In the Prime Minister's Mansion of Zuo, Shi Li Arc, the head of the Prime Minister's Mansion, put the concerto that the emperor had reviewed on the official case, and said: "Lord Xiangguo, this is a concert sent from the palace. ”

Gao Chong hummed, took a roll of bamboo slips and began to read, and after a while, Gao Chong looked at Changshi and frowned thoughtfully.

Gao Zhong said: "Li Arc, tell me, what does His Majesty mean by appointing Zhao Shu as the right prime minister?" ”

Li Arc said: "Lord Qi Xiangguo, in the next analysis, after the Shucheng incident, the Huo family's cronies in the lieutenant army have been cleaned, and the lieutenant army has also returned to Beijing and carried out a new round of reorganization. ”

Gao Zhong bowed his head slightly and said, "It makes sense." ”

Changshi Li Arc saw that Gao Zhong agreed, so he lost no time in handing over dozens of greeting posts, and said: "Lord Xiangguo, please see, these are the greeting posts that the officials of the DPRK and China wanted to visit you a few days ago. ”

Prime Minister Zuo took the posts and looked through them one by one, knew it in his heart, and said: "These people really know the wind and the rudder, and their noses are smart enough, and now they want to go through the door of their true appearance." ”

Prime Minister Shi smiled and said: "Lord Xiangguo, these officials were all promoted by Master Huo when he was in power, and now the court is about to change blood, these people are afraid that the position will not be guaranteed, so they ask for help to Lord Xiangguo, they can only go to your door now, if you protect them, this is a great kindness, they used to be the wings of Master Huo in the past, and they will be your wings in the future." ”

Gao Zhong knew that what he said made sense, so he still pretended to say: "Don't worry, Rong Benxiang is thinking about it." ”

At this time, a layman from the Prime Minister's Mansion came to a subordinate official and reported: "Lord Qiqi Xiangguo, Lu Jian came to visit." ”

When Gao Zhong heard this, it turned out to be someone from Lujiabao, and he probably knew what he was doing here, so after thinking about it, he said, "Let him in." ”

"No!"

Outside Prime Minister Zuo's mansion, Lu Jian took several entourages into the Prime Minister's Mansion, and when he saw Prime Minister Gao coming forward to greet him warmly, he ordered someone to bring a gift into the inner hall, which was the third time he had come to visit Prime Minister Gao's mansion with a heavy courtesy.

Gao Zhong smiled politely and said: "Lu Jun is here when he comes, why bother preparing for a heavy gift." ”

Lu Jian said with a smile: "Gao Xiangguo, I came here today to congratulate Lord Xiangguo on your official assumption of the position of Prime Minister Zuo. ”

Gao Zhong subconsciously glanced at the boxes, he knew that the Lu family was an alchemy family, rich enough to rival the country, and the so-called thin gift was enough to make anyone's heart move.

Gao Zhong said with a smile: "Lu Jun is here, not just to congratulate the prime minister on his official succession, right?" ”

The Lu family said with a smile: "Lord Xiangguo is discerning, and I came here for my brother Lu Yifang, the head of the Lu family, and I hope that Lord Xiangguo, you can let me go of the head of the Lu family for the sake of your past friendship." ”

Gao Zhong took a sip of the teacup, and said indifferently: "Lu Jun, this time the true appearance has saved your Lu family from the disaster of breaking the family, if it weren't for the fact that the prime minister fought hard in front of His Majesty, the whole family of your Lu family would have to be assigned to Rongbian, and now it is only the crime of the head of the family, Lu Yifang, this is already a great grace, and your Lu family should not gain an inch." ”

Lu Jian said with a smiling face: "Yes, yes, Lord Xiangguo's lesson is that I will never forget your kindness on behalf of the Lu family, I just want to let Lord Xiangguo raise your hand a little, can you let my brother go out of Tingwei Prison and return to Dong'an City to detain, we Lu Jiabao can't be left without an owner for a day, if my brother can go back to Dong'an City to be detained, we can also arrange the affairs of our Lu family nearby." ”

Lu Jian's meaning is very simple, he does not ask for exoneration, but he asks for Lu Taigong to return to his hometown to serve his sentence, where the Lu family is the head snake, and the relationship between the Lu family and Dong'an Ling, the leader of Dong'an City, is also relatively good.

Gao Zhong asked: "Brother Jian, is it true that the Lu family will not be able to leave Lu Yifang, it's a big deal that your Lu family is choosing a family master." ”

Hearing this, Lu Jian smiled bitterly and said: "Qi Qi Gao Xiangguo, do you know, before my eldest brother was escorted to Qingyang to serve his sentence, he just briefly explained that he asked the eldest prince to act as the head of the Lu family. As the saying goes, governing the family is like governing the country, and now several sons of our Lu family are fighting for power, and it is already a noisy Lu family fort, and there is no peace. As a last resort, I can only come to Qingyang to ask for you, Lord Xiangguo, alas! ”

Gao Zhong heard this, and his heart was also ridiculous, this Lu family is really a temple demon with a big wind, Chi Qian Wang Baduo, this old man is not dead yet, the sons have already fought first, Lu Yifang is really going to die in Qingyang Tingwei Prison, so Lu Jiabao must not be overturned by his unfilial sons?

Gao Zhong got up and turned around a few times with his hands behind his back, and inadvertently glanced at the heavy gift sent by the Lu family, and said: "There is no way, it's not nothing, but Mrs. Lu is guilty of rebellion, and this prison disaster is definitely inevitable, but there is a plan for this appearance." ”

Lu Jian's spirit was shocked when he heard this, and he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Please show Lord Xiangguo." ”

Gao Zhong said: "Although Lu Taigong is not the mastermind, but the crime of losing Dan really cannot be lightly sentenced, you can only wait for the next amnesty to the world, and then the serious crime can also be lightly sentenced, and there is no other way, as long as you wait for the amnesty, the prime minister can send a message to Tingwei to change the sentence of Lu Taigong from Tingwei Prison to Dong'an City to serve his sentence." ”

When Lu Jian heard this, he was stunned on the spot, and scolded secretly in his heart, do you still need to say this? This amnesty in the world is not something that can be encountered at any time, only if something great happens to the country can it be amnesty to the world, if you are lucky, you will come out in a few years, and if you are unlucky, you will not be able to come out for more than ten years, and if you are not lucky, Lu Yifang will die in prison.

Although Lu Jian scolded her mother in her heart, she still had a smile on her face and said, "Lord Xiangguo, this... This... Amnesty of the world has to wait until the Year of the Monkey? ”

Prime Minister Zuo smiled and said: "Lu Jun, please be relieved, the prime minister has his own way, and soon Mrs. Lu will be able to wait for His Majesty to personally issue an edict to amnesty the world." ”

When Lu Jian heard this, his heart was relieved, and he stepped forward and said softly: "Lord Xiangguo, if my eldest brother is amnestied, my Lu family will be grateful." ”

When Gao Chong heard this, his heart moved, and he said, "Okay, Lu Jun, you can go back and wait for the good news from the imperial court." ”

With Prime Minister Zuo's repeated assurances, Lu Jian bowed and saluted: "Thank you Lord Xiangguo for your help, Lu said goodbye." ”

After Lu Jian withdrew from the inner hall, Shi Li Arc, the head of the Prime Minister's Mansion, came out of the back hall and said, "Lord Xiangguo, I am afraid it will be a little difficult to persuade Your Majesty to grant amnesty to the world. ”

When Gao Zhong heard this, he smiled mysteriously and said: "Don't go through the trouble of convincing Your Majesty, a great good thing will happen soon, Your Majesty will definitely give amnesty to the world, and your own appearance is just a favor for the Lu family." ”

When Li Arc heard this, he understood in his heart and asked, "Lord Xiangguo, but there has been significant progress in the cultivation of potatoes offered by General Deng?" Is it therefore possible that Your Majesty will announce an amnesty to the world when the potato is being promoted throughout the country? ”

Gao Zhong bowed his head slightly and said: "Well, I didn't expect His Majesty to pay unprecedented attention to agricultural affairs, the people take food as the sky, if this thing is successfully promoted throughout the country, it can live countless people, it is really a good governance." ”

Li Arc exclaimed: "Your Majesty is far-sighted and admires you." ”

Changshi Li Arc said, took out a title deed and handed it to Zuo Xiang Gaozhong, and said: "Lord Xiangguo, this is the title deed that Lu Jian privately asked the lower official to transfer to you when he came to visit Xiangguo, and this is the title deed of 5,000 acres of fertile land in Puyang." ”

Prime Minister Zuo nodded slightly: "I have a heart." He turned his head again and asked Changshi: "Li Arc, the prime minister is going to enter the palace to meet His Majesty, is the chapter ready?" ”

Li Arc stepped forward to present the bamboo slips and said, "Lord Xiangguo, I have already prepared it. ”

Prime Minister Zuo put away the chapter, and then Shi Shiran got up and went to Zhangtai Palace to meet the emperor.

Gao Zhong entered the main hall of Dezhangtai Palace, and saw that the right prime minister Zhao Shu was also playing to the emperor, and knew that it must be the personnel appointment and dismissal of the imperial court.

Right Prime Minister Zhao Shu presented the list of courtiers and officials who needed to be adjusted inside and outside the government and the opposition, and said: "Your Majesty, this is a number of unqualified officials who have been repeatedly investigated since the minister took office. ”

In fact, it's just an excuse to sweep away the officials promoted by the former Prime Minister Huo Zheng, and at the same time make room for the cronies promoted by the new monarch.

In all dynasties, no matter how the times change, no matter how the state system changes, the new leader must sit firmly in his position after taking office, and he must change a set of administrative teams.

Mu Sheng looked at the list and bowed slightly, this is also what he tacitly did Zhao Shu do, he lifted the pen and circled the names of a few people who said that they wanted to keep it for viewing, and said: "Well, although these people are from Master Huo's disciples, they still have the ability, keep them for the time being, to see the after-effects, and the rest will be done according to your wishes." ”

The right prime minister, Zhao Shu, got the emperor's approval and said: "The minister will adjust the appointment and dismissal according to His Majesty's wishes." ”

Seeing this, Prime Minister Zuo also handed over a number of officials to the appointment and dismissal, and the emperor read it, and directly said "quasi-performance." ”

The left and right prime ministers saw that things were almost done and were about to retire, and the emperor left the right prime minister Zhao Shu alone to arrange some things.

Mu Sheng went straight to the point and said: "Uncle, the past should also be settled, and this matter will be handed over to my uncle." ”

Of course, the right prime minister Zhao Shu knew that what the emperor was talking about was Zhao Ji's matter, and said: "Your Majesty, the minister will do it." ”

Seeing that Zhao Shu withdrew from the main hall, Mu Sheng casually took a letter of appointment, and Zhu Pi officially confirmed the new lieutenant army commander as Zhou Jian. Zhou Jian was originally a captain of the Northern Army, in the process of seizing power, his political position was firm, loyal and reliable, and the Qingyang Incident was also handled very well, so he naturally won the favor of the emperor, and the heavy responsibility of guarding the capital was handed over to him.

The adjustment of civil officials was basically handed over to the left and right prime ministers, but the adjustment of positions in the army, Mu Sheng had to personally inquire about it, strictly checked, according to the practice of the previous dynasty, he arranged for Lang Wei, who was loyal and reliable by his side and was born in a family, to serve as a deputy in the lieutenant army.

The guards of the southern army guarding the palace are led by Guo Jue, the emperor's trusted guard, Mu Sheng is still concocted in the same way, and some deputy positions in key positions in the southern army are adjusted to take over by Lang Wei, who is loyal to the royal family, to ensure the state of internal and external separation of powers and checks and balances, so as to ensure that the military power in the forbidden is firmly controlled in the hands of the emperor, and Mu Sheng can sleep peacefully in the palace.

After adjusting the most crucial military power of the forbidden army, the next step is to adjust the commanders of the major standing field armies, and the candidates of the Lingnan Corps have already been arranged during the parade, and what we need to do now is to arrange the commanders of the nearly 500,000 Great Wall Corps.

In this era, the elite frontier guard of the Great Wall Corps of the Great Jin Empire is divided into two parts, the corps guarding the Great Wall in the north, also called the Northern Corps, all kinds of cavalry, the infantry army has 300,000 soldiers and horses, and the corps guarding the Great Wall in the west, the Longwu Army, also called the Northwest Corps, has 200,000 soldiers and horses, after the unification of the world, the third emperor was not idle, in addition to the southern expedition to Lingnan, he also sent 300,000 troops to the west to conquer the northwest region of the empire today, that is, the Western Regions, the Western Expedition army also destroyed countless countries along the way, expanding the land for thousands of miles, after the end of the Western Expedition, The empire set up counties in the Western Regions, and stationed 200,000 troops for a long time to stabilize the situation in the northwest.

Mu Sheng glanced at the current commander of the border army corps, and decided not to rush into a big fight, or to rely on gifts to win over, compared to the huge number of border army corps, although the central forbidden army is not large, but it is too close to the core of power, but it is the most fatal, as long as he can control the power of the forbidden army.

Don't look at the border army with more than 500,000 soldiers and horses, a large number of people, and strong combat effectiveness, but the logistical support of the border army in the garrison is completely dependent on the imperial court to deliver food and salary from the interior, the border army is scattered and stationed in peacetime, the non-commissioned officers and officers are rotated every three years, and the family members of the commander of the border army all live in the capital as a hostage, and the border army wants to rebel, but it is the most difficult, as long as the imperial court is weaned, the border army officers and men cannot go far, and the whole army will have to disperse, and there will be no food, even if the most powerful people are, they will hold on for three days at most, let alone rebel, and even the weapons will not be stable.

Historically, the border army was able to rebel successfully, basically because the imperial court was in charge of the monarchy and ministers, and the border military region was too powerful, which led to the border generals becoming bigger and threatening the imperial court, such as the feudal town system set up in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, and then it was the mysterious operation of various IQ offline that made the rebels gain momentum, as long as there is a person who understands the government, it will not make the country fall into an uncontrollable situation.