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.
The death of Liu Shaoji directly exposed the issue of succession in Zhangquan. Liu Cong followed his brothers and rose up in troubled times. They were finally able to separate Zhangquan and avoid being annexed by the Southern Tang Dynasty. They can be regarded as figures of a generation. However, the biggest difference between the two brothers was His shortcoming is his weak bloodline.
Liu Congxiao had no children all his life, so he could only adopt and train his younger brother Liu Shaoji, the son of his brother Liu Congyuan, as his heir. After a lot of effort, Liu Shaoji also managed to live up to his expectations and established a strong sense of presence in the court and Zhangquan. , However, there were unforeseen circumstances. Who would have thought that Liu Shaoji would die suddenly 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 brother's second son Liu Shaofan as his adopted son and established him as his heir. But the problem was, Liu Shao Neng 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 squadron, maintain the stability of the Ping Navy, and wait until the imperial court accepted the order. Just use soil, so that the Liu family can transition smoothly to the new era.
However, by the beginning of this year, Liu Congyuan had left first, which made Liu Congxiao suffer another blow. He reported to the court in advance that Liu Congyuan could continue the family business. Liu Chengyou naturally agreed at that time.
At the same time, some arrangements were made internally in Zhangquan. After the busy work was over, Liu Congxiao, who was repeatedly hit and exhausted, finally passed away in March with worries about the future of the Liu family. Liu Congxiao died, leaving Shaofan for the past ten years. The young man had to step onto the stage and shoulder a 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 in order to ensure that his power would be smooth. He handed over and instructed 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 master of the country." The most critical problem is that a mere young man named Liu Shaoban is completely unable to stabilize people's hearts and suppress the situation. Political power comes from the barrel of a gun. This is a universal truth, but Chen Hongjin, who Liu Congxiao had always relied on, became the protagonist in launching the coup.
"How do you think the imperial 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 consulted him on such matters. Most of the time, he just acted as an intelligence chief, Report the compiled news.
Therefore, Li Chongju did not speak rashly. And 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 withdraw.
Regarding the Zhangquan incident, he still needs to wait for some memorials and explanations. And this kind of move proves that Liu Chengyou does not intend to have an overreaction to this incident, mainly because it is beyond his reach. , and did not want unrest in Zhangquan, or even leaning towards 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 was another untenable excuse for Zhangquan's coup. , Liu Shaofan betrayed the imperial court and wanted to seek refuge in Jinling. They wanted to bring order to the chaos and maintain the orthodoxy of the imperial court. They had captured Liu Shaofan and obeyed the imperial court's orders.
Perhaps Chen Hongjin and the others knew that the imperial court would not trust such a statement, but they dared to bet on the established facts and that the imperial 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 draft document, appointing Chen Hongjin as the military governor of Pinghai Navy, adding pillars to the country, inspecting the Grand Master, and taking charge of the state affairs of the Zhangquan Second Army!" Faced with Wei Renpu's request for instructions, Liu Chengyou made such a decision directly.
"Besides, isn't it said that Liu Shaofan wanted 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 the emperor's intention and immediately gave Chen Hongjin what he wanted. Compared with the meaning of a reward, this was more of a warning. A warning to Chen Hongjin about Zhangquan's affairs was in the imperial court's heart. Know it well.
In fact, after experiencing the troubled times since the end of the Tang Dynasty and the three dynasties, things like Zhangquan are not unexpected. If we go back a few decades, it would be the norm.
As a person who came out of that era, it is normal for Chen Hongjin to behave like this. Perhaps for Chen Hongjin, he did not mean to betray the imperial court. He wanted to find a career for his Chen family and a career advancement. Capital.
It was just the Liu family's own shortcomings that gave him an opportunity. How could he not seize the opportunity when it was presented to him? After all, the Liu family's rise and 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 unified, if you still insist on the past ideas and concepts, you will get into trouble. And Emperor Liu in the Central Plains happened to hate those "those" the most. "Old Era" warlord.
On the other hand, there is also the influence of the Liu family. In the past few years, the communication between the Liu family and his son with the Central Plains was not without effect on the court's submission. In particular, Liu Congxiao traveled thousands of miles to the north to enter the court in person. This made Emperor Liu happy.
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 really feel at ease when a "passerby" suddenly launched a coup? This was where his initial anger came from, and 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. And the most dangerous thing may be that Chen Hongjin did not realize it at all. at this point.
As for the order to escort Liu Shaofan and his 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 15th 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.
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?