After three days of national mourning, officials in Tokyo would remove their mourning clothes, put on official robes and restore order; there was no need to hold mourning in the market, but weddings, banquets, singing and dancing would still be banned for a month.
The Queen Mother and the little emperor will have to wear mourning clothes for another month. The sun after the rain shone into the Jinxiang Hall, and Fu Jinzhan came to the side hall next to the main hall in mourning. Today is not a big court day, so there is no need to attend the court, just listen to the government. It was agreed that the court will still be held on the first and fifteenth day of each month, and the civil and military officials can also see the new emperor on such days.
The chair Fu Jinzhan sat on was where Taizu and the previous emperor had sat for a long time, racking their brains day after day; now a softer cushion was replaced, and someone else sat on it. The state affairs handled by the two generations of emperors in those days were awe-inspiring, and Fu Jinzhan was a little nervous here.
There were many officials in front of the palace, mainly officials who took turns to work in the Political Affairs Hall and the Hanlin Academy. The Jinxiang Palace was not originally part of the harem, but was where many court officials worked. They had to serve as advisors to the rulers and write imperial edicts. So a curtain was drawn in front of the area where Fu Jinzhan was active, separating her from the male officials to show the difference between men and women. This was called ruling from behind a curtain, which was done by the empress dowagers of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
However, after Fu Jinzhan read more than ten memorials in one breath, he felt that this matter was actually very easy. Suddenly, he couldn't understand why the emperors in the past had to look so sad and act so serious.
Soon Fu Jinzhan was no longer nervous and handled it very easily. She had a very good memory and could remember almost everything she saw. Her mind was also quite agile. She could read ten lines of an article at a glance, just like reading a book. She could quickly understand the main content of a book. She usually read twenty copies at a time, and then she could remember what she had read and compare the importance of each one.
Gradually she became more relaxed, because she could understand at a glance what the memorials from all over the country and abroad were trying to say, so from time to time she would slow down to look at the writing and calligraphy to relax.
Some officials, after reading a few more books, would boast about their knowledge and quote from classics at length. It would be fine if they could say something substantial after the nonsense. Some of them wrote a long passage about the ancient sages, and then their own opinions were only as small as the tip of their little finger. This annoyed Fu Jinzhan very much. She couldn't help but imagine what kind of person the official who wrote these articles was. He must be a sloppy, sour, smelly, pedantic old man.
There are also people who write nonsense throughout their articles, but their writing is elegant and catchy, and it is still quite pleasant to read. Like Jia Yi of the Han Dynasty, he can really write articles with elegance and grace. No matter what the content is, it is always very beautiful.
Fu Jinzhan sometimes frowned, sometimes smiled slightly, and every expression made the eunuchs serving beside her admire her very much. Such a fairy-like woman in this majestic house suddenly made the whole world seem to have a few more colorful colors.
There was a pile of memorials on the table, and Fu Jinzhan read most of them in half a day. During this time, she was distracted and did some trivial things.
Alas, Fu Jinzhan let out a breath gently, stretched lazily unscrupulously, turned around and said, it's really tiring.
Cao Tai and others were stunned, looking at her work of the morning, bending over in admiration.
At this time, she picked up the red brush, took a piece of white paper and wrote a line of words. She turned around and pointed at the fat eunuch Wang Zhong: Wang Zhong, take all the things here to the Council of State Affairs and let the prime ministers deal with them at their discretion. There is no need to ask me again.
Wang Zhong looked flattered and hurried forward and said: Yes, I will obey the Empress Dowager's order.
Are you scared? Fu Jinzhan looked at him with a smile.
Wang Zhong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I am not afraid, I am respectful."
Fu Jinzhan smiled and said: Even if you have a little good point, I will remember it in my heart, so don't be afraid.
Wang Zhong fell to his knees: The Queen Mother is kind and wise
She waved her sleeves lightly, pointed to another small part and said: "Put these aside, I will come back in the afternoon to reply in person. This is the decree written for me by the officials. Yang Shiliang, please take the jade seal to stamp it and take it outside."
Yes. Yang Shiliang also hurriedly bowed.
What time is it? Fu Jinzhan asked.
Cao Tai replied: Your Majesty, the noon bell has not yet struck, but judging from the position of the sun, it should be almost noon.
I will go to the back hall to eat, and then go back to the Wansui Hall to take a nap. Fu Jinzhan said, Cao Tai, go and ask someone to prepare it.
She stood up from her chair and said to the outside of the curtain: My fellow ministers, you can go back to have lunch and come back in the afternoon.
Soon, the voices of the crowd were heard from outside: We thank the Queen Mother for her grace.
Since meeting General Guo a few days ago, Fu Jinzhan's face has become ruddy and smooth, her complexion is very good, and she has become more gentle. She ate a lot at noon and was really hungry; she spent half a day in the morning, and although she didn't find it difficult, it was tiring to read the memorials for a long time. Nowadays, people go to bed early and get up early, and get up before dawn in the morning. The morning hours are the longest.
After lunch, Fu Jinzhan entered Xuanyou Gate in a sedan chair with many people around. When she arrived at the palace gate, she saw soldiers outside and eunuchs and palace maids inside kneeling on both sides of the road. Fu Jinzhan sat in the sedan chair covered by a curtain and ignored them. Anyway, they would not continue to kneel stupidly after passing by.
She closed her eyes and thought.
In this world, the so-called national affairs handled in the court are of limited importance. In the past, Emperor Taizu did not focus on governing the country, but only paid attention to the selection of ministers in the court. At this time, the most important thing is military affairs.
There is no emperor in the Ten Kingdoms who does not put the military first. That thing can destroy a country at any time. The threat of foreign enemies and arrogant generals are the most threatening factors to rule. Even if the government is neglected, it will take at least ten years to recover. But using military violence to destroy a country does not take ten years, maybe just a few months; it is clear at a glance which is more important and which is more urgent.
The biggest problem Fu Jinzhan is facing right now is the continuity of the military.
The handover of civil government affairs was very easy and smooth. From the prime minister to the officials of various government offices, they all obeyed whoever was in power. They had long been accustomed to the frequent changes of people above them, and no one had the time to care who was the emperor. However, the transition of the imperial guards and local military governors was very tricky.
According to the experience of Emperor Taizu's succession to the throne, it is generally necessary to re-reward the outlying towns on a large scale and directly issue an imperial decree to relocate the towns. As long as the towns are relocated, it means they are loyal to the new emperor. If they disobey orders, they will be considered as rebels and will be destroyed by sending troops. The Fu family has relocated towns several times. However, Fu Jinzhan has no control over the imperial army now and dares not do so, so for a period of time, the previous pattern will be followed and stability will be maintained.
At the moment, Fu Jinzhan needs to proceed step by step. The first thing to do is to eliminate Zhao Kuangyin’s influence in the Iron Cavalry Army, otherwise this most elite force of the Iron Cavalry Army will be unreliable.
She couldn't disband the Iron Cavalry, so she had to first find out who had close relations with Zhao Kuangyin. It was easy to find out the matters between generals of high rank, and everyone in the Imperial Guards knew about them; the key was the people at the commander-in-chief and below, which were not easy to find out.
Fu Jinzhan thought about it for a long time, and finally his idea coincided with Guo Shao's idea of dealing with Li Chongjin's power in the Imperial Guard.
A group of people had already reached the steps of the Wansui Palace. Fu Jinzhan came down from the sedan chair holding the hand of a palace lady, then slowly walked up the stone steps and suddenly turned around. Everyone immediately stopped and stood halfway with their heads bowed. She waved her hand, and everyone hurriedly stepped back a distance. She said again: Cao Tai, come here.
Queen Mother. Cao Tai stepped forward quickly and stood beside Fu Jinzhan holding a whisk.
Fu Jinzhan whispered: "Take my order and go to the Privy Council to find Wang Pu. Ask him to bring the old files of the Palace Front Office to the Privy Council and specifically tell him not to use my name, but only the military order of the Privy Council."
Cao Tai hurriedly said: Yes.
After she finished speaking, she quickly entered a bedroom in the Wansui Palace. This was a complex of buildings with many palaces; Fu Jinzhan asked the young emperor to live in the original palace of Taizu and the previous emperor, and she chose a palace next to the main palace to live in. Fu Jinzhan's previous residence, Zide Palace, was far away from the harem; and Wansui Palace was very close to Xuanyou Gate and the front of the imperial city, which was convenient for her to go out and govern the country, so she moved there.
The palaces here are larger and more magnificent than those in the harem, but they lack flowers, plants and beautiful decorations, making them look more monotonous.
Fu Jinzhan sat on a couch for a while, looking at the empty bedroom, feeling bored and tired, so she said: I want to take a shower and change clothes.
I will ask someone to prepare it for the Queen Mother right away. Mu Shang Gong responded hurriedly. She did not show the slightest surprise at all. It was natural for the Queen Mother to bathe and change clothes in the morning, at noon or even at midnight, and she should satisfy her request immediately.
Fu Jinzhan has discovered one advantage of the emperor's bedroom, which is that the bathroom is larger and more luxurious. This is simply the only thing she likes. The emperors are not afraid of waste. Fu Jinzhan no longer has to stay in a small bathtub like before, but in a pool.
Dozens of large pots boil water for one person to bathe at the same time, and then fill the pool with warm water, just like an artificial hot spring. During this period, boiling water is added at the right time according to experience to keep it warm.
The room was filled with white mist and was very warm. Fu Jinzhan lay on the cushion beside the pool and told the maid who was specially serving her in bathing to rub her waist. If I had known earlier, I would not have been in such a hurry. I have been sitting for too long and my waist is sore.
The maid's fingers were very smooth, yet very powerful. Fu Jinzhan enjoyed it very much, her cheeks flushed as if she was asleep.
She resumed her previous life. Whenever she was like this, she enjoyed it the most. She could completely relax, or be drowsy and lazy, or let her mind wander and let her thoughts fly into those beautiful and expected dreams. People can only see what others do and hear what they say, but who knows what she is thinking