Among the five surnames and seven sects, the overall strength of Er Cui, who is located in the north and south of Jizhou, is well-deserved first place. Especially when Cui Zhongfang was the prime minister, the Cui family was even more shining. In contrast, the strength of the Li family in Zhao County was only average. .
When Cui Zhongfang came to an end, Li Ziquan immediately took over as prime minister representing the interests of the Shandong gentry and became a big figure leading the court.
This is undoubtedly a brilliant and great achievement for the Li family of Zhaojun, but the Li family's glory comes at the expense of the Cui family's indifference.
What's more, Cui Zhongfang ended his career in a rather disgraceful way, so the Er Cui family naturally believed that Li Ziquan, a person with vested interests, was responsible for it and used tricks. Although it would not lead to an all-out war with the Li family of Zhao County, the two Cui families Cui Que did not recognize Li Ziquan, the leader of the Shandong gentry, and did not buy his account. No matter what Li Ziquan decided to do, they would do it in disguise, which made it difficult for Li Ziquan to do things.
But what makes Li Ziquan even more anxious is the changes in the court of Shandong nobles; recently, Yang Guang not only promoted and reused Lu Chu from the Lu family in Fanyang, but also promoted Mrs. Cui's uncle, Cui Junsu of Qinghe, to the position of Minister of Etiquette of the School. .
Cui Hongsheng of the Boling Cui family was also appointed by Yang Guang as the deputy general manager of the Liaodong Road March. Cui Hongsheng now worships General Zuo Wuwei. If he returns with meritorious service with Yang Ji, he will be promoted to the long-vacated General Zuo Wuwei with 100% chance.
If these three people rise strongly, they may not be able to replace him in a few years. On the other hand, the Li family of Zhao County has basically no one who can do anything except him and his younger brother Li Zixiong. As the governor of Youzhou, Li Zixiong caused a disaster in Youzhou that shocked the world. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he could not keep his position; once he lost this important help, his status among the Shandong gentry would surely plummet.
The above are the family's long-term worries; but the immediate worries are right in front of them and the great purge that is about to begin.
"Brother, there are similar problems in free warehouses all over the world. As long as they are repaired in time, it will be fine. As for the free warehouses in Youzhou, it is mainly because the Yuan family is too greedy. If there is a problem with our people, we can help them make up for it. That's it." Wang Bing had been away from the court for many years, and he couldn't see the general trend. When he heard that Li Ziquan
"If the saint goes about his business, Tuoba Cheng will definitely die." After a long silence, he said with some disapproval.
"Brother, Yicangliang is just an excuse to deal with us Shandong nobles. The saint's purpose is to cleanse the officialdom of Qi." Li Ziquan said: "After the saint put down the rebellion of the Han Dynasty, he mainly targeted the Guanlong nobles and our Shandong nobles. Most of it is to appease, but it is just a compromise with the current situation. Now that the country is stable and the general trend is in hand, and the people of Jizhou and Bingzhou are asking the court to inspect the warehouses, if we all remain silent, then large-scale purges will definitely happen. If we Let's work together to oppose. The saint is still forced to take action due to the current situation such as the Northern Patrol and Liaodong. We dare not go too far, and our losses will not be that big." After a pause, he added: "The saint has always wanted to do Liangzhou's new policy. It was extended to the officialdom of the Northern Qi Dynasty where famous noble families were established; and the saint successively transferred Liu Quan, Wang Wei, Liang Mo, Li Qiong, and Liu Wujian from the Wei Wang family to the Jizhou Prefectural Mufu, which is the best proof. But I don’t know why. There has been no movement so far, but I think as long as the King Wei clan does not leave Jizhou, the saint will take action at the right time."
"Right now, the Youzhou Yicang big eucalyptus has shocked the world, and the voice calling for a thorough investigation of the Yicang has almost swept across Jizhou and Bingzhou. The attitude of the people of Jizhou south of Youzhou is countless times stronger than that of Bingzhou. The saint has the support of the people and the general trend. He will definitely respond to the people's request and order the Wei Wang Clan to investigate Jizhou Yicang, and then let the Wei Wang Clan instigate the people to cause trouble, and follow the clues to knock down a large number of people. And this is also a trick used by the Wei Wang Clan's gang of killers. They may It’s not like a complete cleansing like in Liangzhou, but the prefects, tongshou, changshi, sima, and county magistrates must all be replaced. After completing this step, the next steps are Bing, Qing, Yan, and Yu..."
"The saint's current silence is actually gathering momentum and waiting. When the civil unrest becomes bigger, he will have greater popular support and momentum. At the same time, he is also watching the attitude of the Shandong gentry. If the resistance is not strong, then the purge The storm is no less violent than Liangzhou, but on the contrary, it will be a little more restrained." It was precisely because he had seen through this that Li Ziquan acted so tough at yesterday's council meeting, but he also knew the power of the Li family in Zhao County Yang Guang cannot be allowed to restrain himself, and must rely on the other six sects to join forces to resist.
It's just that the Li family in Longxi, far away in Yongzhou, has long been mixed into a military and military family that combines civil and military affairs. Compared with the orthodox Shandong gentry east of Yaoshan, they are now closer to the Guanlong nobles and Guanlong gentry.
In addition, their interests are in the southern part of Yongzhou, Yizhou and the northern part of Liangzhou, and they have a strong shield like the Long nobles. Why do they want to wade into this muddy water?
The Fanyang Lu family's sphere of influence is in Youzhou, which has already been washed away by Yang Ji once. What's more, Lu Chu has just been re-employed by the emperor, so what reason do they have to wade into this muddy water?
The Zheng family in Xingyang and the Wang family in Taiyuan now have almost no one in the court, and they are somewhat hopeless. Therefore, the attitudes of Qinghe Cui and Boling Cui are crucial.
Although Er Cui had a deep prejudice against him and the Li family of Zhao County because of his position as prime minister, and now he regarded Cui Junsu and Cui Hongsheng as the hope of rising, they were a little bit unreliable.
However, Li Ziquan believed that Er Cui and the Li family of Zhao County were both in Jizhou. Once the emperor launched a purge, the blow to any one of them would be fatal. Only by abandoning their past grudges and uniting with the outside world could the three sects prove that their vested interests would not be lost.
However, although Li Ziquan had a good idea, when he went to Cui Junsu with enthusiasm yesterday afternoon and explained his strong relationship in detail, the other party turned out to be ambiguous and his position was not firm.
He was sent away "ask the master of the family first what he wants." This really made Li Ziquan extremely angry. The main reason why he paid a visit today and decided to help the declining Wang family platform when the Wang family was changing from old to new was to bring the Wang family in.
If he can reach an agreement with Wang Bing and use his current status to firmly tie the weak Wang family to him, then the Li family will have an ally now and can fight against Er Cui together in the future.
Among them, the captured Tuoba Cheng was a rope that tied the Wang family, because he knew that although Tuoba Cheng was a descendant of the Yuan family, in fact, he was working for the Wang family in the name of the Yuan family and was a peripheral member of the Wang family. He was an important figure in the force, and he was ready to do his best to rescue this person.
"The saint's punishment of the King of Guards is not only to take action in time to protect the King of Guards, but also to prepare for the next thing. Brother, since Zhou Wu until now, we have been suppressed by the Guanlong nobles to the point of danger, and we can no longer afford it. This time we will continue to fight on our own. In the near future, we will be like fish on the chopping board, ready to be slaughtered." Finally, Li Ziquan said.
"I'm not so ignorant that I can't tell right from wrong. I'm not ignorant of the current situation, but we can't act rashly." Although Wang Bing is somewhat out of touch with the political field, his IQ is not bad. After hearing what Li Ziquan said, With such details, he knew that the current situation was urgent, and said in a deep voice: "Because King Wei is amazing, and the saint is even more amazing. If King Wei and his faction are the indestructible sword, then the saint is the strong shield behind the sword."
"Of course the most important thing is that although we, the Shandong nobles, have thousands of years of roots, our real power is hidden in the reputation, connections behind the court, and the business network that affects people's livelihood... These may seem invisible and intangible, but they are It really exists. In the past, we were too superstitious about this kind of power, thinking that this kind of power can accomplish everything and affect everything. If the emperor is disobedient, we can let him know the pros and cons through food price fluctuations, food shortages, etc. .”
"In the past, we thought that official power was insignificant, or even not power at all! However, only when we truly lose it can we understand that once we lose power, those invisible forces immediately become meat that anyone can grab. And Now, together, we don’t have many people who can talk to each other. I don’t think our two families can influence the saints.” After pondering for a long time, Wang Bing said to Li Ziquan: “At this time, our strength Weak, with a small voice, and unreasonable, the public opinion is not on our side. Attacking rashly will only reveal flaws in the handle." Li Ziquan also knew this was a fact and did not refute. He raised his eyes and asked: "In my opinion, brother What?" Wang Bing said in a deep voice: "Brother Xian is the leader of Shandong. It is best to connect several other sects. Only by twisting all the forces into one rope can the saint hear our voices and value our opinions!" Upon hearing this, Li Ziquan's face turned dark.
Wang Bing glanced at him and asked, "What's wrong, brother Xian?"
"Two Cui are unreliable. They have no intention of uniting at all." Li Ziquan angrily explained the ins and outs of the meeting with Cui Junsu, and also explained the reasons why the Li family of Longxi and the Lu family of Fanyang could not participate.
After listening to Li Ziquan's explanation, Wang Bing was stunned for a long time. He looked at Li Ziquan deeply and sighed: "Xian brother, Er Cui doesn't think you are the leader of the Shandong noble clan. What are you trying to do? If our two families are If you make trouble unreasonably and go against the trend, you will 90% be killed by the emperor like a chicken. If you hook up with the old and young for someone who is not worthy of your life, instead of being grateful to you, they will applaud and be ecstatic, because it represents the free time. The position of prime minister can be fought for again."
"Of course, your Li family may be fine, but the emperor hates our Wang family so much that our Wang family will definitely die." As he spoke, Wang Bing showed a look of dissatisfaction on his face. In fact, he hated Qinghe Cui, Boling Cui, and Fan Yanglu and Zhao Junli were extremely dissatisfied. At that time, the five sects all reached a consensus and said they would support Yang Liang. However, when the war reached a critical stage, the other four sects were not strong-willed and even allowed the Hebei officialdom they controlled to surrender to the imperial court.
They enjoyed the post-war dividends, but the Wang family's forces fighting on the front line were uprooted.
This time, he said that he would no longer fight against Huan Huan. The implication of his words was that our Wang family is not that great and we can no longer joke about the death of the whole family, young and old, so I won't bear with you.
Li Ziquan felt the dissatisfaction in Wang Bing's tone, and he sighed deeply. The last sect is not willing to join it, and according to Wang Bing, he doesn't take Tuoba Cheng to heart at all. What can he do?
"My dear brother, going with the trend is the way for our famous family to survive, and it is also the recipe that we can inherit for a long time. This time, we are unreasonable and have no strength. At present, the people's support is with the official, and we still put self-protection first. There is no need to make unnecessary sacrifices." Seeing that Li Ziquan was silent, Wang Bing continued to persuade: "If something is found out about your Li family, will you still be able to serve as prime minister?"
"I understand, brother. Thank you for reminding me." Hearing this, Li Ziquan felt awe-struck in his heart. He only thought about how to establish the authority of the leader of the Shandong gentry and how to use this battle to unite the Shandong gentry under his command, but he neglected himself. and family, but ignored
"If the trees are beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy them." . . . . . When Li Ziquan visited the Wang family in Taiyuan, Yang Guang was not idle. He asked Cui Junsu, the minister of etiquette of the school, to be called.
In the past few days, Yang Guang showed signs of purging Jizhou's officialdom, and Cui Junsu was keenly aware of it. However, his views were still different from Li Ziquan's. Li Ziquan advocated a strong resistance by everyone, and Yang Guang must be made aware of the famous family in Jizhou. An attitude of never giving in.
Cui Susu believed that the Shandong nobles were unreasonable and did not have the troubled background to make Yang Guang compromise. If he had a head-on confrontation with Yang Guang, it would definitely cause a deep blow to the emperor.
The so-called alliance will soon fall apart and collapse in the face of strong power, and it is not reliable at all.
It was precisely because of the disagreement that he used it last night
"Drag" sent Li Ziquan away. Yang Guang glanced at the reserved Cui Junsu, took a sip of tea, and then sighed: "The Cui family is a famous family in the world. Since the Han Dynasty, it has cultivated a large number of talents for the world. It is precisely because of Cui During the troubled times that lasted for hundreds of years, the Cui family continued to export talents and worked hard to preserve classics, so that our culture and civilization ended. In the past, when I was the general manager of Bingzhou, I heard that the Cui family library contained tens of thousands of books. I can’t wait to see it.”
"However, there are many internal affairs, and externally we have to fight against the Turkic Khanate in the north. After finally stabilizing the situation, we went to Yangzhou again. So far, I have not been able to visit the Cui family in Qinghe and enjoy many classics. It is really a pity." Yang Guang This is not flattery, nor is it just talk. He and Yang Jian love books as much, and they have been working hard to collect and restore ancient books so that ancient culture and civilization can be passed down from generation to generation.
It is also due to the efforts of their father and son that the total number of books in the Secretarial Department has reached more than 370,000 volumes and various categories of books.
Moreover, in order for everyone to learn and use it, Yang Guang specially set up Guanwen Hall to collect copies in Daxing Palace Imperial City and Luoyang Ziweicheng Imperial City.
In addition, similar libraries have been set up in the Imperial College and universities in various states. Although the university's collection of books is not as comprehensive as that of Guanwen Palace, it is still unimaginably large.
However, Yang Guang knew many so-called
"lost",
All the classics "destroyed by the flames of war" can be found in the libraries of Shandong nobles. If he could get it, he would definitely print it out and let all the students in the Sui Dynasty learn to read and increase their knowledge.
Cui Susu also heard that Yang Guang was not being polite, but sincere. This made him feel honored and proud of the family's heritage, and also admired Yang Guang's sincere love and protection of books. He raised his hand and said, "My brother also loved and loved books back then." Wei Chen said that the late emperor and the saints' love for classics and their importance and protection of culture were unparalleled. They also wanted to record a copy and hand it over to the court. However, the price of paper was extremely high at that time and there was no movable type printing technology. In addition, my brother died early, so he could not hand it over to the court." Of course, this is just talk. After all, before the advent of cheap paper books and movable type printing, books were expensive heirlooms. Monopolizing books was tantamount to monopoly. Who is willing to share knowledge and talents?
But things are different now. If they, Cui, can exchange for something of real value, he is also willing to dedicate less important classics.
Thinking of this, he added: "Nowadays, the cost of printing is meager and the printing method is convenient. In order to protect the books and protect the original copies, I have also printed many copies. If the saint needs it, the Cui family of Qinghe can donate a few sets to the court. "Both sides were talking about books as well as current affairs.
Cui Susu heard that Yang Guang was using books as metaphors for people, and at the same time he recognized the protection of books and culture of the Qinghe Cui family. The subsequent implication was that it would affect the core interests of the Qinghe Cui family.
As early as two years ago, Yang Guang made a request to Cui Junzhou, the younger brother of Cui Junsu, the head of the Cui family in Qinghe, hoping that he would lend his collection of books to the court for printing as models. However, they never agreed. After talking about it, they still resisted. However, this time Cui Susujing said at that time
"many copies",
"You can give a few sets to the court." It can be seen that under the current situation, Cui Junsu is not only willing to donate the book, but also showing a compromising attitude to him, saying that they can
"Give me a few sets." Now that the conversation had reached this point, Yang Guang stopped talking and immediately turned the topic to business.
"The occurrence of the Yicang in Youzhou made me discover that there were similar problems in the Yicang in the Sui Dynasty. Because of the influence of Youzhou, the people of Jizhou asked the court to thoroughly investigate the Yicang in Jizhou. So I decided to conduct a comprehensive inventory of the Yicang grain depots in the world. The first step is to make the most intense demands in Jizhou. However, the 'King of Shu, Gao Xiangguo, Zhang Xiangguo and others' believe that the situation in Liaodong is complicated, and King Wei also needs a stable rear, so they suggested that I should stop." At this point, Yang Guang Looking at Cui Junsu, he said slowly: "I also understand that King Wei's rear cannot be chaotic, but I have severely punished King Wei, so there is no reason to let corrupt officials go. If you don't listen to public opinion and don't investigate Jizhou, that's If you insist on going your own way and have unclear rewards and punishments, you will not only lose the support of the people, but also affect the military morale of the East Route Army. So now I am in a dilemma. I wonder if Cui Shilang has the best of both worlds?" Cui Susu was mentally prepared on the road and knew this problem. There was no way to avoid it. Hearing this, he said: "Sage, I think the key is to have sufficient evidence. If someone violates the law, they should be investigated to the end. But if there are people like Gao Shikai, Wang Shishi, and Wei Xianzong who were kidnapped because they were young, , had to embark on the path of crime, and the court should also understand."
"Of course!" Yang Guang said magnanimously: "After all, the imperial court was also responsible for the issues involving Gao Shikai, Wang Shishi, and Wei Xianzong. Because the imperial court could not protect its officials, their children were kidnapped and held hostage. They also You have just embarked on the path of crime. You should be forgiven. But if someone corrupts himself, then I will definitely not forgive him. Otherwise, how can I govern the world?"
"As for Jizhou Yicang, once the court conducts a thorough investigation, it will definitely involve many officials and many famous families. I will give Cui Shilang a thorough explanation. If the children of the Cui family in Qinghe are involved, I can give them a chance to repent and rehabilitate them. Let's go to other places to see if they have a change of heart. As for the other people, no one will be spared. Does Cui Shilang have any objections to this?" From the original intention, Yang Guang really wanted to take this opportunity to bring the Shandong gentry to justice. The official power was wiped out in one fell swoop, but if he really did this, the Shandong nobles would definitely collude with the Guanlong nobles; by then, the enemies he would face would be countless times more terrifying.
Therefore, appropriate concessions can at least allow the Shandong nobles to maintain the status quo and not force them towards the Guanlong nobles.
What he expressed at this time was to only eliminate the peripheral forces of the Cui family in Qinghe without touching their children. However, in order to shape and protect himself, he
The image of a "just" emperor must transfer the children of the Cui family of Qinghe who have committed crimes, otherwise they will not be able to explain to the people of the world.
Cui Susu also understands this, and he knows that Yang Guang has already made the greatest concession to their Qinghe Cui family. If he still doesn't understand, Yang Guang will definitely do business, and there will be no chance of repentance?
He cupped his hands and said, "Thank you to the saint for giving me this opportunity to reform. If someone from my clan really breaks the law, even if the saint transfers them to a remote mountainous area, I will have no objection." Cui Junsu's statement made Yang Guang very satisfied. Cui Junsu's statement meant that the Shandong gentry had officially split when it came to the imperial court's purge of Jizhou's officialdom. At the same time, it also reduced great obstacles for him to thoroughly investigate Jizhou's Yicang and implement the avoidance and rotation systems in Jizhou.
Looking at Cui Junsu who looked indifferent, Yang Guang suddenly thought of Li Ziquan who was clamoring to resign. After thinking about it for a moment, he decided to create trouble and conflicts for several prominent families in Shandong. He smiled and said: "Cui Shilang, let my niece know the book." The Queen and I admire her for being courteous, gentle and virtuous, but she is busy with state affairs and has neglected some things. I decided to canonize her as Xiuhua and join the royal family. Tomorrow, I will ask the Queen to grant her a royal decree, court uniforms, and fish cards. " Cui Junsu was stunned for a moment, and then he was overjoyed and said with cupped hands: "Thank you, saint." Cui Junsu's father's name is Cui Yanmu, and his uncle Cui Yanzhen is the grandfather of Queen Dugu. If counted from Queen Dugu, he is two generations higher than Yang Guang, but Yang Guang He also took the daughter of his eldest brother Cui Junchuo as his concubine, so he was demoted another generation.
However, in this era, concubines were no different from goods in value and had no status at all. When she first entered the Yang family as a concubine, there were still people who paid attention to her. When Yang Guang came to the throne, Cui Shi of Qinghe paid her the most attention. However, Yang Guang never gave her a royal decree, so Cui Shi paid no attention to her.
To this day, no one in the Cui family of Qinghe, except Mrs. Cui's mother, has paid much attention to Mrs. Cui, and even Cui Junsu, who is her uncle, is no exception.
Suddenly, when I heard the good news, I was naturally very happy.
