The court meeting once every ten days is mainly to report some major events to the emperor, but when it comes to things that are difficult for the emperor to decide, the Son of Heaven will convene ministers in the Xuanzheng Hall and start the court meeting.

The so-called court meeting is a meeting that only important ministers of the court can participate, unless the emperor specially approves someone to attend the meeting, otherwise only officials above the third rank are eligible to participate.

On the third day after Shen Kuan, the left servant of Shangshu shot Shen Kuan and the imperial historian Yan Shou sued Li Xin unsuccessfully, Shang Shutai really convened the court meeting of important ministers in the Xuanzheng Palace.

This time, the question to be discussed is also very simple, that is, whether the court should use troops against the southwest now.

Early in the morning, the court bosses in the Xuanzheng Palace were almost there, the nine kings of the court, and the servants of the six departments, plus the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and various yamen, there were almost 20 officials above the third grade, and they all went to the Xuanzheng Palace to discuss matters.

In the past, court meetings were mostly convened by the emperor to discuss and decide some things that were not easy to deal with, but this time it was initiated by Shang Shutai, and it was also the first court meeting since the Yuan Zhao Dynasty changed the Yuan Dynasty.

I already knew that even if it was a first-class petty official, for the ordinary people, it was already the sky on the head, and these court bigwigs who ranked in the third grade, everyone stomped their feet, and they could shock a group of Li Shu to death.

Moreover, there is also a saying that among these officials above the third rank, except for the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, any other person can add the title of "Participating in Governor's Affairs", and he will worship the prime minister and enter the center and become the chief assistant.

That's why these top-level officials will discuss and solve major national affairs.

The new secretary of the military department, Ye Lan, is also among them, after this Ye Shangshu rushed to the Xuanzheng Palace, he looked left and right, and found that Jiuqing, including Dali Siqing, had all arrived, and the five Zaifu of Shangshutai had all arrived, and Yan Sikong of Yushitai stood at the front with his hands down, closing his eyes and saying nothing.

The most surprising thing is that there is a big man with a black face standing in the Xuanzheng Palace, who is actually Hou Jingde, the general of the left battalion of the forbidden army!

Ye Lan frowned slightly, held the Chao Wat in his hand, walked to Hou Jingde's side, and asked in a low voice, "Why is Brother Hou here?" ”

Although Hou Jingde is also above the third grade, he is a military attache who is serious and is still a military attache in charge of the army, so it stands to reason that he should not participate in the court discussion.

Ye Lan and Hou Jingde are old acquaintances, when Chengde was seventeen years old, when Chengde was seventeen years old, Hou Jingde served as Zuo Lang General in Yulin Wei, and at that time, Ye Lan was already Yulin Wei Zhonglang General, Hou Jingde's old boss.

And although Hou Jingde is now mixing well and has the real power of the forbidden army in his hands, Ye Lan is not only Ye Lan alone, the current Chen Guogong Ye Shaobao, and the branches and leaves that the Ye family has cultivated over the years are not comparable to the Hou family's loyal and brave Hou Mansion.

Frankly speaking, when the Renchen Palace changed, it was actually the Ye family that contributed the most, and the reason why Ye Lan did not have military power in his hands was because the Ye family itself was too large.

Hou Jingde heard Ye Lan's voice, his tall body lowered his head slightly, and said in a low voice: "Ye Shangshu, it was His Majesty who called me to discuss the matter, and I don't know exactly why." ”

Ye Lan nodded, then stood back in his place and stopped talking.

Soon, the Son of Heaven of Yuan Zhao entered the Xuanzheng Hall surrounded by eunuchs, and the Son of Heaven sat on the main seat of the Xuanzheng Palace, looked around left and right, and his voice was crisp.

"All the kings have arrived."

Ministers, bow respectfully to the Son of Heaven.

"Your Majesty, your majesty."

Yuan Zhao Tianzi waved his hand skillfully, and said lightly: "It's not a big court meeting, there is no need for so many courtesies, all the secretaries sit down to talk and start the discussion." ”

The court meeting is in the Weiyang Palace, and no matter what grade you have, you have to stand honestly, but the court meeting is a small meeting, and the people present are all people with status, so they are generally sitting and talking.

The eunuchs of the inner chamberlain brought more than twenty chairs and placed them behind the ministers, and after thanking the Son of Heaven, the ministers sat down.

Yuan Zhao Tianzi took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "This court meeting was initiated by Shang Shutai, and it was presided over by Shen Xiang, and I listened to it." ”

As he spoke, he closed his eyes and stopped talking.

Shen Kuan, who was sitting first on the left, stood up from the chair, arched his hand to everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Princess, the reason why Shangshutai convened the princes to discuss the matter today is because there are some problems in the southwestern state capitals, because there are too many books, and it is not easy to pass them on one by one, so this official will relay them on his behalf." ”

"A few days ago, the thirty-one state capitals in the southwest all wrote a book, saying that the southwest suffered from a drought, and the court should be exempted from taxation for three years.

"What do you think the court should do?"

With that, he sat down again.

As soon as these few words were spoken, these court officials exchanged their heads one after another, and for a while the Xuanzheng Hall was quite noisy, like a market.

Ye Xuan, the secretary of the military department, frowned slightly and did not speak.

About a pillar of incense has passed, Shen Kuan saw that the time was almost up, and he was about to get up and ask, but he had just stood up and had not had time to speak, and the Son of Heaven, who was sitting on the main seat, had already spoken in advance.

He looked at Ye Luan, the secretary of the military department.

"Ye Shangshu is in charge of the military department, what do you think should happen to this matter?"

Since the Son of Heaven was questioning, Shen Kuan was no longer easy to ask, so he could only sit back a little embarrassed.

Ye Lan stood up and bowed his head respectfully: "Back to Your Majesty, the matter of taxation seems to be the duty of the Ministry of Households, Your Majesty should ask Lu Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, if the imperial court wants to mobilize troops to the southwest, it is the errand of our Ministry of Soldiers." ”

The Son of Heaven asked quietly: "Then Ye Shangshu thinks that the imperial court should not use troops against the southwest?" ”

Ye Lan was silent for a while, and bowed his head again: "Back to Your Majesty, the major affairs of the country of soldiers should not be acted upon, the minister thinks that it is necessary to find out whether the drought in the southwest is true, if it is not true, he should also issue an order to punish the officials of the southwest provinces, instead of using swords and soldiers in the southwest, the southwest is my territory of the Great Jin Dynasty, if the southwest officials lie about the disaster, the court should issue a decree to punish the crime, not use the swords in vain." ”

He glanced up at the Son of Heaven and bowed his head respectfully: "Your Majesty, there is no reason to fight yourself. ”

Indeed, although the southwest is no longer under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, it still nominally belongs to the imperial court, and even if there is a mistake, it should not be shouted and killed.

Shen Kuan stood up, glanced at Ye Luan, and said in a sullen voice: "Dare to ask Ye Shangshu, if the imperial court issues an edict and the southwestern governments refuse to obey, what should they do?" ”

Ye Lan glanced at Shen Kuan without humility or arrogance, and said lightly: "Shen Xiang, whether the southwestern state capitals have lied about the disaster is still unknown, even if they lie, whether they will admit their guilt and be ambushed is also unknown, how can Shen Xiang insist that the southwest will openly rebel against the imperial court?" ”

The six departments are under the jurisdiction of Shang Shutai, which means that Shen Kuan is actually Ye Lan's Shangguan, but the Ye family has a big business and lush roots and leaves, and it is not something that a flowing prime minister can shake, so Ye Lan is not afraid of this left minister who is in charge of the dynasty.

Shen Kuan sneered.

"In the autumn of the eighth year of Taikang, when Li Taifu was ordered to go north, the imperial court sent Pei Jin, who was then the general of the forbidden army, to conquer the southwest state, although it was not talked about later, but there should be nothing unclear about everyone here."

"At that time, the southwest openly rebelled against the imperial army and killed tens of thousands of soldiers of the imperial court.

"What is the attitude of the southwest, since that time, it has been very clear, why does Ye Shangshu still think that the southwest is a law-abiding place?"

Pei Jin was defeated in the southwest, and later the court was forced to give the southwest a king of Shu, which was all a scandal of the Taikang Dynasty, and no one dared to mention it afterwards, as if it had never happened. If Shen Kuan's words were said in the Taikang Dynasty, he would have to be dragged down by the embarrassed Taikang Tianzi to beat the twenty court staffs.

That is, in the Yuan Zhao Dynasty, he dared to say it in a big way.

Yuan Zhao Tianzi, who was sitting on the main seat, also looked a little unsightly.

When this matter was openly mentioned, it was a slap in his father's face, and he, as a son, was naturally a little uncomfortable.

Shen Kuan arched his hand at the Son of Heaven, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, what is the southwest like now, most of the princes in the Xuanzheng Hall today know that now they want to gain an inch, and the court must show its attitude." ”

"What the minister means is that even if you don't move troops to the southwest, you must increase troops to Hanzhong to deter the southwest!"