Whenever people mention Yang Su, they will compare him with Gao Jie, but when they mention Gao Jie, they rarely compare him with Yang Su.
The reason is very simple: Gao Jiong is greater than Yang Su in terms of prestige and talent.
This man's life experience can be described as magnificent and exciting.
In the Great Sui Dynasty, you can probably know the origin of Duke Gonggun just by looking at his surname. Gao Jiong was born in the Bohai Gao family, which is Jingxian County, Hebei Province. It belongs to Hengshui City and is the same place as the Northern Qi royal family.
people.
His father, Gao Bin, was Dugu Xin's confidant and was given the surname Dugu. Their family was a retainer of the Dugu family.
When Yang Jian was the prime minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, his father-in-law Dugu Xin had already died, but Dugu Jialuo recommended Gao Juong to Yang Jian. From that time on, Gao Juong became the number one confidant in the hearts of Yang Jian and his wife, and it remains to this day.
At the age of forty, he followed Wei Xiaokuan in the crusade against Wei Chijun's rebels, was promoted to the throne of Zhuguo, was granted the title of Duke of Yining County, and was promoted to Sima of the Prime Minister's Office.
At the age of forty-one, Yang Jian usurped the Zhou Dynasty, worshiped Gao Jiong as Shangshu Zuopushe, and served as a subordinate of Nayan, the provincial governor, and was granted the title of Duke of Bohai County.
Forty-two years old, he also leads the Zuowei General, the head of the Twelve Guards.
At the age of forty-eight, he was named Marshal Chang Shi, and assisted Yang Guang in going south to destroy Chen. In the battle to destroy Chen, Gao Jiong was the real mastermind and decision-maker behind the scenes. Han Qinhu, He Ruobi and others were all driven by him.
At the age of forty-nine, he was awarded the title of Shangzhu Kingdom and was promoted to Duke of Qi Kingdom. His title reached the highest level.
The general person in charge of the new capital of Daxing City and one of the revisers of the Kaihuang Code, including the administration, official system, and local systems after the founding of the Sui Dynasty, were all completed under the auspices of Gao Jiong.
This man served as prime minister of the Sui Dynasty for twenty years.
He Ruobi was such a arrogant person, and he didn't dare to beep in front of Gao Jiong.
When Yang Ming was in front of Empress Dugu, whenever Gao Jiong was summoned to the palace, he had to carry a stool for him. It can be seen that this man's courtesy was unparalleled in the Sui Dynasty.
Gao Jong brought Yang Ming into his reception room, which was empty and very simple.
Yang Ming knew that more than half of the furniture and utensils in Gao Jong's house were bought with the help of Empress Dugu. The relationship between the two of them as master and servant was very deep until Yang Yong's accident.
After Gao Jong asked Yang Ming to sit down, he ordered his son Gao Hongde to serve tea.
Gao Hongde was originally an official of the Jin Dynasty, but after Yang Guang was crowned prince, he was not brought into the East Palace. The reason is self-evident, because he is Gao Jiong's son.
Now, like his father, he is idle at home and has a flexible job. Historically, after Gao Jiong was killed, Gao Hongde was exiled to Lingnan, disappeared halfway, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Gao Yan acted very coldly and hardly spoke. Yang Ming also felt that the atmosphere was very strange and took the initiative to smile at Gao Hongde:
"Guan Erlang looks quite familiar to me."
Gao Hongde smiled and replied: "I once worked as a staff member in the Prince Jin's Mansion and met His Highness several times."
"I see, Erlang, please take a seat. I am the guest today and Erlang is the host. Please don't be formal," Yang Ming said with a smile.
Gao Hongde nodded: "It is better to obey orders than to be respectful."
Then, he sat down behind Gao Jiong.
Yang Ming took the initiative and asked: "How is Duke Dugu's health lately?"
Gao Jiong drank tea and said calmly: "It's the same as before."
"That's good, that's good." It's so embarrassing. Yang Ming can see that they don't seem to be willing to talk to him.
"The eldest princess knows that Dugu Gong likes the pickles in her house, so she specially asked the junior to send them. When there are new pickles in the coming year, she will leave a copy for you."
Gao Jun then nodded: "The eldest princess is interested."
Yang Ming hurriedly said: "The eldest princess still cares about Dugu Gong very much. She often said that without Dugu Gong in the court, it is like a flock of sheep without a sheep."
Hearing this, Gao Jun narrowed his eyes and said, "I heard that His Highness and the Eldest Princess are quite close?"
Yang Ming nodded and said: "We meet often."
Gao Jingdan said calmly: "The eldest princess has a high status and seldom gets close to others. Even the deposed Prince Yong rarely had the opportunity to discuss matters alone with her. There must be a reason why Your Highness is treated like this.
"
Facing Gao Yan's questioning gaze, Yang Ming didn't know how to answer, so he could only smile and avoid the other party's conversation.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Gao Jiao smiled and said: "Your Highness, have you ever thought about why the eldest princess asked you to bring pickles to me?"
"I've thought about it, but I haven't figured it out," Yang Ming answered honestly.
Gao Jong couldn't help but smile and asked his son sideways: "Do you understand?"
Gao Hongde shook his head and said: "This move must have a deep meaning, but children can't understand it."
Gao Yan nodded and said: "The pickles in the eldest princess's house are of Qi local flavor. They are the pickle masters I brought back from Shandong after annihilating Yuchi Jiong. The Holy Empress likes them the most and she must have them with almost every meal."
"If you eat it for a long time, you will become dependent on it. The Holy Queen once said that I, Gao Jiao, am the Holy Queen's pickle."
"The Supreme Being does not like this pickle, but the Holy Queen and I prefer it. After the Holy Queen passed away, the master who made the pickles was brought back to the house by the eldest princess."
Then, Gao Jiong sighed: "Actually, the eldest princess doesn't like pickles either."
Yang Ming was stunned. Yang Lihua clearly told herself that she liked this kind of pickles very much?
Gao Yan continued: "She doesn't like it, but I only love it, but why only send pickles and not the person who made them? The eldest princess is reminding me to continue making her pickles, and she
, is the one holding the pickles.”
Gao Hongde still didn't understand and asked curiously: "Then why did the eldest princess ask the young highness to bring the pickles?"
Gao Yan smiled: "Because the King of Hedong is also the one who holds pickles."
Phew...Yang Ming exhaled a long breath in his heart. He didn't expect that sending pickles could have such a complicated hint.
According to what Gao Jiong said, Yang Lihua probably hoped that Gao Jiong could be used for her. As long as Gao Jiong was willing to nod, Yang Lihua would start arranging for Gao Jiong to return to the court.
As for Yang Ming, he is actually in a similar position to Gao Jiong. They are both chess pieces in the hands of Yang Lihua. The difference is that Yang Ming is a chess piece related by blood, with a sense of family affection in the middle.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Yang Lihua is a woman and cannot participate in politics, so supporting Yang Ming as her voice in the court is interfering in national affairs from the side.
One Yang Ming is not enough, now we have to add Gao Jiong.
This woman is worthy of being the Queen Mother of the old Zhou Dynasty. Her Machiavellian tactics cannot be matched by Yang Ming's.
Fortunately, Yang Ming knew in his heart that Yang Lihua was really soft-hearted and charitable, and she was sincere to him. Otherwise, he would really have to worry about not being tricked by her.
Gao Yan looked at Yang Ming and said: "Tell the eldest princess that the Queen has passed away. I am already disheartened. Please don't send any more pickles next year."
This sentence is tantamount to rejecting Yang Lihua's solicitation.
Yang Ming frowned and nodded: "Junior, please tell the truth."
Gao Jiu was stunned and couldn't help but laugh: "I only need to tell you the last sentence and don't say anything in between."
Yang Ming reacted immediately and said with a smile: "Junior knows what to say and what not to say."
Gao Jiao nodded and continued: "Your Highness has taken up an important position in the central government. Remember not to compete with Su Wei and Niu Hong. The rest of them are worthless, but you must pay attention to Liu Shu."
Yang Ming said sincerely: "Juniors can hear that Dugu Gong's advice is really from the bottom of his heart."
Gao Yan looked at Yang Ming's filial piety clothes again and said secretly:
"In this life, I have been able to achieve what I have today because of the favor of the Holy Queen. Your Highness has grown up under the Holy Queen's knees. There is no need for Gao to treat you with falsehood. Liu Shu, this son, has no talent, no virtue, and no meritorious foundation. Now he will rise to the occasion, and he will surely
It falls because of the situation, but when it gains momentum, Your Highness should temporarily avoid the edge."
Yang Ming said doubtfully: "I don't want to provoke him, but he keeps provoking me. There is no way to avoid it."
"Either he is an idiot," Gao Qiao said with a smile: "When Su Wei fought with me, he showed me the courtesy of a disciple and treated me with great respect. When I left the court, I didn't turn around and he didn't dare to lift a step.
, he is always the first to visit me during every year and festival. You need to be careful when meeting such people. Liu Shu is full of joy and anger, and his thoughts are written on his face, so there is nothing to be afraid of."
Yang Ming knew that Su Wei was recommended by Gao Jun before he could become an official. This is why when he met Gao Jun, he wanted to be his disciple.
But later Su Wei became powerful and began to challenge Gao Jiong, but of course it ended in failure. Dugu Jialuo was very unhappy at the time and hinted that Yang Jian should deal with Su Wei, so Su Wei was charged with colluding with cronies and was dismissed by Yang Jian.
So after Su Wei returned to the court, he no longer dared to challenge Gao Jiong, but instead changed his identity and became Gao Jiong's number one supporter.
Among the four nobles of the early Sui Dynasty, apart from Yang Xiong, who was from the clan, the remaining Su Wei and Yu Qingze were all recommended by Gao Jiong.
This shows how high Gao Jiong's status was in the Sui Dynasty.
If Yang Jian hadn't believed that Gao Jiong had too much power, he wouldn't have supported Yang Su to take the lead.
Yang Ming asked curiously: "In Dugu Gong's opinion, when did Liu Shu lose power?"
Gao Jun pondered for a moment and said: "Yang Su is idle at home. Normally, Liu Shu has lost his role, but now Yang Su has gone to Renshou Palace to take care of his illness. Liu Shu should still be in power in the short term, and so will I.
It wasn't until His Highness returned to the capital that I realized that the Supreme Being was delaying to give His Highness enough time to grow up and replace Yang Su. The day Yang Su completely leaves the court is when Liu Shu loses power."
"With all my virtues and abilities, how can I be qualified to replace Yue Gong?" Yang Ming said with a surprised look on his face.
Gao Jong smiled and said: "I'm just asking you to replace part of Yang Su's role, but I'm not asking you to be a servant."
Yang Ming understood that what Gao Jiong meant was that his role in being supported was actually to balance the forces of all parties in the court as a clan member, similar to the role that King Wei Yang Shuang once played.
Whoever takes the lead, Yang Ming will target, and whoever is weak, Yang Ming will support. In fact, he is a court balancer.
People like him cannot form cliques for personal gain and can only listen to one person, that is the emperor.
In fact, the two positions of left and right servants were historically vacant during the Yang Guang period because they had too much power.
After all, Yang Guang suffered deeply from being checked and balanced by his left and right servants, and believed that these two positions should not exist as it was not conducive to the high concentration of imperial power.
Yang Ming knew the direction of history, so he knew better than Gao Jiong when Liu Shu would be finished.
However, I benefited a lot from today's conversation with Gao Jiong. Yang Ming felt that if possible in the future, he should try to protect the other party.
Of course, if Gao Jiong is of no use to him, then he is a waste.
Use them when they are good, and remove them when they are not. This is the only rule for employing people.