Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 547: Xian

Forbidden Garden, the camp of the Longwu Army.

In the dim corridor, a soldier walked by with a few middle-aged men dressed as scholars and reported outside the hall: "General Guo, the envoy of Prince Yong has arrived."

"Well."

A dull reply came from the room. After a while, Guo Qianli said in a half-asleep voice, "Come in."

Yang Xu, Li Taiqing and others entered the room, only to see a big bearded man half-leaning on the couch with his round belly exposed, yawning, and there was a strong smell of sweat in the room.

"We are here on the orders of Prince Yong to comfort General Guo." Yang Xu handed over a list of gifts with both hands and said, "This is a reward for the soldiers. General, please take a look."

Guo Qianli glanced at the long gift list with sleepy eyes. Perhaps he didn't realize its weight, so he didn't react much and still looked very arrogant.

"Do you know why I let Prince Yong enter Chang'an?"

"The general is very righteous."

"Hey." Guo Qianli said, "Didn't Prince Yong say that he wanted to get rid of the corrupt eunuchs and kill Dou Wenyang? Then kill him. I have disliked that eunuch for a long time."

Yang Xu was speechless for a moment and said, "It's not that simple."

Of course it’s not easy, because Prince Yong wants to be the emperor.

He originally thought that as long as he entered Chang'an, he would be fine. Unfortunately, he lacked the ability and prestige. Facing the officials and generals in Chang'an, he didn't know how to convince them.

So I came to persuade them one by one.

"This is what I think. Even if Dou Wenyang is killed, the Saint will still trust other eunuchs. The root of this disaster lies with the Saint..."

"What?" Guo Qianli asked, "What do you mean by that? Do you still want to castrate the saint? You are criticizing the emperor and you don't want to live anymore?!"

Yang Xu opened his mouth and almost said that he came here to rebel.

But Guo Qianli didn't break the window paper, and he felt a little embarrassed.

Li Taiqing, who came with him, was more straightforward and said, "General Guo, have you ever thought about supporting Prince Yong to ascend the throne? The merit of following the dragon is the reward for the princes themselves."

Guo Qianli scratched his ears and asked, "Why?"

Seeing his reaction, Li Taiqing licked his lips nervously and asked, "General Guo, just ask for what you want."

"What do I want?"

Guo Qianli thought about it and felt a little confused. He flicked the earwax from his fingernails at Yang Xu and said thoughtfully, "I want to... revive the Tang Dynasty and create a prosperous era again!"

He had achieved success and had no shortage of food and clothing. Thinking back on it, he felt a little excited when he said these eight words.

Li Taiqing was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed immediately, and he blurted out: "You are really a member of Prince Yong's party?!"

Yang Xu quickly pulled him, and Li Taiqing immediately realized that he had said something wrong.

Guo Qianli laughed loudly and asked, "Do you also think that it is Prince Yong who can restore the Tang Dynasty?"

"Prince Yong's background is questionable. It is a great blessing for him to have the title he has today. How can he compare with Prince Yong? Prince Yong is the wisest among all the princes..."

"I don't care about these." Guo Qianli shook his hands repeatedly, and his originally half-leaning posture looked even more lazy. He said casually: "I really tell you, I am not a member of the Yongwang party. Even if I am close to him, I will not follow him to seize the throne."

Yang Xu and Li Taiqing were very happy.

Guo Qianli continued, "In short, I won't rebel. I won't rebel with Prince Yong, and I certainly won't rebel with Prince Yong! Prince Yong isn't rebelling now, but has Prince Yong rebelled?!"

"Prince Yong... doesn't have it." Yang Xu said.

"No, no." Li Taiqing said, "Prince Yong was ordered to come to the capital to eliminate treacherous officials, not to rebel."

When Guo Qianli heard this, he lay down in front of them, his belly still exposed and his long black hair swaying slightly.

If Yang Xu and Li Taiqing had the courage, they could just suddenly jump up and cut open Guo Qianli's stomach with a dagger, and perhaps they could help Li Lin achieve his great cause.

But the two of them just stared at the tuft of black hair for a while and then retreated angrily.

Guo Qianli opened one eye and looked at their backs, muttering, "Prince Yong is such a waste that he doesn't even dare to come to see me in person, yet he still wants to be the emperor."

He turned over and was about to fall asleep again, but a personal soldier came over and handed him a letter.

When Guo Qianli saw the handwriting, he immediately perked up, stood up abruptly and said, "Well, I'm finally back."

~~
Li Lin greeted Yang Xu and Li Taiqing with an expectant look on his face and asked, "How is it?"

"We have failed the king's trust and failed to convince Guo Qianli."

"How could this be?"

Li Lin was very disappointed. Now he could not control the palace and officials by force.

Seeing this, Ji Guangchen was about to persuade Li Lin to give up ascending the throne and help the emperor to regain power.

The road to the pinnacle of power should be taken step by step.

However, Yang Xu saw Li Lin was so disappointed, so he spoke first: "I have a solution."

"Say!"

"The reason why the civil officials and military officers in Chang'an City are not cooperating is simply because they despise the king and think that the king does not have enough troops. If the king secretly sends the soldiers out of the city at night and then lines them up to enter the city in public during the day, creating the appearance that reinforcements are constantly coming, the officials and people of Chang'an will naturally respect the king and regard him as the Son of Heaven."

Ji Guangchen frowned when he heard it.

He found it very strange that Jiangling had not sent more reinforcements in the past few days, and he had already sent people to inquire. Back to the present, it is not a matter of one day or one night to convince the people. Using small tricks to improve prestige, when Li Cong summoned troops from all directions to support the king, or Xue Bai raised troops from Fanyang to attack, it would still be difficult to compete.

He was about to open his mouth to persuade him, but Li Lin clapped his hands and shouted "Good!"

"Let's follow Mr. Yang's brilliant plan," Li Lin said. "When my army is strong, we'll see who dares to resist me!"

After a few days, the officials and people of Chang'an saw that Prince Yong had reinforcements entering the city every day, and their attitude really changed.

Even Wei Jiansu became much more respectful every time he met Li Lin, and even said that it was not impossible for him to ascend the throne. Now he was only worried that Li Cong would send troops to counterattack Chang'an again.

Li Lin asked Yang Xu if he could get the throne if he just pretended to send more troops until Li Cong was frightened.
"That's right." Yang Xu said, "Just imagine, a cowardly lord who fled at the sight of the enemy, hearing that the king's army is powerful and reinforcements are coming in an endless stream, how could he not surrender?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Li Lin couldn't help laughing, feeling very excited.

At this time, Ji Guangchen strode in and reported, "Your Majesty, something has happened. Half a month ago, the King of Yong conquered Jiangling, and later joined forces with troops from Shannan, Huainan, Henan and other routes, and are approaching Chang'an."

The smile on Li Lin's face gradually faded, his expression turned ugly, and he was about to get angry.

The bad news was not over yet, Ji Guangchen said: "In addition, Guo Ziyi has led his troops from the west and will soon arrive in Fengtian."

Li Lin almost jumped up and said angrily: "What does this mean? I am leading the troops from Jianghuai to attack Chang'an, is it impossible to succeed?!"

He seemed not to understand that entering Chang'an did not mean that the people of the world would regard him as emperor.

Ji Guangchen was very disappointed, thinking that a prince who had lived in the mansion of the Ten Kings since childhood had only this much experience.

But he still suppressed his impatience and gave Li Lin some advice, saying: "Your Majesty, at this point, the only way is to ask the Emperor to come forward and prove that Your Majesty's return to the capital is not a rebellion, but an order to eliminate traitors. In this way, we may be able to stop the troops from advancing."

Li Lin was angry and afraid. He bit his fingers anxiously and said, "Will it work? If the emperor shows up, will they not march? That Xue Ni never took the emperor seriously."

He seemed to have forgotten that it was just a while ago that he had said what a nobody Xue Bai was.

Among all the troops that came to support the king, Ji Guangchen was most afraid of Xue Bai. After thinking about it and recalling the agreement Xue Bai had made with Li Lin, he finally gave Li Lin a suggestion that surprised him.

"Your Majesty can cooperate with Prince Yong."

"what?!"

Li Lin said angrily: "I cooperate with him? Why does he do that? Who am I? Who is he?"

Even if Xue Bai was really Li Ying's son, he had been convicted and demoted, and had been reduced to slavery. At most, he was the nephew of the current emperor. But he was different, he was the true son and grandson of the emperor.

Ji Guangchen had already figured it out completely. The reason why Xue Bai instigated Li Lin to raise an army was to kill with a borrowed knife. He wanted to use Li Lin to teach Li Cong a lesson and naturally keep the military power. But in terms of strength, the two sides were not on the same level at all.

In other words, Li Lin was completely used by Xue Bai this time. In this case, why not cooperate?

After explaining all these reasons to Li Lin, Ji Guangchen finally said, "During the struggle for supremacy at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu agreed that whoever entered Guanzhong first would be king. Although Liu Bang entered Guanzhong first, he was not strong enough and could only endure temporarily. Now the Prince of Yong is in urgent need of allies. If the king can support him to be the crown prince, he should be able to keep his power and wait for the future."

"what?!"

Li Lin was even more surprised.

At the beginning, it was agreed that he would be the emperor, but after entering Chang'an, Li Longji made him the crown prince. Now, the crown prince position has to be given to Xue Bai, so what is he?
We were clearly winning all the way, but the results kept getting worse and worse. How could this be tolerated?
Li Lin almost blurted out the word "beat".

The worst that can happen is we'll just have a battle, with Xue Bai and Guo Ziyi!

"Your Majesty, there is no time to lose." Ji Guangchen said, "I can go and talk to King Yong."

Li Lin opened his mouth, but the harsh words in his mouth could not come out for a long time, and his face became paler.

~~
Fengtian.

Ever since the saint took refuge here, the city of Fengtian has been under tight security, and people are in panic.

On this day, good news came, which finally boosted people's morale.

"I'm coming!"

An eunuch ran through the streets of the city and finally arrived in front of Dou Wenyang. He bowed and said, "Reinforcements are coming! Guo Ziyi has been ordered to come to the king and will arrive in Fengtian soon!"

"What? Coming so quickly?!"

When Dou Wenyang heard this, his face turned pale.

He had heard before that many people, including Crown Prince Li Qiu, were very dissatisfied with his autocracy and harm to the country, and had secretly sent people to contact Guo Ziyi.

Therefore, when Guo Ziyi's reinforcements arrived and everyone thought that the saint was out of danger, Dou Wenyang's head would be chopped off to offer a sacrifice to heaven and swear an oath to the troops.

If Dou Wenyang wants to save his life, he must find a way to stop this. This is almost a dead end, but he actually thought of a way. "I have to go see the saint."

Li Cong had caught a cold today and was feeling a little unwell. He was lying there groaning and lamenting his bad luck. Dou Wenyang entered and first happily reported the news that Guo Ziyi was about to arrive, so that the saint could be more cheerful.

Then, he said with some concern: "However, Fengtiandi is close to Qianling Mausoleum, where Emperor Gaozong rests. If we allow Guo Ziyi's army to come and disturb Emperor Gaozong, I am afraid that the world will accuse the saint of being unfilial."

Li Cong was surprised, propped himself up and sat up, saying: "The incidents happened one after another, if they were disturbing, they would have been disturbed long ago, why would this incident happen again?"

"Your Majesty, please be careful with your words." Dou Wenyang bowed solemnly and said, "Prince Yong rebelled, but he pretended to be following the order of the emperor. Now he has occupied Chang'an. He will definitely use this incident to damage the reputation of the emperor. Guo Ziyi, who was originally following the order of the emperor, will become a traitor."

Li Cong was silent, still wondering whether this matter was so serious.

If no one mentioned the so-called disturbing the ancestral tomb, everyone would pretend not to know and let it go. But once someone pointed it out, given his status, he would definitely not be able to say that this matter was not a big deal.

Dou Wenyang added: "I think that instead of letting Guo Ziyi rush to Fengtian, it is better to order him to go directly to recapture Chang'an. If he can recapture Chang'an, it can prove that he is indeed loyal to the saint, and it can also prevent him from coming to Fengtian and causing harm to the saint."

"You suspect Guo Ziyi also..."

"I dare not." Dou Wenyang said, "I am just worried about what might happen."

Li Cong spent time with him day and night, and soon caught the strangeness in Dou Wenyang's expression, and asked, "What happened? Tell me."

Dou Wenyang didn't dare to say anything and stammered.

However, unable to withstand Li Cong's questioning, he had to report the truth, saying that the prince had secretly sent someone to contact Guo Ziyi.

What he said was indeed the truth, but he concealed the fact that Li Qu sent people to contact Guo Ziyi in order to get rid of him.

Li Qiu was young and not very reliable, so Dou Wenyang found out about it, and there was naturally evidence from witnesses and physical evidence.

As soon as the evidence was presented, Li Cong's eyes became uncertain.

People's hearts are hidden. After all, Li Qu is not his biological son. Facing the current situation of internal and external troubles, it is hard to say what Li Qu can do.

"I dare not alienate the Saint and the Crown Prince." Dou Wenyang said hurriedly, "I think the Crown Prince is trying to relieve the Saint's worries and sent people to urge Guo Ziyi to send troops. I just think that, just in case, it is better to let Guo Ziyi go to recapture Chang'an first."

Of course, Li Cong would not react too much just because he heard that Li Qu had contact with the general, so he nodded.

"As you say."

"Here."

Dou Wenyang was overjoyed and immediately drafted an imperial decree and sent an envoy on horseback to deliver it to Guo Ziyi's army.

In the past year, Guo Ziyi was busy pacifying Hebei and defending against Tubo. After finally getting through the winter, he began to manage military settlements. Military settlements were certainly not Xue Bai's only policy in Hebei, and the two of them had similar views.

The original plan was to maintain peace in the country and gradually allow some soldiers to retire. However, unexpectedly, rebellion broke out again, and Guo Ziyi had to hurriedly lead his army to quell the rebellion.

He had thought about it all before coming here. The first thing he would do was to persuade the sage to kill the corrupt eunuchs who were disrupting the government. Then, he would support the sage to return to the capital and persuade him to employ virtuous people and work hard to govern the country.

Unexpectedly, before he arrived in Fengtian, an imperial edict came and the saint refused to see him at all.

Guo Ziyi inevitably felt disappointed and became increasingly worried about the future of the Tang Dynasty.

"I accept the decree!"

He still received the order and ordered the army to turn around and head directly to Chang'an to quell the rebellion. In his eyes, Li Lin's rebels were actually nothing.

However, just as he arrived at the Wei River, a fast horse came up and handed him a letter.

As soon as he saw the handwriting, Guo Ziyi's eyes narrowed slightly and he stroked his long beard, not knowing whether he was happy or sad.

~~
The sound of evening drums came from afar, passing through the layers of walls, forming a unique rhythm in Chang'an City at dusk.

In the Secretariat of the Imperial Palace, Chen Xilie put down the letter paper in his hand, his old eyes as calm as an ancient well.

"Prince Yong is back."

When he said these five words, the ministers in front of him couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

In fact, most of the people here are not Xue Bai's party at all, and some are even hostile to Xue Bai, but they have to admit that as long as King Yong returns, the situation will become stable.

The officials had finally had enough of the mediocre and weak rulers and the ignorant and rebellious kings, and they urgently needed a truly wise man to take charge of the situation.

Li Longji had been negligent in his administration for many years, and the country had long been plagued by problems during the prosperous era. In addition, after a rebellion, the struggle for power in the court was fierce. The Tang Dynasty was in an extremely complex and difficult situation. Even an averagely intelligent king would have found it difficult to govern well, let alone Li Cong and Li Lin, who had been trapped in the Ten Kings' House and had never received any training.

They tried hard to show off their achievements and prove their wisdom, but in the eyes of officials and the people, they saw only one disaster after another.

Time to end.

In comparison, although Prince Yong was accused of "plotting to usurp the throne", he actually did not do anything too out of line. The time he assisted the saint did give the Tang Dynasty a sigh of relief.

"Prince Yong will return to the court to assist the sage and calm the waves. This is a blessing for the country."

Hearing what the court officials said, Chen Xilie stroked his beard and smiled, thinking that this time it would not be that simple.

Previously, Prince Yong assisted the sage, and neither competed for the throne nor plotted to usurp the throne, but he was still suspected by many people, and was exiled and dismissed. Now that the court is in chaos, Prince Yong has returned to quell the rebellion, so how can his status not be improved?
"The sage is not in Chang'an, Prince Yong is unruly and difficult to tame, and the emperor is old. At this time when the country is in turmoil, I think we should ask Prince Yong to govern the country." Chen Xilie said, "What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Jiansu stared at Chen Xilie with wide eyes, gritted his teeth and whispered, "You are indeed a follower of Prince Yong."

"No." Chen Xilie waved his hand and said solemnly: "I have always been thinking about the Tang Dynasty. How could I be someone's follower?"

In fact, the fact that Li Longji proposed to Li Cong to appoint Chen Xilie as prime minister is sufficient to prove that Chen Xilie was not Xue Bai's man.

He is just weak-kneed.

It was precisely because of his cowardice that Chen Xilie was able to work for Xue Bai before, and later was able to quickly change his position, becoming the most suitable candidate to balance the forces in the court.

And now, when Xue Bai sent someone to talk to him, he would immediately know what to do.

"I am putting the overall situation first." Chen Xilie said, "If we don't let Prince Yong govern the country, how will this mess end?"

Wei Jiansu said: "We should ask the emperor to come forward."

Chen Xilie said: "Ask the generals of the Imperial Guards, such as Guo Qianli, if they agree?"

Wei Jiansu frowned when he heard this, and after a long time, he finally sighed in disappointment.

This matter was not without a chance. If Li Lin was decisive enough, he would have allowed Li Longji to govern as soon as he entered Chang'an City, and then negotiated with Li Cong, promising to retain the throne and allow him to return to Chang'an. In this way, the father, son and brothers would have united and quickly stabilized the situation. How could they let Xue Bai fish in troubled waters?

By then, Li Cong will be the nominal emperor, and Li Longji will use his power to wait for the right time to give up the throne to Li Lin. The country will naturally be passed down steadily in their hands.

Unfortunately, they are short-sighted, selfish and can hardly achieve anything great.

Come to think of it, any wise and decisive king would have been deposed or killed by the retired emperor in his early years. The so-called "most virtuous" Prince Yong was nothing more than that.

Chen Xilie patted Wei Jiansu on the back and sighed, "You have done your best, but the emperor is old and it is time for him to enjoy his old age."

Wei Jiansu couldn't help but think of the dream the retired emperor had told him about, in which he fell down and was helped up by a filial son in plain clothes. He really didn't want to let the retired emperor down, but he was indeed too tired.

No matter how hard we try to help the Saint and Prince Yong, they cannot be helped up.

"I am exhausted and want to resign and live in seclusion." Wei Jiansu said dejectedly.

Chen Xilie nodded, then shook his head, thinking that Wei Jiansu was not ambitious enough after all.

How could a truly ambitious person give up because of such a small setback?

He turned around, looked at the other officials, and continued, "I want to ask Prince Yong to be the regent. Is there anyone who objects to this?"

If you ask who agrees, not many people will stand up. But if you ask everyone to oppose Xue Bai in person, no one can bear this responsibility. For a moment, the hall was completely silent.

So Chen Xilie arranged people to welcome Xue Bai, and at the same time sent envoys to contact Guo Ziyi and convey the opinions of the court officials.

As for how Li Lin would deal with it? He did not think it was a difficult problem. Could Prince Yong be defeated by Prince Yong?
~~
"You tell me, am I a rebel or not?"

Yang Xu was a little confused when he suddenly heard Li Lin's question.

Li Lin's face changed, sometimes angry, sometimes fearful.

"Although I led troops into the capital, I did so in the name of eliminating traitors, which is not considered rebellion. It is not too late to stop now." Li Lin murmured, "But I am so unwilling to give up. I have finally reached this point. I am just a little bit away."

When Yang Xu heard that Jiangling City was lost and Xue Bai, Guo Ziyi and various troops had arrived to support the emperor, he thought that Li Lin had given up the idea of ​​becoming emperor, but he didn't expect that he was still struggling with it.

"My king, otherwise... let's fight!"

Yang Xu should not have been so bold, but he thought about it. Once the rebellion died down, Li Lin might be able to keep his power because of his status as a prince, but a staff member like him who gave advice was the easiest to be killed.

It’s better to stick to one path until the end.

He then said, "Your Majesty has not rebelled. You are following the emperor's order to eliminate the traitors. There are two treacherous ministers. One is Dou Wenyang, and the other is Prince Yong... No, it should be called Xue Ni. I have a clever plan that may help Your Majesty succeed."

"Say it!"

"Since Ji Guangchen wants to negotiate with Xue Ni, Your Majesty can secretly order him to take the opportunity to attack Xue Ni and kill him." Yang Xu said, "As long as Xue Ni is killed, the siege in the east will be lifted, and Your Majesty will also establish your authority in Chang'an. Then you can send an envoy to meet Guo Ziyi in the name of the retired emperor, explain the righteousness, and order Guo Ziyi to kill Dou Wenyang."

Li Lin swallowed and asked, "Can it be done?"

"The key lies in Ji Guangchen. As long as he can make another contribution for the king, great things can be expected."

Faced with Yang Xu's instigation, Li Lin was both worried and tempted. After hesitating for a long time, he was finally unwilling to give in, so he called Ji Guangchen again and explained his ideas.

"Why did the king change his mind again?"

Ji Guangchen was ready to meet Xue Bai. He was surprised to hear this and said, "When you should be decisive and aggressive, Your Majesty hesitated; now when you should retreat and give way, Your Majesty is reluctant to leave. Isn't this a way to bring disaster upon yourself?"

Li Lin's face turned stern, and he angrily said, "I have been very kind to you, and now is the time to employ you, but you are shirking your responsibility?!"

Ji Guangchen wanted to persuade her further, but he opened his mouth and took his words back.

He once thought of helping Li Lin accomplish great things, so he was not tempted by the gold, silver and beauties sent by Cui Yuan. But now he is greatly disappointed.

"I obey your orders..."

"Go ahead." Li Lin was overjoyed and encouraged him, "As long as you bring back Xue Ni's head, I will make you king."

(End of this chapter)