The breeze, the flowing water, the birds singing and the fragrance of flowers.

Except for Gonggong Lu's personal service, there is no palace maid and eunuch, only the emperor and Zu Ting, a pair of monarchs and ministers.

In order to protect himself, Zu Ting's gesture of praying for his life did not cause the emperor's superfluous reaction, and the emperor's attitude could no longer be described as indifferent, more like a spectator watching a performance.

Gao Wei picked up the teacup, took a sip, seemed to feel that the tea temperature was not very suitable, frowned, and put the teacup on the table lightly. Like a thunderous explosion, Zu Ting's attitude became more and more respectful, and he honestly lay in front of the emperor, his buttocks were cocked high, thanks to the official robes to cover it, so that it would not be too ugly, "The minister knows his mistake, please forgive your majesty!" ”

After that, he kowtowed on the ground, this set is like flowing water, and he can't be more proficient, as if Zu Ting has secretly practiced countless times at home. This kind of image really does not have the dignity and dignity that a prime minister should have.

However, in Zu Ting's opinion, the thing of decency and dignity is simply worthless, can it be eaten as food or spent as money? In front of the hundred officials, it is just a matter of not being afraid of the imperial power, if you finally fool yourself into believing it, it will be looking for death! People, what they are most afraid of is to lose themselves and move themselves! You still have to put yourself in the right position, otherwise you will use a knife to teach him how to write dead words to look better!

Therefore, Zu Ting confessed his guilt very simply, no matter what, he calmed down His Majesty's anger first. Gao Wei had nothing to say about this brazen old thing, and after staring at him fixedly for a long time, he said:

"What's wrong with Zu Qing? In these days when I was not in Jinyang, there was another drought in Mount Tai, and there were floods in Jianghuai, and Zu Qing supported the court situation alone, although the treasury was stretched, but you still ensured that the army got enough money, food and materials, speaking of which, I have to rely on Zu Qing to ......"

"This small work of the minister, why worry about it?" Zu Ting reacted immediately, broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly expressed his loyalty: "The minister was originally a prisoner of sin, if it weren't for the fact that Your Majesty didn't think the minister was lowly, and the minister had re-entered the court, how could the minister have today?" Even if it is broken, it is difficult to repay the grace of the king. Please don't say these things again, it's really a shame! ”

"Hey, I can't say that, if it weren't for your merits, how could I, a tyrannical king comparable to a ruinous king, achieve today's achievement, in other words, it's not that I have fulfilled you, but that you have achieved me."

"—Your Majesty!"

Zu Ting rolled his eyes in fright and almost collapsed on the ground. This is really heartbreaking! He couldn't do anything but tremble, and could only wait for the emperor to attack. This wave of testing the emperor's bottom line is really a big failure!

Just when he was panicked and at a loss, perhaps pity him for the embarrassment of this old minister, and couldn't get used to seeing him frightened now, the emperor's tone was a little softer: "...... I'm scaring you to play, get up, although it's spring, but the weather is still a little cold, always kneeling on the ground, can your old cold legs stand it? Bestow ......"

Lu Ran personally went to move the chair and put it in front of Zu Ting, who worriedly dropped half of his ass on the stool, it seems that as long as the emperor says something else later, he can kneel down and plead guilty as quickly as he did just now.

Fortunately, the emperor really just wanted to scare him, but he didn't say anything more to scare him, "You are the right minister, and you are an old minister, since I implemented the new policy, the people have been displaced, the land is barren, taxes are difficult to collect, and the household registration is chaotic, these problems have all been effectively managed, and the results are remarkable, many of these are your credits, I keep them in my heart, otherwise I would not let you be this right minister." ”

Zu Ting immediately bowed down and said: "The minister listens to His Majesty's teachings more, reads more books of sages, understands the truth that Confucius Shengmin is the foundation of the state, and the minister, as a member of the court, implements good governance and is sympathetic to the people, this is all within the scope of the matter, Your Majesty praised it falsely." ”

"'The people are the foundation of the state'," the emperor chewed on the meaning, and said: "Since the civil turmoil in the six towns, the world has been in turmoil, the people have been scattered, and the land has withered. However, since I ascended the throne, I have provoked wars one after another, first defeating the Zhou state, and then forcing the Turks to retreat, so that the two states should not invade each other. I don't know that the people need peace, but I have my own troubles, do you understand? ”

Zu Ting immediately replied: "The minister understands. ”

"Your Majesty is so sympathetic to the people, it is really the well-being of the world, which is also the confidence of Weichen to dare to say the three-year rule, the Zhou State is now overwhelmed, the longer the time drags on, the worse the Zhou State will be, and it will be a few years later to slow down, I am just taking advantage of this opportunity to accumulate people's strength, and devote ourselves to the people's recuperation, 'quiet is the foundation of agriculture', in order to make the national strength and the people's strength have been accumulated, it is necessary to create a relatively peaceful environment, try to reduce and reduce the servitude, and do not violate the agricultural time."

"It's easy to say when you don't violate farming, but it's hard to do. Some officials only think about themselves, and they do not consider the interests of the people at all when they enlist, which is really a nuisance to the people. I heard that Jianghuai, Jizhou and other places as well as the land of Heyin, where land annexation is very serious, and they have been exploited by powerful families for a long time, and the people have fled very seriously, and the land is barren, so how can the people's livelihood rest? ”

Speaking of this, Gao Wei sighed helplessly, "Not long after I investigated the corrupt officials and mediocre officials, a new wind of corruption emerged again, what you said is very necessary to increase the intensity of supervision, and it is ridiculous to say that the officials who were originally loyal and patriotic were delegated to the localities, and slowly changed their taste, and gradually they could not stand the erosion of power, and they became corrupt and degenerated into a privileged class above the people, and most of them were just ordinary people, people's hearts...... How fragile and vulnerable, I can't expect to be repentant by probation, I can only use strong means, and the officials should also check it out, this is one;

"Second, the elimination of corrupt officials and mediocre officials is secondary, the focus of our current work should be the development of agriculture, in fact, I think it is not too difficult, agriculture-oriented, committed to rewarding land reclamation, increasing the population, persuading agriculture and mulberry, that is, to produce good political achievements. Regardless of the difficulties of the central and local governments, how to do this well is something you have to consider, the first thing is to let the people have land to plant. In addition to Hebei and other places, there is a large amount of empty wasteland. It seems that it is not a problem to let the people have land to plant. But there is one more thing that you should pay attention to. ”

Zu Ting immediately pricked up his ears and made the appearance of listening carefully. While thinking about it, the emperor said slowly: "It is necessary to formulate the "Juntian Law" as soon as possible, you have also seen that since I killed a horse in Mount Tai, land annexation has begun to show signs again, and it must be curbed as soon as possible...... Slowly returned to the original collusion between officials and Haoqiang, and the imperial court wanted to find an opportunity to clean up a batch and set an example. ”

Zu Ting understood: "A few years ago, although the court had a law, but the supervision was not strict, and the powerful people were doing nonsense below, and when they saw a good field, they took it under their names. All the officials of the court have real seals and fortunes, and those who need to have land are given by real people, and they are not allowed to take advantage of them. The minister suggested that His Majesty should ask the household department to once again determine the household registration of the world, send personnel to verify it, and strictly manage those who occupy more acres of land and those who engage in fraud, and deal with them according to the law! ”

"In addition, it is still necessary to pay attention to the migration of the population, continue to implement the reclamation policy, the government should formulate various measures, so that the people from outside can live and work in peace and contentment, but there is one thing that the minister has to remind Your Majesty that Your Majesty's government army is also based on the land, if you are ordered to relocate and reclaim the land, it will inevitably impact the development and growth of the government army, I am afraid it will be difficult for a long time, please think twice."

Zu Ting considered that if he was allowed to move, it would shake the foundation of the military system of the government. Gao Wei stared for a moment, felt that what he said was really reasonable, and after thinking for a while, he said: "You are too careful, the edict can be specially stated that those who are serving as soldiers are not allowed to move." We can build military cantonments, enclose the land with the law, prevent it from being annexed, and at the same time improve the treatment of the government soldiers and retain people, not to mention that our dynasty also has a mercenary system and a conscription system, as long as we can get the money, there will be no shortage of troops to fight in any case. ”

"Beginning this year, I plan to use 20% of the tax to subsidize the migrants, and I will not have any more wars in the next two or three years, and I will encourage the palace and the officials to cut back on food and clothing. The imperial court and officials in various localities must strictly follow the provisions of the law and must not take anything in vain. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to guiding the enthusiasm of the people for intensive cultivation, even if it is for their own sake, and they should cultivate more wasteland. ”

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing." After thinking about it, Zu Ting finally said what he had been planning for a long time: "...... With the implementation of the reform to the current situation, we no longer need to tolerate the six towns and nobles, we can completely complete the bottom-up reform! With just an edict from His Majesty, these urins will disappear, and they will no longer be able to influence the situation! ”

Cushman & Wakefield was not surprised by his suggestion, as if he had been waiting for this scene for a long time, and said, "Do you have a specific charter?" ”

"Yes, let's start with the household registration first, and then find an excuse to check the army, so many people eat empty salaries, and many of them are old, weak, sick and disabled, the nobles of the six towns must not be hidden, right? Your Majesty only needs to use this as a breakthrough point, either to disarm or relocate, to greatly reduce the power of the generals and solve the hidden dangers of our dynasty for many years in one fell swoop! Isn't that what His Majesty wants to see? ”

Gao Wei smiled slightly: "The first emperor did not hesitate to favor Yu Xin to suppress the nobles, but he still failed to succeed, the six towns of the lords have deep roots, where can I suppress with a single edict?" You can't help but take it for granted, this matter, according to my meaning, you can't be in a hurry, you solve these things first, I have my own plans, okay, I'm tired, you should retreat first. ”

The emperor got up and was about to leave, but when he walked to the steps, he stopped again, "By the way, I am not allowed to leak half a word of the content I played with you today, and you are not allowed to do anything in secret."

"Whether it's for the New Deal or for yourself, do you understand?"

Zu Ting stood solemnly and shook it to the end, "The minister obeys the order." ”