This page looks best with JavaScript enabled
Chapter 31 Improper Concubine (12)
Li Jingling originally thought that after so many years of suffering, he finally got the chance to take charge of the government.
After Taishi Pei's mountain that weighed heavily on his head for many years disappeared, he felt very relaxed all over, and he no longer had to be restrained.
However, this kind of good mood lasted less than 24 hours, and the urgent report from the frontier that rushed over eight hundred miles seemed to slap him in the face of the emperor.
As soon as Grand Master Pei passed away, Beidi couldn't hold back and invaded southward. How much he didn't pay attention to him, the emperor.
Li Jingling sat at the head with a dark complexion. He originally wanted to appoint a military commander himself, but he didn't want all the officials in the court to unanimously elect Pei Junhou Pei Zhao as the commander.
The reason is also very simple, not to mention that Pei Zhao was carefully trained by Pei Taishi, who split Beidi in the past, and that Pei Zhao has repeatedly made military exploits at the border, winning the hearts of the soldiers and people at the border, and the Dazhou cavalry was trained by Pei Junhou. If you become the commander of others, I am afraid that you will not be able to control it.
"I am willing to fight." Gu Ran also stood up, his eyes sharp and sharp.
This is not a request, but an act of coercion, Li Jingling closed his eyes, and finally couldn't bear the pressure of all the officials, "Yun."
………
At the beginning of the tenth year of Jian'an, Pei Junhou personally marched, and the army marched northward. The way was like a broken bamboo, and the soldiers pointed directly at Beidi Wangting.
Compared with the small fights in the past, this time it is the official appearance of a 100,000 cavalry army, coming and going like the wind, as fast as thunder, making the people of Beidi frightened.
And this young prince is worthy of being taught by Grand Master Pei, and his military talent is even more amazing. Since half a month after arriving in the frontier, Beidi has lost many defeats and retreated repeatedly. It is heard that the Beidi army that first invaded the Great Peripheral Pass is in a hurry, and other tribes in the grassland have received the royal order to come to support them. Given time, the two sides will inevitably have a huge disparity in strength.
As the old saying goes, ten years of sharpening a sword,
Father Pei had already expected that the news of his passing would make Beidi seize the opportunity to take action. The grassland aliens have always been ambitious and coveted the richness of the Central Plains for a long time, and they would never give up the opportunity to invade.
In the previous life, Father Pei chose not to mourn, and let Li Jingling recharge his energy for three years to stabilize the throne. While using the generals to defend against Beidi, he also sent the princess to marry him, marrying a large number of treasures and craftsman skills, so as to appease the emperor. Live in Beidi.
This life is different, with Gu Ran’s strategy of reclaiming wasteland and farmland at the border, opening up trade routes, and training cavalry sent by Gu Ran, after a few years, the border has been different from the past, the overall military strength and logistics supplies Reserves have doubled.
Since this is the case, why can't we fight, and why don't we dare to fight.
In the army tent, a deputy general worried, "Beidi Royal Court has issued several imperial orders to summon all the tribes to raise troops to serve the king, and troops from all over the grassland are rushing here. I am afraid that it will not be long before we will face the Beidi Alliance Army." Well, we will be outnumbered by then, I'm afraid..."
"The enemy is outnumbered?" Gu Ran raised his eyebrows, and said in a cold tone, "Then kill them all."
Not only the lieutenant general, but other generals also understood what she meant, and if they killed more, there would be no difference in numbers.
The killing she mentioned was the real slaughtering of the city, leaving no one alive, and at the same time cutting off the vitality of the grassland, aiming at the extermination of Beidi.
Great Zhou Palace,
Han Xinrou was favored by the emperor shortly after entering the palace. Even if she didn't miss the white-moonlight/muse queen as much as she did in her previous life, this time it was because Li Jingling saw some shadow of the queen from her, and she had more intelligence and agility of a girl.
This is something the Queen doesn't have.
Empress Su had lived in the deep palace for many years, and Li Jingling couldn't remember her appearance, only that she was always pale, weak and sick.
Li Jingling felt that he was worthy of this young man's original spouse. He ignored the civil and military objections of the Manchu Dynasty and gave her the highest honor as a woman, and made her only child the prince. But he couldn't return to the affection he had before he became the throne. Instead, he regained some points in Han Xinrou, who was somewhat similar to her appearance, and she felt rejuvenated, like a young man with lofty ambitions.
Perhaps because of this desire, or because the emperor is already in power, he can flaunt his power and confer high positions on his favorite women.
From the little beauty who entered the palace to Zhaoyi who was the lord of the first palace, it only took two or three months.This also allowed Han Xinrou to successfully become the eyesore of the concubines, the target of public criticism, and even her former friends and sisters became estranged from her.
Even though she knew that she was favored because of her similar appearance to the queen, Han Xinrou didn't feel sad and hypocritical for too long. She knew very well that she could only rely on the emperor at this moment and get more favors to keep her status and not end up miserable.
So when she saw the emperor frowning, she immediately said caringly as an interpreter, "Why is Your Majesty worrying?"
Li Jingling saw the good news from the front line, which was originally a good thing, but he hoped that Pei Zhao could defeat Beidi, but he didn't want him to make great achievements and become the second Grand Master Pei.
Even compared to Grand Master Pei, Pei Zhao is younger and more dreadful, and has an unparalleled reputation both among the people and the army, and now the court is full of Pei's henchmen. If he has the idea of usurping power again, I'm afraid it will be terrible.
Li Jingling couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
"It's just the victory or defeat of a battle, it's nothing. After returning, Pei Junhou will still be His Majesty's subject, and he must bow to His Majesty." Han Xinrou said softly, "And Your Majesty has already started to govern personally, and you can take it easy in the future. Support your power in the army."
Although Han Xinrou had thought about the famous Pei Junhou, she was already the emperor's favorite concubine, so she naturally stood by His Majesty's side and tried her best to help him suppress Pei Junhou.
"Since Your Majesty is worried, why not control the family members of the Pei family who live in the capital first, so that Pei Junhou will not dare to act rashly on the front line... and there are many killings on the battlefield, Your Majesty can also spread the reputation of Pei Junhou as cruel and easy to kill among the people. In time, Pei Junhou's reputation will be greatly affected."
Li Jingling's eyes lit up, and he praised her greatly, "My concubine is really smart, she is really my good wife."
However, before Li Jingling started to move, the front line reported that he broke his plan.
There is no need for Li Jingling to order people to spread news to slander Pei Junhou's reputation for massacring the city, destroying the royal court, and killing prisoners. Who can deny Pei Zhao's reputation for bloody killings.
But what made Li Jingling angry was that he did not give such an order to Pei Zhao, nor did Pei Zhao ask for an order in advance, so he sent troops to invade Beidi royal court without authorization, and destroyed the Beidi royal family in one fell swoop. Even the tribes in the grassland who came to support were made dumplings by Pei Zhao's cavalry army. All the captives were killed, and all the people of the tribes they passed were wiped out.
Li Jingling angrily reprimanded Pei Zhao in court for being ungrateful and reckless.
And he just learned that the whole Pei family has long since left Capital City, and all returned to Hedong, where the Pei family's territory is impregnable.
Xie Yuanchen bowed his head and saluted, "The general should adapt to the situation outside, and please forgive me. Besides, Pei Junhou has a very high reputation in the army. If your majesty commits a crime at this time, it may cause mutiny in the army and make the border people unstable. I hope your majesty will think twice." .”
These words seemed to be defending Pei Junhou, but they were actually threatening the emperor. Not only the 100,000 cavalry led by Pei Zhao, but also the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians at the border. Once they mutinied, it was unclear whether they would lose before the war or send troops south to take the capital directly.
Therefore, Li Jingling can only reward Pei Junhou, not punish him.
Li Jingling took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Since this is the case, we will withdraw our troops and wait for someone from Beidi to negotiate a peace. Issue an imperial decree and stop Pei Zhao from disobeying the emperor's orders."
He just wanted Pei Zhao to leave the border and come back as soon as possible.
Xie Yuanchen smiled again, straightened his back, and said solemnly like jade bamboo, "Your Majesty, there is no need to wait, Beidi has been destroyed, and no one will come to negotiate peace."
This result also stunned the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty. The best result they thought was that Pei Junhou would guard the border, repel Beidi, and promote the prestige of Zhou Guowei.
Never expected that in only three months, Pei Junhou led the cavalry army to destroy a country like a blitzkrieg. There is no scholar-official Qingliu civil official accusing Pei Junhou of massacring the city, which is cruel and easy to kill. Even the country is destroyed, is there anyone to pity the innocent old and weak women and children of Beidi?
In order to fight quickly, Gu Ran did not hesitate to massacre the city and exterminate the family.
First, it was Pei's father's last wish to get rid of Beidi's confidant, and he had been preparing for it for several years, and it was all done. Secondly, Gu Ran didn't want the time to prolong and attract backstabs from inside Da Zhou, such as the emperor. Fortunately, Xie Yuanchen is reliable enough and good at internal affairs, so that Gu Ran has no worries.
And just in case, Gu Ran also moved all the Pei family to Hedong in advance, even if the emperor wanted to do it, it would not be easy.
During this campaign, Gu Ran also gave full play to the role of supporting the war by fighting. All the foreign wealth looted and looted was used as military pay, and her caravan was on hand to carry out the turnover, so there were no logistical problems.
………
After destroying Beidi, Pei Zhao's pace of conquest did not stop because of this, and he thoroughly implemented the four words of offensive and defensive Yixing.
In the spring of the twelfth year of Jian'an, Pei Junhou made his second northern expedition, destroying the Turkic and Tubo kingdoms.
In the autumn of the fifteenth year of Jian'an, Pei Junhou made his third northern expedition, destroying Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo.
Since then, the nominal territory of the Great Zhou has reached an unprecedented peak in history.
The reason why it is said in name is because the large expanse of northern land that was included in the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty was owned by Pei Junhou in a blink of an eye. It was called guarding and enlightening, but in fact it was the master of the northern land with a territory of thousands of miles. , and attracted a large number of Dazhou people to go north on the grounds of free distribution of land for land reclamation.
In just a few years, he has managed to flourish.The officials and people in northern Xinjiang only know that there is Pei Junhou but not the imperial court, and the army under his command is even more obedient and not obedient.
For this reason, Emperor Li Jingling felt like a lump in his throat, and couldn't even sleep peacefully.
Within a few years, the body declined, and the court was also arguing endlessly about the candidate to inherit the throne.
On the surface, the crown prince is the eldest son, and he does his part, but he is weak and sick. If there is nothing wrong, he would have been abolished long ago. Another strong contender is the Emperor's Aizi, the Ninth Prince born of Concubine Han Gui. He was strong and intelligent since he was a child. Especially since the Emperor has said that he is like me in front of his courtiers many times, he is obviously the emperor's favorite candidate.
But no matter who succeeds to the throne, I'm afraid they won't be able to suppress Beijiang.
After finishing the battle, Gu Ran rested and taught the descendants of the Pei family while governing the Northland.
After she became the owner of the Northland, the Pei family moved here spontaneously. Firstly, they followed and supported the owner of the family. Second, the vastness of the Northland was not comparable to that of the small River East. Here, the Pei family Even if you want to be self-reliant, there is no problem.
Based on what she has done, as long as the Beidi survives, the Pei family will have no worries for a hundred years. But if the children and grandchildren are too incompetent and ruin the family business, Gu Ran will not be able to see it. As spring went and autumn came, a group of radish heads thrived in her hands, and there were a few good seedlings among them.
When saw friend Xie Yuanchen who came from afar, sat down to talk about the past for a while, and couldn't help but talk a lot. Xie Yuanchen even asked that bold question.
Gu Ran raised his eyebrows, then smiled lightly, "Usurp the throne? I want to say that I don't have that idea, do you believe me?"
The corners of Xie Yuanchen's mouth twitched, she was about to become the emperor of the land on her own, and Beidi also had her own small court, so she just said that she didn't want to usurp the throne.
But this is considered to be covered with a loin cloth, and even the emperor who ranks ninety-five does not dare to lift it, so he can only pretend to be deaf and dumb.But if this continues, the king will not become a king, and the emperor will not become an emperor. After all, it is not a solution.Although Xie Yuanchen has read a lot of sage books, his awareness of loyalty to the emperor is not so high, and he hopes that the world will be peaceful and the people will be happy.
Gu Ran shook his head and sighed, "Being the emperor is too tiring, just managing such a large area in the north is enough for me to work hard."
If it wasn't for the southern court still needing Xie Yuanchen, she would have wanted to get him here, leaving all government affairs to him.
Gu Ran calmly said again, "Besides, I slaughtered hundreds of thousands of alien races, and I must have a reputation in history, as well as verbal criticism from scholars, and the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty had no obvious fault. Waiting for the opportunity to counterattack me, maybe you will hold high the banner of righteousness to attack the tyrant."
Xie Yuanchen asked: "Are you the one who cares about these things?"
If she had been scruples, she would not have done this in the first place, and she could even push the order to other generals afterwards, but she insisted on taking it all.
Gu Ran said with a half-smile, "I just don't want to be the emperor myself, and I didn't say I wouldn't let others be the emperor."
She turned her head and said, "Si'er, can you be the emperor?"
The person being questioned was a girl who was reading a book not far away. She raised her head with a calm expression, thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."
Among the descendants of the Pei family taught by her, the best one was adopted by her as a foster daughter and raised by her side. This child was named Pei Si.
"Pei Zhao, are you crazy?" Xie Yuanchen almost didn't drop the wine cup in his hand, but his still handsome face was stunned and frightened.
A woman proclaims herself emperor? How is this possible? Xie Yuanchen didn't know if he was drunk and misheard, or if Pei Zhao joked after drinking, this is too absurd.
Gu Ran looked at him with burning eyes, "The situation in the world is complicated now. A female emperor might not be an existence that balances or even reshuffles all forces. She will not be constrained by noble families, clan etiquette, and scholars. She can act without fear. Break down all barriers and usher in a whole new era..."
Xie Yuanchen's heart trembled slightly, he knew he was a little moved.
There is a clear distinction between the great Zhou family, the poor family, and the common people. The high-ranking famous family controls the power and official position in the court. There are very few people who rise from a humble family like him. It is difficult to have today's achievements.
However, he was the only one who ascended to a high position, but he was powerless to change the status quo of the monopoly of the nobles of the entire family. But if it is as Pei Zhao said, what is impossible?
Gu Ran put down the wine cup, stood up and smiled lightly, "You stay and teach Si'er for a while, to see if she has the qualifications."
Xie Yuanchen was silent, lost in thought.
………
Gu Ran went back to the study, and took out two letters from the south from the cabinet, and interestingly, they both came out of the Great Zhou Harem.
The first letter was Concubine Han Gui, the former heroine was still favored and gave birth to a child, except that the queen and prince were not destined for her, everything else was pretty much the same. The content of her letter was to ask Pei Junhou to support the Ninth Prince's succession to the throne. If successful, she would allow Pei Junhou to be a high position in the past, and even let the Ninth Prince worship Pei Junhou as his second father.
The information collected by Gu Ran's spies was that the emperor did not know about this, and that this was what Han Xinrou did in private. The original heroine was smart enough to actively seek support from outside forces after learning that the emperor's health was dying.
What surprised Gu Ran even more was the second letter, and it was this letter that moved her to choose a female emperor.
Empress Su knew that she and the prince were in a deadlock, and her only hope was to find a crucial concubine for the prince, so that he could ascend the throne. So she begged Pei Junhou to marry his righteous daughter Pei Si for the prince.
She knew that she had nothing that would make Pei Junhou look up to him, and that the prince's physical condition was known to be weak and incompetent. Even an ordinary wealthy family would not want to marry their daughter to a dying man.
But after so many years of hard work, at least she had to watch her only child ascend the throne, and even if she died, she could be buried in the imperial mausoleum. If Concubine Han Guifei becomes the queen and her child becomes the prince, then Queen Su can also imagine how miserable her mother and son will end up.
Her child could have grown up healthily. If his father hadn't been targeted by the harem, the prince would have spent his entire life in medicine jars, living a difficult and painful life. Empress Su didn't want him to even accept the final The honor gained is also lost.
What Empress Su promised to Pei Junhou was - the life of the emperor, and the general of the world and the Pei family.
After the palace people were screened out, the already cold Weiyang Palace seemed even more lonely.
Li Jingling recalled that the last time he came to visit the queen seemed to be a year ago, it was not that he was unfeeling, but now only in Concubine Han's palace can he feel the warmth of home and the joy and pride brought by a smart child.
But he never let people neglect the queen, not only often gave precious tonics and medicinal materials, but also let the imperial hospital carefully diagnose and treat the queen. Concubine Han is in charge of the palace power, and she has never been short of Weiyang Palace in front of him.
Why did the queen become so skinny that her body was extremely depraved.
When Empress Su was pregnant and gave birth, she was tormented by high-ranking concubines and her body was broken. She lost her vitality and blood. For so many years, she had to hold on to her breath. She was strong as a mother, if it wasn't for protecting her poor child , can't support it at all.
But when he heard the emperor blatantly utter the words "the nine princes are against me" when he was arguing about the prince in the court, he couldn't hold his breath anymore.
Empress Su's voice was calm and hoarse, "Your Majesty has really decided to appoint the Ninth Prince as the crown prince, and he will abolish the prince before that."
Li Jingling frowned, and took it for granted, "Ze'er is weak and sick. The imperial doctor has already concluded that he will not live to be twenty, and now there are only two or three years left. How can I entrust the country and society of the Great Zhou to him?"
Then why did he be established as the prince in the first place, and let him suffer so many years of suffering in this position.
Empress Su didn't say this, but sneered again, "Then when is Your Majesty going to let me abdicate Concubine Han?"
"You will still be the queen, but you are not in good health. I will make Xin Rou the imperial concubine and take care of the harem for you. You should take good care of your illness. After a hundred years, you will be buried in the emperor's tomb with me." Make a wife." Li Jingling finally said something soft, hoping to appease her.
Empress Su smiled lightly, "After Ze'er succeeds to the throne, I will definitely tell him not to let me be buried with you, even if it is the underworld, I don't want to see you again."
Before Li Jingling heard her rebellious words and reprimanded him angrily, he suddenly felt dizzy for a while, as if the smell in the incense burner was stronger.
Poison? How dare she? In his impression, Su Yuqiu was clearly a gentle woman who would not even step on ants, how could she become so vicious, and how did this poison enter the palace?
When Li Jingling fell, he would never know the truth again.
After Gu Ran received the news at the first time, he couldn't help but sigh, how many people despise this Empress Su who has lived in the deep palace for many years.
Concubine Han Guifei's family background is low, she is immature, and all her status and love come from the emperor alone. Once the emperor dies, she loses all reliance, and she is not even qualified to compete for the throne. Even if there is a force to opportunistically control the thoughts of the young emperor, there will be no chance after the prince lives in the eldest son, is justified, and has the support of the chief assistant Xie Yuanchen and other officials. In the end, Concubine Han and the Nine Princes lived in the cold palace.
When Queen Su's death was approaching, the mother and son were also taken away.
In the nineteenth year of Jian'an, the emperor died, and his posthumous title was Huan. Prince Li Yuze succeeded to the throne in the name of the eldest son. In the same year, after observing the filial piety for 27 days, he took the world as his benefactor and married Pei Si, the righteous daughter of Pei Junhou, as the queen, and was called the double saint.
Half a year later, the Son of Heaven was lingeringly ill, unable to manage the government, and Si's descendants were in charge.
In the third year of Zhangming, the emperor died of illness. Because he had no heirs, the power was transferred peacefully under the expectation of the north and south.
During the reign of the Empress, she selected talents in an eclectic manner, broke the monopoly of aristocratic families, actively developed industry and commerce, opened up sea markets, reformed currency, optimized the official system and imperial examination system, promoted culture and education, encouraged farming, and also introduced excellent overseas technology.The national strength is advancing rapidly, strong and romantic, and it has been in the forefront of the world for hundreds of years.
The author has something to say:
Which story do you want to see next——[The original partner in the son-in-law article]
——[Fake daughter and brother are together]