When the prince decided to do something, he acted vigorously and without any hesitation. In the second month, the prince summoned the Minister of Hubu and the Minister of War.
Even Emperor Yongming agreed, so the two ministers would not say anything more. The Minister of the Ministry of War went to issue official documents and prepare war horses, weapons and food. The Minister of the Ministry of Hubu was in a bit of a dilemma.
"Dongdong, the treasury has long been out of money." The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue sighed and said: "As for whether to support the war in Jizhou, the court owes the officials half a year's salary. Now we are waiting for the autumn tax to be put into the treasury.
The holes that Teng Niao borrowed are blocked."
The Minister of Household Affairs was complaining, and what he said was not true. When the soldiers returned from the victory, a large amount of reward and pension money had not been issued. There was really no extra money to support the new army.
The prince couldn't bear to force the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, so he thought for a while and said: "He will find a way to raise the money needed to recruit new troops. If he wants to recruit 10,000 soldiers, it will take at least several months to build a military camp. By then, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance will
It’s time to calm down and ask for military pay to be allocated to the new army on time in the future.”
The Minister of Hube immediately became energetic and went to cross his legs to express his gratitude.
After the two ministers resigned and left, Xu Jing opened his mouth and said: "We need a large sum of money to build an army camp and recruit soldiers. It will cost a lot of money. If we empty out the East Palace, I'm afraid it will be ruined."
The prince sighed helplessly: "He plans to go to his mother and concubine to see if he can squeeze out more money from the Foreign Affairs Office."
Xu Jing whispered: "He has a way."
Said so and so.
The prince was kind-hearted and felt a little embarrassed to do such deceptive things: "You are not your own brother, so it would not be a good idea to do that."
Xu Jing smiled nonchalantly and said: "What's wrong? The vassal kings are in the vassal territory, and each of their families has a great business. When the vassal princes come to the capital, who has no money in their legs?"
"If he takes care of that matter, my cousin will pretend that he doesn't know about it."
Prince: "..."
In that matter-of-fact tone, he completely forgot that he was not the prince of the feudal lord.
The prince couldn't laugh or cry, and his heart felt warm.
He regarded Xu Jing as his biological brother, so why didn't Xu Jing regard him as his biological brother? He thought of everything for him, even thinking of tricks to deceive people.
Some words are good to keep in your heart, but not beautiful to say.
The prince stretched out his legs and shook hands with Xu Jing: "It's really inconvenient for him to come forward in this matter, so please bother me."
Xu Jing grinned: "Cousin, just wait to hear his good news!"
…
On the morning of that January, Xu Jing held a small banquet in his palace. Those who came to the banquet were none other than the Crown Prince of Xihe, the Crown Prince of Yingchuan, and five other people.
A total of seven princes of the feudal clan came to the capital that month. After the assassination of Prince Chengyang, there were only six left. They will all gather together in one place tomorrow night.
"Will the sun rise in the west tomorrow?" Prince Xihe walked towards the front in a loud voice: "Cousin Jing actually acted as a host and asked them to come over for a drink."
Prince Yingchuan was obviously in a good mood and answered the question with a smile: "Why don't we have the Hongmen Banquet tomorrow night? If you want to be killed and beheaded, cousin Jing will go east first. Otherwise, he won't dare to drink the wine."
Prince Pengcheng and others all laughed.
Xu Jing smiled and greeted everyone to sit down. He also poured wine for his cousins: "Don't be afraid, cousins. He has been away from Beijing for half a year and hasn't gone out to drink with his cousins for a long time. I'll be sure to ask for you tomorrow night.
Drink to your heart's content. Come on, let him toast his cousins first."
All the vassal princes and princes happily raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp.
After three rounds of drinking, everyone felt a bit drunk. Xu Jing suddenly put down his wine glass and let out a long sigh.
Coming!
Prince Xihe quickly glanced at Prince Yingchuan and deliberately remained calm.
The Prince of Pengcheng did not have such good concentration, so he took the initiative to ask: "You have a good drink, why did cousin Jing sigh suddenly? Did you encounter something difficult?"
Xu Jing sighed again: "There are no outsiders there, just a few of our brothers, and he just says something that touches his heart."
"They were originally staying in the vassal territory. The mountains are high and the emperor is far away, and they are free and easy. After the emperor issued an imperial edict, they all came to the capital. If they go east in this situation, they don't know when they can go back."
That topic made everyone fall silent.
No, no matter how good the capital is, it is like a prison to them. Who doesn’t want to go back?
Prince Yingchuan broke the silence with a smile: "The emperor will never keep them in the capital forever. After a few or more years, they will have to be released back to the vassal territory."
Xu Jing poured himself a glass of wine and his eyes turned red: "Three years, five years, ten or eight years. Who knows?"
"Maybe the emperor has the idea of cutting down the vassal vassal and keeping them all in the capital until he dies of old age."
That being said, even Prince Yingchuan is not in the mood to drink anymore.
Prince Xihe frowned: "It's useless to talk about that matter. I don't want to mention it anymore."
Xu Jing cheered up and said, "No, he shouldn't mention it. He will punish himself with three drinks."
He drank three glasses without asking anyone to persuade him to drink. Then, taking advantage of his drunkenness, he laughed softly and said, "There is something that we don't know about. He will tell us quietly tomorrow night."
"The prince's cousin plans to form a new army of ten thousand men."
All the vassal princes and princes were surprised.
The Prince of Xihe slapped his thigh suddenly: "No wonder all the Ministers of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of War entered the East Palace yesterday. It turns out that there is no question of forming a new army."
Then, he looked at Xu Jing with envy: "No wonder cousin Jing asked to be a host tomorrow night. It seems that I want to join the new army as a errand. Congratulations!"
Prince Yingchuan also felt warm in his heart.
Working as an errand in the clan's mansion, taking care of the royal family, is not a good job. But, compared with the errands in the New Army, it is far worse.
Could that be a good opportunity to actually take control of the military?
The prince is in frail health, and the task of training and leading the troops is just a matter of reputation. Someone must actually lead the troops.
The Prince of Pingchang was half envious and half joking: "Cousin Jing and the Crown Prince are as close as brothers. There will definitely be a place for Cousin Jing in the new army. The few of them will be disappointed."
Xu Jing grinned and lowered his voice mysteriously: "That's not necessarily the case. He listened to the prince's cousin. The new army is short of legs, and everyone has a chance."
With a piece of fat hanging in front of your eyes, no one will be tempted.
The Prince of Xihe was the first to bear the brunt and immediately hugged Xu Jing affectionately: "I'm not going to show off and show you a clear path! Just ask him to join the New Army and he will definitely think of me well."
Prince Yingchuan suppressed his excitement and listened to Xu Jing whisper: "Actually, the prince's cousin also has many difficulties. Among other things, the new army has to build military camps and recruit soldiers and spend money. The treasury is very empty now.
There's a lot of money to be made by running away from the rats. Please can I help the prince to share his worries..."
Prince Xihe's eyes sparkled and he said without thinking: "He offered one hundred thousand taels!"
