Now the whole palace is saying that Xue Shu rose quickly, but fell quickly. After angering His Majesty, he was given to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Who in this palace doesn't know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince dislikes Xue Shu?
For example, during the days that Xue Shu was at Ciqing Palace, he did not do any serious work. He just served tea and water to the Crown Prince and did some chores all day. Yesterday, someone even saw him preparing water for the Crown Prince to wash his feet!
He used to be a eunuch in charge who walked before the emperor and had the power to call the shots, but now he is not even as good as the lowest-ranking eunuch in Ciqing Palace!
The rumors were so rampant that it was no wonder that the people who previously worked under Xue Shu were feeling uneasy.
Xue Shu had expected this to happen: "Don't worry, don't pay attention to those who are restless, just watch."
The most taboo thing in this palace is betraying the master and defecting to another. There is no need to bother dealing with such fickle people, as they will suffer for it in the future.
"As for you and Cui Ci, if you have the ability, just climb up. We have other important things to do, and sooner or later you will be the ones to take over."
Seeing his calm demeanor, Wei Xihe knew that he must have made a plan in mind. Moreover, he was different from others. When he was in Tianjin Wei, he had seen His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Xue Shu together. Those rumors outside were probably just rumors.
"I can save that."
Wei Xihe bowed and turned to leave.
When Yin Chengyu returned to Hongren Hall, he saw the list of candidates for the autumn examination on the table.
The results of the Autumn Examination were announced in September. He had been thinking that Xie Pingchuan would also take part in the Autumn Examination this year, so he asked someone to send him a copy of the list of successful candidates after the results were announced.
He unfolded the list and only looked at the first name, and sure enough, he saw Xie Pingchuan's name at the first place - it was the first place in the list.
It seems that the previous Sun family case did not affect his preparation for the exam, and the direction is still the same as in his previous life.
If nothing unexpected happens, in the spring of next year, Xie Yunchuan will win the first prize in one fell swoop and be selected as the number one scholar in the palace examination.
After that, he entered the Hanlin Academy and served as a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy. After two years, he ended his review and entered the Ministry of Rites as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites because of his outstanding performance in the "Tongzhou Incident" in the winter of the 20th year of Longfeng. Later, he performed very well in the Ministry of Rites and was promoted to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the Grand Academician of Wenyuan Pavilion, becoming the confidant of the Chief Assistant Shao Tian.
He was the youngest minister at the time and was the most popular. Officials in the court said that Shao Tian intended to train him to be his successor.
But later, Yin Chengyu returned to the palace and in order to get rid of Shao Tian and his cronies, he found out after many twists and turns that Xie Pingchuan had a blood feud with Shao Tian. He endured humiliation for many years and even became Shao Tian's favorite student and right-hand man, just to make revenge easier.
Back then, he spent a lot of effort to dispel Xie Pingchuan's suspicion and joined forces with him to eliminate Shao Tian, the great threat.
If Shao Tian had not fallen and their most powerful pillar had not been lost, Concubine Wen and Yin Chengzhang would not have made so many stupid moves and been destroyed by him.
Xie Chuan was to him a close friend and also a good minister.
Thinking of the blood feud that Xie Pingchuan carried, Yin Chengyu pondered for a moment and decided to send someone to keep a secret watch on him. There have been too many variables in this life, and he didn't want Xie Pingchuan to be affected.
He subconsciously wanted to ask someone to call Xue Shu over, but stopped himself before he could say anything.
In the previous life, Xue Shu and Xie Pingchuan disliked each other and often confronted each other. They almost came to blows countless times. If he hadn't been there to hold them back, the two would have been enemies of life and death.
When the two of them met in this life, there was no guarantee that they would not have some hatred. Thinking of Xue Shu's extremely strong jealousy, Yin Chengyu pinched his brows with a headache, and finally asked someone to call Zhao Lin over.
…
Xue Shu was delayed for a while, and when he reached the front of Hongren Hall, he bumped into Zhao Lin who was walking out.
Zhao Lin was not only in charge of the defense of the East Palace, he also had a team of secretly trained spies.
But since he took control of the West Factory, Yin Chengyu rarely summoned Zhao Lin, leaving most matters to him and the West Factory staff. According to Xue Shu's experience, whenever Yin Chengyu used Zhao Lin, there must be something he was avoiding.
Xue Shu's eyes flickered slightly, and he stopped and greeted Zhao Lin: "Commander Zhao, what are you doing here? Does His Highness have another errand to ask you to do?"
Zhao Lin and Zheng Duobao were the only two people in the Eastern Palace who knew that Xue Shu was the crown prince's confidant. Therefore, he was not on guard against Xue Shu and nodded, saying, "That's right."
"Are there enough manpower? Didn't Commander Zhao say last time that the spies under his command were useless and wanted to transfer a few from the West Factory?" Xue Shu asked casually.
"He's just a scholar, why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken?" Zhao Lin said cheerfully, "I'll go to your place to pick someone next time."
After saying this, he clasped his fists towards Xue Shu and walked out.
Xue Shu looked at his back, his face becoming increasingly gloomy.
Scholar?
Before he remembered his past life, he didn't understand why His Highness suddenly cared about the scholars involved in the Sun family case.
Now I remembered everything, and naturally I knew that this was all for Xie Pingchuan!
It’s Xie Yunchuan again!
It wasn't enough that there was a conflict between him and His Highness in the previous life, but he is haunted by her in this life as well.
Xue Shu's eyes were filled with anger, and he became more depressed when he thought of the missed opportunity. If he had remembered it earlier, he could have dealt with the person in the imperial prison without anyone noticing, and he could have passed the blame to Gao Yuan. How could he let His Highness have the chance to see this evil old fox again? !
He stood outside the door for a moment, suppressing the anger and jealousy in his heart, before walking into the Hongren Hall.
Yin Chengyu was sitting behind his desk, reviewing documents. Hearing the movement, he looked up at Jing and pointed at the inkstone: "You've come just in time. Come and grind ink for me."
Xue Shu pursed his lips, walked over to him, picked up the ink tablet and drew circles on the inkstone.
His movements were very gentle, without any emotion. Only his gloomy eyes, covered by his eyelashes, stared at Yin Chengyu solemnly.
The old stories of old friends brought out the violent nature hidden deep in his heart.
But at this moment, he didn't even have the position to question. He could only hold his breath and grind the ink tablet bit by bit as if it were Xie Pingchuan.
Yin Chengyu was unaware of the intrigue around him. He spread out the memorial sent by the Ministry of Rites and motioned him to read it: "The Ministry of Rites just sent the rules for the winter hunting of red rhinoceros. The date is set for November 20th. At that time, both the Oirat and the Tatar will send envoys to participate in the winter hunting."
Ancient emperors would forage in spring, hunt in summer, hunt in autumn, and hunt in winter; they would go out to the suburbs at all four seasons to demonstrate their military might to the world. [1]
Dayan has had a tradition of winter hunting since its founding.
The winter hunting of red rhinoceros was held every three years at the red rhinoceros hunting ground in Beiping Prefecture. The surrounding tribes such as the Oirat and Tatar would send envoys to participate in this event. Dayan would send its most elite troops to perform a military exercise at the red rhinoceros hunting ground.
It was not only to train elite soldiers, but also to intimidate neighboring countries with military force and demonstrate the power of a great country.
At this time in his previous life, Yin Chengyu was imprisoned in the imperial mausoleum, so he naturally did not participate in the winter hunting of red rhinoceros. But he knew that the results of the winter hunting of red rhinoceros in his previous life were not very good. After the founding of the Great Yan, the policy of emphasizing culture over military power has been followed, so it is difficult to find good generals. The nobles have been pampered and have long lost the blood of their ancestors. Not to mention that the imperial army has not responded to the enemy for a long time, and the atmosphere is lazy.
As a result of many factors, the Danxi winter hunting in the 18th year of Longfeng not only failed to shock the other countries as expected, but also caused great loss of face.
As the host country, Dayan not only failed to win the first prize in the Danxi Winter Hunt, but Emperor Longfeng even nearly died in the tiger's mouth when he was chasing a white-fronted tiger. At that time, when the hunting was in the middle of the hunt, all the imperial guards were dispatched to rescue the horse, and even the Tatar and Oirat envoys heard about it.
After the siege was over and the results were tallied up, the Tatars and the Oirat took the first and second places, while Dayan only came in third.
This year's Danxi Winter Hunting ended abruptly. Emperor Longfeng was frightened and lost face, so he returned to the capital early and did not allow anyone to mention the Danxi Winter Hunting again.
However, the Tatars and the Oirat Mongols saw the weakness of the Great Yan. In the winter of the 20th year of Longfeng, the Tatars defeated the Oirat Mongols and marched southwards to Tongzhou. Along the way, they invaded 10 provinces and 38 states, killing more than 200,000 people, looting more than 2 million cattle, horses and other livestock, countless gold and silver treasures, burning down 80,000 houses, and leaving hundreds of thousands of fields barren. [2]
This is the "Tongzhou Incident".
At that time, the treasury of Dayan was empty, and due to the spread of the plague, all the people died, and the army's strength was greatly reduced. When the Tatars led their troops to Tongzhou, the total number of soldiers in the capital was only 60,000 to 70,000 old, weak and sick. They were completely unable to resist the Tatar cavalry and could only allow them to plunder.
Later, Yin Chengyu read the record of the "Tongzhou Incident" and wrote that "the Tatars plundered the villagers and burned the houses, and the fires continued day and night." "They plundered men, women, livestock, gold, silk and other valuables, and when they were satisfied, they tied them up and took them away." [3]
Dayan was a vast country with constant friction along its borders. However, such a disastrous defeat as the "Tongzhou Incident" was unprecedented.
In the previous life, after Yin Chengyu ascended the throne, his greatest ambition was to one day conquer all the northern tribes and avenge his past humiliation.
It was a pity that he wasted five years in his previous life. By the time he ascended the throne, Great Yan was already riddled with problems. He worked day and night for three years, but he only managed to patch up the bigger holes and make the people's lives more stable and peaceful. Although the northern tribes did not dare to invade again, the harassment still did not stop.
In the end, marching the troops northward was just an unfulfilled wish.
Yin Chengyu looked at the Tatar envoy "Ahalu" mentioned in the memorial, and his eyes sank a little bit - it was Ahalu who led the troops to invade Dayan in the previous life.
"Dayan is in need of good generals. I want He Shan and Ying Hongxue to participate in this winter hunting of red rhinoceros."
Ying Hongxue is good at strategy and He Shan is brave, both are rare and good generals.
With the lessons learned from the previous life, even if no one knows about it, Yin Chengyu must wash away the shame in this Red Rhinoceros Winter Hunt, and at the same time scare the Tatars so that they dare not send troops easily again.
Xue Shu had no objection to this, and only said: "My sister and brother-in-law will not refuse."
Yin Chengyu thought so too. He picked up his pen and crossed out the names of the two noble sons and added the names of He Shan and Ying Hongxue.
On November 15, everything was arranged and Emperor Longfeng led his ministers to the Danxi Palace.
The Danxi Palace was built in the northeast of Beiping Prefecture, with the Danxi Paddock behind it.
After three days of long winter hunting, the team arrived at the palace. Emperor Longfeng used the excuse of training the crown prince to not interfere with the arrangements for the winter hunting. All matters were decided by Yin Chengyu and the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War.
Now that they had arrived at the temporary palace, Emperor Longfeng and his concubines were already resting and playing in the palace. Even the officials and their families had rested, preparing for the winter hunt in two days. Only Yin Chengyu had no time to rest. He had to monitor the defense of the temporary palace, supervise the training, and deal with unexpected problems from time to time from officials from various departments.
When we finally had a chance to rest and catch our breath, it was already the night before the winter hunt began.
Yin Chengyu came out of the study and went to the bedroom to rest, his eyes revealing an unconcealable look of fatigue.
Xue Shu followed beside him and said, "I heard that the hot springs in the palace are good for rest and relaxation. Your Highness, would you like to try it?"
Yin Chengyu paused slightly, his heart was moved by what he said, and without much hesitation, he walked towards the hot spring pool. He glanced at Xue Shu and said, "Go and get my clothes, just take the one at the bottom."
The author has something to say:
The crowd: Xue Shu has fallen out of favor! He is only fit to serve the prince as a foot-washing servant!
Big Dog Gou: Great, I will give Your Highness a bath tonight!
Note [1] Quoted from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Notes [2][3] Quoted from the article “Interpretation of the Relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Tatars”.