He Ruobi was so overwhelmed by hatred that he had no idea that the gaffe he blurted out had alarmed Yang Su. After he left Yang Su's Mansion, he went straight to Yiyangfang, where Dugu Mansion was located.
When he arrived at Dugu Mansion, Dugu Shun's younger brother Dugu Tuo had been waiting in front of the steps for a long time. He saluted and said, "This junior has met He Ruogong."
"Yeah!" Since the two families are related to each other, He Ruobi is one generation older than the Dugutuo brothers who are about the same age. At this time, even if he asks for help, he still behaves like an elder. He saw several carriages parked on the left side of the square in front of the mansion under the night sky, and couldn't help but ask: "Does your brother have any guests?"
"Exactly!" Dugu Tuo smiled and nodded: "Several family heads are discussing matters with my brothers. If Mr. He Ruogong has something to do, please wait a moment."
Many heads of the Guanlong noble family gathered together, and what they discussed was a major matter. The nearby streets and alleys were full of their outposts, which was why Dugu Tuo learned of He Ruobi's arrival and went out to greet him first.
"I can wait." Although it was an unfortunate arrival, He Ruobi was eager for revenge, so he followed Dugu Tuo into Dugu Mansion.
At this time, the main hall of Dugu Mansion was brightly lit, and more than a dozen heads of the Guanlong clan were gathered together. In addition to the master Dugu Shun and Dugu Zheng brothers, there were also the head of the Yuan family Yuan Zhou and his younger brother Yuan Yan, the head of the Yuwen family Yu Wenbi, and the head of the Yu family Yu Zhong. Zhang Jin, the head of the Wen and Zhang families, Qiu He, the head of the Qiu family, Li Zhongwen, the head of the Li family, Xue Zhou, the head of the Xue family in Hedong, and Liu Shu, the head of the Liu family in Hedong, are all Guanlong nobles and important figures in the court.
These people were invited by Dugu Shun, and the plan was of course a big deal. Although the Guanlong nobles controlled more than half of the army of the Sui Dynasty, they were not satisfied with this and wanted to spread their power to the civil service system.
"Over the years, we have been working hard to get back what is rightfully ours! Unfortunately, we have infiltrated a group of people and lost a group in the political struggle. So far, no results have been achieved."
Dugu Shun is in his sixties, and his voice is old and hoarse, but no one dares to regard him as a powerless old man. His voice is still strong, and his eyes are still as sharp as an eagle.
He is the fifth son of Dugu Xin. Since his brothers all passed away, he became the head of the Dugu family and the leader of the Guanlong Group. But although he had a transcendent status, he had no real power in the officialdom of the Sui Dynasty. He only had the title of Duke of Wucheng County.
This has a great relationship with Queen Dugu. In view of the various shortcomings of foreign relatives controlling the court in history, Queen Dugu has always treated the Dugu family as "noble but not useful". Although she gave many cares to them, she never allowed them to occupy positions of power. It is precisely because of the strict restraint imposed by Empress Dugu that the children of the Dugu family have empty titles, but none of them holds important positions.
The children of the Dugu family feel that Queen Dugu is the biggest obstacle to their gaining power. Without her, the children of the Dugu family will definitely be able to get ahead. Their mentality is completely in line with the saying "Destroying a person's wealth is like killing his parents, and destroying a person's path is a life-and-death struggle." As the saying goes, so on the surface, one or two people respect Empress Dugu, but in fact they have long hated her to the bone. Not only do they not feel the slightest regret about her death, but they can't wait to applaud her.
Dugu Tuo, who had no benefit from his sister at first, held a grudge and used witchcraft to curse Queen Dugu. After the incident was revealed, she would die according to law. When Queen Dugu heard the news, she went without food for three days and pleaded with the furious Yang Jian: "If Dugu Tuo disrupts the government and harms the people, he should be executed. But the curse he cursed on me was a private matter that had nothing to do with state affairs, so he dared to do it for me." He begged for mercy.”
In the end, Dugu Tuo was able to survive, but that didn't mean her half-brothers would be grateful to her.
Dugu Shun glanced coldly around and emphasized: "Why do we fail so many times? It's not that Yang Jian is so vigilant and wise, but that there is internal discord among our Guanlong nobles. Some people betrayed everyone for the sake of the family. . If we cannot be united and united, not only will we not be able to fight in the future, we will even be dismembered like the Turks, and ultimately we will not be able to escape the fate of being exterminated. If we continue to fight among ourselves like this, sooner or later we will be defeated by the northern gentry and the southern Shibei took his place. Gentlemen, the situation is very serious."
After Yang Jian unified the world, in order to stabilize the country, he began to weaken the Guanlong nobles who supported the Sui Dynasty and further strengthened their power. However, the power of the Guanlong nobles was pervasive. In addition to the descendants of their own sons and nephews, they also attracted their own power through marriage, cultivation, support and other means. Officials in the government, their influence spreads all over the government and the public.
However, Yang Jian's bottom-up suppression policy was still very effective, and the Guanlong Group was dismembered by him through inducements, support, etc. Big families such as the Changsun, Gongsun, Sima, Su, etc., in order to obtain more benefits and replace the Dugu family, have been completely assimilated by Yang Jian; there are also some rising Guanlong nobles who also want to take advantage of the emperor's power. Step on the well-established Guanlongmen valve to expand our strength.
The current meeting is for Dugu Shun to unify the thoughts of various family heads. In the future, everyone cannot fight among themselves over the issue of more profits and less profits, otherwise, no one will be able to escape the fate of decline in the end.
"What Dugu Gong said is absolutely true. It is precisely because of our internal disunity that when Yu Zeqing, Wang Shiji, He Ruobi, and Gao Qiao encountered difficulties, they stood by and watched, which made them fall into the dust." Yu Zhongwen glanced at Yuan Zhou and said, He continued: "When it comes to the Yang Xiu case not long ago, everyone still stood by and watched, and Duke Yuan was implicated again. If this happens again, sooner or later we will be eliminated one by one."
"What Dugu Gong and Yu Gong mean is also what I, Yuan Zhou, mean. I hope that everyone will put aside their prejudices and selfishness in the future and consider the common interests of our Long nobles! Even if there are disputes between each other, it is best for everyone to judge what is right and what is wrong. , ended in reconciliation.”
The speaker was Yuan Zhou, the former right-wing general. Not long ago, he was convicted and expelled in the case of Shu King Yang Xiu. He hated Yang Su and Yuwen Shu who had dismounted him. He laughed twice, with a bit of murderous intent in his voice: "Whoever wants to destroy the unity of the Guanlong nobles, whoever wants to step on everyone, then he is our public enemy."
Everyone also knew that they were fighting on their own and could easily be defeated one by one by the emperor. They were all worried that they would become the second Yu Zeqing, Wang Shiji, He Ruobi, and Gao Jiong, so they all expressed their support for this resolution.
Dugu Shun smiled with satisfaction and asked the right guard general Zhang Jin without saying anything, "Brother Zhang Xian, what do you think?"
