When Emperor Qing heard Xie Shu say that there was a way to build the palace he wanted as soon as possible, he was very happy. He couldn't help but think of the West Garden where he lived when he was on his southern tour. It was so ingenious, unique and elegant, and he looked forward to it even more.
Xie Shu took the opportunity to say that several decrees from the Ministry of Works needed to be issued.
First of all, if the construction department wants to be more efficient, it needs the cooperation of people from all parties.
The Ministry of Works should have the right to independently manage projects, and there should be dedicated personnel to coordinate personnel transfers and material transportation. The Ministry of Works should be responsible for appointments and deployments.
Secondly, if the Ministry of Industry wants to purchase all the engineering materials from the public, it should also have someone who can investigate the market. Xie Shu recommended Wan Tianyun for this position. Wan Tianyun was originally a son of an official, and he was also a candidate for Tongzhi, which did not violate the rules.
Xie Shu applied for a new official position for him, supervisor, who was directly appointed by Emperor Qing and had an official rank of sixth grade.
Finally, Xie Shu also pointed out that the number of craftsmen recorded by the Ministry of Works is too small, and there is a shortage of craftsmen in various industries. In addition, the remuneration given to them by the government is not enough to compensate for their labor, so they often resist by passive resistance, making it difficult to complete various engineering tasks.
Xie Shu suggested recruiting craftsmen from all over the country and registering them in shifts. They would take turns to work on each project for a full season. When the work was completed, they would be released after checking the original inspection and the project was clear. This cycle would repeat. If a craftsman could not return to serve in time, he could pay silver to compensate.
Hearing that this move would not only greatly change the lazy atmosphere of the Ministry of Works in the past, but also that there would be money coming in, Emperor Qing was also very tempted. What's more, his mind was focused on his future palace. He approved these decrees with a stroke of his pen. So let's do it.
Once this incident was reported, it caused an uproar.
No one in the court had ever thought that there would be more strict and harsher decrees than before.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell from this decree that Xie Shu had expanded his power infinitely and made it easier for him to amass wealth. In addition, Xie Shu had actively followed Emperor Qing's wishes, allowing him to indulge in his extravagant habits, which was an act of flattery.
So many people privately said that a second Lu Shuo was about to appear.
When Lu Shuo learned about this, he just laughed it off and did not feel it was an offense.
Because during the year that Xie Shu served as the Minister of Works, he was extremely respectful and courteous to Lu Shuo both in public and in private.
Half a year ago, Lu Shuo's wife died of illness. Lu Shuo was not in the mood to preside over the funeral, so Xie Shu wrote an obituary in the name of his junior fellow apprentice to mourn her.
This incident changed Lu Shuo's impression of Xie Shu a lot.
Judging others by his own standards, Lü Shuo believed that Xie Shu was the same person as himself. After all, Xie Shu's experience as a son-in-law was well known. Moreover, who would not be dazzled by power and desire in the officialdom? What did gratitude and friends and relatives mean to him?
In this case, Xie Shu could be used by him, and Lu Shuo felt much more relieved.
Therefore, it makes sense that Xie Shu wanted to please Emperor Qing. Building a palace was just a way of doing things, and it was far from enough to affect Lu Shuo's position in Emperor Qing's heart, because Lu Shuo had done too many things like this for Emperor Qing.
And now Lu Shuo's energy is focused on how to store it easily.
The crown prince must not be allowed to ascend to the throne, but although Emperor Qing does not like this crown prince, he has never really made the decision to replace him.
After all, changing the crown prince is a matter of great importance. If one is not careful, it may shake the country. Therefore, when Emperor Qing reveals some of his intentions from time to time, it is enough to make court officials feel resentful, making the crown prince panic all the time and doing things more cautiously.
Emperor Qing's excessive preference for the third prince Shao Zhen not only fueled Shao Zhen's ambition, but also caused many people who saw the opportunity to secretly form cliques with him, resulting in various undercurrents and struggles in the court.
The relationship between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince became increasingly worse, but fortunately, Emperor Qing had accumulated great prestige, the Crown Prince was a kind and dull person, and Shao Zhen's power was not enough, so there had not been any fratricide between the two sides.
But if this continues, the ultimate supreme position will sooner or later fall into the hands of the prince.
Lu Shuo couldn't just watch the situation develop into this result. Now that the Third Prince had added chips again and again, Lu Shuo also saw the actual benefits in the future.
Although the Third Prince is cruel and ruthless, he thinks too highly of himself and is not as good as Emperor Qing. Whether it is to ascend the throne or to stabilize the political situation in the future, he must rely on him. With Lu Shuo's means, he can plot against the Third Prince.
However, it is not easy to find the prince's mistakes without being noticed and to provoke a dispute over the succession.
However, Lu Shuo was originally an enemy of the prince's faction, so he was not worried about not being able to take advantage of the situation.
Autumn was gradually coming to an end, and the Tatars were once again short of food and fodder.
A few years ago, after the Tatars went south from Hetao and plundered, they were attacked by the then Protector General Wang Zhen, who led an army of 100,000 to attack Hetao. The Tatars were afraid but were reluctant to give up Hetao.
But the full-scale war only lasted a few months, and the Protector General Wang Zhen was suddenly imprisoned.
The Tatars became even more rampant. In the autumn of this year, they originally wanted to plunder and leave, but they advanced deeper and deeper, eventually reaching Jizhou.
Jizhou is the last line of defense in Hexi, and the enemy will never be allowed to invade.
Otherwise, Hexi would be in the hands of the Tatars in the future. Relying on the power of the Yellow River, they would be invincible.
As soon as the military intelligence came, Emperor Qing urgently summoned all his ministers to discuss how to solve the problem.
The Minister of War Wang Kui already hated Lu Shuo because of Wang Zhen's imprisonment. At this time, he immediately accused Lu Shuo of fault, saying that he should not advocate peace but war.
However, Lu Shuo retorted that what the Tatars wanted was food and clothing, and if they had only stationed troops to resist them, such a thing would not have happened. It was precisely because a few years ago, Wang Zhen was determined to make meritorious deeds and let the Tatars see the shortcomings of Daqing’s military strength that led to such a result.
Wang Kui was a rash person. When he heard Lu Shuo's sophistry, he immediately flew into a rage. However, he forgot one thing: Lu Shuo's previous decision was also made by Emperor Qing.
Wang Kui attacked Lu Shuo's weakness and was also blaming Emperor Qing for his mistakes.
Emperor Qing was greatly humiliated and shouted sternly, wanting to punish Wang Kui.
Everyone around him pleaded for mercy, including the prince.
This was originally a trivial matter, but how could Lu Shuo miss this opportunity?
He didn't need to show up, as his subordinates had already helped to instigate trouble: Since they were pleading for Wang Kui, it meant that they believed Wang Kui was not wrong, so who was in favor of fighting?
At this time, the prince found it difficult to explain himself and ultimately failed to escape accountability.
But we still have to find a solution.
The third prince Shao Zhen said that Tatar invasions were a common practice and they had no big ambitions, so they could be negotiated with.
Finally, Lu Shuo also agreed that the Tatars must have some demands for besieging the city, so it would be better to negotiate first and delay the time. By the time the army arrives, the Tatars will have been exhausted and will be out of energy, so they will naturally be unable to resist.
When Emperor Qing heard that there was finally a solution, he breathed a sigh of relief. He rode at full speed to have people negotiate to delay time, and at the same time asked Shao Zhen to be the commander-in-chief to reorganize the army and rush to Hexi. As for Lu Shuo, he was in charge of the entire matter, and the palace built for him by Xie Shu was about to be completed.
Emperor Qing was very satisfied with the newly built Hall of Mental Cultivation. He looked at the various arrangements in the hall with joy and praised the new plaque hanging in front of the hall.
Compared with Lu Shuo's, Xie Shu's calligraphy has a different charm. And how different is Xie Shu's talent in poetry from Lu Shu's?
The Ministry of Works decrees formulated by Xie Shu were unpopular at first, but later on, they became popular.
After the Ministry of Works was given corresponding powers, several of its projects, including water conservancy, transportation, and military farming, have been proceeding in full swing these days. The interests of the people have not been harmed at all, but have instead gained actual benefits.
Secondly, all the engineering materials of the Ministry of Works were purchased from the public on a selective basis, which greatly promoted the development of the market. The shift system newly established by Xie Shu restored the personal freedom of the craftsmen. The so-called silver and money subsidies were just a fictitious number. Instead, they encouraged the craftsmen to engage in commercial activities and develop the economy. Although all this was contrary to the interests of the aristocratic families and landlords, Xie Shu's reputation in the court did not improve. People impeached Xie Shu in front of Emperor Qing every other day, but he was quite famous among the people.
But for Emperor Qing, what is the difference between Xie Shu and Lu Shuo?
Xie Shu always completed the tasks he ordered him to do very well, and Xie Shu was even more useful than Lu Shuo.
Emperor Qing no longer missed Lu Shuo who had just left, and instead summoned Xie Shu frequently.
In the palace, it was not only the emperor who often appeared, but also the emperor's favorite concubine.
After Wei Qingtong gave birth to the Eighth Prince three years ago, her status rose rapidly. Emperor Qing had a son in his old age, and the Eighth Prince was smart and lovable, so Emperor Qing allowed Wei Qingtong to raise him personally instead of giving him to the Queen or his former favorite Consort Gu.
Soon Wei Qingtong was also conferred the title of noble lord, and suddenly possessed considerable power. He also established his prestige in a lightning-fast manner, attracting the attention of many people.
Emperor Qing often recited the auspicious sign of the Eighth Prince and spread it around. Emperor Qing now had an additional interest, which was to teach this young child personally, perhaps on a whim, or perhaps for other reasons.
Even though no one really thought that Emperor Qing would favor the youngest Eighth Prince, Wei Qingtong's position was truly secure.
Before this, no one could have imagined that Shuang'er, who once had a lowly status and was like a floating duckweed, would have such a fate.
On this day, after Xie Shu reported the progress of the project to Emperor Qing, he just walked out of the inner hall and ran into Wei Qingtong at the corner.
This is not the first time that such a thing has happened, but since Xie Shu learned about the whole story between his original body and Wei Qingtong, he has been very careful about the distance between the two.
Until now, he and Wei Qingtong had never had a private conversation, and even if they met occasionally, they would not look at each other.
So Xie Shu stepped aside as usual, observing the etiquette of court officials, but Wei Qingtong stopped this time and called softly, "Xie Shu."
His voice had the soft and gentle voice unique to the Jiangnan region, and contained an indescribable resentment and emotion.
Even though there was no one around and the other party seemed to be waiting deliberately, Xie Shu took a step back and said in a more distant and cold voice: "I am not worthy of your address, Your Majesty. Please do not overstep the boundaries."
Wei Qingtong looked straight at Xie Shu. The time when they were childhood sweethearts seemed like a lifetime ago. He was no longer the young man in front of the door. The man in front of him was almost thirty years old, as majestic as a jade mountain and solemn as a lonely wind.
Wei Qingtong looked again and again, trying hard to find that familiar memory of his.
However, until this moment, the other party still did not look at him. Wei Qingtong suddenly came back to his senses, and his voice regained the grace and arrogance he had cultivated over the years: "Thank you for staying, sir. I have something important to discuss with you."
After listening to what Wei Qingtong said, Xie Shu remained silent for a while.
Seeing Xie Shu's stern expression, Wei Qingtong couldn't help but let out a mocking smile and said, "Master Xie, do you really think that pleasing His Majesty is enough? Whether the Crown Prince or the Third Prince succeeds to the throne, I think Master Xie's fate will not be good."
Although Wei Qingtong was in the harem, he knew the situation in the court very clearly.
This is not only because Wei Qingtong has extraordinary ambitions, but also because with the rise of Wei Qingtong, there is another force in the harem that is growing stronger and stronger, and that is Liu Qiang, the current eunuch chief of the Imperial Household Department.
Liu Qiang was originally just an eunuch who was so mediocre that he couldn't be more mediocre, but his fate took a dramatic turn eight years ago.
At that time, he secretly attached himself to the Third Prince. After getting the job of going to Jiangnan to build the palace for Emperor Qing, Liu Qiang colluded with the Third Prince's uncle, the Salt Inspector Gu Zhong, when he arrived in Jiangnan, preparing to plunder the money and enrich himself.
This was a very small matter, and other eunuchs did the same thing.
But Liu Qiang encountered many unexpected things.
Starting from the Yu family, Liu Qiang encountered obstacles again and again. Not only did he fail to complete his task, but he also offended the third prince. Later, he found out that Xie Shu was the culprit behind all this.
Afterwards, Xie Shu gave him an idea, and Liu Qiang successfully completed the task. He also met Wei Qingtong by chance. Then Liu Qiang presented Wei Qingtong to Emperor Qing. In addition, he was capable and won the favor of Emperor Qing. Liu Qiang rose to fame overnight and escaped from disaster. He no longer had to be afraid of the third prince.
Not only that, Liu Qiang secretly assisted Wei Qingtong, and Wei Qingtong was also his supporter beside Emperor Qing.
The former dynasty and the harem have similarities. The emperor's likes and dislikes are crucial, and everyone wants to be one step closer to imperial power.
Liu Qiang is already a eunuch in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and has considerable power, but it is far from enough. Liu Qiang's sense of crisis comes from the third prince Shao Zhen, but the unhappiness he has accumulated is because of Lu Shuo.
Lu Shuo bribed many eunuchs around the emperor, and many of them were originally Liu Qiang's men.
Liu Qiang was very dissatisfied with Lu Shuo's all-powerful behavior, so on the surface Liu Qiang was very obedient to Lu Shuo, but secretly they were harboring hatred towards each other.
The emergence of Xie Shu made both of them see another possibility. Wei Qingtong wanted his son to become the crown prince, and Liu Qiang also wanted to become the Grand Chamberlain, a position higher than the Chief of the Imperial Household Department.
But the Eighth Prince was too young, and their power in the previous dynasty was not enough, so they all thought of Xie Shu.
Xie Shu is now Emperor Qing's new favorite, possessing considerable power, and is also at odds with the Crown Prince and the Third Prince.
If the three of them unite together, they may be able to find an opportunity among the Crown Prince who is not favored by the emperor and the Third Prince who is far away from the capital.
Seeing that Xie Shu still didn't nod, Wei Qingtong promised more benefits: "Master Xie, are you worried that I will burn my bridges after crossing the river? I know my limits and have no intention of interfering in government affairs. Once my son ascends the throne in the future, you will be the Minister of the Chancellery and the Grand Tutor. It's not a bad idea to even respectfully call you the Prime Minister."
When Wei Qingtong finished speaking, his voice was quite seductive, with a secret pleasure that was indescribable in human nature churning in his heart.
Xie Shu and Yu Chuxi have been married for ten years, but they still have no children. Although they both have twins, Wei Qingtong knows that Yu Chuxi is different from him and it is difficult for her to get pregnant. Having no children is a big deal. Even if Xie Shu likes Yu Chuxi so much and he is still the son-in-law of the Yu family, Wei Qingtong doesn't believe that there is no gap between them.
How does it feel to think that the future emperor respectfully calls him father-in-law?
What Wei Qingtong said was moving enough. The Shangshu Ling and the Taifu were both of the first rank. The Shangshu Ling had actual power over the government, while the Taifu had a transcendent status. The court's assistant minister and the emperor's teacher were all in one person. What kind of power was this?
What's more, Wei Qingtong was indeed sincere. It was taboo for the harem to interfere in politics, and politics was not something that ordinary people could handle. Wei Qingtong was a smart man and was willing to let go.
Xie Shu's expression remained unchanged from beginning to end. When he heard the last sentence, an unfathomable majesty suddenly appeared in his still handsome and mature eyes. He looked at Wei Qingtong at this time, his deep eyes were extremely cold.
The pressure at this moment made Wei Qingtong feel extremely cautious, as if nothing could escape his control.
Wei Qingtong almost sat there in a daze, watching Xie Shu leave without hesitation, and gritted his teeth and said, "Xie Shu, do you think I don't know your secret?"
Seeing Xie Shu finally stop walking, Wei Qingtong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had known for a long time that he was no longer Xie Shu.
The author has something to say:
I will revise the next chapter and post it later
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