In the evening of that day, Zhao Hongrun came to Ningxiang Palace for dinner for the first time since he moved out of the palace.
To be honest, this is quite troublesome.
After all, it was fine when I lived in the palace in the past. Wenzhao Pavilion is not far from Ningxiang Palace in the harem. It only takes less than an hour to walk through the courtyards and gardens of the palace. Walking back and forth can be regarded as a walk. fitness.
But now that I have moved out of the palace and lived in Prince Su's Mansion in the city, it will be troublesome to come to Ningxiang Palace for dinner. Not only do I have to ride a horse or take a sedan chair all the way from Zhengyang Street to the palace gate, but I also have to walk all the way from the Nangong Gate of the palace. In the harem, the journey has more than doubled than before?
But when his mother summoned him, Zhao Hongrun had no choice but to take Shen Yu, Zhong Zhao, and Mu Qing in a carriage from Prince Su's Mansion to the palace, and then walked to the Ningxiang Palace of his mother, Concubine Shen Shu.
After entering the main hall of Ningxiang Palace, Zhao Hongrun felt a little puzzled because he did not see his brother Zhao Hongxuan today.
"Mom, where is Xiao Xuan?"
After seeing Concubine Shen Shu, Zhao Hongrun asked curiously.
Concubine Shen Shu smiled slightly and said: "The Palace School has assigned tasks in recent days, and Xuan'er has missed some homework. I can only return to his dormitory after being smeared in the past few days."
"Ha." Zhao Hongrun twitched the muscles at the corner of his mouth, secretly feeling sympathy for his brother's misfortune.
After all, he had received similar treatment once upon a time. He was forced to instill a lot of so-called ways of being a king and a minister by the lecturers of palace studies. He even had his palms slapped with a ruler when he was young. It was miserable.
After saying hello to his mother, Zhao Hongrun noticed Emperor Wei.
Today's Emperor Wei lacks a bit of the smile he once had on his face, and seems to be in a serious mood.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun asked curiously: "Father, is something bothering you?... Could it be because of General Xu Yin?"
"Have you heard?" Emperor Wei raised his head and glanced at his son.
Zhao Hongrun nodded.
Think about it, rumors about Fenxing General Xu Yin have been spreading in Daliang these days, how could Zhao Hongrun not know about it?
The reason why he did not go into details was that, firstly, he firmly believed that General Xu Yin would not do such a thing. Secondly, he knew that the imperial court and his father would definitely pay attention to this matter, mobilize all forces to stop the rumors, and at the same time investigate The mastermind behind the scenes.
The power of the imperial court is not comparable to that of King Su's weak team.
"How does your father plan to respond?"
After hearing this, Emperor Wei did not hide anything and truthfully stated Lin Yuyang's suggestion. Zhao Hongrun nodded frequently.
“This is a good idea!”
While making positive comments on this, Zhao Hongrun also did not forget to praise Lin Yuyang secretly in his heart.
"By the way, Father, has the Criminal Department found anything in this case?"
"We haven't found anything yet." Emperor Wei stroked his beard and said with an inexplicable expression: "The person who planned this matter is very careful... It seems that he is not a good person!" After that, Concubine Shen Shu happened to pass it over. A bowl full of rice came. After taking it, he asked Zhao Hongrun: "According to Zhou Yanyan, the Minister of Punishment, you are very concerned about the attack on the Chu envoy Xiong Fen's team... What do you think about this? look?"
"What did Mr. Zhou say?" Zhao Hongrun asked with a frown.
Emperor Wei picked up the chopsticks and suppressed his anger and said calmly: "Zhou Yanyan said that the person who slandered Xu Yin was probably the murderer who murdered Xiong Fen and others last year. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the rumors about the incident at that time. An accurate description of the place.”
"Hmm." Zhao Hongrun touched his chin and said with a frown: "It seems that those thieves just want to make Wei Wei uneasy..."
"I doubted many people, but then eliminated them one by one... I really can't think of any benefits to those who did this."
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment, then guessed: "Otherwise...it's not for profit."
"Not for profit?"
"Hmm." Zhao Hongrun nodded and said with a frown: "If it is simply General Xu Yin who is slandered, it may be because General Xu Yin offended some people, but if this matter has something to do with Xiong Fen, the Chu envoy last year,
The meaning of being linked to the attack on his team may be different... I suspect that those people are purely trying to destabilize the Wei Dynasty." At this point, he shook his head and laughed at himself: "It's obviously Wei.
People, but want to destroy the Wei Dynasty... Could it be that some Wei people who are dissatisfied with the imperial policy are using this to retaliate against society?"
"revenge……?"
Emperor Wei probably didn't understand the meaning of the word society, but the word revenge made his eyes change slightly.
You must know that at first, Emperor Wei suspected that it was some aristocratic families in the country, but no matter how he thought about it, he felt something was wrong. After all, how could ordinary people do such a thing that has no profit at all?
If the Wei Dynasty falls, what good will it do to those aristocratic families? They will only become the fat in the mouths of other countries.
This is just like Zhao Hongrun's expropriation of the wealth of several big clans in Chu State. Those big clans lost the military protection of Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo, and in the blink of an eye they became victims of Zhao Hongrun's extortion of money.
In fact, the same is true for the noble families in Wei. If Wei cannot protect them, they will be attacked and destroyed by armies from other countries, and no one will continue to support them.
Therefore, Emperor Wei felt that those people would not do such a thing that would harm the country and not benefit themselves.
After being reminded by his son, Emperor Wei realized that his guess might be wrong.
The objects of suspicion should not be those aristocratic families that are now powerful. On the contrary, they should be those aristocrats or aristocratic families that declined due to the Emperor Wei or the imperial court.
For example, the survivors of those aristocratic families who had been implicated and had their homes confiscated.
It's not that Emperor Wei looked down upon ordinary Wei people. After all, according to common sense, ordinary people should not hold such hatred towards Wei, nor do they have the courage and ability to plan the whole thing.
"Hmph!"
Emperor Wei raised the corner of his mouth, and a slightly cold smile appeared on his face.
Obviously, after a conversation with his son, he felt that he had vaguely grasped the general direction of the matter. All that was left was to pursue it in this direction, and he should be able to find out something.
However, the look on his face at this moment made Concubine Shen Shu and Zhao Hongrun slightly stunned.
Especially Zhao Hongrun, after all, in his impression, even if his father was so angry with him that veins popped out on his forehead, he had never felt such a cold and compelling aura as at this moment, as if he was finally heading towards his prey.
A beast with its fangs exposed.
But after thinking about it again, Zhao Hongrun felt relieved.
After all, his father was the king of the Wei Dynasty. Even though he was a wise king who was respected by all the people, it was undeniable that his hands were stained with countless blood. How could he really be a kind person?
The so-called wise kings only mean that the kings are virtuous and meritorious to the country and the people. It does not mean that they are cowardly or soft-hearted.
Come to think of it, in the past, even if Emperor Wei was angered and furious by Zhao Hongrun, he had never shown such a frightening side. It was just that his blood was flowing in Zhao Hongrun's body, and tiger poison cannot eat its seeds.
Emperor Wei was probably not that tolerant of outsiders.
So, Zhao Hongrun pretended not to notice and immersed himself in cooking.
Beside him, Concubine Shen Shu looked at Emperor Wei hesitantly, but in the end she said nothing and turned a blind eye like her son.
However, Emperor Wei realized his gaffe in time, quickly suppressed the sinister look on his face, coughed and changed the topic: "By the way, Hongrun, how is the management of your palace going?"
"Lu Mu is in charge." Zhao Hongrun knew what his father wanted to ask, so he shrugged and said, "I asked General Bailiba to invite some veterans who have retired or are about to retire to my house, just as I guessed.
, those old soldiers brought many people along with their families, so the nursing home, guards, servants, maids, mothers, etc. were all solved at once."
Emperor Wei's eyes twitched a few times when he heard this, and he said strangely: "This is against the rules..."
"What's wrong with the rules?" Zhao Hongrun flipped through the pages and said, "Soldiers who are dredging water must retire when they reach the age of forty. Instead of letting those meritorious sergeants go back to farm, it is better to use their remaining energy in my palace. At least they can still
Wearing armor."
Emperor Wei couldn't help but feel a little resentful. After all, for an elite army such as the Junshui Army with six battalions stationed there, in order to ensure the elite combat effectiveness, ordinary soldiers would be retired when they reached the age of forty, and their sons or brothers would follow suit. This was also
It is the so-called military household. Not just anyone can be recruited into an elite army such as the Sixth Battalion of the Garrison. It depends on their bloodline.
For example, if a soldier of the Junshui Army is a soldier of the Junshui Army, his grandfather, father, and brother are all soldiers of the Junshui Army. This is a typical bloodline of the Junshui Army. He is born in Miaohong. After taking over the position of his father and brother, he will be very good.
Be quickly accepted by the other soldiers and avoid being bullied.
On the contrary, if a soldier is promoted from the local garrison to the dredging army, no matter how strong his personal strength is, he will be prejudiced and ignored until he has made military exploits for the dredging army. And when the soldier is discharged, he will
His son took his place, so there would be no prejudice.
This is why Emperor Wei was not sure about letting Bailiba, Sima An and other generals take over Fenxing fortress. After all, it would be impossible to completely recover such a large family-like army in the short term, even if Xu
Yin, Bailiba and Sima An also spent many years at the beginning.
As for those retired soldiers, to be honest, Wei Dynasty did not give them too generous retirement treatment. Except for a few outstanding soldiers who were sent to serve as the backbone of the guard army, more soldiers could only lay down their weapons and return.
Many families farm, and some even don’t know how to farm.
It's no wonder, after all, these veterans from the elite army only know how to kill the enemy efficiently on the battlefield and survive. They have trained for ten years or even longer, farming? I'm afraid they
It is not even possible to distinguish seedlings from weeds.
Fortunately, the military household system means that the families of those soldiers will almost always have one or more men serving in the military and have a relatively stable military salary income. Otherwise, the life of these veterans may not be easy after they retire.
But no matter what, after taking off their armor, those old soldiers were no different from ordinary Wei people. Therefore, the Emperor of Wei really couldn't say anything.
The meal passed among small talk.
When Zhao Hongrun was about to leave the palace, Concubine Shen Shu called out to him.
At this time, the palace maid Xiao Tao took out something like a picture album from the inner room, placed it on the table, and then spread it out.
On the front page of the album, there is a vivid painting of a young woman holding a paper umbrella and sitting next to a fake stone, with a reserved and reserved smile.
"..."
Zhao Hongrun only glanced at it, and a bad premonition arose in his heart. (To be continued.)