Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5031: The Responsibility is Beared by the Secretary
After bidding farewell to Lady Lu and Princess Gaoyang, Zhang Zizhou went out with Fang Jun.

After getting on the carriage, Zhang Zizhou was a little embarrassed and explained, "I am very grateful for your kindness, aunt, but I have no other intention in coming to your house this time. I hope the commander will not misunderstand me. Although I am determined to advance in my official career, I may govern a place and benefit the people, or become a prime minister and make decisions on the country, but I will not think of those crooked ways, and I will not embarrass the commander because of my relatives."

Fang Jun didn't care about it. He smiled and said, "My reputation of loving and promoting talents is well known to the world. You and I are relatives, so it's not that I can't help you make further progress. It's just a small favor. But you should also know that all the people I recommend are quick-witted and capable, and they can stand on their own. If you have talent, I will recommend you. If you don't have talent, even if I recommend you, you will not be able to take on a big responsibility, and you will never make any progress in the future, and you will only become a laughing stock."

Although methods such as "recommendation" and "recruitment" have long been outdated and eliminated, since Zhang Zizhou has already passed the imperial examination, why not help arrange a good position for him on this basis?
This is the rule of how officialdom works, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Of course, the premise is that Zhang Zizhou has the talent, and is not a hopeless person...

Zhang Zizhou also laughed, quite relaxed: "As long as the general doesn't misunderstand my intention..."

Fang Jun shook his head and asked some more questions about Dayuling.

Arriving at Chengtian Gate, the two men got off the carriage. Fang Jun led Zhang Zizhou straight to Chengtian Gate. The imperial guards came forward and asked, "Does the Grand Commandant want to enter the palace?"

Fang Jun nodded and said, "Send someone to the Wude Hall to inform His Majesty that I have an urgent matter to attend to."

"Here!"

The imperial guards quickly asked their companions to open a door on one side to let Fang Jun and Zhang Zizhou enter the palace, and also sent someone to the Wude Hall to report.

Zhang Zizhou followed Fang Jun through the dimly lit doorway, and the magnificent Taiji Palace appeared before his eyes. He could not hide his excitement.

Although it was his first time to enter the palace, the son of an aristocratic family was not without experience. He knew that when ministers entered the palace to pay homage to the emperor, they usually had to wait outside Chengtian Gate and report to the emperor in the inner chamber before they could enter the palace and obtain permission. However, Fang Jun entered the palace first and then reported to the emperor. This shows how powerful he was...

……

In the Wude Hall, Li Chengqian, who had just finished lunch, was quite nervous when facing Fang Jun who had come back and claimed that it was "extremely urgent".

How earth-shattering must the matter be to be called "extremely urgent" by Fang Jun?
Only after hearing Fang Jun's narration did he feel slightly relieved. He asked the eunuch to take Zhang Zizhou to the side hall and nodded to Fang Jun, saying, "If Feng Ang is really critically ill, it is indeed a big deal."

Big things are indeed big things, but that’s all.

Today, with the opening of sea routes, the iteration of navigation technology and the development of shipbuilding technology, the navy can quickly transport tens of thousands of elite troops to the coast of the Tang Dynasty at any time. Even if Feng Ang died of illness or the Feng family mutinied, the court could still continuously transport troops to Lingnan to quell the chaos and wipe out the rebels.

In a sense, although such a war would consume a huge amount of manpower and material resources, it could also accomplish its goal in one battle, and completely bring the entire Lingnan under the jurisdiction of the central government, which might not be a bad thing...

Fang Jun observed Li Chengqian's expression and understood his intentions. He advised: "Lingnan is stable at present, and Feng Ang has been very obedient since he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Unless there is solid evidence, the central government can only appease him and cannot harshly control him. Otherwise, if this precedent is set, I am afraid that the whole world will be in panic."

The reason why the Tang Dynasty was so powerful was that it was "embracing all rivers and embracing the world". Since Emperor Gaozu, the Tang Dynasty had given the utmost trust to the Hu people who surrendered and submitted to the Tang Dynasty, and was generous with money, beautiful women, titles, etc. In particular, Emperor Gaozu was even willing to marry a princess to the Hu Khan to make him completely loyal...

Compared with the northern Hu tribes such as the Turks and Tuyuhun, Feng Ang seemed to be unable to threaten the central government, but in fact his influence in Lingnan was even greater than that of Ashina She'er, Zhishisili and others over the Turks.

Once the imperial court took action against Feng Ang, it would inevitably cause fear in the Turkic Khans such as Ashina She'er and Zhishishili, leading to the situation getting out of control and causing endless troubles.

Li Chengqian naturally knew the seriousness of this, and said gently: "Don't worry, Erlang, I know what to do."

Fang Jun reminded: "Your Majesty, please understand that the spies around Feng Ang are no longer useful."

He did not believe that His Majesty did not have spies around Feng Ang. How could a king not be on guard against a powerful figure like that sitting in the south of the country? And if the news of Feng Ang's serious illness did not reach the palace, it would mean that the spies planted in advance would either be useless or change their allegiance, completely losing their meaning.

But since this matter concerns Li Chengqian's secrets, as a minister, it is not easy for me to get too deeply involved.

Li Chengqian looked a little unhappy. He had placed spies around Feng Ang, and Feng Ang had also bribed the eunuchs and ministers around him. There was no swordplay but the fight between them was extremely dangerous. In the end, Feng Ang was the better one.

If it weren't for Zhang Zizhou's family serving in Shaozhou and having a sense of justice in their hearts, so they broke the news, I'm afraid he would have been unaware of it until Feng Ang died...

Nodding: "Don't worry, I know the seriousness of the matter and will not trust those people again."

Fang Jun hesitated for a moment and reminded in a low voice: "Your Majesty has misunderstood. That is not what I meant. I just wanted to remind Your Majesty to make the best use of everything. It would be a pity to throw it away in vain. Your Majesty must have paid a huge price to place those spies. If you cannot get some of the cost back, wouldn't it be a big loss?"

Li Chengqian: "..."

He rubbed his eyebrows and sighed in his heart.

Maybe I really have no political talent, otherwise why didn't I think of such an obvious truth?

After a pause, he asked, "In your opinion, how should Feng Ang be dealt with?"

Fang Jun said: "How the Central Government handles Feng Ang depends on his purpose of concealing his illness. If he has evil intentions and tries to make a desperate attempt at the last stage of his life, then the Central Government should mobilize all the troops and pacify Lingnan at lightning speed, regardless of the cost. Otherwise, if he is allowed to grow stronger, the price he will pay to pacify Lingnan again will be extremely huge."

"What do you think his purpose is? Does he really want to be the 'Southern Heavenly King' and compete with me, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty?"

"In my humble opinion, this may not be the case."

Fang Jun pondered and said, "Since Feng Ang surrendered, he has been respectful and reverent to Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Taizong, and Your Majesty. When the imperial court appointed officials, opened ports, and collected taxes in Lingnan, Feng Ang never disobeyed and fully cooperated. In particular, the establishment of the Guangzhou Maritime Customs Office can be said to have taken control of the entire Lingnan business, and all the officials were sent by the imperial court, and Feng Ang had no objection... From this, it can be seen that the possibility of him leading troops to rebel and rebel against the Tang Dynasty is very small."

Li Chengqian nodded in approval: "Then why did he do this?"

"I am a stupid official and cannot fathom it."

Fang Jun shook his head: "But if Feng Ang really had something planned, he would definitely not hide it from others."

Li Chengqian was slightly stunned, then he came to his senses and said to the eunuch outside the door: "Send an edict to the Secretary of State, and order him to bring all the memorials of Feng Ang from Lingnan in the recent period."

"Here."

The eunuch responded and hurried to the Secretariat.

Fang Jun was surprised and asked, "Is there any memorial from Feng Ang?"

If Feng Ang really had some plan, he would have revealed it in his memorials, either directly or implicitly. There would be no reason for any hint at all.

Li Chengqian was a little embarrassed: "Feng Ang would submit memorials to the palace from time to time, but I didn't pay much attention to it."

He felt a little uneasy. If Feng Ang had really hinted at something in his memorial and he was unaware of it, Feng Ang might think that he, the emperor, had ignored his request or even flatly opposed it. If this led to Feng Ang's misunderstanding and then changes occurred in Lingnan... he, as the emperor, would be to blame.

Fang Jun remained silent.

The Secretariat was located in the Taiji Palace, so Liu Li arrived very quickly, holding several memorials in his hands. He came to the Imperial Study, panting. After paying his respects, he placed the memorials on the desk next to Li Chengqian.

"Your Majesty, in the past few months, Feng Ang has sent a total of four memorials. I have brought them all here for Your Majesty to review."

Fang Jun asked: "Which one is the most recent one?"

Liu Li frowned and glanced at him, then reached out and picked up the top memorial. He ignored Fang Jun and handed it to Li Chengqian with both hands: "This is it."

Li Chengqian took it and looked at it carefully, then sighed, handed it to Fang Jun, and said helplessly: "I was negligent."

Fang Jun took the memorial, unfolded it and read it word by word, and was quite speechless.

The political sensitivity of this emperor is really worrying...

In his memorial, Feng Ang mentioned that there was a lot of rain in Lingnan this spring, and he was afraid that the rain would wreak havoc and the river would overflow in the summer, so he asked the Ministry of Works to send a river commissioner to Lingnan to lead the dredging of the river and the reinforcement of the dam. At the same time, Feng Ang said that he was too old and had little energy to govern Lingnan, so he resigned from the post of Gaozhou governor, and his eldest son Feng Zhixun took over...

Later, there was an imperial note from Li Chengqian, which roughly meant that your Excellency has made great contributions to the country and is now in good health. I value you very much and you can focus on governing Lingnan.

Li Chengqian said: "Feng Ang's intention is not necessarily to let the Feng family inherit the post of Governor of Gaozhou. He probably wants to test the intentions of me and the central government to see if the title of Duke of Geng can be passed on to his eldest son."

It was just an official position, and the court could appoint or dismiss him with a random edict. Feng Ang was appointed as the governor of Gaozhou with his prestige unrivaled in Lingnan, and no one disobeyed him, so the court did not dare to dismiss him. However, although Feng Zhixun was Feng Ang's eldest son, his ability, skills, and prestige were far inferior to his. Once Feng Ang died, it would be easy for the court to revoke this official position.

But the title is different. It represents military merit. As long as the Feng family does not take any actions of rebellion, even the emperor cannot deprive it at will.

Fang Jun pondered and said, "It seems that Feng Ang is indeed going to die soon. He intends to pass the title of Duke of Geng to his eldest son Feng Zhixun, so he wants to test your majesty's intentions."

But Your Majesty, you actually failed to understand such a simple intention and left Feng Ang alone...

He then continued, "Your Majesty is a sincere gentleman with an upright heart. It is understandable that Feng Ang did not understand the deep meaning of his vague and ambiguous words. However, the Secretariat is your Majesty's assistant, assisting your Majesty in handling state affairs. Dozens of officials from top to bottom did not understand his intention, let alone advise your Majesty. This is a serious dereliction of duty. If any consequences arise from this, the Secretary of the Secretariat will bear the responsibility."

Liu Jie: "..."

He was completely confused and hadn't figured out what was going on yet, but Fang Jun put the blame on him.

Why am I the one taking the responsibility?

What responsibilities do I have to bear?
He stared blankly at the memorial. He remembered that when it was sent to the palace, it was His Majesty who personally drafted the decision and sent someone to reply to Feng Ang. There was no need for the Central Secretariat to issue an edict...

How come it's his responsibility?!