In the Pingyu Hall of Weiyang Palace, Emperor Jing was wrapped in a thick mink coat, leaning on the fence of the inner circle on the third floor, looking down at the huge sand table in the courtyard, coughing violently from time to time. Yuan An, who was standing behind him, was silent, only occasionally secretly looked at the emperor's slightly pale face, and his heart was uneasy.

"Am I too anxious?" Emperor Jing said lightly, his voice was a little low, as if he was muttering to himself, and as if he was asking Yuan Ang a question.

Yuan An's face darkened, but he did not say anything to respond. A few years ago, His Majesty's stubborn illness had been alleviated a lot after the medical officer's conditioning, and there were few recurrences. However, in the two great wars of Han and Hungarian and Han and Qiang that lasted for several months last year, His Majesty devoted all his energy and effort, which can be described as exhaustive. This year, it is even more bloodless to solve the four major princes and kings, suppress the princes of the Central Plains, and remove the hidden danger of civil strife in the Han Dynasty, which really makes His Majesty think hard. After the winter, His Majesty, who had relieved himself of the burden in his heart, seemed to be suddenly drained of his energy, not only did the old disease recur, but there were also signs of becoming more and more serious.

"The sin deserves death! If it weren't for the minister's efforts to prevent the prince from supervising the country on behalf of His Majesty, His Majesty would have been able to concentrate on military affairs, and there would be no need to worry about government affairs for the time being, and he would not be sick today! After a long silence, Yuan Ang fell to his knees suddenly, pleading guiltily, and his face was full of remorse.

"What is the crime of being loyal to the country? The Qing family is old, and in the future, don't bow down at every turn. ”

Emperor Jing couldn't cry or laugh, he hurriedly leaned over slightly, stretched out his hand to help, and said again: "If you didn't oppose the crown prince and the country, wouldn't it show that I had seen the wrong person?" ”

Yuan Ang would not wait for the emperor to help him seriously, so he hurriedly got up and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" ”

Emperor Jing waved his hand disapprovingly, turned his head to look at the corner of the sand table in the patio, and sighed: "I thought that this Northwest Avenue could be completed in spring and summer, but it took more than half a year." ”

Yuan Ang hesitated for a moment before he spoke: "If it is based on the original plan. Only laying the asphalt avenue from Chang'an to Tianshui to Longxi can be completed ahead of schedule. It's just that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince added the avenue of Chang'an to the Northwest Great Wall at the beginning of the year, and it was delayed until this time. ”

Construction of the Northwest Avenue began last summer, employing nearly a million foreign slaves and private slaves of major wealthy families. It's been a year and a half before it will be completed, which is a lot slower than expected. It's not that the wealthy families who have contracted each section of the road are passive and slacking off. It's just that in the case of the sudden doubling of the total project quantity, the overall layout has changed greatly, and there have been many troubles in the deployment of manpower and material resources.

Emperor Jing smiled noncommittally, and then changed his words and said: "The prince has been in the Central Government Administration for more than a year, what is the current situation?" ”

"His Royal Highness has a lot of insight into government affairs, and he has become more and more skillful and steady. It's not as eager as before, and the means are much softer, not too rigid. ”

Yuan Ang did not hide his admiration for the crown prince Liu Che in the slightest. He was upright and selfless by nature, and did not fear that the emperor would be suspicious of him.

Emperor Jing bowed slightly, tightened the mink coat on his body with both hands, looked at Yuan An's gray hair, and asked interestingly: "Yuan Qing is a veteran of the Three Dynasties, I have been on the throne for more than ten years, and the Qing family has always been dedicated to assisting without the slightest slackness. What do you think is the Qing family, how do I compare to the first emperor? ”

Yuan Ang was a little dazed. The emperor's heart is as deep as the sea, and the merits of the Son of Heaven can be judged by courtiers. He was uneasy. Even in this cold and empty temple, there were many beads of sweat on the forehead.

Emperor Jing didn't really want to embarrass him, so he continued to ask: "When the prince first proposed to add an asphalt road from Chang'an to Anding, the Qing family and several old and important ministers were strongly opposed, but I insisted on allowing the construction, can the Qing family have resentment in their hearts?" ”

Yuan Ang hurriedly bowed down and said, "The minister will never dare!" Your Majesty has an eye on the world and the well-being of the people, and the more the better, such as building roads for the convenience of the people. The ministers objected to this at first. Just because I feel that the construction of the road is quite expensive, there is a main road in the northwestern counties. The laying of two avenues at the same time is a bit of a waste of people's strength, and it will never slander His Majesty's holy judgment. ”

"The Qing family doesn't need to cover up for me. I was really selfish at the beginning. With the defeat of the Xiongnu and the recovery of Heshuo, I was indeed anxious, thinking day and night that I could wipe out the Qiang people in my lifetime, and even more wanted to sit in the Western Regions. The prince was filial piety, and when he saw my intentions, he also knew that I had become incurable, so he was willing to risk the notoriety of great joy and admonished him. ”

Emperor Jing raised his hand to stop Yuan Ang from speaking of comfort, turned around slowly, stared at the sand table with shining eyes, and looked at the two black lines representing the Northwest Avenue in the northwest corner of the sand table to the Hexi grassland outside the gate. Now the Qiang people are in decline, and the right part of the Xiongnu has also been hit hard. It is only necessary to build a large city hundreds of miles away from the Guan, with the Qilian branch of Yanzhi Mountain in the south and the Tengger Desert in the north for hundreds of miles, to cut off the exchanges between the Xiongnu and the Qiang people, and to hold the narrow corridor leading from Hexi to the Western Regions.

After a long time, he sighed and said, "That's it, since the time is not me, I should not force it!" Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, in order to live with the people, several generations of emperors have endured humiliation and burdens under the coercion of the Xiongnu for decades, so that they can be prosperous and strong today. It is a great fortune that I have now recovered Heshuo, and I will leave it to future generations to do the uncompetitive. Otherwise, I am afraid that I will be like Emperor Qin in his later years, so happy and happy, and I will be in trouble. ”

"Your Majesty......"

Yuan Ang didn't know how to persuade him, his cloudy old eyes were a little red, and he could see that His Majesty the Emperor was no longer as high-spirited as he had been a few days ago. A generation of virtuous monarchs who have just entered the age of not being confused have been tortured by stubborn diseases day by day recently, and they have been angry in the twilight.

Emperor Jing suddenly turned around, stared at Yuan Ang directly, and said in a deep voice: "I have already explained to the prince, from tomorrow, I will concentrate on recuperation in the harem, and the prince will be in charge of the country again. If there is any change in the clown jumping beam in the court, the secretary and the others don't need to care, just let them make trouble. ”

"I have made up my mind, and the Qing family doesn't need to say much!"

Yuan Ang was shocked when he heard this, and was about to be dissuaded, but was interrupted by Emperor Jing waving his hand.

"Recently, I was seriously ill, but I woke up in time. Now the prince is still young, but I am already in a state of illness. At this time, the most important thing is not to expand the territory, but to leave a stable court for the crown prince. ”

Yuan Ang felt the cold murderous intent from Emperor Jing's flat tone, hesitated for a moment, and finally gave up his plan to continue persuasion. He has assisted Emperor Jing for more than ten years, and knows that Emperor Jing is friendly and gentle on the surface, but his heart is extremely gloomy and self-serving.

Later, Prime Minister Yuan Ang personally visited several royalist veterans and important ministers, although they were not as powerful as Yuan An, but they were all from the family of the successive ministers, and it was not Yuan An's fold. There was no secret thing in Chang'an City, and the rumor soon spread all over Beique Jiadi, which attracted the attention and speculation of many well-intentioned people, and even sent people to inquire about the news in a vague way. It's just that although Yuan Ang did not hide his whereabouts, he negotiated with the old ministers behind closed doors. The old ministers also tacitly remained silent, without leaking the slightest useful information.

The next morning, the crown prince Liu Che sat on top of the chairman, looking at the Manchu Dynasty civil and military with great interest, and carefully pondering the hidden calculations under these different faces.

Several veteran ministers who got the news in advance were already old gods, sitting precariously, looking at the Chao Wat in their hands in a daze. And Lao Zongzheng Liu Tong is squinting, breathing evenly, looking like he has not fully woken up and is making up for sleep. The old mouth, which was missing a few teeth, opened slightly, not spewing out whirring breath, making the beard on his lips tremble.

Contrary to Liu Che's expectations, the civil and military officials were not too shocked and flustered, but after a short silence, they began to start some government affairs that needed to be adjudicated step by step. Last year, the crown prince Liu Che also briefly supervised the country, when many old ministers led by Yuan Ang risked their lives to ask for a meeting on the grounds of exhorting the emperor to abandon government affairs, but it turned out that the emperor was really dealing with urgent military affairs, and then he planned thousands of miles, defeated the Xiongnu, and recovered Heshuo. Today, the crown prince is in charge of the country again, and seeing that all the old and important ministers are not shocked, the officials can only suppress their doubts, so as not to make trouble again. After all, their status is not comparable to Yuan Ang and others, and the emperor did not condemn him last time, but if he changes someone else this time, it may not be.

Liu Che has been in the Central Government Office for more than a year, and most of the government affairs to be discussed today are also very familiar, almost all of them have been reviewed by him in the official office, and many of the pieces have his additional notes and admonitions. Soon he finished the recital of the ministers of the Prime Minister's Office, and the ministers did not have the slightest objection. Prime Minister Yuan Ang has gone through three dynasties, and the government affairs he handles are all handled properly, if it is not a very tricky matter, the performance of the Prime Minister's Mansion on weekdays is basically a process.

"What do you ministers have to do?"

Liu Che saw that the hall was much more deserted than before, and there was no storm at all as he expected, and many of the methods originally prepared were useless, so he only felt that he had smashed his fist on the cotton, and suddenly felt lonely in the world, and immediately looked around and said: "If there is really nothing to do, then the lonely king will retreat from the dynasty?!" ”

"Your Highness!"

Daxing ordered Dou Jun to quickly get up and leave the table, came to the center of the main hall, bowed down and said: "The minister is bold, dare to ask when Your Majesty can come to the court again?" ”

"Bold!" Sun Quan, the palm print eunuch who had been standing silently on the side of Liu Che's jade steps, frowned, and scolded.

Liu Che raised his hand to stop Sun Quan, who was still about to reprimand, looked at Dou Jun in the hall with an expressionless face, and said with displeasure: "Could it be that the order of the right talent has not heard the holy decree clearly?" My father is now sick and needs to recuperate for some time. When the father and emperor dragon are in good health, they will come to the court again. ”

Dou Jun was obviously not satisfied with Liu Che's reply, and as soon as he shook his head, he asked, "If you dare to ask Your Majesty, when will the dragon body be healed?" ”

Liu Che raised his eyebrows, the emperor's father came to the winter and the old disease recurred, not only did it not show signs of improvement for many days, but it became more and more serious, Dou Jun, as the younger brother of the Empress Dowager Dou, has a lot of eyes and ears in the palace, and can receive some rumors. I think it is because I suspect that the emperor is already sick and can not be in the court.

"What crime should a person who is a minister and talk vainly about the Son of Heaven?!"

Liu Che hadn't spoken yet, but he heard a loud shout in the hall, and Xi Liehuo, who was behind Liu She, the imperial historian, stood up and scolded Dou Jun loudly. (To be continued)

ps: These two chapters are a bit boring, the main purpose is to reasonably let Liu Che's generation of Han elites begin to stand in the court, the story of Emperor Jing is too long, and it is time to write about the Huanghuang Han under the rule of Emperor Wu in the future.