Comprehensive Martial Arts: Relying on Pili Martial Arts to Achieve Dimensionality Reduction Attack

Chapter 73: Kings, Princes, Generals and Ministers
Late at night, Hulong Villa.

Because the recruitment meeting was imminent, all the staff in the village were working day and night, and even now when the hour of Hai was almost over, they dared not slack off in the slightest.

In the study, Zhu Wusi summoned the three spies of Tiandixuan and listened to their work reports over the past two days.

"As of today, there are a total of 132 people who have signed up to participate in the competition, 18 of whom are from the Five Mountains and Seven Sects, 67 are from small sects, and the rest are all independent people!"

"Because of this recruitment conference, there were too many people from the underworld gathering in the capital. In just three days, a lot of troubles occurred, causing complaints from the people of the capital."

"Fortunately, no one has been killed so far."

"Among the troublemakers, there are a few unfamiliar faces who have never appeared in the underworld before. We need to investigate their origins."

"..."

After an incense stick of time, the three of them finally finished their report and started talking about business.

"Godfather, Tianya never understands. Shouldn't the four secret agents of Hulong Villa be recruited in secret? Why did they do something like 'open recruitment' this time?"

Zhu Wusi pretended to be in a difficult position, put his hands behind his back, sighed, and said, "Actually, I don't agree with this matter, but it's what the emperor wants to do, and as a subject, I can only do it."

As soon as these words were spoken, Duan Tianya, Gui Hai Yidao and Shangguan Haitang in the middle of the room were all surprised.

"This matter actually caught the emperor's attention?"

Zhu Wushi nodded, was silent for a while, and suddenly asked: "Do you know the origin of 'Hulong Villa'?"

The three of them didn't know why Zhu Wusi suddenly mentioned this, and looked at each other for a moment.

Without waiting for their answer, Zhu Wusi began to explain: "When the Suzaku Dynasty was established, Emperor Taizu specially established the 'kings, princes, generals and ministers' system."

"This system aims to select four people who are absolutely loyal to the royal family, have outstanding abilities, and have made great contributions to the court. Let them each control an organization to balance the conflict between the court and the martial arts world."

"These four people who were selected not only have absolute control over the organizations they are responsible for, but in special times, they can also use the power of the organizations to directly 'clean up the emperor's side' and 'eliminate treacherous officials'."

"It can be said that these four people and the organizations they control are the eyes, ears and hands of the royal family."

"The system of 'kings, princes, generals and ministers' has continued since then, and the four organizations under them have evolved into the current 'East and West Factories', 'Hulong Villa', 'Six Gates' and 'Jinyiwei'."

"Among the four forces, our Hulong Villa is the most special one!"

"The leaders of the other three organizations, namely the 'king', 'general' and 'prime minister', can all be selected from officials, talented people and even eunuchs. Only the 'marquis' who controls the Hulong Villa is always a relative of the royal family."

"For example, the previous Purple Robe Marquis who was in charge of 'Hulong Villa', according to seniority, I should call him Uncle Wang."

This information was public throughout the Suzaku Dynasty. Duan Tianya and the other two had known about it for a long time, but they didn't know why Zhu Wusi suddenly brought this up.

"To the imperial court and the martial arts world, including our leaders, the four organizations, from top to bottom, inside and outside, are all 'hawks' raised by the royal family; but in the eyes of the emperor... they are not!"

Not to mention Duan Tianya and Shangguan Haitang, even Gui Hai Yidao, who usually had a cold and unshakable face, showed a strange look on his face when he heard this.

Zhu Wusi continued, "We are not pawns that can be summoned and sent away at will, but rather a weapon that can threaten his throne."

"Godfather, where do you get this from?" Shangguan Haitang asked.

"Because when the system of 'kings, princes, generals and ministers' was established, Taizu once issued a secret decree that if the ruler of the future generations is cruel and unjust, arrogant and extravagant, and unbecoming of a ruler, then these four people can depose the mediocre emperor and establish a new one!"

what? !

There is such a thing?! Is it possible for us, a mere spy, to hear such news?
The three of them looked at each other and saw the deep shock in each other's eyes.

"From the moment this secret decree was issued, only the emperor and the original 'kings, princes, generals and ministers' knew about it. The secret decree itself was written in four copies and handed to those four people, and then passed down from generation to generation."

Duan Tianya felt his throat dry: "Foster father, why did you tell these things to the children? Especially at this time..."

"Could these things have anything to do with the spy recruitment conference that the emperor ordered to be held this time?"

Zhu Wusi did not directly answer Duan Tianya's question, but continued to ask questions.

"Do you know who the current 'kings, princes, generals and ministers' are?"

For a spy, mastering intelligence is the most important skill, so Duan Tianya gave the answer without thinking.

"The 'Marquis' who controls Hulong Villa is naturally my adoptive father; the 'General' is Mr. Yangming, who once suppressed the Ning Wang Rebellion and is now the Minister of War; as for the 'Prime Minister', it is the chief minister of the cabinet, Prime Minister Yan Song."

Zhu Wusi nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, what about the 'king'?"

Duan Tianya was stunned for a moment, because in his impression, there was no "king" in the court now.

"Godfather, the position of 'king' does not seem to exist..."

"some!"

Duan Tianya was suddenly interrupted by someone nearby. It was Shangguan Haitang.

She said in a clear voice: "Many years ago, there was a man who was rewarded with the title of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince for his meritorious service in saving the emperor. Later, he fought in many battles and pacified foreign lands, and was named 'King of One Word Shoulder to Shoulder'!"

"That man is one of the famous 'Four Heroes' in the martial arts world, the 'Scholar Hero' Shi Yanwen!"

Zhu Wusi smiled with satisfaction: "Haitang is right. The king in the current 'kings, princes, generals and ministers' is Shi Yanwen; and the prince at that time is the emperor today!"

Compared with his fame in the martial arts world, Shi Yanwen's achievements in the imperial court can only be said to be insignificant, so few people knew that he had this relationship. It was only because Shangguan Haitang was knowledgeable and had a good memory that he could think of him in such a short time.

"But foster father, I remember that Shi Yanwen had already resigned from his post and left the court, didn't he?"

"So, the 'king' in 'kings, princes, generals and ministers' is now only in name only..."

Zhu Wusi sighed heavily, while the other three took a breath of cold air.

They already understood what Zhu Wusi wanted to say.

"The previous 'king' was Zheng He, the 'King of Yanping', who had made seven voyages to the West and brought back countless overseas products. Since his death, the throne has been vacant."

"Zheng He died unexpectedly at sea during his last voyage, and the secret decree was probably not successfully passed down."

"Later, Shi Yanwen showed up just to fill the vacancy for the sake of appearances. And because he left the court soon after that, he had no chance to get in touch with the contents of the secret decree."

"If my guess is correct, the secret decree passed down by successive 'kings' has already fallen into the hands of the late emperor and has been hidden in the royal treasury."

Hearing this, Shangguan Haitang looked a little strange.

No wonder there are rumors that Shi Yanwen resigned because he was too close to the late emperor, and the Queen Mother of the West Palace was jealous and sent assassins to kill Shi Yanwen...

I knew that such outrageous unofficial history was absolutely unreliable!
(End of this chapter)