The palace, in the inner hall
Prince Teng's wife Zhao, Aunt Xue, Mrs. Wang, and Sister Feng were talking.
Zhao is nearly fifty years old, with a head full of pearls and green silk, and is sitting in the main seat with a smile on her face.
At this time, Mrs. Wang asked: "Sister-in-law, how long will it take for my brother to deal with the things ahead? I have something to ask him."
Mrs. Wang's words aroused Zhao's interest, and she smiled and said: "What's the matter? It's so serious. Sister, can you tell me something? In the right way, one person can calculate the shortcomings, and two people can calculate the advantages."
Mrs. Wang hesitated for a moment and whispered, "It's my eldest girl."
Mrs. Zhao looked stunned for a moment and said, "That girl Yuanchun?"
Mrs. Wang nodded and said: "It's been several years since that girl Yuanchun entered the palace. Yesterday, she went back to the palace to deliver the imperial edict from the empress. Uncle Heng of the East Palace let her out of the palace for some reason. .”
Hearing this, Ms. Zhao's eyes moved slightly and said: "What...what do you mean? You are not waiting by the Queen's side, so why are you leaving the palace?"
Mrs. Wang's eyes were a little gloomy, and she said: "I think this is also the case. It's not good to serve in front of the Queen, but now I have to go home."
Aunt Xue opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she felt her sleeve being pulled by someone. She turned her eyes and saw that her daughter's eyes seemed to be discouraging, so she pursed her lips and said nothing.
Zhao, on her part, also heard the implication of Mrs. Wang's words. Since it was not easy to speak loudly in front of outsiders, she smiled and said: "Sister, there are other explanations for this matter. Let's go into details later."
Mrs. Wang nodded, but she couldn't help but feel a little more expectant.
After a while, Wang Yi's wife prepared some fruits and asked everyone to go to the small hall to share the food.
Mrs. Zhao also took the opportunity to pull over Mrs. Wang, lowered her voice and said, "Sister, have you heard anything recently?"
Mrs. Wang frowned and said, "What's the rumor?"
Zhao said softly: "The third son of the Emperor, King Wei, will leave the palace next year. The Queen and the Queen are going to choose a princess for this prince. Let all the officials and sons of the provinces, I want to send Zi'er's name to the Ministry of Etiquette, but the master refuses to stop me." Don’t give in.”
As soon as these words came out, Aunt Xue, who was sitting and talking at the side, the smile on her face froze, and she felt her heart was blocked.
When Mrs. Wang heard this, her heart was shocked. She stared at Mrs. Zhao and said, "Sister-in-law means..."
Mrs. Zhao smiled and said: "I didn't mean anything else. I just thought that this noble lady has reached the marriageable age. The eldest girl is now beside the queen. I see if she is lucky enough, this is not a destiny. A great blessing?"
When Mrs. Wang heard this, she felt hot and said, "This is what my sister-in-law said."
He secretly thought, yes, even if you can't enter the palace as a concubine, entering the palace as a princess is not much different.
Thinking about it like this, my heart went cold. Could it be that Uncle Heng had planned this incident for a long time and intended to do something bad?
Baochai listened to the two of them talking quietly, her face indifferent, and she shook her head secretly in her heart, thinking: "Yesterday, Brother Heng seemed to want to avoid these princes."
Mrs. Wang, on her side, said with a smile: "After hearing what my sister-in-law said, the eldest lady is not in a hurry to leave the palace."
Ms. Zhao said softly: "Don't worry, wait another one or two years. In fact, it will be within this one or two years."
The two of them spoke in a soft voice, hiding the beginning and the end, and were relatively reserved. Except for Baochai, no one else noticed.
But he said that Wang Ziteng came here and led a group of generals from the Beijing camp out of Yimen to greet him from a distance.
"Brother Zi Teng." Prince Nan'an said with a smile before he could even approach.
The prince of Nan'an County was forty or fifty years old, and was of the same generation as Wang Ziteng, Niu Jizong and others.
Beijing Wang Shuirong, Liu Fang, Hou Xiaokang, Shi Guangzhu and others all clasped their fists and saluted.
Wang Ziteng stepped forward quickly and said with a big smile: "When the two princes came to my humble abode, I felt the brilliance of the plum blossoms."
He also returned the salute to the military honors from the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion.
No matter what their stance is, both sides have at least done a good job in showing off.
While talking, he entered the flower hall, ushered in the banquet, and began to talk. They drank and drank. In front of all the generals and generals of the Beijing camp, Wang Ziteng deliberately did not mention the affairs of the Beijing camp.
In the afternoon, when all the guests were satiated with wine and food, Wang Ziteng asked his son Wang Yi to entertain the generals of the Beijing Camp, and then led the Prince of Nan'an County and Prince Beijing into the inner house to talk.
The servant served the tea, and Wang Ziteng stared at Nan'an County Prince closely and said, "Your Majesty, the reorganization of the capital camp is about to begin, and I still need your full support."
The Prince of Nan'an County laughed angrily and said: "Support, why don't you support it? The capital camp has not been in trouble in the past few years. Corruption is serious and military discipline is weak. How can I see that there are no elites in the regiment? I just need a good brother like this. Only then can we rectify it.”
When Wang Ziteng heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but with a look of humility on his face, he said: "The Beijing camp has been sparse for a long time. This time, the imperial court, from the emperor to the cabinet, is paying attention, and it is bound to be straightened out." .”
These words are of course overwhelming and majestic.
The Prince of Nan'an County smiled and nodded, and said: "King Beijing and the others are also here. The Governor's Office of the Fifth Army has given their full support. There is no problem with the ultimatum sent to the Governor's Office of the Five Armies yesterday, but Brother Xian, Brother Fool There is something I still want to say.”
Yesterday, Wang Ziteng transferred the method of rectifying the selection and reduction of generals in the Beijing camp to the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army.
Wang Ziteng said: "Your Majesty, please tell me."
The Prince of Nan'an County said: "The capital camp is being reorganized, but there must always be a way out for the original generals. Many of them have made great contributions to the court. We can't ignore the old feelings and just disarm and return to the field? There are still some old and weak soldiers. They were originally earning a living in the capital with their salaries, but if we let them leave the camp and do not solve their livelihood, we might cause trouble on the streets of the capital."
Wang Ziteng frowned and asked, "What do you mean by Prince Yi?"
The Prince of Nan'an County said worriedly: "If the generals, old and weak are eliminated, they must be properly resettled. This requires money from the court. At least the people must be demobilized and returned to their fields, and a sum of money must be given to settle their families. Otherwise, I'm afraid people will be resentful. .”
When Wang Ziteng heard this, he felt displeased and said: "Your Majesty, the country is short of money. A few months ago, the Eastern invaders invaded. Most of the money is now used to help the northerners. Besides, these old and weak troops have taken great advantage of the country." If you have so much, you can still reach out and ask for money?"
He had already asked the transfer department to tell him that he didn’t have even one tael of silver!
Not looking for the Beijing camp to pursue the money that has been stolen over the years has been forgotten by the Ministry of Revenue, and this still allows the Ministry of Revenue to pay out the money.
The Prince of Nan'an County frowned, looked at Wang Ziteng with aggressive eyes, and said: "According to the wise brother's method of reducing troops and generals, almost 40% of the generals and soldiers will be laid off. Such a large number of people will also be eliminated." You can’t just let it go, right?”
Wang Ziteng looked solemn and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, since these generals and commanders are not worthy of fighting and are useless, it makes no sense to give them money."
The Prince of Nan'an County frowned and said, "Didn't I hear a few months ago that more than 10 million taels of silver were confiscated in Dongcheng? Why can't we get out the silver?"
The move of the Prince of Nan'an County certainly had a great purpose. No one could stop the imperial court's decision to reorganize the army and eliminate the capital camp. However, strategies were also needed to act against the will and do bad things secretly.
For example, Prince Nan'an is here to fight for the rights and interests of eliminating generals and soldiers. After that, the news will inevitably spread, which will gain the morale of the military.
Wang Ziteng said: "No one knows this."
Beijing Wang Shuirong looked solemn and reminded: "I'm afraid there will be trouble."
Others Liu Fang, Hou Xiaokang, and Shi Guangzhu all said: "Nearly 60% of the people will be laid off. Tens of thousands of people, if not properly resettled, may cause trouble."
Suddenly, the study room was noisy.
This means that all the good things are said and all the bad things are done.
If something really happens, you can tell me, everyone has warned you.
Wang Ziteng was a little confused by the noise, and said anxiously: "Your Majesty and everyone, the concerns are not unreasonable. Some generals have been eating short quotas and drinking the blood of soldiers for many years. The short quotas should be strictly checked and ordered to make up for the shortfalls. At that time, with Check the money deficit and use it to pacify the old and the weak!"
If Jia Heng were here, he would find that this was very familiar. It was clearly his own strategy, and it was completely a strategy to rectify the Guoyong camp.
This strategy was naturally used by Wang Ziteng to learn from Jia Heng's reorganization of the troops in the Guoyong camp at the suggestion of his adviser Fang Ji.
But it has to be said that Wang Ziteng did not consider one issue.
That is, Jia Heng was secretly and closely monitored by the Jinyi Mansion, Lu He and others turned against him, and Tianzi Sword suppressed him with force. In addition, he went out to suppress the bandits, which made his resentment pour out. All these reasons were intertwined before he succeeded.
Of course, the key is that there are only a few people involved in the Guoyong camp. Now the eleven regiment camps have to undergo such training. Even if 40% of them are eliminated, the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people will be affected.
Sure enough, as soon as Prince Teng said these words, the originally noisy study gradually became quiet.
However, the prince of Nan'an County flushed his cheeks and praised the situation. He said loudly: "Wonderful! This is a wonderful strategy. It takes away the general's wealth and distributes it among the soldiers, without leaving a single cent or two in the household."
He sneered in his heart, you Wang Ziteng, you don't even have to organize the army, you still want to check the deficit, do you still want him to make up for the salary he has received from the Beijing camp over the years?
wishful thinking!
Turn back, wait until the wind is released, wait until a chaos is caused, and then make a fuss.
Wang Ziteng felt relieved when he saw that Prince Nan'an agreed with his attitude.
He secretly thought that he was wary of these people in the Fifth Army Commander's Office before. Could it be that he was overly worried?
Also, everyone in the court is working together to organize the army, who can stop them?
The Prince of Nan'an County talked to Wang Ziteng again, and even helped Wang Ziteng make up his mind. When it got late, he left Wang Ziteng's house, got on his horse, his face darkened, and he looked like a dark cloud in the twilight. densely covered.
"Your Majesty." Liu Fang rode horses and bridles side by side, and whispered: "What should we do now?"
Prince Nan'an's eyes flashed coldly and he said, "What else can be done? Since he is bent on flattering his superiors and will do his best, he can't blame us for being ruthless."
When Liu Fang heard this, her expression suddenly changed and she said, "Then why did the prince ask the Fifth Army Commander's Office to assist just now?"
The Prince of Nan'an County sneered and said: "When the incident breaks out, he will be the first to bear the brunt and will be blamed by the court. It is natural for us to deal with the aftermath well and then wait for an opportunity to regain the right to rectify the capital camp."
Rectifying the capital camp is the general trend of the imperial court, but who takes the lead makes a huge difference.
Not mentioning what was on the Prince of Nan'an's mind, he said that in the study, Wang Ziteng stood in front of the window and looked out, with his hands behind his hands. Suddenly, he frowned and asked Fang Ji beside him, "Mr. Fang, do you think they really support me?" ?"
Fang Ji said in a deep voice: "Jie Shuai, whether he is sincere or pretentious, Jieshuai is on the string now and has to take action. If it doesn't work, the emperor will hold him accountable, but he has to guard against them."
Wang Ziteng said: "Sir, what you said is true. No matter whether they are sincere or fake, I will treat them as sincere. Even without me, the capital camp still needs to be rectified."
Fang Ji's lips moved, and he wanted to say something to be careful of these people secretly causing harm and taking risks, but after thinking about it, they were all among the martial arts veterans, so they wouldn't go too far. Moreover, it is difficult to achieve the desired effect, and it will also arouse Long Yan's anger.
Wang Ziteng turned around and said: "A letter came from Yucun in Jinling the day before yesterday, saying that he would go to Beijing to report on his work at the end of the year. He planned to go to the mansion and ask me to be the middleman to negotiate peace with Rongning and Rongning. Mr. Fang, What do you think?"
Jia Yucun is the civil servant he has won over. Civil servants like this from Kejia can be promoted to high positions as soon as the opportunity comes.
It just so happened that next year, Jing Zhaoyin would be missing a son. He wanted to see if he could introduce him to Mr. Yang Ge.
Fang Ji said: "I'm afraid it depends on the attitude of Jia Yunhui."
When mentioning Jia Heng, Wang Ziteng's face was gloomy and his eyes were uncertain.
At this moment, the servant outside called out: "Master, my wife said that the two concubines and the young master are waiting for the master in the inner hall."
Wang Ziteng said loudly: "Let's go."
Fang Ji wisely stood up and left.
Wang Ziteng came to the inner hall. At this time, all the imperial wives and others had dispersed. Only Wang Ziteng's wife Zhao, Aunt Xue and her daughter, as well as Xue Pan and Baoyu, were talking together.
Seeing Wang Ziteng enter the hall, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue, and Baochai, who were talking to Mrs. Zhao, all stood up to greet her.
Baoyu and Xue Pan called, "Uncle."
Wang Ziteng smiled, glanced at Da Lian Bao and Xue Da Tou, and said, "Sit down, you can be more casual at home."
After a few words of greeting, Wang Ziteng smiled and said, "What are you talking about?"
Zhao said: "Let's talk about Baoyu and his eldest sister. Master, listen to what Uncle Heng of Jia's East Mansion said about inviting the eldest daughter out of the palace."
Speaking, the story will be narrated.
Wang Ziteng's expression suddenly changed, his eyes darkened, and he asked, "What did he say?"
Mrs. Wang's face looked a little ugly and said: "Brother, he said that if there is good news, it should have been there long ago. It has been hard for the palace for several years, but I heard from my sister-in-law that the two queens The prince will open a palace in the next two years, so there may be other opportunities."
Wang Ziteng frowned and said in a deep voice: "Being married to the prince has advantages and disadvantages. If the Holy Lord accepts his niece as his concubine, that would be the best thing. But prince, no one can say which cloud will fall in the future. Yu, people like you and me are extremely wealthy, but they still need to be... cautious."
He is in charge of the capital camp. If he is married to the Holy Emperor, he will be rich and powerful. But with the prince, he can't see who the Holy Heart belongs to, so getting involved rashly is a disaster rather than a blessing.
Mrs. Wang: "..."
Aunt Xue on the side felt a little better for some reason.
Wang Ziteng warned: "Go back and tell the old lady to stay in the palace for now. I will think of something later."
Mrs. Wang nodded and said quickly: "Tell the old lady when you get back."
