Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1761 The way to break the situation!

After listening to Chen Mingyang's conclusion, Murong Yuliang pondered for a moment and then nodded slightly.

He had met Zhang Mang before when he was in Yijing, so today wasn't their first meeting; strictly speaking, it was their second.

However, the two had crossed paths at work. The Ministry of Justice, as an official government office, provided guidance to the Jiangnan and Huainan Provincial Surveillance Commissions, and some official documents and letters were signed by Zhang Mang. Therefore, Murong Yuliang had some understanding of Zhang Mang.

He knew Zhang Mang was a capable official; otherwise, he wouldn't have received Murong Qingwu's tutelage. Murong Qingwu had invested tens of thousands of taels of silver in him. Ten thousand taels of silver was not a small sum for Murong Qingwu. Murong Qingwu was not An Miaoyi; she didn't have the political power to protect so many of her businesses. Ten thousand taels of silver was enough for her businesses to earn for more than half a year.

Moreover, Zhang Mang later gained Ye Mingsheng's appreciation through his own abilities and seized the opportunity when Cui Zibo got into trouble to become the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

Therefore, in her daughter's past letters, Murong Qingwu highly praised Zhang Mang, believing that Zhang Mang could become a great asset to the Murong family.

Therefore, Murong Qingwu had discussed this with her father, suggesting that one of the Murong family's eligible sons marry Zhang Mang's daughter, or vice versa. This would create a deeper bond through marriage, ensuring everyone was on the same page, sharing both prosperity and adversity.

Although Murong Yuliang didn't know much about Zhang Mang at the time, out of trust for her daughter, she discussed the matter within the family to see which side of the family had children of marriageable age who were willing to form a marriage alliance with Zhang Mang.

After careful selection, one of the suitable candidates was Murong Yingkui, the eldest son of Murong Hui, the governor of Liaoyang, and the grand-nephew of Murong Yuliang. However, the problem was that Murong Yingkui's mother, Cao, was unwilling to let her son marry Zhang Mang's daughter. Cao herself came from a prestigious family in Guanzhong and had married into a powerful family like the Murong family. Therefore, she was quite concerned about social status and looked down on those from humble backgrounds.

Moreover, Cao felt that although Zhang Mang had some talent, his foundation in the court was not deep and his potential was limited. It would be difficult for him to enter the cabinet in the future, so he could not provide much help to her husband Murong Hui and son Murong Yingkui in their official careers.

Therefore, Cao was firmly opposed to this marriage. Cao wanted her son to marry a member of the Ye imperial family to strengthen the connection with the Ye imperial family, or to marry Gu Sansi's eldest daughter, Gu Qianqian, so that he could benefit from Gu Sansi's influence.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Cao Shi looked down on Zhang Mang's daughter. After being rejected by Cao Shi, Murong Yuliang had no choice but to look for a suitable candidate from the collateral branches of the Murong family to form a marriage alliance with Zhang Mang's family.

If they were to choose from the collateral branches, there would be even more candidates, but Murong Qingwu rejected these choices before even discussing them with Zhang Mang.

Looking at these candidates from collateral branches, Murong Qingwu was furious. In her view, Zhang Mang was her chosen one, now serving as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. No matter how you looked at it, the Murong family should have given him the respect he deserved. The fact that they were using a collateral branch for a marriage alliance was absurd; it was fortunate they hadn't told Zhang Mang yet. If he found out, he might very well turn against them…

Although she was very angry, in order to change her sister-in-law Cao's mind, Murong Qingwu personally wrote a letter to Cao, hoping to persuade her to agree to the marriage and completely bind Zhang Mang to the Murong family.

However, Cao's attitude was firm, and Murong Qingwu could not change her sister-in-law's mind. She had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​gaining an important helper for the family.

At the time, Murong Yuliang did not have much regret about the failed marriage. He only promoted the matter within the family out of consideration for his daughter's idea. In fact, his own thoughts were the same as Cao's. He did not think that Zhang Mang could bring much help to the Murong family. He even thought that Zhang Mang was a chicken rib, tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away.

However, Murong Yuliang now regrets his decision. Having seen countless people in the gambling world, he can tell from their brief interaction that Zhang Mang is a typical political opportunist.

Zhang Mang wasn't truly committed to helping the Murong family overcome this crisis. He was merely going through the motions, only trying to appease Murong Qingwu. Yu Liang even suspected he had some ulterior motives in mind…
Although she found Zhang Mang's behavior utterly despicable, Murong Yuliang still felt a pang of regret when she thought back to the previous marriage alliance. If Murong Yingkui had actually married Zhang Mang's daughter, with that kinship ties, Zhang Mang would undoubtedly have gone all out in this matter, which would have greatly increased the chances of the Murong family surviving this crisis.

Having gained Murong Yuliang's trust and become his advisor, Liu Mingyang was quite adept at understanding Murong Yuliang's inner thoughts.

Although Murong Yuliang didn't say anything at this moment, Liu Mingyang could still guess what Murong Yuliang was thinking from his regretful expression.

After hesitating for a moment, Liu Mingyang said softly:
"If Young Master Yingkui had married Zhang Mang's daughter back then, with such a kinship relationship, the court probably wouldn't have sent Zhang Mang!"

Upon hearing this, Murong Yuliang shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. How could he have forgotten this? If Murong Yingkui really married Zhang Mang's daughter, then according to the rules of the court, Zhang Mang could not possibly serve as the imperial envoy this time. If it was not Zhang Mang, then it would most likely be someone else from the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, or the Censorate. Cui Shao had a stronger influence over these people, which was undoubtedly a more unfavorable situation for him!

Relatively speaking, Zhang Mang's arrival in Jiangnan as an imperial envoy was already a relatively good situation!

After figuring this out, Murong Yuliang directly asked Liu Mingyang:

"Now that you're famous, do you have any solutions to break this deadlock?"

After carefully considering his words, Liu Mingyang said:
"Master! I believe the most urgent task is to stabilize Tian Yu, Yin Xiang, and Zhang Baoping. We absolutely cannot allow any trouble from them..."

Seeing Liu Mingyang's serious demeanor, Murong Yuliang was somewhat surprised. After pondering for a moment, he said:
Do you think those three will cause trouble?

Liu Mingyang nodded without hesitation and said, "Actually, the root of this case lies with Sun Wenheng. If Sun Wenheng hadn't run away and we had caught him, things would have been much easier. But he ran to Southeast Asia, and that's when things got to a standstill!"

"My lord, you've discovered those three spies and undercover agents in the Command and Control Department and the Imperial Guard over the years. You're also very cautious, so those three haven't found anything!"

"So as long as Lord Tian Yu, Lord Yin Xiang, and Lord Zhang Baoping can stand on the same side as you, and keep the same story, I guarantee that the Internal Security and the Joint Investigation Department will not be able to find anything!"

Seeing Liu Mingyang speak with such certainty, Murong Yuliang became even more suspicious. Of course, he understood the importance of Tian Yu, Yin Xiang, and Zhang Baoping, but he felt that these three were people he had personally promoted, and they were usually loyal to him. Moreover, the three of them had received a lot of benefits and were on the same boat as him, the governor of Jiangnan. If something happened to him, the three of them would definitely suffer. Therefore, in Murong Yuliang's view, it was impossible for these three people to betray him.

But seeing Liu Mingyang's serious expression, Murong Yuliang felt a pang of worry. After a moment of contemplation, he asked in return:
"Do you think those three will betray me?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mingyang immediately wanted to say something, but before he could utter a sound, he hesitated for a moment as if he had some concerns before speaking:

"My lord, I believe that in the current situation, we must prepare for all possibilities. After all, it's always better to be safe than sorry..."

Having noticed the change in Liu Mingyang's expression, Murong Yuliang immediately echoed his words:
“Mingyang, it’s just the two of us in this room! Just tell me directly who you suspect and why!”

Seeing that Murong Yuliang was being so direct, Liu Mingyang seemed a little uncomfortable, but after a moment of silence, he still said a name.

"Tian Yu! Lord Tian!"

If Murong Yuliang was only somewhat surprised when Liu Mingyang warned him to be wary of Tian Yu, Yin Xiang, and Zhang Baoping, then hearing Liu Mingyang say that the most likely person to betray him was Tian Yu, the Provincial Governor of Jiangnan, was utterly astonishing to Murong Yuliang.

Murong Yuliang, the governor of Jiangnan, had five high-ranking officials under his command: Tian Yu, the provincial treasurer of Jiangnan; Liu Yufeng, the provincial inspector of Jiangnan; Wei Gaojie, the provincial treasurer of Huainan; Yin Xiang, the provincial inspector of Huainan; and Zhang Baoping, the prefect of Lin'an.

Among these people, Tian Yu, the Provincial Governor of Jiangnan, was arguably the one with the most power and the one most trusted by Murong Yuliang!
Jiangnan is undoubtedly the wealthiest region in the Great Qian Dynasty, and its people feel a great sense of superiority, believing that people from other places are beggars in Jiangnan, only receiving a meal if the people of Jiangnan are in a good mood. This mindset naturally breeds xenophobia...
Therefore, local officials in Jiangnan are very united, sharing the same ideals and supporting each other. The imperial court is not stupid and naturally cannot sit idly by and ignore their behavior. In order to prevent these people from turning Jiangnan into an uncontrolled independent kingdom, the more united they are, the more the imperial court will try to get them involved. During the Great Zhou Dynasty, there was a tradition of transferring officials from other places to serve in Jiangnan.

This Tian Yu was a piece of sand mixed in by the Luo'an court back then, and he was a rare official from Guanzhong in the entire Jiangnan region.

As a government official appointed by the Luo'an court, Tian Yu, who was the prefect of Kuaiji before the Luo'an court fell, was somewhat ostracized in Jiangnan. However, everyone was still polite and friendly on the surface.

However, after the fall of the Luo'an court, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. These local officials in Jiangnan had no more scruples and openly ostracized Tian Yu, their colleague. Even some of Tian Yu's subordinates no longer took him seriously. This period was also considered the lowest point in Tian Yu's life. Just when he was about to give up and was preparing to resign, a man appeared who would change his life!

This man was Murong Yuliang, who was appointed by Ye Mingsheng as the governor of Jianghuai. At that time, Murong Yuliang, who had received strong support from Ye Mingsheng, was also preparing to make a big splash in Jiangnan in order to complete the mission assigned to him by Ye Mingsheng. His first target was the personnel issues in Jiangnan.

Having learned from his failure in Huainan, and to ensure the flawless execution of his orders while Jiangnan was firmly under his control, Murong Yuliang's first action in Jiangnan was to replace some key positions with his own people…

As the most powerful position under the Governor of Jianghuai, the position of Jiangnan Provincial Administration Commissioner required careful selection from among more than a dozen candidates. In the end, Murong Yuyang chose Tian Yu.
The reason Tian Yu was chosen was not because of his talent!
In fact, in terms of talent, Tian Yu is not outstanding, and is even rather mediocre!

There are two reasons why he was truly chosen by Murong Yuliang!

First point

Murong Yuliang and he were both from Guanzhong; they were from the same hometown!

Second point

Murong Yuliang and Tian Yu passed the imperial examination in the same year; they were born in the same year.

Third point

After Murong Yuliang took power, Tian Yu immediately came to pledge allegiance, stating that he would follow Murong Yuliang's lead and do whatever Murong Yuliang said.

Before the defeat in Huainan, Murong Yuliang valued ability highly, believing that no matter how good the relationship, no one could be promoted without competence. However, after the failure in Huainan, his views changed. He realized that even the most capable person was useless if they were disloyal, disobedient, or disobedient.
Therefore, at this moment, Murong Yuliang, who was serving as the governor of Jianghuai, decided to promote Tian Yu, who had average abilities but was supported by the background of being a fellow townsman and fellow student.

After Tian Yu assumed the position of Provincial Treasurer of Jiangnan, although his personal performance was rather mediocre and he didn't have any particularly outstanding achievements, he, as he claimed, followed Murong Yuliang's every word, doing whatever Murong Yuliang said. This earned him Murong Yuliang's trust, making his position as Provincial Treasurer of Jiangnan very secure...
(End of this chapter)