After rebirth, I made the princes cry

It was the hottest month of July, and the weather was turning cooler. The days seemed to pass faster, and the many ceremonies of the Northern Han national mourning were completed in an orderly manner. Ran Zhugu also received a secret report from Ran Qiji - he saw the unharmed Prince Zhenyuan. Prince Zhenyuan was now in Xiangyang, but refused to return home immediately, using the excuse that he doubted whether the Grand Master had died of illness.

This matter cannot be hidden from Jiang Tai, and it should not be hidden.

Jiang Tai was naturally furious, but he knew that Ran Qiji would tell Jiang Mo the real cause of Taizun's death, and Jiang Mo might guess his plan. That coward was afraid of being assassinated and thought that only by staying in Dongyu could he save his life. Ran Qiji would certainly not order Jiang Mo to return home.

Jiang Tai could only force Ran Zhugu to death.

"Your Majesty was poisoned by Concubine Wen, and the Prince of Zhenyuan wants to investigate. Could it be that he wants me to sentence Concubine Wen to death for regicide? The national funeral ceremony has been completed, and the Ministry of Rites has agreed to send the late emperor's coffin to the Kunlun Temple first, and then bury him after the mausoleum is built. However, the funeral ceremony cannot wait for several years to be held. As a filial son, how can the Prince of Zhenyuan ignore the funeral ceremony?"

There were no outsiders in the meeting hall now. In fact, everyone present knew how Taizun died, so Ran Zhugu naturally did not need to be cautious when responding.

He retorted coldly.

"Concubine Wen was forced by His Majesty to poison His Majesty's medicinal food, but this does not mean that Prince Zhenyuan will forgive His Majesty's crime of patricide and regicide after knowing it!"

"Ran Zhugu, how dare you accuse His Majesty?!" Yao Wuyong slammed the table and roared.

He is the old father of Queen Mother Yao.

Yao Wuyong is now over seventy years old, but he had actually started to live a life of luxury twenty years ago. As a result, he did not contribute anything in the founding war of the Northern Han Dynasty, and naturally he was not valued at all when Jiang Xiongying was in power. The Yao clan now has 20,000 soldiers, and they are the "trash soldiers" that are ridiculed by the Northern Han Dynasty. Even Jiang Tai is not confident in handing over any of the fortresses in the four passes of Guanzhong to the Yao clan to guard. Now the troops under the jurisdiction of the Yao clan have been incorporated into the Beijing Guards. They are usually said to be responsible for patrolling the city, but in fact they are just a group of soldiers who are idle in the city.

Even the battle in which Jiang Tai seized the throne did not actually involve the Yao clan.

Ran Zhugu never took such people seriously.

"Yao Wuyong, are you going to force me to summon the chief ministers to make a public decision on whether the Grand Master is willing to abdicate the throne?"

The tribal heads' judgment is an old tradition of the Qiang tribe. Before the establishment of the Northern Han Dynasty, the succession to the Khan's throne had to be decided by the tribal heads. The Qiang tribe was originally composed of many tribal alliances. Over the hundreds of years, the large tribal alliances annexed the small tribal alliances, and eventually formed the current eighteen tribes. Each tribe has a tribal head, and the tribal alliances that support Jiang Tai now only account for six tribes. Although the remaining tribal alliances do not all support Jiang Mo, and there are also neutral onlookers, the strength of the Ran tribe should not be underestimated among all the eighteen tribes.

Jiang Tai stared at Ran Zhugu with a gloomy look, but there was nothing he could do now.

As long as Jiang Mo left Xiangyang City and entered Wuguan Pass, he had arranged for the Xinfuwei tribe, which he directly commanded, to ambush him. If Jiang Mo died, Ran Qiji would be held responsible for failing to protect him properly. He would then give the Ran tribe a way out and put the blame of ambush and murder of Jiang Mo on Dong Yu.

In this way, it would be reasonable to detain the Lord of Shenyuan Palace permanently in Northern Han.

The peace talks with Dongyu fell through. There was no way Dongyu would openly declare war for Lord Shenyuan. He gained leeway to show goodwill to Beizhao. Lord Shenyuan's stay in Dongyu would be harmful rather than beneficial to the alliance of the six tribes. He designed to lure Lord Shenyuan to Qiang and Han in order to join forces with Beizhao and other countries to attack and destroy Dongyu in the future.

But now Jiang Mo has clearly seen through his trick and is unwilling to return to the country to attend the funeral. If he wants to punish Jiang Mo, how could Ran Zhugu compromise?

Jiang Tai had no choice but to discuss countermeasures with his think tank Jiang Gaofan.

Of course, the people he trusted the most were the Yao clan and his two brothers. However, not only were Yao Wuyong and his son only good at speaking harsh words, but his two younger brothers only suggested that they should not turn against the Ran clan at this time, and they did nothing else. The wisdom of this group of cronies was far inferior to Wen Qu's. But Wen Qu was Wen's elder brother. Although he was now Jiang Tai's "father-in-law", he seemed to regard Concubine Wen as an abandoned child. However, after all, Jiang Mo was not dead yet, and with the Ran clan as his backing, Wen Qu could not put all his eggs in Jiang Tai's basket.

Jiang Gaofan quickly gave suggestions for response.

"Whether the Prince of Zhenyuan can stay in Xiangyang, in the final analysis, doesn't it depend on whether the Emperor of Dongyu is willing to let him stay? Although the two princes of Dongyu have returned to their country, the Lord of Shenyuan Palace and the Left Deputy Envoy are still in Shangjing. Your Majesty said before that the Left Deputy Envoy didn't really care whether the Lord stayed or left, but only cared about whether the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established. I thought that although the Left Deputy Envoy was smart, she was limited by her age, and after all, she was just a woman. Although she saw that Your Majesty would keep the Lord, she never thought that Your Majesty had no intention of negotiating peace with Dongyu.

Moreover, the Prince of Zhenyuan is unwilling to return to Han, and the Left Deputy Envoy can hardly guarantee her own safety. She intends to be the mother of the country, so she must return to Dongyu. If she persuades the Left Deputy Envoy to report to the Emperor of Dongyu, and the Emperor of Dongyu orders the forced expulsion of the Prince of Zhenyuan, can the Prince of Zhenyuan go to Northern Zhao except to return to her country?"

The emperor of Northern Zhao hated Jiang Xiongying. Jiang Tai firmly believed that Northern Zhao would never support Jiang Xiongying's biological son. After all, Jiang Mo had strongly advised to send troops to aid Shuzhou. In the view of Northern Zhao, it would undoubtedly be an alliance with Dongyu to become the enemy of Northern Zhao!

"Dong Yu expelled Prince Zhenyuan, causing him to be ambushed and killed on his way back home. If this statement that Dong Yu was actually trying to sow discord and cause internal strife in our dynasty is believed by the vast majority of the tribe leaders, then Your Majesty won't have to worry about Ran Zhugu using the threat of summoning the tribe leaders for a judgment."

So Yingshu was summoned by Jiang Tai again.

"Prince Zhenyuan is unwilling to leave Xiangyang City?" Ying Shu naturally pretended to be mistaken.

Of course Jiang Tai couldn't tell Ying Shu directly that it was he who forced Concubine Wen to poison Jiang Xiongying. If he revealed such a secret, there was no guarantee that this clever Deputy Left Envoy would not think that he would never tolerate Jiang Mo's plan to enter Wuguan safely.

"The royal family of our Great Qiang actually produced such a cowardly and incompetent person." Jiang Tai shook his head and sighed, with a face full of shame: "I didn't expect that he would take the initiative to propose peace talks. His intention was actually because he was worried that I would mind that he was the crown prince chosen by the Grand Master, and I would regard him as a threat and cut him off completely!"

Ying Shu raised her eyebrows and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly. If the Prince of Zhenyuan was really a coward, why would he have to go from Jiankang to Xiangyang first, and then regret it when he met Governor Ran?"

"If he doesn't meet with Ran Qiji, Ran Qiji will question whether it was Emperor Yu who forced him to stay in Jiankang Palace. How could Emperor Yu create a rift with our dynasty because of a coward like him? Although my brother is cowardly, he is not stupid. He must appease the Ran clan and prove that Emperor Yu did not force him. Only then will Emperor Yu not force him out of the territory."

"In this case, Your Majesty should issue an order to order King Zhenyuan to return to his country and fulfill his loyalty and filial piety as a subject."

Jiang Tai frowned.

Logically speaking, Jiang Mo did not respect his imperial order and was unwilling to return to the country to see Jiang Xiongying to his death, so the Dongyu court should not be allowed to judge him.

"He is now in Xiangyang, wholeheartedly seeking refuge in Dongyu. He will certainly not obey my orders. Even if I send another envoy, I cannot punish the ministers who do not obey my orders in the cities under Dongyu's jurisdiction."

There is some truth in this.

Ying Shu nodded: "Foreign ministers should not interfere in your country's internal affairs, but this matter is related to the peace talks between the two countries. Your Majesty summoned a foreign minister today, probably to listen to his advice, right?"

No, I want you to surrender your country's emperor and expel Jiang Mo directly.

However, Yingshu would not give Jiang Tai the opportunity to speak openly.

"I and Princess Ran are on good terms. Perhaps Princess Ran can trust me. In fact, all she wants is for her family to be safe. She doesn't want to be separated from the King of Zhenyuan. If Your Majesty doesn't mind, I can explain to Princess Ran that Your Majesty can allow the King of Zhenyuan and his family to leave the capital and continue to live in seclusion. There is no need to worry about being burdened by the seizure of power."

This is totally an excuse!

But Jiang Tai certainly couldn't force Yingshu. He also firmly believed that Ran would naturally not be willing to be a lobbyist. After Ran refused, it would not be too late for him to "discuss" with Yingshu.

Who knew that Princess Ran actually agreed.

Yingshu replied happily: "The princess said that the King of Zhenyuan is not afraid of death, but he is destined to be involved in the power struggle, and he knows..." She hesitated for a moment, raised her head and said: "Your Majesty, please don't blame me for what I say next, which may offend the Queen Mother."

"You can say whatever you want. I know that the Left Deputy Envoy is just repeating the words of Princess Zhenyuan."

"Zhenyuan Wang knows that the Queen Mother is extremely jealous of Concubine Wen and has repeatedly advocated the extermination of Zhenyuan Wang's line. However, Your Majesty is determined to reform the system and follow the Chinese etiquette and laws, advocating the rule of filial piety. Not to mention Zhenyuan Wang, even the Queen Mother is very worried. If the Queen Mother uses filial piety to pressure Your Majesty in the future, the Zhenyuan Wang Mansion will be in danger.

To be on the safe side, and of course to persuade King Zhenyuan, the princess hopes that Your Majesty will issue a letter to request our dynasty to send troops to escort King Zhenyuan back to the country. At the same time, it is also a testimony that Your Majesty attaches great importance to the relationship between brothers and sisters, and allows King Zhenyuan and his family to live in Kunlun Xu. The princess can go to Xiangyang in person to persuade King Zhenyuan to put his worries aside. "

Let Dongyu send troops to escort Jiang Mo into the country, and also give Jiang Mo a golden medal of immunity from death in the form of a letter from the credible state? ? ?

This must not be agreed to. If such a condition is agreed to, it would be better to let Jiang Mo die of old age in Dongyu.

Jiang Tai thought he was forced into a dilemma by Princess Ran.

But he really couldn't find a reason to force Yingshu to act according to his orders. He was also worried that a tough attitude would alert the enemy and lead to an even more unfavorable situation. After thinking it over, he set his sights on Madam Wei. Madam Wei, who was always obedient to him, was in a difficult situation this time.

"If I were to speak, Deputy Envoy Zuo would know that I was merely relaying your Majesty's words. Moreover, given Deputy Envoy Zuo's cunningness, if she cannot guarantee the safety of Prince Zhenyuan's entry into Wuguan, she would certainly not be used by your Majesty and let Dongyu take the risk. She herself would even have to bear a huge responsibility."

"Please, Madam, take the trouble to think of a comprehensive solution for me."

"I hope Your Majesty will give me two more days to think about it carefully." Madam Wei sighed.

Jiang Tai had not thought of asking Queen Mother Yao for help, but Queen Mother Yao had already heard the news and told Jiang Lina about it: "Jiang Gaofan's suggestion is indeed good this time..."

As soon as I finished my opening remarks, Jiang Lina raised her nose and snorted, "Is there any need to say more?"

Queen Mother Yao felt a tightness in her chest.

She was a person who valued tradition, and she could not change her habit of regarding Han people as inferior and untouchable. Until then, she still felt that only Duke Xiping was qualified to be her son-in-law, and was very bothered that her daughter was determined to remarry a inferior and untouchable. However, not long ago, in order to make up for her "debt" to Duke Xiping, she specifically instructed Yao Hong to express his intention to remarry Duke Xiping's Tudongdang. Yao Hong had a daughter who was only sixteen years old, young and beautiful. Although her status was not as noble as that of a princess of a country, she was born in the Yao clan. The empress dowager believed that marrying her to Tudongdang was enough to make up for Jiang Lina's "regret" of insisting on divorce.

The Tudong Party should feel fortunate.

As a result, Tu Dongdang politely rejected Yao Hong, claiming that he was about to have a great-grandson, and even if he could not win back ***'s "heart", he had no intention of marrying another.

The loss of her direct relationship with the Tu clan made Empress Dowager Yao very sad.

He was a little annoyed: "Although the plan is good, why doesn't the Grand Minister go and persuade the daughter of the Wang family to obey orders?"

"There's no need for 'persuasion'. My brother gave the order directly. Do you think the daughter of the Wang family dares to disobey?"

The Queen Mother thought more carefully this time: "The daughter of the Wang family is cunning. She compromised on the issue of the daughter of the Xuan family staying in our court temporarily. Your Majesty should not force her. What's more, the one who is more cunning is the Ran family..."

Jiang Lina listened to the Queen Mother's detailed account, but she grasped the key point: "Mother, what the daughter of the Wang family said was clearly a warning to my brother to beware of meddling in politics in the name of filial piety. My brother's attention is now on Jiang Mo, so it's not surprising that he neglected it. How come my mother didn't realize it?!"

"Why would your brother care about what a Han woman says?"

"Mother, don't forget that Wei is also a Han woman. Although Wang's daughter is not enough to influence brother's opinion, Wei is definitely not insignificant in brother's mind! Don't let brother accept Wei's delaying tactic proposed by Wang's daughter in order to trick Jiang Mo to leave Xiangyang! Otherwise, again and again, brother will be under the shadow of mother's pressure of filial piety, and he will fall into the trap of Wei and others to alienate him!!!

Mother, in fact, my brother's strategy is not enough to cut the weeds completely. Even if Jiang Mo is dead, the Ran clan is still there, and the mother and son of the Ran clan are still alive. They will not give up the idea of ​​turning the tide. The Wei clan will definitely collude with them to suppress mother and the Yao clan, and then find a way to suppress the Wu clan!

We must now defeat the Wei family's conspiracy. My brother is indecisive, and mother can force Wang's daughter to submit. In this way, mother will help my brother solve his urgent problem. When mother exposes the conspiracy of Wei family and others, she will have a chance to win my brother's trust."

"It's easy for you to say that, but the Wang family girl is not easy to deal with! Your Majesty is still insisting on being respectful to her, how can we force her to submit?!"

"Wang's daughter is not easy to deal with, but Xuan's daughter is a fool. I don't believe that these two women are really inseparable. If you are not sure, why not watch how I act? You just need to support and cooperate with me!"

Jiang Lina is now very excited. She regards this opportunity as a sweet moment to "gallop side by side" with Jiang Gaofan. If she completes the Da Shangchen plan, the two of them will go down in history!

"Mother, you can't hesitate any longer, unless you really want to be a decoration for the rest of your life!"