serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 394 The Iron Rooster Treats Me

It got colder after the snow stopped.

Before dawn, the door of Wenyuan Pavilion opened with a click.

Two young eunuchs came out carrying long poles and lanterns, then used the long poles to lift the lanterns to the eaves and hang them up, and then walked in again.

After a while, several young eunuchs came out with long bamboo brooms and began to sweep snow on various passages.

A gust of cold wind blew over, making several people shiver.

A little eunuch stopped, held the broom in his arms, rubbed his hands, and kept breathing: "It's so cold, it's so cold!"

Another little eunuch said: "Don't be so cold and clear the snow quickly. Deputy General Zhao will come and punish us again later."

Another young eunuch said: "We are not afraid of being punished, but we are afraid of being sent to the Dragon Head Palace. Don't you know? Yesterday, I heard from my fellow man who works in the Ceremony Supervisor that two more young eunuchs and a young eunuch died yesterday in the Dragon Head Palace. A palace maid."

As soon as he said this, several little eunuchs around him swept away the snow and turned their attention to the little eunuch.

The little eunuch enjoyed the attention of everyone and cleared his throat: "I heard that the palace maid was tortured to death. That person is old-hearted!"

An older eunuch spoke: "Our master is too kind. He will be imprisoned in the Clan's Mansion and raised in the Dragon Head Palace."

A chief eunuch in charge of rituals came over and shouted: "Damn it! I'm tired of living! Who told you to talk nonsense here?!"

Several people quickly shut up and lowered their heads to sweep away the snow.

It was getting brighter, and everyone vaguely saw a few figures in cloaks walking towards Wenyuan Pavilion in the square opposite.

"Stop sweeping, don't sweep. The elders are here!" said the eunuch who was in charge of rituals and came over to greet them.

Last night was the night shift for the Duke of Repairs, Shi Guangzhu, and the first assistant of the cabinet, Wang Hetang, the second assistant, Zhao Zixun, and Li Shouzhong came over together.

"Uncle!" From a distance, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony raised his hand.

Yesterday, the emperor issued a decree to grant the first-class uncles of the First Auxiliary Wang Hetang, the Second Auxiliary Zhao Zixun, the Grand Scholar Li Shouzhong, the seven border governors, the eighteen local generals, and the four border town generals who were not knighted, to wear python robes!
Wang Hetang waved his hand: "Don't be too polite."

The chief eunuch who was in charge of the rituals was all smiles: "The glutinous rice porridge was cooked at the fifth watch, and the small kitchen steamed the steamed buns early in the morning, including fine grains and coarse grains, meat and vegetable fillings, and also prepared the side dishes that the three uncles like to eat. "

Wang Hetang smiled and nodded.

Zhao Zixun spoke: "Is there any emergency in the cabinet last night?"

"Peace in the world!" As he said this, the eunuch who was in charge of rituals accompanied the three of them to Wenyuan Pavilion.

Li Shouzhong looked solemn: "How is your Majesty?"

"Da'an." The eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony was still smiling.

While they were talking, the group of people walked into Wenyuan Pavilion, and the young eunuchs on duty outside the dining room took off their cloaks for the three of them.

The eunuch who was in charge of rituals opened the door curtain from one side.

In the dining room, Lord Tui Guangzhu stood up.

Seeing this, the three of them hurriedly walked in, exchanged a few words and sat down on their usual chairs.

There are five days out of the year, at least three hundred of which the cabinet members must get up early, rush to the cabinet before dawn, summarize the events of the previous day over breakfast, and then set the tone for the upcoming government affairs.

At their status and age, many rules no longer need to be followed.

All the attendants were sent out, and the four of them sat down at the small round ebony table.

Shi Guangzhu spoke first: "On the second watch, the old concubine's illness relapsed. Fortunately, it was a false alarm."

Wang Hetang put down his chopsticks: "What did the imperial doctor say?"

Zhao Zixun and Li Shouzhong both looked at Shi Guangzhu from across the table.

Shi Guangzhu was silent for a moment: "Good people have their own destiny."

No matter how prepared the three of them were, they were still shocked when they heard this.

Shi Guangzhu sighed: "God is blind, good people suffer a lot, but the damn ones live well!"

Hearing this, Wang Hetang, Zhao Zixun and Li Shouzhong all looked sad and silent.

Shi Guangzhu stopped talking, picked up the spoon in the bowl, scooped half a spoonful of porridge and put it into his mouth.The three of them stopped talking and ate their porridge in silence.

After a while, the four of them finished the porridge in their bowls, without touching a bite of the steamed buns and side dishes carefully prepared in the small kitchen.

After a period of silence, Li Shouzhong spoke first: "The old concubine is a lucky person. As long as she takes good care of herself and rests well, her illness will get better."

Zhao Zixun continued: "The prince is young. Even if he is 16 years old and has his hair tied, it will still take ten years. It is difficult for the old concubine to take on the heavy court affairs. What I mean is that the old concubine sets the tone for all important matters. , the rest should be handed over to the cabinet for resolution, and the old concubine can be raised in peace and prosperity."

As soon as this remark came out, several people fell silent.

The meaning of Zhao Zixun's words is very clear, to expand the power of the cabinet.

The Zhou Dynasty inherited the system of the late Ming Dynasty, and the cabinet gained great power when it was established, but the decision-making power was still in the hands of the emperor.

Coupled with the conflicts between the military and the civil servants, the emperor has always held the greatest power.

None of the other three people expected that Zhao Zixun would say such a thing. It would be a lie to say that they were not moved, but no one dared to express their position. After all, this was not done by a loyal minister, especially Shi Guangzhu, who represented the interests of the military. Take a stand.

Zhao Zixun continued: "To be disrespectful, once His Majesty is buried, there is a possibility that the imperial power will fall apart. The only person who can keep the overall stability of the Zhou Dynasty and avoid civil strife in the court and stabilize the military is the old concubine. As long as the military does not If there is no chaos, you can safely get through this difficult time.

Therefore, the old concubine must watch the prince take over the power with her own eyes, even if it is a few years in advance, she can ensure the stability of the Great Zhou Dynasty. "

Wang Hetang glanced at Shi Guangzhu first, and then turned his attention to Zhao Zixun: "If nothing else, the military must be the first to stand up and oppose it."

Zhao Zixun: "Expand the cabinet and bring in all forces. Let's sit down and talk about court affairs and resolve them together to avoid direct conflicts."

Li Shouzhong was secretly shocked. In this way, the imperial power would be greatly weakened. Even if the young emperor took charge, it would not change. People's hearts are greedy, and no one is willing to give up the power they have.

Zhao Zixun looked at Shi Guangzhu again: "If the old concubine also dies, the only one left in the royal family is the Dragon Head Palace."

Shi Guangzhu's face sank, then he stood up: "It's getting late, let's go to the palace to take a look first."

Zhao Zixun immediately stood up, and Wang Hetang also stood up holding on to the edge of the table.

Li Shouzhong thought for a while and stood up.
It was already bright, and the side doors on both sides of the middle door of Beining County Prince's Mansion had already been opened.

Eight soldiers, four on each side, were standing there with swords in their hands.

Several boys were sweeping the snow in front of the door with brooms.

There was a sound of horse hoofbeats, and Yang Dayong led eight guards galloping over.

Running to the front of the mansion, Yang Dayong reined in the reins, jumped off his horse, and walked quickly towards the mansion's door.

Lai Sheng came out and said, "Congratulations to General Yang!"

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Yang Dayong hugged his hands and asked, "Where is the commander-in-chief?"

Lai Sheng: "Practice archery in Huifang Garden."

Yang Dayong: "Didn't you have breakfast?"

Lai Sheng: "What's wrong?"

Yang Dayong thought for a moment with his eyes closed. Just as he was about to speak, the sound of horse hooves came from the street.

Yang Dayong turned around and saw Lin San.

"Hey, isn't this the groom's official!"

Lin San threw the reins to the boy and walked over with a smile: "If you are not at home preparing, why are you here so early in the morning?"

Yang Dayong smiled naively: "What about that? I'll treat the commander to breakfast."

"Oh~"

Lin San looked at him with a smile, and said to Lai Sheng beside him: "This iron rooster finally plucked its feathers today, and it's definitely not good! Don't let him in." After that, he walked in with a big smile.

Yang Dayong touched his head awkwardly.

Lai Sheng held back his laughter and said, "Please, General Yang." After saying that, he gave up his hand and walked in with Yang Dayong.
(End of this chapter)