Chapter 662: Tight Layout
Chapter 662: Tight Layout
Xuan Ji is Wang Long's daughter, Wang Xuan Ji. In fact, she is not Wang Long's biological daughter. She is a stunning beauty selected by Wang Long from the Qiang and Hu tribes and trained since childhood. Before she was seventeen years old, she had always been Wang Long's woman. It was not until the eve of giving her to Qin Wang Yang Jun that he recognized her as his daughter.
Soon, Wang Xuanji came like a butterfly and threw herself into Wang Long's arms. She hugged his neck and said coquettishly, "Are you thinking of me now?"
Wang Xuanji was already twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, but she still looked like she was about eighteen or nineteen, with delicate skin and a pair of extremely charming peach blossom eyes.
Wang Long had already heard the footsteps of his eldest son. He was a little embarrassed and quickly winked at Xuan Ji, who then stood up tactfully.
In fact, she was having an affair with Wang Shichong, but Wang Long didn't know about it.
At this time, Wang Shichong walked quickly into his father's study, bowed and said, "Greetings, father!"
Wang Shichong is now the Minister of War. He is highly respected and powerful, and is also a favorite of the emperor. His actual power is no less than that of his father.
Wang Long waved his hand, "You two brothers, please sit down!"
Wang Shichong and Wang Xuanji both sat down. In front of Wang Long, they did not dare to act rashly or show any intimacy.
Wang Long said slowly, "Yuan Wendu came to me just now and told me an important news. The Guanlong nobles are planning to launch a coup when the emperor is on the Western Expedition. They need my participation. The condition is to make us the King of Henan. They are afraid that I will not agree, so they even threatened me with the assassination of Yang Zhao."
"Then what does father think?" Wang Shichong knew his father very well. His father must be tempted, otherwise he would not have come to ask him to come.
Wang Long sneered and said, "I think this is indeed an opportunity, but I don't want to be the King of Henan. I am considering becoming the Emperor!"
"proclaim oneself emperor?"
Wang Shichong and Wang Xuanji were both shocked, "Father, you need to think it over carefully!"
Wang Long said slowly: "I have thought it through very clearly. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our Wang family. I must seize it, but we cannot expect others to give us alms. We must fight for it ourselves. First, we must seize military power."
"how should I do it?"
Wang Long groaned for a moment and said, "The emperor will lead the army in person early next year. We need to capture Luoyang. I will recommend Wu Lang as the Luoyang garrison commander, but my recommendation alone is not enough. The most important thing is Yu Shiji's recommendation. Yu Shiji is extremely lustful. The last time he came to my house, he kept staring at Xuan Ji."
Wang Xuanji turned around and said, "Father wants me to sacrifice my beauty and serve that old man again."
Wang Long smiled and said, "It will only take two or three months. After the task is completed, I will open the treasure house of the Sui Dynasty and you can choose whatever you want!"
Wang Xuanji's eyes lit up and she smiled sweetly, "Father, is he true to his word?"
Wang Shichong was extremely annoyed, but he forced himself to suppress his dissatisfaction and did not show it at all.
Wang Xuanji finally came to her senses and secretly glanced at Wang Shichong. Wang Shichong said calmly, "If you want to accomplish great things, you can't be so particular about small details. I agree with my father's plan!"
At night, Wang Long sent someone to send his daughter Wang Xuanji to Yu Shiji's house. Yu Shiji was extremely happy and took Wang Xuanji as his concubine that night. He became addicted to her and obeyed her in everything. He also promised that he would recommend Wang Shichong to stay in Luoyang.
When Yuan Xiaoju passed through Luoyang, he specially visited Yu Wenhuaji, the general of the Beishenfu. After Yuwen Shu was assassinated, Yu Wenhuaji mourned for his father for two years, and then re-entered the government one year in advance. He was appointed by the emperor as the general of the Beishenfu, commanding 30,000 thousand Beishen.
Yuan Xiaoju smiled and pushed a document to Yu Wenzhi. Yu Wenzhi took a look at the document and was shocked. It turned out to be a voting letter from the Guanlong nobles, collectively recommending the Yuwen family or the Li family to replace the Yang family and establish a new dynasty.
"This was a vote held last month. There were two candidates in total. One was from the Yuwen family, which was recommended by the Yuan family, and the other was from the Li family, which was recommended by the Dugu family. As you know, Li Yuan is Dugu Tuo's nephew, so it was normal for the Dugu family to recommend the Li family. In the end, everyone expressed their support for both families, and they were promoted based on their abilities."
Yu Wenzhi finally realized what was happening and asked in surprise, "Why does Lord Yuan think so highly of me?"
Yuan Xiaoju said slowly: "First, I was the one who recommended your Yuwen family to join the Guanlong nobles, so I have a responsibility to the Yuwen family. Second, your brother Yuwen Shiji married the daughter of my Yuan family, so our two families have an alliance. Third, I am a very pragmatic person. Although Dou Wei thinks that the Dou family is more qualified than your Yuwen family, I asked him, what's the use of relying on qualifications alone? What about strength? What strength do you have to obtain the throne? If you can get to the throne just by relying on qualifications, then wouldn't my Yuan family be more qualified?"
Yu Wenzhi asked anxiously, "Does the Patriarch think that the younger generation's strength has surpassed Li Yuan's?"
Yuan Xiaoju smiled slightly and said, "You don't have to belittle yourself. First of all, I recommend the Yuwen family, not just you, Yu Wenzhi. You control 30,000 Niu Beishen, which is better than Li Yuan who controls Taiyuan Prefecture. Secondly, your father left a huge inheritance. Don't you know that?"
"Ah!" Yu Wenzhi was stunned for a moment. What legacy did his father leave behind?
"The legacy your father left behind is his many subordinates in the army and his own high prestige. If General Yuwen ascends the throne, most of the army will support you. Do you understand what I mean? I support your family for this reason."
Yu Wenzhi suddenly realized, and his heart was suddenly filled with excitement. It turned out that his father had left such a huge inheritance for him.
Yuan Xiaoju pushed the document to him and said slowly, "This is top secret. If it is leaked, the entire clan will be exterminated. Don't leak it to anyone, not even your brothers. Someone from the Yuan family I sent will contact you. You can take another look at this recommendation letter, and then I'll take it away!"
Yu Wenzhi carefully read the recommendation letter again before returning it to Yuan Xiaoju. He sighed and said, "It came too suddenly. I was not mentally prepared at all."
Yuan Xiaoju was certainly fooling Yu Wenhuaji. This joint letter of recommendation was not true. Yu Wenhuaji was not smart enough, but he was equally ambitious. The key point was that Yu Wenhuaji had an army of 30,000 Niuwei troops, and he was the key to launching the coup.
"Don't worry, think about it carefully, and slowly adjust your mindset. We will start the Western Expedition next year."
Yu Wenzhi nodded silently.
Time passed quickly and it was early November. Zhou Fashang finally returned from Liaodong. Xiao Xia appointed his second son Zhou Shaofan to succeed his father as the second governor of Liaodong for a term of five years.
“I have previously appointed Lai Huer as the Lingnan East Road Recruiting Envoy, and he is leading 20,000 troops to Nanhai County by ship. I would like to hand over Lingnan West Road to the old general.
Zhou Fashang served as the governor of Guiyang County and the ambassador of Lingnan appeasement since the tenth year of Kaihuang. He had been managing and governing Lingnan West Road for a long time, which is today's Guangxi region. He enjoyed a high prestige in Lingnan West Road, so Xiao Xia decided to let Zhou Fashang recover Lingnan West Road.
"General, you can lead 30,000 troops south. We will have all the necessary supplies. In addition, if Xiao Xin is in charge of the area south of Jiaozhi County, we can temporarily not attack him. But if he dares to occupy Lingnan West Road, General, we will severely punish him and wipe him out."
Zhou Fashang bowed and said, "Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will definitely fulfill your orders and successfully incorporate Lingnan West Road into our territory!"
The next morning, Zhou Fashang led an army of 30,000 and sailed to Hengyang County. They could use the Xiang River to transport supplies to Hengyang, and then from Hengyang County to Guiyang County. This voyage was no longer realistic, so they had to travel by land, and all kinds of supplies had to be transported by animal power. Xiao Xia also transferred another 10,000 camels to Zhou Fashang.
(End of this chapter)