In the palace, the ministers have already made preparations.

It is an auspicious time.

With the appearance of the ceremonial officer, the enthronement ceremony is about to begin.

The ceremony always feels a bit sloppy. Perhaps Daqi has never paid much attention to this aspect. Even during the enthronement ceremony, there will be vacancies, officials will be absent, and even mispronounced words will occur.

rough.

No one expressed much joy because of the new emperor's ascension to the throne. Perhaps only the Hu family could still feel a little happy at this moment.

There were many ministers standing outside the hall, they were dressed luxuriously, and there were many soldiers standing around, fully armed.

Ritual and music were played together, and the ritual officials played and chanted loudly.

Various types of ritual vessels were lifted up from all directions and gathered together.

The little emperor wore a royal robe and looked timidly at the people around him. There was an eunuch accompanying him, constantly informing him of the next step.

Everything looks very luxurious and extraordinary.

But the faces of the group of officials were extraordinarily calm. Many of them had calm faces. They could not see any respect for the new emperor, nor could they see any reluctance for the Supreme Emperor. There was no joy, no sorrow, no trace of regret.

Mood swings.

The soldiers around them seemed empty under their tall and sturdy armors, with no emotion at all visible.

Even the clan that supported the emperor's rise to power had serious expressions and frowns at this moment.

Outside Yecheng.

A large group of people were already driving on the road.

Major events in the palace have nothing to do with them.

Liu Taozi rode a war horse and walked at the front, followed by various carriages and many people following in the procession.

The road to the destination was extremely long, the cold wind blew, and the carriage shook violently on the uneven road.

They didn't raise any big banner.

As he hurriedly walked away, Zu Jue and Shi Yao followed Liu Taozi respectively, whispering something at the moment.

"Then Miss Lu must want to support the prince. He wants to win over the old lady mainly because he wants to win over the lord."

"This woman is not simple, and the current queen is stupid. I'm afraid she is no match for her. Although the prince was promoted, he is young and has little power, but if someone is attached to him and does things through him, then

You can really do a lot of things.”

Zu Jue analyzed it carefully and said: "I think this woman wants to get rid of the Queen Mother first and take charge of the harem affairs by herself, and then use the lord and the old lady to kill Gao Rui, get Gao Jun, and support a new batch of heroes.

You are here to take charge of Yecheng."

"However, I think Gao Rui seems to have some ideas. Maybe he is trying to do something big."

Zu Jue finally said: "My lord, please don't get involved in these things. If they want to fight, let them fight first. We don't want to interfere. If we can manage the border states well, the power will not be comparable to that of Yecheng."

Zu Jue is full of confidence in the future.

He smiled and said: "Hengzhou produces war horses, Shuozhou produces copper and iron, Yanzhou has cultivated land, and Anzhou has people."

"After returning this time, there are many talents to help me. There are actually eight states under the lord's command, and the states such as Ying, Xian, and Si can actually be included in his command."

"With these talents, we will implement the policy of granting land and government troops, and it will be one year later."

Zu Jue laughed, "I will definitely give Yang Zhong a big surprise."

"Yang Zhong came with one hundred thousand troops, and he didn't know what he was going to face!"

Shi Yao was not as confident as Zu Jue. He was worried, "Grandpa, although the frontier fortress has a lot of land, it has just experienced war and is sparsely populated. If Yang Zhong comes with a hundred thousand elites to attack, it is not a joke. Besides, this governance

It has always been difficult to achieve results, and just arranging officials in one year may not be enough."

Zu Jue waved his hand, "You don't understand."

"Do you know what my lord's strongest point is right now?"

Shi Yao was stunned for a moment and said slowly: "My lord is brave, with a cloud of fierce generals under his command, and more than 40,000 elite soldiers, stretching across the north."

Zu Jue laughed.

"Although my lord's army is strong, Duan Shao's command alone has more than 50,000 elite soldiers!!"

"And the lord's 40,000 elites are to be defended in various places. They can only fight in the field with more than 10,000 people. Duan Shao's 40,000 to 50,000 people can be dragged out to fight in the field. Moreover, these soldiers are extremely elite and the generals are extremely fierce. In terms of military strength,

Even if he is strong, my lord may not be stronger than Duan Shao."

"The reason why Gao Jun, Gao Rui and others are not worried about our lord is because the temple has a strong military force, isn't it?"

After hearing Zu Jue's words, Shi Yao just asked again: "Is that because the Lord has a benevolent heart and loves the people?"

Zu Jue laughed again, "My Lord, it is true that he is benevolent and righteous and loves the people, but aren't Gao Jun and Gao Rui the same? There are many people in the court who are benevolent and righteous and love the people. If we really talk about it, how many years did Gao Rui stay in the frontier fortress?

, he has done many more benevolent and righteous things than my lord!"

Shi Yao secretly glanced at Liu Taozi.

Grandfather, is it really okay for you to belittle my lord like this?

Liu Taozi's face was calm, and she was obviously not dissatisfied with Zu Jue's words.

Shi Yao said: "I'd like to inform you, Grandpa."

Zu Jue then said proudly: "The strongest point of my lord is the casual officials under his command."

"ah??"

Shi Yao was a little confused.

Zu Jue continued: "No matter how much Gao Jun, Gao Rui and others love the people, their hands cannot reach the casual officials. At most, they just linger around the officials, but it is these casual officials who really do things."

"My lord's policy of distributing staff from school to school is really admirable!"

"The lord has set up schools in various places and trained many casual officials. Every time he takes a place, he will first let the casual officials take up positions. The lord's orders can directly reach the hands of the casual officials and be implemented thoroughly."

"Most of these casual officials are from poor backgrounds. Even if there are evil people, they are still in the minority. Most of them are people who have experienced hardship, know good from bad, and can distinguish right from wrong. They can also directly report the local situation to the lord through the teachers in the school.

It is difficult for officials to suppress these schools of law."

Shi Yao was stunned when he heard this.

He had been an official at the grassroots level, so he could understand what Zu Jue meant.

He frowned and asked: "Grandpa, if this is the case, wouldn't it turn out to be a hijacking of officials? If local officials become more scattered, officials will be sidelined by them."

Zu Jue laughed, "Wouldn't that be better? Help us sort out all the unqualified officials. These days, we are afraid that we can't find anyone to be an official?"

He became confident again, "Just wait and see, in one year, just one year. The frontier fortress will definitely be transformed. When these stupid people in Yecheng are beaten to death, we will open their eyes."

"If Yang Zhong fails to defeat the lord this time, there will never be another time. Next time, he should think about how to survive from the lord."

Zu Jue laughed, his teeth were sharp.

Shi Yao didn't say anything anymore. He always felt that this person was a bit too arrogant.

This is not taking the people of the world seriously at all.

Zu Jue was following Liu Taozi at this moment and talked about his thoughts in detail.

"My lord, the divisions in the frontier states are too detailed and too complicated. I think we can slightly modify them. When we created so many states and forcibly split them up, we were afraid that local officials would seize power. We are not so worried about the details of the states.

If it is transformed, it will increase the burden on officials and increase the salary problem. I think it is better to re-divide the temples and halls without informing them, and they don't dare to do anything."

"The towns under the current rule are loose and the defense lines are redundant. They can be re-established."

Zu Jue took out a long map from his sleeve and handed it to Liu Taozi.

"Lord, look, this is what I am thinking right now."

Shi Yao followed not far away, looking at Zu Jue in surprise. He originally thought that his abandonment of his official position and defection to Liu Taozi was a treasonous act, but he didn't expect that there was a more important person here, re-dividing local states and counties?

??

Isn’t this a clear rebellion?

This is more serious than setting up officials for private purposes. According to the laws of the Northern Qi Dynasty, this matter is classified as setting up officials for private purposes, and is one of the ten unpardonable sins.

He looked around. No matter whether it was the soldiers following the general, the scribes further away, or even King Qinghe who was carrying the horse on his side, there was no sign of surprise or fear at all.

They looked calm.

Everything seems to be taken for granted.

Qi, Jiangzhou.

Governor's Office.

"Cough, cough, cough"

There was a coughing sound in the inner room.

Master Qian held the bowl and carefully walked to the door. When the two soldiers at the door saw him, they immediately got out of the way.

Master Qian walked into the house, and Lu Yao was sitting on the bed, wearing a coat but not fully dressed, crossing his legs, holding a document in his hand, sweating profusely as he read it.

Master Qian hurriedly handed him the medicine bowl, secretly looked at the documents in his hand, and said with a wry smile: "Master, don't look at it anymore. Take some medicine first."

Lu Yao put down the paperwork, took the medicine handed to him, and took a few mouthfuls.
To be continued...