Tibet

Chapter 658 Urgent Negotiation

After a while, Li Dai and Gao Shi hurriedly came to the imperial study. They bowed and saluted, "See your majesty!"

"My dear friends, please take a seat!"

Li Heng tried his best to calm down and said with a smile, "I heard that Li Xiangguo received a letter from his family today?"

Li Dai was shocked. How did the emperor know that he had received a letter from his family?

Li Heng smiled and explained: "Today the city defenders found a trust eagle. They chased it all the way, and finally found that the trust eagle landed in Li Xiangguo's mansion."

Li Dai was really helpless. The emperor was far more diligent than the Supreme Emperor and reviewed memorials until late at night every day. However, his shortcomings were also very serious, mainly manifested in three aspects.

First, he is a little narrow-minded and very vindictive. It can be said that he will retaliate.

Secondly, there is a problem with personnel. On the surface, the people employed by the emperor are all good. Wei Jiansu, Fang Guan, Pei Mian, and Miao Jinqing are all capable ministers.

But the emperor did not trust these ministers from the bottom of his heart. He only trusted the eunuchs. His real confidants were the three eunuchs who had been following him, Li Fuguo, Cheng Yuanzhen and Yu Chaoen.

The third is that the emperor had a very bad habit and liked to spy on others. He established a sub-chamber of affairs, controlled by the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen, to monitor ministers.

Li Dai knew full well that the soldiers discovered that Ying Xin was lying. There must be a monitor placed by the emperor around him. Did the emperor reveal his words unintentionally?No, the emperor carefully considered every word he said. How could he let it slip? He was just warning himself.

Although the emperor's shortcomings are regrettable, Li Dai can also understand that it is normal for the emperor to become a little dark and narrow mentally after being extremely coerced by the Supreme Emperor and monitored for more than ten years.

Li Dai had no choice but to explain: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Weichen did receive two letters from Quanzi today, one is a report on the situation in the south, and the other is a letter from home."

"Can you give me a situation report?"

"Of course, it was originally intended to be presented to His Majesty."

Li Dai took out the Eagle Letter and presented it to Li Heng, "The font is relatively small. Wei Chen plans to copy it tonight and present it to His Majesty tomorrow!"

Gao Shi knew that the emperor's eyes were a bit presbyopic, so he smiled and said: "Wei Chen, please copy it!"

He unfolded the paper and picked up his pen to copy quickly. Li Heng smiled and asked, "Is the letter from home about clan matters?"

Li Dai shook his head, "The last letter from home was about the clan, and today's letter from home is about Quanzi's hope that Wei Chen will resign as soon as possible and take his family to Bashu."

"why?"

"He believed that Tubo was so powerful that once Wei Chen was captured, Tubo would hate Dunhuang and Anxi and kill Wei Chen and his wife."

Although Li Dai spoke very frankly, Li Heng's face suddenly became extremely ugly. After a while, he managed to smile and said: "He is very filial and cares about the safety of his parents!"

"The humble minister will always be by His Majesty's side and will never retreat southward from Bashu just considering personal safety."

Li Dai knew the emperor very well and was very suspicious. If he didn't explain things clearly, he would always be suspicious. He simply made things clear and expressed his attitude.

Li Heng's expression improved a little, and he nodded and said, "I have always known that Aiqing is a loyal person and will never let me down!"

At this time, Gao Shi copied the letter and presented it to Li Heng.Li Heng took the letter and read it carefully. The letter mentioned that Kang Chuyuan rebelled, occupied Yuezhou, and proclaimed himself the overlord of Southern Chu. However, Yongwang Li Lin allowed him to invade Jingzhou.

The Jianghan army fought fiercely with Kang Chuyuan and completely wiped out Kang Chuyuan's army. In order to compete for the navy left by Kang Chuyuan, another fierce battle broke out between the two sides. The Yongwang army was defeated and moved east to Xuanzhou.

Ying Xin could not write many words, only a few sentences, but the key points were clearly stated. Kang Chuyuan of Yuezhou rebelled and was used by King Yong to deal with Li Ye. Kang Chuyuan's death triggered a war between Li Ye and King Yong. King Yong's soldiers Defeated, he retreated to Xuanzhou.

There are many unsaid but guessable facts here. King Yong moved eastward to Xuanzhou to plot Jiangnan and Yangzhou, and Li Ye's forces entered the West Jiangnan Road.

Normally, Li Heng would have jumped up and cursed because Li Ye dared to cross the line without the consent of the court, but now...
He now has something to ask for from Li Ye. No matter how dissatisfied or furious he is, he has to hold it back.

Li Heng put the report aside and said to Li Dai: "King Lu should also know that the current situation is not good. Once spring begins, the Tibetan army will attack Lingwu from Hexi. Huizhou's [-] troops alone will not be able to stop it. The Tibetan troops are approaching the city. , the troops of Guo Ziyi and Wang Sili were held back by the Anlushan rebels again. Lingwu is in danger! The lives of you, my king and my ministers are also in danger!
The only way now is to surround Wei and rescue Zhao, let King Lu lead the army to attack Guanzhong and Chang'an, force An Lushan to withdraw, liberate the troops of Guo Ziyi and Wang Sili, and use all their strength to deal with the Tubo army! "

Li Dai nodded, "Gao Hanlin also told Wei Chen about this just now. I will send an eagle letter to Li Ye early tomorrow morning, asking him to be prepared. Once Tubo sends troops, he will send troops to Chang'an."

Gao Shi said from the side: "Now that Shangzhou has also fallen into the hands of the rebels, it will take time to recapture Shangzhou. By then it will be too late to attack Chang'an. It is better to send troops to capture Shangzhou first. What does Li Xiangguo think?"

Li Dai smiled bitterly and said: "Wei Chen was worried that if we sent troops too early, An Lushan would see our intentions, and instead ordered Luoyang to send troops to Nanyang to attack Jingxiang, which would delay Jiang Han's army."

Li Heng pondered for a moment, "If that doesn't work, just go to Ziwu Valley. You can still attack Chang'an by surprise. I suggest you take action before the beginning of spring and don't delay it too late."

Li Dai bowed and said: "I obey the order, and the eagle letter will be sent out early tomorrow morning!"

Li Dai resigned first. Li Heng sighed and said to Gao Shi, "I'm very worried. What if Li Ye refuses to send troops?"

"Why would Your Majesty have such an idea?"

"How can I not have any ideas?"

Li Heng said worriedly: "He asked his parents to flee Lingwu and go to Bashu to escape the chaos, which shows that he doesn't care about my life and death at all. He only thinks about his parents."

Gao Shi persuaded Li Heng: "Your Majesty, I have been serving as a recorder in Suiye for several years and joined the army. I know Li Ye quite well. Li Ye does not like to be bound by various rules and regulations, but he is very clear-headed in the face of big rights and wrongs. He will never sit back and watch the Tubo army attack Lingwu. He advised his parents to leave just as a precaution. What if Guo Ziyi is defeated by the Tubo army?"

Li Heng was stunned for a moment, looking thoughtful at any time, yes!What if Guo Ziyi's army is defeated by the Tubo army?Isn’t Lingwu equally unprotectable?
"What about Yi Aiqing's opinion?"

"Tell Li Ye the situation and let him make his own decision. He can even send cavalry to Longyou through Hanzhong and Lianyun Plank Road to support us. Your Majesty, trust him and give him autonomy. He knows what to do!"

Li Heng pondered for a long time, and finally nodded and said: "Okay! I will follow your advice, but we must tell him the strategy of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao, so that he can understand our intentions, and at the same time, we must tell him the severe situation we are currently facing. So I feel that relying on Ying Xin alone is not enough, and I have to send someone [-] miles away to deliver the letter to him urgently."

"Your Majesty has thought carefully!"

Li Heng nodded, "Gao Aiqing, I'll leave this matter to you."

"Weichen must send someone to deliver the letter in time!"

Gao Shi resigned and left. Li Heng paced back and forth with his hands behind his hands. He immediately ordered the eunuchs on his left and right: "Go and find Li Fuguo for me!"

(End of this chapter)