Looking at the mountains and rivers

Yang Yan was silent, and then slowly said: "The words of the uncle really made my nephew panic."

Even though he said that, there was no trace of panic on his face. King Yong looked at him, his eyes became more and more gloomy: "Your mother is from Donghu, you should have heard that the rules of Donghu are different from those of the Central Plains. Li Chang. Your father also had the idea of ​​making you his heir, do you know?"

Yang Yan looked a little surprised and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"It was the sixth year of Yongkang, the Mid-Autumn Festival in August," King Yong lowered his voice, as if lost in memory, "Xiaozong hosted a banquet in Yilan Garden, and during the banquet, he talked about the candidates for the princes of the princes. Eldest son, only your father is silent, as if his mind is heavy. I told him that there are many examples of not observing the order of elders and younger. Our Yang family has Donghu blood, so why not act according to the customs of Donghu. He was a little relieved. From the tone of his voice, I knew that in his heart he wanted to make the youngest son his son."

"It turns out that my father's idea was persuaded by my uncle," Yang Yan finished speaking, and raised his face again. "However, in the Mid-Autumn Festival of the sixth year of Yongkang, my nephew had not yet been born. The reason why my uncle and my father placed such high hopes on me Maternal relationship."

King Yong didn't say a word, he acquiesced.

The smile on Yang Yan's lips was extremely cold: "Uncle and other elders in the clan must have the same idea. My grandfather only has my blood. Maybe I will be the head of the Tuoba family in the future. If I succeed to the throne , the Tuoba family and even the entire Donghu will be under the control of the clan." He paused, nodded and said, "This is really a good move, but it's a pity that my nephew is born blind, and Tuobaxin will never give up the position of patriarch. I handed it over to a blind man, so the wishful thinking of my uncle and everyone was in vain, and my nephew had to become an abandoned son. My uncle is probably very surprised now. It was unexpected that my abandoned son not only did not fend for himself, but succeeded to the throne of King Mu. ?”

King Yong stared at him closely, trying to see a bit of resentment and sharpness on his face, but there was nothing. Yang Yan looked very calm, even a little indifferent.He coughed a few times, nodded and said: "I was confused. I thought that Yang Dai was the only one among Lao Qi's sons, but he was young and too sharp, so I didn't pay attention to him, but ignored him. You." He sighed a long time, "I still remember that Prime Minister Wu Ya refused to serve Xiaozong, but secretly supported your father and made him the powerful King Mu. Later, his student, the one named Han Ping , assisted Yang Jue, I still feel very strange. Now I understand that Han Ping chose you."

King Yong paced back and forth in the hall with his staff, and the fine agarwood tapped on the floor tiles with a "duk-duk" sound: "You are very smart and know how to judge the situation. This is a good thing. But you have such a background. I shouldn't know how to endure like this." He walked slowly in front of Yang Yan, looked at his face, "I can see that you are ambitious, you have endured for so long, but you are just waiting to soar into the sky, yes no!"

Yang Yan didn't answer, and the modest smile on his face gradually disappeared.

King Yong didn't expect him to answer, so he just shook his head: "So I said, if a person like you was ten years ago, I would definitely not let you live."

"I can tell that Uncle really wants to kill me, but I don't know what is Uncle worried about now?" Yang Yan asked calmly.

"Of course I'm not worried about you, nor your subordinates." King Yong waved his hand wearily, "I'm only worried about the clan, the world of the Yang family."

He raised his face and looked at the golden dome of Chengtian Hall. The golden dragon about to fly was engraved between the tall red beams: "In the beginning, when Taizong founded the country, he proposed the name of the country as Zhao, and took the name of 'Zhuo Bi Yun Han, Zhao returned to the sky' It means. I hope that my dynasty will be like the light of the morning sun, and will shine forever in the world. After five generations, various internal and external troubles, the clan children have become more and more useless. The clan of the Yang family has no one to rely on." He turned his head and looked at Yang Yan, "You and I both know that Emperor Yong'an Yang Jie is incompetent and has no talent for governing the country. King Yu has no heir, Prince Duan is weak, and we Although there are two sons, they are both useless. If I kill you again, wouldn't Ruizong's lineage be cut off?"

When he said this, he seemed to be in extreme pain, and coughed again and again: "I used to ask myself at night, is the Yang family really in decline, and what kind of people can revive the clan? Later I thought, probably like Lao Qi You must be someone." He sat down slowly, and said wearily, "I once hated your father in my heart, thinking that he is Ruizong's son with me, and he was not favored before, but he just took the woman from Donghu. , relying on military power and slowly climbed up. Later I realized that what made him successful was not the support of the Donghu guards, but his ruthless and decisive temperament. Only people like him can govern this world. Yang Yan, you Would you do such a person?"

Hearing that he was coughing badly, Yang Yan took two steps forward, helped his hand, and patted him lightly twice.From the perspective of others, it seems a bit virtuous and filial.However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he said mercilessly: "Listening to the meaning of uncle's words, it seems that I can't bear to see the clan's weakness, and I really miss the time when my father ruled the world. Then immediately win over his old ministry and replace all the officials of the two provinces with people from Prince Yong's Mansion? My elder brother was constrained everywhere in the court just after taking over the throne. Zuo Xiao has the right to guard the soldiers, from now on, only the useless throne is left in the Mu Palace, which is no different from ordinary people. Is this how the eldest uncle supports the clan children?"

King Yong was startled by every sentence he asked, he turned his head to look at the young man who was supporting him, his eyes were clearly empty, but they were extremely deep, and he couldn't see the bottom at all.

Yang Yan lowered his head slightly, and said to the elder sitting on the chair: "Uncle just said that his two sons are useless people, so why did he entrust them with important tasks? Originally, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs were both The father was in charge, and later he was replaced by these two cousins. They have made great contributions since they took office." He said with some sarcasm, "The floods of the Yellow River have been severe every year these years, and last year it was even more decisive. Thousands of miles across the embankment, 32 counties were submerged, and countless people were killed, injured and exiled. Rui and Sheng, the ministers of the Ministry of Water, were used as scapegoats, but who should be beheaded, uncle, you should know in your heart."

King Yong's hands on the chair trembled slightly, and it was impossible to tell whether it was anger or fear.

"The Jinzhou Salt Class case was a turmoil before, but now it's quiet again." Yang Yan straightened up, folded his hands and sneered, "When Han Ping told me, I expected it to be so. The Salt Class case involved hundreds of dollars in money. Wan Liang, if you do a thorough investigation, there is no guarantee that you will not find the capital city and the Ministry of Household Affairs, and if you search further up, it will be my big cousin, the Minister of the Ministry of Households, Yang Lin."

King Yong suddenly coughed, and the coughing sound filled his throat with the smell of blood, and a chill ran up his spine.Then, Yang Yan put his hand on his shoulder again: "Uncle, don't be so excited. My nephew didn't mean to target the two cousins. I just wanted to let my uncle know that the reason for Dazhao's decline was not because of the clan. Weak, but because the cowardly and incompetent are in the upper position. When the father ruled the world, no one under his command dared to embezzle disaster relief money, and many towns did not dare to hinder the people from building dams. People are in awe of King Mu." He lowered his voice and said slowly, "If the court continues to be in the hands of these cowardly and incompetent people, Dazhao will soon decay. If Uncle doesn't want to see such a day, Just don't stop me."

King Yong was stunned, and smiled weakly: "I won't stop you, and I can't stop you. I know what you want. Your biggest enemy is not me, but the clans that control the court." He Slowly wiped away the few strands of blood coughed up from her lips, "Speaking of which, if I were really given a choice, I would rather have a hero in the Yang family than let power fall into the hands of a foreigner."

"Yang Yan," he called out, and said in a low voice, "Although the people under your command are not of high birth, they all have good knowledge, and with the support of the Tuoba family, I'm afraid they will be more powerful than your father in the future. Your heart is too big , there are too many things to seek, there is one thing, I guess you will use it."

Tremblingly, he took out something from his sleeve and handed it to Yang Yan's hand. The thing was slightly cool, but it was only one finger long, but it was very heavy in the hand.

"This... this is..." Yang Yan had already guessed what it was, and his expression changed slightly.

"This is the golden order to mobilize Zuo Xiaowei." King Yong coughed a few more times while speaking.

"Uncle just said that I was too dangerous, and now he is willing to give me military power?" Yang Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, obviously guessing his intentions.

"Zuo Xiaowei is Lao Qi's painstaking effort. If I don't give it to you, you will try to get it away in the future, won't you?" King Yong leaned on his staff and stood up slowly. He faced Chengtian Hall, Said in a deep voice, "Yang Yan, I want to exchange this thing for your promise."

Yang Yan looked in his direction with some doubts.

"You are here, in front of Taizong, in front of the previous emperors of the Yang family, promise me one thing, how about it?"

"What's the matter?"

King Yong took a deep breath: "In the future, you can control the court, control the power in the world, and even act as the emperor's regent, but you must not usurp the throne!"

Yang Yan was slightly taken aback, and then suddenly smiled: "How can I ask my nephew to answer my uncle's words?"

King Yong took a step forward and grasped his wrist. The old man was so strong that he squeezed his hand tightly like an iron hoop and said, "If you usurp the throne, Dazhao will lose his legitimacy! Once this example is opened, I'm afraid that more princes and county kings will follow suit one after another, trying to gain power in the country. What's more, even courtiers with foreign surnames will also have the heart of treason. By then, Dazhao will truly never have peace. Do you understand!"

Yang Yan was pinched by him in great pain, and his face was a little pale. He didn't answer for a long time, but heard the voice of the inner eunuch suddenly coming from outside the palace gate: "His Royal Highness Yong, His Royal Highness Mu, the banquet is about to begin. Your Majesty, please move to the Xuanzheng Hall!"

When he pushed the door, a gust of cold wind also rushed in. King Yong suddenly coughed violently, and blood foamed out of his mouth, but his hand was still tightly grasping Yang Yan: "Should you or not?"

Yang Yan could only smell a strong smell of blood, he raised his head in a daze, and hurriedly shouted to the outside of the hall: "Come on, His Royal Highness King Yong is not well!"

The eunuchs waiting outside the palace immediately swarmed in and carried the dying King Yong out.Yang Yan stood alone in Chengtian Palace for a while, he stroked the heavy golden token in his hand, the sticky stuff on it seemed to be King Yong's blood.A young inner eunuch walked up to him and bowed, "His Royal Highness Mu Wang, will my servant help you to Xuanzheng Hall?"

Yang Yan shook his head, and he threw the golden order into the inner prisoner's arms indifferently: "This is something left by His Royal Highness King Yong, send it to the old man quickly, and tell him for me, and say that in the future if I'll pick it up when I need it."

The little eunuch took it without knowing why, and went away in response.

Over there, King Yong had just been carried out of the hall, and his chariot could enter and exit the nine gates freely, and he was already waiting in the open space outside the hall.There was heavy snow falling around, just a few short steps from the front of the hall to the car, King Yong coughed hoarsely.Fortunately, there was a charcoal basin burning in the car, which was very warm, which finally relieved him a little.The servants had already served him the pills and warm water, and after the waiter had swallowed them, he hurriedly drove to the outside of the palace.

Horses and chariots cannot gallop inside the palace, and when Slow Youyou was about to walk out of the palace gate, a panting voice came from behind: "His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness!"

The coachman glanced back impatiently, and saw that it was a small eunuch in front of the imperial court, his face was flushed, as if he had been chasing him all the way, he couldn't help asking: "What's the matter?"

"This... This is what His Royal Highness King Mu asked the servants to send. He said it belonged to His Highness King Yong." Panting, the little inner supervisor handed the things in his hand into the car.

The servant in the carriage took it and handed it over to King Yong who was lying in the carriage. As soon as he got the thing, King Yong seemed startled and opened his eyes suddenly.

"His Royal Highness King Mu said that when he needs to use this thing in the future, he will come to pick it up." The little inner supervisor left after delivering the message.

King Yong in the car had his eyes wide open, clutching the golden order in his hand, his joints turned white with such force: "He... he will never..." Before finishing this sentence, there was no sound. .

The screams of the servants resounded through the palace gate.

After Yang Yan left the hall, Tang An, who was guarding outside the hall, immediately stepped forward and put on a mink cloak for him. The fur on the collar of this cloak was so thick that it almost covered Yang Yan's cheeks.

"Master, just now I saw General Wei in front of the hall, he said that after today's patrol, he will come to the mansion to visit the master later."

After Yang Yan heard it, warmth gradually melted in his cold pupils. He nodded, narrowed his eyes slightly in the heavy snow, and put his hand on Tang An's shoulder: "Let's go."

Tang Anlue felt strange: "Master, are you not going to the Xuanzheng Hall for the banquet?"

Yang Yan shook his head, and he raised the corners of his lips slightly: "Go to Zongzheng Temple. It's Chinese New Year, and it's time to see how my two elder brothers are doing."