After I returned to Chang'an, three major events happened in Chang'an. The first was that I traveled thousands of miles to bring Gongsun Ba back to Chang'an in the capital.
As for the second and third big things, let me, Lu Ling, talk about it!
...
Humph, in my opinion, those scribes who secretly send plum blossoms, express ideas from fish, or find joy in the mountains and forests, or sleep heavily with wine, are all people who are seeking fame and reputation, and should be killed.
These people are hindered by their elegance, ashamed to take the initiative, and ashamed to recommend themselves. They live in lust all day long, relying on the five-stone powder that is like poison, and want to treat the king like the duke Xiao treated Shang Jun and the late emperor treated Kong Ming. Only by supporting the car and holding the stool and being sincerely invited can you become an official.
Every time I see these people, I can't help but want to yell, "Shang Yang reforms to become stronger, Zhuge reorganizes the country, what can you do? Can the emperor condescend to you?"
Based on this feeling of disdain, when His Majesty recruited me six years ago, I did not think twice. I rode alone on a horse, with a sword and a slip, and slept in the open air from Poyang County in Liuzhou to the imperial capital Chang'an, which was thousands of miles away.
When a true man stands in the world, he should plan according to the situation, take advantage of the situation, be granted the title of prime minister, display his grand plans, and sow the power of the sky and help peace. How can you care about your face and behave coquettishly? Spending time in vain and ending up feeling depressed?
In the "Book of Changes", the North Palace Xuanwu is empty and dangerous. Danger means building a house, and empty means crying. There are many stars in its south, called the Yulin Heavenly Army. The Habayashi Army is in charge of patrolling the palace, and Habayashi Chulang will serve as the commander of the palace guard infantry. He has great responsibilities and significance. Although his rank is low, he is a close servant of the emperor, and he is always favored.
As the saying goes, those who are close to the water come first, if they are good and manage well, it is only a matter of time before Habayashi Chulang will be ranked among the Twelve Ministers in the future. At the worst, he can become a powerful armed general.
The previous Lieutenant General Habayashi was also a wonderful man. Six years ago, His Majesty decided to transfer him to the frontier army as the Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General. His salary was directly raised from 800 dan to 2,000 dan. This book It was a great thing, but great joy can bring sorrow. This old man drank a few sips of wine and ate a few dates. The date core got stuck in his throat, and he died!
This incident was rumored to be the laughing sigh of Gyeonggi Province, and even today, it is still talked about in the streets and alleys.
Be careful to accompany you, you will eventually get a generous salary, but once you die, how helpless will you be?
Where there is sadness, there is joy. I still clearly remember that in the first summer of that year, when the Yang dynasty was stagnant in the Three Rivers, I stood in the front hall of Weiyang Palace in bright clothes and angry horses. His Majesty's eyes were filled with admiration. He smiled and said to me, " A young man should have great ambitions and make meritorious deeds in the temple and on the battlefield. I will give you two chances to make mistakes, because there must be something more important than the future, such as the Jianjia outside the city or the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival."
In the next five years, I abided by my duties as Lieutenant General Habayashi. In addition to training soldiers, handling official duties, and returning to my hometown to visit relatives, the east room of the Xuanshi Hall of Weiyang Palace became my second home.
The Big Dipper in the sky is like a king in the world. In the small east room, I saw His Majesty's talent in governing the country, his diligence and studiousness, his benevolence, justice, etiquette and wisdom. I also saw His Majesty's viciousness, decisiveness, cunning and fierce killing. Of course, there are also his three pet peeves, Da Qin, Shi Clan and Liu Quansheng.
Needless to say, Da Qin and the Shizu clan, but why Liu Quansheng became His Majesty’s heart problem, this puzzled me for a long time. I made many inquiries, but to no avail.
After thinking about it, I can only attribute it to one reason, and that is fear of talent.
It's no wonder that His Majesty often says that someone who can write such a magnificent poem as "The trumpet awakens people from dreams, and a ride can determine the ups and downs" must be such a person who encompasses classics and intellectual debate!
If I have a chance, I, Lu Ling, will definitely meet him for a while!
Except for His Majesty, few people have ever entered the west side room of the Xuanshi Hall in Weiyang Palace. In 336, that is, five years ago, His Majesty asked me if I wanted to go in and have a look. Without any hesitation, I followed him in!
I saw that the east, south, west and north walls and roof of the entire west side room together constituted the vast territory of the Han Dynasty. The sun, moon and stars, mountains and rivers, soldiers and prefectures and counties were all there. Each prefecture and prefecture was marked with eight hundred wooden signs. There are small ropes of different colors connecting the powerful people above the people, between the powerful people and the royal family, between the powerful people and the powerful people, between the powerful people and counties, and between the powerful people and the army. Many small ropes have overflowed the territory of the Han Dynasty. I It can be seen clearly that after the small ropes are connected, the entire Han territory has been covered.
The brand of my Lu family in Poyang County, Liuzhou is also clearly visible on the picture.
Regarding the function of this picture, His Majesty did not mention a word, and I did not ask a word. Everything was left unsaid.
That night, there was a full moon in Chang'an and the sound of thousands of households pounding clothes. I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Your Majesty is like a farmer of this huge empire, peeling off the cocoon bit by bit, placing the "cocoon" step by step, waiting for the day when the cocoon will emerge and become a butterfly, the Han Empire will finally bloom again.
No one can escape the temptation of power. From the moment I walked into the west room, I, Lu Ling, became His Majesty's cocoon, the kind that I willingly did!
Everything has advantages and disadvantages. Back then, in order to suppress the nobles, contain the royal family, and resist the Qin Dynasty, the late emperor allowed local tycoons to recruit private soldiers, open up wasteland, and appointed officials to the nobility, receiving countless favors. Later, when the Qin Dynasty retreated and all the kings were destroyed, the age should have been prosperous and peaceful. However, relying on their merits, powerful nobles monopolized official positions, infiltrated military affairs, arbitrarily imposed rural folk songs, indulged in corruption, and indulged in endless lust. The late emperor could not bear to do this, and he did not want to bear the burden. The crime of killing Xian led to today's situation.
I have read ancient and modern classics. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Wen of the Jin Dynasty established three armies and six ministers, which made the powerful nobles restrain each other, and finally divided the three families into Jin; Die in this world.
It can be seen that trust, indulgence and care will never diminish the ambition of the world!
The only way to completely quell the family's troubles is to uproot them.
Six years ago, your Majesty's great master, the best counselor in the world, the prime minister of the current dynasty, Lv Zheng, who was in the realm of immortality, once planned three strategies for your majesty: upper, middle and lower. Your Majesty will not allow it if the superior plan is to execute people, and blood will flow into rivers and millions of people will be killed. Your Majesty will not allow it. The middle plan is to move the people, which may provoke rebellion and mutiny, and your Majesty will not allow it. Therefore, Your Majesty chose the strategy of peeling off the cocoons and chewing the food slowly. Although this strategy will not be achieved in a day and a moment, I believe that with Your Majesty's perseverance and strategic character, you will be able to do well and end well.
Over the past six years, as I have grown older and more experienced, I have come to feel more and more that these three strategies only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. After the aristocratic clans, there will be aristocratic clans. According to this method, aristocratic clans will emerge one after another.
Even a younger generation like me has noticed it. Didn’t the emperor on the dragon bed and Lu Xianghui, who is known as "Zhang Liang", not notice it? I do not believe.
Time waits for no one, so we seize the day. Last winter, at a suitable opportunity, in a similar restaurant, I "accidentally met" the person I wanted to meet the most, the current Prime Minister, Lu Zheng.
After I finished talking about my doubts, Lu Xiang looked at me leisurely, as if he was looking at a young man who was diligent and eager to learn, and said with a smile, "Son, what can you do?"
I immediately said, "First of all, the method of selecting officials from the ninth rank should be abolished and the promotion channels of the family should be cut off; secondly, you once proposed to His Majesty the twelve-character policy of 'cutting off the wings, using the poor family, withdrawing the troops, and leveling the private food'. The rest is It’s easy to say, but I don’t dare to compliment the efficiency of selecting poor families. Whether it’s exams or promotions, we must promote a group of children from poor families who are loyal to the Han Dynasty as soon as possible. We only seek loyalty, regardless of ability!”
I was frothing as I spoke, my face turned red, and the words I had been holding in my chest finally came out.
"Haha, good boy, twenty years from now, you will be the pillar of the country!" Lu Xiang looked at me as if he was looking at a rare object. He blew his beard naughtily with his mouth and pinched his immortal eyebrows. , smiled and said, "Child, today, I have a lesson for you. Think about it, if a group of wild dogs chases and bites you and a wild dog chases and bites you, will the result be the same?"
It suddenly dawned on me that it was not that His Majesty did not want to appoint poor people, or that he did not want to reform the government, but that his strength and ability were not enough.
It was precisely because of a conversation with Mr. Lu in a wine shop that I got an opportunity!
After receiving the special envoy, he left the three states in the north.
Last year, His Majesty ordered Xie An, Huan Wen, Ran Min and me to spy in the palace. Finally, on His Majesty's order, as a special envoy, I took the Auditor of the Department of Finance, Meng Anjian, and the five hundred Hu cavalry iron guards to the three prefectures, six counties and nineteen counties. County, planning the allocation of funds for the Hongqu Canal and the recruitment of citizens.
Before departure, I went to the west side of the Xuanshi Hall of Weiyang Palace as usual to say goodbye to His Majesty. His Majesty frowned thickly, looked me up and down, and sighed softly, "Are you all ready?"
"Reporting to your majesty, everything is ready and ready to go at any time!" I know your majesty's intentions. The old man in Weishui said that "it depends on Lu Ling for power". It was not as simple as your majesty's daily routine. If my prediction is good, the old man will It is His Majesty's second master, Shen Qiong, the master of the Wencheng Hall of Zongzheng Mansion.
"Go!" His Majesty waved his sleeves and lowered his head to comment. I handed over and left. When I turned around, His Majesty said loudly, "Just stride forward. You are alone, so don't be afraid!"
I raised my head and stared at the sky. Six years later, on the large map that covered the entire wall of the house, only a thin layer of small ropes were left in the areas of Chang'an and Luoyang. It can be seen that His Majesty has already divided the two capitals. After cleaning up, they decided to take action against the local noble families.
With my heart full of pride, I strode away.
Once he is gone, he will be a powerful king, and he will inspire the three states, whip the unruly ministers, and act with respect and authority!
