Nan Zhijin has been to Juehou Mansion several times, and it can be said that he is one of the closest people to the emperor. When he put a stack of memorials on the table, he was really only a short distance from the emperor. He bent forward and could touch it with his hand.

But the two of them had almost never met each other. Every time he came, he looked down at his feet, determined his position with a glance, and then arrived accurately, put down the memorial, and exited the room without a single step.

The emperor did not look up, as if those memorials were popping up on the table.

There were too many people around the emperor, and he had come and go. If everyone paid attention to Han Ruzi, he would not have to do anything else this day, and he had already learned to turn a blind eye.

When the crystal bottle was broken, the two looked at each other, and it was not until now that they had officially met.

Nan Zhijin was just under house arrest and suffered no suffering. As soon as he entered the house, he immediately knelt down, walked forward, and called him a "sinner" and was not vague in terms of etiquette.

The minor official knelt on the ground and the emperor sat behind the desk. On the surface, the heavens were different, but in fact he was evenly matched. The emperor was even weaker because he was an attacker and he had not found any obvious loopholes.

The eunuch and the guards all retreated, but only Chao Jing stayed, standing aside and watching the king and his minister quietly, without saying a word from beginning to end. For him, it was a puzzling drama.

For ministers, this is a rare treatment, and even the prime minister cannot encounter it often. Nan Zhijin had to look up and quickly lower his head.

Han Ruzi stared at the back for a long time. It was obedience and rejection. He couldn't help but think that under all the heads that were lowered to the emperor, there were many faces that were unwilling to surrender.

"Flat." He said.

"The criminals dare not." Nan Zhijin touched the ground with his forehead.

"I have not declared you guilty yet, why do you call yourself a 'sin' minister'?"

"The guilty minister... the guilty minister smashed the crystal bottle passed down by Taizu, and he deserved to die."

"You are an old official in the Secretariat. I believe you are familiar with the law of my Great Chu. Which one stipulates that this is the crime of 'ten thousand deaths'?"

Nan Zhijin was speechless and confused. He originally came to see the emperor with the intention of dying, but how did he become his own desire to die and the emperor excuse him?

Nan Zhijin slowly stood up, still lowered his hands and lowered his head, "I am confused, please give up your crime."

"Do you want a crime in particular?"

Nan Zhijin was choked again, "I... I am... Of course... I did break the crystal bottle, and Your Majesty left me in the mansion. I thought... guilty."

"You are neither 'sincere' nor 'innocence' now. Nanzhijin, you should answer my questions first."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I know everything and say everything."

"What a 'knowing and saying everything'." Han Ruzi chuckled. This was a casual cliché for the minister, but he wanted to pursue its true meaning.

Nan Zhijin's head drooped lower, and suddenly realized that he was not as comfortable as kneeling.

Han Ruzi thought for a while and said, "The thieves on the sea have been raging for a long time. I want to eliminate them and the people along the coast are peaceful. There are three generals to choose from. I am hesitating and asking you to advise."

Nan Zhijin looked up at the emperor, and became even more confused. The emperor was looking at the three documents lined up on the table, which didn't look like he was joking.

"Wei Minister..."

"Well? You have an idea before I even said who these three generals are?"

"I don't understand the affairs of the army and dare not speak nonsense."

"What do you know? What are you good at?"

"Weichen... is better at finding typos."

"You are just a servant of the Secretariat? I want to find the Secretariat Supervisor. The Secretariat Ling asks, what are they busy with every day?"

Modesty is not possible, Nan Zhijin had no choice but to say: "The Secretariat of the Central Secretariat is the hub for memorials. Like other colleagues, the Wei ministers are familiar with various official documents and can quickly pick out problems, return them, or modify them, to ensure that the official documents sent to His Majesty and the Prime Minister are in compliance with the norms."

"Well, this is just like that. Just give me some advice from the perspective of the Secretariat."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Nan Zhijin found it would be better to speak honestly according to the emperor's wishes.

"The first one, Di Kai, the commander of the Navy Army in Nanyue County, has been a general for many years. This year, he has been very 53. He has been very familiar with the water battles. He has fought with pirates three times and won each battle. He beheaded a total of 167 levels and won 17 ships. What do you think?"

Nan Zhijin pondered for a moment, "How many prisoners are there?"

"No."

"There will not be less recorded in the local area. If there is no mention, it means there are no prisoners. This may mean that the pirates resist and are unwilling to surrender, or that this General Di is bloodthirsty."

"Well, the second one, Yan Peng's army, comes from the Donghai Kingdom, twenty-five, infantry commander, participated in the battle to quell the rebellion a few months ago. He led a ship alone into the sea for hundreds of miles, defeated more than 20 enemy boats, killed more than 300 enemies, captured 174 people. He is currently the general who supervised the Donghai Kingdom's shipbuilding and was ordered to enter Beijing the day before yesterday."

"Shi Yan Peng... has something to do with Yan Kang, the prime minister of the East China Sea?"

"Father and Son."

"The lonely army went deeper, and his achievements lacked evidence from friendly forces. The father recommended his son, and it was inevitable that he would exaggerate his words. I thought he should do more investigations."

"Okay. The third one, Lai Bingwen, was 38 years old, formerly the State of Qi, and was now the commander of Linzi. During the rebellion, he defended a military town in Linhai with 300 people. He retreated to the enemy fifteen times, so that the pirates were not allowed to land, so he could only go around other places. It is said that he was a civil minister and joined the army during the rebellion of Emperor Wu. It has been fourteen years since then."

"I remember this person. I believe Lai Duwei has written a memorial plan?"

"The three of them have written the plan of pirates. Lai Bingwen was rated as the first-class by the Ministry of War. I also think this is the case. These plans were sent by you."

"Weichen only checks whether the format meets the standards and whether there are any errors in the text, and is not very concerned about the content."

The Secretariat of the Secretariat is in charge of official documents, remembering what should be remembered and forgetting what should be forgotten. This is also a skill. As for whether the emperor believes it or not, it is another matter.

Han Ruzi smiled and said, "What do you think of this Lai Bingwen?"

"In the late period of Emperor Wu, the four seas were peaceful and there were no strong enemies outside and no thieves inside. At that time, Lai Duwei chose to join the army. There must be special reasons. I suggest that Your Majesty find out first."

"Since you remember Lai Bingwen, don't you remember why he abandoned his country and followed the martial arts and stayed away from the capital?"

"I don't remember that I like quietness by nature and do not like to interact with others. I rarely know big and small things in the court, and I only have a little impression of the name."

The emperor was very satisfied and raised his hand and said, "Look, this is what I need: judging whether a general is qualified or not, it may not necessarily depend on his military merits. A qualified official from the Secretariat can also give me excellent counsel, such as your Nanzhijin, and Zhao Ruosu before."

After turning a big turn, the emperor finally got to the point.

Of course, Han Ruzi didn't just beat around the bush. He thought all three were good, but he was not completely satisfied with them. He really needed some advice from outsiders. Nan Zhijin's analysis just now was quite inspiring to him.

Nan Zhijin was shocked and almost knelt down again. He was silent for a while and said, "Although Zhao Ruosu is younger, he has unique insights and is more suitable for government affairs than Weichen."

"It's a pity that such an excellent Zhongshu Shepherd first resigned from office and then disappeared. I was puzzled. Did I do something wrong and that the heroes of the world fled far away?"

Nan Zhijin didn't hold on and knelt down again. The emperor ordered him to calm down. He had to stand up again. "I don't think that Zhao Ruosu's disappearance must have other reasons, and it's definitely not to hide from His Majesty?"

"That's good. You and Zhao Ruosu are both ministers in the Secretariat, so you should be more familiar with each other. Do you think he will come back?"

"I don't know..."

Han Ruzi was not angry, but he was correct, "You just said that you didn't understand the big and small things in the court, but do you understand the big Chu?"

Nan Zhijin looked confused and did not understand the emperor's meaning.

"It is rare for the Huns to enter the pass for a hundred years. Regardless of whether there is a strong enemy in the West, the Huns are the biggest threat to the Great Chu at the moment. Although peace agreement is reached, the two sides do not trust each other. It will take no time for the Huns army to make a comeback. Do you think the Great Chu has the ability to defend the enemy outside the country?"

"Your Majesty is here..."

"No, no, from the experience of your Zhongshu Sheren, you had already served in the Zhongshu Province when you were Emperor Wu, which is just a comparison."

Nanzhijin thought for a while, "I remember that in the 23rd year of Emperor Wu, there were endless memorials from the northern border, accounting for nearly half of all memorials, all about building cities, garrisoning troops, aquatic plants, horses, etc. Two years later, the Chu army defeated the Huns, and Emperor Wu finally had no defeat again. Now the memorials from the northern border have been greatly reduced, and the contents are mostly about building cities, abandoning cities, and insufficient expenses. I dare not assert, but only if you are prepared can you be free of trouble. The current preparations of Great Chu... seem to be insufficient."

"What's the reason?" the emperor asked.

"The official warehouse is empty, there are many internal troubles, and I am unable to support the northern border."

"This is exactly what I am obsessed with. When I was trapped in Jincheng, I saw with my own eyes that the Zuocha Censor Xiao was loyal to the country and was worthy of being a pillar of the court. I think that the weakness of the Great Chu, the court is not guilty, and the ministers are not guilty, all of them are my fault. I just hope that all the ministers will work hard to ensure that I have no worries and can concentrate on eliminating internal troubles and destroying powerful enemies."

Nan Zhijin knelt down for the third time and kowtowed non-stop.

Han Ruzi didn't let him calm down, and waited for a while, saying, "If you want to understand, the entire Secretariat and even the entire court, you know the best of me, right?"

Nan Zhijin sat on the ground with a panic look on his face, "Zhao Ruosu...has he already said?"

Han Ruzi shook his head, "He said nothing, I saw it myself: before you were detained, the memorials sent by the Secretariat were arranged in an orderly manner, which was quite consistent with my wishes. It was like knowing which memorials I would be interested in, and I put them on them so that I could see them first. Since Zhao Ruosu disappeared and you were left behind, the sorting of memorials has become more and more chaotic every day, and the contrast between the front and back is too obvious, and I must not ignore it."

Nanzhi was sweating profusely. Of course he knew the emperor, but he still underestimated the emperor's intelligence.

Han Ruzi didn't say anything. The Secretariat of the Central Secretariat could put the memorials that the emperor was interested in on it, and naturally he could hide some special memorials in the middle. It happened that the emperor was a little tired and his thoughts were not seen when he was reviewing them. He passed them all in a hurry and ignored the true meaning.

The Secretariat hid the prime minister's reply in the middle and made a mistake. They really needed officials like Nanzhijin and Zhao Ruosu.

This is why the Secretariat of the Central Secretariat is so important, but it is too difficult to cultivate. After the veteran Nan Zhijin, only Zhao Ruosu could take over. His resignation even had to directly serve the emperor, which had a profound impact on the Secretariat and the ministers in the court.

Zhao Ruosu would not be killed, and Han Ruzi believed that he was being locked up somewhere and was subject to bitter persuasion.

"You can leave now, and the memorials are still arranged according to the previous rules. If you happen to see Zhao Ruosu, tell him that you will come to see me within three days, otherwise, you will be deceiving the emperor and will be punished for extermination."

Nanzhijin took his leave in a hurry, and of course he understood who the "crime of extermination" was left to.

The emperor looked at Chao Jing, who was standing by the side of Ichima, and said, "Don't reveal these words about me and Nan Zhijin."

Chao Jing spread his hands, "I can't do it if I want to leak it, and I don't understand it at all."

What the emperor said to Nan Zhijin was: He wanted Zhao Ruosu, not to deal with the officials in the court, but if Zhao Ruosu could not appear alive, he would start a war with the ministers. (To be continued.)

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