Pengcheng, the county magistrate's mansion, and the side hall.

Cui Deben sat behind the desk, gently shaking the palm-leaf fan, while flirting at the two secret documents, with a serious expression, frown and full of worries.

Two secret documents on the case table were delivered to him one after another, and the contents of the letter rushed towards him like a roaring storm, making him at a loss, making him suffocated and causing him to fall into boundless panic.

The Twelve Lady wrote a letter. On the fourth day of the fifth month, the governor of the Junxiao Governor Na Yan, Yang Da died of illness on the way to the east. This was the fifth important minister of this dynasty and the fifth loyal minister of the emperor died on the battlefield of the Eastern Expedition after the Inner Historian Ling Yuanshou, King Guande Yang Xiong, Minister of War Duan Wenzhen, and General Maitai, the Grand General of the Left Guard.

The core institutions of the central government are the Shangshu Province, the Inner History (Zhongshu) and the Menxia Province. The leaders of these three institutions are the core members of the central government. Sikong Yang Xiong, the Inner History Ling Yuanshou, Nayan Yang Da and the Minister of War Duan Wenzhen are all core members of the central government. They work with the emperor to decide state affairs and determine the fate of Middle-earth. However, in the past four months, they passed away one after another. Middle-earth suddenly lost four highest decision makers and the emperor suddenly lost four strong men. This is simply incredible. Even in history, there are rare precedents, and the impact caused by this is even more immeasurable. It is no exaggeration to say that it directly affects the fate of Middle-earth.

The inner historian, Yuanshou, was the right-hand man of the King of Heaven, who assisted the King of Heaven to conquer Jiangzuo and made great contributions to the unification of the Central Civil Construction. Later, he helped the King of Heaven win the imperial rule. For decades, he has been both a teacher and a friend of the King of Heaven, and has been his absolute confidant.

Yuanshou came from the Yuan clan, the first imperial clan of Guanlong. The Yuan clan was originally the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After implementing the policy of sinicization, he changed his surname to Yuan. Today, the main force gathered under the Yuan clan among the Central Plains (Xianbei) nobles is the many old Xianbei nobles based on long history and noble blood inherited from the Northern Wei Dynasty. Their ancestors were all leaders of the large tribes. The ones who competed with them were the emerging Xianbei nobles who rose with military merits. They all gathered under the Yuwen clan and Dugu clan, because their ancestor Dadu town was garrisoned in Wuchuan, the six towns in the northern border, and moved in the Six Towns uprising.

Glorious, so it is also called the Wuchuan Group. The Northern Zhou Dynasty was destroyed, the Yuwen family fell, and the Dugu family became the leader of the Wuchuan Group. The Dugu family was an imperial relative of this dynasty. He made a lot of efforts in the process of inheriting the imperial throne today. The emerging Xianbei aristocratic group with the Dugu family as the core naturally won the trust of the emperor. However, relatives belonged to relatives, trust belonged to trust. In the reform, the Hanized Xianbei Wuchuan Group, headed by Dugu family, did not clearly support the emperor. On the contrary, the old sinic Xianbei aristocrats headed by Yuan family, who were inherited from noble blood, gave firm support.

Yuanshou was highly respected and enjoyed a high reputation among the Guanlonglu aristocratic group. Under his active mediation and lobbying, neither the old Xianbei aristocrats nor the emerging Xianbei aristocrats publicly opposed the radical reform policies implemented by the emperor and the central government, nor did they oppose the series of foreign wars carried out by the emperor and the central government. However, it was impossible for the Xianbei aristocrats to be harmonious and unified, because there were too many different opinions. When Yuanshou was alive, he could still forcibly suppressed with his prestige and means, but when he died, the contradictions and conflicts that were forcibly suppressed would inevitably break out. The outbreak was in the process of the Eastern Expedition, and the harm it caused was imaginable.

King Guande Yang Xiong was an important minister of the royal family and was relied on by the two generations of emperors. He was the only minister of the three ministers in the dynasty who successively served as the noble positions of "Sikong", "Crown Prince and Taifu" and "Taiwei". Nayan Yang Da was also the royal family, Yang Xiong's younger brother, and was also deeply relied on by the two generations of emperors. These two brothers were not only the backbone of the royal family's political group, but also the leader of the Heluo noble group with the royal family as the core. Because they were absolutely consistent with the emperor in terms of interests, they supported the emperor unconditionally and were the solid backing of the emperor.

The first thing that was hit hard by the death of the two brothers was the royal political group. The royal family is indeed prominent, and it has the greatest power and the most wealth. This is the need to ensure the reign of the Great Sui Dynasty. However, each descendant of the royal family has a bloodline that is in the supreme position and has a direct conflict of interest with the emperor, so the power of the royal family must be limited to a controllable range. Under this contradiction, if the emperor wants to strengthen the power of the royal family and use this power to control the government, the premise is that he must have

The ability to control the royal family is like an arm instructed, which requires loyalty and trust. The Yang Xiong and Yang Da brothers are absolutely loyal to the two generations of emperors, and the two generations of emperors also gave them absolute trust because they understand them. However, when the two brothers died, all this no longer exists. The royal family lost their mainstay and their strength in the court took a sharp turn; the emperor lost his right-hand man and not only could not use the power of the royal family to fight against political opponents, but instead had to be careful of the "black hands" from within the family.

Duan Wenzhen, Minister of War, came from Duan clan in Beihai, Qilu, an old commander of the Guards, and a famous general in Zhongtu. During the time when the emperor was in charge of the military and political affairs of Jiangzuo, Duan Wenzhen served as Sima of the current emperor and was deeply relied on. Before the emperor ascended the throne, Duan Wenzhen suffered repeated blows in his official career, and had several ups and downs. After registering, Duan Wenzhen was valued and became the Minister of War and the prime minister of the current dynasty. The scholar died as a confidant, Duan Wenzhen was of course moving forward in order to repay the emperor. Now that Duan Wenzhen is dead, the emperor has lost not only a powerful general who is absolutely loyal to him and is willing to charge for him, but also a loss.

With the strong support of the Qilu Noble Group. Duan Wenzhen is the banner of the Qilu Noble Group, and the target of public criticism. The Qilu Noble Group, which followed him closely, was also hurt by open and secret arrows. Now that the banner has arrived, the Qilu people will inevitably be besieged by political opponents. They are in a hurry and are not enough to protect themselves. How can they have the ability to support the emperor? Besides, the Qilu Noble Group is only one Duan Wenzhen. It is impossible to find a second Duan Wenzhen. It is not that the Qilu people do not have talent, but that no matter how many talented people are, it is useless. Who can win the absolute trust of the emperor like Duan Wenzhen?

Only those whom the emperor trusts will be valued, entrusted to state affairs, and will sit with him to discuss national policies.

During this Eastern Expedition, we devoted all our national strength to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops of the Guards. What did the emperor rely on to command the army as if he was instructed? He relied on people he trusted.

King Guande Yang Xiong also led the General of the Left Guard, the Inner Historian Ling Yuanshou also led the General of the Left Guard, the Minister of War Duan Wenzhen also led the General of the Left Guard, Nayan Yang Da also led the General of the Right Guard, and the General of the Left Guard, who was the powerful general of the Jiangzuo Maitai, as well as the General of the Navy, who was the powerful general of the Right Guard, as well as the Deputy General of the Navy, who was the famous Jiangzuo general of the Right Guard.

Before the Western Expedition to Tuyuhun, the emperor used his trusted core members to command the army. Yuanshou, Yang Xiong and Duan Wenzhen were all one of the commanders of the Western Expedition Army, and the Western Expedition won the victory. This time, the emperor did the same thing and asked the central chief officer to serve as the commander of the army to ensure that his will and orders were firmly implemented. However, God seemed unwilling to favor the emperor, and within four months the emperor lost his five most trusted subordinates. This not only hit the emperor, but also hit the morale of the expeditionary army, but also the worst was that it caused the emperor to be unable to command the army with his arms, and could not ensure that the army could always resolutely execute his orders. Once the emperor's will and orders were not firmly implemented and executed, the consequences were self-evident.

The emperor was in trouble, politically and military. Reforms needed people to implement them, and the Eastern Expeditions needed people to implement them. However, the people who the emperor trusted and trusted the most died. In this way, he fell into extreme passive politically and military.

The emperor did not lack people, but people who lacked trust, like-minded people, people who were absolutely loyal to him and had great strength, and people who were respected and respected among their respective political groups. There were too few such people in Middle Earth.

The Inner Historian Ling Yuanshou died of illness on the 25th day of the first lunar month, and no one has replaced him so far. The long-term vacancy of the Inner Historian Ling's position is very unfavorable to both the court and the ongoing Eastern Expedition.

Duan Wenzhen, Minister of War, died of illness on March 12th, and no one has replaced him. During the war, as the Minister of War who held the highest military administration, the importance of it can be imagined, but the emperor obviously could not find a suitable person to take up this position and could only wait for a vain position.

Now Na Yan Yang Da died of illness again. Na Yan is the highest chief of Menxia Province, and together with the Neishi Province's Neishi Province and the Shangshu Ling of the Shangshu Ling, they are the highest chief executive of the dynasty. Menxia Province and the Neishi (Zhongshu) Province are in charge of the matters, and they are not only responsible for reviewing edicts and signing memorials, but also the power of "returning the emperor to the emperor without appropriate edicts and refuting the memorials of the righteous ministers to violate the errors." Neishi and Na Yan, two important positions, the emperor can only grant the people whom he trusts most and has sufficient ability, but at this critical moment of the Eastern Expedition, how can the emperor have time to consider and find such people?

However, these two positions, coupled with a Minister of War, are not only of high positions and power, but also of immeasurable interests behind them, and are too tempting to the noble bureaucrats. As long as there is no conclusion in a day, the competition behind them will be bloody and cruel.

At the critical moment of the Eastern Expedition, the nobles and bureaucrats had no intention of fighting, especially those who were close to the highest position, those who were ambitious and had clear political goals, those who actually influenced and even determined the outcome of the war, what would it mean for this war once they were trapped in a power battle?
Chapter completed!