Jingzhao, Chang'an Mansion.
Just the day before Pei Yuan was assassinated, he visited Cao Renzun's residence in Ziting.
Even though it was late at night, the lights in Cao's Mansion were brightly lit, and servants in short-sleeved uniforms were constantly bringing delicacies from all over the place. Drums were playing in the venue, making it very lively.
Although cities like Jingzhao Chang'an Prefecture have basically implemented curfews since Zhang Gao led his troops out of the fortress, this did not affect figures like Cao Renzun.
Today is his sixtieth birthday. Not only can he not abide by the curfew, but even Pingzhang, the governor of Guanzhong, the governor of Jingzhaofu, and Cao Yuanzhong, the abbot of the country, have to come to him in person to wish him a birthday after his invitation. .
The reason is very simple. Before Cao Yuanzhong's father, Cao Yijin, became the governor of the Guiyi Army, he was called Cao Rengui.
This generation with the character character "Ren" refers to the previous generation of the Cao family. In other words, Cao Renzun is Cao Yuanzhong's uncle.
And it's not just as simple as his uncle. The Shazhou Cao family actually gradually retreated to Shazhou to settle down after the Tubo army captured Liangzhou.
At that time, the Cao family and his family were not the only ones who evacuated from Liangzhou. It was conservatively estimated that there were 200,000 to 300,000 people. However, in the end, only 30,000 to 40,000 people managed to reach Shazhou and stabilized.
In this horrific loss of nearly 80%, the Cao family was able to finally obtain a stable place to stay because they merged with Sogdian Xicao, who had settled in Shazhou for a long time and had some trade routes and considerable savings.
The Han people who called themselves Qiaojun Cao hoped to survive by relying on Sogdian Xicao's power and territory on Shazhou.
Sogdian Xicao hoped that through this unification, he could completely get rid of his identity as a Sogdian and become a Tang Dynasty or even a Han who was considered "noble" at that time.
Of course, the biggest benefit is that after the two families merged, the population reached a scale of two to three thousand people, and they became a very influential family in Shazhou.
However, after Hezong, influenced by the Han tradition of non-marriage among people with the same surname, the Qiaojun Cao from Liangzhou and the local Sogdian Xicao did not engage in large-scale marriages.
This resulted in them not being very close in the decades after their union. Instead, the influx of a large number of Han people from Shazhou, which was already a very difficult place, resulted in a harsh living environment and competition with each other.
This situation did not change until Cao Yijin began to rise.
First, Cao Yijin's grandmother and mother were both Sogdians, so they were naturally close to Sogdian Xicao.
Second, Cao Yijin was indeed very capable. As a junior high school student, he was able to marry the daughter of Suo Xun, the governor of the Guiyi Army at that time. His future seemed very bright.
So from then on, the two Cao families began to merge rapidly. By the time Cao Yijin won the power of the Guiyi Army, the Cao family was already the largest Han family in the Guiyi Army.
In particular, Cao Yijin, like Sun Quan, had a beautiful purple beard, which clearly showed Sogdian characteristics. In this way, no one dared to say that Sogdian Xicao was not a member of Shazhou Cao or a member of the Han people. .
However, this small faction within the Cao family has not been completely eliminated. Therefore, although Cao Yuanzhong is nominally the patriarch of the Shazhou Cao family, in some respects, as the elder of the Sogdian Xicao family, Cao Renzun still controls the clan. A lot of say.
In particular, Cao Renzun can even be said to be the elder of the Cao clan in Shazhou, because now, Cao Renzun is the only one of Cao Jiaren's generation.
Just like Zhang Yan must respect, at least on the surface, Zhang Huaiqing, the only remaining descendant of the Zhang family, Cao Yuanzhong still needs to lower his attitude when facing Cao Renzun.
For example, now, Cao Yuanzhong has issued a curfew himself, but he still has to attend Cao Renzun's birthday dinner.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Cao Renzun personally walked to Cao Yuanzhong's table holding a long gold cup with a copper tire pattern. Cao Yuanzhong stood up quickly, still saying polite words.
"Today is my uncle's birthday. How dare my nephew ask my uncle to treat me to a drink?"
Cao Renzun seemed to be a little drunk. He looked at Cao Yuanzhong who came over respectfully, and after a while he shook his big head with squinted eyes.
"I am able to hold a birthday banquet in Chang'an today, as well as have such a big house and so many servants. This is all your credit!"
Cao Yuanzhong didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a little uneasy. He didn't drink and just looked at Cao Renzun and said.
"My uncle is ridiculous. My nephew is mediocre and stupid. How could he bring the Cao family to this point? All this is the grace of the saint."
When Cao Renzun saw that Cao Yuanzhong was not drinking, he laughed, then turned around and looked at the Cao family members at the banquet and laughed.
"Of course a saint is a hero, but he can't conquer thousands of miles of mountains and rivers by himself!
This belongs to the Yijun family, but it belongs to our Cao family. Without the strong support of a certain group of people named Cao, the saint could have entered Guanzhong so quickly. "
Cao Yuanzhong's face suddenly changed color, and he turned around and put down the wine glass, "Uncle, be careful, I, the Cao family, are only able to achieve the glory and wealth we have today by following the footsteps of the saints. With or without the Cao family, the saints can rule the Central Plains."
"Look, look." Cao Renzun called a servant over and handed the wine glass to the servant.
The drumming in the field also stopped. A group of Cao family members and some old rebels invited by Cao Renzun, such as people from the Yin, Chen and other families, all looked at Cao Renzun and Uncle Cao Yuanzhong in silence. nephew.
"You have been so sincere since you were a child. When the saint went to Khotan, it was the three thousand guan of silver given by our Cao family as his capital, right? This is three thousand guan!
Among the one hundred and eight generals from Yuan Dynasty, seventy-seven of them were given by our Cao family. Qu Wulang, Luo Yu'er, Luo Fengma and others are so sharp that their armor and weapons are all white. given out.
The King of the Jin Kingdom of Khotan is not only the uncle of the saint, but also the uncle of my Cao family.
After returning to Dunhuang, King Linggong gave all that should be given to Yuande to Zhang Erlang.
Tell me, among these four things, which one is not a great contribution? Why is it that Zhang Erlang gave us the current wealth of our Cao family? "
Cao Yuanzhong's eyes widened violently. He looked straight at Cao Renzun in front of him as if he didn't recognize him.
After being stunned for a long time, Cao Yuanzhong stretched out his trembling hand and pointed at the uncle whom he originally respected a lot.
He, Cao Renzun, even called out the title Zhang Erlang. What was he doing?
"Cao Renzun, have you lost your mind and gone crazy? If outsiders heard this, how resentful would the Cao family be?
Although our Cao family is indeed meritorious, we now have a queen and two concubines. The Cao family has as many as seven grandsons of princes, princesses, and the future prince will definitely be a grandson of the Cao family.
Aren’t you satisfied with this status? What are you talking about here? "
Cao Renzun looked at Cao Yuanzhong and snorted coldly, "Indeed, one queen and two concubines are indeed a sight.
But those are your Cao Yuanzhong's daughters, and you are a hereditary and irreplaceable duke. You serve as prime minister and assistant when you enter the court, and you serve as governor when you go out. Your son is even more glorious.
But what about everyone else? Elders like me only have one earl who cannot be hereditary, which is like sending away beggars. How many of the other Cao family children are in high positions?
It would be fine if we, the children of the Cao family, are not capable, but even if we are capable, you, Cao Yuanzhong, are preventing us from becoming high-ranking officials.
Then who is Pei Yuan? Why should a vicious man who only speaks his words be allowed to stay in Xijing? Now he is almost assuming the power of regent. Why? "
As soon as Cao Renzun said these words, a buzzing sound immediately sounded, because Cao Renzun's words cannot be said to be wrong.
In the hearts of the Cao family's children, Zhang Yan's rise is indeed as Cao Renzun said. Whether it is people, wealth or status, the Cao family has given extremely important help.
But now, although the Cao family has one concubine and two concubines, they are both Cao Yuanzhong's daughters.
The virtuous concubine named Cao Yanmian (Queen Saktu) by Cao Yuanzhong also worshiped Cao Yuanzhong as her father, and was actually Cao Yuanzhong's daughter.
Of course Cao Yuanzhong and Cao Yanlu were famous, but compared to them, the benefits received by other Cao family members were more limited.
In the eyes of many more extreme people, Cao Yuanzhong must have colluded with his son-in-law before Zhang Yan came back from Khotan, and Cao Yuanzhong got such benefits by betraying the Cao family.
Cao Yuanzhong felt a chill all over his body. He felt so wronged that he couldn't express it.
Because the Cao family is already so powerful in the harem, it is bound to be restrained in the outer court.
Otherwise, with the number of Cao family's descendants numbering in the tens of thousands, if all of them share the profits, it will not take many years to form an extremely large group of relatives, similar to the Huo Guang family of the early Han Dynasty and the Liang Ji family of the later Han Dynasty.
This was absolutely intolerable to the emperor, and it was also the biggest reason why the emperor elevated Cao's daughter to such a status in the harem.
That means that among the concubines, the queen ranked highest is a daughter of the Cao family. Two of the three concubines, Gui, De, Xian, and Xian, are all daughters of the Cao family. I have given you the scenery of the harem, so don’t think about it anymore. Taken power.
After Cao Yuanzhong knew the emperor's idea clearly, he kept a very low profile. Whenever a son of the Cao family wanted to be sent to a high position, he would stop him.
If the emperor insists on promotion, then listen to the emperor, but the emperor generally agrees with Cao Yuanzhong's opinion.
Well, looking like this, it does seem a bit hateful!
Cao Yuanzhong knew that no amount of explanations would be useful at this time, and he also felt something was wrong.
In the flash of lightning, he put his hands behind his back and gestured to his nephew Cao Yanshun, who was serving as his personal escort. He also began to retreat slowly, intending to distance himself from Cao Renzun.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he moved, Cao Renzun jumped over and grabbed Cao Yuanzhong's sleeve.
"Sanlang, the situation of the saint's northern hunt is unknown now. Pei Yuan, Feng Dao and other traitorous ministers in the court have done many evil things, which aroused great anger among the people. Even Sanniang was forced to retreat to the capital of the gods with Xian Zai to protect herself.
You are the father-in-law of the current dynasty and the head of my Cao family. Why don't you raise your arms and take the Cao family and other children of the old rebel army out of Tongguan in the east to clear the emperor's side! "
Cao Yuanzhong felt cold, and the most terrifying situation occurred. He waved his hand and shook off Cao Renzun's grasp.
Then he kicked the old man in the chest, causing him to flip over on the ground and run towards the door.
There was a clear sound of "choking", and a horizontal knife lay across Cao Yuanzhong's escape path.
Cao Yuanzhong was stopped by a strong man wearing a chainmail armor inside his outer robe and with fresh blood stains on his face, body and blade.
"Jiuyilang, you...how can you get involved with them, why?"
Cao Yuanzhong looked at the person who blocked him and was stunned. No, he should have broken through the defense directly.
Because this Cao Yancun, the twenty-first man, is a very capable being among the Cao family Yan generation, Yun Wen Yun Wu.
Cao Yuanzhong also valued him the most and felt that he was most likely to become the backbone of the Cao family in the court in as short as five years or as long as ten years.
After Cao Yancun stopped Cao Yuanzhong, he didn't do anything to him. He just stared at Cao Yuanzhong with red eyes.
"The third uncle still asked me why? Then I want to ask my third uncle. Outsiders like Cui Huxin, Du Chixin, and Guo Rong can go out to be the commander-in-chief of the mansion. Why can't a certain Cao Twenty-one be the commander-in-chief of the mansion?"
In the conquest of Ma Chu and the conquest of Shu, I fought with all my life. When I was suppressing Mianzhou, I couldn't get a penny from such a prosperous city. Why did my third uncle block my way up? "
The term "fushuai" is a folk name for a fuyin who has added military and horse supervision. For example, the fuyin of Datong Prefecture who Zhe Deyuan is also the military and horse supervisor of Datong Prefecture is called a fushuai among the people.
Cao Yuanzhong took a few steps back in despair, and suddenly fell on a chair, losing all his strength for a while.
Even Cao Yancun, a core member of the Cao family, was involved, but he had no idea that it had obviously been planned for a long time and that the Cao family was going to be doomed.
"Did you kill Yanshun?" Cao Yuanzhong asked painfully.
Cao Yancun's eyes, which were red with desire, flashed a look of guilt, but it quickly disappeared.
"No matter what I say, he won't listen. He can only take action. His sword has no eyes."
Cao Yuanzhong looked at Cao Yancun, smiled sadly and nodded, "The sage said that you, Cao Yancun, seem to be selfless, but in fact you are too selfish and have too many desires. You should not suddenly give up important responsibilities. You need to continue to hone and hone before you can be a pillar."
This is looking down upon you! Who would have imagined that you are actually a fool who has been blinded by selfish desires.
Now that the country's elite are in the hands of saints, how do you dare to rebel? There is no need for a saint at all, only Nobunaga'er and Cun Huier are needed to come back, and you can just wait to be chopped into pulp. "
When Cao Yuanzhong mentioned Murong Nobunaga, Cao Yancun was furious because Murong Nobunaga was also Cao Yuande's grandson.
"All the benefits have been taken away by your third house. Our other houses even have to look at your color to be the boss, but you still have the nerve to say that.
snort! I might as well tell you that the saint will never come back. There are more than just divination chiefs Du Sage waiting for him on the grassland! "
"You bitch! It turns out that you have had a rebellious heart for a long time, and you dare to pretend that the saint is the master of heaven. You expect a group of prairie barbarians to trap the saint. Just dream!" Cao Yuanzhong yelled.
Before Cao Yancun could refute, Cao Renzun, who had gotten up, suddenly stopped him and said, "Don't make any more noise with him."
Then Cao Renzun looked at Cao Yuanzhong and said, "Cao Sanlang, I want to ask you one last question, are you willing to go to the capital of gods with me?"
They were not just causing trouble. It seemed that they wanted to control Xian Zai, the eighth son of the emperor, who was brought to Shendu by his third daughter. I think there should be someone to help him come to Shendu.
But in this way, he was definitely safe. Cao Yuanzhong took a deep breath, and his strength suddenly recovered, and he waved to Cao Renzun.
Cao Renzun was overjoyed, thinking that Cao Yuanzhong was a little moved, so he hurried over.
As a result, Cao Yuanzhong suddenly stood up, grabbed him by the collar, and banged him.
Cao Renzun was originally short, while Cao Yuanzhong was tall and strong. They were four or five years apart, and Cao Yuanzhong became extremely angry and took action.
At this time, the three big guys beat Cao Renzun until he was dizzy, with blood coming from his mouth and nose, and he almost fainted.
Cao Renzun screamed, and in anger he took out the dagger from his arms and was about to stab Cao Yuanzhong. Cao Yancun, who was next to him, had quick eyes and quick hands and immediately grabbed Cao Renzun's hand holding the dagger.
"Uncle, it's important to do something important. We can't kill him yet."
Cao Renzun's expression changed a few times, and he retracted his hand bitterly. At this time, there was a loud shout of killing outside. It seemed that it was the guards of Cao Renzun's house who began to attack Cao Yuanzhong's guards in the outer courtyard.
During the banquet in the house, there were more than a dozen Cao family children holding tables, chairs and benches to resist. They were also unwilling to follow Cao Renzun and others in rebellion.
Cao Yuanzhong looked over with relief. Those who refused to rebel were almost all the outstanding ones among the Cao family. Although the most outstanding Cao Yancun became a rebel, the others still withstood the test.
"Put down the tables and chairs. There won't be many people in the Cao family in the future. We can't all die here. Let's save our lives to see how they are destroyed."
After speaking, Cao Yuanzhong looked at Cao Yancun and said, "Cao Twenty-one, you definitely want to kill us all, right?"
Cao Yancun raised his hand and said, "I am forced by the situation today. When the Cao family becomes more powerful in the future, my third uncle will know how well-intentioned my nephew is today. As long as your blood relatives no longer resist, I, Cao Twenty-one, will never do any harm. "
Hearing what Cao Yancun said, and with Cao Yuanzhong's comfort, the Cao family's children who were about to resist also put down their tables, chairs and benches.
With this thing in hand, there is no way to resist Cao Yancun and the others, who are armed with sharp blades.
.
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Chang'an's defense strength is actually not very good, and it is completely unworthy of his reputation as Jingzhao Chang'an Mansion.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Zhang Zhou's policy of elite troops meant that it was impossible to amass a large number of troops in every city. Especially a city like Chang'an Prefecture that is not threatened at all.
In addition, during the last expedition against Meng and Shu, a large number of troops were mobilized from Guanzhong. After the successful expedition against Shu, less than 30% returned.
】
At the same time, when Zhang Gao went to Liangzhou, he took away all the more than 2,000 cavalry of the imperial army stationed in Jinchang Town in Chang'an.
This leads to the fact that the current main force of the Jingzhao Chang'an Prefecture's army is the Wei Suo Army, that is, the Chang'an Three Guards.
And even these three guards are not full yet. The elite among them are still guarding in Shuzhong. At the same time, not all of the three guards are in Chang'an Mansion. Some of them have to be allocated to garrison Fengxiang Mansion and Pizhou Mansion respectively.
Therefore, the defense force in Chang'an City is only more than 800 people, as well as some temporarily recruited inspection department chiefs, which add up to 3,500 people.
What's even more frightening is that the military supervisor of Jingzhao Chang'an Prefecture who controls the three guards of Chang'an is Cao Yancun.
After imprisoning Cao Yuanzhong and others in an underground secret room, Cao Yancun immediately entered the military camp as a military supervisor and ordered the three guards to assemble quickly and prepare to go to Tongguan to change defenses.
Although Cao Yancun did not concurrently serve as the defense envoy of Guanzhong Province, Cao Yuanzhong's personal troop deployment order was obtained, but he obtained the seal of Cao Yuanzhong's defense envoy.
Although the commanders of the three guards under his command felt that the sudden order to go to Tongguan to change defenses was a bit unreasonable, they did not expect that Cao Yancun, a Cao family member with a promising future, would become a traitor.
So after hesitating for a moment, he went to organize the team and set off.
The reason why Cao Yancun wanted to go to Tongguan was because Luo Yu'er, the Duke of Qingyang County, who was stationed in Tongguan, including the supervisor of soldiers and horses of Weinan Prefecture, the envoy of Tongguan Town, and the general soldier of Changguo Town, had been persuaded by Cao Renzun.
After Luo Yuer's first wife died of illness, he married Cao Yuande's daughter, Cao Yanying, the fourteenth mother of Cao, and Cao Yanying's third uncle, Suo Sanlang, also participated in Cao Renzun's rebellion.
Half a month ago, he deceived Cao Yanying into Chang'an Mansion on the grounds that Cao Yanying's grandmother was seriously ill, and was immediately placed under house arrest by Suo Sanlang.
Then Cao Renzun took Cao Yanying and six children as hostages, and finally persuaded Luo Yu'er to join their plan.
There are currently 9,000 troops guarding Tongguan, 4,000 of whom are from Changguo Town, the imperial army commanded by Luo Yu'er, and the remaining 5,000 are mostly the original Shu army.
It seems that they were conscripted to Tongguan to garrison, but in fact they were engaged in the task of building Tongguan Fortress and repairing the canals during the dry season. They lived a very hard life, so they should be easy to stir up trouble.
Moreover, those involved in the conspiracy of Cao Renzun and others were also a large number of frustrated old officials in Shu who missed Meng Chang. With them, it would be more certain to recruit these former Shu troops.
If the plan goes well, Cao Yancun showed a smile. As soon as he arrived at Tongguan, the three guards of Chang'an under his command realized something was wrong, but there was no way out.
Because they followed him and walked from Chang'an to Tongguan without orders, it was already a capital crime.
The soldiers may not be too serious, but the officers are definitely doomed. When the time comes, as long as they spend a lot of money, coax, deceive and induce, it will not be difficult to control them.
In this way, he has an army of 15,000 in his hands, and the gods have internal support.
After taking control of Cao Yannai and Zhang Xianzai, he spread the news to the world, saying that the queen and his legitimate son Zhang Xianjing had been assassinated by Pei Yuan, and that Cao Yancun had come to Qingjun's side.
With Pei Yuan's outrageous behavior, is he still worried about something big happening?
