"What, there's such a thing? Why did Your Majesty make such an order? Wang Mang said strangely.

Yan Feng, the leader of the forbidden army, replied: "Lord Qiqi, since the rules were set in the morning of your day, in the last morning court, except for the officials you mentioned, no other officials went to the early court. His Majesty was under pressure to issue a decree and set the current rule. ”

When Wang Mang heard this, he was furious in his heart, "Bastard, this group of people is so bold that they dare to persecute Your Majesty like this." ”

In this regard, the forbidden soldiers were not easy to reply, their faces were embarrassed, and they also felt very aggrieved in their hearts. I don't think it's useful to stay here, no one takes me seriously.

Wang Mang pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Do you know who is leading this matter?" Or who organized to persecute His Majesty like this? ”

Yan Feng glanced around, lowered his voice and said, "It seems that it is the head of the Jia family who has bewitched the other officials." ”

"The Jia family? Hmph, after today, I want to make this Jia family completely disappear in Qingzhou. ”

Wang Mang snorted coldly, didn't ask any more questions, strode into the dragon gate, and headed for the depths.

When he crossed the Nine Dragon Gates and came to the Hanbai Gate, the other officials and servants who had come earlier immediately became in a commotion.

They all looked at Wang Mang, and there were even a few little guys who showed provocative looks and scolded in low voices.

As soon as Wang Mang saw this posture, he expected that the early dynasty would not be so smooth today, and there must be many people who wanted to target him.

Of course, he didn't pay attention to the provocative looks of these little guys, and he didn't bother to care.

Crossing the Hanbai Gate, Wang Mang continued to march towards the deep Weiyang Palace.

When there is nothing to do all the way, the eunuchs and maidservants who come and go on the road also perform their duties. When you see an official, no matter how big or small, you salute as usual.

Wang Mang took a look, and when he saw that there was a palace maid in front of him who was an acquaintance, his heart moved, and he quickened his pace to meet him.

He came to the palace maid and asked, "Snow Goose, what a coincidence that I met you here today, are you still on duty today?" ”

The palace maid Xue Yan replied: "Lord Huiwang, this is not a slave on duty, but the person on duty is suddenly unwell, so I replaced her." ”

Wang Mang nodded, and asked again: "I don't know how Niangniang is doing recently?" ”

Xue Yan said: "My lord, you don't know, since the day when Niangniang promulgated the edict, the people of the Wei family came to Fenglai Palace. Since the day of the fight, Niangniang doesn't seem to be in a good mood. The palace gate was closed, and no outsiders were seen. Even the slave maid has never seen the mother a few times. ”

"Is that so? It seems that the people of the Wei family blamed her. ”

Wang Mang thought for a moment and said with a smile: "You go to send a message to Niangniang for me, and say that if Niangniang is interested, you can let her go to my general's mansion to relax." Originally, I should have gone to see my mother, but in this harem, it was not convenient for me to go. ”

"Yes, my lord, I'll summon you." Snow Goose answered, and quickened her pace towards the Fenglai Palace.

Saying goodbye to the snow geese, Wang Mang looked at the sky and estimated that the time was almost up, so he quickened his pace and headed towards Weiyang Palace.

About twenty minutes passed, and when he came to Weiyang Palace, he looked inside, and saw that the main hall was densely packed with officials from various counties in Kyushu, and there were seven or eight hundred people.

When he came to the door, he straightened his official hat and court clothes, and strode towards the position of the head of the ministers.

When he passed through the ministers, he squinted at the many officials, but found a few old acquaintances among these officials, such as Pi Tong, the prefect of Shangqiu County, and Li Zhong, the prefect of Wanzhou.

When he came to his place and stood still, he smiled at Wang Xiannian beside him: "Uncle, you came very early." ”

"Huh?"

Wang Xiannian couldn't help but be stunned when he saw him take the initiative to talk to him, wondering in his heart if Wang Mang had let go of the previous estrangement.

After thinking about it for a while, he had a plan in his heart, and said with a light smile: "Mang'er, I just arrived." It's you, who have been running around the major cities of Handan County for more than ten days, checking taxes and trying unjust cases. The fact that you can come here so early now shows how faithful you are. ”

Seeing that the number of people had almost arrived, and those who didn't come didn't matter, the eunuch said, "The early dynasty has begun..."

When the ministers heard this, they shouted in unison: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live..."

When Wang Mang heard the eunuch speak, he fell to the ground and sang a promise.

He was on the ground and looked around. found that almost seventy or eighty percent of the officials did not bow down and despised the monarch's authority, and immediately sneered in his heart.

After the salute, the eunuch said again: "The ministers have something to do early, and they have nothing to do to retreat from the court..."

When Wang Mang heard this, he took a step ahead of everyone and said to Liu Xin: "Your Majesty, the minister has a book to play." ”

When the ministers saw Wang Mang taking the lead in speaking, they immediately became interested.

They speculated whether Wang Mang was going to talk about etiquette again, and whether he wanted to attack the Jia family. After all, this early dynasty, no one from the Jia family came.

When Liu Xin saw Wang Mang standing up and speaking, he also frowned, and his heart was unhappy.

At this moment, he really doesn't want to do much, he just wants to develop his power quietly.

He expected that as long as Wang Mang opened his mouth, there would be a lot of things and he would bring trouble to himself.

After thinking for a while, he said lightly: "What does Aiqing have to play?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister has two books to play."

Wang Mang said: "First, the Jia family offended the monarchy, ignored the law, openly robbed the court for repeat offenders, and sent domestic slaves to attack our general's mansion. The minister implored His Majesty to send down a holy decree to raid the Jia family and deter Chaogang.

Second, the minister proposed to carry out institutional reforms. Funded by the imperial court, the establishment of a system of pension, burial, education, and popularization of law for the common people. Let the people have something to rely on and support for the old. The elderly over the age of 60 should receive a certain amount of silver taels or rice grains every month.

And intensify efforts to encourage the people to have children, expand the population base. At the same time, it is also necessary to build schools widely so that the children of the people can go to school free of charge. At the same time, when they go to school, the imperial court can continue to fund the expenses of their three meals a day and the cost of teachers, and give a certain amount of compensation to the families who go to school.

People are the foundation of development, and only when the population increases and the number of educated people increases, then the probability of talent will be higher. In this way, in a few decades, a large number of capable people will appear in the imperial court to help His Majesty govern the world and create a prosperous era. At the same time, the people have gained knowledge, and they can better discipline themselves, which is conducive to the stability of the court.

In addition, there are a large number of prisoners in the prisons of the major cities in Kyushu. These prisoners have nothing to do in their prisons, and there is no hope of repentance. The minister thinks that this matter is very inappropriate, it is too wasteful of labor, and it needs to be taken seriously.

Therefore, the minister suggested that the system of rehabilitation of prisoners should be implemented immediately. Let those prisoners provide free services for the people such as clearing wasteland, building bridges and paving roads, building houses, sowing and cultivating land, etc., to help them realize their own values. Then, according to the degree of contribution of the prisoners, the officials of the local cities will give the prisoners a certain degree of exemption from the criminal law.

As the saying goes, if a person is not a sage, he can do no wrong. We need to give them a chance to mend their ways, to give them hope of being free again. The minister believed that as long as this part of the people was used well, it would definitely greatly reduce the pressure on the people supported by the imperial court, and quickly strengthen the foundation of the imperial court. ”

(End of chapter)