Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 662 The "Secret" That Cannot Be Told

As the Spring Festival approached, Yan Zhenqing and the former Prince of Ying Li Lu led 20,000 troops and attempted to launch a surprise attack on Lantian via Shangyu Road, and then seize Chang'an with the help of internal forces in Guanzhong.

Then, the ideal is very plump and the reality is very skinny.

The originally well-planned plan was exposed, and many of Yan Zhenqing's internal forces in Guanzhong were betrayed, some of whom died and some surrendered. All the details of the military expedition were also known to Li Baochen.

Finally, Li Baochen's eldest son Li Weicheng led the army, with Ma Lin as the deputy general, and stationed 20,000 troops in Lantian. Ma Lin led 8,000 light soldiers to ambush at Xiongshou Mountain, where he ambushed Li Lu's troops.

Due to the terrain, the Jingzhou army was defeated, with nearly 10,000 casualties and the rest captured. Only a few dozen people escaped back to Shangzhou City, and all the horses were lost. Li Lu and Yan Zhenqing escaped with a narrow escape. The main general Lu Jing was seriously injured and was almost dead when he was carried to Shangzhou.

Yan Zhenqing arranged for his deputy general Xue Yuan to stay and guard Shangzhou, while Lu Jing also recovered from his injuries in Shangzhou. Li Yu and Yan Zhenqing returned to Nanyang County, Dengzhou. When they arrived in Nanyang (Wancheng), it was already spring and flowers were blooming.

For Li Lu and Yan Zhenqing, this war was like a nightmare from which they could not wake up. Jingxiang was already weak in military strength, and the elite troops that they had accumulated with great difficulty were lost in one go. Li Lu discussed with Yan Zhenqing and decided that it would be better to rest and recuperate for the time being, integrate the resources of Jingxiang, and then expand the territory in two years.

Even if they still wanted to fight, they didn't have many elite soldiers available.

Li Lin in the Bianzhou Palace naturally didn't know that Li Yu "almost" captured Chang'an, let alone what happened in Xiongshou Mountain. Li Lin originally wanted to go to Guangzhou by water, and then Gao Shang told him two things.

The first thing was that the canal froze in winter, and Li Lin's idea of ​​going to Guangzhou by water was almost like a dream.

Of course, this can be overcome, the trouble lies in the second thing.

Guangzhou has a hot climate, and there are many snakes, insects, rats and ants, making it easy to get sick.

If Li Lin went there, he might die of illness, so it would be better for him to stay in Bianzhou. At least in Bianzhou, Fang Qing couldn't kill him. But the climate in Guangzhou didn't care about "friend or foe identification" and treated everyone equally.

If unfortunately he dies of illness, wouldn’t it be a wasted trip?
Gao Shang's suggestion is very pertinent.

Li Lin thought about it and gave up on going to Guangzhou to be with snakes, insects, rats and ants. In fact, he still had a few places to go.

One is to go to Hebei and find Li Guiren and others to get them to support him. But the character of these soldiers might not be as good as Fang Qing. If he goes there, he will escape from the tiger's mouth and fall into the wolf's den. Li Lin will not take this path unless it is absolutely necessary.

One is to go to Dengzhou in Jiaodong, but Daqinmao of Bohai Kingdom is in cahoots with Fang Qing, Li Sheng is Fang Qing's relative, and many of Fang Qing's old subordinates are there, so they are unlikely to support him as a puppet emperor.

The last option is to go to Jingxiang, which is equivalent to admitting defeat and admitting that Li Lu is the emperor. It is better to lose both than to win only. Li Lin is not willing to do such a thing to give benefits to Li Lu.

After much thought, Li Lin realized that the world was so big that he had nowhere to go. He couldn't go to Luoyang to find An Shouzhong, right? The terrain of Luoyang and the current situation of the world meant that going there would be like committing suicide.

"I actually have nowhere to go!"

In the emperor's bedroom behind the Purple Palace in the Bianzhou Imperial Palace, Li Lin complained to Gao Shang with a dejected look on his face, his heart filled with fear.

"Your Majesty, there is an opportunity soon, a good opportunity."

Gao Shang persuaded calmly.

"You mean assassination, right? Fang Qing is a fool. He will come when I call him, right? Haha!

You really care about me!"

Li Lin couldn't help but sneered, mocking Gao Shang with an indifferent look on his face.

Anyway, anyone can talk big, but it is difficult to get things done. There have been cases of Jinshi forcing the emperor to abdicate before, how could Fang Qing not know this?

Now that he, the emperor, invites Fang Qing to a banquet, will the other party come?

Only a fool would come here!

"Your Majesty, the Lantern Festival is coming soon. It is reasonable for Your Majesty to host a banquet for all the ministers. If we can kill Fang Qing by then... great things will be accomplished!"

Gao Shang made a chopping motion, well, with his remaining hand.

"The Lantern Festival?"

Li Lin crossed his legs, feeling a little excited. The emperor entertained his ministers during the Lantern Festival, which was an old program in the Tang Dynasty, and had existed since the Kaiyuan period.

"But there are so many court officials, how can I kill them all? If they resist, I can't stop them. Where can I find so many swordsmen?"

Li Lin suddenly thought of this and felt that the noble idea was not very reliable.

To do such a thing, you can only find the so-called "death squad".

And it is not easy to find such a killer. He must be the kind of person who is greedy for money, has no family to support, and is extremely poor.

Of course, with Li Lin's current strength, it would still be possible to find a dozen people to surround and kill Fang Qing alone. If there were more, it would cause a lot of noise.

Bianzhou's trade was extremely developed, especially the grain transport. Therefore, a specialized "dahang" also developed. Among them, there were many desperate criminals who took money to do things.

Give money, do things, and do anything without any family constraints.

But such people are also prone to leaking the news, and may even cause internal strife due to uneven distribution of the spoils. If hundreds of people are recruited, then it is certain that the news will leak out.

"When the time comes, have all the officials wait outside the Purple Palace, and invite Fang Qing to the Purple Palace to discuss state affairs."

Gao Shang gave a suggestion.

Li Lin nodded slightly without commenting. This move was extremely risky, and it was difficult to make any backup plans. If he failed, he would most likely face a catastrophic disaster!
"Let me think about it again."

Li Lin waved his hand, still hesitating.

……

In the Tang Dynasty, the Spring Festival was not the most important festival, but the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival represented the beginning of the new year, and people would relax and have fun on that day in order to face the challenges of the new year in the future.

As the Lantern Festival approached, the Bianzhou government began to tense up. Various accounts for the year were gradually delivered to the desks of the officials in the central government.

Lack of money! Lack of money! Lack of money!

The government is full of people asking for money!
However, Liu Yan was like a wall, blocking all these bureaucrats who were baring their fangs and stretching their hands for money in the Ministry of Revenue, and trying every possible way to make up the debts.

Although the government of Bianzhou was a new regime, the method it used was still the "old method" invented by Li Linfu back then, that is, the "public to public" settlement model between government offices.

You can provide services first and charge fees later, that is, settle accounts at the end of the year, and arrears, or "deficit", are allowed.

If this method had not been used, with Ji Ge's extravagant personality, the Tang Dynasty would have been torn apart by him long ago.

However, although this method is useful, it also has some minor flaws.

The first is to stabilize the value of the currency. If the prices of goods soar, or rise or fall dramatically, the government’s accounts may not match.

The second is that there cannot be too many bad debts or non-performing loans, otherwise the fiscal reserves will have to be used.

Just as night fell that day, Fang Chongyong was looking at the account books in the study of the government office, and then he was surprised to find that the trade income with the Bohai Kingdom actually accounted for a large part of the fiscal revenue.

However, since Yuan Chao's rebellion, the tax revenue in this area has been much less.

Fang Chongyong thought about it and understood. If there were no consumers and fewer commodity transactions, then there would be less tax revenue.

To quell the rebellion in eastern Zhejiang and develop the economy during this period will remain the most important task in the next few years. It will take time to digest the new territory, and I am not kidding.

Fang Chongyong simply doesn't have the energy left to conquer the world, he needs to accumulate strength.

"Is something wrong?"

Fang Zhongyong raised his head and saw Da Congming coming in, and asked in confusion.

"Sir, Lu Mai wants to see you. He says he has something important to tell you."

Da Congming whispered.

"Let him in."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand, signaling Da Congming to leave.

Soon, Lu Mai came in with a stack of papers. Da Congming closed the door and stood outside to prevent anyone from approaching.

"Your Majesty, there has been some unrest in the palace of Bianzhou. The emperor has recruited brave warriors in Songzhou to disguise themselves as eunuchs and sneak into the palace. There are more than ten of them.

We have arranged for more than one person to pass on the message." Lu Mai placed the stack of papers in his hand on Fang Zhongyong's desk and stepped aside.

"The emperor has made great progress."

Fang Zhongyong sighed. It was not that the news was unimportant, but he had heard it many times. Lu Mai was not the first person to tell him about it. Before him, there were Gao Shang, Yan Zhuang, and so on.

Of course, Gao Shang sent someone to notify them.

Fang Chongyong also didn’t understand why Li Lin was going to set up a murder trap on the Lantern Festival, and this...actually many people already knew about it.

This puppet emperor is still so unreliable.

Fang Chongyong complained in his heart, not knowing how to evaluate this emperor.

"Sir, how should this matter be arranged? Should I give these desperate criminals to..."

Lu Mai asked, making a chopping gesture.

As the chief officer in charge of intelligence, Lu Mai has a lot of blood on his hands, but he didn't kill people personally.

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"Just keep an eye on it and plant more insiders. I have already made arrangements for this matter."

Fang Zhongyong nodded.

"Understood, I will prepare it now."

Lu Mai crossed his arms and bowed to Fang Chongyong and took his leave. After he left, Fang Chongyong rubbed his sore brows.

It is really hard to find a member of the Li Tang royal family who likes to seek death like Li Lin.

Of course, this is also the reason why Fang Chongyong never mentioned the issue of "deposing the emperor".

For example, Li Qi is very obedient and sensible and doesn't make trouble, but such a person is not a good choice for Fang Zhongyong even if he poses no threat.

Because, when the dynasty changes in the future, people all over the world will feel that Li Tang deserves pity and that it is pitiful that the emperor was deposed.

Fang Chongyong just needed an emperor who liked to make trouble, so that everyone in the world could see that Li Tang’s ruling power was really weak and that those sitting on the dragon throne were humanoid creatures.

Therefore, he had to tolerate Li Lin's suicidal behavior and could not do anything to him, at least not now.

"Your Majesty, Yuan Zai requests to see you."

Da Congming came in again and reported somewhat embarrassedly.

"You let him in."

Fang Zhongyong nodded slightly and didn't say much.

After a while, Yuan Zai also walked in. As soon as they met, he crossed his arms and saluted to Fang Zhongyong and said, "Your Majesty, the emperor is now recruiting desperate criminals everywhere to attack you during the Lantern Festival and ambush you in the palace. This matter should not be underestimated."

Seeing Yuan Zai's serious expression, Fang Zhongyong almost laughed out loud.

"How did you know?"

Fang Chongyong asked curiously.

"Sir, please stop pretending to be confused. Everyone in Bianzhou knows about this."

Yuan Zai acted as if it was a matter of course.

"Then what do you want?"

Fang Chongyong also wanted to hear what Yuan Zai, who was full of bad intentions, had to say.

"It will certainly be no problem for the emperor to attend the banquet and leave unscathed, but that would be a bargain for Li Lin.

After the Lantern Festival, the government might as well send people to spread the rumor among the people that the government was poisoned after the Lantern Festival and was almost dying.

Thanks to God’s blessing, in the middle of the night, there was a flash of golden light and a roar of dragons in the house, and I was cured the next day.”

Yuan Zai bowed and saluted.

Damn, intellectuals are just so cunning.

Even though Fang Chongyong was resourceful, he was still shocked by the evil intentions Yuan Zai had.

If Li Lin used the "inside tactic" (assassination), then Fang Zhongyong would use the "outside tactic", that is, to discredit Li Lin, because the puppet emperor could not be killed, otherwise the trick would be ruined.

Yuan Zai's move of turning the tables was no less than throwing Li Lin into a fire.

Similar rumors imply that Li Lin had poisoned Fang Chongyong, and it had already succeeded. Unexpectedly, Fang Chongyong was the true dragon emperor. Although he was plotted against by Li Lin, the "fake dragon", the true dragon was blessed by God, so how could he be afraid of the fake dragon?
Therefore, the poison without an antidote will be cured by itself.

I have to say, this move is brilliant!
"Is your head wound okay?"

Fang Zhongyong asked gently.

"Go back to the official house, it's no problem!"

Yuan Zai said this with an excited look on his face, his heart bursting with joy.

Although Fang Chongyong did not admit that his plan was brilliant, nor did he say that he would adopt it, but... this kind of thing, it's enough to just understand it, who would be so tactless as to talk about it?

"Then I will resign."

"Well, go back and rest. I found a famous doctor who will see you tomorrow. It would be bad if you have any stubborn disease."

Fang Chongyong said with a smile.

These words made Yuan Zai's heart suddenly tighten! It felt like his heart was being pinched by a big hand!
After he hit the pillar last time, he had a chronic disease and would have unbearable headaches from time to time. But this matter was very private and he didn't tell anyone.

How did Fang Qing know?
Yuan Zai put away the slight contempt in his heart and no longer dared to underestimate Fang Qing's wisdom and means. He quickly took his leave and left.

After he left, Fang Zhongyong stroked the short beard on his chin, and felt more and more like he had turned into a villain boss. Li Lin and others, on the other hand, were a group of brave warriors surrounded by traitors.

"Alas, I have finally become the kind of person I once hated the most."

Fang Zhongyong sighed deeply, feeling that time makes people grow old quickly.

The hair is not yet white, but the heart is already old.

At this moment, Da Congming pushed the door open again, with a helpless look on his face. The other party crossed his hands and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, He Changqi wants to see you."

"I know, let him in."

Fang Zhongyong sighed.

When He Lao Hu came in, before he could even open his mouth, Fang Zhongyong said to him:

"You must have discovered that people in Bianzhou are saying that Li Lin plans to ambush his men on the Lantern Festival and chop me into pieces.

So you have to strike first and chop off everyone in the palace except Li Lin.

When Li Lin entertains his ministers, they will be surrounded by our people, so there won’t be any trouble.”

Huh? No way?
He Changqi's mouth opened into an "O" shape. Everything he wanted to say had been said by Fang Chongyong, and the other party's plan was even more comprehensive.

"Well... I was originally bored and wanted to play cards with you, but I didn't expect you to be so busy now. I'll take my leave now."

He Changqi touched his round head and made a lame excuse. The other party clasped his fists and bowed, then turned and left the study.

"It's rare to find someone who does things as roughly as Li Lin. Could it be that..."

Fang Chongyong muttered to himself, and suddenly he thought of someone. Could it be that this big mouth leaked Li Lin's plan?

Otherwise, how come it seems like even a dog on the street knows that Li Lin is planning to kill people during the Lantern Festival?
(End of this chapter)