Turbulent Times Chapter 142: Hedong gentry

Yang Su stopped in his tracks, but an inexplicable uneasiness appeared in his heart. This uneasiness made him calm down quickly. Wang Tong is quite tactful in his actions, and he dared to offend Yang Su completely. There must be a reason for the risk not to let his grandson go. The so-called "everything is abnormal will be a demon", there must be something behind this incident that he doesn't know yet.

Yang Xuangan hurriedly killed the servant who was injured by Yang Xiong. The family of the servant gathered a large group of people and knelt down outside the Jingzhao Mansion to beg the court to punish the murderer.

After Yang Su heard this, his mind was already in a state of confusion. After a moment of deep contemplation, he sighed and said, "Get ready to drive, I'm going to the palace to face the saint."

Yang Su came to the palace in a hurry, but the servants respectfully told him that the emperor went to the Shenju Palace to accompany Queen Dugu, and there was no foreign minister at this time.

Yang Su got into the carriage with a bitter face and came back, but he was thinking to himself on the way: "Does Your Majesty want us to continue fighting each other?"

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…

The tragedy of the Universiade Restaurant was first reported to Emperor Yang Jian by the inner marquis of the capital, and not long after that, a report from Jing Zhao Yin Wang Tong was sent to Yang Jian.

Wang Tong is a capable official, and he sorted out the matter clearly in a short period of time. The confessions of several guards, the shopkeepers and staff of the Dayun Restaurant and the opposite Yimingxuan Teahouse, as well as the testimony of the diners , The ins and outs of the whole case have been written in thousands of words.

A few days ago, Qiu Fu asked He Ruojin for help, tricked Yang Rong into a conflict with Wang Junlin, and made an appointment to have dinner at the Universiade Restaurant this afternoon and Qiu Fu would pay He Ruojin, but he happened to be met by the Yang brothers and heard their talk Conspiracy and dialogue, and the four of them were drunk, so they fought on the spot, and the result was red-eyed. He Ruojin was killed by Yang Xiong, and Yang Feng was killed by someone suspected of being Qiu Fu.

Wang Tong's report can be summed up simply and clearly in these few sentences.

Although Yang Jian was busy with court affairs, he still read the report carefully, combined with the situation reported to him by the Hou Guan, he briefly read the testimony and statement, and finally sneered, Said: "Although alcohol can be chaotic and make people lose self-control, it will not make people crazy."

Speaking so ambiguously in his mouth, he secretly lamented in his heart that Wang Junlin used such an ingenious method to attack with thunder, not only to avenge him, but also to make Changping Prince's Mansion, Yue State Duke's Mansion, and Shangzhu State He Ruobi fight against each other in one fell swoop. Forged a mortal feud.

As an emperor, what he would most like to see is the infighting among the top aristocratic families, so his heart is naturally full of pleasure and joy at this time.

"I have to say, what this kid has done has greatly exceeded my expectations for him. It's just what will the three old thieves, Yang Su, Qiu Rui, and He Ruobi do next?" Yang Jian was full of enthusiasm for this matter. strong interest.

"I am very satisfied that you were able to handle this matter impartially and arrest the murderer Yang Xiong in the street. Well, you step back and continue to investigate this matter. I heard that the yamen of Jingzhao Mansion was full of family members of the deceased's family , You must handle this matter well, otherwise it would be bad for the court to lose all face." After Yang Jian finished speaking, he lowered his head and continued to review the memorial, ignoring Wang Tong who lowered his head in astonishment.

Wang Tong firmly memorized every word the emperor said, while secretly trying to figure out the emperor's true thoughts, while respectfully said: "The humble minister will leave."

As soon as the words fell, he retreated and left the Hanyuan Hall.

After Wang Tong left, Yang Jian looked at Wang Tong's back and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, but an idea came to his mind.

He is attacking the powerful family of Zhongxing who has the military power and is growing in power. Relying on the Guanlong nobles obviously has the risk of attracting tigers and driving wolves away, but it is obviously not enough by himself and Wang Junlin. The political group, the southern group, is too weak now, and the Guanlong gentry, such as the Jingzhao Wei family, the Du family, and the Hexi Li family, have too close a relationship with the Guanlong nobles. The only power they can rely on is the Shandong and Hedong gentry. Wang Tong is an extremely important member of the Wang family of the Hedong gentry.

…

…

At dusk, more than a dozen followers guarding Wang Tong's carriage slowly stopped in front of Pei's residence.

In today's world, if power is divided by family clans, the royal family is naturally the most powerful. The second place is the Guanlong aristocrats dominated by the Dugu family and the Yuan family. The third place is the Zhongxing family, which is dominated by Yang Su, Qiu Rui, Han Qinhu, Changsun Sheng, He Ruobi, Yu Juluo and other meritorious officials. At the end of the row are the Hedong gentry and the Shandong gentry who are indistinctly allied.

Wang Tong is the younger brother of the head of the Wang family in Taiyuan in Hedong. Speaking of it, for hundreds of years of entanglement, the Pei family and the Wang family, and even the Shandong gentry, are deeply intertwined, and they all prosper and lose together through marriage and benefit sharing.

For example, Mrs. Pei's mother is the daughter of the Wang family in Taiyuan, and Mrs. Pei's grandmother, Mrs. Cui, is the eldest daughter of the Mrs. Cui of Qinghe. The Lingcui family, in short, the famous families of Shandong and Hedong gentry are married to each other, and the relationship is extremely close.

So it is normal for Wang Tong and Pei Shiju to be very close during the day, and because they are both civil servants, unlike the generals in charge of the army, walking around each other in private will not arouse the emperor's suspicion.

Compared to the heyday of the Zhongxing family and the Guanlong nobles in the Sui Dynasty, the power of the Shandong and Hedong gentry in the central court of the Sui Dynasty was relatively weak. There are many reasons for this result.

First of all, the Sui Dynasty despised Confucianism and abolished the Jiupin Zhongzheng on which the Shandong gentry depended for survival, which made the Shandong gentry generally dissatisfied. A large number of famous Confucian scholars focused on literary education and were unwilling to enter politics.

Secondly, during the Heyin Incident that happened decades ago, Er Zhurong slaughtered all the Shandong gentry in the court of the Northern Wei Dynasty, causing severe damage to the famous and prestigious families of the Shandong gentry, and they have not been able to recover for decades .

In addition to the above two reasons, the most critical reason is that the Sui Dynasty was a continuation of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, established by Yuwentai's Guanlong forces, and the Shandong gentry mainly served Gao Huan's Northern Qi Dynasty. It needs the support of the founding heroes and the nobles of Guanlong, so more than 90% of the officials in the central court come from these two forces, especially the army is almost controlled by these two forces.

Emperor Yang Jian's distrust and the Guanlong nobles' exclusion almost made the Shandong and Hedong gentry almost have no place in the imperial court. They could only be widely distributed in the local government through the continuation of the Jiupin Zhongzheng.

Yang Jian has realized the potential threat of the Zhongxing family and the Guanlong nobles in the past few years, and began to consciously support the Hedong and Shandong gentry against the Zhongxing family and the Guanlong nobles. this. However, the influence of the Shandong and Hedong gentry in the court was still very weak. Famous Confucian families like the Fanyang Lu family and the Boling Cui family basically did not serve as high-ranking officials in the court.

Wang Tong got off the carriage, and Pei Shiju had already greeted him. The former was only seven or eight years younger than the latter, but strictly speaking, Pei Shiju was still his uncle, and they were naturally the biggest allies in the court.

"My nephew sees my uncle!"

Wang Tong saluted deeply, and Pei Shiju laughed and said, "I knew you would come today, and I'm waiting for you!"

Wang Tong said with a smile: "Uncle has prepared some tea."

"That's natural." Pei Shiju pointed to the figures at the entrance of the alley on the right, frowned and said, "It seems that Xiao Xiaozhi Pei is following you!"

Wang Tong looked at those suspicious people, and said with a sneer: "Since I arrested that murderer Yang Xiong into the Jingzhaoyin prison today, someone has been monitoring my whereabouts, probably Yang Su , He Ruojin, or the people sent by Qiu Rui, ignore them."

Pei Shiju invited Wang Tong to the study, and the maid served them tea. Pei Shiju asked impatiently, "What happened to the tragedy at the Universiade Restaurant, tell me quickly."

Pei Shiju naturally also heard about the Universiade Restaurant in the afternoon, and he was surprised, but naturally he was more concerned.

Wang Tong said apologetically: "I should have reported this matter to uncle at the first time, but the time is relatively tight. After I sorted out the case, I went to the palace to report to His Majesty. I just left the palace, so I directly Here you are."

Next, Wang Tong explained the tragedy in the afternoon in detail. Pei Shiju squinted his eyes and listened carefully, constantly pondering the possible loopholes. It was easy to see that this incident was Wang Junlin's initiative, but this method really shocked a civil servant like him.

Because Wang Tong did not have much contact with Wang Junlin, he was not very clear about what happened in Shazhou three months ago, so after hearing Pei Shiju's judgment at this time, his face was even more inconceivable and unbelievable.

"The name of poisonous general really deserves its reputation. These methods are really too...weird and frightening." Wang Tong felt some inexplicable fear of Wang Junlin in his heart.

Pei Shiju suddenly said: "Don't you think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the rise of our Hedong and Shandong gentry?"

Wang Tong's eyes widened sharply, and there was a frightening light flashing. After a while, he thought about something thoroughly, nodded, but then frowned, and said: "Our Hedong gentry are okay. Some, the Shandong gentry are still extremely disgusted with the imperial court. The root of this is the rejection of the Shandong and Hedong gentry by the Zhongxing family and the Guanlong nobles. Today, there are five surnames in the world, Boling Cui, Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, Longxi Li family, Zhaojun Li family, Xingyang Zheng family, and Taiyuan Wang family, how many of them served as high-ranking officials in the Sui Dynasty? You and my family are not counted, but the two secondary surnames of Bohai Gao family and Jingzhao Wei family The aristocratic family can be reused. Although the emperor has begun to suppress the Zhongxing family and the Guanlong nobles, he hit the Shandong gentry too hard when he pacified Yangliang, so the Shandong gentry did not accept his favor. And if the old stubborn of the big gentry in Shandong If you don't work hard, the risk of just you and me is still too big."

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