Chapter 42: Secretly Plotting

  Before long, the little eunuch sent by Long Yintian returned. It turned out that Fuling An had arrived in Beijing early on horseback and was now waiting for an imperial edict outside the palace.

  Long Yitian knew about it and immediately summoned Fuling An. He was so eager on the one hand for military affairs, and on the other hand, Fuling An had also been a palace guard before. Now, after several years of training, he had high expectations for Fuling An's growth.

  Perhaps in the near future, another great general will emerge from Fu Heng's family, and that would be a true case of inheriting one's father's legacy.

  Kuai stepped into the imperial study, and Fuling An, dressed in court attire, bowed respectfully. Long Yitian let him rise to his feet while sizing him up from head to toe at the same time.

  Upon closer inspection, Long Yitian felt that although Fu Ling'an had become more mature and stable after being sent out for training for several years, in other aspects he hadn't changed at all. Especially his eyes, which were always as calm as an ancient well, seemed to possess a depth that shouldn't belong to a young person, but rather only those elderly individuals who have experienced countless storms would have such eyes.

  Although it is still unclear what kind of experience Fu Ling'an had in his childhood, this kind of person happens to be the type that Long Yitian can trust and reuse.

  This kind of person's loyalty will accompany them throughout their entire life until the end, and relatively speaking, their desires are few to the point of being almost negligible. If they become an official, they will certainly be a clean and honest official loyal to the emperor; if they become a general, they will certainly be able to defend a region.

  Before getting down to business, Fuling An personally handed over a fairly thick secret memorial. This memorial detailed the various situations of both large and small Jinchuan, as after several years of reform and construction, it had become a secret military training camp in all but name. As for the grandiose imperial edicts that were issued at court in the beginning, they were merely a smokescreen to deceive the public.

  。

  After roughly reviewing, Long Yintian was relatively satisfied. On the one hand, new recruits who had undergone training had successively gone to the battlefield. The reason why the war in Tibet had been dragging on for so long also had the meaning of training soldiers. As for those old soldiers who had been rotated down, they were divided into several independent troops after integration and began secretly entering Northeast China to carry out large-scale "bandit suppression" activities.

  "Fuling An, you are one of the most knowledgeable people about the new military system and equipment. This trip to the Northeast is indispensable for you." As he spoke, Long Yintian handed over a confidential decree that had been prepared in advance, handing it directly to Fuling An's face. "These people will be much more difficult to deal with than those you have encountered before, so when necessary, I permit you to use some extremely unusual methods. I don't care about the process, as long as the results are achieved."

  "The last will follow the order." Without any hesitation, Fuling An took over the secret edict and accepted the order, his eyes still without any ripples.

  In fact, he himself was also very clear that this seemingly simple oral order had already covered countless bloodshed and killings, and he was the most direct executor. Although on the surface he was just a general, in reality what he had to do far exceeded the responsibilities of a general.

  "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." Long Yitian patted Fu Ling'an's shoulder with a faint smile and said: "Go back home and take a look first. You haven't been here for several years, and Fu Heng hasn't stopped mentioning you in front of me. As for other things, wait a few more days and come to the palace again, I'll tell you about them then."

  Fu Ling'an hesitated for a moment before finally leaving as instructed.

  Watching the figure disappear outside the door, Long Yitian let out a slight sigh. In fact, Fu Heng had indeed mentioned Fuling An many times during his visits over the years, but between the lines, there was always a hint of impeaching Fuling An. This time when father and son met, the outcome would probably not be good either.

  Due to the iron-blooded tactics used during the suppression of the rebellion in Da and Xiao Jinchuan, Fuling'an's reputation among the civil officials was not very good. Although most of the military generals expressed understanding, there were not many people who supported him.

  Fu Heng must have been under pressure from these external forces and his love for his son that he repeatedly petitioned.

  Now that things have come to this, Long Yintian will absolutely not let go of Fuling'an. Since no one can replace Fuling'an's position for the time being, he can only continue to suppress those who oppose him and send Fuling'an to the Northeast once again.

  Fu Ling'an had just left when someone came to report that Hong You wanted to see him. Long Yitian found it quite unexpected.

  Because previously, Hong Ye was trying his best to avoid him, except for necessary occasions, Hong Ye would not come if he didn't have to, and those messy excuses had all been used up by him. But today, he came to ask for an audience in a rare move, how could this not make Long Yitian feel surprised?

  But unexpectedly, Long Yintian still let someone summon Hong You, he guessed that nine out of ten times, Hong You this time was seeking something from the top-notch guard.

  As expected, Hong Yu entered the door and paid his respects. Before Long Yintian could speak, he hastily said: "I beg to report to Your Majesty, I have just received a memorial from the Ministry of Justice, seeing that the matter is indeed urgent, so I dared to come and present it to Your Majesty."

  "Oh? So urgent?" Long Yitian looked up and down at Hong Yu, seeing that he was indeed a bit restless, so he didn't make things difficult for him anymore. He took the folded paper from him and began to read it.

  It's better not to look, but once you take a closer look, Long Yitian couldn't help but laugh. The matter presented on this memorial was indeed urgent, as it concerned military affairs. To say that it was extremely urgent would be an understatement compared to those border conflicts.

  。

  As for why Hong Duan was so anxious, it's because this matter still had something to do with him after all. He did this only because he didn't want the fire to burn himself.

  Long Hui Tian deliberately pretended to be puzzled, raised the folding fan in his hand and asked: "Is there a bandit rioting in Jingzhou City? This should be a matter for the Ministry of War, what are you, a king, meddling with?"

  "This...", Hong Ye looked at Long Yintian with a difficult expression, hesitated for a while before saying: "Actually, to get to the bottom of it, the cause of this matter is still because of Prince Duan, so... this..."

  "Alright, stop pretending." Long Yitian tapped Hong Yu's head with the imperial edict in his hand and said in a tone of frustration, "I'm your fourth brother, don't play those useless tricks. If you have something to say, just say it straight out."

  Although it didn't hurt at all, Hong Yu still symbolically rubbed his forehead and smiled, instantly reverting to his usual absurd prince appearance. "Your Majesty, I'm just worried that you'll have a hard time."

  "It's not that it's difficult, just a bit of trouble...", Long Yintian paused for a moment, gave Hong Yu a meaningful glance, and then continued: "Just a bandit, can't become a big deal, send troops to suppress it. As for Prince Rui... unfortunately died at the hands of the bandits, his family was also unable to escape, just give him a grand burial according to the prince's example."

  "The Emperor is wise, but my brother is far from it." Upon hearing Long Yintian's words, Hong You let out a sigh of relief from the bottom of his heart. It was clear that his dereliction of duty had been quietly swept under the rug, and he had also successfully avoided some people making a big deal out of it. These peaceful days, he could still enjoy for a while longer.

  Long Hui Tian completely ignored Hong Xiao's words, walked back to the desk and sat down, casually tossing the folded paper onto the table, then said: "Since you're here, let's talk about something serious. Have you made any progress on those matters I had you investigate a few days ago?"

  Speaking of serious matters, Hongdiao's expression immediately became solemn. After bowing his head and thinking for a moment, he replied: "Your subject has already found some clues, but they are still far from enough, and this time it is not possible to investigate openly. There are many inconveniences. So, your subject dares to ask Your Majesty to assign one person to him."

  "Tell me, who do you want to help you?" Long Yitian slightly raised the corner of his mouth, and his approval and fondness for Hong Yu also increased a bit.

  On the surface, Hongzhao's move is to ask for someone else, but in reality, it is to recommend this person. If things go well, everyone will benefit; if not, there is still a scapegoat, really a clever move, indeed a smart thing to do.

  "Anhui Xuezheng Liu Yong." Hongyou replied concisely, but many things were tacitly understood by everyone.

  "This person is indeed useful...", Long Yitian pondered for a moment, then said with profound meaning: "However, I can only give you three more months. Three months later, no matter what the result is, you... understand?"

  Hong Duan was shocked after hearing this, he had no idea that Long Yintian's plan would progress so quickly, which really caught him off guard. However, in any case, he will do his best to help his fourth brother, the Emperor.

  He took a deep breath and solemnly accepted the decree. From now on, the imperial family would probably face a great shock.

  The next morning, Long Yitian directly issued two seemingly ordinary decrees.

  Firstly, General Nu Da Hai led 20,000 troops to Jingzhou City to cooperate with local garrison forces to quell the rebellion; secondly, Liu Duan was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Justice.