Chapter 191

Three days after the new emperor ascended the throne, he issued a general amnesty.

The new emperor conferred titles of kingship on the third prince, the King of Cheng, and the fourth prince the King of Yan. Out of pity for his brothers and sisters, and the hardship and coldness of Lingbei, he conferred the title of Prince of Dan on the eldest prince, allowing him to return to the capital.

The Prince of Dan refused and took his wife and children with him, intending to remain in Lingbei.

-

Purple Palace.

Qu Dubian was wearing pajamas, sitting cross-legged on the kang, fiddling with the spices on the table, using tools such as small hammers and tweezers.

The spices were too irritating and his eyes turned red, but he still stubbornly tried to do it himself. Ye Xiaoyuan and other palace people beside him silently covered their noses with handkerchiefs or sleeves.

The eldest prince was also choked by the smoke, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, "Your Majesty, please don't harm these things, okay?"

Qu Duanbian sneezed loudly, "Cough, cough, cough!"

He was not used to calling himself "Zhen" and said, "Most of what I used before were bought for free. I can mix simple spices, but I still need to learn the complicated ones."

Qu Dubian picked up the handkerchief on the table and wiped his face roughly, "Brother, you really don't plan to return to Beijing?"

The eldest prince: "Your Majesty, despite the pressure, has made me, a prince whose title has been stripped, a prince of a county. This is already very good. If I return to the capital, wouldn't it cause trouble for those ministers who accused me of backstabbing them? Besides, I am used to the life in Lingbei and I live very comfortably there."

People in Lingbei are generally straightforward, which suits him very well.

He was most annoyed by those cunning and treacherous people in the capital, and he was even more annoyed by the third brother in the capital.

Qu Dubian swept the perfume powder that had blown off the table with a small brush and said with great sorrow, "Brother, how could you waste your heroic years in Lingbei like this, pursuing pleasure? You really shouldn't have done that."

The eldest prince: "Uh... I don't think we can use the word bury..."

Qu Duanbian said: "Shouldn't you contribute to the cause of Da Zhou?"

The eldest prince hesitated: "What contribution?"

Qu Watanabe: “I haven’t decided yet.”

“………”

He stroked his chin and said, "Lingbei is a precious land. On the other side is the sea, with all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and the sea. If we can open a route from Lingbei to the inland, the resources there can be utilized."

But there was no rush. He looked at the treasury accounts and found that the country was indeed poor. It was no wonder that Lin Zongping was like a miser.

The eldest prince pondered: "Many people who live near mountains and seas are self-sufficient. Even during the ice age and snow-covered mountains, life was difficult, and some even froze to death or starved to death. If the inland areas could be connected, they should gradually become wealthy."

This is the situation in Lingbei.

Qu Dubian: "Thank you for your hard work, brother. We need someone to help us understand the situation along the coast and the major mountains in Lingbei. I will send a few people to you. When you return to Lingbei, take them to conduct a field investigation. Then write a feasibility study... report."

The eldest prince's eyes began to become confused: "Oh, oh," he paused for a few seconds, wondering, "I think I'm here to say goodbye."

"Hey! Why are we talking about this between brothers? Where in the Great Zhou is not home? Why are you leaving? It's the same in Lingbei as in the capital," Qu Dubian got off the kang, stepped on the ground barefoot, and walked out with his arm around the eldest prince's neck, "When you work at home, shouldn't you be more serious and work harder?"

"Brother, just tell me, isn't it?"

The eldest prince: "It seems so..."

Qu Watanabe: "That's right!"

"Think about my sister-in-law and my two nephews. Since you will be living there in the future, shouldn't you make it more prosperous? In the future, you will be the great benefactor of the development of Lingbei. Will there be no mention of you in the history books?"

Ye Xiaoyuan couldn't help but hold his forehead when he saw his Majesty, who was so busy fooling people that he even forgot to wear shoes.

Fortunately, it is late autumn now and the weather is not very cold.

When the eldest prince was escorted out of the palace by the Qu Dubian brothers, he was already overwhelmed with emotion.

Yes, there is no war in the north of the Ling Mountains, and the soldiers guarding the border live in poverty and idleness. Apart from maintaining public order, there is no place for them to use their skills.

If Lingbei becomes prosperous and has more people, the soldiers will have something to do.

"Your Majesty, rest assured! Leave this matter to me. In three or five years, I will make sure to thoroughly investigate the customs and conditions of the people along the coast and in the mountains of northern Lingbei!"

Qu Duanbian also had a serious expression on his face: "I will give you the power to monitor officials during your inspection. If there is any corruption or bribery, you can report it directly to the capital."

The eldest prince cupped his hands and said excitedly, "Yes!"

He walked away with long strides.

Qu Dubian was standing at the door of the hall, and belatedly felt the chill on the soles of his feet. He turned his head and saw Ye Xiaoyuan's silent eyes, then he coughed lightly and stepped into the hall.

On the other side, when the eldest prince walked to the palace gate, his fevered brain was blown by the cool breeze and gradually calmed down.

“…”

That's not right.

He just came to say goodbye.

Go home and continue to live a leisurely and comfortable life.

Lingbei is poor, but he is not poor! Even if he wants his soldiers to live better, the price he pays is too high.

Why should he be responsible for the future of so many people in Lingbei?

The eldest prince finally came to his senses. He was tricked into taking on a long-term, hard job!

He immediately turned back, but after taking two steps back, a familiar voice suddenly came from the palace gate: "Where are you going?!"

The eldest prince froze and turned around.

Concubine De was standing at the palace gate, with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised. Behind her were two palace maids who had been taking care of her. At this moment, they were wrapped up and looked like they were preparing to go on a long journey.

The eldest prince: "Mother...?"

Concubine De: "Did you leave because you saw me? Why, you don't want me to go to Lingbei with you?"

The eldest prince waved his hands quickly: "No, no, no, of course I am willing! But, mother, how did you sneak out?"

She is a palace concubine, and especially the concubine of the previous emperor. It is a serious crime for her to sneak out.

He began to rack his brains to think of how to help his mother speak well in front of the emperor. At worst, he could just take the job... Alas.

"Of course it was His Majesty who let me go. How could I sneak out?" De Fei, who was now the Dowager Concubine, rolled her eyes. "How old am I? I'm not as skilled as Concubine Xuan. How could I have that ability?"

The eldest prince was stunned for a moment: "Did His Majesty let you go?"

The maid said, "Indeed, His Majesty said that it is a good thing for you to return to Lingbei to build the Great Zhou. However, you love your work and may be too busy to care about your family, let alone the Empress in the capital. In order to reduce the separation, the Empress is allowed to go to Lingbei with you."

De Fei said: "You have to work hard! Mother doesn't want to come back and hold it in again."

She grabbed the eldest prince's arm and beamed with joy.

"Hey, I wonder if there's any square dancing in Lingbei. I need to find some people to have some fun with."

She was still very young before entering the palace. She stayed in the palace for nearly thirty years and only went out a few times. She yearned for the outside world very much.

The fine lines at the corners of the eyes and the scattered silver in the hair all tell of the ruthlessness of time.

The eldest prince felt a little sad.

He smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

It seems that he doesn't need to go back to the Zichen Palace, but he is willing to take on this task.

The eldest prince bowed in the direction of the Purple Palace.

Then he took Concubine De's hand and said, "Come on, mother, I will take you to see the mountains in the north of the mountain range."

-

Regarding how Lao Deng’s concubines were placed.

Qu Watanabe gave them three choices.

Those who did not have children could choose to return home voluntarily. If their family members had passed away, the court would help them find a place to live and allocate some silver every month as a provident fund.

Those who have children who are still alive, such as Concubine Wen and Concubine De, can choose to live in the Prince's or Duke's Mansion.

Those who do not want to leave the palace will be accommodated in the same way as the previous emperor's concubines were treated.

Concubine Xuan was the adopted mother of Qu Watanabe, and she was respected as Queen Dowager Xuan. The empress was Queen Dowager An, and she was in charge of the placement of the previous emperor's concubines.

If you are willing to leave the palace but don't know what to do after leaving, Concubine Xuan suggested that you can go to Yangzhou, as she and Concubine Guo are too busy to manage the orphanage.

Qu Dubian handed the matter over to Concubine Xuan.

With this order, most of the palaces in the palace were left vacant. After all, except for those who were truly homeless and too lazy to go out, most of the concubines still longed for life outside.

He has been busy for five days since he ascended the throne.

The fifth prince is still imprisoned in the East Factory Prison. Qu Dubian wants to release him, but after all, the late emperor has issued a death order to imprison him for life. Now it has been less than two months since the death of the late emperor. If he is released immediately, the court will be in an uproar, so he needs a reason.

This reason has not yet been forthcoming.

The only option was to let the Fifth Prince lie idle in prison for a while before bringing him out to work.

After Qu Dubian sorted out the mess and became familiar with the daily government affairs, he decided to go to court.

Yes, he didn’t attend court in these five days.

The memorials were piled up into a small mountain.

When Fang Hechuan entered the Purple Palace, he saw Qu Dubian sitting on the carpet, with memorials around him divided into three piles. He read the memorials very quickly, opening them, glancing at them, and then quickly sorting them.

Occasionally, someone would frown and just throw it aside.

Fang Hechuan had never seen an emperor looking at a memorial like this: "...Ahem, Your Majesty?"

Qu Duanbian looked up, "The teacher is here? Sit down."

He called Fang Hechuan "teacher", and the latter's smiling expression softened. He gathered his clothes and sat down casually on the carpet.

Fang Hechuan looked around and said, "Since Your Majesty has already started reading the memorials, why doesn't he attend the court? The ministers asked me to ask Your Majesty when the court will begin."

Qu Watanabe: "Before the start of the government, we must always find out their style and habits of speaking and doing things."

Otherwise you will be taken away.

He doesn't think that all the officials in the court are honest.

Fang Hechuan: "Have you figured it all out?"

Qu Watanabe: "I finally understand why the late emperor approved more and more memorials."

He pointed at the three piles of memorials in front of him and explained them one by one to Master Fang.

The largest number of letters turned out to be flattering memorials, which chattered on and on about the little things in life, their subtle complaints about their colleagues, and their daily thoughts about him.

I think of him when I eat, I think of him when I go to the toilet, and I think of him before I go to bed.

The writing style and wording are full of lingering feelings of missing and respecting the emperor. There is even a passage that says that when he saw a red dress for sale in a clothing store on the road, he remembered that His Majesty had worn a red dress, and his feelings for the emperor were aroused again, so he bought the dress, knelt down at home, and wiped it carefully.

...unbearable!

Qu Watanabe got goosebumps.

The second batch was shortened by half. It was a report on normal government affairs, some of which required his decision. However, the polite greetings at the beginning alone could take up to 100 to 200 words. It was extremely lengthy and tedious. It took me a long time to summarize the key points between the words.

The third batch only had five or six books, and it was an important matter that required him to handle and approve personally in the near future.

Correct! Correct!

Fang Hechuan stroked his increasingly white beard and sighed, "It's not easy to change. Over the past few decades, the officials have gotten used to it. Besides, there are no specific rules."

Qu Dubian: "I just asked Xi Zixing to make a form." He shouted outside.

Xi Zixing came in and gave the completed form to Fang Hechuan.

He now nominally entered the Censorate as a small censor, but actually worked beside Qu Dubian, which was equivalent to a half-secretary. He proclaimed himself the most capable person under the new emperor.

Xi Zixing: "Your Majesty taught me how to draw the tables and drawings. The memorials will be divided into three categories from now on, and each category will have its own different cover paper to distinguish the importance and urgency. The first category is the memorials for greetings, which will be presented to the palace. Your Majesty will read them in his spare time, and will return them if he does not approve them."

The system of reviewing memorials in the Great Zhou Dynasty was as follows: an official would present a memorial, which would be returned to the official after the emperor's review. However, the official could not keep the memorial for himself to avoid tampering with the emperor's review on the memorial.

They need to be sent back to the palace within the specified time and then collected by the Memorial Office.

Qu Watanabe cut off the process of returning the memorial of greeting and then sending it back to the palace.

Xi Zixing: "The second category is daily official business, which will be handled and approved by the three Grand Secretaries of Wenyuan Hall and then presented to Your Majesty. The third category is emergency and important events, which Your Majesty will handle personally."

After turning the page of the form, there were standard requirements for writing official and emergency memorials.

After reading it, Fang Hechuan pondered for a long time.

"It will be troublesome at first, and many people may not want to change, but once you get used to it, it will greatly improve your office efficiency."

Qu Dubian lay back and lay on the carpet.

He loved to do this whether he was in the Prince's Mansion or the Prince Yong's Mansion, so on the first day Ye Xiaoyuan became the chief eunuch, he replaced all the places where he loved to lie down and play with thick blankets.

"They don't want to change, so I'll help them change, otherwise they won't be able to live like this in the future."

The first thing the dynasty planned to change couldn't control the situation, let alone the things that came after that.

-

The next day.

The new emperor began his reign.

Announced changes to memorial regulations.

The regulations and norms for memorials were distributed to various departments by Xi Zixing.

In the Ganji Palace, the ministers discussed quietly. After the memorials were circulated one by one, someone stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this...is it not appropriate to omit greetings in the memorial? We, the ministers, really want to care about Your Majesty."

"Yes," another minister stood up, "and if the memorial of respect is not replied, does it hurt the sincerity of the ministers who care about Your Majesty?"

Xi Zixing glanced over and said, "Sincerity is only good on paper, what's the point?"

“…”

Xia Fuyang couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

Damn, this guy sounds so good when he mocks other people.

The ministers below remained silent. After all, it was just a change to the memorial system, not a big deal.

Anyway, the matter was settled.

However, although it has been decided, there are still some people who do not follow the rules and mix a series of corny words such as greetings and concerns between the lines.

Maybe he was really too lazy to change it, or maybe he was testing the temper and style of the new emperor.

Qu Dubian waited patiently for seven days and found that the number of non-compliant memorials was gradually increasing. He then knew what these ministers were thinking.

I was just thinking that His Majesty couldn't punish them for such a small matter. The new emperor still needed to have a good reputation when he ascended the throne.

Qu Dubian put these memorials together and put them in a box. The next day when he went to court, he asked Ye Xiaoyuan to carry it to the front of the hall.

With a thud.

Civil and military officials looked at each other in bewilderment.

Qu Dubian raised his hand: "Read it."

Xi Zixing nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty."

He took a memorial from the box and read: "Respectfully submitted by the Junior Official of the Dali Temple: Your Majesty's divine power descends from heaven. Every time I see it, my heart trembles and my emotions are endless. I wish I could die to repay Your Majesty. The Dali Temple has many affairs to attend to, and my superiors have many social engagements, so it is difficult to take care of them..."

The Dali Temple Minister got angry and pointed at the Shaoqing's nose and scolded: "Well, what did you write in the memorial? When did I have so many social engagements that I couldn't take care of official business?!"

Who is Cricket?! Isn't he just coveting the position of the Minister of the Temple, and wants to hint to His Majesty that he is not competent for the position, and wants to step on him to climb up?

The Shaoqing of the Dali Temple was ashamed and felt like dying of shame.

Qu Dubian picked up the fruit plate on the table and started eating.

Xi Zixing read with great emotion, as expected of a top scholar, and the flattering tone in his memorial was evident.

After he finished reading a book, some people blushed and lowered their heads, wishing they could find a hole to crawl into.

It seems that those who write corny words are not the people who appear elegant and noble on weekdays.

Fang Hechuan looked up at the young emperor sitting on the dragon throne. He was still leisurely eating fruit and watching the show below with interest.

His eyes and brows still revealed his previous temper and love of watching the fun and laughing at jokes.

...I'm afraid he can't leave the palace, so he will find fun in his ministers.

This is more severe than beating with a stick for the civil officials in the court.

The old man watched his nose and his heart, and listened carefully to this public execution with his ears pricked up.

After reading about half of it, the atmosphere of embarrassment and shame in the hall was so thick that it was almost suffocating.

Qu Duanbian then called a halt: "Alright, my dear Xiao Xi."

The court officials were almost in tears when this long and suffocating execution came to an end.

Xi Zixing bowed and returned. When he heard the four words "Xiao Xi Aiqing", his mood became very bright.

He glanced at Xia Fuyang.

The latter didn't look at him and his expression remained normal.

Qu Dubian: "My dear ministers, you all know that I have been in poor health since I was young. After returning from the northern border, my eyes went blind, and they are not in good condition now. I can't read too many complicated words."

He put down the fruit plate, and the look of watching the fun disappeared from his face. He said calmly, "I don't like to repeat my orders a second time, and I don't like to emphasize them many times. Once I have said it and ordered it, you should do it seriously."

"I have given you seven days to get used to the change in the rules for memorials. During these seven days, only a few memorials passed the test, while more and more failed. Are you testing my temper, or do you think that I am too young, not even twenty years old, and that I must follow your lead and rely on you in order to govern the court and the empire?"

All the officials were shocked and said hurriedly: "We dare not!"

"We dare not do that!"

Qu Watanabe: "I'm not angry, why are you so nervous?"

Officials: “…”

Qu Dubian smiled and said, "From this pile of memorials, I will select a few typical ones and post them in front of the government offices where you are on duty. From today onwards, if the memorials submitted are not in compliance with the rules, are long-winded, or complicated, they will be posted on the notice board in the city, so that the people and scholars can also take a look at the style of our officials in the Great Zhou."

The hearts of all the civil and military officials were in their throats. If this was true, they would be so embarrassed that they would be convicted of crimes!

"We, the ministers, will obey the emperor's orders and submit memorials according to the new rules!"

Qu Watanabe then nodded with satisfaction.

After the memorial system was reformed, the frequency of attending court could be changed according to the number of matters. It did not have to be once a day. Once every three or five days would be more reasonable.

After the court session ended, Fang Hechuan and Xi Zixing did not leave, but asked all the civil and military officials to come forward.

"My Lords, this is the excellent memorial selected by His Majesty. His Majesty asked me to show it to you."

Fang Hechuan unfolded his memorial, and the court officials looked over and were all attracted by the upper right corner. "What's that?"

Fang Hechuan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "The little red flower given by His Majesty is a compliment."

The old man was a little proud, "This is the first flower I have seen since the founding of the dynasty!"

"Ah... the little red flower printed by His Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Xia Fuyang took Xi Zixing's memorial and, as expected, there was also a small red flower with a stamp on the upper right corner.

He said: "Censor Xi is very good."

Xi Zixing came over and said with a small smile, "It's all right, General Xia."

Xia Fuyang snorted: "Who cares about this."

-

That night.

Ye Xiaoyuan sent in a memorial, "Your Majesty, General Xiaoxia sent a memorial to greet you, and he asked me to give it to you personally, saying that there is something important."

Qu Watanabe was curious and reached out: "Let me see."

I unfolded the memorial and saw the first line:

[Your Majesty, why do you call him Xiao Xi and me Lao Xia?]

Second line:

[I want a little red flower, too.]