The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

In the study room of Prince Dai's Mansion, Prince Dai and Marquis Xuanping were listening to Fuzhong's report on the situation in Jinling.

"When did Lao Qi become so capable that he could get the Song family to support him?" King Dai just heard about this, and his first reaction was that it was ridiculous. How could the Song family support King Jing.However, I didn't expect that to be the case. "Why does the Song family support Lao Qi?"

The King Dai knew the situation of the aristocratic families in Jinling, the Cao Gang and the Yan Gang.The Song family is the leader of the Jinling Salt Gang and has a pivotal position in Jinling.Although the Song family is not very involved in court affairs, the aristocratic families in Jinling are all headed by the Song family.

Marquis Xuanping also found it strange. After all, he had never heard of any connection between King Jing and the Song family.He speculated: "Is it related to the queen?"

The king looked contemptuous: "The queen has this ability? If she had this ability, do you think she would hide it? With her temperament, she would have shown it out long ago."

"That's true. If the queen is really related to the Song family, given the queen's temperament, she would have contacted the Song family long ago. It would be impossible to wait until now." King Jing had already broken up with the prince. If the Song family had supported King Jing early, the queen King He Jing had long straightened his back to confront the prince and Duke Zhen. "When King Jing went to Jinling, the Song family supported him. There must be some reason for this."

"No matter what the reason is, and no matter what the relationship between Lao Qi and the Song family is, it is a good thing for us that the Song family supports Lao Qi now." Although King Dai was surprised that the Song family supported King Jing, he would not secretly destroy. "Lao Qi doesn't want to deal with the prince. Now that he has the support of the Song family, what do you think he will do?"

Marquis Xuanping said: "With King Jing's temper, he will do whatever it takes to collect evidence of the crime of the prince and the Duke of Zhen."

"If there are our people in Jinling, I wouldn't mind helping Lao Qi." Dai Wang said with a smile, "Lao Qi will definitely bite the prince and the Duke of Zhen hard this time. When Lao Qi comes back, we will It’s a good show to watch.”

"Your Highness, I'm worried about the Suzhou side." Xuanping Hou said with a worried look on his face, "Now that the imperial examination in Jinling has been successfully carried out, the Suzhou side must also hold it, otherwise the Crown Prince and King Jing will use this matter against us."

"I said at the beginning not to stop the imperial examination, uncle, you insisted on stopping it, and now you want to hold it." King Dai is not a scholar, so holding the imperial examination will not affect him.Furthermore, those under him were basically soldiers, and they all relied on their military merits to serve as officials, and did not need to take the imperial examination at all. "I told you before, my father values ​​the imperial examinations. We don't want to fight against my father. You must fight against my father."

Seeing that King Dai didn't understand his painstaking efforts, Xuanping Hou showed a helpless smile on his face.

"Your Highness, do you think I want to go against the Emperor? I have to do this."

Upon hearing this, King Dai looked at Marquis Xuanping in shock and confusion: "Uncle, no one forced you to do this, but I didn't force you."

"Who said no one."

"Who had the ability to force you? Why didn't you tell me?" King Dai was anxious, "Why didn't you say anything about such a big thing? Who forced you? I went to kill him?" The leopard who had eaten the bear's heart dared to threaten his uncle. This was because he was not being taken seriously.

Seeing that his nephew was so worried about him, Marquis Xuanping was moved and amused: "Your father."

"I am going to chop it off now..." King Dai suddenly paused when he said this. He turned his head and looked at Xuanping Hou in shock, "Who are you talking about?"

"emperor."

"Father?" Dai Wang exclaimed, "How could it be the father?"

"Of course it's not the emperor's direct decree." Seeing that King Dai still didn't understand, Marquis Xuanping continued, "We have been checking and balancing each other with the prince and others. The prince and others asked Jinling to oppose the imperial examination. Naturally, we also wanted to ask Suzhou to be opposed to."

Dai Wang still didn't understand.He asked with a confused look on his face: "If we want to check and balance, if the prince and others don't do something, then we should do it."

"Your Highness, things are not as simple as you think."

The more Dai Wang listened, the more confused he became, with confusion written all over his face.

"Uncle, please speak clearly."

"Do you know why the late emperor gave me Suzhou Mansion back then?" Marquis Xuanping continued without waiting for the king's answer, "It was to check and balance the government of Zhenguo."

Dai Wang said: "I know this."

"You also know that we, Marquis Xuanping, are not from an aristocratic family. We cannot compare with the Duke of Zhenguo in any aspect. The late emperor gave Suzhou to us, Marquis Xuanping, in order to strengthen our Marquis Xuanping, and then be able to compete with Zhenguo. The Duke’s government resists.”

"I know this." King Dai disliked Marquis Xuanping's verbosity, "Uncle, please stop showing off and get to the point quickly."

"The situation in Jinling is more complicated than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that what the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen have done in Jinling has touched the emperor's bottom line." Xuan Pinghou sneered, "Pengcheng's stealing of copper must have something to do with the Crown Prince and the others."

When King Dai heard this, his eyes instantly lit up.He asked curiously: "What did the prince and Duke Zhen do in Jinling?"

"I don't know exactly what was done, but it must have been lawless." Marquis Xuanping reminded Dai Wang, "This is why the emperor sent King Jing to Jinling."

King Dai seemed to understand when he heard this: "What does this have to do with uncle, you don't allow Suzhou to hold the imperial examination?"

"If we ask Suzhou to hold the imperial examination obediently, but Jinling cannot hold the imperial examination smoothly, won't Jinling be very eye-catching?"

"Yes."

"I don't know what the emperor wants to do specifically with Jinling, but I understand that the emperor definitely doesn't want to alert the enemy at this time, so Suzhou must be the same as Jinling and cannot hold imperial examinations." Xuanping Hou saw that King Dai still looked confused, I had to be more specific, "Obviously there are no students in Jinling or Suzhou to take the imperial examination, but the emperor only sent King Jing to Jinling to be responsible for holding the imperial examination, and not to Suzhou. Why?"

After hearing this, King Dai finally understood.

"So it is."

"So, we now have to make the imperial examination in Suzhou go smoothly."

Dai Wang never expected that there were so many ways in it.He looked at Marquis Xuanping with admiration: "Uncle, thank you for understanding my father's intention."

"Although the background of our Xuanpinghou Mansion is not as good as that of Zhenguo Gongfu, I, Xuanpinghou, are no worse than Zhenguo Gongfu." Xuanping Hou said proudly, "Besides, I grew up with the emperor, and I am more or less the same. Some understand the emperor’s thoughts.”

"Then let Suzhou hold the imperial examination."

"Your Highness, instruct the people in Suzhou to let the children of aristocratic families take part in the imperial examination." Xuanping Hou stroked his beard and smiled slyly, "On the Jinling side, only students from poor families participated, and no aristocratic families participated, so Suzhou must let them The aristocratic family is participating, we can’t lose to the prince and the others.”

"Uncle is right." King Dai looked at Fuzhong and ordered, "Tell Suzhou what uncle just said."

"Yes, Your Highness." Fuzhong stepped back respectfully.

"Uncle, what on earth did the prince and Duke Zhen do in Aurous Hill to anger my father?"

"I guess the prince and Duke Zhen have collected a lot of money in Jinling over the years."

"What does this mean? We also made a lot of money in Suzhou."

"Your Highness, the money we made is not nearly as much as the prince and the others." Marquis Xuanping guessed while stroking his beard, "The prince and the others used the money provided by Jinling to recruit troops or buy horses, or forge weapons privately. Pengcheng stole copper. He probably stole copper to forge weapons."

When King Dai heard this, he stood up suddenly in shock and said with an angry face: "Prince, he wants to rebel!"

"The prince and Duke Zhen will not rebel now, nor do they dare to rebel, but they may not do so in the future." Although Marquis Xuanping was not as capable and capable as Duke Zhen, he was not a fool.Over the years, he has been immersed in the court and has seen all kinds of conspiracies and conspiracies. No matter how stupid he is, he has some experience and can understand some things. "When the emperor deposes the prince in the future, the prince and the Duke of Zhen may plot rebellion."

"He dares!" Dai Wang said angrily, "If he dares to rebel, I will let them die without a burial place."

"If the Crown Prince and the others really want to plot rebellion in the future, the only one who can stop them is you, Your Highness. By then, Your Highness, you will have made a great contribution, and the position of Crown Prince will be yours."

King Dai's face was full of joy when he heard this, but he suddenly thought of King Chu, and the smile on his face immediately disappeared, and he said with gritted teeth: "King Chu, we must get rid of him!" "Your Highness, in the current situation, the prince and the others are more serious than us. I want to kill the King of Chu." Old God Xuanpinghou said on the ground, "We don't need to send people to assassinate the King of Chu now."

King Dai understood this time: "Uncle is right, the prince and the others are more anxious to kill the fourth child than us."

"Your Highness, we must protect the King of Chu from returning to the capital safely." Xuanping Hou smiled meaningfully, "Only when the King of Chu returns to the capital smoothly, the prince's stealing of copper will be exposed. It’s not light.”

King Dai suddenly raised his hand and patted the armrest of the chair, and said excitedly: "Then send someone to protect the fourth child and make sure he returns to Beijing safely."

"If King Jing can collect some evidence against the prince and Duke Zhen in Jinling, and if King Chu investigates the truth about the copper theft, the emperor will never let the prince go easily, and he may even depose the prince."

When he thought of the deposed prince, Dai Wang's heart became hot.Just when he was imagining that he would be the prince soon, he thought of King Chu again, and his face turned cold again.

"Uncle, didn't you say before that my father sent King Chu to Pengcheng to investigate the copper theft, on the one hand, to depose the prince, and on the other hand, to pave the way for King Chu to become the prince. If King Chu returns to Beijing smoothly, then the prince will be deposed. Doesn’t the King of Chu want to be the crown prince?”

"Your Highness, if the prince is deposed, you will be the eldest son. Even if the emperor's favorite is the King of Chu, he will not immediately make the King of Chu the prince."

"Then why did you ask me to send someone to assassinate the fourth child before?"

"You have to show off to the emperor." Xuanpinghou said with a smile, "The prince sent people to assassinate the king of Chu. Your Highness, you have to send people. Besides, the people we sent did not kill the king of Chu."

"What, the people we sent to assassinate the fourth child were just doing it for a show?"

"Yes."

"Why don't I know this?" This was the first time King Dai heard about it.

"Your Highness, I told you before, we don't need to put King Chu to death."

"I thought I was really going to get rid of the fourth child this time." King Dai felt a little regretful that this assassination was not really about killing the fourth child.

"Your Highness, the death of the King of Chu will not do us any good. On the contrary, if he is alive, it will be of great benefit to us." Marquis Xuanping never thought about actually killing the King of Chu from the beginning to the end.Even if he wants to kill the King of Chu, he will not do so now, but after the King of Chu seizes Prince Hou. "With King Chu's ability and means, he has already sneaked into Pengcheng and is already secretly investigating the theft of copper. Maybe after a long time, King Chu will secretly return to the capital and report the truth about the theft of copper to the emperor."

"This king has really underestimated the fourth brother all this time." In the past, King Dai didn't like King Chu very much. He always felt that King Chu was too arrogant. King Chu obviously respected his elder brother, but he thought Chu King The king did not really respect him.Although he didn't like the King of Chu before, it wasn't to the point of hating him because the King of Chu didn't pose any threat to him at that time.However, since King Chu came of age, the emperor's regard for him, as well as King Chu's own outstanding abilities, made King Dai increasingly fearful of King Chu. "We and the prince and the others sent so many people to assassinate him, but we didn't even find his true identity."

"The King of Chu is more capable than the prince. In the future, the King of Chu will be our strongest enemy, but we must use the King of Chu to get rid of the prince." Marquis Xuanping knew that King Dai wanted to get rid of the King of Chu, but now was not the time. "Your Highness, you must not be impulsive."

"Uncle, I understand." King Dai said calmly, "I have tolerated the prince for so many years, so why not tolerate the king of Chu for a few more years."

"Your Highness, you are still young and can bear it." Xuan Pinghou said, his expression instantly became very serious, "A small impatience will ruin the big plan. We must not act rashly."

"Let's just wait for the good news from the fourth child."

The King of Chu who was far away in Pengcheng had already investigated some clues.

Although he had known for a long time that Pengcheng's stealing of copper was closely related to the prince, King Chu was still a little surprised when he found some clues pointing to the prince and the others.

"Your Highness, we haven't found where the stolen copper went yet." Wei Mian reported.

King Chu was not surprised.

"Your Highness, where did the prince and the others hide the copper?" During this period, they had been secretly searching for the whereabouts of the stolen copper, but there was no clue at all. "Your Highness, these stolen coppers must have been transferred out of Pengcheng long ago, right?"

King Chu nodded slightly: "Well, the stolen copper cannot be left in Pengcheng."

"Where will it be sent?" Wei Mian said with a frown, "No matter where it is sent, it must start from Pengcheng. There will definitely be clues, but there are none at all. This is too weird."

King Chu lowered his head and stared at the geographical map of Pengcheng.He pointed to the river outside Pengcheng and said: "The prince and his friends want to transport copper out, so they can only use water. If they use water, it has to do with water transportation."

"Your Highness, do you mean that the prince and the others gave the copper to the Cao Gang in Pengcheng to be transported out?"

"Well, the Caogang in Jinling has a deep relationship with the prince and the others." King Chu tapped his hand on the table gently and said thoughtfully, "The Caogang in every state capital in the south of the Yangtze River has a relationship to some extent, and may even cooperate. . The prince and others asked the Cao Gang in Pengcheng to transport the copper to Jinling, and then the Cao Gang in Jinling transported it to other places."

"Your Highness is wise." Wei Mian thought of Caobang, with a distressed look on his face, "Your Highness, in this case, we will not be able to find out the whereabouts of the stolen copper unless we go to Jinling. Even if we go to Jinling, with Jinling We can’t find any useful clues about the relationship between the Cao Gang and the Crown Prince.”

King Chu did not speak.

"Your Highness, is it possible that the stolen copper is in Jinling?" Wei Mian speculated, "Compared to other places, Jinling is the safest place to hide copper."

"The prince and the others will not hide the copper in Jinling."

"Why?"

"It's not safe. They should transport the copper to a certain place and forge it into weapons." King Chu said, "This place must be very secretive and only known to them, not others."

"Where is that?" Wei Mian had no clue.

Many places flashed through King Chu's mind, but he had to send people to confirm whether they were in the places he guessed.

He picked up the pen and wrote a few places on the paper, and then he wrote another letter.

The King of Chu handed the letter to Wei Mian: "Send it to Shu."

"Send it to Shu?" Wei Mian felt that King Chu's order was a bit strange, "Your Highness, shouldn't it be sent to Liangzhou and ask Mr. Zheng to help investigate?"

"Han Zhong secretly forged weapons in Shu. There may be some clues there."

"Your Highness is wise, I will send the letter right now."

King Chu felt that he would have to go to Jinling in a while.Although there is a high chance that you won't be able to find any useful clues when you go to Jinling, you may be able to investigate some clues.Besides, the tenth brother was still in Aurous Hill, so he had to go and see the tenth brother.

When Wei Mian came back, the King of Chu ordered him to prepare for going to Jinling.

"Your Highness, are you going to Jinling?" Wei Mian disagreed, "Jinling belongs to the prince. If the prince's people find out that you are in Jinling, they will never let you go."

"I won't let them find out." King Chu said again, "The most dangerous place is the safest place. The prince and others will not expect that I will go to Jinling."

"Your Highness, this is too dangerous." Wei Mian was frightened when he thought of the assassination they encountered on the way to Pengcheng.If His Highness is discovered after going to Jinling, the assassination will be even more brutal than before. "Your Highness, if you go to Jinling, you will become a prince. When the time comes, the prince and the others will come to catch turtles in an urn, and you won't be able to escape even if you want to."

"No." King Chu's tone was very firm.

"Your Highness..."

King Chu interrupted Wei Mian: "I'm not going to Jinling now and wait until Pengcheng can't find any clues before going to Jinling."

Wei Mian curled his lips and said angrily: "Your Highness, you didn't go to Jinling to look for clues, but to see His Royal Highness."

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