Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

The emperor's funeral lasts seven days and the burial takes place in July. The Empress Dowager had previously ordered the successor to observe the most basic etiquette, so this basic etiquette must of course be followed. The funeral was held in the Taiji West Pavilion, where the coffin was placed. The successor and the eunuchs and palace slaves mourned here day and night, while the ministers from the outer court gathered outside the palace to mourn day and night.

This arrangement needed to last for a full seven months to express the successor and the ministers' grief for the late emperor. But regardless of whether they mourned or not, the series of etiquette was very torturous.

At the beginning, the ministers were able to stay up all day and night, but gradually they were no longer as strict as they were at the beginning, and found various reasons to be absent. Even the ministers who had previously written to call on the successor to be polite and filial could no longer hold on. Especially as the various changes outside made the situation more and more serious, more and more ministers were absent.

These officials could not stand just crying and bowing in the morning and evening, and Chen Chang, the successor who had to cry in the palace day and night, was like being tortured.

After a period of mourning, Chen Chang was already haggard and numb, and looked extremely haggard. Even his voice was dry and hoarse, and he could hardly make any clear sounds. He looked gloomy and lifeless.

The mourning ritual itself was extremely exhausting for physical and mental strength, and the diet and daily life were extremely simple, making it completely difficult to get effective rest and replenishment. Therefore, there were many cases of mourning rituals that caused them to die of exhaustion.

The situation Chen Chang faced was even worse. In addition to mourning for his father, he also faced the bad situation of being stabbed in the back by his mother, being imprisoned by his cousin, and being isolated by his confidants. The psychological pressure he had to bear was even greater.

In the early morning, he was led into the hall by the eunuchs from the side hall. He looked at the huge coffin containing his father's body with a numb expression. His bloodshot eyes were calm, with only sticky liquid occasionally seeping out from the corners of his eyes.

At this point, he was full of despair, and there was no sadness or anger. It was not that he had let it go, but he was too lazy to be sad or happy about things outside of himself. Anyway, he was destined to be unable to change anything.

There was a noise outside the hall, and the sound was intermittent and lasted for a long time. Chen Chang frowned slightly and glanced at the waiter on the side of the hall. The waiter hurried back and walked back slowly after a long time. He came to Chen Chang's side, leaned over and said a few words. When he left, Chen Chang had something in his palm.

In the early morning, the ministers came here to mourn again. The so-called ministers were only a dozen people, and most of them came and went in a hurry. Since these people were isolated outside the Taiji West Pavilion by the imperial guards, Chen Chang didn't know who was still holding on. He just listened to the servants singing the ceremony outside with a drowsy head.

Taking advantage of the fact that there were fewer and fewer people in the hall, Chen Chang regained some energy. He opened his clenched palms and revealed the rolled-up white handkerchief in his palms. The handkerchief was unfolded, and there was nothing top-secret inside, just two plums soaked in honey.

Chen Chang quickly threw the two plums into his mouth and pressed them under his tongue, carefully savoring the sweetness in his tongue, tears flowing from the corners of his eyes. The plums were specially prepared by the Crown Princess. Every morning, there was a noise in the inner hall to create opportunities for the servants to go in and out, and pass them in.

During the funeral, he and his wife had to live apart and could hardly see each other. Two plums were not enough to compensate for Chen Chang's physical exhaustion, but they could bring him precious comfort and make him feel that he had not been completely abandoned by the world.

Today's atmosphere was a little different. The mourning ceremony that was supposed to end soon was still going on, and in addition to the singing of rituals, the crying and worshipping outside the hall gradually became louder. Chen Chang knelt in the hall and could not directly see the situation outside the hall, but he gradually began to doubt.

At this time, outside the Taiji West Pavilion, in addition to the various messy crying and mourning sounds, the scene was truly shocking. In the open square, there was a man in mourning clothes with his hair loose, crying the most sadly. He cried several times and had to be supported by the guards to barely maintain his kneeling posture. Anyone who saw such a sad and mourning scene would probably be moved to tears, but if you know the person and the incident, you can only feel shock!

This person is none other than Linchuan Prince Chen Qian. It is not unusual for him to come and mourn for the deceased. After all, he is a minister in the court and an uncle and nephew at home. But the problem is that before, Linchuan Prince accepted the edict of the Queen Mother to transfer to Yangzhou as the governor, thus taking charge of the military and national power. Because state affairs are of great importance, he has never appeared to mourn again. Now, after many days, he has appeared here again. Even if a person is slow to change the situation, after seeing this scene, he must have guessed that something great has happened in the situation in the country.

In the hall, the candied plums had been smacked to the point of losing their taste. Chen Chang swallowed them with some reluctance. The spirit that had just been boosted by this sweetness became sluggish again, and he lowered his head and became drowsy.

In this half-awake state, he vaguely heard some chaotic sounds coming from the hall. When he turned his eyes slightly, he saw his cousin Chen Qian walking towards him with his hair loose. His mood was not very up and down, he just thought he was dreaming, because he believed that the Chen Qian brothers knew they were in the wrong and did not dare to come to the palace to see him.

"Your Majesty is so haggard! Although it is a courtesy, you must take care of yourself for the sake of the people!"

When Chen Qian saw Chen Chang so listless and haggard, his heart ached, and he hurried forward and leaned over to whisper.

It wasn't until Chen Qian was about to touch his belt that Chen Chang finally realized that this was not a scene he saw in a dream, but something that was actually happening. His eyes widened suddenly, and he stood up angrily and pointed at Chen Qian. He yelled angrily: "Dog thief, dog thief, do you still have the honor to come to the palace to see my father and son? If it weren't for my father's protection and support, what kind of swine and dog material would your brother be! Now my father's bones are cold, he defrauded my mother, and took away My position of power..."

When Chen Qian heard Chen Chang's scolding, she made no excuses and just bowed to the ground without saying a word.

Chen Chang naturally harbored endless resentment towards Chen Qian, but the long days of mourning had made him very weak. Even his voice was weak. After some irritation and cursing, his limbs became cold and limp, and he had to be helped by an attendant. He could stand firm, but he still glared at Chen Qian and gritted his teeth and said: "What's the matter with the dog thief now? If you want to harm me, you need to go to a dark room, otherwise everyone in the world will spit on you, and there will be retribution for this disaster..."

"I, I am guilty...I came to the palace today to plead guilty to Your Majesty in front of the grand funeral. I will let Your Majesty punish me. I have no complaints! However, the crime I committed is a small one, but the safety of the country is a big one. The current situation is critical. Please, Your Majesty." Take charge of the overall situation quickly and make plans!"

Chen Qian bowed to Chen Chang repeatedly before speaking again in a solemn voice.

"What happened outside, outside?"

After Chen Chang heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then stared at Chen Qian and said quickly.

"The affairs of the country today are very important. Please don't be restrained by formalities. Please move to the east pavilion quickly and allow me to make a detailed report. The country and the country are all made by Daxing. Even if your majesty violates the etiquette a little bit, Daxing must have done it." I won’t mind!”

Having said this, Chen Qian kowtowed to Chen Baxian's coffin again and again, with an extremely complicated look on her face.

Chen Chang had already had enough of the depression and torture of being in mourning. Although he didn't know what was going on outside, seeing Chen Qian actually come to him to kowtow and plead guilty, he guessed that it would be a great benefit to him, so he said with a straight face. : "Hurry up and see my subordinates Yinshe and others, otherwise I won't go anywhere!"

Chen Qian's behavior was also a decision made out of desperation. He knew that if he did not make concessions while he still had a certain amount of initiative, when both internal and external forces were exerted and all the pressure was forced on him, the situation would be very different. I'm afraid it will be even more doomed.

As Yin Buhai and others entered the palace again to see the heir Chen Chang, the monarch and his ministers secretly felt as if they were separated from each other. Only after hearing the stories of Yin Buhai and others, Chen Chang realized that so much had happened in and outside the past period. things.

"The King of Tang is truly benevolent and will not abandon a careless and righteous person like me. He uses many means to rescue me."

Chen Chang sighed with emotion at first, and then said angrily: "King Linchuan is really incompetent. He was eager to seize power before, and he didn't have any good plans to stabilize the country. As a result, Ruosi was surrounded by the situation in such a short period of time. He really deserves to be killed." !”

Although from his own heart, he really wanted to get rid of the Chen Qian brothers, Duji was still under his control. If he wanted to completely eliminate Chen Qian's power, he had to invite Wei Jun to cross the river in a large scale, but As a result, the two sides are really fighting to the death. When forced into desperation, Chen Qian is afraid that she will not give up her family easily.

Therefore, the most realistic solution at the moment is to take advantage of the fact that external deterrence is effective and Chen Qian has been forced to bow her head, so that both parties can reach a compromise plan.

Next, the two sides will start negotiations. First, the power of the capital must be returned to the new king, Chen Chang. If this cannot be done, let alone Chen Chang's refusal, the Western Wei Dynasty will not give up.

As for Chen Qian, it is simply unrealistic to directly treat her as a traitor. She still has strength and has a considerable number of fans. In particular, many of Chen Qian's supporters overlapped with the founding fathers. To uproot her would be akin to self-healing. Before the disease was cured, the Nanchen regime might collapse first.

After this incident, Chen Chang also realized that his control over Nan Chen's personnel was weak. Unless he gave up all his autonomy and fully accepted the support of the Western Wei Dynasty, it would be best not to break up with Chen Qian and the forces behind her.

So after some bargaining, Chen Qian took the initiative to resign from her previous positions as governor of Yangzhou and other positions, and left Wuxing as governor of Zhenzhou, while Chen Xu only retained the position of attendant and stayed in Jiankang as a hostage.

Of course, this is just a compromise reached internally, and the actual solution will depend on the opinions of Western Wei. As this intention was achieved, the news was quickly sent to Guanzhong.

Li Tai was not dissatisfied with this. After this incident, he also felt that Chen Chang was indeed a bit like a tiger father and a dog son. Both his intelligence and methods were far different from his father. It was a bit reluctant to expect him to stabilize the situation in Jiangdong. . As for Chen Qian's retreat to Wuxing, the hidden danger will undoubtedly become smaller. If she really wants to completely force her to rebel, the Wei army is not yet ready to fully intervene in the situation in Jiangdong.

Based on the agreement reached within Nanchen, he proposed two more points, that is, Wu Mingche would guard Guangling, and Chen Tanlang would also stay in Jiangbei. As for the Jiangzhou area occupied by Wang Lin before the Western Wei Dynasty, Li Zhen would temporarily He will lead the governor of Jiangzhou and return it when the internal situation in Nanchen is stable and the time is right.

At the moment, Li Tai's main intention is not to want Nan Chen's personnel changes to affect the situation of the game in the north. As for gradually occupying Nan Chen like slicing sausages, it is really not his intention, but now that he has got it, There is no point in going back and forth anymore.