"I believe that heroes cannot be judged on their success or failure."
Xu Zongwen's publicity of Huan Wen's achievements in public was naturally not as simple as speaking for Huan Wen or relieving Huan Xuan.
When Xu Zongwen mentioned military merit, he was showing off himself in disguise.
Was Great Sima Huanwen very powerful back then?
Destroyed Shu and recovered Yizhou.
Isn’t Great Sima Huanwen’s Northern Expedition powerful?
Recover the old capital of Luoyang, march into Chang'an, and make Qin tremble!
Isn’t Great Sima Huanwen great?
Fangtou lost to Murong Chui in the first battle, and lost again and again, and the Northern Expedition failed...
Where is I, Xu Xiao and Xu Zongwen?
He took the head of Duke Fu Rong of Yangping, killed Li Yan, the governor of Donghai, defeated General Zhang Ju of Pingnan, captured Fu Lang, the governor of Qingzhou, and Ma Hui of Pingyuan Company, shot and killed General Mao Dang of the town army, and King Murong Chui of Yan. The fourth son Murong Bao, the sixth son Murong Lin, and so on.
Captured Donghai and Pengcheng, recovered Xuzhou, pacified Qingzhou in the first battle at Linzi, moved to the Central Plains, marched to Dingtao, attacked Luoyang, attacked Yongqiu, defeated Xingyang, captured Dangyin, and fought at Dunqiu. They defeated the troops of Qin and Yan Hundreds of thousands, and they have recovered dozens of counties and hundreds of cities!
Such achievements are only much more than those of Great Sima Huanwen, only stronger but not weaker!
Therefore, you should weigh the weight of me, Xu Zongwen, in your own minds!
Xu Zongwen's sentence "You can't judge a hero based on his immediate success or failure" moved Huan Xuan so much. In Xu Zongwen's sight, this kid was wiping away tears!
Not only Huanxuan, but also those of the Xie family of Chen County headed by Xie An who had been on the battlefield or were leading troops all had a deep understanding of this. Indeed, victory or defeat is a common occurrence for military strategists.
Xu Zongwen continued: "Not to mention Great Sima's military exploits, but just the same, no one here can match him!"
As soon as this statement came out, there was a lot of discussion everywhere.
Sima Daozi, the king of Kuaiji, looked very unhappy. He asked: "What achievement is it? Tell me quickly. If you can't tell me that you are ugly today, I will impeach you!"
Originally, Sima Daozi wanted to speak harshly, but Xu Zongwen had military power in his hands and was still a highly-ranked general. He could not kill him. He could only find loopholes in his words first and then look for opportunities to deal with him.
Xu Zongwen cleared his throat and said: "Everyone, may I ask where your Majesty's current position comes from?"
Where does the position of emperor come from?
This is a simple question that should not be too simple. Of course, it is also a very fatal question!
"The current position of His Majesty was naturally inherited from the late Emperor. Is it possible that you, Xu Xiao, still have doubts about His Majesty's throne?" Sima Daozi thought he had finally caught Xu Zongwen's handle, and began to feel proud, but little did he know that This is just digging a hole for himself!
"Your Majesty's current position was inherited from the late emperor. Your Majesty is right, what you said is very good, very right!"
Xu Zongwen's affirmation confused everyone at the table. No one knew what Xu Zongwen's purpose was in bringing up this sensitive topic.
Xu Zongwen asked Sima Daozi again in front of everyone: "But Your Majesty, how did the late emperor get his throne and where did it come from?"
"Wow——"
The entire audience fell silent, even the musicians stopped, and the dancing singer slowly retreated at Xie An's signal. All irrelevant people were cleared out...
The former emperor's temple name was Taizong, and his posthumous title was Emperor Jianwen. He was the youngest son of Emperor Sima Rui of the Yuan Dynasty, half-brother of Emperor Sima Shao of the Ming Dynasty, and his mother was Zheng Achun, the Empress Dowager Jianwenxuan.
Sima Yu served as an official in seven dynasties including Yuan, Ming, Cheng, Kang, Mu, Ai, and Deposed Emperors, and was granted the title of King Langxie.
During the reign of Emperor Mu, he served as Tuogu's auxiliary minister. After the failure of the last Northern Expedition, Grand Sima Huanwen asked his confidant Xi Chao for advice.
Xi Chao suggested that Huan Wen follow the example of Yi Yin and Huo Guang and depose the emperor in order to restore authority.
Huan Wen then decided to depose Emperor Sima Yi and replace him with Sima Yu, King of Langya. This is the origin of the late emperor Jian Wen.
In fact, Xie An was already aware of it as soon as Xu Zongwen proposed the throne. Xu Zongwen deliberately used Sima Daozi's mouth to elicit the fact that the late emperor ascended the throne.
Xu Zongwen started to ask questions, and Sima Daozi had already reacted, but it was too late!
How did you come to be the king of Kuaiji?
How did your brother, His Majesty the current Emperor, get the throne?
How did your biological father, the late Emperor Jian Wen, get the throne?
Others don’t know, but your own family, don’t you, Sima Daozi, have a clue?
It is said among the people that eating people has short mouths and taking people with short hands. You, the royal family, are better off. With the benefit of Huan Wen, you became a direct lineage from a side branch and succeeded to the throne, all because of the rebellious ministers and traitors in your mouth!
Now it's okay to not be grateful to others, and to scold the dead father in front of his son, this is really not something a human being can do!
"The late Great Sima Huanwen, who was deposed and became Ming Dynasty, surpassed Yihuo in his merits and was the most outstanding meritorious official in this dynasty!"
"As the saying goes, rumors stop only for the wise. Although there are divergent opinions from the outside world, it is more up to you, the king, to rectify Da Sima's name, so as to set the record straight and quell the rumors. Do you think so?"
When faced with the question about Xu Zongwen's death, Sima Daozi swallowed his saliva. He was mostly awake from the drunkenness and was already covered in cold sweat from shock!
Sima Daozi stood up unsteadily with the support of his guards, and saluted Xu Zongwen and Huan Xuan in the distance: "Today I was rude and I made a mistake!"
"Don't dare, the king is serious!" Huan Xuan fell to the ground again.
Xu Zongwen bowed and went back to the table. Sima Daozi sat down, drank a bottle of wine vigorously, and cast a sidelong glance at Xu Zongwen secretly, with a lot of anger accumulating in his heart.
Seeing that even the current emperor's brother and King of Kuaiji, Sima Daozi, was defeated in front of Xu Zongwen, everyone at the table couldn't help but take a few more glances at the newly promoted general who conquered the north.
After Xie An's brothers and nephews toasted each other, Xie An stood up with the wine and said, "Okay, okay, let's not mention the past anymore. Today is my birthday. I have wasted my sixty-five years. Thank you all for coming to my humble home today. I’m very grateful to wish you a happy birthday. I would like to offer you a bottle again, please!”
"Congratulations to the Master!" Hundreds of people stood up at the same time, and everyone said in unison.
Xie An's face was full of joy and he laughed and said: "Please feel free to do it!"
As soon as everyone sat down, Xu Zongwen heard Xi Jian say something. Xie An sent someone to summon Xu Zongwen to come to him.
Xu Zongwen left the table and changed his seat, everyone looked at him sideways.
"It seems that General Zhengbei has a close relationship with Taifu!"
"More than that! Didn't you see that General Zhengbei just spoke for Duke Nan?"
"So General Zhengbei is not only related to the Xie family, but also has friendship with the Huan family?"
"Of course. The Taifu is close to General Zhengbei, and His Majesty has a favorable eye for General Zhengbei. It seems that General Zhengbei has a bright future!"
"That's right. During the Northern Expedition, the governor was in charge of the overall situation. The three governors divided their troops into three groups to attack the violent Qin. Among them, the one who attacked the city occupied the largest area, defeated the largest number of enemy troops, and captured the largest number of prisoners was the general who conquered the north. , how can your Majesty and the Grand Tutor not value such a good general of the country?"
During the dinner, everyone exchanged glasses and talked about Xu Zongwen...
