Xue Yuan placed Gu Yuanbai on the bed, and the courtiers in the room knelt in the dark.
Tian Fusheng tears in his eyes, he carefully removed the shoes and socks on the holy, trouser leg layers rolled up, the ankle swollen big bag fell into the eyes.
The Saint's ankle was already slender, and once it was swollen it looked horrible. Xue Yuan looked down and frowned, thinking that it was not good.
Gu Yuanbai looked at the door expressionlessly, within a moment, there were hurried footsteps getting closer and closer, Squire Zhangxu brought the imperial physician in to treat Gu Yuanbai's injuries, behind them was General Xue, who had fallen to his knees as soon as he entered the door.
General Xue's head hit the ground heavily, his heart desolate, "Your Majesty, I beg to be excused."
The two imperial doctors washed their hands and carefully touched Gu Yuanbai's feet, which were like works of art carved out of jade, and at this time, with these injuries, the two imperial doctors couldn't help but frown as they watched, somewhat at a loss.
"What offense did General Xue ask for?" His Majesty's voice could not be heard as happy or angry.
General Xue disheveledly said, "Your Majesty was frightened in my residence and his dragon body was injured, I cannot absolve myself of the blame for all the deaths."
Gu Yuanbai said: ''I do think it's a coincidence. The Prince of Harmony sent a bowl of deer blood to me in the daytime, but it was accidentally spilled in front of the window by a boy. Late at night, a vicious wolf followed the smell of blood and probed into my courtyard, or at a time when everyone was asleep and the guards were tired. Even more coincidentally, I woke up at this exact time, and also happened to encounter these two wolves. Xue Qing, I even feel that this is heaven's will."
Beads of sweat slid down General Xue's forehead as he bowed deeply again.
Xue Yuan followed and knelt behind his father, when the saint was silent, the entire room fell silent, the guards guarding this place touched the big knife on their waist, looking at the Xue family's eyes cold and fierce.
Earlier, when Gu Yuanbai had allowed Xue Yuan to hug him, that was a dismounted challenge to Xue Yuan; the words he said now were a dismounted challenge to General Xue.
Xue Yuan knelt on the ground, his face grim.
How could there be such a coincidence under the sky, but it just happened so coincidentally, if he knew it was impossible, Xue Yuan would have suspected that His Holiness had calculated that those two wolves would appear in the courtyard late at night, and that's why they appeared there on purpose.
In the middle of the night, the Xue Mansion was brightly lit. Prince Harmony's boys and Xue's servants knelt down in a circle, and Squire Zhang Xu and his subordinates examined them one by one with a sullen face.
After the burning of an incense stick, Squire Zhang Xu sent someone to press the panic-filled Second Prince Xue to the front of the saint, while he himself took a few steps forward and whispered sideways beside the saint's ear about what had happened.
Gu Yuanbai raised an eyebrow, glanced at Second Prince Xue, and leisurely put it down again.
The second son of Xue is a fool, knowing that he will not be allowed to face the saint today, he is jealous of Xue Yuan. The wolves in the mansion are Xue Yuan's pets, and the wolves have been trained by Xue Yuan to be obedient, and they know to run to Xue Yuan's courtyard to invite food at meal time every day. Today, His Majesty is staying at the Xue Mansion, so Xue Yuan has no time to feed the wolves. The second son of Xue had a bad idea.
Late at night while the people are sleeping release the two wolves, let the hungry ones run to Xue Yuan's courtyard by themselves, they have no meat to eat, they will bite, if they bite Xue Yuan, Xue Yuan that guy will not be able to face the saint tomorrow.
By then, the only healthy son of the Xue House will be left with the Second Duke of Xue, and when the Second Duke of Xue thought so, he really did it.
But what he didn't expect was that the vicious wolf, who had been hungry for a day, was attracted by the smell of deer blood halfway through the day and turned directly to Gu Yuanbai.
What an idiot, Gu Yuanbai thought to himself.
But he still liked it when such a stupid person was placed in General Xue's residence.
Gu Yuanbai waved away the idlers before letting Zhang Xu speak with General Xue about what happened. A little bit of such a humiliating matter was told by the guards beside the saint, and Second Duke Xue's face turned red, simply unable to face himself.
General Xue's breathing grew ragged as his eyes widened and he stared straight at Er Zi without letting go.
Xue Yuan sneered out.
For a long time, General Xue seemed to have aged a lot in an instant, and he gauntly and incomparably bowed towards the saint, "I thank the saint for his compassion."
Get rid of all the other extraneous people and at least this ridiculousness won't get out to everyone.
Gu Yuanbai was instead pleasant at this time, he sighed and said, "Xue Qing, why do you have to be like this? Since I know that it's just a coincidence, I naturally won't pursue it more."
His Majesty's swollen ankle was right in front of his eyes, looking at it was shocking, General Xue did not dare to look at it more, every glance was an inner condemnation. With tears in his eyes, he said forcefully, "My youngest son made such a big mistake, how your majesty wants to be punished is a matter of course, I will not have half a word of complaint!"
"I failed to protect His Majesty, I am equally guilty," General Xue had two lines of hot tears flowing down his face, "It is the fault of the minister to raise and not teach, and I am willing to be punished."
Xue Yuan politely said, "The wolf is the kid's wolf, and the kid is naturally guilty. Your Holiness has now broken his foot, if needed, the kid can accompany your Holiness to the left and right and be at your disposal."
Among the three, he was the only one whose tone was light, and when Second Duke Xue heard him finish his sentence, he actually shivered and almost peed his pants.
This kind of dirty thing stabbed in front of the saint, already let a person two strands of war, and then how to plead guilty is not too much, as long as the saint does not dislike the Xue family, General Xue can do anything.
When he heard Xue Yuan's words, he immediately recognized that this was an opportunity to regain his favor, and earlier on, the Emperor had even sent a palace doctor to treat Yuan's son, didn't this mean that Yuan's son had already received another look from the Emperor?
General Xue followed by: "I'm this dog can't pen, ink, paper and inkstone, but a body of martial arts can still be in the eyes. The saint is now inconvenient legs, although the dog son than the palace guards, but at least can make a rough force, the saint if you do not mind, then let the dog son into the palace to accompany the saint it."
The corners of Xue Yuan's smiling mouth stiffened, suddenly showing a sorrowful arc.
The saint was egregious, and he pretended to be thinking for a few moments before he face reluctantly said, "In that case, then it will be like this."
Tian Fusheng promptly said, "General Xue and the two gentlemen should quickly go and rest, and it's time for His Holiness to be settled."
When the people left, Gu Yuanbai slowly leaned on the bed, just the imperial physician is for him on the medicine, every touch will have a tingling sensation. The imperial physician's eyes watch the nose, nose watch the heart, single-mindedly, a moment dare not stop, Gu Yuanbai has been endured until now. He leaned against the bed frame and saw that the person was no longer there before he couldn't hold back a muffled grunt.
Xue Yuan had already walked to the door, yet he still heard the muffled grunt. He couldn't help but look back, the bed tent blocked the face of the saint, but the saint's hands were gripping the clothes on his body, pinching out a deep and long crease in the satin garment that belonged to Xue Yuan.
His Holiness was enduring from head to toe, and his onion-white fingertips revealed restraint; even when the pain became severe, he only stoically tensed his fingers.
Xue Yuan's brows abruptly furrowed as he averted his eyes.
He still has to wear these clothes, so don't give them a scratch.
*
The next day, with the Xue House not far from the minister's family have learned that His Majesty last night stayed in the Xue House.
Chang Yuyan went up to the door of Xue's residence early in the morning, and he visited Xue Yuan in high spirits, insisting on pulling Xue Yuan forward to pay his respects to the saint.
When the two of them arrived, Gu Yuanbai was sitting on a chair being massaged by the imperial physician at the swollen ankle, her white calves slightly exposed, the soles of her feet stepping on top of the imperial physician's knees.
There was a lack of sunlight in the house, and the Imperial Doctor needed bright spots before he dared to apply pressure, so they sat in the middle of the courtyard, where the large tree next to them had just spit out its green buds, and the sunlight shone on the Saint's body so white that it was as white as if it were glowing.
Xue Yuan and Chang Yuyan needed to be informed when they came in, and the guards formed a circle with their backs to the saint and the imperial physician, but a wall of people is not a wall after all, and Xue Yuan and Chang Yuyan saw everything when they looked at it from a distance.
As soon as Chang Yuyan saw this scene, he hastily lowered his head as if he had been scalded, he didn't dare to raise his head, his face was burning.
The chamberlain came to inform, and Gu Yuanbai snapped back from his stabbing pain, he glanced in the direction of the two and pressed his brows together impatiently, "Not to be seen."
From time to time, the imperial physician would put down his hand and then rub the palm of his hand hot again, then re-covered it on top of the ankle, Gu Yuanbai's forehead seethed with layers of thin sweat, the fine sweat was wiped away by the palace attendant attentively. After an unknown amount of time, the imperial physician whispered and reminded, "Your Holiness, there is still a quarter of an hour of hot compress."
"Uh-huh."
The hot towel and handkerchief covered his ankles, his tight brows finally stretching out, Gu Yuanbai leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, waiting for a quarter of an hour to pass before the imperial physician removed the towel and handkerchief for him, and Tian Fusheng squatted on the side to carefully put on his shoes and socks for him.
Tian Fusheng whispered, "Your Holiness, last night General Xue took Second Duke Xue into the ancestral hall and disciplined him half to death with the family law, and I heard that afterward Grand Duke Xue went into Second Duke Xue's room with a club, and then when he came out again, Second Duke Xue had already broken a leg."
The saint looked unconcerned, and he didn't know if he was listening or not. Only when Tian Fusheng put on his shoes and socks did Gu Yuanbai open his eyes and slowly stood up straight.
The head guard worriedly stepped forward, "Your Holiness, I will carry you to the carriage?"
Gu Yuanbai lost his smile and said, "I can walk there by myself."
Last night, let Xue Yuan hold him that was the horse's strength, now under the clear sky, he let someone hold him again that is not a disgrace?
The Xue Mansion was far from the size of the palace, Gu Yuanbai walked slowly but steadily to the front door of the Xue Mansion, the carriage from the palace had been prepared, and the Xue family had come to send off His Holiness. Old Lady Xue learned about what happened last night, at this time, her face was waxen, trembling and kneeling to give Gu Yuanbai a big salute.
Gu Yuanbai patiently accepted this big salute from her before slowly walking onto the carriage.
Chang Yuyan watched the saint leave, his face complex and lost. The saint treats him twice before is that kind of pro and thick, but today is like not see him in general, did not give him half a bit of color. It is also refused to pay a visit, the sudden difference between the face of the gentleman's smile on the face of the gentleman almost can not be taut.
"Xue Yuan," the afflicted man said, "have you offended the saint?"
The fact that the saint did not want to see him because of Xue Yuan was the only reason Chang Yuyan could feel good about it.
Xue Yuan sniffed and the veins on the top of his head popped, "Shut up."
*
After returning to the palace, Gu Yuanbai couldn't rest and the first thing he did was to deal with the political affairs that had piled up for two days.
The Daheng Dynasty has fourteen prefectures and two hundred and forty states. Large and small need to be reported to the hands of the saint of the zhangzuo is not much, but also quite a lot, the political affairs hall of the ministers will first according to the provinces and states, urgency, categories to distinguish, important need to the saint of the personal handling of the matter sent to the table of Gu Yuanbai, some small and cumbersome they will deal with and will be dealt with zhangzuo each other to approve, and then sent by a special person to inspect the Ministry of Military Affairs to inspect the Department of the military affairs of the Ministry of the Ministry of the Interior.
Three procedures down, coupled with the Holy Spirit will occasionally go to the political affairs hall random checks, so the ministers in the political affairs hall is also diligent, very few folders from the monitoring office back to re-approve the situation.
However, Gu Yuanbai still felt a great inconvenience when he was criticizing the zhangfu.
The local zhangzuo because far away in thousands of miles, more afraid to lose the favor of the saint, so with Gu Yuanbai on the folding always like to pat the horse's ass, rainbow fart a shot is several pages, the article is written in embroidery, Gu Yuanbai really want to understand the main points of the instead of a brush stroke, ambiguous and always say not clear.
Regarding the reform of the evaluation of the performance of local officials, Gu Yuanbai has long had a charter, the reform of the zhangzhi is essential in it, and when a new batch of jinshi is selected, some of those who are sent to the local area can change from the grassroots level.
The presentation of the zhengzuo had better have a template, they only need to fill in the template of the data under their own rule, so that if the formation of a unified habit, not only is the performance of the officials clear and understandable, the whole country up and down the administrative organs can reduce the amount of many unnecessary works, the efficiency will be greatly improved.
"Tian Fusheng," Gu Yuanbai rubbed his brow, his energy low, "Make me a cup of strong tea."
Often times, as the dynasty lengthens, the more constraints the emperor is subjected to.
Military and imperial power was alive and well at the time of the founding emperors, the first emperors had the ability to lift the table, they had soldiers in their hands, they had the power to strike down the world, and their reforms could come from the top down. However, as the dynasty aged, the power in the emperor's hands became less and less.
On the land of Daheng, there were powerful clans of the local strongholds, which were so powerful that they annexed land and violated the law, and some of them even killed people, which was the black power of the ancient times. How could the central government tolerate the local authorities? They occupied tens of thousands of acres of good land and farms, some of them colluded with the government, and some of them even took over the government. ①
The lineage is involved with the lineage, and a piece of sludge can be pulled from one vine.
The emperor not only had to balance the bureaucratic clique and eunuch clique with the military power of the honored ones, but also had to deal with these magnates.
Such a situation could only be broken by forceful means, and then the order of Gu Yuanbai could be reconstructed.
Gu Yuanbai knew that the Daheng Dynasty was surrounded by enemy countries that coveted it, and he also knew of certain unstable factors within its borders.
And the factors within the territory are some of his indulgences.
He had deliberately spared some of the remnants of the powerhouse Lu Feng, turning a blind eye to their escape, just because Gu Yuanbai still had a use for keeping them.
Perhaps in some people's eyes, he was sitting precariously as an emperor, and this world was about to be in turmoil.
But what they didn't know was that Gu Yuanbai was waiting for this upheaval, and was even stealthily pushing for changes within the territory behind the scenes. He had driven the remnants of Lu Feng to where he wanted them to go, intending to use this upheaval to pull out the most deeply rooted part of the tumor within the Daheng Kingdom.
He intends to use the power of his enemies to stamp out the land and wealth of the powerful families.
After the enemies had stamped out the powerful clans, Gu Yuanbai would use his most benevolent reputation to take over the land, peasants, gold and silver that had fallen into the hands of the enemies.
He will use the name of the king's division, which stands at the highest moral ground, to go and wipe out these brutal and greedy rebels.
Author's Note: ① Looked up from Prof. Jia Fangfang's "The Power of the Magnates in the Song Dynasty and Their Relationship with Local Authorities
Everyone interested can go to see this article, the harm of the powerful written very clearly. This article is to get rid of some disobedient harm to the country of the powerful, will use strong-arm tactics, as far as possible will protect the innocent people, feel the cruelty of the sorry.