Cao Ran, who was tormented, resolutely found Cao Yan, when he saw that the eldest brother was still that light-hearted, his heart was full of disappointment, and there was no human touch in cultivation, even if you became an immortal, what could you do?

Cao Tong opened his eyes and said, "Second brother, you haven't been here for a long time, what happened to make you condescend to come here." ”

Cao Ran looked at Cao Yan lightly and said, "That assassination case has been known to be true, big brother, can you tell me why you did that?" What harm does an alliance with the Lu family do to the Cao family, so that you can make this decision. ”

"Oh, you said that! You don't know the inside story, you found out when you find out, what can he do, just a latecomer, don't take it too seriously. ”

At this time, Cao Tong still felt that Lu Zifei was not only a little luckier, but he was appreciated by the emperor, and when the emperor's favor for him was gone, he would still be beaten back to his original form in an instant.

Cao Ran felt that he couldn't communicate with this biological brother anymore, this was a cultivator who had broken his head! Now even the beggars on the street know that Lu Zifei must have extraordinary achievements in the future, but you don't take people seriously.

"Lu Hou still has capital in his hands, big brother, stand up and explain things clearly! If you go on like this, you will lose both. ”

Cao Tong looked at a younger brother who had never dared to refute his opinions before, but he still said disapprovingly: "Someone will deal with this matter, you don't have to worry about it." ”

Cao Ran didn't want to talk anymore, when he got out of Cao Tong's house, he felt that this matter would cause a big misunderstanding, but he didn't know who to talk to, to find the queen, he didn't know what the consequences would be, and it felt so difficult to find a confidant friend at this level.

Zhao Zhen in the palace is also discussing this matter, as an emperor he thinks a lot, the Cao family is the biggest relative in this dynasty, and his son is still young, and he is old later, strong on the outside and weak on the inside, this is not a good phenomenon.

"Does the Queen know about this?"

Shangguan Wen said: "I don't know, the old slave blocked the news about this matter, and I didn't dare to tell the queen when it came to the Cao family." ”

Zhao Zhen said: "What I'm worried about is that kid knows what to do if he loses his temper, but he is emotional, I'm afraid this incident will hit him hard, and how the other families will react." ”

Shangguan Wen said: "There is no action for the time being, everything is as before, when Lu Hou took revenge on those three families, they were silent, and the old slave thought that they wanted to calm things down." ”

"People from the Taizu lineage, hehe, it's really interesting, what did they want to do when the things of fifty or sixty years ago came out, using a child to hit my heart, isn't it a little too underestimating me."

Shangguan Wen heard this and lay on the ground motionless, the grievances between Taizu and Taizong This is a taboo in taboos, as long as the people of the Imperial City Division and the Secret Spy Division hear the news about this, they will basically rather kill by mistake than let it go, except for the Zhao family, no one can talk about it, and neither can the Cao family.

The next morning, after the yawning minister entered the Zichen Palace, he found that the emperor, who had always arrived last, had sat on the dragon chair early today, and the people who came in quickly found their place and stood obediently, because they all smelled an unusual smell, this is the calm before the storm!

It's almost the end of the year, and Jia Changchao's task this morning is what form the officials' gifts and festival gifts will be distributed, so he was the first to speak.

"Your Majesty, is this year's Yulu issued according to the practice of previous years?"

Zhao Zhen asked: "Does the treasury have any money left over this year?" ”

Zhang Fangping said: "The surplus is not much, if it is the practice of the previous year, part of the money is replaced by cotton and silk, it can be distributed all at once, and there is no need to owe one or two months." ”

Zhao Zhen said with a smile: "It seems that this year is really smooth, yes, it is all your credit, you can write a piece of music under the door of the book in this matter, if there is no problem, it will be implemented accordingly." ”

This is a happy thing for everyone not to owe wages, so no one stood up against it, and there were some unnutritious topics behind, and finally in Shangguan Wen's male duck voice, the early dynasty was over, and just when everyone was about to retire from the dynasty, Shangguan Wen said again: "The officials above the fourth grade will stay for the time being." ”

In everyone's speculation, Zhao Zhen said: "In the past two years, the border has been peaceful, no war has occurred, and the 1.4 million forbidden army has become the biggest burden on the imperial court every year, so I decided to cut off part of the forbidden army." ”

As soon as these words came out, it was equivalent to the explosion of an atomic bomb, and the people of the Privy Council and the generals looked at Zhao Zhen in astonishment, the abolition of the forbidden army is not a box soldier and a village warrior, the forbidden army is a registered regular army! Why did the emperor suddenly come out like this?

On the other hand, Wenchen's side, one by one, was ecstatic, disarmament represents the attitude of the emperor, who has suppressed the generals for so many years, they are afraid that one day they will rebound, but now it does not exist, the emperor is dissatisfied with the forbidden army!

Jia Changchao said: "The emperor's proposal is very much in favor of the ministers, the military expenditure accounts for sixty percent of the annual imperial court expenditure, and the reduction of a part of it is a good choice for both the imperial court and the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army." ”

Although Song Zhen is a literati as a privy envoy, he must stand up in this position, otherwise he will not have a foothold in the military system in the future.

"The emperor wants to abolish the forbidden army there, and the forbidden army guarding the border pass is definitely impossible, the Liao State and Western Xia don't seem to have any motives, but who can guarantee that they suddenly got hot-headed that day?"

Zhao Zhen said: "At the border pass, the forbidden army on the border is not moving, this time the forbidden army in the capital is used as a demonstration point, and the method of dismantling is also very fair, so it is carried out in the form of military exercises, and the first batch of 50,000 people will be dismantled." ”

50,000 people is not a small number, listening to the emperor's meaning, there are several batches after the first batch, many people don't understand why the emperor suddenly made trouble today, and the generals were caught off guard!

Ouyang Xiu probably guessed what the emperor was going to do, and at this time he asked very cooperatively: "What about these people who have been dismissed?" Many of them made a living as soldiers, and without the support of the barracks, their lives may have become difficult. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "The people who have been dismissed have found a good livelihood for them, and the imperial court is ready to set up a new yamen, called the Ministry of Public Security, and his duty is to be responsible for criminal cases, and in the future, the local prefects, transfer envoys, no longer have criminal rights." ”

Wen Yanbo said: "Isn't that duplicating the authority of the Criminal Division?"

"The Criminal Division belongs to the Ministry of Public Security, and the local chief officer himself has a lot of things, so it is easy to cause wrong, false and unjust cases, so this is tantamount to reducing the pressure on the chief officer in disguise, while the abolished forbidden army will stay in the Ministry of Public Security, killing multiple birds with one stone."

Before the formation of the eight characters was skimmed, Wenchen had already thought about what would happen in the future, and the general's heart was cold, the emperor was ready to give a way out! What does the public military exercise mean, it shows that from now on you don't want to eat empty pay in the army anymore, and there is also an important question, what to do with the false roster in the forbidden army.

Although it sounds like the power of the local magistrate has been weakened, it is still within the scope of Wenchen's authority in any case, so that Wenchen can accept it, and Zhao Zhen also saw this and put forward this plan with confidence.

Ouyang Xiu said: "Is the emperor preparing to start before the year or after the year?" ”

Zhao Zhen said: "After the year! It's all a month, let's have a good year first, and we'll start doing it after the year is over, and this year's parliamentary information is strictly forbidden to leak out, so as not to cause panic within the forbidden army. ”

A few families were happy and a few were worried, Cao Tong thought it was April Fool's Day after getting the news for the first time, and after thinking about it, he could think of Lu Zifei's assassination, this hand was something he didn't expect, Zhao Zhen actually used this trick to suppress the generals.

"Go and invite those people to have tea in Mingyue Tower tonight"

The galloping horse did not escape the eyes of the secret spy division, and Zhao Zhen said after hearing this: "Hit the grass and scare the snake, lead the snake out of the hole, these two idioms are good!" Keep keeping an eye on them, and I want to know what they're talking about tonight. ”

Han Qi didn't say a word in the early court, his resignation had already been reported to Zhao Zhen, and now he was waiting for Zhao Zhen's approval, so he didn't want to get involved, but he couldn't withstand Ouyang Xiu's rogue invitation.

"Uncle Yong, what are you doing so seriously, it is a good thing to abolish the forbidden army, but what Xiwen and I didn't do was easily done by the emperor, what are you still tossing in it."

Ouyang Xiu shook his head and said: "We know the emperor's personality, I know the plan of the Ministry of Disarmament and Public Security, and it was not long ago, I didn't expect the emperor to put it on the agenda so quickly." ”

Han Qi glanced at Ouyang Xiu in surprise and said, "How come I don't know, when it happened." ”

Ouyang Xiu told Han Qi about Lu Zifei's plan to the emperor, and after finishing speaking, he said in confusion: "There must be something that happened that we don't know, otherwise with the emperor's suspicious and indecisive character, how could he make up his mind so quickly, after all, the Ministry of Public Security is still an immature idea." ”

Han Qi said: "The problem must be on the side of the generals or meritorious officers, there is no doubt about it, but what prompted the emperor to do something to them, this is difficult to say." ”

"Why, you are well-informed and have today."

Regarding his friend's ridicule, Han Qi also shook his head with a smile, and then said: "The emperor is angry this time, Uncle Yong, don't be stupid to rush to the front and make a knife for someone." ”

"You are stupid, Zhigui, you said that Lu Xiaozi has always advocated force to solve problems, but why did he give the emperor such a plan, disarmament is tantamount to cutting off his own arm for him."

Han Qi said: "Judging from his training techniques, he likes to be fine rather than many, probably because he has doubts about the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army!" Uncle Yong, do you think this matter has anything to do with him? Normally, this kind of inexplicable thing happens to him, but I think it's normal. ”

"You have a point, it's very likely."

They would never have thought that all of this was caused by something so small that many people didn't notice.