Imperial capital, Xiaoyu, Princess Qiyang's mansion. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

There is a small lake in the back house of the princess's mansion, although it is not comparable to those big lakes that cover an area of more than ten acres in those courtyards in the south of the Yangtze River, but this is the imperial capital where every inch of land is valuable, and even ordinary high-ranking officials of the third grade may not be able to draw water into the mansion, let alone directly build a whole lake in the mansion, looking at the big and small magnates in the city, and the mansions of the princes, clansmen, and first-class masters can only have lakes in the back house.

There is a wooden pavilion near the lake, warm in winter and cool in summer, a whole wall facing the lake is made into a sliding door, if it is summer, push open the door is a lake color with a trace of cool air pouring into the pavilion, pleasant and pleasant.

At this time, the door of the wooden pavilion facing the lake was wide open, and Xiao Zhinan was the only one in the pavilion, she took off her shoes and socks, knelt barefoot on the dustless wooden floor, and concentrated on fiddling with a lilac daisy bonsai, and there were two plain white chrysanthemums on the side, elegant and light, like a celebrity in the flower.

Just as she was about to finish fiddling with the first pot of daisies, there was a sound of footsteps in the corridor outside the pavilion, and then the silver candle opened the door to the corridor on the other side, and said softly: "Princess, His Royal Highness King Qi has arrived." ”

The next moment, a man walked out from behind the silver candle, although he was only dressed in civilian clothes, but his brilliant arrogance could not be concealed, his appearance inherited the handsomeness of Emperor Xiao and Empress Xu, but he was not as feminine as Mu Tangzhi, with a faint smile on his face, when he looked at Xiao Zhinan, there was an undisguised pampering in his eyes.

Xiao Zhinan was still focused on the bonsai in front of him, and said without raising his head: "Today is the seventh day of the seventh month, you should be in Jiangnan now, or on the way to Jiangnan." ”

"It doesn't matter. Xiao Bai shook his head with a smile and said: "I have expected this big flood in July, and I have already asked the people in the palace to buy and hoard food in advance, and I will never miss my father's major event." ”

Xiao Zhinan glanced up at him and said slowly: "Brother, there are some things that I shouldn't say, but I have to say that the heart of heaven is unpredictable, and we have to respect our father and emperor on weekdays, father is the table, and the emperor is the foundation, in the final analysis, first the emperor, and then the father, is it a bit of a trick for you to act like this? If you are sued by someone with a heart to your father's side, how will your father think of you? Since you have the effort to purchase grain in advance, why don't you strengthen the river embankment? If someone wants to put you on a hat of conspiracy to store grain, how can you justify it? ”

Xiao Bai shook his head and said: "Reinforcing the river embankment is an errand of the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Industry is subordinate to the cabinet, so it is not my turn to intervene as a vassal king.

Xiao Zhinan said helplessly: "The embankment of thousands of miles was destroyed in the anthill. ”

"Let's not talk about that. Xiao Bai changed the topic and said: "Yesterday, I went to Feishuang Hall to visit my mother, and she mentioned the matter of my uncle again, and wanted me to check it out when I went to Jiangnan, I came today to ask what do you think?"

Xiao Zhinan shook his head and said: "Uncle's matter, others don't know, my father must be clear, even if it wasn't clear at the time, after so many years, it should be found out by the means of Wei Wuji, but my father has never mentioned it to his mother, this has already shown his attitude, you better not interfere too much." ”

Xiao Bai whispered to himself: "The sick tiger Zhang is not sick, the human cat Wei Wuji, one yang and one yin, one bright and one dark, I have a hunch that in the future situation, these two people will be crucial." ”

Xiao Bai has an innate talent since he was sensible, Lan Yu called it the autumn wind and the cicada sense, comparable to the Ziwei Doushu of the Daomen, but it is different from the Ziwei Doushu, Ziwei Doushu is easy to calculate others and difficult to calculate himself, Xiao Bai's talent is the opposite, he can only perceive people or things related to himself.

This matter is an important secret within the royal family, and only a few people know about it, but the Xiao family has already set a precedent, and it is none other than Xiao Jin, the king of Wei, who has reached the pinnacle of this way.

Xiao Zhinan is also one of the insiders, and he attaches great importance to his brother's premonition, ponders for a moment, and says: "Wei Wuji is not credible, Zhang Wuji might as well be handed over, but now he is the governor of the Northwest Army sitting in the border pass, and you are the king of Qi who ranks first among the kings, and the scale must be grasped well, so as not to fall into the hands of others." ”

"I know that. Xiao Bai nodded and said: "Then I will put aside my uncle's affairs for the time being, and when you enter the palace, I will go and talk to the queen mother, don't let her think that I, as a son, is unwilling to contribute." ”

"Got it, you can rest assured. Xiao Zhinan nodded with a smile.

The Xiao clan relatives, say not much, say less and not less, if you only count the first-class real power figures, there are about 20 people, almost everyone is crowned king, that is, the so-called Xiao kings. Among the many princes, there were three powerful vassal kings guarding one side, namely Xiao Jin, the king of Wei, Xiao Li, the king of Yan, and Xiao Bai, the king of Qi.

In Daqi, the vassal king must be the prince, but the prince may not be called the vassal king.

First of all, not all of them are clans, there are also kings with different surnames, such as Mu Tangzhi, the king of Liao, and Lin Han, the famous king of the grassland Khan. Secondly, although some clans have the title of prince, they have lived in the imperial capital for a long time, and do not have corresponding fiefs or fiefdoms, let alone military power, so they cannot be regarded as vassal kings.

Generally speaking, the founding kings will hold the military power, and after the world is stable, the emperor will try to reduce the military power of the kings, which is also the so-called "cutting the feudal domain", since ancient times, there are many feudal kings who have rebelled and even ascended to the throne, which shows the great power of the feudal king.

Regardless of the ancestor or the side sect, the two clansmen can add up to nearly twenty princes, twenty princes together in the order of the dynasty, the top three must be three vassal kings, and Wei King Xiao Jin, as the uncle of today's son, should be ranked first, but since the first year of Chengping, the Empress Dowager Lin Yinping banned Xiao Jin from entering Beijing, the King of Wei has not been able to set foot in the imperial capital for more than 20 years, and because Emperor Taizu was named King of Qi before ascending the throne and called the emperor, the title of King Qi has always been known as the hidden dragon, so the first place in the ranking of kings naturally became Xiao Bai, the king of Qi。

Now that the crown prince's position is vacant, King Qi, as the first of all kings, is no different from the real prince in terms of power and status, but he is still missing the last title.

As for why Emperor Xiao did not appoint the crown prince, the magnates of the imperial capital had different opinions in private, some said that it was because His Majesty the Emperor was afraid that the crown prince would become the target of public criticism after setting up the crown prince too early, and some said that it was actually His Majesty the Emperor who was waiting to pass on the throne to his younger son in the future, and even said that it was because His Majesty was afraid that setting up the crown prince too early would lead to cannibalism between father and son.

Only Xiao Zhinan knew that the reason why his father did not make Xiao Bai the crown prince was because his father felt that Xiao Bai was too sharp, so he had to grind it well and hide it in the sheath, after all, the prince of a country is very different from the king of a domain, and it is very different from sitting in the world and fighting the world.

This time, the father sent Xiao Bai to Jiangnan to raise funds and transfer grain, but he had the intention of testing, if his brother can seize this opportunity, the next will be a smooth road.

It's just that the place in the south of the Yangtze River is not as good as the north of the Yangtze River, but the territory of many old families, and all kinds of forces are intertwined, almost everywhere.

This is the feeling that Xiao Zhi got after his trip to Nanjiangnan.

In the end, Xiao Bai suddenly asked before getting up to say goodbye: "Do you want me to meet the young man you like, after all, he is someone who may become my brother-in-law in the future, if it looks pleasing to the eye, I don't mind helping him." ”

"Don't. Xiao Zhinan shook his head and said: "This is my business, don't interfere, just let it be." ”

Xiao Bai said with interest: "The more you say that, the more I want to see him, I want to see what kind of character he is, and he can make my sister, who has been taller than the sky since she was a child, have blue eyes." ”

Xiao Zhinan said calmly: "Xiao Bai, if you dare to do anything to add to the snake, I will go to the queen mother and tell her all the unsightly things you have done over the years, and then the queen mother will punish you to go to the Flying Frost Hall to kneel, don't be unpredictable." ”

"Good, good. Xiao Bai smiled helplessly: "I'm afraid of you, I won't provoke him." ”