It was half a year after Su Qi'an left Kyoto that he realized why Su Zhe and Su Tai dared to be so tough.
In just half a year, all the officials in Kyoto have been basically won over by the two kings, and their sides have been completely divided.
Even some of the aristocratic families below took the initiative to fawn over. This was forced by the situation. Within half a year, those who wanted to remain neutral and still wanted to wait and see were either suppressed for no reason, or were inspected because they were found guilty of corruption. exile.
In today's Kyoto, except for the central imperial city, everyone from the officials to the aristocratic families in Kyoto belongs to the two factions of Su Zhe and Su Tai.
Among these people, the three princes with the greatest power are undoubtedly the Su Zhe faction, headed by Zheng Yuan, the Su Tai faction, supported by the two princes Zhao Cheng and Sima Yue, and the remaining more than ten second-grade princes. , together with the six ministries of the DPRK and the Central Government, were basically in a half-and-half situation, each standing in line.
This kind of siding has not happened before, but it will never be blatantly divided into factions like it is now. This is tantamount to not taking Su Xuanyong seriously!
Su Xuanyong was still the Emperor of Great Liang and had not yet passed away. The internal fighting between his two princes and heirs in Kyoto was so serious that they almost broke out publicly.
The greater the power of the two kings, it will be detrimental to Su Xuanyong. If it is allowed to develop, and it cannot be controlled, it will directly force Su Xuanyong into the palace.
It is impossible for Su Xuanyong to be ignorant of this issue, but what he did was indeed a sense of turning a blind eye and laissez-faire. He even had the mood to take people to the Xishan Palace for hunting and fun. What happened in the past six months?
Su Qi'an looked at the piles of information compiled on the table. This information was collected by Sun Wen and Liu Meng, and was sent to the Hou Mansion by Xu Tangtang in the name of delivering food.
This method of delivering messages was implemented when Su Qi'an first had his own palace. Even if Su Qi'an left Kyoto for half a year, Xu Tangtang would deliver food regularly.
As time goes by, even if Kyoto's informants want to detect something, they can't find anything.
Sun Wen and Liu Meng were very happy to learn that Su Qi'an had returned to Beijing, but due to their status, they could not rashly come to the Hou Mansion to meet Su Qi'an.
They could only let Xu Tangtang say hello to Su Qi'an on their behalf. After Xu Tangtang handed the collected information to Su Qi'an, she sat on a chair aside very knowingly and did not bother Su Qi'an.
Most of the information collected is relatively superficial. As long as you put in the effort to investigate, you can basically know it. But if you want to go further and know the changes in the imperial city, you have to ask insiders, such as Confucius Wenxuan.
One of the two things Su Qi'an did when he returned to the Hou's Mansion was to send someone to ask Wen Xuan to go into the Hou's Mansion to speak. This was public. Su Qi'an was not worried about whether his actions would be monitored by Su Zhe and Su Tai.
From the subtle reminder Su Tai gave him, he knew that there was no need to hide the relationship with Wenxuan. He didn't want to cause too much trouble at the beginning.
But now, he is the direct successor of Wen Xuan, and he himself is a waiting person. In addition, with his various achievements and status in pacifying the war in Dongzhou, there is no need for him to cause any trouble.
Even Su Zhe and Su Tai dared to openly win over the ministers of the DPRK. They were from aristocratic families, so what did they fear?
While waiting for the announcement to arrive, Su Qi'an finally read through the intelligence clues in his hands one by one. He sighed that he was able to cope with the current urgent situation.
It is amazing that Sun Wen and Liu Meng can basically control the intelligence stations outside Kyoto. Su Qi'an knew that with the struggle between the two kings in Kyoto, they gradually developed from secret fighting to open fighting.
The ten main streets outside Kyoto are expected to be gradually forced by their aristocratic families to take sides. As long as they survive in Kyoto, even a small businessman cannot hope to remain neutral and watch the show.
Once their influence extends, their Yingbin Building will inevitably bear the brunt. In order to ensure their safety, Su Qi'an has to think about their future.
Su Qi'an's eyes flashed, and he was silent for a while. He seemed to have made some determination, and waved to Xu Tangtang, who was watching him silently and without saying a word.
Xu Tangtang jumped over and ran over. Su Qi'an said softly, "Tangtang, when you go back, tell me that it was my order to sell the Yingbin Building within a month and move all the stations from the ground to the underground." , all the intelligence personnel were broken into parts, the intelligence network was temporarily silent, the number of active intelligence personnel could not exceed 20%, and every exchange of intelligence had to be in single line contact."
Although Xu Tangtang is still young, only about fourteen years old, he has followed Sun Wen and Liu Meng to deliver information for so long. He cannot be said to be top-notch, but at least he is a veteran. He still has his judgment on the current situation in Kyoto.
Although she had already prepared for the worst, Su Qian's order this time still surprised her.
The two kings were fighting, and they knew it was powerful, but it wouldn't affect the outskirts of Kyoto for a while. Even if it did, she could understand the selling of the Yingbin Building, but she would move all the intelligence stations underground, disperse the personnel, and maintain a single line of communication. Is this a bit too cautious?
Even if the battle between the two kings affects the outside world, it shouldn't be targeted specifically at them.
On the periphery, they are not the only ones with merchants as big as Yingbinlou. They can be counted on two hands. Even if they are targeted, they can take advantage of the situation and submit. No matter which party they submit to, it will be more helpful for them to collect various intelligence. .
The most important thing is that from the establishment of the intelligence station to the operation for so long, no connection between them and Su Qi'an was found at all. If it was really discovered, the two kings would have taken them down long ago. Why? May tolerate their continued existence by default.
It was obviously running well, but Su Qi'an directly asked for it to be shut down, and it was also moved underground and all personnel were dispersed. This could indeed ensure that the intelligence network would not be destroyed, but the efficiency of the intelligence collected would definitely be greatly reduced.
When Su Qi'an returned to Beijing this time, they were still thinking about whether they should do something big to collect more useful intelligence for him.
But Xu Tangtang didn't understand that it could be shut down directly.
Seeing Xu Tangtang's puzzled expression, Su Qian said seriously, "Tangtang, I know you don't understand and think I'm too cautious, but you underestimated the internal fighting between the two kings. Since you dare to make it public, you are ready to tear it apart." A shameless day."
"Even I don't know what His Majesty is thinking now. I always feel that this is not as simple as imagined. The seizure of heirs in past generations involves imperial power, and the scope of influence is huge. The entire Kyoto will definitely be in chaos."
"So, in order to prevent the intelligence network from being destroyed, and to ensure your safety, this time, we will give in and show weakness temporarily. When everything passes, there will always be a chance to come back again. So, even if you don't understand, I hope you can implement."
Seeing the seriousness on Su Qian's face, Xu Tangtang also knew the seriousness of the matter. She said nothing more, nodded heavily and said softly.
"Sir, I understand. I will convey your order immediately and I will not let you down."
"Go, go. Remember, after the personnel transfer, I will say hello to the master. The three of you will stay in the Hanlin Academy. If you have any contact, just inform the master."
Xu Tangtang nodded solemnly, and then walked out of the side door of the Hou Mansion with the direct team members who were in makeup and delivering food.
Su Qi'an stood up, walked out of the room, and stood on a stone platform. In front of him was a pond. Fish were swimming happily in the pond, but Su Qi'an's face was a bit solemn.
He looked away from the front and murmured softly, "I hope my prediction is that I am overly worried. I hope Kyoto can be as stable as it is now."
Just as Xu Tangtang left, the announcement of the arrival of the propaganda came from the back.
Su Qi'an nodded, then strode around the pond and came to a pavilion, where Wen Xuan was standing.
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Wenxuan turned around, looked at the familiar figure, and walked quickly to greet him with a smile on his face.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Qi An, I didn't expect you to really come back and put an end to the war in Dongzhou. It's really amazing. I didn't disappoint you."
"The teacher was joking. It can be settled so smoothly. It must be considered that the right time, place and people are right. The students are just following the trend."
After a brief conversation, the two sat down in the pavilion. Wenxuan looked at Su Qi'an. He knew that Su Qi'an must have put a lot of thought into solving the mess in Dongzhou in the past six months, and it was definitely not as easy as the outside world said.
The news of Su Qi'an's early return to Beijing could not be concealed, and he did not hide it deliberately. Even the people in the city gradually spread the news.
The people in the city could all know that it was probably the two princes who were behind this.
When the two met, there was not much chatter. Su Qi'an went straight to the topic and asked about the changes in the imperial city in the past six months and what Su Tai had done to the Hanlin Academy.
Wenxuan had already anticipated these, and immediately informed them one by one. After Wenxuan's narration, Su Qi'an understood why the two kings dared to openly fight in Kyoto. It was all Su Xuanyong's connivance.
Less than a month after Su Qi'an left Kyoto and set off for Dongzhou, Su Xuanyong somehow changed his previous checks and balances on the two kings and instead handed some matters over to the two kings below.
In name, they were sharing Su Xuanyong's worries, but in reality they were decentralizing power to some extent, and in delegating some major military and state affairs, the two kings did a pretty good job, and they didn't have much inside information.
Even if someone was found to be implicated in him, he would be ruthless and should be dealt with and punished. It was the second king's ruthlessness that won Su Xuanyong's favor.
Therefore, later on, some major military affairs began to be slowly handed over, while Su Xuanyong stayed behind the scenes and was only responsible for reviewing what the two of them had done. During some free time, he began to play, relax and have fun.
As for Su Tai's embarrassment to the Hanlin Academy, it was actually not a big deal. He just wanted to get support from the propaganda.
Although the Hanlin Academy does not have great power, it has a very high reputation. It is a holy place in the hearts of scholars all over the world. If you get the support of the Hanlin Academy, it will greatly increase your reputation.
This advantage was of great help in seizing the throne. However, it was only that the propaganda always remained neutral and did not take sides, which made Su Tai a little resentful.
But because of the status of the Hanlin Academy, even Su Tai couldn't break up with him. Therefore, he could only throw dirty water on the Hanlin Academy from time to time in court discussions. These propaganda were all taken for granted. As long as Su Xuanyong was in power, these would not be the case. What a big deal.
