Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 485 Lies
Shu County.

Outside Yizhou City, there is Daci Temple.

Rows of soldiers stood outside the temple gate, and the guard stretched for several miles.

"Shut up!"

Jiannan Jiedushi Li Mi hurriedly got off his horse, and when he was still far away, he strode towards the temple with a look of deep thoughtfulness on his face.

When he arrived outside the door, he was stopped, his face darkened, and he shouted: "Don't you recognize me?!"

"Jie Shuai, there is a saint inside."

Li Mi looked suspicious, but still softened his tone and said, "I want to see the saint."

At this time, he was confronting the Tibetan soldiers and horses in Anjong City. After receiving some news one after another, he had to rush back temporarily.

After waiting for a while, Cui Yuan, the deputy envoy of Jiedu, came out of the temple. He bowed and said, "The saint is resting. I will take Commander Jiedou to meet him."

After saying that, Cui Yuan turned around, first pointed to the plaque of "Great Sage Ci Temple" on the temple door, and said: "These four words are the sage's edict."

Li Mi looked up and saw that Daci Temple had a new plaque. The writing on it looked like the emperor's handwriting. Of course, the plaque is engraved and can be imitated.

"How did the saint come to Shu County?" Li Mi asked.

"When Zen Master Wuxiang traveled around the world and entered Shu on foot, he met a saint. He led the saint south from Chencang Mountain to Hanzhong, where he met Lu Qi." When Cui Yuan said this, he paused and reminded: "These two people Now he is highly trusted by the saints.”

"who are they?"

"Zen Master Wuxiang was originally a prince of the Silla Kingdom. His common surname was Jin, his given name was Wuzhen, and his Buddhist name was Wuxiang." Cui Yuandao said: "Lu Qi is the queen of Lu Zhongcheng who died in Luoyang."

Li Mi asked again: "Do you know what happened in Chencang? Why is there still a decree from Lingwu? Also, I heard that the saint came alone, where are the courtiers?"

He asked many questions at once, but Cui Yuan answered them with only one simple sentence.

"I don't know either."

In fact, Cui Yuan was not the first official in Hanzhong to receive the saint. It was after Yan Wu and Gao Shi led their troops northward that Lu Qi led the saint to see him.

At the beginning, the saint often scolded those rebellious people, but when they secretly escorted the saint to Shu County, the saint's anger seemed to have gradually subsided, and he began to remain silent about the Chencang incident and paid more attention to some pragmatic matters. Things, such as Jiannan's military strength, food and grass.

Cui Yuan was able to figure out the holy intention, which was just to announce the rebellion of King Zhong and King Qing, and he wanted to break up with him. As the days gradually became more stable, the saint did not want to return to turmoil immediately.

After passing through the courtyard gates one after another, the two finally stopped.

"The saint is right in front, let's wait here." Cui Yuan said.

Li Mi glanced at the Zen room in the depths of the courtyard wall, and said slowly: "The saint has always believed in Taoism, not Buddhism. Now that I have arrived in Yizhou, I don't live in Xuanzhong Temple, but in Daci Temple?"

"What does Jieshuai mean?" Cui Yuan did not answer immediately, but asked, "You don't doubt that the saint is fake, do you?"

Li Mi said: "The news has been so confusing recently that it is difficult to distinguish. I heard that there are many people pretending to be holy masters in Hanzhong?"

"This is true." Cui Yuan whispered, "The reason why the saint lives in Daci Temple is because it was Zen Master Wuxiang who led him out of the Qinling Mountains and arrived in Hanzhong. It was Zen Master Yinggan of Daci Temple who first gave him alms. Got porridge..."

"Since Zen Master Yinggan is a monk at Daci Temple in Yizhou, how did he come to Hanzhong?"

Cui Yuan didn't want to answer his constant questions and asked, "Has Commander Ji ever met a saint before?"

Li Mi said: "I once served as a censor in the palace, and I have seen the saints in person."

"That's it. Commander Jie will know it as soon as he sees it."

After waiting for a while, Lu Qi and Zen Master Wuxiang finally came out of the courtyard, met Li Mi and took him inside.

Li Mi walked through the courtyard and entered a Zen room. He saw an old man sitting in the room, protected by a group of soldiers.

Due to the suspicion caused by what he had just seen and heard, he did not salute immediately, but looked around warily first, and then his eyes fell on the old man's face.

The saint in his impression was still the same high-spirited and vigorous person as before. At first glance, the old man in front of him had white hair and a haggard face. He did not recognize him immediately, but was worried that Cui Yuan had been deceived. Then he took two steps forward and looked at it more carefully.

These two steps shocked the other party.

"What do you want?!"

Suddenly hearing a loud shout, Li Mi quickly stopped, and then he hurriedly knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty Li Mi, the rescuer is late, please forgive me!"

He finally saw clearly that he was really a saint in front of him. Although his appearance was much older, ordinary people would never have such power.

The distance between the two was a little close, which made Li Longji feel a little uneasy, which made him very unhappy, and then made a certain determination.

Fortunately, Lu Qi had already stepped over and stood between him and Li Mi, so that he would not be on pins and needles.

"I love your life."

Li Longji opened his mouth to comfort Li Mi for a few words, and then the emperor and his ministers responded with regret.

"Over the years, I have trusted the wrong people and made many big mistakes. During this trip to the west, I suddenly realized that I should work hard to restore the prosperous world."

Listening to these touching words, Li Mi was suddenly moved, and even his eyes turned red and he shed tears. First, he reported on the current situation in Jiannan and reminded the saint to pay attention to Tubo's movements. After that, he mentioned the fact that King Zhong Yu Lingwu proclaimed himself emperor.

"That's because he mistakenly thought that I was buried in a mountain fire. He didn't know that I was blessed by God." Li Longji did not comment on the matter for the time being. He had his own considerations. "I heard that you sent Yan Wu and Gao Shi to support me. Chang'an?"

"Yes."

The order Li Mi received was to be ready to pick him up. After all, Li Longji was planning to enter Shu, so he would not let the soldiers and horses from Shu County leave. In other words, it was Li Mi who was good at making the decision to send troops to Guanzhong, and he must have an explanation.

"I...I mistakenly believed the rumors, and please punish me."

"I know you are here for the country."

Li Longji comforted Li Mi and observed him. After confirming that he was not a domineering general who was easily forced to rebel, he issued several imperial edicts.

The first step was to promote Yizhou to "Nanjing" as the companion capital of the Tang Dynasty. Regardless of what happened to Chang'an, Taiyuan, and Luoyang, or what the move of the capital southward meant to the entire Tang Dynasty, this was the political need of the saint Li Longji, and the capital was where the emperor was.

The second holy will is to reward the meritorious officials. After ascending the throne, Li Mi was appointed Zhongshu Ling, Zheng Guogong, and his brother Shu Han was appointed deputy marshal of the world's soldiers and horses. Cui Yuan was appointed Minister of Zhongshu, Tong Zhongshu's Pingzhangshi, and swordsman. Nanjiedu envoy; Lu Qi served as the minister of the sect, Tongzhong Shumenxiapingzhangshi, concurrently as the envoy of Duzhi, and the envoy of Nanjing Road Observation...

Li Mi was very stunned by this. He seemed to have been promoted to prime minister, but he lost his real power. The sage made three prime ministers at once. Only Cui Yuan and Lu Qi had real power and combined it. Obviously, they did not trust him.

But he just bowed his head and thanked him.

When Li Mi retreated, Li Longji looked at Cui Yuan and Lu Qi and said, "The strong wind knows the strong grass, and the chaos knows the loyal ministers."

The first half of this sentence was said by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and the second half was said by him. Then, he murmured softly: "I know that you and others are loyal ministers, but I don't know whether Li Mi is a loyal minister."

Li Mi's attitude towards the saint just now did not make Li Longji feel his loyalty.

"Don't worry, saint." Cui Yuandao said: "I have already arranged the pick-up arrangements in Shu County as entrusted by my rightful minister. Those selected as escorts are all elite soldiers loyal to His Majesty. Li Mid must not endanger the safety of the saint."

Li Longji nodded and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Yang Guozhong still knew what was on his mind and was loyal to him.

In short, he took Li Mi's military power and appointed Cui Yuan and Lu Qi as his new powerful prime ministers.

~~
After leaving the temple gate, Cui Yuan turned around, glanced at the plaque of "Great Shengci Temple", smiled, and said to Lu Qi: "Li Mi hasn't figured it out yet. From the moment he stands here, he has been plotted by me." ”

"You deliberately made him suspect that the saint was a fake."

"Yes." Cui Yuan said: "I deliberately delayed it by showing him the emperor's imperial letter first and not answering his questions to make him suspicious. Naturally, he would lose his composure in front of the saint."

Lu Qi smiled and said, "Aren't you afraid of actually forcing him to rebel?"

"He is a rigid person and will not rebel." Cui Yuan said: "We have worked together in Shuzhong for many years, how can I not understand him?"

Lu Qi nodded and took another look inside the mountain gate.

Being able to manipulate Li Mi in the palm of their hands was something they expected, but they didn't expect it to be so smooth.

In addition, today they suddenly discovered that the wise emperor who created a prosperous age was actually very easy to figure out. As long as you guess the saint's fear accurately, you can easily control the saint.

He is older and fainter than expected.

The two looked at each other and smiled silently, without expressing their understanding.

~~
In the temple, two monks walked into the Zen room.

Li Longji looked at them with a smile on his face. These two monks, one with the Buddhist name Wuxiang and the other with the Buddhist name Yinggan, were both his saviors.

At that time, he was trapped on the plank road at the top of Chencang Mountain. It was completely dark, making him afraid to move forward for fear of falling into the abyss. Fortunately, a precious chicken crowed and led him to the iron temple on the top of the mountain, where Zen Master Wuxiang was.

Although Wu Xiang was young, he was from the Wang family of Silla. He was compassionate and gave Li Longji food, asked him to change into a cassock, and took him down the mountain and out of the dangerous place.

But crossing the Qinling Mountains was not that easy. The two of them ate all the dry food halfway through and almost starved to death. Fortunately, he met Yinggan, who was an accomplished monk in Daci Temple. He cared about the common people and gave all the food he had to them.

Now, when it comes time for Li Longji to repay them, he has always been generous and will not treat his benefactors badly.

"I plan to expand Daci Temple and expand it into a royal temple and a palace. I will also give each Zen master a thousand acres of fertile land so that you can better help the people..."

Wuxiang and Yingqian were happy to hear this, and repeatedly called "Amitabha" to express their gratitude.

When they left the Zen room, they saw an old monk sitting cross-legged on the ground. He was the abbot of Daci Temple, looking at them with compassionate eyes.

"Zen Master." The two men stepped forward and saluted: "Good news, the saint is going to expand the temple."

"Isn't it a good thing to carry out large-scale construction projects when all life is in ruins?" The old monk asked with a long sigh: "How long do you two plan to bluff and deceive in the hidden temple?"

Wu Xiang and Ying Gan were startled and felt guilty. They quickly lifted the old monk and rushed him to a deserted Zen room, and then they started to speak.

"We have rescued the saint, how can we call it bluffing?"

The old monk pointed at Wuxiang and said, "You are not the prince of Silla."

Pointing to Yinggan again, he said: "You are not a monk who hides the temple."

Then, he said: "How can you two, who are not even my Buddhist disciples, use the banner of Buddhism to deceive you? You deceive the king and disrespect the saints. It is obvious that this is a capital crime." Wu Xiang was shocked and quickly fell to the ground and said: "Zen Master, spare your life. , The villain is also a miserable person. He had no choice but to disguise himself as a monk to avoid being a villain. Because of his unclear speech, he was always looked down upon by others, so he said that he was a prince of Silla. I begged the Zen Master not to expose the villain. "

The old monk shook his head and said slowly: "You haven't told the truth yet."

Wu Xiang didn't expect him to have such magical powers. When he looked around and saw his majestic appearance, he was so shocked that he had to whisper and call him.

"The villain really didn't want to save the saint at first. He just saw how impressive he was in speaking and wanted him to beg alms with the villain... and cheat together. Later, I found out that he was real."

"Amitabha."

The old monk turned to Yinggan.

Yinggan had no choice but to say: "The villain is indeed not a monk from your temple. He just saw that they had valuable items when they were in the Qinling Mountains, so he said that he was a monk from Yizhou to guide them."

The old monk said: "What you say is not true, how can this poor monk save you?"

"Yes." Yinggan had no choice but to lower his head and continued: "The villain originally wanted to secretly drug them so as to take away their belongings, but then he didn't expect... he was really a saint."

The old monk's eyes showed compassion and he said slowly: "Have you ever thought about it, saints are smart and will see your lies sooner or later. Where will your lives be by then?"

"I beg Zen Master to spare my life and never tell the saint."

Wuxiang and Yinggan kowtowed and begged for a long time. When they looked up, they saw that the old monk had closed his eyes and rested, and seemed to have fallen asleep.

The two looked at each other, their eyes communicated, and they already had murderous intent. If the old monk had been killed, perhaps the matter would not have been revealed. So, they kept twitching their chins towards each other, gesturing for each other to kill.

In the end, seeing the old monk's profound Buddhist teachings, the two of them did not dare to take action. Forced by poverty and low status, they do some sneaky things, but their hearts are not evil.

Finally, the old monk opened his eyes and said slowly: "There is no need to expand the temple, but the poor monk wants to go to Tianzhu to ask for the Mahavira Sutra and the Brahma Jiayu Sutra. Can you two go with me?" ”

"This... we saved the saint, but we want to enjoy glory and wealth."

"On one side is the great path of Buddhism, and on the other side is the unpredictable Sacred Heart. You can choose for yourself."

~~
a few days later.

When Li Mi met the saint, he mentioned a trivial matter.

He handed a list of monks to Li Longji and said: "Your Majesty, I discovered that there is no Zen Master Yinggan in the Daci Temple..."

"Why did you check him out?" Li Longji was displeased, his face remained calm, but with a smile, he asked lightly: "Check out my savior, but you suspect that I am a fake?"

"I dare not!"

"How do you want me to prove to you that I am me?"

"I am guilty, but I have no intention of doing so." Li Mi still put down the list of monks in his hand and said, "I am just worried about your majesty's safety."

"My dear, I misunderstood. I'm just joking with you." Li Longji waved his hand and said, "Leave it alone, I will look at it."

He felt very inconvenienced without Gao Lishi. Without the eunuch among them, many things could only be said by him personally to the courtiers. Without the context, even joking would be inappropriate.

After Li Mi left, he picked up the book on the ground. After reading it, his eyes showed confusion, and he called Cui Yuan and ordered: "Go and check."

Cui Yuan paid homage to the prime minister, thinking about reviving the world, and was busy working on the military and food account books. I didn't expect to do such small things for the saint, but Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong have always been around the saint, so they had no choice but to accept the order.

If he found out about this, he would not take the initiative to say anything. But since the saint asked him to investigate, he found everything clearly after only seven days.

"There is no doubt that Zen Master Yinggan is a fake monk. His real name is Yin Yishi. He is a thief in Mianzhou. He committed a major crime and fled north. As for Zen Master Wuxiang, I sent someone to test it quietly, but he did not know how to speak of Silla. language."

Li Longji was silent for a long time. He had always been indifferent to emotions and anger, but at this moment he couldn't control his dejection.

"Bring them here."

He used the word "press", which showed his murderous intent. The life-saving grace of those two people became a mockery to him.

Cui Yuan was a little surprised. He thought it was just a trivial matter and His Majesty would not delve into it. So at this time, people were sent to capture those two people.

After that, the reward he got was once again beyond his expectation.

"Your Majesty, they left yesterday and went to Tianzhu with Zen Master Zhishen to obtain Buddhist scriptures."

"gone?"

Li Longji was furious and asked: "Is this the defense of Daci Temple? Several living people left under the eyes of the guards and you didn't know it?! How did you put my safety at risk?!"

Cui Yuan suddenly became ashamed and bowed down to apologize.

He suddenly ascended to a high position and became prime minister in this chaotic situation. There were not many officials in Shu County who could help. Although he was full of ambitions to turn the tide, he was really unable to do what he wanted and was exhausted.

"I will never live in Daci Temple again." After all, Li Longji did not trust Buddhism and felt deeply uneasy, so he made a decision immediately.

"I invite your majesty to stay temporarily at Xuanzhong Temple." Cui Yuandao said: "Xuanzhong Temple is not far from Jiannan Jiedushi's camp and is safer."

"Xuan Zhong Guan?"

Li Longji murmured the name, waved his hand and said, "Let's arrange it. Also, send a fast horse to chase the person back."

"According to the order."

Cui Yuan wiped his forehead and left in a hurry.

Li Longji stayed alone in the house, suddenly feeling extremely lonely.

He remembered that on the way through the Qinling Mountains, Wu Xiang would carry him on his back every time he encountered dangerous roads. He remembered that Ying Gan would set up firewood on the tidal flat to cook porridge. They also went hunting and roasted meat but said that he was a monk and could not He ate meat, but broke the precept and killed animals for him.

Bullshit break!
There was a sound, and Li Longji suddenly pushed all the pens, inks, paper and inkstones on the table to the ground, with murderous intent in his eyes.

He had to kill them, he couldn't stand being kept in the dark by such a poor lie.

But in reality? He has been deceived by countless lies for ten years.

He said, "I haven't left Chang'an for ten years and nothing happened to the world." He thought he was wise and mighty but it was bullshit... Thinking of this, he fell down.

~~
A ray of red light suddenly descended and landed near the Xuanzhong Temple and Jiannan Jiedu envoy camp.

Someone followed the light all night and dug out a stone.

~~
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Auspiciousness comes from heaven, auspiciousness comes from heaven!"

It was just dawn, and Lu Qi bowed down in front of Li Longji with some excitement, and presented a piece of simple and natural jade with both hands, extremely excited.

A beautiful maid was already there today. She stepped forward to take it and handed the jade stone to Li Longji's hand.

He squinted his old eyes and saw several naturally formed lines above, which were clearly two characters.

"Heaven returns."

Li Longji murmured these two words and pondered: "What do you mean?"

"Heaven will return, Heaven will return." Lu Qi was also thinking, and then suddenly said: "I thought it was time for the Emperor to return to Luan. Your Majesty will definitely put down the rebellion and return to Luan soon."

Li Longji nodded, knowing that this was arranged by local officials, but it was not appropriate to destroy this auspiciousness, so he stroked his beard and laughed and said: "God bless the Tang Dynasty, and I have decreed that this place be renamed Tianhui."

"According to the order."

Lu Qi just received the order and heard that there was a post horse running in the distance.

Now that the Nanjing imperial court had just been established, they were most concerned about the trends in various places, and immediately summoned the post envoys to come forward to report the news.

"Good news, good news! Master Wang has repelled the rebels and defended Chang'an!"

However, what is very embarrassing is that the post envoy was sent by Guanzhong to report victory in various places. When he set out, Cui Qianyou had just retreated from Chang'an City, and he ran all the way. At this time, he didn't know that the saint had arrived in Shu County.

When he kept shouting good news and was led to Li Longji, he naturally did not think that he was a saint. Instead of being polite, he said: "You Shu County officials are easily deceived. The saint is in Chang'an, how can he be here?!"

Li Longji certainly did not have the same experience as this kind of little pawn. When others asked him angrily, he waved his hand, pardoned the post envoy's crime, and asked in detail about the situation in Chang'an City.

When he learned that Xue Bai had invited the Holy Master to return to Beijing with Gao Lishi, Chen Xuanli, and Yang Yuhuan, his eyes flashed with anger. When he heard the "sage" tell the world, vindicate the three common people's cases, and make Xue Bai the King of Peking, the sullen anger stung him even more deeply...

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

Suddenly hearing this sentence, Li Longji came back from his thoughts.

Li Mi looked happy and reported: "In response to the auspiciousness of the 'Heaven Return', His Royal Highness the Crown Prince defended Chang'an, and His Majesty returned to Luan soon."

He garrisoned Shu, suppressed Nanjun, and defended Tibet. He may have done a good job in military affairs. But he is obviously not a person who is good at guessing the holy will.

Li Longji was unhappy in his heart and had the intention of deposing Li Mi, but he nodded and said calmly: "I came to Nanjing to coordinate the troops, horses, food and grass, and defeat the enemy in Guanzhong. There is no rush to return to Luan."

After shooing away these ministers who did not understand the holy will, he left only Cui Yuan and Lu Qi to ask their opinions on the situation.

"I think this is not a bad thing."

The first one to speak was Cui Yuan. He felt Li Longji's anger and found that Li Longji had calmed down, so he said: "Since King Zhong has proclaimed himself emperor, he will not abdicate again. Although King Qing defended Chang'an, he was caught between Zhong and others. Between the king and the rebels, they must rely on Shu County for their food and grass supplies. I thought that I should pass the order to King Qing and order him to serve as the emperor."

What he meant was that there was still a way to control Li Cong and Xue Bai and regain power.

Although Li Longji hated Xue Bai, he also believed that this was the best way to take the overall situation into consideration and nodded.

However, Lu Qi had a different opinion.

"I believe that although King Zhong will not abdicate the throne again, he can still honor His Majesty as the Supreme Emperor and attend state affairs in the name of the Supreme Emperor. Now that King Qing is guarding Chang'an, he has won the support of the people. If he welcomes His Majesty back to Luan, he will be placed in an empty pavilion. "

His meaning is simpler, just comparing who needs Li Longji more between Li Cong and Li Heng.

The current situation is that although they can control Chang'an's food through Shu County, Li Cong and Xue Bai are much less controlled than Li Heng in terms of their behavior.

Li Longji weighed the two people's opinions and finally said slowly: "Send a decree to Li Heng..."

(End of this chapter)