Beautiful step by step

Chapter 122

Being able to sit in the seat of Hubu Shangshu for so long, Du Shangshu is very self-aware.What should not rub the sand in the eyes, what should turn a blind eye, he knows the way of being an official.

The name of a fourth prince, King Duan, still couldn't scare him, even if King Duan moved out of Emperor Qinglong, he wasn't too afraid.As a veteran minister of the Jianwen Dynasty, he had already figured out the temper of the king above his head.Their emperor seemed strict, but he was actually very kind.His bottom line is the government affairs of the court, as long as the matter is not delayed, it doesn't matter if the following people occasionally get out of the way.

Just like what the prince said just now, the emperor wanted to investigate the northwest, so he just picked out a few shrimp soldiers and crab generals to deal with.

Du Shangshu thought this way until last night when he sent off King Duan.If the crown prince would come to the Yamen of the Ministry of Households, he would definitely agree with him and hand over some suitable account books.

The accident happened after he came home last night, went to the main room to tell his wife what to do, and was about to turn a corner and go to the concubine's courtyard to relax, when a black shadow suddenly appeared in front of him, enveloping him into the study.Then the masked man threw him a whole book, and when he opened it, he just stood there in a daze.

What is self-slapping?Just now he took an account book that recorded trivial matters in Jiuquan County to Duan Wang.I didn't expect the present report to come so quickly. Now the account book brought by the man in black is full of trivial matters of the Du family over the past few years.Including when he went to the Qinglou Chu Pavilion, and which son bought the outer room.He knew all of these things, many things, including his being the best young daughter-in-law who forced a good girl into a base, harmed the lives of the concubine's children, he glanced over and remembered everything clearly.

He knows most things, and because of this, he can't help but believe in those things he doesn't know.

Sitting down on the ground, Du Shangshu looked at the man in black: "I... deserve death for my sins, and the emperor forgives my sins."

The moonlight shone into the dark study room, and the dark guard standing in front of him flashed a cold light in his eyes, and Du Shangshu was even more afraid of the invisible murderous aura.

After an unknown period of time, the moon hardly changed its position. However, under the torment, Du Shangshu felt that a long time had passed, and the dark guard who had been confronting him had finally made a move.Standing in front of Du Shangshu, bent down to meet his eyes, the dark guard supported Du Shangshu's chin with both hands, almost dislocated his jaw with the strength of pinching his cheeks.

"What the emperor means is that as long as you cooperate well with His Royal Highness Duan Wang, he can save your life, as well as the lives of your whole family."

Du Shangshu's eyes lit up with a flame of hope: "Really?"

The dark guard didn't speak any more, and with a shake of his hand, he slipped out a waist card from his sleeve.There is no handwriting on the waist card, only a blue dragon with teeth and claws carved on it.

"The legendary Azure Dragon Guard."

Without replying, the dark guard walked around him, and after a few jumps, he completely disappeared behind the wall.

In the study, Dushangshu maintained a collapsed posture, lying on the ground.The Qinglong position turned out to be the Qinglongwei created by the Taizu, known as the elusive and haunted.Previously, he only thought it was a legend. The deep house and compound were heavily guarded, so no one could enter the land without anyone.

Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he couldn't help but believe it.Since it is Qinglongwei, then the plot of this whole book should be true.Holding the booklet weakly, Du Shangshu's mood changed again and again.Northwest... In charge of the household department for many years, no one in Da Yue understands how muddy the water in the northwest is better than him.If you really want to investigate thoroughly, it's not just as simple as blood flowing into a river.

What does the emperor mean?

Holding this doubt, Du Shangshu stayed up all night.As soon as the curfew was lifted at dawn, he hurried to Liu's house to meet his old friend Liu Jijiu.When he went, Yishan Layman was sitting with Liu Jijiu, eating breakfast in Guangyuan Building.

Sitting down and eating a few steamed buns casually, he also politely asked his doubts.Liu Jijiu hesitated just like him.They all thought of one thing, the Northwest is not comparable to the inland, the officials over there are all military generals, if they really need to be thoroughly cleaned up, who will resist when the Oirats invade again this winter when it snows heavily?And the Northwest general who already held the military power was willing to be captured without a fight?
Layman Yishan is much simpler: "It's up to you whether to investigate or not. The real decision is made by the emperor, and it's not your turn to worry about it."

It seems so.

Almost persuaded by the Yishan layman, he left the Jijiu mansion and rushed all the way to the household department yamen.The sedan chair swayed, and his heart, choked by a single sentence, turned around.It is true that it is the emperor who makes the decision, but the real situation found out will directly affect the emperor's judgment.In the final analysis, he still has to master this speed at the source.

Full of worries, he entered the Yamen of the Household Department, and saw King Duan coming out of the gatehouse, carrying this small burden in his hand.Having worked his way up from a low-level official in the household department, and having spent most of his life in this yamen, Du Shangshu knew very well what was there in the concierge.The only thing that could catch King Duan's attention was the box of seals that Dianmao used.

These seals fell into the hands of King Duan, so he really didn't care.But now with a whole book on his head, he didn't add fuel to the fire at all, adding a crime to himself.

So he went up to ask, but unexpectedly, King Duan admitted it bluntly, and said that he had the crown prince as his backer.Just as he was about to tell the truth, and made it clear that he didn't need any backing, the ceremonial staff of His Royal Highness had already arrived.

What he didn't expect was that the prince would say such a thing.What he said is indeed reasonable, whoever doesn't want to live a rich life full of gold and jade, and which official is not greedy.Putting a new batch of officials over after cleaning up the Northwest is at most putting a group of hungry tigers into the flock.Even if they are not greedy now, they will continue to be greedy once the news passes and the mountains in the northwest are high and the emperor is far away.

He agreed with the statement, but he did not agree with the person who said it.If any civil and military officials, or even ordinary people, say this sentence, it is definitely insightful and far-sighted.However, the person who is speaking now is the crown prince, the future emperor of Dai Viet, and all the royal lands in the world belong to him.The property embezzled by officials is the flesh torn from him.

Understanding the nature of official corruption shows that he sees it fairly clearly.But after he understands it but decides to let it go and do nothing, then he is an extremely confused prince.

Just thinking of this, he couldn't help feeling a little contemptuous towards the prince.Seeing that he was about to convince Duan Wang, he blurted out his retort.The task entrusted by the emperor is still on his head, if King Duan is instigated to rebel, what should he do?
"The old minister will definitely live up to the emperor's grace and help His Highness Duan Wang with all his strength."

The sun was gradually rising at this time, and outside the main building of the Household Yamen, outside the meeting hall, after hearing Du Shangshu's loud words, the friendly smile on the prince's face froze completely.

"What does Du Shangshu mean by this?"

"Thank you Dushangshu."

The crown prince and Duanwang brothers, the former had a cold face and a strong threat in his words, while the latter smiled and squinted his eyes, and thanked the minister of the household department with a fist.

"His Royal Highness, Du Shangshu's meaning is very clear, he will obey the emperor's will."

The prince frowned: "Fourth brother, I did not disobey my father's will. I really can't investigate this matter. I won't talk about it if it's too far away. I'll just talk about it directly. The corrupt general was found out and sent to prison. Where did Da Yue go to find so many people?" An official who is familiar with the situation in the Northwest and will lead troops to fight?"

Duan Wang was puzzled: "Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince thinks that I have a vast territory and a large number of talented people, but I can't find a few generals to lead the army to fight? Moreover, the Taizu has been in power for a hundred years, and the problem of redundant officials in Da Yue is getting more and more serious. Yesterday I looked through the Northwest archives. Zhang San’s family built a house and smashed Li Si’s pickle vat. Such a trivial matter could be done by talking with neighbors during the reign of Emperor Taizu. People. The imperial court doesn’t need so many officials at all, so what if there are fewer people?”

After a pause, King Duan added: "Father has imprisoned several Northwest officials for corruption. Even so, the fire in Youzhou is still proceeding in an orderly manner."

Speaking of which, the three people present all understood that the fire that spread throughout the city would be fine without those people, let alone when it was usually peaceful.The extent to which the bureaucratic system has expanded can be clearly seen in the Youzhou fire.

The crown prince frowned again and again, and even the corners of his eyes were wrinkled: "Fourth emperor brother, you insist..." Make it difficult for me?
Before the next four words were spoken, a man dressed as a commoner walked into the yamen of the household department.

"Who are you? Why did you break into the official office of the household department?"

Stopped by the yamen servant, the visitor showed a waist card.Distraught by the anxious atmosphere, the prince, who was about to turn his head and curse out loud, recognized the green dragon mark on his waist card, and swallowed the words forcefully.Qinglongwei knew that this power belonged directly to his father, and according to the rules set by Taizu, Qinglongwei passed it on to the most suitable prince.That is to say, even if he is a crown prince and can ascend the throne in the future, this hidden guard may not necessarily be in his hands.

"The Azure Dragon Dark Guard came, why?"

Having just been scared by Qinglongwei last night, Du Shangshu shuddered when he saw the exact same badge, and quickly asked respectfully.

"The emperor has a decree to hand over to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

In front of the household department's yamen, the three of them knelt on the ground.Qinglongwei read out the imperial decree, which seemed to be written by Emperor Qinglong when he dismissed Mr. Hege and threatened civil and military officials that day, and Chunwei added Enke.

After listening to it, the three of them had different reactions: Fortunately, it was none of his business, and Du Shangshu let go of his heart hanging in the air; His Royal Highness finally had to go back to the palace to work, and Prince Duan finally got rid of the stress of the matter; the emperor trusted him, He was actually allowed to preside over this spring session, and the prince who was forced to retreat by King Wu and the sixth prince cheered from the bottom of his heart.

King Duan smiled from the bottom of his heart, cupped his fists and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness the Prince."

Even if there was a dispute before, the prince will find it hard to see that King Duan is not pleasing to the eye.Even now, seeing Prince Duan's smile on the face that combines the advantages of his father and concubine Shu, he finds this brother pleasing to the eye.

The emperor trusted him, so there was no need for him to rush to win over the military officer.

In an instant, the prince made a decision, holding the imperial decree in his hand, and ordered Du Shangshu: "Since the father wants to investigate thoroughly, then Du Shangshu will fully cooperate with the fourth younger brother. If there is another evasion like yesterday, don't talk about the father, you will be alone. Don't go through it first."

Du Shang wrote a thousand words: "The old minister will do his best."

(End of this chapter)