Song Yi

Chapter 448
Half a month later, early morning.

This was Du Wenhao's first time in the early court since he became the prime minister. In fact, he can't be blamed, because after Zhezong came to the throne and the empress dowager Gao Taotao listened to the government behind the curtain, this was the first time to go to the court.

Du Wenhao, as usual, after the morning exercise with Lin Qingdai and Wang Runxue, finished washing, dressed neatly, and rode to the court.

He used to be an imperial doctor, and the imperial doctor was a military general. Later, he served as a checkpoint in the Sanyadu. It stands to reason that the Song Dynasty was led by civil servants, so this position should be held by civil servants. I used to be in charge of it myself, so Song Taizu has been pretending it since then, and Song Taizu was a general. Du Wenhao is now holding this position, and he also considers himself a general.

He was clad in leather armor, with a rotten silver gun hanging on the right side of the saddle, a yellow birch bow on the left side, and a quiver full of iron bone arrows.After he practiced martial arts with Lin Qingdai, especially his internal skills, his strength had increased significantly, and he was already able to open the eight-dou bow, reaching the level of a middle-level forbidden army.

Du Wenhao led his guards, rode his horse and galloped through the quiet streets in the early morning, and arrived at the Donghua Gate of the Imperial Palace.He got off his horse, threw the reins of the horse to Xu Huaqiang, the captain of the guard, took off the sword around his waist, and handed it to the guard, adjusted his clothes, and strode into the Donghua Gate.

The soldier on duty was saluting, and watched Du Wenhao enter the gate, walked through the long corridor paved with bluestone slabs, and came to the gate of Zihuan Hall. The temporary resting place of the ministers.On the left is that of civil servants, and on the right is that of generals.

Du Wenhao was about to go to the right side hall with big strides, when an old eunuch on duty hurriedly came over with Fuchen in his arms, bowed and said, "Master, you should go to the rear of the left side hall."

Du Wenhao frowned: "Why?"

"You are a civil servant, and the civil servant is on the left."

"Who told you that I am a civil servant?"

"This..., hehe." The old eunuch was a little embarrassed, and Nuonuo said: "My lord, all generals have military status..."

Du Wenhao thought that it would not be easy to get a military registration, so he snorted heavily from his nostrils: "Military registration? I will have it soon! I am a dignified three-yamen inspection, naturally I am a military officer, and naturally I have to go to the right Yes." After saying that, he strode into the side hall on the right.

How could the old eunuch dare to say a word, holding Fuchen and looking at his background, he felt very strange, the Song Dynasty emphasized culture over martial arts, military generals always felt that they were inferior, so I only saw military generals unwilling to enter the right hall, Those who find reasons to enter the left side hall have never seen anyone who forcibly goes to the right side hall.

When Du Wenhao entered the right hall, the generals inside were also very surprised.The eyes looking at him are very complicated, some are pleasantly surprised, some are at a loss, and some are puzzled.

Du Wenhao cupped his hands and said, "Good morning, everyone!"

All the generals hurriedly got up and bowed their hands together: "Morning, my lord!"

Du Wenhao shook his head and said, "I'm the inspector of Sanyadu, and I'm a general. I prefer you to call me 'General'."

All the generals hurriedly handed over their hands and changed their names to generals.

Du Wenhao asked them to sit down, glanced at them, and found that most of the senior officers were just promoted by him, and they were all the commanders of the three yamen, each branch, and each army.It is impossible for the officers of the garrisons outside the capital to come to court all the time, so they can't see them.

The officers he promoted were all of different ranks. However, in the Song Dynasty, civil servants led the army, not to mention the Privy Council. Even the commanders of the three yamen, all chambers, and all armies were all civil servants, although many of them were also Du Wenhao. Those who were promoted, but they all went to the side hall on the left of the civil servants, and those who were on the side of the generals were all deputies.Compared with the side hall on the left, it is simply not the same.

Du Wenhao sighed in his heart, how could a general with such a status win a battle.

All the generals seemed embarrassed to ask Du Wenhao why he came here, and everyone chatted about it.

After a while, many officials came one after another. Because Yang Jiye, the general of the Yang family, was posthumously awarded the title of Taiwei after the death of the battle, the Taiwei has been idle and has not been set up. Except for Taiwei, there are no generals. No more than Du Wenhao, the duke of the town, not to mention that military generals are two ranks lower than civilian officials. Among this group of military generals, he is the most respected.

The generals saw that he, who was originally a civil servant, was inspected in all three offices, and he was with them on the first day he went to court. It was obvious that he recognized the general, and they were very excited and grateful.

It was finally time to go to court, and all the generals respectfully asked Du Wenhao to go first.Du Wenhao did his part, with his hands behind his back, he walked out of the hall three times a step, looked sideways, and saw people coming out of the hall on the left side shaking their heads, his father-in-law, Wang Gui, followed by Cai Que and other six ministers.Including Wang Gui, there are a total of eight ministers, but I am the only one in the general series.

Du Wenhao hurriedly bowed his hands to Wang Gui, Wang Gui also smiled slightly, and bowed his hands in return, and the butchers who followed behind also smiled and nodded to Du Wenhao.

Pass through the wide square in front of the hall, slowly climb up the wide steps, come to the front of Zihuan Hall, and enter the main hall one by one.

Du Wenhao stood directly at the head of the generals on the west side, holding an ivory wat. The eunuch on duty saw that he had led the generals in just now, and the eunuchs below must have told him that he was standing wrong, but he didn't change it, maybe he had other intentions , who dared to go up and explain, pretended not to see, and let him stand at the head of the generals.

Above the main hall, on the left side is a small dragon chair. Behind the center is a pearl embroidered curtain. Behind the curtain is a large soft couch. Next to it are two bronze cranes standing with their heads held high. With the curling green smoke, the aroma is pleasant.

After all the civil and military personnel of the Manchu Dynasty arrived, they waited for a while, and a half-grown child came out from the back hall, swayed three times, came to the front of the hall, and sat on a dragon chair slanted on the left side.It was Song Zhezong.

At the same time, a graceful and luxurious woman stepped out from the apse, it was the Empress Dowager Gao Taotao.

Du Wenhao obviously felt that Gao Taotao looked at him with joy.Then reported a smile.Sure enough, the smile on Gao Taotao's face became stronger, then he turned his eyes away and nodded slightly to Eunuch Jiao who was beside him.

Eunuch Jiao walked to the front of the hall and said in a high voice, "If something happens, play...!"

"The minister has something to play!" In the queue of civil servants, one person stepped out, it was Li Chang, the censor Zhongcheng, "the day before yesterday, the empress dowager exempted soldiers from tattooing and publicized military merits. Military age, after this decree was promulgated, the subjects were in an uproar! There was a lot of discussion, saying that this cannot be done, and I implore the Empress Dowager to take back the order...!"

Gao Taotao said with a sneer: "Soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country, went through life and death on the battlefield, and made great military exploits, but they can't be commended. Doesn't it make people laugh?"

Li Chang straightened his chest and said in a clear voice: "The Empress Dowager, it's okay to commend, but it's not appropriate to be so laborious and mobilize the public to publicize it. Otherwise, it will violate the ancestor's precepts of emphasizing literature and despising martial arts! Especially exempting soldiers from tattooing is absolutely unacceptable. Since Emperor Taizu , Hundreds of years of history have come here, this is the rule set by Emperor Taizu, it cannot be abolished easily."

Gao Taotao said: "The Ai family has carefully considered this matter. The Ai family believes that the soldiers fought bloody battles and killed the enemy bravely. They have contributed to the country and should not be humiliated like this!"

"But……"

"Needless to say about this matter, Ai's family has made up their minds, and it has already been decreed, there is no need to change it!"

"Empress Dowager!" Li Chang's voice suddenly raised an octave, and said sharply: "If this is the case, the general will be arbitrary, and the day of disaster will not be far away! If the Empress Dowager does not take back her order, my minister..., my minister I can't bear to see my century-old building collapse in an instant, so I have to retire and return to my hometown, and I ask the Empress Dowager for permission!"

"Lord Li!" Du Wenhao blatantly stepped out, and said coldly, "You actually forced the Empress Dowager by retreating, you are threatening! Do you still take the Empress Dowager seriously?"

Li Changchi bowed and said: "Don't dare. I have received the kindness of Emperor Yingzong, Emperor Renzong and the first emperor. The veteran ministers of the three dynasties, it is the duty of the ministers to maintain the country, the country, and the country. I dare not live in peace. Today, the empress dowager's order is inappropriate. , violates the ancestral precepts, I can’t but I don’t admit it, if this is the case, my Song Dynasty will be destroyed in an instant! I can’t turn the tide, I can only retreat, otherwise, I will die in the future, what face will I see my ancestors!"

"Well said!" A person stood behind him, but it was the old Sima Guang, who glanced at Du Wenhao, held an ivory wat, bowed and said, "Empress Dowager, I think what Master Li said is very true, The Emperor Taizu established this ancestral precept when he witnessed the military generals of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms arbitrarily usurping power. It is a matter of ensuring the stability of the country and society, and it must not be abolished lightly, please take back the order of the empress dowager, so as to protect my foundation for ten thousand years!"

Afterwards, the Right Prime Minister Cai Que, the Privy Council Envoy Han Zhen, etc. came out one after another, all with one voice, asking the Empress Dowager to take back her order.

At this time, Du Wenhao could no longer refute, because the generals behind him were as quiet as a cicada, while the civil servants on the opposite side were even more arrogant.Now that he is fighting directly, he must be outnumbered, and the generals behind him have given way and endured for many years, and they will not dare to follow him to directly confront the civil servants.Therefore, Du Wenhao could only remain silent.

The Empress Dowager Gao Taotao in the hall didn't say a word, quietly listening to the very excited and impassioned speeches of the civil servants.This remonstrance lasted for more than an hour.

Those high-ranking civil servants all sympathized and denounced the empress dowager's edicts about exempting soldiers from tattooing, publicizing the achievements of generals with great fanfare, paying huge sums of money to buy out military seniority, and several other edicts to improve the status of generals, but none of the generals came out to distinguish and fight.

After no one came forward to speak, Gao Taotao said slowly: "What the Ai family said, the Ai family will carefully consider it. Now, the Ai family has announced a decision. You listened carefully. ——Du Wen Hao and Du Aiqing stepped forward to accept the seal!"

(End of this chapter)