Yang Kai is a smart person, a very smart, very smart person.
When he saw Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu waiting outside the door, he knew that their fortune was about to change. Although he ignores government affairs, it does not mean that he knows nothing about it. Yu Donglai was first demoted to the rank of Minister, and then had to submit his resignation letter himself. He could still hold on to the positions of Minister of the Ministry of War and Minister of the Ministry of War if one was vacant, but it was obviously unreasonable to have both of them vacant.
After Hou Junci, the former minister of the Ministry of War, was beheaded, Yu Donglai struggled to support himself. Now that he has also collapsed, it is impossible for Your Majesty to leave the Ministry of War empty and unattended.
At this juncture, two good ministers appeared in Changchun Garden. His Majesty's intention is actually self-evident.
"Two good ministers."
This title has a long history.
"Mou Liang Bi, Zong Lianghu."
The two of them were thrown into prison eleven and a half years ago and deserved to be punished for their crimes. However, it was precisely because His Majesty pitied their talents that they were only imprisoned and not executed. You must know that back then, the two of them who had committed serious crimes were beheaded. It was already a great blessing that the two of them did not die.
Their crime was that they all assisted the third prince Yang Ji.
At that time, the third prince Yang Ji had the loudest voice when competing for the title of heir. Even when the late emperor was dying, he was indeed tempted to make him the crown prince. However, at the last moment, the fourth prince Yang Yi, who is now His Majesty, suddenly launched an attack. After the seventh prince Yang Qi With the help of the emperor, he led his army directly into Chang'an City and entered the Taiji Palace with armor and sword. The late emperor pointed at him and issued a will before his death.
After the fourth prince Yang Yi ascended the throne, he seemed gentle, but quietly over the years, he had almost killed everyone under the third prince and the eldest prince. This is the method of the current emperor. He has killed so many people, but people still stubbornly believe that he is the gentlest emperor since the founding of the Sui Dynasty. It would have been extremely difficult to achieve this, but His Majesty did it with ease.
At the beginning, the reason why the third prince Yang Ji had the most hope of becoming the ruler of the Sui Dynasty was. It was because of the guidance of two talented people behind him, namely Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu. The third prince was good at socializing and doing many righteous deeds, and many officials in the court were inclined towards him. All the methods were planned by these two people.
It¡¯s a pity that the success fell short.
Back then, the third prince acted smart and asked the fourth prince Yang Yi to lead troops out of the city to intercept the eldest prince who was returning to Chang'an from Eastern Xinjiang. Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu tried hard to persuade him, but the third prince stubbornly believed that the fourth prince was of the same mind as him and would never betray him. He even told Mou Liangbi that if you speak ill of Lao Si again, I will drag you out and skin you alive right now.
These words were so serious that Mou Liangbi lamented that the big thing was over.
??????????????? But it can also be seen how deep-seated His Majesty¡¯s current intentions are. He could actually make the ambitious third prince not be wary of him at all, and even consider him to be his most confidant. His status is still higher than that of the second good minister, which shows how deeply your majesty deceived the third prince at that time.
Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu could not persuade the third prince Yang Ji to get rid of the fourth prince, but they still thought of a way to make up for it. They also offered advice, asking the third prince to get rid of the seventh prince Yang Qi, who had the best relationship with the fourth prince Yang Yi. After Yang Ji thought about it for a long time, he still rejected them. Yang Ji's reason was that if Yang Qi was eliminated, it would inevitably force the loyal fourth prince Yang Yi to rebel. Doing so is a waste of time and has absolutely no benefit.
Later, the seventh prince Yang Qi led hundreds of slaves to guard a city gate. It was Zong Lianghu who led his troops to kill them all, trying to kill all the gatekeepers. But unfortunately, he didn't expect that the seventh prince Yang Qi would be such a secretive person. He is one of the few people still alive who has seen Yang Qi take action. Yang Qi's domineering attitude in that battle still makes him unable to let go.
Thousands of elites besieged hundreds of slaves, but they were invincible!
In that battle, that man showed his might and guarded the city gate alone. No one could get close to the gate despite thousands of tigers. Yang Qi refused to retreat in the bloody battle, and the fourth prince Yang Yi led his troops and rushed back in time. In a pool of blood, Yang Yi ordered the Forbidden Army soldiers besieging the city gate to be slaughtered. Thousands of heads were cut off, just because they injured the seventh prince.
On the day when His Majesty ascended the throne, he ordered Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu to be executed in Lingchi. It was Prince Zhong Yang Qi's urging that His Majesty changed his mind and imprisoned these two people in the sky prison for eleven and a half years. When they came out again, one could even describe these two people as changed beyond recognition.
At that time, these two people were both famous and romantic figures.
At that time, there were ten young masters in royal robes in Chang'an City. They were the ten most talented, rich, and suave children from aristocratic families who were judged by the women in the brothel. Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu were among them. There were even rumors that the two of them went to brothels to have fun. Many brothel beauties would not accept money and even gave away their savings. The two of them are also the ten young masters in Jinyi.??The most special person, Mouliangbi is better, after all, Moujia is not well-known in the southwest. Zong Lianghu's family has long been in decline. Although he was born with the title of right servant, he has always relied on support from relatives and friends.
After getting to know Mou Liangbi, Zong Lianghu¡¯s life became easier.
And when the two of them joined the Third Prince, it was also the most glorious time in their lives. Rumor has it that when they heard that Mr. Zong had finally made a name for himself and was about to enter the officialdom, many beauties from the brothel cried with joy, saying that they were discerning and that the original gift of money was not in vain.
Zong Lianghu¡¯s popularity in the brothel is evident.
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Emperor Yang Yi looked at Er Liangchen who was sitting on the stool opposite with a somewhat ugly expression, pointed to the tea on the table and said: "Don't drink it?"
This question was a bit abrupt, and even Yang Kai, Prince Xu, who was sitting next to the emperor, couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. In an instant, Yang Kai's heart suddenly tightened. His Majesty the Emperor asked the two good ministers if they wanted to drink. It seemed simple, but in fact it was not as simple as drinking tea. If those two people couldn't understand what was hidden behind it, I'm afraid things would be bad.
It¡¯s just that he doesn¡¯t have any friendship with these two people, and it¡¯s in front of His Majesty, so he can¡¯t wink to remind them, so he can only lower his head and pretend to taste his tea.
After asking if he wanted to drink, the emperor looked at Mou Liangbi and Zong Lianghu, waiting for their answers.
After being silent for a while, Mou Liangbi glanced at Zong Lianghu, who first sighed slightly and then nodded.
"drink!"
The two of them picked up the tea cups and drank them without paying attention to the fact that the tea was still slightly hot. Drinking tea is like drinking alcohol, drink it all in one gulp. Because they drank a little too fast, the tea dripped on their gray cloth prison clothes and stained them. Because of this, the two of them looked even more depressed.
The young master in Jinyi back then, Mou Liangbi is only thirty-eight or nineteen years old, and Zong Lianghu is only thirty-five years old, but they look about fifty or sixty years old now. Messy hair, shabby clothes, a beard that has reached his chest, and the dirt between his fingernails is so black that it makes you look disgusting.
Time has carved too heavy marks on their faces, and those who are less than forty years old are already covered with wrinkles.
¡°I think their life during these eleven and a half years in prison was extremely hard. The third prince was dead, and they had no one to back them up. They had no relatives in the prison to help send some money to support the jailer. It was actually very difficult for them to survive until now. If it weren't for the shortage of personnel in the Ministry of War, His Majesty might not be able to remember the two of them. And if he died in the sky prison without any explanation before then, I'm afraid His Majesty wouldn't bother to blame anyone.
The two men drank the hot tea in their cups, then stood up and bowed to the emperor.
Reluctant to sit down again.
The corners of Emperor Yang Yi's mouth raised slightly, and suddenly he pointed at the plate with snacks on the table and asked, "Don't want to eat?"
Did you ask me first but don¡¯t you want to drink? I asked again and said, "Don't you want to eat?"
Since you have already drank, how can you not eat?
"eat!"
The two of them nodded in agreement at the same time, then grabbed the snacks on the plate with dirty black hands and stuffed them into their mouths.
"Have you finished eating?"
The emperor asked the third question.
The two of them nodded again and ate faster and faster.
There were four plates of snacks on the table. The portions were enough for two burly men. The snacks were dry and it was easy to choke after swallowing them. However, the two men were like hungry wolves, and it took almost no time to eat the four snacks. I stuffed all the snacks into my stomach. Mou Liangbi puffed up his cheeks and looked at His Majesty, burping again and again. Zong Lianghu kept touching his chest with his hands, as if he was really choking.
Yang Kai couldn't help but laugh. He took a peek and saw that His Majesty was also laughing.
These two unruly guys, who took 11 and a half years of supervision, were finally smart, and saw things thoroughly. They knew that until now, they had no other way to obey the emperor's instructions.
"I am full?"
The emperor asked again.
"I am full."
The two men bowed their heads and answered.
The emperor waved his hand and said: "Su Buwei, take the two of them down to take a shower and change into clean clothes before coming back. The smell in my house will not disappear even in three days."
"Here"
Su Buwei responded quickly and led the two subdued people out of the study with a smile. When Mou Liangbi walked out of the room, he took a deep breath, opened his arms and stretched his body. Zong Lianghu glanced at him and suddenly couldn't help laughing, his cloudy eyes filled with tears.
"In this gardenThe smell is so good! "
Mouliangbi said.
"It's good outside"
Zong Lianghu said.
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"How does your Majesty know that these two people will be obedient?"
Yang Kai, the king of Xujun, asked the emperor with admiration.
The emperor smiled and said: "There are no outsiders here, you should call me Fourth Brother The reason why I know that these two will definitely be obedient, instead of never begging for mercy like eleven years ago, is actually simple because they He spent eleven and a half years in prison and did not die."
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, and after careful consideration, he understood what the emperor meant by this sentence.
"yes¡¡"
He said with emotion: "It is really not easy for the two of them to survive in prison given their status as criminals. They must have put a lot of effort into it. To be able to survive based on their status and crimes, it must be a big deal." People with perseverance and great wisdom cannot do it.¡±
"They don't have great wisdom, but they are barely enough."
The emperor smiled and said: "Since they are greedy for life, how dare they not listen to me? If they were not afraid of death, they would have died countless times in the eleven and a half years of prison. But they are alive, which shows that they still have the begging and desire to live. expect."
The emperor stood up, stretched his body and said: "It's okay to leave the affairs of the Ministry of War to the two of them, but I didn't come to you just to chat. I know that you have developed a lazy temper in these years of idleness, so let me Even if you go back to the imperial court to help me, you can¡¯t bring up that thought But from now on, you really have to bring it up. Although I can not let you handle the matter of the Ministry of War, there is one thing that is more difficult than the matter of the Ministry of War. I'll leave it to you."
"I obey your Majesty's instructions."
Yang Kai quickly stood up and lowered his head.
"I secretly transferred millions of grains from the seven granaries north of the river. I transferred weapons and armor from the three palaces of Jinyang Palace, Bening Palace, and Shuntian Palace, enough to equip 500,000 people, and shipped them all to the northwest. . In addition, I have dispatched 400,000 troops from the Northeast, Eastern Xinjiang, and Southwest to the northwest. Most of the officials in the court are unaware of this matter. I will mention it in the court when the time comes Now, I need it. One person rushed to the northwest to take charge of the overall situation."
He looked at Yang Kai and said: "Such an important task belongs to you."
Yang Kaixin was shocked and her eyes widened in an instant.
"Your Majestyare you really going to use troops against the northwest?"
The emperor nodded and said firmly: "The emperors of the Sui Dynasty all wanted to expand their territory. The country is in my hands. How can I just stick to what my ancestors left and not think about making progress? Not only do I want to conquer our Sui Dynasty, The borders of the country are being pushed outward, and even further to the west! I want the late Emperor to see that the Sui Dynasty has been handed over to me He did not choose the wrong person. "
Yang Kaixin couldn't calm down, and subconsciously wanted to persuade the emperor not to use troops against Meng Yuan easily, but seeing the special look in His Majesty's eyes, he swallowed his words again.
"I have selected a few young talents as helpers for you. I will order them to be transferred to the northwest first. When you arrive, they will naturally help you."
The emperor walked up to Yang Kai, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Old Twelve, don't let me down!"