"Didn't you ask Zhao Chenhan to deal with you?" Fu Liqing asked.
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "I'm not worth Zhao Jingzhou's effort. It seems he is making preparations."
Fu Liqing's heart moved and he said, "Preparing to seize the throne?"
Zhao Lin nodded. "Your Majesty doesn't have much time left. No matter which of the Crown Prince and Prince Yu becomes Emperor, the other will disagree and will definitely resort to violence. Add to that the Sixth Prince, the Empress Dowager, and others, and it's going to be a very lively situation."
Fu Liqing was surprised and asked, "*** also wants to be the emperor?"
Zhao Lin said, "Who wouldn't want to? But it's difficult for her. She and the Sixth Prince together are no match for the Crown Prince and Prince Yu. The real outcome will still have to come from between these two."
Fu Liqing said, "Zhao Jingzhou has already started planning, what should we do?"
Zhao Lin said: "No rush, the Crown Prince has so many counselors under his command, and Prime Minister Li Chengqian is here, so it's not our turn to worry about it. Our top priority is to improve our own strength as quickly as possible."
Fu Liqing nodded: "Yes, we can't intervene now."
Zhao Lin sighed, "What a pity, there are too few people who can be used."
The stall was small before, so he and Sudi could do it alone.
Now that the business is getting bigger and bigger, the disadvantage of having insufficient manpower has emerged.
The main reason is that there are few people who can be trusted.
"You can hire people to handle normal things, but in the military, you can't use anyone unless they're trustworthy."
Zhao Lin pondered as he said, "He must go through layers of assessment to be truly trustworthy. Zhao Chenhan definitely has someone planted around me, and we can't let him discover our secret."
Fu Liqing said, "It's hard to find someone you can trust."
Zhao Lin nodded and said, "Let's think of another way. Your mission is to continue to monitor the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion and tell me immediately if there are any problems."
After Zhao Lin left, Fu Liqing said to Yun Zhiyi, "It's a pity that I'm not a man and can't help my husband."
Yun Zhiyi smiled and said, "If you were a man, you wouldn't be around him."
"That's right." Fu Liqing smiled. "I can't help you with anything else, but we have to get the intelligence right. We have money anyway, so we're not afraid to spend it."
Fu Liqing and Yun Zhiyi used silver to pave the way and forcibly opened a hole in the iron-clad defenses of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, and only then did they find out half of Zhao Chenhan's true identity.
As long as we keep going, we will definitely be able to turn the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion into a sieve.
"We can't just focus on the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion."
Fu Liqing's beautiful eyes shone as she said, "My husband has great ambitions. The Zhenbei Marquisate is only a temporary threat and cannot be considered a major enemy of my husband."
Yun Zhiyi was surprised and asked, "Is there an enemy stronger than the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion?"
Fu Liqing smiled slightly and said, "Of course there is. Otherwise, why would my husband make so many preparations?"
Fu Liqing had some guesses in his mind, but he didn't dare to say them out loud.
Even if the other person is a close friend or now a family member.
Since Zhao Lin came to Qingzhou, he has been thinking of various ways to increase his troops.
It would have been fine if he had only 6,000 soldiers at first, but now it has reached 30,000, and he is still not satisfied, and even wants to expand it to 100,000.
What is Zhao Lin going to do?
Fu Liqing didn't dare to think too deeply about it.
But no matter what Zhao Lin does, Fu Liqing will stand behind him silently and support him.
"By the way, Uncle Yun and the others have returned to Beijing, right?" Fu Liqing asked.
Yun Zhiyi said, "I just arrived. My father has been reinstated, and my eldest brother and younger brothers are back as well."
Yun Zhiyi's family consists of seven people, including his elder brother Yun Heng and younger brother Yun Chuan, who have the same father and mother as him, as well as Yun Shuyan, a daughter born to his aunt.
When Yun Tianming was convicted, Yun Zhiyi and Yun Shuyan entered Chunyi Pavilion, and the others were exiled with Yun Tianming.
Because of Bai Shiyuan's relationship with Yun Zhiyi, no one dared to redeem her, while Yun Shuyan was redeemed and bought away by a wealthy businessman early on.
Fu Liqing pondered, "Your Majesty is in poor health now, the Crown Prince and Prince Yu are fighting fiercely, and the capital is in chaos. Why not let Yun Heng and Yun Chuan come to Qingzhou? What do you think?"
Yun Zhiyi was slightly stunned and said, "You mean to let them come to help my husband? I don't mind, but I'm afraid my father won't agree. He still wants them to take the imperial examination."
Fu Liqing said: "You should ask first. If you want to talk about people who are trustworthy, it should be your own family."
"You're right. How about I go back to the capital myself?"
Yun Zhiyi understood what Fu Liqing meant and said, "It just so happens that I haven't seen my father and his family for a few years, so I'm here to say hello."
"Okay." Fu Liqing said, "I'll send someone to take you back."
Fu Liqing selected a few maids and servants to protect Yun Zhiyi and go back with Anquan at the same time.
Zhao Chenhan has been keeping an eye on Zhao Lin, trying to guard against him doing anything bad.
Security is the imperial envoy who announced the decree. Unless Zhao Chenhan is crazy, he would not take action at this time.
Yun Zhiyi went to Zhao Lin and told him about it, and Zhao Lin readily agreed.
At any time, family members are the most trustworthy.
Of course, this is relative.
Zhao Lin’s main focus is still on increasing the number of troops.
Leaving Su Di in charge of the government office, Zhao Lin took his men away from Qingzhou and headed south on the pretext of inspecting Qingmiaodai.
The strongest type of troops at this stage is cavalry.
To form a cavalry, war horses are the most important thing.
Qingzhou has the two best and largest horse farms in Daqi, but the number of horses is limited. Even if Zhao Lin gave a lot of silver, he could only get 3,000 horses.
Including the horses brought in from various places, the total number was barely ten thousand.
If the 3,000 war horses given to Yang Nantian and Chen Qifeng were not collected from each of them during the bandit suppression, Zhao Lin would not have many left after giving them.
So Zhao Lin had to go to another stable to buy a horse himself.
There are currently seven horse farms in Daqi. In addition to the two in Qingzhou, there is one in the neighboring Ganxi Province.
This is a horse farm that provides horses specifically for the Northwest Frontier Defense Army.
Due to the empty treasury and excessive land annexation, the Ganxi Horse Farm gradually declined.
So when Zhao Lin arrived at Ganxi Horse Farm and said he wanted to buy a horse, He Bowen, the supervisor of Ganxi Horse Farm, and others were ecstatic and immediately warmly entertained Zhao Lin.
Zhao Lin looked at the rich local specialties on the table and said with a smile, "Master He, you are too polite."
"You're welcome," He Bowen said. "I've long heard of Lord Zhao's great name, but I never expected to meet him today. It's truly a great honor. Lord Zhao governed Qingzhou, quelled the rebellion, and even came up with initiatives like the Qingmiao Loan program, helping the people and benefiting the nation. He's truly a role model for our generation. I offer a toast to Lord Zhao."
Zhao Lin quickly said, "I, a junior, dare not trouble you to toast me. I should be the one to toast you."
He Bowen was very satisfied.
No matter what, Zhao Lin kept a low profile.
In terms of rank, Zhao Lin was the fifth-rank prefect of Qingzhou and the fourth-rank general of Xuanwu. He was both civil and military, and had real power.
In terms of background, Zhao Lin is highly valued by Shengjing Prefecture Governor Li Xingye and Minister of Rites Fu Chengwang, and he is also Fu Chengwang's future son-in-law.
Most importantly, the emperor loves Zhao Lin very much.
No matter from which perspective, He Bowen has no right to be arrogant in front of Zhao Lin.
And since Zhao Lin was so humble, even if he definitely had something to ask for, He Bowen was satisfied.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com