Chapter 6 New Year’s Eve is approaching

"Do you have any objections?" Chief Assistant Tan Heming said slowly, his calm eyes scanning a circle of everyone present.

"If I remember correctly, it seems that a few months ago, this official of the Exorcism Department named Gu Xu was promoted unusually..." Yin Quan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue and a bachelor, frowned slightly. .

"Yes," Liu Qu, the Second Assistant to the Cabinet, nodded, "Last autumn, because Gu Xu performed very well in the promotion assessment process, and because he has the rare third-level cultivation qualification, So Luo Sishou directly promoted him from an ordinary clerk to the eighth rank of the Exorcist Division.

“There is a precedent for this kind of thing. Previously, young geniuses like Chu Langzhong and Shangguan Langzhong were all promoted from many inconspicuous petty officials by the chief minister in the same way.

“And Gu Xu’s contribution this time is no less than conquering a city or a ghost’s lair. Without him, not only the entire Qingzhou Mansion would be destroyed, but also the entire Qingzhou Prefecture would be destroyed. There will also be a ghost king who is difficult to deal with. In my personal opinion, there is no problem in giving him an exceptional promotion." As soon as he finished speaking, two people beside him echoed: " I also agree with Master Liu."

Yin Shangshu thought for a while and pointed out: "But this Gu Xu seems to be only seventeen years old and has not reached the age of being crowned. Rank, does that sound a bit exaggerated..."

"I think what this young man did when he was seventeen years old was already more than what most of the sixth-rank officials of the Da Qi Dynasty would do in their lifetime. "It's much stronger," Liu Qu, the second assistant, retorted, "For a heroic figure like him who saved tens of thousands of people, it is undoubtedly a very pedantic performance to limit him with something like age.

"What's more, not long ago, the emperor appointed him as the 'Reader' and made him a model for the princes to learn from. This is enough to prove that he is an extraordinary person and cannot be treated with common sense. ”

Yin Shangshu said nothing.

Because what Gu Xu did this time was so shocking. If it hadn’t come from the mouth of a saint, I’m afraid Yin Shangshu wouldn’t have believed it at all. That’s true.

So, even if Yin Shangshu wants to disagree with other cabinet ministers, he doesn’t have much confidence.

“Do the others still have objections? "Tan Shoufu asked again.

No one said anything.

So, Tan Shoufu picked up his pen and quickly wrote the cabinet's opinions on the "vote draft" piece of paper and combined it with Luo Sishou's memorials were pasted together and put aside.

Then, Tan Shoufu picked up the other two memorials and said slowly: "The second thing we want to discuss today is to follow Gu. Xu related.

"The Imperial Master believes that Gu Xu is extremely accomplished in the way of talisman and seal script. His cultivation of talisman and seal script revealed in this incident has reached the level of a master.

"The National Master hopes that Gu Xu will go to Longmen College to serve as a 'guest teacher' - to take some time every month to major in the college.Fu Dao students gave lectures and shared ideas for drawing talisman.

"After all, the 'Long Night' is coming, and the talisman cultivators have extremely important strategic significance on the battlefield. The national master wants to improve the ability and efficiency of the talisman cultivators to draw talismans as soon as possible before the 'Long Night'." ”

Longmen Academy is located on the outskirts of Luojing City. It is an institution for practitioners officially established by the Da Qi imperial court. It can be understood as the Imperial Academy of the monks, and to some extent can compete with the three major sects. The students who study here are basically all talented and well-rounded.

The teachers in the academies often have high levels of cultivation and have made great achievements in a specific field - such as Talismans, formations, swordsmanship, weapon refining, etc.

As for the Imperial Master of Da Qi, he serves as the "Honorary Dean" of Longmen Academy.

First Assistant Tan Heming paused for a while, took a sip of hot tea, and then continued: "But after all, the Imperial Master is only the honorary dean of Longmen Academy, not the real dean. There are many teachings , including Dean Li, were not convinced by his proposal.

“They recognized Gu Xu’s talent and admired Gu Xu’s actions during the disaster in Qingzhou Prefecture. .

"But in their view, Gu Xu is too young, too inexperienced, his training time is too short, and he only has the third level of cultivation - and among all the teachings in Longmen Academy, his strength is The lowest ones are all fourth-level monks.

“In addition, the way of talisman and seal script has always been known to be difficult to understand, and it requires a lot of time and energy to study and ponder.

"They feel that Gu Xu needs to spend a few more years to hone his skills and accumulate more experience before he can take on the important task of teaching college students."

"Seventeen It does sound a bit outrageous to teach in an academy at the age of 10," Yin Shangshu said lightly, "I'm afraid the students in Longmen Academy are older than him." Liu Qu, the second assistant, pondered for a moment. , then looked at Tan Heming, and said sharply: "Mr. Tan Ge, if you let Gu Xu be a teacher at Longmen Academy...will you mess with some people's cake?"

"Liu Cifu's insight "It's really extraordinary." Tan Heming nodded, "Because the teaching staff at Longmen Academy are well-paid and have a high status, the number of teachers has always been very limited."

"Especially for a title like 'guest teacher'. It is also a symbol of honor.

"There are currently several Talisman masters who are trying to fight for that teaching position, and one of them is Dean Li's cousin. If the position is given to Gu Xu, then these people may have to fight for it again. It will take a few years to wait for such an opportunity again."

"This is easy to handle," Liu Cifu smiled slightly, "After the Lantern Festival, just find a time for Gu Xu and the Talisman Masters. In front of all the teachers at Longmen Academy, show off their attainments in Talisman - whoever is the strongest will be given this position. In this way, they can be convinced even if they lose."

"Liu Cifu's method is really simple and crude.ah! "Yin Shangshu commented.

"Liu Cifu's idea is indeed good, but it is not that easy to implement," Tan Shoufu said calmly, "First of all, we need to seek the opinions of the national advisor. After all, the Imperial Master is a saint in this world. If his attitude is very tough and he wants to stuff Gu Xu into Longmen Academy regardless of all objections, then no one can stop him except the emperor and a few other saints. ”

Emperor Tianxing is high above and rules from the top.

Several saints perform their own duties and restrict each other. Although they have great power, they cannot completely rely on their strength to do whatever they want. Many times Everyone has to follow the rules and procedures to do things.

This is the current power structure at the top of the Daqi Dynasty.

"I think... if the Master of the State treats Gu Xu. He has enough confidence in his Talisman cultivation, so he should agree! "Liu Cifu thought for a moment and said seriously.

After all, these cabinet ministers are just a group of mortals living in the cracks of practitioners.

They neither want to offend the national master nor the imperial master. Dean Li and the teachers of Longmen Academy finally agreed with Liu Cifu’s idea after a heated discussion: with the consent of the National Master, Gu Xu and other competitors were given the opportunity. Prepare for a fair and just competition, and the person with the most outstanding performance will become the new teacher of Longmen Academy.

"The last thing we want to discuss today has something to do with Gu Xu." After writing the "vote draft", Tan Shoufu took another memorial and said slowly, "This memorial comes from the Ministry of Rites. Officials from the Ministry of Rites believed that Gu Xu's contribution in this disaster was enough to earn him a knighthood. ”

In the Daqi Dynasty, the titles were divided into five levels: Duke, Marquis, Uncle, Zi, and Male. Among them were “Guo Gong”, “County Duke”, “Jun Bo” and “County Bo”. and other subdivided levels.

According to the ancestral system established by Emperor Taizu, "those who have no merit in the military service will not be awarded".

Among them, the titles are divided into "Shijie" and "Shijie". "Spider" is determined by merit.

"Spider", as the name suggests, is a hereditary title that can be passed on to future generations, with not only fiefs but also lumi.

The "Liujue" title is a lifelong title. There are only titles and lumi, no fiefdom, and no hereditary status.

Many of the high-ranking officials of the Exorcism Department have "Liu Nobles". For example, Wei Jiusi of Qianhu in Qingzhou Prefecture was once awarded the title of "Liu Noble". "Uncle Jingyuan"; another example is Tang Hui, the former governor of the Exorcism Department, who once had the title of "Uncle Zhongxian".

In addition, those who have been awarded titles can also receive titles that can be used for The "iron ticket with alchemy book" to exonerate people.

Of course, whether the "iron ticket with alchemy book" is really useful depends on the emperor's thoughts. Like the Qingzhou Lu family, they angered Emperor Tianxing. In the end, the tragic ending of being killed by the nine tribes is still inevitable.

In addition., since the Qingzhou Lu family was annihilated in history, Emperor Tianxing has never awarded anyone a hereditary title.

This also means that no matter how much contribution Gu Xu has made, he can only receive a lifelong title.

"It's just that the officials of the Ministry of Rites still have a dispute over what kind of title should be given to Gu Xu," Tan Shoufu continued. Xu's contribution this time is difficult to measure by the number of ghosts killed according to previous standards.

"Some people think that he prevented the birth of a 'Ghost King' level ghost as a relief. The great achievements of the people in the world can be directly awarded the title of earl.

"Some people say that he did not directly attack the Kongxuan Sanren, but only played a role in passing on the message - the ones who really took action against the 'fierce gods' were still the saints. If he is rashly awarded A title that is too high may not be able to convince the public.

“Because they could not come up with a result after a long discussion, they handed over this issue to our cabinet.

"What do you think of this?"

The cabinet ministers present remained silent, and no one responded for a long time.

After a while, Yin Shangshu finally said slowly: "According to the laws of Daqi, 'titles cannot be granted unless specially ordered.' This kind of matter should be left directly to the emperor and princess. Your Highness, let’s make a decision!”

Tan Shoufu nodded and agreed with his statement.

…………

Today is the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.

There are still two days until the Lantern Festival.

In the early morning of this day, Princess Zhaoning followed the rules and took a green curtain sedan to the Kunyuan Hall in the palace early to pay her respects to her mother-in-law, Chen Anzhi.

"I have met the Queen Mother." Princess Zhaoning bowed to the Queen.

"Sit." The queen pointed to the chair in front of her and ordered calmly.

Princess Zhaoning sat down in response.

There was a brief silence.

Although there was a warm fire burning in the West Nuan Pavilion of Kunyuan Hall, the atmosphere between the two was as cold as ice.

"Xiao Wanjun, you have grown up now, and your wings are much stronger than before." After a while, the queen finally sighed softly, breaking the silent atmosphere, "In order not to You are really trying your best to get married!"

"What do you mean by this?" Princess Zhaoning's expression did not change.

"Stop pretending to be stupid, Xiao Wanjun," the queen's face became serious, "Before, I mentioned two suitable marriage partners to you, one is from the Zhao family in Youzhou. Zhao Kuan, one is Shen Hua of the Jinling Shen family.

“But just a few days ago, Zhao Kuan suddenly made a marriage agreement with Zou Wen, a female general who guards the northeastern border. As for Shen Hua, it was revealed that he often visited Huajie and Liuxiang and kept pets in private - obviously he no longer met the standards of being a consort.

“You dare to say that these two things have nothing to do with you?"

Princess Zhaoning replied calmly: "Zhao Kuan and Zou Wen are in love, and it is inevitable that they will come together. There is no airtight wall in the world, and the disgusting things Shen Hua did in private will be exposed to the world sooner or later. What does it have to do with me? "

"Your tricks can be hidden from others, but not from me," the queen said coldly, "If I guess correctly, Zhao Kuan went there under your indirect instruction. Guarding the northeastern border. And the patrol censor recently sent to Jinling City is also a confidant you secretly cultivated. "

Princess Zhaoning smiled lightly and did not deny it.

"Mother, you once taught me that in order to achieve the goal, you can do whatever it takes," the princess replied with a smile, "I I just follow your teachings and try to avoid marrying someone you don't like by all means within your power. "

"But now Xiao Shangzhen has lost all his cultivation, and the Chen family in Xiangyang is also facing a crisis," the queen began to reason with the princess, "Xiao Wanjun, you are a princess of a country, and you are also a bloodline of the Chen family. At this critical moment, I hope you can be more understanding and don't act like other little girls. "

"But, Queen Mother, have you ever thought that my surname is Xiao, not Chen," Princess Zhaoning looked at her mother and said seriously, "I belong to the Daqi royal family first, and then This is the blood of the Chen family. When there is a conflict between the royal family and the Chen family, I should stand on the side of the royal family. And my marriage should be decided by my father..."

"But your father has ignored mundane matters for a long time. "The queen interrupted her with a cold attitude.

"The princess's marriage is not only a family matter, but also a state matter. And Da Qi’s highest power, the ‘right to criticize the red’, is now in my hands,” Princess Zhaoning said with a calm smile, “Mother, do you know? As the Queen of Daqi, you have actually made a fatal mistake a long time ago -

"You consider the interests of the Chen family too much."

Speaking of this, Princess Zhaoning stood up and bowed to the queen again.

Then she turned and left the warm Kunyuan Hall.

Since the disaster in Qingzhou, there are still a lot of memorials waiting for her to deal with in the princess's mansion, and there are still many important things that need to be decided by her.

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