In Kangxi's later years, there was a so-called elder brother in the palm of the hand, that is, the valued princes were each in charge of one of the six departments.

This is not a conventional, formal political system, and it only appeared during the period of Kangxi's Jiulong seizure, which has both advantages and disadvantages.

For Gao Cheng, sons who do not have military power are good sons who can be trusted, and they are undoubtedly more reassuring than outsiders.

He can raise his brothers as pigs, but he can't let his sons become waste as well.

Of course, King Xiao Gao himself hopes to live a long time, but there are unforeseen circumstances, and if he is born, the heir will have to choose between them in the future.

No matter how capable the brothers and nephews are, they are not as good as their own sons, which is evidenced by the stories of Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhengde, the righteous father and son, and the two uncles and nephews.

Gao Cheng sent his four sons to the six departments to study, so that they were familiar with the entire government, down to the operation of various ministries and departments, which was not only an experience, but also undoubtedly a kind of examination school, and he really did a good job, and he was even willing to change the internship to the head of the department, so that they could manage it together with the six departments.

Knowing people and making good use of them is not only for outsiders, but also for the son's competence.

And by assessing their merits and demerits between the six parts, to determine who is the most suitable successor, it is undoubtedly better to only focus on the wisdom of these actors in front of him, and what father, son and filial piety he plays every day.

Practice brings true knowledge, and only with such an arrangement can we really find out their catties, even if there are masters behind them, they can make great achievements, but they can recognize the virtues and fools of their subordinates and listen to the correct opinions, which is also a kind of ability.

Of course, Gao Cheng's sending his sons to the six ministries for training is a good thing for the country, but for Gao Xiaozhang and others, it is undoubtedly cruel.

Participating in the six practices has given them the opportunity to promote their henchmen and manage their forces, making the competition for storage positions more intense.

But no matter how many henchmen they cultivated and how many courtiers they recruited during their tenure in the Six Ministries, they were useless if they had no military power.

Kangxi's eighth elder brother Yinxi is an example, even if the Manchu Dynasty is virtuous and the four seas are virtuous, they can't compete with Kangxi's suspicion of the eagle killing incident.

And the military power is precisely the point that Gao Cheng grasps the most, just like Gao Xiaojun extracted the Ministry of Rites, but Gao Cheng pointed out the rites as punishment, there are really people who are lucky, they can draw the Ministry of Soldiers who manage the promotion of generals, Gao Cheng can also choose another one, as a placement, he is the rule-maker of this game, and has the final right to interpret.

The reason for such an arrangement is also related to Gao Cheng's change of mentality, after the New Year, he will be thirty years old, in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, an era when you can be called a husband in your thirties, you really can't say that you are a young man.

When I was in my twenties, I felt that I had a long time and no scruples, and when I was in my thirties, I had to plan for the future.

People are contradictory, Gao Cheng certainly hopes that his sons will be harmonious and friendly, but the Gao Qi regime that he and his father Gao Huan created together is far more important in his heart than the so-called father-son relationship.

In order to choose the best heirs, the sons will be placed in the cruel Shura field, tempering them, and making the sons crazy involution.

Such an approach is worthy of the sons and worthy of the country.

Just like the Kangxi Dynasty, in the brutal competition for the succession of the nine sons, Yongzheng, who was finally selected, was indeed the most suitable helmsman, who reigned for thirteen years, worked hard to make himself tired to death, and let the country get back on track.

Of course, Yongzheng had a loser son, known as a perfect old man, and he couldn't go far on the right track, and he was on the rails again.

It's also interesting to say, what my father left behind was a mess, and his son lost all his hard-earned family foundation, but later generations are talking about the prosperity of Kangqian.

Gao Cheng didn't dare to expect such a good son who could wipe his ass clean, he only hoped that under the rule of the second generation of monarchs, the people could live a little better, and as for the third generation of heirs, it was not for him to interfere.

For example, Gao Xiaozhang and Gao Xiaoyu were raised by Gao Huan personally, but if Gao Cheng was not very satisfied with the two, he still had no hope of saving the position.

Speaking of going back to the Mingguang Palace, Gao Xiaocong saw that the four brothers were each going to study, and thought it was a novelty, and asked Gao Cheng to give him a place to go, but Gao Cheng drove him away, and warned him not to tease the palace people again, otherwise he would personally carry out the execution with a rod next time.

Gao Xiaocong agreed weakly, turned his back, and stuck out his tongue at the four brothers.

The other four also retired to Gao Cheng and walked out of the Mingguang Palace, Gao Xiaozhang, Gao Xiaoyu, and Gao Xiaowan each returned to their mother's dormitory, to discuss with their mother about entering the ministry, the three of them did not go out of the cabinet, lived in the palace, it was difficult to get out of the palace, and it was not easy to connect with the supporters, so many things were used to discussing with the mother.

And this time to study in the ministry, there are also more opportunities to contact with foreign ministers, at least in their eyes now, their father's arrangement is undoubtedly a reward for their intercession for their fifth brother.

After the three brothers left, Gao Xiaoqian turned back to the Mingguang Palace, and the questions in his heart had not been answered.

After saluting, Gao Xiaojun asked his father:

"The child was obviously selected in the Ministry of Rites, why did the father change it to the Ministry of Punishment?"

Gao Cheng walked down the imperial steps, came to the lowest level, beckoned Gao Xiaoqian to sit with him closely, and patiently explained:

"The Ministry of Rites has four divisions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Rites, the Department of Food, and the Department of Host and Guest, which are in charge of culture and education, ritual music, sacrifice, and diplomacy.

"Although the criminal department was usurped by Shangshu Zuocheng and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, at least it has jurisdiction over the national criminal punishment decree and the examination of criminal names in the name, and it is a place where things can be done, and my father thinks that the importance of the law to the country is higher than the etiquette law, and it is more beneficial to go to the criminal department to experience and understand the law in his heart."

Gao Xiaoqian was silent for a while, and only raised his head for a long time, and mustered up the courage to say to Gao Cheng:

"The boy only wants to be a general."

Gao Cheng didn't expect his well-behaved son to refute his decision, first habitually annoyed, after all, since Gao Huan's death, no one dared to disobey him, and even raised his hand to slap this stubborn son.

It's just that when the palm fell, it was on the top of Gao Xiaojun's head.

"Qiang'er, born in the emperor's family, or be a rich and idle king with peace of mind, drunk and dreaming all day long, playing between wives and concubines, and spending the rest of his life in chaos.

"If you want to make a difference, you have to fight, even if you are a general, how can your brothers rest assured that they will entrust the military power to you."

Saying that, Gao Cheng grabbed Gao Xiaojun's palm, looked at the cocoon in his palm and said:

"If you don't want to go to the six departments to practice, you don't have to learn this riding and archery, the art of war, and after more than ten years of hard training, you can only hunt rabbits in the end. In the future, I will specialize in poetry and literature, and after I leave the cabinet in the future, I will give my father a mansion for you to drink and sing with the literati. ”

Gao Xiaoqian changed color when he heard this, so he had to hang his head and say:

"Just go, child."

Gao Xiaoqian had already left the Mingguang Palace, but Gao Cheng was still sitting on the imperial steps and contemplating.

Maybe he is indeed not a good father who instigated his son to compete for the position of prince, after all, even if their brothers fight for this, or even pull each other back, as long as they are not given military power, it will not hinder the overall situation.

But as far as the Son of Heaven is concerned, it is more beneficial for the country and the people to have an extra son join the competition, so that they can roll up wildly and compete to make achievements.

In the final analysis, it's not worse than bad, it's not enough to pull the brothers back, you have to do a good job, let Gao Cheng see their abilities.

Of course, after the heir is determined, for the losers, it is the beginning of a miserable life, and Gao Cheng will suppress them vigorously and basically wipe out their power in the court.

It is indeed cold-blooded and ruthless, but it is not the last kindness of the father, who wants to save their lives.

After years of fighting, don't expect any friendship between their brothers, but if Gao Cheng has removed the threat of his brothers for his successor, he still refuses to leave a way to live.

With such a vicious heart, Gao Cheng naturally wouldn't choose, and he was afraid that the wolf cub would bite him.

Gao Xiaojun returned to his dormitory, retired all the palace people, leaving only Cui Gong woman, he pillowed on his mother's lap, and talked to her about today's events, compared to Gao Cheng, he is still closer to his mother, his father is the father of all the brothers, and his mother belongs to him alone, at least her heart is only towards herself.

Of course, Cui Gongwu didn't want her son to get involved in the dispute over the heir, her husband Yuen Long was originally a side branch of the clan, Bohai Taishou did a good job, and the husband and wife were loving, but because Gao Huan wanted to set up another central government to fight against the Erzhu clan, he was pushed out and became the son of heaven.

After the matter was completed, she was immediately deposed, and was killed by Yuan Yan together with Yuan Ye and Yuan Gong, and she had an intuitive feeling of the danger of the battle for the throne.

"Your Majesty asked you to go to the Criminal Department to go through the work, you do your own thing, don't ask for merit, but ask for no fault, don't cause trouble for your brothers, they are all sensible people, knowing that you are not here, how can you have a brotherhood."

However, Gao Xiaojun's mind has been haunting his father's words:

If you want to make a difference, you have to fight. ’

He doesn't want his brothers to turn against him, but he doesn't want to be a rich idler, his father leads the army to conquer himself, expands the territory and does a good job, correspondingly, his uncles can only get drunk with singing and dancing, this kind of life is not what he wants.

"Mother, since my father asked me to go to the Criminal Department for training, the child should do his duty and make achievements, how can he be self-exhorted."

Cui Gongnu sighed in her heart, why did she only give a little hope, so she had to go in and fight with others, Yuen Long was the same back then, she went out of the five suits early, but she still had to wade through troubled waters, this throne is really so attractive.

Gao Xiaoqian was reluctant to mix with the heirs in the past, so he was naturally influenced by the Cui palace woman, but the child gradually grew up, and he was only eight years old and had his own thoughts, and he was no longer swayed by his mother's thoughts.

And the reason was just instigated by Gao Cheng's words, which made him firmly believe that his father was willing to give them an equal chance to prove his talents.

The inferiority complex in the past was shattered, and it turned out that he, the biological mother could not be an outsider, Gao Xiaojun, was also the same existence as the three brothers in his father's heart, and he was a candidate who could be considered as an heir.

In the past eight years, the mother and son, who have been practicing not fighting with others, have had a disagreement for the first time.

But as a mother, the tolerance of the only son is unlimited, Cui Gongwu held her head for Gao Xiaoqian and said with a forced smile:

"Qiang'er has ambitions, and she is also happy to be a mother, but she must act uprightly, but she has a clear conscience."

Gao Xiaoqian knew that his mother meant that he would not take the initiative to provoke the three brothers, be less intrigued, and just concentrate on national affairs, even if his hopes were disappointed in the future, he would not form an inextricable grudge with them.

"Mother, don't worry, the child knows."

Gao Xiaoqian glanced sideways at his mother's face and said with a smile.

In the third year of Zhaode (550), on October 28, Gao Cheng issued an edict to order the Taiyuan County King Gao Xiaozhang to be stationed in the Ministry of Households, the King of Jingzhao County to be stationed in the Ministry of Engineering, the Guangping County Wang Gao Xiaowan to be stationed in the Ministry of Officials, and the King of Lanling County to be stationed in the Criminal Department to learn affairs.

On the third day of the first month of November, Gao Cheng issued another edict to promote the titles of his four sons from the county king to the prince, and the so-called prince titles, except for Gao Xiaowan, were all according to the location of their county titles.

Feng Gao Xiaozhang is the king of Jin, Gao Xiaoyu is the king of Qin, Gao Xiaowan is the king of Zhao, and Gao Xiaojun is the king of Lu.

Gao Xiaowan's original king of Guangping was actually more suitable than Zhao, Qi or Wei, Yecheng was built by the Duke of Qi Huan, and Wei Wenhou used it as a companion during the Warring States Period.

It's just that the country name is Qi, so naturally it is impossible to crown Gao Xiaowan as the king of Qi, and the king of Wei is too sensitive, after all, Gao Qi is on behalf of Wei, and after thinking about it, Gao Cheng gave a title to King Zhao.

Among the four, only Gao Xiaoyu felt that his king was the most unlucky, because the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty was persistently smeared by Confucianism for hundreds of years, at least before Tang Taizong, King Qin was never a good king, it can only be said that Erfeng added luster to this king by himself.

Gao Cheng's arrangements for the four sons did not stop there, but more importantly, he gave the four of them a mansion in Luoyang, and granted them the right to open the mansion, allowing them to recruit their own staff.

In fact, the four of them are far from the age when the prince leaves the cabinet, the eldest son Gao Xiaozhang and the second son Gao Xiaoyu are only thirteen years old, the third son Gao Xiaowan is only nine years old, and Gao Xiaojun is only eight years old.

After the edict, Gao Xiaozhang, Gao Xiaoyu, and Gao Xiaowan's mansions were full of people, and there was an endless stream of people who defected.

Of these three people, Gao Xiaozhang is the grandson of Er Zhurong and the eldest son.

Gao Xiaoyu was born to a Han woman, and his mother, Mrs. Song's grandfather, Song Ben, was one of the six auxiliary ministers left by Emperor Xiaowen.

Although Gao Xiaowan has the blood of the previous dynasty, due to the peaceful handover of Wei Qi, the Northern Qi treats the Yuan family well, but it is not as embarrassing as Li Ke, not only the talent of the Yuan family, but also those who have received the favor of the previous dynasty, they will also have a better impression of him and are willing to work for him.

Compared with the three elder brothers who can recruit a large number of talents sitting in the house, Gao Xiaojun seems to be uncared for.

After all, according to the official statement, his mother was just a maidservant girl in the palace of King Qi, maybe it was the King of Qi at that time who was drunk and immoral, and he did the lake mud thing.

The three elder brothers have their own titles, pointing to Jinyang, Chang'an, and Yecheng respectively, but when he came to him, he became Lanling, what significance can Lanling have to the Gao family, and he is not the prince of Southern Liang.