Seeing that the officials were not at all surprised by the news of Lu Shuyun's rebellion, Lu Chen continued, "Prince Lu Shuyun is using the slogan of 'rid the emperor of evil ministers,' claiming that the Left Prime Minister Lin Gaoyuan is a traitorous official who has deceived my father the Sum Emperor, leading to Great Sum's defeat in the war, the ceding of territory and payment of indemnities, and finally bringing the people of Great Sum to the brink of destitution."
Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, the officials from the North Country also remained calm and were similarly unsurprised.
Throughout history, most rebellions have used the slogan of 'rid the emperor of evil ministers,' of course, even though it's about 'cleansing the court,' it's always that 'emperor' who ends up being cleansed.
Lu Chen spoke again, "What do you think, if the royal court calls upon me to enter the capital and support the emperor, should I go or not?"
Hearing this, Zhuge Zhongguang, who had remained silent during the small court meeting today, stood up.
For a Grandmaster like Zhuge Zhongguang, in other dynasties, even in Great Sum, there would be no need to attend court meetings, but this is the North Country. Though he is a Grandmaster, in the presence of Lu Chen, the Son of Destiny, his status as a Grandmaster isn't considered all that significant.
Court meetings must be attended when required, even though he is 150 years old this year.
Of course, a person of his level usually wouldn't get involved in discussing trivial matters; he would only speak up when it's a matter of great importance.
And what constitutes a matter of great importance? The question now asked by Lu Chen is such a matter.
Zhuge Zhongguang said, "Your Highness has been planning for many years. Prince Lu Shuyun's move to the South and the rebellion of the aristocratic families in the South were both caused by Your Highness's coercion. Therefore, this old official believes that Your Highness's preparations are quite sufficient.
If no other forces interfere, the royal court is very likely to win the civil war without the need for seigniors from other regions to enter the capital and support the emperor."
"If one day the royal court asks your highness to enter the capital and support the emperor, then your highness should be more cautious."
Hearing Zhuge Zhongguang's words, Lu Chen curiously asked, "Why is that?"
Zhuge Zhongguang replied, "According to Your Highness's strategy, dealing with the rebel forces in the South isn't a major problem. However, if under these circumstances, Your Highness still calls upon the seigniors to support the emperor in the capital, it would mean that Your Highness's initial target was not the aristocratic families in the South."
Upon hearing Zhuge Zhongguang's explanation, Lu Chen instantly understood his meaning. It seemed to Lu Chen that in Zhuge Zhongguang's view, the Sum Emperor might be preparing a chain of schemes.
On the surface, he is targeting the aristocratic families in the South, but it is possible that he wants to coerce the seigniors into revealing themselves, and then solve them all in one go.
Isn't that a bit too ambitious?
Lu Chen asked, "Does the Great Scholar think that if His Majesty calls the seigniors to enter the capital and support the emperor, he is considering reducing their power? With the current military strength of the royal court, it seems impossible to reduce the seigniors' power while quelling the rebellion, right?"
Zhuge Zhongguang said indifferently, "This old official has heard that His Majesty has sent people to Fixed Wind Mountain, Four Directions Mountain, and Peach Blossom Valley."
"In the old official's view, if His Majesty only wanted to eliminate the aristocratic families in the South, there would be no need to send people to these three places. His Majesty has hidden pieces in the South, and by using them, he could easily deal with the aristocratic families. Besides, the imperial Grandmasters of Great Sum would not consist of only the State Preceptor.
Since His Majesty has been planning to eradicate the aristocratic families in the South for a long time, he surely has made preparations for confronting their Grandmasters, and would not wait until the moment of action against the families to visit these three places."
After listening to Zhuge Zhongguang's analysis, Lu Chen immediately grasped the implication and slightly knitted his brows.
He had also recently heard from Dongfang Longyue that the Sum Emperor sent people to Fixed Wind Mountain, Four Directions Mountain, and Peach Blossom Valley. At that time, he thought his father was soliciting the help of the Grandmasters from those places to counter the Grandmasters of the aristocratic families.
But on further thought, was it not too late for his father to be seeking aid from those Grandmasters at this juncture? If he wanted their assistance, he should have sought it much earlier.
And Zhuge Zhongguang was right; it is improbable that there's only one Grandmaster in the imperial family. Situ Ce, the State Preceptor, is merely the publicly known Grandmaster.
Reminded by Zhuge Zhongguang's words, Lu Chen suddenly felt that his father intended to resolve the issue of the seigniors as well and that persuading the Grandmasters from those sects was probably the true reason for the outreach.
Going to several sects suspected of harboring Grandmasters, just to deal with the aristocratic families in the South, did indeed seem like overkill.
The more Lu Chen thought about it, the more something seemed amiss.
If the imperial family's Grandmasters were to address any potential Grandmaster within the Southern aristocratic families, then whom were the Grandmasters that the Sum Emperor was inviting from those sects meant to confront?
Grandmasters generally do not take action lightly; when a Grandmaster takes action, they are likely to be challenging another Grandmaster.
Now, among the seigniors, only the North Country had a known Grandmaster taking a stand for it, and crucially, the timing of the Sum Emperor's envoys to those sects seems to coincide with Zhuge Zhongguang's arrival in the North Country.
This meant that the Grandmasters the Sum Emperor was inviting from those sects may very well be intended to confront Zhuge Zhongguang.
Zhuge Zhongguang himself, being a Grandmaster, would thus be particularly sensitive about matters related to Grandmasters.
At this point, Lu Chen's expression grew even grimmer.
It couldn't be that his adoptive father really intended to act against him, could it?
Hopefully, he was just overthinking it.
Perhaps his father had sought the Grandmasters from those sects merely as a precaution.
With this thought in mind, Lu Chen said to the officials in the grand hall, "You all go back and think about how the prefectures and counties of the North Country should be divided. In tomorrow's small court meeting, we will finalize the regional divisions of the North Country."