Su Jia believed in his commander's judgment, but...
"Who responded to King Jin?"
Yuchi Gong drank the tea, spat out the stems of the tea leaves in his mouth, and said angrily: "What kind of broken tea leaves are these...it is related to the life and death of King Jin. No one else can know until the last moment."
Having said that, he could not help but have some guesses in his mind, but except for the generals with heavy troops in Guanzhong and Chang'an, it seemed possible for the rest to be there.
Looking around, how many loyal people are there?
However, everyone has their own reasons. We are loyal to this country, not to any emperor. If the emperor is unworthy, we should raise troops to fight against him and do justice for heaven...
This is the disadvantage of not receiving the full support of the late emperor. The inheritance of power cannot be consistent, carry forward the past and link up the future, and make a smooth transition, which has led to many ambitious people trying to profit from it. Even though His Majesty Li Er was so talented and wise at the time, he still had to do it when he came to the throne.
Faced with the attacks and sabotage from Emperor Gaozu and Prince Yin's old party, and even the remnants of the former Sui Dynasty, all previous efforts were often wasted, let alone Li Chengqian, who had a shallow foundation and was good at dealing with women?
Many times, loyalty is based on interests. If there are no common interests, who will risk their wealth and life to be loyal to you?
It would be enough to guard the border and resist foreign humiliation, but now it is just a battle for the throne, which symbolizes the change of power. There is no need to fight to the death for the so-called loyalty...
The tea didn't taste good, so Yuchi Gong put the teacup on the table and asked, "How is Cheng Yaojin doing?"
In any case, the top priority is to clear all threats on the road to Chang'an. Cheng Yaojin's Zuowuwei is just at the side and rear of the King of Jin's army attacking Chang'an. He can escape at any time, or he can wait for an opportunity to cover up and kill from behind.
, if it cannot be solved, there will be many dangers.
It's just that Cheng Yaojin seems to be a straightforward person, but in fact he is cunning and full of tricks, which is really hard to appease.
Su Jia was helpless: "The general informed Lu Guogong that his son Cheng Chubi was safe and sound, but Lu Guogong didn't seem to care about Cheng Chubi's life and death at all, and directly dismissed the general... He only said that he would consider it, but what exactly did he mean?
, you can’t see it at all.”
Yuchi Gong snorted: "How can the life and death of a mere son affect the honor and disgrace of the entire family? Your Highness, the King of Jin, is a bit narrow-minded. Cheng Yaojin is a trouble and a headache."
It stands to reason that the sincerity of the King of Jin has been fully demonstrated. The sealing of the country in Qilu, where the power of salt and iron has been the best in the world since ancient times, is almost equivalent to giving Cheng Yaojin the richest area in the eastern part of the empire. The situation makes the four states of Qingqi
If you look at Shandong as a tiger, you can completely separate yourself from one side and establish yourself as the emperor.
Since ancient times, it is impossible for any central government to make such concessions and bear such risks, but Cheng Yaojin hesitated...
There can only be one explanation. The emperor provided equal or even better conditions.
However, Yuchi Gong believed that the emperor's conditions could never be better than those of the King of Jin, even if they were equal, only the King of Jin who had nothing would "don't feel bad if he sells his land" and gave up the foundation of the empire for the sake of the emperor's future.
So why is Cheng Yaojin hesitating?
Yuchi Gong was puzzled.
*****
It rained lightly at dawn, and the fine raindrops drifted in the autumn wind. It was refreshing and slightly cold. The green and yellow vegetation in the Forbidden Garden was soaked by the rain. The fallen leaves were thickly spread on the ground, and the autumn coolness was broken.
Fang Jun got up early and followed the soldiers around the Forbidden Garden for ten miles. He was sweating all over and did not feel the cold and wet weather. When he returned to the barracks for breakfast, the sun, which was blocked by the clouds, was still out.
However, a servant from the palace came to deliver bad news. The right servant of Shangshu, Prince Fu Cenwen, was seriously ill and the medicine was ineffective. He died of illness at the beginning of the month...
Fang Jun was stunned for a moment, then his mood sank.
Although Cen Wenwen has been sick in the past few years, after all, he has just passed his fifties, his body is not exhausted, and he has the best medical conditions. Even if he cannot recover, it is not difficult to delay the recovery.
His sudden death at this moment is really surprising.
This is now Shangshu Youpushe, the prince's young master, a civil servant leader who has done his duty since Xiao Yu's defection, and the second person in the court under Li Ji. He has a high position and great prestige. Such a death will inevitably cause great turmoil in the court. .
Without him suppressing the civil servants of the DPRK and China, who knows what kind of public opinion there would be in the future...
After pondering for a moment, Fang Jun asked: "What are your instructions?"
The chamberlain said: "Your Majesty hopes that the Duke of Yue will come to the palace and go to the Cen Mansion to express condolences together."
After Xiao Yu's defection, Cen Wenwen became a mountain of civil servants in the DPRK and China. He had made great contributions to stabilizing the situation in the DPRK and China. Li Chengqian must give him enough respect and even extraordinary honors.
Fang Jun thought for a while and said: "Go back to your Majesty. There are still some military affairs that need to be dealt with urgently in the military camp. Please go first. Your Majesty will contact the Prince of Jiangxia later. Together with the Prince, we will leave the city through Xuanwu Gate and enter the city through Fanglin Gate." , went to Cen Mansion to express condolences."
The chamberlain was puzzled, but he didn't dare to say anything more. He bowed in agreement and turned to leave.
Fang Jun called Cheng Wuting in and ordered: "Cen Wenwen passed away, and your Majesty asked me to go to express my condolences. I will first go to Xuanwumen to see Li Daozong and ask him to accompany him. You stay here and be sure to wake up and pay close attention to the movements of all parties." , if there is any abnormality, you can act arbitrarily and lead the troops into Taiji Palace. Mother must wait for my reply to avoid delaying the battle."
With the death of Cen Wenwen, the civil service system in North Korea and China is bound to trigger a turmoil. Some people are seeking to ascend to power, while others are plotting to suppress them. This will inevitably involve the military. Originally, the military has been messed up by private contacts between the king of Jin. If the water is stirred up by civil servants, who knows what unpredictable changes will occur.
Now that King Jin is approaching Bailuyuan, the final battle is imminent, and he does not dare to be careless.
Therefore, even if he leaves the Forbidden Garden, he will drag Li Daozong with him. If Li Daozong refuses to go with him, he will immediately return here to take charge...
Cheng Wuting understood the importance and nodded: "Don't worry, Commander, the general will remain vigilant and will never make any mistakes."
"That's good."
Fang Jun changed into a set of regular clothes, tied up his hair, put on a crown, and carried a sword under his ribs. When he went out, he got on his horse surrounded by his soldiers, and led a group of soldiers into Xuande Gate and walked along the palace wall. Go west, enter the Chongxuan Gate, and arrive at the Xuanwu Gate.
Xuanwu Gate is an important place in the palace. Even though he recognized Fang Jun coming on horseback, there were still soldiers who came forward to stop him and asked him what was going on.
Fang Jun gave a brief explanation, then stopped and watched the soldiers trotting forward to report.
Not long after, Li Daozong, dressed in military uniform, came over with his soldiers, stopped in front of Fang Jun's horse, and asked with a solemn expression: "When did Cen Jiangling die of illness?"
Because Cen Wenwen's title was Jiangling County Son, others often addressed him accordingly as a sign of respect.
Fang Jun said: "His Majesty just sent a message saying that he died of illness at Mao Shi, and ordered me to go to express my condolences. However, if you use this as an excuse to travel through the palace, it would be disrespectful. Therefore, you use the Xuanwu Gate to leave the city and then enter the city through the Fanglin Gate."
I asked the prince to accompany you, what do you think?"
As long as Li Daozong refused, he would immediately ride back to the Forbidden Garden. He would never dare to let Li Daozong sit in Xuanwu Gate while he left the Forbidden Garden at this time.
Li Daozong stared at Fang Jun deeply for a moment, obviously understanding Fang Jun's intention. After thinking about it, he nodded and said: "Of course I want to express my condolences. It would be best to go with Erlang, please."
He asked his subordinates to bring the horses and turn them over, then led Fang Jun and his soldiers out of Xuanwu Gate, walked westward along the north palace wall, entered the city through Fanglin Gate, and walked along the long street through the outside of Yeting Palace.
The palace wall goes all the way south to the Bu Zhengfang outside the imperial city.
Under the gloomy sky, the entire Buzheng Square has been annihilated by white banners. Imperial officials arrived at the Cen Mansion early to handle various funeral matters. Cars and horses were rattling at the gate of the square. Countless dignitaries arrived here and all got off their horses. The crowd was bustling.
, and then walked into the square to show respect.
There was a rapid sound of horse hoofbeats on the long street. Almost everyone followed the sound and saw dozens of war horses galloping on the bluestone pavement like a gust of wind. When they got closer, they all stopped and stopped. Fang Jun
, Li Daozong got off his horse, threw the reins to his own soldiers, and walked into the square gate side by side.
The crowded crowd in front of the door moved to both sides, and when the two passed by, they each said hello.
The two of them didn't smile, just nodded slightly to everyone, then strode into the square gate and headed to Cen's Mansion.
When they arrived at the gate of the Cen Mansion, there were Cen family members wearing linen and mourning to greet the guests. When they saw Fang and Li, they hurriedly came forward to greet them.
When Fang Jun saw that it was Cen Changqian, he stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him and saying, "My condolences."
There are three Cen Wenwen brothers. The eldest brother Cen Wenwen has passed away long ago. Cen Changqian is the son of Cen Wenwen and the eldest son and grandson of the Cen family. He was smart since he was a child. Cen Wenwen regards Cen Wenwen as his own son and cherishes him very much. Therefore, although Cen Wenwen is only Cen Changqian’s uncle,
But now that Cen Wenwen has died of illness, Cen Changqian must feel the same pain as losing her husband.
Cen Changqian's handsome face was full of sadness. She held back her tears and thanked Fang Jun, and then met Li Daozong. Li Daozong nodded slightly without saying a word.
Then Cen Changqian accompanied the two of them into the mansion and went straight to the mourning hall.
Outside the mourning hall, there were officials from the Ministry of Rites conducting funerals. When they saw Fang Jun, they hurriedly greeted him and asked some questions. After all, Fang Jun was still the Minister of Rites and the immediate superior of all the officials of the Ministry of Rites...
Fang Jun said impatiently: "You think I understand these rules and etiquette? Shouldn't you ask me and then blame it on me when something goes wrong? Just do what you need to do and improve.
Get out of here and ask Mr. Zhongda if you have anything to do!"
Cen Wenwen was an important minister of the court. He was a high-ranking official. The standards of funeral ceremonies were extremely high, with various regulations and complicated matters. Fang Jun was just a nominal minister of the Ministry of Rites. He had not even been to the Rites Yamen a few times. How could he know this? Once he was blind,
If there is even the slightest mistake in the conductor, Cen Wenwen's old disciples might drown him with their saliva...
The official of the Ministry of Etiquette was speechless. This kind of funeral ceremony was of extremely high standard. It was impossible for an official of his level to take over all the responsibilities. But his immediate superior was indifferent and stayed out of the matter. What should he do?
If something goes wrong and Fang Jun refuses to take responsibility, can he, a small official, be responsible?
But while he was staring helplessly, Fang Jun had already entered the mourning hall side by side with Li Daozong. With the descendants of the Cen family returning the gift, they offered incense to Cen Wenwen's spiritual tablet...