"Your Majesty, you just said that I wanted to deliberately provoke you, so that people in the world would misunderstand that you are a tyrant who doesn't care about the relationship between brothers and kills his subjects unjustly? Forgive me for being frank, Your Majesty. As early as thirty-four years ago, you didn't care about the relationship between brothers," Zhong Zhiling turned to Zhong Zhiheng again and said lightly. While looking at Zhong Zhiheng's trembling lips, Zhong Zhiling continued. "As for whether you are a tyrant who killed his subjects unjustly. Your Majesty, didn't your Majesty consider this issue at the time of the major case of the 20th year thirteen years ago?"
"You..." Zhong Zhiheng felt like he couldn't even breathe. He suddenly grabbed Zhong Zhiling's collar and gritted his teeth, "Do you think I really don't dare to kill you?!"
"My brother is the emperor. How can you dare to say anything?" Zhong Zhiling came in front of Zhong Zhiheng and looked at him without blinking. "Isn't it true that even the crown prince can be deposed and killed by my brother? What about me, my brother?"
"Why? Are you feeling bad?" Zhong Zhiheng sneered. "So you rushed all the way from Mobei to the capital. Just to bring him to justice?"
"I feel bad for him." Zhong Zhiling stretched out his hand and pushed Zhong Zhiheng away, turning his head away. After a while, he said silently, "I feel bad for how my brother became like this today."
Zhong Zhiheng was stunned. He had never expected Zhong Zhiling to say this, and he didn't react for a while. The two were silent when they heard footsteps coming from outside, and then saw Zhao Ruhai coming in with a tray and respectfully serving tea to the two. In front of Zhong Zhiheng was Mengding Shihua, and in front of Zhong Zhiling was Taiping Houkui.
"Eunuch Zhao," Zhong Zhiling called to Zhao Ruhai who was about to leave, "Please go to the Cining Palace and tell the Queen Mother that I had lunch at my brother's place and will not be going over for the time being."
"Yes, I obey your command." Zhao Ruhai agreed immediately, then bowed and left.
"Brother, I have two reasons for coming to the capital this time." After taking a sip of tea, Zhong Zhiling placed the cup on the small table and looked at Zhong Zhiheng. "First, to celebrate mother's birthday. Second, there may be a big turmoil in southern Xinjiang. After thinking it over, I think it is better to come to the capital in person to report to you, brother."
When Zhong Zhiheng heard him mention Southern Xinjiang, his heart skipped a beat. He had already noticed that something was wrong in Southern Xinjiang, so he sent Dai Jingfeng to investigate in person. Now there is no news yet, but Zhong Zhiling mentioned Southern Xinjiang as soon as he opened his mouth.
Zhong Zhiheng also put down his teacup and looked at Zhong Zhiling: "You say."
"My dear brother, I am stationed in Mobei all year round, but my jurisdiction extends from Mobei to Qinghai, so I can be considered to have some connections with Southern Xinjiang. Around the beginning of May, one of my subordinates reported to me that people from Southern Xinjiang were often causing chaos in Qinghai. This was not a big deal, as there were many foreign tribes in Southern Xinjiang and frictions were frequent. However, some people from Southern Xinjiang were so blind that they wanted to take the army's food and fodder. So I asked my subordinates to investigate, and within a few days, I got some great news," Zhong Zhiling took a sip of tea and looked at Zhong Zhiheng with a serious expression. "My dear brother, guess what? Those people from Southern Xinjiang who were causing chaos in Qinghai were actually prisoners of war who escaped from the Southern Xinjiang camp. I have also heard about the encirclement and suppression of several foreign tribes by the Southern Xinjiang camp this time, and I thought of executing them directly. However, in order to save their lives, those prisoners of war from Southern Xinjiang told me a shocking secret."
Zhong Zhiheng's eyebrows sternly asked, "Is it related to Xu Chengjin?"
"That's right," Zhong Zhiling nodded, and continued, "I don't know what General Xu wrote in the war report to the court, but from the captives, I learned that this time the Southern Xinjiang camp wiped out a total of 17 small tribes. Now those small tribes have been included in the jurisdiction of the Southern Xinjiang camp. Among them, 60,000 young and strong men have been forced to wear the battle uniforms of the Southern Xinjiang camp soldiers. Now those captives have been brought to the capital by me, and are now outside the palace. Your Majesty can summon them at any time."
Zhong Zhiheng silently clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, "We have swallowed up eleven tribes without telling the court. This has not only expanded our position, but also increased our military strength! Good! Very good!"
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