Wuchuan.
The envoy kept his integrity and walked proudly on the official road, surrounded by many knights.
The scale of the ceremony this time was not as large as before, and the number of people accompanying it was actually somewhat small.
Zu Jue led everyone out of the city to greet him.
He looked at the guard of honor in the distance, squinted his eyes slightly, and said to the scribes around him: "In the past, when the temple sent envoys, they would always wait for hundreds of riders to surround them, and the carriages would be like long dragons. But this time, there is such a guard of honor. Look,
The national treasury is not very sufficient."
The scribes nodded one after another, agreeing with Zu Jue's words.
It was not only the envoys from the temple who looked shabby, but the lineup that went to greet them also looked particularly shabby. There was only one Zu Jue, and the rest were officials and subordinates. No one from Tian Road, Cui Chu, and others was present, even those who came later from the Wei Dynasty.
Lu and others are not included either.
Zu Jue called everyone, walked a few steps, and went to salute to greet him.
The envoy sent by the temple was Hu Changren's younger brother, Hu Changxing.
When Hu Changxing saw Zu Jue saluting, he hurriedly put away the pride on his face, stopped everyone in a hurry, and quickly got out of the car.
"Grandpa, there is no need to be too polite. There is no need to be too polite."
Zu Jue can be regarded as a famous person nowadays. Regardless of whether his reputation is good or bad, it is true that he is famous anyway.
When he became famous in Yecheng, people like Hu Changxing were still playing in the mud. As a scholar, they did not dare to be rude to him. But in terms of status, the other party was now relying on General Wei, so Hu Changxing still did not dare to be in front of him.
Too showy.
Before setting off, his brother had given instructions countless times, telling him to treat General Wei and the people under his command with respect, and not to offend anyone!
Zu Jue was helped up by the other party. Looking at Hu Changxing's slightly flattering face, Zu Jue showed a friendly smile.
He didn't like Gao Rui and Gao Jun, but he liked the Hu family's gang of drunkards and ricebags.
Needless to say, the reason is that Zu Jue no longer regards himself as Qi, or even regards Qi as one of his own, but as an enemy. Naturally, he expects them to do worse.
Hu Changxing lowered his head, "I haven't seen you for a long time, but my grandpa is still so tough. It's really admirable."
"Before I set off, my brother told me several times to say hello to my grandfather. My brother misses the time I spent with you very much."
Zu Jue laughed and said, "I also miss my time in Yecheng. When I was in Yecheng, Hu Gong and I could always have fun all night long."
The two of them chatted and talked about past events, 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 him? He is now in Shiya Mountain City and is fighting against the puppet Zhou Dynasty. He cannot escape easily."
"That's it. General Wei's hard work has made great achievements. It's really touching that the country has such a general."
Hu Changxing couldn't help but gently wipe away the non-existent tears.
He quickly took out the edict from his arms and handed it to Zu Jue without any pretense, "I have great news here. The temple is going to make General Wei the king!!"
"Be crowned king?"
Zu Jue had a look of astonishment on his face, "Conferred the title of king?"
"How can it be so? How can it be so?"
Zu Jue hurriedly returned the edict to the other party, "My general does not have such great qualifications, and his military achievements are not as good as those of Hu Luguang Baoxian and others. I will never dare to accept this edict."
Hu Changxing was startled, and he hurriedly said: "This matter of being crowned king is based on merit, not qualifications. General Wei defeated Yang Zhong many times, defeated the Turks, expanded his territory, and now even Shiya
We have already captured the mountain city, but with such military exploits, which general in the country can match it?"
Zu Jue could only say: "Let's go to the city first."
Hu Changxing had countless things to say in his heart. Everyone followed Zu Jue into the city. Hu Changxing looked directly at Zu Jue, feeling uneasy in his heart.
He was really afraid that the other party would reject the edict.
Accepting the edict was a disguised recognition of the fairness of the temple controlled by Hu and other relatives.
If he refuses, the alliance currently formed led by the foreign relatives may fall apart.
With Liu Taozi's name, Hu Changren can openly compete with other clans.
He couldn't imagine the consequences.
Zu Jue just pretended that he didn't know anything and let Hu Changxing's hands tremble with anxiety.
Zu Jue led the other party to the other courtyard of the government office.
Both General Wei's Mansion and Wuchuan have undergone continuous expansion. The current General Wei's Office is at least four to five times larger than the small official office in the past.
There were several soldiers standing at the door of the official office. When they walked into the door, they saw a long corridor that directly connected the entire mansion. They walked eastward and passed two doors. Zu Jue slowed down and smiled.
Said: "This place is called Dongtai, and I am doing business here now."
"Look, the decoration here is pretty good, isn't it? I asked the craftsmen to do it, and those paintings, you see, they were all painted by me myself."
Zu Jue enthusiastically introduced it to Hu Changxing, but Hu Changxing was really not in the mood to see these things.
He was afraid that he would not be able to fulfill his brother's instructions, so he looked around perfunctorily and nodded, "Okay, very good, all good, very good."
No matter what Zu Jue said, he always nodded in approval.
The two of them walked into the house, and Zu Jue was about to introduce his collection of books to him. Hu Changxing was about to cry, so he hurriedly took Zu Jue's hand again.
"Grandpa, you must accept this edict."
Zu Jue was stunned and asked in shock: "Why?"
"This, this is a gift from Your Majesty, how can I not refuse it?"
"Oh? If you don't accept it, that means treason?"
"No, no, grandpa misunderstood!"
Hu Changxing was sweating profusely. He was about to explain, but Zu Jue pulled him to sit down with a smile.
The two of them sat in the room, and someone brought tea.
Zu Jue explained: "We are temporarily banning alcohol here, so let's have tea first."
“No alcohol??”
"Yes, the alcohol prohibition was just issued at the beginning of the year."
Zu Jue licked his lips, his eyes full of helplessness, and Hu Changxing followed suit, "How can you blame all bad things on wine? Who made the suggestion?"
"That's my suggestion."
"ah??"
Hu Changxing looked at the person in front of him. This person is a drunkard. In a place where drunkards are everywhere in Yecheng, he is considered a big drunkard. The prohibition order you issued?
Zu Jue's face became solemn, "There is not enough food, but a lot of money is spent on making wine. The officials gather to drink wine and do not do their jobs, and the soldiers gather to drink wine and fight and cause trouble."
"Therefore, I suggest that General Wei temporarily abstain from alcohol until food is sufficient."
"I see."
Hu Changxing held it in for a long time before he said: "My grandfather is dedicated to serving the world."
Zu Jue looked at him and said, "This edict of yours is actually nothing. Speaking of kings and dukes, once you have the power to open a mansion, it is not that important."
"If your brother wants to get help from General Wei, he must come up with something. Can you provide warriors?"
"Ah samurai"
"Where's the food and grass?"
"us."
"ordnance?"
"this"
Zu Jue asked three times in a row, but Hu Changxing couldn't answer any of them.
It's not that the temple can't even provide these things, it's just that it's not Hu Changxing's decision whether to provide them or not. He's just here to run an errand, and he has to ask his brother about the specific matters.
Zu Jue couldn't help laughing when he saw the other party hesitating.
"It's okay, it's okay. After all, I have friendship with your brother, and General Wei won't ask for anything from the temple."
Hu Changxing breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Grandpa."
"The edict can be accepted. I will persuade General Wei to accept it."
"But."
Hu Changxing cheered up, and Zu Jue said slowly: "The current general Wei has already reached the territory of the Zhou people. It is too far away from the temple. If we can set up a temporary platform at the border fortress."
"Dahangtai, North Road?!"
Hu Changxing seemed to have heard some inscription and jumped up again in fright.
This so-called Xingtai refers to the temporary chancellery set up outside the capital. The chancellery in temples and places will also have this one, and the level is not low. This is almost like setting up another imperial court, and it is not a secret.
To cover it up means to set up another temple in an open and honest manner.
And those who served as Daxingtai in the past. Er Zhurong, Yu Wentai, Gao Huan
This word has become more sensitive.
Hu Changxing's face turned pale and his head was sweating even more.
Over the years, Liu Taozi's power in the frontier has grown stronger and stronger, becoming more and more like a separatist force, and the temples have become somewhat uncontrollable.
Therefore, in Yecheng, people rarely talk about Liu Taozi and the threat he can bring.
As long as everyone pretends they don't know, nothing will happen.
But many people actually roughly understand that as Liu Taozi continues to accumulate power, things in the past will happen again sooner or later.
The several hundred years starting from the end of Han Dynasty were the era of usurpers and powerful ministers. There were so many usurpers and powerful ministers.
Everyone seems to be somewhat used to it.
Familiar things and processes are repeated over and over, and it seems that there will never be an end.
In Yecheng, those people who were fighting for power were not willing to consider Liu Taozi, who was gearing up in the north.
The same was true for Hu Changxing. Hu Changxing only realized this when Zu Jue openly expressed his ambition.
No matter how fiercely they fight now, won't everything be in vain when Liu Taozi reaches great strength and heads to Yecheng?
Zu Jue smiled again and pulled him to sit down, "Don't panic, it's not some Beidao Daxingtai, let alone asking for anything from you, it's just a matter of talking to you."
"You will stay in Wuchuan for a few more days, and I will take you around various places."
Looking at the submissive Hu Changxing, Zu Jue narrowed his eyes again.
Whatever he wanted to get, he had to 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 become completely chaotic.
Next, you can't be too restrained. When it's time to release your ambitions, you must release them appropriately. Several large states in the north can also be appropriately garrisoned and recaptured.
The Youyan soldiers have been training very quickly. Next, the Dingji soldiers should also be on the schedule, right?
It is not yet time to completely break up with the temple. The temple still poses a threat to itself, but it is not as big as before, and it is time to enter the pulling stage.
Hu Changxing was really not in the mood to visit General Wei's mansion, but he couldn't resist Zu Jue's kindness.
Zu Jue held his hand and spent the next few days visiting various places in General Wei's Mansion, explaining enthusiastically.
"This is the West Terrace."
"Lu Qubing, Lu Gong is sitting here. He has many people under his command, so the west platform is also the busiest, with the largest number of people. All kinds of orders are carried out here."
"Look over there, yes, that's the door. If you go in over there, it's Nantai."
"That's Cui Gang and Cui Jun over there. Have you heard of him?"
"He's in Nantai, here in Nantai, just doing trivial things like making plans."
"Let's go, I'll take you to Beitai. It's the most fun there. Tian Zili is over there. There are many criminals here, similar to Yushitai. Have you ever visited Yushitai in Yecheng?"
Zu Jue's enthusiastic explanation made Hu Changxing even more afraid.
The various courtyards in the east, west, south and north of General Wei's Mansion are, to put it bluntly, not the four chambers of the temple, namely the Menxia, ​​Zhongshu, Shangshu, Yushi, etc.?
No wonder he said he wanted to set up another venue. It turned out that he had already prepared for it.
Zu Jue kept him for several days, and Hu Changxing became more and more frightened as he stayed. Finally, he found various reasons before leaving.
He did not even formally hand over the edict to Liu Taozi.
However, this is also the consistent style of the Northern Dynasties, which is simple and rough.
After seeing off the envoy, Zu Jue summoned the other officials in the middle courtyard, where Liu Taozi worked.
Liu Taozi's own official residence is not luxurious. It is not much different from before, but the scale is much larger.
Zu Jue did not dare to sit in the upper position, but sat in the frontmost position.
Everyone walked in slowly, talking to each other.
Seeing where Zu Jue was sitting, Tian Zili's eyes flashed with displeasure. Lu Qubing chuckled and shook his head, and Tian Zili did not dare to say more.
Lu Qubing's status in the hearts of these old people is still very high. After all, they were all favored by him in the first place.
Everyone in the General's Mansion came one after another and gradually sat in various places, and the empty official office was gradually filled up.
It really feels like hundreds of officials going to court.
Zu Jue looked at the people sitting around, and then asked the soldier to close the door.
He slowly took out the edict and showed it to everyone.
"There is an edict coming from Yecheng, and the general of the guard is named the King of Pingcheng."
Except for a few civil servants who had already known about it and remained calm, everyone else was extremely shocked and started talking one after another.
Of course, they were all very excited and happy.
As the lord's status improves, their status will naturally also improve.
Everyone smiled and congratulated each other.
Zu Jue waited for them to finish celebrating with a smile, and then said slowly: "The second thing is that Gao Rui was killed."
"What?!"
At this moment, even Lu Qubing was shocked. He stood up suddenly with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Prince Zhao was killed? When did it happen? How is it possible? So sudden?!"
Except for Zu Jue, no one seems to know this news.
Looking at the shocked people in front of him, Zu Jue said slowly: "The news is true. It is said that Gao Rui held Zhao Yanshen hostage in an attempt to assassinate Hu Changren, Gao Yuanhai and others. However, the incident was leaked and he committed suicide."
Everyone still couldn't believe it.
Not long ago, there were still two kings ruling the world in the temple. The two wise kings were high-spirited, taking advantage of the emperor and governing the world. Why did they say Gao Rui was dead in the blink of an eye?
What happened??
So sudden??
"Previously, Gao Rui deposed and executed many people. Most of the courtiers and nobles turned to Hu Changren and prayed for protection."
"Hu Changren used them to occupy many important departments. He skipped Gao Rui and others and directly issued an edict to make General Wei king. It seems that Gao Rui realized that his power was about to fall away, so he fought hard. However, he
I trusted the wrong person."
There was unspeakable sadness on Lu Qubing's face.
"Prince Zhao was a wise man. In the past, he worked hard and made great achievements, whether in the local area or in the temple. How could he die at the hands of a villain?"
Cui Gang nodded, "It's such a pity."
Tian Zili asked, "How did Grandfather know about this?"
Zu Jue said calmly: "I have some friends in Yecheng. Mr. Tian doesn't need to ask any questions."
"Once Gao Rui dies, King Pengcheng will not be able to stop Hu Changren."
"My lord now owns a frontier fortress and has a great reputation, but his official position is his biggest shortcoming."
"I think it is inappropriate for a famous grand duke like Wei Gong to come from Yecheng, but he has no official position to confer, so he can only participate in politics in vain."
"Therefore, I think we can set up a temporary platform in Wuchuan and use the lord as the North Road Daxingtai!"
Liu Taozi can set up Santai in his name, but as long as he doesn't fall out with the temple, he can't really give him an official position. But if he has a Xingtai, he can actually give him an official position. The temple can't say much.
.
Forget it about people like yourself and Lu Qubing. People like Wei Shou, Wang Xi, and Xian'an can't be allowed to come to Wuchuan to work as minor officials in the palace of General Wei, right?
No matter how high the treatment is, it still cannot be justified in name.
And having a formal platform can solve many problems, recruit many elderly people, and most importantly, it can legitimately intervene in many political and military affairs in the North.
The official office suddenly fell silent.
Lu Qubing frowned, "Grandpa, I don't quite understand why you want to tell us about this?"
The establishment of this platform is not decided by them at all. What's the use of whether they approve it or not?
Zu Jue grinned, "How can General Wei have time to take care of these things? This matter can only be handled by us."
"Everyone, I would like to join hands with many officials in the frontier fortress to jointly submit a letter requesting the temple to set up a temporary platform in the frontier fortress and send a moral and wise person to take up the post. What do you think?"
"Okay, this frontier fortress really needs a platform. It is too far away from Yecheng and the situation is complicated. This is the best. I am willing to submit a letter!!"
Wei Shou was the first to support it.
Tian Zili also put aside some of his prejudices at this moment and said slowly: "This matter is beneficial and harmless, and it will prevent us from controlling Hu Changren and other villains. I also agree to submit a letter together."
Lu Qubing smiled bitterly, he finally understood what the other person was thinking.
Chapter completed!