Yang Guang stared at Xiao Mo tightly, the light in his eyes flashed, Xiao Mo said what he had always thought in his heart today, Yang Jian has never read too much, in Yang Guang's own opinion, talent is far inferior to his own, the school in the world was abolished, although it was to block the world's scholars to criticize themselves for squeezing out the lord and entering the East Palace, but time has passed, and today he will not restore the world school, which is really detrimental to his reputation as a scholar and a Confucian.

However, if Yang Jian's policy is directly abolished now, it will inevitably make people say that it is unfilial piety, which will cause people to criticize.

Yang Guang's gaze fell on Xiao Miao's body, this young man made his eyes light up today: "Xiao Miao, I miss you for your loyalty, let's calm down first, I will think about what you said." ”

A smile flashed on the lips of Xiao Miao, who was lying on the ground: "Supreme Xie, long live my emperor, long live, long live, long live!" ”

After Xiao Mo and Xiao Yu retreated, only Yang Jian and Empress Xiao were left in the hall, every time this kind of husband and wife faced and discussed important matters alone, even the eunuchs and palace maids did not stay around, the guards were far away, although the sun in the hall was very abundant, but Yang Guang still ordered them to light the candlesticks before the attendants withdrew, and the dancing flames reflected Yang Guang's contemplative face, a burst of yin and a burst of yang, just like his heart that had been struggling.

After a long time, Yang Guangcai let out a long sigh, he glanced at Empress Xiao, and said: "This nephew of yours is really not simple, I originally thought that he was a fugitive, wandering all over the world, and he should be very content if he could save his life, but I didn't expect him to be a young man in his twenties." Not only learn to be rich in five cars. And such a deep insight. The civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty are really not many who can surpass him. ”

Empress Xiao smiled slightly: "Supreme, don't praise this kid too harshly, although he is the first time to meet the amnesty, he has a heart to serve the country, but after all, his life experience is not enough, he doesn't know that the officialdom is sinister, and he doesn't know that it is difficult to distinguish between loyalty and treachery in the court." It's just that there are some scholarly opinions from some history books. If you really want to do it according to his method, there will be no big mess. ”

Yang Guang's heart moved, and he said: "Is there any other way to solve the current situation that these generals occupy one-third of the local official positions in the world?" If he really had this ability, he would have helped me get rid of my henchmen's troubles. The reason why I want to move the capital from Guanzhong to Luoyang is not because I want to stay away from these barbarians. ”

Empress Xiao was slightly stunned, and hurriedly said: "No, no, the concubine is just a momentary gaffe." Please don't take it seriously. But there was a panicked look in her eyes, which showed that he was not at the same time.

Yang Guang laughed and took Empress Xiao's hand. "Queen, when did you learn to lie in front of me?" That's not good. I know that although Xiao Mo is young, he has a lot of city government, and there are some things that he dare not say in front of me, but he will definitely tell you, and finally reach my ears, right? ”

Empress Xiao said faintly: "Supreme, you are always so wise, the concubine can't hide anything from you." ”

Yang Guang nodded, put on a stern expression, and said: "It's an extraordinary time, I have just ascended to the great treasure, but whether it is the Guanzhong General Hu or the old guys of the Han clan, they all look at me in private, and I also know this, I can't wait to drive these guys out of the court within one day and replace them all with my own people!" ”

"But you also know that the former emperor has always been afraid of me, not to mention that when I was the governor of Yangzhou, even when I entered the East Palace, I didn't dare to establish my own subordinates, so I have never had my own team. Now that I have ascended the throne, but there are few important ministers around me to rely on, do I want to be at the mercy of the old thief Yang Su again? ”

Empress Xiao also said hatefully: "The old thief Yang Su was swaying on both sides back then, only thinking of using us to help him fight Gao Xi, and he refused to cooperate with our family, probably he didn't expect that you could really enter the East Palace." We must avenge this revenge, but the old thief has been in the court for many years and has a huge power, so we can only Xu Tuzhi, slowly remove his wings first, and then find an opportunity to dig the roots of the old thief. ”

Yang Guang was very satisfied with Empress Xiao's attitude, and smiled slightly: "Queen, but the old thief has led the army for many years, and most of the Hu generals in Guanzhong have been his subordinates, and this old thief has always reported his military exploits to these Hu generals, and bought people's hearts with the rewards of the imperial court, so if you want to move the old thief, you have to shake his foundations, at least let the Hu generals no longer be in charge of the army, and they can't be so many assassins, so that they can start." ”

A hint of pride flashed on Empress Xiao's face: "Supreme, this matter is actually not difficult to do, Mill Er actually told the concubine a method, but because he was a traitor, he didn't dare to say it in front of you just now, so he hoped that the concubine would tell the Supreme." ”

Yang Guang was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "What method?" Say it quickly, say it quickly. ”

Empress Xiao's eyes flashed with a hint of viciousness, and her always gentle and gentle tone suddenly became cold: "When the Great Sui was newly built, the Quartet was uneasy, especially the Turks in the north were a great threat to our dynasty, so the emperor set up governors in various places, and in the northern area, let these Hu generals lead the troops to guard one side to prevent the Turks. ”

"Now that the Turks have surrendered, and last time Yang Liang, the governor of the state, rebelled, Supreme, doesn't this just give you a suitable excuse?"

Yang Guang's heart moved: "What does Xiao Mo mean, let me issue an edict to abolish the head of the world?" ”

Empress Xiao nodded: "Yes, the power of these governors is too great, not only to manage the army, but also to manage the money and grain of the state and county where they are located, even if there is only one state and one county, they are basically controlled by these general generals, and even one by one on the grounds of guarding against the Turks, they do not pay taxes to the imperial court, and in turn, they also ask the imperial court for money, food, soldiers and horses every year, and now the Turks have surrendered, what do they continue to keep them for?" ”

Yang Guang stood up, paced back and forth a few steps, and still shook his head: "But these governors all have money and soldiers in their hands, and most of the northern border of the Great Sui is controlled by these governors, and now an edict asks them to hand over their military power, what if they have a grudge and join forces to start an incident?" ”

Empress Xiao shook her head and said, "Supreme, now the people in the world are at peace. Not long ago, Yang Liang got into trouble. He's the best in the world. The land under its jurisdiction occupies almost the entire Northern Qi hometown, but what can it be? With this precedent in the early months of the month, do you still need to be afraid that the governors of those places with only one or several states will plot against you? ”

Yang Guang sat back in his chair and waved his hand: "Empress, after all, you have not participated in the government affairs, you don't know, Yang Liang failed because he himself has no military talent." and refused to give power to his capable people, plus Yang Su was an old thief who could indeed fight, so Yang Liang would fail. But if Yang Su and Yang Liang are replaced, it will be difficult to say. ”

When Yang Guang said this, he looked at Empress Xiao and said, "Besides, when Yang Liang was pacified, the main forces were all assassins and governors of the northern states, basically Hu generals, and these people had just made meritorious contributions. Just take their official positions, doesn't this force them to rebel? ”

Empress Xiao smiled slightly: "That's what Mill said. He said that if the governors of the states and the assassins were directly ordered to hand over their military powers, it was indeed possible to change, but it would be enough to change the legitimate reason. Just like when Yang Liang was asked to enter Beijing to see the emperor, he has enough fame, and he is not afraid that they will not obey. ”

Yang Guang's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Is there any good reason?" ”

Empress Xiao smiled, her face was like frost, her phoenix eyes were threatening, she lightly opened her lips, and said firmly: "Abolish the state and county, and order the governors of all states in the world to return to Beijing to take up their posts." ”

When Yang Guang heard this, he was so shocked that he stood up again: "Abolish the state county? How can this be? Queen, this is an old rule that has been changed for hundreds of years. ”

Empress Xiao smiled: "The concubine is a woman, and she doesn't know about the military, but she said that the state was only in Yugongli at the earliest, and even in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were only thirteen states. The county system first started in the Qin and Han dynasties, and when it came to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, both sides kept breaking the soil, making a large number of overseas Chinese counties, and the Northern Zhou and Southern Liang directly changed the name of the county to the state, so as to show that their territory is vast and there are many states and counties. ”

Yang Guang sat back in his chair and nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, that's right, at that time, there were more than 280 states in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and there were more than 100 states in the Southern Chen Dynasty. ”

"So the first emperor once issued an edict when he was four years old to change the county of the world to a state. After my Great Sui destroyed Nanchen and unified the sea, this will was implemented in the south, so now there are 314 states in the world. Queen, this kind of state has been replacing counties for hundreds of years, and it can't be moved lightly. ”

Empress Xiao shook her head: "A unified dynasty like the Qin and Han dynasties all use the county system, and the state is only used as a higher-level administrative unit of the county, and now there are more than 300 states in the world, but there are no counties, this is the result of the division of the country and the confrontation between the north and the south, how can it be used now?" Therefore, isn't the restoration of the county system in the Qin and Han dynasties a move that shows your great achievements? ”

When Empress Xiao said this, she paused and said meaningfully: "Moreover, changing the state to a county will naturally abolish the previous governors who were built on the basis of the state, and they can be transferred to Beijing in the name of justice and make other arrangements." Supreme, there are also people in Hu Jiangli who are loyal to you, and they are not all the way to Yang Su and the Zhu clan, such as Yuwenshu, Qiu He, Shangguanzheng, these people can take the defense of the important town in the north. ”

Yang Guang didn't say a word, the light in his eyes kept flashing, and he could see that he was seriously thinking about this proposal, this move was very risky, but it was very tempting, and he couldn't help but weigh the gains and losses, for a while, Yang Guang still shook his head and sighed: "Although this method is good, it is a pity that it lacks a very reasonable and convincing reason, and it is still unconvincing after all." ”

Empress Xiao was stunned for a moment, then laughed instead: "Supreme, isn't this Han Shige a ready-made reason?" As a history of assassination, but can not deal with the affairs of the state, like him Hu general assassin history, in the state of the corpse food abounds, as long as you send the imperial history, to various places to investigate and secretly visit, combined with the evaluation of officials over the years, issued this order to withdraw the state as a county, no one will raise objections. ”

Empress Xiao moved the embroidery pier to Yang Guang, looked directly into Yang Guang's eyes, and could feel the impulse in his heart from his rapid breathing: "The Han families are actually looking forward to taking this opportunity to change the state to the county to reshuffle the cards again, governing the country is their strength, but not Hu Jiang's strength, take this opportunity to win over the Han family, and divide more than half of the more than 100 assassin seats in the Hu Jiang family to the children of the Han family, I am not afraid that these people will not support, whether it is the five surnames and seven wangs, or the Jiangnan scholars." As long as there are more official positions. Delighted for sure. ”

Yang Guang's expression suddenly became resolute. He slapped his thigh suddenly: "Okay, that's it!" I don't believe that the generals really dared to rebel. ”

Empress Xiao stood up and gave Yang Guangying a blessing: "The concubine wishes the Supreme all the best and all the best!" ”

Yang Guang laughed, stood up and walked a few steps, suddenly felt full of spirit and a comfortable mood, grabbed the bowl of iced sour plum juice on the side and drank it all. Cool and refreshing.

According to the plan just now, at least 250 or 60 governors will be distributed to the children of the Han family, and the seats left for the Hu generals will not exceed 60, and they will all be bicycle guards without troops, so as to basically minimize the possibility of the Hu generals rebelling.

It's just that in this way, while offending the Hu generals. It will also cause the power of the Han family to swell, many years later. It will be like the wealthy families in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, forming a trend that will not fall, and will eventually empty the monarchy.

When he thought of this, Yang Guang's mood began to become depressed again, and the joy that had just been written on his face began to fade, and he let out a long sigh again.

Empress Xiao suddenly saw Yang Guang's thoughts, and asked cautiously: "The Supreme is worried that he will not be able to control the Han family?" ”

Yang Guang nodded: "It's still the queen who knows me, now I can only balance between the Jiangnan family and the northern family, since I ascended the throne, Yu Shiji, Pei Yun and others who participated in the formulation of the great government were all born in Jiangnan, and Su Wei is the representative of the northern family, I hope that above the court, they can contain each other and avoid forming a group of powerful ministers like the old thief Yang Su, so as to empty the monarchy." ”

"Originally, I had Hu generals to contain these Han people, but now the Hu generals were deprived of real power, and the local officials could only use the children of these families to make a history of assassination, which is the front door to reject the wolf, and the back door to enter the tiger, and the Han family occupies a large area, and the heritage has been hundreds of years, if the real power of the place is monopolized, the result may be even more terrible, and even form the kind of strong division in the late Eastern Han Dynasty."

The more Yang Guang spoke, the more panicked he became, and he couldn't help but tremble.

Empress Xiao knew that Yang Guang had always been fragile in his heart, and he had seen a lot of cowardice like this, suppressing the contempt for this person in his heart, his face showed concern, grabbed Yang Guang's hand, and said with a smile: "Supreme don't worry, the concubine actually has a way to solve your worries." ”

Yang Guang's eyes lit up, as if he was grasping a life-saving straw, and suddenly tightly pulled Queen Xiao's still delicate-skinned, soft and boneless hands, and said, "My queen, when are you still going around in circles with me, say it quickly." ”

Empress Xiao smiled slightly, and gently pulled her hand out of Yang Guang's already sweaty palms, with a hint of a smile on the corner of her mouth: "Do you still remember what the Supreme Concubine mentioned to you before, the method of opening a department to select officials directly from among the scholars in the world?" ”

Yang Guang's body shook suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he slapped his head: "Yes, why did I forget this!" Imperial examination, imperial examination! Hahahahaha! ”

Empress Xiao had a faint smile on her face, and watched Yang Guang dance like a child with a complicated mood, smiling happily.

The love between husband and wife for many years has already taken deep root in his heart, and for the sake of national hatred and family hatred, he had to give up his family, betray his husband, and even his own flesh and blood, in order to fulfill his responsibilities as a child of the Xiao family.

Yang Guang didn't notice the change in Empress Xiao's expression, he was still excited to himself, immersed in his own, he walked back and forth, rubbing his hands, and said with a smile: "Yes, as long as there is this imperial examination, so that the people of the poor family also have the opportunity to be officials in this way, they can disperse the power of the family, why haven't I thought of this method." ”

Empress Xiao regained her usual composure and smiled slightly: "Supreme, although this method is good, don't be too optimistic, the reason why the concubine just mentioned it last time and didn't have a follow-up is because the concubine has not thought through some things clearly, and she doesn't dare to rashly say anything to the Supreme." Today, since Mill Er has talked about changing the state and county, this imperial examination cannot but be put on the agenda. ”

When Yang Guang heard this, he calmed down from the ecstasy just now, he sat back in his chair, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, calmed himself down, looked at Empress Xiao's eyes, Yang Guang asked, "Is there anything else wrong with the imperial examination?" ”

Empress Xiao nodded and said: "There are mainly two problems, one is the common people, or small and medium-sized tyrants, the education received in these families is not comparable with the big families, a large family in the Central Plains with hundreds of hectares of fertile land, generally speaking, the collection of books will not exceed a few hundred volumes, and any family with a fine tradition, even if it is temporarily defeated, it is no problem to get a collection of thousands of volumes." ”

"Just like my good nephew Xiao Miao, on the way to escape, he was destitute, and he also relied on copying books for others, and he saved up tens of thousands of books in a few years, this is the cultural heritage of the family, not that the people and the family can really be completely equal by relying on the imperial examination."

Yang Guang shook his head and said: "The queen's words are wrong, although the quality of the children of the family is much higher than that of ordinary people, but after all, it is only a small number of people, and the Han families in the world are only a few hundred families, while the Shuliu branch sect is hundreds of thousands, these people have become tributaries early because they are not the eldest sons, and their cultural level is not as big as you imagined and the gap between them and their own families." ”

"It's like this Xiao Mill, he is the branch of your Xiao family, not the family, if there are two or three more generations and five suits, it can no longer be called Lanling Xiao Clan, but do you think the level of this Xiao Mill is poor? Even the queen personally admits that Xiao Miao's talent is second to none among the next generation of your Xiao family. ”

Empress Xiao smiled slightly and nodded: "What the Supreme said is extremely true, this point is not considered by the concubines. ”

Yang Guang sighed: "Queen, you also know that I have always liked talented people, and when I was in charge of Yangzhou, I have always been a virtuous corporal, and I have seen a lot of talents in the world. ”

"But because most people's shadows can only shade one son, and they can only shade the eldest son, so these tributary sons who have divided their families have no chance to enter the court as officials, and their circumstances are much worse than those who were born to be officials, and they can easily become assassins in their thirties, and they can become officials in their forties."

"Such a tributary concubine, if he can rise up in the first two generations and rely on his own ability to become an official, then the achievement will be above the eldest son, but on the contrary, if he can't be an official for two or three generations in a row, he will soon be no different from an ordinary Tian Sheweng. The imperial examination you mentioned last time, in fact, the ones who can really take the biggest advantage are often the tributary descendants of these big families. They don't lack talent, they just lack this opportunity. ”

Empress Xiao covered her mouth with her hand and said softly: "Supreme, then according to this, this imperial examination will only cheapen the children of the family, and will not elect new officials among the common people, in this case, is it still necessary?" ”

Yang Guang said categorically: "Engage, must do, must do." Queen, think about it, the most fierce fight for family property among ordinary people is with outsiders or with their own people? ”

Empress Xiao reacted suddenly, this time he really obeyed Yang Guang, and even took the initiative to give him a thumbs up: "The Supreme is really wise, in this way, the children of the tributaries of the family who have won the official will think of a way to overpower the children of the Yanliu, and then take back this Yanliu Changfang, so their energy will only be used for internal friction, and it is impossible to form a group to oppose the Supreme." ”

Yang Guang laughed: "Yes, why did the Han Dynasty and the Western Jin Dynasty decline?" It is because of the fratricidal flesh and blood between their clans, especially the Eight Kings Rebellion in the Western Jin Dynasty, their own princes fought fiercer than anyone else, but I will never repeat their mistakes. Now that my brothers have been cleared and no longer pose a threat to me, as long as my cousins are also eliminated, I can rest easy! (To be continued......)