Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 363: The Imperial Decree (Part )

Liu Bian took out the secret edict that he had prepared long ago and handed it to the attendant in front of him, and the attendant then took the secret edict and handed it to He Jin.

"This is the imperial edict written in my own blood. It is enough to prove that your actions are to eliminate traitors for the country, not to commit treason. Even if something goes wrong, I will shoulder the responsibility."

"What do you think, General?"

Liu Bian looked at He Jin and others, and spoke calmly the words he had prepared before, his tone extremely calm.

He Jin simply raised his head and looked at the emperor, then bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, we will obey your orders."

Yang Xiu, Yuan Ji and others looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes. After all, they had already arrived at the Weiyang Palace at this time. Did they still have a chance to choose?

Or it could be said that they had no chance to choose from the beginning, otherwise they would not have come to Weiyang Palace.

In the endless silence, everyone leaned forward and said at the same time: "We are willing to protect Your Majesty and take charge of the government."

This is the promise they made, even if it only counts until victory.

Only when He Jin led everyone away did Liu Bian breathe a sigh of relief. He leaned on the stool, feeling as if he had lost all strength.

Beside him, the Central Government Commander said with some concern: "Your Majesty, you gave this imperial decree to the general, but what if the general has a rebellious heart and gives it to the general, King An and others?"

"How will Your Majesty deal with it then?"

How to deal with yourself?

Liu Bian just had a confused look on his face: "Secret edict? What secret edict?"

"Did I give the general anything just now?"

His eyes flashed with gloom. "If it succeeds, this imperial edict will be written by me personally. The purpose is to eliminate the treacherous and corrupt officials and regain power just like our ancestor Guangwu did back then."

"But if this matter is exposed, then this secret decree is naturally forged by He Jin in order to gain power, and I am just a poor puppet emperor who was kept in the dark."

"What does it have to do with me?"

"Why should I care about how to deal with myself?"

The Central Government Official had some worry on his face; he thought the Emperor's behavior was a little too childish.

Liu Bian, however, did not care: "With Chen and King An here, even if things fail in the end, the worst result is that I will be deposed as an emperor by the emperor's uncles and then be crowned as a king, and they will just find another one from the royal family."

"Even if the emperor's uncle and General Cao want to kill me, Chen will help me."

"This is my confidence."

The Central Government Commander stood there without saying anything, because the possibility mentioned by the Emperor would most likely come true.

He just felt that the emperor was a little too shameless, wanting to deal with Chen on one hand, and using Chen on the other.
Liu Bian did not look back, but just leaned on the stool to regain his strength. This night came too suddenly, so his dealings with Liu Bei, He Jin and others just now were emergency arrangements made under desperation. At this time, he was so tired that he had no strength left and could only lean on this stool.

"Do you think I'm a bit shameless?"

Liu Bian said indifferently: "But if Chen had handed over the power to me earlier, how could I do such a thing?"

"No matter what, it's all Chen's fault."

"That power originally belongs to me!"

His eyes were filled with dissatisfaction, and he whispered, "Chen is just a slave of our Liu family. Isn't everything they have now given to them by our Liu family?"

"They are no different from those aristocratic families!"

The Central Government Officer felt even more helpless. Although he was the emperor's man, in fact, what he admired most were the ancestors of the Chen family.

Servant?

Was it given by Liu?
The commander of the Central Government felt a little disappointed with the emperor at this moment.

Chen's status was not given by Liu, but was earned bit by bit by himself. If one must say whose power was given by the other party, the Commander of the Central Government actually feels that Emperor Liu's status was given by Chen.

If it weren't for the Chen family, could the Liu family have become king?
Not to mention the distant past, let’s just talk about the Guangwu Rebellion. If it weren’t for the help of Chen Chong, the ancestor of the Chen family, would the emperor of the Liu family have been able to take back the world?
He lowered his eyes and said no more.

The emperor is such a person.

Anyone who stands in his way and prevents him from gaining power is his enemy.

An Wangfu
Chen Zhulou, who was awakened, was wearing clothes. He looked at Cao Cao who was a little anxious in front of him, sighed helplessly and said, "Meng De, why are you so anxious?"

"With General Dong here, the emperor's plan will not work."

Cao Cao had a gloomy face, his fists clenched tightly in his sleeves: "I shouldn't have let Xuande enter the palace from the beginning!"

"You shouldn't even have the slightest bit of mercy on him!"

The "he" in this sentence refers to the emperor, and both Cao Cao and Chen Zhulou understood this.

Chen Zhulou just lowered his head with his eyes slightly drooping. He looked at the scroll in his hand with a hint of fatigue in his eyes.

"Meng De, if this matter is over, what should we do?"

He lit the candle and sat there, his shadow falling on the wall behind him.

Cao Cao, who was also sitting behind Chen Zhulou, said softly, "I don't know either."

He said sadly: "Since the emperor dared to do such a thing, he must have a backup plan. After the emperor admitted defeat, can we do something even more outrageous?"

"I'll say it here. Although Xuande said before that if the emperor persists in his wrongdoings, he will definitely replace him."

"But where are the suitable children among the royal family now?"

Cao Cao smiled bitterly.

This is indeed the truth.

The emperor now has three sons, but all of them are still young, and the oldest is only five years old. Supporting such a person to the throne, not to mention whether he will resent them for abolishing the current emperor.

Just say that with such a young emperor taking the throne and the three of them controlling the government, what will happen to the rumors in the world?

As for other royal family members?

The current emperor has only one younger brother, who is the current King of Hongnong Liu Xie. However, Liu Xie is even inferior to his brother.

Liu Xie was stupid and cowardly, but he was also greedy.

Who knows, he might do the same thing as his brother in the future.

If the emperor is not allowed to abdicate, wouldn't that be falling into the emperor's plan and trap?
At that time, if the emperor continues to do something in secret, it will be difficult for them to control it.

Unless the emperor is imprisoned in the palace, no one is allowed to see him.

But this is even more unacceptable. If you do it, you will definitely be branded as a traitor.

That's why Cao Cao was so confused and helpless at this time.

If the emperor wants to purge the court, it can be solved, but what happens after this problem is solved?

Cao Cao raised his head, took a deep breath, looked at Chen Zhulou and said, "Donglin, since you asked this, you must have a solution in mind, right?"

He looked at Chen Zhulou with hope, but Chen Zhulou just shook his head lightly.

"No, I don't have any good ideas."

"Just take it one step at a time."

"The most important thing now is to see what happens tomorrow and then resolve the issue first."

"As for the rest?"

Chen Zhulou stood up, with some confidence in his eyes: "That's not important." Cao Cao nodded: "Okay."

"I think they will start tomorrow, probably during the court session. After all, we will be together at that time."

"It will also make it easier for our emperor to punish the thieves, right?"

When talking about killing the bandits, Cao Cao's face was full of sarcasm.

He looked towards the direction of the palace with disdain.

"There will definitely be something interesting tomorrow."

General's Mansion
He Jin sat at the top, while Yang Xiu, Yuan Ji, Wang Que and others sat below, looking respectful.

Yang Xiu lowered his head and calculated the power his side held.

Now that Uncle Liu has fallen ill, the power of the Jinwu Guards and the Yulin Army is all controlled by Wang Que, and the general who commands the troops of the world is also on their side. It can be said that this is almost foolproof.

But in the court, there is still a lack of power.

Yuan Ji was holding the teacup at this time. After taking a sip, he said, "General, to ensure that this matter is foolproof, why not pull that person aboard our warship as well?"

He sighed and said, "Although the Shangshu Ling does not want to get involved in these matters, he is a Confucian after all."

"If there is an opportunity to suppress political science, wouldn't Confucians want to get involved?"

Opportunities to suppress political science?

He Jin's eyebrows flickered for a moment, and then he asked with a smile: "What do you think?"

"Although Zigan is loyal and upright, it may be difficult for him to deal with the Chen family. After all, the Confucian school suffered a great loss at the hands of the Chen family."

Yang Xiu shook his head: "General, how can we deal with Chen?"

There was a gleam in his brows. In fact, it was not only the Confucians who were afraid of the Chen family, but they, too, were afraid of the Chen family.

"We are only dealing with the treacherous Cao Cao."

"As for King An?"

"King An is already so ill, are we going to let him worry about it?"

"As for the Crown Prince of An Kingdom."

Yang Xiu raised his head with a smug look on his face. "The Crown Prince of An Kingdom does not hold any official position at this time. When he returned home due to illness a year ago, he resigned from all his official positions, including the military commander and the eight lieutenants."

"And the famous Chen Zexi was just an official in the Prime Minister's Office at this time."

"At that time, Lu Zigan will be promoted to Prime Minister, Brother Yuan will go to the Secretariat, and I will be the Imperial Censor. In this way, won't the court still be under our control?"

"and--"

"It's still unclear whether King An's health will survive this year."

"When King An passes away, please confer a title on the Crown Prince of King An as usual. By then, the new King An will only have an empty title, and the rest of the real power will be in our hands."

"According to Chen's custom, if the emperor doesn't want it, Chen won't force it."

"By then, Chen Donglin will just follow the example of his ancestors and resign from his post, or return to Guandu with the empty title of a high-ranking official."

"We don't have to deal with the Chen family, and we can't deal with the Chen family. The only ones who can deal with the Chen family are themselves."

Yuan Ji also echoed Yang Xiu's words: "This group of people from the Chen family, a group of people who study political science and Confucianism, are just like those people who study Huang Lao, they emphasize the so-called compliance with the "heart" and do things they think are right."

"No fighting or scrambling."

"So we don't have to worry about Chen at all."

He Jin was convinced by the two men's arguments, which echoed each other. It seemed that all the successive heads of the Chen family were indeed like this.

They seem to be right.
Thinking of this, He Jin heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, if that's the case, then we'll kill that Cao Taiwei during the morning court tomorrow!"

"By then, it will be a done deal. Chen will be disappointed with the emperor, Liu, and the court, and will retreat back to Guandu on his own. As for the forces remaining in the court, they will also remain silent. Then we can focus on dealing with the emperor's uncle."

Everyone present understood that this “Imperial Uncle” was just a metaphor.

In fact, they are dealing with
Everyone looked at each other and smiled, seeing smiles in each other's eyes.

tacit agreement.

It's really a tacit understanding.

Yang Xiu and Yuan Ji stood up, clasped their hands and said, "Then General, we will go find the Minister of the Chancellery first."

"To prevent any mistakes from happening during the court meeting tomorrow."

He Jin just waved his hand to let them go. As soon as they left, Fu Wan, who had been beside He Jin, slowly spoke: "Does the general trust this person from aristocratic family so much?"

Fu Wan said hesitantly: "To plot with a noble family is like plotting with a tiger."

Since they both belong to the same external forces, it is natural that they will share the same hatred for the enemy, at least when the external enemy has not been resolved.

He Jin just smiled and said, "Aristocratic family?"

"Except for the Chen family, these noble families are nothing but trees without roots."

"A little bit of duckweed."

"Once I eliminate the external enemies, it will be their turn!"

Prime Minister's Office

It was already late at night, and Chen Zexi was still handling government affairs.

After all, his boss, the prime minister, has been on strike for a long time.

After finishing the last thing, he stood up, stretched and said, "Fengxian, I told you not to wait for me, why are you suffering here? Is there anyone who dares to kill me in the streets of the capital?"

Lu Bu, who was standing aside, just pursed his lips and then whispered: "We have to be on guard against this."

"I have received news that Dong Cheng and the Yulin Army are making moves, and it seems that they are planning to launch a coup."

"In such a chaotic situation, it is inevitable that some fools will make some stupid decisions."

Chen Zexi just smiled and said, "Don't worry."

His voice was full of meaning: "No matter how stupid those people are, they dare not be as stupid as me."

"Everyone in the world knows Chen's character, so they will not regard Chen as an enemy."

Chen Zexi, with his hands behind his back, walked out of the Prime Minister's office with Lu Bu. After getting on the carriage, he quietly looked at the moon outside.

"It's really nice weather tonight."

Residence of Lu Zhi, the Minister of Chancellery

Yuan Ji and Yang Xiu came together, and even Lu Zhi had to go out to greet them.

Because Lu Zhi was not from a poor family either.

He is the current head of the Fanyang Lu family.

Fuchu
Lu Zhi's expression flickered: "Why are you two here tonight?"

(End of this chapter)