After returning home, Xue Shaoxian did not tell his family that he was about to go on a "business trip", and at the same time told Shangguan Wan'er to tell her to keep her mouth shut, so as not to affect the family's festive mood for the New Year.

Xue Chuyu took his wife and children to Longmen's hometown for the New Year, and Xue Shao sent a subordinate with his own handwritten letter to inform him, saving him the wrong departure date. In addition, there were some official duties in the Xia Official Office, and Xue Shao also had to make arrangements in advance, so he invited Guo Yuanzhen and Xiao Zhizhong to his home and gave face-to-face lectures in advance.

Now Xia Guan will have a big event to do every year, and that is martial arts. In the past few years since the beginning of the implementation, the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty have become martial arts, and they have reproduced the scene of the Wude Zhenguan period at the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

The people who came to take the martial arts examination were mainly the children of military families, ordinary soldiers who served in the military, and then mainly the children of civilians. The vast majority of them are not from famous families, and it is not ordinarily difficult to get into the profession by studying. In the past, there were only two main ways for this kind of people to climb up, one was to fight in the army to win military merits, and the other was to act as eagle dogs like Lai Junchen and others.

Now that the second road has been blocked, it is obviously a shortcut to success compared to fighting in the army to win military merits. Therefore, many "martial arts masters" with unique skills are eager to change their lives and destiny through martial arts. After several years of trial implementation and promotion, martial arts, as a useful supplement to the imperial examination, has had a very high influence among the people. On the other hand, the imperial court selects generals through martial arts and then cultivates and appoints them, which can not only improve the ability of generals to combine, ensure that the generals of the dynasty will never be lacking, but also help the imperial court control the generals, control the army, and consolidate national defense.

Xue Shao privately believed that if the martial arts could be done well, so as to achieve the absolute control of the imperial court over the generals and the army, and at the same time not weaken the combat effectiveness of the army, it might be conducive to avoiding the recurrence of the "Anshi Rebellion" in history.

Of course, Xue Shao also knew in his heart that the cause of the Anshi Rebellion was very complicated, and it was far from enough to solve it through martial arts. If we really want to find the root cause of the problem, we have to start with the land. As the problem of land ownership became more and more serious, many peasants lost their land and became displaced or fleeing. This led to the collapse of the government military system, because the basic soldiers of the government military system were land-owning peasants, who served as soldiers in their spare time for agriculture and war, and they were obliged to bring their own grain and grass to fight for the country -- if the peasants lost their land and even had problems with their survival, how could they be obliged to fight for the country?

This led to the emergence of a large number of mercenaries. This not only led to a serious increase in the burden on the state, but also led to the later festival to make the military and government grasp and sit on the ground as the king to become a country within a country.

Xue Shao believes that if we want to resolve these contradictions and prevent these things from happening again, we cannot just blindly maintain the old system. The government military system is still the system of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and it is somewhat unsuitable for today's environment today. The military system must be reformed, and it is necessary to carry out rational reforms in light of the current land, economy, and people's livelihood.

This one thing alone is worth Xue Shao's time to spend ten or twenty years or even more.

The goal is very ambitious, and the road is very long, and Xue Shao can only do it step by step. At present, he has repeatedly told Guo Yuanzhen and Xiao Zhizhong to work together to make this year's martial arts a success, and in addition, Xia Guan's work must not have any mistakes, especially with the three northern cities (surrendered cities).

Guo Yuanzhen and Xiao Zhizhong also knew that the heavy responsibility was on their shoulders and did not dare to be negligent. With Xue Shao's status and energy today, he is still squatting in Xia Guan and refusing to move, which is enough to show the importance of Xia Guan's work.

It's the Shangyuan Festival in a blink of an eye, and Xue Shao doesn't have much time to accompany his family to play this year, because the empress asked him to accompany him and enjoy the Shangyuan lanterns together. In addition, the new policy of Shangyuan that will be promulgated this year is extraordinary, in addition to the announcement of the empress's establishment of the crown prince, the crimes of Lai Junchen and others will also be made public. This also means that the cool official politics that has been rampant for many years has come to an end.

The Great Zhou Dynasty is about to open a new page.

At such a major historical moment, how could Wu Zetian be without Xue Shao by his side?

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Xue Shao and Princess Taiping entered the palace very early with their eldest son Xue Linyu and Shangguan Wan'er.

The Empress dressed up in a grand ceremony today, and the newly made Imperial Crown made her shine. The soon-to-be crown prince Li Xian and his concubine Wei Xiang'er also came, and their clothes were also extraordinary. However, Li Dan, who has been the emperor's heir for many years, looks bleak and gloomy, and he came alone. Last year, his concubine had "evaporated" in the witch case, and there is still no trace of her bones.

"Emperor, why didn't you bring your heir?" Wu Zetian asked Li Dan.

Li Dan hurriedly stepped forward to answer, saying that Erchen was asking the God Emperor for something.

"Speak."

Li Dan said that the imperial brother had returned, and it was no longer suitable for his sons to live in the East Palace. Moreover, the sons of the sons of the sons have gradually grown up, and they are no longer suitable to live in the palace. Therefore, Erchen asked the Emperor to let Erchen and my children live outside the palace.

"Exactly." Wu Zetian agreed without thinking.

Originally, it was just a matter of going through the motions.

Xue Shao's heart was secretly moving, the East Palace was just a beautiful bird cage. If Li Dan can live outside the palace, it will be more free and safer - this is a good thing!

Unexpectedly, Wu Zetian immediately said: "Imperial heir, I want to make all your five sons kings, and then send them to each of them to be officials in the feudal province." They are all about to grow up, and it's time to learn how to contribute to the country. ”

Li Dan obviously didn't expect the empress to have this trick, he was stunned for a moment, where did he dare to refute, so he had to immediately surrender his promise, "Erchen thank the God Emperor for his grace!" ”

Xue Shao's heart couldn't help but tighten, let him out of the palace gate, and send him as an official?

There is a way to go into battle without leaving the father and son, Li Dan left his five sons, what kind of climate can a lonely man achieve? Those five princes were sent to the fiefdom as officials, and they couldn't hold real power at all, so they could only be puppets, and this kind of thing has long been an "unspoken rule" that everyone knows. It will also be difficult for them to get in touch with the power core of the central court in the field, and what big waves can they set off in the future?

Wu Zetian's move is amazing!

At this time, Xue Shao noticed that Wei Xiang'er, who was standing beside the prospective prince Li Xian, pursed her lips lightly and raised her eyebrows slightly, and a foxy and smug smile appeared on her face.

Li Xian's face was sad, as if he felt sad for Li Dan, his brother who had not seen him for many years.

In other words, it is more accurate to sympathize with the disease.

Princess Taiping secretly pulled Xue Shao and motioned for him to come forward to stop the Divine Emperor's move.

Xue Shao knew what Princess Taiping was thinking. Because of her own influence, Princess Taiping's position tended to support Li Dan and support his eldest son Li Chengqi. In addition, Li Chengqi and Xue Linyu have a good relationship, so Princess Taiping is very unhappy to see Li Chengqi being released.

But this is a big matter of principle, and Xue Shao will definitely not easily come forward to interfere with the decision of the God Emperor. What's more, he simply doesn't have enough reason to give advice. Can he still say to the God Emperor that my son likes to play with Li Chengqi, so he can't be released?

So Xue Shao ignored Princess Taiping's hints, and just stood still.

Princess Taiping secretly took a deep breath and exhaled a long breath, and did not make another attempt.

After everyone accompanied Wu Zetian to lunch, Wu Zetian went to take a nap as usual. Xue Shao and Princess Taiping also went to the side hall to take a rest, accumulating physical strength for the lantern viewing and a series of activities at night.

The couple and their clothes were lying down for only a moment, and the maid who was guarding the door entered the legend, and Concubine Wei asked to see her.

"What is she doing here?" Princess Taiping happened to be a little sleepy, and every word revealed serious unhappiness.

Xue Shao just laughed and didn't talk when he lay on the side.

Since it was a female visit, it was naturally Princess Taiping who came forward to greet her. She had no choice but to get up angrily, straighten her clothes, and invite Concubine Wei in to speak in the front hall.

In front of Princess Taiping, Wei Xianger has always behaved very low-key and honest. She first obediently greeted Princess Taiping, and then carefully guarded the proportions, and said softly: "Disturbing the princess and the concubine to rest, Xiang'er is guilty." ”

"Brother and sister-in-law don't have to see outside." Princess Taiping's face was full of "professional" smiles, and she asked, "I don't know my brother and sister-in-law, what do you have to say?" ”

"The previous Xue Yuma picked up my family from Fangzhou, and I made a special trip to thank you." Wei Xiang'er said, "I think my family has been in exile for many years, and I have never thought that I will be able to return to the capital one day." These are all up to Xue Fuma's maneuvering and strength. We are deeply touched and will never forget. ”

Princess Taiping smiled faintly and said, "It is not Xue Lang's own effort to welcome back King Luling, and he has never thought of asking for credit from King Luling on this basis. In fact, everything is the claim of the God Emperor. Xue Lang just did what he had to do. ”

"The princess is known to be humble and virtuous." Wei Xiang'er said, "The grace of a drop of water is reciprocated by a spring." Our family will never forget the great kindness of the princess and Xue Fu. ”

"That's a big deal." Princess Taiping replied indifferently, not wanting to entangle with her on this issue any longer.

Wei Xiang'er couldn't help but glance at the inner hall, and through a screen, she couldn't see anything.

Princess Taiping's heart faintly rose a trace of displeasure, "Is there anything else with my brother and sister-in-law?" ”

"Nope." Wei Xiang'er hurriedly stood up and bowed, "Xiang'er will retire now." Disturb the princess and the colt to rest, and hope forgiveness! ”

"Brother and sister-in-law are leaving, I won't send it."

Wei Xiang'er is gone.

Princess Taiping returned to the inner hall and lay beside Xue Shao, with a look of disdain and depression.

"People are obviously here to show goodwill, why are you blowing your beard and staring at your face full of unhappiness?" Xue Shao said with a smile.

"I always feel that Wei Xiang'er is not at ease." Princess Taiping said, "King Luling has not officially become the crown prince yet, so she said empty words about the grace of dripping water and reciprocating the spring, which is nothing more than hoping that we can support King Luling to sit firmly in the East Palace in the future." I can casually promise 10,000 pieces of this kind of short, and I don't have to spend a penny anyway. ”

Xue Shao smiled, "This woman is a little scheming." But she is nowhere near as smart as she thinks. ”

"Yes." Princess Taiping pursed her lips disdainfully, "If I were her, I would only quietly stuff the benefits into the hands of Xue Shao and Princess Taiping, and even after they got the benefits, I didn't even realize it." This is called sincerity, and this is called cooperation. ”

"That's what makes it smart." Xue Shao smiled, "You're right, it's better to have a thousand birds in the forest than a bird in your hand." Moreover, not everyone in this world can be bought. She imagined every one of us to be like her. ”

"That woman is indeed naïve and superficial, and she is not enough to achieve anything." Princess Taiping said angrily, "I always feel that my brother has been unlucky for eight lifetimes when he met her. Sooner or later, my brother will have to suffer her big loss again! ”

Xue Shao couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Don't say it, Princess Taiping really has a bit of a knowing eye!