Although the little emperor Yang Chengqian had no appetite after waking up in the morning, he still forced himself to drink a bowl of japonica rice porridge and a few shredded pickles. People can't help but think about how luxurious and noble the emperor's life would be. Because in the inherent concept, the emperor must enjoy the glory and wealth of the world.
But in fact, although the emperor's meals were more refined, in addition to formal banquets, the daily food was also very simple. In particular, Emperor Yang Yi, the God Blessed Emperor, ordered the imperial dining room at the beginning of his enthronement that he should not have more than four dishes for each of his three meals a day, with two meat and two vegetables.
Although the little emperor is still naive, he has inherited many good things from Yang Yi. Even though he felt sorry for the emperor's simple food, he still kept this habit. However, since he ascended the throne, he has never had a good appetite, so every meal has become simpler.
Dou Shuangfang waited on the emperor after breakfast, ordered the people to clear away the dishes and then stood aside. Because all court affairs were handed over to General Tiejia, he, the eunuch holding a pen, did not have to go to the value room to sort out memorials for the emperor. In fact, the number of memorials received every day is 80% less than that when Emperor Tianyou first succeeded to the throne.
The places that still accept imperial restraint on the surface now account for about 50% of the land of the Sui Dynasty. However, 70% of the 50% is just for show.
Jin Shixiong in the northwest sent people to Chang'an from time to time to ask the court to send supplies quickly. But this person is from the Jin family in the south of the Yangtze River. The Jin family has always held a very important weight in Tonggu Academy. Not to mention that the imperial court would not give him a copper coin or a grain of grain, even if they did, they would not be able to pass through the area controlled by Gao Kaitai and Wang Yiqu. You must know that more than half of the navy of the Sui Dynasty is in the hands of Wang Yiqu.
The governors of all the provinces in the Northeast basically declared their allegiance to the Sui court, but since the young emperor succeeded to the throne, the taxes, money and food collected by the various provinces were no longer sent to the treasury. Those governors knew well that before the Great Sui collapsed completely, they could not so easily put aside their status as Great Sui feudal officials, because this status brought too many benefits.
In the future, whether it's the imperial court suppressing the rebellion, or the guy from Jiangnan winning the world, they all have reason. The imperial court succeeded in suppressing the rebellion, and they could confidently say that they had always been loyal to the Sui Dynasty. As for why the taxes could not be paid, it was because of the rebels, and it was not surprising that the rebels blocked the roads.
If those people in Jiangnan won the world, they could still confidently say that they also played a role in overthrowing the Sui court, because it was precisely because they withheld taxes, money and food that the Sui treasury was stretched, so they were defeated.
In the south of the great river, the Jiangnan Dao that occupied 60% of the land in the Sui Dynasty, except for the Jianghuai Dao where Nanjing Jiangdu is located, the other Dao have clearly no longer recognized the rule of the Yang family. And the reason why Jianghuai Road can exist in such a smooth and stable way without being jointly captured by the armies of other roads is because this is the means of the family members, and there must be a way out, right
So, in fact, since Dou Shuangfang took over as the eunuch Bingbi, he has never seen the scene where the legendary memorials piled up like a mountain.
"Your Majesty has a bad appetite, do you want to order the kitchen to make a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup?"
Dou Shuangfang asked cautiously.
The little emperor's frown made Dou Shuangfang feel stuck, he never thought that the emperor of the Sui Dynasty would be so useless. In his previous perception, the emperor of the Sui Dynasty was the most powerful and courageous person in the world. Wherever the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty pointed his finger, he had to surrender.
But now, the emperor is like a kitten that has put itself under house arrest. Although it has sharp claws and fangs, but its body is too small and its strength is too weak, so it has no choice but to put away its sharp claws and hide its fangs, pretending that it can only bark meekly and wagging tail. Even the wagging of the tail is learned from the dog!
"Don't eat."
The little emperor shook his head, looked at the bright sunshine outside the window, but felt that even the sunshine was so cold that it couldn't warm the haze in his heart at all.
He was silent for a while, and suddenly said sadly: "Tell the kitchen, the lunch will return to the original standard, four dishes and one soup, two meat and two vegetables."
Dou Shuangfang was overjoyed when he heard this sentence, and quickly nodded in agreement. During this period of time, the little emperor ate too little, and when he was growing his body, he became thinner and thinner day by day. Dou Shuangfang was the one who served the emperor when he was still in his infancy. Seeing the little emperor's grievance and pain made him feel pain in his heart.
"Your Majesty should eat more. Your Majesty's health is better than anything else."
"Um."
The little emperor responded, and murmured: "You are right. I must eat more, so that I can be healthy... Only healthy can I live for a few more years. I couldn't outlive him in the first place, and I couldn't lose too much..."
These words made Dou Shuangfang feel sore, although he didn't know what the emperor meant by these words, but he could feel the grief and anger in the emperor's heart.
"Dou Shuangfang, I ask you..."
The little emperor looked out the window in a daze: "Is I still an emperor?"
Dou Shuangfang was startled, and quickly knelt down: "Your Majesty is a good emperor!"
"I'm not asking you if I'm a good emperor..."
The little emperor paused for a moment, then shook his head: "Forget it, I dare not tell you if I ask you."
Dou Shuangfang really didn't dare to say it. In fact, why didn't he understand that the current emperor of the Sui Dynasty is still the emperor? What's the point of having the title of emperor if you hand over all the government affairs? Perhaps, the only meaning is that the emperor belongs to the Yang family at least.
"Dou Shuangfang, tell me, where is the hope?"
"exist… "
Dou Shuangfang hesitated for a while, then replied tremblingly: "Tomorrow?"
The little emperor glanced at him subconsciously, and couldn't help laughing at himself: "If someone else heard your answer, they might find it very encouraging. Today's suffering may end tomorrow, so I will hope It's good to entrust it to tomorrow... but I know that tomorrow... will never be touched."
Dou Shuangfang was puzzled: "It's dark, if it's bright again, isn't it tomorrow?"
The little emperor glanced at him: "No, tomorrow is a place you will never reach, because there will always be tomorrow, and you are not forever."
He rubbed the corners of his sour brows, and smiled: "Don't talk about it, what you said is actually right, maybe everything will be better tomorrow."
Dou Shuangfang didn't know how to comfort her, so she felt a little incompetent. He knew how his former Bingbi eunuch Su Buwei died. He couldn't do that kind of heroism, nor did he have that kind of ability. But he felt that he could be Wu Peisheng, at least he had to be worthy of the title of eunuch Bingbi.
"Your Majesty, this servant wants to leave Beijing."
He raised his head and said seriously.
"Leaving Beijing?"
The little emperor was stunned, and then smiled bitterly: "Leave if you want, there is no way out if you follow me now. But now I can't give you anything more, and I won't come for the money and food from the household department. Give you a large piece of land as a reward? Hehe, my will may not be useful when it comes to the place. See if there is anything valuable in this house, just take it yourself."
"No!"
Dou Shuangfang raised his head and said: "Your Majesty, why did the servant leave? The reason why the servant said she wanted to leave the capital was because there was no one in the court who could remove the disaster for Your Majesty. But the Sui Dynasty was so big that there were so many strange people and strange things. The servant planned to come Visiting high-ranking people in the rivers and lakes, eradicating traitors for the country, and serving His Majesty. Moreover, the servant has always had an immature idea in his heart... "
"What?"
The little emperor was moved, but he didn't feel that Dou Shuangfang's method had any effect. Even Master Zhang of Wudang Mountain has left him, who else can he count on
"Your Majesty, when the first emperor was alive, he once thought about holding a martial arts conference to select capable people from the rivers and lakes to serve for the court. But it was nothing after that. The servant girl thought that this matter can continue to be handled. Your Majesty put this matter Leave the matter to the servants, and the servants will definitely find a group of warriors for you."
"Martial Arts Conference?"
The little emperor froze for a moment: "With that person's wisdom, once this matter is brought up, he will understand what's going on... something wrong!"
"Your Majesty, something must be done!"
Dou Shuangfang said firmly.
"Also..."
The little emperor pondered for a while: "However, this matter cannot be arranged secretly. You go to see him and tell him that this is the late emperor's last wish. I have nothing to do now, and I want to select more available talents for the Sui Dynasty."
"Here."
Dou Shuangfang responded, but when he thought of meeting that armored general, his heart trembled a little.
"In addition... Dean Zhou should be loyal to His Majesty. Besides, he is quite familiar with all the sects in the Jianghu. This servant thought, why not let Dean Zhou do it together?"
"good."
The little emperor nodded: "Ever since the old dean left, dean Zhou has been practicing in seclusion. Let him go out and walk around too. You two can do things for me and avoid disasters when you leave Chang'an. Dare to touch me, but may not dare to touch the people around me."
…
…
Jiangnan
Tongu Academy
broken tower
Luo Tu stood outside the tower and looked carefully. The broken tower in front of him must have been a long time ago. Now there are still four and a half floors in the remaining half. The upper four and a half floors were chopped off by the old headmaster Wan Xingchen , the gravel and broken tiles have been cleaned up. However, this tower is extremely tall, even if only half of it is left, it still has a kind of majesty.
"Luo Tu, kowtow to Master!"
Luo Tu took a deep breath, then threw off his robe, knelt down outside the tower and kowtowed heavily.
"Young master, you don't need to be too polite, just come in."
The people in the tower didn't seem to be as cold as expected, Luo Tu felt a little relieved. Li Qingfeng told him that this guy named Zhan Zhetian has a weird temper. When he was walking in the rivers and lakes, because he was ridiculed for only practicing one knife for more than 20 years, he went on a killing spree, from Jiangnan to Jiangbei, and finally angered the imperial court. The priests joined forces to kill them. Although his cultivation is against the sky, the court will not allow a lunatic to do whatever he wants.
The day Wan Xingchen, the old dean of Yanwu Academy came to Tonggu Academy, Dong Qingfu, the dean of the academy, knew that he was invincible, so he arranged for Zhan Zhetian to hide in the ancient pagoda, ready to strike that heaven-defying knife at any time. But unfortunately, he didn't even have a chance to draw a knife. In front of Wan Xingchen's sword, it seems that any weapon in this world can only admit defeat. The dean of Nantonggu was far behind the dean of Beiyanwu in the end.
But Zhan Zhetian is conceited.
The more conceited a person is, the weirder his temper will be.
"As ordered."
Luo Tu got up, lowered his head slightly and walked into the ancient pagoda.
The light in the tower is very dark. Although there are a few oil lamps lit, it is still difficult to get used to entering here from the bright world outside. He just vaguely saw that there was a bed in the innermost part, and there seemed to be a person lying on the bed.
"Why does the little prince want to learn how to use a knife?"
The person lying on the bed asks.
Luo Tu didn't know how to answer, because he didn't come here to learn swords. He came to Tonggu Academy without a clear purpose to learn. He just felt more and more that his cultivation was too low, especially after witnessing the battle between Iron Armored General and Luo Yao, he felt even more, what if he had thousands of troops in his hand? When I met such a great practitioner, I didn't even have the ability to resist.
After coming to Tonggu Academy this time, he realized that his lack of cultivation was not because of his poor bones, but because of Luo Yao's deliberate actions. Luo Yao didn't want his cultivation to be too strong, otherwise it would be difficult to control. That's why he spent the best time of his practice in his youth to learn how to lead the army.
For Luo Yao, Luo Tu didn't know what kind of feelings it was.
Gratitude and hate, both.
"Because... I want to become stronger."
he answered.
The person lying down seemed to shake his head: "This is not a good answer. Everyone wants to become strong. This is not the purpose of learning the knife... I can only teach you if I understand why I want to learn the knife."
"because… "
Luo Tu suddenly remembered that when he was a child, he once asked Luo Yao why he liked to use knives. Luo Yao told him that the knife is the real weapon, and the sword is just an ornament on the waist of a literati.
"The knife is the king of all soldiers!"
Luo Tu said loudly: "Only a knife is worthy of killing."
"Huh?"
The lying person sat up and looked at the stern young man in front of him with some curiosity: "Although it sounds like you didn't think of it yourself, but since you said it, then I will tell you."
He stood up and pointed to the sky with his single arm: "That's right, the knife is the king of all soldiers! I lost to that man surnamed Wan, not because the knife can't, but because I can't. You have to swear in front of me, Remember, the first thing to do after learning the knife from me is to kill all the disciples and grandchildren named Wan who use swords!"