In the evening, Juppey told Fanning about her and Ado's small talk, "I can almost confirm that the little master is pursuing Ado, and Ado also has a good impression of him, but Ado's mind is difficult to guess, I guess she herself doesn't quite understand, I think the husband is right, the relationship between them still needs time to settle down, not too hasty, but not too cold, that will make them miss a marriage." ”

Zhu Pei's attitude is still very pertinent, neither favoring her brother Zhu Qi, nor ignoring her husband's opinions.

Fan Ning thought for a while and said: "Then wait for another two years, first betrothed to them, and then ask the opinions of the two after two years, of course, they are allowed to socialize, in the form of letters, maybe they can meet to play." ”

Engagement is not equal to engagement, this is actually the stage of the wedding is different, engagement or the initial stage, the two families exchanged a marriage book that recorded the birth date, expressed agreement to discuss the marriage, the engagement ends here, if the two parties feel that it is not suitable, they can also return the marriage book, engagement is actually a kind of intention to get married, but there is no compulsion.

And the engagement is different, the engagement has reached the point where the man has given the gift and the gift, if there is no special reason, then the marriage can not be regretted, Fanning mainly feels that his sister has just turned seventeen years old, and her mentality and physiology are not mature enough, and she needs to give her sister another two years to think about it.

If two years later, my sister is still determined to marry Zhu Qi, then Fan Ning will not stop it.

On the other hand, this is also a test for Zhu Qi, if he really likes his sister, then two years should be a waiting period for him, if during this time, Zhu Qi empathizes with other women, or he is admitted to the Jinshi and is recruited as a son-in-law by a higher wealthy family, Fanning also has to give him a chance, lest he regret it in the future and blame his sister for delaying his future.

The husband proposed an engagement instead of an engagement, and Jupei also agreed, two years is not a long time, it is just right, and they can communicate and communicate, increase mutual understanding, exchange emotions, and Juppey also feels that this is a more reasonable and suitable plan.

Zhu Pei smiled again: "Husband, there is one more thing, the third grandfather asks you, do you have time to guide Zhu Qi's studies, there are still two months before the imperial examination, if you work hard, there is still hope." ”

Fan Ning was a little embarrassed, he had promised Zhu Yuanfeng to give Zhu Qi a guide to his studies, and he initially considered pointing out Zhu Qi according to the imperial examination questions.

But history has been changed, Zhao Zhen, who originally died in April of the eighth year of Jiayou, died four months early, and the imperial examination questions of Jiayou's eighth year were Zhao Zhen's questions, and now that Zhao Zhen has died, the imperial examination questions must also change, whether it is Gao Tao, or Empress Dowager Cao, it is not yet known, but it must be different from the historical imperial examination questions, so how can he bet on the question?

Fanning thought about it and smiled: "That's it! Let Sister Qian do a favor, let Zhu Qi and Lu Min worship under her father's door, and ask my second father-in-law to guide them, what do you think? ”

Zhu Pei glanced at her husband, what is the second father-in-law, listening awkwardly, she nodded and said: "This is not bad, the third grandfather must be happy, but you still go and talk to Ouyang senior, at least this is respect for him." ”

"Alright! I'll go tomorrow afternoon. ”

..........

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the New Year's court was held, and all officials in Beijing above the ninth rank must participate, which was also the first official court meeting for the new emperor to ascend the throne and the queen mother of the two palaces to listen to the government.

'Boom! Boom! The low bell rang, and thousands of officials in the Daqing Hall Square walked towards the main hall.

The rules of the Song Dynasty are not as strict as in the Ming and Qing dynasties, officials do not have to queue up, as long as they keep quiet, enter the palace as soon as possible to find their seats, and the hall is divided into two parts: the official area and the virtual official area, the virtual official area usually has no people, only the officials will appear when the celebration of the dynasty.

The incumbent official district is listed according to the department, and the official position is fixed, but in the virtual official area, there is only a rank, there is no official position, everyone only needs to stand according to the rank.

In addition to the official area and the virtual official area, there is also a special area at the front, that is, the Sanpin area, all the officials from the third grade and above are concentrated in this area, there are dozens of people, including the royal family, the three dukes, the Xiangguo, the Shangshu, the scholars, the jiedu envoys, the generals, etc., here are concentrated the highest status magnates and court officials in the Great Song Dynasty.

Fan Ning is the third rank of the Golden Purple Guanglu Doctor, and the Zuo Scattered Cavalry Attendant, so he is naturally in this team.

With the sound of the music of the upper court, the young son of heaven Zhao Xu, surrounded by eighteen guards and eight palace maids, entered the main hall from the side and sat on the dragon chair on His Majesty, and on both sides behind him, there were two spaces each, which were blocked by bead curtains, and the queen mother of the two palaces had already taken the seat.

But what everyone is concerned about is how to divide the power of the queen mother of the two palaces and who will lead the government, which is the key to the court situation in the next few years.

After a New Year, this pattern has almost come out, of course the ministers do not know what happened in the middle, but there is a detail that can make the ministers understand the final distribution of power, that is, the seat of the queen mother of the two palaces, according to the habit of the upper right and lower left, the queen mother sitting on the right side of the Son of Heaven should be in charge, and the queen mother on the left is participating in politics.

So when the two queen mothers took their seats, all the ministers' eyes looked at the right queen mother, and Fan Ning was no exception, but there was a bead curtain to cover it, and the queen mother of the two palaces was dressed the same, it was difficult to tell who was who, Fan Ning looked through the bead curtain for a moment, and suddenly found that the eyes behind the bead curtain were also looking at him, and the familiar gaze suddenly made him understand that Gao Tao won the initiative and became the queen mother.

Of course, Empress Dowager Cao is an elder, and according to the rules of respect and inferiority, she should also be in charge, so there is only one possibility for the current result, Empress Cao is unwilling to participate too much in politics, and took the initiative to give up the main power, she only participates in politics as an obligation.

Gao Taotao is known as the female Zhongyao Shun in history, and has made an indelible contribution to the prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty, but from another point of view, her desire for power is relatively heavy, she is likely to give up power after the year of Zhao Ji's weak crown, and even secretly interfere in court politics, historically, she has secretly opposed Wang Anshi's reforms.

The ceremony of the New Year Dynasty is more than the substance, and today is the first dynasty after the new emperor ascended the throne, the main issue is to decide the era name, to Fanning's surprise, the new era name still uses the era name of Song Yingzong in history, Zhiping.

However, it is also understandable that Jiayou was going to change to a new era name after eight years, and Zhiping should be the era name prepared by Renzong Zhao Zhen, so it is normal for the new emperor Zhao Ji to adopt this era name.

After the New Year's Day, the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces promulgated a series of edicts, and the provincial examination of the first year of Zhiping will be postponed for a month and held in early April.

At the same time, according to Fan Ning's nomination, the Zhizheng Hall appointed Li Dashou, the left concubine of the East Palace, to be promoted as the secretary of Quanzhou City, and Su Liang, the right concubine of the East Palace, was reappointed as Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites and the governor of Quanzhou.

This appointment caused widespread discussion among the government and the opposition, at the critical moment when the new emperor ascended the throne, Fanning left the center of power of the imperial court and went overseas, which is a bit of self-exile, although his two henchmen are in important positions in Quanzhou, which is equivalent to mastering the three major powers of Quanzhou's military, political and financial affairs, but compared to the loss of Fanning leaving the center of power, this gain is really nothing.

However, some officials believe that Fanning lost the opportunity to enter the Zhizheng Hall because of his lack of qualifications, and his appointment as an overseas economic envoy is to make up for the shortcomings of his lack of qualifications.

A confidant asked Han Qi what Fanning's real intention was in doing this, and Han Qi only said two words: Fu Zhen.

But in Ouyang Xiu's Mansion, Fan Ning gave a completely different answer.

Ouyang Xiu is in a good mood, his eldest son Ouyang Hua has become a foregone conclusion that he will be appointed as the magistrate of Changzhou, a big heart disease can be regarded as cured, and the eldest son who has been bumpy for many years has finally embarked on the broad road of his career.

Out of gratitude to Fan Ning, he happily accepted Zhu Qi and Lu Min's two protégés to help them improve their articles and prepare for the provincial exam in early April.

"I heard Han Xianggong say this morning that the appointment of a virtuous son-in-law as an overseas economic envoy is a dormant strategy, I don't understand a little, what does this mean?"

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "Han Xianggong's explanation is just his understanding, not necessarily my thoughts, I explained to the two queen mothers and the Son of Heaven, the establishment of Kunzhou has brought great financial improvement to the Great Song Dynasty, in fact, Kunzhou is just the beginning, I hope to find more wealth for the Great Song Dynasty, in short, it is also two words: open source." ”

Ouyang Xiu nodded, "Of course, you told me that the core of your advocacy of changing the law is to make the pie bigger, and when distributing new cakes, you are more inclined to the ordinary people, so that the vested interests of the powerful are not moved, and it also gives them the hope of getting more benefits, so your reform can win the widest support." ”

"It is precisely like this, such as the Cao family, the Gao family, the Zhu family, and other families, and even Zhang Yaozuo's family, have obtained a lot of wealth such as gold mines and silver mines in overseas expansion, so they strongly support overseas expansion and use the benefits obtained overseas to reduce the cost of domestic reforms, which is the fundamental purpose of my appointment as an overseas economic envoy this time."