Chapter 4301 The Fall of an Important Minister
Su Jia believed in his commander's judgment, but...
"Who responded to King Jin?"
Yuchi Gong drank the tea, spat out the tea stalks in his mouth, and said angrily: "What kind of broken tea leaves are these...it is related to the life and death of King Jin. No one else can know it until the last moment."
Having said that, he could not help but have some guesses in his mind, but except for the generals in Guanzhong and Chang'an who had heavy troops, it seemed possible for the rest.
Looking around, how many loyal people are there?
However, everyone has their own reasons. We are loyal to this country, not to any emperor. If the emperor is unworthy, we should raise troops to fight against him and do justice for heaven...
This is the disadvantage of not receiving full support from the late emperor. The inheritance of power cannot be consistent, carry forward the past, and transition smoothly, which has led to many ambitious people trying to profit from it. Even though His Majesty Li Er was so talented and wise, he still had to face the criticism and destruction from Emperor Gaozu and Prince Yin's old party when he first came to the throne, and even the remnants of the former Sui Dynasty. The hand of Li Chengqian?
Many times, loyalty is based on interests. Without common interests, who would risk their lives to be loyal to you?
It would be enough to guard the border and resist foreign humiliation, but now it is just a battle for the throne, which symbolizes the change of power. There is no need to fight to the death for the so-called loyalty...
The tea didn't taste good, so Yuchi Gong put the teacup on the table and asked, "How is Cheng Yaojin doing?"
In any case, the top priority is to clear all threats on the road to Chang'an. Cheng Yaojin's Zuowuwei is just at the side and rear of the King of Jin's army attacking Chang'an. He can escape at any time, or he can wait for an opportunity to cover up and kill from behind. , if it cannot be solved, there will be many dangers.
It's just that Cheng Yaojin seems to be an honest person, but in fact he is cunning and full of tricks, which is really hard to appease.
Su Jia was helpless: "The general told Lu Guogong that his son Cheng Chubi was safe and sound, but Lu Guogong didn't seem to care about Cheng Chubi's life and death at all, and directly dismissed the general... He only said that he would consider it, but what exactly did he mean? , can’t see it at all.”
Yuchi Gong snorted: "How can the life and death of a mere young son affect the honor and disgrace of the entire family? His Highness the King of Jin is a bit narrow-minded. Cheng Yaojin is a trouble and a headache."
It stands to reason that the sincerity of the King of Jin has been fully demonstrated. The sealing of the country in Qilu, where the power of salt and iron has been the best in the world since ancient times, is almost equivalent to giving Cheng Yaojin the richest area in the eastern part of the empire. The situation makes the four states of Qingqi If the tiger looks at Shandong, it is completely possible to separate one side and establish itself as the emperor.
Since ancient times, it is impossible for any central government to make such concessions and bear such risks, but Cheng Yaojin hesitated...
There can only be one explanation. The emperor provided equal or even better conditions.
But Yu Chigong believed that the emperor's conditions could never be better than those of the King of Jin. Even if they were equal, only the King of Jin who had nothing would "not feel bad if he sold his land" and gave up the foundation of the empire for the sake of the emperor's future.
So why is Cheng Yaojin hesitating?
Yuchi Gong was puzzled.
*****
It rained lightly at dawn, and the fine raindrops drifted in the autumn wind. It was refreshing and slightly cold. The green and yellow vegetation in the Forbidden Garden was soaked by the rain, and the fallen leaves were thickly spread on the ground, leaving a broken autumn coolness.
Fang Jun got up early and followed the soldiers around the Forbidden Garden for ten miles. He was sweating and did not feel the cold and wet weather. When he returned to the barracks for breakfast, the sun, which was blocked by the clouds, was still out.
However, a servant from the palace came to deliver bad news. Shangshu Youpuse and Prince Fu Cenwen were seriously ill, and the medicine was ineffective, and they died of illness at the beginning of the month...
Fang Jun was stunned for a moment, then his mood sank.
Although Cen Wenwen has been sick in the past few years, after all, he has just passed his fifties, his body is not exhausted, and he has the best medical conditions. Even if he cannot recover, it is not difficult to delay the time.
His sudden death at this moment is really surprising.
This is now Shangshu Youpushe, Prince Shaofu, a civil servant leader who has done his duty since Xiao Yu's defection, and the second person in the court under Li Ji. He has a high position and great prestige. Such a death will inevitably cause great turmoil in the court. .
Without him suppressing the civil servants of the DPRK and China, who knows what kind of public opinion there would be in the future...
After pondering for a moment, Fang Jun asked: "What are your instructions?"
The chamberlain said: "Your Majesty hopes that the Duke of Yue will come to the palace and go to the Cen Mansion to express condolences together."
After Xiao Yu's defection, Cen Wenwen became a mountain of civil servants in the DPRK and China. He made great contributions to stabilizing the situation in the DPRK and China. Li Chengqian must give him enough respect and even extraordinary honors.
Fang Jun thought for a while and said: "Go back to your Majesty. There are still some military affairs that need to be dealt with urgently in the military camp. Please go first. Your Majesty will contact the Prince of Jiangxia later. Together with the Prince, we will leave the city through Xuanwu Gate and enter the city through Fanglin Gate." , went to Cen Mansion to express condolences.”
The chamberlain was puzzled, but did not dare to say anything more. He bowed in agreement and turned to leave.
Fang Jun called Cheng Wuting in and ordered: "Cen Wenwen passed away, and your Majesty asked me to go to express condolences. I will first go to Xuanwumen to see Li Daozong and ask him to accompany him. You stay here and be sure to wake up and pay close attention to the movements of all parties. If If there is an abnormality, you can act arbitrarily and lead your troops into Taiji Palace without waiting for my reply, so as not to delay the battle. "
With the death of Cen Wenwen, the civil service system in North Korea and China is bound to trigger a turmoil. Some people seek to ascend to power, while others conspire to suppress it. The military will inevitably be involved. Originally, the military had been stirred up like a pool of muddy water by Prince Jin's private contacts, and if it was stirred up by civilian officials again, who knows what unpredictable changes would happen.
Now that King Jin is approaching Bailuyuan, the final battle is imminent, and he does not dare to be careless at all.
Therefore, even if he leaves the Forbidden Garden, he will drag Li Daozong with him. If Li Daozong refuses to go with him, he will immediately return here to take charge...
Cheng Wuting understood the importance and nodded: "Don't worry, Commander, the general will remain vigilant and will never make any mistakes."
"That's good."
Fang Jun changed into a set of regular clothes, tied up his hair and put on a crown, and carried a sword under his ribs. When he went out, he got on his horse surrounded by his soldiers, and led a group of soldiers into Xuande Gate and walked along the palace wall. Go west, enter the Chongxuan Gate, and arrive at the Xuanwu Gate.
Xuanwu Gate is an important place in the palace. Even though he recognized Fang Jun coming on horseback, there were still soldiers who came forward to stop him and asked him what was going on.
Fang Jun explained briefly, then stopped and watched the soldiers trotting forward to report.
Not long after, Li Daozong, dressed in military uniform, came over with his soldiers, stopped in front of Fang Jun's horse, and asked with a solemn expression: "When did Cen Jiangling die of illness?"
Because Cen Wenwen's title was Jiangling County Son, others showed their respect and often addressed him accordingly.
Fang Jun said: "His Majesty just sent a message saying that he died of illness at Mao Shi and ordered me to go to express my condolences. However, if you use this as an excuse to travel through the palace, it would be disrespectful. Therefore, you use the Xuanwu Gate to leave the city and then enter the city through the Fanglin Gate. I asked the prince to go with me, what do you think?”
As long as Li Daozong refused, he would immediately ride back to the Forbidden Garden. He would never dare to let Li Daozong sit in the Xuanwu Gate while he left the Forbidden Garden at this time.
Li Daozong stared at Fang Jun deeply for a moment, obviously understanding Fang Jun's intention. After thinking about it, he nodded and said: "Of course I want to express my condolences. It would be best to go with Erlang, please."
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He asked his subordinates to bring the horses and turn them over, then led Fang Jun and his soldiers out of Xuanwu Gate, walked westward along the north palace wall, entered the city through Fanglin Gate, and walked along the long street through the outside of Yeting Palace. The palace wall goes all the way south to reach the Buzhengfang outside the imperial city.
Under the gloomy sky, the entire Buzheng Square was engulfed in white banners. Imperial officials arrived early at the Cen Mansion to handle various funeral matters. Cars and horses were rattling at the gate of the square. Countless dignitaries arrived here and all got off their horses and dismounted. The crowd was bustling. , and then walked into the square to show respect.
There was a rapid sound of horse hooves on the long street. Almost everyone followed the sound and saw dozens of war horses galloping on the bluestone pavement like a gust of wind. When they got closer, they all stopped and stopped. Fang Jun , Li Daozong dismounted from their horses, threw the reins to their respective soldiers, and walked into the square gate side by side.
The crowded crowd in front of the door moved to both sides, and when the two passed by, they each said hello.
The two of them were serious in speech, just nodded slightly in greeting to everyone, and then strode into the square gate and headed to Cen's Mansion.
When they arrived at the gate of the Cen Mansion, there were Cen family members wearing linen and mourning to greet the guests. When they saw Fang and Li, they hurried forward to greet them.
When Fang Jun saw that it was Cen Changqian, he stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him and saying, "My condolences."
There are three Cen Wenwen brothers. The eldest brother Cen Wenwen has passed away long ago. Cen Changqian is the son of Cen Wenwen and the eldest son and grandson of the Cen family. He was smart since he was a child. Cen Wenwen treats Cen Wenwen as his own son and cherishes him very much. Therefore, although Cen Wenwen is only Cen Changqian’s uncle, But now that Cen Wenwen has died of illness, Cen Changqian must feel the same pain as losing her husband.
Cen Changqian's handsome face was full of sadness. She held back her tears and thanked Fang Jun, and then met Li Daozong. Li Daozong nodded slightly without saying a word.
Then Cen Changqian accompanied the two of them into the mansion and went straight to the mourning hall.
Outside the mourning hall, there were officials from the Ministry of Rites conducting funerals. When they saw Fang Jun, they hurriedly came forward to greet him, and then asked some questions. After all, Fang Jun is still the Minister of Rites, the immediate superior of all the officials of the Ministry of Rites...
Fang Jun said impatiently: "You think I understand these rules and etiquette? Shouldn't you ask me and blame me when something goes wrong? Just do what you need to do and improve. Go away and ask Mr. Zhongda if you have anything to do!”
Cen Wenwen was an important minister of the court. He was a high-ranking official. The standards of funeral ceremonies were extremely high, and various regulations and matters were complicated. Fang Jun was just a nominal minister of the Ministry of Rites. He had never even been to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites a few times. How could he know this? If anything goes wrong in his blind command, Cen Wenwen's old disciples might drown him in their saliva...
The official of the Ministry of Etiquette was speechless. This kind of funeral ceremony was of extremely high standard, and it was definitely not possible for an official of his level to take over all the responsibilities. However, his immediate superior had an indifferent attitude and stayed out of the matter. What should he do?
If something goes wrong and Fang Jun refuses to take responsibility, can he, a small official, be responsible?
But while he was staring helplessly, Fang Jun had already entered the mourning hall side by side with Li Daozong. With the return of the gift from the Cen family, they offered incense to Cen Wenwen's memorial tablet... (End of Chapter)