Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 490 Good Brothers

Lingwu.

The camp of the Shuofang Jiedushi has now been temporarily converted into a temporary palace. The place is naturally smaller, but it can make the new court much more efficient.

Whenever there was news, the new king could hear the shouts from far away while sitting in the hall.

"Your Majesty, the envoy has returned!"

Li Fuguo walked into the hall. The purple robe he wore showed the majesty of a court minister, but his steps were still as fawning as a servant's. He had a unique temperament.

Li Heng's hair had turned a lot whiter recently, and he looked worried. He was discussing something with Zhang Ting in a low voice, and when Zhang Ting said "I have a solution", Li Fuguo accidentally interrupted him.

"Which messenger has returned?"

"Li Chengcai, Shi Dingfan and others who borrowed troops from the Uighur Khan have returned, and they have brought the Uighur Khan's eldest son with them. They will be able to enter the city tomorrow."

"Finally, there is good news." Li Heng muttered to himself, and his spirits lifted a little. He said, "Tomorrow I will go to welcome him in person, and ask all the civil and military officials to come, to strengthen the power of our Tang Dynasty."

He has been very worried recently. He originally thought that Li Longji had died in Chencang, so he dared to ascend the throne and become emperor. Unexpectedly, he is now in a very passive position.

Yesterday, two more pieces of news came: Li Guangbi sided with Li Cong after supporting Chang'an; and Guo Ziyi suddenly suffered a stroke after marching to Zhongshoujiang City and stopped marching. In short, the situation is gradually leaning towards Li Cong.

Therefore, Li Heng had to place more hope on the Uighurs.

The next day.

When the envoys entered the city, the civil and military officials of the Lingwu court were already waiting in line. When the court was first established, there were only dozens of people, but now there are more than 200 people. If all the officials were brought out, it would look quite impressive.

Apart from the royal family, the first among the military generals was Feng Changqing, followed by Pugu Huai'en.

Pugu Huai'en was a tall Tiele man with a big beard and a very ferocious appearance. But in fact, he was very simple and honest, a straightforward person who would not think in a roundabout way and worked very hard.

Because Li Heng specially won him over, rewarded him, gave him clothes, and took him to eat with him, and after drinking he spoke heartfeltly about his ambition to restore the Tang Dynasty, Puguo Huai'en was moved to tears. Recently, he has been actively training his troops, preparing to serve the new emperor until his death.

Among the civil officials, Du Hongjian, who had made great contributions to the establishment of the throne, did not take the first place. He humbly gave up his position to Fang Guan, a famous official who had arrived in Lingwu not long ago.

Fang Guan had served as Jieshi Zhong in the previous few years, which was a position of prime minister. He was considered an important arm of Li Heng when he was in the Eastern Palace. Unfortunately, he was later involved in Xue Bai's case and was banished from Chang'an.

After hearing that Li Heng ascended the throne, Fang Guan rushed to serve him overnight. Now he has been appointed as the Minister of Personnel, co-director of the Secretariat, and prime minister. He is dressed in a purple robe and has great style. He is the pillar of the Lingwu court.

Standing there waiting for Li Heng, Fang Guan was resting with his eyes closed when he suddenly heard someone behind him say in a low voice something like "The child prodigy has arrived". He turned his head and looked back, only to see Li Mi wearing a feather robe, standing at the last seat of officials, looking very out of place among the crowd in purple and red.

He then walked over and said, "Changyuan, come stand at the top."

Li Mi stood still, unwilling to step forward, and waved his hand, saying: "I have no official position or salary, so it is not appropriate for me to be among the hundreds of officials. Please come in, Fang."

Fang Guan was about to continue the invitation, but when he heard a eunuch calling out, he had to stop talking and stand back in his seat.

When Li Heng arrived at the hall, he looked around and first looked at Li Mi, waved his hand repeatedly, and said with a smile: "Changyuan, stand closer."

Fang Guan said slowly with a relaxed tone: "I just urged Li Mi to stand in front of me, but he claimed that he had no official position and no salary, and he refused no matter what. Please, Your Majesty, appoint him as prime minister."

They valued Li Mi because they knew that Li Mi was really capable and a rare genius. In prosperous times, geniuses could be put aside for later use, but in this chaotic world, geniuses are urgently needed.

But Li Mi's state of mind was different from a few years ago. He had seen through the power struggle and lost his previous awe of the imperial power. He became more free and easy. When Li Heng again proposed to appoint him as prime minister, he still refused.

"Is Changyuan being distant with me?" Li Heng emphasized his tone, as if if Li Mi did not accept it, he was not giving him face.

He has been very worried recently, fearing that Li Longji's appearance in Shu County would lead to the alienation of his subordinates. He would only feel at ease if he could win over Li Mi.

Li Mi then said, "I am a homeless man without a grain of rice. I do not seek high office, good land, or a beautiful house. I offer advice to Your Majesty. I only hope that after recovering the two capitals, I can sleep on the emperor's lap and scare the Imperial Observatory so that they will report that a 'guest star is approaching the emperor's throne'. If this stirs up the astronomy, then my life's wish will be fulfilled."

He spoke in a serious tone, but what he said was a somewhat absurd thing. Many people in the hall couldn't help but laugh, and the atmosphere eased, dissolving Li Heng's insistence.

Li Mi's way of making jokes was somewhat similar to that of the monk Lancan he had met before, so he said at the time that he "stole the Zen master's nonsense."

Li Heng laughed loudly, and was pleased with the intimacy shown by Li Mi's words about resting his head on his knees, but he still let Li Mi stand at the head. It didn't matter where he stood, so Li Mi stood at the front leisurely in plain clothes.

After this round of courtesy between the monarch and his subjects, the envoy arrived. As the drums and music started, Li Chengcai, Shi Dingfan and others led a young Uighur into the palace.

The young Uighur man was the eldest son of Gelek Khan, but in his early twenties. Although he could speak Chinese, he spoke haltingly. When he introduced himself, the interpreter hesitantly said that he could be called "Prince Yehu."

Li Heng frowned slightly after hearing this, but as he needed help from someone right now, he thought, just call him the crown prince and there was no need to argue with him over these meaningless trivial matters.

Prince Yehu showed his curiosity about the Tang Dynasty. He looked around the small hall with his big, bright eyes and praised the magnificence and splendor of the Tang Dynasty palace.

"This is my first time in the Tang Dynasty, and this is also my first time seeing such a large city."

These words made Li Heng feel a little embarrassed, thinking that Prince Yehu was mocking him. But he looked carefully at the other's clear and innocent eyes and confirmed that the other was probably just ignorant.

Sure enough, Prince Yehu then said, "Our capital is built at the foot of Yu Dujun Mountain. It is only half the size of Lingwu City. The palace has two gates and a watchtower."

Li Chengcai stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I went to Yu Dujun Mountain and met Gelu Khan. He admired the Tang Dynasty very much and wanted to marry his daughter to me."

At this point, he paused, a trace of bitterness flashed in his eyes. Privately, he was not willing to marry the girl. She was called a Uighur princess, but in fact she was a woman with rough, dark skin and a bad temper. Moreover, if he married a Uighur woman as his legal wife, the child he gave birth to would be his legitimate son. He really didn't want his legitimate son to have Uighur blood. In comparison, he would rather let the royal family marry a daughter to him for marriage.

But there was no other way. The country was in danger and as a member of the Tang royal family, he could only make sacrifices. He believed that Li Heng would repay him.

"Good!" Li Heng was very happy and immediately rewarded Li Chengcai.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." Li Chengcai accepted the reward, took two steps forward, held up a letter from the credential with both hands, and said, "This is Gelu Khan's agreement to send troops. Please take a look, Your Majesty."

Li Fuguo hurried over to take it and presented it to Li Heng.

Li Chengcai lowered his head and secretly observed Li Heng's expression. Seeing that he remained calm, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In the palace, Li Heng did not say much, but just hosted a banquet to entertain Prince Yehu.

That night, there was an imperial banquet at the Lingwu Palace. After three rounds of wine, Li Heng left his two sons and some trusted ministers to discuss the conditions for borrowing troops with Crown Prince Yehu.

~~
Prince Yehu was a down-to-earth man, especially when he was drunk, he became even more heroic.

"The Khan admired the Tang Dynasty very much. He married his daughter to the Tang Dynasty and hoped to marry a Tang princess. Only by marrying the two sides can they work together to fight the enemy."

Li Heng hesitated for a moment, then quickly nodded and agreed, saying, "I will marry my daughter to the Huihe people."

"Thank you, Saint." Prince Yehu was overjoyed and said, "The Huihe are willing to fight for the Tang Dynasty, but it will inevitably cause the death of men and the loss of a large number of cattle, sheep and horses. Your Majesty must reward them. The Khan requires that after Chang'an is recaptured, the city will belong to Your Majesty, and the women, slaves, money and food in the city must all belong to the Huihe."

Li Heng had already read Li Chengcai's memorial on this matter and was in deep thought without saying anything.

Fang Guan frowned and said, "How can this be possible? Just state the amount of reward you need."

"I won't list them." Prince Yehu shook his head and said, "When the Huihe people fight, they share the spoils in half. This is the rule. Compared with the city, the people and property in the city are not half as important. This is a concession made by the Khan because he admires the Tang Dynasty."

"How are you going to take away Chang'an's children?"

"Don't worry about it. After entering the city, the Tang army will just let us rob and loot for a few days."

Prince Yehu still had his clear and innocent eyes open as he spoke, but the dagger in his hand was still cutting flesh.

He had just said that the meat at the imperial banquet was too well-cooked, so he ordered some half-cooked meat. When he cut it with a knife, blood gushed out. He didn't use chopsticks, but just ate it with his hands, so there was blood at the corners of his mouth.

No matter how naive he was, and no matter how much he said he admired the Tang Dynasty, his barbarity had already offended many officials in the hall.

"Snapped!"

There was a sound, and Li Tan stood up and slammed the table. He pointed his finger and angrily shouted: "How dare you say that you want to rob the capital of the Great Tang Dynasty? Why don't you beg for mercy from His Majesty?!"

Prince Yehu swallowed the meat in his mouth, looked at Li Tan with puzzled eyes, and said: "This is the rule of the Huihe people. If the Tang Dynasty does not agree, just don't lend us troops. Why are you so angry?"

Li Neng became even angrier and clenched his fist, saying, "Those who offend the majesty of the Tang Dynasty must be killed!"

The two men were about the same age, and when they met, they both got angry. Prince Yehu threw the dagger in his hand, walked into the hall, and knocked on his chest and said, "Let's have a fight?!"

"it is good!"

Li Neng raised his eyebrows, and immediately rolled up his clothes and stepped forward.

In fact, he was not as impulsive as he appeared. He knew very well that in negotiations, he could not just accept whatever the other party said, especially on matters of principle. He had to fight back resolutely and show the courage that the Tang Dynasty should have.

"Stop!" Li Heng shouted.

The two young men in the hall did not listen and strode towards each other.

"Tiger--"

Amid the sound of breaking wind, Prince Yehu threw a punch, his punch was swift and powerful. He was very confident in his martial arts ability, and this punch could directly kill a cow.

"Oh!"

The fierce punch of Prince Yehu actually missed. Li Tan did not make much movement, but just dodged slightly, and was in front of him, punching him in the face, breaking Prince Yehu's nose.

Before he could shout, Li Neng raised his knee and hit him hard in the abdomen, causing him to bend over like a shrimp in pain.

The two strikes were clean and powerful, like thunder, and Li Neng was about to elbow Prince Yehu in the back. At this moment, someone rushed over and hugged Li Neng.

"Stop it!"

"Get out of here!" Li Tan looked back and saw that it was Li Chu who was pulling him. He changed his tone and said, "Brother, let go."

"stop fighting."

"Anyone who attempts to plunder the capital of the Tang Dynasty will die!"

Li Neng wanted to struggle yet, but suddenly his vision blurred and he was slapped in the face with a loud slap. When he looked closely, he saw Li Heng was already in front of him.

"Grandpa."

"Henan and Hebei have fallen, the people are suffering, the rebels are rampant, did you let them die?!"

"I am ashamed, but..."

"Get out!" Li Heng shouted angrily.

Li Fuguo quickly led a group of guards forward, pulled Li Tan, and used kind words to persuade him, pulling him out.

"Your Highness, calm down."

As they walked away, there was another "pop" sound outside; someone was slapped in the face.

When Li Fuguo returned to the hall, half of his face was red and swollen, but he lowered his head deliberately, not wanting Li Heng to see it, so as not to blame Li Tan. But how could Li Heng not see it? To him, his son dared to hit a person who was carrying out the emperor's will for him, which was a slap in his face. Li Chu went to support the Crown Prince Yehu and let him sit down again, saying: "My brother has been arrogant and rude since he was a child, you don't have to pay attention to him."

Fortunately, Prince Yehu was a good-tempered man and did not cause any trouble for them. He was only interested in robbing the people of Chang'an.

The other ministers did not dare to make a decision on this matter for a while, and they were all carefully observing Li Heng's expression.

Li Heng was in great distress. He paced back and forth, pondered, and finally let out a long sigh.

"At this time, the Tang Dynasty is in danger of extinction. Not only is the Hu rebel rampant, but even my father and brother have been deceived by the rebels."

Having said this, his face became serious and his tone became heavier.

"You know, Xue Bai is not the son of my second brother Li Ying. He is undoubtedly the son of Xue Xiu, pretending to be a royal family member, deceiving the world, and intending to overthrow the Tang Dynasty. I have found sufficient evidence for this matter, but I am afraid it is too late. He has lured Li Guangbi into Chang'an, annexed his troops, and is about to collude with the Hu rebels. I am incompetent and cannot protect the ancestral temple and the country."

Everyone here is Li Heng's confidants, so he doesn't need to prove anything, just express his stance.

After the ministers sighed a few times, someone turned to Crown Prince Yehu and asked, "How many troops can the Huihe send?"

"Four thousand cavalry."

Prince Yehu answered confidently. Although the number was not large, the Uighur cavalry often had three horses each and were skilled in riding and shooting. Even with only 4,000 cavalrymen, they were still a powerful force.

All the ministers shook their heads, thinking that selling Chang'an City for 4,000 cavalrymen was too much of a disrespect for the ancestral temple and the country. After all, this was a dirty thing of betraying the country's people. For a moment, all the ministers dared not speak, pretending to think.

Another important question is, how many more troops do they need to defeat Xue Bai and Hu Ni and recapture Chang'an?

It was impossible for Li Heng to speak personally about such a thing. Seeing this, he frowned and waited silently.

Li Fuguo knew Li Heng's intentions best, and he reminded everyone quietly: "It's not just Chang'an, the court wants to recover the two capitals, can the Huihe send 10,000 troops?"

"Two capitals? Ten thousand people?"

Prince Yehu didn't understand at first, but after a while he finally understood - Xue Bai was difficult to deal with, and the Tang Dynasty needed the Huihe to send 10,000 troops. Correspondingly, the Huihe could rob the gold, silk, and children of the two cities of Chang'an and Luoyang.

~~
"Brother, how did the conversation with the Huihe people go last night?"

"Don't worry, Grandpa didn't agree to his request. Instead, he persuaded him to send troops. He will be rewarded later."

Before dawn, Li Tan, who had not slept all night, found Li Chu and asked him about what happened last night.

Li Chu's reaction was calm and he brushed off the question of borrowing troops from the Huihe in one sentence. Then, his face became more serious and he said, "I have something important to tell you."

"Brother, just say it."

"I have found out that Xue Bai is not my cousin. He is pretending to be the son of the deposed Crown Prince Ying."

Li Neng asked, "Brother is in Lingwu, how did you find out?"

"Zhang Yi said it," Li Chu said. "Zhang Yi knew everything about what happened back then. He had a past relationship with Princess Tangchang, who was married to Xue Xiu. He had always known that Xue Xiu had a concubine, Xue Bai. In other words, Xue Bai had never left Zhang Yi's sight since he was born, and he was never a member of the Tang royal family."

"Then...how could Prince Qing recognize him?"

"He was just blinded by greed." Li Chu said, "According to the envoy who returned from Fanyang, Shi Siming also said that Xue Bai and An Lushan had colluded long ago. Grandpa has asked Zhang Yi to give more evidence to the emperor."

Li Neng said: "Brother, I have never been on Xue Bai's side, but defending Chang'an is the most important thing now..."

"I know." Li Chu patted his shoulder and said, "I know you want to put the overall situation first, but do you know that the country left by our ancestors is likely to be usurped and overthrown at any time?"

Li Neng was speechless.

Li Chu said: "The only thing we can do now is to hope that the emperor can wake up soon and stop being deceived by Xue Bai."

"Then, they really won't rob Chang'an?"

"You still don't believe me?" Li Chu asked, "From childhood to adulthood, when have I ever lied to you?"

"Believe me, brother."

After the two brothers finished discussing the matter, Li Neng left.

Li Chu watched his back and turned to go to Prince Yehu's residence.

As soon as he arrived at the place and entered the door, he heard someone calling, "Brother!"

Li Chu turned around and saw that it was Crown Prince Yehu rushing towards him. He smiled and said, "I was worried that you would forget about me when you woke up."

“I will never forget!”

Prince Yehu stepped forward, embraced Li Chu affectionately, and said: "I have a half-brother named 'Yidijian'. Although he is my brother, he has always wanted to kill me. But you and I, although we only became sworn brothers last night, our friendship is closer than that of real brothers!"

Li Chu was silent for a moment and patted Prince Yehu on the back.

"Me too."

"Don't worry, brother. I will return to Yu Dujun Mountain right away to gather the troops and help you ascend the throne."

"Brothers……"

~~
Shu County.

Li Longji took a deep breath, raised his head, sighed comfortably, and murmured: "You said that you wanted to give birth to a child for me."

Ms. Fan was stunned and recalled some past events... She had actually tried hard. Once, she took advantage of the spring banquet in Taiji Palace to secretly summon Xue Bai to her side.

"I am useless and have disappointed the Saint."

"No, it's not too late." Li Longji murmured, "An old horse in the stable has a thousand miles to go. A martyr in his old age has great ambitions."

Recently, he wanted to have another child more than ever, even though he already had hundreds. What he wanted now was not inheritance, but to prove himself.

Ms. Fan then pretended to be overjoyed, bowed down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the sacred scripture."

"Tell me what you saw and heard in Lingwu. When Li Heng ascended the throne, were you glad that I was gone?"

"I have been detained for a long time and don't know much." Fan Nv said, "It's just that Prince Zhong gave Your Majesty a temple name."

"Oh? What is it?"

This matter was very unlucky, and other people had been avoiding it and did not dare to tell Li Longji. But Fan was different, she was his bedmate, so she could tell him quietly in private.

"I don't understand what those mean, so I'll just tell you what I heard, please forgive me, Saint."

"Tell me." Li Longji was also very curious about what his temple name would be after his death.

"Dai... Daizong." Fan said in a low voice: "They say that the saint's contribution to the Tang Dynasty is like that of Emperor Wu of Han to the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of Han was given the temple name Shizong, so the saint should be given the same name, but to avoid the taboo of Emperor Taizong, he can be given the temple name Daizong."

This is a very high temple name, but Li Longji frowned slightly and sneered.

He never liked being compared to Emperor Wu of Han, because court officials always used the fact that Emperor Wu of Han forced Crown Prince Liu Ju to death in his later years to persuade him, which disgusted him. He also believed that Emperor Wu of Han's achievements were not enough to compare with his.

"Li Heng still wants to ridicule me for being harsh on him. This is all he can do."

Lady Fan said, "Prince Zhong did not agree to use the word 'Dai'. He said that your Majesty's achievements in civil and military affairs can only be highlighted by temple names like 'Jing', 'Xuan', and 'Sheng'. However... those officials did not agree, and Prince Zhong had no choice, so he put the matter on hold for the time being."

Li Longji said calmly: "I am still alive, how dare he give me a temple name."

Even so, he could still feel a little bit of Li Heng's filial piety towards him. In his heart, he knew that from the perspective of his posthumous reputation, Li Heng still protected his achievements.

"I don't know what happened afterwards."

Fan didn't really care who she had to say good things to, as she now lived for herself. Li Heng had promised her many benefits; on the other side, Xue Bai had rejected her last time, and had rescued Yang Yuhuan in Chencang but not saved her, so the original kindness had finally turned into a faint resentment, but it didn't matter anymore, and there was no possibility of seeing each other again in the future.

"Which one is planned to be used?" Li Longji murmured to himself, still curious.

Within two days, all the kings and ministers from Chang'an arrived.

As a result, Yizhou City finally acquired the style of "Nanjing".

Li Longji was very happy and met many people in one day. When he saw Wei Jiansu, he was very surprised. He thought Li Cong would appoint Wei Jiansu as prime minister, so he couldn't help but praise him.

"I once dreamed that I fell down and was helped up by a filial son. Gao Lishi said that seeing a filial son in plain clothes is 'seeing the plain'. You are indeed loyal. I am waiting for you to help me create a prosperous era again."

In short, with a loyal and capable minister like Wei Jiansu, Nanjing's government affairs were stable.

Afterwards, talking about Chang'an, hearing that the rebellion was about to be quelled, Li Longji's eyes showed a thoughtful look, and he regained the emperor's deep and unpredictable mind.

While chatting, he also talked to Wei Jiansu about some ministers who were still in Lingwu, and guessed who would rush over after hearing that the emperor was in Shu County.

"Fang Guan has a reputation for being loyal and upright, so he must come first." Wei Jiansu said, "Although Zhang Yi is a close relative, he almost got appointed prime minister but missed the opportunity, so he must not come."

Li Longji shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. My virtuous son-in-law has been blessed by the country for generations. How can he not come?"

Wei Jiansu knew Zhang Yi well and did not think that he would come to Shu County to get involved in trouble.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, Zhang Yi arrived and said that he had an extremely urgent matter to report to the emperor in detail.

Li Longji seemed to have expected this and immediately agreed to the meeting, and except for a few trusted guards, he dismissed everyone else.

~~
There was a map in the main hall of Huitian Palace, and the latest news that Cui Qianyou's troops were forced to Shaolingyuan was also marked on it. Li Longji first glanced at the map, and then looked at Zhang Yi.

"I heard that Li Heng gave me a temple name. He was afraid that I was still alive."

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Yi bowed down quickly and said, "No, I didn't dare to give Your Majesty a temple name because I always held on to the hope that Your Majesty was still alive. This is absolutely true!"

This kind of thing can be easily found out by investigating. Li Longji was too lazy to ask further questions and just kept a sullen face.

Zhang Yi waited for a while before saying, "I came here to find out about Xue Bai's life experience."

"I shouldn't have expected Li Heng to surprise me." Li Longji murmured, "Tell me, is he my grandson?"

"No."

The fact that Zhang Yi just called her "Xue Bai" instead of "Li Qian" has already made his attitude clear.

Li Longji said: "I want to see the evidence."

"I have plenty of evidence," Zhang Yi said. "I dare to ask Your Majesty...did Xue Bai send the imperial concubine to Shu County?"

(End of this chapter)