Of course Meng Qi had no interest in being emperor.
He knew that what the prince really wanted to ask was not this, but to persuade him to stay.
- No matter who is the emperor, or whoever assists, must stay.
"I couldn't find a worthy minister, so I hit my head with the idea, and I'm not small!" Meng Qi narrowed his eyes and looked unhappy.
The prince was not afraid and said to himself: "The national teacher has been an official in the Chu Dynasty for more than 30 years, and he has witnessed and created a prosperous era with his own eyes..."
"Slow!" Meng Qi raised his hand to stop it, and said casually, "The prince has high regard for me, I am only a national teacher, I can be mediocre, and I have never achieved outstanding achievements, but I have practiced a good martial arts."
"In the memorials left by the Chu Dynasty and the living records of Emperor Chu Yuan, the records about the national teacher are not very good at first glance, they are just a capable minister. I don't know if this is the result of the deletion and modification, or the national teacher is good at hiding himself. ." The prince paused, then said, "I have met many people alone, even if I have never met, I can guess their thoughts by their habits and preferences, but I can't see through the national teacher."
Meng Qi, the national teacher of the Chu Dynasty, was very mysterious.
This kind of mystery is not only because he rarely does some appearances and takes the lead, but also because he has no relatives, even his origin is ambiguous, and some records are even inconsistent.
People always have distinct characteristics because of their hometown and the place they have lived for a long time.
For example, accent, food taste preference, local folk customs and so on.
But Meng Qi didn't have it, and his contemporaries couldn't tell where he was from, so they simply remembered him as a man with lofty ideals who wandered around the world. name.
If you don't read history carefully, it's easy to ignore him in the past. But if you are interested in him, you will find something strange about this person. The monks and others who have always been valued by the emperor can't help but take advantage of the emperor. For example, the name of the master of a certain real person, gold and silver instruments and jade coins, monk robes and robes inlaid with gold silk and beaded jade, and even virgins and virgins, were given mansions to the farm.
What Emperor Chu Yuan gave to his courtiers and his clan, and when they were rewarded, can be found in the documents and living records.
The portion that Meng Qi got was quite satisfactory, it can be said to be inconspicuous, mixed in the middle of a pile of rewards, and the weight was not much. In addition to silk, brocade, melons and fruits as tributes, ice cubes in summer, charcoal in winter, and eight-treasure porridge in the palace... These are the basic rewards for the new year of the close ministers and the important ministers.
The other courtiers are different, and they can fully see the person's preferences.
Those who love to drink have twelve altars of imperial wine, and those who are afraid of heat will receive more ice. In addition, there are famous swords, ancient books, and even Hetao mutton and western spice.
According to the medicinal materials, you can see the health of the courtier, and you can judge the relatives of the courtier's family from the number of longevity locks, children's playthings, and palace flower hairpins.
The prince not only had to learn to run the country, but also to learn to be a king.
When rewarding courtiers, it is the basic knowledge to do what they like, and to be considerate and caring appropriately.
However, from the king's point of view, Meng Qi seemed strange and troublesome. He didn't get sick for more than 30 years, he didn't marry or have children for more than 30 years, he didn't like drinking alcohol, and he didn't have any interest in magic weapons.
Some items, Chu Yuandi only rewarded once, and then never appeared again, obviously not the heart of the national teacher.
Such desirelessness, if not for greater ambitions, then it is a fairy.
The Prince of Qi Dynasty took a deep look at Meng Qi, and almost suspected that Meng Qi was transformed by the spirit of the mountain, and came into being to support the great cause of the Chu Dynasty. When Chu's vigor was exhausted, he disappeared without a trace.
"I have only read all the documents of the Chu Dynasty, especially those far-reaching strategies for governing the country. I am ashamed to say that because I do not know the suffering of the people, many of them are only half-understood, and I wish I could listen to the insights of those worthy ministers in person. I don't know if the national teacher is willing to teach my sixth emperor brother... If not, I can close my eyes with peace of mind that someone with such extraordinary talent who is dedicated to running the country and serving the people ascends the throne."
Meng Qi couldn't help frowning when he heard this.
To be honest, that sixth prince is really not that good.
The temperament is extreme, aggressive, and has the strength to be serious with others.
Such a change of character is not a big problem, but if the emperor suddenly gets angry one day, if he insists on fighting with his courtiers, it will definitely lead to tragedy.
Mo Li finally escaped from the civet cat's containment. He sighed softly. Seeing that Meng Qi didn't speak, he took the initiative to relieve the siege and said, "To be honest, we have seen the sixth prince in Yongzhou."
Mo Li didn't say the rest, and the prince suddenly looked disappointed.
"You don't care about the Qi Chaojiang Mountains?" Mo Li handed the recipe to Yu Lan and asked without looking up.
The crown prince said feebly, "After I die, I will wait until the father is old...or before he is old, the world will change. Sooner or later, Lu's surname will not be able to keep the throne. What's the use of me caring?"
Not necessarily, Mo Li thought.
The prince didn't notice Mo Li's expression, he was in low spirits, and half closed his eyes and said: "Since the national teacher is not here for the jade seal, he is here to listen to me patiently, and ask friends to diagnose and treat me. I dare to guess that the national teacher is not here to assassinate the emperor or capture rebellion... Is there any problem with the Jianghu people who colluded with the second emperor's younger brother?"
"That's a lunatic." Mo Li said briefly.
The prince didn't ask any further, and motioned to Yu Lan: "Take the box under my pillow."
"Your Highness, this..."
"It's useless to keep it."
Yu Lan had no choice but to take out a small red sandalwood box.
This box is much more delicate than the one containing the jade seal. It is only the size of a fist. At first glance, it looks like a whole, with no locks and no gaps, like a whole piece of wood.
The prince took the box, and I didn't know where the mechanism was pressed. There were wooden sticks protruding from the surface of the wooden box. After rotating it in a certain direction a few times, the box gradually turned into a bowl container made of wooden sticks.
Inside the container was a jade plaque, which was translucent and contained a few strands of flocculent red-brown impurities, which just formed the outline of a koi carp.
Meng Qi didn't care at first, but now his eyes are attracted by the jade card.
"This is the talisman, and there are two land deeds, both of which are shops on Chang'an Street in Taijing. Below is a simple map of the imperial city." The prince pushed the box in front of Mo Li, "It's considered a medical fee."
This obviously exceeded the price of the consultation fee, Mo Li refused, and only took the simple map of the imperial city.
"Ling Fu could have ordered Wei Pingbo to be a private soldier I raised in Gyeonggi, and when I die, those nobles and ministers in the court will no longer recognize those who hold the license, but it also has some value in itself. It’s quite delicate, and it’s worth a hundred and ten taels of silver. As for the land deed, if possible, hand it over to my Sixth Emperor’s younger brother. Let him choose the same as the jade seal and the treasure.”
"Why doesn't the prince deliver it by himself?"
"I'm afraid he doesn't want anything, just a knife." The prince was extremely sad.
Mo Li asked suspiciously, "I don't even want to be a prince? As a prince, no matter if you want to assassinate or rebel, don't you have more opportunities?"
"He knows what kind of life I live." The prince smiled bitterly and panted, "The power in my hands is not worth mentioning, and even so, I did my best."
The palace maid Yu Lan next to him whispered: "Your Majesty is very strict with His Highness, what His Highness eats, what he says, and whoever he sees will be reported to Wanhe Hall, and Director Chen is originally His Majesty. People. If Your Majesty is dissatisfied, we palace servants will be punished, and the Hanlin who lectures for His Highness will continue to lecture on filial piety for three days, and have to repeat what Mr. I said it. The officials of the outer court and the Hanlin gentlemen have to applaud, thinking that His Royal Highness will be badly taught by the eunuchs. It is best to beat the palace people and not dare to say a word more."
Speaking of which, Yu Lan couldn't help but feel resentful, and said angrily, "My maid doesn't understand, if you want to talk about Chen Chao's traitor, isn't the most likeable and most suitable person in our palace the one next to Your Majesty and the chief supervisors of the Supervisor of Literacy? The people in the East Palace all believed in His Highness, why did they instigate His Highness to learn bad things? Why did the gentlemen seem to have a deep hatred with our humble palace people, not only to be killed in public, but also to force His Highness to personally order, His Highness refused, they They wrote a memorial and kowtowed in the Palace of Ten Thousand Harmonies until their foreheads bleed. They were not happy until His Majesty ordered to hang the servants beside His Highness... Eunuch Li and the others have always done their best to do things. Is this the reader?"
Mo Li was speechless for a while, and Meng Qi pondered: "Yes, this is a scholar."
Since the Chen Dynasty, the civil officials of the outer court and the eunuchs of the inner court have competed for power, and the seal of the Slijian is even known as the inner minister.
The root cause lies in the fact that the Wenyuan Pavilion, which is dominated by civil officials, has the power of an overhead emperor. However, the result is that the Sili Jian has also developed to the point where it may be an emperor.
Today, the two sides have long been in an incompatible situation.
In the hearts of most civil servants, as long as they are internal eunuchs, they must harbor evil intentions. There is no bad deed now, it does not mean that there will be no bad deeds in the future. The servants around the prince have to beat and beat.
When the civil servants persecuted the prince, he wanted the inner eunuchs to be timid, and would not dare to oppose them in the future. He wanted the inner eunuchs to "recognize" that the prince did not care about these despicable people at all, and he would kill the inner eunuchs at any time.
"It's so strange for scholars to be loyal to the monarch for the country, and they sincerely believe in the Three Links and Five Constants, and at the same time they can force the prince to 'be good'. Treating bad things. A large part of the national power consumption of the Chen Dynasty is the battle between civil officials and eunuchs. They don't care whether the other party's opinions on handling the government are good or bad. Glory."
Meng Qi's words were explained to Mo Li, he shook his head and said, "At the beginning of the Chu Dynasty, there was such an atmosphere in the court, even if there were no internal servants, the civil and military officials had to fight against the same party, but they all felt that they were doing it for the sake of The country is for the people. The so-called comrades live and those who disobey the words die. If the opinion of a political opponent is accidentally adopted by the emperor, then do everything possible to destroy it to prove that this is a bad strategy for governing the country. All the ministers, proudly expounding that you have foresight..."
When Meng Qi recalled it, he also felt nauseated, so he stopped.
The prince sighed: "That's it, some people are drowsy, and some people are sober. If there are too many people in the dark, the government will not be clear. Now looking at the court, there are very few people who are clear, and even if there are, they can only follow the flow... I insisted. already."
How lucky was Emperor Yuan of Chu to have a minister like Meng Guoshi.
Not one yet.
Such a worthy and worthy minister, who is so rare to meet, but what did Emperor Chu Yuan do
The prince felt pain in his chest just thinking about it. He took a few breaths and looked at the ink carp again.
I always feel that people are clustered together and things are divided into groups. This doctor must not be easy, but—
"Cough, since the national teacher is unwilling, I will not mention it. The two of you should leave. If you continue to delay, someone will come to the front hall and discover the abnormality here."