At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Page 762

Originally, according to Guo Peng's regulations, these courtiers who can directly deliver the memorial to him need to report on their work content, basically once a month or two.

Then there are reports of emergencies.

For example, sudden droughts, floods, locust disasters, fires, etc., or other interesting things worthy of attention, you can also write a playbook and hand it to him.

Then he said that it is best not to do too many times.

Relying on the increasingly developed transportation network and paper industry, it became possible for Zouben to reach the emperor directly.

But Guo Peng doesn't think that there are major events happening in his country every moment that are enough for him to pay attention to.

As a result, these courtiers who could hand over the memorial to the emperor but could not meet the emperor on weekdays had the purpose of currying favor with the emperor and getting close to the emperor to enhance their sense of existence and gain benefits. They could not wait to write a memorial to Guo Peng every day.

They all know what "Jane is in the Emperor's Heart" is. It is better to be scolded by the emperor than not to be known by the emperor, so they worked very hard to write the memorial.

Those who are not very courageous dare not write too much, for fear that the emperor will be annoyed, which will have the opposite effect.

Some of them are bold and thick-skinned, that is, writing the playbook with all their strength, it feels like writing a letter to the emperor.

What's more, he wished to take off all his loyalty and put it in the playbook for Guo Peng to see, for fear that Guo Peng would not know how loyal he was.

So when Guo Peng personally handled and commented on the playbooks, it was easy to see some strange playbooks.

For example, if some courtiers want to please the emperor and express their loyalty and respect to the emperor, they will deliberately write to please Guo Peng and express their feelings when reporting government affairs.

Why have I heard that it is raining in the capital recently, I don't know if His Majesty has been caught in the rain. If His Majesty's body is invaluable, if it is accidentally caught in the rain, it will be a loss to the subjects of the whole country.

Why recently I heard that the temperature in the capital area has dropped sharply, please Your Majesty to wear more clothes, scarves and hats to avoid catching cold, otherwise the heart will die of pain.

Where there is a special product, he found it delicious after eating it, so he specially used his family's chariots and horses to send his family to the palace quickly, hoping that Guo Peng would like it.

Some auspicious signs appear somewhere, congratulations to His Majesty, and congratulations to the prosperity and prosperity of Wei Guo.

For this kind of memorial, Guo Peng can only reply with dumbfounding words like [I know your heart, and my heart is at peace], or [I am physically strong, and Xiaoyu and Xiaofeng can’t help me, you care more about yourself] , to appease these sycophants.

In normal seasons, these guys can find something to do for Guo Peng, but it will be even more exaggerated if it is a holiday or something.

The number of memorials delivered to the palace during the festivals was two or three times that of the past, so many that the palace could hardly fit them. They were all memorials for the emperor's congratulations.

Some people handed over two or three notebooks in succession because one notebook was not enough. When they opened it, it turned out that one notebook could not hold his flattery and nasty words.

What Guo Peng read was really tiresome because of aesthetic fatigue, so he picked some beautifully written books and approved a few books.

What "I'll miss you" "I remember you too" "You are also well" and other perfunctory things, and some playbooks that are obviously repeaters will be burned - if they are not burned, there will be no place in the palace There's no such thing as rubbish.

If Guo Peng catches a cold by chance and is sick in bed and unable to go out to deal with government affairs, it will be a blow to the sky.

Central officials will immediately send out a large-scale memorial to greet the emperor.

Some said that they cried bitterly and burned incense at home to pray for the emperor.

Some said that they prayed for the emperor with their wives and children, hoping that the emperor would get better immediately and continue to lead them forward vigorously.

Others said that their whole family, old and young, went to the battle to dance the big god for the emperor together, and tens of hundreds of people from the clan worked together to ward off disasters for the emperor, wishing the emperor good health.

I don't know if they really did this, and Guo Peng is not interested.

He is clear that his illness is cured because he took the medicine on time and followed the doctor's advice, not because these guys danced together.

So I approved them with four big characters - [It is not necessary].

The local officials knew about it relatively late, and Guo Peng had already recovered from his illness by the time the memorial was delivered.

Then Guo Peng had to read book after book that these local officials expressed their willingness to use their own bodies to bear the pain of the emperor...

In other words, he killed cattle and sheep to sacrifice to some spiritual gods in the local area, and prayed for the emperor.

Some were even willing to lose their own lives and relieve the emperor's pain, for which he was willing to die even if he died immediately.

Others expressed their willingness to send famous local doctors to see the emperor to ensure that the medicine would cure the disease.

Guo Peng's head was full of black lines, and he had to reply [My heart is so comforted] [I am very moved] [You are so loyal] to thank these sycophants.

In addition to these, Guo Peng also realized the truth that the essence of human beings is a repeater more than 1000 years in advance.

Some officials talked about the same thing in several notebooks, and told the same thing over and over again, feeling like they were looking for trouble.

For this type of playbook, Guo Peng repeatedly replied [I know, don't say more], but the next time it was handed over, it still had the same content.

Guo Peng felt that the local specialties were not tasty, so he asked the officials not to bother his family to send them all the way. As a result, he sent them three times in a row.

Or in some places, the weather is good, the farmers are happy when it rains today, the farmers are happy when it rains tomorrow, and the farmers are happy when it rains again in a few days.

Guo Peng didn't even know how to be angry when he got angry.

People said it was a good thing, how could the emperor be angry?

But I told you not to say don't give it away, you really can't understand what I wrote?

Guo Peng could only keep replying [I know, don’t say more] [I know it’s raining, and I’m happy, so don’t say more] [There is no need to limit the number of times to play something, if you have something to say, play more, nothing What Chen Ze Shao played] There is no better way than this.

The power that I have seized, I have to enjoy it even when I cry.

For those boring playbooks that flatter, I see them from time to time, and I feel really uncomfortable and uncomfortable, and I want to curse people.

But relying on his years of cultivation, he still held back.

It's just that occasionally he will say something weird.

For example [I have said many times, don't say more, can you understand? 】【I didn't know my handwriting was so difficult to recognize】 and so on.

But soon, such shady replies only lead to more guilty pleas, horrified by local officials.

In a panic, he confessed his mistake to the emperor and asked the emperor for forgiveness. The number was more and more frequent, which made Guo Peng very collapsed.

Chapter 1311 One Thousand 220 One Guo Doesn't Mind Turning the South Study Room into His Shadow Cabinet

In addition to writing memorials like letters, these guys will also send things to the capital in different ways to please Guo Peng.

For example, although Guo Peng lives a simple life, he likes to eat meat. He does not eat chicken, pork, mutton, horse meat, and donkey meat.

Except for beef, which is forbidden by law, there is almost no meat that he does not eat.

Therefore, many local officials will choose to send some good-quality local meat-producing livestock to the capital as tributes to him.

For example, there are very good chickens raised in Yuzhou, seafood from Qingzhou and Xuzhou, hybrid pigs bred in Yanzhou by crossing domestic pigs and wild boars, and sheep and horses from Mozhou.

In addition, there are well salt from Yizhou, citrus and sugarcane from Jingzhou and Yangzhou, fresh fish from the river, etc.

Guo Peng sent people to investigate, and learned that local officials would apportion these tributes for himself, and distribute them layer by layer to the bottom, which brought great pressure to the people at the bottom, so he stopped the tributes completely. delivery.

If he wants something, he will send people out from the inner court, bring money to the local area to buy it, and then rush back from the local area, without local officials sending it.

He sent people to bring money to buy it himself, and the cost was borne by the inner court, so as to reduce the various corvee burdens that the people at the bottom had to bear.

If so, the things that the emperor likes will also rise up in the local area and Luoyang, and become people's favorite things.

Therefore, for various reasons, there will always be local officials who use various names to send local novelties to the palace, repeatedly ordering them not to do such things, but they still cannot stop these officials from currying favor with the emperor in their own name .

Naturally, this is also a manifestation of imperial power.

Let officials try their best to please themselves, isn't it just a way to prove how huge their power is?

Just like communicating directly with officials through the memorial system, this itself is also a manifestation of imperial power.

Many emperors dare not even think about such a thing, and he even did it, so what is there to complain about?

No, if you should complain, you should still complain, if you should reduce the burden, you should still reduce the burden.

His limited energy must be used where it should be used, how can he waste time chatting with these sycophants?

But this part of the memorial is a channel for communication between the emperor and his subjects, and as the emperor, he must have it in his hand.

At this time, the cabinet that is not around cannot join in, and the attendants of the South Study Room who are close by can be used in this place.

Some questions that he was not willing to deal with, and notes that he was not willing to answer, could be dealt with by this group of attendants. Anyway, they were all under their noses, just across the door from him, so it was quite easy to deal with.

Ask at any time, check at any time, and supervise at any time. This method of close communication and handling problems was used by Guo Peng when he was in Jizhou.

After becoming an emperor, you have to keep some distance from your courtiers, so this method has not been continued, but this kind of demand is quite necessary for someone Guo, and the establishment of the South Study Room is also to meet the needs of someone Guo to directly control the courtiers .

Two people are definitely not enough, and more will be added in the future. As for who will be added, further thinking is needed.

Let these two people try to run it first to see how this mode works.

If it's good, someone Guo doesn't mind turning the South Study Room into his own shadow cabinet, fighting against the real cabinet, invading the power of the cabinet, and preventing the cabinet from encroaching on the imperial power.

Zhuge Jin and Pang Tong probably didn't think of this, they probably just thought of the unexpected benefits of being close to the emperor, so they were ecstatic, and came to the South Study Room very early every day to be on duty, accompanying the emperor.

Guo Peng asked them to classify the playbooks, and then take some flattering playbooks, and reply according to the [sample] format Guo Peng gave them.

That is [I know] [I understand] [I don't need] [Don't say more] and so on.

The rest of the truly important state affairs will be handed over to Guo Peng, who will make the decisions himself.

During this stage, the two also fully understood Guo Peng's busy daily government affairs. Sometimes they couldn't go home until late at night, and Guo Peng also didn't fall asleep.

After about half a month like this, Guo Peng asked Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin how they felt about being on duty in the South Study Room.

"Your Majesty is busy with government affairs, working hard for the country, and the ministers are also tired of His Majesty."

Pang Tong expressed his true feelings.

Really tired, a lot of things, simply can not finish.Guo Peng nodded, quite emotionally.

"There are so many government affairs, it is never possible to finish them, so I can only take a break from my busy schedule, but if there are too many government affairs, I can't take a break from my busy schedule, and I have to sit here from morning till night, now you two will also give me a break." Are you tired?"

"I'm not tired."

"It is my honor to serve His Majesty."

The political consciousness of the two is very high.

"Don't say anything like an honor, it's meaningless."

Guo Peng shook his head: "Tiredness is inevitable, and I can't keep being tired like this forever. I really need more people like you around me to share government affairs for me and work in the South Study Room."

Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin looked at each other, and began to vaguely realize that the special existence of the South Study Room was a bit unusual.

Of course not.

It's just that they can't tell what's unusual.

After that, Guo Peng chose Xu Shu and Shi Tao from the cabinet.

Let them enter the South Study Room to be on duty while hanging up their cabinet positions, assisting the emperor in handling daily government affairs, and sharing responsibilities for Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin.

Xu Shu, Shi Tao, and Zhuge Liang are veterans who entered the Guowei regime at the same time. They have served in the cabinet since its inception, and have been serving in the cabinet for more than ten years. They have each become one of the group assistants and have important responsibilities.

Xu Shu and Shi Tao didn't know what was going on, so they were asked by the emperor to come to the South Study Room to be on duty.

The four negotiated with each other, and always ensured that two people accompanied the emperor in the south study to handle government affairs every day.

In November of the ninth year of Yande, Guo Peng transferred a total of eleven officials with different seniority from the cabinet, nine ministries, and the staff desk, including senior officials and junior officials who had just become officials.

The only thing in common is that these officials are all innocent and have not been punished, and have retreated unscathed in previous political storms.

Only such officials can get the opportunity to be on duty in the South Study Room and accompany the emperor in handling government affairs.

They all have the title of attendant in the South Study, but their specific identities remain the same. They still work and get promoted in the original department, but they don’t work in the official office when it’s their turn to be on duty in the South Study. That's all.

If there is any difference, it is that there are more opportunities to meet the emperor, and I can always get along with the emperor, feel the existence of the emperor, and let the emperor feel their existence.

With the passage of time, the name Nanshufang began to spread slowly in Luoyang official circles. Many people have heard of the three words Nanshufang, but they don’t know what Nanshufang means or what it stands for.

But envy is certain, because the servants of the South Study Room can get in touch with the emperor at close range, basically every two or three days, they can meet, get along with, chat, read books, or discuss government affairs with the emperor.

Or, go to the cabinet on behalf of the emperor, go to the Jiubu, and convey the emperor's order.

And the emperor sometimes asked them to draft edicts on his behalf, and then sent them directly to the administrative department.

The high-ranking officials and dignitaries soon noticed the existence of the South Study Room, and the existence of the group of attendants in the South Study Room.

This department has no fixed location, no organizational system, no official office, just an emperor's study, where the emperor works and studies, accompanied by others, it's as simple as that.

Even so, because this group of people was very close to the emperor, they were paid attention to and admired by others, and they inquired through various channels about the conditions and possibilities for entering the South Study Room to become attendants.

Among all the people, only Cao Cao and Wang Can felt that something was wrong.