At dusk, the residence of Yuanshou, the minister of Taifu Temple, was already brightly lit; in his study, two people were sitting opposite each other behind a chess piece.
Yuanshou is over fifty years old, almost sixty years old, but after all, he is a general from a military family. In addition to the various rare medicines at home to nourish me, he has never put aside his martial arts for a day, so he is still angry to this day. With abundant blood, strong physique, and strong energy, he looks like a mature man.
His tall and burly figure formed strong and powerful lines in his fitted brocade robe, and his rugged face had sharp edges. The large red spots on his face that Yang Ji had burned with boiling water made him look even more ferocious. breath.
The person playing chess with him was a thin old man with gray hair and elegant temperament; this old man was Yuanwei, the head of the Yuan family. Yuanwei now has no official, no title, no title, not even a casual official. Therefore, in name and on the surface, he is no different from an ordinary citizen and has no power at all. However, the Yuan family is a deep-rooted and flourishing family. He is a big family, so no one dares to really regard the head of the Yuan family as an ordinary citizen.
At this time, the two people each held a chess piece in their hands, but their hands holding the chess piece hung above the chessboard for a long time without falling down. It can be seen that their minds are obviously not on the chessboard.
This is because they know that the Yuan family, among the Guanlong nobles, has fallen into a dangerous predicament of betrayal and alienation, and this predicament also makes them feel helpless.
However, they summarized the reason why the Yuan family fell to this point, and they all believed that it was mainly due to two aspects: on the one hand, their Yuan family's reputation among the Guanlong nobles was completely ruined. The purpose of Pai's founding of the Wuchuan League was to twist the forces of the three major factions into one rope and resist the pressure from the emperor and the pressure from various political forces as a whole. However, after the Yuan family became the leader of the alliance, they not only took retaliatory actions against Li Yuan, their rival, but also had a strong desire for power and strong selfishness that made them regard the leader as a jade seal and a private property. Even the daily affairs of the Wuchuan Alliance had to be listened to by the major officials. Their actions eventually led to the Presbyterian Council composed of representatives of various powerful clans becoming useless.
On the other hand, before and after Yuan became the leader of the Wuchuan League, he planned a series of major events including the Renshou Palace coup, Yang Liang's rebellion, and leading party members to attack Yang Ji. Although these major events allowed Yuan to become the leader of the alliance as he wished and stabilize the The position of alliance leader also made them stand out, attracting Yang Guang's attention and vigilance.
Yang Guang has not uprooted them now, not because he has no evidence, nor because he doesn't want to, but because he has to compromise with the current situation and the Yuan faction, so he now adopts a step-by-step approach to the Yuan faction, rather than with a thunderous momentum. , but as long as he successfully disintegrates the Yuan sect and isolates the Yuan clan, he will definitely liquidate the Yuan clan.
Under the severe situation of the emperor's step-by-step suppression, the Yuan family had already lost its reputation. The Dugu sect and the Dou sect had alienated themselves a long time ago because of the Yuan clan's domineering power in the Wuchuan Alliance and had distanced themselves from the Yuan clan. Some families within the Yuan sect now have no favorable impressions of them either. All of the above sects believe that the Yuan clan is not worth protecting. A powerful emperor cannot be offended. At present, they have a good view of the overall situation without adding insult to injury. How can they protect the Yuan family wholeheartedly? ….
However, Yuanshi understood this at this time, it was already very late. On top of the naval issue, they originally planned to represent the Guanlong nobles in a fight with the southern nobles; once they won, they would be able to regain their prestige and trust. However, the assassination of Li Shimin and the tone set by Yongzhou Prefecture and Jingzhao Prefecture for the assassination not only caught them by surprise, but also disrupted their overall plan. Their distrust is rising.
Although no one announced it, most people believed that the assassination was the work of the Yuan family, and its purpose was to put the blame on others in an extreme way, so that the lives of the descendants of the Guanlong nobles were threatened. Instead of continuing to support the Yuan clan, they had to continue to unite with the Wuchuan Alliance led by the Yuan clan.
Regarding this consensus reached by most of the clans due to tacit understanding, Yuanshi is now unable to argue with it. If they argue, they have a guilty conscience; if they don't argue, it's acquiescence. The only thing they can do now is to use the relationship between Yongzhou Prefecture and Jingzhao Prefecture, hoping that the two houses will find the real culprit so that the Yuan family can be cleared of suspicion.
"Master, brother, I'm back." Yuan Hongsi pushed the door open and saluted the two people in the study.
Yuan Hongsi is the regular servant of the Sanqi Province in the province. The rank of the regular servant of the Sanqi is from the third rank. He is responsible for making mistakes and serving as advisors in the province. He does not have any real power. With these positions, the total is There were four people, and after the tiny power was equally divided, there was not much left, so Yuan Hongsi could only be regarded as one of the regular attendants of Sanqi.
When Yuan Hongsi was growing up in Yuyang, he had a good personal relationship with Li Changya, the governor of Yongzhou Prefecture who was born in Youzhou; in the afternoon, on Yuan Shou's order, he went to Yongzhou Prefecture to inquire about the progress of the investigation of the assassination, and at the same time hoped that Li Changya would let the two When government officials are investigating and handling cases, they must always rely on real evidence and don't always pour dirty water on the Yuan family.
"Have you seen anyone yet? What did Li Changya say?" Yuan Shou dropped the chess piece in his hand, stood up and went to greet Yuan Hongsi.
Yuanwei also stood up. Although he did not speak, his sharp eyes were fixed on Yuan Hongsi; obviously, he was as anxious as Yuan Shou.
"I have seen people, but Li Changya said that before the truth comes out, everyone in Guanzhong is suspected." Yuan Hongsi paused, and then said to Yuan Shou: "In addition, Dou Kang came out to testify, and said that his brother was in Zhang Mansion When paying birthdays to Zhang Jin's mother, he threatened Li Yuan aggressively and said, "I wonder if Mrs. Li has brought her with you? If your son can't stand the bumps and gets sick on the way, it will be dangerous."
Yuan Shou was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily: "I'm just talking, how can it be used as evidence to break the case? And Dou, what do you mean? I'll go find Dou Wei now to ask clearly." With that said, Yuan Shou walked out angrily.
"Brother, things are not that simple!" Yuan Hongsi quickly grabbed him and said in a more serious tone: "Brother's threats to Li Yuan and inappropriate remarks are indeed trivial matters, but the conflicts between our Yuan family and Li Yuan, The ambiguous relationship with Liu Lunjia made the Yuan family become the biggest suspect. "...
Yuanshou immediately stopped walking, a chill came from the soles of his feet. What Yuan Hongsi said next was the most fatal thing. After a long time, he slowly calmed down, and suddenly he felt a large invisible net descending from the sky, covering the Yuan family, and suddenly dragged them into a quagmire where they could not struggle.
And who is the person who opened the net? What's the purpose?
Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Yuan Shou's forehead. He glanced at Yuan Wei who was thinking hard and said, "Brother, is it the emperor who is behind this? Is his purpose to provoke a dispute between the three factions of the Guanlong nobles? ?」
"It can't be the emperor." Yuan Wei raised his eyes and looked at Yuan Shou, denying his guess.
Yuan Shou frowned and asked, "Why do you see it?"
Yuanwei said in a deep voice: "From the emperor's point of view, this unscrupulous method is actually a double-edged sword that can hurt the enemy as well as himself. If the plot is not kept secret and is discovered by others, he will be notorious for murdering his ministers. If it spreads all over the world, once people believe it, it will shake his rule. But the current emperor is an extremely stubborn and proud person. He now has monopoly of power and stable imperial power. Even if he wants to deal with us, he will do it openly in the officialdom. , starting from the stain, there is no need to resort to such unsavory and dangerous methods.”
Yuan Shou thought for a long time, and then asked in a probing tone: "Who else can there be besides him? Or does my brother already have a clue?"
However, Yuanwei thought of the Sui Navy which was about to be reorganized. Since all the Guanlong nobles had interests in the Sui Navy, the three factions all wanted the Yuan family to stand in front in order to preserve their sons and positions in the navy. He led everyone to play against the southern nobles, so the suspicions of the Guanlong nobles can basically be eliminated; and Dou Kang's act of testifying was probably a personal act and had nothing to do with the Dou family's decision.
Thinking of this, Yuanwei slowly raised his head and said in a deep voice: "The battle for the navy has begun. The southern nobles are the main enemies of our Guanlong nobles, but with their strength, they are no match for our three major factions. In order to To prevent our three factions from uniting into one, they will most likely use this method to divide us."
"The nobles of Shandong have always regarded the nobles of Guanlong as their feud. Now they see that the battle for Guanlong and the South has begun.
Qi, they are also suspected of doing this in order to make the war more intense and to make both sides suffer losses. "
Yuan Shou asked: "Brother, who do you think is more suspicious between the two?"
"Compared to the direct enemy in the south, I think the Shandong nobles are more suspected. But these are not important anymore." Yuanwei was silent for a while, and then said: "The top priority is to urge Yongzhou Prefecture and Jingzhao Prefecture to find the culprit as soon as possible. , we must secretly mobilize manpower to help; as long as our Yuan family is cleared of suspicion, then the drastic changes brought about by the assassination of the assassination of the three factions will be invisible. If the assassination cannot be broken and cleared, then we We must also try to delay this incident until after the naval reorganization. In this way, we can maintain the current relationship and compete with the southern nobles as a whole. Otherwise, we alone will not be able to defeat each other."
"As long as we win over the southern gentry and the interests of the major clans are protected, how can they care about a little Li Shimin?"...
"What the head of the family said is absolutely true!" Yuan Hongsi, who was next to him, laughed when he heard this. He could understand the worries of the head of the family and Yuan Shou, so he comforted him: "Head of the house, brother, in fact, things are not at their worst. moment."
When he got to the key point, he stopped talking and looked up at Yuanwei.
When Yuanwei saw that he was still trying to pass things off, he frowned in displeasure and said coldly: "Just say what you want to say, don't do this with me."
"Here!" Yuan Hongsi's body shook, and he said with a forced smile: "Master, when I went to the Yongzhou Mansion in the imperial city to see Li Changya, I met Li Yuan who had returned from the palace city and had a conversation with him."
Yuanwei felt something bad in his heart and asked nervously: "What did he say?"
Yuan Hongsi said: "Li Yuan also believes that this matter has nothing to do with our Yuan family, saying that it was Liu Lunjia's doing, and hopes that the officials of the two governments will not need to investigate further. And the saint seems to have agreed not to investigate anymore."
After hearing this, Yuanwei's eyes flashed with stars, and then he sat down on the seat. His whole person seemed to have aged ten years. He stared blankly at Yuan Hongsi for a long time, and then he let out a long sigh and said sadly. "Now, our suspicion has been confirmed. Even if we jump into the Yellow River, we won't be able to clear it away."
Yuan Shou also sighed deeply. When he looked up and saw Yuan Hongsi's confused face, he explained very bitterly: "This is the case both inside and outside the court and in Guanzhong. The public opinion is extremely unfavorable to our Yuan family; however, in this At the critical moment, Li Yuan suddenly identified Liu Lunjia as the murderer and asked the saint to stop investigating. What will people think?"
Once prompted, Yuan Hongsi also woke up.
What will people think? Naturally, it is believed that Li Yuan was frightened by the power of the Yuan family and the Yuan sect, and had to give up the revenge of killing his son, and turned to Liu Lunjia, who was not very important in this case, as the scapegoat.
He gritted his teeth and said, "What a hateful Li Yuan, what a man who takes retreat in order to advance."
"Now that the matter has come to this, it is no longer helpful to talk about it. Let's consider how to deal with the southern nobles!" Yuanwei shook his head and sighed: "I hope Dugu Zheng and Dou Wei can put the overall situation first."
Although he said this, the worry in Yuanwei's heart continued to increase. His worry did not come from the Dugu family and the Dou family, nor from Li Yuan, but from the emperor who was aloof and increasingly powerful.
How could the emperor, who is so shrewd, not know the consequences of no longer investigating? However, he agreed so simply, which shows that he just hopes that the Yuan family will bear this bad reputation, and Li Yuan's knowledge is exactly what he wants.
Yuanwei didn't care about Li Yuan, and didn't take it to heart. The key is that after today, all the Guanlong aristocrats believed that the Yuan family was trying to scare the monkeys, which intensified their antipathy towards the Yuan family, and at the same time created a deep and irreparable rift in subsequent relationships and cooperation.
Once everyone abandons the Yuan family one after another, the emperor will probably take the opportunity to make trouble and settle old and new accounts together. If it evolves to that point, the Yuan family, which is alone and unable to support itself, will not be able to fight against the southern nobles. Even if the emperor targets them, they may not be able to overcome the difficulties successfully.
"Brother!" Seeing Yuanwei frowning and looking downcast, Yuan Shou said in fear: "Our Yuan family has fallen into this situation. I have an unshirkable responsibility. Brother, if you are worried that the Dugu family and the Dou family will not cooperate, , not as good as
Should I come forward to negotiate with them and explain that we have nothing to do with the assassination? ”….
"It's hard to explain. Once this kind of thing is said, it will only become darker and darker." Yuanwei did have deep complaints against Yuanshou who made many mistakes again and again. However, the situation at this time was very unfavorable to the Yuan family. Only by uniting and working together can we cope with all the difficulties and crises that will follow. If even the Yuan family is fighting among themselves, how can there be any future?
Yuanwei looked at Yuanshou and emphasized again and again: "Every interaction between aristocratic families is based on the interests of the family. You should never expect the other party to have affection. As long as we can guard the water division, those people will be profitable. Naturally, they will talk to us about friendship.”
"Here!" Yuan Shou responded.
"But we should be afraid of the worst in everything, and prepare for the worst in everything." Yuanwei looked at the night sky outside and said slowly: "The saint is quite dissatisfied with us, but he also needs the food you promised. , you must let the people below transport the grain from the south to the established official warehouse as quickly as possible, even if it means losing everything. This not only demonstrates our sincerity in atonement, but also dispels some of the saint's doubts, and at the same time It also reflects our financial strength and value, making him feel that we have a lot of money for him to slowly carve out. As long as he thinks so and we are more careful, we can eventually delay the most difficult moment."
"But this is a big gamble. You may lose, but if it succeeds, our Yuan family will undergo earth-shaking changes." As he said, he looked at the two people in front of him and smiled: "Do you dare to talk to me? Take a gamble on this?"
Yuanshou and Yuan Hongsi looked at each other and nodded heavily.
Such a decision is indeed extremely heavy and painful, but the Yuan family has suffered too many losses and learned too many lessons in recent years. They know very well that Yuanwei's decision to waste money and eliminate disasters, although regrettable, is not a good solution. square. At the worst, it would delay the Yuan family until the day when there might be betrayal and separation.
If the situation really develops to that point, the strength of all parties and major clans will also show a trend of ebb and flow; as for Yang Guang's thoughts, they will definitely change with the changes of the times, and in his mind The main enemy is definitely not the declining Yuan family, but the Dugu family, the Dou family, or other flourishing factions and clans.
At that time, the Yuan family can quietly avoid all the incidents, develop in a secret and low-key way, and transform into a true thousand-year-old family.
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[Explanation: Hou Qiaowen was Mrs. Hou who could not see Yang Guang during her lifetime and was titled "Madam" after her death. In history, it was only after her death that Yang Guang saw the poems she wrote and wrote poems with great regret to remember them.
Her name seems to be Hou Qiaowen, and she is indeed a talented woman with outstanding talents. Several poems and lyrics she wrote have a great status in the ancient Chinese poetry world, and are known as the pioneers of "retrospection"; The form, content, style and strength are completely opposite to the gorgeous and empty palace style poems popular at that time. Later, the classical prose movement and poems written by the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty were also influenced by her to a certain extent. ].
Bihai Siyun
