When Zhao Hongrun discovered that the person who met him was not Zhao Wenkai, the Prince of Yuanyang, but Zhao Chengxiu, the Crown Prince of Yuanyang whom he had met a while ago in Daliang, he realized that the purpose of coming to Yuanyang today was most likely not the case. The solution was achieved.
It's no wonder, after all, the hostile attitude of the Prince of Yuanyang, Zhao Chengxiu, was too obvious. Not only did he place a large number of guards in the Yuanyang Palace, but he also waited for Zhao Hongrun, Shen Yu and others to enter the palace and come to the front and back halls. The guy still had no intention of getting up to greet her. He just held a beautiful maid in his arms and looked at Zhao Hongrun and the others indifferently. The meaning was self-evident.
This guy...
How could Zhao Hongrun not see that Zhao Chengxiu was deliberately demonstrating against him, after all, the proud look on the latter's face was too obvious.
Because of this, Zhao Hongrun only pretended to look around after entering the front hall of the palace, or glanced at Zhao Chengxiu from time to time, but did not ask, because he knew that Zhao Chengxiu would not be able to help but take the initiative to ask.
As expected, Zhao Chengxiu deliberately put on all kinds of postures, obviously just to show off his hatred to his cousin, but Zhao Hongrun refused to obey and didn't ask first.
Zhao Chengxiu felt a little regretful about this. After all, if Zhao Hongrun asked first, he could naturally put on airs and tease the other party, but Zhao Hongrun never opened his mouth, so the urgency in his heart prompted Zhao Chengxiu to speak first.
"Isn't it surprising?" Zhao Chengxiu asked with a mocking look on his face while holding the beautiful maid in his arms.
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Zhao Chengxiu after hearing this, with a faint smile on his face.
Looking at Zhao Chengxiu's posture, he could guess that this person was probably not well-intentioned when meeting him, so he did not speak rashly in order to avoid being passive.
Facts have proved that Zhao Hongrun overestimated Zhao Chengxiu's patience. After just a moment, Zhao Chengxiu couldn't bear it anymore and took the lead in talking to him.
This avoids the embarrassment of being the first to speak but being ridiculed by the other party.
"Why should we be surprised? This is the Palace of Prince Yuanyang, and you are the prince of Prince Yuanyang. It is natural that you will be here. What is there to be surprised about?"
Zhao Hongrun said lightly.
After eating a soft nail, Zhao Chengxiu's face was slightly ugly. As for the reason, it was simply that the words he spoke first did not make Zhao Hongrun feel uncomfortable, but were lightly ridiculed by him.
After thinking for a while, Zhao Chengxiu asked with a cold expression: "Prince Su is visiting Yuanyang today. What is your purpose?"
Zhao Hongrun did not pay attention to him immediately. He only looked at the few paintings and calligraphy hanging in the front hall. After a while, he asked in a calm tone: "I came here today because I have some official matters to discuss with King Yuanyang." .”
The implication of this sentence is nothing more than to remind Zhao Chengxiu: first, I am here today for official business; second, it is not you Zhao Chengxiu that I want to see, but your father, King Yuanyang.
Zhao Chengxiu raised his eyebrows, as if he understood the deep meaning of Zhao Hongrun's words. His face was very unswerving, and he asked in an almost interrogative tone: "King Su, do you mean that this prince is not qualified to discuss with Prince Su?"
"Let's wait until you inherit your father's position as King Yuanyang." Zhao Hongrun looked back at Zhao Chengxiu and said in a neutral tone: "Before that, even if I tell you this official matter, it will be useless. .”
"Oh?" When Zhao Chengxiu heard this, his face became even more ugly, and he said coldly: "If King Su doesn't tell you his intention, how do you know whether this prince can make the decision?" After that, he sneered and added: "My king
He is taking a nap, if you want to wait for him to wake up, hum, King Su is right here, just wait for a few more hours!"
Glancing at the unconvinced expression on Zhao Chengxiu's face, Zhao Hongrun pretended to think for a moment.
But having said that, although he pretended to be thinking, in fact, he was indeed thinking, but he deliberately let Zhao Chengxiu see his hesitation.
To be fair, Zhao Hongrun was not inclined to discuss this matter with Zhao Chengxiu. After all, there was a grudge between them. He did not believe that Zhao Chengxiu would resolve the conflict with him. Otherwise, he would not have just hugged the beautiful maid.
He stood up and greeted him respectfully.
But on the other hand, if you ignore Zhao Chengxiu's words, it will be a trivial matter to offend this person again. The problem is that there is nothing to talk about. Is it possible that Zhao Hongrun will take the initiative to speak later? That is what he tries to avoid.
After thinking about it for a long time, Zhao Hongrun finally made up his mind, nodded and said: "Okay, in that case, it won't be a big deal if I talk to the prince."
Hearing this, Zhao Chengxiu showed a somewhat proud smile on his face, because in his opinion, this was a sign that Zhao Hongrun had surrendered to him, and he was worthy of being proud of it.
"King Su, please make it clear." He said calmly.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun no longer concealed anything and said truthfully: "There is a piece of wasteland called Bolangsha in the eastern suburbs of Yuanyang. I have taken a fancy to it and plan to build a huge river port on this land."
…
Hearing this, Zhao Chengxiu frowned and glanced at Zhao Hongrun. As the prince of Yuanyang, he was very familiar with this land because of his long history of running horses and hunting in this land. Naturally, he knew what kind of wasteland Bolangsha was.
.
It is no exaggeration to say that there is not much difference between the wasteland of Bolangsha and the absence of it, because there are no people living there at all, and the terrain is complex and harsh, and the mud is difficult to walk. Although it is said that there are some raccoons and badgers living there, Zhao Chengxiu used to
I don't know how to hunt there, so it's almost useless.
But now, Zhao Hongrun actually plans to build a huge river port on the desolate land over there. If he hadn't had a grudge with Zhao Hongrun, I'm afraid Zhao Chengxiu would have jumped up and loudly supported it.
After all, river ports mean transportation and a large amount of manpower and material resources. Simply put, if Zhao Hongrun really builds a river port in Bolangsha, then the benefits to surrounding neighboring counties will be extremely huge. Counties such as Zhongmou and Huangchi will all
If he can profit from it, even Yuanyang will accelerate its development because of this river port, making this land more prosperous.
Therefore, from a rational point of view, Zhao Chengxiu should not refuse this temptation. After all, if Yuan Yangruo gradually becomes rich, it will be of great benefit to him.
But unfortunately, the person in front of Zhao Hongrun at this moment is Zhao Chengxiu, the eldest son of Prince Yuanyang, and not his father Zhao Wenkai, Prince Yuanyang.
I believe that if Zhao Wenkai, the king of Yuanyang, heard about this, he would definitely support Zhao Hongrun's decision. But Zhao Chengxiu, even though he knew that building a river port in Bolangsha would be of great benefit to his Yuanyang, he could not estimate the specific value.
So he seemed a little hesitant.
He may be hesitating about which one deserves more attention, face or profit.
Unlike Zhao Hongrun and others, you must know that Zhao Hongrun and his brothers have been influenced by the power of Emperor Wei since they were young. They are all people who have the highest interests. They pay attention to rules and do whatever it takes, even for their own interests. , like Yong Wang Hongyu, he even dared to frame the Prince of the East Palace during the ceremony of worshiping heaven.
For them, interests are higher than face. As long as the interests are sufficient, even former enemies can resolve conflicts. Zhao Hongrun is a typical example.
Once upon a time, Zhao Hongrun wanted to kill Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, with a thousand swords, but when he realized that there must be someone with equal power in the Chu country to compete with Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, for the position of King of Chu, which would cause Chu State to fall into civil strife in the next few years. When he couldn't help himself, Zhao Hongrun took advantage of Mi Jiang's relationship to resolve his grudges with Xiong Tuo, the Lord of Yangcheng.
It's a pity that Zhao Chengxiu, who is opposite him at the moment, although he is five or six years older than Zhao Hongrun, his thoughts and ideas are probably still at the stage of life where he wants to save face.
But it's no wonder that Zhao Hongrun really didn't give Zhao Chengxiu face last time.
I remember that after Zhao Hongrun transported a large amount of money and goods from Chu State last time, the princes headed by Zhao Chengxiu went to Daliang together, eager to get a share of it. After all, these princes are accustomed to The arrogant and sensual playboy named Ji cannot use the money given by his parents.
But Zhao Hongrun ignored the feelings of his fellow clan and did not give them even a copper coin. This made the princes who were crowned kings complain about Zhao Chengxiu, because as far as they knew, it was very likely that Zhao Chengxiu had an affair with Su Wang Zhao Hongrun in a waterside pavilion. The conflict arose, which led Zhao Hongrun to refuse to give them a share of the pie.
This made Zhao Chengxiu, who had promised to get a share of the money, completely lost face among his cousins, and returned to Yuanyang in a depressed mood.
As for revenge against Zhao Hongrun, to be honest, although Zhao Chengxiu thought about it at the time, he didn't care much about it. After all, he was still arrogant enough to restrain his cousin.
But even he didn't expect that Zhao Hongrun would visit him in Yuanyang and put forward a proposal to build a river port in Bolangsha.
It has to be said that this is an opportunity for Yuanyang to accelerate its prosperity and development, but at the same time, it is probably the only opportunity that can make Zhao Hongrun "unhappy".
Should we choose profit or save face?
Zhao Chengxiu fell into an inner struggle.
Reason told him that if he rejected Zhao Hongrun's suggestion, he would most likely be severely reprimanded by his father, Zhao Wenkai.
After all, although Yuanyang is located close to Daliang, it is not a very prosperous area and has always been tepid. Therefore, if a river port can be built in Bolangsha, it will be very difficult for Yuanyang, one of their Ji surnamed Zhao family members. It can be said to be a hundred benefits without any harm.
However, the problem is that even though he knows that this is a win-win situation, if he agrees to the other party like this, Zhao Chengxiu will obviously feel unwilling to do so. After all, he does not have many opportunities to restrain Zhao Hongrun.
To put it bluntly, Zhao Chengxiu actually agreed to this matter in his heart, but because of his face, he felt that he had to make Zhao Hongrun pay an extra price to save face, otherwise, he would not be able to hold his head high in front of his cousins. .
Thinking of this, Zhao Chengxiu pretended to ponder for a moment and said lightly: "King Su wants to build a river port in Bolangsha. There is nothing wrong with this, but..." He paused and finally made a request: "Although Bolangsha is deserted
, but after all, it is my fiefdom of Yuanyang Kingdom. If King Su wants to build a river port there, he will buy that land... for one million taels of silver!"
…
Zhao Hongrun raised his head and looked at Zhao Chengxiu as if he were a fool. (To be continued.)