Zhou Yuanlang and Tu Yuan were both sitting under the pavilion next to the official road, raising their heads from time to time and looking towards the distance of the road.
General Tu raised his head, looked at Zhou Yuanlang, frowned, and whispered: "Sir, what does your Majesty mean?"
Zhou Yuanlang couldn't keep himself up. After being silent for a while, he shook his head slightly: "The general and I received the news almost at the same time. How can I know what the general doesn't know?"
One day ago, the two of them received news that the imperial court sent Prince Rui Zhao Lianghu to the south to supervise the war.
Prince Rui is a member of the royal family of the same generation as the late Emperor Yongping. He is slightly younger than Emperor Yongping, but he is already in his early fifties this year.
When he was born, Zhenren Zhuli had just entered the customs for twenty years. At that time, the people in charge of the Northern Qi Dynasty were still some "older generations" and had not yet become as sinicized as they are now, so the name was chosen with a lot of Zhuli Zhenyu in it.
For example, Prince Rui, whose real name is Mou Lianghu, means mighty in Zhu Li's true language. Later, when Emperor Taizong of the Northern Qi Dynasty fully Chineseized his name, the royal family changed his surname to Zhao, so he changed his name to a transliterated name and called him Zhao Lianghu.
Tu Yuan looked at Zhou Yuanlang with wide eyes and whispered: "Sir, the Purity Department is not..."
Zhou Yuanlang lowered his eyebrows and said expressionlessly: "The Cleansing Department did not report this matter to me."
After saying this, he raised his head and looked at Tuyuan, and both of them had some worry in their eyes.
Although Zhou Yuanlang is now in charge of the Cleansing Department, it is obvious that this duty is not completely obeyed by him. In the final analysis, His Majesty the Emperor is still in charge.
The fact that the Purity Department concealed this matter showed that the emperor was not satisfied with the situation on the Shandong battlefield, and even secretly sent a member of the royal family to supervise the battle.
The reason why they hid it from Tu Yuan and Zhou Yuanlang was to launch a surprise attack so that the battle situation on the front line could not be concealed.
Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head and looked even more ugly.
He is considered a civil servant.
At least he knows the imperial system better than Tu Yuan.
Theoretically speaking, there will not be two imperial envoys supervising the war in a war.
Even if the first imperial envoy made a mistake, the court should replace him instead of sending a second imperial envoy at the same time.
Now, he, the imperial envoy to supervise the war, is still here, but the imperial court has sent a prince over. As the imperial envoy to supervise the war, there are only two possibilities.
The first possibility is that the imperial court was dissatisfied with him, Zhou Yuanlang, and sent Prince Rui to replace him, and maybe he would be punished.
And the second possibility is...
Thinking of this, Zhou Yuanlang's face became even more ugly.
The second possibility is that the court is now in chaos!
From Emperor Zhaowu to the ministers below, they were all distracted by the battlefield in Shandong, and even ignored some of the court's rules.
If it's the latter.
Zhou Yuanlang took a deep breath and was about to speak when General Tu stood up suddenly, looked towards the official road, and reminded: "Sir, the imperial envoy's honor guard seems to have arrived."
Zhou Yuanlang looked up and saw the imperial envoy's avoidance sign in the distance on the road.
Tu Yuan looked into the distance silently and whispered: "The late Emperor didn't seem to like this Prince Rui at first."
"The public opinion is even worse..."
"The emperor just used the clan, why did he use Prince Qirui..."
Zhou Yuanlang shook his head slightly and sighed: "The prince is here, don't say any more."
He paused and said softly: "I heard that this prince is lustful, so just treat him well and let him leave with satisfaction."
Tu Yuan nodded and said: "Sir, don't worry, it was prepared yesterday. Numerous famous prostitutes in Jinan City have been summoned to the imperial envoy's office to wait."
Zhou Yuanlang was silent for a while and said with a wry smile: "If a few prostitutes can solve it, that would be really thankful. I am afraid that he will fall in love with a folk woman and then do whatever he wants."
"The people's hearts in Shandong are already gone..."
Tu Yuan raised his head and looked at the imperial guard of honor who was getting closer and closer. He frowned and said, "Let him just wander around Yandu. At this time, I really don't know why the emperor sent him to Shandong..."
The clan system of the Northern Qi Dynasty was somewhat different from that of the Southern Chen Dynasty.
The Chen State still has the vassal system, but after the Northern Qi Dynasty entered the pass and encircled the land on horseback, except for the earliest batch of princes, the subsequent princes only had land for food, and few had actual vassal land.
Most of the princes live in Yandu City.
Zhou Yuanlang was silent for a while, lowered his head slightly, and sighed: "Because his surname is Zhao."
"Born to be closer than you and me."
………………
Jinan City, where the imperial envoy travels.
In a lobby, Prince Rui Zhao Lianghu, who had been welcomed into Jinan City, was lying on a soft couch.
He was fat and somewhat dark. He leaned on the soft couch and looked roughly like a black wild boar.
It was summer now, and on both sides of him, there were maids fanning him, and there were a lot of ice cubes placed nearby.
Prince Rui was afraid of the heat, so he was only wearing a single suit at the moment, which seemed a bit ungentlemanly.
Zhou Yuanlang and Tu Yuan carefully accompanied him on both sides.
In the center of the hall, more than a dozen dancers from the Jinan Jiaofang Division were dancing gracefully, and the musicians on the side were also playing drums and music.
Prince Rui squinted his eyes and lazily watched the dancers' performance. He suddenly looked at Tu Yuan beside him and asked in a lazy tone: "General Tu, which family does your master come from?"
When Tu Yuan heard this, his face looked a little unhappy.
Although their Tu family was Zhu Li Zhenren, he was originally from a small family. In his early years, he had to work hard with the Tatars to reach a high position.
However, this situation has changed somewhat after Conglong. Now the Tu family can be regarded as a prestigious family among Zhu Li Zhenren.
However, when Zhao Lianghu asked, he did not dare not answer, so he said bravely: "Back to my lord, in the early years, my family was owned by a wealthy family."
"Well."
Zhao Lianghu grinned, showing yellow teeth.
"Your family is not very good, but you are a good master. I recognize the rich master and have some friendship with me, but when he sees me, he has to kowtow to me."
Tu Yuan took a deep breath, lowered his head and said, "Yes, yes."
Prince Rui picked his teeth and continued to ask in a lazy tone: "What is going on in this Shandong battlefield?"
"We have been fighting for so long, and the imperial court has spent countless money. The imperial army has come here when it is time. Why not only did they not drive the southerners back, but the more they fought, the worse they became."
"Now, not only the ministers in Yandu are clamoring every day to take you back to Yandu for questioning, but even the emperor is getting angry because of the incident in Shandong."
He glanced sideways at Tu Yuan, his tone still a little careless: "Whether you can fight, Xiao Yuanzi, please give me an accurate answer. If you can't fight, I will report to the emperor and ask the emperor to send some people from his hometown who can fight."
I came here and took your place."
He said lazily: "You can take off your burden and go back to Yandu. Let us men sleep with women together."
Tu Yuan took a deep breath, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, the southerners' military strength is not weak, and they have many ingenious things. If we go out to fight with them head-on, we will inevitably lose our troops and generals."
"Therefore, before the end comes, the imperial court's intention is mainly to delay, dragging down the Southern Dynasty until it has no strength, so that this battle can be won without a fight."
He lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, it's not that we don't fight against the generals. It's really because there is no better way to drive away the southerners."
"Come on, come on."
Zhao Lianghu curled his lips and said: "According to your method, if we continue to drive the southerners to Yandu, we men will not be able to bear it."
After saying something, he looked at the women in the hall and squinted his eyes with satisfaction: "That's all. It's rare that you have a filial heart. The entertainment arranged is good, so it won't be difficult for you today."
"You go back and think about it. Give me an answer in the next few days, so that I can write to the emperor and complete this errand."
Tu Yuan lowered his head slightly: "I will obey your orders."
"My lord, you have a good time and I will take my leave first."
After that, he and Zhou Yuanlang said goodbye and left.
After walking out of the lobby, Zhou Yuanlang's expression became even more ugly.
From beginning to end, Zhao Lianghu ignored him.
To be precise, I didn't even look at him.
Because...he is Han Chinese.
Tu Yuan walked behind Zhou Yuanlang and lowered his head slightly: "Sir, don't be upset."
His eyes were dark.
Zhou Yuanlang stopped and looked back at Tuyuan.
The two looked at each other, although they didn't say a word, but at this moment, it seemed...
