On the morning of the eleventh day of the first month of February, the prince of Pingnan took people to leave Beijing and return to the garrison of Yuedi. Almost at the same hour, Zhou Tai also went out of the gate of Lu's house, wrapped a bag with the clothes and medicines prepared by Lu Zhi and the silver ticket of 10,000 taels of silver that Lu Wansai gave him, and carried it out of the city gate loosely.

In the early days of the same day, the undecided candidate for the secretary of the military department was unexpected, and Emperor Yuanfeng Qiankun made an arbitrary decision, and a holy edict directly determined the candidate -- Li Chongshan, the younger brother of the late king of Dingxi, Li Chongjin, acted as the military department.

As soon as the oracle came out, the government and the opposition were in an uproar, and I have to say that almost no one expected this candidate.

This Li family was originally a big family in the eight great families at the beginning of this dynasty, "Xie Qian Zhong Wang, Wei Xue Li Luo", the ancestor of the Li family followed the founding ancestor to pacify the northwest, invincible, and made great contributions to the imperial court, and then sealed the king of Dingxi, which is one of the only two kings with different surnames in this dynasty, and has a real fief. It's just that since the establishment of this dynasty, there have been clear regulations that the hereditary title of the same rank shall not exceed three generations, and the prince shall not exceed five generations.

Dingxi palace has been passed down for five generations, and now the Dingguo Gong is the only son of the late Dingxi King Li Chongjin, Li Cunye, because of the lack of fetal since childhood, he is not allowed to practice martial arts, and he barely lives until now, and he is hanging in a medicine jar every day, so there is no merit at all. After Li Chongjin's death, Li Cunye was demoted to the title of Duke of Dingguo, and the saint was sympathetic to the Li family, so he had a special edict that the title of Duke of Dingguo was reduced by one level, but the food was not reduced, and it was still issued according to the king.

The Li family has been passed down to the present, for more than a hundred years, except for the second master Li Chongshan, who practiced martial arts in his early years and joined the army, no one else has never been on the battlefield. Who knew that in such a declining family, a military department secretary suddenly appeared, and he was still a candidate appointed by the saint!

But if you really want to talk about it, Li Chongshan is understandable as the secretary of the military department, this person is a meritorious hero, born in a family of military generals, and in his early years, he practiced martial arts and joined the army, and he also served in the military department before, and now although he is said to be the prefect of any side of the border pass, the official reputation is not obvious, but I haven't heard any bad rumors, it can be regarded as a decent person, such a person, not a powerful and important person, no one can find out for a while.

Therefore, although the ministers said that they were surprised, this matter was arbitrary of the holy will, and the courtiers did not dare to say anything arrogantly, and looked at each other for a long time before shouting "The Holy Judgment is clear", and it is impossible to say what they agree in their hearts.

After the early dynasty, the fourth prince walked out of the palace gate with a gloomy face, walked two steps on the street, stopped with a frown, thought about it, turned around and motioned to the little servant who followed: "Go to Wei Xiangfu!" ”

A few small servants got the order, and hurriedly went to report the news, prepared the car, and followed the four princes into the Wei Xiangfu in a hurry.

The steward of the concierge hurriedly greeted him with a smile, bowing and saluting, and leading the four princes to Wei Xiang's study.

Wei Xiang is already over sixty years old, gray hair, blessed face, looking extremely kind, although he has reached the age of sixties, his spirit is very good, standing in the study and quietly writing a word, the caretaker led the four princes into the house, Fang put down the pen, raised his hand to signal the four princes to approach, "Come and see, how do I write this hand?" ”

The fourth prince raised his hand and waved away the steward who was waiting outside, walked to the table with a not very good-looking face, and didn't look at the word, only poured a glass of water and drank it several times, before pinching the cup and asking Wei Xiang: "The candidate for the secretary of the military department, my grandfather expected it earlier?" ”

"This matter is the arbitrary decision of the Holy Lord, I don't know about it, and I haven't guessed it." Wei Xiang glanced at the four princes calmly, motioned for the four princes to sit down at the table, twisted his beard and looked at the words "guard against arrogance and rashness" that had dried quickly, fell back on the rocking chair, closed his eyes and muttered for a moment, Fang spoke again, "You are still too young to know how to restrain your weak heart, this is not a big deal, and there is no need to make such a fuss." You remember, no matter when, you can't be too impatient, people are in a hurry, the mood is uncertain, and the mood is uncertain, and there are many mistakes and omissions, which is a taboo for the superiors! ”

The fourth prince took a deep breath, put down the teacup, was silent for a moment, and solemnly got up and saluted Wei Xiang: "Grandson understands." ”

Wei Xiang let out a "hmm", sat up from the rocking chair unhurriedly, picked up the teapot and poured a new cup of tea for the fourth prince, "You can't understand the intention of the saint, so your heart is not quiet." I don't understand your grandfather either, so we'll have to wait a little longer! ”

"I had never paid attention to the Li family before, and I had never heard the saint mention this. This matter was too sudden, I thought that it should take at least ten days and a half to decide on the candidate, but who knew that it would be decided today, and I saw that the second brother was also a little caught off guard. The fourth prince's heart moved slightly, and he wrinkled his brows and groaned for a moment, and then said, "What you said is that this is not a big deal, but the saint was originally angry with the Zhou family, and now he has suddenly promoted the people of the Li family, the Li family is silent, and it has nothing to do with anyone, what is the intention of the saint's move, I can't guess at all!" ”

"If you can't guess, just wait!" Wei Xiang nodded, his voice was calm and kind, he looked at the four princes, and taught earnestly, "You are too young to have anything to do, and it is common sense that you can't guess it." The saint was able to ascend to the position of the great treasure under such a disadvantage, and no one could match the talent of strategy and strategy, how could ordinary people guess it lightly? ”

The fourth prince nodded, the hand holding the teacup paused slightly, and suddenly asked, "Then the old man of the Shen family back then-"

"It's all old," Wei Xiang raised his hand to interrupt the words of the fourth prince, as if he had aged a few years in an instant, and there was a sense of disgust and admiration in his originally strong eyes, and he sighed happily for a long time, "The old man of the Shen family is a controversial genius, it is difficult to produce a person in a hundred years, ordinary people don't have to compare with him, and they can't compare with him." Everyone is dead, and the Shen family is now in ruins, and it is useless to mention it again. There is no partiality in the affairs of the military department, and now Li Chongshan is in charge, it is neither good nor bad, and wait calmly. ”

The fourth prince opened his mouth, but he didn't ask any questions, he frowned and nodded, changed the topic and said, "Yesterday, the concubine told me that the Holy Lord wanted me to go to the Ministry of Rites on an errand. ”

Wei Xiang sighed in a deep voice, straightened up from the rocking chair, twisted his beard and was silent for a moment, and then asked: "This is a good thing, just last winter to catch up with the catastrophe, the meeting presided over by the Ministry of Rites was pressed back for a month, and at this time, the Ministry of Rites was in a hurry!" It has always been a time when young talents are coming out, and as long as you have the heart, you can always pick out a few available people. ”

The fourth prince solemnly responded, sat for a while, and then retired from the Wei Xiangfu and went back to the palace.

……

The second prince's mansion is as quiet as ever at the moment, the second prince went back to the house directly after the early dynasty, the long history Guo Chengwang got the news and waited at the door, bowed down to welcome the second prince into the house, the two entered the study one after the other, and the little guy outside retreated, Guo Chengwang looked at the face of the second prince and said: "Master, the matter of the military department is ...... Shangshu"

"It's okay," the second prince said "um" as usual, and waved his hand at Guo Chengwang, "There is no partiality in this matter, I don't benefit, and the fourth child doesn't benefit, it's not a bad thing." ”

Guo Chengwang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and responded with a smile: "Ye Mingcha, the lower officials also see this, at this time, the sacred heart is unknown, and it will take a few days to see the clues." ”

The second prince nodded, motioned for Guo Chengwang to sit down, and Fang Shen said: "The intention of the saint's move is unknown, and the fourth child is also confused, and he will rush to the Wei Xiangfu as soon as he arrives in the morning." The eldest brother is still the same as the third child, and he doesn't have much to say. Speaking of this, the second prince paused, waved his hand and sighed, "The eldest brother has that temperament, and he doesn't care about this, the third brother hasn't spoken much in the court over the years, but it's okay...... The fourth child is there, and let's see how Wei Xiang responds. ”

Guo Chengwang hurriedly agreed, and his heart fell back for the time being, just waiting for a few days to see the reactions of others.