Chapter 213 Champion (I)

At the end of July in the third year of Kaiping in Daliang, an imperial edict was issued from the imperial city of Bianliang and was known to everyone at home and abroad.

First, the former Minister of Revenue Li Zhen firmly defended Youzhou and was killed by the Yan bandits. Although he was at fault for losing the city, he was also known for his loyalty, so he was dismissed from his posts as Minister of Revenue, and was appointed as an inspector of Hebei, Inspector of the Court, Supervisor of the Palace, and Deputy Envoy of the Xuanyi Army. He was posthumously awarded the title of Sikong and the posthumous title of Zhongjie, and his sons and grandsons were given a good reputation.

This imperial edict could be said to be within Xiao Yan's expectations. Although Zhu Wen had killed many meritorious officials openly and secretly in recent years, he still had a degree of tolerance for Li Zhen, a minister he greatly favored, that was difficult for others to achieve.

Moreover, the two had been emperor and minister for many years, and Li Zhen was good at flattery, so it was difficult to find any major loopholes in him at least in trying to please Zhu Wen and getting things done. As a capable and easy-to-use civil official, Zhu Wen naturally had a degree of trust in him that could not be compared to that of a military official.

So although all of Li Zhen's official positions were stripped away at once, he still took care of his descendants.

It can be imagined that if Xiao Yan had killed Li Zhen without thinking twice, Zhu Wen would have investigated the matter thoroughly, and the Hades Emperor and the Ghost King faction in the court would have launched countless attacks on him.

In this situation, it is a case of losing the big picture and gaining the small details. Taking Hebei is not Xiao Yan's most fundamental goal. Even if he has the confidence to establish his own regime in Hebei, he may be attacked from both sides by Zhu Wen and Li Keyong. It is conceivable that Hebei, which has been severely damaged, will not be able to withstand the joint attack of the two most powerful princes in the world. It is obviously not worth the loss.

If Hebei has a solid foundation and can continue to suck blood from Daliang and rely on the power of the Central Plains to recover its vitality, it will be thousands of times stronger than the above, not to mention that Xiao Yan himself can get more from the Bianliang court.

In the past, Zhu Quanzhong of the Tang Dynasty served the Tang Dynasty for more than ten years. Relying on the trust of the Tang Dynasty, he suppressed other vassal states at will, and he quietly annexed the entire Henan Province. From then on, there was no rival in the Central Plains. After that, he entered the capital to kidnap Zhaozong, burned Chang'an, moved the capital to Luoyang, killed the Li family, and usurped the throne. It can be said that his loyalty is beyond words.

And Xiao Yan doesn't mind being Xiao Quanzhong for once.

Therefore, under this premise, it is necessary to use more complicated means to kill Li Zhen.

When Youzhou was under siege, Zhu Wen might still have some trust and favor for Li Zhen, but after the latter was charged with countless crimes such as "forcing Xiao Yan to leave, forcing the Lulong Army to rebel, forcing more than ten military states in Yan to rebel, forcing the newly-affiliated Yan people to rebel, withholding the reward money, resulting in the loss of the opportunity to quell the rebellion, allowing the Yan rebels to grow stronger, the fall of Youzhou, the southward advance of Mobei, and the seeming rebellious intentions of the whole Hebei...", Zhu Wen was too lazy to delve into the hidden secrets of Li Zhen's death, and was magnanimous enough to give him the beautiful posthumous title of "loyalty".

However, it is unknown whether there are any members of the Hades faction who are pushing this and want to preserve the political legacy left by Li Zhen.

The second imperial edict that followed was to confer upon Xiao Yan the title of Inspecting General of the Thousand Oxen Guards, grant him the title of Special Advancement, and Marquis of Guanjun, with a fief of 50 households, and to continue to serve as the Jiedushi of Guide Army in Songzhou.

This decree was issued almost half a month apart from the previous one. At that time, Xiao Yan was still in Youzhou and had not yet returned. However, the decree was issued again in such a short time. It was probably because Zhu Wen learned that Xiao Yan had chased the remnants of the Yan bandits out of the Great Wall in one breath, defeated the Mobei army, and even went straight to the Mobei royal court.

With Li Zhen's series of stupid moves in the past and the poor performance of the imperial guards in capturing Cangzhou and Luzhou in the future, and looking at Xiao Yan's several great victories, he even went thousands of miles beyond the border to promote national prestige and kill the remaining Yan bandits for the Zhu emperor. It can be said that Marshal Xiao is "unspeakably loyal" and has made the most contributions to the entire army, so he continues to be awarded such a worthless title.

However, although these titles are all honorary positions, even the title of Marquis of Guanjun, which can be recorded in the history books alone, has a fief of only a pitiful fifty households, but at least they are formal rewards. In a situation where half of the princes in the world are respected in Daliang, they are ten thousand times better than those self-proclaimed ones. The title alone is enough to be one level higher than other generals, not to mention that the monthly salary has increased several times. At least it is better than nothing.

Such an arrangement would naturally come to fruition. With one imperial edict, Zhu Wen's prestige would spread throughout the world. As for whether there was any intention to demonstrate to Li Keyong, Li Maozhen of Qi State, or even Wang Jian of Western Shu, anyone with a discerning eye could see it.

With this imperial edict, Li Zhen was completely convicted of the crime of causing more than 100,000 casualties in Hebei within a year, losing nearly one million strings of reward silver, and almost losing the territory of Yan. With the posthumous title of "loyalty", all the honors naturally went to Xiao Yan.

As for how many bad debts there were, how the various armies were misallocated, the financial deficit of the Ministry of Revenue, the secret struggles between Zhu Youzhen, Emperor Ming and even his faction, etc., all of these were covered up completely.

Daliang is still the most powerful city in the world.

……

At this moment, in the Prince Bo's Palace in Bianliang, people were coming and going, but all of them were in a hurry, as if they didn't dare to breathe.

The construction of Prince Bo's Palace began almost as early as when Zhu Wen was stationed in Xuanwu. It was originally built according to the specifications of a county prince. Later, when Zhu Wen became emperor, Zhu Youwen, then known as the "Ghost King", was promoted to a prince. At Zhu Wen's instruction, the palace was upgraded again. It has six courtyards from front to back, with majestic halls and high pillars on the eaves, all of which demonstrate Zhu Wen's love for his adopted son.

However, in recent days, the atmosphere in Prince Bo's Palace has not been very good. The servants in the palace naturally don't know the inside story, but today's visitor knows it clearly.

Cui Yu, the Lord of the Imperial City, who had made almost no achievements in the past year, was now sitting in the hall drinking tea. His face was calm, but he was very anxious in his heart. He did not know whether to sit or walk, and he kept glancing at the people coming and going outside, feeling a little uneasy.

Finally, after waiting for a long time, a tall and burly figure strode into the room. While washing his hands with the help of the maid, he said in a calm voice, "Lord Cui has been waiting for a long time. I have some personal matters to deal with, so I am late. However, I really didn't expect to see Lord Cui come to my house today. It is really rare. I invited Lord Cui to come several times a while ago, but Lord Cui tried to postpone it.

This prince has been thinking that in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for me to order Lord Cui around. "

Cui Yu had already put down his teacup and stood up, with a slight smile on his face with three strands of beautiful beard, and said, "Excuse me, Ghost King. I am your subordinate. If you summon me, I will rush here without stopping. It's just that I was too busy with the affairs of the Imperial City Department some time ago, so I have postponed it until today. I hope Ghost King can forgive me."

The Ghost King sneered, threw away the handkerchief he used to wipe his hands, sat straight up at the head of the table, and said, "Let's get straight to the point. I know you've seen that I'm no longer as close to Your Majesty as before, and I've also seen that Prince Jun's reputation in the court has risen because of that guy Xiao Yan. I don't care what you're thinking, but if you don't tell me the truth, then don't forget that I also have the right to supervise the Xuanming Sect."

"I dare not disobey the Ghost King." Cui Yu laughed dryly.

"I heard..." The Ghost King took a sip of tea, slowly stroked his fiery red beard, and said, "The winter before last, the five Hades of Caozhou died. Were you responsible for that?"

"Yes, it happened." Cui Yu obviously didn't expect the scope of this question to be so wide. He thought for a moment before saying, "At that time, the deposed emperor was kidnapped first, and then the five Yama Kings suddenly died. Meng Po sent her subordinates to investigate, but they found nothing. They only knew that it might have something to do with Tongwenguan."

"So, have you ever seen the deposed emperor at that time?"

"Of course I have seen it."

"Then, I heard that there was a man named Lin Dalang involved in the kidnapping and deposing of the emperor. He once informed Zhu Hanbin that there was a former Tang Dynasty bad guy named Xiao, who was captured and killed by Zhu Hanbin because of this. Is this true?"

Cui Yu was startled for a moment, thought about it carefully, and said, "That's right. When my subordinates went to Caozhou, they wanted to see this man's body, but according to Zhu Hanbin, the Zhu army envoy, his body had been burned in the fire in the Jiyin Palace..."

"Zhu Hanbin..."

The Ghost King smiled coldly, stroked his beautifully trimmed beard, narrowed his eyes and asked, "Is the death of the five Yama Lords really related to Tongwen Hall?"

Cui Yu pondered for a moment and just shook his head: "I am incompetent and can't find out the truth from this." "According to what I think, I'm afraid Zhu Hanbin is involved." The Ghost King narrowed his eyes and said: "Recently, I have been checking the documents in the Xuanming Sect's library and found that the kidnapping of the deposed emperor had a great impact. There was also the so-called Lin Dalang who informed the authorities in advance, but in the end it was left unresolved. Instead, it involved the death of the five Yama Kings. The key points in it, such as Lin Dalang, the Xiao family, and the bad people and Huanyinfang who were lured out later, but there is no key witness..."

Cui Yu thought for a moment and said carefully: "The Ghost King said this because he wanted to..."

The Ghost King pressed down the lid of the tea and said expressionlessly, "I am wondering if I can find a way to link all these things to Xiao Yan."

Cui Yu laughed dryly and said, "The Ghost King is joking. The two have nothing to do with each other. How can they be related?"

"How can there be no connection?" Ghost King said, "Just now I said that in the case of the Bad People kidnapping the Emperor, wasn't there a Bad People Captain Xiao? And everyone knows that Xiao Yan served Your Majesty through Prince Jun, and his title is the Bad People Captain, and his surname is Xiao. How can this be a coincidence?"

"Uh..." Cui Yu could only curse inwardly. He thought this guy really had any substantial evidence. What use was this groundless statement?

"There is one more."

The Ghost King still had no expression on his face, and said, "It was Zhu Hanbin who escorted Li Zhen and Kang Huaiying north to Youzhou. Kang Huaiying was trapped in Hengshan City, not to mention that Zhu Hanbin was trapped in Youzhou with Li Zhen. Li Zhen ended up dying with an infamy, but this guy was safe and sound. Isn't it thought-provoking?"

Cui Yu narrowed his eyes subconsciously. His many years of experience as a cruel official made him start to associate the two things.

Xiao Yan and Zhu Hanbin, Zhu Hanbin and the deposed emperor, the deposed emperor and the Bad Guys, the Bad Guys and Xiao Yan.

It seems that there is some vague connection between them.

But he knew the seriousness of the matter, and it was obvious that the Ghost King had lost his favor and had evil intentions. He wanted to suppress Zhu Youzhen or Xiao Yan. The water was too muddy, not to mention that he himself was Zhu Youzhen's man, so how could he be involved in this mess? Not to mention how credible this matter was, even the final success rate was so slim that only a fool would touch it.

So he just laughed dryly and said, "I don't understand why the Ghost King wants to tell me this. I am just an official of the Imperial City Department and I know very little about these things. I am afraid it is useless for the Ghost King to tell me..."

"No, it's not useless."

The Ghost King clapped his hands, but suddenly heard several footsteps coming from outside the door.

Cui Yu was startled and stood up subconsciously.

But the next moment, several wooden boxes were carried in and then placed heavily on the ground, making a dull sound.

When they opened the boxes, they were clearly filled with several large boxes of golden copper coins, weighing several hundred kilograms, at least several thousand strings of coins.

“What is this, Ghost King…” Cui Yu narrowed his eyes subconsciously and stroked the beautiful beard on his chin.

"Don't think I can't see it." The Ghost King smiled coldly and said, "Over the years, I have stayed in Tokyo for Your Majesty many times, and I have as many eyes and ears as anyone else. The Dark Emperor has been in seclusion for these years, so he can't notice it. But do you really think that your private dealings with Zhu Youzhen are impenetrable?"

Cui Yu was shocked, but his expression remained unchanged. He just smiled and said, "I really don't know what the Ghost King meant. King Jun has never supervised the Xuanming Sect. How can I be related to him?"

"I've said, you can hide it from the Hades, but not from me." The Ghost King just stared at the latter, his eyes empty as he said, "Regardless of what happens, as long as I tell the Hades this news, what do you think will happen to you?"

"Subordinates..." Cui Yu lowered his head, his eyes flashed coldly, but he was actually a little flustered. He didn't know where he had been caught being so cautious. He clearly couldn't let anyone know about his relationship with Zhu Youzhen, except for some of his confidants.

Wait, confidant...

Cui Yu suddenly thought that in the past two years, he had often encountered bad things and was often neglected because of Zhu Youzhen's confidant Zhong Xiaokui, so he often vented his anger on his subordinates and was extremely harsh on them. Even his own confidants would suffer such treatment.

impossible……

Cui Yu hesitated for a moment, obviously a little scared. The Hades Emperor would not tolerate anyone's flaws, and he was extremely perverted because of his appearance. The more Zhu Wen suppressed him over the years, the more perverted he became. He had done a lot for Zhu Youzhen over the years, and if the Hades Emperor knew about it, he would probably die without a burial place.

The Hades might have some reservations about killing Xiao Yan. First, Xiao Yan's status has risen now, and unless the Hades himself takes action, he may not be able to take him down in the army. Second, it would be easy for Xiao Yan to hold him hostage. The Hades was already unpopular with Zhu Wen, so instead of getting any meat, he would get into trouble. It was not worth it for the Hades.

But if they wanted to kill Cui Yu, they could probably find a reason to do it. After all, Cui Yu only had a little reputation in front of Zhu Wen. Over the years, countless officials had been brutally killed by him. If he died suddenly one day, maybe no one would bury him...

"Your subordinate..." Cui Yu was speechless for a moment, and hesitated for a long time, but didn't know how to answer.

The Ghost King sneered, pointed at the thousands of copper coins, and said, "Take these things. I am not interested in your dealings with Zhu Youzhen. I can also help you cover up a little with the Hades Emperor. I don't need you to do much. Just do a few errands for me."

Cui Yu hesitated again and again, with murderous intent in his heart, but he just lowered his head and said, "Please ask Ghost King for instructions."

"In two days, Xiao Yan will be near Bianliang. There will be a victory ceremony when he returns. Before that, I need you to come to the palace and say a few words to His Majesty."

"What does the Ghost King want?"

"The biggest threat to this boy is the Guide Army that will be stationed in the Imperial Guard. What you need to do is to cooperate with me to assign the military power of the Guide Army to others, or split it up, or disband it, but in short, it cannot be given to Xiao Yan."

The Ghost King raised his head and said coldly, "When the time comes, I will open an excuse for you with His Majesty. I don't need to teach you how to explain the Caozhou incident, right?"

Cui Yu hesitated to speak, and finally could only bow and say: "I respect the order of the Ghost King."

(End of this chapter)