Chapter 87: Keep the Promise (Part 2) Update
Yanjing.
In the 13th year of Tianxi, the war between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the eight Rongdi tribes ended with the Great Zhou Dynasty emperor rewarding the entire army in Yanjing in a very high-profile manner.
However, privately, Liu Jian was obviously dissatisfied with the result that he led a million troops to the battle but failed to capture any of Wang Khan's tribes.
The following year, in the early spring of the fourteenth year of Tianxi, another decree was issued, requiring the army to assemble again for the second expedition to the northwest.
Hidden deep in the glacial swamp, the Eight Tribes King Khan heard the news and naturally continued to hide. He only had one principle in mind: to confront the soldiers of the different Great Zhou Dynasty head-on.
In the winter of that year, the 700,000-strong army of the Great Zhou once again returned empty-handed.
But this time, the fact that the army had gone to war without actually achieving any results was no longer concealed. Of the 700,000-strong army, nearly 100,000 were scattered and nowhere to be found.
Opposition to this war was growing louder in the Yanjing court, though no one dared to speak out and directly criticize Emperor Liu Jian.
However, General Qin Feng, who had been ordered to conquer the northwest for two consecutive years, had to resign amid the court discussions.
The Qin family is a military family that has always supported Liu Jian since he was in the palace. Now that Qin Feng, who is in his prime, has been forced to resign, if another general is to be selected from the Qin family, it will be difficult to entrust him with the position of general leading the entire army, regardless of his ability or prestige.
The most important thing is that no one else is strong enough to suppress Chi Mu, the new generation commander of the Chi family.
But what is the position of Chi Mu and the Chi family?
How could Liu Jian possibly entrust the military power and the military order to him?
He was so angry that his face turned blue every day at the court meetings, but he was unable to produce any actual results.
But at this point, he still did not think that the decision to conquer the northwest was a mistake.
In Liu Jian's view, most of the voices of opposition and accusations in the court were secretly supported and instigated by his good prince, who was best at winning over and stirring up the hearts and minds of the people.
During this year, although the princess's husband who had been imprisoned before was kept in prison, the investigation of the case progressed extremely slowly and the husband was never convicted and executed.
When Liu Jian made up his mind to eradicate the prince's power, he never thought that his seemingly filial son, the prince, already had such influence in the court.
As a result, his first wave of attacks has not yet achieved the desired results.
In the rear hall of Chuigong Hall, the current prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Chu Bozhan, was sitting on a low stool after being granted a seat by the emperor.
Chu Bozhan, already over fifty years old, looked worried as he advised, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, a temporary struggle with the eight Rong and Di tribes is secondary. In this situation, the most important thing is how you can stabilize the court, maintain your supreme power, and prevent the Great Zhou Dynasty from being undermined!"
Liu Jian's trust in the Chu family was incomparable to that of others. Therefore, when Chu Bozhan advised him to stop initiating another war with the eight Rongdi tribes in a private meeting, he did not feel very disgusted.
He thought for a moment and said, "Prime Minister Chu is wholeheartedly working for you, I know that."
"It's just..." He raised his eyes to look at Chu Bozhan when he said this.
"The Prime Minister mentioned a sudden change. Do you have a more appropriate strategy to deal with it?"
At this point, there is no need for the emperor and his subjects to avoid discussing this matter.
After listening to Liu Ziye's words, Chu Bozhan added, "The Crown Prince, despite being the heir apparent to a nation, has acted recklessly and repeatedly disrespectfully. The so-called filial piety of the past is all a false reputation. Such an unkind and unfilial son is unfit to inherit the throne of our Great Zhou Dynasty. There is no doubt about it."
"When the Liang Palace in the secondary capital was built, the Crown Prince's intention to replace His Majesty was already clear. However, the Crown Prince has been organizing for many years, and he has a lot of support and followers both in the court and in the army. As for the veteran ministers, if he continues to be in the court for a long time, the back-and-forth will not be a good thing for you, the monarch, or the people."
When he heard him mention the old things, Liu Jian couldn't help but feel angry.
"Mr. Chu is right. Back then, I appointed your son-in-law, Cui Ming, as deputy commissioner for the construction of the Liang Palace, precisely to make him understand his limits. Unexpectedly, he ended up making such a scene! It was truly unfair to Cui Ming, who had served so faithfully."
Chu Bozhan sighed softly, "My Chu family is willing to work hard and sacrifice our lives for His Majesty. For a mere son-in-law, Cui Ming, to spend a few years in prison for His Majesty is nothing! Even if he has to spend his whole life in prison, it would be a blessing for Cui Ming!"
His words comforted Liu Jian, and the anger he had just felt dissipated for the most part.
Chu Bozhan added, "The Crown Prince's rebellious intentions are as clear as Sima Zhao's. In the opinion of these veteran ministers, Your Majesty should change his approach and stop being so constrained by the sake of the stability of the country and the well-being of the people. The Crown Prince has the confidence to incite officials both inside and outside the court to repeatedly stir up trouble. Firstly, he relies on his status among the Imperial College students, and secondly, and most importantly, he has the unequivocal support of the Chi family, a prominent military family during the reign of the Emperor Shengzu."
Mentioning the Chi family, Liu Jian's eyes dimmed. "For years, this Chi Zhan has been unable to see anyone other than the Holy Ancestor. The Chi family prides themselves on their contributions to the founding of the country by assisting the Holy Ancestor. Before I ascended the throne, they never paid me any attention. If the Chi family had lived a peaceful life as a military family defending the Great Zhou Dynasty, then for the sake of the Holy Ancestor, I would not have bothered with them."
"But who would have thought... that over a decade later, he would come out so clearly and stand behind the Crown Prince!"
Liu Jian was furious, thinking of Chi Zhan, who had a head full of white hair but was still stubborn and openly opposed his opinions many times, as well as General Chi Mu of the Chi family who had made a lot of splash when he was young.
He only found out about it two years ago.
This Major General of the Wuwei Battalion of the Imperial City's Imperial Guards, who was supposed to guard the emperor and be loyal only to the emperor, had actually colluded with the prince a long time ago!
If he had not acted quickly and transferred Chi Mu from the Imperial City Guards to the Twelve Guards of the Central Army in the name of military merit and promotion, who knows how much trouble this Major General Chi, who was entrenched at the doorstep of his Imperial City, would have brought him!
Zhu Bozhan saw that Liu Jian's face suddenly turned gloomy, and it was obvious that he hated the Chi family to the core.
He lowered his voice slightly, looked at Liu Jian with an extremely solemn and sincere expression, and said, "Your Majesty, as long as the Chi family is not eliminated, the Crown Prince's crisis will be difficult to resolve! The peace and stability of the Great Zhou Dynasty will also be an unattainable luxury!"
Liu Jian glanced over fiercely: "The Chi family has many old relatives and friends in the army. What good plan do you have?"
"I have a plan. It will not only allow Your Majesty to carry out his plan to conquer the eight tribes of the Western Rong, but also simultaneously eliminate the main force of the Chi family from the military. Then, even if the Crown Prince has the support of the civil officials and the support of the students, once the Chi family falls, there will be no other choice but to wait for death."
Upon hearing this, Liu Jian's eyes lit up with interest: "Mr. Chu, please speak."
·
In the 15th year of Tianxi, Yanjing issued another imperial edict.
The emperor ordered the emperor's second son, Liu Ziyan, who was 19 years old at the time, to be the general of the expedition. So in the spring of that year, he led the army to continue the expedition against the eight Rong and Di tribes.
Chi Mu was appointed as the deputy general for the third time to assist the second prince. He signed a military order in front of the emperor, vowing to take the head of the Qiang king, Khan Yao Can.
The army is gathering and is about to leave Yanjing.
When the army came out from the west city street of Yanjing, after the welcoming ceremony of the emperor, they lined up and rode out of the capital.
After the hustle and bustle of West City's Xuanwu Street, its former tranquility returned. Amidst the gentle spring rain, at Yuanshan Temple in West City, the first Buddhist lecture of the spring season proceeded as scheduled, unaffected by external disturbances.
Everyone originally thought that this was just a public lecture no different from previous years.
It was not until the first day that the believers who had listened to the sutra left the temple and brought back a piece of news that was enough to shock the capital.
The great master Xuanjing, who has been traveling for many years and whose whereabouts are unknown to anyone, is the finale of this lecture at Yuanshan Temple!
It was the great Master Xuan Jing who had refused to give lectures to the royal family many times, but now he was giving lectures again after many years!
On the second day, there were crowds of people outside Yuanshan Temple.
All over Yanjing, Buddhist believers who heard the news gathered outside the temple with extremely pious hearts.
Even if you can't be one of the thousands of believers who are selected to enter the temple to listen to the master's teachings, being able to participate in this grand event outside can also benefit from the Buddha's light.
In the next few days, people from all walks of life in Yanjing were crowded together, rushing to Yuanshan Temple to listen to Master Xuanjing.
Soon, the news spread throughout the court and the palace that Master Xuan Jing had arrived in Yanjing to give lectures. At Chu Bozhan's urging, Liu Jian extended another invitation to Xuan Jing.
He wanted to invite the great master Xuan Jing to the palace to lecture on Buddhism to the royal children.
To everyone's surprise, Master Xuan Jing did not refuse the royal family's invitation as he had done in the past. Instead, he actually accepted the invitation and will soon give a lecture to the royal dignitaries in the royal Buddhist temple Fayuan Temple.
When Liu Jian heard the news, he was very pleased!
This elusive Buddhist master, who has a huge influence among the people, is willing to accept his invitation to preach, which is undoubtedly a recognition of his status and his rule!
As an emperor, he is deeply revered by the living Buddhas in the world!
So, in the past two years, because of the conquest of the northwest, those so-called people who did not care about the heavy conquest and labor service and rose up in rebellion, shouldn’t they be more obedient?
Can those voices of opposition who have repeatedly submitted petitions to him in the court, complaining that years of wars have shaken the foundation of the country, be silenced?
Even the Buddhists stand on Liu Jian's side, which means that the Tao and the Buddha's destiny are on his side!
This undoubtedly injected a shot in the arm for the upcoming third round of the Northwest Expedition.
It is said that on this day, royal family members, court ministers, and even the empress dowager and concubines in the harem all rushed to visit.
Liu Jian also specially permitted a group of important officials from the court to attend this grand lecture as a token of his favor. At the same time, to maximize his publicity, he also allowed the common people of Yanjing and those outside the Fayuan Temple to observe the entire lecture.
Crown Prince Liu Ziling did not expect that Master Xuan Jing would change his mind and be willing to give lectures to the royal family.
The night before the opening ceremony, he sent someone to deliver a letter, hoping to meet Master Xuan Jing.
However, when the palace maid who went to deliver the visiting card came back to report, she only brought a note from Master Xuan Jing.
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