The Bad Guys: Playing the Fake Li Xingyun at the Beginning

"Okay, you can tell Lao Ba to organize it. Hedong really needs manpower, and we can't rely on our soldiers to do everything." Li Siyuan already had this idea and agreed directly.

"Have you checked everything I told you to do?"

Li Cunzhi's face showed a solemn expression. He took out a secret letter from his sleeve and handed it to Li Siyuan.

He took the secret letter, opened it and read it carefully. After reading it, he was silent for a long time.

He closed the secret letter in his hand and sighed, "Queen Yingtian is really generous. The dowry on the bright side includes 30,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, and 10,000 war horses, and the rest does not count."

"Yelü Abaoji was really willing to sacrifice for his daughter. Money and other things are nothing, but those 10,000 war horses are something that money cannot buy."

"It seems that he is determined to form an alliance with the Emperor."

At the end of his speech, a hint of coldness flashed in Li Siyuan's eyes. The alliance between Khitan and the emperor was not good news for him.

There is no war on the border, what is the use of these military governors?

Chapter 141: Seventh Brother, Stop It!

When the birds are all gone, the good bows are put away; when the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked; when the enemy country is defeated, the counselors die!

Since ancient times, in times of peace, it has been an eternal truth to put weapons into storage and let horses rest in the mountains. Without enemies, how could these military governors ask the imperial court for money and food?

How can they maintain their military power without enemies?

Without enemies, how could he satisfy his subordinates' ambitions to achieve great things?

The reason why so many Jiedushi were set up in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun was not to defend against foreign races and resist the invasion of grassland tribes from the south? Now, the Khitan princess came to marry, which was undoubtedly an active gesture of goodwill to the Central Plains.

According to news from spies in Tongwenguan a few days ago, the Khitan leader Yelu Abaoji has conquered the Bohai Kingdom, eliminated the country next to his couch, and completely became the overlord of the grassland.

Other grassland tribes could no longer pose a threat to it.

However, the Bohai Kingdom had a vast territory and a large population, and was a country that was no less large than the Khitan. It would take the Khitan a long time to digest such a vast land.

And it was for this reason that Yelu Abaoji took the initiative to send his daughter to marry.

Before destroying the Bohai Kingdom, the Khitans did not have the ability to go to war with the Central Plains. They were like a python that had just swallowed its prey; they looked huge but were actually extremely fragile.

But that was the trouble. The Central Plains was not unified, and the Khitan was in a weak position. When Li Cunxu proclaimed himself emperor, the Khitan invaded, and he had to lead the army in person to drive the Khitan away.

Now, when facing the Khitan, the various princes in the border areas can only defend but not attack.

Li Cunzhi's eyes flickered, and he said with a sinister look, "Brother, if the emperor has something to do with the Khitan, what should we do? Or should we find a chance to sabotage this marriage?"

"Let me think about it." Li Siyuan stopped talking, stood up from the chair, and paced back and forth in the hall. He subconsciously narrowed his eyes, constantly calculating, and the expression on his face kept changing.

After a long while, he let out a long breath, his expression became lonely, "Seventh Brother, stop it, and withdraw all your spies."

"Brother!" Li Cunzhi's sword-like cold brows were furrowed into a ball, and an angry voice squeezed out of his throat.

Li Siyuan waved his hand to signal him to shut up, his expression more serious than ever before, "Seventh Brother, I understand what you mean. If you destroy the marriage and let the Khitan and the Central Plains go to war, our Jin State will benefit from it and watch the fight from afar."

"But have you ever thought about this? Compared to Luoyang, our Hedong is closer to the Khitan grassland. If a war breaks out, the first to suffer will not be the Luoyang court, but Hedong."

"If Yelu Abaoji ignores Bohai and marches south, the good situation in Hedong will be ruined, and you and I will be sinners of Jin."

If the situation really reaches that point, how will you and I end up? A good rider falls from his horse, a good swimmer drowns in the water, a good drinker gets drunk on wine, a good archer dies from an arrow, and a good warrior dies from being killed! "

"Those who play with fire will get burned! You can control the start of a war, but can you control where it goes and when it ends?"

"If you can't, I advise you not to start a war easily. Otherwise, it will be easy to lose the advantage both morally and in the war, and put yourself in a disadvantageous situation."

"The current Yelü Abaoji is no longer the Yelü Abaoji who could be bribed."

The last few sentences are no longer simple persuasion, but a warning!

If you, Li Cunzhi, dare to do something behind my back, don't blame me for dragging you out as a scapegoat when something goes wrong. If you want to play with fire, you must be prepared to be burned.

Li Siyuan was patient, but the word "patient" is like a knife above one's head. The more patient a person is, the more cruel he is.

Li Cunzhi gritted his teeth, his body trembled, and he slowly lowered his head. He knew that if something really happened, his eldest brother would definitely abandon him without hesitation to save the situation in Hedong.

After enough beating, Li Siyuan's serious expression softened and he consoled her, "We need to think long-term about this matter and not act rashly. Hedong is our territory. If something happens in Hedong, what's the point of planning in Luoyang?"

Li Cunzhi suppressed his inner fear and surrendered to Li Siyuan, "Brother, I understand. Don't worry, I will never act rashly without your permission."

After getting the assurance, Li Siyuan patted his shoulder and said, "Then I feel relieved. The stability of the Central Plains is hard-won. If we confront the Khitans, others will benefit in the end."

"Once the sabotage of the marriage alliance is discovered, Jin will become the target of public criticism and be despised by the world. There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable, and there is no such thing as a foolproof plan. Once it is done, it will definitely leave traces."

"Don't forget, besides us, there is another person in this world who is secretly controlling the situation. Can you guarantee that he will not sabotage your actions? Let everything you do become a wedding dress for the court."

Yuan Tiangang?

Hearing this name, Li Cunzhi shuddered subconsciously. Even people like his elder brother were so afraid of him, let alone him.

It was not until now that Li Cunzhi completely gave up the idea in his mind. After all, he had always been in Hedong and had only heard of Yuan Tiangang's great name but had never seen this person in person.

On the contrary, Li Siyuan had met Yuan Tiangang several times. The pressure brought by that old monster that had existed for three hundred years was unimaginable, and only those who had seen it with their own eyes could deeply understand it.

……

A few days later, the imperial court officially granted official positions to the new scholars.

Among them, sixty Jinshi chose to stay in Luoyang and participate in the compilation of history books of the previous dynasty. In order to reward them, the court reopened the Hongwenguan, Jixiandian Academy and the History Museum, and appointed them as bachelors, direct bachelors, attending bachelors, editors, proofreaders, and historians.

For the sake of fairness, they were uniformly classified as ninth-rank officials. For ordinary people, this was a starting point that was out of reach.

The other 39 Jinshi were sent to counties around Luoyang to serve as county magistrates, chief clerks, county lieutenants and other assistant officials. Most of these Jinshi were assigned to counties around Luoyang, and the rest were concentrated in Bianzhou.

The main reason why Su Ming made such a distribution was to consolidate his base. Before that, he had arranged for the Ministry of Personnel to assign official positions to the successful scholars and juren in the examinations to enrich government offices at all levels.

Together with the assigned assistant officials of the Jinshi degree, these scholars who came from the imperial examination system became natural allies after arriving at the local counties. They would form forces to keep each other warm and monitor the local forces in Luoyang to prevent the local officials from disobeying the imperial edicts issued by the court.

It is easier to understand why some of the Jinshi were assigned to Bianzhou. Bianzhou was the most central and essential place in Liang State, and its capital city, Bianliang, was one of the largest cities in the world.

Relying on the canal transportation, Bianliang has developed transportation and is very wealthy. Li Siyuan and Su Ming have not had the chance to intervene in this kind of territory yet. Now is a good time to take action.

Chapter 142 Cooperation with Tianshi Mansion

The present Bianliang is not the Bianliang of the Song Dynasty. The present Bianliang is just a transit station for the water transport from Luoyang, with developed commerce and great prosperity.

But it is just a state capital and does not have the political status to match.

Luoyang is now the real center of the world. Its water transport capacity is still there. Coupled with Luoyang’s terrain and heritage, Bianzhou cannot compare to it in any way.

What really made Bianliang rise and become the largest city in the world was the late Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Central Plains lost the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and had no northern barrier, and Luoyang's defense system had great loopholes.

In addition, due to years of war in the north, Luoyang's waterways were blocked and had not been cleared for a long time, making it impossible to transport money and grain from the south to Luoyang. Luoyang was devastated by the war and suffered severe population loss.

The essence of the north gradually moved south, which led to the sudden rise of Bianliang and its prosperity. The Later Liang, Later Jin, Later Han and Later Zhou in the late Five Dynasties all established their capitals here.

Compared with Luoyang, Bianliang has a fatal flaw, that is, it has no strategic location to defend. In ancient imperial capitals, Xianyang had the strategic location of Hangu Pass, Chang'an had the Eight Han Passes, Luoyang had the Four Fortresses, and Yanjing had the Yanshan and Shanhaiguan Great Wall defense lines.

What is there in Bianliang?

There is only one Yellow River, and it is a Yellow River that freezes in winter.

After the founding of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, wanted to move the capital to Luoyang, but the plan failed due to the strong opposition from Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Kuangyin. Since then, Luoyang has gradually lost its political status. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was even inferior to Nanjing.

From any perspective, Bianliang is a very important place. Controlling this place is equivalent to controlling the water transport. With the help of water transport, countless commercial taxes can be collected, bringing endless wealth to the court.

Controlling Bianliang is equivalent to controlling Bianzhou. Therefore, Su Ming can use the waterway of the canal to grasp the core essence of the Central Plains from Luoyang to Bianliang. This place is all plains with a large population, and it is the foundation of the king.

With a large population, taxes and territory, he could store grain, build high walls, and slowly conquer the world. Otherwise, he could only stay in Luoyang forever and be bullied by the surrounding military governors.

A few Jinshi officials could not make any waves in the huge Bianzhou, let alone arouse the vigilance of local forces. Once Su Ming developed to a certain level, he would definitely take back Bianzhou first. Otherwise, it would be very uncomfortable to have the lifeline of the grain transport strangled by others.

In other words, in ancient times, Luoyang was far more suitable to be the capital than any other city. However, due to various reasons of the current situation, Luoyang was gradually abandoned and became a foil.

At this point, the imperial examination came to an end, but its influence quickly expanded to the entire world. This novel examination method amazed ambitious people all over the world.

A regime determines whether a person survives based on whether he can make his voice heard.

Whether it was the previous selection of talents or the current imperial examinations, the Luoyang court had established a new impression in the minds of the princes of the world. At least in their minds, the court was no longer dispensable, nor was it a puppet regime supported by Li Siyuan.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just the imperial examination. With Li Siyuan’s personality, he would never do such a thing.

The real influence of the imperial examination lies in that it provides people at the bottom of society with a platform to cross classes and an opportunity to change their destiny. Even a farmer who makes a living from the fields has a chance to pass the examination as long as he studies well.

What a shock this will be to the people of today!

Last year, the imperial court announced the imperial examination, but no one in the world took it seriously. It was not until the results came out that people suddenly realized that what the imperial court said was true!

Everything is different.

The people's hearts are gathered bit by bit in this way and gradually form a trend.

……

Qianqiu Palace.

Su Ming stood up from the seat and stretched. He was more accustomed to sitting on a stool, but there were rules everywhere in the palace and he could not change them for the time being.

Fortunately, there is a blanket under the kneeling position, and a small stool can be placed under the buttocks.

When our kneeling habit was learned by the little ones, they didn't learn the essence of it at all. They really knelt, which caused them to have bow legs.

They probably thought the small stool under their buttocks looked nice, but they had no idea what it was used for, so they simply used it to hold food, and it has been passed down for thousands of years.

He was drinking tea when the eunuch walked in from outside the door and said, "Your Majesty, Master Xu Huan wants to see you."

"Bring her in." Su Ming nodded without thinking too much.

After a moment, Xu Huan stepped forward, twisted her waist and bowed, "Your Majesty."

Su Ming waved his hand casually, motioning her to sit down, "Aunt, there's no need to be so polite. Didn't I tell you last time that we are all family, there's no need to be so polite?"

"Then I will respectfully obey your command." She nodded slightly and sat down leisurely.

Just as Su Ming was about to make tea, Xu Huan grabbed the copper kettle and brewed tea for both of them. A faint tea fragrance filled the air and mist rose.

"Aunt learns quickly. She can understand it just by looking at it once." Su Ming took the tea, blew it a few times, and took a small sip.

"The tea that Your Majesty brewed last time was sweet and delicious, and I still remember it vividly. This time, it is my turn to brew tea for Your Majesty." Xu Huan raised the corners of his lips slightly, seeming a little proud.

Through the steaming clouds, Su Ming's eyes flashed across her plump red lips. As expected of a married woman and a mature mother, her every move was full of charm.

"In the past two months, the court has been busy with affairs and I have no time to return to the harem. How is Junior Sister?"

As a person who has been through this, Xu Huan is very experienced. He said softly, "Lin Xuan is newly pregnant and is quite sleepy. She has fallen asleep now. She is a martial artist and is in good health. As long as she follows the doctor's instructions, there will be no problem."

Su Ming nodded, his face very relieved, "That's good, Junior Sister lost both her parents when she was young, and depended on Master for everything. She finally lived a peaceful life, but was dragged into the disputes by me, her Senior Brother. She has suffered a lot over the years."

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of regret.

The more Lu Linxuan suffered in the beginning, the happier she was later. In the sixth season, she even followed Zhang Zifan and became the queen. Is there any woman in the world who can compare to her?