The next day, King Xiang Hongjing came to Chui Gong Hall in person, handed in a memorial, and recommended Liu Xu, the Zongwei of King Zhao Hongjiang of Yan, and Gong Liangyi, the Zongwei of King Huan Zhao Hongxuan, to the imperial court to serve as the left and right city captains of the border city of Qi County respectively.
Hearing this, the court was in an uproar: How could His Highness Prince Xiang surrender so easily?
But if you think about it carefully, this thing makes sense - even if King Xiang secretly holds the power of the household department, how dare he offend the Shanyang Army, the Northern First Army, the Southern Yan Army and the Suwang Army, the four northern Xinjiang hero armies?
?
This matter was quickly and secretly reported to Emperor Wei by the eunuch.
Recently, that is, after King Yong Hongyu supervised the country, the Emperor of Wei no longer worked as hard as he did before. He temporarily handed over the government affairs of Chuigong Hall to King Yong Hongyu and three ministers of Zhongshu, and visited them from time to time every day.
twice.
I remember that Zhao Hongrun made fun of his father before he went to northern Xinjiang: A wise king like his father finally learned to be lazy.
But in fact, both father and son understood that it was not that Emperor Wei wanted to be lazy, but that his body was gradually unable to hold on.
Perhaps Emperor Wei could not be called a perfect king, and he had done many unspeakable things, but in terms of government affairs, this king could definitely be called "diligent".
From morning to night, the chapters and memorials that Emperor Wei used to review every day were not measured in units of one line or one portion, but in units of weight, dozens of stones, sometimes even hundreds of stones.
What does this mean? It means that even if Emperor Wei was a tireless machine and worked hard twelve hours a day to review, he could not finish reviewing the memorials submitted that day.
It is precisely for this reason that Zhao Hongrun does not want to be the king of Wei, because he does not want to be trapped in the small room of Chui Gong Hall every day like his father. Unless he is a dim and unprincipled king, otherwise, for anyone
For an aspiring king, the Chui Gong Hall is equivalent to a cage, which prevents the wise kings of the Wei Kingdom from getting true freedom.
For example, Zhao Yuancai, the emperor of Wei, spent what should be the most exciting years of his life in the cage of Chui Gong Hall. He went from being strong and strong to now having gray hair on his temples.
If the state of Wei had not been on the rise now, otherwise the Emperor of Wei, Zhao Yuansi, would have been even more empty, because he did not know where he had spent his time.
Speaking of which, Emperor Wei ascended the throne at the age of twenty-six and has now been in power for twenty-one years. The fourth son of the emperor, "King Jing" Zhao Si, who was so heroic back then, is now forty-seven years old, but in the past ten years
After decades of hard work and exhaustion in the Chui Gong Hall, he looked like he was close to sixty, quite old.
Fortunately, recently, King Yong Hongyu supervised the country and reviewed the memorials on his behalf, so that the Emperor of Wei could take some time to relax and take care of his body through medicinal diet and a reasonable work and rest according to the instructions of the imperial physician.
Because of this, Emperor Wei has spent more time with his concubines in the harem recently than before. For example, in the past two days, he has taken two concubines whose sons are not around - Concubine Shen Shu and the sixth son of the emperor Zhao Hongzhao.
Their mother, Wu Guifei, took them for a walk in the imperial garden to relax, comfort them, and relieve the two concubines from missing their children.
Of course, even so, Emperor Wei still paid attention to everything in the Chui Gong Hall and the government and the public through the eunuch.
Today, when the Emperor of Wei was taking Concubine Shen Shu and Concubine Wu Gui to relax in the Fish View Pond in the Imperial Garden, the eunuch of the inner chamber reported "Prince Xiang Hongjing personally went to Chui Gong Hall" to the eunuch Tong Xian.
At this time, Emperor Wei was telling the two concubines how a certain prince with a bad character burned a musical instrument and cooked cranes, and used precious purple bamboo and tear bamboo as firewood to roast the precious golden-scaled tail fish in the pond. Through Emperor Wei The vivid description made Concubine Shen Shu and Concubine Wu Gui cover their mouths with their hands and couldn't help laughing.
They all knew that the "evil son" in the mouth of Emperor Wei at this time was referring to Prince Su Zhao Hongrun, who was now at the height of his reputation.
Who would have thought that Prince Su Zhao Hongrun, who is now known as "the number one young member of the Ji Zhao royal family", once had such a naughty side.
"...I was so angry at that time."
Looking at the two concubines who couldn't help but laugh, Emperor Wei pretended to be angry, lowered his fists to his chest and continued: "My two beloved concubines absolutely cannot understand the fire in my heart at that time."
"What happened next?" Wu Guibi asked with a smile.
In fact, she generally knew the follow-up of this matter, but she didn't know much. At most, it was just a simple sentence: "The Eighth Prince annoyed His Majesty and was punished by His Majesty."
"Later?" Emperor Wei chuckled and said proudly: "Later, I pushed the boat along and let the scoundrel "reliance on his own"... To this day, the scoundrel's vegetable patch is still preserved in the flower garden outside Wenzhao Pavilion. Here." At this point, he glanced at Concubine Shen Shu pretending to be angry and said, "My beloved concubine was not very good at that time, secretly supporting that bad boy."
"I understand my sin." Concubine Shen Shu suppressed her laughter and bowed obediently.
Seeing this scene, Concubine Wu Gui covered her mouth and laughed. Seeing this, Emperor Wei and Concubine Shen Shu looked at each other and smiled in a tacit understanding. If you want to ask who is the most lonely and depressed among the concubines in the palace at this time. , that must be Wu Guifei, after all, her son Zhao Hongzhao went to Qi State.
Comparing herself with each other, Concubine Shen Shu became very close to Wu Guibi from then on, especially when her two sons were no longer around, she could understand the loneliness in Wu Guibi's heart more and more.
Therefore, whenever there was an opportunity, Concubine Shen Shu would take Wu Guifei with her and often let Wu Guifei show her face in front of Emperor Wei, lest Emperor Wei forget this sister in the palace.
It is precisely because of this that even though Wu Guifei can no longer be as noble as her mother, no one dares to bully this noble concubine, let alone get involved in the position of noble concubine.
At this time, Tong Xian had been standing nearby, waiting for the right moment.
Suddenly, he saw Concubine Shen Shu and Concubine Wu Gui admiring the golden-scaled tail in the pool, so he stepped forward and whispered a few words in Emperor Wei's ear.
Concubine Shen Shu and Concubine Wu Gui originally pointed at the fish in the pond and turned around to say something to Emperor Wei. However, when they saw Emperor Wei listening to the eunuch Tong Xian's report with a solemn expression, they wisely walked away and held hands. View the pavilion next to the fish pond.
Emperor Wei also saw this scene, so after listening to Tong Xian's report, he looked at the backs of the two concubines walking away and said with emotion: "These are two good women."
Tong Xian smiled but did not make any comments - after all, with his status, how could he be qualified to comment on the king's woman?
However, Tong Xian knew in his heart that although the majesty next to him was talking about "two good women", the one he was praising most was definitely Concubine Shen Shu who did her best to take care of Wu Gui's concubine.
If it weren't for Concubine Shen Shu's help, Wu Guifei's son Zhao Hongzhaogui would not be the left prime minister of Qi. But as the saying goes, distant water cannot save the fire near. Wu Guifei lost her support in the palace, and her life would definitely be difficult. I don't know. How many concubines in the palace will covet her position as a noble concubine.
For example, Chen Shuai.
But precisely because of Concubine Shen Shu's presence, those people did not dare.
Having said that, what is the purpose of His Majesty next to him in praising Concubine Shen Shu? Or is it just a casual comment?
Tong Xian thought for a long time, and finally decided not to speak rashly. After all, Concubine Shen Shu's position in the harem is also quite sensitive now, especially when the former Prince Zhao Hongli of the East Palace lost power, and the biological mother of King Yong Hongyu, Concubine Shi, became more and more powerful.
case.
However, what surprised Tong Xian was that Emperor Wei only praised the two women a little, and then brought the topic back to the matter of "Prince Xiang went to Chui Gong Hall in person".
"This Hong Jing...heh, it's just as I expected."
Emperor Wei smiled brightly.
He knew that among his sons, the most stubborn ones were Lao Ba Hongrun and Lao Jiu Hongxuan. These two brothers may have been neglected in the palace when they were young, which resulted in their very strong personalities. As long as they were
They accept death and will never look back easily even if they hit a wall and get a bloody head. The third child, Hong Jing, has a completely opposite personality to these two brothers. He is a very smooth and tolerant person.
Therefore, when King Yan Hongjiang, King Huan Hongxuan and Nanyan General Wei Mu joined forces, and with the support of King Su Zhao Hongrun, the third oldest Xiang Wang Hongjing chose to compromise. This incident did not surprise Emperor Wei at all.
In contrast, the Emperor of Wei was even more curious about whether anything happened between him and Yong Wang Hongyu when King Xiang Hongjing went to Chui Gong Hall today.
According to what Emperor Wei knew, when Hongjing, the third oldest brother, proposed the "Weihan Border Market" and recommended Cui Can, the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, as the city magistrate, Yongwang Hongyu looked a little ugly.
The reason is very simple, because Lao Wuqing Wang Hongxin has no intention of jumping out and taking part.
Emperor Wei knew very well that among his sons, the fifth, Hongxin, the eighth, Hongrun, and the ninth, Hongxuan, were most in need of money.
Laoba Hongrun is short of money because his stalls are too big, such as Bolangsha, Xiangfu Port, Lianglu Canal, and the recently built "Tianmen Mine", each of which costs a huge amount of money.
project.
In other words, the eighth son, Hongrun, was using his money to promote Wei's national strength. Sometimes the Emperor of Wei felt that he couldn't bear it, so he was the most lenient with this son - he could do whatever he wanted.
As for Lao Wu and Lao Ninth, the two sons were short of money for the same reason: to feed the army.
After all, the Northern Second Army of the Southern Liang King Zhao Yuanzuo has made it clear that he supports Qing Wang Hongxin; as for Laojiu Hongxuan, he took over the mess of the Northern First Army from Hongli, the former Prince of the East Palace, and is currently troubled by military expenses.
.
In this case, Lao Jiu played the emotional card and persuaded his brother Lao Ba Hongrun to intercede with him, hoping to get involved in the border market of Qi County. However, Lao Wu never took action and did not report to the court in advance.
The Second Northern Army of Zhao Yuanzuo, King of the Southern Liang Dynasty, was stationed in Qixian, which in itself explained some problems - it was not that Lao Wu was pretending to be aloof, but perhaps he had already secretly reached a tacit understanding with Lao San.
After guessing this level, how could Yongwang Hongyu look good?
"The situation is not good for Hongyu..."
Emperor Wei thought secretly.
He can be sure that Yong Wang Hongyu cannot veto the matter of "Xiang Wang Hongjing recommending Shanyang Army and Beiyi Army to garrison Qixian Border City". Because by rejecting this matter, Yong Wang Hongyu offended not Xiang Wang Hongjing, but Xiang Wang Hongjing.
Including Yan Wang Hongjiang, Huan Wang Hongxuan, Nan Yan General Wei Mu, including Su Wang Hongrun who had a good relationship with him.
Therefore, even if Yongwang Hongyu felt resentful, he could only acknowledge this matter.
But in this way, because of the relationship with the border city of Qi County, the relationship between the small groups of Shanyang Army, Beiyi Army, and Nanyan Army and Xiang Wang Hongjing will quickly become closer - by then, Xiang Wang Hongjing can use the "city order" to
Under the guise of "tacit cooperation between city captains", they openly wooed the small group in Northern Xinjiang.
However, Emperor Wei did not intend to interfere in this matter. He wanted to see how Yong Wang Hongyu would handle it.
After all, although he paid attention to his eighth brother Hongrun, he would naturally have to make various arrangements if the latter was unwilling to succeed.