Fu Shanhe

Chapter 454 The Chaotic Beginning

"Duke Cheng, why did you leave so suddenly?"

After hesitating for a moment, Emperor Yongning asked.

"Your Majesty, news has been received that the Right Route Army is besieged. The Duke of Cheng is filled with grief and indignation."

He coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot and died before the imperial physician could treat him.

The eunuch who delivered the message hurriedly explained.

The nobility faction held absolute power in Dayu, but it was still internally divided into several factions.

The four major figures of the former aristocratic faction each represented a different group of people.

This situation is not purely driven by self-interest, but rather by political needs.

Although the four major factions in the military compete with each other, they do not have direct conflicts on core interests. The factional divisions are mainly for show.

One's affiliation depended on whichever governor they served under.

When personnel are transferred or leave, the faction or camp will automatically change.

The checks and balances among everyone can be considered a different form of power balance.

With the death of the Marquis of Wuyang, this power structure was broken for the first time.

Most of the forces that originally belonged to him were lost on the battlefield.

To appease the emperor, the Jing and Li families did not take the opportunity to expand, but instead allowed these remaining forces to become new factions.

In order to help them grow up quickly, most of these people were promoted to positions in the northern frontier during subsequent military adjustments.

The current right wing army is mainly composed of generals from the Jing family lineage, and it is filled with a large number of Jing family members.

If anything happens to this team, the Jing family's plans in the military will be ruined.

Without the support of the military, the next Duke of Cheng will not only be unable to remain in the center of power, but his own safety will also be threatened.

During Jing Guoliang's tenure as Grand Secretary, he offended quite a few people.

When the Jing family was powerful, no one dared to touch them. But once they entered a period of decline, hungry wolves from all directions would pounce on them.

It's normal that someone who was already seriously ill couldn't withstand such a blow.

For Emperor Yongning, the normal death of the Duke of Cheng was equivalent to eliminating a major threat.

Unfortunately, Jing Guoliang died at the worst possible time, at this critical juncture, which was bound to affect the morale of the troops.

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to deal with the aftermath."

The right flank army is in imminent danger; the court must make a decision as soon as possible.

Seeing that the emperor was about to get angry, Xu Zhongen hurriedly tried to persuade him.

People who are dead cannot be brought back to life, so there is no point in discussing it further. The key is to preserve the right flank army.

The power of the Great Yu Dynasty was already unbalanced, and the loss of the Right Route Army would only make the consequences more serious.

The Jing and Li families checked and balanced each other, thus maintaining imperial power.

If one company becomes dominant, no one can guarantee what will happen next.

"Ok!"

"Immediately summon the court officials to discuss matters and have the Ministry of Rites draft funeral arrangements."

The Imperial Guards were instructed to strengthen their defenses and guard against any unforeseen events.

After calming down, Emperor Yongning immediately made a decision.

Jing Guoliang's death has had a huge impact; it could potentially cause trouble within the military.

At such a sensitive time, we must prepare for the worst.

……

"You guys seem to have something on your mind?"

Looking at his three sons, who all looked worried, Li Yuan asked them a question.

He knew his own son best.

It's impossible to hide anything from him.

"Father, the Duke of Cheng has passed away!"

Li Sen answered with a nervous expression.

They originally wanted to keep the news under wraps so their father wouldn't worry, but the matter had already spread throughout the army.

White sails were hung outside, making it impossible to hide.

"Hey!"

"Have someone arrange a carriage and horses; I want to see him off on his final journey."

Li Yuanqiang struggled to sit up in bed and said.

As old friends and acquaintances keep leaving, there's no way to deny that you're getting old.

"Father, your health is not suitable for going out."

Now that the Duke of Cheng has passed away, it is a time of great anxiety and uncertainty, and we need your help to stabilize the situation!

Li Sen hurriedly tried to persuade him.

Jing Guoliang died too quickly; his eldest son was still on his way, and there was no time to complete the transfer of political resources.

Right now is not only the most chaotic time for the Jing family line, but also the most bewildered time for the entire noble lineage.

With the loss of a leader, many things cannot proceed smoothly.

The news of the right flank army being besieged made the prospects of this major battle truly worrying.

"Even though I'm not feeling well, I have to go. I need to personally confirm that Brother Jing died of natural causes, as this is related to our next arrangements."

You should secretly send people to investigate the imperial physicians who treated Brother Jing.

"I can't believe it, my brother Jing has passed away so soon!"

Li Yuan said with a solemn expression.

It's clear that he's starting to suspect the cause of Jing Guoliang's death.

There's nothing we can do; it's just too much of a coincidence.

It is normal for one regent to die of illness; of the eight regents of the Yongning Dynasty, half died suddenly from illness.

The other deaths were equally gruesome.

Grand Secretary Pang died suddenly in office, Xu Wenyue was assassinated in court, and the most tragic case was Zuo Guang'en, who was forced to commit suicide.

As the only remaining seedling, it's hard not to think about it.

My suspicions began to grow, and the more I looked, the more abnormal it seemed.

"Father, you mean..."

Li Sen quickly shut up halfway through his sentence.

Some things are okay to think about, but you should never say them out loud without evidence.

Once it is confirmed that there were problems with Jing Guoliang's death, it will inevitably cause a huge uproar throughout the government and the public.

If the nobles don't rebel, they'll be considered loyal to the emperor and patriotic; it's impossible to expect them to swear to serve the court to the death.

“It’s not that I, as your father, am saying this, but that someone wants this situation to happen.”

His Majesty is easily influenced and can be easily manipulated.

He forced a defense of Emperor Yongning, but this deliberate cover-up seemed more like a blatant attempt to conceal something.

If any problems are found, Emperor Yongning will be the prime suspect.

Explanations are meaningless; people only believe what they see.

If the emperor wanted to do something, he didn't need to issue a decree in person; a mere glance was enough to achieve his goal.

Many political events in history are largely a murky affair.

There were conspiracies and schemes, coincidences, and some were simply misunderstandings.

Whatever the truth is, it won't affect the final outcome.

……

When the Duke of Cheng passed away, the Ministry of Rites set up a mourning hall as quickly as possible.

While the filial sons and grandsons were still on their way, military generals had already arrived one after another to pay their respects.

Every face was filled with murderous intent.

This gave the Vice Minister of Rites, who was in charge of welcoming the guests, a real headache.

The death of the Duke of Cheng was not his responsibility.

These thugs vented their resentment on him; it was a completely undeserved disaster.

Even if he had a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare to provoke the Duke of Cheng.

"My lord, the Marquis of Zhenyuan has arrived."

Upon receiving this news, Vice Minister Du hurriedly got up to greet him.

Deep down, he couldn't help but curse.

If I had known this arduous task would be so difficult, I should have learned from the Minister of Rites and strategically "fell ill."

It was no secret in the army that the Duke of Cheng and the Marquis of Zhenyuan were seriously ill.

One of them is already dead, and the remaining one isn't resting and getting better; he's out jumping around on the air.

If something goes wrong during the memorial service, he won't be able to handle it.

"Your Majesty, has he come?" Ignoring Vice Minister Du's politeness, Li Yuan immediately asked the question he was concerned about.

According to etiquette and regulations, under normal circumstances, when a prince or nobleman dies, the emperor only needs to send someone to offer sacrifices on his behalf.

But this is clearly not the normal situation. The Duke of Cheng not only died in office, but also died during the emperor's personal expedition.

To appease the people, the emperor should also make the trip in person.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Xu has been sent over."

Vice Minister Du answered with a nervous expression.

In fact, Emperor Yongning did not come in person, and he also felt that the emperor was too cold-hearted.

For the Great Yu Dynasty, the Duke of Cheng was a great hero who turned the tide.

When they are alive, they have reached the pinnacle of power and status, and they should be honored even after they die.

Especially when one's children are not by one's side, the court needs to pay more attention to the arrangements after their death.

In the eyes of ordinary people, it is an honor for the emperor to personally offer sacrifices.

For nobles, this would be a political statement.

It was clear that Emperor Yongning did not want to see the noble faction continue to grow stronger.

He did not appear in the funeral arrangements for the Marquis of Wuyang.

Now that it's the Duke of Cheng's turn to hold a funeral, he also doesn't want to show his face.

It's not that I'm heartless, it's just that politics doesn't allow for tenderness.

With another pillar of the aristocratic faction gone, it is precisely the time to stabilize morale.

Once the emperor personally offered sacrifices, it would be seen by officials as a political statement.

At that time, a large number of speculators will flock to the nobility faction.

The precarious situation of the aristocratic faction can be stabilized immediately.

Even without the Duke of Cheng, other nobles will come up to fill the vacancy, making it easy to achieve a smooth transition of power.

This is good news for the nobility, but a disaster for other factions in the court.

If the nobility continues to control the government, how can everyone else survive?
Not only did the officials not want to see this, but Emperor Yongning could not tolerate it either.

"I know, go down!"

Li Yuan waved his hand and said.

The fact that the emperor hadn't come was disappointing, but it was also within his expectations.

"I'm resigning!"

After saying this, Minister Du, covered in sweat, hurriedly left the mourning hall.

What the Marquis of Zhenyuan wants to do is not something he has the right to ask.

"Please trouble you, sir, to examine Brother Jing's body."

After dismissing the officials from the Ministry of Rites, Li Yuan, suppressing his grief, gave instructions to the coroner who accompanied him.

"Your Excellency is too kind. I will do my utmost to fulfill my duty."

After saying this, with the help of the three Li brothers, the coffin was slowly opened.

"There were no signs of external injury or poisoning, but the Duke had suffered severe bleeding before his death, which may have been due to drug incompatibility or food incompatibility."

After a long while, the old man spoke unsteadily.

Even if he didn't understand politics, he knew that if this outcome got out, it would cause a major incident.

But his professional ethics wouldn't allow him to lie.

"Cover it up!"

Please keep today's events a secret, sir.

We only came to pay our respects to Brother Jing; nothing else happened.

Li Yuan said calmly.

He was very dissatisfied with the current result, but he had no choice but to cover it up for the time being.

Given Jing Guoliang's status and position, he had dedicated staff to take care of his daily life.

Even prescriptions written by imperial physicians would be checked and confirmed to be safe before being used.

Drug incompatibility or food incompatibility is not possible under normal circumstances.

"My lord, perhaps we could send someone to examine the items used by the Duke during his lifetime."

The old coroner continued speaking somewhat haltingly.

In fact, he didn't want to cause trouble.

Experience told him that the more he got involved, the faster he would die.

But Li Yuan's courteous treatment made him unable to resist speaking up.

"Thank you for the reminder, sir!"

"Li Lai, take one hundred taels of silver and give it to the gentleman."

Li Yuan spoke slowly.

At a different time, he would most likely have chosen to silence them.

The situation is different now.

With his body in this state, he didn't have much time left to live, and he had no intention of cleaning up the mess left by the Great Yu.

There was no need to worry about the news leaking out; he was prepared to expose the matter himself and, incidentally, demand an explanation from Emperor Yongning.

At this point, it no longer matters whether Emperor Yongning takes action against Jing Guoliang.

The key is political compensation, which must be secured.

The right wing army is surrounded, and the Jing family's situation is in imminent danger.

If the emperor does not explicitly express his support, a series of troubles will inevitably follow.

Once the Jing family falls, the Li family, which once held absolute power, will become the target of public criticism.

While he was alive, he was able to suppress dissent from all sides, which was not a big problem.

Their power in the court could go even further, truly achieving absolute dominance over the entire government.

But once he passes away, his young son, who will inherit the title, will be completely unable to take over this enormous political resource.

The three eldest sons have already entered officialdom, but their status as sons of concubines imposes too many restrictions.

Let alone getting outsiders to foot the bill, even within the Li family itself, they wouldn't allow them to take power.

Li Mu, who was most capable of receiving power, was thousands of miles away.

In a leaderless situation, becoming the target of everyone's criticism can be fatal.

By lending a helping hand to the Jing family now, he is not only helping his political ally, but also paving the way for the Li family's future.

Having weathered the immediate political crisis, they remained largely silent for decades afterward, until the next emperor ascended the throne, when they were still the most prominent nobles of the Great Yu Dynasty.

……

Temporary palace.

Just after ordering all units to rescue the right wing army, Emperor Yongning received news that Li Yuan had gone to pay respects to the Duke of Cheng, which greatly angered him.

He was supposed to be bedridden, but suddenly he can go out again. Isn't this just playing with his brains?

However, with the chief minister having just died, even if he suspected that Li Yuan was feigning illness, he dared not do anything.

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician in charge of treating the Duke of Cheng has suddenly committed suicide in the camp."

Zheng Yingyi rushed into the tent in a panic and said.

The imperial physician arrived shortly after the Duke of Cheng died, clearly indicating to the outside world that there was something fishy about his death.

The person was sent by the emperor, and if things go wrong, a group of noble generals might directly blame the emperor.

"check!"

"Immediately seal off the camp and thoroughly investigate this case!"

Emperor Yongning issued an imperial edict immediately.

The fatal thing finally happened.

Reason told him that if he couldn't find the mastermind behind it all, he would become the scapegoat again.

The death of the previous chief minister led the officials to blame him, which nearly shook the imperial power.

If it happens again, no one can cover it up.

Having witnessed the antics of the nobles, he dared not take the blame for this deadly situation.

"Your Majesty, according to the investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there is no problem with the death of the Duke of Cheng."

It seems more like someone is deliberately creating the illusion that the Duke of Cheng has been murdered in order to demoralize the army!

Zheng Yingyi explained nervously.

Assassinating the Duke of Cheng was extremely difficult.

No matter how you arrange it, it's unlikely to be effective.

In comparison, killing a few imperial physicians would be much simpler.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the camp after the death of the Duke of Cheng, and with the addition of some fabricated evidence, a murder case was formed.

Even if the truth is revealed, it won't matter. Among so many nobles and generals, there will always be a few who are suspicious.

(End of this chapter)