Chapter 863: Talent is not recognized and ambition is difficult to achieve!

Murong Lun had been gone for about an incense stick of time, but Shangguan Changgong was still sitting in the meeting room of Wenhua Pavilion...
The conversation with Murong Lun was not long, but for Shangguan Changgong, it contained a lot of information!
First of all, Murong Lun never took the initiative to mention his father Shangguan Hongyuan from beginning to end. Logically speaking, after such a disastrous defeat, the best way to appease the people and stabilize the situation in the court is to let Shangguan Hongyuan, the prime minister, come out and take a look.

Yunbing's defeat caused turmoil in the court. On the surface, it was because Yunbing's army lost tens of thousands of soldiers in the defeat at Yunbing, but after all, Jinyang had not been lost and the situation had not yet reached the worst.

So the root cause is that Shangguan Hongyuan, as the prime minister, has not made a public appearance for too long, which has caused speculation from the outside world about his physical condition!
The Luoan court with Shangguan Hongyuan and the Luoan court without Shangguan Hongyuan are completely two different situations. Although there are internal differences and contradictions in the Luoan court with Shangguan Hongyuan in charge, under the suppression of Shangguan Hongyuan's prestige, the Luoan court is still able to be unified and unite around Shangguan Hongyuan to face the outside world together.

And once Shangguan Hongyuan is gone, although the Luoan court still has Murong Lun, Yang Chongqing and other military and political leaders, but without exception they do not have the prestige like Shangguan Hongyuan, who can unite everyone··························
If Shangguan Hongyuan could stand up at this time and tell everyone that he was not dead, then Shangguan Changgong would not have to block the news!

But unfortunately, Shangguan Hongyuan, the powerful and majestic Prime Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty who held the emperor hostage to control the princes, can no longer appear in this world.

Shangguan Changgong originally thought that Murong Lun would use this matter to test him about his father's situation, and he was prepared to deal with it.

Shangguan Changgong knew very well that although he kept the death a secret, created the illusion that his father was still alive, and did everything he could, an old fox like Murong Lun was not someone he could easily deceive.

However, the fact is that Murong Lun did not make any attempt on this matter, and did not even take the initiative to mention Shangguan Hongyuan, which was not a good thing for Shangguan Changgong!

When you test someone, your purpose is to get a certain answer through this person's reaction!

And if you already know the answer, then there is no need to try again!

Therefore, in Shangguan Changgong's view, Murong Lun might no longer be guessing that his father Shangguan Hongyuan had passed away, but was certain that his father Shangguan Hongyuan had passed away!

After realizing this possibility, Shangguan Changgong was a little bit unbelievable. He had tried his best to block the news, and even went against his principles to silence dozens of people. Including himself, no more than three people in the entire Shangguan family knew about Shangguan Hongyuan’s death. Even his cousin Shangguan Tingshu didn’t know the news...
With such a tight blockade, how did Murong Lun get the news?
He should only suspect that his father is dead now, he shouldn't be so sure!
When Shangguan Changgong thought of this problem, he couldn't help but wonder if there was a problem within the family and someone was tipping off Murong Lun. If that was the case, then the problem was serious!
So at the end of the conversation, Shangguan Changgong took the initiative to bring up his father Shangguan Hongyuan, trying to test Murong Lun's reaction.

Murong Lun's calm reaction made Shangguan Changgong even more certain that Murong Lun already knew the news of his father's death!

Although this incident made Shangguan Changgong somewhat suspicious, his conversation with Murong Lun did not reveal any bad news!

Murong Lun's attitude of seeking peace and stability today surprised Shangguan Changgong!

Because he was worried that Murong Lun would seize power and liquidate the Shangguan family after his death, his father Shangguan Hongyuan had been hesitating and struggling over whether to get rid of Murong Lun during his last days. But after weighing the pros and cons, Shangguan Hongyuan finally did not kill him!
Although he did not kill him, Shangguan Hongyuan repeatedly warned Shangguan Changgong to be on guard against Murong Lun!
As for Yun Bing's defeat this time, Shangguan Changgong was a little worried that Murong Lun would take the opportunity to attack and seize power...
But now it seems that Murong Lun still has a good view of the overall situation. He knows that fighting among himself at this time will not only not gain much benefit, but will also benefit Ye Mingsheng, the bastard!

This also reminded Shangguan Changgong of the reason why his father did not kill Murong Lun!

In Shangguan Hongyuan's opinion, although there are thousands of civil and military officials in the Luoan court, after him, only Murong Lun can truly be called "the pillar of the country"!

Now under the leadership of Ye Mingsheng, the Fengwu Army is on the verge of sweeping the world, and the Luoan court will face very great pressure. Therefore, if Murong Lun can be there, he will definitely be able to share a lot of pressure for Shangguan Changgong!
In addition to Murong Lun's talent, Shangguan Hongyuan also firmly believed that Murong Lun would never defect to the Fengwu Army as long as there was a glimmer of hope!
Because Murong Qingwu married Ye Mingsheng, Murong Yuliang, Murong Hui and others served as high-ranking officials in the Fengwu Army, so even though Murong Lun removed their names from the family tree, there were still quite a few voices in the Luoan court who suspected that Murong Lun was in collusion with the Fengwu Army!
Shangguan Hongyuan didn't believe in Murong Lun's loyalty at all. He felt that someone like Murong Lun would never be loyal to anyone, but he believed that Murong Lun would be loyal to his family!
And someone as smart as Murong Lun would definitely be able to see that the purpose of Ye Mingsheng's so-called reform policy is to dig up the roots of these aristocratic families...

Therefore, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, Murong Lun will never surrender to Ye Mingsheng and tolerate Ye Mingsheng digging up their family's foundation!
If Murong Lun wanted to fight against the powerful Fengwu Army, he needed to do everything he could to maintain the Luoan court and unite everyone. This would also limit Murong Lun's idea of ​​seizing power. It was for this reason that Shangguan Hongyuan finally gave up the idea of ​​killing Murong Lun!

And now that Murong Lun is willing to take the initiative to work with him to stabilize the situation in the court, it undoubtedly proves that his father Shangguan Hongyuan's view is correct. His father sees through Murong Lun!

Thinking of this, Shangguan Changgong couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. To be honest, the pressure from the Fengwu Army had already made him a little breathless. He even dreamed of the scene of the Fengwu Army breaking through Luoan when he slept at night!
Therefore, if Murong Lun was still doing things behind his back and holding him back at this time, it would be a really frustrating thing!

Although Shangguan Changgong felt somewhat relieved after understanding Murong Lun's attitude, he still couldn't help but worry when he thought about the situation in Yunbing. Even if Murong Lun was willing to help him stabilize the situation in the court, it would be meaningless if the court continued to lose on the Yunbing battlefield!
Now all we can hope is that Chongqing can lead the imperial guards to stop the Fengwu Army on the battlefield of Yunbing, and buy some precious breathing space for the court...
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Jiyu, Yujing
In a side room of the Gu Mansion, Zhang Hu, deputy general of the Sixth Division of the Fengwu Army, handed a stack of banknotes to Gu Shouting and said:

"Shou Ting, this is the monthly tribute from the people below!"

Gu Shouting, who was enjoying the massage from his two beautiful concubines with his eyes closed, took the silver note handed over by Zhang Hu without even opening his eyes.

However, after feeling the thickness of some silver bills, Gu Shouting felt something was wrong, frowned slightly, opened his eyes and said with some dissatisfaction:

"Why is it only this little?"

Zhang Hu explained helplessly:

"The situation has been very serious recently. For safety reasons, those grandsons had to temporarily close their business, so they only have one thousand taels of silver this month!" Gu Shouting asked back after hearing this:
"It's this kid Lu Ce again?"

Zhang Hu nodded and said:

"This kid is so stubborn. I asked Wang Dapao to give him some banknotes and women, but he refused to accept any of them. He even almost got Wang Dapao arrested. I don't know if he is really honest or just pretending to be reserved, waiting for the lion to open his mouth!"

Gu Shouting snorted coldly upon hearing this:

"You shameless guy, you take a chicken feather as your authority, you have only been the military commander for a few days, do you think you have the final say in Yujing?"

Hearing Gu Shouting's words, Zhang Hu was also shocked and said:
“Shou Ting, I also think we should teach him a lesson. It’s not easy for the business below to be messed up by him all the time. The filial piety is also much less than usual…”

After hearing this, Gu Shouting thought for a while. After a moment, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he said to Zhang Hu:
"Let them pay out another thirty thousand taels of silver!"

Zhang Hu was a little surprised to hear this, and said hesitantly:
"Shou Ting was messed up by this fellow Lu Ce, and their business is not doing well. I forced them to pay the tribute this month. If I ask them to pay 30,000 taels of silver at this time, I'm afraid I'm forcing them too much!"

Listening to Zhang Hu's words, Gu Shouting patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Tell them to hand over the silver. I will help them get rid of Lu Ce. Believe me, they will hand over the silver obediently!"

After hearing this, Zhang Hu hesitated for a while, but still advised with concern:

"Shou Ting, this Lu Ce is Yue Qing's nephew-in-law. Yue Qing is in the prime of his life in the Central Government. Even Lin Huaiwu was driven down by him. In my opinion, we should teach Lu Ce a lesson. I don't think he is a tough guy. Let him know how powerful I am. If you give him some benefits, he should accept it!"

"There's no need for us to kill him now. If we lure that old man Yue Qing here, things will be troublesome!"

In response to Zhang Hu's words, Gu Shouting sneered and said:
“Lu Ce brought this upon himself, so don’t blame me! Hu Zi, don’t worry, I have a clever plan. After you collect the 30,000 taels of silver, give 10,000 taels to the centurion in the General Coordination Office. I will arrange for someone to take care of the rest…”

Seeing that Gu Shouting had made up his mind, although Zhang Hu was still a little worried, he could only nod and get down to work.

After Zhang Hu left, Gu Shouting continued to lie on the bed, enjoying the massage from his beautiful concubine.

Once upon a time, he also had great ambitions and wanted to achieve great things and win fame during his lifetime and after his death, but he soon faced the reality!
When the Fengwu Army conquered Yijing and formed the Sixth Division of the Fengwu Army, Gu Shouting was directly appointed as the general of the Sixth Division. At that time, he thought he had finally met a wise leader and could fully display his talents, but the reality gave him a heavy slap in the face!

Compared with the Ye brothers and the earliest imperial guards who followed him, he, a surrendered general, was not trusted by Ye Mingsheng at all!

The reason why he was appointed as the general of the Sixth Division was simply because the Fengwu Army was trying to settle the Yan army prisoners as a way of paying a huge sum of money for a horse's bones to show the world!
After the Fengwu Army completely stabilized the situation in Youyan, Ye Mingsheng began to withdraw his subordinates and transferred Fengwu Army from other units to the Sixth Division to interfere with the situation and reduce his control over the Sixth Division. At this time, Gu Shouting could still comfort himself that this mobilization was army-wide and Ye Mingsheng was not targeting him alone!

However, after the Fengwu Army took over Hebei and Henan, his Sixth Division was stationed in Hebei and Henan for a long time. Although there were some battles occasionally, they were all about suppressing bandits and clearing out mountain bandits, which was not something that could be put on the table...

He had asked Ye Mingsheng for a transfer to the Yunbing battlefield several times, but he never got a positive response from Ye Mingsheng!

Seeing people like Zhang Meng and Xun Ke rising to power, one becoming the deputy commander of the Fourth Army and the other the commander of the Third Army, Gu Shouting also completely realized the reality that he was not trusted by Ye Mingsheng. Thinking that he was a talented person but not appreciated and his ambitions could not be fulfilled, he began to give up on himself and started to find ways to make money, using money to fill his empty soul.

Just when Gu Shouting was immersed in his enjoyment, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door. The next second, his housekeeper Ma Zheng walked in and said anxiously:

"Sir, Wang Xuecheng is here to see you with the Marshal's order!"

Gu Shouting was very surprised to hear Ma Zheng's words, but at this moment Wang Xuecheng walked into the room. He glanced at Gu Shouting on the bed and the two concubines beside him, then solemnly took out a warrant from his arms and said in a deep voice:
“General Gu wants you to go to Yijing to report on your duties as soon as you receive the order. There must be no delay…”

(What do you think of the plot? Can you give me some feedback so that I know how to arrange the plot next?)
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(End of this chapter)