There is a typo, a big typo, bothering me. A few days ago, a friend reminded me in the book review section. I thank you very much. However, I didn't add to it at the time. Now, I've forgotten your ID. I'm truly sorry. Most importantly, there was a power outage yesterday. Although I had the book, I lost the internet. I was in a rush to go to a classmate's house to update and wrote the chapter names wrong. What bitter tears? It should have been a ridiculous thing. I'm truly sorry.
Today, I was looking at the monthly vote rankings. Qing Yu is fourth in the old book. Oh, no! Amidst the screams, fifth … 200 fewer votes than the top three. Shake as hard as you can, shake as hard as you can to get the votes out of your jars …
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The Crown Prince and Fan Xian were brothers by blood. There was no irreconcilable hatred between the two. In the end, that was a matter for the elders. The Crown Prince had once expressed his desire to reconcile with Fan Xian, but Fan Xian did not believe him. Most importantly, Fan Xian knew that the Crown Prince did not have enough power or a strong state of mind to bring him down.
Thus, the biggest target of Fan Xian's actions during this half a year was the Eldest Princess. He had not thought that the Emperor would only imprison her in the end and rush to depose the Crown Prince. This reality made Fan Xian ponder for a long time. He always felt that there was a problem with the order. Given the Emperor's many years of immersion in the arena, he shouldn't have made such a mistake.
Regardless of whether or not there was a mistake in the order, the matter of deposing the heir had, in the end, spread out with a bang in the Qing court. Perhaps using the word "bang" was not accurate. The wind rises at the end of a duckweed. Any major event in history, at the beginning, was perhaps just some unremarkable wind in the officialdom.
A few months ago, the Eastern Palace had caught fire and the Crown Prince had gone to Nanzhao.
When the Eighth Bureau of the Overwatch Council threw out some old stories, the Supreme Court suddenly became interested and reinvestigated the matter of the winter coats of the Northern army. The Ministry of Revenue began to cooperate in researching where the silver had gone. The wind gradually grew.
In the spring of last year, in order to attack Fan Xian, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince's factions had investigated the Ministry of Revenue. In the end, the biggest loophole they found was the problem of the winter jackets of the Northern expedition army. At the time, the Crown Prince had not thought that this matter would eventually lead to him. Fortunately, His Majesty stopped in the end, and the Crown Prince avoided the fate of losing face.
But now that the court had brought up this old matter again, all the officials in the court could smell something different. The Crown Prince no longer had many loyal figures. Who was the Emperor going to let the Crown Prince throw out to atone for his crimes?
Even at this time, no official thought that the Emperor would directly have the Crown Prince take responsibility for this crime. When the Supreme Court and the Overwatch Council took Xin Qiwu into prison, they all thought that this matter was over for now.
Who would have thought that Xin Qiwu would be released after only three days in prison? Xin Qiwu was a confidant of the Eastern Palace and a close official of the Crown Prince. Because of his good relationship with Fan Xian, he was not tortured in the Overwatch Council and did not betray the Crown Prince.
Even so, the Overwatch Council and Supreme Court still bit the Crown Prince and presented the secret memorial to the royal study. In another meeting in the royal study, it was presented to the eyes of the Hall of Governmental Affairs, the Ministers of the Six Ministries, and other figures in the center of Qing Kingdom's power.
Shu Wu and Hu the Scholar pleaded for leniency for the Crown Prince and even acted as a guarantor. Only then did the Emperor dispel his feigned anger. After the court was dismissed, when the two scholars gathered together to drink again, they couldn't resist sighing and sighing.
The Emperor was truly determined to depose the heir. As scholars of the Hall of Governmental Affairs, they had to protect the Crown Prince. This had nothing to do with faction. It was just an attitude they had to express as pure officials. As long as the Crown Prince was the heir, they had to treat him like half an Emperor. The Emperor would not criticize them harshly.
Most importantly, the officials in court, represented by Hu and Shu, all thought that the Crown Prince may have been preposterous and muddle-headed in the past, but he had improved a great deal these two years. In order to prevent the court from being shaken by the fight for royal power and in order to prevent Fan Xian, far away in Jiangnan, from participating in these matters, they truly hoped that the Emperor would be able to calm his heart and set the Qing Kingdom's distant future.
No matter how one looked at it, the present Crown Prince was the best choice for Qing Kingdom. It not only prevented internal friction in Qing Kingdom, but it also prevented the Overwatch Council … the young man's domination.
The Qing Emperor was not an incapable ruler. He knew the benefits the checks and balances between ruler and officials brought to Qing Kingdom. He also expected that the matter of deposing the heir would certainly cause a great wave of opposition. Thus, he temporarily chose to be silent. It seemed that after the first wave, his thoughts of deposing the heir had been dispelled.
However, Hu the Scholar and all of the officials knew that their Emperor was not someone who made decisions easily. Once he made a choice, no matter what difficulties he faced, he would persevere to the end.
As expected, a few days later, the Governor of Jiangnan Road, Sir Xue Qing's memorial was delivered to the Palace. It was read in court. Every word and sentence was directed at the Eastern Palace. Everyone knew the hidden meaning.
Shu Wu flew into a rage. Although he knew that this situation could not be reversed, he still stepped out of line and loudly cursed Xue Qing for having a disloyal heart and spouting nonsense.
The Emperor pitied Shu Wu's old and weak body and ordered him to return to his manor to rest for three months. He did not punish him at all.
The other six governors' memorials arrived. Their tones were either heavy or light, overt or covert, but they all subtly expressed their attitudes.
The situation was gradually becoming clear. The Emperor wanted to depose the heir. The governors of the seven Roads were forced by the emperor's might to submit memorials in response. Only the officials in court were caught in the middle. Even if they wanted to object, they felt the sky above them was covering them and the thorns below them were rising. They felt uncomfortable all over.
Although Shu Wu had been invited back to his manor, the Hall of Governmental Affairs continued to perform the righteous role that the Qing Emperor allowed them to perform. The courageous officials in court chose their words carefully and expressed their opposition. The timid maintained their silence. Not a single official, under the Emperor's hint, courageously submitted a memorial asking the Emperor to change the heir.
Even the most flattering people would find it difficult to do such a thing. All the civil and military officials in court and the people of Jingdou were watching these officials. The Crown Prince had not made any major mistakes, yet he was going to be deposed. It was truly inexcusable and would be impossible to explain in the history books in the future.
After the court conference adjourned, a few representatives of the civil officials came to the Shu manor and carefully asked for Shu the Scholar's opinion. In any case, the Emperor knew about these things, so they were not afraid of someone reporting that they had formed a clique.
Shu Wu was wearing a cloth robe. After a long silence, he smiled and said, "All things in the world have to pay attention to a reason, particularly the matter of the heir to the throne. It involves the will of heaven and the people. If it does not make sense, then it cannot be served. Fan Xian once said, the worries of the world come first and the joys of the world come later. This is a national matter, not a family matter of the Emperor. As an official, I have to help the Emperor solve his worries and remove the worries of the Qing Kingdom. There is no need to try to figure out the Emperor's heart. Just ask your own. "
"The Emperor has already made up his mind. What can be done?"
Shu Wu stroked the beard on his chin and laughed as he usually did. "Sir once said that an official cannot accept the Emperor's messy orders."
The sir he spoke of was the master of the manor, Zhuang Mohan, who had passed away two years ago. The civil officials split up and went home, each of them silent.
In reality, if the Emperor wanted to hint to the officials to send in memorials, there were many other ways to easily find the spokespersons in court. Strangely, ever since the storm began, other than the Minister of Revenue, Fan Jian, the Emperor had never summoned any official into the Palace alone. Thus, the officials were also confused as to whether or not the Emperor's mind had not been made up. They were not the Governor of the Seven Roads, the Emperor's servants, so they did not dare to randomly send in memorials.
The court sank into an awkward silent confrontation. In the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince, who was at the center of the matter, remained warm and quiet. It was as if he did not take this matter to heart. There were no capable people in his faction, yet he had won the support of so many civil officials. This could be said to be an unexpected joy, but it was also an unexpected shock.
Thus, while the Crown Prince was secretly grateful, he grew increasingly silent.
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In this storm of deposing the heir, there were two young people who stood out of the matter and attracted the eyes of the officials the most. The appearances and temperaments of these two young nobles were similar. Furthermore, their relationships with the Crown Prince were complicated. Yet, up until now, their behavior had been unexpected.
The first was Fan Xian. In people's eyes, he was a true member of the Third Prince's faction. Furthermore, he was the Emperor's illegitimate child. His identity was too sensitive. Before and after the Governor of the Seven Roads sent in memorials, he maintained a deathly silence in Jiangnan. His daily invitations to the Palace did not mention this matter at all. He only talked in circles about the palace treasury and the daily affairs around it. Although the Overwatch Council had investigated the Eastern Palace from the Ministry of Revenue, it was clear that their investigation was not as strong as the officials had imagined. Everyone could see clearly that the Overwatch Council's actions in Jingdou had nothing to do with Fan Xian.
Thus, people suddenly thought of something. Did the Emperor throw Fan Xian to Jiangnan also have the intention of cutting him off from the Overwatch Council? Why did Commissioner Fan, who was always gentle on the outside and determined on the inside, not take this opportunity to beat him when he was down?
The second was the Second Prince. Before Fan Xian entered the capital, the Second Prince had always been deeply favored by the Emperor. He was the first of the Emperor's sons to be made a king and had a large group of civil officials at his side in court. Later, everyone learned that the Eldest Princess was protecting the Crown Prince in the open but was secretly protecting him. This Second Prince was not simple. He faintly stood up to the Crown Prince as an equal. The so-called fight for the heir was actually directed at him first.
The major events in Jingdou during this half a year seemed to have nothing to do with the Second Prince. After the Eldest Princess was placed under house arrest, nothing happened to the Second Prince. Instead, it was the Crown Prince who had been exiled by the Emperor.
Now that the Crown Prince had been deposed, logically speaking, the Second Prince should be the one to benefit the most. It was reasonable for him to take action. Even if he wanted to avoid suspicion and gain the Emperor's favor by adhering to filial piety and remaining silent, he had actually personally written to defend the Crown Prince in the Northern expedition army winter jacket case and secretly mobilized officials in his faction to stand against the Emperor's intentions.
Of course, his power in court had basically been shattered by Fan Xian's two campaigns. After operating for so many years, he still had some mouths to speak. Most importantly, after he married Ye Ling 'er, it was as if he had become half a master of the Ye family. His words on behalf of the Crown Prince were indeed useful.
The Crown Prince's two brothers, two of his greatest enemies, used different methods to express their support during the Crown Prince's most dangerous time. This was truly a wondrous, wonderful, and mysterious situation.
Presumably, the Qing Emperor's emotions at this time were very complicated.
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Before the matter of deposing the heir had reached its climax, a climax had already occurred on one of the three most dangerous borders in the world. It shocked the already anxious Qing officials into excitement.
The three most dangerous borders were the border between Northern Qi and the Northern Man, the border between the Qing Kingdom and Xi Hu, and the border between the Qing Kingdom and Northern Qi.
In the extreme north, there had been three consecutive years of snowstorms. The frozen Northern Man cattle and horses died. They had no choice but to move around the sky. After tens of thousands of li of bitter battle, they finally circled around from the north of Northern Qi to the west of the Qing Kingdom. However, they paid the tragic price of seventy to eighty percent of their entire population.
This was a major event in history. For the present world, it had a far-reaching effect. First of all, the Northern Qi people no longer had to worry about the tall and barbaric Barbarians behind them. They could finally free up a hand to deal with the Qing people in the South. That hand was the famous general Shang Shanhu.
After Xi Hu used two years to digest the Northern Man who came to join them, their strength suddenly increased. Although there were not many Northern Man survivors, those who could endure tens of thousands of li of travel without food or medicine were all elite young men and women picked out from thousands of li.
The Qing Kingdom was attacked from both front and back. The pressure increased dramatically.
Only then did the Dingzhou Ye family send emergency reinforcements to the Western front. King Jing's heir, Li Hongcheng, was playing hide-and-seek with the Hu people in the West.
In the North, Yan Xiaoyi had also returned to camp early. He used his powerful military power to suppress Shang Shanhu's strategy and the Northern Qi people's bad ideas.
The climax of the border this time erupted on the Northern front, between the Northern Governor Yan Xiaoyi and the famous general Shang Shanhu.
When Shang Shanhu led the army back and gave Yan Xiaoyi time to think and prepare, Yan Xiaoyi did not even think about his path of retreat in the Qing Kingdom or prepare to receive the Qing Emperor's arrest. He directly led the army North. With 20,000 elite soldiers, he followed Cangzhou and Yanjing and attacked the Northern camp.
There was never too much deception in war. The power of the army was like a hurricane. Yan Xiaoyi carried out this principle perfectly. Without asking the Bureau of Military Affairs or waiting for the Qing Emperor's edict, he personally led the army and attacked.
Shang Shanhu, who had always calculated everything on the battlefield, clearly did not expect that Yan Xiaoyi would still have the mind to send out troops to attack when he could not even protect himself.
The Northern Qi army was slowly retreating 50 li. Before they could set up camp, they were suddenly attacked in the night and suffered heavy losses. The Qing Kingdom army had only paid with 5,000 lives.
It was a great victory in Cangzhou.
In people's impression, this seemed to be the first time Shang Shanhu had lost a battle.
When the news got back to Jingdou, regardless of whether it was Shu the Scholar, who had been ordered to rest, or the common people selling alcohol on the streets, they all became excited. The desire to fight and the passion to expand the borders buried deep in the Qing people's blood was stirred to its peak by this "shameless" great victory.
The black cloud that had been floating above Jingdou did not seem so piercing. Everyone thought that with such great news, the Emperor would not continue to persist in his absurdity and do things contrary to people's emotions. It was truly not a good choice.
Following the arrival of the battle report was the Northern Qi Emperor's letter. In the letter, the Northern Qi Emperor cursed angrily, saying that the two countries were on good terms, yet they were so shameless.
After receiving the letter, the Qing Emperor only smiled and handed the matter to the Office of the Grand Herald and the Board of Rites to handle. In today's world, the boundaries between countries were always so vague. It was always hard to say who entered whose territory. If it was really a misunderstanding, he could apologize in a few days. In any case, the person who was killed could not come back to life.
The Emperor smiled slightly at Eunuch Hong beside him and said, "Yan Xiaoyi is not bad. He knows to use the correct method to explain to me the meaning of his existence."
Yes, people who had no meaning of existence should not continue to exist.
For example, the Crown Prince.
Thus, the Supreme Court continued to interrogate the winter jacket case. The Overwatch Council continued to dig up all of the Crown Prince's wrongdoings. The most shameless was the Eighth Bureau. It seemed that they were preparing to write a memoir of the Crown Prince's teasing of serving girls as a child.
The matter of deposing the heir did not stop because of Yan Xiaoyi's great victory. It only rested for a while. Under the disappointed gazes of the officials, it slowly and unquestionably proceeded.
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None of this had anything to do with Fan Xian.
He was on a civilian boat, looking at the Council report in his hand in a daze. He thought to himself that the Emperor was indeed more shameless than him. It looked like in a few days, the worship Xue Qing had once mentioned would begin. He wondered what the quiet Qing Temple in Jingdou would be like at that time.
To find a reason to depose the Crown Prince and then worship Heaven for an edict. The Emperor was the Son of Heaven. Naturally, the Crown Prince was Heaven's grandson. If Heaven thought this grandson was not obedient, then Heaven's son could only do as he was told.
If this was written, it would be much more beautiful in the history books.
It was truly shameless to the extreme.
Fan Xian shook his head and put down the Council report. Ever since Xue Qing began to write, he had fled Suzhou. He had not returned to Hangzhou or Wuzhou. He had only disguised himself as a commoner and boarded a civilian boat. Unconsciously, he wanted to get as far away from this political whirlpool as possible.
He also knew about the Second Prince writing to protect the Crown Prince. He thought to himself that the Second Prince's heart was truly ruthless.
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