Chapter 472 It’s Chinese New Year

As the end of the year approaches, Jinling has entered an atmosphere that is quiet on the surface, but deeply restless.【】

Beijing officials who live in other places began to buy gifts. They would take leave to return to their hometowns during the Chinese New Year. Because of the inconvenience of the road, Daoyuan officials usually only returned home once every two years in previous years, but even last year

They have been back before, and they plan to return home this year. This year, the old year is over and the new year is over, the dynasty has changed, and after a great turmoil, the officials who survived were deeply touched and cherished the existence of family ties even more, and the filial sons wanted to appear early.

In front of the parents' court, so as not to make the elderly people miss you.

All the six departments and offices are busy with the year-end inventory and summarizing the affairs of the year. Although they are busy, because the new year is approaching, the people coming in and out are full of peaceful joy, and the expressions of people who are usually serious about talking and laughing are also changed at this time.

Soften down.

If we say busy, then the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites are busier. The Department of Examination and Examination of the Ministry of Personnel is busy conducting examinations and evaluations for the emperor, so that the emperor can reward them, especially since the first year of Yongle is the new year. After this period

As time goes by, the emperor will definitely have to re-adjust the officials in the six ministries and nine ministers, and in each department. The merit examination is an extremely important reference, so that even a small official in the Ministry of Personnel now has a bustling family, and officials of all kinds are constantly coming in.

Going in and out, more gifts were received with smiles, and the officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs also smiled more.

The Ministry of Etiquette is also very busy. At the beginning of the new year, the royal family celebrates the New Year, worships ancestors, and reunites the clan. It has its own set of royal etiquette. After the Yongle period of the Yuan Dynasty, the celebration etiquette became more complicated. Princes and feudal officials from all over the country have successively sent

People have returned to the court to see their emperor. After receiving the notice from the Ming court that the new emperor has ascended the throne, some foreign envoys have also sent envoys. The envoys are hurrying to the capital, hoping to catch up with the grand celebration of the first year of Yongle and make a pilgrimage to the country.

Son of Heaven.

Xia Xun has been quite busy these days. During the day, he spends most of his time at the construction site of the Great Baoen Temple. There are currently 60,000 to 70,000 migrant workers here. In that era, it was very important to bring together so many migrant workers to participate in a project.

The city is extremely vast, especially at the feet of the emperor. The emperor is also very concerned about the place where so many people suddenly gather. If someone takes the opportunity to cause chaos, or mismanagement causes a fire, Xia Xun, the official in charge, will be imprisoned.

.

Every day, he urges officials from the Ministry of Industry to settle money and food, stop construction projects one after another, and repatriate service workers in batches to their hometowns for the New Year. Accompanied by the Wucheng Military and Horse Division and Yingtian Mansion, he also inspects the residential areas of the workers to ensure that they use

Fire safety. In the evening, he would also listen to his subordinates who came from Shuangyu Island to report to him on his smuggling directions, the various profits obtained from radiating smuggling in North Korea and even the entire Southeast Asia, and review the income and expenditure accounts.

After calculating the income and expenses and profits, rewards should be given. Members of Qianlong are also human beings. Even if they work as ground mice, they still need to reunite with their families during the Chinese New Year. The wages that should be paid must be calculated clearly one by one and distributed in advance. These

In the past, Xie Yufei helped him, so Xia Xun almost didn't have to intervene, but now that Xie Yufei is pregnant, it's not good for pregnant women to use their brains too much, so basically he can only do this alone.

The Feilong secret agent is a private soldier affiliated with the emperor. It is a force that does not exist publicly but the emperor is very aware of its existence. This aspect is easy to handle. Xia Xun only needs to ask the relevant personnel to calculate the various expenses for the New Year.

Just ask the emperor for approval and the internal treasury will allocate funds. Now that I think about it, although Luo Kedi's free-range method of raising secret spies is not very efficient, it does not have these troubles, which makes Xia Xun very envious.

Everyone in the court is busy, and so are the people.

Jinling was the imperial capital of the Ming Dynasty. There were many merchants and travelers from all over the country. Nowadays, people are returning to their hometowns one after another. There is an endless stream of people on the water and dry roads who are in a hurry to return home.

The common people want to celebrate the New Year, and it seems that the Japanese pirates also want to celebrate the New Year. The common people want to buy new year goods during the Chinese New Year, but the Japanese pirates celebrate the New Year while they are carrying out larger-scale plundering. After the Fifth Army Commandery Office formulated a plan to exterminate the Japanese pirates, it has already joined the Ministry of War and conveyed the order to

He mobilized the coastal guards and carried out a coordinated attack on land and water. However, the people who came from Shuangyu to report the accounts in Xia Xun heard about the situation and it seemed that the results were not very satisfactory.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime territory was so long that it was like a giant sleeping there, and the Japanese pirate gangs were like a swarm of mosquitoes, harassing them everywhere and impossible to guard against. Once the coastal guards assembled heavy troops, they had no deterrent effect, but they were unable to deal with them.

Japanese pirates caused effective damage.

The Japanese did not want to capture military fortresses, but to rob money, food, women, and even children. Once the officers and soldiers were assembled, they could not defend such a large area of ​​land. Often after they heard the police and sent troops, the Japanese would have burned, killed, looted and fled.

.If the troops are dispersed, the small Ming army will be at a disadvantage in the confrontation with the bravery of the Japanese.

The Guanhaiwei, Taicangwei, and Shuangyuwei who own sea ships are even more exhausted. A general who has never touched the sea or even seen a larger lake can't think of anything he can do even if he uses his imagination to the fullest.

How difficult it is to find a team of Japanese pirates in the vast sea who don’t want to confront you head-on. Even with the speed of ships, radar scanning range, and aircraft reconnaissance radius hundreds of years later, this is almost impossible to accomplish.

task, let alone relying on those wooden sailing ships.

Xia Xun didn't understand it very carefully, but what he heard about the situation already gave him a headache. However, he had nothing to do about it and couldn't even discuss it. Because the common people, if they heard that the war was not going well, they would

He could drink a few cups of yellow soup and talk happily while drinking, but due to his special status, he couldn't.

When he reaches his position, there are too many relationships that need to be maintained in all aspects, up and down, and he must be especially careful not to interfere in matters outside his own field. Unless he goes to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to be the imperial envoy, he will not be able to ask everything. You can

Imagine that the Minister of Land and Resources went to the Ministry of National Defense to criticize the military leaders about a conflict between the two countries on the border. Has he ever commented on it?

If he wants to be a superman who can take care of everything, he will definitely leave nothing but scum in the end. However, he is trying his best to pay attention to all aspects of things, whether inside or outside Beijing, including everything that happens in the East China Sea, because he is looking for

An opportunity to break away from the whirlpool of contention. The tree wants to be quiet but the wind is not stopping. As long as he stays in the capital, with the energy he possesses, he will inevitably become the target of competition between the two sides. He cannot stay aloof.

Of course, interfering in it and supporting a certain prince, given his status, may not necessarily lead to death, but the risk of losing is far greater than the possibility of gaining, so what reason is there to intervene?

"Chong'er can survive outside!" His best choice was to go out. But to go out, he needed an opportunity and a name. Before that, he could only walk carefully between the two princes. He could neither

Act too enthusiastically, get stuck too deep, and be unable to get out even if you want to, and don't make them feel like an "enemy."

These days, Xia Xun tried his best to deal with the two princes carefully. Fortunately, nothing happened. However, the patience of the two princes was gradually running out, and the pace of forcing him to express his stance was getting faster and faster. Xia Xun

Xun could hardly stand it any longer.

All these things have made Xia Xun feel a little depressed recently, and he feels really exhausted both physically and mentally.

Xie Xie and Zi Qi realized that their husband had been worried recently, so they became extra gentle and considerate towards him. Although Zi Qi's eyes were hot and Xie Xie was pregnant, she still pestered her husband all day long in all kinds of ways. Although she was still the overbearing five-year-old in front of others.

The female descendant of Hu Duanmen Sword, but several years of marriage have turned her into a gentle and considerate young woman who knows both cold and hot.

Today, Xia Xun had a busy day at Dabaoen Temple. When he returned to his house, Zuo Dan was already waiting there.

Xia Xun asked Zuo Dan to sit down together, had a quick bite, and then went to the study together. Zuo Dan followed Xia Xun's instructions and collected all aspects of information every day and reported them to him one by one. This has become a routine. Xia Xun

While drinking tea, I listened carefully and jotted down the key points on paper if I was interested.

At the end, Zuo Dan said: "By the way, there is one more thing. The queen has revealed that she wants to recruit a county horse for the little princess of Shanwang Mansion."

"oh?"

Xia Xun paused with his pen tip and made a big black dot on the paper. Huo Di raised his head and asked: "Recruiting a county horse?"

Zuo Dan smiled and said: "Yes, today is the day when Mrs. Gaoming enters the palace to pay her respects to the empress. The empress revealed the news. Now the news has spread in Jinling City. Minister Wu and his family, who have marriageable men at home, are all here.

What about Zhang Luo? Duke Ding and the Duke have always been close to each other. I thought that the Duke should also pay attention to this matter. If the princess marries an official who does not get along well with the Duke, what will happen?

There will always be some influence with Guo Gong."

"Um!"

Xia Xun lowered his head again and scribbled on the paper, but he had no idea what he was writing. He hesitated for a moment and asked: "How many people want to get married to this family...how many people do you want to marry?"

Zuo Dan said: "Yes, this commander's horse is different from the prince's consort. There are not many restrictions. The princess's sister is also the queen of the dynasty. This marriage is very hot. Even the princes and nobles who don't want to marry the princess, the first grade

The officials are all very enthusiastic about this matter. Some officials who heard the news are not qualified to tell the Queen, and are now looking for connections to make peace with others."

"knew!"

Xia Xun responded lightly, feeling so confused that he didn't even know how to answer Zuo Dan when he stood up to say goodbye.

It wasn't until there was a soft "click" from the door that he calmed down and looked carefully. He saw that a piece of paper had been painted into a black fan surface and was ready to be used to write gold letters.

Xia Xun put down his pen, balled up the paper, threw it into the wastebasket, leaned back on the chair and let out a long breath.

Ming'er's voice and smile kept echoing in his mind, from the little girl dressed in fluffy clothes like a little white rabbit, waddling lively on the snowy peak of Yanshan Mountain; to the cat-like charming sneaking up on him

Next to him, with a pair of small hands, she cupped his cheeks, and with a soft, dreamy voice, she sweetly confided to him, "Uncle, I like you so much!"...

Aren't you thinking, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain? Hasn't the goal been achieved? Why is it that my heart feels empty and has a feeling of loss?

※※※※※※※※

Xia Xun was wandering boredly in the courtyard when a melancholy flute sound suddenly came to his ears. He listened for a while and then walked along following the sound of the flute.

The flute is a Qiang flute, and the music is full of an exotic style, with a sad and sad feeling.

Xia Xun walked over and realized that the sound was coming from the residence of two Qiuci girls. Their residence was to the west of Su Ying's courtyard, in the most remote corner of the mansion. At night, there were few people there and there were no lights, which made it look more complicated.

Xia Xun then remembered that he had left them here to fend for themselves since he took them back to his home, and he hadn't even bothered to do anything about them these days.

He walked to the small courtyard where the two of them lived and saw a ray of light coming from the main room, so he walked over. When he reached the door, he happened to hear the sound of the flute stop inside, and the two girls exchanged a few words in a language he did not understand.

What? After a while of silence, the faint sound of the flute sounded again.

As soon as Xia Xun pushed the door open, the door creaked. When the two girls inside heard someone, they exclaimed "Ah". One of them turned around and hurriedly tied the veil on her face, while the other lost it.

The flute had just been half covered by the veil. When she saw Xia Xun coming in, she was surprised and happy. She quickly put down the veil, hurriedly walked to him, knelt down on her knees, and said respectfully: "Master!"

"Get up."

Xia Xun looked at her. This was the first time he had seen the appearance of this Qiuci girl, with deep eye sockets, straight bridge of nose, fair complexion, and clear facial features, with a charm unique to young European women.

"Who are you……"

"I am your slave girl, Master!"

"No, no, no, I mean...what is your name?"

"My name is Siren, Master."

"Oh, Siren, I don't care about so many rules here. There is no need to keep saying "master, master, master, master, get up and talk."

"Yes, Master."

Xia Xun had no choice but to find another girl who had just knelt down. Her veil had already been tied. When Xia Xun raised her chin towards her, he quickly stood up and stood respectfully with his hands lowered. Xia Xun passed by them.

, sat down on the chair, two Qiuci girls immediately followed him, knelt down on the left and right, and gently beat his legs.

They had been trained as female slaves since childhood, and the rules of serving their masters had become natural. They did it very naturally, without any artificiality at all. Xia Xun originally wanted to wake them up, but raised his hand, but was too lazy to correct it.

, but they said: "Why are you still wearing a veil at home? If you go around the courtyard this late at night, be careful that the guards will treat you as a robber."
To be continued...