Side Story Six Prosperity Ankang

Speaking of which, is the fate of Prince Li Zheng good or bad?

In fact, it is difficult to generalize.

He was born by the empress of the late Emperor Long'an. He was a direct descendant. He had an ambitious eldest brother. According to common sense, when he grew up, he was likely to embark on a path to compete with his eldest brother for the favor of his mother and fight to the death. The path of the prince's defense.

The prince is gentle and quiet by nature - gentleness followed his grandfather, tranquility followed his mother, neither of which is a good example of a prince, his mother is troubled and sick, the mother's family has no power, and I can't talk about ambition, nor There is no backbone, and he is very angry with Emperor Long'an Li Feng. He was once awarded the empress because of the emperor's favor.

However, after being sealed, the mud can't support the wall. Compared with the lineage of the first prince of Concubine Lu back then, no matter how you look at her, she will be a cannon fodder in the future.

But fate is always impermanent. When the young prince Li Zheng was only six or seven years old, the peace was broken and the country was in chaos.

Li Zheng, who was in the deep palace, did not have a very intuitive impression of the difficult years of war in those few years. He only remembered that there were very few cases in that year. In the early summer of that year, the capital was hot like a boiler, and the western sky was steaming. With the purple air, people inside and outside the palace walls were panicking. The maids and chamberlains who came in and out didn't even smile at all. They all came and went in a hurry. The father and the emperor had been gone for days. From time to time, one can always hear that the palace servants can lower their voices and report to the outside world, and they will never leave the war.

The prince was too young to understand what the adults were saying, but he remembered that this topic was always accompanied by the low sobbing of the queen mother.

Later, as the young prince grew up little by little and began to understand the world around him, Daliang's situation improved little by little. After the fall, the Lu family was convicted of treason, Concubine Lu was demoted and sent to the cold palace, and the eldest prince never recovered.

During that period of time, the East Palace seemed to suddenly become a piece of fragrant pastry. For the first time, the prince felt a wave of power ups and downs, but he didn't like it. There was no time to talk about these filth in the sage book taught by Taifu. things, and he had already felt uneasy beyond his age with a certain innate sensitivity - he always felt that ups and downs meant turbulence, and once there was a crowd, there was another time when the house was full of chaos.

Emperor Long'an has few heirs, the eldest son is weak, the mother family of the three princes is humble, and he is young, everyone thinks that the prince Li Zheng is the most honorable prince of Daliang - and he has not yet had this illusion with everyone. saw his father emperor die in the chaos of the ar.

That day, the little prince held the hand of the fourth emperor uncle in the chaos of the army, and he still regarded himself as a child in his heart.

For Daliang, it is the starting point of the new emperor's ascension to the throne, the new era and the new policy.

For the little prince in the deep palace, the whole world seems to have changed.

The queen is cowardly by nature, and she always asks him to please the fourth uncle, because their orphans and widowed mothers’ lives are hung on his uncle’s conscience and commitment from now on. No one in the group can say that he can be the prince When will I be able to live in the palace where I grew up.

Li Zheng used to like to be close to the emperor's uncle Li Min, but during that time he felt a lot of pressure when facing the fourth emperor's uncle. It turned out that the kind and erudite little uncle became the emperor, and even the title had to be changed for a while. Every day, the little prince bravely listened to the government affairs that he didn't know much about, and faced all the consideration or meaningful glances around him.

His mother was never as good as Concubine Lu, she had no backbone of her own, and she had no definite idea, so she would only transfer the pressure to her son, openly and silently asking him to "fight up" every day.

But she had no idea what kind of anger he should fight for, or what kind of person he expected him to grow into in the future.

Everyone has their own confusion and predicament when they are young. For example, Gu Yun's predicament is the black iron camp scattered all over the place. The predicament of Taishi Emperor Li Min is the terrible Wu Ergu and Gu Yun - and the little prince Li Zheng's predicament is that His uncertain future.

But behind Gu Yun were tens of thousands of cutting wind blades and the ancestors and ancestors hanging in the Gu family's high hall. Chang Geng had a little adoptive father who was always watching him and leading him.

But Li Zheng's surroundings were only filled with endless fear, and no one showed him a clear path.

In the autumn of the fourth year of Taishi, after a frost fell, Li Zheng's mother died suddenly in the endless fear and worry during her lifetime, and the emperor was buried according to the rules of the Ministry of Rites.

The fifteen-year-old prince has grown into a youthful appearance, and is taciturn day after day.

When the coffin was stopped, Chang Geng backed away from left and right, walked in slowly, and lightly pressed the shoulders of Li Zheng who was ready to salute. Li Zheng did not insist. Under the supervision of his mother, he tried his best to figure out the likes and dislikes of the fourth emperor uncle every day, knowing that he did not like others to be polite in private.

Li Zheng: "Your Majesty."

Chang Geng glanced at him, and the young man immediately changed his words in embarrassment: "Uncle Huang."

"My condolences."

Chang Geng gave an order, and paid respects to the imperial sister-in-law, whom he had never seen before. Just as he straightened up, he heard the little prince next to him say in a strained voice during the period of voice change: "This minister has no talent and no virtue, and cannot be of great use, please. The uncle abolished the position of the heir of the minister."

Chang Geng frowned and raised his head.

The appearance of this cheap nephew is not as dignified and dignified as his father, but a little too delicate. The young man was pale and thin, with a melancholy in the corners of his eyes and brows, which did not look like a precious The grandson of Fengzi.

After Li Zheng said those words, he seemed to frighten himself, with a worried expression on his face. He didn't know how it happened. A gust of wind suddenly blew in outside the unclosed mourning hall, and the trivial decorations under the steam palace lanterns flickered. After a few moments, he bumped into the spiritual position on one side, and the spiritual position fell down in response, and the young prince was stunned for a moment.

Chang Geng stood up with a calm expression, and respectfully raised the spiritual seat. The servants who rushed in in awe, waved their hands, turned to their nephew, and asked, "I heard that your master said that you read very well, why is it so sudden? think?"

Li Zheng lowered his head and dared not speak.

Chang Geng paused for a while, then said again: "You often chased me to ask questions when you were young, and I even made up grass and insects for you. Why is it that you are separated from your fourth uncle now that you are older?"

Li Zheng was speechless and murmured: "There is a difference between the ruler and the minister, the minister...I..."

When I think about it, Li Zheng didn't ask for anything from the uncle, but simply liked him. Although he still lived in the palace all these years, he always felt that he was relying on others, snorting, and involuntarily mixed in when facing the uncle. Many ingratiating and cautious, but have already changed the taste.

And when Li Zheng saw Chang Geng's eyes, he knew that this uncle of the Fourth Emperor, who was holding the mansion to the ground, was like a mirror in his heart.

"Abolishing the establishment of the Crown Prince is a major event," Chang Geng replied tepidly, "It is not something you and I can arbitrarily decide if there is a state of the country's laws."

Li Zheng's face flushed red, as if he was being selfish.

Chang Geng: "If you find it inconvenient to tell me something, you might as well talk to Marquis Anding. He will leave Beijing next month to inspect the military affairs of the Four Realms. If you are interested, you can ask him to show you."

Li Zheng was stunned.

Then Chang Geng laughed and said, "When the fourth uncle was your age, he was full of confusion. That year, I had a big fight with the adoptive father who was instructed to take care of me... It was the Marquis of Anding who insisted on running away from home. Master Lu and General Zhong Lao traveled all over the Liangliang and went to many places. They saw all beings running around for a living, and they also saw the rampage of gangsters and bandits. The life and death of the world are separated from joys and sorrows. Could be smaller."

No matter how ignorant the little prince was, he knew how much the Marquis of Anding holding the black iron tiger talisman was in the court and the army. When he was young and ignorant, he was very curious about the legendary hero and begged him to write a copybook. Later, he didn't dare. When his mother was alive, he was kept in the palace tightly, and he was not allowed to go out to make friends with courtiers. For fear that his son would go too far and obstruct the eyes of the new emperor, he never set foot in the mansion again.

"Don't be afraid of him, he loved you very much when you were young, do you remember?" Chang Geng mentioned Gu Yun, his eyes changed involuntarily, and he naturally contained a gentle smile.

The prince didn't react for a while: "Gu... Is Gu Shuai?"

Chang Geng walked out of the mourning hall, the prince was stunned for a moment, and quickly followed. The inner servants on both sides seemed to know that the uncle and nephew had something to say, and automatically retreated to the sides. The young new emperor walked in front with his hands behind his back, not shy He said to Li Zheng: "I don't care about other heirs for the time being. In a few years, I will pass the throne to you, but it will be a different country. When you sit in this position, you may find that the honor of the ninety-five is also You can’t just say everything. The entire court, and even the world, has its own rules of operation, there are laws above the head, the ruler and the ministers, and the subjects and the people are mutually restrained… You may even feel like a noble puppet.”

The world had never heard of these words, and Li Zheng was stunned.

Chang Geng tilted his head and glanced at him: "I don't know if you can accept it."

Li Zheng: "I..."

"You don't need to reply to me now," Chang Geng smiled, stretched out his hand and pressed it on the boy's head, "You can go out and see the outside world first, and then come back after thinking about it. To adopt other heirs, don't think too much."

After he finished speaking, Chang Geng walked away, and he hurriedly came to visit the grave, and then went back to live outside the palace.

"Emperor... Fourth Uncle," Li Zheng suddenly stopped him, "Why don't you want your own children?"

"I have been to the place where I belonged all my life, and I have no regrets after my death, so I don't need to leave any blood." Chang Geng paused, saw Li Zheng's ignorant face, shook his head and smiled, "I don't understand you, I will understand when I grow up. ."

Li Zheng: "..."

Half a month later, Emperor Taishi was able to defy all opinions with superb skills, and granted the prince's request to accompany the Marquis of Anding to tour the four realms. Li Zheng followed Gu Yun for three months, stepping on the air, water, and steam rails. After visiting three mountains and six rivers in the whole country, and then as if addicted, he often finds excuses to leave the capital, and he is not in the palace for half a year.

Three years later, when Li Zheng turned eighteen, he went to the former Yanwang Mansion—the current emperor Biezhuang to chat with Chang Geng for a whole night, and Chang Geng agreed that he would bring a full body of guards and join the sea-going caravan led by Du Gongzi. Travel to wider places overseas.

It is said to be a caravan, but in fact, dozens of long and short Jiao dragons accompanied it. In addition to Du Gongzi and others who led the ship, there were also some elite soldiers of the Daliang Navy and experts from the Lingshu Academy headed by Cao Chunhua, Liran and others to escort them. In addition to the trade goods, they also brought credentials and negotiated treaties.

After Li Zheng came back, he laughed at himself. With his dull and mediocre aptitude, he was not ranked among the Li family's generations, but he was definitely the furthest out of the wild.

In the 18th year of Taishi, Gu Yun handed back the black iron tiger talisman and hung up the seal to resign. A few months later, the crown prince Li Zheng took over the throne from his uncle, who had always said nothing. The standard new calendar continues the new era that has been steadily lifted after eighteen years of stumbling and groping by the predecessors.

At this point, the mountains and rivers are still clear.

(Fanwai finish)