There is a small airship take-off and landing field in the northern part of the imperial capital, which is exclusively used by residents in the area.
At noon, King Linjiang's fleet landed.
As the first person among the vassal kings of important towns, the lightly armed formation he can bring into the imperial capital is 1,900 people, even surpassing the Heavenly King Yiwei. However, the number of people in front of them is not full, probably only about half. Apparently, the Zong Wang, who was flamboyant when he was young, has been tempered by the years to be introverted.
Even if it is only a few hundred people, there is quite a lot of pressure on this landing field. The warships could only take turns to land and put down the people, and the guards lined up filled the whole venue.
No one noticed that one of the entourage who had been waiting to be greeted on the ground got on the flagship but did not come down.
After all the ceremonial guards and commanders were assembled, King Linjiang, who was wearing Zongwang's great attire, walked down the gangway and directly sat in the extended off-road vehicle, and the team set off immediately.
The battleships on the takeoff and landing ground were launched one after another, and the fleet could not stay in the imperial capital. They had already applied for a place to camp outside the city, where the other half of Linjiang King's guards would be stationed there.
When all the battleships reached a certain height, they began to collectively turn westward. Only the flagship continued to climb until it entered the outer void, and then began to fly around the fixed point.
In the main cabin of the flagship, Emperor Hao sat opposite to King Linjiang. On the table between the two of them, apart from the tea set, there were a lot of documents, albums and the like. From the point of view of regulations, one part should be brought by Emperor Hao, and the other part should be brought by King Linjiang.
King Linjiang was reading a memorial, the cover style should be from the military department of the cabinet, he glanced at the ten lines impatiently, turned to the last page in a hurry, and threw it on the table.
Emperor Hao was more relaxed than him, holding a thin porcelain cup, his eyes fell on the green tea color in the cup, as if he was simply enjoying good tea.
Linjiang Wangdao: "Have you dealt with all the members of Zuwang's clan?"
Emperor Hao said: "The ancestor's grandchildren and below will all be removed from the clan's jade book, and their surnames will be changed by themselves. The fiefdoms have also been exchanged from the royal reserved territories, and the relocation will probably take another year."
Although King Changsheng almost caused the empire to collapse at the beginning, but today he heard that his entire descendants were expelled from the genealogy, King Linjiang still couldn't help but feel a sense of solidarity. He was silent for a while, sighed, but didn't say anything after all.
King Linjiang turned his gaze to the memorial he had read earlier, and said, "The place in the military headquarters has become a hodgepodge now, and anyone can intervene. When the ancestor king was here, troubles were troubles, but There are always clues to be found on several hills, and they are not in such a mess! You put the military department into the cabinet, and now it seems that you don’t see the benefits, but the harm.”
Emperor Hao said indifferently: "Given the prestige of Taizu Wudi back then, he didn't turn the military department into a monopoly. The imperial family is self-governed, and the commanders sit in the theater. The military department that coordinates the war is the only department in the entire empire that balances resources across theaters and fiefdoms." , from the date of its establishment, it has been a place of right and wrong, a place for games."
"Nowadays, several heavenly kings are not involved in politics, at least on the face of it. Among civil servants, no one has ever been able to restrain military generals. After the ancestor king, the court affairs were adjusted. The original alliance of the major forces was broken, and the new alliance has not yet been formed. The big mountain has split into many small hills, and it's normal to be a bit chaotic."
King Linjiang frowned. The military headquarters is where the imperial family, clans, aristocratic families, and legions compete. Back then, Lin Xitang took the position of marshal and the head of civil servants, but he only occupied a third of the world.
Originally, after the death of the King of Longevity, the military department was downgraded and merged into the cabinet. If Lin Xitang was in charge of the Dazai, it was still possible to control the situation. Not to mention that the position of Dazai is vacant now, it will take some time for the newly-appointed shrunken right minister to secure his position.
A giant like the Empire is like a precision instrument with more than a thousand parts, and damage to a few parts can be repaired quickly. However, a major shock like the rebellion of the king of heaven, which is like taking out one of the main axes, will not collapse as a whole, but the repair work is equivalent to partial reconstruction. How can it be so easy
King Linjiang grabbed his teacup and took a sip. Thinking about those shitty things made him a little angry, and then he remembered one person, Fang Qingkong, the special envoy of the empire who went to the fief this time to summon him.
"Where is Fang Qingkong? I remember that he was the right envoy of the Supervision Department before, and it is not impossible to nominate a first-level chief minister of the cabinet. Although his qualifications are a little less senior, it is not impossible."
"Fang Qingkong was originally in charge of strategic information for Master Lin, and now he still has that part." After speaking, Emperor Hao paused, and said with a smile: "He has asked me to resign and asked to go back to the Beifu Army. "
King Linjiang was taken aback, "What's wrong with the Beifu Legion?"
Emperor Hao said: "There is nothing wrong with the legion itself. Fang Qingkong just intends to change back to his original military status and name Lin Wu from the Beifu."
The Beifu Legion is currently a public and private army in terms of organization, but because of the invasion of the Alien Beast Legion, it was left in the West Land to help defend. The Lin family has never had a suitable candidate to take over, and the procedures have not been completed. However, it is really too difficult for the generals of the Lin family who are generally in their early tenth ranks to lead an elite army.
Because of the events in his early years, King Linjiang knew a little more about Fang Qingkong's origin than others. This man was born in the assassination battalion of the army. He was originally a dead soldier with no background. He abruptly walked from the darkness to the sunlight. It's just that with such a resume, when joining the civil service system, it is inevitable that you need to make a facelift.
With Fang Qingkong's current cultivation as a god general, if he recovers his military status from the Beifu Legion, it will be a low job to be the commander of the regiment, at least he must be a deputy commander in the theater. However, Lin Xitang's war zone on the West Continent was taken over by a marshal from the Zhao Clan. It was not easy to put these two groups together.
King Linjiang was still thinking about the meaning behind this matter, Emperor Hao said again: "I have already promised him that all the strategic intelligence department in his hands will be handed over to you from now on."
King Linjiang's face darkened. Don't think that such power is a good thing. The strategic intelligence of the highest level of the empire is the core, and it is also a heavy responsibility.
However, King Linjiang is also very clear why Emperor Hao gave him this department. The Royal Academy of Heavenly Secrets has the function of strategic consultation, and it must need strategic information to verify each other. The country must be able to control intelligence in order not to be constrained.
It's just that before King Linjiang came, he didn't expect Emperor Hao to delegate power so thoroughly.
King Linjiang couldn't help stabbing Emperor Hao and said: "If I knew you were so generous, I should have brought more people here."
Emperor Hao said nonchalantly: "Ah, Uncle Wang had better transfer all the Changshi mansions here." To show that he was not talking ironically, he added sincerely, "There are really not enough manpower."
The King of Linjiang was a little annoyed. He pointed to the memorial he had just read, and said, "Since the information is still in Fang Qingkong's hands, what's the matter with this rumor about Duke Lin? It took only a few days for it to reach me. heard."
Emperor Hao said indifferently: "Well, the place of origin is Younan, the rebellious province of the Western Continent, and then arrived at the imperial capital in two days. As for the bridge, one of them is the Zhegui Palace."
King Linjiang's eyes sank, "It's the Zhao Clan again! Are they finished yet?!"
Emperor Hao pointed to a pile of documents on the table, and said: "Uncle Wang, let's get familiar with the affairs of the court as soon as possible, I think I will go to Westland for a walk in the near future."
King Linjiang had already heard Fang Qingkong's report on the meeting of heavenly kings and major events of the empire, but now he looked at a lot of documents in front of him, even though he had already read some of them, he still showed a bit of a toothache.
He suddenly thought of something, "Where is the storage space?"
Emperor Hao said casually: "If I live forever, I don't need a crown prince."
Emperor Hao is already the king of heaven, as long as he does not fall, as long as he is willing, he can choose the crown prince from among his great-grandchildren. However, on the battlefield, no matter how noble and powerful you are, who dares to say that you will definitely come back alive? Emperor Hao would not be ignorant of this truth, he had arranged all the details, how could he forget this alone
King Linjiang's expression became serious, he sat up straight, stared at Emperor Hao, and said: "The reserve is the foundation of the empire."
Emperor Hao said slowly: "No, Uncle Wang, the reserve position is not important to the empire."
King Linjiang savored these words carefully, and his expression became more serious. After a while, he said in a deep voice, "What do the heavenly kings say?"
Emperor Hao smiled slightly and said: "The imperial family doesn't care about the family's internal affairs, and the family doesn't care about the imperial family's housework. What opinions can the heavenly kings have?"
"But the two uncles are not the imperial family..." King Linjiang suddenly stopped speaking, and frowned at Emperor Hao.
Emperor Hao said indifferently: "Is there any difference between the clan and the aristocratic family today? The Zhang clan in Qingyang and the Zhang clan in Haobei have the same origin and the same surname Zhang, the emperor clan and the clan clan have the same origin and the same surname Ji, that's all."
Linjiang King was speechless for a while, since thousands of years ago, there are more or less clan divisions in the aristocratic families, but Ji's surname does not.
But in fact, the Ji family's thousand-year inheritance method is no different from that of other families. The intertwined marriage and the covenant brought about by it, the relationship between the emperor's line and the clan is not necessarily closer than the direct line and collateral line of the lineage.
There are still sixteen branches of the Ji family, and fifteen of them have all changed their main lineages. After the descendants of the Changsheng Queen were expelled from the Ji family, the only emperor blood that has not been interrupted is the line of Emperor Xiansu.
In fact, Linjiang Wang knew his own family affairs. His mother was the daughter of a princess, and his great-grandmother was a daughter of the clan, and he also had too many family marks on him. In his early years, he once became a banner figure among Lin Xitang's political opponents, the reason is the same as Zhang Boqian's current status as the leader of a powerful family.
However, King Linjiang is not the same as Zhang Boqian, he does not have his unique identity and status, nor does he have the unbridled and unscrupulous spirit, so he could only ask himself to go far to the frontier.
After a long silence, Linjiang Wang said: "Battle of Fulu, I remember that you had five princes going out, one dead, two disabled and two wounded, and there was one more princess on the final death list."
Emperor Hao held the tea quietly, without the slightest wave in his eyes.
King Linjiang continued: "If you make a mistake, all the children under the empress's name will be excluded from the throne, and the one who succeeds in the end will most likely be the son of Concubine Zhao. Is this really good?"
In Emperor Hao's harem, there were no concubines who were born lower than the aristocratic family. Under the circumstances that he treated them equally, the status of princes and concubines only came from personal talent and the mother clan behind them.
If Emperor Hao falls without a reserve, then there is no doubt that the big position will become a battleground for powerful families, and Concubine Zhao, who is backed by the Zhao family, is the one with the greatest possibility of winning. But in the absence of the emperor's will, the princes naturally became the spokespersons of the family. As for Concubine Zhao's temper, it doesn't matter if I don't talk about it.
Emperor Hao asked back, "Is there something wrong?"
King Linjiang was a little speechless by this sentence, and said: "If it really gets to that point, the Zhao Clan will probably be in chaos first..."
Emperor Hao smiled and said: "The ones that should be given to the Zhao Clan, I have never missed them. Even if Duke Weiyuan can't become famous, the title and military exploits will all belong to the Zhao Clan. Of course, I will take care of how they are distributed within the clan." No more. As for engraving Tianxun's name, I don't know why the military department sent such a report to King Zhang. He personally approved the words, and even the old princes don't want to care about it. But Yanyun Zhao is in heaven. There is no shortage of names on the honor list, and I don’t mind missing one if I think about it.”
King Linjiang couldn't help but smile wryly. No family is monolithic. Which one is more important, blood relatives or in-laws, is almost as confusing as mother and wife. Not to mention more than four generations living under the same roof, and no less than a hundred direct descendants stand up, who will be cultivated? Suppress who? As long as the elders can act according to the family rules, but don't intervene too much, it is already fair.
As far as the Zhao Clan is concerned, the momentum has now overwhelmed the Zhang Clan, and they are only short of a heavenly king. However, since the current head of the Zhao Clan broke away from the original succession order and Cheng Engong took the lead, the internal balance has been out of balance. At this juncture, throwing another throne to the Zhao Clan, it seems that flowers are blooming, but in fact it is a raging fire.
King Linjiang sighed, "You really hate Zhao Clan."
Emperor Hao said indifferently: "The Zhao Clan also hates me, it's okay to hate me, what's the point of hating the teacher? Besides, even if I am the emperor, I can't deduct the Zhao Clan's military achievements, be indifferent to the Zhao Clan's daughter, and treat the Zhao Clan's prince and grandson harshly, right? I don't want to cut down the vassals, why should I suppress them?"
King Linjiang was speechless, the grievances between the Zhao Clan and Emperor Hao were completely muddled.
The cause was the death of Empress Zhao of the previous generation. It is said that a singer was taken in by Emperor Su and was so angry that she gave birth prematurely, resulting in one dead body and two lives. This matter was originally not clear to the boudoir of the palace, but who knew that more than ten years later, the son of the diva would sit in a high position, and he slapped the Zhao clan hard on the face.
The Zhao Clan was dissatisfied, and it was normal not to wait to see Emperor Hao. When he was in Haodi Wei, it was more normal to extend this dislike to Lin Xitang from the natural confrontation between the clan and the imperial party.
Emperor Hao said again: "If the Zhao family feels that the Ji family owes them an emperor, then give them an emperor."
King Linjiang was stunned for a moment, and said in disbelief, "Who is spreading such rumors? You must be crazy."
Emperor Hao smiled and said: "Emperor Qin is the co-lord of the family, and those who are mighty and virtuous live in it. This is when the country was established, the great ancestors were elected emperor by the emperor, and the emperor said it himself. So, Uncle Wang, Emperor Qin is the emperor of the empire. The master, the Ji family is not necessarily. It has been 1,200 years since the Luoshui uprising, my Ji family has been on the high platform, and now, with the end of the beginning of Zaiyao, let's call the curtain together."
After finishing speaking, Emperor Hao took out two copies from a pile of books, opened them one by one, spread them out, and placed them in front of King Linjiang.
"I have prepared two appointments for Uncle Wang, one is to supervise the country, and the other is to be regent. Uncle Wang takes it himself, and I have no objection."
Linjiang Wang supported his head with his hands, pressed his eyes, and remained silent for a long time.
Emperor Hao didn't move, he was very at ease, and he had time to pour himself another cup of tea.
King Linjiang finally raised his head, looked at Emperor Hao for a while, stretched out his hand and kneaded the regent's edict into powder, and said, "If Duke Lin was still around, he wouldn't have done this."
Emperor Hao showed nostalgia, and said, "King Zhang said the same thing."
King Linjiang was stunned, sighed, and said, "Where is that child? Did he die in battle?"
Emperor Hao said: "No, I hope he can completely stay out of the matter this time."
King Linjiang heard that the words were wrong, and asked suspiciously: "How many people know about this now?"
"King Zhang, you, me."
Linjiang Wang's face turned blue, and he really wanted to scold something regardless of his manners, and finally said: "You bastard, you are just pretending to be innocent in front of the little teacher!"
Emperor Hao sneered back, "You can't even pretend."
After the two blurted out, they were all taken aback, stared at each other for a long time, and finally smiled at each other in relief.
This smile passed through time, as if many years ago, the little prince and the little uncle quarreled behind others like this. It doesn't matter if you have a noble status, or if you have a gentle temperament, they are all the same in the eyes of that person.
King Linjiang sighed and said, "Mr. Lin's implementation of the New Deal has not been smooth these years. Now that he has left, many things have been put on hold. I thought you would continue, but I didn't expect that you would let the empire return to the self-government of the family before the establishment."
"Uncle Wang, you may have misunderstood it, but since the Ji family has called the curtain call, the newcomers can choose their own path." Emperor Hao said, "Actually, you disagree with many of the teacher's new policies, right?"
King Linjiang was startled, and said, "That's right."
"King Qingyang also mostly disagrees." Emperor Hao said: "Leave aside your respective positions, and just discuss political opinions. What the teacher hopes is to expand the base of asylum as much as possible, give starting resources, and then choose the best from the best. King Qingyang is I think that's an idealized paper plan."
"In fact, the teacher's proposition is not a new point of view. Looking at the history of the empire, the ancestors have also raised it and practiced it. The human race is inherently weaker than the dark race, so the places that escape from the food bar are all from the same place. After the founding of the country, here The empire was built on the foundation."
"The starting point of most people now is the family, and the starting point depends on the strength of the family and their position in the family. Only in this way, poor families with weak family ability, ordinary people, descendants of refugees caused by various reasons, and even Those human races in the Eternal Night Continent at the bottom have very little chance of obtaining starting resources."
"In the beginning, the empire established the four training camps of Huangquan, Anhua, Jianyuquan, and Daofangyuan. They only relied on talent, regardless of background. It was out of this consideration. It has been in operation for hundreds of years, and the results are not satisfactory. Huangquan is also out of teachers and training camps. After Zhang and Wang, they got more resources than the other three, but the problem is that neither of them are civilians."
"Because of the growth of a strong man, igniting the force is only the beginning, and the rest is a longer process. And a civilian soldier, through such a tilt of resources, will still stand in the same position as the soldiers of the children of the family. When encountering the problem of lack of family support, what is lacking at this time may not only be resources, but also secret methods, experience, and connections."
"Therefore, the teacher's selection of the best, in Zhang Wang's eyes, is just to build a greenhouse, raise a flock of sheep, and never kill a lion. It's better to let nature take its course and compete with natural selection. Because no one knows what this kind of support needs. At what point can we let go."
"Resources will not be created out of thin air, and people's hearts are very different. Investing a lot of resources in the poor families other than the powerful families and the gentry, expecting to increase the proportion of the human race's overall dawn force awakening, this matter itself is unpredictable. How many families are willing? For this reason, divide the resources that should have been given to your children?"
"Looking at it for thousands of years, a small area is possible, but a large area is impossible. The family is willing to hand over part of the war resources for overall use within the empire. It will also recruit vassals and offer rewards to the nobles, poor families, and civilians. These investments are not enough for everyone. After all, the empire is too weak."
"The most failed test area is the rebels in the two provinces of the Western Continent. They are no different from the gray areas in other places. They rely on the trade between the human race and the dark race to live, and gradually form a class. It does not give The unsolvable problem above provides any new way. Now we can only leave the experience of failure for future generations.”
King Linjiang sighed, and said, "Mr. Lin has been too aggressive in promoting commoners from poor families in recent years. In fact, his biggest problem is not that he has affected the fundamental interests of the family, but that he does not form a party. Just like you As I said, the problem of different starts exists at every threshold.”
"When Mr. Lin promotes people, he only looks at their talents, not their backgrounds, and they don't take them for their own use. If the people who are promoted have no background, they will encounter obstacles when they go to the next level. If they have a background, they have to work with him Draw a clear line so as not to be suspected by your own faction. There are even some villains who, after this opportunity, attacked him vigorously, thinking that they were promoted to a certain faction."
"There is such a guy in Red Scorpion. It is said that he was born in Huangquan. He talked a lot of gossip in order to get in my way through Nangong's family. He and Song Zining were in Huangquan at the same time. Song Zining is half truthful and half false."
Emperor Hao frowned and said: "There is such a person in the Red Scorpion?"
King Linjiang raised his eyebrows, "Oh, this man is so motivated, I gave him enough opportunities to make progress, and I haven't heard from him for a long time."
Emperor Hao's brows relaxed, he was a little dumbfounded, this little Uncle Wang has never been a kind person.
King Linjiang stood up, walked around the room, stopped in front of the porthole, and looked at the void outside. After a while, Fang said: "If we have an all-out war with Yongye, what will be the result?"
"The best result is peace talks after a small loss."
The overall strength of the empire is inferior to that of Yong Ye, and the total war can still lose a small amount. If Yong Ye is willing to sit down and negotiate, it must have reached the point where neither side can sustain it. Don't worry about the loss of the mainland, the fall of the Heavenly King is almost inevitable. Judging from the current defense positions, Emperor Hao and King Dingxuan are the first to bear the brunt.
Linjiang Wang's expression changed, and he asked, "What's the worst outcome?"
"The empire is broken up, and most of the human race will return to the dark age."
Emperor Hao said it very lightly, although King Linjiang was somewhat prepared, his face was still getting ugly.
Emperor Hao glanced at King Linjiang, smiled and said: "Actually, there is a third possibility. There is a human race on the holy mountain. If during this period, the empire can produce a heavenly king on the holy mountain, the council may throw it away like before. Come invite."
King Linjiang didn't think the invitation would be that simple, "What about the conditions?"
"Abandon 'blood for blood', and open the trade of people below the fifth-level soldiers."
"Blood for blood" is the empire's extremely tough response to the blood feast of the dark race. Whenever it happens, the perpetrators must be hunted down to the end. If it is really impossible to track down the murderer, or if there is no condition to hunt down the murderer for the time being, they will still wantonly kill in the same area, blood for blood.
The empire has been established for thousands of years, and many national policies have changed with time. Only this one has been resolutely implemented until now, and no one has flinched even if it has to pay a heavy price.
King Linjiang was silent for a long time, and said, "Who would agree to such a condition?"
Emperor Hao said coldly: "Maybe in the future there will be people who don't mind fusion."
King Linjiang suddenly remembered two rumors, and when he thought about the intricate relationship between the three surnames, he felt a headache. "The theory of the holy mountain was never heard of before, and those ancestors never thought about agreeing to it."
Emperor Hao said: "Only those powerful individuals in the history of the empire and the emperors of the past dynasties know about it, but it is unknown whether there are heavenly kings with different surnames who were also lobbied."
After hearing a lot of secrets, King Linjiang felt like he was in a trap, and said angrily: "Your Majesty told me so many top-secret things that only the emperor can hear, if the son of Concubine Zhao really succeeds in the future, will he Do you need a subordinate to convey the message?"
Emperor Hao really thought about it, and then replied: "No need."
The king of Linjiang couldn't help but get angry.
Then Emperor Hao seemed to think of something again, and said: "Ah, I almost forgot, I plan to abolish the rule that the 'Human Emperor' is only held by the emperor's family, and all the clans, clans, and high-ranking families can apply for a try." , whoever fits best will be given a gun. Uncle Wang, do you want to try it first?"
Linjiang Wang said blankly: "I despise it's lack of firepower."
Emperor Hao never expected to get such an answer, blinked his eyes, held back his smile with great difficulty, and said, "'Human Emperor' will be very disappointed."
King Linjiang didn't bother to argue with him, "Actually, I still don't understand. You became a heavenly king a year earlier than Zhang Qingyang. There may be no hope for the holy mountain in the future. Wouldn't it be better to control the future of the empire? You really feel relieved to let those people go." Are you doing it?"
"The teacher once said to me that the star path is changing every moment. The future may be better or worse. It may be better for some people or worse for some people. The choices made by Tianjishu are only the best choices at the moment. He is excellent, not the best, so he never minds fame, nor does he mind failure, he just hopes to have more choices."
"And when I was young, I never yearned for that big position. When I took the big position, I never thought about being a hero. My only wish now is to go and see Zai Yao's work for him. result."
Linjiang Wang suddenly closed his eyes and raised his hands to cover up all his expressions.
That person is always like this, with the nebula of the whole world in his eyes, except himself. No matter whether he was a noble son or a commoner, he saved countless people along the way, but he never looked back. No matter what was left behind, whether it was gratitude or resentment, it would not make the nebula in his eyes brighter or darker at all.
When King Linjiang opened his eyes again, he was the only one left in the cabin, and Emperor Hao had already left quietly.
He seemed to go back thirty years ago, everyone was moving forward, only he was carrying the heavy burden that he didn't know whether he didn't want to or cowardly, and he was a prisoner.
If you don't get rid of your demons, you will never become a king.