Chapter 28 Bao Si
After sorting out some of the serious problems in Wangji, Luo Cheng met with Luo's allies in the capital with a heavy heart.
The princes within the royal capital are now completely different from those a hundred years ago. At first, they were just fiefs of less than 50 miles in area, and the nobles held power mainly through official positions passed down from generation to generation.
However, as successive emperors granted the land within the royal capital, and as land within the capital was severely annexed, the princes within the capital are now real princes.
They had control over large tracts of land, titles, and the status of ruling within the capital, and were in fact no different from the princes outside the capital.
If Luo Cheng wants to get things done, he naturally needs their support.
However, since the night banquet in the palace, Luo Jiang has often gone to the palace to talk with Shen Jiang, mainly to calm Shen Jiang's heart and to send a signal to everyone.
That is, Ji Yi's position as crown prince is secured by the Luo family.
This trick is really useful. Since Ji Yi has not been in Haojing for many years, there are naturally many people with ulterior motives.
Now these things are hidden.
But this matter attracted the attention of Bao Si. She and Shen Jiang and her son had an irreconcilable relationship, so she naturally could not tolerate the current situation.
But she also knew Luo's reputation, so she could only be anxious and irritated in secret. A woman who gradually lost her mind was scary. Something that Luo Cheng had never imagined happened.
…
One day, Ji Nie came to Bao Si's palace and saw Bao Si crying behind the curtain.
Ji Zhao had seen Bao Si when she was born. Her beauty was not something that could be created by human beings. She was a person with destiny sent by God.
The phrase "captivating beauty" could not even describe one ten-thousandth of her beauty. Now she is in tears. Even God would pity her, let alone Ji Nie?
Ji Nie came to Bao Si, held her hand, and said distressedly: "My beloved, what could make you cry?
I am rich as the world, and I can get whatever you want."
Bao Si threw herself into Ji Nie's arms and cried, "Your Majesty, I am just a woman from a small country in the western part of Zhou.
It is a blessing from God to have the honor of marrying the king.
Because I mistakenly accepted your favor and unfortunately gave birth to a child, the queen became jealous of me.
I am of humble status and afraid of upsetting the king, so I did not dare to argue with the queen. Unexpectedly, the queen became even more excessive.
Recently, Mrs. Luo has been going in and out of the Queen's palace, and the Queen's words are full of resentment.
She also said that she would recall the prince to avenge her, because the prince had been in the State of Shen for so many years and resented her.
If he comes back, the lives of me and my son will be in danger.
My life or death is not important, but Fuer is your prince, so please make the decision for me and my son, Your Majesty."
Ji Nie held Bao Si's face in her hands, wiped away her tears, and said softly, "Don't worry, my beloved concubine. As long as I am here, Ji Yi will stay in Shen State forever, and I will not let him return to Haojing.
Although Marquis Luo is powerful, the Luo family values rules the most and strictly abides by the relationship between monarch and minister, so they will not harm the beloved concubine."
Bao Si pestered him for a while, then said sadly: "Your Majesty, you are the son of heaven, naturally no one can disobey your orders.
But after you live forever, the Crown Prince will be the King. On that day, my mother and I will surely die without a burial place."
After saying this, she began to sob, and a few lines of tears seemed to fall directly into Jine's heart.
Ji Nie held Bao Si in her arms, and thinking of the disrespect and control of the State of Shen towards her, she was filled with hatred, and sighed, "My beloved, I have long wanted to depose Shen Jiang. How can the daughter of the Rong people be the queen?
Besides, the Marquis of Shen, relying on his great national power and his relatives the Rong people, is disrespectful to me.
If possible, I would like to make you the queen and Fuer the crown prince immediately. That would be a wonderful thing.
But Shen Jiang was welcomed and enthroned by the ministers during the reign of King Xuan. She has done nothing wrong. If I depose her from the position of queen, I am afraid the ministers will not agree.
Especially the Marquis of Luo, he will certainly advise me with the Zhou rites, what should I do then?"
A cold light flashed in Bao Si's eyes, but quickly disappeared. She gently raised her head from Ji Nie's arms.
There was still a layer of mist in her slightly red eyes, which were full of the desire for life. She said softly: "Your Majesty, the Zhou Li says that it is in accordance with the operation of the heavenly way for the ministers to obey the monarch; it is wrong for the monarch to obey the ministers.
Ministers should give advice to the monarch, but the monarch should make the final decision.
Even if a minister is unwilling, he should obey the monarch's decision. This is in accordance with etiquette.
If your ministers give you advice, you can say you don't want to hear them, so as not to hurt the relationship between you and your ministers.
When things calm down, I'm sure no one will advise you anymore."
When Ji Nie heard this, she felt that what he said hit home, and she was overjoyed and said, "My beloved concubine is so smart, and what you said is really insightful. I will inform Guo Shifu tomorrow and announce it to the world."
Guo Shifu is the only one of the Three Dukes in power now. From an institutional perspective, he can indeed issue edicts directly.
However, generally all the ministers would be called together to discuss before a decision would be made and the process would begin.
Now that Ji Nie had received Bao Si's hint, she actually issued an imperial edict directly, without thinking about the subsequent consequences.
Bao Si then smiled. Seeing this beautiful scene, Ji Nie was very happy and even more proud.
…
The next day, an edict came out from the Heavenly Official Office and spread to all directions.
"The king ordered:
Queen Shen Jiang was originally a woman of the Rong people. It was because of the grace of King Xuan that she was able to become the queen of the King of Zhou and was favored by heaven.
However, she was not grateful for the emperor's kindness. Instead, because Ji Yi was not around, she spoke resentful words to the emperor and even cursed him.
How vicious!
Could such a woman without moral integrity become a queen?
But considering that she gave birth to Prince Yi for me, she has made a blood contribution to the Ji surname.
In accordance with the rules of our ancestors, I deposed her from her position as queen and sent her to the cold palace to reflect on her actions.
The State of Zhou cannot be without a queen for a day. Madam Bao Si is a woman of virtue, born in the country of Xia. Heaven has blessed her, so I have appointed her as queen.
King Su established the patriarchal system, and the legitimate son was granted by God to inherit the position.
Since ancient times, sons have been noble because of their mother's bloodline.
Now Shen Jiang is nothing but a sinner, and Wang Ziyi is nothing but the son of a sinner, but he still serves as the crown prince, which is against the etiquette.
Ji Fu's mother is the queen, and he is my eldest son. It must be approved by God that he is the crown prince.
I enthroned the Queen and the Crown Prince for the sake of the country and its people.
Use this edict to inform all the states, let all the princes in the world know, and celebrate for the new queen and prince of Zhou."
This edict was like a meteorite falling on a calm lake, without causing any ripples on the surface, because the entire lake was destroyed!
Luo's mansion.
Ever since the night banquet in the palace ended in a bad mood, Luo Cheng has been meeting with his allies, but has not met Jinie.
He listed the influential princes and ministers of Zhou, sketched them one by one, and selected those he needed.
One person cannot accomplish anything. If one wants to achieve a political goal, the first thing is to form a political group. Luo Cheng is now selecting his own people.
As for Queen Shen Jiang's affairs, he just let his wife do it.
He believed that after seeing his attitude, Jine would not act rashly as long as she still had some brains.
He was calculating possible situations in his study when his wife Luo Jiang suddenly walked in, looking somewhat anxious.
"My dear, the king has just issued an edict, deposing Queen Shen Jiang and Crown Prince Yi, and making Bao Si the queen and Prince Fu the crown prince."
"What?"
Even with Luo Cheng's calmness, he was stunned and couldn't believe what he heard.
He reached out to take the decree brought by his wife, glanced at it quickly, and found that it was actually a legal imperial edict.
"Bypassing the princes and ministers and directly ordering the Heavenly Official to issue an order?"
"Not only did he depose the queen, but he also directly insulted the State of Shen?"
"Is Jine crazy?"
Such disrespectful words came directly from Luo Cheng's mouth, and he really couldn't care less.
For a calm person like him, even if he thought about it for ten days and ten nights, he would not be able to figure out why Jine would issue such an edict.
Is he crazy?
Does he really not know which is more important, Shen or Bao?
Not to mention other ministers, just his father had told Ji Nie about the importance of Shen State when he was in Haojing!
This incident happened so suddenly that with his vision, he could immediately see the deep crisis involved.
You have to know that the reason why he was willing to maintain Shen Jiang's status and Ji Yi's position as crown prince.
First of all, this is stipulated by the patriarchal system, and he has no shirking his responsibility to uphold it.
The second is the State of Shen, where Shen Jiang's father, Shen Hou, is located. It occupies an extremely important position in the territory he will rule in the future.
Shen Hou must keep things stable for at least ten years!
Even if we are dissatisfied with his arrogance in using the military, we will deal with him later.
Luo Cheng needed to protect Queen Shen Jiang and Crown Prince Ji Yi in order to get Lord Shen to stand on his side, but now all his plans have gone to waste.
Seeing her husband's heavy expression, Luo Jiang was also a little panicked. She asked repeatedly: "My dear, what should we do now? Is there any room for mediation?"
Luo Cheng put the imperial edict down and sighed softly, "The imperial edict has been issued, and there are no mistakes in the procedure, so everything is set.
Although I hate Ji Nie and Guo Shifu, I cannot trample on the emperor's dignity so blatantly.
Moreover, this insulting decree must have already been passed on to the State of Shen. Even if an imperial edict is issued now to revoke the decree and save the situation, it is too late.
My dear, Haojing will inevitably become a place of trouble. I will arrange soldiers to protect you as you return to Luoguo later. There may be danger here, and I cannot watch you fall into danger."
Seeing that Luo Cheng had already begun to arrange a way out for himself, Luo Jiang knew that it was really bad, so he cried and said: "The King of Su said that husband and wife are one.
Now you are in danger, but you let me hide alone. Do you want me to become a lowly person without moral integrity?"
"My dear, there is no need to do this. I have the blessing of our ancestor Su Wang, and I can turn danger into safety. You go first, go back to the country and teach your children and grandchildren well. This is also an important matter."
After Luo Cheng's repeated consolation, Luo Jiang finally cried and returned to Luo State with her soldiers.
As Luo Jiang's figure disappeared, Luo Cheng's face instantly turned cold and his brows were tightly furrowed.
He called in several personal guards, quickly wrote a few letters, handed them to the personal guards, and asked them to deliver them to several princes.
Jine's action was like throwing a torch directly into a powder keg that was about to explode.
There were many vassal states around the royal capital of Haojing. To the east, there was the State of Jin, the State of Zheng which had not yet completed its migration, and the vassal states that were originally granted fiefs by Duke Wen of Luo, such as the State of Zhou and the State of Li. To the west, there were the State of Fei and other vassal states with the surname Ying, and to the southwest, there was the State of Bao, etc.
These princes worked together to defend the emperor against the Rong and Di tribes in all directions.
However, none of these vassal states is as important to the current royal capital as the State of Shen.
Because the geographical location of Shen State was very important, it was located in the northwest of the royal capital.
Among the Rong forces in all directions of the royal capital, the northwest Quanrong was the most powerful.
The reason why the State of Shen was able to survive in that place was, firstly, because it was powerful, and secondly, because the State of Shen was of the Jiang clan and originally descended from the Jiangrong, so it was very common for the State of Shen to intermarry with the Fang clan among the Quanrong.
Wang Ji used the State of Shen to ease the conflict with the Quanrong in the northwest. As a result, the two sides did not fight each other in recent years, which allowed Wang Ji to free up his hands to deal with the Rong forces in other directions.
Sharp swords were stabbing at Wang Ji from all directions, and the sharpest one was blocked by the State of Shen.
Therefore, the State of Shen was the shield that saved the king's life.
Another vassal state in the northwest was Zeng, but Zeng was on good terms with Shen, and the two countries had always advanced and retreated together.
Once the State of Shen and Wangji fell out, the northwest gate of the entire Wangji would be instantly opened.
It may be that Ji Nie had never seen the invasion of the northwest Quanrong and had no intuitive feeling about the role of the Shen State, so he was so dismissive.
Most of the ministers who were familiar with the situation of the State of Shen were demoted by Ji Nie or left Ji Nie directly.
The reason why Luo Cheng wrote to the princes was that he was worried that if the State of Shen joined forces with the Quanrong to attack the royal capital, the situation would be unimaginable.
Luo Cheng was not exaggerating. Given the fragile trust between the State of Shen and Wang Ji, this incident was very likely to come true.
The State of Shen was originally a large noble group that migrated from the royal capital during the reign of Duke Wen of Luo.
A generation of people opened up the country along the Jing River and paid untold hardships. Now it has become a big country with an area of hundreds of miles.
In addition, the Shen family that remained in the royal capital was one of the largest families in the Zhou Dynasty. However, over the next hundred years, the two sides gradually became estranged, and later the Shen family in the royal capital lost power.
The communication between the State of Shen and the royal capital gradually decreased. As the State of Shen expanded into the land of Western Rong, it was inevitable that it had blood ties with the Western Rong tribes.
Besides, the surname Jiang originally came from the Western Rong.
Because of some frictions, Wang Ji conquered the State of Shen and humiliated it by calling it Shen Rong.
Since then, the relationship between the two sides has become tense.
This incident made Luo Hou speechless at that time. It was exactly the same as what happened to Xiong Dun more than a hundred years ago.
The only thing to be thankful for was that the State of Shen did not have a war god like Xiong Dun, so Wang Ji did not lose.
But the feud between the two sides was thus formed, and that period was also the time when the Quanrong invaded at its strongest.
It was not until the mediation of many parties that the relationship between the two sides finally eased after Queen Shen Jiang married into Bang Zhou and gave birth to the eldest son Ji Yi.
In recent years, the State of Shen had intermarried with both the Quanrong and the royal family, so the northwest was relatively stable and the external pressure on the royal capital was much less.
Now it was completely ruined by Jine's outrageous operation.
Luo Cheng had just written a letter to the princes, asking them to lead their troops to defend the king.
Once the Marquis of Shen really rebelled, he would not only have to face the coalition forces of Shen and Zeng, but also the tidal-like Quanrong people.
…
In the past, Jie favored his sister Xi and destroyed the Xia Dynasty. Zhou favored Daji and destroyed the Shang Dynasty. The king now favors and trusts Concubine Bao. The deeds of Jie and Zhou are happening again today. The disaster of the Xia and Shang Dynasties will not come in the future. - "Records of the Warring States of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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