Outside the city of Shuntian Mansion, in a pavilion in a manor, a father and son were discussing whose hands the throne of the Song Dynasty would fall.
The father and son are not young at all. The father is a gray-haired old man who looks to be in his 70s. He seems to be still ill and his face is ugly. He is half lying and half sitting on a big bed. There is also a porcelain bowl on the table next to him that exudes the pungent smell of Chinese medicine. The medicine juice in the bowl has been almost consumed, leaving only a little medicine residue.
This white-haired old man is the former Prime Minister of the East Palace, British Gong Chen Ji, who has retired from officialdom.
Sitting next to his hospital bed was Chen Li, the filial son who had just finished serving him the bitter medicine - he was Chen Ji's eldest son, a middle-aged man in his forties, thin and withered, and still... He has a pair of swollen eyes and a gray goatee under his chin.
As the son of the prime minister, a British prince, and Zhao Kai's nephew, Chen Li was naturally an important minister in the court. Now the official worships Longtuge and is waiting for the system. He will be a senior official and know about the affairs of Shuntian Mansion.
Because his father Chen Ji was ill and bedridden these days, he asked Zhao Kai for leave and went home to be a filial son for a few days.
Now that he could serve his father and drink medicine, he casually talked about the two kings seizing the throne.
"It's true that the official family has been able to establish a heir for a long time, but it has been delayed until now... King Zhao is 30 years old and almost 40 years old, and King Qin is also over 30 years old. The two kings are both He is a king who has been in power for a long time, and he has a large group of followers underneath him!"
After hearing his son's words, Chen Ji just smiled lightly and said, "Li'er, whose treasure did you bet on?"
"Me?" Chen Li smiled, "Dad, children still know the principle of a gentleman being disloyal..."
"Hehe, you can't help yourself when you are in the world!" The old man smiled, "We are the princes of the country! If we don't want to offend both sides, then we have to offend both sides... Although I have done a lot of hard work The work is not small, and the dignity is big enough to support you. But are you willing to be a fourth-grade official and a county prince for the rest of your life?"
Chen Li just shook his head slightly.
A fourth-rank official and a county prince are actually not bad, but it also means a downhill road... Chen Ji was an important minister who served as the Grand Prime Minister of the East Prefecture for many years, and was also granted the title of British Duke. Chen Li's generation only has one fourth-rank official and one county official left. What about the next generation? Will there be only one sixth-grade official and one marquis left? If things continue like this, the British Duke and Chen family will gradually decline, and within a few generations, they will be reduced to ordinary people.
But if you want to participate in this struggle to win the heir... what should you do if you bet on the wrong thing?
If you don’t make a bet, you will slowly lose your fortune. The Heavenly Family will still give the old Duke’s face, and there will always be generations of wealth to sit back and enjoy.
And if you bet on the wrong thing, you will be out of luck immediately!
When the new king comes to power, the successful bettor will certainly be promoted and make a fortune, while the wrong betkeeper will certainly not have a good end... Especially since Chen Ji and Chen Li, father and son, have been officials for many years and are quite harsh, which offends a lot of people. Shao Ren is not too clean himself (of course, the two father and son are very capable bureaucrats and can be regarded as cruel officials). If they are really blacklisted by the emperor, how many years can they have a good time?
So Chen Li is really in a dilemma now!
Don't bet on anything... After all, it's a choice between two!
And the bet is afraid of being wrong. The kings of Zhao and Qin are evenly matched, and it is impossible to tell who will have the last laugh!
In addition, with Chen Li's keen political sense, he has certainly noticed that the battle for the reserve has reached a point where the winner is about to be decided. Because the people encircled by King Zhao and King Qin have recently been trying their best to win over him...
If Chen Li doesn't want to cool down slowly, he has no choice but to make a decisive bet!
But who should be held hostage?
Seeing the embarrassment on Chen Li's face, Chen Ji already understood his son's situation.
"Assist King Zhao!" Chen Ji has already made a decision!
"Dad," Chen Li looked at his father, "Do you think Zhao Wangcheng is relatively big?"
Chen Ji shook his head, "I don't know... God's will is unpredictable, how could I know? Unless the officials tell me personally, I really don't know who will win."
Chen Ji is quite capable as an official, but he has never been prepared to guess what Zhao Kai means... Oh, not all the time, but since "Zhao Kai went crazy", he has not been able to figure out Zhao Kai's way, so Just don't touch it.
Chen Ji paused and then said: "But I watched King Zhao grow up! And I also gave King Zhao some advice back then. Later, when he was fighting against the Jin Dynasty in Daming Mansion, I even supported King Zhao as the acting general marshal. One position. If you support King Zhao, if King Zhao wins in the future, you will definitely be able to take the position of Grand Prime Minister of the East Palace.
If you support King Qin, if King Qin wins in the future, your chance to be promoted to Duke will be over. "
After listening to his father's words, Chen Li nodded and said: "Actually, the child is also leaning towards King Zhao in his heart... King Zhao is more talented than King Qin, and he is calm, thoughtful, and treats officials and subordinates politely." He is polite and has the air of a gentleman. If King Zhao were the legitimate son, he would have become the crown prince long ago."
Chen Ji also nodded and said: "It is true. Among the sons of the official family, the one who is most like the official family is actually King Zhao, but it is a pity that he is not the legitimate son. However, the official family has never said that he wants to establish a legitimate son, and it is too late. If you don’t appoint King Qin as your heir, you must be dissatisfied with King Qin’s ability, and have expectations for King Zhao!”
Chen Li nodded and said, "Father, why don't you come to the palace and speak to King Zhao?"
Although Chen Ji has retired, his influence is still there, and the disciples and old officials in the court are also willing to follow suit... They don't know where to place their bets!
Therefore, once Chen Li enters the palace to speak for Zhao Lun, Zhao Lun's situation will definitely be very good.
"Well... let me think about it," Chen Ji frowned and pondered for a while, then suddenly remembered, "By the way, did Yue Fei say anything?"
In Zhao Kai's court, there was no rule that military generals could not participate in the discussion of establishing a prince. The Song Dynasty he reopened was to share the world with the soldiers and warriors. On the issue of establishing a prince, generals like Yue Fei could certainly take a stand.
"I haven't heard of it," Chen Li just shook his head, "but Yue Fei's son Yue Yun is close to the King of Qin."
Chen Ji said: "I know about this. Yue Yun was the teacher of King Qin. When King Qin was studying at the artillery school, Yue Yun happened to be the instructor there. The two are of the same age and have known each other since childhood, so their relationship is naturally extraordinary."
"Then Yue Fei will support King Qin?" Chen Li hesitated again. It is obvious to everyone how close the relationship between Zhao Kai and Yue Fei is. If Yue Fei clearly supports the King of Qin, it will definitely be very beneficial to the King of Qin.
"It's hard to say... Yue Fei is more than just Yue Yun's son." Chen Ji still shook his head, "But Yue Fei is an outspoken person, and the officials are particularly indulgent to him. If he supports the King of Qin, he will definitely say it publicly. Before you place a bet, you must inquire about Yue Fei's position. If he supports King Qin, then you should not support King Zhao... Come to my father immediately, and we will enter the palace together to speak for King Qin.
If he supports King Zhao, then we will go to the palace to speak for King Zhao together. If Yue Fei doesn't express his position, then his father won't say anything either. Just support King Zhao. "
It's always right to copy Yue Fei's papers... Yue Fei is the top military general, and Chen Ji is the top civil servant. No matter what Zhao Kai did, he couldn't possibly uproot them both, right?
Chen Li finally showed a smile, "You are still thoughtful, I admire you!"
Of course Chen Ji was thoughtful, but he couldn't resist Zhao Kai and Yue Fei, who were not acting according to common sense!
Chen Ji originally thought that Yue Fei would definitely be able to speak, but Yue Fei chose not to express his stance this time... and the reason why he did not express his stance was not because he wanted to be neutral, but because Zhao Kai had already shown him the answer.
The answer is of course that King Zhao Ping of Qin became the prince.
The reason why King Qin Zhao Ping became the crown prince was not because he was the legitimate son, but because Zhao Kai did not regard Zhao Lun as his own son... This reason could not even be thought of by Chen Ji!
And Yue Fei's reaction after learning about Zhao Kai's trump card was beyond the expectations of Chen Ji, an old fox. Others took a closed-book exam, but Yue Fei took an open-book exam. But Yue Fei felt that he shouldn't take advantage of this, so he simply stopped talking. This left people like Chen Ji who wanted to cheat and copy the answers no place to do so.
Chen Ji couldn't copy the answers, so of course he wouldn't hand in the paper... He had recovered from his illness, so there was no problem if he didn't hand in the paper. However, his son Chen Li still had to hand in the paper!
So after asking for a few days and confirming that Yue Fei had not made any public statement on the issue of establishing the throne, under the arrangement of Chen Li, King Zhao Zhaolun went out of the city to "Yizhuang" outside Shuntian Mansion to visit the former prime minister who was ill in bed. Chen Ji, and received a grand reception from the Chen family.
Although Chen Ji did not publicly support Zhao Lun as the crown prince, nor did he enter the palace to speak to Zhao Kai, but in this way, he made his position clear.
As soon as Chen Ji made his position clear, all his disciples and former officials in the court immediately defected to Zhao Lun, and Zhao Lun's momentum suddenly increased.
However, the final decision-making power is still tightly held by Zhao Kai, who is already 57 years old!
"Official family, today King Zhao went to the British Duke's residence after the dismissal of the dynasty... It was said that he was visiting the Duke's condition, and the Duke's palace arranged a quite grand reception."
The one who was reporting the whereabouts of King Zhao and Zhao Lun to Zhao Kai was Concubine Natalie. Although this fair-skinned woman gave birth to two sons and two daughters for Zhao Kai, the two sons she gave birth to were destined to have no chance of imperial power. So now she has completely replaced the old Guo Tiannu and became the leader of the female class.
And every move of Zhao Wang Zhao Lun and Qin Wang Zhao Ping is under the surveillance of the female class leaders!
The two sons of Zhao Kai fought fiercely for the throne, and the princes, civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were gradually involved in this power struggle within the royal family.
Zhao Kai, who connived at and even precipitated this political struggle, had a firm grasp on the movements of his two sons through the reports of the female class members. He was like a giant dragon hiding behind the clouds. He looked at his two sons and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty stirring up trouble below, and he showed a smile that was not bad at all...
