Chapter 169 Opportunity

Chapter 169 Opportunity

Chapter 169 Opportunity
Today is March 307th of the first year of the Yongjia reign (). The weather is nice, sunny and warm with a gentle breeze.

Shao Xun, who had not slept all night, took off his armor with great effort with the help of Tang Jian. He felt relaxed all over, but almost fell to the ground due to exhaustion.

Yang Xianrong saw this scene as soon as she went out.

She bit her lip subconsciously and said nothing.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Shao Xun bowed.

My legs and feet feel a little sore, which is probably not because I have been lying on Lan Ji's body every night recently. I have been wearing armor and holding a sword for most of the night. Although I can sit down and rest for a while, I am really tired.

It's just him. If it were an ordinary soldier who was not well trained, he would probably not be able to handle it.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shao Qing." Yang Xianrong's words were much gentler today, no longer as aggressive as she was yesterday.

"The Queen invites me to her study. Lord Yang and General Chen have already arrived," Shao Xun said.

I hope his suffering all night was not in vain, and the Queen can be calmer today and sit down to seriously analyze what to do next.

"Yes." Yang Xianrong agreed softly.

Shao Xun immediately brought Yang Xianrong to the study.

Yang Man and Chen Jing hurriedly saluted.

Yang Xianrong returned the gift and sat down.

Shao Xun poured her a bowl of tea and brought a few plates of snacks and placed them in front of her.

Yang Xianrong lowered her head slightly, looked at the snacks, and said nothing.

"Empress, we are all family here, so I will speak directly." Shao Xun considered for a moment and said, "I will first tell you what the Empress is most concerned about."

At this point, Shao Xun glanced at Yang Xianrong and said, "The Queen has been very kind to me, and I have always been grateful and grateful, so I will not send the Queen back. Don't worry, Queen."

Yang Xianrong nodded.

She was willing to believe Shao Xun's words because he had been standing guard outside the room in armor all night last night.

That night was the most peaceful sleep she had had in years.

It seemed that no matter what storms happened outside, it would not affect her.

She could hide in that small room, read books, play the piano, drink tea, write and draw, or think about other things. No one could harm her, so she didn't have to be afraid.

She suddenly hated Le Lanji even more.

After Shao Xun finished speaking, he looked at Yang Man and Chen Jing. Seeing that they had no intention of talking, he continued, "I thought about it carefully last night. The late emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne. Everything is complicated and very sensitive. I'm afraid that the Grand Tutor will not have the energy to take care of us in the short term."

Shao Xun said this with confidence.

The way he does things gives people the impression that he is very domineering, as if he dares to do anything and is not a person who follows the rules.

He dared to rob such a big thing as the Xuchang Armory.

He dared to kill 5,000 Xianbei cavalry in Chang'an City.

Taifu, do you dare to bet that I will lead an army to Luoyang, expose your crime of regicide, and make a mess of the situation?

Do you dare to suffer losses on both sides?

I am just like Zhang Fang. I don’t care about any impact at all. Do you dare to bet?
In the end, Zhang Fang seemed to be trying to kidnap the emperor and challenge Sima Yong, although he was desperately resisted by Shao Xun - historically, it was definitely not Sima Yong's idea or the shogunate's idea for Zhang Fang to kidnap the emperor and return to Chang'an, because it would only bring great damage to Sima Yong's reputation. It could only be Zhang Fang's own idea.

Taifu, do you think I dare to let Queen Yang accuse you of regicide?

It’s fine to just talk on the streets, it can’t be taken seriously, but who can ignore the Queen’s testimony?

How many ministers and generals in Luoyang now suspect you of regicide?

It is clear what the people’s support is.

"I've been thinking about this all night." Yang Man sighed and said, "The Grand Tutor shouldn't dare to ask for the Queen back. Doing so would only make him look guilty. Even if he really wants to eliminate the hidden danger, it won't be now. He should wait at least a year or two until the storm has passed before taking action."

"Someone came to Luoyang this morning to report." Chen Jing also said, "The emperor passed away in an unclear manner, and no one has taken responsibility until now. The doctors, the imperial kitchen, and the palace maids are all fine. The Minister of the Right, Xun Gong, requested a thorough investigation of the matter, but the Grand Tutor denied it, saying only that the emperor was nearly fifty years old and his physical strength was exhausted. When he was eating a cake, he choked to death."

When Shao Xun heard this, he thought about it seriously.

The saying of choking to death while eating biscuits has a bit of the meaning of making a big thing small and a small matter nothing.

After all, no matter who poisoned the emperor, someone has to take the blame, right? For such a big thing, the cooks and palace maids can't bear the blame. No one is a fool, so don't insult everyone's intelligence.

So, it was most likely Sima Yue who did it?
He is really that...

"The Grand Tutor is in a passive position now." Shao Xun combined the information from Yang Man and Chen Jing and said, "Even if no one has spoken out, he is under everyone's suspicion. The court officials and the imperial guards are all suspicious of him, and his prestige has been greatly damaged. If you were in the Grand Tutor's shoes, the best way for him now would be to downplay the matter and not let people repeatedly mention the cause of the late emperor's death. The more people mention it, the more passive he will be. In the end, no one in Luoyang will support him, and he will be forced to go to the outer vassal state."

Leaving Luoyang and going to a garrison outside the border is actually a means of downplaying the situation.

People will forget, and hot spots will fade away.

The death of the late emperor is now the “headline news”, “swiping the screen” every day, and as time goes by, it is spreading and fermenting rapidly.

A person's power lies in gathering the masses, but when the masses doubt you, your power is greatly weakened.

This is not a chaotic time when rules have completely disappeared. Regicide is something that no one can tolerate. If you break the rules, you must bear the backlash of the rules - the rules come from the collection of values ​​​​of court officials, imperial guards, aristocratic families, governors of other states and even ordinary people.

In other words, there was no conclusive evidence, otherwise Sima Yue would have fled in embarrassment by now.

Therefore, leaving the city to visit a foreign vassal is a very good way to downplay the matter. When you are out of people's sight, fewer people will talk about you.

After a year or so, when the storm has passed, he can return to Luoyang to continue governing the country.

"But the Grand Tutor must hate the Yang family." Yang Man sighed helplessly.

"So the Yang family must protect themselves in time." Shao Xun immediately took advantage of the situation and said with a smile.

Yang Man glared at him.

"I still have money." Yang Xianrong put down the snacks in his hand and said.

Yang Man glared at her sister again.

"The Grand Tutor also hates me." Chen Jing said with a wry smile.

"General Chen, rest assured. The Grand Tutor will not dare to touch your family now." Shao Xun said, "On the contrary, he may be afraid that someone will take advantage of the situation and murder your family."

Chen Jing nodded silently, but still felt a little worried.

"General Chen comes from a prominent family. I wonder if the Chen family of Yingchuan has any means of self-protection?" Shao Xun had no intention of letting Chen Jing go, so he asked directly.

"I know what you mean." Chen Jing sighed, "I will go back to Yingchuan today and explain the pros and cons. If the Grand Tutor really goes to guard the outer vassal state, it will most likely be Xuchang. This matter must be carefully investigated."

"How can we let General Chen return empty-handed?" Shao Xun said, "I am willing to give you a hundred horses to make you look more impressive and to make things easier for you when you return. If the Chen family of Yingchuan is willing to buy horses, we can discuss everything."

Chen Jing bowed from a distance to express his gratitude.

"Mr. Yang, the horses in Chiping Muyuan have been obtained by Ji Sang. The Yang family of Taishan must also be in need of horses." Shao Xun said, "I am willing to give you 200 horses. Mr. Yang, please find a way to send someone to escort them back."

Yang Man thanked him.

In fact, he was helpless. On one hand, Shao Xun gave the horse to Yang Shi, and on the other hand, Yang Xianrong looked like she was giving money away for free. Was it a profit or a loss?

Shao Xun was very satisfied.

When Yang Xianrong first came yesterday, he was indeed a little at a loss. But after a night of careful thinking, he keenly discovered that there is gain and loss in the world.

What he lost was Sima Yue's already little trust, and the relationship between the two became even more rigid and deteriorating.

What he got was the opportunity to join forces with the Yingchuan Chen family and the Taishan Yang family - at least some of their descendants and resources.

This opportunity is very valuable.

If it can be implemented effectively, the predicament of shortage of internal affairs talents under him will be improved to a certain extent.

"I guess..." Shao Xun finally said, "In at most ten days, the Grand Tutor's envoy will come to Liang County. By then, we will be able to see the Grand Tutor's true thoughts."

Yang Man and Chen Jing nodded slowly.

"In the next few days, I will send orders to all the forts to transfer the main force of the Silver Spear Army to Liang County." Shao Xun added: "Join the drill with the Yamen Army and the Long Sword Army."

The Silver Spear Army currently has five buildings and 3,000 men, stationed in various forts for training.

It's not a good thing not to see each other for a long time, so we can take this opportunity to have each building mobilize some personnel to come for drill and check out the results of their training over the past few months - mainly to see how the batch of new recruits recruited in November and December last year are doing.

If necessary, he would even order the entire army to wear mourning clothes and cry and offer sacrifice to the late emperor to see who would panic first.

Yang Xianrong was very happy and a rare smile appeared on her face.

She wanted to see what the Silver Spear Army looked like.

Shao Xun took so much money from me. If he fails to train a strong army, I will punish him by making him guard Guangcheng Palace.

From childhood to adulthood, no one dared to refuse to give me what I wanted.

After becoming the queen, she suffered injustice every day.

If the Silver Spear Army trains well, then Shao Xun will be rewarded with more money. He will definitely be grateful, and then realize that Le Lanji is a useless woman who can only entertain people with her beauty and can't help at all.

After the plan was finalized, Yang Man and Chen Jing said goodbye and left, as they still had a lot of things to do.

And these things are also very important to Shao Xun.

He sensed some opportunities, and the likelihood of these opportunities coming true was increasing.

If he could really drag the Yingchuan Chen family and the Taishan Yang family into the water, the military and political group he founded would undergo a qualitative change.

After Yang Man and Chen Jing left, the study became empty.

Yang Xianrong picked up the snack and began to eat it politely.

Shao Xun glanced at her and asked, "How about I escort the Queen to Guangcheng Palace today?"

Yang Xianrong couldn't eat any more. After hesitating for a while, she said, "Aren't there still craftsmen painting the screen wall in Guangcheng Palace? Let's go after they're finished."

She somewhat missed the dreamless night last night, and even wanted it to continue like this.

"No." Shao Xun refused directly, then looked at Yang Xianrong with her eyes wide open, and advised earnestly: "It's okay for the Queen to stay in my house for a short time, but it will cause criticism if it stays for a long time. How about this, after the exercise is over, I will take the Queen to Guangcheng Palace."

Yang Xianrong knew that he was telling the truth, so she could only agree unhappily.

(End of this chapter)