Chapter 517 Anyang Conspiracy
Chapter 517 Anyang Conspiracy
On June 20th, the wedding fleet that went to Wujun also returned to Jiangdu. Xiao Xia personally went to the dock to greet them in a groom's suit. Since they had decided on an alliance, they had to give enough face to the Jiangnan family. Although she was a concubine, the scale of her wedding was no less than that of the main wife.
The wedding procession carried the sedan chair into Jiangdu City, and tens of thousands of people lined the streets to welcome them. When they arrived in front of Prince Jin's Mansion, there was even louder music and drums. The Mansion was decorated with lights and red carpets. Princess Cui Yu of Jin personally greeted them at the door. She held Lu Xieting's hand and walked into the gate of the mansion.
This is also the highest etiquette for marrying a concubine, and the wife will personally greet her at the door.
However, a wife is a wife and a concubine is a concubine. The etiquette is here. A concubine cannot be treated as a wife. Giving her enough face is for outsiders to see. So it can be grand and solemn outside, but once you enter the house and close the door, you must follow the rules of taking a concubine.
The ceremony was exactly the same as the last time he married Zhang Qiao. They also had to worship in the hall and serve tea to the princess. However, this time, Princess Cui Yu added a ceremony for Xiao Qing, and Xiao Xia and Shuangnu worshipped in the hall together.
This is where Cui Yu knows how to behave. It was just a piece of cake for Xiaoqing to perform a ceremony, but it earned Xiaoqing's gratitude and loyalty to her.
"Worship heaven and earth!"
The master of ceremonies was Zhang Qiao, and Cui Mei was helping out. Under Zhang Qiao's guidance, Cui Mei's mentality gradually calmed down. She was no longer anxious, but believed that with time and emotion accumulating little by little, this family would accept her sooner or later.
"Serve the princess tea!"
"Couple greetings!"
There was a crackling sound of firecrackers outside. Amid the sound of firecrackers, Lu Xieting, with a shy face, walked into the bridal chamber hand in hand with her husband, and began to welcome a new beginning in her life.
On the second day of July, a southern patrol fleet consisting of more than a thousand large ships left Luoyang and, under the escort of more than 100,000 troops, began to march towards the south of the Yangtze River for an inspection.
At the same time, Yuan Wendu, a representative of the Guanlong nobles, secretly arrived in Anyang County, Weizhou, and met with Qiao Zhongkui, Yang Ling's aide.
Qiao Zhongkui is still the second-in-command of Qi Wang Yang Ling, but he has been secretly bribed by the Guanlong nobles and has become the mouthpiece of the Guanlong nobles planted next to Yang Ling.
In the study, Yuan Wendu said to Qiao Zhongkui, "The emperor will officially set out from Luoyang to Jiangdu on the first day of July. We hope that the King of Qi will launch a coup in Chenliu County. Of course, the King of Qi also has an excuse to send troops, that is, the bandits in Wagang Village will attack the emperor's fleet, and the King of Qi can lead the army to attack Chenliu in the name of rescuing the emperor."
Qiao Zhongkui asked quickly, "Will Wagangzhai send out troops?"
Yuan Wendu laughed, "It doesn't matter whether Wagangzhai sends out troops or not. What's important is that there is indeed a group of bandits in Wagangzhai who have taken over the mountain and become the king. Do you understand what I mean, Mr. Qiao?"
Qiao Zhongkui nodded, "We can send more than a thousand people to pretend to be Wagang bandits, so that the King of Qi can have a legitimate reason to go to war!"
"That's right. It's not easy for us to come forward, so we have to rely on Mr. Qiao to persuade the King of Qi!"
Qiao Zhongkui nodded slowly. He knew the chance was great and Yang Ling was already impatient.
Prince of Qi Yang Ling had huge character flaws, he was irritable and had no patience at all. Xiao Xia's belief that he had super male syndrome was actually not entirely correct. Yang Ling should have mania.
The Guanlong and Hebei families, led by the Jingzhao Wei family and the Qinghe Cui family, placed heavy bets on Yang Ling, believing that he would become the crown prince and the emperor of the Sui Dynasty in the future.
But in the end, both great families suffered a disastrous defeat. The reason was Yang Ling's huge character flaw. He simply did not have the patience to endure it. Last year, he ordered Wang Long to assassinate Crown Prince Yang Zhao, and he thought that the position of crown prince would soon fall on his head.
As a result, a year passed and the position of crown prince was still far away, and Yang Ling finally could not bear it any longer.
In mid-to-late April, Yang Ling, who could no longer bear it, sent Princess Wei of Qi back to Luoyang, drove away his chief aide Wei Jing, and sent someone to break the leg of aide Cui Jingyi. He then dismissed all officials with the surnames Wei and Cui in the Qi Palace, which was equivalent to completely severing the relationship with the two great families. The reason was simple. The Wei and Cui families firmly opposed his rebellion, which conflicted with Yang Ling's intention to quickly rise to power. At this time, the two great families were no longer his helpers, but obstacles to him, so Yang Ling acted without mercy.
The Guanlong nobles seized this opportunity, catered to his wishes, supported him to become the crown prince, and at the same time supported him in attacking the Baoguo Society.
This is where Yuan Xiaoju's shrewdness lies. He used the reason that the trade of Guanlong nobles in Hebei was disrupted by Baoguo as an excuse to propose to the emperor that he was willing to support the King of Qi in attacking Baoguo, and got the consent of Emperor Yang Guang.
The Guanlong nobles began to legitimately support Yang Ling in his attack on the National Protection Association, and at the same time also provided Yang Ling with the conditions to launch a coup.
The Guanlong nobles immediately hit it off with Yang Ling and the two sides reached an agreement. The Guanlong nobles invested one million strings of money in three batches to support Yang Ling in attacking the National Protection Association. As for how Yang Ling used the money, the Guanlong nobles did not supervise.
With the support of millions of strings of cash, Yang Ling also began to recruit troops on a large scale under the pretext of attacking the National Protection Association. In a short period of time, Yang Ling's military strength increased from 30,000 to 100,000.
With an army of 100,000 as his base, Yang Ling's ambition to rebel grew rapidly. He sharpened his knife, waiting for the opportunity to launch a coup.
In the study, Yang Ling summoned his important confidants to discuss the matter of raising an army.
The emperor's southern tour made Yang Ling immediately realize that his important opportunity had come, but he could no longer wait. Every day he waited was a huge torture for him. If he waited any longer, he would really go crazy.
There is a consensus on sending troops, and everyone thinks this is indeed an opportunity, but there are differences of opinion on how to send troops. There are currently two plans that make Yang Ling embarrassed.
The aide Wang Long believed that as the emperor was on a southern tour, Luoyang would be empty and the army could directly capture Luoyang.
However, this plan was opposed by Qiao Zhongkui and Xiao Moke. The emperor had taken all the officials away, and occupying Luoyang was meaningless except for obtaining money, food and supplies.
Qiao Zhongkui proposed another plan, which was to intercept the emperor's fleet in Chenliu County and force the emperor to abdicate.
Qiao Zhongkui pointed at the map and said, "Your Highness, please look, Chenliu County is the closest place to Baima Ferry on the Tongji Canal. If we start from Baima County, the cavalry can reach Chenliu County in one day. The key is time. The emperor's troops have no time to assemble. The army of more than 100,000 is stretched for nearly 100 miles. This gives us an opportunity, and we also have an excuse to send troops."
"What's the excuse?" Yang Ling asked.
Qiao Zhongkui pointed to the Wagang Mountain on the map and said, "There is a rebellious bandit group on the Wagang Mountain with several thousand people. Your Highness can send two to three thousand people to disguise as the Wagang rebels and attack the fleet. Then, under the pretext of rescuing the emperor, he can lead the army to protect the emperor. Before the officials know what has happened, the emperor's abdication edict has already been issued. Afterwards, we can explain to the officials that we got the news and came to rescue the emperor. In this way, our dispatch of troops is reasonable and legal."
"What a reasonable and legal one!"
Xiao Moke praised: "Your Highness, Lord Qiao's plan is brilliant. He took advantage of the time difference to control the emperor. In name, he was protecting the emperor. By the time the guards arrived to rescue him, the emperor had already issued an edict to abdicate. The key point is that the Wagang rebels attacked the emperor, so no one can blame us for sending troops."
Wang Long was a little unconvinced and said, "Then how would we know that the Wagang bandits attacked the emperor?"
Qiao Zhongkui smiled slightly and said, "Have we not been attacking the Baohui Society? We have obtained intelligence about the Baohui Society, so we said that the Baohui Society is going to attack the emperor. Anyway, the Wagang Bandits are a branch of the Baohui Society, and the Baohui Society ordered the Wagang Village to send troops."
Wang Yu wanted to say more, but Qi Wang Yang Ling did not give him another chance. Yang Ling slammed his fist on the table and said, "It's decided!"
(End of this chapter)