Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 286 Ding You observes filial piety
Jingzhou, Xiangyang, a quiet room in Da Sima Mansion.

Huan Wen asked Xi Chao:
"Xi'er wants to attack Hedong and invites me to increase troops in Chang'an. What does Jing Xing think?"

Xi Chao smiled and said:

"Chu Gong asked me, isn't it unnecessary?"

Due to the close relationship between Xi Chao and Huan Xi, now that Huan Xi wants something from Huan Wen, Xi Chao will only give him side encouragement and will never stand in the way.

Seeing that he spoke without hesitation, Huan Wen insisted:

"Jingxing is my mastermind. For such a big matter, I naturally have to listen to your thoughts."

Hearing this, Xi Chao put away his smile and said seriously:

"The additional troops in Luoyang are only a waste of military expenses and will be harmful rather than beneficial to the Chu State.

"However, Chu and Liang are one family, and the prince's safety in Hedong is also closely related to the success or failure of Chu Gong's hegemony.

This sentence touched Huan Wen's heart.

Huan Wen heard that it was his fourth son Huan Yi who was yelling outside. He stood up and walked out of the door, intending to scold him. However, when he saw Huan Yi's panicked look, Huan Wen couldn't help but feel nervous, thinking that something big had happened at home.

"You should be like Han Xin in ordering troops, the more the better."

"Jingxing, you are so eloquent."

Ruzi refers not only to children, but also to the heirs of emperors, princes, and ministers.

"If the prince can successfully capture the east of Hedong, the whole world will soon belong to the Huan family.

While the two were talking and laughing, rapid footsteps sounded in the yard.

Xi Chao smiled and said:

What you say is right and correct.

Huan Wen shook his head helplessly and said:
"You, without knowing anything, thought that Xi Jingxing was serving as the minister of the Liang Kingdom."

Xi Chao didn't take it seriously and joked:
"Mr. Chu is joking, how can the prince take his complaints to heart? If the minister's prediction is correct, the prince will just complain to his wife directly."

Huan Wen said dissatisfied:
"Could it be that if I don't send troops, he still dares to complain."

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Huan Wen regarded himself as a hero of the world, but he couldn't stand up to Sima Xingnan.

"That's all, let alone reciprocity of courtesy. As Jing Xing said, Chu and Liang are one family. If Xi'er can capture Bingzhou, it will be of great benefit to my hegemony."

With that said, Huan Wen asked:
"Jingxing thinks how many troops are appropriate?"

Huan Wen touched his nose and smiled reluctantly:
"Don't tell me, this is what this kid can do."

Xi Chaosurong said:
"Whether he is an official in the Chu State or receives a salary from the Liang State, he is contributing to the Huan family, and the Duke of Chu is the head of the Huan family."

This reminded Huan Wen of his mother Kong Xian's condition.

"If the crown prince is defeated and merges with the state, the great cause of unifying the world will surely suffer setbacks.

"Besides, courtesy reciprocates. Before the Xianbei rebellion in Hexi, the prince still responded to the Duke of Chu's Northern Expedition with 30,000 elite troops. Now if I refuse the prince's request, I will only worry that it will give someone with ulterior motives an opportunity to drive a wedge between father and son."

When Huan Yi saw his father, he couldn't help but shed tears:

"Grandpa! Mother asked you to go back quickly, grandma, grandma is dying!"

When Huan Wen heard this, his eyesight went dark and he couldn't even stand still. Fortunately, Xi Chao who was following behind him had quick eyesight and quick hands to hold him up and prevent him from falling to the ground.

"Go back home! Go back home quickly!"

Huan Wen roared.

Compared with Sima Xingnan, who was able to dominate the house, Huan Wen's mother Kong Xian did not have much sense of existence.

After all, with such a powerful daughter-in-law, the mother-in-law has to stay away, otherwise the family will be in trouble. Of course, this is also related to Kong Xian's own temperament. After losing her husband in middle age, she was pure-hearted and unwilling to pay attention to the affairs of the house. She only ate in her courtyard every day, chanted Buddha's name, and prayed for her children and grandchildren.

When Huan Wen was young, his father was killed and his family fell into decline, so his relationship with his mother was particularly deep.

Chu Gong's Mansion, backyard.

Huan Wen quickly came to the ward. Sima Xingnan was wiping tears in front of the bed. Kong Xian saw Huan Wen and said with a smile:
"You came."

He seemed to be in good spirits, but Huan Wen knew that this should be a return to the past, otherwise Sima Xingnan would not have been able to call him back in a hurry, and now he was crying next to him.

He reached the bed and held Kong Xian's old hand tightly. Tears welled up in his eyes and finally fell from the corners of his eyes:
"Mother, the child is back."

Kong Xian stretched out his hand to wipe away Huan Wen's tears and comforted him:

"Birth, old age, illness and death are human nature. Don't be too sad."

As he spoke, Kong Xian said with some sadness on his face:

"It's a pity that my children and grandchildren are now serving as officials in other places, and I won't be able to see them one last time when I die."

Huan Wen felt guilty after hearing this.

That night, Kong Xian died of illness in Xiangyang, and Huan Wen was devastated.

According to the traditional Confucian concept of filial piety, when a parent dies, no matter what position he or she holds, one must immediately resign and observe filial piety for their parents for three years, which is called Ding You.

The Dingyou system began in the Han Dynasty, and now it has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The Jin Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. Even if someone was as powerful as Huan Wen, he had to report to the court and ask for dismissal. Otherwise, he would be despised by the world.

Of course, of course, law is nothing more than human relations, let alone a system.

The court can issue decrees to seize affection as needed, and officials do not have to follow the Dingyou system.

But regardless of whether the court seized his love or not, Huan Wen had to follow this procedure, that is, voluntarily resign from his official position.

Huan Wen was still in the mood to pay attention to these things at this time, so he asked Xi Chao to draw up a resignation note on his behalf.

Xi Chao presented the memorial table:
"Please also ask Mr. Chu to take a look."

Huan Wen waved his hand without reviewing it. He could trust Xi Chao's work.

"Have you informed everyone to come back for the funeral?"

Xi Chao replied:

“Everything has been arranged, and we have to go eight hundred miles in a hurry.

"In the letter sent to Chang'an, I also specifically reminded the prince that he must go south."

Huan Wen nodded.

In fact, with the death of Kong Xian, Huan Xi would no longer be able to attack Hedong.

After all, according to the etiquette system, it was not only Huan Wen who needed to resign. His brothers Huan Yun, Huan Huo, Huan Mi, Huan Chong and others had to resign from their official positions and observe mourning for three years in accordance with the rules.

As a grandson, Huan Xi also had to resign and observe mourning for one year.

Even if the imperial court issued an order to seize love, Huan Xi, as the eldest grandson, must return to Xiangyang for the funeral instead of provoking a war in the north.

Of course, even if you resign from an official position, you are resigning from an official position in the Jin Dynasty. For example, Huan Wen's Sima and Huan Xi's generals have already established a state and cannot be eliminated because of Ding You.

As for Huan Yun, Huan Huo, Huan Mi, Huan Chong and others, Jingzhou, Jiangzhou and Sizhou are the territory of Chu State, so they are naturally officials of Chu State.

Therefore, the memorial to resign was sent to Xiangyang, not Jiankang.

In fact, Huan Wen had already planned that his second brother Huan Yun would take the place of his brothers and observe mourning for three years, while the rest would remain in their original posts.

Especially Huan Huo, who was guarding Luoyang, and Huan Chong, who was in charge of Jiangzhou. These two positions were too important and had to be from his own family.

(End of this chapter)