Jiuxi

Chapter 1018 Chapter 1016 [Master and Disciple]

Zhong Huai thought to himself that he came here today with full of passion, without any selfish motives.

He knew that since there were Qin Wang's supporters like Ding Hui and Gao Huan in the court, there would definitely be people secretly colluding, even if it was just a fight between an egg and a rock, it would cause some trouble for Qin Wang. He disdained to do such shady things, but he couldn't turn a blind eye to the current court situation, so he had to do his best even if it angered Lu Chen.

Zhong Huai anticipated Lu Chen's possible reaction, such as pretending to be perfunctory or not giving him a chance to speak, but he didn't expect that in the eyes of this powerful prince, his actions were just stupid.

Thinking of this, Zhong Huai shook his head in great disappointment and said in a deep voice: "I wonder what it means to be a smart person in the eyes of the prince?"

"Mr. Zhong, why don't you answer two questions for me first?"

Lu Chen's face was calm, and he said calmly: "Are you here today to represent yourself, or to represent the entire Zhong family?"

Zhong Huai answered without hesitation: "I only represent myself, and it has nothing to do with other members of the Zhong family."

"it is good."

Lu Chen asked again: "Who instigated you to come here?"

"Your Highness, although I am not a man of extraordinary intelligence, I will not be deceived and used by others to serve as a knife to offend Your Highness's majesty."

Zhong Huai frowned and said loudly: "Your Highness has made outstanding contributions and helped rebuild the country. His new policies are beneficial to the country and the people. From this perspective, it is not an exaggeration for Your Highness to take charge of all the power. However, throughout history, there have been very few powerful ministers who have had a good end. Your Highness should have anticipated this. Why is he still moving forward? Could it be that Your Highness has already made up his mind to challenge the throne?"

In fact, a Shaoqing of Taichang Temple had no right to speak to Lu Chen like this. Even if Lu Chen ordered his personal guards to drive him away, others would not be able to say anything. Moreover, there would definitely be censors who would impeach Zhong Huai for discussing the government without distinguishing between the superiors and the inferiors. However, Lu Chen did not do so, and he did not even ask Zhong Huai to shut up.

Lu Chen understood that the world was not black and white, and he also knew that in addition to the two types of people who supported him and those who opposed him, there were many people standing in the middle. It was difficult for them to completely abandon their loyalty to the emperor, but they also did not agree with plotting against Lu Chen.

They had a simple and even naive wish that the situation two years ago, with the Jingguo army approaching the border and the people inside and outside the court united as one, could continue.

There are quite a few such people. Most of them just dare to stand on the shore and watch, not daring to be easily involved in this bottomless vortex. However, there are also people who dare to stand up and use this seemingly childish and ridiculous way, hoping that those undercurrents will disappear and that there will be no more bloodshed and killing.

Zhong Huai is one of the latter.

Lu Chen simply sat on the shaft of the carriage and asked with interest: "Does Zhong Shaoqing think that the king is disloyal to the court?"

Zhong Huai replied: "No. Your loyalty is well known to everyone. Everything you have done for the court over the past few years is enough to prove your loyalty, but -"

"Don't just yet."

Lu Chen interrupted him with a smile, and then said: "I don't really understand your intention. Since you think I am loyal to the court and don't want to exaggerate, then aren't you wasting my time? Zhong Shaoqing, can you tell me directly what you want me to do?"

Zhong Huai sighed, "Just now I have said that if Your Majesty is willing to make some concessions, the government and the people will be relieved and no unspeakable things will happen. With such a united will, the new policy will be able to fully exert its effectiveness. Isn't this the result Your Majesty wants to see?"

"Of course, this king hopes for such an outcome."

Lu Chen admitted it frankly, and then asked curiously: "How do you want me to give in?"

Zhong Huai hesitated for a moment, but finally said with the courage to sacrifice his life for the country: "As long as the prince is willing to hand over some military power to the court, we will definitely be able to change the current situation."

Lu Chen tilted his head slightly to look at him and laughed again.

Zhong Huai's face looked a little ugly, and he said with difficulty: "I am so ignorant, Your Majesty, please forgive me for making fun of you."

"Don't misunderstand, Zhong Shaoqing. I am not making fun of you."

Lu Chen waved his hand and said leisurely, "Many people have similar ideas, but they only dare to hide in the dark and use some unpresentable means. You are the first one who dares to speak directly in front of me. Because of your upright and loyal character, I will not care whether you are right or wrong."

Zhong Huai felt a little better and became more convinced that he was not wrong. The young prince in front of him was actually pushed to this point by the situation. He was not the kind of treacherous minister who had bad intentions from the beginning.

Therefore, he softened his tone and said sincerely: "If I am wrong, please correct me, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen thought for a moment and said calmly, "Do you think that the military power was forcibly held in my hands?"

Zhong Huai really wanted to say yes, but he felt that it was not appropriate, so he could only remain silent.

Lu Chen didn't take it seriously and continued, "In your eyes, military power is just an object. If I, Lu Chen, can have it, why can't others? Zhang Xu? Chen Lanyu? Liu Shouguang? Even Li Jingda can have it. As long as the palace issues an order, the Military Affairs Office will issue a letter to various places, and the tiger seal will be given, who can't be the commander-in-chief? Emperor Zhezong thought so at the beginning, and Han Zhongjie is a son of a general with a family background. His father, the Prince of Dongyang, established the original Great Qijing Army. Isn't it natural for Han Zhongjie to be the commander-in-chief? What is the result? I believe that Zhong Shaoqing does not need this king to remind you, right?"

Zhong Huai was stunned, and then fell into long contemplation.

Lu Chen looked up at the sky and said slowly: "I have always believed in the simplest truth, that is, to govern according to one's position and fulfill one's responsibilities. I am not good at writing, so I will never interfere with your writing. Even if some officials criticize the new policy for violating the way of the saints, I will just pretend not to hear it. On the contrary, you cannot interfere in the affairs of the army because you don't understand, it's that simple." Zhong Huai said with guilt: "Your Majesty, I don't mean that. I just think that the military power of the country is held in the hands of one person. This is a rare case in history-"

"Do you think that military power was given to me by others?"

Lu Chen's words shut Zhong Huai up. He continued calmly, "I don't deny that many people have helped me over the years, such as Emperor Gaozong, the Prince of Loyalty and the Duke of Rong. But you have to know that since the Battle of Guangling eight years ago, I have fought against the enemy countless times and led my soldiers to make contributions to the country time and time again, so I can get their recognition and following. In other words, even if I am willing to give you the military power you mentioned, how can you guarantee that there won't be another Han Zhongjie?"

Zhong Huai was speechless.

This kind of thing cannot be proven at all, so how can we guarantee it?

Besides, he was just a Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple. How could he be qualified to make a guarantee to Lu Chen?
"Zhong Shaoqing, it is important for people to know themselves."

Lu Chen sighed and said gently, "As the Junior Minister of the Imperial Court, you should do your duty with all your heart. It's not that you can't express your opinions on the court affairs, but I hope you will think carefully before you speak. Do you really understand what you want to say? As an official of the court, if you only act with courage, how can you be worthy of the official uniform on your body?"

Zhong Huai was greatly ashamed and said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, I was not thoughtful and acted rashly. I hope you can forgive me."

"It doesn't matter."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "That's why I said you are a good person, but not a smart person. However, it is precisely because of your selfless clumsiness that I am willing to give you a chance to speak and have a good chat with you about the whole story."

Zhong Huai looked at him with a complicated expression. After a long while, he bowed and said sincerely, "I will teach you."

Lu Chen stood up and nodded, saying, "I am very busy, so I will not invite you to drink tea. I hope that you can come to my house directly if you have something to ask for an audience in the future, and there is no need to block the king's way on the street. If this matter spreads, I will be in a lot of trouble."

Zhong Huai felt extremely guilty and quickly stepped aside, bowed again and left in a hurry.

The carriage then continued to move forward, and this time there were no accidents until it reached the gate of the palace.

Lu Chen got off the carriage, stopped and turned to look at the young man who was following the guards not far away, and smiled and said, "What do you think after watching this show?"

The young man came closer and said slowly, "Zhong Shaoqing is not someone arranged by the master, but the fact that he can appear before the king must be due to the master's connivance. I don't believe that anyone in this world can easily approach the king without the master's permission."

“It’s helpful.”

Lu Chen asked approvingly: "Then why do you think I should do this?"

The young man thought for a moment, then answered, "Sir, you probably have three intentions. The first is to show the world your benevolence through today's incident, because the world has many misunderstandings about you. In fact, you are not a bloodthirsty person. All the people you ordered to be executed in recent years are people who deserve to die."

"continue."

"Secondly, I think you are making your position clear. No matter how the situation develops, you will not give up power, especially military power. In an environment like today where the civil and military officials are full of scheming and the situation is volatile, if you don't make your position clear, it will inevitably cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. As for the last point, since you have chosen to make your position clear, you must be trying to lure the snake out of its hole and then strike back. Only in this way can you settle the overall situation in one fell swoop."

Lu Chen looked up at the gate of the palace and said with emotion: "It's a pity that you were born twenty years later, otherwise your grandfather wouldn't have to live a few years less because of your stupid uncle."

There was silence.

The young man bowed his head and said, "Sir, you are too kind. In fact, my uncle was in a situation where he had no choice but to do what he wanted. I have also learned a lot of lessons from his failure."

He was Li Gongxu who resolutely went north, the youngest head of the Jinlin Li family.

When he entered the city today, he happened to meet Lu Chen's royal carriage, so he followed him and watched the show from beginning to end.

Hearing him defending Li Shizhi, Lu Chen didn't care. He turned his head to look at the gradually solemn face and asked, "What about you? Are you forced to do it? To be more precise, are you going north this time to have a face-to-face talk with your master and draw a clear line between us?"

Li Gongxu bowed his head and said, "Disciple dare not."

Lu Chen pondered the meaning of these four short words, then said with a carefree smile: "Let's go. Today, I will not see any outsiders. I am here to entertain my only disciple who has come from afar."

Hearing the word "only", Li Gongxu sighed inwardly.

Although he has been living in seclusion for the past few years, the fact that Empress Dowager Ning asked Lu Chen to be the emperor's teacher is a household name in Jiangnan. As the head of the Li family, how could he not know about it?

But his husband obviously didn't recognize that one.

Li Gongxu put away his messy thoughts, looked at Lu Chen's back as he walked away, and followed him.

(End of this chapter)