"What about the second one?" The eldest prince's choice was indeed not beyond Lin Xi's expectation.
How can people who have enjoyed rights be willing to lose it?
Why do many people who are supposed to be extremely wise and far-sighted make some 'wise' decisions in some special periods?
Because something blinds their hearts and makes them stupid.
As we live in this world, we will be affected by various emotions.
No one will maintain a certain height and never fall down.
No matter how smart a person is, he will do reckless and stupid things because of temporary excitement.
Therefore, sometimes it is said that controlling one's emotions and temper is more important than studying and becoming smarter.
Smart or talented people may not necessarily succeed.
But a person who can perfectly control his emotions will definitely succeed.
"Second, find a way... to shake the impossible fortress, to win over the impossible people, and then..." Lin Xi did not say what was next.
The eldest prince interrupted him, looked at Xia Houjie and said in an indifferent tone: "Xia Houjie! You go out first!"
Xia Houjie's face changed drastically. Even as slow as he was, he now knew that his position had been completely replaced by Lin Xi.
And what Lin Xi did... was just a few words. In his opinion, the words were neither salty nor bland, and they were full of rhetoric and had no practical significance at all.
How could he be compared to him? In order to gain the rights of Xiahou Mansion, he killed brothers and sisters, leaving his hands full of blood. He even secretly laid out his plans in Wei City under the arrangement of the eldest prince, waiting for Xiahou Mingde to return and give him the power.
He kissed me as a 'surprise'.
Even though he was no longer angry, Xia Houjie still retreated.
At the same time, he kept looking at Lin Xi with fierce and warning eyes, obviously he had already made up his mind.
After Xia Houjie left, Lin Xi said: "Xia Houjie is afraid that he will lose control. He is not a smart man and will be harmful to His Highness... But I don't need Your Highness to help me deal with it. I have my own way."
He is safe, this can be regarded as... a small test paper I gave to you, Your Highness, I always want to prove that I am not just talking nonsense."
However, the eldest prince came over and held Lin Xi's arm: "What did you say, sir? I know what you are capable of. Let's continue what we just said."
Even so, I am very satisfied with Lin Xi's initiative and consciousness.
But all leaders like subordinates who can reduce troubles for themselves, create benefits and solve problems.
"What you just meant was that you want me to touch the eight kings with different surnames?"
"I'm afraid it won't be easy. The eight kings with different surnames all come from the same origin. This is also related to the unique skills of my royal family. Before the previous generation of kings with different surnames abdicated, they would bring all their heirs to the emperor, who would foresee the future and then appoint them.
One will inherit the royal title. The other princes and heirs with different surnames will become common people and live their lives as wealthy men. From then on, they will have no connection with the king or the court with different surnames."
"This means that each generation of kings with different surnames is personally decided by the emperor after seeing the future. Their loyalty has been reviewed by the future and is indisputable."
"Even I...can't conquer any king with a different surname. And if the contemporary king with a different surname is assassinated, the new king with a different surname will still be decided by the father. The new king with a different surname he chooses will still only surrender.
Only him." The eldest prince expressed his concerns.
Lin Xi said: "Your Highness! The future is changeable, I think you should know better."
"No matter how firm your heart is, there will be a moment when it collapses."
"What's more, now is an era of change that has never happened before, and the changes in people's hearts... are probably difficult to calculate in full."
"My suggestion is... you can think of a way to test King Yan."
The eldest prince frowned and said: "King Yan has been guarding Shanhe Pass for generations. He holds the most ferocious Shanhe cavalry to resist the barbarians from the north... How could he do it?"
"Your Highness! In the Xia Kingdom today, which one is more important, the navy or the cavalry? On land, who are the stronger infantrymen holding muskets and pushing cannons, or the cavalrymen who ride horses and hold spears?"
Lin Xi asked.
Hearing this, the eldest prince instantly understood what Lin Xi meant.
"You mean..."
"That's right! King Yan has always been the number one among the eight princes, and he should be the right-hand man of the emperor. Therefore, over the years, the princes with great ambitions in the past dynasties have never thought of conquering King Yan, even if they have made plans for the eight princes.
The kings of Yan in the past were indeed worthy of the emperor's trust in them. They were not only loyal, but also stained the battlefield with blood for generations."
"Almost every generation of King Yan changes because the old King Yan dies on the battlefield, and then the emperor appoints a new King Yan."
"However, Your Highness, times have changed now!"
"The Xia Kingdom no longer needs cavalry, no longer relies on cavalry, and no longer relies on King Yan's Mountain and River Cavalry. The Xia Kingdom is now very rich... However, the Mountain and River Cavalry on the northern border are getting poorer and poorer, because they are being abandoned by the times.
.”
"At this time, as the commander-in-chief of the Shanhe Cavalry, King Yan must find a way out for his soldiers."
"When you go to recruit King Yan, what needs to be tested is not King Yan's loyalty to His Majesty, nor how charming your personality is. It's... whether King Yan chooses to remain foolishly loyal or to love and protect his own soldiers."
At this point, Lin Xi seemed to sigh sincerely and said: "Your Majesty... you are getting old after all."
"If you weren't old, how could you ignore such an important mountain and river army?"
In fact, this contradiction is irreconcilable.
Hundreds of years ago, Shanhe cavalry formed an army. At this time, in the northern border area, basically all Xia people were military households.
However, with the development of new firearms, with the growth of Xia's national power, and with the development of its economy.
The Xia Kingdom does not need to fear the invasion of those northern barbarians.
There is no need to even station hundreds of thousands of troops to resist the barbarians, which would bring a huge burden to the finances every year.
If it is an army mainly composed of muskets and artillery, then even if there are only a few thousand people, it can guard the border against the barbarians like an iron barrel.
It’s not that Shanhe Cavalry cannot be restructured.
But this will inevitably reduce the number of troops.
Because the first thing to be equipped with firearms is the navy that expands territory and creates more benefits and value.
Next is the army in various places.
It is impossible for all mountain and river cavalry to be equipped with new weapons.
And even if it can be equipped...it no longer requires so many soldiers.
For border military households who have been in the military for generations, if they cannot serve as soldiers, they will have nowhere to belong.
The fertile Central Plains area has long been overcrowded and the land distribution has been completed.
However, the soil on the border is hard and stiff, and the climate is bitterly cold, which is not suitable for farming at all. Those military households who have lost their military careers cannot leave Nanshan, so they pick up hoes and become farmers.
What’s more, farming is also a technical job.
Without the experience passed down from generation to generation, and in a barren land, a military household turned into a farmer. After three years, they could barely make a harvest... I'm afraid God took special care and opened the back door.