Chapter 2 Xu Zhenguan
At noon, the rain stopped and the sky cleared up.
With the lifting of the "daytime ban", people in the capital came out of their homes, rows of shops opened, and the crisscrossing cobblestone streets in the city were crowded with people.
The stagnant city was like a clockwork, regaining its vitality.
“Gee! Gee!”
On Zhuque Street, a carriage was rushing around, the sound of its hooves was like thunder, and pedestrians along the way were frightened and scattered, trying to avoid it.
Inside the carriage, Zhao Duan leaned against the soft brocade cushion, gazing at the ancient city beyond the trembling curtains, and dispelled the last trace of doubt:
"It's not The Truman Show."
What supported his judgment was not only the overwhelming sense of reality, but more importantly, the completely different body and the messy and damaged memories in his mind.
In his previous life, he was born into a test-taker family in a small town. He worked hard to get to the top, earn a salary as a government official, and work as a secretary. With luck and the right people, he rose to prominence and became the envy of others.
But beneath the bright appearance, one is actually very cautious and treads on thin ice.
His low-income background prevented him from squandering his power, and he was willing to be a workhorse. He eventually died suddenly from working overtime late into the night.
Unexpectedly, when he opened his eyes again, he had become a powerful official in ancient times and rose to fame overnight.
…
As for his current identity, it is a bit subtle.
The Dayu Dynasty unified the Central Plains and had been established for a long time. However, the previous emperor was incompetent and foolish. After his death, his descendants fought among themselves, which led to the so-called "Xuanmen Coup".
The winner is the Third Princess, the current saint and a rare female emperor in ancient and modern times.
The original owner was a small soldier in the imperial guards. During the coup, he took advantage of the situation and bet on the empress, which led to his promotion. Because of his handsome appearance and excellent licking skills, he became more favored.
After the empress ascended the throne, she set up the "White Horse Prison" to handle her private affairs.
The original owner was among them, serving as an "envoy".
Because the White Horse Messenger worked for the saint, he was not under the jurisdiction of the six ministries of the imperial court. He could enter and leave the palace freely and even temporarily mobilize a small group of imperial guards. He had considerable power.
Among the many envoys, the original owner was highly regarded by officials in the capital because of rumors that he was the empress's "face-to-face lover".
It is conceivable that once the imperial guards gain power, they will inevitably become unruly.
During the year that the original owner came to power, he developed a domineering and arrogant personality, indulged in sensual pleasures, acted recklessly, and lived an extravagant life. The people he associated with were all high-ranking officials and dignitaries. His behavior was shameful and he made many enemies.
Very bad reputation.
A typical villain succeeds.
But it is not without advantages.
The original owner knew that power came from the empress, so he tried his best to please her.
After the "Xuanmen Coup", the Second Prince's followers fled and hid in the dark to deal with and confront the Empress, which became a serious concern. The Empress ordered the "Zhao Yamen" in the capital, which was similar to the Jinyiwei, to arrest the rebels.
In order to win credit for his work to the Empress, the original owner secretly bribed an informant in the Imperial Court and intercepted intelligence. A few days ago, he accidentally learned a clue:
There is a suspected rebel figure hiding in the capital.
After investigation, they did find something. In order to grab the credit, the original owner ignored the imperial court's plan of "playing the long game to catch the big fish" and urgently mobilized the imperial guards to rescue the person.
This is how the previous scene happened.
As for the truth behind the coup, the original owner, as an eyewitness, had a say. From what he saw, it was indeed the second prince who launched the coup, with brothers killing each other first, and the empress stopped him later.
The old tutor's rhetoric was a fabricated version of the story that slandered the empress.
Zhao Duan didn't care about this, he only cared about his own situation.
He had only two words to describe the original owner's series of mysterious actions:
"madness!"
"Although Zhuang Xiaocheng is a wicked and deceitful scholar, he's right about one thing: he gets carried away by success and is a mean-spirited person. Even if what happened today hadn't happened, 'I' wouldn't have been able to remain so arrogant for much longer."
"That's not how things work in the government."
"If they had caught him, it would have been fine. But he escaped, and the officers were maliciously intercepted by me. To prove their innocence, the imperial court will surely try their best to pin the blame on me..."
"I've offended so many people, so it's inevitable that I'll kick you when you're down..."
Release the rebels privately!
If such a serious crime is proven, I will be finished!
This is a capital crime.
Even if there is no evidence, just suspicion, he can no longer wear this official robe.
Considering the original owner's evil villain character, if he loses his official position, he will probably live a life worse than death.
This is a feudal ancient society, not a society ruled by law...
…
Inside the car.
Zhao Duan's forehead was covered with sweat, and a chill ran down his spine. He racked his brains for a solution:
"Escape? No, I can't escape from the capital..."
"Family help? This dynasty isn't named Zhao, it's named Xu. Besides, the original owner didn't come from a powerful family..."
"Ask the original owner's friends for help? Ha, what a bunch of scoundrels! Be thankful they don't backstab you."
"Selling his body, gaining the Empress's trust by posing as a male favorite or a concubine?"
This seemed to be the most reliable method, and it was also the purpose of the black-clad official suggesting him to enter the palace.
But Zhao Duan, who obtained the original owner's memory, knew that he had never touched the empress at all!
Even in the past year, the two have met privately very few times.
At most, there was some ambiguity, or to be more precise, the original owner always felt that the empress was interested in him!
This is not wishful thinking, there are three pieces of evidence:
First, the original owner was handsome, and the empress had praised him many times;
Secondly, the Empress allowed the original owner to enter and leave the palace, and her attitude towards him was different from that towards the other envoys of the White Horse Prison;
Thirdly, and most importantly, the rumor that the male protagonist is the empress's lover has been circulating for a year. With the empress's eyes and ears, she must have known about it at the first opportunity.
But the empress never denied it!
Instead, they responded with tacit approval!
This is worth pondering.
It was precisely because of this that the original owner had the capital to be so arrogant: as a female emperor, how could she allow people to gossip about her without her tacit consent? How could she have allowed such slander and insult to her innocence?
Therefore, the male protagonist has always believed that the reason why the empress has not allowed him to sleep with her is that she is busy with official duties and is observing him.
This was also the motivation for his eagerness to make achievements, trying to spread his feathers like a peacock and ascend the dragon bed early.
However, Zhao Duan's spirit traveled through time and space, and from his perspective, he was able to detect something strange:
"No! This is strange..."
I always feel that it is not that simple.
But for a moment, he couldn't figure it out, so he shook his head, exhaled, and laughed at himself:
"There are advantages, at least it's not easy to be exposed."
If the two of them really had physical contact, the empress would definitely realize that he was not "Zhao Duan".
That's fine.
But how to break the deadlock?
At this moment, the carriage suddenly slowed down, and the driver's voice came: "Sir, we are about to enter the imperial city!"
I can only improvise... Zhao Duan cut off his thoughts, regained his composure, took out the token from his waist, threw it into the carriage, and said to the guards:
"I have something important to report to the Saint. Please let him go immediately!"
…
…
The imperial palace was composed of two inner and outer cities. When a carriage entered the imperial city, it could not go any further when it reached the palace gate.
Zhao Duan had no choice but to get off the car and walk to the "Yangxin Palace" where the saint was, led by a young eunuch.
Soon, a group of palace servants appeared at the end of the corridor supported by red-painted wooden pillars.
"Stop!" an elderly palace maid said, stopping the two men as they approached.
"Your Majesty is discussing state affairs with the Prime Minister. No one is allowed in."
Zhao Duan's heart suddenly relaxed, as if he was relieved that the exam was postponed. He immediately imitated the original owner's tone and smiled at the eunuch leading the way:
"In that case, please go and do your work, I will wait here."
In my memory, although the original owner was domineering, he was used to treating people differently according to their preferences.
He was always polite to the palace attendants.
After seeing the young eunuch off, Zhao Duan waited sideways in the corridor.
The remaining rainwater slid down the tiles, and the sunlight poured down, cutting dazzling golden lines diagonally on the ground.
He suddenly lowered his head and quickly searched for memories about the "Prime Minister" in his mind.
His past life experience told him that any small matter related to leadership may contain important information. At this moment, he is like a drowning man and must seize every opportunity to survive.
Soon, he found the information he needed:
Li Yanfu, the Prime Minister of Dayu, was the most powerful official during the previous emperor's reign. He served as the chief minister of the cabinet and had great power in the court. He was a gloomy and scheming person.
After the empress ascended the throne, in order to strengthen the imperial power and dissolve the cabinet, Li Yanfu was severely weakened, but he was still the de facto "Prime Minister of the Empire" and the leader of the "Li Party" composed mainly of Jiangnan gentry.
He has controlled the government for many years and his power is deeply intertwined.
Together with the "Qingliu Party" headed by Yuan Li, the Imperial Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, they are two major forces in the current court that check and balance each other.
In later times, he would be a big shot that could only be heard on the news broadcast...
Zhao Duan was in a trance for a short time, feeling as unreal as an ant stepping into a tiger mountain.
He took a deep breath, raised his eyes, and gestured to the older palace maid to go talk to the side.
"Is there something wrong, Lord Zhao?"
The older palace maid was no stranger to him. They walked a few steps away and asked indifferently.
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"It's nothing important. I'm just curious why the Prime Minister is in such a hurry. He came into the palace just after the heavy rain stopped. Could something big have happened?"
The older maid glanced at him and said, "How would we servants know?"
Zhao Duan smoothly handed over a roll of banknotes from his sleeve:
"Sister, I only pick out things that can be said, just one or two suggestions."
The older maid glanced at him in surprise, then suddenly smiled and said:
"It's not a secret. With your connections, you can find out with a little inquiry... Does your Excellency know about the Huai River's conversion from rice to mulberry?"
I don’t know… Zhao Duan had a blank expression on his face. The original owner, this idiot, only knew about who could be bullied and who could not be offended in the court. He knew nothing about political affairs.
What a waste.
"Please tell me, sister." Zhao Duan asked without hesitation.
"..." The palace maid had no choice but to give a simple explanation. It turned out that the national treasury was empty during the reign of the previous emperor, and after the coup, the deficit was serious after the empress took over.
In order to ease the financial situation, a faction headed by Li Yanfu pushed to convert some rice fields in the Huai River area in the south of the Yangtze River into mulberry fields to promote the silk trade. However, due to their haste for success, they damaged some farmland and almost provoked a civil uprising.
"His Majesty was furious when he heard about this. All the officials in the court have been arguing about this matter these days. The Prime Minister entered the palace today, and perhaps he has a solution."
After the maid finished speaking, she turned around and returned to her original position.
Zhao Duan's heart moved, and knowing that the other party would not say anything more, he shut up and lowered his head to wait.
…
The palace is flourishing, but the atmosphere is depressing and heavy.
Just when Zhao Duan's legs were aching from standing, the tightly closed door at the end of the corridor was pushed open.
Then, an old man wearing a crimson official robe, a black gauze hat, with hair like hedgehog fur, eyebrows like purple stone edges, and a fierce look walked over.
The palace envoys stood on the left and right and made way.
Zhao Duan stood at the side of the corridor and bowed, "Goodbye, Prime Minister."
The dignified old man looked straight ahead, as if he had not seen him at all, and strode away.
The palace maids around were laughing secretly. The whole capital knew that in the real powerful circle, people despised and mocked Zhao Duan, a pretty boy who used his beauty to seduce others.
As the Prime Minister, even looking at him for a second longer would be considered lowering one's status.
The empress' face?
It may seem glamorous, but in the eyes of real big shots, it is not as good as the courtesan in a brothel. Even ordinary people will respect it on the surface, but will spit on it in secret.
Zhao Duan felt even more deeply about the original owner's disgust and hatred for people.
Facing the meaningful gazes of the crowd, he remained calm and unperturbed.
What does the original owner’s loss of face have to do with me?
The older maid went to report. After a while, Fang Fu returned:
"His Majesty grants you an audience."
"Thank you for the message." Zhao Duan took a deep breath and walked forward through the crowd.
What is meant to come will eventually come.
He silently recalled the original owner's behavior habits, one step, two steps, three steps... After taking seven steps, his whole demeanor, temperament, and behavior were exactly the same as the original owner.
Politicians are born actors.
At this moment, Zhao Duan brought his acting skills to full fruition.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Raise your hand and knock on the door.
A cold voice came from behind the tightly closed vermilion carved double wooden doors:
"Enter."
Zhao Duan pushed open the heavy door with both hands. The sunlight passed by his body, spread over the threshold, and ignited the spacious room. The floor was covered with precious carpets tributed from the Western Regions.
Inside the priceless antique display cabinet, a nearly transparent porcelain vase with double handles and dragon pattern fired in the royal kiln shines brightly.
On a large desk, piles of old brushes were piled up like a mountain, and the black water in the white inkstone had dried up.
A woman in white formal clothes was reviewing memorials at the desk.
She was about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, with cold features and long black hair that fell like a waterfall. With her head lowered, only half of her face was visible, yet she was still stunningly beautiful. She didn't wear a single piece of gold or silver jewelry on her body, yet she exuded an air of grace and elegance.
As he looked focused, his sleeves slipped down, revealing a wrist as white as jade. His fingers were as slender as green onions, and he held a thick golden wolf-hair brush with standard fingering.
The Empress of Dayu, Xu Zhenguan!
The moment Zhao Duan saw the empress, his brain went blank for a moment. In a trance, he seemed to recall the Xuanmen coup in the past, the day when the palace was covered with heavy snow.
At that time, the young imperial guards, who were in the midst of the chaotic army, looked out at the palace gate and caught a glimpse of the Third Princess, who was dressed in gorgeous attire.
Wearing a phoenix crown on his head, a crimson bridal robe on his body, and gold and jade hanging from his waist, he arrived in the wind and snow in a formal attire. With a jade dragon sword in his hand, he swept across, frightening away thousands of soldiers, looking noble and majestic.
My blood is boiling, my heart is beating like a drum...
Zhao Duan bit the tip of his tongue lightly, forced himself to lower his eyes, and cursed in his heart, why did he end up like this after being influenced by countless beauties?
I immediately realized that it was probably the remaining instincts of the original owner that were at work.
The young imperial guards at that time did not bet on any side at all. The reason they joined the Third Princess was purely because they were attracted by her beauty.
This pretty boy is greedy for women's bodies, what a cheap guy!
When Zhao Duan was criticizing himself, the empress beside the desk did not even raise her head and said calmly:
"Grinding ink."
"yes!"
Zhao Duan was a little surprised, but still walked around to the table and ground ink for the female emperor.
As the distance gets closer, there is a faint fragrance lingering around the nose, which makes people feel distracted.
The king and his minister, one reviewing the documents while the other grinding ink and writing, the room was silent and quiet with only the rustling of paper.
…
a long time.
Xu Zhenguan suddenly said without raising his head, "The Prime Minister came to see me just now. Do you know why?"
Her voice was quite textured and slightly magnetic, reminding Zhao Duan of the voice actor in his previous life.
Zhao Duan paused while grinding the ink, his expression normal.
"I, your humble servant, would like to ask, since I know a few things. Does Your Excellency the Prime Minister have any good suggestions for the rice-changing issue?"
With the experience from his previous life, he realized in a flash that the older palace maid might have reported his "bribery" to the empress.
At this time, it is absolutely not advisable to pretend to be stupid. The correct approach is to answer honestly.
Xu Zhenguan said "yes", and seemed quite satisfied with his answer. However, after hearing the second half of the sentence, he said with a little emotion:
"The Prime Minister came to see me and said that a talented person in the Hanlin Academy has proposed a plan to solve the problem of the destruction of farmland along the Huai River."
"Is there really a way to break the impasse? I wonder what the method is?" Zhao Duan pretended to be curious.
Xu Zhenguan let out a faint "huh" and uttered eight words with an unclear meaning:
"By combining reform with relief, the dilemma will be resolved."
To reform and provide relief!
Thanks to his extensive knowledge as a chief secretary in his previous life, as well as his experience in watching costume historical dramas, Zhao Duan easily understood the meaning of this sentence.
The current situation is roughly as follows:
The imperial court tried to promote the replacement of rice with mulberry trees, but problems arose in the implementation, resulting in a large number of victims.
A talented person in the Hanlin Academy thought that since the victims were starving, they could ask local gentry to buy the destroyed land with grain.
In this way, the victims will have food, and the gentry can also cooperate with the government to promote the mulberry planting reform, killing two birds with one stone, which is the so-called self-resolving of the dilemma.
At first glance, it seemed like a brilliant plan to kill two birds with one stone. However, in Zhao Duan's eyes, it was a method that only a fool could come up with...
Wouldn't the Prime Minister be able to notice the problem with this method?
He never dared to underestimate the wisdom of the ancients, so why did Li Yanfu come to make a memorial?
Is it the lesser of two evils? Or is it...
Suddenly, Zhao Duan remembered a detail:
The "Li Party" to which Li Yanfu belonged was a group of Jiangnan gentry, and the Huai River was located in the Jiangnan area. If the local gentry benefited, the "Li Party" would benefit.
Moreover, after Xu Zhenguan ascended the throne, he continued to suppress the "Li Party".
It’s quite interesting.
Did the Empress see this? Not sure.
But this is an opportunity to show loyalty and win favor.
"Your Majesty, this method... I'm afraid it's not appropriate." Zhao Duan thought carefully and spoke.
Xu Zhenguan kept reviewing the memorials and said "Oh?" casually.
Zhao Duan said:
"Changing rice crops to mulberry trees is a good idea. If it's implemented slowly over three to five years, it might be successful. The current situation is already difficult, and if we combine this with relief efforts, I'm afraid the situation will only get worse."
He organized his words briefly and continued:
"Just imagine, if the gentry provided relief, what price would they pay for the land? If we go by market price, not only would the local wealthy be unable to absorb it all, making it unprofitable, but the victims would only need to sell a small amount of land to survive. In this case, switching from rice to mulberry cultivation would be difficult to implement."
"If we buy the land at a low price, the wealthy and powerful will naturally applaud us, but the victims will be starving and have no way to survive, which will inevitably lead to civil unrest... In this case, the court will be caught in a dilemma. How can we resolve this dilemma?"
He spoke lightly, as if he were just chatting.
However, when Xu Zhenguan heard this, the hand of this female emperor who ascended to the throne as a woman suddenly stopped while reviewing the memorials!
Immediately.
The empress in white, who had kept her eyes lowered from beginning to end, slowly raised her delicate head, turned her head to the side, revealing her complete appearance.
Her fair face was as flawless as if carved from ice crystal, with a straight nose, plump lips, and thick eyelashes like a brush. At this moment, her beautiful eyes were majestic with a hint of surprise.
I was extremely surprised.
In her impression, the young guard who was her favorite male concubine in the rumor in the capital has always been a "vase" role.
I had no other intention in talking about government affairs just now. I was just feeling upset and wanted to find someone to talk to. I didn't expect the other person to respond at all.
But the other party's eloquent speech, although all the words were the result of her own thinking and understanding, and there was nothing new about it, but coming from the mouth of "Zhao Duan", it was enough to surprise her.
This kind of insight and sharpness in criticizing current social ills is at least... better than that of the Hanlin.
"Is this what you thought?" Xu Zhenguan stared at her with her beautiful eyes.
Zhao Duan said calmly, "I'm not as knowledgeable as the others in the court, but I'm just speaking with audacity."
This time, his demeanor and bearing were slightly different from before.
Zhao Duan was gambling. He guessed that the empress didn't know that the old tutor had escaped, so he had to do his best to show his value.
Improve favorability.
After all, a thought from the empress can determine his life or death.
If he could survive this disaster by licking, he wouldn't mind changing his name to Feiyangyang.
Xu Zhenguan lowered his eyes and stared at him, as if trying to determine whether he was real or not. After a moment, he smiled and asked:
"Then, in your opinion, how should we solve it?"
Zhao Duan said frankly: "There is no solution."
The most arrogant thing about people is that they always think there is a solution to any problem. However, looking at the past and present, the vast majority of problems have no solution.
Of course, Zhao Duan also wanted to propose a solution and make meritorious contributions to be exempted from guilt, but that was not realistic.
Xu Zhenguan was not surprised. He just looked at the handsome "guard" with sharp features with more and more interest:
"I thought you would reply that I should ask the old Heavenly Master or the abbot Xuanyin to perform the Tongtian magic to break this situation."
Old Heavenly Master? Mysterious Seal?
Zhao Duan vaguely learned from the original owner's memory that these two names seemed to be great figures like gods on land in the capital and even in the entire Dayu territory.
It’s a pity that although the original owner was proficient in martial arts, he was still far from the realm of Xuanmen. To him, sorcerers were the existence of another world.
Can magic solve the problem...Zhao Duan was curious, but after catching a glimpse of the empress's expression, his ability to "guess the emperor's intentions" from his previous life came into play again.
A blessing came to his mind, and the original text of the Tao Te Ching emerged in his mind, and he blurted out:
"Governing a great country is like cooking a small fish. If you rule the world with the Tao, the ghosts will not be powerful."
Snap!
A drop of ink splashed onto the paper from the end of the thick golden wolf hair brush in Xu Zhenguan's hand. The empress narrowed her eyes, revealing a strange color, and the look she gave Zhao Duan was truly different.
(End of this chapter)
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