At the tender age of eight, he was hastily dragged out and made emperor!

"I will be spending a considerable amount of time in the future practicing horsemanship at the Imperial Garden Training Grounds." Seeing the crowd rise, Chu Ling got up from his sedan chair and walked towards them.

"The Great Yu Dynasty was founded on military strength. As the Emperor of the Great Yu, it is impossible for me to be ignorant of military matters. How would the world view me? What would the people think of me?"

"Therefore, from now on, you nobles will accompany me here for further studies. Since that's the case, then each of you should introduce your family and whose children you are. You know me, but I am not familiar with many of you. Don't make a fool of yourself later."

The group of meritorious guards standing before the emperor all showed different expressions when they heard what the new emperor said, and some even looked around in the ranks.

"Your Majesty is wise!!"

Hearing the new emperor's words, Li Zhong, who was accompanying him, remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he exclaimed, 'By using this great cause to become familiar with the entire Imperial Guard, to know their identities, who their ancestors and fathers were, then over time, we can observe the behavior of these guards' sons and thus discern their underlying intentions. Perhaps not much, but it's better than nothing!'

"The key is that this was said so beautifully. Even if some people know what happened at the Imperial Garden Training Ground, they can't find any fault with it. After all, as the Emperor of Great Yu, he needs to improve his horsemanship skills, yet he doesn't even know the names of the guards accompanying him, or who their ancestors were. Wouldn't that be utterly ridiculous if word got out?"

From the moment he decided to pledge allegiance to the new emperor, Li Zhong's mindset changed.

He would subtly favor the new ruler in many matters, analyzing the pros and cons, investigating the causes and effects, and thus helping the new ruler gain insight. Only by doing these things could he win the new ruler's trust.

In the Yu Palace, to gain power, one must have the emperor's trust.

Yes.

The new emperor has no real power, but Li Zhong is betting on the future. He is risking his life and his knowledge to gamble on his future success.

Of course, this is all predicated on the new ruler being able to seize power!

Countless times, Li Zhong worried that the new emperor would be impatient, act rashly without understanding the full situation, and that would lead to disaster.

But today, in the inner armory and at the imperial training ground, Chu Ling's various actions made Li Zhong more certain that the new emperor was not only precocious, but also calm and able to resist temptation!

This is very rare!

It was precisely this that made Li Zhong's hesitant heart begin to become firm.

“I know you all. When I entered the Daxing Palace, you were the ones who carried me into the palace.”

As Li Zhong was reminiscing, Chu Ling saw that none of the guards in front of him had moved. He smiled faintly and walked towards Sun Ben, Zong Zhi, Chang Feng, Xu Bin, and Shangguan Xiu, gesturing to them.

The people being watched by Chu Ling showed different expressions. They looked at each other, but none of them rushed to step forward.

"how?"

Seeing this, Li Zhong glanced at Chu Ling, who stood with his hands at his sides, then frowned and looked at them, saying, "Do you have any objections to His Majesty's decree?"

Now the matter is out in the open.

"Your subject... Sun Ben, the eldest son of the Duke of Rong, pays his respects to Your Majesty!" Under Chu Ling's gaze, Sun Ben was the first to step forward and bow to Chu Ling.

Rongguo Gongsun He was the nephew of the Empress Dowager.

After hearing this, Chu Ling thought to himself.

Sun Ben is the oldest among the sons of the Imperial Guards, at least that's how he appears to be.

"Your subject... Zongzhi, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Baoguo, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"Your subject... Changfeng, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Anguo, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"Your subject... Xu Bin, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Qing, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"Your subject, Shangguan Xiu, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Jiang, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

After Sun Ben, Zong Zhi and the others stepped forward one after another, bowed to Chu Ling, and introduced themselves, but none of them could explain themselves well.

'That's quite cautious.'

Chu Ling looked at the group of people before him, his expression unchanged, but he thought to himself, 'It seems that to understand more, we need to find out if Li Zhong is willing to tell the truth.'

Without Li Zhong's knowledge, a new test was about to begin.

If Li Zhong is unwilling to truthfully disclose even this kind of information, then it means that Li Zhong's loyalty is not as absolute as Chu Ling thought.

In Chu Ling's view, there is no such thing as absolute loyalty, which is equivalent to disloyalty!

If even loyalty cannot be guaranteed, then that person is not worthy of trust or reliance.

The principle is that simple.

Isn't the manifestation of power simply the people gathered under one's command? But there are too many people to gather. Who should be given power and who should not be given power? There must be a standard, whether it's loyalty, talent, or personal preference. There has to be one of these.

For Chu Ling at the moment, he has no power, but he is the emperor. Moreover, the people he needs to gather now are those in the inner court. So, whether they are talented, have preferences, or anything else, it doesn't matter to Chu Ling.

Loyalty is the most important thing!

If there is no loyalty and no solid bond of interests, then what Chu Ling says and does may be exposed without his knowledge.

What advantages does Chu Ling have left?

Absolutely nothing!

"Your subject is... the eldest grandson of the Duke of Xun..."

"minister…"

"minister……"

While Chu Ling was pondering these things, the other members of the Imperial Guards who were standing stepped forward one by one, bowed and saluted Chu Ling. Chu Ling remembered everything they said, their expressions as they spoke, and even the order in which they stood up.

This is all intelligence.

As for which ones are useful and which ones are useless, that will have to wait for Chu Ling to sort them out.

He's not picky about Chu Ling right now.

Even the smallest bits of information are useful to him, since he can piece it together by learning more about it in the future.

'The Great Yu's system of etiquette is quite strict. Over 70% of the noble sons serving in the Imperial Guard are legitimate sons and grandsons. The rest, even if not legitimate, are either only children or eldest sons of concubines.'

As time went on, one by one, the sons of the Imperial Guards introduced themselves. Chu Ling felt a pang of emotion, 'Besides them, none of their half-brothers were qualified to join the Imperial Guards.'

"So when I was chosen as the successor emperor, there must have been quite a few objections. After all, for me, an unappreciated illegitimate son, to become the emperor of Great Yu would destroy the very foundation of Great Yu's ritual system."

Chu Ling's feelings were complicated at this moment. Through these people's self-introductions, he saw a Great Yu with strict etiquette. The person who should least be the emperor had become the emperor. Regardless of what the people in the Great Yu central government thought, as this news spread to various parts of Great Yu over time, it would probably cause some turmoil.

After all, the system of rites is the foundation of governance and a symbol of rules and order. Some people value this system highly; otherwise, the establishment of rules would be meaningless.