Liang Xiao actually proposed to promote his political enemies, the Dugu family, to higher positions?
Everyone was stunned.
Dugu Yuncheng was also taken aback and asked, "Your Majesty, what rank does Marquis Anguo propose for me?"
"Second Rank, Upper!" Xiao Qing said seriously.
Second Rank, Upper!
The officials were shocked again!
Dugu Yuncheng and Dugu Qun exchanged bewildered glances.
Dugu Yuncheng's position as Minister of War was third rank. A promotion to second rank, upper, would make him a second-rank official!
The temptation of a promotion made Dugu Yuncheng's heart flutter. He quickly asked, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your enlightened decree! Thank you, Marquis Anguo, for your kind intentions! May I ask what official position Your Majesty intends to promote me to?"
"Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince!" Xiao Qing replied without hesitation.
Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince!
All the civil and military officials, except for Wang Canghai and Ning Xuejun, were aghast.
In the Great Qian Dynasty, the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince was indeed a second-rank, upper official, responsible for the Crown Prince's intellectual enlightenment. In essence, he was the Crown Prince's teacher.
But the problem was…
Xiao Qing herself was only seventeen years old. Where could she possibly have a Crown Prince??
Dugu Yuncheng snapped back to reality, his face turning ashen. "This!!"
Dugu Qun and the others were even more enraged, their faces flushed red.
Liang Xiao indeed had malicious intentions. This was clearly a promotion in name but a demotion in reality!
"There will be a Crown Prince in the future…" Xiao Qing said, her face inexplicably flushing as she thought of herself and Liang Xiao. She continued, "Lord Dugu, you will resign from your post as Minister of War and assume the position of Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. You can start understanding the role in advance. After all, you just thanked His Majesty for his grace, and I can't very well refuse to make you Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince."
Everyone was speechless.
Dugu Qun and the others cursed Liang Xiao's ancestors a hundred times over in their hearts!
This stratagem of promoting in name but demoting in reality… was too ruthless! Too despicable!
Who else understood the meaning of pretentious justification better than the Dugu family? Liang Xiao and Xiao Qing's current reasoning was so high-sounding, it was like using their own tactics against them!
Dugu Qun suppressed his anger and forced a smile. "Your Majesty is wise! Then, the position of Minister of War still needs to be held by a talented individual from our Dugu family for familiarity! Even if we must avoid suspicion, if it's not one of ours, it should be given to the highly respected He family, the Ouyang family, or perhaps the Gongyang clan of Jiangnan?"
He Wanli, the Minister of Personnel, also stepped forward and said, "I second the motion! Furthermore, the northern border still requires a supervisor of the army, for the stability of the Great Qian Dynasty, to prevent military commanders from wielding excessive power!"
Xiao Qing smiled. "I already have the most suitable candidates for the supervisor of the army and Minister of War!"
Everyone eagerly asked who they were.
"Zhuo Wulu, the Grand Councillor of the Northern Frontier. He was previously meritorious in resisting the barbarians and was granted a marquis title. Now is the time to utilize his talents, making him the most suitable candidate. He will be promoted to Minister of War and concurrently serve as Grand Councillor of the Northern Frontier."
Xiao Qing's words struck everyone like a bolt from the blue, leaving them exchanging stunned glances.
Dugu Qun's face turned even more ashen!
Zhuo Wulu was Lu Yi's right-hand man!
Now he was to become Minister of War, siphoning power away from Dugu Qun, the current Minister of War, and symbolically serving as the supervisor of the northern frontier army?
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impermissible! Zhuo Wulu is a faction of Lu Yi!" Dugu Qun was anxious.
Xiao Qing said coldly, "Faction? Zhuo Wulu is a descendant of the founding Prime Minister Zhuo Mingfeng, the son of Zhuo Lingjun. Whom are you questioning? Are you questioning me? Or are you questioning the generations of the Zhuo family's loyalty to the country and its people?"
The crowd was speechless.
Luo Changfeng and others covered their mouths and chuckled, feeling a surge of satisfaction.
The Zhuo family had also served as officials for generations, and strictly speaking, they were a noble clan, but they had not participated in land annexation or power struggles. They were a clear stream in the officialdom!
It had been a long time since anyone from the Zhuo family had risen to prominence since Zhuo Zifang resigned.
Although Zhuo Zifang was renowned, fame was different from official position. Moreover, Zhuo Zifang also had to avoid suspicion and had not recommended Zhuo Wulu.
Zhuo Wulu had climbed his way up through the ranks in the northern military camps by himself.
Now, Dugu Qun and the others had nothing more to say. They could only grit their teeth and swallow their pride, their resolve to eventually oust Xiao Qing from the imperial throne and bring about a change of dynasty in Great Qian hardening even further.
If this continued, they, the noble families and powerful clans, would only be weakened, dismembered, or even destroyed!
However, since Xiao Qing had not openly broken with them, they dared not defy the heavens and rebel or cause trouble. Otherwise, Xiao Qing would have a legitimate reason to round them all up. At worst, it would be a fight to the death!
They knew very well that they still had opportunities. They could join forces with the barbarians, the Great Liang Kingdom, and other powerful nations, or even support the Southern King far to the south, to remain the immortal noble families and clans!
Both sides had their own plans and did not wish for a fight to the death at this moment, so they could only probe each other.
The court assembly dispersed unhappily. Dugu Yuncheng returned the seal of the Minister of War and received the seal of the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, but he could not bring himself to be happy.
Dugu Qun and the others even sent people to send urgent messages to their contacts in the barbarian lands and the Great Liang Kingdom, instructing them to intensify their actions.
In the evening, Xiao Qing stood on a tall building, gazing southwest with longing.
She was waiting for her scoundrel elder brother and her uncle to return.
Thinking of Lu Yi's reply to her, Xiao Qing blushed deeply and dared not speak to Ning Xuejun.
That scoundrel uncle actually said that she couldn't help herself, as if she were lusting after her elder brother's beauty…
Even if I were lusting after him, so what!
Yanzhou, the capital, and the treasure trove formed the three vertices of an equilateral triangle on the map, with roughly equal distances between them.
Liang Xiao and Lu Yi led twenty-five thousand men, marching at an accelerated pace while carefully protecting the carriages. They finally arrived at the capital without incident!
Upon hearing that Lu Yi's troops had arrived outside the city, Dugu Qun again led a group to impeach Xiao Qing.
Xiao Qing grew impatient. "It was I who ordered the General of Cavalry to bring back the soil and stones from around the Dragon Vein and poisonous substances to the capital for inspection. My lords, do not be so boisterous!"
"Dragon Vein? Soil and stones, and poisonous substances?" Everyone was confused.
However, Lu Yi's arrival still put the imperial guards in the capital on high alert.
Finally, Wang Canghai personally arrived with an imperial decree, and only then did the imperial guards allow passage.
"Handle them with care! Anyone who dares to damage a wooden chest will be executed with their entire family!!"
Lu Yi ordered his men to inform the entire army. The army was solemn, and they carefully pushed the carriages towards the imperial palace.
A thousand-strong Shadow Guard unit finally rushed from the imperial palace to execute Xiao Qing's orders, supervising the five thousand grain transport vehicles entering the palace and ensuring there were no bumps or jolts.
Liang Xiao was permitted to return to the Liang Mansion with Jian Qinwan and the heroes of Mount Tian, to take a bath.
Jian Qinwan could no longer stand it and rushed to her room, wanting to wash thoroughly. "Flower Thief, you are not allowed to peek…"
"Oh, okay. Since Diao'er and the others are not here, I'll be on guard for you," Liang Xiao nodded.
In fact, they had sufficient water sources on their way to the capital and had already washed once.
Guard for me?
Jian Qinwan was both embarrassed and annoyed, and she fled back to her room like a shooting star to prepare hot water herself.
In fact, she had a few senior sisters staying at the Liang Mansion, but as soon as she returned, she couldn't find anyone…
She couldn't be bothered to look…
It wasn't until three Tian Shan women returned that Liang Xiao felt at ease, having them guard Jian Qinwan's door before he went back to bathe and then hurried to the imperial palace.
In the underground warehouse of the imperial palace, Xiao Qing and Ning Xuejun, despite having been mentally prepared, were still dumbfounded when they saw the Shadow Guards pouring out boxes of gold bricks, piling them up like mountains.
Lu Yi, standing beside them, finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Your Majesty, it was without incident and went quite smoothly!"
Xiao Qing snapped back to reality, her voice trembling. "Didn't my elder brother come back? Quickly, quickly go and summon him!"