Chapter 245: Another Coup
The little emperor wondered:
"Xi Kangsheng? Are the Xi family father and son loyal ministers? I heard that the one who arrested the uncle of Qinghe Prince that day was Xi Nandang. How could they be loyal ministers?"
Yuan Ziyou was precocious and hardworking. He loved studying the history of his dynasty and had deep insights into palace coups.
Yuan Ziyou said:
"Xinan was searching for Prince Qinghe because his wife, Hou, was implicated in Hou Gang's treason case. He was only willing to take action after Prince Jiangyang promised to pardon his wife's family."
"And after the search for Queen Qinghe, Xi Nandang resigned and returned home. He felt guilty and resigned several times from being a Qianniu attendant. This shows that he still has moral principles in his heart."
Yuan Ziyou said again:
"In fact, during the coup d'état that day, Yuan Yi and Liu Teng only won by a narrow margin."
The young emperor Yuan Xu listened carefully, and Yuan Ziyou reviewed the situation over and over again, studying the coup d'état thoroughly.
He said:
"The key is Xi Kangsheng, the general of the Right Guard Army."
"The key to the coup lies in the position of the Guard General."
"This is an important position in charge of the imperial guards. When Yuan Yi wanted to take action against Prince Qinghe, he tried to control the position of the General of the Guards. However, Xi Kangsheng did not participate in the coup at the most critical moment, so Yuan Yi and Liu Teng could only use the palace people and some of the imperial guards they recruited to control the North Palace and the Central Palace."
"If the Prince of Qinghe had led the white-clad scholars to charge into the palace, the outcome would still be uncertain."
The young emperor nodded repeatedly. After Yuan Ziyou reviewed the situation, he found that the father and son of the Xi family were indeed loyal ministers.
But he said with a bitter face:
"But knowing this, I have no way to win over this father and son."
The young emperor now understood that just by virtue of his title as an emperor, he could not use any bargaining chips to win over the Xi father and son.
The reason why Yuan Yi and Liu Teng were able to control the court was that they cooperated well with each other.
Inside, Liu Teng controlled the emperor's seal, and outside, Yuan Yi controlled the Menxia Province.
The appointment of officials, after being drafted by the Menxia Province and stamped by Liu Teng, could be returned to the Shangshu Tai for execution. This was a complete court.
Just like what happened to Empress Dowager Hu and Prince Qinghe before.
The young emperor Yuan Xu had no supporters outside, and he had no people of his own within the province.
Yuan Ziyou also studied it for a long time. He knew that even a good cook cannot cook without rice, but this time he wanted to be a good cook.
He said:
"Xi Nandang is right beside Your Majesty. Your Majesty can show your affection and promise to pardon his wife's family, and perhaps you can win him over."
"As for Xi Kangsheng, I have a solution."
The little emperor said anxiously: "You and I are brothers, why don't you speak quickly!"
Yuan Ziyou said: "Buddhism."
“Buddhism?”
"Xi Kangsheng was a general who had fought in the southern expedition. He had committed many murders, so he converted to Buddhism in his middle age. While serving as the governor of Jingzhou, he built many Buddhist temples, which caused civil unrest in Jingzhou."
"If there is a Buddhist monk who can enlighten him, he will surely be able to be used by Your Majesty."
Yuan Xu was overjoyed and said:
"Where is the monk?"
Yuan Ziyou said:
"Among the eminent monks in Luoyang today, the most recommended one is naturally Bian Ji from Longhua Temple."
"Bian Ji?"
Hearing this name, the little emperor instinctively felt a little disgusted.
After the Xuanguang Incident, Empress Dowager Hu was imprisoned in the Xuanguang Hall. Except for some activities specially authorized by Yuan Yi, Empress Dowager Hu was not allowed to leave the hall.
Queen Mother Hu often cried in the Xuanguang Hall. Finally, under the persuasion of his wife, Hu, Prince Jiangyang agreed to Queen Mother Hu's request - she could summon Bian Ji to the Xuanguang Hall to preach.
After this incident, Empress Dowager Hu continued to cry and make a fuss, and finally got the right to meet with the little emperor.
Yuan Xu had seen this monk in Xuanguang Hall. He had also heard about the monk's magical powers, but he always had an indescribable disgust for this monk favored by his mother.
Yuan Ziyou knew that the young emperor had a general impression of Bian Ji. In fact, the young emperor was dissatisfied with his mother, Queen Hu, and took his anger out on the people around Queen Hu.
When Empress Dowager Hu was in power, she did not care about her son's feelings, she held the government tightly, and she also had affairs with many people. These were intolerable to the growing up little emperor.
The relationship between mother and son was not close to begin with, and a rift had already been left behind, which allowed King Jiangyang Yuan Yi to take advantage of the situation, sow discord, and kill King Qinghe.
Yuan Ziyou was well aware of the logic of power operation. He said:
"Your Majesty, you and the Queen Mother share the same fate. If you want to eliminate King Jiangyang, you must unite with the Queen Mother."
Yuan Xu thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the truth.
He and Empress Dowager Hu occupied the same ecological niche. As the empress dowager, Empress Dowager Hu could also represent imperial power.
Only when the two of them advance and retreat together can they prevent outsiders from taking advantage of the situation.
After understanding this, Yuan Xu said to Yuan Ziyou:
"Prince Changle, all of this will be arranged by you!"
-
The New Year's Eve banquet was no different from previous years, except that the protagonist of the banquet this time changed from Empress Dowager Hu to Prince Yuan Yi of Jiangyang.
Princess Chenliu came back from the banquet and took off her palace dress with the help of Lu Zhu.
Summoning the female historian ([ordinary female messenger]), Princess Chenliu said:
"Liu Teng didn't come to the banquet today."
The lady narrowed her eyes and said:
"It seems that the news in the palace is correct. Liu Teng is really dying."
Princess Chenliu nodded. The fact that Liu Teng did not attend such an important day meant that he was very ill.
After the Xuanguang Incident, Liu Teng's health deteriorated. At the last Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Liu Teng was carried to attend.
"Once Liu Teng dies, Luoyang will see changes again."
The female historian nodded. She was best at analyzing future developments from various materials. In the ruling alliance between Liu Teng and Yuan Yi, Liu Teng was actually the more important link.
Including the last coup, if Liu Teng had not decisively controlled the Queen Mother and the young emperor, King Jiangyang Yuan Yi might have failed and been executed.
It can be said that in name, King Jiangyang Yuan Yi had a higher status, but in the power structure, Liu Teng played a greater role.
Princess Chenliu said again:
"The worst thing is that Liu Teng has no heir."
This does not mean that Liu Teng had no successor. Liu Teng had many adopted sons and godchildren, many of whom were able to inherit his position as Grand Chamberlain.
However, Liu Teng did not have an heir who could command everyone, and as soon as he died, the positions in the palace would be divided up.
Princess Chenliu thought for a moment and said:
"I still need to find an opportunity to meet the Emperor's sister-in-law more often."
This is Princess Chenliu's professional skill of preparing for a cold situation in advance. Once Liu Teng dies, Empress Dowager Hu may be able to take power again.
After changing into comfortable undergarments, Princess Chenliu said:
"Princess Yongtai proposed to go to Songshan to become a nun, but was rejected by the emperor."
Princess Yongtai is the elder sister of the young emperor Yuanxu, but Princess Chenliu doesn't really care about Princess Yongtai. She just used this incident to say:
"My father and my royal brother both have palaces and royal temples in Songshan. Should I also go to Songshan to become a nun?" Lu Zhu and the female historian looked at each other. Becoming a nun was also an option for the princesses of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Once they became nuns, they would no longer be bound by the red tape of the palace. Another benefit was that they could leave Luoyang freely.
As for where Princess Chenliu wanted to go, everyone present knew it.
But Princess Chenliu rejected this idea herself:
"Forget it, Luoyang is more fun."
"It's all that damn thing's fault. He insisted on going to Hezhou, and I don't know when he will be able to come back."
Princess Chenliu was gnashing her teeth at someone, but she also knew that the situation in Luoyang in recent years was very critical. For Su Ze's future, she had no choice but to continue staying in the political vortex of Luoyang.
-
A certain heartless guy who was cursed by Princess Chenliu is now in the sage time after the "battle".
Lu Xiuning's whole body was soaked with sweat and she had fallen into a deep sleep.
Su Ze couldn't help but think of the other women.
Princess Chenliu is a lady from a noble family. Although she is also quite unrestrained, the temperament in her bones makes Su Ze irresistible.
Wild boars love to eat fine bran. It gives a sense of double physical and spiritual conquest, and it is also what Su Ze misses the most.
Princess Shouyang's memory had become very faint, and Su Ze could not even remember too many details. After briefly repenting for his scumbag behavior for a few seconds, he thought of Madam An again.
Perhaps because of her identity as a businessman, Madam An catered to Su Ze more often, focusing on exotic customs and submissiveness, which made Su Ze enjoy the taste for a while.
However, after Madam An became pregnant, Su Ze never touched meat again.
There was no way. After having tasted the good food, he no longer cared about the women presented to him by his subordinates.
Lu Xiuning has a different style. Every time it is a fierce "battle", it is obvious that this female general is the losing side.
This kind of fierce and primitive "hand-to-hand combat" can make Su Ze relax his mind, but every time he makes the bed, Lu Xiuning will crawl into the crack of the ground.
At this moment, the defeated female general's body trembled, and no one knew what she dreamed about. Su Ze stroked her hair and checked the news from Luoyang.
Liu Teng died faster than in history.
Su Ze’s judgment is the same as Princess Chenliu’s. Once Liu Teng dies, the political situation in Luoyang will change again.
There is no way around it. Coups are a characteristic of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and we have to experience it.
Su Ze was thinking about how to gain some benefits for himself in the new round of coup.
There is not much time left for the Luoyang court.
Su Ze knew very well that once the Six Garrisons were in chaos, the court would quickly lose control of the local areas and collapse at a speed no one could imagine.
All I can say is that this house is really too dilapidated, it just maintains its appearance. It will collapse if you kick it harder.
After the Six Garrisons Rebellion began, Su Ze's titles of general, imperial seal, and government office would quickly depreciate.
Now Su Ze had to spend a large amount of treasure to bribe Jiangyang King Yuan Yi to get the title of General Pingxi, and he also received a lot of criticism from the scholars in Luoyang.
After the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons, the court freely gave titles of generals such as General Zhenxi and General Zhengxi without any psychological pressure.
Official positions are not valuable, only territory and talent are valuable.
Of course, the righteousness of the court was still very useful for a long time. For example, before the Yuan family usurped the throne in the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi dynasties, they existed for many years under the names of Eastern Wei and Western Wei.
However, this is more symbolic than substantial. There are many descendants of the Yuan family, and even Xiao Yan has established several emperors of the Wei Dynasty, such as the one who was escorted to Luoyang by Chen Qingzhi to ascend the throne.
After much thought, Su Ze finally set his sights on something in Luoyang - the Ministry of Construction.
The General Administration of Construction established by Emperor Xiaowen was originally used to build the city of Luoyang.
From the very beginning of its establishment, this department was destined to be a giant super government office.
In fact it is.
Before Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, Luoyang had suffered from war and was a ruined city. The palaces of the Jin Dynasty were in ruins and the city was overgrown with weeds.
But when Emperor Xiaowen died, Luoyang City was already full of palaces and a super royal Buddhist temple such as the Mishutian Pavilion was built.
In addition to construction, the Chief of Construction also built weapons and armor for the hundreds of thousands of Luoyang imperial guards, and produced kitchen utensils and farm tools for the entire city of Luoyang.
How could Su Ze not covet such a government office?
From the report submitted by the female historian, Su Ze saw an opportunity.
Historically, Princess Yongtai did become a nun in Mount Song. In order for this princess to become a nun, Yuan Xu even ordered the Chief of Works to go to Mount Song to renovate the palaces and Buddhist temples of Emperor Xiaowen and Emperor Xuanwu in Mount Song.
Moreover, the Northern Wei Dynasty had a tradition of giving the craftsmen of the Commandery to royal family members as dowries or gifts for princes who came of age and were enfeoffed as fiefs.
What if Princess Chenliu could get a group of craftsmen from the Chief of Works?
Whether it was Liangzhou, Hezhou, Liangzhou or Longxi County, there was a severe shortage of experienced craftsmen.
Water conservancy projects in various places need to be repaired, the plank roads in the Qinling Mountains need to be rebuilt, and the dilapidated cities need to be repaired.
Even during the period of the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, craftsmen were not included in the scope of the massacre. If they were unable to defeat the enemy and had to retreat, even if the city was not destroyed, all the craftsmen in the city would be taken away.
The Great Wei's General Works Bureau now has 22,000 craftsmen. Of course, there are some fish in the water among them, but it is estimated that there are more than 10,000 craftsmen who are of poor quality.
But how to profit from the political stance in Luoyang and let the royal family reward these craftsmen to Princess Chenliu is the question Su Ze needs to think about.
Through Su Shun's report, Su Ze understood the conspiracy between Yuan Xu and Yuan Ziyou.
In Su Ze's opinion, their plan was too immature and would be unlikely to succeed.
The reason was that the young emperor had too few confidants. Even if Yuan Yi was eliminated, he had no agents in the outer court and could not control the court.
The same was true on the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time. After Liu Teng's death, Empress Dowager Hu launched a coup and regained control of the court, but the young emperor still failed to gain power.
In this case, the key still lies with Empress Dowager Hu.
Su Ze issued an order to the envoy in Luoyang, asking him to remind Princess Chenliu to visit Empress Dowager Hu more often during this period of time, so as to heat up the situation. This would allow her to gain the greatest benefit when Empress Dowager Hu regained power in the future.
-
In the second year of Zhengguang, on the tenth day of the first lunar month, in Huaishuo Town.
Gao Huan rushed back home in the snowstorm, and his wife Lou Zhaojun quickly closed the door, preventing the snowstorm from entering the house.
Gao Huan took off his felt hat and heavy coat. Lou Zhaojun asked with concern:
"He Liuhun, what's going on outside the city?"
Gao Huan said in despair:
"White disaster, it's a white disaster."
Lou Zhaojun also stood there in a daze.
White disaster refers to snow disaster, which is what the northern nomads call it. It is the disaster that all nomadic peoples fear the most.
Heavy snow covers the grassland, leaving livestock with nowhere to graze. No grass can grow on the grassland before the snow melts, and a large number of livestock will starve to death.
In the second year of Zhengguang, the year of Xinchou, a white disaster swept across the six towns.
(End of this chapter)