One hundred and sixty chapters

"Hahaha It was this guy who made it up on the spot, this Ma Aiqing is very interesting!"

Sure enough, as Li Shizhong expected, the Son of Heaven not only did not get angry when he heard Ma Quan's unashamed nonsense, but felt funny.

"Your Majesty, when the old slave asked, he frightened the whole horse! He swore to the sky, but when he saw that group of guys were blocking the saint again, he blurted out out out of righteous indignation, just to shame them, and he had no intention of deceiving the king. He lay on the ground and kowtowed vigorously, asking the old slave to explain to His Majesty and ask His Majesty for forgiveness. Li Shizhong laughed with him, and exaggerated to learn Ma Quan's embarrassment and added vividly. Father-in-law Li has been in the palace for so long, and he knows all kinds of dangers too well. Take this incident as an example, don't you see that the Son of Heaven is very happy now, and when the Holy Son loses it, the Son of Heaven will not like the pony anywhere, and if you bring it up again, your godson will be finished! Therefore, we must take advantage of the fact that the Son of Heaven is in a good mood and let him make a conclusion in person - as the saying goes, the Son of Heaven has no jokes, the Son of Heaven is a golden mouth, and there are living officials in the harem who always follow him to record his words and deeds.

"Hahaha, no guilt, no guilt! Ma Aiqing is angry for me, and she is not guilty! As Gonggong Li expected, the Son of Heaven on the head of Xingtou said casually, and this matter came to a successful end. The Son of Heaven, who was still unsatisfied, asked, "What else is interesting in the outside world?" ”

"Your Majesty. According to the people in Dongchang, those guys were deflated at the court meeting, and after they went back, they didn't sleep for most of the night, and they studied the origin of this sentence in a pile! They may want to use the allusions in the same book to find the field next time, but they don't know that it is nothing! Hahaha. ”

"Hahaha, don't squeak, let them search for it! It's been a long time since I've been so happy! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. The old slave was naturally saved. ”

"By the way, how did Yan Aiqing's officials discuss the merits?" The Son of Heaven remembered Yan Minwang.

"Long live. It's been discussed...... But...... It's really not enough to be rewarded! Li Shizhong respectfully handed over the recital of the officials with both hands, and deliberately put on a bitter look and joked, he was also happy for the Holy Son of Heaven in his heart, "Don't say that Li Yao is already the commander of the capital, even the commander of Yan, and he is already the third grade, from the second grade to the first grade, from the second grade to the first grade, from the first grade to the first grade, and then to the first grade, this is only the fourth grade!" There is no precedent for becoming a first-class important minister in a war, and it is impossible for the cabinet to agree, even if it does, there is no way to reward the remaining sixteen or seventeen levels. Li Jinzhong smiled while wrenching his fingers.

"Hahaha. That's a reward, too! "The Son of Heaven hasn't been so happy for a long time," the old rule, add honors, and then find a way from the world. By the way, Li Yao and Yan Minwang are both married? If you don't have a family, choose a suitable one from the clan, and I will marry you......"

"Long live. The old slave specially checked with the Inspector General. Li Yao's sons are all married! Although Yan Minwang is younger, the baby is also running all over the ground. "Li Shizhong has already thought about this trick for the Holy Son of Heaven: find an older leftover girl from the clan and stuff it into any of these two families, and the children and grandchildren will be rich and wealthy, and they will have no worries about food and clothing! Yes, in the future, even if you are a family with the Son of Heaven, you are all a family, are you embarrassed to find the court to entangle how many levels of merit you have not given?

It's a pity that these two guys have wives, and this trick won't work.

"That's a reward, too!" The Holy Son of Heaven was a little embarrassed, but since he had expressed his stance in front of hundreds of officials, he couldn't just forget it anyway.

"Your Majesty is reassured. The old slave has a plan, you can see if it will work. Although the Li family inherited the title of commander of Taozhou Weidu all the way, theoretically speaking, after Yongle, the position of commander was changed to award. The saint issued a decree to attack the three generations, and then went to the third-level merit, Yan Minwang was promoted to the first level, and the commander was awarded the same knowledge, which was counted as the first-level, and the title of the commander could be attacked, but the title of Jinyiwei could be awarded. The three generations of the Li family respectively commanded the affairs, the pacification envoys, and the thousands of households; The Yan family has three generations of shade and two envoys, and one generation of thousands of households. For the rest, figure out how to figure it out on the loose tier*. Li Yao was first awarded the title of Hussar General, after two years he was promoted to General Jinwu, Yan Minwang was awarded the title of General Zhaoyong, and after two years he was promoted to General Zhaoyi. It's a big deal that in a few years, there will be a dragon and tiger general and a general Zhaowu. Li Yao awarded the crown prince young master, Yan Minwang awarded the prince young master*, you can reward some bits and pieces of imperial wine or something, and all the credit will be here. ”

"Well, good, good, great! That's it! And give them five hundred taels of silver out of the inner garment. However, it was Yan Minwang who led the troops to attack the thieves, and most of the credit was taken by Li Yao. It's not that Li Yao is bad, after all, Yan Minwang was brought out by him, and he deserves these credits. It's just that I feel that Commander Yan is a bit of a loss. "The Son of Heaven felt a little fly in the ointment.

"Then just reward Yan for commanding a deck of royal flags*, what do you think? After all, it is mainly him who leads the troops, and it makes sense to give the deputy flag. If there is a war in the future, the governor will coordinate military affairs, and Commander Yan will definitely be able to use it. Li Shizhong said.

"Or are you thoughtful." The Son of Heaven praised it.

"The old slave doesn't dare to do it." Li Shizhong hesitated, "Do you want to take a look at the military intelligence report of Commander Yan attached to the Ministry of War?" ”

"Of course I want to see it, bring it over. I thought Sun Jie was the most powerful, but I didn't expect that this Commander Yan was also a tiger general, haha. As he spoke, the Son of Heaven took Yan Minwang's report and flipped through it casually.

Looking at it, the smile of the Saint Son of Heaven retracted, and his two eyebrows wrinkled unconsciously-this is exactly what Li Shizhong guessed.

After a long time, the Son of Heaven raised his head and looked at Li Shizhong: "This is what you arranged in advance, right?" ”

With a "poof", Li Shizhong knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily: "The old slave is guilty of death." Your Majesty's forgiveness! ”

"Arise, you are not guilty. With good intentions, what is the sin? Could it be that I am the kind of faint king who can't distinguish between right and wrong? The Son of Heaven sighed.

"Holy Heaven." Li Shizhong got up from the ground and lowered his head in response.

"How did you find out?" The Son of Heaven asked.

"Back to Your Majesty. Your Majesty knows that the old slave is not very literate. The report transferred by the General Administration Department, the old slave will ask the literate to give the old slave a rough talk first. In case His Majesty asks about someone or something, the old slave can make some preparations in advance. In this military intelligence report, Commander Yan mentioned that it had rained heavily for dozens of days, and the old slave thought of Governor Xi's request the year before. At that time, the saint was handed over to the old slave to do it, so he had the audacity to give you a wake-up call. ”

"Hmm. This is also the meaning of getting Ma Quan to go to the General Administration, right? It's okay, I don't blame you, it's well done. What if I was negligent and didn't find out? ”

Li Shizhong didn't dare to say anything.

"I'll guess. In a few days, I should still receive the rain in Gansu, right? You stand up, you don't have to kneel. Seeing that Li Shizhong was about to kneel down again, the Son of Heaven immediately waved his hand to stop, "Until I remember, right?" It's hard for you. ”

Seeing Li Shizhong's sincere and frightened look, the Son of Heaven said: "You don't have to have so many scruples in the future. I am also a human being, and some things can be thought of, and some may not be thought of for a while. If you don't expect it, don't go around the bend anymore and give me a wake-up call. As he spoke, he glanced at the other chamberlains and replied, "You are all the same. I don't mean that all the officials in the outer court are bad, but everyone has their own homes, their own parents, wives and children, and it is normal for people to think about their own families. As long as I don't go too far, I don't have to worry about anything with them. But you are different, as long as you do everything out of public heart, you should not have so many scruples, I can understand, because you are all my family. The last two words, the Son of Heaven deliberately accentuated his tone.

Hula, all the inner prisoners knelt on the ground, and the two words spoken by the Son of Heaven himself made these poor people who had lost everything grateful from the bottom of their hearts, and at this moment, everyone was determined to die for the Son of Heaven.

"Get up." The Son of Heaven sighed again, "Let's take this matter as an example, the Ministry of War received the military report and then forwarded it to the General Administration Department, and the General Administration Department read it and reported it to the cabinet, and the cabinet did not give me a vote...... I don't believe it, after such a big circle, no one would think of Xi Junyu's matter! It's up to you, Hardballa reminded me in a roundabout way. Those officials, caught honest people like Sun Shuai and General Yan, you look at that momentum, but this kind of thing, just turn a blind eye! You have to find a way to stop this crooked wind. ”

The Son of Heaven has expressed this idea more than once, and Li Shizhong has also made suggestions, but he has been hesitant and has not put it into action - although Li Gonggong is like a mirror in his heart, all the internal supervisors are not good people in the eyes of civil officials, but if he really puts aside everything to be "loyal" to the Son of Heaven, then he will immediately and forever become the mortal enemy of most civil officials, and it will be remembered for thousands of years in history: the history books are all written by them, can they say good things about their rivals?

However, at this moment, looking at the tired royal appearance of the Son of Heaven, especially the two words "family" that weighed as much as a thousand pounds just now, Li Shizhong made up his mind and let go out for the Son of Heaven: "Your Majesty, this matter will be handled by the old slave in the future." ”

"Oh? What's your best idea? "The Son of Heaven was in good spirits.

"Your Majesty, do you remember how the Great Rites Discussion was resolved?" After Li Shizhong finished speaking, he quickly threw a glance at the Holy Son of Heaven.

The Son of Heaven was stunned when he heard this: "Of course I know. You mean......"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Gotta fight! Two clusters of scorching anger appeared in Li Shizhong's eyes, "Nominally, for the so-called ceremony, hundreds of people have teamed up to force the ancestor to not recognize his biological parents, is this really for that 'ceremony'?" The old slave is not very literate, and he has never read any sage books, but in the old slave's mind, he can't say that he is a sage, he is a country man, and he can't say that he doesn't recognize his father and mother to meet that etiquette, right? The result? If you don't do serious things, it's three years to make a fuss! In the end, after a meal, who else dares to toss again? No one makes any more noise! In the eyes of the old slave, this is all fame and reputation! Anyway, if the saint doesn't move the real character, they will have nothing to fear, and the more they make trouble, the more disagreeable they become, and there are even people who carry coffins to the court in the previous dynasty! Isn't this a trick? If the emperor really wanted to do something to him, would he use himself to make such a fuss? However, with such a fuss, what do the people in the capital think of them? They all stretched out their big fingers and praised the words 'brave loyal ministers'! Their reputation has been ruined, but whose reputation has been ruined? The Emperor! Speaking of the first emperor, Li Shizhong raised his sleeves and wiped the overflowing tears, "'Loyal ministers' carry the coffin to the court, what will the ignorant people say about the first emperor?" Could it be that the former emperor was actually forcing his loyal ministers to have no way to live...... Is that kind of heaven? Did they really think about the emperor? No! In order to fight for their own false name, they are the first emperor! ”

"Well said!" The Son of Heaven was also angry, and a flash of excited red flashed on his face, "Well said! As soon as you say this, I also think of one thing, 'Nangong Restoration'! The orthodox emperor was held by the captive, and the ministers embraced Emperor Jingtai, Emperor Jingtai abolished the orthodox emperor and the prince to set up his own son, and the hundred officials were silent, and the orthodox Hui Dynasty was placed under house arrest...... I can see it, they just pick honest people to bully, and when they encounter the son of heaven who is decisive in killing, no one dares to rebel against the dragon scales! This matter is handed over to you, you have to deal with these hypocrites who talk about righteousness all day long, but in fact sell their reputations! ”

"The old slave obeys." Li Shizhong bowed in response.

*Public orphan officer: The three dukes and the three orphans are collectively referred to as the public orphan officials.

"History of the Ming Dynasty: Career Official Chronicles" cloud: "Taishi, Taifu, Taibao are the three dukes, is a product, the young master, the young master, and the young bao are the three orphans, from the first product, the palm of the son of heaven is the yin and yang, through the state Honghua, his job is the most important." ”

To put it quite mysteriously, theoretically, Taishi is the prince's literary master, Taifu is the prince's martial arts master, and Taibao is the prince's bodyguard. The young master, the young master, and the young guard are their deputies, and the rank is one notch lower. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, these were only used for concurrent officials, additional officials, and gift officials, and were not specially established, all of which were fictitious titles, only as the name of gifting officials and titles, or posthumously gifting dead meritorious heroes, not real positions. To put it bluntly, these are all honorary titles.

* Loose tier. There are some false titles, which can be regarded as honorary titles. Civil officials from the lowest rank from the ninth rank of the general Shi Zuolang, to the highest level of the special Jin Ronglu doctor, military generals from the sixth rank of the loyal lieutenant, to the first rank of the special Jin Ronglu doctor (this is called the same way). Each level has a first award, a promotion award, and some have an additional award. For example, in this article, Li Yao, who was first awarded as a hussar general, was promoted to General Jinwu, and then awarded to the superordinate, he was called the Dragon and Tiger General, all of which are positive and second-grade.

There is also an honor called "Lord", which is also divided into civil and military. Wenxun five grades and ten levels, from the five products of the association of Zheng Shu Yin to the first rank of the left/right pillar country, the sixth rank of the martial arts twelve levels, from the sixth rank of the martial arts captain to the first rank of the left/right pillar country. We often hear of the cloud cavalry captain, the cavalry captain, the light car captain, these are all martial arts, senior doctors, Guanglu doctors, these belong to the civil and prose officials.

* Banner of the king's order.

The combined name of the Banner and the Token is a certificate of right, and the holder has the right to act cheaply within the framework of the Edict. Because its symbol comes from the direct command of the Son of Heaven, it is necessary to follow some specific rituals, especially the user, who must say: Respectfully ask the king's command. The king's order banner has a fixed shape, the Ministry of Industry is uniformly produced, and the Ministry of War is stamped with a letter. In the Ming Dynasty, the flags were unified, but there were more of them, and there were also those who did it themselves with the acquiescence of the imperial court - as we all know, on the skin, the Ming bureaucrats are the champions of the universe, and sometimes the front line is urgently needed, but the court is fried into a pot of porridge and it is not for you to make, and the generals who have received the emperor's order simply make their own in order to boost morale or obtain the right to make decisions on the battlefield on the spot: for example, a general military officer of the second grade, of course, it is okay to cut a few small flag officers who escaped from the battle, but without going through the formal procedures, you can't kill the general of the third rank who delayed the fighter plane on the spot- Please show the king's flag. The court didn't give it, so I made a report myself: I did the emergency first. As long as the imperial court does not explicitly prohibit it, it is fine. But they can only be used in their own army, and they are not recognized elsewhere. If it is issued by the imperial court, then it can be used anywhere.

In order to avoid abuse, there is also an edict that comes down with the banner of the king's order, which will make provisions on the scope of use: Governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi military affairs, of course you can use this to find the Sichuan and Shaanxi magistrates to cooperate, but you can't use this to find Huguang - even if it is a magistrate, you can't control him.