Everyone couldn't help but be slightly startled when they heard the empress's concise and decisive response.
There was no detailed questioning or negotiation.
Just...decided?
After Jiang Xu reacted, he immediately frowned.
"Your Majesty, Lu Chen committed such a horrific crime, do you still want to reuse him?"
Facing Jiang Xu's question, the empress's answer was still brief and powerful:
"I don't think Lu Qing is at fault, nor has he committed any crime."
After confirming the empress's attitude, Jiang Xu's face suddenly showed a look of disbelief.
"Your Majesty, that fellow Lu Chen killed King Yu openly and openly!"
The empress leaned back slightly and leaned lazily on the back of the chair, resting her elbows on the armrests and supporting her fair chin with one hand. She said with an indifferent expression: "So what?"
Hearing this, Jiang Xu suddenly clenched the fluorene plate in his hand, then took a deep breath and said solemnly:
"According to the laws of Daxia, the royal family decides on its own affairs. People who are not members of the royal family cannot interfere in any way. Otherwise, it will be treason and must be punished with death!"
"No matter what King Yu's character is, what he did in Yuzhou, as long as it is not a rebellion, no one can hurt him, let alone put him to death, no matter what the reason. Lu Chen's move is a complete disregard for the royal family. Majesty, challenge the power of Heaven!”
Having said this, he bowed heavily again and said loudly:
"If a scoundrel like Lu Chen despises the majesty of the Tian family, challenges the imperial power, and has no respect for the royal family's orthodoxy, is not punished, the supreme authority of our Jiang family will inevitably be damaged."
"The royal family is the foundation of the world. If Lu Chen kills Queen Yu and is safe this time, there will definitely be a next time, or even the next Lu Chen, and the next Lu Chen. From now on, how can the people of the world still respect us and other royal families as always? ? How can we coerce the world? Therefore, this example must not be made, otherwise there will be endless disasters, and the country will even be destroyed!"
Jiang Xu spoke almost hoarsely at the end, like an unparalleled loyal minister desperately admonishing the king.
Behind him, the faces of several royal family members from the Tianzong Mansion were full of emotion, and their expressions seemed to say: The Eighth Emperor's Uncle is also a true national scholar!
However, after Jiang Xu finished his long speech, the empress' expression did not waver at all.
She lowered her eyes slightly and stared at Jiang Xu. Then, while opening and closing her red lips, she said a sentence that seemed to hit her soul:
"Zong Zheng, let me ask you, what kind of spiritual equipment did Lu Qing use to kill King Yu?"
Hearing this, Jiang Xu's face suddenly stiffened slightly.
"Your Majesty, no matter what spiritual equipment Lu Chen uses, he will kill King Yu..."
He did not answer the empress' question directly, and even his tone was not as powerful as before.
"Don't judge him right or left."
The empress's voice suddenly became extremely sharp. Before Jiang Xu could finish speaking, she interrupted:
"Answer my question!"
Jiang Xu's eyes darkened slightly, and then he sighed inexplicably and said, "Your Majesty, the sword Lu Chen uses is the sword of the extreme."
The empress said again: "Tell me, what does the sword of the extreme mean?"
"The Holy Lord of Destiny, the Way of the Emperor, and..."
Having said this, he paused for a moment, and his tone became increasingly bitter: "The right of life and death."
"very good."
Click…
The empress stood up slowly. When the red diamond dragon robe left the dragon chair, the twelve jade beads on the Heavenly Crown made a crisp sound while shaking slightly.
"Let me ask you again, what did I say when I handed the Jidao Sword to Lu Qing?"
Jiang Xu smiled bitterly.
"The sword of the face is like the king of the face, and the wielder of the sword can [cut off those who rebel against the sect, and punish the unconquered ministers below, behead first and then show off, with the emperor's permission], and can also give orders to the four directions, and will not be controlled by anyone except His Majesty."
"Zong has a good memory."
The empress praised her with both salt and mildness, and then said:
"Since you remember, then you should know that before I took back the sword of Ji Dao, everything Lu Qing said and did was my will. His orders were equivalent to imperial edicts. Anyone who disobeys or even dares to disobey will be punished. Complicit in rebellion!"
With that said, she lifted her steps slightly, walked down the steps slowly, and walked towards Jiang Xu.
"But not only did King Yu not obey Lu Qing's orders, he also used his power to force others to exonerate his people. Later, he even became so arrogant that he ignored Lu Qing's repeated warnings and went to the Yuzhou prison in front of Lu Qing. , Zongzheng, tell me..."
Looking at the empress who was gradually walking towards him, feeling the increasingly fierce imperial pressure, cold sweat gradually broke out on Jiang Xu's face, and his face lost the initial aura.
While she was speaking, the empress had already walked down the steps and came to the carpet in the middle of the hundred officials. She looked directly into Jiang Xu's wavering eyes with a cold look and said unhurriedly: "In the end, it is Lu Qing who challenges the imperial power. Kill King Yu; or does King Yu despise me as the emperor and not take me seriously?"
"The sword in front of you is like the king in front of you. Lu Qing is holding the sword of Ji Dao, and it is no different from my presence in person. King Yu dares to be so arrogant and domineering when facing me, and does not take me seriously at all. And you, as the Tianzong Mansion Zong Zheng defends him so much, and even confuses the public and criticizes him for it. Do you think that I am not qualified to be the emperor and should give up this position to King Yu or King Qin?!"
These words are not only extremely serious for courtiers, especially the royal family, but also quite fatal.
Jiang Xu was immediately shocked and turned pale, and then hurriedly explained to King Yu: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have no intention of doing this, and I don't dare to have any inappropriate thoughts. Please tell me clearly!"
Not only Jiang Xu, but other court officials, including those standing near the steps, could not help but have a look of surprise on their faces.
Your Majesty's favor towards Lu Chen is so terrifying!
Of course the big shots in the court knew that if this matter were taken seriously, there would be no legal problems for Lu Chen holding the sword of the extreme.
The sword in front of you is like the king in front of you, this is not an empty saying.
King Yu was so arrogant and domineering in front of the Jidao Sword. Not taking Lu Chen seriously was tantamount to challenging the emperor's authority.
This is the way to die!
However, having a sword in your hand is one thing, but whether it can be used is another.
In any case, King Yu is a first-class king, and Lu Chen is just a foreign minister after all. Once he gets serious, he will really use the authority of the sword of the extreme to kill an elder with a high status in the royal family, although in name only It's not that the following is a crime against the superior, but in the eyes of the royal family, it is a below-mentioned crime against the superior, challenging the imperial power!
After all, in the Daxia Empire, sometimes it doesn't always mean that the law is correct.
To be an official, one must not only be reasonable, but also be reasonable.
Be sensible, know how to advance and retreat, and grasp the scale.
Especially when it comes to the issue of the royal family, don't let the emperor give you the power to "execute the rebels, first behead them first and then report them", and then actually kill the royal family. In many cases, this kind of power is just a deterrent. If the deterrence of foreign ministers is completely taken seriously, It would be very ignorant to cause trouble for the emperor.
Obviously, Lu Chen is such an "ignorant" courtier.
And he got into a lot of trouble.
You must know that King Yu is the only brother of the late emperor... When the late emperor seized the throne, King Yu contributed a lot, and he is also the direct uncle of the current emperor.
Regardless of merit, power, status, wealth, lineage and seniority, he is a first-class big shot.
The empress could have pushed Lu Chen out to quell the anger of the royal family and stabilize people's hearts. Even if she wanted to protect him, she should have pretended to be confused like Jiang Xu, the headmaster of the Tianzong Mansion, and concealed the matter of the Ji Dao Sword. He was dismissed from office and imprisoned in the sky prison to block the royal family's public opinion. When the storm had passed, he would find an opportunity to re-activate it.
Instead of directly raising the sword of the extreme and covering Lu Chen with a layer of legal cloak like now, not only did he have no fault, but he was also a loyal minister who fought tooth and nail to safeguard the emperor's authority.
King Yu, who was seriously injured, directly became a rebel with bad moral conduct and oppressed others with his power.
Of the three options, she chose the most radical method.
In this way, the one who benefited the most this time was Lu Chen, the stupid young man.
At such a point, the empress still defends him so much that even a first-class prince can't do anything to him. From now on, in the court, if there is no matter involving fundamental interests, or if he is forced to a point of no return, who will dare to easily provoke this evil spirit? star?
Didn’t you see that almost everyone who opposed him, from the Queen Mother Zhao to Hu Yan, the fifth-rank official, suffered from bad luck?
Even an extremely noble royal family like King Yu could be killed at will, and he could still be fine afterwards. The empress's actions were enough to elevate his prestige and authority to a very terrifying level.
Not only would the empress herself gain little, but she might become alienated from the royal family and even be called a tyrant.
Taking such a big risk and using King Yu's affairs to establish Lu Chen's supreme authority in the Yu and Sui states... The empress had such good intentions that all the ministers could not help but be speechless. Even Fang Ping felt a surge of emotion in his heart. Unspeakable envy.
If you are like this, what else can I ask for...
"Ah…"
While everyone was thinking, the empress had already walked to Jiang Xu and smiled coldly at him.
"This matter ends here. I don't have to worry about you this time, but if there is a next time..."
At this point, the empress did not say anything further, but Jiang Xu broke out in a cold sweat and did not dare to say any more.
He, the Zongzheng of the Tianzong Mansion, did not dare to speak. Naturally, other court officials would not be foolish enough to seek death by intervening in matters involving the royal family that could end their lives if they were not careful.
Soon, the court meeting ended in a delicate atmosphere.
At night, the empress and Jiang Chengdao were handling government affairs in the Zichen Hall.
"His Majesty."
The empress had just put down an official document. Jiang Chengdao, who had been silent and thinking about something, suddenly walked up to the empress and said:
"Weichen feels that if necessary, Lu Chen must be recalled as soon as possible."
Hearing this, the empress frowned subconsciously.
"Why? The emperor thinks Lu Chen is not suitable to serve as the governor of the two states?"
"Wei Chen has no such intention."
Jiang Chengdao shook his head and continued: "Fu Hua has been following Lu Chen. According to her, after Lu Chen took charge of Yuzhou, he not only observed the people's sentiments every day, handled cases impartially, restrained the powerful, and used various illegal means to The captured fields, houses, shops, etc. were returned to the original owners, the unscrupulous and incompetent officials were eliminated, every effort was made to improve people's livelihood, and resources were allocated to assist Xiao Shangshu in water control. He also reviewed past files overnight, investigated grievances, thought about ways to enrich the people, and designed development plans... …”
One by one, he listed to the empress what Lu Chen had done as the governor of the two states.
"Later, he simply lived in the yamen. At night, he buried himself in various documents and stayed up almost all night..."
Upon hearing this, the empress couldn't help but hold her breath.
Subconsciously, I wanted to agree to Jiang Chengdao's suggestion directly before he finished speaking.
At this time, Jiang Chengdao suddenly sighed: "Not to mention conscientiousness, what Lu Chen, the governor, does can be said to be dedicated and dedicated. He has countless ministers and friends. I have never seen him with such noble conduct, good knowledge, and good knowledge." He is an unparalleled national warrior who is devoted to the people and has the world at heart."
The small hands under the empress's dragon robe suddenly tightened, and her heartbeat sped up a little inexplicably.
How lucky I am to be able to die at the service of such loyal and loyal ministers.
After a moment, she took a deep breath and asked, "What does the emperor mean?"
Jiang Chengdao sighed slightly.
"Lu Chen is too upright."
He said something inexplicably, and the empress thought about it subconsciously. After a moment, her eyes suddenly focused.
"You mean, the cases involving official warehouses in various places in the Qingjiang River Basin?"
Jiang Chengdao nodded, then sighed softly, and said rather helplessly: "Since Lu Chen has discovered this case and has clues, with his temperament, he will definitely investigate it at all costs. In this way, it will definitely become a A thorn in the flesh of those people.”
"No matter what people do when they are desperate, it is not surprising, let alone they are powerful monks."
Upon hearing this, the empress's face suddenly darkened.
Jiang Chengdao's meaning was already very obvious.
If Lu Chen continues to investigate this shocking case, as the investigation deepens, those involved in the case will definitely be forced to become desperadoes, and then do everything possible to get rid of Lu Chen.
As the saying goes, "It's easy to hide from an open gun but hard to avoid a hidden arrow."
Even if Lu Chen had the Jida Sword in his hand, even if he knew that he was being protected by Fu Hua and other masters, and it was a matter of life and death, those people would never give up.
At the same time, if Lu Chen obviously went to investigate this case, he would definitely alert the snake, which would be very detrimental to their next actions.
Although integrity is a virtue, sometimes it can be a bit troublesome.
Thinking of this, the empress nodded.
"Well, the emperor is right. Once the investigation goes as expected, Lu Qing will be unfit to stay in Yuzhou."
As she said that, she thought for a while, and then continued: "In that case, after Xuanji returns the news in a few days, I will immediately make another order to summon Lu Qing back to the capital, and then let Xiao Yun work harder, and let her He took over as the governor of the two states and was fully responsible for the military and political affairs of the two states and the quelling of floods."
Hearing this, Jiang Chengdao couldn't help but look a little weird.
Flood control is an extremely labor-intensive task. It not only requires coordinating various resources, but also responsible for designing and arranging various large formations, strengthening the dam area, and commanding the army to open channels to release floods.
Now he also serves as governor of two states
Could it be that my sister has some issues with Xiao Yun?
(End of chapter)
