novelonline Chapter 2041: Digging and Recommending
Chapter 2041: Digging and Recommending
Chapter 2041: Digging and Recommending
The ladies in the back hall seemed to be having a good time and seemed to be getting along harmoniously, but the Ninth Prince in the front was not feeling comfortable.
Just like the female members of the royal family, he and the Eighth Prince were also guests of honor, ranked second only to Prince An.
Unlike the female members of the family, Mandu Hu was not familiar with his brother-in-law. Although the two of them sat next to each other, they remained silent.
Except for Prince Xin, the head of the household, everyone in the room could see that the Eighth Prince was popular.
The brothers of Prince An are close to the Eighth Prince, and Protector Mandu is also close to the Eighth Prince.
Even the generals from the other two branches of the Zhenglan Banner seemed to be very familiar with the Eighth Prince.
On the contrary, when it came to the Ninth Prince, whenever someone came up to talk to him, he would look confused, as if he had no idea who the other person was.
After a while, no one came forward to make trouble.
In fact, the Ninth Prince really doesn't remember anyone.
Those who came up to talk were not the heads of the branches, but were just concubines from side branches. Some of them might have met before, while some had never even met.
Even if the other party mentioned his name, the Ninth Prince did not pay attention to it, and of course he did not remember most of it.
Prince Xin was unhappy when he saw this, and felt that the Ninth Prince was deliberately embarrassing him.
Thinking about how the Ninth Prince was so arrogant towards the previous Prince Xin.
It's really unreasonable.
Although my family has not held a grudge yet, the Ninth Prince does.
Just a dandy prince.
He complained in his heart, but his face became warmer. He looked at the Ninth Prince and said, "I have inherited the title of Prince of the County, and the Commander of the Zhenglan Banner is vacant. I wonder if the Ninth Prince has any candidate to recommend?"
The room became quiet.
Prince An and the Eighth Prince looked at each other. They had just mentioned this matter before.
I didn't expect that Prince Xin didn't ask others but asked the Ninth Prince instead. I wonder if there is any reason for this.
The Ninth Prince raised his eyebrows and said, "I recommend? Do I have the final say? Then I will recommend someone, Fu Qing, the second-class guard in our mansion?"
Prince Xin shook his head and said, "Second-class guards are of the fourth rank, which is not in accordance with the rules. The candidates for the Manchurian governor are limited to the Mongolian governor, the vanguard commander, the guard commander, the Manchurian Mongolian deputy governor, or the generals and deputy governors of other places, or the Jingqinihafan or higher titles..."
The Ninth Prince immediately lost interest and waved his hand, saying, "Then there are no candidates..."
I do know some commanders and deputy governors, but they are not my acquaintances. What does it have to do with me whether they are promoted to governors or not?
Besides, Prince Xin is too arrogant.
Did he think that as the leader of the Zhenglan Banner, he had the final say in the appointment and dismissal of generals?
You should know that in the 36th year Khan Ama issued an edict that if the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief are only selected from their own banners, the five lower banners will be hindered by the princes of their own banners, and many people will not be able to do their work properly. In the future, when the positions of commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief are vacant, they should be filled from the left and right wings regardless of banner color.
This is obviously intended to curb the power of the five banners princes and nobles.
Now, the commander-in-chief of the five banners has replaced even the Zhenghong Banner. His father-in-law doesn't care about the Zhenghong Banner anymore, let alone the Zhenglan Banner.
Prince Xin was awarded the title, but he was greedy for more.
The Ninth Prince lowered his head and took a sip of tea.
He raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but feel contempt for the prince who was the owner of the banner.
An old man who refuses to die is a thief. He thought the old prince who had been given the title was a smart man, but he turned out to be a confused old man.
The Ninth Prince had some fear in his heart, but now it was gone.
This is the Zhenglan Banner, which was broken into pieces and took decades to reorganize.
Prince Xin himself had been stripped of his title, yet he still thought that Khan had a good temper and was delusional. It was ridiculous.
He is too impatient to attend even simple social engagements.
When the meal started, looking at the table full of bird's nest, shark's fin, abalone and belly, he only smelled the fishy smell. He just drank some tea, took two bites of the cold dishes and then put down his chopsticks.
The hall was full of guests, and everyone was close to Prince Xin's family, except the Ninth Prince, who looked disdainful.
Seeing this, the Eighth Prince couldn't help but frown and whispered, "The Prince is the elder after all, how about we brothers go and toast him?"
The Ninth Prince looked at the Eighth Prince and said, "I am the eldest brother, so I will just represent you. I am not a good drinker, so I will not cause any trouble to His Majesty."
The Eighth Prince wanted to persuade him again.
The Ninth Prince was impatient to listen and simply placed his chopsticks horizontally.
This means "I am full and don't want to eat any more", but this is not in accordance with etiquette.
According to the rules, when elders are around, you have to watch when they put down their chopsticks.
Only when the elders put down their chopsticks will everyone do the same.
Everyone looked at the Ninth Prince.
Prince Xin and his sons, grandfather and grandson were all unhappy.
It would be fine if the Ninth Prince was unruly in front of the princes in the palace and the grand prince, but he shouldn't be like that in front of the Prince of the County.
After all, the prince is the emperor's uncle and the great-uncle of the princes.
The Ninth Prince didn't care about everyone's stares.
He did not leave immediately, which was already a way of giving face to Prince Xin.
The key point is that the banquet has just begun. If he moves, the concubine in the backyard will follow suit, for fear of disturbing the concubine's meal.
The Eighth Prince looked at the Ninth Prince with disapproval on his face.
Prince An sat opposite and looked at the Eighth Prince.
The Eighth Prince noticed something and looked over.
Prince An shook his head slightly and refused to let the Eighth Prince persuade him any further.
The Ninth Prince has made it clear that he doesn't want to be close to any of the princes and nobles in the Zhenglan Banner, which is not a bad thing.
If the Ninth Prince really tries to be good at dealing with people, the Eighth Prince will be the one who will be embarrassed.
Although they were both princes and were both granted the title of Duroberle, a son is nobler because of his mother. If the Ninth Prince and the Eighth Prince fought, it would be hard to say who would be the master and who would be the follower between the two brothers in the Zhenglan Banner.
The Eighth Prince lowered his eyes and said no more. Instead, he took the wine jug and went to toast Prince Xin.
Prince Xin had an unpleasant look on his face. As for today's banquet, he was qualified to invite all the princes and nobles of the royal family, but he did not want to be too ostentatious, so he only invited the princes and nobles of his own banner. He did not expect that the Ninth Prince would be so disrespectful to him.
"Uncle is very happy, your grandson will offer you a toast..."
The eighth prince personally took the cup and filled it for Prince Xin.
Prince Xin took it and looked at the Eighth Prince and said, "I knew that the Eighth Prince was capable and excellent in all his duties, but I didn't expect that he could act so kindly. He is truly a very upright person and is loved by everyone."
The Eighth Prince hurriedly said, "My grandson is mediocre and unworthy of my uncle's praise..."
Prince Xin shook his head and said, "Beile, there is no need to be modest. Among all the princes, Beile is the only one who holds two positions. This shows that the emperor has great favor with him, which is incomparable to others."
The Eighth Prince couldn't bear to listen any longer.
If this word gets out, all the brothers will be offended.
He raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp, saying, "Congratulations to my great uncle, please feel free to do as you please."
Prince Xin smiled and said, "I will naturally drink the wine that Prince Beile offered me!"
As he spoke, he finished the wine in his glass, turned the cup downward and looked towards the Ninth Prince.
The Ninth Prince pretended not to see it and instead took out his pocket watch to check the time.
Prince Xin's face froze. Seeing this, the Eighth Prince quickly poured another cup of wine and said, "Grandson, I'll toast to my uncle..."
The Ninth Prince listened and couldn't help but curl his lips.
There are really people who are eager to be grandchildren...
Shameful...
You have to know that Prince Xin had more than ten sons who died, but there were still five or six alive. Not only did he find a grandfather for himself, but he also found several uncles. Isn't this crazy?
The room was lively again.
The Ninth Prince does not take others seriously, so others do not take him seriously either.
The Ninth Prince just thought he was there to watch the fun, so he calculated the time and looked at it twice.
Seeing that Prince Xin was enjoying his drink and had no intention of leaving the party, he did not wait any longer and got up and left.
The banquet had already started for three quarters of an hour, and Fu Jin should have finished eating.
The Ninth Prince directly instructed He Yuzhu: "Go and invite Fu Jin, and tell her that the master is drunk and needs to go back first..."
He Yuzhu agreed, found the steward of the palace, and went to the inner courtyard to pass on the message.
The women were also served drinks, but few people were drinking. The party was not over yet.
Shushu received the message and did not delay. He stood up and apologized to the Prince's wife: "Our master is drunk and wants to go home first. I am really worried, so I will leave first."
The Prince's wife said, "Then go back. You are not an outsider. It's not a family feast, so there are not so many rules..."
Then, she instructed her fourth daughter-in-law, "Send Ninth Lady off for me..."
The fourth lady stood up and responded.
Shu Shu looked at the Eighth Lady and said, "Eighth Sister-in-law, please enjoy your meal. I will be back first."
The Eighth Lady was a little surprised and wanted to ask how to get back to Haidian the next morning, but when she saw that it was bright outside, she swallowed the words.
It’s still early for the city gates to close at this time, so it’s possible that the Ninth Prince and his wife will return to Haidian tonight.
She nodded and said, "Tell people to be careful of the carriages and horses..."
Shu Shu said: "Thank you, Sister Eight, for your instructions..."
She greeted several other elders at the table before taking the white fruit out.
The fourth lady accompanied him out.
Everyone at the table looked at the interaction between Shushu and the Eighth Lady and looked at each other in bewilderment.
I really didn't expect that these two sisters-in-law seemed so close.
The Eighth Concubine acts like her sister-in-law. The Ninth Concubine is indifferent to others, but respectful to her sister-in-law.
It can be seen that most of the gossip outside is based on false information and cannot be fully trusted.
When the couple got on the carriage, the Ninth Prince couldn't help but complain: "My four gold items are wasted. This old man has no conscience and is setting a trap for me..."
As he said this, without waiting for Shushu to ask, he talked about recommending the Manchurian governor.
It was only later that I realized that the prince's question was unreasonable.
"With Prince An and Old Eight here, they can't ask me anything. What does this mean? They are just afraid that I will interfere in the personnel affairs of the Zhenglan Banner. They deliberately use this to shut me up. Since I have been promoted to the position of commander-in-chief, it will be difficult for them to recommend another assistant commander..."
In fact, the commander-in-chief and the deputy commander-in-chief were not decided by the princes of the banner themselves, but by the subordinate lieutenants. They were only selected within the banner, and the princes had a say.
The Ninth Prince said with a sneer, "I just don't believe it. I can't even recommend a lieutenant. I have already decided Fuqing's future..."
Shushu listened and felt unhappy.
The Ninth Prince not interfering in flag affairs is different from others not being allowed to interfere in flag affairs.
Shu Shu said, "Then I will recommend him. He is from the Eighth Prince's Mansion. Let's see what Prince Xin says..."
The key is Ma Qi, the Grand Secretary of the dynasty.
As the battle for the throne approaches, it would be best to recommend both Fuqing and Erhe.
Otherwise, given their family backgrounds, it would be easy to attract criticism.
Shushu said, "It's Erhe who came here at the same time as Fuqing. He has more experience than others. Don't leave him out. Look for other vacancies and recommend them all..."