In fact, as early as five days ago, Zhang Qigong, the right captain of the Tiance Mansion, and his deputy Bei Gongyu, who were in Feicheng, a border county between Wei and Korea, also learned the news that "Han Wangran was suspected to have died."
At first, Zhang Qigong was overjoyed, because his main purpose of coming to the border between Wei and South Korea was to implement the third step of the planned plan, which was to divide and instigate the Korean nobles to become his internal agents in Wei.
This laid the foundation for Wei to annex South Korea.
Although the strategy formulated by Wei King Zhao Run was only to defeat South Korea, there were a large number of officials in the Wei Dynasty who were eager to annex South Korea and move towards the "unification of the Central Plains" on the road to eternal hegemony.
The first person to propose this concept was Jie Ziyu, the minister of the Inner Dynasty. However, it was still a verbal concept at that time, and many things were not perfect. However, as Gongyang Hao from Qi went to Wei with his book "Gongyang Shuo",
They hit it off with Jie Ziyu and Wei Mojuzi Xu Ruo. After the three of them set out to perfect the concepts and ideas to realize this, the idea of "great unification" gradually began to circulate in the Wei court and gained the support of a large number of Wei officials.
Think about it, as ministers of the Wei State, these people are naturally eager to witness Wei State annexing other countries, unifying the Central Plains, and achieving eternal hegemony that has never been touched since ancient times.
Zhang Qigong was also one of the Wei officials who supported this idea.
Therefore, when he learned the news that "Han Wangran is suspected to have died," Zhang Qigong said to his deputy Bei Gongyu with rare joy: "This is a God-given opportunity!"
But compared to Zhang Qigong's joy, Bei Gongyu frowned and reminded: "Master Duwei, please don't be too happy for the time being. Looking at this matter from a humble position, I always feel a bit strange... Even if God bless me, Wei, I won't be like this.
What a coincidence, right?"
After that, he pointed to the sentence in the secret report, "It is suspected that a woman was crying from Jiwang Palace", frowned and said: "If King Han really died, the ministers on the left and right would definitely block the news. How could there be a woman crying in the palace?"
It seems that the Korean people have never considered whether there are spies of Wei Dynasty in Jicheng City."
"..."
Zhang Qigong was stunned when he heard this, and the joy in his heart immediately dissipated, and he frowned and thought carefully.
After a moment, he nodded and said, "You are right. There are indeed many doubts about this matter."
In fact, it's not that Zhang Qigong's intelligence is not as good as Bei Gongyu's. In the final analysis, it can only be said that Zhang Qigong's utilitarianism is too strong. When he saw that the Wei State had the opportunity to annex South Korea and move towards the hegemony of "unifying the Central Plains", he himself was also famous.
It is inevitable to forget one's past when leaving one's name in history - after all, one's name is one's name in history. How many people from ancient times to the present have been lucky enough to leave one's name in history?
On the other hand, Bei Gongyu's ambition is far less than that of Zhang Qigong, and he is very satisfied with his current situation: in terms of career, he is the second-in-command of the Youdu Lieutenant of Tiance Mansion, and his power is actually more than that of the "Secretary-General"
He is taller; and in terms of family, he just married his seventh concubine last year, and his previous wives gave him a total of three sons and four daughters.
Just like what Zhao Run told him when he was the prince, if he was told to work hard, he would be able to make the Beigong clan prosperous again in at most twenty years - and Beigong Yu is currently working hard in this regard.
It can only be said that Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu have different personal pursuits: the former pursues power and leaving a name in history; while the latter values the continuation of the family more.
Therefore, Zhang Qigong shows off his sharp edge, while Bei Gongyu's sharp edge is restrained, and he does not seek merit, but seeks no faults.
But in fact, Bei Gongyu once served as Xiao Luan's right-hand man, and his talents and strategies were not inferior to Zhang Qigong. Otherwise, how could Zhang Qigong reuse the latter as his deputy and treat him favorably?
The two of them made some calculations that day, and finally decided to stay put and wait for further news from the Blue Crows - because the matter of "Han Wangran is suspected to have died" was secretly sent by the Blue Crows who were stationed in Jicheng, the capital of South Korea.
After waiting like this for five or six days, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu still did not receive further news from the Blue Crows. Instead, they received an order from Gao Kuo, the Zuodu Lieutenant of Tiance Mansion, signaling Zhang Qigong to implement the "third step" of the plan as soon as possible.
When they received Gao Kuo's order, it was approaching dusk, and Zhang Qigong and Beigong Yusui sat drinking and discussing the matter.
At that time, Bei Gongyu said curiously: "Master Gao Kuo, is he asking us to use the method of throwing stones to ask for directions, to test South Korea's reaction, and to infer whether the death of King Han is true?"
Zhang Qigong nodded upon hearing this, and after taking a sip of wine, he chuckled and said: "I guess so. It can be seen that even the Green Crows are still unable to confirm whether the news of King Han's death is true... Casting stones to ask for directions, haha
, this is a great move."
It is undeniable that throwing stones to ask for directions is indeed a clever trick, but it is not that easy to implement it.
It's very simple to say. For example, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu find a big noble with the blood of the Han family, and use sweet words to trick the latter into stealing the throne when Han Wangran passes away. If Jicheng responds quickly, very quickly,
There is even a vague sense of foretelling, so the authenticity of the news of Han Wangran's death is worth questioning.
On the contrary, if this alone caused civil strife in South Korea, then it is very likely that Han Wangran really passed away.
But the problem is that it is difficult to find such a big noble with the blood of the Han family - first of all, this person must have a certain reputation in South Korea, and secondly, he must have a certain power, otherwise, it will not be possible to promote internal chaos in South Korea.
Regarding this candidate, the first person Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu thought of was Zhuang Gong Han Geng.
After all, as far as they know, in the era when the three powerful ministers Han Wu, Han Hu, and Han Geng controlled the Korean government, Zhuang Gong Han Geng actually had some ambitions for the throne. But unlike Kang Gong Han Hu, Zhuang Gong Han Geng
Although he did not make an indelible contribution to South Korea like Han Hu, he was quite kind-hearted. Stories about Han Geng's philanthropy were sometimes spread among the Korean people.
Among the people who helped Han Geng help the country, the one who is most talked about is Beiyan Shou Leyi.
But after arriving in South Korea, after in-depth investigation, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu discovered that Zhuang Gong Han Geng and Han Wangran came together at some point. When the Korean treasury was short of money and sought domestic nobles and noble families to donate money and materials, it was Zhuang Gong Han Geng.
Speaking of Xiang on behalf of Han Wangran.
In order to avoid exposing their true intentions, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu had no choice but to give up the most suitable candidate, Zhuang Gong Han Geng, and find another suitable partner.
"Originally, Han Wu was a good candidate..."
After taking a sip of his drink, Beigong Yuba smacked his lips and said with some regret.
Zhang Qigong chuckled lightly and said objectively: "I didn't expect it...First of all, the imperial court didn't attach much importance to Han Wu. Secondly, since the Wei Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, the Green Crows of Daliang and the Imperial Guards , most of them were also transferred to Luoyang, and then Han Wu took advantage of it..."
After a pause, he continued: "However, Han Wu is not the best candidate. This person is not low in intelligence. He has held great power in the past and is good at this. Even if you and I make fantastic claims, they may not be able to deceive him. he……"
After hearing this, Bei Gongyu thought for a while and felt that this was really the truth: How could Lihou Hanwu, as the son of Han Jian, the late emperor of Korea, be manipulated by them and be willing to become a puppet in their hands?
Therefore, in the view of the Wei State, the hostage Lihou Hanwu was actually useless and could not be of any crucial use.
Of course, the key to this matter is that Wei Wang Zhao Run admires Lihou Hanwu's integrity. Otherwise, with Zhang Qigong's ruthlessness, he will definitely try to use Lihou Hanwu's wife and children to force him to submit - the worst is the worst anyway The result is nothing more than losing a useless hostage.
Therefore, the fact that several members of Lihou Hanwu's family were able to survive to this day safely, and that they were able to escape from Daliang back to South Korea in the end, are really thanks to Wei Wang Zhao Run's appreciation for him.
A few days later, the Wei merchant Jia Wen Shaobo visited Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu and compiled a list for them. The names on the list were all Korean nobles who were dissatisfied with Han Wangran.
In fact, before this, the candidate that Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu were eyeing was Han Lin, the eldest son of Kang Gong Han Hu.
But Wen Shaobo regretfully told Zhang Qigong that after Han Wangran regained the royal power, although he did not kill Kang Gong Han Hu's sons, he did not let them continue to live outside, and brought them to Jicheng together. He was provided with good food and drink every day, but in reality he was under house arrest in disguise.
Therefore, Wen Shaobo did not recommend that Zhang Qigong choose Han Lin as a candidate. Firstly, Han Lin was not a talented person. In the past, he relied on his father's reputation for not bullying men and dominating women. His reputation was very bad. Secondly, Jicheng It is the new capital of South Korea and is heavily guarded. Even the Green Crows and Black Crows may not be able to fish Han Lin out of this city.
Of course, in Wen Shaobo's words, the main reason is that it is not worth it - there is no need to mobilize troops for a useless person.
In comparison, Wen Shaobo has better candidates.
"Hang Pu, the Marquis of Yuanyi?"
Seeing Uncle Wen tapping the name on the first line of the list with his finger, Zhang Qigong muttered softly, and then looked at the former in confusion.
Obviously, he had never heard of this person.
"This person is not simple." Wen Shaobo chuckled and said: "This person is the eldest son of Han Hu's younger brother "Han Gen"..."
With that said, he began to tell Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu about Han Gen, Han Pu and his son.
Going back a few decades, before King Jian of Han succeeded to the throne, Korea at that time had just annexed Beiyan and Zhao. Outside, there were harassments from foreign ethnic groups such as Linhu, Donghu, Beidi, Loufan, Xiongnu, and Chidi. The old people of Beiyan and Zhao tried to restore the country, which could be described as internal and external troubles.
It was not until King Jian of Han succeeded to the throne and used gentle policies to appease the old people of Beiyan and Zhao that Korea established the foundation for becoming the country with the most comprehensive strength in the Central Plains.
But during this period, the development of South Korea was extremely difficult, because at that time, the Linhu, Donghu, Beidi, Loufan, Xiongnu, Chidi and other foreign tribes almost purely regarded South Korea as a hunting ground, and whenever their tribes encountered food shortage problems
, they gathered tribal warriors to plunder the territory of South Korea, causing the Korean people to suffer miserably.
They even lived in today's Daijun, Zhongshan, Taiyuan and other places for a time, capturing a large number of Korean people as slaves and grazing their cattle.
At this critical moment, King Jian of Han re-appointed Han Hu, a young aristocrat of the royal family at the time, and ordered him to train an army and expel the aliens from the territory.
Han Hu also lived up to the trust of Han Wang Jian and led his younger brother Han Gen to fight in the north and south. He first defeated the relatively weak Chidi, and then attacked Beidi. It took several years to gradually regain Daijun, Zhongshan, and the Taiyuan area.
of land.
While fighting these foreign races, South Korea imitated the warriors of these grassland foreign races and created cavalry. Finally, Han Hu led these cavalry and defeated the Linhu, Xiongnu, Donghu, Loufan and other grassland peoples.
At this time, South Korea's military strength had almost reached the peak of the Central Plains at that time.
After defeating those grassland peoples, South Korea, whose military strength increased dramatically, set its sights on Wei and Qi, preparing to seize the position of hegemon in the Central Plains.
It was during that time that the Wei-Korean War broke out. Due to the short-term thinking of King Zhao Kang of Wei, the first-generation Wei Wujun of the Wei State rushed to fight in Shangdang County and was eventually defeated by Han Hu. As a result, the Wei State's strength was greatly reduced and it became a second-rate army.
nation.
Subsequently, South Korea sent troops to Qi State and once captured Julu County and reached Beihai County.
It is a pity that Qi King Lu Xi took over the country at the critical moment, united with Lu State, defeated South Korea, and thwarted South Korea's ambition to dominate the Central Plains.
In fact, the impact of this failure on South Korea was not serious, but the bad thing was that King Jian of Han died young due to overwork. His death caused unprecedented turmoil in South Korea, and also caused Lin Hu, Xiongnu, and Donghu to
, Loufan, these grassland peoples who had been defeated by South Korea a few years ago, took advantage of the opportunity and moved in.
In view of the fact that his only son, Han Wu, was still too young to shoulder the heavy responsibility, King Jian of Han helped his younger brother Han Qi to the throne when he was dying, that is, King Han Qi.
As for military matters, King Han Jian entrusted them to Han Hu.
The King of Han was not as capable as his elder brother, and the throne was unstable because he had just succeeded. Therefore, South Korea was in a mess at that time. It was almost entirely up to Han Hu to single-handedly defeat the invasions of Lin Hu, Dong Hu and other grassland peoples, and defend the country.
The entire country - in recognition of Han Hu's achievements, King Han also conferred upon him the title of Duke Kang during this period.
This second war between South Korea and the grassland peoples was more difficult than the first. This incident was also recorded in Qi State, but it was about another aspect: that is, in the face of the alien race, the common enemy of the Central Plains people.
, King Lu Xi of Qi not only did not take the opportunity to attack South Korea, but instead sold grain, grass and armaments to South Korea at low prices, supporting South Korea in expelling foreigners such as Linhu, Donghu, Beidi, and Loufan.
Because of this incident, Qi King Lu Xi was called a wise king. Even Koreans respected Qi Wang Lu Xi.
In this second war between Korea and the grassland peoples, Han Hu's younger brother Han Gen unfortunately died in battle.
Although the Han Hu and Han Gen brothers were also descendants of the Han family with the surname Gui, their family fortunes were in decline, and their family status was not as good as that of a small nobleman. It was not until Han Hu was reused by King Jian of Han that the brothers improved.
It is a pity that after several wars, the elder brother Han Hu became a hero of Korea and was revered as Duke Kang, while the younger brother Han Gen died in the war, leaving behind orphans and widowers.
For this reason, Han Hu couldn't bear it.
Therefore, after Kang Gong Han Hu became successful, he thought about getting a fief for his nephew and sister-in-law, so that his sister-in-law and nephew could have no worries about food and clothing in the future.
Finally, he took a fancy to "Yuanyi". Firstly, "Yuanyi" was not far from "Xiaquyang" where Han Hu was stationed at that time. Secondly, Yuanyi was relatively prosperous and could be regarded as a county with a large population.
The only problem was that "Yuanyi" already had an owner at that time, and it belonged to a large noble family named Yuan.
But this was not a problem for Han Hu. Anyway, in the end, he captured Yuanyi from the Yuan clan and petitioned the King of Han to allocate the county to his nephew, which is now known as "Yuan".
"Yihou Hanpu".
It has to be said that although Han Hu has received mixed praise and praise, he really has nothing to say about his younger brother and his family.
As for his nephew Han Pu, Marquis of Yuanyi, he also respected his uncle very much. When he grew up, he joined his uncle's army, inherited his father's mantle, and became the leading general of Xia Quyang under Han Hu.
Later, when Kang Gong Han Hu was killed by Han Wangran in Handan, Han Pu, the Marquis of Yuanyi, was furious when he heard about it and decided to join the army to avenge his uncle. However, the war between Wei and Han was over by then, and Han Wangran gave up Handan and guarded Ma She in the upper valley, and the North
Under the protection of several Beiyuan generals such as Yan Shou Leyi and Yuyang Shou Qin Kai, the capital was moved to Jicheng. Upon hearing this, Yuanyi Hou Han Pu did not dare to act rashly, but Yuanyi Hou Han Pu never forgot this hatred.
"These were all found out by Wen's late friend "Feng Zhu"..." Wen Shaobo sighed slightly, a trace of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, shook his head and said: "When Feng Zhu was doing business in South Korea,
After inquiring about this secret, I managed to get acquainted with Han Pu, the Marquis of Yuanyi. It is said that the relationship between the two is quite good... When South Korea was hunting down our merchants in the Wei Dynasty a while ago, Han Pu, the Marquis of Yuanyi, learned of the matter in advance and sent a
People reported the news to Feng Zhu, but it was a pity that it was still a step too late..."
Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu looked at each other and began to persuade Wen Shaobo to show mercy and obey.
As for the information given by Wen Shaobo, they still quite trust it. After all, they also know that there are actually many Wei merchants who are actually his spies in Wei and provide intelligence to Tiance Mansion - only in this regard
The matter had always been handled by Captain Zuo Kuo, so Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu only had a rough understanding of it.
After taking a long breath, Wen Shaobo whispered: "According to the previous correspondence between Feng Zhu and Wen, Han Pu, the Marquis of Yuanyi, has harbored a grudge against Han Wangran for a long time. He did not dare to act rashly because he was single and weak.
, if we, the Great Wei, promise him various benefits, this person will definitely abandon South Korea and defect to our Great Wei..."
At this point, he seemed to suddenly realize something, and quickly changed his words: "Of course, Wen is just providing information. As for the decision, it is up to Captain Zhang to decide."
"Wen Bancheng was exaggerating." Of course Zhang Qigong understood the reason for Wen Shaobo's change of words, and immediately exposed the matter with a joke.
After Wen Shaobo left, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu discussed privately.
After thinking over and over, they also felt that Han Pu, the Marquis of Yuanyi, would probably be a very useful "stone". After all, this person had soldiers and fiefdoms in his hands. As long as he was willing to invest money and food, he could quickly win over an army.
A lot of troops are enough to cause civil strife in South Korea.
The only regret is that this person cannot be said to be the successor to the throne. At most, he is a 'rebellious minister'.
Of course, it doesn't matter. After all, in the list given by Wen Shaobo, there are several people who are close relatives of Han Wangran within three generations, enough to be used as 'puppets'.
Thinking of this, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu immediately set off. Under the protection of more than two hundred black crows, either in the light or in the dark, they set off for Yuanyi to meet Han Pu, the Marquis of Yuanyi.
It has to be said that Wei Wang Zhao Run's judgment was quite accurate. Zhang Qigong would naturally not miss this excellent opportunity and would definitely take the opportunity to make trouble in Korea.
If Han Wangran really cheats his death, then Zhang Qigong will make him suffer the consequences!