The vault is actually a row of very simple wooden houses, and if it matches the identity of the emperor, it can even be said to be simple. It's just a few small wooden houses, and there are not flowers and plants planted outside, but rows of cucumbers and beans. The house is not tall either, and it is simply unsightly compared to the huge buildings in the Taiji Palace. There were some green vines that climbed up to the roof of the house along the wooden wall, but they didn't bloom, so I can't name them.

Next to the window is an earthen kang, and it seems that it is very difficult for the emperor to sit at his desk and deal with the government affairs. Whether it is the East Warm Pavilion of Taiji Palace or this dome, the small earthen kang has become a landmark thing in the imperial study. However, the earthen kang is next to the window, and when you are tired, it is also a very pleasant thing to sit on the kang and enjoy the scenery outside the window by leaning on the soft cushion.

But such a humble place is undoubtedly the heart of this vast empire. Every summer, the emperor would move here to deal with the government. I don't know how many decrees came from here, and how many were sent here. The last time Fang Xie came to the vault, he had cautiously peeked at it, and the music on the low table of the earthen kang could be stacked up to half a person's height. And this is at most a day's work, and it's hard to imagine how much of a headache it can be to watch it day after day.

But the emperor's understanding of this huge empire all comes from the twists and turns one by one.

Sometimes Fang Xie would think that if half of the reports in those memoranda were false news, then no matter how wise the emperor was, he was afraid that it would be difficult for him to become a wise monarch who was praised by the people. If he told the Emperor about this idea, he would definitely make the Emperor laugh. Then the emperor would tell him very seriously that with so many twists and turns he watched every day, maybe half of them were really lying.

The first thing a good emperor should do is to discern what is true and what is made up.

But also see the truth behind the lies.

If you want to become a Shengming Emperor in the mouth of the people, is it a simple and easy thing? The magistrates below, six or seven times out of ten, are reporting good news but not bad news, lest a truth-telling performance ruin their future career, but as long as they speculate carefully, they can still find the truth from their performance or comparison with other people's performance.

For example, in some counties, when there is a flood, the county magistrate, for fear that the imperial court will blame the construction of the embankment in peacetime, will often find a way to hide it, and then try to find a way to save the victims so as not to make too much trouble. But this is the most incredible thing that Emperor Tianyou did after he ascended the throne, that is, to make those magistrates dare not cover each other. But even so, there are not many true things in the memorabilia that are presented to them.

The magistrates are different from the Beijing officials, and the six or seven out of ten Beijing officials have no real power in their hands, and they go to the yamen every day to report, and there is still a lot of idle time to do nothing after doing the little things in hand. If the magistrate really wants to manage himself well, he will not be able to do what he needs to do even if he does not sleep for 24 hours.

No matter how capable people are, there will be some mistakes on the management side.

Therefore, writing more things that make His Majesty happy and less things that make His Majesty worry in the recital is not a habit that only exists in the Great Sui.

In all dynasties, this is probably the case.

When Fang Xie walked outside the row of wooden houses, he explained to the flying fish robe guarding outside that His Majesty had summoned him. The flying fish robe turned around and went in, stood at the door and whispered. The Bingbi eunuch Su Buwei, who was waiting at the door, hummed and turned around and went into the inner room to ask the emperor.

"Let him wait"

The emperor didn't look up, and wrote something on a notebook with a red pen in his hand: "Jiangnan Huaishui has only entered the summer and began to be dishonest, I sent someone to supervise the construction of the embankment last year, and the embankment has not been built after a year...... If you don't pay attention to it, you can't say that many people will die. It is rare for Huaiyang County Shoudu to not tell a lie, and he said that if the embankment is not stable, it must be unstable. Huaishui is thousands of miles, and if there is really a stir, it is unimaginable how many homeless people will be. ”

Su Bu bowed his head and said, "The slave asked him to wait outside for a while." ”

"Hmm"

The emperor snorted, raised his head again, and ordered: "Go and call Zhang Chaochong, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, and Liu Renjing, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, immediately." ”

"Whoa"

Su bowed down and withdrew, and gently closed the door of the back room.

Walking out of the house, Su Buxing saw the young man standing outside a little cramped, and he smiled apologetically on the corner of his mouth: "You wait outside for a while now, Your Majesty is dealing with court affairs...... Jianghuai seems to be in some troubles, and when His Majesty summons the two Shangshu lords of the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Industry, he will see you. ”

"Thank you, father-in-law"

Fang Xie hugged his fists and thanked him.

Su Buxing nodded and smiled, and when he walked past Fang Jie, he stopped and whispered, "You can go to the forest over there to rest, just don't walk around." After a while, Your Majesty has dealt with the affairs of Jiangnan, and I will go to look for you. ”

"Thank you"

Fang Xie clasped his fists again, looked at the corner of the courtyard and said, "I'll just stand over there, don't dare to go too far at will." There are many nobles in Changchun Garden, so it is not good in case of collision. ”

Su glanced at Fang Xie approvingly, and then left in a hurry.

……

……

Fang Xie walked to the corner of the small courtyard, looked around, saw that no one was paying attention, and then got behind a rockery and sat down. I ate something in the morning after a whole day, and now I'm hungry. If he just stood outside like that, he was really afraid that he would not be able to help his legs tremble and his body sway. As a scout, it wasn't unusual for him to starve. It's not that he can't afford to eat for a day, but this is not Fan Gu, here he has to stand respectfully at all times.

Why not find a place to rest for a while?

There is not much space behind the rockery, next to the flower wall. Fang Xie sat down on the stone and sighed helplessly as he listened to the louder and louder grunt in his stomach. Anyway, the emperor wouldn't see him for a while, so he simply closed his eyes and rested against the stone. About half an hour later, Fang Xie heard footsteps, he looked through the gap in the rockery, and saw Su Buxing leading two people in purple official uniforms to walk over quickly.

He saw Su Budwei glance at the place where he was, seemingly casually, but Fang Xie felt that even if he was behind the rockery, he had not escaped the eyes of the eunuch.

When Su Buxing and the three of them entered the wooden house, Fang Xie leaned against the stone again and looked up at the sky. He sat bored for a long time, and he didn't wait for Su Fearless to come to him until it was dark. The gurgling sound in his stomach became louder and louder, and Fang Xie couldn't help but sigh and said in his heart that he didn't know how long he would have to wait.

The inside of the wooden house was already lit, and the shadow of the emperor could be seen reflected in the window. Fang Xie couldn't help but sigh, the emperor had been sitting there for at least four or five hours without moving, and he was tired enough.

He looked left and right, and saw that none of the flying fish robes guarding outside the courtyard were looking at him. He hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't hold back, quietly reached out from behind the stone, fumbled for a while and pulled down a cucumber. I wiped it on my clothes and started eating as little as I could make a sound.

After a cucumber is eaten, I am even hungrier.

After eating, he simply leaned out half of his body and continued to explore. By the faint moonlight, he picked three or four in one breath and held them in his arms.

Just as he was about to eat, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from again. He was startled and hurriedly stuffed the cucumbers into his clothes. Before he hid it, he heard Su Buxing's voice outside: "Fang Jie, Your Majesty will let you in." ”

Fang Xie swallowed the cucumber in his mouth as fast as he could, and after sorting out his clothes a few times, he got out from behind the rockery. He said to Su Buxing in an apologetic tone: "I fell asleep in my humble position, please don't blame my father-in-law." ”

Su glanced at Fang Xie with a smile, and the smile on the corner of his mouth was a little strange. Fang Xie didn't understand it, but he knew that there was absolutely no malice in this smile.

Following behind Su Buxing, after entering the door, Fang Xie Shili said: "Deputy Fang Xie of the scout team, knock on Your Majesty." ”

"Get up, I've been busy with some court affairs and I've kept you waiting outside for a long time. Come over here, I have something to ask you. ”

Fang Xie got up, leaned over slightly and walked to the back room. Then he saluted the two adults who had not yet left, and when he bent down, he found that their legs were trembling slightly.

I'm hungry, too

Fang Xie smiled in his heart, and said that you don't have cucumbers to eat.

The emperor picked up a piece of paper from the low table and handed it to Fang Xie and said, "This is the exam question for the arithmetic department of the Martial Arts Academy this year, and I specially asked Dean Zhou for one. This is just one question in the exam paper, do you see how to solve it? ”

It turns out that the emperor still has to be careful about himself.

Fang Xie took the exam question with both hands and looked at it through the light.

At night, there are ten candles. Light the first one, then light the second one after it burns out, light three more after it burns out, and light all the remaining candles together after it is burned, just when the wind blows, only one is not extinguished, until dawn, how many are left?

Seeing Fang Xie frowning slightly, a smile appeared on the corner of the emperor's mouth. When this question was in the martial arts academy, none of the big names seemed to answer it correctly. Most of them think that the answer is too complicated, and the thinking that is too simple is led astray by this question.

"Four Roots"

The corners of the emperor's mouth hooked up a smile, and Fang Xie gave the answer.

"Huh?"

The two Shangshu masters standing not far from him looked at him in unison, and the emperor smiled and nodded: "It seems that I am not cheating on giving you these five merits, but I didn't expect to be able to say the answer so quickly." ”

Fang Xie Xin said that this world without brain teasers is really boring.

At this time, Liu Renjing, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, who was standing on the side, suddenly screamed in his stomach. This Lord Shangshu, who had just been scolded by the emperor, lowered his head a little embarrassed to hide the embarrassment on his face. When His Majesty asked him why the Huaishui Levee had been repaired for a year and could not stop the flood, he was so frightened that he forgot to be hungry. At this time, I can't control it, and my stomach is already empty.

"What sound?"

The Emperor asked.

"Yes...... It's the belly of the minister. ”

Liu Renjing replied with a red face.

The emperor was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing: "I forgot, you shouldn't have eaten since noon, and I haven't eaten either, and I feel hungry when your stomach is called." Su is not afraid, let people send some snacks to let them cushion first, and boil a bowl of rice porridge for me to bring in a while. ”

"The porridge has been boiled and hot, if Your Majesty eats it now, the slave maid will send it immediately."

"That's good"

The emperor smiled and said, "Serve a few more bowls, don't let them say that I am stingy." Fang Solution...... You also stay, I have something to ask you after eating. ”

"No, no, the minister is not hungry, the minister is not hungry at all."

Fang Xie subconsciously waved his hand to excuse himself, but at this time, there were a few clicks, and none of the cucumbers hidden in the clothes were saved, and they all fell down the clothes.

For a moment, the room became very quiet.

The emperor couldn't help but widen his eyes, raised his hand and pointed to the verdant palace on the ground and asked, "What is this......?" What the? ”

Fang Xie took a deep breath, then leaned over and replied, "Your Majesty...... The name of this thing is ...... Cucumber. ”

The emperor was stunned for a moment, and the surprise in his eyes had not yet dissipated. Fang Xie hurriedly bent down to pick up the cucumbers, and hurriedly stuffed them back into his clothes.

"The minister is rude...... Please punish Your Majesty. ”

As he spoke, he wondered what to do next.

"Bold!"

The emperor sitting on the earthen kang suddenly shouted, startling Fang Jie. Just when he decided to confess his guilt truthfully, the emperor pointed to the tip of his nose and said with a slight anger: "You dare to stuff the cucumber I picked back, you are so bold!" I ask you if ....... delicious! ”

"Crispy and sweet...... Delicious......"

Fang Xie replied with his head lowered, his tone trembling a little.

"Delicious? Why don't you take it out for me and a few adults to taste?!"

Hearing this, it was Fang Jie's turn to be stunned. He subconsciously took the cucumber out of his cuffs, carefully placed it on the low table and quickly retreated. The emperor picked one up and looked at it, took out a white handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped it, but it was not unclean, and stuffed it into his mouth and took a bite.

"I planted it with my own hands, and it was really sweet and delicious! Come on, come on, one for each of you, there's no way to solve it. ”

The emperor generously pointed to the cucumbers, but the two Shangshu lords were dumbfounded. Su Buwei pursed his lips and smiled, and said in his heart that this little guy is really in love with His Majesty. He walked up quickly and handed one to each of the two Shangshu adults. The two Shangshu looked at each other, and they both saw the incredulity in each other's eyes.

They could never have imagined that one day they would eat cucumbers with His Majesty......

Click

Click

The crisp sound of chewing floated out of the hut, and seemed to be carried into the air with the breeze, drifting far, far away.

**************