At the beginning of October, in the Zhangtai Palace, the officials were discussing state affairs with the emperor, including the administration of Su Nei Shi Tian Jian, who was Mu Sheng's father-in-law. He showed a happy face and presented the memorial to the imperial court.
Mu Sheng flipped through it and said with a smile: "It's really a good thing! This Guanzhong harvest is indeed a good year."
Tian Jian smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the harvest in Guanzhong is indeed an unexpected blessing. This autumn harvest is also a good year across the country. Reports from various places show that the public grain harvested by counties across the country totals 67 million. The number of stones has more than doubled than in previous years. It is really unprecedented and unheard of. When the late emperor was alive, the country's prosperity was only about 40 million stones. Now Guanzhong has a rare bumper harvest. I'm afraid The granary cannot collect so much grain, so I suggest building a granary to store grain more conveniently."
Mu Sheng smiled when he heard this and said, "Okay, that's great. What the Qing family played is very much to my liking."
Mu Sheng turned to the left prime minister Huo Zheng and asked, "What do you think, Mr. Prime Minister?"
Huo Zheng said: "Your Majesty, such a good harvest is indeed a good thing. I suggest that your Majesty set up a memorial platform before going out on patrol to thank God for giving the people food so as to protect our country and the people. I will issue an edict and let the envoy hear it. "
Huo Zheng's subordinates were incompetent, the guards were high and heavy, and the two young men from the Shaofu, Zou Dan, also stepped forward to express their support.
Mu Sheng smiled with a smile on his face, nodded and said: "Accurate performance, what the Prime Minister said is absolutely true."
Mu Sheng was of course extremely happy to hear this. A great harvest event like this occurred across the country, and during his reign, it was enough to strengthen the legitimacy of his succession to a certain extent. Of course, he had to publicize it with great publicity, sacrifice ceremonies, and various The ceremony begins.
Mu Sheng knew very well that people in this era were mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, basically relying on food. This kind of bumper harvest event can be extremely rare. I am afraid it will be difficult for this year's situation to happen for many years to come.
Mu Sheng and Prime Minister Zuo Huo Zheng dealt with some important government affairs and then left the court. As the emperor, he and the ministers had finished the report. He was asking Prime Minister Zuo Huo Zheng what he meant, and then the matter could be decided. It can be said that the real person in charge of this dynasty is Prime Minister Huo. As a son, Mu Sheng is very similar to Liu Chan, the empress of Shu. The whole court depends on Prime Minister Zhuge's wishes. If he wants to truly sit down, he may have to wait until the end of Huo Zheng's natural lifespan. It would be possible to truly gain power in the future, or he might not be able to get there, so Huo Zheng would deal with him first, and he might be the next deposed emperor.
In the early morning of the next day, the emperor's guard of honor went out of the city to ascend the high platform to perform a sacrificial ceremony, followed by hundreds of civil and military officials in a huge procession.
Mu Sheng, wearing a solemn Gongmian robe, climbed up to the high platform to offer sacrifices. With the bronze cauldron clearing the green smoke, it was unclear whether he really received the sincerity of the mortals to offer sacrifices to the place.
After the sacrificial ceremony was over, on the way back to the palace, Bian Hu, the procuratorate who was accompanying the son in the honor guard, called the guard Leqi and said, "Leqi, have you remembered everything I just said?"
Le Qi nodded and said, "Colonel Bian, I will remember it."
Bian Hu did not dare to go to the emperor directly. Instead, he found the imperial guard Leqi, who was deeply trusted by the emperor, to report to the emperor. As the head of the secret service, he had already noticed that the cronies of Zuo Prime Minister Huo Zheng had begun to monitor him, the Tsing Yi envoy. Now that he was the leader, he also knew that he could not report to the emperor at any time, and could only rely on others to convey the news on his behalf.
Leqi was proud to have secretly engaged in intelligence work with Anlehou in his early years. Now he was specially hired by the emperor as an imperial guard. He knew that he had a bright future, so he was naturally more loyal to his master.
When Le Qi received the assignment, he secretly went to Yang Jin, the general manager of the inner court, turned sideways and lowered his head and whispered: "Eunuch Yang, I have something important to do and ask to see your majesty."
Yang Jin, of course, knew that the matter was of great importance and said, "Go back to the palace."
In Zhangtai Palace, Leqi asked to see the emperor in private. Mu Sheng first waved away the surrounding palace people before letting him in.
Leqi stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the thing is like this. According to Mr. Bian, in the past when the emperor went on patrol, the Qingyi envoy, including Baishou's entourage, would have at least 500 people accompanying the emperor. During the inspection by the three empresses, Huo Zheng With a wave of his hand, the old man reduced our Qingyi envoy's entourage to less than a hundred, and the accompanying 50,000 soldiers of the Beiying camp. Now it has been reduced to 5,000. The humble ministers still heard that the soldiers of the Beiying camp were very dissatisfied. , but Huo Xiangguo has already approved half of the rewards and directly rewarded the Northern Army in advance in the name of the court, thus suppressing the voice of dissatisfaction."
Leqi glanced at the emperor's face heartily, and continued to report: "Your Majesty, now Prime Minister Zuo Rudai is planning to tour the east, but I don't know what he intends to do."
Mu Sheng thought for a long time and sighed: "It's just that I'm worried about the Tsing Yi envoy and that he can't control the soldiers of the Northern Army for the time being. That's all."
Mu Sheng suddenly narrowed his eyes and stared at Le Qi. Based on his past performance, he is really suitable for being a spy in this school.
Mu Sheng instructed: "Leqi, from tomorrow onwards, you will take up a position as a messenger in Qingyi and learn from Bian Hu. Do you understand?"
Hearing this, Leqi was overjoyed. He knew that the emperor was going to reuse him, and he would definitely have a bright future if he didn't need to do so in the future.
Leqi kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will go to Qingyi Envoy to report today."
After Le Qi exited the hall, Mu Sheng leaned on the throne and fell into deep thought...
At this time, in the residence of Prime Minister Zuo, Huo Zheng found his third brother, Lieutenant Huo Qi, and his second brother, Lieutenant Commander Huo Jun.
Huo Zheng turned to Lieutenant Huo Qi and asked: "Three empress, it's time for Your Majesty to inspect. Your 30,000 lieutenant troops will be accompanying you on this eastward tour. How are the troops and horses prepared?"
Lieutenant Huo Qi said solemnly: "Brother, don't worry. I have served in the army for many years. I don't have much experience in leading troops in battles. When it comes to training, I think I can still do it in the army. Although the Lieutenant Army is not as elite as the Northern Army, it is Compared with the local county soldiers, they are still much stricter. This eastward patrol is not a real battle, so brother, you can rest assured."
Huo Zheng nodded repeatedly after hearing this. It was just a patrol, and he was not going out to fight. He said: "Okay, very good. You must be careful to protect me during the east patrol."
Of course Huo Qi understood what his elder brother meant and nodded in agreement.
The Prime Minister of the Left, Huo Zheng, looked at his second brother, Lieutenant Commander Huo Jun, and said, "This time I am on patrol. The third brother is responsible for his duties. He must go with me. The Inner Court Guards, the Southern Army Palace Guards under Gao Zhong, and the Prime Minister are here." Deploy 10,000 county soldiers from various counties, a total of 22,000 people, and give them all to your command. The defense of the important areas in the capital and inside and outside the capital will be handed over to you. You must deal with it carefully."
The doctor ordered Huo Jun to nod his head and said, "Brother, don't worry. I guarantee that there won't be any problems in the capital. Unfortunately, I can't accompany the new king on his tour this time."
Without waiting for Huo Zheng's words, Lieutenant Huo Qidao said: "Second brother, we always have to keep some people at home. If all three of our brothers go out, the capital will be empty and there may be chaos. We must guard against it."
The doctor ordered Huo Jun to nod his head and said: "Yes, that makes sense. Our Huo family is in a prosperous situation now, but the court can't stand the Huo family. There are many people there. I understand this."
Seeing that Huo Jun had such understanding, Huo Zheng felt relieved and nodded slightly: "Second brother, just understand. As long as you are still in my hands, nothing big will happen. You can go down and prepare yourself."
Huo Jun and Huo Qi bowed and resigned.
After a while, Weiwei Gaozhong came to the Prime Minister's Mansion to report on his work.
Gao Zhong handed a memorial to Huo Zheng and said: "Master Xiangguo, for this eastward tour, a total of 60,000 troops and horses were mobilized in various counties and counties in Guanzhong, of which 10,000 troops were assigned to Lang Zhongling to assist in the defense of the capital, and the remaining five Ten thousand soldiers and horses will accompany you on the eastward patrol, plus 30,000 lieutenants, for a total of 80,000 people. The size of the Zihu Army is sufficient."
Huo Zheng was very satisfied with Gao Zhong's arrangement, nodded and said: "Well, that's good. Among them, 50,000 county soldiers will be allocated to you and 10,000 troops will be under your direct command. They will form a front army with the lieutenant's army. You will have to take care of them along the way." A good boy must not slack off.”
Of course, Gao Zhong understood what the Prime Minister Darao meant, and he nodded and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Gen., I will live up to the honor of the Prime Minister and the country."
After Gao Zhong handed over his work, he left the Prime Minister's Mansion. A few days ago, Huo Zheng ordered his lieutenant Huo Jun to seize part of his military power. In fact, he was still unhappy. Now it seems that the Prime Minister still trusts him. .
