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The Tang army defeated the puppet Yan army at Xiangji Temple. The news spread instantly through the military observation group to the backyard of the Dudu Mansion in Fengxiang Mansion.
Shang Bo looked at the video sent by Li Daoyuan and said to Zhang Leyan, the deputy envoy who stayed behind: "The Tang army has indeed won, and the countdown to regaining Chang'an has begun."
Zhang Leyan said incredulously: "The duel between more than 200,000 troops from both sides was decided so quickly?"
Shang Bo said: "The encounters in the cold weapon era were like this. One battle could determine the outcome."
"Now that the outcome of the war has come out, the next thing is political matters."
Zhang Leyan sighed and said: "The Tang army recaptured Chang'an so quickly, does it mean we don't have much time left?"
But Shang Bo smiled and said: "Where is this? Historically, after the Tang army regained Chang'an, they were locked in a stalemate with the rebels in Luoyang for a long time."
"After that, An Qingxu and Shi Siming fought internally, and Shi Siming was killed by his son. The three towns in Hedong killed Shi Siming's son and surrendered to the court. This was quite troublesome."
Shang Bo said: "We still have a lot of time left. The reason why the Anshi Rebellion marked the Tang Dynasty's transition from prosperity to decline is because this rebellion completely exhausted the vitality of the Tang Dynasty."
"And the three towns in Hedong were completely out of the hands of the imperial court after the Anshi Rebellion."
"These are things for later. What we have to plan now is how to use this victory to benefit."
As a diplomat, Shang Bo, intelligence is his most important weapon.
The information that can be learned faster than other people in Fengxiang Mansion, if they don't make good use of it, they will be sorry for the four Li Daoyuan who have been squatting on the battlefield for half a month.
Zhang Leyan asked: "Let's put the congratulatory form on first."
Shang Bo shook his head and said: "Don't worry about congratulations. When the news of the victory comes back, the courtiers will naturally attend."
Zhang Leyan looked at Shang Bo in confusion and asked, "Then what should we do?"
Shang Bo stood up and said: "Let's go, take my greeting card. I have been giving gifts every day in the past few days, now it is time to get some interest back."
Fengxiang Mansion also enforces the same curfew as Chang'an City, but Shangbo has a token from the Governor's Mansion, so he can naturally go out at night.
Taking Zhang Leyan with them, the two of them changed into official uniforms again, and there was no one to stop them along the way.
The first stop for Shangbo was the residence of Pei Mian, the prime minister of the dynasty.
During these days, Shang Bo often visited Pei Mian at home, and even the concierge gave him gifts of all sizes. When the concierge saw Shang Bo visiting at night, he immediately welcomed him in.
"Envoy, why are you here now?" The concierge was also alert, knowing that Shang Bo's visit late at night must have something important to do with the Prime Minister.
Shangbo took out a piece of silver cake from his sleeve, put it smoothly into the porter's hand, and then said:
"Please tell Prime Minister Pei, Shang Bo has something important to report."
The porter immediately said: "It must be a big deal for the envoy to stay, so I'll go and report it now!"
The Prime Minister's Concierge is a seventh-grade official. The Concierge of the Prime Minister's Mansion is an old servant of the Pei family. He is also smart and well-travelled. His status in the Pei Mansion is similar to that of the housekeeper.
After a while, the steward came over and said that Pei Mian had invited Shang Bo and Zhang Leyan to the study.
After walking into Pei Mian's study, the clock at the back chimed ten times. It was already ten o'clock in the evening.
There was a kerosene lamp with a glass cover placed on Pei Mian's head, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his eyes.
These are Longyou products presented by Shangbo during this period. For Pei Mian, who loves reading, these are precious gifts worth thousands of gold.
Pei Mian came from the Wenxi Pei family, so he naturally understood what Longyou meant.
But as the biggest beneficiary of overthrowing Wei Jiansu, Pei Mian's relationship with Donggong was already doomed.
Properly getting close to King Jianning is also an investment for the Pei family.
If the crown prince Li Chu really succeeds to the throne, at worst, Pei Mian will beg for his body and go home. There will still be children of the Pei family who will continue to serve as officials in the court.
It's just that Pei Mian's personal political life is temporarily tied to King Jianning.
This is the way of aristocratic families, hedging their bets, and when the court changes, they will immediately cut off their tails to survive.
Pei Mian put down the "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" in his hand and asked Shang Bo.
"Is there something urgent about the late-night visit by the envoy after your stay?"
Pei Mian admired Shang Bo very much as a young envoy who stayed behind, and he was very personable and experienced. He felt comfortable every time he was with Shang Bo.
This is the so-called personal charm. Shang Bo sent gifts all the way to Fengxiang Mansion. No matter what his position was, the court ministers could not find anything bad about Shang Bo when they mentioned the envoy of the Dudu Mansion.
Shang Bo did not beat around the bush and said directly:
"Prime Minister Pei, a great victory at Xiangji Temple."
Pei Mian immediately sat upright, stared at Shang Bo and said:
"Is the news reliable?"
Shang Bo said firmly: "It is absolutely true that Guo Ziyi and Li Siye defeated the puppet Yan army at Xiangji Temple and should have invaded Chang'an City by now."
Pei Mian suddenly stood up from his desk, looked at Shang Bo and said:
"I believe you."
Pei Mian raised his head and looked at Shang Bo and said: "The great victory in Chang'an is a grand event for the imperial court. But after Shang Liu came to visit Lao Bo late at night, it must not just be to report the victory, right?"
Pei Mian was indeed an old fox who had been in the officialdom for many years. He immediately realized that the purpose of Shang Bo's late-night visit was not just to report his victory.
Shang Bo said with a smile on his face: "Mr. Pei clearly knows that Shang Bo came here this time to invite Prime Minister Pei to come together and ask the emperor to return to Luan Chang'an after regaining Chang'an!"
After Shang Bo said this, Pei Mian showed an expression of astonishment on his face.
He looked at Shang Bo and said after a long time:
"It's true that the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead. Those who come after us are to be feared, and those who come after us are to be feared!"
Pei Mian sighed with emotion for a long time, and then said: "King Jianning, with your help, maybe he can achieve great things!"
Pei Mian continued: "The truth will be reported to you on my own, but this credit must still be given to your Dudu Mansion."
"Has the envoy of Shang Liu written the memorial?"
Shang Bo nodded, and Pei Mian suddenly changed the subject and said: "Envoy Shang Liu, the imperial court is about to leave in autumn. Are you interested in taking a test for merit?"
"This time I have gained the emperor's trust and was appointed as the chief examiner. I think your talents, learning and moral character are all good enough for the selection. It should not be difficult to pass the Jinshi examination."
Now Zhang Leyan also looked at Shang Bo in surprise.
You must know that today's imperial examinations are not so strict. As the examiner, Pei Mian actually recommended Shang Bo to participate in the imperial examination.
The meaning is already obvious, this is to give Shangbo a reputation.
Unexpectedly, Shang Bo said categorically: "I have little talent and little knowledge, so it would be embarrassing not to go to the imperial examination. Now this position is very good, and Shang Bo has no idea of changing his career."
Pei Mian sighed and said: "King Jianning can actually recruit talents like you, so why worry about the big thing failing?"
After coming out of Pei Mian's mansion, Shang Bo said to Zhang Leyan:
"Hurry up, we have to go to several houses! When the messenger reporting the victory arrives at Fengxiang Mansion tomorrow morning, it will be the time for us to submit the memorial together!"
After a busy night, a group of knights rushed to Fengxiang Mansion.
"Great victory! Great victory in Chang'an! Great victory in Chang'an!"
The word "Chang'an" has infinite magic power, and when coupled with the word "Great Victory", the entire Fengxiang Mansion was shocked.
"A great victory in Chang'an!" The people also cheered, and many people hugged and cried bitterly.
Ever since An Lushan's rebellion, the entire Guanzhong has been like hell.
Chang'an was finally recovered!
The knight rushed from the city gate to the palace of Fengxiang Mansion, like a bowl of water poured into hot oil, the whole Fengxiang Mansion boiled.
Since the war at Xiangji Temple, the emperor has not had a good night's sleep.
This time, the fate of the Tang Dynasty was at stake. Li Heng gave all his wealth to Guo Ziyi, hoping to defeat the rebels and regain Chang'an in one battle.
Li Heng didn't have many good memories of Chang'an.
Before Li Heng, Li Longji had a prince.
The prince was deposed because of the frame-up of Concubine Wu Hui, and was killed together with Li Heng's two other brothers.
Li Heng was established as the prince, not because he was liked by Li Longji the most, nor because he had the most outstanding talents, but simply because the Tang Dynasty needed a prince.
Since he needed a prince, Li Longji appointed the oldest Li Heng as the prince.
There is no official of the Crown Prince's East Palace, so the dignified Crown Prince still lives in the Ten Kings' house with other clan members.
The Ten Kings' Residence with its tall gate was like a prison. Everyone Li Heng met had to be accompanied by someone, and he needed approval from the Ten Kings' Residence Order to leave the house.
The prime minister at that time, Li Linfu, continued to attack Li Heng with various accusations.
Li Linfu found evidence that Li Heng's favorite Crown Princess Wei's family had rebelled, and wanted to use this to implicate Li Heng.
Later, Li Heng had to bear the pain and divorce the princess to save himself.
If the Tang Dynasty hadn't needed a prince, Li Heng would have been deposed long ago.
Li Linfu died, and another Yang Guozhong came up.
As a relative of Concubine Yang, Yang Guozhong attacked Li Heng even more fiercely.
Yang Guozhong also started with Li Heng's family and attacked Li Heng's favorite concubine at the time.
Li Heng had to divorce again to keep his position as prince.
At this time, Li Heng lived in fear every day, worrying that he would be deposed at any time.
The majestic prince of the empire actually had to resort to divorce and mutilation twice to save himself. Li Heng originally thought that he would never be able to wait until the day he succeeded to the throne.
But God is ever-changing, and just when Li Heng was already desperate, two coups changed everything.
An Lushan's rebellion caused his father, who regarded himself as a saint, to fall from the altar.
The incident in Maweipo made Li Heng see clearly that his father was just a frail old man, and he had to abandon his beloved concubine to survive just like he did back then.
Li Heng did not follow the emperor into Sichuan, but went to Lingwu and gathered troops to fight against Anlu Mountain.
Afterwards, Fang Guan persuaded the emperor to abdicate and Li Heng Lingwu ascended the throne.
But his father in Shu was still a thorn in Li Heng's heart.
The soldiers and horses in Shu are all subordinates of Yang Guozhong, and they are Yang Guozhong's mortal enemy. Will they support their father on the throne again?
"Your Majesty! Great victory in Chang'an!" Yu Chaoen rushed in panting, kowtowed to Li Heng and said.
"Okay!" Li Heng stood up immediately, and the gloom of the past few days was gone.
He trembled his fingers and said: "Rewards! Soldiers on the front line will be rewarded heavily!"
Yu Chaoen continued: "Your Majesty, the governor of Longyou has stayed in the backyard and jointly sent a letter with thirty-two ministers of the imperial court, asking your majesty to welcome the emperor back to Luan Chang'an."