No monarch can be indifferent to the "art of the emperor".
The so-called art of emperors is to distrust everyone and keep all the movements of their subjects under their control.
And this... requires a powerful intelligence agency!
Jiang Ming also had his own intelligence agency.
On one side was the "Inner Factory," represented by Eunuch Li, who reported to him daily on matters within the palace, as well as matters concerning the households of various ministers.
Many of the ministers' maids, servants, and even the gatekeepers and night watchmen were all under Eunuch Li's command.
The "Outer Factory" was a secret service agency led by the Minister of Justice, directly responsible for arresting ministers who opposed Jiang Ming, imprisoning them, and subjecting them to severe torture...
The ruler of Zhongshan naturally also had his own intelligence agency.
Just as he was going to court that morning, his trusted agent delivered a shocking message to him: Hu Yan was conspiring with the Xianbei to rebel, and presented him with letters from both sides as evidence.
The handwriting on the letter was indeed Hu Yan's...
The spies also told King Hu Yan of Zhongshan why he wanted to rebel.
Ultimately, the tide had turned against them... The Zhongshan Kingdom was doomed to fail.
The combined forces of Zhao and Wei, in their attack on Zhongshan, had exhausted the state's resources. To put it bluntly, there were practically no men left between the ages of 16 and 60...
At this moment, the State of Zhongshan was like a dilapidated house on the verge of collapse.
If any of the states in the Central Plains were to send another fresh force to kick this dilapidated house, the entire house would collapse with a roar!
Rather than holding out at the pass until the last drop of blood is spilled, it's better to find a way out for your future as soon as possible.
If Yue Yi of Zhongshan State could be enfeoffed as a marquis and prime minister in Yan State and become a pillar of the state, then Hu Yan could too.
There's no need to put all our eggs in one basket.
Moreover, the garrison at Xingguan only numbered 30,000.
Even after the great victory at Xingguan, only about 25,000 men were still able to go to the battlefield...
If the Xianbei people hadn't believed their bad luck and had continued their relentless attack, they could have taken Xingguan, though the losses would have been slightly greater.
Hu Yan planned to leave himself a way out: cooperate with the Xianbei people and then march on Shouchun together!
The spies also told the ruler of Zhongshan that the Xianbei people had been sending grain and clothing to Huyan in recent days.
The two sides didn't seem to be at war at all; they were as close as family...
Upon learning the 'truth,' the ruler of Zhongshan was so enraged that he was practically leaping out of his skin, his seven orifices emitting smoke, wishing he could tear Hu Yan and the Xianbei people to pieces!
So this was the Xianbei people's true purpose!
He was still foolishly considering whether or not to cooperate with the Xianbei people. How pathetic! How laughable!
Luckily, he had a secret agent investigating behind the scenes, otherwise he wouldn't even know how he died.
The ruler of Zhongshan pondered... In fact, if you put yourself in Hu Yan's shoes, his betrayal could be considered "reasonable".
After all, the Zhongshan Kingdom has been decimated by the combined forces of Zhao and Wei... leaving only an empty shell, which is common knowledge.
Even if Hu Yan can hold out for a while, can he hold out indefinitely?
If another powerful army were to arrive from the south, and the Zhongshan Kingdom were to perish, wouldn't Huyan become a 'wandering ghost'?
It would be better to cling to the Yan state early, know when to quit while you're ahead, choose a wise ruler, and have a bright future ahead!
After all, these ministers all had the mentality of employees; what difference did it make who they served?
......
The more the ruler of Zhongshan thought about it, the angrier he became. He issued a golden recall order to Hu Yan, ordering him to return to Shouchun immediately so that he could discuss important matters with him.
At the same time, he secretly dispatched a trusted general to Xingguan to replace Huyan in guarding the pass.
The ruler of Zhongshan even tried to "put himself in Hu Yan's shoes": he had just rewarded Hu Yan, and Hu Yan would certainly not suspect anything upon his return... This scoundrel might even want to take this opportunity to further probe the strength of the domestic military, so as to report the good news to his Xianbei father!
The more the King of Zhongshan thought about it, the angrier he became. He wished Hu Yan would fly back immediately to "report on his duties"!
A few days later, when Hu Yan received the order from the ruler of Zhongshan, he did not suspect anything and quickly returned to Shouchun City.
In the days that followed, he did indeed receive a large amount of grain and provisions from the Xianbei people.
However, the official reason was not to provide financial assistance to him, but rather that the Xianbei people had been defeated and were willing to not only return Gu County, but also to compensate him with a lot of grain and fodder, which could be considered as war reparations!
Hu Yan didn't think much of it...
Unexpectedly, this was all Jiang Ming's scheme to solidify his charge of "colluding with foreign powers."
As for the spies of the ruler of Zhongshan, they had already been heavily bribed when Jiang Ming was carrying out the P2P fraud against the various vassal states for grain supplies, and even... their future "prospects" had been arranged.
The people of Qi were adept at using the "gold strategy" to win over and corrupt the powerful and influential figures of various states.
Jiang Ming knows this trick too!
However, at the beginning, I didn't have any money, so this golden strategy just wouldn't work!
Now that I have plenty of money, I naturally want to corrupt some key figures and turn them into my lackeys...
As for how he knew who these "spies" and "agents" were for the ruler of Zhongshan?
This is all thanks to the Empress Yan's 'spying' and 'exploitation' of Young Master Luo!
After all, as the brother-in-law of the ruler of Zhongshan and the head of the "merchant strategy," Young Master Luo had access to a vast network of connections and resources...
It can be said that Jiang Ming's decision not to kill Empress Yan was absolutely correct, allowing this woman to exert immeasurable "value in espionage and information warfare."
Only by employing a multi-pronged approach can we, like herding pigs, guide our opponent down the path we've drawn...
The so-called alliance of the Xianbei people, whether or not they actually cooperated with them, was just a superficial pretext.
However, the real key to the Xianbei people's success lay in "successfully turning Hu Yan against the Xianbei."
These wolves with ulterior motives feinted at me; their true intentions were not what they seemed!
In a moment of "sudden realization," the King of Zhongshan perfectly avoided the "risk" and successfully fell into the "trap" that Jiang Ming had set for him...
Hu Yan, who had just been enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wu'an, was recalled to Shouchun from the northern front lines and was immediately imprisoned before he even met the ruler of Zhongshan.
The ruler of Zhongshan didn't even interrogate him; he simply ordered that Hu Yan be skinned alive!
It's a pity that Yue Yi, a great general of the Zhongshan Kingdom and Yue Yi's old classmate, died tragically at the hands of his own king...
When news of Hu Yan's skinning reached the Xianbei camp, Murong Lie immediately followed Jiang Ming's previous instructions, mobilized his troops, and launched another attack on Xingguan!
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