A light shot out of Wei Yishen's eyes, as if he had returned to the time when he was in turmoil, and then his gaze dimmed, revealing a look of remembrance and confusion, and finally turned into softness. Reaching out and patting his grandson's hand on his shoulder, Wei Yishen smiled and said, "Grandpa is in the past, whether the Wei family can be a Wei Xiang again depends on you." ”

Wei Cheng kneaded his hand on his shoulder and said, "Cheng will not disappoint grandpa." ”

"Okay, good, this is my Wei family's good son." Wei Yishen said with relief: "I have a few words to explain when I come here this time. You don't pinch it, sit down on the side. ”

Wei Yishen has been in the office for four years, and has gradually been forgotten by the court, civil and military officials and the people, and the protégés and former officials have gradually stopped contacting. Tiger Lao is majestic, this old man who rarely goes out in the deep mansion has a clear understanding of what is happening inside and outside the court through the narration of his family, and with many years of experience in dealing with the truth of the Son of Heaven Shifang, Wei Yishen feels that there will be big changes in the court.

In the days when he was idle at home, Wei Yishen felt that he was aging very fast, his hands and feet were sluggish, he was easy to forget things, and he was easy to fall asleep. Master Guangping, the abbot of Mingpu Temple, told him to move more, think less, and eat less greasy, but Wei Yishen heard a trace of ominous meaning from Master Guangping's words, and gradually calmed down after being frightened. After careful consideration, Wei Yishen wanted to tell the hope of the family what he had discovered, his grandson Wei Cheng.

Slightly closing his eyes and organizing his words, Wei Yishen slowly spoke: "Since the Son of Heaven ascended the throne, he has intended to use young courtiers to replace old ministers, but because of me and the family, it is difficult to get my wishes. If today's son has been on the throne for 18 years, there is no need to replace, the old ministers have reached the age of Zhishi, most of the six departments and nine secretaries have passed the age of sixties, and even Yu Zhijie, the head of the household department, is also nearly sixty years old, and most of the high-ranking officials in the court are old men. ”

Wei Cheng somewhat understood what his grandfather was going to say, and said with a smile: "Lu Shangshu is leaving, I heard that he was replaced by Ning Shilang, I estimate that Pan Shangshu, Guo Shangshu, Yan Dafu, Song Siqing and others will also pay tribute one after another, and my brother-in-law was transferred back to Beijing this time, I don't know if there is any hope to receive one of the positions." ”

"Shulun's qualifications are not enough, I estimate that the Son of Heaven will let him serve as the squire in the six departments first, but Duan Cizong is very likely to take Pan Linfeng's position and become the secretary of the ministry." Wei Yishen guessed.

Wei Cheng said with a smile: "Lord Duan is loyal and honest, and his reputation as the head of the six departments will be one of the righteousness. ”

Wei Yishen didn't answer, and said to himself: "This test is the opening of the first year of Jianwu, and the Son of Heaven attaches great importance to it. I know that the Son of Heaven has always had the ambition to be shoulder to shoulder with Gaozu, and the Son of Heaven is forty-six years old this year, and there should be another Northern Expedition within ten years. ”

Wei Cheng sighed: "It's a pity that my grandson doesn't know martial arts, otherwise I would definitely follow Banzai to see the desert scenery." ”

"The war in front relies on money and food in the rear, the Son of Heaven after a big war, he should know this very clearly, didn't Emperor Gaozu of the Great Liu State say the difference between a meritorious person and a meritorious dog, and you don't necessarily have to go to the front line to fight if you make a meritorious career, you have to promise your grandfather that you are never allowed to go to the front line." Wei Yishen was a little anxious, his grandson was the hope of the Wei family's reproduction and prosperity, and he must not be allowed to take risks easily.

Wei Cheng said with a smile: "Grandpa, don't worry, my grandson knows the severity, it's just a momentary emotion." ”

Wei Yi breathed a deep sigh of relief and said: "This is the first meaning I want to say today, the Son of Heaven will take the Northern Expedition as the goal in the future, the voice of the military generals will appear in the court, the position of the captain will be equal to the prime minister, the role of the military department and the Ministry of Industry will gradually become prominent, and maybe there will be a martial arts department in the future." ”

"Wuke", Wei Cheng was stunned, Zheng Guo had set up martial arts tests during the years of Gaozu, Emperor Shun, and Emperor Wu, and later stopped the martial arts test because of the rule of the country, and only kept the Jiangmen, would the Son of Heaven really restart the martial arts as his grandfather said?

Wei Yishen saw that his grandson didn't believe it, and said with a smile: "Martial arts competitions can be held all over the world, what is the difficulty of inheriting the will of the ancestors and revitalizing the martial arts, the Son of Heaven is becoming more and more majestic in the court, I believe that no one dares to object." ”

Wei Cheng didn't bother to think about it, and said: "Old Captain Zhu is getting older, I'm afraid he won't be able to support it for long, General Zhu is not liked by the Son of Heaven, and I'm afraid that the position of Captain of the Zhu family will be ceded to others." Although Wei Cheng and Zhu Yifeng are different in civil and military affairs, they are close friends, and they bear the heart of the Zhu family in their words.

Wei Yishen said with a smile: "The Zhu family is fine, even if Zhu Zipu can't sit in the position of captain, Zhu Yifeng, this kid, will regain the position of captain." As long as the Shi family is not stupid, as long as the Zhu family does not rebel, this position of Taiwei will definitely belong to his Zhu family. Cheng and Yi Feng are friends, you might as well move around more often, if the position of the captain is uncertain after the death of Taiwei Zhu, you might as well make a statement to the Son of Heaven, the ministry of the Taiwei is related to the country, the loyalty of the Zhu family is unmatched, the Son of Heaven naturally knows how to choose, and the Zhu family must be grateful to you. ”

Wei Cheng nodded and wrote it down.

Picking up the tea and taking a sip, Wei Yishen squinted his eyes and looked at the sunlight shining in from the window for a while, the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers, what a good spring. Wei Cheng silently looked at his grandfather's wrinkled face, watched his eyes that were once full of wisdom and light become confused, and the room fell silent.

After a long time, Wei Yi smiled deeply and said, "I'm old, it's easy to get distracted when I think about things, where did I just go?" ”

Wei Chengqiang endured the sadness in his heart, and said with a forced smile: "Grandpa is in good spirits, Lin'er still wants grandpa to teach him, and the child in Anshou's womb also needs grandpa to suffer from you." ”

Wei Yishen smiled, remembered what he had just said, and continued: "When the old ministers retire, the court will take on a new look. Chen Chengji is a transitional figure, at most two years he will be a leader, the position of the left minister Kong Province will take over, Kong Province this person is shrewd, erudite and talented, but his conduct is not as good as Chen Chengji, the Son of Heaven will not be forcefully admonished. Today, the Son of Heaven will test the Son of Heaven to use Ma Suizhen as the main examiner, indicating that the Son of Heaven intends to let him take over as the right minister, when I went to the prime minister, the Son of Heaven chose among the three, Ma Suizhen was too eager, but it was useless. Ma Sui is really talented, and he is used for the six books of Shangshu, but as the prime minister, he is not enough, and he will compete with Confucius Province in the future. ”

"Grandpa, you said that the two are fighting, who will win?" Wei Cheng asked.

Wei Yishen smiled and said, "I'm not an immortal, how can I know?" ”

After thinking about it, Wei Yishen said: "I estimate that the probability of winning in Kong Province is more than sixty percent, and the good minister of Kong Province speculates on the mind of the Son of Heaven, Ma Sui is really inferior to him, but if the two of them make too much trouble, I am afraid that they will lose both, and the result can only be a double resignation." ”

Wei Cheng remembered the rumors and rumors spread in Beijing, and asked worriedly: "Ma Sui is really the prince of King Chu'an, will he be the right minister to secretly help King Chu'an." King Chu'an has the reputation of a virtuous king in Beijing, and he is afraid that the prince will pose a threat in the future. "Because of An Shou's relationship, Wei Cheng and even the Wei family are ironclad princelings.

Wei Yishen shook his head and said, "It's okay, the Son of Heaven and the Queen Wang are both understanding people, and they will not allow King Chu'an to threaten the crown prince's throne." The reputation of King Chu'an is tacitly agreed by the Son of Heaven, firstly, the Son of Heaven has mercy for the second son, so that he can be promoted to the prince in the future with the name of the virtuous king, and secondly, he also has the meaning of sharpening the prince, I think that after the king of Chu'an gets married, the queen will let the king of Chu'an return to the fiefdom to take office. ”

Wei Cheng thought of the prince's actions in recent years, and felt uneasy in his heart, and asked his grandfather without concealing it: "The prince has been so good lately, happy and happy, I'm afraid there will be many events in the future." Especially the evil of the prince around him, Cui Yuanhu, Liu Yichen and others, I persuaded him several times, but the prince didn't like it, I asked An Shou to go to the palace to secretly pray to the queen, and the queen said that An Shou misbelieved the rumors, and was so angry that An Shou said that he didn't want to care anymore. ”

"There is no urgency in this matter." Wei Yishen obviously had some understanding of the prince's behavior, and said: "After the meeting, the Son of Heaven will choose a concubine for the prince, and after the concubine is chosen, the prince should be better if he has constraints." My Wei family is on the side of the prince because of Anshou, but he can't act indiscriminately, looking for an opportunity to get rid of Zhou Chucun and others. ”

Wei Cheng sent Jiang Anyi a million taels of silver not long ago, and plotted to use Queen Wang to get rid of Zhou Chucun and others, and then by mistake, the prince got Yanshan Manor, but Zhou Chucun and others were not hurt at all.

"The second meaning I want to say is to make friends with several people, Jiang Anyi is the first one, this person is an all-round talent in humanities and martial arts, he is a good hand at governing politics and leading soldiers, and the Son of Heaven is a national soldier; There is also Zhang Zhicheng, in the future, you and him, and Zhang Zhicheng, I am afraid that it will be today's Chen Chengji, Kong Shengxing and Ma Suizhen. ”

Wei Cheng's eyes lit up, grandpa meant that the three of them may be able to be the prime minister in the court in the future, and it is his greatest wish to be able to worship the prime minister, and it is also Wei Yishen's greatest expectation, how can he not be excited. Wei Yishen looked at his grandson with a happy face, and said with a smile: "You are the imperial prince, after the Wei family, you have both talent and virtue, and you are skilled in government affairs, the Son of Heaven intends to cultivate you, compared to Jiang Anyi and Zhang Zhicheng, you are already one step ahead, and no one in the younger generation of the DPRK and China can match." ”

"However, Zhang Zhicheng and Jiang Anyi's abilities are not below you. Zhang Zhicheng ruled Guizhou, Miao Village returned to Shun, the world no longer had to worry about the southeast, and the tax increased several times; Jiang An Yizhi Huazhou, political and harmonious, with an annual endowment of more than 2 million, the world's big states are just like this, and this person can fight well, lead 3,000 light cavalry and retreat tens of thousands of troops, it is a rare talent. ”

Speaking of Jiang Anyi, Wei Yishen also showed admiration, Wei Cheng said: "This person's ability, grandson is ashamed of himself." ”

Wei Yishen said: "The ruler is short and the inch is long, Cheng'er, you don't have to be arrogant, you treat people and things a hundred times better than Jiang Anyi, you must know that as the prime minister and the hundred officials, Jiang Anyi is far inferior to you from this point, if the Son of Heaven wants to choose one person between you and Jiang Anyi, ninety percent is you and not Jiang Anyi." Between you, Zhang Zhicheng and Jiang Anyi, you have the greatest hope, followed by Zhang Zhicheng, Jiang Anyi has the strongest ability, and the least hope. If the crown prince ascends the throne, I am afraid that Jiang Anyi will never enter the phase. ”