Chapter 689 Breaking off friendship and righteousness
When I was reading about the Three Kingdoms in my previous life, every time I saw descriptions of the Yuan family as having "four generations and three nobles, many families and old officials, and a tiger in the land of Jizhou", Li Chengzhi felt that it was extremely awesome.
Only after traveling through time did he realize that there weren't too many noble families more powerful than the Yuan family in Jizhou during the Eastern Han Dynasty.
It may not have reached the level of "Four Generations and Three Dukes", but in terms of long-lasting inheritance, it is definitely better.
For example, the four surnames of Guandong and the Yang family of Hongnong are all families that have been passed down for thousands of years.
The seven brothers of Yang Shu, the eldest brother Yang Bo, the second brother Yang Chun, and the fifth brother Yang Jin, were all under the Empress Dowager Feng. Xiaowen was a minister at the time. They also governed large states and led many foreign expeditions, either to conquer Rouran or to pacify the Huaihe River.
, they are all capable ministers who can govern the people with literature and are good at fighting with military skills.
The remaining four were either a little mediocre, had bad luck, or had perverse personalities like Yang Shu, and were not liked by the emperor, but they had all served as governors.
One sentence can sum up the prosperity of the Yang family in Hongnong: seven governors in one generation and three servants in the same dynasty!
When Yuan Ke succeeded to the throne, he had a clear vision and far-sightedness, and slowly began to suppress the livestock-raising retainers. Only after the family members of the tribe gradually declined.
In the first year of Yanchang, which was the year before Li Chengzhi put down the monk rebellion in Jingzhou, Xing Luan, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice at that time, gave Yuan Ke the idea and served as general of Pingbei, governor of Shuozhou, governor of Shuozhou, and Fuming.
, Wuchuan, Huaishuo, three towns in one prefecture, Yang Chun, a member of the military, secretly maintained a tribe, attracted spies, stole crops and other crimes, it was recommended that he be removed from his official position, demoted to a commoner, and had his registration stolen (demoted to a lowly household)
.
He also suggested to Yuan Ke that the whole family of anyone with the same birthplace as Yang Chun should not be an official, which naturally included Yang Shu, who was the governor of Xiliang Prefecture at the time, and Yang Jun, the Tingwei Shaoqing.
I don't know if he was afraid of going too far, but Yuan Ke finally opened his eyes and ordered Yang Bo, Yang Chun, Yang Jin and other important ministers and generals to resign. He also demoted the remaining Yang brothers by several ranks.
For example, Yang Shu was directly demoted from the position of governor to the county magistrate of a county. Although Yang Jun was only a clan brother, he was still implicated and demoted from the high-ranking Tingwei Shaoqing to the Luoyang County Magistrate.
Since then, the Li family of Longxi, who had been suppressed by Yuan Ke for nearly ten years and was almost semi-crippled, breathed a sigh of relief. Li Shaocai succeeded the three Yang brothers and took charge of the Guanzhong family.
In terms of influence and heritage, the Li family in Longxi at this time was still far behind the Yang family in Hongnong.
Therefore, there is really nothing wrong with putting "Yang" before "Li" in this statement, and even Li Shao was absolutely willing to do so.
Of course, Li Chengzhi just sighed. To be honest, there is no difference in his eyes whether it is a Guandong family or a Guanzhong family, especially Hedong, Hebei and other aristocratic families.
He is used to sizing up the situation, and when he encounters opportunities, he will also be able to play both sides and act according to the prevailing situation, thereby maximizing the benefits.
Loyalty to the emperor and loving the people are nothing compared to family interests in the eyes of these people.
Li Chengzhi feels that calling it a cancer is never an exaggeration...
At this moment, Li Chengzhi's heart suddenly shrank when he only saw the six words "March 3, Yang Li Kai", and his eyes were as sharp as daggers, piercing Yang Shu's face.
At first glance, with Li Shao as the leader, the Li family in Longxi, and the seven Yang brothers, who were sitting on the ground, as internal support, and with the internal support and external support, it is not impossible to take Guanzhong directly from the West Sea. Therefore, Li Chengzhi should be ecstatic.
But it depends on when.
Today, there are Cui Yanbo in the south of Guanzhong, Xingluan in the north, Yuanyao and Xi Kangsheng in the further north, with a combined force of more than 300,000.
It also happened that Xihai was running out of firearms, just when the front force was about to be exhausted and the back force was no longer sustainable. If there was another war, we would have to fight swords against knives, guns against guns, and take human lives.
And this is just one of them.
Second: The bottom line is that the West Sea is rising like the sun, and it is weak and weak. Years of accumulation have been exhausted through successive battles.
Now that they can put what they have grabbed into their pockets and consolidate the territory they have captured, all the generals, officials, soldiers, and civilians in the West Sea will use their full strength.
Therefore, let’s not talk about whether we can defeat them in one go. Even if we conquer Cui Yanbo and Xingluan and seize the five states in Guanzhong, Li Chengzhi will be unable to defend them.
Since there is no one to defend, let alone nothing to defend, what is the use of Li Chengzhi taking Guanzhong?
Are they given to the Li family of Longxi and the Yang family of Hongjia?
If Li Chengzhi hadn't been kicked in the head by a donkey, he would never have done this stupid thing of marrying someone else, and would have been more likely to raise two powerful enemies.
Therefore, when Li Shao came to Xihai last time to appease him and persuade him to plot in Guanzhong, Li Chengzhi just ignored him and didn't even answer a word of criticism.
This is also the fundamental reason why he strictly ordered Huangfu to give in, Li Liang and others to stop when they were ready...
"Look at what I do, don't you want to take Guanzhong?"
Yang Shu said suspiciously, "Brother Yuan Bo (Li Shao) has already discussed with the eldest brother and the second brother, and even mentioned what he told you: Sooner or later, Xihai will take Guanzhong, and when the time comes, the Guanzhong family will help you... So
Why pretend to be terrified?"
"Did Uncle Shi have mentioned that I think Xihai has just begun to show its prominence, and now is the time to hide one's strength, bide one's strength, and recuperate one's strength... This matter must not be rushed..."
There was endless sarcasm in Li Chengzhi's eyes, and he wrote a little bit of the letter with his fingers, wishing to poke holes in several cases, "I dare to ask Mr. Yanrong, is this March 3rd the year after tomorrow?"
"Naturally next year..."
Seeing that Li Chengzhi was not happy at all and just looked at him coldly, Yang Shu suddenly stopped talking and laughed coldly: "We put all our efforts and risked confiscating our family and annihilating our clan to help Qin revolt. Why do you look like this?"
Is it just to help me stir up trouble?
The first step is to eat the wolf, and then the dove takes over the magpie's nest... It's a good plan, isn't it?
He had no good impression of the wealthy family, but when he saw the Yang brothers, they treated him like a fool. Li Chengzhi felt even more disgusted and wanted to slap the piece of paper on Yang Shu's face.
Just when his anger was raging and harsh words were coming out of his mouth, Li Chengzhi was lucky enough to reach into his soul and make a sudden plan.
"Forget it, I will reply to Duke Yanqing (Yang Bo) right now: If the incident can really be scheduled for the third day of March, I will work with the court for a few months. It is nothing more than building plank roads openly and secretly setting up warehouses. I will definitely be able to do it before the beginning of winter.
, moved all the troops and people from the West Sea to Longxi and Wuwei.
It must have been hidden from the sky, so that the imperial court would not notice at all, but when the good days come together, Cui Yanbo and Xing Luan are defeated, and all of us from the West Sea will move into Guanzhong..."
Yang Shu paused for a moment, his eyes seemed to be frozen: "You don't want the West Sea and Hexi anymore?"
"With Guanzhong, why do I need this barren land with more grass and less fields? The imperial court is extremely armed and the conquests continue. The people in Guanzhong have long been in dire straits. There are more than a million old and weak people who have lost their families and died due to the loss of children. There is no one to cultivate the land.
There are countless fertile fields, which can support millions of people in the West Sea, and our hundreds of thousands of troops will be safe..."
Li Chengzhi said angrily, "Furthermore, my Li family's ancestral temple is originally in Guanzhong, and now I can be considered as returning to my hometown in honor and glory..."
Going one step further, as long as we can enter the main pass, there are rivers to the east and west, the Qinling Mountains to the south, and the border wall (the Great Wall) to the north. There are dangers on all sides and relevant connections to rely on. No matter how many troops there are, I can be as majestic as a mountain.
There are also millions of fertile fields and more than two million households. Isn’t it thousands or ten thousand times better than Hexi, the land of the Four Battles?”
The more Li Chengzhi talked, the more excited he became. He waved his robe and sat down at the table: "Come here, I will serve you with pen and ink!"
"Wait a minute!"
Yang Shu let out a low cry and held Li Chengzhi's hand tightly.
Li Chengzhi rolled his eyes: "Why is this, Duke Yanrong?"
Yang Shu seemed to be choked and didn't know how to answer.
When the seven brothers were discussing, they only said from beginning to end that after the imperial court was defeated in Xihai, Guanzhong would inevitably be empty. Naturally, the Hongnong Yang family could take advantage of the void and make a legitimate profit.
But I didn't expect that Li Chengzhi would do nothing and abandon Hexi and Xihai in order to capture Guanzhong?
Thinking about Li Chengzhi's expression as soon as he saw the letter, full of profound meaning, Yang Shu felt as if he had eaten yellow lotus, his mouth was bitter, and his heart was even more bitter!
"That's it!"
He sighed sadly, stretched out his hand to pick up the memorandum, and put it to the rim of the glazed lamp. The silk ignited at the sight of fire, and burned into a ball in just a few breaths, and was abandoned by Yang Shu under the desk.
Until everything was burned to ashes, Yang Shu still refused to give up, and stood on tiptoe, carefully crushing the ashes.
Why is Yang Shu like this?
Just because Li Chengzhi had already seen through Hongnong Yang's plan, Yang Shu was afraid that Li Chengzhi would be resentful and would hand over this memorandum to Liu Fang or Yuan Yuan, in order to use the borrowed knife to kill people.
But I didn't expect that Li Chengzhi neither blocked nor stopped him, but just watched with cold eyes. After Yang Shu finished all this and sat down in front of the case again, he sighed leisurely: "I only want to treat Yan Ronggong with sincerity and sincerely, and I have done it for you."
Friendship between life and death. Now, it is so heart-breaking..."
Yang Shu couldn't help but blush. He stood up helplessly and bowed deeply to Li Chengzhi: "For such a big event, if you are not careful, your family will be confiscated and your clan will be destroyed. It will be a disaster... I hope Chengzhi will blame you..."
"I blame you for what you did... How can you talk about personal feelings before something big goes wrong? So Yanrong Gong's move is not inappropriate..."
Li Chengzhi chuckled and said, "However, people with different Taoist views cannot work together, so I would like to ask Mr. Tingrong to go back and rest early..."
Yang Shu's eyes bulged, as if he had seen a ghost.
Seeing that Li Chengzhi actually stood up and wanted to see off the guests, he turned over and sat up as if he had been bitten by a snake: "Li Chengzhi, why are you doing this? It's just my brother who has bad intentions and is plotting against you, but this is a human being
It's normal. This has been the case for families for thousands of years. Why do you need to be upset?
Furthermore, my brother also said something beforehand: If this strategy is carried out, Guanzhong will owe you a lot of the West Sea, and it will be made up for later. If you don't agree, you can make another plan. But it is not a handwriting, but my brother's explanation, and I will paraphrase it...
All in all, the two surnames Yang and Li are both descendants of the Han family, and even more so from the same family in Guanzhong. Therefore, they have been in the same spirit for a long time.
The same spirit connects the branches...working together with one heart...
Hearing this sentence, Li Chengzhi felt unspeakably harsh: Yang Bo was prepared with both hands?
Could it be true as later generations said: the longer a person lives, the thicker his skin becomes?
It’s just that the plan didn’t work out, how could you have the nerve to say this?
But after thinking about it again, Li Chengzhi felt that it was reasonable and reasonable.
Just because for the clan, there are only eternal interests and no eternal enemies.
Ever since Yuan Hong forced Chineseization, determined surnames, and divided people into three, six, and nine grades, the aristocratic families have resorted to all possible means.
In order to marry a noble daughter or royal princess of Xianbei and raise their clan rank, countless people strangled and killed their legitimate sons and wives.
What's more, many of the children born to Han wives also drowned.
As for the first wife, she is naturally the legitimate daughter of a wealthy family, so why doesn’t her mother-in-law speak out for her?
Just because everyone does it this way.
Such disregard for human relations makes it common for people to be inferior to animals. Intrigues and deceit among the nobles are commonplace.
Therefore, not to mention having been in high positions for a long time, they are used to seeing Yang Bo, Yang Chun and others who hide their swords in their smiles and speak sweet words. Even Yang Shu, who is outspoken and upright, does not think there is anything wrong with this move.
Even if the plot fails, at least the face is still there. Even if the other party suffers a loss, it can just make up for it next time, and it will be far less likely to break out.
The more Li Chengzhi thought about it, the angrier he became, but he laughed angrily: "What I hate the most is your attitude of 'I bullied you just to give you face, I slapped you on the left cheek, and you have to kneel down and beg me to slap you on the right cheek' ...Where did Hongnong Yang come from with such a big face?"
Seeing that he really wanted to fall out, Yang Shu's face darkened: "You..."
As soon as he uttered the word "you", Li Chengzhi waved his long sleeves and said with a smile, "I would like to ask Duke Yanrong to leave these words unchanged to Duke Yanqing: Today's favor, I, Li Keep Chengzhi in mind. If the mountains and rivers meet again, Li will ask him for advice again..."
Is this just a falling out? Li Chengzhi actually overturned the table?
Keep the kindness you have received today in your heart and repay it tomorrow?
Do you think he really wants to repay the favor?
It's just an irony...
Seeing that Yang Shu seemed to be frightened, Li Chengzhi smiled again and said: "The so-called words are not speculative, even half a sentence is too much. Therefore, I will not stay with Mr. Yanrong today. I will see you again someday. If you and I are friends, If you are not an enemy, it is not too late to rekindle our old friendship...Xiao Xian, see the guests off for me..."
When he shouted the sentence "Serve with pen and ink", Li Xiaoxian entered the palace quietly. After listening to Li Chengzhi's order, he walked to Yang Shu's side and called in a low voice: "Mr. Yanrong, please!"
Yang Shu's face turned pale, and his lips were trembling. He didn't know whether he was angry or frightened: "Li Chengzhi... why did you... why did you do this?"
Li Chengzhi didn't respond. He just waved his sleeves and turned away.
It was clear that he didn't want to say another word to him, so Yang Shu could still rush forward and entangle him?
"Okay... okay... okay..." He gritted his teeth and uttered the three words "good" and left angrily.
After he left the palace and Li Xiaoxian closed the palace door from the outside, a sigh came from behind the screen on the palace steps.
"Since the beginning of the gentry, this has been the case in every family: unless it is absolutely necessary, some leeway should be left. Even if you can't stand this kind of behavior, you won't sever ties with the Yang family... From now on, you If you want to conquer the Yang family again, I'm afraid it will be extremely difficult..."
"He wants to use me as a stepping stone, and he even wants to be a gunman. How can he be kind?"
Li Chengzhi smiled and said, "It's better to fall out now than to be betrayed by him in the future, and it depends on his face as if he has given a great favor, right?"
These words were too heartbreaking, and Yang Shu's actions today clearly meant this.
Cui Guang originally wanted to argue a few words, but he couldn't. In the end, he just sighed: "Not all wealthy families are like the Yang family. They only know how to plot and plot..."
This chapter is for tomorrow, because I have something to do tomorrow, so I’ll update it first!