During the Chinese New Year, according to the practice in the palace, each prince and princess will receive a reward from the palace. This year's rewards are somewhat different, first of all, the crown prince got the first one, which is a natural gift, but it is more generous than previous years, and there is also a book written by His Majesty. Secondly, the rewards received by the second prince have also been upgraded to a higher level, while the gift received by the first prince far away at the border is a pair of bows and arrows. The most important thing is that with this pair of imperial bows, there is also a will to declare When the grass grows at the end of summer, he returns to Beijing to become king.
The courtiers in the capital were all confused, not knowing what His Majesty was thinking. From the looks of it, the crown prince's position is still extremely stable, so why did he call the eldest prince back? This prince has been leading the army for many years, although he is not the son of the eldest son, he is the eldest son. If he returns to Beijing again, the situation underwater may be a bit unstable.
Among the rewards in the palace, there is also an edict that is very eye-catching. It was issued to Fengzheng Fan Xian, the fifth rank of Taixue who was hiding on Cangshan Mountain. His Majesty actually issued the reward according to the schedule of the consort. This should be for Miss Lin's sake.
During the New Year’s Eve, people come and go frequently, and the families of officials and gentry give gifts to each other, and people who are acquainted will also visit in person, and two envoys also went to Cangshan Mountain with rich gifts. These gifts came to the Prince’s East Palace and the Second Prince’s Mansion respectively. , the recipient of the gift is still Fan Xian.
Everyone thought that once the Spring Festival passed, Fan Xian's status as the "Prince's Son-in-Law" made it difficult for Fan Xian to advance in the officialdom, and His Majesty would order him to take over the internal treasury. Therefore, the crown prince and the second prince had to hurry up and increase their efforts to win over this matter before it happened, but they did it very covertly. Believe in those messengers who gave gifts, no one should find out.
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"What did the second brother send?"
His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom leaned on the soft cover, wrapped in a black hood, with a calm expression. A few wrinkles are particularly obvious on the well-maintained face, and his eyes are quietly looking at the snowflakes as big as goose feathers outside the study.
Chen Pingping coughed twice, tightened the blanket on her knees, and replied respectfully, "It's a collection of poems from the previous dynasty."
The emperor smiled slightly, but there was a trace of sarcasm on the corners of his lips: "My second son likes to play sour prose, but he thinks that everyone in the world is like him. Fan Xian's casual poem wins the countless poets of the previous dynasty. Too careless."
He then asked, "What did the prince give you?"
"A box of mahjong pieces made of emerald jade." Chen Pingping touched her smooth chin with her hand, followed His Majesty's eyes to look at a large flat snow field in the palace, and narrowed her eyes slightly, "Fan Xian likes it very much."
"Fan Xian, it seems that he really has the will to be a wealthy and idle person." His Majesty said softly, "The crown prince's gift is brilliant. I don't know who in the East Palace came up with the idea."
"It should be Xin Qiwu." Chen Pingping smiled slightly and said, "I don't know what Fan Xian thinks, but I know that Princess Chen and the second young master of the Fan family love to play cards."
The emperor raised his eyebrows and said, "How is Miss Chen?"
Chen Pingping responded modestly: "With Fan Xian, who knows how to feel warm and cold, taking care of him, he should be happier than being in the palace."
"No one in this palace can really be happy." The emperor said with a smile, "You really decided to send Fan Xian as an envoy to Northern Qi?"
Sitting in the wheelchair, Chen Pingping still bowed her head with great difficulty, and saluted, "Yes. Since Your Majesty agreed with my proposal that day, I will start to arrange it. If Fan Xian doesn't do something for the yard, it will be difficult for him to truly Take control of this courtyard and serve His Majesty."
The atmosphere between the two suddenly became silent and severe. The emperor looked at Chen Pingping's head coldly, and said quietly after a long while: "Don't forget, he is the blood of the royal family, how can he take risks!"
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After a long silence, Chen Pingping put on a smile with some difficulty and insisted on her own opinion: "Master, the problem is that he will never be able to become the blood of the royal family. As the master's subordinate, I want to find a safe place for him." In the future." He paused and then said: "If he takes over the inner treasury, he will definitely become the target of the princes, and the master is not willing to see this situation, so it is better to let him go out to avoid the limelight. It's not a problem to keep hiding on Cangshan Mountain."
The emperor looked at the lame man in front of him coldly. He was an old dog in the eyes of his officials, but he hadn't heard the word master from his mouth for a long time.
"Sure." The emperor slowly closed his eyes, as if at this moment, the wind and snow in the palace disappeared without a trace.
Chen Pingping sat quietly in the wheelchair, waiting for a long time, and finally waited for the emperor's next sentence: "Just you have to be clear, Si Nanbo and Prime Minister Lin will not agree to this arrangement, and I will be punished when the court discusses later." Annoying."
"Let's drive!"
The clear voice of the little eunuch resounded under the eaves of the Xingqing Palace, rustling, the eunuchs and maids rushed out from the side of the hall, carrying the emperor's car, waiting for His Majesty the Emperor, and walked to the front hall.
The car was well sealed, and the wind and snow could not sneak in. The emperor half-closed his eyes, propped his chin and didn't know what he was thinking, and slowly stroked the slightly hot small charcoal stove with his palm. After a long while, he sighed. With a sigh of relief, he opened his eyes, looked at the familiar and tired scenery of the palace, and shook his head slightly.
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In the main hall of the imperial palace, the eunuch came out with a whisk and recited in a clear voice: "The Holy Majesty has arrived."
The officials below who had been waiting for a long time cleaned up their clothes, bowed to the ground, and shouted long live. The emperor glanced at these courtiers, walked slowly to the dragon chair and sat down, and said: "Get up."
The courtiers got up after listening to the words. It's just that these high-ranking officials and nobles lived a nourishing life in the capital, so they were fat and weak, so their movements were slow and uneven, which looked ridiculous.
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"Other things have been discussed. Seeing that spring is coming, after the Spring Festival, the agreement drawn up with the north last year has come to be implemented." The emperor seems to be in a bad mood, half leaning on the dragon chair, " Ministers, do you have any suitable candidates for envoys?"
In the past few months, there have been rumors that the prime minister's new son-in-law, Fengzheng Fan Xian, the fifth rank of Taixue, might be assigned as an envoy to Northern Qi. Prime Minister Lin Ruofu always thought that it was the civil servants who opposed him in the court, so he had already made full preparations.
Originally, the two families of Fan and Lin had always disliked each other in the court. One was a down-to-earth imperial faction, and the other had an unclear relationship with the eldest princess. With Fan Xian's entry into Beijing, everything happened. drastic changes. The prime minister broke with the eldest princess, but Fan Shilang became his in-laws.
Fan Jian, the servant of the household department, stood a little behind. He glanced at the front of the queue and found that Prime Minister Lin Ruofu was also looking at him. The two eyes met and smiled slightly.
"My lord, I believe that Xin Qiwu, Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, acted neatly and made a lot of benefits for the country during the last negotiation. He is really a good talent. It would be most suitable for Xin Shaoqing to be the envoy for this return visit."
The one who came out to answer the question first was Prime Minister Lin Ruofu's protégé, that Shaoqing Ren Shao'an of Taichang Temple, because today's court meeting will discuss the matter of return visits, and every etiquette standard must ask his opinion, so he and Shaoqing of Honglu Temple Xin Qiwu is in the hall.
Xin Qiwu was slightly startled, thinking how could he push himself out? Of course he understood that the prime minister would definitely not want his son-in-law to travel thousands of miles to that enemy country. Although there was no problem in terms of safety, the mountains were high and the road was far away. During the spring test, Fan Xian would definitely be promoted again. If he went on an envoy immediately, Who knows what the court will look like in a few months
In fact, the meaning of the Prince's East Palace is similar to that of the Prime Minister. Now that there is no eldest princess going crazy behind the Prince's back, the Prince's thinking has become much more mature. He thinks that Fan Xian will take over the internal treasury immediately after staying in Beijing, and he will increase his efforts to win over him. This is the right way. On the way, it would be even better if he could use this to get hold of Fan Shilang and restore the relationship with the prime minister, not to mention that the spring is approaching, and the East Palace still has a place to rely heavily on Fan Xian.
From this point of view, in today's court, no one should suggest that Fan Xian go to the Northern Qi Dynasty. After all, offending Fan Jialin's family, even if you are a veteran of the three dynasties and a minister, facing the hatred of those two old guys at the same time, I'm afraid you can't bear it.
So the hall suddenly fell into silence. It seemed that all the officials agreed with Xin Qiwu's proposal to go to Northern Qi, and even Xin Qiwu himself began to prepare to take the order and go through this experience for Fan Xian.
The emperor frowned slightly, as if he hadn't thought about the current situation, he gently placed the heater in his hand on the small yellow satin table next to him.
At this moment, a person came out from the line of courtiers and said in a deep voice, "I propose that the Taixue enshrines Fan Xian as an envoy to the Northern Qi Dynasty."
The ministers absolutely did not expect that someone would be willing to offend Fan Lin's family. Countless eyes were cast on him, only to find that it was Qin Heng, Counselor of the Privy Council who spoke. This Qin Heng belongs to the military background, but he is not afraid of civilian officials. It's just that everyone is puzzled, even if you are a member of the Privy Council, there is no need to offend the prime minister and the Fan family
Hearing this proposal, Prime Minister Lin Ruofu's face remained unchanged, very calm, and Sinanbo Fan Jian gave a helpless smile. Due to their relationship with Fan Xian, it was naturally inconvenient for these two old foxes to say anything, but they had good officials to stand in for them, and after hearing a discussion in front of the palace, a courtier said in a deep voice:
"I think it's inappropriate. Mr. Fan is only seventeen years old, and he hasn't had the slightest bit of official training. Going to the Northern Qi Dynasty as an envoy is a major event to promote the country's prestige and make friends with each other. Although Mr. Fan is talented, but with insufficient experience, I am afraid it will be difficult. Taking on such a heavy responsibility, Xin Shaoqing, on the other hand, is calm and steady, and this trip to Northern Qi should be smooth."
Xin Qiwu sighed inwardly, knowing that he had to take the initiative, stepped out of the queue, bowed and begged for his life: "I am willing to serve the country."