It should be said that this matter originated from Yang Fan, but Wu Sansi surprisingly didn't have the slightest intention of making things difficult for Yang Fan.
The most fundamental reason was that he had discovered that Yang Fan was even more useful to him than before.
That day, Wu Zetian had specially summoned him to secretly instruct him. At that time, he had sensed that Yang Fan would be placed in an important position. Later on, Yang Fan had indeed been appointed as the "General of Thousand Riders". Wu Sansi knew better than anyone that a "General of Thousand Riders" was more useful than a Grand General of the Golden Guards or a Grand General of the Thousand Oxen Guards.
He had always tried to meddle with the Imperial Army, especially the Featherwood Guard. However, the Featherwood Guard had always been viewed as Wu Youyi's exclusive domain, and no one could meddle. Wu Sansi had tried several times, but Wu Youyi had rejected him. Wu Sansi knew the importance of this force, but he just couldn't find a way in.
If … this "General of Thousand Riders" could lean towards him, how great of an impact would it have on his fight for the throne? As for the grudge between him and Yang Fan, in the face of such great benefits, it could be completely ignored.
Moreover, Yang Fan's words and his aunt's corroborated each other, proving that Yang Fan's original difficulties were indeed true. If it had been anyone else, it would be unrealistic for them to betray the Emperor after the Emperor had sent their head and even their family as hostages.
Later on at the Dragon Gate, Yang Fan had already told him the truth. This was tantamount to expressing his true feelings and showing that Yang Fan still had no intention of betraying Wu Sansi. Unfortunately, he hadn't believed Yang Fan's words at the time.
The marriage between him and the Prince of Luling had begun yesterday, and so had this scandal. If there really was an unclear relationship between Yang Fan and this little princess, it couldn't have suddenly happened yesterday. Something must have happened while Yang Fan was escorting Li Guo 'er back to Luoyang from Fangzhou.
Since he knew that Princess Anle was about to become the daughter-in-law of the Wu family, yet he still dared to be so audacious, then Yang Fan could be considered to have suffered an undeserved calamity. He had seen that lass Li Guo 'er before. With that lass's unparalleled beauty, if she was sincere, there were not many men in the world who could resist her.
Right now, Princess Anle was not the daughter-in-law of the Wu Clan yet. If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't decide who Princess Anle would belong to, when faced with Yang Fan who would be of great help to him in his fight for the throne, he would even help Yang Fan and Li Guo 'er. Giving up a woman to gain a general would give him an important chip in his fight for the throne. This was what a great hero would do!
With Wu Sansi's thoughts, he naturally couldn't vent his anger on Yang Fan. However, at this moment, Wu Chongxun was both jealous and resentful of Yang Fan. He wanted nothing more than to hack him into a thousand pieces. However, as Royal Prince Gaoyang, he had no authority. He didn't have the courage or ability to lead his men into the Imperial Army's camp and do whatever he wanted with a general of the Emperor's personal army.
Wu Chongxun couldn't swallow this anger. After thinking about it, he suddenly thought of his uncle, Wu Yizong, who had been in close contact with his father recently. At this moment, his uncle was in charge of the capital's garrison army. They were both in the military system and his official rank was much higher than Yang Fan's. Perhaps he could be of help. Wu Chongxun acted on this thought and immediately left the estate to find his uncle.
Although Wu Yizong had made one foolish move after another in Hebei and had even received the title of 'Pig-Riding General', the prideful Wu Zetian didn't mention her nephew's series of mistakes. Instead, she used his contributions in pacifying the Khitans to transfer him back to the capital to be the Left Great General of Jin Wu, in charge of the capital's garrison army.
The garrison army was to train the soldiers. Since the Khitans and Turks had both come out of Hebei and posed a great threat to the capital, Wu Zetian was afraid that the number of imperial soldiers stationed in the capital would not be enough to ensure the safety of Luoyang. Thus, she created a large number of troops to train the soldiers. These troops and horses were all under Wu Yizong's control.
Wu Chongxun galloped to the Left Great General of Jin Wu's camp to find his uncle. When Wu Yizong saw him, he was quite surprised. When he explained the reason for his visit, Wu Yizong couldn't help but laugh, "So it's for a woman!"
Wu Yizong was originally like Wu Youyi, strictly maintaining a neutral position between Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi, not daring to get close to either. However, Wu Chengsi's health had been deteriorating over the past two years. Wu Yizong felt that Wu Chengsi's lifespan might not even be able to outlive their aunt's. In that case, Wu Sansi was probably the only one in the Wu family who had the right to ascend to the throne.
Therefore, Wu Yizong rapidly leaned towards Wu Sansi. When he made a fool of himself in Hebei, Wu Zetian had pretended to be deaf and mute, but in private, she had called him over to give him a good scolding. In the end, it was Wu Sansi who had helped him out of the predicament. As a result, the two of them became even closer.
Wu Chongxun was Wu Sansi's eldest son. If Wu Sansi became emperor in the future, Wu Chongxun would be the crown prince. Since Wu Yizong had the intention to befriend him, he naturally agreed to Wu Chongxun's request.
Wu Yizong said to Wu Chongxun, "Chongxun, Yang Fan is now the commander-in-chief of Guide Army and is helping His Majesty build the 'Thousand Cavalry'. Such a person is not someone you can touch easily. It's impossible to kill him. However, I'm talking about killing him directly, but it's easy to turn the situation around."
Wu Chongxun was initially disappointed, but when he heard that there was more to it, he couldn't help but perk up. He hurriedly said, "Please advise me, Uncle!"
Wu Yizong said, "I can't touch him because he is now the Thousand Cavalry General and is highly regarded by the emperor. You should also know that when the emperor values someone, he is closer to that person than to his own family. It's impossible to kill him directly. However, I can use my authority and connections to make him lose face. As long as this person's Thousand Cavalry does not accomplish anything, His Majesty will realize that he is useless and loathe him. When that happens, he will lose his power. With your status as the son of King Liang and Royal Prince Gaoyang, won't a Yang Fan who has lost his power be able to do as he pleases? "
Wu Chongxun was overjoyed. He hurriedly clasped his hands and said, "Uncle has great foresight. In that case, I'll leave this matter to Uncle!"
Wu Yizong smiled proudly. "It's just a small matter. It's not worth mentioning!"
… …
Yang Fan couldn't find Wang Tongjiao that day. Two days later, when he wanted to go to the Left Guard to look for him, he heard the news: Wang Tongjiao had been chosen by the Prince of Luling and would soon become the Prince's son-in-law. Wang Tongjiao was a high-ranking officer in the army, so this news spread extremely quickly in the army.
Yang Fan was greatly disappointed when he heard this news. The Prince of Luling was about to become the crown prince, and when that happened, Wang Tongjiao would be the son-in-law. The reason why Wu Zetian had expanded the 'Hundred Cavalry' to the 'Thousand Cavalry' was because the matter of the traitor had raised her vigilance. She needed an armed force that was connected to both the Wu and Li clans but couldn't completely lean towards either side.
Since Wang Tongjiao had become the Prince of Luling's son-in-law, this person couldn't be used. Wu Zetian wouldn't allow someone who was definitely on the Li clan's side to become a high-ranking officer in the 'Thousand Cavalry', so Yang Fan could only drop the matter. Lu Yan and Gao Chu finally rushed over to report, and the middle-ranking officers were further replenished. Only the two positions of Lang Generals were still vacant.
On this day, the 'Thousand Cavalry' had already recruited more than eight hundred people, and only needed another two hundred to reach the number of soldiers. Of these eight hundred people, seventy percent were selected from the various Imperial Guards of the capital, and thirty percent were children of the capital's good families. They had all practiced martial arts since childhood, and there was no lack of wanderers among them who had killed and seen blood.
Under Yang Fan and the other strict checks and requirements, those who were selected were all elite soldiers who could fight against ten. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this army only needed a little reorganization and no further training to become an outstanding elite force.
Of course, although most of these people were insignificant and had nothing to do with the upper echelons of power, it wasn't as if they hadn't formed their own cliques. Chu Kuangge, Maqiao, Lu Yan, and Gao Chu all had some comrades, comrades, brothers, and trusted aides that they had made over the years.
This was something Yang Fan couldn't control. Even if he selected everyone from ordinary soldiers to generals, it wouldn't take long for these people to form some relatively intimate cliques based on the fact that they were from the same village, the same unit, and the same brigade. The middle-ranking officers would also gradually form their own cliques as they led their troops.
Just as Yang Fan had said to Wu Zetian, it was unrealistic for him to directly control every soldier in an army of one thousand. If he divided himself into one thousand people, how long would he be able to have private contact with each soldier? Personally attending to everything would only produce the opposite of the desired result, and it would only dishearten the commanders and force them to do nothing.
But he still couldn't make everyone be as close as brothers to him. At that time, the entire army under his direct control would become a mass of loose sand, and the wise wouldn't do it. In fact, he only needed to firmly grasp the upper and middle officers in his hands, and he would be able to command the entire "Thousand Cavalry".
Seeing that he was still short of two hundred people to form an army, and that he could begin to cultivate this armed force that was completely under his control, Yang Fan couldn't help but be overjoyed. He had been staying in the army for the past few days, and he still didn't know about the hugging and kissing incident that had spread all over Luoyang.
Yang Fan was currently standing at the edge of the drill ground with his arms crossed, smiling as he watched the newly recruited recruits bow on the polo field. This kind of exercise not only could train their horsemanship, but it could also speed up their cooperation and tacit understanding, and it could also allow the soldiers to quickly familiarize themselves with each other.
One of the bolder soldiers saw Yang Fan watching from the sidelines, and loudly said: "General Yang, I heard that General's bow-striking technique is extremely brilliant. In the past, you, together with Princess Taiping and the other commanders of the Imperial Army, defeated the Tubo bow-striking team. Why don't you come down and let everyone see it!"
When the soldiers heard this, they immediately booed, all wanting to see Yang Fan's martial arts. At first, Yang Fan pretended to be reserved, saying that he hadn't bowed for several years, and his martial arts had been neglected for a long time. But after being repeatedly egged on by the crowd, he finally had no choice but to come down. Someone immediately jumped down from his horse and handed him a stick.
Just as Yang Fan was about to mount his horse, Marching Commander Xu Liang angrily walked over from afar. Xu Liang was a little better than many of the illiterate generals: he could write and calculate, he was educated, and he was meticulous, so Yang Fan made him a Martial-Major, a position similar to the chief of staff, and usually the busiest.
Yang Fan turned to see Xu Liang's gloomy face, and very angry look, and couldn't help but feel his heart tighten. He quickly returned the stick to the soldier, and quickly walked up to Xu Liang and asked: "What happened?"
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