Before meeting Xue Huairang, Liu Chengyou did have murderous intentions, and they were serious. But after this conversation with Xue Huairang, Liu Chengyou calmed down. It can be seen that this Xue Jieshuai really does not feel that he has any sins, or he knows it in his heart, but the world is like this. If others can do it, why can't he, Xue Shuai...
He felt extremely depressed. In comparison, Xue Huairang's domineering behavior in front of him was not a big deal. After all, Liu Chengyou has seen many such people and such things.
To kill or not to kill, for Liu Chengyou, it was just a matter of a passing thought. But he couldn't help but seriously consider the consequences.
From Wang Shou'en to Bai Zairong and now to Xue Huairang, Liu Chengyou had suffered all the way and it was very uncomfortable. This time he really wanted to kill Xue Huai to kill the evil spirits hovering in this land.
However, Wang Shou'en could kill him "suddenly" and Bai Zairong could be demoted easily, but this was Xue Huairang, and he really couldn't be killed casually, especially with such a bright knife.
Liu Chengyou, whose mentality has calmed down, is hardly affected by emotions. Thinking about it carefully, this guy mentioned several times that he was appointed by Liu Zhiyuan. I have to say that it was definitely a good move for this guy to directly confess to Tokyo. No matter what the reason was, if Liu Chengyou killed him without authorization, he would be slapping his father in the face. Even if it was his own son, what would be gained by slapping the emperor in the face?
Even Liu Chengyou, a prince who is "at the height of his power", is good at killing Jiedu, and it is not easy to take on the responsibility. Not to mention, the current public opinion trend in the Tokyo court is not conducive to Liu Chengyou.
Of course, more importantly, he mentioned "Du Chongwei", which alerted Liu Chengyou. Du Chongwei is not just "Du Chongwei", he represents those towns in the Central Plains, Hebei, and Guan Dynasty that were newly attached to the Liu family in the later Jin Dynasty or appointed by Yelu Deguang in the former Fan Dynasty.
In the previous chapter, Liu Zhiyuan changed the name of his country and granted amnesty to the whole country. There is a saying in the imperial edict: All military envoys removed by the Khitan, down to the generals, will be assigned to their posts and will not be changed.
This is obviously a move to appease people's hearts and try to stabilize the powerful factions in those places. It had only been more than half a month. If Liu Chengyou killed Yidu, what would those people think of it? It would definitely have the effect of "monkeying", but it would just be vigilance and caution. We all belong to the local Jiedu. You dare to do this before the Liu family is firmly established. When you are firmly established, how can you still do it?
In particular, Du Chongwei, who was demoted to the Liao and Han generals, was the most responsible person and had the worst reputation. However, he was also the strongest in all the towns. Liu Chengyou had heard about this man's actions in Yedu to organize the army and defend the city with weapons, and he was now sensitive to it. Looking at the court's reaction, Liu Zhiyuan adopted a gentle and appeasing policy towards Du Chongwei.
If Liu Chengyou killed Xue Huairang and caused Du Chongwei to alienate the Han court and even rebel, then the matter would be serious. The Central Plains was plowed by the Khitans, resulting in a sharp decline in population and economic decline. On the contrary, the Weibo area was relatively intact. Not only did the population and taxes account for more than half of the country, it was still 30 to 40 percent. If Wei Bo is in chaos, the Liu family will never be stable.
However, even if Du Chongwei rebelled, although the problem was serious, it was not a fatal threat to the new Han Dynasty. Since the Liang Dynasty, dynasties have changed, and it is normal for Jiezhen to rebel against the central government. If the Du family rebels, they can just send troops to destroy them like Jin founder Shi Jingtang did when he defeated Fan Yanguang. The Khitans have all been driven away. How can they be afraid of Du Chongwei, who has lost his heart?
But as far as Liu Chengyou is concerned, if Wei Bo rebels because of him, it will not be worth it from any aspect if this hat is placed on his head!
As for whether Du Chongwei will rebel, Liu Chengyou is not sure at this moment, but after discussions with Wei, Guo and others, it is very likely that Du Chongwei will rebel. It would be fine if the court did not put pressure on him, but if pressure was put on him, such as asking him to move away, he would definitely rebel.
Du Chongwei is only a typical example among the various festivals in various towns. He is a unique festival among the universals and can easily affect other festivals. For example, Du Chongwei's "good brother" Li Shouzhen, the governor of the Tianping Army, and even Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing.
To a certain extent, Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing stood on Du Chongwei's side. Although these two commanders were heroes who fought against the Khitan, after Yelu Deguang entered Bian, they surrendered very simply and went to Bianjing in person. Meet...
Killing Xue Huairang is so troublesome. In other words, it is so troublesome to kill a local power to control the situation.
However, now that Liu Chengyou has reached this point, there is no reason to give up halfway? However, you can continue to do things, and you can continue to ask about sins, but you can't do it as you originally thought. You have to leave some room.
Liu Chengyou only wanted to spare Xue Huairang's life.
Having made up his mind, Liu Chengyou directly ordered: "After taking control of Longgang, seize all the treasures collected by Xue Huairang to replenish the treasury and military use. If any of the generals under Xue Huairang's command commit crimes and commit crimes, carefully screen them and capture them." Deal with it severely according to the law! Well...let Tao Gu take charge of this matter."
"Yes." Wei Renpu was a little surprised, but he responded quickly and then asked: "What about Xue Huairang?"
"What do you think?" Liu Chengyou asked.
"Declaring his crime to show His Highness's public spirit, we can seize his position and expel him from Xingzhou!" Wei Renpu expressed his thoughts.
Liu Chengyou thought for a moment and turned to look at him. Facing Liu Chengyou's gaze, Wei Renpu said softly: "The matter is now over. In dealing with Xue Huairang, His Highness may lose the moral integrity of the world, but he can still win the hearts and minds of the people."
Liu Chengyou understood in his heart that next, he should devote some of his energy to promoting his second prince.
"Let's do it!" Liu Chengyou decided.
The matter in Xingzhou was dealt with very quickly. Xue Huairang's old troops in Longgang City failed to make waves at all when faced with the Longqi elite and were easily controlled. Guo Rong and Xiang Xun identified those of their subordinates who had committed excessive crimes, and issued notices in the city detailing their crimes and beheading them in the city.
Tao Gu led his men to raid the Xue Mansion. These warriors were really capable of searching, and they had quite a lot of money, food, utensils, and silk. It took them half a day to check everything. Obviously, it was not only Xue Huairang's income from his tenure in Xingzhou, but also probably half of his lifetime income, which was intercepted by Liu Chengyou...
When Xue Huairang heard about it, he burst into tears and was in agony. He probably also realized that Liu Chengyou had no intention of killing him, so he kept shouting his dissatisfaction in the detention center. Obviously, Liu Chengyou's hand caused critical damage to him, which was extremely painful. Liu Chengyou really had no other way to deal with this existence that was like meat on a hob, other than physically destroying it. Out of sight, out of sight, he returned his family to Xue Huairang, and sent troops to "invite" his family out of Xingzhou.
It stands to reason that the people of Xingzhou should be happy and relieved that Liu Chengyou drove away the scourge of Xue Huairang, dealt with the evil officials and abolished the chaotic government. However, no, the reaction was not strong.
Liu Chengyou was surprised and asked a prestigious old man in the city. The man replied: "Today we have driven away Xue Jiedu. I don't know who will come tomorrow."
The simple answer made Liu Chengyou very emotional. However, facing the old man, Liu Chengyou found that he could not give him a positive reply.
When leaving Longgang, Liu Chengyou had something on his mind and felt a little depressed.
On the surface, the outcome of the Xingzhou incident seems to be the same, but in fact, the state affairs and the living environment of the people have not improved much. This was Liu Chengyou's impromptu idea. Even if he dealt with people like Xue Huairang, it would not be a thorough investigation and would leave residual harm. For example, Liu Chengyou did not spend any energy to deal with the subordinates who were appointed by Xue Huairang as county and town officials.
One, there is no time. Between the two, governing Xingzhou will be of no use to the world. Moreover, as long as he changes to a new governor, or takes up a new state official, and repeats Xue's bad policies, no matter what Liu Chengyou does at this time, it will be in vain, and it will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause.
This is not a Xingzhou problem, nor is it a Xue Huairang problem. It is the country that is sick and the world that is bad. However, it is not easy to change a country. Especially since he is not the one at the helm, so why bother?
In fact, what Liu Chengyou never wanted to admit was that he engaged Xue Huairang in Xingzhou to relieve the people from hanging on the side, and he also had some thoughts of becoming famous. Of course, he wanted to vent his inner emotions more.
He has been too depressed along the way. Coupled with his somewhat restrained and autistic character, he is very suppressed in his heart and has the urge to destroy the world. It's not even as "complex" as Wei Renpu and Guo Rong imagined, it's just that simple, and then it was bumped into by Xue Huairang. It can be said that Mr. Xue is a bit unlucky.
When passing by Mingzhou, Liu Chengyou was warmly welcomed by the regiment training envoy Yi Quanzhang, who was somewhat flattering and flattering, and also expressed his intention to surrender. And told Liu Chengyou the news that Xue Huairang took his family and part of his retinue south to Daliang, Tokyo.
It is not without reason that Yi Quanzhang is so courteous to Liu Chengyou. This person was Liu Zhiyuan's old subordinate. He was originally the governor of Shizhou under Hedong Jiedu. When Liu Zhiyuan left Taiyuan and went south to the Central Plains, he made a military and political adjustment to Hedong. While consolidating his old base, he also sealed Hedong officials in Daozhou all over the world. , to spread influence and strengthen control over states and counties all over the world.
Yi Quanzhang was appointed as the training envoy of the Mingzhou regiment. He had not been in office for a long time, and he had nothing to do with Xue Huairang. Xue Huai asked Fang to go north to occupy Xingzhou, and then he took Liu Zhiyuan's letter of appointment to Yongnian, the state city.
At that time, the battle in Luancheng shocked the world, and the general trend had turned against the Liu family. Yi Quanzhang was able to easily drive away Xue Huairang's remaining subordinates and gain political and military power. Then he formed a relationship with Xue Huairang.
Xue later asked Liu Zhiyuan to appoint an envoy to the Anguo Army, who was supposed to have jurisdiction over the three prefectures of Xing, Ming and Ci. However, he was unable to control Yi Quanzhang at all. There is always someone who is close and distant from others. As an old subordinate who followed the emperor, Yi Quanzhang was very confident when facing Xue Huairang. It didn't take long, but the two of them fought fiercely under the banner of An Guojun Jiedu.
This time Xue Huairang was cured by Liu Chengyou, and Yi Quanzhang was naturally happy. A banquet was set up to welcome Liu Chengyou. Of course, Liu Chengyou only ate vegetables and did not drink. Yi Quanzhang laughed along with him and kept flattering him in his words, praising Liu Chengyou for expelling Xue Huairang for eliminating a scourge for the people of Xingzhou. But seeing that Liu Chengyou's expression remained unchanged, he still couldn't hold back Daoming's appeal.
Taking aim at the position of Anguo Army's Jiedushi, his ambitions are not small. Of course, from Yi Quanzhang's point of view, Xue Huairang, an old man with bad luck, could rise to the occasion, so why couldn't he, an old minister of the emperor, do the same?
"I have said that the position of Jiedu in a town will not count. It will be decided by the officials and the ministers in the court." Liu Chengyou squinted his eyes slightly and said to Yi Quanzhang.
Yi Quanzhang has a characteristic, his nostrils are very big. When he heard Liu Chengyou's words, his nose twitched twice excitedly, and then two black holes appeared. Still smiling: "Your Highness is too modest. Half of the Han Dynasty is due to you. With your current prestige, you are the pillar of the country, and your Majesty must rely on you very much..."
"Hey!" Liu Chengyou raised his hand to stop him: "It's not good to talk nonsense like this. The Great Han Dynasty was conquered by His Majesty and his soldiers overcoming thorns and thorns!"
Hearing this, Yi Quanzhang nodded quickly: "The official made a mistake! The official understands!"
Glancing at Yi Quanzhang, Liu Chengyou silently gave him an "X" in his heart. In order to please Liu Chengyou for promotion, he really dared to say anything, but he was really not a smart person.
But he gave an "ambiguous" answer: "Yi Gong is an old minister of the emperor and a trusted general. Now that the country is initially settled, the surrounding areas are still unstable and disasters occur from time to time. He needs to be reused to defend the four directions. Xingzhou affairs, I will report to His Majesty when I arrive in Tokyo."
Yi Quanzhang obviously couldn't understand the other meaning. He immediately smiled and poured himself a drink: "Thank you, Your Highness!"
After a slight pause, Liu Chengyou looked at Yi Quanzhang: "I have some questions and I want to consult Mr. Yi."
Yi Quanzhang was a little surprised, but he quickly nodded and said, "Your Highness, please speak."
"Mingzhou borders Guangjin Prefecture, and is only a hundred miles away from Yedu. What's the situation at Du Chongwei's side now?"
Hearing what Liu Chengyou said, Yi Quanzhang seemed to be energized, and his nostrils opened subconsciously, as if something was about to be sprayed out. Seeing his reaction, Liu Chengyou pricked up his ears.
"Your Highness, Du Chongwei has tens of thousands of people at the moment. He is still recruiting troops and horses in Weibo and plundering food and grass. Although he has declared himself a minister, he is still doing his own thing. It is said that there are more than 50,000 soldiers in Yedu City, and they have enough food. For two years..."
Hearing this, Liu Chengyou's forehead suddenly condensed into a river shape. The situation seemed to be more serious than what he had heard before. However, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but wonder, is Du Chongwei so strong at this time? If it is true, then this person will be even more difficult to get rid of.
While Liu Chengyou was still contemplating, Yi Quanzhang leaned slightly toward Liu Chengyou and said in a low voice: "To be honest with you, Your Highness, the imperial court has given me a secret order before, asking my subordinates to monitor Du Chongwei's movements. It seems that Your Majesty has a deep interest in Ye. They are all very afraid and want to get rid of them!"
Hearing this, Liu Chengyou suddenly turned his head and stared at him, startling Yi Quanzhang. After staying for a moment, Liu Chengyou reminded him sternly: "How can you just bring out such military secrets and tell them casually!"
For a moment, Yi Quanzhang was a little embarrassed. But this person obviously didn’t seem to listen...
After passing Mingzhou, Liu Chengyou finally speeded up his journey south. When he reached Cizhou and passed Fuyang City, he encountered an episode.
Wang Jihong, the governor, was the same man who sold out his favors and killed his benefactor Gao Tangying in order to gain wealth and honor. He said shamelessly, "We, the villains, if we don't take advantage of the convenience and pursue wealth and honor, we will never achieve our goals in this life."
When he heard that Liu Chengyou had passed through Cizhou, he hid directly and went to Fenghuang Temple, an ancient temple with hundreds of years of cultural heritage in this county, to chant sutras, saying that he wanted to pray for the salvation of the people who died in Xiangzhou. The time chosen is also a coincidence...
After sending someone to investigate, they found out that Wang Jihong had heard about Xue Huairang's fate and was frightened. He felt that he was not much better than Xue Huairang in Ren Cizhou, so he went into "self-exile" to avoid being punished by Liu Chengyou.
Liu Chengyou was actually amused by this.
