27. Second prince's thought
The secondPrince, who was missed by the Seventh Prince, was on his way back to the capital, and was still a hundred miles away from the capital.
At this time, he was leading a large army to garrison in the wild.
"Your Highness, there is a letter from the capital." Fu Zhong took the letter he had just received and walked into the main tent to hand it to the King of Dai.
The King of Dai took the letter, opened it, and then frowned, and his face instantly became very ugly.
Seeing that Prince Dai's face was gloomy, Fu Zhong asked with concern: "Your Highness, is there any accident in the capital?"
"My ninth brother's horse was drugged and almost got into trouble."
"What, Your Highness's horse was drugged?" Fu Zhong asked, "Who drugged it?"
"Mother said that father dealt with several eunuchs of Shangfangling." Prince Dai raised the corner of his mouth and sneered, "How could the eunuchs of Shangfangling have the courage to harm my ninth brother."
Fu Zhong was very smart and immediately thought of who it was: "It was the prince's people."
"If it wasn't the prince's people, father wouldn't have stopped there." Prince Dai picked up the letter and burned it on the candlelight, "In order to protect the prince, father does not intend to thoroughly investigate this matter."
"What about Your Highness?" Fu Zhong felt sorry for the ninth prince, "Your Highness almost got into trouble, and the emperor didn't care."
"My ninth brother didn't get into trouble."
"Just because Your Highness didn't get into trouble, the emperor didn't investigate the real culprit?" Fu Zhong said indignantly, "Your Highness is the emperor's own son, how could the emperor treat Your Highness like this?"
Prince Dai frowned, frowned and said nothing.
"Your Highness, we have to return to the capital as soon as possible, otherwise the Royal Concubine and the Ninth Prince will be bullied again." Fu Zhong said, "As long as you return to the capital, no one will dare to bully the Royal Concubine and the Ninth Prince."
"There is something wrong with this matter." The King of Dai looked thoughtful, "There must be another hidden story behind this matter."
"Your Highness, do you mean that the person behind the murder of the Ninth Prince is not the Crown Prince?" Fu Zhong asked, "If it is not the Crown Prince's people, then whose people are they?"
"This matter is not as simple as it seems." The King of Dai guessed, "Even if father wants to protect the Crown Prince, he will punish the Crown Prince's people. It is impossible to let it go like this. There must be something we don't know about it."
"Your Highness, who can make the emperor protect him like this?" Fu Zhong said, "Who else can it be except the Crown Prince."
Many people flashed through the King of Dai's mind, but these people were not enough to make his father worry so much.
"The truth of this matter can only be known when I go back."
"Your Highness, do you think this matter is directed at you?"
"It should be directed at me and the prince." King Dai said, "They want me and the prince to fight."
"You and the prince are already fighting, who..." Fu Zhong immediately thought of who it was, "Could it be the Wang family, the Yuan family, the Xun family?"
"It's not impossible." King Dai tapped his fingers on the table, thinking, "Ninth brother's matter is not urgent, right now my matter of adding beads is more urgent. In a few days, we will arrive in Beijing. Before returning to Beijing, I have to finalize the matter of adding beads."
"Your Highness, you have always been favored by the emperor. Usually, the emperor will give you whatever you ask for, but this time the emperor has been reluctant to agree to adding beads. The emperor will not..." Fu Zhong did not dare to finish his words.
"The Duke of Zhenguo and the Xie family are obstacles." The King of Dai thought for a moment and said, "I will write a letter to my father to tell him that I have no intention of adding pearls."
"Your Highness, are you planning to retreat to advance?"
"That's right." The King of Dai ordered, "Grind."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The King of Dai wrote a letter to the emperor, and the words in the letter were very sincere, saying that he had no intention of adding pearls, and that it was his duty to lead troops to fight, and he did not need special rewards.
He also wrote a letter to Concubine Rong, asking her to be patient and wait for him to return to Beijing.
Fu Zhong took the two letters written by the King of Dai and sent someone to send them back to Beijing immediately.
Father, what are you thinking?
You have always said that I am most like you, and you obviously want me to inherit your mantle, so why don't you abolish the prince?
You know that adding pearls to me this time will make me more powerful to compete with the prince, so why don't you agree?
Although the Duke of Zhenguo and the Xie family are obstacles, with your methods, you don't need to be afraid of the Xie family at all. What are you thinking?
The matter of adding Zhu was proposed by the King of Dai, who asked Xuanping Hou and others to bring it up to the emperor.
The King of Dai was not satisfied with being just a prince. He thought that he had made great military achievements for the Great Zhou, and the status of a prince was not worthy of him. Only the status of a crown prince was worthy of him, but he could not be a crown prince at present, so only the status of Prince Jiazhu was barely worthy of him.
He would be Prince Jiazhu first, and then the crown prince. When he became Prince Jiazhu, he would be able to become the crown prince in the future.
In addition, he let the civil and military officials of the court and the people of the world know about his contributions over the years. He also wanted to let the people of the world know that the prince had not made any military achievements for the Great Zhou. In this way, when he replaces the prince in the future, the people will also think it is appropriate.
In fact, the King of Dai has long wanted to be the Prince of Jiazhu, but he has never found the opportunity. This Liangzhou victory is the best opportunity.
If you miss this rare opportunity, you don't know when you will have to wait for the next time you want to add a pearl. Therefore, this time, the addition of pearls must be successful.
If the matter of adding pearls cannot be settled before returning to Beijing, this matter will fail halfway.
I hope that after seeing this letter, my father will agree to his adding pearls.
The King of Dai himself is anxious to add pearls, and Xuanping Hou and Rong Guifei are more anxious than him.
In the past few days, Xuanping Hou has been asking the ministers who support the King of Dai to put pressure on the emperor, and they have also united the ministers who support the third prince and others to force the emperor to agree to add pearls to the King of Dai. In
Chengguang Hall, in the imperial study, the emperor is drinking tea with He Xiang, Liu Taishi, and Song Dekang.
"Prime Minister He, do you think I should add pearls to the Prince of Dai?" Prime Minister
He put down the teacup in his hand, stood up and saluted the emperor: "Your Majesty, adding pearls to the prince is the rule of the previous dynasty, not the rule of our dynasty."
The emperor looked at Grand Tutor Liu: "Old Liu, what do you think?"
Grand Tutor Liu stood up and said, "Your Majesty can make the decision."
"Old Song, what about you?"
"Your Majesty, I also think that adding pearls to the prince is the rule of the previous dynasty, and has nothing to do with our dynasty. There is no need for our dynasty to learn the rules of the previous dynasty." Song Dekang was much more straightforward than Prime Minister He and Grand Tutor Liu. "Besides, the Prince of Dai has received a lot of rewards, so there is no need to add pearls. Also, the things from the previous dynasty are unlucky, so it is better for our dynasty not to use them."
"Old Song, you'd better be honest." The emperor said, looking at Prime Minister He and Grand Tutor Liu with disdain, "Unlike them two who are cunning and treacherous."
Song Dekang said, "Your Majesty, I have always been honest and upright." Prime Minister
He and Grand Tutor Liu glared at Song Dekang, but Song Dekang pretended not to see it.
"Prime Minister He, Old Liu, you have become more and more cunning over the years, and you have been fooling me."
Prime Minister He said, "Your Majesty, you have already made up your mind about whether to give the King of Dai a pearl, right?"
"When did I make a decision?" The emperor looked innocent, "I have no idea, so I asked for your opinions. You should give me an accurate answer like Old Song." Prime Minister He
has been following the emperor and has some understanding of the emperor's thoughts. He knew that the emperor said this deliberately.
"Since the emperor said so, then I will speak frankly. I think the King of Dai should not be given a pearl." If he didn't give a definite answer today, the emperor would not let him go back.
Seeing that Prime Minister He spoke directly, Imperial Tutor Liu could only speak directly: "Your Majesty, I also think that the King of Dai should not be given more beads."
"Why didn't you two just say it directly just now?" The emperor said, "You two are really fussy."
Being called fussy, Prime Minister He and Imperial Tutor Liu could only plead guilty: "I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty."
"Don't be so fussy in the future."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Since you all think that the King of Dai should not be given more beads, then how do you think I should reward him after he returns to the capital, after all, he has made such a great contribution?"
"Your Majesty, just give him the same reward as before, there is no need to reward the King of Dai specially." Song Dekang said, "Also, the King of Dai can't be compared with you in his day. You made much more contributions than the King of Dai in your day, and I didn't see you asking for credit by saying that you should give more beads. The King of Dai is just getting started, and he wants to give him more beads."
"Your Majesty, what Old Song said is right. There is no need to give special rewards to the King of Dai. Just treat him as usual." He Xiang said, "It is not right to give the prince more beads."
Liu Taishi said sharply, "Your Majesty, if you give the King of Dai special rewards again, it will only make the King of Dai more ambitious."
He Xiang looked at Liu Taishi in surprise when he heard Liu Taishi speak so directly.
(End of this chapter)