Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5032 Liu Li: I don’t take this responsibility
Liu Li was a little confused and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, why did you ask me to bring these memorials?"

He didn't know what was going on, but when he saw Fang Jun accusing him of a serious crime without saying a word, he subconsciously wanted to break free.

Li Chengqian glanced at him, feeling depressed, and said to Fang Jun: "Tell the Minister of the Central Secretariat about this."

"Here."

Fang Jun then told the story of Feng Ang's possible concealment of his critical illness. At the end, he sighed and said, "Feng Ang has been respectful and obedient over the years, but don't think he is a kind and gentle man. He is a real tiger. A real man stands in the world and seeks fame, and his purpose is nothing more than to ennoble his wife and children and pass on his bloodline. If he mistakenly thinks that the court is being vague about the inheritance of his title and intends to take back the Feng family's power in Lingnan after his death, he is very likely to take risks. By then, the situation in Lingnan will be corrupt. Even if the court can eventually suppress the rebellion, Lingnan will be in chaos and the impact on the country will be immeasurable."

General Liu Li was surprised and reminded, "The most serious thing is that this matter will affect those foreign tribes who surrendered and submitted to the Tang Dynasty. If the court can treat Feng Ang like this, it is likely to treat them like this. Don't look at those chiefs and khans who are good at singing and dancing and as obedient as sheep. Once they know that their titles, power, and even wealth cannot be passed on, they will turn into tigers and wolves. The situation in Mobei and the Western Regions will be turbulent and there will be no peace."

Liu Li opened his mouth, looked at Fang Jun, and then at Li Chengqian, but he didn't know what to say.

He understood what His Majesty and Fang Jun meant.

Feng Ang wrote a letter to test the emperor's intentions and the central government's policies, to see if he could make the Feng family enjoy prosperity for generations, even if he had to give up most of his power. But His Majesty failed to detect the testing intention in Feng Ang's letter, and roughly rejected Feng Ang's request, and comforted him with gentle words, asking Feng Ang to continue working for another 20 years...

In essence, this matter may not be entirely Li Chengqian's fault for being careless. After all, who could have known that Feng Ang was seriously ill and would not live long?
According to normal procedures, if a minister wants to resign or decline his position, the emperor will definitely try to retain him. If the minister writes a letter of resignation and the emperor agrees immediately, it means that the minister has already been extremely fed up with by His Majesty. Without the procedure of retaining him, the minister will lose face and become a laughing stock of the world.

But Feng Ang was testing His Majesty before he died. He did not dare to tell the truth because he could not confirm the attitude of His Majesty and the court. If the court knew that he was critically ill, who knew that the court would not take the opportunity to eliminate the Feng family's influence in Lingnan?
Now Your Majesty is careless and has rejected Feng Ang's request, which is very likely to lead to Feng Ang's misunderstanding.

The consequences are serious.

This matter had nothing to do with Liu Li, because he did not know that Feng Ang was critically ill. After His Majesty approved Feng Ang's memorial, it was reviewed by the Secretariat and confirmed to be correct. Only then was the emperor's edict sent to Lingnan.

Even if there is responsibility, it is your Majesty's responsibility.

But Fang Jun's reminder made him understand that if the responsibility of this matter lies with His Majesty, not only the Feng family of Lingnan might rebel, but people like Ashina Simo, Ashina Zhong, Qibi Heli, Zhishisili, Ashina She'er, and even the Queen of Silla would all become frightened and become disloyal.

When everyone submitted to the Tang Dynasty, wasn't it just because they wanted to continue their power and wealth from generation to generation?

If after their death their entire family would be abandoned by the Tang Dynasty and their descendants would not be able to inherit their titles and wealth, then what would be the point of their fighting for the Tang Dynasty and their loyalty?
Everyone has to rebel.

Therefore, this responsibility cannot fall on Your Majesty in any case.

But responsibility always exists, and someone has to take it.

The Secretariat was responsible for reviewing the emperor's edicts. All documents and memorials approved by the emperor had to be checked by the Secretariat. Only after confirmation would they be announced to the world.

This is why the Minister of the Secretariat was called "the head of the prime minister."

Then he, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, is the best "person in charge"...

It's not that he is unwilling to take the blame for His Majesty. This is also the responsibility of a minister. But the problem is that once this responsibility is taken, there must be punishment, and the result of the punishment is that he, the "Minister of the Central Secretariat", is very likely to be dismissed.

Even if Your Majesty feels guilty and protects him, all the civil and military officials in the court will impeach him.

Do you really think those censors in the Censorate are just there to do nothing?

But if I don't shoulder this responsibility, it will not only be against the etiquette of a minister, but will also make His Majesty angry...

Liu Li was flustered and confused. He stood up suddenly, stared at Fang Jun and shouted angrily: "You are the Grand Commandant, the highest position among the ministers. Haven't you heard about the old story of Emperor Wen of Han who took the responsibility for the disaster? Your Majesty is at fault in this matter. It is my duty as a minister to bear the responsibility. But by doing this, you are putting Your Majesty in a foolish position. You are culpable! You deserve to be killed!"

Fang Jun looked confused. What was this "old story of Emperor Wen of Han taking the brunt of the disaster"?

He doesn't know!
Liu Li immediately showed disdain and snorted angrily: "Everyone says that the Taiwei is a master of poetry and calligraphy, but few people know that he is just relying on his talent to deceive the world and steal the reputation. He has not even read a few history books, but he is called a scholar. It's really shameful!"

Seeing Fang Jun about to get angry, Li Chengqian quickly reached out and grabbed him, saying with a face full of shame: "Erlang, don't make trouble. The words of the Minister of the Central Secretariat are like a wake-up call. I was wrong. Since I made the mistake, I must take full responsibility. How can I push it onto my subjects? This is not what a wise monarch would do!"

Fang Jun sat down. Although he didn't know what the "old matter of Emperor Wen of Han" Liu Li was talking about was, he could tell that it was against etiquette for the emperor to blame his subjects, so he advised: "It is indeed wrong, but Your Majesty must also consider the overall situation. Once Your Majesty is responsible for this matter, the world will be in turmoil in an instant, and the consequences will be disastrous!"

Liu Li snorted and said sternly: "Fang Jun, if you insist on putting His Majesty in a disadvantageous position and causing criticism from the world, I will die with you today to prevent you from misleading His Majesty and causing chaos in the government!
Fang Jun was also furious. He slammed the table and glared at him, "If you don't explain yourself clearly today, we will sign a life and death contract in front of His Majesty, and then we will duel in the Taiji Hall Square. Life and death, victory or defeat, we will leave to fate!"

Liu Jie: "..."

He was stunned for a moment, then looked at Li Chengqian and found that His Majesty was also looking at him in surprise. The two looked at each other, and then all the anger on his face disappeared. With a twitching face, he pointed at Fang Jun, and finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This fellow boasts that he is "excellent in both poetry and prose, and good at both civil and military affairs", but he actually doesn't know what the "old story of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty shouldering the calamity" is...

Totally illiterate!

Li Chengqian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He pulled Fang Jun's hand and pressed him on the chair, explaining, "During the Qin Dynasty, there were 'Zhuguan', who were in charge of matters such as sacrifices and prayers. Among the 'Zhuguan', there was a position called 'Secret Zhu'. This type of official was responsible for communicating with heaven and gods. Once a disaster occurred in the world, it should be announced to the world, asking the king to reflect on himself and correct his mistakes. However, because the 'Secret Zhu' were all the king's confidants, when a disaster occurred, the responsibility for the disaster was often transferred from the king to the ministers, and the ministers took the king's faults... During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, it was said that 'Misfortunes arise from resentment and blessings arise from virtue. The faults of all officials should be borne by me. Now the officials of the Zhuguan have shifted the blame to the lower ones, which shows my lack of virtue. I don't accept it.' So the position of 'Secret Zhu' was abolished."

Fang Jun suddenly realized.

The theory of "the interaction between heaven and man" was not created by Dong Zhongshu, but was promoted by him. In fact, it has existed since ancient times. Once a disaster occurred in the world, it was regarded as a warning from God. Either the king was foolish or the ministers were treacherous, and they had to give an explanation to the people of the world.

The consequences of a king being considered incompetent were serious, so many kings pushed the responsibility of the warning from heaven onto their ministers, and asked the ministers to bear the blame. Emperor Wen of Han thought this was inappropriate, because the ministers were all loyal to the king, so if the ministers made mistakes and caused the warning from heaven, it was actually the king's fault, and he should take the initiative to bear the responsibility...

Therefore, Liu Li wanted Li Chengqian to take the initiative to take responsibility for his mistakes, not only to avoid the infamy of "blaming his subordinates", but also to show the world that "a wise monarch is in power" and compare Li Chengqian to Emperor Wen of Han.

Of course, whether Liu Li sincerely believed that Li Chengqian was comparable to Emperor Wen of Han, or simply did not want to take responsibility, only Liu Li himself knew...

But since Liu Li brought up Emperor Wen of Han to make his point, no matter what Li Chengqian thought, the responsibility had to be borne by him as the emperor.

Otherwise, he would be a tyrant who "shifted the blame to his subordinates", and put Fang Jun in the position of a sycophantic minister who "shifted the blame to my subordinates to show my lack of virtue"...

Liu Li prostrated himself on the ground and said loudly: "It is not that I cannot bear this responsibility, but I cannot allow Your Majesty to be criticized by the world. The intention of the Grand Commandant to instigate Your Majesty to go astray is something I cannot do!"

Fang Jun forced himself to laugh angrily, "If you don't want to take responsibility for His Majesty, then just don't do it. Why do you have to quote scriptures and act so pretentiously, and even put me in the position of a "treacherous villain"?
The faces of literati are extremely hateful.

He simply ignored it and looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "What do you think of Zhang's father and son's proposal to dig through Dayu Ridge and connect the north and the south?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "This matter has far-reaching influence. It is indeed a great advice. If it succeeds, Lingnan will no longer be a foreign land! What we were worried about before was Feng Ang's obstruction. I can immediately draft an imperial edict and issue it to the whole country, allowing Feng Zhixun to inherit his father's title of Duke of Geng and the position of Governor of Gaozhou. This way, we can appease Feng Ang and make him support the project of digging open Dayu Ridge. It's a two-pronged approach."

Fang Jun thought for a moment and suggested, "Feng Ang's second son, Feng Zhidai, is in Chang'an. He was appointed by Emperor Gaozu as the governor of Chunzhou, but it was just an honorary title. Why not make it real and send him to Chunzhou to take up the post? Moreover, Feng Ang has more than 30 sons. Your Majesty is broad-minded and kind, so you should not favor one over the other. You can select some outstanding talents from Feng Ang's sons and have them serve in various places in Lingnan. I think Feng Ang will feel the emperor's grace and be grateful to him."

Liu Li felt a chill in his heart. What do you mean by the emperor's great grace? Isn't this just the "Enfeoffment Order"?