Yang Gun did not dare to agree to Xiao Siwen's request to admonish him. He had something important to ask Xiao Siwen recently, so how could he dare to disobey him
After coming out of Yelu Xizhen's mansion, Yang Gun returned to a simple tent. His wife Xiao and son bent down and came out of the tent. They looked a little anxious and said in Khitan, "Husband, you are finally back."
Yang Gun also bent over and went into the tent. His son came over with cheese tea. His wife Xiao said impatiently: Yelu Dilie came here. He didn't see my husband, so he said something to me. Dilie said that several leaders agreed to let my husband return to his post and restore his fiefdom.
I know, I know. Yang Gun saw his wife's expression and became anxious. Tell me something I don't know.
The wife said: We wrote a petition and asked the Khan to agree, but it was sent back by the Khan. Di Lie said that it was Xiao Siwen who rejected our request, and he couldn't help.
Yang Gun was stunned for a moment.
The wife thought he didn't understand, so she repeated: "My husband cannot be reinstated because Mr. Xiao doesn't agree."
Yang Gun suddenly slapped his forehead and said: I was wrong. I was totally wrong.
At this moment, the events of the past twenty years came to Yang Gun's mind one by one, and he had to sort them out again.
Yang Gun was a Khitan born in the land of Yanyun. Since the Tang Dynasty, many Khitans admired the noble families in the Central Plains, so they had Chinese surnames, just like modern countries often have English names. Especially the Khitans living in Hebei Province had a stronger trend, and Yang Gun was one of them. He initially followed the second emperor of the Liao Dynasty, Yelu Deguang, and was highly appreciated by Liao Taizong, so he had the Khitan name Yelu Dilu. He was also able to marry a woman from the Xiao family, which was the family of the queens. The prime ministers and queens of various dynasties all came from the Xiao family.
This is where the problem lies
The root cause of the decades of civil unrest in the Liao Dynasty was the struggle between Emperor Taizong of Liao and Emperor Yizong of Liao, both of whom were sons of the founding emperor. Emperor Taizong of Liao, whom Yang Gun followed, and the tyrant Yelü Jing who was assassinated were from the lineage of Emperor Taizong of Liao; and the current Khan Yelü Xian was from the lineage of Emperor Yizong, and Xiao Siwen and others also had a deeper connection with the lineage of Emperor Yizong.
Yang Gun was a general under Emperor Taizong. After the tyrant Yelü Jing ascended the throne, Yang Gun became one of Yelü Jing's confidants and was once a popular figure in the imperial court.
However, the power struggle in the royal family was unpredictable. A few years ago, Yelu Jing was assassinated. Yelu Jing took a big blame. The loss of Youzhou and the decline of the country were all his responsibility. Yang Gun was finished this time, but a man of insight is a hero. He surrendered to Xiao Siwen early on and was saved.
When Yelu Xian ascended the throne, Xiao Siwen and Yelu Xizhen formed a power center and purged a group of people from the tyrant faction to serve as a warning to others; but it was obviously impossible to eliminate all dissidents, because Taizong's lineage had been in power for many years, and their followers were spread all over the Liao Dynasty. It was impossible to kill them all, and being too harsh would also cause serious consequences.
Therefore, Xiao Siwen needed to win over most of the people from Taizong's lineage, and Yang Gun was one of them.
Yang Gun was cautious at first, but when he was defeated in the Battle of Pingxia, Xiao Siwen saved his life against all odds. Yang Gun completely believed in Xiao Siwen's sincerity.
But now it seems that it is obviously not what Yang Gun thought.
Yang Gun sat at a shabby wooden table. The milk tea in the ceramic bowl in front of him was almost cold. He stared at the milk tea in a trance, shaking his head continuously.
Xiao Siwen never trusted him. He saved Yang Gun's life just to show others, or to show his attitude. Perhaps, he also admired his talent. But Xiao Siwen didn't want people like Yang Gun to return to the court and take real power.
At this moment, his eyes lit up. His wife came in from outside the tent again. She cleaned up the ceramic bowls on the table and asked: "Does Mr. Xiao want to make trouble for our family?"
Yang Gun came back to his senses and shook his head, saying: "Mr. Xiao also took over a mess, and it was not easy for him. I can understand his intentions. Anyway, Mr. Xiao also saved my life."
Having said that, Yang Gun's face was still full of loss and helplessness. He sighed and thought that it was better to live than to die.
A few days later, Fan Zhongyi returned to Beijing.
Several people first discussed the matter at Xiao Siwen's residence, and Yang Gun was also invited. With no hope of reinstating his position, Yang Gun remembered what Yelu Xizhen said, so he might as well do Yelu Xizhen a favor, and indeed persuaded Xiao Siwen on the spot.
Of course it was of little use. Yang Gun had no real power. He could give advice but could not decide anything.
The next day, on a hill inside the Liao capital, a group of important court officials discussed important matters in front of the Khan.
This palace looks very old. Several emperors have held court here. The dirt in the corners that cannot be washed away may be congealed blood stains.
Emperor Yelu Xian was already eighteen years old, but he was still thin and frail, and it seemed that his health had never been very good. However, Yelu Xian sat on the tiger-skin chair, and his posture was much more natural and casual than when he first ascended the throne. He held the scepter in his right hand, and his left elbow was on the armrest of the chair. He supported his head with his palm, and looked at the ministers below with a gentle and tolerant look, as if he was open-minded and willing to accept advice.
Xiao Siwen, who was standing closest to the throne, said: Let Fan Zhongyi, the official in charge of the Northern Courtyard, report the affairs of the State of Xu first.
Fan Zhongyi stood up, his expression excited but trying to suppress it. After all, he was reporting to the highest ruler of the Liao Dynasty. He gave up on clasping his fists and bowing, and instead placed his hands on his chest, respectfully bowing to the person on the chair.
Let's finish talking about the Fan Mansion. Yelu Xian's voice said.
The Khan actually spoke to him. Fan Zhongyi's voice trembled a little: Yes, Khan.
Fan Zhongyi straightened up slightly and spoke in Khitan with an incorrect accent: Guo Shao, the false emperor of Xu State, was poisoned by a strange poison that is incurable. He has not attended court for several months. During one of the sessions, he fainted during the court session and his life is in danger.
Guo Shao had two princes, both of whom were only a few years old; Empress Fu was the regent. The Empress was the daughter of Fu Yanqing, a prominent family in Hebei. Although the Fu family was powerful, it was limited to Hebei and could not hinder the capital. The situation of the ruler of Xu being weak and his ministers being strong was established.
After the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains changed dynasties five times, and all of them were generals who took advantage of the decline of the royal family to usurp the throne, including Xu Guo Shao, the false emperor. Therefore, Guo Shao was afraid of this, so he eliminated the generals who had troops to prevent trouble.
Li Chuyun, the founding duke, was poisoned to death, Luo Yanhuan, the protector of the country, was forced to commit suicide, and Guo Jin, the garrison commander of Shouzhou, was killed by his subordinates to win credit. Nearly 10,000 people including Prime Minister Fan Zhi were implicated, and countless people died.
After Fan Zhongyi spoke about the general situation, he took a breath and continued, "The purge and bloodbath is far from over. Yang Ye in Hedong, Gao Yanchou in Wuzhou, and Liu Renzhan in Pingzhou are all surrendered generals from various southern countries. They hold heavy troops and will definitely be among those to be purged."
Yang Ye and Zhe Dejian are relatives. These two are the first targets to be dealt with after Li Chuyun and Luo Yanhuan.
Zhe Dejian's family was in Tokyo, and most of his old subordinates were disbanded. The Pingxia troops under his command were all guards, and the families of the generals were in the country, so it was difficult for them to start a rebellion, and the threat was relatively small. Therefore, Guo Shao wanted to frame and intimidate Zhe Dejian first, and then implicate Yang Ye to get rid of him.
In late July, Guo Shao summoned Yang Ye and Zhe Dejian to Beijing at the same time. Yang Ye was closer, so he arrived in Tokyo first; Zhe Dejian had not yet arrived, but because he was not strong enough to start a rebellion, the Xu State court was not afraid of him.
At that time, Zhe Dejian saw the clues and reported to Yang Ye, saying that Tokyo had conspired a big trap. Xuzhou Changshi Zhou Duan would be convicted of a serious crime. Then: put to death the Protector of the Country Luo Yanhuan who had admitted to colluding with Zhou Duan; implicate and frame Zhe Dejian, and bring disaster to Zhe Dejian's relative Yang Ye.
Yang Ye was half-believing and half-doubting when he found out that Zhou Duan was suddenly convicted of treason. Yang Ye acted decisively, suddenly abandoned his entourage and the spies who were watching him, rented a horse from a carriage and horse shop, and fled.
Because the Xu State court did not dare to arrest Yang Ye without reason, and because the Xu State civil and military officials in the Hedong Front Camp Military Office were not fully prepared, they did not expect Yang Ye to discover the conspiracy so early. The incident happened suddenly, catching the Xu State court off guard, and Yang Ye was able to escape back to Hedong.
Fan Zhongyi paused and said, "When the conspiracy reached this point, something unexpected happened. After Yang Ye returned to Hedong, he immediately summoned the officials of the Qianying Military Office to supervise the army and discuss matters on the grounds that the Liao army had harassed Hedong; then he sealed off the Qianying Military Office."
The vast majority of the Hedong Army were surrendered soldiers and generals from the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Northern Han Dynasty. Yang Ye was an old general of the Eastern Han Dynasty with great fame and prestige. He had the means to destroy the balance of military power in the Xu State court and incite and command the Hedong tribes.
The situation was very serious at this point. The Xu court certainly did not want Yang Ye to rebel, otherwise it would waste time and energy. The fake emperor Guo Shao was ill and in danger, and if time was delayed, they would not be able to deal with other threats. At the same time, the general who suppressed the rebellion was given military power and went out, which might cause hidden dangers when the imperial power in Tokyo was replaced.
The Xu court immediately dispatched Lu Duosun, the assistant minister of rites, to Daizhou in Hedong to negotiate peace with Yang Ye.
Yang Ye's attitude at this time should be very hesitant. On the one hand, escaping and blocking the former camp military office have violated the law and torn his face with the court. If he compromises, he may be punished in the autumn. He is very worried and afraid.
On the other hand, if he raised an army, his chances of success were slim. Although the Hedong Army was slightly inferior to the Xu Kingdom's imperial army, it was also the most powerful force among the former states; but since the Eastern Han Dynasty was destroyed, the morale of the Hedong Army's soldiers in the civil war would definitely not be good. Once the war to suppress the rebellion broke out, Yang Ye was worried that the internal soldiers would be bribed and persuaded to surrender and would not be willing to fight. When Li Yun's recent Guo Jin rebelled, he was killed by his subordinates who wanted to take credit. Yang Ye had to be on guard.
Fan Zhongyi exhaled: "What we are most worried about now is that Yang Ye will reach a compromise with the court, and Yang Ye will choose to sacrifice his life to save his family. Previously, when Li Chuyun and Luo Yanhuan's generals died, Guo Shao also did so to leave room for maneuver."
At this time, a Khitan nobleman shouted: "You have to go to Hedong to know the situation of the Fan Mansion so clearly. It sounds like you saw those things with your own eyes. Do you have any evidence?"
Fan Zhongyi turned around and said: "I didn't see it with my own eyes, and the whole thing is just a reasonable speculation. But we also have a lot of solid evidence. Only by speculating like this can so many things make sense. If you don't agree with this theory, let's speculate again to explain the major events that happened in Xu State."