马车,

摇晃;

A Ji Chengjue in a silver mink coat sat inside the carriage, holding a small warm stove in his hands.

Across from him sat Fan Shaoliang, dressed in a long gown;

The son of Fan Zhengwen, he and his mother had been sent out of the State of Chu by Fan Zhengwen long ago to come to Yanjing City.

After arriving in Yanjing,

They lived next door to the Prince's mansion.

Ji Chengjue looked at the thinly dressed young man with a sword in front of him,

Shook his head,

And said:

"You don't appreciate your youthful vigor until you're old and regret it in vain."

Fan Shaoliang was instinctively somewhat restrained in front of his cousin, although his cousin had always been approachable and liked to joke, especially when he was with his family, he was gentle and unpretentious;

But Fan Shaoliang was still afraid of this current Sixth Prince.

"I really don't feel cold."

"That Zheng fellow said in his letter that Jindong is very cold and asked me to send him more cotton and fur for warmth in the winter."

Fan Shaoliang said, "The land of Jindong should be colder in winter than my home."

"Heh, but the problem is that the Snow Plain is right next door to him, and he can knead the Snow Plain barbarians into whatever shape he wants. How can he still have the nerve to ask me for fur?"

"This..."

Fan Shaoliang had met Lord Zheng, and his father had also told him some things about Lord Zheng.

So, at this time, he didn't know how to interject.

Although they were relatives, Fan Shaoliang didn't think he was qualified to evaluate the newly promoted meritorious Marquis of Yan.

Ji Chengjue sighed unhappily,

And said:

"However, that guy is indeed afraid of the cold. He also wears a lot in winter, unlike you, who is so energetic."

"Cousin, it's just that my cultivation is not good enough, and I can't control the circulation of my qi and blood. I think Lord Zheng should be..."

"He's also a mediocre cultivator, just a little better than me."

"Lord Zheng..."

With the example of the Prince of Jingnan in front of them,

Defeating the Sword Saint and leading the army to conquer, they were invincible;

Naturally, Lord Zheng, who was vaguely seen as the next generation of military god of Yan, was also given the title of a Third-Rank expert.

The common people probably think, how can such a powerful Marquis of Pingxi not have a high level of personal cultivation?

This included Fan Shaoliang.

Because he had seen the scene of Lord Zheng entering Chu to snatch the princess. If he didn't rely on his own high strength, how could he have had the courage?

It can only be said that,

When your status reaches a certain height,

When people look at you, they will be shrouded in sunlight, and naturally they will be labeled with a halo.

"You've read your father's letter, right?"

"I've read it. My father's intention is to let me study in Yanjing City."

After a pause,

Fan Shaoliang added;

"To let me work by your side, cousin."

Ji Chengjue nodded and said:

"It's only right and proper. The Fan family contributed greatly to the war against Chu. The subsequent rewards will not be issued until before the New Year. At that time, your Fan family will inevitably get a hereditary prefect."

A hereditary prefect is actually a small-scale "enfeoffment."

This was first created by the Qian people. When the Tattooed Prime Minister was still around, in order to better govern and quell the rebellions of the southwestern indigenous people, he established Tusi official titles for those indigenous leaders who were willing to rely on the imperial court, which were equivalent to hereditary county magistrates and prefects.

Externally, they were subjects of the imperial court; internally, they were still "kings" of one region.

"My father doesn't actually want these rewards." Fan Shaoliang pursed his lips, "I understand my father. What he wants is for the Fan family to be like a normal family, to multiply, to live, and to no longer be slaves."

Ji Chengjue automatically ignored Fan Shaoliang's words.

When communicating at unequal levels, it's easy to say naive things.

Ji Chengjue believed that Fan Zhengwen didn't want the Fan family to be slaves anymore, but Ji Chengjue didn't believe that was the only reason.

Slaves who turn over are not trying to get rid of their slave status, nor are they trying to break the rules, but when they were slaves, they saw the benefits of being the master;

He wanted to be the master.

But there was no need to explain these words to the young man in front of him.

The person in front of him was still a diamond in the rough. Ji Chengjue appreciated him very much. Perhaps in ten years, the Fan family would be able to move out of the Mengshan area, provided that Fan Shaoliang could gain a foothold in Yanjing.

Of course,

Thinking of weakening the vassals as soon as they are established is like taking off your pants to fart.

At this moment,

The carriage was stopped by a team of armored soldiers.

The coachman, Eunuch Zhang, showed the Prince's Mansion's token,

And all the tomb guards saluted the carriage:

"Greetings, Sixth Prince, may Your Highness be blessed with good health."

Ji Chengjue did not show his face.

After a while,

The carriage continued to move forward and entered the imperial tomb.

From the day each emperor ascended the throne, whether he was an old crown prince or a young child, from that day on, his mausoleum would be put on the agenda and construction would begin.

This was a huge project and a tradition for rulers since ancient times.

The emperor,

His glory in life was no longer enough to satisfy him,

Even after death, he still had to maintain his pomp and circumstance.

When the country was strong, the mausoleum would be built more grandly, and when the country was weak... it had to be built even more grandly. Whether you said it was putting on a brave face or trying to improve your feng shui;

In short, this was a top priority.

The past emperors of Yan were no exception.

Until,

His own father ascended the throne.

First of all, his father limited the pattern of his mausoleum to be very, very small, probably only one-tenth the size of the previous emperor's.

It was really too small to be seen.

At that time, the court might have thought that the Emperor of Yan did this on purpose to sweep away the atmosphere of extravagance and waste that the previous emperor had advocated.

But only the princes who were qualified to succeed his dragon throne knew that,

No matter which of the brothers sat on that position in the future, the specifications for building the mausoleum would definitely not exceed those of their own father, and they would have to continue to reduce it in order to show respect.

Unless you were a great talent and made greater achievements than your own father, you would not have the face to change this rule at all.

Similarly, after the specifications of the emperor's mausoleum were reduced, how dare the nobles in the world violate the taboo and exceed the emperor?

Naturally, they would also reduce it accordingly.

Ji Chengjue felt that this was the real way to start a "foundation" and establish "rules."

On this point, his father had done a lot of things a long time ago without showing off;

He didn't erect a large monument outside Yanjing City on the imperial road with new laws written on it;

That was useless.

What was truly useful was to transform oneself into a monument. When future generations encountered the same thing, they would naturally take you as an example and as a standard.

The Xia people had a tradition. They didn't respect rules very much, but they respected their ancestors.

Ancestors were also divided into different levels. Future generations could see at a glance which ancestor was wise and which ancestor was muddleheaded.

Ji Chengjue slowly closed his eyes,

When he was a child,

Many people had said, including his own father,

That he was very similar to him.

After wallowing in depravity for so many years,

After he took charge of the Ministry of Revenue and held his wedding, this statement was brought up again.

People with ulterior motives, people who were indifferent, and people with ulterior motives were all building momentum for him with their respective goals.

In a Yanjing City tavern,

Ji Chengjue took the Tu family girl home,

And once said with high spirits,

Today, he, Ji Chengjue, will re-enter the game.

Why could he play with Zheng Fan? At first, there were really no conflicting interests;

After all, he was still pretending to be a pig at that time and hadn't seen the steamed tiger yet. The Zheng fellow was still a grassroots, a miscellaneous school captain;

So, it was a genuine meeting of minds;

That kind of narcissistic affectation,

The Zheng fellow,

Ji Chengjue also had it.

He once felt that if it wasn't for his father's deliberate suppression,

No matter what whether it was a legitimate or illegitimate son,

He, Ji Laoliu,

Could definitely do better and more ruthlessly than Situ Lei did in the beginning.

But,

Suddenly,

You look up,

And realize,

That old lion who was nearing the end of his life in illness,

What he was showing,

Was completely different from himself.

Conspiracy,

Deceit,

Calculation,

Arrangement,

No matter how many people you have, no matter how much power you have, no matter how many chess pieces you have,

In the end,

In front of uprightness, they are all so vulnerable.

He,

Was obsessed before, but instead fell into a dead end.

And that Zheng fellow,

He once said a sentence that didn't feel like much at the time, but now, if you take it out and savor it again with a different state of mind, it has a kind of transparency that sees through the distractions and points directly to the essence:

Political power comes from the barrel of a gun.

"He had already seen it clearly."

"Ah?" Fan Shaoliang didn't quite understand.

Ji Chengjue didn't explain, but got up. The carriage also stopped at this time.

The mausoleum of the current Emperor of Yan had arrived,

However,

His father was still in the back garden,

Coming here at this time was naturally not to mourn his father, who was still alive.

But after his third brother passed away, his father issued an edict to have his third brother buried in his own mausoleum, father and son buried together.

Many ministers petitioned to praise this as the highest courtesy for a son and a subject, to accompany the imperial mausoleum!

But in Ji Laoliu's opinion,

It was nothing more than his father wanting to save some expenses.

Getting out of the carriage,

The desolation of winter was particularly clear in the mausoleum.

Even though his father's mausoleum had been reduced a lot according to the old system, it was still very large here.

Fan Shaoliang couldn't help but say from behind:

"Cousin, isn't it inappropriate to come here at this time?"

He shouldn't have asked these words, but he thought that since they were relatives, he should say what he should say.

Even if his cousin probably wouldn't answer.

In fact, Ji Chengjue didn't answer.

Because,

Ji Chengjue himself didn't know why he had suddenly had the idea to come here to see his third brother yesterday.

He also understood that the matter of coming to the imperial tomb today couldn't be hidden, and he didn't intend to hide it.

His father was seriously ill,

But he came to see the imperial tomb,

Even if you explain to the outside world that you are mourning your third brother, who would believe it?

This move was similar to ordinary people buying paper money from a coffin shop when their relatives were seriously ill.

However, for Ji Laoliu, now was a sensitive period, and he wasn't afraid of being bitten by lice;

For some real ministers, they might be surprised and puzzled as to why the Sixth Prince, who was so skilled in political means, would make such a low-level mistake at this time.

"Greetings, Sixth Prince."

An old eunuch walked over with a broom.

The old eunuch's surname was Qin. He used to be ranked before Wei Zhonghe, but he was demoted by his father to guard the tomb in advance because of an incident.

Ji Chengjue nodded to him,

And said;

"It's getting cold, put on more clothes."

Saying that,

Ji Chengjue covered his nose,

And said:

"Also, drink less wine."

"Hehe." Old Eunuch Qin smiled and pointed behind him, "Your Highness is here to see the Third Prince, right?"

Ji Chengjue nodded.

"What a coincidence."

Old Eunuch Qin silently retreated, gesturing a "two" with his hand.

The Crown Prince,

Was also here.

Ji Chengjue continued to walk inside,

And sure enough,

Ahead,

He saw the Crown Prince in a white brocade robe.

When Li Yinglian saw Ji Chengjue coming, he was first surprised, then silently retreated, guarding both sides with Eunuch Zhang, one to the south and one to the north.

Both of them had some skills of Qi refiners. They might not be able to stand on the real grandmaster stage in a fight, but they had some means to prevent eavesdropping.

Under such circumstances,

No matter what was said next,

Unless the dead third brother crawled out of the coffin to report to his father, it was basically impossible to leak it out.

They were both princes,

One was the Crown Prince, and the other was the famous God of Wealth of the Ministry of Revenue of Yan,

If even their close attendants couldn't guarantee their loyalty, then they could really find a piece of tofu and kill themselves.

"Second Brother, you've lost weight."

Ji Chengjue said.

The Crown Prince smiled,

And said:

"Every time we meet, you say I've lost weight. You've said it several times. Am I just skin and bones now? Or maybe the third brother buried below has more meat on his body than I do?"

The deceased was gone,

It was inappropriate to joke about the deceased;

But to put it bluntly, the one buried underground was his own brother, so it didn't matter.

Ordinary people were very afraid of ghosts and spirits, and they had an instinctive aversion to the dead and the mourning hall, but that was because the dead were not close to you.

If they were really close, you would be eager for him to suddenly sit up and have a few more drinks with you.

"It's not a holiday or a memorial day, what made you think of coming here?" the Crown Prince asked.

"Coming over during holidays and memorials feels like going through the motions."

The Crown Prince nodded and said, "That's true."

Then,

The Crown Prince sat down on the steps next to him,

And said;

"What a coincidence."

Ji Chengjue bowed to the stele, then turned around, walked to the Crown Prince's side, sat down,

And said:

"It's really a coincidence. Second Brother doesn't have to investigate who leaked the secret when he goes back, saving him the trouble."

"I don't have that interest in the first place." The Crown Prince shook his head, "You think I don't know that your people have long since turned me into a sieve."

"The East Palace is in the open, so it's naturally easier to attract moths."

"Perhaps that's the truth."

"So, Second Brother really doesn't care anymore."

"It's useless to care. I'm not as good as you in terms of buying people's hearts, arranging people, scheming, and political struggles. Since I can't beat you, I might as well not compete;

Competing back and forth,

What's being lost,

Is still my Great Yan's own vitality."

"So, I've been singing a one-man show all along?"

"Sixth Brother."

"Hmm?"

"You're very powerful, more powerful than me. I won't deliberately pretend to be generous and say that I'm governing by inaction. Actually, I'm a little disheartened."

Ji Chengjue nodded.

The Crown Prince let out a sigh,

And said:

"Zheng Fan has been ennobled as a marquis."

"His wings have hardened." Ji Chengjue took out his snuff bottle, took a sniff, and pinched his nose with his hand, "Second Brother doesn't think I can still order him around now, does he?"

This wasn't modesty, nor was it concealment,

The fact,

Was indeed so,

Ji Laoliu had clearly felt that the Zheng fellow had begun the rhythm of picking up the prostitute after visiting the brothel and persuading the girl to be a good person.

The Crown Prince suddenly reached out,

Hesitated for a moment,

And put his arm around Ji Chengjue.

Ji Chengjue's body trembled,

And turned his head to look at the hand resting on his other shoulder.

The wind,

Was blowing,

Stirring up some fallen leaves;

The Crown Prince smiled,

Pointed to the front,

And said:

"Remember, before."

Before,

The Crown Prince also put his arm around Ji Chengjue's shoulders like this,

The Third Prince stood not far away, reciting poetry with emotion.

The Crown Prince frowned, thinking that this was an insult to the Yan people's spirit, learning to be as refined as the Qian people, and that they wouldn't be able to lift their swords when the time came.

At that time, Ji Chengjue was young and intelligent, and he was favored by the Emperor of Yan. He curled his lips in disdain, only thinking that his third brother's brain was severely addled, and he was actually still thinking of reciting poetry with emotion so that he could show off in front of his father.

"That night, I didn't come. Brothers, it's all my fault."

"It's all the same whether you come or not, but you should have come."

"Yes, I should have come. If I came, it would prove that I still have some humanity, and I could give an explanation to the eldest, fourth, fifth, and even seventh."

"A rewarding thing to do with minimal effort."

"Yes."

The Crown Prince showed a smile,

And said;

"Actually, I really felt that there was no need to come. Third Brother just took a step ahead. It won't be long before we can meet him down there again.

Then,

He will show off the poems he just wrote and recite them to me over and over again."

Ji Chengjue was noncommittal.

At this level,

It was too difficult to impress him with sincerity;

At most, he would sigh,

But not be moved.

"You're not comfortable, are you? You've done so much, you've arranged so much. If it weren't for Father repeatedly favoring me, I would have been kicked out of the East Palace long ago."

Ji Chengjue shook his head,

And said;

"With Second Brother holding the fort in front, I'm more relaxed. Our father is not an easy person to serve."

"I can hear that that's the truth." The Crown Prince paused and continued, "But, you could have had many ways to get that position.

Now,

The wind has changed,

Father's intention,

Is to let the Southern and Northern Kings enter the capital,

And the situation of my Great Yan, which was started by them, must also be concluded by them."

The entry of the Southern and Northern Kings into the capital,

This was a force that could overwhelm everything.

Whether in politics or in the military or in the hearts of the people,

It was enough to make any ambitious person despair and only obediently kneel down and obey.

"Father didn't give you a chance to decide for yourself," the Crown Prince said.

"Mm." Ji Chengjue nodded.

"Who do you think he will choose?"

"You are the Crown Prince, why are you asking me this?"

"I think it would be most appropriate to choose Seventh Brother."

"The country will be in doubt with a young ruler."

"But it can be an explanation to any party. It seems that my Great Yan really needs a decade or so of doubt with a young ruler," the Crown Prince said.

"Second Brother, what do you mean?"

"Tell me, if I resign from the position of Crown Prince and then build momentum for Seventh Brother, will you hate me to death?"

"Whatever you want, anyway, we ourselves can't decide anything." Ji Chengjue reached out, picked up a dead leaf, held it in his palm, and gently crushed it.

The Crown Prince nodded,

And said:

"What you said has a premise."

Ji Chengjue looked at the Crown Prince and said, "What premise?"

A coldness like frost flashed in the Crown Prince's eyes,

And said;

"Before the old thing dies."