After leaving the palace, Yang Ji went to inspect the Yibang military camp again. When he returned to the city again, night had fallen.
The main streets of Daxing City became extremely quiet at night. It was far from the curfew time, but there was no pedestrian visible on the cold and freezing streets. Yang Ji, guarded by more than a hundred guards, stood on the street. Walking slowly, bursts of horse hooves hit the stone slabs on the ground, making a slow "ta-da" sound, like a crisp and sweet serenade.
This time is often the best time to assassinate.
In fact, the bad behavior of assassinating ministers has been a taboo in official circles since ancient times. Because this kind of behavior is related to everyone's vital interests, it has always been hated by all ministers. No matter who violates this taboo or sets a precedent, it will cause serious consequences. The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were extremely angry. In addition, the emperor was also afraid of being assassinated, so kings and generals throughout the dynasties regarded assassination as an untouchable cordon. However, despite this, no important minister dared to place his wealth and life on the consciousness and self-discipline of his political opponents. Therefore, important ministers like Yang Su, Yang Xiong, Su Wei, and Gao Jue traveled with great pomp.
As for Yang Ji, he already had enemies all over the world, but during this period he overthrew Yu Wenshu, crippled Yu Wen Zhiji, and created opportunities for civil and military officials to overthrow Yu Shiji and Liang Kun. In addition, he also It has implicated countless generals, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the enemy is greatly prosperous. At this time, the person who hated him the most was Yu Wenshu, but Yu Wenshu was at the critical moment of the limelight. He might not dare to send people to assassinate Yang Ji, but it was difficult to protect the Dugu family, the Dou family, and the court officials who had old grudges with him. He came and fired a few arrows in order to frame Yu Wenshu and provoke a dispute between the two. Therefore, Yang Ji's guards were extremely cautious out of this concern.
They were marching along the way, with the forwards in front exploring the road, the rear troops blocking the rear, and the left and right wings exploring the high walls and large locust trees on both sides of the street. In the middle, there was a group of guards holding shields to protect Yang Ji.
Yang Ji, who was riding slowly, fell into deep thought. Because of his arrival, many subtle changes had taken place in the Sui Dynasty. The most significant feature was that because of him, the relationship between the imperial power and the Guanlong nobles and Shandong gentry had changed. He became very nervous. If the Sui Dynasty was tormented by Yang Guang and became full of complaints, Yang Xuangan might not be the first person to rebel. Maybe he didn't have this intention, and the Guanlong nobles and Shandong nobles would have supported the spokesperson to rebel against the Sui Dynasty. If so, would Yang Guang's expedition to Goguryeo still happen?
All this is unknown, but Yang Ji is certain of one thing, that is, the Sui Dynasty has gradually deviated from the historical trajectory he knows.
Just as they turned around Wubenfang, went south along Qixiamen Street, and were about to enter Pingkangfang from Xifang Gate, there was a sound of rolling wheels in front of them, mixed with the crisp sound of horse hooves.
Yang Ji followed the sound and saw a large carriage with a tall shaft and spacious compartments vaguely visible in the gray mist. Since this carriage was pulled by two high-headed draft horses, it could not be ridden by merchants and ordinary people. So Yang Ji could immediately guess that a dignitary was traveling, but what surprised him was that the carriage had neither a lantern nor an obvious flag, giving people the feeling of being a guilty thief and a shameless person.
The carriage, escorted by more than a dozen knights, crossed Qixiamen Street from the east gate of Chongyifang and headed towards the west gate of Yiyangfang on the opposite side. Yang Ji thought when he saw it. He remembered that Yiyangfang was not only Daxing County, but also Daxing County. Dugu Mansion, where the county government is located, is at the northwest corner of Yiyangfang. He quickly said to Zhang Chuchen and Liu Xu beside him: "The car in front is sneaky, and I don't know who it is. You two go and see who this person is. ?Where is the destination?”
"Here!" Zhang Chuchen and Liu Xu urged their mounts and followed the team into Yiyangfang.
When Yang Ji and his party arrived at the main gate of the palace and were about to enter the palace, Zhang Chuchen and Liu Xu rode their horses from the south gate of Pingkangfang. They drove into the square, dismounted in front of the steps, and faced Yang, who had turned around to wait. Collected reports: "Young master, this is the carriage of Li Yuan, Duke of Tang. He and his eldest son Li Jiancheng entered through the side door of Dugu Mansion."
"It turns out they are the father and son!" Yang Ji thought for a while and asked, "Are you sure they are the Li father and son?"
"It is indeed the father and son." Zhang Chuchen said with certainty: "The large lanterns at the side entrance of Dugu Mansion were brightly lit, illuminating a radius of dozens of feet very clearly. Not only did we see the Li family and his son get off the car and enter the mansion, but also I saw Dugu Huaien, the nephew of the head of the Dugu family, greeting him in front of the steps."
"Li Yuan and his son visited Dugu Mansion on a cold night. It seems that they are not people willing to be lonely." Yang Ji smiled and entered the palace.
Zhang Chuchen and Liu Xu followed closely and entered the atrium. Seeing that no one was around, Liu Xu, the leader of Tianmen, asked in a low voice: "Master, do you want to send someone to investigate and follow them and their son?"
Yang Ji pondered for a long time and asked as he walked: "Do you know what official position Li Yuan has now?"
Liu Xu quickly said: "Li Yuan was originally the governor of Yanzhou, and the saint appointed him as the governor of Guanzhou not long ago. He changed from the governor of Xiazhou to the governor of Shangzhou, and was promoted to five levels in a row. This appointment was first spread. , caused quite a stir.”
Yang Ji said: "In the future, we will focus on the Li family and his son, and sort out the Li family's relationship network as soon as possible! There is no need for members of the Li family, and relatives and other things must be sorted out. Let's start with Li Hu's generation. I want to see it Let’s see if the Li family has any powerful relatives or old friends besides us, the Yang family, the Dugu family, and the Dou family.”
"Here!" LiuXu responded.
Yang Ji walked a few steps and then added: "Send a few people to Guanzhou to see which big figures and local powerful people he has secretly interacted with. In addition, Li Jiancheng, Li Shentong and other direct members of the Li family must not relax. Know the positions, superiors, and subordinates of members of the Li family.”
"Here!" Liuxu responded, and then said: "Master, the Tianmen we want to build will take a long time. If we continue to focus on the family members, I'm afraid we won't be able to do it."
Yang Ji couldn't help but stop and looked back at her. Liu Xu was following closely, looking at his back with her big eyes nervously. When Yang Ji turned around, Liu Xu almost bumped into her. Yang Ji had quick eyes and quick hands and stretched out his hand. He held her forehead, pushed her back with a little force, and held her in place. He asked with a smile: "Do you need help?"
Liu Xu quickly took a few steps back and said uneasily: "Master, we are from a humble background. Although we have learned a lot of miscellaneous knowledge, we know nothing about the historical origins of the family. For a big family like Li Yuan, all I know is just No one else knows about Li Yuan's lineage. Just sorting out the relationship diagram of the Li family is a difficult and huge project. If we also sort out the Dugu family and Dou family related to it, we need to collect and sort it out. There is even more information, and this kind of thing is a bit beyond our ability. I'm afraid that a few of us will be too busy, and we won't be able to sort it out clearly. If we have enough time, we can collect and learn at the same time. But in this way, It will definitely take too much time and miss the master's important event."
She glanced at Yang Ji and continued: "Master, can you send someone who is proficient in intelligence collection to be responsible for this area? We can also learn from him."
Seeing that she was panic-stricken, like a frightened deer, Yang Ji comforted her: "I appreciate your mentality of knowing what you know and not knowing what you don't know, and your suggestions are also very good. I ignored this myself."
Liu Xu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you for your understanding, sir."
"Let's do this!" Yang Ji thought for a while and said, "Hao Yuan is a more suitable candidate. I asked him to stay in the capital as Tianmen Military Advisor and Deputy General Manager of the Royal Palace, and he will be responsible for collecting intelligence."
In fact, Gongsun Huan is the most suitable candidate, but he is the big steward of the "Wangfu Group" and is extremely busy every day. The key is that when Yang Ji and Dugumin are not in the capital, he has to step in on many occasions. Such a public figure , It is really not suitable to be the intelligence chief. Hao Yuan is a mastermind-level figure. He is resourceful and has been tested for many years. Yang Ji can safely hand over the information to him.
Zhang Chuchen next to him glanced at Yang Ji and said softly: "Master, Hao Canjun is your most important adviser. If he stays in the capital in the future, who will go to Liangzhou to help you with advice?"
Yang Ji smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, Ling Jing is not bad either!"
Zhang Chuchen asked dubiously: "Really?"
"Naturally." Yang Ji's personal staff are mainly composed of Song Zhengben, Hao Yuan, Ling Jing, and Wei Zheng. In the process of contacting them, he gradually discovered that the four of them have different abilities. Song Zhengben and Wei Zhengzhi are good at handling daily government affairs. No matter how complicated it is, they can peel it off and handle it in the simplest way. This level of handling government affairs is the "state" Mufu's Yang Shanhui, Yu Shinan, Wang Cong, and Xiao Yu are all inferior. If Yang Ji handed over the rear of the palace to them, he would not worry about a fire in the backyard at all, but their strategy and adaptability are slightly insufficient.
Hao Yuan and Ling Jing were just the opposite. They were resourceful, good at military strategy, and highly adaptable. They were Yang Ji's best partners during the war. Compared with Ling Jing, Hao Yuan's advantage is that he has been in the palace for a long time. This is not to say that Yang Ji does not trust Ling Jing, but that although Hao Yuan did not deliberately collect information about the family members before, because he has a trouble-making 'lord' , so that he also subconsciously focused his attention on the family members. Once he takes up the banner of intelligence chief, he can start work immediately.
Although Hao Yuan is temporarily missing, he still has Ling Jing, Song Zhengben, Wei Zheng, not to mention Xue Ju, Yuchi Gong, and Li Daliang, so these people in Liangzhou are far enough for Yang Ji to use. In addition to his own personal staff, Yang Ji also had official officials including Li Jing, Yang Shanhui, Yin Shishi, Zhang Xutuo, Liu Quan, Mai Tiezhang, Xue Shixiong, Wei Yunqi, Zhang Dinghe, Wang Bian, Wang Wei, Gao Junya, Yao Junsu and others.
None of these people are good people who can be exploited by others.
If all these people with practical combat experience were brought together, Yang Ji would be able to sweep through the Western Regions. What would a Tuyuhun who was leaking from all directions mean?
Yang Ji is now the real leader. The military affairs of Liangzhou are handed over to Yang Shanhui, Yin Shishi, and Wei Yunqi; the government affairs are handed over to Yu Shinan, Wang Cong, and He Tuo; the law is handed over to Xiao Yu; and the education is handed over to Liu Xuan, Liu Zhuo; and then interspersed with Yang Shidao's younger generation. Therefore, he only needs to ask about everything and understand everything in general, and these people will handle the details. This also gave Yang Ji a rare moment of free time to calm down and consider his next plan.
This is also the responsibility of the state pastor of a state. He considers the general policies and strategies, while his subordinate Wenwu is responsible for improving the details of the general policies and strategies and supervising the implementation of the states.
The staff team of the Wangfu Group is also gradually improving. In the military, there are Xue Ju, Yuchi Gong, and Li Daliang; in the government, there are Song Zhengben and Wei Zheng; in the military, there are Hao Yuan and Ling Jing.
It is precisely because of these backbones between Yang Ji, the court, and the states that he can stay in the capital without leaving. And although he is not in Liangzhou, he knows very well what is happening in Liangzhou because of the flying pigeons and flying eagles that serve as communication tools.
"Sir, Liang Governor Shi Yang Shanhui, Ganzhou Governor Zhang Xutuo, and General Wei Yunqi are here to visit." The relaxed atmosphere was broken by Zhu Can's rough voice.
"I know!" Yang Ji nodded and walked towards the brightly lit central hall.
When Yang Jian was critically ill, Yang Shanhui, Zhang Xutuo, and Wei Yunqi led 10,000 Liangzhou soldiers into Guanzhong with Yang Ji. The three of them should not have stayed in the capital for so long, but because Yang Ji led them to participate in the pacification of Yang. Liang's rebellion, so time was delayed. When the rebellion ended and the military examinations followed, in order to ensure the safety and fairness of Yibang Military Camp, Yang Guang let the Liangzhou Army, who had no connection with the powerful people in the capital, sit in Yibang Military Camp, so everyone couldn't even think about leaving.
After Yang Ji met the three people, Yang Shanhui raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War suddenly sent 50,000 sets of weapons and equipment to Liangzhou today. I have already signed for them here at Beizhi. The amount is correct, but I don't know where these 50,000 sets of weapons and equipment are allocated. An army?”
Yang Shanhui has been communicating with the imperial ministries on food issues on behalf of the Liangzhou Prefectural Mufu these days. When he was counting the food today, he unexpectedly received news that the imperial court had sent 50,000 sets of weapons and equipment. He knew that it was not yet time to change clothes and armor, and he had never heard of any army lacking weapons and equipment, so he took Zhang Xutuo and Wei Yun up to ask clearly.
"Fifty thousand sets?" Yang Ji was deeply surprised after hearing this. Among the contents of his negotiation with Yang Guang, the main thing was food. He never expected that there would suddenly be 50,000 sets of weapons and equipment. This was really an extra surprise.
"Exactly!" Yang Shanhui explained with a smile: "These 50,000 sets include 50,000 pieces of armor, 50,000 horizontal knives, 30,000 spears, 20,000 war spears, 30,000 infantry bows, and 20,000 cavalry bows. Zhang, there are two hundred thousand arrows; there are also twenty thousand powerful crossbows and one hundred thousand crossbow bolts."
"Everything else is fine, except that there are a few arrows." Yang Ji muttered, "In order to get me out, you only gave me this little thing. You're really stingy."
"Your Majesty, there are already quite a few!" Yang Shanhui, Zhang Xutuo, and Wei Yunqi were speechless. They had not been in Beijing for a long time, and they had had many contacts with various ministries in the Shangshu Province. During this period, they encountered many demands. Weapons, equipment, money, food and materials were collected from local army representatives, but they had never seen a single representative return satisfied. The only exception was their Liangzhou side.
However, now listening to Yang Ji's meaning, even he didn't know about this weapon and equipment. It was actually the emperor's compensation and 'dowry' for Yang Ji to leave the capital. In comparison, what the other local armies received was like being sent away by Shangshu Province, but this one in front of him was lucky. He unexpectedly received so much material, but it was still too little.
It's really hard to accuse Hanako of being too rough.
"Just so-so!" In fact, Yang Ji also knew that although Yang Guang supported him in causing trouble in Liangzhou, he was not without a bottom line. If he wants soldiers, money, and whatever he wants, he will not be arranged to be roasted in the position of Liangzhou Prefect. He asked Yang Guang lion many times, just asking for as many benefits as possible, and never thought that Yang Guang would cash them all. Yang Guang suddenly gave a lot of weapons and equipment today, but the people are not so popular. Now he can't wait to empty out all the hoarded materials in the capital.
Yang Ji pondered for a long time and then said: "The sage asked us to return to Liangzhou as soon as possible. You pack your bags tomorrow and go ahead with the army and supplies the day after tomorrow."
