Chapter 997: Default

In fact, Liu Chengyou was not particularly surprised that trouble would arise in Zhang-Quan. As early as a year ago, Li Chongju had already warned him of this.

At that time, Liu Shaoji—who was the designated heir of Liu Congxiao, had received the court's recognition, and enjoyed a certain reputation—suddenly fell ill, and within two days, he was dead.

With Liu Shaoji's death, the issue of succession in Zhang-Quan was directly exposed. The Liu brothers of Congxiao's line rose amid the chaos of the age, ultimately carving out their domain in Zhang-Quan and avoiding annexation by the Southern Tang—they could be considered figures of their generation. However, the brothers' greatest weakness was the thinness of their bloodline.

Liu Congxiao had no sons his entire life, so he could only adopt Liu Shaoji, born to his younger brother Liu Congyuan, and raise him as his heir. He invested no small amount of effort, and Liu Shaoji proved worthy, making his presence thoroughly felt both at court and within Zhang-Quan. Yet fortune is fickle—who could have imagined that Liu Shaoji, so young, would die so suddenly?

Liu Shaoji's death was a heavy blow to the Liu brothers. In the depths of grief, Liu Congxiao adopted his younger brother's second son, Liu Shaoci, as his foster son and established him as heir. But the problem was that Liu Shaoci was far too young. For the aging Liu Congxiao, there was neither enough time nor energy to raise another successor.

As his body weakened day by day and his illness relapsed repeatedly, Liu Congxiao, knowing his days were numbered, still made some arrangements. For instance, he planned to have his younger brother Liu Congyuan take over his position, maintaining the stability of the Pinghai Army until the court accepted their surrender of territory—that way, the Liu clan could transition smoothly into the new era.

However, early this year, Liu Congyuan passed away first, dealing Liu Congxiao another blow. He submitted a memorial to the court ahead of time, requesting that Liu Shaoci inherit the family enterprise. Naturally, Liu Chengyou approved at the time.

At the same time, he made some arrangements within Zhang-Quan. After finishing these matters, Liu Congxiao—repeatedly stricken and utterly exhausted in mind and body—finally passed away in the third month, carrying with him worries about the Liu clan's future. With Liu Congxiao dead, the boy Liu Shaoci, barely in his teens, was forced to take the stage and bear a burden far too heavy for him.

Upon learning of Liu Congxiao's death, the court quickly made its response, issuing an edict appointing Liu Shaoci as Military Governor of the Pinghai Army, inheriting Liu Congxiao's noble title to establish his position, hoping for a smooth transfer of power. They also instructed the officials previously sent to Quan-Zhang to do their utmost to assist Liu Shaoci and ensure stability in the Zhang-Quan region.

Yet no amount of preparation could escape the principle of "a young master invites suspicion of the realm." The most critical problem was that the mere boy Liu Shaoci was utterly incapable of stabilizing people's hearts or suppressing the situation. Power grows out of the barrel of a gun—that is a universal truth. And Chen Hongjin, the man Liu Congxiao had always relied upon, became the protagonist of the coup.

"What do you think the court should do in response to the Zhang-Quan affair?" The stillness of the great hall made Liu Chengyou's voice sound exceptionally clear.

By this time, however, Liu Chengyou's mood had already calmed, fully restored to his usual composure. What surprised Li Chongju was that Liu Chengyou rarely sought his opinion on such matters. Most of the time, he merely served as an intelligence chief, reporting compiled information upward.

Therefore, Li Chongju did not rashly offer his counsel. And Liu Chengyou seemingly had no real intention of genuinely heeding his advice—seeing that Li Chongju remained silent, he did not mind, and after a brief moment of thought, dismissed him.

Regarding the Zhang-Quan affair, he still needed to wait—wait for the memorials from that side, wait for their explanations. Such an approach demonstrated that Liu Chengyou did not intend to overreact to this upheaval, mainly because the whip could not reach that far, and he did not want Zhang-Quan to descend into chaos, or even lean toward the Southern Tang—though that possibility was extremely remote.

On the third day after Li Chongju's report, the memorial from Zhang-Quan arrived—naturally, it was jointly signed by Zhang Hansi and Chen Jin. In this memorial, the coup in Zhang-Quan was given a completely different, untenable explanation: Liu Shaoci had betrayed the court and intended to defect to Jinling; they had restored order and upheld the court's legitimate authority, having already taken Liu Shaoci into custody and awaiting the court's judgment.

Perhaps Chen Hongjin and the others knew full well that the court would not believe such a story, but they dared to gamble—gambling on the fait accompli they had created, gambling that the court would not move against them, the men who held actual power in Zhang-Quan, for the sake of a mere Liu Shaoci.

The facts proved they had gambled correctly. As a mature politician, Liu Chengyou bore almost no psychological burden and directly chose to accept the outcome of the coup.

"Have the Secretariat issue an edict appointing Chen Hongjin as Military Governor of the Pinghai Army, with the additional titles of Pillar of State and Acting Grand Preceptor, to administer the two military prefectures of Zhang and Quan!" Facing Wei Renpu's request for instructions, Liu Chengyou made this decision directly.

"Also—didn't they say Liu Shaoci intended to rebel against the court? Have Chen Hongjin send the entire Liu family to the Eastern Capital for disposition!" Liu Chengyou let out another sneer.

With his keen intelligence, Wei Renpu immediately understood the Emperor's meaning and assented at once. Giving Chen Hongjin exactly what he wanted was less a reward than a warning—a warning that the court saw through everything about the Zhang-Quan affair.

In truth, having lived through the chaos since the end of the Tang and the three dynasties that followed, something like the Zhang-Quan affair was hardly unexpected. Go back a few decades, and it would have been the norm.

Chen Hongjin was also a man who had come out of that era, so such conduct on his part was normal. Perhaps in Chen Hongjin's own view, he had no intention of betraying the court—he simply wanted to build a career for his Chen family, to secure a means of advancement.

It was merely the Liu clan's own inadequacy that gave him the opportunity. When opportunity presents itself, how could one not seize it? After all, the Liu clan's original rise and occupation of Zhang-Quan had also taken advantage of the moment when Min was destroyed.

However, there was one thing Chen Hongjin perhaps could not foresee: the times had changed. On the eve of the realm's reunification, clinging to old ways of thinking would bring disaster. And Emperor Liu in the Central Plains happened to despise those "old era" warlords the most.

On the other hand, the Liu clan's influence also played a part. In recent years, the Liu father and son's communication with the Central Plains and their submission to the court had not been without effect. In particular, when Liu Congxiao personally traveled north to the capital from a thousand li away, it had delighted Emperor Liu.

And during their interactions in the Eastern Capital, Liu Congxiao's conduct had also earned Liu Chengyou's favor. His proactive offer to surrender his territory had completely won Liu Chengyou's approval.

Under such circumstances, how could Liu Chengyou truly remain calm when some "nobody" suddenly pulled off a coup? His initial anger stemmed from precisely this—a feeling of being offended.

Therefore, although Liu Chengyou did accept the outcome of the Zhang-Quan internal strife, if he had thereby taken offense, then perhaps in the future, Chen Hongjin would have to pay an even greater price to dispel the Emperor's wariness. And the most dangerous thing might be that Chen Hongjin was completely unaware of this.

As for ordering Liu Shaoci's family to be escorted to the Eastern Capital—that was, of course, to protect them, and also to grant the Liu clan the honor and emoluments they deserved.

After the internal turmoil in Zhang-Quan, Liu Chengyou could not help but feel a sense of urgency—as if something was always about to interrupt his unhurried pace in arranging the pacification of the south. Thus, Liu Chengyou found himself desperately wishing time would pass more quickly.

Perhaps he was still too impatient. Facing the prospect of unifying the south, facing the great undertaking of leveling the realm, he truly could not maintain a heart as calm as still water.

From the fourth month of the fifteenth year of Qianyou, Liu Chengyou was practically counting the days on his fingers, frequently summoning military and political ministers to discuss matters, eagerly awaiting the day when he would formally issue the edict for the southern campaign.

And during this process, of the two main targets in the south—one was indulging in romantic pleasures, the other in extravagant debauchery. Against such opponents, how could there be any possibility of failure?