Chapter 977 Jiangnan Keding
Gao Guiyan was beaten by the blade and screamed and begged for mercy. Just looking at the emperor's livid face, one could feel the emperor's embarrassment at the moment. This would probably be hard for most people to digest, let alone His Majesty the Emperor, who is known for his strong and violent temper.
Since the founding of the Northern Qi Dynasty on the basis of his father and brother's legacy, his several military expeditions, especially his victories against powerful tribes such as the Rouran and Turks in northern Saibei, are the most praiseworthy martial arts achievements of Qi leader Gao Yang.
Not to mention how outsiders praise and praise this, Gao Yang himself is very proud of it and is quite self-respecting. Therefore, he has gradually developed arrogance in recent years, and he is not as diligent and attentive to the country's military and political affairs as in previous years.
Take this series of wars in the past as an example. Although the Heluo side was victorious and had many twists and turns, there was still a victory in the war with the Turks that could serve as a cover-up and comfort.
But now Li Boshan of the Western Wei Dynasty also defeated the Turks and even killed the Turk leader Mu Gan Khan. After forcing the Northern Qi Dynasty to compromise and stop the army in Heluo, he turned back to Guanzhong to first quell the civil strife and then achieve extraordinary results. In just one battle, Gao Yang achieved feats that he had failed to achieve even after several expeditions!
For Gao Yang, who was already sensitive and had strong self-esteem, this was nothing less than a naked humiliation. What is even more unacceptable is that when others went out to kill the Turkic Khan in person, he was still here happily playing these killing games like a naughty boy. This made Gao Yang even more embarrassed and indignant to face it for a while. Own.
As the instigator, Gao Guiyan would naturally have to bear Gao Yang's anger at this moment. He was filled with shame, anger and disparity at this moment, and how could he care about Gao Guiyan's identity as an elder of his clan? The spine of the knife kept falling off, and Gao Guiyan's robes were torn apart by the blade.
"Your Majesty, calm down your anger! Your Majesty, calm down your anger! I am wronged, I am wronged... The really guilty ones are the soldiers who attacked the Turks last year. They are them!"
In order to survive, Gao Guiyan could only transfer the emperor's anger to others. He endured the severe pain in his body and shouted repeatedly: "Yes, it's the Shangdang king and others. They are instigating the enemy... The Qiang thieves are fighting in Heluo." They were already exhausted, so they did not hesitate to beg our country to stop their troops and leave. Their country was in chaos and unable to attack the strong. It must be that the Shangdang king and others, although they severely damaged the Turks, refused to continue to pursue them, causing the Turks to flee west. , obtained by Qiang thieves!”
After hearing this, Gao Yang's eyes suddenly froze, and Xuan Jiu frowned and began to think, not even bothering to slap Gao Guiyan again.
Seeing that his words were effective, Gao Guiyan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, after several conquests, the Turks have suffered heavy losses and are no longer strong, so they have been taken advantage of by the Qiang thieves. Just like when a person eats cake, the first nine go into the stomach, and the last one goes into the stomach. The merit lies not in the rear but in the front! Your Majesty has already accumulated eight merits in defeating the thieves. If all the generals in the past can advance two, we don’t have to do anything to the Qiang thieves. Our country can gain all the merits!"
"Whoever is coming, go quickly! Summon, no, capture Ah Qi and Xue Guyan quickly and enter the palace, go quickly!"
Because he believed what Gao Guiyan said, Gao Yang was so angry that he didn't even want to call the generals who had gone before him, and shouted orders loudly. Naturally, he had no interest in playing the game anymore, so he immediately ordered to drive back to Jinyang Palace. Before leaving, he ordered the amusement park to be demolished, and all the officials who participated in the supervision of the construction were sent to Jiafang as slaves.
As for Ping Qin King Gao Guiyan, because he provided Gao Yang with a novel excuse, he was temporarily exempted from punishment and could still accompany him back to the palace.
Of course Gao Yang knew Gao Guiyan's mentality when he made this statement and would not be easily fooled by him. But the problem is that he also needs such a set of rhetoric to maintain the dignity and gold content of his series of victories outside the Great Wall.
Otherwise, Li Boshan of the Western Dynasty captured and killed the Turkic Khan in his first attack, but he had no such brilliant results in his successive forays. In such a comparison, how would he deal with himself and how could he be intimidating?
However, Shangdang King Gao Huan had already gone to Yecheng at the beginning of the year after his triumphant return, and Xue Guyan was appointed as the governor of Sizhou. Neither of them could be summoned so quickly. When Gao Yang returned to Jinyang Palace, he could not help but still be filled with resentment because he had nowhere to vent his anger.
Originally, this information was quickly delivered to Jinyang through special intelligence channels, but because Gao Yang couldn't believe it and summoned people who had contacted the relevant information for inquiries and confirmations, the matter also spread to a small area in Jinyang. .
The powerful ministers in Jinyang generally understood the emperor's character and style, and could somewhat guess how the emperor felt after learning about this incident. Fearing that the emperor would lose control of his anger, several important ministers such as Pingyuan King Duan Shao and Minister Zhao Yanshen hurriedly came. Asking for an audience outside Jinyang Palace.
Gao Yang's mood became even worse when he heard that several important ministers were asking for an audience outside the palace, but after pondering for a while, he still brought them in.
When several people came to the palace, Gao Yang lowered his eyes and looked at Duan Shao, and said in a deep voice with a bad tone: "Does the king come in so hurriedly to mock me?"
After hearing this, Duan Shao quickly shook his head and then said: "Since the founding of the country, your Majesty has taken strength as the body and integrity as the purpose. Anyone who disobeys will be punished. His brilliant martial arts will frighten his neighbors. The Western bandits are already in trouble. The land is small, the people are weak, and it is difficult to be strong, so they use cleverness to charm and please their neighbors. The Turks and the Qiang have been allies for a long time, and they even agreed to attack me before.
When the Turks fought with me, they knew that I was strong, so they attacked with all their strength. If they failed to exert their full strength, they would inevitably die. Li Boshan was a new man in power with a different style, but the Turkic Khan could not investigate deeply, and he was off guard because of the old alliance. He underestimated the enemy and was unprepared. It was natural that his army would be defeated and die. Anyone who bases their judgment on superficiality is a common man’s foolish plan, so why should he care about it? "
Hearing Duan Shao's words, Gao Yang's expression became even more soothing. Compared with Gao Guiyan's sophistry, Duan Shao's statement is undoubtedly more acceptable.
But he still couldn't help sighing: "There are so many stupid people in the world, but there are only a few people who can have outstanding insights. The king once fought against the Qiangzi. According to the king's opinion, who can be called me or this disciple?" Yingmai?"
Duan Shao frowned slightly after hearing this question. He didn't know how to answer for a while. After a moment of silence, he saw that the emperor was still staring at him seriously. It seemed that he really hoped that he could give a fair judgment and evaluation.
"Based on his talent and ability, Li Boshan can truly be called a hero. When I fight with the rest, I must hope to defeat the enemy, but when I fight with Li Boshan, I just try my best to be undefeated. When you are eager to win, you will inevitably make mistakes, so you can only control yourself and defend yourself. , for a comprehensive view.”
After pondering for a while, Duan Shao spoke again, frankly speaking of his conservative mentality of not seeking merit but seeking no fault when facing Li Boshan, but soon looked at the emperor again and said: "But things can only be compared when they are classified into the same category. The size is the difference. Li Boshan is indeed a famous official in the Qiang court, but your majesty is a heroic emperor! How can Tao Gu be as good as gold and jade even though he is skilled in craftsmanship?
This somewhat tactful answer obviously did not satisfy Gao Yang. He immediately frowned and said, "If I were not the emperor, but he and I were ministers in the same court and had the same talents, who would be the predecessor?"
Duan Shao was not good at eloquence, and his previous responses were already a bit nerve-wracking. Seeing that the emperor was still asking questions relentlessly, he immediately felt embarrassed, so he turned to look at Zhao Yanshen and others who entered the palace.
"The destiny is determined by heaven, especially when your majesty performs the utmost and honors you. It is destiny and destiny. There is no love in the world! The Qiang people have gained power in Guanxi, and they take advantage of the darkness of their master. If he enters our dynasty, he will not do anything. Eagle dogs should be minced meat!”
After Zhao Yanshen saw this, he took a step forward and used words to appease the emperor's Taoist heart, which was obviously stimulated and somewhat unbalanced.
Gao Yang was certainly not a weak and inferior emperor who needed careful care from his subordinates. The main reason why his mentality was unbalanced was that after hearing the news at first, it was a little too challenging for his cognition and experience.
Although what Duan Shao, Zhao Yanshen and others said still did not hit his mark, it also made him understand that this matter did not need to be taken too extreme. Although he was still a little unhappy in his heart, it was no longer as difficult to accept as it was at first, and even There is still a vague feeling of being provoked again.
"Being able to kill the leader of the Hu state in one battle is an extraordinary feat! Xiang Zhe only believed that everything in the world was ordinary, so that he was lazy and lazy, and was surpassed by the Qiang people. It can be seen that if you go against the current, you will not advance. Retreat, even though I am the emperor, I cannot slack off!"
After calming down for a while, Gao Yang pointed to his close confidant Zhao Daode in front of the palace and said: "I indulged in drunkenness and sex and neglected my ambition. From now on, if I lose control again, I will warn me with my moral staff!"
Everyone in the hall was happy after hearing this, and Zhao Daode, who was ordered by him, bowed to the ground and said with excitement: "Unexpectedly, the death of Chief Hu will make your majesty more ambitious and rejuvenate the great nation." Ambition, this Chief Hu died in a fitting way! The late emperor knew well, and he must be happy that your family and country will be blessed."
However, several people in the palace were not happy for long. Gao Yang's next words made their faces change slightly: "Who is the only strong and aggressive person in the world, Qiang'er? He has gained all the achievements he made in the past. Although I disdain to argue with him. , I also need to let my subjects know who is the hero! Quickly summon Tang Yong and others to come in and gather all the troops in the capital for me to teach martial arts and restore peace to the frontier fortress!"
He was naturally strong-willed, but he couldn't let go of this in his heart, so he decided to summon all the internal and external armies to review and lecture on military force. By the way, he also inspected the borders to see if there were any border troubles that needed to be quelled with troops.
However, thanks to his continuous campaigns in the past few years, no strong enemy around the territory dared to continue provoking Northern Qi. The most attractive people outside the Great Wall were the Turks, but after the battle of Yinshan, the Turkic forces in Monan retreated back to Mobei.
Gao Yang wanted to go to Mobei to conquer his tribe in person, but when this idea was revealed, he was immediately dissuaded by the officials. Today's Turks no longer have the strength and courage to invade from the south. If they fly across the mountains and attack thousands of miles just to show off their anger, even the current Northern Qi Dynasty is really unable to bear it, and it is definitely not a wise move.
Just when Gao Yang was full of ambitions and started to indulge in wine and sex, a suitable target finally appeared in his sight: Xu Sihui of the Southern Liang Dynasty, who had previously defected to the Northern Qi Dynasty, reported that Chen Baxian, who had killed Wang Sengbian and took over the hegemony of the Southern Liang Dynasty, was in trouble. In a situation where all parties are rebelling and struggling to deal with the situation, if they send troops across the river to attack Jiankang at this time, Chen Baxian will be attacked from both sides and will definitely lose. A battle in Jiangnan can be determined!