Niao Ni
Chapter 513 The Lowness of a Lord (Part 1)
(Today I was looking at the monthly ticket list, Qing Yu Nian is ranked fourth among the old books, oh, no! Screaming, fifth... Almost two hundred votes less than the top three, shaking desperately, shaking desperately, shaking the votes out of your jars...)
...
...
From a bloodline perspective, the Crown Prince and Fan Xian are brothers. There is no irreconcilable hatred between them; those are ultimately matters for their elders. The Crown Prince had even expressed his willingness to reconcile with Fan Xian, but Fan Xian could not possibly believe him. Most importantly, Fan Xian was clear that the Crown Prince did not have enough power and a strong enough mind to defeat him.
Therefore, the biggest goal of all of Fan Xian's actions in the past six months was actually the Eldest Princess. He hadn't expected the Emperor to merely imprison her in the end, but to depose the Crown Prince ahead of time. This fact made Fan Xian ponder for a long time, feeling that there was something wrong with the order. With all those years the Emperor had spent immersed in the arena of power, he shouldn't be making such a mistake.
Regardless of whether the order was wrong or not, the matter of deposing the Crown Prince was ultimately unfolding in the court and amongst the people of Qing Kingdom with great fanfare. Perhaps "with great fanfare" isn't the most accurate phrase. As the saying goes, great winds rise from the end of a blade of grass. Any major event in history probably begins with some insignificant rumors in the officialdom.
Months ago, the Eastern Palace caught fire, and the Crown Prince went to Nan Zhao; that was already a rumor.
And when the Eighth Bureau of the Overwatch Council tossed out some old stories, the Court of Judicial Review suddenly became interested and re-investigated the matter of the winter coats for the Northern Expeditionary Army back then, and the Ministry of Revenue began to cooperate in researching where those silver taels had gone... the rumors gradually grew louder.
Last spring, when the weather was beautiful, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince had investigated the Ministry of Revenue in order to strike at Fan Xian, and the biggest loophole they found was the issue of the winter coats for the Northern Expeditionary Army. But the Crown Prince didn't expect that investigating this matter would ultimately lead to him. Fortunately, His Majesty stepped in later, and the Crown Prince avoided a humiliating end.
But now that the court was bringing up this old matter again, the officials in the court all smelled a different scent. The Crown Prince's side no longer had many loyal figures. Was His Majesty preparing to have the Crown Prince throw someone out to atone for his sins?
Even at this point, no official thought that His Majesty would directly have the Crown Prince bear the responsibility. So, when the Court of Judicial Review and the Overwatch Council threw Xin Qiwu into prison, everyone thought that this matter would be temporarily settled.
Unexpectedly, Xin Qiwu was released from prison after only three days. This confidant of the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince's close aide, did not suffer any torture in the Overwatch Council because of his good relationship with Fan Xian, nor did he implicate the Crown Prince.
Even so, the Overwatch Council and the Court of Judicial Review still held on to the Crown Prince and presented a secret memorial to the Imperial Study, and in an Imperial Study meeting, it was presented to the Zhongshu under the Menxia and the heads of the Six Ministries, those figures at the heart of power in Qing Kingdom.
Shu Wu and Grand Scholar Hu pleaded for the Crown Prince, even vouching for him, which caused the Emperor to quell his feigned anger. But after the court adjourned, these two grand scholars once again gathered to drink, and couldn't help but sigh deeply.
His Majesty was truly determined to depose the Crown Prince, but the two of them, as grand scholars of the Zhongshu under the Menxia, had to protect the Crown Prince. This had nothing to do with factionalism; it was simply the attitude they had to display as pure ministers. As long as the Crown Prince was still the heir apparent, they had to treat him as half an Emperor, and the Emperor would not be critical of this.
Most importantly, the ministers in the court, represented by Hu and Shu, believed that the Crown Prince might have been absurd and muddle-headed in the past, but he had truly made a lot of progress in the past two years. In order to avoid major shocks in the court caused by the struggle for imperial power, and in order to prevent Fan Xian, who was far away in Jiangnan, from getting involved in these matters, they really hoped that His Majesty could settle his mind and settle the future of Qing Kingdom.
No matter which perspective you looked at it from, the current Crown Prince was the best choice for Qing Kingdom, avoiding internal strife and preventing the dominance of the Overwatch Council... and that young man.
The Emperor of Qing Kingdom was not a foolish ruler. He knew the benefits that the balance between the monarch and his ministers brought to Qing Kingdom, and he also expected that the matter of deposing the Crown Prince would definitely cause great opposition. So he temporarily chose to remain silent, as if his idea of deposing the Crown Prince had been dispelled after the first wave of opposition.
However, Grand Scholar Hu, Grand Scholar Shu, and all the ministers clearly knew that their Emperor was not someone who made decisions lightly. But once he made a choice, he would persevere to the end, no matter what difficulties he faced.
Sure enough, after a few days, a memorial from Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan Road, was sent to the palace and read aloud in court during the Grand Assembly. Every word and every sentence implicitly referred to the Eastern Palace, and everyone knew the hidden meaning.
Shu Wu was furious. Although he knew that this trend was irreversible, he still stepped forward and berated Xue Qing for having disloyal intentions, spouting nonsense and disloyal words.
The Emperor, pitying Shu Wu for being old and weak, ordered him to return home to recuperate for three months, without punishing him in the slightest.
Another memorial from the other six road governors then arrived, with varying tones, some heavy, some light, some explicit, some implicit, but all vaguely expressing their attitudes.
At this point, the situation had gradually become clear. The Emperor was determined to depose the Crown Prince, and the seven road governors, forced by the Emperor's power, submitted memorials in response. Only the ministers of the rank of Grand Secretary and Court Minister were caught in the middle. Even if they wanted to object, they felt that there was heaven above and thorns below, making them extremely uncomfortable all over.
However, although Shu Wu had been asked to return home, the Zhongshu under the Menxia was still exerting the positive influence that the Emperor of Qing Kingdom allowed them to exert. The bolder ministers in the court carefully chose their words at court meetings, expressing their opposition, while the more timid ones remained silent... Not a single minister, under the Emperor's hint, bravely submitted a memorial, asking His Majesty to change the heir apparent.
Yes, even the most eager flatterers found it difficult to do such a thing. All the civil and military officials and all the people of Kyoto were watching these officials. The Crown Prince hadn't committed any major mistakes, yet he was to be deposed, which was really unreasonable and would be impossible to explain in the history books in the future.
After this court meeting adjourned, several representatives of the civil officials came to Shu's residence, carefully seeking Grand Scholar Shu's opinion. Anyway, His Majesty was aware of these things, and they weren't afraid of anyone accusing them of forming a faction.
Shu Wu, wearing a cloth robe, remained silent for a long time, then smiled and said, "Everything in the world should follow a principle, especially the matter of the heir apparent. It involves the will of heaven above and the people below. If the principle is not sound, then it cannot be obeyed... Fan Xian once said, 'Worry before the world worries, and rejoice only after the world rejoices.' This is a matter of state, not a matter of the Emperor's family. Shu Wu, as a minister, must relieve His Majesty's worries above and remove concerns for Qing Kingdom on the side. There is no need to speculate on the Sacred Heart; just ask one's own heart."
"His Majesty's mind is already made up. What can we do?"
Shu Wu stroked the beard under his chin and said in his usual casual manner, "The Master once said, 'A subject should not accept a monarch's disordered command.'"
The Master he was referring to was naturally the great scholar Zhuang Mohan, who had passed away nearly two years ago. The civil officials went home separately, each silent and uncommunicative.
In fact, if the Emperor wanted to hint to the ministers to submit memorials, there were many ways he could easily find those spokespersons in the court. But strangely, since the turmoil began, the Emperor had never summoned any minister to the palace alone, except for the Minister of Revenue, Fan Jian. So the ministers were also wondering if His Majesty's mind hadn't been made up yet—they weren't the Emperor's domestic slaves like the seven road governors, and they didn't dare to submit memorials rashly.
The court fell into an awkward silence and stalemate, while the Crown Prince, who was in the Eastern Palace and at the center of the incident, remained gentle and tranquil, seemingly not taking this matter to heart. His faction had no capable people at all, yet he had won the support of so many civil officials this time, which could be said to be a pleasant surprise, but also... a surprising shock.
So the Crown Prince, while secretly grateful, became even more silent.
...
...
And in this storm of deposing the Crown Prince, there were two young people who were not involved in the matter, but attracted the attention of the ministers the most. These two young dignitaries had somewhat similar appearances and temperaments, and their relationships with the Crown Prince were very complicated. However, to this day, their performances were quite unexpected.
The first was naturally Fan Xian. Now, in the eyes of the people, he was a true supporter of the Third Prince's faction, and he was also His Majesty's illegitimate son, making his identity too sensitive. However, before and after the seven road governors submitted their memorials, he maintained a deathly silence in Jiangnan. His routine requests to enter the palace didn't mention this matter at all, only circling around the matters of the Internal Treasury and surrounding affairs. And although the Overwatch Council had investigated the Eastern Palace from the Ministry of Revenue, the intensity was obviously not as strong as the ministers had imagined. Everyone could see clearly that the Overwatch Council's actions in Kyoto had nothing to do with Fan Xian.
As a result, people suddenly thought of something. Did His Majesty throw Fan Xian to Jiangnan with the intention of separating him from the Overwatch Council? And why was Supervisor Fan, who was always gentle on the surface and firm at heart, unwilling to seize this opportunity to kick a man when he was down?
The second was the Second Prince. Before Fan Xian entered Kyoto, this Second Prince had always been deeply favored by His Majesty. He was the first of His Majesty's sons to be granted the title of Prince, and he had gathered a large group of civil officials around him in the court. Later, everyone learned that the Eldest Princess secretly supported him while openly supporting the Crown Prince... This Second Prince was not simple, vaguely contending with the Crown Prince. The so-called struggle for the throne actually referred to him in the beginning.
However, there had been a constant stream of major events in Kyoto in the past six months, but they didn't seem to have anything to do with this Second Prince. After the Eldest Princess was imprisoned, the Second Prince was not affected at all. Instead, the Crown Prince was exiled by His Majesty.
Now that the situation of deposing the Crown Prince was critical, the Second Prince should have been the greatest beneficiary, and he should have taken some action. Even if he wanted to avoid suspicion, to please His Majesty, and to uphold the principles of filial piety and brotherly love, it would have been fine for him to remain silent all the time. But he actually... personally submitted a memorial to defend the Crown Prince in the case of the winter coats for the Northern Expeditionary Army, and secretly mobilized officials in his faction to stand in opposition to the Emperor's intentions.
Of course, his power in the court had basically been shattered by Fan Xian's two battles, but after so many years of cultivation, there were still some mouths that could speak. Most importantly, after marrying Ye Ling'er, he had become half the master of the Ye family. His words on behalf of the Crown Prince did have some effect.
The Crown Prince's two brothers, his two greatest enemies, expressed their support in different ways when the Crown Prince was in the most danger. This was truly a wonderful, beautiful, and mysterious situation.
Presumably, the Emperor of Qing Kingdom must have very mixed feelings at this time.
...
...
While the matter of deposing the Crown Prince had not yet entered its climax, a climax had already occurred on one of the three most dangerous borders in the world, startling the already panicking officials of Qing Kingdom but making them excited instead.
The three most dangerous borders were the border between Northern Qi and Northern Man, the border between Southern Qing and Western Hu, and... the border between Southern Qing and Northern Qi.
The extremely northern lands had experienced blizzards for three consecutive years, causing the cattle and horses of the Northern Man to freeze to death. They had no choice but to migrate the entire tribe around the Tianmai Mountains, enduring thousands of miles of hardship, finally bypassing Northern Qi from the north and reaching the west of Southern Qing, but at the tragic cost of losing seven or eight out of every ten members of the tribe.
This was a major event in history, and for the current world, it had even more far-reaching implications. First of all, the people of Northern Qi no longer had to worry about those barbaric and tall wild men behind them. They could finally free up their hands to deal with the Qing people to the south—that hand was naturally the famous general Shang Shanhu.
And after the Western Hu spent two years digesting the Northern Man tribes that had come to join them, their strength suddenly increased sharply. Because although the number of people who survived the Northern Man migration was small, the tribesmen who could endure the hardship of thousands of miles of travel, without food or medicine, were elite young men and women chosen from thousands.
Qing Kingdom was facing enemies on both sides, and the pressure was greatly increased.
This was why the Ye family of Dingzhou urgently supported the western front, while Li Hongcheng, the heir of Prince Jing, was playing hide-and-seek with the Hu people in the west.
Yan Xiaoyi in the north also returned to camp ahead of time, using his powerful military force to suppress Shang Shanhu's strategies and the bad ideas of the Northern Qi people.
And this time, the climax on the border broke out on the northern front, between Yan Xiaoyi, the Grand Commandant of the Northern Expedition, and Shang Shanhu, a famous general of his generation.
When Shang Shanhu led his troops to retreat, leaving Yan Xiaoyi with space and time to think and prepare, Yan Xiaoyi did not think about his own future in Qing Kingdom or prepare to welcome the Emperor of Qing Kingdom's arrest. Instead, he directly led his troops north, taking two thousand elites, and along the central line of Cangzhou and Yanjing, launched a surprise attack on the Northern Qi camp!
Deception is essential in war, and the momentum of the army is as swift as a hurricane. Yan Xiaoyi perfectly implemented this principle, without asking the Privy Council for instructions and without waiting for the Emperor of Qing Kingdom's decree. He personally led the army and charged forward.
At this time, Shang Shanhu, who had always been unerring in his calculations on the battlefield, clearly did not expect that Yan Xiaoyi, when his own life was in danger, would actually have the mind to send troops to attack.
At that time, the Northern Qi army was slowly retreating more than fifty miles, and the camp had not yet been stabilized. They were suddenly attacked at night, suffering heavy casualties. The Southern Qing army, on the other hand, only lost five thousand lives in total.
This was the great victory of Cangzhou.
In people's minds, this seemed to be the first time Shang Shanhu had suffered a defeat.
When the news reached Kyoto, whether it was Grand Scholar Shu, who had been ordered to recuperate, or the common people selling wine on the streets, they were excited. The warlike and border-expanding enthusiasm deeply buried in the blood of the Qing people was aroused to the extreme by this "shameless" great victory.
The dark cloud that had been hovering over Kyoto seemed to be no longer so dazzling. People were thinking that with such good news, the Emperor wouldn't insist on his absurdity and do things that were contrary to people's emotions. It wouldn't be a very good choice.
Along with the arrival of the war report came the Emperor of Northern Qi's state letter. In the letter, the Emperor of Northern Qi angrily scolded, saying that the two countries were on good terms, but what were they doing? It was very shameless.
After receiving the state letter, the Emperor of Qing Kingdom just smiled and handed this matter over to the Court of State Ceremonial and the Ministry of Rites to handle. In today's world, the division of national borders is always so blurred. It is always difficult to say clearly who has entered whose territory. If it is really a misunderstanding, it will be fine to apologize in a few days. Anyway, the people who were killed cannot be brought back to life.
The Emperor smiled and said to Eunuch Hong beside him, "Yan Xiaoyi is not bad. He knows how to use the right way to explain the meaning of his existence to me."
Yes, people who have no meaning to exist should no longer exist.
Like the Crown Prince.
So the Court of Judicial Review continued to interrogate the case of the winter coats, and the Overwatch Council continued to dig up all the mistakes the Crown Prince had made. The most shameless was the Eighth Bureau, which seemed to be preparing to write a memoir about the Crown Prince molesting palace maids when he was a child.
The matter of deposing the Crown Prince was not interrupted because of Yan Xiaoyi's great victory, but only rested for a while, and then slowly and unquestioningly proceeded under the disappointed gaze of the ministers.
...
...
All of this had nothing to do with Fan Xian.
At this time, he was on a civilian boat, staring blankly at the Council Report in his hand, thinking that the Emperor was indeed even more shameless than himself. It seemed that in a few days, the Heaven Worship ceremony that Xue Qing had mentioned would begin. He wondered what the quiet Qing Temple in Kyoto would look like then.
Find a reason why the Crown Prince should be deposed, and then worship Heaven to seek an oracle—the Emperor is the Son of Heaven, and the Crown Prince is naturally the Grandson of Heaven. If the heavens think this grandson is not well-behaved, then the Son of Heaven has no choice but to comply.
Writing this would make the history books look much better.
Truly extremely shameless.
Fan Xian shook his head and put down the Council Report. Since Xue Qing began submitting memorials, he had fled Suzhou, not returning to Hangzhou, nor going to Wuzhou. He had simply disguised himself, transformed into a commoner, and boarded a civilian boat, subconsciously wanting to stay as far away from this political vortex as possible.
He also knew about the Second Prince submitting a memorial to protect the Crown Prince, and thought that the Second Prince was ruthless enough.
He also thought of the great victory of Cangzhou, and a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes. He had always been clueless about military matters, but he always felt that how could a terrifying figure like Shang Shanhu suffer such a big loss at the hands of Yan Xiaoyi? Most importantly, starting a war lightly is a great crime. The ministers and the people can be happy like watching a play, but how could the Emperor be happy like an idiot?