Liangzhou City, Secretariat.

Since Zhou Jun also learned the Three Dukes, he has appointed his confidant, Kong You, the chief minister of the mansion, as the Minister of the Secretariat, responsible for fully managing all political affairs and military affairs in the court after he left.

Kong You was blinded in his eyes because of prison sentence in his early years, and his throat was covered with scars. When others saw it, they felt that it was extremely ugly and difficult to see.

In addition, Kong You was born into a slave family and had a low status, so even in the Secretariat, although he was a Shangguan, officials of all sizes despise him. Some even called him this behind his back with the nickname "Kong Chi".

After hearing this, Kong You was not upset. He just worked diligently to complete his official duties every day, treating such gossip as if he was in front of his ears.

On this day, Sun Aying brought his official documents to the Secretariat to find Kong You's post.

After entering the room, Sun Aying saw Kong You covering his throat with a handkerchief, and asked curiously: "What are you doing, sir?"

Kong You picked up the handkerchief, and Sun Aying looked closely and saw spots of pus and blood stained on it.

Looking up again, Sun Aying found that the scar on Kong You's throat had a faint blood stain overflowing, and asked, "The wound on his neck..."

Kong You said indifferently: "Every time it is cold, pus and blood will ooze out of the wound in the throat... This is an old problem, and it will be cured in a while, and it will not be in trouble."

Sun Aying: "Sir, why not take a look at the doctor..."

Kong You: "This wound can actually be stopped by medicine, but I hope it will be kept like this, so as to warn me all the time not to forget the old things."

Sun Aying wanted to say something else, Kong You changed the topic: "Are the army you asked you to contact with, ready?"

Sun Aying: "The Liangzhou Camp under the command of the veteran General Shen, the Shanglang Wei under Luo Anyuan's command, the Guiyi Army under the command of Banwei Zheng, and the Dad Army I reorganized are all ready now."

Kong You nodded slightly: "That's good."

Sun Aying: "Sir, let us be on guard. Do you want us to go out of the city to meet the enemy?"

Kong You shook his head and said, "No, the enemy is in the city."

Sun Aying was puzzled: "The enemy is in the city?"

Kong You smiled and said, "Aying, I ask you, for the Lord, who is the biggest enemy at the moment?"

Sun Aying: "The Lord is in Fanyang, and his biggest enemy should be the rebels, right?"

Kong You: "The current rebels, looking at the huge momentum, are actually a mess of sand, fighting on their own, which is not enough to worry about it."

Sun Aying thought for a while, lowered his voice and said, "That's the one in the palace. He set up an ambush in Liangzhou and Fanyang. He wanted to imprison the master and seize military power. He was meticulous and had to be careful."

Kong You: "You mean the emperor who is in his twilight years? He is indeed capable of making a lot of power, but he is suspicious and loyal. Although he has a plan in his heart, he is often smart and is mistaken for wisdom. For me, he is not a big concern for the Lord."

Sun Aying had a headache: "Who is the biggest enemy of the Lord, according to Mr.?"

Kong You took out a piece of paper, wrote two words on it with a chicken-distance pen, and then pushed it to Sun Aying.

The latter looked up and saw that the two words above were "Aristocratic".

Sun Aying: "Sir, is this..."

Kong You lit the candlestick, put the paper on it, burned it to ashes, and then said to Sun Aying: "The master came from a poor family and was also in the officialdom. In addition, Daji Commercial Road, Power and Salt Law and other matters have been in trouble with many prominent families for a long time, and the conflict has deepened to the point where it is inconsistent."

Speaking of these aristocratic families, Sun Aying said hatefully: "After all, it's just a group of powerful people who are sucking in the wealth of the people!"

Kong You: "Aying, don't underestimate these powerful people. These people have connected with each other through marriage, teachers and students, township party, official education, etc., and jointly built a huge root vein... The courts, military, commercial businesses and even offices in Liangzhou City are controlled by these people."

Seeing Sun Aying surprised, Kong You took out two lists and placed them on the desk, signaling the former to open it and see it.

Two lists, one is from the generals of the Anxi Army, and the other is from the generals of the Shuofang Army.

Sun Aying looked carefully and was shocked to find that nine out of ten generals and civil servants in the Anxi Army were from poor families; while more than half of the generals and civil servants in the Shuofang Army were from families.

Sun Aying: "Sir, what's going on?"

Kong You: "The Anxi Army was already stationed in the extreme west, and in the past few years, a large number of refugees have poured in, so whether it is soldiers or civil servants, it is naturally rare to see the family members. The Shuofang Army's garrison, close to Guanzhong, is also a good place to make achievements, and aristocratic families naturally like to send their children into it."

Sun Aying: "Then is this chaos related to the family?"

Kong You nodded: "This time the emperor sent angels to instigate Shuofang's generals to plot rebellion, which is also inseparable from the aristocratic families from behind. The Anxi Army and the Beiting Army are not as good as the Central Plains, so it is difficult for the imperial court to control them."

"The battle of Fan Yang is about to come, and the emperor initiated abdication again at this time. Then I had expected that the emperor would definitely turn his attention to the army responsible for attacking Fan Yang, and try every means to compete for military power."

"I had planned before, instead of burying disasters in the army and causing adverse effects to future wars, it would be better..." Kong You threw the handkerchief stained with pus and blood aside: "It's better to use the trick, pierce the wound earlier, and put the poisonous blood in your body clean, so that you can grasp the overall situation and have no worries."

When Sun Aying heard this, he asked in surprise: "Sir, have you known that the palace wants to seize military power?"

Kong You: "From ancient times, the palace coup has always focused on military power, which is not a rare thing. As long as you think about it a little, you can know what the emperor wants to do... However, even if the troubles are in Fanyang, it is not a big deal. Compared with that, the situation in Liangzhou is the key. As long as you can control the emperor and get the six seals, it is equivalent to controlling the army at the source, so that he dare not act rashly."

Sun Aying: "But what if the angel sent in the palace commanded the Shuofang army to cause internal strife and cause heavy casualties in the Tang army, wouldn't it damage the soldiers and affect the next battle of Fanyang?"

Kong You shook his head and said, "The one in the palace knew that although the rebels were defeated in Hebei, Shi Siming's troops remained, and the Fan Yang army was intact. In other words, the main force of the Hebei rebels was still there. After the emperor removed the military power of the lord, he still had to rely on this army to suppress Shi Siming and Fan Yang's rebels. Therefore, the secret decree for the angels in the palace would be to deprive the generals of the military power, but the army should not be able to fight each other. Otherwise, Fang Guan was defeated in Chang'an. If Fan Yang's army lost countless more, Liangzhou City would be equal to no more available soldiers, and the court would be in danger."

Sun Aying: "Now the commander of the Shuofang Army, Guo Ziyi, is resourceful. What if he takes military power in the chaos and surrenders to the palace?"

Kong You: "The sages are suspicious and stubborn. Since Guo Ziyi was appointed as the deputy marshal of the world's military commanders under the command of the Lord, the one in the palace has already become suspicious of this veteran from a poor family. If he wants to alienate the king and his ministers, it is very simple. All he has to do is forge a few letters, so that the emperor thinks that the Lord and the Lord have already had a connection with Guo Ziyi. In this way, the emperor will definitely not trust Guo Ziyi when he deprives his military power."

Sun Aying asked again: "What if Guo Ziyi proved his innocence afterwards, alienated himself from the Lord, and raised the banner of opposing the Lord?"

Kong You: "How easy is it to prove your innocence? In my letter to the Lord, I wrote several strategies. One of them was to kill the angel Lou Quanjin and make the case realistic. Once Lou Quanjin died, even if the Shuofang army apologized to the emperor afterwards, it would never be possible to get rid of the suspicion of accomplices. Another strategy was to execute the generals of the Shuofang army who came from a family and colluded with the palace one by one. In this way, Guo Ziyi, who came from a poor family, would have no room for reconciliation with the family, and there would be no way out to retreat. The Lord could take advantage of the situation to take the Shuofang army for his own use."

Sun Aying: "Sir, if you just want the Lord to gather the Shuofang Army, you only need an imperial edict and then mobilize personnel, why bother so much?"

Kong You: "Aying, don't forget what I just said. The Lord's biggest enemy is not a rebel or an emperor, but a million families in the world. Take this Secretariat for example. Three quarters of the officials are all from the family. Even if the Lord knows the Three Dukes now, if he wants to adjust the personnel affairs of high-ranking officials in the three provinces, he must consider the influence of many aspects and cannot do whatever he wants. As for the implementation of administrative orders, the officials below are even more slanderous. Not to mention, those aristocratic families now know that the emperor was under house arrest in the palace, all of them regard the Lord as a traitor, and make countless obstructions in the court, and wish they could kill them quickly. Therefore, once the Lord uses imperial edict to mobilize personnel, it will definitely cause the family to be alert, and may even cause the national rebound and cause disaster."

Sun Aying: "In the opinion of Mr., what should the Lord do now?"

Kong You frowned and said, "The Lord... the best way to do now is to stay away from Liangzhou."

Sun Aying was stunned: "Let the Lord stay away from Liangzhou? What does this mean by sir?"

Kong You: "Aying, think about it, will the one in the palace suffer two consecutive defeats in the Liangzhou Palace Transformation and Fanyang military chaos? Will he give up?"

Sun Aying: "Of course, it won't."

Kong You: "That's right, the one in the palace has been waiting for a chance to turn the tables. This time the Lord went up to Fanyang to lead the troops, which was his best opportunity. Only when the Lord stayed away from Liangzhou would the one in the palace feel at ease in the city."

Sun Aying frowned and pondered for a moment, and asked Kong You: "Sir, please be honest. Why don't you tell the Lord about these things before and after? As long as the Lord is honest about the plan, it is normal to implement it. But if you conceal it from the Lord and do not report it, this move is suspected of being beyond the control."

Kong You laughed and looked at Sun Aying and said, "Aying, once you hear from the Lord, with his temperament, you will definitely be furious and deny the plan I set early."

Sun Aying was puzzled: "What exactly is the link that will make the Lord furious?"

Kong You: "You will know in a while."

Sun Aying looked embarrassed and planned to ask questions.

Kong You reached out to stop Sun Aying, changed the subject, and sighed: "The Lord is good at everything, but one thing is troublesome."

Sun Aying: "Trouble?"

Kong You: "The master is generous and generous, knows people and treats people. He is the style of Emperor Gaozu of Han and is a hero. However, he often focuses on benevolence and kindness, stops killing and not eliminates the roots, and is afraid that he will be innumerable."

When Sun Aying heard this, he frowned and said, "Sir, Aying cannot agree with this."

Kong You: "Oh, Ah should have great opinions?"

Sun Aying: "Whoever does the counselor and the brave general will die. Who doesn't want to find a kind and wise lord? If the lord is cunning and bloodthirsty, and who will have any subordinates who dare to be loyal to such a lord?"

After hearing this, Kong You patted Sun Aying on the shoulder, nodded and said, "Aying is right. Only when the master is kind can he accept the wise... As for those cunning and bloodthirsty things, let us subordinates do it for them."
Chapter completed!