Chapter 821: Bringing up old scores and turning into enemies
It's more than just refusing to agree.
As soon as Liang Guangyi returned home and told the Queen the conditions for releasing Guo Changming, the officials from the noble families who had been waiting for his return were furious.
Not to mention other people, even the head of the Shi family himself was unwilling to take so many things to protect an ungrateful and ungrateful person.
Liang Guangyi naturally understood that the aristocratic family was no longer as strong as it used to be. No matter how strong their foundation was, it had been stripped away by the emperor time and time again, and now only a small part of their property was left. The 300,000 dan of grain could still be taken out by a few families pooling their resources, but 10,000 war horses and 1 million taels of silver would make them feel heartbroken.
There was a quarrel in the hall. Liang Guangyi persuaded them in a deep voice, talked about the overall situation, explained the reasons, and comforted them. He also mentioned the importance of the Ministry of Justice and that they could not fall out with the Queen at the moment. Finally, he proposed that the Liang family should bear the responsibility of the 30 stone of grain, and he would also bear the cost of 5,000 war horses.
But the others still refused to agree.
"The Liang family is wealthy and powerful, but we can't afford to be tormented. Taking so many things out would mean the death of several of our families. I will never agree to this!"
"Me too. If the Queen wants to hold the Ministry of Justice hostage, then let her do it. At worst, she'll cause chaos. I don't believe a woman like her can truly control the court."
"Let her investigate. At worst, we'll both be destroyed!"
A group of people left angrily after uttering harsh words.
Feng Qiuli frowned and said, "Teacher, I'll go check on them to prevent any trouble."
Liang Guangyi waved his hand and Feng Qiuli left quickly.
After he left, Liang Guangyi, who was standing, suddenly staggered.
"Prime Minister!!"
The servants hurriedly supported him. When Liang Guangyi leaned back in the chair, his chest kept rising and falling. He finally swallowed the fishy and sweet taste that was rising in his throat, but his face was even paler than when he left the palace just now.
The Queen is pressing the aristocratic families too hard, and with both internal and external troubles at hand, turning against them rashly will not benefit anyone.
Song Tangning would certainly not benefit from the chaos in the court, as he would be eaten alive if he could not suppress the backlash from below. However, if the chaos in the capital really affected the border wars, the defeat of the Wei Dynasty would not benefit the aristocratic families at all.
Liang Guangyi's knuckles turned pale as he gripped the corner of the table.
He was afraid that Xiao Yan would kill him all, so he kept some backup plans, but that was just in case. He really didn't want to use them unless it was absolutely necessary.
Once you use it, there is no turning back...
…
"Is Liang Guangyi crazy? He treats the aristocratic family as the emperor's money bag, allowing him to take whatever he wants?!"
In the Shi family's restaurant, those who left the Liang family angrily gathered together.
The entire second floor had been cleared out. After the people downstairs delivered the drinks and snacks and left, someone was guarding outside closely, so they were not afraid of being overheard when they talked.
"I don't think he's crazy, he's just old and scared to death!"
The Min family member drank the wine in one gulp, then dropped the cup heavily on the table:
"Back when Xiao Yan was still a eunuch, we should have killed him at all costs. Once he's dead, there won't be any more trouble. But he always says he has to consider the overall situation and that he needs to wait. He's just like that useless old man Lu Chongyuan, always thinking about everything. What's the result?"
"Lu Chongyuan waited the Lu family to death, and now our families have ended up in this situation!"
Another person nearby was also furious: "What's the point of these hindsights?"
Although he hated Liang Guangyi's repeated retreat, who could he blame for what happened back then? Didn't Lu Chongyuan and the others want to kill Xiao Yan? Who among them didn't follow suit? Especially after the grain tax case broke out, the death squads they had raised almost came out in full force.
But Xiao Yan was like an immortal bug, and he could always escape.
The Min family member glared at him. "Alright, even if that's hindsight, we didn't kill Xiao Yan back then, but didn't they retreat again and again afterwards?"
"When the He family incident first broke out, they kept backing down for the Cui family, crippling Cui Lin and destroying the Lu family. Several of our families were even skinned alive and lost more than half their wealth. I told Liang Guangyi then that Xiao Yan had ruthless ambitions and would never be satisfied. I told him to find a way to secretly kill him."
"But he refused to agree. He insisted that he couldn't be touched because of the past events of the He family, and that he couldn't let others talk about him. At that time, Xiao Yan was just an orphan of the He family. So what if he died? There was such a big commotion when Xie Tianzhao and He Qing died. But after seeing blood and the death of some people, no matter how big the matter was, they would shut up."
"He insisted on waiting, and ended up waiting until Xiao Yan took the throne!"
The expressions of the other people in the room were not very good, and the young master Cui from the Cui family who was mentioned even wanted to shrink into the shadows.
He was the youngest and from the Cui family's side branch. After Cui Lin and his son died of illness, the main branch of the Cui family had no one in the court.
Madam Cui gained power in the mansion, but the Cui family could not really cut off their connections in the court, so Madam Cui decided to adopt an eighteen-year-old "son" from a side branch who was quite smart and had already entered the officialdom, and support him to stay in the court.
Cui Yu has the lowest official rank and is the youngest among the officials of the aristocratic families. The Cui family is now the most "down-and-out" among the major aristocratic families.
Logically speaking, the Emperor and Empress had no intention of pursuing the Cui family, and the Cui family had been extremely stable since Madam Cui took over. He didn't want to get involved in these people's affairs and go against the Emperor and Empress, but the Cui family was still among the aristocratic families. If he didn't get involved, he would only become the target of public criticism, and the Cui family would be regarded as traitors and targeted by several other families.
When he heard the man from the Min family mention the troubles of the Cui family, he shrank into the corner, lowered his head and pretended not to hear it.
Feng Qiuli frowned. "Uncle Min, Xiao Yan's path to this point was the product of his meticulous planning. He'd been lurking in the shadows for years. Who could have imagined he was the one left alive by the Eastern Palace? Lord Liang only thought he was a member of the He family, so he naturally didn't want us to fight him to the death. He wasn't wrong to ask us to back down then."
"Heh, what about after Xiao Yan ascends the throne?"
The Shi family's Patriarch snorted coldly, "We knew we had a deep-seated blood feud with him, and that Xiao Yan was suppressing the aristocratic families. We had already planned to join forces to deal with Xiao Yan, but what about him?"
"He actually took the initiative to join forces with Xiao Yan. For the position of Right Prime Minister, he took action to destroy the power we have accumulated in the court for many years. Xiao Yan seized the throne through military rebellion. The identity of the emperor's eldest grandson is in doubt. Coupled with the rebellion of Prince Pingshan, the princes of various regions are ready to make a move."
"If Liang Guangyi hadn't stabbed us and caught us off guard, we wouldn't have been able to defeat Xiao Yan, and Xiao Yan would never have been able to secure the throne so quickly!"
Liang Guangyi said that he discussed with them about giving up some people in order to preserve the family's future strength, but he actually acted without consulting them before coming to them.
It would be more accurate to say that their people were killed by Liang Guangyi rather than Xiao Yan. Several families suffered heavy losses and lost power in the court. It was all because of him that they were forced step by step by Xiao Yan to where they are today!
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