Chapter 549 A Popular Figure in Luoyang, A Master's Status Rises Through His Disciple
"Mr. Xie, I heard that when your son was demoted to the position of Sima in Jiangzhou, Marshal Qin invited him to the front lines to serve as the Chief Clerk of the Central Army? But your son declined."
"My daughter mentioned it; it seems there is such a thing."
"Mr. Xie, why did your disciple decline such a good offer?"
"Perhaps Lianghan doesn't like it. He just wants to live a quiet life in the position of Sima. There's no need for so many questions."
Inside the Prime Minister's residence, in the study.
Xie Xun, Shen Xisheng, Sun Yi, a middle-aged scholar representing the Prince Xiang's Mansion, and a group of staunch loyalists of the pro-Li faction gathered together and once again discussed the recent hot topic of Jiangzhou.
Master Di is not in his study at the moment.
The middle-aged scholar Sun Yi then subtly struck up a conversation with Xie Xun.
Xie Xun replied to him in a perfunctory manner.
However, it wasn't just him; his colleagues, including Shen Xisheng, were also talking about his outstanding student with great enthusiasm. He was almost overwhelmed with their opinions.
During this period, Xie Xun was quite the star among his colleagues under the Prime Minister's office. Every morning before leaving the office, when he washed his face, he noticed that he looked several years younger, with a smile on his lips and a radiant glow.
This is very rare.
Because the Great Zhou Dynasty had a vast territory, encompassing ten circuits and hundreds of prefectures and counties, Jiangzhou was just one of them.
Originally an obscure place, it was only due to the war on the southwestern front and the construction of the Donglin Buddha that the name of this small prefecture in Jiangnan gradually became familiar to the court and the public in Luoyang this year.
The Great Zhou court and the Council of State Affairs had many military and political affairs to discuss every day. The southwestern front was just one of the hot topics, and it was one of the areas of concern for both the court and the public. The construction of the Great Zhou Praise Center and the Four Directions Buddha statues were also among them.
Combined, the name Jiangzhou appears more frequently in the Hall of State Affairs.
Of course, if you pay a little more attention, you will know that the Xunyang Prince family, who were reinstated at the end of last year, also built their residence in Xunyang City, the capital of Jiangzhou... This move seemed to have a very small impact on the surface, and it was done quietly. The Xunyang Prince family was not promoted back to the capital, so it would not affect the overall situation for the time being. However, building their residence in Jiangzhou was a stepping stone.
Those with discerning eyes in the court vaguely knew that at least two factions were openly converging and vying for power over whether the Prince of Xunyang could be promoted from Jiangzhou back to the capital... In any case, the Wei family was definitely the last thing they wanted to see. The situation was more complicated for the pro-Li faction, mainly due to the attitude of that Prince Xiang...
In short, for the Great Zhou court, the affairs of the north were of greater importance than those of the south. The powerful and noble families in Guanzhong preferred to keep an eye on the aristocratic families in Hebei and were somewhat indifferent to the gentry in the south. Of the five surnames and seven prominent families, only the last two were in the south, while the rest were almost all in Hebei. Moreover, since the founding of the Zhou dynasty, the Wang and Xie families had been moving to Guanzhong and managing Luoyang.
Until recent years, the Jiangnan and Lingnan regions, represented by Yangzhou and Guangzhou respectively, have gradually prospered in commerce, and their tax revenue has begun to account for a significant proportion of the imperial treasury. Only then has the status and weight of the South increased slightly. The proportion of people entering officialdom through the imperial examinations in recent years has also been increased, both openly and covertly, although there is still a significant difference between the North and the South.
The Li Zhengyan Rebellion in Southwest China this year broke out against this backdrop.
Even so, the officials and key ministers of the court still habitually focused their attention on the north in their daily political affairs; the emphasis on the north over the south was the general tone of this era.
Until this incident of the collapse of the Buddha statue in Xingzifang, Jiangzhou, three important figures were killed at once. Not to mention the governor, who was an official of the court, another was the third legitimate son of the Prince of Wei, and the Xia Guan Lingtai Lang who was in charge of the statue construction in Xingzifang. It is rumored that he was also a student of a deputy director of the Imperial Observatory and had a secret engagement with a princess of the Liang Prince's Mansion.
The specific cause of death has not yet been announced by the imperial court and remains unclear, but rumors suggest it is related to rebels in the southwest.
However, this wave of events naturally brought the words "Jiangzhou" and "Donglin Buddha" back into the spotlight, making them familiar to officials in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
In this context, Ouyang Lianghan, the Jiangzhou Sima who was the first to clean up the mess after the collapse of the Xingzifang Buddha, naturally became a hot topic at the time.
Many people recall that he was the one who spearheaded the initial construction plan for the Donglin Buddha.
However, Lin Cheng intercepted him halfway, which even led to the famous and widely talked-about "Yang Lianghan, who refused to obey the imperial edict even in death" incident.
To outsiders, the struggle for control over the construction of the Donglin Buddha was, at a deeper level, a struggle for dominance between the Xunyang Prince's Mansion and the Wei family in Jiangzhou.
Local officials in Jiangzhou, represented by Ouyang Lianghan, the former Prefect of Jiangzhou, supported the Prince of Xunyang's Mansion.
The parachuted officials, represented by Wang Lengran, the former governor of Jiangzhou, and Lin Cheng, the Xia Guan Lingtai Lang, were backed by the Wei Wang Mansion, which represented the Wei clan.
The outcome of the struggle over the right to create the Donglin Buddha statue was either the East Wind prevailing over the West Wind, or the West Wind prevailing over the East Wind.
Finally, there is an even more far-reaching issue: whether the Xunyang Prince's Mansion can leverage its role in overseeing the construction of the Donglin Buddha to rise to the capital, thus moving from the impoverished and remote Jiangnan region into Luoyang, the power core of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and gaining a foothold in the conflict between Liwei and Wei.
Of course, if the Qin family, who were in charge of the entire southwestern front, could be completely won over by either the Xunyang Prince's Mansion or the Wei Prince's Mansion, it would be a decisive factor, second only to the Donglin Buddha. However, it seems that the Qin family daughters are not inclined to marry into either family. Some people say that the Qin family daughters who stayed in Xunyang City have some admiration for Ouyang Lianghan.
However, it is not surprising that many noble ladies in Luoyang admire this renowned gentleman. The real question is how to determine the outcome of the political marriage.
Therefore, for many indifferent people in Luoyang, whether the statues were made in Xingzifang or in the Shuangfengjian Xunyang Grottoes, and whether it affected the local people's livelihood in Xunyang, was not important.
It can all be simply summarized as a conflict between two factions.
The outcome is now decided.
Lin Cheng and others are dead. Now, the Xunyang Prince's Mansion, supported by the local faction led by Ouyang Lianghan, has won the prize and is about to obtain the right to build the Donglin Buddha statue.
Moreover, it's a winner-takes-all situation! The imperial court has no choice but to appoint the remaining party.
The Wei family had no choice but to accept it, unless they didn't want to build the Donglin Buddha. However, the Great Zhou Songde Tian Shu and the Four Directions Buddha Statue were being strongly promoted by the Wei Prince's Mansion. They couldn't very well undermine their own cause, could they?
In a sense, regardless of which side created the statues, they were all helping the Wei Prince's Palace to promote the Great Zhou Dynasty's policy of creating the Heavenly Pivot and the Four Directions Buddha Statues.
However, the Xunyang Prince's Mansion also needed to take advantage of the Wei family's connections to accumulate merit and return to Luoyang.
Therefore, for the Wei family, this is the difference between a moderate victory and a major victory, a feeling akin to swallowing a fly—utterly disgusting. Allowing the Xunyang Prince's Mansion to ride the coattails of the Donglin Buddha, while not affecting the present, will have long-term consequences for the struggle between Wei and Li.
Of course, Her Majesty the Empress's initial appointment of Prince Xunyang, Li Xian, as the supervisor of construction in Jiangnan was also intended to give them a share of the pie.
However, Her Majesty the Empress must have known that the powerful Wei clan would be dissatisfied and interfere with the Donglin Buddha. The subsequent struggle proved this point—the Wei clan indeed did not want to share even this small piece of the pie with the Xunyang Prince's Mansion, because the latter could use it to return to the core of power.
Therefore, it's hard to say whether Her Majesty the Empress had any intentional motives, such as testing the Xunyang Prince's Mansion.
In this wave of events, some say that Ouyang Lianghan coldly watched the collapse of the Xingzifang Buddha and did not stop the rebels. Others say that Ouyang Lianghan was able to endure loneliness and wait for his opportunity.
Finally, there are also conspiracy theorists who believe that Lin Cheng's death is inextricably linked to Ouyang Lianghan, who not only stood by indifferently but may have even given him a push.
However, these noises do not affect the overall situation, because the truth is sometimes unimportant, not to mention that even the professional female officials in Xunyang City have not found any evidence, and guessing is useless.
The current reality is that the imperial court can only rely on statues created by local Jiangzhou figures like Ouyang Lianghan.
Therefore, Xie Xun has become a celebrity in Luoyang these days, thanks to his disciple's influence. People respectfully greet him wherever he goes.
"Master Xie's esteemed disciple is currently a fifth-rank official in Jiangzhou. If he were to take over as acting governor, he would naturally be promoted to a fourth-rank governor once the Buddha statue is completed... Your disciple is only in his early twenties! Even in the past, when great achievements were made, it was only during wartime that young officials under thirty would be appointed governors of a prefecture. Let alone now, his future is truly limitless..."
Xie Xun waved his hand, speaking modestly: "Not at all, it's Lianghan's own destiny."
"I heard that Mr. Xie's only daughter is engaged to your disciple?"
Xie Xun smiled and prepared to speak.
Sun Yi, standing nearby, interjected, "Your disciple suddenly refused the position of Chief Clerk of the Central Army. Could it be... that he guessed what would happen later and made preparations in advance..."
Xie Xun kept his eyes straight ahead, his tone indifferent;
"I personally went to Xunyang City to see Lianghan. He was indeed well-behaved and had been spending his days drinking and making merry at poetry gatherings. Perhaps he was tired of it, which is why he declined."
Sun Yi's expression still held some disbelief, but his tone was both respectful and meaningful as he said, "His Highness the Prince praised your disciple highly and has long admired Mr. Xie's name. He would like to invite Mr. Xie to the Prince's residence to take a seat of honor..."
His colleagues looked on with envy, but Xie Xun didn't answer, as if he hadn't heard. Just then, a hurried figure rushed in through the door... and a messenger came to report:
"Mr. Xie is indeed here. By the way, where is the teacher?"
Xie Xun asked, "Master, are you still in the inner quarters? What brings you here?"
The messenger said helplessly, "The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict from Jiangzhou has returned. He said that Ouyang Lianghan has resigned from the promotion order, citing his filial duty to his elders and his illness."
Everyone looked at each other in disbelief, and even Sun Yi, who had previously been skeptical, was stunned.
Some people exclaimed, "Is there really anyone in this world who doesn't want a promotion?"
Xie Xun raised an eyebrow, and after a moment, under everyone's gaze, coughed and nodded in a deliberately profound manner: "Lianghan, Lianghan, still the same old Lianghan, just as I thought."
He looked pleased and sighed, speaking in a tone that suggested he had expected this all along. After speaking, he glanced at Sun Yi, who was completely speechless.
The messenger continued, "Mr. Xie, His Majesty summoned you and your teacher to the palace, presumably to consult on how to handle this matter, after all, you are Ouyang Lianghan's teacher..."
The crowd immediately sent people to the back residence to invite the person, and Xie Xun also tidied his appearance.
A moment later, Master Di emerged from the back courtyard. After hearing the story, his expression remained calm, as if he were not surprised at all.
Before leaving, the portly old man specially brought a small stack of poems he had prepared beforehand, stuffed them into his bosom, gave a few instructions to everyone, and then took Xie Xun with him as they entered the palace...
(End of this chapter)
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