Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 277 Joint Force
Wuchuan.

The envoy, holding the imperial seal, walked proudly on the official road, surrounded by many knights.

The scale of this ceremony was not as large as in the past, and the number of accompanying personnel was indeed quite small.

Zu Ting led everyone out of the city to welcome them.

He looked at the guard of honor in the distance, squinting his eyes slightly, and said to the scholars around him: "In the past, when the imperial court sent envoys, they always wanted to be surrounded by hundreds of cavalry and carriages like a long dragon. This time, there is such a guard of honor. It seems that the treasury is not very sufficient."

The scholars nodded one after another, all agreeing with Zu Ting's words.

It wasn't just the envoys from the temple who looked shabby. The lineup that went to greet them also looked particularly shabby. There was only one Zu Ting, and the rest were all subordinate officials. None of Tian Lu, Cui Chu and others were present. Even Wei Lu and others who came later were not among them.

Zu Ting called everyone together, took a few steps forward, and went forward to greet them.

The envoy sent by the court was Hu Changren's younger brother, Hu Changxing.

When Hu Changxing saw Zu Ting saluting, he quickly put away the smug look on his face. He hurriedly stopped everyone and quickly got out of the car.

"Grandfather, no need to be so polite, no need to be so polite."

Zu Ting can be considered a famous scholar at that time. No matter whether this reputation is good or bad, his fame is real.

When he became famous in Yecheng, people like Hu Changxing were still playing in the mud. As scholars, they did not dare to be rude to him. However, in terms of status, the other party now had the support of General Wei, so Hu Changxing still did not dare to show off in front of him.

Before setting off, his brother had told him countless times to treat General Wei and his subordinates with respect and not to offend anyone!

Zu Ting was helped up by the other party. Looking at Hu Changxing's slightly flattering face, Zu Ting showed a friendly smile.

He didn't like Gao Rui and Gao Yin, but he liked these good-for-nothings in the Hu family.

Needless to say, Zu Ting had long ago stopped considering himself to be a member of Qi, and he had even stopped considering Qi to be one of his own. They were already enemies, so naturally he hoped that they would get worse.

Hu Changxing lowered his head and said, "It's been a long time since we last met. Grandpa is still so strong. I admire him."

"Before I set off, my brother told me several times to say hello to my grandfather. I miss the days I spent with you."

Zu Ting laughed, "I also miss the time in Yecheng. When I was in Yecheng, Hu Gong and I could always have fun all night long."

The two of them began to exchange pleasantries and talk about the past, and the atmosphere became harmonious.

Hu Changxing then asked, "Is General Wei in the city?"

"If General Wei was in Wuchuan, how could he not come out to greet us? He is now in Shiya Mountain City, fighting against the Pseudo-Zhou, and he can't get away easily."

"I see. General Wei has made great contributions. It is touching for the country to have such a general."

Hu Changxing couldn't help but gently wipe away his non-existent tears.

He quickly took out the imperial edict from his arms and handed it to Zu Ting without any pretense. "I have great news. The court wants to make General Wei a king!"

"Be crowned king?"

Zu Ting was shocked. "Be crowned king?"

"How could this be possible? How could this be possible?"

Zu Ting hurriedly returned the imperial edict to the other party. "My general does not have such great qualifications. His military achievements are far inferior to those of Hulugu Guang, Baoxian and others. I dare not accept this imperial edict."

Hu Changxing was startled, and he quickly said, "The matter of being crowned king is based on merit, not seniority. General Wei has defeated Yang Zhong many times, crushed the Turks, expanded the territory, and now even captured Shiya Mountain City. Which general in the country can match such military achievements?"

Zu Ting had no choice but to say, "Let's go into the city first."

Hu Changxing had a lot to say in his mind. Everyone followed Zu Ting into the city. Hu Changxing stared at Zu Ting, feeling uneasy.

He was really afraid that the other party would reject the imperial edict.

Accepting the imperial edict would be a disguised recognition of the fairness of the government controlled by foreign relatives such as the Hu family.

If they refuse, the current alliance led by foreign relatives will probably fall apart.

Only with the name of Liu Taozi could Hu Changren openly compete with other members of the royal family.

He couldn't imagine the consequences.

Zu Ting pretended to know nothing and let Hu Changxing's hands tremble with anxiety.

Zu Ting led the other party to the villa of the government office.

Both the General Wei's Mansion and Wuchuan have undergone continuous expansion. The current General Wei's Office is at least four or five times larger than the small office in the past.

There were several soldiers standing at the entrance of the government office. When they walked in, they saw a long corridor that directly connected the entire mansion. They walked to the east and passed through two doors. Zu Ting slowed down his pace and said with a smile: "This place is called Dongtai. I am doing business here now."

"Look, the decorations here are pretty nice, aren't they? I asked the craftsmen to make them, and those paintings, you see, were all painted by me."

Zu Ting introduced them to Hu Changxing enthusiastically, but Hu Changxing was in no mood to look at them.

He was just afraid that he could not complete his brother's order, so he looked around perfunctorily and nodded, "Okay, very good, everything is very good."

No matter what Zu Ting said, he nodded in agreement.

The two men walked into the house, and Zu Ting was about to introduce his collection of books to him. Hu Changxing wanted to cry but had no tears, so he hurriedly grabbed Zu Ting's hand again.

"Grandfather, you must accept this imperial decree."

Zu Ting was stunned and asked in astonishment: "Why?"

"This, this is a gift from your majesty, how can I not accept it?"

"Oh? Not accepting it is treason?"

"No, no, Grandpa misunderstood!"

Hu Changxing was sweating profusely. He was about to explain, but Zu Ting smiled and pulled him to sit down.

The two sat inside the house and someone brought them tea.

Zu Ting explained: "We are temporarily banning alcohol here, so let's have tea first."

"Prohibition of alcohol??"

"Yes, the prohibition order was just issued at the beginning of the year."

Zu Ting licked his lips, his eyes full of helplessness. Hu Changxing pandered to him, "How can you blame all the bad things on the wine? Who suggested this?"

“That’s my suggestion.”

"what??"

Hu Changxing looked at the man in front of him. This man couldn't live without alcohol. In Yecheng, where drunkards were everywhere, he was considered a big drunkard. You issued a prohibition order? ?
Zu Ting's face became solemn. "Grain is already insufficient, but a lot of it is spent on brewing wine. Officials gather together to drink and do not do their jobs. Soldiers gather together to drink and fight and cause trouble."

"So I suggest that General Wei temporarily abstain from alcohol and wait until there is enough food before releasing it."

"I see."

Hu Changxing held it in for a long time before he said, "My ancestors were devoted to the world."

Zu Ting looked at him and said, "Your decree is actually nothing. A prince or a duke, after all, is not that important if they have the power to establish a government."

"If your brother wants to get General Wei's help, he must give something. Can you provide warriors?"

"Ah Samurai"

"Where's the food and grass?"

"us."

"ordnance?"

"This"

Zu Ting asked three times in a row, but Hu Changxing couldn't answer any of them.

It’s not that the government can’t even come up with this little bit, but it’s not up to Hu Changxing to decide whether to give it or not. He’s just here to run errands, and he still has to ask his brother about the specific matters.

Zu Ting couldn't help laughing when he saw the other party hesitating.

"No problem, no problem. After all, I have a friendship with your brother, and General Wei will not ask the government for anything."

Hu Changxing breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Grandfather."

"You can accept the imperial edict. I will persuade General Wei to accept it."

"But."

Hu Changxing perked up. Zu Ting said slowly, "At present, General Wei has already entered the Zhou territory. It is too far away from the imperial court. If we can set up a temporary station at the border, we can do it."

"The Northern Road Grand Office?!"

Hu Changxing jumped up again in fright, as if he had heard some memorable words.

This so-called Xingtai refers to the establishment of a temporary Shangshutai outside the capital. It has everything that the Shangshutai in the imperial court should have, and its rank is not low. This is almost like setting up another imperial court, and it is not hidden, it is setting up another imperial court openly.

In the past, Erzhu Rong, Yuwen Tai, Gao Huan,
This word has become sensitive.

Hu Changxing's face turned pale and there was more sweat on his head.

Over the years, Liu Taozi's power in the border areas has grown stronger and stronger, becoming more and more like a separatist force, and the government has been unable to control him.

Therefore, in Yecheng, people rarely talked about Liu Taozi and the threat he could pose.

As long as everyone pretends not to know, nothing has happened.

But many people actually understand that as Liu Taozi continues to accumulate power, what happened in the past will happen again sooner or later.

The several hundred years starting from the end of the Han Dynasty was an era of usurpers and powerful ministers, and they were countless.

Everyone seems to have gotten used to it.

Familiar events and processes are repeated over and over again, and it seems like they will never end.

In Yecheng, those people fighting for power and profit were not willing to consider Liu Taozi who was gearing up for action in the north.

The same was true for Hu Changxing. When Zu Ting openly expressed his ambition, Hu Changxing realized this.

No matter how hard they fight now, won't everything be in vain by the time Liu Taozi becomes powerful and goes to Yecheng?
Zu Ting smiled again and pulled him to sit down. "Don't panic. I'm not the governor of the Northern Circuit. I'm not asking for anything from you. I just want to talk to you about something."

"Just stay in Wuchuan for a few more days, and I'll take you around."

Looking at the timid Hu Changxing, Zu Ting narrowed his eyes again.

Whatever he wants, he will get it no matter what.

Before the other party arrived, he had just learned about a major event that happened in Yecheng. He didn't know whether Hu Changxing knew about it, but he didn't care.

The temple has begun to fall into complete chaos.

Then, I can't be too restrained. I have to release my ambitions appropriately when it's time to do so. I can also station troops and take back several large states in the north.

The Youyan soldiers are training very quickly. Next, it’s time to put the Dingji soldiers on the schedule, right?
Now is not the time to completely break off relations with the government. The government still poses a threat to us, but it is not as big as before. We can now enter the stage of tug-of-war.

Hu Changxing really wasn't in the mood to visit General Wei's Mansion, but he couldn't resist Zu Ting's kindness.

Zu Ting held his hand and in the following days they visited various places in the General Wei's Mansion and gave enthusiastic explanations.

“This is Xitai.”

"Lu Qubing, Lord Lu is in charge here. He has many people under his command, so the West Tower is the busiest and has the most people. All kinds of orders are executed here."

"Look over there, yes, that's the door. Go in over there and you'll reach the South Terrace."

"That's Cui Gang Cui Jun over there. You've heard of him, right?"

"He is in the South Terrace. Here in the South Terrace, he is just doing some trivial things like drafting."

"Come on, I'll take you to Beitai. It's the most fun there. Tian Zili is there. There are many criminals here, similar to the Censorate. Have you ever been to the Censorate in Yecheng?"

Zu Ting's passionate explanation made Hu Changxing even more afraid.

These eastern, western, southern and northern courts in General Wei's Mansion, aren't they the four offices of Menxia, ​​Zhongshu, Shangshu and Yushi in the imperial court?
No wonder they wanted to set up another office, it turns out they had already made preparations.

Zu Ting kept him for several days, but Hu Changxing became more and more afraid the longer he stayed. Finally, he found various excuses and left.

He didn't even formally hand the imperial edict to Liu Taozi.

However, this is also the consistent style of the Northern Dynasties, simple and rough.

After seeing off the envoy, Zu Ting summoned the other officials to the central courtyard, where Liu Taozi worked.

Liu Taozi's own office was not luxurious and was not much different from before, except that it was much larger.

Zu Ting did not dare to sit in the upper seat, but sat in the front seat.

Everyone walked in slowly, talking to each other.

Seeing where Zu Ting was sitting, Tian Zili's eyes flashed with some displeasure. Lu Qubing chuckled and shook his head, and Tian Zili didn't dare to say anything more.

Lu Qubing still holds a very high status in the hearts of these old people. After all, they were all benefited by him in the past.

Everyone in the general's mansion came one after another and gradually sat down in various places. Gradually, the empty office was filled up.

It really feels like all the officials attending court.

Zu Ting looked at the people sitting around him, and then asked the soldiers to close the door.

He slowly took out the imperial edict and showed it to everyone.

"An imperial edict has arrived from Yecheng, conferring upon General Wei the title of King of Pingcheng."

Except for a few civil officials who had already known about the situation and remained calm, the rest of the people were extremely shocked and started talking about it.

Of course, they were all very excited and happy.

As the lord's status improves, their status will naturally improve as well.

Everyone smiled and congratulated each other.

Zu Ting waited for them to finish celebrating with a smile, and then slowly said, "The second thing is that Gao Rui was killed."

"what?!"

At this moment, even Lu Qubing was shocked. He stood up suddenly with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Prince Zhao was killed? When did it happen? How is it possible? So suddenly?!"

It seemed that no one knew this news except Zu Ting.

Looking at the shocked people in front of him, Zu Ting slowly said: "The news is true. It is said that Gao Rui held Zhao Yanshen hostage and attempted to assassinate Hu Changren, Gao Yuanhai and others. As a result, the matter was leaked and he committed suicide."

Everyone still couldn't believe it.

A while ago, the two kings were ruling the country. The two wise kings were full of vigor and vitality, ruling the country without the emperor. How come Gao Rui was said to be dead in the blink of an eye? ?
What happened?
So suddenly? ?
"Gao Rui had previously dismissed and executed many people, and most of the court officials and nobles turned to Hu Changren and begged for protection."

"Hu Changren used them to occupy many important departments. He also skipped Gao Rui and others and directly issued an imperial decree to make General Wei the king. I think Gao Rui realized that power was about to fall into someone else's hands, so he fought hard. However, he trusted the wrong person."

There was unspeakable sorrow on Lu Qubing's face.

"The Prince of Zhao was a wise man. In the past, whether he was in the local area or in the imperial court, he worked hard to govern the country and made great contributions. How could he die at the hands of a villain?"

Cui Gang nodded, "What a pity."

Tian Zili asked, "How did Grandpa know about this?"

Zu Ting said calmly: "I have some friends in Yecheng, so Mr. Tian doesn't need to ask too much."

"Once Gao Rui dies, King Pengcheng will not be able to stop Hu Changren."

"The current lord owns a frontier fortress and has great reputation, but his official position is his biggest shortcoming."

"I think it is inappropriate for a famous duke like Duke Wei to come from Yecheng but have no official title to be conferred and can only participate in politics as a commoner."

"Therefore, I think we can set up a temporary office in Wuchuan, and let the lord serve as the Northern Road Grand Office!"

Liu Taozi can set up three Tai under his name, but as long as he does not fall out with the imperial court, he cannot really give them official positions. But if he has a temporary Tai, he can actually give them official positions, and the imperial court will not be able to say much.

It's fine for people like me and Lu Qubing, but for people of Wei Shou, Wang Xi, and Xian'an's level, we can't let them come to Wuchuan to be minor officials in the general's mansion, right? ?

Even if the salary is higher, it is still not justifiable in name.

Having a formal office can solve many problems, recruit many veterans, and most importantly, can legitimately intervene in many political and military affairs in the north.

The office suddenly fell silent.

Lu Qubing frowned and said, "Grandfather, I don't quite understand why you are telling us this?"

The establishment of the office is not decided by people in this industry at all. What's the point whether they agree or not?

Zu Ting grinned and said, "General Wei, how can you take care of these things? Only we can handle this matter."

"Everyone, I would like to join forces with many border officials to write a petition to request the court to set up a temporary office at the border and send a moral and wise person to take up the post. What do you think?"

"Okay, this fortress does need a mobile station. It's too far from Yecheng and the situation is complicated. This is the best. I'm willing to submit a petition!!"

Wei Shou was the first to support it.

Tian Zili also let go of some of his prejudices at this moment, and slowly said, "This matter is beneficial and harmless, and it will keep us from being controlled by villains like Hu Changren. I also agree to join the petition."

Lu Qubing smiled bitterly. He finally understood what the other person was thinking.

Is this a joint move to force the emperor to abdicate?
(End of this chapter)