Human thinking is always greedy and never rational.
When she found out that her husband had been forgiven by His Majesty and the whole family was free from worries, and that he had received the title of Duke of the Kingdom for nothing, Princess Baling's thoughts shifted from life and death to the purpose of Fang Jun's move. Since Fang Jun helped her husband wash his clothes
Being freed from guilt and even receiving a title from the emperor, does it mean that Fang Jun does not intend to "occupy" himself for a long time?
In this way, last night, I sent him to my door without any shame. Although I got a night of happiness, in fact, I didn't make the other party "know the taste" or "think about it day and night"?
This should be something to be thankful for, but why do I feel a bit disappointed and angry in my heart?
What's going on with your self-esteem...
Wang watched Princess Baling's expression change and whispered: "Although the Duke of Yue was a dandy in the past, he was not a heartless person. Both his wife and concubines in the house treated each other with courtesy and loved each other. Wu Meiniang served him as a concubine.
Who is in charge of such a large property of the Fang family? Have you ever heard of such a thing? Although the Duke of Yue refused in words last night, he turned around and gave advice to the emperor. Otherwise, how could our family escape the crime of treason? Come to think of it, the Duke of Yue did not want to be here.
I show favors in front of you so as not to make you feel indebted... Although the way I treat you is a bit dirty, my heart is sincere and I may not be ruthless to you."
As a sister-in-law, you should never say such a thing. Wouldn't it be pushing your younger siblings into the arms of another man? Once this kind of thing spreads, not only will Princess Baling be infamous as a licentious woman, but her sister-in-law will also be abused by thousands of people.
refer to……
But what can she do?
Now that my husband has been deprived of his title and exiled to Northern Xinjiang, the family fortune accumulated by Chai's family over the past few years is extremely rich. Without a strong supporter, he is afraid that someone will have his bones and marrow stripped away.
But can Chai Lingwu be relied on? The Wang family thinks it is unreliable. Those dandies are useless. As a descendant of the Chai family, His Majesty's consort has such a strong foundation, but he cannot even enter the three provinces and six ministries. How can he protect the eldest son?
The only thing I can rely on is the princess in front of me.
And a mere princess doesn't have much say. If Princess Baling and Fang Jun can maintain a stable relationship, this is a good way for Chai's family to have peace of mind and not be coveted by others...
Princess Baling was now in a state of confusion, and was completely unaware of Wang's deeper intentions. She could only purse her lips and nod slightly, feeling so confused that she couldn't say a word.
*****
The wind is blowing hard, withered grass is flying, and the dark clouds in the sky are like plummets weighing on people's hearts, creating a breathless depression.
The first snow in the eighteenth year of Zhenguan may not be far away...
The Ba River flows gurglingly, and the dry branches of the willow trees on both sides are swaying in the strong wind. From time to time, a few ships slowly pass by on the river. There is an endless stream of merchants on the bridge, and there is a constant flow of carriages and horses.
There is a long pavilion under the embankment on one side of the bridge. The servants surrounded the pavilion layer by layer with gauze curtains to block the cold wind. There was a small stove burning in the pavilion, and the kettle on the stove was boiling "Dudu" and steaming. Liu
He lifted up the teapot and poured boiling water into a ceramic decanter, then placed a delicate and small silver wine pot on it. Soon, a faint aroma of wine filled the relatively closed space in the pavilion.
Come.
Holding a pot and pouring wine, Liu Zi pushed one of the cups in front of Xiao Yu who was opposite him. Liu Zi held the cup in both hands and said, "We have traveled thousands of miles to the south of the Yangtze River. With this thin glass of wine, I wish the Duke of Song a smooth sailing and a long life!"
Xiao Yu also raised his glass, the two glasses touched each other, and each drank it down in one gulp.
Putting down the wine glass, Xiao Yu stroked his beard, as if he had something to say, but when the words came to his lips, they turned into a long sigh and shook his head in silence.
Think of him, Xiao Yu, who was born in a famous family. He was the prince of Nanliang when he was young. His literary talents were decorated with gold and jade. How high-spirited he was? Who would have expected that his country was ruined and his family was destroyed, so he had to move north to Guanzhong, where he groveled and lingered in the former Sui Palace.
, abandoning his dignity to the ground and working with eunuchs. However, even in the darkest years, he never lost his mind and worked hard to seek a way forward. Finally, he supported Tang Guogong Li Yuan when he raised his army and helped him found the country.
Proclaiming himself emperor set the stage for becoming a powerful official in the Tang Dynasty.
Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Xiao Yu has been one of the most important ministers in the court. He has won the trust of Li Yuan.
Entrusted with important matters.
However, time flies by, and even now, my body is old and decrepit, but I have to be reprimanded and returned to my hometown in such a humiliating way, and my life's achievements have been wasted. Even before leaving, only Liu Zi, who had ulterior motives, came to meet him.
Send it off, all the subordinates and colleagues in the past are gone...
There are thousands of words in my chest, but my throat is choked, but I can't speak.
Liu Zi could also feel the unwillingness, sorrow and desolation in the other party's heart. He paused for a while, poured wine for Xiao Yu again, and said: "Now that you have returned to your hometown to take care of yourself, the only one in the court who can resist the army is you. It is really difficult for you to stand alone.
There is more than enough ambition but not enough power. If one day even the subordinates have to resign and retire, the whole court will probably become Fang Jun's voice. Using force to rule the civil society will inevitably lead to militancy. When the national treasury is empty and the food and fodder are exhausted, I am afraid that the people will not be able to make a living and the country will be in ruins.
Piao Yao... In the future, when I am under the Nine Springs, how can I have the face to see Emperor Taizong? Alas!"
He raised his head and drank a glass of wine.
He was hiding his thoughts in these words. He did not blindly mention the dangers of Fang Jun's "power in his hands and all the power in the government", because now that Xiao Yu has been forced to retire, he may not care who has the final say in the court.
.
But when it comes to the civil-military dispute, Xiao Yu cannot sit idly by and ignore it.
After all, Xiao Yu was once the head of the civil service and the leader of the clergy. Now, almost all the civil servants in the court have served under him and received his promotion and favor. As long as he does not die, he will enjoy what he lost.
of kindness.
But if the military is in power and civilian officials are suppressed, who can take care of his old boss who is far away in the south of the Yangtze River?
Although Xiao Yu retreated, Liu Zi held the favor in his hands for so many years, which was what Liu Zi valued most.
After all, when it comes to qualifications, he is far inferior to Xiao Yu. If Xiao Yu can hand over all the contacts and favors he has mastered over the years to him before leaving, he will be able to gain the complete support of the civil service group and have the strength to fight the military to the end.
.
However, to his disappointment, Xiao Yu may have been disheartened and did not care about the affairs of the court. He shook his head slightly and changed the subject: "Throughout the ages, wise kings have emerged in large numbers, but when it comes to the word 'benevolence', there is no such thing as
Your Majesty."
Liu Zi frowned and agreed: "It is indeed true. Rebellion is the first of the ten evils and an unforgivable crime. However, Your Majesty is able to open his eyes to others, and his benevolent heart will shine through the ages. The title of 'Benevolence' is well deserved."
"
Even the most picky person cannot deny the generosity and broad-mindedness that Li Chengqian showed after two consecutive mutinies. Except for those who died in the mutinies, no one was sentenced to execution.
However, in Liu Zi's view, this was a sign of a "benevolent king", but not the behavior of a "wise king".
The most basic principle of being a king is "clear rewards and punishments." Those who have meritorious services will be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes will be punished. If even those who commit the serious crime of "rebellion" cannot be sentenced to death, how can we deter the petty ones and set an example to others?
Another meaning of "benevolence" may not be "weakness"...
Xiao Yu drank a glass of wine, feeling the warm wine penetrate his throat and feel warm in his belly. He exhaled the smell of wine and said: "I know that you don't care about His Majesty's benevolence. In fact, many people think that His Majesty is benevolent."
So 'benevolence' is covering up his 'softness'... But speaking from the bottom of my heart, who wouldn't want to have a 'softer' monarch? People are not sages and sages, who can do without mistakes, it is better to make a few mistakes than to
If you are severely punished, how can your Majesty be so lenient as to forgive you and let the past go?"
Punishment is not as good as that of an official, and courtesy is not as good as that of common people. This is the ancient Confucian saying.
The violation of the law is determined by the eight opinions, not the severity of the crime...
However, since the Western Han Dynasty deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, how many dynasties have followed this etiquette and not violated it?
Not to mention, just before the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was headstrong and arrogant, cruel and harsh, and frequently executed capital punishment on court ministers and literati. His life and death were unpredictable, and his politeness was swept away. Why did he care about etiquette?
All the officials in the court were trembling with fear, and the situation was precarious. Who wouldn't want a benevolent king to be in power at that time?
What happened to being softer?
The softer the better…
However, now that I have met a benevolent king, I despise him for being too weak, unable to kill decisively, and lacking the image of a wise king...
Being greedy is the ultimate extreme.
Liu Zi was silent.
In fact, how could he not know that it was a great blessing to meet such an emperor who did not kill people? But it was precisely because Li Chengqian was weak in temperament and obeyed Fang Jun's words without any decisiveness that sooner or later the government was controlled by Fang Jun.
The military suppresses civilian officials. How can he, the prime minister, go further and fulfill his lifelong ambition?
The two drank in silence, and the atmosphere was slightly silent.
After finishing the pot of wine, Xiao Yu put down the glass.
Realizing that it was getting late, Liu Zi asked: "What does Song Guogong think about the imperial court's upcoming survey of the world's acres?"
This was his trump card. He didn't believe that Xiao Yu couldn't feel the huge threat of measuring land to the family. Although he didn't know what your majesty's intention was, since it involved the vast amount of land that the family relied on for survival, how could he be careless?
As the head of the most powerful family in the world, can Xiao Yu really turn a blind eye?
Xiao Yu shook his head and said calmly: "Whether your Majesty is overjoyed with your achievements or has other agendas, since we are the king's ministers, we should be loyal to the king's affairs. We must not dare to violate the law. We can just let nature take its course."
Nowadays, the government and the public have a lot of speculations about measuring the land in the world. Some people say that His Majesty is very happy for his success and wants to draw an extremely accurate map of the empire, which will be passed down to future generations and be famous throughout the ages. Some people say that the imperial court wants to take back the land and make it national.
To re-own the previous land, you need to pay for it and register it...
But Xiao Yu knew that His Majesty and Fang Jun must be sharpening their knives now, waiting for someone to jump out and stop the measurement of the land. Even if Xiao Yu was worried that his family's land would be plotted by the imperial court, he would never take the lead.
bird.
No matter who wants him to stand up against the imperial court, it is absolutely impossible.
Your Majesty doesn't like killing people, Fang Jun doesn't care about killing a few more...