Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 403 The Chang and Lan families share honor and disgrace!

Changfu.

The banquet is over.

Lan Yu went back with the two brothers Chang Mao and Chang Sheng.

As for the monument that His Majesty mentioned, the three of them were very concerned. Chang Mao and Chang Sheng were not very concerned about themselves. They did not make many contributions in the army. Even if their names were really on the monument, they would probably be marginal ones. What they really cared about was their father Chang Yuchun.

Lan Yu also cares about her brother-in-law.

Sitting in the lobby.

A maid brought tea.

Lan Yu drank it in big gulps, rinsed his mouth, and said, "Once your majesty came up with the idea of ​​erecting a monument, I'm afraid many military officers in the court will be tempted, and veterans like Feng Sheng and Fu Youde will be tempted. These people have high status in the court and have a lot of say in the army. I'm worried that these people will exaggerate their achievements."

Chang Sheng nodded and said, "It's not impossible."

"It's mainly because my father died too early, otherwise why would he worry about these people?"

"But no matter what, my father is still a brother to Your Majesty. Your Majesty will not let my father fall behind these veterans no matter what he does. The only problem is that these veterans have accumulated a lot of military merits over the years. To a certain extent, their achievements have surpassed my father's."

"Especially since His Majesty clearly intends to send troops against Naha."

"If we let these two veterans lead the troops and let them gain military merit, I'm afraid they will really ride on our heads."

Chang Sheng's eyes were a little gloomy.

As a son, he naturally wanted to win more honors for his deceased father. However, Chang Yuchun was dead after all. No matter how hard he tried, he could no longer fight in the battlefield and make merit. Other living generals could continue to make achievements. As time went by, his father would only become more and more marginalized.

The higher Chang Yuchun's status, the more benefits his descendants will also receive.

If it were before, they could still count on the Crown Princess, but unfortunately their sister was short-lived and died when giving birth to the third child, and the original eldest grandson also died young. Although His Highness has not appointed a new queen, there are officials in the court who have been advocating for it.

This put Chang under great pressure.

He and his brother Chang Mao did not have much talent in fighting, at least compared with Lan Yu and Zhu Di, they had no advantage at all. Their only advantage was that they were very close to His Majesty and His Highness in the past, but this closeness was now constantly weakening.

Now their Chang family is tied to Lan Yu.

He could only rely on Lan Yu's power to continue to maintain the prosperity of the Chang family and prevent the Chang family from falling too far.

There was a flash of hostility in Lan Yu's eyes. He didn't have any opinion about these veterans, but he didn't like the fact that someone was above him. Although Fu Youde and Feng Sheng were indeed very capable militarily, he never thought that they could surpass him. It was just that he had never had the opportunity to fight with a large army.

And this time.

He really wanted to lead troops into battle.

However, considering His Majesty's intention, he may not necessarily let himself lead the troops alone. If so, he would lose a lot of opportunities to make merit. As a military general, he is naturally very interested in things like erecting monuments. Who doesn't want his name to be admired by future generations?
You know, even now, there are people praising Huo Qubing.

He hopes he can do the same.

The reason he came this time was to discuss with the Chang family whether they should jointly seek an audience with the prince, let the prince make arrangements for them, and let him lead the troops, so as to publicize General Chang Yuchun and at the same time gain military merit for himself. Although he was reckless, he was not stupid.

This behavior is very dangerous. If the Crown Prince is dissatisfied, it will probably make His Highness feel disgusted.

So he was a little undecided.

At the same time, he also wanted to test His Highness's attitude and see how much affection His Highness still had for the Chang family, or whether His Highness still remembered the old times and still remembered the Chang family's kindness. Then, with His Highness's strong push and the support of many generals in the army, he should be able to get the qualification to lead the troops.

But if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's feelings fade, he will have to think more about himself.

Today, His Highness is becoming closer and closer to scholars.

Chang Mao hesitated for a moment and said, "But in the palace, His Majesty said that he wanted to rectify military discipline. What does Uncle Lan think about this?"

Lan Yu sneered and didn't take it seriously at all. He said, "Why bother watching those things in a war? As long as you can win, everything you do is right. If you can't win, no matter how many scenes you do, it's all in vain. Many times, the so-called violation of military discipline is also to motivate the soldiers!"

Chang Mao said anxiously, "My nephew doesn't think so."

"Your Majesty has indeed reiterated his orders many times in the past, but never as solemnly as this time. I always feel that Your Majesty has some hidden meaning, and Your Majesty's thoughts are hard to guess. I think it is better to be careful, at least not to give rise to gossip."

Lan Yu glanced at Chang Mao and remained silent.

Chang Sheng stopped Chang Mao and said, "None of this is important now. What's important is the ranking of the military commanders in your Majesty's mind. This is very important. Although there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts, this first place is destined to be famous throughout the world and even go down in history. As for the strong candidates, I still think that they can only be my father and the King of Zhongshan. The contributions of others may be great, but they are unlikely to surpass us. Even if someone wants to surpass us, I think your Majesty will not agree."

"My father charged into battle, climbed the mountain first, and captured the most flags."

"He killed countless enemies and was so brave on the battlefield that he frightened everyone. Even the Yuan army was terrified when they heard about him."

"However, the King of Zhongshan lived longer and made more contributions, so I would like to ask my uncle to speak more to Your Majesty on my father's behalf, so that when my father's tombstone is erected, you can take more care of him and let the literati say a few more good words about him."

But when it comes to asking writers to speak more highly of him, Chang Sheng doesn't feel very confident.

His father has never been welcomed by intellectuals.

Some say that his father murdered people, some say that he killed those who surrendered, and some say that he was violent. Even when his father was alive, he was often criticized by those civil servants. Now, I am afraid that those literati will be even more unscrupulous.

Lan Yu sneered and said, "Don't worry, Chang's affairs are my business. I am here. If that civil servant dares to gossip, I will pull out his tongue. If they dare to say bad things about my brother-in-law, I will see if their bodies can bear it."

Lan Yu didn't take it to heart at all.

He has never had any good feelings towards literati, and he doesn't know how to restrain himself. He always uses his fists to fight back against anyone who provokes him. Because of this, over the years, he has rarely heard of civil servants impeaching him.

Lan Yu also said: "I just want to go to the palace to see Your Highness. When the time comes, please ask Your Highness to speak to His Majesty on my behalf and let me lead the troops in the battle against Nahachu and Beiyuan. Otherwise, our two families will always be too passive."

Chang Sheng nodded and said with a smile: "It should be so."

"Our Chang family and the Lan family are one, so how can there be any distinction between us?"

"We should advance and retreat together."

In addition to Lan Yu, Chang Sheng and others who were thinking about gaining greater fame for themselves, other generals also discussed privately after returning home. After all, no one could refuse such a thing of leaving a good reputation, and they were all fascinated by it.

(End of this chapter)