Chapter 567: King Pingshan rebelled, and the Lu family was wiped out
Qian Qiyue is a lively person, chatting and laughing with Tang Ning, making the place very lively.
When Xiao Yan came back, he heard laughter from inside before he even entered. He knew that Qian Qiyue and the others had arrived. He stopped outside for a moment without going in to disturb them, nor did he send anyone in to pass on the message. He just turned around and went back to Heli Hall next door.
"Master, do you have something to discuss with the girl?" Jinyun asked in a low voice.
"It's not a big deal, let them have fun first."
Compared to the once aloof Governor Xiao, Xiao Yan has now lost his coldness and sternness. When he mentioned Tang Ning, his expression was gentle: "Tang Ning doesn't have many good friends in the capital. Qian Qiyue is straightforward and treats people sincerely. Zhou Yuchang is also a good person. And that Miss Wang, Tang Ning rarely likes her."
Xiao Yan is always more tolerant towards the people and things that Tang Ning likes.
He didn't want to spoil the fun of the little gathering at his daughter's family's home.
After returning to Heli Hall, Xiao Yan dealt with the important matters brought back from the palace. While flipping through the things in his hands, he listened to Jinyun talking about external affairs.
"The Dragon Court Guards set out from the capital and traveled at full speed. The men sent by Emperor An followed them all the way to Puchang Fort before leaving and returning to the capital. However, the Crown Prince's men are still following the Dragon Court Guards, and it looks like they want to accompany them all the way to the northwest."
Xiao Yan's hand didn't stop, and he scratched the paper with his red pen. He asked, "What did Di Tao promise him?"
Jinyun said, "The Crown Prince expressed his anguish to General Di, saying that his position as Crown Prince was a facade and no one accepted his position. General Di, being young and impulsive, could not bear to see his new friend suffer, so he wrote a letter to General Di, offering to help the Crown Prince's people gain a foothold in the northwest."
"It's just that the northwest is bitterly cold, and the Zhen'an Army is stretched thin. General Di still has to rely on military supplies allocated by the court to survive. And the master is now in power, the Ministry of Revenue is on good terms with the master, and you hold the tiger talisman, so General Di dare not offend the master."
"So?" Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows.
Jinyun suppressed a laugh and said, "So the prince looted the entire mansion and sold a lot of his belongings to collect 160,000 taels of silver, which he sent to support General Di."
"Young General Di said he won't share the money with his master. While his master is rich, General Di is suffering. It's rare for him to catch such a generous woman, so he has to maintain the relationship with her, so that General Di won't have to be stingy and wear the same clothes for three years."
Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh: "He will earn military funds for his father, let him save some money, the prince is not rich."
Xie Pingjia was once an unknown person in the palace, not valued by others, and without a prominent maternal family, he was once short of money.
Later, he established connections with aristocratic families and gradually rose to prominence. When Emperor An used him to restrain the empress and her son, he took the opportunity to accumulate some wealth. Combined with the gifts he received after entering the Eastern Palace, he was probably out of more than half of it at once.
Jinyun laughed out loud: "Master, don't worry, I will remind General Di to take things slow and steady."
Xiao Yan reviewed the memorials that had been sent to him, picking out the most important ones and setting them aside to be delivered to the Secretariat and the Palace later. He then asked, distractedly, "How's Hou Zhang doing? How long will it take for the Cao family to arrive?"
Jinyun replied, "It should take another three or four days. Lord Cao has sent his men as fast as possible, and the gold we sent ahead has already arrived near the Hou family's mansion. Our people have already found out the details of those people in the Hou family, but they haven't made contact with Hou Zhang yet."
Xiao Yan said, "Tell them not to move until the Cao family arrives."
After a pause, he continued:
"Those heading to Yanzhong must hurry as well. After the autumn harvest, grain production is plentiful there, and grain merchants from all over the country are mingling. This is the best time to stock up on grain without alerting others. Send them quickly and disperse them in several groups to avoid attracting the attention of Southern Qi's spies."
Jinyun asked, "Master, haven't you already persuaded Cao Gong to help? Do you not trust him?"
"How could that be?"
Xiao Yan continued to work, "I trust my employees. Cao Dejiang has helped me more than once. Since he promised to find Hou Zhang for me, I have no reason not to trust him. It's just that the Hou family has complicated relationships, so even if Hou Zhang wants to stockpile enough food, it will take some time."
"Food and fodder for the army is a matter of great importance and cannot be neglected. We must be prepared for both situations to avoid mistakes."
He never leaves himself with no way out.
What's more, there is no shortage of money now, and the grain will not be damaged if it is stored for three to five years. The treasury of the Wei Dynasty is now empty, and the rats that go in will starve to death and be carried out. It is better to store more, and there will always be a place where they can be used. At worst, if there is too much, he can let Emperor An buy it, so he will not lose anything.
After hearing this, Jinyun thought about it and felt that it made sense. He whispered that he would send a message to Yanzhong to urge them to buy food as soon as possible.
Xiao Yan reviewed the memorials very quickly. While talking to Jinyun about external affairs, he was flipping through the memorials sent to the capital from all over the country. He threw the unimportant ones aside and after reading the important ones, a thick stack of them had piled up beside him.
Jinyun walked forward and placed them aside, sorted them into boxes, and then he seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"Is there anything you want to say that's worth your hesitation?" Xiao Yan asked calmly without looking up.
Jinyun hesitated: "All those people exiled by the Lu family are dead."
Xiao Yan paused, then raised his head and frowned, "Who did it?"
"On the surface, it's Emperor An, but after investigation, it's the Crown Prince, but..."
"But there are others?" Xiao Yan's expression became a little stern.
Jinyun nodded. "The people we sent to look for Lu Jiuan have been unable to locate him, and there's no sign of him at Prince Pingshan's mansion either. Prince Pingshan was completely open and unresisting towards the people sent by the court. He simply said that he was deceived by Lu Jiuan, who believed he was sent south on orders from the court, and that the previous grain and horse purchases were done by Lu Jiuan in his name."
When Lu Jiuan went to the Pingshan Palace, nothing had happened to the Lu family. Although Lu Chongyuan was not as powerful as before, in the eyes of outsiders, Emperor An gave in to the Lu family in every way, and Empress Lu was still in power. It was reasonable for them to say that they did not know about the Lu family's rebellion and thought that they were acting on behalf of Emperor An.
"The Qian family did find out that the person who bought the horse had connections to Prince Pingshan's palace, but Prince Pingshan said that person had already secretly colluded with Lu Jiuan and rebelled against the palace. His family members are also missing. Prince Pingshan never showed his face to the Qian family from beginning to end. If you accuse him of this, he will say that he is innocent."
"Liu Tong'en's men tried to get Prince Pingshan to come to the capital under the pretext of His Majesty summoning them, but Prince Pingshan flatly refused. He said that the He family, despite their loyalty to the imperial family, were wrongly exterminated, and His Majesty had just issued an edict of repentance, revealing their numerous evil deeds. He was unwilling to come to the capital at this time, fearing that he would follow in the He family's footsteps."
"The men Liu Tong'en sent refused to give up and tried to forcibly take the people away. As a result, they injured the Prince of Pingshan during a fight with the people in Prince Pingshan's mansion, nearly killing him. Prince Pingshan was furious and killed most of them. The remaining few escaped, but now there are rumors everywhere that Prince Pingshan is rebelling."
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