Chapter 17: Carrying a tripod is just a child's play

The soldiers sent to Zhuozhou to besiege the sons of the Prince of Yan were all sent from the capital. When they failed to accomplish their mission, they returned to the capital one after another. There were quite a few of them, so what happened in Peking quickly spread.

At that time, most official reports were vague and generally did not record specific details. Rumors in the world were almost entirely spread by word of mouth.

Oral storytellers usually say something shocking, and in order to make their stories more attractive and to impress the audience with their eloquence, they will inevitably add some embellishments. Even if they add a little embellishment at a time, after being recounted several times, it is often far from the truth.

What Huang Zicheng heard was the version that had been retelled many times. In the story, Gaoyang Prince Zhu Gaoxu had become a person with superhuman strength, and Xiang Yu felt inferior to him, and carrying the tripod was just child's play.

There was a story about the Prince of Gaoyang who escaped because of a murder in the capital, and the court sent thousands of troops to chase him. As a result, the Prince of Gaoyang fought alone against thousands of officers and soldiers. There was also a story about a man who lifted a wounded horse with one hand and threw it through a mile-wide forest... There were many stories, which seemed to be true but not true. At first glance, they sounded like jokes, but at the same time, some of them seemed to have happened.

At that time, many people in the capital who did not know the truth had already determined that Zhu Gaoxu, the grandson of Taizu, was the most powerful general since the founding of the Ming Dynasty! "Prince Gaoyang lifted the horse with one hand" and "Prince Gaoyang fought against thousands of troops alone" were the most popular stories, mainly because they were exciting!

Precisely because the rumors were not entirely fabricated, those knowledgeable civil and military officials, even if they did not completely believe the rumors, believed that Zhu Gaoxu was a great martial arts expert.

The latter is the most terrible statement because it will reach the emperor's ears!

Rumors stop at the wise, so we must find a solution as soon as possible. Huang Zicheng walked into the corridor of the imperial city, thinking about it, feeling miserable and overwhelmed.

At this juncture, the emperor's trusted ministers were already planning the specific strategies and steps to deal with the King of Yan. But now he let such a powerful man go, and missed an opportunity to weaken the King of Yan. Who would the emperor blame?

...And the weirdest thing about Huang Zicheng is Xu Huizu!

Damn it, that day, in order to persuade His Majesty to bring back the sons of Prince Yan, Xu Huizu made a lot of extravagant remarks in front of several ministers, saying that they were cunning and resourceful, unparalleled in bravery, both civil and military, and even more powerful than a tiger. Huang Zicheng could remember a lot of these words alone.

In Xu Huizu's words, the Prince Gaoyang, who was in his teens and hadn't even fully grown his facial hair, was even more powerful than the Prince of Yan?

Now that he has been released, will His Majesty blame Huang Zicheng in his heart? When discussing how to deal with the sons of the Prince of Yan that day, Huang Zicheng, the top counselor, did not say a word after all.

Huang Zicheng doesn’t care who to blame, he only cares about whether he will fall out of favor.

Huang Zicheng came to the imperial gate with a heavy heart. When the emperor arrived, Qi Tai, Xu Huizu, Li Jinglong and other ministers had already come to the imperial gate. When Huang Zicheng knelt down to pay his respects, he could not help but turn his head slightly and looked at Xu Huizu who was also kneeling down with great displeasure, his eyes full of dissatisfaction.

After the ceremony, Xu Huizu stepped forward and bowed, "The people I sent failed to capture the sons of the Prince of Yan. I was at fault. Please punish me, Your Majesty. However, the people who went to Beiping did successfully find the sons of the Prince of Yan. This was the plan of Qu Neng, the commander-in-chief of Sichuan. If it weren't for the extraordinary bravery of Prince Gaoyang, this would not have happened. Therefore, I was at fault, and General Qu was meritorious."

Zhu Yunwen said in a thin voice, "The second son of the Prince of Yan is indeed extraordinary. Duke Wei has done his best in this matter. I will not punish him any more." He paused for a moment and then said, "Wu Zhong, after the morning court tomorrow, you go see Qu Neng and ask him to stay."

"I obey your command."

At this time, Cao Guogong Li Jinglong said, "Your Majesty, I would like to make a report."

Huang Zicheng glanced sideways and noticed Li Jinglong following the voice. He had a good impression of Li Jinglong.

Li Jinglong was born in a family of generals. His father, Li Wenzhong, Duke of Cao, was a capable general under Emperor Taizu and a founding general. As the son of a great general, Li Jinglong himself often studied the art of war. As the descendant of such a famous general, Li Jinglong was well-read in poetry and literature, and had great literary talent!

A man of both civil and military talents is just like this.

The key point is that many veteran generals advocated the effeminate, ineffective and procrastinating "Enfeoffment Law", but Li Jinglong supported "cutting down the feudal lords". This was simply supporting Huang Zicheng's own proposition, providing timely support.

Therefore, the more Huang Zicheng looked at Li Jinglong, the more he liked him. Li Jinglong was tall and handsome. Although Jinglong was a military commander, he was not like some other military commanders who were sloppy and hairy... For example, the two men from the Xu family of Duke Wei, Xu Huizu was just a peasant, and Xu Zengshou was just a local tycoon who got rich overnight.

Jinglong was neatly trimmed, well-dressed, and had neat hair and beard. He looked clean and tidy, and was very comfortable to look at. His manners were also very graceful and elegant, and he was very elegant, which was the style of a royal noble.

At this time, the emperor's voice said, "Duke Cao, please feel free to speak."

Li Jinglong was not in a hurry. He clasped his fists and bowed calmly, "Your Majesty, it is true that the Gaoyang King is strong, but he is only brave and has no strategy. Why should we be afraid of him? Even if the Gaoyang King can fight a hundred people alone, how can he fight a million people?"

Jinglong took a breath and said, "Duke Wei, are you exaggerating too much? Throughout history, how many famous generals who can plan and lead armies relied on their courage to charge into battle?"

Good! Well said! Huang Zicheng almost shouted when he heard this.

Finally someone spoke clearly! In this case, what was wrong with Huang Zicheng for not saying anything that day when he let go of a brave but unwise prince? As a so-called minister of state, he worries about the world and controls major policies. How can he be comprehensive about every insignificant matter?

Huang Zicheng calmed down and thought about it, and he was convinced that the emperor would definitely listen to Li Jinglong's words.

Huang Zicheng is always by the emperor's side, so he knows the emperor better. The current emperor doesn't want those people with ulterior motives to blame the emperor for everything... Some ministers just like to shirk responsibility and say it's the emperor's intention.

The one who personally said that the prince of Yan's sons were sent away that day was indeed the emperor. However, since Li Jinglong said so, the emperor was not wrong.

As expected, Zhu Yunwen immediately said, "Duke Cao is right."

Huang Zicheng heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. He secretly looked at Xu Huizu again, and saw that he looked like he had just swallowed a lump of filth, his face was red from holding it in, but he didn't dare to say a word.

At this moment, the emperor stood up from the throne and said, "I have something else to do."

Several ministers knelt down and saluted, shouting, "Long live the emperor, we respectfully send him off."

After the emperor left the imperial gate, Wu Zhong came out and asked Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai to come in to discuss matters. It must be another plan for Beiping. Huang Zicheng has been thinking hard about the strategy for the past few months and has no guilty conscience.

Then the civil and military officials in the imperial gate each had their own things to do and left one after another.