Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 61: The World's No. Public Security

In the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Yongjin leaned on the dragon throne with a solemn expression, as if he was thinking about something. Not long after, an eight-foot-tall captain of the Wude Division with an ordinary and easy-going face knelt on the ground.

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

The person kneeling before Emperor Yongjin was Yang Fang, the Right Commandant of the Wude Division.

The Wude Division was the name of the Zhou Dynasty's imperial army. It was located near the Changle Gate in Chang'an and was divided into two offices, the Right Office and the Left Office.

The Zuosi was in charge of the public security inside and outside Chang'an, and had the power to monitor all officials and inspect the areas outside the capital. This made it convenient for the emperor, who was in charge of the central court, to be aware of all matters concerning the border.

Guo Qian, the most trusted minister of Emperor Yongjin.

He was the official of the Wude Division and also served as the commander of the left division of the Wude Division.

At the moment, Yang Fang, who was kneeling in front of Emperor Yongjin, was a descendant of Yang Ze, the Marquis of Anyuan, a famous general who founded the dynasty. He was a descendant of nobles, but those who came from a family of generals would mostly fall into poverty after encountering a war.

Emperor Yongjin stroked his beard and asked gently, "I want to transfer you to the Central Army. Gongyu, can you do it for me?"

Gong Yu is Yang Fang's courtesy name, and its extended meaning is far-sightedness and foresight.

Yang Fang's family fell into poverty when he was young. Although he was the descendant of a noble family, his family had actually been in financial difficulty for a long time. The relationship with a famous general like him had become dull by now.

However, Yang Fang still benefited from this title, which allowed him to enter the Wude Division relatively easily and become a personal soldier of the emperor.

Because of this, Yang Fang has a calm temperament and often thinks twice before doing anything. Therefore, after listening to the words of Emperor Yongjin, he first tried to figure out the Emperor Yongjin's intentions. But Yang Fang was not stupid either. He certainly would not wear out the patience of Emperor Yongjin, especially an emperor with such capricious tempers.

All he could judge was that Emperor Yongjin wanted to use him, but this matter was not easy to handle.

The good thing is that Yang Fang was able to get out of a place like Wudesi where people just eat and wait for death, and he has the opportunity to seek advancement.

harm
A man whose family has fallen on hard times, who has no deep connections, and who has just entered officialdom and wants to revive his family's reputation, but who is essentially still a young man.

To put it bluntly, people like Yang Fang don't deserve to die.

It's the kind that no one cares about even if you die.

But it was impossible for Yang Fang to be willing to be a guard of the Wude Division for the rest of his life and lie here in a daze.

"I am willing to serve Your Majesty." Yang Fang thought several things in his mind, but he agreed very quickly.

Because of one word from Emperor Yongjin, his status changed drastically.

The Wudesi was nothing more than a lackey, or even a guard dog. But once they joined the Zhongfu Army, it was a different story. That was an army, the most elite army of the imperial court.

Emperor Yongjin nodded slightly.

"These days, auspicious signs have been sent from heaven, and many ministers have presented some congratulatory messages." Emperor Yongjin added casually, "But some people still have private agendas and want to persuade me to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible. Gong Yu, do you think among my sons, which one is more capable?"

The so-called imperial power tactics are nothing more than asking questions even though you already know the answer, testing the thoughts of your subordinates. In addition, it is to treat different people with different attitudes.

For a young man like Yang Fang who had just entered the officialdom, Emperor Yongjin did not need to say anything. As long as he showed a little closeness, Yang Fang would feel flattered and feel that he was trusted by His Majesty, so he asked such a "private" question.

Actually it is not.

This kind of closeness and trust can all be acted out.

Emperor Yongjin just shared some of his "troubling" things and asked Yang Fang to analyze what was right and wrong. In fact, no matter how Yang Fang answered, Emperor Yongjin already had his own answer.

The important thing is that Emperor Yongjin wanted to let Yang Fang know that he trusted him and valued him very much, and that he regarded him as his own, which was why he asked these questions.

Yang Fang was indeed very cautious, but he had been a subordinate for too long, and the performance of Emperor Yongjin made Yang Fang feel that he seemed to have a great chance of winning the trust and closeness of Emperor Yongjin, so he subconsciously wanted to work hard to win it.

With just a few words, Yang Fang felt that he was being blessed by the country. "Your Majesty, the matter of establishing a crown prince is a family matter, not a state matter. The auspicious sign from heaven is a state matter, not a family matter. These ministers should die for putting family matters above state matters." Yang Fang followed the attitude of Emperor Yongjin and spoke with great enthusiasm.

He wanted very much to echo the words of Emperor Yongjin in order to gain greater attention from the Emperor Yongjin.

In a word, from Wudesi to Zhongfujun.

This change made Yang Fang realize that he seemed to have a chance to stand at a higher position in the government.

This inevitably made him want to make progress.

"Your Majesty, several more congratulatory messages have been delivered." Cao Wei, the eunuch in charge of writing at the Imperial Household Department who was serving outside the palace, said in a low voice.

"Whose are they?" Emperor Yongjin asked after taking a glance.

"The congratulatory messages were presented by Lu En, the Minister of War, Wang Ruizhen, the Minister of Rites, Zhen Cheng, the Director of Rites, Yang Yu, the Governor of Zhejiang, and the Fourth Prince, the Prince of Jin."

"Oh?" Emperor Yongjin was quite surprised that Chu Shizhao would also send a congratulatory message. His son was the most low-key one in daily life.

Sending a congratulatory letter on something like this doesn't seem like something he would do.

This actually aroused some interest in Emperor Yongjin. "Then read for me what these congratulatory memorials say."

"Cao Banban, just go into the palace and recite."

Cao Wei bowed and said, "I obey your order."

He walked into the hall with these congratulatory letters, and the first one he read out was the one from the Minister of War Lu En.

Lu En was a veteran minister of three dynasties, and was also the first minister to support the Yongjin Emperor and his successor, so his status in the Yongjin Dynasty was relatively high.

Therefore, Rune's congratulatory message was a very standard speech, neither flattering nor overly serious, it was just a very normal congratulatory message.

Emperor Yongjin knew that Lu En valued his reputation the most, so he was confident in using him. People like him who attach great importance to reputation are very easy to check and balance.

Wang Ruizhen's congratulatory message was filled with extremely ornate words. Under the heaping of splendor, he constantly touted the prosperity of our dynasty, but he also hinted at the matter of establishing a crown prince.

So Emperor Yongjin found it pleasing to the ear at first, but after listening to it to the end he frowned and didn't like it very much.

A congratulatory letter is just a congratulatory letter. If you put something else in it, it will become meaningless.

The congratulatory messages from others were mostly the same. They either tried their best to please Emperor Yongjin, or took advantage of the congratulatory messages to talk about the issue of the succession and express their stance.

In addition to appreciating the unique literary talent of some ministers, Emperor Yongjin was also quite curious about what kind of congratulatory message his fourth son, the Prince of Jin, who usually kept a low profile, would write to him.

Cao Wei read out these congratulatory messages one by one.

Finally, I saw the congratulatory message written by King Jin Chu Shizhao.

But when he finished reading the first sentence, he suddenly realized that this congratulatory letter seemed to be completely different from the previous ones.

"The Emperor of Great Zhou, the fourth son of His Majesty Yongjin, Shi Zhao, respectfully reports that speaking the truth is the most important thing in the world, in order to rectify the way of the monarch, clarify the duties of the ministers, and pray for peace and order for all eternity."

The moment Cao Wei finished reading the first sentence, he no longer dared to continue reading.

He immediately secretly glanced at Emperor Yongjin, who was sitting on the dragon throne and glaring at him. Emperor Yongjin, who was still listening to the congratulatory praises leisurely, had a changed expression on his face and looked far less happy and relaxed than before.

"Yes. Why don't you read it anymore?"

Emperor Yongjin's voice was calm.

However, this extremely calm tone made Yang Fang lower his head and dared not look again.

(End of this chapter)