Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 623: The Great Master of the Guanzhong Tianlong People
The temperature gradually warmed up and spring came quietly to Chang'an. Although there was still a hint of chill in the air, many poor people shivered at night.

The bright sunshine during the day seems to be telling the world: It’s time for you to go to the fields and work honestly!
However, spring did not bring peace and tranquility. Instead, because Li Baochen entered Chang'an, a biting oppression was raging everywhere.

On the one hand, after leaving Chang'an, the Control Crane Army retreated to Fengxiang Prefecture and still controlled the taxes in the areas west of Chang'an. They often sent troops to Wugong, Jincheng and other places to "borrow food", making it impossible for Li Baochen, who was stationed in Chang'an, to effectively govern Guanzhong.

As an outsider, Li Baochen is temporarily unable to spare the energy to deal with the Konghe Army.

On the other hand, the generals under Li Baochen were constantly asking for fiefdoms, food and wages, rewards, and women.

They want almost everything.

The empty treasury naturally could not meet the huge demand, so Li Baochen had to focus on the wealthy families in Guanzhong.

Only by eating the rich can we solve the urgent problem. Otherwise, even without someone forcing him to abdicate, Li Baochen himself would not be able to hold on.

So, Marshal Baochen found an excuse and selected a few wealthy families who he disliked or were not respectful to him, such as some families in the Pei and Du families, as well as some troublemakers in the Li Tang royal family.

Send troops to search the house.

Men were killed, women were enslaved, and all property was confiscated.

It was cool and solved an urgent problem, but it completely detonated a long-dormant conflict.

Almost at the same time when the conflict broke out, assassinations against Li Wan and Li Baochen came one after another.

Bandits appeared out of nowhere and began to frequently rob county towns, killing people and stealing goods. The highway between Chang'an and Luoyang became a paradise for bandits.

The public security in Chang'an City also began to deteriorate day by day. The East Market and the West Market had long been closed. The residents of each block dared not go out of the block, and all transactions were conducted within the block.

The wealthy and powerful families secretly boycotted the imperial court, and the merchants who depended on them stopped providing goods for sale in the market. Chang'an once again fell into a state of depression in all businesses.

In a word:

Openly showing non-violent non-cooperation, secretly supporting bandits and causing trouble!
Marshal Baochen had never seen such a scene before!

When it comes to dealing with these "invisible enemies", he is like a giant dinosaur. He has no way to deal with the bacteria that can penetrate every pore. He is completely helpless.

I am always exhausted from dealing with it. My life now feels like being in prison and nothing can be resolved!
On this day, an eunuch in the palace took the opportunity to deliver fruit to Li Wan and suddenly attacked and killed someone. He was agile and dodged several guards who came to fill in the gap, and actually stabbed Li Wan with a knife.

Although he only injured his arm, he still succeeded! Seeing that he was surrounded, the assassin took poison and committed suicide!

That's a case of death with no evidence!

This frightened Li Wan so much that she hid in the study room in the Zichen Hall and refused to come out!
Such a tragic incident happened so close to them that Li Baochen was so angry that he ordered people to hunt down the so-called "accomplices" in the Daming Palace.

Of course, this method is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but it is also like fishing in a river.

Whether you can gain something depends entirely on luck.

As a result, Li Baochen had bad luck this time and all the clues were lost.

All we know is that this eunuch is not a newcomer, but an "old man" who has been in the Daming Palace for more than ten years. When Ji Ge was still the emperor, this man was on duty in the Daming Palace.

How he entered the palace, who recommended him, and who hired him have long been lost in the vast sea of ​​people, and those who knew the truth have long since disappeared.

Even if you want to find out the background of this person, you can only find out a rough outline, which is of no help at all.

This assassination deeply stimulated Li Baochen.

If you don't come to Chang'an, you won't know how deep the water is here. The recent assassinations have made him doubt his life.

Every district in Chang'an City, and even the inner palace, were like ferocious beasts devouring human lives one after another!

At night, Li Baochen returned to the Qinzhengwu Building in Xingqing Palace to work, and felt exhausted both physically and mentally.

That's right, he set up his residence in Xingqing Palace and asked the court to confer the title of "King of Xing" on him.

This is an unprecedented title, but it has a strong symbolic meaning. In particular, what the Xingqing Palace once meant is self-evident.

Anyone with a little political acumen can understand what Li Baochen is trying to do from the various hints he "inadvertently" revealed.

In fact, this was a "compromise" made after Li Shiyu's strong persuasion. Marshal Baochen's original idea was even more ambitious.

If it weren't for Fu Jian, Li Baochen would have wanted the central court in Chang'an to give him the title of "Heavenly King".

Because only the title of "King of Heaven" is worthy of his status as "Son of Destiny".

"Right Prime Minister, what on earth is going on in Chang'an? I was fine when I was in Luoyang, but after coming to Chang'an, I feel like I've fallen into a puddle of mud and can't move at all."

In the study, Li Baochen sat on the dragon chair where Brother Ji once sat, frowned slightly and asked.

Li Shiyu, who was currently the right prime minister, had a calm expression with a hint of worry. He was not wearing an official robe, but a cloth suit, and looked like an ordinary poor scholar.

It’s not that Li Shiyu doesn’t want to wear a purple robe to show off, but assassinations happen frequently in Chang’an City nowadays. If he wears a purple robe and walks around in public, wouldn’t it be like “Come and kill me” is written on his face?
“There are many central government offices in Chang’an, but the people in the government offices can’t find anything to do, and no one is willing to do what should be done, for fear of taking responsibility.

That’s why the court is paralyzed. This is the most troublesome thing at the moment, alas! "

Li Shiyu sighed helplessly. The situation in Chang'an was even worse than he had imagined.

It is true that Li Baochen led his troops into Chang'an, but this does not mean that the central court in Chang'an will operate on its own. In fact, what happened before Li Huaiguang had caused great damage to the bureaucratic system in Chang'an. Many officials were worried about the current turmoil, so they stayed at home and even fled Guanzhong.

As if feeling that Li Baochen’s political IQ was not enough to understand what he said, Li Shiyu explained:

"General, there are so many government offices in Chang'an. They were originally built to handle the government affairs of the entire Tang Dynasty, and they were gradually expanded to such a scale.

But now, the world is in chaos, with large and small forces ruling their own territories, and there are no longer so many government affairs that need to be handled in Chang'an.

The most urgent task is to lay off a large number of officials and government offices."

Li Shiyu said with great sorrow.

Of course, abolishing the government offices means letting the officials working there go home and cool off. This will undoubtedly reduce some people's support for Li Baochen.

There are many similar things, but none of them are as easy to deal with as they seem.

Why was Li Wan, the puppet emperor, assassinated?

Why could bandits who seemed to have no power at all and no one knew where they came from easily cut off the road between Chang'an and Luoyang?
The answer here is probably not as simple as outsiders think.

"Abolishing government offices, how can we do this?"

Li Baochen asked doubtfully.

He seemed to have come to realize only now that running a court, especially a formal Tang Dynasty court like the one in Chang'an City, was not an easy task.

Li Baochen didn't even know what each person in the government office did or why they did these things.

Not to mention anything else, if there was no Li Shiyu, Marshal Baochen would not even know who to turn to for work.

He just used a knife to chop people, and then, that was it.

"Marshal, we can't rush this, we have to take it slow.

The framework of the three provinces and six ministries can be retained, with one or two people left in each yamen to only look after the yamen and not to do their job.

Just let the Council of State operate normally. First, we should cut down those government offices that we don't know what they are used for and have too many people. Then we can set up government offices according to the government affairs that need to be handled in the future.

Let's rebuild the court step by step."

Li Shiyu sighed. He didn't have any particularly good ideas. He could only use the dumbest method, which was to make up for what was lacking.

It was just a makeshift team, what else could happen?

"That's okay."

Li Baochen nodded and didn't say much. He didn't understand anyway.

If Li Baochen was a wise leader, he would naturally be able to use political wisdom to handle these matters, put forward a series of governing programs, and let others assist him.

If Li Baochen was a brutal leader, he could naturally use a knife to deal with people who could not be dealt with. By solving the problems caused by them, he would indirectly solve the problems.

But it is regrettable that Li Baochen is an ordinary person, neither wise nor cruel. He wants to solve the problem, but he does not have the ability to solve the problem, and he does not want to learn from Huang Chao's "one-size-fits-all" approach.

That's why Li Baochen felt uncomfortable when he came to Chang'an.

"By the way, regarding the matter of the Control Crane Army, how do you think I should deal with it?"

Li Baochen asked in a low voice.

Assassinations and the like can actually be avoided for the most part as long as you don't run around and do a good job of daily security.

It's not a serious concern.

But the threat posed by the Konghe Army is real.

This question has always been a thorn in Li Baochen's heart, and he can never forget it for a moment.

“The essence of the current chaos in Chang’an is that the Marshal’s deterrence is not enough.

Killing people can deter a group of people with bad intentions, but we can't make the wealthy families in Guanzhong cooperate with us.

However, as long as we can annihilate the Konghe Army, there will no longer be any army in Guanzhong that can cause trouble.

In this way, the Marshal will be able to free up his hands to deal with those wealthy families who are doing evil in secret, and win over some people to work for me.

In fact, even if I don't say it, the Marshal knows that the bandits in the hinterland of Guanzhong are closely related to those people.

The Marshal's power comes from the blade, so he naturally needs to win battles to maintain his authority."

Li Shiyu saluted Li Baochen with his arms crossed.

It has to be said that his analysis is reasonable and indeed addresses the core issue of the current dilemma.

The people in Guanzhong had never seen how sharp Marshal Baochen's sword was, so they were secretly dissatisfied.

An army that can march around in Chang'an may not be able to defeat others. The scoundrels dare not provoke you, but the people who really manage things may not look up to you.

If you don't have the strength to lead the team, how can you collect protection fees?
This is a very simple truth, applicable in any era. Especially the Tianlong people in Guanzhong, they always look up to others.

"You have a point. I also think it's time to stretch my muscles."

Li Baochen nodded. He also felt that it was time to send troops to defeat the Konghe Army so that some people could see who was the boss.

The last time the Konghe Army swept through Chang'an and retreated to Fengxiang Prefecture, they offended the local people in Guanzhong, especially the wealthy families in Chang'an.

Although Li Baochen's behavior was not much better than Li Huaiguang's, he still supported Li Wan to ascend to the throne, and did not kill the emperor!

Compared to Li Huaiguang, Marshal Baochen also became more kind-hearted.

Good and bad are all determined by comparison!

"Why not send troops to Fengxiang Prefecture under the pretext of revenge for the late Emperor Li Heng? This would be a legitimate cause."

Li Shiyu continued to suggest.

Li Baochen thought about it and nodded without comment. He always felt that this kind of thing seemed a bit...absurd.

This is true no matter from which angle you look at it.

A Xi man was given the surname Li by the puppet emperor. He supported the puppet emperor into entering Guanzhong to help another puppet emperor "avenge".

Li Baochen was not moved at all by this absurd thing, and even felt like laughing.

"Victory over the Konghe Army can be considered as a way for the local aristocratic families to vent their anger. This is a ladder, and the Marshal can sit down and talk with them when the time comes.

Then, the chess game will come alive.”

Li Shiyu's words were very confident, and he obviously had a comprehensive plan. However, as a scholar, there were limits to what he could do, and there were also prerequisites.

The only prerequisite is to defeat the Crane Control Army.

This requires Li Baochen to be able to support the overall situation, and it is also one of the most important steps for the other party to move towards the throne step by step.

You can't avoid it, and you can't hide from it.

"Understood. I will gather my troops and march to Fengxiang Prefecture today."

Li Baochen suppressed his inner excitement and said with his fists clenched.

In fact, in his opinion, the Konghe Army had already been severely damaged and was no longer the powerful force that had defeated Huangfu Weiming.

When Li Huaiguang led 8,000 people into Chang'an, another group of people, after learning about this, voluntarily left the Konghe Army.

The leaders were Li Zhongchen and his son. They were not Fang Youde's confidants, and they were not familiar with Li Jiaqing and his son.

Li Zhongchen took his troops to Hedong and his whereabouts are now unknown.

Li Huaiguang's father, Li Jiaqing, died of illness due to anger caused by the rebellion of the Konghe Army.

After Li Huaiguang led his troops back to Fengxiang Prefecture, there was another wave of internal fighting between him and the defenders of Fengxiang Prefecture.

Marshal Baochen felt that it would be a piece of cake to deal with the remnants of the Konghe Army.

How could we lose this battle?

The reason why he didn't clean up before was because he wanted to intimidate the local wealthy families in Guanzhong. As long as the Konghe Army was still there and Li Huaiguang was still there, the people in Chang'an City would need his Li Baochen's army to protect them.

Otherwise, the Konghe Army could come to Chang'an to plunder every day.

But now it seems that this trick has come to an end.

"Wait for me in Chang'an. After I defeat the enemy, you can make drastic changes to the corrupt government."

Li Baochen couldn't help but sneer.

(End of this chapter)