Phi-Fic Chapter 14: Playing in front of the king, the first confrontation!
Chapter 14: Playing in front of the king, the first confrontation!
On this day, Gu Jingzhi, under the guidance of his colleagues, hurriedly completed the "entry procedures" and then met with his colleagues.
To be honest, the Hanlin Academy is quite leisurely, with nothing more than copying and writing work.
Gu Jingzhi's superiors knew that in addition to being a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, his official position as secretary was also known to others.
With Emperor Xia as his backing, the people in the Hanlin Academy were quite polite to him.
The Secretary actually also belongs to the Hanlin Academy, but this official position has never been a standard one. Whether to appoint him or not depends entirely on the emperor's decision. After all, the Secretary is supposed to be waiting for orders in front of the emperor.
He is a close minister of the emperor, so naturally he has to be chosen by the emperor!
In just a few days, Gu Jingzhi became familiar with his work. He copied and wrote in the Hanlin Academy every day. If Emperor Xia summoned him, he would go to the imperial court to do his job. If not, he would read the classics in the Hanlin Academy after work.
He has kept it in mind since his last phone call with Lao Huang.
I originally wanted to buy some books of this kind to keep at home, but I thought that the classics in the Hanlin Academy are like a vast abyss and ocean. Which bookstore can compare to them?
Especially for some secret books, there is no way to find them in bookstores.
……
In this way, another two months passed.
That day, just as Gu Jingzhi finished his work, a eunuch from the palace came to summon him and asked him to appear before the emperor.
Gu Jingzhi was used to it.
It can be said that during these two months, Emperor Xia's cultivation of him was sincere. Apart from those military and national affairs, he would also review the memorials concerning local governance.
Firstly, it is for cultivation, and secondly, it is also for testing.
Fortunately, Gu Jingzhi has the God's vision of modern people. In his previous life, he was a great man in the "archaeology world" and had read a large number of ancient books.
Although the worlds are different, the backgrounds are similar. Although he does not have much experience in ancient governance, he can still give certain suggestions based on his insights beyond this era and combined with the current national conditions.
When he made his first presentation in the Imperial Study, Emperor Xia felt that he had some venomous qualities, but all his strategies were beneficial to his plans.
We already had a certain foundation of trust, and over the past month, every time I heard his more innovative ideas, I respected him even more.
He thought that today would be the same as usual, and he would just follow Emperor Xia to deal with memorials. However, he did not expect that when he entered the imperial study, he found that the atmosphere inside was particularly different.
Besides Emperor Xia, the Crown Prince and two other princes were also present. Furthermore, there was Prime Minister Song Pu, as well as the two ministers of war and rites.
Looking at this room full of bigwigs, Gu Jingzhi was a little confused.
"Your Majesty, I, Gu Jingzhi, pay my respects to you!"
He bowed to Emperor Xia, and then saluted the prince and others.
Who would have thought that Emperor Xia would just wave his hand and say, "Alright, alright! I asked you to come here today because I have something to ask you, not to come here to pay respects to others!"
Although his tone was a little impatient, even the prince looked at him with envy after hearing the tone of his voice.
Once upon a time, it seemed that his father, the emperor, had not spoken to him like this for a long, long time!
Except for Song Pu, everyone else had envy in their eyes.
As for the old man Song Pu, although his face was full of smiles, no matter how Gu Jingzhi looked at him, there was something sinister in his eyes.
Gu Jingzhi lowered his head and said submissively, "I am a dull and ignorant person. With Your Highnesses and gentlemen here, I am afraid that my humble opinion may offend Your Majesty's ears!"
"What a mess! Don't be so modest..."
Emperor Xia glared at him, then pointed his finger at Song Pu: "That...that document from the Ministry of Rites, show it to him!"
But he spoke to the Minister of Rites Tang Qian. Tang Qian handed over the memorial in his hand. Gu Jingzhi did not dare to be arrogant. He took it with both hands and read it quickly.
After a while, he closed the memorial, looking quite hesitant.
Emperor Xia saw this and seemed to know that he was worried, so he said, "The Beili Kingdom and the Liyue Kingdom are at war, and both sides have sent envoys to the capital. I believe you have already heard about this, right?"
"Your Majesty, this matter is recorded in the documents of the Ministry of Rites in the Hanlin Academy! I have read the entire document!"
"Well!"
Emperor Xia nodded and said, "The envoys from both countries have come to ask Great Xia to join forces to attack the other side. I have just discussed this with several princes, Song Qing and others, but I still can't make up my mind!"
"You have always been clever, but I want to hear your opinion on this!"
Gu Jingzhi thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask you to let me know what your Highnesses and Lords mean first!"
"Ah……"
Emperor Xia suddenly laughed. He had become familiar with Gu Jingzhi's working style over time. He waved his hand nonchalantly and looked at Song Pu.
"Song Qing, tell him..."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Song Pu acted very respectful, then looked at Gu Jingzhi and said, "Your Majesty just asked for advice. I believe that Beili is a threat to our border. Our dynasty fought against Beili more than ten years ago, but lost the battle due to the poor horse management!"
"Therefore, I believe that we can fully utilize this God-given opportunity to recapture the ten northern states, rebuild the border defenses, improve horse management, and ensure the long-term stability of our dynasty!"
"Not bad!"
Dong Zhentang, the Minister of Military Affairs, said, "This official and Lord Tang also think so!"
Gu Jingzhi glanced at the three of them, then looked towards the prince, blinked, and asked, "Anything else?"
"???"
Song Pu and the two ministers were stunned. It seemed that this boy did not agree with their approach.
Even Emperor Xia looked at Gu Jingzhi curiously. Originally, because of the different opinions, he wondered if this guy would have any objections, or if he could make a supplement to the opinions of both parties.
Unexpectedly, this guy didn't seem to like Song Pu's strategy.
After two months of understanding, he no longer thinks that Gu Jingzhi would put personal interests above public interest. He does have opinions about Song Pu, but they are all based on the interests of the country and he is not stabbing Song Pu in the back.
The reason why Gu Jingzhi asked again was that he really had the idea of stewing the big goose with the chicken in his mind, after all, he had the emperor's support.
The Crown Prince was unaware of the dirty dealings between the two men. Instead, he said calmly, "I am against fighting, or rather, I am against fighting them at this time."
"As Prime Minister Song said, if we win, our dynasty can take advantage of the situation to reclaim the ten northern states. This will be of great benefit to both our border defense and the improvement of horse administration!"
"However, Beili and Liyue have been fighting for several years. Although Beili has lost some cities, the border passes are intact. Even the army used to defend our border has not been mobilized!"
"Our dynasty hasn't raised an army in over ten years. Whether we can win is the key!"
Gu Jingzhi finally understood that the reason the prince opposed it was because he was worried that he could not win!
Just as he was about to say something, the Second Prince, who was under the Crown Prince, sneered, "Your Highness, as the Crown Prince of Great Xia, are you actually afraid of foreign enemies?"
"..."