The Second Master of the Red Chamber

After a moment, the prince rode over and saluted Emperor Ningkang from a distance.

"Father..."

Emperor Ning Kang looked at him coldly. Seeing that the prince avoided his gaze at first, but finally dared to look him in the face, he could not help but shout coldly, "Rebellious son, why are you plotting rebellion!"

The prince originally felt a little ashamed to see Emperor Ningkang, but for some reason, when he saw Emperor Ningkang treating him so coldly and heard him say the word "treason", the long-suppressed resentment and anger in his heart completely erupted.

He laughed, touched the sword at his waist, and said, "Father, why do you ask when you already know the answer? Isn't everything today caused by you, Father?"

The prince's words are full of double meanings.

Emperor Ning Kang narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked, "Where is Chen Zhao?"

The prince smiled even more: "The traitor Chen Zhao actually dared to rebel on the battlefield and tried to instigate me to help the tyrant. He and his followers have been brought to justice by me."

"Father!"

The prince shouted, "Even though Grandpa Huang owes you something, this world was handed over to you by Grandpa Huang himself.

How could your father, as a son, rebel and murder your grandfather because of momentary indignation?

Now, I, your son, have followed the order from Grandpa Emperor and raised an army to protect Him.

Father, your Majesty, your army has now surrounded Tiewang Mountain. I believe that it won’t be long before troops from all directions will arrive to support you.

Now that things have come to this, it would be better for Your Majesty not to put up any futile resistance.

Put down your weapons and admit your mistakes to Grandpa Huang! I will also plead for my father in front of Grandpa Huang. I believe that Grandpa Huang will definitely forgive my father for the sake of our relationship as father and son."

The prince's words made the confidants around Emperor Ning Kang feel uneasy.

Chen Zhao is dead?

  And it seems that the prince has changed sides at the last minute and joined the retired emperor? ?

Emperor Ning Kang's heart sank slightly, and he said coldly: "Rebellious son, do you know what you are doing?"

“Of course I know.

Father, please don't blame me. I just want to prevent you from making more mistakes and stop you from continuing to disobey your father and disrupt the government..."

The prince's words made Emperor Ning Kang increasingly angry.

This kind of anger contains the resentment of being betrayed, but more of it is a kind of helplessness that makes one feel like a hopeless case of being stuck in a rut!

  Think about his plan, how perfect is it?

Since ancient times, a son plotting against his father is a stigma that can never be washed away.

If he was just an emperor who was greedy for power, it would be fine. Let him be stigmatized. As long as he still sits in that position, no one can do anything to him.

But he was an emperor with strong ambitions, or ideals.

The reason why he decided to seize power by force this time was not only because of the oppression he had suffered from the retired emperor for many years, and because of his mother... but more importantly, he wanted to get rid of the shackles as soon as possible so that he could accomplish something great in his lifetime.

  He had already thought about it. The first step after seizing power would be to completely eradicate the many ills left over from the retired emperor in his later years!

Including administration of officials, finance, military system, etc.

The second step was his greatest wish when he was the Prince of Chang and the Crown Prince:

Govern the Wei Dynasty into a country as powerful as the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, and eliminate all surrounding regimes that dare to challenge it.

The main ones are the capricious tribes in the west and south, and the powerful East and West Mongolia in the north.

But then, he had a third step.

Although he originally knew that there were many countries and regimes outside the ocean, he did not take it too seriously.

After all, they were too far away, and they had never heard of a place with a larger territory, a larger population, and a more prosperous society than the Great Wei.

Until a young minister told him that they learned from some devils who had drifted over from the West that there were many small countries in the distant western continent.

Although these countries are small, their military strength has become strong due to many reforms.

They built strong ships and powerful guns, sailed on the oceans, plundering and invading weak nations.

Sooner or later, these foreign devils will set their sights on the rich East.

He did not have too much doubt about this because at that time some foreigners had already arrived in the territory of Wei, and some of them, like the Japanese pirates, were using various means to invade some areas on the southeast coast that the Wei court despised or was unable to control.

So, under the instigation of the young minister, he also had another idea.

Instead of waiting for these robbers to invade, it is better to build a powerful maritime force in advance, patrol the oceans, and deter the world.

As for learning from those Western devils to plunder and invade the territories of foreign continents, Emperor Ning Kang had never thought about it.

Firstly, this would require too much time and too much manpower and material resources. Secondly, China is a great country with a vast territory and abundant resources. Why would it want to commit such acts of robbery?

It is precisely because of these considerations that he does not want to be accused of plotting against his father and being disloyal and unfilial.

That's why he came up with the idea of ​​letting the prince take the blame for him temporarily.

The prince is just the prince after all, and he can make his own decisions about everything.

After this, he only needs to treat the prince coldly for a few years. When everything is settled, he can let the prince come out and admit his mistake to him, and then perform a drama of father and son reconciling their past grudges. The prince will naturally still be the same prince, and there will not be much harm left for him.

As for why the voice of the retired emperor disappeared completely after the crown prince plotted a rebellion, no one in the world would care.

All the people of the retired emperor who died during the period of the prince's rebellion were either labeled as traitors or "heroically sacrificed" to suppress the rebellion. Many years later, the world will only remember that the prince rebelled once because he was young and ignorant, but was suppressed by His Majesty. His Majesty was kind and chose to forgive the prince, and the prince eventually returned to the right path.

In a few years, the prince will inherit a complete and powerful empire from him.

  However, all these plans were abruptly interrupted by this rebellious son at the very first step!

Therefore, he looked at the prince with disappointment in his eyes: "Rebellious son, I have never done anything wrong to you, why is this happening?"

"I'll tell you why!"

An old voice came from outside.

The soldiers of the infantry camp made way for the emperor, and the throne was pushed out.

When he saw the retired emperor, Emperor Ning Kang did not have any big reaction. He just bowed slightly to him on his horse.

The Emperor looked at him straight in the face, and said in his usual tone of admonition, "I told you this morning, if your own son treats you the same way you treat me, how would you treat him?

How does it feel to be betrayed by your loved ones? "

Seeing that Emperor Ningkang did not respond, the Emperor Emeritus continued, "I will now answer your previous question.

  Since you are disloyal and unfilial, and you are afraid of being cursed by the people of the world, so you choose to let the prince bear the infamy?

But have you ever thought that he is the prince and he is also afraid of bearing this infamy.

  Or maybe he is afraid that after he bears the infamy for you, you will abandon him like a worn-out shoe!

After all, you, the prince who is strict by nature, have rarely shown much kindness to him, but have been very kind to your other prince.

  At that time, how can you, a person who betrayed your king and father, make him believe that you will keep your promise, abandon your other princes, and firmly support him, a person with a bad reputation?

In this situation, what do you think he would choose if I ordered him to lead the troops to protect me and promised him the position he deserved? "

The emperor said this with a look of pride on his face.

In fact, he could see that the Third Prince was just a person used by Emperor Ning Kang to train the Crown Prince.

I guess I learned this from him.

In fact, it is not just these two father and son. Many emperors since ancient times have done so to a greater or lesser extent after determining the crown prince.

This would not only check and balance the crown prince, but also serve as a spur to keep him from slacking off.

However, he could see that the prince might not think so.

And even if you can see it, what then?

  Since ancient times, the grindstone has been sharpened into a blade. Are there not many people who have risen to power in the opposite way?

For example, didn't he use Emperor Ning Kang to temper the late crown prince?

Thinking of the deceased former crown prince, and looking at the prince in front of him whom he had chosen with his own hands but who now wanted to go to war with him, the pride in the emperor's heart faded a lot.

After hearing the explanation from the retired emperor, Emperor Ning Kang seemed to understand but felt even more disappointed in his heart.

He looked at the prince and said woodenly, "Is this why you betrayed me? You think I like your third brother more. Do you think I am a fickle person and will abandon you in the future?"

Since the retired emperor has spoken out about everything, everything will be decided based on one's ability, and Emperor Ning Kang has no intention of covering up anything.

Faced with Emperor Ning Kang's questioning, the prince showed a trace of guilt and hesitation.

Just as the retired emperor said, he was actually unwilling from the moment he received this shocking order from Emperor Ning Kang.

He is the crown prince, the heir to the throne. How could he be charged with treason?

Although Emperor Ning Kang told him that this was only a temporary measure and that he would be cleared of his name in the future, he still had doubts in his heart.

But since Emperor Ning Kang gave him the order, he had no other choice.

Later, the emperor's men contacted him.

Not only did he appeal to his emotions and reason with him, he even promised that as long as he could make achievements, he would immediately be made emperor!

This is much more sincere than Emperor Ning Kang’s promise!

The Supreme Emperor has ruled the world for fifty years, and has always been the only one in power.

Since Emperor Ningkang chose to betray him and wanted to force the emperor to abdicate by force, the emperor emeritus naturally would not tolerate him.

Apart from Emperor Ning Kang, naturally no one in the royal family was more legitimate than him.

Moreover, if he helped the emperor to subdue Emperor Ningkang, it would be a great achievement for the emperor. He was also the grandson of the emperor, so the emperor had no reason not to choose him.

Faced with such a great temptation, think about the dark days after taking the blame for Emperor Ning Kang, especially with the third prince eyeing him covetously.

Thinking back to what the Third Prince had done to him over the years with the connivance of Emperor Ning Kang, resentment naturally grew in his heart.

In this case, it is only natural that he would choose to side with the emperor.

With his conviction firmed in his heart, the prince replied: "Father, please stop. Apologize to Grandpa Huang and ask for his forgiveness. Don't let the soldiers shed blood and sacrifice in vain..."

"Dead wood can't be carved!"

Emperor Ningkang was too lazy to listen to the prince's nonsense. He bowed to the emperor emeritus and rode away.

His indifference made the prince, who had not yet finished speaking, feel extremely humiliated. He suddenly mustered up the courage and shouted to the father whom he had never dared to resist: "Father, you dare to say that you don't favor my third brother, then why don't you let my third brother bear this eternal infamy for you?"

In the distance, Emperor Ning Kang paused on his horse, but did not look back. Instead, he rode away at full speed.

The remaining soldiers of the Guards and the Imperial Guards looked at the Infantry and Cavalry camps on the opposite side with vigilance, and quietly retreated to form a formation. (End of this chapter)