Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Wang Xi is worthy of being Gao Yan's confidant, and he talks about Gao Yan's heart as soon as he opens his mouth.

Although Gao Yan and Gao Zhan were close comrades-in-arms when they were planning the coup, with the end of the coup, the tacit understanding between them naturally no longer existed.

Although Gao Yan's character is not such a quick one, Gao Zhan relied on the achievements he had already made during the coup to force Gao Yan to make a promise that he would become a brother. This also happened to Gao Yan. A thorn was buried in my heart.

Now that the big thing has happened, whether Gao Yan is willing to fulfill the agreement or not, he still feels a headache when he thinks about it.

Now that he is in his prime, he has not yet considered the issue of heirs, and the relationship between brothers is different from that of father and son. Once he makes Gao Zhan the crown prince, he will establish a clear enemy and competitor for himself, not only It will directly affect his authority as the emperor, and will put him in a dangerous state of being replaced at any time. This is naturally something Gao Yan cannot tolerate, and it is also something that any aspiring monarch cannot tolerate!

If it can be solved, even if it only temporarily alleviates this problem, Gao Yan will be very happy. Sending Gao Zhan as an envoy to the Western Wei Dynasty seems to be a good way. Let him temporarily leave the country, so that he can calmly govern, adjust the personnel of the country, and gradually eliminate Gao Zhan's personnel influence.

Even if he returns to the country in the future, he will no longer have the huge influence on the current situation as he does now. When the time comes, Gao Yan will be more relaxed and have more choices in how to arrange his funeral.

When Gao Yan thought of this, the corners of his mouth rose slightly uncontrollably, but he quickly rejected the idea silently in his heart. Although this arrangement looks very tempting, it is very difficult to implement.

This coup certainly made Gao Yan the new emperor of Northern Qi, but Gao Zhan also benefited a lot from the process. Especially when Gao Yan led his troops to leave Yedu for Liaoyang and then to Jinyang in order to control the overall situation, almost all the personnel in Yedu were entrusted to Gao Zhan.

The two brothers live in two cities. Today, Gao Zhan can be said to be the second most powerful person in the Northern Qi Dynasty, second only to the emperor Gao Yan. Gao Yan wanted to deprive him of all his power with a single order and send him to the Western Wei Dynasty as a hostage. Naturally, Gao Zhan would not be able to obey.

So after pondering for a while, Gao Yan slowly shook his head and said: "Fang Xia's junior high school has been initially decided. King Chang Guang is one of the few people in the clan who has both talents and can take on important responsibilities. There are still many important things that need to be done by him. If you want to share the work, you can’t send him out of the country easily, you should choose someone else.”

When Wang Xi heard that his proposal was rejected by the emperor, he stopped arguing and immediately returned to his seat and sat down.

Soon, another member of the army, Lu Yao, stood up and said: "The reason why the Wei State asked for the direct lineage of Shenwu as a pledge, the only worry is that our country will neglect the pledges and easily break the alliance because of the bloodline. Now the Supreme Kun Ji is strong, and he is a treasure of the country, no matter what No matter who you use, it will inevitably leave the clan's talented people unused. It is better to choose from the younger generation. The King of Taiyuan and the King of Jinan are all direct descendants of the previous emperor, and their bloodline is extremely high, so they are enough to serve as pledges."

"this……"

After Gao Yan heard this, he frowned tightly again, with a look of hesitation and struggle on his face.

King Gao Yin of Taiyuan and King Gao Shaode of Jinan were both legitimate sons of the late emperor Gao Yang and his queen Li Zu'e. Lu Yao proposed that the two of them be sent to the Western Wei Dynasty as protons. The meaning was naturally obvious, that is, another form of eradication.

Gao Yan is naturally very tempted by this proposal. Although in his mind, the brother Gao Zhan is the biggest threat to him at the moment, the Gao Yin brothers are still behind, and to be honest, the hidden danger is not necessarily that big. hazards. But if we can take the opportunity to solve this annoying existence and satisfy the Western Wei Dynasty's peace talks requirements, why not do it.

However, Gao Yan was still a little hesitant, because after all, he had just taken over the throne from the late emperor Gao Yang, and he had promised to treat his nephews well before his brother died.

Now Gao Yang wants to exile his nephew as a hostage to an enemy country before his body is cold. This is more or less unjustifiable, and it also makes Gao Didai unable to overcome this hurdle in his heart. Gao Yang's evaluation of him is indeed spot-on. He may not necessarily be kind in nature, but he likes to show off. Even if he is very willing to do something, he will hesitate again and again because he is concerned about the public's opinion, and it requires many trade-offs before he can make a painful decision.

"The late emperor entrusted his family and country to me, but I have not done any great work to repay this kindness. How can I be forced to send Zhu Youzi to the thieves out of helplessness?"

After struggling in his heart, Gao Yan couldn't help but sigh.

Hearing the emperor's emotion, the ministers were a little confused for a moment. They only felt that since the emperor took office, apart from other things, he had really become more hypocritical.

Feeling like this is not necessarily a rejection of the proposal, it is just a desire to find a reason that can be relied on emotionally and convince others and myself. But the problem is that if this matter is revealed to the sky, it will be ruthless and ruthless. Could it be said that because the late emperor was defeated and incompetent and brought harm to his family and country, he sent his sons as hostages to pay for his father's sins?

Not to mention that this reason is difficult to convince others, if you really want to say it out, it would be even more callous and disgusting than the matter itself!

For a moment, everyone really couldn't think of any excuses, and after seeing this, Gao Yan could only put the matter aside for the time being and prepare to discuss it again in the future.

But on the second day, Gao Zhan didn't need his confidants to bother looking for excuses to comfort themselves. Gao Zhan directly sent people from Yedu to Jinyang to block this choice.

"I have come to see you, Your Majesty, and I have been ordered by King Guang Guang to report the collaborating crimes that have occurred in Yedu in recent days!"

The person who came to Jinyang Palace from Yedu to see him was Cangtou, a close friend of Gao Zhan's family. After being summoned, he directly stated his purpose of coming, handed a box covered with linen that he carried with him to the palace attendant, and said directly: "This box The person wearing the attire is the head of the court official Pei Ze, who is a traitor who has been discovered by the king to be a collaborator in the country!"

Hearing this, the waiter who came to take the box suddenly stiffened, and Emperor Gao Yan's expression also changed immediately. He frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "Open the box!"

It was the scorching summer heat at this time. Although the head had been treated a lot, it was still seriously corrupted on the way from Yedu to Jinyang. You could smell the rotten smell inside before opening the linen wrapping. Of course the waiter He didn't dare to put this filthy thing on the imperial desk, so he could only kneel in the hall, untie the linen cloth with trembling hands, and open the wooden box, revealing the human head inside which was still rotten after being soaked in rosin oil, and the facial features were no longer identifiable.

"Why did King Changguang find out that Lord Pei was guilty of collaborating with the enemy? He is the prime minister, so why did he come into contact with this low-ranking official?"

Gao Yan glanced at the rotting head and looked away, then asked in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, in the name of offering advice to save the country, this disciple took the initiative to come to see our king. The king was also worried about the enemy's uncontrollable situation, so he recruited him into the palace. Unexpectedly, after entering the court, this disciple made many absurd and treasonous remarks. , making people dare not hear about it..."

Cangtou of the Changguang Prince's Palace paid homage and reported again.

Gao Yan suppressed the anger in his heart and asked again: "What treacherous words did he say? Please tell the truth. I forgive you!"

"This thief is talking about the current peace talks with the Qiang thief. He has known the inside story for a long time. He is saying that the Qiang thief is going to force the imperial court to send nobles from the clan as hostages, but in fact he has other plans. The dog thief Pei Ze incited my king to take the initiative to fight for this matter. After arriving at the Qiang thief court, the Qiang leader Li Boshan will set up another puppet dynasty in Jinzhou, Jianzhou, Shangdang and other places, and make our king the new king of the puppet dynasty. At that time, he can compete with the supreme king in the country, and there is no need to , No need to succumb to others anymore..."

As the Changguang Wang family slave spoke, he glanced at the emperor's expression in the palace.

"What a bunch of nonsense!"

When Gao Yan heard this, his face turned livid, he couldn't help but slapped the case and cursed angrily.

After hearing the words, the servant quickly paused and said: "My king also denounced this as evil talk, and accused this disciple of spreading the evil talk to confuse the people. He immediately ordered the officials to kill him, and ordered the slaves to be killed. I traveled day and night to Jinyang to tell you that my king is loyal and loyal. Please don’t be deceived by the evil talk! If your Majesty wants to use my king as a pledge of Qiang soil, my king will never refuse if you don’t use my king. My great king is working hard to ensure that the Qiang thieves will not invade the capital!"

After Gao Yan heard this, a trace of cruelty flashed in his eyes. Of course he could hear the implication of these words. Even the matter itself was a naked threat to him!

He didn't know whether Pei Ze, who was captured by Gao Zhan, had secret connections with the Western Wei Dynasty, but he knew that he had another identity, that is, he was the spy who stayed in the Yedu court. There are many personnel updates in Yedu, and many people have sent secret messages.

Gao Zhan beheaded Pei Ze, which not only removed Gao Yan's eyes and ears in Yedu, but also warned him that if he really dared to send him to Wei as a hostage, he would not be blamed for any extraordinary measures.

"King Changguang is truly commendable for his loyalty. With him in charge of the capital, I have no worries!"

Although he was extremely angry, Gao Yan still endured it, said in a deep voice, and ordered the palace slave to lead the messenger down to rest. After a while, he forced himself to calm down and turned to deal with other matters. .

After nightfall, Gao Yan once again summoned his confidants to Jinyang Palace and said directly: "None of the disciples of the late emperor are allowed to leave the country. Who should be used as hostage? You can discuss it later!"

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other. During the past day, they had all been thinking about how to legitimately use the late emperor's heirs as hostages, but now the emperor directly rejected this proposal, making their ideas meaningless.

But if the former emperor's heirs are not acceptable, then who should be sent there? Although there are many descendants of Shenwu, if the restriction of direct descendants is added, there are not many choices available. Does the current emperor also want to arrange for his son to go abroad to see the world?