Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 68: Causes (Part )

Inside the Yi Library, Lü Shang sat cross-legged on a bamboo mat, surrounded by piles of books. The air was filled with the faint scent of ink. He held a scroll in his hand, his brow furrowed slightly, as if lost in thought. Light streamed in through the window lattice, illuminating his handsome face.

Han Jin said slowly, "These are the books about the Turks you wanted. They are all here."

He pointed at the mountain of bamboo slips and scrolls and said with some pride, "I put a lot of effort into collecting these from the four great repositories. Don't let my efforts be in vain. When Shirakawa-michi returns, don't forget to treat me to a drink."

"I want to drink Jiannan Shaochun, Fuping Shidongchun, Xingyang Tukuchun, and Wucheng Ruoxiachun. I want them all!"

Lu Shang raised his head, took his eyes off the bamboo slips, looked at Han Jin, smiled slightly, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Han."

"It's just a small matter, not hard work."

Han Jin waved his hand and casually sat down on a futon nearby. He said, "But you only have three days. We have to leave in three days. Can you finish reading these books in such a short time?"

Lu Shang gently put down the bamboo slips in his hand and said, "Do your best and leave the rest to fate."

"Well, you can watch here. I'm going back to take care of my business."

Han Jin stood up and said, "If you have anything else to say, please send someone to find me."

Lu Shang watched Han Jin leave until he left the storehouse. Then he slowly picked out an old bamboo scroll from the pile of books.

"Sacrifice to the gods, sacrifice to heaven, witchcraft,"

He muttered something in a low voice, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes. The writing on this bamboo slip was unusually simple and ancient, clearly from a very long time ago.

While Lu Shang was concentrating on studying these precious books, a storm was brewing in Daxing Palace.

------

In the Ganlu Hall of Daxing Palace, Yang Jian sat on the throne with a gloomy face. The eunuchs in the hall knelt on the ground, trembling.

"Pei Tong, is everything you said true?"

Yang Jian's voice was frighteningly cold as he looked at the young man who was crawling on the ground, silent as a cicada.

The young man, with a clear face and dressed in a crimson official robe, trembled in response to Yang Jian's frightening question, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Ying is my uncle. Reasonably and emotionally, I dare not frame him. However, what the Duke of Ying is planning is a crime punishable by genocide, and I refuse to join the rebellion."

"Yes, that's good."

After hearing Pei Tong's answer, Yang Jian laughed in anger and said, "As soon as Wang Yi died, Liang Shiyan couldn't hold back his rebellious heart and even joined forces with Liu Fang and Yuwen Xin to rebel against me. They are all my good ministers!"

"How did they plan this?"

Perhaps because he was extremely angry, Yang Jian's face became calmer.

Liang Shiyan, Duke of Ying, served in two dynasties. He captured Wu Mingche, a famous general of the Southern Chen Dynasty, seized the land of Huainan, and later put down the rebellion of Yuchi Jiong.

Like Wang Yi, Liu Fang, Yuwen Xin and Liang Shiyan were all founding heroes, but they were all deprived of real power during the reign of Yang Jian.

Perhaps stimulated by Wang Yi's fate, Liu Fang, Yuwen Xin and Liang Shiyan, three people who held high positions but had no real power, also began to plan a rebellion.

However, the plan was not kept secret and was discovered by Pei Tong. Between his uncle and his own life and property, Pei Tong decisively chose to preserve his own life and property and informed Yang Jian.

The reason why Yang Jian was angry was that these three people did have the ability to rebel. Except for Liu Fang, Yuwen Xin and Liang Shiyan were both famous generals of the time, and had many old subordinates in the army.

If they were allowed to seize the opportunity and rebel, even if we could pacify them, it would damage the vitality of the country.

Pei Tong replied, "Your Majesty, Liu Fang made a drunken slip of the tongue. He planned to raise an army in Puzhou, attack Heshuo, and take Liyang Pass. He planned to cut off the Heyang route, intercept the imperial court's conscription of cloth and silk for military supplies, and recruit bandits as soldiers." Yang Jian sneered, "A drunken slip of the tongue! What a brilliant idea! Blocking the Heyang route, intercepting the conscripted silk, and recruiting bandits—every step strikes at the imperial court's weakest points, and at my weakest points."

"Liu Fang, Liu Fang, if you had been completely loyal to the king, I would never have used you. But you made one mistake after another, and you left no chance for survival."

Unlike the fear of Yuwen Xin and Liang Shiyan's military power and the military authority they held, Liu Fang had neither military power nor military authority. In addition, when Yang Jian was the prime minister, he was a close ally of Liu Fang.

When Yuwen Yun was critically ill, it was Liu Fang who forged an imperial edict to allow Yang Jian to assist in the administration. This move enabled Yang Jian to seize power in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. As a result, Liu Fang was promoted by Yang Jian to the rank of General and Duke of Huang, becoming Yang Jian's most important supporter in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

However, after Yang Jian completely gained power, the Yuchi Jiong Rebellion broke out. Yang Jian wanted to use Liu Fang to quell the rebellion, but Liu Fang declined on the grounds that he did not understand military affairs, which made Yang Jian very angry.

"Liu Fang, Liu Fang, no, we can't touch him at this time,"

Yang Jian was so angry that he wanted to kill these three people immediately.

However, he thought of Wang Yi who had just been sentenced to death and the Guanlong nobles who had become somewhat negligent in their duties, and finally suppressed his murderous intent.

At this time, he had to take action and kill these three people. In the absence of solid evidence to prove that the three of them were planning a rebellion, the Guanlong nobles would only think that Yang Jian was playing the trick of hiding the bow after the bird was killed.

"We can't do it now,"

Thinking of the consequences, Yang Jian's eyebrows jumped. At this time, he couldn't provoke these Guanlong nobles anymore. During the more than 300 years of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the imperial power changed, and the warriors had long lost their awe of the emperor.

If the Guanlong nobles were to become completely alienated from the imperial court, the Sui Dynasty would be on the verge of collapse.

Yang Jian sat on the throne in Ganlu Hall, with a thousand thoughts in his mind.

"Pei Tong,"

After a long moment, Yang Jian slowly spoke in a low and calm voice, "You have done a great job. I will remember your loyalty."

Pei Tong kowtowed quickly and said in a trembling voice, "I dare not take credit for anything, I only wish to share your majesty's worries."

Yang Jian nodded slightly and looked outside the hall with deep eyes, as if he was thinking about something.

After a moment, he waved his hand, signaling Pei Tong to leave. Pei Tong, as if granted amnesty, quickly stood up and carefully left the Ganlu Hall.

"Dexin, draft an edict,"

Yang Jian said softly, "Appoint Liang Shiyan, the Duke of Ying, to be the Governor of Jinzhou."

"promise,"

The eunuch Chen Dexin responded tremblingly.

Yang Jian whispered to himself: "Jinzhou, Liang Shiyan, it depends on whether you will take the bait."

The land of Jinzhou is located in the center of the world, connected to Shangdang in the east, the Yellow River in the west, Bianluo in the south, and Jinyang in the north.

The city is a picturesque place, with mountains and rivers both inside and outside. Taihang Mountain stands tall in the east, Lüliang Mountain stretches across the west, the Yellow River laps in the south, and the Fen River runs through it. The terrain is dangerous and there are many passes. It is a place of war on all sides and a key town for both attack and defense.

If we take Jinzhou, we can advance to conquer the vastness of the Central Plains, and retreat to defend the fertile areas of the Three Jins. It is a place that military strategists must fight for and the foundation of hegemony.

Yang Jian appointed Liang Shiyan as the governor of Jinzhou in order to use this as bait to see how determined Liang Shiyan was to rebel.

(End of this chapter)