Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 249 Li Zhi's Small Troubles and Big Problems
“The incense burner, the four treasures of the study, the antiques on the antique shelf… these are all things I have carefully collected over the years. Please pack them carefully and don’t miss anything or damage them.

"Hey! Be careful when rolling it up! That scroll is Gu Kaizhi's painting of the Goddess of Luo River! If the scroll is torn even a little, I will tear you to pieces!"

In the Wei Wang Mansion in Luoyang, Li Tai, with his big belly, was ordering the servants to pack the luggage and valuables.

He is going to run away.

The first-stage strategy of quickly passing Chang'an failed because of Li Zhi's sudden betrayal.

Even if he united with the other six illegitimate princes and combined their forces, he was ultimately unable to break through the natural barrier of Tongguan guarded by Cheng Zhijie.

Wars are fought with a strong sense of responsibility. Once the courage is dispersed, people's hearts will be in chaos.

Under Li Zhi's literary and military intimidation, coercion and inducement, the alliance of kings quickly collapsed.

Everyone returned to their fiefdom with their own troops, and each went back to their own home to find their own mother.

Without those straw bales to block the wind, Li Tai had to face the harsh northwest wind blowing from Guanzhong.

The weather was too cold and the water was too cool, so Li Tai didn't plan to fight head-on.

He planned to escape with the remaining troops before Li Zhi's Western Army arrived.

"Your Highness? This..."

As soon as Zhishisili entered the Prince of Wei's mansion, he was shocked by the bustling scene of moving.

"Are you leaving Luoyang?"

"A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and Luoyang is this dangerous wall.

"Huh... I have too many possessions. I am exhausted."

Li Tai sat on a chair, fanning himself with the ornamental fan even in the middle of winter.

Although you didn't do anything, you still worked hard... Zhishisili complained in his heart.

As the ancient capital of several dynasties, Luoyang has a complete city defense system and is backed by the Yellow River for transportation, making it much more difficult to attack than Chang'an.

As long as we don't run into a war freak like Tian Khan, it won't be a problem to hold on for a few years. There is absolutely no need to flee in a hurry.

However, Zhishisili did not tell Li Tai about this idea.

Let’s spare the people in the city and the ancient capital of Dongdu.

No matter how incompetent Li Zhi was, Luoyang under his rule would not be worse than under Li Tai.

Moreover, after dealing with Li Tai for a long time, he also found that Li Tai was nothing more than an embroidered pillow with a golden appearance but rotten inside.

Even though Li Tai seems to be leisurely now, he must be very nervous inside.

It would be more realistic to persuade this prince, who only knows how to plot and enjoy himself, to give up the title of King of Wei to himself rather than let him be trapped in an isolated city and fight a tough battle.

"Then where are you planning to escape to?" asked Zhishisili.

Li Tai was originally leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed, but when he heard Zhishi Sili's "nonsense", he stopped crossing his legs and immediately sat up straight, staring at his general seriously:

"What do you mean by escape... I'm turning around!

"As long as the green mountains remain, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. Do you have to push yourself to the point of running out of ammunition and food, and let your soldiers and innocent people die with you, in order to be called courage and integrity?"

What he said was so righteous.

If Zhi Shisi had not heard too many sweet words from the King of Wei and had become aesthetically fatigued, he would have been almost persuaded.

"In view of the situation of the kings after the Battle of Tongguan, I terminated my activities in Dongdu. I made this decision based on the principle of serving the country and the people."

Li Tai continued to mutter in a way that whitened himself, even though his only listener was Zhi Shisi Li, who already knew his true face.

"But I am definitely not compromising with the traitors who usurped Chang'an, nor am I surrendering to Li Nizhi.

"Xueyantuo has always been a friendly neighbor of our country. Zhenzhu Khan Yinan could not sit idly by and watch Li Nizhi's perverse actions, so he extended a helping hand to me and invited me to jointly manage Hebei and Shandong with me in order to achieve future results..."

"You formed an alliance with the Xueyantuo? And ceded the vast Hebei region to them?"

Zhishisili translated the true meaning from Li Tai's words and could not help but feel surprised and angry:.

"The Tiele people are burning, killing and looting in Hebei. Your Highness, if you did not drive them out, it would be fine. Why did you submit to them as your vassal?"

Zhishisili despised the scum who surrendered to foreign races and sold out their country for personal gain the most.

What? You said that the Zhishi tribe was also a foreign race, and he also betrayed the Eastern Turks to the Tang Dynasty more than ten years ago?
The Tang Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, how can it be the same?

Furthermore, the Turks were slaves of the Tang people, and the Tiele people were once slaves of the Turks.

This time the Tang Dynasty people turned Tiangang around and became a slave of the Tiele people. Didn't he become a slave of slaves?
Doesn’t the Zhishi tribe have any respect?

The situation is getting worse and worse. Wasn't his surrender to the Tang Dynasty in vain?
"If you get along with the Tiele people, what will happen to the local people in Hebei?"

Zhishi Sili did not hesitate to speak for the venerable and spoke frankly.

Li Tai frowned, quickly concealed his dissatisfaction, shrugged his shoulders and said indifferently:

"The people of Hebei are unruly and need to be disciplined."

"Your Highness, aren't you afraid of losing the support of the people?" Zhishisili asked.

"Oh, the people's will? What does the quarrel between nobles have to do with the masses?" Li Tai almost laughed out loud:
"The emperor is the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses. If whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world, then how did Dou Jiande lose? How did Li Ming get driven to a corner of Liaodong?"

Now that things have come to this, Zhishisi Li doesn't know what to say anymore.

"General Zhishi, what are your plans? Are you going to Hebei with us?"

Li Tai leaned back in his chair and looked at him lazily.

A look of confusion appeared on Zhishisili's face.

Virtue is by no means an optional attribute for a politician.

A leader may not be polite, and may occasionally resort to unethical methods for a noble purpose.

However, if a leader is extremely despicable from both his purpose to his means, it will make his subordinates feel uncomfortable.

"I...sigh."

Zhishisili sighed, not accepting it explicitly, but not rejecting it either.

This is also because he has nowhere to go.

After Ashina Jieshelu and Ashina Simo betrayed His Majesty one after another and turned the Tang Dynasty into a mess, the trust of the Turks inside and outside the court had dropped to zero.

The people of the Tang Dynasty don’t care whether your surname is Ashina or Zhishi. They treat everyone equally and discriminate against everyone.

It's like when a fire breaks out in the city, the fish in the pond are affected.

Therefore, Zhishisili had nowhere to go except to serve Li Tai, an inner barbarian who actively colluded with the barbarians.

If he defected to Li Zhi, he would most likely be placed in some insignificant position and languish, while his own people would be exiled to various parts of the country, and he would never be able to achieve anything significant again.

"If there is no objection, then please General Zhishi gather your troops and prepare for the long journey."

Seeing how Zhishishili couldn't stand him but had to work with him to build the New Tang Dynasty, Li Tai smiled sincerely:
"To go to Hebei, which is thousands of miles away, we need to pass through my brothers' territories, so we can't plunder at will."

This blatant mockery made Zhishisi's cheeks twitch uncontrollably.

…………

"Oh? Fourth brother gave up Luoyang City?"

Taiji Palace Taiji Hall.

After the grand court meeting, Li Zhi sat on the dragon couch with confidence and listened to Zhangsun Wuji's report.

After all, he was not Li Ming, and he could not resist the temptation of the throne.

At a grand court meeting one day, it was arranged that Zhangsun Wuji shouted "Please take the seat, Regent", and then performed a drama of three refusing and three declining.

He sat on his father's throne without any psychological burden.

Even his father, Emperor Li Shimin, as well as Regent Li Ming and Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who were ahead of him in the line of succession, are not dead yet.

"Yes, the King of Wei was disloyal, and after a defeat, his followers scattered like birds and beasts."

Li Zhi nodded slightly:

"Fourth brother is not good at governance, and I'm sure he is not popular among the locals.

"But he doesn't care about people's support."

You can see through people so clearly, you are actually such a King of Jin...

Zhang Sun Wuji was horrified by his nephew's hidden talents. He struggled to curl the corners of his mouth upwards, forming an exaggerated smile:

"Now that the King of Wei has fled in panic, no one can stop Your Highness from ascending the throne."

This Eight Kings Rebellion, which started off well but ended badly, is finally coming to an end... he added in his mind.

After fighting only two battles, Li Tai ran away. He was such a loser.

"Well...if peace can return, it will naturally be a good thing for all people in the world..."

Li Zhi responded absentmindedly, and no one knew what he was thinking about.

Quiet.

Changsun Wuji waited for the young master's instructions, but after waiting for a long time without any result, he could not help but ask:

"Your Highness, are you going to send troops to chase after the King of Wei?"

We can't just let an unstable factor run around, right?
"No need, we can't catch up." Li Zhi rejected the idea lightly.

Sure enough, His Royal Highness the Regent knew something I didn't know, but he didn't tell me... Changsun Wuji realized this with a bitter heart, and rationally decided to keep his mouth shut. When the old majesty was still alive, had there ever been such a gap between the monarch and his subjects?
Even after Li Ming gained power and Fang Xuanling became the head of the civil service, His Majesty Li Shimin did not hide things from Zhangsun Wuji...

Changsun Wuji felt like he was a fake chief and felt extremely depressed.

"Then...I'll take my leave." He said dejectedly.

"Yeah." Li Zhi simply nodded.

Zhang Sun Wuji slowly stood up from his seat and added:
"This winter is relatively warm, with not much snow. I'm afraid there will be insect infestations during the spring ploughing next year."

"Yeah." Li Zhi nodded absentmindedly, with no intention of moving his butt off the dragon couch.

It was obvious that His Royal Highness the Regent was going to have a secret conversation with another closer and more trusted minister.

This secret conversation did not require Changsun Wuji's participation.

The group from Wagangzhai again? How could Zhinu trust those crude warriors so much... Changsun Wuji was thinking about the lawsuit, bowed to the emperor, and left in anger.

Seeing his uncle walking away, Li Zhi curled his lips slightly and nodded to the eunuch beside him:

"Send him to the temple."

Not long after, a minister with an ordinary figure and a forgettable face followed closely and climbed up to the Taiji Hall.

Zhang Liang was once a spy under Li Shimin.

After his successor Li Junxian was killed by Li Ming, Zhang Liang was entrusted with important tasks by Li Zhi and regained the power of intelligence.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you, Your Highness."

Zhang Liang pretended to let the secret slip, then he knelt on his seat and bowed deeply according to the etiquette of an audience with the emperor.

The eunuchs in the Taiji Hall looked at this scene which could be described as a rebellion, moved their mouths but said nothing.

"Please stand up, Minister."

Li Zhi said gently, pretending not to notice the other party's behavior that violated etiquette.

Zhang Liang's sensible attitude made him secretly happy.

That's why he likes the people of Wagangzhai so much, which shows that he is very considerate.

"I wonder how Shangshu Zhang has investigated my brothers?"

Li Zhi went straight to the point.

"My many adopted sons are spread across various royal palaces and important states and counties. Their every move is under my control."

Zhang Liang answered confidently:

"Although the princes who were bewitched by the King of Wei withdrew their troops from Tongguan at the same time, their armies did not return to the Governor's Office, but remained in their respective fiefdoms."

This crucial piece of information made Li Zhi frown.

The remote military governor's office and the fiefdom where they lived were often not in the same place.

For example, Concubine Wei’s son, Prince Ji Li Shen, had his fief in Qingzhou, but he remotely served as the governor of Qinzhou Military Governor’s Office.

The army did not return to the Governor's Mansion, but stayed in the fiefdom...

"What exactly do my brothers want to do? To raise an army and become independent? They also want to rebel against the court?" Li Zhi swept a serious look over Zhang Liang.

Zhang Liang smiled slightly:
"Perhaps he just hopes to use the army as a bargaining chip to get more benefits from you."

"Just like a naughty child using noise to blackmail his parents into buying an extra piece of maltose? Ha." Li Zhi laughed contemptuously:
"If they want it, give it to them."

Anyway, once he officially becomes emperor, he can take back these benefits at any time.

Those illegitimate princes really don't have any wisdom.

If you want to rebel, you should either not take it or stick to it till the end.

What's the point of stopping a civil war halfway through?
Foreign officials have the choice to surrender, but the princes do not, as they are inherently a threat to imperial power.

When the world is settled, they will be completely deprived of their military power and lose their support. Sooner or later, I will have to deal with this bunch of high-minded but incompetent people.

In comparison, Li Tai is much smarter than those rotten fish and shrimps.

Knowing that there is no turning back, I must fight to the end.

"We know the movements of other princes, but what about the Prince of Wei? Where did he go?"

Li Zhi asked the key question.

Zhang Liang replied immediately: "It passes through the territories of the various vassal kings and heads to Hebei."

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows.

"Isn't Hebei being ravaged by the Xueyantuo? Did he go to guard the national border?"

This is of course impossible. Li Tai is not the kind of person who has a sense of family and country.

That is to say...

"He joined forces with the Xueyantuo, intending to use the Tiele people as a backing and Hebei's human and material resources to continue fighting me?"

Li Zhi smacked his lips, feeling that things were beginning to develop in an uncontrollable direction.

Although he controlled the two public institutions of "capital" and "imperial court", he occupied the most advantageous position.

However, the advantage to Li Tai was not overwhelming.

First, his control over the South was not strong.

Jiangnan, Huguang, and Bashu all obey orders but not announcements, and bureaucracy is very serious.

It's possible to ask them to provide food, fodder and military pay, but it's very difficult to ask them to send troops directly, or even just provide civilian laborers, and they make all kinds of excuses.

Li Zhi knew that they were not really inefficient, but were using the guise of "bureaucracy" to selectively execute Li Zhi's orders.

He encountered a lot of setbacks.

And he couldn't do anything about those old officials.

In addition, during the early Tang Dynasty, the economy and population of the vast southern region lagged behind those of the north in all aspects.

Therefore, although Li Zhi's sphere of influence seemed quite large, the main force that could be used was still the Li family's base - Guanzhong.

As for the Central Plains region that Li Tai gave up, it was divided into pieces by the fiefdoms of various vassal kings, and he still needed to spend a lot of time and energy to annex and integrate it.

"It's Guanzhong versus Hebei again...it's still unclear who will win."

Li Zhi tapped the armrest with his fingers and asked Zhang Liang:
"The King of Wei has joined forces with the Xueyantuo, which means that what Li Ming said is true?

"The previous assassinations against my father and the royal family, including the Jiucheng Palace Incident, were all conspiracies of the King of Wei?"

Zhang Liang nodded:

"Indeed."

"Huh..." Li Zhi let out a long breath.

It seems that there is one more reason to fight Li Tai to the end.

Li Ming's intelligence is really sharp. He saw through Li Tai's true face so early...

"By the way, how is my brother doing these days? Is he doing well in Liaodong?"

Li Zhi relaxed a little and asked curiously.

He felt that Li Ming had been eliminated and it was impossible for him to cause any trouble in the barren Liaodong.

Moreover, after I left him a way out and fulfilled his dream of being "demoted to a commoner", that little brother should have no motivation to rebel.

He asked this out of pure curiosity.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Liang's expression became serious:

"I... don't know."

"Ok?"

Li Zhi's expression suddenly became playful:

"Is there anything else that can escape the eyes of Minister Zhang?"

Is there anything in the world that you, Zhang Liang, don’t know?
Those henchmen you raised... sorry, "adopted sons", are they just there to eat and do nothing?
Zhang Liang lowered his head:

"I have sent countless spies to Liaodong, but none of them have ever delivered a secret letter."

"What do you mean you didn't send a single letter?" Li Zhi found it incredible:

“Although Liaodong is only a small part of the country’s northeastern corner, it also occupies two states and has a population of more than 100,000 people.

"What's more, after the chaos in Hebei, many people fled there, and the flow of people was complicated."

Li Zhi looked at Zhang Liang seriously:

"As the saying goes, many mouths mean many things. How could there be no intelligence coming out of there? Where are those spies?"

Zhang Liang's nose broke out in cold sweat, and his voice trembled, as if he found it even more unbelievable than Li Zhi himself:

"Since they entered Liaodong, there has been no news, and no one has returned.

"It seems... it just disappeared like that."

(End of this chapter)