After the Gu of the Red Chamber

To say that among the nobles in Beijing, the most famous ones are the four princes and eight princes.

Not only because he is the founding hero, but also because he still has real power.

Even if they are as far away from the court as Rongning and Ningfu, no one said anything when they said they entered the Ministry of Industry, which shows the physical and political power of the four kings and eight princes in the court.

Of course, compared with the four kings, the eight princes are quite secure, but they only occupy a few official positions in the court, while the four kings have military power, except that the former old Beijing King died early, which has caused the military power to fall to the north. King Jing, the three kings of Xining County, Dongping County, and Nan'an County now have troops in their hands.

Although there are big and small ones, they are still quite a force. When he heard that it was the King of Nan'an County who bought the gunpowder, Emperor Pingkang's face turned green.

Tu Lei was puzzled, "What does the Prince of Nan'an want to do?"

In his memory, the king of Nan'an County in his previous life was considered safe, but he didn't have this experience.

However, in my memory, the king of Nan'an County didn't step on for a few years. I remember that it didn't take long for the king of Nan'an County to lose to the Western Fanzi, forcing the court to marry a princess as a dowry. The king of Nan'an County was demoted to the rank of noble, and the military power was also taken back. After that, the king of Nan'an County continued to be the king of the county in peace, but nothing happened.

Tu Lei didn't know the reason, but Emperor Pingkang and Xia Dequan's expressions were really not good.

Emperor Pingkang snorted coldly, and cursed: "I've been dead for so many years, and I'm still restless!"

Tu Lei didn't know the reason, and asked curiously: "Grandfather? But this Nan'an County King...?"

Emperor Pingkang sighed slightly, "The current Nan'an County King is nothing more than that, but the old County King... was accompanied by the uncle who committed a crime back then."

Back then, no one knew that the uncle had been stolen long ago. The late emperor also said that the uncle was a brother, and he would treat him like a prince. In addition to the old county king, there are...

Emperor Pingkang cast a vague glance at Lin Ruhai.

Lin Ruhai's expression changed drastically, and he quickly knelt down and said, "My lord, my father has never been disobedient for many years. Back then... my father really didn't know about the uncle's affairs. If he knew, he would definitely try his best to stop it."

At that time, there were two companions for Uncle Wang, one was the old county king of Nan'an, and the other was Lin Ruhai's father.

When the uncle rebelled, one of the two had been serving as an official in the south of the Yangtze River, and the other had returned to the Nan'an palace early to serve as a prince. They happened to be far away from the capital and did not participate in the events of the year, so they were only slightly affected. , it is difficult to take another step forward, but basically it has not been implicated.

Emperor Pingkang pondered slightly, "Get up, I naturally know the loyalty of your Lin family."

Not to mention that it all happened in the previous generation, besides, Lin's father is gone long ago. Besides, Lin Ruhai is his confidant, and his daughter is brother Lei's fiancée. As long as Lin Ruhai has a little brains, it is impossible for him to betray him. , but the king of Nan'an County...

Emperor Pingkang's face darkened slightly, obviously a bit displeased.

Not to mention that the purchase of gunpowder prescriptions by the King of Nan'an from the Ningguo Mansion is suspicious. In addition, the old King of Nan'an has been rebellious for many years. The deputy's attitude of not wanting to deal with the capital, if it weren't for the military power in his hands, he would have been escorted to the capital long ago.

Among the four kings, apart from the King of Jingjing, the other three kings are in great trouble. Not only do they have military power in their hands, but what's more troublesome is that the three of them are far away from the capital. No matter what he wants to do, he is somewhat cautious.

The kings of Xining County have married people from the royal family for generations. The old county king of Xining knew a little bit of propriety and sent his son back to Beijing to be raised early. The current king of Xining County is also close to Beijing, and he will go to the capital to give New Year's gifts during festivals. , he himself also comes back to Beijing from time to time, and he is also a good friend of Jia Amnesty, so he is quite safe, so let's not mention it for now.

The king of Dongping County controls the naval army, which is not strong in combat. In addition, he has only one daughter under his knees, so he has no successors.

Only the King of Nan'an...

Emperor Pingkang's face darkened, he was really displeased, "Nan'an... If it's him, he really deserves to die!"

Uncle Wang has been dead for so long, and he is still restless. He even killed innocent people in the Jianghuai area.

Lin Ruhai took a look, and saw that Emperor Pingkang was going straight to Nan'an County King. He didn't expect the Lin family to be here, so he was slightly relieved. Although he didn't seem to be affected by the Lin family back then, but only after that period of time Only those who know how hard it is for the Lin family to endure because of the matter of the uncle.

Even after he became an official, his official career was more difficult than ordinary people. If his father had not had the foresight to help him marry the fourth daughter of the Rongguo Mansion, he might not have the opportunity to be the confidant of the Holy One.

"Your Majesty." Xia De showed a look of uneasiness all over his face, and persuaded him: "Let's go back to Beijing as soon as possible."

They wouldn't be afraid of any small thieves, but after all, the king of Nan'an County has the military power, I'm afraid...

He regretted secretly in his heart, if he had known this, he should not have persuaded the Holy One to pay a private visit in a low service in the name of distracting the Holy One.

Emperor Pingkang sighed slightly, "It's impossible for us to make such a big move."

If it really has something to do with the old king of Nan'an, I'm afraid that the old king of Nan'an already knew about their going to Jianghuai. up.

It was also the old king of Nan'an who didn't expect Jia She to sell them so soon, so that he could find out the tricks of the old king of Nan'an. Otherwise, how could they be so leisurely now.

That's all for now, he can guarantee that as long as they make a move to return to the capital, it will be no wonder that the old Nan'an county king doesn't do anything, even if they escape for a while, it will take at least a month's journey from Jianghuai to the capital, and Not to mention that his body and bones can't bear the toss, for such a long period of time, he will be overtaken by Nan'an County King at any time, which is really dangerous.

Emperor Pingkang pondered slightly, he is quite old, so he is not afraid, but brother Lei is still young, it would be a pity if he died here with him.

"My lord." Lin Ruhai bit the bullet and suggested, "I have a proposal."

Emperor Pingkang was noncommittal, "Say!"

Lin Ruhai whispered: "We can't go back by land, what about water?"

Everyone thought for a while, only to hear Lin Ruhai continue: "Your disciple Xue Bian is a child of the Xue family in Jinling, and his father Xue Yuan is a maritime merchant. He actually has a lot of merchant ships under his command. This place is very close to Jinling. Let's turn to Jinling. It’s time to take a boat back to Beijing from Jinling.”

It is also a coincidence that the two brothers of the Xue family specially separated Xue Yuan's branch out for the sake of Brother Tiao. Settled in the capital.

But after Xue Yi passed away, Aunt Xue was just a woman who couldn't support the Xue family at all. Xue Pan was young and too temperamental. Even if he was sent to the academy and learned a little, he was still a poor man in essence. My son, although Xue Baochai is intelligent, she is a daughter after all, and has no right to speak in the clan.

Not only that, when Xue Yi passed away, it happened that Wang Ziteng was in a coma. Without her husband and her family to rely on, Aunt Xue was having a hard time. In desperation, she wrote a letter Ask Xue Yuan for help.

Xue Yuan was also a man of loyalty, so he went back to Xue's house without saying a word. Counting the time, Xue Yuan happened to be in Jinling right now.

According to his guess, the profit of this maritime merchant is too great. No matter what happens to Xue Yuan, it is impossible for Xue Yuan to be willing to sell all the merchant ships in his hand. Those merchant ships are still in port and haven't left yet.

With the wind and the water going smoothly, the waterway is much faster than the land way. The Xue family is also a local snake in the Jinling area. As long as the Xue family helps, it is not difficult to hide their whereabouts. The ship went straight to Tianjin through the open sea, and it only took one day to return to Beijing from Tianjin. As long as they returned to the capital, they would be safe.

Besides, as far as he knows, the Xue family's merchant ship is not an ordinary merchant ship, but a Western merchant ship bought from Spain. It is extremely fast and equipped with cannons. If the king of Nan'an really dares to chase it, I'm afraid it's hard to say who will win and who will lose.

Although Lin Ruhai's suggestion was a bit bold, after Lin Ruhai's analysis, everyone couldn't help but applaud. After all, there are old and young in their profession. If they go back to Beijing by land, not only is it difficult to hide their whereabouts, but it is not so easy to escape. If you go back to Beijing by water, not only is the speed much faster, but everyone's safety is also much higher.

Emperor Pingkang was also a decisive person, so he immediately agreed and said hello, so everyone left Jianghuai overnight and went straight to Jinling.