Chapter 466 Donkey and Carrot

The one who delivered the imperial edict was Fan Honghui, the second son of the current Duke Jingguo, who was also the deputy commander-in-chief appointed by the emperor this time.

Duke Jingguo once followed the current emperor to pacify the world and was the emperor's brother who shared life and death with him. He was also seriously injured when he blocked an assassin's poisonous arrow for the emperor. As a result, his hands and feet were paralyzed and half of his body could not move. Now he needs to rely on a wheelchair to move around.

Duke Jingguo has two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Fan Hongyu, is currently the Minister of Revenue, in charge of the emperor's money. The second son, Fan Honghui, is in charge of the capital's imperial guards, protecting the emperor's safety. Even his daughter, Fan Jinglan, has the right to enter and leave the palace at will. She is deeply loved by the empress dowager and has the same status as a princess.

It can be said that the emperor not only trusted Duke Jingguo's family, but also doted on them.

At this time, the emperor sent Fan Honghui to the Western Frontier Army as the commander of the wing. Nominally to assist, but in fact he wanted to take over the Western Frontier Army that his family had worked so hard to build.

An Leiting's expression became increasingly ugly.

His hair had already turned a lot grayer because of An Jingzhong's incident. He couldn't eat or sleep because of worrying day and night, so his body looked a little hunched, and he looked even more listless at this moment.

So much so that when he received the order, his voice was hoarse and his movements were slow, giving the impression of being very old.

idiot!

Fan Honghui curled the corners of his mouth.

Putting aside the fact that it is the father's fault if the son is not well educated, since An Jingzhong is like this, An Leiting should also examine his own mistakes. What are the things that An Jingzhong has done that you, as a father, don't know?

And now he has become like this. As a father, as a commander of a wing, and as a subject, he should be loyal to his duties and do his duty.

Who are you trying to show off to by being so self-pitying and exposing your weaknesses?

If a mere commander is like this, how can the morale of the entire Western Frontier Army be maintained?

Moreover, even if you are the commander of the wing, even if the legitimate son will be beheaded immediately, you are still a subject of the emperor, and it is your duty to be loyal to the country. If you have two minds...

No wonder the emperor was in a hurry to send him here.

The Western Frontier Army needs to be reorganized.

Fan Honghui looked down on An Leiting, but he still had to say what he had to say, "Since I will be working with the Wing Commander in the future, and the Wing Commander will also be my superior, there are many things I will not hide."

"The emperor has also received many memorials impeaching the Anxiang commander, detailing his various crimes and faults. If the emperor really wants to investigate, I'm afraid there will be one more person in the capital's prison."

"To be precise, the emperor is a sentimental man, and he still remembers the great contributions made by Commander Anxiang over the years, so he gave him a chance to make up for his crime."

"After all, Master An will not be executed until April next year. In such a long period of time, it is hard to guarantee that something unexpected will happen. Whether or not to seize this opportunity depends entirely on Commander An."

After Fan Honghui said these words, he glanced at An Leiting.

When An Leiting heard this, he suddenly had an idea.

Does this mean that An Jingzhong can still be saved?

An Leiting's cloudy eyes brightened up a little. After thinking for a while, he finally regained some energy and said to Fan Honghui, "Don't worry, deputy commander. I know what to do."

"As the saying goes, an old horse in the stable still has a thousand miles to go. Although I am old, I still have the ability to serve my country with loyalty and loyalty to the emperor."

"That's great." Fan Honghui nodded slightly. "I'm new to the army and I'm not familiar with many things. I'll have to trouble the Anxiang Commander."

"Commander Fan, you are too polite..."

When he thought that there was still some hope for An Jingzhong, An Leiting immediately regained a lot of energy and spirit, and summoned a group of military commanders to the generals' platform to give Fan Honghui a detailed introduction to the specific situation in the army. At the same time, he also announced Fan Honghui's position in the army and welcomed him.

At this time, Xiao Luoan and Cui Wenshuo were sitting opposite each other in the Qinglian Villa in the city of Changzhou, drinking tea and talking.

"Third Prince, are you used to living here?" Cui Wenshuo asked with a smile.

"Qinglian Villa is spacious and elegant, and hidden away in the city, which is great." Xiao Luoan bowed, "Thank you, Mr. Cui, for your trouble in arranging it."

When Fan Honghui arrived at the army, the new official had three things to do upon taking office, and there was no guarantee that his anger would not affect irrelevant people.

What's more, the Duke's family is loyal to the Emperor, and they hate to see the princes plotting for the throne. They are also dissatisfied with the power of the noble families. Therefore, it is not appropriate for Xiao Luoan to stay in the army any longer.

During this period of time, Xiao Luoan did a lot of things that benefited the Cui family. Cui Wenshuo was also generous and gave the Qinglian Villa, which was originally bought by Cui Wendong, directly to Xiao Luoan.

This place is also regarded as a quiet place for a group of people to meet and talk.

"You are too polite, Third Prince." Cui Wenshuo picked up the teacup. "Third Prince has been working hard these days and needs to rest and recuperate. I also think this place is suitable. If the Third Prince doesn't mind, it is a blessing for this place."

Xiao Luoan smiled and nodded, but after a moment he sighed, "It's a pity that the An family..."

Then he looked at Cui Wenshuo, "What are the Cui family planning to do?"

"An Jingzhong has already been convicted, so the marriage with him is naturally off the table." Cui Wenshuo thought for a moment and said, "It all depends on whether there are any promising people in the An family."

"I'm sorry to say something that may make Mr. Cui embarrassed, but why do I feel that the An family is about to end?" Xiao Luoan asked tentatively.

Cui Wenshuo was silent upon hearing this.

Indeed, the future of this An family is uncertain.

The date for An Jingzhong's beheading was set for March of next year. To others, there were many variables, but they could see clearly that this was just a carrot hung in front of a donkey.

With An Jingzhong as the carrot, An Leiting as the donkey will be able to work diligently and put down the war on the western border. However, after the war is completely settled, whether the carrot will be given to the donkey depends on the emperor's intention.

If Fan Honghui can quickly gain a foothold here, the Western Frontier Army will have nothing to do with the An family.

At that time, not only will you not give away the carrot, but you can also get rid of the donkey after it has done its job.

When expanding the territory, he relied on military families. After the world was pacified, he was afraid of the huge power of the meritorious officials and families, so he dealt with them one by one.

Such things have been happening in every dynasty and generation, and there have never been exceptions.

The current emperor is probably no exception.

This is why these aristocratic families have to take sides early, choose the people they want to support, and continue the lifeblood of the family.

If you do it well, you can use the emperor to control the princes. Even if you do it poorly, as long as you have a good vision and make the right choice, you can enjoy wealth and glory for decades and then start the next round of choices.

In the long run, it will be able to stand even after hundreds of years.

To achieve true success, one must have emperors that change frequently, but the aristocratic families that remain unchanged.

It's Friday, happy weekend everyone~