Chapter 1292: Confessing the King
Lu Xun ultimately failed to dissuade Sun Quan from sending troops to sea.
But similarly, Sun Quan made concessions on the other hand: to establish a successor as soon as possible.
These two things seem to have nothing to do with each other.
But essentially the same thing.
Sun Quan sent troops to the sea to find immortals and ask questions.
Lu Xun's advice to establish the empress was to purge the harem, so that all the ladies in the harem could be in their rightful place, and not to tempt His Majesty into doing so-called immortality.
With the master of the harem, the inner and outer palaces can work together. I urge your majesty not to imitate the actions of Emperor Qin and Han Wu in his later years.
This is originally a game between the kings and ministers of the state of Wu.
But the bad thing is that no one realizes that the addition of Mrs. Pan and Princess Quan has created a huge variable in this matter.
Princess Quan, through the help of Mrs. Pan and her sister, actually wanted to join forces with the school affairs office.
The School Affairs Office of the State of Wu, this monster that once cast a huge psychological shadow on the civil and military officials of the Wu and Manchu dynasties, and silenced all officials, has been dormant for several years.
Mrs. Pan and Princess Quan had no idea what they would bring to Wu if they lured this monster to rear its head again.
Although the school office was very surprised by the temptation conveyed by Princess Quan through Mrs. Pan's sister, Lu Yi responded as quickly as possible.
"We were supposed to supervise all the officials for Your Majesty, but the ministers had their own selfish desires and repeatedly made mistakes in the school and government against Your Majesty. Under the fierce public sentiment, we had no choice but to dare not fulfill our responsibilities over the years."
"Although His Majesty did not punish us, how can we forget our duties because of Your Majesty's magnanimity?"
Lu Yi was in the school office and said excitedly to the school officials below:
"The previous Qin school official brought back Feng Da Sima's letter from the Han Dynasty, and with our reminder, Your Majesty knew the harm caused by Lu Xun's long stay in Xiangyang, and immediately summoned him back to the capital. What does this mean?"
Lv Yi suddenly raised his voice:
"This shows that in His Majesty's heart, he has never forgotten us, and has never forgotten the things entrusted to us!"
"Now that His Majesty loves his daughter, all the princesses have taken the initiative to find us. This is our great opportunity!"
Although the school affairs office is doing well now, it has made a lot of money by acting as an agent for bulk materials in the Dawu area of Han Dynasty.
But human desires are endless.
Not to mention that the school affairs office once made all the decisions in the Wu Dynasty, and everyone below the prime minister was afraid of it.
The taste of this is so that Lu Yi and others know the taste after eating it. They can't stop, and they never forget it. Not a day goes by without wanting to regain their former power.
I think back to the time when I and others had almost offended the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty. If His Majesty hadn't needed the school office to prepare money and food, I don't know how many times my family's house would have been raided.
Although I and others have a rich family now, if they had power, wouldn't they be able to have more money?
Lu Yi and others, who have rich experience in searching for money, know very well that if they have money but no power, their own house is other people's treasury.
The most important thing is that His Majesty is old.
Even Lu Xun began to look for a backer - otherwise, he first persuaded your majesty to establish a prince, and now he hurriedly persuaded his majesty to establish the king's wife as his queen. What was his purpose?
What if His Majesty, who tolerated the school affairs office, was no longer there, and the prince supported by Lu Xun came to power, how could he and others live a good life?
To take a step back, if your Majesty wants to cultivate immortality, even if he cannot attain enlightenment, as long as he can live a long life, that would be great!
So this time, the school office supports Princess Quan and Mrs. Pan, which is an inevitable choice.
Princess Quan and Mrs. Pan are also in urgent need of collaborators in the court, at least in front of His Majesty, who can talk about the government affairs and even influence the government affairs.
As the saying goes, a man is affectionate and a concubine is interested.
The two sides hit it off immediately.
Soon, Princess Quan asked Sun Quan to send some to her residence on the grounds that she had fallen in love with a batch of exquisite Shu brocades in the weaving room.
Sun Quan naturally responded to all requests.
Sichuan Brocade may be a rarity to others.
Even the powerful people of Wu State may not always be able to get satisfactory goods if they do not have channels.
But considering the relationship between Wu and Han, as long as Emperor Sun is willing to speak, I believe that the Han Dynasty will send the best Shu brocade.
In any case, if there are too many lice, they won’t bite you, and if there are too many debts, you won’t have to worry about them.
To put it bluntly, taking Xiangyang and the Nanjun area will free up enough fields to exchange benefits with Han.
Although Sun Quan has become increasingly old and feeble over the years, he still understands one thing:
Perhaps I can rely on my prestige to overwhelm the military leaders and big families below who have a large number of private armies.
But your next generation may have to face the embarrassing situation of strong branches and weak trunks, strong ministers and weak kings.
In order to prepare more bargaining chips for future generations, Emperor Sun’s idea was:
Instead of taking advantage of the military leaders and aristocratic families in Jingzhou now, why not let the school affairs office take the benefits from Han and return them to the palace for me?
You military leaders can take advantage of it to support your own tribes, why can't I use these benefits to support the Central Army and the Forbidden Army?
Even if I can't deprive you of your troops, I can at least steal more money and food from you.
That's why Sun Quan readily agreed to Feng's request and transferred Lu Xun from Xiangyang back to Jianye.
At the same time, he also acquiesced in the conversion of rice to mulberry in the Nanjun area to repay Ji Han's foreign debt.
In addition to Feng’s words indeed, Sun Quan’s ambivalence toward Lu Xun was right, and Sun Quan also had another meaning:
Since I can't stop you Jingzhou military leaders and wealthy people from filling your own pockets, I might as well let the school affairs office go out openly and get more benefits for me.
Sichuan brocade is one of the benefits.
This thing is much better than the big money that Da Wu minted himself.
A reward of 1,000 large springs worth 10 million yuan is really not as satisfying as a reward of 100 pieces of Shu brocade.
Different treatment began after Emperor Sun discovered the truth.
For those who didn't want to reward or didn't like him, he rewarded people with large iron coins mixed with copper.
For those he was close to or liked, he rewarded them with good things such as Shu brocade, woolen materials, brown sugar, etc.
Princess Quan is the closest person to Emperor Sun, so there is no problem in rewarding her with some Shu brocade.
The school affairs office, which actually controls the weaving room, naturally obeyed the edict and carefully selected dozens of pieces of Shu brocade.
To show respect, Lu Zhongshu of the school affairs office even delivered the goods to his door in person.
Princess Quan was very happy about this. On the pretext of watching and inspecting the Shu brocade, she had a secret conversation with Lu Yi in a side room.
“I already know what the princess means. If the princess doesn’t want Mrs. Wang to be her queen, why doesn’t she want Mrs. Pan to be her queen?”
Facing the common goal, Lu Yi, a real villain, is quite calm.
After all, once Mrs. Wang is established as queen, the prince's position will be further consolidated.
So a hundred years from now, Your Majesty, the person sitting on the top will be the future emperor who is supported by Lu Xun and others to ascend the throne, and the people sitting below will be Lu Xun and other ministers who have offended the school government to death and have the merit of following the dragon.
It is inevitable that the school office will be liquidated, and the outcome will be worrying.
“To be honest, I think what the princess said is true. Although your majesty was forced by the situation and agreed to Lu Boyan and others to establish a queen, the queen is not Mrs. Wang.”
As a villain from Xingjin, Lu Yi knew Sun Quan’s character well.
Knowing that he can bend his body and endure humiliation, but his nature is full of jealousy, the result is killing.
Moreover, Lu Boyan, as a minister, led the ministers to knock on the que. Although Your Majesty appeared to agree to the request, in fact, he was deeply resentful in his heart.
The whole princess is overjoyed:
“Unexpectedly, Lu Zhongshu turned out to be exactly what I thought.”
She paused for a moment, then looked at Lu Yi with hope:
“How does Lu Zhongshu think we should respond?”
It's a pity that she is just a princess and cannot directly participate in the affairs of the court.
Hence why she felt powerless in facing such court disputes.
Lv Yi is different.
Although he is not good at handling court affairs, he has dealt with countless court ministers.
At the earliest time, the Gengjian School Affairs Office was used to supervise all officials.
Lu Xun led people to knock on the gate, and at the same time hundreds of officials wrote to request the establishment of a queen. Naturally, Lu Yi had been paying close attention to such a big event in secret.
Hearing Princess Quan’s inquiry at this time, he had already considered it and replied:
“What the princess wants right now is to prevent Mrs. Wang from ascending to the throne, and if you want to stop Mrs. Wang, you need to know your Majesty’s true thoughts, right?”
Princess Quan nodded repeatedly: "Of course!"
Lu Yi smiled and said:
"If it were anyone else, I would dare to ask how to figure out His Majesty's Sacred Heart, and I would have told Your Majesty the truth a long time ago."
"But the princess is your Majesty's biological daughter, and she is favored by your Majesty. I want to know your Majesty's heart. She is a child and wants to relieve the worries of her parents. I dare not disobey her order."
When Princess Quan heard this, she immediately beamed and nodded:
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Lu Yi then continued:
"Your Majesty's Sacred Heart is really beyond the reach of your Majesty. I have a crude nature and a foolish opinion. I only hope that the princess will not offend her ears."
Princess Quan said eagerly:
“Please let Lu Zhongshu speak quickly.”
Lu Yi nodded and said:
“In the past, when the prince was guarding Wuchang, the prime minister (i.e. Gu Yong) wanted to make the second prince (i.e. Sun Lu) king, but your majesty refused. This can be said to be a sacred heart that cannot be deceived.”
"Later Shangshu Pushe discussed with the Prime Minister and continued to write to Your Majesty, saying that the second prince could be the general of the army and guard one area to promote the great cause. He urged Your Majesty, and Your Majesty allowed it."
When Princess Quan heard this, she was stunned. She didn't know what Lu Yi meant by saying this.
Lv Yi did not explain, but said meaningfully to Princess Quan:
“Now that your Majesty has established a new prince, a general, and a queen, only the princes, according to the etiquette system, should have been crowned kings and become the most important servants of the country.”
“However, the prince is the leader of the princes and does not seek advice for his younger brothers; the general is the pillar of the country and only cares about the power.”
"Princess Quan is your Majesty's eldest daughter and the eldest sister of all the princes. She should make up for your Majesty's shortcomings and speak out for her younger brothers!"
When Princess Quan heard this, she was even more confused:
What does it have to do with the appointment of princes as kings and the establishment of a queen?
But she couldn’t ask directly, lest she reveal her timidity, so she could only continue to listen patiently.
Lu Yi still didn’t react when he saw her, so he mentioned the former prince Sun Deng again:
"In the past, the prince guarded Wuchang. As soon as the two princes came of age, they had to guard one side. The general of the Hou Zhen army died of illness in Banzhou. Your Majesty was so sad that he could not eat. The former prince traveled day and night to comfort and advise. admonish."
"After staying for more than ten days, your majesty wanted to send him back to the west. The former prince begged deeply, saying that he had been away from Ding Province for a long time and there was a gap in the way of his son. He also said that Lu Xun was loyal and diligent and had no worries. He sincerely requested to stay. Your majesty is here. That’s why the former prince was allowed to stay in Jianye.”
Princess Quan's breathing suddenly stagnated slightly.
She vaguely seemed to have caught something.
Lv Yi said earnestly:
"Princess, the former prince is deeply favored by your majesty and loved by all the officials. He still has to do his best to stay with your majesty. Why? There are kinships near and far!"
Princess Quan couldn't help but ask for advice: "Sir, what do you mean..."
Lu Yi lowered his voice: "When princes are crowned kings, they are given the heaviest rewards. The one who stays closest to Your Majesty is the one whom Your Majesty loves the most."
The whole princess suddenly woke up!
Lu Yi was not talking about establishing a queen at all, he simply wanted to support other princes in competing with the crown prince for the throne!
This is seizing the direct descendant!
"Princess, the person that Mrs. Wang relies on is the prince. Even if we can stop her for a while, how can we stop the emperor from calling her the queen mother when the prince ascends the throne?"
Lu Yi's eyes flashed with a cold light, revealing the nature of his opponent in this palace battle.
When the school affairs office was at its most powerful, he even tried to conspire against the former prince Sun Deng.
What's more, now that there is Mrs. Pan in the palace and Princess Quan outside the palace, her opponent is still a prince who has just entered the East Palace and has not yet established his footing?
Most importantly, His Majesty's ambiguous attitude towards the establishment of a queen gave Lu Yi a bold idea.
Your Majesty has actually been dissatisfied with the general for a long time.
The general persuaded the third prince to be crown prince...
The general also advised the crown prince’s mother, Mrs. Wang, to be the queen...
However, Your Majesty has no comment on the matter of making Mrs. Wang the queen...
So can it be said that His Majesty is actually not that satisfied with the Crown Prince?
Instead of treating the symptoms, it is better to treat the root cause!
Seeing that Princess Quan was still hesitating, with a frightened look on her face, Lu Yi consoled her:
“Princess, in fact, in this matter, you are just a good daughter who makes up for your majesty’s mistakes, and a good sister who speaks to the princes. Why should you be afraid?”
"We just need to wait and see the effects, and then act in accordance with His Majesty's wishes, no worries!"
When the princess heard this, she suddenly realized:
That’s right, it is a ritual system for brothers to be crowned kings, and no one can find fault with it. After everything is done, if someone has the ability to challenge the crown prince's position, that will be the crown prince's trouble. What does it have to do with me?
At the same time, she asked one last question:
“However, according to the etiquette, a prince is usually granted the title of king and enters the kingdom after he reaches adulthood. Now among the princes, only the fourth brother is qualified. What should we do?”
Lv Yi didn’t take it seriously:
"Princess, how can such a big thing be said to be accomplished overnight? We should plan it slowly."
“And if His Majesty likes a certain prince, can’t the remaining princes be rewarded for other reasons if the fourth prince is crowned king? From this, we can see some clues.”
Princess Quan is convinced.
The fifth year of Yanxi in the Han Dynasty, the fifth year of Chiwu in the state of Wu, August.
Grand Governor Quan Cong took the lead and suggested conferring royal titles on the princes. Sun Quan refused on the grounds that the world was not yet stable and it was not appropriate to honor concubines and princes.
However, Quan Cong was not discouraged and continued to go to the throne. He only said that according to the etiquette system, even if His Majesty did not canonize all the princes, he should still make the adult princes king to rectify the country's foundation.
Sun Quan then agreed to establish his fourth son, Sun Ba, as King of Lu.
Then Sun Quan’s next move gave Princess Quan, Lu Yi and others a big surprise that made them laugh out loud in their dreams:
King Lu first worshiped, and he was still in the same palace room.
It means that although Sun and Sun Ba are respectively the prince and the king of Lu, there is no distinction between superior and inferior in etiquette. There is no difference in eating and drinking in the same palace.
In other words, King Lu and the prince are equals.
Princess Quan and Lu Yi were laughing behind the scenes, but the officials in the Wu Kingdom were in a rage.
At that time, Shang Shu servant shot in Yi, and at the same time served as Lu Wangfu. The first one jumped out. He said to Sun Quan:
I believe that the King of Lu Tian Ting was virtuous and had both civil and military talents. In today's world, it is appropriate to control all directions and serve as the auxiliary of the country. Promoting virtue and virtue and shining a bright light are the good rules of the country and are expected throughout the country.
It means that King Lu is very powerful and versatile in both civil and military affairs. His Majesty should send him to guard the four directions and serve as a vassal of the country.
On the surface it was to praise King Lu, but in reality it meant asking him to get out of Jianye quickly and stop staying in the capital.
Lu Wang Fu's backhand was a backstab, which made Lu Wang Sun Ba almost vomit blood on the spot.
The joy of being crowned king immediately disappeared without a trace.
I am staying in the palace well and not bothering anyone. You want me to get out of the capital?
Besides, you are the King of Lu!
You don't stand on my side, but you actually want to drive me away from Jianye?
Several meanings!
ˆPS:
There is some debate in history about Sun Ba’s mother. Some say she was Mrs. Wang, and some say she was Xie Ji.
Here we take Xie Ji as our mother.
After all, the resentment between Princess Quan and Mrs. Wang, and then supporting her son, is too tortuous, and the author is too lazy to round it out.
(End of this chapter)