My harem is a bit big

He bowed to his mother behind the curtain, put his hands behind his back, and left the Golden Palace.

"Retreat!"

After hearing the news, all the civil and military officials in the palace dispersed and left.

Some are alone, some are in groups, and some are surrounded.

Just from the moment of retreating from the court, one can see the connections within the court.

Huang Zongren slowed down and moved closer to General Gong.

When the latter saw him, he waved politely:

"Zong Ren, I'm looking for you, come with me quickly."

……

090 The taste of black grapes

The situation in the imperial court is not unpredictable.

After all the math, there are only three major factions in total.

One is a group of literati with Gongzhishe and Hanlin Academy as the core, that is, the Dove faction.

They praise foreigners and advocate getting closer to foreigners.

From time to time, he criticized the backwardness of the Xia Dynasty system and suggested learning and imitating it.

It was said that the construction of railways would help strengthen the imperial power's control over local areas and decentralize military forces to cities along the way.

The second is the hawks headed by General Gong.

They clearly realize that learning from foreigners is a double-edged sword.

It is both a risk and an opportunity.

After all, the power of firearms and artillery has completely exceeded that of cold weapons.

After ten years of martial arts training, he is still no match for a civilian.

This insurmountable gap has completely shattered the dream of a great power.

Continuing to rest on its laurels will only lead to the destruction of the Xia Dynasty.

The third is the imperial party headed by the young emperor and the empress dowager.

In most cases, it acts as a smoother.

The royal family did not care whether foreigners could be driven away from the country.

They just want to stabilize the status quo and continue to enjoy an exquisite and luxurious life.

……

After the morning court, Huang Zongren followed him to Gong Mansion.

He didn't see his colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Minister of Military Aircraft Department along the way, which made him look confused:

"General, did you call me the only one?"

General Gong smiled and sat on the main seat:

"No, there are others. Let's wait until everyone is ready to start. Let's have a small meeting together."

Huang Zongren nodded and sat on the right side without asking any more questions.

Different from the literati, there are many armors and weapons placed in the house.

The servant was very conscious and brought tea and water to the two of them.

He also brought a white jade plate and placed it on the table next to the general:

"Sir, these are grapes sent urgently from Jiangcheng."

General Gong raised his hand and motioned for the servant to retreat.

More than ten minutes later, he left and returned:

"Sir, Cui Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry wants to see Vice General Xie."

"Bring it in."

"Yes."

The two officials entered the room but did not dare to sit down.

The body leans forward slightly, like a subordinate waiting for instructions.

General Gong stroked his beard, picked a grape from the plate, and put it into his mouth:

"You also know the current situation in the court. The little emperor is young, and we, a bunch of old guys, make the decisions. I came to you today to talk about the construction of the railway. If you have any opinions, feel free to speak out."

Speak freely is just an official statement.

You must think through your thoughts several times before speaking.

If you say the wrong thing, the black gauze hat on your head will be at risk at any time.

General Gong picked a grape and put it in his mouth:

"Cui Shangshu, what do you think?"

The latter took a step forward and said bravely:

"We have already suffered a huge setback in the hands of foreigners. If you are a Taoist race, you must have different intentions. These foreigners clearly want to annex our country and the country of Daxia. So before making a decision, you must investigate clear."

After talking for a long time, it was equivalent to not saying anything.

Analyze the situation in your own words without offering any advice.

General Gong had no hope for him and turned his head to look at Huang Zongren:

"I am going to recommend you to His Majesty as an Imperial Envoy to secretly investigate foreigners' movements in Wanguo City. Are you willing?"

Huang Zongren's heart trembled when he heard this.

He stood up quickly, lowered his head and knelt down and said:

"The Emperor's kindness is so great that I express my deepest gratitude. But for the private visit incognito, I have a more suitable candidate."

"tell me the story."

"Chen Yufan from Xiangxiang came from a poor family. He entered the Hanlin Academy and became the Minister of Rites. He has great talent but is modest, and has a strong and cohesive spirit. He is worthy of this position."

General Gong had some impression of this person and nodded secretly:

"We'll discuss this later, get up."

"Yes."

Huang Zongren sat down again, but only dared to sit on half of his buttocks.

General Gong picked a black grape and handed it out with one hand:

"Cui Shangshu, His Majesty sees your contribution to the imperial court. Thank you for your hard work on the railway."

The latter respectfully stepped forward and took the grapes with both hands:

"Thank you, General. It is a blessing for a humble minister to be able to relieve His Majesty's worries."

General Gong didn't look at him anymore, and turned his head to look at Vice General Xie, who had the lowest sense of presence:

"Xiao Xie, I am very dissatisfied with your recent performance."

Lieutenant General Xie suddenly felt like a thorn in his back, dripping with sweat, and knelt down:

"The general will eventually realize his crime, and I hope he will be punished."

General Gong Ni glanced at him, not hiding the disgust in his eyes:

"You know the crime, you know the crime. What crime do you know? Ah? Since you know the crime, you might as well tell me what the crime is."

Ah, this...

Vice General Xie twitched his lips, of course he didn't know what mistake he had made.

But seeing General Gong scolding him angrily, he reluctantly agreed.

This is a good time to lift a rock and shoot yourself in the foot.

Lieutenant General Xie grimaced, as if wearing a mask of pain.

General Gong didn't say anything. He picked a grape from the white jade plate and handed it over.

Upon seeing this, Lieutenant General Xie bowed slightly and took it with both hands.

Unexpectedly, General Gong withdrew his hand and stuffed the grapes into his mouth.

Such an action made him freeze in place, very embarrassed.

"You are assigned to guard the major city gates this year. Are you too busy? Since there are too many guards and it is difficult to manage, let's give half of it to others."

When he heard that the military power had been cut in half, Lieutenant General Xie’s brows knitted into knots:

"General..."

General Gong snorted coldly and immediately raised his voice:

"Earl Charles came to the imperial city. Why didn't I receive the notice? How did he bypass you and meet the Minister of Rites? Don't you know? He usually only wants money and money, so that's it. The successive deputy generals who defended the city are all I'm trying to make money. But do you know how passive this news is, which makes me so passive in court today?"

Lieutenant General Xie was so frightened that he kowtowed as if pounding garlic:

"The general will eventually realize his crime, he will really realize his crime..."

General Gong narrowed his eyes, picked a black grape, and handed it over.

Vice General Xie was afraid of scoring twice, but he still took it with both hands.

General Gong moved his cheeks and spit out the grape skins on the plate:

"I know you are not convinced."

"The last general dare not..."

"The foreigners built the railway just to seize our national destiny in Great Xia! When those long guns and short cannons entered the Central Plains, the imperial army couldn't hold it at all. While the Great Eagle Empire competed with other countries for territory, they couldn't free up their hands for a while. We need Use this opportunity to breathe and secretly learn the core technology of firearms! Not to mention surpassing, at least reaching the level of foreigners, in order to keep the country and the country."