Longevity: Never leave the mountain until you are invincible

Chu Chen searched for chess pieces without any rules. He placed chess pieces at will in the court and the martial arts world. They were all idle chess pieces.

Or, they were not even idle chess pieces.

Only when these people reached a certain level could they be considered his chess pieces.

Chu Chen only gave them some starting capital, and then let them take the Three Corpse Gu Insect Pill, and then he would not care about them anymore. After all, he was not their babysitter.

Since they were idle chess pieces, if they could succeed, they would succeed. If they could not succeed, they would recruit another batch.

Selecting a few people a year as idle chess pieces, there would always be gains after a long time.

After ten or twenty years, if any of these chess pieces could hold a high position, Chu Chen would have made a profit.

Besides.

Time is the most exquisite auxiliary, which can slowly fade away Chu Chen's traces.

No one would have thought that these people in high positions had become other people's chess pieces decades ago.

"Time is long, why rush for a moment?"

Chu Chen understood his greatest advantage, and there was no need to rush for success and lose his sense of proportion.

People fight for a hundred years, he fights for a thousand years, ten thousand years.

After a thousand years, whether the Great Yan Kingdom still exists or not is another matter, but he still exists forever.

…

Time is like quicksand on the fingertips, not stopped by human will, rolling forward.

Ten years passed in a flash.

The Great Yan Kingdom has undergone earth-shaking changes again. In the 28th year of Hongguang, Emperor Hongguang fell ill and was bedridden. Every day, Empress Chen sent memorials to the Yangxin Palace.

For a time, rumors spread in the court, fearing that the Great Yan court would repeat the same mistakes.

Even Chu Chen was surprised, thinking that the scene of the harem interfering in politics during the reign of Emperor Jingzheng would reappear.

But to everyone's surprise, Empress Chen did not have the idea of ​​ruling from behind the curtain.

In January of the 30th year of Hongguang, Empress Chen petitioned Emperor Hongguang to let Prince Wu supervise the country and act as the government.

Prince Wu was the former Prince Wu, the legitimate son of the Queen, and the current master of the Eastern Palace.

Emperor Hongguang readily agreed.

Since then, Prince Wu has stepped into the stage, taking charge of the court of Dayan and commanding the world.

A battle for the throne has ended before it even began.

The son of Concubine Yun was named Prince Fu and became an idle prince, playing with birds and watching fish all day long. Fortunately, Prince Wu did not kill him and spared his life.

After Prince Wu became regent, the atmosphere of the court of Dayan changed.

During the reign of Emperor Hongguang, the court of Dayan focused on reform and development, but was dragged into the quagmire of war by the war in the northern border, slowing down the pace of reform and development.

Prince Wu was determined to change this situation. He led an army of 100,000 to personally conquer the northern border and quell the chaos of the barbarians.

When the news came out, the court officials of Dayan were in an uproar, and they all tried their best to stop Prince Wu. Some even ran to the Yangxin Palace and asked Emperor Hongguang to come forward to stop Prince Wu.

Prince Wu personally entered the Yangxin Palace and had a long talk with Emperor Hongguang all night.

The next day.

Emperor Hongguang issued an order, ordering Prince Wu to personally lead an army of 100,000 to the northern border.

On April 1, the 30th year of Hongguang, the army set out and arrived at the northern border 20 days later, joining the army of Duke Weiyuan, with a total force of 300,000.

Duke Weiyuan has led his Weiyuan Army to fight against the barbarians over the years, gaining the upper hand and firmly curbing the offensive momentum of the barbarians.

If the barbarians had not received the help of the Northern Liang Army, I am afraid that the barbarians would have withdrawn from the northern border long ago.

Now with the 100,000 fresh troops brought by Prince Wu, the prestige of Dayan has greatly increased. Prince Wu personally led an army of 300,000 and, with the help of Duke Weiyuan, counterattacked the barbarians.

It took four years for Prince Wu to completely defeat the barbarian army, sweep across the Northern Liang Army, capture more than 100,000 enemies, and quickly clear out the remaining barbarians and the forces of the Wei Wangfu in the northern border.

After recovering the northern border, Prince Wu once attacked the hinterland of the barbarians, but the line of troops was too long, the supply was poor, and the barbarians were mostly cavalry, so they fought and retreated, and finally returned without success.

However, the defeat in this battle did not damage Prince Wu's reputation. Repelling the barbarians and recovering the northern border were both real achievements that no one could erase.

March 11, the 35th year of Hongguang.

Prince Wu and Duke Weiyuan returned with their army, and the people of the imperial capital lined the streets to welcome them.

Near noon.

The thunderous sound of horses rang out, and the army entered from the east gate of the imperial capital.

The people rushed forward one after another, wanting to see the style of Prince Wu.

Prince Wu took the lead, wearing a bright silver armor, with a handsome face and extremely sharp eyes. His every move exuded a noble and majestic aura.

Duke Weiyuan lagged behind him by half a body, and many Weiyuan soldiers were even behind him.

Swish!

As soon as Prince Wu raised his hand, all the soldiers suddenly stopped and stopped in silence.

Everyone who saw this scene felt a chill in their hearts.

Anyone with some knowledge would understand how terrifying such an army that obeys orders would be on the battlefield.

"Mother!"

Prince Wu turned over and dismounted, and knelt on one knee in front of Queen Chen who came out of the palace to greet him.

"Good, good, good!"

Queen Chen wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, smiled with relief, helped Prince Wu up, and then looked at the people around her:

"The emperor pacified the northern border and returned with a great victory. I am overjoyed. Therefore, I petitioned Your Majesty, and Your Majesty agreed to exempt the taxes of all prefectures in Dayan for one year!"

"Thank you for your grace, thank you for the Queen's petition, and congratulations to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for his great victory!"

As soon as these words came out, the crowd suddenly burst into cheers like a tsunami.

Prince Wu's victory was only a pleasure for the people, but a year of tax exemption was a real benefit. How could the people not be excited?

Streetside restaurant.

Chu Chen, who looked old, sat by the window and took in the majestic appearance of Prince Wu and the Weiyuan Army.

Zhao Changlin poured wine for Chu Chen, glanced at the scene outside the window, and said: "Tax exemption for one year is a big deal for Queen Chen, but it's too hasty to put on a show like this."

Although the Great Yan Kingdom has some assets accumulated by Emperor Hongguang's reform and development, these assets have long been tossed out by years of war, and the treasury is empty.

This time, Queen Chen exempted the taxes of all prefectures in Great Yan for one year in order to show off, which is tantamount to adding insult to injury.

"No, this Queen Chen is very smart."

Chu Chen shook his head and did not agree with Zhao Changlin's statement.

"There are rumors in the palace that Emperor Hongguang's condition is getting worse and he will not live for a few days. Although there are some losses in putting on a show at this moment, it can win a good reputation for Prince Wu and completely lay the foundation for victory.

As for the loss of taxes this year, it can be recovered by raiding a few more wealthy merchants' homes or collecting more taxes next year?"

"Still, Shopkeeper Chu sees it clearly."

Zhao Changlin smiled and complimented.

Although after so many years of getting along, Zhao Changlin found that Chu Chen might not be the evil hero he imagined, but just the person pushed to the front by the evil hero.

But Chu Chen must be the confidant of the evil hero, and he still remained respectful to Chu Chen.

"Shopkeeper Chu, today's meeting may be the last time we meet in this life. The business of Longmen Escort Agency will be handed over to me and Huang Yue's disciples. Please help me."

Zhao Changlin's face straightened and he clasped his fists and bowed.

He was old and unable to escort anymore. It was time to retire to the mountains. Huang Yue had been injured while escorting five years ago and retired early.

"Of course."

Chu Chen nodded, it was just a small favor.

In essence, Longmen Escort Agency was his industry, and it was right for him to help.