Chapter 419 Official announcement of the emperor’s husband, promotion to third rank (5k)
In Fengtian Hall, as the empress spoke, the entire banquet hall fell into a tense atmosphere.
Xu Zhenguan stretched out his hand, and Mo Chou, who was beside him, understood and handed a letter to the empress.
Then, the female emperor on the throne looked down, pinched the edge of the memorial with her fingers, and said:
"This is the information that Feng Ju, the doctor from Huting, sent back to the capital a few days ago. It was before and after the opening of the new market. In the past few months, the imperial court has relied on the new market to obtain a considerable amount of silver, and this is just the beginning.< br>
According to the payment submitted by Feng Ju, the first batch of converted silver sent from Huting will be at least one million taels at the latest in spring. And after spring, this number will increase as trade with the Western Region countries expands. ”
Hiss...
Hearing this, except for a few insiders such as the Minister of Revenue, the Minister, and Dong Xuan, all the other ministers in the palace looked surprised.
Including Li Yanfu, everyone's breathing was tight.
This speed of making money is much higher than what the court had previously predicted.
Of course, the most important thing is that this means that the "market opening" strategy has been a great success. After the fiscal deficit crisis of the imperial court, it finally found hope to get out of the quagmire and get out of the embarrassment.
"This one," the empress picked up the second memorial, without opening it, and said:
"This is the initial result after the Ministry of Personnel switched to the examination method. The entire dynasty only eliminated redundant officials, and the salary savings saved are already staggering."
After open source, it’s time to reduce expenditure.
Li Yanfu, who is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, knows this best, which is not surprising.
The empress still did not stop, but picked up the remaining folds one after another, which were all positive signals related to the New Deal.
Zhao Duan was greatly surprised when he learned that Feng Ju was not the only local official to deliver good news as a gift to the empress during the Spring Festival.
Wait for the empress to finish talking one by one.
The Minister of Rites took the lead and suddenly raised his hands and shouted:
"Your Majesty is wise, God bless the country of Yu!"
The other ministers were just waking up from a dream, and they all flattered and congratulated him.
It is obvious that these few envelopes in the hands of the empress have greatly boosted the "morale" of the ministers.
In the past two or three years, the entire imperial court has been in turmoil, with many bad things happening and few good things happening.
Now the hardships have finally come to an end, the empty treasury has been filled, the court has a steady stream of coin-making machines, the administration has been cleaned up, and the vacant official positions have given opportunities for promotion to the scholars and local officials who were waiting for food.
If coupled with the news that Cao Mao was discharged and returned to his fields a few days ago, and joined forces with Tang Guogong, it can be said that the news is booming, which means that the atmosphere of the Yu Kingdom is steaming and everything is renewed in the spring.
The ministers in the palace could not hide their emotions. If they had been officials in the court before, they would have been very pessimistic about how many years the empress would be able to maintain her position.
But now, his attitude has changed, and he sincerely supports and recognizes the idea of recognizing this female emperor's rule.
Xu Zhenguan threw the zhezi on the table and waited for the ministers to finish their congratulations before saying slowly:
"The many changes that have occurred in the imperial court are not all due to me, but are the result of the collective efforts of everyone in the imperial court. Among all the ministers, who surprises me the most, it is undoubtedly Zhao Qing."
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Brush——
In an instant, lines of sight were like spotlights, shining on the confused Zhao Duan.
No, what do you want to do? Shouldn't you give it a break in advance when praising someone at the company's annual meeting? I didn't even prepare an acceptance speech... Zhao Duan slandered, but he still stood up and handed over his hand, saying what he wanted to say.
"Zhao Qing doesn't need to speak,"
The empress glanced at him, blocked him again, and continued to sigh:
"Zhao Qing's contribution to the New Deal was first to provide advice in the Xiuwen Museum, and then to the Taicang Silver Mine case and the opening of the Huting market. For this reason, he was assassinated and seriously injured...
Zhao Qing's achievements are still in rooting out the rebels in the capital, uncovering the traitors in the imperial office, and arresting the rebels in Kuangfu Society and Tiangang...
Zhao Qing's achievements are also promoting the prestige of our country, Zhengyang theory, debating scriptures in the Western Regions, promoting the power of the heaven of our country of Yu, and intimidating the four barbarians..."
Gee, it’s starting to look more and more like an annual meeting report. If you use a projector to play a promotional video with music at this time, it would be more appropriate... So, is it time to award awards next...
Zhao Duan was thinking wildly and finally realized that Zhenbao had prepared a surprise for him.
Sure enough, after the empress finished speaking, she paused and then announced:
"Without a reward for these many achievements, it is not enough to convince the public. Therefore, I am now entrusting Zhao Duan, the commander of the Shenji Battalion, with the title of 'Prince Shaobao'. Do you have any objections?"
Added Shaobao!
Even though the officials were mentally prepared, they still couldn't hide their surprise when they heard the reward.
Zhao Duan was also stunned.
Prince Shaobao! ?
Of course he knew that this official position was not an official with real power, but rather an honorary title and enjoyed the same treatment.
Throughout the dynasties, important ministers with meritorious deeds would be awarded the titles of "Three Masters" and "Three Young Masters".
Zhuang Xiaocheng's Taifu... belongs to the ranks of the "Third Masters of the Prince" and is highly respected and is the second rank.
After the empress succeeded to the throne, Dong Xuan was promoted to the rank of Imperial Master.
The "Prince's Three Young Masters", that is, the Young Master, the Young Master, and the Young Master... are the "deputies" of the Third Master, and Yu Guo is determined to be in the third rank.
In other words, Zhao Duan was directly promoted from a temporary fourth-grade military general to a full third-grade general.
Although it seems to only cross two levels, it is like a natural chasm.
As for why the title of "Shaobao" was granted, it is easy to understand. According to the rules, both the young master and the young master must be powerful ministers.
Only the minimum minimum guarantee threshold is loose and suitable for him.
But...
Compared with the matter of being granted a third-grade title, what really confused all the court officials, including Zhao Duan, was:
"Prince Shaobao... But now there is no prince in Yu State..."
After the old emperor died, the original prince died, and after the empress ascended the throne, the East Palace was left empty.
The empress, not to mention her son, doesn't even have an official emperor's consort... What kind of son is the prince Shaobao?
"No... I'm happy to be treated as a third-grade official, but let's just say that the prince is nowhere to be seen. Who will I 'protect'..."
Zhao Duan was full of flaws.
Immediately, he suddenly realized something: At this time, Zhenbao appointed himself as the crown prince's young protector. Does it have any other meaning?
For example...
Official announcement?
You know, his face has never been publicly recognized...
"Zhao Qing? What are you doing standing still? Why don't you come over to receive the order?" Xu Zhenguan suddenly looked at him with a smile and raised the yellow imperial edict in his hand.
Zhao Duan was excited, stepped out of the queue, and walked closer in front of everyone:
"My Lord, please accept the order and thank me!"
He raised his hands, but instead of receiving the imperial edict, he touched a smooth and delicate hand.
"Give me a seat." The empress said, pulling Zhao Duan to sit next to her under Mochou's extremely resentful gaze.
The throne is very large, even for two people.
And when this scene fell into the eyes of the officials, no matter how slow they were, they all realized the message conveyed by the empress.
Official announcement!
Official announcement of the royal husband!
This move undoubtedly made the identity of the two clear to the entire court and even the world.
It is no longer a despicable figure like a "male favorite" who is completely invisible, has no status and can be discarded at any time.
Instead, he went a step further and obtained the status of a potential royal husband.
Even though the empress did not explicitly mention the word "imperial husband", the act of "sharing the throne" was already beyond the standards expected of a handsome man.
This also means that after today, Zhao Duan's status will be elevated again and he will become a pillar-level member of the "Imperial Party".
The ministers were shocked, and there was a slight commotion in the Fengtian Palace.
Dong Xuan, Ma Yan and other imperial party officials smiled. This was no surprise. After more than half a year, no one questioned whether Zhao Duan had this qualification.
Yuan Li and other officials from the Qing Dynasty expressed emotion on their faces, knowing that if the empress really took the throne in the future, and if nothing unexpected happened on the way, and gave birth to a real prince in the future... the Zhao family would definitely be promoted to the top family in the empire.
Of course - the premise is that the empress can win the game with the Eight Kings and secure her position, otherwise everything will be an illusion.
As for Li Yanfu, who was left standing aside, the beard on his face was trembling slightly, and he already understood what the empress meant.
The empress was using actions to respond to his impeachment just now.
"Prime Minister," Xu Zhenguan waited for the commotion in the palace to subside, then finally looked at Li Yanfu who was standing in the palace again, and said calmly: "Are you satisfied with my answer?"
Li Yanfu said nothing.
He looked bitter and wanted to sit down.
Since the empress has made it clear that she wants to protect her, there is no point in holding on to her.
Moreover, Li Yanfu also knew that even without the drama of sealing him, with Zhao Duan's current status, a single charge of letting Zhuang Xiaocheng go would not kill him.
"Your Majesty," but at this moment, Zhao Duan suddenly spoke.
He smiled, shook his head gently, and patted the empress' smooth and delicate back with his hand under the table.
Then, under Xu Zhenguan's confused eyes, he stood up and said to Li Yanfu:
"I accept what the Prime Minister impeached before. In fact, I originally planned to settle this matter before the end of the year, but I was seriously injured by a ghusl monk in an accident and spent two months recuperating. Your Majesty was merciful and granted me grace until the end of the year... Now the extent of my injury is I am about to recover, and you are all here today.”
He stretched out three fingers, raised the corners of his mouth, and said loudly:
"Within three months, I will capture Zhuang Xiaocheng and bring him to justice. If I fail to do so by then, I am willing to accept the punishment!"
Li Yanfu suddenly raised his head with a shocked expression.
Xu Zhenguan was also stunned, looking at him with complicated eyes.
The officials in the palace were moved. For a moment, they were both shocked by Zhao Duan's majesty and at the same time confused as to why he insisted on issuing a military order.
"Okay. With Zhao Shaobao's words here, we will wait and see." Li Yanfu hit the snake with a stick, and the two agreed.
When Xu Zhenguan saw this, he couldn't say anything.
Zhao Duan, however, seemed to be fine. He smiled lightly and looked at the musicians and dancers in the palace to lighten the atmosphere:
"What are you doing here? Tonight is New Year's Eve. If you don't get drunk, let's continue playing music and dancing!"
The ministers came to their senses and smiled cooperatively.
The music, singing and dancing started again, and the entire banquet continued.
…………
The banquet lasted for another half an hour and finally came to an end.
The night is already dark, and there is no curfew in the city tonight. The lanterns will be on until midnight. The officials have left the palace to reunite with their families.
However, the empress took Zhao Duan, and the monarch and his ministers walked alone outside the Meridian Gate, near the Imperial City.
Along the steps, we walked to the female wall of the imperial city. Standing on the high city top, the huge lantern looked like a crimson moon.
Daughters of the powerful gathered to play near the large lanterns. Looking past the giant lanterns and heading south along the city gate, they saw the spacious and straight Suzaku Street.
On both sides of the street, lights were like a sea, and tourists were everywhere. Fireworks and firecrackers were rising from all directions in the capital, turning the dark, cloudless, star-studded night sky into oil painting-like colors.
Zhao Duan stood on the wall with his hands behind his hands. Next to him was Empress Dayu, who had taken off her dragon robe and crown and returned to her white clothes and black silk stockings.
The two stood side by side, and the nearby guards stayed away in tacit agreement.
"Why did you make an appointment with Li Yanfu in March?" Xu Zhen looked at the sea of lights in the distance and asked softly.
Tonight, according to the weather priest of Tianshi Mansion, there was no cold wind or dark clouds in the entire capital.
The moonlight shines on her face, and her bright moon-like appearance is even better than the bright moon in the sky.
"It is difficult to establish prestige, but it is easy to destroy it. Not long ago, His Majesty took advantage of Cao Mao's case to establish his image as a wise king. If you forcefully protect me, a notorious and notorious sycophant, at this joint, it will easily be used to make a big fuss. The image that was finally reversed fell short once again.”
Zhao Duan also looked at the flaming light market in the city and said softly.
Xu Zhenguan was startled. She turned her head and looked at Zhao Shaobao's resolute profile.
In the darkness, her eyes were bright, containing indescribable emotions:
"You...how sure are you?"
Zhao Duan turned his head, smiled slightly, and said, "Is your Majesty worried about me?"
Xu Zhenguan turned his head to avoid his burning gaze:
"I'm just worried that your tongue will flash out in the wind. In the end, I will have to wipe your butt."
Zhao Duan smiled and said: "How can I be a person who has no confidence and acts recklessly?"
Xu Zhenguan turned around and looked at him in surprise: "Do you have an idea?"
"Well," Zhao Duan became serious and said:
"I have long wanted to settle the feud with Zhuang Xiaocheng personally. I originally planned to do it after the year. I had already arranged for prisoners to be exchanged with Kuangfu Society, and it has been a long time since those prisoners returned to Kuangfu Society.
Earlier, the spy named Wu Ling who was sent back by me earlier also sent back a piece of key information a few days ago. Combined with the information from other shadow guards to confirm each other, I have locked the approximate location of Kuangfu Society's chief helm. Zhuang Xiaocheng should be sitting here. ”
"Where?"
"Binhai Road, Fengcheng. Not far from the junction with Linfeng Road, it is under the jurisdiction of one of the two Binhai Road prefectures."
The empress was stunned for a moment and raised her eyebrows:
"Is Zhuang Xiaocheng actually hiding on Binhai Road?"
This was beyond her expectation. Over the past two years, Shadow Guards had conducted numerous investigations, but had never been able to locate the headquarters of Kuangfu Society.
Zhao Duan said:
"I am planning to wait until the end of this year to prepare manpower to arrest this thief. As long as the leader Zhuang Xiaocheng is arrested, the entire Kuangfu Society will be torn apart. Even if they can't catch them all for a while, without the center, they will only be a group of incompetent people. Concerned bandits ”
Xu Zhenguan breathed slightly and said, "How many troops and horses do you need?"
Zhao Duan shook his head and said:
"This matter should not be done with a big fanfare or to alert the enemy. I can just arrive quietly with some experts. I only ask for a troop deployment order from your majesty. When I get there, I can mobilize the officers and soldiers of the Binhai Road military government to cooperate."
"Accurate!"
Xu Zhenguan did not hesitate, paused, and suddenly turned his palm over, and there was a piece of soft armor in his palm:
"The Six Talisman Armor was damaged by ghust last time. Now it has been repaired and is about to be returned to you."
Zhao Duan hurriedly took it and put it into the space scroll. This treasure armor saved half his life in the first place, it was really useful.
Xu Zhenguan turned her white palm over again and handed over an earthy yellow orb:
"There are no extra teleportation jade pendants in the palace. This teleportation orb is given to you. Although you cannot return to the capital, if you are in danger of being defeated, you can crush it and escape thousands of miles at random, and you can also save your life."
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What a good thing... Zhao Duan's eyes lit up, and his confidence in saving his life was once again strengthened.
Coupled with the strange things in his hands such as the Black Turtle Seal and the Buddhist Green Lotus, as well as Pei Niannu who can find a way to cheat him in extreme situations... it is extremely difficult to kill based on the means alone.
However, it would be too difficult for him to capture Zhuang Xiaocheng. In addition to mobilizing troops, several worldly realm masters must also be summoned.
But this time he didn't plan to invite Eunuch Hai again, but had another goal.
This is one of the reasons why he still needs to wait in the capital for a while.
"Your Majesty?"
In the quiet atmosphere on top of the city, after the monarch and his ministers were silent for a moment, Zhao Duan spoke again.
"Huh?"
"Speaking of which, the two of us..."
"Stop thinking so wildly! Why don't you go back to spend time with your family?"
"I told my family that there is no need to hold the door open for me tonight..." Zhao Duan said with a playful smile, suddenly sensing something, he turned his head and looked in the direction of Tianshi Mansion.
Xu Zhenguan took a step earlier and looked at the Tianshi Mansion.
……
……
Tianshi Mansion.
Tonight was equally lively, with the old Celestial Master Zhang Yanyi making a rare appearance and gathering with many priests.
However, the two Zhudian boys of this generation were never present.
As the banquet came to an end, Zhang Yanyi, who was sitting at the main seat, tall and narrow-eyed, suddenly raised his eyebrows and smiled:
"Double happiness."
Next to him, the "Little Heavenly Master" with a naturally fierce appearance was drinking from a large bowl. When he heard this, his eyes lit up and he said in surprise:
"Master, could it be that they are two junior brothers and junior sisters..."
Zhang Yanyi nodded slightly.
A few priests present also noticed it.
After a while, two people walked hand in hand outside the palace. They were the petite and mysterious girl Jin Jian and the short, fat and slovenly Gongshu Tianyuan.
The two of them were radiant, and there was a mysterious aura flowing from their bodies as they walked. It was vaguely visible that there were very faint illusory gods floating behind them.
"Disciple pays homage to the master," Gongshu Tianyuan and the golden slips bowed their heads in unison, "disciple has entered the realm of the world."
All the priests were greatly surprised. They all knew that the two were sprinting to break through the realm, but they did not expect that they would be promoted at the same time tonight.
"Congratulations to the Tianshi Mansion for adding another world." A famous priest stood up to celebrate.
Zhang Yan smiled and said with emotion in his eyes:
"Now that I have entered the worldly realm, I will plan to travel and hone my spiritual practice after the new year. Do you have any ideas?"
Senior Brother Zhong Pan said with a smile: "If you don't know where you are going, you can come with me."
Jin Jian and Gongshu Tianyuan looked at each other, shook their heads and said in unison:
"The disciples have gone somewhere."
……
Same New Year's Eve.
The road was built in the palace of Prince Jing.
Just after a family banquet ended, Prince Jing came to the study alone, fed himself a sobering pill, and closed his eyes for a moment.
He opened it again and looked at the spy leader waiting in the room: "Tell me."
The Royal Secret Service:
"It has been confirmed that the Governor of Water Transport has written that after the year, the court will gradually appoint new officials to replace the vacancies in order to implement the New Deal."
Prince Jing sneered:
"My niece is getting more and more courageous. Fortunately, she succeeded in opening the Huting market and solved the urgent need of the treasury. She is impatient and wants to take drastic measures to extend her hand to my territory."
The spy hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, the new policy has made all families very dissatisfied. Can you use their help to evacuate the appointed officials?"
Prince Jing shook his head, thought for a moment, and said:
"Inappropriate. After all, the officials and the people are different. Wasn't the Governor of Water Transport an empty post at the time? What about now? I will think about this again and maybe try to 'resurrection'. Hmm, my niece wants to promote a new official to check and balance me. , but what if the officials she promotes are also my own?”
That's true, but if you want to make it happen, you still need to make careful arrangements.
After a pause, he wrote a note and handed it to the latter: "Go ahead."
"Yes."
The latter resigned.
When they left, there were footsteps outside the door, and the study door opened, revealing the gentle face of Princess Jing Lu Yan'er.
"Why are you here?" Prince Jing asked in surprise.
Princess Jing's expression remained normal, and she spread her hands to ask for the healing elixir, indicating that she had finished eating the previous ones.
King Jing did not doubt that he was there.
After a while, the princess turned and left. She was walking in the palace, listening to the sound of firecrackers in the distance, holding the porcelain bottle of elixir in her hand, and thinking about what she had just overheard.
"Wait a little longer. After we figure out the movement, we will report to Mr. Zhao."
……
Binhai Road, the area under the jurisdiction of Fengcheng.
In a certain manor, members of the Kuangfu Society also gathered together for a rare occasion.
Under the eaves of a certain house, Yun Xi hugged her knees and sat on the cold steps, looking at the moon in the sky.
Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from behind:
"Yun Xi? Taifu asked you to come over."
……
Typos should be corrected first
Thanks to Kenshin Kyoto Fire for the 100-coin reward
(End of chapter)