Chapter 40: The Young Master of a Noble Family

  Riding a horse through the streets of Tiandu Shengjing, watching the scenery on both sides of the street with a leisurely attitude, Li Xiao suddenly said to Huang Tian beside him: "It seems that the young master has some resistance to the sons of aristocratic families?"

  Hao Tian's face remained expressionless, but he was inwardly shocked. He had always been good at concealing this, but he didn't know how Li Xiao Mo had noticed it. However, he didn't deny it and instead said calmly, "The young master has misunderstood, I wasn't being defiant, I just didn't understand."

  Li Xiao Mo laughed: "Lord Hou, why must you hide it? I, Li, respect Lord Hou as a hot-blooded man, so I asked directly. Your answer is somewhat lacking in courtesy, isn't it?"

  The sky was slightly overcast, and with a faint smile, he said: "The young master is indeed a dragon among men, his actions are truly upright and transparent. In comparison, I am somewhat narrow-minded."

  Li Xiao Mo waved his hand nonchalantly and smiled, saying: "General Hou has been in the military for a long time, and is far away from Tian Du Sheng Jing and the three major families, so some misunderstandings are normal."

  Hao Tian's eyebrows rose again as he looked at Li Xiao's handsome, almost otherworldly face and said calmly: "I don't understand much about the young masters of aristocratic families, but my evaluation of them is indeed not high. It can't be denied that after hundreds of years of comfortable living, most of them have become corrupt and degenerate, and are now the empire's parasites." When he spoke to this point, Yun Tian's tone had become somewhat impolite, and it was clear that he was thinking of the fall of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and the Battle of Hetao during the Northern Expedition. If not for the struggle for power and personal interests among the young masters of aristocratic families at that time, things would not have fallen to this state. He wasn't a person who was good at playing with people's hearts, something that Luo Xiang and Xuan Ji had told him several times, but Hao Tian couldn't change himself.

  "It seems that the Marquis has a deep misunderstanding of our aristocratic families. The Marquis only sees the shortcomings of some of our family members, but fails to see the enormous contributions we have made to the Empire. In the past, it was because of the support of our seven great aristocratic families that the Taizu Emperor was able to unify the world in just ten years and expand his territory. At that time, our family members were scattered throughout the 1.2 million-strong army, making significant contributions to the establishment of our dynasty. Our family members also held important positions in the government, serving as the backbone of the imperial court. The Empire's ability to dominate the world is largely due to the efforts of our seven great aristocratic families. Later, when Taizong came to power, he began to eliminate the founding ministers out of fear of their influence, leaving only three of our families remaining. As a result, not only did the economy decline, but the military's combat effectiveness also plummeted. From then on, the Empire shifted from an offensive to a defensive stance against neighboring tribes. However, we three great aristocratic families have never harbored any resentment towards the imperial family. It was we who helped the Wu Lie Emperor restore power and ensured the continuation of the Empire's rule for another hundred years. Whenever the imperial court went to war with neighboring tribes, our family members were always on the front lines. Although the Empire now selects officials through civil service examinations, our family members consistently occupy a large proportion of the successful candidates. Marquis, you can imagine what the Empire would be like without us aristocratic families."

  Hao Tian curled his lip and said indifferently, "The young master seems to be exaggerating. The sons of aristocratic families made great contributions at the beginning of the dynasty, but after hundreds of years of comfortable life, the pride and blood of their ancestors have gradually diminished. Now, most of the sons of aristocratic families are corrupt officials who love money and cowardly generals, where is the elegance of the past?"

  Li Xiao sighed: "It seems that the Marquis has a problem that he still doesn't understand, and that is the status of aristocratic families. Aristocratic families can only be replaced, not eliminated. Even if the current three major aristocratic families are eliminated, who can guarantee that another Wang or Zhu family won't appear? Moreover, looking at the current court and society, how many martial artists and scholars have the ability to compare with the children of aristocratic families? If those commoner merchants and officials were to govern a region or command an army, would they have the corresponding abilities? In fact, the imperial family is also just another aristocratic family, only with more power than ordinary ones."

  Haotian shook his head: "Someone doesn't think so. The imperial court of Xiangyang has always been a place where talents emerge in large numbers, with four great Confucian scholars and three pillars of the current dynasty, all of whom came from common people. Qingfeng is not without talent, but because of the intentional suppression by the aristocratic families, their abilities cannot be displayed. And it is precisely because of the struggle for power and profit among the aristocratic families that today's disaster has been brewed."

  Li Xiao Mo let out a bitter laugh: "Is the Young Master referring to the defeat of the five routes in Hebei and the annihilation of the Northern Expedition Army? To be honest with you, Young Master, we are still perplexed by these two events until now!"

  Hao Tian was shocked and his horse's hooves slipped slightly, but he quickly regained his balance. Only then did he ask, "Could there be some hidden truth here?"

  That's for sure. Back then, Kasinbas led tens of thousands of Xiongnu allied troops to attack Youyongguan, although the imperial court was still arguing at that time, but it didn't have much impact on the Great Wall defense line. Before this, the three northeastern countries also used similar forces to attack Youyongguan, but were all rejected by the northern army based on geographical advantages. For this attack, the commander of the Northern Army, Lu Zhi, personally led 50,000 soldiers and 60,000 garrison troops to defend the pass. The Xuanwu Army was also ordered to advance northward. Originally thought that this time would be like in the past, but it was at this time that something went wrong. The Xuanwu Army suddenly received a decree issued jointly by the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, ordering them to suspend for three days on the East Sea Road. As for the Northern Army, they were because the information about the defensive position was leaked, and there were traitors making trouble, so Youyongguan was breached in one fell swoop. As for Shanhaiguan, Master Hou will know the truth about its fall later. The northwest Great Wall defense line is also the same, it's just that the commander of the Northwest Army is more confused. As for the Northern Expeditionary Army, it's even more unjust. To be honest, on the night when the Northern Expeditionary Army suffered a great defeat, someone was also in the army. But that night's defeat was still inexplicable. When the Xiongnu allied tribes launched a joint attack, the commanders of the Xuanwu and Baitu armies had already been poisoned to death, and the alien troops only attacked the eastern Xuanwu and Baitu three major armies. As for us, the three major families on the side, they didn't care about us at all. At that time, my uncle was originally preparing to unite and resist the enemy, but at a critical moment, he received a decree from the National Master, ordering us to withdraw immediately. The situation at that time was really too urgent, we didn't have time to verify, and later found out that the decree was fake.

  "The prince's meaning is, isn't someone using the national teacher's name to issue an order for the three major families to withdraw their troops? But the three princes and the national teacher have been serving in the same court for many years, why did they only recognize it as fake later?" Haotian said coldly. He naturally didn't believe that what Li Xiaomo said was true, if such a thing really happened, the three major families would have seen through the truth at a glance, but they just went along with it.

  Li Xiao Mo also seemed to understand the meaning of Huang Tian, and after a bitter smile, he said: "Whether or not Lord Hou believes it, this is indeed the case. Moreover, the person who forged the imperial edict must be particularly familiar with Guoshi. The tone, handwriting, and seal in the edict are all sufficient to deceive people. If Li Mou's guess is correct, this person must have had considerable dealings with Guoshi and others."

  This time, however, he did not object. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Could it be that the young master suspects that Qingfeng has an internal traitor?"

  "Not bad, and this person's status should not be low either. We calculated carefully, and those who are familiar with the national teacher's handwriting, in the imperial court, should at least have the identity of a sixth-grade official, and in the military, at least the rank of deputy commander-in-chief. However, among the six departments, my three major families occupy half according to convention. Iron Zhen Iron and Sima are both old officials who have served for several dynasties, An has been an official for over 30 years and is a confidant of the previous emperor. The various departmental officials and military commanders are all people with roots and foundation, and there is no object of suspicion, so we still know nothing."

  "If the other party has a mole, then they would naturally want to take down all of us major powers at once. So why did they deliberately let the three great families off?" Huáng Tiān asked relentlessly.

  "They are hoping for us to be at odds with each other. As the saying goes, 'a hundred-legged insect dies but does not stiffen', let alone our Qingfeng clan which has a vast territory and millions of people? If the Northern Expedition Army were to truly suffer a crushing defeat, then under the principle of 'when lips are gone, teeth will be cold', our three major families would inevitably cling tightly to the imperial court. In that case, as long as we can hold on to the Yin Wind Mountains and the Great River defense line without losing them, Qingfeng will inevitably have a day when it rises again in the north. But if we are busy with internal strife, then they will inevitably find an opportunity to take advantage of us."

  Haotian nodded, but still said discontentedly: "However, the northern Great Wall defense line collapsed, although there are objective factors, but you three major families must have played a role in this, especially the fact that you deducted military pay, can you really say you've never done it?"

  Li Xiao Mo couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. Huang Tian was indeed a straightforward and sincere person, and now he had thoroughly understood him. If it were someone else, even if they really thought this way in their heart, they would never say it out loud in front of him. But Huang Tian had asked directly, without leaving any room for tact. This man was indeed an open and honest fellow. Li Xiao Mo thought to himself. Sighing, he then said: "I admit this point, but since the previous emperor took over, this has already become a convention. Moreover, the matter of embezzling military funds was single-handedly operated by An Yongchang, the Minister of Revenue. Calculating it, we only took a small part."

  As soon as this was said, the two people stopped talking and let the monotonous sound of horse hooves echo on the wide road, and at the end of the road was the residence of Tiande, the Minister of War.

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