Liang Gaozu enjoyed the massage from his concubine, but he hesitated a little when replying.
"The treasury of Luoyang... I have handed it over to King Qin for distribution."
The concubine said coquettishly: "Your Majesty! You are the most respected person in the world. The King of Qin is your son. He conquered Luoyang. In the final analysis, he did it for you. Could it be that your Majesty can't distribute even a little treasure?
"Those treasures and property should have been returned to my treasury in Daliang. Your Majesty took out a trivial treasure from the treasury and rewarded it to me. Can't I satisfy my concubine's request?"
When Liang Gaozu heard this, he nodded naturally: "What are you talking about, my dear concubine? I am the emperor and I am rich all over the world, so I can naturally reward you with this little treasure.
"Just in time, you and Concubine Zhang go to Luoyang to select some treasures, property, and land from the treasury for the concubines."
The concubine's face immediately showed joy, but then she said: "But Your Majesty, if King Qin resists and disobeys the decree, what should I do?"
Liang Gaozu immediately lost his temper: "How dare he?
"In this case, I will order someone to write an edict, and you can go there with my edict."
Having said that, Liang Gaozu actually wrote an order and gave it to the concubine, asking her to set out from Chang'an with another concubine to Luoyang to pick up any treasures from the treasury.
Li Hongyun's vision quickly widened, and he saw the two concubines and many retinues leaving Chang'an and heading east.
Along the way, these light spots were looming, the wind and clouds were flying in the sky, and the vision in front of us changed rapidly, and we soon arrived in Luoyang.
Li Hongyun quickly determined the identities of the two concubines.
They are Zhang Jieyu and Concubine Yin De, the two concubines that Liang Gaozu loved most in his later years.
During Li Hongyun's career, this group of people soon came to Luoyang, but they were rejected by Luoyang's treasury.
Several fierce-looking guards blocked the door of the treasury, raising their spears with a "clang" in their hands, and stopped all the people.
"The King of Qin has ordered that all the treasures in the treasury and all the land around Luoyang must be used to reward the soldiers. No one can touch it lightly!"
In the carriage, Concubine Yin De said a few words to her servants through the door curtain.
The servant immediately stepped forward and said loudly: "How dare you! My noble concubine came here with your majesty's edict! How dare you resist and disobey it?"
Several guards looked at each other. The words "resisting and disobeying the order" really made them, the top soldiers, a little confused as to what to do.
But soon, some of them left quickly to report to the generals who could take charge.
Not long after, a general in his forties came to the treasury.
"Who wants to open the treasury?" He glanced at the carriage of the two concubines, and his expression changed slightly, obviously realizing the seriousness of this matter.
Concubine Yin De's servant came forward again: "My concubine is here with your Majesty's decree! Your Majesty has ordered that my concubine must choose from the goods in the treasury!"
Concubine Yin De's voice came from the carriage again: "In addition, there are dozens of hectares of fertile land fifty miles southeast of Luoyang. Concubine Zhang has taken a fancy to it, and your majesty has issued an edict to give it to me. Please give it to the general."
The general who came said coldly: "I am the king of Huai'an. The King of Qin has already taught me those fields. He gave them to me for my military merits. I'm sorry to obey!"
"As for the treasures and goods in the treasury, since the two noble concubines hold your majesty's edict, they should go to the King of Qin in person and ask for it from him!"
The servant of the imperial concubine wanted to say something else, but with the support of the Huai'an County Prince, the soldiers in the treasury obviously became more courageous. They stood at the door of the treasury with long spears in hand and refused to retreat.
Concubine Yin De gritted her teeth bitterly: "Okay, then I will go and confront King Qin!"
After that, the two concubines left with their servants.
…
Li Hongyun watched the whole process from God's perspective, and saw the two noble concubines find King Qin in Luoyang City, and made a request to get the property from the treasury and grant officials to their own family.
As a result, the King of Qin was troubled, but he still agreed.
So the two noble concubines went into the treasury and randomly selected a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry and various other goods, loaded a cart full of them and took them away.
Not only that, the King of Qin was also forced to grant official positions to their relatives. As for the dozens of hectares of land given to the Prince of Huai'an County, they were naturally also given to Zhang Jieyu.
As for the grievances in the army, especially those of the Huai'an County Prince, it was naturally the King of Qin who personally appeased them.
Seeing this, Li Hongyun couldn't help but frown, and quickly realized that this seemed to be a trap.
On the surface, although the behavior of these two noble concubines is a bit excessive, their actions and the way King Qin handles them are reasonable.
These two noble concubines came with Liang Gaozu's imperial edict. It stands to reason that since the emperor has spoken, it will naturally have the highest effectiveness.
Even if the King of Qin is unwilling, he must act in accordance with the emperor's edict.
As for the grievances of other generals, King Qin has a high prestige in the army, so it is not a problem to suppress them.
But obviously... this is inconsistent with historical records, and it is also completely inconsistent with the character of King Qin.
As Li Hongyun fell into deep thought, the whole world also entered a state of pause.
Seeing Concubine Yin De and Zhang Jieyu leaving happily, Li Hongyun naturally thought of a series of possible consequences in the future if this situation were allowed to develop.
These two concubines were the two most favored concubines of Liang Gaozu at this time. At any time, the power of "the wind beside your bed" cannot be ignored.
At this time, Luoyang City had just been conquered, and the process of conquering Luoyang was extremely dangerous.
Li Hongyun had already experienced it in the previous battle of Hulao Pass: Luoyang City was tall and strong, and Liang Jun had been attacking for several months but failed to achieve anything. In this process, the battle must have been very tragic.
After Dou Jiande came to help, the King of Qin took a huge risk and only led 3,500 Xuanjia troops to Hulao Pass to intercept them, and successfully captured the two kings in one battle.
Judging from the results of the battle, it was indeed a devastating battle, but if you delve into the process, you will know that the entire battle of Luoyang was extremely dangerous. Several of King Qin's horses died, not to mention other soldiers.
Luoyang City is the capital of the East. Like Chang'an City, this place is prosperous and prosperous, and there are countless treasures and treasures in it.
Therefore, the question of how to distribute these goods is a big issue before policymakers.
The King of Qin was faced with two choices: either give it to these two concubines, or give it to the soldiers.
The general who rejected two concubines in front of the treasury was of considerable background. If Yuchi Jingde were an ordinary general, he might not have been able to speak so forcefully.
There are obviously two reasons why the general dared to directly use the "teaching" of King Qin to reject the "edict" of Liang Gaozu.
The first is that the command system of the entire Liang Dynasty was relatively chaotic at that time. The emperor's edicts, the prince's orders and the king of Qin's teachings could basically be regarded as having the same effect. Whoever's order came first would be followed.
King Qin directly captured Luoyang. In the eyes of many soldiers, his teachings were obviously equal to the emperor's edicts.
As for what to do after the emperor's edict was rejected and the emperor became angry, that was something that the King of Qin had to consider, not something that they, the big-headed soldiers, had to consider.
Secondly, it is because this general is the king of Huai'an County, and in terms of relatives, he is the cousin of Liang Gaozu.
Although he was a general of the clan, he also made contributions in the battle of Luoyang, so the King of Qin rewarded him with dozens of hectares of land.
Such a person is obviously very indifferent to these two noble concubines.
Li Hongyun can even consider the problem from his perspective: In terms of closeness, I am His Majesty's cousin. I had already raised troops to respond when Jinyang raised troops, and you are just two concubines that His Majesty later took.
; In terms of merit, the soldiers and I dined and slept in the open air outside Luoyang City, fighting bloody battles, while you two concubines were living and drinking in Chang'an.
Now you want to take away my land with just a piece of imperial edict?
Of course, the king of Huai'an County also knew that these two concubines were favored and were not easy to mess with, so he was stubborn and kicked the ball to King Qin again.
So what will King Qin do?
In fact, in Li Hongyun's opinion, if King Qin really gave the treasures in his treasury to these two noble concubines, his future situation might be better.
After all, one of the important reasons why King Qin was criticized by Liang Gaozu five times was that the prince and the two noble concubines slandered him at regular intervals.
If King Qin really uses these properties to win over these two noble concubines, then although the power represented by these two noble concubines will not immediately turn to him, at least they will become a wall between him and the prince, constantly swaying to obtain
Maximum benefit.
These properties were originally captured by the King of Qin. Whether they were distributed to the soldiers or bribed the concubines, it was all a matter of his words.
But the problem is that these two noble concubines are obviously the type to push their limits.
Let them enter the treasury to select treasures...how many things are left in the treasury?
Zhang Jieyu asked for dozens of hectares of land owned by the Prince of Huai'an County, which was a sign that she had no compunction in her heart.
If you only give them a little bit symbolically, it will not be enough to satisfy their appetites, and they will still be resentful. If you give them more freely, there will inevitably be a huge gap in the rewards. How will this gap be plugged?
The prestige of King Qin in the minds of the soldiers was gradually established through the process of clear rewards and punishments.
This kind of prestige is difficult to establish, but easy to destroy.
Therefore, no matter how he weighs it, given the character of King Qin, he will almost always refuse it sternly.
Thinking of this, Li Hongyun began to try to correct King Qin's behavior.
The King of Qin sternly rejected the request of the two concubines and gave them the reply: All the treasures have been reported, and the officials should confer talents with merit.
In other words, the wealth in the treasury has already been distributed to meritorious soldiers based on their merits and sealed for memorial. As for the official titles, they must also be awarded to meritorious people and cannot be given to the relatives of these two noble concubines.
The result of this was that the two noble concubines had a grudge against the King of Qin.
After completing all this, fragments of King Qin's memory flashed across Li Hongyun's vision.
There are two contents in the memory fragments: The first is that Liang Gaozu once ordered that the King of Qin could handle all matters within his own jurisdiction.
Among the official positions of King Qin at this time, one was "Shaanxi Daxingtai Shangshu Ling", and Luoyang obviously fell under his jurisdiction.
The second thing is that before King Qin went on the expedition, Liang Gaozu promised him that after Luoyang was pacified, all the treasures would be given to the soldiers.
Obviously, King Qin knew the validity of Liang Gaozu's edict, but since Liang Gaozu had already made these two promises, he believed that he would have an excuse even if there was a confrontation in the future.
The reality was indeed what he expected.
After returning to Chang'an City, Liang Gaozu did not punish King Qin, after all, he had made a promise to King Qin before.
Although he had written an edict before and agreed to distribute the treasures in the treasury to the concubines, it was only because he was blown away and temporarily lost his head.
At this time, King Qin contradicted him a little, but it also made him clear his mind, so the matter was suppressed.
"Um?"
Li Hongyun once again realized that there seemed to be a deviation here.
Because it is obviously inconsistent with the content of historical records.
According to historical records, Concubine Yin De and Zhang Jieyu immediately complained after returning to Chang'an City. Liang Gaozu was furious and asked the King of Qin: "Is my edict not as good as your teachings?"
As for the promises made to King Qin before, even if Liang Gaozu didn't mention them, King Qin naturally didn't dare to mention them, otherwise wouldn't that be a slap in the father's face?
I can only kowtow and apologize.
But Liang Gaozu was still angry. After King Qin left, he said to Pei Ji: "My son has been leading troops outside for a long time, and he has been led astray by those scholars! He is no longer the well-behaved and sensible Erlang back then!"
The scene in front of him was once again different from the history books, which meant that Li Hongyun had to use his logical thinking ability again to determine which one was more likely.
If we judge based on reason, the historical records are even more untrustworthy.
After all, Liang Gaozu was also the founder of the Liang Dynasty. Look what he was doing here?
First, he promised King Qin that after he captured Luoyang, he could distribute all the treasures to the soldiers. However, as soon as his two beloved concubines blew the whistle, he changed his mind and even wrote an edict himself for the two concubines to grab.
The treasures of the soldiers.
Forget it, after being pushed back by the King of Qin, the two noble concubines cried to him. Liang Gaozu's first reaction was to become furious and called the King of Qin back to scold him.
Although the emperor's edicts were not as good as the King of Qin's teachings, which made him, the emperor, a little embarrassed when he said this, the problem was that he was not justified in this matter.
The Battle of Luoyang was so brutal that I had already told the soldiers beforehand that after taking Luoyang, all the treasures inside would be awarded to the soldiers.
What will the soldiers think if the promise cannot be fulfilled after the victory?
The Liang Dynasty began in troubled times, and the importance of the army is self-evident. Would a founder like Liang Gaozu not have thought of this?
No matter how you think about it, it doesn't make sense.
So, was Liang Gaozu a man whose rewards and punishments were unknown?
Li Hongyun thought about it carefully. Judging from various historical records, he was really...
To determine whether Liang Gaozu's behavior is in line with his character, we must look at two points.
The first is whether his behavior in other areas reveals his unclear rewards and punishments. The second is whether he despises the soldiers who are fighting abroad.
Unfortunately, the answer to both of these questions is yes.
Liang Gaozu's rewards and punishments cannot be said to be fair and impartial, they can only be said to be random and random.
In the seventh year of Wude, Liang Gaozu restored the nine-rank Zhongzheng system and brought back the decadent system of selecting officials based on family status that should have been replaced by the imperial examination system;
Emperor Gaozu of Liang also ennobled the clan, and all children became kings. Historical records record that "there have not been as many as now since the Chu Dynasty";
Liang Gaozu also appointed officials and made wishes on a large scale, even dictating to more than 2,000 people a day. At this moment, history seems to have directly crossed over to the Qi Dynasty, allowing the people to experience the joy of "redundant officials" in advance.
And these are obviously evidences of his unclear rewards and punishments.
Another point is conclusive: during the Xuanwumen Incident, almost all the founding heroes were concentrated under the King of Qin, but what about the people around the emperor? They were a group of old people from the previous dynasty, and the princes were noble.
In historical materials, we can hardly see many awards given by Emperor Gaozu of Liang to meritorious ministers, and few of the famous generals at that time were actually under the command of Emperor Gaozu Liang.
Often the King of Qin would fight a battle, and then he would receive a victory report. Liang Gaozu would give a reward to the King of Qin, and then his soldiers would drink soup with the King of Qin.
According to historical records, although Liang Gaozu was the nominal founder of the Liang Dynasty, in fact, he basically never fought a war.
Ever since he came to Chang'an, the King of Qin has been fighting in the south and north, opening up territory and expanding territory.
And this can be said to be unique among the founding kings of all dynasties.
Not to mention the earlier Chu Dynasty, the founding king participated in almost all major battles; and the later Qi and Sheng dynasties, the founding king also fought with one sword and one gun.
Although one of the two Taizus and Taizongs of the Qi Dynasty bullied orphans and widowed mothers, and the other drifted with donkey carts, the former was a general of the imperial army and a master of martial arts. He could stand firm in such troubled times and create a dynasty with his military talents. There is no doubt about the mother; although the latter was drifting in a donkey cart, he indeed once commanded the battle to destroy the country.
Looking at the separatist forces at the same time as the Liang Dynasty, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande and others also personally commanded the battle.
Only Liang Gaozu had no experience in commanding an army.
His riding skills and shooting skills may be good, but it is obvious that he is not good at marching and fighting.
Some people may say, since the King of Qin is here, why would the emperor put himself in danger?
good question.
Then you can take this question and ask the founding kings of Chu, Qi and Sheng dynasties.
There were many famous generals in the founding of these three dynasties, so why didn't they leave the matter of destroying the country to their generals and sit in peace and enjoy the blessings in the capital?
There are only two possibilities for Liang Gaozu's behavior: either he was unwilling or he was unable.
Reluctance means that he doesn't want to live and eat on the battlefield, as he thinks that would be too hard; no, it means that he doesn't have such a good ability to lead troops, and he knows very well that he is not the material.
But no matter which possibility it is, it is very stupid for a founding king to be lazy and complacent in the rear.
Because power is never top-down, but bottom-up.
It's not that you automatically have power when you become an emperor, but you only have power when everyone thinks you should be an emperor.
In troubled times, the only way to win is to win.
From this fact, it can be seen that Liang Gaozu either lacked ability or lacked political wisdom.
If he could really go to the front line to fight with the soldiers and build up his prestige like Sheng Taizu, then it would be impossible for King Qin to succeed in carrying out the Xuanwu Gate Revolution.
Therefore, judging from two points, it is not surprising that Liang Gaozu made such a decision.
Because he had almost never been on the battlefield, had never seen the brutality of the battle outside Luoyang City, and had no idea how much blood and sacrifice those generals and soldiers had paid to capture the city, so he naturally did not feel like going back on his words and took out a lot of money from the treasury.
What a big deal it is to give treasures to your own concubine.
Because he has no clear idea of rewards and punishments, he awards large amounts of rewards to those close to him, especially those from the previous dynasty, the aristocratic clan, and completely ignores the resulting problem of "the redundant clans and officials bring a heavy burden to the people", so he indulges both parties.
It is not surprising that famous concubines want jewels, official positions and lands.
After some consideration, Li Hongyun made a decision.
He manipulated Liang Gaozu into doing actions that were consistent with historical records, which brought Liang a crucial step closer to the Xuanwumen Revolution.
