Cao Yanlu was drinking alone, and the bloody mark on his face from his wife was particularly conspicuous.
Self-pity.
If a man wants power but doesn't have any power, then he will give his wife a bear at home. It's really boring to live.
Cao Yanlu was the son of Cao Yuanzhong. As the longest-serving warlord of the Guiyi Army, he had a very clear view of the situation.
In order to maintain the peace of Guazhou and Shazhou, he let his nephew marry the daughter of the Murong family, the most powerful man in Guazhou, and let his vague knowledge of the law
His son Cao Yanlu took the daughter of King Li Shengtian of Khotan to consolidate the power of the Cao family.
This move was indeed a smart political move in troubled times, but in times of peace, it invisibly caused internal divisions.
Ever since the Zhang family took over the power of the Guiyi Army, the Cao family has been adhering to the inheritance law of brotherhood.
After the earliest Cao Yijin died of illness, the throne was passed down to his eldest son Cao Yuande. This short-lived guy died less than four years after taking charge of the family, and it was passed down to the second eldest son Cao Yuanshen. Unfortunately, the second eldest son was also short-lived and lived for five years.
Three Cao Yuanzhong's hands.
According to the rules, after Cao Yuanzhong dies due to illness, his position will be passed to Cao Yanjing, the son of the boss Cao Yuande.
But the human heart is made of flesh, and no matter how close a nephew is, he can never be as close as a biological son.
During Cao Yuanzhong's reign, he did not clearly announce who would succeed him, and gave Cao Yanjing and Cao Yanlu similar treatment.
During his reign, Cao Yuanzhong was versatile and lived in the cracks. He was a hero for a lifetime. However, when faced with the choice between his nephew and his son, he was still in a dilemma.
This act gave Cao Yanlu hope, and made Cao Yanjing aware of the crisis.
But in fact, even if the two brothers respected each other as guests, the Murong family behind Cao Yanjing and the Khotan behind Cao Yanlu would not sit back and watch the accident happen.
The brothers had been fighting openly and secretly for many years. Cao Yuanzhong even sent Cao Yanlu as an envoy to the Central Plains in order to gain support from the Central Plains and let Cao Yanlu, who was not in the line of succession, replace Cao Yanjing.
However, in the end Cao Yuanzhong chose his elder brother's son Cao Yanjing to take his place. He had already noticed Li Shengtian's resistance to the Central Plains, and knew that if his son who was close to Khotan really came to power, he would die without a burial place.
After Cao Yanjing succeeded Cao Yuanzhong as the governor of the Guiyi Army, the first thing he did was to appoint Cao Yanlu as the deputy governor of the Guiyi Army. He had the right to know the affairs of Guazhou. On the surface, he gave half of the power to his younger brother, but in fact, the power of Guazhou
Power has always been controlled by the powerful local Murong family, and Cao Yanlu was a puppet in Guazhou.
The Khotan Kingdom is now retreating steadily and has asked the Guiyi Army for help many times. Cao Yanjing has no good impression of the Khotan Kingdom. Although he did not refuse because of his long-standing friendship, there is no sign of sending troops.
The news reached the ears of Princess Li of Shengtian in Khotan, and she was furious and fought with her husband.
Cao Yanlu felt guilty and did not dare to fight back. He could only drink wine alone in despair.
After drinking several cups, his mouth was tasteless. Cao Yanlu seemed to have thought of something. He quickly walked to the shelf on the right, took out a brocade box from it like a treasure, returned to his seat, and opened the brocade box with some piety.
The box contains small black and white fruits. Betel nut.
Cao Yanlu took one as if it were a treasure, put it in his mouth and chewed it. After just a while, he felt his body heat up and all the worries in his heart were gone.
People in this era did not know what carcinogens were. Betel nut is produced in the tropics, and Tianzhu is also the main producing area.
This thing is an extremely important offering in Buddhism, and it is not something that ordinary people cannot eat. When Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty was in Tianzhu, he could get twenty pills every day.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, with the popularity of Buddhism, betel nut also became popular in the upper class society of the Central Plains.
Several generations of the Cao family believed in Buddhism. Although the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes began in the Jianyuan period of the former Qin Dynasty, they were fully expanded in the hands of the Cao family of the Guiyi Army.
This betel nut is also a favorite of the Cao family.
While Cao Yanlu was enjoying the betel nut to stimulate his brain, Shengtian Princess Li walked into the room with someone.
Cao Yanlu drank a few glasses of wine and became more courageous. Thinking about the scratches on his face, he said with a dark face: "What are you doing here..." He had not yet launched an attack to accuse him.
, belatedly noticed the person behind Princess Shengtian, and exclaimed: "Mr. Ge, why are you here?"
The person who came was none other than Ge Zhuoxi, an important minister of Khotan. When Cao Yanlu went to Beijing to meet the Holy Spirit to seek a reward, he was traveling with him, and they had a very good relationship with him.
He reacted and ran out of the house in large strides. When he saw no one around him, he felt relieved and went inside. He lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Ge is too courageous. My brother's spies are everywhere here. Let them notice. You and I, little one,
I’m afraid it’s hard to protect your life.”
Princess Shengtian Li looked at her unsatisfactory husband and said, "Look at you, you can scare a dying man like this, what great things can you do?"
Cao Yanlu was completely dumbfounded: "What's going on? My brother is in good health, why is he dying?"
Princess Shengtian Li smelled the smell of alcohol and the unique smell of betel nut, and said angrily: "You will die if you eat betel nut."
Cao Yanlu's reaction was a little slow. Thinking that he still had betel nut in his mouth, his internal organs were about to turn over, and he spat it out with a "Wow" sound.
Cao Yanlu regained some energy and hurriedly whispered: "What on earth is going on?"
Ge Zhuoxi elaborated the situation with a bit of embarrassment: "In the past, the eldest son used illegal means to seize the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Guiyi Army from Lang Jun. My Majesty felt unjust for Lang Jun, so he had some people moved in the betel nut.
Hands and feet."
Although Cao Yanlu and Cao Yanjing were on opposite sides, they were Cao family members after all, and one of them secretly drugged the other, which even Ge Zhuoxi felt was inappropriate.
Cao Yanlu's expression was really unnatural. The Cao family's internal affairs were taboo for others to interfere, let alone this method.
If you can harm Cao Yanjing today, does that mean you can harm Cao Yanlu tomorrow?
Betel nut is addictive. Cao Yanlu would chew some every day. If he really wanted to take action in this regard, he really had no defense at all.
Because betel nut is a Buddhist offering, the products they chew are not inferior products circulating in the market. They are holy products brought from the Buddhist Kingdom of Tianzhu and presented to them by eminent monks supported by the Guiyi Army.
As a high-ranking person in a war-torn place, Cao Yanlu was usually very careful about what he ate, but he was not very wary of offerings like betel nuts.
There is fear, anger, joy, and some sadness.
If I had an enmity with Khotan, I might be the one who dies today.
The Guiyi Army has long lost its heyday as it was during the Zhang Yi Dynasty. It is controlled by Khotan in the west, Ganzhou Uighurs in the east, and there is the giant Yu Dynasty in the distance pressing down on it. It is really difficult to move forward.
Ge Zhuoxi saw that Cao Yanlu looked wrong and knew that they had gone too far this time, but it was a helpless move.
They originally wanted to use chronic medicine to slowly eliminate Cao Yanjing and make things invisible so that Cao Yanlu could take over the Guiyi Army without any psychological burden, but the situation could not wait until that time.
Khotan is now losing ground on the battlefield at the main gate, retreating step by step, and its national power has been severely damaged. It must receive strong support.
Faced with this situation, Khotan had no choice but to take risks and increased the dosage.
Being so radical would inevitably leave hidden dangers and lead to considerable consequences. Ge Zhuoxi could only inform Cao Yanlu in advance to prepare.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Princess Li of Shengtian said softly: "Husband, my father is doing this for your sake. Cao Yanjing colluded with the Uighurs and the Murong family to force the father-in-law to act against his will and steal your seat. Cao Yanjing chose to stand aside as soon as he took office.
Husband, do you still expect him to hand over the Guiyi Army to your husband in the future?"
Cao Yanlu put away his fear and said: "We are already on the ropes, what else can we say? How is my brother's condition now?"
Ge Zhuoxi said in a deep voice: "If nothing unexpected happens, it will only happen in the past two days."
Just as Ge Zhuoxi said, at dusk on the second day, Cao Yanjing suddenly died suddenly, vomiting blood and died.
In an instant, there was a commotion in Shazhou.
Cao Yanjing was in his prime and had never thought about arranging his funeral arrangements. His sudden death triggered a series of subsequent reactions.
At that time, Cao Yuanzhong wanted his own son Cao Yanlu to take over his position, because if he succeeded his brother and his brother, he would inherit the throne.
System, Guiyijun may never return to his own lineage.
Cao Yuanzhong is the third eldest son. In addition to the eldest brother Cao Yuande, he also has the lineage of Cao Yuanshen. Even if the brother is the last brother and the future will only be handed over to Cao Yuanshen's son, he will not be his descendant Cao Yuanzhong.
Cao Yuanzhong made many arrangements in Shazhou and wanted to support his son. However, due to Cao Yanjing's support from the Murong family and the Uighurs, and Li Shengtian's evil plans in Khotan, he had to let Cao Yanjing take over.
After Cao Yanjing came to power, he has been liquidating the backhand arranged by Cao Yuanzhong for Cao Yanlu, which has hurt the interests of most people. Now that he died suddenly, these people immediately emerged.
Although according to legal principles, it was Cao Yuanshen's son Cao Yanqi's turn after Cao Yanjing, Cao Yuanzhong did not train Cao Yanqi at all back then. Of course, no one paid attention to him at this critical moment.
As for whether Cao Yanjing's death was suspicious or not, no one cared to investigate it at this time.
Li An, a veteran of the Guiyi Army, immediately sent troops to welcome Cao Yanlu back from Guazhou and promoted him to the position of Jiedushi of the Guiyi Army. Cao Yanjing's death was so sudden that even the Murong family who was close at hand did not react, let alone
Is it a further Uighur?
By the time they tried to stop it, it was too late.
Originally, the Rebel Army was divided into two factions: Shazhou and Guazhou. Shazhou was close to Khotan and Guazhou was close to the Uighurs.
Cao Yanlu returned to Shazhou like a dragon entering the sea. The sky was vast and there was no obstacle. He took over the Guiyi Army as expected.
Looking at the familiar faces around him, Cao Yanlu felt excited, and his depression in Guazhou was swept away.
However, as a politician, Cao Yanlu acted extremely calmly, with a sad look on his face, and said in a deep voice: "My elder brother is like my father. My brother passed away due to illness. Cao was deeply saddened. In order to stabilize the situation in Shazhou, I can only lead Jiedushi."
Mr. Yan Changshi, you immediately set off to Bianjing to report the funeral, tell the court about your brother, and show the court that the Guiyi Army will always be loyal to the court."