looked over and found that this was a map of Zhengyang, except that the boundaries were expanded much outward. To the north, it directly includes the entire northern barbarian grassland and the far north, replaced by a piece of snow. To the east are Ryukyu, Japan, Korea and other offshore islands. To the west is a large desert and a large city distribution map that the ministers have never seen before!
this!
How come there are so many cities in the far west!
This is the unified consciousness of several civil servants.
Several generals seemed to have received the news in advance, although there was still surprise in their eyes, probably because they saw the real picture for the first time.
"This is a map compiled from the information brought back from Dongchang at great expense from the area around Zhengyang at the beginning of this year." Emperor Xuyang's voice sounded, but the eyes of the ministers were still fixed on it. On the map.
"On the Japanese island in the east, the Tokugawa shogunate unified the entire territory of Japan. The population exceeds ten million and is a potential threat to our Zhengyang. Needless to say in the north, the northern barbarians are in a fight to the death with us, but there is no one on one side. When everything is fully prepared, no one will take action first. And the most important thing is the west." Mi Yusong took over from Emperor Xuyang and explained the map to the ministers.
Mi Yusong's voice was rich, deep, and calm, like a bottomless lake.
"Unconsciously, a huge country appeared in the West, even bigger than our Zhengyang. We have not explored the West for two hundred years, and it has eroded to us in these two hundred years. Only then This is the biggest threat we will face next!”
Mi Yusong's words were like countless thunderbolts, constantly bombarding the minds of the ministers. Even a few generals who knew part of the inside story in advance were dizzy at this moment, their ears were ringing, and their minds were buzzing.
How is it possible for a country bigger than Zhengyang?
Zhengyang is the central country, the most powerful in the world!
Two thoughts kept rushing back and forth in the minds of all the ministers.
After a few breaths, Kong Xiaolian was the first to come to his senses. His forehead was covered with sweat and his eyes were full of confusion. He subconsciously looked up at Emperor Xuyang, the master of Zhengyang. He wanted to see what the emperor's expression looked like now.
The next moment, his heart suddenly calmed down, and all the uneasiness and confusion disappeared in an instant.
It was like a sharp sword cutting through the fog.
Emperor Xuyang's face was calm, still with a slight sense of laziness. At this time, he had returned to his previous posture, even more like half lying on a dragon chair.
"I."
Emperor Xuyang's calm voice sounded in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. At this time, all the ministers seemed to be awakened by a kind of magic power. Just like Kong Xiaolian felt before, the confusion in their hearts suddenly dissipated.
Everyone stood up involuntarily and looked at Emperor Xuyang.
Emperor Xuyang seemed to be very satisfied with the performance of the ministers. There was a smile on his lips. He said lightly:
"When we discovered the country of the West, we thought that the other country also discovered us! Between countries, it is not just children who fight and fight if they don't like it. People will definitely be sent to test and investigate within our borders. On the contrary, we must also In this way, if you know yourself and your enemy, you will never be in danger in a hundred battles. I am not afraid of strong enemies surrounding me, but I am afraid that my enemies are not strong enough and are just paper tigers, vulnerable to a single blow."
"I am showing this map to everyone today. I have only one purpose. To remind everyone that we are surrounded by enemies. If we want to support the outside world, we must first secure the inside. Sirs, you understand!"
"Old minister, I understand!"
"General, I understand!"
"My lord, I understand!"
"..."
The ministers said in unison, with various expressions on their faces as they leaned down.
Emperor Xuyang's eyes swept over these people one by one without any emotion, without any wavering in his eyes.
————
It was another day of hanging out in Dongchang, and Liu Xin felt that the life was very pleasant.
In fact, according to his temperament, if it weren't for the sect's order, he wouldn't be this brain-burning Jin Yiwei. Over the past few days, he felt that he had used up all the brain in the front half of his body. He was even a little worried that overusing his brain would have any adverse effects on his intelligence.
Fortunately, I have fallen in love with Dongchang in the past few days. It would be even better if I could go one step further and find that master's thigh.
It was a pity that Yuan Dongxiang never took him to see the admiral, and Liu Xin also asked directly to the point, but got a very clear answer:
The Admiral knows about him, but doesn't want to see him.
Looking at the skylight, it was almost time for the next watch. Another day passed, and Liu Xin felt happy.
Yuan Dongxiang has been summoned by the admiral for two hours, and he doesn't know if he will be able to come back before his shift ends.
Just before going on duty, Liu Xingang was about to leave the Dongchang Yamen, and Yuan Dongxiang's figure appeared at the door.
Yuan Dongxiang, who was originally looking good, suddenly turned dark when he saw Liu Xin.
"Yuan Qianhu, why don't you look unhappy to see me?" Liu Xin greeted him.
Yuan Dongxiang waved his hand and said: "No...no."
"Qianhu Hara, I deliberately waited for you here. I just wanted to know the progress of our case as soon as possible and see what the Admiral had to say."
Yuan Dongxiang strode inside, as if he didn't want to talk to Liu Xin, but Liu Xin was following closely behind him like a piece of dog-skin plaster.
When he arrived at his check-in room, he returned to his seat and looked at the neat decorations on the table. Yuan Dongxiang felt that his mood was much better.
In fact, every time he meets the Admiral, he feels uncomfortable because there are too many excerpts, secret letters, books... and the Admiral will not allow others to manipulate these things, because many of them are absolute. It's confidential, but the Admiral doesn't like tidying up as much as I do... So that environment was enough to make Yuan Dongxiang collapse.
Every time he met the admiral, Yuan Dongxiang would focus on a certain part of the admiral's body, a pattern on his clothes, or an accessory.
Fortunately, the Admiral took good care of his own clothes.
After returning from the Admiral, the entire Dongchang Yamen was considered very tidy under his management. But this neatness had a stain due to Liu Xin's arrival, a human-shaped self-propelled stain that would always appear in his sight.
Forget it when I'm on a mission, why don't you let me go when I'm resting!
Yuan Dongxiang roared in his heart.
But Liu Xin didn't know all this and was still asking tirelessly.
Looking at Liu Xin who seemed to be endless, Yuan Dongxiang slapped the table and said in a high-pitched voice:
"Tomorrow, your transfer order will come down. From tomorrow on, you will be one of the 100 households in Nanzhen Fusi!"
