Tibet

Huge differences arose in the political hall. Prime Minister Li Xian strongly opposed the sale of the official and financial rights of Bashu and Shu to the King of Qi.

Of course, this cannot be said in the official document. Instead, the imperial court delegated all jurisdiction over Jiannan Road and Shannan East-West Road to the King of Qi. As a support to the court, the Helong Jiedu Mansion will provide free assistance to the court of 500,000 taels of silver. , equivalent to 1.5 million yuan.

But no matter what word games were used, Li Xian was firmly opposed to this plan. At first, he had won the benefits through verbal battles and bargaining with Long You, but now, only a few months later, he had given up all of them. How embarrassing was Li Xian's situation? He couldn't accept it.

Pei Mian advised Li Xian: "The reality cannot allow us to care about face anymore. Many officials are unable to take the blame. Prices are soaring. Big money is flooding the market. There are reports of military riots everywhere. If we don't recover the big money, there will be big trouble.

To get back a lot of money, we also have to spend real money. Our amount of minted money this year is only 300,000 guan, which is far from what is needed.

What's more, the King of Qi is a man of rules. Every year, reports on taxation, land and population increase and decrease are submitted to the court. Military reports are also sent to the court in time, allowing us to see that the border is peaceful, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the people's livelihoods were destroyed by Tubo. It is also slowly recovering, which shows that King Qi has lived up to the emperor's trust and managed Helong very well. So what's wrong with handing Bashu to King Qi? "

Pei Zunqing also advised: "Li Xiangguo, in fact, I agree to authorize the King of Qi to eliminate Liang Chongyi. Li Xilie rebelled in Huaixi and seized 700,000 yuan of taxes from Jiangnan. The next water transportation can only go through Jingxiang, but Liang Chongyi won't Intercepting court taxes?

His son escaped, and he became even more unscrupulous. There are rumors that Liang Chongyi and Li Xilie secretly colluded. I believe it is not groundless. I am afraid that even the water transport route from Jingxiang to Jingxiang will be cut off, so the taxes from Jiangnan will really not be transported to Chang'an. .

The monthly military expenditure of 600,000 guan and the salary expenditure of 200,000 guan are fixed monthly expenditures. Where are we going to get the money? Li Xiangguo, this is a very real problem! "

Li Xian let out a long sigh, "I know that finances are very tight, and I also know that the imperial court is in urgent need of money, and the emperor is worried about it day and night. But I am worried that if this hole is opened, there will be endless troubles in the future, okay! Let's vote, I will vote Abstain from voting.”

The political hall immediately held a vote and passed the resolution of exchanging five hundred thousand taels of silver for three administrative powers with four votes in favor and one abstention. The emperor immediately approved this resolution.

Three days later, Helong Jiedu Mansion handed over 500,000 taels of silver to Zuozangku through Baoji Cabinet. In addition, Qi King Li Ye personally donated 100,000 taels of silver to the court for palace expenses.

The imperial court solved the urgent need. Emperor Li Heng immediately issued an order to stop the circulation of Qianyuan Chongbao in the market and promised that the imperial court would take back the large amounts of money in his hands. This meant that the issuance of large amounts of money failed. Emperor Li Heng immediately dismissed Wu Qi's prime minister. He was demoted to the position of governor of Zhongzhong.

Li Heng immediately issued an order to grant Yuan Zai, who stayed in Taiyuan, the title of Shangshu Zuopushe. He also made peace with Zhongshu and took over the post of Prime Minister of Wu Qi.

A few days later, the emperor Li Heng once again issued an order to hold Pei Mian responsible for selling his official position. Pei Mian was demoted to Jingzhou Sima, Pei Zunqing was promoted to the right minister of the Zhongshu Ling, and Cui Huan, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was appointed Pingzhangshi under the Zhongshu family.

As the imperial court exchanged the large sums of money in the hands of the soldiers as quickly as possible, the mutinies that broke out in various places gradually subsided.

Liao Hua, deputy manager of the Chang'an Intelligence Station, hurried to the Ping'an Inn in Dongshi, where the Chang'an Intelligence Station is located.

As soon as he entered the door, Liao Hua said to Zhang Tan: "Our people found Liang Baoer at Lantian Pass and have been keeping an eye on him."

Zhang Tan nodded, "Arrange archers immediately and be sure to kill him in Shangzhou!"

In Shangluo County, Shangzhou, in the evening, a carriage drove into the county and slowly stopped at the entrance of Gaosheng Inn. Liang Baoer got out of the carriage. At this time, two Plum Blossom Guardsmen sped past, raising their crossbows and shooting at ten people while the horses were running. Liang Baoer was a few steps away. Liang Baoer was hit by two arrows and fell to the ground screaming. One of the arrows shot through the back of his head. Liang Baoer died immediately.

Three days later, Liang Chongyi learned in Xiangyang that his beloved young son had been assassinated by the plum blossom guards who were chasing him in Shangzhou. Liang Chongyi immediately fell to the ground and cried loudly.

After a moment, Liang Chongyi sat up and wiped away his tears, gritted his teeth and said: "It's too much to bully others. If you don't take revenge, I, Liang Chongyi, swear that I will not be a human being. I will pass on my order to tear down all the flags of the Tang Dynasty and establish a new flag as Chu. I will order all the states to do so." Officials and county magistrates have come to Xiangyang to swear allegiance to me. Anyone who refuses to be loyal should get out of here immediately!"

In the courtyard, several counselors and generals did not dare to persuade him. When the lord was furious, anyone who tried to persuade him would be seeking death. They could only wait for him to calm down and then slowly persuade him!

Only the counselor Shen Chenzhou had an imperceptible smile on his lips.

Directly opposite Longyou Jiedu Mansion in Hexi, Jincheng County, is a new building covering an area of ​​ten acres. A huge signboard is erected on it, "Jianxian Yingbin Hotel". Two large lanterns are hung at the door, which shines like daylight at night.

Entering the door is the reception lobby. There are dedicated people to receive you at twelve hours every day. Even if you come in the middle of the night, someone will arrange to have a rest first and go through the formalities the next morning.

This is like a hotel. It is divided into eight courtyards. They are all neat and uniform buildings with signs on the doors. There are two rooms inside and outside, each about 40 square meters, and there are more than 300 units in total.

At present, about 30% of the houses are occupied by people. Basically, they are people who come from all over the country to find jobs. There are county magistrates who lost their official posts due to the Anshi Rebellion, and there are also candidate officials who passed the imperial examination but failed the civil service examination. There are also several There are also down-and-out scholars who have failed in their attempts for ten years, and there are also children of famous families who are not valued by their families.

Of course there are some swindlers here, but as long as they have a little bit of expertise, Jiedu Mansion is more tolerant.

That afternoon, an ox cart came slowly from the south of the city. There were several people on horseback beside the ox cart. The leader was a man in his twenties, who was Hun Yao. Hun Yao was as old as Li Ye. , but he went to the battlefield at the age of eleven and experienced hundreds of battles, so his appearance is very deep.

There was another young man next to him, it was Yu Ao. The two met in Xianyang County. Yu Ao knew Hun Yao, and they went together.

Sitting in the oxcart were Hunqi's wife and their two young sons, Hunlian and Hunhao. The family was living in embarrassment in Chang'an. Although they received help from their brother Hunqi, they were still under great pressure and the rent alone was unbearable.

After receiving three hundred taels of silver, Hun Yao immediately paid off his debt and came to Longyou with his wife and children.

"Brother Hun, this is it!" Yu Ao looked at the guest house and asked with a smile.

Hun Yao nodded, "It should be here. It has changed so much that I don't even recognize it anymore."

Hun Yao told his wife a few words, and then he and Yu Ao went in first. It happened that today, there were several people in the lobby who were also going through the formalities. Yu Ao went to inquire about the situation, while Hun Yao stood at the door and waited.