"What is Wang Tongzhi thinking?" Gao Liangcheng immediately smiled bitterly. "After all, he is my nephew."
On the other side, Gao Zhenshou glanced at the chaos in the hall and nodded calmly: "Don't worry, two angels. Since your uncle wants to be open-hearted, I, as his nephew, certainly cannot be stingy... Besides, I have the intention to be open and honest with my uncle this time."
"I know, I know." Wang Shixiong stood up, still frank. "It's just my duty. No matter how unpleasant the words are, I have to say them. Otherwise, what would the government do with me? Everyone, let's go to Yubi. The waterfall is loud, and we can say whatever we want. We don't have to worry about anyone eavesdropping."
Having said this, Wu Yi also stood up. The four of them bowed to each other, left the chaos in the hall, and returned to the waterfall under the monk's guidance. However, this time the uncle and nephew Gao stayed with the jade disc under the waterfall, while Wang Shixiong and Wu Yi simply climbed to the top of the mountain above Yangshan Waterfall together... These two were old friends, and now they were traveling for official duties, so it was rare for them to get together. Logically, they would get close to each other.
However, with official business here, even if I want to talk about personal relationships, I can never get around to it.
"Brother Dewei (Wang Shixiong's pen name) doesn't know the situation in Dali?" Wu Yi responded in surprise.
"It's not that I don't know, it's just that it's too confusing and I can't make sense of it." Wang Shixiong answered frankly. "But I won't hide it from you. The emperor and the Western Palace don't intend for me to be a judge here. They want me to act as the deputy commander of the imperial guards to remind Gao Buxie at all times that the emperor is watching him, and the emperor has 200,000 imperial armored soldiers in his hands."
Wu Yi nodded, but then stood on the edge of the cliff with his hands behind his back, looking at the uncle and nephew of the Gao family below, and continued to ask: "If this is the case, with so many people in front of the emperor, how did Brother Dewei get this job?"
"I was able to get this assignment because, firstly, you are the one, and everyone knows that you and I are old friends. Secondly, I was born under the command of the King of Qin, so the King of Wei, who is in charge of the Western Palace, can't refute me..." Wang Shixiong laughed dryly. "In our court, water and wood are coexisting, Qin and Wei are connected, and the north, south, west and center are divided into four regions."
Wu Yi nodded again and again, but finally did not expand on this question. Instead, he directly talked about Dali: "In fact, although the situation in Dali is complicated, it is just a civil strife..."
"Tell me slowly." Wang Shixiong immediately became serious.
"First, the Nanzhao Kingdom was destroyed, and many heroes rose up. Although the Duan family defeated the Yang family, they planted two innate roots of disaster. First, the local tribes were independent, and Dali was unable to reconcile the white barbarians in the east and the black barbarians in the west. As a result, the 37 black barbarians in the east felt that they were wronged and prejudiced, and they would rebel whenever they found an opportunity...
"The second is that the Duan family is of humble origin. Like the Yang, Gao, Meng, and Dong families, they are all local tyrants and tribal leaders who have been sinicized. They were all border officials of the former Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty. They are the so-called officials in the same palace and the people in the same land. Moreover, even in the process of starting a family and building a business, they relied on the joint efforts of various tribes. Therefore, once they gained power and became the ruler, they could not resist the lack of awe in their hearts..."
"These are the two roots. What follows is civil strife... After the death of Duan Siping, the founder of the country, his brother joined forces with the Dong family, a major Chinese clan, to usurp his nephew's position..."
"This..." Wang Shixiong, who was listening carefully, suddenly couldn't help but speak out.
"I know what you are thinking, but it is not the same thing." Wu Yi replied with a sigh. "Taizong succeeded Taizu. Although there were rumors, there was no war, and there was no dethronement or enthronement in the middle... After the father and son inherited the throne, the Duan family was seized by the uncle and the ruling Dong family, and they also let the wolf into the house. Since then, the Dong family has been in power."
Wang Shixiong nodded repeatedly, but gestured to the other party to continue.
"The first civil strife was between uncle and nephew, and the second was the decline of the Dong family, while the Gao family gradually rose... About a hundred years ago, the Gao family abolished the then ruler of Dali and re-established the lineage of the founding father Duan Siping. After the Gao family rose to power, they also became powerful officials, and were even more authoritarian than the Dong family, as you have seen...
"The third civil strife was when the Gao family gradually became uncontrollable, and they finally abolished the Duan family and established themselves as kings... However, before Gao Shengtai, who became the king, died, he specifically asked his son to return the throne... This happened about fifty years ago.
"The fourth civil strife was the turn of the Gao family... The Duan family was in chaos and weak. The Gao family was called Bu Xie (ruling), but in fact they were the kings. All internal and external affairs were handled by the Gao family. However, in order to ensure authority, the Gao family also adopted the rule of the younger brother succeeding the elder brother instead of the son succeeding the father. Over time, there were internal sectarian disputes. The current Duan family leader Duan Heyu is a scheming person. About a few decades ago, he took advantage of the good opportunity of the Gao family's succession and took the initiative to divide the Weichu Prefecture and Tongmou Prefecture in the north and south of Dali to Gao Taiming's son. Since then, the Gao family has coexisted in the north and south... The current Bu Xie is Gao Liangcheng of the southern sect, who has been in power for 20 to 30 years, but Gao Zhenshou of the northern sect is the eldest son of the Gao family..."
"So what happened now?" Wang Shixiong finally understood. "Brother Gao Zhenshou is getting older and more powerful. On the one hand, the Tongmou Mansion is growing stronger by trading with us, and on the other hand, his brother Gao Zhenming studied at the Imperial College in Zhongdu and was selected as a Jinshi by Hebian... So he wants to use the government to take back Bu Xie's position?"
"Yes and no."
"How do you mean?"
"The key and core is of course the chaos between the Gao family's northern and southern factions. After all, the Gao family is the one who truly holds power in Dali."
Wu Yi looked at the uncle and nephew from afar and spoke calmly. "But the current civil strife is not just a matter of the Gao family's northern and southern branches. Duan Heyu has been in office for decades, working hard to govern the country, and he is a proper king. However, he has been plagued by natural disasters, internal and external troubles, and has never been able to revitalize Dali, nor has he been able to shake the authority of the Gao family, so he has gradually lost his spirit... Now it is not just the Gao family's civil strife, but also the Duan Heyu who was disheartened by the death of Concubine Wang and wanted to become a monk. As a result, his sons were held hostage by the Gao family's various branches to fight for the throne. In addition, Dali was defeated by the Vietnamese Li Dynasty a few years ago, and the country was hollowed out. The black and white barbarians are watching the chaos again... This is the general outbreak of civil strife!"
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