"By God's destiny, the emperor issued an edict. I ordered you to proclaim and pacify Yanyun. I expected you to teach the people of Yanyun and bring the land of Yanyun to the king. However, you rebelled against the etiquette and ignored the king's teachings. The fallacies and heresies are really a crime to be punished! I originally planned to arrest you and bring you back to the capital, but since you have worked so hard and accomplished so much and this is your first offense, I will forgive you for this time. You should immediately abandon your fallacies and return to the royal way. What do I think of this? Comfort! Admire this."
Yang Peng stood up and took the imperial edict with both hands. The eunuch raised his chin and said: "The imperial edict has been delivered, and the Zhang family has resigned." Even so, he did not move. He was waiting for Yang Peng's filial piety. Yang Peng cupped his fists and said, "I won't give it away."
The eunuch frowned, snorted, and walked away. Yang Peng smiled coldly. He opened the imperial edict and read it again, then threw it to the female guard captain Jiang Li. "Throw it in the toilet!" Jiang Li felt very funny.
Yang Peng returned to his desk and sat down. Qian Letian clasped his fists and asked: "Lord, do you want to implement the requirements of the imperial edict?" Yang Peng shook his head and frowned: "We have no time to waste, so ignore this!" Qian Letian nodded with deep understanding,
The scholar surnamed Li returned to Yanyun and told all the Confucian scholars the good news that the emperor had issued an order to reprimand Yang Peng. The Confucian scholars were greatly excited and were all waiting to see the good show! However, as the days go by, schools in various places are still running as usual, and they are getting more and more prosperous. There is no sign of stopping! The Confucian scholars were shocked and angry. Under the leadership of a well-known old Confucian scholar, more than a thousand people came to make trouble in front of the left-behind mansion in Yanjing. They carried the tablet and statue of Confucius and asked Yang Peng why he resisted the decree and did not follow the right path. .
The secret guards and female guards in the mansion immediately rushed out of the gate and surrounded the Confucian scholars. After hearing the news, three female generals, Li Yanming, Yang Jiumei, and Han Bing, came with five thousand soldiers and horses to support them. They surrounded the Confucian scholars on three levels with spears and sharp blades. . The Confucian scholars couldn't help but panic when they saw such a posture, and the arrogance they had just died down instantly!
Yang Peng was dressed in casual clothes, strolling out with his hands behind his back. Standing on the steps, he glanced at the group of so-called social elites in front of him. In his eyes, these social elites are worse than trash! "I am Yang Peng, what do you want to do?" Yang Peng said. The Confucian students immediately became commotion, and the old Confucian scholar at the head asked angrily: "Excuse me, sir, why don't you teach Confucianism in the academy, but teach those fallacies? What is the intention of the master?" All the Confucian students agreed, and the scene was noisy again. stand up.
Han Bingfeng stared and shouted angrily: "Shut up!" The scene immediately fell silent. These men who were hiding seven feet high were as silent as a cicada under Han Bing's power! It’s really useless! Yang Peng smiled and said: "Who said that Confucian knowledge is not taught? Confucianism is also taught in various schools. You don't know it, right?"
The old Confucian scholar frowned and said: "But at the same time, other theories are still being taught. Since Emperor Wu only respected Confucianism, my Confucianism has been orthodox. As a strategist, how can you abandon the right path and go astray? Isn't this right? Isn’t it putting the cart before the horse and confusing right and wrong?”
Yang Peng smiled and said: "Since Confucianism is so good, why are you afraid of comparing it with other theories? The weak have always been afraid of competing with the strong, and the ugly are afraid of competing with the beautiful! Are you so afraid that you are right? Don’t you have confidence in Confucianism?”
The old Confucian scholar was a little panicked and said in a strong voice: "We are orthodox, why bother comparing with the crooked ways!" Yang Peng said mockingly: "You don't understand the truth, you don't dare to debate or compare with others, but you insist on your own It’s orthodox, isn’t it a joke!”
The old Confucian scholar had nothing to say, and became angry and said: "Your Majesty makes strong arguments, and I will not argue with you! This time we come here to ask you why you ignored His Majesty the Emperor's imperial edict. Isn't this rebellion?" Yang Peng said calmly: "It has happened since ancient times that the emperor will not accept your orders." The old Confucian scholar pointed at Yang Peng and shouted: "How dare you deceive the emperor?!"
Yang Peng laughed loudly, and the laughter was full of ridicule, which made the Confucian scholars confused and confused. Chen Xiao stopped laughing and said to the old Confucian scholar: "Old man, have you studied all your life and not even understood a basic principle?" "What?"
Yang Peng glanced at the Confucian scholars and asked sarcastically: "Don't you Confucian scholars know what it means to convince people with reason? You actually brought the emperor out without any reason! Are you ashamed?" The surrounding soldiers and the onlookers all laughed. The Confucian scholars felt like clowns being watched, and they just wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
The old Confucian pointed at Chen Xiao angrily and said: "You, you are so blasphemous to the right way, you will suffer the consequences sooner or later!..." "Old guy, are you going to carry the emperor out again!" A young man onlookers shouted loudly. There was another round of ridicule. The old Confucian scholar turned around and pointed at the common people, staring with a livid face, "You, you are worse than beasts!"
"Enough!" Yang Peng shouted. All the Confucian scholars couldn't help but tremble, they felt Yang Peng's anger. Yang Peng said coldly: "Isn't it just that you are higher than others after reading a few bad books! I would like to ask you, what can you do? Can you fight the enemy on the battlefield, or can you bring endless resources to the country? Can the taxes be used to build houses or produce food? Maybe you will say that you can govern the country, huh, look at the world governed by people like you today, how miserable the people are!"
A Confucian scholar said loudly and unconvincingly: "My lord, what you said is too extreme! Aren't Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Du Ruhui, and Fang Xuanling not Confucian scholars?" Everyone agreed. Yang Peng smiled and said: "Since you mentioned Zhuge Liang, you must know what Zhuge Liang said in his battle with the Confucian scholars, right?" The scene immediately fell silent.
Yang Peng asked: "Ask yourselves, are you a gentleman's Confucianism as Zhuge Liang said, or a villain's Confucianism? Have people like Zhuge Liang and others done the things you are doing now? None of them are broad-minded and tolerant. Gentleman of all things? When have you rejected other schools of thought? Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu both dabbled in military strategism and legalism, and Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling did not just focus on Confucianism. What these people whose names have been passed down through the ages cares about is not which theory, but whether these theories are correct. The country is useful. Here, I would like to give you some advice: don’t argue all day long about what you should get, but ask yourself what you can provide to others? No one owes you anything!”
All the Confucian scholars were depressed, a little ashamed, and speechless. Yang Peng said: "Actually, you don't need to make such a high-sounding slogan, and there is no need to carry the statue and spiritual tablet of Confucius out to show off. What you hate is not the courses in the current academy. You hate that I don't let you study in various government offices. I'm an official, so I'm just using it as a pretext!"
All the Confucian students felt as if Yang Peng had ripped off their fig leaf, and they were so embarrassed that Yang Peng said: "I reiterate one point. No one deliberately does not use Confucian students. The criteria for selecting officials at all levels of the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures is to have special skills. , in other words, you must be useful, whether you are a Confucian scholar or not. As a criminal official, you must at least know how to investigate cases, as an official in charge of market warehouse collection and storage, you must at least know statistics, and as an official in charge of agriculture, you must at least know what is grown in grain fields. Wheat or rice. Come and tell me, if you don’t understand these things and only know how to play music, chess, calligraphy and painting, what’s the use? Yamen are institutions that manage society, not juggling halls for people’s entertainment!”
Some people loudly said: "The general is right. If these trashes are allowed to be officials, they will definitely be animals like Pang Taishi Wang Qinruo, and we people will suffer a lot. The general will never allow these to be officials!" The common people all said one after another! They started shouting, and the situation was tense for a while.
The Confucian scholars suddenly found that they had become the target of public criticism. They were panicked and did not know what to do. The Four Books and Five Classics did not teach them at all! Yang Peng said loudly: "Okay! You all go back. This time I will be extrajudicial and not punish you for gathering a crowd to make trouble! Study hard and learn some useful knowledge. Don't always think about getting something for nothing!"
Han Bing shouted: "It's gone!" The Confucian scholars ran away with their heads in their hands, not caring about the statue and tablet of Confucius, and ran away amidst the laughter of the people. Yang Peng shook his head and said to Han Bing, Yang Jiumei and Li Yanming: "Okay, you can go back to the military camp." The three female generals clasped their fists in agreement and led their men to leave. The common people were amazed when they saw their heroic appearance on horseback. The men looked in admiration and could not help but feel the urge to join the army. The women were very envious and longed to receive the attention of the public like them.
Yang Peng returned to the hall. Qian Letian smiled and said: "My lord, what I said was really pleasing to the people!" Then he frowned and said: "But my lord, you must not underestimate the ability of these scholars to spread rumors! I'm worried that it won't be long before the world's Confucian scholars will portray my lord as a devil!" Yang Peng waved his hand, "Let them go! This rule that has lasted for more than a thousand years must be changed, otherwise we will have no future. As for the hatred of those people, let the soldiers come to cover up the water and the earth!"
As expected, those Confucian scholars did not stop, and continued to communicate, and another person was pushed to Beijing to file a complaint. The emperor and the court were shocked to hear that Yang Peng had not restored Confucian education. At this time, Cao Bin's investigation report was also presented to the court, conclusively stating that Yang Peng had indeed conspired to do evil, and produced many letters as evidence, as well as witnesses. How could Wang Qinruo be so capable and obtain so much evidence in such a short period of time? It turns out that all these so-called evidences were concocted by Master Pang.
The emperor was furious and adopted Master Pang's suggestion and issued an edict to summon Yang Peng to Beijing on the grounds of asking about Yan Yun's situation. The development of things was exactly as Yelu Yujian expected. The imperial envoys of the imperial court rushed to Yanjing and conveyed the emperor's edict, ordering Yang Peng to go to Beijing immediately and report to the imperial court on various issues in the sixteen states of Yanyun.
Yang Peng refused on the grounds that the Yanyun banditry had not yet been suppressed by the Jin army, and the imperial envoy said harsh words and left angrily. "My lord has openly resisted the decree this time. I'm afraid the court won't let it go!" Zuo Mou said worriedly. Han Hanbing said with a smile: "The imperial court has spent countless money and suffered countless losses in suppressing bandits and the Northern Expedition in recent years. What power does it have to deal with us?"
Qian Letian said: "General Han is right. Although the imperial court is still grand, it is already empty. Even so, the emperor is still raising money to build his Gen Yue. Where are the resources to deal with us? Let's not talk about these for now. Said, even if they have the resources, I'm afraid they don't have the people! In these years of conquests, Song Ting has lost countless soldiers in vain. Today's army is just a show-stopper. Even the remaining armies have been deprived of their pensions by the imperial court. Due to the reasons of food and salary, our combat effectiveness is low and we are simply not equipped to fight. We don’t need to worry about the imperial court at all. The only thing the imperial court can do to us is to stop the food and salary for hundreds of thousands of troops."
Yang Peng said: "What Qian Letian said is very good! But we can't just let the situation develop like this. We still have to find a way to guide the court's actions in the direction we want." Looking at Kou Yan, "Kou Yan, your secret Go to the capital and have a good talk with Kou Zhun, explain clearly the threat from the Song people, ask him to understand our difficulties, and tell him that the threat from the Song people is imminent, and ask the court to prepare for war to deal with it. Unexpected!" Kou Yan stood up, clasped his fists in agreement, and then frowned and said, "I'm afraid Kou Zhun's words won't work in the court and in front of the emperor!"
"It's better than nothing, just do your best to obey fate. At the same time, you have to pay a visit to Wang Qinruo, Lin Te and others. Although these corrupt officials are hateful, they are very useful at this time." "Yes." Qian Letian clasped his fists and said: "My Lord , my subordinates think we can send someone to the Liao Kingdom." "Oh?" "We can pretend to express our willingness to form an alliance in order to disperse the Liao Army pressing on our border, and then we can plan the Northern Expedition."
Yang Peng thought about it, frowned and shook his head: "No, I can't do this kind of thing. Besides, Liao people are not stupid, they will not be fooled so easily." After the meeting, Yang Peng came to Zhao Jinxi's room. Zhao Jin was delighted to see Yang Peng come in, and quickly put down the embroidery in his hands and stood up to greet him.
Yang Peng hugged Zhao Jinxi and buried his head on his neck, "Hey, it's so hard!" Zhao Jinxi couldn't help but feel distressed, and said softly: "The eldest brother is a great hero, so it is rare for him to have leisure time. If the eldest brother feels that it is hard, the little one will How about my sister playing the piano for you?" Yang Peng let go of Zhao Jinxi and nodded with a smile.
Zhao Jinxi immediately walked to the piano stand and knelt down, looked up at Yang Peng, and the two smiled at each other. Zhao Jinxi gently plucked the strings, and the quiet sound of the piano rippled. His red lips opened slightly, and his teeth were looming. The beautiful melody of "The Sapphire Case: New Year's Eve" made people mesmerized. Yang Peng sat down at the round table opposite. Looking at Zhao Jinxi's stunning appearance and listening to the melodious music and singing, he felt that this was really a great joy in life!
The imperial minister hurried back to the court and replied: "Yang Peng refused to obey the decree and refused to come to Beijing!" Upon hearing this, the emperor and the officials were shocked and disoriented, and they were also at a loss. This is what civil servants are like. Conspiracy methods are of no use, and they don't know what to do.
Kong Yida came out of the queue and said angrily: "Your Majesty, this traitor's retrograde behavior has been fully exposed. We should immediately dispatch a large army to conquer it!" Some ministers agreed one after another. Kou Zhun immediately came out and said, "Your Majesty, our country has been experiencing constant wars in recent years. The treasury has long been empty, the people are extremely poor, and soldiers everywhere have suffered heavy casualties, and they all have complaints. How can we attack in such a situation?"
Kong Yida said angrily: "Our country has a vast territory and millions of troops. How can we not even send troops to suppress the rebellion?" Kou Zhun showed a look of disgust in his eyes, "Master Kong, national affairs are not important. It’s so easy to just talk! Although our country is vast, many places are extremely poor due to banditry and officials’ corruption and perversion of the law. It is impossible to export money and grain to support the country’s war. If money and grain are forcibly collected, it will only provoke civil unrest; Although our dynasty has millions of soldiers in armor, a considerable number of troops have been wasted in previous battles. Today’s army has low morale and is hard to rely on, and is short of food and pay. How can we mobilize the army?”
Kong Yida couldn't help but be speechless. Kou Zhun clasped his fists towards the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, I think that the general did not come to the capital in compliance with the order because he had some difficulties. As far as I know, the Liao Kingdom is currently pressing down on the north of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun with an army of 550,000. Above the line, and the banditry in Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures has not subsided, under such circumstances, how dare the general leave?" He looked at the imperial envoy and asked: "Is what I said the truth? General, would you please Will you convey these words to Your Majesty?"
The imperial minister started to hesitate at this time. Kou Zhun was furious and shouted: "If you don't tell the truth, when the truth comes out, you will be guilty of deceiving the emperor!" The imperial minister was frightened and hurriedly clasped his fists towards the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, it is true, it is indeed like this!" The emperor said with some annoyance: "In that case, why didn't you say it?" "Weichen, Weichen thought that was just Yang Peng's prevarication."
Kou Zhun clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang has concealed the truth and deceived the emperor. Please punish him for the crime he deserves and serve as a warning to others!" The imperial envoy said quickly: "Your Majesty, I did not intend to deceive your Majesty. It is true. It was unintentional!” “That’s it, don’t do it again in the future!”
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!" Kou Zhun said: "Your Majesty, the Khitan people are now stationing millions of troops in our northern border. It can be said that Sima Zhao's intentions are known to everyone. He should immediately depose Hua Shi Gang and the Internal and External Manufacturing Bureau, and eliminate all unnecessary Raise taxes and rewards to the three armies to boost the morale of the people, and at the same time prepare the army for war in case of any danger!"
Lin Te said angrily: "Master Kou's words are exaggerated! The Liao people are our allies, how can they threaten us? As for boosting the people's morale, it is even more nonsense! Now that the world is peaceful and praised by all the people, what can we talk about? Improve people’s morale!”
Wang Qinruo also said: "That's right! Master Kou is just trying to please others by grandstanding!" The emperor nodded with deep understanding, "What Wang Aiqing and Pang Aiqing said is absolutely true." "Your Majesty, you must not listen to these treacherous words!" Kou Zhun said. said urgently.
Lin Te and others were furious, and Wang Qinruo retorted: "I really don't know who is the traitor! As the saying goes, a traitor is as loyal as a traitor. I'm afraid Master Kou is the real traitor!" Civil and military officials from all over the court agreed, and the emperor couldn't help but become suspicious and scolded. : "I have made up my mind, you don't have to say any more!" Kou Zhun couldn't help but sigh.
Kou Zhun returned to his residence and happened to meet the Eighth Prince who came to pay him a visit. The two exchanged pleasantries, and then Kou Zhun invited the Eighth Prince to come to the study to talk. The two came to the study and sat down respectively. Kou Zhun let out a long sigh. When the Eighth Prince saw this, he couldn't help asking about the reason. Kou Zhun then told what happened in the court today from beginning to end. The Eighth Prince frowned and said, "The Khitans are so ambitious, why can't Your Majesty and the ministers see it?" Kou Zhun smiled bitterly and shook his head.
The Eighth Prince said worriedly: "I'm really worried! If the Khitans move south in large numbers, how should we deal with it?" Kou Zhun sighed. Thinking of something, I asked: "Do you think the general is a loyal minister, or is he a traitor like Cao Mengde?"
The Eighth Prince frowned and thought. He shook his head and said: "I don't know!" Looking at the Eighth Prince, "I hope he is the one who can turn the tide! Otherwise..." Both of them became worried.
Yanjing. In the evening, a herald flew into Yanjing City from the west. Yang Peng hurriedly came to the hall, where a well-traveled herald was waiting. As soon as he saw Yang Peng coming in, he immediately stepped forward and clasped his fists and bowed: "I pay my respects to the general!"
"Get up and speak." "Thank you, General!" The herald stood up. Yang Peng asked: "Did something happen?" The messenger clasped his fists and said: "The general sent me to report to the general. In the past half month, a steady stream of food and grass baggage has been transported to Datong through Yanshan, and there are also troops going to Datong. The government is mobilized! The general is worried that the Khitans will attack Juyongguan, so he specially sent a villain to ask for reinforcements!"
Yang Peng immediately walked to the map, his eyes fell on Datong Mansion, frowned, and asked, "Are you sure that the enemy's troops and supplies are all mobilizing to Datong Mansion?" "You're sure! Our army's scouts have penetrated deep into Datong. Investigate around the house!"
Yang Peng said to the herald: "Go back immediately and tell Huyan Bixian that the reinforcements will arrive soon!" The herald clasped his fists in agreement and left in a hurry. Yang Peng called Jiang Li and ordered him to immediately summon all the important civil and military officials staying in Yanjing. Jiang Li took the order and ran down.
Soon after, all the civil and military officials who stayed in Yanjing gathered in the hall of the left-behind mansion. Everyone felt that the atmosphere was very serious, and they felt that something big might have happened. Yang Peng stood at the top and glanced at everyone, "I just received news that the Liao Kingdom is making large-scale mobilizations!..." Everyone started talking in low voices, some with excitement on their faces, and others with expressions of excitement. Showing worry.
Yang Peng said: "The target of the Liao people is not us, but the Central Plains!" Everyone showed surprise, Qian Letian frowned and said: "This is reasonable. In the eyes of the Khitans, the Central Plains is obviously much easier to deal with than us, and As long as we capture the Central Plains, we will be the turtle in the urn!"
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
