Although the theory of dreams is absurd, it is simple and useful.
Moreover, Huayang had only used dreams to fool Chen Jingzong before. This was the first time he used it to convince his mother and father-in-law to beware of Prince Yu's rebellion, so he had one less worry.
Regarding the rebellion of Prince Yu in the previous life, in the early stage of the war, the rebels won several victories because of several great generals. In the middle stage, the imperial court began to gain the upper hand, and Chen Jingzong died at a critical juncture when the last 40,000 troops were chasing Prince Yu. Not long after the war ended, Prince Yu was captured by the imperial court, and the chaos ended completely.
At that time, although Huayang was also very concerned about the war situation, she had no way to understand the situation on the battlefield. Her mother did not want her to find out about these things, and Huayang could not ask her father-in-law. Only her younger brother would tell her more, but basically he just told her the good news.
In the end, all Huayang knew were a few generals in the rebel army and the battle in which Chen Jingzong died.
In the imperial study, even though Huayang had already thought about how to narrate the story at night, and she could read the words as fluently as a storyteller, she still acted nervous and apprehensive, as if she was frightened by her father's dream. She stuttered from time to time, and repeated some words from time to time, in a disorganized manner.
Empress Qi and Chen Tingjian listened silently, and no one tried to interrupt her.
The dream seemed absurd and unconvincing, but Huayang actually knew the names of so many local generals, some of whom did not even hold important positions at the time. Even Chen Tingjian had never heard of them or even taken them to heart. This made Empress Qi and Chen Tingjian take it seriously.
Huayang only talked about how Prince Yu had assembled an army of 200,000 to attack the capital directly.
This was enough to alert her mother and father-in-law. If she told them everything about the four-month war, it would be too detailed. She only had two hours of sleep last night, so how could she tell them so much in her dream
"Mother, Lord, my father asked me to tell you that you must stop Prince Yu in advance."
Empress Qi looked at Chen Tingjian. Since it was concerning whether her son could sit firmly on the throne of emperor, she would rather believe it.
Chen Tingjian pondered for a few moments, then nodded to Huayang and said, "Princess, rest assured. Your Majesty and I will definitely come up with a foolproof plan. However, please keep this matter a secret and do not tell anyone else, including the Crown Prince and the Prince Consort. The Crown Prince is young, and I am afraid of scaring him. As for the Prince Consort, I am afraid that he will accidentally reveal the secret."
Huayang of course agreed.
Chen Tingjian said again: "The Imperial Concubine, Princess Nankang and others should come to guard the late emperor's body. Princess, please go ahead, in case they suspect anything when you and the Imperial Concubine are not here."
Empress Qi added, "Did your father tell me whether the mother and daughter knew about it?"
Huayang: "He didn't say anything, so he probably doesn't know."
In her previous life, when the news of Prince Yu's rebellion reached the capital, Concubine Lin was so frightened that she became incontinent in public. If she was pretending, Huayang would really admire her.
Of course, whether Concubine Lin was pretending or not, she was confined to the bedroom until Prince Yu was deposed. Then Concubine Lin was released. From then on, she lived in seclusion in the harem and lived like a shadow.
Empress Qi nodded and signaled her daughter to leave.
After Huayang left, Empress Qi immediately asked Chen Tingjian, "How are you going to deal with this, Lord?"
Chen Tingjian: "If the late emperor's dream is true, I have three plans to stop Prince Yu from starting a rebellion."
"First, summon Prince Yu back to the capital in the name of the Queen or the Crown Prince to attend the funeral. Take this opportunity to keep Prince Yu in the capital, and we will gradually disintegrate the rebels in Henan."
Empress Qi frowned and said in a deep voice, "Since the death of Emperor Chengzu, there has been no precedent for vassal princes to come to the capital to mourn. Not to mention that the Crown Prince and I are not in a position to issue this edict, even if the late Emperor still had the strength to spare before his death, he would not have summoned Prince Yu to the capital."
Chen Tingjian: "Yes, this plan is indeed inappropriate. My second plan is to ignore Prince Yu for now. I will use the excuse that the late emperor has passed away and the capital needs to be more alert. I will transfer several generals who would assist Prince Yu in the dream to the capital first, and then appoint reliable generals to take over, so that Prince Yu will have no army to use."
Empress Qi's frown did not relax. "They were willing to support Prince Yu in just one month. They must have colluded with Prince Yu long ago. The imperial court's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain is too obvious. They may not obey the order and support Prince Yu to start the rebellion ahead of time."
Chen Tingjian: "Your Majesty is concerned that although my two plans can avoid the use of weapons, they each have their own shortcomings. So my third plan is for the court to take the initiative and deploy troops to garrison the borders of Henan to intimidate the Prince of Yu, so that he dare not send troops and voluntarily hand over those rebels."
Empress Qi was getting a little anxious, and looked at him in disbelief: "Why are all the ideas coming up today, Lord? If the imperial court really sends a large army to attack us, it would be great if Prince Yu is sensible. I'm afraid he will be defeated, and the imperial court will give him a legitimate name for rebellion, saying that we mother and son cannot tolerate him!"
Facing Empress Qi's complaints, Chen Tingjian was not flustered. He looked up at her and said, "I am stupid. These three are indeed the only three strategies I can think of. I wonder if Your Majesty has any other ideas?"
Empress Qi didn't. These were all she could think of. The three strategies either violated the ancestral teachings, had no chance of success, or would give Prince Yu a reason to rebel...
Suddenly, something seemed to cross Empress Qi's mind. Then, seeing Chen Tingjian's calm and confident attitude, Empress Qi calmed down instantly, took two steps closer to Chen Tingjian, and whispered, "Don't keep me in suspense, Lord. What are you thinking?"
Chen Tingjian trusted Empress Qi as much as Empress Qi trusted Chen Tingjian. It was Empress Qi who recommended him to Emperor Jingshun to be the prince's teacher. Later, he smoothly became the chief minister of the cabinet. In addition to his own efforts, the support of Empress Qi was also indispensable.
Seeing that Empress Qi understood his intention, Chen Tingjian stopped hiding and promised, "Your Majesty, Henan is indeed very close to the capital, but Henan is also surrounded by the capital, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, Nanzhili, and Shandong. If Prince Yu really wants to rebel, he can only hope that the army will suddenly rise up and take the capital at lightning speed before the court sends troops to encircle and suppress it. However, don't say that we already know his plan and have time to deploy in advance. Even if the late emperor didn't come to you in a dream, Daming, Baoding, and Zhending are enough to stop Prince Yu's army. I am willing to guarantee this with my life."
Empress Qi was silent for a moment and believed him. Chen Tingjian had discussed with Emperor Jingshun the appointment of the commanders of the important places in the capital and various prefectures. Empress Qi also knew that they were all powerful generals of the dynasty.
Chen Tingjian first persuaded Empress Qi not to worry about the stability of the capital, and then mentioned the situation of the vassal kings in Henan to Empress Qi.
"My queen, including the Prince of Yu, there are now eight princes in Henan, namely the Prince of Jing, the Prince of Zheng, the Prince of Zhou, the Prince of Tang, the Prince of Zhao, the Prince of Lu, the Prince of Hui, and the Prince of Yu. In addition to these eight princes, their brothers, nephews, and nephews are hundreds of princes, and under the princes are the generals who guard the country and the generals who assist the country, and other royal family members, totaling more than 30,000 people. These royal family members occupy 30% of the land in Henan. In addition, just last year, the salaries of the royal family members in Henan accounted for more than 40% of the local taxes and grain, which is more than the local garrison's military pay."
Chen Tingjian: "Prince Yu rebelled, and the conscription of soldiers and transportation of grain could not escape the eyes and ears of the other seven princes. If they took the initiative to report to the court, it would be in line with the painstaking efforts of the old man Taizu to confer titles on the princes. The princes and the emperor would jointly maintain the stability of the country. If they concealed the report, they would be assisting Prince Yu in the rebellion, and they would be traitors and should be executed together with Prince Yu."
Empress Qi completely understood what Chen Tingjian meant.
The rebellion of Prince Yu is not a cause for concern, but if the imperial court allows Prince Yu to secretly gather strength and take the seven vassal kings with him, the imperial court will be able to legitimately depose the eight vassal kings in Henan in the future.
The eight princes, along with their brothers and descendants, had a total of more than 30,000 relatives, accounting for 30% of all relatives. If they were all abolished at once, it would be like cutting off 30% of the overburdened branches and leaves of the imperial court. After that, the princes' private treasuries were confiscated, and the good land was returned to the people. The people continued to pay taxes to the imperial court by growing food. This was a great thing that would benefit their descendants and future emperors. Compared with these foreseeable benefits, the military pay spent on suppressing the rebellion was not worth mentioning at all.
"Your Excellency has a far-sighted vision, and I admire you very much." Queen Qi said solemnly.
Chen Tingjian bowed and said, "I can only offer suggestions. Your Majesty dares to use my suggestion, which is a sign of extraordinary courage. I admire you."
Empress Qi smiled and said, "Then the elder should just pretend that he doesn't know that Prince Yu has rebellious intentions and deploy troops in secret."
Chen Tingjian stroked his beard and said, "The dream may not be completely reliable. Perhaps the Prince of Yu will not rebel, but we are prepared for a rainy day, so there will be no loss."
Empress Qi still hoped that Prince Yu would rebel. The Emperor had only two sons, the Crown Prince and Prince Yu, and their sons were still young. If Prince Yu rebelled and was deposed early, she would have no more worries.
Of course, there is no need to tell Chen Tingjian this.
"The princess..."
"I will explain to her that the Lord Minister should just focus on state affairs."
After a while, Empress Qi went to the Qianqing Palace first, and Chen Tingjian went to meet several other elders. Today, the cabinet would lead the ministers to implore the prince to succeed to the throne.
There is no rush for the coronation ceremony, but succession to the throne as emperor cannot be delayed.
.
When the court officials came to enthrone the prince, Huayang knelt aside and watched.
Although the prince was only thirteen years old, he started studying at the age of three and began to learn how to be a good crown prince. Although he was sad about the death of his father, he also knew that he had to cooperate with the ministers in the succession ceremony.
The crown prince became emperor, and Empress Qi was named empress dowager at the same time. As for other royal relatives, there was no rush to enthrone them for the time being.
Huayang secretly observed Concubine Lin and Princess Nankang.
Of course, the mother and daughter would not be happy for their mother and brother, but they did not feel any resentment either. The overall situation had been decided and they had accepted their fate.
It was not until night that Huayang finally had the opportunity to meet his mother alone again.
Empress Dowager Qi, who was only 39 years old, was tired after a busy day and leaned against the side of the Luohan bed.
Seeing her daughter's haggard face, Empress Dowager Qi showed pity and waved for her daughter to sit next to her.
"Father passed away, and gave you a dream like that. You must have had a very hard time today, right?"
She held her daughter in her arms and patted her shoulder gently.
Huayang's tears fell again.
Mother is the most irreplaceable person in the world. The stricter the queen mother is, the more she craves for such tenderness.
Empress Dowager Qi took out a handkerchief and wiped her daughter's tears with her own hands.
The death of Emperor Jingshun did not have much impact on her emotionally. Although she felt sad, it only passed after a while.
She was more concerned about big things, and her only personal feelings were also the pain of her two children losing their father.
"Don't worry, Panpan. Elder Chen and I have already made a plan for the Prince of Yu. Just focus on keeping vigil for your father and rest well when you can. Don't worry about anything else, okay?"
Huayang nodded. She trusted both her mother and her father-in-law. She felt more at ease knowing that the two of them were working together to guard against Prince Yu.
She had handled all the previous things by herself, and at this moment, Huayang felt her whole body relax, with only the memory of her father left.
(End of this chapter)