Li Mao knew that as long as the saint was interested in establishing a prince, the Jin State Mansion would definitely come to him.

Sure enough, as soon as the court came, a Beijing official surnamed Jiang pretended to go out of the palace with him, and said to him in a very low voice: "Brother Zhang, please see you in the old place." ”

The so-called old place is the inconspicuous dwelling.

Li Mao went home and changed into his regular clothes, and quietly went out of the house from the side door with only two generals, and came to this private house. Jiang Daoqi and Zhang Nuo were waiting for him in the house, and every time no matter how early Li Mao came, these two would be earlier than him.

How good are these two people? Why do you always see them together?

Li Mao looked at Jiang Daoqi and Zhang Nuo standing side by side, full of doubts.

If you want to work together, wouldn't Jiang Daoqi also help Zhang Nuo more? Being a shadow strategist like this is actually not beneficial to the Jiang family, but just because of friendship, it really can't be justified.

Zhang Nuo went out during the filial piety period, if he was discovered, he would definitely be criticized by the officials, so he was not polite, and when he saw Li Mao coming, he said directly:

"Gong Li, it's time to fulfill the covenant."

Li Mao found a chair to sit down on himself and nodded. "Then I knew that you came to me for this. If Your Majesty asks me for my opinion, I will recommend the Great Prince. ”

The emperor did ask him to recommend the eldest prince as the prince at a critical time.

"There is no doubt that this throne must be the great prince. No matter how it stands, it will not be the turn of the son of the virtuous concubine. We also know the emperor's concerns, but now it is like sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat, if your majesty wants to weaken the strength of your relatives, I am afraid that you want to see us and the Liu family fighting infighting. Zhang Nuo's calculation of the emperor is very clear in his heart, it is nothing more than hoping that the two families will lose, "The family does not need two tough voices, since I am worried, the Liu family has been too domineering in the past two years, and it is time to teach them a lesson." ”

Li Mao felt a wave of exhaustion for no reason.

It is a rule from ancient times to the present, it is such a logical thing, but in the hands of this group of smart people, it becomes so complicated.

But no matter how much you calculate, the result is the one, what is there to plan for the process? As long as the eldest prince is a qualified prince, he will find a way to remove the hidden dangers of his relatives; If he is not a resolute and resolute person, even if His Majesty clears everything for him, he will gradually be subject to others.

For a while, he felt that all smart people were stupid, and only he was the most sober. But soon reason told him that he would think so, which showed that he was the biggest fool.

Smart people always want to be in control, and only stupid people will go straight to the bridge.

But it wasn't this that tired him.

"Now that most of the northern Youzhou has fallen into the hands of the remnants of the Yin Dynasty, this is not the time to add to the chaos. In the matter of the Great Prince, I will support the Great Prince, but I don't want you to follow His Majesty's thoughts and suppress the Second Prince's faction. "Li Mao said this with his own considerations." Many of the people of the Liu family are local officials, and if the Liu family is in turmoil, the place will be uneasy. Now that the war is underway, whether it is recruiting troops and food, local stability is very important. ”

"As the king of a country, he naturally hopes that there will be constant infighting among his courtiers, and the prince can be in charge alone. But as important ministers of the imperial court, we should first consider the society of the country, the society is not stable, even if the position of the prince is stable, what is the use? Survival is important, but what kind of environment is more important. That's why I formed an alliance with you in the first place. Da Chu's strength should not be consumed in infighting, and I don't agree with your approach. ”

Li Mao looked at Zhang Nuo's cold expression and said with some self-deprecation: "Maybe it's because our family is used to being a lonely minister, and we can't understand that we are thinking about you from Brother Zhang's standpoint, but I really hope that the matter of Lichu can be settled as smoothly as possible." Maybe there will inevitably be a fight after that, but that's for later. ”

"Even if we don't attack the Liu family first, the Liu family won't give up." Zhang Nuo felt that Li Mao's woman's kindness was a little ridiculous. When he is determined to stand with himself, he should see that this situation will be in the future.

The battle for the throne, since ancient times, there is no blood flowing. Even if the prince is established, how many princes can become emperors in the future, and how many deposed princes are there?

Indisputable? If you don't fight, you can only die.

"Brother Zhang, don't think that the rebels in the north are just a Han army with foreign races sweeping the border." The loss of the Xinguo Mansion to eat the remnants of King Qiyang and Yin Dynasty is too great, even a smart person like Zhang Ning is still toyed with between applause, how terrible this group of people is, Li Mao knows better than anyone else.

"This group of rebels under the banner of 'Yin Dynasty' is not a robber, but a thief. Their purpose is not to steal money, but to steal the country. At this time, the establishment of the reserve can stabilize the people's hearts, but if the social stability of the reserve is unstable, it is to put the cart before the horse. Brother Zhang, that's all I say, I hope you will think about it more. ”

Li Maozhi said that his words were contrary to the emperor's thoughts, but he still did so.

As for whether Zhang Nuo will do what the emperor thinks, it is not up to him to decide.

He is about to leave for Youzhou in the near future, he just wants to be more stable in the rear, a little more stable, and not to make trouble. Now it is the biggest crisis since the founding of the Great Chu State, but these people are thinking about how to fight for the storage position and take the opportunity to eliminate political enemies, which really makes him disheartened.

Dad, is it because you have seen through all this a long time ago, so you keep thinking about unloading your armor and returning to the field?

But you still didn't make it.

Li Mao walked out of the house, Jiang Daoqi and Zhang Nuo sat in the house for a while, and the room was silent.

"Brother Zhang...... When did our previous deployments kick in? ”

The Liu family was unstable, and Concubine Liu Xian's father once accepted a huge bribe from a local official in Liangzhou and helped him find an official position in Beijing; Liu Xian's cousin's son, Liu Hongchuan, had publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the emperor's transfer to his father; The children of the Liu family served as officials in various places, and some of them encroached on fertile land, and there were also many corrupt people who were complicit......

They originally thought that if the emperor began to think about establishing a prince, they would immediately come out and manipulate the Yushitai to expose the ugliness of the Liu family one by one.

It's just that the first person can always take the lead, and if you see the move, you will inevitably fall into the disadvantage.

Zhang Nuo sat still, not knowing what he was thinking.

Jiang Daoqi was full of anxiety, for fear that Zhang Nuozhen would be moved by Li Mao's words and give up the perfect opportunity to attack the Liu family.

Concubine Liu Xian is not favored in the first place, if the eldest prince becomes the prince, the Liu family will definitely fall down and everyone will push it. And the other clans who wavered in the matter of establishing a reserve will also lean on their side because the storage position is fixed.

The Jin State Mansion has been worried for two years, and Zhang Nuo only needs to survive another year and return to the imperial court, so he can regain the position of prime minister.

Now it is the time of war, and the Jin State Mansion is the prince's uncle's family, Zhang Nuo returned at this time, which is called one step to the sky, and the power is tilted towards the government and the opposition. At that time, he will be the leader of the clan, and he will be a secret alliance with Li Mao, and the clan will be able to take advantage of this to grow rapidly......

It's just that Jiang Daoqi didn't expect a little.

Although Zhang Nuo loves power very much, he is like the old prince and also takes into account the overall situation.

It was not Li Mao who said that Zhang Nuo hesitated, but his father's last words before his death.

The old prince Zhang Yun's advice before his death is still vivid for Zhang Nuo.

"The momentum behind the scenes is extremely terrifying, and it is trying to seize the country, you have to be careful everywhere. In the chaos of Great Chu, if there is an accident in the saint, the world will be counterattacked. Queen Mother...... Don't rely on her too much, she is always careful, she is not at the mercy of others, but she is not a cruel and vicious person. If you don't care about anything, the crown prince can be settled early. ”

"If you don't fight, you fight. Balanced, flat ......"

His father and Lao Xinguo Gong are all the way, so they can get along with each other for decades.

Now His Majesty is no longer the Majesty, but Da Chu is still that Da Chu. The country that his father and the emperor fought together must never fall into the hands of those who oppose the remnants of thieves and the ambitions of wolves.

"Wait." Zhang Nuo finally opened his mouth. "Tell our men not to act rashly."

"What! But ......" Jiang Daoqi exclaimed in surprise.

Was this infected by Li Mao's stupidity?

"Li Mao is right about one thing, Da Chu is now suffering from internal and external troubles, and this is not the time to have an attack. Since there is absolutely no doubt that the eldest prince has been made the crown prince, we might as well see the move and wait and see what happens. As soon as Zhang Nuo's words came out, Jiang Daoqi's face suddenly became a little unsightly.

Zhang Nuo is now at home, and many outside matters are entrusted to the Jiang family to investigate. The Jiang family once got a hint from the queen that if the eldest prince was the prince, his daughter would be the crown princess, so he was so active.

When Zhang Nuo saw Jiang Daoqi's face, he knew that he was unwilling, what kind of person he was, if he talked about eloquence and mind, ten Li Mao might not be as good as him, so he immediately smiled and comforted: "Don't you think that I retreated and left the Liu family to make some troubles, so that the queen and the prince can rely on us." If we had uprooted the Liu family earlier, although the crown prince's position was stable, how much benefit would we have? ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Daoqi's face looked a little better.

The Yin family and the Chu family, which side to help, the Jiang family has been waiting and seeing.

Before, he was not optimistic about Yin Chao's gang, but he didn't mind occasionally providing some money and food as an investment. Although the prince of the previous dynasty was fostered in his house, he pinched him to death if he wanted to, and he died of a sudden illness and couldn't even make a splash. Anyway, the Yin family has more than one child. What kind of policy and support is made, it can only be counted after the fact.

But now the strength of the Yin family is really amazing, and it seems that it also has the potential to win the Central Plains.

But the Jiang clan has been bullied by the Hu people repeatedly, and Jiang Daoqi is very disgusted that the Yin Dynasty and his gang of people actually secretly contacted the Hu clan outside the Guanwai to go south, and the balance in his heart is a little biased towards the Chu clan.

No matter which side of his family helps, it's the icing on the cake,

But if his daughter can be queen......

Zhang Nuo didn't know these thoughts of the Daojiang family, he only knew that the Daojiang family had always wanted to marry their daughter to the eldest prince, in order to be able to ascend to the stage of Dachu with a glorious attitude in the next dynasty.

The Jiang family was too arrogant to accept the slightest chance of failure.

But this just happens, as their most solid ally, the Jiang family is undefeated, that is, the Zhang family is undefeated.

As for their selfishness......

Who is not selfish?

Three days later, Chu Rui asked the important ministers of the court to propose a candidate for the crown prince.

Seventy percent of the ministers elected the eldest prince, most of these ministers were neutral and royalists, and most of them were clans who sided with the Zhang family.

The remaining thirty percent are the Liu family and the family behind them, and there are some speculative ministers who think that they have figured out the holy will and think that the emperor is dissatisfied with the eldest prince and wants not to appoint a prince.

Chu Lian, the king of Xiangcheng, the head of the clan, and Lu Yuanhao, who is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, also support the second prince.

It is also very normal for these two people to stand in this position, Chu Lian has not been able to support the eldest prince since Chu Yingyuan's incident, and Lu Yuanhao has an in-law relationship with Xiangcheng Wangfu, and it is normal to be said to support the second prince.

For a time, the court was fighting over the matter of the prince, and the Liu family even took out the matter of the eldest prince's private visit to Weifu, thinking that he had an impetuous personality and was not conducive to the society.

In fact, this is blaming Chu Chengxuan in disguise for his unkind behavior of forcing his cousin to death. Because as long as there are some channels in Beijing, everyone knows what happened to Li Rui's crime back then.

Chu Rui's face was not good when he heard this, just like all ordinary parents, no matter how bad his own children are, it is okay to beat and scold themselves, not to mention that they are not benevolent or immoral.

Although the emperor is also very curious why the Zhang family's gang of people have no intention of fighting back today, as the emperor, he naturally will not see the court get out of control.

He gave Li Mao in the front row a look.

Li Mao was relieved that he and the Duke of Jin Guogong listened to his words, and suddenly saw the emperor's small movements, and immediately shook his whole body, took a step forward, and began to admonish.

Li Mao had already received instructions from the emperor before, and drafted a speech with Chen Yi and Wu Yuzhou, the two chiefs of staff, at home.

Li Mao stood up, and the remaining noble faction who were waiting and watching seemed to have been instructed, and immediately supported the eldest prince.

Anyway, after the princes are all big families, it makes no difference to the nobles who they choose.

Li Guogong said that the eldest prince is good, then he must have understood a certain meaning of the saint, and they naturally followed the leader.

Chu Rui had already seen the strength of all parties through this dynasty, so he didn't dwell on it, and decided that the crown prince would be the successor of the eldest prince Chu Chengxuan in this dynasty.

Since the East Palace had its own set of subordinate officials, Chu Rui only appointed Zhang Nuo, the Duke of Jin, as the crown prince and prince, Li Mao, the Duke of Xinguo, as the prince and the prince, and Qin Feng, the general of Shence, as the prince and the prince.

The subordinate officials of the East Palace are the reserves of the future imperial court, and they are the top priority, and they cannot be arbitrarily decided.

Now that the crown prince has been decided, according to the rules, the second prince and several other princes will leave the East Palace after they are sixteen years old, and once they have the title, they will go to the fief. According to the practice of Da Chu not to see the vassal king, even if it is a parent, I am afraid that he will not be able to be crowned a prince at the beginning, so he can only be a county king and be sealed to some poor country.

Chu Chengxuan will move out of the Shangyang Palace from today onwards and live in the main hall of the East Palace, the "Mingde Palace", and become the master of the East Palace.

The two families of Xiangcheng King Chu Lian and the Lu family are the aftermath of the eldest prince, and Chu Rui has decided not to tolerate it anymore.

King Xiang Cheng has been greatly implicated since the assassination of Old Taijun Zhou and Old Taijun Qiu, and he has completely lost his sacred heart. Now Chu Rui wants to cut them down, but most people obey the holy will.

The so-called establishment of a prince is definitely not as simple as establishing a prince. Once the storage position is determined, the great prince is not just an ordinary prince, but has a new set of people gathered around him and becomes a small court.

The prince even has his own soldiers and horses, and he can have his own food bureau, medicine collection bureau, inner fang, and inner library in the East Palace.

For example, Li Rui, who is a companion, received the position of the prince of Zhengliupin at the age of sixteen.

You must know that Lu Dao Qi Shao won the champion at the age of 20, and the emperor wanted to make him a sacrificer, but he was opposed by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty.

It's been two years now, and he's still just a man.

And Li Rui has just come out of office, and he is the prince's housekeeper, and he is more likely to be a close minister of the Son of Heaven in the future, and his future is limitless.

No wonder so many people want to assist the prince, this step is too fast.

In the temple of Zhiyun.

Gu Qing looked at Li Rui in a green official robe happily, and felt that his grandson was handsome.

"That's good." Gu Qing let Li Rui turn around, "It fits perfectly." This robe looks good to wear. ”

"The green robe □□ just out of the water, so grandma thinks the green robe looks good." Li Ming touched his brother's official robe with some caution.

It's just a six-grade official's court clothes, why do you use such good materials?

"What green-clothed □□ just out of the water? It's so ugly! Gu Qing slapped his grandson's head with his right hand that could still move, "Admit your mistake with my brother!" ”

"I'm sorry!" Li Ming could only obediently admit his mistake to his brother.

Li Rui glanced at his younger brother proudly, and deliberately made a look of "I'm already an official, adults don't remember villains", and Li Ming's little nose was crooked.

Because the seventh rank below is a green robe, and the seventh grade or above is a green robe, so wearing a green official uniform is actually not a big official. Most of the people who have just come out of the office started from the green robes, so there is a saying that "the green clothes □□have just come out of the water".

Li Ming heard this kind of statement in the Guozi Prison, and somehow said it casually, so he was slapped by his grandmother.

"Okay, the official clothes are worn, change the sacrificial clothes!" Gu Qing looked at the large box of clothes sent by the Ministry of Rites, and excitedly pointed to the most cumbersome sacrificial clothes among them.

The official uniform is a regular uniform, which is the clothes worn by officials of Da Chu on weekdays, with two styles of wide sleeves and narrow sleeves, with a curved collar and large sleeves, a leather belt around the waist, a hood on the head, and leather shoes on the feet. Except for the shoes brought by themselves, all the official uniforms were given by the court.

Due to the different occasions attended, the official uniforms are also divided into court clothes, sacrificial clothes, official clothes, time clothes, military clothes and mourning clothes, plus crowns, hats, pendants, hairpins, wat boards, etc., and the Ministry of Rites brought a large box of clothes.

Li Jun also followed the same procedure when he first became an official, but Li Jun was an adult man after all, and unlike Li Rui, who had seen it since he was a child, Gu Qing was not so excited.

Now that he heard that Li Rui was out of office and had a complete set of official uniforms, Gu Qing's motivation to play the "dress-up game" suddenly came out, and Li Rui, who insisted on going home for vacation, wore all the clothes to show her.

It's okay to have a poor official uniform, but the crown of the sacrificial dress is very cumbersome, and it is impossible for Li Rui to wear it alone. Gu Qing just said a word, and the faces of several small people around Li Rui collapsed.

It's not so easy to change into sacrificial clothes, how hot is it to change into sacrificial clothes on such a warm day now? Isn't this tossing your own young master?

Li Rui was also worried when he heard his grandmother's request.

Only then did I change to the official uniform, and there are still several sets of sacrificial clothes, so is it possible to keep changing?

How do you escape?

"Oops, Miss climbed into the box!" Xiangyun, who was standing behind Gu Qing, covered his mouth and exhaled.

Now Li Mei is the most naughty age, going to the coffee table and drilling under the table, and going to a strange place without paying attention.

"Why did you get into the box, it was still behind me just now......" Li Ming turned his head and got stuck, and the sister who was still playing with the corner of his clothes behind him just now was really not there.

Xiao Li Mei stumbled to stand up in her brother's suitcase, and was extremely excited to grab something with both hands and wave it wildly.

"Don't!"

Li Rui was shocked!

"Kiss, put it down!"

"Take my sister away!"

"Huh? Huh, huh? ”

Li Mei tilted her head and gently tugged at the thing in her hand.

What are the adults saying?

Let's go.

"No...... I...... My Jinxian crown ......"

Li Rui was dumbfounded.

The author has something to say: Little Theater:

Li Rui: Uncle, my official hat is broken.

Li Mao: &%&%......&## (A number of various precepts are omitted below)

Li Rui: Kiss and tear it off.

Li Mao: ...... I'll go to the Ministry of Rites tomorrow to get another one.