——On March 21 of the first year of Jingzhi of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the director of the palace prime minister went to the study——

"These few twists and turns need to be mentioned in the morning tomorrow, and they will be sent to the imperial study for His Majesty to see......"

"Yes, Prime Minister! -- The county decree of Lishui County, Yangzhou, said that Lishui County and several neighboring counties were hit by spring floods, and a large area of fertile land was flooded, so that the spring ploughing was mistaken, and begged the imperial court to suspend this year's tax ......"

"Well, draft a letter to exempt several counties from taxes for one year, so that the local county orders to open warehouses and release grain to help the suffering people; Asked the household department to pay two million taels of silver, and delegated it to Yangzhou County, and asked the county to guard the collection of people and rectify the embankments in Lishui County...... Well, copy a recital sheet and submit it to the imperial study! ”

"Yes!"

Around two o'clock in the hour, calculating the hour, Xie An, who usually was almost standing by the window of the study room of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, while admiring the branches outside the window that had gradually pulled out the buds, while drinking the first morning tea of the day, he had not officially started the day's work, but the upper study where Prime Minister Li Xian was had already begun to operate as the highest administrative body of the Great Zhou Dynasty, reading the chapters one by one, and issuing orders and sending them to various places.

I have to say that although Li Xian has some authoritarian power, he is extremely conscientious and responsible in his work, and he is worthy of being a child of the royal family who is worried about the country's social welfare.

I don't know how long it took, an official hurriedly walked in, arched his hand and said to Li Xian, "Prime Minister, Lord Ji Hongji, the secretary of the ministry, asks to see you!" ”

"Well, tell him to come in!" With a casual wave of his hand, Li Xian didn't even look up, and continued to be busy with several adjutants beside him.

Not long after, Ji Hong, the official Shangshu who was wearing a first-class supplemental uniform, stepped over the threshold and walked into the house, and saw that his lord Li Xianzheng was very open, but he did not disturb him.

And Li Xian also seemed to notice Ji Hong's arrival, glanced up, and saw that there was no rush on his face. He casually pointed to a chair in the hall and said, "Ji Hong, you sit down first, and wait for the king to deal with these things!" ”

"Yes!" Ji Hong arched his hand, found a chair under the hall and sat down, and when the officials in the house saw it, they hurriedly poured a cup of tea and handed it to Ji Hong.

It was so busy for half an hour. Only then did Li Xian finish dealing with the urgent matters of the day, such as the distribution of relief money and food, which could not be delayed for a moment, perhaps hundreds of people were suffering from disasters and were counting on the imperial court to send assistance.

And the rest. That is some things that need to be considered in the long run, such as digging canals, mining ores, or sending troops to suppress thieves or something, this kind of thing, it needs to be mentioned in the early dynasty, and discussed with the Son of Heaven Li Shou and all the hundred officials, Li Xian does not want to be considered by the world as controlling the government, although he is indeed quite authoritarian.

Take a break from your busy schedule to bring someone a new cup of tea. Li Xian took a sip of the teacup, and said with a smile to Ji Hong, who had been waiting for a long time, "Ji Hong, you come today." Could it be that you already have a clue about what I told you a few days ago? ”

During this period, the officials who assisted Li Xian in the house had already retired one by one, and when they thought about it, they also knew that Ji Hong, the secretary of the ministry, came in person. Presumably, it was important to consult with their prime minister.

"Yes, Your Highness." Putting down the teacup, Ji Hong stood up and arched his hand, then walked to Li Xian's side, took out a list from his cuff and handed it to Li Xian, and said in a low voice, "Xiangyang, Jiangling and other cities, from the seventh rank to the third grade officials, have been listed below......

Li Xian raised his hand to take the list and glanced at it a few times, frowned and said, "So many [unverified]? ”

"Yes, because His Highness said before that it is better to misestimate than to let go!"

"Hmm......" Li Xian nodded when he heard this, flipped through the list in his hand, and said in a deep voice, "Ask Guan Zhong to send the brothers of the Weidi Jingxia Pavilion to verify...... Yes, notify Dr. Meng Rang of the Yushitai and ask him to prepare some waist cards, and ask Guan Zhong to bring those brothers, from now on, they are the secret agents of the Yushitai, but try not to reveal their identities, so as not to startle the snake and let the Taiping Army know! Since he and Ji Hong were the only two in the room at the moment, Li Xian no longer hid his words.

"Your Highness Mingjian! - It's just ......"

"Just what?"

Licking his lips, Ji Hong said with some embarrassment, "There are a lot of officials listed on this list, just Guan Zhong's Weidi Jingxia Mansion, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find out the origin of so many officials at the same time, and I still feel that I need to borrow someone from those two yamen......

"Those two yamen?" Li Xian looked up and said in surprise, but judging by his thoughtful expression, he had obviously guessed a little.

"Exactly!" Ji Hong nodded, lowered his voice and said, "The Six Doors of the Fusi in Nanzhen and the Jinyi Guard in Fusi in Beizhen, their predecessors [Dongling Zhong] and [Jinling Zhong] are all assassin pavilions that are not inferior to the Jingxia Pavilion of Weidi, and they are good at hiding and tracking, and there are many good players among them, if they can get the help of these two branches, they must be able to shorten a lot of dates in verifying whether the officials in the Jing and Yang areas are green and white...... How is Your Highness following? ”

"Hmm......" Li Xian pondered for a moment when he heard this, and then said with a wry smile, "But in the past two days, that Lord Xie seems to have a lot of opinions about the prime minister, and he has ignored the prime minister at the court meeting for several days...... If we can't get their approval, we can command the Dongling people and the Jinling people! ”

Hearing this, Ji Hong was stunned, and said in surprise, "That Xie An's temper is somewhat understood now, and it stands to reason that this person will definitely not embarrass His Highness for no reason...... Speaking of this, he seemed to think of it, and said strangely, "It won't be His Highness who provoked him, right?" ”

"This ......," Li Xian smiled awkwardly.

At this moment, an official hurriedly walked in outside the house, and said to Li Xian, "Lord Qiqi, there is news from the criminal deployment, those wanted lists have been suppressed by Lord Xie Anxie, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and he said, ......"

"What else?" Li Xian's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he asked with a chuckle.

I saw that the official looked at Li Xian hesitantly, lowered his head and said with difficulty, "Xie Shangshu asked someone to pass the word, saying that he was calling the prime minister...... Don't do those little tricks behind your back, and talk to him in person about something......"

Li Xian was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then touched his nose a little embarrassed, and said with a wry smile, "Oh, I was seen through......" As he spoke, he waved his hand and said with a chuckle, "Okay, I know." Stand down! ”

"Yes!" The officer arched his hand and bowed to leave.

Seeing the official walking away, Ji Hong shook his head helplessly, and said with a wry smile, "I know!" - I really have some doubts in my majesty, did Your Highness really let go of that matter? That woman is already the daughter-in-law of the Xie family......"

With Li Xian's intelligence, how could he not hear the deep meaning of Ji Hong's words, his face turned slightly red when he heard this, and he reprimanded softly. "Nonsense! - Xiao Wang is on the matter! ”

"Really?" Ji Hong looked at his lord suspiciously.

Glancing at Ji Hong angrily, Li Xian exhaled slightly, and said, "Right now, I'm in Da Zhou, no matter who secretly supports the Taiping Army. I don't care about it, but this Xie An...... If he intends to help the Taiping Army in his heart, it will be called a monstrous disaster! - You also know that this person is now growing in his wings, and the soldiers, punishments, and rituals of the six departments of the imperial court are all from his side, and they are in the military. There is also the support of the Eastern Army of the Liangqiu family and the Southern Army of the Lu family, and a few days ago, with the secret support of Li Shou, he took over the Jizhou Army. ”

"Your Highness is still suspicious of that Xie An?" Ji Hong asked suspiciously.

"It's not enough to be suspicious," Li Xian shook his head. said sincerely, "That night, even Xiang and Xiangyu...... cough, and Xie Changsun's family was negligent. If it weren't for him, Xie An saw the flaw and identified that Wu Heng. I'm afraid we still don't know that the six gods of the Taiping Army who are mixed in the northern Xinjiang are actually such a big man in the Taiping Army...... If Xie An is a member of the Taiping Army, how can he debunk his own people? - Even if it's a bitter meat trick, the price is too great! ”

The more Ji Hong listened, the more confused he became, and he asked puzzledly, "In that case, why does His Highness still doubt him?" - Isn't this alone enough to clear his name? ”

"It's not a suspicion, it's just a ......" Li Xian frowned when he heard this, and said with a straight face, "Based on the events of that night, I think it can be concluded that he is not from the Taiping Army, but he has a good friendship with Chen Bei, the third generation commander of the Taiping Army, which is also an indisputable fact...... If he was still just a Shaoqing of the Great Prison Temple, it would be enough to turn a blind eye to each other, but now he is the secretary of the Criminal Department, and the forces behind him are monstrous, and his words and deeds are enough to change many things...... Therefore, Xiang deliberately issued a huge reward to the world in the name of criminal deployment for the wanted Chen Bei, Wu Heng and others, the purpose of which was to make him completely clear from Chen Bei! ”

Hearing this, Ji Hong frowned slightly, and said in embarrassment, "Your Highness's move is really a bit immoral......

Li Xian smiled bitterly when he heard this, nodded, shook his head again, and sighed lightly, "This matter is also reasonable, after thinking about it, I thought that I still had to do this, he is now the secretary of the first-class criminal department of the DPRK and China, how can he be with the leader of the rebel army?" Not even if it's a personal relationship! - One day, my Great Zhou is bound to have a vicious fight with the Taiping Army, rather than being in a dilemma at that time, it is better to cut off the relationship now! - For his good! ”

Ji Hong was silent when he heard this, after all, what Li Xian said was very reasonable, of course, he didn't think that Li Xian didn't have the slightest selfishness in doing this......

After all, it's because of the woman of the eldest grandson Xiangyu, if Xie An is convicted in the future because of his close relationship with the Taiping Army, as Xie An's wife, that woman's situation is also bad......

I'm afraid that His Royal Highness just doesn't want to see this, so he pays special attention to the relationship between Xie An and the Taiping Army, lest he go astray, not only himself, but also the strange woman who is so talented that His Royal Highness still remembers......

Thinking of this, Ji Hong was also relieved, with a somewhat teasing smile on his face, and said with a smile, "But right now, His Highness's calculations seem to have been seen through by Xie An?" - Tsk, no! ”

"Hehehe," Li Xian chuckled lightly and said indifferently, "He can see it, this is not surprising, because he is also a smart person, the question is how this smart man will deal with the matter with that Chen Bei, this is what he remembers!" - Even if he is jealous, he must tell him to completely draw a line with the Taiping Army, and wholeheartedly consider my Great Zhou Sheji! - That's it, let's go on a trip to the punishment deployment, the right is to scatter your heart! ”

Ji Hong couldn't cry or laugh when he heard this, stood up, and arched his hand and said, "In that case, let's go with His Highness below!" ”

"How?" Li Xian turned his head and said jokingly, "Are you still afraid that he will be unfavorable?" ”

"Dispute to the point of annoyance, not necessarily not!" Ji Hong smiled slightly, saw Li Xian's face with a look of surprise, and said mysteriously, "When I chatted with the squire Wang Dan Wang two days ago, I learned that Xie An had beaten His Majesty today, let alone His Royal Highness!" ”

"Li Shou? Interesting," Li Xian was stunned, and then said with an inexplicable smile on his face. "Let's go, talk to each other on the road......"

"Yes!"

The two of them left the palace and took a carriage to the criminal deployment, but when they arrived at the criminal deployment, they found that it was obviously during their tenure, but Xie An, who was the secretary of the criminal department, was not in the house, so that they asked Li Xian and the two of them to run for nothing.

"Where's your Shangshu?" Li Xian casually called an official and asked in surprise.

Seeing Prime Minister Li Xian asking, how dare that official hide the slightest. Hearing this, he said respectfully, "Lord Qiyu, my family Shangshu has gone to inspect the Eastern Army!" ”

Li Xian and Ji Hong looked at each other when they heard this, their faces were inexplicable, and they said in their hearts that you Xie An is the secretary of the Criminal Department. If it's not the book of the Ministry of War, what is the point of going to the Eastern Army to inspect it?

Don't be an excuse to be lazy, right?

Li Xian's expression was a little ugly, until he heard that Xie An was unusually today, and he had already settled the day's official business, and his face was slightly better.

"When did you go? When will you be back? ”

When the official heard this, he said, "It's really unfortunate that the Prime Minister is from a moment ago. Master Shangshu has just left, as for when he will come back...... This Shangshu didn't say. ”

"Oh, that's ......" Li Xian nodded and left the criminal deployment with Ji Hong. Standing outside the gate of the mansion, he looked surprised.

Perhaps thinking of something with His Royal Highness, Ji Hong glanced back at the door of the Criminal Department, and said in a low voice, "If you are lazy." Then Xie An will not run to the territory of the Eastern Army's own wife......"

"Hmm!" Li Xian nodded slightly, after all, he could understand the character of Liang Qiuwu, the general of the Eastern Army. Knowing that this woman is the most obedient to the rules, if her husband Xie An runs to her military camp during his tenure, it will be a persuasion, and even maybe he will ask the soldiers of the Eastern Army to send her husband back to the criminal deployment.

In that case, why did Xie An still have to hit the nail?

Looks like there's something going on here......

Thinking of this, Li Xian did not intend to pursue Xie An's dereliction of duty, after all, in his opinion, as long as Xie An and the Taiping Army drew a clear line, some other things that were not very important would be enough to turn a blind eye, not to mention that Xie An had uncharacteristically finished handling the day's official business today, among them, there must be some important things that he did not understand.

"If you know it early, let someone explore it first...... Let's go back! Sighing slightly, Li Xian beckoned Ji Hong to get into the carriage, after all, it was a trip for nothing, and he was a little depressed in his heart.

"Hmm......" Ji Hong nodded with a wry smile.

At the same time, as the criminal department official said, Xie An had already ridden to the Eastern Army camp in the northwest corner of the city.

The soldiers of the Eastern Army guarding the gate of the camp naturally recognized Xie An, the uncle of their Eastern Army, and hurriedly ran over to lead the horse for Xie An, and said respectfully, "How can my uncle have time to come to my Eastern Army camp today?" ”

"Hehehe," Xie An smiled slightly, and said openly, "That's the case, the government acted on behalf of the military department today, and came to inspect the camp of the Eastern Army to see if you were lazy, and in addition, I just want to see her...... Just report it to your general, you know? Otherwise, she wouldn't let the house in! ”

The soldier nodded as if he didn't understand, and under Xie An's urging, he ran to the camp to report to the tent, after all, this is the camp of the Eastern Army, if there is no approval from General Liang Qiuwu, even if it is his husband Xie An, even if it is today's son Li Shou, it will be difficult to set foot in the camp.

At the same time, Liang Qiuwu was discussing with the four generals of the Eastern Army in the tent about the training outline for the next quarter.

Unlike in the past, the atmosphere in the tent today is very solemn, and the reason for all this is Liang Qiuwu's calm complexion.

"The training schedule should be planned these days, shouldn't it? Why is it delayed to this day? ”

Faced with Liang Qiuwu's questioning, the four generals of the Eastern Army were silent, after all, they all knew the inside story, and they knew that their own young lady had been ...... No, after his own general lost control due to his husband Xie An, his mood fluctuated very violently, where did he dare to talk more?

[It's not good, this is not enough, I was scolded for three links, and it goes on like this......]

Xiang Qing secretly looked at Yan Kai and Chen Gang on the other side.

[What can I do?] The old man said, try to be careful, don't anger Miss...... Especially you! ]

Chen Gang squeezed his eyebrows at Xiang Qing.

[It's not good to go on like this, Brother Yan, why don't you say something?] ]

Xiang Qing looked at Yan Kai with a hopeful gaze.

[No!] - Why do you ask me to carry the black cauldron? Didn't you do this all along? ]

Yan Kai shook his head very firmly.

[Nonsense!] - It's easy to say in normal times, but now it'......]

Secretly glancing at the angry Liang Qiu Wu, Xiang Qing secretly shuddered.

And at this moment, the tent was lifted, and a soldier walked in, clasped his fists and said, "General, Lord Xie Anxie, the secretary of the Criminal Department, is asking to see you outside the barracks!" ”

The four generals of the Eastern Army were refreshed when they heard this, and secretly shouted in their hearts that the savior had arrived!

"Ann?" As the four generals of the Eastern Army guessed, Liang Qiuwu was stunned when he heard this, his face was completely angry, and he asked in astonishment, "What is he doing in my military camp at this moment?" Don't be lazy again, right? Go back and tell him to be on duty! ”

Although the voice was so polite, the four generals of the Eastern Army could hear that Liang Qiu Wu at this moment only had a few hints of complaint in his words, but there was no trace of annoyance.

"This ...... My uncle said, ah no, Lord Xie said that he came to inspect the drills of our Eastern Army this time on behalf of the military department, and ...... I just miss the general......"

"......" Liang Qiuwu's face flushed slightly when she heard this, she bit her lip and said softly, "He really said that?" - No, no, well, does he have a approval from the Ministry of War? Or is it nonsense? ”

"Yes! - Master Xie has a military approval in his hands! ”

"That'...... Then there's no way, please come over......" As she spoke, Liang Qiuwu adjusted her armor a little uncomfortably, with a nervous look.

It's really unfair......

Xiang Qing muttered to himself.

Not long after, Xie An came to the tent under the guidance of the sergeant, lifted the tent and walked in, arched his hand, and said with a smile, "General Liangqiu, the mansion took the liberty to come today, the general won't be unwelcome, right?" ”

"Why don't you stay in the Criminal Department, what are you doing in my barracks?" Liang Qiuwu said with a little complaint, she is a virtuous wife who persuades her husband, where is there still a little bit of strictness, which makes the four generals of the Eastern Army secretly muttering to themselves that God is unfair.

"That's right, for the husband...... Ah no, the government made a special trip to the military headquarters and sought an interesting thing for the Eastern Army......"

"What?" Liang Qiuwu asked suspiciously.

Looking at Liang Qiuwu's surprised expression, Xie An smiled.

"More on the next chapter!"