A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1221: The King's Heart is Unpredictable and Suspicious

Any minister who has made great contributions will inevitably be suspected by the king.

After all, Wu Huaiyu was the one who wrote Zizhi Tongjian. He understood very well that the core of the suspicion between the monarch and his subjects was not the subjects' great achievements, but the power of reward after their achievements.

Power is the root of suspicion.

If merit is not rewarded, the monarch is untrustworthy, while heavy rewards will inevitably bring great power.

If the heroes could take the initiative to retire and give up their power, this would be a safe way, but it is not easy.

Just like now, Wu Huaiyu wanted to retire and hand over power, but the emperor might not agree. Without a proper reason, a great official wanted to become a Taoist priest. This would make the court officials and the people of the world mistakenly think that it was the emperor's coercion, and the emperor would naturally not take the blame for such a thing.

The best option is to do the same as Li Jing and others, claiming to be sick or old. But Wu Huaiyu is still too young and healthy, neither old nor sick, so he cannot use this as an excuse.

this day,

In the snow,
Wu Huaiyu was in Wuwei City, Liangzhou, 2,000 miles away from Chang'an. He couldn't help but drink a few more glasses and actually got a little drunk.

Full of sorrow,

Drowning sorrow in wine,

After I got back, I slept until noon.

When I opened my eyes, I found two young and beautiful Hu girls lying on the couch. I looked at them and found that they seemed familiar. After taking a closer look, I found that they seemed to be the singing girls I had appreciated at the flag pavilion last night.

"Ah Lang is awake?"

When the geisha saw that he woke up, she quickly got up. The two beauties who had just woken up looked beautiful with a bit of laziness. They were not wearing any makeup, and their young faces looked beautiful even without makeup.

Wu Huaiyu shook his head.

The memory of last night slowly emerged. It seemed that he had drunk a few more glasses of wine last night, and later went downstairs to listen to music and watch songs. He also borrowed a pipa under the influence of alcohol and played a few songs with him. It seemed that he later played a song with the pipa as a guitar.

He also recited a few new Liangzhou poems, which also drew applause from the crowd.

Wu Huaiyu indulged himself a little, and in his joy, he gave a lot of silver and money as tips to the singing and dancing girls. Finally, he told everyone that he would pay for all the drinks for the guests in the flag pavilion today.

For a time, Wu Huaiyu became a wealthy merchant from the Western Regions who was admired by everyone.

Drinking till late,

Finally, the two Hu Ji followed him to the restaurant.

Ok,
A bit too indulgent.

"Alang,"

The two beauties entangled themselves around him like water snakes.
There are more Hu Ji in Liangzhou than in Chang'an. These Hu Ji can be regarded as Liang Piao girls. Most of them are in a hard life. Although most of them sell their art instead of their bodies, many of them are not even free. With such an identity, they can only make a living by their youth.

If you can marry an official or a wealthy merchant as a concubine while you are still young, it is already a good ending. If not, being a concubine is better than wandering around and performing. Once you are older, this job will not be easy and your future will be even more difficult.

Wu Huaiyu's elegance and generosity yesterday made the two singing girls extremely fascinated. He was generous and magnanimous, young and handsome, and most importantly, he was also very good at playing musical instruments and rapping. Who wouldn't like him?

Wu Huaiyu, who said yesterday that he wanted to become a monk and revitalize Longmen,
Now looking at these two beauties, I thought I couldn't indulge myself.

But in the end, he couldn't resist the beauty's gentleness.
Just indulge yourself for another morning.

After a long time,

Wu Huaiyu left the two beauties to catch up on their sleep while he went to take a bath and change his clothes.

Eat lunch and breakfast together.

Wu Huaiyu had a good appetite for sesame pancakes and mutton soup.

The staff were actually very happy to see him like this. Wu Huaiyu's behavior yesterday was very rare, and they were actually very worried.

Wu Huaiyu drank the mutton soup and felt his stomach warm.

At this time, a staff member came in from outside.

"Ah Lang, the new governor of Liangzhou has entered the city. Guess who it is?"

Wu Huaiyu drank the mutton soup slowly. The soup was very delicious. You could tell it was stewed for a long time last night. First the mutton bones were boiled and then the mutton. Finally the oil was skimmed off and the meat was filtered out to leave the mutton soup.

"Has the governor of Liangzhou arrived?"

"Yes, it's General Niu Jinda of the Left Guard, the new governor of Liangzhou. He arrived in Liangzhou today and just entered the governor's mansion."

The staff member added, "The new Anxi Grand Protector, your elder brother, Alang, is also traveling with Governor Niu and has just entered the Governor's Office."

Wu Huaiyu had previously served as the governor of Liangzhou for two years. When he was summoned to the court, he was dismissed from his post together with the governor of Liangzhou and the Grand Protector of Anxi.

The imperial court had not appointed a new governor of Liang Province before.

The governor of Liangzhou has always been considered the first governor under the Grand Governor's Office, and ranked first in the Central Governor's Office. The candidate for this governor has always been carefully selected. When Li Shimin was the King of Qin, he served as the governor of Liangzhou. Later, it was Yang Gongren, then Yuwen Shiji, Wu Shigui, Fan Xing, Wu Huaiyu, etc., all of whom were important officials of the court, and even several of them were prime ministers.

Niu Jinda's appointment as the governor of Liangzhou was a bit of a surprise to Wu Huaiyu.

Everyone knows that Lao Niu was born in Wagang, although he was not born in the grass, but in a general's family. But he was in Wagang in his early years, and he was always the partner of Cheng Yaojin. After the defeat of Wagang, they first briefly joined Wang Shichong.

Later, Lao Niu, Lao Cheng and other nine Wagang generals followed Qin Qiong to abandon Wang Shichong and join the Tang army in front of the battle.

After surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, Lao Niu also followed him into the Qin Palace. However, until the beginning of the Zhenguan period, Lao Niu's official position was not high, far behind Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin. Qin and Cheng were granted the titles of Shangzhuguo and Guogong in the fourth year of Wude.
And Lao Niu, who participated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident and supported the re-establishment of the Qin Palace as a confidant, was only granted the title of General of the Right Guard and the title of Baron of Weicheng County.

The reason why Lao Niu could progress so fast from a county boy to a duke and general in 16 years was mainly because of his good relationship with Wu Huaiyu. He participated in many wars with Wu Huaiyu and made many contributions. Wu Huaiyu also helped him to serve as a governor for several terms.
Wu Huaiyu had specially brought him along on previous Western Expeditions.

Everyone in the court and the country knew that Lao Niu was Wu Huaiyu's man. In the past, they were collectively called the Prince's Party, but now some people call them the Wu Party.

There was fierce competition among various parties in the court for such an important position as the Governor of Liangzhou, but in the end it was Lao Niu who took the position. To be honest, this was quite beyond Wu Huaiyu's expectations.

He was even more confused about the emperor's thoughts.

Normally, the emperor should have started to suppress Wu Huaiyu's faction. Why is it that Huaiyi is now appointed as the Grand Commander of Anxi and Niu Jinda is appointed as the Commander of Liangzhou?

The governors of Liangzhou, Wu Shigui, Wu Huaiyi, Fan Xing, and Niu Jinda, all had four people from his line serving as governors, and they were all going to turn Liangzhou into the base camp of the Wu Party. What surprised him the most was that the appointment of the governor of Liangzhou was very sudden.
Since you can't figure it out, why not go and ask the person involved in person.

After drinking the mutton soup, Wu Huaiyu went directly to the Governor's Mansion.

In the Liangzhou Governor's Mansion,

Duke of Chen, General of the Left Guard, and Governor of Liangzhou Niu Jinda were all beaming with joy. They were greeted enthusiastically by officials and elders of Liangzhou, and now they finally had a moment of leisure.

"Governor, there is a man outside who claims to be an old friend of yours and wants to see you."

Lao Niu waved his hand and left. There were too many people who wanted to see him at the moment, and he had no time to meet them all. Besides, Wu Huaiyi was going to Anxi to take up his post tomorrow, so he had to accompany him a little longer and show his hospitality.

"That man calls himself Wu Jilang."

Niu Jinda was stunned.
Wu Huaiyi, who was drinking tea opposite him, was also stunned for a moment.

"Isn't it Wu Xiang?"

"There must be no one else who claims to be your old friend, Wu Erlang."

Niu Jinda thought so too and quickly got up and went out to greet him.

The officials in the Governor's Mansion were surprised to see Governor Niu and Protector General Wu Da go to the door together to greet people. They wondered who was so prestigious.

At the door, Lao Niu recognized Wu Huaiyu in casual clothes from a distance.
He walked up to me with a big laugh and gave me a warm hug.

"Why are you wearing Sogdian clothes?"

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "I didn't want to be bothered by being greeted and seen off on the road, so I changed my identity to that of a Gaochang merchant. I heard that you were here, so I came to see you."

"Erlang,"

Huaiyi came forward and hugged his brother, "Why didn't you wait for me in Qiuci?"

"By the time you arrive in Qiuci, I won't be able to make it to Chang'an for the New Year." Huaiyu said with a smile.

"Let's go inside and have some tea."

Huaiyu smiled and said to Lao Niu, "Congratulations."

"It's all because of you. If I hadn't participated in the expedition to the Western Regions, I wouldn't have been promoted to General of the Right Guard, nor would I have been promoted to Duke of Chen. Now I can't even be the governor of Liang Province. There are so many people eyeing this position in the court, and there are too many wolves and too little meat. I was recommended to this position by the crown prince. In fact, it's all because of you."

"That's your real achievement."

The three of them entered the Governor's Office together, chatting and laughing.

The Liangzhou officials in the government office were all looking at the man in Sogdian clothes with curiosity. Some of them were smart and clever enough to recognize that this man was Prime Minister Wu from the fact that Wu Huaiyu's face was very similar to that of the new Grand Protector of Anxi.

Back Office,

Cooking tea around the stove,

Everyone was chatting.
Huaiyi and Lao Niu talked about some changes in the court, and Wu Huaiyu also talked about some changes that took place there after they left the Western Regions.

"We left after defeating Gaochang and Helu. We didn't expect that there would be so many exciting things in the Western Regions later. We missed a lot."

"Yeah, a lot of credit was lost for nothing." Old Cow laughed.

There were no outsiders around, and as they chatted, they also talked about Wu Huaiyu's plans after coming to Beijing this time, or the situation he was facing. Everyone knew that Wu Huaiyu's situation was a bit delicate now.

It's awkward to be stuck in that position, unable to move forward or backward.

"Yesterday I thought about becoming a monk and revitalizing the Longmen Dao that my master passed on to me."

After hearing this, Lao Niu just shook his head. It’s not that simple.

But Lao Niu and the others couldn't think of any good solution.

Because of meeting Wu Huaiyu, Huaiyi planned to stay in Liangzhou for a few more days before leaving, and Wu Huaiyu naturally stayed in Liangzhou for a while as well.

The two brothers visited many places in Liangzhou and talked a lot, but neither of them had any good solution to the current situation.

Wu Huaiyu still had the idea of ​​retiring. He thought that as long as he retired, he would not be a threat to the emperor, and he and the Wu family would naturally be safe.

I came back from hunting outside the city.
Lao Niu pulled him to the study with a serious face.

"I just received a letter from Chang'an. Something big has happened. It's about you."

"What's the matter?" Huaiyi was more concerned than Huaiyu.

Lao Niu looked at Huaiyu and said, "Your Majesty has issued five edicts to the Council of State for five consecutive days. They are all about Erlang, and all are conferring titles."

For five consecutive days, there were five imperial edicts, all of which were to confer titles on him. Huaiyi could not help but be amazed when he heard it.

"What's the purpose?"

"On the first day, he was given the title of Grand Commandant. On the second day, he was given the title of Thousand Households. On the third day, he was appointed Minister of the Central Secretariat and Minister of Personnel. On the fourth day, he was given the national surname and his clan name was included.

On the fifth day, he was granted the title of Jiujiang County King!"

After Lao Niu finished speaking, he sighed.

Wu Huaiyu was also stunned.
He had never expected this.

Huaiyi also said, "This, this..."

Lao Niu said, "Five edicts were sent to the Political Affairs Hall, asking the Secretariat to draft an edict, but this aroused fierce opposition from the prime ministers. Now the whole Chang'an is hotly discussing this matter."

The five edicts did not pass the Council of State Affairs, so this was just an idea of ​​the emperor and had not become a reality, but it was indeed shocking enough.

"It seems that I can never go back to Chang'an." Wu Huaiyu sighed.

(End of this chapter)