Li Mao swallowed and said in a trembling voice: "General Li, you mean, I won't go back to my father's side?" But General Guo said that this was unruly, and it was indeed unruly. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"It's very simple, His Royal Highness ascended the throne as the emperor and announced that he would inherit the throne of the Tang Emperor by the will of His Majesty today, which is in order." Li Guangbi said senran.

"Huh? But where the father is...... Am I not a rebel? Li Mao stammered.

"Your Highness is too worried, in the eyes of the minister, not only will Your Majesty not blame you, but will support you. The minister is not afraid to say a word against the sky, since the An Lushan rebellion and Ma Weipo, His Majesty's prestige has been low. The people of the world are already disappointed in what His Majesty has done. If His Majesty hadn't listened to the advice and insisted on pampering An Lushan, he would not have caused today's disaster. On the slope of Ma Wei, His Majesty was coerced by the former crown prince Li Heng and others, and his Majesty's prestige was also severely damaged. If you want to revive the former prestige of the Tang Dynasty, Your Majesty himself knows that it may be difficult to return to the sky. ”

Li Mao looked at Li Guangbi in surprise, he didn't expect Li Guangbi to say such a thing in front of him so boldly. These words may sound harsh, but they are true.

Li Guangbi continued regardless of himself: "After Your Majesty entered Shu, he was held hostage by the powerful ministers, which made his reputation even lower. In this case, there is no chance to break the situation, so you can only watch the powerful ministers in power and be at the mercy of others, presumably Your Majesty also knows it in his heart. At this time, what is needed is someone who can stand up and break the situation, otherwise I Datang will never have the possibility of recovering its former glory. His Royal Highness King Shou, you must stand up at this time, this is not only for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, but also for the destiny of heaven. ”

"I don't understand what General Lee means, what can I do in this situation? Isn't it what we are doing right now to borrow the soldiers of the Hui to recapture Chang'an and welcome our father back to Beijing? Li Mao swallowed and spitted at the mouth.

"What if after retaking Chang'an, Wang Yuan will not let His Majesty return to Beijing? So what? ”

"Don't let my father go back to Beijing? How dare he do that? Isn't that a big disadvantage in the world? ”

"Does Wang Yuan care about this? When An Lushan rebelled, did he think about His Majesty's kindness to him and the public opinion of the people in the world? But all the ministers of the wolf son, how can they stick to the public opinion of the world? Besides, Wang Yuan is good at winning people's hearts, and when the time comes, the people will not be able to say who they will be looking to. Although I have been in Chengdu for a short time, walking on the street, I only hear the name of Wang Yuan and his Shence Army, but I don't hear the name of His Majesty and the Tang Dynasty, is this not enough to prove that Wang Yuan has actually won the hearts of the people? Is it important for refugees or is it important for me to be in the capital of the Tang Dynasty? He has more than 100,000 elite soldiers, but he does not recover the lone army in Chang'an, but at this time, he stopped and ran to help the people. If he insists on holding on to His Majesty, even if we have soldiers and horses to compete with him, but we can't crusade against him, what do you say at that time? Li Guangbi said in a deep voice.

"This ...... I don't know what to do? However, if you want me not to return to Chengdu and ascend the throne as the emperor, I am afraid that this matter will not be done. What would my father think? What would Wang Yuan think? What will the world think? Li Mao pondered.

"Your Royal Highness, you are thinking too much, once His Royal Highness King Shou announces his succession to the throne and respects His Majesty as the Emperor, this can not only get rid of the situation that the court is subject to the ministers, but also revive the morale of the Tang Dynasty army and people. Has Your Highness thought about it, the reason why Your Majesty sent Your Highness to Lingzhou is probably because you have this intention in your heart, but Your Majesty doesn't want to say it clearly. Think about it, why didn't Your Majesty send others out of Chengdu to Lingzhou? And you sent His Royal Highness King Shou to come? And what does it mean that Your Majesty has given you his favorite mount, the Night Lion, and has given you his personal seal? Increasing the mount is the meaning of giving up the seat, and the seal is so that you can justifiably become the lord of the Tang Dynasty, which is a piece of hard work of Your Majesty. At that time, His Royal Highness is the emperor of my Tang Dynasty, and what Wang Yuan is holding in his hands is just the Emperor Taishang, and he will lose the bargaining chips to control the Tang Dynasty, and he will lose all his essence overnight. At that time, if Wang Yuan surrenders, if he does not surrender, His Royal Highness can issue an order to the world's soldiers and horses to fight together, and Wang Yuan will not be able to use the Emperor Taishang as a shield. As for what the people of the world think, there is no need to worry about it. As long as the name is right, the people will look to His Highness. ”

Li Mao suppressed the excitement in his heart, although he was hesitant to show resignation, but the matter that Li Guangbi said was exactly what he was thinking about along the way. He finally left Chengdu, and he didn't want to return to Chengdu. And the only hope is that his ideas must be supported by Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi, without their support, everything is a phantom. Now Li Guangbi actually took the initiative to say what he thought in his heart, how could he not make Li Mao excited.

"If this move is really the only way to break the situation, for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, I don't seem to have any choice." Li Mao said sadly.

"Your Highness, those who have achieved great things don't have to look ahead, is Your Highness willing to watch the Tang Dynasty fall into the hands of powerful ministers and decline from then on? At this moment, it is Your Majesty, after Your Majesty is King Feng, no matter who becomes the Lord of the Tang Dynasty after King Feng, I dare to guarantee that it must be someone controlled by Wang Yuan. In other words, if there is no earth-shattering move, the Tang Dynasty will exist in name only, the royal family will be controlled by powerful ministers for generations, and the imperial power will always fall into the hands of others. Moreover, the fate of His Royal Highness King Shou and other children of the royal family who are unwilling to rely on the powerful ministers will be a tragic end that can be predicted. Your Highness, when you decide, you must not hesitate. Li Guangbi shouted in a deep voice.

Li Mao clenched his fists, slowly stood up, turned his head to look at Li Guangbi and said, "Li Guangbi, am I doing this for the sake of the Tang Dynasty?" ”

"Yes."

"I'm not for personal selfishness, but for the subjects of the Tang Dynasty, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Only this move can get rid of the control of my father and emperor by the ministers, and put my Tang Dynasty back on the right track, right?"

"Absolutely."

Li Mao gritted her back molars, stared at the flickering and jumping candle flame for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Li Guangbi, you will fully support me, there is no second heart, right?" ”

Li Guangbi slowly stood up, slowly knelt on the ground, knocked his head three times, and said in a deep voice: "Minister Li Guangbi swears allegiance to His Royal Highness King Shou, and the ministers and his generals will serve His Royal Highness to the death." General Guo's ministers would persuade him that if Guo Ziyi was unwilling to be loyal to His Highness, the ministers would kill him with their own hands. The minister hereby swears that if the minister has half a lie, so that the minister will die without a place to be buried, and the children and grandchildren will be punished by heaven forever. ”

Li Mao nodded slightly, and said with a bright eye: "Okay, since that's the case, I will do what you say." You and I will work together to save my Datang from danger and relieve the people from fire and water. Li Guangbi, in the future, you will be my Xiangguo and Generalissimo, and this king will give you great honor and favor, so that you can enjoy glory and wealth for generations to come. ”

Li Guangbi said in a long voice: "Thank you, Your Highness." ”

……

In the city of Chengdu, after heavy snowfall, the weather turned extremely cold, and after entering November, the north wind dripping into ice, everything seemed to be frozen and solidified.

Thanks to Wang Yuan's strong measures, the refugees were able to shelter from the wind and cold, and they were able to escape the deadly winter cold by providing relief porridge and firewood for warmth. Everyone is rejoicing, if it weren't for Wang Xiangguo's strong measures, I am afraid that the entire Hexi and Jiannan would be frozen all over the ground at this moment, and it would be miserable.

On the second day of November, Du Fu, who had gone to various state capitals to inspect the measures for resettlement of refugees, also returned to Chengdu and reported on the resettlement of refugees in various places. The general situation is satisfactory, but it is certainly not perfect, and there are still many refugees who die from the cold weather, but it is a thousand times better than expected.

After the proper resettlement of the refugees, the people of Chengdu and other prefectures were at peace, and the government was much more stable. Of course, all this was based on the fact that nearly one million stone of grain in the five grain depots in Wang Yuan's hands were emptied, and it was also based on the fact that the entire Li Tang royal family had fallen out with each other because of the resettlement of refugees. Even though Xuanzong said that he supported Wang Yuan on the surface, Wang Yuan knew that Xuanzong actually hated him to the core. Of course, Wang Yuan didn't care about Xuanzong's feelings, these people would rather watch the people freeze to death and starve to death than raise their eyebrows, the people were like grass mustard in their eyes, Wang Yuan couldn't do this.

As the situation stabilized, the political affairs hall under the command of Wang Yuan shifted its goals to the political situation and rebellion. Wang Yuan set a timetable for counterinsurgency, taking Chang'an early summer next year, and striving to put down the rebellion by the end of next year. It's okay to do this, after all, Wang Yuan and Gao Xianzhi have the final say on the counterinsurgency, and Wang Yuan's report in the political hall is just a routine report, and there is no room for negotiation in this matter. However, an urgent government matter at the moment was officially put on the agenda of the government hall after the resettlement of refugees was resolved, and that was the matter of playing the country's capital, and the matter of establishing the crown prince could not be postponed any longer.

On the morning of the third day of the 11th lunar month, the hall of the political affairs hall was full of high-ranking friends, and the three bigwigs of the political affairs hall sat in the hall and expressed to the dozens of civil and military officials present the consensus reached in the political affairs hall on the affairs of the country. In the name of soliciting the opinions of civil and military officials, civil and military officials were asked to make decisions on the spot. Most of the dozens of officials in the hall had actually been contacted by Wei Jiansu and Yan Zhenqing in private. Wei Jiansu and Yan Zhenqing also privately solicited the opinions of some people.

Many people are reluctant to get involved in this matter, so they express vagueness, ambiguity, and are reluctant to express their opinions. Because shrewd people with a little insight can see that the establishment of a new prince this time is unusual. His Majesty obviously belongs to Li Mao, the king of Shou, and Wang Xiangguo wants to establish Li Heng, the king of Feng, as the crown prince, which side is obviously inappropriate. Many of the courtiers experienced the era when Li Linfu was the prime minister, when Li Linfu supported King Shou as the crown prince, but His Majesty chose Li Heng as the crown prince.

Wang Yuan naturally knew their thoughts, so he summoned all of them to the political hall and asked them to express their positions in person, so that they could not shirk their responsibilities. Because Wang Yuan knew that this time, since he wanted to make Li Heng the crown prince, he needed to unite the vast majority of courtiers to play together, so that Xuanzong had to agree. And the duplicitous among the courtiers is actually the worst thing, if they are allowed to be ambiguous, they will make irresponsible remarks in front of Xuanzong in the future, which will make things difficult to do. Therefore, Wang Yuan did not hesitate to force them to express their stance in this way, even if this kind of behavior would give people a sense of coercion and domineering, Wang Yuan couldn't care about it.

The three bigwigs of the political hall unanimously expressed that they wanted to discuss the country's capital, and the candidate was circled on Li Heng, the king of Feng. After expressing his opinions, Yan Zhenqing asked everyone to express his position one by one. Although Wang Yuan did say that he could say it directly regardless of whether he disagreed, and he would never do anything because of a disagreement, in this case, who would dare to raise an opposing opinion? These old foxes also had to say that King Feng was the right person, especially after Wang Yuan listed eight or nine conditions for Li Heng to be suitable for the crown prince, they did not dare to have any resistance.

Many people are thinking in their hearts, at this moment, go along with it first, and then talk about it after this pass. However, it was not long before they found out that they could not pass the hurdle. After letting everyone express their attitude and unanimously agree, Wang Yuan smiled and got up to speak.

"Since you and the government hall are of the same opinion, it is better to do it sooner rather than later. The country is decided one day earlier, and the Tang Dynasty is at peace one day sooner. Therefore, the Prime Minister decided that we should immediately go to His Majesty to discuss this matter. Only by deciding this matter a year ago can we concentrate on counterinsurgency and arranging next year's spring ploughing and labor services. Let's go, let's go to Sanhualou together. ”

Everyone was dumbfounded, and in desperation, they had to follow Wang Yuan and others out of the political hall. The political hall is not far from the Sanhua Building, and everyone cranes their necks for a while before arriving at the Sanhua Building. Wang Yuan led everyone to sit down in the hall of the Sanhua Building, and he personally played the drumstick and hammered a big drum standing in front of the building. The big drum was placed in front of the main hall of the emperor's upper hall according to the custom, and it was not allowed to be beaten in normal times, except when there was a particularly big event, such as sacrificing the throne and establishing the heir, worshipping the prime minister, or major military affairs. After coming to Chengdu, the drum was not beaten once, and Wang Yuan did not beat it that time, because it was actually very sloppy and did not hold any ceremony.

Xuanzong was listening to several palace maids singing small songs in a warm pavilion, singing old songs composed by Xuanzong himself when he was in Chang'an. During this time, the weather was cold, Xuanzong shrank in the warm pavilion and did not go out, and still had the leisure to examine those hobbies in Chang'an before, and sorted out a book of poems and a music sheet of his own. In the past few days, I have been looking for a few palace maids who know the rhythm of music to reminisce about these old songs in the room.

The sound of the drums scattered the flower building and spread to the warm pavilion, so that Xuanzong, who was intoxicated with the tune of his talent, suddenly returned to reality. He didn't know what was going on, and was just about to send someone to ask, when an attendant came in a hurry and reported the news that Wang Yuan led dozens of courtiers to ask His Majesty to come to the court to discuss the matter.

Xuanzong was startled, and there was a little drumming in his heart, feeling that something bad was about to happen. The weather was so cold, the subjects of the whole city stayed in the house to roast the fire turtle, it is said that Wang Yuan himself was lazy for many days, and he didn't even go to the political affairs hall, and Cheng Den didn't go out in his house. Why did you suddenly bring these courtiers to the audience, could it be that something major had happened?

Xuanzong hurriedly asked the palace maids to serve him, put on a thick robe, and rushed to the hall of the Sanhualou along the long corridor between the snow. After sitting on the cold throne and accepting everyone's salutes, Xuanzong couldn't wait to ask, "What's wrong?" What's wrong? How did you beat the drum of the temple? ”

Wang Yuan arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers have important matters to discuss today, Your Majesty, the government hall and the officials of various ministries have met, and they all feel that this matter is very important and needs to be decided before the year." Therefore, the ministers and others came together to meet His Majesty. ”

Xuanzong laughed and said, "Oh? Looks like a big deal. But isn't the government affairs of the DPRK and China entrusted to the government affairs hall and you? Wouldn't it be better for you to decide for yourselves? ”

Wang Yuan said: "The ministers and others cannot make the decision on this matter, they must be made clear by Your Majesty, and your Majesty must decide." ”

Xuanzong was stunned for a moment, as if he understood something in his heart, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Then tell me about it." Xuanzong Dao.

Wang Yuan nodded at Yan Zhenqing, Yan Zhenqing stepped forward and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, the matter that your Majesty needs to decide is the proposal of my Tang Dynasty." We all believe that the matter of the country can no longer be delayed, and the major matters related to the survival of the Tang Dynasty should be decided as soon as possible to reassure the hearts of the people. ”

Xuanzong's heart sank, and a few days ago, he heard someone talking about this matter, and some courtiers met him in private, informing him that Wang Yuanwei Jiansu, Yan Zhenqing and others were privately consulting the opinions of the ministers and proposing a proposal for the position of the crown prince. Unexpectedly, in just a few days, this matter was already in front of me.

However, because Xuanzong had already gotten the news, Xuanzong had also thought about countermeasures in private about this matter, but he was not too panicked.

"It turned out to be a big deal, but it was a big deal. In fact, I have always wanted to find time to discuss this matter, and since the secretary mentioned this matter, let's discuss it. What do you think about the selection of the crown prince? Wang Yuan, who is your favorite candidate? Xuanzong smiled.

Wang Yuan's answer was certainly not Xuanzong's expectation: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Li Heng, the king of Feng, is up to the task. Prince Feng followed his ministers on the expedition for several months, and his performance along the way was very resolute and calm, and he did not disgrace His Majesty. Confrontation with the enemy, hand-to-hand combat, the face does not change, and the courage is outstanding. In case of trouble, every word must be in the key place, and the matter is very clear. Along the way, Prince Feng settled the hearts of the people, brought His Majesty's greetings and the court's condolences, and won the love of the people. Moreover, Prince Feng understands the current situation in general, for example, a few days ago to settle the refugees, Prince Feng took the initiative to vacate the house and actively cooperate with the settlement, and was busy every day, which won the support of the people. ”

What Xiangguo said is that Prince Feng doesn't care about his status, and he has been busy with his ministers in those days, and he has worked hard to settle refugees. This can be attested to. Yan Zhenqing interjected.

Wang Yuan continued: "Therefore, the minister thinks that Prince Feng is the best candidate for the crown prince, so he proposed a proposal for His Majesty to decide. ”

Xuanzong nodded slightly, turned his head and asked Wei Jiansu, "Wei Jiansu, what is your opinion?" ”

Wei Jiansu hurriedly arched his hand and said: "The minister is attached to the proposal of the country, and the minister thinks that Prince Feng is indeed one of the suitable candidates. ”

Wei Jiansu, who was slippery, still left a way back for himself, what he said was that Fengwang Li Heng was one of the suitable candidates, which meant that there were other people who were also suitable.

"Yan Zhenqing, are you also seconding the proposal?" Xuanzong Dao.

"Your Majesty, the minister seconded the proposal." Yan Zhenqing said.

"What about you? What do you think? Xuanzong looked at the ministers.

"The ministers seconded the proposal." The ministers said one after another.

Xuanzong knew that this was the answer, he knew that Wang Yuan had already prepared for this, but he still hoped to hear different voices, but he was disappointed. Obviously, these courtiers had completely succumbed to Wang Yuan's power.