People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1816: Annan Feng Family, Anlu Xu Family

In the Liangyi Hall, Li Xuan stood in front of the sand table, looking at the location of the entire Annan Protectorate, a look of deep thought flashed across his eyes.

Annan is the location of Vietnam in later generations.

To be precise, it is the northern plains of Vietnam in later generations, the richest area in the whole of Vietnam.

To the south is Linyi.

Linyi and Datang were separated by Hengshan Mountain and occupied the southern mountainous area and southeastern coastal areas of Vietnam in later generations.

"Gentlemen, what do you think, could this matter be related to Linyi?" Li Xuan looked at the sand table and spoke softly.

"Your Majesty." Lu Yuanfang frowned. How could he not know that the emperor had set his sights on Lin Yi.

Maybe he has already thought of swallowing up Linyi and taking it for himself.

Lu Yuanfang stepped forward, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the trouble in Annan was caused by Annan Protector Liu Yanyou, who doubled the taxes imposed on the Li people in Lingnan. In the end, the Li people refused to comply, and he killed the leader Li Sixian for no reason. He then continued to demand payment, which led to the uprising and the destruction of the city and his death for the country."

"Your Majesty." Wang Dezhen stepped forward and saluted, saying, "From what I have reported, no one in the court has issued an order to him to double the taxes. He must have done this on his own. If it weren't for the Guangzhou Governor's Office's inspection of the autumn taxes, I'm afraid this matter would not be known to the court until next year."

Li Xuan waved his hand slightly and said, "I always feel this is strange. I was once a deputy governor in the local area. When the Tianyin Cult attacked Wuzhou, I personally defended the city.

Although Annan City calls itself a city, it is not actually that big. There is no shortage of food and weapons in the city. There are hundreds of soldiers. Three hundred of them in my hands are enough to defend the city."

"Your Majesty is brave and heroic, and few in the world can match you." Lu Yuanfang smiled bitterly. Not everyone in the world can compare with Li Xuan. Of course, not everyone in the world is a member of the Tianyin Sect.

But at this time, the ministers also came to their senses.

Liu Yanyou did something wrong, but he was the governor of a place in the Tang Dynasty and he could not be killed by anyone.

Moreover, Liu Yanyou is not an ordinary person.

He was born into the Liu family of Pengcheng. In his early years, he passed the imperial examination and was appointed as the Weinan County Magistrate. His skills in writing were rare at that time. Later, he was transferred to the Dali Temple as a secretary, and then to the Yousi Langzhong and the Honglu Temple as a Shaoqing. During the reign of Empress Wu, because he was from the Liu family of Pengcheng and had some disguised relationship with Li Xuan, Empress Wu did not trust him and asked to go to Annan.

Since Li Xuan ascended the throne, Annan Protectorate in Tiannan has been able to maintain stability, and he has made great contributions to it.

Now that he is dead, Li Xuan feels that something is wrong with the situation.

"What does Your Majesty think?" Ouyang Tong asked.

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment and said, "If I don't know much, Liu Yanyou suddenly collected grain. Either he was secretly plundering grain in Annan for himself and preparing to sell it north during the flood, or he felt something was wrong and was preparing to raise grain to protect himself. Besides, where are the soldiers in Annan?"

Li Xuan looked up at the ministers and asked, "Annan is a Protectorate, in the south of the world, there are three Zhechoufu, more than 2,000 people, even if they are stationed in different places, if something happens, they will immediately come back to help... Liu Yanyou was a Dali Temple Secretary, even if he is not incompetent, he will still have time to defend the city until the rescue, unless..."

"Unless someone is holding back the troops." At the entrance of the palace, Wang Fuzhi, the Junior Minister of Rites, and Wang Bo, the Junior Minister of Sinong Temple, walked in at the same time, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I, Wang Fuzhi/Wang Bo, pay my respects to you."

"No need to be polite. Just tell me what's going on." Li Xuan waved his hand, and the ministers made way for him and the two of them walked over.

Wang Fuzhi and Wang Bo, father and son, successively served as magistrates of Jiaozhi County. Jiaozhi County was only a few dozen miles away from the capital of Annan, and they knew the situation there best.

"Your Majesty, the most important thing now is to pacify Annan." Wang Fuzhi spoke first, then bowed and said, "It's not difficult to pacify it. Just transfer 3,000 soldiers from the Guangzhou Governor's Office to Annan."

"Guangzhou Governor's Office." Li Xuan pondered. Why did they need to transfer troops from Guangzhou? Couldn't Annan be pacified by itself? He raised his head and said, "Go on."

"Yes!" Wang Fuzhi breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Your Majesty, Annan's problems are both internal and external. Although Annan was ruled by the Han, Sui and Tang dynasties for many years, it was also governed by Linyi for a considerable period of time. Linyi had a relaxed policy and the local chieftains were content..."

"It's about toast." Li Xuan understood everything completely. After all, it was still a problem of toast.

The conflict between the chieftains and the imperial court has always been a difficult problem in the governance of the vassal states. If the chieftains are not causing trouble, the country will be at peace; if the chieftains are causing trouble, there will inevitably be turmoil.

With the chieftain plotting behind the scenes, it was inevitable that someone would open the city gates of Annan at night, rush straight into the city, and finally behead the local governor.

"Wang Qing, you should go and serve as the Protector General of Annan. Firstly, you are familiar with the place, and secondly, your qualifications need local experience." Li Xuan looked at Wang Fuzhi.

Wang Fuzhi immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will obey your order."

The Protector General of Annan was a third-rank official, and Wang Fuzhi was now the Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple, a fourth-rank official. His early experience in the local government was only enough to enable him to reach this position.

Moreover, he is now the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, and his son Wang Bo is the Shaoqing of Sinong Temple. There is criticism both in the court and in the country.

That is to say, Wang Fuzhi was persecuted by Empress Wu in his early years, and Wang Bo was a close confidant of Li Xuan, a famous scholar in the world, and had made great contributions, so this was the temporary situation.

……

"But when suppressing the rebellion, it is not enough to rely on Annan alone." Li Xuan looked up and said, "Order the governor of Guangzhou Governor's Office, Lu Yunrui, to dispatch 3,000 troops to suppress the rebellion. At the same time, be on guard against the local chieftains. If necessary, use the method of the Hongmen Banquet and behead them. Try not to kill them in the mountains."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed in unison and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

What they feared most was that Li Xuan would mobilize a large army in Annan. If something happened, the world would inevitably be in turmoil again.

The pacification of Annan was inevitable, but it was hard to say how much the cost and income would be.

"Okay, that's it. Lord Wang, Lord Lin, and the Left Prime Minister, please stay for a while. The others can go." Li Xuan waved his hand slightly, and the others immediately bowed and said, "I'll take my leave."

After the ministers left, Li Xuan looked at Wang Fuzhi and asked, "Tell me, what is the problem with Annan?" Wang Fuzhi pointed to the map and said directly, "Gaozhou, Feng family."

"Madam Xian?" Li Xuan immediately understood that this was the Feng family who was almost crowned the King of Nanyue.

Lady Xian happened a long time ago.

During the reign of Emperor Yang Jian, Lady Xian had already died of illness.

After Lady Xian passed away, Lingnan was in turmoil again. At that time, Lady Xian's grandson Feng Ang asked to return to Lingnan to quell the rebellion.

Later, after he returned to Lingnan to quell the rebellion, he returned to the court to serve, and even followed Emperor Yang to attack Liaodong. Because of his bravery and fighting skills, he was promoted to General of the Left Guard.

After the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Feng family controlled more than 20 states in most of Lingnan and more than 50,000 soldiers.

They had close relations not only with Linyi, but also with the Funan Kingdom to the west of Linyi.

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Feng Ang led the people of Nanyue to submit to the Tang Dynasty and became the hereditary governor of Gaozhou.

Feng Ang also sent his eldest son Feng Zhidai to the court to serve Taizong to show his loyalty...

……

Li Xuan nodded slightly and said with a smile: "It seems that they have doubts about me."

Wang Fuzhi hesitated for a moment, but still cupped his hands and said, "There is one more thing. The current Gaozhou governor Feng Ziyou married the daughter of Gaoyang County Duke Xu Xiang."

"Huh?" Li Xuan looked up in surprise. How did this matter have to do with Xu Jingzong, and the Anlu Xu family?

Li Xuan plans to inspect Jingzhou next year. This year, Xu's in-laws caused such an incident.

OK OK.

Lu Yuanfang opened his mouth and said, "Your Majesty, I have some impression of this matter. Feng Ziyou, the son of Feng Ang, once set out from Lingnan with a shipload of gold to travel to Chang'an. Xu Xiang was greedy by nature, so he married his daughter to Feng Ziyou. People at the time said that it was just to get more gold and treasures. Because of this, Xu Xiang was impeached and demoted to the governor of Zhengzhou."

"Zhengzhou and Luoyang are only separated by a single place. The so-called demotion is nothing but a lie." Li Xuan waved his hand indifferently.

"Later, Prime Minister Xu died, and the court was settling accounts. Because of this matter, Emperor Gaozong once sent a special censor to Lingnan to investigate. Then, Feng Ziyou not only secretly placed the censor under house arrest, but also reported the envoy's crimes. Emperor Gaozong had no choice but to send a second censor. In the end, Feng Ziyou only showed a little courtesy, and gave the censor 200 taels of gold and 500 taels of silver, and forced him to accept them."

Wang Fuzhi cupped his hands and said, "Feng Ziyou is just like that. If he wants to rebel against Your Majesty in Annan, he doesn't have the guts to do so. But if he accidentally does something that makes Liu Duhu think he wants to rebel and prepare troops in advance, that's another matter."

"This is a barbarian." Li Xuan immediately understood the standards for interacting with Feng Ziyou.

Lu Yuanfang was also completely relieved. Wang Fuzhi smiled bitterly: "Indeed."

Li Xuan nodded, turned sideways and looked at Lin Renji and said, "Mr. Lin, I know you want to retire. Now I have two choices for you."

"Your Majesty, please give your instructions." Lin Renji bowed seriously.

"First, he will be transferred to be a Palace Attendant, and at the same time, he will be the Inspector of Crown Prince Zuo Yude, and be granted the title of Duke of Chenliu County, so that he can enjoy his old age in peace." Li Xuan looked at Lin Renji. This was the most standard configuration of an old minister. At the same time, he was the Inspector of Crown Prince Zuo Yude and had certain real power.

You can even think about the future.

"May I ask Your Majesty, what about the second one?" Lin Renji bowed, his eyes flickering.

Li Xuan sighed and said, "Appoint him as the pacification envoy of Lingnan Road, inspector of the crown prince Zuo Yude, and the third rank of Zhongshu Menxia, ​​and be granted the title of Duke of Chenliu County. Go to Lingnan, together with the Minister of Agriculture Dou Xiao and the Minister of Honglu Chen Yi, to be responsible for the rice affairs of Jiaozhou. At the same time, pacify Feng Ziyou of Gaozhou and pacify Annan. At special times, you can act according to your discretion."

"I am willing to go to Lingnan." Lin Renji bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan looked at Lin Renji with a serious look and said, "Mr. Lin, you won't be back for three to five years after you leave this time. It will be tiring to go back and forth..."

"I am willing to serve Your Majesty." Lin Renji bowed again.

"Okay." Li Xuan turned sideways, looked at Lu Yuanfang and said, "Promote Weiwei Temple Minister Yuan Jiazuo to Taichang Temple Minister, promote Yongzhou Chief Clerk Liu Zhirou to Weiwei Temple Minister, promote Luozhou Chief Clerk Lai Jingye to Yongzhou Chief Clerk, promote Yizhou Grand Military Governor's Office Sima Yao Yi to Luozhou Chief Clerk. The post of Yizhou Grand Military Governor's Office Sima will be decided by the Political Affairs Hall."

"Yes!" Lu Yuanfang immediately bowed.

Li Xuan looked to one side: "Li Lang."

"Your Majesty." Li Lang turned from the door and entered the hall.

"You take 200 people from Chang'an to escort Wang Qing and Lin Qing to Guangzhou and Annan. When you arrive in Luoyang, transfer another 100 thousand guards." After a brief pause, Li Xuan said, "Ask Minister Ouyang for a list. When you arrive in Tanzhou, find the local noble families and recruit 100 thousand guards. When you arrive in Guangzhou, find the governor of Guangzhou Road and recruit another 100 thousand guards. Then investigate whether there are people from the Xu family involved in the Feng family's affairs. Join me in Jingzhou next summer."

"Yes!" Li Lang bowed solemnly.

Lu Yuanfang couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He already understood that the emperor was already extremely wary of the Xu family of Anlu.

Although the Xu family did not gain much benefit from Empress Wu's affairs, it was because they did not have the right talents at that time, but they still had close ties with Empress Wu.

"Mr. Lin." Li Xuan looked at Lin Renji again and said, "Here is a memorial from Feng Ziyou congratulating me on my ascension to the throne. You can take it with you."

"Yes!" Lin Renji's breathing became heavy.

(End of this chapter)