Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 374: Power War
"Your Majesty, please think twice!!"

On March 20th of the seventh year of Xiantong, when hundreds of officials stood outside the Xianning Palace and shouted loudly, there was no longer the scene of constant singing and dancing in the palace as before, but it was unusually deserted and silent.

There was no one in the empty hall, and you could hear a pin drop.

It was not until Tian Yun walked into the hall and walked towards the side hall that he saw Li Yi sitting in the main seat in the side hall.

"Your Majesty, all the officials are outside, but several of the ministers have not come..."

Tian Yun spoke slowly, and Li Yi nodded slowly when he heard it, then stood up and prepared to walk outside.

"His Majesty?"

Tian Yun was stunned, but at this time Li Yi walked past him, walked out, and stopped in front of the gate of Xianning Palace.

Standing here, he could already see the officials who were asking him to reconsider. There were hundreds of them.

I'm afraid that nearly 30% of the officials in Chang'an are here.

"His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice. Don't attack Longyou now!"

"His Majesty……"

Seeing Li Yi appear, many officials bowed and began to dissuade Li Yi.

However, most of them stood still and bowed, not daring to step forward to give advice.

At this time, an official in his thirties stood up and walked towards Li Yi. He knelt down five steps away from him, holding a tablet in his hand, and spoke in a shrill voice:

"The humble minister who saves the country, Imperial Academy Scholar Liu Yunzhang, risks his life to advise His Majesty the Emperor!!"

Liu Yunzhang's actions were bold, and what he said made many officials sweat on their foreheads.

Without waiting for Li Yi's permission, Liu Yunzhang said hurriedly: "I have heard that those who are too upright will be lonely, and those who are too clear will die."

"During the Han Dynasty, Chao Cuo suggested reducing the fiefs of the princes, but was killed by the emperor as a result."

"Shang Yang helped the Qin State to eliminate its lawless ministers, but was tortured to death..."

"Now, I hope to become the third person after the two of you!"

Liu Yunzhang's remarks did make Li Yi look at him with a higher opinion, but only a slight one.

He wanted to see what Liu Yunzhang could say, so he did not interrupt him, and Liu Yunzhang also said anxiously:
"When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, you issued an order to all states to open up channels for people to speak freely and to allow people to make direct comments without any crime. This led to people from all over the country making comments to the court."

"However, Your Majesty not only did not accept the people's suggestions, but also acquiesced to the corrupt officials under him to torture them."

"I have seen people being whipped in the market, imprisoned in gardens, and even buried deep in ditches. The number of people is countless."

"Nowadays, ministers cherish their positions and dare not speak out, and minor officials are afraid of death and dare not make suggestions, while those who risk their lives to make suggestions are retaliated against."

"I have heard that the core business of the court is to recommend talented people, but now the prime minister is regarded as an unimportant official position, and the censor is regarded as an uninvited position."

"There is no place for those who have been wronged to seek redress, so the nobles retreat and the villains plot rebellion."

Liu Yunzhang's voice was sad, tears welled up in his eyes. He held the tablet in his hand and continued to prostrate himself:
"Since ancient times, the emperor has used the censors as his eyes and ears, and the prime ministers as his arms and legs. Without the arms and legs, he cannot act; without the eyes and ears, he cannot see clearly."

"Now, Your Majesty has abandoned his loyal followers, blocked his ears and eyes, blocked his advice, and punished his loyal people. Do you want to silence the people of the world and keep silent?"

"I am worried that people will laugh at your majesty for being unwise and unwise for thousands of years to come, so I am extremely worried."

"In today's world, among the officials seeking advancement, the wise are unwilling to admit that they are not worthy, and the foolish are unwilling to admit that they are not virtuous, which leads to the mixing of the wise and the foolish, and the mixing of the good and the evil."

"Why can't the court let the fools retire and the wise take office, so as to revive the court?"

"Today, there are eight ways for wealthy families to enter the officialdom, but all of them benefit the wealthy families and make life difficult for the common people."

"The decline of the country is all due to the nine major failures, which has caused the people to suffer unspeakably."

"I have heard that since ancient times, emperors have encouraged farmers all day long, but they still worry that the people will starve; they have encouraged mulberry planting all day long, but they still worry that the people will suffer from cold."

"Now the whole world is full of nobles, officials, generals, monks, nuns, and robbers. They do not farm or weave, but eat the food of the whole world, while the common people suffer."

"That is why I believe that the people of this world today suffer from eight kinds of suffering. Do you know these eight kinds of suffering, Your Majesty?"

Liu Yunzhang asked Li Yi in return. Li Yi was gradually becoming embarrassed, but before he could speak, Liu Yunzhang continued:
"If the eight sufferings are not eliminated, the people will be robbed, oppressed, forced to serve as soldiers, forced to become tenants, and forced to become monks. These are the five extinctions."

"The people have five things to go but no place to return to, and eight kinds of suffering but no happiness at all."

"The state has nine broken but not one successful one, and the officials have eight new ones but not one wise one."

"There has never been such a situation since ancient times."

“Now the people of the world are wailing on the roads and have to flee into the mountains, husbands and wives cannot live, fathers and sons cannot save each other.”

"Your Majesty, in this situation, is not working hard to govern the country, but is thinking of using military force to stop the unrest. I would like to ask Your Majesty, do you really think that sending troops to pacify Longyou will be enough..."

"Shut up!!"

Li Yi endured it several times, but finally couldn't help but scold and interrupted him.

He thought Liu Yunzhang would say something profound, but after going around in circles, he finally opposed him sending troops to Longyou.

He didn't dare say that he had the ability to judge people, but Liu Yunzhang was definitely not as loyal as he said!
Thinking of this, Li Yi said coldly: "Tian Yun... kick them out!"

"I obey your command." Tian Yun responded quickly, and then led the imperial guards to drive all the officials out.

Before Liu Yunzhang was dragged away, he was still shouting: "Your Majesty does not care about the world and the people. I should return to the sea and be buried in the belly of a fish. I cannot bear to see the country in danger."

"I have fulfilled my wish. I am deeply saddened and terrified..."

As his voice gradually became smaller, his figure was completely dragged away by the imperial guards.

Only after they disappeared did Li Yi ask with a gloomy face, "Where are the troops from each town now?"

"Your Majesty..." Tian Yun thought for a moment, then replied:

"The Shatuo and Dangxiang have already gathered their troops in Yanzhou. Currently, three of the garrisons have not yet reached Fengxiang. It will take at least ten days for them to arrive."

"In addition, urgent news came from Xichuan that Gao Pian had dispatched troops. In addition to leaving 20,000 troops to defend Lizhou, Jiazhou, and Rongzhou, he only left more than 10,000 troops to garrison in various states. He led 5,000 elite cavalry and 15,000 elite cavalry and infantry to station at Guankou Pass, as if he wanted to retake the old Taoguan Pass."

"Call Wang Xiaonian and other ministers into the palace!" After hearing this, Li Yi walked into the palace with a flick of his sleeves. Tian Yun hurriedly sent someone to summon Wang Shi and the internal and external ministers of the Southern Court and the Northern Court.

An hour later, as everyone entered the hall one after another, Li Yi was already sitting on the golden platform, looking down at everyone and said:
"I would like to appoint Wang Shi as the crown prince's junior protector, and to appoint him as the commander-in-chief of the Longyou Camp, the military commander of the Guannei Road, and the governor of Fengxiang Town... What do you think?"

Li Yi put the matter of conquering Longyou on the table and wanted to directly confer the title on Wang Shi, which meant that the court had made the matter of conquering Longyou public.

But fortunately, he was given the title of Recruiting Envoy, which meant that things would not be done to the extreme.

In response, Xu Shang took the initiative to ask: "Since Your Majesty has decided to recruit troops from Longyou, how should the Longyou Jinzouyuan stationed in Chang'an be dealt with, and how should the local Longyou Ya merchants be dealt with?"

"Just confine him for now, and don't use force." Li Yi said in a deep voice, not intending to do anything extreme.

Xu Shang nodded when he heard this, and then continued: "I would like to ask Wang Shaobao, the envoys sent to Khitan and Duokang Tubo have not yet reported back. Do you think that now is a good time to attack Longyou?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone looked at Wang Shi, wanting to get the answer from him.

Wang Shi pondered for a moment, then bowed to Li Yi and said, "Your Majesty, the troops of the various towns have not yet been assembled, and the envoys sent to Khitan and Duokang Tubo have not received a reply. In addition, the abilities of the governors of the various towns vary, and they all need to be replaced."

"I think we should not be in a hurry now. We should wait until the summer harvest when there is enough food and grass before we mobilize the troops."

Wang Shi was under great pressure. Even though he had gained the emperor's trust, he did not want to gain this trust and official position by conquering Longyou.

The Tang Dynasty's attack on Longyou was undoubtedly a gamble.

If the bet is won, the Tang Dynasty may be able to swallow up the fat piece of meat in Longyou, and then disband the troops and imperial guards in the eight towns northwest of Beijing, and use the taxes obtained from Longyou to prolong the country's prosperity.

But if we lose the battle, what will become of the Tang Dynasty?
Maybe it will become like the Zhou royal family, where it is difficult for government orders to leave the capital...

While Wang Shi was worried, Li Yi had already made up his mind: "Among the governors of various towns, who do you think should be replaced?"

As soon as Li Yi finished speaking, Ximen Jixuan spoke up first, "Your Majesty, I think that the governor of Shuofang, Zhang Zhifang, should be dismissed and his Jinwu general should be sent to the court. Jinwu general Zhou Bao should lead 5,000 imperial guards to take over the post."

The location of Shuofang Town is indeed critical, and it is also on the front line. In addition, the imperial court transferred the Dangxiang and Shatuo to obey its orders, and the status of Shuofang Town also rose.

Taking this opportunity, Ximen Jixuan would naturally recommend his own people to go to Shuofang Town.

With 5,000 garrison troops in Shuofang Town and 5,000 imperial guards, it was enough to command the several thousand elite cavalry of Shatuo and Dangxiang.

Zhou Bao was brave enough. He had served in the Right Shence Army with Gao Pian in the past. He was familiar with Ximen Jixuan when he was under his command, so it was natural for him to choose to recommend him.

"Yes!" Li Yi nodded, knowing that this was the only way to win the support of the Right Shence Army. "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ximen Jixuan withdrew, and Qi Yuanjian and Qi Yuanshi looked at each other, but they did not recommend any generals, because the imperial army would be led by Yang Xuanji and Yang Gongqing, so there was no need to seek other foreign aid.

What's more, Gao Pian of Xichuan obviously sided with them. If anything went wrong, they could just take the emperor and retreat to Xichuan.

What they are most worried about right now is Gao Pian.

"Your Majesty, I think that this battle should start with Xichuan Jiedushi Gao Pian taking the lead in attacking Gutaoguan!"

"I second the proposal!"

Qi Yuanshi and Qi Yuanjian spoke one after another. Upon hearing this, Li Yi looked at Wang Shi, only to see that Wang Shi frowned slightly.

It was agreed that Wang Shi would be in command and arrange for the military governors of various towns to attack Longyou. Now that the war has not even started, this group of people from the Northern Division have already begun to fight for command.

Wang Shi couldn't imagine how many obstacles these eunuchs would put in his way when the three armies really fought with Longyou in Helong.

He suddenly regretted that perhaps he should have sternly rejected the emperor at the beginning and made the emperor give up any idea of attacking Longyou.

"For this matter, let's follow what you two said."

Li Yi wavered and leaned towards Qi Yuanshi and the other two, which left Wang Shi with fewer points to deploy.

He wanted to speak, but before he could, Xu Shang said, "Your Majesty, Wang Shaobao is the governor of Fengxiang Town, and Linghu Shixiang ..."

Li Yi frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "In the past, he was the governor of Fengxiang, the acting minister of work, the prime minister, the senior general, the Duke of Liang, and had a fief of 3,000 households... Linghu Tao was the prince's guardian, and was assigned to the Eastern Capital."

Linghu Tao was driven to Dongdu, and this news should be good news for Wang Shi.

"Wang Shaobao, what do you think now?"

Li Yi asked Wang Shi, but what could Wang Shi say?

The plan he had originally prepared had been disrupted by the eunuchs in the Northern Division who were fighting for power.

Now he had no choice but to go home and make new plans.

Fortunately, there is still a month and a half before the summer harvest, so there is still time to make adjustments.

"Your Majesty, today's changes are a bit big. Please allow me to return home and report to Your Majesty within ten days."

"Okay!" Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Wang Shi did not give up, and then comforted him:
"Since there is nothing else to do, then everyone can leave..."

"I will take my leave. May you live for tens of millions of years."

As everyone sang the greetings, Li Yi walked down the golden platform and entered the side hall.

At the same time, all the ministers left the scene one after another. Apart from Xu Shang and Yu Cong who comforted Wang Shi, Lu Yan only said two polite words.

As for Qi Yuanshi and others from the Northern Division, they did not have any communication with Wang Shi.

Their attitude made Wang Shi realize that something was wrong.

I'm afraid it won't be that easy to mobilize the troops in Shuofang Town...

His heart sank, and he finally walked back to his mansion with a heavy heart, and began to think about how to attack Longyou.

Even if we cannot successfully defeat them, it is best not to suffer heavy losses or even lose territory.

While he was making plans, the envoys sent by Chang'an passed through Yazhou in the southwest of Xichuan. After traveling through mountains and rivers, they met Shang Moyan in Jincheng.

After a few months, Shang Moyan recovered from his illness, but he inevitably became fatter due to his age.

"The Tibetan minister Shang Moyan is brave and valiant. Although he has some grievances with the imperial court, it is all due to the poverty of Weixi. Now I am sending an envoy..."

A silk book drafted by the Southern Court was read to Shang Moyan by the envoy. Shang Moyan listened quietly, while his son Molu Danzeng had returned to Songzhou to continue his studies.

Shang Moyan's knowledge of Chinese culture gradually deepened over the years, so he could naturally understand the contents of the silk book.

To put it simply, the emperor hoped to recruit him as the Tubo Recruiting Envoy, and was willing to open up trade in Yazhou and reward him with 30,000 pieces of silk.

The purpose of these various rewards was to prevent Duokang Tubo from harassing Xichuan, and Shang Moyan himself knew this very well.

He has his own thoughts on this, so he doesn't want to reveal them.

When the envoy finished reading the silk book, he said, "If you are willing to give me more silk, I am willing to make peace with the Tang Dynasty and even send troops to contain Longyou!"

"Really?" The messenger was a little bit unconvinced, but Shang Moyan said: "Whether they are willing or not depends on how much you give."

"Okay!" The envoy responded quickly and then walked out of the palace under the escort of Dokang officials.

After he left, the officials on his left and right began to speak one after another.

"Da Lun, are we really going to send troops to harass Longyou?"

"Da Lun, didn't you just promise General Liu a few days ago to send troops to General Liu as requested?"

"Liu Jie has a strong army and powerful horses. In my opinion, the Tang Dynasty may not be his opponent."

"Da Lun, if we really want to betray Marshal Liu Jie, it would be best if we could destroy Longyou in one fell swoop. Otherwise, we will suffer instead of killing the tiger."

Everyone in the hall had their own thoughts. Some had long wanted to betray Longyou, some felt that they could not offend Liu Jilian easily, and some thought that they should either not betray or do something extreme.

Faced with these remarks from the crowd, Shang Moyan did not speak immediately. Instead, he observed everyone's reactions and attitudes before he understood the current situation.

Wei Gongluolu's faction was unwilling to betray Liu Jilong, while Zanluo's faction felt that they should have betrayed him long ago.

In addition to them, there are also some wavering people.

Among the three parties, the most people support Zanlu, followed by Weigongluolu, and finally the group of wavering people.

Facing the attitudes of the three parties, Shang Moyan asked: "Can the Tang Dynasty give us more than Liu Jilong?"

He asked everyone, and everyone shook their heads when they saw this. After all, Liu Jilong did support them a lot.

Because of this, they are very dependent on Longyou for many things.

It can be said that if they dared to betray and could not obtain enough food and tea from other places in a short period of time, Dokang Tubo would inevitably suffer a heavy blow.

"I really don't want to be a subordinate of Liu Jilong forever, but we don't have a better solution now."

"The Tang court can't give us enough, so we can only rely on Liu Jilong."

"What I promised the envoy just now was just to seek more things."

"As for whether we will send troops, as long as the news does not leak out, how can they know?"

Shang Moyan stated his intention, and then said: "However, Liu Jilong wants to take 10,000 elite soldiers from me to help him fight for nothing, and I will not send troops without asking for anything."

"First, ask the Tang Dynasty court for some benefits, and then use these benefits to tell Liu Jilong that he is not the only one trying to win me over."

"You can send troops, but at least you have to give me enough..."

Shang Moyan said this, but Wei Gongluo frowned and said, "Da Lun, the last incident happened less than half a year ago. If we do this, will it make Liu Jieshuai unhappy..."

Seeing Wei Gong Luolu mentioned what happened half a year ago, Shang Moyan felt a little embarrassed, and everyone in the hall looked at each other.

The scene at that time is still vivid in my mind. They gathered so many soldiers and troops, but they lost before they even fought.

At that time, he had promised that there would not be a second time, but now he was planning to use this incident of the Tang court to demand benefits from Longyou. This seemed a bit...

Everyone's expressions changed slightly, Shang Moyan was also a little embarrassed, and after a moment's hesitation, he said:
"What you said makes some sense, but I must tell him about this."

"How about this, Engineer Wei Luolu, you go to Longyou in person and take a look at the current situation in Longyou."

"If the generals in Longyou are not anxious, then you can just mention that the Tang court sent envoys to win us over."

"If the generals in Longyou are very anxious, then you should tell Liu Jilong that the Tang court has increased the money and grain and opened up the trade."

After recalling the bad memories, Shang Moyan became a little more honest, but he still wanted to get something from Liu Jilong.

Wei Gongluo couldn't help but sigh when he saw this. He remembered that Shang Moyan was also a brave and decisive man. However, only more than ten years had passed, and now he was full of calculations and little thoughts.

Fortunately, his son Meiludanzeng was sensible. If he had told Meiludanzeng about this matter, he would have certainly dissuaded Shang Moyan.

Thinking of this, Wei Gongluolu openly accepted the task, but privately prepared to tell Lu Danzeng, who was studying in Songzhou, about this matter.

"Duokang's hope probably lies in Lu Danzeng..."

(End of this chapter)