Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 456 Holding the Emperor hostage

Fufeng County, Chencang County.

This is the exit of Chencang Road. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Liu Bang "built the plank road openly but secretly visited Chencang" and passed by it.

The south of the county is the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains. There is a pass for the San Kingdom in the Zhou Dynasty, called Dashan Pass, which is the throat between Guanzhong and Sichuan.

Li Longji arrived here in a hurry, and it was considered initially safe. Even if there are rebels chasing him, he only needs to retreat into Sanguan, and the advantages of the rebel cavalry will not be used.

As a result, Nan Shou's team could finally rest for a while and temporarily settled in Chencang County. The first thing they did was to look for food.

Because they escaped in such a hurry, hunger has been with them since they left the capital. Not to mention that more than 10,000 soldiers of the Forbidden Army had not eaten, even the emperor himself was often full and hungry from time to time.

Several times, Yang Guozhong personally sent people to the rural market to "recruit" and brought back some dry food, wild vegetables and other food to Li Longji.

This incident shows the benefits of a good tax collector. Even in times of danger and war, he never forgets his duty.

But Li Longji had had enough of the hard food. When he entered the city, he immediately ordered Yang Guozhong to offer delicious food. He and Yang Yuhuan sat in the lobby of Chencang County Office. Seeing the plates of hot dishes being served, he felt that he had regained some of the face he had lost a while ago.

"Taizhen, you have been suffering recently. Eat more today."

Yang Yuhuan used to have a plump beauty, but now she has lost a lot of weight and has become a somewhat thin beauty. She has a completely different charm, which is naturally caused by hunger.

In times of crisis, it can still be seen that she is still the most favored by the saint in the harem. Although there are concubines such as Jiang Caiping and Fan Nu accompanying her this time, she is the only one at the saint's side during the banquet today.

There are not many dishes. A freshly roasted whole lamb is cut into small pieces and served with Hubian.

What’s rare is that the Hu biscuits are also hot. Even if there were Hu biscuits on the road before, they were cold and hard to bite. Li Longji was too old to bite them. He had to soak them in water before swallowing them. Today he can finally roll them with Hu biscuits. Used for chewing mutton.

Yang Yuhuan was so hungry that when the saint started to move, she picked up a piece and ate it with her own hands. She used to find mutton smelly, but today she felt that the smell of the meat mixed with the rice noodles was really delicious.

"what!"

Suddenly, I heard Li Longji shouting next to me, accompanied by a small "da" sound.

"Saburo?"

Yang Yuhuan turned around and saw the saint covering his mouth with a painful expression on his face. Then he spit out a broken tooth.

In fact, when an ordinary person reaches Li Longji's age, he will almost lose all his teeth, but the reason why he didn't lose them in the first place is because he eats carefully. But when these halos are taken away, he is just an ordinary person.

All the shortcomings of an ordinary old man, including broken teeth, body odor, rickets, and spots, inevitably began to appear on him, making him look old and miserable.

When Yang Yuhuan saw it, his eyes were sore for no reason and his eyes were red. I don’t know if it’s because I feel sorry for Li Longji or what.

"saint!"

The important ministers at the banquet rushed up one after another, expressing concern. Yang Guozhong didn't dislike it. He used his fingers to push away the food Li Longji had spit out, picked out the fallen dragon's teeth, and found a small piece of sheep bone.

He was furious, turned to the cook who was cutting the mutton and yelled: "How did you cut the meat?!"

That cook has been in Chencang County all his life and has never served the emperor or court officials. How can he answer this? He hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Drag him down and chop him off."

"Spare my life!"

Li Heng stood aside, watching this scene, the old and fatuous saint, the young and beautiful concubine, the domineering prime minister... endless worries surged in his heart.

~~
"Today, Yang Guozhong is going to kill an innocent person because of a broken bone. When he arrives in Shu County tomorrow, if he wants to kill my father and son, he will kill him as he pleases."

At night, Li Heng stayed at the posthouse in the city and summoned his eldest son Li Chu and his third son Li Tan. Also present were his princess Zhang Ting and the eunuch Li Fuguo.

There was a problem in front of them that they could no longer ignore. When the team turned to Chencang Road and headed for Shu County, they were heading to Yang Guozhong's territory. It should be noted that the Yang family was originally in Sichuan and Shu. Yang Guozhong was the Xindu County Lieutenant in his early years and pacified Nanzhao. During the chaos, he was still the coach in name only and had been in charge of Shu County.

Li Heng and Li Longji have different positions.

If the city of Chang'an is destroyed, Li Longji will be safe in Shu County, but Li Heng will not be safe. He may die at the hands of Yang Guozhong before he can please Li Longji and be canonized as prince again; and if Li Cong really defends Chang'an still had to negotiate terms with Li Longji and welcome him back to Chang'an. Li Longji was at least a supreme emperor, but Li Heng would only be completely disqualified from competing for the throne.

After setting his position, he looked at the attitudes of his two sons.

The eldest son Li Chu was the first to speak. He was decisive and said without any nonsense: "Sages must not be allowed to enter Shu. If I enter Shu, I will be persecuted by Yang Guozhong."

"What do Sanlang think?" Li Heng looked at Li Tan again.

Because of his good relationship with Gao Lishi and Li Cong, Li Tan has been very active in the political hall in recent years, and now he is the most prestigious among the three father and son.

But sometimes, his position always seems a bit ambiguous. For example, that night he had a premonition that Li Cong might want to change the palace, so he took action to stop it and informed Li Heng about it. But when Li Heng was about to escape Chang'an with Li Longji, he dissuaded Li Heng from staying in Chang'an to help Li Cong defend the city. It was Li Heng and Li Chu who persuaded him hard to persuade him to leave Chang'an.

This vacillating stance in the battle for the throne made Li Tan unhappy with both sides.

"Brother is right."

Li Tan supported Li Chu's views on this matter as soon as he opened his mouth, and at the same time, he also gave some different reasons.

"Once the saint goes south and the bandits burn down the plank road, the area north of Sanguan will no longer belong to the Tang Dynasty. The people will be disappointed, the people will be separated and unable to reunite, and the Central Plains will be handed over to the thieves."

They also refused to go south, but their words were a step up in terms of pattern.

In fact, this was also what Li Chu felt, but tonight was a private discussion, so he reminded Li Heng of his personal honor and disgrace, thinking that there was no need to talk about the overall situation, but he didn't expect to be compared.

Since the father and son all had the first opinion, they then discussed what to do.

Li Chu spoke first: "Master, why don't you advise the saint to stay in Fufeng County and watch the war in Chang'an?"

"Wait and see? Do you think Li Cong can still hold Chang'an?" Li Heng asked.

"Chang'an cannot be defended without soldiers and food." Li Chu said: "However, Li Cong has Xue Bai's support and has Anlu Mountain as a pledge, so he may be able to hold off the rebels for a while. Today's four towns in Anxi, Hexi, and Long On the right, Shuofang's border troops are already arriving. I can take this opportunity to recruit troops and wait for the rebels to regain Chang'an."

The reason is simple. If you want to benefit from the situation, you must first watch from the sidelines. In addition, since we were "recovering" Chang'an, we naturally had to wait for Li Cong's defeat and get rid of the prince before talking about quelling the rebellion.

Compared with the rebels conquering Chang'an, Li Cong's ability to hold the city was the most unfavorable outcome for Li Heng and the least likely outcome.

"What Dalang said makes sense..."

"No!"

This time, Li Tan expressed the completely opposite opinion, saying: "I must not sit back and watch. When the traitors attack Chang'an, it will not only hurt the life of King Qing, but also the majesty of the clan. I must step back as soon as possible." The best strategy for the people in the garrison is to ask the Holy Spirit to return eastward and join forces with King Qing to defend the city so that the country can be restored to safety."

When Li Heng heard the last sentence "Work together with King Qing", his expression froze.

He wanted to retort, but as a father, it was not convenient for him to say such remarks, so he turned to look at Li Fuguo.

Li Fuguo immediately understood and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "What Sanlang said is very true, but he did not take into account the sinister nature of people's hearts. Have you forgotten? King Qing forced the saint to abdicate in the palace of desire that night, and the saint Nan Shou was forced by him. Once King Qing was defeated, he Rebel, isn't he going to harm the saint and His Highness?"

"Shut up!"

Li Tan scolded: "When my father and son discuss state affairs, it is not for you, a slave, to speak out. I will never teach you to do politics again!"

Li Fuguo had a good relationship with Li Tan on weekdays. The person he cared about most in his life was the palace maid Xiao Mozi. It was only because of Li Tan's care that she was safe and sound. They had many contacts with each other. Unexpectedly, once state affairs were involved, Li Tan actually So not fake color.

"This slave is guilty." Li Fuguo was frightened and took a step back.

Li Tan actually knew that the situation was like this and that he could not do without the help of these eunuchs. However, since Li Fuguo dared to open his mouth to alienate the royal brothers, he must reprimand him severely, so he said sternly: "Go to my tent and receive thirty lashes... "

"You kid, why are you doing this?"

Zhang Ting suddenly spoke with a smile, interrupting Li Tan's words.

She is about the same age as Li Tan, but she pretends to be old-fashioned. Since Li Heng was demoted to the title of Zhongwang, she got a benefit, that is, the title of Prince Liangdi was changed to the title of Princess Zhong. The legitimate wife had the qualifications to say a few words about Li Tan.

"This slave's words are not pleasant to listen to, but they are for your own good. Li Cong wanted to commit rebellion. This is a fact. He drove away the saints and occupied Chang'an because he was a traitor. Now two traitors are fighting, but you are Isn’t it too soft-hearted to defend the city with one person?”

When Li Tan heard this, his sword-shaped eyebrows couldn't help but frown, and he was about to speak out to refute.

Li Heng stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "I know you put the Li family's country first."

"Grandpa..."

"Let me ask you." Li Heng asked: "Do you support Li Cong's succession more?"

"I don't dare." Li Tan said: "The reason why my son expressed his support for King Qing was because of the situation, and he really didn't want to turmoil in the court. But since King Qing dared to force a coup in the palace, my son naturally supported me, but now he is against the will. If you violate the rules, the world will fall apart..."

"Your Highness, don't blame this child." Zhang Ting said softly: "He can't say these things just to become the prince for Li Cong."

Li Tan's expression changed.

"Okay, let's not talk anymore." Li Heng said: "Since you brothers think that you should not enter Shu, but should take back the troops in the border areas, then do so. As for whether to defend together with Li Cong or to regain Chang'an. , we’ll talk about it then.”

"Yes." Li Chu pulled Li Tan.

"But the saint is confused and does not listen to good advice. He only listens to Yang Guozhong's words. He wants to enter Shu." Li Heng sighed: "How can I control this?"

The topic finally came to what he had been thinking about recently. In this regard, his two sons are very supportive of him.

"When I entered Shu and misled the country, I could only act as my utmost filial piety by eliminating the traitors and welcoming the saint back to the palace. I must not hesitate because of mere warmth!"

This was about to launch a coup. After being suppressed and suspected for so many years, Li Heng finally came to this road, and his fingers were trembling slightly.

But there is a very difficult problem ahead.

"Now that I am not the heir apparent, and my name is not legitimate, why should I call on the troops in the border areas to wipe out the rebels?"

Li Chu said: "We should ask the sage to issue an edict to depose Li Cong and restore my father to the throne."

"How can this be done?" Li Tan said, "Once this happens, Chang'an will definitely not be able to defend it."

"Chang'an cannot be defended. The saint has issued an edict now. By the time the news reaches Chang'an, Li Cong has already been defeated. Now that I have a name, I can recruit troops as soon as possible to conquer the two capitals and level the world."

"With foreign enemies now, how can we mess up our position?"

"Li Cong's palace has changed, how can we preserve the benevolence of women?!"

After arguing and arguing, the topic actually returned to the tangled place just now. But this time, Zhang Ting and Li Fuguo did not speak, but just looked at Li Heng.

It is already very clear who is one of our own here and whose elbow is turned outward.

Li Heng did not blame Li Tan, but encouraged him a few words. The next day, I told Li Longji privately about my concerns about Li Cong.

~~
All along the way, he was just focused on escaping, but now that he finally stopped, Li Longji was able to deal with many affairs and care about what happened to Chang'an City.

He repeatedly sent people to investigate, and at the same time he also sent envoys to the west to urge Feng Changqing, the military envoy of the four towns in Anxi, to lead his troops back for reinforcements.

"On the day I left the city, Li Cong not only had no intention of pleading guilty, but he dared to threaten me with provisions and horses, and demanded the right to supervise the country. His heart was rebellious to the point of this. If he really defended Chang'an, wouldn't he want to force me to abdicate?"

"The saint has a clear lesson." Yang Guozhong responded.

Their judgment is of course correct. As long as Li Cong holds Chang'an, he will surely ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. When the time comes, the world will be united and no one can stop him.

Li Longji then mused: "What do you think if I give up his reserve position now?" Originally, they had considered that Chang'an would definitely not be able to hold on to the small amount of troops and food. The reason for not deposing Li Cong for the time being is to allow him to block the rebels so that they can escape to Shu County. Now that they are safe, Li Cong is not needed so much.

This has nothing to do with Yang Guozhong. The question is, once Li Cong is eliminated, who will be the crown prince?
Of course, Yang Guozhong wanted to have a hand in the matter of establishing the heir apparent, so he said without hesitation: "Why don't the saint wait until he reaches Shu County before making a decision?"

"I'm afraid Xue Bai is a variable."

In this way, Yang Guozhong was also worried that the emperor brought to Shu County would become a supreme emperor, so he felt that he had to make it more difficult for Xue Bai, so he said: "King Qing has violated the holy will and should be punished, but... establish a crown prince The matter will probably be decided after the rebellion is suppressed. "

As soon as he was reminded, Li Longji also knew that he should be wary of Li Heng and nodded.

At this time of war and crisis, when the country needs a crown prince the most, only the foundation of the country can stabilize people's hearts. However, the monarch and his ministers tacitly agreed that the reserve position should be left vacant at this time.

"Bring me a pen and ink." Li Longji said, preparing to issue his first edict since his safety.

"Sage, do you want to think about it again?" Gao Lishi had to remind: "Maybe wait until the news comes back from Chang'an?"

With the relationship between Gao Lishi and Li Cong, he can stay in Chang'an. The reason why he fled with the Holy Emperor was not because he was over seventy years old and still afraid of death, but because he wanted to serve Li Longji wholeheartedly.

It was because the saint knew his loyalty that he dared to speak, but Li Longji was still a little unhappy and waved: "Go and get it."

"According to the order."

Gao Lishi had no choice but to exit the dilapidated lobby, only to see Chen Xuanli guarding the door.

The two looked at each other and sighed at the same time.

Chen Xuanli said: "Shuofang Jiedushi, the judge Du Hongjian, has come to greet the Holy Master."

"Why don't you report it?"

Chen Xuanli took two steps and whispered: "Du Hongjian hasn't entered the city yet, but King Guangping has gone to meet him outside the city."

Gao Lishi looked a little solemn and sighed: "If the saint knew about it, he might be suspicious."

"No doubt about it, it is now clear that Yang Guozhong wants the saint to go to Shu, King Zhong wants to keep the saint in Fufeng, and King Qing wants to take the saint back to Chang'an."

The words actually had the meaning of "Qin lost its deer, and the whole world chased it away". Both of them felt uneasy and had no way to do anything about it.

Gao Lishi then asked people to get pen and ink, and waited on Li Longji to write. At the same time, he reminded Li Longji of what he had just heard about Du Hongjian rather tactfully.

Li Longji paused at the tip of his pen, and the rebellion and dissent that followed finally made him feel physically and mentally exhausted.

But he thought about it and continued to write. He finished writing the edict for the deposed prince, and while he was blowing the pen and ink and thinking about it carefully, news arrived.

"Sage, Prince Qing has delivered a memorial."

Gao Lishi quickly stepped forward to take it, glanced at it quickly with a movement that could not be noticed by others, and handed it to the saint.

At a glance, he faintly saw the words "Luoyang is lost, Xue Bai is dead", and he was shocked.

"Guizi, now you think of me." Li Longji read it, said lightly, and threw the letter aside.

This is a letter written by Li Cong when he was in the most panic, requesting him to return to Chang'an in an extremely sincere manner.

Of course Li Longji would not go back, but he unconsciously folded up the edict deposing the prince... If Xue Bai dies, this will be unnecessary for the time being, and we will talk about it when we get to Shu County.

Not long after, another news came.

"Sage, Li Qiwu is here."

Li Qiwu was transferred back to the court to serve as a general and prisoner two years ago. This time he didn't have time to escape from Chang'an with the team. He originally thought about not escaping, but after staying for a few days, he heard the news of Xue Bai's death and hurriedly Fleeing, Zheng arrived one after another with the messenger sent by Li Cong.

Kneeling in front of the emperor, he cried bitterly and expressed his worries about the saint. When asked about Chang'an, Li Qiwu said: "King Qing is weak and incompetent, and can easily be influenced by traitors."

"He submitted a petition asking for help, saying that as long as I send troops, Chang'an can be defended. But is it true?"

"Your Majesty cannot be trusted." Li Qiwu said: "King Qing sent an envoy to ask for help, and the next day he vindicated the case of the three commoners in public..."

"what?!"

Li Longji was immediately furious and his hair and beard were all stretched out.

Compared with the various activities behind the scenes, this was a direct denial of his authority as the emperor, and he would never tolerate it.

However, the things that made him even more angry were not finished yet.

"Not only that, King Qing also claimed that Xue Bai was Li Qian, the third son of the deposed prince Ying, and had issued an edict to announce it to the people of Chang'an."

As soon as the words came out, everyone was surprised, but their reactions were different.

Gao Lishi first thought that Xue Bai was really Li Qian, and Prince Qing was the insider at that time. If Xue Bai had not died, he might be the one in the clan who could best put down the rebellion and recreate a prosperous age.

Yang Guozhong thought of the time when he and Xue Bai were young, and thought that he was the emperor's grandson. No wonder he could be as motivated as him. However, after all the hard work of the emperor, he died before his name was corrected. As the prime minister, he would threaten the emperor. Shu.

Li Longji's originally glaring eyes narrowed, looking very wary, or more accurately, fearful.

He had long been aware of Xue Bai's ulterior motives and the gradual threat to him. As expected, he turned out to be such a hateful villain.

"Fake!"

He suddenly shouted loudly, and what flashed before his eyes was the scene of his three sons kneeling down to complain, Zhang Jiuling speaking angrily, and Concubine Wu Hui shouting in fear... There were so many things in the past, and he wanted to shout them down.

"That's not my grandson, it's fake!"

Li Longji actually stepped forward, kicked Li Qiwu over, then turned around and threw the edict on Li Qiwu's face.

"I want to depose Li Cong and then tell the world that that good-for-nothing was deceived by Xue Bai. Xue Pingzhao, the son of Xue Xiu, has ulterior motives. He deceives the king and deceives all the officials. He should open the coffin and kill the corpse!"

An edict was light and fluttering, and it didn't hurt Li Qiwu's face, but because of it, it was night, and the small Chencang County began to be turbulent.

~~
"The sage has issued an edict to depose the prince."

A eunuch sent the saint's clothes out of the government office for laundering and immediately delivered the news.

Soon, Zhang Ting, who was mending clothes by hand, learned of the incident, put down her needle and thread, and led her son Li Yi back to her residence.

Li Heng frowned and paced back and forth.

Zhang Ting did not speak immediately, leaving him worried. She sat down and said, "I want to eat some buns."

In a small county in the midst of war, this is obviously a difficult matter. Li Heng was used to being bossed around by her, so he immediately summoned Li Fuguo and told him to find Fu Fu.

Zhang Ting then turned his anger into happiness, hooked his hand, and asked Li Heng to come forward and speak.

"Your Highness can express his ambitions."

Li Heng was overjoyed when he heard this. He took Zhang Ting's hand and thanked him, and then walked out quickly to find Li Chu first.

"It's done, get ready quickly."

"Yes."

After the instructions were given, Li Heng looked up at the sky and breathed a sigh of relief. He thought of a lot at that moment.

During Tianbao's five years, he had no choice but to divorce his wife because he was implicated in the Wei Jian case, and then he had no choice but to divorce his wife because of the Du You Neighbor case. What was he divorced from? It was his dignity as a prince, or even a man.

Now, it's finally time to pay back all this humiliation.

There was faint singing coming from the high-walled courtyard. The sound was far away, but very beautiful.

That's Yang Yuhuan singing.

~~
Yang Guozhong kept shaking his feet and listening to the reports from his subordinate officials.

"Du Hongjian, the judge of Shuofang Jiedushi, must have been a member of the Zhongwang family for a long time. He served as an official in the Dali Division in his early years. He failed to deal with Xue Bai and was demoted to Shuofang. In recent years, he has been favored by An Sishun and his official position has been promoted very quickly. I think he came here in a hurry, not as if he wanted to welcome a saint, but as if he wanted to support a loyal king..."

The person who spoke was Yang Guozhong's confidant, Wei Fangjin, the imperial censor. His merits were not obvious, but he was already an important minister in the court.

"I knew that when we arrived at Chencang, Li Heng didn't want to go to Shu and was ready to take action." Yang Guozhong spat and said, "I have to let the saint deal with Li Heng."

Wei Fangjin couldn't help but be anxious after hearing this, secretly thinking that it would be useless if Yang Guozhong only complained when something happened.

"Right Prime Minister, the saint must have known about this matter."

"Then why didn't you summon me?"

"It should be... Du Hongjian must not move lightly, in case the Shuofang army he brought with him is forced back."

"That's going to be tricky." Yang Guozhong muttered: "I should win over the imperial army and lead the saint south as soon as possible."

"The matter is urgent and cannot be delayed."

"I'm going to see Chen Xuanli."

Yang Guozhong got up and went out, but he bumped into Yang Xuan who was rushing over.

"Grandpa."

"Go away."

"I have something to talk to grandpa."

"We'll talk about it later."

Yang Guozhong was about to walk away, but Yang Xuan grabbed him and whispered in his ear: "Master, there is danger. We have to save the Yang family."

"What are you talking about?"

"Li Heng has bribed the Imperial Army and will come to kill Grandpa soon."

Yang Guozhong was furious and shouted: "Who told you?"

Yang Xuan shrank his head, glanced around, and spit out the name of a dead man.

"Xue Bai."

Yang Guozhong's eyes widened in shock. Although he didn't know how Xue Bai was still alive, he knew that the other party must have come to take the saint back to Chang'an, and he would not allow it at all costs.

Since Xue Bai is not dead, he will kill him.

"How dare Shuzi chase you? Where are they?"

"Let me go to Madam Guo and find out."

(End of this chapter)