After talking about Yang Shu that day, Shao Qing temporarily put aside the matter. She headed straight to the capital, so she couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
In addition, He Yun was ill. Due to his old age, he could not bear all the hard work, which slowed down the journey. Fortunately, Prince Ji did not just walk away, but sent a good doctor to treat him, and he gradually got better.
On the one hand, he was getting nervous, and on the other hand, he was worried that he would be late for the celebration. With all this anxiety, he finally arrived in the capital the day before New Year's Day.
“We’re finally here.”
The outpost just reported that we are still five miles away from the east gate of Luojing.
Shao Qing lifted the car curtain. Although the branches and treetops were still bare, a layer of golden warm sunshine covered the white snow. The wind was still cold, but it was not as biting as in the previous days.
The temperature has risen, that's right, the beginning of spring came early this year, it passed a few days earlier, and it is already spring now.
The road leading to the capital was very busy, with tea stalls and shops lining both sides of the official road and a constant stream of people walking on the road. Caravans, farmers, porters, horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, and carts - everything is there as far as the eye can see.
It was bustling and prosperous, without any trace of the chaos that existed outside like in Puyi City.
As expected, under the feet of the emperor, Shao Qing couldn't help but smile sarcastically.
She looked up at Wei Jing who was standing beside the carriage.
Wei Jing was looking straight ahead.
The ancient and majestic city walls are like a black dragon, lying on the ground and winding to both sides. It is majestic and there is no end in sight.
Wei Jing knew that above the city gate were embossed two large characters in a flamboyant style: Luojing; on the city wall, there were black-armored soldiers standing with spears in hand, there were fixed sentries, and there were also patrol teams of twenty people, and their sharp blades would flash golden light in the sun.
It was too familiar. He was born and raised here and had spent fifteen years in this magnificent city.
If it weren't for the resistance against the Tatars in the north, it would probably have taken another five years.
But unfortunately...
A flash of red light flashed across Wei Jing's black eyes, and his breathing became heavier. At this time, a familiar voice came from his ear: "Fifth Brother, Fifth Brother."
The voice was quiet, but filled with worry.
Wei Jing closed his eyes, turned his head and said to his wife, "I'm fine."
Shao Qing carefully examined his expression and was relieved when he saw that there was nothing unusual.
One was riding in a car, the other was riding a horse, and the environment was not right. She could not give more comfort and could only soothe them with her eyes.
Her cold chest felt warm, and she slowly exhaled, then Wei Jing smiled at her.
…
The carriage finally arrived at the east gate of Luojing City after a long swaying process. Before it stopped, two officials of the Grand Herald and an armored general came up.
After a brief conversation with the leader He Yun, He Yun passed down the message that each county magistrate could only bring in twenty followers.
These twenty places include concubines, maids, officials and guards. Anyway, only twenty people can enter.
There was no other way. There were so many people from all over the country coming to pay their respects. No matter how many people were allowed in, not only would there not be enough accommodation, but the capital would also be in chaos.
There are a little more than 50 quotas for provincial governors, but He Xin and his entourage are also included, so even a single point won’t make much difference. Prince Ji was not affected. He was of noble status and his palace was originally in Luojing. Even his personal guards could be brought in for inspection.
But the mere fact of having to be inspected made him very unhappy. Yang Shuwei tugged at his sleeve, and he snorted, slammed the car curtain, and chose not to look at it.
The group from Anyang County naturally did not have any concubines or maids or anything like that, and Wei Jing was experienced, so everything had been discussed before arriving in Beijing. Han Xi pretended to ponder for a moment, and selected eight officials as assistants, including Shao Qing, and twelve guards, including Wei Jing.
Three carriages and twelve horses, mixed in with the largely streamlined Yizhou team, slowly moved towards the city gate. As for the remaining large group of people, some soldiers led them westward. According to the officials of the Grand Herald, they would be settled in Mi County, seventy miles away, until they returned to Yizhou.
The moment she stepped into the gate of Luojing City, the tension in Shao Qing's heart was stretched to its utmost. Even though she was alone in the carriage, she pretended to be calm and not reveal any clues. As for the car curtains, she never lifted them up at all.
The sound of wheels rumbling and the noisy voices of people were heard in my ears, sometimes loud and sometimes soft, and finally I passed through all the markets and arrived at the Yizhou Posthouse.
Hearing the shouts of "Here we are," Shao Qing felt relieved. The carriage drove through the side door, and everyone got off. The Anyang County entourage was arranged in the third entrance.
Han Xi lived in the west wing, and the two people who served him lived in the back room. As for the other followers, they were all arranged in a row of rooms behind the corner gate.
They arrived a little late and were arranged to sit at the very end. Wei Jing and Shao Qing were quite satisfied with the location as there were fewer neighbors and it was more private.
"We have entered the capital."
Shao Qing murmured and paced a few steps. She simply opened her bag and made the bed to avoid thinking too much.
Wei Jing leaned over and brought out the bedding for her. She took it and spread it out. Suddenly she remembered something and became a little worried. She hurriedly asked quietly, "It's already 30 today. Is there enough time to contact the informants?"
Will it be too rushed?
Tomorrow is the New Year's Day celebration. After the celebration, she will stay for a few days at most and then go back. For a moment, she blamed He Yun for his illness too untimely, otherwise he could have arrived at least two or three days earlier.
"No problem."
Wei Jing said: "He was born on the 17th day of the first lunar month, so they will definitely leave after his long birthday."
They both knew exactly who this "he" was.
Shao Qing thought so too. This was the first time that the emperor's birthdays were so close together. It was impossible to disperse early. Then they have more than half a month, which is enough.
Wei Jing stood up, took two slow steps, and pushed open the south window. His sight seemed to pass through numerous buildings and he saw the golden palace at the end.
…
The Imperial Palace of Great Chu.
The new emperor, Wei Xian, was actually not as high-spirited as others imagined.
In the Jinque Palace, behind the imperial desk, sat a young man in a black and red dragon robe, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. He frowned and asked, "Are all the people here? What do they want to say?"
Why do you ask this question?
Because of the disaster relief a few months ago.
This spring and summer, there was a severe drought in Yanzhou and Sizhou, and Wei Xian immediately issued an edict to provide disaster relief. However, the granaries in the capital were only half full, and the grain stored in the important areas of the capital could not be moved lightly. Therefore, the imperial edict was issued to mobilize grain to several major grain-producing states such as Jing, Yang, Xu, Yu, as well as Yizhou and Bingzhou.
In the past, his elder brother, the former crown prince, had always done this, and this strategy was absolutely correct.
But Wei Xian immediately realized that there was still something different.
After receiving the order, except for He Yun, the governor of Yizhou, who quickly mobilized 30,000 hu of grain to be shipped out, the rest were perfunctory in their attitudes. Jingzhou Governor Chen Yi only gave 5,000 hu, Yangzhou Governor 4,000, Bingzhou Governor 4,000, and some people dared to offer 1,000 or 2,000.
What's worse, Du Shang, the governor of Yuzhou, and Pang Wei, the governor of Xuzhou, not only did not give any food, but instead submitted a petition to express their poverty, saying that they were affected by the drought and had suffered serious harvest losses, and begged Your Majesty to have mercy on them and allocate some relief food.
Not only did they not transfer out the food, but they even tried to take it back!
Wei Xian knew that these governors, who had been immersed in officialdom for many years and had gradually become powerful, were very difficult to deal with. In the past, the crown prince had to spend a lot of effort to deal with them.
But the point is, these actions of asking for one or two thousand hu, or even asking for it, would not have happened when the former crown prince was in power. Even if the governor is still stingy and drags his feet, he must at least get 10,000 hu if he wants 30,000 hu.
The new emperor's edict is not as effective as the former prince's order. The difference is obvious when comparing the two.
We will not discuss for now how angry Wei Xian was, but now he had no choice but to issue a series of imperial decrees to put pressure on these governors.
This New Year's greeting was certainly a major event after he ascended the throne, but it was also intended to intimidate others.
"Your Majesty."
There are seven or eight other people in the imperial study, all of them confidants. The first three are, on the left is Prince An Wei Ping, who arrived in Beijing half a month ago, and the other two are Marquis Leyin Qi Tian and Marquis Wuan Ding Hua. The former was an able minister left by the previous emperor, who made great efforts in eradicating the Fu family; the latter was Wei Xian's original party member.
They are all the emperor's most trusted aides.
Now it was Ding Hua who answered. He cupped his hands and said, "Chen Yi and Huang Fang submitted a petition saying that they had raised an extra 5,000 hu after much effort. Cui Kuang raised 7,000, Pang Wei and Du Shang raised 8,000, and..., food was also delivered to Beijing during this trip."
Everyone said that they had spent a lot of effort to raise the money, but in fact, it was because the emperor was going to the capital to pay tribute, and they were afraid that he would be angry and do something bad, so they gave some appropriate money to appease his anger and cover up the matter.
The first court greeting is of great significance, and absence is inappropriate. It cannot give the emperor an excuse to order his arrest or cause his attendants to attack him.
Once the court celebration is over, these people will probably return to their old ways. Thinking of this, Wei Xian's brows, which had just relaxed, frowned again.
Ding Hua advised: "Your Majesty, don't be hasty. It is best to proceed slowly. These governors have disrespected your majesty. We can find their flaws and defeat them one by one in the future."
Prince An also advised: "Brother, you have cleaned up the court this year, so next year you can focus on this matter."
Wei Xian thought so too. When he first ascended the throne at the beginning of the year, many old ministers kept chattering and always brought up the former crown prince. Now that a year has passed, hasn't the situation in the DPRK improved greatly? As his authority grew, these chaotic voices could no longer be heard.
"You two dear ministers are absolutely right."
Wei Xian's expression brightened up: "Okay, the grain raised this time will be used to relieve the disaster in Sizhou first."
There is still a shortage of grain, and two states are not enough, so we can only rely on Sizhou, which is under the emperor's feet.
"After your majesty's first audience, you will surely shock the ministers inside and outside the court, and it will be just a matter of time before you can subdue and eliminate the unruly ones."
“Well said!”
Wei Xian was very pleased and ordered a reward for Ding Hua. The atmosphere in the imperial study finally relaxed again.
Just as the palace servants and eunuchs who had been standing quietly breathed a sigh of relief, footsteps were heard outside and the eunuch's unique shrill voice was heard.
"Your Majesty, Prince Ji requests an audience."
The vassal kings are noble, but some places are also troublesome. For example, when Prince Ji comes to Beijing, even if he will pay homage to the emperor tomorrow, he still has to meet the emperor once he arrives today.
"Prince Ji?"
Thinking of his arrogant brother in the past, Wei Xian raised his eyebrows. Things have changed over time. Those who used to ignore him have either died miserably in defeat or are crawling at his feet.
He raised his lips: "Pass it on!"
…
——
Wei Jing and Shao Qing had no idea how Wei Xian turned his anger into joy and how he gladly accepted Prince Ji's kneeling.
They were discussing how to start contacting their informants as soon as possible.
"Ah Qing, I'm going to go out for a while."
This is the most important purpose of this trip to Beijing, but Wei Jing does not intend to contact the person right away. Instead, he has to observe the person first and make sure of his loyalty before contacting him. In this case, half a month is not much time, so we have to seize it.
Shao Qing nodded: "Don't worry about me, I'm safe here, but you have to be careful."
This is the capital city after all.
Finally, she instructed, "We will have a morning ceremony tomorrow, so we need to prepare tonight. You should come back early, as we still have to go to the front."
The main scene is about to begin, and Han Xi has to be carefully made up again. It would be safer to go to Han Xi to handle it, after all, we have to be prepared for someone to come looking for us. Shao Qing doesn't know how to get up high and down high, so Wei Jing is needed.
Wei Jing nodded: "I will be back at midnight at the latest."
He squeezed his wife's hand, called Wang Jing and others, ordered them to guard carefully, then pushed open the rear window, tiptoed, and jumped away.
Which eyeliners to observe have been circled before coming. As for who comes first and who comes later? Wei Jing pondered for a while, thinking of Prince Ji who was still hesitant, and Chu Zhu who might have another master behind him.
He turned around and went silently to Prince Ji's Mansion.
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