"The prince has worked hard all the way!" Zhao Gou said enthusiastically, "Why don't you sit down for a while and have a glass of wine?" ”

"The prince is polite!" The prince replied respectfully, "Our family is bothering the prince's newlywed, how dare you drink water again!" ”

"My father-in-law said that, that's really out of sight!" Zhao Gou couldn't help but pull him to sit down directly, and ordered someone to come up with a pot of wine and drink with him.

Seeing that Zhao Gou was so gracious, the prince couldn't refuse, so he sat down and drank a few glasses. Yesterday, Zhao Gou got married, this is a wedding wine, he is a eunuch. Wherever Wang Gonggong went, few people treated each other so sincerely, and Zhao Gou was like a friend, which made him very flattered.

"Did the prince make a mistake?" Zhao Gou drank a few glasses and said with a smile: "I am a common man, how can I afford the word 'prince', I am only a prince at most, and I have not yet been crowned a king, how can I call it 'prince'." ”

The prince said respectfully: "The prince doesn't know, the emperor has decreed that you will be crowned king, and when the joy of the newlywed is over, he will enter the palace to face the saint. As for the reason, the small ones don't know. ”

"Princess, aren't you joking?" Zhao Gou asked solemnly.

The prince nodded again and said, "If the prince doesn't believe it, there is a holy decree to see here, and the prince will know it after he sees it!" ”

Zhao Gou took the holy decree handed over by the prince, and looked at it seriously with wide eyes, which clearly stated that he was indeed the king, and he was also the 'King of Yan'. At the beginning of the Great Song Dynasty, no one had ever crowned the king of Yan, just because the sixteen states of Yanyun had not been recovered at that time, and they were in the hands of the Liao.

"Father-in-law, Zhao still doesn't understand, what does this mean?" The prince is a person close to the emperor, if there was no last incident, maybe Zhao Gou would have entered the palace directly. Now Zhao Gou can only ask the prince, because he really can't understand what his father and emperor want.

The prince replied in a low voice: "Lord, our family really doesn't know what the emperor means, but these days I have observed that the emperor has many different places, and the emperor is always used to being alone in the study, and no one is allowed to approach, even us have to leave." ”

"Last time the prince and the emperor fell out, there were a lot of gossips in the palace, and even our family was shocked. After all, we see the relationship between the emperor and the prince, but we don't want that to happen, which is really unexpected by everyone. ”

Zhao Gou was also dizzy, he really couldn't understand the reason why his father did this. Even the prince didn't know, what he said, Zhao Gou knew it, and he was afraid that his father had an ulterior motive. If you ask another insider, you will find nothing, and Zhao Gou is helpless.

"Lord Wang, please forgive the old slave for talking too much!" The prince said in a low voice, "The old slave observed that his father and emperor had a lot of worries recently, and I am afraid that he has a lot of troubles, but he has been hiding it in his heart. However, His Royal Highness the King of Chu entered the palace to present the joy of the prince's wedding to the emperor, and the emperor was very happy, and went alone to the courtyard where the prince lived when he was a child and stayed for a long time before coming out. ”

"I'm very unhappy these days, and I only show a smile when I think of the prince. Maybe the prince still has a lot of misunderstandings about the emperor, and even acted rashly, and disappeared directly for more than a month. Actually, the emperor misses the prince very much, but the emperor has his own troubles and can't look for it like others, but he also inquired a lot, and the emperor did these things secretly. ”

"The old slave is anxious in his eyes, and he has one more sentence here, if the prince really thinks of the relationship between father and son, he might as well go into the palace to meet the emperor! As for the reason why he was named King Yan, as long as the prince asked, the emperor would definitely say it. ”

"Thank you, Princess!" Zhao Gou saw the sincere eyes of the prince, and he knew that the prince was sincerely for his father.

The prince was older than his father, the emperor, and if it weren't for the fact that the previous governors of Ouchi were all traitorous ministers, he would not have appeared. After many observations and covert visits, the prince is indeed a loyal person, and he is definitely not like other people, who fill his own pockets.

Because of this, Zhao Gou also respects the prince very much. Originally, it was necessary to burn incense and kneel to greet the holy decree, and it was not easy for the prince to make it too obvious, so it meant to announce the decree. After all, the royal face is still needed, and he can't abolish the public because he has a good relationship with Zhao Gou, so what kind of system does it become.

Zhao Gou rewarded the prince with one hundred taels, and the prince didn't say anything, and took it directly. Then, after eating some wine, he left.

"Steward Wang, wake up all of them, even if they splash cold water or throw them into the ice, they have to wake them up!" Zhao Gou shouted, "After they wake up, immediately go to the mansion of Pan Shangshu and Wang Shangshu, invite them to the mansion, and say that I have something to inquire about, and the matter is very important, and there should be no delay." ”

Steward Wang was startled, hurriedly walked to the front hall, and without saying a word, directly carried a few buckets of cold water. Whether it is Gao Pet, or the King of Chu, etc., all of them were spared a cold shower. Everyone's drinking spirit was also woken up by this biting cold water, and they all looked at Steward Wang angrily, and they were about to make a move but were blocked by Steward Wang's words.

"This is the young master's order, and the young master ordered to go and invite Wang Yun, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Pan Lianggui, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, to the house, saying that they had something to discuss. If you delay for a moment, you will bear the consequences. If you don't want to bear the consequences, then hurry up for Lao Tzu and go and ask someone. ”

Everyone jumped up suddenly, ignoring the cold water on their faces, and they didn't even bother to care about the water on their bodies, so they went out directly and went to the mansion of the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites. As for Zhao Yougong, when he came to Zhao Go's place, Zhao Goo raised his head and looked at Zhao Yougong who was wet, and said with a dumb smile: "Second brother, what's wrong with you?" It's just drunk, how can you be so embarrassed? ”

Zhao Yougong glared angrily, and said: "I'm not the housekeeper in your house, I actually have the audacity to splash me with cold water, you must know that I am the king of Chu and the privy envoy, I really don't know who gave him that guts." Steward Wang said that you have something, what is it that is so urgent? ”

"There's something here, second brother, let's take a look at it!" Zhao Gou gave the holy decree to Zhao Yougong and let him see it for himself.

Zhao Yougong was a little surprised when he saw the holy decree, and after seeing the content, he was even more surprised, and said, "The emperor named you king?" ”

"Aren't you talking nonsense?" Zhao Gou glanced at Zhao Yougong, he despised him very much, it was clearly written in black and white, it was not superfluous to ask this, he said in a deep voice: "My father made such a big move, even you, the Privy Council, don't know, let alone others, I don't know whether this prince is good or bad." ”

"Isn't it a good thing to crown you king?" Zhao Yougong was surprised.

Zhao Gou replied: "Look at what kind of king it is!" ”

"King Yan!" Zhao Yougong looked at it again, and finally saw it clearly, and the 'King of Yan' was impressively listed. Moreover, the holy decree stated that Zhao Gou's fief was actually the sixteen states of Yanyun, which was larger than the prince's territory, not to mention Zhao Yougong, the king of Chu.

Originally, after the princes were crowned queens, they had to leave the capital and go to the fiefdom. However, Zhao Yougong, the king of Chu, was an exception. In fact, this is also to prevent too many princes in the capital from endangering the status of the crown prince. Therefore, as long as the prince is crowned king, he must leave the capital.

However, Zhao Gou's holy decree did not specify when he would leave Beijing, but only explained that Zhao Gou's wedding was divided according to the ancestral system. The more Zhao Yougong looked at it, the more he felt that this holy decree was very strange, and any reward had a reason, otherwise it would be difficult to convince the public.

If Zhao Gou recovered the sixteen states of Yanyun and was crowned as the 'King of Yan', it would be reasonable to say that this was the city that Zhao Gou had beaten down by himself, and no one dared to take it, and no one could command the guards of the sixteen states of Yanyun. Now Zhao Gou's generals are basically all in the sixteen states of Yanyun, as if they have become Zhao Gou's territory.

The sixteen states of Yanyun are an iron plate, and Zhao Gou is the core existence of this iron plate. If you are really worried about the high merit and the lord, you only need to seal Zhao Gou as the other princes. Now the emperor did the opposite, not only crowning Zhao Gou as the king of Yan, but also giving Zhao Gou's sixteen states to Zhao Gou's jurisdiction, which made Zhao Yougong a little incomprehensible.

(End of chapter)