"Your Highness, this time is just a coincidence, don't put too much thought on it." As if he saw the prince's thoughts, the chief staff member Zeng Tong spoke.
The prince really wanted to give some gifts to the generals to express his goodwill and see if he could win over some people, but he was interrupted by Zeng Tong's words.
"Oh? Why is Master Zeng so unsure?" The prince still respected his teacher very much.
"Your Highness." Zeng Tong raised his right hand and pointed to the sky, and then said: "The Emperor is still watching, and he will never allow His Highness to get involved in military matters. You need to be cautious about this matter."
"Ah! Yes, yes, that's what Master Zeng reminded me." The prince seemed to suddenly wake up. Thinking of his father's suspicious character, it seemed that no one in the world believed him. If his relationship with the general was not good,
Excellent, who knows if the father will think that he wants to mutiny? If that is the case, then disaster is imminent.
The prince broke out in a cold sweat and quickly gave up the idea of making friends with the generals. Zeng Tong couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the prince's performance. Since ancient times, the prince's position has not been easy to seat, and people sitting in it
You have to be watched all the time, and if you do something wrong, you may fall from power. Especially now that the emperor is in good health, it will be even more difficult to be the prince.
Just like the current Emperor Qianwen, when he was the crown prince, his position was also very unstable. If he had not sent troops to Beidi in the end and won a great victory, it would be a matter of doubt whether he could become the emperor. Alas, I only hope that happens to the crown prince.
Just don't let the tragedy happen to Tang Xin. One day, when the prince ascends the throne, he, as a teacher, will be considered successful and famous, and even if he dies, he will still be able to smile.
In order to keep his current position, the prince does not need to make great achievements. The important thing is not to make mistakes. As long as you are not wrong, even if others want to deal with you, they will not be able to find suitable opportunities and excuses. As time goes by,
, the emperor is getting older and older, and the prince's hope of becoming emperor will naturally become bigger and bigger.
...
The Hall of Nourishing Heart.
Emperor Qianwen was listening to the secret report of Dai Mubai, the commander-in-chief of the Emperor's Guard.
Half-kneeling under the main hall, Dai Mubai reported in a calm voice, "To report to the emperor, I have found out that the reason why the generals joined forces with the prince's family is a complete coincidence. The generals are dominated by Marquis Zhongcheng, and they
They had already received the news that King Xiang was going to propose to the court that the fifth princess should be married to the Western Barbarians. As members of the generals, they would certainly not compromise with any rivals or enemies. In addition, Marquis Zhongcheng was entrusted by Duke Zhongguo.
This is how we formed a temporary alliance. After this incident, there should be no further involvement between the two parties."
"Oh, in this case, Duke Zhongguo played a role in the middle?" Emperor Qianwen's voice contained a hint of ridicule, which also represented his current relaxed mood.
In the early days of the court, the Prince's family and the Prince Xiang's family had a quarrel over whether to send the fifth princess to the Western Man for marriage. Emperor Qianwen was happy to watch the show from the sidelines. This was his so-called balance, and he would not allow it.
A certain party's family is dominant. If someone wants to dominate the court, he will use the dignity of the emperor to bring up one party to fight with you. In this way, he can stabilize the overall situation and control everything by living behind the scenes.
Prince Xiang was the force that Emperor Qianwen deliberately supported, in order to fight against the prince and decentralize power. This gave the prince a chance to spy on the power in his hands. Emperor Qianwen was very good at this balancing act and never tired of it.
Originally everything was going smoothly, the two sides couldn't argue, and finally the power of making the final decision fell into his own hands, which could show the power of the imperial power. Unexpectedly, the generals suddenly stood up, and all the generals headed by Zhongcheng Hou came out to help. Prince, the balance has been broken, King Xiang has lost, the matter has been decided without his ruling as the emperor, and the result is that the fifth princess's marriage needs to be considered in the long term.
The matter was settled without the emperor taking action, which made Emperor Qianwen feel a sense of crisis. He didn't know if it was a coincidence or if the general was ready to join the prince's family, so he ordered the emperor's guard to investigate this case urgently in the next court. This matter has been going on for several hours now, and the matter has come to an end. Now it seems that I have thought too much.
When he thought that it was all Shen Ao's fault, including the fact that the prince took action and accepted Shen Ao's two million taels of silver under the introduction of Fu Ma Lu Shun, which led to the current result, Emperor Qianwen couldn't help but feel funny. Shen Ao Although he is not above the court, he can indeed control everything here. This boy is really genetically powerful.
Dai Mubai didn't know what Emperor Qianwen was thinking, but when he heard the emperor's question, he said truthfully: "Yes, Your Majesty, it is indeed the help of Duke Zhongguo that the generals will take action, including the prince's action, which also takes two. ..”
"Okay." Emperor Qianwen had no interest in hearing about these things he already knew. What he was interested in now was what Shen Ao was doing when these things happened in the court. "Where is Duke Zhongguo today?"
"Reporting to the Emperor, Duke Zhongguo went to the slave market in the morning." Dai Mubai obviously came well prepared, so he told the report of the person responsible for following Shen Ao from beginning to end, including the fact that Shen Ao spent a thousand taels. One hundred taels of silver bought two sin slaves who had served in the frontier army and had military service experience. Then he spent another four hundred taels of silver to go to the government to redeem the two sin slaves, and changed their status from slaves to good status. , and what’s more, Duke Zhongguo released him on the spot, but he didn’t want those two people to serve him. The two people kowtowed first and then followed him to Duke Zhongguo’s mansion.
After listening to Dai Mubai's story with great interest, Emperor Qianwen laughed loudly and said, "This guy is very kind-hearted when he has money. Well, let's explore again. Things about this person will need to be registered and re-registered in the future. I will check randomly at any time. .”
"Nuo." Hearing that the emperor valued Duke Zhongguo so much, Dai Mubai did not know the reason, but he decided to arrange more manpower around Shen Ao to complete the emperor's order.
They are just two slaves. Even if they had served in the border army, they would not be in the eyes of Emperor Qianwen. He would not have thought that Shen Ao was preparing to build up his own power. Of course, even at this time, Shen Ao didn't think too much about it, it was just because the fifth princess's marriage made him feel a crisis, and he wanted to have more chips to protect himself.
At this time, in the Zhongguo Duke's Mansion, Shen Ao was looking at the Tie brothers and sisters kneeling in front of them, "You are already good people, why are you still following me? If you don't know what to do, I can lend you some." With money, whether it’s doing a small business or working for others, wouldn’t it be better to be able to live a free life?”
Shen Ao's words came completely from the bottom of his heart. He really didn't want the two of them to thank him. What he did was entirely out of respect for the soldiers. He believed that soldiers who had won honor for the country and had done meritorious service for the country should not be punished. This unfair treatment happened to be due to the fact that he had a lot of money, so he took advantage of it.
What he didn't expect was that the two brothers and sisters followed him all the way, unable to get away even with the bombs, and arrived at the Zhongguo Duke's Mansion. Shen Ao didn't know what to say. Those who didn't know better thought this was a trick of playing hard to get.
This is really Shen Ao's overthinking. They are just two slaves. Even if others find out that he bought two slaves, these two people also have experience of serving in the border army, and they will not think much about it. In fact, The number of people is too small. Thinking about the wealthy families and nobles, which family does not have dozens or hundreds of servants or guards? Even the families of those generals also have dozens or hundreds of personal soldiers, and no one can say anything. , in the Zhongguo Duke's Mansion, there are currently only three real guards, Shi Lei, and they are already extremely few. Even if there are two more, or even more, no one will notice.
"No! My sister and I have discussed it. Apart from joining the army and having some strength, we can't do anything and can't do it well. It's the Duke who gave us a new life, so we should repay you. From now on we will be I am a domestic slave of the Duke Zhongguo's house, so I ask my master to fulfill my promise."
After Tie Long said these words, he began to kowtow again. After just a few times, blood marks appeared on his forehead.
"Okay, okay, don't kowtow, I promise you." Shen Ao was really infected by the persistent spirit of the Long brothers and sisters. He also liked people who were kind and righteous, so he decided to keep them by his side.
Since you want to stay, you always have to know what they know so that you can make arrangements accordingly. Shen Ao then asked, "I don't want free food here, can you tell me what you know?"
Hearing that Shen Ao agreed to stay, both Long Tie and Long Feng were overjoyed. It was the eldest brother Long Tie who was the first to speak: "Returning to the master, in addition to his physical strength and some martial arts skills, what he is best at is tracking and fighting. Anti-tracking, I used to be a scout for the border army."
"Yes, my eldest brother is the best scout." Dragon and Phoenix on the side also spoke in agreement.
Speaking of dragons and phoenixes, they can only be described as tall and tall. She is more than 1.7 meters tall and has broad bones. If you just look at her body shape, I am afraid no one will treat her as a woman. In fact, she is It is also a man's character, perhaps because he and his brother have been dependent on each other since childhood, and they have been in the military camp and were infected by it. In short, Longfeng does not look like a woman, but more like a tomboy.
"Excellent scouts are scouts. Yes, yes." Shen Ao nodded with satisfaction after hearing this. There is really a lack of talents in this field around him. He has three years of military experience and knows better. How important a good scout is. Think about it, as soon as the opponent takes action, we already know his possible route and make preparations in advance, what will be the result.
"What else can you do?" Shen Ao has basically given up on Long Feng because of his love for Long Tie. After all, this person is also a woman, and she can't fight like a man, but now she has left her eldest brother behind. , even if this sister doesn’t know anything, she still has to arrange an errand to stay in the house.
Shen Ao didn't have much hope, but when Longfeng spoke, he was really shocked. "If you reply to the master, the little girl can see what others are saying clearly from a long distance."
