I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 117: The Eighth Year of Qingli
The journey to the northern barbarians was much smoother than Li Chengzong had imagined.

Not only did he get rid of his old enemy, he also killed the leader of the Northern Barbarians, causing the Northern Barbarians to fall directly into civil strife.

This was a situation that neither Zhan Doudou nor Emperor Qing had expected.

This was a great thing for Northern Qi.

Because Northern Qi no longer had to worry about the savage and tall barbarians behind it for the time being, it could finally free up its hands to deal with the Qing people in the south, and that hand was naturally the famous general of Northern Qi, Uesugi Tora.

For Qing Kingdom, it is not a good thing, but it is not a bad thing either.

Although the internal strife among the barbarians in the north allowed Northern Qi to dispatch the border troops led by Shangshan Hu to deal with Qing State, the northern barbarians, who had not experienced three consecutive years of blizzards, were much stronger than when they migrated later. Therefore, during the civil strife among the northern barbarians, some of them bypassed Tianmai and migrated to the west of Qing State. These people had enough power to start a war with the Western Hu for territory, thus reducing the pressure on the west of Qing State.

But even so, Emperor Qing was still very annoyed by Li Chengzong's actions.

On the one hand, for Yu Qingguo, Northern Qi was the real opponent, and Li Chengzong's actions were tantamount to strengthening Northern Qi's strength.

Fortunately, because of the marriage of Zhan Pianpian and Li Chengru, the two countries have temporarily entered a period of easing, so there is no need to worry about Northern Qi starting a war first.

On the other hand, it was naturally because Li Chengzong did not listen to his arrangements.

Unfortunately, after Li Chengzong killed a large number of barbarians in the north and headed west with a barbarian tribe he conquered from the grassland, he disappeared. Even the people in Prince Ding’s mansion didn’t know where he was now.

Therefore, Emperor Qing had no way to teach his son a lesson and could only vent his anger on the personal guards of Prince Ding's mansion.

Three hundred Blood-Clothed Guards were transferred to the border army, and the Blood-Clothed Army was rebuilt and formed at the beginning of the seventh year of the Qingli period.

Because of the formation of the Blood-Cloth Army, the originally relaxed relationship between Qing and Northern Qi became tense again.

In the autumn of the seventh year of the Qingli period, Uesugi Tora, who had never fought against the Blood-Cloth Army before, did not think that the Blood-Cloth Army was very powerful and took the initiative to provoke friction.

Naturally, the Blood-Clothed Army would not tolerate him, and allowed the friction to directly turn into a war, and they invaded the territory of Northern Qi.

Sixty thousand fought against a hundred thousand, and the Blood Clothes Army paid the price of ten thousand men, leaving behind the 50,000 troops under Uesugi Tiger, while at the same time capturing a state of Northern Qi.

Cangzhou!

This was the great victory in Cangzhou.

In this battle, Uesugi Tora was seriously injured and suffered the first defeat in his life.

Two people died on the Blood-Clothed Guards side, which was also the first death among the Blood-Clothed Guards since their appearance.

Coincidentally, Li Chengzong, who was traveling in the West at that time, found the temple left over from the previous Western civilization and was attacking the Western temple.

Seeing the system prompt, everyone was confused.

Even though I know that the dead guards will be resurrected after the next time I travel through time, the feelings they have had for each other over the years are real.

Li Chengzong was angry, but because it was a critical moment in the attack on the Western Temple, he resisted the urge to return to Qing Kingdom for revenge.

After the news of the Cangzhou victory was reported back to the capital of Qing, both the officials in the court and the common people were excited. The warlike genes and passion for expanding borders that were deeply buried in the blood of the Qing people were aroused to the extreme by this great victory.

It was at this time that Fan Xian unexpectedly sent Fan Ruoruo to Northern Qi to become a disciple of Grandmaster Ku He.

Of course, this matter is not important, at least for officials in the court and ordinary people. What is more important is the national war between the two countries after the victory in Cangzhou.

After all, Your Majesty would not insist on the absurd idea of ​​peaceful coexistence with Northern Qi in the face of such great news and do something contrary to people's sentiment.

However, to everyone's surprise, Emperor Qing did not actually announce the start of a national war.

Just like in the fourth year of the Qingli period, after gaining victory in one state, the conquest was stopped and Fan Xian was sent to Northern Qi again to be held accountable.

In the spring of the eighth year of the Qingli period, after Fan Xian had gained a lot of benefits, a grand wedding was held in the capital of Qing Kingdom.

——The wedding of the eldest prince Li Chengru and the eldest princess Zhan Pianpian of Northern Qi.

On the day of the wedding, a piece of news reached Kyoto.

——The third prince of Qing, Li Chengzong, died in the west.

At the same time, a corpse was also sent by the Hu people from the west.

Everyone in the world knew that Li Chengzong was a grandmaster more powerful than Si Gu Jian. How could he die at the hands of Western barbarians? So no one believed it at all.

But there were too many things on the body that Xihu sent to Kyoto that proved that the body was the third prince of Qing.

In addition, there are so-called witnesses and very reasonable reasons, which make people unable to help but believe it.

As a result, Qin Yu fainted on the spot.

When she woke up, before she had recovered from her grief, another rumor spread throughout Kyoto.

——Concubine Qin Xian of Yuxiu Palace kept a male favorite.

Qin Yu certainly didn't care. What she cared about most were her grandchildren who were living outside.

But she didn't care, because the retainers of Prince Ding's Mansion would not let their old lady be humiliated.

Therefore, when this news came out, the entire Qing nation was in panic.

Because the Grand Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition, Li Junxin, returned to the capital without an imperial edict with the rebuilt 50,000 Blood-Clothed Army, the northern border of Qing Kingdom was in a state of military shortage.

At the same time, the Western Hu people and the barbarians who migrated to Western Hu reached some kind of agreement and united to launch a war in the western border of Qing State, which put Qing State in a situation where it was attacked from all sides and the pressure increased dramatically. Fortunately, Qin Yu came forward to stop the Blood Clothes Army on its way back to Beijing and persuaded Li Junxin to lead the army back to the northern border of Qing State.

Li Junxin was punished for returning to the capital without an imperial edict.

However, what surprised everyone in the court was that Emperor Qing actually fined Li Junxin for three years of salary, but still let him serve as the General of the Northern Expedition and continue to lead the Blood-Cloth Army.

The Blood-Clothed Army returned to the northern border, bringing temporary stability to the northern part of Qing. However, the temporary stability of the situation in the northern border did not ease the severe situation in Qing. Instead, it showed a tendency to intensify.

Not to mention that the coalition forces of the Western Hu and Northern Barbarians to the west of Emperor Qing did not stop their offensive, the small countries to the south of Qing, led by the Nanzhao Kingdom, formed a coalition and also started a war to attack Qing.

In addition, there is Dongyi City to the east of Qing State. Ever since the city lord Si Gu Jian came out of seclusion during the Spring Festival of the eighth year of Qingli, he has changed his attitude from previous years and openly instigated the surrounding small countries to resist Qing State. It seems that war is about to break out.

Faced with enemies on three sides, Northern Qi naturally could not sit still. After digesting and absorbing some northern barbarian tribes that came from the far north, it increased its troops on the border between Qing and Qi and began to create friction.

In the spring of the eighth year of the Qingli period, the Qing Kingdom was surrounded by enemies on all sides.

The external situation is already very serious, and the internal situation of Qing is still unstable.

In addition to the death of Li Chengzong and the fact that the virtuous concubine in Yuxiu Palace kept a man, there is also the matter that the crown prince may be deposed.

At the beginning of autumn last year, when the Blood Clothes Army and the border army under Uesugi Tiger fought, the Crown Prince and the Second Brother's factions, in order to combat Fan Xian, who had become a serious threat, jointly investigated the Ministry of Revenue and the Inner Treasury. The biggest loophole they finally found was the military supply problem of the northern border army. However, the Crown Prince did not expect that the matter would eventually be traced back to him. Fortunately, the Blood Clothes Army was not summoned to the capital because of Qin Yu's reputation, and Emperor Qing suppressed it later, thus avoiding his humiliating end.

But now that the court has brought up the matter again, the officials in the court have all smelled something different. In addition, there was a fire in the East Palace a few years ago, and the prince was sent to Nanzhao but returned empty-handed and was placed under house arrest, etc. These are all rumors that the prince will be deposed.

However, after Xin Qiwu, an important figure in the Eastern Palace, was imprisoned, many court officials thought that the issue of deposing the crown prince would be over. But no one expected that Xin Qiwu would be released after three days in prison.

Although Xin Qiwu confessed nothing, he did not suffer any torture in the Censorate, but it seemed different to outsiders. In addition, the Censorate, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate continued to target the prince and submitted secret reports to the Imperial Study. In a meeting in the Imperial Study, the reports were presented to the Ministry of Personnel, the Secretariat, and the six ministers, who were the power figures in the Kingdom of Qing.

The two grand secretaries of the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel pleaded for the prince and even acted as his guarantor, which made Emperor Qing give up his feigned anger. But after the court was dismissed, the two grand secretaries sighed when they gathered together for a drink.

Emperor Qing was determined to depose the crown prince, but these two university scholars had to protect the prince. It had nothing to do with faction, but it was the attitude they had to express as loyal ministers. As long as the prince was the crown prince, they had to treat him as an emperor.

The most crucial thing is that court officials represented by the two grand secretaries Shu and Hu all believed that the prince might have been a little absurd and confused in his early years, but he has made a lot of progress in the past two years. In order to avoid the shock caused by the struggle for imperial power in the court, to prevent Fan Xian, who is far away in Jiangnan, from getting involved in these matters, and for the current severe external situation of Qing Kingdom, they hope that Emperor Qing can calm down and not think of deposing the crown prince again.

After all, no matter from which angle you look at it, with Prince Ding Li Chengzong having passed away, the current crown prince is the best choice for Qing State. He can avoid internal friction within Qing State and avoid the dominance of Fan Xian, who controls the inner treasury and is also the successor to the Supervisory Council.

Emperor Qing was not stupid. He knew the benefits that checks and balances between the monarch and his subjects brought to the Kingdom of Qing. He also anticipated that deposing the crown prince would cause great opposition, so he chose to remain silent for the time being. It seemed that after one storm, he really gave up the idea of ​​deposing the crown prince.

However, the two Grand Secretaries Shu and Hu, as well as all the court officials, knew that Emperor Qing was a man who did not make decisions easily. Once he made a decision, he would stick to it to the end no matter what difficulties he faced.

Sure enough, a few days later, the memorial from Xue Qing, the governor of Jiangnan Road, was delivered to the palace and read out at the grand court meeting. Every word and sentence was a hidden reference to the Eastern Palace, and everyone knew what it meant.

Shu Wu was furious. Even though he knew that the situation was irreversible, he still stepped out and cursed, accusing Xue Qing of having rebellious intentions. Then Emperor Qing used an excuse to ask him to return home to recuperate for three months.

Afterwards, six more governors-general sent memorials to the capital, their voices varying in tone, explicit or implicit, but they all implicitly expressed their attitude, which was that Crown Prince Li Chengzong was not fit to sit in the Eastern Palace.

On the other hand, the court officials in Kyoto, especially the officials of Menxia and Zhongshu, still played the mainstream role allowed by Emperor Qing. Led by the officials of Zhongshu and Menxia, ​​the bold ones expressed their opposition in the court meetings, while the timid ones remained silent. In any case, no court official, at the suggestion of Emperor Qing, submitted a petition to change the crown prince.

That's right, no matter how much the officials liked to flatter Emperor Qing, they did not submit a petition to change the crown prince. After all, the crown prince had not committed any major mistakes, and if he was deposed, it would be really unacceptable and would not be able to be explained in history books in the future.

So after a court meeting, seeing that Emperor Qing had no intention of giving in, several civil officials went to Shu Mansion and carefully sought the opinion of Grand Secretary Shu Wu, and then Shu Wu went to Prince Ding's Mansion.

Of course, he had nothing to do with Prince Ding's Mansion, but went to find his teacher Zhuang Mohan.

In the sixth year of the Qingli period, Zhuang Mohan traveled to many small countries with some of his disciples, and then came to the capital of Qing State and lived in the Dingwang Mansion. He was responsible for writing stories every day, sending them to the bookstore opened by Li Chengzong and his brothers two years ago for printing, and then spreading them.

Apart from that, he would go to the school in the palace to attend classes, and also take classes with the younger generation in the palace. He lived a very comfortable life every day, and he didn't feel tired even after playing with the fourth-generation grandson of the Zhuang family for most of the day.

Yes, Zhuang Mohan found Sean's grandson and brought him to Prince Ding's Mansion. His worries were relieved. In addition, Li Chengzong had combed his body, and now he is in good health. It seems that he can live for many years. Anyway, he looks younger than his student Shu Wu.

Zhuang Mohan warmly entertained Shu Wu and answered the question of this student, who was already a university scholar, with just one simple sentence.

"Although the king may have given orders, it is the way of a subject not to obey them in violation of the rules."

Then, Shu Wu sent this sentence to the civil officials who came, and the court fell into a strange confrontation. The court officials opposed it, and Emperor Qing asked local officials outside the capital to make memorials.

On the other hand, Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who was the person involved in the dethronement incident in the Eastern Palace, remained gentle and calm, as if he did not care at all about the incident that might affect his life and death.

There were no capable officials in his faction at present, but this time he won the support of so many civil officials. It could be said to be an unexpected surprise, but also a dangerous signal. So Li Chengqian became more silent while secretly grateful.

In this turmoil of deposing the crown prince, there were two young men who attracted the most attention of the ministers. The relationship between these two young men and the crown prince was very complicated, and it could be said that it was a life-and-death situation, but their performance was very surprising.

One is Fan Xian. He is the biological son of His Majesty. Although he is an illegitimate child, the power in his hands is not small. When the third prince dies, he has every opportunity to enter the East Palace.

However, when the rumor of deposing the crown prince just started, he ran to Jiangnan. Moreover, while the officials from other places were submitting their reports, he remained dead silent even in Jiangnan. His daily reports did not mention the word "deposing the crown prince" at all. He looked like he was completely staying out of the matter. It is really hard to understand why he did not kick the man when he was down.

The other one is the second prince Li Chengze. Before Fan Xian came to Beijing, he was the most favored by His Majesty except Li Chengzong. He gathered a large group of ministers in the court. Later, everyone knew that the eldest princess protected the prince openly and protected him secretly. On the surface, his power was greater than that of the prince. The so-called seizure of the throne referred to him first.

However, there have been many major events in Kyoto recently, but it seems that they have nothing to do with the second prince. The eldest princess who returned to the capital was imprisoned, but the second prince was fine. Instead, the crown prince was exiled and sent to Nanzhao.

Now that the Crown Prince is in imminent danger of being deposed, the Second Prince would logically be the biggest beneficiary and he should have taken some action, even if it meant keeping silent to avoid suspicion or to please His Majesty. However, he chose to mobilize his officials and stand against Emperor Qing.

You know, although a lot of his power was lost by Fan Xian, he has been building it up for so many years after all. In addition, he and Ye Ling'er are engaged. After the marriage, he will be half the master of the Ye family. He speaks for the prince and is still quite effective, so the court officials really can't understand his actions.

The Second Brother and Fan Xian are the prince's brothers, but they are also his two biggest enemies. However, when the prince was in the most dangerous time, the two of them expressed their support for the prince in different ways. It has to be said that this is a very strange situation.

However, what is even more bizarre is that when the matter of deposing the crown prince reached its climax, Emperor Qing suddenly made a move that no one expected.

He actually wants to go to Dadong Mountain to offer sacrifices to the heaven? !
(End of this chapter)