Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5189 Negotiations break down
Even with Li Ji's cunning mind, he was shocked by Fang Junzhi's remarks.

"Do you know what you are talking about? You are also one of the nobles. Without your father's help, how could you have the opportunity to rise to the top even if you are a genius? In the future, your descendants will inherit your achievements today, and they will live and die with the country for generations to come!"

Classes naturally exist. Even though the Tang people had a lack of knowledge about social structure, they had already realized this and were more aware of its advantages and disadvantages.

But has anyone in the world ever opposed his own class?

Fang Jun sighed and said, "I am talking about the obstacles that the noble system poses to social progress, not that I want to abolish the noble system."

No one could abolish the nobility system in this era. First of all, the emperor, who was the first nobility, would not do it. Without the nobility system, how could he pass on the throne from father to son, from son to grandson, and enjoy the prosperity of the country from generation to generation? Without the nobility system, who would work hard to make achievements and expand the territory? Who would be loyal to the emperor from generation to generation and live and die with the country?
The cornerstone of imperial power lies in the nobles, and only the nobles will be loyal to imperial power. The two are originally one.

As for the civil servants... in fact, they have never been taken seriously by the imperial power. The nobles are permanent, but the civil servants are transient. If one is not good enough, he will be replaced by another. They study hard in the classroom for ten years, just waiting to sell their knowledge to the emperor one day. They keep coming one after another to strive for the best. So why worry about no one to govern the country?

The political system determines the status of the nobles, and no one can abolish it, let alone depose it?

Fang Jun was somewhat depressed: "The harm of the nobles is that they block the path to upward mobility. Their class is fixed and they are not motivated to make progress. Without the motivation to strive for the upper reaches, they occupy a large amount of social resources and not only cannot play their due role, but instead become a chronic disease of the country... It seems that the dynasty fell due to land annexation, but in fact the nobles are the culprit."

"But as Lord Ying said, what's the point of seeing through all this? The existence of the noble group is inevitable."

"So what am I holding on to? If you are willing to trade the interests of the country for your own interests, then let's do it... It's settled, nine."

Li Ji: “…”

First, a series of eloquent and insightful speeches made him immersed in thinking about the relationship between nobles and the country. Then, he suddenly said, "It's settled." Li Ji, who had not yet come to his senses, almost said "OK" subconsciously. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and swallowed the words back.

He was annoyed and asked, "Does this childish play make you look smart?"

Fang Jun said solemnly: "Nine, no more. If Lord Ying agrees, we will do it. If he doesn't agree, let's forget about it."

Li Ji flatly refused: "Absolutely impossible!"

What he couldn't accept was not the number of places to enter the navy, but the conditions set by Fang Jun.

Let him retire in exchange for the benefits of other nobles?
Why!

After thinking for a while, he said, "Change the condition... For example, I promise you that all the nobles behind me will support the East Palace and swear allegiance to the Crown Prince."

Fang Jun smiled and said proudly: "The Eastern Palace has my support, it is already as solid as a rock, even if you oppose it, what does it matter? The Left and Right Jinwu Guards alone can blockade Chang'an City, none of your troops can fight!"

Li Ji laughed angrily and said, "You kid don't take heroes from all over the world into consideration, why are you so arrogant?"

Fang Jun said directly: "If you don't agree, come and fight!"

It's not that he didn't want all the nobles to support the Eastern Palace, but he didn't trust Li Ji.

Your Majesty is in the prime of life, and it is unknown when the Crown Prince will ascend the throne. By that time, as time has passed, how many people will remember today's promise?
Moreover, although Li Ji was the leader of the Zhenguan meritorious officials, he was unable to make those unruly Zhenguan meritorious officials obey his orders.

Li Ji shook his head and saw Fang Jun's true intention. He said, "You know I can't retire. Don't hide it. Tell me your true intention. As long as it's not too much, I will agree to it."

Fang Jun also wanted to invest, and his attitude was firm: "This is my only condition."

Li Ji sighed: "Then there is nothing to discuss."

Fang Jun disagreed: "It's you who I want to talk about. You can decide not to talk about it. Just guard your past achievements and pass them down from generation to generation until your children and grandchildren degenerate and decay in wealth and eventually destroy the country their ancestors conquered. Let them watch this magnificent and luxurious Chang'an city fall apart in the flames of war, watch this beautiful land become a mess in the chaos of war, and then watch a dynasty rise from the ruins, and another group of nobles replace you and repeat your story."

"You are arrogantly looking up and sucking the blood and sweat of the people, but no one is willing to lower their heads to take a look at this beautiful land and the people who live a hard life on it."

*****
Rainwater gathered on the roof of the Wude Hall, flowed along the glazed tiles, and poured down from the eaves, hanging like beads, with water vapor and the sound of rain.

Li Chengqian stood at the window with his hands behind his back, looking at the flowers and trees in the courtyard, and asked, "What did the two talk about?"

Li Junxian bowed and stood behind him, whispering, "The Grand Commandant has booked the entire hotel, expelled all outsiders, and blocked the surrounding area with his personal soldiers. Our people can't get close at all, so we have no way of knowing what they talked about."

Although there were some failures, it was also expected.

After all, these two top military figures, number one and number two, met in private, and what they discussed must be extremely important. It was natural for them to take precautions in advance. They were both meticulous people, so of course they would not leave any loopholes.

Li Chengqian did not turn around, still looking at the gurgling rain outside the window, silent for a long time, suddenly asked: "Cheng Yaojin and Liang Jianfang went to the Duke of Ying's mansion together two days ago, and I still don't know what they talked about?"

"Yes, I am incompetent."

Li Junxian lowered his head, feeling a little depressed.

Since taking control of the "Bai Qi Si", the "Bai Qi Si" has performed well in supervising court ministers and keeping watch on disloyal people. It can be said that it is omnipresent. It is extremely difficult to hide the eyes and ears of the "Bai Qi Si" in such a huge city as Chang'an.

However, this time, whether it was Cheng Yaojin and Liang Jianfang meeting Li Ji together, or Li Ji inviting Fang Jun to meet, the "Hundred Cavalry Division" had no way of knowing what was discussed and was helpless. This shows that the reason why the "Hundred Cavalry Division" performed so well in the past was probably because everyone knew it tacitly, "nothing can be hidden from others", and allowed the "Hundred Cavalry Division" to monitor them.

But once there are some secrets that cannot be known by others, there are still many ways to target the "Hundred Cavalry Division", and the omnipresent "Hundred Cavalry Division" will immediately become deaf and blind.

Li Chengqian reminded: "While strengthening the bribery and placement of secret agents, we must not relax our internal self-examination. The enemy is not only outside, but sometimes also appears inside."

Li Junxian was shocked.

It would be fine if the "Hundred Cavalry Division" really became deaf and blind. At worst, it would be unable to see or hear anything and become a decoration.

But what if what you hear and see is what others do intentionally, and what you hear and see is what others want you to hear and see, that would be too scary!

Li Junxian was sweating profusely and knelt on one knee: "I neglected management, which caused the Hundred Cavalry Division to be inefficient and even potentially exploited by others. I deserve death!"

Li Chengqian turned around, patted Li Junxian on the shoulder, and said gently: "Don't belittle yourself. Apart from monitoring these two people, the Hundred Cavalry Division has always performed well. We can't deny the previous achievements because of a momentary mistake. Besides, these two people are smart and thoughtful. It's normal to make mistakes with them. On the contrary, if you successfully eavesdropped on the content of their conversation this time, it would be inappropriate."

Li Junxian: “…”

In other words, the failure of this surveillance was entirely a silent warning to the "Hundred Cavalry Division" by Fang Jun and Li Ji, and it also expressed that there was no malicious intent in this move - after all, if these two people deliberately leaked false information to confuse the public, then he, as the commander-in-chief of the "Hundred Cavalry Division", would most likely have made a big mistake and his life would be in danger.

Seeing Li Chengqian's tolerance, Li Junxian felt a little embarrassed: "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will definitely re-establish the training and monitoring methods of the secret agents of the Hundred Cavalry Division. I will learn from my mistakes and live up to your expectations!"

In fact, what he wanted to say was "I don't have the ability and want to resign", but he knew that Li Chengqian would never let him go at this time...

Li Chengqian also understood what Li Junxian was thinking, and sighed, "I know your ambition, but I have no one to use right now. This Hundred Cavalry Division is of great importance, who else can I trust except you? But please rest assured, I am not an ungrateful person. I have not forgotten my promise to you. One day in the future, I will definitely fulfill your long-cherished wish."

Li Junxian burst into tears of gratitude: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

But I couldn't help but complain in my heart. Year after year, the more I knew, the harder it was to extricate myself. Could it be that in the future His Majesty would really not care about the many secrets I knew and let me return to the army?
But since the day Emperor Taizong summoned him to the "Hundred Cavalry Division", his fate had been sealed. Apart from believing that Li Chengqian could really be magnanimous and give him a break, he actually had no other choice...

Li Chengqian nodded and warned: "In addition, the spies in the East Palace must be placed more steadily and deeply. It is better to not get any useful information than to expose it. Otherwise, you should know the consequences."

Li Junxian was awed.

Once the spies of the "Hundred Cavalry Division" planted in the Eastern Palace are exposed, Your Majesty will absolutely not be able to take responsibility. The emperor secretly monitored the crown prince... and his reputation would be completely ruined.

So someone has to be held accountable for this.

As the commander-in-chief of the "Hundred Cavalry Division", he is naturally the best person to take the blame...

At that time, no matter how he is dealt with, Your Majesty cannot be blamed for being unkind and unmerciful. Instead, he should take the initiative to take responsibility and die to thank the Emperor for his grace.

Li Junxian walked out of the Wude Hall, stopped, looked up at the dense raindrops, and sighed softly.

When people are in the court, they can't help themselves.