Chapter 343 Oops, the truth is revealed (revised)
The behavior of the young prince caused dissatisfaction among many officials.
The first assistant, the second assistant, and the six ministers, some supported the eldest prince, some supported the second prince, and some supported the third prince.
Originally, when the war broke out, the young prince proposed to let Shen Hong be the deputy general, and many ministers opposed it. Some officials were worried that Shen Hong would do something to cause danger to the eldest prince and the second prince.
After all, swords have no eyes on the battlefield.
Anything can happen.
Now that the two princes are really in trouble, everyone will naturally have all kinds of associations.
How could the eldest prince be shot by a sharp arrow?
How could the second prince, who was transporting grain, disappear for no reason?
It is hard to say that this matter has nothing to do with Shen Hong.
After all, Shen Hong is the prince's uncle, the uncle of the emperor!
The prince's reputation is not very good either among the people or among the officials. In order to consolidate the prince's position, it is possible that Shen Hong took advantage of the war to get rid of the eldest and second princes.
"Your Majesty, I recommend General Xue. General Xue is stationed in Hongcheng. It only takes three days to get from Hongcheng to Tingzhou City. General Xue has been stationed in Hongcheng for many years and has never made any mistakes. General Xue is the most suitable person to deal with the crisis in Tingzhou City!"
said the Minister of War.
"Since Minister Ma knows that Hongcheng is only three days away from Tingzhou City, he should have thought that for Da Cang, it makes no difference whether to attack Tingzhou or Hongcheng. Transferring General Xue at this time is not a good idea, and it is likely to play into the opponent's wishes." The little prince had
a stern expression, and although his voice was childish, it was steady and powerful, very much like a general. " It is better to be still
than to move. We are far away in the capital and have no idea about the specific situation on the battlefield. If we make decisions in a panic, it is very likely to bring danger to the eldest and second brothers." The Minister of War was very frustrated. " Are we going to do nothing and let the eldest and second princes be in danger?" The little prince said firmly, "The eldest brother will be fine." The eldest brother was wearing protective clothing, and no matter how sharp the arrow was, it would not hurt his vitals, unless the opponent shot an arrow through his throat. However, the military report clearly pointed out that the eldest prince was hit by a sharp arrow. There must be something wrong at the border, because the identities of the eldest and second princes caused a certain degree of confusion. Eight hundred miles of urgent work, the deputy general can also be written. However, he believed that they were wearing protective clothing and had those unusual supplies of food and grass, so no matter what situation they encountered, they could handle it! "What I am more curious about is why only the eldest and second brothers were attacked?" "The eldest prince is the commander-in-chief. It is nothing strange to capture the leader first." The speaker was the Minister of Justice. " What about the second brother? The second brother is only responsible for escorting food and grass, not going to the battlefield. Why would the other side attack the second brother so accurately? Causing the second brother to go missing?" The little prince frowned, and his facial features were not fully opened. At this moment, people subconsciously ignored his childishness. Lu Zexu was also frightened by this military report. He was also on the way to Wenhua Palace. He forced himself to calm down and analyze rationally, and then he came to the conclusion that the eldest prince was fine. The whereabouts of the second prince is unknown, Shen Hong will definitely have people search and rescue him, and will definitely not ignore him. Connecting all of this, the little prince continued to ponder along this clue. When he thought about it, he forgot his image of being lazy, extravagant, unambitious, and unlearned. Didn't this shock the eight ministers of Wenhua Palace. The Prime Minister was still stable, "Your Highness the Crown Prince means that the other party intends to target the eldest prince and the second prince?" Lu Zexu looked at Lu Chengtian, "To be precise, the other party should be targeting the princes of the Daliang royal family." In an instant, Lu Chengtian's eyes immediately became sharp. "You mean, someone deliberately passed the news to Da Cang to publicize the identities of the eldest and the second brother?" The little prince paced back and forth in the palace, squinting his eyes in deep thought, "It is also possible that the other party has already cooperated with Da Cang. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Lu Chengtian's fingers trembled slightly. Thinking of the remnants of the previous dynasty he had found out, he subconsciously clenched his fists behind his back. "Send an order to let Jiang Yuanzheng take the imperial physician who is good at external injuries from the Imperial Hospital to the border overnight, and the imperial guards will escort them." " If we really wait for Jiang Yuanzheng to go, the opportunity will be gone. There is no need to go through so much trouble. There is a miracle doctor in my brother's army. As long as he is there, my brother will be fine." The little prince directly objected. It was the first time that the ministers had seen someone so blatantly contradict the emperor. Several people carefully observed Lu Chengtian's expression. After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was singing a different tune from the Emperor in public. It was not to say that it was insubordination, but it was also disrespectful. They believed in not speaking of the emperor's mistakes, and if the emperor wanted his subjects to die, the subjects had to die. Opposing the emperor's order in court like this was equivalent to disobeying the emperor. This was really the first time they had seen it. With the emperor's violent temper, it would be strange if he could listen to this. At the very least, he would be reprimanded, and at the worst, he would be imprisoned. All of these were very likely. Who knew that Lu Chengtian only frowned slightly, "Your court doctor?" The little prince nodded. In order to invite the divine wings, he paid a cart of potato chips of various flavors. If he took his potato chips, he would naturally have to work. Lu Chengtian was relieved now. After all, it was the court doctor who diagnosed his poisoning. "Father, I have thought of what I want to do." The little prince suddenly said. Lu Chengtian immediately remembered the soul-searching question he had just raised in the East Palace. He was really tired of having a prince who didn't want to go to class, study, or do homework. He was always doing all kinds of messy things every day. "What do you want to do?" The little prince said seriously, "Search the property." "Cough cough cough!" Coughs immediately broke out in the hall. There was no way. They had all seen the prince's methods of confiscating property. If he starts to do it, there will be nothing left for you. Lu Chengtian was at least calm. After all, he had also seen the list of people to be confiscated drawn up by this troublesome son.
The adults thought, after all, he is the crown prince, how can he do such a disgraceful thing?
The emperor would definitely not agree.
Who knew that the emperor not only agreed, but also added, "Do you want to use these to collect grain and transport it to the border? To support the army?"
The little prince nodded, "My second brother is missing, and he is in charge of collecting and transporting grain. If he gets into trouble, the grain issue will definitely be delayed. All the money seized from the family property will be used to collect and transport grain." Minister Qian
of the Ministry of Revenue just thought ... Ask for it, and a part of it will be collected into the national treasury. Then he heard Lu Chengtian say, "Then this matter will be handed over to you."
The little prince thought, "I will just ask people to collect food and grass. As for the escort, I'd better hand it over to the Ministry of War. After all, I don't have many people." The Minister of War
was eager to do it. The victory of a war was largely due to food and grass. There can't be any mistakes.
After the matter was over, the third prince secretly moved over, "All the items of the two officials I confiscated last time are still sealed in the warehouse, and the second prince's people have not moved."
The little prince's eyes lit up, "That's really great."
When the little prince returned to the East Palace, he received two pigeons.
One was sent back by Shen Yi, specifically to show his superb medical skills. The eldest prince had indeed suffered three assassination attempts and sneak attacks, and was indeed injured.
However, the injuries were not fatal, and the difficult part was the poison in his body.
The assassin was ruthless and intended to kill the eldest prince. The poison he used was a secret poison from the Da Cang royal court, which caused the eldest prince to fall into a coma.
However, he has already prepared an antidote, and the eldest prince will wake up soon.
The next page of paper was full of praise for his own superb medical skills, how he saved the eldest prince from danger, how he remained calm and composed in the face of danger, and how he turned the situation around when all military doctors were helpless.
Lu Zexu simply couldn't bear to watch, until the very end, he saw the main purpose of the flying pigeon delivering the letter.
Brother, you see I've worked hard and made great contributions, can you give me a little more reward?
The potato chips at the border have been eaten up, can you send a truckload over when you transport the food and fodder?
The little prince: "..."
More than a month has passed, and the truckload of potato chips has been completely destroyed, which is normal.
He picked up the pen to reply, wrote it quickly, called a new pigeon, tied it to one of its legs, fed it, and then let it deliver the letter.
The other letter was sent back by Shen Hong, and this one was much more objective.
Briefly introduce the situation, Xi returned to the city, Tingzhou City had been captured, and the last Qingcheng was still missing.
The eldest prince suffered a little, but it was not a big problem and he will recover soon.
The second prince is missing for the time being, but he has gone to find and welcome him.
The rest are all the supplies that are urgently needed there.
There are still some grains and grass left, but they can only last less than a month. The most lacking are medicinal materials, especially those for treating external injuries.
Then there are bandages, iodine, hemostatics, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, cold and other western medicines.
The more battles are fought, the more soldiers are injured, and the consumption of various medicines is quite alarming. It is about to run out.
Shen Hong also emphasized the compressed biscuits in the letter.
After reading it, the little prince immediately replied, and also found a well-fed and watered pigeon that looked particularly capable of flying, and sent the message out.
Uncle is still reliable, he knows what is important and what is not important. Shen Yi only knows how to brag and eat potato chips, he can't grasp the main point at all.
The little prince sat at the desk, picked up a pen and quickly wrote down the various materials that needed to be purchased, just waiting for midnight, when the door of the bedroom opened, he would go to the small supermarket to buy a lot.
Anyway, the results of the third brother's house search have not been touched. Since the second prince is not convenient, he will help spend it.
Northwest border, Tingzhou City.
The eldest prince's arm was fixed by two wooden boards, almost wrapped with a bandage, one end hanging around his neck, it was obvious that his arm was broken.
"Haven't you found your second brother yet?" Lu Ze'an asked.
"Your Highness should rest assured and recuperate. General Shen has divided the people into several teams and sent them out to look for people. I believe there will be news soon."
Shen Yi brought the boiled medicine over.
"It's been seven days, and judging by the situation, there will be a blizzard soon. If we can't find anyone, something bad will happen."
Lu Ze'an was very worried. Although he and Lao Er had a normal relationship, he didn't want him to have an accident on the battlefield.
"Don't forget, the poison in your body has not been completely cured. If something happens to you, I can't explain to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I've made a promise."
Shen Yi urged him to drink the medicine. "I advise you to get well as soon as possible. When you recover, you can take revenge and complain. If General Du Ze of Da Cang tries to assassinate you, just kill him."
That's what Lu Ze'an thought.
If he doesn't take revenge, he will die of frustration.
At this time, Du Ze was drinking and eating in his tent, celebrating with his subordinates.
"General, this time we have successfully injured the eldest prince of Daliang. He was poisoned by our exclusive poison. If the emperor of Daliang wants to save his son, he must exchange a large amount of food, silk, tea, gold and silver."
"That's right! It's up to us, the Khan, to decide! You can get as much as you want!"
"We attacked Tingzhou City, Xihui City, and Licheng for food, silk, tea, gold and silver, and jewelry, right? Compared with the assassination of the two princes of Daliang, this loss is too much!"
"I don't think we can be too reassured. I heard that the emperor of Daliang has many princes. Although the eldest prince is the eldest son, he is not the crown prince. What if the emperor of Daliang is so cruel and doesn't want to give us money and food? There is nothing we can do."
Du Ze took a sip of wine. "So, we still have to capture the second prince alive! We have a living prince in our hands. The emperor of Daliang cares most about his face. If we capture his son alive, even if he doesn't want to, he will obediently give us money and food!"
"No problem, leave it to you brothers. The second prince has less than 50 people around him. The vast grassland in winter is the territory of our Great Cangyongtu! He can't escape from our hands!"
Du Ze put down the wine bowl. "Yingji, you take people to find him. Make sure to capture the second prince alive!"
"Yes, sir! The second prince has been wandering on this ice field for seven or eight days. At this time of year, there is no food outside. I estimate that they have been starving for a long time. There may even be vultures surrounding them!"
Du Ze frowned, "Don't be careless. The people of Daliang are very cunning! Only when people are in our hands can we exchange them for money and food! A prince is worth four cities."
"Yes, sir!"
The second prince, who was being searched by both sides, encountered a very difficult problem.
He was lost!
This vast snowfield was constantly undulating, and there was not even a reference. It was his first time here, and he had no way to tell the direction.
He led the remaining 50 people, and they were running around like a headless fly, and they couldn't find the way back to the barracks at all.
The second prince sighed and exhaled a breath of white air, "I never thought that the biggest crisis on the battlefield was not the enemy's assassination, but getting lost!"
The 50 soldiers around him were also new recruits. It was their first time to this bitter cold place in the northwest, and they didn't know the way.
The second prince sat down next to the fire, stretched out his hand to warm the fire, and took out the last box of self-heating rice, "Eat first, you can continue to hurry on the road after you are full!"
Everyone followed suit, drinking boiled river water, some people ate beef jerky, some ate chocolate, some ate compressed biscuits, and some people ate self-heating rice like the second prince.
These are all the necessary rations in their bags. The soldiers' bags are all the same. Of course, the second prince's bags are much richer.
Even if he ate for seven days, there was still some left, so he wouldn't starve to death.
I guess neither the two parties who were looking for him could have imagined that it was not the food that trapped the second prince, but getting lost.