Xiao Ruxun's return to the capital was no small matter. At least for now, it had become a major event that the entire capital was paying attention to. With Xiao Ruxun's return, there were many important matters that needed to be taken care of.
For example, the offering ceremony at the Meridian Gate, the conferment ceremony for meritorious soldiers, the conferment ceremony for several major generals, and the most important ceremony for Xiao Ruxun to be conferred the title of Duke of Qin. Of course, there were even more things that needed to be prepared to reward the army.
According to Xiao Ruxun's report, around ten thousand meritorious soldiers had been brought back to the capital to be rewarded, and each of them had performed at least five levels of meritorious service. The rest had not been allowed to come, so just this alone was a huge expense.
The Imperial Court had been in a state of turmoil for several days. Fortunately, the shitstirrers had all been wiped out by the Shen Li incident, and the Jingcha storm had entered its second phase after Shen Li's downfall. The first phase of capturing people had basically been completed, so most of the manpower had been saved.
At present, Shen Yicheng's decrees were unimpeded, and many of the details of the ceremony had been assigned.
Who was responsible for what, who was responsible for what, who was responsible for what, who was responsible for what, who was responsible for what, what level of ceremony to prepare, which things needed to be used, and even some things that had been sealed in the storerooms for a long time had to be fished out, shaken clean, and put to use again.
Many officials of the Bureau of Rites were complaining.
The things that they thought would never be used were actually dug out again. There were layers and layers of dust. Not many of the things that were found could be used, and many of them were broken. They had to repair and replenish them, which made these masters who lived like princes and princes on normal days very tired.
The Bureau of Rites had always been a low-paid government office, and it had no sense of existence until the year of the imperial examinations. Of course, there was nothing much to do, and they would usually conduct official activities such as sacrificial ceremonies. When they had nothing to do, they would sit in their offices and drink tea. Now that a wave of major events had suddenly occurred, they were not used to it.
However, Shen Yicheng's decrees came one after another, making them dizzy.
The previous Minister of the Ministry of Rites had just been removed by Shen Yichuan, and the new Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Zhu Geng, was from the same hometown as Shen Yichuan. Although Zhu Geng had yet to take office, seeing that Shen Yichuan was about to take charge of the Ministry of Rites, no one wanted to offend Shen Yichuan at this juncture and be removed.
It was not good to be hated by Shen Yicheng. At least for now, before Shen Yicheng officially became the Cabinet Chief, everyone had already seen Shen Yicheng's means.
An assistant minister and a minister were killed by Shen Yicheng at the same time, which made the officials of the six ministries, who were used to bullying Zhao Zhigao, tremble with fear.
Zhao Zhigao was a pushover, and anyone could bully him. In any case, he did not have much power, and he was an honest person. Bullying honest people was one of the joys of life. However, after Shen Yicheng came to power, this situation would change.
So the officials of the six ministries, who were used to the relaxed life of Zhao Zhigao, sighed that Zhao Zhigao's era was gone forever. Before Zhao Zhigao, there was a strong cabinet, and after Zhao Zhigao, there was still a strong cabinet. The six ministries had only lived a good life for about three years, and now they had to go back to their original days.
When Zhang Juzheng was in control of the six ministries, the Ministers of the six ministries followed Zhang Juzheng's lead. Even Zhang Siwei, Shen Shixing, and Wang Xijue held control of the six ministries in their respective periods. It was not until Zhao Zhigao suddenly came to power that the six ministries recovered and began to bully the cabinet. In less than three years, they were back to their original state.
Fortunately, Shen Yicheng knew how to pull a group and beat a group. When dealing with the Jin Party, he roped in other factions. Shen Li, Yu Jideng, and the Imperial Censorate were the ones who took the initiative to find trouble, so they really couldn't blame Shen Yicheng. As for what Shen Yicheng would do in the future, no one knew.
Everyone was doing their work honestly, preparing for the ceremony of offering prisoners of war at the Meridian Gate, and also preparing for the event that Shen Yicheng would become the Prime Minister of the Cabinet after the ceremony.
Yes, everyone was keenly aware that the Emperor wanted Shen Yicheng to be the next Prime Minister of the Cabinet. He supported Shen Yicheng even when the current Prime Minister, Zhao Zhigao, was still in power. He increased Shen Yicheng's power and helped him eliminate his opponents. This was a typical support.
Although many people were still dissatisfied with the matter of Marquess Qin, Xiao Ruxun was about to come back. The great reputation that was raised by the lives of hundreds of thousands of Northern Barbarians made these cats and dogs tremble. They had never met such a famous military general, so they didn't know how to deal with him.
On the other hand, this matter had touched the sensitive nerve of the Emperor. The Cabinet Assistant Minister and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites had fallen because of this. No one wanted to be the next victim. Everyone understood the principle of seeking benefits and avoiding harm.
They almost watched the existence of Xiao Ruxun, who surpassed all the previous military generals, approach the capital step by step, and reach the highest power center of Daming step by step.
On the tenth day of the fifth month, Xiao Ruxun led his troops to Redbud Pass. Here, he reminisced about the beginning of the battle. To him, this was where the battle began. Many things also began from here.
At the end of last year, he killed his way to Shanxi and Datong from here. Now, five months later, the war had ended, and the soldiers had returned. Naturally, he was quite excited.
However, at the moment, it was still chaotic and busy inside and outside Zijing Pass. People in ragged clothes were constantly moving out of Zijing Pass with their families. The general stationed at Zijing Pass explained that these were the people who had fled from Shanxi during the war.
"It's already May, but they haven't returned to their hometown to start farming. Now, this year's grain harvest in Shanxi and Datong will be unbearable. If it were in the past, I'm afraid this would be another disaster. But this time, thanks to those grain storage caves, there should be no shortage of grain this year. These people probably won't starve to death."
Standing on the wall of Zijing Pass with Xiao Ruxun, Xu Guangqi felt very heavy as he looked at the refugees who were constantly moving west.
"I fought the war, defended the land against the bandits, and eliminated the traitors for the country, so that these people could live and work in peace and contentment. But we won the war, but we missed the farming season. The people are still homeless and can't live and work in peace and contentment. They will definitely starve and freeze this winter.
Zixian, we fought so hard and fought so hard against the Northern Barbarians, but in the end, these people are still homeless and have no clothes to cover their bodies. The enemy can kill them with swords, spears, and halberds. How can the people live and work in peace and contentment? "
Xu Guangqi had never been an official. He only had a bellyful of book knowledge and battlefield experience. Battlefield experience could not be applied to governing a country, so it was ignored. Book knowledge told him that governing a country should be benevolent, be lenient, and treat the people well. Then, the country would naturally become rich and strong.
But how should it be done specifically?
Xu Guangqi did not know what to say.
The more one experienced the most real pain and the more one faced the most real misery, the more one doubted the book knowledge and the ideal world, and the more one doubted whether what one learned could be used for oneself. Xu Guangqi was at his most perplexed.
Xiao Ruxun's question made him waver even more.
After a long time, Xu Guangqi thought of a poem that once made him feel incomparably perplexed.
"When the people prosper, the people suffer. When the people perish, the people suffer. Marquis Xiao, I really do not know how to let the people live and work in peace and contentment."
Xiao Ruxun did not say anything. He only took a deep breath and nodded.
"When I return to the capital, where do you want to go? Stay in the capital to prepare for the examination? Or do you want to go somewhere else? If I can help you, I will help you this once. "
Xu Guangqi silently pondered for a moment.
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