But why did the emperor's order make Li Yulong dumbfounded
It is said that Anyang's original plan was neither to occupy Luliang County nor to completely occupy Zhongshan County; but later things took a dramatic turn. When Zhongshan County rebelled, Xu Ren had a new plan, which was to expand Anyang.
In Xu Ren's letter to Li Yulong, he even planned to divide Liang County with the Yuan family, and then let the brothers Li Liang and Li Xian control Zhongshan County together.
Li Yulong read this plan and agreed with it. In today's Great Xia Kingdom, the sooner you start, the sooner you will be successful.
Even when Beichen Yuqing met the Yuan family, he had already made a promise to the Yuan family.
However, now the Emperor has a better strategy. I will give Zhongshan County to you, Anyang. But you should not interfere with Luliang County. Let the prince take over! Moreover, the Emperor's most far-sighted decision was to demote Zhao Guoshan and Zhao Youdan, the former governors of Luliang County, to commoners. Now, even if Anyang wanted to play puppet tricks, it would not work.
Besides, the prince is the prince after all, and Li Xian is the governor of the east of the Great Xia Kingdom. Who of them has the final say
The prince was originally on good terms with the Yuan family, and the Yuan family had conflicts with the Kong family. Now, the situation in the East instantly formed a three-legged tripod, and no one could mess around!
Sending the prince to Luliang County is like driving a nail into Anyang's abdomen, which will cause changes in many of Anyang's plans!
But what really stunned Li Yulong was not this, but that His Majesty the Emperor was obviously arranging his funeral!
The eldest prince occupies the north, and the third prince has the Wang family by his side; neither of them is in danger of life—at least not in the short term! Only the second prince is left alone! Once the emperor dies, the second prince will definitely not live for more than a month! And looking at the current situation of the Great Xia Kingdom, only the Li family and the Yuan family can save the second prince's life!
This was an alternative form of entrusting an orphan to a caretaker, and Luliang County was the Second Prince’s “dowry”.
The implicit meaning is - whoever is more capable between your Li family and the Yuan family will fight for Luliang County, but you, the prince, please protect me.
This is the Emperor's method, which allowed Anyang County to expand and put a nail in Anyang; and compensated the Yuan family for the injustice they had suffered. And it is obvious that the Yuan family has a better chance of obtaining Luliang County because of their good relationship with the prince.
Of course, Li Yulong was not angry. Politically, that was how it was. It was enough to get what you wanted. At least now the Li family controlled Kaiping County and (after the expansion) Anyang County.
Why did Kong Xiang look so unhappy? With the emperor's arrangement, the east of Nanyang County was the Yuan family and Dongyuan County, the northeast was the Li family and Anyang County, the west was the Wang family, the third prince and Guangling County, and the north was the imperial capital! The huge Nanyang County was surrounded by heavy siege!
Li Yulong, however, thought about this in an instant and immediately said, "Anyang will definitely do his best to assist the prince."
The emperor looked at Li Yulong and suddenly sighed, but he couldn't say a word. The Great Xia Kingdom has reached its current situation, and it is redundant to say anything.
Li Yulong could understand the emperor's feelings. "Your Majesty, Anyang County has been through war and is in need of reconstruction. I would like to transfer Li Xian back to take charge of Anyang, and let Li Wei continue to be in charge of the imperial mausoleum."