Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 549 Stand firm
No matter how long he was away or where he went, Xue Bai always seemed to return to Chang'an.

A few pigeons perched on the wall of the Zhuque Street neighborhood were startled by the sound of horse hooves. Their white feathers contrasted with the green tiles and red walls. Melodious bell sounds came from the pagoda in the distance. Everything seemed familiar to him.

All the way to the Daming Palace, the generals waiting at the city gate were all familiar faces.

Guo Qianli had a big smile on his face. He saluted Xue Bai and said, "King Yong, although I didn't fight a single battle, it is the most difficult to defeat the enemy without fighting. Don't you agree, King Yong?"

Xue Bai was familiar with him, so he joked: "General Guo is an expert in military tactics."

After Guo Qianli made a joke, he stepped forward and reported a few words to Xue Bai in a low voice.

"The Emperor is in the Daming Palace. Given the situation at the time, I think it would be safer to move him to the Daming Palace..."

"understood."

Originally, Li Longji lived in seclusion in Taiji Palace. This time, he must have taken advantage of Li Cong's escape to seize power. It was normal for him to enter Daming Palace. As for Guo Qianli's statement that it was for security considerations, Xue Bai could accept this reason.

Anyway, no matter how far Li Longji had progressed in his attempt to seize power, Xue Bai's return interrupted the process.

Although Guo Qianli looked carefree on the surface, he was actually nervous. Only when he saw Xue Bai's attitude did he feel relieved and stepped back.

He walked a few steps and suddenly saw an unusually conspicuous person standing in the queue. He couldn't help but widen his eyes and waved his hand, saying, "Li Taibai!"

Li Bai had one hand behind his back and the other hand stroking his beard, looking up at the palace in the distance, recalling his past as a Hanlin scholar, and was moved to be back in Chang'an after so many years. Suddenly, he heard someone calling him, and he turned around. He tried to recognize Guo Qianli at first, but he didn't seem to recognize him.

"Li Taibai, do you still remember me? When I was guarding the palace gate, you went to the Hanlin Academy every day and we often met."

This reminded Li Bai of the past, and he laughed out loud, "At that time, I was often drunk, and the general still helped me to see the emperor."

"Yes, yes, yes. You even wrote a poem for me!"

"Remember, remember."

Li Bai wrote too many poems in his life. He opened his mouth to recite them, but for a moment he forgot what they were. He raised his hand and shook it up and down, counting the rhymes.

Guo Qianli then gestured twice with his hands and reminded the first two words of the poem.

"General..."

The two looked at each other, and the poem finally came out.

"The young general left Wuwei and entered the Silver Platform to protect Ziwei."

"The general went on a diplomatic mission with a ship in a tower, and the flags on the river fluttered in the purple smoke."

The voices of both of them gradually weakened and finally stopped, feeling a little awkward.

Guo Qianli scratched his head. The smile on his face was still there, but it had become much stiffer.

Li Bai asked: "General, are you not General Tao of the Yulin Army? Haha, I made a mistake. My eyesight has not been good in recent years. My eyesight has not been good."

Guo Qianli felt quite resentful when he realized that Li Bai had sent poems to so many generals of the imperial guards, and even the sentence structures were almost the same.

Although he was hurt, he was actually an open-minded person and was not dissatisfied at all. He just didn't know how to ease the embarrassment in front of him.

Instead, Xue Bai, who was in front, heard the noise and came over to help Li Bai out, saying, "It must be that General Guo and General Tao look too similar."

"Hahaha, yes, General Tao and I look so much like each other." Guo Qianli quickly agreed, but in his heart he was wondering which General Tao could compare with himself.

Li Bai also laughed, put his arm around Guo Qianli's shoulders, and immediately composed a new poem.

"The wild wind blows the ancient moon, stealing the Zhanghuatai. The falling star in the north shines brightly, and the fierce generals marching to the south are like thunder and cloud..."

I just returned to Chang'an and didn't even drink any wine, but I already felt drunk.

"I will present my victory to my wise master and paint his portrait on the Qilin Terrace!"

As Li Bai finished his last line of poetry, the majestic gate of Daming Palace slowly opened.

The sun also came out from behind the clouds and shone on everyone's faces.

Guo Qianli knew that Li Bai's poem was not written for him, after all, he did not go to quell the rebellion in Jiangling, but he did not know who it was written for, was it written for King Yong or for Li Bai himself?

~~
Xue Bai stepped into the Daming Palace and walked across the long blue brick road.

He stopped at the stone steps of the Xuanzheng Hall and saw a figure in an imperial robe standing above him, looking at him. It was the retired emperor Li Longji.

Li Longji was not using a crutches and was originally supported by Gao Lishi. However, after seeing Xue Bai, he pushed Gao Lishi away stubbornly and stood there alone, motionless.

It seemed to declare that he was not old yet and could still stand firm.

His eyes were majestic, like a ferocious beast indicating that his territory was inviolable.

However, Xue Bai had no need to compete with an old man to see who could stand more steadily. He just faced Li Longji's gaze and walked up the stone steps step by step.

"Good grandson."

As soon as Li Longji opened his mouth, the fierceness in his eyes immediately faded away, replaced by a kind and gentle expression.

There are many considerations behind his attitude.

Facts have proven that his sons were extremely wary of him. Li Heng launched a mutiny halfway through his escape and proclaimed himself emperor; Li Cong was very wary of him after becoming emperor, preferring to hand over power to eunuchs rather than return it to him; Li Lin raised an army in the name of filial piety, and as soon as he arrived in Chang'an, he insisted on becoming emperor, rather than asking him, the retired emperor, to step down.

But if we put aside our existing ideas and think from another angle, Xue Bai wants to be regent but his foundation is too shallow, so he needs to rely on him, the emperor emeritus, to increase his influence.

In other words, if we temporarily ignore the risks faced by the ancestral foundation, and only consider Li Longji's personal path to power, he is willing to cooperate with Xue Bai, and there is no other way.

As long as he can gradually gain a firm foothold, there will naturally be a way to deal with a "grandson".

Xue Bai was not as arrogant as Li Lin, and he understood the current situation better. He knew that it was not a good time to become emperor, and he still needed to govern the country in the name of the Li family. But he would not let Li Longji use his grandfather's genealogy to control him.

"Among all my descendants, you are the only one who looks most like me." Li Longji said in a gratified tone: "Now that the two rebellious sons are causing chaos in the country, I can only rest assured if you are the regent."

"I've met the Supreme Emperor."

Xue Bai saluted, raised his eyes, and stared at Li Longji sharply, with murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

Li Longji was startled and leaned back subconsciously.

This was originally just a small action, but Xue Bai was afraid that he would fall, so he rushed over.

"The Great Emperor!"

Suddenly, he saw a figure rushing towards him. It was Xue Bai with ulterior motives. Li Longji quickly retreated, trying to avoid him. After taking two steps back, he lost his balance and stumbled.

Xue Bai held him up.

Li Longji had just managed to steady himself, but when Xue Bai supported him, he swayed a few times due to the strong hands and almost fell down.

"It's windy outside the palace, and the emperor is old, how can he stand here for long? Help him to rest!"

Xue Bai's tone was stern and a little anxious, like a loyal subject, a filial descendant, and even more like the real pillar of the family.

Soon a group of eunuchs came over and helped Li Longji to the back of the palace.

Since Li Cong fled, Li Longji has actually used many means to seize power, and they have been quite effective. Today, he intends to suppress Xue Bai's arrogance, and then consolidate some power through verbal confrontation or some compromise.

But he didn't expect that as soon as they met, Xue Bai would imprison him again in this way.

All the means have not been used yet, but they are no match for Xue Bai's two most direct advantages - youth and strength.

After a period of chaos, Li Longji was taken away.

Xue Bai looked at the court officials with different expressions on their faces, and without giving them a chance to speak, he spoke first.

"Although the Emperor is in poor health, he still cares about the affairs of the country. How can we not be sincere and devoted to him?!"

Everyone was stunned, but Chen Xilie was the first to respond: "I will devote myself to this cause until my death."

"Since the Emperor has ordered me to be the regent, I will take on the responsibility for the time being."

At the critical moment, Xue Bai did not refuse at all and directly gave several orders.

He sent Guo Qianli to Fengtian to welcome back the saint. At the same time, he enumerated the ten major crimes of Dou Wenyang and his cronies, dismissed them from a series of official positions, and ordered people to arrest Dou Wenyang.

He sent an envoy to appease Guo Ziyi, saying that he had no intention of usurping the throne, and was only temporarily acting as regent. He would return power when the sage returned. The priority now should be maintaining stability and avoiding war.

In addition, he also announced to the world that Li Lin did not raise an army to rebel, but came to the capital to eliminate corrupt eunuchs out of concern for the emperor. Although he was not guilty of treason, he violated the law, so he was dismissed from all his posts but retained his title.

These are attitudes of making a big deal out of a small matter, and are entirely based on the consideration of quickly stabilizing the current situation.

As soon as various government decrees were issued, all of Prince Yong's followers, including the surrendered general Ji Guangchen, quickly surrendered, and Xue Bai was able to successfully take over the defense of Chang'an.

Within just two days, Chang'an City was calm, the people felt relieved, the market reopened, and merchants started doing business.

~~
Li Lin did not know that he had been pardoned by Xue Bai. After being captured by Guo Ziyi's subordinates, he kept claiming that Xue Bai was the traitor, hoping to convince the other party and then persuade Guo Ziyi to send troops to attack Xue Bai.

"What I said is true. The traitor Xue once instigated me to start an army and agreed to divide the world with me. The letter is still in my arms. I came here to pacify him. How come I became a traitor?"

Just as he was saying this, suddenly a scream was heard from outside the tent.

After that, there were dense sounds of horse hooves and fighting. It was obvious that there were a lot of people rushing to kill them.

When Li Lin saw the soldiers guarding him leave the tent and never come back, he guessed that it must be his own subordinates coming to rescue him, and hope surged in his heart.

Otherwise, who else would attack Guo Ziyi's troops?
When the screams became less and less frequent, someone outside shouted, "We found Prince Yong!"

"I'm here!"

Li Lin was overjoyed and shouted quickly: "Hurry up and save me!"

God did not let him down, and soon someone entered the tent.

"You guys are here to save me?"

"Haha, we found Prince Yong!" Several soldiers rushed forward and roughly grabbed Li Lin, shouting, "My! I will capture the thief first!"

When Li Lin heard the last two words, he was stunned and suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave.

He and his wife and children were dragged out of the tent, only to see dozens of corpses and blood all over the ground.

There were countless people holding knives surrounding their camp.

"Which general is it?"

"The Recruiting Envoy, Deputy Marshal of the Guanzhong Army, Zhou Zhiguang!"

Li Lin looked at the man sitting astride the horse in a trance and was very afraid of his ferocious and violent face.

He felt that Zhou Zhiguang's name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember when he had heard of such a great general, nor did he know whether he was under the command of Li Cong or Xue Bai.

"General, you misunderstood. I am not a traitor." Li Lin then repeated what he said about Xue Bai being the traitor. Zhou Zhiguang listened nonchalantly, with a terrifying grin on his face.

Finally, he interrupted Li Lin and shouted, "If Prince Yong is not a traitor, where did the rewards for me and these soldiers come from?!"

Li Lin was stunned. He didn't expect that a minister would blatantly say such words.

"I am a prince, are you trying to gain merit by stepping on me?"

"Not bad!"

Facing this stubborn and vicious person, Li Lin became more and more panicked, and had no choice but to say: "I want to see my brother, take me to see my brother..."

"No need."

Since Zhou Zhiguang dared to confide his true feelings to Li Lin, he had no intention of letting Li Lin meet Li Cong alive, and directly ordered: "Behead!"

Li Lin couldn't believe it. He was a prince and the emperor's brother. Regardless of whether there was a real rebellion, even if there was, he was not someone a minister could easily kill.

"How dare you? This is a case of acting first and asking for permission later. Have you ever thought about the consequences..."

"puff."

Seeing that his subordinates did not dare to take action, Zhou Zhiguang lost his patience and waited any longer. He stepped forward and grabbed the big knife himself, then cut off Li Lin's head with one stroke.

The head fell to the ground, scaring Li Lin's wife and children to scream.

"Poof, poof."

With two consecutive noises, Zhou Zhiguang actually beheaded them as well.

"I can not?"

Zhou Zhiguang dropped the knife and stepped on Li Lin's head. Then he kicked and stood on tiptoe to lift up the head and held it in his hand.

After looking at it for a while, he ordered the head to be put into a box and presented to Fengtian to report the achievement to the emperor.

As for the things he received from Li Lin, including the letter that provided evidence against Xue Bai, he also accepted them.

"Prince Yong rebelled, Prince Yong also rebelled." Zhou Zhiguang muttered disapprovingly, "It doesn't matter, they are all stepping stones for me to achieve merit."

He jumped from a poor and humble background to a high position overnight. Naturally, he was so proud that he forgot that he took a shortcut by currying favor with the eunuchs. He only thought that it was all due to his own ability. He had seen cowardly emperors, but he was no better than them. He was more emperor-like than the emperor, so he was even more arrogant.

"Let's go to Guo Ziyi's army!"

~~
Guo Ziyi received two imperial edicts almost at the same time.

The first one was an order from the sage ordering Zhou Zhiguang to take over his command of the troops. The process of receiving this imperial edict was a bit thrilling.

At that time, no eunuch came to convey the imperial edict, but Zhou Zhiguang rushed to the outside of his camp, saying that he had important military affairs to report and asked Guo Ziyi to meet him.

But Guo Ziyi could see at a glance that Zhou Zhiguang, who neither took off his armor nor entered the camp, and was also unwilling to dismiss the soldiers around him, must have had ill intentions, so he was cautious and did not go to meet him immediately.

After waiting for most of the day, a scout returned and reported that Zhou Zhiguang had attacked his generals and beheaded Prince Yong.

Upon hearing this, Guo Ziyi was furious and was about to send troops to attack Zhou Zhiguang. Only then did Zhou Zhiguang send someone to deliver the imperial edict, demanding that Guo Ziyi hand over his military power.

The generals in the army were in an uproar, saying all kinds of things. Some cried bitterly and didn't want Guo Ziyi to leave; some were furious and wanted to kill Zhou Zhiguang; some even threatened to march into Fengtian to eliminate the evildoers around the saint...

"If the commander-in-chief does not kill the treacherous eunuchs, the country will be destroyed!"

"Shut up!" Guo Ziyi slammed the table and shouted, "You are trying to persuade me to clear the emperor's entourage, but you are trying to rebel? I will kill you first!"

The generals were silent and filled with sorrow.

It was at this time that the second decree arrived, from Chang'an, with the seals of the Supreme Emperor and the three ministries.

The content was that the court had appointed Prince Yong as regent, and Prince Yong hoped that Guo Ziyi could work with him to welcome back the saint and end the unrest.

When the generals heard this and made a comparison, they naturally agreed with this order.

But there is a key point in it, which is to kill Dou Wenyang. This is the same as what the radicals in the army said just now, both are against the will of the emperor and are tantamount to rebellion. But since this is a decree from the court, Guo Ziyi's view is somewhat different.

"What are you still hesitating about, Marshal? If you ignore the wise government orders and instead obey this foolish order, isn't that just foolish loyalty?"

Guo Ziyi did not make a decision immediately. After thinking for a whole night, he wrote a handwritten letter and sent someone to Chang'an to invite King Yong to meet.

He invited Xue Bai to leave the city and talk with him on the Weishui Bridge. Xue Bai probably didn't dare to come, but this itself was a test to see how sincere Xue Bai was. Maybe they would talk in the Forbidden Garden or in Chang'an City later.

Unexpectedly, there was a reply on the same day, and Xue Bai agreed to go out of the city to meet him.

At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong also held a meeting with Jie Li Khan on this temporary bridge. Guo Ziyi did not dare to compare this negotiation with it, but he still admired Xue Bai's courage.

Everything was arranged properly. Two days later, when the messenger reported that Prince Yong had left the city and Guo Ziyi was about to leave, Zhou Zhiguang sent another letter.

This time, the letter delivered was from Xue Bai to Li Lin. It was written in Yan Kai's neat calligraphy, and the content was that Xue Bai was instigating Li Lin to rebel.

"General Zhou was anxious and impulsive when he saw the evidence and killed Prince Yong. Although this was wrong, it was done out of a sincere desire to serve the country. In addition, the reason why the Saint issued an order to temporarily remove General Guo from power was also because of his concerns about this evidence. I only ask General Guo not to collude with the traitors!"

Guo Ziyi took the letter of evidence of Xue Bai's crime with a serious expression.

If all this was true, he could actually understand the saint's consideration in dismissing him.

"If General Guo wants to prove his loyalty, it is easy," the messenger said, "All he needs to do is present the head of Xue Ni to the Saint, and the Saint will revoke his order."

~~
The Wei River was flowing, with soldiers lined up on both sides.

Xue Bai walked on the temporary bridge, leaning on the railing and looking into the distance, and said with emotion: "The weather is really good."

“It’s a good time.”

"It would be even better if there were no war. I could go for an outing, fly a kite, and take a nap under a willow tree."

Xue Bai said this, but he didn't hear any response from Guo Ziyi. He turned around and asked, "Is Mr. Guo worried about something?"

Guo Ziyi reached into his arms and took out a letter.

"I originally hid a dagger in my arms, but after thinking it over, I decided to ask King Yong for confirmation in person."

"Oh?"

Xue Bai took the letter, glanced at it, and laughed, saying, "It looks very much like my handwriting, but it lacks the craftsmanship."

Guo Ziyi was surprised and asked, "Isn't this written by Prince Yong?"

"I'll give some manuscripts to Mr. Guo, and we'll know once we compare them." Xue Bai said, "If I wanted to rebel, I would start from Fanyang and march south, or I would not have suppressed Shi Siming from the beginning, and let you and Li Guangbi stay in Hebei to contain him, and I could have taken charge of the government in Chang'an. Why would I suppress Shi Siming and instigate Li Lin to start a rebellion? Isn't this a waste of effort?"

Guo Ziyi said: "Perhaps the Prince of Yong is raising the bandits to protect himself and suppress the big bandits and the small bandits. Otherwise, why did you let the emperor stay by his side when he was in Shu County?"

"How can it be calculated so accurately?"

Xue Bai shook his head disapprovingly and sighed, "If I didn't release him at that time, it would be disloyalty, but if I followed the wishes of the emperor, I would still be suspected of having ulterior motives. It was wrong for me to live in Chang'an, and it was also wrong for me to stay in Fanyang. When can I prove my innocence?"

"Once you enter the court, suspicion is inevitable." Guo Ziyi couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes." Xue Bai said: "People in this situation have no choice."

He casually returned his "evidence" to Guo Ziyi, turned towards Fengtian, and started talking about business.

"Take Dou Wenyang's case for example. If I don't care and allow him to manipulate the saint, will Lord Guo believe in my loyalty and honesty? You want me to give up my power, and I have done it once, going to Fanyang, but the result is like this. Today, do I still need to prove my true intentions to Lord Guo? Instead of getting rid of the corrupt officials, do I have to cut open my stomach to prove it?"

Guo Ziyi was silent for a long time, then he raised his hand and threw the letter written by Xue Bai to Li Lin into the Wei River.

The bamboo paper floated on the water for a while, and was soon swept into the river and disappeared.

In fact, Xue Bai had long seen through Li Lin's ambition, and regarded Li Lin as the "bandit" he was raising to protect himself, so he only needed to let someone else write for him from the beginning.

And now, all the conspiracies and schemes have gone with the water.

"Give me five days and I will pacify Zhou Zhiguang." Guo Ziyi said, "Welcome the Saint back to the capital."

"it is good."

~~
The generals looked at the two figures, one old and one young, talking on the temporary bridge from afar, and gradually felt the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere and breathed a sigh of relief.

When Guo Ziyi returned and expressed his willingness to accept the court's orders, everyone was delighted and asked him to go and pacify Zhou Guangzhi.

"What a clown, what a conceited clown. I only need three thousand soldiers to annihilate his entire army!"

"No need to rush."

Guo Ziyi did not issue any orders, but just asked everyone to return to the camp.

He came from afar and had a large number of troops, so the pressure on food and fodder was much greater than that of Zhou Guangzhi. Li Cong was unwilling to supply him, and now the food and fodder had actually run out.

Fortunately, a batch of grain was transported from Chang'an City to alleviate the urgent need. Afterwards, Guo Ziyi informed all the soldiers that Guanzhong had experienced wars for a long time and the fields were barren. Now that the soldiers had returned to serve the king and made meritorious services, and many of them were originally from Guanzhong, those who were willing to stay and farm could sign up, and the land would be allocated according to their merits.

When the news came out, the soldiers under Guo Ziyi reacted calmly. They had already cultivated fields in Longyou, and if they gave up now, they would lose a year's harvest. On the contrary, Zhou Zhiguang's soldiers quickly became agitated after hearing the news.

The troops Zhou Zhiguang brought were very mixed. In addition to the imperial guards in the capital, there were also reinforcements from all over Guanzhong, as well as new soldiers recruited temporarily.

These people did not want to fight, and most of them were farmers in Guanzhong. When they heard that their land was going to be divided up, their morale plummeted. Then, Guo Ziyi spread the news that the war was over and the emperor would be welcomed back to the court and rewards would be given according to merit, which made them lose their will to fight.

Zhou Zhiguang was furious and whipped and severely punished the lazy soldiers in the army in an attempt to arouse their fighting spirit.

At this moment, Guo Ziyi arrived at the gate of his camp with only a few followers.

"Since Zhou Zhiguang said he had military matters to report, I am here today and I will ask him to come out and meet me."

When Zhou Zhiguang heard this, he thought it was a good opportunity to get rid of Guo Ziyi, so he immediately issued an imperial decree, assembled his troops and marched out of the camp in an effort to force Guo Ziyi to give up his power to dispatch troops.

He was decisive and ruthless. When he walked out of the gate and saw Guo Ziyi really coming, he immediately ordered his men to surround the few people.

"Guo Ziyi, I was ordered to lead the army in your place, but you disobeyed my orders, colluded with the rebels, and plotted evil. Do you know your crime?! Pass the order down, arrest him!"

Guo Ziyi stood on his horse, his figure majestic, only the long beard under his chin fluttering in the wind.

Faced with the frame-up, he did not explain, but proudly responded: "Zhou Zhiguang, you are arrogant and domineering, you are unworthy of being a minister!"

Guo Ziyi didn't even give any orders after just this curse, but some of the soldiers around Zhou Zhiguang started shouting.

"Follow General Guo Jie to defeat the bandits!"

Zhou Zhiguang was stunned, turned around angrily and was about to yell.

Facing him, there was a flash of knife light...

(End of this chapter)