Xiping 17th year, February

The Son of Heaven convened a court meeting, mainly to discuss Yuan Shao's strategy, that is, he had put forward a series of plans on business, as for Yuan Shao's recital, many people in the court were aware of it, and he also found a lot of friends to make them accept his strategy, however, Yuan Shao still seems to be a little overestimated of his appeal among the ministers, and he did not get too much support.

When the ministers gathered in front of the palace, Yuan Shao had a cold face and stood alone, which was different from usual, you must know that since Yuan Shao entered the temple, he has been receiving the appreciation of the temple ministers, and the number of people attracted is more than Situ Gong Lu Zhi, which can be described as majestic in the temple, but now, he is alone, presumably Yuan Shao never thought that it would be like this, of course, it is not that no one supports his behavior at all.

Jianning old minister, Xing Ziang is to support Yuan Shao, Xing Ziang is different from other ministers, he pays more attention to the practicality of the policy, rather than other imaginary, Xing Ziang has always been low-key, this Shang Shuling, he has been doing it for decades, so long to occupy such an important position, it can also be said to be unprecedented, but Xing Ziang is like this, first, his moral character has always been a topic that people talk about.

In addition, his talent is indeed extraordinary, over the years, all the decrees of the Son of Heaven have been implemented through Shangshutai, and Xing Ziang, as Shangshuling, from beginning to end, has never disappointed the Son of Heaven, and even, he has never questioned, or asked for help from the Son of Heaven, any policy, delegated to his hands, he did not say a word, immediately implemented, under his drive, the entire Shangshutai has risen this style.

Over the years, the ministers have almost not focused on Shangshutai, and Shangshutai has always been underestimated, it seems that Shangshutai does not have a decent performance, and even has no voice, but Xing Ziang is such a character, as he gets older, he becomes more and more silent, and only does practical things, whether it is the previous construction of the Chi Road, or the official school, or water conservancy, it is impossible to bypass Shangshutai.

The original Shangshutai only had the role of reviewing government decrees and issuing government decrees, but in Wang Fu's era, he made a bad start, and took the power of administrative orders into the hands of Shang Shutai, put forward policies by himself, and then implemented them by himself, this is Wang Fu's idea back then, of course, in his time, such behavior did save him a lot of trouble, and also let him fully display his ambitions.

But now, this has become a disadvantage, because Wang Fu is no longer there, but the power of Shangshutai to deal with affairs is still retained, the officials in Shangshutai can be said to be the busiest officials in the entire temple, the official school policy proposed, they have to notify the county order Taishou, carry out the construction, but also to contact the sacrificial wine, sent to various places, and finally things went well, Si Nong who proposed this matter was highly praised, but there was nothing to do with them.

The Son of Heaven also looked for Xing Ziang and asked him if he wanted Situ to take away part of the responsibilities of Shangshutai and not let him be so tired, but Xing Ziang refused, he didn't think that what the prince could do, he couldn't do it, in the past 20 years, he tried his best to do this position, and the Son of Heaven saw that he was so fortunate, and sent Guo Jia, the best of the four branches, and Xun Yu, who was not a farmer, to his command.

These three people have always been hard-working and complaining about all the decrees issued by the Son of Heaven, although they are not as outstanding as those in the Wang Fu era, but there has been no mistake, all the decrees are completed seriously, after hearing Yuan Shao's recital, Xing Ziang felt that it was so feasible, this is a good policy, which can allow the Han to accumulate a lot of wealth again, he has followed He Xiu, Wang Fu, Wen Ren Attack and other great talents, and he still has a vision.

Everyone gathered together, waiting for the arrival of Situ Lu Gong, it was February, it was still a little cold, although everyone was wearing thick, but it was still a little cold, Lu Zhi didn't come for a long time, everyone could only pace in front of the palace, rubbing their hands, waiting, Lu Zhi came in a carriage, the slave stopped the car, supported Lu Zhi on the carriage to stand up, walked down, Lu Zhi also had some eagerness on his face.

Looking at the people in front of him, he said helplessly: "Gentlemen, please get up, this is the cold winter, the old man's knees are in unbearable pain, and he really can't get up, I hope you will forgive me!" When everyone heard this, they hurriedly said that they didn't dare, and flattered him a few more words, but Lu Zhi still felt guilty, came to the front of the palace, trembled and straightened his clothes, picked up the crutches on the side, and walked towards the main hall with the ministers.

Lu Zhi walked very slowly, he was already very old, he was too old, he was the oldest person in the court, not to mention, he often led troops to fight all year round when he was young, and was a captain of the Northern Military Academy, and later served in Xinzhou, Hezhou and other bitter cold places, leaving a body of illness, in the cold winter of this year, but all the diseases seemed to erupt, his ears gradually couldn't hear clearly, his eyes gradually blurred, the most terrible thing was his legs, began to disobey the call.

As Situ, he had to walk in front of the hundred officials, and he walked very slowly, on crutches, step by step difficult, he knew that the hundred officials must be looking at him in the rear now, he didn't dare to look back, he could only grit his teeth, speed up his pace, the more anxious he was, the slower he walked, he didn't know when tears flowed from his eyes, he was extremely aggrieved, step by step, and walked forward.

Behind him, all the officials looked at him silently, this old man, who had been a horse all his life, although he was a great Confucian, but he acted on weekdays, he still had the style of a general, and he was extremely tough and capable, but now, looking at the old man who was staggering in front of him, looking at his gray hair, they realized in their hearts that this respected Situ Gong was also old... His stumbling appearance is particularly heart-wrenching.

When everyone was staring, a person walked over quickly, his rash action alerted the surrounding guards, and hurriedly held the hilt of the sword on his waist, that person was Liu Xuande, he walked to the teacher's side, stretched out his hand, held Lu Zhi's right hand, looked at Lu Zhi, and said with a smile: "Shijun, I'll take you in!" Looking at the gentle smile on his face, Lu Zhi smiled and said, "Okay! ”

The Son of Heaven sat in the main hall, looking at the empty hall, still a little confused, what about people??

Today's court meeting, yes, why don't there be any ministers??

That's not right!!

Just when the Son of Heaven was about to call Zhang He, he saw the two people in front, Liu Bei helped Situ Lu Zhi, staggered, and walked towards the main hall step by step, the surrounding guards looked at the Son of Heaven, Liu Bei's behavior was impolite, except for Sikong and Taiwei, no one could come with Situ, and now Situ's status is constantly improving, that is, Taiwei and Sikong, they may not be able to, Liu Bei dares to act like this!

The Son of Heaven stood up, stepped down from the upper position, and walked in the direction of Lu Zhi, Lu Zhi was about to speak, the Son of Heaven looked at him, shook his head, took Lu Zhi from Liu Bei's hand, personally supported him, brought him to Situ's position, and let him sit down, Lu Zhi didn't know what it was like, in short, his eyes were still a little moist, but he was still very happy to smile, and the Son of Heaven returned to his high position,

The ministers sat in their places one after another, but they were still appreciating the behavior of the Son of Heaven.

Lu Zhi got up, took his ministers, and met the Son of Heaven, and then sat down.

"The minister has a play!" Yuan Shao took the lead in getting up, facing the hundred officials, and said: "The minister views today's Xizhou, although the scale is small, the profit is huge, so that the treasury is full, the family and the country are benefited, it is really good, the minister thinks that the temple should support the business of Xizhou, in addition, the minister please open three trade places, and Ningzhou, Xizhou, and Jiaozhou, three trade places, can make foreign countries and Han merchants trade with all things. ”

"The ban on opening merchants, building a post station for merchants to rest, can be a way to pass the order, so that merchants can come and go freely...."

The more Yuan Shao said, the more surprised the ministers below became, and they made a noise, which was even more excessive than they knew, they originally only thought that Yuan Shao wanted to develop Xizhou's foreign trade, but they didn't expect that this guy actually wanted to support businessmen, and suddenly, the sages were indignant and began to accuse Yuan Shao of his villainous behavior, and someone got up to impeach Yuan Shao and said: "Yuan Benchu was bad for the country, and he should be removed from the position of the three princes!" ”

Some people also persuaded with good words: "Xizhou does not prosper agriculture, and it is just a matter of doing cheap things, I am good in the Central Plains, how can I do business??" ”

There are also great sages who suspect Yuan Shao's character, and said: "Didn't you accept bribes from businessmen, why did you speak to those businessmen in the court?" ”

In the face of various duties, Yuan Shao just smiled coldly and said: "This year, if it weren't for the Xizhou commercial tax, I'm afraid that the treasury would have been empty long ago... If you don't think about it, something will happen to the treasury..."

And the sages asked rhetorically: "When the Kushan was conquering, the treasury could support it, why can't it support it now?" This is clearly your lie! ”

Yuan Shao was speechless at this time, clenched his fists, sometimes, he really wanted these dog thieves to be the master for two or three days, so that they could feel it.

Yuan Shao couldn't answer, and the sages felt that they had defeated Yuan Shao, and they were overjoyed.

Of course, Yuan Shao was not alone, among the ministers, Xing Zi stood up and said: "I think that Yuan Gong's strategy is feasible, and if it is implemented in this way, it will definitely be able to accumulate a lot of financial resources for the treasury and implement more policies..."

"How can we talk about money and copper in the temple?" The sages asked unhappily.

Looking at the chaotic situation in front of him, the Son of Heaven frowned, and he didn't hurry to speak, Xing Ziang just said a word, and then stopped talking, but Guo Jia and Xun Yu beside him couldn't help but want to speak, but he shook his head to stop him, looking at the current situation, Situ Luzhi fell into deep thought, and the figure of the previous Situ Cui Gong appeared in his mind, I still remember that Cui Gong once said that in the temple, the older you are, the more powerful you are!

Old age is not just a curse, occasionally, he is a blessing.

Lu Zhi thought, is he old enough? He looked around, well, it was all young people, and it seemed that he was indeed old.

Thinking about it, he stood up with his crutches, looked at Chun Yujia, the guard who was attacking Yuan Shao on the side, raised the crutches in his hand, and suddenly came, and suddenly, the entire temple fell silent, Chun Yujia covered his forehead, his eyes widened, and looked at Lu Zhi in front of him, but Lu Zhi was arrogant, and scolded angrily: "You kid, money is a copper-smelling thing?? If the treasury has no money, how do you want us to govern the world?? Yes? ”

"What do you want the people to eat? What to drink? ”

Chun Yujia was stunned, and when Lu Zhi asked, he said angrily: "Even if I am wrong, Situ Gong can't commit murder in the temple, beating up colleagues, this is a big crime!! ”

As soon as he spoke, Lu Zhi's eyes widened, looking at him, panting violently, covering his chest, pointing at Chun Yujia in front of him, trembling all over, looking like he was about to run out of breath, which frightened Chun Yujia, if this guy died here today, wouldn't he have this notoriety, and he would be scolded by future generations pointing to the tombstone, and the scene of his statue kneeling in the rebellious house and being spurned by future generations suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Situ, Situ Gong!!"

It took a long time for Lu Zhi to recover, looked at Chun Yujia in front of him, and asked angrily, "Do you have anything else to say?!" ”

Chun Yujia shook his head quickly and said, "No, no." ”

Lu Zhi nodded and looked at everyone, for a while, the entire temple was surprisingly silent, and most of them looked at Lu Zhi in front of him strangely, when did Lu Gong become like this????

This bad old man!!