Regarding Yan Shang's affair, Liu Xianggong commented that he was "bold" and did not say anything good or bad.
After all, Yan Shang first caught Liu Xianggong's eye because he killed the head of the Zheng family in public. At that time, during the three-court trial, Yan Shang refuted the three parties one by one, leaving a deep impression on Liu Xianggong.
Mr. Liu has always known that his youngest student, no matter how gentle and modest he appears on the surface, is actually bold at heart.
He just had a secret affair with Princess Danyang... and it didn't scare Lord Liu yet.
Although the fact that a small official of the eighth rank dared to have an affair with Princess Danyang, a princess with whom he was married, was enough to scare people no matter where they were.
But how timid and cowardly was Princess Danyang?
After the ceremony, the emperor asked the court officials and envoys from various countries to discuss the princess' marriage. The court officials were divided into two groups. There were many ministers who supported the princess and strongly rejected the princess' marriage. Among these ministers, the highest-ranking one was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
As a fourth-rank official, the only people who could suppress him were the prime minister, the minister, and the imperial censor. As a minister, he could influence many things in the court most of the time.
People in such official positions supported Mu Wanyao, which put great pressure on those officials who hoped that Mu Wanyao would reconcile with them.
However, apart from the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, there were many ministers who supported Mu Wanyao.
These are the accumulation of Mu Wanyao's participation in government affairs for a year. After all, she has the support of the prince and the Li family in the south. If she wants to win over the hearts of the people, many people will lean towards her.
This made Prime Minister Liu astonished, and he was even more troubled by having such a princess.
Yan Shang was sent away by Prime Minister Liu to handle official business. Two days later, Yan Shang came to the office of the Secretariat again, bringing a lot of old materials, and went to discuss the princess' marriage with Prime Minister Liu.
Mr. Liu continued to walk around the locust tree outside the hall with his students and discuss these things.
Yan Shang said: "...I have read the records of various parties and have a general understanding of what happened back then. It was because your majesty and the Li family, to which the late queen belonged, were fighting for power, and the Wuman were pressing hard outside, threatening to marry the legitimate princess, so they signed an alliance with the Great Wei and stopped the war.
"According to records, Jiannan Road was almost completely occupied by Wuman at that time. The imperial court agreed to the marriage, and the Wuman army withdrew from Jiannan Road. To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. Your Majesty and the late queen needed to ensure that there would be no foreign war at that time, so that they could concentrate on fighting the other side for power. So Your Highness the Princess was the one who was sacrificed."
Mr. Liu stroked his beard and nodded.
It is impossible to record what Yan Shang said in writing. Yan Shang had to infer it through various materials. It was really amazing that a young man who did not participate in the events of the year and had no background could infer the internal truth to this extent through a few simple words recorded.
Seeing that the teacher agreed, Yan Shang sighed inwardly and felt a lot of confusion.
It's political infighting again.
The more he rose and fell in the court, the more he saw these cruel truths...which went against human nature and were all for his own benefit.
Yan Shang whispered, "The factional fighting in the court has nothing to do with people's livelihood. But everyone is fighting to the point of bloodshed, which is ridiculous to watch."
Mr. Liu looked at him and said, "You can look at this problem from a different angle."
Yan Shang bowed his sleeves and asked the teacher for advice.
Prime Minister Liu said slowly: "You can understand that if there are two different voices in the court, it will be difficult to push forward government affairs with great efficiency. Only by eliminating dissidents and leaving only your own voice in the court, will you have time to promote what you call people's livelihood."
Yan Shang was stunned for a moment.
Then he said, "Even so, your majesty and the late queen tacitly accepted to abandon the princess and send her to marry. They are completely, completely... cold-blooded."
Liu Xianggong asked back: "What else can we do?"
Yan Shang was stunned.
Liu Xianggong said: "You have not experienced the period of being oppressed by the Jinling Li family, so you naturally don't know the pressure your majesty was under. When the Li family was at its most powerful, 80% of the voices in the court were theirs, and even the matter of deposing and enthroning the emperor was decided by the Li family.
"This is a struggle between the imperial power and the aristocratic families. Your Majesty's power is constantly threatened by the Li family and the aristocratic families. How can an emperor be sidelined to this extent? Moreover, our Majesty has never been one to be bullied.
"Marry the daughter of the Li family as the empress, and use the various aristocratic families in Chang'an to deal with the Li family, step by step to sow discord and suppress them. Introduce the imperial examination to allow poor families to enter the court and cut off the aristocratic families' monopoly. The second prince died, cutting off the Li family's way of ruling the imperial power by borrowing blood. Send the young princess to marry, so that the Li family has no one to use in the royal family.
"He took back the military power and seized the Li family's control over the military and political power in the south. He kept changing the generals... and finally they died one after another.
"After twenty years, the Li family was finally forced back to Nanjing. Today, the Li family is still the head of the southern noble families, but they also need to recuperate. Even the person in power in the family was banished to Lingnan. The future of the Li family was cut short... It served as a warning to the noble families of the world. Today, the noble families are much more peaceful than they were back then, and this is all thanks to your majesty."
Liu Xianggong curled his lips mockingly at Yan Shang: "Even you, if it wasn't for the poor to enter the game, if it wasn't for adding another force to compete with the aristocratic families, do you think you can enter the court? Do you think the imperial examination questions are a joke, very flashy and useless, not suitable for real official selection, and the ones selected are all literati who can only recite poems and write essays?
"But this is what Your Majesty fought for with the noble families."
There are no words yet.
I heard Liu Xianggong sighing: "Do you think His Majesty is wrong?"
After a long while, Yan Shang whispered, "It is not easy for me to pity the princess, but from the overall perspective, Your Majesty is right. The aristocratic family has been prosperous for too long... If there is no restriction and it is allowed to develop, I am afraid it will lead to the calamity of party imprisonment and the destruction of the country."
Mr. Liu didn't speak for a long time.
Because he also came from a prominent family.
After a while, Liu Xianggong said, "The aristocratic family is bound to fail. If the aristocratic family does not fail, this situation will be a dead end."
Yan Shang looked at his teacher: "Teacher is also from a noble family... Why don't you support the noble family?"
Liu Xianggong stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the tall trees that shaded his head, and sneered: "Yan Suchen, do you think that all noble families are fools and can't see the situation clearly? Do you think that all noble families plunder the people and can't distinguish right from wrong? Have you ever heard of what a famous scholar is? Have you ever seen a truly noble family? Your understanding of noble families is still shallow."
Liu Xianggong paused for a while and said, "You can get in touch with your little friend Wei Juyuan more often. The Luoyang Wei family has existed for hundreds of years, and has never produced any prime ministers, but they have always remained undefeated. In my opinion, the Luoyang Wei family is more remarkable than the Jinling Li family."
Yan Shang whispered: "I am ashamed."
Liu Xianggong said calmly: "Your Majesty is trying to complete the task that other emperors could only accomplish in two or three generations, and you and I will just wait and see... These noble families took advantage of your Majesty's illness for a few years and stayed quiet for a long time, and gradually became arrogant again. Your Majesty's suppression is not over yet.
"You can say that our emperor is ruthless, and you can say that being an emperor does not necessarily mean being ruthless... but sometimes being ruthless is the best thing for the world."
Yan Shang said: "As a ruler, you must first be benevolent..."
Mr. Liu: "It's just that you are unkind to the princess you care about."
Yan Shang said calmly: "But I haven't seen many benevolent people in the world, and the people are living and working in peace and contentment."
Liu Xianggong looked at him with amusement: "Isn't this what you and I, as subjects, should do to help the emperor? His Majesty is so ill now... and you still let him have the energy to take care of too many things. It's a bit too much for a patient."
After a long while, Yan Shang couldn't help but smile bitterly, admitting that the teacher was right. A generation of emperors, to cut off love and affection, still did things that were beneficial to the overall situation of the world; even if he was not good to his children, he... was not a tyrant after all. On the contrary, the emperor had a very clear view of the situation in the world.
The world is in chaos, but the emperor is not.
If the emperor is not stupid, then he is cruel.
This is a very helpless thing.
Yan Shang had to talk about something else: "...But now the Li family has been suppressed and returned to Jinling, and it seems that they will not be able to become a big force in the short term. But we are still allied with Wuman. I think although there are many officials in the court who don't want the princess to marry Wuman again, but when it comes to war, 80% of the officials are against it.
"Why is this? How could our Great Wei army be defeated by the forces of the small Wuman nation?"
Liu Xianggong said: "It is true that he is no match for me."
Yan Shang was shocked. Although he had felt from the information he had read over the past few days that the Wei army was not as invincible as he had imagined, it was ridiculous to say that the Wei army could not defeat the Wuman.
Liu Xianggong took one look at him and knew what he was thinking. He said, "It's not that we can't win. If we mobilize all the troops in the country, what can a small Wuman do? It's that we don't have to fight. Why do we have to go to war? Su Chen, you have to know that once the war starts, the pressure on the various departments of the court will be extraordinary. Moreover, once the war starts, the people will suffer."
Prime Minister Liu said, "After a war, many ordinary people died, and many noble families died in it... We in the Great Wei focus on farming, unlike the Wuman who rely on nomadic life. They have to rely on war to support the country, but we in the Great Wei do not need to. Forming an alliance was the best choice at that time."
Yan Shang said, "Teacher, I know what you said. But if we can defeat Wuman, these problems can be solved. What I am surprised about is why we can't defeat them, or why we have to sacrifice too much to defeat them?"
Mr. Liu looked back at him and smiled: "You tell me the answer."
Yan Shang was stunned for a moment, then bowed and accepted the test from his teacher.
-----
In the remaining days, Yan Shang kept going back and forth between the Ministry of War, the Honglu Temple, and the Secretariat. The Ministry of War was originally under the jurisdiction of the King of Qin. When the King of Qin saw that the prince's people frequently came to the Ministry of War to look for information, he became very alert and worried that the prince was coming to the Ministry of War to poach people.
The questions that Yan Shang asked about the fighting power of Wuman made the King of Qin even more alert. He couldn't help but think: Why did he keep asking about fighting Wuman? Did the prince want to start a war? Was the prince crazy? He wanted to start a war just for Mu Wanyao?
Even the prince went to Yan Shang to ask him questions in confusion. Yan Shang said it was a test from his teacher, and the prince was also half-believing and half-doubting.
The prince was unwilling to let Mu Wanyao go for marriage. Once she left, she would lose the support of the aristocratic families in the south, headed by the Jinling Li family... But if a war was to be fought, the prince was unwilling to do so.
Yan Shang actually hoped that the situation would become more chaotic. The Crown Prince and the King of Qin were suspicious of each other, and envoys from various countries were sending people to pursue Mu Mu Wan Yao... Under such a chaotic situation, the marriage could not be achieved for the time being, which bought him a lot of time.
And Yan Shang himself kept going back and forth to the Secretariat to answer his teacher's questions.
On the first day, he said, "The reason why the Wei army is weak is that in the struggle between the aristocratic families and the imperial power, both sides excluded dissidents, changed the border army system, and constantly replaced generals, which resulted in the generals and soldiers not knowing each other and having no cooperation. When the war started, the strength was naturally greatly weakened. And we had to replace the generals selected by the aristocratic families for many years with our own people, but we found that we were not as good as the aristocratic families and suffered defeats in succession. But it is impossible for Your Majesty to let the generals of the aristocratic families take over again, so we just stalemate and wait for new generals to grow up.
“But how can we train talented generals when the border troops are mobilized so frequently?
"But if the border troops are not mobilized frequently, the generals will secede and cause chaos. Due to so many reasons, the military strength of our Wei is not as good as that of the Wuman."
Liu Xianggong asked: "What else?"
Yan Shang went to check again.
Another day passed, and he came to answer Liu Xianggong: "The military service in our dynasty is very heavy, but there are frequent wars at the border, and the defense line is too long. Garrisoning is a good thing, but the people are forced to stay and do not return for a long time. Over time, everyone avoids military service and is unwilling to take the initiative to join the army. I asked a guard named Fang Tong, and I know that he was a soldier before. His experience...hmm."
Yan Shang recalled the conversation between himself and Fang Tong, the chief guard beside Mu Wanyao.
Fang Tong told him that before he followed the princess, he was also a soldier. However, the military service was too heavy, and for the sake of his family, he had to escape the war and come to Chang'an to seek a way out. When he arrived in Chang'an, due to the low status of soldiers caused by military service, the people of Chang'an looked down on people like him who had been soldiers, and beat, scolded and humiliated him as if he were a private servant. For a time, the whole atmosphere of the Wei Dynasty was to be ashamed of being a government soldier.
Fang Tong had to constantly take the military examinations held by the court and use various connections to get a job with the princess. However, in order to go to Wuman with the princess, he was separated from his newly married wife for several years, and the family was only reunited recently.
Thinking of this, Yan Shang felt depressed, knowing that this was another unsolvable problem. Because the military strength was weak, the military service was heavy. And because of the heavy military service, the status of the soldiers was low, which led to the weakness of the military strength.
The whole system has problems.
But Mr. Liu actually asked him: "What else?"
What else caused the Wei army to be inferior to the Wuman?
Yan Shang kept running back and forth between the Secretariat and the Ministry of War, answering the test questions given to him by Prime Minister Liu -
"Teacher, I found that the old generals died due to the struggle for power in the court, and the new generals are not good at military affairs. If there were good military officers, even if they were frequently transferred, they would be slowed down. It is precisely because it is difficult to win the battle that the transfers are so frequent."
Liu Xianggong sighed: "So, it is easy to get thousands of soldiers, but it is difficult to get a general."
Mr. Liu continued: "What else?"
Yan Shang was stunned, then continued to check.
Then tell Liu Xianggong: "Because in the world's wars, cavalry is the king! As long as there are cavalry, the war is almost one-sided. The cavalry of our Wei Dynasty is not as good as the Wuman. The Wuman have been fighting on horseback all year round, and their cavalry is more sophisticated than our army. They also wear mail armor. On the battlefield, as long as we can't deal with the cavalry and can't get the soldiers off their horses, it will be difficult for us to deal with the cavalry.
"I have asked in the West Market, in the Honglu Temple, and discussed with envoys from various countries. Our horse breeds can actually be further improved. We should learn the horse-raising techniques of some small countries in the north, or simply hire them to help us raise horses..."
His thoughts became clearer and clearer, and the problems that had plagued Wei and Wuman for many years lay before him one by one.
The chaotic situation gradually cleared up and became clear.
Mr. Liu stared at the young man standing in his study. He was silent for a long time and was constantly shocked by Yan Shang.
Yan Shang said a lot, but in fact, someone had already reported it to him, the prime minister. However, that was the experience of so many people in the Ministry of War for many years, and Yan Shang unraveled it and pushed it forward by himself...
Smart, thoughtful, modest and gentle, with excellent interpersonal relationships...
Because of his intelligence and thoughtfulness, he was able to piece together the scattered chaotic drawings one by one and piece together the truth; because of his humility and gentleness, he would seek advice from the wise, and he could also put down his airs and chat with illiterate civilians and Hu people in Hu City; because of his good interpersonal relationships, he easily made friends in all six departments, and when he needed help from any of the six departments, his friends in any of the six departments would help him find the way.
Such a person is only nineteen years old.
Mr. Liu stared at the young Yan Shang, his heart was shaken, and he thought that this student of his would be great.
After talking about all the reasons, Liu Xianggong thought Yan Shang had explained all the reasons. However, Liu Xianggong still wanted to say——
"What else?"
He no longer knew what other reasons could have caused the Wei army to be inferior to the Wuman army, but he still wanted to ask Yan Shang, "What else?"
He wanted to calm Yan Shang's anger, and didn't want everything to develop as Yan Shang had predicted. For a young and talented person, if everything went as he expected, it would not be a good thing for Yan Shang's growth.
It is very easy to break.
Mr. Liu is well aware that he has no choice in the political situation, so he wants to take this opportunity to sharpen his words. He does not want his elementary school student to be swept up in the increasingly complicated political affairs in the future, and his precious sword to be broken.
Yan Shang was stunned.
-----
Yan Shang didn't know that he had explained all the reasons, and thought that he really had missed something. He racked his brains, tried to communicate with military officials, the Hu people in the market, and the envoys in the Honglu Temple, and kept looking up books and materials, but he couldn't find more reasons.
This was simply torture for him.
For someone like him who has high demands on himself, if he can't figure something out, can't sort it out, can't take the next step... it's really a torment.
Another day, Yan Shang was squatting in the Hu market, chatting with several Hu people, and asking when the Hu people he sent to Wuman would return to Chang'an.
Yan Shang was a court official, but he spent the whole day in the West Market chatting with the Hu people without any airs. He had a handsome face and spoke in a soft voice, so he was naturally liked by everyone. The Hu merchants liked this court official who spent the whole day in the Hu Market, and told him that the Hu merchants who helped him with work would be back in two days.
A Hu man, speaking in an unskilled Dawei official language, patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, Yan Erlang! Although they didn't come back before the New Year, they won't be far away. We Hu people are always honest in doing things. Since we have taken your money, we will not cheat you and will help you get this done!"
No matter how much he was suffering, Yan Shang always smiled kindly: "Then I will wait for good news. As soon as they come back, no matter when, you can come to me with your badge. I really don't know Wu Man well enough."
Everyone comforted Yan Shang.
After separating from the Hu people, Yan Shang continued to wander aimlessly in the West Market, staring at the foreigners doing business here. He wondered what other reasons could have caused the Great Wei to be inferior to the Wuman?
-----
In the evening, Mu Wanyao and Meng Zaishi were strolling in the West Market.
Mu Wan shook her face indifferently, not wanting to contact Meng Zaishi any more. But since she had said that people could pursue her, she couldn't always reject Meng Zaishi.
What's more, she has a plan in mind, and she also needs to improve her relationship with Meng Zaishi little by little.
Meng Zai Shi and Mu Wan were riding horses in a swaying manner.
Mu Wanyao was wearing Mu Li, and Meng Zaishi was wearing a mask. The chaotic people and vendors in the West Market made way for the two of them, because if you looked up casually, you could see that the girl, Mu Li, was wearing ankle-length silk and must be of noble status; and the tall man walking with her, even with a mask, gave people a strong sense of oppression.
The barbarians in front were making a lot of noise, and the horses were blocked and couldn't move. Mu Wanyao became more and more unhappy as he watched.
Mu Wanyao said impatiently, "Look, the road is blocked! Why did you invite me to the West Market? It's not as lively as the East Market, and it's messy. There are foreigners like you everywhere. It's annoying to see you."
Meng Zaishi was just getting off his horse when he heard this. He chuckled and sneered at her through the mask and Mu Li, saying, "You are even more irritable now than when I first knew you. It's just a road being blocked, but you're so upset. Forget it, let's take another way."
He winked at the guards beside him, and his men took his horse away. Meng Zaishi stepped forward and held the horse that Mu Wanyao was riding. Mu Wanyao looked at him coldly, and seeing that the horse was restless, Meng Zaishi whispered a few words in Wuman language into the horse's ear, and the horse obediently let him hold the reins.
Mu Wanyao: "You are pretending! It's like I can't ride a horse and need you to lead me. Where are you taking me? Do you have bad intentions?"
Meng Zaishi was walking below. He was tall and had long legs. He turned his head to look at the girl in white gauze riding a horse in the sunset, and said with a half-smile: "Anyway, I am not good in your eyes."
The two of them took another less crowded road, and Meng Zaishi came to a mask vendor and motioned for Mu Wanyao to dismount and take a look. Mu Wanyao hesitated for a long time, thinking that she couldn't completely disobey Meng Zaishi, so she dismounted reluctantly. But she still tightly covered her Mu Li, not wanting to look at the world outside Mu Li, and not wanting to look at Meng Zaishi.
Meng Zaishi glanced at the girl in white veil behind him and chuckled softly: "Little girl... I know what you are thinking."
Mu Wan shook his head with a cold face, pretending not to hear.
Meng Zaishi stood in front of the stall, looking down at the various masks. Mu Wanyao looked behind absentmindedly, thinking that it would be great if he could stab him to death. Meng Zaishi suddenly took off the mask on his face and put on a mask from the stall.
He turned around and looked at Mu Wanyao, and laughed softly: "Little girl, do I look familiar to you like this?"
Mu Wanyao looked at it casually and was stunned for a moment.
In a flash, she thought of the man she met when she sent Yan Shang to Beili some time ago and who insisted on giving her a clay figurine.
That man was wearing the same mask that Meng Zaishi was wearing now. That man's figure in his memory... merged with Meng Zaishi's current figure.
Mu Wanyao couldn't believe it and immediately opened the curtain. She held the curtain in her arms, the white veil fluttering gently, and she stared at Meng Zaishi blankly and secretly with hatred.
I thought to myself that the clay figurine that night... was given by Meng Zaishi!
...and turned around and smashed the clay figure.
Meng Zaishi lowered his eyes and looked at Mu Wanyao, who was terrified, afraid that he would do something to Yan Shang who was beside him at the time. With his eyes rolling, Mu Wanyao smiled at him in surprise: "So you came to Chang'an at that time, and you actually endured it until several days later... You are worthy of it."
Meng Zaishi sneered.
He leaned over, took off the mask on his face, revealing his true face. He leaned over and leaned towards Mu Wan.
Mu Wan hugged Mu Li tightly in her arms and took a step back, but she could not avoid the playful smile on his face.
He leaned over, stretched out his hand and flicked her forehead, jokingly saying, "You're not surprised at all, why are you pretending? Be more genuine in front of me."
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on his face, on the hideous scar on his face. In a trance, Mu Wanyao saw the smile in his eyes, and was stunned for a moment, thinking of the past... At that time, he jumped in from the window, stretched out his hand to her, and told her that he would help her.
-----
The maid Xia Rong behind him asked in shock: "Yan, Yan Erlang?"
Mu Wan shuddered and turned his head to look.
After seeing the crowd, Yan Shang was staring at the empty space ahead. Mu Wanyao felt guilty for a moment, wondering why Yan Shang was here. She was so scared that she grabbed Meng Zaishi and motioned with her other hand for Xia Rong to lead the horse and follow.
Mu Wan hurriedly said, "Hurry up, let's go somewhere else!"
After being in Chang'an for so long and staying with the little princess for so long, it was the first time that Mu Wanyao was willing to reach out and pull him... Although she only pulled his sleeve, she was finally willing to touch him.
Being pulled by the little princess and running as if escaping for his life, Meng Zaishi raised his eyebrows and looked back at the trance-looking young man behind the crowd. It was none other than the official in the Honglu Temple who had made things difficult for him.
-----
Yan Shang saw Meng Zai Shi and Mu Wan Yao.
The first thing he did was to stare at the horse behind Mu Wanyao, and think like a madman: The Wuman cavalry is strong.
So Mu Wanyao also learned good riding skills.
So under what circumstances can the power of the Wuman cavalry be exerted to the greatest extent?
He had been thinking about this question for the past few days and was almost going crazy. When he saw the horse, he had a vague idea of the answer and his heart was beating faster.
Then the next moment, he saw Mu Wanyao shielding her face with Mu Li, and Meng Zaishi leaning over her and reaching out his hand to her. Mu Li's white veil was lifted, and the two of them stood like that, as if they were hiding from people and kissing secretly.
The next moment, Mu Wanyao jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on, grabbed Meng Zaishi and ran away.
Yan Shang: “…”
He hadn't reacted at first, but was made to feel unhappy by Mu Wanyao's guilty reaction.
Why is she running?
What are you feeling guilty about?
Did she think he was a jealous husband, or did she really do something to let him down?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
