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In summer in Kyoto, smoke can almost be emitted from the bluestone roads. People in Kyoto wear thin clothes. The scorching heat makes them drink cold water non-stop, and the shouting of shops is much quieter.

It's just that inside the palace, there is no need to endure such suffering. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has prepared ice bricks and put them in every corner of the palace, so no matter how hot the weather is, the palace is still comfortable as usual.

Xue Poye's General Guard's Mansion is also extremely comfortable. As the emperor's master, Xiao Shitou ordered the House of Internal Affairs to send a large amount of ice, enough for the General Guard's mansion to live a comfortable summer.

Lying in the gazebo in the garden with his clothes open, enjoying Xiao Suzhen's gentle massage, Xue Poye felt comfortable to the bone.

It has been more than three months since the new emperor ascended the throne. Under the auspices of Lan Wuqing and Xue Poye, the administration of the Great Chu Dynasty was not as difficult as imagined, and the officials left behind by Emperor Deqing are like the parts of a machine , so that the huge empire of Dachu is running in an orderly manner.

Xue Poye brought his two wives to the capital half a month ago, enjoying the happiness of husband and wife. Although there are a large number of officials waiting in front of the General Guard Mansion every day, Xue Poye knows that power The heavier you are, the more you have to pay attention to your words and deeds. If you get too close to officials, it will lead to the suspicion of "forming a party for personal gain". impeach yourself.

Yuezhu's ability to manage accounts has not been in vain. The general ledger of Jingdu Ziyanfang and its branches is now managed by Yuezhu.

Seeing Xiao Suzhen's thin silk, white and tender flesh looming, Xue Poye only felt emotional, looked left and right, but there was no one, stretched out his hand and gently kneaded Xiao Suzhen's beautiful buttocks, it felt very good, elastic full.

Although Xiao Suzhen was used to Xue Poye's frivolity, she was still a little uncomfortable, blushing, and said softly: "Xue...Xue Lang...don't be seen...!"

Xue Poye chuckled, pulled Xiao Suzhen into his arms, felt her amazingly elastic plump body, stuffed his hands from her chest, grabbed the plump breasts, and gently kneaded the buds, Leaning close to Xiao Suzhen's crystal white ears, she said softly: "You are my wife, and I am not afraid of anyone who sees me."

Xiao Suzhen let out a "wow", and pressed her pretty face into Xue Poye's arms, she was indescribably shy, and the garden suddenly felt like spring.

Just when Xue Poye was about to show off his majesty in the garden and imitate Ximen Qing with a grape trellis, Zhang Hu said loudly: "My lord, He Shangshu is here to worship."

After Tan Ziqing passed away, Zhang Hu followed Xue Poye. Xue Poye originally wanted him to take an official position in Yulinying, but Zhang Hu resolutely refused, and only wanted to be by Xue Poye's side as a personal guard. Well, Xue Poye had no choice but to agree.

When Xiao Suzhen came to the capital, she also brought Hanxiang here, Zhang Hu was very happy, and Xue Poye and his wife matched, Zhang Hu and Hanxiang's marriage was settled, and they planned to choose a date to get married, Zhang Hu We are deeply grateful for this.

Xiao Suzhen hurriedly got up from Xue Poye, adjusted her clothes in a panic, spit on Xue Poye, and hurriedly avoided.

If other people disturbed his beautiful affairs, Xue Poye would naturally reprimand him a few words, but Zhang Hu is different. In the General Guard Mansion, Zhang Hu has absolute freedom, so he didn't expect that there is such a beautiful woman inside. The matter, report directly.

Xue Poye got up and straightened his clothes, frowned and said, "What are you doing here again, old boy?"

I saw Zhang Hu leading an official in. The official was very humble, even to Zhang Hu, he was very respectful, bent over, followed Zhang Hu, and came quickly.

This person is actually wishing to meet He Ruhui, governor of Hangzhou.

When Xiao Shitou first came to the throne, facing the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, there was no one close to him except Xue Poye. Xue Poye also saw this. Many people are dissatisfied in their hearts, but they dare not express it.

Therefore, after discussing with the new emperor, Xue Poye deeply realized that he must develop his confidants in the court.

So in the past few months, apart from assisting Lan Wuqing to occasionally handle some court affairs, Xue Poye's biggest task is to find obedient and capable people in the court and give them some important official positions.

In fact, the court also knows that Xue Poye has a deep relationship with the new emperor, and is the teacher of the new emperor. In other words, from a certain point of view, he is an "emperor's teacher". He is a real powerful figure in Dachu.

Let’s talk about the household department. Although Wang Dezhao is the secretary of the household department, Wang Dezhao consciously asked Xue Poye for instructions if he really wanted to do something.

To promote his cronies, Xue Poye naturally thought of Hangzhou Governor He Ruhui, so under Xue Poye's instruction, the new emperor issued a decree to order Hangzhou Governor He Ruhui to enter Beijing.

Although the courtiers objected in their hearts, as the two principals, Xue Poye was the planner, and Lan Wuqing also knew that the new emperor needed to cultivate some of his own power in order to be able to control the court more firmly, so they also agreed. Once the two agreed, Even if the other courtiers have opinions, they are unwilling to come out to object. After all, raising objections at this time will definitely give the new emperor a bad impression. If this is the case, life will be difficult in the future.

He Ruhui knows better than anyone else that Xue Poye gave him this official book. Although he is wretched, he is grateful to Xue Poye from the bottom of his heart. Naturally, he became Xue Poye. Disciple of the broken night.

Xue Poye told him sideways that what the emperor needs is a group of trustworthy officials, so the selection of officials by the Ministry of Officials is nominally through the hands of He Ruhui, but the actual control is completely controlled by Xue Poye and the new emperor. Taking advantage of this opportunity, many officials from the Hangzhou Department were appointed, and many talented officials who were excluded but quite talented were promoted. These officials all knew that they were able to rise to the top because of Xue Poye and the new emperor, so they were loyal to The new emperor even took refuge in Xue Poye's sect, and the power of the new emperor was greatly strengthened through this management appointment and dismissal, and Xue Poye's power was also increasing day by day.

……

……

He Ruhui squinted his eyes, came over with a smile on his face, prostrated himself on the ground, and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have seen you!"

Xue Poye laughed and said, "Get up, Mr. He, don't be so polite." "

In fact, the rank of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials is by no means lower than that of Xue Poye, but He Ruhui is deeply aware of the current situation of the court, so he is very obedient to see him as a courtier.

Sitting down immediately, He Ruhui said: "My lord, those people you mentioned have been arranged by the lower officials." Passed a booklet: "My lord, take a look, these are all signed."

Xue Poye frowned, and said calmly: "Master He, I didn't say it, it was ordered by the Holy One."

He Ruhui hastily said: "The lower officials have made mistakes, the lower officials have made mistakes."

Xue Poye took the booklet, opened it, and saw that all the names and positions were written on it. These people were all inspected by himself, officials who had been excluded by other princes, and some were even deposed. They are all talented people who can help Xiao Shitou govern the country, so Xue Poye discussed with the new emperor early on, drew up a roster, and ordered He Ruhui to handle it.

He Ruhui naturally did his best and did not dare to neglect.

"Well...Since Mr. He has made the arrangement, I will praise your contribution to the Holy One." Xue Poye smiled lightly, glanced at He Ruhui, and said leisurely: "Mr. Few people brought money to your house, hehe, have you gained a lot?"

He Ruhui hurriedly said: "The lower officials don't dare to hide, they have to be supported by adults, and they are in charge of the official department. There are indeed many more people walking around...but...!"

"But take it easy for me." Xue Poye's voice turned cold: "If you go too far when you are a new official, you will be caught by others, don't blame the Holy Majesty for being merciless."

"Your official understands." He Ruhui wiped off his cold sweat, and said respectfully: "However, there are a few people who have been sent to the official post, and they still have some skills, so I let them go on errands in other states. The lower official dare not hide it, so this gift is also accepted. Some... Uh, the subordinate officials have brought them over and handed them over to Manager Hu, honoring your lord."

Xue Poye sighed: "Officials are never clean. This is something that everyone knows. For those officials who are released, let them do it first and investigate it. If it doesn't work, it's better to remove it earlier. You and I Now everything is done for the Holy One, and you must always think about it for the country and the country of the Holy One, this money... It is natural not to be soft on what should be collected, but it should not be accepted, once you accept it, there will be endless troubles."

He Ruhui even claimed it was.

"My lord, I still have something to report."

"Oh!" Xue Poye rubbed his nose and said, "What's the matter?"

"My lord." He Ruhui approached slightly, and said softly: "You asked the subordinate to arrange for two people to serve in Yongzhou. It seems...it won't work."

Xue Poye's expression turned cold, and he frowned and said, "No way? The 36 prefectures of Chu must have people from the sage, why not Yongzhou?"

He Ruhui said with some embarrassment: "Your official, I really can't put officials in."

Xue Poye was a little angry: "With the support of the sage, you are afraid of local officials? I don't think you need to be a minister of officials."

He Ruhui hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, calm down, this... This is the court's rule, and it may be very difficult to break it."

"Court rules?" Xue Poye calmed down, and suddenly thought that this Yongzhou is the place where the great Chu royal family rose, and it belongs to the place where the great Chu royal family has its roots. Could it be that there are some rules in the middle?

When He Ru met Xue Poye, his face showed doubts, and he hurriedly explained: "Your Excellency may not know, this Yongzhou is the foundation of the royal family. In the early days of the founding of the country, the appointment and removal of officials in that area was extremely strict, even if it is a small one. The county magistrate must also personally issue an imperial decree, and the Ministry of Officials must not interfere."

"You mean, the official department has no right to interfere in Yongzhou?" Xue Poye frowned, pondered for a while, and said, "Then I'll go and ask the emperor to come and go down the imperial edict, won't that be enough?"

He Ruhui waved his hand and said, "My lord, listen to me. That was the rule at the beginning of the founding of the country. Now, the rule has changed."

"Oh!" Xue Poye became interested, sat upright, and asked, "What is the rule now? Could it be that even the Holy One can't control it?"

He Ruhui said: "Today's Yongzhou is nominally owned by the imperial court, but in fact, it is the territory of King Mingyue. The appointment and dismissal of officials in Yongzhou are all decided by King Mingyue. Although the imperial court... has the right to interfere, But it is still unknown whether the imperial decree will work there."

"Mingyue King?" Xue Poye had this figure in his memory, and hurriedly asked: "Yes, what is the origin of this Mingyue King?"

He Ruhui took a look at Xue Poye and was a little puzzled. Speaking of which, the Mingyue King is a well-known figure in the Great Chu Kingdom. Anyone with a little experience knows this person. As a powerful figure in the Great Chu Kingdom, Mr. Xue seems to be But I don't know much about it.

"My lord, King Mingyue is the cousin of the late Emperor Deqing."

"The first emperor's cousin?" Xue Poye became even more interested: "Then why did he go to Yongzhou? Well... the imperial court couldn't get involved in the affairs of Yongzhou because of him. From this point of view, the Mingyue King is a Great guy."

He Ruhui was a little speechless. It seems that Lord Xue really doesn't know the background of King Mingyue. It seems that he needs to explain.

"Emperor Yangwu was a great talent and general plan. He was the sage monarch of our Great Chu Kingdom, but... died young and passed away before the age of 40. Before Emperor Yangwu died, because the prince was young and for the sake of the country, Emperor Yangwu passed on the throne to My younger brother, who will later become Emperor Guangyu. Emperor Guangyu once said that when he abdicates, he will be passed on to Emperor Yangwu's prince...My lord, this prince of Yangwu Emperor is now the Mingyue King."

Xue Poye was startled, and vaguely understood something, and said in a low voice: "Then Emperor Guangyu is not said to be in the Mingyue King?"

He Ruhui shook his head and said: "Before Emperor Guangyu died, he didn't fulfill his original promise... The lower official should die, he insulted the previous emperor...!" At this point, He Ruhui suddenly thought that what he said was taboo, I dare not say any more.

Xue Poye looked around, Zhang Hu had already gone out, there was no one else in the garden, he patted He Ruhui on the shoulder, and said: "Just say it, it's just you and me here, out of your mouth, into my ear , unknown to outsiders.”

He Ru would be a little nervous, but seeing Xue Poye eagerly wishing to continue, he dared not refuse, and said in a low voice: "Emperor Guangyu did not pass the throne to King Mingyue, but to his second prince, who is the first Emperor Deqing died. Because of this matter, Emperor Guangyu's eldest prince almost caused trouble, but was quelled by the previous emperor. The eldest prince was imprisoned in a big prison, and died violently within two years... To this day, no one Know how the eldest prince died."

Xue Poye knew in his heart that the eldest prince was executed secretly by Emperor Deqing in all likelihood.

"At that time, there were still a group of courtiers who supported Mingyue King, and moved out the promise of Emperor Guangyu, claiming that it was not the previous emperor, but Mingyue King who should succeed the Great Unification. For this reason, the court was divided into two factions, and those who supported Mingyue King occupied instead. This has something to do with Emperor Yangwu's majesty and grandeur that won the hearts of the people." He Ruhui lowered his voice as much as possible, as if he was afraid of being heard talking to the royal family: "Before Emperor Guangyu passed away, he felt ashamed. King Mingyue therefore issued a decree to designate Yongzhou as the fiefdom of King Mingyue. All affairs can be handled by King Mingyue alone. Although the meaning is not clear, everyone knows that Yongzhou is to become a country within a country , and King Mingyue is the little emperor of Great Chu."

Xue Poye was shocked when he heard that this routine was very similar to the story of Zhao Kuangyin in the Song Dynasty who was located in Zhao Guangyi. Although the Song Dynasty did not appear in the history of this era, this story was staged in the Chu Dynasty.

"Mingyue King is a quiet person by nature, and he doesn't like court disputes... The two factions finally couldn't stand each other, and Mingyue King voluntarily withdrew from the emperor's dispute and went to Yongzhou. This crisis was also resolved, so many people They all respect Mingyue King very much, and you must know that as long as you stand up, Mingyue King may not be able to be the emperor...!"

Xue Poye frowned thoughtfully.

"It is said that after King Yue went to Yongzhou, the affairs of Yongzhou were handed over to the deputy generals under him. He only planted flowers and fish every day, and never participated in political affairs. And the group of people under him, because they were not angry with Emperor Guangyu, The failure of his promise is because he has always disobeyed the imperial court's orders. As for the officials sent by the imperial court, they either disappeared for no reason, or returned to the imperial court with nothing. King Mingyue has a quiet personality and never seeks rebellion, and according to his temperament, I am afraid he would not do such a thing, otherwise he would have a chance when he was in the capital." He Ruhui sighed: "King Mingyue's heart Wide, and came to Beijing several times to meet the late emperor, each time bringing a large amount of Yongzhou specialties, it is said that the relationship between the two is very harmonious... Hehe, when the first queen comes, he will have less control over Yongzhou, and the Mingyue King is there On the other side, it can also resist the Hu people's invasion from Yangguan, which is a lot of peace of mind."

"In this way, it is really not easy for us to put officials in." Xue Poye murmured.

Although it shows that Yue Wang has no intention of rebellion, but there is still a country within a country inside the Great Chu Kingdom, Xue Poye always feels a little uncomfortable.

In the whole world, is it the king's land, and there is no king's minister on the shore of the land, but the existence of Yongzhou made this sentence change a little bit in the Great Chu Kingdom.

……

After He Ruhui left, Xue Poye dealt with a few matters in terms of tactics, so he wanted to go to Xiao Su's side to have a look.

Qiaoshou Zhang didn't want to come at first, but after hearing about the novelty of "gunpowder", he was quite curious, and when he came to Kyoto, after seeing it, he kept admiring it, so he stayed, and together with Xiao Su stick, another Several technicians from the Lu Gong camp sent by Xue Poye started to study together.

After the death of Emperor Deqing, Xue Poye quietly intervened in the Lu Gong camp affiliated to the Ministry of Industry. He just wanted to use his own ideas to manufacture some more advanced equipment and tools, and selected a few highly skilled workers from among them. The technicians participated in the further expansion of gunpowder research.

According to Xue Poye's thinking, there is no doubt that, like many traversers, he wants to build pistols, cannons and other things that can be called weapons of mass destruction in this era, but he deeply understands that the backwardness of the times, even if there are It is extremely difficult for a highly skilled person to develop a cannon and pistol. It is very difficult. He can only pay attention to this research with a kind of expectation.

Under Xiao Suzhen's service, she changed her clothes and was about to leave the palace, but the new emperor's order came from the palace, ordering Xue Poye to enter the palace.

"Damn it!" Xue Poye was a little depressed: "What is Xiaoshitou doing, he always yells two or three times a day."

But he knew that at this time, he was the only person Xiaoshi trusted, and the little emperor always had to discuss with him about anything.She had no choice but to take off the casual clothes she had just put on, and under Xiao Suzhen's service, she changed into court clothes again, took the opportunity to show her sexual desires to Xiao Suzhen, and then rushed to the palace in a sedan chair.