Chapter 183 Six Dukes
Chongshanguan, in a very ordinary house.

Wei Cen was sitting in the main room with a carefree look on his face. In front of him stood a middle-aged scholar in a long green gown.

"Sir, it's not that I don't want to help, but, but~~"

The middle-aged scholar stammered.

"I know what you want to say is that this is not the admiral's order, it's just my order!" Wei Cen said calmly.

The middle-aged scholar in front of him is also a member of the Secret Guard. There are many types of people within the Secret Guard.

There were regular fighting troops, they were called Tiqi.

There are people who are responsible for investigating cases and spying, they are called spies.

There are assassins who specialize in assassination, they are called Blood Blades,
There are people who are specifically responsible for guarding the imperial city, they are called secret guards.

There are also spies lurking in the dark, they are called shadows.

Shadows are everywhere, and so are the Secret Guards.

Wei Cen's team is composed of secret agents, mainly responsible for investigation and gathering intelligence.

The middle-aged scholar in front of him is the shadow.

"Sir, please don't embarrass me!" said the middle-aged scholar with a bitter face.

Wei Cen shook his head, and then he took out a token from his arms, "Don't worry, this is the Admiral's token, you are acting according to the Admiral's orders!"

"I will report to the Admiral afterwards!"

Although Wei Cen is only a centurion, he is a close confidant of Lu Hua and holds a high status in the Miwuwei Zhenbei Division.

In theory, he was not allowed to use the shadow privately, but he had Lu Hua's token and had the privilege to do as he pleased.

The middle-aged scholar looked at the token in Lu Hua's hand and could only respond helplessly: "I obey your command!"

"Well, I'll report it to you after I'm done!"

After saying that, Wei Cen stood up and left in big strides.

The middle-aged scholar was troubled and worried for a long time. The task that Wei Cen asked him to do was really difficult to accomplish.

"Hey!"

He finally sighed, left the yard, and walked towards the general's mansion.

"Mr. Lu!"

When he entered the general's mansion, many clerks and runners who met him bowed to him respectfully.

He nodded absentmindedly in response.

Soon, he arrived at the study on the side of the lobby of the general's mansion.

In the study, Liang Chu was working on official business at his desk, while Mr. Lu sat at the desk next to him with ease, and calmly picked up the document on the desk to read it.

That’s right, he is Liang Chu’s clerk and the book boy who grew up with Liang Chu.

However, few people knew that he was a shadow planted by the Secret Guards next to Liang Chu.

At this time, Mr. Lu had no intention of dealing with the documents in front of him. His mind was full of the task given to him by Wei Cen.

Although he was a shadow planted by the Secret Guards, he had actually been with Liang Chu for more than 30 years and had never helped the Secret Guards to carry out any tasks.

The reason is simple. His duty is only to monitor Liang Chu. As long as Liang Chu has no ulterior motives, he does not need to perform other tasks.

While Mr. Lu was still struggling, Liang Chu suddenly raised his head and said, "Lu Shou, do you know Tan Jingtai, the commander of Songzhou Guard?"

Lu Shou suddenly shuddered, "My Lord, why do you mention this person?"

He was a little panicked because the task given to him by Wei Cen was to help Tan Jingtai get promoted to the commander of Songzhou Guard.

Now that Liang Chu suddenly mentioned Tan Jingtai, he couldn't help but think more about it.

Did Liang Chu discover something?
Or did Liang Chu already know his identity?

Liang Chu did not notice anything unusual about Lu Shou. He just looked at the document in his hand, frowned slightly and said, "Wang Bin recommends Tan Jingtai to be the commander of Songzhou Guard!"

When Lu Shou heard this, he immediately felt relieved, and his thoughts started to race.

Opportunity, good opportunity!
He had been racking his brains over how to bring up this matter, but he didn't expect Wang Bin to recommend Tan Jingtai.

"My Lord, Tan Jingtai was born in the Left Thousand Households of Qizhou Guard. In the 9th year of Chengping, he was transferred to Songzhou Guard as the Commander-in-Chief. In the 16th year of Chengping, he was promoted to the Commander-in-Chief. He has been in Songzhou Guard for 17 years!"

"Although he has not made any great achievements in the past seventeen years, he has been diligent. However, before Sha Pingchuan, he was involved in the Songzhou Guards. Tan Jingtai did not want to be associated with Sha Pingchuan, so he has been keeping a low profile."

Lu Shou slowly told Tan Jingtai's resume.

As a clerk beside Liang Chu, he had a detailed understanding of all the officials, big and small, in Chongshan Town. Although he had not paid special attention to Tan Jingtai before, he could generally remember Tan Jingtai's resume.

But he was obviously flattering Tan Jingtai.

What diligence is nothing but doing nothing.

What's the point of keeping a low profile? It's just that Sha Pingchuan looks down on Tan Jingtai.

To be honest, Tan Jingtai was just a decoration in Songzhou Wei. Not to mention outsiders, even the soldiers of Songzhou Wei rarely paid attention to him.

However, after listening to Lu Shou's words, Liang Chu suddenly felt that Tan Jingtai was very suitable for the position of commander of Songzhou Guard.

Because Sha Pingchuan implicated many officials in Songzhou Wei, the entire Songzhou Wei was in a state of panic.

Although Jiacheng still has the lieutenant general Wang Bin in charge, Wang Bin cannot stay in Songzhou Guard all the time. Therefore, Songzhou Guard now needs a mature and steady person to take charge.

If an outsider was transferred to Songzhou Guard, it would take one or two months to understand the situation. On the contrary, Tan Jingtai could control the situation of Songzhou Guard as long as he was promoted. Thinking about it carefully, Liang Chu felt that Tan Jingtai was more and more suitable for the position of Songzhou Guard Commander.

But~
Then he frowned and took out a letter from under the desk.

Looking at the contents of the letter, his eyes narrowed slightly.

The letter came from Kyoto and recommended a person to him.

Lu Shou didn't know the content of the letter, but he could see Liang Chu's mood changes.

He was fine just now, but now he is frowning, which shows that he is in trouble.

"What's the problem, sir?"

Liang Chu sighed slightly and handed the letter to Lu Shou, "This is a letter from the young master of the Duke of Changguo's Mansion. He recommended Wang Zheng, the grandson of the Duke of Shouguo, to be the commander of Songzhou Guard!"

"The son of Duke Shou!" Lu Shou took the letter and read it.

There are six existing duke's mansions in Dayong, namely the Duke of Ningguo, the Duke of Rongguo, the Duke of Changguo, the Duke of Anguo, the Duke of Xingguo and the Duke of Shouguo.

Among them, Duke Ningguo and Duke Rongguo were first-class hereditary dukes, while Duke Changguo, Duke Anguo and Duke Xingguo were third-class hereditary dukes.

The Duke of Shou is quite special. The current Duke of Shou is the maternal grandfather of Emperor Chengping. Ten years ago, the empress dowager passed away. Emperor Chengping, thinking of the empress dowager's kindness, conferred the title of Duke of Shou on Marquis Shouning, making him an unprecedented third-class duke!
Simply put, the Shouguo Mansion belongs to the foreign relatives.

As for the Duke of Changguo, his power certainly cannot be compared with that of the Duke of Ningguo, but it should not be underestimated.

The position of the commander of Songzhou Guard actually led to the emergence of two duke's mansions. It would be strange if Liang Chu didn't have a headache.

After Lu Shou finished reading the letter, his thoughts raced in his mind.

He was thinking about Wei Cen's mission and also guessing Liang Chu's thoughts.

Will Liang Chu be afraid of Duke Changguo and Duke Shouguo?
No, because Liang Chu was a very arrogant person, and the Marquis of Changping Mansion was a founding marquisate.

Although in terms of title, the Changping Marquis Mansion is only a second-class mansion, but the Changping Marquis Mansion has been passed down for more than three hundred years.

The Duke of Ningguo and the Duke of Changguo are just hundred-year-old nobles. In terms of inheritance and foundation, the Marquis of Changping’s Mansion is unique among all the nobles in Dayong.

Liang Chu has the qualifications and confidence to be arrogant, but he can't just ignore the two Duke's Mansions.

Lu Shou hesitated for a moment and said, "My Lord, I think you should put the overall situation first!"

"Your Majesty should have heard about the situation in the Shouguo Mansion. If people from the Shouguo Mansion are allowed to go to Songzhou Guard, I'm afraid Songzhou Guard will never be peaceful again!"

The overall situation is important.

What is the overall situation in Chongshan Town today?

The overall goal is to revitalize Chongshan Town and destroy the Hu tribe in the East China Sea.

Lu Chongde and Liang Chu have been working hard for this over the past two years.

However, the Shouguo Mansion has a bad reputation in Kyoto.

Acting eccentrically, lawless, and reckless, these are the reputations that the gentlemen in the Shouguo Mansion have earned.

Let the people from the Shouguo Mansion go to Songzhouwei, not to mention Songzhouwei, even Jiacheng would probably suffer.

Lu Shou felt that this was not enough, so he added fuel to the fire, "My Lord, I'm afraid Wang Bin can't control the Shouguo Mansion. After all, the Shouguo Mansion is not the Ningguo Mansion, and the masters of the Shouguo Mansion are not as reasonable as General Zhou Lan!"

At this time, he did not forget to bring out Zhou Lan for comparison.

Because of the favor that Liang Chu had done for Zhou Lan, when Zhou Lan left the Zhenbiao Camp, it was to give face to Liang Chu. If Zhou Lan was unwilling, Liang Chu would have no way to deal with her.

Don’t forget that the current Left Commander of the Central Military Commandery is Zhou Lan’s biological father, Duke Ningguo.

Liang Chu sighed softly, "You are right! The Shouguo Mansion is not the Ningguo Mansion!"

After a brief moment of contemplation, Liang Chu wrote a note of approval on Wang Bin's document, "Send a copy of this document to the Dusi Yamen, and ask them to arrange for Tan Jingtai's promotion immediately."

He can make the decision on the position of commander of Songzhou Guard, and of course this matter must be reported to the Central Army Governor's Office.

Seeing that the matter was accomplished, Lu Shou felt relieved.

He quickly responded, took the document, walked out of the study quickly, and arranged for the document to be sent to the Dusi Yamen.

On the other side, in a three-story courtyard in Jiacheng, Tan Jingtai was playing chess with his grandson.

Tan Jingtai is already fifty-six years old, with unconcealable gray hair on his temples.

Being in his position and at his age, there is actually no future for him.

Originally he was a mediocre person, and now he was old and not as capable as before, so he had given up the idea of ​​fighting for power and profit, and only wanted to return to his hometown to enjoy his old age and play with his grandchildren when he was old enough.

"Master, someone delivered a letter outside the door!"

At this time, an old servant came to Tan Jingtai with a letter.

Tan Jingtai looked up in surprise, "Who sent it?"

He doesn't interact with many people on a daily basis, and apart from a few fellow villagers, few people write to him.

If it was a letter from a fellow villager, the old servant would not take it away, but would send it directly to the study, and he would read it when he was free.

"The man did not introduce himself. He said that the master would know after reading the letter." said the old servant.

Tan Jingtai opened the letter and read it with confusion.

But after reading the letter, his mind was confused, his brows were huddled together, his eyes were narrowed, and he looked puzzled, puzzled, and a little surprised.

The complexity of the emotions on his face is hard to describe.

(End of this chapter)