At the meeting of the Celestial Dynasty, Yang Ming brought up the Western Turks' request for peace and King Gaochang's request for assistance, and asked everyone to discuss it.
Hu Sizheng, the Minister of War, stood up and said: "Gaochang is a vassal state of our Sui Dynasty. Today we are in trouble. I think we should provide assistance. Of course, there is no need to send troops. Just send an envoy to warn Shekui."
Hu Sizheng is also an official of the N generation. He is from the Xianbei tribe and has a very close relationship with Yang Xuangan. His mother is the daughter of Mr. Wei, the third son of Wei Xiaokuan. Wei Yuancheng, Wei Kuangbo and Wei Yuanzhao are his uncles.
Historically, this kid rebelled with Xuangan and fled to Goguryeo after the failure. It was not until Yang Guang personally visited Goguryeo for the third time that Goguryeo handed him over. The end must have been miserable. His flesh was eaten and his bones were broken. Ash.
"If only it was that easy," Liang Bi, the Minister of Punishment, said with a smile: "She Gui can just say that he didn't know about the tribes invading the border of Gaochang. Maybe it was horse thieves who were raging. As long as he denies it, our The messenger’s journey was in vain.”
Hu Sizheng was stunned and speechless.
Yang Ming smiled and said: "Pei Ju did make a promise at the beginning, promising to give Shekui a princess to marry. If we send an envoy, people will probably hold on to this matter. After all, it will be true. But what Pei Ju means is, If the princess is not given a hand in marriage, what do you think of this?"
Liang Bidao: "Pei Gong's concern is very true. Since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, in dealing with the dangers in the Western Region and the North, we have always followed the strategy proposed by Chang Sun Sheng of making distant contacts and attacking closely, separating the strong and combining with the weak. At present, the Western Turks are strong and Gaochang is weak. Logically speaking, We should help, but both countries pay tribute and claim vassal status, so we can only mediate in the middle, and mediation depends on the opportunity, and the time has not yet come."
"I probably understand what Marquis Liang means," Cui Zhongfang, the leader of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said: "The so-called distant friendship and close attack, the Western Turks are far away and Gaochang is close, so Gaochang has always been in my plan of the Sui Dynasty. This place will definitely be our future. We have to take it, so this time it is better to sit back and watch the fight between tigers and wait until Gaochang is about to die, then we will have a good opportunity to take action."
Wei Xuandao, the Minister of Weiwei Temple, said: "In this case, the mediator still has to be sent, but it is just a formality to let Gaochang know that we have indeed contributed. If we are so perfunctory, the King of Gaochang may show some sincerity to us. .”
Yang Xiong, who had been silent for the whole time, frowned and said, "It's not a big deal to marry a princess. There must be a reason why Pei Ju chose to refuse the debt. I think that Pei Ju's intention is probably to hope that our Sui Dynasty will make a gesture and ostensibly agree with Shekui. In fact, he does not agree with the position of Great Khan, in order to prevent the countries in the Western Regions from surrendering to the Western Turks."
"King Guan is right to the point," Yang Ming nodded and said:
"She Kui's attack on Chu Luo was in conjunction with Tie Le. This is not a good thing for us. Tie Le has a blood feud with Chu Luo, but not She Kui. Pei Ju is probably worried that Tie Le will return to the West. Turks."
"If that's true, something bad is going to happen," Liang Pi said with a solemn expression.
Yang Xiong was worthy of being an important minister of the two dynasties, experienced and experienced, and said directly: "So we, the princess in marriage, should be married to Tie Le's Khan Bi Geling, so as to differentiate the relationship between Tie Le and Shekui."
"What a good plan!" Yang Ming nodded and said, "Maybe it can also provoke a dispute between the two families, which will ultimately be beneficial to me."
Yang Wang of Dali Temple said: "We are the upper court. We take the initiative to give the princess a marriage, but we are afraid of losing face."
"This is natural," Yang Ming said, "So we tried to get Qibi Geleng to take the initiative to speak, and we just followed the trend."
"How can we make him take the initiative to speak?" The ministers discussed one after another.
Yang Ming does have an idea here.
After a while, Yang Ming raised his hand to ask everyone to be quiet, and then said:
"There is a military advisor next to Qibi Geling who is highly relied upon. His name is Cui Zhen. He is from the Cui family in Qinghe. He was a former staff member of Yu Wenxin. This person is fond of the Central Plains and may be useful. Who among you has any relationship with this person?"
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Yu Wenying, the young minister of Guanglu Temple, and Yu Wenying suddenly felt dizzy.
Cui Zhen was an aide to Yu Wenxin, Duke of Qi, and Yu Wenxin was the second eldest son in the family. The eldest was Yu Wenshan, who was Duke Xu, and the third was Yu Wenkai, Minister of Industry.
Yu Wenying, the young minister of Guanglu Temple, is the eldest son of the boss Yu Wenshan.
"I have nothing to do with Cui Zhen. The prince knows clearly," Yu Wenying said quickly.
Yang Xiong couldn't help but laugh and said: "I didn't say you had anything to do with him, I just asked if you were familiar with him. Your second uncle's matters are all old things. What we are discussing today is business."
Yu Wenying said: "We are not familiar with him. I only know that there is such a person, and I have never even met him."
He is talking nonsense. His father is the eldest son. As the eldest son, Yu Wenying knows exactly who the second child’s staff is. Moreover, he has a good relationship with Cui Zhen. When Cui Zhen fled, his father Yu Wenshan Still tried his best.
But he will definitely not recognize this kind of thing now, and it is obvious that whoever is familiar with Cui Zhen will be sent out to contact Cui Zhen. I am not going.
So Yu Wenying said: "Don't look at me. I belong to the Cui family of Qinghe. Shouldn't I choose someone from his clan?"
As soon as these words came out, the pressure instantly came to brothers Cui Junchuo and Cui Junsu. The two subconsciously looked at each other, but Cui Junsu stood up and said:
"This person's younger brother Cui Yi is currently serving as a recorder in Jinyang. He may be sent as an envoy to Tiele to persuade his brother to conspire in this matter."
Yang Ming nodded and said: "If this matter is done well and Gu allows him to come to the capital to serve as an official, the Ministry of Personnel will immediately send a document to summon this person to the capital."
Cui Junsu was now the largest official in the civil service department. Hearing this, he accepted the order and stepped down.
When the court meeting dispersed, Yang Ming did not leave. Yang Ming said curiously:
"What? What's wrong with King Guan?"
Yang Xiong nodded, leaned over and whispered: "Wei Yuanzhao's wife Yang passed away last night."
Wei Yuanzhao was Mr. Wei's son and Hu Sizheng's uncle. His wife, Yang Jinghui, was Yang Yong's concubine. Wei Yuanzhao was implicated by his wife and was demoted to a commoner and was not allowed to serve as an official.
Yang Ming sighed: "How old is she this year?"
"Only twenty-eight," Yang Xiong also sighed: "I think it was caused by too much of a blow and accumulated worries. After all, he is of royal blood. Although he was demoted to a commoner, but what happened after his death, shouldn't we also send him away?" two."
Yang Ming had a deep impression of Yang Jinghui. After all, they were cousins and had been in contact with each other since they were young. There was no conflict between the two.
So he called Li Baiyao, wrote a eulogy in the name of the prince, sent it to Wei Yuanzhao's home, and prepared sacrifices to express his condolences.
After Yang Xiong left, Yang Ming sat alone in the main hall and meditated.
In fact, he has always felt that, in addition to Yang Guang's own excessive tyranny, there was another reason that cannot be ignored for the death of the Sui Dynasty, and that was the decline of the clan.
There is no one in Lao Yang's family.
However, the current father did not reuse the clan, but was somewhat alienated. The clan was unable to take power at the end of the Sui Dynasty, which was also an important reason why the Sui Dynasty was quickly disintegrated by various rebel armies.
Those who sincerely protect the Yang family and the country have to rely on people named Yang.
So after much thought, Yang Ming decided to write a letter to his father, asking Yang Jun's son Yang Hao to return to Beijing and take up the post of General Youtunwei.
Yang Jun died early and had no grudge against Yang Guang. There is a high chance that this matter can be done.
As for the younger ones in Yang Xiu’s family, it’s not easy to arrange because Yang Xiu is not dead.
You know, Yang Xiu has been the general manager of Yizhou for twenty years and has countless staff and followers. If Yang Guang releases Yang Xiu, it will be very harmful. If someone has the idea of rebellion, he will become another Yang Liang.
Yang Xiuke is much more courageous than Yang Liang. This person is the most courageous among the five brothers. Even though he seems to be honest now, it's all just an act.
After leaving the palace, Yang Ming went to Yang Lihua's home, hoping that the other party could host this year's spring outing, and preferably promote the marriage between certain Guanzhong aristocratic families and Shandong and Jiangnan.
The currently weak Guanzhong wealthy families can marry into Jiangnan, Shandong, but the powerful families such as Wei, Yang, Li, Pei, Liu, and Dou cannot.
This was also done to divide the Guanzhong Group, but Yang Ming could not say it explicitly, he could only hint to Yang Lihua. As for whether others would do it or not, he had no choice.
When returning to the palace, Yang Ming saw the sneaky Li Shimin outside the Suzaku Gate, so he immediately asked Chen Kui to seize the boy for questioning.
"What are you doing out of the palace?" Yang Ming asked: "At this time, Yang Rui is still studying, right?"
Li Shimin chuckled and said, "Let me tell you, brother-in-law, your Highness and I have asked for leave."
"What are you going to do on leave?" Yang Ming asked again.
Li Shimin smiled and said, "If I say it, don't scold me, brother-in-law, and don't scold eldest brother either."
Yang Ming was stunned, then frowned and said, "What does it have to do with Jiancheng?"
Li Shimin said: "Eldest brother was worried about my sister-in-law's health, so I ran back quietly."
Yang Ming's mouth twitched and he was speechless.
You are a prefect. You are not allowed to leave any place without the permission of the officials. You are so courageous.
Yang Ming said in a deep voice: "Get in the car and go to your home."
In Tang Guogong's Mansion, Li Jiancheng pretended not to be at home at first, and asked his mother Dou to go out to greet Yang Ming. As a result, Yang Ming said as soon as he entered the door:
"Call that idiot out."
Mr. Dou was stunned and glared at Shimin fiercely. He didn't need to guess to know that the second child had betrayed the boss.
Little bastard, let's see how I deal with you.
After a while, Jiancheng rushed to the front hall and paid homage to Yang Ming:
"Brother, let me explain."
"Explain what?" Yang Ming said coldly: "The Great Sui Dynasty Law is just a decoration? The official documents are all waste paper? Do you know that if you were to leave your post without permission, you would be punished if someone brought it to court? Dismissed and investigated."
Li Jiancheng knew full well that his father, Li Yuan, had played a role with Yang Jian regarding the affairs of Jinyang Palace, which offended Yu Wenshu and others, so his family had enemies in the court.
"I was too impatient," Li Jiancheng said with an embarrassed look: "My daughter was born, but as a father, I couldn't meet her. I couldn't sleep all day and night in Xiangcheng, so I couldn't hold it back and ran away. came back."
Yang Ming could understand this, but leaving one's post without permission would be fatal if it happened during a war, so in times of peace the door must be tightly closed and no one should be allowed to violate it.
"I miss you this time because I miss you so much. Let me let you go and tell the public that I asked you to come back." Yang Ming kicked over a chair, pointed at Jiancheng and angrily said:
"Next time, I'll take your head."
Jiancheng was shocked and nodded hurriedly: "Don't worry, brother, I won't do this again."
(End of chapter)
