Chapter 265: Merits and Demerits of Taizu
It was snowing, making Luoyang, the most magnificent and splendid city in the world, look like a white jade capital in the sky.

Scholars and nobles all like this kind of weather. They would sit in a pavilion with a few good friends, or preferably a small pavilion by the water, and have a few drinks around the fire. They might even come up with a masterpiece that will be passed down through the ages.

Inside the palace, as the snow was falling, the eunuchs and palace maids began to clean up the snow, probably because they were afraid that the snow would pile up too thick and be difficult to clean up.

The emperor walked with his two cousins ​​in the corridor leading to the empress dowager's palace.

Murong Yang walked in front, while Murong Wuji and Wei Xiaoju lagged behind and walked side by side.

"Wuji, the Queen Mother is going to ask today how to deal with Queen Mother Cao. How should we respond?"

Murong Wuji and Murong Yang have two kinds of relatives. In the royal family, Murong Wuji is Murong Yang's cousin, so their relationship is not very close.

But on the other hand, Murong Wuji's mother, Wei, was a sister of Murong Yang's biological mother, who was already the empress dowager.

The relationship between the two sides is undoubtedly deeper on the maternal side, so they have always been friends as equals.

"Why not let Empress Dowager Cao go to Renshou Palace to worship Buddha? After all, she is the principal empress of Emperor Zhaowu. Although the King of Shu was coerced into becoming a fake emperor, Empress Dowager Cao has done nothing wrong. If she does something too ugly, the prime ministers and generals in the court will not sit idly by."

Murong Wuji certainly knew that his aunt, the former Concubine Wei, and Empress Cao were enemies, even though they were both empress dowagers now.

Moreover, Empress Dowager Cao became the empress dowager first, but their identities and status were incomparable.

Empress Dowager Wei's son Murong Yang was the emperor of Great Yan and was in Luoyang.

Empress Dowager Cao's son Murong Chang was also the emperor of Great Yan, but he was in Chang'an.

This put Empress Dowager Cao in an extremely embarrassing situation.

Murong Yang didn't know how to deal with Queen Mother Cao, and originally wanted to let her live out her old age quietly in the palace.

But today, my mother suddenly sent someone to ask me how I was going to deal with the mother of the traitor.

Who is the traitor? Need I say more? It is Murong Chang, who is also an emperor like him. After all, there is no two suns in the sky, and no two rulers in a country.

Although he also knew that his fifth brother Murong Chang must have been coerced by the father and son of the Li family and had no power to choose for himself.

But since he has become emperor, and had been the crown prince for more than ten years during the time of the previous emperor, his popularity was even better than his at one point. Such a person is definitely his mortal enemy and a traitor.

No matter how you deal with it, it's never too much.

But Empress Dowager Cao was different. Her father, Emperor Zhaowu, had only been dead for a few years, and she posed no threat. Could she be sent away with a piece of white silk and a cup of poisoned wine?

Choosing their words carefully along the way, the three of them entered the Empress Dowager's palace.

The hall was very warm because of the underground heating. The forty-something Queen Mother Wei was sitting at the table, playing cards with Murong Yang's Queen Yuwen and two concubines.

Sitting next to him was his youngest son Murong Kexie, who was just ten years old.

Seeing the emperor coming in, several people wanted to stand up and salute, but Empress Dowager Wei said, "You all sit down and play your own games without paying attention to him."

Murong Yang and his two cousins ​​first saluted the Queen Mother, and then stood a few steps away to watch the battle.

Empress Dowager Wei had bad luck this time, and her daughters-in-law had to rack their brains to get her to do it.

After finishing this fight, Empress Dowager Wei glanced at her son standing beside her, and then let her youngest son Ke Xie take her place and stand up and go to the other side of the hall.

Murong Yang followed closely behind her.

Queen Mother Wei was tall among women. Although she was old, she was well-maintained. She looked as fair and beautiful as a woman in her early thirties, and she was very charming. She also looked very kind between her eyebrows. She was dressed in gorgeous clothes, and she looked elegant and graceful. "Mother, you..."

Queen Mother Wei sat on the couch, looked at her son and asked, "I know what you are thinking. Do you think I want to force you to kill Cao Shu just to vent my anger?"

Murong Yang hurriedly shook his head and said, "Mother, what are you talking about? You are definitely not such a stingy person."

Empress Dowager Wei said, "Stop flattering me. You are just as your father said, with only a little cleverness. Let me tell you, as long as Cao Shu is the Empress Dowager and the principal wife of Emperor Zhaowu, your fifth brother Murong Chang is the legitimate son of Emperor Zhaowu. Do you understand? Do you still think that I want to kill her because I don't like her? It seems that Cao Shu and I have been fighting for many years, but it is far from the point where I must kill her. I asked you how to deal with her, but none of your wise men have thought of this? Who on earth did you use?"

Murong Yang felt a little embarrassed by what he said, and could only ask respectfully: "What does mother mean?"

Queen Mother Wei said: "Find a reasonable excuse to dethrone her, then announce it to the world and make some use of your fifth brother's status. Do I need to teach you this?"

"Then how should Cao be dealt with?"

Empress Dowager Wei said, "You can handle these things on your own. Do you think I am willing to worry about these things just for her?"

Murong Yang's face turned red after hearing what he said, and he didn't dare to look up. He just felt that he had been an emperor in vain, as his mother had to think about everything for him.

"Is there any news from Huainan recently?" Empress Dowager Wei took a sip of tea and her tone became gentler when she spoke of her daughter.

Murong Yang heard this and said, "In Jianghuai, there is only news that Li Silang defeated Cao Yuanjing again at Ruxukou, but there is no news about Jialuo. However, Li Silang and Jialuo are still young couples, so they should treat Jialuo well. Mother doesn't need to worry."

Queen Mother Wei shook her head: "Why am I still worried about Jialuo now? She told me before she went to Huainan that she chose her own path and she will bear all the good and bad consequences herself. But looking at the current situation of the Li family, do you think she made the wrong choice?"

After saying this, Empress Dowager Wei returned to the mahjong table in the other side hall and continued her favorite daily mahjong playing time.

After hearing this, Murong Yang fell silent and was stunned on the spot. He had no idea how to return to the Qinzheng Hall where he was.

Sitting at the desk, which was now piled with memorials, he could hear about the war situation and situations in various places every day. He knew very well what the situation of the Dongyan regime in Luoyang was like now.

It cannot be said that it is the end of the road, but it can only be said that it is in imminent danger.

The old ministers in power in the court might have a better attitude towards the new emperor than towards his elder brother. After all, Murong Yang's maternal family and wife's family were both very powerful, which was something that Murong Chao, who was posthumously named "Emperor Zhuang", could not compare to.

But in many things, Murong Yang still felt powerless and unable to do what he wanted.

Because the entire court is currently filled with a bit of dejection, especially after several defeats this year. Whether in terms of execution or the atmosphere in the court.

It was very different from what he remembered about the court during the reign of his father, Emperor Zhaowu.

The bigger problem is finance.

At present, except for the Luokou granary that can still support the army's war, the tax revenue of the entire court has been severely reduced, and it is even difficult to maintain the operation of the entire court.

After all, the imperial court is still the same imperial court, but the world is no longer the same world.

The entire framework of the current Eastern Yan court is still the same as that of Murong Ying's period. Except for the replacement of some officials, there has been no major changes in the entire state organization, and there has been no streamlining.

This resulted in the hundreds of officials and nobles in the Luoyang court, who were once supported by the whole country of Dayan, now being reduced to a ruined Yuzhou and the counties around the Luoyang Basin.

Jizhou and Youzhou in the north were still in the tax-free period, so it would be difficult to get them to support the Luoyang court even if they were asked to do so.

Can we really pacify the world and restore the prosperity of Dayan by relying only on the hundreds of thousands of troops and Luokou Granary that we can still control, as well as those ministers in the court who are content with their posts?
This seems to be even more difficult than Emperor Taizu Wu's conquest of the Central Plains.

(End of this chapter)