The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1217: Yanping's Political Affairs (Part )

"Emperor Yan Chun, a king who maintained the status quo, although did not make great contributions to the world, he ensured a smooth transition of the good reform policies of his ancestors, which benefited the former Chen Dynasty and the current dynasty." Emperor Yanping, who had laughed enough, took a breath and continued to talk about the Emperor Yan Chun who had just been mentioned.

Sheng Yuan knew that Emperor Yanping would not bring up these things for no reason, so he listened very carefully.

At this time, layers of light beams passed through the window ridges on the palace walls. The voice of Emperor Yanping speaking ancient words, accompanied by the rising and falling dance of dust in the hazy light beams, inevitably had a sense of antiquity. Listening from afar, it seemed as if it came from across the long river of time.

"It's a pity that Emperor Yan Chun was too indecisive in choosing his successor. If he had been as courageous and resolute as our dynasty, he would not have ended up being removed from the ancestral temple by his nephew. If it weren't for the Chen Dynasty's historical revision, the mistakes would have been corrected and his emperor's name would have been changed back. I'm afraid that if time had gone on for a long time, the world would no longer know about him."

Sheng Yuan suddenly realized that Emperor Yanping's words were a bit hurtful to his fellow man, and then he realized why Emperor Yanping had taken action against the royal family members regardless of his reputation.

"Wen Zhen, you have read the history of Yan, right?"

Suddenly hearing the question from Emperor Yanping, Sheng Yuan, who had been paying attention to him, quickly replied: "I studied it in detail when I was a compiler in the Hanlin Academy."

"Yes." Emperor Yanping nodded at her. "I remember that Emperor Yan Chun had a son and a daughter. History only mentioned them a few times, saying that before Emperor Chun passed away, he abandoned his infant son and chose his nephew as the crown prince. When it was mentioned again, it only said that his daughter married the son of Tu from Luozhou... I don't know what happened to them later?"

"Your Majesty, I was also curious when I was studying, but Emperor Chun's two sons were one child and one girl, so the official history did not mention it..."

"Ah."

Emperor Yanping sneered and interrupted Sheng Yuan's words.

"Wen Zhen, continue. I'm not attacking you."

Emperor Yanping's addition left Sheng Yuan speechless.

She naturally knew that the emperor's sneer was not directed at her.

Emperor Yanping should also know her clearly.

But Emperor Yanping had to explain it to her specifically. It is hard to say whether this was not a mockery of Emperor Yanchun's successors and historians.

"…I once read a lot of records from the Yan Dynasty and the early Chen Dynasty out of curiosity, and found that Emperor Ping of Yan mentioned in his "Old History Notes" that Emperor Zhao of Yan, who adopted him, sent people to the people to look for the missing son of Emperor Chun. From the sentence "only a little kid but no trace", we can know that the son of Emperor Chun should have disappeared not long after Emperor Qi of Yan ascended the throne."

"What a missing one!"

Emperor Yanping suddenly sneered, causing Sheng Yuan to shudder in the middle of his words.

Sheng Yuan sighed silently, pretending to have heard nothing, and continued as if nothing had happened: "As for the princess of Emperor Chun... The "Leisure of the Royal Family of the Yan Dynasty" published during the Chen Dynasty mentioned that after the sister of Emperor Ping of Yan was conferred the title of princess, she had a conflict with the sister of Emperor Zhao of Yan, saying, 'Your sister claimed to be the daughter of the new emperor and bullied Princess Huining, but the Emperor of Qi let her go! This is an old precedent, so I followed the example of the predecessors, how dare you argue? Who would have thought that you would repeat the same mistake and die childless?' The Princess Huining mentioned here is the daughter of Emperor Chun."

"Wen Zhen really knows a lot." Emperor Yanping stroked his beard and smiled with satisfaction.

"I just like to read some idle books and unofficial history. However, what I said are all isolated cases, and it is difficult to verify their authenticity. Please don't blame me for answering casually."

"I asked a question, and you answered it, my dear. Why should we discuss the question and answer? It's just idle talk, why blame me?"

"Of course, it's just idle chat about the old things of the previous dynasty, but there's no need to be too obsessed with it." Emperor Yanping talked about Qian Yan for a while, turned his head to look at Sheng Yuan, and the topic returned to the previous one.

"Wen Zhen, if the young master inherits and lets you assist in governing, what do you think is the most urgent task?"

“…” Sheng Yuan didn’t expect that after chatting for so long, after going around in circles, he still had to face this issue head on.

Fortunately, Emperor Yanping was more roundabout this time and did not directly mention abdication or ascending the throne, which made Sheng Yuan more receptive. "Your Majesty, the young master is in power, and the country has important ministers to support it. As long as the old system is not changed recklessly, nothing will go wrong for a while. Therefore, in my humble opinion, the most urgent task is to be vigilant against the restlessness of the foreign barbarians."

Sheng Yuan spoke with certainty, and Emperor Yanping also agreed.

"Wenzhen refers to Nurhan?"

"Nurhan is close to the border of Great Chu. Although we have adjusted the battle sites since the victory in the campaign against Arong, they are still too close. I am afraid that once they have rested and recuperated, they will covet the vast grasslands of Great Chu again. Therefore, Great Chu must be prepared to deal with their invasion at any time."

After mentioning Nurhan, Sheng Yuan mentioned Bu Chen and Ruan Zhi: "... The former was in Linhai, and during the Yan Dynasty, he sent many soldiers disguised as pirates to rob merchant ships. Although the Yan Dynasty later disciplined them, people who went out to sea said that there were always small boats of Bu Chen, in groups of three or five, following our sea trade ships from a distance, as if they were envious of the dividends of our Great Chu's maritime trade! If they find an opportunity to take advantage of it, then the old things of the Yan Dynasty might happen again."

"As for the latter... Ruan Zhi has always been eyeing the border town adjacent to it. Normally, it doesn't dare to put its greed into action, but if Nurhan and Ruan Zhi make a move, I'm afraid it will get involved."

"Fight on three fronts?" Emperor Yanping pondered for a long time and still felt that Sheng Yuan's idea was a bit too bold.

"Wen Zhen, have you ever thought about this? When the monarch's power is excessive and the central government is in a state of over-management, if we just keep putting the military outside... First, there is the worry that the national treasury will be insufficient, and the people will suffer from heavy taxes, which will eventually lead to uprisings in various places; second, there is also the worry of insufficient troops, which will leave the defense of Kyoto empty. At this time, if there are more disloyal people, how can the young master's throne be stable under the internal and external troubles?!"

"Your Majesty, if there is no external disturbance, the internal troubles will not explode for a while; only when external threats come to the border, it will be easy for the disloyal to take advantage of the opportunity; if you can win consecutive victories against the outside world, the instability of the internal troubles will not be a concern."

"Well, go on."

"As for the silver in the national treasury, we only need to prepare food and weapons for one or two major wars in advance, and the expenses will naturally be reimbursed by the other party."

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Emperor Yanping's eyes lit up at Sheng Yuan's words: "Oh? Wen Zhen's words are indeed strange."

"If an ignorant person invades a superior country and we allow him to escape unscathed, where will the prestige of the Celestial Empire be? We should fight to support the war, use their contradictions to attack their territory, and then use their territory and property as follow-up supplies. Only in this way can we enhance the prestige of a great country."

"Well, that's great! Does Wen Zhen have a detailed plan?"

“…” Sheng Yuan wanted to elaborate, but the rather enthusiastic tone of Emperor Yanping startled her, and the inspiration that had just emerged disappeared.

No, was the emperor so excited when he heard that he could use other people’s money to support his own army?

Emperor Yanping also realized that he had overreacted, and immediately coughed several times in embarrassment before continuing in a low voice: "If we can use war to support war, even if it does not return to the court treasury, it is excellent."

"..."

After hearing this, Sheng Yuan became even more speechless.

My goodness, are all emperors so greedy? It’s good enough that they don’t lose money in foreign wars, but they are also planning to give back to the national treasury!

Tsk, tsk, tsk, she, who was painting big pictures for the emperor, never dared to think like this!

"...Well, it's getting late. Wenzhen should go back and write a memorial and present it directly to the Queen after it's finished. If it's well written, I'll give you a surprise!" Emperor Yanping, who originally wanted to keep Sheng Yuan to elaborate, suddenly noticed the sound of jade pendants tapping around the corner. He immediately changed the subject and gave Sheng Yuan an assignment.

"I'll take my leave." Sheng Yuan had sharp ears and she heard the footsteps before Emperor Yanping could react, so she was very tactful and cooperated by bowing and retreating outside the hall.

……

"Sister Yuan, Minister An sent someone to deliver a letter half an hour ago, saying that there will be a team of people who want to debate with you in court tomorrow morning! You should be prepared!"

Sheng Yuan returned home exhausted. Before she could concentrate on the memorial she was about to write, she heard the news that made her want to flip the table.