Someone once asked, what is history?

Some people replied that history is that Qin Shi Huang swept away the Eight Wildernesses, the Six Unified Unification, and laid the foundation of China's 2,000-year-old imperial system. Some people also say that the history is that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent his troops to the horses, Huo Qu was sick and rode to capture the Huns, and the wolf Juxu became famous for eternity. Some people even say that history is Huaiyou Buyi Zhu Yuanzhang, expelling Meng Yuan, chasing the dead and chasing the north, repeating the Han people!

And a dying old scholar muttered on his deathbed: "History is actually the truth composed of countless little people like you and me!" There are not so many earth-shattering and vigorous, and some are just firewood, rice, oil and salt, joy, anger and sorrow! From ancient times to the present, there have been billions of people in the world, and how many of them have really been passed down through the ages? Therefore, most of history is still written and completed by small people! ”

Shen Yun also forgot where he saw this passage from, but he felt that it made sense. At the very least, he now experienced the feeling of a small person pushing history forward. For example, pass the fold!

Before the Holy Ancestor, ministers usually used the mode of "chapter", "book", "admonition", "sparse" or "speech" to write to the emperor, and there was no fixed title. After the reform of the Holy Ancestor, he proposed the "Folding System" and standardized the types and writing formats of the Confessions (Note 1), and generally speaking, the ministers gave the emperor four categories: Confessions, Confessions, Thanksgiving Folds, and Congratulations Folds. It must be noted that the talents given to the emperor are called "songs", and if they are given to superiors, they are called "tables" or "discussions".

Since the cabinet is a buffer body between the emperor and the ministers, what the ministers hand to the cabinet can also be called "folds", but they cannot be called "folds". And because the Holy Ancestor once issued a contradictory will, no cabinet minister can pass the four grades, but later let the Taiwei, the prime minister and Sikong of the first rank serve as cabinet ministers. This makes the following handing over to the cabinet a kind of confusion, and after a long time of confusion, it is also called this strange situation in a more colloquial way of expressing "excerpt".

In fact. At that time, the Han officials discovered this situation, and the appointment of the minister of the first rank as the cabinet minister who could only be served by the fourth rank would lead to the appearance of the ministers, and there were also people who wrote to change this situation, but the holy ancestor refused. Therefore, the current cabinet ministers have another saying, called "four ministers", that is, four products and one product, and they receive two portions.

Of course, cabinet ministers also work two jobs. They usually have their offices in the Privy Council, the Executive Yuan and the Public Prosecutor's Office, but they stay the longest. It is still the glazed pavilion of the Wenhua Hall of the Imperial Palace, also known as the cabinet office!

On the sixth day of the fourth month, Junfu Wang Xian, as usual, came out of his home at the same time and arrived at the Executive Yuan in the imperial city in a sedan chair. After taking a walk around the meeting hall of the Executive Yuan and eating the breakfast provided by the imperial court. At the moment of the hour, go directly to the Liuli Pavilion. On the day of the review, the folds sorted by the cabinet of ministers.

In the cabinet office, in addition to the glazed pavilion, there are many cubicles, which are the offices of the cabinet scholars of the three colleges. These cabinet bachelors are generally outstanding students from all over the country who have just passed the annual examination, and the students who have been released in the cabinet office are at least six-grade officials. It is a grade higher than the students who are admitted to other yamen in the annual examination.

In general, official excerpts will be submitted to their respective yamen. Officials who have excerpts will be handed over to the Juxian Pavilion in the southwest corner of the Imperial City, where the cabinet scholars will go there to retrieve their respective excerpts when they go to the government in the morning. As for the excerpts that are directly submitted to the cabinet for deliberation, they must also be read by the cabinet members of the various ministries before they are handed over. Of course. It is not excluded that the cabinet ministers have a pain in their idleness, and they will personally go to the Juxian Pavilion to get the fold for approval. Generally speaking, the heads of the three chambers are in charge of their own territory and rarely intervene in crossing the border.

Wang Xian was drinking the best Maojian new tea, bowing his head to review the excerpts. At this time, a fold placed in the third position caught his attention, and when he opened it, he suddenly found that he seemed to have crossed the line. On the top of the fold is the three block letters of "Cherish the Talent", the font is good, but the content has nothing to do with him! It roughly says that Yan Zhun started from the age of 20 with a white body, broke a huge foundation, and now his family is about to die, it is a pity that such a business wizard!

Wang Xian looked up at the Liuli Pavilion, the first assistant Yu Wenhu had arrived, and was explaining things to the scholars in the public hall, and the new second assistant Feng Ji was too old, the emperor allowed him to arrive at the government an hour later, and now it is estimated that he is still on the way. How did this excerpt, which is obviously under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan, come to his case? Let's take a look at the payment: He Kuan, a supernumerary of the Household Department of the Executive Yuan. It's a quasi-fourth-grade petty official.,The kind that didn't straighten up.。 According to the edict of the Holy Ancestor, anyone who is in the civil official system of the empire can write and say things. Although He Kuan did not correct it, he always belonged to the people in the civil service system, and he did not exceed the rules.

Just, what's going on? Wang Xian had a question mark in his head.

It's not that he suspects that his subordinates have handed in the wrong fold, and the bachelors who can serve in the cabinet office dare not say that they are only eight buckets high, but they will not be wrong in reading and hyphenating, and it is impossible to make a mistake in such an obvious excerpt of the Executive Yuan. Since it is impossible to make a mistake, someone did it on purpose?

Wang Xian is also a veteran who has come from the wind and waves, and as soon as his mind turns, this matter has been passed countless times in his heart.

It seems that someone wants the old man to pay attention to this excerpt, but this excerpt does not say a solution, just a pity for Yan Zhun. How do I do that? Wang Xian picked up the teacup and smelled the fragrance of Maojian's new tea, but he didn't drink it, and the heat still rose.

Generally speaking, a cabinet minister's hesitant excerpt is read by the other two ministers, and if they do not agree, it is sent to the Holy Tribunal. The first is to issue a blue batch of archives, which means that they can act according to the excerpts; The second is that the blue batch is left in the middle and does not send it, which means that you do not agree and stay and continue to observe; The third is the yellow batch instant archive. Of the three types of review, the first and second are processed instantly, while the third is a bit vague.

The yellow batch can be divided into three grades, the upper file can only be read by the ministers and the emperor who approve the yellow, if it is necessary for others to read, the emperor's will is also needed to see, generally applicable to military secrets. The mid-range can be viewed by ministers of three grades or more at will. The lower level is an excerpt that can be seen by cabinet scholars. The excerpts that will be read and saved in the lower file are generally ordinary excerpts such as congratulatory folds and playan folds, but the people who put the folds are of high level, and it is not good to directly leave the blue batch in the middle and not send it, so I chose such a face-saving way that will not affect the operation of government affairs.

Wang Xian pondered for a long time. A cup of tea was almost cold, and when he saw Yuwen Hu holding a stack of folds and entering the Liuli Shu Pavilion, he picked up the yellow pen and wrote a "read", and then criticized "next" behind his back, and threw it aside, and naturally a bachelor came in and took it away after a while.

Yuwen Hu is the first assistant personally promoted by the emperor, and it stands to reason that he should be the emperor's confidant, but everyone knows that in the struggle between the two parties of the emperor and the queen, Wang Xian's attitude on the emperor's side is more obvious. And Yuwen Hu is a bit slippery, and he doesn't rely on either side, so the emperor is even more affectionate to Wang Xian in his usual words.

Yuwen Hu is a little complaining about this, but not to the emperor. but to Wang Xian's character. In Shousuke-sama's view, the way to be an official is about balance. A gentleman is self-conscious. If you are gentle, you will be expensive, and if you are expensive, you will be long. Anyway, no matter how much trouble you make, the emperor belongs to the Liu family, and you can manage government affairs as a courtier. Like Wang Xian, it is easy to be ousted from power by the powerful side, so he will go away.

Yuwen Hu sat down in his place. Seeing Wang Xian put down the yellow pen, he smiled and said: "After Wang Sikong leaves the government today, do you have any time?" ”

Wang Xian took a sip of herbal tea and said with a smile: "Hmm." The old man is fine. Could it be that Prime Minister Yuwen has made arrangements? ”

"I can't say anything about the arrangement, it's just that the old man recently got a new roll of Zhong Xuan's words, and I want to share it with my brother!" Yuwen Hu said with a smile.

Wang Xian picked up another book and said while reading, "Oh? Zhong Xuan's words? Did the prime minister buy it himself or did he ...... it? ”

Yuwen Hu coughed and said lightly: "It was my dog who inadvertently bought it in Qingzhou, so I gave it to the old man." ”

Wang Xian put down his pen and said strangely: "Oh? Is it Ling Lang Yuwen Chengdu? ”

"Exactly!" Yuwen Hu looked at Wang Xian with a smile.

Wang Xian understood, it seems that Yuwen Hu's invitation to read the words is an additive, and the one who really wants to meet him should be his son Yuwen Chengdu. As for the reason, of course it's the Yan family!

The Yan family has fallen, at least the cloth in Qingxu and Xu will be given up for the young son of the Yuwen family to eat. However, the Yuwen family's appearance is a bit ugly!

Wang Xian touched his beard, a little swaying. If you go to Yuwen's house today, the words of Zhong Xuan will definitely belong to you, but do you really want to start collecting the Yan family's property so quickly?

Wang Xian actually agreed with the fall of the Yan family, the Wang family is not comparable to those princely families, and even the Yuwen family is not comparable. However, after Wang Xian became an official, the Wang family also had relatives who started a lending business, and as soon as the Yan family fell, the Wang family's lending business would be much easier, at least there would be one less competitor in the business in his hometown...... Thinking about this, Wang Xian also said lightly: "Okay, after going down, the old man will accompany the prime minister to appreciate Zhong Xuan's words!" ”

Yuwen Wu also smiled and nodded, no longer speaking.

In this wave of Yan reversal, there are many officials like Wang Xian who have been coerced by family relatives and friends to put pressure on the Yan family. The cabinet ministers, in fact, also saw that the Yan family's business was too big in recent years, hindering many people's business routes, and when the trend rose, they just pushed the boat and gave the Yan family a ride.

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On the seventh day of the fourth month, when Wang Xian took office again, he saw an excerpt that he didn't know belonged to him: "Theory of Words and Commerce". There is no mention of the Yan family in this excerpt, but the impact on the country after the fall of the Yan family, especially on the transportation industry and the silk weaving industry, is explained one by one. At the same time, it was pointed out that once the Yan family fell, the military operation to counterinsurgency in the northwest of the empire would be delayed for at least half a year, because of the fall of the Yan family, the integration of the transportation industry by the emerging forces would take at least half a year. This is still an optimistic estimate, if there is an accident in the middle, it will be difficult to smoothly provide logistical supplies to the counterinsurgency army even in a year.

This excerpt not only talks about civil affairs but also the military, and also mentions the duties of the procuratorate, and Wang Xian can't make up his mind whether this excerpt belongs to him or not. Let's look at the payment again: Dou Xian, a supernumerary of the Senate Office of the Executive Yuan. It's a little person who doesn't go into the stream again.

Wang Xian already clearly sensed that something was wrong. A political veteran like him can trigger a lot of associations over a small matter, let alone encounter this kind of inconspicuous but very targeted excerpt twice in a row.

"Could it be that someone is ready to help the Yan family turn the situation around?" Wang Xian suddenly thought of this, but then he laughed again, who has such a great ability to save the dying Yan family? Are you thinking too much?

Wang Xian continued to read this excerpt from the yellow batch. However, the faint uneasiness in his heart still made him a little uneasy, and after he went down, he asked his subordinates to investigate what the identities of He Kuan and Dou Xian were.

April 8. Without waiting for the results of the investigation to be reported, the excerpts of He Kuan and Dou Xian were inadvertently circulated. There was a lot of discussion in the cabinet office.

For these scholars, although they also have children of large families, more of them are from civilian families, although they are not extremely poor, but they are not rich and rich. Dou Xian's "Theory of Words and Commerce" hits the nail on the head, pointing out that once the Yan family falls, prices will rise in many areas, especially the imperial capital, which relied on canal transportation. Although it will not affect the whole country like the collapse of the Imperial Bank, it is definitely a major business shock.

Wait for these scholars to hurry to send the news home. It can't be hidden. For a while, the people of these imperial capitals began to stir a little. Firewood, rice, oil and salt are the things that the people are most concerned about, and the fall of the Yan family may directly lead to the rise of prices in the imperial capital, which is not a good thing. So the people began to talk about the Yan family......

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In modern society, it is impossible for a state-sponsored super-large enterprise like the Yan family to collapse. Even if the Yan family wants to collapse, the state will never allow it. But now it's the feudal era. Official-based society. In addition, the greed for interests inside and outside the government and the opposition and the struggle and compromise within the two parties of the emperor and queen. In the end, the Yan family was sent to a dead end.

This is also the end of the Yan family that Wang Xian can clearly see. But he never thought that just two excerpts would faintly roll up a new trend. Who the hell is it?

That night, the next person sent an investigation of Dou Xian and He Kuan, Wang Xian slowly flipped through it, but found that these two people were just ordinary people. The family is also a commoner, and there is no illustrious family background. Both parents were honest subjects of the Empire. Until the last page was turned, when the two of them were enrolled in the Imperial University and were in the same dormitory as Shen Yun and Fang Cheng. Wang Xiancai suddenly reacted.

"It was the ...... of Nasapoo"

Wang Xian also knew that Shen Yun wanted to marry the daughter of the Yan family, after all, the impact of the big engagement was not small, and this was also one of the inducements for the imperial party to resolutely defeat Yan Zhun. You must know that Shen Yun is favored by the emperor, and he is the son of Shen Mu, and he is a member of the imperial party of Genhong Miaozheng.

Of course, as Wang Xian, it is difficult to understand that for the sake of a woman, Shen Yun actually wants to go against the entire government and the opposition. Understanding is understanding, but it does not prevent Wang Xian from thinking about what to do in this matter. The first thing he thought about was, what was the emperor's attitude? Secondly, is this matter Shen Yun meant by himself or is it related to Huainan Hou? Putting aside the first point, if it is just the meaning of Bohai Hou alone, it is not very difficult, and it is not very difficult to ignore his feelings directly. But the first point is crucial.

Thinking about this, when he went to the palace on the second day, Wang Xian went to ask the emperor under the pretext that he had a difficult decision, and walked into the Wuying Palace.

Regarding the news that the Yan family has fallen and prices have risen in the imperial capital, and the people are going to live a hard life in the imperial capital, the secret guard has also been notified to the emperor. Therefore, after Wang Xian arrived, the emperor immediately instructed him to immediately refute the rumors through the Di Bao and prevent the rumors from spreading. But when Wang Xian asked vaguely about the Yan family, the emperor was ambiguous, and just lightly handed him a copy of the recital.

As soon as Wang Xian looked at the cover, he knew that it was a recital directly submitted to the emperor, which was ordinary, but the payment surprised Wang Xian: Zhou Bo, the British Duke of the Han Empire, played it carefully.

"This ......," Wang Xian looked at the emperor hesitantly.

The emperor smiled slightly: "Aiqing doesn't have to worry too much, this piece of music has been archived, you can take it and take a look!" ”

The emperor's treatment of the folds is nothing more than the cabinet, the only difference is the color of the pen. Zhu Pi's archive means that the emperor can't make up his mind about this matter, so your cabinet will look at it!

Wang Xian returned to the Liuli Pavilion in a daze, but saw that Yuwen Hu was already waiting at the door of the cabinet office, and as soon as they met, he said: "Xinpu, can you be free today?" ”

As soon as Wang Xian heard it, he knew that he wanted to invite himself to his house at night to discuss the matter of the Yan family, and called him the word, this was to set it up, so after thinking about it, he arched his hand and said: "Brother Zhongchuan, forgive me, the old man has some things to deal with here in the evening, let's do it another day!" ”

Yuwen Wu didn't say anything when he heard this, just nodded. Walking into the cabinet office side by side with him, when he was about to step on the Liuli Pavilion, he suddenly whispered: "Xinpu, the old man learned that it was the Marquis of Bohai who wanted to protect the Yan family!" At this moment, you have to make up your mind! ”

After speaking, he ignored Wang Xian and walked into the Liuli Pavilion with his hands behind his back.

In the Shu Pavilion, the second assistant Feng Ji was frowning and reading the excerpts. Speaking of which, Feng Ji was originally just the secretary of the Criminal Department of the Executive Yuan, and he was a subordinate of Yuwen Hu, but Feng Ji was old at all, and he was an old man who had been an official in the court since Emperor Le, and Yuwen Hu had always respected him. Feng Ji entered the cabinet of deputy assistants, and Yuwen Hu did not have much resistance, after all, he was already sixty-five years old, and the person who would be appointed at the beginning of spring next year at the latest, it didn't matter.

Everyone was speculating about who the emperor wanted to promote to the cabinet, but they ignored this old man a little. He didn't go to the government, and no one said anything about him. However, with the rebellion in the northwest Xinzhou, the Privy Council suddenly increased its folds, and Feng Ji had to often come to Liuli Shu Pavilion to see the excerpts, although most of the matters under the Privy Council have been dealt with, but some things still need to be decided by him, the captain.

"Elder Feng, but is there something difficult to decide?" Yuwen Hu came in and saw Feng Ji frowning and clutching his chest, and asked with concern.

Feng Ji sighed, and when he saw Wang Xian also walking in, he beckoned: "The two adults are here just in time, let's help the old man take a closer look at this matter!" ”

"What's making Elder Feng so embarrassed? The staff office also doesn't know how to share worries for their superiors! Wang Xian, who was stunned just now, looked calm at the moment, and he couldn't see the impact of Fang Caiyu Wenhu's words on him at all.

Feng Ji handed a few folds in his hand to Yuwen Hu and Wang Xian, and said: "It's not the excerpt sent by the county lieutenants of Gansu and Su Prefectures, it is said that the troops in the county have been transferred to Moshan, and the soldiers are tight. The old man had already written the day before yesterday to ask Yongzhou and Liangzhou to send an army to set off. But today, I received a message from that side, saying that Ganzhou had already sent troops out of Moshan, and asked the old man to transfer troops again. Alas, the transfer of troops is money, and the household department ...... there" said, his eyes glanced at Yuwen Hu.

When Yuwen Hu heard the money, he immediately frowned, and said lightly: "Didn't Your Majesty have a decree the day before yesterday to order that the front line should not leave Moshan?" ”

Feng Ji said indifferently: "The staff has already deduced, the Yue Clan's traitors sent troops to the West Sea, and the front-line soldiers are no longer in great danger. Besides, His Majesty's edict was issued on the 4th, and the text was reported on the 6th, and the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of Suzhou and the 1st Army Corps of Ganzhou had already set off, and now the edict is estimated to be still on the way...... It's the business of this household......"

Yuwen Wu thought for a while and said, "That's it, I'll write later, and let the household department first allocate five million gold coins for the transfer of troops." For the rest, I'm trying to figure it out! ”

"Five million?" Feng Ji was a little unhappy when he heard this, "Prime Minister, five million is only enough to transfer two divisions from Liangzhou to Moshan, isn't it too little?" ”

Yuwen Hu also sighed: "Old Feng, the Yan family's money hasn't arrived yet, and I'm also worried!" ”

Feng Ji looked at Wang Xian and wanted him to say a few words.

Wang Xian couldn't hide from it, so he also sneered: "This, Old Feng, I think Moshan's strength is enough to resist the Yue Clan's rebels, this soldier, don't adjust it first." ”

Feng Ji snorted, but he was not angry with Wang Xian, this was not his responsibility, he just said: "Two adults, today's transfer of troops into Moshan is not for the present, but for the future!" If we do more now, we will be able to allocate less military spending in the future to pacify the new state. Can't the two adults count this account? ”

Yuwen Hu was also really annoyed, and said: "Old Feng, it's not that I don't want to approve, but the household department really has no money." The excerpt of the household department Shangshu Yan Xiang is here, and now the household department can run mice when it is empty, and now it is also eating food in Yin! Or, Old Feng, you give an order and ask the guards to help me go to the Yan family to ask for money? ”

"This ......" Feng Ji was blocked by Yuwen Hu, and he was speechless for a while.

Wang Xian also sighed, returned to his place and sat without saying a word.

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Note 1: The folding system was actually implemented during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty. As the most centralized and perfect dynasty in China's feudal system, some of the Qing Empire's statecraft were used in the Han Empire at this time, which was also one of the good ways to strengthen the centralization of the feudal imperial system. Of course, these are all done by Han Shengzu, a predecessor who has traveled through the past, and it has nothing to do with the protagonist. (To be continued.) )