A Timely Wife

The stinky Wan Hecai was frequently dodged by people covering his nose. Apart from the extreme embarrassment, Wan Hecai was also a little annoyed. Thinking that he was a dignified former prime minister of Chu and now a prime minister, he was so disgusted by others. No matter whether he is giving silver taels or silver notes to the people next to him, no one is willing to take it. It is just a set of clothes, and no one will agree to his bid of 5000 taels of silver. Hecai understood in his heart that his identity had been exposed, and that these poor bones who were about to die were just humiliating themselves in a way that could not be used. Wan Hecai thought angrily, you are treating this old man like this now, and I hope you people will not Regret is.

Entering Prince Zhong's Mansion, and meeting Prince Zhong, Wan Hecai almost didn't recognize him. The pale man lying on the bed was actually the man who was known as the Great Chu Xianwang before, but he was in his early forties, and he already had beard and hair. All white, emaciated, obviously it is summer, but the house is still burning, wrapped in thick cotton clothes, covered with quilts only used in winter, no matter who looks at it, it will feel that this person's time is numbered .

Wan Hecai's heart skipped a beat. In the peace talks he made with Da Yuanfeng, there was a premise that the loyal prince had the desire to continue to be a prince, and could be attracted by fame and fortune. Beauty, power, and money, There is always something that can make Prince Zhong fall in love. Men, there are only a few things that he likes. Prince Zhong is a normal man, so naturally he cannot escape these temptations.

But they didn't expect that Prince Zhong's time was running out, Wan He was a little puzzled. Before he left Beijing, there was indeed news that Prince Zhong was unwell, but he had never seen Prince Zhong, and they were busy running away , how could he still care about whether Prince Zhong is alive or dead? He didn't think about it. When he saw Prince Zhong again, he already looked like this.

"Why, Prime Minister Wan, this nobleman has forgotten things so much that even this king can't recognize him?" Prince Zhong asked with a slight smile.

Hearing Prince Zhong's words, Wan Hecai's eyes lit up. Originally, he thought that Prince Zhong would come up and scold him bloody, but he didn't expect that Prince Zhong would talk to him so politely. By the way, Prince Zhong It is not without reason that he is known as a virtuous king. He is a person who truly cares about the world. It is a pity that he is just a prince and not an emperor. Even the Moher may have been wiped out.

It was only when Wanhe arrived in Dahe that he found out that many frontier generals had already taken refuge in Dahe. In the past few decades, Dahe had often sent people to Dachu. If the Beifu had not been controlled by the imperial court, Dachu would have They couldn't hold it anymore, just like this, they basically didn't spend much effort on the way from Beifu to Zhongfu, and even Zhongfu opened the city gate with just a little resistance.

The most beloved concubine of the city defenders of the Central Mansion was sent by Dahe. Many of the city defenders and even the mansion towers along the way were bought by Dahe, whether it was women or money, or Xu Yi was a high-ranking official. Lu, once Dahe's army is approaching, these people will arrange their confidantes to open the city gates for Dahe's army and let people into the city. Individual prefectures with fierce resistance will end up being massacred. Strangling, coming and going, even if it is a prefecture that has not been infiltrated, it is not so desperate when resisting. It is more or less wary. It is of course the duty to defend the city, but once the city is broken, the people will face the end of being massacred. Between the dilemma, It is often the idea of ​​protecting the people in the city that prevails.

Wan Hecai knew these things, and Prince Zhong naturally knew it too. Wan Hecai felt that even if Prince Zhong was about to die, he would not ignore the people of the world at dawn. It is already obvious for Dahe to attack Chu Jing. It is just a matter of time. For Dahe, it is just a matter of one day sooner or later, but for Dachu, tens of thousands of people will die less. With regard to the question of tens of thousands more deaths, come to think of it, this famous virtuous king would not make an irrational choice. As for why Prince Zhong ordered to stick to it before, Wan Hecai had already found an excuse for Prince Zhong before he could speak. After all, it was the country that was brought down by the ancestors, and it is the capital of a country. If you don't act like you are defending it, the people in the world will drown their Xiong clan with saliva, let alone a loyal prince. Faced with such a situation, he might have no choice but to order to stand guard, not because he didn't want to open the city gate, but because he didn't dare to open the city gate.

Thinking of this, Wan He went through what he was about to say in his mind, and felt that nothing would go wrong, and then he said with a smile: "The old minister has not seen the prince for a long time, and the prince's body is so poor. The old minister is really worried. The prince is the pillar of the country, he has the world in his heart, and loves the common people. He is really a rare and virtuous minister. The old minister will discuss with His Majesty later, and implore His Majesty to announce that the imperial doctor will come to treat the prince. In the future, this great world will depend on The prince is doing his best.

Before the old minister came, His Majesty had explained to the old minister that if the prince is willing to submit to Dahe, His Majesty is willing to designate the prince as the King of Loyalty, hereditary. This kind of honor has never been enjoyed by anyone before. The old minister hereby congratulates the prince in advance. "

Prince Zhong smiled mockingly, and said: "I can't afford to be an old minister of Wan Zaifu. This king is the loyal king of Great Chu. He is loyal to Great Chu. He is a native of Great Chu by birth and a ghost of Great Chu by death. As for that It is more appropriate to leave it to Wan Zaifu for the king of loyalty, and this king will not compete for this honor with Wan Zaifu.

The king is not feeling well, and he has always disliked talking around the bush with others. Da Yuanfeng asked you to come here not just to let you tell me nonsense about making me king. Tell me, what request does he have? Listen to me, if you can Accept it, being able to keep these tens of thousands of people in the city is considered a merit. "

Wan He laughed a few times, and said: "Okay, okay, okay, the prince is a straightforward person, since that's the case, the old man just said directly, His Majesty wants to ask the prince for those guns, and the guns from the North Mansion make His Majesty happy." I read it for a long time, but it's a pity that after the city was broken, it was completely destroyed by the guards and soldiers. The real prodigal son, those things cost a lot of money to buy, and they were blown up just like that. It is said that His Majesty is very distressed, even the old man, he really can't see it, every bit is the fat of the people, how dare they do this, if they are not all dead, the old man will definitely make them pay for it.

Those guns are also very precious things. This way, so many prefectures have nothing, so that once His Majesty thinks of those destroyed guns, he will reprimand the old minister, thinking that the old minister has not fulfilled the purpose of being a courtier. Obligation, if the veteran can go to the city to discuss in advance, maybe those guns can be saved, and other things aside, those are all vain silver taels, just ruined like that, really, alas.

His Majesty saw these guns again in Chujing this time, and was overjoyed. His Majesty said that if the prince could present these guns, the tens of thousands of people in the city would be saved from death. Of course, His Majesty did not take us for nothing. Da Chu’s guns, if these guns are owned by His Majesty, the hereditary King Zhonghe that the old man said just now will belong to the prince.

Of course, if the prince becomes our Dahe's loyal king, in the future, those people on the south side of the Chu River will be more peaceful when they surrender to Dahe, especially Jinghaiwei. The old man knows that this is the prince's territory. No one can intervene in it. I heard that there is a port open there. I don’t know how many ships come and go every year. I’m afraid I’ve made a lot of money over the years. Moreover, as far as the old minister knows, these guns are all made from high-quality goods. Triton brought them here, I'm afraid they have connections with overseas countries and can buy these guns.

To be able to quell the pirate rebellion for so many years, and to buy weapons from overseas countries, the officials and generals there are probably not ordinary people. His Majesty cherishes talents very much. He has repeatedly told the old ministers that he hopes these people can be used by Dahe. If Dahe With such a good minister, there is no need to worry about the unrest in Dahe's world.However, the old man from Jinghaiwei has dealt with them before. Since they only give these money and guns to the prince, it means that these people are his confidantes and only obey the prince's orders. If possible, His Majesty hopes that the prince can order They gave up resistance and handed Jinghaiwei over to His Majesty for management. His Majesty will not treat the officials and generals there badly. They will be promoted to another level on the basis of their previous official positions, but they will just change places. In this way, they will not suffer any disadvantages. , On the contrary, they will be promoted. They escaped death, but they can continue to be officials. They may be able to reach a higher position in the future. Thinking about it, those people should not refuse.

My lord, this old man is also doing it for the good of our Great Chu. You see, there are raging wars in the Great Chu, and the civil uprisings can no longer be suppressed. Those prefectures and cities in the south have already had changes, and the surrounding small countries are about to move one by one. He's soldiers are strong, horses are strong, the army and the people are united, our Great Chu is precarious, the officials are not officials, the people are not the people, the collapse of the Great Chu is already an unstoppable trend, this world will sooner or later be the world of Dahe, if this is the case, why don't we recognize the reality, I made a choice earlier, the old man is not talented, but he also wants to do something for the common people in this world. If the old man can continue to serve as the prime minister, after the world is unified, the old man will definitely persuade His Majesty to treat Da He and Da Chu The people must be treated equally and benevolent, so that the people of the world can recuperate and no longer suffer from wars.

Your Majesty, I don’t want to hide it from you. Your Majesty said that if I can negotiate this matter, I will be the prime minister in the future. Although I don’t care about this position, I have to consider the people of Dachu. If you don't go to that position to fight for the people of Dachu, my lord, I implore you, to make a living for the people of the world, please accept your majesty. "

After finishing speaking, Wan He lifted the hem of his clothes, knelt on the ground, and respectfully kowtowed to Prince Zhong.