Lu Fei secretly made up her mind at this time. If the beginning of fate is destined to be unchangeable, then with her intervention, the ending of the tragedy may take a different path.
Mrs. Zhang has great wisdom, and as she is at the center, she should not be held back by the love of her children. Everything that needs to be done must be carried out according to the original plan.
She calmed down, regained her usual composure, and said with a smile,
"I understand, you don't have to say anything anymore.
Being promoted to a noble position is a great thing, but you make it sound like you have no choice but to do so.
When the day comes for your promotion, I will still be happy for you. "
She lowered her head and thought for a moment, then gave Zhang a piece of roasted goose meat with her own hands, and then said softly,
"Your Majesty and I have watched your two sons grow up. They are all good in character and character.
At the moment, both of them are employed in Lang Guan. Although they are only doing menial work as guards in the palace, they are still close ministers of the Emperor. They appear in front of His Majesty day and night. It can be said that they have a bright future.
After a few years of hard work, he might be promoted to a capital official, or be transferred to serve as a local magistrate, or be sent as an envoy to a foreign country for the imperial court. All of them are good jobs that will bring glory to the family and will not be a loss to them. "
They were both heroes among women and good friends who had shared weal and woe for twenty years. They knew each other very well. Mrs. Zhang raised his eyes to look at her and understood. He was also grateful that she took the extra trouble to explain, so she simply said straightforwardly,
"I know the importance of this, so don't worry.
No matter where we go, at least one of these two children will stay in the court and continue to serve the country.
However, if we are beyond our reach, this unsatisfactory child will be pointed at you to take care of and correct him. "
"I will treat him like my nephews like Lu Chan and Lu Lu, and I will make sure he becomes a talented person."
She laughed at herself in her heart, the hand of nature was overturned, everything was just a stupid dog, there was no difference at all, and she deliberately tried to create a small space for the Lu Wan family to move forward and retreat, even if she was indulging her own womanly kindness Bar.
Thinking of this, she had a thought in her mind and urged Mrs. Zhang to say,
"Eat quickly. After you finish eating, take the remaining fish and bream in the kitchen and I will take you to meet someone."
Let me take you to see Bo Ji, just to leave you with a way out, she thought to herself:
If I fail in the end, if today is really the last time I meet you in private in this life, then the future Empress Dowager Bo and Emperor Wen of Han will probably be able to ensure that you return to your roots.
***
The goose-feather heavy snow fell intermittently, and it lasted for eight days before stopping. The entire city of Luoyang was covered in snow, with nearly two feet of snow covering the trees and streets everywhere. It was already a white snow country.
Despite such beautiful scenery, the officials in Luoyang were busier than before. They shuttled between the prime minister's mansion and the palace, completely uninterested in admiring the snow.
Because, starting from the second day after the snowfall, the imperial court ordered the Taishi Yuan, which was responsible for predicting disasters, to report the snow conditions and food prices in Luoyang and surrounding counties twice a day, morning and evening, in order to coordinate relief efforts.
The first plan of the Han Empire was about to be launched. On the one hand, the local officials of various prefectures and counties had to send reports to the court from the planners, and on the other hand, they had to make temporary statistics on the pensions for the victims of disasters and widows and widowers. As a result of their diligence and love for the people, they were busy.
Even so, the emperor still issued two edicts in succession, led by Xiao He, and everyone was busy for more than ten days——
They resettled the victims whose houses were collapsed by the heavy snow, commanded the chief ministers to open warehouses to provide relief, and gave two handfuls of corn to each person who had lost their livelihood due to the snow disaster. They also set up ten-day porridge relief in and outside Luoyang City, and so on. , every detail was taken care of, and finally the weather turned sunny and the heavy snow melted away.
Fortunately, the weather in the new dynasty was so united that even though the snow disaster came suddenly and in a hurry, there were not a large number of victims who froze to death from starvation, nor did they provoke any civil uprising.
After the snow cleared and the sky cleared, Liu Ji finally received a few good things that made him feel excited.
***
The first good thing is about the candidate for the new King of Yan.
There were only two of the first batch of courtiers who recommended Lu Wan to be crowned king with a different surname and move to Yan State. However, these two memorials came out of nowhere, weighing as much as a thousand pounds, enough to shock both the government and the public.
Because, these two people, one is Xiao He and the other is Han Xin.
Liu Jiben had already expected Xiao He's pandering. After all, as the Prime Minister of the country, he was the head of the officials and took the lead, which was reasonable.
Lu Wan's qualifications were mediocre, and he rarely achieved independent achievements. This time, his role in conquering Zang Tu was even smaller. It was purely due to Liu Ji's deliberate efforts to accumulate military achievements for him.
In this way, in order to implement the new policy of "promoting the king due to relatives", the emperor personally created a "close" favorite whose military merits were no less than those of the meritorious officials. He had given enough face and steps to the officials. Xiao Heruo could no longer understand the situation and obeyed. It would be too slow for a donkey to walk downhill.
It was an unexpected surprise that Han Xin also tried to protect Lu Wan.
In fact, Han Xin's political wisdom outside the battlefield was not very high. On several occasions, Liu Ji quickly overturned his plans and seized military power. He even staged low-level farce such as Chen Bing's Demonstration in Chu State. .
Therefore, it is thought-provoking that he can do such a brilliant thing:
This seems to demonstrate Han Xin's unconditional obedience to Liu Ji himself, and it also seems to mean that he has a deep understanding of the concept that the emperor can independently choose and appoint people, as well as the unlimited power of the emperor?
Throughout Liu Ji's life, his vigilance against Han Xin was deeply rooted in his blood and unforgettable. However, looking at Han Xin's performance in the past six months and the signals it released, it was enough to satisfy him:
It is impossible to dispel doubts, but if a bird knocks off its feathers and an animal loses its feet, at least it can be left untouched for now and raised to the world as a rare and exotic beast that personally promotes the emperor's mercy.
The second good thing made Liu Ji even more overjoyed, that is, there was news again from the Xiongnu spy.
***
Liu Ji put aside the secret letter written in code and asked Chen Ping,
"The words written here are all code words, and I'm too lazy to translate them. You can just tell them. What's the progress?"
Chen Ping said hurriedly,
"The third team of spies sent a secret report, saying that a few months ago, Maodun Shanyu and an envoy from the Han Dynasty made a blood alliance at the foot of Langjuxu Mountain and became a kingdom of brothers.
The grassland was too big, and they were busy rushing to the Julin Conference, so it took a long time for the ordinary herdsmen to receive the news from the leader one after another. "
"Okay! Okay! Okay!"
Although Liu Ji had vaguely guessed that Liu Jing's side might have succeeded since the Xiongnu had stood still against the Han emperor's attack on Yan, but now that he received the conclusive news, he was still overjoyed and shouted three times in victory, and said with emotion,
"Liu Jing went to the grassland alone, carrying only a few carts of clothes, food and jewelry, but he actually negotiated such a big deal.
From now on, I will never look down on scholars again, haha! "
"A coat of gold is not the armpit of a fox. A period of three generations is not the wisdom of a scholar."
Chen Ping took advantage of the opportunity and echoed,
“The world is so vast that there are many talented people like Liu Jing, but it’s a pity that they are scattered all over the country and unknown to everyone.
How to recruit all the talents in the country to His Majesty's command requires careful planning by the imperial court. "
"What you said is absolutely true," Liu Ji said, stroking his beard.
"It seems that Liu Jing will be back soon. Inform the border counties and inns to prepare for the arrangements."
