On September 14th, in the Prime Minister's Mansion, Lang Huo Jun, Lieutenant Huo Qi, and Wei Wei Gao Zhong were sitting around the left Prime Minister Huo Zheng, seeming to be reporting something.
At this moment, a guard shouted outside the prime minister's house: "Report, urgent military report for six hundred miles." The servants of the prime minister's house did not dare to delay and immediately asked him to come into the house to report on his work.
Huo Zheng took the frontline military report, opened the seal, and after reading ten lines at a glance, he sighed and said: "We have won. Li Shang has lived up to everyone's expectations. The civil uprising in Dongjun has been suppressed."
After saying that, he handed the general's report to Gao Zhong. After reading it, Gao Zhong admired: "The thieves surrounded and threatened tens of thousands of refugees. Li Shang personally led the troops to encircle and suppress thousands of people. The rest of the thieves were routed. This is a great achievement."
The doctor ordered Huo Jun to sneer: "The merits and demerits are just equal to each other. There was such a large-scale civil commotion in his jurisdiction, Li Shang. He can stay in office, but he must be punished with demerits."
When Huo Zheng heard this, he couldn't deny it and said: "By the way, has the battle report been sent to the palace?"
Gao Zhong said: "Master Xiangguo, the battle report has probably been sent to Taiji Palace now."
Huo Zheng asked curiously: "Tai Chi Palace? Your Majesty went to Tai Chi Palace again?"
"Yes, Mr. Xiangguo, Your Majesty is inspecting the... spiritual furnace construction project in Taiji Palace again. I am not a monk, and I don't understand what this spiritual furnace is specifically used for."
Huo Zheng heard the words and sighed: "Now His Majesty has been bewitched by the enchantress and is not doing his job properly. If he had known this, I should have done everything possible to kill this enchantress. The inheritance you have laid down is truly a trustworthy one!”
The three people present did not dare to say anything after hearing this. That is to say, the powerful Huo Xiangguo dared to do this, and the others dared to be jailed for criticizing the emperor so early.
Huo Zheng turned to Gao Zhong and told him: "Gao Zhong, please take the time to advise me, use your energy on the right path, and don't always engage in such crooked things."
Hearing this, Gao Zhong smiled awkwardly and said: "Enxiang, it's not that I haven't advised you before. Every time you give me advice, I should just stick to it. If the court has a wise minister like you at the helm, nothing big can happen." .”
When Huo Zheng heard the words, he nodded secretly in his heart, but said: "Alas! The late emperor handed over the country to your majesty. He should be diligent in state affairs, so how can he be a hand-off shopkeeper? After I retire in the future, I will still have to entrust this heavy burden to your majesty. , you are trying to persuade His Majesty."
Gao Chong agreed: "Please rest assured, Mr. Gao, I will give you many suggestions to be diligent in political affairs."
Gao Zhong agreed with his mouth, but complained in his heart, you, Huo Xiang, have the power firmly in your hands, what business do you want me to do?
Gao Chong understood Huo Xiangguo's meaning very well. He was just pretending. How could he be willing to hand over power easily? Doesn't his Majesty's actions play into his own agenda now?
After Gao Zhong and Huo Qi left the Prime Minister's Mansion to attend to matters, only two brothers, Huo Zheng and Huo Jun, were left in the lobby of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Huo Jun stepped forward and said with a smile: "Brother, look, this right Prime Minister Wang Yi is not doing his job properly. He didn't say a word during the court meeting. He is in a high position, but he is sitting in a low position. Let's just let this old guy retire and go home. .”
Hearing this, Huo Zheng sneered and said, "Oh? If he quits, who will take his place?"
Huo Jun sneered and said, "Brother, why don't you make the decision on this?"
Huo Zheng chuckled, followed Huo Jun's wishes, and said: "That's right. It's really shameful for this old guy to occupy this position and not do anything. Alas! I look at the position of the right prime minister..."
The doctor's order, Huo Jun, was overjoyed when he saw his brother's relaxed tone. He stretched his head to listen carefully to whom Huo Zheng wanted to give the seat to.
Huo Zheng's expression suddenly changed, he slapped the table and scolded: "Huo Jun, don't think that I don't know about your thoughts. You have been thinking about the position of Prime Minister You for a long time, right?"
Huo Jun was startled and said quickly: "Brother, it's okay, I..."
Seeing that Huo Zheng's face was getting more and more ugly, Huo Jun quickly changed his words and said, "Brother, I was wrong. I shouldn't worry about the position of the right prime minister..."
Seeing that Huo Jun was frightened, Huo Zheng said in a gentle tone: "Hey! What can I do for you? If virtue is not matched, there will be disaster. Look at you, you don't do anything serious all day long, and you always make friends with those wanderers. , what future can you have? I promoted you directly from a Langguan to Jiuqing Langzhongling, and I have already offended the public. You can calm down and make some achievements, so as to convince the public."
Huo Jun said yes repeatedly.
Seeing that he didn't seem to take it seriously, Huo Zheng suddenly said sternly: "Now you don't even cover the position of Lang Zhongling, but you only think about the position of the right prime minister? There must be a limit to the stupidity of people. The so-called person who is blinded by the power is you. , you only have promotion and wealth in your eyes, do you have any idea about other things? You don’t even think about it, if you and my brothers become prime ministers, what will the people in the government and the public think? Does the imperial court really belong to our Huo family? You What do you think of a national weapon? Look at your third brother Huo Qi. He is much more important than you. Since he took over the lieutenant army, he has worked hard and trained soldiers without slacking off. "
Huo Jun was obedient and didn't dare to say anything.
Huo Zheng said: "Let me tell you the truth. I am very satisfied with Wang Xiangguo. If someone else comes up, he may not be so sensible. Do you understand what I mean?"
Hearing this, Huo Jun suddenly said: "Brother, I understand, let's not pursue that false reputation, but grasp the real benefits in our hands."
Huo Zheng showed a childlike expression, patted Huo Jun on the shoulder and said: "Oh! You are still saved. Don't think too hard about the position of right minister. Don't even think about it from now on."
Huo Jun agreed repeatedly.
Huo Zheng thought for a while, then turned to Huo Jun and said: "By the way, you go and help me with something. Now the Lang Wei beside His Majesty is under your command. You must train in time and don't slack off. You can be transferred to the Southern Army Palace Guards." Some reliable people will be added to Lang Wei to strengthen the inner court's defense."
Huo Jun heard this and said: "But the Nanying palace guard is under the high authority of the guard. You also know that I don't get along well with him in private. I'm afraid he won't let me go easily."
Huo Zheng said: "You are what I want, he dare not not let me go."
Huo Jun asked heartily: "Brother, how many people does Lang Wei want to add?"
Huo Zheng stood up and clasped his hands behind his back, thought for a moment, and said, "Another three thousand people will come in."
Huo Jun was surprised and said: "So many people? According to the regulations of the imperial court, Lang Wei can only have a maximum of two thousand people. If you add three thousand people, Lang Wei will have more than five thousand people. I'm afraid this move will cause criticism from the courtiers?"
Huo Zheng said: "Of course I know that this move is against the regulations. Most of your subordinates, Lang Wei, are descendants of the old Guanzhong family. These people may not be of the same mind as our Huo family. The three thousand Southern Army palace guards assigned to you this time." , they are still the palace guards of the Southern Army in name, but are actually under your command, do you understand what I mean?"
Huo Jun's heart was like a mirror and he said: "I understand, I'll do it right away."
Huo Jun understood that this was Huo Zheng's plan to take away part of the military power from Weiwei Gao Zhong. Weiwei was in charge of the Southern Army Palace Guards and had ten thousand people under his command. The Southern Army Palace Guards were also called Bingwei, and the Bingwei were stationed in the palace city. , guarding various palace gates, except for the soldiers and guards in Huo Jun's hands, the soldiers and guards are the most important part in controlling the military power in the forbidden area.
Could it be that the eldest brother is wary of Weiwei Gao Zhong? Then Huo Jun shook his head and felt that it was not the case. If the eldest brother suspected that the guard was high and important, it would be impossible for him to take the most critical position of guard...
At this time, in the Taiji Palace, the emperor, accompanied by the patriarch Ahrami, was visiting the construction site of the spiritual furnace. This was once the place where the late emperor made alchemy, but now it has become Mu Sheng's production base for producing spiritual crystals.
Qingyang City has a lot of land and rich people, but there is no such a large place specially planned for Ahrami. The reason why Taiji Palace was chosen is because this palace is built on the mountain and has the function of city defense. It is a fortress-shaped palace, so it is convenient and safe to build the spiritual furnace here.
In an open space in the Taiji Palace, tens of thousands of civilians were shouting chants and laying foundations and ramming earth platforms under the supervision of the foreman. Thousands of craftsmen built wooden frames and were demolishing a large hall in the middle of the open space.
Ahrami explained: "Your Majesty, it is difficult to find a place in the Tai Chi Palace. We can only demolish the main hall here and build it again. The spiritual furnace does not occupy an area."
Mu Sheng said: "Well, you can go ahead and do it. As long as the spiritual furnace can be successfully built, the combat effectiveness of the Baishou monks will be incomparable, and they will become the most powerful sharp knives in my hand."
In fact, Mu Sheng wanted to consciously strengthen the only power he could control, the military strength of the Tsing Yi Envoy and the strength of Bai Shou. If they were powerful enough, to a certain extent, they could hedge against the tens of thousands controlled by Zuo Prime Minister Huo Zheng. If the military power is banned, in a few years, his voice as the emperor will be much stronger, which is much better than being a rubber stamp now.
Ahrami said: "Your Majesty, if you can successfully produce spiritual crystals, you can also make very powerful machine puppets, which can be used to attack cities and forts. There is also a kind of combat flying kite from the ancient times, which is also powered by spiritual crystals." , according to the flying clouds, it goes straight up to 20,000 miles, coming and going like the wind."
Mu Sheng has been fascinated by the blueprint described by Ahrami. If he can really come up with this thing, he can consider establishing an air force. In this era, it would be invincible. Maybe he can rely on this super-era force. Use technology to build an invincible army, explore and conquer the entire planet in advance, and become the captain of the ball yourself. How exciting is this?
Ahrami said: "Master, before the spiritual furnace is completed, I can build a small spiritual furnace for preliminary experiments. It is estimated that it can be completed in a few months, but this type of spiritual furnace is only experimental in nature. , the number of spiritual crystals produced is very limited, and the yield is also very low, but it can also be used to do some preliminary experiments and exploration before the spiritual furnace is officially built here in Taiji Palace."
After hearing this, Mu Sheng thought of a good place and said, "By the way, in Qingyang City, the Gongzi Mansion where I lived in the past, that place is specially for you to conduct experiments. Is the place big enough?"
Of course Ahrami knew how big the eldest son's mansion was, and said, "It's enough. If we can demolish a few houses to leave open space, it would be enough to build a medium-sized spiritual furnace."
Mu Sheng waved his hand and said: "Okay, you can demolish that place as you like. You need money and people, you can do it yourself. I just want results."
Ahrami's eyes were shining and he agreed again and again.
At this time, a guard ran in and shouted: "Your Majesty's military report, six hundred miles to rush."
Mu Sheng perked up as soon as he heard this, and Yang Jin quickly stepped forward to take the military report and handed it to Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng took it out and took a look, and felt relieved. It seemed that the civil unrest was within control. Maybe it was just an action of the Renaissance Association, and it was unlikely to happen.
Now that the overall situation has been decided, Mu Sheng is preparing to hold a court meeting tomorrow to discuss the aftermath with the ministers.
At this time, Bian Hu, the prosecutor's captain, ran up and whispered to Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng's eyes were gloomy and he asked: "You are, Huo Xiangguo assigned the three thousand guards of Nanying Palace to Huo Jun, the doctor? When did it happen?"
Bian Hu said softly: "That's what happened just now. There are 10,000 palace guards in Nanying. Now three thousand palace guards have been allocated to join Lang Wei. In other words, Lang Zhong ordered Huo Jun to take away part of the military power in the hands of Wei Wei Gao Zhong. , there are already 5,000 troops under his direct control. These are the elites guarding the inner court. What does Huo Xiangguo want? It’s really..."
Bian Hu's words did not go on. These are extremely scary operations. With Huo Zheng's current strength, even if Mu Sheng is abolished and a new emperor is established, it will be easy. Or it is the decentralization and adjustment within the left prime minister Huo Zheng's group. There is no need to be surprised. Anyway, the military power in the forbidden area is in the hands of Huo Zheng's cronies. They can be divided here and there, and that's it.
When Mu Sheng heard this, his heart sank, so he could only pretend to be relaxed and said: "I understand, let's go back to Beijing."
