Chapter 511: Wind and North and South

The news of a huge change in Chang'an spread to Youzhou three days later. At almost the same time, more than 900 ministers including Pei Min advocated the world to boycott Li Heng also spread to Hebei.

The Military Office of the Fanyang Jiedushi Gao Shang ran all the way, turning around in a corridor, and almost collided with An Qingxu.

An Qingxu was so scared that he hurriedly supported Gao Shang and said, "Sir, do you have something urgent?"

"There is a happy event, a great event, can your father and commander be there?"

"He is talking to Uncle Shi Er in the study."

"Then I'll go find him."

Gao Shang ran away, and An Qingxu asked loudly behind him, "Sir, what happy event?"

"You'll find out soon."

The voice went away, An Qingxu shook his head and said to himself: "Talking about happy events every day, and every time he goes to Chang'an, he returns in a mess. What else will he have?"

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In the study, An Lushan was discussing with Shi Siming how to recruit Khitans and Turks to join the army. Since Chang'an returned in a panic, An Lushan's intention to rebel was settled. He established himself as the King of Yan, abandoned all his constraints, and began to recruit soldiers on a large scale. However, the price of establishing himself as the King of Yan was also very high. After his ambition was revealed, the Han generals and soldiers in Fan Yang's army realized that An Lushan was going to rebel, so they fled one after another. In a few months, more than 30,000 people were fled, which was the same as his newly recruited army, but the ones fled were veterans, but the recruits were recruited, and their combat effectiveness was incomparable.

Moreover, most of the recruits were rascals and unemployed vagrants, but there were not many children from real innocent families. These rascals were all in the army for making money or wanting to get money for recruiting soldiers, but their motives were not pure. When they got the money, many people searched for opportunities to escape. They had no place to live and it was difficult to catch them. This hurt An Lushan's mind. He began to realize that the Han generals of the Han army were absolutely unreliable. He began to turn the recruitment direction to the Hu people, Khitans, Xi, Turks, etc. around Hebei. These people had no sense of loyalty to the Tang Dynasty and were good at fighting on horseback. As long as they promised them to plunder the property and women, they were the best source of soldiers.

An Lushan made up his mind to recruit soldiers from the Hu people on a large scale. He handed over this matter to his confidant Shi Siming to complete it. Shi Siming lived up to his expectations. In just over a month, he recruited more than 20,000 people from various Khitan troops, and the results were brilliant, which made An Lushan happy.

At this time, they were discussing recruiting troops from the surrendered Turks. The Turks have successively joined the Tang Dynasty since the early Tang Dynasty. The Tang court adopted a policy to place them on the frontier. On the one hand, they used these Turks to resist the invasion of the northern nomadic peoples on the Central Plains, and on the other hand, they also allowed them to maintain a traditional nomadic lifestyle and provide the Tang Dynasty with a steady stream of horses.

However, the disadvantages of this ethnic policy are also very obvious. They have been in the frontier for a long time and are difficult to sinicize, and they have almost no sense of identity or belonging to the central court. They have developed for a long time and each formed a strong force. When the Central Plains is strong, they may still be honest, but once a civil war or weak occurs in the Central Plains, these frontier ethnic groups will inevitably attack the Central Plains in large numbers. The Anshi Rebellion and the northern Hu people in the late Tang Dynasty are rooted in this.

"The Grand Marshal, Bei Zhi, has been dealing with these Turks for a long time. They only have the Grand Marshal in their hearts, but no court. If they recruit them as front pawns, they will not only get a powerful cavalry, but they will also be absolutely loyal to the Grand Marshal. They will not be as dissatisfied as the Han people, but they may have higher requirements and will have to spend double the money and food to recruit a soldier."

An Lushan nodded. He and Shi Siming were both Hu people. Of course, they understood the truth and said, "It doesn't matter if you spend more money and food. The key is to recruit real warriors, you can conquer cities and villages for me, and seize the Tang Dynasty for me. I am willing to spend any money. Siming, you might as well start with Azali's tribe. Each of their 5,000 cavalry can be used as ten. It would be a pity that such an army would not be able to get into its own hands. Doesn't Azali have a daughter? Go and talk to him, and I want to make a family with him."

At this time, the sound of running footsteps came from outside, and Gao Shang shouted: "Master, there is a happy event!"

An Lushan laughed and said, "I'll talk about recruiting soldiers later. What kind of happy events will we hear first?"

An Lushan never believed in the Han people very much, but he trusted Gao Shang, the counselor. Although Gao Shang had given him many ideas and failed, An Lushan believed that it was not Gao Shang's fault, and the general situation was soaring, especially when he heard that Yan Zhuang was not dead, but did it for Li Qing'an, he felt that Gao Shang was loyal to him even more.

At this time, Gao Shang quickly walked into the house, unable to control his ecstasy in his heart and said, "Master, the opportunity is here."

"Sir, don't be excited, say slowly, what good news?"

An Lushan poured a cup of tea and served it to Gao Shang. Gao Shang ran out of breath. He took a sip of the tea ceremony: "Master, can you tell the news about Chang'an?"

"Chang'an, what's the news about Chang'an?"

An Lushan has been considering recruiting troops these two days and has no concern about Chang'an's intelligence. Moreover, after his Chang'an's intelligence department was destroyed again, it was difficult for him to get the news from Chang'an as soon as possible.

"Master, the little emperor has passed away, and Li Heng ascended the throne."

"What!" An Lushan was also shocked and asked hurriedly: "Are you saying the truth?"

"The news is accurate, the letters from Pei Min and others have been passed to Hebei."

An Lushan was stunned for a long time, and he suddenly slapped his forehead and smiled, "I understand, that man killed his son and grandson, haha! It turns out that he is cruel, An Lushan is ashamed of me! What does Pei Min's edict mean?"

"Master, this is the happy event. Pei Min and more than 900 ministers called on all prefectures and counties in the world to resist Li Heng and refuse to recognize his ascension to the throne. Master, is your chance?"

Next to him, Shi Siming smiled and said, "Can you explain it clearly, why is Pei Min's edict a happy event for the general?"

Seeing that they didn't understand, Gao Shang stroked his beard and smiled, "Since Pei Min called on the world to resist Li Heng, the general can follow the situation and respond to the call. At the same time, we also establish a new emperor, called orthodox, so that the general will become famous in the future."

An Lushan's pumpkin smiled like a trumpet flower blooming, and his mouth couldn't even close, "You Han people are just a lot of flowers and intestines. Do you sir want me to make Li Fu, the King of Xiliang, the new emperor?"

When Bian King Li Qi and Xiliang King Li Qi both escaped the Yellow River, they became An Lushan's captives. When An Lushan's eldest son An Qingzong was assassinated, out of revenge, An Lushan ordered people to slaughter Bian King Li Qi, and lied to the public that he died of illness. Now he still has Xiliang King Li Qi in his hands. He was originally a hostage, but he didn't expect that he would become an important pawn now.

Li Xuan was born to Wu Xianyi. Wu Xianyi is now in the Southern Tang Dynasty and has a status equivalent to that of the queen. It is most appropriate to make him an emperor. An Lushan recognized the noble plan and laughed and said, "This is indeed a great joy!"

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Just three days after Li Heng ascended the throne, An Lushan officially announced that he would accept the letter from Pei Min and other important ministers, and would not recognize Li Heng as the emperor. At the same time, he asked God for instructions and received instructions from God to establish the king on the spot. On the tenth day of March, An Lushan established Li Qi, the King of Xiliang in Youzhou as the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Li Qi officially appointed An Lushan as the King of Yan, the Secretary of the Tang Dynasty and the Right Prime Minister, and was given nine tiny to supervise the great marshal of the world. An Lushan ordered officials from all prefectures and counties in Hebei to come to worship the new emperor, but he was treated coldly. Only a dozen nearby officials were forced to come to worship.

Despite this, An Lushan still took the Emperor of Hebei as orthodox, and issued an edict to the world in the name of the second Shangshu Ling since Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, supported Pei Min and other Chang'an ministers, and called on the princes of the world to attack the fake emperor Li Heng.

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Unlike An Lushan who took the opportunity to make trouble, Chengdu remained silent about the major changes that occurred in Chang'an, as if this matter had nothing to do with Chengdu.

That afternoon, Li Longji was half lying on the bed in Nanming Palace. He was as thin as withered. When the oil was exhausted, no one could tell that he could not last for several months.

But the more Li Longji is going to reach the end of his life, the more he values ​​power. Only when he truly closes his eyes will he let go of power. Of course, he no longer cares about political affairs of all sizes and big or small. The lives and death of the people have nothing to do with him. He only cares about military power and his son who inherited his throne.

In front of Li Longji was a handwritten letter written by Li Heng, the new emperor of Chang'an. Li Longji had read it no less than three times. In the letter, Li Heng was arrogant because he was arrogant, but he bowed his head to him as usual. He was still a son's tone to his father. This made Li Longji very satisfied. However, although Li Heng ascended the throne as emperor according to his request, Li Longji was not anxious. He not only had to listen to his words, but also watched his actions.

At this time, Yu Chaoen walked in quickly and handed a memorial to Li Longji, "Your Majesty, this is news from Chang'an."

Li Longji was excited and took the letter. It was indeed written by Li Heng. He opened the letter with difficulty, read it slowly, nodded with satisfaction, and smiled at Gao Lishi sitting beside him, "Mr. Gao, my son is quite successful. He has completely abolished the land redemption order made by the rebel grandson. The land east of Chang'an will be returned to the original owner. He did not disappoint me."

Speaking of this, he heard that Gao Lishi had no voice and turned around and asked strangely: "Are you listening to me?"

At this time, Gao Lishi was obviously old, his hair and beard were all white, and his walking became trembling, completely without the ability and cleverness he used to be. He heard Li Longji ask him, and he smiled bitterly, "I am worried that his doing this will arouse civil unrest."

Gao Lishi's words made Li Longji not like to listen. He sank his face and said, "What's the reason for arousing civil unrest? Those lands that were originally royal families can only get the support of the royal family. Otherwise, how could I feel at ease to hand over the throne to him? He is not like that stupid rebel grandson who attacked his family and destroyed the Great Wall by himself. He can see this, which means that he is very clear and has gone with me."

After pausing, Li Longji said again: "Mr. Gao, I remember that you tried your best to defend him and persuaded me to protect him again and again. Why do you have a prejudice against him now? Is it because his method of seizing the throne is not very glorious?"

Gao Lishi knew Li Longji very well. He knew that even if everyone was disgusted with Li Heng's methods, the old emperor in front of him would not be disgusted. Not only would he not be disgusted, but he also talked about it. Didn't he come to power in this way? He killed Princess Taiping, forced his father to abdicate, and forced his elder brother to give way. In the 25th year of Tianbao, he ruthlessly killed his three sons because he heard the prince complaining. It can be said that a father must have a son. Li Heng killed his son and grandson, which is the same lineage as Li Longji. No wonder Li Longji smiled happily when he heard about this, saying, "A real man should be like this."

Can even those who are ruthless to their children and grandchildren expect him to treat the people of the world well? It was not until this time that Gao Lishi truly saw through Li Heng. He was so blind that he was determined to protect him.

Gao Lishi was already in a state of dismay. The murder between father and son was extremely disgusted. He didn't say it explicitly, but said lightly: "I suggest that Your Majesty choose another person. Li Heng will not get the support of all officials. I'm afraid his throne will not last long."

"Hmph!" Li Longji snorted heavily, "That's because Li Qing'an provides shelter to those officials, otherwise who would dare not go to court? Gao Weng, I think you are a confused person. If there were no strong people like Heng'er, my treasure of the Tang Dynasty would have been stolen by Li Qing'an long ago."

Yu Chaoen next to him kept silent. He was both Gao Lishi and hated and jealous. No matter how hard he worked, Li Longji always regarded him as a slave, but had another attitude towards Gao Lishi. At this time, when he saw that Li Longji was dissatisfied with Gao Lishi, he was secretly happy in his heart, and he interrupted, "Your Majesty, there is still news for the slave."

"Speak, what news?" Li Longji's attention was attracted by him.

"Your Majesty, I heard two days ago that An Lushan established the King of Xiliang in Youzhou as the emperor."

This news did come two days ago, but it was blocked by Gao Lishi. He didn't want Li Longji to know. He was afraid that Li Longji would lose his mind when he heard this news and vent his anger on the people in the palace. Now the palace maid eunuch has been killed by him.

Sure enough, when Li Longji heard the news, he was furious and stared at Gao Lishi viciously and said, "Why don't you tell me this news? When do you want to hide it?"

Gao Lishi glared at Yu Chaoen. This damn official actually made a fool of himself at this time. He quickly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I am worried that Your Majesty's body will not be able to support you, so I didn't tell Your Majesty for the time being."

"Okay! Even you want to hide it from me. You have become a habit of hiding it. You have been hiding it for more than 40 years. Do you still want to hide it until I die before I will give up?"

"I don't have this intention."

"I don't want to listen to your explanation, nor do I want to see you again. Go out for me and get out!"

The blue veins on Li Longji's forehead were swollen and he had completely lost his mind. Gao Lishi sighed. The old emperor was so confused that he couldn't even see the simplest sow discord? He shook his head, turned around and walked slowly.

Li Longji was still angry and continued, "Whoever dares to let him enter the palace again, I will kill anyone."
To be continued...