In the palace of the capital, the outer hall of the Qianqing Palace. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

With the grace of the Queen Mother, the cabinet and various ministries immediately rushed in, and saw that there were as many as 21 people.

Is it possible that so many people recommend show girls to the emperor?

said that it was for the emperor's draft girl, but in fact, except for a few idle ministers, most of them were pretexts.

And if you want to recommend show girls, except for those who are ambitious enough and want to rise to the top, they are too naïve, and other ministers want to recommend them, which is all a pretext.

For example, Zhong Xuanchong, the second assistant of the cabinet, no one needs to guess, with Lord Zhong's upright temperament, he has absolutely no intention of recommending any show girl to the emperor.

For Zhong Xuanchong, if he wants to use a woman to add political achievements to him, it is insulting his name, and it is something that he will not do if he is killed.

Therefore, just to talk about Zhong Xuanchong's arrival, we must think about the reason from elsewhere.

In the palace, the queen mother stood up straight under the support of the personal eunuch Gao Yueming, and did not walk back to the middle seat, but turned to Qin Siyang and signaled: "The monarch and ministers are discussing, please take the emperor's seat." ”

Qin Siyang dared to have anything to say, nodded, and sat down with the Queen Mother, and the eunuch who was waiting on the side also hurriedly changed the teacups of the two.

The ministers knelt down and shouted long live to salute, Qin Siyang on the seat did not dare to call flat immediately, but looked at the queen mother, and only under the signal of the queen mother did he dare to shout: "Ping body." ”

The ministers kowtowed again, and thanked him and stood up.

At this time, the solemnity of the Qianqing Palace, everyone held their breath, such a solemn atmosphere, no one can be compared, and a strange farce was staged here just now.

Qin Siyang tentatively looked at the Queen Mother again, and saw that she was ordering the eunuch on the side to refill the teacup, and there was no trace of other intention on her relaxed and kind face.

Seeing the Queen Mother's signal, Qin Siyang could only cough lightly and asked, "Are all the ministers here?"

Hu Yansong, the head of the cabinet and the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, replied: "Back to the emperor, yes, all the cabinet members and the six ministers and the left and right servants have arrived. ”

Qin Siyang nodded, glanced at the Queen Mother again, and saw that there was still no movement, so he could only continue to say: "The ministers said that they would pick up a draft girl for me, but I am young and really don't know what to do, so I ask the ministers to come here to discuss it again." ”

Upon hearing this, most of the ministers present looked at each other. What is going on, how do you listen to the meaning of the emperor's words, and why did they come to this Qianqing Palace today just to pick up draft girls? What kind of trouble is this, how do they not know?

"Back to the emperor," it was Zou Yuanzheng, a cabinet member and left attendant of the military department who was at the bottom of the cabinet, who spoke, "The emperor has a new treasure, the harem is empty, and it is appropriate to use draft girls to enrich the harem." But there were cases in previous years for the selection of things, and the emperor just acted according to the rules of the Ministry of Rites in previous years, so why call all the six ministers to talk about things. Except for the Ministry of Rites, the other five have nothing to do with this matter, and it is superfluous to call them. ”

As soon as Zou Yuanzheng's words came out, most of the officials present nodded their heads again and again.

Qin Siyang looked at this Zou Yuanzheng with concern. When this person was still the crown prince, he never went to the prince's east palace from time to time to persuade him like other ministers who did good things, not only did he not come to persuade him, but he didn't even go through the motions once in two years. Qin Siyang had never seen or heard of this person before. But when he ascended the throne at the beginning of the year, this soldier who had never seen him came forward to say a few simple words, but when he saw it, he was shocked by the emperor who had just taken office.

"Does the emperor know that the northern border is armed, and there is a chance that it will be empty?" When Fu Yuan was saying this that day, the emperor was tired of staying all night because of guarding the lattice, and he temporarily went to the side room to rest. The eunuchs who were serving around him were also tired for many days, and Su Fang temporarily had something to do and walked away, and he was lazy and didn't keep up with the emperor in time. Let the emperor leak in the side room.

Qin Siyang's tired eyes suddenly raised in surprise, and he stared at this middle-aged man with a face like an ordinary scholar, narrow pupils but blazing eyes.

"I heard that the total number of soldiers deployed in the city defense of various districts in the north is nearly one million, how can it be said that it is empty?" Qin Siyang replied casually.

Zou Yuanzheng raised his eyebrows lightly: "The emperor can check the roster of the Ministry of War, whether there is indeed a person." ”

"Isn't it?"

"Nine times out of ten. ”

"Really?" Although he asked, Qin Siyang clearly knew that this was true. For he had heard it spoken of caution. And he also remembered that that night, when the man came to the bamboo forest to have a showdown with him about it, the light in his eyes flashed so deeply and heavily.

So he doesn't need the other party to answer, he also knows the truth.

And Zou Yuanzheng didn't answer, just narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at him, the emperor who had just taken office and had no real power.

"If there is no one, where will the imperial court go every year to pull out the salary?"

The air in the side room was heavy for a while, and at that moment there was the sound of hurried footsteps outside, and it was heard that someone would push the door in immediately.

Zou Yuanzheng bowed down and replied: "Back to the emperor, the subordinates are incompetent, and I don't know where they went." After saying that, he bowed his head again and withdrew. He passed by the two eunuchs who were pushing open the door and stepping into the house.

This Zou Yuanzheng never came to make trouble before, but in the end, he used the most special way to make him Qin Siyang remember people at once.

In the outer hall of the Qianqing Palace, Zou Yuanzheng finished speaking, and the other ministers also nodded and said that it was over. Seeing that the air in the hall was a little wrong, the Queen Mother, who was sitting on one side, frowned.

The fourth-in-command of the cabinet, who stood on Zou Yuanzheng's right hand, Lang Tianheng, the left attendant of the Criminal Department, stood up at the right time and said loudly: "Lord Zou's words are not right. Thinking that the emperor will be a new treasure, for the beginning of the new dynasty, all preparations should show the new dynasty and new atmosphere to all the people in the world, and how can everything be done according to precedents. Not to mention that the emperor is young, there is no family in the East Palace when he is the crown prince. This time, the court selected draft girls, one is to enrich the harem, the second is also the emperor's first marriage, and the third is the first selection of the new dynasty. With these three, how can we follow the precedent? Therefore, I have discussed with the elder of the pavilion before, this time to the court to pick up draft girls, can no longer be according to the precedent, all from the people, although the folk women are pure and virtuous, the demeanor is diverse, but also the morality is lost, it is inevitable to lose dignified. Therefore, His Majesty suggested that the selection of draft girls should be recommended by the ministers first, and then among the officials of the family in Beijing and above the fifth grade, all unmarried women who are over 13 years old and under 18 years old should be included in the draft. And the local folk women outside the capital are not selected for the show this time. ”

"Only selected among the families and officials in Beijing?" At this moment, all the officials present were shocked, and after a while, some people began to sweat on their heads.

Among the people who sweated profusely included the second assistant Zhong Xuanchong, because he happened to have two granddaughters in his family, which met the definition of being unmarried at the age of thirteen to eighteen. If he was dragged to be selected, and unfortunately chosen, he didn't want to, he didn't want his two precious granddaughters to enter the palace to suffer this living crime.

"Back to the emperor," another person stood up, but it was Chen Baoding, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites. He was one of the few people who knew before he came here that he was only going to discuss the matter of picking draft girls, so he was not as surprised as other officials, and as soon as Tian Heng's words were finished, he immediately stood up and said loudly, "Lord Tian disagrees with this suggestion. At the beginning of the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Taizu Taizong had a will, and the inner palace should be selected as a draft girl, and the women of the good folk family should be preferred, and the government family should be carefully selected, and the children of the family should be able not to choose. This is the rule of the ancestors, how can it be abolished casually because of a new dynasty and an emperor who is young and has no marriage history. ”

Tian Heng smiled coldly and replied: "Lord Chen is a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and he should know that there is a big deal in the harem, and this time the emperor has newly ascended to the throne, and there is no one in the harem." Most of the show girls selected this time will be listed as concubines in one fell swoop. If you choose according to the precedent and let the unknown daughter of the folk enter the palace in one fell swoop and take the position of concubine, wouldn't it make my harem of Da Zhou suddenly become a small courtyard. Hmph, what kind of system is this? ”

What did Tian mean by this? Chen Baoding said angrily, "Does it mean that folk women don't understand the rules and can't be listed as concubines? Hehe, that's a joke. Master Tian knows that my Taizu Empress Gao is a peasant girl from a private family. Mother Yi in the world, how many times did I assist my ancestor to solve the crisis, who in the world dares to say that Queen Taizu Gao does not understand the rules and does not know the general situation. Taizong Qin was given the title of Empress Shun Chun Dewu. Then there is my Empress Taizong Ma, who is also a folk mulberry picker, the first emperor Renzong Qin was titled, and the filial piety to the benevolence of the sage queen. There is also Empress Shen of Mingzong, who is also the daughter of a small folk family, does Lord Tian want to say that the ancestors and queens are all from the small family?"

When Chen Baoding said this, Tian Heng's neck turned red with anger, but he had nothing to answer.

In fact, most of the officials present could guess that Tian Heng's suggestion was that he was discussing with the elder pavilion, and it was more likely that it was from the Queen Mother's secret instruction. The Queen Mother Wang is another queen from a great family in the Great Zhou Dynasty in addition to Empress Yingzong Chu. Empress Yingzong Chu, although she was born in a family, did not participate in the chaos. The corruption and turmoil of Yingzong's dynasty were all caused by Yingzong's own extravagance. Therefore, although later, Yingzong was drafted, completely breaking through the ancestral restrictions, and the daughters of the children of high-ranking officials of the family were all accepted, but due to Yingzong's own reasons, the ministers did not have much concept of interfering with foreign relatives.

But this dynasty is different, to the first emperor Chengzong, the two forces of Queen Wang and Zheng Guifei, when Chengzong has not yet been unified, they began to fight each other openly and secretly, and after Chengzong ascended to the throne, these two forces are known to the world in and outside the palace. Several of the great princes of Emperor Chengzong died in this palace fight. Although there is no clear evidence to prove that the deaths of several princes are related to these two people, two princes died on the battlefield of the charge, but there is no doubt that two of them died too strangely. (To be continued.) )