The bad news came as expected.

On November 9, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yan, was confined to bed for a long time and finally died in the Zhenzhou Palace.

Li Ze, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty who was in Jimo, immediately led the senior officials here to return to Wuyi, but this big stall in Jimo was handed over to Concubine Tao, the concubine of the king of Chengde County, to preside, because Aunt Tao was a woman, and many things were inconvenient to come forward, so she left her son-in-law Jin Bu in exchange for being responsible for the entire coordination and running matters. As for the specific things, of course, Wu Qiubei was ordered by Jimo County to do it.

On November 10, Li Ze led hundreds of civil and military officials and rushed straight back to Wuyi.

On the way, the matter of the emperor's death is also unfolding in an orderly manner. The Tang Weekly newspaper carried the news of the Emperor's death, and now the Tang Weekly has been marketed under almost the entire Tang Dynasty.

Within a few days, the news had spread all over the world.

But the whole world did not cause any shock because of the news of the death of the emperor.

As the nominal supreme leader of Li Tang in the world, the sense of existence of Emperor Li Yan has indeed become lower and lower in recent years. Ordinary people don't even know that there is such a person.

Especially in Beidi, under the efforts of the Yixing Society and the guidance of the government, the only thing that the common people know is that they can live a good life now, all of which is brought by Prime Minister Li Ze.

Is the old emperor still alive?

Who is he?

After hearing about this incident, a considerable number of people only discussed it a little, and even complained for a while. Because of the death of the old emperor, it was clearly published in the Tang Weekly that within three months, it was forbidden to marry, feast, etc., which made them feel very inconvenient. Some of the wedding matters that were originally scheduled had to be stopped, and the business of many restaurants and restaurants was naturally greatly affected.

Ordinary people don't care, but those who know the inside story are nervously looking at Wuyi.

They knew that something more earth-shattering than the death of the old emperor was about to happen this winter, and compared to this incident, the death of the old emperor was just a lead.

Tongguan, Cao Xuan breathed a long sigh of relief, the tiger prison was lost, Xu Fu died in battle, gave up Luoyang, and every day it seemed that Daliang was inevitably walking towards the fate of destruction. Although Tongguan is dangerous, how can it reach the hundreds of thousands of Tang troops that seem to be like wolves? Since ancient times, there has never been a case of those who have lost Luoyang and can still guard Tongguan and protect Chang'an.

The old emperor is dead, Li Ze has returned to Wuyi, if that incident can really happen, then Daliang will find a glimmer of life in the abyss of despair, maybe it will be able to turn around, and it is unknown if the dead trees will sprout.

For the first time in a few months, Cao Xuan slept well.

When I woke up early in the morning and heard the scout's report, the surrounding Tang Army banner was wrapped with white flags, and my mood was even better.

Early in the morning, he scalded a large pot of wine, and deliberately stood on top of the city tower to toast a glass in the direction of Wuyi.

"Li Ze, I wish you a good death."

With that, he laughed and drank the wine in the pot in one go.

In Chang'an City, Zhu Youzhen was relieved, no matter what, the matter related to his life and death finally began to start, entered Chang'an City, and sat on the throne of the emperor he once dreamed of, but the pressure was many times heavier than in the past.

When he sat in this position, it meant that he no longer had the possibility of coexisting with other forces, especially Li Tang under the control of Li Ze, once he failed, those under his command might still have a way to live, but his Zhu clan had absolutely nothing to spare.

The heavy pressure made Zhu Youzhen, who was already in poor health, even more weak, and the imperial robe was worn on his body, like hanging on an empty branch, as if a gust of wind could blow him away. No matter how hard he works, it will be difficult to recover the situation, seeing that the beam has been compressed to the point where there is only a place left in the middle of the Guan, but there is no way, the anxiety in his heart can be imagined.

Now, he's finally seeing a turnaround.

On the night he got the news, he ate three bowls of rice and drank two glasses of wine for the first time.

"Your Majesty, great joy!" Sun Tonglin also smiled.

"The real joy will have to wait until Li Ze dies!" Zhu Youzhen sighed: "Right now, it can only be said to be a good start. ”

"Xiang's plan has been planned for many years, and once it is launched, the possibility of success is very great! With the intention of calculating or not, and using the old emperor as the bait, the minister thought that this was a dead end! Sun Tonglin said with a smile: "Your Majesty, now we have to make more plans for the future." ”

"What do you want to say?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

"Your Majesty, the first thing is to still increase efforts to envelop Liu Xinda, although this person has now voted for the Xiang clan, but Weichen feels that as long as His Majesty makes a move, this person will definitely be able to return again at that time. The act of grace must be done in advance, and you can't hold on to it! Liu Xinda is still in control of Ezhou, once Li Ze dies and the Tang army is divided, the position of Ezhou is too critical. Sun Tonglin said.

"You have a point. Let the front secretary of the palace do it! Zhu Youzhen said.

"The second thing is Sheng Zhonghuai in Hanzhong now." Sun Tonglin said: "Although this person is the chief strategist of the rebel king, it is undeniable that this person is talented. Your Majesty may wish to vigorously envelop this person. If this person can be allowed to vote, then Hanzhong will return to His Majesty, and if Hanzhong returns to His Majesty, Yizhou will have the possibility of seeking it. ”

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a long time, and Fang said: "The eldest brother died at my hands, Sheng Zhonghuai is loyal to the eldest brother, and now there are Dai Shu and the eldest brother's children in hand, I want him to die for me, but I am afraid that it is unlikely." ”

"Definitely." Sun Tonglin said: "Sheng Zhonghuai fled to Yizhou to join the king of Yizhou, just because he was worried that Your Majesty you would kill Dai Shu and the children of the rebel king, and now it is different from the past, as long as Your Majesty makes a formal commitment to promise to treat the descendants of the rebel queen well, and promise to give Sheng Zhonghuai the position of the first assistant in the future, this person will inevitably return." ”

"Give him the position of first assistant?"

"Yes, Sheng Zhonghuai's talent is enough for Sheng to hold this position, and now he has added the bargaining chip of Hanzhong." Sun Tonglin nodded heavily. "Your Majesty, once Li Ze dies, even if the Tang Army is divided, its strength is still not to be underestimated, and among them, the most profitable must be the Xiang clan, our Daliang is still the weakest among these forces, but if Yizhou as a whole can be incorporated into Daliang, and the current situation of nominally unification but actually splitting will end, then Daliang will inevitably increase in strength and regain the qualification to compete for the world."

"Sheng Zhonghuai will betray the second brother?"

"That's not for sure." Sun Tonglin said: "The commander of the front division of the palace sent Heren to report that according to his investigation, the king of Yizhou sent someone to forcibly take Dai Shu away a month ago. Originally, he wanted to bring his children into Yizhou, but under Sheng Zhonghuai's strong opposition, he just left Dai Shu in the end. ”

"What will the second brother do with Dai Shusuo?" Zhu Youzhen was very strange.

Sun Tonglin sighed: "Red face and trouble." ”

Zhu Youzhen paused, and only took a breath for a while, and the face of her sister-in-law Dai Shu couldn't help but appear in front of her.

The father is like this, and so is the second brother.

He suddenly became a little angry, grabbed the teacup on the table, and slammed it on the ground, hearing the sound of the porcelain cup breaking, and then he felt much more comfortable.

"Sheng Zhonghuai is indeed loyal to the rebel king, and this incident makes him extremely angry." Sun Tonglin said: "So Heren feels that there is an opportunity. ”

"Very good, as long as Sheng Zhonghuai is willing to do things for me, what is the position of first assistant?" Zhu Youzhen said: "Tell him that I won't touch my eldest brother's children." ”

"Yes, Nachen immediately asked Heren to start handling this matter, and this matter is more important than Liu Xinda's matter." Sun Tonglin turned around and hurried away.

Cangzhou, Haixing Port.

Under the cover of night, a small boat quietly leaned on a sea ship, the rope ladder was lowered, and several black shadows climbed up the rope ladder to the sea ship that was already full of cargo and ready to set sail.

Went straight to the bilge, and the person who came took off the hat, it was Li Ke, the little emperor who had come out of the golden cicada of Wuwei Academy.

"I've seen Your Majesty!" In the bilge, more than a dozen people knelt down in unison.

"Zhongqing has worked hard, when will you be able to sail?" There was still a deep sense of fear in Li Ke's eyes, and this was still the core area under Li Ze's control.

"Your Majesty, you can only wait until dawn to leave the port, otherwise it will cause unnecessary suspicion, Your Majesty, but please rest assured, the ministers have opened up the joints and the relationship, and this ship has been going back and forth with Haixing and Quanzhou, and has a good reputation." One of the leaders bowed.

"That's fine." Li Ke said reluctantly.

"There is one more thing, Your Majesty has been cut off from the news in the past few days, I'm afraid I don't know yet!" The leader hesitated slightly, and said.

"What's the matter?" Li Ke was shocked, now he is a frightened bird, and his heart shook at the slightest disturbance.

"Your Majesty, the old man, passed away six days ago." The leader whispered: "Please also ask Your Majesty to mourn!" ”

Li Ke was stunned, two lines of tears silently slid down his face, turned his head in the direction of Zhenzhou, and knelt down silently.

"Father, go in peace, your son will eventually avenge you." He puffed out his chest, clenched his fists tightly, and gritted his teeth.

"Your Majesty, the people of the south will definitely follow you, kill the Li thief, clean up the source, and return the Tang Dynasty to a bright future."

The sky was bright, and the sea ship slowly sailed out of the harbor and headed all the way in the direction of Quanzhou.

On the shore, a high-ranking officer of the internal guard watched the ship gradually disappear from view.