Ling Cheng arrived in Chang'an before dawn, and as soon as he stayed outside the city with trepidation, he hurried to Daming Palace.

Bian Lingcheng was in charge of Tongguan as early as when Gao Xianzhi was in charge of Tongguan, and was sent to Hedong by Li Longji on suspicion of favoritism, and ordered him to be the supervisor of Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, until the Ma Weipo Incident and the new emperor succeeded to the throne, he never returned to Chang'an, the new emperor had a brief contact when he was in Anxi, but how could he take a down-and-out imperial grandson to heart, until the news of Li Yu's accession to the throne came, he didn't know what he missed back then.

But Li Yu did not seem to have forgotten him, not long after he ascended the throne, he sent someone to find him, named him as the envoy of Hedong and Hebei two Taoist military Rong Xuanxuan, and promised that if he could unite the generals of the Hedong Army to be stationed in the middle, he would be appointed as a lieutenant of the Shence Army, in charge of the Beiya Forbidden Army, which was a power that even Gao Lishi had not obtained, which could be described as a huge temptation, although Bian Lingcheng knew that Li Qing was powerful, but in the face of temptation, he was still determined to make a Bo.

It's just that now the imperial power is declining, the power is in power, the Hedong army is uncertain, only perfunctory to him, Bian Lingcheng can not open the situation for a while, just when he is extremely depressed, the opportunity fell from the sky, the eldest grandson Quanxu took the initiative to find him, willing to help him unite the generals of Hedong, loyal to the emperor, under the joint mediation of the two, Li Baoyu, Wei Boyu, Zhang Zhijie, Wu Chongfu and other leading generals have expressed their willingness to obey the emperor's dispatch, and now Bian Lingcheng personally entered Beijing, nominally to report on his work, but in fact it is to show merit and receive rewards, The 100,000 army pledged their allegiance to him, what a great merit this was, and I don't know how the emperor should be ecstatic when he heard it.

The sky is light, the streets of Chang'an City are still full of traffic, and the carriages of the courtiers are lined up in a long line on the Suzaku Street, but most of the places they go to are the imperial city rather than the Daming Palace. It turned out that three days ago, more than 300 officials jointly wrote to Li Yu under the leadership of Zuo Prime Minister Wuqi, demanding that the Sino-DPRK meeting be stopped, on the grounds that the discussion was too long, and most of the officials were idle and had nothing to do, which delayed the handling of daily government affairs.

Li Yu immediately convened a temporary cabinet meeting to discuss the matter, but except for Li Mi, the secretary of the military department, and Pei Mian, the secretary of the criminal department, who opposed it, the rest of the important ministers unanimously supported the abolition of the Sino-Korean conference. Only the joint meeting of the Mahjong and the Cabinet will be retained, and the Mahjong will be changed to once every two months, and the joint session of the Cabinet will also be changed to once every three days. The venue was also changed from the current Zichen Hall to Zhongshu Province, which actually completely set up Li Yu and deprived him of his last right to speak.

Although Li Yu's power is declining, he is in a good mood today. He had already received news from the newly canonized eldest grandson, Concubine Hui, last night. The eldest grandson Quanxu and others are willing to enter the king of Jingqin, but the details of the troops and schedule are not yet clear. I can only wait for Ling Cheng on the way to Beijing to elaborate.

"Your Majesty! Li Shangshu of the military department is here, waiting to see you outside! Ma Yingjun's voice was low. For fear of disturbing Li Yu's rare ease these days.

Li Yu turned around and smiled: "Oh! The master is here. Why are you so polite, hurry up and invite him in! ”

Ma Yingjun agreed. As soon as he took two steps, Li Yu stopped him again, and repeatedly advised: "Bian Lingcheng may come today, if he comes, bring him to see me immediately!" ”

"Bian Lingcheng!" The fat on Ma Yingjun's face trembled, this is a name that makes him gnash his teeth and hate, he is also a eunuch, he is an envoy to watch the army, but he gives the emperor and urine, he has served the emperor for so long, not to mention that Dai Cheng has not seen the emperor, he was allowed to be a lieutenant of the Shence Army, in charge of the forbidden army, God, how unfair you are! Although the resentment in Ma Yingjun's heart was almost overturned, Li Yu's imperial book saluted respectfully and hurriedly retreated.

After a while, Li Mi hurriedly arrived, although he was the secretary of the Ministry of War, but still did not have any real power, the real power was in the hands of Wang Changling, the squire of the Ministry of War, this was Li Qingdi's confidant, Li Mi was not in a hurry, he only had patience when the situation was unfavorable, waiting for the opportunity to appear.

However, he also had to admit that Li Qing's methods were indeed ruthless, on the one hand, he ordered the Fifth Qi to come forward to reform the court meeting system and completely empty Li Yu; On the other hand, he removed the surveillance of the Emperor Taishang and the princes, which meant to warn Li Yu not to act rashly, otherwise he would set up a new monarch and press forward step by step, not giving Li Yu a chance at all.

"Your Majesty!" Li Yu glanced at Li Yu secretly, and saw that he looked happy, and was a little more surprised while being relieved, canceling the court meeting is a big deal, even if he is not depressed, he shouldn't be so happy, is it that Concubine Hui is happy? I had a few thoughts in my heart, but I couldn't figure it out.

"Master, good news! The eldest grandson Quanxu has a reply. Ma Yingjun, who was behind Li Mi, stopped speaking abruptly, waved his hand a little angrily, and ordered him to go out.

Ma Yingjun was so frightened that he took two steps back, hurriedly closed the door and went out, he stood at the door in a daze, the disgust on the face of the emperor was deeply engraved into his mind, on the one hand, he repeatedly told him to bring Bian Ling Cheng to meet in time, and on the other hand, he was like a thief to himself, a strong sense of loss gnawed at Ma Yingjun's heart, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he immediately rushed back to the outer hall to write a note and handed it to his henchman, ordering him to send it to Li Qing immediately, while he himself rushed back to the outer room of the imperial study, waiting to be summoned at any time.

Let's say that Li Yu told the master the good news that the eldest grandson Quanxu fully supported him, and wanted to share the results with him, but Li Yudi's reaction was very cold, as if he heard something irrelevant, Li Yu's heart was cold at that time, but he still asked unwillingly: "Master, isn't this good news?" ”

Li Mi glanced at him, and sighed secretly in his heart, his disciple is diligent and loves the people, and is generous and benevolent, he is an emperor of Zhongxing, but he, like the emperors of previous dynasties, has never been able to step into the power, he is too eager to take power, always playing with the palms, last time he clearly promised himself to be patient, but in a blink of an eye, he saw that the left phase seat was vacant, and he couldn't help but fight, but not only did he get nothing, but he also lost it, alas! It's still a little too tender!

"Your Majesty, I want to talk to you today as a master, the words may not be listening, but I am loyal, I hope you can really listen!"

The joy in Li Yu's heart had disappeared, and he sat down silently without saying a word. Li Mi smiled bitterly and said: "Take what you just said about the eldest grandson Quanxu, you just canonized Concubine Hui, could it be that Li Qinghui didn't take it to heart and the eldest grandson Quanxu had soldiers in his hands, how could he not understand your intentions?" Originally, I wanted to persuade you not to rush to set up the eldest grandson concubine, maybe Li Qing won't notice it yet, but you can't open this mouth, but you should know in your own heart that those who do great things.

Li Mi persuaded bitterly. But Li Yu's face became more and more gloomy, and he finally couldn't bear to interrupt Li Yu's words, "But I have already canonized her, you will talk about this now." Is it to destroy her? ”

After speaking. He stood up and walked around the study with his hands behind his back. With a cold face, he said: "Since you are against me contacting the eldest grandson Quanxu, then you come up with a useful plan." Last time, I fought for the left phase for you. But you don't say a word. Resentment should not expose the relationship with Fang Xuan and Pei Mian prematurely

Why didn't you object, and now you have to be satisfied? ”

"I want you to bear with it! No matter how arrogant Li Qing is, you have to endure it, so that he can't catch your handle, and he doesn't dare to do anything to you, otherwise he will abolish you! ”

Seeing that he didn't listen to persuasion, Li Yu couldn't help but be a little angry, he stared at Li Yu, and said word by word: "Li Qing has lifted the seclusion of the Emperor and the kings, can't you see his intentions?" He is warning you, if you are not honest, he will let another prince come to replace you, since ancient times, power struggles have never been merciless, if you insist on going your own way, the master will not be able to protect you! ”

"Presumptuous! Is this what a courtier should say to a monarch? ”

Li Yu's face has been extremely blue, "Since my Tang Emperor is the supreme ancestor, the monarchy is supreme, and the Emperor Taishang gave way to me, hoping that I can quell the rebellion, save the people from fire and water, and return the world to a bright and prosperous world, and not a minister, you let me endure and understand, but you can't endure indefinitely, wait until he dies in his seventies or eighties, and his son, grandson, and great-grandson, so where is the Tang Dynasty?" It's uneven, there is still a chance to make a game, otherwise when his deployment is completed, there will be no day for me to turn over! ”

"Your Majesty!" Li Mi knelt down with tears on his face, kowtowed heavily, and always thought about how to let His Majesty return to power, but our opponent is a far-sighted person, and ruthless, he sets traps step by step, and we will be doomed if we are not careful, so the minister is cautious and does not dare to be careless, Your Majesty, please listen to the minister's advice and give up the matter of the eldest grandson Quanxu! ”

Li Yu was silent, Li Yu's tears diluted the anger in his heart, and he gradually calmed down, and began to realize that he was a bit risky, but Li Qing was about to lead a large army to the east, and Guanzhong was empty, just to let the Hedong army in, if he missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he would most likely regret it for life.

History is often decided in an instant, just when Li Yu was extremely conflicted and in a dilemma, the door knocked softly, and Ma Yingjun's voice sounded outside the door, "Your Majesty, Bian Lingcheng has arrived!" ”.

A small eunuch quickly ran out of the Zichen Palace, ran in the direction of the Xuanzheng Palace, in the later period of Tianbao, Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, Yushitai, Hongwen Museum, History Museum and other institutions moved into the Daming Palace, located on both sides of the Xuanzheng Palace, known as the Inner Dynasty, Zhongshu Province is located on the right side, is also composed of a tall and majestic building complex, the little eunuch ran up the steps, said a few words to several guards Yulin Army, Yulin Army immediately went in to report, after a while, a miscellaneous official came out to him

Li Qing opened the note handed by the little eunuch, and there was only one sentence on it, "The emperor is eagerly looking forward to the arrival of Bian Lingcheng today, about the eldest grandson Quanxu." ”

Anxious, Bian Lingcheng, and the eldest grandson smiled slightly, which was expected by him, in fact, even if Li Yu did not canonize the eldest grandson Lanyu, he would also notice the eldest grandson Quanxu, from Ma Yingjun's last secret document, Li Yudi's train of thought had been pointed out, he was fighting the idea of the Hedong Army, the eldest grandson Quanxu, Zhang Zhijie, Li Baoyu, these people are indeed easy to be co-opted by the imperial court, and there is also a Bian Lingcheng in the middle of the matchmaking, when he was in Luoyang, Li Yu also named him as the envoy of Hedong and Hebei two Taoist military appearances, This not only wanted to catch the Hedong Army, but also marked Li Guangbi's idea. He pretended to be deaf and dumb and didn't ask about it, he actually really acted.

"Since you want them to come like this, then I will fulfill you!"

Li Qing smiled lightly, and then picked up the pen and wrote a letter to Nan Jiyun, the marshal of Tongguan, ordering him to arrange the defense according to his instructions. Li Qing handed the letter to one of them: "Send this letter to the commander of Tongguan Nan, there is no delay!" ”

The guards took the order to go, and Li Qing closed his eyes and sorted out his thoughts. He walked slowly to the window with his hands behind his back, pushed it open casually, and a fresh and cold wind blew in his face, and the sun was still shining in the morning. But this moment it was already cloudy. Li Qing stared at the black ink sky in the distance, and said to himself: "It seems that a snowstorm is coming!" ”

He pondered for a moment. resolutely turned around and ordered: "Go and call me Li Fei Yuanli!" ”.

In mid-November of the first year of Zhide, Li Guangbi defeated Shi Siming. Capture the old nest of Youzhou in Anqingxudi. Shi Siming was killed in battle, and the rebel general Li Huaixian killed Shi Siming's son, Shi Chaoyi, and then surrendered to Li Guangbi. Youzhou was lost, the counties of Hebei surrendered one after another, Li Guangbi was like a bamboo, and divided the army into two routes, one way to take Xue Song in Qingzhou, the other route was personally led by him, and the troops pointed directly at Xiangzhou, where An Qingxu was finally entrenched, and the time for the battle finally came.

Three days later, the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, the right minister Li Qing led the army to set off, he left 30,000 troops to garrison Chang'an and Guanzhong, he himself led 200,000 troops to leave Chang'an and march eastward, and at the same time ordered Huai Xitian Shengong, Huainan Helan Jinming, Xiangzhou Thorn Shi Laijiao, Nanyang Thorn Shi Lu, Xuzhou Thorn Shi Ji Guangchen, Qingzhou Thorn Shi Xu Shuji and a number of local warlords with troops each led their troops to meet him in Zhengzhou to discuss An Qingxu -

The day after Li Qing left Beijing, the blizzard stopped at the beginning, the wind blew strongly, Chang'an accumulated a thick layer of snow, straight to the knees of people, so thick snow that even the carriage could not travel, the whole Suzaku Street was also a white expanse, only faintly saw some small black spots in the snow difficult to move, this is mostly out of the poor people who came out to beg for food, clearing snow for people is also a good way to make money.

But there is a person who walks very fast, I saw that he looks thick eyebrows and heavy eyes, his figure is unusually burly, striding meteor walking, as if running, this person is called Liu Shilang, that is, the pair of performing twin brothers that Yongwang met when he returned to his home, he is the elder brother, he told Yongwang that their brothers were originally soldiers in Hexi, they were scouts, and after the defeat of the Geshu Hantongguan army, their entire scout camp fled to Hedong, and later fell into the grass, but his brothers did not want to be thieves, and planned to raise horses in their hometown in Hexi, so they were performing on the street because of the lack of entanglement.

King Yong immediately sent someone to the military department to investigate the military status of the two of them, and sure enough, there were their names, Liu Shilang, Liu Wulang, from Liangzhou, Hexi, who had been in the army for three years, and Li Lan immediately ordered them to be his personal guards.

Yongwang Li Lan also started the idea of the scout camp, it is said that there are more than 500 people, if it is controlled by himself, what a strong new force it will be, he immediately sent Liu Shilang to Hedong to recruit that army, and promised them money, land and women, and today is the day when Liu Shilang comes back to report the news.

"Returning to the prince, the humble duty does not bear the trust, except for a few people who returned to their hometowns, the remaining five hundred and twenty people, all of whom have been brought to the grange outside the city, can enter the city at any time."

In order to compete for the throne, Li Lan also trained 2,000 slaves in his various granges as guardian villagers, but after Li Qing chased Tian to recruit soldiers, Zhuang Ding was almost scattered, and only Yongye Tian was left in the grange.

And today's sudden news suddenly made Li Lan almost jump with joy

The Western Army is already very fierce, and the Scout Army is the elite of the elite.

"Let's go! Let's go to the Grange. ”

Li Lan put on a silver rat fur coat and walked out, but the housekeeper hurriedly stopped him, "Lord Wang, it's so thick snow outside that you can't drive the carriage, it's better to go another day!" ”

"If you can't ride a carriage, you can ride a horse, and this king will go now!" He walked out.

"Lord Wang, it's very windy outside, it's better for you to sit in a sedan chair, and our brother will carry you there!" He followed.

Li Lan stopped, he looked back at Liu Wulang's honest and sincere face, and couldn't help but be a little moved in his heart. He patted his broad shoulder kindly and smiled, "Not bad! Follow me well, and this king will never treat your brothers badly. ”

Liu Shilang immediately knelt down on one knee and said categorically: "I am willing to serve the prince to the death!" ”

The heavy snow in Chang'an City closed the road, and the most troubled person was Jingzhao Yin Guo Xuji, the minister wanted to go to the yamen, the people had to work to support their families, and the merchants wanted to go out to the market to sell goods, and all kinds of reasons required him to clear a way out of the main streets. But he has no soldiers in his hands, only hundreds of servants, and the total number of people in Chang'an County and Wannian County is no more than a thousand. It's not enough to even clean up Suzaku Street, and as for hiring people to work, money is not a problem, the question is where to find so many people. In the end, Chang'an County ordered him to think of a way. Go to the ruined temples in each square and find beggars and street children, and allow them thirty wen a day and two meals. Only then did the problem finally solve.

Chang'an Avenue was full of snow-clearing people, and horse-drawn carriages began to appear on the road. The road is finally open. But Guo Xuji hurried home, and the housekeeper came to tell him. A strange guest came to the house, escorted by soldiers, very fierce, and told him to hurry home.

Guo Xuji thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure out who it would be, and when he walked in the door, he saw more than a dozen guards with knives guarding the door, his eyes were cold and vigilant, and his family was so frightened that they hid in the inner courtyard and didn't dare to come out, and the whole mansion was quiet and very quiet.

"Master, it's him!"

The housekeeper shrunk and pointed to the yard, Guo Xuji looked at his finger, only to see a person standing in the yard with his hands and admiring the ice hanging on the tree, he was wearing a fire fox coat and a small black hat, from the back, Guo Xuji only felt that he was very familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was.

"Uncle, I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

The man smiled and slowly turned around, Guo Xuji was taken aback, "Ah! Your Majesty, no! The Emperor. He fell to his knees and felt that he had no strength in his body.

The person who came was the Emperor Li Longji, he glanced at Guo Xuji, and said with a faint smile: "I came out to enjoy the snow scene of Chang'an, I happened to pass by here, my mouth was a little thirsty, my uncle won't even give me a glass of water to drink!" ”

Guo Xuji secretly looked at the room, there was no one else, he suddenly understood in his heart, looking at the snow scene but not taking Yang Yuhuan, this was clearly to find him, at this time, he suddenly remembered something, and a cold sweat immediately flowed down, isn't Li Longji demented? This, this, he is pretending! Could it be.

Guo Xuji didn't dare to think about it anymore, he followed Li Longji into the guest room indifferently, Li Longji sat down unceremoniously, waved his hand and said, "You sit down!" ”

Guo Xuji sat down with his buttocks rubbing the edge of the chair, his legs and stomach trembled, and he said stubbornly: "Your Majesty, no!" Does the Emperor have something to do with his ministers? ”

Li Longji snorted coldly, "Let me ask you one thing first, are you a courtier of the Tang Dynasty?" ”

"Of course you are!" When he said this, beads of sweat had already left on Guo Xuji's forehead.

"Bang!" With a loud bang, Li Longji slapped it heavily on the table, stood up and scolded him angrily: "Since you are a courtier of the Tang Dynasty, why are you indifferent to the fact that the Datang Sheji is being stolen, and even act for the tiger!" ”

Guo Xuji was so frightened that his body suddenly slipped from the chair to the ground, and he stammered: "The Emperor, the minister. There is a tiger to do. ”

"No two hearts?" Li Longji sneered, stared at him like electricity, and said: "If there is no local language, then why would he use you as Jing Zhaoyin, when he came to the capital, you went to Jiannan, passed by, and had nothing to do with it in the future, if you didn't take the initiative to take refuge in him, would he use you?" also did such an important position as Jing Zhaoyin, you explain it to me! ”

"The emperor, the minister is wronged!" Guo Xuji knelt and climbed forward two steps, decades of absolute surrender made him lie at Li Longji's feet and wept silently, "The minister didn't go to him, he said that he wanted to repay his brother Di'en!" ”

"Repay the favor?" Li Longji was stunned for a moment, and immediately reacted, "Do you mean Guo Xuping?" ”

"Yes! At that time, his younger brother was in Suzhou for the long history and died for him, so he specially appointed the minister as Jing Zhaoyin. ”

"I didn't expect him to be a person who knew how to repay his kindness, but I was as kind to him as a mountain, but he was kind and revenge!" In front of Guo Xuji, he ordered him: "I want to abolish the useless imperial grandson and set up a new monarch, you can sign your name on it!" ”

Guo Xuji hesitated, at this most critical time, his mind was suddenly clear, this is the purpose of Li Longji to find himself, he stared at this booklet tightly, his heart was numb, he wanted to say no, but he didn't dare, if he signed it, the trouble would be endless, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead one by one.

Li Longji glanced at him coldly, suddenly raised his voice, and shouted: "What! Are you satisfied with the current emperor? ”

"Nope! It's not, it's just a minister. Guo Xuji swallowed a mouthful of saliva and couldn't say any more.

"Just what?" Li Longji leaned in front of him with a cold gaze, "Do you want to go and tell the truth?" Is it a lie to say I'm sick? ”

"Nope! No! "Ten thousand people don't dare!"

Li Longji took back the booklet, sighed and said: "I still remember when you were a jinshi, you were so excited that you couldn't even ride a horse, or did I push you in the back, so that you could boast about the official parade on the street, it's been almost forty years, you and I are already old, what else is there to be nostalgic for?" Never mind! If you don't want to support me, forget it, don't force you. ”

Li Longji looked up to the sky and exclaimed sadly, "The sky is going to kill my Tang Dynasty, what can I do!" With heavy steps, he walked out slowly.

"Your Majesty!" Guo Xuji, who was already full of tears, was so sad that he 'pounced! He knelt on the ground and wept bitterly: "The minister is willing to sign and go to the soup for His Majesty!" ”