In the study, Li Chengqian changed into a set of robes with auspicious clouds and python patterns, and wore a golden crown. He accepted the etiquette of the officials, nodded and said: "My dear friends, please take a seat."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The officials were seated according to their titles and grades, but Liu Jie remained motionless, still maintaining a posture with his arms touching the ground...
Li Chengqian sighed. The quarrel between Liu Jie and Fang Jun was relayed by the chamberlain. Just as he was about to say a few words of comfort, Li Daozong, Ma Zhou and others also came to the door.
When everyone was seated, Li Chengqian looked at Liu Ji, who was standing still, and said: "Liu Shizhong is busy with peace talks today. His hard work has made him great. I'll give you a seat if you come."
The meaning is very clear: don’t make trouble.
A servant came forward and brought a brocade pier, but Liu Jie still stood.
"I thank Your Highness... However, the peace talks are related to the survival of the East Palace. I should do my best to live up to Your Highness's trust. Even if I die a hundred times without regrets, how can I dare to take credit? On the contrary, some people rely on military merits and are unruly. He has repeatedly ignored major peace talks and pushed the East Palace into dire straits... The current situation is difficult. Our ministers should focus on the country and the country and assist His Highness in maintaining the legitimacy of the empire, rather than show off temporary bloody bravery or seek temporary military exploits. , to achieve personal merit at the expense of the safety of the East Palace and the inheritance of orthodoxy. Your Highness has clearly learned from this, please punish the Duke of Yue for his crime of starting a war without authorization and destroying He Tan, punishing the past to avoid future ones, and setting an example to others."
The study was quiet, with only Liu Jie's impassioned voice echoing. Coupled with the righteousness on his face, it was as if an immortal loyal minister was reprimanding traitors and sycophants in front of the king...
Everyone was silent and quietly watched the confrontation between Liu Jie and Fang Jun.
It is also a game between the subordinate officials of the East Palace and the generals...
From ancient times to the present, civil and military affairs have taken different paths, and the interests represented by both sides are difficult to reconcile. Every time they fight, water and fire are incompatible. It is an eternal truth that military generals conquer the world and civilian officials rule the world. However, because of their different interests, civilian officials do not allow military generals to transcend the rule of law, so they want to seize them under control; and military generals in order to pursue their own interests How can you be willing to bend your knees to civil servants and become a vassal if you have no interests?
The battle between civil and military officials is not only a battle between themselves, but also the king's implementation of national policies. It is the civil officials who rule the world and order the army, or the military generals who are independent and form their own system, which demonstrates the king's will to the greatest extent.
When the king believes that the army is powerful and poses a threat to the imperial power, he will inevitably favor civility and suppress military force. On the contrary, if the world is not peaceful and the king has a universal mind, he will naturally allow the army and civilian officials to check and balance and maintain his unruly style.
So now it seems like there is a dispute between Liu Jie and Fang Jun, but everyone is looking at the prince Li Chengqian.
Li Chengqian pondered for a while and then said slowly: "The Duke of Yue's raid on the Yushi Temple and the burning of the rebels' grain was because he got Gu's permission, so he acted in secret..."
There was an uproar in the study.
Why are civilian officials so dissatisfied with the military? Precisely because they were so busy negotiating with Guan Long in the dark, the military tried to give Guan Long a hard blow behind his back, often ruining the good situation of the peace talks. This involves the interests of both parties, so naturally no one is willing to give in.
Now that he has seized on Fang Jun's secret attack on Guanlong's food and supplies, and is about to concentrate his firepower to suppress the military's arrogance, who would have expected that the prince actually stood up to endorse Fang Er in person...
As for whether the prince's words are true or false, and whether Fang Jun had any prior knowledge or not, these are irrelevant. The most important thing is the prince's stance - giving support to the military.
How can this not make civil servants shocked or even angry?
Fang Junze glanced at Li Chengqian and sighed inwardly. The reason why he was so rude to Liu Jie just now was that he wanted to put this matter on the civil-military dispute and regard it as an ordinary political struggle. However, as soon as the prince said this, people with a keen mind will surely understand it. Unusual meaning...
Of course, the reason why the prince stood up to endorse him was because he did not want him to be too antagonizing the civil servants, thereby incurring criticism from all the civil servants in the East Palace. As a prince, he has the important responsibility of supervising the country. The current situation is so critical, but he can still support him. This kind of kindness is deep enough.
…
Li Chengqian pressed his palms, and the surprised voices in the study disappeared, and he continued: "The Duke of Yue has informed Yu Gu of this matter in advance, but he felt that it was of great importance and was wary of news about him, so he kept silent. "If the ruler is not secretive, he will lose his country; if the minister is not secretive, he will lose his identity; if several things are not secretive, it will cause harm. Therefore, a gentleman is careful and does not leave." This is what the "Book of Changes" says, and Gu Shen believes it. It’s not that I don’t trust Liu Shizhong and all of you, the more cautious you are, the better. At the moment, it seems that the results are remarkable.”
Liu Ji felt that his heart was very heavy. The prince's words did make some sense. Moreover, this passage was a famous saying in the "Book of Changes". Who dares to say that it was unreasonable?
However, isn't the king's trust in his ministers reflected in whether such confidential matters can be disclosed? If there is complete trust, there will naturally be no such thing as "if the minister does not keep the secret, he will lose his identity"...
Taking a deep breath, Liu Jie did not continue to argue about this matter, and decisively avoided it: "Duke Ying is currently in the room where Wei Chen is on duty. He intends to speed up the process of peace talks. I have come to ask for your instructions from His Highness, is the charter still the same?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Jun frowned and said: "Is Liu Shizhong always confused? One moment and another, now I led the soldiers to severely inflict heavy losses on the rebels, killing countless people, almost completely defeating their main force, and burning more than 100,000 stones of them with a fire. Food and fodder are waiting to be drained from the cauldron, making it unsustainable. You should take the opportunity to improve the conditions of peace talks. Otherwise, the achievements that our soldiers have gained through life and death will be ignored by you and handed over to others. How unfair is it? Let alone the East Palace. Profit is your stepping stone! If Liu Shizhong is not qualified, you might as well replace him with someone else to preside over the peace talks. It is better than the soldiers fighting bloody battles for their lives only to be betrayed!"
This "map cannon" was so powerful and wide-ranging that all civil servants started making noises.
Others dared to be angry and dare not speak out due to Fang Jun's power, but Xiao Yu didn't care about this and yelled: "How could Duke Yue confuse right and wrong and spit blood like this? Everyone knows that peace talks are the best way to end the current chaos. However, only the Duke of Yue does not understand. Not only has he repeatedly sent troops to sabotage the peace talks, but now he is also categorically slandering the officials who have worked hard for the peace talks. What are their intentions?"
Fang Jun asked curiously: "When Shizhong Liu was slandering me just now, why didn't you see you, Duke of Song, speaking out for justice? You civil servants gathered together to criticize me?"
This is heartbreaking. It is true that civil servants and military officers have different paths, but when civilian officials govern the country, they naturally have much greater power than the military. Once the civilian officials unite to fight against dissidents and exclude dissidents, it will be the beginning of disaster for the country, and they may even empty the king and control the government.
Xiao Yu was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, and said angrily: "If you want to impose a crime, why bother?"
When Fang Jun was about to retort, Li Chengqian rubbed his temples, knocked on the desk in front of him, and said, "What's the use of such useless criticism?"
After scolding everyone, he said to Liu Jie: "What the Duke of Yue said makes sense. Today's situation has been reversed. How can we continue the previous strategy? Don't be impatient. The rebels are anxious now. Slowly follow Yuwen. When talking with scholars, first find out their bottom line before making any calculations."
Liu Jie could only respond: "Your Highness is wise, I will do as you are told."
From a civilian standpoint, peace talks must be promoted as soon as possible at any cost. In this way, the civilian officials will be largely responsible for eliminating the mutiny and stabilizing the situation, and will not be suppressed by the military, which performed brilliantly during the mutiny. .
No matter how high the price is, there are still excuses such as "forced by the situation", and no one can blame them.
But now the situation has reversed, and the East Palace has the advantage. If they want to promote peace talks as soon as possible, they must cooperate with Guan Long. If Guan Long makes up his mind that the peace talks will not be successful, then the peace talks will become a chore.
But he can't complain yet. Fang Jun has made it clear just now. If he, Liu Ji, feels that this matter is embarrassing, he can put down his burden. There is someone who can take it up...
If the peace talks were really snatched away by the military, then Liu Jie would become the sinner of the East Palace civil servants, and he would have no choice but to commit suicide.
Li Chengqian said to Li Daozong: "I would trouble the King of Jiangxia County to go to Tongguan and meet with the British Duke to see what he thinks of the current situation."
From the beginning to the end, Li Ji was a sharp sword above the heads of the East Palace and Guan Long, and the threat was too great. At this moment, the East Palace has reversed the situation, but Li Jizhi's tendency is still enough to influence the battle situation, so it is necessary to find out the truth and truth in order to respond accurately.
What's more, he had a vague suspicion in his heart, and he needed Li Ji's reaction to confirm it...
