Chastity Layman

Cheng Chumo and Niu Jianwu looked at Qin Xun who was almost taken away, and they were also a little worried.

Speaking of which, today's day is not bad for the two of them. Both Cheng Yaojin and Cheng Chumo were made dukes of the state and governors, and they were even able to unify their towns. This is very rare. This is almost the treatment of Qin Qiong and Qin Lang back then.

The same is true for the Niu family. Niu Jinda and Niu Jianwu are both dukes of the state, and they are both appointed governors of the world, and each leads a big town.

On the other hand, both Cheng Chumo and Niu Jianwu were married to the current emperor, and their sons were married to Princess Shang, and they also had their daughter, Prince Shang, as the concubine. If the brothers of the two were also married Princess, the two families can be said to have received the favor of the emperor.

Both the holy ancestor and the emperors of the current two dynasties can be said to be extremely gracious to Cheng Niu's family, so they have no right to be dissatisfied at all.

Even thinking about it is a blasphemy against the grace of God.

But their relationship with the Qin family is so close. Lao Cheng, Lao Niu and Qin Qiong are old brothers who live and die. Entering the Three Guards, and later on in his official career, almost all depended on Qin Lang's support and care, so that he has the glory of leading the towns today.

Otherwise, even after they have made meritorious service, how could they be granted the title of duke and governor at this age?

The ability is his own, but the opportunity is mainly given by Qin Lang at the beginning.

Now that the emperor and the Qin family are like this, they are the most uncomfortable being caught in the middle.

"I hope that's all there is to it!"

Both of them are no longer in their twenties, and they clearly know that the essence of many things is more complicated than the surface. The relationship between Qin Lang and the emperor is very complicated. Qin Lang is the emperor's teacher, and Qin Lang married the emperor's wife. Sister, the emperor married Qin Lang's two younger sisters, and then Qin Lang's daughter married Li Xian, the son of his younger sister Qin Guifei, and Qin Shu's daughter, Princess Jiangning, married Qin Lang's second son, Lu Song King Qin Lun .

This kind of relationship is very amazing, but who would have thought that it would suddenly happen like this.

Behind this, there is a more serious power struggle involved.

Both Qin Lang and the emperor are great people, and now that the relationship between the two has come to this point, they don't know what to do.

Normally speaking, it is impossible for the emperor to kill Qin Lang, but there is such a precedent as Changsun Wuji, no one dares to draw such a conclusion.

"Su Guogong, Peng Guogong, please stop!"

A servant came and saluted the two of them.

"The saint summoned the two princes."

Chi Baolin, Duke of E State, Huang Heshou, Duke of Guo State, and Li Fengjie, Duke of Dai State, smiled and said, "It must be a good thing, let's go first."

After the same year as the generals of the Qin Palace, these few can no longer be compared with Cheng Niu. Their fathers have all passed away. He has already obtained the duke of the state based on his own merits. After the old man dies in the future, the title can be inherited by the eldest grandson or the second son as usual.

Cheng Chumo and Niu Wujian were a little uneasy, they didn't know what they meant by calling them in at this time, so they had to follow the servant and turn back.

The Great Court Meeting was over, and the emperor had already returned to the harem, and ordered to summon him in the Hall of Yisui.

The emperor has not yet arrived, and there are only servants in the Palace of Hundreds of Thousands of Years.

The copper censer in the temple has already lit incense in advance, and the smoke is curling up, and the fragrance is overwhelming.

The two purple-robed frontier officials knelt in the hall, not daring to whisper to each other, quietly waiting for the emperor to arrive, but they couldn't help thinking and guessing secretly.

Footsteps came.

One light and one heavy, it was not very obvious, but in the silent hall, it was transmitted to the ears of the two people clearly. They knew that it was the lame emperor who came.

"minister······"

Just about to pay respects, the emperor's voice came from above, "There is no need for you two lovers, this is not a court meeting."

"Second Minister, come forward and give me a seat."

"Tea."

The emperor was very polite, and the polite Cheng Chumo was a little uneasy. In fact, the two of them had been guarding the army for a long time, and they didn't spend much time in Beijing, and they didn't know the emperor very well.

For example, in Cheng Chumo's memory, the emperor had more memories of his youthful image when he was the prince before succeeding to the throne, but now this high-ranking, majestic and domineering Long Wei is not much.

"I also know that the two lovers have been in the border town of Haijiang for a long time. Today, I just want to chat with you for a while, and I want to hear you personally tell me about the actual situation in the southeast sea. Speaking in person, without going through a third person, it is clearer."

Then the emperor asked, and the two answered, and the two behaved more restrained and cautious.

"What are you so nervous about?"

Li Yin chuckled while holding the teacup.

"Su Guogong, what do you think the imperial court's chances of winning this time are?"

"Pyuyue barbarians, although they are said to have been established for hundreds of years, their strength is far inferior to Tuyuhun or Goguryeo, which have also been established for hundreds of years. They are also inferior to Baekje and Silla, and even inferior to Xiqi Mohe."

Generally speaking, the strength of the Southwestern Yi is indeed far inferior to that of the northern nomads.

"Compared to Cheng Qing's conquest of peace and barbarism?"

"It's better." Cheng Chumo said directly.

Heman, Judingman, and even Wubaiman tend to mix together. More importantly, these Nanman have more contact with Han people, so many places are already more civilized, such as tactics, weapons, etc. are far from those of Pyu. The barbarians in the south are comparable.

The Huyue Kingdom was more loose and backward, and belonged to the more traditional Nanman tribal alliance system.

"However, although the tribal alliance of the Piao State in the south of the Nujiang River is loose and backward, it is too far away from the border after all, and the distance has become their biggest reliance. For me, Tang, supply is a big problem."

"I'm not worried about this. At the beginning, Cheng Qing opened up the sea and opened up the passage from Jiaozhou to Yunnan. Later, the imperial court pacified the Erhai River Man. Cheng Qing also crossed the Red River all the way, and wiped out He Man. The court continued to expand its borders to the southwest. The Yongchang, Yinsheng, and Lishui prefectures were established, and the imperial court has been in operation for 20 to 30 years, established post road transportation lines, built many castles and fortresses, and stored a lot of food and grass."

"Besides, to the south of Lishui, there are already open river valleys and plains that reach directly to the sea."

Cheng Chu listened silently, he felt that the emperor definitely didn't come to talk about these things today.

"What does Cheng Qing think of Wang Xuance?"

"Bold but careful, he is good at taking risks and using strange things, but he is really good at fighting, and he is born as a scholar, and he is also good at appeasing barbarian tribes. He is also far superior to ordinary generals in coordinating logistics and food." Cheng Chumo gave a lot of praise. words.

Wang Xuance has no conflict of interest with him, nor has any relationship of interest. The two have never even worked together. When he was in Tonghai, Wang Xuance was in Jiaozhou, but he also knew clearly that Wang Xuance, as Li Xizhi's person, later won Qin Lang's Only by appreciating and promoting can soar into the sky.

Especially this one who was later in Tianzhu, who was able to destroy the false king of Tianzhu with his own power, was really amazing. It's just that because he offered the Tianzhu medicinal materials that monk Hu gave to the holy ancestor to make alchemy, he was condemned and demoted to the depths of the barbarians, but his gold shines everywhere. Suppression and appeasement were used together to open up Yongchang and Lishui for the court, and to subdue the barbarians.

Cheng Chumo thought it was very appropriate for the imperial court to use Wang Xuance to lead the war against Huyue. He knew Huyue well, and he was also familiar with the Nanman.

"I originally wanted Cheng Qing to command and command the battle against Huyue. Cheng Qing was famous in the Southern Man in the town of Tonghai Miehe. After moving the town to Jiaozhou, it also made my Great Tang Tiannan peaceful and stable for many years."

"Wang Xuance is more familiar with Lishui and Huyue than I am, so it is more suitable for him to lead the expedition against Huyue."

"Since this is the case, then I have no doubts about employing people, and I will hand over all of Huyue to Wang Xuance. Cheng Qing, I plan to keep you in the capital, enter the Privy Council, and sign the Privy Council affairs, how about it?"

Cheng Chumo was surprised.

His father, Cheng Yaojin, previously guarded You Bing, and at the same time he was awarded the title of Privy Council officer, as the lower chief of the Privy Council.

As the Xifu, which shares the civil and military affairs with the Zhengshitang, the Privy Council has great power.

The interior is divided into upper and lower chambers. Privy envoys and judges of the Privy Council are the official officials, and the upper and lower houses are divided into leaders. Deputy Privy Envoys, Privy Council officers, Privy Council officers, and Privy Council officers are deputy.

In fact, there are six officials and adjutants in the official Privy Council, but sometimes there will be more than one post.

Originally Cheng Yaojinniu Jinda Su Dingfang and several people were members of the Privy Council, but they were just transferred out of the Privy Council, and even transferred to the military town, with obvious intentions of demoting them.

On the way just now, Cheng Chumo was still thinking that maybe he would also be demoted, and the reason was naturally that the emperor wanted to attack the military upstarts in Shandong, especially the Wagang faction represented by Qin Lang.

Who knew that the emperor would mention him to the Shufu now.

In any case, Guangnan Xuanfu Jinglue Envoy, Zhennan Metropolitan Governor's Chief Shi in charge of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, Jiaozhou Inspector, Zhenhai Haijun, etc. really belonged to the feudal officials.

But compared with the signing of the Privy Council by the Privy Council, it is still not as good.

Entering the Privy Council is a one-step ascension to become the ruler.

The Minister of Political Affairs in the East Mansion is known as the Prime Minister, and the Privy Council Marshals in the West Mansion are called the Executives.

The Privy Council itself is the original political affairs hall, so of course it can be regarded as half of the prime minister.

Cheng Chumo was only in his fifties at this time, and he was already considered young to be in charge of Tiannan Town at this age, but now he was able to go directly to the Privy Council, even if it was only a deputy.

"I obey the king's will, but my qualifications are shallow, and I am not good enough to enter the West Mansion."

Facing the emperor, Cheng Chumo first quickly expressed his unconditional obedience to the emperor's will, and then expressed that he was not qualified.

"Qing's military exploits are completely enough to be admitted to the Privy Council. It's just that before Lu Guogong was the leader of the lower court of the Privy Council, it is inconvenient for me to transfer you to the Privy Council. Now that Lu Guogong is out of the palace after his full term, if you are transferred in, you don't have to worry about anyone objecting to father and son sharing the same stage."

The legitimate reason for the emperor to transfer Cheng Yaojin to leave the Privy Council and change defenses is that the term of office has expired. Although the imperial court has long stipulated that officials take one exam a year, one exam every three years, and four exams are one term.

The imperial court stipulated that officials with a civil rank of less than six grades could not serve consecutively as officials. After completing a term, they had to wait for a certain time limit before they were allowed to participate in the election of the Ministry of Officials to be assigned a new official position. As for officials above the sixth grade, after each term of office expires, the imperial court will also make decisions such as promotion, demotion, or level adjustment based on the performance of the four examinations.

Under normal circumstances, it is a three-year term. Unless there are special circumstances, re-election is not allowed. If the evaluation is good, it will be relocated every three years. If the performance is poor, it may be demoted or dismissed.

It has been decades since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and many rules and regulations have become more and more mature.

Official positions also have terms of office and various assessments.

Of course, for senior officials directly managed by the emperor such as Cheng Yaojin, the appointment and removal of official positions, term of office, and part-time jobs are not so strict, but the emperor used this as a legitimate reason to say that Cheng Yaojin and others have expired, so they should be transferred. No one else can refute it.

But in fact, the Privy Council has been established for more than ten years. Those few people who are in power in the Privy Council are there. It’s just that the emperor used to change his posts internally. In charge of the lower court, Cheng Yaojin takes charge of the upper court. Another example is that sometimes the deputy envoy is appointed as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, or the deputy envoy is appointed as the judge of the Privy Council.

Occasionally, a new person will be replaced. Anyway, there are basically only a few people. For example, since the establishment of the Privy Council, Li Ji has been switching back and forth between the two positions of Privy Council Envoy and Privy Council Officer, every three years. Just never went out.

Lao Cheng also stayed in the Privy Council for more than ten years, and was sentenced to Privy Council affairs, deputy Privy Council envoys, and Privy Council affairs, etc. back and forth.

Now that the emperor said that his term of office had expired, others naturally couldn't say anything.

"Peng Guogong, you also stay together and sign the Privy Council affairs. Su Guogong is in the upper house, and you are in the lower house."

The two stayed in the court and entered the Shufu, and the military posts in the two towns of Guangzhou and Jiaozhou were naturally removed.

Cheng Chumo understood instantly.

The emperor estimated that they still had to take back the real power in their hands. Compared with the original towns of North Korea, Liaodong, and Youhe, such as Su Dingfang, they lived in the southeast. Lang's Luzon is what I want to echo across the sea.

Does the emperor still distrust them, or is he going to continue to fight against Qin Lang?

Now step by step cut off the Wagang faction that has a close relationship with the Qin family, and then liquidate it?

Thinking of this, Cheng Chumo couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"Don't think about it too much, I just think of using younger and stronger generals to enter the shufu to make the shufu more effective."

On the contrary, these words have the feeling that there is no silver three hundred taels here.

But they couldn't refuse the emperor's decision.

Regardless of whether their tenure in the southeast has expired or not, if the emperor wants to transfer them, how can they refuse, let alone this is still a promotion?

Thunder, rain and dew are all the grace of the king, not to mention being promoted to the ruling.

What's the point of refusing again?

Regarding the two towns of Lingnan and Zhennan, the emperor did not ask them for new guards. It was obvious that the emperor had already made plans in mind.

"The two lovers have been on the frontier for a long time, and they have made great achievements. This time they entered the court, hoping to make new achievements in the Shufu. I will give each of the two ministers five hundred real seals, a total of 1,500 households, and another in Liaodong. Give five thousand mu of land as the territory of Xunfeng Yongye, which can be inherited by descendants."

"Thank you."

Cheng Niu and his wife thanked Jun En.

Li Yin asked the two of them to withdraw, Cheng Chumo gritted his teeth, and knelt down again, "I have recently returned to the court from Tiannan, and I don't know anything about the palace, but I think that the two concubines Guishu are the daughters of King Zhongwu of Qi. Loyal and virtuous, the matter of witchcraft is too appalling, I implore the sage to send someone to investigate carefully again, there must be no wrongdoing."

Niu Jianwu also followed suit, "Qin Zhongwu and Qin Taishi's father and son have made great achievements in the country, and they all have the merits of making decisions and supporting them. The Qin Li brothers also made great military achievements for the imperial conquest. It is a bit too heavy to be burdened by the nobles, and all the titles and titles are seized. It is too cold for the hearts of the country's honored family. I also ask the saint to be more lenient..."

Li Yin looked at the two of them condescendingly, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Then.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"The two love ministers are indeed loyal and virtuous ministers. I am very happy to be able to speak up and speak out at this time. I will send a secretary to conduct a detailed investigation on this matter as the second minister said. If there is any false grievance, the order Correct it for a while."

"Second Minister, let's go back and prepare to take office with peace of mind. The news of this matter is Jinghou, and we will inform you of the results in time."

"I believe that even Grand Master Qin in Lu Song can understand my painstaking efforts. After all, I am the Son of Heaven and must be fair."

Seeing this, the two could only get up and leave.

Looking at the figures of the two of them disappearing in front of the palace gate, Li Yin showed a playful smile on his face. The Cheng Niu family received a lot of rewards, but they still stood up to speak for the Qin family. It seems that the relationship Closer than he expected.