Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 169 The Xiao Family Head
In late January, the spring is still chilly and the weather is still cold.

In the back study of the Xiao Mansion, the air seemed to be colder than outside.

There were two people sitting in the room.

One is Xiao Rui.

The other man was in his forties, with fairly handsome features, but with a rough beard, looking like a warrior. He was none other than Xiao Siye, the head of the Xiao family.

"Prince Consort, do you know where you went wrong?" Xiao Siye asked in a heavy tone.

Xiao Rui also had a sullen expression and said, "I don't know."

In large families, strange phenomena often occur.

For example, Xiao Siye is older than Xiao Rui and serves as the clan leader, but his generation is younger than Xiao Rui, so he should be called uncle.

This is actually all Xiao Yu's fault. I don't know what he was thinking when he died. He didn't pass the position of clan leader to his son, but let Xiao Siye take over as clan leader.

The result was that after Xiao Rui attached himself to Changsun Wuji, he was promoted to a higher position and rank than Xiao Siye in terms of seniority and official rank.

Xiao Siye's position in the clan became very awkward. His words were completely useless and everyone in the clan listened to Xiao Rui.

Xiao Siye volunteered to lead the troops outside and no longer worry about the troubles in the family.

The Xiao family has always been led by Xiao Rui.

This time, Xiao Siye captured Helu alive and was granted the title of county marquis by Li Zhi. Cui Dunli also recommended him as the Minister of War.

His personal prestige soared, and the Xiao clan members recognized him as the clan leader again and kicked out Xiao Rui, who advocated following Changsun Wuji.

Xiao Siye asked about the recent situation of the Xiao family. After learning about what Xiao Rui had done, he was immediately furious and called him to the study to scold him.

Xiao Rui was originally the helmsman of the Xiao family. He was unhappy about Xiao Siye seizing power from him. Now he was taught a lesson by a junior of his, which made him even more dissatisfied.

Xiao Siye said sternly, "Don't you know? After Zhangsun Wuji was dismissed from office, you started running around with the Xiao family. If His Majesty hadn't been concerned about the eldest princess, he would have dealt with you long ago."

Xiao Rui said coldly: "I am also planning for the interests of the Xiao family."

Xiao Siye angrily said, "You brought the Xiao family to oppose His Majesty, and you call it for the Xiao family? Can't you see what happened to Zhangsun Wuji?"

Xiao Rui looked up at him and said, "Are we just going to do nothing and let the nobles be suppressed?"

Xiao Siye growled, "How did Your Majesty suppress the Xiao family? Is it just because of Zhangsun Wuji's downfall? You appear to be planning for the family, but in fact, you are destroying the Xiao family!"

Xiao Rui's face turned pale and he said nothing.

Xiao Siye said: "Think carefully about why your father asked me to take over as the clan leader!" He stood up suddenly and left the house.

In Chang'an City, among the aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River, apart from the Xiao family of Lanling, the most powerful ones are the Lu family of Wujun, the Wang family of Langya, and the Gu family of Wujun.

These three companies are just barely doing better.

Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, except for the Xiao family, there were very few people from the other three families who served as officials in the court. They had no choice but to turn to business.

Their idea is simple: first accumulate wealth, then use the wealth to build connections and transform it into power.

Therefore, these three families have accumulated a lot of wealth.

Xiao Siye met with the heads of the three families and had a long talk with them. Then he went to the Menxia Province to visit the newly appointed Menxia Shilang Xin Maojiang.

Xin Maojiang is the only prime minister among the aristocratic families today, and he will stay in the capital for a long time.

If Xiao Siye wanted to improve the situation of the aristocracy in the emperor's mind, he had to ask him for advice.

When I arrived at General Xin Mao's office, I saw the new prime minister kneeling in front of a low table drinking tea. The office was surrounded by smoke and he looked very leisurely.

"Ah, Minister Xiao is here, please take a seat." General Xin Mao extended his hand to greet him.

Xiao Siye sat cross-legged on the mat opposite General Xin Mao and said with a smile, "I have recently visited many officials from aristocratic families. Most of them are lifeless. Only Prime Minister Xin can still see a trace of vitality."

General Xin Mao smiled and said, "Excuse me, Minister Xiao. I am a leisurely person. My only advantage is that I am open-minded and don't take things to heart."

Xiao Siye sighed, "It's easy for a common hermit to do this, but only Lord Xin can maintain such a mindset while serving in the imperial court."

General Xin Mao smiled and said, "Minister Xiao, are you praising me so highly? Is there something you want from me?"

Xiao Siye bowed and said, "I really want to ask you for advice."

Xin Mao used a tea tong to pick up the teapot, poured a cup of hot tea for Xiao Siye, and said slowly, "Minister Xiao, please have some tea."

Xiao Siye raised his cup, closed his eyes, and sniffed it. He said, "The tea has a rich aroma, but also a hint of bitterness. It's refreshing and invigorating. It seems to be Fangshan Luya from Fuzhou."

General Xin Mao smiled and said, "It is the Fangshan Luya that Your Majesty gave me last year."

After Xiao Siye finished his cup of tea, General Xin Mao asked, "What does Minister Xiao want to know?"

Xiao Siye said, "I heard that the two provinces recently passed an imperial edict allowing ordinary merchants to exploit the coal mines in Yanshan Protectorate."

General Xin Mao said, "It is true."

Xiao Siye said, "I have heard a little about the coal mining in Hedong. I wonder which minister proposed this to Your Majesty?"

General Xin Mao whispered, "It was your Majesty's idea."

Xiao Siye's eyes were burning as he asked, "If I could take the lead in persuading the Jiangnan nobles and get their trading companies to actively respond to Your Majesty's policies, what do you think, Minister Xin?" General Xin Mao glanced at him and said slowly, "If Minister Xiao can accomplish this and relieve Your Majesty's worries, Your Majesty will naturally be delighted."

Xiao Siye heard the hidden meaning in Xin Mao's words and asked, "Could you please speak frankly, Prime Minister Xin?"

General Xin Mao said, "Do you understand why His Majesty issued this policy?"

Xiao Siye's heart tightened and he asked, "Why?"

Xin Maojiang slowly stood up, walked to the corner, and came over with a small sheepskin bag, which contained coal.

"Has Minister Xiao ever used coal?"

Xiao Siye said, "This stuff is better than charcoal, but it has a strong smell."

General Xin Mao said slowly, "From what I have seen, Your Majesty wants to use coal instead of charcoal as the main fuel for burning fires, thereby restoring the mountains and forests of the Qinling Mountains."

Xiao Siye said, "I've also heard that His Majesty has issued an edict prohibiting the felling of trees in the Qinling Mountains for the construction of the garden."

Xin Maojiang said, "If coal is to replace charcoal, the price must be low. To keep the price low, production must keep up. Another point is that the price cannot be controlled by others."

Xiao Siye was shocked.

With the strength of the Jiangnan nobles, they can completely monopolize the coal business. Given their style, they will definitely raise prices and make huge profits.

If that situation really happened, Xiao Siye would have good intentions but do something bad, and would be blamed by the emperor instead.

He took a deep breath, bowed and said, "Thank you, Minister Xin, for your guidance."

General Xin Mao sighed, "I know Minister Xiao is eager to improve the situation of the aristocratic families, but sometimes, haste can lead to mistakes!"

Xiao Siye said sternly, "I understand."

Just at this moment, a clerk from the Ministry of War asked to see Xiao Siye.

After the clerk entered the room, he said to Xiao Siye, "Minister Xiao, urgent military information has arrived from Liangzhou. Please go and take a look."

Xiao Siye nodded and said goodbye to General Xin Mao.

As soon as he arrived at the Ministry of War, an official handed him an urgent report, saying, "Minister Xiao, express delivery over six hundred miles."

When Xiao Siye opened it, his face changed drastically. He quickly left the Ministry of War and came to Ganlu Hall. After being informed, he was invited into the side hall to wait.

Li Zhi was practicing riding and archery in the Forbidden Garden. After receiving the news, he went to Ganlu Palace and summoned Xiao Siye to the palace for an audience.

"Xiao Qing, what's so urgent?" he asked.

Xiao Siye handed over the official document and said, "Your Majesty, Liangzhou has an urgent report that Tubo raided Tianzhu in December and has conquered the entire territory of Tianzhu."

Li Zhi frowned slightly and said, "So fast?"

He took the document from Wang Fusheng, spread it out and took a look. After reading it, his heart sank.

Just as Xiao Siye said, Tubo took action in December last year, and the action was astonishingly fast. Moreover, the tactics used in attacking India were exactly the same as those used by Wang Xuance back then!
Qinling led an army of 10,000 and marched quickly into India to attack the Kingdom of Magadha, which was the former Harsha Dynasty.

Qin Ling also attacked the capital directly, won three battles, and defeated the supporting troops from other countries. The tactics he used were no different from those of Wang Xuance back then.

The results are similar.

Qin Ling became famous in one battle and shocked all the countries in India. In less than a month, more than 500 cities in India surrendered.

However, after Wang Xuance won, he returned to the Tang Dynasty, but Qin Ling incorporated the Indian countries into the territory of Tubo.

Li Zhi took a deep breath and said, "Send someone to chase Wang Xuance immediately and prevent him from going to Tianzhu again."

Xiao Siye received the order and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to send troops to attack Tubo immediately?"

Li Zhi thought for a moment and waved his hand, saying, "The time is not ripe yet."

There is no way around this. After all, India does not border the Tang Dynasty, so we cannot help even if we want to.

Tubo took the initiative in order to disrupt the Tang Dynasty's deployment.

For now, we should proceed step by step according to the previously formulated plan, take advantage of the internal contradictions within Tubo, and create chaos there first.

Then, following Su Dingfang's method, they captured the Tubo royal city in one fell swoop.

Thinking of this, Li Zhi ordered Xiao Siye to withdraw and asked Wang Fusheng, "Have the first group of spies set out for Tubo?"

Wang Fusheng said, "They've all set out. There are twelve of them in total, eight from the Internal Affairs Office, two each from the Palace Affairs Office and the Changqiu Office, led by General Cheng."

"According to the Duke of Ying's instructions, they will first go to the Songzhou Xingtai and learn Tibetan for a month. Then, they will go to Lhasa City under false identities and establish a secret office."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Mr. Li's arrangement is very sound. There's no need to rush. Learn the Tibetan language first so you can truly integrate into Tibetan society."

Wang Fusheng hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Li seems to want to send an envoy to Tubo to protect the spies."

Li Zhi was stunned at first, then waved his hand and said, "Since I have handed this matter over to Lord Li, you just need to cooperate with him. You don't need to report everything to me."

Wang Fusheng said, "Yes."

(End of this chapter)