Li Tongren and others were overjoyed when they heard Yang Peng's praise. Li Tongren bowed and said: "My subordinates are only doing things according to the wishes of King Yan. The current situation is all due to King Yan's holy virtues. How can I do this?" An inch of success!" Other bureaucrats echoed.
Yang Peng smiled and said: "You are so polite, gentlemen!" Suddenly he thought of Yeqi Guanyin standing next to him in military uniform. He raised his finger and pointed at her and said, "You must have never seen this one." The officials looked at the beautiful woman in military uniform. The peerless Ye Qi Guanyin thought she must be a certain princess, but she didn't know her. Chen Xiao said: "Her name is Ye Qi Guanyin, and she is also my princess." The officials did not know the name Ye Qi Guanyin. When Yang Peng said she was the princess, they all worshiped together: "Greetings to the princess!" Ye Qi Guanyin clasped his fists and said: " Sirs, you don’t have to be polite!”
Yang Peng said jokingly: "I am very dissatisfied with your reaction..." When the officials suddenly heard this, they were startled and uneasy, secretly wondering where they had offended King Yan.
Yang Peng's face showed a look of sudden realization, and he said: "I understand, you have never heard of the name Yeyi Guanyin, so you all act like you don't take it seriously. Then I will tell you something else about her. Give me a name." He glanced at the crowd and saw that everyone was looking at him eagerly, with an uneasy look on his face. He smiled and said, "My beloved concubine has another title. You must have heard of it, Grand Chief of the Liao Kingdom. Princess!"
When Li Tongren and others suddenly heard the words "Grand Princess", they couldn't help but be startled. Then their faces changed color with horror, and they all looked at Ye Qi Guanyin with wide eyes and extremely unbelievable eyes. Everyone has naturally heard of the name of the princess. Not only have they heard of it, but it can be said to be like thunder. The eldest princess of the Liao Kingdom, second only to the first two emperors of the Liao Kingdom, led the Khitan army to attack and destroy the princess. Goryeo went south to the Central Plains and dominated the world, becoming famous! Back in Xixia, he was also a terrifying figure who could make children stop crying! But not long ago, this prestigious princess disappeared in the Liao Kingdom. Li Tongren and other Xixia ministers thought that the princess died in the internal power struggle of the Liao Kingdom. They never expected that she would suddenly change. Became the princess of King Yan! ! This is incredible!
However, Li Tongren and others had a second thought: "Although the princess has a reputation, she is far inferior to King Yan. King Yan is the number one hero in the world, and the princess is the number one heroine in the world. She married It is quite normal to give King Yan as his concubine. I am afraid that only King Yan is qualified to have her in this world! 'Everyone was not shocked when they thought of this, but they were still confused as to why the two hostile people finally got together. However, this kind of thing is a private matter for King Yan and the princess. As ministers, they are not I dare not ask.
Yang Peng said with a smile: "Okay, enough gossip, let's get down to business now." Li Tongren and others quickly threw away their messy thoughts and concentrated on waiting for Yang Peng's next words. Yang Peng said: "You must have guessed the purpose of my coming here. How is the situation in Xixia now?" Li Tongren clasped his fists and said: "Return to King Yan, I just received the news from our people, and I am about to Write a military report and report it to King Yan." Then he shouted to a young official behind him: "Hurry up and give the note you just received to King Yan for review!" The latter quickly agreed, took out a note, and held it with both hands. He lifted it over his head and ran to Yang Peng's face. Yang Peng picked up the note, unfolded it and read it, and saw only one line written on the note: Odaochong is still hesitating, and today he discovered that the Tibetan envoy has arrived.
Yang Peng showed a thoughtful look, and all the officials bowed their heads and remained silent.
Yang Peng raised his head and asked: "Who is the person you sent as a lobbyist?" Li Tongren said: "Reporting to King Yan, he is a close confidant of his subordinates, Li Qian, whom King Yan has also met before." Suddenly I remembered that he was a very smart and steady young man, and it was appropriate for him to be a lobbyist. Yang Peng couldn't help but nodded.
Yang Peng ordered: "Summon General Yang and the supervisory envoy to me." Li Tongren responded and immediately sent his officials to invite Yang Yanzhao and the supervisory envoy. At present, Yanyun has 350,000 troops stationed in Ningxia, and Yang Yanzhao is in charge of the entire army as the commander-in-chief of the Shaanxi-Gansu March. The so-called supervisory envoy is an official position in the Yanyun local official system. It is at the same level as the governors of various places or the left-behind. The officials who supervise local officials have their own subordinate system, which is completely independent from the local official system and does not belong to each other. They have complete supervisory power over the local government. They are directly under the Supervisory Yuan managed by Huang Qiaoyun; the Supervisory Yuan has two types of supervision over local areas: light and dark. The open line is the supervisory envoys and their subordinate officials who are sent to various places. The covert line is that their identities are not disclosed and there is no permanent organization. They are often sent by the Supervisory Yuan to secretly inspect various places. This is the so-called inspectorate. Not only can the supervisory envoys Investigate and arrest local officials, and you can also investigate and arrest officials from the Supervisory Yuan.
Soon after, hurried footsteps came from outside the door. Yang Yanzhao, a majestic man in military uniform, and a gentle middle-aged man in official robes, accompanied by two officials, came quickly.
Several people walked into the lobby, and Yang Yanzhao and the middle-aged official bowed together: "The last general (minor minister) pays homage to His Highness King Yan!" The other two officials bowed to Yang Peng and returned to their seats.
Yang Peng smiled and said, "No need to be polite."
The two stood up, Yang Yanzhao stood on the left side, and the inspector stood on the right side. Yanyun valued military affairs over literature, so military generals had a higher status than civilian officials.
Yang Peng asked Yang Yanzhao: "General Yang, I asked you to select 20,000 elite cavalry to go out. Have you done it?" Yang Yanzhao cupped his fists and said, "The plan of King Yan is wonderful! The general has already selected 20,000 elite cavalry according to King Yan's order. Riding, I ordered Yang Qi and Yang Gui to be the commander-in-chief and deputy commander, leading the 20,000 elite cavalry to set off! They may have reached their destination by now!"
Yang Peng nodded and asked: "I received a report in Tianjing New City that the Tibetan army has stopped attacking Xiliang Mansion and Xuanhua Mansion. What exactly is this? Are the two sides still in a state of truce? "Yang Yanzhao nodded and said: "The two sides have been in a truce for seven or eight days. The Tubo people attacked one after another some time ago. They suffered a lot of losses but did not make much progress. They must have wanted to change their strategy!" Li Tongren immediately said: " We just received news that a Tibetan envoy appeared in Xiliang Mansion!"
Yang Yanzhao nodded and said: "That's it. The Tubo people have been unable to attack for a long time and suffered a lot of losses, so they want to induce them to surrender!" Then he clasped his fists and said: "King Yan, the reason why the general did not order the attacking troops to retreat after discovering that the Tubo people stopped attacking He came back because the general believed that although the Tubo people had stopped attacking, their ambitions had not been eliminated, and they were actively building siege equipment to prepare for the next attack. Even if 20,000 fine cavalry were to attack in that direction, they could not completely defeat the Tubo people's attempts. It should also be able to delay their progress.”
Yang Peng nodded and praised: "You are doing the right thing!" Then he asked: "Can the army be mobilized?"
Yang Yanzhao shook his head and said: "There is a lack of food and grass, and it is impossible to mobilize the army. It is also difficult to raise the rations for the 20,000 war cavalry."
Li Tongren clasped his fists and said: "The entire Xingqing Mansion has 800,000 dans of food, even if it is not one million dans. If King Yan needs it, I can collect food from the people."
Yang Peng waved his hand and said: "This is not possible. Food is the basis of social stability. If we collect all this food, it will inevitably cause social unrest!"
Li Tongren was moved and said: "King Yan is considerate of the sufferings of the people. He is really a benevolent and righteous king! Even Yao, Shun and Yu Tang can't compare to King Yan!" All civil servants agreed. Yang Yanzhao frowned. He didn't like the flattery of civil servants.
Yang Peng stood up, walked to the hall, paced back and forth, stopped, frowned and said: "If we can persuade the remnants of Xixia to surrender, that would be the best! However, this Odaochong is afraid that he will go against the will. Ah!" Yeqi Guanyin said: "Based on the current situation, it is clear that Odaochong is perfunctory with us. Since he is perfunctory with us, then naturally he is perfunctory with the Tibetan envoys."
Li Tongren said in confusion: "Odaochong should know that this kind of thing can be delayed for a while, but it cannot be delayed forever. If he does not surrender, there is only one way to be destroyed! The Tubo people have surrounded Xuanhua Prefecture and Xiliang Prefecture, and they have already made up their minds. The idea is to annex the land west of Xiliang. Given time, even if the Tubo people don't attack the city, the people in the city will starve to death! How could Odaochong be so unwise?" He thought that Odaochong might want to do it for him. Xixia was martyred, but since he surrendered to Yan Yun, he didn't want to believe that others could be so noble, so his thoughts quickly moved away as soon as he touched this point.
Yedi Guanyin walked to Yang Peng and glanced at Yang Peng. Yang Peng smiled slightly. Yedi Guanyin said to everyone: "According to the information we have obtained, that Aodaochong is definitely not a martyr willing to die for Xixia!" As soon as this was said, Li Tongren and others all agreed. Just listen to Ye Qi Guanyin continue: "This person has a strong desire for power, and his intention must be to wait for change. Seeing that we Yanyun did not want the Tubo people to succeed, he wanted to delay it for a while so that we could fight with him. If the Tubo people start fighting, he will be able to escape from the desperate situation!" When everyone heard this, they felt as if they were enlightened, and the things in front of them suddenly became clear.
Yang Yanzhao said: "Your Majesty is right. That should be the case. Otherwise, why would Aodaochong receive envoys from both sides at the same time? If he really wanted to surrender, there would be no need to hesitate between us and Tubo! It's obvious that we It is much stronger than Tubo, so if you want to surrender, you must surrender to us, Yanyun! He is obviously stalling for time by doing this!" Many officials agreed.
Yang Peng frowned and said: "It seems that this person is difficult to convince!" Yeli Guanyin immediately realized Yang Peng's thoughts and said: "You can do that if you want, but you must not take risks yourself!" Yang Peng hehe Smiling, "Don't worry, this is not the original rescue of Guanyin. It's not worth the risk for me, but it is necessary to get close to the command!"
Yang Peng asked Yang Yanzhao: "I remember that the city closest to Xiliang Mansion is Zhuoluo City, right?"
Yang Yanzhao cupped his fists and said, "Exactly. Fan Long is currently leading 10,000 infantry troops to guard Zhuoluo City. Our secret envoys and spies all enter Xixia through Zhuoluo City."
Yang Peng said: "Let's go to Zhuoluo City." Yang Yanzhao said quickly: "The general will dispatch troops and horses to protect King Yan!" Yang Peng waved his hand and said: "That's not necessary." Turning to look at Li Tongren, he said: "Master Li, please Let's find a place to rest for one night." Li Tongren quickly agreed, and then said: "The Xixia Palace is very clean, why not King Yan live in the Xixia Palace." Yang Peng nodded. Li Tongren immediately said: "My subordinates will lead the way for King Yan!" Yang Peng said to Yang Yanzhao and the supervisory envoy: "You two come with me." The two of them clasped their fists and promised.
Yang Peng walked outside, and the crowd surrounded Yang Peng and followed him out.
The group of people arrived at the Xixia Palace under the guidance of Li Tongren. The palace was very quiet, with the exception of the old eunuchs and maids who were cleaning occasionally and the guards responsible for guarding the palace.
Li Tongren led everyone to the palace of the former Xixia Emperor in the backyard of the palace. Yang Peng took a look and saw that the palace was very spacious and magnificently decorated. A huge round bed in the middle had a white gauze hanging on it. It was very clean, as if it had just been changed.
Li Tongren said: "In accordance with King Yan's instructions, I ordered people to clean this palace every day. The bedding and other items in the main bedrooms of the palace will be changed and washed every day. This was the previous bedroom of the Xixia Emperor, and these gauze beddings are the same today. I just changed it this morning, and if King Yan feels bad about it, my subordinates will immediately order someone to change it again."
Yang Peng waved his hand and said: "No need!" After a pause, he asked: "Isn't it very expensive to maintain this palace?" Li Tongren said: "If I go back to King Yan, the servants in the palace who are responsible for cleaning and washing There are two hundred maids in the palace, and they need to spend three hundred taels of silver every month. In addition, daily expenses such as bedding and window paper cost another two hundred taels of silver a month, so they need five hundred taels of silver a month."
Yang Peng thought it was not expensive, so he nodded and looked around. He saw many antiques on the huge desk not far away, and saw many calligraphy and paintings hanging on the surrounding walls. Chen Xiao had no research on antiques, calligraphy and painting. So he asked: "Are all these antique calligraphy and paintings real?" Li Tongren looked at the antique calligraphy and paintings around him, clasped his fists and said: "These antique calligraphy and paintings are all collected by the palace, so of course they are real!" Yang Peng asked again : "Are there many similar antique calligraphy and paintings in various palaces?" "Reporting to King Yan, basically all the antique calligraphy and paintings collected in the palace are still in the palace, and there are a lot of them. When Odaochong and the Xixia Emperor hurriedly escaped from the capital, most of them There was no time to take away the antique calligraphy and paintings collected in the palace, so these antiques, calligraphy and paintings basically stayed."
Yang Peng chuckled, "Okay, okay, I accidentally discovered a huge fortune!" When everyone heard this, their hearts moved and they started laughing. Yang Peng said to Li Tongren and the supervisory envoy: "You two sent people to register the antiques, calligraphy and paintings collected in this palace, then pack them into boxes and transport them all to Tianjing New City." The two of them clasped their fists and promised.
Yang Peng walked to the bed and sat on the edge. Ye Qi Guanyin stood beside Yang Peng, and the other three stood respectfully in front of Yang Peng.
Yang Peng glanced at the inspector and said, "I remember your name is Wang Huan."
Wang Huan was overjoyed and said excitedly: "I didn't expect that King Yan actually knew the villain!..." Yang Peng smiled and said: "You were originally a Confucian scholar, but later you gave up Confucianism and switched to Legalism. Two years ago, you entered Yenching University to study . Your grades are very good, and you have unique insights into government structure and power checks and balances. Your performance since arriving in Ningxia is also very good. Work hard, and your talents will never be buried." Yang Peng's encouraging words are obvious Revealing the news that he would be reused in the future, Wang Huan was very excited and said: "I will definitely live up to King Yan's trust!"
Yang Peng smiled and nodded, and asked: "Do you think there is anything that needs to be improved regarding Ningxia's officialdom?"
Li Tongren glanced at Wang Huan, but Wang Huan did not look at Li Tongren. He cupped his fists towards Yang Peng and said: "Reporting to King Yan, Ningxia's officialdom has not been completely on the right track. The most important manifestation is that the appointment of officials from various places has not yet been resolved." On the right track, there are few people directly assigned by the palace and those selected through examinations, while many former officials are retained, and there are many problems. Although the palace has issued repeated orders, officials from various places have also restrained themselves, but after all, old habits die hard, and many officials have bad behaviors, and even In the past month, more than 30 officials have been investigated and punished by the subordinate supervisory departments for corruption and corruption! The bad habits of officials and corruption and violation of the law have had varying degrees of negative impact on civil affairs in various places. This matter cannot be delayed without delay. The inspection department alone Investigating and punishing is not enough, the fundamental solution is to get Ningxia's official system back on track as soon as possible!"
Li Tongren hurriedly apologized and said: "My subordinate is left behind in the Xingqing Mansion. It is hard to escape the blame. I also ask King Yan to punish me."
Both of them stood in front of Yang Peng. Yang Peng looked at Wang Huan and then at Li Tongren, and said with a smile: "Master Li, there is no need to blame yourself. You have governed Ningxia very well! You are not a god, how can you control it?" There are so many officials living here!" Li Tongren couldn't help but be overjoyed and moved after hearing Yang Peng's gentle words of comfort without any punishment. He was deeply moved at the same time and said, "Thank you King Yan for your kindness!"
Yang Peng said to Wang Huan: "The situations Mr. Wang mentioned are indeed a big problem. Official corruption, bending the law and bad habits are the most destructive to internal affairs. Bad habits must be supervised and corrected. If repeated admonitions persist or the circumstances are serious, the supervisory department can report it to the Prince of Yan's Mansion. He will be punished with demotion or dismissal; for those who are corrupt and bend the law, well, there is nothing to tolerate. Once verified, they will be arrested immediately and taken to Bianliang."
Li Tongren felt a little uneasy, and Wang Huan clasped his fists in agreement. Yang Peng continued: "It is imperative to merge Ningxia's official system onto the right track, but there is no need to rush it. My plan is to completely merge it into the right track by the end of this year." He looked at Li Tongren and said, "Master Li, you want to Tell officials from all over Ningxia to study Yanyun's laws and regulations and governance. At the end of this year, all officials in Ningxia will take a test. Only those who pass the test can stay in their original posts. Those who fail will be removed or demoted. By then The vacancies will be filled by students from Bianliang University and Yanjing University who pass the test. Mr. Li, do you understand?"
Li Tongren said quickly: "I understand, I will urge all the officials under me to study hard! However, there is just one difficulty, please let King Yan show me." Yang Peng listened quietly. Li Tongren continued: "Many officials from various places do not understand Chinese and only know Xixia script. What should these officials do?"
Yang Peng thought for a moment and said, "This is easy. Those who don't understand Chinese can take the test in Western Xia." Li Tongren was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, King Yan, for your kindness." Yang Peng asked, "Do you have any questions? Li Tongren thought for a while, shook his head and said, "No more."
Yang Peng looked at Yang Yanzhao and said: "The army is stationed on the spot and is on standby." Yang Yanzhao clasped his fists and agreed. Yang Peng glanced at the three of them and said, "If you don't have any problems, please step aside." The three of them clasped their fists in agreement, bowed to Yang Peng, and exited the palace.
Yang Peng lay down on the bed and stretched out. Yedi Guanyin pulled him up and said angrily: "If you want to sleep, take a shower first!" Yang Peng hugged Yedi Guanyin's slender waist, kissed her red lips, and said with a smile: "You stay with me. Me!" Yedi Guanyin frowned and said, "I'm clumsy and don't know how to serve others. Don't blame me if I don't do well!" Yang Peng laughed loudly and said, "I don't want you to serve me. I'll serve you." Come on!" Then he took Ye Qian Guanyin's delicate hand and ran out, called a palace maid, asked where the bathroom was, and ran towards the bathroom. Soon after, laughter and Ye Qi Guanyin's angry and emotional exclamations came from the bathroom.
…
His eyes turned to Tianjing New City.
Shang Shiheng hid at home for many days and did not go out. After something like that happened, he only felt ashamed and dared to go out wherever he saw people. While he was ashamed and angry, he also felt very puzzled. He really couldn't figure out how the cook who clearly told the cook to drug Luo Yanran and Zhuang Shaocheng ended up falling for him. These days, he sent people to Tianjing Hotel several times to try to find the cook, but the final news he got was that the cook had disappeared inexplicably? Shang Shiheng felt that he might have been plotted by someone, but he had no clue who was plotting against him.
In the evening that day, his father Shang Conglong came to Shang Shiheng's yard. Seeing Shang Shiheng sitting in the yard looking at the sunset in the sky in a daze, he snorted and said angrily: "It's just such a small thing, and it's so sluggish, why are you talking about doing big things!"
Shang Shiheng was startled, and then he realized that his father had come in at some time, and he quickly stood up and saluted: "I have met my father!" Shang Conglong walked to the stone bench in front of Shang Shiheng and sat down, looking up and down. He asked, "Still thinking about that?" When Shang Shiheng heard his father's question, he couldn't help but think of the scene that day, and felt a strange feeling in his heart. He sighed, and then said with great shame and anger: "Now everyone in Tianjing New City knows that I had an affair with that man surnamed Zhuang. I, I am really too embarrassed to see anyone!"
Shang Conglong scolded: "What a useless thing! We are going to do big things, and we may lose our wealth and life. Such things are not worth mentioning at all! You can't even let go of such things, so what are you talking about?" Doing something big?" Shang Shiheng's heart trembled, and he said with a face of shame: "My son has realized his mistake, and his father taught him a lesson!"
Seeing that Shang Shiheng was no longer as depressed as before, Shang Conglong smiled and nodded, motioning for him to sit down. Shang Shiheng sat down.
Shang Conglong said: "What do you think about the assassination of King Yan before?" Shang Shiheng smiled coldly and said: "Yang Peng acted against the will, so naturally there are countless people who want to take his life!"
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
