As soon as Zhuge Liang finished speaking, an indescribable complex emotion instantly surged into Li Yan's heart.
There is anger, confusion, and resentment.
But there is more disappointment.
It's only been seven years since the late emperor passed away, and yet you've so easily excluded me, the minister entrusted with the care of the emperor's son, from the court?
And demoted to a commoner?
Then what is the use of all the achievements I have accumulated over the past few decades?
Li Yan's chest rose and fell, and he went against the trend. He raised his head and stared at Zhuge Liang for a few moments, then turned to look at Liu Chan:
"Your Majesty has issued an edict, and I dare not disobey it. But before I accept the edict, I still have a few words from the bottom of my heart that I want to explain to Your Majesty. I have served as your minister for decades, and I hope Your Majesty will think of the hard work you have done in the past and grant my request!"
"Now that things have come to this, how can I allow you to continue to lie here?"
Zhuge Liang narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Yan, then took two steps forward and handed the imperial edict he had been holding to Li Yan, saying sternly: "Here is the edict, Li Yan, please accept it immediately!"
It has come to this point, who can't see it? Your Majesty, how could you criticize me for such a small matter? It must have been Zhuge Liang's doing.
Li Yan had no intention of stopping. Seeing that Liu Chan did not make a clear statement, he immediately bowed to Liu Chan and said:
"Your Majesty, although I made some mistakes in my words, I am one of the two people entrusted by the late emperor to take care of his son. I will accept the demotion, but why punish a commoner? Zhuge Liang and I were both assistant ministers, and I was the general of the Han Dynasty, but I was rebuked by the prime minister with just one word! Zhuge Liang was so powerful, and all political affairs were under the jurisdiction of the prime minister's office. He was so arbitrary. What is the difference between him and Cao Mengde? I have made contributions for decades..."
Li Yan's face flushed and he spoke very quickly to himself, as if if he didn't say it now, he would never have another chance in the future.
Being in the palace, Zhuge Liang could not personally take action and lose his loyalty, nor could he be so "arbitrary" as to not allow Li Yan to speak. He just stood aside with his hands behind his back, looking at Li Yan with a cold and regretful look.
"Li Qing, please wait."
Li Yan was still talking, and Liu Chan raised his voice and repeated: "Li Qing, please stop!"
"As you wish." Li Yan pursed his lips, bowed, and then kept silent.
Liu Chan said slowly, "I ascended the throne when I was young, and it has been more than seven years. The Han Dynasty now lives in a corner of Yizhou. Although I cannot see everything about the affairs in the palace, the government, and the country, I can at least understand about 60% to 70% of them."
"Li Qing, do you know what is the most important thing for the Han Dynasty now and in the future?"
Li Yan was silent for a moment, and wanted to say something, but finally shook his head and said nothing.
"The most important thing is to march north!" Liu Chan said calmly, "Everyone says that I am the emperor of the Han Dynasty, but the emperor of the Han Dynasty should be in Luoyang, not Chengdu! The only one who can lead the Han Dynasty's army to march north is my father."
"Can Li Qing lead 100,000 soldiers to lead the Northern Expedition? Can he make the country prosperous and preside over the great government?"
Li Yan wanted to say that he could do it, too. But since the topic had been asked, there was no room for him to respond positively. Li Yan had no choice but to follow Liu Chan's lead and bowed, "I am ashamed."
Liu Chan nodded: "The prosperity of the Han Dynasty is inevitable. When the Northern Expedition is decided, the whole country must work together and there should be no change. Li Qing is only fifty years old this year. If you follow the right path, you will be blessed. This is the truth of the world."
"Chu minister Qu Wan was repeatedly demoted but was finally able to rise again, and Han Anguo worked diligently to revive the country. Li Qing should reflect on himself first and stay in Chengdu to recuperate for a while."
Just as Li Yan was about to kowtow, Liu Chan continued, "As for Li Qing's eldest son, Li Feng, he should serve as an official in the Prime Minister's Office."
"I acknowledge my crime and thank Your Majesty for your grace!" Li Yan was in a state of confusion. Living in Chengdu was like being under house arrest, and his son was assigned to work under Zhuge Liang. All his ways out were blocked.
If you don't thank me, what else can I do?
"Stand up." Liu Chan waved his hand slightly.
After Li Yan stood up, he bowed to Zhuge Liang again, and then followed a few Tiger Guards out in a dreary manner. I am the fish on the chopping board, that's all!
Han Anguo was only a 2,000-stone official, so he could be demoted and then used again, and then he could revive from the ashes. How could a general of the Wei army be demoted to a commoner and then revive from the ashes? It's just a joke to fool a three-year-old child!
Li Yan's back gradually went away. Liu Chan, who had a handsome face, sat on the throne and sighed. He looked at Zhuge Liang who was silent and asked, "Prime Minister, how did I talk to Li Yan just now?"
Zhuge Liang turned around and bowed calmly: "Your Majesty's words are very appropriate. I have told Li Yan the current situation and righteousness. I hope he can remember the teachings of the Holy Spirit, reflect seriously, and repent as soon as possible."
"I am just repeating what you said, there is nothing new." Liu Chan asked again, "But I have another question, I hope you can tell me the truth."
Zhuge Liang nodded: "Your Majesty, please speak."
Liu Chan said, "I dismissed Li Yan according to the wishes of my father. But I don't know to what extent Li Yan repented, or how long it would take before my father would be willing to reinstate him."
Zhuge Liang was silent for a few moments, and then replied: "Tell me the truth, I don't know. Perhaps after the victory of this expedition against Wei, we can borrow Li Yan's ability and let him take up a real position in Longyou or Liangzhou. Since the Northern Expedition is used as an excuse to stabilize people's hearts, deposing Li Yan is a warning to the people in Chengdu. Unless the Northern Expedition is successful, I think Li Yan should stay at home."
"I understand." Liu Chan nodded slowly: "Does my father have any other plans when he returns to Chengdu this time?"
Zhuge Liang cupped his hands and said, "How about your majesty convene a court meeting three days from tomorrow? I can explain clearly to Du Qiong, He Zong, Lai Min, Pei Jun and others in front of your majesty and all the civil and military officials." "I will issue an order to inform all the ministers." Liu Chan said, "Since we are back in Chengdu, you should not be busy with official duties these days. Take care of your body and enjoy the happiness of family life."
"By the way, I want to give Zhuge Zhan the title of Cavalry Commander, what do you think, Father Prime Minister?"
Zhuge Liang sighed inwardly again and replied sternly, "How can a four-year-old boy who has done nothing deserve your Majesty's reward? I'm afraid it will ruin my fortune. I hope your Majesty will understand."
Liu Chan slowly stood up and said, "I understand. Please go back, my dear father. I will see you off."
"As you wish." Zhuge Liang replied.
Chengdu is a small city. The news that Li Yan was demoted to a commoner spread in a small area while he was staggering back to his home after receiving the imperial edict.
When Li Yan left the palace, he was like a lost soul, but when Zhuge Liang left the palace, he also felt a little worried.
Liu Chan just asked Zhuge Liang two key questions.
First, when can Li Yan be reinstated? Second, the arrangement of persuading all the ministers at the court meeting.
As for these two issues, Zhuge Liang was not sure about the time of Li Yan's restoration, and he took advantage of Li Yan's demotion to pressure and persuade those who opposed the Northern Expedition.
Obviously, Liu Chan was also worried about the Northern Expedition, but he chose to be patient for the time being and fully trust Zhuge Liang.
The doubts from his colleagues in Chengdu were nothing, Zhuge Liang could have convinced them with power and reason. But when Liu Chan showed his trust after endurance, all the burdens fell on Zhuge Liang alone. What were the chances of success in the Northern Expedition?
God knows.
It is nothing more than doing one's best and accepting fate. What is there to be afraid of?
The news that Li Yan had been demoted to a commoner quickly spread throughout Chengdu, as did the news that a grand court meeting would be held three days later.
Du Qiong, He Zong, Lai Min and Pei Jun all came to Du Qiong's house and discussed how to argue at the court meeting.
Du Qiong and He Zong are both elders in Shu. Du Qiong is currently the Counselor and He Zong is currently the Grand Herald. Both of them are proficient in prophecies and divination. Before, when Liu Bei was proclaimed emperor, they both used the words of prophecies to persuade him to ascend the throne.
Lai Min was an old minister of Liu Zhang and could be considered Liu Zhang's uncle.
Pei Jun is even more interesting. He is the younger brother of Pei Qian, the current Wei minister, and the older brother of Pei Hui, the imperial censor. He is the second of the five brothers in the Pei family. When Pei Jun was more than ten years old, he sent his brother-in-law to take up a post in Shu. When the chaos began, he never returned to his hometown and settled in Shu from then on.
In short, according to some classification methods used in later generations, these four people were standard old ministers of Yizhou, and they were extremely conservative.
The four of them were sitting in the hall of Du Qiong's house, with no one else around them.
Lai Min was obviously the most anxious, and asked, "Didn't Brother Bo Yu say that according to astronomy, the Northern Expedition in the past few years has been extremely bad, not auspicious? Li Zhengfang was demoted to a commoner as soon as he returned to Chengdu. Prime Minister Zhuge has no intention of ending things amicably when he returned to Chengdu this time."
"How should we respond?"
"How should we deal with it?" Du Qiong sighed, "It is easy to know the will of heaven, but it is difficult to defy it. Jingda, to be honest, I regret telling you about these astronomical phenomena."
"Only by observing astronomy day and night and going through hard work can one know the mysteries behind astronomical phenomena. But after knowing them, one often worries about the disclosure of the prophecies, so it is better not to tell anyone."
He Zong was closest to Du Qiong and snorted, "It's too late to say these things! We submitted the petition last time out of loyalty to the court. Now we are in a difficult situation. It's better to have a clear discussion with Prime Minister Zhuge at the court meeting!"
Pei Jun asked coldly: "Who will say it?"
"You tell me, or I tell you, or the two of them?"
He Zong fell silent, and sighed again, "What can we do? We can only follow Yang Jixiu's example! After all, we are powerless and have no other options."
Yang Jixiu refers to Yang Hong, a former official in Shu County.
When Liu Bei was still alive, he used the land of Yizhou to fight with Cao Cao for Hanzhong. As an old official of Yizhou, Yang Hong was asked by Zhuge Liang in person what to do.
Yang Hong's situation at that time was similar to that of the four people in the hall at this moment. Facing Zhuge Liang's question, Yang Hong answered the famous words "Without Hanzhong, there will be no Shu. Men should fight and women should transport troops."
Lai Min sighed, clenched his fist and pounded his thigh: "Northern Expedition, Northern Expedition, even after losing Hanzhong, we have to go north! If we continue to support like this for a few more years, I'm afraid Yizhou will be drained of its blood!"
"According to Prime Minister Zhuge's attitude, no matter what we say, we will suppress it by force this time. Although we accept it this time, if there is an opportunity in the future, we should write a letter to the court to dissuade it. Yizhou is a small country after all. How can it last long if it is so warlike?"
The remaining three nodded silently. (End of this chapter)
