Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4890: Position Issue
"Your Majesty has placed such great trust in me that I will serve you till my death and live up to your grace!"

Li Junxian said nicely, but he was actually helpless in his heart. For a soldier who has been determined to fight on the battlefield since he was young, who would be willing to become the king's lackey in this small place of Chang'an?

However, the "Hundred Cavalry Division" knows too many royal secrets, and it is not possible to withdraw if it wants to, and its situation is extremely difficult: if it gains the trust of His Majesty, it will not easily let anyone withdraw; if it loses the trust of His Majesty, not only will it not be able to withdraw, but it will also be in danger of being killed.

Therefore, if one wants to escape from the "Hundred Cavalry Division" unscathed, one needs both great achievements and a perfect opportunity...

……

Li Chengqian did not understand Li Junxian's wish to "retire at the height of his career". He trusted Li Junxian extremely, even more than Fang Jun. After all, Fang Jun had his own interests and positions, while Li Junxian's life and death, honor and disgrace all depended on the king's heart.

"We must keep a close eye on those people. They must have some means of communication hidden in the dark. After all, how can we rebel without soldiers? We must dig out the traitors in the army who are secretly colluding with them. But there is no need to act rashly for the time being. As long as we know ourselves and the enemy, we can fight a hundred battles without danger!"

Li Chengqian is full of confidence.

However, Li Junxian was not optimistic. After thinking for a while, he advised in a low voice: "Your Majesty is worth a million gold and is the supreme ruler of the world. How can you tread on dangerous ground? In my opinion, even if you have to wait for those people to take action first, you should make full precautions in advance. The left and right leading army guards are responsible for guarding the palace, but they are not necessarily united from top to bottom, inside and outside. It has been a long time since the generals at all levels were infiltrated by various forces. The performance of these two armies in the previous two mutinies was not trustworthy. We should discuss with the Duke of Yue and give the left and right Jinwu guards more powers, especially the power to enter the forbidden palace at critical moments. Only in this way can we ensure that nothing goes wrong."

The Southern Yamen Forbidden Army has a complex composition and cannot be trusted, but the Northern Yamen Forbidden Army, which is controlled by the emperor, may not be able to swear allegiance to the emperor. Aside from the Left and Right Jinwu Guards reorganized by Fang Jun, the rest of the army has been severely infiltrated by various forces, and no one knows their position at the critical moment.

In fact, this was also Li Junxian's implicit advice. He hoped that Li Chengqian could be patient for a while and take action after completely controlling the Northern Ya Forbidden Army. Otherwise, it would be dangerous to provoke those traitors to launch an attack without even an army completely loyal to the emperor.
Li Chengqian understood Li Junxian's advice, but he didn't take it seriously: "I am the orthodox one, and I have a righteous reputation. Except for one or two traitors, everyone is loyal to me. How can I be too concerned and keep silent, allowing those disloyal people to live happily? Even if there are some risks, they are under control. I will uproot them and completely eliminate them with the force of thunder and lightning!"

There is nothing absolute in the world, and there are risks in doing anything at any time. It is easy to be patient for a while, and it is not difficult to force those people to stop. But knowing that those people are traitors and rebels but still pretending to be friendly with them, where is the dignity of the emperor?

Precisely because of the risks and difficulty, he is more determined to do so.

After all, he not only needs to eliminate the treacherous and corrupt officials, but also re-establish the absolute authority of imperial power!
……

Qinglongfang is adjacent to Qujiang Pond and Furong Garden. It is a low-lying area in Chang'an City. It has been suffering from floods and dilapidated markets since the day the city was built. Every summer, the place is overgrown with weeds and full of mosquitoes and flies. Even the poorest families are unwilling to live here, so it has always been known for its desolation and ruin.

However, since Fang Jun planned this place and invested huge financial, material and human resources to transform it, it has been transformed from a dilapidated place into one of the most livable places in the entire Chang'an City. The housing prices are comparable to those in Chongrenfang and Yongchangfang, where the rich and powerful gather. A courtyard house can easily cost tens of thousands of guan...

Today, the luxury homes in Qinglongfang have almost become a symbol of status.

As the "head of the civil officials", Liu Li naturally spent a huge amount of money to buy a luxury house in Qinglongfang...

Inside the academy, the underground dragon was burning vigorously, the emerald green tea in the cup was emitting a faint fragrance, and a light layer of water vapor covered the bright floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, one could still see the falling snow in the yard. The tall pear trees had lost their flowers and leaves in winter, and their lush branches were stretched out and covered with snow, making the whole place look like silver.

Pei Huaijie took a sip of tea and looked at the snow scene outside the window with envy: "I have always heard that the 'Spring Pear Blossoms' in Qinglongfang is a beautiful sight in Chang'an, but I have never been able to see it. Now seeing the pear trees in the snow, I can almost imagine the scene of clusters of pear blossoms blooming in the spring breeze, whiter than snow. It's a pity that even though I have been an official for many years and have a small fortune, it is still painful to buy such a house."

Zheng Rentai, who was standing by, lowered his head and drank his tea without making any comment, but he couldn't help but feel resentful in his heart.

Others might not know, but as the head of the Zheng family in Xingyang, how could he not know how Pei Huaijie, who had been in charge of Henan Prefecture for many years and whose influence covered almost the entire Henan Province, colluded with the aristocratic families and even occupied mountains and forests, annexed land, and even monopolized merchants. How could his net worth be more than hundreds of thousands of strings of cash?

This is also called "having a small fortune", which is really hypocritical...

Liu Li, who was sitting behind the tea table, had a sad face and said unhappily, "It's just a house, not worth mentioning. If you like it, I'll give you one. The current situation is becoming increasingly urgent. The royal family has split up, and each camp is jumping up and down. Their evil intentions can no longer be concealed, but Your Majesty sits still and turns a deaf ear to it. The armies around Chang'an also remain silent and nothing is unusual. This is obviously wrong! Both of you are knowledgeable about military affairs, can you tell me what's going on?"

Throughout history, rebellion has been common, and the means have been endless and dazzling. However, no matter how bizarre the means are, the most basic confidence lies in the army. Whether it is a rebel or a monarch defending a city, they must firmly win over the army loyal to them, and then rely on the army to fight for victory or defeat.

But now those people in the royal family have never had any contact with the military, and His Majesty has not paid any attention to several garrison troops...

Is this anti-orthodoxy or not?

If there is really going to be a rebellion, when will it happen?

If they will not rebel in the end, then why does Your Majesty indulge the royal family?

After saying that, Liu Li glanced at Zheng Rentai with some resentment. He could only rely on Zheng Rentai to understand and influence the military now. However, Zheng Rentai was a cautious person. It seemed that he had learned a lesson from what happened that year. He was very secretive about military affairs and did not say a word.

Pei Huaijie naturally didn't care whether he was given such a house or not. He just smiled and said, "The Minister of the Central Secretariat is indeed generous and magnanimous. I admire him!"

Then he looked at Zheng Rentai and said, "The Duke of Tongan is a veteran general in the army and a meritorious official in the Zhenguan period. He has made great military achievements and has unparalleled military strategies. I think he has deep insights into the current situation. I would like to hear more about it."

The words were not polite.

Everyone knows that Zheng Rentai was a meritorious official during the Zhenguan period, and he was even one of the most meritorious officials during the Zhenguan period. However, to this day, he has the lowest rank and the least power among the meritorious officials during the Zhenguan period. This is because after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the Zheng family of Xingyang was too deeply involved with Li Jiancheng, which caused the dissatisfaction of Emperor Taizong, and they had been suppressed as a punishment.

This is almost Zheng Rentai's inner demon. He has made great contributions and outstanding abilities, but the result is that he has been suppressed for more than ten years because of the interests of his family. He watched a group of people who were far inferior to him at the time rise to prominence and hold power. How could he not feel resentful?
So at this moment, Pei Huaijie's words fell into Zheng Rentai's ears and quickly aroused his anger.

However, the suppression over the years is not entirely without benefits. At least Zheng Rentai's violent temper when he was young has been tamed to almost nothing. Even though he is angry in his heart, his face is calm and composed.

"Your Majesty may seem kind, but in fact he has a fierce temperament and is very intelligent. He has been taught the art of being an emperor since he was young. How can his wisdom and methods be underestimated? Li Shenfu is an octogenarian of the royal family. As the only remaining founding hero in the royal family, how can he be easily dealt with? It's not that I am being self-deprecating, but I really don't dare to speculate in front of these two people."

He had long made up his mind to keep Fang Jun's thigh and tie the interests of Zheng family in Xingyang to him. Fang Jun asked him to lurk in Liu Li's camp temporarily, so he did so, but he only used his ears but not his mouth, listened more and talked less, did not give any advice, and did not interfere.

Liu Li did not think that Zheng Rentai was shirking his responsibility. Instead, he felt that there was some truth in his statement. Not to mention that Li Shenfu was cunning and daring, His Majesty had always given people the impression of being more benevolent than courage, indecisive, and hesitant. But this time, he was acting out of character and refused to listen to anyone's advice, and was extremely tough. This style, which was so different from his usual style, either meant that he had confidence that outsiders did not know about, or that his mentality had changed dramatically. Either way, it meant that we could not guess based on usual experience.

"Have they all gone crazy? The old villain Li Shenfu is plotting something evil, but His Majesty is turning a deaf ear to it. The armies are keeping their troops on standby, and the whole government is in a state of confusion... Damn it!"

Liu Li, who always appears gentle and elegant, couldn't help but swear.

Pei Huaijie sat aside, feeling worried and sighing. He had been living well in Luoyang, but was made disgraced by Fang Jun and had to be transferred back to Chang'an. However, with his qualifications, not only did he not have a suitable position, but he was now involved in a turbulent rebellion, where he had no choice but to go with the flow. He didn't know whether his future would be ruined.

I was very frustrated because my career was hesitant.

Zheng Rentai drank his tea slowly, as if he felt that it was not right for him to always stay out of the matter. After thinking for a while, he asked, "What does the Minister of the Central Secretariat think of the current situation?"

Liu Li frowned and looked at him, somewhat puzzled.

Zheng Rentai said: "If someone really plots treason, where will the Minister of the Central Secretariat go?"

Liu Li said decisively: "What do you mean by that? Emperor Taizong has shown me kindness, so I will repay His Majesty. Anyone who plots rebellion should be killed with a thousand cuts!"

Zheng Rentai nodded.

The kindness of Emperor Taizong must be repaid, but not necessarily to Your Majesty, after all, Emperor Taizong had more than one son...