In fact, Liu Chengyou was not particularly surprised that there would be problems in Zhangquan. Li Chongju had warned Liu Chengyou as early as a year ago.
At that time, Liu Shaoji, who was the successor of Liu Congxiao and was recognized by the court and had a certain reputation, suddenly fell ill and died within two days.
As soon as Liu Shaoji died, Zhangquan's problem with the heir was directly exposed. Liu Congxiao brothers rose up in troubled times, and finally managed to separate Zhangquan and avoid being annexed by the Southern Tang Dynasty. They can be regarded as a generation figure. However, the biggest shortcoming of the brothers is their weak bloodline.
Liu Congxiao had no children in his life, so he could only raise Liu Shaoji, the son of his younger brother Liu Congyuan, as an adopted heir. After spending a lot of effort, Liu Shaoji managed to live up to his expectations and established a strong presence in the court and Zhangquan. However, something unexpected happened. Who would have thought that Liu Shaoji would suddenly die at such a young age.
The death of Liu Shaoji was a great blow to the Liu brothers. In extreme grief, Liu Congxiao adopted his younger brother's second son Liu Shaofan as his adopted son and established him as his heir. But the problem is that Liu Shaofan is too young, and it is difficult for the elderly Liu Congxiao to have enough time and energy to train a successor.
As his body weakened day by day and his symptoms recurred, he knew that he would not have much time left to stay in Congyi, so he still made some arrangements, such as preparing to let his younger brother Liu Congyuan come to take over his squad, maintain the stability of the Ping Navy, and wait until the imperial court accepted the order. Soil is enough, which can also make Liu's transition to the new era smooth.
However, by the beginning of this year, Liu Congyuan had gone one step ahead, which made Liu Congxiao suffer another blow. He reported to the court in advance to allow Shao Tan to continue the family business. Liu Chengyou naturally agreed at that time.
At the same time, some arrangements were made within Zhangquan. After finishing the work, Liu Congxiao, who was hit repeatedly and exhausted mentally and physically, finally passed away in March with worries about the future of the Liu family. After Liu Congxiao died, Liu Shaofan, a teenage boy, had to step on the stage and shoulder the burden that he could not bear.
After learning about Liu Congxiao's death, the imperial court quickly made a statement and issued a document appointing Liu Shaofan as the Ping Navy Military Envoy. He attacked Liu Congxiao and established his status, hoping to make his power smooth. Hand over, and instruct the officials who had been to Quanzhang before to try their best to help Liu Shao and ensure the stability of the Zhangquan area.
However, no matter how much preparation you make, you can't escape the "suspect of a young man who dominates the country." The most critical problem is that a mere young man Liu Shaoban cannot play a role in stabilizing people's hearts and suppressing the situation. It is a universal truth that political power comes from the barrel of a gun, but Chen Hongjin, who had always been relied upon by Liu Congxue, became the protagonist in launching the coup.
"How do you think the court should react to the Zhangquan incident?" The silence of the hall made Liu Chengyou's voice extremely clear.
However, Liu Chengyou's mood had calmed down at this time and he had completely returned to his usual composure. What surprised Li Chongju was that Liu Chengyou rarely asked for his opinion on such matters. Most of the time, he just acted as an intelligence chief and reported the compiled information.
Therefore, Li Chongju did not speak rashly. Liu Chengyou did not seem to really listen to his suggestions. Seeing that he did not speak, he did not care. After thinking for a while, he asked Li Chongju to retreat.
Regarding the Zhangquan incident, he still had to wait for some memorials and explanations. Such a move also proved that Liu Chengyou did not intend to have an overreaction to this incident. The main reason was that he was beyond his reach and did not want unrest in Zhangquan or even to move closer to the Southern Tang Dynasty, although this possibility was slim.
On the third day after Li Chongju's memorial, the memorial from Zhangquan arrived. Of course, it was jointly signed by Zhang Hansi and Chen Jin. In this memorial, there is another untenable argument for the Zhangquan coup. Liu Shaofan betrayed the imperial court and intended to defect to Jinling. They wanted to bring order to the chaos and maintain the orthodoxy of the imperial court. They had captured Liu Shaofan. Obey the imperial court's orders.
Perhaps Chen Hongjin and the others knew that the court would not trust this statement, but they dared to bet on the established facts and that the court would not attack them who had the actual power in Zhangquan just to retain Shao.
Facts have proved that their bet was right. As a mature politician, Liu Chengyou had almost no ideological pressure and directly chose to accept the results of the coup.
"Zhongshu issued a document, appointing Chen Hongjin as Ping Hai Jiedushi, Jiazhuguo, Jiaochao Taishi, in charge of the state affairs of the Zhangquan Second Army!" Faced with Wei Renpu's request, Liu Chengyou made such a decision directly.
"In addition, isn't it said that Liu Shaofan intends to betray the imperial court? Let Chen Hongjin send all the Liu family to Tokyo for disposal!" Liu Chengyou sneered again.
With Wei Renpu's intelligence, he immediately understood what the emperor meant and responded immediately. Giving Chen Hongjin what he wanted directly was more like a warning than a reward. Warn Chen Hongjin that the imperial court was well aware of Zhangquan's affairs.
In fact, after experiencing the troubled times since the end of the Tang Dynasty and the three dynasties, things like Zhangquan are not unexpected. Going back a few decades, it would be the norm.
As someone who has emerged from that era, it is normal for Chen Hongjin to behave like this. Perhaps as far as Chen Hongjin was concerned, he had no intention of betraying the imperial court. He wanted to find a career for his Chen family and a career opportunity.
It was just Liu's own shortcomings that gave him a chance. The opportunity is in front of you, how can you not seize it. After all, the rise of the Liu family and their occupation of Zhangquan took advantage of the opportunity of Min's destruction.
However, there is one thing that Chen Hongjin may not have thought of, that is, times have changed, and when the world is about to be unified, it will be troublesome to persist in the past ideas and concepts. Emperor Liu in the Central Plains hated the warlords of the "old era" the most.
On the other hand, there is also the influence of Liu Shi. In the past few years, the Liu family's communication with the Central Plains and their submission to the imperial court were not without effect. In particular, Emperor Liu was even more delighted when Liu Congxiao traveled thousands of miles and went north to the court in person.
In the contacts in Tokyo, Liu Congxiao's performance also won Liu Chengyou's favor, and his initiative to offer land was completely recognized by Liu Chengyou.
Under such circumstances, for Liu Chengyou, how could he be truly calm when a "passerby" suddenly launched a coup. This was where his initial irritation came from. It was a feeling of being offended.
Therefore, although Liu Chengyou did accept the results of the civil strife in Zhangquan, if he held a grudge because of it, Chen Hongjin might have to pay a greater price to dispel the emperor's wariness in the future. The most dangerous thing may be that Chen Hongjin is not aware of this at all.
As for the order to escort Liu Shaoban's family to Tokyo, it was of course to protect them and also to give Liu his due fame and fortune.
After the civil strife in Zhangquan, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency in his heart. It seemed that something was always going to interrupt his calm arrangement of Pingnan. Therefore, Liu Chengyou actually hoped that time would pass faster.
Perhaps, he was still impatient. Faced with the unification situation in the south and the great cause that was about to flatten the world, he still could not truly maintain a calm state of mind.
Starting from April of the fifteenth year of Emperor Qianyou's reign, Liu Chengyou almost counted the days on his fingers, frequently convening military and political ministers to discuss matters, looking forward to the day when he would officially issue the imperial edict for the Southern Expedition.
And in this process, the two main goals of the south are one of romance and the other of luxury and debauchery. How can there be any reason to fail in the face of such an opponent?
