Li Daozong knew that he was no match for Xiao Yu in such a verbal dispute, so he was not annoyed and smiled calmly and kept silent.
In the peaceful and prosperous times, the Zhengshitang controlled the government affairs of the empire, and the civil servants in the DPRK were the main body of the empire. They had the final say on how to govern.
But in times of crisis and political turmoil, truth is often under the iron heel of swords and guns!
At present, there is unrest in Guanzhong. Hundreds of thousands of Eastern Expedition troops are returning to Guanzhong one after another. The position of commander Li Ji is unclear. The sixth rate of the East Palace and the Youtun Guards are the backbone of the East Palace. As long as the military is firm-willed and consistent, how can a few civilian officials rely on three Can a sharp tongue influence things?
Looking at Li Jing and Fang Jun beside him who had been drinking tea in silence, Li Daozong curled his lips and stopped talking.
How could Xiao Yu not understand what Li Daozong understood?
He looked at the silent Li Jing, then looked at Fang Jun, and asked in a deep voice: "The Duke of Yue is the pillar of the military, but he doesn't know what he thinks about what I said?"
Although the Prince of Jiangxia is a royal prince with great military achievements and a respected position, he does not have military power. If he wants to prevent the prince from leaving the city, he can only persuade these two military giants.
Li Jing holds the sixth command of the East Palace and the imperial palace of Suwei. He has control over the entire defense of Chang'an. He is his own faction, and he is so prestigious and powerful that it is difficult to agree with his position. However, Li Jing had a special status and was somewhat sensitive. He would not express his opinion on the distribution of interests within the East Palace. Even if he expressed his position, the prince would not necessarily care.
But Fang Jun is different.
As the most trusted minister of the prince, and with the Youtun Guards who have made great achievements in battle, Fang Jun's will is almost equivalent to the will of the East Palace military. Instead of trying to persuade Li Jing, it is better to persuade Fang Jun directly.
There is a more important point. The news that the Changsun family and the Yuwen family had no choice but to marry their legitimate daughter to Fang Jun as a concubine in the hope of getting Fang Jun's help has spread throughout Chang'an. How could he not hear about it? I took this opportunity to test Fang Jun's position.
Unexpectedly, when Fang Jun heard this, he put down the tea cup in his hand, raised his eyes and looked at him, and then said: "I'm afraid Duke Song is old and confused. His Majesty has returned from the Eastern Expedition. As the son of a man, His Highness should have gone out of the city thirty miles to greet the Holy Master. Fang Xian Filial piety, by preventing the prince from fulfilling his filial piety, do you want to ruin the prince's reputation and be accused of being unfilial, and wait until the world's public opinion rises to attack him, then depose the prince and establish a new crown prince?"
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the palace.
Liu Jie angrily scolded: "Fang Er, don't talk nonsense! Guanlong's rebellion is an iron-clad fact. Who in the world doesn't know it? Now you have taken in the daughter of Changsun and Yuwen, and you are collaborating with them, confusing right and wrong, and you are nothing more than a national thief." , everyone gets it and kills it!"
Xiao Yu was so angry that his beard stood straight up, and he sent greetings to all the eighteen generations of Fang Jun's ancestors in his heart.
Mother!
The Changsun and Yuwen families married their daughter to you, and you immediately sided with them. But I, the Xiao family of Lanling, had already married their legitimate daughter to you, so why did you refuse to accept it?
The daughter of our Xiao family was snatched away by a wolf cub for nothing...
Fang Jun had some free time, glanced at Liu Ji, tapped his fingers on the table in front of him, and said calmly: "Liu Shizhong had better understand that people with different political opinions in the court can refute and argue, but they must not make false claims and confuse right and wrong. His Highness is convening today. We are here to discuss whether we can go out of the city to welcome the Holy Master, instead of letting us fight for power and profit here! As a high-ranking official, you should try your best to assist the prince in handling state affairs, instead of rejecting dissidents and pursuing profit all day long. Take care of yourself."
Mother!
Liu Jie's nose almost turned crooked with anger. I just opposed the prince's departure from the city. How could I make such irresponsible remarks and confuse right and wrong?
He was about to say more, but Li Chengqian already had a sullen face and said displeasedly: "Everyone in the court expresses his or her own opinion, and it is normal to accept advice with an open mind. But if anyone has evil intentions and does not put the interests of the empire first, don't blame him for being unreasonable. Face! Today we are only discussing whether we can go out of the city to greet the Holy Master, and we don’t care about the rest."
The Wude Hall became quiet.
In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that the most important reason why the prince summoned the ministers to discuss matters here today is to hope that everyone in the East Palace can reach an agreement. No matter how we fight for power or retaliate on the inside, we must have the same direction and move forward and retreat together on the surface.
After all, he, the prince, has not yet ascended the throne, so this is a first-class matter that concerns the fundamental interests of everyone...
Ma Zhou, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke and said: "The father-in-law is right, and the mother-in-law is right. We all have different positions and different positions, and it is inevitable that our political opinions will be inconsistent. It is difficult to tell who is right and wrong if such a dispute continues. I suggest that we simply vote by show of hands, the minority obeys the majority, and it is absolutely fair, so as not to end up arguing with each other and miss important events."
Fang Jun smiled, nodded and said, "I second my opinion."
I didn’t expect that the Tang Dynasty could have a democratic centralism...
Li Daozong also said: "I second the proposal."
Li Jing, who had been silent, followed closely: "I second my opinion."
Liu Ji was going crazy and said angrily: "Is this fair? I object!"
Now in the Hall of Wude, there are Xiao Yu, Cen Wenwen, Li Jing, Fang Jun, Li Daozong, Ma Zhou and himself, a total of seven people, including four civilian officials and three military generals. It seems that the civilian side has the upper hand, but the problem is that we are out of A traitor...
Ma Zhou, the governor of Jingzhao, was an anomaly among civil servants. He generally did not express his stance, but whenever he expressed his stance, he would either side with the prince or Fang Jun. His stance was very firm.
The military obviously agreed that the prince would go out of the city to greet the emperor, so as to speed up the process of the prince's enthronement and better stabilize their positions, lest Li Ji's side completely fall to the prince, which would cause Li Jing, Fang Jun and others to lose their power and status. Significantly weakened.
The civil servants are completely opposite.
But Yi Mazhou's usual temperament must be in agreement with the prince...
Then why raise your hand?
Let’s simply declare our opposition invalid…
Cen Wenwen said: "How can military and national affairs be decided easily by the minority obeying the majority? If this is the first time today, the discussion in the court in the future will not be about who is right or wrong, but who is better at forming cliques. If things go on like this, , the country will not be a country!"
Liu Jie echoed: "That's the truth!"
Correctness is not in the hands of the majority. This system in which the minority obeys the majority has too many drawbacks, and even public opinion can be swayed, let alone a few big shots in the court? Once your own interests are involved, you will immediately stand on the side that is beneficial to you. Who will safeguard the interests of the empire?
However, before he could finish his words, Cen Wenwen was heard to have continued: "...I agree with His Highness to leave the city and greet His Majesty."
"Well……"
Liu Ji almost choked to death. He turned his head and looked at Cen Wenwen in disbelief with wide eyes.
You must not be old and confused, right?
Xiao Yu also nodded and agreed at this moment: "Cen Zhongshu's words are very reasonable, and I second my opinion."
There was no need for a show of hands to vote, and there was no need for the minority to obey the majority. In just a moment, the atmosphere in the Wude Hall became strange. The two factions that were originally at odds almost unanimously agreed that the prince should go out of the city to welcome the Holy Emperor.
Liu Ji was the only one who expressed opposition.
Liu Jie: "..."
And I'm the only one who's a clown?
Li Chengqian ignored Liu Ji and said happily: "Since all the dear friends agree, then the matter has been decided. Three days later, I will lead the civil and military forces of Chao Zhong to go out of the city for twenty miles and go to the west side of Baqiao to greet the Holy Master!"
All the ministers said in unison: "Your Highness is wise!"
…
Everything was agreed upon and the ministers dispersed.
When Liu Ji came out of Wude Hall, he did not go back to his own province. Instead, he turned a corner and came to Zhongshu Provincial Yamen. Amidst the respectful greetings of a group of officials and scribes, he went straight to Cen Wenwen's duty room and asked to come. The scribes from outside came to report inside and asked to see Cen Wenwen.
After a while, the scribe returned and bowed to invite him in.
Liu Ji tidied up his clothes and went into the check-in room. He saw a mountain of official documents on the desk, but Cen Wenwen was sitting on his knees in front of the coffee table by the window, making tea. He waved to him casually: "I just got some new tea, we just want to try it together." taste."
Liu Ji was silent, took off his shoes, and knelt on the mat opposite Cen Wenwen. Just when Cen Wenwen pushed a cup of tea in front of him, he quickly took it with both hands and said thank you.
The two of them stopped talking. Each held a tea cup and took a sip. Then they swirled the tea in their mouths a few times, swallowed slowly, and carefully felt the fragrant sweetness remaining between their teeth and cheeks.
After a long time, the cup of tea was finished. Cen Wenwen reached out to lift the teapot. Liu Ji quickly leaned forward, lifted the teapot, and filled the teacups in front of them.
The dissatisfied attitude can be shown appropriately. After all, he is now a servant, in charge of his subordinates, one of the prime ministers and assistant ministers, and an important minister in the dynasty. But Cen Wenwen is too senior and powerful. It would be an extremely stupid thing to be rude in front of him.
Liu Ji mastered the temperament very well. In Cen Wenwen's view, he was a junior who was dissatisfied with his political opinions, but tried his best to tolerate it and did not dare to be rude...
This time, he was not in a hurry to drink tea. Cen Wenwen reached out and picked up a piece of pastry from the plate on the coffee table, put it into his mouth and chewed it. When the food was in front of him, he sighed and said: "I drank enough cooking tea in the first half of my life. Study how to mix the right amount of mutton oil, cardamom, and chives into the tea soup, how to brew the foam until it is as white and delicate as snow, how to reconcile the aftertaste in your mouth... However, Cong Fang Er developed the art of frying tea, making Longjing This kind of refreshing and pure tea is popular in the world, and I suddenly realize that I have been drinking oil and water for half my life. Every time I think about it, I can't help but feel sick and retching, complaining about my stomach."
Liu Ji raised his eyebrows and said nothing, but carefully tried to figure out the meaning of Cen Wenwen's words.
It is true that the tea produced by the technique of frying tea is more consistent with the tenets of Confucianism, but at this moment, it is somewhat inappropriate to praise Fang Jun for his contribution to the development of tea.
There must be a deeper metaphor…
Cen Wenwen didn't pay attention to Liu Ji, who was thinking hard, and sighed to himself: "It's a pity that the new tea will be launched in the spring this year, and the output shipped to Chang'an for sale is only 10%. It seems that I have some connection with the Fang family, so shameless If you can get some, the rest of the tea lovers will not be so lucky."
Liu Jie was shocked.
(End of chapter)
