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

Chapter 894 The Emperor’s Means, the Art of Balance

Li Xuan walked into the cabin.

Under the window, Monk Huiri was reading a book intently.

It doesn't look like a Buddhist scripture.

"Master!" Li Xuan stood a little further away and stopped politely.

I didn't go to visit randomly.

"This is the "Record of the Buddha's Kingdom" written by Master Faxian back then." Monk Huiri calmly pushed the "Record of the Buddha's Kingdom" forward, looked at Li Xuan and said: "Your Majesty should know that Master Xuanzang is not the first A monk from China who successfully traveled to Tianzhu and then returned successfully."

"I have heard about it, but I don't know the details. I would like to ask the master to explain it in detail." Li Xuan clasped his hands slightly.

"In the first year of Yongchu in the Southern Song Dynasty, that is, more than 260 years ago, the eminent monk Faxian summoned 25 people including Master Wujie, Master Tanlang, Master Sengmeng, etc., starting from Chang'an, crossing the Liusha River in the west, passing through the Congling Mountains, and passing through the snow-capped mountains. Traveling through the vast Gobi desert, I arrived at Sravasti. I encountered an evil elephant and made a lion to save him. I met a rhinoceros and a giant vulture came. I went to the Ganges River to seek scriptures. Finally, I took a boat in South India and returned to Guangzhou via the sea."

Monk Huiri finally raised his head, looked at Li Xuan, and said seriously: "There were 25 people who set out, but in the end only five survived. The others either died or stayed in Tianzhu. In the end, only Master Faxian returned to China alone by sea."

Li Xuan nodded seriously and said solemnly: "Master's merits are immeasurable."

Monk Huiri smiled faintly, and then said: "Your Majesty, you know that although Master Faxian and Master Faxian's journey to the west are mostly the same, there is one section where the north and the south are distinct."

"Master, please speak." Li Xuan looked solemn, the highlight of the day was coming.

Monk Huiri pushed forward the "Buddha Kingdom" in his hand again, and then said: "After arriving in Lanzhou, the master took a short rest, then went to Liangzhou and took the northern route of the Silk Road to Zhangye. But Master Faxian entered Shanzhou along the Huangshui River, then crossed Qinghai Lake, entered the Qilian Mountains from north to northwest, passed the Daduba Valley, and entered Zhangye. This is the path we are taking now."

Li Xuan is no stranger to this name.

Now the Ganliang Dao army of the Tang Dynasty was blocked by the Tubo people in the northwest of the Daduba Valley and could not advance at all.

"Thank you so much, Master. Xiao Wang will definitely read it sincerely." Li Xuan raised her hands sincerely, with a solemn expression.

Monk Huiri smiled softly, then lowered his head to take another Buddhist scripture and began to recite it in a low voice.

Li Xuan took a deep breath and felt extremely happy.

Fortunately, when he was in Chang'an, he went to Da Ci'en Temple, otherwise he would have really missed this opportunity.

Although more than 200 years have passed, the local terrain has changed dramatically, but he can still get a lot of useful things from it.

After all, the terrain in that area had been explored countless times by the army's spies, but the army was still firmly blocked in the valley on the north side of the Dashuba Valley.

Now that there are new clues, maybe we can find a new path.

Only those who have been in the mountains know how hopeless it is when there is no way forward.

Leaving Monk Huiri's room, Li Xuan turned around and walked into Deng Ziyang's cabin.

The difference was that Deng Ziyang stood in front of one of the bulkheads, with a map hanging in front of him.

The map is not too novel, it is a very rough map of the Qingxi Basin.

In recent years, even ordinary business travelers have traveled to the Qingxi area. After all, the Golmud area is still very prosperous.

There, it happens to be at the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

Deng Ziyang's eyes were fixed on Kunlun Mountain.

"Back then, King Mu of Zhou drove his eight-horse chariot westward to the Kunlun Mountains to meet the Queen Mother of the West." Li Xuan walked to Deng Ziyang's side and whispered: "But the Kunlun Mountains in the myth seem to be referring to the Qilian Mountains."

"The Queen Mother of the West lives in Yaochi, north of Kunlun Mountain, and Yuanshi Tianzun lives in Yujing, south of Kunlun Mountain." Deng Ziyang smiled slightly and said: "What I am looking for is Yujing, not Yaochi."

"It is recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas that Kunlun Mountain, the highest mountain in the sea, is in the northwest and is the capital of the Emperor of Heaven on earth. It has a radius of [-] miles and a height of seven or eight thousand feet... It is the crown jewel and is the capital of the Emperor of Heaven. Send the god Lu Wu to manage Kunlun Mountain."

Li Xuan looked at Deng Ziyang seriously and said: "But in the Qingxi area, no matter in ancient times or now, compared with the Central Plains, it is a sparsely populated place. There may be Yuxu Palace in Kunlun Mountain in the world, but it is definitely not in the northwest. "

Deng Ziyang smiled calmly and said: "Then where does the prince think the Central Plains was in the ancient times?"

In ancient times, before the great flood, even Shandong in central Sichuan was home to the sea.

Therefore, before the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was uplifted, before the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, before civilizations were recorded, it was very likely that the Central Plains was located in the Qinghai and Gansu areas.

"It's Xuan who's rude." Li Xuan bowed slightly, he was convinced, but then he asked: "Do you plan to practice in Kunlun Mountain?"

"No, of course not." Deng Ziyang quickly waved his hand and then said sideways: "Wherever the prince needs me to practice, I will practice there."

Li Xuan smiled and said softly: "To cultivate the way of heaven, you need to be in Kunlun Mountain, but to cultivate the way of humanity, you still need to be in Nanshan, Qinghai."

Qugou New Town, Li Xuan chose Qugou New Town.

In comparison, Fuqi City is too remote, and Xinghai City is too close to the front line. Only Qugou is a must-visit place for business travelers from all over the world, and it is the most prosperous place.

"Respect the prince's order." Deng Ziyang bowed seriously.

He went to Qinghai-Tibet not to find the myth of Kunlun Mountain.

After all, from ancient times to the present, countless people have gone to Kunlun Mountain, but in the end there was no news at all.

So during his trip, he could take time to visit the Kunlun Mountains, but the main thing was to build a Taoist temple in Qinghai and spread the Taoism.

Li Xuan walked out of the room where she led Deng Ziyang, feeling a little tired for a moment.

Of these two, one is eyeing Faxian's ancient path, and the other is eyeing Kunlun Mountain.

Really interesting.

... As the sun set, Li Xuan had already disappeared into the northwest world along the Weishui River.

At this time, Liu Yizhi and Fan Lubing slowly rode into Chang'an City.

The streets were crowded with people, but there was an invisible flow of people that separated Liu Yizhi and Fan Lubing from other people.

Looking at the extremely prosperous city of Chang'an, Liu Yizhi couldn't help but sigh softly: "The King of Nanchang has finally left. I don't know why, but every time he returns to Chang'an, there is always trouble in Chang'an."

"Without these turmoils, His Majesty would not have let him come back." Fan Lubing nodded lightly, and then whispered: "Our King of Nanchang, although he is not proficient in officialdom, he has a good grasp of people's hearts. Heavy."

"No matter what, the matter is finally settled. Although it is not as expected, the situation is already excellent." Liu Yizhi looked calm.

This time, he was the one behind everything.

Because of a small oversight in the Tianyin Sect incident, Liu Yizhi was caught by Li Xuan. Later, he was severely reprimanded by Empress Wu, and was alienated for a while.

Fortunately, Ming Chongyan had gone to Dunhuang, leaving them with a manpower vacancy, and Liu Yizhi was once again activated by Empress Wu.

"Shang Shu Zuo Cheng's attitude has indeed changed, but the position of Zuo Si Langzhong has been given to Dou Sitai, the official examiner of the Ministry of Civil Affairs." Fan Lubing followed up, and Liu Yizhi's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Although Zuo Si Langzhong seems to be only from the fifth rank, just seeing that he can supervise Yiying Langzhong in the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites is enough to prove his importance.

If we talk about it in detail, this position is definitely not less important than any of the Six Ministers.

This should have been something they, the North Gate bachelors, should have gotten, but because of their mistakes, this position finally fell into the hands of Dou Sitai, the official examiner.

Liu Yizhi forced a smile and finally said: "It doesn't matter, Doctor Dou is one of our own."

Fan Lubing asked calmly: "Is he really one of our own?"

Dou Sitai was Li Dan's brother-in-law. In nominal terms, most of them, the North Gate bachelors, gathered under Li Dan's command and were Li Dan's most effective advisers.

He and Li Dan's father-in-law's family are naturally a group of common interests.

But the problem is that all the North Gate bachelors are from poor families, but the Dou family is the top wealthy clan among them.

If they, the North Gate bachelors, really pushed Li Dan to his position, then the Dou family... the Dou family would be completely on the opposite side of them in the future.

There is no doubt about this.

"Also, there is one more thing. Luo Governor Shi Cui Zhiti came to visit the King of Nanchang the day before yesterday." Fan Lubing's last words completely turned Liu Yizhi's attention away.

"Luo Governor Shi Cui Zhiti, Shangshu Zuocheng, brother Cui Zhiwen." Liu Yizhi's breathing became completely heavy.
"The current Luozhou Mu is His Royal Highness." Fan Lubing followed up with another stab, and Liu Yizhi clenched his fist instantly.

In the Tang Dynasty, the governor of the state was the governor, the governor was in charge of military affairs, and the royal family personally appointed the governor and was called the shepherd.

Li Xian was appointed governor of Luozhou and became the shepherd of Luozhou.

Of course, Li Xian, the Luozhou pastor, did not take office, but this does not mean that Li Xian cannot recruit talents through the Luozhou government office.

In this process, the position of Luozhou Governor’s history is very important.

In the absence of Li Xian, the governor of Luozhou was the de facto governor of Luozhou.

Now Cui Zhiti suddenly visited Li Xuan, and Li Xuan had always been close to the King of England.

This means that the governor of Luozhou began to get close to the British King Li Xian, which meant that Li Xian began to actually take over the power of Luozhou Mu.

Not only that, Luo Governor Shi Cui Zhiti is the brother of Cui Zhiwen, the minister Zuocheng. Cui Zhiti is close to Li Xian. Who knows if Cui Zhiwen, the minister Zuocheng, is also close to Li Xian? What about the entire Qinghe Cui family?
King Xiang had just won over the Dou family in Longxi, and the King of Ying had just won over the Cui family in Qinghe.

The power that King Xiang had just formed was immediately completely balanced by the King of England.

Liu Yizhi looked slightly embarrassed and said: "At least, Mrs. Cui is staying away from the prince, isn't she?"

Fan Lubing also breathed a deep sigh of relief. This is the best news now.

Not only the Dou family and the Cui family are moving away from the prince, but other major clans are also moving away from the prince.

"But the Crown Princess will give birth at the end of the year. What if she is the emperor's grandson, the emperor's eldest grandson?" Fan Lubing couldn't help but shook his head.

Once the emperor's eldest grandson is born, the power that they have just emerged will be suppressed immediately.

Everything is back to the previous state with nothing happening, which is depressing just thinking about it.

"Your Majesty, this method is really amazing." Liu Yizhi couldn't help but sigh. After all, they were all under the control of the emperor.

"There is another thing to remind you." Fan Lubing turned to look at Liu Yizhi and said with a serious face: "According to Yushitai, Di Renjie is still secretly investigating the case of Zhaoling fire."

The corner of Liu Yizhi's mouth twitched slightly, but then he said: "Just check it. Anyway, I didn't do that thing."

Fan Lubing nodded slightly, and then said indifferently: "As long as you are sure that those two people have completely disappeared without a trace, then there is no need to worry."

Liu Yizhi lowered his head slightly and said, "It's a pity that the Queen of Heaven will not let Di Renjie be touched."

"Your Majesty won't let you either." Fan Lu stared at Liu Yizhi with cold eyes.

……

Under the cover of night, a war horse came quickly from the northwest and quickly ran to the foot of Chang'an City.

Crossing Zhuque Street and going straight into the palace, the final military report was placed in front of the emperor and Empress Wu: Pei Xingjian, Minister of the Ministry of War, reported that the Western Turks were rebelling.

(End of this chapter)