Chapter 113 The Calm Before the Storm

The day after the grand court assembly, the winds were calm and the waves were still.

Each government office was carrying out its duties; everything seemed to have returned to how it was before His Majesty went to the back garden.

The Crown Prince faction was smug, and the core members couldn't suppress the smiles on their faces, fully demonstrating what it meant to be favored and unafraid.

The Sixth Prince's faction was like autumn leaves falling; this faction, with its core of "talented youths," seemed to have encountered helplessness in the imperial court for the first time.

The residences of the Southern and Northern Kings remained quiet.

The First Prince went to drink with the Zhenbei King again, seemingly to regain face and fight another round.

Marquis Pingxi visited Jingnan King's residence every day, staying for a short while before leaving. The Jingnan King's residence remained as calm as people imagined.

Meanwhile, within the Pingxi Marquis's residence,

San'er, Si Niang, Fan Li, and A Ming went out several times a day, and when they returned, they gathered to simulate scenarios on a small sandbox.

The Fourth Prince continued to lead troops stationed in the imperial city, continuing to play his role as an iron-faced gatekeeper.

Marquis Zheng requested to enter the palace to return the Son of Heaven's Sword, but the Emperor refused.

The fifteen thousand Zhenbei Army cavalry continued to be stationed in three locations within the city, all peaceful.

Marquis Zheng had no choice but to continue holding the Son of Heaven's Sword and make his presence known at the three military camps.

By the second and third day,

Marquis Zheng was able to call out the names of these officers and had become one with the soldiers.

He was already an idol in the army, a role model for commoners who had risen through the ranks. In the past, there was a bit of a gap due to their origins in the Southern and Northern Armies, but Marquis Zheng himself was from Beifeng County, and by letting down his guard a little, everyone was able to accept him.

Therefore, when he went again, he clearly felt the enthusiasm of the soldiers and officers towards him.

But unfortunately, in such a short period, and within the capital, it was almost impossible to win people's hearts and truly make them work for him.

However, he had to keep himself busy anyway. As long as the Son of Heaven's Sword, which looked good but was actually useless, was not returned, Marquis Zheng had to be their nominal "leader."

The feeling of being a scapegoat was certainly not pleasant, but even more unbearable was the process of waiting to be a scapegoat.

If you were going to the execution ground, it would just be a chop of the head, but before that, you should eat and drink well, and think of a farewell poem in your mind before the execution.

But this scapegoat, you knew it wouldn't kill you, but it was destined to make you feel disgusted, which was really uncomfortable.

Most importantly,

After wandering around with the Son of Heaven's Sword for three days, it wasn't without gains. Zheng Fan learned that the actual commanders of these three armies were truly loyal to the palace.

These three armies were definitely not just for show, they must have other uses.

As the days went by, what Marquis Zheng truly cared about was Ji Lao Liu's situation.

Whether it was victory or defeat, there had to be news.

If the Crown Prince really ascended the throne, he would have to come up with a second plan, and even the things that his devils were currently helping him plan would have to be shelved.

Taking Ji Lao Liu's family and running away was the right thing to do, because he had a faint premonition that if the Crown Prince ascended the throne, it wouldn't be him killing that person, but rather the possibility of him being directly suffocated to death in the capital.

The fall of the Iron Triangle was a destined drama, the end of the magnificent era of Great Yan, but that era didn't only consist of the Iron Triangle, there was still lingering light.

Sun Ying had specifically asked Zheng Fan why he didn't take this opportunity to stir up trouble for the Crown Prince.

If the vassal states could give enough respect, the higher-ups would definitely consider this when making decisions. After all, the Jidong area was particularly sensitive, and could be said to be the key support of the Three Jins area.

Marquis Zheng refused without thinking.

The reply he gave to Sun Ying, who had always thought of Marquis Pingxi as wise, was so simple that even Sun Ying, a Jin native, found it a bit unbelievable:

He didn't want to make Xiao Liuzi sad.

When Si Niang explained to Sun Ying,

It was like a couple arguing, one would say, if you continue to treat me badly, I'll go find someone else to live with and make you angry!

But shouting during an argument and actually doing it were completely different concepts.

Si Niang thought she had explained it very well,

But in Sun Ying's ears, it was as if the wind in Yanjing had suddenly become familiar and noisy.

……

Imperial Study.

The Yan Emperor sat in the main seat,

The Crown Prince stood before him.

The Crown Prince's task of overseeing the country had been relieved, after all, his father had returned.

In the past few days, everything seemed the same, and yet, everything seemed to have returned to how it was before.

Even Wei Zhonghe didn't know how many days His Majesty had left to live,

But all the officials had noticed that His Majesty's return from the back garden was seemingly stable, but in reality, it was filled with an urgency that couldn't be concealed.

Unlike the Crown Prince faction's almost "celebratory atmosphere,"

The Crown Prince himself had been in low spirits since the grand court assembly.

Ordinary sons are naturally happy to be favored and doted upon by their own father.

But in the imperial family, being a son under this father emperor, except for the young Seventh Prince who was still young a few years ago, if the other princes were really treated with affectionate love,

Well,

Don't rush to be happy,

You have to feel your own body first to see if there are any parts that your father values.

Sons are born from their fathers, and fathers watch their sons grow up, naturally carrying the label of sovereign father, so they can torment their sons to death.

And in the years when the sons were being played with by their father, they slowly and gradually figured out some of their father's temperament and habits in reverse.

Although the other princes couldn't reach the level of being each other's worms in the stomach like the Sixth Prince, they also roughly understood how to look at the clouds in the sky like old farmers to understand the will of heaven.

At the grand court assembly, the father emperor's love for him had caused the Crown Prince to lose a few more pounds in the past few days.

The Yan Emperor, sitting on the throne, looked at his Crown Prince standing below.

He didn't know when it started,

The once handsome and dignified eldest son had always been so haggard.

He was very dissatisfied with this,

Because he knew that his eldest son was not sick.

If you are not sick, and have no serious illness, but you don't eat well, you don't sleep well, and you ruin your body,

And朕 (zhèn, imperial "I")...

A dying emperor hates the most that the heavens don't give him enough time.

Even being able to last until now was because he had forcibly supported himself by constantly taking pills in the back garden;

This was not seeking longevity, but using a life worse than death to exchange for his continued survival!

Looking at his sixth son again,

He was a dissolute prince when he was young, and his body seemed to have been somewhat depleted, but after returning to the capital, he had gradually become fatter.

The prince's mansion had made a large application to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the daily supply of cow's milk and goat's milk for the children, the amount of which was enough to feed ten children, and without thinking, it was obvious who the rest was eating.

That kid would never mistreat himself in his expenses, and his snuff bottles were also the best.

Putting aside other things,

Wasn't it because that kid couldn't resist his appetite and went to the He family's shop to buy braised pork head meat every now and then after being exiled to Nan'an County as a constable that he was able to marry the He family's daughter?

Compared to the two,

This Crown Prince,

Was indeed much more pretentious.

It wasn't as if only you, the Crown Prince, had suffered hardships.

Hadn't he suffered them?

What he suffered was only more than what you suffered.

Why was he able to endure it, but you were here to lose weight for朕 (zhèn, imperial "I") to see?

You,

Who are you losing weight for?

The Crown Prince just stood there,

And then gradually noticed that the atmosphere in the Imperial Study was not right, becoming more and more oppressive. He raised his head and glanced at his father emperor, and found that in the depths of his father emperor's eyes, there was a faint flow of imperial anger.

The Crown Prince was a little baffled,

But,

He still knelt down.

The Yan Emperor put down the memorial in his hand,

And said:

"Do you know where you lost?"

Lost,

Naturally referred to the grand court assembly.

Everyone knew that the Crown Prince had lost, and the Sixth Prince had won in a way that was like a stroke of genius, but the arbiter was His Majesty, His Majesty had re-judged, no, had re-defined the victory or defeat.

"Your son……"

This question was really difficult for the Crown Prince to answer.

Your father is helping you review the game and teaching you where the mistakes were when you were vying for the throne?

But that's your father, and the real purpose of your vying for the throne is to wait for your father to die so that you can smoothly take over the throne.

If it was truly heaven-sent favor, if it was truly paternal love and filial piety, then there would be no problem, but the Crown Prince clearly knew that his father was not that kind of father.

"You have always done very well, fulfilling your responsibilities in your position. You are the Crown Prince, and the only one in this world who can depose you is朕 (zhèn, imperial "I"), because this position of Crown Prince was established by朕 (zhèn, imperial "I")."

The Crown Prince continued to kneel on the ground.

"You don't have to do anything, that is the best defense, because doing nothing means there are no flaws, and anyone who wants to attack you, who wants to pull you down, because you yourself have no flaws, so if they want to attack you, they have to attack朕 (zhèn, imperial "I") here."

The Crown Prince knew that "doing nothing" here did not mean muddling along and waiting for death, but rather doing his own duty, and not fighting, contending, or snatching.

Because you have already obtained the best treasure, there is no need to snatch it anymore.

Moreover, the current Great Yan is different from other countries, which have aristocratic forces, powerful families, and various interest groups that can force the imperial power to compromise.

Other countries have them, but Great Yan does not.

This was actually the most helpless thing for Ji Lao Liu all along. The Crown Prince had always been very stable, and his biggest mistake may have been that some of his policies during his regency did not achieve the desired effect.

But whoever takes this position is the same, and even the Yan Emperor cannot guarantee that every edict he issues is perfect.

So, if you use other methods to attack the Crown Prince, in the end, the force will actually fall on the Yan Emperor.

With one sentence and one edict from the Yan Emperor, the seemingly turbulent offensive was instantly dissolved into nothingness.

And this time, the reason why he was able to get such a good opportunity at the grand court assembly to launch such a fierce offensive was fundamentally because the Crown Prince himself took action.

The Crown Prince couldn't help but want to take advantage of the situation to dig a pit and wait for his sixth brother to jump in, and then completely bury his sixth brother.

Taking action means there are flaws;

And Ji Lao Liu instantly caught this flaw, and at the fastest time and in the fastest way, he tore open this gap and stabbed a knife into the heart of the Eastern Palace.

If it were other emperors whose power and authority were not as great as the Yan Emperor's, this matter could not have ended in the Golden Palace.

"For a ruler, when moving, he should break through thorns and brambles; when still, he should be as immovable as a mountain."

The Yan Emperor's gaze became more and more majestic,

"You should have endured it."

"Your son knows his mistake."

The Crown Prince admitted his mistake.

Looking at it now, he should indeed continue to maintain his previous style.

The Yan Emperor shook his head slightly,

It wasn't that he hadn't given this eldest son a chance; in fact, he had given him many.

And the successor he had chosen was forced into an embarrassing situation before he was about to leave the world, which was really not what he wanted to see.

Sitting in this position, don't look at him as ruling the world, the Supreme of the Nine-Five, but in reality, the danger of this position is beyond what outsiders can predict, and even empathy is difficult to achieve.

Especially if you want to be a wise emperor, and not just a muddleheaded one who only seeks a beautiful posthumous title.

In your mind, what is constantly circling is the future direction of the empire, the position you occupy in the development of this empire, and the role you should play.

The more you feel this way, the more you feel that you cannot be wrong, and that you cannot be chaotic.

An isolated man,

Is not a term for self-intoxication when admiring the moon, a vocabulary to add artistic conception to oneself like a poet;

But a kind of loneliness on the road,

Your officials, your people, and even your sons,

It is impossible to truly stand by your side and have the same vision as you;

Unless, you go down, and your son stands up.

"The state of mind still needs to be tempered," the Yan Emperor said.

"Yes, thank you for your father's teachings."

It is a grace for the emperor to review your mistakes with you.

But the Crown Prince's heart was not overwhelmed by favor, just as his father emperor had said, his position was established by his father, and the only one who could depose him was his father.

Therefore, whether his position remained or not still depended on his father's state of mind.

It depended on his final decision.

Unless,

The father emperor was at this moment,

His life,

Came to an abrupt end.

In recent times, similar thoughts had actually appeared in the minds of different princes one after another.

Even the Seventh Prince, whose mother and concubine might be thinking that His Majesty, before his death, suddenly looked at his young son, had a moment of soft-heartedness, and then established a young ruler.

The others,

The eldest, when looking at his wife at home who was in extremely good spirits recently because of the friendly interaction between Yan and the barbarians at the grand court assembly, also had some haze in his heart;

The fourth, when receiving the imperial edict to guard the palace gates, roared silently in his heart.

The fifth, having seen through things early on, ran out early to become the "River God."

The Yan Emperor, in the hearts of the Great Yan people, was the supreme Son of Heaven, but in the eyes of his sons, they were actually hoping that this father would leave early.

Compared to this,

Victory or defeat was even unimportant.

At this time, Zhao Jiulang requested an audience.

The Grand Preceptor had come, bringing with him the draft of the revised Great Yan Law.

The Crown Prince was not allowed to leave and could only listen from the side.

The new Great Yan Law did not refer to a reform, but it helped the country consolidate its foundation and was a major national event.

The Yan Emperor sat there, listening quietly.

Afterwards,

The Grand Preceptor took out another item and personally explained it again. This was a reform of taxation, covering all aspects.

This was actually the real foundation for the future development of the empire. Taxes were related to the production and life of the country's citizens, and at the same time, they directly affected whether the central government had the ability to continue to maintain the huge cavalry legion configuration and whether it had the ability to continue to fight a national war.

There was also a point here, which was that national wealth and national strength did not mean the central government was wealthy. The foundation of taxation was actually the balance of redistribution, and the best example of this was Qian.

Qian's wealth was several times that of Great Yan, but even its horse administration was a mess.

The Crown Prince clearly sensed that there must be his sixth brother's ideas in this new law.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the new law should be promoted on a trial basis, improving it step by step, accumulating it step by step, and delegating it step by step," Zhao Jiulang suggested.

"What does the Crown Prince think?"

The Crown Prince hurriedly said: "Your son agrees. Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; we should first try it out, then identify and fix the loopholes, and finally, gradually promote it throughout the world."

The Yan Emperor shook his head,

This emperor, who only had a short lifespan left, seemed to see through some things even more,

And said:

"If there are no strong enemies outside, there will be internal chaos. The new law cannot be slow. No matter how slow you are, someone will think you are fast. It should be fully promoted, and then loopholes should be identified and fixed."

The Yan Emperor's perspective was from his own position. He knew very well that once he was gone, the prestige of the national center would inevitably plummet.

When it comes to the next generation, and then the next generation, it will continue to plummet.

This kind of reform, step by step, is only a drop in the bucket. It is better to take advantage of his generation, and the next generation, to forcibly promote it with the power of thunder.

Who dares to object, who wants to object, who can object,

Speak it out,

And then just flatten them.

If you want people to spit out what they have eaten, don't expect them to be kind to you.

This is not the emperor's paranoia, but the emperor's overall consideration.

He can guarantee that his son who succeeds him is excellent, because that is who he personally chose, but what about the imperial grandson?

The eldest imperial grandson is still practicing calligraphy.

He,

Is unable to personally train him.

He will not奢望 (shēwàng, extravagant hope) that this Great Yan will have wise rulers for generations. This dream is too beautiful and too naive, and the Yan Emperor will not do it.

Therefore, the founding emperors of all ages have hoped to establish all the rules for future generations, because they have experienced the difficulty of starting a business, and naturally know better that their descendants will hardly have their own height and ability.

The Yan Emperor picked up the memorial again,

And continued to look at it.

At this time,

Wei Zhonghe walked in,

And reported:

"Your Majesty, the Fengxin Lady's residence has sent someone to the palace to request an imperial physician to enter the residence."

The Yan Emperor did not put down the memorial,

Even,

Did not even take his eyes off the memorial,

But asked very calmly:

"Is the Fengxin Lady ill?"

The wet nurse was indeed getting old.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is the Imperial Grandson residing in the Fengxin Lady's residence who is ill."

Hearing this,

The Yan Emperor put down the memorial,

And at the corner of his mouth,

A smile appeared.