The Eight Princes' Mansion in the capital.

Although several princes have been crowned princes, the palace has not yet been completed, so they still live here.

Compared with the bustle of other square districts, the Eight Kings' Mansion seems a little deserted.

Guangping County Palace, which is now the Qi Palace.

On the martial arts arena, Liang Li, the king of Qi, who was wearing a samurai uniform, was shooting arrows with a bow and a focused face.

There was a man standing on the edge of the martial arts arena, he was wearing a light cyan shirt and a jade hairpin stuck in his bun, looking like a typical Jiangnan appearance.

Liang Li, the king of Qi, took his bow and arrows, and in a short time he finished shooting the arrows in the quiver.

After putting down the longbow, Qi Wang Liang Yu rubbed his somewhat sore arm, slowly walked to the edge of the martial arts arena, and said as he walked: "My strength is still a little insufficient, but I shot twenty arrows, and my arms are a little uncomfortable, so it seems that I still have to practice diligently." ”

The man smiled and said, "Your Highness is too modest, this bow is an ordinary and rare six-stone bow, you can open it more than twenty times in a row, which is rare in the capital." ”

Qi King Liang Yu laughed and said: "I am determined to become the master of the Lingbao Bow, how can I be complacent because I have opened six stone bows in a row, Chengzhi should not exalt me too much." ”

The man named Chengzhi is surnamed Gu, and he is the son of the Gu family, one of the four surnames on behalf of the Jiangdong Shi clan, and now although the Gu family is in decline, there are many handsome people in the clan, and there are faint signs of reviving the prestige of the Gu family in the past.

Gu Chengzhi is the son of the patriarch of the contemporary Gu clan, and he has the title of prodigy when he was a teenager, and he has a good reputation in Suzhou.

Gu Chengzhi left Jiangnan Province after the crown, so he was gradually forgotten by his hometown fathers, and everyone thought that this young prodigy was too young and not necessarily good.

Who would have thought that Gu Chengzhi, who had just won the crown, went straight to the north after leaving Jiangnan, experiencing the customs and customs along the way, and inspecting the geographical maps, the map was not small.

Later, Gu Chengzhi, a thousand-mile horse, chose Liang Li, the eldest prince who was least favored by the courtiers, and became a guest of the palace of Guangping County.

Gu Chengzhi skipped this meaningless topic and said bluntly: "Your Highness, can you tell me about what happened in the Zichen Hall today?"

Liang Li, the king of Qi, wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, and said very casually: "In the morning, the holy decree arrived, and I beat the old eleven when I listened to the decree, and then my father summoned us into the palace.

In the Zichen Palace, my father asked me why I beat Lao Shi, I said it briefly, and my father not only didn't get angry, but also praised me, saying that I played well, but reminded me that I couldn't beat Lao Shi badly. ”

Speaking of this, Liang Jiao, the king of Qi, stopped talking, and Gu Chengzhi asked, "What happened later?"

"Later?" Qi King Liang Jiao scratched his sideburns, and said nonchalantly: "Father Emperor wants to punish Lao Shi to go to Zongzheng Temple, Lao Shi cried, and my father was soft-hearted and didn't let him go, and then let the two of us go back." ”

After listening to this story, Gu Chengzhi's brows furrowed slightly, looking pensive.

When Liang Yu, the king of Qi, saw his doorman like this, he stood in place and waited.

After a long while, Gu Chengzhi asked softly, "Has Your Highness thought about the deep meaning behind this division of the prince?"

"Oh, what have you thought of?" asked Liang Li, the king of Qi, habitually rhetorically.

Gu Chengzhi said slowly: "I think Your Majesty intends to weaken the power of your relatives. ”

Qi King Liang Li's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Cheng Zhi can figure out the joints?" ”

Gu Chengzhi organized the language for a while, and said slowly: "Your Majesty has eight adult princes, except for the five princes who are not in the capital and the seventh prince who is born stupid, there are a total of six princes.

His Royal Highness and the Second Prince stayed in the capital, and the Fourth Prince, the Sixth Prince, and the Ninth Emperor were divided into various places, all of which have deep meanings, as for whether my guess is in line with His Majesty's thoughts, it is unknown. ”

Qi King Liang Yu patted Gu Chengzhi's shoulder and said, "You just have to say it, out of your mouth and into my ears, there is no need to worry." ”

Gu Chengzhi slowly spoke under the signal of Liang Yu, the king of Qi: "Your Majesty wants His Royal Highness to lead the forbidden army, naturally to prevent the party of relatives who are in full swing, and under the advantages of one another, the power of relatives will be slowly weakened.

During this period, what His Highness has to do is to do his own military affairs well, command an army of 50,000, and not disappoint His Majesty, so that His Highness's weight in His Majesty's heart will increase. ”

Liang Yu, the king of Qi, was overjoyed and asked, "What about the other aspects? Do I need to win over the courtiers?"

Gu Chengzhi shook his head slowly and persuaded: "I suggest that Your Highness don't make small moves, I'm afraid it will be embarrassing when Your Majesty finds out."

Now that the will of the king has been issued, there are four princes who remain in the capital, and the second prince is gentle and the eldest son, who is deeply supported by the civil official group.

But it is precisely because of his character that his way of dealing with many things may not make His Majesty feel comfortable, so as long as he attacks him at the right time, he will inevitably lose his current status in His Majesty's heart, and there is no possibility of entering the East Palace. ”

After listening to Gu Chengzhi's analysis of the second prince Liang Dan, Liang Jiao, the king of Qi, only felt comfortable and in a better mood, and then ordered Gu Chengzhi to continue.

Gu Chengzhi continued: "The Seventh Prince was born stupid, although after the teaching of that You Fang Daoist, his physique has increased greatly, but he still lacks a knack, and his mind is very immature, and he is only suitable for being a fierce general who charges into battle, and he does not have the position of prince.

The Ten Princes have just reached the crown, but they have lacked care and education since childhood, their personality is cruel, and they are extremely bad and excessive, and they are not liked by His Majesty and courtiers, and they are destined to be an idle prince. ”

Liang Jiao, the king of Qi, couldn't wait to ask: "What is the meaning of the fourth, sixth, and ninth brothers? ”

Gu Chengzhi was not in a hurry to explain, and asked instead: "Does Your Highness know where the fiefdoms of the three princes are?"

Liang Yu, the king of Qi, thought about it for a while, and said: "The fief of the fourth is in Qingzhou, Henan Province, the fief of the sixth is in Shuozhou, Hedong Dao, and the fief of Lao Jiu is in Chuzhou, Huainan Province. ”

Gu Chengzhi asked again: "Does Your Highness know the distribution of forces in these three places?"

Liang Yu, the king of Qi, thought for a while and said slowly: "Qingzhou is the sphere of influence of the Yan clan of foreign relatives; Shuozhou is the place where the gate is entrenched, mainly headed by the Liu family and the Zhang family; as for Chuzhou, I don't know very well. ”

Gu Chengzhi opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty divided the four princes into Qingzhou and led 10,000 forbidden troops to guard the palace, so naturally he had the idea of rectifying Qingzhou officialdom and beating the Yan family.

It is said that the Yan clan has great power in Henan Province, and its power can pass through several states, just like the appearance of separating princes. ”

Liang Li, the king of Qi, looked abrupt, and only then did he understand Emperor Laozi's intention to divide the fourth prince Liang Qi to Qingzhou, Henan Province, and he praised with a smile: "Chengzhi's brain is easy to use, I don't want me to be an elm pimple, once I think about these twists and turns, I have a terrible headache." ”

After hearing the praise, Gu Chengzhi did not feel the slightest sense of pride, but said humbly: "Your Highness only needs to work hard, and my subordinates do such a hard work." ”

Qi King Liang Yu smiled noncommittally, and said in a casual tone: "Shuozhou has no foreign relatives, why did my father send the sixth child there to practice, does my father have the intention of letting the sixth inherit the great treasure?"

Gu Chengzhi hugged his fists in the direction of Miyagi and said: "I don't dare to speculate on Your Majesty's thoughts, but the sixth prince is an old man, knows how to advance and retreat, and has the courage to achieve great things, and will definitely be a good opponent of His Highness in the future." ”

Liang Li, the king of Qi, thought about the lazy appearance of Liang Tong, the sixth prince, and said with a smile: "The sixth guy is used to being free and loose, and he doesn't want to be bound by rules and regulations, I'm afraid he doesn't have too much ambition." ”

Gu Chengzhi persuaded: "Your Highness, knowing people and faces but not knowing their hearts, it is difficult to draw tigers and bones, you need to make all preparations, just in case." ”

Qi King Liang Yu reluctantly made a serious look, and replied casually: "I know, I will definitely guard against him." You first tell me why my father arranged for the sixth child to be in Shuozhou. ”

Gu Chengzhi sighed silently in his heart, this His Royal Highness King Qi is too blindly confident, and even a little conceited, he has always looked at things and treated people with subjective thoughts, even if he has never made a mistake in the past, but there is always a time when he sees the wrong person's heart, and at that time, I am afraid that it will be too late to regret it.

Without waiting for Liang Jiao, the king of Qi, to urge, Gu Chengzhi had already let go of his worries and patiently explained: "The generals in Shuozhou are all big families that have been inherited for a long time, but in recent decades, these generals have not produced any outstanding generals, but they are just mediocre people who keep their jobs.

It wasn't until more than ten years ago that the Liu family and the Zhang family each produced a general, which led Shuozhou's generals to rekindle their fighting spirit and restore a little of their former glory.

These rekindled fighting spirits were basically in the Tiger Army, and the general of Zhenbei at that time was Uncle Wei Lao, so the generals in Shuozhou felt that Uncle Wei was their Bole and was willing to be driven by Uncle Wei.

Therefore, the Jiangmen of Shuozhou is also one of the forces of foreign relatives, which is why the six princes are in Shuozhou and lead the 50,000 tiger army, aiming to decompose the power of the tiger army and weaken Wei's influence in the north. ”

Qi King Liang Yu touched his short beard under his chin, and asked with a somewhat ugly face: "Does Cheng Zhi think Lao Jiu is the most likely to enter the East Palace?"

Gu Chengzhi said in a low voice: "I'm afraid that my next words are a little inappropriate, Your Highness just listens to it, and you don't need to talk to others." ”

Liang Yu, the king of Qi, agreed: "Chengzhi rest assured, God knows that you know and I know." ”

Gu Chengzhi said softly: "In the eyes of outsiders, among the several princes, it is naturally the Nine Emperors who have the largest power background and are most likely to become the princes.

After all, the power of the Wei clan is not trivial, there are generals of the unified army outside, and there are military department books inside, not to mention the countless small families relying on the Wei clan.

But the more this is the case, the smaller the chance for His Majesty to appoint the Nine Emperor Princes as the prince, after all, Daliang is the world of the royal Liang family, not the Wei family.

Your Majesty has been lying on the salary for so many years, and he may not want to dispose of his relatives who have a big tail, but now the time has not come......"

Speaking of this, Gu Chengzhi consciously stopped, after all, the latter words were too shocking and rebellious, if they were heard by the same party of the Wei clan, I am afraid that there will be another corpse in this capital.

Liang Yu, the king of Qi, was not angry because of Gu Chengzhi's pause, but admired Gu Chengzhi's sense of proportion, and said in a deep voice: "This matter is over, don't mention it again, if it is heard, I am afraid it will be another disaster." ”