Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 268 Prince
Jia Qiang walked into the cabinet, which handles government affairs very quickly these days.

In fact, without Emperor Jingwen's repeated rejections, the cabinet's efficiency increased many times.

Emperor Jingwen's own abilities were not outstanding, but he liked to personally intervene in everything. Even if there were opinions from the cabinet, he would not fully agree with them. Instead, he would first consider other plans before finally obeying the cabinet's opinions.

You must know that the cabinet's handling of government affairs is a tradition formed over many years. Especially ordinary government affairs, it has become an assembly line-like process.

Emperor Jingwen was confined in the East Palace and lost the power of the emperor, which allowed the cabinet machine to operate unchecked.

Jia Qiang sat in her seat. It had been a month since Rong Guo Mansion was raided, and the impact of the Rong Guo Mansion case was weakening.

"Did you know that each of the Ministry of Personnel, Household Affairs, and Industry has an additional doctor?" Xu Xueshi asked at the side before work officially started.

"It's just the adjustment of the position of doctor in the third department, what a big deal!" Zhao Xueshi waved his hand indifferently and replied.

It is true that the doctors of the three bureaus are only full-fifth-grade civil servants. Of course, the power of the full-fifth-rank doctors of these three bu is not small, but they are not worthy of the attention of the cabinet bachelor.

"Xueshi Zhao, what do you know? This was just adjusted this morning. The three princes joined the third division and became the doctors of the third division!" Xu Xueshi saw that none of the bachelors present knew about this, and he couldn't help but smile and look down upon Xueshi Zhao. road.

Originally, according to the tradition of Daqian, only the seventh prince was qualified to inherit the throne, but something happened because Emperor Jingwen failed to live up to his expectations, and Emperor Jingwen was not allowed to decide the next generation of prince.

Now it seems that the Supreme Emperor did not include him in the crown prince plan at all, otherwise how could he send the three princes to the third division, and there is still no news from his side.

"My third prince is hosting a banquet for the Marquis at Qingfeng Tower!" the young eunuch bowed and said.

Where is this place, but it is the central political cabinet of Daqian, and all government affairs need to be handled from here.

"Why did the third prince invite me?" Jia Qiang was startled. He didn't expect that he had just heard the third prince's name and would invite him now.

The next generation of this royal family is extremely low-key.

You have to keep a low profile. Emperor Jingwen and the Supreme Emperor have been competing in the past and cannot allow the next generation to jump out.

Emperor Jingwen was already a cowardly tyrant in the eyes of hundreds of officials, and no one wanted to work under an emperor who could send out dead soldiers to kill people at any time.

The problem is that the prince and princess who were killed in the palace were all of royal blood, and among them were the grandsons of the Supreme Emperor.

"Okay, pay more attention to the work of the three princes. According to the oral instructions from the Supreme Emperor, the cabinet needs to write evaluations for the three princes every month!" Academician Tian clapped his hands and interrupted the discussion of the academicians. Said in a deep voice.

"I lost my life, but I was lucky to gain it!" Jia Qiang secretly thought in her heart.

"what?"

"The third prince entered the Ministry of Personnel, the fifth prince entered the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the seventh prince entered the Ministry of Works!" Bachelor Xu told the news he had.

"What's the matter?" Jia Qiang asked calmly.

As soon as Xu Xu said these words, many bachelors immediately raised questions.

But these are three princes joining three films at the same time, which means the meaning is quite different.

It had never happened before that a prince entered an important functional department. Due to the existence of the Supreme Emperor, Emperor Jingwen himself was struggling to maintain his own power, and Emperor Jingwen never thought of cultivating the next generation of princes.

Jia Qiang shook her head secretly. He originally had some thoughts about whether he had a chance to get in touch with the throne.

"Which three princes are they?"

From the massacre of Prince Beijing's Mansion to the massacre of Prince Zhongshun's Mansion, although there is no evidence that Jia Qiang was responsible, based on the principle of whoever benefits, Jia Qiang is the biggest suspect.

He doesn't have many strong thoughts about becoming an emperor. The reason why he needs power is just to protect himself, not really greedy for power.

Of course, the premise of this is that the Supreme Emperor is still alive and can restrain Emperor Jingwen and keep him confined in the East Palace. If the Supreme Emperor is not here, the price paid by the officials who want to abdicate Emperor Jingwen will be extremely tragic.

After having lunch in the cabinet at noon and busy for another hour, the work of the cabinet was finally over.

Jia Qiang left the palace and got on the carriage, which moved slowly.

In fact, it doesn't matter if he says it or not. As long as it takes a while, the news will come.

The carriage stopped and Jia Gong reached out to open the curtain.

In the eyes of the Supreme Emperor, the third generation of direct bloodline can be included as candidates.

Most importantly, what Emperor Jingwen did completely violated the sage's way of being a king and was unacceptable to all civil servants.

The Supreme Emperor was worried that if Jia Qiang were to take the throne, Jia Qiang would kill too many royal bloodlines.

The work of the cabinet began again. The two cabinet bachelors distributed the notes, and all the cabinet bachelors were busy.

The Supreme Emperor suddenly sent the three princes to serve as doctors in the Third Ministry. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was preparing to select a new emperor.

Jia Qiang was also startled. Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, the top five doctors in the third department did not have much influence.

Among the three princes, only the seventh prince is the son of Emperor Jingwen, and the remaining two princes are the grandsons of the Supreme Emperor.

Jia Qiang didn't know much about the princes, but he heard the discussions among the bachelors and knew something about the three princes.

Three princes have become candidates for the emperor, and all the scholars want to know first which three princes they are.

He also understood that these little eunuchs could not do boring things, they must have something important to do.

Judging from the current situation of Emperor Jingwen, it is only a matter of time before Emperor Jingwen abdicates.

Given his status, it would be a huge offense for a young eunuch to stop his carriage without any reason.

"Master Jia Hou, stay!" Just after the carriage had traveled less than a hundred meters, it was stopped by a young eunuch.

Jia Qiang didn't know that the Emperor did have this idea originally, but what he did made the Emperor hesitate.

These words from the great scholar Tian also indirectly confirmed the previous guesses of the scholars that the Supreme Emperor was going to establish a heir apparent.

"The third prince said he was invited by an old friend!" Seeing Jia Qiang's hesitation, the little eunuch continued.

"I'm going to Qingfeng Tower right away!" When Jia Qiang heard that he was an old friend, he became interested and waved his hand.

The carriage changed direction and headed towards Qingfeng Tower.

The Qingfeng Tower mentioned here is the Qingfeng Tower closest to the palace.

In recent years, many Qingfenglou branches have been opened in the capital, and most of them were opened in competition with the four government offices.

Now the business of the four restaurants in the Duke's Mansion has been closed down a long time ago, while Qingfeng Restaurant is still making a lot of money.

The carriage arrived in front of Qingfeng Building. When the steward saw that it was his master's carriage, he quickly greeted it and helped open the curtain. "I'm here by invitation, you do your thing!" Jia Qiang ordered with a smile.

The steward bowed and stepped back, and asked a waiter to come over and lead Jia Qiang to the box reserved by the third prince.

At the door of a box, the man opened the door.

Jia Qiang walked into the box and saw a man wearing a red python suit. The man had his back to the door and was looking out the window.

"I've met the Third Prince!" Jia Qiang bowed to the man and saluted.

"We haven't seen you for many years, Jia Xiandi is so polite!" The man turned around and said with a smile on his face.

Jia Qiang saw the man's face clearly, and he couldn't help but suddenly realized that this was his classmate Li Hongkang.

"I didn't expect you to be the third prince!" Jia Qiang shook her head and said.

In fact, with Jia Qiang's identity, Li Hongkang, the third prince, is one of the three people currently sent by the Supreme Emperor to compete for the crown prince. Otherwise, Li Hongkang's status would be far inferior to him.

"Why did the third prince, Grandpa Huang, take a fancy to me and make me a doctor? Otherwise, there would still be a group of princes like me in the royal family!" Li Hongkang said with a wry smile.

"Congratulations to the third prince!" After Jia Qiang found out that the third prince was Li Hongkang, she didn't have much idea of ​​a close friendship. The royal affairs were already complicated, and there was no benefit in intervening in them based on his position, but it would only increase the trouble.

Therefore, he has always called Li Hongkang the third prince, instead of calling him brother like Li Hongkang.

"Let's not talk about this for now. Come and take a seat. Let's borrow your Qingfeng Building and let's talk about old times together!" Li Hongkang seemed not to notice anything and greeted with a smile.

Li Hongkang wanted Jia Qiang to sit in the main seat, but Jia Qiang refused and sat in the guest seat.

Seeing this, Li Hongkang could only sit on the main seat.

The dishes served one after another, and the dishes Li Hongkang ordered were the highest-end ones in Qingfeng Building. This table was not cheap.

Jia Qiang did not take the initiative to speak, and only tasted each dish briefly.

The food he has eaten at home these past few years has all been of this quality. In addition, he is still thinking about what Li Hongkang wants to do, so he has no intention of eating it.

"Brother Jia Xian, you and I are classmates. Now I need your help, and I hope that brother Xian can lend a hand!" Li Hongkang saw that Jia Qiang had been silent. He also knew Jia Qiang's temper, so he said directly.

"I'm just a cabinet bachelor, how can I help the third prince?" Jia Qiang shook her head and said modestly.

"I won't say anything else. As long as Jia Xiandi is willing to give his full help, I will promise to be a bachelor in the cabinet after the matter is completed!" Li Hongkang said softly.

Jia Qiang couldn't help complaining in her heart, Li Hongkang had learned how to draw cakes.

Jia Qiang understands his own affairs. It won't take long for him to recognize his ancestor and return to his clan. He has never heard of a prince who can become a cabinet bachelor.

After becoming a prince, his civil service career would only reach the end of the first rank. It would be impossible for him to be promoted to a first-rank cabinet bachelor and hold the power of the cabinet.

No matter which prince becomes emperor in the future, he will try every means to have all his first-grade military positions and nine provinces checked, otherwise the emperor will not even be able to sleep peacefully.

Emperor Jingwen was willing to bestow the title of capital inspection of the nine provinces to Jia Qiang. This was because Jia Qiang was his only talent who could intervene in military power, and Jia Qiang was also his most trusted subordinate.

Li Hongkang looked at Jia Qiang with expectant eyes, saying this promise was the most sincerity he could show.

He knew his situation. Although he was the oldest among the three princes vying for the position of crown prince, he lacked the support of his elders. His father was only appointed as a general to assist the country, and it was still an idle title without any real power. , and there is no fiefdom.

The reason why he was selected by the Supreme Emperor this time was because he worked hard enough and studied hard in the Imperial College. His knowledge among the princes was at the forefront.

The Supreme Emperor summoned the princes to the Daming Palace and conducted an examination. After combining other aspects, the three princes were selected.

After Li Hongkang had the opportunity to ascend to the throne, he first thought of Jia Qiang, who was now in the ascendant.

He wanted to rely on the friendship from back then, and as long as Jia Qiang was willing to help him, he would have the greatest advantage.

"How can I be involved in the fight between princes?" Jia Qiang immediately refused.

He didn't give Li Hongkang any hope. This kind of thing must be made clear to prevent Li Hongkang from having any ideas.

Li Hongkang looked at Jia Qiang disappointedly, but Jia Qiang put down the chopsticks in her hands.

"It's my invitation this time, Third Prince, I have to leave beforehand!" Jia Qiang stood up and said goodbye.

Li Hongkang wanted to persuade him to stay, but he couldn't say the words.

Jia Qiang doesn't want to participate in the battle between princes, and no one can say anything about it.

The Supreme Emperor asked the three princes to compete without saying anything about the rules of competition. However, some ministers rushed to help, which may cause the Supreme Emperor's dissatisfaction.

Although the current Emperor is not in good health and is older, he has stronger power in his hands. Most matters can be decided with a single word. No official wants to offend the Emperor.

"Master, this Jia Hou doesn't give you face!" A eunuch approached Li Hongkang from the side and whispered in Li Hongkang's ear.

"He is a bachelor of the cabinet, a high-grade marquis, and he is in charge of all nine provinces. So what if he doesn't give me face!" Li Hongkang said with a sad smile and shook his head.

"How about some tricks?" The eunuch asked, pointing in the direction Jia Qiang left.

"Confused, you don't want to think about the fate of King Beijing and Prince Zhongshun. What qualifications do I have to be his enemy?" Li Hongkang said angrily.

If the eunuch in front of him hadn't been his companion since childhood, he would have thought that the eunuch was placed by other princes to harm him.

"In fact, we can use the name of the fifth prince or the seventh prince to do tricks, and then he will help us deal with our competitors!" The eunuch explained confidently.

There was hesitation in Li Hongkang's eyes, but thinking of the benefits brought by this matter, he nodded slowly.

Jia Qiang left Qingfeng Tower and got back into the carriage.

He let out a long sigh in the carriage. He could never forget the friendship between classmates.

Perhaps the friendship between classmates in the Imperial College was the purest friendship, but unfortunately everything changed when I grew up.

Another classmate and friend, Lang Li'an, ever since he rescued his father Lang Hou and Jia Qiang himself was promoted to the highest rank of Marquis, Lang Li'an treated him as a nephew when he saw him.

Now Li Hongkang's friendship is no longer pure, and he is allowed to join the fight between princes. This is without Li Hongkang knowing his life experience.

If an ordinary minister joins the fight between princes, the victory will be due to the merits of the dragon, and the defeat will be irreversible.

With Jia Qiang's current status, she doesn't need to participate in this kind of princely struggle at all to keep her status unchanged.

(End of this chapter)