Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 362 Xichuan breaks through
"How come even Gutaoguan and Guankou are lost? Is my Xichuan a broken house with leaks on all sides?!"

On July 30th of the sixth year of Xiantong, before Emperor Li Yu could get over the news that You Shilong was forced to withdraw his troops, military discs warning of danger from Chengdu Prefecture continued to arrive one after another.

On July 20th, Taoguan was broken, and on the 22nd, Guankouguan was broken.

On the 23rd, a large number of people in Daojiang, Qingcheng and Tangchang counties were captured.

On the 24th, the foreign troops marched through Shuzhou, Chengdu Prefecture, and Pengzhou, and captured countless people. Yang Fuguang sent 13 letters in a row to report the danger and ask for help.

Six days had passed since the 24th. Li Yi could not imagine what Chengdu had become after being ravaged by foreign soldiers, so he convened a regular meeting for this purpose.

In the Zichen Palace, all officials remained silent. Even Xu Shang, who was good at military strategy, didn't know what to say.

Taoguan was one of the three passes in the western border of Xichuan. When Wei Gao and Li Deyu were stationed in Xichuan in the past, the foreign bandits could not even touch the edges of the three passes, but now they have directly broken into Chengdu Prefecture.

Jiazhou in the south has not yet been recovered, and now even Shuzhou and Pengzhou are about to be lost.

"Your Majesty, I think that although Minister Cui has made great contributions, he is old after all."

"Why not transfer Prime Minister Cui to Shannan East Road and let Gao Qianli control the East and West Rivers? Perhaps we can defeat the barbarians!"

Suddenly, Prime Minister Lu Yan stood up and recommended Gao Pian, but his recommendation made many ministers frown.

The areas controlled by Dongchuan, Xichuan and Shannan West Road are collectively called Sanchuan. Among them, Shannan West Road is particularly important as it not only controls the gateway to Sichuan but also connects to Guanzhong.

Although the situation is critical now, letting one person serve as the Jiedushi of Dongchuan and Xichuan at the same time is not what everyone wants to see.

Although Li Yi also trusted Gao Pian, it was impossible for him to hand over both Xichuan and Dongchuan to Gao Pian at the same time.

With the ability Gao Pian has shown, if he were to take control of the two Sichuan provinces and then take the opportunity to occupy Shannan West Road, wouldn't that mean he would be occupying Bashu and cutting off the imperial court's retreat?

Thinking of this, Li Yi frowned slightly, and seeing Li Yi frowning, Lu Yan did not care about accepting Gao Pian's gift and said quickly:
"If the court has another candidate, then we can choose another talented person..."

Hearing this, Li Yi's frown relaxed slightly, and Prime Minister Xu Shang also took the opportunity to bow and said:
"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to transfer Gao Pian to be the governor of Xichuan. Dongchuan is as solid as a rock, so we just need to select another talented person."

"Excellent talent?" Li Yi nodded slightly and wanted to look at Gao Qu, but found that Prime Minister Gao Qu was not in the hall.

"Where is Prime Minister Gao?" Li Yi asked the ministers. The Minister of the Honglu Temple bowed and said:
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Prime Minister Gao is ill and has been on leave for more than seven days..."

"Are you feeling unwell?" Li Yi felt uneasy, as if he was thinking of Bai Minzhong, Pei Xiu and others.

It seems that as long as he uses people he likes, the final result is that the person will die of illness. Could Gao Qu also die of illness?
"Your Majesty, I recommend Liu Zhan, the governor of the Northern Capital, as the governor of Dongchuan."

After much deliberation, Xu Shang finally chose Liu Zhan, who was known for his integrity, as the governor of Dongchuan.

However, many people have raised objections to this.

"Although Liu Jizhi has a reputation for integrity, he has no ability to lead an army. I'm afraid he will not be able to defend Dongchuan."

"Your Majesty, although there is no war in Dongchuan right now, we still need talented generals, not corrupt officials..."

The ministers rejected Xu Shang's recommendation. Xu Shang frowned but said nothing.

Seeing the ministers passing the buck to each other, Li Yi couldn't help but get angry: "This won't work, that won't work either, why don't you recommend someone with talent!"

Seeing this, the ministers fell silent one after another, and Li Yi had no choice but to look directly at Xu Shang: "Is there anyone who is good at military strategy?"

"This..." Xu Shang thought for a moment, and then said, "Zheng Ting, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, once served as an official in the Hedong Military Office, so the court recruited him as the assistant minister of the Ministry of War."

"I think it would be better to appoint Zheng Ting as the governor of Dongchuan?"

"Zheng Ting?" Li Yi glanced around the temple and soon found Zheng Ting, who was nearly forty years old.

To be honest, he didn't like Zheng Ting very much before, because Zheng Ting always impeached Liu Jilian, which deepened the conflict between Longyou and the court.

But now that he has determined to pacify Longyou, there is nothing wrong with using Zheng Ting.

However, Zheng Ting's official career was not smooth, and his official position was not high enough. If he was hastily promoted to the governor of Dongchuan, he might cause criticism.

Thinking of this, Li Yi couldn't help but feel a little uncertain, but at this time Zheng Ting took the initiative to say:
"Your Majesty, although I have a heart to serve my country, I have no experience in commanding an army."

"I think that Dongchuan has been managed by Lord Gao, and we only need to follow the rules and regulations."

"In this case, why not transfer Xuanwu Army Jiedushi Li Fu to serve as Jiedushi of Dongchuan, and then assign Rongzhou and its troops to Xichuan, so that General Gao can free his hands and feet to repel the barbarians in the territory?"

Zheng Ting's words made Li Yi's eyes light up, and all the ministers in the temple nodded in approval.

Although Li Fu was fooled by Pang Xun and failed in his campaign to suppress the bandits, he was still a military expert after all.

Transfer him to Dongchuan, and then hand over the Rongzhou front to Gao Pian, so that Li Fu only needs to do his best to defend Songling Pass and Jiangyou Pass. This is not a dangerous situation, right?

"That's great!" Li Yi nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Lu Yan and Xu Shang:
"Draft an imperial decree to transfer Xuanwu Army Jiedushi Li Fu to Dongchuan Jiedushi, Dongchuan Jiedushi Gao Pianping to Xichuan Jiedushi, Xichuan Jiedushi Cui Xuan to Beidu Liu Zhan to Taiyuan Yin to Xuanwu Army Jiedushi..."

Following the advice of his ministers, Li Yi slightly adjusted the positions of many people.

Not only did it solve the problems of East and West Sichuan, but it also allowed Liu Zhan, who had never commanded an army, to go to Xuanwu Army for training.

Faced with such a situation, all officials in the court except Lu Yan were relatively satisfied. Only Lu Yan was wondering how to respond to Gao Pian.

While he was thinking this, Li Yi stood up and left the Golden Stage, walking down the stage.

Upon seeing this, the Minister of the Honglu Temple immediately saluted and said, "The court is dismissed!"

"Tens of millions of years old..."

All the ministers bowed and watched Li Yi's back disappear before leaving the Purple Palace one after another.

Two quarters of an hour later, Li Yi returned to Xianning Palace, but the palace was quiet and the actors and musicians had disappeared.

Li Yi frowned slightly, looked at Tian Yun and asked, "Where is the person?"

"I...I don't know..." Tian Yun was also confused. He had clearly made all the arrangements, so how come no one was there when he came back from the court?

"It was the woman who drove him away!"

Suddenly, a sound like the singing of birds in the morning rang out in the hall, clear and beautiful.

Li Yi looked subconsciously, and then saw the girl walking towards him with two female officials.

The girl was graceful and delicate, with a pair of beautiful apricot-like eyes. Even without makeup, her eyebrows were green and her lips were red.

She had black, shiny hair on her head, a jade hairpin with a carved red phoenix pattern and gilded on it, a red gold necklace, a bean green official sash on the hem of her skirt, a narrow satin gown with purple and gold threads, and a crepe skirt with jadeite flowers on it, looking very wealthy.

Although she was wearing a brocade skirt, her shoulders were as slender as if cut by a knife, her figure was tall and slender, and she was gentle and quiet, making people feel friendly when they met her.

"Nannan is here?!"

After seeing clearly that the person coming was Li Meiling, Li Yi's expression changed. He walked forward in ecstasy, hugged Li Meiling and spun around.

"Father, if we do this, I'm afraid the censors will gossip about us."

Li Meiling blushed, but Li Yi said happily: "Whoever dares to say that about Nannan, I will kill his entire clan!"

"Nannan hasn't come to see me for a long time. Could it be that you have forgotten about me?"

"Aye has been so busy with government affairs these days that he can't even eat, and his clothes are getting loose."

He acted pitifully in front of his daughter, but Li Meiling knew clearly what her father did every day. She just smiled and didn't say anything.

Seeing that his attempt to play the victim failed, Li Yi immediately took Li Meiling to the side hall and said, "Standing here might make our daughter tired."

"Let's go to the side hall and find a seat, and then talk to Aye about what happened in the past few days."

"Aye, I'm not a child anymore." Li Meiling was helpless. She was already fifteen years old and would be sixteen in a few months.

An ordinary girl, who is married at this age, would naturally know to avoid suspicion with her father and brothers.

But her father didn't know what it meant to avoid suspicion and was always pulling and tugging.

Facing his complaints, Li Yi said aggrievedly: "Father can't even touch you now?"

"I'm just afraid of insulting my father's reputation." Li Meiling didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Li Yi also laughed:

"It has nothing to do with them, so why bother with them?"

Seeing this, Li Meiling said nothing more and just let Li Yi lead her into the side hall and sit down.

Tian Yun tried to pour tea, but Li Yi raised his hand and hit him on the hand. Then Li Yi poured tea for Li Meiling himself, took out some cakes and said:

"The pastries in Longyou are delicious. There are various flavors. You can try each one."

Li Meiling took a few pieces, took a small bite of each, and put them down: "They taste good, but don't eat too much."

"You'd better eat more. You've lost weight." Li Yi said anxiously.

"Doesn't it look good like this?" Li Meiling smiled and looked into Li Yi's eyes.

Li Yi stared at her for a few breaths, then said with a strange look on his face: "The woman is not the same as usual today, is there something you want to ask me?"

"I heard that Aye is going to use troops against Longyou?" Li Meiling did not deny it and asked directly. "Where did you hear that from?" Li Yi became alert, but Li Meiling shook her head and said:

"Aye, there are many maps of Longyou in this side hall. I can tell the whole story with just a glance."

Li Yi didn't believe this at all, and suddenly sat down next to him coldly.

Li Meiling smiled and said, "Didn't Father like Liu Jilong's story? Why do you suddenly want to use troops against him?"

"How can a story be compared with state affairs? Moreover, Liu Jilong is restless, and I should defeat him..."

Li Yi paused after he finished speaking, and then said: "I won't kill him. After all, he is deeply loved by the people of Longyou. Killing him will cause resentment among the people."

The people of Longyou are tough and Liu Jilian is deeply loved by the people of Longyou. If he is killed at will, it will inevitably cause the people to riot.

Although he had not yet sent troops to Longyou, Li Yi had already thought about how to govern Longyou in the future.

However, facing his words, Li Meiling said helplessly: "How did he offend Aye?"

"This fellow nurtured the enemy and ended up bringing disaster to the imperial court!"

Li Yi got angry when he mentioned this, and he couldn't help but tell Li Meiling everything that happened in Xichuan during this period and the affairs of Duokang Tubo.

Li Meiling had never expected that the Duokang Tubo, which had been causing trouble these days, was actually supported by Liu Jilong.

In addition, she did not expect that the invasion of Xichuan by Duokang Tubo might be related to Liu Jilian.

She thought it was a pity, and then said: "If that's the case, it's feasible for Aye to conquer Longyou, but you can't kill him."

"Of course!" Li Yi agreed deeply. After all, he also hoped to recruit Zhang Huaishen in Hexi while solving the problem in Longyou.

If Liu Jilian was captured and released, and Zhang Huai was recruited to the court, it would also be a good story.

"My mother asked me to ask my father when he wants me to get married."

Li Meiling's words were like a bolt from the blue. Li Yi's mind went blank, and he couldn't help but react strongly: "Why does she care about your affairs?!"

"Is it possible that the great Tang Dynasty cannot afford to support my daughter?!"

Li Yi was truly in love with Guo, but he was not ready to marry his daughter off, let alone marry his favorite daughter.

"Girls have to get married eventually." Li Meiling didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but Li Yi said firmly, "You are so young, how can you manage the household?"

"Wait for three to five years, and I will carefully select a man for you who is both civil and military, and has the appearance of a top scholar."

"Where did this person come from?" Li Meiling didn't know what to say, but Li Yi looked at Tian Yun:
"Let the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel pay attention. In the past few years, the candidates for the imperial examinations must be talented in both literature and martial arts, handsome, and have good family backgrounds."

"This..." Tian Yun didn't know what to say. After all, the kind of people Li Yi was talking about were usually betrothed to marriage by major families at a very young age.

The only person whose position was intercepted by the royal family was Zheng Hao, the then governor of Henan. However, the fact that Zheng Hao and Princess Wanshou were not on good terms was known to almost everyone in the court and the country.

After Zheng Hao successfully impeached Bai Minzhong, Princess Wanshou had an argument with him. Zheng Hao even cursed Bai Minzhong for ruining his good marriage, which caused Princess Wanshou to complain to Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen.

After the news spread, Zheng Hao was kept in Luoyang, while Princess Wanshou continued to live in Chang'an.

After hearing about the breakup of his couple, Zheng Hao suddenly fell seriously ill. However, his childhood sweetheart Lu just passed by Luoyang and saw him, and his illness recovered. He has been very happy in Luoyang for the past few years.

Princess Wanshou came to her younger brother Li Yi several times, hoping to transfer Zheng Hao back to Chang'an, but Li Yi was delayed every time due to some matters.

This shows how deep the resentment of this young man from aristocratic family is about marrying a princess.

Although Li Meiling is gentle and considerate, and not as spoiled as Princess Wanshou, few young men from aristocratic families would be willing to marry her.

"Why are you hesitating, eunuch? Are the girls in my family inferior to those in other families?!"

Li Yi saw Tian Yun's hesitation and asked angrily. Tian Yun knelt down immediately and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I was just wondering if there are any children from noble families that I know who meet the requirements."

"Humph!" Li Yi sat down after hearing that, and then asked, "Do you have a candidate?"

"I have heard that the Jingzhao Wei family, the eldest son of Wei Que, the former Wuchang Jiedushi, Wei Baoheng, was talented and had above-average looks. After passing the imperial examination, he served as an attendant. However, Your Majesty does not often allow attendants to enter the Xianning Palace, so naturally they are rare."

"Wei Baoheng?" Li Yi thought about it, but couldn't remember who he was. However, he nodded and said, "How about learning martial arts for the sake of character?"

"There is no big problem with his character. I have never heard of his martial arts skills, but I have heard that he is good at horse riding." Tian Yun explained truthfully.

Li Yi was satisfied when he heard this and said, "His horsemanship is good, so his martial arts must be good too."

Seeing her father's satisfied expression, Li Meiling couldn't help but frown and asked, "Are you really going to marry the girl off?"

"Girls have to get married eventually, and this Wei is not a bad guy." Li Yi stood up and paced back and forth, muttering as if to convince himself:

"Besides, he has lost his father, so you won't have to serve your father-in-law if you marry him. It's a pity... it would be better if his mother was not alive either."

Li Yi looked at Tian Yun and asked, "Does this man named Wei still have a mother alive?"

"He is still alive. I heard that he is just over 50 years old." Tian Yun answered slowly. Li Yi felt a little regretful when he heard it.

After feeling regretful, he looked at Li Meiling and asked, "Should we call him over to take a look?"

"No!" Li Meiling frowned and stood up, bowing respectfully and saying, "I am not feeling well, so I will not share a meal with Your Majesty."

After she finished speaking, she walked out with a cold face. Li Yi quickly chased after her: "Is Nannan angry?"

"Nannan? Nannan, don't go..."

No matter how Li Yi coaxed her, Li Meiling did not stop and walked straight out of Xianning Palace and went to her own bedroom.

Li Yi stopped in front of the gate of Xianning Palace and couldn't help but say, "Women's minds are hard to guess..."

Tian Yun, who had followed, bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, should we summon Wei Baoheng again?"

"No!" Thinking that Li Meiling was angry with him because of this matter, Li Yi turned around with a sullen look and went back to Xianning Palace.

Tian Yun was stunned when he saw this, and then quickly ordered other eunuchs to summon the musicians and actors into the Xianning Palace.

Soon, musicians and actors were summoned into the Xianning Palace, and music was heard again in the palace.

At the same time, Lu Yan, who had returned to the mansion, changed into his regular clothes, ordered someone to bring the 500 taels of gold, and summoned Yu Gongchu, a military officer from Dongchuan stationed in the Chang'an Jinzouyuan.

Under Gao Pian's command, Yu Gongchu's status was second only to Wang Zhongren, Zhang Lin, Liang Zun, Lin Ruzhen and others, and higher than Lu Ruyue.

Because of this, when Gao Pian was in charge of the local area in recent years, all the affairs of the Jinzouyuan in Beijing were handed over to Yu Gongchu.

Yu Gongchu was not very optimistic about Gao Pian's plan for Jiannan Road, and Gao Pian also knew that this plan might not succeed, but he would only know the result after trying hard.

Because of this, when Yu Gongchu walked into the central hall of Lu Yan's mansion and saw the familiar box placed in the hall, he knew that this plan might have failed.

Sure enough, Lu Yan told him what happened in the temple today in front of him.

Upon learning that Li Fu was appointed Jiedushi of Dongchuan and Gao Pian was transferred to Jiedushi of Xichuan, but that the court assigned Rongzhou to Gao Pian, Yu Gongchu felt a little comforted.

"At least I got the title of Jiedushi of Xichuan and took back Rongzhou..."

Yu Gongchu was thinking in his heart, but Lu Yan, who was sitting in the main seat, said: "This matter failed. There is a saying that there is no reward without merit. Please take these things back, Yu Canjun."

"What are you talking about, Prime Minister Lu?" After Yu Gongchu realized what was going on, he immediately showed an unhappy expression:
"Since the gift has already been given, how can there be any reason to take it back? Could it be that you think my envoy's gift is too small?"

"Of course not, it's just..." Lu Yan sighed on the surface, but in his heart he was very satisfied with Yu Gongchu's performance.

How could he easily return something that was handed to him?
If Yu Gongchu really wanted the things back, he would at least make things difficult for Gao Pian and let him know the consequences of offending him.

However, he felt a little embarrassed after seeing Yu Gongchu's behavior.

"Lu Xiang, there is no need to mention this matter again. Besides, the failure of today's matter is not entirely due to Lu Xiang."

"If I take the gift back, I will feel bad, not to mention whether the envoy will scold me."

"If I need your help in the future, I will not be able to come to you and ask for your help."

"In short, since this gift has been given, please do not discuss it further, just accept it."

"If Prime Minister Lu insists on retreating, then one day he will never set foot in the palace again!"

Yu Gongchu spoke in a decisive tone, cutting off all of Lu Yan's escape routes.

Lu Yan felt comfortable and happy when he heard this, but he still hesitated and said, "Alas... in that case... in that case I will accept it."

"That's how it should be!" Yu Gongchu bowed and said:

"If this matter fails, I need to send a message to you, so I won't bother you anymore."

"Well, at least have a cup of tea before you leave." Lu Yan couldn't help but say a few polite words to persuade him to stay.

Yu Gongchu also knew what he was thinking, and the two of them declined each other. Then Lu Yan sent someone to escort Yu Gongchu out of the mansion.

After leaving Lu Mansion, Yu Gongchu immediately returned to Dongchuan Jinzouyuan, wrote down the cause and effect of the incident in a handwritten letter, and sent someone to deliver it to Dongchuan Lingzhou...

(End of this chapter)