Chapter 251 Wang Anshi and Sima Guang
Minglan was very sensible. If she was just delivering fish soup, she definitely wouldn't have come in person.
Although she was a maid, she was favored.
Her coming to deliver fish soup has a different meaning from that of ordinary palace maids.
The two sisters are already the target of envy, so naturally they have to be more careful.
"I knew I couldn't hide it from His Highness." Minglan said, "Today my eldest sister came to visit me and my fifth sister, asking me and my fifth sister to ask for mercy from His Highness. My fifth sister said she was not good at talking, so she let me come."
Then he recounted what had happened, and finally said that if Zhao Xing was embarrassed, then just let it go.
"What does it matter to me?" Zhao Xing said indifferently, "I will send someone to tell the Yuan family later."
It turned out that after Zhao Xing talked with Yuan Wenshao and Sheng Changwu that day, the two of them went back and told their families the news that they were about to go to the northwest to take up a post.
Mrs. Yuan favored her eldest son. When she learned that Yuan Wenshao was valued by Zhao Xing and was appointed to a position in the Eastern Palace, she wanted her to say a few good words for her eldest son.
Generally speaking, the eldest son of a lord would inherit the title, and would also be appointed to serve in the imperial guards.
The rest of his descendants were given titles and all worked in the Five Cities Military Department to get by.
In the early years, many lords were stripped of their titles because they were involved in the dispute over the succession to the throne, including the Earl of Zhongqin.
After the current emperor ascended the throne, perhaps in order to win the hearts of the people, he ordered a thorough investigation of the matter and restored the titles of some of them.
Although his title was restored, the mansions and properties that had been taken away were either given away as rewards or used to gain success, so there was no way to return them.
The so-called loyalty and diligence means loyalty and hard work. It can be seen from the title that the Yuan family was able to be granted the title only because of their hard work and without any great merit.
The Yuan family originally had a relatively low status among all the earls, and their title had been stripped away for several years, so all their ancestral property and family assets were lost.
Now it is just an empty title of an earl's mansion, and none of the lords look down on the Yuan family.
Otherwise, how could the Yuan family have married the Sheng family back then? After all, Rulan had not yet been designated as the prince's concubine at that time.
Therefore, although the eldest son of the Yuan family was granted a title, he was not able to join the imperial guards, but instead joined the Five Cities Military Command.
The Wucheng Bingmasi was a place for the children of nobles to make a living, and there were a lot of sons of dukes and marquises among them. Yuan Wenchun, a legitimate son of a ruined earl's mansion, was nothing there.
Up to now, he is only a captain, just like Yuan Wenshao before him.
Mrs. Yuan asked Yuan Wenshao to speak well of her eldest son, but Yuan Wenshao did nothing.
Now that Yuan Wenshao was going to the northwest to take up a post, it was uncertain when he would come back. Naturally, she could not sit still, so she forced Yuan Wenshao to find Zhao Xing.
Fortunately, Earl Zhongqin was sober and gave Madam Yuan a good scolding.
However, Madam Yuan was not willing to give up, so she used the excuse that Hualang'er was still young to keep him at home and sent two concubines to the northwest with Yuan Wenshao to serve him.
Hualan felt very aggrieved. She had always been bullied by her mother-in-law. She finally gave birth to a boy last year. Yuan Wenshao also came to his senses and was no longer as foolishly filial as before. The relationship between the couple became better and better.
If Yuan Wenshao took his two concubines to work in the northwest for a long time, it would be disastrous.
However, although Yuan Wenshao had changed a little and was no longer foolishly filial, he did not dare to contradict his mother.
Feeling aggrieved, Hualan went back to her parents' home and cried to her mother.
When Mrs. Wang heard this, she got furious and threatened to go to Yuan's house and make a scene.
In the end, he was scolded by Madam Wang.
Although Mrs. Yuan had no good intentions in this matter, it was an indisputable fact that Hualan's child was young.
The child is only a little over one year old now. What if something happens to him after the long journey?
Even if a quarrel breaks out, it will be the Sheng family's fault if it gets out.
In the end, it was Old Lady Sheng who came up with an idea and asked Hualan to go to the East Palace to meet Rulan on the pretext of visiting her sister.
Let Rulan mention it in front of Zhao Xing. As long as Zhao Xing opens his mouth, Madam Yuan will not dare to stop him.
Rulan was worried that she was not good at speaking and might not be able to explain herself clearly, which would cause trouble, so she asked Minglan to speak.
Among the brothers and sisters, Changbai and Hualan were the best to Minglan. Minglan couldn't bear to see Hualan and Yuan Wenshao separated, so she agreed.
She agreed after careful consideration, and this matter was not difficult for Zhao Xing.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Minglan said happily upon hearing this.
Zhao Xing looked at Minglan's bright smile, and his irritable mood improved a lot.
Minglan’s smile has a healing effect. No matter how upset you are, when you see her smile, your troubles will disappear.
Zhao Xing pinched Minglan's face and said with a smile: "What you said just now gave me a lot of inspiration. I will do this for you, which is a reward for you. If you really want to thank me, in a few days..."
When Minglan heard what Zhao Xing said, her face flushed and she said coquettishly, "Your Highness said it was a reward, why did you put forward conditions?"
Zhao Xing lifted Minglan's chin, bent down and kissed her, and their lips parted for a long time.
Looking at Minglan, who was limp in his arms with seductive eyes, Zhao Xing smiled and said, "So, do you agree or not?"
"I... I'm just a dowry maid. How dare I refuse Your Highness? But you have to get Fifth Sister's consent." Minglan said shyly.
"Haha, she will definitely not refuse." Zhao Xing said with a smile: "Okay, you go back first, I have to be busy."
Hearing this, Minglan got down from Zhao Xing's arms. After her feet touched the ground, her legs went weak and she almost fell down.
"Are you okay?" Zhao Xing helped her up.
"My slave is fine."
Minglan bowed and trotted out.
Zhao Xing shook his head and started to deal with the knot.
Minglan’s words just now gave him great inspiration.
He still has a lot of shortcomings in the way he employs people. Minglan is right, no one is perfect, as long as we are good at utilizing their strengths.
But he always thinks about the shortcomings.
Sima Guang's strengths and weaknesses are very obvious.
The advantage is that he is very capable in all aspects, but the disadvantage is that he is conservative, cautious and very stubborn.
He could make good use of Sima Guang's abilities, and as for his conservatism, caution and stubbornness, he could just ignore them.
Not all reforms require drastic changes. Some problems can be solved with minor adjustments.
Didn’t Sima Guang want to solve the accumulated problems by governing people? Then all the matters that didn’t require a major war would be left to him to handle.
It would be better if Sima Guang could handle it well, but if he couldn't handle it well, it would make him face reality.
After figuring this out, Zhao Xing was in a good mood.
But that is all a matter for the future, let Sima Guang stay at home for now.
…………
Although the Liao Kingdom showed signs of raising troops, it had not yet actually sent out any troops.
While the court was discussing countermeasures, the emperor strictly ordered that the news should not be leaked.
The Duke of Ying led 50,000 troops northward, and told the outside world that he was inspecting the northern border defense on behalf of the emperor. The troops he brought were for replacement of guard, so it did not cause much waves.
In Kaifeng Prefecture, all the landlords and gentry or their descendants and clansmen who were arrested had evidence of their illegal activities.
Because too many people were involved, at the instruction of Zhao Xing, Sheng Hong submitted a memorial requesting the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to participate in the trial.
When the emperor heard this, he knew that Zhao Xing was trying to shut up the officials in the court, so he agreed immediately.
The case was tried jointly by the Kaifeng government office, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. With sufficient evidence, the people were sentenced quickly.
Some were killed, some were sent into exile, and some were exiled.
At this point, the landlords and gentry in the counties of Kaifeng Prefecture were completely silenced.
The landlords and gentry have large families and powerful clans, with so many people in their families and clans that there are so many problems to be solved if we really investigate them.
Whenever someone in their family commits a crime, they will use threats or bribes to settle the matter.
After local officials took office, they needed the cooperation of landlords and gentry in order to manage the local area well and achieve political achievements, so they were very polite to them.
As the saying goes, if the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate it. Even if I heard about it, I wouldn't care about it.
However, Zhao Xing did not play by the rules. He sent people to investigate secretly and arrested people after obtaining evidence.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, even their backgrounds and support are of no use.
These landlords and gentry all became obedient and dared not go against Zhao Xing anymore.
For a time, the places in various counties that handled Qingmiao loans went from being crowded with people to being deserted.
After Zhao Xing learned about this, in addition to asking Wang Anshi to continue to supervise the Qingmiao loan affairs, he also asked him to investigate the officials in various counties of Kaifeng Prefecture to see which ones were colluding with the landlords and gentry.
Officials from various counties were involved in this incident.
Zhao Xing didn't have time to deal with them before, but now that things have calmed down, it is naturally impossible for him to let these people go.
…………
A house in the west of the inner city covers an area of more than ten acres, and the entire house is extremely exquisitely maintained.
There is a plaque on the gate of the house with three big characters engraved on it - Sima House.
This is exactly Sima Guang’s residence in Bian Jing.
Speaking of which, the Sima family was once a royal family, and Sima Guang's ancestor was Sima Yi's younger brother.
Although the Jin Dynasty had long since perished, the Sima family still had some heritage and was wealthy, and they had bought a house in Bianliang early on.
Sima Guang was punished by Zhao Xing to reflect on his mistakes at home. He was not allowed to go out every day and could only read books at home.
Sima Guang was reading in his study that day when a servant came in and said, "My lord, the prince's groom, Lord Wang, wants to see you."
Sima Guang's hands trembled slightly when he heard this, and his expression was somewhat complicated.
It took him a while to come back to his senses and said, "Please invite him to the study."
"Yes!"
The servant found it a bit strange, because the guests received in the study were those with whom he had a good personal relationship. But if they were good personal relationships, there was no reason not to greet them.
But he didn't dare to ask more questions, so he just responded and walked out.
At the gate of the house, Wang Anshi's expression seemed calm, but his eyes were filled with complexity.
Seeing the servant coming out, Wang Anshi asked, "Young man, is your master willing to see me?"
The servant bowed and said, "My master invites you to meet him in the study."
After saying that, he turned sideways and pointed to the door, saying, "Please come in, sir!"
Wang Anshi nodded and walked in under the guidance of the servant.
The servant led Wang Anshi to the outside of the study, asked Wang Anshi to wait for a moment, went in to report, and then came out to lead Wang Anshi in.
"Brother Junshi, long time no see!" Wang Anshi smiled and bowed.
Sima Guang had a cold expression, but when Wang Anshi came in, he still stood up, returned the greeting, and said calmly, "Sit down."
(End of this chapter)