Chapter 276: The Noble General Gets Carried Away

The flower boat was dragging upstream on the Qinhuai River, and a group of former ministers and generals were drinking and having fun in the cabin. The core of the conversation was naturally around the establishment of the queen and the consort in the Jiaotai Palace today, and the ceremony of conferring the title to be held on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival.

Regarding the fact that Princess Yue Qiluo of the Uighur Khanate was canonized as the Imperial Noble Consort by Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian, the reactions of the civil officials and generals in the entire Youyun area were exactly the same.

Xiong Kai, the garrison commander of Youzhou, said with a mouth full of alcohol: "Everyone, speaking of the emperor's establishment of the queen and the consort today, I never expected that Yue Qiluo could be canonized as the Imperial Noble Consort of our Tang Dynasty as a princess of a surrendered country;"

"I can't figure this out!"

As soon as this was said, it immediately resonated with the civil officials and generals of the court on the flower boat.

He Kuan, the governor of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, also sneered and said, "Who says it's not true!"

"Although the emperor finally listened to the opinions of our ministers and did not make the absurd decision to appoint the empresses of the East and West Palaces;"

"But, the imperial concubine of my great country of the Celestial Empire is actually a foreign witch. If this witch often whispers in the emperor's ear in the future, then the Han people in Anxi and on the Silk Road will suffer!"

He Kuan continued angrily, "I heard that the emperor was attacked in the Huihe Palace. The assassin was originally arranged by Has, the old prime minister of the Uighur Khanate; "

"In this case, I have to wonder if the imperial concubine had planned a self-torture trick when she blocked the assassin's arrow for the emperor in the Uighur Palace!"

"I am afraid that the emperor is kind-hearted and has been fooled by this witch from the Western Regions!"

"What Lord He said is very true!"

"As the saying goes, those who are not of my race must have different hearts..."

For a while, a group of civil officials and generals from the north and south on the flower boat immediately started to criticize the imperial concubine Yue Qiluo.

And all this was done under the instruction of "Uncle of the King" Liu Ziyu.

He needs to warm up first so that he can win the support of the southern civil officials and generals group in the next action against the imperial concubine Yue Qiluo.

After all, removing Yue Qiluo from power would be beneficial to controlling the smuggling trade on the Silk Road in the future, and all the civil and military officials present would be the direct beneficiaries of this matter.

Ahem!

Just as everyone was discussing heatedly, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Su Chen, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

He coughed twice, and after everyone quieted down, he said slowly: "Everyone, listen to me!"

"The emperor canonized the princess of the surrendered country as the imperial concubine today, just because he was attracted by her identity as a princess of the Huihe Kingdom, and the Huihe Khanate is the leader of the 36 countries in the Western Regions;"

"The emperor's move is just to win over the Western Regions to ensure the smooth flow of the Silk Road!"

"But--"

As he said, Su Chen changed the subject, with a bit of playfulness in his tone, and said: "If someone in the Huihe Khanate or the Western Regions is blinded by lard and does something on the Silk Road..."

Hahaha!

Su Chen wanted to say something but stopped, but couldn't help laughing out loud.

The other officials on the flower boat were not stupid either. They immediately heard the implication of the Governor-General of Liangjiang Su Chen, and nodded in praise with a smile.

Liu Ziyu, the "uncle of the emperor" sitting in the main seat, was already drunk, but he immediately realized what Su Chen meant.

Yes!

The emperor appointed Yue Qiluo as the imperial concubine, just to stabilize the situation in the Western Regions, so as to ensure that the Silk Road connecting the Western Regions and the Central Plains was unimpeded, so as to vigorously develop the economy of the Tang Dynasty.

If this imperial concubine Yue Qiluo not only failed to help the emperor stabilize the situation in the Western Regions, but instead caused frequent troubles in the Western Regions, then it would be difficult for her to hold on to her position as the imperial concubine of the new dynasty.

Fishing in troubled waters, this is Liu Ziyu's strong point.

When he was the garrison general of Wuzhou City in the previous dynasty, he did a lot of "raising the enemy and protecting himself". On the one hand, he secretly colluded with the Turks to smuggle and trade, and on the other hand, he used the safety of the border town to coerce the court and the Ministry of War to continuously allocate funds and mobilize troops.

Now, it is nothing more than using the methods he used in Wuzhou City to the Western Regions.

Liu Ziyu is not familiar with this matter.

Smart people always stop talking when they are talking.

After receiving feedback from Su Chen, the governor of Liangjiang, the civil and military officials on the flower boat stopped talking about the emperor's canonization of the imperial concubine.

Instead, the topic of the chat was directed to the canonization ceremony on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival.

Su Chen, the governor of Liangjiang, relied on his personal relationship with Li Jingyu, the minister of the Ministry of War, and talked to everyone about the news about the canonization ceremony that he had heard from Li Jingyu.

Su Chen said: "Generals, I have heard some gossip about the canonization ceremony. The emperor will confer the titles of Duke of the State, 18 Marquises, and 36 Earls at the canonization ceremony on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival!"

Hiss——

As soon as these words came out, the flower boat suddenly became silent.

In particular, the military officials present cast their curious eyes on Su Chen, the governor of Liangjiang.

Even the uncle of the emperor, Liu Ziyu, who was sitting in the main seat, couldn't help but look at Su Chen a few more times.

This was the first time Liu Ziyu had heard about the specific number of people who were conferred titles at this ceremony.

Su Chen continued to talk: "Although the emperor has not yet finalized the list of people for the ceremony, we can actually calculate the approximate list of people who will be conferred titles based on the military merits of the various generals in the Longcheng army since the emperor started the uprising;"

"First of all, the two deputy marshals of the two armies, Chang Yuchun and Chen Qingzhi, will definitely occupy two seats of dukes;"

"There is also the brave general Pang Xianchu, who is the vanguard commander of the former emperor's imperial camp and a brave general in the Po Lu army. He was adopted by the former emperor since he was a child. Although he did not worship the former emperor as his adoptive father, they were as close as father and son. He should also be able to occupy a seat of dukes;"

"In addition, the Duke of Ying, Fan Wuji, who died on the front line of the Nanyue capital, has four dukes!"

Su Chen's analysis was very logical, and the civil and military officials on the flower boat listened with relish, nodding and agreeing from time to time.

According to him, the six dukes have already been confirmed, so who will get the remaining two seats?

For a moment, all the civil and military officials on the flower boat subconsciously cast their eyes on the uncle Liu Ziyu who was sitting at the main seat of the flower boat.

Seeing this, Liu Ziyu couldn't help but straighten his back and accepted the envious gazes from everyone with a look of enjoyment.

"Everyone guessed right!"

The old fox Su Chen was also a smart man. He immediately patted his chest and said: "In my humble opinion, I dare to guarantee that the remaining two places for the Duke of the Tang Dynasty will definitely have a place for the uncle!"