In the holy capital, the sky is just dawning. The young emperor Ji Houzeng had already gotten up and gone to the Taihe Hall to participate in the early dynasty.

His Majesty the Emperor will only turn sixteen this year, which is the time for young snooze. When he was a prince, he had never gotten up at this hour. Now that he is an emperor, he has to get up at this hour every day.

He has been the emperor for almost three months, and he also wants to be lazy and escape from the early dynasty, but his mentor, the high priest Wang Buyi, always shows up on time, urging him to go to the early court quickly. Ji Houzeng has been afraid of no one since he was a child, but he is afraid of this teacher. He was afraid of this teacher, not because of how good the teacher was, but because the teacher dared to scold him. Once he does something wrong, he will be scolded by Wang Buyi. Wang Buyi never regarded him as a prince, but only regarded him as his own apprentice.

On the Jinluan Palace, at this time, all the officials had already arrived and were talking. In the past three months, the court was full of bloody storms, first of all, the king of Xiliang, who was far away in Liangzhou, suddenly returned to Beijing, and then the prince Ji Yan, who had never participated in politics, suddenly returned to the court. Even the high priest who had never participated in the early dynasties during the period of the emperor began to appear at the emperor's side and act as the master of ceremonies.

The ripple effects of all this are also obvious. First of all, Lord Fan Yan suddenly retired, and no one knew the reason. Although no one knows the real reason for his retirement, everyone understands him. After all, no one who is forced by King Xiliang to ask about military affairs every day, by the high priest, and the prince to ask about government affairs, and is opposed by the three of them from time to time, will not want to be this first assistant. At this time, no one wants to be caught between the Big Three.

Because of Fan Yan's retirement, there are only two people left in the cabinet. In order to elect new cabinet members as soon as possible and help His Majesty the Emperor share his worries, the courtiers have been arguing in the past few days. Because the three giants have disagreements about the selection of the cabinet.

Wang Buyi wanted Wang Anyuan, the secretary of the ministry, to enter the cabinet, but Prince He wanted Wu Ze, the secretary of the criminal department, to enter the cabinet, and as for the king of Xiliang, he was even more excessive, he actually wanted to let Yu Yiqian, a bachelor who had just been released from prison, enter the cabinet. The three bigwigs and three candidates naturally divided the courtiers into three factions. Each expressed its own views and fully exchanged views with each other. It's just that this exchange of opinions will lead to a quarrel.

As the little emperor sat on the dragon chair, a new court meeting began again.

"The minister has something to do."

The ministers now have experience, and know that with this voice of the ministers starting to play, it is likely that another argument will begin. So everyone looked at the nose and the nose and the heart began to nourish their spirits. After all, this argument is very draining.

It was Kong Maolin, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, who spoke, and as usual, he said: "The minister recommended Wang Anyuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Ministers, to enter the cabinet to assist His Majesty. ”

Although His Majesty the Emperor was young, he was used to seeing disputes these days, and he did not speak immediately after hearing Kong Maolin speak, but looked at Prince He and King Xiliang. After all, in the past, these two people must have come out to oppose it.

Without waiting for His Majesty the Emperor to speak, He Prince stood up and said, "The minister seconded the proposal." ”

King Xiliang also said: "The minister seconded the proposal. ”

At this moment, everyone was a little confused, what happened to these two today? They all agreed, which was beyond the expectations of most of the people present. Soon, a lot of people reacted. Seeing that the three bigwigs agreed, the ministers stood up one after another to second. How can this icing on the cake be without yourself?

His Majesty the Emperor looked at the court hall that was very harmonious today, and finally came back to his senses and looked at Wang Buyi on the side. Wang Buyi nodded quietly.

His Majesty the Emperor said: "Since everyone agrees, let Wang Anyuan enter the cabinet as an assistant." ”

Wang Anyuan immediately went out to thank him.

As soon as he finished thanking him, Zuo Jiu, the secretary of the Ministry of War, stood up again and said: "The first emperor has passed away, and Your Majesty has newly ascended the throne, and it is the time to employ people. Nowadays, there are still many vacancies in the hundreds of officials inside and outside the imperial court, and the ministers advocate the reopening of the imperial examination. ”

The reopening of the imperial examination was carried out by Taizu at the time, but those selected for the imperial examination were either marginalized or could not become officials at all. Therefore, later, the Ming Kingdom still implemented the nine-product Zhongzheng system of meritocracy. The local Taishou and county orders will nominate people with both talent and virtue to become officials. Later, the imperial examination system existed in name only.

Without waiting for the officials to speak, Prince He suddenly stood up and said, "The minister seconded the proposal, and the minister also asked to abolish the Jiupin Zhongzheng system." ”

As soon as these words came out, some people in the audience couldn't sit still. Because most of the people in the field now are from the Jiupin Zhongzheng system. So some people came out to oppose it.

However, today's Emperor His Majesty reacted a little quickly, and without waiting for everyone to object, he said, "I will play accurately." ”

The courtiers gradually came back to their senses and looked at the high priest who was standing next to the emperor with a calm face. It turns out that these three adults are so harmonious today, they must have made a deal in private, and I don't know what the content of this transaction is. If the three bigwigs come to an agreement, then the others will no longer object, because it is useless for them to object.

So the early dynasty gradually ushered in the end in a harmony.

Just when His Majesty the Emperor was about to enjoy the rare pleasure of getting off work early, an accident happened.

"Eight hundred miles expedited, eight hundred miles expedited."

The courtiers looked at the eunuchs rushing outside the hall. The eunuch ran into the temple and presented a bloody note.

Wang Buyi took the piece from the eunuch's hand, looked at it himself, and then handed it to the emperor. The hall was silent, and everyone looked at Wang Buyi and the emperor, as well as the recital in the emperor's hand.

"What happened?" King Xiliang was the first to ask. Because this kind of 800-mile rush generally means that there is a war. As long as the war is related to him. No one here knew the war better than he did.

Wang Buyi was forced by King Xiliang and said: "Beimu has broken through the waste pass and has entered the state. It is less than 500 miles away from the holy capital. ”

The ministers were startled and whispered.

King Xiliang asked: "I remember that when the first emperor was in power, there were 5,000 troops stationed in the waste pass all the year round, why was it suddenly broken by Beimu?" ”

Without waiting for Wang Yi to answer, Zuo Jiu, the secretary of the military department, stood up and said: "King Liang doesn't know, the high priest thinks that the abolition of the pass is close to Liangzhou, and there is no need for too many defenders, and he just ordered them to be cut in half more than two months ago. ”

King Xiliang said angrily: "Nonsense. There is still Kuntong Mountain between the waste pass and Liangzhou. If Liangzhou wants reinforcements, even if the cavalry bypasses Kuntong Mountain, it will take at least ten days. ”

Seeing that he was angry, Prince He immediately stood up and said, "I'll talk about this later, let's talk about how to deal with Beimu first." ”

King Xiliang cleaned up his mood and asked, "Did you say how many people came from Beimu?" ”

Wang Buyi didn't know much about military affairs, and he didn't read the content of the concert carefully just now, so he immediately looked at the emperor who was looking at the concert seriously.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at the battle described in the recital, and his slightly immature face was full of excitement. Seeing that King Xiliang asked, he hurriedly said: "I didn't say the specific number here, only that there were tens of thousands of people. ”

King Xiliang thought for a moment and said, "The minister is willing to go to meet Beimu, please allow Your Majesty to take the three major battalions of the capital to go." ”

This is a very normal request, and Wang Buyi is the most qualified person to lead the troops among the generals present. So His Majesty the Emperor wanted to agree, but when he looked at Wang Buyi, he saw that Wang Buyi shook his head gently.

Wang Buyi said: "His Royal Highness King Liang is the pillar of my Ming Kingdom, and there are only tens of thousands of northern herdsmen, why do you need His Royal Highness King Liang to go out in person." I think it's enough for Zuo Jiu to lead the troops. King Liang can return to Liangzhou to prevent Beimu from invading Liangzhou. ”

Prince He also said: "His Royal Highness King Liang is too worried. Although this Beimu entered the state, it was impossible to really attack the holy capital. If you don't feel at ease, you can adjust the cold clothes army to come over and participate in the war together. ”

Hearing this, King Xiliang suddenly understood that he was too anxious. How could the current imperial court give itself the command of the three major battalions of the Holy Capital City. If you hand over this army of soldiers and horses to defend the Holy Capital to you, then you will have half of the soldiers and horses of the Ming Kingdom. How could the imperial court rest assured.

King Xiliang said, "That's right. I'm in the Holy Capital City. Let the left nine lead the troops. ”

Just when everyone thought that everything was settled, Wang Buyi suddenly said: "This matter is too important, I wonder if Prince He is willing to supervise the army?" ”

The matter of supervising the army was not easy for the king to propose, and the prince seconded it. Their original intention was to divide the military power of the King of Xiliang, but they didn't expect that before they could fully implement it, they first encountered the invasion of Beimu. Both of them understood that the matter of supervising the army was very important, and if they really let a red-robed bishop who did not know about military affairs supervise the army, it would really cause chaos.

He thought for a moment and said, "It is incumbent on you." ”

As a result, the choice of the leader of the troops was agreed, and the court meeting officially came to an end.

Although the dispatch of troops was agreed, no one noticed that the little emperor's heart was active. After all, Taizu and the first emperor both had the experience of leading troops to fight.

So as soon as he returned to the harem, the little emperor asked Wang Buyi, who was with him, and said, "Sir, are the Northern Shepherds very good at fighting?" ”

Wang Buyi thought that the little emperor was just curious, and said: "Beimu is a nomadic people in the north, and they are good at riding horses. Fight bravely and fearlessly. Taizu finally drove them out of the Central Plains. ”

The little emperor nodded, his eyes full of yearning, and asked, "Does Mr. also know soldiers?" ”

The king still knows a little about military affairs, at least he has read a few military books. But if you understand it, it's not true, after all, he didn't bring any soldiers and horses. However, Wang Buyi didn't want to lose face in front of the little emperor, and said: "I naturally know soldiers. ”

The little emperor immediately became interested and said, "How about that gentleman teach me the art of war?" ”

Wang Buyi straightened his face and said: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, how do you need to learn the art of war." That's what generals should learn. What Your Majesty wants to learn is the way of the Emperor, the words of the saints. ”

The little emperor obviously didn't want to give up, and said, "But my father knows the art of war." Grandpa Taizu also knew the art of war. Why can't I learn? ”

Wang Buyi didn't want to discourage the little emperor's interest in learning, and said, "Okay, since that's the case, then I'll recommend a few books for Your Majesty to read for himself." It's just that Your Majesty must not indulge in these miscellaneous studies. ”

The little emperor became excited and said, "Thank you, sir." I understand. ”