Today's discussion is on the matter of reducing the forbidden army.

Although this Shoufu has not been in office for a long time, he also found something wrong when he looked through the roster of the Jinguo Forbidden Army.

First of all, the names of this forbidden army are varied, such as loyalty, martial arts, dragons, tigers, saints, safety, rejuvenation, and Fengdu, looking at all kinds of strange things; Moreover, the number of this forbidden army is staggering, with nearly 100,000 men in the booklet; Finally, the quality of the forbidden army is worrying, judging from the age distribution, the old man over 60 and the children under 12 account for about half of the number.

From this old man and children, I actually found some familiar people, such as Xie Zhenfang, the father of Xie Yuanming, the waiter of the military department, who is over the age of old, and Zheng Chunhe, the youngest son of Zheng Yicha, who is less than ten years old.

I naturally know that Cheng Yu's throne is not stable, and it is understandable that she wants to expand the forbidden army to protect herself, although there are some well-trained people in this forbidden army, such as those who went to Nanguo Mansion to arrest me, but on the whole, she has raised more than half of the moths that cannot fight - but these moths are placed in the ranks of the forbidden army, and they are treated with the same preferential treatment as other elites, receive the same money, and spend the same military expenses, and the military expenditure of this forbidden army raised by His Majesty the Emperor is three times that of the regular army.

That's a staggering number. In normal times, twenty peasants can afford to raise one soldier, and in this way, sixty peasants can support one forbidden army. I don't think Cheng Yu will be merciful and use his own money to support the army, so I once went to ask Liu Shilang of the household department about the military expenditure of the forbidden army, and the squire replied to me that the prime minister Gao Shu and the household secretary Li Jingtang did not get a large amount of treasure from the greedy ink case, and filled it into the treasury, I am afraid that His Majesty the emperor will not be able to spend it in his life, so a small part of this money is used to support the forbidden army.

"A fraction of this money can feed 100,000 forbidden troops?" I smiled dumbly, naturally knowing that Chen Lanting's subordinates would not be too cooperative with my inquiry, so I tapped my palm with a folding fan, leaned on the official hat chair and looked at him leisurely, "Do you think that this Shoufu is a woman and a newcomer, and he is not familiar with political affairs, so he is easy to deceive?" It is true that I am easy to deceive, but His Majesty the Emperor of your family has been very fond of Ben Shoufu recently, and I will go to her to see you in a book without reporting it, and you are afraid that it is possible to be sent to the immortal furnace of alchemy. ”

Only then did he run into the stall of the household department in a panic, and immediately took out a thick booklet of Tianfu, trembling and telling me how these military expenses were pulled out of the hands of the people bit by bit, for fear that if he neglected Ben Shoufu, he would be sent to the Dan furnace and turned into ashes.

That's when I prepared to downsize the Praetorian Army.

The fold was handed over three days ago, and at that time, Cheng Yu only flipped through it and put it away, telling me: "I will take a look at it here first, and I will reply to you in three days." ”

Three days later, it happened to be today, the day when His Royal Highness King Chong'an went to court.

Today, Cheng Yu really kept his promise, and specially took out the fold to chat with the ministers in the palace, she said: "I think Lord Shoufu's worries are not unreasonable, now the military expenditure is huge, and it is a good way to reduce military spending by eliminating the old, weak, sick and disabled in the forbidden army, and retaining some elites." ”

The ministers didn't know whether they didn't want to speak, or they didn't dare to speak, but when they heard Cheng Yu say that this was a good way, they all echoed yes, yes, yes, yes, good way, good way.

Cheng Yu said: "In the past few days, I have also checked with Lord Chen, the old, weak, sick and disabled account for about half of the number of forbidden troops, and after the reduction, the size of the forbidden army will be reduced by half. ”

The ministers quickly turned the wall, and at a glance, all their faces were changed to full of worries, and they all sighed melancholy, yes, and your majesty worried.

I looked at King Chong'an, who was standing in a row with me, although he didn't join the group of wall grasses and shook and swayed, but he also lowered his eyes, his fingers rubbed the silver thread on his sleeve, and he looked selfish as if he cared about him and loved whomever he loved.

Chen Changfeng took the opportunity to step forward and bowed: "The minister thinks that another 30,000 brave warriors should be recruited into the forbidden army to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family and country." ”

I secretly calculated, reduced by more than 70,000, and recruited another 30,000, this number is not impossible, so I nodded.

But I suddenly realized a serious problem - the 100,000 forbidden troops were recruited by the military department in the past, and if the recruitment of the forbidden army was left to them to do, they would have to show favoritism, get rid of a bunch of moths, and invite a group of rats.

So he also stepped forward to stand side by side with Chen Changfeng, raised his sleeves and bowed, and proposed: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the recruitment of the forbidden army is a major matter related to the safety of the family and the country, and strict standards should be established, and iron-faced and selfless capable ministers should be appointed to do this, otherwise, according to the previous standards of the Ministry of War, this group of old and weak troops may have just returned home and the bench has not yet been hot, and they will be called back again." ”

Chen Changfeng, who was beside him, didn't hold back after all, his beard shook with anger, and he was about to reason with me for a few words, but he heard Cheng Yu on the dragon chair knock on the jade in his hand and said, "I don't know which capable minister Qin Aiqing wants to let supervise this matter?" ”

I hurriedly said: "The minister thinks that His Royal Highness King Chong'an is up to this important task. ”

Not far away, King Chong'an's hand rubbing his sleeves suddenly stopped, and he slowly looked up at me, half of his peach blossom eyes were half doubtful and half disgusted.

Before Chen Changfeng could speak, Chen Lanting over there hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, King Chong'an is suspected of hiding soldiers, and letting him recruit the forbidden army is tantamount to cutting meat and eating eagles to feed tigers." ”

There was a pleasant laugh from there: "Lord Chen, don't panic, this king didn't agree to recruit the forbidden army." This king drank tea and raised flowers in the mansion, fished and painted, was carefree and comfortable, and never thought of doing this kind of drudgery in the past. ”

Cheng Yu behind the veil seemed to smile, and his voice became brisk: "Qin Aiqing also heard it, His Royal Highness King Chong'an is unwilling to take on this important responsibility, I don't know if you have any other favorite candidates?" ”

It was at this time that I realized that although I was the first official, I couldn't find a reliable official in the entire Jinguo court to help me make the country a little better.

I had a sad smile in my heart, but my face still maintained a gentle appearance, and finally I looked back at the slightly hot sunlight in the early summer of the imperial capital, and said: "Lord Zhao Mengqing Zhao, who led Yulu but did not go to court every day, should also come out to bask in the sun." ”

"Then bother Qin Aiqing to invite Lord Zhao." Cheng Yu's tone was quite a bit of watching a play, as if he expected that I would not be able to move this perennial worshipper.

But you have to give it a try.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Ben Shoufu deliberately took the first step, ran to the stone bridge in front of Zhong Qi Palace, guarded the stone pillar on the bridge, and waited for the rabbit of King Chong'an to bump over. But I couldn't see anyone left and right, and I was afraid that I would have to wait for half a month if I missed it, so I had to go back to him.

Not to mention, after the guidance of the little eunuch, I really found King Chong'an in a small courtyard with a deep palace wall, which was really desolate and dilapidated, as if it had not been repaired by wind and rain all year round, so a crack two fingers wide was opened in the courtyard wall.

Sewing me too, wow, so that I can see the whole scene inside through a wall.

In the eyes, King Chong'an was talking to a young woman, the woman kept hanging her head, as if she didn't dare to look at him, and the voice of the reply was also thin and soft, like a spring night rain, an autumn spring, like the Milky Way starry water, nine days of flowing clouds.

King Chong'an reached out, stroked her excessively thin shoulder, and gave her a shallow but thick hug.

This scene made a sudden pain in my heart, this pain was like the pain of a needle piercing the fingertips, although it was fleeting, and it didn't even have time to make me sad. I gently turned the fan in my hand, watching the girl's forehead against his chest, and suddenly felt: Don't say that it is a man like His Royal Highness King Chong'an, even a woman like Ben Shousuke, listening to this voice, I feel itchy and unbearable, I can't wait to step over this wall and hug her.

"Bear with me a little longer, and I'll take you out." He said.

She replied softly: "Your Highness, you are not in a hurry about Wanwan's affairs, you don't have to spend too much effort on me." ”

He stroked her Wanwan's back: "That person has arrived in Jinguo, her ability alone is worth all of you, there is no need for the emperor to trap you here anymore." All you have to do is hold on, don't worry too much and don't work too hard. ”

"His Royal Highness is so good to Wan Wan, Wan Wan can't repay it...... If His Royal Highness does not dislike it, after Wanwan leaves the palace, he is willing to accompany His Highness and serve His Highness until death. ”

Wow.

Ben Shousuke couldn't help but have his eyes shining.,Such a bridge with a personal promise.,I've only seen it in a book before.。 When I finally saw it today, I couldn't help but sigh that this corner was too worthwhile.

But the male protagonist of the story didn't agree, he just told her more gently: "It's my fault that you entered the palace, and it's what I should do to take you away, just don't hold a grudge against me, don't talk about anything in return." ”

Na Wan Wan finally raised her head, and under the curved willow eyebrows was a pair of smart and misty eyes: "Wan Wan remember, Your Highness can't stay here for a long time, go back early." ”

"Okay." Even though he agreed like this, His Royal Highness King Chong'an was extremely reluctant, and sighed when they parted.

In order to put on the illusion that I was not eavesdropping, I hurried to the path around the corner of the other wall and waited for him.

After a while, he really came out, and when he saw the fan-shaking eyes looking at him in a daze, his face couldn't help but become gloomy, and what he said when he spoke was not as warm and considerate as on the other side of the wall, as indifferent as he wanted: "What do you have to do?" ”

I tried not to appreciate his cold appearance, shook the fan and walked in, put my hand on his shoulder, and said with a smile on my face: "I want to invite His Royal Highness King Chong'an to drink, but I have been repeatedly refused, I don't know what to do, so I can only take advantage of the opportunity of your old court today to stop you." Your Highness should be free today, can you enjoy your face and go to the official mansion for a drink? ”

Because of the proximity, I saw his gaze narrow.

"What's wrong with Your Highness?" I asked.

He was silent for a while, then waved his hand, lowered his head and laughed at himself, and said: "It's nothing, the ancients said that thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, but I think that it doesn't take so long as thirty years, two or three years is enough." ”

I don't understand what he meant.