After telling the Third Prince that he wanted to change his visit to Ciqing Palace from every other day to once every three days, Zhang Shou got up early the next morning with a memorial that he had finished writing overnight. He planned to stop by the Ministry of Public Administration to submit the memorial on his way out of the city to the public school. However, after washing, changing clothes, and eating breakfast, when he said goodbye to Mrs. Wu and was about to go out, he found the familiar team of guards in front of his door.
This is not a temporary measure, but a plan for a protracted war
When such a group of people appeared yesterday morning and seemed to have been guarding all night, he was still suspicious. But when he went to Ciqing Palace to give a lecture, he heard the fourth prince say that the second prince might have died in a shipwreck. He felt that this arrangement should be the emperor's good intention. But now looking at this situation, it seems that they plan to stay for a long time, which he finds very strange.
And when he was about to get on the car and set off, another group of people came galloping over. When they were almost in front of him, the leader shouted, and he and the people behind him jumped off their horses, then quickly came up to him and saluted. He couldn't help but feel that it was ridiculous.
"Master Zhang, I am Han Lie, the commander of the Sharp Cavalry Battalion. I have been ordered to serve you from now on."
Zhang Shou was really confused. He wasn't a particularly important person, so wasn't this treatment a bit excessive? He glanced at Ah Liu beside him, and saw that he looked as if his job had been taken away from him. Of course, it was difficult for others to detect the clues from the boy's face, so he smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work. It's just that these other people in front of my house are..."
The next moment, he got an expected answer: "These are also people from the Ruiqi Battalion. Since the night before yesterday, the Dukes, cabinet ministers, and other important officials in the capital have had additional guards at home. Starting today, they will also have escorts when they travel. From the guards at home to the escorts, the total number of guards ranges from 20 to 40. The emperor specifically ordered last night that the second prince's ship sank for no reason, so the safety of the important officials is of utmost importance and cannot be neglected in the slightest."
But I don’t seem to be such an important official… Zhang Shou really wanted to say this in his heart, but when the words came to his lips, he felt that this was a bit against the emperor’s good intentions, so he could only thank him politely again.
As the emperor's personal army, the Ruiqi Battalion was said to be well-trained. When he went out yesterday, he asked his family to send him hot soup and tea, but no one was willing to accept them, let alone reward. Therefore, even if there were only ten people following him at this time, Zhang Shou, sitting in the carriage, still felt that he was really showing off.
And when he went to the Tongzhengsi and submitted the memorial, and then left the city and arrived at the public school, the Prince's Secretary Liu Zhiyuan went to Ciqing Palace to be a teacher for the third prince in the morning. Lu Wan happened to bump into him when he got off the car. The two looked at each other and saw the ten mighty guards behind each other. They couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.
One is the retired former Minister of War and current Chief Academician of the Public Academy, and the other is just a lecturer in the Imperial Academy, but the guards accompanying them are exactly the same!
Of course, although they were surprised, the two people, who were a generation apart in age, tacitly did not discuss this issue. Lu Wan greeted and went in first, letting his carriage go to collect and transport books. Although the Lu family's father and son were both very wealthy, after Lu Sanlang waved his money and bought up a large number of bookstores in the capital, Lu Wan simply used his carriage to transport books, leaving a good reputation.