Qin Huaidao and Cheng Chucun have never left since they were born in Chang'an, how are they familiar with Yangzhou and Jingzhou, so when they heard His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ask themselves, both of them said with shameful faces, "I have never been to Yangzhou and Jingzhou, and I don't know about these two places." ”

It doesn't matter if you don't understand, as long as you can control the military power of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion of the two states, and you can keep yourself neutral when fighting with Empress Wu, this is enough, Li Hong doesn't expect the two of them to stand up and fully support him when he fights with Empress Wu, he just hopes to remain neutral when necessary, and this is also his bottom line.

So when he heard the two of them say this, he didn't regret that the two didn't know about the situation in Yangzhou and Jingzhou, but said in a deep voice, "It doesn't matter if you don't know the situation in Yangzhou and Jingzhou, as long as you have the heart, you will always understand. ”

Qin Huaidao and Cheng Chucun were both born in Jiangmen, if it weren't for the fact that their ancestors had already passed away, and Gaozong didn't like them very much, how could they nest in Chang'an City to spend all day drinking, no matter how they are also people who are proficient in the art of war and excellent in martial arts, who doesn't have the dream of killing the enemy to serve the country and worship the general? Who doesn't know that the battlefield is the place where you can get the most military merits and glorify your ancestors?

"What does Your Highness mean?" Cheng asked cautiously.

Suddenly hearing the prince say this, he was also very moved, and more was a little unexpected, because being able to lead troops to fight was a dream he had since he was a child, but he had never had the opportunity before, and now suddenly there seems to be such an opportunity, can he not grasp it?

Qin Huaidao's mind was the same as Cheng Chucun's, and when he heard Li Hong say this, his eyes couldn't help but light up, as if a desperate person saw hope. Because when he was a child, he also thought that he could be on the battlefield like his father and lay a fortune for the Qin family, but it was only because his father Qin Qiong died too early, and no one was willing to recommend him, that I would fall into the current situation of eating and waiting for death. To be honest, he has never stopped practicing martial arts since he was a child, he is proficient in bow and horse salvos, he has to read military books every day, study and send troops to deploy formations, just waiting for such an opportunity.

"Lone is ready to play my father's emperor and let you go to Jingzhou and Yangzhou to serve in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion." Li Hong said, moving his gaze to Cheng Chucun and Qin Huaidao, paused and said, "I don't know what you think, do you have anything to say to Gu?" ”

To put it bluntly, the idea in Li Hong's mouth was actually that he wanted to get a guarantee of loyalty from two people to him. After all, this is his great luck to recommend the two to important positions, if the two of them become white-eyed wolves at that time, and then fight back against him, won't he become a fool who loses his wife and loses his soldiers? Although both of them are from the noble families of Jiangmen, for their own interests, are there still few people who do not care about the reputation of their families in the entire history of China? Therefore, he also had to test the character of the two...

Cheng Chucun and Qin Huaidao were stunned for a moment, and let the two of them go to Yangzhou and Jingzhou to serve in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, what else did they have in mind, they were very happy! But then, the prince must have asked a deep meaning. Thinking of this, Cheng Chucun seemed to understand something, glanced at Qin Huaiyu beside him, and he hurriedly said, "I don't know what His Highness ordered us to do?" As long as he arrives at the Governor's Mansion, he will definitely look forward to His Highness in the future. ”

Cheng Chucun is not stupid, the prince can summon them today, it is enough to show that the prince intends to cultivate himself, which is a great joy for him, because the prince is the prince, as long as he follows the prince, as long as the prince ascends the throne and becomes the emperor in the future, even if he has no merit, he can get no less benefits, which is enough to make his family glorious for another thirty years.

Now, Cheng Chucun has determined the conjecture in his heart, and he understands the purpose and intention of the prince to put himself in Jingzhou or raise his hand, so he will simply devote himself to Li Hong's command, because this is the first step for him to gain too much trust and get the prince's respect.

Li Hong looked at the two people in front of him, and felt that Cheng Chucun was still thoughtful, and he immediately guessed what he meant, and he didn't need to dial him again, but he didn't annoy Qin Huaidao, after all, as a general, putting too much of his mind on national affairs is not what Li Hong likes, so Qin Huaidao's performance as a pure soldier also made him very satisfied.

Therefore, Li Hong said with satisfaction, "Yangzhou and Jingzhou are important towns of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to being heavily guarded and deterring Jiangnan, they are also the financial and tax places of the Tang Dynasty, you must be cautious after you go." First of all, it is the primary task to control the military power and train an elite army of its own, and the second is to stabilize the place and recommend talented people for solitary reasons. ”

Li Hong said so much, the core idea is only one point, train an elite army and control the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion. As for recommending talents, although he said so, he didn't take it seriously in his heart, because relying on Cheng Chucun and Qin Huaidao to recommend talents, it is estimated that he may not be the opponent of the Empress Wu after ten years of accumulation.

"Got it!" Cheng Chucun and Qin Huaidao immediately received the order. If there were other requirements, the two of them might not be able to meet Li Hong. When it comes to training troops, and then controlling the army of the entire Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, they are still very confident in this.

"Well, you can understand the meaning of Lone, Lone is very happy, now you talk about it, who is willing to go to Yangzhou, who is willing to go to Jingzhou." Li Hong asked.

In fact, Yangzhou and Jingzhou have their own advantages and disadvantages, Yangzhou is richer than Jingzhou, and it is an outstanding person, and it will not suffer too much when you go to Yangzhou, and also because of this, there are many factions in Yangzhou officialdom, and it is very powerful, although Jingzhou is not more prosperous than Yangzhou, but Jingzhou officialdom may not be as dark as Yangzhou officialdom.

Qin Huaidao and Cheng Chucun glanced at each other, and immediately made their own decision.

"Your Highness, the minister is willing to go to Yangzhou." Cheng Chucun opened his mouth and said, with a resolute face. As soon as his words fell, Qin Huaidao spoke, "The minister is willing to go to Jingzhou." ”

The Governor's Mansion of the Tang Dynasty generally has one Governor, from the second grade, one person from the Governor's Mansion, from the third grade, two Sima of the Governor's Mansion, from the fourth grade, the Governor's Mansion records one person who participates in the military, and the seventh grade, the others are all petty officials, and Li Hong does not consider it, so he thought about it for a while, and decided to let Qin Huaidao and Cheng Chucun go to the Governor's Mansion to be Sima.

"Now that you have chosen the place you want, Lone won't say much, go back and prepare now, Lone can't guarantee a high position for you, but the position of Sima of the Governor's Mansion can still be obtained." Li Hong said in a firm tone.

With his current ability, this is the highest position he can win, and this is because he is fighting for Cheng Chucun and Qin Huaidao, if it is put on others, he may not have this ability, who called the two of them After the founding honor, they were deeply favored by Taizong.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Qin Huaiyu and Cheng Chucun said happily.

Although the official position of Sima in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion is not high, and he is only a middle-level general in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, Sima is a powerful general, and it is an official position with great weight in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion.

Seeing that Cheng Chucun and Qin Huaidao were very satisfied with their arrangements, Li Hong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart, so he let the two of them leave to prepare.

After the two of them bowed down and withdrew from the Chongjiao Palace, Yan Zhuang came in and reported to Li Hongyu that Cheng Dazhi asked to see him.

"Let him in." Li Hong said.

Cheng Dazhi is now not only managing the Axe Gang to assist Wei Chi Xunyan in investigating intelligence, but also responsible for building a large manor outside Chang'an City, how big the role of this manor is Li Hong himself knows very well, so now that Cheng Dazhi wants to see him, he does not dare to slack off.

Not long after Yan Zhuang left, he led Cheng Dazhi to the Chongjiao Palace.

"See His Highness the Son of Heaven." Cheng Dazhi saw Li Hongshili and said.

"No more, tell me what you are doing today?" Li Hong asked straight to the point.

"If you go back to Your Highness, the dog ring, gladiatorial arena and polo field have been built, and they will open in six days, and the minister has come to invite Your Highness to attend the opening ceremony at that time." Cheng Dazhi bowed and said.

"So fast?" Li Hong was surprised.

"The dog ring and gladiatorial arena were rebuilt on the basis of the previous courtyard and did not need to be of much size, so the human and material resources spent were not large, and the time was not long. As for the polo fields, there were several fur fields in Chang'an City before, and the minister just bought them and repaired them, but it didn't take much time. Cheng Dazhi replied truthfully. When it comes to leading troops to fight, he is indeed inferior to Xue Yan and Qin Zhan, and when it comes to training soldiers and reconnaissance, he is also inferior to Wei Chi Xunyan, but when it comes to making money, he has brains better than the three of them.

"How's the manor outside the city going?" Li Hong asked.

"Construction has already started and is expected to be completed by October." Cheng Dazhi assured. The construction of the manor outside Chang'an City is more difficult than the polo field, dog fighting arena or gladiatorial arena, but it is not difficult for Cheng Dazhi, because he used thousands of people to build the manor, and many of the materials are ready-made, so the speed is not slow.

"Lone knows, you go down, Lone will definitely go to see it when the time comes." Li Hong said.

Regarding the dog fighting ring, just to make money, Li Hong can not go to see it, and he doesn't want to waste time on it.

But the gladiatorial arena is different, the gladiatorial arena represents the symbol of the people's strength and bloodshed in the Tang Dynasty in the future, he can't help but take a look, and he also wants to see how powerful the gladiators trained by Cheng Dazhi are.

As for the polo field, Li Hong intends to further develop and expand polo, making polo a game in Datang, just like the dog fighting competition he held, so he must go to the polo field to see.

Cheng Dazhi was very happy to see that the prince had agreed to his request, so he took his leave and bowed away