Chapter 437: Using both soft and hard

Two days later, the coffin of Emperor Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty was sent back to Chang'an. Hundreds of thousands of Chang'an people were welcoming each other with tears in their arms. The sound of crying on the streets of Zhuque was heard. The Supreme Emperor Li Heng was barefoot and lay on his son's coffin and cried loudly. Seeing the white-haired man sending the black-haired man, countless people in Chang'an were crying sadly.

In front of the Zhuque Gate in Chang'an, more than a thousand imperial officials and prince Li Shi knelt in front of the coffin for a long time, and sobbed in a low voice. The whole of Chang'an was immersed in grief.

Due to the hot weather, Li Yu's coffin was temporarily stored in the underground palace of Xingshan Temple, and was protected by huge ice cubes and was officially buried after the new emperor ascended the throne.

As Li Yu's coffin returned to the capital, the empty throne attracted even more attention. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the throne has been empty for two consecutive days and the Tang Dynasty has no master. This is the first time. Although Prince Li Shi is in the East Palace, he has difficulty ascending the throne. The reason is very simple. No one is willing to stand up to support him to ascend the throne. To be more specific, no powerful figure is willing to stand up.

This time when Li Yu's coffin came back, none of the officials he accompanied could come back, including his guards, all of whom were detained in the imperial village of Weinan. Officials who were closer to Li Yu, such as Pei Min, the Minister of Revenue, and other officials, were guarded by the Southern Army in front of their mansions, which was equivalent to putting them under house arrest.

At this time, a saying began to spread in the court. He led by Wang Gong, strongly advocated that the Supreme Emperor Li Heng ascended the throne, because the prince was young and was not enough to handle state affairs, and could imitate the late emperor and establish the crown prince. Although no one supported Li Shi ascended the throne, Wang Gong's memorial was supported by nearly 100 officials of the fifth rank or above, including Yang Guozhong, Chen Xilie, Linghu Fei and other heavyweights in the opposition, and also received support from military figures including Tongguan General Wang Sili, Jinwu Guard General Meng Yun, and Longyou Jiedu Ghost Geshuhan.

For a time, calls for Li Heng to ascend the throne were loud. Although many middle and low-level officials had little objections, their opinions were not worth mentioning in the face of the strong appeals of Wang Gong and others, and even the royal family remained silent. Perhaps they felt that Li Heng was cautious and should not be as radical as his son, and could entrust Li Tang's country to him.

Amid waves of calls for Li Heng to ascend the throne, Li Heng finally made a statement in the evening. His virtue is not enough to convince the public, and his talent is lacking. I hope that the ministers will consider it carefully and select the best heir to the throne.

It is understandable that Li Heng made a statement that he would not accept the throne. Generally speaking, he had to refuse three times. This is a convention to show his humility. Most of the time he expressed his rejection three times in the morning, and in the afternoon, he would reluctantly agree to ascend the throne under the strong opposition of the minister.

But Li Heng chose the time for his first statement. He expressed his opinion at dusk that he would not accept the ascension of the throne. In this way, it would take a night. If this night is longer, the dreams will become more.

It was almost dusk. By the small river in Wubenfang, several old fishing men were still sitting firmly on the fishing platform, waiting for the last fish to take the bait. Zhang Yun sat on a big rock under the bridge, like an old monk entering a meditation. From the outside, he was no different from the fishermen next to him. He wore a gray cloth robe and a straw hat, covering most of his face. After fishing for several months, his skin turned from fair to dark.

But his calm and composed temperament is incomparable to other fishermen.

The float on the water surface moved, and some fish took the bait, but Zhang Yun did not move. He knew the principles of fishing well. Fishing was like the officialdom, and people would constantly test it. As long as you wait patiently, someone would not be able to resist jumping out first.

Isn’t this the case for the throne in the past few days? All parties are tempting and waiting. In the end, Wang Gong jumped out and shouted to support Li Heng ascend the throne. But Zhang Yun knew that no matter what Wang Gong called, no matter how intense Yang Guozhong wrote a letter, Li Heng would not dare to ascend the throne easily.

Because there are still people who remain silent, Li Qing'an, Guo Ziyi, especially Li Qing'an, as the right prime minister of the Tang Dynasty and the leader of all officials, unless Li Qing'an is in Anxi, but he is now in Guanzhong. His army is only twenty miles away from Chang'an, and he does not even express his opinion. Li Heng naturally dares not ascend the throne. This is the real reason why Li Heng announced his first announcement in the evening that he would not accept the throne. He wants to leave some room for time to negotiate with Li Qing'an.

A cold smile appeared on Zhang Yun's face. A truly wise man showed his true face at the last moment. He saw through the anxious man first and then took out his own things. Li Qingan was undoubtedly wise. He knew that Li Heng could not get around this level, so he never expressed his opinion and put Li Heng on a low heat to fry and roast it.

Zhang Yun couldn't help but think of himself again, and he didn't express his opinion, but would he be a hurdle that Li Heng could not avoid? He had no official position at this time, was leisurely and had no army in his hands. Will Li Heng think of him?

The float on the water moved again and suddenly dragged it into the water. Zhang Yun narrowed his eyes. His wrist was extremely fast. With a sound of brushing the ground, a big golden carp was pulled out of the water by him. Zhang Yun smiled. Yes, his power is still strong, and someone will definitely come to him, just like this fish, who will take the bait by himself.

At this time, his book boy ran up the shore opposite and made a gesture to Zhang Yun, meaning that someone from home came to find him. When Zhang Yun saw that it was getting dark, he put the fish into a basket, calmly put away the fishing gear, stood up and bowed to the fishing companions and smiled, and walked out of the bridge hole without panic and got on the shore. A carriage was parked under a big willow tree not far away. This was the carriage that came to pick up and drop off Zhang Yun every day, and it was no different from the carriage running all over the streets of Chang'an. It was very ordinary and low-key, which was in line with Zhang Yun's light personality.

Zhang Yun got on the carriage and asked, "Who is here to find me?"

Shutong said: "Master, he is a middle-aged scholar. He said his surname is Yan and he is Li Qing'an's aide."

"Li Qing'an's aide?"

Zhang Yun was stunned. Although he knew that there would be a fish to take the bait by himself, he didn't expect it would be Li Qing'an. He suddenly felt a little alert. This was not a fish, and he might have been an angler, so he caught him in. He thought about it. Could it be that Yan Zhuang, the aide named Yan?

There have been rumors that An Lushan's aide Yan Zhuang did not die, but defected to Li Qing'an. Someone had seen him in Anxi with his own eyes. If he was really this person, he would be very interested.

The carriage was walking quickly. Soon, the carriage returned to the Zhang Mansion. Zhang Yun washed his hands and changed his clothes. Then he slowly came to the guest room. He saw a middle-aged scholar sitting inside, with a thin body and a goatee, which was Yan Zhuang.

Yan Zhuang was ordered by Li Qing'an to come to Chang'an City to find Zhang Yun. When he saw Zhang Yun coming in, he immediately bowed and said, "Yan Zhuang met Zhang Jun."

"Haha! It's you, you said that the husband was dead, and it turned out that he had gone to Anxi."

Zhang Yun smiled very enthusiastically and waved his hand and said, "Sir, please sit down!"

Yan Zhuang didn't explain much. He bowed and smiled, sat down, and a maid came in to change the tea for them. Zhang Yun picked up the tea cup and drank a sip of tea and said, "I heard that the general has arrived outside Chang'an, why don't he enter the city?"

Yan Zhuang bowed and smiled, "General said that Chang'an is too lively. Guo Ziyi stationed troops in the east of the Bingcheng, Geshuhan stationed troops in Chang'an County in the west of the Bingcheng, and tens of thousands of Guanzhong troops around Chang'an are showing off their power. The Anxi Army will not join in the fun."

"Yeah?"

Zhang Yun said lightly: "You General Li is now the right prime minister and the leader of all officials in the ruling office. Now that the emperor has passed away and the new emperor has not been established, he is actually watching the fun outside at such an important moment. This is a bit unsatisfactory!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Yun laughed dryly again: "I'm just a joke, Mr. Yan should not take it to heart."

"Zhang Jun is right. In fact, the general has always been paying attention to the ownership of the new emperor. Today I came to your residence because I was commissioned by the General to ask Zhang Jun's attitude. Who does Zhang Jun support? The Supreme Emperor or the Crown Prince. Of course, if Zhang Jun does not support anyone, then I will pretend that I have nothing to ask."

Zhang Yun heard something in Yan Zhuang's words. Zhang Yun supported the King of Shu, which was almost an open secret. How could Li Qing'an not know? But he asked Yan Zhuang to ask whether he supported Li Heng or Li Shi. It seemed that he was asking a little knowingly, but in fact, Li Qing'an was in it with deep meaning.

He did not answer directly, but smiled and asked, "Who does General Li support?"

Yan Zhuang smiled and said, "Anxi supports Prince Li Shi. The general said that if Zhang Envoy also supports Prince, we might as well make a deal."

Zhang Yun felt a little nervous, and regardless of whether the words should be tactful and implicit, he smiled and said, "I wonder what kind of deal General Li wants to make with me?"

"That's right. If Zhang Envoy is willing to take the initiative to take the lead and convene like-minded people to support the prince ascend the throne, the general can agree. In the future, in the new political affairs hall, the general will support Zhang Envoy and will still be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Yang Shenjin will be the Minister of Justice. If Zhang Envoy agrees to cooperate, then we will start a momentum together tomorrow. I wonder what Zhang Shangshu wants?"

The smile on Zhang Yun's face disappeared. He lowered his head for a long time and pondered and said nothing. It has always been his wish to regain power to the Ministry of Revenue. At that time, he resigned to express his dissatisfaction with Li Yu, but he did not expect that after he resigned from the position of the Political Affairs Hall, King Li Yu of Shu ignored him again. People are so realistic. A real man has no power in his hands, he is just a fisherman.

He nodded silently, and he could trust Li Qing'an's promise, "Okay! Please tell the general, I have done this deal with him. I will mobilize the court officials tomorrow morning and write a letter to the queen, asking the prince to be the new emperor."

"Then we will decide!"

Yan Zhuang stood up and said, "Tomorrow, Shangshu Pei will also launch some famous ministers in the court and the people to petition the prince to ascend the throne. The general hopes that you can cooperate and create momentum. As for the army, you don't have to worry. The Anxi Army will station troops five miles away from Chang'an City, and no one dares to act rashly."

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Just as Yan Zhuang came to find Zhang Yun, Li Qiu was once again commissioned by Li Heng to come to the Anxi Army camp twenty miles away to ask for Li Qing'an.

This time, Li Qi did not get what he wanted. He waited outside the camp gate for a long time, but the soldiers guarding the camp gate never let him in. Li Qi shouted again: "Please report to General Li, the Supreme Emperor has important matters to discuss with him!"

At this time, a fire appeared in the camp, and the gate of the camp finally opened. Thousands of soldiers rushed out of the camp. A row of soldiers in front, holding torches in their hands, shining like daylight in front of the camp gate. The black army besieged a semicircle. The general led by a general, holding a golden helmet and a spear in his hand, staring at him coldly. It was Li Qingan who he wanted to see.

Li Qiu was stunned. After a while, he stuttered: "General, why are you?"

Li Qing'an pointed at him with a spear and said, "You want to convince me to let the Supreme Emperor ascend the throne, right?"

"The general may have misunderstood. It is because the prince is young. The ministers hope that the emperor will ascend the throne and temporarily deter the throne for a few years. When the prince becomes an adult, he will hand over the throne to him. The emperor will only agree if he has no choice."

"shut up!"

Li Qingan angrily scolded: "Do you think I am a three-year-old child? Use this kind of lie to deceive me. At that time, you swear that the Supreme Emperor would not ascend the throne. This is what you said in person. Now that your goal has been achieved, you want to overthrow the swear. I tell you, as long as I am here, you can't imagine it!"

After saying that, Li Qing'an pointed his hand, and the soldiers picked up the crossbow, opened their bows and arrows, and pointed the cold arrows at Li Qiu and his entourage.

Li Qiu was shocked by the momentum of the army, and was so scared that he took a few steps back and waved his hand desperately and explained: "The General misunderstood, really misunderstanding. The Supreme Emperor had no idea of ​​ascending the throne, but was really invited by the ministers..."

Li Qingan didn't listen to his explanation. He interrupted Li Qiu and said, "I'll count three times, you can get back, otherwise I will use your head to reply to Li Heng, one!"

Li Qiu's face changed drastically, and his followers were so scared that they retreated straight back.

"two!"

Li Qiu turned around and ran towards the carriage parked in the distance.

At this time, Li Qingan scolded again, "Stand!"

Li Qiu was so scared that he stopped and did not dare to move. Li Qingan said coldly: "Go and tell Li Heng that if he dares to ascend the throne without authorization, I will change to support the late emperor. The Anxi Army General and the Jiannan Army will join forces and fight back to Chang'an, so that he can do it himself!"

Li Qiu sighed secretly, without looking back, and ran towards the darkness and soon ran away.

Li Qing'an kept watching Li Qiu's carriage disappear, then he snorted heavily, turned around and said, "Transfer my order, the army immediately set up the camp and marched towards Chang'an!"

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In the Yong Palace, several important officials who supported Li Heng gathered together. Li Heng had a gloomy face and listened to Li Qiu's report. When he heard that Li Qing'an wanted to support the late emperor, he was so angry that his face turned pale and cursed: "Who trusted this damn Western barbarian? He appointed him? It was me. It was me who recommended him as the deputy envoy of the Beiting Jiedushi, so he had the power today. Now he is proud, just such an ungrateful and ungrateful bastard!"

Wang Gong next to him quickly advised: "Don't calm down. Although Li Qing'an has some strength, we have the support of Geshuhan's 50,000 troops, and nearly 100,000 southern troops, several times that of him. The Supreme Emperor does not need to be afraid. More importantly, the support of the hundreds of ministers in the court and the royal family also supports the Supreme Emperor. I wish Li Qing'an would not dare to offend the public's anger. Tomorrow we will continue to act as planned. The Supreme Emperor will officially ascend to the throne, accept the congratulations of all officials, and make the rice mature meals. Then Li Qing'an can do nothing."

Linghu Fei, who was standing behind Yang Guozhong, couldn't help but stand up and said, "The Supreme Emperor, don't forget Guo Ziyi's 50,000 troops. He only came to Beijing to protect the emperor. Although Guo Ziyi has not made any statement now, I think that if Guo Ziyi supports the Supreme Emperor, he will stand up to express his support during the day today, which means he is still biased towards the crown prince. If Li Qingan joins forces with him, it will be very unfavorable to us."

Wang Gong said a little displeased: "Li Qing'an occupied Lingzhou. Could Guo Ziyi join forces with him?"

Linghu Fei immediately retorted: "Don't the Left Prime Minister know? Li Qing'an has written to the Ministry of War to explain his occupation of Lingzhou. He was worried that Lingzhou's troops were empty and were taken advantage of by the Uighur army, so he temporarily guarded the border for Shuofang army. If Shuofang army returns, he will withdraw his troops back to Liangzhou immediately. Guo Ziyi has already expressed his understanding of Li Qing'an's statement. They have reconciled. Even I, a person who has stepped down, knows that the Left Prime Minister of Wang Xiangguo, doesn't he know about this?"

Wang Gong's face turned red. These days he only considered how Li Heng ascended the throne, but he didn't know about the reconciliation between Li Qing'an and Guo Ziyi.

At this time, Li Heng asked Linghu Fei and said, "Then what should I do tomorrow? Should I accept it or not?"

Linghu Fei said: "My opinion is that tomorrow we will ask the Supreme Emperor to ascend the throne again. The Supreme Emperor will continue to refuse and make a good attitude. At the same time, we will expand the scope of supporting the Supreme Emperor and even mobilize the people of Chang'an to be willing. If Guo Ziyi also expresses his support for the Supreme Emperor tomorrow, then we will have an army of 200,000. In addition, the Supreme Emperor ascends the throne is what everyone hopes for. Even if Li Qing'an is strong, he will be unable to support it. Then we will make a third wish to expand the momentum and scale of support again, and let the prince take the initiative to give way to the grandfather. The Supreme Emperor can be forced to ascend the throne helplessly, which can block the mouths of the world."

Li Heng pondered for a moment, and finally nodded and smiled: "Envoy Linghu is worthy of being a master of planning. As expected, I accept the envoy's plan."

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The Pei Mansion located in Xuanyangfang was closely monitored by the Southern Army at this time. A battalion of about 300 soldiers were guarding the four corners of the Pei Mansion, and soldiers were also guarding each gate. Pei Min was not allowed to leave the house for a step, and his family was not allowed to leave the mansion. In the night, there was no pedestrian around the Pei Mansion, but the soldiers patrolled back and forth in the dark with swords.

At this time, in the east gate, Pei Min and his two sons had already changed into black clothes and were waiting for the movement outside the door with several burly men. These men were members of the Anxi Interior Office in Chang'an. They had just climbed over the wall to enter the mansion with the cover of the night, preparing to escort Pei Min and his son away.

Outside the east gate, there were more than 20 soldiers guarding them. They sat or squatted and gathered to drink and have late-night snacks. There were a few pots of wine and a few roast chicken wrapped in oil paper. Everyone was eating and chatting and laughing, which was quite lively.

At this time, more than a hundred figures appeared in the darkness dozens of steps away. They all held a hard crossbow in their hands and silently approached the east gate. The soldiers there did not notice at all.

"Shoot!" A low voice came from the darkness, and more than a hundred crossbow arrows shot out at the same time, fast and dense. A scream came from the east door. More than twenty of them fell under the arrows, and no one escaped. The men in black in the dark rushed forward and a carriage drove to stop. At this time, the door on the east side opened, and several big men in black ran out of the door, running out of the door and immediately got on the carriage.
Chapter completed!