Fang Huaiying was moved by her. It was just as Yu Zizhen said. Over the years, Yu Zizhen had been making every effort to help ordinary people and those who had been wronged. In just a few major events that he knew of, Yu Zizhen had saved countless lives, not to mention the people she had saved.
He took a deep breath, suppressing his complicated emotions. "His Majesty and the Crown Prince...how are you going to tell them?"
Yu Zizhen raised his eyebrows, "What should I say to them?"
Fang Huaiying: ???
"They, Your Majesty..."
Yu Zizhen frowned, "Are you trying to say that Your Majesty is the supreme ruler of the Great Qi?"
Fang Huaiying nodded. "If you really did that, I'm worried they would hold a grudge against you."
Yu Zizhen's eyes were complicated. "Tell me honestly, do you really think His Majesty is the supreme ruler of this country?"
Fang Huaiying:......
Thinking about the emperor's previous difficult situation, Fang Huaiying really couldn't say that he was the ruler of Da Qi.
He spoke with difficulty, "But in terms of status..."
Yu Zizhen shrugged. "He doesn't even have a legitimate status anymore. He, the First Prince, the Second Prince, and Xiao Shaoke have all been declared dead by the Lu family."
Although she had the emperor give the eldest prince an imperial edict granting him a fiefdom, given Lu Tong's shamelessness, he would certainly not acknowledge it. It would be fine if the eldest prince didn't produce the edict, but if he did, Lu Tong would definitely accuse him of forging it.
When he thought of this, Yu Zizhen couldn't help but sigh, "I underestimated Lu Tong's shamelessness."
Fang Huaiying also sighed, "It doesn't matter to others, I'm just worried that if His Highness gets upset, you..."
He wanted to say, you have such a good relationship with him, if he blames you, will you be very sad?
Yu Zizhen smiled and continued, "Don't worry, he won't blame me. And the same goes for His Majesty. They are all people with conscience and no ambition."
When she entered the capital as a hostage, she was not only young but also had no one around her who could be used. She had almost lost everything in her efforts to resettle the disaster victims. But even so, she helped the emperor and the eldest prince to the best of her ability.
She was not raising an army to rebel against the emperor, she was just competing for the throne with the world's heroes. Given the temperament and character of those two people, they would definitely not be secretly dissatisfied with her just because she had this intention.
Fang Huaiying thought about it and said to Yu Zizhen, "Then you should also tell them in advance. When making friends, it is important to be open and honest."
Yu Zizhen nodded.
Fang Huaiying added, "Even if you have a clear conscience and His Majesty and the Grand Prince don't mind, there will definitely still be people in this world who will criticize you because of your friendship with the Grand Prince."
They will deliberately ignore the fact that Yu Zizhen was young and isolated, and ignore the fact that Yu Zizhen was bound by her righteousness and it was impossible for her to raise the banner of rebellion and "purge the court" before Lu Tong took action. They will only talk about Yu Zizhen's current strength and ambition, and arbitrarily define her as a traitor.
Yu Zizhen had been mentally prepared for this. She said to Fang Huaiying, "That's why I need your support and that of the Duke of Wei. Publicly, I don't want the country to be torn apart or invaded by foreigners, so I need the Duke of Wei to lead his troops to continue guarding the Western Frontier and protecting its people. Personally, you're my friend, and I don't want you to lose your father, who truly loves you. Even more, I don't want you to face hardship and danger in the Western Frontier."
Fang Huaiying had a complicated expression. As expected, he couldn't hide the fact that he was in a difficult situation just because he wanted to...
"I will persuade my father to express his opinion at the critical moment, but I am not sure he will agree."
Yu Zizhen smiled and said, "Don't try to persuade me. This is a matter between me and your father. I will talk to him myself."
Fang Huaiying was stunned.
Yu Zizhen said, "If you persuade them, wouldn't that give others even more reason to criticize you? If your father's life isn't enough, I can also provide at least one-third of the annual military pay, rations, and weapons for the soldiers in Western Xinjiang during our cooperation."
Fang Huaiying sat up straight in an instant, "Really?"
Their Western Xinjiang is different from the Southern Xinjiang and the Northern Xinjiang. They don't have abundant resources there. In addition, his father comes from a grassroots background and has no deep family background to support him. Therefore, whenever the court withholds military pay, military rations and military equipment, his father can't do what the Southern Xinjiang and the Northern Xinjiang do, just wave his hand and say that the shortfall will be made up by the private property of the Weiguo Mansion.
Year after year, military supplies and food wages were a heavy burden on his father's heart.
If Yu Zizhen could really provide them with at least one-third of their annual military pay, rations and weapons, his father would definitely be envious and tempted.
Yu Zizhen smiled and nodded, "Of course. As long as you don't side with my enemy, I will give you one-third of the guaranteed military supplies and food every year. If your father loses the annual military supplies and food from the court because he openly supports me at the right time, I can still make up for it in full without any discount."
Fang Huaiying's heart was pounding. At this moment, he felt that his father would definitely not be able to withstand Yu Zizhen's sugar-coated bullets.
Not to mention the years when the court fell into the control of the empress dowager, even when the late emperor was still alive, the court had not fully provided military supplies and food wages to the garrisons in various places. It's just that in recent years, some officials of the court have become more and more daring, and the "loss" of food and military supplies has therefore become far more exaggerated than when the late emperor was alive.
But Yu Zizhen just said that she could give them all the compensation without any discount.
Thinking of his father who often sighed about military supplies and food wages, Fang Huaiying suddenly felt that even if he would be criticized for this, he would do his best to persuade his father.
He no longer wanted to see the soldiers in the Western Frontier die easily or even die with regrets because their weapons, armor, and horses were all inferior, and there was always a shortage of medicine, food, clothing, wages, and pensions.
Taking a deep breath, he looked directly at Yu Zizhen with a burning gaze, "If you only use soldiers from the Western Frontier to guard the border, instead of deploying personnel for joint operations, then the effect of our statement will actually be very limited, right?"
Yu Zizhen smiled, "Of course, it's limited in the civil war, but as long as you can defend the Western Frontier and let the people of Western Frontier live a stable life, I won't lose out by providing you with military supplies and wages."
Fang Huaiying cupped his hands and said, "My dear brother, your mind is so broad that I cannot compare to yours."
Yu Zizhen hurriedly bowed in return, "Let's not talk so formally, I prefer to be more casual."
Fang Huaiying raised the corners of his lips. Sure enough, Yu Zizhen was still the Yu Zizhen he knew.
After walking for a while, the two men abandoned their carriage and changed to horses, and rode at full speed with the guards they brought with them to the western border.
At this time, in the Weiguo Mansion in the western border, the Weiguo Duke had not received any news of the changes in the capital. He had a sullen face as he listened to his brother chattering about this and that to him.
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