Although civil officials could not fight on the battlefield and were no match for the generals, the Imperial Court was not the battlefield, and martial strength had no use here. All the generals, no matter how high their cultivation levels were, could not find any advantage in these arguments.
“Your Majesty! This subject has a memorial! This subject censures General Zheng for engaging in alarmist talk and deluding the people with lies, thus harming the country! This subject charges him with failing his duty!”
On the other end, King Qi shot a glance at the civil officials of his faction, indicating that they should join the attack against the generals.
In the Imperial Court, if King Song was a staunch hawk, King Qi was a staunch dove. On this point, he just so happened to share the same goal as these civil officials.
Wang Chong stood at the very back, and as the civil officials advanced against the generals, his eyes slowly narrowed and chilled.
The army had already been withdrawn from Khorasan, and the various protectorate armies had also been reduced. The inspectors from the Confucian school had also been planted in every level of the military. The military had been pushed back again and again, but Wang Chong had never expected that they would be so irrational as to also set their eyes on the prefectural armies.
If the protectorate armies were reduced, then once a war began, one could still transfer elites from the prefectural armies to swiftly restore the protectorate armies to their full power. But if even the prefectural armies were dissolved, this would be cutting off the Great Tang’s foundation.
The quarrel between civil officials and generals was intensifying, and just when all the generals were under a barrage of criticism from the civil officials, a loud voice rang out.
“Your Majesty! This subject objects!”
This voice immediately plunged the hall into silence. All the arguing faded away, and the generals looked to Wang Chong in excitement, their spirits rallying.
“The King of Foreign Lands!”
Wang Chong possessed supreme status in the military. Although he had only risen up a short time ago, his influence was so great that not even two border Protector-Generals or Great Generals could compare.
The weight of Wang Chong’s words alone surpassed the combined weight of all the generals present in the hall. Moreover, Wang Chong had an illustrious background, as his grandfather Wang Jiuling had been a sage minister who was even now revered by the people of the Great Tang. No general could compare to Wang Chong in this aspect.
“Lord Wang, what’s the meaning of this?”
The strange official who had made the proposal in the first place turned to Wang Chong, and the other officials also began to turn their eyes to him. The entire hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, and the air was fraught with tension.
Wang Chong ignored the official and spoke straight to the Sage Emperor. “Your Majesty, this subject believes that the proposal to dissolve the prefectural armies is utterly unnecessary and can be ruled out straight away!”
“Wang Chong! You’re being impudent! The various protectorates are engaged in war every year, placing an enormous burden on the people. Do you still wish for this situation to continue?”
Another civil official walked out, utterly infuriated by Wang Chong’s stance.
“So, your meaning is that when the soldiers on the border are risking their lives to protect the country, they are living extravagant lives and preying on the people?”
Wang Chong shot an indifferent glance at this official, his eyes like cold beads of ice.
This official was instantly rendered speechless. No matter how bold he was or how dissatisfied he was with the military, not even he would dare to say such things.
“Your Majesty! This subject censures these civil officials who delude the people with lies and harm the country! Your Majesty, this subject requests that they be expelled from their positions and harshly punished!” Wang Chong coldly said.
The Imperial Court’s first impression of Wang Chong had been that of a warm and composed individual, but the proposal to dissolve the prefectural armies had thoroughly enraged him. This was Wang Chong’s first censuring of a civil official after being made a King, and he was censuring ten-some people at once.
The aggressive posturing of the civil officials was immediately dealt a severe blow. Although Wang Chong was taking part in the court as an Advisor-in-Waiting, he was still the King of Foreign Lands, personally granted this title by the Sage Emperor.
Not even Wang Chong’s big uncle Wang Gen could compare to him in status, much less the others.
An elderly voice suddenly spoke. “Wang Chong! Such impudence! This old man knows that you were just granted a new title and are flushed with success and the energy of youth, but this is only your first court session. For you to use your identity to bully other important officials is truly audacious. Censuring and remonstrations were first approved by Emperors Gaozu and Taizong, and all governments and sovereigns since have adopted their policies on this matter. To silence criticism is tantamount to deceiving the Emperor and bringing disaster on the Great Tang. Your Majesty, this old subject censures King of Foreign Lands Wang Chong for presumptuously silencing criticisms. Your Majesty, please strip him of his noble title and demote him to a commoner, never again to enter the rolls!”
In a seat near the white jade steps, close to the Sage Emperor’s throne, the aged Grand Preceptor, who had been seated motionless in his armchair this entire time, his eyes closed, suddenly stood up and gave Wang Chong a chilling glare.
The Grand Preceptor, Zhan Zhongmi!
The leader of the Great Tang’s civil officials!
The moment the Grand Preceptor spoke, a cold wind blew through the hall, and the weather went from that of early spring to frigid winter. The entire Imperial Court fell silent, and even the generals did not dare to speak. Even King Song slightly grimaced. The Grand Preceptor wielded enormous influence and had a prestigious status. If Wang Chong could not handle this well, this incident would affect his future career prospects.
While King Song was worried about Wang Chong’s future career, Wang Chong was thinking about something else entirely.
“Hmph!”
Wang Chong coldly snorted, not even backing down before the prestigious and virtuous Grand Preceptor of the Great Tang. The prefectural army policy was the foundation of the country. The Confucian school’s bullying had gone too far if it thought it could tamper with the foundation of the militarists. Let alone the Grand Preceptor, even if someone with ten times his status came along, Wang Chong would still not back down.
This was no longer a simple quarrel between civil and military, Confucians and militarists. This was shaking the very foundation of the empire. If even Wang Chong backed down, the destruction of the Great Tang would not be far off.
Wang Chong took several steps forward. “Venerable Grand Preceptor, you are an elder of two governments, and Wang Chong has always regarded you with utmost respect! I did not think that your heart would be so selfish. For the sake of private gain, you would destroy the public good. This has truly disappointed me and left me ashamed!”
His words immediately had the hall exploding into a stunned uproar.
“Chong-er!” Wang Gen shouted in surprise, his face paling. The Grand Preceptor’s status was no trifling matter, and his influence was simply too great. This was not someone that one could directly butt heads with, but in the end, Wang Chong was still too young.
“Impudent! Even if Wang Bowu were here, he would not dare to act like this! Was this how he taught you?”
The Grand Preceptor was enraged, and the entire hall buzzed and shook in response.
Chapter 1238 - Infuriating the Grand Preceptor!
Chapter 1238: Infuriating the Grand Preceptor!
Grand Preceptor Zhan was already more than eighty years old and had once been schoolmates with Wang Chong’s grandfather, Wang Jiuling, also known as Wang Bowu, studying under the sa
me teacher. But even so, the Grand Preceptor had always had a fiery temper. Wang Chong was merely a grandson of Wang Jiuling, yet he dared to butt heads with him. This was absolutely ridiculous!
The entire Imperial Court quailed in the face of the Grand Preceptor’s rage.
Solely by butting heads with the Grand Preceptor, Wang Chong would probably be criticized by all of society tomorrow. Everyone had originally believed that Wang Chong would act a little more restrained, but all of them had underestimated his rage. Ever since he had returned from Khorasan, Wang Chong’s mind had been suppressing a wicked flame.
The Confucian school was completely disregarding the health of the country to suppress the militarists, completely enraging him.
And there was one thing that everyone was wrong on.
Wang Chong had never been a person who pursued noble titles!
Wang Chong was only doing his utmost so that he could put the Great Tang in the best possible situation before the descent of the calamity. Now that all his efforts had been made for naught, let alone the rank of King, if he had gotten an even higher noble title, what was the point?
When the calamity arrived, the Central Plains would collapse and crumble. There would be no difference between King or commoner, so what was the point?
Wang Chong looked up at the Grand Preceptor and harshly said, “My grandfather taught me that the world was the people’s, and that I should place the people and country at the forefront and protect the country, not that I should allow private feelings to outweigh the public good and bully around others with my age, being an elder yet knowing no respect!”
Boom!
The entire hall quaked at Wang Chong’s words, striking everyone dumb. Ever since Grand Preceptor Zhan had taken up his prestigious position, no one had ever dared to talk back to him and say such words. And no one had ever been like Wang Chong, criticizing the Grand Preceptor in front of the Imperial Court for placing private wants over the public good and showing a lack of respect.
Even Gao Lishi next to the dragon throne was stunned.
Meanwhile, Wang Chong’s big uncle Wang Gen felt his heart sink like a stone. If this continued, the Wang Clan would probably form a grudge with the Grand Preceptor.
“Foul brat! You, you’re quite bold!”
Grand Preceptor Zhan was shaking in rage from Wang Chong’s words, his beard quivering and his lips twitching. He had spent an entire life highly respected and admired, and he had never tasted such humiliation before. Someone of the Grand Preceptor’s personality could not endure this. But because he had never encountered such a situation before, even though he was trembling in rage, he couldn’t find a proper rebuke. A moment later, his face had gone purple with anger.
“Hmph, Grand Preceptor, I am the Great Tang’s King of Foreign Lands, enjoying the same rank and status as you. And I am only a foul brat in your eyes? In this Imperial Court, there is only a sovereign and his subjects, so where did this ‘foul brat’ come from? I say that you allow personal feelings to outweigh the public good! What’s your defense?”
Wang Chong coldly snorted, and not only did he not retreat, he took two threatening steps forward.
Perhaps because Wang Chong had always been rather mild, never retorting when others made comments about him, he had given the impression of a junior who was easy to talk with and bully, and didn’t have much of a temper. But at this moment, when Wang Chong was enraged, his eyes were like dazzling and intimidating lightning bolts.
As an Imperial Great General, Wang Chong had commanded millions of soldiers on the battlefield, and the demeanor of fire and iron that he had tempered through his experiences was not something that anyone could compare to. Not only that, not even Wang Chong had realized that in his rage, he had begun to naturally exude the immense aura of the War Saint of the Central Plains, intimidating all those around him.
The court officials, cowed by Wang Chong’s gaze, began to unconsciously take a few steps back.
“King of Foreign Lands…”
Gao Lishi almost imperceptibly creased his brow at this sight. By butting heads with the Grand Preceptor, Wang Chong was offending all the civil officials, which would not be good for Wang Chong in the future. The censures from the civil officials would be enough to drown him to death.
Gao Lishi subconsciously shot a glance at the Sage Emperor. The Sage Emperor had his eyes half-closed, his face emotionless. He clearly had no intention of stopping any of this.
The Grand Preceptor was currently so infuriated that he couldn’t speak. He only thrust out a hand and pointed at Wang Chong, his finger trembling. But though the Grand Preceptor was enraged, Wang Chong was even more infuriated.
“The country above all, the people as the utmost priority. The military fights for the good of the common people. Do all of you know what will happen without the prefectural army system?!”
Wang Chong swept his eyes over the officials, streaks of blood in his eyes. These were all Confucian pedants! They all thought that they were working for the good of the people, but it was precisely these Confucian officials who were shaking the foundation of the empire. On this western expedition, he had expended so much effort to advance all the way to Khorasan and establish the coalition army, but only a few moments later, the Confucians of the Imperial Court had ruined it all.
This cutting off of one’s own hands and feet was simply unheard of.
“In the Spring and Autumn period, the states were all campaigning against each other. During the Battle of Changping, the state of Zhao lost more than four hundred thousand men in its war with Qin. With no more soldiers to use, Zhao was destroyed. Later on, the Great Qin was established. In the seventh year of Emperor Huhai, rebel warlords rose up in various areas. After several campaigns, Qin’s armies had been greatly reduced, but because it did not have sufficient reserves and soldiers recruited impromptu were of little use, this vast empire soon crumbled. In the thirty-seventh year of the Western Han, Gaozu of Han engaged in an expedition to the north, but his army of two hundred thousand was surrounded at Baideng. The army was in straitened circumstances, and in the end, it was only through the temptation of beautiful women that they were finally able to escape from the Xiongnu. In the fourteenth year of the Daye Era of the former Sui, the Great Sui battled with the Turks and was defeated in a single battle. As the Turks advanced, no soldiers could be found in all of the Great Sui, and there was no time to recruit more soldiers. Thus, the Great Sui was forced to make peace by offering a princess, creating an enormous disgrace that was only washed away when a force of elites was built up and the Turkic Khaganate was divided into the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates.
“In generation after generation, dynasty after dynasty, when maintaining an army, if the army is ever-victorious, one cannot see any problems, but once it is defeated and there are no reserves to draw on, the country’s foundation will immediately be shaken and it will face a lethal crisis. Without the prefectural army system, a few small kingdoms had their capitals invaded by foreign barbarians, their countries vanquished and the foreigners establishing dynasties on their former lands. It is precisely because Emperors Gaozu and Taizong absorbed these lessons from previous dynasties that they established the prefectural army system. Emperor Taizong even personally went hunting, teaching the noble scions of the capital and instilling in them a sense of martial pride, thus leading to the powerful and flourishing armies of today’s Great Tang. Afterward, when the Great Tang campaigned on its borders, it had a constant stream of reserve soldiers. This was the reason it was able to rely on six-hundred-thousand-some elites to constantly suppress the Eastern and Western Turks, the Goguryeo Empire, the Xi, the Khitans, Ü-Tsang, and Mengshe Zhao, and advance into the Western Regions. Only this dynasty could possibly have accomplished such feats with only an army of six hundred thousand!
“In the eleventh year of the Tianxian Era in the reign of Gaozong, Ü-Tsang attacked together with the Eastern and Western Turks. If the losses in the army had not be
en promptly filled in by the prefectural armies, the empire would already be in ruins!”
Wang Chong’s voice was deafening, stunning every person in the hall. His eyes were bloodshot, seething with rage! If Wang Chong were merely venting his rage, no one in the hall would have paid him any attention. After all, this was the Taihe Palace, where not even someone with the greatest achievements and highest of status could mess around.
But even though Wang Chong was enraged, his every word was reasonable, and all the examples he stated could be found in the annals of history. At some point, even the Grand Scribe Yan Wenzhang, who had been sitting on the side and swiftly recording events with his brush, had stood up from his seat and begun to listen attentively to Wang Chong.
Even he had to admit that Wang Chong’s arguments were reasonable.
“…To actually have so little thought of future dangers and dissolve the prefectural armies is unquestionably shaking the foundation of the country! Grand Preceptor, in my view, you have been blinded by greed and gone senile! That you could even support a proposal like this… Grand Preceptor, I advise you to retire!”
Rumble! Wang Chong’s words clanged against the floor, and his final word was like a crack of thunder, leaving the Grand Preceptor staggering backward, his feet unsteady.
“King of Foreign Lands, you, you dare… you infuriate me!”
The Grand Preceptor was ghastly pale. Wang Chong’s utterance of ‘retire’ had thrown his entire body into chaos, and he almost fell unconscious.
“Grand Preceptor!”
“Grand Preceptor!”
Everyone was alarmed to see the Grand Preceptor’s state, and several civil officials hurriedly went up to support him.
“Wang Chong, such impudence! How could you say such things to the Grand Preceptor?!”
No one was happier than King Qi at this time. With a sweep of his robe and ‘justice and righteousness’ on his face, he walked out from the shadow of the pillar and harshly rebuked Wang Chong.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 779
