The heavens set sail from the courtyard

Chapter 369
King Yong was in a good mood today, and he greeted everyone he saw in the morning court, letting everyone know his joy.

Even when he saw King Yan, King Yong greeted him for the first time, and warmly walked side by side with him.

"My lord Yan, spring is about to start and the weather is good. If you want to hold a polo match, this king is willing to take out a jade wishful as a lottery."

King Yan was annoyed by King Yong's dismissal of several confidants recently, how could he care about King Yong, and retorted:
"I heard that the housekeeper in your house was killed by the officials?"

King Yong didn't care about it and said: "That dog slave, relying on my king's name, pretends to be a tiger, commits crimes, and deserves death."

King Yan snorted coldly and said: "You have a big heart. That servant has served you for many years, no credit but hard work. Be careful to chill the hearts of the people below."

King Yong said sternly: "This king has always been very clear about rewards and punishments. If you have meritorious service, you will naturally be rewarded, but if you make mistakes, you will never tolerate them."

King Yan took a deep look at King Yong, snorted coldly, and walked forward quickly.

The two princes came to the court hall and stood at the front. Soon all the officials arrived, and the official Zhao Zhen sat on the dragon chair with the support of the eunuch.

King Yong found that the complexion of the official family is not very good today, and after careful inspection, he found that the beard of the official family is not black anymore.

"When did the official family get so old?" King Yong thought to himself.

The official is only in his early fifties this year, and his hair and beard are almost completely white.

While King Yong was thinking, the court meeting officially began.

Today's meeting is the Chunwei Examination, which mainly determines the candidates for the examiner.

The imperial examination is the selection of talents for the country, and the candidates for the examiners are extremely important. In previous years, they were recommended by the Ministry of Rites and selected by officials.

King Yan was very active this year, and asked his officials from the Ministry of Rites to recommend several places, all of them from his own people.

King Yong naturally didn't want King Yan to win over new scholars and raised objections. The two princes quarreled with each other in the court hall.

"That's enough, stop arguing." The official finally couldn't sit still and said aloud.

King Yong and King Yan shut up at the same time, and all the courtiers even knelt down, calling on the emperor to appease his anger.

"Every scientific examination has a quarrel, and my head hurts when I hear it." The official rubbed his temples and said to King Yong:
"Since you are against the candidate recommended by the Ministry of Rites, is there a good candidate?"

King Yong said solemnly, "I recommend the eight kings to return to Beijing to invigilate the exam."

In a word, the whole court was silent, and King Yan looked at King Yong in surprise.

The officials were a little surprised, a gleam of light flashed in the old man's eyes.

"It's true that the Eight Kings haven't returned to Beijing for a long time." The official muttered to himself.

King Yong hit the iron while the iron was hot and said: "The eighth prince is away all the year round, and it is rare to come back to the capital. If Chunwei let him invigilate the exam this time, he is qualified as a prince, not to mention that the brothers can get together."

Let the eight kings Zhao Zongquan return to the capital, it was Wang Gang's proposal to King Yong, since it is necessary to act first, it is naturally a good one.

Zhao Zongquan holds the military power in his hands, so it is a hidden danger anyway, why not take the initiative to trick him into Beijing, and we will solve it together at that time.

Let him invigilate another advantage.

Zhao Zongquan returned to Beijing as an examiner, so naturally he could not bring troops into Beijing.

King Yong thought about it for a long time, and felt that Wang Gang's proposal was very good, killing two birds with one stone.

"Is there someone who objects to King Yong's proposal?" The official asked the courtiers for their opinions appropriately.

How could the ministers object, the matter was passed soon, and the officials formally issued an order to summon the Eight Kings Zhao Zongquan to return to Beijing to preside over the scientific examination.

King Yan didn't get the chief examiner, he felt as if he had eaten a fly, and his face was so ugly.

As a result, King Yong wrote a letter again, saying that Ma Guowei, the magistrate of Jiangning Prefecture, had presented the divine beast unicorn.

This is terrible, the official's half-closed eyes are all rounded.

"Kirin, there really are unicorns in this world." The official asked excitedly.

"As an official of the imperial court, Ma Guowei dare not deceive His Majesty." King Yong said: "Ma Guowei accidentally bought a strange beast from an overseas businessman. It looks like a unicorn, so he wrote to the imperial court overnight."

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites also stood up and said to the officials: "Return to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has indeed received the letter from Mr. Ma, and the old minister has sent someone to verify it. There will be news tomorrow at the earliest."

The official couldn't sit still anymore, and slowly stood up, and the eunuchs on both sides hurriedly supported him.

"Qilin, will there really be a unicorn in Song Dynasty? If it is true, it will be a great auspicious sign."

Don't blame Zhao Zhen, an emperor, for being so excited. Qilin is really not an ordinary thing, and the meaning behind it is too great.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, I am surprised to see a unicorn. This is a great auspicious omen, and it is also a proof of His Majesty's profound blessings and divine right!"

The courtiers began to flatter, and the officials were a little smug.

"Hurry up, verify the authenticity of the unicorn as soon as possible, and then send it back in a hurry." The official said to the Minister of Rites.

King Yong was proud of himself, and when he walked out of the palace, his steps were three points lighter.

The news of Qilin quickly spread throughout the capital, and it was reported to the official's desk the next day.

The officials sent by the Ministry of Rites to Jiangnan for inspection not only confirmed that the alien beast was real, but also asked professional painters to draw the appearance of the alien beast and presented it to the officials for viewing.

When the officials saw the portrait of the strange beast, they murmured a little. They were not sure if it was a unicorn, so they passed it on to the courtiers.

The ministers have never seen a giraffe before, and the result is the same as that of the officials. No one can tell if it is a unicorn.

King Yong played again.

"Your Majesty, no matter whether Ma Guowei presents a unicorn or not, such a strange beast is rare in the world, and it is always auspicious."

The official was very happy to hear that, and couldn't help but nodded and said: "Okay, good luck, auspiciousness from heaven is also a good omen from heaven, let Ma Guowei send the strange beast to the capital quickly."

The courtiers quickly suggested that the transport of the alien beast was of great importance, and a large army should be sent to guard it, with the cooperation of all officials along the way.

The officials heard that it was reasonable, and then asked the Minister of the Ministry of War to recommend a candidate.

The Minister of the Ministry of War directly recommended Zhou Bing, the deputy commander of the Wucheng Bingma Division.

Zhou Bing didn't belong to any party, he was originally a lone minister, and the officials were very relieved to send him there, so they agreed to the proposal of the Minister of War.

King Yong stood aside from the beginning to the end, without saying a word. King Yan faintly sensed the strangeness, but he didn't figure out what was wrong for a moment.

Soon Zhou Bing set off from the capital with a large team and went to the south of the Yangtze River to meet the strange beast Xiangrui.

Before Zhou Bing set off, King Yong secretly met with him and presented Zhou Bing's housekeeper's testimony.

King Yong still remembers the frightened look on Zhou Bing's face when he saw the steward's confession.

In the end, Zhou Bing was brought under the command of King Yong, and he was willing to cooperate with King Yong in smuggling arms into Beijing.

In addition to being happy, King Yong met Wang Gang again to express his gratitude.

"Nephew, everything is according to your plan. The Chunwei Exam is the day we send troops." King Yong said excitedly, holding Wang Gang's hand.

Wang Gang said: "My lord, although the plan is going well, we should not be careless. We can't be too careful about this kind of extermination of the nine clans."

King Yong nodded and said, "You are right."

Wang Gang gave a few more instructions, and then asked King Yong to find a way to buy some middle-level officers of the imperial army.

The Song Dynasty was different from previous dynasties. It valued the imperial army and despised the frontier army, so that the imperial army guarding the capital was extremely strong.

Before Yan Wang bought the commander of the imperial army, he just wanted to get this army in his hands, otherwise the rebellion would be to create loneliness.

The same is true of the problem facing King Yong now. He has too few troops, and once he besieges the palace, he cannot take it down in one fell swoop.

"The Marquis of Ningyuan is in charge of the imperial army. You have a very good relationship with him. Can you win him over?" King Yong asked Wang Gang.

"Gu Yankai is a man who does not change his ways, and only cares about the officials. Otherwise, the officials would not trust him to hand over the imperial army." Wang Gang frowned and said:
"However, Gu Yankai has only been in charge of the Forbidden Army for a short time, so he can't convince the crowd, and his control over the Forbidden Army is not strong. As long as we buy some middle-level officers of the Forbidden Army, we will make the Forbidden Army chaos for a while and buy time, which will not hinder our plan."

"That's all it takes."

King Yong was a little disappointed, but he also knew that those who could command the imperial army were the confidantes of the officials. The previous Gao Tan was already considered a miracle, and he couldn't expect every commander of the imperial army to be a miracle.

"Nephew, this king has a daughter who is about the same age as you. How about you being my son-in-law when the big event is settled." King Yong took Wang Gang's hand and said sincerely.

Wang Gang looked astonished. As far as he knew, King Yong had many sons, but only one daughter, who was Princess Jiacheng who later fell in love with Qi Heng.

This Princess Jiacheng has inherited King Yong's domineering temper. He caught Qi Heng at the polo club at a glance, and then tried his best to get Qi Heng, so much so that it caused the change in King Yan's palace and killed his family.

Now that King Yong wanted to marry his only daughter, Wang Gang couldn't help showing a strange look on his face.

"Why, let you be my king's son-in-law, and you are wronged?" King Yong couldn't help being a little angry when he saw that Wang Gang didn't agree immediately.

"Golden branches and jade leaves, the princess, how can the boy be worthy." Wang Gang said modestly
King Yong laughed and said: "With your talent, you will be granted the honor of being a Marquis and worshiping the Prime Minister just around the corner. It's not a grievance for my daughter to marry you. We will be a family from now on."

Wang Gang's face became more and more strange.

(End of this chapter)