The day after King Qing Hongxin left Daliang for Song County, Zhao Hongrun was still feeling a little emotional in his study.
Looking back on the past two years, King Qing Hongxin's momentum has been so fierce. He is like a towering tree in the court. Even though King Yong Hongyu has the honor of "supervising the country", more than half of the people still believe that King Hongxin of Qing will eventually be able to overtake Yong.
Wang Hongyu became the crown prince of Wei.
Who would have thought that as soon as the "Jinxiang Massacre" incident occurred, King Qing Hongxin would fall immediately.
In fact, to be precise, it cannot be said to be a collapse. After all, the Qingwang Party only fell into a crisis of public opinion, and its strength did not actually suffer much loss. Of course, those who immediately turned their backs to Yongwang Hongyu when they saw the situation was not good said otherwise.
"Your Highness, have you really decided not to attend the banquet at Prince Yong's Mansion?"
After thinking about it for a long time, Zhao Hongrun's staff Jie Ziyu couldn't help but ask. At the same time, his eyes involuntarily glanced at the invitation that Zhao Hongrun placed on the table.
Today, King Yong Hongyu specially sent an invitation from his sect’s chief of defense, Zhou Yue.
"Do you think this king should go?" Zhao Hongrun raised his eyebrows and asked Jie Zizi.
Jie Ziwei smiled faintly, put one hand on his back, walked around the room, and said with a smile: "Your Highness feels a little arrogant, right?"
"..." Zhao Hongrun said nothing.
Jie Ziyu is right. Yesterday, King Hongxin of Qing Dynasty was forced to leave Daliang and go to Song County. Today, King Hongyu of Yong Dynasty held a banquet at his house and invited celebrities and nobles of Daliang to gather. The purpose is self-evident: one is to celebrate, and the other is to declare.
sovereignty.
Just like what Zhao Hongrun said yesterday when he saw King Qing Hongxin forcing a smile on his face - from this moment on, it is King Yong Hongyu's fortune!
Zhao Hongrun didn't like this.
In the final analysis, it is just to eliminate dissidents and force a brother who is trying to fight for the throne to leave his hometown. Is it worth raising an army and having a big feast?
It's not like we won a battle.
Don’t you know that the imperial treasury is still in deficit, the domestic economy is still in collapse, and many people across the country are still tightening their belts?
Of course, although he was slightly dissatisfied, Zhao Hongrun could understand the excitement of the Yong Wang Party at this time. After all, after Qing Wang Hongxin was forced to leave Daliang, there was no longer a rival in Daliang City that could compete with Yong Wang Hongyu for the throne - the eldest prince Zhao Hongli and Xiang
Wang Zhao Hongjing is nothing to be afraid of.
Under such circumstances, the Yongwang Party seems to have secured victory in advance, so it is not incomprehensible that they would celebrate with a banquet in great joy.
By the way, we can also use this banquet to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, and see who is aware of current affairs and who is stubborn.
If you think about it, you can guess that during the period when King Qing Hongxin was forced to leave Daliang, the Yongwang Party would seize the opportunity and adopt political means to squeeze out the power of the Qingwang Party in the court. If nothing unexpected happens, after a while
Over time, Qing Wang Hongxin's connections in the Daliang court will be eliminated one after another, and they will either be transferred to local counties or counties, or they will be left idle and thrown into retirement in a high-ranking and low-ranking Qingxian government office.
Although he knew in his heart that this was inevitable, Zhao Hongrun still felt a little uncomfortable.
Therefore, when Zhou Yue, the chief of the imperial clan of Yongwang Hongyu, came to deliver the invitation in person, Zhao Hongrun actually felt a little conflicted in his heart.
While Zhao Hongrun was frowning and thinking, Jie Ziyu was also thinking about it in his mind.
It has to be said that the fall of King Qing Hongxin was indeed a bit unexpected by Jie Ziu, because it was so sudden that he had not thought about how to win the greatest benefit for his highness.
In the past, when King Qing Hongxin was still in Daliang, Jie Ziyu made some small moves in private, which did not cause too much reaction from the Yongwang Party. For example, when rumors spread that "King Su wanted to fight for the throne" last time, he made a fool of himself.
He used a little trick to hide the news from all parties, even Zhao Run, the king of Su whom he was loyal to, was kept in the dark.
But now, "Qing Wang Hongxin", Yong Wang Hongyu's number one rival, fell down. This gave Jie Ziu a bit of a headache, because without the shield of Qing Wang Hongxin, if he made some small moves
To pave the way for Zhao Hongrun's future, it is inevitable that he will be vigilant and even suppressed by King Yong's party - after all, King Yong has no other strong rivals.
In fact, when he learned that His Highness resisted going to Prince Yong's Mansion for a banquet, Jie Ziyu was very happy in his heart, because this was more in line with his "selfishness." However, after repeated consideration, he decided to fulfill his duties as an aide
——Comply with the wishes of the person you are loyal to.
Therefore, he said seriously: "Your Highness, I think that your Highness should attend the banquet."
After that, he didn't wait for Zhao Hongrun to reply, and then said to himself: "Today's banquet at Prince Yong's Mansion is obviously, firstly, for celebration, and secondly, to prepare for the next party to unite and fight against differences... If His Highness does not give Prince Yong face, even if
If King Yong doesn't care, what will the people under him think? Furthermore, although King Yong once had a good relationship with us, as the saying goes, now and then, in the current situation of Daliang, King Yong is the dominant one, will he still
Being willing to live in harmony with His Highness is the key that Your Highness must grasp... After all, Your Highness is not alone, and you have also protected a group of your fans."
"..." Zhao Hongrun remained silent after hearing this, and then nodded slowly after a long time.
After listening to Jie Ziyu's persuasion, Zhao Hongrun finally decided to go to the banquet at Prince Yong's Mansion.
When it was around Shenshi, Yong Wang Hongyu had a rare opportunity to walk out of Chui Gong Hall before dusk today, preparing to return to his mansion.
It is undeniable that Yongwang Hongyu was considered by Zhao Hongrun to have "the potential of a wise king". At least in terms of diligence, he was not inferior to Wei Emperor Zhao Yuansi. During the period when he was in charge of the country, he came from the palace by car at 10:00 every day.
In the palace, he presided over the morning court, and then went to the Chui Gong Hall to review the memorials. Many times he would be busy until around Xu Shi before leaving through the side door of the palace - the palace had already been closed under martial law at that time.
Even sometimes when encountering memorials that were difficult to decide for a while, Yongwang Hongyu would bring these memorials back to Yongwang Mansion to discuss and ponder with Zhang Qigong and several other close aides.
From this point of view, Yong Wang Hongyu is indeed a diligent successor, and he is definitely not comparable to Zhao Hongrun, a prince who sleeps until dawn and spends most of the twelve hours a day doing nothing.
"His Royal Highness King Yong."
When they saw Yong Wang Hongyu and several clan guards approaching the palace gate, a guard commander came up to him with a smile, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "It's rare to see His Highness return to the palace so early."
The commander of the imperial guards is called "Cao Pu". Like his colleague "Jin Ju" who has a good relationship with Zhao Hongrun, he is one of the eight "guards Wu Lang" of the imperial guards. He is directly under the leadership of Li Zheng, the president of the three guards.
Although it sounds a bit harsh to say that he is a guard guarding the palace, his status is not low in Daliang.
"Captain Cao." Yong Wang Hongyu greeted Cao Pu and said with a smile: "Today, the king is hosting a banquet in the palace, so he left the palace early... Huh? Didn't Captain Cao receive an invitation from the palace?" he said.
At this point, he frowned, as if he was blaming the people in the house for their negligence.
Seeing this, Cao Pu quickly explained: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, your highness, I have also received the invitation for my humble position. I just have a job and cannot leave without authorization. I have no choice but to live up to your highness's kindness... I hope your highness will forgive me."
"
Yong Wang Hongyu nodded clearly and praised: "Captain Cao is loyal to his duties and is the pillar of the country. How can I blame him?... Since Captain Cao is not polite today, how about this, when Captain Cao is free, I will invite Captain Cao again, okay?"
"
"How does this happen?" Cao Pu said flattered, "It should be that someone from a humble position comes to visit me some other day... Well, I should apologize."
"Haha, whether it's a visit or an apology, I will entertain Captain Cao when the time comes, and I won't come back until he's drunk." Yong Wang Hongyu's face was full of smiles, giving people a feeling like a spring breeze.
Until King Yong Hongyu passed through the palace gate and left the palace, Cao Pu could not help but feel complacent. At this time, another guard commander Jin Ju came over with a team of guards to take a shift. Seeing Cao Pu's face smiling, he asked curiously: "
Lao Cao, why are you laughing so heartily? Could it be that your boy found another concubine?"
Cao Pu rolled his eyes, and then explained what had just happened. At the end, he said with emotion: "His Royal Highness, King Yong, looks like your Majesty. He will definitely be a wise king in the future."
"Tsk! It's just an invitation to buy people's hearts. How can it be as sincere and forthright as His Highness Prince Su?"
Jin Ju curled his lips secretly, pointed back at the palace and said: "Okay, okay, you will lead people to patrol the palace... By the way, be careful over there at "Jingyao Palace", Concubine Sun has been temperamental in the past two days.
Not very good."
The "grand concubine of Jingyao Palace" he refers to is the biological mother of King Qing Hongxin.
Hearing the words "Jingyao Palace", Cao Pu snorted, with a somewhat mocking sneer on his face, and muttered a few words. He couldn't hear the words clearly, but he probably was partial to King Yong Hongyu's words.
At the same time, Yong Wang Hongyu had walked outside the palace.
Immediately, a carriage with the name "Prince Yong's Mansion" slowly arrived in front of him.
Yong Wang Hongyu and several Zongwei boarded the carriage and saw his aide Zhang Qigong sitting on the carriage.
"Your Highness." Zhang Qigong bowed his hands in salute.
"Hmm." Yong Wang Hongyu nodded, and then asked: "Are the preparations for the banquet in the mansion ready?"
"Everything is ready."
"Are there any guests left behind?"
"Don't worry, Your Highness, I have checked it repeatedly and there will be absolutely nothing left behind."
"That's good." Yong Wang Hongyu nodded. After a while, he suddenly asked: "Lao Ba's side... did you send an invitation?"
As if he had guessed His Highness's thoughts, Zhang Qigong said sternly: "It was Zhou (Yue) Zong Wei Chief who personally came to the door and delivered the invitation. There are no mistakes in etiquette."
"Well..."
Yong Wang Hongyu nodded slowly, and suddenly saw Zhang Qigong showing a hesitant expression, and asked: "Qigong, do you have something to say?"
Zhang Qigong pondered for a moment, then asked thoughtfully: "Your Highness, have you ever thought about it, if His Highness King Su declines for some reason, then..."
This sentence expresses exactly what Yong Wang Hongyu was thinking.
In fact, he also understood that King Qing Hongxin was forced to leave Daliang yesterday, but today he held a banquet in Prince Yong's Mansion and invited many guests. This was indeed a bit ostentatious and would inevitably give people a feeling of "impatientness".
But on the other hand, this kind of thing must be struck while the iron is hot. What if something goes wrong in Changmengduo?
Among the many guests invited tonight, the attitude of the eighth brother Su Wang Zhao Run is particularly critical.