As soon as Yang Ji took office, he faced his first crisis.
Pei Ren, King of Anxi, died.
When the news reached the capital, the whole world was shocked.
King Anxi passed away at the beginning of the year, and the news took several months to reach the capital.
"What's the situation in Xiliang?"
Everyone has the same question in their mind, but no one can answer it.
News from Xiliang was delayed by at least half a year and at most a year.
If the roads are blocked, it is possible that the news will be delayed for two years.
Qian Fu was in a state of panic.
He was the head of the Intelligence Department, and half of his staff was posted abroad.
He hadn't heard any news about King Anxi's death beforehand, so it was obvious that there was a flaw in his intelligence work.
Regardless of whether there is a problem with information collection or information transmission, there is always a problem.
When His Majesty asked about the situation in Xiliang, he knew nothing about anything. It was a shame and his performance was very poor.
Naturally, he was criticized by Emperor Liu Zhao.
Qian Fu was criticized, and of course, everyone under the Intelligence Department had a hard time.
Get everything moving, mobilize all intelligence networks, and make sure to find out the current situation in Xiliang as soon as possible.
Official documents from Xiliang were sent to the capital.
The first was to report the death of Pei Ren, King of Anxi.
The second is to ask Emperor Liu Zhao to issue an edict to officially appoint Crown Prince Pei Meng as the next King of Anxi.
"I will not issue this decree before I understand the situation in Xiliang."
Liu Zhao was resolute in his attitude.
He was worried that the situation in Xiliang would change after the death of King Anxi Pei Ren.
What if Pei Meng is not strong enough to stabilize the situation in Xiliang, or if Pei Meng has second thoughts? The decree to enthrone Pei Meng as the King of Anxi is simple, but it will be difficult to take it back.
By then, the imperial court would be in a difficult situation, losing face and everyone in the world would know about it.
Liu Zhao also has his dignity.
The most important thing is that he has always been wary of his cousin Pei Meng.
He and Pei Meng are cousins and have known each other since childhood.
Pei Meng pretends to be a pig and eats the tiger, and shows himself to be a rough guy, but in fact he is cunning and shrewd.
We must be on guard against people like this.
"Prince Anxi has a clear bottom line and a strong sense of patriotism. As for Pei Meng, I will have to wait and see and make further assessments."
The newly appointed Minister of the Central Secretariat, Yang Ji, had a different opinion.
"Your Majesty is wary of Pei Meng, the Crown Prince of Anxi. Does Pei Meng understand your Majesty's intentions? I think he should. He submitted a petition to Your Majesty requesting him to be crowned King of Anxi. It was a straightforward request, and I believe he had anticipated Your Majesty's likely reaction. I believe delaying the conferment is futile. It would be better to grant his wish first, demonstrating Your Majesty's magnanimity and catching him off guard."
"That's exactly what he wants." Liu Zhao disagreed and insisted on understanding the situation in Xiliang first before making plans.
Yang Ji pondered for a moment. "Your Majesty, are you worried that Pei Meng will break away from the Great Zhou and claim the throne? In fact, Your Majesty has no need to worry. I have checked the account books of Sanhe Express. In recent years, the volume of trade between our Great Zhou and Xiliang has been increasing year by year. According to those who have returned from Xiliang, the main source of income for the Anxi Palace comes from customs duties."
The Anxi Palace still needs to rely on the Great Zhou to transport supplies to resist the increasingly fierce religious war in the Western Regions. It can be said that the Great Zhou is the Anxi Palace's backer. Pei Meng is a wise man, he knows how to make the best choice. He submitted a petition to be crowned king simply to legitimately govern Xiliang. He has several brothers under him, all of whom are capable of leading troops in battle. He must rely on Your Majesty's support to stabilize the overall situation.
Liu Zhao nodded, this made some sense.
Then he asked, "Before King Anxi died, he didn't even submit a petition to confer the title of king on Pei Meng. Could it be that his death was sudden?"
Normally, King Anxi should have arranged all the important matters before his death.
For a major matter like requesting the title of prince, it would definitely be more effective if King Anxi came forward than if Pei Meng did it himself.
Yang Ji speculated, "It's possible that he died suddenly, or it's possible that King Anxi was wavering and wanted to bypass his eldest son Pei Meng and enthronize another son. Maybe he got carried away, and then..."
Liu Zhao laughed when he heard this.
"Brothers fighting is interesting."
"I believe Your Majesty should still support Pei Meng. Xiliang cannot be in chaos. Once chaos breaks out, the forces from the Western Regions will seize the opportunity to invade Xiliang. Your Majesty and Your Majesty's plans for Xiliang will suffer a severe blow."
"You are right. Xiliang must not be in chaos."
However, Liu Zhao did not rush to issue an edict to enthrone Pei Meng.
You can wait for several months, so waiting one or two more months won’t make any difference.
…
"I am very dissatisfied with the work of the Intelligence Department this time."
Liu Zhao complained to Gu Jiu privately
"Is Qian Fu getting old? He's become less meticulous in his work and not as good as he used to be."
Gu Jiu defended Qian Fu, "It's not Qian Fu's fault! Xiliang blocked the news of Prince Anxi's death. The people from the Intelligence Department are all registered in the Anxi Palace. They are being watched, so it's understandable that they couldn't deliver the news."
"Do you have any information channels? What's the current situation in Xiliang?" Liu Zhao looked surprised.
Gu Jiu said, "My news came from the grasslands, and it's not very detailed. King Anxi died in the first month of the year, reportedly quite suddenly. He was hosting a banquet the day before and even took in a stunning woman, then he died suddenly the next day. Immediately afterwards, Xiliang Royal City was placed under martial law, blocking all news. The caravan was lucky enough to leave Xiliang Royal City before martial law was imposed, thanks to their precise timing. They then traveled through the grassland trade routes and delivered the news to the capital."
Liu Zhao frowned, "Is it a fight between brothers, or is there an assassin?"
The day before his death, he had just married a beautiful woman, which made people think that he was an assassin.
Gu Jiu said, "It's unlikely that the brothers would fight! Pei Meng's position is stable. Although the brothers are not so harmonious, no one of them can threaten his position. I guess it was either a real accident, and his death may not be glorious, so the news was blocked. Or he really encountered an assassin."
Liu Zhao suddenly realized, "You mean the King of Anxi might have died of a stroke?"
Gu Jiu nodded.
Liu Zhao thought about it carefully. "It's indeed possible. At such an old age, he still doesn't know how to restrain himself. It's very likely that he died in disgrace. It's hard for Pei Meng to have to spend so much time covering up for that old man, the King of Anxi."
Gu Jiu said, "The flames of war in the Western Regions are raging, and they are indiscriminately slaughtering people, men, women, and children. It's extremely tragic. We need the Anxi Palace to fight back and win back the hearts and minds of the people and territory. Therefore, I hope to issue an imperial decree to confer Pei Meng the title of King of Anxi as soon as possible. In addition, the court can provide mercenaries to the Anxi Palace."
"Mercenaries?" Liu Zhao was curious.
Gu Jiu nodded heavily. "The Anxi Palace provides the money and food, and we are responsible for providing the men and weapons. If the Anxi Palace does not have enough money and food, the Shaofu Bank can lend it to him. The specific repayment method can be discussed."
After saying that, Gu Jiu took out the map of the Western Regions and analyzed with Liu Zhao that if the war in the Western Regions was left unchecked, there would be great hidden dangers.
The battle of faith, the battle of territory, the battle of people's hearts, there will be no compromise.
After years of operation, Xiliang has achieved some results.
Many of the indigenous children there can speak Chinese and recognize Chinese characters.
This is a good start.
Twenty years later, when this group of people grow up, the entire Western Regions will be influenced by Xiliang's Han culture, and the pattern of the Western Regions will be completely changed.
The premise is that there is no war in the Western Regions.
However, the war in the Western Regions is now in full swing, which is particularly unfriendly to cultural assimilation and the situation in Xiliang.
So, we must fight back.
Let those crazy war butchers know how powerful the Great Zhou is.
Don't think you're the only ones who can fight.
The Great Zhou is the real ancestor of war.
Liu Zhao looked at the map and was finally persuaded by Gu Jiu.
We must fight in the Western Regions, we must fight.
But how and when to fight must be discussed with Pei Meng first.
Liu Zhao pinched his chin and said, "We need to arrange for someone to go to Xiliang to negotiate with Pei Meng. In addition, we need to select a general to lead the troops to fight in the Western Regions."
"It's easy to choose a general to lead the troops, but it's hard to choose someone to negotiate."
Gu Jiu has two best candidates in mind, one is Chen Zhuangshi and the other is Yang Ji.
Both of them had been to Xiliang and fought against Xiliang, and they were very familiar with the situation in Xiliang and the Western Regions.
However, Chen Zhuangshi was far away in the overseas camp, and he was so busy like an animal every day that he didn't even have time to drink a sip of water.
Yang Ji had just taken office. As the Minister of the Central Secretariat, it was naturally impossible for him to travel thousands of miles to Xiliang to negotiate with Pei Meng.
"Why not use Mr. Lu?" Gu Jiu suggested.
The former Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lord Lu, retired and after a few days of depression, he went to Shanhe Academy to accompany Sanyuan Gong Zhou Shi'an and two others, and also taught a class at Zhixing Academy.
Later, he taught another class at the Imperial College.
He was a high-ranking official, holding the highest official position among all the teachers.
His classes are crowded with students.
It is said that in the first class, there were originally 30 seats, but 200 to 300 people squeezed in.
The students all wanted to catch a glimpse of the former Minister of the Central Secretariat.
Especially for students who were interested in the imperial examinations, the title of Zhongshu Ling was very attractive. Many students wanted to be his disciples.
Mr. Lu turned the situation around in just one class.
Then, you will enjoy it so much that you won’t want to leave.
He boasted of his good physical strength and taught three classes in one go.
One class at Shanhe Academy, one class at Zhixing Academy, and one class at Guozijian.
Three days of study and one day of rest, and the three academies rotate every four days.
Of course, the tuition fees are also extremely high.
It’s higher than his income as an official.
Gu Jiu suggested that Mr. Lu go to Xiliang to negotiate with Pei Meng and determine the overall situation, also considering Mr. Lu's qualifications and abilities.
Liu Zhao was a little skeptical. "He's old, and the journey to Xiliang is long. I'm worried he won't be able to handle it. Furthermore, the conditions in Xiliang are harsh, and if something unexpected happens, it would be a huge loss. I've already lost Wu Wang, and I don't want to lose Mr. Lu again."
Gu Jiu thought for a moment and said, "Among the young and middle-aged officials, there is no one more suitable than Mr. Lu."
"How about asking the Pei family in the capital to come forward directly?"
"Not suitable!" Gu Jiu directly rejected Liu Zhao's proposal. "In the Pei family of Beijing, there isn't a single person who can take on the important task of persuading Pei Meng."
Pei Meng is the most outstanding person of this generation of the Pei family, and he is also an old fox.
As soon as King Anxi died, he became the undisputed number one among the noble military generals.
Gu Rui and Gu Ting were also very powerful, both were nobles and had made great military achievements. But they were no match for Pei Meng.
With his tremendous achievements in conquering overseas, Yang Ji is probably on par with Pei Meng, but it is not enough to suppress Pei Meng.
It is a joke to rely on the Pei family in the capital to persuade Pei Meng.
There were few people in the court who could suppress Pei Meng.
Whether in terms of seniority, military exploits, or strategy, Pei Meng already has the potential to be among the top three in the world.
Such a person must find someone with a higher status to suppress him.
"So, it's only Mr. Lu?"
Gu Jiu nodded heavily. "If Lord Li Bingming hadn't passed away, he would be the most suitable candidate. Now that Lord Li is gone, Mr. Lu is the most suitable person."
"Then talk to Lao Lu and hear his ideas."
"I'll go talk to him."
Gu Jiu took on this matter.
Liu Zhao had no objection. "I have a bad temper and can't stand long-winded conversations. It would be more appropriate for you to come forward. If I were to come forward, I'm afraid I'd overturn the table if we disagreed."
Gu Jiu despised him. "You, the older you get, the more irritable you become. You need to learn to cultivate yourself and control your temper. Anger hurts your liver, and good health is the most important thing."
"I just don't want to endure it now!" Liu Zhao's attitude was very direct.
Gu Jiu gave him a sidelong look, and he immediately gave in.
"Okay, okay, okay! I'll do whatever you say. Cultivate your character, control your anger, and take good care of your body. Oh, my old waist!"
Liu Zhao used the self-torture trick, and Gu Jiu became nervous.
There was massage and plaster application.
Gu Jiu made a decision, "Let's go to Xiaozhu to escape the summer heat tomorrow!"
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