Jiuxi

Chapter 478 Chapter 476 [Future]

It was the tenth day of the eleventh month in the fourteenth year of Qi Jianwu's reign.

The emperor issued an edict and announced it to the world, granting the prince Li Zong the power to supervise the country and assist the government. He could supervise the government affairs of the Zhongshu, the Military Academy, and the various ministries of the imperial court at any time.

At the same time, the emperor made some adjustments to the subordinate officials of the East Palace in this imperial edict.

The post of Zhan Shi Mansion was concurrently held by Hu Jingwen, a new Hanlin scholar who came from a humble background and was forty years old.

Thirteen years ago, he impressed the emperor with a policy statement that astonished all the civil servants in the imperial examination. He was selected as the number one scholar on the spot, and he has been serving in the Hanlin Academy ever since.

In the past eight years, Hu Jingwen has been promoted step by step, starting from five years ago. In the past two years, he has completed a rapid promotion from a bachelor's degree in the Hanlin Academy, a secretary in the Imperial Academy, a wine minister in the Imperial Academy, to a bachelor in the Imperial Academy.

There is no doubt that he is the loyal minister that the emperor has always kept in his pocket for his successors.

In addition to Hu Jingwen, there are some new faces among officials at all levels in Zhan Shifu, Zuo Chunfang, You Chunfang, and the Economic and Economic Bureau, the most eye-catching of which is Xue Ruogu.

The eldest son of the Right Chancellor rose from Hanlin Academy to Zuo Chunfang Zuo Shuzi. Although his rank was only promoted from the sixth rank to the fifth rank, he was far inferior to Lu Chen, a monster who was directly promoted to a super-rank prince. , but the official position of Zuo Shuzi is very particular.

Lu Tong took a sip of warm tea and looked at his only son meaningfully.

This was a clear-cut reward from the emperor to Xue Nanting, the right prime minister, after Li Shizhi, the eldest son of the left prime minister, was promoted to left minister of the Ministry of Rites.

These dizzying personnel changes have become the most attractive topic in Beijing recently.

Xue Nanting, the right prime minister, was also granted the title of Crown Prince and Tutor.

Liu Shouguang, the Minister of Military Affairs and the commander of the brave camp of the Beijing Army, was awarded the title of Prince Shaofu.

"Father, what's wrong?"

Lu Chen, the Minister of Military Affairs and the commander of the Jinwu Camp of the Beijing Army, was awarded the title of Prince Shaobao.

This is the second time in his life that he has come to the capital on his own initiative. On the one hand, the father and son have not seen each other for a long time, so he naturally misses him a little. On the other hand, he and Lu Chen have many important things to discuss. Some words cannot be conveyed through a third person and must be delivered in person. meet.

"I have never understood why a person like the late emperor could give birth to a son like today's emperor?"

"Including his father who does no good things?"

If the East Palace is compared to a small court, Zuo Shuzi is equivalent to the Prime Minister of Zhongshu.

Lu Chen shrugged and said, "Not necessarily. It is not easy for His Majesty to gain a foothold in the south. Countless compromises and concessions not only did not weaken his will, but made him stronger. For an ordinary person, under the premise of being the emperor, , it is difficult to endure for more than ten years, Zhang Can of the Puppet Yan is an example. His Majesty not only has amazing patience, but also extraordinary skills and abilities. Compared with it, the Jingjie Method is enough to shake the foundation of all the famous families in the south of the Yangtze River. , The power struggles in the court are really not worth mentioning."

Li Daoyan, the left prime minister, was also granted the title of Crown Prince and Grand Master.

He was also granted the title of Prince's Young Master, Zhong Cheng, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

In the Shanyang Marquis Mansion, in the Nuan Pavilion, Lu Tong, dressed as a rich man, clasped his hands and sighed with complicated expressions.

Lu Tong showed a hint of sarcasm. As a person who had experienced all kinds of chaos and scandals in the late emperor's dynasty, and was also the mastermind behind the fire in the Heluo Palace, he obviously didn't have the slightest fondness for the late emperor.

He was also granted the title of Han Lingfu, Duke of Jing State, as the crown prince's Taibao.

In addition, the emperor also determined all the candidates for the Sixth Fu of the East Palace in the imperial edict.

Lu Chen respectfully poured tea and served it with both hands, then sat across from him and said, "Before the Yuanjia Incident, there was not much difference between His Majesty and other princes, except for wealth and honor. After the fall of Heluo, he was the only one who escaped to the south. The real prince was forced to take on the important task of continuing the Great Qi Kingdom. I don’t know what kind of experience he had, but I can confirm that he always had a sense of responsibility in his heart that no one else could match, that is, to revive the great destiny of the Great Qi State and live up to the heavens. The expectations of our ancestors.”

Some people couldn't help but wonder whether the emperor's health was already so critical?
However, Li Duan still held daily court meetings, which seemed normal. It seemed that this imperial edict was just to help the prince establish his prestige in advance. In addition, the Sutra Weaving Department did not respond to the discussions in the capital, so some rumors quickly disappeared.

Throughout the dynasties, the emperor would allocate subordinate officials and staff to the prince's east palace. He could not let the prince not even have a confidant minister after he ascended the throne. However, Li Duan appointed so many important ministers at once, almost all the elites in the Qi court were handed over to him. The prince's behavior is extremely rare in history books.

Lu Chen was a little puzzled by his meaningful gaze.

Lu Tong put down the teacup and said with a half-smile: "When you returned to Beijing at the beginning of the year, I had prepared for the worst. If you were in danger in Beijing, I could only risk my life to do something else. . Later, I learned that you were standing firm here and that although the storm was strong, it would not affect your safety, so I watched with peace of mind from Jiangbei. But I didn't expect that your evaluation of the emperor would be so high, which can't help but make me sad. I want to ask, how much meaning do what you said back then in Laian City still have?"

Lu Chen was slightly startled as memories came flooding back to him.

That was when he came back from Baotai Mountain and just learned about the Wang family's marriage request. He had a secret conversation with Lu Tong.

At that time, he made two requests to Lu Tong. The first was to quietly recruit craftsmen in the name of the Lu family company, and the second was to secretly cultivate more talents.

Even though Lu Chen flatly denied that this was not an attempt to rebel, in fact it definitely had nothing to do with what the loyal ministers did.

After hearing his father's question, Lu was silent for a moment and said slowly: "To be honest, His Majesty is an extremely rare and kind emperor. His appreciation and support for me are unprecedented, if not unprecedented."

Lu Tong reminded: "That's the credit you put in with your life." "Yes."

Lu Chen nodded, and then said: "But there are also examples like Yang Guangyuan and Marshal Yang. Father should remember that the reason why I made secret preparations at the beginning was because I didn't want to become the second Marshal Yang. I can shed my blood for Daqi, provided that The enemy is standing in front of me, and I can never accept the cold arrow from behind.”

Lu Tong leaned back in his chair and said with a smile: "You now realize that the emperor is by no means a fool like the late emperor. He has great trust in you, and now he treats you as a confidant. When the imperial court criticized you both civil and military, he He will defend you unswervingly, never ignore your merits, and will not deliberately suppress you because of your age, so that every effort you make will be rewarded, so he can be said to be the king that all ministers dream of. You can’t have thoughts that you shouldn’t have.”

Lu Chen sighed softly: "Father..."

Lu Tong said gently: "Don't think that I am blaming you. On the contrary, I feel very relieved that you have such thoughts. As a father, I just don't want you to be like that kind of foolish and loyal person who hugs you all day long. A scholar is willing to commit suicide for the sake of his confidant. But repaying kindness is the bottom line of life. The emperor trusts you so much, so you can't hide your disobedience, just like the ancestors of the Yang family showed kindness to the Lu family. Marshal Yang gave me everything he had, so I will avenge him after his death."

He looked at Lu Shen and said earnestly: "I killed the late emperor in order to repay my kindness, and you are loyal to the emperor in return. Although the positions of father and son seem to be completely opposite, the reasons why we do this are the same. "

After hearing these words, Lu Chen suddenly became enlightened, and all the vague doubts in his heart disappeared.

"I understand, Father."

"Then do you want to continue with your previous arrangements?"

A smile appeared on Lu Tong's face.

Lu Chen thought for a while, nodded and said, "Yes."

Lu Tong did not rush to ask him why his words and deeds were inconsistent.

Lu Chen explained: "His Majesty said something yesterday. A hundred years from now, I will probably become a thorn in the side of all the forces in the DPRK and China. First, I have indeed killed many officials and people in the clan in the past few years. Second, I have the power under my control now." Power can easily arouse the envy and jealousy of others. Your Majesty treats me like this, and I will not let him down, but I cannot give up my ability to protect myself, and I must take precautions for some things."

Lu Tong said happily: "After these few years of experience, you have considered the problem more and more carefully, and I can finally feel relieved. After talking for so long, it's time to talk about your personal affairs."

Hearing the word "private matter", a rare look of shame appeared on Lu Chen's face.

Lu Tong seemed to have discovered a new continent.

He didn't expect Lu Chen to have such an expression. When he thought about it carefully, this son was good at everything, but he was a bit confused about his style. Could it be that he finally got the idea in this prosperous place in the capital?

No, Chen Shu's letter made it very clear that apart from visiting Mo Garden a few times, Lu Chen had never even set foot in a brothel or restaurant, and it was even less likely that he would do anything ridiculous.

Lu Chen faced his father's curious look and briefly explained what happened in Shazhou.

Lu Tong was stunned.

"What...what's going on? Didn't you go to Shazhou to do business?"

"Father, I admit that I have a crush on that Miss Luo. I wasn't drunk that night. Some things just happened naturally."

"Will she be pregnant with your child?"

This issue of Lutong goes to the core.

Lu Chen shook his head.

Lu Tong didn't ask any more questions, and said half amused and half emotional: "I thought that such a big thing deserves your seriousness, but it was just a one-night fling. Shen'er, outsiders don't know your experience. Sometimes I can't help but doubt. Are you not interested in women? Do you know that with your identity and status, even having sex every night is just a matter of words. Just the two courtesans Gu Waner and Xue Susu, you clearly don't have any burden but you refuse to touch them. Let them go. It's a good thing that you're finally an adult now."

Lu Chen said seriously: "Father, I have no intention of turning my back on Miss Luo after having a romantic affair overnight."

"I know I know."

Lu Tong slowed down his tone and nodded: "You can handle this matter when the time is right. The emperor will definitely not agree to your relationship with Shazhou now. You don't have to worry about that kid from Lin Xi, as long as you are honest and kind Once she gets married, there will be no problem if she gives birth to your first son.”

Lu Chen listened to him talking about his marriage. After being silent for a while, he said softly: "Father, I'm afraid the marriage will have to be delayed for a while."

Lu Tong's eyes narrowed slightly.

Lu Chen hesitated and said: "I can't leave the capital now. When I can go north...there are no weddings or funerals during the national mourning period. As a prince, I naturally have to abide by this rule, otherwise those people will make a big fuss about it."

Lu Tong understood the subtext of this sentence and sighed: "What a pity."

Although he had no contact with the current emperor, he could tell from so many things in the past that the emperor in the palace was a very rare and kind emperor.

Lu Chen's eyes dimmed slightly and his tone was slightly heavy: "Yes, it's a pity."

(End of this chapter)