Looking at the astonished look on the younger son's face, a sly look flashed in Old Emperor Yi's eyes: "Why, you achieved what you wanted, aren't you happy?"
"Happy, happy!"
Zishou forced a laugh and then said in deep thought: "It's just that I feel... it's a little too easy."
Boom!
While the father and son were talking, unknowingly, dark clouds gathered in the sky over Chaoge, making the palace a little dark.
There was lightning and thunder, and the lightning shone into the palace, as if heralding the arrival of a storm.
"Is it going to rain?"
Old Emperor Yi looked deeply at his son and did not answer, but stretched out a hand: "Follow your father and go for a walk outside!"
Zi Shou looked at his father's outstretched hand and was startled. If it had been before, he would have run up to help him now.
But he had just been reprimanded for this, and now he hesitated.
He knew that his father was born to be strong, and as a king, he must always maintain the majesty of the king and not allow others to see his weakness, so he reprimanded him just now.
"What are you still doing?" Di Yi asked with some dissatisfaction.
"Didn't my father just say..."
Zi Shou said softly, but still quickly stepped forward and stretched out his strong hands to support Di Yi's arm.
Dissatisfied, Old Emperor Yi tapped Zishou lightly on the head, with a smile on his face, and hummed: "Just now was just now, and now is now. The king's will should be used as the standard at all times. This is as a king."
privilege."
Zishou silently accepted his father's lesson and remained silent.
"Let's go!" Di Yi said softly, casually throwing on some clothes, and walked out step by step with Zi Shou's support.
"Do you know why my father has been unable to decide on the crown prince position in recent years?"
Emperor Yi looked out of the hall, not looking at his son, and said as he walked.
Zishou pondered for a moment and said, "I probably...guessed something."
"Oh, to be honest, I chose you or your eldest brother. I did have hesitation in my early years as a father."
Di Yi said softly: "But in the past few years, I have already decided on a candidate for my father."
"Father...are you waiting for me?"
Zi Shou finally asked the doubts in his heart.
He originally came here today to tell his father that he was going to officially compete with his eldest brother for the throne.
Who knew that this father would react as if he had been waiting for him for a long time? Without hesitation, the father and son told him directly after an exchange, OK, the throne is yours.
He couldn't believe how simple this matter was!
"Haha, I have three sons. I heard that the grand master commented that Zi Qi was kind, but his temper was a bit weak. Your second brother is mediocre. You are the only one who is brave and resourceful, and is most like an orphan."
Emperor Yi did not answer, but looked outside the palace and sighed: "Although these ministers are very loyal and appear to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic, in fact they are all human spirit and old foxes.
Some of these people include nobles of the older generation, as well as commoners who were promoted from humble beginnings by their fathers. Among them, you should pay special attention to these people."
After saying these words in one breath, Di Yi was slightly out of breath.
After a pause, Emperor Yi continued: "They were born in a humble background and are well aware of the sufferings of the common people, so they will really serve the country and the people when they first enter the court. But once they are in high positions, they leave the ground and enjoy the wealth and honor.
Over time, they have changed."
At this point, Emperor Yi's eyes were sharp: "They will form a new aristocratic force, but they do not have the accumulation of the old aristocrats, so their appetite will be greater.
In order to get more land, food, and power, they will start to exploit and oppress the people at the bottom. Even when they oppress the people who were once the same as them, they will use more ruthless methods than the old-school nobles, and the harm they cause will be greater.
Big."
Zi Shou looked stern and said silently: "My child, I remember."
"If Zi Qi really ascends the throne, given his temperament, he will be controlled by these civil servants and eventually become their puppet."
Di Yi said solemnly: "There is only one way to deal with them, and that is to never let these old and new nobles become monolithic.
You want these new nobles to fight with the old nobles. Only when they fight and they don't get along can you control them.
Zi Shou's eyes flashed: "Yes!"
"This is internal worry!"
At this time, Emperor Yi and Zishou had walked out of the palace, and the strong wind was coming, making Emperor Yi's figure become more and more stooped.
Zi Shou suddenly discovered that as he grew up, the upright and heroic father in his memory was also getting older.
At this moment, his father's originally tall and strong body also became emaciated and rickety...
Zi Shou's eyes flashed, without any hesitation or fear of Emperor Yi's reproach, he stepped forward directly, held up his cloak and protected Emperor Yi in the middle.
This time, Di Yi, who always maintained the majesty of the king, was not angry. Instead, a bright smile appeared on his face: "You have grown up."
After a pause, he whispered: "Father... is also old."
In the past, he had never refused to admit his aging ailments. That was because the crown prince and the heir to this dynasty were still undecided.
As the king of Shang, he cannot grow old.
And now... he can finally admit his aging.
Zi Shou looked sad, lowered his head and said: "My child, you're late."
He almost broke his teeth when he said this.
Because he could clearly feel that his father's vitality was passing away little by little. Although he would not die on the spot, he was afraid that there would be very little life left and he would not last long.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
Thinking of this, Zi Shou clenched his fist holding up the cloak. Although this punch had the power to break mountains and seas, he had never felt so powerless.
After the father and son spoke at this moment, his heart was filled with regret.
Why, he was so hesitant before and never thought of taking over this burden from his father's shoulders earlier.
So much so that this father is so tired...
If he could have understood this earlier, perhaps his father's life would have been longer!
"Look up!"
When Emperor Yi saw his son's appearance, his expression became serious again, like an old lion king: "Remember, the king will never cry at any time, let alone bow his head."
Zi Shou raised his head and said resolutely: "Yes!"
Upon seeing this, Di Yi smiled on his wrinkled face and murmured softly: "You just said you were late, but in fact it's not late at all.
No matter when you are ready, my father can hold on until the day you come. Do you... believe it or not?"
As he spoke, he looked at Zi Shou with a smile, his expression full of confidence.
When Zishou heard this and looked at the old man's smile, his heart seemed to be touched. His tall and straight body suddenly shook and his nose felt sore.
In order not to let Old Emperor Yi see it, he had to raise his head slightly and look at the turbulent sky.
"Okay, this is what a king should be like!"
Emperor Yi said happily, and then didn't say anything. He just looked at the palace carefully in the cold wind, as if he wanted to imprint all this in his mind.
Boom!
At this time, the wind became more and more unbridled, lightning and thunder rumbled in the sky, and the light of thunder reflected on the faces of the father and son.
"Father, please go in?" Zishou said softly.
Old Emperor Yi turned a deaf ear and just said: "I, the Great Shang, control eight hundred princes and millions of miles of mountains and rivers. Do you know who to pay special attention to?"
"East Jiang, West Zhou, South Hubei and North worship the Four Kingdoms!"
Zi Shou's eyes flashed and he said without hesitation, "This is also the head of the eight hundred princes from all directions, and each of its subordinates controls two hundred princes.
"What do you think of Ji Chang...?" Di Yi said in a deep voice.
Zi Shou pondered and said: "It is said that he is diligent in politics, loves talents, is kind and benevolent, and has a reputation as a virtuous person."
"Yes, then do you still remember...your Aunt Ziyu?"
Di Yi said softly, this time, his expression was unusually complicated.
Zishou nodded silently: "Remember!"
That little aunt was his grandfather's young daughter, she was only a few years older than him. She was a woman of old age, so his grandfather was naturally very fond of that little aunt.
One year after giving birth to him, his mother contracted an illness and died early. He also grew up with that little aunt.
Later, his aunt was married off to a distant place by his father, and this once became a barrier between him and his father.
"Back then, the Zhou Kingdom was recuperating and growing in Qishan. When your grandfather was dying, in order to eliminate a serious problem for his father, he deceived Ji Li, the leader of the Zhou clan, into Chaoge to kill him."
Old Emperor Yi's eyes flashed and he said: "After his son Ji Chang came to the throne, he immediately organized his troops to attack Chaoge and avenge his father. At that time, the Yi tribe located in the southeast of Dashang also successively attacked Meng Fang, Lin Fang and other tribes.
Rebellion.
In order to prevent the great merchants from being attacked by enemies from the east and the west at the same time, my father had to marry your aunt to Ji Chang, and Ji Chang... also agreed."
Zi Shou's eyes turned cold, and this incident was later rumored to be a good talk about "Emperor Yi returning to his sister" to resolve the war, but they all knew that this was a step back and a shame for Dashang.
"What do you think of this?"
Old Emperor Yi turned to look at his son and said.
"This Ji Chang... is cruel enough and tolerant enough."
Zi Shou said in a deep voice: "As the saying goes: the hatred of killing your father is irreconcilable, but at that time he could still agree to marry us."
Old Emperor Yi's eyes flashed, and he nodded slightly and said: "That's because Ji Chang, after assessing the situation, found that he was not our opponent yet and it was not appropriate to start a war.
In order to stabilize me and buy them enough time, they agreed to marry us. In the end, everyone was happy and reconciled."
"But... my little aunt is dead!" Zishou raised his eyes and said coldly.
"You know your grandfather's love for your aunt, but do you believe that if your grandfather had been alive at that time and faced such a situation, he would have done this for Dashang?" Old Emperor Yi looked at him sideways.
"I sacrificed my little aunt for the sake of Dashang."
Zishou snorted and said, "Even grandpa can do this, but you all do it...is it right?"
"Shou'er, you have to understand one thing. Things in this world are not black and white, right or wrong. Some things... you can't tell whether they are right or wrong.
I raised your aunt. Do you think that marrying her to our enemy because I don’t know is pushing her into a pit of fire? Do you think I will feel better?"
Old Emperor Yi stared at him, his expression still calm, but he said that he had changed from an orphan to me: "But as the master of a dynasty, what you have to worry about at any time is not personal gains and losses, but the safety and interests of the entire Dashang.
”
Zi Shou fell into silence upon hearing this.
"You have to understand what the princes under us are. When we are strong, they are the most obedient dogs we have. They will shake their heads and tails at us and obey our words."
Di Yi said coldly: "But once they discover our weakness, they will turn into the most ferocious wolves in the world. They will pounce on us with red eyes and tear us into pieces, devour our flesh and blood and drink them."
Our blood..."
Zishou opened his mouth, but this time he couldn't say anything.
Click!
Another bolt of lightning was like a sharp sword in the hand of the God of Thunder, piercing the dark sky and earth, and then one drop after another of rain fell from the sky.
If Emperor Yi doesn't move, Zi Shou won't move either.
"Among the four major princes, Nanbohou E Chongyu has a strong temper and does not know how to adapt. Northern Bohou Chonghou Hu has a perverse and violent personality. He has neither great courage nor great plans, so there is nothing to worry about."
Emperor Yi's eyes flashed and he said: "To deal with E Chongyu, you must use both kindness and power. To deal with Chonghou Hu, deterrence is enough. As for Dongbohou Jiang Huanchu..."
Having said this, Di Yi glanced at Zi Shou with a smile in his eyes.
Zi Shou sighed in his heart. Because of that little aunt, he was extremely opposed to and hated the marriage.
Then...his father arranged for him to marry Dong Bohou's daughter and become his royal concubine.
"My father knows that you are extremely opposed to marriage, and I also know that you are in love with the girl of the Huang family. However, I, Dashang, have a feud with the Zhou family, and there will be a war sooner or later."
Old Emperor Yi said in a deep voice: "The relationship between Xibohou and Nanbohou is very close. If you can't marry Dongbohou to divide them, why are they in the same place and how will you deal with it?
Gu Ye knows how you treat the prince and concubine. You said you hated everything your aunt suffered, but now aren't you letting another girl suffer the same treatment as your aunt?"
Hearing these words, Zi Shou's pupils shrank, his body froze, and he sighed with some shame: "What the father taught me is that the child understands!"
"Oh, by the way, while you were away, the princess gave birth to a son for you, and according to the genealogy, he was named Jiao..." Di Yi said softly.
"Huh?"
The somewhat ashamed Zi Shou suddenly raised his head with a shocked look on his face.
"Ha, don't look like that. The child was born not long after you left Chao Ge. There are no other problems." Di Yi hummed.
Hearing this, Zishou thought about it carefully and calculated the time. When he found that there was no problem, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Wow...
With another thunder, in an instant, heavy rain poured down.
Boom!
Seeing this scene, Zi Shou's whole body's Qi exploded, forming a Zhen Qi shield of about ten feet, blocking out all the heavy rain.
"Father, from now on, my child will protect you from the wind and rain!"
Zi Shou said loudly.
"Okay!" After seeing this, Di Yi showed a faint smile of satisfaction on his calm face.
"The current Dashang Jiangshan looks unchanged on the outside, but in fact it is full of moths on the inside. It has been riddled with holes for a long time. Shou'er, can you... bear it?"
In the pouring rain, the father and son stood side by side. At this moment when Emperor Yi sighed softly, the old king and the new king also completed the inheritance.
……
At this time, Huang Fuzhong.
Boom!
In the heavy rain, Huang Feihu punched Li Jing in the chest. The golden energy in Li Jing's body exploded, and Huang Feihu's figure was shaken backwards.
"Brother Li, good work!"
Huang Feihu looked at his fist with some suspicion, the surprise on his face flashed across his face, and he praised with a smile: "Sure enough, there are no empty warriors under the reputation."
Zishou was not here, so he thought of competing with Li Jing to see how valuable the person worth asking was.
When they fought next, they basically couldn't decide the outcome.
Unexpectedly, he seized the flaw and punched him. Who knew that the punch from him, who was half-stepping into the world, knocked him away.
Only then did he realize that Li Jing's strongest method seemed not to be offensive, but...defensive?
"Brother Huang, accept the offer!"
Li Jing clasped his fists and said, neither humble nor overbearing, that when they met for the first time, this person seemed to be a friend of Miss Yin, so he didn't dare to be too harsh.
"Okay, it's raining so hard, everyone should come in and take shelter!"
Yin Guangling glanced at Li Jing, who was tied with Huang Feihu. The more he looked at it, the more satisfied he became. He ran out and pulled the two of them in. He looked outside the room and said softly: "I don't know what the outcome of my cousin's trip will be."
The purpose of Zi Shou's transit of the palace is very simple.
The first is to go out and visit him to inform him of his return, and the second is to formally tell the king that he is going to start fighting for the throne.
If the king acquiesces, then they will have a battle with the civil servants who support the prince.
But if the king does not agree, he will directly lose his inheritance rights...
In fact, they didn't understand His Highness's thoughts. They just wanted everyone to argue privately. How could they tell the King directly?
Huang Feihu's brother and sister also had worried looks on their faces.
"I'm afraid it won't be easy to fight for the throne this time!"
Li Jing couldn't help but glance at Yin Guangling, thinking: "But if I help His Highness get the throne, he will reward me no matter what. Then I won't want anything, just ask him to grant me a marriage.
By the way, for such a big event, I have to prepare a letter in advance and invite Master to watch the ceremony. Master is my only relative..."
At this moment, a figure stepped into the living room.
"Your Highness?"
When they saw the person coming, Yin Guangling and Huang Feiluan couldn't help being surprised and happy, but their smiles faded when they saw Zi Shou's serious expression.
"What's the result?" Huang Feihu whispered.
Zi Shou glanced at the three of them, his originally stern expression suddenly revealed a smile, his eyes flashed and he said softly: "The throne belongs to me."
"Ah?"
The three of them were stunned.
ps: I originally wanted to briefly write this paragraph. Emperor Yi was reduced to a skeleton when the Conferred Gods first began, but I felt that it was very difficult for the kings in the late Shang Dynasty, so I wrote a little more to explain the difficult situation of the Shang Dynasty at this time. Everyone
Don’t be annoyed.
This chapter has been completed!