The imperial capital, the residence of the fifth prince Qian Minghao. XsHuotXT

Although Yuan Xingwei did not publicize it when he entered the imperial capital, as Yuan Xingwei began to act, after the imperial study duet, the rumors of Zhao'an gradually began to be public, as a representative of the Taiping Army, which attracted great attention, someone began to investigate Yuan Xingwei's whereabouts. Although this is not an easy task, combined with the fragmentary news coming out of the palace and the Fuwang Mansion, it is still difficult for some people to reach the sky.

The fifth prince, Qian Minghao, received several useful messages.

After piecing it together, he had probably deduced Yuan Xingwei's intention to come to Zhongzhou. Originally, this matter had little to do with the five princes, and it was enough for His Majesty and the ministers of the center to decide. But Yuan Xingwei's other secret visit made Qian Minghao indifferent.

He went to see the eldest prince Qianmingde!

If it was just an ordinary visit, Qian Minghao wouldn't care too much. After all, the eldest prince receives a lot of people every month, and he doesn't have that need or so much time to pay attention to them one by one. But Yuan Xingwei is different, according to the secret report of the eyeliner placed in the prince's mansion, Yuan Xingwei stayed in the prince's mansion for a long time, and finally was personally sent out of the mansion by the prince, and the two still talked and laughed, and the relationship seemed to be unusual.

There is reason to infer that the two parties should have reached some agreement!

The recruitment of the Song family, due to the fact that there is an order from the military department on the surface as a cover, and the additional soldiers recruited in secret are still a secret. After all, Yanyun County is far away from the emperor and the Song family is blocked, except for Chen Wu, who has crossed over, the fifth prince Qian Minghao is not clear, so naturally there is no way to deduce the truth. But the Taiping Army represented by Yuan Xingwei is already a big force that cannot be ignored.

Maybe it's still a little reluctant now, but once tomorrow's Taiji Hall court meeting is completed and Zhao'an is completed, the leader of the Taiping army will be transformed into the governor of Songjiang - and the power he holds far exceeds that of ordinary governors, more like the former dynasty's military, political and economic integration of the temperance envoy!

What's more, the other party is still secretly plotting against Tiannan.

If it really succeeds, Qian Mingde is likely to gain the support of a force that monopolizes the territory of the two counties. Although the other party is poor and white in the political territory of the empire, and is a rising star, it is more convenient for the prince to win over and lure the other party. For Qian Minghao, this is absolutely unacceptable, let alone sitting idly by!

The territory of the two counties, that's a tenth of the size of the empire!

If it is really the final step to decide the ownership of the throne, such a force is definitely an important weight that affects the tilt of the scales.

In line with the idea that the eldest prince supports and is opposed by himself, after thinking about it, Qian Minghao handed over a note to the eunuch who was bought, sent it to the inner court, and handed it over to his mother Concubine Zhen. At the same time, he himself sent people to contact the ministers who were good friends and supported him, the finance minister Di Hongming.

Behind the eldest prince is the support of the queen faction of the Song family, and his fifth prince also has the Zhen concubine faction of the Di family!

In fact, if he could, Qian Minghao would like to replace the eldest prince himself and make friends with the Taiping army in Songjiang. If he can tie this force to his chariot, then Qian Minghao's certainty of ascending to the throne is at least one percent higher. However, the other party didn't come to visit him at all, and he had already reached some kind of agreement with the eldest prince, so he was a little slower!

It's a pity.

If only we could have known about this matter a few days earlier, and stopped the Taiping envoy before he entered Zhongzhou, and negotiated in secret.

What the eldest prince can give, he Qian Minghao can probably give!

………

The fifth prince Qian Minghao was not clear, and there was obviously a certain gap between his speculation and the facts.

The relationship between the Taiping Army and the Great Prince was more equal than he imagined, more like a transaction, rather than the Taiping Army defecting to the Great Prince's faction in exchange for the other party's help. In addition, in this long-term transaction, the Taiping army can also obtain the iron ore and excellent war horses that are urgently needed in Songjiang County, which are also difficult for the five princes to come up with.

As for the result that taking the path of the Great Prince may lead to a backlash from the Five Princes, Chen Wu did not expect it. But in this world, there is never a best of both worlds. The simplest logic, if Chen Wu did not seek support, the forces of the Great Prince and the Fifth Prince faction would most likely stand on the side of the empire and the imperial family, and would inherently oppose this matter.

The current result is just that the five princes are more strongly opposed and have a more resolute attitude. On the contrary, the faction of the Great Prince, which would have been opposed by most of them, will change its attitude and become allies because of this.

This change still has a significant impact on the outcome of the Taiji Palace.

August 5th!

A court meeting that was originally temporarily added because of the discussion of the counterinsurgency war against Wudou Midao in the southwest was almost off topic from the beginning. After Minister of War Feng Wu briefly talked about some stalemate in the southwest war and the issue of compensation for soldiers who died in the war that needed to be solved, the topic should not be triggered by the recruitment of the Taiping Army.

There are pedantic and old-fashioned officials who took the initiative to write a letter to verify the recruitment of security, apparently they did not know where they heard the rumors, and they were deeply disturbed by this.

The two princes participated in this court meeting because they wanted to fight. The eldest prince Qian Mingde only glanced at this official, and he saw that he was tired. This old man with white hair and beard and shaking legs when he speaks? Head, he was the least popular veteran of the Three Dynasties in the Department of Culture and Education, and was finally sent to compile the history books of the previous dynasties. How did such an almost ******** official hear the news?

Although the matter of Zhao'an has spread, it is still impossible to know that the grade is not certain enough.

It is clear that someone deliberately leaked the news to him in advance.

"Yes, it is!"

Qian Yuanji, who was on the throne, watched coldly, and had already made up his mind to pay attention to a good show staged by his courtiers. He was curious to know how many people would eventually be involved in this court dispute - as for the result, the appearance of the Tiangong general since his beginnings was not so unbearable. If it really doesn't work, the emperor can still give his henchmen a look.

No matter how you fight, the final result is determined in advance, and it is nothing more than how the process is played.

"Your Majesty, don't do it!"

With Qianyuanji's open and honest admission, there was an uproar in the Taiji Palace.

There were those who pretended to be shocked, but most of the lower-ranking civil and military officials heard it for the first time. Shocked by this shocking news, it is inevitable that there will be some gaffes. The old minister of the Department of Culture and Education was even more anxious, he suspected that this news was a rumor last night, but now it was confirmed by Qianyuanji himself, his face was like a mourning, and said: "The Taiping Army is a group of chaotic ministers and thieves, who only know that they are tyrannical, the common people, the ruler has no father, and they are disloyal and unjust, and they intend to harm our Qianyuan Empire, how can they make peace with them?" ”

A series of derogatory words came out of his mouth, as if the Qianyuan Empire would fall after Zhao'an. With his righteous and awe-inspiring tone, self-sacrificing attitude and trembling white hair, he is a loyal and courageous minister!

There seemed to be a sense of praise in Qian Yuanji's eyes, which made the old minister secretly happy in his heart, and he reprimanded him even harder.

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The Taiping Army's wolf ambitions, my Qianyuan Empire is the first power in the Eastern Continent, why do you need to recruit such a group of rats?"

"Please lead an army of 30,000 out of Beijing, cut off the head of the thief, and enshrine it before the imperial case!"

"The Taiping Army is completely different from other anti-thieves, and it must not be recruited! This move will inevitably raise tigers! ”

Before the matter of Tiannan County was spoken, just whether to recruit an or not had already set off a monstrous wave of opposition. Most of the people of the five princes have not yet made a move at this time, and only a few are taking the lead in provoking, basically middle and low-level civil and military officials are spontaneously opposing.

On the contrary, several important ministers of the Great Prince's faction and the center invariably remained silent.

Everyone knows that the matter of Zhao'an is almost a certainty, there is no doubt about it. The key question is whether the affairs of Tiannan County can be handled at the same time. Thinking like this, the eldest prince Qianmingde couldn't help but look at the blessed king Qianyuanyi, who almost never went to court on weekdays, but rarely participated in the court meeting today; looked at Lin Anping, who closed his eyes and recuperated, and seemed to have nothing to do with him; In the end, it fell to Chen Sansheng, the Minister of the Interior, who stood up.

It seems that the attitude of the Home Secretary is inclined to agree, and with his own request, he should also be one of the helpers.

In this way, he is the four alliances at the court meeting.

Qian Mingde, who felt that he had a lot more chances of winning, looked at Qian Minghao with suspicion. Feeling this gaze, Qian Minghao turned his head to look at it, revealing a meaningful smile.

Qian Mingde, who already had an idea, immediately understood who instructed the old? Head against yourself!

If he wanted to help the Taiping army negotiate with the court before, it was only out of his own interests. Now seeing Qian Minghao's small actions, a wave of hatred and anger in his heart suddenly surged up. Originally, he only planned to use eight points of strength, but now even in order to overpower his younger brother, he has to use ten points of energy.

The throne could only be mine!

Qian Mingde conveyed his determination with his eyes.

For his brother, Qian Minghao refused to give in at all, and replied to the other party clearly.

Wait and see!

The small movements of the two of them full of gunpowder may be very conspicuous on weekdays. But the Taiji Hall that can be placed at the moment is not surprising at all. A large number of courtiers began to oppose it, but there were also some people who had a long-term vision or were good at figuring out Qianyuanji's ideas, and began to-for-tat and state the benefits of Zhao'an.

For the most part, the truth always becomes clearer the more it is argued.

On the question of whether or not to recruit the Taiping army, there is a threat from the Kingdom of Oman, and there is actually nothing to argue. In any situation and at any time, it is better to recruit an army than to push the Taiping army into the arms of the Kingdom of Oman. Therefore, with the exception of those ministers who insisted on the decency of the empire or were too pedantic, the direction of public opinion in the Taiji Hall was soon inclined to Zhao'an.

At this time, Qian Yuanji coughed lightly, stopped the argument, and threw out the truth that had been deliberately modified.

"In fact, it's not just about intention. Not long ago, the gang of thieves secretly wrote a letter and took the initiative to ask for recruitment. After hesitating, I also complied with the thief's wishes and sent an envoy to Matsue. ”