I am a cat in the palace

Lu Chaozhong is not only the second prince's master, but also the old emperor's master. He is a serious emperor's teacher, and the old emperor would respect him as "Master Lu".

Lu Chaozhong only entered the palace after he had been to the second prince's mansion. As the master of the second prince, he always wanted to show his face when the second prince got married, but he had a noble status and there were too many people who wanted to curry favor with him. He didn't have any intention of socializing, so he didn't sit for a long time, he just delivered the congratulatory gifts, received a gift from the second prince and his wife, and left.

Lu Chaozhong sat down beside the emperor, and Chang An personally delivered a cup of tea and put it on the small table next to him.

The old emperor looked at his master, who was nearly 60 years old, but his body was upright, his spirit was shining, and his beard was full of chest, he looked younger than him.

"What's the matter with His Majesty Xuanchen coming in?"

"Actually, there's nothing special about it. I was supposed to resume the imperial court starting tomorrow, but my illness has been recurring in the past few days, so I thought that the imperial court should be postponed until after the first lunar month. During this time, I still need to trouble you, Master Lu, and the elders to take more care of the government."

"Your majesty is serious. It is the duty of a subject to share the worries of the emperor." Lu Chaozhong picked up the tea cup and took a sip, speaking in a calm and unhurried manner.

The old emperor nodded, and said with a little emotion: "I am always at ease with Master Lu in the cabinet."

Lu Chaozhong frowned slightly when he heard the words, and was about to say something, but the old emperor raised his hand to stop him, "Master Lu wants to teach me a lesson again, but I really think so, it's better to be sick these few years For a long time, if it weren't for Master Lu to stabilize the cabinet, the court might not be as stable as it is today."

"Your Majesty said so, it is really serious." Lu Chaozhong felt a little uneasy when he heard that the old emperor had lifted himself to such a high position, and finally couldn't sit still and stood up to salute the old emperor.

"I'm telling the truth, Master Lu doesn't have to be too modest. Master Lu also went to Huier's Mansion today? How was the wedding banquet at the Prince's Mansion? Did it go well?"

"The wedding banquet was very well organized. Almost all civil and military personnel from the Manchu Dynasty arrived." Lu Chaozhong explained the situation of the wedding banquet at the second prince's mansion in a matter-of-fact manner.

After hearing this, the old emperor nodded slightly, but then said indifferently: "This marriage made both the empress and the Duke of Wei hate me. The empress is confused and only thinks that Hui'er must be backed by the power of the Duke of Wei, but what does she do?" You know, her father and brother only think about their own power and wealth in their hearts, and Hui'er is just a chess piece that can be used in their eyes.

Ahem... Hui'er is my eldest son, with a noble status, how can I let them wantonly manipulate and bully me?Throughout the ages, the ruler is weak and the officials are strong, and the relatives are powerful, which is not a country's luck.

Originally, I was thinking of taking over the military power of Duke Wei's mansion slowly, but with my body...ahem...I'm afraid I can't wait any longer, so I can only cut the mess quickly, and use the name of Princess Jingguo to get rid of the Duke of Wei's mansion The way of the Nanyun Army.

Moreover, according to my investigation, although Princess Jingguo is the princess of Liang State, she is a good woman with a firm mind and good character. Within ten years between us and Liang State...cough...we can still maintain...cough Cough..." The old emperor couldn't stop coughing again, but this time he coughed for a long time.

Chang An hurried forward, took the veil and handed it to the old emperor, when the old emperor finished coughing, when he took the veil, he saw a dazzling bright red in the middle of the veil, his pupils shrank instantly, but his fingers were swollen. Ruo unintentionally squeezed it, and calmly folded the blood-stained veil into small pieces, and placed them on a tray beside him.

Lu Chaozhong was slightly shocked by the meaning of the emperor's words, did the emperor finally decide to establish a crown prince?

It is of great benefit to the stability of the dynasty to establish the crown prince when the emperor is in power, but if the crown prince is a few years earlier, even five years earlier, no!Three years!The imperial court will not form the current situation.

In the early years, the second prince was weak and was judged by the imperial doctor to die young. The third prince had an ominous background and was expelled from Changyun Temple for some reason, so the call for the fourth prince's succession almost overwhelmed the entire court for a while.

At that time, there were quite a few ministers standing behind the fourth prince. Later, the second prince's health gradually improved, and the third prince also returned to the capital. Can bite the bullet and stand unswervingly behind the fourth prince.

The result of this is that the queen and the concubine Duan sit at both ends. As the eldest son, the second prince has a natural advantage. Not to mention, his natal family is still in the Duke Wei's mansion, which is powerful in the army. Those Qingliu who absolutely defended the orthodoxy immediately stood behind him. Now, behind the second prince, there are Wei Guogong Mansion, Chunyang Prince Mansion, Sun Gelao, Qin Gelao, Yushitai, Ministry of Industry and Southern Army. Generals and a large number of fans.

On the other hand, Concubine Duan and the Fourth Prince, who were born in the House of Minister of the Household Department, are not weaker. Needless to say, the Master of the Household Department, the Fourth Prince's teacher has now become the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. The Eighty-Nine Society fell into his hands, and behind him was the Zhao family, the leader of Shilin. Over the years, under the deliberate management of the Zhao family, the fourth prince was knowledgeable and talented, and his image of wisdom and virtuousness had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The most worrisome thing is that for so many years, the imperial guards of the capital have always had an inexplicable and ambiguous relationship with the fourth prince and concubine Duan. shadow.

Even though there are hundreds of thousands of troops in the southern army, once the emperor has an emergency, the hundreds of thousands of frontier troops are not as useful as the [-] imperial guards, not to mention that there are as many as [-] imperial guards in Beijing.If they have a different heart, I'm afraid...

Lu Chaozhong didn't want to think about it anymore, but he couldn't help but think about it, and after thinking about it, he couldn't hide the worry on his face anymore.

"Why is Master Lu so worried?" The reason why the old emperor said such words today was actually to test Lu Chaozhong. He wanted to know what Lu Chaozhong thought about the future emperor.

"The second prince is the eldest son of the emperor, and Wei Guogong's mansion is always his natal family. Even if he is dissatisfied, he will not do anything that will harm the interests of the second prince. What I worry about is..." Lu Chaozhong didn't say anything. Even more clearly, but the old emperor could understand.

"I want to send Shang Xin to the fief in advance, can Master Lu check it out, is there any precedent to follow?"

Smart people don't need to speak clearly, and the old emperor didn't continue to talk about the second prince, but changed the subject and turned the topic to Shang Xin.

Lu Chaozhong pondered for a while, and said softly: "Has Your Majesty forgotten? King Shun left Beijing at the age of 14."

The old emperor was startled, and then remembered the young man who had competed with him for the position of crown prince and lost to him by only one step.Was he only 14 years old when he left Beijing in a panic?

The old emperor seemed to have never realized that his strongest opponent back then was only 14 years old, and King Shun was even two years younger than his son Shang Hui now.

Thinking about looking at Shang Hui now, I always feel that he is still a child.

But in his impression, the former King Shun was such a powerful and difficult opponent?He never felt like he was just a kid.

"Your Majesty really wants His Royal Highness King Zhen to leave Beijing early? Where are you going?" Lu Chaozhong asked suddenly.

"I'm going to give him the four prefectures in Lingbei."

"Lingbei?" Lu Chaozhong's face turned serious, "That's a place of bitter cold."

"Not only is it bitterly cold, but you may also have to deal with the invasion of Yu State's iron cavalry at any time." The old emperor completed what Lu Chaozhong hadn't finished by himself.

"But only there can Shang Xin live in peace and stability."

"Is it because there are Yanwei Army there?"

"There are not only the Yanwei army there, but also the place where the Taizu raised his troops back then, and the place where my Great Xia's ancestral business is located. Shang Xin will definitely be able to get the protection of my Great Xia ancestors if he is there."

Lu Chaozhong didn't take the words about the ancestor's blessings to heart, but after thinking about it, he sighed softly: "Actually, the Third Highness's qualifications are very good."

What qualifications?Naturally, it is the qualification to be an emperor.

It's a pity that her family background is too strange, which is taboo in the royal family, and her mother's family has only one uncle Su Changting who has been sticking to the frontier for more than ten years.

As the commander in chief of the same army, Su Changting is far behind Wei Guogong Yin Shao in terms of drilling camps. It seems that everyone can think of him except when he is fighting Yu, and he is usually an invisible person in the court.

But what's strange is that such an invisible person has led an army of 60 to [-] people in the border for more than ten years, and he is clearly outside the court, but no one can shake him. position in the military.

"Third brother, he is indeed a good boy." The old emperor was silent for a while after hearing Lu Chaozhong's words, and he could only say this in a neutral way.

"When is Your Majesty going to let His Highness King Zhen go?" Lu Chaozhong had always admired Shang Xin in his heart, but he also understood the old emperor's thoughts.

For an emperor who really loves a prince who is destined to miss the throne, the best way is to keep him away from the vortex of imperial power competition, just like he was named a prince when he was born, and let everyone know that he is not a threat.Now that the struggle for imperial power is the most intense, the best way to protect him is to send him away far away, to a place where no arm of any force can reach.

"As soon as possible." The old emperor looked at Lu Chaozhong with a calm expression.

Lu Chaozhong nodded: "Then I will discuss it with a few cabinet elders first, and draw up a charter in the cabinet first, and we must not let the third highness go to fief the land alone."

According to the rules, the prince must bring a group of staff with him when he goes to the fiefdom. After arriving in the fiefdom, he will take over the positions of some local officials. Princes with larger fiefdoms still have the power to choose officials by themselves, which is equivalent to being under the big court. Build a small court.Therefore, the ability of the prince's staff plays a vital role in whether the prince can quickly control the power in the fief.

"Let him take those two boys from the British government, they are not bad." The old emperor had a very good impression of the two accompanying students around Shang Xin.

"Yes."