Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 43: Alone and helpless
The original fifteen people, plus the thirty people added now, including Nanny Feng, Eunuch Li and Nanny Kong, make a total of forty-eight people.

There was also Liu Sanshi who was recuperating from his injuries, and there were a total of forty-nine people serving him.

It seems like a lot, but when Mrs. Sheng was a girl, she had more than 30 people serving her.

She was just a legitimate daughter of a marquis, while Zhao Xing was the crown prince.

It’s only because they haven’t moved to the East Palace yet, otherwise there would be one or two hundred people.

The move has been decided, but Zhao Xing doesn't need to worry about it.

Although he was named the crown prince, due to his age, he did not need to attend the morning court, and he still focused on studying, which was not much different from before.

However, there are some changes. There are more teachers in Zishan Hall.

In the past, the only people who taught Zhao Xing were the Prime Minister Han Zhang and the Hanlin scholar Hai Wenyou.

Han Zhang is very busy and has limited class time, so Hai Wenyou is the main person in charge.

After the prince was enthroned, his father arranged for several great scholars, including the Minister of Rites Shen Xianggong, and the Minister of Personnel Pang Xianggong, to take turns teaching him.

In the past, during class, he always performed the student salute to Han Zhang and Hai Wenyou, and the two of them would salute afterwards.

Now it became that they performed the ritual of monarch and subject first, and then Zhao Xing performed the ritual of student.

Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teachers. Before the crown prince is appointed as the crown prince, the princes are still subjects, and they are the teachers who impart knowledge.

But now that Zhao Xing is the king, the situation is naturally reversed.

Zhao Xing attended classes for a few days and moved into his new home.

After school that day, Zhao Xing went to pay his respects to Queen Cao first, and then excitedly came to Yongning Palace.

Although he usually practices martial arts here every day, it is still different from moving here to live.

After officially moving here to live, Zhao Xing also had permanent guards.

The emperor mobilized three battalions of imperial guards, who took three shifts to guard the Yongning Palace day and night.

According to the military system of the Song Dynasty, there was a commander for every hundred men, and a commander-in-chief for every five men.

The three battalions protecting Zhao Xing were led by the Cao brothers and Fang Zhongrong, the eldest son of Marquis of Qingyuan.

Although Marquis Qingyuan did not appear in the original drama, he is no simple figure.

My ancestors were granted the title of nobility for their meritorious service during the reign of Emperor Taizong, and they were both nobles and military men.

Among the Marquis's mansions in Bian Jing, it is not much worse than the Marquis's mansion in Ningyuan.

However, the current Marquis of Qingyuan has been defending against the Liao Kingdom in the north and is not in Beijing.

After Zhao Xing moves into the Eastern Palace, these people will follow him to the Eastern Palace.

Zhao Xing also saw the palace maids and eunuchs carefully selected by Empress Cao. These palace maids were all fifteen or sixteen years old and very beautiful.

To be able to enter the palace as a maid, besides a clean family background, appearance is also an important factor.

In ancient times, the emperors' concubines were mainly selected from the families of nobles and civil officials, as well as from selected concubines and palace maids. How could they not be beautiful?

It has to be said that there was a reason why there were so many incompetent rulers in ancient times. It was normal for them to be incompetent since they grew up in such an environment of luxury and debauchery.

Given Zhao Xing's status, these palace maids could be said to be completely at his disposal.

Of course, at his age, he can only think about it.

In the main hall of Yongning Palace, Zhao Xing sat in the main seat and asked someone to call in Fang Zhongrong who was on duty.

After a while, Fang Zhongrong, wearing armor, followed Sanshui into the hall.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Fang Zhongrong bowed.

"No need to be polite, please take a seat." Zhao Xing waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Upon hearing this, the eunuch standing in the hall hurriedly brought a soft stool over.

After expressing his gratitude, Fang Zhongrong sat down, but he was thinking in his heart what Zhao Xing wanted him to do.

He has been on duty in the Eastern Palace for a few days, and this is the first time Zhao Xing has come to see him.

"I heard that Commander Fang has a younger sister who just came of age not long ago, and is currently discussing marriage, but has it not been decided yet?" Zhao Xing said. After being crowned the crown prince, he could no longer call himself "I" as before.

In fact, Zhao Xing should have called himself "this prince" before, but he felt awkward and kept calling himself "I".

When you become the crown prince, you have to call yourself "Gu". You will have an attendant following you every day and you must be careful about your words and actions.

The name "Qijulang" seems to be responsible for the daily life of the prince, but in fact he is responsible for recording the prince's every word and action.

There were such people around the emperor, and after the emperor's death, all the records would be compiled into history.

The attendant would record what he did and said every day, even who he slept with at night, and would also remind him of any mistakes he made.

Zhao Xing was not used to calling himself "Gu" at first, but the attendant beside him would remind him and reason with him when he heard it, just like Tang Monk chanting sutras.

After a while, Zhao Xing got used to it.

"Your Highness, my sister has indeed just reached the age of marriage and is currently discussing marriage."

Fang Zhongrong was confused and didn't understand what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince meant by asking this.

Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has taken a fancy to his sister?

But he quickly dismissed the idea, as the Crown Prince was only seven or eight years old, and his sister was already fifteen.

"I have a cousin who is nineteen years old and still unmarried. I would like to find a matchmaker for them. What do you think?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.

As he learned more about the situation within the court over the years, Zhao Xing felt more and more that it was too difficult to eliminate those accumulated problems.

However, there is one thing Zhao Xing is very clear about: he must control the military power.

Political power comes from the barrel of a gun. This saying never goes out of date.

The daughter of the Duke of England is his future Crown Princess, and Gu Tingye is his study partner, and they have developed enough loyalty to each other over the years.

If he could get his cousin to marry the daughter of the Fang family, he would win over three influential nobles in the army.

In fact, the family Zhao Xing most wanted to win over was the Zheng family of the Marquis Zhongjing Mansion.

In the original drama, after Zhao Zongquan ascended the throne, he arranged for Queen Shen's sister to be married to the Marquis Zhongjing's Mansion in order to win over the Zheng family.

This shows how great the Zheng family's influence is in the military.

Zheng's ancestors were Emperor Taizong's confidants before he ascended the throne. After he ascended the throne, he promoted him to the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front, in charge of the palace guards, which shows how much trust they had in him.

It was only because the previous Marquis Zhongjing died of illness a few years ago and the eldest son who inherited the title was still young, otherwise the Zheng family's influence in the military would be greater than that of the Gu family.

Unfortunately, there are only two brothers in the Zheng family of this generation, and there is no suitable candidate.

"Your Highness, marriage is always a matter of parents' decision. I cannot make the decision on this matter. I need to go back and report to my mother." Fang Zhongrong said.

Zhao Xing smiled and said, "That's as it should be. When you get back from your duty, ask your mother and she will tell me. That's all I'm saying. It's up to her and the Marquis of Qingyuan to decide whether they agree or not."

"I've made note of that." Fang Zhongrong said.

Just listen to this, if you take it seriously you will lose.

……

After Fang Zhongrong finished his shift, he returned home and went straight to the yard where his mother was.

The imperial court did not prohibit ministers and generals from bringing their families with them when they took up their posts.

However, generals at the border were not allowed to bring all their families with them in order to prevent the generals from surrendering easily, so the Fang family members all stayed in Bian Jing.

"Mother!" Fang Zhongrong saluted.

"Rong'er is back, please sit down and talk." Cheng said with a smile.

After Fang Zhongrong sat down, he said, "Mother, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince met with his son alone today."

"What does His Highness want to see you about?" Cheng asked.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that he wanted to find a match for my third sister and wanted her to marry the eldest son of the Right Counselor." After Fang Zhongrong finished speaking, he repeated Zhao Xing's last words to his mother.

Cheng was able to become the mistress of the marquis's mansion and her family background was not bad, so naturally she would not take Zhao Xing's words seriously.

He pondered for a moment and said, "The Zhu family is the uncle's family of the prince's biological mother, and they are a good match for your third sister. But your uncle had a bad reputation as an official before, and your Highness had to use some tricks to make him behave himself. It's hard to say whether accepting this marriage is a blessing or a curse."

(End of this chapter)