Flowers bloom and fall, and the tide rises and falls, year after year.

In the spring of the twentieth year of Jingtai, Shaotai, the capital of Anguo, Wenxiu Temple.

The sun is shining.

"The four directions are called the universe, and the past and present are called the universe. Although the universe is real, there is no fixed place to seek, and although the universe has grown, I don't know where it began......"

The sunlight is projected through the corridor, obliquely shining in the quadrangular courtyard, under the old locust tree, there is a group of children sitting upright, shaking their heads and reading, the big one is about ten years old, and the younger one is only three or four years old, they are all children of the Hou clan of Anguo, and they need to follow the witch official in the Wenxiu Monastery to study literature and study history at the age of three. When he is eight years old, if he is the son of the king, he will leave the Wenxiu Monastery and go to the vassal states that are friendly with Anguo to be a proton, which is also known as the Hou Zi Study Tour.

Of course, there are exceptions to everything.

At this moment, the solemn face of the witch officer suddenly stood up, walked to the corner of the courtyard with a bamboo slip, and pointed to the oldest boy: "Hou Zi, please answer, why don't you know where it started?" ”

When the witch officer got up, dozens of children in the courtyard stopped reading, and when they saw clearly the people the witch officer asked, they all had different expressions, some covered their mouths and snickered, some made grimaces, and some even exchanged ears.

"What is it that you don't know where it began?"

The boy who was questioned by the witch officer looked dazed, and he scratched his rather messy hair, and when he saw that all the children in the audience were looking at him, he looked even more panicked.

"Hou Zi, in ancient and modern times, it has been called the sky, although the sky has grown, I don't know where it started......" The witch officer patiently reminded, holding the bamboo slip behind him with both hands, his eyes were flat, and there was a faint layer of coldness.

The boy's face turned red, he lowered his head and thought for a while, Huo Ran raised his head and replied: "There are long and short dreams, long and mostly nightmares, short and good dreams, although good dreams and nightmares are dreams, but I don't know where it comes from, and I can't control its length, if I know it, I can control it, then I only dream well, do, do it for a lifetime......"

"Hahaha......"

"Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee......"

The children laughed, and one of them stood up, pointed at the boy and said loudly: "Report to the teacher, I know that the fourth brother has been sleeping just now, and I saw that his saliva was flowing for a long time!" "The length of the saliva is extremely exaggerated.

As soon as he heard this, the boy who was called 'Fourth Brother' was even more panicked, and hurriedly looked down, only to see that the placket on his chest was wet, and quickly rubbed it with his hand, raised his head again, touched his head and looked at the witch official, and smiled.

This smile is clean and full of silliness that is difficult to hide.

"Alas......"

The witch official sighed, the coldness in his eyes faded, and he said softly to the boy: "Hou Zi's answer is not right or not, if you compare dreams with the universe, there is indeed something to compare, but it is plausible. ”

"Oh."

The boy let out a long "oh", his eyes looked even more confused, and he pulled his eyelids twice, looking sad, as if he wanted to sleep again.

It's really spring, not a day to read.

The witch shook his head and walked towards the bookcase in the porch, and when he turned, nodded to the man standing at the gate of the courtyard.

At the gate of the courtyard, Anguo Shangwu Guan Shudu was already too old, wrinkles crawled all over his face like a spider's web, his back was hunched like an old tree's branches, and the corners of his eyes and mouth were also covered with death spots.

At this moment, Uncle Guan was holding the snake-headed cane made of green pear wood, and looked at the child in the corner of the courtyard for a moment, and waited until the child closed his eyes stupidly and fell asleep, and then he said to a black and thin little witch beside him: "Let's go, we should go to see you." ”

……

Shaotai City imitates the Song City and builds, the center of the city is the sacrificial platform, the palace city surrounds the altar in a circle, outside the palace is the official residence of the secretary and the doctor, and then there is the house of the scholars who live in the capital, the outermost circle is the commoners and merchants, as well as all kinds of shops.

The children of the Hou family surnamed Ji, all those who have reached the age of three and have not yet reached the crown and become married, except for the fool, all live in the Shaotai Palace.

There is a four-corner pavilion on the Wangcheng platform of the palace city, and the Wangyuan Pavilion on the Wangyuan Mountain outside the city is facing each other, and An Jun sits in it with several ministers and doctors. An Jun sat in the north and faced south, and the Qing and doctors were present left and right. Anguo has a total of upper, middle and lower three secretaries, and six upper, middle and lower doctors.

An Jun is more than forty years old, sitting and lying with a steady momentum, wearing a wide vermilion brocade robe, kneeling in the straw mat, and the vermilion bird incense burner on the case is blooming with a few Nana incense.

At this time, Shangqing Meng Yuxi was reporting state affairs to An Jun: "Back to the king, the spring sacrifice has been completed, and the spring ploughing has begun." Cheng Haotian's intention, within the whole country, among the strangers, all of them are working hard for the rejuvenation of the country. All the fields, all the fiefs, all the same......"

The long, undulating sound resounded in the gazebo, and the soft rhythm made people drowsy.

After a while, there was a slight sound of slapping in the pavilion, and when I took a closer look, it was the lower right doctor Ji Mi who was sitting in the corner of the pavilion, and I saw that he was nodding his head up and down, but his eyes were wide open, as if he was also thinking about state affairs and had never fallen asleep.

"Hmm!"

An Jun coughed heavily, so shocked that Ji Mi sat up straight, An Jun glanced at him, and said in a harmonious voice: "The matter of peasants and workers is related to the safety of the society, and Shangqing has worked hard." As he spoke, he picked up the tea bowl on the table and blew the tea residue on the water.

The monarch is lacking, he has to pick up key things to say, and he needs to make a long story short, Meng Yuxi wrinkled his nose and sped up his speech: "Go back to the king, go to the year and fight together with the Song State, the coalition army won a complete victory, and my Anguo also got thirty miles east of the river." Now I also do spring ploughing, but I don't know if it is in accordance with the custom? ”

"Well, do as usual."

An Jun frowned and took a big sip of tea.

In the battle of Qi, the Song State won three cities of the Qi Kingdom, but Anguo only got thirty miles of wasteland, not only that, but also hung alone, separated from the Anguo mainland by a river and a small Zhaoguo. It is close to Qishan Mountain and the East China Sea, there are many thieves in the mountains, and there are pirates in the sea. This kind of method of separating the country and dividing the land, Song Manzi has already done it not once or twice.

An Guo dares to be angry but does not dare to speak.

Ji Ying, the doctor on the left, is An Jun's younger brother and has a beautiful mustache, at this time, it is his turn to do something: "Back to the king, the merchants went to buy horses on behalf of the country, but the country suddenly raised the price by three times, and did not want money, only grain and iron smelting. This matter is urgent, please make a clear decision. ”

"Grain, iron smelting......" An Jun's brows tightened.

Yu Jiao, the secretary in charge of foreign affairs, said: "Your Excellency doesn't know that last winter, the little marquis of Qi State, who traveled to the Daiguo, fought a duel with someone in a wine shop, and he didn't want to die on the spot. Under the anger of the Marquis of Qi, he sent troops to the border and called on more than ten princes around the country, such as Gao, Gu, Liu, and Zhong Yuguo, to attack the country. Now that the war is in Ji, the country needs food and iron. ”

"What is there to study in Daiguo...... An Jun muttered in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "Grain and iron are the foundation of the country, and it is not benevolent for Daiguo to suddenly raise prices, besides, if it is exchanged for grain and iron for Daiguo at this time, it will cause Qi Hou to misunderstand ......"

"Your Majesty!"

Yu Jiao shook his head and said: "This matter is not so simple, Daiguo is adjacent to Song, if Daiguo dies, Song will face Qi, as far as the minister knows, Song has sent envoys to Yong and Yan, and wants to invite Yong and Yan to force back the Qi coalition army." ”

An Jun hesitated: "If the country dies, Yanhou will lose the Ping Domain in the southeast, and he should make a move, but how can Yonggong send troops?" Three years ago, Yong and Song fought a war, and Yongguo didn't get much benefit! ”

Yu Jiao said with a smile: "Back to the king, at this time, at that time, Yong and Qi have been fighting for decades, if you teach Qi to destroy the Dai State, then the national strength of Qi will inevitably exceed that of Yong, so in order to suppress Qi Hou, Yonggong will definitely let go of his old grudges and join forces with Song Hou to control Qi, and I will ...... from Song Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Yu Jiao looked at An Jun's expression, and continued: "Since Song Ji opened the Thai-Japanese trade road, my Anguo has befriended Daiguo through Song Guo, and purchased war horses from Daiguo to strengthen the country's strength, after ten years, I Anguo chariots are nearly thousand, if you refuse to represent the Marquis at this time, Ma Dao will definitely never say anything, and will lose faith in Daihou and Song Hou!" ”

The ministers and doctors were thinking in their hearts for a while, and they persuaded one after another: "Qi Hou is far away, Song Hou is near, think twice!" ”

An Jun's face was red and white for a while, and after a while, he sighed and said: "It is not easy to open up the business road, and benevolence should be trustworthy." I have made up my mind, so I will exchange grain and iron for the country to help it survive the crisis. After speaking, the sitting figure seemed to be a little shorter.

"Your Excellency is wise."

All the ministers and all the doctors breathed a sigh of relief, and benevolence also had to look at the time, Qi was slightly stronger than Song State, but Qi State was far away from Anguo, and Song State was bordering Anguo, if it annoyed Song Hou because of this, it would be a bad thing. Yong, Qi, Yan, and Song Zhengxiong, a small country like Anguo survives in the cracks, and must always stay awake!

"Now that you're all right, go back."

An Jun got up happily, and all the secretaries and doctors saluted one after another.

"Your ......"

At this moment, the old witch came over with a snake-headed cane and a palace man's support.

The old witch first saluted An Jun, and then waved to the Qing and the doctors, and then the old god stood with a cane.

In the vassal states, the status of the witch official is transcendent, if the ministers and the doctors are the retainers of the king, and the armor is exposed, then the witch official is the shadow of the king, always hiding in the shadows, but everywhere. They do not marry wives, have no children, and do not have hereditary fiefdoms, and they dedicate their lives to the great god Haotian, and the king of a country favored by the gods, and they are the most trusted people of the king.

The ministers and doctors went.

An Jun walked towards the Le Palace with his hands behind his back, it was almost noon, and while eating in the palace, listening to the sound of the palace maids beating the chimes would make people feel extraordinarily calm. Song Ji died seven years ago, and only a year after his death, he married another wife, the daughter of Xu Hou.

The sunlight shone on the bluestone steps, stretching An Jun's shadow obliquely and long, like a snake-headed crutch in the hands of an old witch official. The old witch walked in An Jun's shadow and said softly: "Your Majesty, the little marquis is as always, he can't even tell the difference between the universe and the dream, and the rumors from the past few days are not to be believed. ”

"Not to be believed?"

An Jun paused, turned around, and looked at the old witch officer condescendingly, as if staring at his own shadow.

The old witch bowed his head and said, "Yes, although the rumor is very suspicious, it is a rumor after all, and it cannot be true. The king thought, how can anyone be stupid for eleven years and suddenly be wise? ”

"Playing stupid, perhaps?" An Jun's eyes sharpened.

The old witch avoided it, wiped the sweat on his forehead, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency is too worried, although Song Ji is smart and different from ordinary people, but Xiao Houzi is indeed stupid, and this thing cannot be faked." ”

"That's good."

An Jun turned around, and the moment he turned around, the expression on his face was extremely strange, with both relief and imperceptible disappointment, contradictory and complicated.

Although the old witch didn't see the change in the monarch's expression, he figured out one or two, followed behind An Jun, and said tentatively: "Your Majesty, the little marquis is eleven years old, but he is living outside the palace, this move is inappropriate, why not summon him?" ”

"That's it!"

An Jun waved his hand, for his stupid son, as the king of a country, he really didn't know what to do, rather than being summoned to the front, it was better to be out of sight. Thinking about it carefully, I haven't seen this stupid son for seven years, and I don't know if he looks so much like Song Ji seven years ago.

As soon as he thought of Song Ji and Song Manzi, An Jun's face sank, and his pace accelerated.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty's ......"

The old witch official was in good spirits, but his physical strength was not as good as before, he chased after An Jun, and almost fell off the stone steps, but fortunately he was pulled by the palace people next to him, otherwise, this old and immortal old witch palace is afraid that it will be confessed.

An Jun heard something strange behind him, turned around and said, "What else is going on?" ”

The old witch officer stabilized his nerves, held a snake-headed cane, and bowed deeply towards An Jun at the top of the stairs: "Back to the king, in a few days, the Hou Zi of Yan Kingdom will come to Shaotai to study, according to the courtesy, if there is a suitable age Hou Zi in Anguo, I should also go to Yan Country to study." But the right-age marquis of my country, now he can only ......" stop talking, and his face shows embarrassment.

"Hahaha......"

An Jun laughed, and the loud laughter came down from the top of the stairs, and went all the way down the bluestone steps.

"If you say he's a complete fool, why not let him try?"

The old witch said in a trembling voice: "If Yan Guo doesn't avoid stupidity, it really ......."

"As long as it's not Song Guo, then it's up to him!"