The ministers finally agreed to the emperor's hunting tour again, but made a request for the destination: it was the height of summer in the south, the place was damp, and the miasma was thick, and the emperor should not go; The north was close to the Xiongnu, the garrison was not enough to resist, and the emperor could not go; There was still war going on in the East, and the Emperor had already gone on his last hunting tour, so there was no need to go. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Only the West remains.

The capital is located in Guanzhong, the west is full of mountains and mountains, bypassing the northwest, you can go to the Yuguanmen, and then to the west is the boundless desert, opposite is the Western Regions.

There is no major event in the frontier, and the emperor of Yumen Pass should not go.

The Ministry of Rites finally solved this problem, less than 200 miles away from the capital, there is an altar of sacrifice to the sky in the mountains, according to historical records, this altar was established by the ancestors in ancient times, the incense lasted for nearly a thousand years, it was abandoned in the previous dynasty, this dynasty set things right, and it was suitable to rebuild the altar.

The Son of Heaven will sacrifice to the heavens when he patrols and hunts, and the distance is not very far, and the ministers all support the proposal of the Ministry of Rites.

Han Ruzi agreed, and also took this opportunity to test his entourage, and he announced that he would only bring 3,000 people, 1,000 Su Guards, 1,000 Northern or Southern Army, and 1,000 mixed retinues, the latter including noble attendants, palace servants, accompanying officials, and others.

This scale is too small, detrimental to the majesty of the Son of Heaven, the ministers once again set off a wave of opposition, Han Ruzi refuted one by one, and changed his mind, not to go to the west to worship the sky, to go to the world for a hunting tour, first to the north, then to the east, when the weather is cold, go south, and return to Beijing next spring.

The ministers were so anxious that they agreed to reduce the size of their entourage in exchange for the emperor abandoning his plans to travel far away.

In mid-August, on a crisp day, Han Ruzi finally started his second hunting tour.

Han Ruzi asked everyone to ride horses, even the accompanying concubines and palace maids.

Concubine Deng Yun has always claimed that she is superb in riding, and it turns out that she is exaggerating, although she was born in a family of military generals, she is also the daughter of Houmen, and her life is not much different from that of ordinary noble daughters, she does know how to ride a horse, but she is not exquisite, riding on the most tame horse, holding the reins tightly with both hands, and she almost fell off several times.

At the end of the first day of the trip, Deng Yun was so tired that she fell into the tent and fell asleep, not even eating, and the accompanying palace maids changed her clothes and washed her feet, but she didn't move.

Han Ruzi watched coldly, but wanted to see how long Deng Yun could follow.

The next day of camping, Deng Yun was even more haggard, but insisted on coming to accompany the emperor to dinner.

"It turns out that the march is so hard."

"This team is still too bloated, there are too many useless people, and the marching speed is already very slow." Han Ruzi said that of course, there were not so many delicacies during the march, but there were many kinds of dishes with wine and meat.

Deng Yun toasted and said with a smile: "Then I can rest assured, 'there are too many useless people', I don't care if there is one of me, it seems that I am not holding back, please Your Majesty drink this cup." ”

It was impossible to make Concubine Shu retreat, so Han Ruzi had to take a sip of wine with a smile.

On the third day, the patrol team arrived at the first county seat of the trip.

Han Ruzi had already issued an edict, requiring the government along the way to keep everything simple, and not to make a big deal when receiving the emperor, according to his experience, it is likely that there will be officials who disobey the decree, and he is ready to take the first uninteresting official.

Unexpectedly, the county order fully fulfilled the emperor's requirements: the camp was arranged outside the city, and only the most basic leveling was done, without any tricks to please the emperor.

Such a real official is relatively rare, Han Ruzi wanted to summon this official alone, but learned from the people accompanying him that it was not the county order that arranged all this, but an attendant in the emperor's ranks.

The route and itinerary of the hunting tour had already been arranged, and a group of officials ran at the front of the procession to ensure that everything was in order, and one of them had no official position, but his speech carried great weight, because he was a relative of the emperor.

Wang Pingyang is a distant relative of the Empress Dowager Cining, the emperor's cousin, in his twenties, has read books, passed the examination, and is a rare person in the Wang family who can read and write.

The Empress Dowager Cining appointed Wang Pingyang to follow the emperor, and Han Ruzi had many attendants around him, and he never noticed this distant relative, and heard that he arranged the reception and summoned him that night.

Wang Pingyang is handsome and decent.

Han Ruzi looked at it a few times and said, "Did you enter Beijing with my uncle's family?" Why don't I have an impression of you? ”

Han Ruzi has a strong memory of human faces, and the scenes of several family banquets are in front of him, and there is definitely no such person among them.

Wang Pingyang replied: "Weichen's father moved away from his hometown in his early years and moved to Linzi City, and he had little contact with the family. Later, the uncle mentioned our branch to the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother was gracious and ordered the Weichen family to enter Beijing, which was a matter of this spring, and His Majesty was busy with affairs, so he may have ignored this matter. ”

"Well, I remember, that's what happened." Han Ruzi was a little impressed.

The Wang family are all rural farmers, and there will be no available people for a while, and the Empress Dowager Cining still feels that she is weak, so she found some distant relatives and gave them heavy rewards, but she didn't ask for officials, and Han Ruzi didn't care too much.

"You're doing a great job. Your name is 'Wang Pingyang', isn't that your real name? Han Ruzi felt that the word "Pingyang" was quite meaningful, and it seemed to be specially designed to pacify the East China Sea.

Wang Pingyang replied: "Your Majesty can see it accurately, this is the name that my father changed for Weichen before entering Beijing, if Your Majesty doesn't like it, Weichen will change it back immediately." ”

"Not necessarily." Han Ruzi chatted a few words, encouraged him, and sent someone to send Wang Pingyang away.

Zhang Youcai gave it away, and after he came back, he stopped talking.

Han Ruzi was looking down at a piece of music, and Yu Guang saw Zhang Youcai, "If you have something to say, just say it." ”

Zhang Youcai smiled: "Your Majesty doesn't like this relative very much, right?" ”

Han Ruzi raised his head and was slightly surprised, "Why do you say that?" ”

Zhang Youcai scratched his head, "I can't tell, I've been following Your Majesty for a long time, and I even have the same thoughts as Your Majesty, so I don't need to think about it to know who Your Majesty likes and who I don't like." ”

Han Ruzi was dumbfounded, he always thought that he was covering up well, but he didn't expect to be seen clearly by a eunuch.

Zhang Youcai patted his head lightly, "I understand, Your Majesty must talk about details for those who appreciate it, and for those who don't like it very much, it is just a casual conversation, although there are praises, but they are not very specific." ”

Han Ruzi laughed, "You have to keep your mouth shut to the outside world." ”

"Of course, as long as it concerns Your Majesty, I won't say half a word, and I won't say it to death." Zhang Youcai closed his mouth tightly.

Han Ruzi thought for a while, "Wang Pingyang said that he was a scholar, but I think he is more like a businessman, a little ...... Oily. ”

Wang Pingyang was actually very steady, Han Ruzi just made such a judgment based on feelings, if Zhang Youcai hadn't mentioned it first, he wouldn't have said it to anyone.

"Your Majesty is really right!" Zhang Youcai said in surprise.

"Do you recognize Wang Pingyang?"

Zhang Youcai shook his head, "I heard when I went to Cining Palace to pick up the eldest prince, Wang Pingyang did study, passed the examination, and then followed his father to do business. ”

Han Ruzi nodded, and suddenly understood that Wang Pingyang's courage to do things was not because he was excellent, but because he was instructed by the Empress Dowager Cining.

Mother is always worried about herself, and always wants to strengthen the Wang family, Han Ruzi is very helpless.

The journey of less than 200 miles took seven days.

A small road was built in front of it, leading directly to the top of the mountain, and firewood was used to worship the sky, and Han Ruzi ordered that the accompanying officials and attendants each collect a piece of firewood and send it to the mountain to show their sincerity.

Early the next morning, Han Ruzi only took a small number of entourages to climb the mountain, walked and stopped, and arrived at the top of the mountain at dusk, where the firewood for the sacrifice had been piled up, mixed with a large amount of grease in the middle, to help burn.

The emperor personally wrote down the secret blessing and put it in the pyre, praying for heaven's protection.

The Emperor then retreated a hundred paces away, rested in a makeshift tent, and in the middle of the night, after a series of rituals, fired a rocket, lit the pyre, and sent a message to the heavens.

The Emperor retreated to a platform halfway up the mountain, watched the firelight from afar, and performed the next series of rituals, which did not end until after the fourth watch.

There were only about thirty people who followed the emperor to climb the mountain, and the others either stayed at the bottom of the mountain or surrounded all sides to prevent idlers from colliding. After the ceremony, the entourage retreated down the mountain, leaving only the emperor to pray silently on the platform.

The emperor could not descend the mountain until dawn.

Han Ruzi prayed to the heavens for many things and asked many things, but he did not get an answer, there was no message in the flames, and he did not suddenly enter the dream realm and see all kinds of miracles.

For a period of time before dawn, Han Ruzi looked to the east, he was far away from the capital, away from the imperial court, a little freer, but he could do less, apart from the prime minister and hundreds of officials, the emperor was only the leader of a team of 3,000 people, and he could exert little influence on the world.

In the early morning, Han Ruzi waved to the entourage in the distance, only Zhang Youcai understood what the emperor meant, stopped everyone, and said to Zhao Ruosu: "Your Majesty, please come over." ”

Zhao Ruosu was very surprised, but still took the order to go up the mountain.

At the beginning of the rising sun, Han Ruzi praised: "Sure enough, the country is picturesque." ”

"yes." Zhao Ruosu is not very good at flattery, so he responded casually, and also looked into the distance, except for the gorgeous morning sun, he couldn't see anything special.

Han Ruzi turned to Zhao Ruosu, here, the emperor can't influence the world, but he can affect the people around him, and he doesn't have to worry about the news leaking, at least it won't leak so quickly.

"Where do you start?"

"Weichen doesn't understand......" Zhao Ruosu became more and more puzzled.

"Have you always kept in touch with Zhongshu Province, or have you changed your mind later?"

Zhao Ruosu's face changed suddenly, and he was about to kneel down when he lifted his robe.

Han Ruzi waved his hand to stop, "This is a place to worship the heavens, I am not the emperor, you are not a courtier, you can speak freely, and you don't have to worry, the court is running well, I have no intention of retaliating." ”

Zhao Ruosu is a very calm person, but at this time, his face changed color, and he said for a long time: "When Weichen left Zhongshu Province, he really wanted to serve His Majesty, and this heart has not changed so far, but it is just ...... It's just that...... Some of His Majesty's practices have gone too far, and Wechen hopes to ......"

"I want to correct these practices of mine, but I can't say it directly, so I have to rely on the power of Zhongshu Province and the entire imperial court, right?"

Zhao Ruosu nodded.

"Tell me, what does your emperor look like?" (To be continued.) )