Chapter 389 Phoenix Intelligence

Ningxinyuan.

Phoenix waited anxiously for Li Nuo to come back and asked impatiently: "What did father say?"

Li Nuo shrugged and said, "He said he understood."

Phoenix looked confused: "That's all?"

Li Nuo nodded: "That's all."

In his impression, there seemed to be nothing that could cause his father to have obvious emotional changes.

The fact that Phoenix is ​​a secret spy of the Qi State may not sound like a trivial matter, and it has a particularly great impact on the Li family. However, compared to the last time when King You of Han entangled less than half of the court and more than half of the powerful circle, and launched a vigorous "Qing Jun Side", it is not considered a trivial matter at all. Nothing.

That time, Li Nuo didn't see any panic in him.

What a big deal it is for a Qi State spy...

No matter how turbulent the outside world is, he always remains introverted and silent, like a deep pool without any fluctuations.

King Chun is the complete opposite of his father. He is more like a cheerful stream, with a free and easy personality, and he always has endless things to say.

Li Nuo still can't figure out how these two people with completely opposite personalities became friends.

After hearing Li Nuo's emotion, Fenghuang smiled slightly and said, "There is a record from Qingluan Society about King Chun and his father."

"oh?"

Li Nuo showed strong interest in this.

Qingluan Society has an extremely long history. It can be said that they existed almost as long as the founding of Daxia.

For hundreds of years, Qingluan Society has kept detailed records of major and minor events in Daxia, especially in Chang'an.

When operating in Chang'an, they are most afraid and cautious of the Spiegel Division, which is also a secret spy agency.

As the most powerful official in the Great Xia court and the head of the Mingjing Division, the Qingluan Society certainly had extremely detailed records of Li Xuanjing, the minister of Dali Temple. It was only after Fenghuang had read these that he could guide public opinion in a targeted manner.

She recalled something and said: "According to the records of Qingluan Society, in the 20th year of the Holy Spirit, His Majesty summoned all the princes and some courtiers to hold a spring hunting on the outskirts of Chang'an. During this spring hunting, other princes They all harvested a lot, but King Chun got nothing, so my father gave his prey to King Chun. After that spring hunting, King Chun often appeared in Dali Temple..."

This time, it was Li Nuo's turn to say "that's it."

Just because his father gave some prey to King Chun, it seems unreasonable for him to be so kind to the Li family.

Fenghuang shook his head and explained: "Many people think so too, but Qingluan Society has made an in-depth analysis of this. Prince Chun's mother-in-law was just an ordinary palace maid, and she died of illness early. He was alone in the deep He grew up in the palace, but Your Majesty didn't think much of him. People only know about King You of Han, and they don't even know about the existence of King Chun..."

"People who have lacked emotions since childhood often value emotions more. At that time, my father, as the top scholar in six subjects, had already established himself in Dali Temple and was highly used by His Majesty. All the major forces in the court were vying to win over him. For him, maybe It is just to avoid Prince Chun being embarrassed, but for a prince who has been neglected since childhood, it has a different meaning..."

"Their speculation is not unfounded. According to the investigation, among the palaces where the princes lived when they were young, only the maids and eunuchs around King Chun had the best life after leaving the palace. King Chun would give them a sum of money every year. If they are bullied, Prince Chun's Mansion will also stand up for them..."

…

There is no doubt about King Chun's deep feelings.

Qingluan Society is indeed the number one spy agency in mainland China, and Li Nuo has to praise its professionalism.

These people may be analyzing the character of their research subjects without even realizing it.

Since Prince Chun was mentioned, Fenghuang also mentioned Prince Rui and Prince Gong.

Since the Rebellion of the Two Kings, it is basically certain that the next emperor of Great Xia will be born between these three princes.

When Prince Rui was mentioned, Phoenix showed some doubts on his face and said, "Prince Rui has been a little strange in the past year or so..."

Li Nuo asked: "What's so strange?"

The Li family and Prince Rui still have old grudges to settle.

Gu Yanran was arranged to enter the Li Mansion by Prince Rui's people. The assassination of Li Nuo in Chang'an was also done by Prince Rui.

Fenghuang said: "For more than a year, Prince Rui has rarely stepped out of the palace. This is very different from his previous behavior. He used to like to make friends and hold several banquets in the palace every month. But in the past year or so, , he has never held a banquet, and except for regular court meetings during the month of supervising the country, he does not often appear in front of others. It is said that he is now addicted to reading, and even suffered from eye diseases because of it..."

"This kind of behavior is very abnormal. Prince Rui is much younger than Prince Chun and Prince Gong, and his abilities are not as good as those of Prince Han and Prince You. He has been used by Prince Gong many times before and has become the laughing stock of Chang'an. I don't know if he is pretending to do this, or maybe he wants to He wanted to create an illusion of studiousness and change the views of the courtiers and His Majesty on him, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Many advisers in Prince Rui's Mansion left one after another during this year..."

Fenghuang paused and said: "As for Prince Gong, this man is very deep in the city. Before the incident between King Han and King You, he never fought for power, but since the rebellion between the two kings, he began to be active in the court, fighting with the six great families. The Zheng family, the Du family, and the Lu family are closely connected. After the fall of the King of Han, the Wang family also began to frequently contact Prince Gong. Currently, among the three princes who supervise the country, Prince Gong is the most powerful..."

The six aristocratic families have a profound influence on the court, and almost all princes are related to the six aristocratic families.

They will not fully support a certain prince, such as the Cui family and the Pei family. Although they are related to Prince Rui by marriage, this does not mean that they will stand firmly behind Prince Rui.

During this year, King Rui acted abnormally, and the Cui family and the Pei family gradually deepened their relationship with King Gong.

Phoenix let out a breath and said: "Among the three princes, the most vulnerable one is actually King Chun. King Chun is obsessed with cooking and has not shown any ability to govern the country. If it weren't for his father behind him, he would not be able to compare with Prince Rui and Prince Gong. …”

Who will eventually take the throne of Daxia is a matter of great concern to Daxia and even the countries on the mainland. However, even if he is forced to take the throne by a great scholar, His Majesty has no intention of giving up the throne.

Fenghuang continued: "When the Emperor of Daxia will pass the throne and to whom he will pass the throne, I am afraid only he knows. However, according to Qingluan Society's intelligence in other countries, Wei is likely to go to war with Daxia within this year. If Liang Guo had not defected, Daxia would be in a better situation now. If Liang Guo defected to Wei Guo, Daxia would have become extremely passive in this matter..."

She paused and said, "There is one strange thing. After you and Yi Ren went to Zhao State, the envoys of Liang State were assassinated one after another, which caused conflicts between Liang State and Daxia. At that time, Daxia sent envoys to Liang State. According to the information we received, Liang Guo was very willing to reconcile with Daxia at that time. However, the Daxia envoy’s attitude towards Liang Guo was extremely bad. They even insulted the Emperor of Liang in public, which directly led to Liang Guo and Daxia There is no room for turning back..."

Li Nuo thought for a moment and asked, "Who sent the Daxia envoy?"

Fenghuang said: "They are officials from the Right Prime Minister's line..."

…

Shangshu Province.

The Right Prime Minister looked at the border reports and his eyes were slightly absent-minded.

The battle between Wei and Daxia is obviously unavoidable.

The separation between Liang Guo and Daxia accelerated this process.

In fact, his first plan was the Chu State, but the assassination of an envoy from the Chu State was ruined by Li Nuo.

The Wei State had long wanted to annex Daxia, but there was a Liang State between the two countries, and the Wei State did not dare to take action easily.

The second prince of the Liang Kingdom was assassinated, but was resolved by Li Nuo. He had no choice but to send him as an envoy to the Zhao Kingdom, and he successfully achieved his goal of alienating the Liang Kingdom.

Over the years, he made countless attempts at reform.

When all his relatives and disciples died because of this, he understood that internal reforms would not be successful.

All this must be smashed from the outside and the aristocratic families must be defeated before there is hope for change...

Whether this was right or wrong can only be left to future generations to evaluate.

At that time, Daxia may no longer exist, but it is better to have only one emperor and one royal family on the mainland than dozens of emperors and dozens of royal families...

As long as Confucianism endures, hope will always exist.

Prince Rui's Mansion.

Several servants of the royal palace walked into a main hall with thick books in their arms.

After entering the main hall, they looked at the ground carefully.

There are many books scattered on the floor of the hall. If you are not careful, you will trip over these books.

A figure sat cross-legged among the piles of books, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose, but his eyes did not leave the pages in his hands.

A servant stepped forward and said respectfully: "Your Highness, these ancient books were obtained for you from the State of Qi."

Prince Rui nodded and said, "Let it go."

Several servants carefully piled the books aside. From the beginning to the end, Prince Rui never took his eyes off the books in his hands.

After an unknown amount of time, he closed the book in his hand and put it aside.

On the simple cover, there are the words "The Wild Talks of Zhuzi" written in large characters.

Prince Rui took off his glasses and rubbed his sore eyes. It was indeed a wild talk. The content in the book was really wild.

A feminine man walked in and said softly: "Your Highness, Mr. Chen is also gone..."

Mr. Chen is the counselor of Prince Rui's palace. He has been with Prince Rui for a long time and advised him.

This year, King Rui was obsessed with studying and had no intention of fighting with the court. He felt that his talents were of no use. He tried to persuade King Rui to no avail for a year, and finally resigned today.

When King Rui heard this, he sighed softly and said, "Mr. Chen has been with me for a long time. I paid him a thousand taels of silver from the accountant so that we could get together and part ways..."

The feminine man said: "He knows many of our secrets, do you want to get rid of him secretly?"

Prince Rui glanced at him helplessly and said: "You, don't always think about killing people, calm down and read more, you can cultivate your sentiments and calm your temperament..."

The feminine man looked at the books in the hall and couldn't help but feel dizzy.

For him, killing people is more interesting than reading.

He was silent for a moment and asked: "Your Highness, are you really not going to argue?"

Prince Rui put on his glasses, picked up an ancient book again, and said: "What's there to fight for? If we fight over and over again, what can we get? Only if our father wants to give it, we can get it. If our father doesn't want to give it, who wants it?" Just looking for death..."

There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!

For more than a year, he had been studying quietly. In addition to seeing through the struggle for the throne, he also gained many insights.

Only after he really fell in love with reading did he realize that the sea of ​​books is vast and all-encompassing. There are many novel knowledge, unexplored areas, and the throne of a country in this world. Compared with these, they are really nothing. …

Besides, even if you become the emperor, what can you do?

There are endless excerpts to read and endless state affairs to deal with. At that time, how much time can he have to do what he really wants to do?

What's more, the emperor has always been short-lived, and he cherishes his own life more than the supreme power...

He asked casually: "What interesting things happened in Chang'an recently? Has the Minister of Dali Temple taken any action?"

The feminine man shook his head and said: "Li Xuanjing didn't do much, but his son did a lot of things..."

Prince Rui suddenly became interested and said, "Tell me about it."

The feminine man said: "Many people from the six aristocratic families are suffering from a strange disease, and the imperial doctors are helpless. Only Li Nuo can cure it. In order to ask Li Nuo to cure the disease, the six aristocratic families helped him arrest many corrupt officials and unruly people. , and even published Li Nuo's works to please him..."

King Rui said: "As expected of the son of the Minister of Dali Temple, the king has read the medical book he wrote. It is the most understandable among all the medical books in the mainland, and many of his theories are groundbreaking. They have never been mentioned in previous medical books. and……"

The feminine man continued: "After he returned to Chang'an, he seemed to be preparing to establish a new supervision system. In addition, the Ministry of Industry received an order from the Ministry of Public Affairs to build a new papermaking and printing mechanism. It is said that it can greatly reduce the cost of printing books. In terms of cost, our people in Zhongshu Province also said that they want to build more academies in local areas, and it seems that they also want to let children attend free of charge..."

Prince Rui nodded in agreement and said: "Reading makes people wise. Reading is good. Read more, and you will have a broader future..."

He didn't know what he thought of, but his brows suddenly raised.

Prince Rui closed the ancient book in his hand and said, "Give me Li Nuo's files for the past year."

Although Prince Rui did not participate in the imperial struggle this year, many institutions in Prince Rui's palace were still operating normally. For some important figures in the imperial court, special files would be established to record all their actions.

The feminine man quickly took out a thick file.

This year, Li Nuo has done a lot, and his files are the thickest among all.

Prince Rui took the file and read it carefully page by page. At this glance, he saw the night from day.

It wasn't until the sky completely darkened that King Rui slowly closed the file, thinking about something in his mind.

In addition to helping him catch corrupt officials and practicing Legalism, the six major families also helped him publish works.

Li Nuo is not a person who is greedy for fame. Otherwise, he would not have given so many poems to Phoenix Girl of Yuyin Pavilion without revealing his signature.

He asked the Ministry of Industry to improve papermaking and printing techniques to reduce the cost of books.

He also wanted to build more local academies to teach children in Daxia to read and write for free.

After he left, several coincidental cases occurred in Bingzhou.

How could people from the six great families be infected with the plague so coincidentally, but only he could cure it?

This information was constantly intertwined in his mind.

After being silent for an unknown amount of time, Prince Rui suddenly raised his head and murmured: "Could it be that the Calligrapher really exists!"

The feminine man didn't hear what he said clearly and asked: "What did your highness say?"

Prince Rui lowered his head and said, "No, it's nothing..."

He picked up the book "Zhu Zi Ye Tan" again. This book recorded many eccentric abilities. For example, a gourmet can condense the sharpest weapons in the world, and a thief can not only steal things, but also steal hearts and lives. , a calligrapher can write the fate of others and decide their life and death with just one pen...

He deduced from these incidents that Li Nuo was most likely practicing calligraphy.

Li Nuo's medical book was a best-seller in many countries, and his collection of poems was also in short supply, which met the entry requirements for calligraphers.

However, he did not tell anyone about this because he knew the calligrapher's terror. He was worried that Li Nuo would know that he knew his secret and write him to death in one sentence...

Even if you don't write him to death and arrange some weird stories for him, he will still be very worried...

At the same time, late at night, Prince Gong’s Mansion.

A small banquet was unfolding quietly.

Prince Gong sat on the main seat, with three low tables on his left and right sides.

Although the figures behind the low table are not important officials in the court, their status cannot be underestimated.

The six people came from the six major families of Great Xia respectively. Since King Han and King You failed and Prince Rui was unable to leave the palace, Prince Gong became the only choice for the six major families.

Prince Gong drank a glass of wine and breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been dormant for twenty years and finally arrived today.

Prince Rui, who was originally regarded as his biggest opponent, for some reason, was willing to give up. This would be the best. He could spend all his energy on Prince Chun.

King Chun seemed to be in the prime of life, but in fact, the only person beside him was Li Xuanjing.

Without Li Xuanjing, he is nothing.

Even if there is Li Xuanjing, his beauty is not just superficial.

The six great families of Great Xia all stood behind him. Even if it was his father, what could he do?

When the time comes, if my father is decent, give him dignity.

If my father is not decent, you can help him be decent...

Prince Chun's Mansion.

It was late at night, and King Chun had not yet fallen asleep.

When the palace guard was on vacation, he hunted a deer in the mountains. Knowing that he liked deer meat, he brought it back.

The venison was indeed delicious, but it had a special fishy smell that required careful processing to remove. That's why he stayed up so late.

There are many delicacies in the world, but venison is not really the top delicacy.

But for him, venison has a special meaning.

The prey Xuan Jing gave him during the spring hunt sixteen years ago was a deer.

He was the top scholar in six subjects, proficient in archery, and had obtained many prey, the most of anyone in the spring hunt. A mere deer might not mean much to him, but to him at that time, it was everything.

That deer was the most delicious deer he had ever eaten.

Over the years, his cooking skills had improved a lot, and he had eaten a lot of deer, but in terms of taste, none of them was as good as the one Xuan Jing gave him that day...

He put a bucket of deer blood in the ice storage.

In the past few months, Xuan Jing had some white hair on his temples. Tomorrow, he would make a deer blood soup for him to replenish his body...