Reborn After Widowhood

Chapter 69

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On the third morning after Huayang returned to the palace, she was still sleeping in the Qifeng Palace while Emperor Jingshun had already gone to court.

Civil and military ministers stood on the left and right sides of the hall, with two rows on each side.

Chen Tingjian was wearing a red robe of a cabinet minister and standing on the inner side of the civil servants. Next to him was the current cabinet chief, cabinet minister Gao.

Lord Gao is sixty-four years old. His hair and beard are grey, but his back is very straight. Judging from his aura, he should be able to serve as Prime Minister for another ten years.

Chen Tingjian and Gao Ge Lao were both trusted ministers by Emperor Jingshun. They once teamed up with the former prime minister to bring down a corrupt official. After the corrupt official was brought down, the two worked together to "invite" the former prime minister, with whom they had different political views, to return home to retire.

When they had a common "political enemy", they were in the same boat. When the "political enemy" standing in their way disappeared, the differences between Chen Tingjian and Gao Ge Lao in handling political affairs became more and more obvious. Both wanted to do practical things for the court and the people, and both wanted to realize the ambition of peace and prosperity for the country, but one wanted to go the east way, and the other thought the west way was right. Naturally, both wanted to be the head of the cabinet and let others listen to their commands.

In the early years, Emperor Jingshun relied more on Gao Ge Lao, but later Chen Tingjian gradually won more favor of the emperor with his talents. As early as when Huayang married Chen Jingzong, Emperor Jingshun had the idea of letting Gao Ge Lao retire and promote Chen Tingjian to be the chief minister.

Unfortunately, the old lady of the Chen family passed away, and Chen Tingjian had to return to his hometown to mourn, allowing Gao Ge Lao to continue to serve as the prime minister for another two and a half years.

Now that Chen Tingjian is back, all the ministers in the court are waiting to see what Emperor Jingshun will choose.

Emperor Jingshun usually did not participate in state affairs, leaving all matters to the cabinet he trusted. If the cabinet had not insisted on him coming to attend government affairs, Emperor Jingshun would have preferred to sleep in with his concubines.

But today, he has something to announce.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Emperor Jingshun looked at the two ministers standing in the front.

Elder Gao knew very well what the emperor was thinking. When he saw the emperor looking at him, Elder Gao became angry. His brows drooped, his face tightened, his lips pursed, and his back straightened, showing his dissatisfaction with Emperor Jingshun vividly.

Others did not dare to lose their temper with the emperor, but he did. He had been the emperor's teacher. When the emperor was still a prince, he had also given the emperor advice and suggestions. At that time, Emperor Jingshun counted on him for everything he encountered.

This foolish emperor has been on the throne for a long time, and there haven't been so many difficult messes inside and outside the court in the past two years. However, he was deceived by Chen Tingjian. Not only did he marry Princess Huayang to Chen Tingjian's fourth son who had no achievements at all, he even wanted to drive him back home and let Chen Tingjian be the prime minister!

Lord Gao was very angry, but after all, he was the emperor, so he couldn't curse at him.

He only hoped that Emperor Jingshun would open his eyes and think about the achievements he had made in the past two years, and not be blinded by Empress Qi and Chen Tingjian again!

Emperor Jingshun's gaze quickly shifted to Chen Tingjian, who was standing next to Lord Gao.

Chen Tingjian also has his back straight, and the red robe makes his face look like a jade, elegant and humble, with a long beard that hangs down to his chest and abdomen, smooth and flowing, just like the Taoist deity in the painting.

Although Emperor Jingshun had not seen Chen Tingjian in the past two years, he had received news from Lingzhou at all times.

The daughter wrote a letter praising Chen Tingjian for personally leading the local people to avoid the flood despite the danger. Chen Tingjian also put the interests of the country above his own and punished his brothers and sisters who were corrupt and accepted bribes, and his nephew who persecuted the people.

Chen Jingzong had the courage to give Lingzhou Wei a brand new look. In addition to relying on his father-in-law, the emperor, was it also because of Chen Tingjian's good parenting

It was actually because his daughter followed Chen Tingjian to Lingzhou to mourn that she was able to help the court eliminate the big pest Prince Xiang by accident, and the national treasury suddenly had an additional tens of millions of taels of silver.

What does this mean? It means that Chen Tingjian not only has great talent in governing the country, but also has a very good fortune!

Besides, long before Chen Tingjian left Beijing, Emperor Jingshun had hinted that he would leave the position of Prime Minister to Chen Tingjian. Now that he is back, he can't go back on his word as the emperor, right

On the one hand, he could not stand the bossy attitude of Gao Ge Lao in front of him, and on the other hand, he admired Chen Tingjian, so Emperor Jingshun made a decision quickly.

Emperor Jingshun said that Gao Ge Lao was old and his eyes were blurry and he no longer had the energy to handle state affairs. What else could Gao Ge Lao say

Emperor Jingshun was determined to have him go, and now at least he gave him a decent reason. If he had stubbornly refused, Emperor Jingshun would have framed him!

"I, your humble servant, thank you for your grace!"

Lord Gao knelt on the ground, thinking back to the past, tears streaming down his face.

Chen Tingjian leaned over to help him.

Lord Gao snorted coldly, turned away, and when he passed by Chen Jingzong who was standing in the middle, he snorted heavily again.

In fact, Chen Bochong, who was also a fourth-rank civil servant, stood opposite his younger brother Chen Jingzong.

Of course, Lord Gao also saw him, but he knew that Chen Bochong had won the top spot in the imperial examination based on his own ability and had real talent and knowledge, so he did not sneer at Chen Bochong.

Chen Bochong did not appreciate this kindness. He looked at his fourth brother inconspicuously.

Chen Jingzong stood there solemnly, his body as straight as a pine tree. Because there was nothing to discuss, he looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, looking very serious.

As soon as Gao Ge Lao left, the second thing Emperor Jingshun announced was to promote Chen Tingjian to the position of chief minister of the cabinet.

Then Emperor Jingshun pushed all government affairs into Chen Tingjian's hands, and he just sat there.

After the morning court session was over, Emperor Jingshun called Chen Tingjian, Chen Bochong and Chen Jingzong to the imperial study.

Emperor Jingshun had great trust and confidence in Chen Tingjian, so he let him just do his job.

Emperor Jingshun thought that Chen Bochong, who was already in his thirties, should be allowed to change his position. He always handled cases in the Dali Temple, and it would be difficult for him to be promoted to other places in the future.

When the 18-year-old Chen Jingzong returned from Lingzhou, Chen Tingjian had not yet figured out what to do with his son. When Emperor Jingshun heard the news, he directly put Chen Jingzong into the Jinyiwei and gave him a position of fourth-rank commander. Wasn't that just to give face to Chen Tingjian

At that time, Emperor Jingshun was not aware of Chen Jingzong's abilities and yet he was so partial to him. As for Chen Bochong, Emperor Jingshun wanted to cultivate him well and put him in the cabinet. Chen Xiaozong, the third place winner in the imperial examination, was still young and could gain more experience for a few more years.

Emperor Jingshun's intention to promote him was very obvious, and the reasons for the promotion were ready-made. In the past year and a half, Chen Bochong had made remarkable achievements as the prefect of Lingzhou.

Chen Bozong knelt down and said respectfully, "I thank the emperor for his grace, but I am determined to judge cases in the courts and strive to make sure that there are no wrongful convictions and no unclear sentences in the world. I hope the emperor will fulfill my selfish wish."

Emperor Jingshun smiled, looked at Chen Tingjian, and said in surprise: "Officials have always tried every means to rise up, but you only want to stay in the Dali Temple. Don't you want to change places for the rest of your life?"

Chen Bozong raised his head, looked directly at Emperor Jingshun and said, "It would be my honor if I could serve in the Dali Temple until I die."

At this time, Chen Tingjian said: "Your Majesty, this minister's son has a straightforward character and is not good at dealing with officials and colleagues. If he goes to work in the six ministries, he will easily offend his colleagues. It is better to let him realize his ambitions in the Dali Temple."

Emperor Jingshun was of course aware of Chen Bochong's character, and knowing that what the father and son said was true, he agreed. When he thought of the previous examples of fathers and sons holding power in the cabinet, he felt that Chen Tingjian and his son were even more precious.

Finally, Emperor Jingshun looked at his son-in-law Chen Jingzong and said with a smile: "Your Highness has made great contributions in Lingzhou Guard. I will definitely reward you. Do you have any ideas?"

Chen Tingjian and Chen Bochong both felt a little nervous.

One is an old father, and the other is an older brother who is half a father. Both of them are worried that Chen Jingzong, who is "new to the officialdom", will accidentally say the wrong thing.

Chen Jingzong looked at Emperor Jingshun and said respectfully, "I am just a military man who knows nothing about court affairs. I just want to train troops for the emperor."

While Emperor Jingshun was still pondering the meaning of these words, Chen Tingjian turned around and sternly rebuked his son, "The court is full of talented military officers, how could it be your turn to train the troops for the emperor? How dare you speak wildly in front of the emperor? Why don't you kneel down and apologize!"

Chen Jingzong knelt down, but there was no sign of apology on his face. He looked firmly at Emperor Jingshun behind the imperial desk.

Emperor Jingshun waved his hand at Chen Tingjian, asked Chen Jingzong to stand up, and asked in a friendly manner: "What kind of troops do you want to train?"

Chen Jingzong said, "You are in charge of the Jinyiwei, and everyone in the guard is an elite. I have no use for my talents in the Jinyiwei, so I would like to ask the emperor to change a guard for me to serve, preferably the worst of the 26 guards in the capital, so that I can show my talents there."

Emperor Jingshun smiled and looked at Chen Tingjian.

Chen Tingjian was still furious, and of course his anger was directed at his son: "Nonsense! The soldiers in the 26 guards of the capital are strong men selected from all over the country. They are all good at martial arts. Any one of them may not be worse than you. What right do you have to command them? Don't take advantage of your status as the son-in-law of the emperor to think you are extraordinary and look down on others."

Chen Jingzong didn't even look at him, and let his words go in one ear and out the other.

Emperor Jingshun was amused by Chen Tingjian. This was Lord Chen, who could remain calm even when faced with a huge crisis. Emperor Jingshun and Chen Tingjian had known each other for nearly 30 years, and he had never seen Chen Tingjian scold any minister out of anger.

Lord Chen has always been a gentleman, and he always has reasons and evidence when arguing with others. Perhaps it is only when he is disciplining his own son that he speaks rudely and impolitely.

After watching the excitement, Emperor Jingshun stroked his beard and said to Chen Tingjian, "Of the twenty-six guards in the capital, I am in charge of the Imperial Guards. The other guards are under the management of the Ministry of War. I am not too clear about the specific situation. Can you tell me which guard has the weakest military strength?"

Chen Tingjian was shocked.

In the past, Taizu and Chengzu established 26 guards in the capital. These 26 guards were actually the emperor's personal army, which was completely managed and mobilized by the emperor. However, later, a descendant of the emperor led the army to war, and not only was he captured, but most of the elite 26 guards in the capital were also lost. From then on, the ministers dared not let the emperor control his personal army, and gradually, they brought the 25 guards except the Jinyiwei into the hands of the Ministry of War.

Emperor Jingshun asked lightly, does he mean to take back the military power of his own army

It’s all the fourth brother’s fault. Why are you talking about all this

Although his heart was in turmoil, Chen Tingjian remained calm. After thinking for a moment, he replied to Emperor Jingshun, "Your Majesty, people have different lengths of fingers, and the strength of the 25 guards is indeed slightly different. The commander of the Daxing Left Guard, Li Zhengyuan, is over 60 years old and may not be energetic enough. In several guards' martial arts competitions, the Daxing Left Guard always ranked last."

These garrisons in the capital city would hold a martial arts competition every winter month. Each garrison would select ten people to participate in a series of competitions and the candidates would be ranked according to their final results.

Poor Daxing left back, he almost always comes last.

When Chen Tingjian reminded him, Emperor Jingshun remembered that anything that was first in something would be memorable, no matter if it was a positive number or a negative number. For example, Emperor Jingshun could not remember which guardhouse was the second to last one.

"Since Li Zhengyuan is old, let the prince consort take his place and serve as the commander of the Daxing Left Guard."

Emperor Jingshun said without hesitation.

Chen Tingjian hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this is impossible. Daxing Zuowei is still the capital's guard at the very least, and the commander is a third-rank official. How can he be qualified to hold this position?"

Emperor Jingshun: "Li Zhengyuan is indeed qualified. Look at what he has done with the Left Guard of Daxing. If the veterans are not good enough, don't blame me for giving young people a chance. Let the Prince Consort try. If the Left Guard of Daxing still ranks last in the winter competition this year, I will change the position of the Prince Consort."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingzong said loudly: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will definitely not let you down!"

Emperor Jingshun smiled.

Chen Jingzong was Chen Tingjian's son, but also his son-in-law.

Chen Tingjian looked down on this son, but he thought highly of him. As long as Chen Jingzong could gather the Daxing Left Guard and make them listen to him, the Daxing Left Guard would become his personal army again.

(End of this chapter)