Qi Yanglong had actually stopped outside the room for a moment. If it were someone else, Head Eunuch Song Tanglu would have hurriedly urged him to hurry up. However, it was a different matter if it was the head of the secretariat. Song Tanglu stood quietly outside the room with the old man. Inside the room came the old scholar Wen Shouren's signature loud voice. It was full of vigor. It was hard to believe that this was the voice of an old man. The noble old man who led the hall said with grief and indignation, "Your Majesty, the Northern Liang barbarians are really rude. Not only did they discredit the Ministry of Rites, they even made a scene at the Imperial Astronomer. The imperial court can't tolerate him anymore. Otherwise, where will the imperial court's face be? Your Majesty, although this old subject is a scholar, I still have a set of old bones and a backbone that does not weaken despite my age. This old subject will go to the Demawei Courier Station alone and arrest that barbarian and throw him into prison. If he dares to kill anyone, then kill this old subject as well. I only hope that Your Majesty will punish him for this later. Even if this old subject dies, it will be a worthy death! "
Song Tanglu lowered his gaze, but the head of the Hall of Secretaries rolled his eyes too obviously. The head eunuch could still see it clearly.
Inside the room, Zhao Yang, the Commandery Prince of Changshan, who was about the same age as Wen Shouren, looked at the juniors beside him, Duke Gao and Marquis Song. The latter two were obviously speechless. The three of them had closed their doors and refused to ask about the imperial court for too many years. Their circle of activity was limited to the nobles and the relatives of the emperor. They had almost no contact with outside officials. In the past, they had only heard that Grand Scholar Wen was unyielding in the imperial court. Today, they saw him in a new light. The old Commandery Prince of Changshan slowly withdrew his gaze and frowned. As an old member of the Liyang Royal Family, Zhao Yang, the Commandery Prince of Changshan, had personally experienced the beginning and end of the Spring and Autumn War. When the emperor bestowed rewards, Zhao Yang, who should have been in the top ten in terms of contributions, only received a humiliating title of Commandery Prince because of a secret matter. After that, he began to play with flowers, birds, fish, and insects in peace, leisurely enjoying the rest of his life. There were very few men in the manor of Changshan Commandery Prince. Over time, this old Commandery Prince was completely forgotten. If Song Daoning, who could barely be called a young and healthy man, was going to make a big move when he returned to the court, then the old Commandery Prince at this age seemed to be just doing his best.
Grand Scholar Wen, who was famous for carrying the coffin and remonstrating to death, began to count the major crimes of the young King after the hereditary succession. He was impassioned and the room was full of righteousness. This Wuying Palace Grand Secretary was obviously going to fight to the death with the Xu family. There had been rumors in Great An City for many years that Grand Scholar Wen was so paranoid that he did not have a good attitude toward any official in Jingdou with the surname Xu. One of the two biggest topics of discussion in Great An City in the past half a year had to do with the Wen family. It was said that the granddaughter of the Grand Scholar Wen, who was spoiled to the heavens, not only said that she wanted to go to the northwest to see the new Prince Liang, she almost really ran away from home and successfully eloped. Sir Wen was so angry that he fell seriously ill and was bedridden for half a year. During this time, Jin Lanting of the Ministry of Rites had visited him no less than three times. However, looking at Wen Shouren's vigor, it did not seem like it.
The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Appointments, Wen Taiyi, was in this room. Although his rank was the same as Chen Wang and Tang Tieshuang, even he knew the difference. As one of the three chariots of the Green Party, of the other two, Lu Feichi of Shang Zhu State had passed away. The Lu Family had married into Beiliang and moved to Beiliang. The General of Qingzhou, Hong Lingshu, had entered Jingdou from a local area. It was not clear whether the overall power of the Green Party had increased or decreased. However, the present Emperor wanted to re-appoint officials of the Green Party. This was an undeniable trend. Wei Dong, who had also come from Qingzhou, had just become the number one person in the Guangling Navy and Qingzhou Navy. This conjecture was confirmed. Yin Maochun had not been in charge of the Ministry of Appointments for long. It was not very likely that Wen Taiyi, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Appointments, would become the Heavenly Official of Liyang. However, it was not impossible for him to be the leader of another department. He had a certain chance of being in charge of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Works, and Ministry of Revenue. Today, Wen Taiyi's "sudden" appearance here caused Zhao Youling and Yin Maochun to look at him a few more times.
The young Emperor did not interrupt Wen the Scholar's impassioned speech of righteousness and plainspoken integrity. However, when Qi Yanglong crossed the threshold, the group of powerful officials turned their heads in unison and made Wen Shouren stop himself. He followed the others and bowed respectfully to the head of the secretariat.
Qi Yanglong stood where the Grand Secretary should stand. After bowing to the Emperor, he said concisely, "I have just seen the King of Beiliang. He has agreed to leave Jingdou the day after tomorrow. Regarding the lifting of the ban on the transport of grain, the King of Beiliang hopes that the court can send 500,000 dan of grain to Beiliang before autumn next year."
A trace of confusion appeared in Huan Wen's eyes. He couldn't help but turn his head to look at the Head of the Palace Secretariat standing beside him. He noticed that when Qi Yanglong said the number 500,000 dan, the palm in his sleeve made a small gesture in front of him.
Commandery Prince Changshan's eyelids drooped in disappointment. As for the reason, probably only the old Commandery Prince himself knew.
Tang Tieshuang of the Ministry of War, who was sitting at the very back, smiled coldly. You, Hsu Fengnian, have caused such a great storm in Great Peace City, yet you only dare to ask for 500,000 dan of grain from the court? Could it be that Great Peace City is no longer your territory and you don't even have the courage to ask for an exorbitant price?
The young Emperor sitting on the couch breathed gently. A smile flashed across his face. He swept his gaze over the important officials of Liyang and asked calmly, "Dear officials, what do you think?"
Wen Shouren was about to jump out and scold the new Prince of Liang when he heard Chen Wang, who was standing in the same row as him and Yan Jiexi, speak first. "I believe that the King of Beiliang is the King of Beiliang, and the people of Beiliang are the people of Beiliang. The 500,000 dan of grain can agree to lift the ban and send it to the Way of Beiliang."
Wen Shouren immediately closed his mouth and swallowed back the grand speech that was about to come out of his mouth. The old scholar was able to put on the airs of an old official of three dynasties in front of Jin San Lang, but for some reason, Wen Shouren felt uneasy about Chen Shaobao, whom he had never interacted with before.
When they met occasionally, he would take the initiative to be friendly. Unfortunately, Official Chen never showed any signs of looking at him in a different light. This made Wen Shouren feel regret deep in his heart, as well as some unknown apprehension.
Commandery Prince Changshan, Zhao Yang, who had not spoken in court for many years, said coldly, "Your Majesty, the Beiliang soldiers who died fighting outside the pass are worthy of 500,000 dan of grain as a reward. It would not be too much to say that lifting the ban and sending one million dan of grain is not an exaggeration. But this Hsu Fengnian, as a vassal king, has no regard for the law in the capital.
We cannot make an exception and encourage his arrogance. Thus, I believe that not a single dan of grain can be given to Hsu Fengnian! "
The Grand Secretary of Dongyuan Pavilion, Yan Jiexi, also agreed, "Your Majesty, I agree with Commandery Prince Changshan's opinion. The Beiliang people and soldiers have performed meritorious deeds, but the King of Beiliang has made a grave mistake. Thus, meritorious deeds and demerits should offset each other, and the rewards and punishments should be clear. This is in accordance with the laws of the imperial court. "
Tang Tieshuang said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I am willing to personally escort the King of Beiliang out of the capital and its environs today!"
The young Emperor did not comment. He looked around and finally saw Wen Taiyi, who was standing at the back and was half a head shorter than Assistant Minister Tang. He asked warmly, "Assistant Minister Wen, do you have anything to say?"
Wen Taiyi said without hesitation, "I believe that the lifting of the ban on Beiliang's transport of grain can be given, but not too much. It can be done slowly but not urgently."
There was a secret room on the right side of the right side of the Hall of Spiritual Cultivation. On the wall of the secret room's west door, there was a large map with the names of officials written in small characters. It took up more than half of the wall. A young man stood at the bottom of the wall. He raised his head, but his eyes were tightly shut. He was a blind man dressed in white who stood at the center of Liyang. Although the young blind man could not see the contents of the map, he could feel the indescribable "grandeur". In the Liyang Dynasty, almost all important officials, whether civil or military, would have a place on the map as long as they reached the threshold of the fourth rank. From the capital to the various provinces and counties, from the three provinces and six ministries to the provincial governors and governors, from the Great General of Punitive Expedition to the General of a province, they were all written on the map. Among them, there were very few names and their official positions. Two concise and comprehensive evaluations were written in black and red small characters. One came from Yin Maochun, and the other came from Zhao Gou.
The young blind man "looked" at the map as if he was looking at the whole of Liyang.
When he heard Wen Taiyi's strategy of "not too much, not too little. It can be done slowly but not urgently," the young man smiled knowingly. He approved of the strategy, but also mocked it playfully.
The young emperor said, "The matter of the transport of grain will be discussed tomorrow. Today, I want to discuss with everyone the candidate for the Jingan Dao's Magistrate. "
Almost everyone understood. No wonder Assistant Minister Wen would make an exception and make an appearance today.
There was nothing to discuss. Nowadays, when it came to the promotion of officials, the young emperor's words carried enormous weight. The head of the secretariat, Qi Yanglong, and the provincial governor, Huan Wen, never had any objections. In addition, Chen Wang, who never missed a small court meeting, and Yin Maochun, who always understood tacitly, all appointments went smoothly. Thus, even if Wen Taiyi, who was born in Qingzhou, was sent out to be the head of the civil officials of Jingan Dao, which slightly violated the rules of Liyang, no one would use such a trivial matter to argue with the emperor. Moreover, Wen Taiyi had been the second-in-command of the Ministry of Appointments responsible for distributing official hats for more than a decade. Who was willing to offend this future "young" Magistrate with deep roots? Not yet fifty years old, but jumping ranks from assistant minister of the six ministries to local Magistrate, he was clearly going to return to court. His future was promising! Perhaps within ten years at most, there would be another Rank Two Big Boss in the capital.
Wen Shouren quickly proposed that Assistant Minister Wen was the best candidate.
Who did not know that the "Great and Great Wens" of Great Peace City were famous for being inseparable?
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