Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 645 Conversation
Wang Yan looked up and down, seeing that King Yu was dressed in black, many thoughts flashed through his mind. He spread the news to the outside world and came to Xinxing County to meet King Gui in order to let the emperor compromise and give him the title of king. drawn out.

The various factions may not have known about it before, not sure if King Gui was in Yuncang Mountain, but at least King Yu and his group believed him when he came to Xinxing County.

Counting the time, King Yu should have known that he was coming to Xinxing County. Since he believed that King Gui was in Yunfengguan, he should have acted early, but it turned out that he did not show up until after Lu Shikui went up the mountain. From this point of view, King Yu not only wanted to kill King Gui, and wanted to get rid of him as well.

Thinking of this, Wang Yan couldn't help being angry, but Su Guansheng and Tang Wang had always been familiar with the general situation, why did they suddenly want to kill him?The southern capital has not yet recovered, so killing him isn't it afraid of a reversal of the situation?
Wang Yan looked at the crowd, waved his hand and said, "Truth has someone prepare the food, you go down and enjoy it first, and Truth has something to say to His Highness alone."

"No!" Lu Shikui and others bowed and cupped their fists, and exited the lobby.

At this time Wang Yan stood up, and couldn't help but coldly said: "Will your Highness not explain the truth?"

Zhu Yu'e was young and energetic, he looked at Wang Yan, there was no regret in his eyes, nor did he admit defeat, there was the arrogance of a nobleman in his bones, "As an important minister of the court, Wang Xiang privately meets with the vassal king, don't you want to give me an explanation?"

From Zhu Yu'e's point of view, he was doing it for the sake of the Zhu family and not falling into the hands of a different surname, so he didn't think there was anything wrong.

Seeing him like this, Wang Yan was not angry, "Your Highness's words are groundless."

"Hmph! Xianggong came to Xinxing County just to see King Gui?" Zhu Yu'e said disdainfully: "Today, the hearts of the people will be subdued, and they will gradually return to His Majesty. Is it to disturb the hearts of the people and bring disaster to Xiao Qiang? Wang Xiang wants to be Huo Guanghu? Wen Henghu? Cao Weihu?"

Zhu Yu'e meant that he had the heart of disobedience, and Wang Yan felt annoyed that he was going to be ambushed and killed, but Zhu Yu'e was right, as if he was the blackest culprit who disregarded the overall situation and wanted to destroy the good situation.

Wang Yan's eyes sharpened immediately, "So, Your Highness wants to get rid of Fan Gui and the real face? Is this what the King of Tang meant, or what was meant by Elder Su Ge?"

When Zhu Yu'e heard Wang Yan mention Tang Wang and Su Guansheng, his face showed a trace of panic. It seemed that Wang Yan had known about their faction for a long time.

Now he has been caught right now, and this matter was indeed his temporary idea, so he took it alone, and said in a hateful voice: "It means Gu, Brother Wang and Ge Lao only want to get rid of King Gui, killing you is Gu's own." attention."

Wang Yan listened and nodded, it was similar to what he thought, he was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "His Highness was wrong from the beginning, King Gui is not in Yunfeng Temple! The truth also knows your purpose, except The purpose of losing King Gui was to allow Tang Wang to have a chance to inherit the great rule. Killing the real minister was because he was afraid that the real minister would threaten the Ming Dynasty. However, the real minister raised troops from Shandong and moved to the north and south. Your Highness is so suspicious."

"King Gui isn't in Yunfeng Temple?" Zhu Yu'e was shocked, and then he realized that Wang Yan's diversion this time was probably just to put pressure on the emperor, and he had no intention of abolishing the establishment, and he was just guessing to get rid of an important minister. It’s inappropriate, and he has no right to do so, but as a royal Zhu Yu’e, he naturally has a set of ideas and rules that support his behavior. A servant of the Zhu family, since His Majesty is disturbed, shouldn't he reflect on himself?"

China's system and thought have evolved for thousands of years. Generally speaking, the more power the monarch has, the weaker the power of the ministers has been. Since the fall of the Song Dynasty, the era of co-governance by the monarch and his ministers has basically come to an end.

What Zhu Yu'e meant was that Wang Yan was not conscious enough. Since he made the emperor and the Zhu family feel uneasy, he should be more conscious, take the initiative to hand over power, and fade out of the court. If all the threats in his eyes voluntarily withdraw from the court, then who is left in the court?

This is not a way to solve the dispute between the monarch and his ministers, but to establish a check and balance between the power of the monarch and the power of the ministers.

Hearing this, Wang Yan said coldly: "Your Highness's words, I don't agree with the truth. Among the thirteen classics of Confucianism, "Shangshu", "Book of Changes", "Book of Songs", "Zhouli", "Yili" Book of Rites, The Analects of Confucius, The Classic of Filial Piety, Mencius, Erya, Chunqiu Zuozhuan, Chunqiu Gongyang Zhuan, and Chunqiu Guliang Zhuan have never had the saying that "the ruler wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die". As the saying goes, there is a saying in the Tao that "the king regards his ministers as brothers and feet, and the ministers regard the emperor as his heart; explain."

Zhu Yu'e's face changed greatly when he heard this, "Meng Zi's theory was banned by Taizu, how dare Wang Xiang mention it?"

Wang Yan's thinking is undoubtedly dangerous for the old Zhu family. Zhu Yu'e heard the meaning of threat from it. Wang Yan seemed to say that the monarch and his ministers have their own obligations, and mutual respect is the only way to maintain the relationship. The duty of a minister, if the emperor cannot fulfill the duty of a ruler, then he has no obligation to remain loyal to Zhu Ming.

This kind of thinking has always existed in the Song Dynasty, and many thoughts have been taken out of context by later generations. Just say the three cardinal principles, and the Song people Zhendexiu explained it, "The emperor is the guide for the ministers, and the ruler is the minister. .” It is not emphasizing absolute obedience, but emphasizing that the monarch himself must be upright, which is also a constraint on the monarch.
In addition, there is "Although the emperor can order his ministers, he must not act recklessly against reason, and although the ministers share the emperor, they must not follow the Tao."

It's a pity that this kind of thinking has been dating for hundreds of years. The imperial power only emphasizes the obligations of the ministers to the emperor, but does not mention the obligations of the emperor to the ministers. In Zhu Yu'e's mind, Wang Yan's words are blatant rebellion.

This was the first time that Wang Yan expressed his thoughts clearly in front of the clan, but he knew that Zhu Yu'e might not understand what he meant. After all, the royal family was used to being superior and didn't think they had any obligations to their courtiers.

Wang Yan said in a deep voice: "Taizu's exorcism of the slaves is certainly called a hero, but I think Mencius's words are not wrong. The rise and fall of the world is not caused by one surname. I am determined to bring peace to the barbarians. It is for the world, Your Highness. If you want to get rid of me, it is because of the same surname, you will judge yourself. If you come here today, His Highness must be tired, so let's rest here for a while."

How to deal with Zhu Yu'e is a big problem for Wang Yan. He still has to think about it and see how Su Guansheng responds. He doesn't want to get caught up in endless party disputes and be unable to get away from business.

At this time, Wang Yan had nothing to say to Zhu Yu'e, so he turned and left after speaking.

(End of this chapter)