Chapter 834 Face

"Why haven't you died yet?"

The prince's childish voice sounded somewhat ethereal at this moment.

Especially the word "you," carrying respect, connotation, and a kind of official, formal tone.

Xu Qingshan froze on the spot.

He hadn't expected

that this was the sentence awaiting him, and even more so, that it would come from the mouth of the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince is half a sovereign.

When the sovereign wants a subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die.

And sometimes, when the Crown Prince wants you dead, it's even harder to survive than when the "sovereign" does.

If the emperor is furious and wants to sentence someone to death, setting it for execution after the autumn, with surrounding relationships lobbying and ministers offering advice, if the emperor has a mind to knock someone down a peg or changes his mind, there's a good chance you can save your head.

Politics is a game, and all the processes and formalities are to ensure that the game looks more solemn and sacred. Everyone is a participant and has their own way of playing.

Inquiries came one after another;

what awaited Xu Qingshan should have been a recall to Yanjing, a period of cold-shouldering, and then finding a pretext to "follow the vine to find the melon," using a small fault to create a major crime.

After all, the imperial envoy was selected by the emperor; the imperial envoy represents the emperor's will. To directly issue an edict to punish him is tantamount to slapping the emperor's own face, equivalent to the emperor proving to himself that he, too, can make mistakes.

Xu Qingshan was going through this process, so he was still an imperial envoy;

but when the prince said those words, he knew that his political career, no, his very life, was over.

The prince has no real power. He doesn't currently manage any government office, hasn't even formally established his Eastern Palace, and has no so-called "太子党" (Crown Prince faction), unlike when His Majesty was still a prince, controlling both the Ministry of Revenue and the earliest batch of Jinshi officials in Great Yan. If he wanted to take someone down, there were people who could help him charge forward and cover his tracks.

But precisely because of that,

the prince's status is paramount.

When he says you should die,

if you don't die,

where does that leave the dignity of the heir apparent?

His Majesty will weigh the situation. If the prince wants you dead and you're still alive, will you harbor resentment when the prince ascends the throne? Or will you want to join a succession struggle to depose the prince?

These are all later matters, because you won't even live to see the future.

The dual negation, both political and personal,

caused Xu Qingshan's body to tremble.

He knew he had botched this mission and understood that his official career was over. Whether he could protect his family depended on luck. But originally, he still had a measure of dignity.

Dignity given by the imperial family, the halo of the imperial family, supported him, allowing him to not kneel before the Prince of the West, to not kneel before the Heir Apparent;

but when your reliance is all borrowed from others, you've already lost. When they take it away, you'll realize just how desolate and helpless you really are.

"Thump!"

Xu Qingshan knelt on the ground, dejected.

How absurd,

truly absurd,

for the Crown Prince of a nation to ask, so openly, in front of everyone, in front of all the officials of Suzhou City, why haven't you died yet?

You've committed such a great crime; why do you still have the face to live?

You still want dignity; you still want to go through the motions?

How shameless must you be

to still be standing here?

Anyone with a shred of decency would have already taken their own life.

Shameless, shameless, shameless!

Childlike words, yet "the sovereign" never jokes.

Xu Qingshan was as if his soul had left his body.

White foam even began to bubble from the corners of his mouth.

The Yan Kingdom is not like the Qian Kingdom, where the culture of scholar-officials is so strong. In the Yan Kingdom, even the civil and military ranks can be converted according to needs, but after all, it is a system inherited from Great Xia;

this kind of feeling of being completely denied one's own value, no, the necessity of existence, by the monarch, is enough to drive a traditional official like Xu Qingshan insane.

Zhou Furi couldn't bear to watch any longer. He glanced at the Prefect of Suzhou behind him. The Prefect understood and stepped forward to help Xu Qingshan up. Zhou Furi himself also stepped forward, planning to smooth things over.

But at that moment,

an imposing figure emerged from within the royal carriage.

Zhou Furi and the Prefect of Suzhou immediately stopped and knelt down in unison:

"Greetings, Your Royal Highness, Prince of the West, may Your Highness be blessed with good health!"

Behind them, the group of Suzhou officials, big and small, who had just stood up also knelt down again at this moment:

"Greetings, Your Royal Highness, Prince of the West, may Your Highness live for ten thousand years!"

The voices were more orderly and louder than before;

after all, the prince was too young, and Yanjing was a bit far away. But the Prince of the West was right in front of them, and his army was here as well.

No matter how you compared it, the "status" of the Prince of the West at this moment was undoubtedly the most important in the entire venue.

Zheng Fan's gaze fell on Xu Qingshan, who was slumped on the ground, then shifted away. He nodded slightly to Zhou Furi, and finally looked at the Prefect of Suzhou,

and said:

"I'm hungry."

……

The welcoming banquet had, of course, been prepared.

The largest restaurant in Suzhou City had been reserved for the day. At the same time, a large number of yamen runners and soldiers from the city's patrol division had been dispatched early to provide security, and no idlers were allowed to approach.

But despite the preparations, the Prefect of Suzhou, Wang Yan, really hadn't expected that the Prince would actually come into the city to eat.

But since the Prince wanted to eat, they naturally had to be ready and accompany him.

The royal carriage entered Suzhou City, and the Prince of the West, leading the Crown Prince and the Heir Apparent, accompanied by Zhou Furi, Wang Yan, and a group of Suzhou officials, entered the restaurant together.

After taking their seats,

the Crown Prince sat to the left of the Prince of the West, and Tiantian sat to his right.

Zhou Furi and Wang Yan sat in attendance, and some local dignitaries and local notables from Suzhou City were also present.

Ren Juan stood aside. As a Count, he rightfully had a seat here, but he firmly refused to sit;

this made the group in attendance feel like they were sitting on pins and needles.

Zhou Furi and Wang Yan tried hard to liven up the atmosphere, asking the Prince if he was tired and introducing the local specialties of Suzhou, but the Prince had been leaning back in his chair since he took his seat, supporting his forehead with his hand, covering half of his face, not responding at all, as if he had fallen asleep.

"Younger brother, eat fish, it's delicious."

"Thank you, older brother, older brother, eat this pastry."

"Mmm, delicious."

"Hehe."

The two children were eating happily, after all, during the march, Zheng Fan was still quite particular about his food, not as particular as the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion, where what the soldiers ate below, the people above had to eat as well, but after all, conditions were limited;

the large table in front of them, with dishes constantly being brought up, really made the two children very happy.

But this made things difficult for the officials in attendance, who could only help the two young masters hold a plate, or pick up a dish that they couldn't reach. Otherwise, there was no way to chat.

Could you talk about romance with the two children, could you talk about life lessons with the two children?

Moreover,

the "combat power" of the two children earlier had really shocked everyone.

Who could guarantee that when you were chatting with them, the Crown Prince or the Heir Apparent wouldn't suddenly say:

"Hey, why are you still alive?"

Therefore,

the atmosphere in the main table's private room was truly extremely oppressive, and many of the adults couldn't help but rub their boot soles with their toes to try to distract themselves.

There were many side tables outside. The restaurant had four floors, and on one table on the third floor, the Blind Man and the others were sitting.

Fan Li was eating happily, enjoying himself;

Xue San was also helping himself, grabbing whatever he wanted;

A Ming was drinking as usual, not eating any dishes;

The Blind Man was eating slowly and methodically, not forgetting to instruct He Chunlai and Chen Daole to wait at the front door halfway through.

"Waiting for what?" Xue San asked while gnawing on a duck leg.

"Waiting for someone's death."

"Who?"

"The imperial envoy." The Blind Man picked up a turtle shell, put it to his mouth, and gently gnawed at the edge.

"Will he die?"

"He will die."

"Suicide?"

"Yes."

"No one will stop him?"

The Blind Man smiled, put the turtle shell in his bowl, picked up a handkerchief, wiped the corners of his mouth, and said:

"They will even help."

Xue San was squatting on the chair to eat. At this time, he leaned back slightly and looked at the surrounding and lower officials.

The Blind Man continued;

"Don't look at how happily these people are eating now, but in their hearts, they've probably already started counting down. Xu Qingshan's political life was terminated because of the defeat in Liangdi. A person without a political life is equivalent to losing all value in the officialdom, and even his body is a bit of an eyesore.

Moreover, an imperial envoy only brings his own entourage down. If he doesn't rely on the help of the local authorities, how can he really get things done?

Suzhou City is very close to Susu Mountain Camp, and it also controls the supply line for Susu Mountain Camp. Previously, Xu Qingshan forcibly forced Chen Yang to submit by cutting off the grain supply, which completely angered Chen Yang.

The officials, big and small, in Suzhou must have put in a lot of effort.

The happiest person about the prince's words in the royal carriage was not Chen Yang, but the officials of Suzhou in front of us.

Xu Qingshan 'committed suicide,' which means that the matter is over, and they will no longer be subject to subsequent implications;

therefore, Xu Qingshan will inevitably 'commit suicide.'"

"There are really a lot of twists and turns." Xue San curled his lips and picked up a shrimp.

"This is political language, and also a political exchange. Next, the army will gather at Nanjun Pass, and subsequent deployments will still depend on the system of Suzhou City.

Didn't the Prince of Jingnan also leave the old Dacheng Kingdom bureaucrats in Yingdu alone?

Besides, there has never been a distinction between guilty and innocent in this world, only between useful and useless.

Useful people, even if they have committed heinous crimes, will still be fine;

useless people, even if they are trembling and treading on thin ice, will still be considered an eyesore."

The Blind Man poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip,

and said:

"We have less experience in the officialdom, we have always been in the military, and later we had our own territory and started from scratch, the paths we took were different;

When we look back, our strength is already above this system, we don't need to study or learn, but watching it is quite interesting."

As soon as the Blind Man finished speaking, he saw Chen Daole and He Chunlai rushing up. Behind them, a group of patrol officers also appeared in a hurry.

"It's bad, the imperial envoy has hanged himself! It's bad, the imperial envoy has hanged himself!"

…

Private room at the main table;

After the news of Xu Qingshan's suicide in the 行辕 (imperial envoy's lodging) came, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Even the Prince of the West, who had been dozing off earlier, finally sat up straight, raised his glass, and said:

"Let's drink a toast to Mr. Xu, and remember Mr. Xu."

Everyone's expressions were a bit awkward, but fortunately they were all veterans of the officialdom, and they quickly covered it up and raised their glasses.

But because they couldn't figure out the "preferences" of the Prince of the West, no one took the opportunity to cry and wail at this time.

The Prince of the West pointed to the patrol captain of Suzhou City who was kneeling on the ground,

and said:

"You just said that Mr. Xu left a suicide note?"

The patrol captain was stunned for a moment, he didn't say that.

At this moment,

Zhou Furi said: "Your Highness, I will send the suicide note later."

Zheng Fan waved his hand,

and said:

"No need, just present it to His Majesty."

Saying that,

Zheng Fan reached out and touched the crown prince's head, and said:

"Chuanye."

The crown prince immediately put down his chopsticks and respectfully got up from the table:

"Godfather?"

"The crown prince is the heir apparent, the foundation of the nation."

While speaking, the Prince of the West glanced around and continued:

"Xu Qingshan's crimes were revealed by the crown prince, he was ashamed and committed suicide, presumably the suicide note will contain content admitting his guilt."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"It must be there."

"What the Prince said is true."

The Prince of the West nodded, picked up his empty glass, and Tiantian helped him pour the wine.

"Everyone, let's drink another glass. Everyone should be clear about why I came to Jin Southwest. After this battle, I will still need your help to manage the rear.

When I defeat the Qian and Chu bandits and return in triumph, I will personally ask His Majesty to reward all of you!"

The meaning of this sentence is that the imperial envoy's matter is over, and if everyone handles the following battle well, then everything will continue to be as harmonious and beautiful as before.

For a moment, all the adults stood up:

"We are willing to serve the Prince!"

"We are willing to serve the Prince!"

…

The royal carriage of the Prince of the West stayed in Suzhou City for three days.

On the first day, the garrison troops of the Susu Mountain Camp did not come out, on the second day, they still did not come out, and on the third day, the two remaining generals of the garrison mobilized the remaining troops and came outside Suzhou City to request to join the ranks.

The Prince of the West still did not show up, but followed the previous rules for receiving other troops and accepted and settled them.

Immediately,

the royal carriage left Suzhou City and began to head south, towards Nanjun Pass.

…

It rained all night yesterday, and there is still no sign of stopping.

The distant Nanjun Pass, tall and majestic, stood quietly there.

In terms of grandeur, it cannot compare to Xuehai Pass, and in terms of strategic importance, it cannot compare to Zhennan Pass, but at this moment, it has become the weakest link in the Three Jins under the rule of Great Yan.

The army's camp was in the rear, stretching as far as the eye could see.

And at this moment,

under a thatched shed on the hillside, Liu Dahu was brewing tea;

the Sword Saint sat beside him, not habitually dozing off, but helping to prepare the tea set.

Under the thatched shed,

there was only this pair of father and son, plus a Prince who was sitting quietly there.

In the distance, the sound of horses' hooves came.

Leading the way was Ren Juan, and behind Ren Juan was Chen Yang and several of his generals.

Ren Juan was in full armor, while Chen Yang was in plain clothes, and the generals behind him were wearing armor.

The Sword Saint took a cup of tea that his son had just brewed with his left hand, and picked up Longyuan with his right hand.

Ren Juan and the others reined in their horses some distance away from the thatched shed and dismounted to walk.

At the same time, a signal fire was sent out from behind, and then the sound of horns rang out.

This meant that the gate of Nanjun Pass was opened. According to the prior arrangement, after the gate of Nanjun Pass was opened, the army would directly enter the pass and take over this checkpoint.

Chen Yang did not bargain and directly opened the gate of Nanjun Pass, which was considered an attitude.

The Sword Saint felt a little bored and said, "The gate of Nanjun Pass has opened again."

"Hehe."

Zheng Fan smiled.

The last time the gate of Nanjun Pass was opened, it was by the former Jin Emperor, now Jin Prince Yu Ciming in Yanjing, who personally opened it.

The Sword Saint sighed and said, "I have always been thinking, if the Jin Emperor had not personally opened Nanjun Pass to lead the Yan army in, what would the Jin land look like now?"

Zheng Fan replied without any politeness: "Do you think that the so-called coalition forces of the Helian family and the Wenren family back then could have defeated the Zhenbei and Jingnan iron cavalry led by Lao Tian and Li Liangting together?

Even if they didn't go around Nanjun Pass, even if they fought head-on along the Matishan line, do you think those two families could have won?"

The Sword Saint was an honest person, and shook his head when he heard this.

The Jingnan Army of that year was the product of Tian Wujing's ten years of honing, and its combat power was at its peak. In the following years of southern and northern expeditions, the veteran soldiers died in battle and new soldiers were added, and the expansion of the army diluted it, so its combat power actually declined.

And the Zhenbei Army of that year had just been transferred from the desert, and the sand on their beards might not have been cleaned up yet, but their combat power was also beyond doubt.

Most importantly, the two marquises personally led the troops, which, from today's point of view, was simply extravagant.

Zheng Fan clapped his hands and said: "If Yu Ciming hadn't personally opened Nanjun Pass, the Yan army would have died a lot more people, but the Jin people would have died even more, several times, or even ten times more.

The land of Jinxi will be almost reduced to a wasteland like Jindi."

"So, I was thinking, if everything is for survival, then what is the meaning of morality?" the Sword Saint asked.

"Morality is something that can only be used as decoration when your fist is big enough. When your fist isn't hard enough, morality is just a fig leaf. Everything in this world seems to give people a feeling of affection, but in fact, it can never escape the law of the jungle."

Liu Dahu listened very carefully to what the Prince said, and was still reciting it silently in his heart.

At this time,

Ren Juan and Chen Yang and others walked to the outside of the thatched shed.

Ren Juan was sent by Zheng Fan to Nanjun Pass, as a lobbyist, after all, they were both from the Jingnan Army system, and they could be said to be old acquaintances and old comrades.

At this moment,

Ren Juan stepped aside,

Chen Yang took his five generals and knelt directly in the mud.

"This humble general pays respect to Your Highness, may Your Highness live for ten thousand years!"

"This humble general pays respect to Your Highness, may Your Highness live for ten thousand years!"

Zheng Fan didn't get up, he didn't even look at them, but held his teacup, drinking tea while sitting there, as if he was in a daze.

The rain was getting heavier again, hitting the armor and making a crisp sound.

And Chen Yang, who was wearing plain clothes, had long been soaked in a large area of mud.

The kneeling people were still kneeling; the sitting people were still sitting.

It probably took half an hour.

Finally,

the Prince of the West stood up and walked to the edge of the thatched shed.

Chen Yang lowered his head even lower.

He was not sincerely convinced, he was forced by the situation, because unless he betrayed the country and defected to Qian and Chu, he could only unconditionally open the city gate and bow his head, otherwise, there was no way out.

Xu Qingshan's death would offset most of the official crimes.

This undoubtedly gave Chen Yang's generals a reassurance. They did not think that they were "completely clean," but even if it was just an opportunity to "atone for their sins," it was very good for them.

Zheng Fan looked at Chen Yang,

and said:

"Li Fusheng is dead."

Chen Yang slightly raised his head, opened his mouth, took a breath, and said:

"This humble general did not know that things would turn out like this."

"If you knew, do you think you would still have a chance to kneel here and talk?"

"Yes."

"On the way here, I originally planned to execute you publicly on the day of the drumming to gather the generals, and personally hold a knife to cut off your head!"

Chen Yang said:

"This humble general is not afraid of death."

"I know you are not afraid of death, but I can throw dirty water on you. After killing you, I will tell the world that it was you, Chen Yang, who colluded with Qian and Chu and betrayed your comrades, causing Li Fusheng to die in battle and almost the entire army to be wiped out!

Tell me,

the people of Great Yan,

will they believe me, or will they believe you?

How will history write about you?"

Chen Yang raised his head, looked at Zheng Fan, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Not afraid of death, hehe, not afraid of death, do you think you can really be fearless with just one sentence of not afraid of death?

You are all soldiers who crawled out of piles of dead people,

I am now a Prince,

you are just a Count,

I was just a commoner, and you were already a chief commander!

Being able to sit in this position is my own ability, otherwise, why would the Prince of Jingnan support me instead of supporting you? Is the Prince engaging in favoritism and deliberately being biased?

In terms of fighting,

you Chen Yang can't compare to me,

in terms of methods, in terms of scheming,

in front of me, you are nothing!"

Zheng Fan raised his foot and directly kicked Chen Yang in the shoulder, Chen Yang was kicked over into the muddy water, and immediately knelt back.

"Kick me, hit me, I only ask you one thing, this humble general only asks Your Highness one thing!"

"To be the vanguard?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Yes."

"You're thinking too highly of yourself, aren't you?"

"Please, Your Highness, grant my request!"

The generals behind Chen Yang also said in unison: "Please, Your Highness, grant our request!"

Chen Yang clenched his fists tightly and roared almost hysterically:

"Whether I die well or not, please give me this opportunity to fight this battle. If I don't die on the battlefield, I will commit suicide in the military camp after the return, and I will never live on!

As for the people under me, whether they are demoted or punished, it is up to you. I only hope to beg for their lives. They are all good Han from Great Yan, and even if they are auxiliary soldiers, they will be able to fight the enemy in the battle formations of Great Yan in the future.

They are not wrong, they just followed a fool like me!"

Zheng Fan said: "Do you know why I changed my mind and didn't plan to kill you here?"

Chen Yang was silent.

Zheng Fan smiled,

and continued:

"Xu Qingshan, I forced him to die. I could have avoided dirtying my own hands. According to the temper of His Majesty, he will not have a good end after returning to the capital;

and even if it is Xu Qingshan, plus you Chen Yang, plus these people kneeling behind you.

Even if I cut all of them down,

I would still think it is not enough!"

Zheng Fan's chest heaved for a while,

and his voice sounded particularly suppressed in the rain:

"My old brother, he only had one hobby in his life, killing people!

How can the heads of a few of you, the head of one imperial envoy, be enough for him to have fun with down there.

This prince,

this time I am going to send down a large number of heads, a vast and countless number of heads;

so that my old brother,

down there,

can also shout "satisfying!"

Zheng Fan grabbed Chen Yang's neck, Chen Yang did not resist and was pulled up;

"Do you know where you are worse than me?"

Chen Yang opened his mouth to answer: "I…"

"Fighting with the imperial envoy, is it very interesting? Hehe, if you had directly killed that damned imperial envoy and revolted, I would still respect you as a real man!

But what are you doing?

You are learning the ways of the Qian Kingdom civil officials, claiming illness at home, I am even embarrassed for the old Prince, how could he have raised such a waste under him!"

Zheng Fan reached out with his other hand,

and patted Chen Yang's face,

This was an extremely insulting action, but for some reason, looking at Zheng Fan's expression in front of him, Chen Yang did not feel ashamed and angry, but rather a sense of shame.

"The face has already been lost, next, you open your eyes wide, and watch me carefully, watch…"

Zheng Fan pushed Chen Yang away, and Chen Yang fell to the ground, splashing a piece of mud;

"Watch me,

how I will earn back the face that you have lost!"