At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Du Xian left the greenhouse hall, and Xue Chongxun continued to review the recitals. He has been living in Daming Palace for several months, except for a trip to Wugong County, he has hardly been out of the palace, and now he finally understands why some emperors in the previous dynasty called themselves "home", it turned out that he was indeed an otaku.

Xue Chongxun is not very interested in entertainment activities such as singing and dancing banquets, and he does not have much enthusiasm for juju chess skills, and the only fun in addition to office work every day is almost to play with women. Fortunately, there are tens of thousands of beauties in Daming Palace, but he is more satisfied. After staying in the greenhouse hall for a while, he remembered something, so he asked someone to send the eunuch Yang Siqiao to speak. The person who went to report the news was about to go out, but he changed his mind and said, "Let Yang Siqiao go to the south bank of Taiye Pond to find me." "A few steps north from the greenhouse hall is the Taiye Pool, there are mountains and rivers over there, isn't it possible to walk around? It's good to go out for a walk.

Seeing that Xue Chongxun was leaving, Bai Qimei hurriedly asked, "There are still so many pieces piled up, don't you need to approve Xue Lang today?" ”

Probably because Xue Chongxun has never asked about the etiquette rules, except for those ministers of the foreign courts, all of them are called indiscriminately, some are called Majesty, some are called emperor, and there are Bai Qimei and others "Xue Lang" and "Lang Jun" and other random calls, Xue Chongxun doesn't care, let alone turn his face because of the subtleties, but he thinks it's better to be casual, otherwise he will really become a loner.

"You stay and help me take a look, except for the urgent report of the military situation at the border gates, the appointment and dismissal of officials, and the taxation and finance, you can do the rest." Xue Chongxun said.

Bai Qimei grinned and said, "This is a concerto, so can't I be the emperor too?" ”

The eunuch palace maid on duty in the greenhouse hall was stunned and her face changed slightly, but Xue Chongxun didn't care about this kind of joke, and didn't even reprimand him, and said with a smile: "Cheng, you can be the emperor here." ”

Of course he won't worry about Bai Qimei, a girl like her doesn't even know who her parents are, she has no foundation, not to mention that she is joking, even if she is really a careerist, there is no possibility of having power.

But Bai Qimei dared to mess around, but the others still respectfully did not dare to make a mistake, in the eyes of everyone, Xue Chongxun should still be a moody and unpredictable person, just like the last time there was a royal history, but he was a little excited between the words and offended him, so he asked someone to drag him out and beat him half to death for the crime of disrespect, and now it is estimated that they are all raised at home.

Xue Chongxun didn't take the car, but only walked with a few people to the shore of the Taiye Pool. This should be regarded as the best place in the Daming Palace, the fairy island tower is faintly in sight in the mist of the misty lake, and the water pavilion along the coast is very beautiful. Xue Chongxun waited for Yang Siqiao to come to see him while taking a walk, Yang Sixuan not only had an errand in the palace as an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also was awarded the position of general because of his military merits, and recently he was also in charge of the errand of making gunpowder and cannons in the Mingguang Army, so he didn't go to the palace much on weekdays, and Xue Chongxun could only find someone to call him temporarily.

Taiye Pond is divided into two pools, east and west, and the west pond where Xue Chongxun is wandering covers an area of more than 200 acres, plus the courtyard of the government office along the coast, and the woods and stone paths, it looks like a city in general, and it is not exactly like a city, it is simply a paradise. Because the composition of the members who come and go here is simple, like a monotonous society, and there are most young women who do not have a market. The wealth of hundreds of states in the world supports this place, such as greenhouses cultivated by wind and rain...... Although it is also full of open and secret fighting, on the surface it is like a big family. No matter how you fight below, at least Xue Chongxun, as a person in power, is in the palace in his daily life. It is no wonder that the emperors are prone to lose their enterprising spirit when the world is peaceful, because if you want to mess around, the emperor is indeed like a flower in a greenhouse, and there is neither competition for women nor material worries: it is obvious that most of the pressure on the world is due to economic and material things, and this unsolvable problem is really rare.

Xue Chongxun looked at the scenery silently for a while, and Yang Siqiao came, he came at a trot, and when he ran closer, he didn't care about the dust on the stone path, and directly fell down on the road to say goodbye. Now in Xue Chongxun's eyes, this Yang Siqiao is one of the most loyal eunuchs, and Yu Liben is also one, but the relationship between Yu Liben and Princess Taiping is too close. Although Princess Taiping and Xue Chongxun are a mother-son relationship, due to a certain conflict in power, a two-sided pleasing person is naturally not as strong as a eunuch like Yang Sixuan who only takes refuge in him in the eyes of Xue Chongxun.

Xue Chongxun asked Yang Siqiao to calm down, and asked directly: "How is the progress of the cannon building in Wugong County?" ”

"Returning to His Majesty, four unexploded cannon bottles have been made, and they are still experimenting with medicine and the distance of shells." Yang Siqiao had long been accustomed to Xue Chongxun's straightforward way of speaking, and he seemed to be prepared, guessing that Xue Chongxun might ask about this, so he immediately took out a document, "There are accounts for all the materials consumed in the trial of medicine and artillery in the past few months, and the rewards for officials, soldiers, and craftsmen to achieve their respective goals, the Mingguang Army Staff Office has also kept its promises, and the amount of money and food paid is recorded in the book, please take a look." ”

Xue Chongxun took it and looked at it casually, this thing is a bit like the cost of the project, the name of the account and the like, most of them are counts, and they use Chinese characters and numbers, which doesn't look very clear. Although Xue Chongxun did not have the psychology of admiring foreign flattery in his previous life, he had to think that in terms of counting jù, it was really Arabic numerals and alphabet formulas that looked concise. Perhaps his thinking is not purely Han-based, but just pragmatism without much faith.

He didn't plan to check the accounts in detail, he glanced up at Yang Siqiao, and saw that Yang Siqiao's expression was as usual, and he already believed that the moisture in it would not be too large.

Yang Siqiao is dark and thin, and he is not tall, in terms of image, he is really much worse than the eunuch palace maid who is beside Xue Chongxun, and the palace people who follow him are all white and tender people raised in the greenhouse. However, Yang Simiao's status in the palace is obviously much higher than theirs, and people can't look like this.

Xue Chongxun opened his mouth and said: "The rewards promised to the soldiers and craftsmen must be fulfilled according to the rules, if the work is better than expected, you must add profits, this money cannot be saved, especially the craftsmen sent by the Ordnance Department, don't treat it badly." ”

"Yes." Yang Siqiao hurriedly responded.

Xue Chongxun pondered for a moment and then said, "I ordered the first part of the Mingguang Army to escort the four cannons to the east of the river." ”

Yang Siqiao was slightly surprised when he heard this, he had just made it and sent it so far before estimating the actual combat value, what was it doing to send it to Hedong? He easily thought of Youzhou, where there was a suspicion of rebellion, Hedong was not far from Youzhou, and he had already guessed that the emperor might use force against Youzhou, and of course he could also test the use of artillery on the battlefield. Among the generals who have experience in using firearms, he is counted as one, and Du Xian is ...... In just a moment, Yang Siqiao had already guessed many things in his stomach. But he didn't say much, he just bowed and said: "The slave maid immediately sent someone to the Mingguang military camp in Wugong County to pass the decree." ”

Seeing Yang Siqiao's thoughtful appearance, Xue Chongxun asked, "Is there any difficulty, is the cannon too heavy, and is the road too far?" ”

Yang Siqiao hurriedly said: "No, there is a flat post road from Guanzhong to Hedong, and there is always a way to carry it over." ”

Xue Chongxun said with a smile: "It's normal to complain to the above, don't say to the people below that the central decision-making is not appropriate." ”

Yang Siqiao immediately bent down and arched his hand: "The slave and maid will never dare to talk about the holy will. ”

At this moment, I saw that the eunuch Yu Liben also came to him, and when he got closer, he bent down and saluted Xue Chongxun. Yu Liben didn't kneel on the road, his approach is the most ordinary, since the Tang Dynasty, people in the government and the opposition have not knelt at every turn like later, and there is no need to kneel to the emperor in this kind of daily meeting; Yang Siqiao is obviously a little too respectful, it may be that he has always been a eunuch, Xue Chongxun had worked beside Li Longji and his son before he came to power, and he was somewhat cautious in front of the new master at this time. In fact, Li Longji is dead, Xue Chongxun doesn't mind these eunuchs and palace maids, and the eunuchs don't have a huge network of relatives behind them like the courtiers and doctors, their backgrounds are relatively simple, and most of them are from poor families and their families don't recognize them after becoming eunuchs, and they think they are insulting to the family.

Xue Chongxun asked, "What's the matter with you?" ”

Yu Liben bowed down and said: "The slave maid was sent by Her Royal Highness Princess Taiping to see the emperor, and I heard that you were here in the Taiye Pool, so I hurried over. Princess in the River...... used to be the county lord of Wanquan (Xue Shao's second daughter), because she was the emperor's sister, His Royal Highness thought that the princess should be the etiquette system, so he changed the title of Wanquan county lord to the princess of the river. The princess thanked the emperor and His Royal Highness for her kindness, and went to Beijing to thank her, and Her Royal Highness sent a slave maid to tell you that she would go to the Chengxiang Palace for a banquet in the evening and meet the princess in the river. ”

Xue Chongxun wondered: "Why don't I know about my sister Princess Feng?" ”

Yu Liben hurriedly said: "It was sealed by His Royal Highness, and I wanted to tell you in person, but the emperor hasn't been to Chengxiang Hall for some days." There is also the Yonghe county lord of the samurai family who also lives in Hezhong Mansion, and when he heard that the princess went to Beijing, he also went to Beijing to visit His Royal Highness. The second prince of the martial arts family in Beijing will also enter the palace for a banquet tonight, but the king of Lijie County (Xue Chongjian) can't come to the reunion in Hedong. ”

Obviously, Xue Chongxun saw from this incident that Princess Taiping had more power than the ordinary so-called Queen Mother, and the princess was also a matter of one sentence, and even Xue Chongxun didn't know about it beforehand, and he didn't hear about it until the princess entered Beijing. Princess Taiping usually confers official titles on heralds, as long as she is not a military and political key to the yamen, Xue Chongxun generally doesn't ask, and she doesn't bother to say.

Personnel power is all two people talking and counting, which is indeed a binary pattern but maintains a certain integration. Princess Taiping did not regard the emperor as an opponent, otherwise she would not have recognized Xue Chongxun's accession to the throne lightly, and even earlier would not have given him military power; Xue Chongxun could only acquiesce to such a form, and a need and status quo in his heart made it impossible for him to seize the power of Princess Taiping. Of course, Princess Taiping's employment is often not very agreeable to him, and even the employment will affect some political and strategic layouts, but as long as it is not too important, he can only compromise.

The entire government system is a top-down monarchy, but it is not one person who actually operates the monarchy, but the situation of two suns in the sky. However, Princess Taiping and Xue Chongxun actually stabilized the status quo without irreconcilable contradictions, which is obviously a kind of artistic work that is more literary and artistic than technology. G