Chapter 24: Shenwu County Duke
Li Jiancheng had three uncles. His eldest uncle Dou Wenshu died early, leaving only a concubine's son. His second uncle Dou Zhaoxian inherited the title of Duke of Shenwu County and had five legitimate sons. His third uncle Dou Zhao was the son-in-law of Emperor Wen of the Western Wei Dynasty and a general in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Duke of Julu, but he died before the establishment of the Sui Dynasty and left six sons.

Among these cousins, the older ones had been sent out to serve as officials or as soldiers, and those who remained were about the same age as Li Jiancheng and had a close relationship with him.

There was also a younger aunt who married Pei Hongce, Duke of Huaiyi County, and gave birth to a son, Pei Xingfang.

After briefly greeting his sisters, Li Jiancheng went to the main hall to pay his respects to his uncle and aunt.

The walls of the main hall of the Duke's Mansion were not demolished, so it was a little dim. There were two south-facing straight-lattice windows on both sides of the door, and there were also high windows on the other three walls to let in light.

But the main hall is too big and too deep. There is still some light near the doors and windows, but the deeper areas are almost like night, so the only thing to do is to light more candles.

Dou Zhaoxian was sitting in the main seat in the hall drinking tea, and his aunt stood up to greet him. She was from the Lu family of Fanyang, and was gentle and amiable, but she attached great importance to rules.

Li Jiancheng smiled at his aunt, then saluted respectfully to his uncle, and then slightly turned sideways to salute his aunt.

"My nephew is here to meet my uncle and aunt. I came here in a hurry and didn't have time to change my clothes. I hope you can forgive me."

"We are family, it's okay, come and sit down."

He smelled of alcohol, but more of it was the strange fragrance of the red walls of Yang Su's mansion.

Dou Zhaoxian had a serious expression on his face, but Li Jiancheng knew that he was a cold-faced but soft-hearted person, so he did not hesitate to sit down under the guidance of his aunt, and the other brothers also sat down in turn.

Li Jiancheng first took the trouble to thank his uncle and aunt again for taking care of his sisters. It was normal for the Dou family to help take care of the third sister, after all, she was his niece, but the others were purely members of the Li family and had nothing to do with the Dou family.

Dou Zhaoxian waved his hand, obviously not thinking there was anything to say. Both families had enough food and drink for a few young ladies. He just thought that his sister was pregnant and had to take care of her mother-in-law, so it would be better to bring both of them in instead of just one, so that his sister would have less worries.

The aunt asked a few questions about her little nephew, and then asked him to take the tiger-head hat and small soft pillow that she had embroidered herself with when he left. Then, at the signal of her husband, she took her sons away.

Several cousins ​​were naturally dissatisfied, but Dou Zhaoxian slammed the table and said, "Wait until you become officials, then come to the classroom to talk!"

If you don't enter the government, don't receive a salary, and live off your family, then you are still a child. What a simple concept.

Li Jiancheng gave a helpless look and watched his cousins ​​leave. Before Dou Zhaoxian could ask, Li Jiancheng took the initiative to say, "Uncle, the queen wants me to get close to His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin. This must be her intention to change the crown prince."

Dou Zhaoxian was a more traditional person, and he said with some dissatisfaction: "The crown prince is fine, but how can you depose the eldest and enthroned the youngest without reason? Your Majesty, as a woman, should not interfere in politics!"

Li Jiancheng said with a smile: "In the old Xianbei custom, women are in charge of the family. Litigation disputes, requests for work and flattery are all decided by the mistress. Your Majesty and the Empress have been used to it for so many years."

"Then what do you think?" Dou Zhaoxian knew that it was futile for him to advise the empress against interfering in government affairs, so he relaxed his frown.

"With the Queen's intention, the throne will most likely go to the Prince of Jin. If our two families don't seize this opportunity, how can we establish ourselves in the court in the future?"

"Uncle, my nephew has just had a private meeting with Yang Yue, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, at the Duke of Yue's mansion. The Yang family is also interested." Dou Zhaoxian looked at his nephew in surprise, then stroked his beard and thought for a moment: "Your Majesty may not have made up his mind. There are even rumors that he prefers the King of Han. Besides, the Crown Prince also has the support of the Duke of Qi. He may be able to wait a few more years."

If His Majesty becomes seriously ill in a few more years, then in order to stabilize the court and smoothly transfer the imperial power, it can only be passed on to the legitimate crown prince.

It was a well-known fact that the emperor doted on the King of Han. Except for the crown prince, the other princes were sent to other places as general managers when they were eleven or twelve years old.

For example, Yang Guang, Prince of Jin, became the governor of Bingzhou at the age of twelve, Yang Jun, Prince of Qin, became the Minister of the Southern Circuit at the age of eleven, and became the governor of Qinzhou the following year. The same was true for Yang Xiu, Prince of Shu, who became the governor of Yizhou at a young age.

Only King of Han, Yang Liang, was appointed as the governor of Bingzhou until the year before last, when he was already 22 or 23 years old. He was sent to Bingzhou by the emperor himself. His territory consisted of 52 states, stretching from Huashan in the west to Bohai Sea in the east, from Yanmen Pass in the north to the Yellow River in the south.

The emperor also granted him the privilege of acting on his own without being bound by laws and regulations. He was even afraid that his youngest son would suffer from poverty, so he allowed Yang Liang to mint his own coins.

This was an honor that even the crown prince had never received, and it was inevitable that the court and the people would have fantasies. However, he had only been sent out to manage the local areas for two years, and the country was at peace, so there was no opportunity for him to prove his talents.

"Besides, the prince has the support of the Duke of Qi." Dou Zhaoxian frowned and said, "So you said that for the sake of the King of Jin."

Li Jiancheng did not want to explain that it was actually an affirmation of a person's success, and only said: "The Queen is behind the Duke of Qi, and I said it in front of the Queen. The Queen did not rebuke me, and the words have been spread."

"Uncle, if the Duke of Qi and the Queen disagree, do you think the Queen would still want to see the Duke of Qi continue to preside over the government? No matter how great his merits are, how noble his character is, and how much the Queen trusts him, he has been the Prime Minister for too many years."

Dou Zhaoxian nodded slowly: "I still need to discuss with the clan, but there should be no objection. His Royal Highness Prince Jin has a very good reputation in the court and the country, and he is talented in both literature and martial arts."

After that, he bowed to Li Jiancheng and said, "Uncle would like to thank you in advance. If you were not willing to lend a hand, the Dou family might not have the opportunity to help the King of Jin now."

Li Jiancheng stood up and returned the greeting: "Uncle, what are you talking about? We are close relatives, how can we be separated from each other?"

The uncle and nephew discussed for a while and decided that no matter what decision the Dou family made, there was no place for them to exert their strength now. They had to wait for the opportunity and wait until the critical moment to raise their flags and cheer to gather momentum.

Sometimes it is easy to gather a strong trend. As long as the advantage is great and there are several families with many relatives and disciples connected together, everyone will soon be united.

Half an hour later, Li Jiancheng led his sisters on the carriage back home. Li Jiancheng's sister Li Xiuning rode in the same carriage with him. She came up and pulled his arm and said coquettishly, "Brother, brother, when can we go out of town to hunt? I've been living at my uncle's house and I almost forgot how to ride a horse. Is my little red horse thin?"

Li Jiancheng rubbed his sister's head and said, "Why don't you go back when your mother comes to pick you up?"

Li Xiuning snorted, "If I go back, they have to follow me. I can't be so disloyal."

"Haha, that's really hard for you. You should practice riding at home first, and then Xiu Mu will take you out of the city to race horses and catch rabbits."

...............

(End of this chapter)