After Prime Minister Li Lin entered Jianmen Pass, he went directly to Chengdu, where the emperor was.
People all over the world say that in today's prosperous times, one thing is beneficial to the other.
Yang refers to Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, and the administrative seat is Yangzhou City. The administrative seat of Yizhou is Chengdu City, which is enough to show the prosperity of Chengdu.
The natural isolation of the Sichuan Plain has always made it the best place to avoid disasters in the Central Plains.
The natural environment in the middle of Shu is not bad. Shu brocade, like the silk from Jiangnan, is a specialty of the Tang Dynasty that foreign merchants compete for.
When he entered Chengdu City, Li Lin felt that it was much more prosperous than Fengxiang Mansion.
But then Li Lin also began to lament that the emperor was indeed old.
Li Longji also ascended the throne through a coup, but after Anlushan's rebellion, Li Longji only wanted the imperial army to escort him to the stable Shu, and refused to stay in the Central Plains to preside over the counter-rebellion.
This is enough to show that the emperor who was in charge of the prosperous Tang Dynasty had long since lost his ambition.
After his son ascended the throne in Lingwu, Li Longji also issued an edict to abdicate. At this time, everyone in the world knew that Li Longji no longer had the courage to personally lead the counter-rebellion, so he could only abdicate the throne to his son to counter the rebellion.
It was already chilly in Chengdu in mid-October. Li Lin ordered his men to put aside the prime minister's guard of honor and entered the city from the main gate.
I only saw an old eunuch holding a whisk, standing at the gate of Chengdu, waiting for Li Lin.
Seeing this old eunuch, Li Lin immediately dismounted, crossed his arms and said, "General Gao."
The player Hu Yu who was following him raised his eyes and looked at the old eunuch. It turned out that this was Gao Lishi, the most favored eunuch around Li Longji.
As the most famous eunuch in history, Gao Lishi was once a key figure in the powerful Xuanzong court.
But at this time, Gao Lishi was as old as the emperor. He lowered his eyes and said to Li Lin:
"The Za family has obeyed the emperor's order and is waiting for Prime Minister Li here. Please follow me into the palace."
At this time, Gao Lishi still put on the aura of an internal minister of the empire, and Li Lin did not dare to make a mistake. He handed the reins of the horse to Hu Yu and followed Gao Lishi step by step.
Sure enough, power also has inertia. Gao Lishi's momentum alone is much stronger than the eunuchs around Li Heng.
However, Hu Yu also knew that Gao Lishi, who was attached to Li Longji, was nothing more than a paper tiger now, and his so-called momentum was just holding on.
As Gao Lishi arrived at the palace in Chengdu where the emperor lived, Li Lin took out the emperor's decree, handed it to Gao Lishi and said:
"This is a good news for the Tang Army in Chang'an! Now that Chang'an has been restored, Your Majesty invites the Emperor to return to Chang'an as a sign of filial piety!"
As soon as he said the words "Return to Luan Chang'an", he immediately attracted the attention of the imperial soldiers guarding the palace.
Chang'an was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and most of the imperial soldiers who escorted the emperor out of Chang'an were natives of Chang'an.
Although Sichuan is good, there is nowhere better than home.
Not to mention that Chang'an was the most prosperous city in the Tang Dynasty. The mere city of Bashu and Chengdu, even if it was the most prosperous place in the world, could not be compared with Chang'an.
Li Lin said this, and Gao Lishi had no choice but to accept the imperial edict brought by Li Lin.
"Let's go and report to the saint."
After a while, the palace door opened.
Li Longji, who had white hair and white beard, walked to the palace gate in person, took Li Lin's hand and said: "My son has regained Chang'an. This is a sign of the rejuvenation of the Tang Dynasty. Return to Chang'an, return to Chang'an!"
Seeing that the emperor had clearly promised to return to Chang'an, the Imperial Guards immediately rejoiced and knelt on the ground to praise the emperor for his wisdom.
Hu Yu hid among Li Lin's entourage and looked at this skinny old man with white hair. Is this Li Longji who ruled the prosperous Tang Dynasty?
Hu Yu shook his head. Without the blessing of the aura of power, Li Longji was just an ordinary old man.
Then Li Longji rewarded these Forbidden Army soldiers with his treasured Shu Brocade, especially the Forbidden Army General Chen Xuanli who strangled Concubine Yang to death.
The entire palace moved quickly, and the countdown to return to Chang'an began.
Just when the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was about to return to Chang'an, a Tibetan envoy walked into the Nanzhao royal court.
Luo Feng, the head of the Nanzhao Kingdom, was sitting on the throne, and on the left and right stood the Qingping officials of Nanzhao, who were also the prime ministers of Nanzhao.
The leading Qingping officer was a minister wearing Han costumes. This was Zheng Hui, the chief Qingping officer of Nanzhao, who was also the prime minister of Nanzhao.
The Tibetan envoy was very arrogant. He held a wooden slip and said to the ruler of Nanzhao:
"Wise Zanpu Zhong, the Tang family went to war with Tubo in Longyou, and was punished by the great god Zanpu. The god Zanpu once again defeated the Tang family's attack!"
"Behavior that offends the god Zanpu must be punished. The god Zanpu asked Nanzhao and Tubo to attack the Tang family together."
Zanpu Zhong means Zanpu’s younger brother.
During the Tianbao period, Datang attacked Nanzhao twice, but was eventually destroyed by Nanzhao's entire army. Datang and Nanzhao were already mortal enemies.
In fact, Ge Luofeng did not want to go to war with the powerful Tang Dynasty, but he had no choice.
Ge Luofeng's biggest wish is to develop secretly between the two giants, Tang Dynasty and Tubo. It is best to please both sides and reap the benefits.
It's a pity that Nanzhao's location is too awkward. Geographically, Nanzhao is adjacent to the Tubo Plateau. There are many mountains in Nanzhao, but for the Tubo people who are good at mountain warfare, Nanzhao is not difficult to conquer.
The reason why Nanzhao was retained was, on the one hand, that it needed a strategic buffer force with the Tang Dynasty.
Another reason is that the mountainous territory of Nanzhao is really too poor, so poor that even the militaristic Tibetans cannot look down upon it.
Although he looked down upon him, during the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty, Tubo still asked the leader of Nanzhao to accept the title of Zanpu Zhong, also known as Zanpu's younger brother.
At the same time, the heirs of Nanzhao were asked to study in Tubo Zanputing, which was actually a hostage.
After sending the Tibetan envoy down, Ge Luofeng asked his Prime Minister Zheng:
"Teacher, did Tubo suffer a big loss in Longyou? Otherwise, why would they have dragged us to attack the Tang Dynasty from the south?"
Ge Luofeng was the founder of Nanzhao, so he was certainly not an ordinary person.
There is little information in this era, let alone a place like Nanzhao.
After Tubo was defeated in Tuyuhun, it never publicized the war, and even promoted Tibet's victory in Longyou.
Li Yan also did not want to expose his strength, and did not publicize the news of regaining Tuguhun.
So now a strange situation has happened. It is obvious that Tubo was defeated and lost the Tuyuhun area, but it was promoted in Tubo as a great victory in the northern war.
Many warriors and civilians in Tibet still believed that Tibet was invincible, and they stole a lot of land and slaves from the Tang Dynasty.
The upper echelons of Tibet did not mention a word about the loss of the Tuyuhun area, but only liquidated the Bulu family where Shang Qixin'er belonged.
Zheng Hui nodded and said: "Tubo has always coveted Longyou and Hexi. If the war on the northern front goes well, they will never join forces with us to attack Xichuan."
Although Ge Luofeng and Zheng Hui's prediction of the situation in Tibet was very bold, they never expected that Tibet would suffer such a disastrous defeat and even lose the entire Tuyuhun region in the east.
But Tubo Zanpu ordered them to send troops to attack the Tang Dynasty, and Ge Luofeng did not dare not agree.
Nanzhao's national power was still very weak, and it could only survive in the cracks between Tubo and Tang Dynasty.
Ge Luofeng looked at Zheng Hui and asked: "Master Zheng, how should we in Nanzhao reply to the Tibetan envoy?"
Zheng Hui was a Jinshi of the Tang Dynasty. He was captured during Tianbao's great expedition to Nanzhao. He was later honored as a teacher by Geluofeng and became a Qingping official in Nanzhao.
Zheng Hui said: "The Tibetans drove us to attack the Tang Dynasty with the idea of benefiting the fishermen. However, if the prince is in the Tubo royal city and does not obey the Tubo orders, I am afraid there will also be a military disaster."
Ge Luofeng stood up a little irritably.
I only heard Zheng Hui continue to say: "The Tang Dynasty still has to fight, but when to fight, how many soldiers to fight, and how to fight still have to be particular."
Ge Luofeng nodded quickly.
Zheng Hui said: "It is unjust to go to war without declaring it. We should send envoys to Xichuan and tell the Tang Dynasty why we want to attack Xichuan."
Ge Luofeng was stunned for a moment and said quickly: "Seconds!"
Zheng Hui then said: "Nanzhao has a small territory and few people, so we can only send five hundred Luo Juzi and two thousand vassal Tang soldiers to attack Xichuan."
Luo Juzi are the most elite heavy armored infantry in Nanzhao. Five hundred Luo Juzi can show their importance to Tibet.
Most of these vassal Tang soldiers were Tang soldiers who were captured and surrendered after the Tianbao Expedition and the Tang expedition to Nanzhao.
These Tang troops had actually wanted to return to the Tang Dynasty for a long time, and they definitely had no intention of attacking the Tang Dynasty.
Let the 500 Luo Juzi, together with the 2,000 vassal Tang troops, attack Xichuan. All they need to do is assume a fighting posture at the border, and they will be able to tell the truth to Tibet.
Ge Luofeng shouted Miao again, and he immediately ordered Zheng Hui to draw up an order. At the same time, he told the Tibetan envoys that Nanzhao would send five thousand elite troops to attack Xichuan.
The Tibetan envoys left with satisfaction, and Nanzhao's military mobilization also started.
The seat of Xichuan Jiedushi on Jiannan Road in the Tang Dynasty was Chengdu. At this time, Xichuan Jiedushi was the former prime minister Wei Jiansu who was demoted from Fengxiang Mansion by the emperor.
Chengdu is immersed in a strange atmosphere.
The emperor and the imperial guards were also about to return to Chang'an, and the people in Chengdu were a little reluctant to leave.
However, since the Emperor and the Guards moved to Chengdu, Chengdu has also borne extremely heavy taxes in order to support them.
Regarding the emperor's departure, the people of Chengdu had strange thoughts.
After the emperor announced that he was leaving Chengdu and returning to Chang'an.
Xichuan Jiedushi Wei Jiansu immediately held a grand banquet.
At the banquet, the elderly emperor was sitting on the throne. After drinking two glasses of wine, he actually asked Gao Lishi to take out his guqin and play "The Song of Colorful Clothes and Feather Clothes" himself.
After the song was played, Li Longji hugged Gao Lishi and raised his glass and cried bitterly. Prime Minister Li Lin and Xichuan Jiedushi Wei Jiansu also shed tears.
Chen Xuanli, General Longwu of the Forbidden Army, did not shed any tears. He just sang and chanted the drinking orders loudly with his sergeants.
It would still take a month or two to return to Chang'an from Shuzhong, and it would be a good time to leave at this time to return to Chang'an City with the emperor.
Prime Minister Li Lin and General Longwu of the Forbidden Army Chen Xuanli once again advised the emperor to leave quickly. The emperor "happily" agreed and immediately announced his return to Luan Chang'an.
The imperial army guarded the emperor and immediately set off from Chengdu City and returned to their old capital Chang'an.
Li Lin's guide Hu Yu, on Li Lin's recommendation, joined Wei Jiansu's Xichuan Jiedushi Mansion as a minor official.