Chapter 200 A Blessing in Disguise
Twenty-nine, the last day of court meeting.
Li Jing came back in the afternoon and saw Concubine Feng busy in the front yard.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Your Highness!" Concubine Feng bowed quickly, smiling gently and saying, "This is because the family received too many New Year gifts, and some of them cannot be kept. The gifts have already been given to the families. So, I thought of giving some to the gentlemen and guards in the front yard. It happens that tomorrow is the 30th, and the family will have food and money to spend."
"You're thoughtful." Li Jing nodded and saw the piles of things on the ground. "Have you kept track of all the accounts?"
"I've got it all written down. I'll put a copy on your desk later."
Li Jing nodded and went straight back to the backyard.
Concubine Feng looked at his back and sighed. Since getting married, the prince has been coming back to the backyard quite often. She didn't know for whom she was working so hard.
In the main courtyard, Mo Yi was looking at her plans for the year.
Seeing Li Jing coming, he quickly stood up and said, "The prince is back."
"What are you doing?"
"Looking at the arrangements for the year, I have something to do almost every day."
Li Jing didn't say anything. Mo Yi and Hong Yan helped him change his clothes, wipe his face, and sit down to drink tea.
Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, "Your Majesty seems to be worried..." Mo Yi asked.
"Hmm..." Li Jing drooped his eyelids and hummed.
"Would you mind telling me about it?"
Li Jing paused for a moment before saying, "Today, the emperor asked me to talk about something. Finally, he said that the matter of the martial arts competition next summer was handed over to the prince."
Mo Yi sat down next to him, "I just heard about this big competition recently, and I don't know what it is about."
"The court has many kinds of armies, stationed in different places. In addition, there are imperial guards, city defenses, etc. Some belong to the court, and some, like the Zhao Family Army and the Liang Family Army, are slightly different in nature. The Grand Competition is held every four years. Each army selects a number of officers and soldiers and gathers them together for a competition.
There were about twenty teams, each with a few dozen to a few hundred people. The competition included martial arts, horse riding, archery, troop formations, etc.
Last time, I led the Zhao family army and won first place in the total score. In the past, most of these events were presided over by the emperor himself.
The emperor is very busy, so it is unrealistic for him to handle everything personally, so he has several deputies to assist him. This time... the emperor handed this matter over to the crown prince."
After that, he thought about things silently...
After hearing what he said, Mo Yi roughly understood. Moreover, he could also guess what it meant that the matter that had always been presided over by the emperor was handed over to the prince.
"The prince has been in the court for many years and has done a lot of things. He has his people both openly and secretly. The only difference is that when it comes to the military, although he is very eager to get involved, he dare not get involved easily, for fear of arousing the emperor's taboo. But this time..." Li Jing reached out and touched his forehead.
Mo Yi couldn't say anything about these things. "How many of the armies represented by these twenty teams are close to you?"
"There are three that belong to me openly. There are two more that are secretly mine. There are five that I have good relations with. There are three that I am familiar with. There are two that are hostile...that is, those that I have had conflicts of interest with. As for the rest, the commanders are either not very familiar with them, or simply don't recognize them."
"Are you still attending on behalf of the Zhao family army this time?"
"No, my cousin is on the team this time."
"The prince has never led an army before. Can he do all these things? Does he need help?"
"Organizing is tedious, and it's not that difficult to cover everything. There will be a lot of people to help."
Mo Yi asked again: "Was it appointed by the Emperor, or was it chosen by the Prince himself?"
"There are many people who want to get in on this kind of thing. Anyway, everyone can squeeze in through their own means."
"Then we can arrange more people to go there..."
Li Jing smiled and said, "The emperor told me about this today, and I immediately asked for the Western Suburbs Camp for Little Fourteen. The competition will be held at the Western Suburbs Camp!"
"...Will the Emperor agree to your request?" Mo Yi blinked curiously.
"I have made my position clear. If he doesn't give it to me, I will compete with the Crown Prince to see who is more suitable to host such a grand event! After hearing this, Father must be speechless."
"No matter how much the prince has done, it is absolutely impossible for him to surpass you in this aspect! Is it because the emperor has concerns that he told you first?"
Li Jing smiled at Mo Yi... and patted her head, "Yeah. He didn't wait until the beginning of the year to announce it directly, but talked to me first. Maybe he was worried that I would make a fuss, so he left some room for bargaining. But... this time, outsiders have to think too much."
"Your Highness, if my Fourteenth Brother can get the West Suburb Camp, the whole thing is a blessing in disguise! Think about it: the martial arts competition is just a grand event. After the competition, everyone goes back to their own places. The Crown Prince managed it for a long time, even if it was perfect... at most he could just accumulate some connections. But the West Suburb Camp is in the hands of my Fourteenth Brother from now on... My Fourteenth Brother is in the northwest, and you are in the southeast..."
Li Jing laughed and pinched her cheek again, "You also understand this?"
He was so strong that he didn't control the pressure, causing Mo Yi to frown. "How should I know? What's going on with the planning for that big competition?"
"It's not a simple matter. Just imagine, thousands of people are coming at once: all soldiers, armed, this is no joke. First of all, safety is the top priority. You don't know how outrageous those soldiers can be. Last time, people were killed in brothels and theaters. Some people will come early to broaden their horizons and enjoy the capital..."
Li Jing shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"They will bring a lot of silver, so it will cost a lot, right?"
Mo Yi's mind has already started to work, but Li Jing doesn't know it yet, "That's for sure. Some teams are extremely wealthy, and everyone will compete in this regard... The court will arrange all accommodation and food. The venue and facilities for the competition... It costs a lot of money. So, it's not just about connections, you can also make money. People from all walks of life must be drawn from all over, and some new ones must also be recruited."
"My Lord, is the prince very capable?"
"How should I put it?" Li Jing narrowed his eyes. "I don't see any particularly outstanding talents, at least they are not very prominent. However, over the years, he has not made any major mistakes, and his grades are neither good nor bad, but he is stable and has good popularity. Among the princes, he also acts like he is good to everyone, and he is always trying to be fair and smooth. What is the real situation... there are still many things that are unclear."
"Well, can you squeeze someone into this big competition?"
"Who do you want to go?" Li Jing wondered.
Mo Yi blinked his eyes. There were so many people he wanted to place...
Those people have money, so we need to arrange for someone to entice them to spend it! Qizhenlou, my uncle's clothing store, my purse ornaments and beautiful boots, they also have wives and girls they like! If no one tells them where to buy these good things, how can they spend their money?
Yes, we have to do something special for this event.
Li Jing just looked at his young wife, without saying a word, with a burning gaze...
…
At this moment, the prince is in the queen's palace, and the mother and son are talking happily...
With no outsiders around, the Queen Mother let go of her usual reserve and composure.
She laughed happily and wantonly, making her whole person glow. "It can be seen that you have always been careful, stable and kind, and you have won the favor of your father. This matter is of extraordinary significance!"
"Your Highness knows..." The prince drank a few glasses of wine and was a little tipsy. "Throughout the history of our dynasty, this event has been held 24 times. Two times it was presided over by the Regent, eight times it was presided over by the Crown Prince, and three times it was presided over by the General for some reason... The rest were presided over by the Emperor himself. This time, Father asked his son to do it, so the meaning must be different."
Mother and son drank a cup together.
"Ah... If Old Seven knew about this, he would be so embarrassed!"
"He was born in the military, lived in the open air, and lived on the edge of a knife for so many years. This should be the most appropriate job for him. But father...just gave it to me!" The prince rarely showed a harsh and arrogant look, "I can't make him angry to death!"
"That's right. During the New Year, gather your people and discuss this. This is no small matter... In the past, there have always been problems. We must make sure that nothing goes wrong!"
"Don't worry!"
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