Since the opening of Tai'an City Yangshen Temple today, it has welcomed a small court meeting with the largest number of people.
Zhongshu Ling Qi Yanglong, Zhongshu Provincial Minister Zhao Youling, Menxia Provincial Zuo Servant She Huanwen, Zuo Sanqi Changshi Chen Wang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials Yin Maochun, Minister of the Ministry of War and General of the Southern Conscript Wu Chongxuan, University of Wuying Temple Wen Shouren, Dong Yuan Ge University scholar Yan Jiexi, Changshan County King Zhao Yang, Yan Guogong Gao Shizhi, Huaiyang Marquis Song Daoning, Minister of War Tang Tieshuang, Minister of Rites Jin Lanting and others, these Beijing officials holding court handles are all familiar faces in this room.
The former Qingzhou General Hong Lingshu who was transferred to the capital to lead the rank of General Pingnan, the current Lianghuai Road Jiedu Cai Nan, and Jinglue Envoy Han Lin, together with Lu Shengxiang and Xu Gong who went to Jizhou to take charge of the northern border military affairs, are Relatively unfamiliar faces.
All together, civil and military brilliant.
The young emperor Zhao Zhuan from Liyang changed into casual clothes after he retired from the imperial court. It came from the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau. The warp and weft are cut off, and the craftsmanship is excellent. Although it is not as splendid and majestic as the imperial uniform, it is somewhat unique to Jiangnan. charm.
Chaos arose in the Central Plains, Yan Chi Wang Zhao Bing rebelled, and the hundreds of thousands of elites who left the territory of the southern border were like a broken bamboo. The confrontation between the north and the south of the Yang court, and the change of the Chunxue Tower made the imperial court's meticulous conclusion in Guangling Dao go to waste. Not only the two nominal civil and military leaders of Guangling Dao were reduced to prisoners, but more importantly, a large group of Liyang meritorious generals and Western Chu The Jiang family's surrenders were all brought under control, which directly led to Zhao Bing taking over Guangling Dao almost without bloodshed. Wu Chongxuan, Lu Shengxiang, and Yan Zhenchun, the famous generals who worked so hard to make wedding clothes for others, Guangling Dao was corrupted again. Unbearable, it can even be said that overnight, Zhao Bing, king of Yan Chi, almost owned half of the country.
It's just that whether the young emperor was in the early court in the Wuying Hall or in the small court meeting in the Yangshen Palace now, he was not as anxious as he imagined in Liyang's official circles. This young literati emperor still has the heroic blood of the Zhao family's successive monarchs flowing in his bones. At this time, the emperor of the Zhao family had in his hand a book from the rebels to declare to the world. The content was utterly rebellious, and he enumerated all kinds of crimes of immorality after his ascension to the throne, nepotism, unfair rewards and punishments, heavy use of courtiers, and exclusion of the Zhao family. , a total of ten serious crimes, the young emperor gently put down the edict, raised his head and smiled and said: "It is said that this thing was written by the eldest grandson of the Song family?"
Northern Xu and Southern Song, Southern Song is Song Yushu, a son of the Song Clan, with outstanding literary talents, even in the official circles of Tai'an City, he has heard of it for a long time.
Tan Tanweng, who once praised Song Yushu personally, glanced at the "Zhongzheng Peace" plaque in the Yangshen Hall, and then said with a smile: "This kid falls into the hands of a man like Zhao Bing, so he can only write this kind of full It’s a pity that I lost a piece of rough jade. If I work in the Liyang Imperial Academy or the six new pavilions, I will be able to write a chapter that will last forever. If you can secure a place in the literary world, you will never be so dusty and go to be a real knife and pen official."
The young emperor nodded, "It's a pity. Not long ago, I promised Attendant Yan that I would introduce him to this jade tree of the Song family, which was born in Shilin in the south of the Yangtze River. It may take a long time."
The Yan Shi value that the emperor talked about, everyone in the house knew it well, of course it was Yan Chiji, the upstart of the Imperial Academy, and now the Imperial Academy has newly built six value rooms in the sixth department of Shangshu Province. Fang is regarded as the most noble officials in Liyang who are in the place of prime ministers. In the officialdom, Yan Chiji, Li Jifu, Gao Tingshu, and Wu Congxian, among the top three who entered the six yamen first, showed some signs of latecomer. And the few words of the young emperor revealed too many things worth chewing. In addition to the undisguised intimacy with his brother-in-law Yan Chiji on the surface, the fate of the Song family in Guangling Dao seemed to be finalized at this moment. dragging on for a while", then the Song family, which first took refuge in the remnants of the Jiang family and then attached to the rebellious vassal king, had Song Yushu, a young handsome man who was in the heart of the emperor, after the rebellion, he was still able to escape. The ascendant channel of the officialdom will not be blocked and cut off. I believe that after today's Xiaochaohui, the Song family, who is thousands of miles away, will soon hear the thunderstorm from the palace, and most of them will feel relieved.
The young emperor looked at Tang Tieshuang, the Minister of War at the back, and asked gently, "Tang Tieshuang, when will Dazhu Kingdom leave Liaodong and enter Beijing? Does the Ministry of War have any definite news?"
Tang Tieshuang cautiously replied with a bit of trepidation: "I only know that Dazhu Kingdom's return to the Ministry of War is urgent. The Great Pillar Kingdom must be well-arranged before we can set off."
The young emperor hummed, and comforted him: "Order Gao Tingshu of the Ministry of War to write a letter, informing Dazhu Kingdom that there is no need to go south in a hurry. The frontier affairs between Liao and Liao have always been my top priority, and we should not lose the big because of small things."
Tang Tieshuang accepted the order in a deep voice, but his mind became more and more heavy. The more amiable His Majesty the emperor was, the more uncertain he was as the Minister of the Ministry of War with the words Gu Dang on his forehead.
Nowadays, there is a saying circulating in the official circles of Tai'an City, which is called "the military department has no luck after Gu Jiantang". Became a captive of the King of Yan, Xu Gong, the servant, was first "assigned" to Liaodong, nominally to guard the Beiguan for the emperor, but in fact he was undoubtedly excluded from the official circles in the capital, especially the center of the court. As a servant and the head coach of the Southern Expedition, he has made very little military achievements from the beginning to the end. If he didn't "send troops without authorization" in the later stage and finally saw a few gunpowder smoke, he might become the laughing stock of the world. As for Chen Zhibao, who was between Gu Jiantang and Lu Baijie, the two ministers, he was granted the title of king and became the domain of Western Shu. He was considered unparalleled in favor at first, but in the end he somehow rebelled with Zhao Bing in southern Xinjiang. It was not a good result after all.
It's not easy to live in the capital, but it's not easy to be an official in Beijing. Sincerely don't deceive me.
Tang Tieshuang intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Cai Nan, who was standing slightly in front, with mixed feelings. The last time Wei Dong, Dong Gonghuang and other General Gu's former troops went to Beijing, they broke up. This time, Cai Nan did not visit Tang Tieshuang when he came to Beijing. Meaning, stay at the Mianlianzi Post Station on Lianghuai Road in the capital and live in seclusion.
The young emperor turned his head and looked at Sima Puhua, Minister of Rites with a smile. In the third year of Xiangfu, the Ministry of Rites was promoted to the same level as the two departments of officials and soldiers, and higher than the three departments of criminal household workers. Sima Puhua naturally enjoyed the benefits of Lu Daolin and Yuan Guo There are many wonderful things about the two former ministers. It is not without reason that today's emperor is regarded as a literati emperor in the Central Plains. Although he may not despise military officials, it is obvious that he attaches importance to civil officials. The relocation of the Imperial Academy and the promotion of the Ministry of Rites are clear evidence. The young emperor looked at the official of the Ministry of Rituals, and said earnestly: "The examination will be held in the spring of next year. The Ministry of Rites is duty-bound. Can there be a final decision on the candidates for the chief and vice presidents? The scale of the spring has expanded a lot this time, and the number of scholars is unprecedented. It is necessary to give a detailed charter as soon as possible, except that I will go through it personally, the Ministry of Rites may wish to hand over the charter to Tan Tan Weng and Yin Shangshu who have presided over the spring for many times."
Probably the most hopeless old man in Liyang's previous ministers of the Ministry of Rites said in fear and fear: "Your Majesty, the three-year Chunwei Examination is related to the continuation of our dynasty. Although I have been in the Ministry of Rites for many years, I have never presided over the Chunwei. Experience, besides, if I talk about experience, I think it is far better than Tan Tanweng and Yin Shangshu who are familiar with the operation of Chunwei. A young handsome man in his prime. Your Majesty, I don’t know how to choose the chief and vice president with my colleagues in the Ministry of Rites. It’s not my Liyang talent, but just like a big bead curtain hanging at the door of a small house. , so I dare to affirm that His Majesty personally appointed the candidate for Chunwei!"
Hearing the words from the heart of the Minister of Rites behind him, Tan Tanweng couldn't help turning his head to look, and stretched out a thumb.
This sycophant flattered many people all of a sudden.
Facing Tan Tanweng's gesture, Sima Puhua smiled slightly, his eyes were sincere and impeccable.
The young emperor rolled up his cuffs, and said with a slight smile: "I don't add anything to the matter of Chunwei's selection. It is still up to your Ministry of Rites to decide. If it is really a headache, Sima Shangshu will communicate more with Zhongshuling Tan Tanweng after returning. But in my opinion, In addition to the fact that the chief examiner of this examination needs to be highly respected, there is an exception for the person who is responsible for classifying the examination papers, and there is no need to pay attention to seniority. The Ministry of Rites, the Imperial Academy, and the Imperial College can all select a few young people to take up the position."
Sima Puhua, who was full of sincerity, quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"
The young emperor turned his gaze, and finally found Hong Lingshu, who was a bit out of place with this small court. After all, he was an official who had just entered Beijing from a local area. Hong Lingshu himself was one of the leaders of the Qing Party. Especially after Lu Feichi of Shangzhu Kingdom chose to marry the Xu family of Beiliang, the Lu family moved to the northwest, causing the entire Qingzhou clan to be in danger. Fortunately, not long ago, the "Old Servant" Wen Taiyi was promoted to Jing After some envoys from An Dao, people felt a little more at ease, but Hong Lingshu came to Beijing for the first time, and in the crouching tiger, hidden dragon, the official circles in the capital were often dissatisfied, and his face was inevitably gloomy. The young emperor's voice became softer, and he said slowly: "Has General Hong's house in Tai'an City been repaired?"
Hong Lingshu, who originally thought he was just playing the role of accompanying the prince to study, was flattered and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the house that the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household officials helped to arrange is very good. There is no need for me to make slight changes. The family members who accompanied the prince are full of praise. The emperor's grace Huge, I am so grateful!"
The young emperor smiled and said: "On this matter, Tang Shilang has put a lot of thought into it. General Hong can thank him if he wants to."
Hearing this, Hong Lingshu immediately clasped his fists to thank Tang Tieshuang beside him, but the latter only clasped his fists in return without any polite words.
Hong Lingshu had some deep thoughts in his mind. He was promoted to Beijing this time to become one of the military generals with the initial prefix, and he was able to hold real power. It was not without envy, because the ranks of Liyang military officials, especially the official circles in the capital, were extremely limited. There are two paths, one is to climb in the Ministry of War and retreat, and the other is to start from the captain of the capital, step by step. The former is relatively simple and quick, but the servant is a big bottleneck. The latter is down-to-earth and slow, but as long as Becoming one of the three-character generals in Zhengping Town will have a very secure future. As long as you can endure it, you will be able to take advantage of the trend and go up step by step when the big boss in front reaches the age of abdication. On the contrary, the current Minister of the Ministry of War still needs to go to the local government to serve as a deputy. For the post of Jiedushi, in the end, each of them will compete for the position of Minister of War according to their own abilities. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, but it is unreasonable but reasonable for him to be directly promoted from a general of a state to a general of the first rank like Hong Lingshu. The reason for his promotion is that the imperial court needs to use the Youth Party in the hinterland of the Central Plains to appease the people under the situation that thousands of scholars from the Central Plains are rushing to Beiliang. Although Hong Lingshu is an out-and-out foreigner, he is actually not optimistic about the prospects of Tang Tieshuang, the left servant of the Ministry of War. On the one hand, Wu Chongxuan turned out to be born, and on the other hand, Tang Tieshuang's factionalism is too strong. Hong Lingshu's identity in the Youth Party can sometimes become a temple Balanced official support, but Tang Shilang's status as a general of Gu Dang's direct line means that as long as Gu Jiantang of the Dazhu Kingdom is alive, Tang Tieshuang will almost never be able to reach the top in the court. The imperial court could tolerate a Dazhu State who was in charge of the military affairs of the Liao and Liao, and a Tang general who held a Liaodong iron cavalry under the same roof outside the pass, but it was absolutely impossible to allow a Tang Shangshu to echo with General Gu both inside and outside.
Hong Lingshu would not be grateful because Tang Tieshuang had spent so much time on his house but kept it a secret, but His Majesty the Emperor's seemingly understatement and blatant disclosure did not allow Hong Lingshu to think about it.
The young emperor picked up the edict again, his face became serious, and he sneered: "Zhao Binggui is the vassal of the Zhao family, but he wants to be a traitor. The civil and military officials in the city can't tolerate the people of Guangling Road who are engulfed by the chaos of war, but they can't tolerate this pair of Zhao Bing and Zhao Zhu father and son!"
The monarch of Liyang paused, "Wu Chongxuan!"
Wu Chongxuan, who had a burly figure without any signs of aging, said in a deep voice, "The minister is here!"
The young emperor said with a blank expression: "Wu Shangshu will tell you about the situation in Guangling Dao for all the lovers."
Wu Chongxuan said in no hurry: "Now the rebel Zhao Bing has a total of 110,000 troops stationed in the Guangling Dao Jiangbei area. In the next six months, there will be at least 40,000 young and strong southern Xinjiang barbarians entering the north of Guangling River. The rebel Chen Zhibao Excluding the current 20,000 Shu army, there will be about 30,000 Shu infantry rushing to Guangling Road in the next six months. In addition, the former Zhennan General Song Li, the former Jizhou General Yuan Tingshan, and the newly recruited Western Chu If there are remnants of the rebel army, then by the end of the four-year spring of Xiangfu, the number of rebels will reach as many as 260,000. However, the imperial court currently has only about 120,000 troops stationed in Guangling Road."
Although the rebellion of the two vassal kings this time has already made Tai'an City feel uneasy, when Wu Chongxuan stated the strength of the two sides frankly, it still frightened the central officials like Wen Shouren, not to mention the ability of Yan Chi Wang Zhao Bing to command the troops , the older generation of officials knew in their hearts that he was a meritorious warrior who was able to fight side by side with a certain cripple Rentu. There is also a tacit thing, that is, there is Chen Zhibao standing next to Zhao Bing, the king of Yanchi, and a hand holding Xishu All soldiers and horses, the white-clothed soldier saint! Zhao Yang, King of Changshan County, Gao Shizhi, Duke of Yan State, and Song Daoning, Marquis of Huaiyang, these three warriors who had also experienced wars in the Spring and Autumn Period, all of them were worried. Zhao Yang is also one of the top ten Liyang generals in the Spring and Autumn Period. The more he is like this, the more the old man understands the critical situation in Guangling.
Qi Yanglong suddenly opened his mouth and said softly: "It is the general trend for General Gu to lead an elite army to the south to quell the chaos, but it may not be immediately on the battlefield. The imperial court is training troops at this time. From the current point of view, the army's heart is not in the imperial court. But in the rebel army, but fortunately the people's support is in my court, not in Zhao Bing and Chen Zhibao. Back then, Xu Xiao was in a better situation, and he still did not rule the river. He neither wanted nor could, but now it is only twenty years later, not Two hundred years later, the ambitious Zhao and Chen vassal kings just continued the remnant chess game that had already been decided 20 years ago, as long as... "
At this point, Master Zhongshuling suddenly fell silent.
Tan Tan Weng interjected: "As long as the Northern Liang iron cavalry does not rebel and continues to hold back the pace of Northern Mang's southern invasion, so that Gu Jiantang can spare his life and go south to suppress the rebellion, the two feudal lords of Zhao and Chen will be short-lived after their efforts."
For some reason, this "as long as" made many nobles and ministers in Yangshen Temple feel strange.
"What if" Beiliang didn't want to fight Beimang to the end, and simply abandoned the northwest, retreated thousands of miles south, and then conspired with Yan Chi Wang Zhao Bing in the Central Plains? How should the court deal with itself
You must know that Wen Taiyi and Ma Zhongxian, the pair of Jiedu Envoys and Jinglu envoys, after they arrived at Jing'an Road, the food grains entered Liang, as expected, bumps and bumps, and the progress was slow.
Who would have expected that twenty years of peace and prosperity would be turned upside down overnight
turn out to be.
Liyang Guozuo's length, unknowingly, was once again tied to the body of a person surnamed Xu.
This truth made most people in Yangshen Temple feel extremely humiliated.
For example, Wen Shouren, the head of the Twelve University Scholars, Yan Jiexi, a relative of the emperor, Jin Lanting, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, and others.
There is an extremely vulgar saying among the countryside in Liyang: Without Butcher Zhang, would it be impossible to eat pork
Now it seems that it is really possible.
Without the butcher surnamed Xu to help kill people, the official hat may not be worn securely.
Wen Shouren, a scholar in the Hall of Martial Arts, turned pale.
Yan Jiexi, who had looked down on His Royal Highness for many years, had a gloomy face.
Jin Lanting's face turned ashen.
Cai Nan lowered her head quietly, her expression was gloomy.
Han Lin, the economic envoy whose relationship with Cai Nan had improved by leaps and bounds after blocking the Daxue Dragon Knight, had complicated eyes.
At this time, the young emperor smiled and said: "Two generations of the Xu family have guarded the gate of the northwest country for Liyang. After taking the lead and dying on the battlefield, I am going to draw up a decree to posthumously confer titles on all Beiliang generals including these two, and also plan to grant Beiliang king Xu Fengnian the title of Great Pillar Kingdom."
The emperor of the Zhao family squinted his eyes, and Huang Zigongqing was stunned.