Imperial Study
Chu Tiankuo was reporting his plan to reorganize the soldiers.
Now the official documents for conscription and military service have been issued to various places, the villages near the capital have officially started conscription, and the new recruits are about to enter the barracks.
These days, he would take time out every day to go to the military camp to watch the soldiers training and learn about the soldiers' situation. He roughly knew that those generals and captains were loyal to the Xie family, so he planned to take the opportunity of the new recruits entering the military camp to reorganize those soldiers who were loyal to the Xie family.
The strength of soldiers is real only when they are combined into a ball. Once they are dispersed, they cannot form a forest even if they are alone, and thus are nothing to be feared.
Normally, General Xie only trained three types of soldiers: cavalry, infantry, and archers.
Chu Tiankuo planned to further subdivide these three categories of soldiers into spearmen, shieldmen, sword and shieldmen, archers, spearmen, light cavalry, iron cavalry, chariot soldiers, mounted archers, and sailors for special training, and the special training would be integrated into the formation.
Since it is special training, it is not the usual training. This time, Chu Tiankuo used the excuse of preparing for the battle to divide the troops into different parts. It was reasonable and logical. He used the simplest and most direct excuse to disperse the cohesive force of the Xie family in the army, but he could prevent General Xie from having any objections.
After all, it was just a special training to prepare for war and it would not be a long-term thing, so there was no need to worry about affecting the overall strength due to too much division. General Xie had no excuse to object even if he wanted to.
There was a glimmer of admiration in the emperor's eyes. The Dongshan military camp had been controlled by the Xie family for many years, and many soldiers there obeyed the orders of the Xie family rather than the imperial court.
The emperor was afraid whenever he thought of the scene in his dream. After such subdivision and incorporating new recruits, he could openly disperse those soldiers who were more loyal to the Xie family than to the court and weaken the prestige of the Xie family in the army.
The soldiers were originally soldiers of the imperial court, but the Xie family had been in control for a long time and had established their prestige, so the soldiers would be more obedient to General Xie who had always been in charge of the army.
After being disbanded, they will be led by new generals and their authority will be re-established. Over time, those soldiers will follow the new generals.
The emperor also knew that Chu Tiankuo had been inspecting the military camp these days and many soldiers were dissatisfied with him, but no matter how dissatisfied they were, this was his son, the crown prince of Chu! They all had to obey him!
When the emperor read the memorial, he could imagine General Xie's expression when he knew that he had defeated the troops he had deployed for many years in such a simple and direct way. It must have been very interesting.
The emperor glanced at Chu Tiankuo and realized that he had waited too long for him to grow up safely and be able to stand on his own.
The emperor closed the memorial and said, "Since I have handed the tiger talisman to you, I don't care how you train your soldiers. I just want to see that when a war comes, the soldiers you train can resist the troops sent by Zhao. After all, Zhao may send troops. This is all caused by you forcibly detaining the princess of Zhao. Don't let me see the people on the border suffer, and don't lose an inch of land!"
Chu Tiankuo bowed and said, "I obey your command."
The emperor nodded and was about to ask Chu Tiankuo to leave when Eunuch Lao walked in: "Your Majesty, Lord Wen wants to see you."
The emperor thought that Wen Ruiqing was going to hand over tribute to the envoy of Zhao State, and the prince of Zhao State would definitely mention the marriage.
He wanted to hear Chu Tiankuo's opinion, so he didn't let him leave, and just said, "Announce."
Wen Rui came in and saluted the two before saying, "Your Majesty, the tribute has been counted in person with the Zhao prince and other envoys. The Zhao envoys have already received the tribute. This is the gift list signed by the Zhao prince."
Eunuch Lao stepped forward, took the gift list and presented it to the emperor.
The emperor smiled and nodded after reading it. "Thank you for your hard work, Lord Wen. Does the Crown Prince of Zhao have anything else to say? When will the Zhao envoys leave?"
Wen Ruiqing: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince of Zhao said that he will go to the palace tomorrow to bid farewell to the Emperor and then leave. The Crown Prince of Zhao also mentioned the marriage, but he changed his mind today and wants Princess Funing to marry."
Chu Tiankuo glanced at Wen Ruiqing coldly when he heard this.
The emperor's eyes darkened when he heard this. He looked at Wen Ruiqing without blinking, "Princess Funing? Why did the prince of Zhao suddenly change his mind?"
Wen Ruiqing was frightened and felt guilty when he saw the looks from the emperor and the prince.
The Emperor loves Princess Changle so much, so why is he unhappy when he hears about a replacement
"The Crown Prince of Zhao said that the eldest princess is already the most talented woman in our Chu State, and Princess Changle is also a talented woman. We..." Wen Ruiqing anxiously said what the Crown Prince of Zhao said.
Chu Tiankuo looked at him and asked coldly, "What do you think of Princess Funing's marriage, Lord Wen? After all, she is your daughter."
Wen Ruiqing was inexplicably nervous under his gaze, and sweat began to form on his forehead. "Your Highness, it is my honor to be able to go to the marriage and contribute to the diplomatic relations between the two countries! But whether to go to the marriage and who to go is up to the emperor. No matter who goes, I feel honored."
The emperor looked at Chu Tiankuo: "What do you think, Prince?"
Chu Tiankuo said calmly, "I think that Princess Funing saved the lives of the Queen Mother and my father. Sending Princess Funing to marry is repaying kindness with enmity! Since Lord Wen feels it is a great honor, I think it would be a great idea to marry Lord Wen to Princess Huien of Zhao!"
Wen Ruiqing: “…”
Princess Huien of Zhao was the sister of the king of Zhao. She was in her forties and very ugly. When she was young, she fell in love with a scholar who was as handsome as Pan An. The scholar was already married, but she would rather die than marry. From then on, she kept male favorites and even stole other people's husbands!
Wen Ruiqing was sweating profusely: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is joking! Hehe..."
"I'm not joking, I'm serious! Didn't Lord Wen say it was an honor? I think the King of Zhao really likes Lord Wen to go with the marriage! After all, Lord Wen knows how to serve the princess. Father, let's send Lord Wen to the marriage this time! The last marriage was for a woman, it would be inappropriate to choose a woman this time. It's just right to choose a man this time! We can't just do whatever Zhao wants and ask whoever we want to go with the marriage. If this goes on, Zhao will really think that our Chu is easy to bully! It will really treat our Chu as a vassal state!"
Wen Ruiqing was so frightened that his clothes on his back were soaked. He knelt down in fear and said, "Your Highness, spare my life!"
Chu Tiankuo said calmly: "Why should I spare your life? This is an honor!"
Wen Ruiqing: “… ”
The emperor saw that Wen Ruiqing was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. After all, he was the consort of the Grand Princess and the son-in-law of the Queen Mother. He coughed and said, "Okay, you can leave now!"
Wen Ruiqing: “… ”
So who exactly does the emperor intend to send as the bride? Is he really planning to send himself as the bride
Chu Tiankuo bowed and said, "I will take my leave."
~
Star Garden
When Chu Tiankuo appeared, Xingnong was designing a formation in the study, and there was already a thick stack of papers next to the table.
"Did you think of it?" he asked.
"Not yet. Brother, weren't you going to the military camp? Why are you here?" Xingnong put down his pen and looked up at him.
"I have something to tell you. The Crown Prince of Zhao changed his mind and wanted Princess Funing to marry."