Painting Doctor Jinhua

Chapter 195 Willing to Exchange Two Counties for Xie Zhen

In Zhaoyang Palace, Wei Shou was drafting an imperial edict according to Gao Zhan's wishes, intending to appoint Gao Guiyan as the right prime minister. Gao Yuanhai then said to Gao Zhan, "Grand Tutor Gao Guiyan is already too famous. Wherever he goes, everyone admires him. All the nobles in the court are friends with him. If he is appointed as the right prime minister, it will surely boost his arrogance. When the time comes, he will raise his arm and call for millions of soldiers to join him, which will surely cause chaos in the country!"

He Shikai also said: "The Grand Tutor is now in a high position, he is already complacent, corrupt and accepting bribes, and has hundreds of concubines in his house. Your Majesty really can't give him the position of Right Prime Minister, and... Your Majesty ascended the throne as the Right Prime Minister!"

After He Shikai said this, Gao Zhan's face really changed. He and his sixth brother Gao Yan launched a coup and successfully helped Gao Yan to the throne. Gao Yan then promoted him to the position of right prime minister. His sixth brother also promised him at that time that he would make him the heir to the throne, but later he wanted to make his son Gao Bainian the crown prince. He hated Gao Yan's breach of promise and wanted to launch a mutiny again, but Gao Guiyan, who had a million soldiers, stood on his side and made Gao Yan pass the throne to him.

Of course, his mother Lou Zhaojun also contributed to this.

But if he didn't appoint him as the right prime minister, he was afraid that it would cause dissatisfaction with Gao Guiyan. When he was in a dilemma, he saw "Xie Zhen" walking into Zhaoyang Palace in response to the order, so he asked: "Xie Qing, come and have a look. Can you give me some advice? What should I do now?"

After hearing the whole story, Xiao Jinyu was secretly puzzled: Logically speaking, Gao Guiyan and Gao Yuanhai should be in the same boat with Lu Lingxuan, but why are He Shikai and Gao Yuanhai trying to stop Gao Guiyan's promotion? Could it be that the two failed to reach an agreement?

"If Your Majesty is really afraid of his reputation, why not transfer him away from Yecheng, just like the King of Hejian?"

Gao Zhan was very pleased, so he asked Wei Shou to rewrite the imperial edict, appointing Gao Guiyan as the governor of Jizhou, and ordered the palace guards not to allow Gao Guiyan to enter the palace again.

Gao Guiyan was about to attend a grand court meeting when he was informed of the news by the palace guards. He was furious and thought of the letter he received from Lu Lingxuan the night before. He was extremely disdainful at the time, thinking that a servant who had already fallen out of favor dared to threaten him. He did not expect that he would be tricked by the villain around His Majesty.

"I heard that in addition to He Shikai and Gao Yuanhai slandering your majesty, even Xie Zhen, who has just gained the emperor's favor, advised your majesty to send you away!"

Hearing the news from his spies, Gao Guiyan became even angrier, but the matter was already settled and it was impossible to ask the emperor to revoke the order, so he had no choice but to obey the order and go to Jizhou.

Before leaving, Zhaojun Wang Gao Rui had a long conversation with him, but no one knew what they talked about.

……

"In this way, Gao Guiyan will certainly feel resentment towards Xie Zhen and dissatisfaction with Your Majesty. When he arrives in Jizhou, we will fan the flames and tell him that Your Majesty wants to kill him. This will surely make him rebel. Then we will let He Shikai instigate Your Majesty to order Xie Zhen to suppress the rebellion, and finally... let Gao Guiyan kill Xie Zhen!"

"This plan of killing someone with a borrowed knife is really brilliant!"

Mutipo seemed to have seen the most satisfactory result, with a smug smile on his face.

Lu Lingxuan was calm and collected, but the corners of her lips curled slightly, showing a lot of anticipation.

……

Three days later, the Zhou Kingdom's envoys finally arrived in Yecheng. What surprised Xiao Jinyu was that in addition to Dugu Shan, there was also Yuwen Zhi in the delegation. And the leader of the delegation responsible for welcoming back Yan was a general of the Zhou Kingdom, Dou Yi, who was from the Daibei Dou clan!

"I heard that Mr. Dou is very upright and is strongly opposed to ceding land in exchange for Yuwen Hu's mother, Yan."

Xie Yuxuan informed Xiao Jinyu of all the information she had received from the Zhou Kingdom.

"Since the defeat of the Southern Chen in the Battle of Dunkou two years ago, Duke Wei Yuwen Zhi was dismissed by Yuwen Hu and has been unemployed at home. Although he appears to be respectful to Yuwen Hu, he actually harbors resentment and has now joined the camp of Yuwen Yong, the King of Zhou.

But this person is very cunning and has his own opinions. Sister needs to be careful in dealing with him."

Xiao Jinyu went to Duanmen in person to greet him as Xie Zhen.

Both Yuwen Zhi and Gu Dushan had seen her on Mount Fahua in Nanchen, so the meeting did not seem strange at all.

Especially Yuwen Zhi, he looked her up and down with a meaningful look, and said with a smile: "Thank you, my dear, we meet again!"

"Oh no, now I should call him Minister Xie. I heard that Minister Xie is now deeply favored by the Lord of Qi and has been promoted all the way. Now he is a senior official of Qi.

It is true that when a man has been away for three days, he should be looked at with new eyes! "

After Yuwen Zhi's introduction, Dou Yi also became fascinated by "Xie Zhen".

Xiao Jinyu also responded politely, and then took them to the Taiji Hall to present the letter to Qi Lord Gao Zhan.

Gao Zhan ordered people to prepare a banquet to entertain the Zhou envoy. When the banquet was in full swing, Dou Yi suddenly raised his glass to toast Gao Zhan, and then turned to Xiao Jinyu.

"I have three questions for Your Majesty during this mission to your country. I would like to ask your Minister Xie Zhen, Xie Zhen, the Minister of your country?"

Xiao Jinyu also stood up and returned the greeting, "Excuse me, Your Excellency?"

"I heard that Minister Xie once talked about the way to govern the country when he was negotiating with our great governor Wei in Yubi City. However, I heard that the ancestors of the Xie family entered the government as Taoists, and Minister Xie is also proficient in Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. May I ask, in Minister Xie's opinion, what is the right way to govern the country?"

"In the past, He Yan and Wang Bi proposed that the universe and all things are based on 'nothingness', disdained classics, suppressed benevolence and righteousness, and used idle words and idle talk to sway the younger generation, causing the gentry to change their ways, leading to the destruction of rituals and music, the overthrow of the Central Plains, and the remaining customs and practices are still a problem today.

This crime is even worse than the temporary tyranny of Jie and Zhou!

Those who are in their posts, planning their policies, and who are careful in thinking and discerning, should cultivate themselves to be respectful, cultivate themselves to comfort others, and cultivate themselves to comfort the people.

Therefore, Zhen believes that using Confucianism as the knowledge for governing the world, being a sage inside and a king outside, and practicing benevolent governance are the right way to create eternal peace! "

The last sentence caused the clinking of glasses at the banquet to suddenly stop, and Gao Zhan, who was sitting in the Taiji Hall, could not help but fall into deep thought.

Dou Yi smiled and nodded slightly when he heard this, and sighed: "Minister Xie is indeed a sober and transcendent person, different from those scholars in the Southern Dynasty who advocated flattery and the legacy of the Wei and Jin Dynasties!"

After that, he asked, "My second question is, what is Minister Xie's ambition?"

This question made everyone look at Xie Zhen curiously, thinking: This question is not easy to answer. We are now in the Taiji Palace and in front of the emperor. Xie Zhen is already in a high position. He can't say that he aspires to be a king, right?

But if I don’t answer this way, does it mean that my ambition only lies in this, or that I have no lofty ambitions?

Just as everyone was guessing, Xiao Jinyu smiled and said, "Zhen is planning for the family, so that my Xie family will no longer sink in the long river of history. This is the first ambition.

After the Battle of Feishui, our ancestor of the Xie family gained great reputation and was once feared by the emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Fortunately, Huan Yi, the General of the Central Army of Cai, played the zither in front of the palace and advised: "It is not easy to be a king, and it is even more difficult to be a minister. If loyalty and faithfulness are not shown, there will be suspicion." Only then did he avoid the danger and resigned from office and retired.

Therefore, I teach by words and deeds: to bring peace to the world, to retire after my mission is accomplished, and the people will all say that I am doing it naturally, and this is the second ambition. "

After hearing this, Dou Yi's eyes brightened and he looked at Xiao Jinyu with even more admiration.

There was a sound of whispers in the hall, and there was an indescribable change in Gao Zhan's eyes.

"Excuse me, what is the third question?" During Dou Yi's silence, Xiao Jinyu asked first.

Dou Yi finally came to his senses at this moment, bowed to Xiao Jinyu, and replied respectfully:

"Your Majesty's third question is, I heard that Minister Xie once accepted the Emperor's assessment in the Taiji Palace of Qi State, and wrote a poem, 'People have joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, the moon waxes and wanes, this has always been difficult to achieve, I wish you a long life, and we can enjoy the beauty of the moon together even though we are thousands of miles apart.' Is this the whole poem?"

"No!" Xiao Jinyu answered firmly.

Her answer caused even more buzzing around her. One line of poetry was enough to be passed down through the ages, but it wasn't even the whole poem?

Dou Yi's eyes lit up, and he couldn't wait to ask, "What's the whole poem?"

"When will the bright moon come? Ask the sky for wine."

Xiao Jinyu did not hesitate at all, raised the cup, looked at the bright jade steps outside the hall, and chanted.

It was a full moon night, and the sky outside the Taiji Hall was bright and clear.

"I wonder what year it is today in the palace in the sky?"

After the two lines of poetry came out, everyone fell silent.

"I want to ride the wind back home, but I'm afraid it's too cold in the high places."

When the topic of "it's lonely at the top" came to mind, many ministers at the banquet fell silent and thought, and even Gao Zhan showed a hint of shock in his eyes.

"Dancing clear shadow, like in the world."

"..."

When the whole poem was finished, no one was able to speak. Some even sighed quietly: "What a line! It's lonely at the top!"

It actually made many people feel that serving the king is like serving a tiger.

Dou Yi was silent for a long time again, as if immersed in the atmosphere of the poem. After a long time, he tidied his appearance, walked out of the banquet, and faced Emperor Gao Zhan of Qi.

"Your Majesty, I have something else to say to you, and I need your instructions!"

Gao Zhan said: "Please speak!"

"Your Majesty of our dynasty admires the talent and reputation of Minister Xie and is eager to seek talents. He said that this time when he came to Qi, in addition to bringing back the mother of our dynasty's Grand Chancellor, Lady Yan, he also wanted to ask Your Majesty for someone else.

For this man, His Majesty is willing to exchange two counties for him!"

Dou Yi raised his hand respectfully and saluted, speaking in a sonorous voice.

Two counties!

With a loud bang, all the officials of Qi and the envoys of Zhou who were present stood up in surprise.

"Who does your Majesty want that he is willing to exchange two counties for him?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Dou Yi then turned his gaze towards the "Xie Zhen" sitting opposite him, and replied in a very gentle tone: "It's this Minister Xie, Xie Zhen!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Everyone's eyes were focused on Xiao Jinyu again, which made her feel very unnatural for a moment.

Gao Yanzong, who was sitting next to him, became even more nervous.

If she was really Xie Zhen, she could naturally choose to serve another country, but she was his fourth sister-in-law and the Princess of Lanling!

Moreover, although the words of the Zhou envoy appeared to show that the King of Zhou valued Xie Zhen, it also undoubtedly put her in the target of public criticism!

"What is this? Minister Xie is not a commodity of our Qi State. How can we exchange it at will?"

Gao Yanzong was afraid that Gao Zhan would agree immediately, so he stood up and retorted anxiously.

"My dear, please do not misunderstand. Our emperor respects the virtuous and capable, and promotes people based on their talents. The two counties are just recognizing and respecting Minister Xie, and have no intention of using him as a commodity for exchange!"

"Excuse me, Your Excellency. Is this the intention of your country's Grand Chancellor Yuwen Hu? Or is it the intention of your country's ruler?" Xiao Jinyu couldn't help but ask.

Dou Yi was silent for a moment, then replied: "It is the will of His Majesty of our dynasty, and has nothing to do with the Grand Chancellor!"

Xiao Jinyu nodded: "Okay, I understand."

What does this mean? What Yuwen Hu meant and what the King of Zhou meant, don't they both represent the Zhou Kingdom?

The ministers of Qi State present were full of doubts and turned their eyes to Gao Zhan in the Taiji Hall, but they saw that this emperor, who had always acted ridiculously, was silent at this moment.

Under Dou Yi's expectant gaze, the emperor suddenly raised his eyes and a teasing smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"I understand your sincerity, but your ruler values ​​talents and only promotes people based on their abilities. Do I not value talents?"

Gao Zhan laughed for a while, then said seriously, "Sorry, I won't change! Your Excellency should take the mother of your country's Grand Chancellor, Yan, back to Zhou Kingdom as soon as possible!"

Gao Zhan's answer undoubtedly shocked everyone in the hall!

This ridiculous emperor actually knew how to value talents? If he really valued talents, he wouldn't be close to villains and stay away from wise officials and kill so many loyal officials and generals!

Gao Yanzong's clenched fists finally relaxed, and he couldn't help but smile when he looked at Xiao Jinyu.

Dou Yi had also expected that the Emperor of Qi was absurd and would certainly not be able to succumb to such temptation, but he did not expect that he would actually... refuse?

After a moment's silence, Dou Yi bowed with a hint of disappointment and retreated to the table.

A banquet became silent and boring.

After submitting the letter, Dou Yi said goodbye to the King of Qi and returned to Zhou with Yuwen Hu's mother the next day.

Before leaving, Yuwen Hu's mother Yan specifically begged to see Xiao Jinyu. Although her eyesight was dim, the old lady was very kind and happy when she saw Xiao Jinyu dressed as "Xie Zhen".

"You are the brother that young master mentioned, right? Thank you, young master, for allowing me to return to the Zhou Kingdom one day."

"You are too polite, old lady. This is what your son asked for! I hope you can enjoy your old age in peace after returning to Zhou Kingdom!"

"Thank you!"

The old lady thanked him solemnly and then got on the delegation's carriage under the leadership of Dou Yi.

Dou Yi was very surprised and puzzled when he saw this. When the delegation left, he could not help asking:

"Madam, why are you so respectful and grateful to Xie Zhen?"

Yan replied, "Your Excellency, you don't know that this Minister Xie is a very smart and kind person. The last time His Majesty of Qi wanted to send me back to Zhou, Minister Xie calculated that it was not the best time and that there would be trouble on the way. As expected, I encountered robbers and pursuers as soon as I left Yecheng.

Later, the young man told me not to worry or be sad, because perhaps before long, an envoy from the Zhou Kingdom would come to personally welcome me back to the country.

So, you guys are really here?"

"And during the time I lived in the Beigong Palace of Qi State, Minister Xie sent people to protect me and stopped several people who wanted to assassinate me. Minister Xie was very kind to me, but unfortunately I am afraid that I will never be able to repay him in this lifetime!"

Dou Yi fell silent again, thinking to himself: It seems that what General Wei said is absolutely true. This Xie Zhen is really capable of foresight and had planned all this long ago.

What a pity! Even two counties cannot get such a talent!

While he was thinking about it, the delegation's convoy suddenly stopped. He lifted the curtain and saw that "Xie Zhen" brought someone over.

"What can I do for you, Minister Xie?"

Xiao Jinyu raised her hand and saluted, then pushed the person behind her and said, "This is Dugu Luo, the eldest son of your country's great general Gu Duxin. Please take him back to Zhou State!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Dugu Shan jumped off the carriage and walked over.

But Dugu Luo was very reluctant and said, "No, I don't want to go back now, Minister Xie, I'll be helping you in the Xinghua Yanyu Tower and it's fine!"

"But you are the son of the great general Gu Duxin, how can you be content to stay in a Xinghua Yanyu Tower?

What's more, while your loved ones are still alive, you should respect and be filial to them. Don't wait until your father is gone to regret it. "

"Go back!" Xiao Jinyu said solemnly again.

Seeing that Dugu Luo was still hesitating, she handed him a jade pendant and said, "Since we have known each other for a while, this is my gift to you for your return home and reunion with your family! Go back!"

In his previous life, it was only after Gudu Xin died that the State of Qi released Gudu Luo. After being released, Dugu Luo did not return to the State of Zhou until the demise of Northern Qi.

Dugu Luo stopped talking, but his eyes revealed a hint of reluctance. This was the first person he had ever met in his life who had helped him and shown him kindness.

Dugu Shan also bowed and said, "Thank you!" Then he pulled Gudu Luo into the carriage.

The delegation left and walked a long way, but Dugu Luo still looked at the gradually receding gate of Yecheng with reluctance until he could no longer see Xie Zhen.

After Xiao Jinyu returned to Lanling Palace, Xie Yuxuan joked, "Sister, do you really pity that lonely Luo?"

"What else do you think?"

"I thought the best was yet to come!" Xie Yuxuan said, but seeing that Xiao Jinyu seemed to be in deep thought, she asked again, "Are you worried about the prince?"