Chapter 973 Power and Western Affection

Chapter 973 Power and Western Affection

Chapter 973 Power and Western Affection

The foundation has been laid on the open space to the west of Yang's house in Tongzhengfang.

Bricks and tiles made in the Zhen government office were transported in every day, and large Taihang timber from the year of the flood was brought in one after another as material for building the house.

There are only two households in Tongzhengfang, and now the other one has found a place to stay: Pei’s house.

When Shangshu Ling Pei Miao received the news, he just smiled bitterly, then stood outside the bustling construction site, silent for a long time.

He is only in his early fifties, and he can still continue to work, but what can I do! What can I do!
According to the news, he will be "promoted" to Situ (first rank) and be granted a mansion, which can be said to be the highest honor, but does he want this?
"Jingsheng? Why aren't you in Bianliang?" Outside the Xuanyang Gate, an ox cart had just left the city, when unexpectedly a shout came from the cart.

Pei Miao looked in the direction of the voice and found it was Pei Xian, formerly a Zhonglang official in Shanyu's palace and currently the Chief Censor.

"Jingsi, where are you going?" Pei Miao asked, and then he took out a land deed and a house deed from his pocket, and said with a wry smile: "I'm coming to Beijing to report on my work and receive my reward."

"I'm going to Yongzhou for inspection." Pei Xian said as he got off the ox cart.

After approaching, he shook his head and sighed, "This house occupies half of the area, just like a royal palace. I think it is not a reward, but a disaster."

Pei Miao remained silent.

"I heard that you are going to be Situ?" Pei Xian asked.

Pei Miao nodded, his face gloomy.

"You are obsessed with power." Pei Xian sneered and said, "When you were young, you talked to others in a leisurely manner. Why did you change after becoming the Minister of the Chancellery?"

"Okay! Jingsi!" Pei Miao said with some embarrassment on his face.

Pei Xian shook his head and said, "It's good to be a minister. You are noble and high-ranking. Even if you are the head of the three provinces, I have to be respectful in front of you."

Pei Miao sighed and didn't want to say more.

"Are you still dreaming of becoming a 'little prime minister'?" Pei Xian was a little angry when he saw him like that, and asked, "Why? Do you still want to be the Minister of the Ministry of Rites?"

Pei Miao was stunned for a while and then said, "The post of 'recording the affairs of the ministers' should not appear in the new dynasty."

For the Shangshu Ling who was in charge of the six ministries, the additional title of "Lu Shangshu Shi" was simply bad news.

The Shangshu Ling was originally the highest official of the six ministries of the Shangshu Province, with independent decision-making and executive powers, which was much stronger than the Zhongshu Province and the Menxia Province.

But if he is in charge of "recording the affairs of the Shangshu", he will lose the decision-making power and become an executor.

Since the Later Han Dynasty, high-ranking officials such as the Three Dukes gradually became mere decorations: "The positions of the Three Dukes are just reserve staff."

But in terms of official rank, status and influence, they are very strong, but they just don't have specific power.

What if they were given the title of "Recruitment of Shangshushi" and entered the Shangshutai (Shangshu Sheng)? That would be different. The Shangshuling would have to listen to them and would completely or partially lose their own will.

During the Later Han Dynasty, Grand Tutor Yuan Wei and General He Jin were in charge of the Secretariat and held all the power.

After Dong Zhuo's death, Si Tu Wang Yun took over the affairs of the Secretariat and was in charge of state affairs.

Cao Cao was even more ruthless at that time. He appointed himself as Sikonglu Shangshushi and Xun Yu as Shangshu Ling.

Whoever is "recorded as the Shangshu official" means that he has entered the Shangshu Province, and then there will be internal rank arrangements. How can the Shangshu Ling be compared with the Three Dukes, the Generals and the like?

If Pei Miao was promoted to Si Tu and did not record the affairs of the Shang Shu, he would be excluded from the Shang Shu Province and lose actual power.

But if there is neither a prime minister nor one of the three officials in charge of recording the affairs of the Shangshu Ling, then he has complete will and decision-making power and becomes a "half-step prime minister", with the other half step taken away by the Secretariat (drafting imperial edicts) and the Ministry of Personnel (reviewing and refutation).

Pei Miao already had this expectation.

He was almost twenty years younger than Wang Yan. If he could survive Wang Yan's death and the Xin Dynasty abolished the prime minister, he would be the official with the most real power.

But the King of Liang may have felt that he had been in the position of Shangshu Ling for too long, or after defeating the Xiongnu, he felt that Hedong was not that important anymore, so he promoted him in public but demoted him in secret, excluding him from the circle of real power.

Whenever I think about this, I always feel upset and sad, and even a little resentful.

"Who is the Shangshu Ling?" Although Pei Xian was not very interested in fame and fortune, he was still very curious.

"This is the strange thing. I didn't hear any rumors." Pei Miao said, "But most of them are left to the Ruying scholars. They have made outstanding contributions to the new dynasty. Now that the prime minister is gone, can the minister of the imperial court still escape?"

Pei Xian had to admit that this made sense, so he asked, "Could it be Yu Yuangui?"

"Him?" Pei Miao looked at Pei Xian with a strange expression.

Pei Xian also looked at Pei Miao with the same strange expression.

Finally, the two couldn't help laughing.

"Yu Yuangui may be barely qualified to be the Minister of a Ministry, but the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel has made it difficult for him." Pei Miao said from the collar: "Although this position is not difficult, it is not something that everyone can do."

Pei Xian shook his head and said, "Who cares who takes the position? I am not of the same kind as you and the others. I just hope you won't cause any trouble and ruin the overall situation."

After being interrupted by him, Pei Miao's depressed mood eased a lot, so he waved his hand and said, "Jing Si can leave quickly."

Pei Xian bowed, turned and left.

Pei Miao continued to stand in Tongzhengfang, his mind distracted.

In the court, the momentum of Yingchuan scholars is still so strong.

It can also be seen from here that the Sixth Prince's rank in succession to the throne is still above that of other sons.

This is the advantage of the eldest son. As long as his ability is similar to that of other princes, or even slightly inferior, he will be given top priority.

Otherwise, the court structure would not be like this.

Not only would Empress Yu Wenjun's position be in jeopardy, but the Yingchuan forces in the three ministries and six departments would also be purged. However, none of this happened, and the Yingchuan scholars are still in power, which explains a lot of problems.

We can only wait! There is still a chance, and many things are not settled yet.

It is impossible for the scholars in Yingchuan to not make mistakes. One day, after Yu Liang comes back to power, he might do something that would make King Liang extremely angry.

******
Around the end of August, the ox cart carrying Pei Xian finally arrived in Chang'an.

As a result, no senior official came out to receive him, and the highest-ranking official was actually the Jingzhao prefect Zheng Shida.

"Where is Jin Zhenxi?" Pei Xian entered Chang'an and went straight to the General Zhenxi's Mansion, but was stopped by the gatekeeper. He was immediately displeased and asked directly.

"Pei Yushi, please follow me to the prefect's residence." Zheng Shida was very polite and said with a smile, "Governor Jin has already set off for Tianshui."

"Going to war?" Pei Xian asked.

"Indeed." Zheng Shida ordered the ox cart to turn around and head straight for the prefectural government's mansion.

After entering, he personally served tea and said in a very humble manner: "Mr. Pei, what is the matter with you coming here?"

Pei Xian glanced at him warily and said, "There is a rule in the imperial court that when the imperial censors inspect the four directions, do they need to report to you?"

"How dare I?" Zheng Shida said with a wry smile.

Pei Xian's expression eased slightly, and he asked again: "Is there a fight in the west?"

"The war has already started." When talking about business, Zheng Shida put away the flattery on his face and said, "The Western General Beigong Chun was the vanguard commander, leading 10,000 tribal soldiers and 3,000 cavalry from the Xianbei Dou Yuzhen. In July, they arrived at Yinping and defeated the Di people. Yang Jian was wounded in the head, and although he held on to the city, he was defeated, and the recovery of Yinping was not far away."

Although Pei Xian had led troops before, he was scared away by the Xiongnu and had no knowledge of military affairs. After hearing what Zheng Shida said, he only said, "Didn't you take over Yinping and Wudu counties?"

Zheng Shida didn't know what to say, so he could only perfunctorily say, "Mr. Pei, just wait for good news. Yao Yizhong and other troops have already set out for Wudu. The Yang Di are not strong in combat, and they only rely on the high mountains and long roads, which are difficult to travel. After General Beigong won a great victory in Yinping, 3,000 households surrendered, which showed the clues. When the Di people saw that the Yang brothers were in decline, they immediately turned their backs on them. They are not that difficult to defeat."

"I see." Pei Xian nodded and said, "The Chengdu Li family is also a Di people. Will they rescue the Yang brothers?"

"I think it's difficult." Zheng Shida said, "He surrendered to Cheng first, then defected, and even captured and killed Li Xiong, the nephew of Cheng Lord Li Xiong, the Minister of the Court and the Commander of the Central Army Li Han. This hatred is difficult to resolve. It's good that Cheng Han didn't send troops to attack him."

"That's great." Pei Xian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "After years of fighting, the country is struggling. It would be great if we can win the war quickly. It would be even better if we can march straight down to Liangzhou."

"Mr. Pei is absolutely right." Zheng Shida said with a smile.

There were footsteps outside and an old servant was looking in.

Zheng Shida looked at Pei Xian and asked directly, "What's the matter?"

"Governor Jin has reported from Tianshui that dozens of elders from Liangzhou have left Wuwei and are heading for Chang'an. Please come out to greet them and treat them with courtesy," the old servant replied.

"It's done!" Zheng Shida laughed when he heard it.

Pei Xian was confused and looked at him in doubt.

Zheng Shida didn't want to say much, because he felt that Pei Xian was a man of no use except for his high morals and his mastery of etiquette. However, considering that such people were not able to accomplish anything, it was easy to catch their mistakes and report them, so he couldn't be too negligent, so he explained: "After the angel arrived in Wuwei, he visited all the virtuous people in Liangzhou and reported to the Ministry of Personnel. Now there are dozens of elders going east, and the matter will be accomplished."

"Add to that the fact that General Beigong has taken up his post at the imperial court, and Fan and Wei have been treated with respect by the king, and the people of Liang Province may be suspicious of each other and no longer be of one mind. In this way, the future offensive will be twice as effective with half the effort."

When Pei Xian heard that they had to attack Liangzhou and fight a war, he sighed again.

"Please do as you please, Mr. Pei. I have some important matters to attend to here." Zheng Shida bowed and left in a hurry.

At this time, a group of people came from outside Chang'an City.

They marched from west to east in a mighty force, numbering nearly five thousand.

Looking closely, one thousand of them were guards, and the other four thousand were prisoners.

One of them was tall but looked a little hunched.

His hair and beard were disheveled, and he looked listless. It was obvious that he had lost all his energy and spirit. If anyone knew him, they would be surprised. How could Shi Le, who had never given in no matter how desperate he was, become like this?
However, it's not surprising if you think about it carefully.

He was defeated repeatedly, lost troops and territory, and every defeat greatly drained his energy.

Yecheng, Changshan, Xinxing, Shangjun, Tianshui, Longxi, they were defeated all the way, they defeated every mountain and river in the world, it was good enough that they didn't die of anger.

And his family members and children were also beheaded in Chang'an by Jin Zhun on the day of the rebellion.

At such an old age, the foundation he had worked hard for half his life was destroyed, and all his family members were killed. How could he not be discouraged? Oh, it seemed that he still had a son alive, which was a blessing in disguise.

When passing Chang'an, Shi Le couldn't help but look at the city.

In the rustling autumn wind, Chang'an seems to have a new look.

The voices of the soldiers urging him on continued to ring out, and Shi Le took heavy steps, moving forward hesitantly, and finally stayed temporarily in Bashang for a few days.

Along the way, more and more captives were brought in, and the team became larger and larger, even with some shriveled heads mixed in.

Kim Jong-un was also good at offering captives to the new dynasty.

(End of this chapter)