A country cannot live without a king for a day.
This was the truth that everyone in the Central Plains agreed on.
During the alliance meeting between the dukes that Duke Ding of Jin had summoned, the palace collapsed due to the Lingye earthquake. After the bodies of the dead dukes were sent back to their countries, a bloody storm immediately broke out in the corresponding countries.
Those with the ability were all fighting for the throne of the monarch, trying to sit on the throne of power above tens of thousands of people.
This was naturally the case in Jin.
Duke Ding of Jin, as the initiator of the conference, had his head smashed into a pulp. He was beyond saving. Before he died, he felt so aggrieved and regretful. However, for the other power holders of Jin, especially the candidates for the Duke of Jin, the death of Duke Ding of Jin made them excited.
Since ancient times, the struggle for the throne had been filled with bloodshed.
In just five days, there were seven assassinations and two poisoning incidents in the capital of Jin.
Duke Ding of Jin originally had four sons and three daughters.
His eldest son was killed by an unknown assassin, but the murderer was not found.
The second son was poisoned to death, but the murderer was found out. It was one of the three daughters of Duke Ding of Jin.
His third son was killed by his fourth son. Just when he thought everything was settled, his fourth son was also killed. The murderer was Duke Ding of Jin's younger brother. The reason was that he had messed up the court, was vicious, and had committed some crimes in the past. In short, the new position of Duke of Jin was confirmed with a bunch of pompous words.
The title of the Duke of Jin is Duke Ai of Jin.
The first thing Duke Ai of Jin did when he ascended the throne was to replace a group of ministers trusted by Duke Ding. There were all kinds of reasons. Of course, some ministers had powerful family backgrounds, and even Duke Ai of Jin couldn't touch them casually. For example, the most important hereditary families of the six ministers of Jin were the most prominent and influential families in Jin.
Duke Ai of Jin bribed a few people with benefits to make them stand on his side.
Then, he used promises to convince a few of them not to go against him.
In the end, if the bribe failed, he would ignore it. Anyway, the situation was already under control and it would not affect him much.
.........
In Jin Country, officials and ministers began to attend court in a side hall.
The original owner's palace had collapsed too severely. It would take at least half a year to recover.
Duke Ai of Jin sat on the throne that he had yearned for day and night. He was very happy in his heart, but his expression was heavy and sorrowful.
" My dear ministers, my elder brother summoned all the vassals to an alliance meeting to enjoy the legendary Stone Deer. It was supposed to be a great event that could benefit our Jin Country. Who knew that the weather would be unpredictable? My elder brother and the other vassals met with misfortune."
Duke Ai of Jin paused and showed a sad expression. He even squeezed out a few drops of tears.
A group of officials who were on Duke Ai's side saw this and shouted loudly," My condolences, Duke Ai! Take care of yourself!"
After the show was over, Duke Ai of Jin got down to business."This matter has a great influence on our Jin Country. It's also the biggest shame of our Jin Country in the past hundred years. Now that I've inherited the position of the Duke of Jin Country, I must wash away this shame for our Jin Country. Otherwise, I'll let down our ancestors."
"I have already sent people to contact the Qi, Qin, Chen, Lu, and Cai countries. They want to join forces to capture that white deer and sacrifice it as a blood sacrifice to wash away the shame of our Jin country."
Duke Ai of Jin said loudly and righteously, but his decision was quickly opposed by the Zhao and Wei families of the six ministers.
"Duke Ai, you can't. That white deer is a spiritual beast of heaven and earth. It's inauspicious to kill it. It will bring disaster to our Jin Country."
"Duke Ai, please think twice. Although our Jin Country is facing such a great disaster, Duke Ding did not listen to our advice and insisted on using the White Deer Stone Sculpture to gather the vassals. Duke Ai, you should take this as a warning and not let our Jin Country make any more mistakes."
Duke Ai of Jin looked at the two people who stood up to oppose him, and his eyes were filled with displeasure.
These two ministers were the representatives of the two families of the six ministers that he had failed to bribe. He did not expect the two of them to be so ungrateful that they dared to oppose the first major event he announced after he took the throne.
" Minister Wei, you said that my decision was wrong. It's ridiculous. My brother died because of that white deer, and I'm alone for my brother. Shouldn't I avenge my brother? If I don't do it, I'll be no different from a coward," Duke Ai of Jin reprimanded. At the same time, he looked at the ministers below, signaling them to support him.
The representatives of the Fan family and Zhong Xing family immediately stood out.
"Duke Ai's words are reasonable. The hatred of blood relatives is as high as the sky. Moreover, Duke Ai is the Duke of Jin. He should set an example. Otherwise, if word gets out, how will the world view Jin?"
" That's right. Besides, we're not the only ones who hate them. Qi, Qin, Chen, Lu, and Cai all hate us. Even if we don't do anything, it's hard to guarantee that the other vassals won't do anything. Besides, they got into trouble in our Jin. Although it was White Deer who did it, if we don't do anything, it's very likely that the other vassals will find an excuse to attack our Jin together. That will be the real disaster."
Zhao Qing was very unhappy when he heard that. He said bluntly," If it weren't for those dukes coveting the Deer God, how could anything have happened? They didn't learn their lesson and wantonly vented their hatred and started a war. This is definitely not the behavior of a gentleman."
" What a gentleman would do." Fan Qing smiled coldly at Zhao Qing and Wei Qing, who were of similar status to him.
"You two, I remember that you were under Kong Qiu when you were young, right? You've learned a lot from him. However, don't forget that Kong Qiu's ancestor was born in Jin Country and enjoyed the salary of Jin Country. In the end, he didn't care about Jin Country. Instead, he left Jin Country and wanted to set up a private school. It would be fine if it was only in Jin Country, but it happened that there were schools in other countries. Such a behavior of cultivating talents for other countries is considered as betrayal and disloyalty to Jin Country."
"As the descendants of disloyal people, the two of you naturally have evil intentions in your words. The so-called disaster will only happen if Duke Ai listens to you, right?"
Zhao Qing and Wei Qing were so angry that their bodies trembled and their eyebrows stood up.
They respected Kong Qiu, so naturally, they also respected Kong Qiu's ancestors. How could they tolerate such words?
"You, you fart!"
"Fan Jie, you bastard, how dare you insult our teacher's ancestor! I'll fight you to the death!"
The two of them rolled up their sleeves and rushed forward. They started a civil servant martial arts competition, and the scene instantly became lively.
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