After seeing Cao Bin off, Guo Shao sat in the study for a while, then stood up and walked out of the East Hall, standing behind the railing on the platform. Occasionally, officials and palace maids passed by below, and when they saw the emperor standing there, they stopped and knelt to salute, but Guo Shao ignored them, and they then walked by with their backs bent.
Guo Shao secretly let out a long breath and looked at the scenery in the imperial city. At this moment, the things he wanted to do could not be completed immediately, and the desire in his chest was pressing and he felt suffocated.
In the past, he thought that the emperor was rich and that once he sat on the throne, he would have endless supplies and could spend money at will; but this was not the case. He now felt that he lacked everything, including money, food, and soldiers. When doing something, he always had to think about how much strength he had and be patient. The failure of the Northern Expedition to Youzhou had made him feel depressed for a long time. He could have obtained so much territory. The sixteen states had large plains with good climates, which meant a large amount of resources. His huge prestige and greedy possessiveness could not be shaken off.
Guo Shao came out to relax and calm his mind, but the scene before him made him have more thoughts.
The layout of the front court of the imperial city is similar to a Chinese character "回", with the Left Taihe Gate and the Right Taihe Gate on either side of the Jinxiang Hall. Outside the East and West gates there are buildings such as the Guangzheng Hall and the Ziyun Hall, as well as official offices such as the Political Affairs Hall, the Privy Council, the Hanlin Academy, and various temples.
Seeing those houses with multiple eaves, Guo Shao couldn't help but wonder if those officials were helping to manage the country with all their heart. However, he had no other choice. A large number of people were needed to maintain the operation of the court. Guo Shao could only hope that they would do their best.
This feeling is like being a factory owner, who wants all the workers to work hard for him to make money and perform every process to perfection, and is wary of the small bosses who want to enrich themselves, but he cannot be divided to supervise every department.
The memorials received every day could only reflect the most rough and general situation. In fact, every government office and every place had countless paperwork rules and ways of doing things, and people's hearts were different. No one knew what people really wanted and what they were worried about. Guo Shao couldn't figure it out by himself. He only had so much time and energy every day.
Guo Shao stood there for a while, then returned to his study, took the unfinished memorials, read them over, and approved them.
The world is made up of particles, and Guo Shao is a little overwhelmed by this way of thinking.
Before he knew it, the sound of bells and drums rang out at the hour of You, and all the government offices were dismissed. Guo Shao also stopped what he was doing and left the Jinxiang Palace on a sedan chair.
He was not in a good mood today and had a lot of things to do. He looked tired when he left Jinxiang Palace.
Guo Shao went straight to the Empress' bedroom in Zide Hall and decided to sleep at Fu Ermei's place that night. There were many women in this huge palace, but Guo Shao actually only had one wife, Empress Fu Ermei, and his eldest son Guo Zhang. According to the rules of ordinary families, their family of three was considered a real family.
Fu Ermei naturally brought Guo Shao's son to meet the ceremony, taught Guo Zhang to call him father, and taught him etiquette. The child was only one year old and was very active and lively. He could not learn after a long time of teaching, so Guo Shao watched the palace woman feed him porridge and teased him. Unexpectedly, not long after, Guo Zhang felt uncomfortable, kicked his hands and feet, and cried loudly, scaring the palace woman to kneel down and beg for mercy.
Fu Ermei frowned and asked: Did you burn the child
The palace lady said: "How dare I? I will taste it myself before feeding it to the little prince."
Guo Shao couldn't help but said: Get up, you have taken good care of them. The children of ordinary people have parents who have to work and can't take care of them. They have grown up.
The palace woman was deeply moved after hearing this and kowtowed repeatedly to express her gratitude.
Fu Ermei looked a little unhappy, and Guo Shao noticed it. Guo Shao said: Don't worry too much about trivial matters. As long as the child is not sick, you don't have to worry too much.
Fu Ermei said: "How can I not worry about my own son? Last time he had a fever, vomiting and diarrhea, I was scared and couldn't sleep for several days. Your Majesty is fighting in Youzhou again, I am very scared. If something happens to Zhang'er, how can I explain it to Your Majesty when he comes back?"
Guo Shao sighed and said kindly: "It's really hard for you, second sister. You are the only one who worries about the children. Alas."
Fu Ermei then said: My husband is the emperor and has important things to do, so I should take care of the children.
Guo Shao pulled himself together from his fatigue and said a few words of comfort. At this time, Fu Ermei went to tell the palace lady to let Zhang'er eat all the porridge.
Guo Shao found that it was a lot of things to take care of a child, and he couldn't be left alone, and it was also because he cared too much about the child.
The child was also Guo Shao's, and fortunately the child's mother took care of him. Guo Shao looked at the lively child and thought to himself that when he was too old to walk or something happened, he would need someone to take over everything and take care of the aftermath. His son would undoubtedly be the best choice. If he was a truly filial son, he would be more open-minded about birth, old age, sickness and death, and would need to rely on specific people when he was weak.
Thinking of this, Guo Shao frowned and said: Second sister, you can't spoil him too much. You can't let him develop the habit of having everything he wants since he was a child.
Fu Ermei said: Your Majesty, he is still so young, if he is hungry, won’t you feed him
Guo Shaodao: I’m afraid that you spoil your child too much.
Fu Ermei said aggrievedly: I know I was wrong.
Guo Shao was indeed a little worried, fearing that Fu Ermei would be useless. Perhaps people were afraid of the unknown, and he probably thought too much. Maybe Guo Zhang would grow up to be sensible and reasonable.
His mentality is very different from Fu Ermei's. Guo Shao is worried that he is not teaching his son well, while Fu Ermei thinks her son is good in everything and is the best child in the world.
The two of them argued for a while, and then talked about trivial matters, all of which were about their children.
After Fu Ermei gave birth to the child, all her attention was on Guo Zhang. Perhaps this is what motherhood is like. Perhaps for a woman, the most reliable person is indeed her son.
Guo Shao was a little tired at this time, and yawned a few times, but she didn't notice. The memories of Guo Shao and her in the past, every bit of their time together, now became insignificant and inappropriate, after all, there were more important things to worry about. Guo Shao naturally didn't blame her, perhaps those subtle beauties were too insignificant.
He adjusted his attitude and waited for dinner, then accompanied Fu Ermei to sleep for a night, maybe he would be tired and refreshed tomorrow morning. However, Guo Shao did have a feeling that he had lost all the fun and was left with only life.
At this time, Fu Ermei complained: "That Li Erniang just now, I used to think she was very steady and meticulous when I was around her. I could trust her to handle everything inside and outside the house, and she did a good job; that's why I asked her to help take care of Zhang'er. But I don't know what's going on, she is so clumsy now, and I can't satisfy her."
Guo Shao said casually: That's because you don't trust her.
Fu Ermei said: If I didn't trust Li Erniang, I wouldn't ask her to do such an important thing.
Guo Shao couldn't help but said: It's precisely because you don't believe in her that you worry about it all the time.
Fu Ermei frowned and said: What should I do
Guo Shao was speechless. In his opinion, if you don't give people real power, it will be difficult for them to do a good job. But as for Fu Ermei, I'm afraid she can't trust anyone to take care of the child.
He pondered for a moment and then said: The elder sister of a good friend of mine could not do any housework before she got married, because her mother was still alive and took care of everything at home and outside; although the elder sister helped, she was just doing it to get by.
Later, when my elder sister got married, she was able to handle everything very well. Because it became her responsibility to take care of the housework, she was responsible for everything and everything was in order. She arranged everything, so everything was in order.
Fu Ermei nodded and said softly: "My husband knows a lot, you are right. I found that Li Erniang had a clue before, but now she has no clue.
After hearing this, Guo Shao suddenly had a flash of light in his mind and remembered the incident with the local militia.
He felt that in order to handle this matter well, Cao Bin should not be too bossy, otherwise he would be confused. Sometimes, although the superiors are concerned, if they interfere in everything, it may have a counterproductive effect.
However, Cao Bin really has the ability and determination to handle major events well.
Guo Shao paced back and forth on the spot, and unknowingly put his hands behind his back.
Fu Ermei's voice said: Husband
Guo Shao came back to his senses and turned to look at her. Fu Ermei said: My husband was talking to me when he was distracted by something.
Guo Shaodao: What happened in the court.
Fu Ermei looked at his face: Is it important
Guo Shao nodded and said: "The most important thing recently is that I have chosen a person and want him to help me set up a camp of 100,000 troops. Originally, I planned to let the Privy Council and I decide on the specific strategy, and then hand it over to him. But just now I suddenly realized that this method may not be appropriate."
I can change my approach, propose the desired result to him, and then meet the conditions he needs. Then I can delegate power to him and let him do it. If he succeeds, I will promise him a real reward; if he fails, I will punish him.
When he got to this point, he noticed that Fu Ermei looked a little bored, so he stopped talking. People are really amazing, Fu Jinzhan and Fu Ermei were born to the same parents, and even looked very similar, but they were completely different people.
Fortunately, there was Fu Jinzhan, otherwise Fu Ermei might not be able to manage such a large harem as the queen. If she encountered a crisis, Guo Shao felt that she would be even more helpless.
Guo Shao dropped the topic and said softly: My eldest sister also lives in Zide Hall. If you have any problems, please take Guo Zhang to visit your eldest sister and talk to her.
Fu Ermei looked at him thoughtfully and said: "Husband, what do you mean by this? I am saying that my eldest sister doesn't like me."
Guo Shao was speechless for a long time before he said: You two sisters have completely opposite personalities.