Immediately, Zhu Chanyi and Chen Liping held an acceptance ceremony, combined their eight characters, exchanged marriage certificates, and completed the engagement ceremony. At this time, all the princes who came to the capital to pay tribute in the twelfth lunar month, except for the King of Qin Zhu Shangbing and the King of Yong Zhu Yunzhen, were still outside the capital. The others had returned to their fiefdoms, but the two of them He was the same generation as Yunxi, so Yunxi chose An Wang Zhu Ying as the male elder to attend some occasions where the elders needed to appear, although he was actually one year younger than Zhu Zanyi.
In the days after Zhu Chanyi's engagement, officials in the capital were still discussing how to treat the Li family. Even officials outside the capital joined the discussion: Fang Xiaoru, who was still serving as a tutor in Jianghuai Province, wrote a letter to support Chen Xingshan's opinions. .And because he happened to be presiding over the imperial examination in the Chuzhou and Hezhou areas, several memorials were sent to the Qianqing Palace to bombard Yunxi.
Until the beginning of April, Yunxi had not decided whose opinion to adopt. He just used the excuse that the domestic situation in Annan was uncertain. When the domestic situation in Annan stabilized in the future, he would bring the Li family or the Hu family to the capital and decide on their final disposition. .
At the same time, Yunxi consecrated Chen Tianping as the King of Annan in the capital and arranged for him to go to Guangxi.
"Chen Tianping, now that Hu Jisu is using the excuse of the unstable domestic situation to delay your return to the country to ascend the throne, although I understand what he means, what he said is also reasonable, so I will not let you return to the country to ascend the throne for the time being."
"But it's not good for you to be in the capital all the time. You will need many trusted ministers to ascend the throne in the future, and Pei Boqi alone will not be enough."
"So I arranged for you to go to Guangxi. Those ministers who are still loyal to your Chen family will definitely try their best to go to Guangxi when they hear that you have come to Guangxi. You can choose suitable people from these people to serve as important ministers after you succeed to the throne in the future." Before Chen Tianping left the capital, Yunxi said to him.
Chen Tianping was a little confused as to why Yunxi was so concerned about Annan's affairs and arranged it so appropriately: According to Yunxi's past practice, he should not be too concerned about these foreign countries.
However, he was relieved when he thought that Yunxi also took good care of Korea, Fuso and Ryukyu: 'It seems that His Majesty the Emperor treats us, countries that call themselves Little China, more favorably.'
Yunxi said a few more words to him and asked him to step back.
Then Yunxi stood there, his face changed for a while, and he exhaled and said to Wang Xi: "Qin Song, the commander of Xuanjin's Yiwei, came to the palace. I have something to tell him."
…
…
"What? Chen Tianping is in Guangxi now?" Hu Jima, who had just reached an armistice agreement with Champa in early May and hurried back, said loudly.
"Yes, father, Chen Tianping is in Guangxi now." Hu Huan replied.
"This." Hu Jiyou walked around, thinking about countermeasures.
The strategy he and his son Hu Huan had made before was similar to that in history, which was to find various reasons to delay time. It would be best to delay it for a year or two so that Yunxi would no longer pay attention to the matter, and then invite Chen Tianping to return to the country to serve as the king. After arriving in Annan, we would find an opportunity to poison him or cause him to have an accident without leaving any trace. In this way, all the men of the Chen family would die, and it would be impossible for the Ming Dynasty to find a suitable person to be the king.
In this case, as long as there is no evidence to prove that they poisoned Chen Tianping, Ming Dynasty can only hold its nose and recognize their family's throne. Hu Xi's biological mother is the sister of the previous monarch, and his wife is the daughter of the previous monarch. , his eldest son is also the son of his wife, and he is closest to the Chen family in terms of blood, so it is reasonable for him to be the king. Even then, the Ming Dynasty will still pursue his crime of regicide. As long as he recognizes Hu Yan's throne, he is willing to accept the punishment. Anyway, he will be punished this year. He is already sixty-seven years old, and there is no telling whether he will be alive in another two years.
But the Ming Dynasty's move to place Chen Tianping in Guangxi completely disrupted his strategy. Although they are the only ones who know about it now, the paper can't stop the fire. Sooner or later, the officials will know, and by then many people will still be loyal to Chen Tianping. The family members and grassroots officials will abandon their father and son and hook up with Chen Tianping, and some troops will return to be loyal to him. When Chen Tianping returns to Annan in a few years, he can easily get rid of himself and others, and truly succeed to the throne.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this matter cannot be delayed. It must be resolved now." Cong Qi, Hu Jiya's trusted minister, said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the longer it is delayed, the more people will be attracted to the Chen family. If there are too many, the Supreme King and his people will become more and more panicked. If it drags on for a year or two, I am afraid that we will start chaos ourselves before Chen Tianping returns to the country."
"Father, do you want to send people to continue to capture the ministers who are close to the Chen family?" Hu Xi said.
"No!" Li Sun, another close minister of Hu Ji Yao, said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there have been too many arrests and killings in the past few days. Many people are very dissatisfied. Even those who love me, Dayu, are a little dissatisfied. Opinion."
"Besides, those who are truly loyal and unyielding to the Chen Dynasty have already been executed. The remaining people are either as timid as mice, or people with big families who are unwilling to give up their family fortune for the Chen Dynasty. These people are also There is no need to continue sacking."
"To solve this matter, we can only start with Chen Tianping. As long as we get rid of him, there will be nothing else."
"But how to get rid of him?" Cong Qi said: "He is in Guangxi now, and according to investigation, he is in Nanning. Can we still send troops to Nanning to kill him? Or send people to poison him? This is impossible."
"Let's not talk about whether we can defeat the Ming army in Guangxi. Even if we can defeat the Ming army in Guangxi, Chen Tianping will run away and cannot catch him; and this will completely anger the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no room for reconciliation in the future. "
"It is even more difficult to send someone to poison him. The people who serve Chen Tianping now are all sent by the Ming Dynasty. Those who ran from Annan, unless they were the servants who went with him, would not be able to get close to him. We The people sent out could only find out roughly where he was, but they didn't even know where he went when he went out every day."
"How about inviting Chen Tianping back to China now and taking the opportunity to poison him?" Li Du suddenly said.
"No. Chen Tianping is not stupid. He knows that he will not be able to control the court now if he returns to China. Instead, he will be in danger of being murdered by us. He will never be willing to return to China." Hu Huan said.
"What if there is an army escort from the Ming Dynasty? He would naturally not dare to come back alone. If there is an army escort from the Ming Dynasty, he might be willing to come back. He probably also wants to return home early and ascend the throne as king." Li Duan said again.
"The Ming Dynasty may not be willing to let him come back now, right? Now the Chen family only has one person, Chen Tianping, and he will definitely be the leader of the country in the future. The Ming Dynasty also asked King Jingjiang, who was granted the title of Guilin, Guangxi, to marry his sister. It is very likely that he wanted him to marry his sister in the Chen family. I will stay in the Ming Dynasty for a few more years, and then come back after I have some feelings for the Ming Dynasty to enhance the relationship between the two parties." Ruan Jingzhen, another close minister, said.
When Cong Qi was about to speak, Hu Jiya suddenly waved his hand, and everyone stopped arguing and looked at him.
"Whether Chen Tianping is willing to come back or not, and whether the Ming Kingdom is willing to let him come back, there is no harm in trying this plan. Ruan Jingzhen, I have ordered you to go to the Ming Kingdom as an envoy and ask Chen Tianping to return to the country and succeed him as king." Hu Jiya said.
Ruan Jingzhen bowed and agreed. When several other ministers saw that Hu Jiya had made a decision for the time being, they also bowed and left. Soon, only Hu Jiya and Hu Huan, his father and son, were left in the room.
"Father, what will happen if Chen Tianping still doesn't come to Annan in the end?" Hu Yan asked.
"The only option is to take the risk and send someone to assassinate him." Hu Jisao said: "Now we can't afford to delay, and we must resolve this matter as soon as possible."
"Father, in fact, as long as we stop the reform at hand and the war against Champa, the resistance of the aristocratic families to our Yu will be reduced a lot, and we may not be able to afford it if we drag it on." After a while, Hu Yan said.
"No! The ongoing reforms and the war against Champa must not stop." Hu Jishen said: "Why did the Chen family perish? Of course the great scholars outside will say that I am ambitious and careless, but I know , The Chen Dynasty has ruled Annan for two hundred years, and it has become decayed now. Even without me, someone else will come and destroy the Chen Dynasty."
"As for why a country will perish after one or two hundred years of rule, I have been exploring the reasons. Although I have found some, I always feel that it is incomplete."
"But a few years ago, the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty (misinformation) said the population theory when he was the emperor's grandson, which made my father understand. It turns out that one of the real reasons is that a country has been stable for too long and has too many people. The current fields cannot Feeding so many people will prompt the people to rebel, leading to troubled times. In troubled times, a large number of people die and the population decreases, so the new dynasty can maintain stability after it is established. Although this is not the entire reason, it is also an important reason."
"And Dayu, which your father and I founded, according to Han people, came from usurping power. Other problems can be solved, but the population problem cannot be solved."
"So I can only make internal reforms, reduce slaves and increase the number of homesteaders, and attack the wealthy families so that they cannot exploit farmers too much."
"At the same time, we conducted foreign campaigns, conquered the captured areas, expelled the locals, and distributed the fields to landless farmers for cultivation."
"If I stop this reform and conquest, the domestic population problem cannot be solved. Even if we get the support of the noble families for a while, we in Dayu will not be able to last long."
Hu Yan also understood what Hu Jishen said. After being silent for a while, he said: "This reform and foreign campaigns cannot be stopped, but other reforms can be stopped temporarily."
"It is true that other reforms can be stopped temporarily, but when the country gradually stabilizes, it will be extremely difficult to pick up again in the future. And these reforms are also very important." Hu Jishen said.
"Although it is important, it is not urgent. Let's stop for now, father." Hu Yan said.
Hu Jiya was silent for a long time and said: "If the invitation to Chen Tianping to return to China fails and the first assassin sent fails to kill Chen Tianping, we will temporarily stop other reforms."
Hu Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Although other reforms are indeed important, they do not have to be carried out now. They can be postponed until the most dangerous period has passed.
'Now it depends on whether Ming Guo is willing to send Chen Tianping back.' He thought to himself.