[Red Chamber] I am Lin Daiyu and her uncle

Lin Qing followed the prestige, and saw a graceful and luxurious woman wearing a phoenix crown and a coronet gown, surrounded by a group of court ladies and eunuchs, slowly stepping into the hall.

The woman was not angry and pretentious, and she was still leaning on a bright yellow cane in her right hand. As she walked towards the throne step by step, the cane fell on the ground with a crisp and thick "dongdong" sound.

There was no sound in the hall, and the emperor on the dragon chair was standing aside respectfully with his hands bowed. After the woman was seated, everyone knelt down to pay their respects as if they had rehearsed beforehand, and the slogans were louder than ever. The emperor's voice raised a few pitches when he began to meet.

"The ministers are waiting to see the empress dowager, the empress dowager is a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old!"

"Get up."

To Lin Qing's surprise, the voice of Empress Dowager Lan, who is nearly [-] years old, is not old. Her steady tone is full of strength, and her voice is not loud, but it can teach people a little sincerity. This is the tone of a high-ranking person who has been giving orders for a long time.

"Thank you, Empress Dowager!"

The people who knelt down took their seats again.

The emperor is like an ostrich at this moment, not daring to pull Qin Gong and call him 'confidant' as before.

Empress Dowager Lan glanced at everyone in the hall, and finally fixed her gaze on Qin Gong, and smiled with great interest, "Lord Qin, I haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing?"

Qin Gong Shiran stood up, and the Empress Dowager Chaolan bowed respectfully, "Bless the Empress Dowager, everything is well."

"Since it's 'well', that's great. It's just..." Empress Dowager Lan changed the subject, looking at Qin Gong with sharp eyes, "Master Qin, everything's 'well', all the subjects of Nanke Kingdom Everything is fine, but the people of my Huangliang country are not like this."

Asked aggressively by Queen Mother Lan, Qin Gong didn't panic at all, and took out the 'script' that he had been brewing for a long time.

Qin Gong went out first, came to the center of the hall, knelt down facing the throne, and then knelt three times and kowtowed nine times.

"Your Majesty and Empress Dowager, my Majesty the Emperor of Nanke Kingdom is really saddened by this catastrophe in your country. He originally wanted to deliver all the food according to your country's request. Who knows that the rainy season in Nanke last year was too long, and there was a lot of old grain in previous years. It is damp and moldy, and there is not much food left in the food reserves, and even the grain that has been escorted here has also used some of the grain that the people of our Nanke Kingdom have prepared for the winter."

At the beginning, the emperor was a little angry when he heard Qin Gong say that 'the grains were not fully delivered', but he heard that the food supply of Nanke Kingdom was also in short supply, and the food delivered to Huang Liangguo was saved by the people of Nanke Kingdom by tightening their belts, and he was really moved. !I wanted to say, "If that's the case, then no one's to blame, Qin Qing, get up quickly," but just as the words reached her throat, she instinctively choked it back.

With the queen mother at the side, it's his turn to make the decision...

Empress Dowager Lan is a political veteran, not a rookie like the emperor, she knew it was Nanke Kingdom's evasive words as soon as she heard it.

How is it so coincidental?

She wanted food, but the grain stored in Nanke Kingdom was just affected by the rainy weather and became damp and moldy?

It's clear that I don't want to give it!

So he sneered and said: "Our Huangliang country is suffering from a severe drought, and Nanke country just happens to have too long a rainy season; our grain is in short supply, and the old grain in Nanke country happens to be damp and moldy. Dear dear friends, do you think there is such a coincidence in the world? ?Um?"

As soon as the words fell, all the royal family, nobles, high-ranking officials and ministers below began to discuss in whispers.

The voices of discussion were mostly "impossible", "How could it be such a coincidence?", "The empress dowager is right! The Nanke Kingdom has made it clear that they don't want to give us food, this is a plan to delay the army!" and so on.

Qin Gong in the center of the hall pursed his lips tightly, layers of cold sweat emerged from his forehead, his inner clothes were completely soaked in sweat, under the wide sleeves, Qin Gong clenched his fists.

I have to say that there are still some sensible people here, and they are just using the strategy of delaying the attack.

But so what?He was already fully prepared, even if one or two of them could understand, they would be suppressed soon.

really--

"Empress Dowager! I think Master Qin's words are reasonable."

The Empress Dowager Lan saw that it was almost time, and she was about to collect the net. She asked the Nanke Kingdom to increase more food on the grounds of disputes among the ministers, who would have killed Cheng Yaojin halfway!

Who do you know?

It turned out to be Prince Duan of Huang Liangguo.

In terms of seniority, Empress Dowager Lan has to call Prince Duan "uncle", but he is ten years younger than Empress Dowager Lan, and he is only in his early forties now.

Besides, the lineage of this Prince Duan is very noble.

Back then Di Yi, the great general of the Zhen Kingdom, entered Ye City, the capital of the Huang Liang Kingdom, and slaughtered the then reigning King of the Huang Liang Kingdom and all the princes, but he showed mercy to the female family members in the palace. Obscenity.

Therefore, although the slaughtered king of Huang Liangguo did not have a son left, he left behind a daughter.

The mother of the Prince Duan was the only daughter born to the Great King and his wife Yuan Empress—Princess Changle, who was also the eldest princess at that time.

In order to continue the incense of the great king, the ministers unanimously proposed to adopt a clan son to inherit his blood.

But how could the old king (that is, Queen Mother Lan's first husband and later father-in-law) who inherited the Datong as a side branch at that time agree?If it is true that the adoptive past is justified, the legitimacy of the adopted clan son to inherit the throne must be higher than that of him and his descendants?

If the position of the crown prince is uncertain, the foundation of the country will be shaken.

I don't know who came up with such a stupid way.

Fortunately, there is always a sensible person in the court, who not only refuted this approach, but also gave a perfect solution, that is, to adopt the eldest son of Princess Changle to the maternal ancestor's family.

Princess Changle is the eldest daughter of the short-lived king and the Empress Yuan. She is the most noble in blood. Even if her brothers are alive, they are still inferior to her in blood (except for those who become emperors, of course).Prince Duan is also a grandson. Although he was adopted as a grandson by his grandfather, and the procedure is in accordance with the etiquette, it always gives people a strange feeling that his name is not right and his words are not right.

①After all, in the society that believes in the "Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Principles", what people advocate is "husband guides wife" and "married obeys husband". ?

This is really out of courtesy.

Even if Prince Duan is adopted, his legitimacy will be greatly reduced, at least not as high as the old king and his descendants.

②Of course, this has to be put in modern times, of course it is nepotism, but isn't that the evil feudal society?What they value is feudal ethics, and what they advocate is "preserving the principles of nature and destroying human desires".

What else is there to say?

In short, this Prince Duan is a very special existence in Huang Liang's clan.He has the highest seniority, the most noble lineage, and has been gifted and intelligent since he was a child. He is well-versed in both civil and military affairs.

The most commendable thing is that he will always spare a month or so a year to follow the people in the farmland on the outskirts of the city to cultivate-sow-fertilize-transplant-fertilize-harvest. He personally participates in every step, of course not all the year round. Participation is just a symbolic experience.

But it is considered pretty good for a prince who has been pampered since he was a child to be able to do this.

Ordinarily, the emperor should be afraid of a clan prince with such a great reputation.

In fact... I was really afraid.

Not only was he jealous, but he was also relegated to the border between Huangliang Country and Nanke Country at that time, and let the young man who was only in his teens go to such a bitter cold place. .

Therefore, after Empress Dowager Lan seized power and the crown prince killed the eldest queen, Prince Duan immediately expressed the highest respect to the new emperor and queen.

One more thing, at that time the new emperor succeeded to the throne, and the Empress Dowager Li Lan was determined to be the queen, but how could those old antiques accept their monarchs marrying concubine mothers as wives, this is simply a beast that disregards ethics!Hey - it's Prince Duan again, he was the first to stand up and support Queen Mother Lan as the new queen.

Originally, most of the people just wanted to watch the excitement, knowing that the queen would be established sooner or later. After all, the new emperor killed his father because of this concubine, so why not dare to do it?That is, to give these old antiques face, not to act their own way, if they really want to act their own way, what can they do?

So the Prince Duan who stood up... got it!Enough status, enough seniority, that's about it, just follow the boss with the wind!

From then on, Prince Duan began to be reused, and gradually became half of Queen Mother Lan's confidant.

Why half?

Of course it is because first of all, he is indeed on the side of Queen Mother Lan in most matters, but he really "loves the people like a son" and really cares about people's livelihood. Even if Queen Mother Lan is his bole, once Queen Mother Lan does He must be the first to turn his face against anything that is not conducive to the people of Huang Liangguo!

This kind of character can't be called weird, it can only be said uh uh...too distinct, too clear about love and hate.

When a person loves something too much, then he has the weakness of being manipulated and controlled.

Qin Gong saw his personality, so he chose to bribe him with 'Minsheng', how to bribe him, it's a long story...

But let's make a long story short.

Roughly: Qin Gong used the spies of Nanke State to ambush Huangliang State (the two countries have their own spies, which exist objectively, but they will not easily infiltrate the top leader, there are still cronies around the top leader, but there are also spies. It is difficult to get access to the core secrets, at most it can only be 'guidance'), let him guide Duan Wangye to see their miserable situation in person during the severe drought in Huang Liangguo, and let Duan Wangye know how miserable the people who have no food to eat are!

Then he urged Lord Duan to send his trusted confidantes to go to the south of the Yangtze River quietly to check how the local people spent the winter last year.And here, the chief executive of Jiangnan received a secret order from his superiors, and he really claimed that a large amount of stored grain was damp and moldy, and the grain sent by the government for the winter at the end of the year was indeed very small, and he could barely make ends meet without starving to death.The people in Jiangnan did have a hard time last winter, but the local government controlled it very well. Although there was little food to eat, nothing really happened.

The real stored grain that was 'hidden' was transferred to another part of the hidden granary.

So everything is true. The situation of the people in the south of the Yangtze River that my confidant saw last winter is true, and what Prince Duan heard is also true. With such suffering, the people in other places are not purgatory on earth?

So, out of various considerations, Prince Duan decided to stand up and dissuade Queen Mother Lan from going any further.

Empress Dowager Lan's plan of "following the trend" came to nothing, but due to the presence of foreign envoys, Empress Dowager Lan had to maintain her dignity and pretend that nothing happened.

As soon as the banquet was over, Empress Dowager Lan immediately called Prince Duan to her bedroom and scolded Prince Duan for two hours. She used all the cruel and obscene words she learned in the brothel decades ago on a gentleman like Prince Duan. It's really as ugly as it sounds.

But... I have to say, this old lady's physical fitness is really good. In her 60s, at the age of panting after walking a few more steps, she can scold for two hours without stopping.

Tut tut...

Duan Wangye, a mature old man in his forties with a big beard, was blushed and thick necked by Queen Mother Lan's shocking scolding. Exhausted from scolding, he couldn't move anymore, so he blushed and opened his mouth.

"Empress Dowager, Nanke Kingdom has made it clear this time that it will not give us all the food, and he also knows that we will not believe their nonsense. Now it is just testing our bottom line. He is really in a hurry. When we start a war, we will be short of food. Is there a shortage of people, will there be a chance of winning?"

With these words, Queen Mother Lan was directly questioned.

The author says:

① and ② are only applicable in specific situations in this text chapter, and it is completely normal for some people to disagree.