Reverse Junhou

Chapter 22 Yidijing [21]

"Your Highness, it's time for dinner. The general asks Your Highness to enter the account." The chief guard of the Yandong Army came to report.

Three days ago, Zhao Fengci went south to the East China Sea with Yandong's elite soldiers. The group left Guangyang Capital at high speed, crossed the Yashan Mountains, and arrived at the Yishui River this evening.Zhu Liang saw that it was getting late, so he ordered the army to set up camp along the river, rest in place overnight, and set off tomorrow.

When Zhao Fengci first joined the Yandong Army, several lieutenants in the army secretly complained.The conditions on the marching road were difficult, and the pampered and pampered nobles could not be accommodated.Although the five sons of the emperor experienced a lot of experience in Zhenbei when they were young, after all, they have been living in the palace for a long time since the Ming Dynasty, and they may have also acquired a lot of habits of the imperial city.

Most of the sergeants had also heard about the prince who supervised the army, but they still had fear in their hearts, and they would walk around whenever they met this noble man dressed in black.The Fifth Highness that everyone saw was always taciturn, even if someone saluted him, His Highness would just nod his head slightly and settle the matter.It was only later that I heard the comments from my colleagues who watched the night. It turned out that His Highness the Fifth Highness still had a little interest in hearing chickens dance. Every day before dawn, he ran to practice swords under the big tree.

At the beginning, Zhu Liang was also worried that His Highness the Fifth Highness was not used to living in the army, and was not used to the big pot food in the army.Along the way, I found two cooks with clean backgrounds, and accompanied the army to cook some food for His Royal Highness, but I didn't expect that they would be sent away by His Royal Highness not long after they arrived.Later, when it was time to stop and garrison, His Royal Highness took a pottery bowl, went to the cauldron to get his own meal, sat in front of the tent and opened the chopsticks to eat.

During the three days of marching, he never complained, instead he would crow every day and gallop with the team on horseback, showing no trace of fatigue.Even the head of the personal guard looked at him with admiration.

Young people are really energetic.

Zhao Fengci heard the voice behind him, made a gesture of retreat, put the sword back on his waist, turned around and said: "Please tell the general, I will come right away."

He didn't know why General Zhu was looking for him, but seeing the solemn expression of the head of the personal guard, it seemed that he had something important to discuss.So he wiped it with his sleeve casually, and wiped away the fine sweat that dripped from his forehead during sword practice.He went to the tent of General Zhu with the head of the guard.

As soon as Zhao Fengci entered the commander's tent, the head of the personal guard closed the curtain and retreated, leaving only him and General Zhu in the tent.

Zhu Liang was drawing a pen to annotate the Art of War, when he saw Zhao Feng resigned to enter, he hurriedly got up to welcome him into the account.

Zhu Liang and Jing Yang Lin came from the same family, they were born in a family of generals, they became famous all over the world when they were young, they were both strong generals who guarded the border for Dafu.Zhu Liang was younger than Jing Yanglin, his beard and hair were still young, and he seemed to be in good spirits, just in his prime.

Zhao Fengci gave a junior salute to this grandfather's best friend and old friend: "What is the general looking for me for?"

Zhu Liang laughed happily: "I have been marching in a hurry these few days, and I have never been able to find a chance to sit down and talk with His Highness. Tomorrow, I will cross Yishui, so it happens to be this night to talk to His Highness from the bottom of my heart."

Zhao Fengci remembered that his grandfather always said that General Zhu Liangzhu has always been an old and dishonest person.When I was young, I kissed Zhu Rong's baby, and it was General Zhu who fooled me when my grandfather was drunk.He still remembered that when he was sent to Saibei, General Zhu came to Guangyang to see him off and gave him a bunch of wooden knives and swords to play with.

Although the marriage contract with Zhu Rong back then was a bit of a joke, but after all, it was a contract that she had broken first.Zhu Rong waited hard for him for so many years, and finally married as a palace woman.

"Uncle Zhu, about Miss Zhu...I'm really sorry." Zhao Fengci thought for a while and said to Zhu Liang.

Thinking of his daughter, Zhu Liang's expression was a little sad, but he didn't blame Zhao Fengci for this, but changed the subject and asked, "Since I mentioned Rong'er, do you know why I pushed you to be the supervisor of Yandong Army?" , follow me south to fight against the Japanese?"

Why he was favored by General Zhu just after the house arrest order was released, this is something Zhao Fengci has never figured out.

"It's a long story." General Zhu sighed, "Does Your Highness know what happened in the palace during the days when you were under house arrest?"

"Also ask uncle to make it clear."

"After that boy from Wen's family was shot by an arrow, His Majesty and Your Majesty ordered people from all walks of life to investigate thoroughly. In the end, it was indeed related to the Hu people. But for some reason, the crown prince kept his mouth shut for a long time, but on the eve of Jingyang Lin's return to Saibei with troops, I went to the palace many times to meet the queen. Seeing that the situation was not right, Rong'er asked the prince obliquely. I didn't expect to find out that the empress and the prince put pressure on your majesty and killed you. She wrote to me begging me to find a way Take you away from the capital, the farther the better, to avoid the chaos in the court."

"After I thought of this method, I went to trust Jingyanglin. I didn't expect the old villain of Jingyang to have a clever mind. He immediately agreed to my plan of watching the fire from the other side, and went back to Saibei without hesitation."

Zhao Fengci felt a little sad after hearing the cause and effect.He has always felt ashamed of Zhu Rong.Zhu Rong is so helpful, if she confronts the prince in the future, I don't know how she will deal with herself.

"No matter what happens, when I return to Beijing, I will try my best to protect Miss Zhu well." He said softly.

General Zhu got a promise from His Royal Highness, and gave him a teasing look: "Rong'er told me that Your Highness already has something to belong to, and I don't know when I will be free, so I can bring it to your grandfather and uncle to see?" Zhao Fengcihong wrote Lian shook his head: "Uncle, don't listen to Miss Zhu's nonsense."

After she entered Beijing, she hadn't met Zhu Rong a few times, so she didn't know that she had a crush, but it was just a joke in her spare time.

"However, it was beyond my expectation to get His Majesty's permission so easily." General Zhu continued.

Zhao Fengci could guess the emperor's mind.As Yang Shuyue said, Emperor Jingyang was quite afraid of the empress and the Wen family, but he had been tightly controlled by the Wen family all year round, and he did not dare to make big moves on the surface.If the five sons were dealt with according to the queen's wishes, then the Zhenbei Mansion would be completely offended. From now on, no one in the court could compete with the Wen family.

Sending himself to supervise the army, the sword has no eyes on the battlefield, which not only fulfilled the intention of the queen and the prince to punish him, but also set up an arrow target for the prince in the east.In case the prince has no scruples and has other thoughts directly.

It is really embarrassing that my father, the emperor, can break out a way to protect himself in a lifetime of cowardice.

But General Zhu didn't understand this, he had sacrificed a daughter for it, Zhao Fengci didn't want to drag the Yandong Army into this troubled water, he just nodded in response: "Probably Father has his own considerations. "

"By the way, there is also a twists and turns from Wenfu." The two talked for a while, General Zhu seemed to think of something, and sighed, "Your Highness, do you know the boy from Wenfu who was shot by the arrow? Wen Shizhen is a You bastard, I didn't expect to raise a son with a lot of backbone."

Hearing that Zhu Liang mentioned Wen Xuechao, Zhao Fengci put down the wine cup in his hand.

"I heard that the kid blocked an arrow for the prince, and he recovered after lying down for half a month. It's not over yet. He didn't know what news he heard from the prince's mansion, so he ran into the palace in the middle of the night to argue with His Majesty. Beifu has nothing to do, I advise His Majesty not to harm Zhongliang and so on. His Majesty saw that this boy with curly hair can speak well, not only did he not care about it, he even gave him some medicine to take back. Who would have thought that this kid from the Wen family would faint before leaving the palace .”

"Guess why? It turned out that when he slipped out of the mansion, his wound opened, and he didn't pass out until the face saint finished."

Zhao Fengci's body froze, and he looked at General Zhu in disbelief, his thoughts were twisted together, all the past came to his mind, and his heart was crushed like a knife.

Why Wen Xuechao didn't go to the palace for a banquet, and why the arrow wound still hasn't healed after three months of nursing, the answer to the mystery is already clear.

This man has abandoned himself to do stupid things for others.

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhu Liang stopped talking, and called the head of the guard to send His Highness the Fifth Prince back to the camp in person, and told him to rest well.Zhao Fengci returned to the tent in a daze, and instead of going to bed directly, he walked to the Yishui River alone.

He took off the jade pendant given to him by Wen Xuechao, and gently stroked it in his palm.The sharp snow characters were deeply embedded in the jade, and against the sparkling Yishui, there was a warm luster.He thought of the owner of that pair of bright eyes, who came along the path in the palace, and when he saw him for the first time, he shook his mind as a kid.

It has been half a month since the Yandong Army went south, Wen Xuechao counted the days, the army will reach Dulingdu Mansion in two days.He is in good health and has no serious problems in daily walking, so he received a message from Wen Shizhen asking him to go to Linshuyuan today.

Linshuyuan was established by Emperor Jin'an, and it shared the military and political power with the atrium.Linshuyuan was originally established to weaken the prime minister's power and strengthen the emperor's control over military power.However, during the Yongping period, Linshu Academy was in charge of Wenxiang, and there was no need to report minor matters in the courtyard to the Heavenly Auditor, and there was a faint tendency to ostracize the emperor.

It is the first time that the first son of the Wen family has been invited to attend the Linshu Academy for such a grown-up son.Seeing that Wen Xuechao came in after Wenxiang, all the ministers started discussing with their colleagues.What we are talking about today is an important matter of military affairs. It seems that Wen Shizhen has intended to let his son-in-law go to the court to practice.

Wen Xiang pointed to a corner, and Wen Xuechao sat down obediently.He listened to the civil and military courtiers talk about the rebellion in the southern country and the war in the northern border for several hours, but he didn't get a general idea, so he covered his sleeves and yawned several times.After talking about the important matters, the ministers got into the sedan chairs of their own mansions, or went back to the mansion, or went to the restaurant for a small talk, and left Linshuyuan one after another.

Seeing that the crowd had dispersed, Wen Xuechao was about to get up, but was stopped by Wen Shizhen: "Wen Ji, follow me."

He followed his father into the back hall, and saw several courtiers who had just left sitting in the hall, as if they were waiting to attend political affairs.Zheng Rui, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, Yan Qing, deputy envoy of the Third Department, Qian Yanhong, a member of Zhongshushe... all of you here are the mainstays of the court.

Before he waited for his father to signal, he saluted several veteran officials in turn.Qian Yanhong was over seventy years old, seeing that the younger generation of the Wen family knew how to be polite, he stroked his beard with satisfaction: "Now that we are all old, this world will be dominated by young people from now on. Wen Yu is so smart and quick-witted, it seems that the official Jane is going to cultivate the next Wen Shenzhi in advance."

Wen Shizhen shook her head: "Elder Ge was joking, calling Xiaoer this time is just because the affairs of the court and China have become more and more complicated, and the younger generation needs to share some trivial matters."

"Now that everyone is here, I will talk to you adults in detail. There is a letter from Rendu Mansion that the Yandong Army will arrive in Duling two days after tomorrow. There are 15 soldiers and horses staying in the city of Duling, and [-] in the southern border. In addition to the [-] battalions in Beijing, Yandong has a total of [-] troops available for deployment this time. Ren Du Fu said that he had discussed with Zhu Liang before, and the training of troops will take three months. With the tactical ingenuity of drilling camps, it will not take more than half a year. Then we will go to war against the Wushou people." Wen Shizhen's expression was gloomy.

"Then we need to make a decision as soon as possible, whether to abandon it or to keep it, what's your opinion?" Minister of the Ministry of Punishment asked anxiously.

Wen Shizhen was silent, but it was Qian Ge who said slowly: "The old man is half buried in the ground now. If the Holy One blames him, he can carry it. At worst, he will die to apologize. I am afraid that the generations of the Qian family will Zhongliang, I have also been implicated by me and can't die well."

Wen Xuechao raised her eyebrows, this money old boy wants to set up a torii even after becoming a boss, how can there be such an easy thing in the world?

Wen Shizhen sighed: "Why don't I worry that the Holy Majesty will find any clues. However, I have been with Wushou privately for many years, and there are hundreds of Wushou people in the bank and grain shop set up by the Wenfu in Duling. It’s really hard to ride a tiger.”

"How much silver does Wushou owe us?" Qian Yanhong asked.

"10 taels of gold, millions of taels of silver, countless jewels and jade articles."

"It doesn't matter if you don't want this money," Wen Shizhen gritted her teeth, "I will give Mrs. Wu another 20 taels of silver to let her lead those pirates to avoid the East China Sea. Yandong Army leaked the news."

Wen Xuechao held her breath.The reason why my father called me to the Privy Council was indeed for this matter.He had known for a long time that several big families in the capital had secretly communicated with the pirates in the east, and accumulated gold and jade through the sea for many years.The imperial court has been unable to suppress the blackhead pirates for a long time and regain the eastern border islands, so why is there no shadow of aristocratic families behind it?If the pirates are eliminated, their business opportunities in the eastern border will be cut off.Today's father asked me to come here, presumably because he had more energy than energy, and finally wanted to drag himself into this muddy water.

He has always been aware of the reasons behind the wealth of the Wenfu, his father and this group of veterans are no different from the barbarians and pirates, they are just a group of national thieves who are corrupting the big family.

He couldn't reveal much before His Highness the Fifth Highness left Beijing, so he could only tell him something about the Eastern Territory in a circumstantial way.Later, seeing that Zhao Fengci was not clear, he gave him his jade pendant before leaving.

"Send someone to inform Mrs. Wu for the time being. First observe the movement of the Yandong Army before making follow-up plans. If there are any abnormalities, I will send the juniors in the mansion to deal with them in person." Wen Shizhen glanced at her son, "Before Can you keep the jade pendant that Mrs. Wu gave you?"

"Go back to father, Xuechao has been properly kept." Wen Xuechao asked himself when he saw his father, his heart skipped a beat for an instant.

"That's good. The jade pendant was a birthday present given to you by Mrs. Wu back then. If you need to go to the Eastern Realm in the future, you don't have to worry about your safety with the jade pendant."

When Wen Xuechao was young, she once met the female leader of the pirates in Wenfu, and the female leader gave her a jade pendant made of emerald.It is said that this jade pendant can ensure that he can travel unimpeded in the east and his life will be safe.

The general took his jade pendant, and he waited for the general to return.