Jizhou, Xindu.
The tall city wall stretched as far as the eye could see, and many birds suddenly flew out of the woods outside the city.
I saw the trees screaming and then falling down one by one.
The dense forest that was once lush and green is being continuously cut down, exposing a large amount of land to the sun.
The soldiers carried the wood onto their vehicles, and some drove away quickly.
Everyone is extremely busy.
The city gate is wide open.
There were knights coming in and out frequently. When they entered the city gate, they saw many warriors. They were selecting young men from house to house and forcibly taking them away.
The whole city was noisy, and every place was occupied by knights and infantry, arresting people, delivering letters, and grabbing food.
Inside the state government office.
Gao Guiyan was wearing armor and sitting in the upper position.
His face was particularly solemn, and there was no trace of alcohol anymore. His whole person seemed to be back to the time when he was fighting with King Gao, and he was particularly majestic.
He looked at the many officials kneeling in front of him.
There were many soldiers standing around the lobby. At this moment, they were all holding sharp swords and staring at these officials.
The officials were trembling with fear at this moment.
They are all officials from Jizhou up and down, and they are the prefects, county lieutenants, county magistrates, etc. of each county.
There are also some officials from the state government offices, such as Chang Shi, Biejia, Sima, etc.
Gao Guiyan looked at the people in front of him one by one, with murderous intent in his eyes. Everyone lowered their heads and did not dare to speak.
As soon as Gao Guiyan arrived in Xindu, he summoned officials from all over the country to come and pay homage. Logically speaking, this is normal. When the chief official of a place takes office, the officials should come to pay homage. However, as soon as they arrived, they were immediately detained.
After arriving at the government office, Gao Guiyan immediately sent people to seize the military power in various places and mobilized local troops to come to his side. At the same time, he opened warehouses to stock up on grain, recruited troops, cut down trees, and manufactured ordnance.
In short, in just four or five days, he wrote the words "I want to rebel" directly on his face, and he really didn't hide it at all.
The detained officials were frightened and had been restless for the past few days.
Gao Guiyan looked at them and said: "When Emperor Xiaozhao passed away, he told me that the prince was young and asked me to choose a wise man from the clan to inherit the throne. I thought that King Changguang was worthy and let him inherit the throne.
Big seat."
"I never thought that King Changguang had only been on the throne for less than half a year, but he had committed many evil deeds. He occupied Queen Wenxuan, fornicated the harem, promoted He Shikai, Gao Anagong and other villains. He also intended to cause trouble to the border troops and neglected important ministers. He was really useless.
.”
"At this moment, King Changguang is preparing to leave Yecheng and go to Jinyang to perform sacrifices. I am going to send troops to Yecheng to support the prince of Yecheng, Gao Baibai, and to protect our Daqi State."
"What do you think?"
When Gao Guiyan asked, his cronies immediately said, "We are willing to follow the king!!"
Gao Guiyan did not look at them, but looked at the officials.
The officials looked pale, looked at each other, and dared not speak.
Gao Guiyan sneered and asked: "Yuwen Changshi, you are the chief official of the state, what do you think?"
Chief Shi Yuwen Zhongluan's face was as pale as paper. He quickly saluted and said, "Your Majesty, I think this is absolutely impossible."
"Although Your Majesty has misdeeds, you can reuse King Pengcheng to equalize the land and issue edicts to exempt various places from miscellaneous taxes. This cannot be considered mediocre. Besides, the king is a veteran of the clan. If he raises troops at this time, I am afraid that it will be a fake Zhou wedding dress."
, please your Majesty think twice!!”
Gao Guiyan narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhou Sima Li Zuyi again.
"Do you think so too?!"
Li Zuyi hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Jizhou today is just a local army, not large in number and not sophisticated enough. You want to attack Yecheng with a large army. I think this matter cannot be concealed. If the temple is to use a large army in front of
Come to attack, how can these people resist?"
"Please, Your Majesty, please do not do such a disobedient thing!"
Gao Guiyan laughed immediately.
"Disobedient?? I am disobedient??"
"How many things have I done for the emperor's great cause? How much contribution have I made before and after? He once told me that after I succeed, he will let me become the prime minister!"
"But what now? You threw me here, obviously to force me to death!"
"How can I tolerate this?!"
Gao Guiyan stood up suddenly and said, "Here comes someone."
Just when he was about to convey the military order, a scout rushed into the room in a panic and knelt in front of Gao Guiyan, "Your Majesty! Hurry!"
Gao Guiyan was stunned for a moment, realized something, and immediately asked the soldiers to take all the officials away, while the cronies stayed behind.
Gao Guiyan quickly took the document sent by the scout, looked at it for a few times, and became furious.
"How dare you betray me!! Lu Sili reported what I was going to do to the emperor!!"
All the confidants on the left and right were shocked.
Gao Guiyan dared to lead the local army to attack Yecheng because he had many friends in Yecheng. He believed that as soon as his army arrived, the flags in the city would change and the people in the city would come out to greet him. However, the confidants he contacted in advance
At this moment, Gao Guiyan suddenly turned against him, catching Gao Guiyan off guard.
"Gao Zhan has sent troops."
The confidant quickly asked: "Who did you send?"
"General Duan Shao."
"Former Army Lou Rui."
At this moment, the confidants were even more panicked and at a loss. Gao Guiyan forcibly calmed down and said, "Don't be afraid! Duan Shao and Lou Rui are both battle-hardened warriors. They should not be underestimated or attack lightly."
"Kill those officials who are unwilling to obey, then close the city gates and defend with all your strength!"
"I have my own way to defeat the enemy!!"
Gao Guiyan asked everyone to go out to make preparations, leaving only one confidant behind. This person was called Gao Qi, and he had always been loyal to Gao Guiyan.
When everyone went out, Gao Guiyan suddenly lost his strength and almost fell to the ground. Gao Tie supported him and said extremely worriedly, "Your Majesty."
Gao Guiyan gasped, his hands trembling slightly.
Duan Shao, Lou Rui.
Two warriors who followed King Gao all the way to fight.
Gao Guiyan looked at Gao Chi who was standing aside, "Chi, I have a big thing that I need you to complete."
"I am willing to die for the king!!"
"I will write a letter later. You take the letter and go to Shuozhou as quickly as possible, find Liu Taozi and give it to him."
"Only by joining forces with him can we have a chance to survive."
Yecheng.
He Shikai stood outside the palace, and Gao Zhan yawned and walked out of Queen Wenxuan's palace.
He Shikai hurried forward, put clothes on him, and ordered someone to bring him potion.
Gao Zhan took the medicine and his expression improved a little. He immediately asked: "How is it? Did Duan Shao win?"
He Shikai's eyes widened, "Your Majesty, it has only been six days since he sent out troops."
"Oh, then send someone to urge Yi Er to quickly put down the rebellion!"
"only."
Gao Zhan took a few steps forward and suddenly asked: "Isn't Zu Jue back yet?!"
He Shikai hurriedly narrowed his eyes and said: "Your Majesty, I heard that Zu Jue defected to General Anxi and is now being reused by General Anxi."
Hearing these words, Gao Zhan was furious. He grabbed He Shikai's sleeves and asked angrily: "He said that his mother was seriously ill, so I allowed him to resign and go back, but he went to join the rebels."
Thief?!"
"It doesn't make sense! It doesn't make sense!"
"Give Liu Taozi an order to send Zu Jue to me!"
"only!"
He Shikai quickly agreed.
Gao Zhan led He Shikai towards the main hall. When the two arrived at the main hall, several important ministers were already waiting for him. They quickly stood up and saluted. Gao Zhan returned the salute with a smile, and then they began to discuss today's plans.
Important things.
There are not many ministers sitting here, but they are all Gao Zhan's confidants and core ministers of the temple.
Including Gao Zhan's two elder brothers, Gao Yan and Gao Yun, as well as his cronies Gao Rui, Gao Yuanhai, Gao Gan, Gao Xiaoyu and others.
Except for He Shikai, Gao Zhan's important ministers all bear the surname Gao. Compared with the nobility and the rich family, Gao Zhan prefers to use the clan name. This is also the consistent tradition of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
He looked at his family members on the left and right, and said seriously: "I treated Gao Guiyan so well, but he dared to rebel. It really makes me heartbroken. Now I have sent King Pingyuan and King Dong'an to lead the crusade, but I am worried that he will contact other people."
People are plotting rebellion together, what do you think?"
Everyone was deep in thought, and no one was in a hurry to speak.
Gao Guiyan's matter is actually not too critical.
Although Da Qi is seriously ill today, he is not going to die of it. At least in terms of military ethics, he is still very strong. There are still many generals who can fight in the court, and there are also many elites. Only Gao Guiyan and the Jizhou local army are
To rebel is to seek death.
Considering that the temple's army, even Liu Taozi, was not a serious concern, the two sides were not at the same level in terms of military strength.
Gao Zhan was just worried that he would surrender to the enemy, so he didn't dare to attack easily.
As for Gao Guiyan, he is in the abdomen, where can he surrender to the enemy?
But Gao Zhan suddenly started talking about colluding with others. It was obvious that he was preparing to use Gao Guiyan's affairs as an excuse to attack others.
Gao Zhan looked at the people around him, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.
We can slowly clean up the old high-performance departments in the DPRK.
He opened his mouth and said: "During the time of the late emperor, there was a lot of chaos in the local government. Gao Guiyan had frequent contacts with them and was very kind to them. I am worried that he will instigate the rest of the people to rebel together. I am going to select talents and go to various places to take up important positions to appease the local government."
, put an end to rebellion, what do you think?"
"only."
Everyone bowed their heads again.
Gao Zhan then asked the ministers to discuss the list of ministers to be released.
His cronies also made many good candidates.
Take Lu Yao for example. Lu Yao has always been a generous person and can serve as governor in a remote place. Of course, it is not appropriate to go to the north. Let him go to the south, close to Puppet Chen, to become a governor.
Well, there is also Cui Jishu. This man cut corners when building the palace and made a big mistake. He can no longer stay in the center. He is asked to become a governor in other places and go to the south.
In addition, there is Wang Xi, a talented man. Well, let him go to East Xuzhou to be the governor.
She Di Xian'an went to Dongyan to be the governor.
Everyone just kept talking to each other, and after a while, the list of people who needed to go to various places came out.
Gao Jun frowned, his face not very pretty.
Just when everyone was laughing and feeling that the world was in great order, Gao Jun said: "Your Majesty, you are not a vassal king now. You are the emperor and the master of the world's talents. If you cannot treat them as your ministers, what will happen to them?"
How can I regard you as my king? Just like General Anxi, he has always been loyal to the temple. If your majesty can value him and put him in high regard, he will not let you down."
"The same is true for these ministers at the moment. Lu Yao is a generous, upright, decisive, and capable person. Although Cui Jishu has bad habits, he is good at making plans. Your Majesty keeps him by your side so that you can ask for advice from time to time. And
Na Xian'an, he is an upright man and dares to write letters to advise."
Hearing Gao Jun's words, the ministers who were celebrating just now stopped talking. Even Gao Rui didn't dare to say more and just nodded slightly.
"What King Pengcheng said is absolutely true."
Gao Zhan laughed, and he quickly took Gao Yong's hand, "What brother said is absolutely true. What brother reprimanded was right. I will definitely correct it."
Gao Jun was horrified and stood up in a hurry, "Your Majesty, how dare you accept this as your brother?"
Gao Zhan was about to speak when Gao Yan suddenly said: "Your Majesty has always loved the clan very much. Don't be afraid. There are no outsiders here. This is an intimate gesture."
He pulled Gao Jun to sit down and looked at Gao Zhan affectionately.
"Your Majesty, this person, Jun, has always been like this. He speaks outspokenly, and others don't know it. How could your Majesty not remember it?"
Gao Zhan laughed, "That's right."
King Pengcheng then put forward his own ideas again, narrowing down the list of officials originally to be sent to various places, leaving many people behind, and reprimanded some villains who did things randomly in the name of Gao Zhan.
Of course, this includes He Shikai.
Gao Jun pointed at He Shikai and scolded him for allowing his cronies to plunder the people.
He Shikai, however, did not dare to refute, only dared to bow his head and accept it.
This small meeting ended in a hurry.
After walking out of the palace, Gao Yan took his younger brother and forced him into the car.
He glared at Gao Jun and asked displeasedly: "Why openly disobey His Majesty for such a trivial matter?"
"Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and is in need of prestige. You can just give him advice in private. If you refute the emperor in front of everyone, are you preparing to become a powerful minister?"
Upon hearing the question, Gao Yong said solemnly with a straight face, "I have no selfish motives."
"How ridiculous is it that the ministers in the imperial court recommend local officials without looking at their character, but want to promote party unity and oppose dissidents?!"
"This time we will drive away nearly half of the ministers in the court. If I don't say anything now, I'm afraid that in the future, the court will be filled with scoundrels like He Shikai."
Gao Yan shook his head and said again: "No matter what you think, don't be so direct."
"You should stop interfering in Liu Taozi's affairs."
"Every time you mention this matter, His Majesty becomes very angry."
"I'll figure it out."
"good."
Gao Jun nodded, then raised his head and sighed, "It's just a pity for Jizhou. With such a war, I don't know how many people have been displaced, and how many soldiers have died innocently. It's so painful for the people in the world."
"How miserable am I?!"
"You can't even decide whether to leave or stay a few officials?! Still claiming to be the lord of the world? Does Gao Jung think that I am the lord?!"
Gao Zhan roared, his mood had become very unstable since the discussion was over.
The whole person was on the verge of an explosion, and He Shikai stood aside, hesitating to speak.
He dared to slander many people in the court who dared to offend him. But facing King Pengcheng, he really did not dare to say too much. His Majesty was moody and had a changeable personality. He Shikai had seen many similar scenes.
Second-rate.
Every time King Pengcheng came to contradict him, the emperor was very angry and cursed him, but in the end, he would still forgive him and continue to use him.
King Pengcheng was different from King Pingqin. Gao Guiyan had many fair-weather friends. Although he had a high official position, he did not exercise his power very much. He spent all his time drinking and showing off.
But King Pengcheng was in charge of several key policies of the temple and was doing the busiest and most tiring errands.
Sure enough, after venting for a long time, Gao Zhan calmed down again. He sat back in his seat, shook his head and said, "However, he does have no selfish motives. He doesn't take sides and is not polite to anyone. That's all.
, that’s all.”
He looked at He Shikai again, "Deal with Gao Guiyan, then deal with these people in the temple, and then Liu Taozi."
"While Liu Taozi is fighting with Yang Zhong, get rid of those close to him."
"Shuozhou needs a strong governor, one with high prestige who cannot be held hostage by Liu Taozi. Do you have any candidates?"
He Shikai narrowed his eyes, and suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and said: "Your Majesty, Shangshu Ling Gao Rui can do it."
"No, he has a very high prestige, but we cannot do anything without him at the Chancellor's desk."
He Shikai was a little embarrassed. He rubbed his hands and said, "I do have another choice. But"
"you say."
"King Gaoyan of Pingyang is temporarily appointed governor of Shuozhou. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Gao Zhan was stunned, "He?? He is the Taifu!"
"Gao Guiyan can lead the governor of Jizhou as a Taizi, why can't he lead the governor of Shuozhou as a Taifu?"
Gao Zhan stroked his beard and pondered for a long time, "In terms of prestige, his qualifications are sufficient. If he goes to Shuozhou, Liu Taozi will never dare to hold him hostage. If Liu Taozi continues to hold him hostage, Gao Jun will write a letter to demand him."
In the crusade against Liu Taozi, all the officials will be able to see his true face clearly, and he will not always come to hinder my major tasks!"
He Shikai nodded, "That's exactly it."
"It's just that important matters in the DPRK still require his intervention. If he leaves, what will the DPRK do?"
"Your Majesty, most of the major affairs of the government are decided by King Pengcheng. Even if King Pingyang is not here, I think there will be no problems."
"good."
"However, we can't be anxious now. We'll wait until Gao Guiyan is dealt with."
Gao Zhan waved his hand, "No more talking, I'm going back to the palace, you can go back and rest too."
He Shikai hurriedly stood in front of Gao Zhan, "Your Majesty, you haven't been to the Queen for several months. She misses you very much."
"What are you missing? Let her take care of the child and don't miss her!"
"Just go and comfort her with a few words!"
Gao Zhan turned around and left with a face full of displeasure. He Shikai could only watch him leave without daring to speak.
Gao Zhan skillfully went to find Li Zu'e, while He Shikai came to Queen Hu's residence.
Empress Hu was in her early twenties, dignified and beautiful. However, at this moment, her face looked extremely bad. She stared at He Shikai in front of her and asked quietly: "He still hasn't come?"
He Shikai sat helplessly beside her, hugged her into his arms, and comforted her: "Queen, don't be sad. Your Majesty is just looking for something fresh, and you will be back soon."
Queen Hu wiped her tears and ran her jade hands up and down He Shikai's body, "In the past, every time A Yan was sick, he would come here. But this time, A Yan was sick twice and he didn't come."
"Your Majesty is too busy"
"I don't care! Just tell me, can it still be done to make Ayan the prince?"
Chapter completed!