Yan Jing,

Ministry of Revenue,

Signing room.

On Ji Lao Liu’s desk, there was a plate of corn buns.

He wasn't eating this to remember the bitter days; the rice wasn't ordinary rice, and it even had fillings. To call them corn buns would be an understatement; they were more like exquisite pastries specially made to resemble corn buns.

The reason for doing this was that when other government offices came to make trouble and demand funds from the Ministry of Revenue, seeing this plate of corn buns might make them restrain themselves a bit.

Look,

Just look,

Even a prince has to gnaw on corn buns to survive,

This Ministry of Revenue,

Is truly and utterly empty.

Ji Lao Liu clapped his hands and pushed the memorial in front of him forward.

Recently,

There have been three good news and three bad news.

The first piece of good news was that three months ago,

The Jingnan King submitted a memorial saying that there was no need to transport food and military supplies to the front lines anymore.

Great,

Ji Lao Liu could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The bad news was,

Although the supreme commander of the front-line army said that the supply of military provisions could be suspended,

His Ministry of Revenue,

Actually couldn't scrape together any surplus grain for disaster relief.

Gone,

It was just gone,

It was truly gone.

It wasn't that wealthy gentry families were hiding grain, trying to play some hoarding trick. After the trampling of the aristocratic families, 90% of the great clans of Great Yan were raided and exiled.

It was by plundering resources and grain from them that Great Yan had the ability to launch wars against Qian and Jin.

And with his father's increasing imperial authority, holding power firmly in his grasp, as well as his own relentless crackdown on local forces' interception of funds since he took charge of the Ministry of Revenue, no one dared to hinder or resist.

What interest groups? None of that existed.

Therefore, Great Yan had fought several more battles in the past few years, with hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry being pulled back and forth, mobilized, and sent to the front lines to expand its territory.

The imperial court ate most of it, and once the imperial court itself was gone, then it was truly gone.

Looking around,

Apart from a few mosquitoes,

There were no more fat pigs from which to borrow fat.

The second piece of good news was that,

His eldest brother had won a battle at the Silver Wave County front line, killing the Qian people's three-border commander.

Yes,

When Ji Lao Liu saw this news,

He was also shocked,

What was going on?

Although everyone knew the fact that the Qian army's combat strength was weak, it shouldn't be this bad, right?

Later,

Ji Lao Liu analyzed it clearly,

The one who died,

Was indeed the Qian people's three-border commander,

But it wasn't the Qian people's three-border governor, Yao Zizhan, but Zhong Wenmian.

Great Yan's lower-level military system was chaotic and diverse, while Qian was the opposite. The higher up you went, the more chaotic the official positions became, with empty titles and actual positions, a whole mess, making it difficult even for the Qian people themselves to figure out.

The matter was like this,

Zhong Wendao had died,

The Qian people secretly kept it quiet, keeping it confidential for a period of time.

Because the Qian people themselves knew that after losing Zhong Wendao, they would face a difficult situation. On the entire three-border front line, the only person with prestige who could make all the warlords obey,

Was only one person,

And that was the three-border governor - Yao Zizhan!

Obedience was obedience,

After all, Master Yao was the Great Qian Literary Sage,

Great Qian's military generals had always had such a tradition towards scholars,

The former was a military general, the latter was a civil official;

If the former and the latter were of the same rank, then the former would recognize the latter as his godfather;

If the former was one rank higher than the latter, then the former would kowtow;

If the former was two ranks higher than the latter, then the former would pay respects;

Behind Master Yao stood the Great Qian literary tradition, a totem-like existence for civil officials, crushing these roughnecks was no problem.

But if they really wanted Master Yao to lead the northern expedition,

Uh,

The roughnecks would shout slogans loudly, or have their scribes write some patriotic poems, and then come up with all sorts of reasons to obstruct and delay.

Kowtowing to civil officials was because of the precedent set by the tattooed-faced minister, it was for survival;

Northern Expedition,

And a Northern Expedition under Master Yao's command, what difference was there between that and sending them to their deaths?

Fortunately, the Qian court wasn't stupid either.

The Qian emperor sent Yao Zizhan to the three borders to mediate the relations between the three borders, not expecting the Literary Sage to transform into a War Saint.

But the problem was,

Zhong Wendao had died,

Who would take his place?

Because in the year or two before his death, Zhong Wendao had constantly sent memorials to the court, speaking of the disadvantages of a hasty Northern Expedition, and even ruthlessly pointed out that although the Qian army seemed large in number, after the Yan people's southward invasion four years ago, they had indeed sharpened their swords and polished their armor, but they had only grown from children to teenagers, and there was still a big gap between them and a true army of tigers and wolves.

There was no other reason, the debts from the past were just too many.

Therefore, perhaps knowing that his days were numbered, Zhong Wendao also let go of his restraints and bluntly told the emperor and the current officials that the Great Qian army would only repeat the mistakes of a hundred years ago if they launched a Northern Expedition now.

And Zhong Wenmian, as the nominally second-in-command of the Zhong family.

His brilliance was undoubtedly overshadowed by his brother;

In other words, his political views were also replaced by his brother.

Even though Zhong Wenmian had submitted several letters, meaning that he could fight, he was willing to fight, and that his three-border soldiers, his Western Army, were willing to give their lives to serve the country and wash away the shame, shouting slogans many times.

But in the eyes of the emperor and several ministers,

These Zhong family brothers were playing political tai chi, singing in harmony.

The idea was Zhong Wendao's, saying that it wasn't suitable for a Northern Expedition;

Then Zhong Wenmian would come up and say that the morale of the army was available, and the morale of the army was still towards the imperial court and towards the emperor.

This kind of harmonization of political attitudes could be regarded as an old trick in politics.

Zhong Wenmian himself didn't even know that the letters he sent up one after another had all become seasonings to neutralize his brother's views.

Until Zhong Wendao died of illness,

The imperial court knew,

Even if they didn't launch a Northern Expedition,

Even if they really sat on the sidelines and watched the Yan people fight the Chu,

No matter what,

Their own three borders needed a military general in charge, right?

Otherwise,

What would that look like?

Next, there was another game between various parties.

At this time, Zhong Wenmian's letters could be said to be sent out every three days, the theme was,

Northern Expedition,

Northern Expedition,

Northern Expedition!

This time, the bigwigs in the court finally understood that the Zhong family brothers actually had conflicting political views.

But the problem was,

Before the old Zhong Minister died of illness, according to the reports from the Silver Armored Guards in the army, plus his last strongly worded letter, and the added effect of his death,

It made the bigwigs in the court suddenly fall into a point of view that what the old Zhong Minister said was right.

At least,

It wasn't suitable for a Northern Expedition at the moment.

As for the Chu country,

The Chu country should rely on itself, it seemed that it could hold on, right?

At that time,

Zhennan Pass was still in the hands of the Chu people, and Zheng Boye had already taken a boat south along the Wangjiang River into Chu;

But from the overall perspective of an outsider, the battle situation of the Yan-Chu War was still on the Zhennan Pass front, which proved that the Chu people were still very capable of resisting, so there was no hurry.

Therefore, the urgency of choosing a commander had decreased again.

It wasn't that they were holding on to their positions without doing anything, or that there were too many people and too little work, but that it was really difficult for the Qian country to find a great commander who could stand alone.

Finally,

Slowly,

An imperial decree was still issued, allowing Zhong Wenmian to temporarily take the place of the old Zhong Minister, while instructing Yao Zizhan, the three-border governor, to control the logistics well, to prevent Zhong Wenmian from being eager to make contributions and acting arbitrarily.

On the other side,

Zhong Wenmian, who had been waiting for a reply from the imperial court, had a sense of discouragement, always feeling that he was so old, and this heart of his was ultimately misplaced.

Then, one day, he led three thousand cavalry northward.

Earlier,

Zhong Tianlang would often lead Qian cavalry north to attack the Yan people's military camps, rob caravans, etc., partly because he was young and vigorous, and partly because Qian needed these victories to boost morale;

Even if these small "great victories" had no impact on the overall situation.

But now, Zhong Tianlang no longer did such things after becoming a驸马 (imperial son-in-law); the silver-speared young man who had once chased Zheng Boye had also become much more stable, and began to focus on military affairs, mainly training soldiers and polishing formations.

In addition, Zhong Wendao's dying words made Zhong Tianlang temporarily put down the arrogance in his heart and no longer think about launching a Northern Expedition as he used to; in short, he had matured.

And his uncle,

Took his place.

But Zhong Wenmian's luck was really a bit bad.

Because on that day,

The Great Yan First Prince, Ji Wujiang, also personally led five thousand cavalry out, the purpose was to take the initiative to provoke and put pressure on the Qian people, using a coercive posture to force the Qian people to move their minds.

When two countries fought, the side that was truly confident would be too lazy to do some small actions, and Ji Wujiang understood that at this time, Great Yan was the side that lacked confidence in this battlefield.

The main force of Great Yan, hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry, were all in Jindong, and the country was suffering from a severe drought this year.

Therefore,

As for the south, as for the Qian country, they should avoid major battles as much as possible, and just engage in small-scale friction, creating a tense atmosphere, so that the Qian people would stop thinking about taking chestnuts from the fire.

Perhaps,

There really was such luck in the dark;

It was like the kind of man with a protagonist template that Zheng Boye often joked about.

On that day,

On that evening,

Outside that forest,

The Yan army cavalry led by the First Prince, and the Qian army cavalry led by Zhong Wenmian,

Met.

Originally, when the two sides' cavalry met, if they couldn't win, escaping was likely to be possible, it was nothing more than escaping in their own direction, and the other side wouldn't dare to pursue too deeply.

Who would have thought that,

The Yan army was divided into three parts to march.

Zhong Wenmian thought he had encountered a soft persimmon, relying on his superior strength, he wanted to eat this Yan army in one bite, and then, he was surrounded by the First Prince.

The quality of this Qian cavalry was actually not bad.

After Zhong Wenmian saw that the situation was not good and ordered a breakout, more than a thousand cavalry still managed to break through.

But only Zhong Wenmian was directly targeted by the First Prince riding a Pixiu.

It was absurd,

Like a scene in a play,

But reality is often more like a play than plays.

The First Prince rode a Pixiu, holding a long saber, and rushed into the Qian army that was trying to break through, and slashed at Zhong Wenmian.

Zhong Wenmian stabbed the First Prince with a spear, his kung fu was actually not bad;

However, Zhong Wenmian was old after all, the predicament of a warrior was that fists feared the young and strong, and when you were old, your own vitality would inevitably decline.

Zhong Wenmian's spear penetrated the First Prince's armor and wounded the First Prince, but it failed to push the First Prince away, and the advantage of the length of the spear failed to be successfully reflected.

On the contrary, the Pixiu under the First Prince's crotch pounced fiercely and knocked down the good horse under Zhong Wenmian's crotch.

The First Prince took advantage of the situation and stabbed Zhong Wenmian's chest with a saber, and then, stirred it.

Neatly and cleanly, he took Zhong Wenmian's life.

Immediately,

The First Prince's vitality stagnated,

And he fainted.

The Qian army that broke through saw that the commander had been killed in battle, and immediately counterattacked, wanting to seize Zhong Wenmian's body.

The Yan army saw that their First Prince was injured and fainted, and immediately someone took the First Prince away, and at the same time, they took Zhong Wenmian's body as well, and the entire army alternately covered each other, no longer fighting, and retreated back.

Therefore,

In this battle,

The Qian people won, but they didn't look like victors at all;

The Yan army retreated in defeat,

But this defeat,

Was quite rewarding.

Four years ago, when the Yan army went south to attack Qian, there were also many Qian officers and soldiers who were captured or surrendered, and some of them had seen Zhong Wenmian.

Xu Wenzu saw that the First Prince had paid such a great price to kill this person, and immediately asked people who came from Qian to identify the body.

Soon,

Zhong Wenmian's identity "came to light".

Zhong Wendao's younger brother,

The nominally second-in-command of the Western Army,

Was killed!

Great功 (merit),

Great merit!

Xu Wenzu immediately drafted a memorial, asking the imperial court to reward the First Prince.

He knew that this First Prince had not been able to completely get out of the shadow of the defeat at Wangjiang, so he craved every opportunity to make merit and atone for his sins.

However, this memorial hadn't been finished yet;

A new piece of news arrived.

The Qian imperial envoy who came to the three borders to announce the imperial decree couldn't find Zhong Wenmian, so the imperial decree to appoint him as the temporary commander of the three borders naturally couldn't be announced.

But,

In fact, after this imperial decree was sent out from the Qian central government, it was no longer a secret in Shangjing City.

The Yan State Secret Intelligence Division hidden in Shangjing City immediately sent this intelligence back.

The Qian State's three-border commander was changing, whether it was temporary or not, it was an urgent military situation.

Then,

Xu Wenzu suddenly discovered that,

The enemy general that the First Prince had killed,

Had directly changed from an enemy general to the enemy's commander...

Xu Wenzu hesitated for a moment,

In the end, he still reported the功 (merit) in the narrative way of "the First Prince killed the Qian State's three-border commander in front of the battle".

However, Xu Fatty was also a cautious person, following the merit report, he closely followed a "detailed explanation".

The First Prince was a prince after all,

As a臣 (subject), he had to build the stage first, that was politically correct;

As for whether to directly reward him in his own name or to cool it down, that was His Majesty's intention.

After the merit report was sent to Yan Jing,

The太子 (Crown Prince) immediately led Zhao Jiulang and a group of important officials to the back garden again to ask for merit for his eldest brother.

Ji Lao Liu understood that his father was likely to receive this memorial even earlier than the太子.

Then,

News came from the back garden,

The First Prince, Ji Wujiang, was exhausted for the sake of state affairs, guarding the border for the country, and斬 (killed) the head of the Qian State's three-border commander...

After a series of rewards came the爵位 (rank).

After the defeat in the first Battle of Wangjiang, the rank on the First Prince's body was almost stripped to the bottom. Although he enjoyed the treatment of a prince because of his marriage with the蛮族 (barbarian) princess, in fact, the rank on the First Prince's body was empty.

Xu Wenzu still had the rank of a子爵 (viscount); if it weren't for the First Prince's status as a prince, the First Prince would have to salute when he saw Xu Wenzu.

Logically speaking, after making this great功 (merit), His Majesty also had the intention of vigorously publicizing it to help his eldest son wash away the shadow of the defeat in the Battle of Wangjiang, and to cultivate a member of the Ji family who could lead troops to fight outside, so he should take the opportunity to return the王爵 (title of king).

It was appropriate in terms of emotion and reason. After all, the蛮族 (barbarian) princess had also given birth to a son, and if the father had no rank, how should this child be calculated?

The蛮族 (barbarian) old蠻王 (chieftain) sent his precious daughter over, and your Yan State was so good, making my grandson a commoner directly?

If it were an ordinary minister, he wouldn't have to worry about whether his title would surpass his parents, but the prince was a direct member of the clan, so it was impossible to be so unceremonious.

However,

In the册封 (conferment) imperial decree,

It didn't restore Ji Wujiang's 王爵 (title of king),

But a侯爵 (title of marquis).

The First Prince Ji Wujiang was conferred as... the安东侯 (Marquis of Andong)!

The court and the野 (opposition) were in an uproar. It wasn't that the rank was too low. After all, it sounded like the侯爵 (title of marquis) was far inferior to the 王爵 (title of king).

But in fact, if it was a 王爵 (title of king), for others, for异姓王 (kings with different surnames), it would be the supreme glory.

Great Yan had been established for eight hundred years,

There were only two异姓王 (kings with different surnames), one镇北王 (King of Zhenbei), and one靖南王 (King of Jingnan);

But for the First Prince, he was a宗室 (member of the royal family), His Majesty's son, and being conferred as a王 (king) was inevitable. In fact, he had long called himself "孤 (I, used by kings)", the孤王 (lonely king), the孤王 (lonely king).

But conferring him as a侯爵 (title of marquis) here, and a侯爵 (title of marquis) who was sent out to lead troops, had a different political concept, meaning that His Majesty didn't want his eldest son to come back to continue being this decorative宗室 (member of the royal family), even if he had married a蛮族 (barbarian) princess and his son's bloodline had been "contaminated".

But His Majesty still wanted his eldest son to be able to stand alone.

When the eastern expeditionary army was formed, His Majesty promoted him once, but it resulted in defeat;

This time, His Majesty forcibly promoted him again.

Along with Ji Wujiang's封侯 (conferment as a marquis), there was also an imperial decree that Xu Wenzu沾 (benefited from) the light and was promoted to the太守 (prefect) of Yinlang County, governing Yinlang County.

In the south of Great Yan, Yinlang County, the current situation was that Xu Wenzu was in charge of logistics and the First Prince was in charge of the army. The two sides had cooperated very tacitly from the beginning, and now, it was just more legitimate.

Some people with ulterior motives were already guessing,

Whether His Majesty wanted to imitate the old system of the Jingnan Army and establish a new "Jingnan Army" in Yinlang County, or call it the "Andong Army".

As for the southeast, northwest, and east before the rank, it wasn't that important.

The 镇北侯 (Marquis of Zhenbei) was said to be in Zhenbei, but in fact, he was in the westernmost part, the westernmost part of Great Yan, and also the westernmost part of the Eastern Four Kingdoms. Logically speaking, he should be called the 镇西侯 (Marquis of Zhenxi).

And the 靖南侯 (Marquis of Jingnan) was originally facing the Qian Kingdom in Yinlang County, but now, the Jingnan Army had entered Jin for several years, and it was no longer facing the Qian Kingdom.

Southeast, northwest, and east were no longer directional references in the traditional sense, just like the 左将军 (Left General) and 右将军 (Right General) of the Chu Kingdom, and the 四方议政厅 (Four-Sided Political Discussion Hall) of the Qian Kingdom.

Directional words, here, were more of a reflection of an equal status.

This was the second piece of good news,

But at the same time, there was also the second piece of bad news.

Zhong Wenmian was dead,

Ji Lao Liu felt that the Qian people must feel like they had eaten a mouthful of flies,

But then,

News came from Shangjing that,

The Qian Emperor appointed the Qian Southeastern Zu Family Army's Great Commander Zu as the three-border governor, directly letting Yao Zizhan give up his position.

After receiving the decree, Great Commander Zu immediately led his 親衛 (personal guards) to gallop to Shangjing overnight.

The emperor received him with great courtesy,

It was said that Great Commander Zu was very moved, and at the banquet, he boasted to the emperor and the officials, promising to build a new three-border system in five years, so that the threat of the Yan army would be completely blocked;

It was called, Five Years to pacify Yan;

But the Five Years to Pacify Yan here didn't mean going straight to Yan Jing and destroying the Yan Kingdom, but reversing the situation in the north, so that the border trouble would be limited to a border trouble, and there would be no more worries about the collapse of the country.

Zu Zhuming was coming,

This person,

Had means, had ability, could train soldiers, could fight battles, and, he also had a characteristic, his military views were consistent with those of the old Zhong Minister, and that was... to hunker down.

Anyway, the Qian country was vast and rich, and had a dense population. The previous military weakness was the old debt from the past. Now, they would slowly pay it back and slowly develop.

After this person came to the three borders, the atmosphere of the Qian country's three borders would definitely be very different.

The third piece of good news was that Lingxiang was pregnant, and then, He Sisi was also pregnant.

The bad news brought by this was...

He, Ji Lao Liu,

Was going to be a monk!

In fact, Ji Lao Liu hadn't been unromantic before, and had had many concubines. You could say it was a disguise, but to say that he hadn't enjoyed it at all would be too fake.

But before marriage and after marriage were different. Men, after getting married, immediately matured a lot.

The feeling of being a monk wasn't easy to endure,

But as long as he thought about his brother surnamed Zheng, although he had always had a habit of liking married women, Ji Lao Liu knew that Zheng Fan's real women were actually not many.

The higher you stood,

The more you experienced, the harder it was to fall into the so-called feelings and love, he really didn't have the time.

In the evening, spending time with his son and listening to his son utter some syllables was also a kind of enjoyment.

Reaching out,

He picked up a corn bun,

And took a bite;

At this time,

Loud shouts suddenly came from outside:

“Great Victory, Great Victory, Great Victory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Great Victory in the campaign against Chu! Great Victory in the campaign against Chu!”

“Yingdu has fallen, Yingdu has fallen!”

……

“Sixth Brother, the Ministry of Revenue, the burden is heavy, right?”

In a small side hall in the back garden, the Crown Prince looked at Ji Chengjue and asked.

Ji Chengjue shrugged his shoulders,

And smiled;

“It’s okay, there’s nothing to ask for, so I don’t have to weigh who to give more to and who to give less to, and I can have some peace and quiet.”

“It’s good, the war is almost over.” The Crown Prince smiled and said, “Next, we should be negotiating peace.”

Ji Lao Liu said, “I hope so.”

Ji Lao Liu didn't believe that the Crown Prince could see this clearly. In other aspects, the Crown Prince could be said to be good, but in military matters, the Crown Prince should be at the same level as himself.

This meant that there was someone who was good at military affairs beside the Crown Prince, who had analyzed it for him.

It wouldn't be Fourth Brother. Even if Fourth Brother really defected to the Crown Prince, there wouldn't be enough time to come over and express his views today.

It should be someone else.

Moreover, this kind of statement of "should be negotiating peace" shouldn't be said by the Minister of War. Just after receiving the news of the great victory, on the surface, even if he wanted to say something, he should say something like taking advantage of the victory to pursue and destroy Chu in one fell swoop, and not say something like "it's time to negotiate peace" after taking the Chu capital.

Furthermore, his father had repeatedly emphasized that anyone who criticized the war on the front line would be severely punished.

Therefore, it should be someone in the Crown Prince's palace, and this person was close to the Crown Prince, and quickly provided the Crown Prince with his views after the Crown Prince learned of the great victory.

He should investigate.

At this time,

Wei Zhonghe came out,

And said:

“His Majesty summons the Chancellor, the Crown Prince, and the Sixth殿下 (Prince) to appear before him.”

This meant that other ministers wouldn't be seen.

Zhao Jiulang walked in front, followed by the Crown Prince, and last was Ji Lao Liu.

Under the leadership of Wei Zhonghe, the three entered a small building.

The small building wasn't large, and it was separated by curtains in the middle, so you couldn't see inside.

“臣 (Your subject) pays his respects to Your Majesty.”

“Son pays his respects to Father.”

From inside the curtain,

Came the voice of the Yan Emperor:

“Rise.”

The voice was a little tired.

The three stood up.

Ji Lao Liu looked at the curtain in front of him. According to his understanding of his father, his father would never use this kind of formal object as a cover unless it was absolutely necessary.

He could use手段 (methods), and his手段 (methods) were also very powerful, but he disdained to use this kind of手段 (methods).

But in this situation, not seeing ministers and not seeing sons was impossible.

His Majesty the Yan Emperor,

Must make his voice,

Must let his臣 (subjects) and sons know,

That he,

Was still awake.

Even Wei Zhonghe couldn't bear the crime of "isolating the inside from the outside".

Any such action would be regarded as treason.

Next,

The Yan Emperor's reaction,

Further confirmed Ji Lao Liu's guess,

Because the Yan Emperor didn't use a question-and-answer approach,

But directly arranged things in his own words, which meant that the Yan Emperor's energy was very problematic now.

“All matters related to Chu from now on will be based on the Jingnan King’s meaning, and the Crown Prince will follow suit.”

“Yes, son obeys the order.”

This meant that the Jingnan King's meaning would become the court's meaning, and the監國 (regent) Crown Prince would fully cooperate with the Jingnan King.

To fight or to make peace,

If to fight, how to fight,

If to make peace, how to make peace,

Would all be decided by the commander on the front line.

This was not only believing in the Jingnan King’s ability, but also a great trust.

“Don’t rush the matter of disaster relief. As long as we win the battle, everything will be fine for the old Yan people.”

This was to appease the hearts of the people, and a great confidence and certainty.

“Yes, son understands.” Ji Lao Liu responded immediately.

“Demand that this year's tribute from the Qian people be exchanged for grain, and hold the Qian court accountable for Zhong Wenmian’s unauthorized invasion of our border.”

The Chu imperial capital had been captured, and no matter what, the situation in the Yan’s campaign against Chu was very good.

Under this premise, they could be more domineering towards the Qian people and carry out acts of extortion, and the Qian people should swallow their anger.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Zhao Jiulang saluted in response.

“Okay……”

“Father, son has one more thing.” The Crown Prince said.

“Speak.”

“On the victory memorial, the Jingnan King specifically mentioned 平野伯 (the Earl of Pingye), for all the achievements he made in the campaign against Chu.”

He didn't write about others, but wrote about the Earl of Pingye in detail.

Everyone understood what this meant.

Moreover, these were indeed solid achievements. Although the war hadn't ended and the results hadn't come out yet, some things had to be prepared in advance.

Including the political and military格局 (structure) in Jindong, it had to be arranged as soon as possible to be stable as soon as possible.

The Crown Prince was actually asking for rewards for Zheng Fan.

Everyone knew that 平野伯 (the Earl of Pingye) was the number one general of the Sixth Prince's faction,

But the Crown Prince was eager to help ask for a title, and if he was腹黑 (scheming), he could say that the Crown Prince was sending 平野伯 (the Earl of Pingye) a jade ruyi, wanting to dig the Sixth Prince's faction's corner, but if he was阳光 (positive), it was that the Crown Prince was loyal to the country and selfless.

“封侯 (Confer as a marquis)……”

From inside the curtain, the Yan Emperor spoke.

No one was surprised. They all thought that this was the meaning of the topic. If nothing major happened in Chu next, the Earl of Pingye's封侯 (conferment as a marquis) was almost a certainty.

His achievements were so great,

That no one could ignore them,

If he had no background,

They could still use the reason that he was too young and that recording it first and conferring it later would be good for him.

But the problem was,

The Jingnan King had already directly pointed it out,

When someone strong enough was protecting you,

You would find that many rules that were taken for granted would immediately disappear.

封侯 (Confer as a marquis)…

Ji Lao Liu calculated in his heart,

鎮北侯 (Marquis of Zhenbei), 靖南侯 (Marquis of Jingnan), 安东侯 (Marquis of Andong), East, South, North, they all had them, and there was only one left.

At the same time, Ji Lao Liu also understood that once Zheng Fan was封侯 (conferred as a marquis), then he would almost be封疆 (granted territory). The place in Jindong had to be guarded by someone, just like the first-generation 鎮北侯 (Marquis of Zhenbei) guarded the desert.

In this way,

He was a prince, it was true,

But Zheng Fan was already a藩鎮 (regional warlord),

A truly powerful 藩鎮 (regional warlord) could even violate the imperial court's and the emperor's orders, let alone a prince like him.

Therefore,

藩鎮 (regional warlords),

Actually didn't need to rush to take sides between the princes anymore. No matter who became emperor, they would appease the 藩鎮 (regional warlords). The so-called功 (merit) of following the dragon didn't have that much appeal to the 藩鎮 (regional warlords).

For a long time,

Just as Ji Lao Liu almost thought that his father seemed to have fallen asleep,

The Yan Emperor's voice came again from inside the curtain:

“平西侯 (Marquis of Pingxi).”

——————

There was a death in the family, and I need to take care of the funeral. For the next three days, I may not be able to update. I hope everyone understands.