The next day, Yang Ming led his people out of the camp and returned to the capital.
Because his father, Yang Guang, was about to leave. When he left, the Guanzhong Military Mansion was completely depleted. A total of 250,000 people had to follow the emperor northward, plus more than 500,000 people who were transferred from Shanxi and Henan.
On Zhuque Street, a crowded motorcade was queuing up to leave the city. The cars were filled with various luggage and some property that Yang Guang planned to reward to the East Turks.
Qimin Khan was completely supported by the Sui Dynasty. Now he is the Great Khan of the Eastern Turks, with a very wide territory, reaching the Jinshan Altai Mountains in the west, the Daxingan Mountains in the east, Lake Baikal in the north, and Hebei, Shanxi, Gansu and Ningxia in the south.
The northern border is very large, far larger than the Western Turks.
Yang Guang was worried about Qimin. After all, Qimin was too powerful now. According to the historical policy of the Sui Dynasty, once the Turks became powerful, they would need to sow discord.
So this time, Changsun Cheng, an old friend of Qimin, set off early and arrived in East Turkestan. Pei Ju, another elder who was good at sowing discord, had also set off from Zhangye County to Yulin, waiting for Yang Guang's arrival.
It was noon when he arrived in the capital. Yang Ming originally planned to have dinner at home before entering the palace, but people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were waiting for him at the gate of the palace early. They said that he was summoned by His Majesty, so he should enter the palace early.
Since Yang Guang came to the throne, no matter how many useless things he has done, it cannot be denied that he is a conscientious and diligent emperor.
It was already noon, the court meeting was still going on, and everyone had lunch at the court meeting.
After Yang Ming came in, the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs immediately prepared lunch for him. The meal was very simple, which fully reflected the emperor's "frugal" virtue.
Yang Guang looked at his son and said with a smile:
"I heard that an interesting thing happened during the spring outing. A beauty fell into the river for the King of Qin?"
As soon as this statement came out, all the ministers laughed and looked at the protagonist of the story.
Yang Ming smiled sheepishly and said, "Father, please stop teasing me."
"It's not a joke," Yang Guang said with a smile, "Since ancient times, beauties love heroes. Naturally, my son is unique. This girl has very high vision."
Wei Zhen was greatly embarrassed and quickly stood up and said: "It is my fault that I have disturbed the King of Qin. I have failed to discipline her properly. Please forgive me."
"Nothing wrong," Yang Guang looked at Wei Zhen and said with a smile, "A good woman matches a good man."
At this time, Yu Wenshu smiled and said: "It's a pity that Wei Huangmen was a step late. Queen Qin's concubines are already full, and your daughter is also from a famous family, so it is not suitable to be added as a concubine."
The wealthy families of the Sui Dynasty did not want their legitimate daughters to be concubines, unless that person was an emperor or a prince, not even a prince.
If Wei Zhen's daughter becomes Yang Ming's concubine, it would actually be a bit embarrassing for him, because he only has one daughter.
But if Yang Ming is the prince, then there is no shame at all. This is called investing, taking a long-term view to catch big fish.
"Is Mr. Xu Guogong alluding to me?" King Guan Yang Xiong said with a smile: "My granddaughter is now the concubine of King Qin. It seems that she can only blame her for her bad background."
Isn't Yan Xiaotang's background bad? In fact, it's very good. However, her grandfather Yan Rong was sentenced to death for his crime. You know, Yan Rong was the Youwu Marquis General back then.
Yuwen Shu smiled and said: "There is still a difference between a legitimate granddaughter and a granddaughter. King Guan will never let his legitimate granddaughter be a concubine, right?"
"If it's a heroic figure like King Qin, it's fine," Yang Xiong said with a smile.
"Okay, okay," Yang Guang interrupted the two of them: "The court meeting is a place for discussion, and it is not for you to talk about women."
After that, Yang Guang looked at his son and said: "You continue to stay in the capital. After my northern tour, I should be on guard against trouble in Hexi. I will leave Guanzhong and Hexi to you."
You should be worried about something happening in Hebei. Yang Ming nodded and said, "Father, don't worry, I will make sure nothing goes wrong."
At this time, Shi Wansui suddenly stood up, came to the center of the hall, knelt down towards Yang Guang and said:
"I am too old to bear the heavy responsibility. I would like to ask Your Majesty to step down from the post of General Zuotunwei and ask the King of Qin to take up the post as well."
The hall suddenly became quiet.
Since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, there have been people who have taken the initiative to resign, but no one of Shi Wansui's level has resigned. They usually work until death and never retire.
Because after you leave the center, you have no influence, and the originally crowded people have become desolate. Most people cannot accept this gap, especially those who have been in power all year round.
Yang Guang was stunned and said: "I think Mr. Taiping is still in good health, why is this so? I definitely won't agree."
Pei Yun hurriedly stood up and said: "Since Duke Taiping has said this, it can be seen that he is no longer able to bear the heavy responsibility. Considering his meritorious service, Your Majesty should allow him to live a long life."
At times like this, it was inconvenient for Yu Wenshu to stand up and speak, because he was three years older than Shi Wansui, and it seemed that he was more suitable to take care of himself.
Shi Wansui's resignation was a surprise and a surprise to Yang Guang. What he was happy about was that Shi Wansui was willing to vacate such an important position. What was surprising was that in the court today, there was no one with higher prestige in the military than Shi Wansui.
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Gao Jiong's prestige is all-round, with more emphasis on writing.
So from Yang Guang's point of view, he didn't want Shi Wansui to step down. For the sake of his son, Shi Wansui couldn't leave either.
But when Shi Wansui opened his mouth like this, interested people naturally refused to let go of this opportunity.
This is a high-ranking general in the government, and he will not be available anytime soon. But after all, Shi Wansui has made it clear that he hopes Yang Ming will take over, so there are only a few people who are brave enough to compete with Yang Ming.
Yang Guang tried to persuade him a few more times, but Shi Wansui still insisted on resigning, so Yang Guang couldn't persuade him any more, otherwise it would appear that I can't do without you.
Face is given to you anyway, you don’t want it yourself.
So Yang Guang said: "Since Taiping Gong is determined to leave, let us all discuss who should take over the Zuo Tun Guard?"
After the emperor said this, the hall became lively. No matter who it was, they were all thinking about suitable candidates who could take into account their own interests.
The ones who are particularly enthusiastic are the deputies of the military government, that is, generals. Their seniority, prestige and merits are almost the same, so they are the most promising to get promoted.
Shi Wansui did this without consulting Yang Ming in advance. He knew that Yang Ming needed to train new people, and his body really couldn't withstand it. Since it was useless, he might as well retreat bravely and give Yang Ming another territory in the army.
Yang Ming remained silent. He understood what Shi Wansui meant, so he was thinking about how to make Shi Wansui act as a real person and leave him as an imaginary person.
Shi Wansui, the Duke of Taiping County, is not enough to allow him to participate in government affairs every day, so he can only be mentioned to the top.
I have to say that Yang Ming is very grateful to have such a master who thinks about himself in everything.
"I believe that the King of Qin is already the General of the Right Houwei, and it is not appropriate to concurrently serve as the Zuotun Guard. After all, the King of Qin has heavy affairs and cannot add to the burden." The person who said this was Guo Rong, the minister of Taipu Temple and the general of the Zuohou Guard.
He wanted to go up there himself.
But before recommending oneself, if the King of Qin is not removed, no one will have a chance.
As soon as this statement came out, there were many people who agreed, because the opportunity is rare and everyone wants to make progress.
Shi Wansui regretted it, because he felt that his presumptuous resignation had invisibly increased great resistance to Yang Ming. The current situation was that Yang Ming had become a stumbling block in the front, and everyone wanted to move him away before fighting.
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Yang Guang had noticed this problem a long time ago, so he did not agree at the beginning. Instead, while listening to the ministers, he was thinking about how to hand over this position to his son.
He had to take other people's opinions into consideration this time, because he was going on a northern patrol, and all the generals from the military government were going with him. If someone with a grudge caused trouble during the northern patrol, it would be no small matter.
When away from home, military morale must be stable. Shi Wansui's resignation is extremely ill-timed.
At this time, Su Wei looked at Guo Rong and said with a smile:
"There is no precedent for this in the past. If I remember correctly, in the fourth year of Renshou, King Qin also served as the right military guard and led the two generals of the military government on the right. Although the affairs of the military government were complicated, there were people like Pucheng Gong Guo Rong below.
People like this work hard. Whether the burden on King Qin's shoulders is heavy or not depends on whether the people below are capable. If they are all like Duke Pucheng, King Qin will be very relaxed."
Overtly praised and secretly belittled.
Su Wei was obviously praising Guo Rong for being a capable person, but he also hinted to him that you are the one below, so don't think about climbing up.
Guo Rong couldn't say anything because his retort was tantamount to saying that the two generals in Zuotunwei were not good enough, so they made King Qin tired.
Mai Tiezhang and Zhang Dinghe of Zuotunwei are one of His Majesty's men and the other is Shi Wansui. It is best not to mess with them if possible.
Yu Wenshu said: "Gong Su should also consider the feelings of King Qi. King Qi is currently the leader and is also in charge of Youbeishen Prefecture. If King Qin is in charge of both prefectures, do you think it is appropriate?"
"Why is it inappropriate?" Yang Xuangan retorted: "Could it be that since the King of Qin is in charge of two palaces, the King of Qi is not the elder brother? Brothers are still elder brothers after all, and it will not change just because the younger brother is in charge of another military palace."
Yu Wenshu took the opportunity and said: "So Xuangan also agrees that the eldest brother is the elder?"
"Of course I agree," Yang Xuangan didn't fall for the trick at all, and said, "Everyone knows that the eldest brother of the King of Qin is Prince Yuande, and the second brother is the King of Qi."
"The prince is deceased, is King Qi the eldest brother?" Yu Wenshu asked.
Gao Yan was worried that Xuangan would make a mistake, so he immediately interrupted and said: "As a minister, you should not make unreasonable remarks about the prince. The prince has recently lost his life, and the whole country is in mourning. How can it be that Duke Xu cannot understand your majesty?"
Yu Wenshu was stunned and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly looked at the emperor secretly and saw nothing unusual. He felt a little relieved, but he did not dare to talk about this topic anymore.
Yang Guang's face was expressionless and he said calmly: "The ministers continue to discuss, I am listening."
Next, everyone began to discuss again.
Gao Qiao was now a first-grade Guanglu doctor. There were several people between his seat and Yang Ming, making it inconvenient to chat privately.
He finally realized that Yang Ming could not compete for this position and could only recommend someone else to take over so as not to offend too many people.
When it comes to their own interests, no one will give in. Especially now, anyone who has a chance is thinking of pushing Yang Ming out, and then they can fight again.
Shi Wansui, this idiot, why didn't we discuss this in advance? Now, everyone was caught off guard.