Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 627 Mediation
Xue Bai had been keeping an eye on the battlefield, so he quickly noticed something unusual in Guo Ziyi's army.

When Jiang Hai's troops broke through his left wing defense line, Guo Ziyi did not order his troops to reinforce the defense in time. As time went on, the gap on the left wing became larger, putting his central army into a passive position.

But Guo Ziyi still didn't make any adjustments.

"So many flaws suddenly appeared. How could this happen?" Xue Bai muttered to himself.

This should have been a good thing, but he frowned. The first thing he felt was confusion and vigilance. Worried that it was a trick, he did not dare to order an all-out attack immediately, but instead ordered his cavalry to go and investigate.

After a while, Houqi came back and brought a strange news.

"Your Majesty, Guo Ziyi's command flags are very confusing. I cannot understand his flag language."

"How did you do that?"

They were all Tang soldiers, and the flag language was originally common, but Guo Ziyi suddenly used a new flag language, which inevitably made people suspect that he was communicating secretly with his subordinates.

In addition, it was almost dusk and the sky was gradually darkening. If you were too aggressive, you would easily be ambushed.

Xue Bai discussed with several trusted generals, and they all believed that since they had the upper hand today, it would be more beneficial for them to drag the war to a later stage, and there was no need to take risks.

But Xue Bai intuitively felt that this might be an opportunity.

"Guo Ziyi couldn't possibly think that such a trick to lure the enemy could deceive me, so this is probably not a trick to lure the enemy."

"That being said, there is really no need for your Majesty to take risks."

"No, if we continue to stalemate with Guo Ziyi, there will inevitably be changes."

At this moment, a soldier came running to report: "Your Majesty, Li Mi wants to see you."

"Li Mi?"

When Xue Bai heard this, he had already guessed something. He nodded and ordered Li Mi to be called over.

After a while, a Taoist robe came floating in like a cloud.

Just by looking at Li Mi's calm and composed look, Xue Bai knew that the chaos in Guo Ziyi's army was indeed related to him.

"Your Majesty, we have an envoy from Chang'an. The ministers are willing to welcome Your Majesty back to the capital," said Li Mi.

When Xue Bai heard this, his first reaction was not happiness.

He was fighting fiercely with Guo Ziyi and was about to decide the winner, but the Guanlong nobles surrendered, resulting in the battle ending hastily with a strong sense of sloppiness.

In this regard, he did not appreciate Li Mi, but felt that Li Mi was meddling too much.

"It seems that you have secretly persuaded the Guanlong nobles to surrender for me."

Li Mi quickly noticed Xue Bai's displeasure and said, "I did not persuade them to surrender for Your Majesty's sake, but to protect them."

"Oh?"

"Your Majesty, if you attack Guo Ziyi with the force of thunder and lightning, you will surely win. If the officials in Guanzhong refuse to change their ways, they will surely be punished. I feel sympathy for them, so I advise them to mend their ways and follow your Majesty's will."

"You are very smart." Xue Bai said, "The precious creatures are short-sighted. If you don't use thunder and lightning methods, I guess they don't know how to be afraid."

"They surrendered because they knew they were afraid," Li Mi said. "Your Majesty defeated Guo Ziyi and established your authority, and your goal was achieved."

"This is not the kind of victory I want."

Li Mi said: "Your Majesty has won."

He said this in a tone of unquestionable loyalty that was rare to see.

"Although I helped Your Majesty win earlier, I am as loyal to Your Majesty as every soldier, and my strategy is also part of Your Majesty's strength. Therefore, Your Majesty's victory over Guo Ziyi today is fair and square!"

"You are such an eloquent Taoist priest! You sympathize with the nobles of Guanlong and try to pacify them without telling me. But you want to deceive me with your words?"

"I am here to spread the majesty's divine power and make them fear and obey you," Li Mi said with great confidence.

Xue Bai was actually speechless after being refuted by him.

Now, the thing in front of us is that the other side has surrendered without any conditions, and he will directly help Xue Bai defeat Guo Ziyi without hesitation.

If he doesn't even accept this, it would be too twisted.

There is no need to be pretentious on the battlefield. We must not miss any opportunity to win, no matter what means are used to obtain it.

"Pass on my order, the entire army will cross the river and capture Guo Ziyi's central army flag."

The trumpet sounded loudly, and the soldiers faced the setting sun and rushed towards the flag with the big word "Guo" written on it, shouting. They were extremely excited because they were going to defeat a myth today.

Until this time, Guo Ziyi still did not issue any orders.

"what happened?"

Guo Xi looked back at the central military battlefield again and again, knowing that Guo Ziyi might have been deprived of his military power.

Today, his Guo family and his son fought for the Li clan ancestral temple. Unfortunately, not so many people cared about the Li clan ancestral temple, at least not more than their own lives.

"Surrender!" Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Guo Xi gave the order decisively.

"But General, our attack on the emperor is a crime of treason. How can we surrender?"

Guo Xi said: "Remember, we are being used."

He surrendered calmly.

He thought the reason for this war was that "the Li family's ancestral temple cannot be shaken", but behind him, there were so many descendants of the Li family who disregarded their ancestors' foundation and were forcing Guo Ziyi to withdraw his troops.

The loss was not unfair, the reason was wrong from the beginning.

As a result, the soldiers under Guo Xi dropped their weapons one by one, feeling that their defeat was unfair.

None of the soldiers under Xue Bai cared whether their victory was glorious or not.

The battlefield is the cruelest place, where only the winners take all. Victory is victory and defeat is defeat.

Soon, even Guo Ziyi's flag was lowered, and Guo Ziyi ordered the entire army to surrender, ending the battle.

For a moment, the cheers of Xue Bai's soldiers shook the whole area and seemed to be heard in Chang'an City.

Although the victory came too suddenly, Xue Bai did win.

"Wan Sheng!"

"Wan Sheng!"

Their emperor defeated the world-famous Guo Ziyi, and there could be no greater rebellion, which meant that they had once again made great contributions to following the emperor.

In sharp contrast to the cheers was the deathly silence of the defeated army. Every one of them knew that their so-called act of protecting the Li family temple had become treason.

Each of these soldiers had fought against the Tubo army on the anti-autumn front, defended their country and made great contributions. But now, they threw away their weapons, lowered their heads, huddled on the ground, waiting for the punishment of fate.

A group of officials dressed in purple and red robes walked through the defeated army.

Compared to the defeated soldiers, they looked so lively.

Even though they are the culprits and should bear the heaviest responsibility, they still carry hope.

They will once again begin their show of sweet talk.

"Your Majesty!"

"I tried to stop Guo Ziyi several times, but failed to stop him from committing such a heinous crime!"

"Guo Ziyi is openly rebelling. I request that Guo Ziyi be executed."

"..."

Xue Bai didn't want to listen to the noise of this group of people, and said: "The rebel is not Guo Ziyi, but me."

The ministers were stunned. They really couldn't understand what he said.

Has there ever been an emperor who rebelled since ancient times?
"Don't you know? I have already announced to the world that my name is Xue Bai, not the heir to the Li Tang throne."

Immediately, an official in a red robe stood up, puffing his beard and glaring, wanting to argue a few words, but was immediately pulled by other officials and knelt down on the ground again.

"We follow Your Majesty, no matter what your name is!"

Li Qiyun took the lead and said something, and everyone followed suit.

For Xue Bai, this was a test of obedience. Since these Guanlong nobles were so weak that they could tolerate this, no matter how Xue Bai reformed in the future, they would never dare to openly resist.

In this way, Xue Bai's goal has been achieved, and there is little point in killing them again.

But he did not expect them to be so shameless. He felt bored and waved his hand, asked them to leave, and only summoned Guo Ziyi to meet him.

~~
Guo Ziyi was stripped of his armor and left wearing only a shirt. He was tied up and taken into the tent.

His face was full of helplessness. Today's defeat was indeed "not his fault".

Xue Bai dismissed the others, looked at Guo Ziyi deeply, stepped forward, and personally untied the ropes on him.

However, Guo Ziyi took a step back.

"No, I raised an army to rebel. If I am not punished, what if someone follows suit..."

Xue Bai ignored him and took out a dagger to cut the rope.

He asked, "In the end, you ended up like this. Was it worth it?"

Guo Ziyi replied: "There is no question of whether it is worth it or not. As an official, I receive a salary and I should fight for the ancestral temple."

"My struggle with them is a battle of interests and class. Who really cares about the ancestral temple? Only you have taken the greatest responsibility for something irrelevant."

Guo Ziyi untied himself and calmed down. He said, "I have thought deeply about this battle."

"is it?"

"The world cannot afford to be in turmoil again. If I win the battle, Your Majesty will know to restrain himself and stop making trouble. If I lose, the noble families will be afraid and will not dare to oppose the court's decrees. Compared with the officials and ministers who were slaughtered in Luoyang, I have saved the officials and people of Chang'an because of this battle."

Xue Bai shook his head and said, "If you are willing to help me, naturally no one will dare to oppose the court's decree."

Guo Ziyi smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, I don't support the new law in my heart."

"Then you deserved to lose."

"Your Majesty, this battle was worth it." Guo Ziyi said, "After getting rid of us old stubborn people, Your Majesty can rule the country as you wish in the future. But I only ask one thing of Your Majesty."

Without waiting for Xue Bai to answer, he immediately stated his request.

"After defeating the old minister, Your Majesty no longer needs to be angry with the officials. The new law can be implemented in any way you want, and there is no need to change the name. As Your Majesty just said, since you don't care about the ancestral temple, why do you need to abolish the Li family ancestral temple?"

"Do not."

Xue Bai decisively rejected him.

Guo Ziyi then asked, "How would your majesty like to confer honors upon your ancestors, and which ancestor would you like to offer sacrifices to?"

In the present world, Xue Bai indeed has no ancestors to worship.

This was also the reason why Li Longji was willing to recognize him back then.

"I will no longer consider myself Li Qian, because Li Qian represents weakness."

For Xue Bai, if he chooses to be Li Qian, it is not only a compromise with the officials, but also a compromise with himself.

The nobles and ministers would feel that he could be persuaded again, and he would embark on an easier but shorter path.

Guo Ziyi sighed, "When your majesty reaches the age of an old minister, why would you care whether you are weak? That is just the opinion of others."

"That's because I haven't reached Mr. Guo's level yet."

~~
Two days later, Xue Bai returned to Chang'an City.

Surprisingly, although a war broke out in Bashang, the city of Chang'an remained as peaceful as usual.

Perhaps it is because the trivial things that the powerful care about have nothing to do with the lives of ordinary people.

When Xue Bai's carriage arrived outside the Daming Palace, he saw a middle-aged man wearing only a linen shirt, kneeling on the ground and trembling. "I am guilty, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

"Who are you?" Xue Bai asked, calling him forward.

"I am... Li Yin."

Xue Bai said: "You are a descendant of the Li family. Now I tell you that I have usurped the Li family's throne. What are you going to do now?"

Li Yin was stunned for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, you are joking. I have never believed the slanderous words of those rebels in Luoyang. They deserve to die!"

"I'm not joking. My name is Xue Bai, not Li Qian."

"Your Majesty's surname was indeed Xue, and his taboo name was Bai. If anyone in the world dares to question this, I will be the first to object!"

"Listen carefully, I have usurped your Li family's kingdom."

"Then...then..." Li Yin hesitated and said, "I ask the Li family to abdicate to Your Majesty?"

Xue Bai was amused by his shamelessness and waved his hand to tell him to go away.

As soon as Li Yin was pardoned, he fled.

The imperial carriage then went straight into the palace. Xue Bai returned to the living room of Penglai Palace. He looked around and saw that the furnishings in the palace were exactly the same as when he left, without any changes.

But he could tell that the carpet had been rewashed, because he remembered that when he left, a palace servant accidentally spilled ink.

Apparently, someone had come in and soiled his carpet, but out of fear of him, he had the carpet washed.

This may be the reason why the Guanlong nobles are submissive and bully the weak and fear the strong.

That night, Du Jin entered the palace to discuss with Xue Bai, and bowed happily.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Let's see who dares to oppose Your Majesty in the future."

"Don't be fooled by their appearance." Xue Bai said, "How do you know if they are stubborn and will not obey in public but disobey in private?"

"They can even accept your last name 'Xue'? Is there anything else you dare not disobey?"

"Too many excuses." Xue Bai said, "They found too many excuses to admit that I am not Li Qian. They are very reluctant. If we ask them to pay taxes and land in the future, they will be even more reluctant."

Du Jin whispered, "So you mean you haven't killed enough?"

"Don't kill just for the sake of killing." Xue Bai said, "Check to see if they are truly surrendering, or if they have some other conspiracy behind the scenes."

"it is good."

"Has Yuan Zai checked it?"

"Still investigating." Du Jin said.

Xue Bai nodded and talked about another thing casually.

"How about giving my aunt a name?"

"what?"

"Concubine."

Du Jin was stunned for a moment, and her eyes couldn't help but light up.

She opened her mouth as if to agree, but hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, how about letting me think about it?"

"What are you worried about?" Xue Bai said, "You don't have to worry about your identity now."

"I have done a lot for you. Once it comes to light, the court officials will accuse me of interfering in government affairs." Du Jin said, "At this time, there is no need to cause unnecessary trouble. Wait a little longer."

As she spoke, she leaned into Xue Bai's arms and said, "I'm already very happy that you have this heart."

She was indeed happy. That night was full of tenderness and affection. Although she did not have the title of imperial concubine, she was already a royal concubine in reality.

……

The next day, Du Jin left the palace and thought of what Xue Bai had instructed her to do. She immediately asked her spies to inquire about the officials in Chang'an to see if they had any conspiracy.

In the afternoon, Yuan Zai came to ask for a meeting.

Du Jin didn't want to see him at first, but when she thought about Xue Yaoying's matter, she met him anyway.

"Meet Second Mother."

"Are you here for Xue Yaoying?"

"No, I'm here for Li Mi."

Yuan Zai got straight to the point and said, "This morning, the Holy Lord issued an edict to appoint Li Mi as prime minister."

"I know." Du Jin said, "It's within expectations."

"Li Mi was once loyal to Li Heng. Judging from his character, how could he truly assist Your Majesty? He must be pretending to obey but actually disobeying your Majesty."

Du Jin knew that the reason Yuan Zai was so anxious was simply because Li Mi had touched his interests.

But when she heard the words "pretend to obey but secretly disobey", she thought of something else.

"During the battle with Guo Ziyi, Li Qiyun and other officials surrendered because of Li Mi's persuasion." Du Jin said, "Li Mi was in Luoyang before, and I had sent people to keep an eye on him. It was unlikely that he had any contact with Li Qiyun. Only after he followed His Majesty to the war did he escape my surveillance in the army."

Yuan Zai said: "He must be in collusion with Li Qiyun."

"On the day Guo Ziyi sent an envoy, Li Mi used the excuse of going to Qinling to practice Taoism. Go check what he said to the envoy."

This matter is difficult to investigate because the conversation between Li Mi and Zhang Yong was probably known only to the two of them.

But Yuan Zai did not hesitate at all and agreed immediately, promising to get to the bottom of the matter.

~~
After Li Mi was reappointed as prime minister, he quickly demoted a large number of officials who did not support the reform, including those who changed their attitude and welcomed Xue Bai into Chang'an.

Afterwards, he personally took charge of the matter and promoted a large number of officials who had achieved results and were willing to implement the new policies.

This brought a new atmosphere to the court in the shortest possible time.

It was under such circumstances that Li Qiyun was banished from the capital. Before leaving, Li Mi went to commemorate him.

Zhang Yong and others were also present. After a few glasses of wine, Li Mi and Li Qijun went to a deserted place to talk privately.

"I demoted you from the capital, and I'm sure you're blaming me."

Li Qiyun said: "I have come to this point entirely because of my own fault. I dare not blame you."

"Since we can't even defeat Guo Ziyi, using force to oppose the new policy is absolutely not an option. No matter what happens in the future, don't act impulsively." Li Mi said, "Leave the rest to me."

"Then please."

Li Qijun bowed, turned around and prepared to embark on the road of exile, but after thinking for a while, he turned back and said something else.

"Looking back, you saved all of our lives. Otherwise, we would have died in vain like the nobles in Luoyang. Now you have finally calmed him down. If you are not absolutely sure about the assassination, you must not act rashly. Once you anger him, the consequences will be disastrous."

Li Mi said: "Thank you for your reminder, I will do my best."

Li Qiyun nodded and said, "In fact, the new law may not be bad. I am just afraid that if it is not implemented properly, it will cause endless trouble. Now that you are leading the court, I feel much more at ease."

"I may not be as good as Mr. Yan." Li Mi sighed.

"At least, the situation didn't get worse after Mr. Yan left." Li Qiyun said, "We should be thankful."

They all knew that it was Yan Zhenqing who asked Li Mi to come out of seclusion despite the hardship of the journey to maintain the current situation, otherwise there was no telling to what extent Xue Bai would have fought.

If they don't cherish it, once Li Mi is gone, there will no longer be such a famous minister to clean up the situation.

"Take care of yourself."

"Take care of yourself."

The two men bowed and said goodbye. Zhang Yong walked over and watched Li Qiyun's back. Finally, he asked in a low voice, "When do you plan to start, sir?"

"I'll give him the red pill and he can take it. Just wait."

Zhang Yong asked, "Then... the Tang Dynasty won't be in chaos by then, right?"

"It shouldn't be that serious." Li Mi still spoke in a calm tone.

Zhang Yong hesitated for a while and whispered, "When the time comes, who do you want to support as successor?"

"What do you think?"

"King of Chu, Li Qiu, is it possible?"

Li Mi remained calm, just nodded and waved goodbye to Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong has now been implicated by Guo Ziyi and has been demoted to a commoner, and this is the result of Li Mi pleading for him.

The Guo family was in great trouble, and he had lost his future, so he was naturally under great pressure. He had sold his luxurious house and lived in Baoningfang in the south of the city with his wife and children. That day, after saying goodbye to Li Mi, he did not return home.

Instead, he went to visit someone.

"Mr. Yuan, I have already met Li Mi."

Yuan Zai said: "I have good news for you. Guo Ziyi should be able to save his life."

"Thank you, Lord Yuan!" Zhang Yong was overjoyed. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Tell me, what did Li Mi say?"

~~
Daming Palace, Xuanzheng Hall.

If one only looks at the memorials, Xue Bai is still satisfied with the results of Li Mi's reforms since he became prime minister.

In this matter, it is not that Li Mi is much stronger than Yan Zhenqing, but that they face different situations and very different resistance.

Now, a group of opponents had been killed by Xue Bai, and the rest were frightened by Xue Bai's defeat of Guo Ziyi, so they naturally acted much more smoothly.

On that day, Li Mi took out the results of the inspection of the capital and presented them to Xue Bai for analysis, and finally received a word of praise from Xue Bai.

He had already prepared a speech in his mind, and when faced with praise, he immediately took the opportunity to make remonstrances.

"This is not my own achievement, but the result of your majesty's divine power. As long as the government is stable and the people are harmonious, I believe your majesty has achieved his goal."

Xue Bai knew what Li Mi was up to when he heard this, and asked, "So what?"

"So I congratulate Your Majesty and want to present you with a noble title." Li Mi said, "This is also the officials' praise for Your Majesty's achievements."

As he spoke, he took out a joint petition from his sleeve in a dashing manner.

"We, the ministers, request that Your Majesty be honored as 'Emperor Qianyuan Shengshen Zhangwu Xiao'."

This was another happy event, but Xue Bai's expression did not change at all.

He knew that once he accepted this title, it would mean reconciliation with the nobles.

The reason why it is called "reconciliation" rather than "compromise" is that under Li Mi's efforts, the nobles have made great compromises, and even Xue Bai was surprised that they could make such a big concession. In short, Li Mi managed the court quite well, meeting Xue Bai's basic requirements for smooth governance.

But Xue Bai is still considering whether to stop there.

The initiative is in his hands and he is not in a hurry.

"What virtue and ability do I have?" Xue Bai waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this matter for now, let's get down to business first."

"The minister obeys the order."

Li Mi stopped persuading him and quickly retreated.

But this dispute has gradually subsided because of his intervention.

Immediately afterwards, Yuan Zai came to ask for a meeting, and as soon as he entered the hall, he looked as if he was facing a formidable enemy.

Obviously, Yuan Zai did not want the dispute to end.

"Your Majesty, I have found that Li Mi pretends to obey but secretly disobeys and has evil intentions. Please execute Li Mi!"

(End of this chapter)