Chapter 834: Yan State is divided and Liang State is in chaos!
Of course, Luo Xianzhi's counter-espionage would not stop there. For most kings, it would be enough to just make the two people suspicious. But after all, Yan State once had Murong Ke as a backup. So due to the suspicion and the fact that his achievements were greater than his master's, Yan State had already slipped into an irreversible abyss. If Luo Xianzhi wanted to speed up the progress, he would need to add fuel to the fire for the Emperor of Yan State.
And it was very easy to find people to add fuel to the fire. In Yan State, there were as many people who supported Murong Chui as there were people who were jealous of him. These people were very easy to bribe. As long as they said a few words to the emperor, it would be better than thousands of soldiers.
Xie Daoyun witnessed Luo Xianzhi's actions throughout the process. She asked curiously, "My husband, why did you ask someone to persuade the Emperor of Yan not to doubt Murong Chui's loyalty? This doesn't seem like something you should do."
yes.
Instead of continuing to slander, he took the trouble to explain to Murong Chui. This was not what Luo Xianzhi should have done.
Luo Xianzhi put down the book in his hand, pondered for a moment and then asked: "Madam, if you want to destroy someone, the worst way is to directly offer slander. That is a direct confrontation. Everyone knows that you have said bad things. If you fail to successfully eliminate your enemy, then what you will face next is the strongest blow, and others will also be wary of you.
No one likes someone who speaks ill of others behind their back. This is an immoral and ungentlemanly behavior, and only a villain would do such a thing.
If the emperor is wise enough, this method of offering slander will not have much effect, or it will make the emperor subconsciously produce a slight resistance. Although the Emperor of Yan is only an average person, he is not a person who kills indiscriminately, nor is he an extremely paranoid person. Therefore, there is no complete rift between him and Murong Chui. This is the reason.
The Emperor of Yan was already very suspicious of Murong Chui, but because the person who had given him the advice at the beginning was so blatant in his slander, this made the Emperor of Yan subconsciously a little wary, wondering if there might be some misunderstanding.
So now, what should we do?
Since head-on confrontation is not enough, we have to stab him in the back. If we want to stab him in the back, we have to get the emperor's subconscious approval. What is this approval?
Even those who offered slanderous words could not be hostile to Murong Chui. If even those who were not hostile to Murong Chui expressed their agreement, the credibility of the statement would be quite high.
You can say that one is the slander of a villain, and the other is the words of a loyal and patriotic person. You can call it a loyal minister using his own reputation to slander Murong Chui. "
Xie Daoyun was good at writing and other things, so she certainly didn't understand this kind of political struggle. She understood a little bit, but was more confused and asked, "Since you are going to slander Murong Chui in the end, why do you want to excuse him?"
Luo Xianzhi smiled and said: "The reason for exonerating him is of course very simple. Exonerating him can prove that he is biased towards Murong Chui, leaving this subconscious in the heart of the Emperor of Yan.
Then he praised Murong Chui's merits, saying that he was loyal, that he was talented, that he was like Wang Mang in the world, that he had the talent of Emperor Wu of Wei, and in short, he said all the points that made the emperor worried, and praised them highly, saying that the people of the whole Yan State recognized these, and then told the emperor not to worry, madam, what do you think will happen? "
Even if Xie Daoyuan didn't understand, she understands now. What else can she do? If the Emperor of Yan can still tolerate it, then he is either a sage monarch or a tortoise.
Luo Xianzhi began to read again. The sunlight outside the window shone on his body. His knuckles were white. He was truly the gentleman praised by the people of Jiangzuo, upright and well-mannered.
…
Jicheng.
The Emperor of Yan has been very worried since the rumors became more and more intense.
His close ministers saw this and knew that the opportunity had come, so they said, "Your Majesty, I think you really don't need to worry so much. How could Prince Yong rebel?"
This was the first time the emperor heard someone say so categorically that Murong Chui would not rebel. He asked in disbelief, "Why do you say Murong Chui will not rebel?"
The minister knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, although I don't know much about King Yong, I have heard that the people in the country praise him for his loyalty. He has a great reputation among the people. A person may have prejudices, but if the people praise him, it should be correct.
I think that the state should not doubt those who have talent. Prince Yong has outstanding talent, and the people and officials all recognize him. If it weren't for Prince Yong, the state might not be able to compete with Liang. "
The Emperor of Yan was already frowning. He shouted angrily, "What did you say? The people are praising each other? Why don't I know? They are all unruly people!"
The ministers knew that it had worked, and were overjoyed. They fanned the flames, saying, "Your Majesty, the people always like those legendary stories. Prince Yong pacified Guanzhong alone, so the people of the country praised him. A loyal minister is praised. This is exactly the custom of the people of Great Yan. This is your Majesty's great achievement."
The Emperor of Yan roared, "Enough, what loyalty? If he is really loyal, he should not stay in Guanzhong now, but come to Jicheng. The so-called loyalty is just because the cost of his betrayal is too high, and he is still afraid of the army in my hands.
No, I absolutely cannot sit still and wait for death."
The minister seemed shocked by the emperor's words and said in shock: "Your Majesty, do you really doubt the loyalty of a prince?
Prince Yong has noble character, outstanding talents, lofty prestige, and the noble bloodline inherited from Emperor Wu. How could you doubt the loyalty of such a noble man? "
Noble character!
Exceptional talent!
High prestige!
Noble blood!
Every word of these words pierced the emperor's heart. Can the ministers described with these words really still be considered ministers?
He is the head of the Murong clan, and he should be the emperor, not me!
The Emperor of Yan asked grimly, "Prince Yong is really excellent. No one in the entire royal family can compare to him. There should be many people in the royal family who like Prince Yong. Alas, this is my negligence."
The minister followed the emperor's words and said, "Yes, Prince Yong is the pride of the royal family. I know that the chief of the clan once said that if all the Murong clan members were like Prince Yong, then Great Yan could unify the world and become a celestial clan."
The Emperor of Yan was silent for a moment and then slowly said: "I understand. I should reward Prince Yong and obey the will of the people."
His voice was as cold as ten thousand year old black ice, without a trace of warmth.
…
An imperial edict was issued from the palace, and a large number of guards rushed out. What they had to do was very simple, which was to catch Murong Chui's accomplices. The emperor had already determined that many people were plotting against him, especially the royal family, and they wanted to replace the emperor.
The emperor also believed that some aristocratic families like the Gao family of Bohai had connections with Murong Chui, so he launched an investigation to eliminate opposition forces and began searching the mansions of these powerful people for possible letters between Murong Chui and others, as well as suspicious objects.
There are also things that can prove that they intended to do something detrimental to the emperor. These things have a sense of free conscience, especially from those records. Whenever the emperor saw someone criticizing him, he thought that this was cooperating with Liang Guo and Murong Chui to suppress his prestige. But in fact, criticism of the emperor is very normal. It has been like this since ancient times. Only tyrants and incompetent monarchs would not allow their subjects to criticize them.
Because in the ancient Zhou Dynasty, this principle had already been made very clear. As a king, one would be deceived. Most people would ask something of the king, so they would flatter the king and say good things. If a person only listened to good words and ignored those unpleasant words of advice, he would surely fall into an irretrievable situation.
This is even more true for kings, so they should allow criticism from their subjects, even if the criticism is wrong or full of selfish motives. Because if those with ulterior motives are not allowed to speak, then those who really have sincere words will not be able to speak either.
As for the person who did not allow people to speak, there was an allusion of "looking at others on the road" in the history of Bang Zhou. He was eventually killed by Luo Xuan Gong and others, and his infamy will last for thousands of years.
But the Emperor of Yan is doing this now. Although he is not very good at history, he still knows the allusion of "the road is ruled by eyes". However, Luo Xianzhi has hit his heart again and again, and the string called reason has been completely broken.
Now he is a king who thinks he may lose everything at any time. Probably not many people can understand his mental state, but most people should be able to understand the feeling of losing something, and the feeling of having money deducted can probably be understood. The emperor's condition is ten thousand times more serious than this.
…
Those aristocratic families were the least able to resist. The aristocratic families headed by the Gao family of Bohai were slaughtered on a large scale. The aristocratic families of the entire Jizhou and Youzhou all experienced a purge. About three hundred people died in this turmoil, especially the main branch, and many were killed.
The Yan State was already deeply centralized, and those princes who once held great power had gradually become weaker. During this turmoil, those relatives who were close to Murong Chui were all killed by the emperor. There were more than a dozen of them, including the powerful people who were attached to these relatives.
This sudden disaster shocked almost everyone. No one knew why the emperor suddenly decided to start a massacre and forcefully change the political landscape in Jicheng.
Many soldiers who had been fighting against the State of Liang withdrew to the north bank of the Yellow River. Hedong began to increase its military strength to guard against Murong Chui. The whole world changed dramatically in an instant.
This change was all due to an order from the emperor.
What happened in Yan State soon spread to Guanzhong and Liang State. When Murong Chui saw what happened in Jicheng, he was struck by lightning. He could not believe what he saw.
"Is the Emperor crazy?"
This was the first sentence Murong Chui said after seeing these things. How could he dare to do these things if he didn't understand the emperor's threat? Didn't he know that he was still in Guanzhong?
Why did he dare to massacre all of his own clan?
Why did he dare to kill all his friends?
Wang Meng and Yang Cheng looked at each other and immediately knew that something must have happened in Jicheng that they didn't know about. This incident prompted the emperor to make his current choice, and it was most likely the work of Luo Xianzhi from Liang State.
But even if they could guess it, the two of them just kept it in mind, became a little wary of Luo Xianzhi, and would not tell Murong Chui about it.
Because in their opinion, this was clearly a good opportunity for Guanzhong.
If the emperor is unkind, you cannot blame his subjects for being unjust.
This is what Meng Sheng once said. If the emperor did such a thing, even if Murong Chui rebelled, no one would be able to say anything. Murong Chui could even directly attack the emperor in the name of eliminating harm to the country.
No matter what the result is, Murong Chui can get rid of the constraints of being a minister of Yan State. After preparing for so long, Guanzhong can finally move eastward and become the master of Yan State.
Both Wang Meng and Yang Cheng had been waiting for this day for a very long time. Being merely a minister in a royal palace was not their ambition. They wanted to become ministers who followed the emperor and made great achievements.
Murong Chui has always been unwilling to fall out with the State of Yan. In the eyes of Wang Meng and Yang Cheng, he is very pedantic.
Although they knew that a war with the imperial court would benefit the State of Liang, in their view it was not important. The Southern Dynasty had no cavalry, so it would be impossible for it to conquer the Northern Dynasty. The most they could do was fight the Northern Dynasty in Heluo, and wait until Guanzhong had pacified Guandong, and then they could pacify the Southern Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty has already pointed the knife in his hand at your forehead. The sharp blade is already chilling. If you don't resist now, can we wait until we all die in the hands of the emperor?"
Murong Chui was a little dazed. He didn't understand why things suddenly came to this point. He just felt that he had done nothing, but the emperor who was relatively normal as described by his brother suddenly went crazy and insisted on fighting him to the death.
Of course Murong Chui could not sit there and wait for death, especially when some people appeared, which made him completely determined. They were people who escaped from Jizhou, people who were close to him in the Murong family, and people who were close to him in the Gao family. These people knelt in front of Murong Chui and cried about the emperor's cruelty, which made Murong Chui completely determined.
An imperial edict issued from Guanzhong shook the entire Guanzhong and the world. In the edict, Murong Chui recounted the emperor's crimes, such as killing clan members, killing innocent people, and being unkind and unjust. As a descendant of the Murong family, he would abide by the righteousness of the world and quell the country's disaster.
Fengtian quells the rebellion!
His manifesto soon spread throughout Guanzhong, and was recited by all the nobles and military officers in Guanzhong. Murong Chui had declared himself the emperor of Yan and deposed the original emperor of Yan. Suddenly, Yan had two emperors, and a war that was completely impossible to prevent would break out between the east and the west north of the Yellow River.
Facing Murong Chui's blatant counterattack, the Emperor of Yan chopped wildly with his sword in the palace, laughing wildly: "I knew it, I knew it, how could he be a loyal minister? Look, now his fox tail is exposed, now his wolfish ambition is exposed, now he can't wait to rebel?
I knew that killing those people was the right thing to do. Now we have to put down his rebellion. How can a mere king compete with the Great Yan court?"
All his close ministers praised him, and many of them had satisfied smiles on their faces; they were finally able to kill Murong Chui.
Will Murong Chui be a rival to the imperial court?
In their opinion, of course not. How could a mere Guanzhong compare to Hedong, Bingzhou, Youzhou, Jizhou and half of the grassland? In the early Zhou Dynasty, the Jin State alone was able to defeat the Qin State. The current imperial court is equivalent to the size of at least two or three Jin States.
Wouldn't it be easy to capture Guanzhong?
…
Xiao Yan, who had been somewhat depressed since Xiao Tong's death, finally burst into laughter. His left and right were filled with ministers, and Luo Xianzhi naturally sat in the first seat on his left. Xiao Yan raised the intelligence in his hand and laughed loudly, "Civil war in Yan, civil war in Yan, this is the luck of our Daliang. This matter is all thanks to the Shangshu Ling. He alone is more important than thousands of troops.
Lingxiu has served as Shangshu Ling for so many years, I now think it is time for Lingxiu to become a real prime minister. "
The real prime minister!
Gold seal and purple ribbon!
In the distant system of Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, the prime minister at that time was truly half an emperor with unlimited power. Even the other three dukes, the chief censor, were the prime minister's deputies.
But later these titles were abolished, leaving only a few such as Sansi and Taiwei, and the Shangshu affairs were also added. It was still not as good as the original prime minister. Now Luo Xianzhi was going to become a real prime minister.
He no longer needed the so-called honors such as Kaifu Yitong Sansi, because the Sansi were not as good as him. He could just open his own government, a prime minister's mansion, and all the officials in it would work for him.
This is the power of the Prime Minister!
Luo Xianzhi actually did not care about the promotion of these positions. He was the Minister of the Chancellery, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and had the title of Sansi, which was enough for him to command all officials. Anything higher would only be some honors.
But all the ministers looked at him with envy. There were countless aristocratic families in the Southern Dynasties, but most people knew that even if they were real aristocratic families, they could not be listed in the "Aristocratic Families" in history books.
For most people in this world, it is a great dream to have their names included in history books. If two people can have a biography written about them, that is quite amazing. If one can have a biography written about them alone, that requires luck, not only ability, but also luck.
But that is for the poor.
For most families, the ultimate dream is to have their family history books record them as a distinguished family.
In the current Southern Dynasty, only a very few families can meet the requirements, and the Gusu County Duke Family is one of them. Now Luo Xianzhi has become the prime minister with real power. The number one family in Jiangzuo is firmly attached to them and can never be taken off.
Luo Xianzhi stepped out of the line to thank the emperor for his grace, and then said: "Your Majesty, now is the time to seize the land of Qingzhou. After seizing Qingzhou, Daliang will occupy the entire south of the Yellow River. Then we can take advantage of the civil strife in the Northern Dynasty and go north to seize the land of Jizhou and Youzhou."
If Qingzhou is captured, the apparent strength of Liang State will suddenly become the first. Of course, it is only on the surface. In a short period of time, it is impossible to sort out the current problems in Liang State. Whether it is Shuzhong or Huaibei, as well as Heluo and Qingzhou, they have all joined Liang State not long ago and have not yet completely returned. There are still many problems.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan said, "Lingxiu, we cannot attack now. If I lead a large army to attack, who will be left in the country to defend it?"
Who will guard it?
This is a problem. In the past, although Luo Xianzhi was actually the one guarding the country, the crown prince was nominally the regent. If the emperor really encountered an accident on the front line, the crown prince would succeed to the throne. Now that there is no crown prince, who should be the regent?
What should we do if Xiao Yan encounters an accident outside?
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense. This was actually a question of who should be made the crown prince.
However, Luo Xianzhi thought this was not a problem. He thought, "Your Majesty, I think you don't need to lead troops to attack again. Just send a general to seize Qingzhou. The current Emperor of Yan has no intention of defending Qingzhou. As long as we don't cross the Yellow River, he only wants to fight Murong Chui in the north."
As long as the emperor doesn't go out.
This is Luo Xianzhi’s method. Whether the emperor goes out or not depends on the situation.
Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, and asked all the ministers to leave, leaving only Luo Xian, and asked hesitantly: "Lingxiu, I want to appoint an heir. I want to choose one of the children of the previous crown prince to be the grandson."
"Can."
Luo Xianzhi said without hesitation: "I agree."
As long as the emperor doesn’t make another stupid son the emperor, it will be fine.
Xiao Yan made Xiao Tong's child the heir because he knew that his other sons were not very capable and he felt guilty about Xiao Tong. He believed that Xiao Tong's death was closely related to himself. If it were not for the witchcraft case, Xiao Tong might not have suffered from such a mental illness. So he wanted to compensate Xiao Tong's child to make himself feel better.
Hearing Luo Xianzhi's approval, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Since the death of the crown prince, I have often had nightmares. I can only fall asleep by listening to Buddhist teachings. I want to do something, but I find that I really don't know what to do. Now giving the position of crown prince to his child is the only thing I can do.
But the only concern now is who to give it to. I plan to make both of them kings first and tell everyone that the Crown Prince will choose between them. However, I don’t want to treat my other sons unfairly, so I will make them kings and let them leave Jianye to avoid any inappropriate thoughts. "
Luo Xian was stunned when he heard this. It was a good thing that Xiao Yan wanted to establish a crown prince. Even if he established a crown prince who was not so outstanding, he could still change him later, and it would not necessarily bring disaster to the country and the people.
But if Xiao Yan followed this approach, the Liang Kingdom would be really doomed.
As soon as Xiao Yan finished speaking, Luo Xianzhi said directly: "Your Majesty, I think you must not have such an idea. You announced to everyone that both of them are qualified to be the crown prince. This is to let the two fight, which is not good for the country.
If you confer titles of kingship on other princes, and actually confer titles on them, this will destroy a large number of people, unless you are willing to send the princes to Jiaozhou, Yizhou, Qiongzhou, or to the southwest, or to Lingnan.
I have no objection to that.”
Among the several places mentioned by Luo Xian, Lingnan is probably the most prosperous place. After at least several hundred years of development, there are enough people there to support a large kingdom, and there is real Xia culture there.
As for Qiongzhou and Yizhou, as well as the Ten Thousand Mountains of the Southwestern Yi, there are still a large number of barbarians. Going there is simply like opening up wasteland, and you don't know whether you can come back alive. Anyway, among the people exiled to Qiongzhou, basically only one in ten survives.
Not to mention the Shiwanda Mountains, which is still a place that people in Liang State are terrified of until now. Even the imperial army usually takes a detour around it, which shows how terrifying it is.
Xiao Yan was speechless and said, "Lingxiu, don't joke."
Luo Xianzhi said seriously: "Your Majesty, I am not joking."
Xiao Yan was silent for a moment, then asked: "Only exiles go there. I can't exile my own son."
Luo Xianzhi sighed, "Enfeoffment is a form of exile. More than 1,400 years ago, my ancestor King Su exiled countless brothers, nephews, relatives and meritorious officials to the now desolate Guandong.
It took a lot of hard work to create the current world. Since Your Majesty wants to divide the land, it is natural to do so."
Xiao Yan opened his mouth, and then said dully: "This is a different time. When Emperor Gao of Han granted fiefs to his meritorious officials, he never sent their sons and the meritorious officials to the remote wilderness. Is it wrong for me to want my sons to be rich and noble?"
Luo Xianzhi said in a gentle voice: "Your Majesty, I am on your side. If you want the princes to be rich, then rewarding them with wealth is enough.
Emperor Gaozu of Han sent the princes out to guard the city because the empire had just been pacified and he was worried about rebellion. He granted land to the meritorious officials to reward them for their contributions to founding the country.
Does Your Majesty have these two concerns?
I think not.
In this case, why should we divide the power of the central government? The internal fighting in the court should be minimized as much as possible, rather than making it more intense. That is not what a wise monarch would do. "
Xiao Yan, who always obeyed Luo Xian's words, was a little stubborn about this matter and said, "I have already struck those princes, and now I am sending my son to the town to prevent those nobles from making trouble. This is quite reasonable.
Lingxiu, you don't need to persuade me anymore. I believe there is nothing wrong with this. As long as the court is strong enough, no one will have any inappropriate thoughts.
Lingxiu, you always told me that we shouldn't use possible future events to prevent the present, why are you making this mistake now?"
As soon as Luo Xian heard this, he knew that Xiao Yan was unshakable. He just felt a little helpless. These were two different things with essential differences. However, he did not say anything more, but sighed and said: "Since Your Majesty has made the decision, then I can only obey."
He secretly thought in his heart that when Xiao Yan passed away, he would dethrone all these princes. Xiao Yan was so old, how many years could he still protect them?
Xiao Yan naturally didn't know what he was thinking. He was very happy when he heard it. He thought he would have to spend some time talking, so he patted Luo Xianzhi on the shoulder and said, "I will also give you an additional 2,000 households of food and land to increase your glory."
(End of this chapter)
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