Crossing the East Palace

Two years, to Tang Luojin, the days of fighting, the time passed by in a hurry.

But for the people in Chang'an City, these two years have been two long years.

For the princes, all the older princes have become relatives—neither the second prince, but now he has a concubine, two concubine sons, two concubine daughters, the third prince, the fourth prince, and the sixth prince. They all became relatives one by one.Both the third prince and the fourth prince had sons, and the sixth prince had just married the daughter of the Zhu family at the beginning of the year, as the queen mother wished.

Among the youngest princes, the Eighth Prince and Ninth Prince have also made marriage arrangements.

Among the princesses, the third princess and the eighth princess were all married, and they all married in Chang'an City, and now they often return to the palace; the ninth princess is also married.

For princesses, getting married means moving to the princess mansion and living in a place that is more comfortable for them.But for those princes who are married, they have the right to participate in and discuss state affairs, and they all go to court every day, and they have received errands in a serious manner.

Needless to say, the second prince, although he wanted to be famous, but Tang Luojin had a noble status and a very good reputation in Chang'an City, and because he was willing to go to Tibet at a young age, he was very popular.Among all the civil and military officials, except for those who are especially picky, they can't say anything bad about the prince.

It's not that the second prince didn't think of going "by the side" so that Tang Luojin would not be able to come back after going out.However, he and the people who were willing to support him failed to complete this matter on Tang Luojin's way to Tubo.After Tang Luojin arrived at the border, Tang Luojin immediately joined the battle. Although he was in a hurry, the people around him were all people who had followed him for at least three years, and no one else could get in.Whether it was the second prince or the others, they had never found a chance to attack Tang Luojin in the past two years.

Under such circumstances, the second prince and the rest of the princes thought that the war had dragged on for two years, and people in the court continued to propose that Ning Junyu, who was on the temporarily peaceful Turkic battlefield, should temporarily go to the Tubo battlefield to provide support, so as to end the war. This long war.It's just that Emperor Tianyuan has been refusing to let go, so this matter didn't happen.

The second prince almost thought that although he had a bad shot, Tang Luojin was unlucky, and his father couldn't hold on, so he let go. Once Ning Junyu was invited to rescue him this time, not only would the next war be victorious. Whether it's defeat or peace talks, the reputation of Tang Luojin, the "reincarnated Emperor Wuhuang" prince, must be severely lowered from the hearts of everyone.

But who would have expected that because Datang was besieged on all sides, although it had a vast territory and a large population, the number of people assigned to the Tubo border was actually not that large because they had to be scattered around to guard the border.Although Emperor Tianyuan had selfish intentions, the safety of Datang was more important. Under such circumstances, he could only suppress the crowd and send military supplies and other supplies to the border of Tubo without any damage.But others sent more troops to support these things... Emperor Tianyuan couldn't do it either.

Firstly, because Datang's troops were rare, it was impossible to divide too many troops; secondly, once more troops were dispatched, then whose victory would Tang Luojin's future victory be counted as?Even if everyone didn't say it publicly, it would still hurt Tang Luojin's reputation.What's more, if Emperor Tianyuan let go and said to send troops to support, many people would support Ning Junyu to go forward.Although Ning Junyu is young, he is indeed a natural general, and he is quite talented in leading troops in battle.Once Ning Junyu is gone, Datang may indeed be able to beat Tubo, but what if there is a Turkic surprise attack at that time?After the victory, what about the prince's reputation?

Under such circumstances, Emperor Tianyuan couldn't send troops to support Tang Luojin at all.

Almost everyone thought that Tang Luojin, as a crown prince, was not as good as Emperor Wu when it came to "leading troops in battle" even though he was good at martial arts.Although Tang Luojin was young, it was understandable that he was not as good as Ning Junyu, who came from a family of generals, but everyone still couldn't help but feel disappointed in their hearts.

However, Tang Luojin, just when everyone was about to give up, finally beheaded the fourth and fifth princes of Tubo in one fell swoop, led all the soldiers, burned the barracks of Tubo's grain and grass, killed more than [-] enemies, and forced Tubo to retreat six hundred miles!

With such great military achievements, the people who had complained about the prince suddenly lost their temper.

The second prince and others couldn't say anything else that could harm the prince.

Especially when Emperor Tianyuan went on to say that the prince wanted to build a new city on the border, so he sent a letter to raise money.

There is the Great Wall in the north, so I don't know how many dangers it can block.

However, building the Great Wall is time-consuming and labor-intensive.Tang Luojin couldn't build the Great Wall in the northwest, but he wanted to build a small city, and set up protection around it, so as to block the Tubo's attack.

It's not that the emperors of Datang didn't think of such things. It's just that the emperors of all dynasties have never done such things as retreating six hundred miles from the enemy in the first battle and openly "raising funds" in the court.

Although Tang Luojin is not the emperor now, he is a prince who has retreated six hundred miles from the enemy, and a prince who dares to ask his father for money.He even cheated a large amount of money from his own father, so there was nothing he couldn't do to other people.

Even though the dignitaries and dignitaries in Chang'an City knew that the crown prince was cheating them of their money, but the emperor made a move, they had no choice but to give money obediently.

For those who refused to give money, Tang Luojin wrote a letter personally, saying: "If the money is inconvenient in your family, you can send three or five servants here. If you are alone, anyone who comes will not be rejected."

Those who received the letter were speechless immediately, so they had to really pick young and strong servants, and waited to go to the border with the people who sent the reserve military supplies.

It's just that the money is still not enough.

When Emperor Tianyuan was worrying about his son, his next letter arrived.

This letter came late, but the content of the letter was much more detailed than the previous letter.

Tang Luojin wrote down all the process of repelling Tubo, and said: "Tubo Zanpu asked for peace talks three times, and called him son-in-law. He also asked the emperor's grandmother to demote Jingliangdi as a palace man on his behalf. The treatment is as follows. Liangdi time."

Di Jingliang is the little princess of Tubo who came to Chang'an with the third Tubo prince.Although she was not at fault, those who were imprisoned by Tang Luojin in the past few years have also become obedient.But it's always difficult to get along with a woman.Since Tubo dared to send troops, he put her safety on fire.Tang Luojin didn't want to be restrained by Tubo Zanpu because of her status, so temporarily demoting her status was something she had to do.

This is just a trivial matter, and Emperor Tianyuan naturally has no objections.Not only was it correct, but he also demoted the Tubo princess he had received at that time to the lowest position.It's just that Tang Luojin would think that the little Tubo princess was not at fault, and treated her as the original Liangdi, but Emperor Tianyuan didn't care about the treatment of the Tubo princess who was abandoned by Tubo after being demoted. how.

In Tang Luojin's letter to Emperor Tianyuan, besides that, he also wrote various things, such as the lack of money. Tang Luojin also thought of it in Tubo, so he wrote his own idea in the letter: "...no If a stele is erected in Xincheng, the lives of those who donated money, materials, and servants and what they contributed will be engraved on the stele. If there are folks who donate 10 silver, they can ride horses and parade in their hometowns. , to show commendation, and build a sculpture in the new city based on his appearance and stature, so as to pass it on to the world." Then he hinted to Emperor Tianyuan that if there are other places that need to raise money, he can do the same.

After all, for the officials, because they could not engage in business openly and were worried about being suspected by the emperor, even if they had money in hand, they did not dare to donate too much.But for folk businessmen, they are eager to have such an opportunity to show their face and really gain a good reputation-with a good reputation, those who want to count their family wealth will have to think a little more.

Emperor Tianyuan read Tang Luojin's letter, stroked his short beard, and immediately burst out laughing.

Like the previous dynasties, Datang emphasized agriculture and suppressed business, and looked down on merchants the most.Even if they want to find merchants to pay for money and things, they are unwilling to make those merchants look better, let alone other benefits.

Tang Luojin's idea gave those businessmen a solid reputation.

Don't look at the invisible and intangible reputation, once there is a reputation, those businessmen can only get more benefits.With these, those businessmen will definitely continue to pay a lot for a position that can be handed down on the stone tablet for generations.

But for the imperial court, how much is a stele?Sculpture only needs to find a good master.As for playing horses and parading through the streets, it is even more nothing-there is no need for the court to pay, just send a few government servants, and follow along.

After seeing this idea, Emperor Tianyuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"This is good, this is good." Emperor Tian Yuan murmured in a low voice.Although Tang Luojin's actions will invisibly improve the status of the merchant.But now the situation is critical. Compared with asking the people to pay more taxes and arousing the anger of the people, Emperor Tianyuan is actually willing to take the extra money from the pockets of the merchants.

It's just that merchants are so cunning. Since the crown prince said that they can donate money and goods, many merchants should directly donate their own products.Those who choose and escort the goods must choose carefully.

Thinking of this, Emperor Tianyuan frowned tightly again.

Who is the best choice?

Now the war in Tubo is temporarily pacified, but the prince is presiding over the construction of the city.This job of delivering materials and silver is the most flattering job, and many nobles from aristocratic families compete for this job for their children.

In Yangde Palace, the Fourth Prince and Concubine Rong also mentioned this matter.

Concubine Rong knew that her family background was lowly, and she was born as a court lady. She was lucky enough to be promoted to the concubine position, but she was not taken seriously. She didn't dare to judge her status at all. When the fourth prince mentioned this matter, she frowned. He only persuaded: "You and the prince have never been familiar with each other. This job of delivering supplies is a job that everyone is fighting for. I'm afraid you won't be able to grab it."

The fourth prince looked a little bad.

Concubine Rong sighed: "Mother and Concubine knows that you just want to show goodwill to the prince. But now, the prince is in the limelight, and there are too many people who want to show goodwill to him at this time, even if you go, It doesn’t necessarily show you. It’s better that when the donation is made this time, the mother and concubine will calculate it for you, let you make a big head, and record a small merit with the prince. When the prince comes back in the future, you can also use it Make friends with him."

The Fourth Prince really didn't have a better idea, and this time was not his chance to stand out, so he could only say: "What the concubine mother said is right. At this time, in the eyes of the prince, how can you see me? Just like the emperor, In the eyes of the royal father, besides the crown prince, where are there other children? Even the twelfth younger brother who is the same mother as the crown prince, I am afraid that he has never been in the eyes of the royal father."

Concubine Rong reprimanded softly: "How can you talk nonsense? Your father is not an ordinary father. He is the emperor of this world, the most honorable and most embarrassing person in this world. His heart is the same as yours and mine. They are the same, they are only that big. However, in your heart and mine, you only hold your own affairs, but in the heart of the emperor, you hold the whole world. After holding the whole world, the rest can be It will be given to many sons and daughters.”

The fourth prince mocked slightly: "Even so, the prince is the one who has the most sons and daughters."

Concubine Rong paused for a moment, and said: "No. The prince is the heir apparent, he is in the world, not in the children."

The fourth prince was stunned.

Concubine Rong said: "Although I am not your biological mother, I have raised you for several years. Although I can't guess [-]% of what is going on in your heart, but nine out of ten, there are. But, mother concubine I can only tell you that what you want can't be realized at all. Not to mention other things, even if the prince unfortunately has an accident, you still have the second and third princes above you, and the ninth and twelfth princes below you. The mother and concubine are incompetent, and the four of them Among them, each one has more hope of winning the reserve than you."

When Concubine Rong said these words, she was unusually sober.As if all of a sudden, all the cowardice and stupidity of the past disappeared.

The fourth prince was stunned for a while before he said dryly: "No. I know all about my mother and concubine. My biological mother's family has been confiscated. Speaking of which, my biological mother is actually the daughter of a criminal minister, and I am of the blood of the guilty minister. I am indeed among the princes, the least likely to inherit the throne."

The fourth prince clenched his fists tightly, and said slowly: "My son understands what the concubine mother said. It doesn't matter whether it is the idle king or the virtuous king. Since the son can't fight for that seat, there is no need to fight for it."

Concubine Rong sighed: "My son now has the throne, married a wife and had children, and left the palace to start a mansion. Now that the emperor is here, your life will not be sad. In the future, the crown prince will succeed. My son will not spend a lot of talent in vain. My son just don't think about things that shouldn't be thought about."

The fourth prince bowed and bowed before leaving.

When he left, his entire back was extremely heavy.

Even so heavy that he didn't see the Twelfth Prince who quietly squinted his eyes in the inner room, but still pretended to be asleep.

However, a child of three or four years old, who would believe that he would pretend to be asleep, and pretend to be asleep for an hour?

It's just that the little boy understood at this time, why the fourth prince just moved his mind a little bit and did some painless hands and feet. Talented and ambitious, but his status is indeed embarrassing, and he has many concerns about his adoptive mother and sister. At that time, that person wanted to suppress the fourth prince. No matter how persuaded by Concubine Rong, it is no wonder that the fourth prince would turn against him so quickly. His subordinates really became a virtuous king.

but……

The twelve princes slowly closed their eyes. In the past, the fourth prince thought that the man had a proper status, that he was the son of the middle palace, and that he should be the crown prince.But what about this lifetime?What if the fourth prince knew the truth?

Zhong, Gong, Di, Zi?

That person also deserves it?

He is young, but in this palace, there is always someone of the right age who will fight for him first.

However, the most important thing right now is to tell the queen mother quickly.Even those things, the empress mother would be afraid at the beginning, but the matter has come to this point, if he doesn't speak up, in the future, if he speaks again, it will be useless.

Especially this time the emperor father selected people to go to the Tubo border. He didn't know anything before, he was just an ordinary child, so it was natural that this happened.But now, how could he allow such things to happen?

That was obviously his own uncle, but he turned against him for a person who had nothing to do with him. How could the Twelfth Prince not feel annoyed?

Of course, now is not the time for him to be angry. What he should do now is, no matter what, he must not let his uncle, who is elbowed outward, go to the border of Tubo.

The Twelfth Prince didn't want Ning Jun to go to the border late, but he didn't know that there were many people who thought the same as the Twelfth Prince.

In the eyes of everyone, the Ning family and the crown prince are so close, how can there be any need to send supplies to bond their relationship?It's better to let them have this taboo.

Moreover, Ning Shan of the Ning family brought his two sons on the border between Datang and Turkic. Ning Junchi should stay in Chang'an City now.

"Dear colleagues, have you forgotten that my brother's six sons and one daughter are all in Chang'an." Ning Junchi smiled slightly, "Isn't it enough to have them in Chang'an?"

Besides, his second elder brother has probably set off by now and returned to Chang'an.

In the borderlands, although Ning Junyuan was reluctant to let go, he also knew that he could not stay any longer.He is inconvenient to move, and staying at the border is just causing trouble to others in vain. It is better to go back to Chang'an and let Ning Junyu look after the child.Those children in the province do not have parents to take care of them, and it is not good if they all grow crooked.

In Chang'an, everyone did not expect that Ning Junchi, the Lord of the Kingdom of Xin, really wanted this opportunity. He and Ning Junchi had publicly fought several times in the court hall, but Ning Junchi never let go.

Everyone stared at Emperor Tianyuan, hoping that Emperor Tianyuan could give them an answer.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Tianyuan was more cunning than anyone else, and directly said that whoever can bring the most supplies to the prince and ensure that all the things are delivered to the prince will be sent.

Everyone: "..." With you, Your Majesty, did you save the money of the guards who escorted the supplies?

Others were happy or worried about this, but to Ning Junchi, this was a good thing.

What the Ning family lacks most is people.Although some of them are soldiers with broken arms or faces that have come down from the battlefield, or older people.But I can't bear the fact that there are many Ning family members, and besides these people, there are always many able-bodied people.

All he had to worry about was the next matter of raising supplies and money.

Although this was supposed to be a matter for the imperial court, Emperor Tianyuan was cunning and thought of using this matter to let them compete with each other, so they had to find someone in the court, and then continue to find someone and raise supplies.

Ning Junchi didn't know what other people were thinking, but Ning Junchi knew in his heart that he must be going to the border this time.

——He didn't know how Tang Luojin treated him.It's just that, at that time, Tang Luojin, in terms of feelings, was probably ignorant, and had never had such feelings for anyone.

But now, Tang Luojin is 16 years old.Ning Junchi thought, Tang Luojin in the past might not be ignorant because of her young age, but how can Tang Luojin still be ignorant now?

No matter what the result is, he should go to the border and talk to Tang Luojin clearly.

He thought, he knew what Tang Luojin wanted.Moreover, he spent two years thinking about whether he could fulfill Tang Luojin's wish.

Ning Jun thought about it, although it was difficult, but if Tang Luojin insisted, he could fight for that seat for Tang Luojin.Moreover, with Tang Luojin's talent, what he lacked in getting that position was the certain support of the Ning family.

As far as the Ning family is concerned, the Ning family is not a simple family that can protect the people for hundreds of years under the banner of being loyal to the royal family.If Tang Luojin becomes the emperor, although there are some disadvantages for the Ning family, compared to other people being the emperor, the Ning family will be more comfortable.

Ning Junchi knew that Ning Junyu might have doubts about Tang Luojin, for fear that Tang Luojin would doubt the Ning family in the future.But Ning Jun didn't believe it.Since Tang Luojin was one year old, he went to Fujian with Tang Luojin.The two have been together for several years, and Ning Junchi believes that it is impossible for him to see the wrong person.Tang Luojin in his eyes is always a gentleman, not a dull gentleman who can't use tricks and tricks, but a gentleman with a bottom line.To a gentleman, the Ning family is a family of loyal ministers, since they are loyal ministers, why would Tang Luojin abandon her?Why do you beat back?

Yu Ningjun said later that if Tang Luojin hadn't said those words two years ago, maybe because of his status, he could still restrain his emotions. No matter what, he would just suppress these emotions in his heart and never say them out for the rest of his life. , just by the side, watching Tang Luojin marry a wife, take concubines and have children, and finally become a real king of prosperity.

But Tang Luojin said it.

He said, a couple for a lifetime, uncle, are you willing to wait another three years?

After starting, how could Ning Junchi give up?

No matter how difficult it is, he will not give up.

The prince has no son, although it is criticized.But the emperor is in his prime, and there are still concubines who are pregnant.If the emperor is not at ease at that time, the crown prince can choose one of the youngest princes and canonize him as the emperor's younger brother, so that the throne can be stabilized.

Although for the Ning family, it would be the best choice to enshrine the Twelve Princes at that time.However, the Twelve Princes are only 12 years younger than Tang Luojin, Ning Junchi thought, unless Tang Luojin only intends to be emperor for ten years, he would never be so foolish as to confer the Twelve Princes as Emperor Taidi.

Wouldn't that be urging him to die early?

Ning Junchi thought about these things, and took out the portrait Tang Luojin gave him two years ago.

The boy was still the same boy, but even though he had seen it thousands of times, he still couldn't help reaching out to a painting and caressing the boy in the painting.

Ning Junchi was extremely busy.On the one hand, he had to raise money and supplies, on the other hand, he had to take care of Ning Junyu's seven children, and on the other hand, he had to find time to look at Tang Luojin's portrait.

Compared with Ning Junchi, Mrs. Yue Hou devoted herself to taking care of her two sons for two years, and the second son's illness finally eased somewhat.And the eldest son is willing to marry a wife.Although the wife he married was only the daughter of a sixth-rank official, but the son had lost a leg, and his previous reputation was too romantic, it was already rare to be able to talk about this daughter.

Mrs. Yuehou was happily preparing for the marriage of the eldest son, thinking that when the eldest son got married, she would at least give birth to a grandson.In this way, try to set the position of the grandson by the son. In this case, even if the Marquis of Yue is more partial to the concubine, the Marquis of Yue will not be able to change the status of his son and grandson.

Only in this way, she will enter the palace again.

Mrs. Yuehou let out a long sigh.Since two years ago, when she told the queen that her concubine daughter was going to enter the East Palace, while her concubine daughter could only stay at home, the two sisters had a big quarrel. However, the queen in the palace never took the initiative to call her into the palace.

It's just the matter of children that Mrs. Yuehou values ​​most.Now that her son is going to marry a wife and have children, in the palace, she has to move around again.

Mrs. Yuehou was thinking about how to restore her relationship with her second sister, so she listened to the report from the servants, and the father-in-law in the palace came to deliver the queen's oral order, asking her to go to the central palace tomorrow.

Mrs. Yuehou was slightly surprised, but then she was happy: "Thank you, father-in-law. Come, bring some tea money for father-in-law."

The father-in-law declined a few words, and then accepted the tea money.It's just that Mrs. Yue Hou wanted to ask more questions, but she couldn't ask anything.

"Madam, you will know when you go tomorrow." The father-in-law said in a sharp voice, "You must go early tomorrow. In the past two days, our empress only saw the twelve princes once. I don't know if it was the twelve princes. My homework is not good and I am angry or something. When the Twelfth Prince came out, his eyes were red. Our mother, we also looked like weeping for a while.... Why do you ask this servant? The servant has been guarding outside all the time , Your Majesty, don't allow our family to get too close."

Mrs. Yue Hou frowned first, and then felt that she was thinking too much - what can a three or four year old child know?Probably just complained to Huan'er a few words.

But when she saw the queen, she realized that her thinking was too simple.