Things turned out just as King Zhongshun expected. Concubine Zhen and the Supreme Emperor passed away one after another, and the court fell into sorrow.
Many people knew that when the emperor finished observing his filial piety, he would take action against the four princes and eight other families.
The Four Kings and Eight Dukes, a group that played an important role in the history of Chu State, will slowly withdraw from the court. They also know this fact.
The emperor also left them a way to survive. Except for some families that produced outstanding children, other families were not willing to give up these rights.
The most unwilling ones are the Nan'an County Princes. Now is the most profitable time for sea trade. If they give up their military power, it means giving up a piece of the sea trade cake.
It’s okay if you don’t get it, but it’s not something ordinary people can do if they give it to others even though it’s within easy reach.
The conditions here in Qianxiang Country are worse than those in Songjiang Prefecture, but because it is close to Nanyang, they can still make huge profits every year.
Faced with these profits, Qianxiang Kingdom was not reconciled, and many conflicts had occurred between the two parties.
Although the emperor was dissatisfied with the four princes and eight princes, he did not treat them differently in terms of ordnance and equipment, but he would not hand over the latest equipment to them. With the strength of the Nan Navy, it would be no problem to deal with the Qianxiang Kingdom.
However, after several conflicts, the South Korean Navy did not gain the upper hand. Instead, it became a stalemate in which both sides were victorious.
The people in the imperial court who were waiting for meritorious service and fortune were very dissatisfied and wrote letters one after another to remove the Nanhai coach. Although the four princes and eight princes stopped him with the excuse of not changing his filial piety for three years, it was still to no avail.
In order to continue to hold military power, the Prince of Nan'an County had no choice but to give up the plan of raising the bandits and respecting himself, completely eliminate the threat in the South China Sea, and prove his strength to the court.
The Prince of Nan'an led his cronies to fight against the Qianxiang Kingdom at sea. The power of these cronies' naval forces was not weak. The Prince of Nan'an hoped to use this victory, or even a battle of annihilation, to win the bargaining power with the imperial court.
capital.
As luck would have it, Prince Nan'an's navy was defeated and suffered heavy losses. Prince Nan'an was captured, along with his noble disciples who wanted to make meritorious deeds here.
There was no news about this war in advance, and by the time the imperial spies found out, it was already too late. The East China Sea Fleet, which arrived after receiving the news, could only clean up the mess for the South China Sea Navy.
The only good thing is that the second and third princes are training in the East China Sea Fleet.
The two princes were very aware of the emperor's attitude and directly ordered the Donghai Fleet to attack, destroying the Qianxiang Kingdom's army's plan to enter the Chu Kingdom.
However, the two princes did not dare to disregard the lives of the Prince of Nan'an and so many noble sons, so they could only confront Qianxiang Kingdom in the South China Sea.
The Qianxiang Kingdom, after many years of testing, was well aware of the strength of the Nanhai Navy. Taking advantage of the Nan'an County King's weakness of eagerness to achieve great results, he set up an ambush and defeated the Nanhai Navy in one fell swoop.
What they did not expect was that the strength of the East China Sea Fleet was much stronger than that of the South China Sea Fleet. If it were not for the hostages in hand, the country would have been destroyed long ago.
The strength of the East China Sea Fleet is certainly strong, and they are all battle-hardened soldiers. On the surface, the East China Sea Fleet is a newly established navy with little actual combat experience. Secretly, they take turns going to sea with the merchant ships of King Zhongshun. Faced with the difficult situation
Maritime merchants with good intentions will naturally not be lenient.
After a period of confrontation, Qian Xiangguo could only sue for peace.
The news was reported to the court, causing the calm situation to become intense again. With the efforts of Princess Nan'an and Princess Nan'an, the four princes and eight princes once again united.
On the one hand, he forced the emperor to agree to peace, and on the other hand, he sent people to secretly negotiate with Qianxiang Kingdom.
The eagerness of the four princes and eight princes was noticed by Qian Xiangguo. They took the opportunity to demand huge compensation and also proposed a marriage.
Compensation is easy to talk about. The Nan'an Palace has also made a lot of money from sea trade. It can always be collected by selling iron and using the family's accumulation.
But they would never dare to agree to a marriage. Now the most suitable candidates for the imperial court are only one of the emperor's princesses and Princess Zhaojing. They would never dare to propose a marriage to the princess. As for Princess Zhaojing, her status is not at all
No need to worry about the princess, King Zhongshun was a staunch fighter. The East China Sea Fleet relied on King Zhongshun's sea trade to develop.
If they dare to propose a marriage to Princess Zhaojing, the East China Sea Fleet will be able to reach the territory of Qianxiang Kingdom the next day. At that time, the first to die will definitely be Princess Nan'an and others.
After Qian Xiangguo learned about this situation, although he wanted to propose a marriage to Princess Zhaojing, he did not dare to take the gamble. In the end, Qianxiangguo also relaxed and had to let a clan girl be the choice for marriage.
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Despite the difficulties, they still have to protect the captured children. They are the most promising group of the four princes and eight princes. If they are killed in the Qianxiang Kingdom, many families will never regain their family glory.
Faced with the entreaties of many nobles, the emperor reluctantly agreed to the peace proposal.
It's not that the emperor is soft-hearted, the bids offered by the nobles are too high and he is reluctant to refuse.
If he wants to shift his national policy to the sea, the emperor also needs to deal with the stubborn civil servant group in the court. Changing back and forth between pirate and businessman like the Westerners do, such a thing will never be allowed.
Although the imperial court would not bring such a matter to light, it would be extremely detrimental to overseas expansion if the civil servants were keeping an eye on it. How could the generals leading overseas troops act if they were constrained like this?
The nobles promised to fully support the emperor's policies and gradually hand over the power in their hands. This is exactly what the emperor wants to see. Only when they have complete control of the court can they free their hands. Otherwise, the three kings with different surnames in the court will unite and
It will also cause a lot of trouble.
The nobles quickly prepared the money for compensation. The only problem was the candidate for the marriage. In order to avoid any accidents, they wanted to choose one from among the clan girls.
There are many members of the royal family, but there are always some down-and-out clan members who are not rich in life and are willing to trade their daughters for the wealth of the family. This is what they think and do.
It's a pity that they were a few years late. Most of the clans have joined the emperor's service and followed King Zhongshun in sea trade. There are also many outstanding clansmen who have been training with the two princes. These people are preparing to expand overseas territories.
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The overseas territory is too far away, and the court cannot rest assured in whose hands it is placed. It is more trustworthy if it is placed in the hands of the clan than in the hands of nobles and officials.
Seeing that the clans were about to rise up, who dared to hold back. Without waiting for the clan government to come out to warn, the clans that got the news found out. Those clans that were tempted were all secretly punished.
Afterwards, the clan government also came forward to warn the nobles, and this farce was stopped.
Except for families with personal interests, who would risk offending the emperor and sacrifice their daughter.
After picking and choosing, they can only pick on one of their own. It's not that they don't want to find someone to deal with. After all, the person getting married must be named a princess, and this person must be worthy of the title of princess.
If someone were to replace him casually, the emperor would be dissatisfied, and neither would Qian Xiangguo.
This chapter has been completed!