late night song

Chapter 64
"Did Your Majesty come to this old minister just to reminisce about old times?"

In the empty Xingxin Hall, the old prince sat on the imperial chair given by the emperor to collect his thoughts. He did not follow Emperor Ming's trick of reminiscing about the past.

"This morning at the gate of the palace, the guards found this on Fu Xiang. What do you think, the old prince?" Emperor Ming motioned to the eunuch to hand a gold hairpin and a letter to the old prince of Zhenxi.

"This golden hairpin is the queen's dowry. I remember that the old prince specially ordered Jiangnan Gongfu to make it. This filigree-heavy craft was the most fashionable at that time." Before the old prince could open the letter, Emperor Ming took care of himself. Said himself.

"Nonsense!" After reading the letter, the old prince's hands trembled with anger.

"'The tall building has collapsed, waiting for the opportunity to rise to the top.' The queen's calligraphy was passed down by the old prince, and the calligraphy is really grand." Emperor Ming sarcastically said.

"After such a big game, a lot of thought must have been wasted." The old prince did not show weakness, let alone refute.

"It's just a matter of drawing a gourd, and it's not as good as the old prince's handiwork." Emperor Ming smiled slightly and meant something.

"Old minister is confused."

"You are not confused. You have lived for more than 70 years. 16 years is not a long time for you."

Zhenxi Laowang did not speak.

So, Emperor Ming continued: "Since you said you were confused, let me tell you that 16 years ago, you secretly sent someone to intercept the rewards and imperial edicts sent to Northern Qi by the imperial court at the end of the year, right?"

Faced with the questioning, the old king of Zhenxi still turned a deaf ear, as if Emperor Ming was talking about old things that had nothing to do with him.

Seeing that he did not respond, Emperor Ming was neither impatient nor angry, and continued: "You are doing this just to scare off the enemy and make Qi Sheng think that the move to cut off the vassal will start from Beiqi, so as to force him to ask for help from Beiling and raise troops to rebel. To protect myself.”

Emperor Ming paused, but the old prince remained unmoved.

"After that, you and the Queen cooperated inside and outside to frame Concubine Yi for conspiring to rebel, and then got Yuchi and his family to be convicted. In this way, firstly, Concubine Yi was forced to commit suicide, and the queen's position was consolidated. Secondly, the Yuchi family was repaid 60 The old grudge I had with you years ago, these three years are also the most important. The northwest border defense was empty, and the Northern Qi army collapsed, so they had to temporarily form the Suppressing Western Army. From then on, the Suppressing Western Army unified half of Dongqi's army. From then on, the old prince firmly sat on the throne of Dongqi. A vassal king is as powerful as the Tian family."

"It's groundless, is there any evidence?" The old prince remained calm as usual, but the facts were indeed as Emperor Ming said.

The chaos back then was his handiwork, and he could even be secretly proud of it for the rest of his life.

Although Qi Sheng's military exploits were unparalleled, in terms of planning, he was still unsatisfactory.

Even if Emperor Ming wanted to concentrate his military power and reduce the influence of foreign vassals, he would start with princes with foreign surnames, and the King of Nanchang was the son-in-law of the Tian family, so the King of Northern Qi bore the brunt.

The few words of instigation from his trusted aides, coupled with the fact that he secretly withheld the reward from the Northern Qi Dynasty next year, made Qi Sheng even more worried. It happened that Beiling took advantage of the situation and encouraged him to provide assistance, which ignited the fire of the Northern Territory.

The palace had also planned to frame Concubine Yi for a long time. In short, it was just taking advantage of the jealousy of other concubines and the long-term plan for their children, so that Concubine Xian and Concubine Jing were willing to serve as pawns.

But the Yuchi clan is not unjust.

At that time, if Yu Chihong hadn't offered the plan to the late emperor Qi Shixiao, and quietly infected the imperial pen with the epidemic disease, the ancestor emperor had the habit of licking the pen, and he could enter and exit the imperial palace at will, so he and his father were infected with the epidemic together. In the end, the ancestor emperor died tragically, and he almost lost his life. However, what was even more unfortunate was that even if he survived by chance, he missed the best opportunity. The world that was clearly within his reach was defeated by the late emperor Xiao Jie.

The old king of Zhenxi always remembered this bloody feud, but when he was firmly established in Zhenxi, Yuchi Hong was dead. Even so, this debt must be recorded on the head of Yuchi's lineage.

"You can have the evidence if you want, but it will only take a little effort and waste a few more lives. But after thinking about it, if I use the good method you used, uncle Huang, I can still recover the debt, right? ?”

"You!!!" Emperor Ming said the key point in a few words, and Old King Zhenxi was so angry that he was speechless.

"Uncle Huang should know the consequences of plotting a rebellion. I can still smell the gunpowder smoke 15 years ago." Emperor Ming smiled, carefully observing the reaction of King Zhenxi, and then continued: "But Emperor Uncle, you are different from Qi Sheng, we are a family after all."

"What do you want? The military power of the Zhenxi Army or this old king?" The old prince had experienced the battlefield and the court for so many years, and he quickly understood Emperor Ming's intentions.

Emperor Ming smiled. It was really easy to talk to people who understood.

"The [-] soldiers of the Gu Yao Zhenxi Army were merged into the Forbidden Army."

"One hundred thousand? The Zhenxi Army has a strength of 25." Zhenxi Old Wang also smiled, "What else do you want?"

"Uncle Huang is getting old. When he returns to Beijing this time, he will not go back to the bitter cold land on the border. With the old princess accompanying him, he can enjoy his old age in Qidu."

Emperor Ming knew clearly that if the military power of the old prince was cut off at once, the soldiers who had followed the Western Army for many years would naturally be angry and dissatisfied. If the morale of the military was unstable, it would be easier for other countries to take advantage of it. Then war would break out in the Western Region, which would affect the overall situation. unfavorable.

After all, the old prince is old and has no heirs, so he can use the excuse of showing sympathy for the old prince to start with the decentralization of power, and then slowly adjust the generals of the Zhenxi Army. The old prince and the old princess remain in the capital as hostages under his nose. , the subordinates of the Zhenxi Army who have followed them to the death for many years naturally do not dare to act rashly. This is double insurance.

"Ah!"

The old prince stood up slowly. He knew that Emperor Ming had already made careful plans, and he was afraid that he would be unable to save his life. He had lived for such a long time and had experienced countless storms and waves throughout his military life. He knew the truth about success as a king and defeat as a bandit. There was nothing to say about it. , let alone a big deal.

But he also has Qi Anran, his granddaughter, and Qi Yinan, that useless fool, who are related to the life, death, honor and disgrace of his children, so he has to arrange everything for them even at the cost of handing over military power:
"Anything is fine, but I also have conditions."

"Uncle Emperor, you can tell me."

"I want to be safe in this life. You must not kill her. You must not depose the queen at any time. Nan'er has no heart and is embarrassed. From now on, no matter what the queen's situation is, you must treat her well and protect her as a prince. The glory and happiness of the throne.”

"anything else?"

"Back then, Yuchilin's case was originally a case of the Sacred Heart's dictatorship. If you change your mind in the future, it will always be a death case."

The old prince also knew that Emperor Ming could not reverse the case for him, but just in case, he still reminded him that he really hated the Yuchi clan and would not be stingy with honors even after his death.

Emperor Ming thought for a moment and promised: "Nan'er's nature is clearest, so he will not treat him badly. The Yuchi clan has been submerged in the world, so there is nothing to say. As for the queen..."

He was a little hesitant. It would be difficult to relieve the hatred in his heart if the poisonous woman Queen was not eliminated. However, the enemies of Xirong retreated and Beiling was watching. He thought for a while, and for the sake of the stability of Dongqi, he had no choice but to retreat: "For the sake of the emperor, My uncle’s kindness in supporting me back then has been fulfilled as the emperor’s uncle wished.”

"Okay." The old king of Zhenxi pursed his lips and smiled. He had accurately calculated the internal and external troubles in Dongqi at the moment, and Emperor Ming would definitely agree.

Having said that, as far as the country of Dongqi is concerned, Emperor Ming and the late emperor are both conscientious and wise kings. The old prince cares about the world. The regret of missing the dragon throne is not detrimental to the happiness of the people and the prosperity of the country. In terms of gains and losses, he is a person who considers the overall situation and knows how to advance and retreat.

But people can't stay awake all their lives, and no one can avoid being trapped by greed. It's just like Emperor Ming's hope that the country will last forever and the beauty will not regret it. It's also like how he knew that Qi Yinan would never become a great person, but he was still willing to give it a try.

"Among your many children, King Qin is the most like you."

Zhenxi Laowang said these words before leaving, which seemed to have a profound meaning.

In his opinion, Emperor Ming was ungrateful and unkind, so Qi Zhi would not be much better. One day, Emperor Ming would surely reap the consequences.

(End of this chapter)