There is an essential difference between powerful ministers and favored ministers.
Yang Su is a powerful minister. Relying on the huge power of the family behind him, as well as his extraordinary insight and strategic means, he stands as firm as a mountain in the court. The only one who can touch him is the emperor, and it is not easy for the emperor to touch him.
Yu Wenshu was a favorite, and his wealth and life were closely related to the emperor. If he relied too much on the emperor, his position would be unstable, because favorites sometimes fell out of favor.
As for Gao Jiong, he was both a favorite and a powerful minister. Such a person was the most powerful, but his flaws were also very fatal. If he was favored by the previous emperor, he would inevitably fall out of favor with the current emperor.
Once Yang Su died, Gao Jiong was in danger.
So Yang Ming guessed that next, his father would find a reason to kill Gao Jiong. Even if Gao Jiong didn't leave the door, he would be idle.
Little do they know that when people sit at home, disaster will come from heaven.
At the court meeting on this day, someone at the Yushitai sued Gao Jiong, saying that he had slandered the court.
What are you slandering? Of course it is about the two projects of Tokyo and the canal. It is not a false accusation, because Gao Jiong has always been opposed to these two national policies, not against the route, but against the steps.
At present, Yang Guang has inherited the rich fortune left by Yang Jian. This fortune was accumulated bit by bit by the veterans who assisted Yang Jian throughout the founding period.
As a person who experienced it personally, Gao Yan naturally couldn't see Yang Guang being so extravagant and wasteful, and his dissatisfaction was also reported to the court.
Yang Guangda was angry and immediately punished Gao Jiong.
Fortunately, at this time, many of the elders in the central court were former ministers of the founding emperor. Not to mention Su Wei Niu Hong, Yang Xiong, Yang Hong, Yang Zhiji, He Ruobi, Long Live Shi, etc. all stepped forward to replace Gao Jiong. plead.
Obviously, with so many people coming forward to protect Gao Qiong, Yang Guang cannot move him. Only by dividing these people step by step can he have a chance.
But punishment is definitely inevitable. The person responsible for punishing Gao Jun is Yang Ming. The punishment is twenty lashes. Yang Ming carries out the punishment himself, while someone from the provincial capital is watching.
At Gao Jun's age, he would definitely not be able to withstand twenty whips, and he might even die from his injuries. There were still courtiers who advised him, but they were all scolded bloody by Yang Guang.
And Yang Ming's performance today almost made Yang Guang angry to death.
He refused.
"Dugu Gong is a meritorious official of the country and a good prime minister of the country. He has been in power for twenty years and has been convinced by both the government and the public. There is no objection to everything and the government has brought peace. Emperor Gaozu has cited him as a good minister from heaven. This is just a mistake in words. It is not the case. I hope my father will learn from it. .”
After saying that, Yang Ming knelt down and put his forehead on the ground.
At the same time, Niu Hong also planned to come out, but was held back by Su Wei.
Su Wei knew in his heart that at this time, Yang Ming could only take the lead. No one else could help. Help would harm him and would be considered a clique.
The reason why Yang Ming was willing to take such a big risk was because he knew that Gao Jiong could not withstand twenty lashes.
He didn't want Gao Jiong to die.
Because there is a saying in history that Gao Jiong's death was an important node in the transition from prosperity to decline in the Sui Dynasty. If this person is used well, it will bring peace to the world.
It's a pity that he is not as flexible and flexible as Yang Su, so he is destined to be rejected by Yang Guang.
Yang Guang, who was on the throne, was extremely angry at this moment. He did not expect that his son would dare to embarrass him in the court.
Are your wings so stiff that you don’t even listen to my words?
Yang Guang's face was expressionless and he said in a deep voice: "Why are you so protective of Gao Jiong?"
"For the sake of my father, for the country, for the world," Yang Ming kowtowed.
"Haha..." Yang Guang said with a smile: "What a man who serves the king, the country and the world. Do you mean that if I punish Gao Jiong, then I am a coward? Is the general of the country not the country?"
As soon as these words came out, many people couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
Many people believe that King Qin was indeed reckless today. At this critical moment when the crown prince is still unknown, how can you confront the emperor like this? Don’t want to be a prince anymore?
When Yang Jian saw this, he was also hesitating in his heart. Should he add insult to injury and take this opportunity to stab the third child in the back, or should he save the third child first and then plan for his funeral.
After thinking about it, he felt that nothing could happen to the third child yet, so he stood up and said:
"Father, the child thinks..."
"Shut up!"
Yang Guang really thought that the second brother was going to stab him in the back, so he hurriedly stopped him because he didn't intend to punish the third brother. But if the second brother stepped forward and added fuel to the fire, I'm afraid the brothers would break up immediately.
"I didn't ask you," Yang Guang said coldly.
With an embarrassed look on his face, Yang Jian retreated to his original position and bowed his head in silence.
At this time, Yang Guang continued to look at Yang Ming and said in a deep voice: "If you give me a justifiable reason, I will spare Gao Jiong."
As soon as these words came out, Su Wei and others breathed a sigh of relief. It was obvious that this was a step for King Qin.
Yang Ming raised his head and said: "Gao Jun's crime is that he is conceited and narrow-minded. He is conceited about his talent and has no vision. The Tokyo Canal is all part of our Sui Dynasty's thousand-year plan. He cannot understand the civil and military strategies of his father. A person who is narrow-minded, dissatisfied with being treated coldly, and even makes slanderous remarks in the court. This person is guilty, but I believe that his crime is not enough to offset his merit, and I hope my father will be merciful."
At this time, everyone's eyes turned to the emperor again to see how he would respond next.
It is undoubtedly a very interesting thing for me to fight against my son.
Yang Ming's words meant to belittle Gao Jun, but they were actually giving Yang Guang a step up. Yang Guang also knew in his heart that in terms of governing ability alone, Yang Su was not as good as Gao Jun.
If it weren't for Gao Jiong not taking him seriously, he would not be willing to abandon such a talent.
Lao San, Lao San, you are really willing to go out of your way for Gao Jiong.
Yang Guang was silent for a long time, and finally, under the expectation of everyone, he slowly spoke:
"Since you tried your best to protect him, then you should take these twenty lashes for him."
This time, both father and son's face was saved, and no one was able to step down.
The courtiers knelt down one after another and begged the emperor to forgive King Qin. Yang Jian looked at the court where the people were kneeling and felt lost. His knees softened and he knelt down too.
"You don't need to say more, let King Qin be punished here," Yang Guang said, winking at Gao Ye, who quickly summoned two guards.
Yang Ming took off his crown, took off his upper body robe, and knelt down to be punished.
The two guards were not fools either. The torture was based on the person, and the person they were beating was the emperor's own son. No one dared to hit hard, because one day they might retaliate, and they would have to finish the game.
Of course, Yang Guang would not let anyone hit him hard. What if he was disabled?
He was angry because his own son was embarrassing him, but if he thought about it carefully, he was indeed in a hurry. If he wanted to kill Gao Jiong, it seemed that he had to take his time.
Twenty whips came off, and Yang Ming lay on the ground, unable to move at all. He felt pain all over his body when he moved his fingers.
This fucking hurts too much. No wonder Yang Yue was unable to go to court in order to avoid Yang Lihua's whip, and he didn't dare to let people know that his injury was healed.
Only by experiencing it personally can we understand Yang Yue's difficulties that day.
Either he was a favorite to protect his son. Seeing this, he quickly took off his robe, covered Yang Ming, knelt down and begged:
"The King of Qin has been punished. Your Majesty, please call the imperial doctor quickly."
Yang Guang was also distressed and waved his hand:
"Take it to the Imperial Medical Office for treatment. Let's disperse the court..."
.......
After hearing the news, Queen Xiao immediately ran to Liangyi Hall and cried.
"Fine, you might as well beat him to death, then exile the second child and cripple me..."
Yang Guang said angrily: "What do you know? Your good son dared to prevent me from coming to the stage at court. I just gave him twenty lashes as a small sign of punishment. If I don't punish him now, he will go beyond that." Be more and more arrogant."
"What crime is he guilty of?" Queen Xiao said hoarsely: "He just said a few words for Gao Jiong. If he can't say anything, then you can just cut out his tongue."
"You..." Yang Guang was too lazy to explain to her. In his eyes, the queen was a short-sighted woman, so he greeted her:
"Go, go, please get the queen out."
No one dared to move, so Gao Ye quickly lowered his head and pretended not to hear.
"If you really want to beat him up, we, mother and son, will go to Zhongnan Mountain and find a secluded place to practice so that you won't be an eyesore." After that, Empress Xiao angrily rushed to the Imperial Medical Office to visit her son.
Yang Guang looked helpless, grabbed the inkstone, threw it to the ground, and said angrily:
"With your two sons acting wildly against me, we are becoming more and more unruly."
What he said was completely angry. The Queen and he were a young couple and did not need to rely on anyone. In other words, Yang Guang was the Empress Xiao's biggest supporter.
Now that his eldest son died of illness, Yang Guang also realized that his heirs were few, but Queen Xiao did not plan to have any more children, so Yang Guang also had the idea of adding children.
The next son has to be particular about who he comes from. Mrs. Xiurong Chen Fei, Mrs. Chongyi Chen Ting, and Jieyu Wang Zhuoling are not good.
Because the queen was not happy, the queen was not happy, and her two sons would also use their brains, so they could only stay with the queen's concubine, that is, Xiao Concubine.
Concubine Xiao is Empress Xiao's dowry daughter and her concubine's younger sister.
Historically, Yang Guangyao's third son who died was Yang Ming, and his fourth son, Yang Gao, was born to Xiao Bi.
Yang Ming's help this time undoubtedly made Gao Jiong owe him a huge favor. After going to court, Su Wei thought about this and felt that King Qin was too scheming, just like Emperor Gaozu.
Yang Ming knew a long time ago that something would happen to Gao Jun if Yang Su died, so he had discussed it with Yang Lihua early, hoping that the other party could help protect him in the future.
But today, the situation was urgent and Yang Lihua was completely unaware of it, so Yang Ming could only bite the bullet and survive.
He also knew that it was inappropriate to do so, but he had no choice but to do so. The situation was pressing.
After getting the news, Yang Lihua also hurriedly entered the palace.
She knows Gao Jiong best, and she also knows that Gao Jiong has really contributed to their Yang family. It can be said that Gao Jiong is loyal and has outstanding achievements.
Such a person cannot be touched. Even if he is not used, he will be allowed to live in his old age. Otherwise, who else will be loyal to their Yang family?
"What do you think? Dugu is our retainer. He is old, how can he withstand the whipping?" Yang Lihua said with an unhappy expression.
Yang Guang closed the file and said in a deep voice: "He only has his father and emperor and mother in his heart, and he has never taken me seriously. I dismissed his official position, and he is still privately dictating my national policies. Do you think I can forgive him?" him?"
"He is too straightforward, but considering his loyalty, you can't punish him like this," Yang Lihua retorted.
Yang Guang waved his hand impatiently: "Sister, if you are here to scold me, please come back."
"You..." Yang Lihua looked stunned and froze in place.
