Chapter 115 The conspiracy behind the scenes
This news immediately aroused Song Wenhui's high vigilance and attention. He personally issued instructions, requiring the undercover agents to follow up with all their strength and make sure to find out the purpose of the secret meeting between Jin Yingquan and Gongsun Huan.

In Song Wenhui's opinion, although the Zhenwu Army founded by Shangguan Hongyuan is troublesome, it is only composed of 30,000 people after all, and cannot shake his foundation in Liaoyang. However, if the Zhenwu Army joins forces with the local tyrant Gongsun family, it will be very troublesome!

Although he was the governor of Liaoyang and was known as the local emperor of Liaoyang, in fact, the Liaoyang Province, located in the periphery of the Great Wall, was a place where good and bad people mixed together and various forces were intertwined.

Not only were there highly autonomous ethnic minorities such as the Shiwei and Khitan, as well as countless bandits and horse thieves, but even some of the prefectures and counties under his control were full of local clans and powerful people. Among them, the Gongsun, Cui, and Yun families were the most powerful, and they had great influence both in the military and in the civil service system.

Without the support of these aristocratic families, his policies could only be implemented in the provincial capital Dongning and a few other large cities. More than 50% of the taxes could not be collected, and those generals who came from aristocratic families would not obey his orders.

It is precisely because the influence of the aristocratic families is so great, so if Gongsun clan takes the lead, hooks up with the Zhenwu Army, and stands on the side of Shangguan Hongyuan, it would be extremely bad news for Song Wenhui, and directly threaten his rule in Liaoyang...
Under Song Wenhui's order, the secret agent lurking in the Gongsun clan immediately brought Song Wenhui the latest news. Just as he expected, the meeting between Jin Yingquan and Gongsun Huan was about the discussion related to the Zhenwu Army.

According to the report of the spies, although Gongsun Huan did not decide to completely turn to Shangguan Hongyuan, but in the meeting with Jin Yingquan, Gongsun Huan had promised to help establish the Zhenwu Army in Liaoyang. In return, Jin Yingquan, representing Shangguan Hongyuan, had also agreed that Gongsun Heng, who once served as the Shiwei Recruiting Envoy, would serve as the second-in-command of the Zhenwu Army, a third-rank commander.

Upon receiving this news, Song Wenhui immediately wanted to put pressure on the Gongsun family and force Gongsun Huan to give up his plan to cooperate with the Zhenwu Army. However, after carefully discussing with his advisers, Song Wenhui gave up this plan.

When he took control of Liaoyang more than ten years ago, the three Liaoyang cliques wanted to join forces to sideline him. After a struggle, Song Wenhui won the struggle and forced the three Liaoyang cliques to bow their heads and recognize his rule as the Governor of Liaoyang.

However, in the process, in order to establish his prestige and expand his strength, Song Wenhui not only confiscated some of the fertile land, mines, and horse farms under the Liaoyang Three Clan, and transferred them to his own name, among which he took the most from the Gongsun family. Not only that, he also killed an important figure of the Gongsun family - Gongsun Yu, a family of more than ten people!
Song Wenhui's actions of robbing people of their money and killing entire families directly led to a very tense relationship between him and the Gongsun family.

Although there were deep contradictions between the two, in the face of Song Wenhui's dominance, Gongsun Zhao, the then head of the Gongsun family, chose to endure in silence for the sake of family inheritance and submitted to Song Wenhui.

But when Gongsun Zhao died, things were different when his son Gongsun Huan, the current head of the Gongsun family, came to power.

Gongsun Yu was Gongsun Huan's second uncle, and the two had a very good relationship. When Song Wenhui killed Gongsun Yu's family, Gongsun Huan, who was originally in an important position in the Liaoyang Army, withdrew from the army in anger and no longer served Song Wenhui. He has never served in the government for more than ten years. Therefore, the rise of the hard-line Gongsun Huan made the existing contradictions between Song Wenhui and the Gongsun family even more irreconcilable...
Under the influence of Gongsun Huan, although other members of the Gongsun family still served in the Liaoyang government and the army, they were not on the same page with Song Wenhui.

Song Wenhui had thought about destroying the Gongsun clan, who were disloyal to him. However, on the one hand, the Gongsun clan had been entrenched in Liaoyang for more than 200 years and was very powerful. Many military officers at all levels in the Liaoyang army had connections with the Gongsun clan.

On the other hand, some other aristocratic families such as the Yun family and the Cui family also clearly opposed Song Wenhui's move. Forcing the Gongsun family to take action might not only fail, but also backfire, and the Liaoyang under their rule would be torn apart. So after careful consideration, Song Wenhui was forced to give up this idea.

This time, facing such a Gongsun clan who seemed to be in harmony with him but was actually at odds with him, Song Wenhui made careful calculations and found helplessly that even if he tried his best to put extreme pressure on Gongsun Huan, it was highly likely that he would not be able to change Gongsun Huan's mind and make him give up the alliance with the Zhenwu Army...
Simply exerting pressure could not change Gongsun Huan's mind, and resorting to force would be too risky, so after careful consideration, Song Wenhui decided to strike a balance between the two ideas of pressure and force.

On the one hand, he put pressure on Gongsun Huan, and on the other hand, he found Gongsun Huan's younger brother Gongsun Du and arranged for manpower to support Gongsun Du and stab Gongsun Huan in the back, in order to support Gongsun Du to become the new head of the Gongsun family.

Song Wenhui had a very clear plan. As long as Gongsun Huan died and Gongsun Du came to power, the Gongsun family would be completely transformed. Not only would the alliance with the Zhenwu Army fail, but the entire Gongsun family would become a stepping stone to pry open the entire aristocratic family camp. By then, his rule in Liaoyang would undoubtedly be more stable.

Gongsun Du, who was already ambitious and dissatisfied with his brother's rule in the Gongsun family, could not withstand Song Wenhui's instigation.

After careful preparation half a month ago, a rebellion was immediately launched in the Gongsun family. If Gongsun Huan had not been lucky and had not enjoyed high prestige in the family as the head of the family, and if the clan members were not willing to support him, this time he would have really fallen into the trap and been defeated by his own brother.

Although Gongsun Du failed and all his efforts were wasted, which made Song Wenhui very distressed, but things cannot stop. The establishment of Zhenwu Army is imminent, and they must not be allowed to unite with the Gongsun family.

It was with this idea in mind that Song Wenhui tried his best to facilitate this meeting with Gongsun Huan, hoping to sit down and have a good talk with Gongsun Huan.

See if it is possible to sever the connection between the Gongsun family and the Zhenwu Army through negotiation, even if it means making certain compromises in interests and paying a high price...
(End of this chapter)