When I stopped, I giggled, Mo Zi looked at me suspiciously, I pointed to the scattered sticky blades of hay on me and him, and he smiled embarrassedly.

Patting off the blades of grass on his body, I saw that there were still a few pieces of his hair, took a step forward, approached him, and tiptoed up to help him take it off, and when I took a step back to look at him, he was actually stunned, I smiled and reminded him, "You can also help me see, do I still have it on my head?" ”

Mo Ziwei came back to his senses at this time, stepped forward to help me remove a leaf, and when he retreated, there was a thin layer of blush on his face.

The full moon of this night is like a sweet and greasy golden cake, even the moonlight is sweet, the wind blowing from the face is mixed with the smell of grass and flowers, and the weeping willows swaying in the wind on the roadside sing a light tune, everything is so wonderful.

"I'll send you here, not far in front of the palace gate, you can go in by yourself."

I looked at Mo Zi's slightly tired face in the hazy moonlight, and whispered, "It's late, you should go back and rest early." ”

Mo Zi turned his head with a smile, I looked at his back melting in the melting moonlight, and added uneasily, "Be careful on the road!" ”

He turned his head and replied to me with a smile as warm as the morning light, and my heart suddenly lightened.

After seeing Mo Ziwu leave, I suddenly remembered a question, "Oh no, Yu Wenyong, why did I forget him, he won't still be waiting for me at the moat, right?!" ”

Then, I realized an even worse problem, I don't know the way to the moat, what should I do? If Yuwen Yong really waits for me there, I don't go back to him, let him stay there alone for so long, he will definitely be angry afterwards, and then I will be miserable.

I stopped a pedestrian and asked for directions, "Big brother, do you recognize the way to the moat?" ”

"Yes, yes, but—" The man turned his face and smiled loudly, "What is Miss Xiao doing in the moat?" ”

I saw his face clearly and was surprised, "Young Master Yang? ”

Yang Jian said: "I didn't expect to meet Miss Xiao here, I am familiar with the road from here to the moat, I can lead the way for you." ”

Someone is willing to take me there, but I can't ask for it, "Then thank you Yang Gongzi, Your Majesty is still waiting for me there, let's go over quickly." ”

By the time we reached the river, the people who had put the lights on were almost gone. Yuwen Yong's sparse figure hovered on the shore, and when he saw me, he grabbed my shoulder and said hurriedly: "Where have you been, you haven't come back for so long?" I'm still worried about what happened to you......"

Yu Wenyong's words stopped abruptly when his gaze turned to Yang Jian on the side, and he stopped for a while, his scrutinizing gaze kept spinning between me and Yang Jian, "Why are you with him?" ”

I calmly said under his questioning gaze: "When I went shopping, I got lost and couldn't remember the way back. Fortunately, I met Yang Gongzi, and when Yang Gongzi learned the truth, he kindly showed me the way. ”

"I got lost, I happened to meet, it was a coincidence!" Yu Wenyong let go of my shoulders, his gloomy gaze seemed to make a hole in me and Yang Jian, and said fiercely, "He Quan, go back to the palace!" ”

Yu Wenyong finished speaking in one breath, flicked his sleeves, and He Quan hurriedly and carefully went up to serve.

"I'm in trouble with Yang Gongzi tonight." I politely said goodbye to Yang Jian.

"What is the pestle doing there? Don't keep up yet! ”

Yu Wenyong's angry shouts came, and I had to bow my head and follow.

In the carriage, Yu Wenyong said coldly, "A few days ago, Yang Jian's mother was seriously ill, and Yang Jian took leave to take care of his mother. ”

I vaguely understood why his attitude was wrong, and said, "Weichen is stupid and doesn't understand what His Majesty means. ”

"You, you and Yang Jian ......" Yu Wenyong tried his best to hold back and stopped the words that were about to be exported.

"Your Majesty, the minister didn't meet anyone outside the palace, but the palace was not as free as the outside, and the outside was not so restrictive, so I stayed for a while."

"Every time the minister goes out of the palace, he has a file in the Division, and it is also with His Majesty's permission, and there is nothing wrong with it." I reminded him faintly.

"I allowed you to leave the palace, but I didn't allow you to have a private meeting with people outside the palace!" Yu Wenyong coldly accentuated his tone.

"The minister did not have a private meeting with Yang Jian, nor did he have a private meeting with anyone. In addition to liking freedom, the ministers also visited the market and the countryside to secretly investigate the people's feelings and share the worries of His Majesty. "I was unhurried to clarify myself.

"Secretly investigate the people's feelings, share my worries, and make a high-sounding excuse!" Yuwen Yong snorted coldly.

"If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can go out of the palace with Weichen tomorrow and find out."

Early the next morning, I left the palace with Yu Wenyong, and I took Yu Wenyong to the streets and alleys, the private granges, textile factories, quarries, and salt and iron factories of some nobles to check on the slaves who were bought and sold, driven and abused, and worked for free, so that he could know the miserable life of slaves. He also took him to the houses near the suburbs of the city to inquire about the tax payment of peasant households, and to learn about the people's lives under the heavy pressure of excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

During this time, I did not leave the palace in vain, and at the same time as I went to Yijian Pavilion, I also went to the nearby farmhouses to inquire about the harvest in recent years, how the state taxes affected them, and to investigate the situation of slaves everywhere. Mo Ziwei is well-informed and will also provide me with relevant news.

Yu Wenyong didn't care to wonder if I had a personal relationship with others, and with a heavy face, I began to carry out a psychological offensive, "Has Your Majesty seen the days of these people?" ”

"Over the years, Your Majesty has done nothing on the surface, but Your Majesty must be secretly planning how to take everything back behind your back. Your Majesty and Yuwen Hu, fighting scheming, Doucheng Mansion, you are deceitful, and the organs are exhausted, and you want to come to your Majesty to regain power and regain everything that belongs to you, but has Your Majesty ever thought about your people? Do you know what kind of life your people live, and have you ever thought about what you can do for your people? ”

Yu Wenyong was shocked by my words, shocked and confused, and was speechless for a long time.

I said earnestly: "Your Majesty, this world is the world of the world, not the world of one person. The way of the king should be for the well-being of the people of the world. For the power in your hands is given to millions of people under the heavens. ”

"The minister hopes that Your Majesty will not lose himself in conspiracy and calculation, and forget the most basic way of being a king."

Throughout the afternoon, Yu Wenyong pondered for a long time in the side hall of the Zhengwu Palace, and the quiet light stretched his figure. The wind blew up a few scattered yellow leaves outside the hall, and the rustling sound fell on people's hearts one by one. The sky was so bright, so long, and it flowed silently.

"Maybe you're right, over the years, I've been full of hatred in my heart, hating him for hurting my eldest brother, hating him for turning me into a puppet. I'm pretending every day, I'm planning, I'm calculating, I'm thinking about how to take everything back...... But I forgot that my responsibility is to seek the well-being of the people, not to only think about power and interests. ”

"Thank you, Bruis." For the first time, Yu Wenyong looked at me with such sincere and transparent eyes, "It was you who reminded me that this world is the world of the world, not the world of me." I shouldn't be obsessed with power, and I should do something for the people. ”

He can figure it out, and my heart is a lot easier, "Your Majesty can think like this, it is a blessing for the people of Zhou State." ”

"At present, the service is heavy, and His Majesty should be lightly burdened, persuade farmers to teach mulberry, and devote himself to production." I make a suggestion.

"The slave problem has been a chronic tumor of previous dynasties, and the increase in slaves and the less labor force there are, and the reduction of state taxes; The torture, beating, and killing of slaves also shows that the laws of the Zhou State are not perfect and need to be repaired; In the long run, it will also exacerbate the contradictions between the lower class people and the upper class aristocracy, causing incidents. Therefore, Your Majesty, it is imperative to release slaves as commoners, and if they do not, they will become a scourge in the long run. ”

"You can have such an insight, you are worthy of being the successor of Zuo Qing." There was a hint of appreciation in Yu Wenyong's eyes, and then he hesitated a little, "There have been many light and thin endowments in ancient times, and the ministers of the court and the central government should have no objections, but the release of slaves will touch the interests of some nobles, and I am worried that this matter may not be easy." ”

"Besides, my sudden concern for people's livelihood will inevitably arouse Yuwen Hu's suspicions. I am just an empty shelf now, and the ministers of the DPRK and China are either attached to Yuwenhu, or they dare not speak out under Yuwenhu's prestige, how should these political actions be implemented? ”

"We can do this with the help of Yuwen Hu." There was a hint of meaning between my brows.

"How to borrow?" Yu Wenyong was taken aback, obviously he didn't expect me to say this.

"Yuwen Hu is a powerful minister, but he is not a rebel minister who harms the country. He has always been committed to the governance and development of the Zhou State, and he also hopes that the Zhou State will be strong. He will form a party for personal gain and exclude dissidents, but he can still clearly distinguish between right and wrong, and he will not abandon political actions that are beneficial to the country. "Putting aside the grievances with Yuwen Hu, I rationally analyze Yu Wen Hu.

Yuwen Yong pondered, and I mentioned: "It is up to me to negotiate with Yuwen Hu and explain it in detail to him, and I believe he will not accept it." ”

In order to dispel his concerns, I continued: "If you can convince Yuwen Hu that he will intervene in this matter, then His Majesty will only need to approve all his political measures as usual, and he will not doubt it." ”

Woo Wen Yong finally agreed to my proposal, and on this day, I visited Tsukazaifu.

"Otsuka Zai, please see."

I handed Yuwen an article of my own, which briefly described the living conditions of some peasant households and the increase in the number of slaves that I had seen, and proposed the abolition of excesses and miscellaneous taxes and the emancipation of slaves. The focus is on the freeing of slaves, pointing out the dangers of slave abundance: reduced taxes, affecting the treasury revenues; indiscriminate sale and killing of slaves, and the law was trampled on; Exacerbate the contradictions between the lower classes of the people and the upper class of the aristocracy. He also pointed out the three major benefits of freeing slaves: increased taxes, increased labor, and the development of production; The rule of law has improved, politics has become clear, and the people have returned to their hearts; Class contradictions eased, the country was stable and tranquil, and political power was consolidated. In addition, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu ordered the release of slaves nine times, further proving that the release of slaves is the trend of the times and cannot be reversed.

I analyzed the situation, pointed out the pros and cons, and I would not be moved by a person like Yuwen Hu, who is bent on building a country and trying to annex Qi and Chen, and has strong ambitions.

Exegesis:

(1) The title comes from Su Shi's "Gift to Liu Jingwen" in the Song Dynasty, "A Year of Good Times"