Chapter 275: Three Years of Zhaowu [Replenishment 30/40]
"PS: I suddenly discovered that I missed writing a part of the plot, which resulted in a hole that is difficult to fix. Well, book friends shouldn't be able to guess it anyway, so just pretend it didn't happen, hahaha."
————The following text————
The year has turned around, the Central Plains has ushered in the New Year, and the State of Wei has also ushered in the third year of Zhaowu.
Since the Wei State is still at war with other countries in the Central Plains, the atmosphere of celebrating the New Year in the country is not strong. It seems that the Wei people are quite worried about the direction of this war.
Because of the existence of the inner dynasty, even though King Zhao Run of Wei was far away in Daliang and not in Luoyang at this time, this did not affect the normal operation of the Luoyang court at all. The six departments of the court were still operating normally. The only difference was that the officials were somewhat frightened and uneasy.
It is worth mentioning that during this period, the Ministry of Rites played a huge role.
In order to encourage the Wei people in the country to unite to help the country survive this disaster, the officials of the Ministry of Rites printed the battle reports of each battlefield, regardless of the victory or defeat, on paper and distributed them to the cities still in the hands of the Wei State, so that the Wei people in the country could
People can clearly understand the process of fighting.
The only exception is the incident of "Qin betrayed its alliance and went to war without declaring it."
Du You, the Minister of Rites, thought about this matter for a long time, but still did not dare to publish it, because in his opinion, the previous attacks by more than a million coalition forces from various countries had already strained the nerves of the people, and now they are finally in a desperate situation.
He saw some glimmers of victory, but Wei's ally Qin turned against them and attacked them. He couldn't imagine what kind of turmoil the people would have in the country after learning this bad news.
Therefore, Du You, the Minister of Rites, finally sent someone to Daliang to ask Zhao Run, the monarch of Wei, for instructions. He did not dare to act rashly until the messenger came back.
However, within the imperial court, including the inner court of Chui Gong Hall, several discussions regarding the Qin State have been launched.
But to be honest, it seems that these discussions are not of much significance, because all Wei's troops have been deployed on the battlefield. There are even more than 200,000 and close to 300,000 in the northern parts of Sanchuan County and Yingshui County.
The young and middle-aged men resolutely joined the army to protect their homes and the country. The Luoyang court really had no reinforcements to support Hexi and Hedong.
As for the commander-in-chief, the court had one last choice, that is, Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang.
Whether to send Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, to Hexi and Hedong counties to command the local Wei army to resist the Qin army has become a major discussion topic in the inner court.
On this point, internal and external officials have their own opinions.
Du You, Li Liang, Lin Yuyang and others did not support the appointment of Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, because Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, was too dangerous. When there was room for choice, it was better not to use this person.
Furthermore, since the death of King Zhao Yuanji of Yu, the spirit of Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo has been deteriorating, and he may not have the energy to direct the war with Qin - this is the fundamental reason why Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo has not been the "leader in fighting against Han".
However, Xu Guan, Yu Ziqi and other internal ministers believed that Sima An in Hexi and Wei Ji in Hedong were inferior to Zhao Yuanzuo, the King of Nanliang, even if they did not give Zhao Yuanzuo, the King of Nanliang, military power, they only allowed him to join the army.
It would be better to improve Sima An and Wei Ji's status than to let this outstanding commander-in-chief sit idle at home, right?
After arguing for a long time, the ministers of the inner court decided to first test the tone of Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Southern Liang, and take a look at his current physical condition.
For this reason, Du You, the Minister of Rites, invited Zhao Yuanyan, Zongzheng of the Zongfu, and Zhao Sheng, the king of Zongling Yao, and asked them to visit Zhao Yuanzuo.
Zhao Yuanyan and Zhao Sheng accepted Du You's entrustment and went to visit Zhao Yuanzuo, King of Nanliang, on the tenth day of the first lunar month.
The Nanliang Prince's Mansion is not far from the Zongfu. In fact, it can be said that it is right next to the Zongfu. It is only separated by two alleys. It is not that Zhao Run intentionally asked the Zongfu to monitor the Nanliang Prince's Mansion. It is just that Luoyang was there at the time.
During the planning, a piece of land in the east of the city was specially designated as the residence of Wang Gui of the Zhao family.
For example, Zhao Tan, the Marquis of Anping, who received the salary of Luoyang Wei, and Zhao Sheng, the kings of Yao, including the Wei family in Longxi, basically lived in this area to the east of the city, which was not accessible to ordinary people.
After arriving at Nanliang Mansion in a carriage, Zhao Yuanyan and Zhao Sheng got off the carriage and knocked on the door of the palace.
At this time, Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, was standing by the pond outside his study, looking at the pool of ice water.
Regarding this, the servants in the mansion were very puzzled. After all, there were no fish in the pond, but for some reason, Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo always liked to stand by the pond in a daze, and he often stood there for more than half an hour.
Just like this moment, Zhao Yuanzuo stood by the pool with his hands behind his back, silently looking at the ice water in the pool, as if he could see the flowers.
Not long after, a servant hurriedly came to report: "Your Majesty, Lord Zongzheng and Lord Zongling of the Zongfu are here to visit."
"Well, invite them in."
Zhao Yuanzuo said calmly.
After a while, Zhao Yuanyan and Zhao Sheng arrived here under the guidance of the servant.
When he saw Zhao Yuanzuo standing by the pool, Zhao Yuanyan sighed secretly.
He felt that this was Zhao Yuanzuo missing his son who was drowned by his own hands. After all, the third brother was already old and had no children. His only daughter, Zhao Ying, had also married Wei Feng, the head of the Wei family in Tianshui.
His son Wei Si made the palace even more deserted.
"Yuan Zuo." He was the first to break the silence beside the pool.
"Brother, there is also...Master Zhao Sheng." Zhao Yuanzuo turned his head and nodded calmly towards Zhao Yuanyan and Zhao Sheng.
Zhao Yuanyan approached Zhao Yuanzuo, looked at the pool and sighed: "This palace of yours is really too calm. Didn't that girl Ying'er give birth to a son? Why not take over and inherit the incense?... Today, Your Majesty,
I don’t care about this.”
Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, sneered when he heard this.
Indeed, unlike his brother Zhao Yuanxi, Zhao Run, the current monarch of the Wei Kingdom, did not fear him at all, and naturally did not care whether he had any heirs. It was just that Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, did not think about it in this regard.
"King of Nanliang...is this a very glorious title?"
Zhao Yuanzuo answered his brother calmly.
Zhao Yuanyan was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer the question.
Indeed, for Zhao Yuanzuo, the title of King of Nanliang is not a title worth showing off. On the contrary, it is a shame, a failure, and a painful memory.
Seeing that Zhao Yuanyan was speechless, Zhao Yuanzuo changed the subject on his own: "Is the clan so busy now that you two came together?"
After hearing this, Zhao Yuanyan couldn't help but smiled bitterly and shook his head.
It is undeniable that his clan has been very idle in recent years, and has been almost squeezed out of power by the imperial court. For example, in the area of disciplining the children of the clan, in the past, the Zhao family's children who violated national laws were all disciplined by the clan. Now,
The Ministry of Punishment banned the privileges of the Zhao family and Wang Gui in this area - although it did not directly execute the Zhao family's children, it is an indisputable fact that the clan lost its authority in this area.
There is no way, the power of the noble family is getting bigger and bigger, and the power of the royal family is relatively weak. Only Zhao Shen, Zhao Anding, Zhao Tan and other very few descendants of the Zhao family are still in charge of power.
"It's because of the Qin State's affairs." Zhao Yuanyan directly stated the reason for his visit.
Zhao Yuanzuo glanced at Zhao Yuanyan for a few times, invited the latter and Zhao Sheng to the study, and said casually: "What does your Majesty mean?"
"No, it's the court's intention." Zhao Yuanyan explained.
Zhao Yuanzuo nodded after hearing this, and then said in a deep voice: "There is Sima An in the west of Hexi and Wei Ji in the east of Hedong. The court does not need to worry about anything for the time being. The two of them are enough to delay the Qin army for a period of time. Even if I are sent there, I may not be able to do it.
is better. Furthermore, my current physical condition is also
It cannot be sustained for a long time..." After a pause, he added: "Actually, the key to this battle lies on the other side of Daliang. If His Majesty can repulse the final struggle of the coalition forces of various countries as soon as possible after the beginning of spring, Qin will
The problem on the Chinese side is not big, but on the contrary, no matter what you do, it will be in vain."
Seeing Zhao Yuanzuo speaking so straightforwardly, Zhao Yuanyan and Zhao Sheng looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment.
After a long time, Zhao Yuanyan said helplessly: "Then Brother Yu is going to report to Lord Du You like this?"
Zhao Yuanzuo nodded slightly.
After a while, Zhao Yuanyan and Zhao Sheng stood up to say goodbye, and Zhao Yuanzuo watched them leave.
In fact, although the physical condition of Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo was getting worse, it was not as bad as he said. It was just that he had a reason why he could not leave Luoyang.
Suddenly, Zhao Yuanyan seemed to have thought of something. He stopped and turned around and said, "By the way, Hongxin's eldest son is turning ten this year. Yuanzuo, do you know?"
The Hongxin he was talking about was Zhao Run's brother who was deprived of his title, King Zhao Xin of Qing. He was originally imprisoned in Xiaohuang County, but due to the massive attack by the coalition forces of various countries, he was brought back to Luoyang in the past few months.
, the Zongfu specially renovated a mansion and continued to imprison the young master Wei who had committed the crime of rebellion.
"..."
The corners of Zhao Yuanzuo's eyes twitched slightly, and his expression became a little unnatural. He forced out a faint smile and said: "This son has not interacted with me for more than ten years..."
"...Isn't this because Hongxin was imprisoned? Or is it..."
Zhao Yuanyan vaguely realized that he seemed to have mentioned something that shouldn't be mentioned, so he laughed awkwardly and quickly left with Zhao Sheng.
No wonder he felt puzzled, after all, Qing Wang Hongxin was very close to Southern Liang Wang Zhao Yuanzuo.
Looking at Zhao Yuanyan's leaving figure, Zhao Yuanzuo clasped his hands behind his back and turned to look at the pool outside the study.
"...If my son had not died at that time, his son would probably be ten years old, right? Would he have two sons? Just like that boy Hongxin..."
He thought like this.
For a long time, he shook his head mockingly, and soon the look in his eyes gradually became firm and cold.
"I don't have much time left. Right now, I only have this last thing on my mind..."
Thinking of this, he immediately returned to his study and wrote a letter in his own hand. He immediately summoned several guards at the house who had retired from the anti-rebellion army and ordered them: "You can quickly take this letter to the Qi State area and pay it to you."
To Pang Huan."
"yes!"
The guards at the mansion clasped their fists and left.
Afterwards, Zhao Yuanzuo walked outside the study again, clasping his hands behind his back and looking at the snowy scene in front of him.
"...Zhao Run has not yet defeated the coalition forces of other countries in Daliang, but the Qin State has raised troops to attack the Wei Dynasty at this time... This may be a good opportunity?"