Chapter 1676 - A Tempest in the Court! (III)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The First Prince’s brow slightly creased. Down below, Zhu Tong’en immediately understood and stepped forward.

“Your Highness! If your lowly subject remembers correctly, Your Highness sent the King of Foreign Lands not too long ago as a special envoy to the Yue to handle matters in Lingnan. The Yue of Lingnan are all mixed together and present an extremely thorny problem for which mishandling would lead to even greater chaos. At present, the King of Foreign Lands is most needed at Lingnan. This lowly subject believes that the King of Foreign Lands will not be able to free himself up very soon and will be unable to take on the post of temporary Minister of War!”

The Lingnan matter had originally been a ploy by the First Prince to get Wang Chong out of the capital. To use it now to hinder Wang Chong and prevent him from snatching the temporary Minister of War post from Kong Wu was clearly the superior plan.

After all, Wang Chong had been made a special envoy to the Yue and ordered to Lingnan before discussion had even begun on the matter of the temporary Minister of War.

“Mm!”

The First Prince nodded, a hint of praise in his eyes as he glanced at Zhu Tong’en. Zhu Tong’en and Meng Tu each had their own advantages. Choosing to use the Lingnan matter against Wang Chong was truly an excellent choice.

“Lord Zhu speaks reason! There have been many incidents of unrest in Lingnan before this, and none of the governors dispatched have been able to do anything about it. Another incident might make all of Lingnan fall into turmoil. In contrast, the Great Tang is at peace with the other countries and there are no wars on the border, so making the selection for the temporary Minister of War is not of the utmost priority. The talents of the King of Foreign Lands are needed more in Lingnan. This prince believes that the King of Foreign Lands should be dispatched to Lingnan to ensure that the matters amongst the Yue are completely resolved. What do the honored officials think?” the First Prince said, his eyes scanning the hall.

“Your Highness speaks reason! This lowly subject agrees!”

“This lowly subject also agrees!”

In a flash, the officials down below called out in agreement. Almost the entire court now consisted of supporters of the First Prince, King Qi, and Li Junxian. The First Prince was determined to promote Kong Wu, and all of these officials were only too willing to express their approval!

The enthroned First Prince couldn’t help but smile at this sight. With a casual argument, he had neutralized the joint recommendation of Zhangchou Jianqiong, King Song, Gao Xianzhi, and Geshu Han.

“Your Highness, this subject has another memorial to submit!”

To everyone’s surprise, Huo Jue was not at all panicked by this widespread approval for the First Prince’s words, not even a ripple of emotion showing on his face. It was as if he had already predicted this scene would occur.

“Lingnan has already been divided into two areas, and the Yue have gathered and sworn an oath of alliance with all their chieftains present to serve as witnesses. In addition, a stele was set up commemorating this alliance, swearing that the offspring of the Yue will live in harmony for the rest of time, tilling the land together and no longer warring against one another. The lands of the Yue are now peaceful and harmonious, with all the conflicts and struggles resolved.

“This lowly subject learned of this matter from a letter received from an old friend in Lingnan, but as the court requires that the proper procedures are followed, this news is traveling at a somewhat slower pace. But given the time that has passed, the news from Lingnan should be reaching the capital soon!”

These words immediately silenced the court, particularly the First Prince and Zhu Tong’en. They hadn’t expected this news to come up mere moments after they raised the Lingnan matter.

“How could this be?!”

The First Prince’s face instantly turned dark, and he turned his head toward an official of the Bureau of Personnel standing in the ranks.

The official from the Bureau of Personnel responsible for Lingnan trembled as he stepped forward.

“Your Highness, this subject received the report from Lingnan an hour ago and was preparing to submit the memorial today. The Yue of Lingnan truly have established an alliance, commemorated with a stele. Not only have the Yue resolved all their conflicts, they’ve reached an unprecedented level of cooperation and interaction. In this aspect, the Lingnan matter truly has been resolved!”

He had thought that the Lingnan matter was simply one of the many ordinary affairs that the court needed to handle every day. But to his surprise, Huo Jue had gotten ahead of him, and besides that, the First Prince had actually broached the topic.

Even worse was that this routine report had suddenly become connected to the struggle for the post of temporary Minister of War.

The First Prince’s face had a nasty expression. When he heard the words of that official, he felt like someone had given him a sharp slap to the face. The Lingnan matter had been their best excuse to hinder Wang Chong, but it was now a farce.

What the First Prince found even more unacceptable was that Wang Chong had yet to take even a step out of the capital, but the Lingnan matter that had troubled the court for so long had been easily resolved through his farsighted strategies.

“Reporting!”

A resounding voice came from outside as a guard in clattering armor walked in and got down on one knee.

“There are urgent reports sent by the Anxi, Qixi, Beiting, Andong, and Annan Protectorates, as well as the other border posts. Your Highness, please inspect them!”

All the officials silently exchanged glances. The court was in the middle of discussing political affairs that had nothing to do with the border.

The six Protectorates and the other border posts rarely submitted memorials to the court in this matter. And it was even stranger that they had all arrived at the same time by way of urgent reports.

For them to arrive at such a sensitive moment made everyone immediately feel suspicious.

The First Prince also seemed to sense something, his brow deeply creasing.

“Bring it up!” the First Prince immediately said. With so many people present, he had to accept the reports.

There were twenty-some letters, in a stack one foot thick. A eunuch took the letters and sent them up to the First Prince. The First Prince took the first letter from the top and looked through it, then the second, the third… The First Prince’s expression turned nastier and nastier, and by the last letter, his complexion was as black as the bottom of a pot.

“Bastard!”

The First Prince gnashed his teeth, the fires of rage bursting forth from his heart. If he hadn’t been in Taihe Palace, he would have immediately vented this fury.

“Your Highness,” a palace attendant cautiously whispered. The rules of the court required that any matter concerning it be reported to the assembled officials. Not even the First Prince could ignore this rule.

The First Prince suppressed his rage and said, “I leave it to the Lord Prime Minister!”

The Prime Minister was the leader of all the officials and was endowed with the power to manage the various bureaus. When it came to matters regarding the court, the First Prince would be the first to review them, and the second would be the Prime Minister.

The thick stack of letters was given to Li Linfu, whose brow furrowed. What could the letters have said that made the First Prince so angry?

With this confusion, Li Linfu began looking through the letters. Once he was done, his expression also turned strange.

“Read it!” the First Prince shouted from his raised platform.

Li Linfu shot a hesitant glance at the First Prince, and then he finally began to summarize the contents of the letter.

Li Linfu sensed that this stack of letters was a hot potato, but according to the laws of the court, after the First Prince had reviewed a report, its contents needed to be announced to the assembled officials. Even though Li Linfu was unwilling, he was compelled to do so.

“Military officers of high and low status from the six Protectorates and the various border posts, for a total of around ten thousand names, have jointly recommended the King of Foreign Lands for the post of temporary Minister of War!” Li Linfu sternly said.

Bang!

Li Linfu’s words set off an uproar in the court. Ten thousand military officers of high and low status from the six Protectorates and the border posts! This massive number, this immense strength, was enough to suffocate anyone. No one had expected all these people to recommend Wang Chong.

The recommendation of King Song, Zhangchou Jianqiong, Geshu Han, and Gao Xianzhi had an immense weight on its own, and now, they had the force of around ten thousand officers from the border. This was an immense strength that no one could ignore.

Not even the First Prince could ignore this voice. Even the court controlled by the First Prince, the Confucian Sect, and King Qi was forced to take this voice seriously.

“Nearly ten thousand officers?! How?!”

The First Prince’s faction members all had unsightly expressions. If the Prime Minister himself hadn’t summarized the contents, they would have believed this news to be fake.

“Damn it!”

The one who was the most aggrieved and reluctant at this time was undoubtedly Kong Wu. With these generals and officers from the border intervening, his chances of becoming the temporary Minister of War had become minuscule.

He had waited for ten-some years and the tenures of three different Ministers of War. He had thought that this was finally his moment to at least become the temporary Minister of War, but Wang Chong had come out of nowhere and dealt him a crushing blow.

Kong Wu could not accept this!

But no matter how he struggled, the voices supporting Wang Chong were growing louder and louder.

The hall became deathly still. Some of the officials looked up at the First Prince while others looked toward Huo Jue.

Huo Jue’s actions today had undoubtedly provoked the First Prince’s ire, but it was clear that he had already readied himself for this. He had already cast aside any thought of himself. No matter what happened to him later on, he had reached his goal today. All that was left was to await the First Prince’s judgment.

Would he stubbornly insist on promoting Kong Wu, or would the pressure from King Song and the border generals make him appoint Wang Chong?

This matter was too far-reaching and far too sensitive. No one dared to recklessly speak at this time.

Taihe Palace was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The First Prince clenched his fists, his expression dour.

In the past, he might have tried to act more surreptitiously, but the border incident and the Public Order Squad incident had already made it an open secret that he was on unfriendly terms with Wang Chong. How could he possibly show Wang Chong a good face?!

And Kong Wu was the candidate that he had internally approved while Wang Chong was clearly his enemy.