Yang Yuanqing was slightly startled and immediately sat up straight. He really did not expect that worshiping Maitreya was actually related to the Tang Dynasty.
He stared at Zhou Yu for a long time and tried to tone it down as gently as possible, "As long as you are willing to give up your merits, not only will I not kill you, but I will also give you a chance to return from your lost ways. Of course, the premise is that you get what you don't deserve." Everything was spit out."
Yang Yuanqing has realized that this Zhou Yu is his key figure in extinguishing this rebellion, so he might as well give him a chance to make atonement for his crimes.
Zhou Yu suddenly became excited. When the King of Chu first appeared, he thought he would definitely die. Now the King of Chu promised to give him a chance to save him from the desperate situation.
"Your Highness, I am guilty of being humble. I dare not hide it... Tell me everything."
"Say it! I'll listen."
Zhou Yu quickly sorted out his thoughts and said: "Your Highness, the founder of the Maitreya Cult is Cui Xingxiu. He is the son-in-law of Qu Prefect, and he is the one who is now called Fotai."
Yang Yuanqing nodded, "According to what you said, worshiping the Maitreya Sect was actually done by the prefect Qu Leng, is that true?"
"Your Highness, that's exactly what it is!"
"But why did he betray me?" Yang Yuanqing couldn't help but feel angry in his heart.
This Qu Leng was Dou Jiande's successor and had a high reputation. He tolerated his surrender and made him the governor of Pingyuan County. However, he dared to found a cult and plot a rebellion.
Zhou Yu hurriedly said: "Your Highness, this Qu Leng actually surrendered to the Tang Dynasty before he surrendered to Dou Jiande. He is related to Liu Wenjing, the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty. He was the one who led the alliance between Dou Jiande and the Tang Dynasty. This time he worships Maitreya. It is said that the rise of the religion was Liu Wenjing's idea. Qu Leng had a staff member named Wang Shou, who was said to be from Chang'an. He was suspected of being sent by Liu Wenjing."
Yang Yuanqing stood up, walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, then turned back and asked him: "When will they decide to rebel?"
"It should be at the beginning of next month, ninety-nine and eighty-one days after we welcome the Buddha, we will send him back. A large number of believers will gather in one place, and that is the time to launch a rebellion."
"How many believers are there now?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, there are now more than 40,000 people. Not only in Pingyuan County, I heard that there are believers in Qinghe County, Bohai County, Xindu County and Hejian County."
Yang Yuanqing thought for a moment, then glanced at Zhou Yu, feeling a little suspicious. Qu Leng would never tell outsiders such an important secret. How did Zhou Yu know about it? There is only one explanation. This Zhou Yu is Qu Leng's confidant. .
"Then why did you join the religion and follow Qu Leng in rebellion?"
Zhou Yu said with a face full of shame: "This is a humble position because some of the leverage fell into Qu Leng's hands."
"What's the handle?" Yang Yuanqing asked reluctantly.
"In the tenth year of Daye, I privately sold a lot of official food, probably as much as a thousand stones, in my humble position. In fact, all the county officials in Pingyuan County had more or less leverage in Qu Leng's hands. That's why they were blackmailed, and in addition to joining the religion Profitable, so..."
Zhou Yu didn't say any more. But Yang Yuanqing understood in his heart that the excuse was secondary, and profit was the real reason. Zhou Yu must have followed Qu Leng wholeheartedly and became his confidant. Now that he saw the danger coming, he immediately Although Yang Yuanqing vaguely guessed that Qu Leng was betraying him, he didn't want to point it out. As long as Zhou Yu was willing to sacrifice his life for him, the rest of the grudges between them were unimportant.
Now that things have become clear, how to resolve this crisis is the key. Although Zhou Yu said that there is still one month before the time to rebel, Yang Yuanqing believes that once the other party knows that the attempt has been discovered by him, they will definitely rebel in advance. So. The key to victory is not to be able to alert the opponent in the first place and then use thunderous means to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop.
Thinking of this, Yang Yuanqing took another look at Zhou Yu and decided to start with this person.
"Now it's time for you to make atonement."
........
Qu Leng, the governor of Pingyuan, is about fifty years old this year. He has been in official career for thirty years and is already a veteran in politics.
Almost all officials have their own official career, and among the official careers of various officials, there are also some small paths that connect the officials together. Among the various paths, marriage is undoubtedly an extremely important path.
This is especially true for Qu Leng. Qu Leng's second son Qu Minggui married Liu Wenjing's third daughter. It was Liu Wenjing's in-laws who changed Qu Leng's fate.
When Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan, Qu Leng, then the governor of Xindu County, received a letter from his in-law Liu Wenjing and immediately announced his surrender to Li Yuan, but soon he surrendered to Dou Jiande.
Perhaps realizing that Dou Jiande had no future, Qu Leng secretly surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. After Dou Jiande's defeat, Qu Leng, who was then Nayan, led dozens of civil servants to surrender to the Sui Dynasty. He was named the prefect of Pingyuan County by Yang Yuanqing.
This appointment made Qu Leng extremely disappointed. He originally wanted to be an official in the Central Committee of the Sui Dynasty, not as a prime minister, but at least as the head of a temple. Unexpectedly, he only got the position of prefect of Pingyuan County, but the Tang Dynasty promised him a title. He is the Minister of Rites.
One light and one heavy, one high and one low, made Qu Leng make a major decision. He belonged to the Sui Dynasty and secretly returned to the Tang Dynasty. In order to gain the trust of the Tang Dynasty, he did not hesitate to pay a letter of allegiance to Li Yuan.
In the room, Qu Leng was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. There were several people standing next to him. One was his son Qu Minggui, one was his son-in-law Cui Xingyun, and the other was his aide Wang Shou.
His son Qu Minggui and his son-in-law Cui Jingxing are both the main leaders of the Maitreya cult. Cui Jingxing is called Fotai, which is the reincarnation of Maitreya. Qu Minggui is the head of the nine great Buddhas and has a thousand religious soldiers in his hands, but regardless of Son-in-law or son, they are all puppets, Qu Leng is the real leader.
The aide Wang Shou was a military advisor. He was actually Li Jiancheng's aide and was sent by Li Jiancheng to Hebei to implement the civil strife plan.
It was Liu Wenjing's idea to use the Maitreya Cult to instigate an uprising. After the Hebei War, the people's minds were settled, and it was difficult for them to rebel again. Only by using the Maitreya Cult's beliefs could we encourage these stupid men and women to follow in the rebellion.
"I heard a news."
Qu Leng said worriedly: "Hejian County's army has begun to gather. Now that the Liaodong Campaign has ended, why did Hejian's army gather? At this juncture, I have an ominous premonition!"
Qu Minggui frowned. He was responsible for security and was particularly sensitive to the deployment of troops and the like.
"Father is saying that the army from Hejian County is coming to deal with us?"
Next to him, Cui Jixiang said with a smile: "My father-in-law, isn't it a little bit overwhelming? The mobilization of troops in Hejian County may be a normal training. Didn't my father-in-law say last time that each county should start organizing militia training? Maybe this is the matter, I think. It has nothing to do with Maitreya Religion.”
Qu Leng knew that it was okay for his son-in-law to pretend to be a ghost, but if he wanted to talk about business with him, he would definitely not get to the point. He ignored Cui Xiuxiu, but glanced at Wang Shou, his eyes full of expectation. Wang Shou was a resourceful and resourceful man. He is wise, and the establishment of the Maitreya Sect was completely planned by him. His concerns about Hejian County were actually expressed to Wang Shou.
Wang Shou is from Guanzhong. He is about thirty-five or six years old. He is short in stature, has a flat nose with upturned nostrils, thick lips, and an ugly face. However, he is one of the enshrinements of the Donggong Literature Museum and is popular with Prince Li Jiancheng. trust.
This person doesn't talk much and appears to be very low-key, but in fact, he is the one who holds the power of the Maitreya Sect. He came to Pingyuan County on behalf of the crown prince Li Jiancheng. On major issues, without his nod, Qu Leng would not dare to make any decisions. Decide.
Wang Shou said calmly: "No matter what, we must always be careful. During this time, please take care of Maitreya and let the Buddhas from each county come and talk to calm their emotions."
He remembered something again and quickly asked Qu Leng: "I remember a few days ago, didn't the prefect say that Yang Yuanqing might be in Hebei? Is there any news about him now?"
Qu Leng hesitated and said: "I can't be sure about this. At that time, I found five hundred cavalry passing through Hejian County and going south. At that time, I just suspected that they were Yang Yuanqing's personal guards. Now there is no news about Yang Yuanqing from the nearby county officials. It may not be Yang Yuanqing. Even if It was Yang Yuanqing, but he may have gone south to Wei County, where Qin Qiong led tens of thousands of troops and was stationed in Wei County."
Wang Shou pondered again for a moment and said slowly: "I think it's better not to be careless about this matter. Traces of Yang Yuanqing appeared and news of large-scale troop deployments came from Hejian County. In any case, it is a warning. I suggest that it be modified. Plan to advance the time to raise troops and officially start the war ten days later."
Although Wang Shou kept saying that it was just a suggestion, his suggestion was a decision and was not negotiable.
........
At dusk three days later, Zhou Yu, the magistrate of Pingyuan County, arrived in Ande County in a carriage. Around the carriage were guarded by more than two dozen tall and strong 'yamen', wearing red and black robes and leather belts. Wearing gauze hats and dressed like government servants, there is an image of Maitreya Buddha embroidered on the hem of their robes, which hints at their other identity.
Of course, they also have a third identity, that is, Yang Yuanqing's personal soldiers. Among these entourage, Yang Yuanqing also changed his clothes and became a government servant.
Unless someone very familiar saw him, no one would have thought that the powerful King of Chu would disguise himself as a government servant.
Even the county magistrates who had met Yang Yuanqing would not believe it. At most, they thought that the yamen officer looked a bit like Yang Yuanqing.
As soon as he entered the city gate, he met Qu Minggui rushing towards him with more than a dozen cavalry attendants. He saw more than twenty tall and burly servants and attendants at a glance, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He had never seen such a majestic person before. Men, more than twenty in total.
Indeed, Yang Yuanqing's personal soldiers are all elites selected from hundreds of thousands of troops. They can be called the elites among the elites. The two dozen personal guards who follow him are all over six feet five in height, with big shoulders and round waists, and high martial arts skills. , not to mention that Qu Minggui has never seen it before, even Dou Jiande may not have such an elite soldier.
Qu Minggui then saw the war horses under the crotches of the "yamen servants". He could no longer walk. He stared at these horses without blinking, with a look of greed in his eyes. These war horses were all strong, with slender limbs, capable of traveling thousands of miles. A BMW.
"Who are you?" Qu Minggui waved his whip and blocked everyone's way, but he happened to stop Yang Yuanqing.