Cui Xiaojun did not say a word about the conflict with Wang Meiren that night, and in her narration, after leaving the residence, she immediately went to Taizu's clothing room, where the eunuch still recognized the former queen, opened the door for her, untied Yang Feng's rope, and escaped together. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Han Ruzi also did not intend to mention this matter, he was about to leave the capital and go to "conquer" his own Great Chu Jiangshan, rather than making the contradiction between his mother and the queen public, it was better to continue to hide.

But you can't just leave it alone.

Before dawn the next day, the emperor and the empress got up early, Cui Xiaojun personally dressed the emperor and wore a crown, kept silent, and finally only said: "Out of the palace, don't sleep too late." ”

Han Ruzi smiled, kissed the queen lightly on the forehead, and walked out of the room, he had already decided not to let anyone in the palace see him off.

There were people waiting outside, and Zhang Youcai and Loach would serve the emperor closely-Loach didn't want to be a eunuch, so he had been living with the soldiers. There were also fifteen eunuchs and thirty guards, all of whom were personally selected by Yang Feng, with only one task, to protect the emperor's safety within ten steps, and the leader of these people was Liu Jie, the central eunuch.

Han Ruzi first went to the queen mother's bedroom, said goodbye to the queen mother and mother outside the gate, and then went directly to the temple to carry out a simple ancestor worship ceremony, and then took a sedan chair to the north palace gate after the ceremony.

Halfway through, he summoned two people one after another.

One is the palace maid Tong Qing'e, she is now a female official of Qiuxin Palace, in charge of affairs related to the queen, Han Ruzi made a few more instructions, asking her to take good care of the queen.

The other is Yang Feng, the two of them have already said what they should say, Han Ruzi summoned him again before leaving, hoping that Yang Feng can maintain stability in the palace, "Cishun Palace and Qiuxin Palace are the top priorities, and I hope that Yang Gong cares." ”

Han Ruzi can only say this.

Yang Feng seemed to understand something, thought for a while, nodded and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

Out of the palace gate, the sky was slightly bright, and more people were waiting here, including a hundred honor guards, two hundred guards, and more than forty officials from various ministries and departments, most of these officials were aide-camps such as squires and principals, and formed a temporary court around the emperor, and kept in touch with the yamen in Beijing every day to provide the latest news in case of emergency.

The team traveled, exited the city through the North City Gate, and then turned around and headed to Hangu Pass in the east.

There were more people waiting outside the city, all the ministers above the fifth rank in the capital came to see them off, and there was an army of 1,000 people, half of which was mainly black, and the other half was the southern army that used a large number of red, and the emperor's own honor guards and guards were all purple and yellow.

The flag sacrifice ceremony was held under the city gate, three solid white horses became sacrifices, and the blood stained on the Chiyou flag, this black and red military flag, together with the emperor's dragon flag, became the most important symbol in the army.

It was already dawn and the emperor was about to set off, when a small accident occurred.

More than a dozen ministers knelt on the bridge of the moat, weeping bitterly and stopped the driver, hoping that the emperor would think twice and not go out easily......

Han Ruzi had read similar records in the history books, but he had already "persuaded" the ministers in the Qinzheng Palace, and thought that this kind of thing would not happen in front of him, and even the military flags had been sacrificed, and there was no possibility of giving up the personal conquest, but there were still ministers who made trouble.

The team was stopped, and Han Ruzi beckoned Liu Jie, who was behind him, to follow, and asked in a low voice, "What should I do?" ”

Liu Jie has been a eunuch in the palace for many years and has seen a lot of things, so he immediately replied: "Your Majesty doesn't need to come forward, I'll deal with it." ”

Liu Jie jumped off the horse, walked quickly to the bridge, picked up the three highest-ranking ministers with his own hands, said a few words, and then walked back to the emperor's horse, nodded, bowed, didn't say a word, ran back to the bridge, and really talked to the minister.

After repeating this three times, the ministers finally got out of the way and watched the emperor cross the bridge.

Han Ruzi finally caught up with the army that accompanied him on this trip, claiming to be 10,000 people, plus the entourage was almost 13,000 people, because they were received by the county along the way, and did not use the people, the extra 3,000 people were all people around the emperor, as well as many clans, nobles and ministers' relatives who took the initiative to ask for war, as well as their retinue, the number was not comparable to the emperor, but each person also had at least two slaves to serve.

The number of generals is extremely large, there are more than 200 people with the title of general, and at least 50 people are qualified to participate in military and political affairs in front of the emperor.

There are also 20 Dr. Guozijian and Bachelors of Hanlin Academy, all of whom have been recommended consultants.

Even after leaving the palace and the capital, Han Ruzi could still feel that there was a net covering him, and the minister was only the most important part of this net.

It was almost noon, and Han Ruzi was finally able to ride his horse.

The number of 10,000 soldiers is not much, but the emperor personally marches, still to be divided into the front and rear left, center and right five armies, Chai Yue personally led the front army, set off at dawn, Fang Daye commanded the middle army, is the outermost protection of the emperor, and the generals of the other three armies are recommended by the Ministry of War.

Taifu Cui Hong is in a high position, staying by the emperor's side, commanding the five armies, in order to highlight his status, he added the title of general, but everyone understands that this is a real deprecation, the Cui family has lost power, and whether it can rise again depends on the emperor's trust.

The army stopped less than two hours after its departure and settled into the camp that had been prepared, while it was still dawn, and they had not even left the Gyeonggi boundary.

Han Ruzi summoned Cui Hong, he thought that this meeting would be a little embarrassing, but Cui Hong is worthy of being an old minister of the Three Dynasties who has seen the world, and after entering the account, he behaved freely and behaved in a proper manner, neither proud of himself as the emperor's father-in-law, nor panicked because he had been an enemy of the emperor.

"General, can you get to Hangu Pass within three days?"

"Back to Your Majesty, the army is impermanent, stability is the top, the situation in Hangu Pass is unknown, after the news from the front army is returned, it can be arbitrarily chosen, or accelerated, or slowed, or suspended."

There were only a few guards and eunuchs in the tent, and Han Ruzi sat on the chair and leaned forward slightly when they didn't exist, and said, "I thought I had made it very clear, we must rush to Hangu Pass within three days, if Shangguan Sheng escapes, he must chase after him, and if he holds the pass, he will be exterminated." ”

Cui Hong nodded frequently, "Your Majesty is reasonable, but Your Majesty and even the body of Zun, if there is a mistake, even a little mistake, the ministers will become sinners for thousands of years, life, shameless return to Beijing, death, it is difficult to see the first emperor." ”

Cui Hong knelt down and said earnestly: "Although the minister is dull, he has led the army for decades, and he is rough in the art of war, even if the minister is incompetent, there are dozens of veterans under his command, and he has won countless battles, and he will never delay His Majesty's major affairs." ”

Han Ruzi didn't want to clash with Cui Hong as soon as he left Beijing, "Okay, it's arranged by the general, if there is any news from the front army, notify me at any time, no matter morning or night." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Cui Hong retired, and Liu Jie, the central superintendent, reminded the emperor that on the first day of the expedition, the emperor had to comfort the whole army, and the so-called condolences were not to go out of the tent as before, but to summon different people in turn.

Generals, officials, advisers, clansmen, nobles, ministers' relatives, and so on all had to send two or three representatives to the tent to meet the emperor, thank Dade, and then "bring" the emperor's condolences to others.

After this set of procedures, it was dark, and Han Ruzi understood why the first day stopped so early.

After dinner, Han Ruzi left Liu Jie to talk to him.

"Liu Gong knows these things very well in the court, right?"

Liu Jie once glared angrily at the Queen Mother and the ministers in the Qinzheng Palace, but he always bowed his head beside the emperor, no different from ordinary eunuchs. Han Ruzi once thought that this would be a Yang Feng-style figure, but soon understood that Yang Feng was unique, and Liu Jie was just a loyal eunuch.

"I know a little bit about it, I have served Emperor Wu for a period of time, and I have seen Emperor Wu deal with ministers a few times."

Han Ruzi's interest suddenly increased, "It turns out that Duke Liu served Emperor Wu, tell me about his emperor." ”

Liu Jie knelt down and kowtowed, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty doesn't want the people around you to have a bad mouth and talk nonsense in the future, right?" ”

Han Ruzi was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, Liu Jie was indeed an upright eunuch who refused to talk about the behavior of the first emperor.

"Then tell me the minister, what do those people mean by kneeling on the bridge to stop them? For the name? For loyalty? For profit? ”

"That's just a habit, Your Majesty." Liu Jie got up, and he could answer this kind of question without taboos, "Habit is a good thing, and it is best to use it to protect oneself." ”

"A few kowtows and a few tears on the bridge can you save yourself?"

Liu Jie smiled slightly, "Your Majesty thinks they are strange, thinks they are pedantic, and even thinks they are hypocritical and incompetent, but you don't hate them, or even particularly annoy, right?" ”

Han Ruzi didn't squeak, of course he wouldn't hate a group of ministers who knelt down to him, as for hating, there was a little, but it wasn't very strong.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Why don't the other ministers participate in the stop?" ”

"Each has its own strengths, and Your Majesty will see all kinds of 'habits' in the future."

"I've seen quite a few of them just now." Han Ruzi shook his head, from Cui Hong to the minister's relatives, they were all dealing with him with "habits".

"Your Majesty's Supreme Body, don't make a mistake." Liu Jie reminded seriously.

Han Ruzi was stunned again, and then he reacted, in front of his cronies, he often called himself "I" instead of "I", which is also a habit.

"I understand." Han Ruzi also replied seriously, he regarded Liu Jie as the first loyal minister, but he was not familiar with this person, and in the process of getting to know each other, the initial impression was that this eunuch was a stubborn stone that refused to go with the flow.

"Can the minister's habits change?"

"Habits are formed by the emperor, and as long as His Majesty wishes, of course they can be changed. But Your Majesty should be careful, it will take a lot of time and effort to change these habits, does Your Majesty have this time now? ”

Han Ruzi nodded, Liu Jie was right, there are priorities, changing the various habits of the imperial court is indeed not a top priority, but it can't just be trapped in it, "Since you can't move for the time being, you can always bypass it, right?" ”

Liu Jie was silent for a while, "If I say I can, I will be a minister, and if I make an idea, I will be the public enemy of the entire imperial court, so my answer is - you can't bypass it, these habits have been cultivated little by little by the previous emperors, even if there are no other benefits, but it is very conducive to the safety of Your Majesty." ”

Han Ruzi laughed again, even the loyal Liu Jie has a "habit".

He decided to bypass it anyway because these "habits" were not developed by him.

"Summoning the King of the East Sea." Han Ruzi wants to start here. (To be continued.) )