The eight-day leave is very useless, fleeting, and in the blink of an eye, ten days have passed in the first year of Dingxin.

In the past few days, many government offices have officially opened, but they are not particularly busy, and after the Lantern Festival, everything will be as usual.

Of course, the leave of the Son of Heaven only benefits the officials in the government office, how can ordinary people really rest for ten days and half a month.

The plan of a day lies in the morning, and the plan of the year lies in the spring.

Many people have been busy since the fourth day of the first lunar month.

Sowing and planting vegetables, planting mulberry and selecting cocoons, and transplanting trees......

These things should be started from the first lunar month, and the slightest hesitation is likely to be lost.

As a result, Chang'an City was gradually divided into two worlds.

Qili, Shangguanli and Beique Jiadi, which live with princes and nobles and hundreds of officials, are still full of New Year's flavor and are very lively.

These officials, who ate the imperial grain, wore new robes and uniforms all day long, and rode in and out of the courtyards and courtyards of large and small courtyards in the cars that had been painted not long ago.

They seem to just go to the old or Shangguan's house to sit casually, have a light meal, and enjoy a few dance music.

But in fact, in that gloomy main hall, they were discussing their careers in the court in the coming year.

Huo Guang has fallen, and the Huo Party has also been uprooted.

Suddenly digging up so many big trees, naturally many pits were vacated.

These pits represent official positions, and they will naturally be coveted by many people.

Courtiers, large and small, spared no effort to run back and forth, nothing more than to seek a good future.

The shock brought by Huo Guang's corruption case has not yet dissipated, and many of the criminals involved are still waiting to be punished in prison, so naturally no one dares to bribe and run for office.

But taking advantage of the festive atmosphere of the New Year, it is not a bad thing for Shangguan, who is familiar with him, to move around more, dredge the joints in advance, and probe the wind.

What's more, who will do any job is not only related to the future of the family, but also closely related to the world of the Han Dynasty, so it is naturally worth laying out in advance.

In both public and private, they are more attentive.

In the past six or seven years, almost all the promotions, appointments and dismissals of Han officials have been handled by Huo Guang.

It seems that after discussing together at the small court meeting, it will be decided by the three dukes and the emperor together.

But in fact, it was just a formality: all the important appointments and dismissals were completed by Huo Guang in the General's Mansion.

Now, no one in the court has the same authority as Huo Guang, but it does not mean that the court has lost the center of power opposite to the Son of Heaven.

It's not that some people can't wait to become ministers, but at this time, the power of the Han Dynasty and the court's important ministers is already amazing.

At this time, the power of the Han Dynasty was divided into two, one side was the power of the prime minister, and the other side was the power of the monarch.

The two are mutually exclusive, fighting openly and secretly, sometimes the power of the opposite party is at the peak, and sometimes the monarch has the advantage.

Ruling the world with the Son of Heaven is the cognition engraved in the bones of many families and powerful families.

The prime minister is the head of a hundred officials, this is not an empty word.

When the Son of Heaven is virtuous, the prime minister can bring hundreds of officials to assist the Son of Heaven; When the Son of Heaven is mediocre, the prime minister can take hundreds of officials to restrain the Son of Heaven.

This is not only to protect their own strength, but to protect the interests of those big clans behind them.

Of course, starting with the First Emperor, successive emperors also regarded the prime minister as a threat.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for those emperors and monarchs in the original timeline to diligently abolish the prime minister, the "head of a hundred officials".

After Emperor Xiaowu, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty was worse day by day, but the nominal prime minister fell, but the actual prime minister was not broken.

For example, Huo Guang, who just died, such as Zhang Anshi and Bingji, who replaced him......

When Huo Guang was there, he became the spokesperson of the monarchy through the "Zhou Gong Cheng Wang Tu", and became the actual possessor of the power through the Great Sima General and the Lingshang Shushi.

One person alone holds two powers, so his power will be comparable to or even surpass the Son of Heaven.

And it is precisely because Huo Guang is powerful that the court of the Han Dynasty will be relatively peaceful.

Now that Huo Guang is gone, it is natural that new courtiers will stand up and restrain the monarch's power again.

……

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, just after the unitary hour, Guangluxun's back house, the study of Zhang Anshi, the great Sima general, was a little lively.

Under the lamp that had just been lit, there were three people talking, and from time to time they could hear a few hearty laughs, and the conversation seemed to be in full swing.

These three people are Zhang Anshi, Bingji and Liu De.

Tonight is Zhang Anshi's 45th birthday, and many guests were invited to the mansion to celebrate.

This kind of banquet held by courtiers is common in the first month, so it is not too dazzling.

After the banquet dispersed, Liu De and Bingji were "just rightly" left behind to taste the spring tea rewarded by the Son of Heaven together.

After a short time, I tasted a few spring teas that were not strong, and the tea that was brewed again was no different from white water.

The voices of several people gradually became quieter, but this did not mean that tonight's small gathering was over, on the contrary, it had just begun.

When Huo Guang was in power, these three people were very cautious, they did not have a strong sense of presence in the court, and even deliberately reduced their chances of being in the limelight.

But in the past few months, except for Liu De, who has not had too many opportunities to show his face, the other two are in the limelight and have become the two pillars of the court.

One is the Great Sima General and the Consul Shangshu, and the other is Guangluxun and the Consul General Shangshu - Huo Guang's two legs, and each of them took one.

Since he has become the pillar of the court, he naturally has to take responsibility and do his best to assist the Son of Heaven in governing the court.

But assisting the Son of Heaven to govern well, it is not to follow the Son of Heaven.

Rather, it is to advise when it is time to admonish, to speak when it is time to admonish, and to share worries when it is time to share worries.

"Gong Bing, Gong Liu, it will be the Lantern Festival in a few days, and the year after the Lantern Festival will be over, and I will be really busy." Zhang Anshi said indifferently.

"The second prince is the pillar of the court, so naturally he has to be busy, but I can still take a few days to relax." Liu De couldn't help laughing at himself.

The clan relatives failed to play too much role in the process of overthrowing Huo, and it was impossible to make great contributions, and it was normal for Liu De to be a little dissatisfied with the sect.

"Duke Liu can't say that, the county official calls you uncle, and few people can get this honor now." Bingji laughed.

"Exactly, Jiande was the first to know that the world was going to fall Huo, and in this study that day, he even forced me to swear allegiance, so I cut off the horn on this case." Zhang Anshi said with a smile.

"Eh, it was me Meng Lang at that time, looking back, it was really bloody, where did I think it would be so dangerous later." Liu De hurriedly waved his hand and said with a smile.

"Liu Gong don't have to worry about having nothing to do, the county officials are going to carry out a new policy this year, it is the time when there is a shortage of manpower, Liu Gong is the leader of the clan, how can he be absent?" Zhang Anshi said comfortingly.

"The county officials have the courage to change the law and implement a new policy, but I don't know whether this change is a blessing or a curse." Liu De naturally led the topic to the change, and sighed again.

"The county official has his own eloquence and strategy, and when he falls down, he can see that he has the demeanor of a wise gentleman, and he can see farther than us, and we just need to obey orders." Bingji said that he had always seen it that way.

"It's just that the county officials are in the condition of Emperor Xiaowu everywhere, and even reveal that they want to surpass Emperor Xiaowu, which is not necessarily a good thing," Liu De and Emperor Xiaowu are of the same generation, but they are much younger.

"Jiande is right, Emperor Xiaowu has his own eloquence and strategy, but the county officials lack experience in governance, and if they are too anxious, they will abandon their roots." Zhang Anshi poured out the last three cups of tea as he spoke.

"This is also reasonable, the county magistrate is too risky when dealing with the thief, and if he is still so reckless when changing the law, I am afraid it will be half the result." Bingji touched the teacup, but didn't pick it up and drink it.

In this way, the three of them were silent for a moment, they just exchanged eye contact, and some things had already been agreed.

They must work together to assist the Son of Heaven, so that the Son of Heaven can become a saint who surpasses Emperor Xiaowu, or become the appearance of the saint monarch in their hearts.

The Son of Heaven is ambitious, benevolent, virtuous, and intelligent...... He already has many of the qualities of a holy king.

But sometimes they act too risky and radical, not in line with the golden mean, and occasionally shocking the world, which seems crazy.

In the fierce court struggle, relying on the blessings of these qualities, it is also possible to achieve unexpected results.

But now that Huo Guang has finished fighting, the son of heaven should be more stable: how can he act as fiercely as a firecracker on the first day of the first lunar month.

"Since this is the case, then we should receive hundreds of officials from the court, fulfill the duties of a courtier, and often persuade the Son of Heaven." Zhang Anzhong finally picked up the teacup.

"This is the duty of a minister, and we naturally have an unshirkable responsibility, and we must advance and retreat together with Zhang Gong." Bingji and Liu De also picked up the teacups.

There was another silence, and the three of them immediately replaced the wine with tea and drank it all.

"We must also be cautious, and we must not repeat the mistake of the thief who arbitrarily exercised power......"

"Therefore, the top priority is to choose more followers who have both ability and political integrity, mediocrity and etiquette to assist the Son of Heaven, and never let the cool officials lead the Son of Heaven to the wrong path."

Bingji and Liu De naturally knew who the "cool officials" Zhang Anshi was talking about, and they all nodded immediately.

Then, Zhang Anshi took out a pen and paper from under the case, and wrote down the vacant official positions in the internal and external dynasties one by one.

Then, the three of them deliberated in a whisper as they filled in their names at the end of the official positions......

One of the three is the general of the Great Sima, the other is the general secretary of Guangluxun, and the other is the secretary of the Zongzheng Rite Department: they are very familiar with and familiar with the officials up and down the Han court.

They got together to discuss this matter in advance, which can be regarded as "taking precautions" for the Son of Heaven, which is very in line with the duty of courtiers.

This night, the lights in Zhang Anshi's study were on until late at night......

It wasn't until after the time that the three of them said goodbye at the door of Zhang's house with the satisfaction of loyal ministers.

They would never have imagined that times have changed and that they have done something wrong, and they are very wrong.

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(End of chapter)