Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 506 Too much is not enough
Li Mi still lived in the Marshal's Mansion in Qizhou City. Life after becoming a prisoner did not make him feel uncomfortable. He just meditated and practiced every day, and he was happy and comfortable.

But every evening, there was always some noise on the other side of the courtyard wall. It seemed that Xue Bai took in some orphans who were displaced during the war and set up a school in half of the Marshal's Mansion. After class, the teacher would cool off in the courtyard, and a group of children would ask the teacher to tell the stories that he had not finished in class.

Li Mi also listened to it for a few days and learned that it was a story similar to the migration of the elite to the south at the end of the Jin Dynasty, except that the Jin Dynasty was replaced by a dynasty called "Song", the Sima family was changed to the Zhao family, and the Five Barbarians Invading China were changed to the Jurchens in the north.

But later on, he could hear something different from the story of the Jin Dynasty's migration to the south. The story was more like a metaphor for the present. The Song Huizong, who was an excellent calligrapher and painter, referred to the current emperor; Cai Jing referred to Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and the like; and Li Shishi referred to Yang Guifei.

As for who was used to allude to Li Heng? At first, Li Mi thought that Song Qinzong was alluding to Li Heng, which he thought was too biased. In his heart, Li Heng's talent was still far superior to Song Qinzong's. Gradually, he heard some clues. At first, he thought that Zhao Gou, the King of Kang, who could restore the world, did not seem to be so wise and powerful.

Especially when hearing that Zhao Gou seemed to value Li Gang and Zong Ze, claiming that he would personally lead six divisions to support the capital and the Hebei and Hedong routes to fight a decisive battle with the Jin army, but in fact he went on a tour to the southeast just a few days later, it makes people think that Chang'an was still holding on at that time, while Li Heng was still heading north to Lingwu.

Listening further, Li Mi often felt Zhao Gou's selfishness in disregarding the interests of the country for his own benefit.

The failure of national affairs due to the shortsightedness, cowardice and selfishness of those in power is more outrageous than the destruction caused by the collapse of laws and regulations and the irreversible accumulation of bad habits. Therefore, Li Mi unconsciously developed the habit of listening to storytelling every evening.

On this day, it was said that Yue Fei had made great achievements in the Northern Expedition, marched into Zhuxian Town, confronted the Jin army, and sent 500 Beiwei cavalrymen to fight and defeat the Jin army. Then the heroes of Hebei came to surrender one after another, and tens of thousands of people gathered.

Across the wall, the old man raised his voice and said in a rhythmic voice: "Yue Fei was overjoyed and said to his subordinates, 'Go straight to Huanglong Mansion and drink with you all.'"

Hearing this, even Li Mi was moved and overwhelmed by his more than ten years of hard work in saving the country.

But then, the old voice changed the subject and sighed, "At this time, the imperial court wanted to cede Huaibei to the Jin people. One day, 12 golden orders were issued to Yue Fei to return. Yue Fei wept in anger and bowed to the east, saying, 'Ten years of hard work have been wasted in an instant.'"

After waiting for a while, the boys asked, "What next?"

"It's getting late, let's take a rest." The old man said, "We have finished reading today's book."

The boys refused and begged the old man to finish the story first, but they were scolded instead and had to let out a disappointed "oh" sound.

Li Mi shook his head and laughed at himself. He was a cultivator, so he was naturally much calmer than those boys. But when it came to evening classes at night, he couldn't read the scriptures, and couldn't enter the state of selflessness when meditating. He always unconsciously thought of the story that happened in the Song Dynasty.

Finally, he waited until the evening of the next day, brewing tea and sitting in the courtyard waiting. As expected, the boys urged the old man to tell a story.

"No, I also read that story in the newspaper. It was just there. If you want to listen, today I will tell you a story about Zhang Juzheng, the prime minister..."

Li Mi was quite disappointed. He waited for two more days but still could not hear the old gentleman talk about Yue Fei again.

At first, he told himself that he didn't need to care about it and to stay calm. But after waiting for another two days, he couldn't help but said to the guard who was guarding him, "Please ask King Yong to come and see me."

In less than half a day, Xue Bai arrived. He had just returned from the battlefield in Jingzhou.

"Thanks to you, we won a victory."

Straight to the point, Xue Bai sat down opposite Li Mi, scooped a bowl of tea in a familiar manner, and said, "We dealt a heavy blow to the Huihe cavalry."

Li Mi said: "The Huihe came to help the Tang Dynasty suppress the rebellion, but you suppressed them instead."

"Who is the rebel? The eldest son of the emperor and the crown prince who defended Chang'an, defeated and surrendered the Fanyang Cavalry is a rebel, and the foreign barbarians who were about to plunder Chang'an have become the savior of the Tang Dynasty?"

"It's useless to argue." Li Mi said, "You and I know that the key to this matter lies in your background."

Xue Bai said: "Which is more important, my background or the Tang Dynasty?"

"Are you willing to put the country before yourself?"

"Go ask Feng Changqing."

Li Mi knew without asking that Xue Bai must have convinced Feng Changqing since he had won. This was quite surprising to him, as he had been listening to Zhao Gou's stories recently and he always thought that people were selfish.

The two were silent for a moment and changed the subject.

"What's the sequel to the story of Jianyan's southern migration?" Li Mi asked.

Xue Bai asked: "How do you know I know?"

"I had someone tell me this on purpose." Li Mi said, "If I can't even guess this, I'm not worth winning over."

"Who tried to win you over? You don't have to be so self-righteous." Xue Bai said, "I just told that story to others a few years ago. Brother Changyuan is also interested in it?"

Li Mi said: "I am wondering about one thing."

"Ok?"

"The characters of today all refer to different things in the story of Zhao Song. But I couldn't tell who was referring to Prince Qing and who was you?"

"Neither your majesty nor I."

"No?"

Xue Bai said: "Not every era is so lucky that those in power are willing to be the backbone in times of crisis and take on everything without retreating."

Li Mi shook his head and said, "You are too self-righteous."

"I made a mistake." Xue Bai raised the bowl of matcha soup cooked by Li Mi, punished himself with a cup, and said, "It's so bitter."

"Be patient and wait for its sweetness to return."

"Well said." Xue Bai said, "Let's go back to that story. Brother Changyuan, do you think it's better for Yue Fei to obey the imperial edict and return to the army, or to insist on his own way and continue the Northern Expedition?"

Li Mi said: "He can't do it. He has no money, food or supplies. If he goes deep into the enemy's territory alone, he will die."

"Let's not talk about these details, let's just talk about your wish." Xue Bai said: "Assuming there is no money and food, what do you want him to do?"

Li Mi pondered for a moment, opened his mouth several times but didn't say anything, and finally said: "It is impossible to ignore money and grain to discuss this issue."

Xue Bai said: "Stories are just stories after all. It's better not to mention what happened to Zhao Gou and Yue Fei. What about the present? The world is in turmoil, and Brother Changyuan can do his part for the country."

"Give up, I will never give you any advice."

"You are overstepping your authority by saying this." Xue Bai said, "You are not doing this for me? You are doing this for the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in Chang'an."

Li Mi was too lazy to argue with Xue Bai, and he refrained from asking about the subsequent story.

Xue Bai started talking about the current situation.

"Now that An Qingxu has retreated to Xiangzhou, does it look like Jin Wushu's escape from Zhuxian Town? Then, Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi can be compared to Yue Fei of our Tang Dynasty. Whether we should suppress the rebellion in one go or create new troubles depends on Brother Changyuan."

"How could it depend on me?"

"We want to persuade Li Heng to surrender." Xue Bai said, "If we continue to fight, I will definitely be able to defeat Li Heng. The problem is that the Tang Dynasty can no longer afford to delay. Not to mention that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi are confronting each other across the Taihang Mountains, delaying for one day will cost countless money and grain. What if Shi Siming raises troops to rescue An Qingxu? How long will this war take? One year, two years, five years, eight years? A real man should accept defeat. Once Jingzhou is defeated, Li Heng's situation is over. He will not have a chance of winning if he defends Jingzhou or flees to Lingwu. He will only drag down the Tang Dynasty. But he will definitely not think so. He will think that he still has hope. We have to shatter his false hope. What do you think, Brother Changyuan?"

Li Mi asked in return: "Where do you plan to make your move?"

"I told Li Heng that you were the one giving me advice." Xue Bai said, "First teach him to lose his composure."

Li Mi was slightly stunned.

"Why?" Xue Bai asked, "Are you worried that they will blame you?"

"It's okay, but it won't do much if you do this."

Xue Bai said: "If they believe that you are planning for me, then it will be easier for me to alienate others next time."

Li Mi immediately asked, "Pugu Huai'en?"

"That's right." Xue Bai said, "I would like to ask Brother Changyuan, how can we persuade Pugu Huai'en to rebel? I am not trying to force you to come out of seclusion. I just want to ask for a plan in order to preserve more elite soldiers of the Shuofang Army."

Li Mi still shook his head. He could not be easily convinced by Xue Bai.

"Okay, then let's not talk about business. I have some free time today, so let's just talk about personal friendship."

The two drank tea and chatted about trivial matters.

"I have a confidante who is also a Taoist priest." Xue Bai said, "I think I am very good at confusing people, and I want to use this skill to get Brother Changyuan to help me."

"You're overthinking. You're just pretty, which is useful to Li Shiqi Niang." Li Mi said, "It's useless to me."

"I see."

As they were talking, the voices of the old man and the children were heard again from the wall of the next courtyard. Li Mi couldn't help but listen. But he didn't hear any stories today, as they left early.

A messenger arrived in a hurry and said, "King Yong, there is an urgent message."

"Give me."

If it wasn't an urgent message, it wouldn't have been sent here. Xue Bai took it and looked at it, his face gradually becoming solemn.

After reading it, he placed the information in front of Li Mi, without saying a word, and pondered alone.

Li Mi knew that Xue Bai did it on purpose, so he refused to accept the challenge and calmly closed his eyes and meditated.

"The situation is not optimistic." Xue Bai did not let him evade and started to speak directly: "Shi Siming is preparing to go south to rescue An Qingxu."

Li Mi opened his eyes and picked up the message to read it. He sighed helplessly and said, "I once suggested to King Zhong that we take Fanyang first, because Fanyang is the nest of the bandits, and the bandit leader keeps transporting the looted money and grain back to Fanyang."

"Yes, they are as hardworking as a group of ants." Xue Bai said, "This shows that Shi Siming's power is not weak."

"Well, although Prince Zhong listened to my advice at the time, he thought that sending troops north would be too drastic, so he sent people to recruit Shi Siming and promised him the title of Prince Guiyi. This move actually helped Shi Siming establish his prestige."

Xue Bai said: "If Li Heng heard this news, do you think he would be overjoyed and think that I am powerless to pursue him, or would he be shocked by the turmoil in the country?"

Li Mi sighed and said, "I wrote a letter to advise Prince Zhong and Prince Guangping, but I have two requests."

"You tell me, I'll think about it."

"First, we must bring the Emperor back to Chang'an as soon as possible. Only then can Prince Qing ascend the throne legitimately and people's hearts will be restored."

"It's natural."

"Secondly, after Prince Zhong and Prince Guangping surrender, their lives must not be harmed."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty will never kill each other." Li Mi nodded, then went to get paper and pen, and slowly spoke while writing a letter of persuasion for surrender.

"When Prince Zhong asked for reinforcements from the Huihe, the Huihe Khan asked for marriages one after another. In addition to the Dunhuang Prince Li Chengcai marrying a Huihe princess, Prince Zhong also married his daughter to the Huihe Khan, and Pugu Huai'en also married two of his daughters to Yidijian."

"Why?"

Li Mi said: "At that time, the Uighur Khan made a request, and Prince Zhong couldn't refuse. The royal family ministers also shirked their responsibilities, saying that they fled Chang'an without their children, or that they didn't want to marry their daughters far away. Only Pugu Huai'en stood up. He was indeed loyal in this matter, but later it caused a lot of criticism."

"Criticism?"

"Some generals in the army were worried that he was willing to marry his daughter off in order to collude with the Huihe."

Xue Bai asked: "Now that Yehu has been defeated, Li Heng must give an explanation to the Huihe."

"Yes, this matter must have been handled by Pugu Huai'en." Li Mi said, "It can be imagined that there would be a lot of criticism in the army at that time. I might be able to use this to persuade Pugu Huai'en to join us."

"Thank you very much."

After a while, Xue Bai took several letters written by Li Mi and was very satisfied after reading them.

But he thought about it, returned to his public housing, picked up his pen and wrote another letter to Pugu Huai'en himself.

"Now that we have annihilated Yehu according to the agreement, your son-in-law can lead the Huihe, which will reduce your daughter's suffering in the northern frontier and save Pugugong's love for his daughter. I only hope that Pugugong will understand the righteousness."

Xue Bai read it, called the messenger over, and handed over Li Mi's letter first, saying: "This is a letter written by Li Mi to Li Heng and his son. You should deliver it openly."

"Here."

"Try to deliver this letter to Pugu Huai'en." Xue Bai said, "But you don't have to actually do it. If you accidentally lose it, someone else will pick it up. Do you understand?"

"Don't worry, Prince Yong. I completely understand."

~~
Jingzhou.

Li Heng has been proposing to retreat to Lingwu recently, but Zhang Ting and Li Chu rarely agree with each other and are both extremely opposed to this.

The reason is very simple. Once Li Heng withdraws from Guanzhong, his reputation and legitimacy will be greatly reduced. It will be impossible for him to compete with Li Cong for the throne. All he can do is to survive and become a so-called emperor in a foreign land.

But what if they didn't retreat? Li Chu thought that as long as they held on to Jingzhou and maintained a stalemate, Xue Bai would soon be unable to take care of himself.

Jianghuai cut off Chang'an's food supply, Guo Ziyi was pressing on in Hedong, and Li Cong was probably already defeated. Otherwise, why did Xue Bai want to surrender after winning the battle?

Of course, Jingzhou is short of troops now. To solve this problem, it can only ask for help from the Uighurs first, so that the Uighurs will unite against Xue Ni because of Yehu's defeat.

This time, it was Pugu Huai'en's eldest son Pugu Yan who was sent to the Uighurs as an envoy, because Yehu had been captured and Xue Bai certainly could not let Yehu go. The Uighur Khan was old and would not go to the battle personally, so if he wanted to send reinforcements, it could only be Pugu Huai'en's son-in-law Yidijian who led the troops.

No one had thought that things would turn out like this before. They originally thought that Pugu Huai'en's daughter had married a bastard with no future.

The officials and generals under Li Heng were somewhat confused about this, but in such a critical moment, no one would really say it out loud.

It was under such circumstances that Xue Bai's second group of envoys arrived.

He first recounted the story of Shi Siming going south to Xiangzhou to rescue An Qingxu, indicating that the reason why Chang'an was willing to give them another chance was for the sake of the overall interests of the country. Afterwards, the messenger handed over Li Mi's letter.

Li Heng refused to read the letter, withheld all the letters, and sent the messenger away. He summoned all the ministers and expressed his concerns about Shi Siming's southward expedition.

"I have tried every possible means to persuade Shi Siming to surrender, but the traitor Xue has disrupted the situation, and the traitor Hu surrendered and then rebelled again. The world is in danger."

Although he was worried, he felt a lot more relaxed in his heart, thinking that Shi Siming had not only rescued An Qingxu, but also rescued him.

As expected, the officials were indignant and accused Xue Ni of delaying the court's suppression of the rebellion. They believed that the only way to deal with the rebellion was to hold on to Jingzhou and wait for the right time to suppress Xue Ni.

Li Heng was nodding his head repeatedly when suddenly someone stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, if Shi Siming goes south, then we have to consider Guo Ziyi's attitude."

"what for?"

As soon as he asked the question, Li Heng quickly figured it out.

Guo Ziyi was a man loyal to the Tang Dynasty and had a sense of justice. It was very likely that he would join forces with Li Guangbi to deal with An Qingxu and Shi Siming first for the sake of the overall situation. What's more, Guo Ziyi might even turn to Li Cong.

Li Heng looked at the person who was speaking and saw that it was General Xin Yunjing. He asked, "According to your opinion, what should we do?"

"Your Majesty, why don't you send an envoy to Prince Qing and ask him to put the overall situation first and temporarily stop the war. Deal with the Fanyang rebels first? In this way, you can turn passivity into initiative and win people's hearts and reputation."

"But how could Li Cong agree?"

Xin Yunjing didn't dare to answer, and only whispered: "Perhaps, Your Majesty can make some concessions?"

"No!" Pugu Huai'en shouted, "Prince Qing is just a puppet of the traitor Xue. How can we give in to such a traitor? Now that we have asked the Huihe for help, Chang'an will surely collapse before us. Besides, Marshal Guo Jie is loyal and will never betray Your Majesty!"

Xin Yunjing said: "What I discussed with Your Majesty was the overall situation of the country, not the personal interests of an official."

"My subject's selfishness?" Pugu Huai'en was furious and cursed, "You framed General Guo Jie out of selfishness and now you're accusing me of being disloyal?!"

"Lord Pugu is determined to ask for reinforcements from the Huihe. How do we know what his intention is?"

"What do you mean?!"

At this point, Pugu Huai'en immediately glared at Xin Yunjing with murderous intent, almost swearing at the great prince. As soon as he got angry, many officials and generals who were already somewhat dissatisfied with him stood up.

Their dissatisfaction had been going on for a long time. Not to mention that Puguo Huai'en fought bravely and risked his life in every battle, the killing of his son Xianzhong always made them feel that there must be something wrong.

But what they were discussing were completely different things, and the argument could not produce any conclusion. In the end, it just got more intense.

They knew that this was a critical moment, but sometimes it was just like that, the more they could not afford to fight among themselves, and everyone knew that they had to endure it, the more they could not help but become suspicious and explode.

"That's enough, now is not the time to talk about this!"

Li Heng quickly asked the eunuchs to separate the two generals and hastily ended the small court meeting, thinking that this trivial matter was over.

He sat there alone before he tore open Li Mi's letter. It was simply advising him to temporarily abdicate and return to Chang'an. Although the words were sincere, Li Heng rolled them up and threw them on the ground.

He understood the truth, but this was not a matter of reason at all. Rather, why should he give up the hope of fighting for the sake of the overall situation and return to Chang'an to become a prisoner?
All of a sudden, too many people with great ambitions, or talents gathered in the small city of Jingzhou. They had to huddle together because of the defeat. They wanted to restrain themselves, unite, and tide over the difficulties together, but the conflicts of interest between them could not be eliminated.

Some are determined to serve their country, some are full of selfish motives, some are loyal and straightforward, and some are suspicious by nature.

Finally, before Pugu Yan returned from his mission to the Uighurs, a small incident suddenly caused a conflict to break out.

"Saint, it's bad!"

Eunuch Luo Fengxian hurriedly trotted over to Li Heng and said, "General Pugu and General Xin are fighting."

"Why?"

"General Xin got a letter and wanted to present it to the Saint. General Pugu refused to let him do so, but he did, and the two men started fighting."

At first Li Heng thought it was just two people fighting each other, but he realized later that the situation was much more serious.

"Call the soldiers? Call the soldiers?! Call what soldiers?!"

"The two generals may have to gather their troops for a decisive battle..."

"Rebellion?!"

Li Heng was furious and immediately ordered Li Chu to take control of the situation.

After all, Li Chu was the Grand Marshal of the Army, and he still had face in front of Pugu Huai'en and Xin Yunjing. After being gone for a long time, he finally brought the two back.

"I am aware of my guilt."

Xin Yunjing had a very good attitude towards admitting his guilt. As soon as he saw Li Heng, he bowed down, admitted his guilt, and tearfully asked His Majesty to punish him severely.

After that, he handed over a letter with both hands and said, "I accidentally got this letter, it was written by Xue Ni and sent to Pu Gu..."

"It's fake!" Pugu Huai'en interrupted immediately, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, this letter is fake. Xue Bai sent it to alienate us!"

"Of course it's fake." Li Heng quickly comforted him, saying, "I will definitely believe you, Pugu."

Xin Yunjing said, "I have also made it clear to General Pugu that I do not believe what Xue Ni said at all. It is the duty of a minister to present it to His Majesty. You should not try to snatch it away."

At this point, he added, "Unless you have some thoughts that you don't want others to know."

"Xin Yunjing! I think you just want to frame me. You know it's a plot to alienate me. The best way is to pretend you didn't see it..."

"Pugu Huai'en!" Xin Yunjing was not to be outdone and interrupted, "Besides Xue Ni, didn't Guo Ziyi and Li Mi send you a letter privately?"

Pugu Huai'en turned to look at Li Chu and said, "Your Highness, can you trust my loyalty?"

"Of course." Li Chu hastened to appease, "Pugu Gong's loyalty is known to the sun and the moon."

"Then why did Your Highness allow him to slander me repeatedly?"

Pugu Huai'en widened his sincere eyes and looked at Li Chu, urgently needing Li Chu to speak for him.

He had paid enough loyalty, and now he needed a little return for his loyalty. Li Chu only needed to show less than one tenth of his loyalty. In his opinion, this was a matter of course.

However, Li Chu opened his mouth and had nothing to say.

Pugu Huai'en had arbitrarily recruited troops to go to war with Xin Yunjing, which was considered a rebellion. It was really difficult for him to just say in front of Li Heng that this was right.

All along, Pugu Huai'en's loyalty was too much, and Li Chu could no longer afford to repay him.

Seeing this, Xin Yunjing came to Li Chu's rescue and shouted, "Pugu Huai'en, don't you know what you did wrong?!"

"What did I do wrong?" Pugu Huai'en blurted out, "Am I wrong for being too loyal?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Heng and Li Chu's faces changed at the same time.

(End of this chapter)