"Although it is outside the palace walls, the outer pavilion sounds too bad." Zhao Jiu shook his head. "How about using the name of the public pavilion? Allow them to meet once every 20 days like the secret pavilion, and keep records and archive them and submit letters to me in the name of the public pavilion. Also, allow them to participate in the grand court meetings and listen to the noise. When the Imperial Academy discusses politics, maybe they can sit next to me..."
"But if even the grand court meeting is just a noise, then what can we say in the palace?" Zhao Ding already felt that it was feasible, but still felt a little hasty and awkward... It was too deceiving. Han Xiaozhou could have been a prime minister, and it must be tiring for Yansheng Duke to run around with two wooden statues at home, right?
What's more, there are quite a lot of people around.
"Let's put the host and the temple master who came this time in there to talk about sacrifice and blessing?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask tentatively. "Let's put some famous royal family members in there to discuss the rituals and inheritance of titles? Let's let the two fathers-in-law in there to talk about the road construction in Tokyo City? And how to divide the houses in Jingyuan? When will the Cuju League start? The great scholars can also come in to promote the original learning and discuss the Neo-Confucianism? In winter, we can also discuss how to help the poor? You can talk about anything, anyway, send it to me in the end, I will take a look when I have time, and if I don't have time, just send it again... How do you do it?"
Zhao Ding was too embarrassed to nod, but seeing him, the other ministers and the two chancellors looking at each other, it seemed as if they agreed very much.
After all, when they were making these lists this time, they discovered that there were too many similar people.
In fact, even the several eunuchs standing outside seemed to agree with it... Who would want these people to compete with them for positions? Just like what the emperor said, these official positions are increasingly concerned with the matching of names with reality. They all have real power, and everyone feels that they can get promoted without doing anything. Why should these people come directly over their heads?
"I am willing to resign from the position of the head of the secret cabinet and become the new head of the public cabinet." Lu Haowen, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. "It's just right for me to concentrate on my original studies..."
"Mr. Lu can be the chief of the public chamber, but he must continue to be the chief of the secret chamber." Zhao Jiu waved his hand quickly. "Some things still need Mr. Lu to make the final decision for me."
Lu Haowen nodded, and then sat there in silence, not knowing whether he was thinking of a new theorem. The remaining few people discussed it briefly, probably wanting the court newspaper to promote the value of this public office... and then the matter seemed to be roughly settled.
Those of you who came today have received a new task, which is to draw up a list of officials.
However, before that, there seems to be one more thing.
"Are these all?" Zhao Jiu touched another list, unable to believe it for a moment.
"Your Majesty." Zhao Ding and the others had no choice but to stand up and bow to each other. Even Lu Haowen stood up as well. "Your servants are really helpless... The Jin army only stopped at Huaihe River, Nanyang, and Guanzhong, while Hebei and Hedong were still occupied by the enemy, and Jingdong was newly recovered. Therefore, in fact, only Guanzhong, Zhongyuan, and Huaishang can be used for effective statistics. And even these three places have experienced many times of banditry, rebels, Jin troops, and government troops. How can we explain it clearly?"
"What about those entire towns in the west of Beijing that were massacred in the winter of the second year of Jianyan?" Zhao Jiu was still puzzled.
"So that the government can know, since the whole place was massacred, how can there be any information left?" Zhao Ding was increasingly helpless. "Besides, the household register had already been re-determined after the land division, military settlement, and land grant. We can only record the list of towns and cities, and have also written them down in the register... As for other places, we have collected information about the men and women who fought against the Jin heroes in the name of the capital, but we can only get information about who organized the rebel army and who died in battle in a certain year or time, but they are all well-known local families."
Zhao Jiu looked at the several thick volumes of names of meritorious officials who remained loyal to their principles that he had just read… One volume was for bureaucrats who had sacrificed their lives and made meritorious contributions, such as Li Ruoshui and Zhang Shuye; one volume was for generals who had sacrificed their lives and made meritorious contributions, such as Zhong Shidao and Wang Bing; one volume was for bureaucrats who are still loyal to their principles, such as many veteran bureaucrats in the court including Han Xiaozhou; and another volume was for noble and famous scholars who are still loyal to their principles, such as the uncles and nephews of Duke Yansheng… He touched the thin volume of the list of men and women from the righteous and heroic households in his hand again, and thought of the densely packed archways in the temple on the mountain behind the Battle of Yaoshan.
Even though he claimed that he had seen a lot of things in the past four or five years, he still felt ironic and sad at this moment.
Emperor Zhao stroked the thin list for a long time without saying a word. Several prime ministers, the Chief Censor, the two chancellors, and the people outside the pavilion were all a little embarrassed... They were the real elites of the empire.
We all understand what it means to lose a country and a empire, and the suffering of the people. How can we not know the embarrassment and sadness involved?
But the reality is so clear and straightforward, so straightforward that even a few sighs of emotion seem hypocritical... What can you do?
After a long pause, Zhao Jiu finally opened the list. Several ministers sat down at his signal. But at this moment, Zhao Guanjia, who was staring at the first page of the list of towns and cities in western Beijing that were massacred, suddenly became thoughtful. He turned his head and said to Yang Yizhong, who was standing outside the pavilion: "Zhengfu!"
"I'm here." Yang Yizhong was inexplicably flustered.
"Are there any prostitutes in the city?" Zhao Jiu asked seriously.
The whole pavilion was in turmoil for a while, and even Yang Yizhong was dumbfounded. Everyone knew that the two imperial concubines were pregnant, but how could they tolerate such absurd words from the emperor? But for some reason, after a while, including Li Guang who was extremely angry, everyone became strangely quiet.
Just like an infection, one person suddenly wakes up, and then these imperial elites quickly wake up and understand.
The autumn wind was rustling, the sun was setting, and in the evening, the entire nameless stone pavilion was silent, with only the faint sound of the autumn wind coming from the mulberry forest in the distance.
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