Jinting Han people

Chapter 119: Political Struggle Resumes (4k)

Although the results of the negotiations were not satisfactory, Liu Xian still brought the message to the Northern Army camp the next day, and three days later, Sima Wei summoned him to the Northern Army camp again.

This meeting was no longer a private meeting between Sima Wei and Liu Xian, as they had been before. Instead, it was a gathering of the core members of the Chu King's faction. However, due to the transfer of Meng Guan, Wang Cui, and others from the Imperial Guard, the Chu King's faction had undergone significant changes, with the exception of a few old members of the Shiping Palace, such as Qi Sheng, Gongsun Hong, and Li Zhao. Some people, unexpectedly, also attended the meeting.

They are: General Wang Jun of the Right Army, General Sima Yue of the Guerrilla Army, Captain Sima Yi of the Infantry, General Sima Xia of the Pacification Army, and General Shi Chao of the Palace.

Among them, it is natural for Sima Yi, King of Changsha, and Sima Xia, King of Qinghe, to be here. After all, they have been led by Sima Wei since childhood and are inseparable in everything they do. If Sima Yun, King of Huainan, had not returned to his country, he would probably be here too.

Sima Tai, King of Longxi, and Sima Wei have always had a good relationship. In his early years, when Sima Wei just joined the Imperial Guard, it was Sima Tai who taught him miscellaneous affairs. Therefore, his son Sima Yue also had some dealings with the Chu Palace and participated in the coup against Yang. It makes sense that he follows Sima Wei now.

But Liu Xian was not prepared for the appearance of Wang Jun and Shi Chao.

Clearly, the presence of these two men represented the support of the Duke of Boling and the Duke of Leling for the King of Chu, respectively. But when had Sima Wei contacted them? What had he promised them? And how had he won them over to his side? Liu Xian had no idea.

Sima Wei saw Liu Xian's confusion and briefly explained, "Peng Zu (Wang Jun) is a good friend of Yuan Chao (Sima Yue). During this time, I have contacted Shi Taifu, who is willing to support me with all his strength. I promised him that after the matter is completed, he could be made Shangshu Zuo Pushe."

Then he didn't want to say more, so he asked Liu Xian to repeat Wei Guan's words and let everyone discuss it.

Liu Xian did not hide anything and told everyone the conversation almost verbatim, commenting, "Although the Grand Protector had many hostile intentions, what he said was true."

Everyone present felt speechless for a moment, as if they had never imagined that there would be such people in the world who would disregard their own political interests just to maintain order in the court.

Sima Wei couldn't help but laugh at everyone, saying, "It seems the old thief has become obsessed with power and has lost his mind. He has gone crazy."

"I thought the Queen had a brilliant plan in appointing these two people, but looking back, it turns out she was just misjudging people and letting the wolf into the house, only to end up trapped in her own web!"

Wei Guan was a man of his words. Within the past two days, the conflict between Wei Guan and Empress Jia had become public. He wrote a letter to the Empress, satirizing her, pointing out twelve illegal acts committed by her since ascending the throne. These included exceeding the standard for her carriages, abusing palace maids and causing casual murder within the palace, and allowing subordinates like Dong Meng and Guo Zhang to extort land from the people for personal gain. Empress Jia was so disgraced that she publicly apologized to Wei Guan and punished herself, having all those implicated demoted by one rank.

In this way, the dangerous situation that Sima Wei and Liu Xian originally thought, that the Queen and the King of Runan had joined forces to force Sima Wei to step down, disappeared in an instant.

Qi Sheng also laughed and said, "That old villain Wei Guan, relying on his status as a founding father and a hero who conquered Shu, looks down on everyone. How could he possibly be a knife? The Queen can't even see this. The advantage is already in the hands of Your Highness."

Gongsun Hong's brows widened in delight, and he sneered, "I think the Queen must be regretting this to death. She's someone who values face the most. The Queen Mother took such good care of her back then, but because she didn't let everything go her way, she ended up like this. Now, the Grand Guardian and the Grand Chancellor are publicly insulting her like this. The Queen must be wishing she could chop them into pieces and feed them to the dogs."

The others were mostly in agreement, and Liu Xian shared this sentiment. After all, things are often like this in the world: even the best laid plans can sometimes lead to unexpected twists and turns. Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition was meticulously planned; if he had followed the plan, he would have likely conquered Liang Province. Who could have known Ma Su would change the plan at the last minute?
It's hard to believe, however, that at his age, Wei Guan could be in the grave in a blink of an eye. He lived in semi-retirement, seemingly waiting for death. Yet, beneath his aging body, he still held a fervent loyalty to the Jin court, vowing to use his remaining years to secure the capital. Truly an old horse in the stable, yet still ambitious.

But unfortunately, his passionate statement about Liu Xian was seen as nothing more than a farce by other politicians, and no one believed that he had the ability to succeed.

Again, he was too old, over seventy years old. Without the unanimous support of his superiors, what right did he have to fight the others? Was it his reputation for destroying Shu? Sadly, those who had joined him in the conquest of Shu were mostly dead. He was just a remnant of Emperor Wen's era. People only heard of his deeds, and those impressions would eventually become a mere gimmick.

Young people only want to treat this reputation as a trophy to show off, and add glory to their resumes after defeating the famous general who destroyed Shu with their own hands.

Sima Yue said, "Your Highness, God has blessed you. This is a good time for you to take action!"

Sima Yue is such a person. He is now older than Sima Wei, at the age of 31. Before he inherited the throne, he has already been active in officialdom. He made contributions during the Yang Jun Rebellion and was granted five counties. He is about to be granted the title of Duke of a County, but he is still not satisfied and wants to go further.

"Good timing?" Sima Wei asked immediately after hearing this. "What good plan does Yuan Chao have?"

"The Zuo Zhuan says, 'Only weapons and names cannot be delegated to others; they are the domain of the sovereign.' Weapons refer to weapons and officials, and names refer to titles. Now, Your Highness and the King of Runan each hold a weapon, and neither can decide the winner. But the Queen holds the name; whoever she favors can gain the upper hand."

"Originally, she had her eye on the Prince of Runan. Therefore, the Prince of Runan was able to be awarded fiefdoms based on merit and eventually rise to the top. This not only forced Your Highness to stop participating in politics, but also allowed him to threaten the Queen. This gave Your Highness the opportunity to ally with the Queen once again."

"You mean you want me to cooperate with the Queen again?"

At this point, Sima Wei showed an unhappy expression on his face. He had previously cooperated with Empress Jia to overthrow Yang, and had worked hard for several months. He was said to directly assist in the administration after the good deeds were done, but he was tricked by Empress Jia and made wedding dresses for Sima Liang in vain. Now that Sima Liang and Empress Jia were quarreling, he was happy to see both sides suffer losses, and had no intention of helping Empress Jia.

So he sneered, "If I help a two-faced villain like her, wouldn't I be digging my own grave?"

But Sima Yue refused to give in and continued his analysis, "Your Highness, you're not helping the Queen, you're helping yourself. You know that His Majesty is incompetent and the Queen is now the de facto Emperor. Regardless of her past mistakes, the ruler is the ruler and the minister is the minister. Standing with the Queen is the right path to serve the King."

"..."

"Your Highness previously held military power. Logically, the Prince of Runan should be afraid of you, but why did he dare to suppress you so fearlessly? It's because you don't have the Queen's support. If you rashly mobilize troops, you'll be accused of plotting rebellion. Not only will the army not necessarily obey your orders, but even if they do, the reputation you've built up over the years will be destroyed in an instant."

"You're not without reason..." Sima Wei's expression gradually became serious, and he finally spoke, "But how can you guarantee that I won't be betrayed by the Queen again?"

Sima Yue didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Sima Wei, smiled for a moment, and then said, "Your Highness is too impatient! In the past, how could Your Highness not see the situation clearly?"

"Ok?"

"The Queen can use the Prince of Runan to suppress Your Highness because he was appointed by the late Emperor as regent. It makes sense to have him assist in governing the country. But where is there another Prince of Runan right now?"

"If Your Highness gains the Empress's support and kicks the Prince of Runan out, along with Yang Jun, then both of the late Emperor's appointed regents will have been defeated by Your Highness. Even if the Empress wants to find someone else to suppress Your Highness, who would dare to challenge Your Highness?"

"As long as Your Highness is determined and a little more open-minded, the position of regent will be easily won. Your Highness, there is nothing to hesitate about. Let's do it!"

Sima Yue's words were as sharp as a knife. Sima Wei's original resentment and grudges were instantly cut off after Sima Yue's rap. He wanted to find some loopholes in these words, but the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. In the end, he could only say:

"You mean, I don't have any other options?"

Sima Yue said decisively: "If Your Highness is wise, there is no other option." Sima Yue's words made sense and had a high probability of success. Not only Sima Wei thought so, but the people who were listening on the side also thought so, and Liu Xian also thought so.

In fact, to put it bluntly, it is just using the name of imperial power to confuse right and wrong and suppress dissidents.

But when Liu Xian heard this and thought of the fate of Yang Jun's followers, he felt a wave of irony in his heart: Does possessing imperial power mean that it is natural for one to do whatever he wants?

Although it would be fine for subordinates not to correct the mistakes of the imperial power, but to actually help the tyrant is the right thing to do? It's simply absurd! He had already had doubts about the previous coup, and now hearing similar words, he felt even more disgusted.

Liu Xian remembered that his original intention in persuading Sima Wei was to fulfill his duty as a friend and hope that Sima Wei could walk on the right path, be worthy of his conscience and be worthy of the people. But if Sima Wei continued on this path and chose a path that confused black and white, why was he standing here?

He also didn't believe such a choice came without cost. While Wei Guan and Sima Liang's actions were extreme and criticized, they were morally impeccable. They were both striving to maintain order within the political framework and were not out of line. In this situation, collaborating with Empress Jia in another coup would be a blatant betrayal, and the negative consequences it would bring would be incalculable!
So after a brief thought, Liu Xian decided to stand up and try to stop this alliance.

While Sima Wei was thinking, Liu Xian stood up and said, "Your Highness, I think the guerrilla's statement is debatable."

"Oh?" Sima Wei looked up at Liu Xian. The others present also looked at Liu Xian. He couldn't help but ask, "What does Huai Chong want to say?"

Liu Xian said, "Your Highness, Youji just used a famous vessel to represent the imperial power. While this is a good metaphor, he made one mistake."

"what's up?"

"Youji says that serving the emperor is the right path, no matter the circumstances. I think this is a fallacy. The emperor may be the Son of Heaven, but are his words and actions not subject to constraints? When the emperor is benevolent, the world will be peaceful; when the emperor is unfaithful, the world will be in chaos. This has been true for three generations. But now, Youji, knowing full well that the empress is tyrannical, unjust, and untrustworthy, still advocates aiding and abetting the evil. How can this be the behavior of a minister?"

"The world belongs to the Son of Heaven, but it is not solely the Son of Heaven's world. Guan Zhong was the first to advocate respecting the king and expelling the barbarians, which led to Qi Huan's hegemony. Was it simply because he respected the king? No, it was because he led an army to expel the barbarians, demonstrating to the people of the world that he would safeguard world peace and thus won their hearts."

"He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."

"Hasn't Your Highness always done this? If he now colludes with the Queen, won't all his previous efforts be in vain? Could it be that with the Queen's edict, he can execute the Prime Minister and the Grand Guardian without guilt?"

"Your Highness, justice prevails in the hearts of the people, and the truth cannot be concealed. How will the world view Your Highness then? Can Your Highness truly maintain his position as regent?"

After saying that, Liu Xian looked up at Sima Wei's face, only to see that his face was ashen. It was obvious that Liu Xian had hit the nail on the head. However, it was difficult for him to give up the temptation of being able to directly assist in the administration as Sima Yue had said. So he kept thinking about it in his mind and could not make up his mind.

Sima Yue on the side looked even more embarrassed. Liu Xian's words just now were almost an open attack on him as a villain, but morally speaking, Sima Yue could not refute these words. After all, he was well-read and could not do something like Zhao Gao, calling a deer a horse and saying that Empress Jia was actually gentle and virtuous.

He thought for a moment, then spoke directly from the perspective of benefit: "Then, according to the Crown Prince, if Your Highness does not ally with the Queen, and the Prince of Runan refuses to cooperate with Your Highness, what should Your Highness do?"

Liu Xian said: "Be the first to request to return to the vassal state!"

"Now that His Highness is in the capital, holding military power, the Queen and the Prince of Runan are wary and dare not attack each other."

"As long as Your Highness resigns and returns to Xiangyang to observe the situation, the two factions will inevitably be unable to coexist. Just like when Cao Cao initiated a truce after Yuan Shao's death, the two Yuans would attack each other in Hebei, causing chaos."

"The King of Runan is unknown, and the Queen is incompetent. They will both suffer losses. If Your Highness retreats bravely, you will surely be praised throughout the land and admired by the nine provinces! Then, I will persuade the Crown Prince and invite Your Highness to return to the capital to take charge of the situation. Everything will then fall into place naturally and effortlessly."

After saying that, Liu Xian easily noticed that the expressions of everyone present had become very gloomy, and Liu Xian was well aware of the result.

After all, this means giving the initiative to others, and turning a small task that could be completed in a few days into a major task that may take a year or even several years to complete.

The most important quality of a politician is to live in the present. A dead person cannot make plans for decades, so officials in government will become extremely eager for quick success and instant benefits.

But Liu Xian doesn't think so now. He believes that living in the present and long-term planning are not in conflict. As Xunzi said, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. As long as one is not dead, one should strive for the best.

Unfortunately, just as he expected, Sima Wei pondered for a long time and did not look at Liu Xian again. Instead, he said to Qi Sheng, "Draft a letter and ask the Queen what her current attitude is towards the Prince of Runan."

He rejected Liu Xian's suggestion.

Liu Xian felt relieved, thinking, "That's fine. Even if Sima Wei wouldn't listen, I'd done my best. It's over, so it is. There's nothing to regret." Let them fight. From now on, he would focus on being a princeling.

As the meeting ended, Liu Xian was the first to walk out of the camp gate. Unexpectedly, when he was about to leave, he was suddenly stopped by someone.

He was very familiar with this person. When he turned around, he saw that it was indeed Shi Chao.

As childhood friends, they had not been in touch for a long time since the Qingming literary gathering. Now when they met again, happy childhood memories flooded their minds, but they were unable to say a word, because they were both adults and knew how to wear a hypocritical mask in order to survive.

Shi Chao asked, "Why are you leaving in such a hurry? We finally get to meet, let's spend some time together."

Liu Xian asked, "When did you follow His Highness? How come I didn't know?"

"In the current political situation, I must find a master I can trust. I trust your judgment, so I discussed it with my family elders and chose the King of Chu."

Is that so? This was too perfunctory, and Liu Xian didn't quite believe it. He looked up and around the Northern Army camp, sighing, "Then you made the wrong choice. I don't trust His Highness the King of Chu anymore, so I'm going to muddle through."

He said a sincere word to his childhood friend: "Xinu, this is a road of no return. Don't step into it. Find a way to reach the border."

After saying that, he hugged his right arm which had not yet healed, and ignoring Shi Chao's call behind him, tried to leave the land under his feet where a storm was about to blow.

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(End of this chapter)