Late autumn into early winter.

At the beginning of winter, it is about the first fine snow of the year, and it falls.

The fine snowflakes fell silently on the ground, on the eaves, on the trees, and on the walls, so that the entire imperial capital was covered with a layer of faint plain white, such as wearing mourning clothes, and as far as the eye could see, the white was boundless.

On the post road outside the imperial capital, the snow has been cleared, and the whole post road looks a little black against the background of the snow, leading straight to the wharf of the Dongjiang Grand Canal.

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu State for the Northern Expedition Qi State to dominate the Central Plains, dug a canal that led the water of the great river near the Jiangdu, known as Hangou in history, and the successive dynasties continued to develop and extend to the north and south on this basis, especially after the two large-scale expansion and renovation of the Great Chu and the Later Construction, to the time of the Great Zheng Dynasty, basically connected the Jiangdu and the Eastern Capital, so it was called the Dongjiang Grand Canal, and when it came to the Great Qi Dynasty, although the Eastern Capital was renamed the Imperial Capital, but the canal still retains the old name.

The Dongjiang Grand Canal traverses two capitals, four prefectures, eleven prefectures, and twenty-three counties, with a length of about 3,600 miles, and the grain production in the south of the Yangtze River accounts for two-thirds of the world.

Among the four states, Qi naturally also includes Qizhou, so this time the king of Qi entered Beijing, that is, he took the waterway and went north by boat from the Dongjiang Grand Canal.

It was rumored in the imperial capital that Xiao Bai, the king of Qi, would enter the city today, which pushed the kings into Beijing to the peak for a while, especially the rumor that Xiao Bai was going to completely confirm the identity of the crown prince when he entered Beijing this time, which made the atmosphere in the imperial capital a little treacherous.

Whether it is a military general or a nobleman of the clan, they are all waiting for the first person of the kings, or the future crown prince, to arrive in the capital.

When the snow falls, the cicadas are gone, but in this early winter, the imperial capital city uncharacteristically remembers countless cicadas.

The cicada is poignant.

At the wharf of the Dongjiang Grand Canal, a huge fleet of ships slowly docked.

On the ship, the black "Qi" character king flag waved in the wind in the snow, and the hunting sounded.

After the First Battle of Dingding, Xiao Yu, who was still the king of Qi, and his half-brother Xiao Jin landed from here and personally supported the coffin of his father Wu Xiaolie to return to the Eastern Capital.

It was also snowing that year, and it was also white.

When the news came, the entire eastern capital was full of vegetarianism, and on this day when His Royal Highness King Qi was supposed to celebrate the triumph of His Royal Highness King Qi, the eastern capital city was not half happy, and white flags were hung everywhere, reflecting the white snow, which was particularly desolate.

The wind and snow were like obscurity, and the magnates of the city led by Lan Yu and Xu Lin went out of the city thirty miles in white, all of them stood in front of the dock, and bowed three times and kowtowed to the coffin.

In the blink of an eye, more than 50 years have passed in a hurry, and another King of Qi has arrived here by boat.

At this time, there were two people on the deck looking at the railing, one of them was a middle-aged man who was probably not confused, wearing a cyan Confucian shirt, wearing a square scarf, and three locks of long beard on his chest. The other person should be just a year old, dressed in a black python robe, with an ink-colored jade belt around his waist, and his black hair tied up with a black jade hairpin, the whole person is mighty and extraordinary, needless to say, the only one who can dress up like this is the owner of this fleet, King Xiao Bai of Qi.

Xiao Bai put his hands behind his back and asked softly: "Sir, when I went to Jiangdu in the twenty-first year of Chengping, you told me about the gains and losses, and I entered Beijing today, but I still have to talk about the gains and losses?"

The middle-aged Confucian said: "If Your Highness is willing to listen, then I will talk about it." ”

Xiao Bai smiled: "Listen to me." ”

A teacup appeared out of thin air in the middle-aged Confucian student's hand, and a full cup of tea was born out of thin air, and the heat rose.

"The first thing is, naturally, the position of the crown prince that anyone with a discerning eye can see, with the orthodox title of the crown prince, you are an upright prince, even if it is other vassal kings, you must call yourself a minister after seeing you, so that there is a difference between monarchs and ministers, and the status of monarchs and ministers is determined as early as possible, and if you want to ascend to the great treasure in the future, it is a matter of course. ”

"The second is Han Xuan, this is the choice made by His Majesty to His Royal Highness, the world knows that Princess Qiyang is His Royal Highness's sibling sister, His Majesty will marry His Royal Highness the princess to Han Xuan's adopted son, that is, His Royal Highness will be placed on the big ship of the Han Party, and His Royal Highness will board the Great Treasure in the future, and today's Han Party is the pillar of His Royal Highness's temple. ”

"The third thing is that the young man named Xu Beiyou, this son can have today's achievements at a young age, as long as he does not die halfway, then he is destined to have a bright future, today he and Princess Qiyang are good for Qin and Jin, and he is close to His Royal Highness congenitally, as long as His Royal Highness is close to him, then he will be His Highness's right-hand man in the future. ”

The middle-aged Confucian paused for a moment and said: "The first is the fame, which is beneficial to the present, the second is the people's heart, which is beneficial to the next ten years, and as for the third gain, I am afraid that the results will not be visible until His Highness can really sit in that position." ”

Xiao Bai was noncommittal, and asked, "After speaking, what about the loss?"

The middle-aged Confucian poured a lot of tea in the teacup in his hand, and said: "The first loss, the prince is also a king, they all say that there are no two days, there are no two lords in the country, there are two kings in the court, naturally to cause His Majesty a little jealousy and vigilance, I think His Royal Highness has also heard the saying that the two dragons do not meet, His Royal Highness has won the position of the prince, but lost His Majesty's trust, as Zhang Jiangling said in the previous dynasty, such as into the fire, to get a cool door, which is warm and cold, only His Royal Highness knows. ”

Xiao Bai nodded, "The heavenly family has no relatives, and it is a reasonable thing." ”

Confucian poured a little more tea in the teacup, and then continued: "The second loss, in Qizhou, His Royal Highness has been operating Qizhou for many years, deep-rooted, if His Majesty will crown His Royal Highness as the prince, then His Royal Highness will leave Qizhou and enter Beijing, although His Royal Highness can still lead Qizhou after entering the East Palace, but after all, it is still not as good as sitting in Qizhou in person, Qizhou seems to be run by His Royal Highness as solid as gold, but there is no unbreakable golden soup in the world, as long as Your Majesty uses a little skill, the entire Qi palace will fall apart in an instant. ”

Confucian drank the last bit of residual tea, "The first loss is love, the love of father and son, the second loss is the land, the land of Qizhou, in fact, the second loss is good, but it is something outside the body, but it is the first loss, if it is not handled well, I am afraid that it will bury hidden worries." ”

Xiao Bai sighed, looked at the rolling river, and muttered: "The father is the son, the king is the minister, I am the son, how dare I disobey my father? ”

Father, Emperor, seems to be the same, but in fact they are very different.

Confucian Sheng said calmly: "Three gains and two losses, in general, the gains are still greater than the losses, after all, His Royal Highness is the eldest son of His Majesty, and he is also the eldest son and eldest grandson of the first emperor, and his status is extremely noble. ”

Xiao Bai suddenly asked, "Does Mr. go to the imperial capital?"

Confucius shook his head and said, "I won't go to the imperial capital, unless His Royal Highness sits in that position." ”

Xiao Bai laughed.

Confucius said with a smile: "This time in Beijing, Your Highness only needs to keep in mind one thing, everyone else is false, only Your Majesty is true." ”

Xiao Bai frowned, and was about to ask a question, but when he looked back, Confucian had already disappeared.

Xiao Bai let out a breath of turbid air and walked off the boat.

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu, who had been waiting on the dock for a long time, walked quickly to Xiao Bai, and after saluting, he asked softly, "Is Your Highness going to the post or going directly to the palace?"

Xiao Bai instructed: "Send someone to the palace to spread the word, ask Your Majesty and the queen what they mean, and this king will go to the princess's mansion first." ”

The Ministry of Rites bowed his head and said, "No." ”