Chapter 2 Xu Zhenguan
At noon, the sky cleared after the rain.
As the "day ban" was lifted, people in the capital came out of their homes, rows of shops opened, and the criss-crossing stone roads in the city were full of people.
The dormant city seemed to be wound up and regained its vitality.
"Drive! Drive!"
On Zhuque Street, a horse-drawn carriage rammed across the street, the sound of hooves thundering, causing pedestrians to scatter in fear, fearing to avoid it.
In the carriage, Zhao Duan leaned on the soft brocade cushions and looked at the antique city outside the fluttering curtains. He dismissed the last trace of doubt: "It's not The Truman World."
What supported his judgment was not only the sense of reality that hit him, but more importantly, the very different bodies, as well as the messy and damaged memories in his mind.
In his previous life, he worked hard as a topic writer in a small town, worked hard to survive, ate the royal rations, followed the secretarial path, and relied on luck to find the right person, so he rose through the ranks and became the envy of outsiders.
But underneath the glamorous appearance, he is cautious and cautious, walking on thin ice.
Coming from a lower class background, he did not have the confidence to squander his power, and he resigned himself to being a coward. In the end, he died suddenly due to staying up late and working overtime.
Unexpectedly, he opened his eyes and became a powerful official in ancient times, rising to the sky in one step.
…
As for his current identity, it is a bit subtle.
The Dayu Dynasty unified the Central Plains and established the country for a long time. The old emperor of the previous generation was ignorant and incompetent. After his death, his descendants fought among themselves, resulting in the so-called "Xuanmen Coup".
The winner, the Third Princess, is today's saint and a rare female emperor in ancient and modern times.
The original owner was originally a soldier of the imperial army. During the coup, he took advantage of the situation and bet on the empress. He was promoted and promoted. Because of his handsome appearance and good licking skills, he became more and more favored.
After the empress ascended the throne, she established the "White Horse Supervisor" to handle private affairs for her.
The original owner is among them, serving as the "messenger".
Because the White Horse Envoy worked for the saint, he was not under the jurisdiction of the six imperial offices. He could enter and leave the palace freely, and even temporarily mobilized a small group of forbidden troops, which gave him considerable power.
Among the many envoys, the original owner was highly regarded by the officials in the capital because he was rumored to be the "facial head" raised by the empress.
It is conceivable that once the soldiers of the Imperial Guard gain power, they will inevitably go wild.
In the past year since the original owner came to power, he has developed a domineering and arrogant character. He is sensual and unscrupulous. He lives a luxurious life. The people he interacts with are all high-ranking officials and powerful people. His behavior is shameful and he has made many enemies.
Very bad reputation.
A standard villain succeeds.
But it is not without its advantages.
The original owner knew that power originated from the empress, so he tried his best to please his superior.
After the "Xuanmen Coup", the gang members of the second prince fled and hid in the dark to deal with and confront the empress. Because they were a serious threat, they ordered the "Edict" similar to the Jin Yiwei in the capital to arrest the rebels.
In order to claim credit from the empress, the original owner secretly bribed informants in the imperial office and intercepted the information. A few days ago, he accidentally learned a clue:
A big figure from the rebel party is suspected to be hiding in the capital.
After investigation, something was indeed found. In order to grab the credit, the original owner ignored the imperial edict's plan of "taking a long time to catch the big fish" and urgently mobilized the imperial army to rob people.
This was the scene before.
As for the truth of the coup, the original owner had a good say as he had witnessed it. From what he saw, it was indeed the second prince who launched the coup, killing each other first and then the empress.
The old lady's rhetoric was a version of the story made up to slander the empress.
Zhao Duan didn't care about this, he only cared about his own situation.
Regarding the original owner's series of mysterious operations, he only had two words to evaluate:
"madness!"
"Although that Zhuang Xiaocheng is a liar with a dark heart, he is right about one thing. He is complacent and a villain in nature. Even if what happened today had not happened, 'I' would not have been rampant for much longer."
"This is not how temples work."
"It's okay if he is caught. However, he ran away, and the official was maliciously intercepted by 'me'. In order to show his innocence, the imperial office will definitely try its best to pin the blame on me..."
"I have offended so many people, so I will inevitably add insult to injury..."
Release the rebels privately!
If such a serious crime is committed, you will be finished!
This is a crime of decapitation.
Even if there is no evidence but just suspicion, he can no longer wear his official robe.
Considering the original villain's villainous character, once he loses his official status, he may be worse off than dead.
This is feudal ancient times, not a society ruled by law...
…
inside the carriage.
Cold sweat broke out on Zhao Duan's forehead, and chills ran down his spine. He thought hard about what to do: "Escape? No, I can't escape within the confines of the capital..."
"Family help? This dynasty's surname is not Zhao, but Xu, not to mention that the original owner did not die from a wealthy family..."
"Ask for help from the original owner's friends? Hehe, you're a cunning friend. Thank God if you don't stab him in the back."
"Selling out your sex appeal and using your status as a man's favorite and face to win the trust of the empress?"
This seemed to be the most reliable method, and it was also the reason why the official in black suggested that he enter the palace.
But Zhao Duan, who had obtained the memory of the original owner, knew that he had never touched the female emperor at all!
Even this year, the two met in private very few times.
At most it was a little ambiguous, or to be more precise, the original owner always felt that the empress was interested in him!
This is not wishful thinking. There are three pieces of evidence:
First, the original owner was handsome and the empress had commented and praised many times;
Secondly, the female emperor allowed the original owner to enter and leave the palace, and her attitude toward him was different from that of the other envoys from the White Horse Prison;
Third, and most importantly, the rumor that the male protagonist was the female emperor's face has been circulating for a year. The emperor's eyes and ears must have learned about it at the first opportunity.
But the partial-birth empress never denied it!
Instead, he responded with acquiescence!
This is worth pondering.
Because of this, the original owner had the capital to be arrogant: as a female emperor, how could she let the public gossip if she did not acquiesce? Insulting her innocence?
So, the male protagonist has always believed that the reason why the empress has not yet allowed him to sleep with her is that she is busy with official duties and is inspecting him.
This is also the motive behind his eagerness to perform meritorious service, trying to get to the dragon's bed as soon as possible.
However, Zhao Du An's soul came through and looked at the matter from his perspective, but he was keenly aware of the strangeness:
"No! There's something weird about this..."
I always feel it's not that simple.
But for a moment, he couldn't figure out the joint. He shook his head, exhaled and laughed at himself: "There are advantages, at least it is not easy to be exposed."
If the two of them really had a physical relationship, the empress would definitely realize that he was not "Zhao Duan".
That's fine too.
But how to break the situation?
At this time, the carriage suddenly slowed down, and the driver's voice came: "Sir, we are about to enter the imperial city!"
He can only adapt to circumstances... Zhao Duan cut off his thoughts, regained his composure, took out the token from his waist, threw it out of the carriage, and said to the gate guard: "I have something important to report to the saint, please let me go as soon as possible! "
…
…
The imperial palace is composed of two inner and outer cities nested inside each other. The carriage drove into the imperial city and could no longer move when it reached the gate of the palace.
Zhao Duan could only get out of the car and walk, led by a young eunuch, towards the "Heart Cultivation Hall" where the saint was.
Not long after, a group of palace attendants appeared at the end of the corridor supported by red painted wooden pillars.
"Stop, whoever is coming," an elderly palace maid saw the two approaching and said something to stop them:
"Your Majesty is discussing state affairs with the Prime Minister. No idlers are allowed in."
Zhao Duan's head suddenly relaxed, feeling relieved that the exam was postponed. He immediately imitated the original owner's tone and smiled at the eunuch who was leading the way:
"In that case, father-in-law, please go and get busy. I will just wait here."
In my memory, although the original owner was domineering, he was used to watching others order their food.
He is always very polite to the servants in the palace.
After sending the young eunuch away, Zhao Duan waited sideways in the corridor.
The remaining rainwater slid down along the tiles, and the sunlight splashed down, cutting dazzling golden lines diagonally on the ground.
He suddenly lowered his head and quickly searched for memories about "Xiangguo" in his mind.
His past life experience told him that any small matter related to leadership may hide important information. At this moment, he is like a drowning man and must seize every opportunity to overcome the disaster.
Not long after, he found the information he needed:
Li Yanfu, Prime Minister of Yu Dynasty, was the most powerful official in the late emperor's period. He once served as the chief minister of the cabinet. He had great power in both the government and the public, and he was a gloomy and scheming man.
After the empress ascended the throne, in order to strengthen the imperial power and dissolve the cabinet, Li Yanfu was severely weakened. However, he was still the de facto "imperial prime minister" and the leader of the "Li Party", which was mainly composed of Jiangnan nobles.
He has controlled the temple for many years, and his forces are intertwined.
The Qingliu Party and the "Qingliu Party" headed by Yuan Li, the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, are two major forces that check and balance each other in the court today.
In later generations, he is a big shot who can only be heard on the news network...
Zhao Duan was in a trance for a moment, feeling as if an ant had stepped into the Tiger Mountain, which was unreal.
He took a deep breath, raised his gaze, and made a gesture to the elder palace maid to go aside to talk.
"Is there something wrong with Ambassador Zhao?"
The elder palace maid was no stranger to him. The two of them walked a few steps away and asked calmly.
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"It's nothing important. I'm just curious as to why the Prime Minister was in such a hurry. Not long after the heavy rain stopped, he came into the palace. Could something big have happened?"
The elder palace maid glanced at him: "How could our servants know?"
Zhao Duan handed out a roll of banknotes in his sleeve with smooth movements:
"Sister, I only pick what I can talk about. Just give me a few pointers."
The elder palace maid glanced at him in surprise, suddenly smiled and said:
"It's not a secret. I'll know it with a little inquiry through your connections... Do you know about the change of Huai River from rice to mulberry?"
I don't know... Zhao Duan's face was expressionless. The original owner, a idiot, only knew who could be bullied and who could not be offended. He had no idea about political affairs.
A waste.
"Please tell me, sister." Zhao Duan asked shamelessly.
"..." The palace maid had to simply explain. It turned out that when the late emperor was in power, the treasury was already empty. After the coup, the deficit was serious after the empress took over.
In order to ease finances, the group headed by Li Yanfu pushed for some rice fields in the Huai River area in the south of the Yangtze River to be converted into mulberry fields to promote the silk trade. However, in their eagerness for success, some acres of the fields were destroyed and almost provoked a civil uprising.
"His Majesty was furious when he heard about it. All the adults in the court have been arguing about this these days. The Prime Minister entered the palace today, so he may have a solution."
After the palace maid finished speaking, she turned around and returned to her original position. Zhao Du felt relieved, knowing that the other party would not say anything more, so he shut up and lowered his head and waited.
…
The palace is filled with flowers, but the atmosphere is depressing and deep.
Just when Zhao Duan's legs were feeling sore from standing, the closed door at the end of the corridor was pushed open.
Then, an old man with a fierce appearance, wearing a crimson official robe and a black veil on his head, with sideburns like a hedgehog's skin, eyebrows like purple stone ridges, and a fierce appearance walked up.
The palace envoys lined up on the left and right to give way.
Zhao Duan stood sideways in the corridor, raised his hands and saluted: "Prime Minister, go slowly."
The majestic old man kept his eyes straight, as if he had never seen him before, and strode away.
The palace people around him sneered secretly, and the entire capital knew that among the real elite circles, they all despised and ridiculed the pretty boys like Zhao Duan who used sex to serve others.
As the Prime Minister, even one more glance at him would be regarded as self-degradation.
The empress' face?
It may seem like a beautiful sight, but in the eyes of real big shots, he is no better than a courtesan in a brothel. He is just an ordinary citizen. He looks in awe on the surface, but secretly spits on her.
Zhao Duan felt even more deeply that the original owner was disgusted with ghosts.
Facing the meaningful gazes of everyone, he looked as usual, not dissatisfied:
What does the shame of the original owner have to do with me?
The elder palace maid then went to report. After a while, Fang Fu returned:
"Your Majesty allows you to have an audience."
"Thank you for passing on the message." Zhao Duan took a deep breath and walked forward across the crowd.
What is supposed to come will eventually come.
He silently recalled the behavior and habits of the original owner, one step, two steps, three steps... After taking seven steps, the whole person's demeanor, behavior and movements were the same as the original owner.
Politicians are born actors.
At this moment, Zhao Duan showed his acting skills to the fullest.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Raise your hand and knock on the door.
A cold voice came from inside the tightly closed vermilion carved double wooden doors:
"Enter."
Zhao Duan pushed open the heavy door with both hands, and the sunlight bypassed his body and spread across the threshold, igniting the spacious room. The floor was covered with precious carpets from the Western Regions as tribute.
Inside the priceless archaeological shelf, a nearly transparent porcelain vase with two ears and dragon pattern fired from the royal official kiln shines brightly.
On a large desk, old pens are piled up like a mountain, and the black water in the white inkstone has dried up.
A woman wearing white uniform was reviewing the memorial beside the case.
She is about twenty-eighty-nine years old, with cold eyebrows and black hair hanging down like a waterfall. Because of her bowed posture, only half of her face is visible, and she is already extremely beautiful. She does not have any gold or silver jewelry on her body, but she gives off a graceful and elegant look. magnanimity.
While he was concentrating, his cuffs slipped down, revealing a white, jade-like wrist, with slender fingers like green onions, holding a thick golden-haired wolf hair with standard fingering techniques.
Empress of Dayu, Xu Zhenguan!
The moment Zhao Duan saw the empress, his brain was temporarily absent-minded. In a trance, he seemed to recall the Xuanmen coup in the past, the day when the palace city was covered with heavy snow.
At that time, the young imperial guards who were in the chaos looked at the palace gate from a distance, and the three princesses they caught a glimpse of were all dressed up:
Wearing a phoenix crown on her head, a bright red harem, gold and jade hanging on the outside, she was riding in the wind and snow as if she were attending a wedding. A jade dragon sword in his hand swept across, thousands of troops were able to overcome difficulties, and he was noble and majestic.
The blood is surging, the heart beats like a drum...
Zhao Duan bit the tip of his tongue, forced himself to lower his gaze, and cursed in his heart, why did he end up like this after being influenced by Dou Yin Yuemei countless times?
I immediately realized that it was probably the remaining instinct of the original owner that was causing trouble.
The original little imperial army was not betting on taking sides at all. The reason why they took refuge in the third emperor's daughter was purely because of her beauty and lust.
This pretty boy is greedy and despicable!
While Zhao Duan was criticizing himself, the empress beside the case did not even raise her head and said calmly:
"Grinding ink."
"yes!"
Zhao Duan was slightly surprised, but he still went around to the case to polish the ink for the female emperor.
As the distance is shortened, a quiet fragrance lingers on the nose, which makes people feel uneasy.
The two monarchs and ministers, one reviewing, the other polishing ink, the only sound in the room was the rustling of paper.
…
a long time.
Xu Zhenguan suddenly said without raising his head: "The Prime Minister came to see me just now. Do you know the reason?"
Her voice is quite textured and slightly magnetic, reminding Zhao Duan of his previous life as a voice actor.
Zhao Duan paused while grinding the ink, and said as usual: "I dare to ask, I know a thing or two. Does the Prime Minister seem to have a good idea for changing rice?"
Relying on his past life experience, he realized in a flash that the elder palace maid might have truthfully reported her "bribery" to the empress.
At this time, it is never advisable to act stupid and answer honestly is the correct operation.
Xu Zhenguan said "yes" and seemed quite satisfied with his answer. But after hearing the second half of the sentence, he said with a little emotion:
"The Prime Minister came to see me and said that there is a talented person in the Hanlin Academy who offers a strategy that can solve the problem of the destruction of farmland in Huai River."
"Is there a way to break the situation? I wonder what method it is?" Zhao Duan pretended to be curious.
Xu Zhenguan let out a faint "ha", and uttered eight words with unclear meaning:
"Reform and provide relief at the same time, the dilemma is solved."
Reform and provide relief at the same time!
Thanks to his well-informed experience as a great secret when he was eating royal food in his previous life, and his experience in watching historical dramas in costumes, Zhao Duan easily understood the meaning of this sentence.
The current situation is roughly as follows:
The imperial court tried to promote the conversion of rice to mulberry, but there were problems with the implementation, resulting in a large number of disaster victims.
A certain scholar in the Hanlin Academy believed that the victims of the disaster were starved of food and could ask the local gentry to purchase the destroyed acres with grain.
In this way, the victims will have food, and the wealthy gentry can cooperate with the government to promote reform, killing two birds with one stone, which is the so-called self-resolution of the dilemma.
It suddenly sounded like a clever plan that killed two birds with one stone. However, in Zhao Duan's eyes, it was purely a trick that could only come up with a brain...
Will the dignified Prime Minister not notice the problem with this method?
He never dared to underestimate the wisdom of the ancients, so why did Li Yanfu come to perform?
Is it the lesser of two evils? Or should I say...
Suddenly, Zhao Duan remembered a detail:
The "Li Party" to which Li Yanfu belonged was a Jiangnan gentry group, and Huai River was located on the border of Jiangnan. If the local gentry benefited, the "Li Party" would benefit.
Moreover, after Xu Zhenguan succeeded to the throne, he continued to suppress the "Li Party".
It’s a bit interesting.
Did the Empress see this? uncertain.
But don't waste this opportunity to show your loyalty and gain favor.
"Your Majesty, this method... may not be appropriate." Zhao Duan thought carefully before speaking.
Xu Zhenguan kept moving while reviewing the memorial, and said "Oh?" casually.
Zhao Duan said:
"Changing rice to mulberry is a good strategy. If it is implemented slowly and over a period of three to five years, it may not be impossible. The current situation has led to a difficult situation. If we use both reform and relief, the situation will only get worse."
He organized his words slightly and continued:
"Just imagine, if the wealthy gentry provides relief, at what price should the land be purchased? If it is based on the market price, not only will the local wealthy households be unable to swallow it and it will be unprofitable, but the victims will only need to sell a few acres of land to survive. In this way, the rice It’s still difficult to implement Wei Sang.”
“If the land is purchased at a low price, the wealthy gentry will naturally applaud it, but the victims will be starved of food and have no way out, which will inevitably trigger a civil uprising... In this way, the court will be in a dilemma. Where can we start to solve the dilemma? "
His words were spoken in an understatement, like casual conversation.
However, when it fell on Xu Zhenguan's ears, the hands of the empress who had ascended to the throne as a woman while reviewing the memorial suddenly stopped!
Immediately.
The empress in white who had been looking down from beginning to end slowly raised her head and turned her head sideways, revealing her complete appearance.
Her plain white face was as smooth as ice crystals, with no flaws, her nose was straight, her lips were plump, her eyelashes were as thick as brushes, and at this moment, her beautiful eyes were majestic with a hint of surprise.
I was extremely surprised.
In her impression, in this rumor in the capital, the little guard who is the favorite of her male friends has always been a "flower vase".
Rather than talking about government affairs just now, there was no other meaning. I was just upset and wanted to talk to someone to talk to. I didn't expect the other party to respond at all.
But what the other party said was nothing new, but it was coming from "Zhao Duan"'s mouth, which was enough to surprise her.
This kind of insight and keenness in criticizing the current ills is at least... better than that Hanlin.
"Is this your own idea?" Xu Zhenguan stared with beautiful eyes.
Zhao Duan was neither humble nor arrogant: "The humble minister is not as knowledgeable as the princes in the court, but I am just bold enough to say it."
This behavior and demeanor are slightly different from the past.
Zhao Duan was betting. He guessed that the empress didn't know about the old master's escape, so he had to do his best to show his worth.
Improve goodwill.
After all, a single thought from the Empress could affect his life or death.
If he could survive this disaster through licking, he wouldn't mind changing his name to Boiling Sheep.
Xu Zhenguan lowered her eyes and stared at him, as if trying to distinguish the truth from the false. After a moment, she asked with a smile: "Then from Yiyou's point of view, how should we interpret it?"
Zhao Duan said frankly: "There is no solution."
The most arrogant thing about people is that they always think that every problem has a solution. However, throughout ancient and modern times, most problems have no solution.
Of course, Zhao Duan also wanted to propose a solution and exempt himself from culpability through meritorious service, but that was not realistic.
Xu Zhenguan was not surprised. He just looked at the "guard" with handsome appearance and sharp features, and became more and more interested: "I thought you would answer, asking me to ask the Heavenly Master, Or the abbot of Xuanyin can use heaven-reaching magic to break this situation."
Heavenly Master? Xuan Yin?
Zhao Duan vaguely learned from the memory of the original owner that these two names seemed to be immortal figures on land in the capital city and even in the entire Dayu territory.
It's a pity that although the original owner has martial arts, he is still far away from the realm of Xuanmen. To him, warlocks are existences in another world.
Can the magic solve it... Zhao Duan's head was filled with curiosity, but after catching a glimpse of the empress's expression, the skill of "guessing her mind" in her previous life took effect again.
Blessed to the soul, the original text of the "Tao Te Ching" came to mind, and he blurted out: "To govern a big country, if you cook small delicacies and spread the world with Tao, you will be like a ghost but not a god."
Bah!
A drop of ink splashed onto the paper from the end of the thick golden wolf hair in Xu Zhenguan's hand. The empress' phoenix eyes narrowed with a strange color, and her gaze towards Zhao Duan was truly different.
(End of chapter)