Chapter 685: Autocratic
Chapter 685: Autocratic
Just after dawn, a carriage stopped at the Yuan Mansion. Yuan Xiaoju walked out of the mansion and got directly into the carriage. Dugutuo was already sitting in the carriage.
The carriage moved slowly, taking the two family heads to the Ministry of War in the Imperial City to meet Li Yuan. Li Yuan's Marshal's Office was located in the Ministry of War, and he himself also had the title of Inspector of the Ministry of War.
Yuan Xiaoju has been in a very low mood recently. Since he came back from Jiangdu, he has not gone out and all the things have been done by Yuanshou.
Yuan Xiaoju was hit hard. His years of cooperation with Prince Jin came to an end completely because of the coup. Prince Jin could not tolerate anyone who launched a coup against his father.
This is a matter of righteousness. If even loyalty and filial piety are betrayed, how far can he go?
How could Yuan Xiaoju be happy when the Yuan family’s years of business were gone?
Dugu Tuo was very happy. Now that the Yuan family had given up on Prince Jin, many things would be easier to handle and everyone could support Li Yuan together.
"Li Yuan has entered the city. What do you think we should do next?" Dugu Tuo asked with a smile.
Yuan Xiaoju said calmly: "I believe we have no disagreement on how to proceed, but I am afraid we may have different opinions on how long to go."
The next step would certainly be to support Prince of Dai Yang You as emperor and use the emperor to control the princes. This needs no explanation. Even Yu Wenhuaji and Wang Shichong understood this. How could they not understand it?
The key is how long will this puppet emperor stay? This is where everyone has different opinions.
The Dugu family believed that as long as Qu Tutong, Yuwen Chengdu, Yang Gongren and others surrendered, the mission of the puppet emperor would be accomplished. Li Yuan's idea was a little more far-reaching, and he believed that if he could take over the territory of Northern Zhou, he could establish a country.
The Yuan family’s opinion was very clear: only by destroying the King of Jin could they have the capital to establish a country. If they followed the Yuan family’s opinion, it would take a long time.
Dugutuo pondered for a moment and said, "Brother, do you really have to insist?"
Yuan Xiaoju sighed and said, "Brother Dugu, I am thinking about everyone, including your Dugu family. If the King of Jin is powerful enough to destroy Li Yuan, what will happen to us, the traitors of the Sui Dynasty? On the contrary, as long as the Sui Emperor is not deposed, we are the officials of the Sui Dynasty, and the King of Jin can't do anything to us. At most, he will not use us, and the wealth of your family can still be guaranteed."
Dugu Tuo was speechless for a moment, and after a while he smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, you don't think highly of Li Yuan?"
Yuan Xiaoju shook his head. "It's not that I don't think highly of Li Yuan, but I've considered it more carefully. After all, the King of Jin has powerful iron fire thunder and his navy is invincible. He also has the full support of the southern nobles. He is not that easy to defeat."
Dugutuo sighed and said, "Let's take it one step at a time!"
The carriage entered the imperial city and stopped in front of the Ministry of War. When Li Yuan heard that the two family heads had arrived together, he hurried out to greet them.
"The two elders have come in person, and I am sorry for being so rude!"
Dugu Tuo was Li Yuan's uncle. He nodded and said, "Shude is busy now, so don't be bound by etiquette. Let's talk inside!"
"Two elders, please!"
Li Yuan invited the two big men into the VIP Hall. The three of them sat down and Li Yuan ordered his entourage to serve tea.
Dugu Tuo said slowly, "According to what we agreed beforehand, we will first support the King of Dai as the emperor. Needless to say, you will be the prime minister. What do you think of the other official arrangements?"
Li Yuan was silent for a moment and said, "I want to divide it into two different official systems, the transition period and the establishment period, to cope with the current complex situation."
Yuan Xiaoju nodded, "We fully understand Shude's idea and will certainly support it, but I don't know how to set up the official positions during the transition period?" Li Yuan smiled and said, "I want to imitate the official system of King Jin during the transition period, but the titles are slightly different!"
Dugu Tuo and Yuan Xiaoju looked at each other and immediately understood, "Shude also wants to separate the military and politics?"
Li Yuan nodded, "I also want to set up the Tang Palace and the Shangshu Province. The Tang Palace will be in charge of the army, and the Shangshu Province will be in charge of politics. I will be the Prime Minister and Shangshu Ling, and under me will be the six ministries and temple supervisors. Of course, I will set up the Senate under the Tang Palace. Please go to the Senate and participate in the discussion of military and national affairs, both elders."
This Senate is equivalent to Xiao Xia's Council of Elders. It is the best way to appease these old guys. It has the power to participate in politics but not to exercise political power.
"Could it be that the Tang Palace will also establish a Privy Council?"
Li Yuan shook his head and smiled, "It's not called the Privy Council, it's called the Grand Marshal's Office. The functions are the same, directly in charge of the army. I will concurrently serve as the Grand Marshal, and Jiancheng will serve as the Chief of the Marshal's Office."
This was a complete copy of the official system of Prince Jin. It can be seen that Li Yuan made the decision after careful consideration, and Dugutuo and Yuan Xiaoju did not interfere.
Yuan Xiaoju pondered for a moment and asked, "When will the new emperor ascend the throne? Have you considered it?"
Li Yuan nodded, "I have decided. I will ascend the throne in three days!"
Dugutuo and Yuan Xiaoju looked at each other. Li Yuan had decided everything without discussing it with them at all, which made them feel a little unhappy.
Three days later, Li Yuan formally supported Dai Wang Yang You as the emperor and changed the reign title to Yining. Yang You then appointed Li Yuan as the King of Tang, Taifu, Prime Minister, and Grand Marshal of the Army. From then on, Li Yuan held both military and political power and even the emperor's edicts were signed by him.
Li Yuan immediately sent envoys to Longyou, Xiaoguan, Jincheng County, and Diaoyin County to issue edicts of peace. Several generals were conferred the titles of dukes and generals, and their families were resettled in beautiful mansions and estates.
Feeling Li Yuan's sincerity, Yuwen Chengdu, Qu Tutong, Yang Gongren and Zhang Shilong all expressed their loyalty to the new emperor of Chang'an, which, of course, meant their loyalty to Li Yuan.
Li Yuan withdrew all the border troops back to Guanzhong for reorganization. His military strength reached 300,000.
Xiao Xia's army had entered Dongping County and annihilated Xu Yuanlang's 20,000 troops stationed in Dongping County. Xiao Xia also ordered Pei Xingyan to lead 20,000 troops to attack Ge Qian in Jibei County, and ordered Luo Shixin to lead 30,000 troops to directly penetrate Qi County, cutting off Ge Qian and Xu Yuanlang's retreat route to Qi County.
Xiao Xia personally led an army of 50,000 and attacked Lu County, targeting the warlord Xu Yuanlang who was entrenched in Lu County.
At this time, Xu Yuanlang and Ge Qian urgently asked for help from the Wagang Army. Li Mi had just occupied Dongjun and Xingyang counties. He received letters from the two major forces asking for help. After much consideration, Li Mi personally led an army of 80,000 south to Liangjun, occupied Bianliang and Chenliu County, and controlled the northern part of Liangjun.
But Xiao Xia was well prepared. Zhang Xutuo immediately sent someone to challenge Li Mi and invited him to go south to Songcheng County for a battle.
Li Mi was just making a gesture. He knew that Zhang Xutuo had 30,000 troops guarding Songcheng County and they could not gain any advantage. What's more, Songcheng County was the outer defense deployed by the King of Jin. Li Mi did not dare to bring disaster upon himself at this time.
On the one hand, he sent people to tell Ge Qian and Xu Yuanlang that he would implement the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao to attack Jianghuai and force the King of Jin to withdraw his troops, but on the other hand, he kept his troops in place. The so-called besieging Wei to save Zhao was just a plan on paper.
(End of this chapter)