Dongchang Prefecture City, General's Office

Liu Zeqing looked at the letter on the table, his face full of suspicion. This was a letter written by Han Ye, the governor of Dezhou. It roughly means that the emperor had an order and asked Liu Zeqing to go to Jinan Prefecture City to receive the order. As for the content of the imperial edict, Han Ye revealed a little. On the one hand, the emperor and the court were concerned about Shandong General Liu Zeqing falling off his back and being injured, and gave him some silver. On the other hand, it was about Liu Zeqing leading the army to aid the capital to resist the thieves. In short, Han Ye said in the letter that this imperial edict was a great thing for Liu Zeqing.

Liu Zeqing, who had a ghost in his heart, returned to the Dongchang Mansion official residence and waited for the news, but saw no one.

Send a large army to block His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to Nanjing to supervise the country. If this matter is exposed, it will be a serious crime of extermination. When making the decision, Liu Zeqing hesitated for a full day. However, when he thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would come to Shandong to investigate himself, Liu Zeqing made up his mind. Anyway, he did not intend to murder His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's life, that is, let His Royal Highness retreat when he was in trouble. He should not go to Nanjing, nor to Shandong, and return to the capital on the same road.

The leader of the army was Liu Zeqing's most trusted general and also Liu Zeqing's confidant. He was once Liu Zeqing's personal guard captain, so there was no need to doubt it. Therefore, when the captain of the personal guard sent someone to send a letter to report that the combat mission was successfully completed, Liu Zeqing immediately left Dezhou Prefecture City and returned to Dongchang Prefecture City as fast as possible. When leaving Dezhou Prefecture City, Liu Zeqing sent his confidant to take the letter to the capital to inform the news.

Following His Royal Highness to Nanjing were Cabinet ministers, Minister of Works Fan Jingwen, and Right Censor Li Banghua of the Inspectorate. These two were not easy to mess with. There were eunuchs of the literati, Cao Huachun, and Liu Zeqing, who dared not offend him. Therefore, the general in charge said in the letter that the army had not exposed his identity, and Liu Zeqing did not particularly believe it.

Liu Zeqing has issued an order to the general, that is, the two thousand soldiers should not return to Pingshan Guard for the time being, and temporarily stationed in Wucheng or Ling County. After the situation has completely subsided, then return to Pingshan Guard for the time being.

However, Liu Zeqing also has a support, that is, in the capital city, he and some people in the capital are grasshoppers on the same rope. If something happens, no one can escape. Liu Zeqing believes that the people in the capital can suppress Fan Jingwen and Li Banghua. As for Cao Huachun, someone has already gone to Cao Huachun's mansion in the capital city to send a lot of money. I believe Cao Huachun will not say anything at that time.

Despite the double insurance, Liu Zeqing still finds it difficult to feel at ease.

Being good at engaging in battle is Liu Zeqing's biggest strength, and being suspicious by nature is Liu Zeqing's personality in his bones.

But at this time, the imperial court issued an imperial edict, which Liu Zeqing could not doubt.

"General General, Shandong Governor Qiu sent someone to send a letter..."

Liu Zeqing widened his eyes and looked at the captain of the guard who came to report.

"Who sent the letter? Did the sender stay?"

The captain of the guard then saluted.

"Master General, a letter sent by a merchant from Jinan Prefecture City. He said he knew nothing, and his subordinates kept him. If Master General wanted to ask, his subordinates would bring the merchant."

Liu Zeqing thought for a moment and waved his hand.

"Since he is a merchant, he must not know the inside story. Lord Qiu asked the merchant to send a letter, but he was afraid it was not an important letter. He left the letter and let the merchant leave."

After the captain of the guard put down the letter, he turned around and prepared to leave. Liu Zeqing suddenly spoke again.

"Send someone to follow the merchants and see what he does in Dongchang Mansion."

The captain of the guard clasped his fists at Liu Zeqing again and turned around and left.

Liu Zeqing covered the door, picked up the letter, and quickly opened it.

Liu Zeqing was one of the few literate people among the generals of the Ming Dynasty. He could read and write poems and was quite elegant.

In just a few minutes, Liu Zeqing put down the letter and looked at Han Ye's letter posing aside. The expression on his face relaxed a little.

The things said in Qiu Zude's letter were roughly the same as what Han Ye said, but they were a little more detailed, saying that the court should have rewarded Liu Zeqing.

After half an hour of looking at the two letters, Liu Zeqing called the captain of the guard and asked him to invite Xiang Zujiang to the wing room.

Xiang Zujiang is a relatively important aide to Liu Zeqing. Xiang Zujiang is also from Cao County. He is a fellow villager with Liu Zeqing and is an old student. He has not been able to go to high school after taking the provincial examination several times. Later, he came to Liu Zeqing as an aide to be a staff member by someone.

Xiang Zujiang is nearly forty years old, about the same age as Liu Zeqing.

Xiang Zujiang came to the wing room. Before he could sit down, Liu Zeqing spoke.

"Mr. Xiang, there are two letters here. Take a look. One was sent by the governor of Shandong, Lord Shen Zude, and the other was sent by the governor of Dezhou, Lord Han Ye. Lord Shen just sent this letter."

Xiang Zujiang looked at Liu Zeqing, shook his head slightly and spoke.

"Sir, the letters written to you by these governors and prefects must involve major matters. Let's see if these letters are not appropriate."

Liu Zeqing frowned. Xiang Zujiang had some skills and good ability to analyze problems, but he was a bit pedantic. Liu Zeqing hated the pedantic of scholars the most.

"I'll just look at you, where do you come from so many words?"

Xiang Zujiang had no expression on his face, nodded to Liu Zeqing, picked up the letter on the table, and looked carefully.

In just a few minutes, Xiang Zujiang finished reading the letter and clasped his fists at Liu Zeqing.

"I want to congratulate you. The emperor issued an order and must have been granted the title of Lord."

There was no expression on Liu Zeqing's face and waved his hand to Xiang Zujiang.

"Mr. Xiang, it's not that simple. Let's put it this way. I offended His Highness the Crown Prince, Cabinet Minister Mr. Fan Jingwen, and Right Censor Li Banghua, they will definitely impeach me. At this time, it would be a good thing for the emperor to not issue an order to scold me. How could I grant my title?"

It was extremely confidential to prevent the Crown Prince Zhu Cixuan from going to Nanjing to supervise the country. Not many people knew about it in the army, and Xiang Zujiang was one of them. At that time, Xiang Zujiang expressed his opinion and supported the dispatch of a large army to prevent the Crown Prince from going to Nanjing to supervise the country.

Xiang Zujiang thought for a moment, then looked at Liu Zeqing and spoke.

"The adults' concerns make sense, but if you look carefully at the Tang newspaper of the Crown Prince's trip to Nanjing, you will feel much more at ease and don't worry so much."

Liu Zeqing widened his eyes and looked at Xiang Zujiang.

"What does sir mean? It's normal for His Royal Highness to go to the Tangbao of Nanjing's governor. There is nothing strange about it."

Xiang Zujiang still had no expression on his face, and he spoke calmly.

"The crown prince must have shouldered a heavy responsibility when he goes to Nanjing to supervise the country. Logically speaking, the Tangbao must clearly explain many things, such as what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should do when he goes to Nanjing, what preparations should be made by officials at all levels in the south, including the generals from all over the country to obey orders, etc., but these things were not mentioned in the Tangbao."

"Doesn't this mean that the Crown Prince went to Nanjing to supervise the country, but it was just a kind of behavior. After the Crown Prince arrived in Nanjing, he would go back to the capital after a patrol."

"After seeing this pond newspaper, I thought about it carefully and realized some of the mysteries."

Liu Zeqing couldn't help but nodded and looked at Xiang Zujiang.

"What Mr. Sir said makes sense. Mr. Sir understands the mystery. Let's listen."

Xiang Zujiang looked at Liu Zeqing.

"Do you know that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. If the crown prince goes to Nanjing to supervise the country, what should the emperor in the capital do? If the crown prince gives orders in Nanjing and removes someone from his official position, what should the emperor do if the emperor disagrees. How can the emperor's authority be blasphemed? On the other hand, if the crown prince goes to Nanjing to supervise the country, he will ask for orders for all things big and small. What else can he do? Not to mention the officials in the south, the officials in Nanjing will sneer at it."

"I think the emperor disagrees with the crown prince going to Nanjing to supervise the country. He is forced to agree under some pressure. However, the emperor has set up many obstacles for His Royal Highness, with the purpose of making the crown prince understand that he retreats in a difficult situation. Don't think about going to Nanjing to supervise the country and return to the capital earlier."

"In theory, the crown prince should understand the meaning and simply do not leave the capital, as this will reassure the emperor. Unfortunately, the crown prince still left the capital for Nanjing with great fanfare. Isn't this asking for trouble?"

Liu Zeqing nodded repeatedly and gave Xiang Zujiang a thumbs up.

"What the sir said is, what the sir said is, I suddenly realized."

Xiang Zujiang shook his head gently.

"Sir, so you sent a soldier to prevent the crown prince from going to Nanjing to supervise the country. This is done well. Maybe the emperor will know it immediately. If you did something that the emperor wanted to do but was difficult to do, how could the emperor blame it?"

Speaking of this, Xiang Zujiang saluted Liu Zeqing again.

"I want to congratulate you on your promotion."

Liu Zeqing let out a long sigh and his spirit became flying.

"Okay, if it weren't for the reminder of me, I'd been worried. Mr. I'm really awesome. I could see something strange from the Tang newspaper. Why didn't I think of these things?"

"My dedication to military affairs is devoted to it, so I have no time to think of these things. I think these things are things that the staff needs to do. I didn't dare to make such judgments, but I had such thoughts. I just saw the letter from Lord Shen and Lord Han, and I made a confirmation of the judgment."

Liu Zeqing walked back and forth a few steps and stopped in front of Xiang Zujiang.

"Okay, well said, sir is so talented, I will make more suggestions in the future."

"Come."

After the captain of the guard came in, Liu Zeqing spoke.

"Go and get ten taels of silver and give it to Mr. Xiang..."

Before Liu Zeqing finished speaking, Xiang Zujiang quickly spoke.

"Your Madam doesn't have to do this. This is what you should do. You won't accept the silver reward."

Liu Zeqing looked at Xiang Zujiang, was slightly stunned, and spoke with a smile.
Chapter completed!