Ren Yao looked out the window and pondered in silence.
The air was still humid after the rain. A swallow flew out from somewhere, flew low over the yard, and suddenly fell to the ground, making a few faint calls.
Li You came out from somewhere, walked to the place where the swallow fell with his hands behind his back, squatted down, and then poked the poor bird that kept jumping but could never fly with his right finger. He raised his head and looked around for something. When he saw the swallow under the eaves, he caught it in his hand.
"Dongsheng, is there a ladder in this yard! A stupid bird fell out of the nest." Li You's cheerful voice sounded in the yard.
Dongsheng apologized to Ren Yaoqi, then hurried out and walked to Li You to answer.
Li You then handed the fluttering thing in his hand to Dongsheng and said, "Put it back."
Dongsheng lowered his head, took it carefully, and ran back.
Ren Yaoqi saw Li You standing in the middle of the yard with his hands behind his back, giving orders non-stop and looking very excited.
After a while, Dongsheng came back with a coarse cloth handkerchief in his hand that he had just wiped his hands with.
Under the eaves outside, the sounds of Ren Yaohua and Li You arguing about something unknown could be heard again, and it was very lively.
"Who intercepted the secret letter from the court?" Ren Yaoqi asked softly.
Baiyun Temple is located in the middle section between Baihe Town and Yunyang City, right near the official road that is the only way for the north and south to pass.
Dong Shengfu stood next to Ren Yaoqi again, lowered his head and whispered, "I didn't see the fight, so it's hard to make a judgment. But the letter was about the court ordering a reduction in the Yanbei Army's pay."
Ren Yaoqi was shocked when he heard this.
Is it related to the Yanbei Palace?
Although the Yanbei Army was nominally the army of the Great Zhou Dynasty, they were actually the direct army of the King of Yanbei, or the "Xiao Family Army."
Ren Yaoqi once heard Mr. Pei mention that most of Yanbei's taxes had to be paid to the court, but the court only paid a very small portion of the Yanbei army's military pay each year. In fact, most of the military pay was borne by the Yanbei Palace itself.
She recalled a mutiny in Yanbei in her previous life. Some lower-ranking soldiers, dissatisfied with the court's pay cuts, went to the city in groups to rob wealthy businesses, causing unrest.
Finally, someone submitted a memorial impeaching the Yanbei Army for being too large in number and having too many monks in the temple, which was the root cause of the unrest, and demanded that the Yanbei Army reduce its troops.
Shortly thereafter, a large-scale border conflict erupted in Ningxia, sparked by the Dangxiang tribe's struggle for control of the rich horse pastures. At the request of Wu Xiaohe, the Ningxia general, the Yanbei Palace dispatched the Yanbei Army to Ningxia to assist Wu Xiaohe in quelling the rebellion. For the next few years, this portion of the Yanbei Army remained stationed in Ningxia, and the imperial court's plan to reduce the Yanbei Army was shelved.
However, the Ningxia general Wu Xiaohe at that time was the son-in-law of the old King of Yanbei and the brother-in-law of the current King of Yanbei Xiao Yan.
Therefore, many people believe that the Yanbei Army’s entry into Ningxia was actually a strategy by the King of Yanbei to preserve the Yanbei Army and divert the court’s attention.
Unfortunately, three years later, Ningxia General Wu Xiaohe died, and the court sent Zeng Yu to cut off the Yanbei Palace's support.
Zeng Yu was still unknown at the time, and Yan Bei also believed that he got this position only by relying on the nepotism between his family, the Xichang Marquis Mansion, and the Yan family, the Empress Dowager's maiden family. He only focused his attention on Lu Dexin, the military supervisor who took office at the same time as Zeng Yu.
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