The emperor was also surprised that the winner in the end was the little guy Xiao Mingyu, but it also showed that he was indeed capable.
The emperor kindly called Xiao Mingyu over and asked, "Mingyu, what do you want me to do for you?"
Although the Imperial Concubine was not on good terms with Prince Duan's Mansion because of the Concubine Yu incident, after watching the game, she had to admit that the young master of Prince Duan was quite outstanding. She had already begun to look for girls of the right age in the Yu family. It would be fine to ask His Majesty to arrange a marriage for Xiao Mingyu in a few years.
As she became the only favored concubine in the harem, the imperial concubine developed greater ambitions. If she had to choose to adopt a prince from the royal family, she would rather choose one that was young, preferably one who could not remember anything. She would be the empress dowager in the future, and would be in charge of the government for the young emperor. It was this idea that made her lobby His Majesty, who had not yet decided on the candidate for the successor.
Xiao Mingyu saluted and stood up straight. His clear voice, which had not yet changed, reached everyone's ears: "Mingyu wants to be a general and lead troops to the front line to fight the enemy. Please agree, Your Majesty."
The whole place was silent. Prince Duan suddenly stood up, extremely anxious. How old was this kid? How could he make such a request? He could just play polo in the back. If he went to the front to kill the enemy, he would not be able to come back if he was not careful.
Feeling quite embarrassed, Xiao Mingrui narrowed his eyes and looked at Xiao Mingyu who was standing there upright. On the court, he saw ambition in Xiao Mingyu's eyes. If he allowed him to continue to grow, he would definitely become his biggest enemy.
Why did he want to lead troops to kill the enemy? Was it for military power? But he knew that the court valued civil officials over military officials. Even if he gathered some military power on the border, it would not be enough. Once the situation in the capital was settled, would he dare to lead troops to rebel? A charge of treason would make him unable to turn over.
Xiao Mingrui was puzzled.
"Your Majesty, this child is talking nonsense. How old is he? He can lead troops to kill the enemy." Prince Duan said to the emperor while wiping his sweat and glaring at his son. Doesn't he know that his father is scared?
The emperor did not feel offended. In his opinion, it was just a child's anger. He asked in a friendly manner: "Do you want to lead troops to kill the enemy now? Do you want to wait a few years? I will definitely give you the power to lead troops, Mingyu, and let you go to the battlefield to make meritorious deeds. Haha, if my clan members have courage like you, Mingyu, why should the Great Zhou not prosper?"
"Your Majesty is wise." There was a chorus of compliments.
"Didn't Your Majesty say that you would agree to one of my requests? Mingyu has only this one request. If Your Majesty does not believe in Mingyu's strength, you can ask the commander of the Imperial Guards to come out and fight Mingyu to see if Mingyu has the strength." Mingyu did not give in.
The emperor was quite surprised. Did Xiao Mingyu really have such strong martial arts? So he called the commander of the imperial guards beside him and said, "Commander Chen, practice a few moves with Mingyu and let me see."
Commander Chen laughed loudly and walked forward, asking Prince Xiao Mingyu for advice. The two started fighting with bare hands. Commander Chen was much taller than Xiao Mingyu, but unexpectedly, after more than ten moves, Commander Chen was defeated. Everyone was dumbfounded again. No wonder he was able to defeat Xiao Mingrui and win the polo match. It turned out that he had real skills, not just luck.
At first, Commander Chen did not take Xiao Mingyu seriously as a child. Age was too deceptive. Although people outside were saying that this kid was a ruthless person, and the game just now proved this, games were not real combat after all. Unexpectedly, he was the one who was embarrassed in the end because he underestimated the enemy.
"Haha, no wonder Mingyu is confident enough to make such a request to me. Okay! Mingyu, as long as your father agrees, there will be absolutely no problem with me." The emperor saw nothing in satisfying Xiao Mingyu's request of leading troops to fight. There were many royal family members anyway, so one more or one less didn't matter much.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, I will take my leave." Prince Duan hurriedly pulled Xiao Mingyu back, trying to persuade him to withdraw his request. Can't he just stay in the capital? His father can help him get that position.
The polo match was over and everyone went home. Xiao Mingyu's name once again spread throughout the capital, while Xiao Mingrui, the prince of Cheng, had no glory this time.
Fan understood Prince Duan's feelings very well, and said to Yuan Jing: "Why don't you go to Prince Duan's mansion to help Prince Duan persuade Mingyu? The young master will agree with you."
Yuan Jing had actually guessed that Ming Yu would do this. Looking at the way he trained the polo team, he knew that he used the polo team as an experiment, and the people in the team were also those he had gathered. The next target would be military power, and the best place to seize military power was the border.
Invisibly, Mingyu's path in this life began to overlap with that in his previous life. If he truly held great military power, he would be in an absolutely proactive position and could forcefully suppress many voices of opposition. Otherwise, if he were established as the heir like Xiao Mingrui, it would be difficult for him to hold power. He would be constrained by many things, and would engage in a tug-of-war with various forces, making it difficult for him to pass on his decrees.
Yuan Jing thought that Ming Yu might have seen this point, so he was unwilling to take this roundabout way. If he wanted to get to the top, he had to be the one who had the final say.
He was only responsible for teaching Mingyu some things, but Mingyu still had to go down this path on his own. He would fully support Mingyu's decision. With him and Prince Duan in the capital, there was no need to worry. He went to Prince Duan's Mansion not to persuade Xiao Mingyu, but to persuade Prince Duan.
"Don't worry, mother. I'll go to Prince Duan's mansion right away."
"Okay, let's go now."
On the way, Yuan Jing met up with the people who came to pick him up from Prince Duan's mansion. Prince Duan tried to persuade him all the way, even though his mouth was dry, but Xiao Mingyu just wouldn't listen. So Prince Duan had no choice but to ask Yuan Jing to leave. After all, this kid wouldn't listen to anyone but Yuan Jing.
When they arrived at Prince Duan's mansion, Prince Duan came out to greet Yuan Jing in person, saying as they walked, "Yuan Jing, you must help me persuade this stubborn boy. If he gets into trouble at the border, how can I explain this to his mother in the afterlife? Isn't he trying to kill me?"
Prince Duan truly has a kind fatherly heart, but this time Yuan Jing is destined to disappoint Prince Duan.
"Your Highness, the Great Zhou Dynasty is now in the midst of internal and external troubles. It is not an easy position to sit in. The Northern Qi royal court outside the Great Wall is ambitious and can tear up the truce agreement with the Great Zhou at any time. If the war breaks out again and the situation of more than ten years ago reappears, how will the Prince Duan's Mansion deal with it then?"
"Mingyu has a long-term vision, not just limited to the capital city in front of him. Your Majesty, don't you want to see Mingyu recover the lost territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty one day, so that the Great Zhou Dynasty can truly become strong and prosperous?"
Prince Duan was shocked by what he said, but he regretted inviting Yuan Jing here. Could it be that Ming Yu had such determination and yearning just because of what Yuan Jing taught him? Prince Duan felt bitter.
Ming Yu walked out of the room, his eyes shining: "I know Yuan Jing is on my side, father, what are you worried about? Don't you know my ability?"
The staff of Prince Duan's mansion also came out, stroking his beard and saying, "Your Highness, what the Crown Prince is doing is not a bad way out. The Crown Prince is in an awkward position now. On the one hand, he is not as good as the current Crown Prince of Prince Cheng, and on the other hand, he is not as good as the two newborn babies. I heard that the Imperial Concubine in the palace is very willing to adopt one of them."
"Alas, you all have your reasons, but what if Mingyu gets into trouble at the border? What should I do?"
Xiao Mingyu rolled his eyes: "Don't you have anything nice to say? I haven't even left yet, and you're already cursing me for something bad to happen?"
"Bah, bah, bah! Father never cursed you." Prince Duan jumped in fear.
To be honest, ever since Xiao Mingyu came back from Ningcheng, Prince Duan has never been able to influence his ideas. Xiao Mingyu has always had big ideas, and no matter how reluctant he was, it was Prince Duan who compromised in the end.
Xiao Mingyu left his father and his staff together to talk, and took Yuan Jing to his study. He was about to leave the capital for the border, and the person he was most reluctant to leave behind was Yuan Jing. It would be great if he could pack up Yuan Jing and take him away with him.
Yuan Jing rubbed his head. Maybe when he came back from the border, he wouldn't be able to rub his head anymore, so he rubbed it more now: "You have a great idea, but you didn't discuss it with me before."
Ming Yu grinned and rubbed his head again, measuring Yuan Jing's current stature with his eyes. Humph, when he comes back from the border, he will definitely be taller than Yuan Jing. Let's see how he will avenge the rubbing of his head now.
Humph, always treating him as a child, he has grown up.
"Haven't you already guessed it? And you also support my approach. With you, Yuan Jing, and father in the capital, I'm not worried at all." The arrogant young prince turned his head and said.
"Although I can guess your intention, I can't help but worry. Swords and spears are blind on the battlefield, and the Great Zhou Dynasty has been weak for a long time. It is not easy to regroup and fight against the Northern Qi army."
"But someone has to do it, right? So it starts with me and ends with me. Wait until I beat up all of Northern Qi and get rid of them all before I come back."
Yuan Jing couldn't help but chuckle when he heard his bold words, and stopped trying to discourage him: "Okay, I'll wait for your triumphant return. But give me some time to prepare more things for you."
"Okay." Ming Yu's eyes lit up. This was his Yuan Jing, his most reliable assistant.
Yuan Jing has taught Ming Yu a lot in the past few years, but when it comes to leading troops and fighting battles, Yuan Jing believes that Ming Yu can definitely surpass him. This is an instinctive thing for Ming Yu, and it has been like this for several lifetimes. Even though he has no memory, the instinct cannot be lost.
He could only help Mingyu in other ways, allowing him to protect himself and provide as much assistance as possible.
He went to the palace through Prince Duan and asked His Majesty for a lot of medicinal herbs. Those herbs were sent to the palace by Meng Susu to show her filial piety. After being passed on to Yuan Jing, these herbs were indeed much better than those cultivated by Yuan Jing himself. It was very obvious that Meng Susu's portable planting space could speed up the growth of medicinal herbs, and she could easily produce ginseng that was hundreds of years old.
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