On the day before the Longevity Festival, the fourth prince and Li Pushe led the ministers, foreign envoys, and imperial students to worship the two saints Confucius and Mencius.
During the worship process, the fourth prince showed his mature, steady and decent side to the ministers, foreign envoys and imperial students. However, he showed his sharpness and talent to the ministers more.
The eulogy in honor of Confucius and Mencius was written by the fourth prince himself. It was very well written and made everyone present feel excited. The ministers and Taixue students were filled with pride and pride.
The fourth prince led the worship of Confucius and Mencius with great success, and the foreign envoys were deeply impressed by the culture of the Central Plains.
The emperor was very satisfied with the performance of the fourth prince in the worship. He not only praised the fourth prince in public, but also rewarded the fourth prince with many things, which made the third prince and others jealous.
Seeing the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty and foreign ministers praising the fourth prince, jealousy arose in the hearts of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the King. However, they did not take the fourth prince seriously.
Although the fourth prince led the worship of Confucius and Mencius and was praised by scholars all over the world, the fourth prince was not yet an adult and had no military commanders to support him, so he did not pose a threat to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the King.
However, the worship of Confucius and Mencius this time allowed the ministers of the court and the scholars of the world to see the wise and extraordinary side of the fourth prince.
The fourth prince was originally very talented and had some status in the hearts of literati. However, after paying homage to Confucius and Mencius, his reputation among the people has improved a lot.
"Your Highness, the Fourth Prince's reputation is getting higher and higher now, which is very detrimental to us." Yu Hai hates the Fourth Prince and naturally doesn't want to see him doing well. "Should we stop the Fourth Prince?"
The Eighth Prince raised his eyes and glanced at Yu Hai, then asked expressionlessly: "Why do you want to stop it?"
"Your Highness, the Fourth Prince's status in the hearts of literati students all over the world is getting higher and higher, which is very detrimental to our future career." Yu Hai always thought that the Fourth Prince was a person who always showed off. On the surface, the fourth prince did not interact with any ministers, but in fact, he secretly attracted ministers and literati students from all over the world.
"You are wrong. The more Zhao Yun shows up, the more beneficial it will be to us." Zhao Yun is the name of the fourth prince. "If he becomes too prominent, the crown prince and the acting king will take action against him without us taking action."
"That's true. The Crown Prince and the Dai Wang will not spare the Fourth Prince in the first place." Yu Hai felt reassured, "Then let the Fourth Prince jump." The higher the Fourth Prince jumps, the faster he will die.
The eighth prince chuckled and said: "Zhao Yun is not a fool, he can't jump around." If the fourth prince starts to get carried away because of this matter, then he is not worthy of being the eighth prince's opponent.
Yu Hai thought about it, nodded in agreement and said, "The fourth prince is used to pretending, otherwise he wouldn't be able to coax His Highness to get close to him." Yu Hai was very dissatisfied with Zhao Yao's closeness to the fourth prince.
"Zhao Yun is quite good at pretending, but he is really good to his tenth brother." Although the eighth prince hated the fourth prince, he never let Zhao Yao stay away from the fourth prince, mainly because the fourth prince was very good to Zhao Yao.
Yu Hai said disapprovingly: "I think the Fourth Prince is deliberately getting close to His Highness the Tenth Prince." The Fourth Prince must have bad intentions.
"Zhao Yun is sincere to his tenth brother." The eighth prince could see this.
"Your Highness, how can you speak for the fourth prince?" Yu Hai said with some dissatisfaction.
"I didn't say good things for Zhao Yun, it was the truth." Otherwise, how could he let his tenth brother get close to Zhao Yun. "How did you go about what I asked you to do?"
Yu Hai knew what the eighth prince was talking about. He said with a respectful tone: "As far as I can tell you, Your Highness, things are going very smoothly and it will be successful tonight."
The Eighth Prince nodded lightly and said, "That's good."
"Your Highness, the eldest prince of Annan has proposed to marry your noble daughter, aren't we going to respond?" Yu Hai asked cautiously and tentatively.
"Father will not agree." The eighth prince said very firmly.
"Why, Annan is a vassal state of our Zhou Dynasty. If we marry Annan, we can get closer to Annan and Zhou?" Yu Hai asked puzzledly, "Don't you want Annan to marry us?" A kiss?"
"It's very simple, you are marrying a noble girl, not a princess." The eighth prince picked up the tea cup, lowered his head and sipped a few sips of tea, and said slowly, "Father will never let the family reach out to Annan Kingdom."
"If she is a princess, will the emperor agree to the marriage?"
"This is not a marriage. After all, we, the Great Zhou Dynasty, did not lose." The Eighth Prince corrected Yu Hai, "It is the princess of our Great Zhou Dynasty who is getting married."
"Your Highness is talking about it. Your Highness, do you think that if there is a princess, she can marry the eldest prince of Annan?"
The Eighth Prince did not answer immediately, but thought for a moment before saying: "Maybe, maybe not."
Yu Hai wondered why His Highness spoke so ambiguously. However, he did not dare to ask.
"Your Highness, tomorrow is Wanshou Festival. You have to get up before dawn. You'd better not read any more tonight and go to bed early."
Hearing this, the Eighth Prince put down the book in his hand, stood up and said, "Then go to sleep."
Before going to bed, Yu Hai had already put several hot water bottles in the Eighth Prince's quilt to warm the bed.
The eighth prince is weak and afraid of the cold. Every winter, he would wrap himself into a ball.
This winter, the Eighth Prince is much more comfortable and relaxed.
The cloak he usually wears was given by Zhao Yao, the cotton-padded jacket he wears is also given by Zhao Yao, and the hot water bottle for warming his hands and bed is also given by Zhao Yao.
Zhao Yao asked people to make hot water bottles with pig water. The hand-warming effect was very good, but it was quite troublesome to make.
Ever since he got the hot water bottle that Zhao Yao asked someone to make, the Eighth Prince couldn't put it down and took it with him wherever he went. Thanks to it, the Eighth Prince is no longer as afraid of the cold this winter as before.
Yu Hai saw that the hot water bottle in the bed heater was no longer warm, so he hurriedly went to replace it with hot water.
"Your Highness, please cover your hands."
The Eighth Prince sat back on the bed, covering his hands with a hot water bottle. Yu Hai placed another hot water bottle at his feet.
"Your Highness, Your Highness the Tenth Prince is really thoughtful and made a hot water bottle for you." Yu Hai said with a smile, "The hot water bottle His Highness Ten made is much warmer than Mrs. Tang."
"Yes, thanks to the hot water bottle made by my tenth brother. After winter, I am no longer afraid of the cold." The Eighth Prince held the hot water bottle in his hands, and the heat from the hot water bottle spread to his heart through his hands. After winter, the Eighth Prince not only felt his hands and feet warm, but his heart was also very hot. "It's hard for him to come up with the idea of making a hot water bottle out of pig water."
"Your Highness, His Highness Tenth is not very smart in studying, but he is very smart in making these weird things. As for this cotton, everyone thinks it is just a flower, but His Highness Tenth uses it to make quilts, cotton-padded clothes, and cotton-padded clothes. Shoes." Yu Hai was full of admiration for Zhao Yao, "These clothes and shoes made of cotton are so warm to wear." Thanks to His Highness the Tenth Highness, the palace servants also wore cotton clothes after the winter this year. .
"My tenth brother is very smart." The Eighth Prince chuckled, "However, using cotton to make clothes and quilts is beyond the imagination of ordinary people."
"After all, His Highness made the hot water bottles and cotton clothes just for you." In this world, apart from him, only His Highness took His Highness into his heart and cared about Him all the time. Your Highness has been unlucky since he was a child, but fortunately he has ten highnesses. "Your Highness, Your Highness is worried about your health."
The eighth prince said nothing, but there was a smile on his face.
Yu Hai brought a bowl of hot goat's milk: "Your Highness, please use it."
There was a hint of disgust on the Eighth Prince's face, but he still reached out to take the goat's milk and drank it in a big gulp.
It was Zhao Yao's order to let the eighth prince drink a bowl of goat's milk in the morning and evening. When he saw that the Eighth Prince was weak and the tonic had no effect, he thought of Zhao Yao's habit of drinking milk since he was a child in his dream. However, the eighth prince's spleen and stomach were not very good. He had diarrhea when he drank milk, so Zhao Yao thought of goat's milk.
The eighth prince had diarrhea after drinking cow's milk, but he was fine after drinking goat's milk. Zhao Yao then told Yu Hai to cook a bowl of goat milk for the eighth prince every morning and evening, and he must watch the eighth prince drink it.
Zhao Yao also told the eighth prince to eat more mutton in winter, which would be good for his health.
After Yu Hai helped the Eighth Prince to sleep, he did not leave, but stayed by the Eighth Prince's bed.
At this time, in a house somewhere in the capital, the third prince was heading to Wushan with the princess of Annan Kingdom. However, if you look carefully, there is something wrong with Princess Ananguo's expression.
The next day, before dawn, Zhao Yao in Kunde Hall was woken up by Tongxi.
After washing up and having a quick breakfast, Zhao Yao went to Chonghua Palace. Halfway through, I met the Eighth Prince.
Zhao Yao hurriedly asked the eighth prince whether he was cold or not.
Because he would be worshiping his ancestors later, the Eighth Prince could not bring a hot water bottle or soup pot.
The Eighth Prince said it was not cold in a cotton-padded jacket, but Zhao Yao touched his hands and found that they were cold.
Only then did Zhao Yao remember that he had forgotten to make the gloves. After the Longevity Festival was over, he would ask someone to make the gloves.
The eighth prince saw Zhao Yao holding his hands and lowering his head to blow hot air on his hands, which made his eyes slightly moist.
Zhao Yao used his small hands to rub the eighth prince's hands again. He didn't stop until the eighth prince's hands were heated.
He also told the eighth prince to rub his hands together if it felt cold during the ceremony.
Zhao Yao followed the eighth prince to Chonghua Palace. The other princes had already arrived, but the third prince had not arrived yet. After a while, when the sacrifice was about to begin, the third prince arrived belatedly.
The third prince looked a little haggard and his face was a little ugly. He said that he had not slept well last night because he was too excited, but the ministers did not believe a word of it.
Experienced ministers could not tell what the third prince did last night.
At Mao hour, the sacrifice officially begins.
The emperor first took his sons to worship the late emperor, the late queen mother, and their ancestors. Then, he led all the civil and military officials of the dynasty to worship heaven and earth.
By the time the sacrifices were finished, it was already Chen time.
The emperor turned around and went to the main hall of Chengguang Hall to accept the congratulations from his sons and civil and military officials.
First, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the princes to wish the Emperor a happy birthday.
The birthday gift presented by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a stone with the word "longevity" in it. His Royal Highness the Prince said that this stone was naturally formed with the word "Shou" and he did not find someone to carve it.
The birthday gift given to the king was a sky stone, which suddenly fell from the sky when he was fighting chaos in Liangzhou.
The birthday gift given by the third prince was a birthday painting by a famous calligrapher and painter from the previous dynasty.
The fourth prince's birthday gift was a birthday picture he drew himself.
The fifth prince's birthday gift was a birthday peach carved from jade.
The sixth prince's birthday gift was a bow and arrow.
The seventh prince's birthday gift was a Buddhist scripture copied by him himself.
The eighth prince's birthday gift was also a Buddhist scripture copied by him. Every year on the emperor's birthday, the eighth prince would personally copy Buddhist scriptures.
The birthday gift given by the Ninth Prince was an inkstone, which was of course prepared by the King Dai for him.
The tenth prince, Zhao Yao, ostensibly gave him a statue of the emperor that he had carved.
After the princes finished giving gifts, it was the ministers' turn to give gifts.
Because the emperor did not like luxury, the birthday gifts given by ministers were very "simple". However, the birthday gifts sent by foreign envoys were very luxurious, and they were all rare treasures from their own countries.
The Longevity Festival lasted for three days before it ended. In the past, the Wanshou Festival was only celebrated for one day, because the emperor felt that there was no need to celebrate for three days because of his birthday. This year's Wanshou Festival was celebrated for three days because of the congratulations from foreign envoys.
During these three days, there was no curfew in the capital and it was a bustling place.
After the three days of celebrations, it was time for the foreign envoys to leave for their home countries. Before they returned home, the emperor also rewarded them with many things. However, the eldest prince of Annan's wish to marry the noble daughter of the Great Zhou Dynasty failed, and the emperor rejected his marriage proposal.
Although the emperor had previously told He Xiang and Liu Taishi that they would become a family, it was just a joke. What Xiang He and Taishi Liu said was also a joke.
Marquis Xuanping and the ministers who supported Dai Wang proposed to the emperor that His Highness Dai Wang marry the princess of Annan Kingdom as his concubine.
However, Anyang Hou came out to object at this time, saying that Princess Ananguo should marry the third prince as a side princess, because Princess Ananguo fell in love with the third prince.
Soon, the emperor learned that the third prince had already been married to Princess Annan, so he had no choice but to marry the princess of Annan to the third prince as his concubine. When the third prince comes of age next year, Princess Annan can marry the third prince as the concubine.
King Dai and Marquis Xuanping did not expect that they would kill the third prince halfway and snatch Princess Annan away.
The prince's and Duke Zhen's plans also failed.
Although the third prince married the princess of Annan as he wished, he angered the emperor. After the foreign envoys left, the emperor gave the third prince a severe scolding and punished him to go to Zongzheng Temple to face the wall and reflect on his mistakes. It was said that he was wallowing in his past, but in fact he was imprisoned in Zongzheng Temple and was not released until the eve of the New Year.
The king's marriage to Princess Annan as his concubine failed, but the emperor instead married the concubine of the Wang family, Wang Siqi's sister, to the king as his concubine.
The emperor's marriage decree was like a thunderbolt from the blue, which stunned all the civil and military officials of the dynasty.
The ministers had no idea that the emperor would issue such a marriage decree. The Wang family was Concubine Shu's natal family and the maternal family of the third prince. However, the emperor actually gave the daughter of the Wang family in marriage to the acting king as his concubine. This... is incredible. In fact, the ministers felt that the emperor's decree of granting marriage was too ridiculous.
The emperor's marriage decree was expected by the eighth prince. The Eighth Prince speculated that this seemingly absurd marriage decree would be repeated in the future, but it was just the beginning.
Duke Zhen Guo was smart and quickly figured out the true purpose behind the emperor's marriage decree, which made him feel wary.
The prince was very happy when he learned that the purpose of the emperor's marriage decree was to make the Xuanping Houfu and Anyanghoufu "kill each other".
"Uncle, your father's marriage decree is really wonderful. It seems that your father is not completely at ease with the king." The prince thought to himself that although his father dotes on the king, he is also worried that the king's achievements will shock the master, so he let him The king of Dai married the daughter of the Wang family as his concubine and used the Wang family to check and balance Marquis Xuanping.
"The emperor's important purpose is to restrain the Wang family." Duke Zhen Guo sighed in his heart. The emperor finally couldn't help but take action against the aristocratic families in the capital.
"It's good to restrict the Wang family. This saves us from taking action." Although the third prince currently poses no threat to His Royal Highness, the Wang family is always an obstacle. Now that there is no need for him to take action, it is great that the father personally solves this obstacle to the Wang family.
Duke Zhenguo said in his heart: After the emperor eliminates the Wang family, the Xun family, and the Yuan family, it will be the Xie family's turn next.
Just when Duke Zhen Guo was worried about the fate of the Xie family in the future, the emperor suddenly issued an imperial decree and appointed Xie Shi as General Zhenxi, and he would go to the northwest to guard it from that day on.
This decree was a huge surprise to the Zhenguo government, because General Zhenxi was in charge of 100,000 soldiers in the northwest military camp.
However, for Dai Wang, this decree was tantamount to bad news. Of course, it is not good news for the Third Prince and the others.
The eighth prince was surprised by the emperor's decree, but he understood the emperor's intention instantly.
Zhao Yao was not surprised at all by this decree, because he and He Lianfang had already guessed that the emperor would do this.
The shrewd Duke Zhen naturally understood the true intention behind this decree, but he was not afraid. On the contrary, he was very excited, because what he lacked most was military power. Now that the emperor has given the military power to him, he will make good use of it.
With these 100,000 soldiers, Zhen Guogong believed that he could stop the emperor's purpose.
What Duke Zhen Guo didn't know was that the emperor deliberately made him think so.
Duke Zhen Guo: Hahahahaha, great, my Xie family finally has military power. With military power, I have nothing to fear. Your Majesty, thank you very much.
Emperor: You're welcome. Just like it.
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