There is still a curfew during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the sun has not completely set, and the dusk drums in Chang'an City have begun to urge pedestrians to go home.
The candlelight of Xingqing Palace is lit up little by little, waiting for the annual festival and the only king of the ages.
In front of the team waiting for the Holy Emperor, Li Heng lowered his hands and walked to stand in front of the kings. Looking sideways, he saw Li Linfu standing at the head of the officials with his hands behind his back, his spirit was fierce and his momentum was intimidating.
Suddenly, a fat figure passed between them and climbed the steps first. It was Anlu Mountain. Because the saint's family was so strong, he went to Yingzhou Gate to pick him up first. The saint wanted to talk to him on the way.
As Anlu Mountain huffed and puffed up the stone steps, the fat on his buttocks kept shaking, making people envious and despised at the same time.
Li Linfu was also amused and turned to glance at Li Heng with contempt.
The beautiful scenery at a good time was ruined by the evil spirit of asking for cockfighting.
And somewhere where they couldn't see, Zhang Ting and Xue Bai ended their conversation and left the carriage secretly. After that, a servant tiptoed through the crowd, found Li Heng, and reported in a low voice.
"Your Highness, Zhang Liangdi also prepared a Mid-Autumn Festival gift for Your Highness, which is Codonopsis, Fuling and Dihuang Pills."
Li Heng nodded when he heard this, as if he had taken a reassurance.
~~
In Xingqing Palace, the imperial chariot has already set off.
An Lushan did not dare to sit on the chariot given by Li Longji, so he tried his best to chase after the chariot, like a round ball, which was very funny.
"The beard is too heavy, don't tire out the saint's father-in-law."
"You have a kind heart, Hu'er."
An Lushan giggled and continued to make Li Longji happy. When the time was almost up, he suddenly said: "Your Majesty, Hu'er just saw Pei Kuan and remembered something."
Calling "Your Majesty" suddenly is a tone of voice when you want to talk about business.
Li Longji then ordered Yi Jia to stop for a moment.
An Lushan's humorous fat face also looked more solemn, and he said: "Your Majesty, I have won the hearts of the people of Hebei for Your Majesty, and it has been very successful. Those gold, silver and jewels are dedicated to Your Majesty..."
A faint smile appeared in Li Longji's eyes.
He is a wise king through the ages, and he knows very well what problems his country has.
As early as before the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there was opposition between Hebei and Guanlong.
As the people and material resources of the Central Plains east of Mount Wei continued to increase, it became possible to shake the rule of Guanlong in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Yang Jian completely destroyed Yecheng, and Yang Guang conquered Goguryeo three times, all of which seemed to have the evil intention of weakening the people of Hebei.
When the Tang Dynasty was founded, Emperor Gaozu put down the Dou Jiande Rebellion in Hebei Province, and still took Guanlong as the basis. Emperor Taizong and Empress Wu tried to restrict Hebei step by step, but they failed to resolve this conflict.
Only he, Li Longji, did it!
He restricted the local scholars in Hebei from taking the imperial examination to become officials, deprived them of their voice in the court, and attracted seven people of five surnames to settle in Chang'an and integrate into Guanzhong, otherwise they would never be able to pass the imperial examination;
He imposed heavy taxes on the people east of Mount Laoshan, so that they supplied two-thirds of the silk and nearly half of the grain of the Tang Dynasty. It was said that "Hebei rented mediocre goods, filled Zuozang, and accumulated treasures beyond measure."
He forbade the establishment of local defenses in Hebei to deal with the frequent invasions of foreign invaders such as the Khitan and Xi people. The imperial court set up border towns and ordered border commanders to frequently take the initiative to attack, weakening the people of Hebei;
He reused barbarian generals who had no foundation, reduced the influence of local clans in Hebei on the army, made the border increasingly barbarian, and weakened their influence on the foundation of Guanlong's rule.
All in all, with one hand demanding and the other guarding, An Lushan was his hand, firmly holding back the possibility of Hebei's rise.
Therefore, most people in the world have never heard of what great victories An Lushan fought, but Li Longji always praised An Lushan for his great military exploits.
Some people did not understand the foresight of the Emperor Shengming, and they wrote poems such as "The bones of the emperor are buried in the wilderness every year" and accused him of being too happy with his success. He was an unparalleled wise emperor who achieved the emperor's centralization of power in the shortest time and in the easiest way.
"My most loyal minister has solved a big problem for me."
Li Longji sighed with emotion, stretched out his hand and stroked An Lushan's round belly.
An Lushan smiled like a dog whose head was touched: "Hu'er's big belly is full of daring loyalty to the saint."
"Hahahaha." Li Longji said happily.
With such a loyal Hu'er stationed in Hebei, Pei Kuan can indeed be eliminated.
Others always think that it was Li Linfu and An Lushan who wanted to deal with Pei Kuan. They were wrong. From the beginning, it was the saint who really disliked Pei Kuan.
Get rid of Pei Kuan, cut off the possibility of people from Hebei fighting for power in the court, show the majesty of the emperor in Guanzhong, and enable the emperor to centralize power. He has been just waiting for the right time.
When the time comes, getting rid of Pei Kuan is just a matter of words.
~~
"The saint has arrived!"
"I respectfully welcome the saint, may the saint be in good health during the Mid-Autumn Festival..."
As night fell and a full moon rose, the royal driver arrived at the main building of Qinzhengwu.
An Lushan did not dare to enter with the saint, so he walked around behind Pei Kuan and took a seat.
At the front of the officials, Li Linfu turned his head and glanced at him. He chuckled and signaled that he had finished all the things he had to do today.
There are two other things to do. One is to deliver a few words to the Prime Minister when he criticizes the East Palace. For him, the more important thing is to recognize Concubine Yang as his mother.
Yu Yan, while making the saint happy, quietly seeking benefits for himself, Hu Er is the best at it...
Li Longji sat down, but his interest was not as high as it was during the Lantern Festival. He immediately waved and asked Gao Lishi to call Li Heng to him.
"My son, I send my regards to my father. I hope that my father is in good health and may you live forever."
"Besides saying hello, do you have anything else to say?"
Li Longji's eyes were calm, and he might have learned some of the inside story in advance, so he gave his son a chance to admit his mistakes in public before the banquet, so as not to have to hear his nonsense again when the banquet got underway.
"My son..."
The moment Li Heng spoke, he was weighing things again in his mind.
If he commits a crime, he would be admitting that Pei Mian was the spy planted by the East Palace around the Right Prime Minister. What's more serious is that the East Palace secretly cultivated a group of Huihe people and wanted to silence them.
He worked hard for many years to become a virtuous prince in the eyes of the world. Once he admitted his guilt, his heart was broken and it gave the saint an excuse to depose the prince.
And as long as he does not admit it, the fact may be that although Pei Mian is a disciple of the traitorous party, his heart is towards the East Palace, and the fact that he went to silence the Huihe people was framed by others.
Perhaps Suo Douji would find an excuse to implicate the ministers close to the East Palace in the name of investigating the case. But in the eyes of the world, it was still a saint who was biased and allowed the traitor to persecute the poor prince.
This was the fundamental reason why he was unwilling to act according to Li Mi's plan.
"My son, I have nothing to say."
"good."
Li Longji knew in his heart that his son was taking advantage of the fact that tonight was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and by deceiving him into not having an attack in public, he was simply coercing the crowd to force the king.
But he remained calm, smiled lightly, raised his palms to the ministers, and said loudly: "It's a beautiful time, I will spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with you and have a banquet!"
"Sage system, spend the Mid-Autumn Festival together and have a banquet!"
At the banquet, all the officials hurriedly saluted and toasted in order.
Only Li Heng didn't get the order and didn't dare to retreat. He had to stand there with his hands hanging down and his head lowered, feeling very embarrassed...
~~
In the palace, a little further away, Xue Bai was sitting near Jia Chang and Wang Zhun.
He has not yet had an official status, and he is only worthy to be with these officials.
"Xue Bai is optimistic, we will perform cockfighting soon." Jia Chang chatted with Xue Bai in a low voice while others were not paying attention.
"The first performance tonight is a cockfight?"
"Of course." Wang Zhun smiled proudly, looking down on Xue Bai.
He is the son of Wang Fei, and is known as the most evil young man in Chang'an. In addition to his father's power, the more important reason is that he serves as the Weiwei Shaoqing and often goes to the palace to accompany the saints in cockfights. He is the second most prodigious chicken boy.
Wang Zhun was more arrogant than the son of the right prime minister, and could not understand Xue Bai's behavior of wanting to take the imperial examination and become an official even though he had the opportunity to be a minister. He thought that Xue Bai became the top one by playing cards, which was hopelessly stupid.
Jia Chang and Wang Zhun were eager to fight and looked in the direction of Anlu Mountain.
"Look how we defeated that bastard."
"Oh?" Xue Bai followed their gazes, followed their names without hesitation, and said nonsense, "Can a bastard know how to fight cocks?"
"He knows shit."
Wang Zhun spat, and then he felt that Xue Bai was a decent person, barely qualified enough to talk to him.
"Hey, you're just trying to fool the saint, you'll do whatever you want."
"Have a banquet!"
Following this sentence, the two people immediately went to make arrangements to entertain the saint.
Xue Bai looked around and saw that Jia Chang and Wang Zhun had picked three thin and strong fighting cocks. An Lushan also left the field with his big belly in his hands, and called three Hu'er who had had rhinoplasty and blue eyes to bring the extraordinary horse from the Western Regions.
rooster.
Li Longji laughed loudly and wanted to make a bet with his concubines in front of the ministers.
"I bet a jade bowl on the Western Region Rooster to win."
The emperor took the lead in gambling, but only Yang Yuhuan dared to take the lead in betting against the emperor, and bet a Yangzhou water-centred mirror with a smile.
Then all the kings and important ministers placed their bets one after another, most of them following the sage. Xue Bai was so bold that even though he was just a white man, he dared to join in the fun and added a thousand guan to Jia Chang, and the king was sure to win.
The Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet is not like the Shangyuan Banquet. It is smaller in scale, has fewer officials, and is more relaxed.
After a while, there was a cockfight in the palace, and everyone was drinking and watching. In the first two games, one won and one lost. When the cockfight reached the third game, both sides were aroused to win and cheered... If it is unseemly, saints love this kind of thing the most.
lively.
After fighting for dozens of rounds, I saw the Western Regions cock waving its wings, flying constantly, and strong winds; the Chang'an Gamecock dodged left and right and pranced quickly. Finally, the Western Region cock's fatigue began to show, and the Chang'an Gamecock suddenly fluttered its wings and pecked hard.
Next, the victory or defeat was decided with a splash of chicken blood.
"good!"
The children in Jifang cheered loudly.
An Lushan made a bitter face and kept patting his thigh, saying angrily: "Hu'er is useless. The saint lost a bowl of jade essence. Hu'er danced for the saint."
The cockfight was wonderful, and Li Longji didn't feel bad about winning or losing. On the contrary, he felt that the atmosphere at the banquet was more cheerful than usual when An Lushan came.
"Hahaha, Hu'er is here to dance, and I will play the drum for you myself!"
…
Li Longji has been good at playing drums since he was a child.
During the years when he was under house arrest with his father, he and his brothers and sisters relied on musical instruments for entertainment. In order to learn the drums, four vertical cabinets were filled with broken drumsticks. He was even more diligent than the music saint Li Guinian.
His drumming skills are so superb that he can compose music with the sound of the drums in dreams; he can also wear flowers on his head and finish playing a song without the flowers falling.
"Boom!"
The drums sound.
An Lushan started to dance.
He probably weighs more than three hundred pounds, which is an exaggeration to say that his "belly hangs down to his knees." Normally, when changing clothes, a boy would hold up his belly, but when the saint's drum beat sounded, he actually started to spin.
Already...
"尻."
Wang Zhun just walked back to Xue Bai, turned around and saw An Lushan's dancing skills, couldn't help but stare blankly, and cursed in a low voice.
For a moment, countless people in the hall were exclaiming.
Who would have thought that fat meat could fly unless they saw it with their own eyes.
The belly rotates exactly like a top.
At this moment, Li Longji's drum beat seemed to be a fairy whip, twitching the top.
The Jie drum urging flowers to bloom is already a miracle. Tonight's drumbeat and this dance add to the miracle and give people a feeling of having the Midas touch.
An Lushan can be said to be Li Longji's musical confidant.
"Dong dong dong dong..."
The drumbeats are getting faster and faster, An Lushan dances faster and faster, the cheers are getting louder and louder, and the atmosphere is getting higher and higher.
Li Longji's forehead was sweating, but his eyes were getting more and more excited.
He is already a perfect king, and he is also versatile. Everyone in the world should worship him to the beat of the drum.
"Dong dong dong dong..."
Finally, An Lushan fell to the ground like a ball of fat.
"I'm dizzy, Hu'er is dizzy."
"Ha ha ha ha."
When the drumming stopped, Li Longji was very happy. He looked up to the sky and laughed, listening to the unanimous praise of everyone in the hall.
He spread his arms and let the servants take off his drums and wipe his sweat. Then he sat back at the imperial desk and said, "Hu'er, are you still fainting?"
An Lushan was helped up and stumbled to the imperial court, but he accidentally fell to the ground again. It was very funny and made everyone laugh.
Only Xue Bai saw this scene and calmly took a sip of the osmanthus dew, feeling that the taste was a bit sour.
Falling off the stool is not a great comedy skill.
"Haha, you're such a loser." Li Longji accidentally spit out the wine in his mouth, pointed at An Lushan and said with a smile: "You're such a loser, you worship again and again, how many times a day do you have to worship?"
An Lushan rolled on the ground, made a baby posture, and said with the flow: "No amount of worship is too many, Hu'er pays homage to the saint."
While he was talking, he turned around and saw Yang Guifei sitting next to the saint, covering her mouth and smiling. He kowtowed again and said, "Hu'er pays homage to the noble concubine."
"How not to worship the prince?"
Someone among the waiters said something, and the cheerful atmosphere at the banquet came to a halt.
Since the banquet started, Li Heng had been standing by the imperial table with his hands down, as if he were serving wine, and now he was standing in front of An Lushan.
Many people thought that there was a servant beside the saint who dared to openly stand up for the prince?
Li Linfu withdrew his gaze and lowered his head to drink.
An Lushan did not hesitate and responded loudly: "Hu'er doesn't know who the prince is. Hu'er only has the saint and the noble concubine in his heart!"
He didn't mention Wang Zhongsi a word, but his actions showed the difference between him and Wang Zhongsi.
One was the adopted son of a saint. He was raised by the saint and gained great trust. He wore the seal of commander of the Four Towns. However, he repeatedly disobeyed the saint and often flirted with the prince. He even helped the prince to bribe Huihe people to die.
The other was just a humble Hu'er who received the favor from the saint and desperately wanted to repay him. He didn't care about his own future after the prince succeeded to the throne. At worst, he would ascend to heaven with the saint.
Sometimes, you don’t need to say much to frame others, especially when the evidence is solid. A comparison is enough to influence the saint’s mind.
For a moment, Li Heng looked embarrassed.
As the crown prince of a country, being humiliated like this, if An Lushan is not severely punished, the national prestige of the Tang Dynasty will be damaged...
However, Li Longji was already laughing heartily.
"You rude Hu'er! Are you still fainting when you get up? Hu Xuanwu is a good dance, how should I reward you?"
"Sage, Hu'er is really dizzy."
An Lushan refused to get up and continued to act coquettishly on the ground. When he raised his head and caught a glimpse of Yang Guifei, he suddenly said: "The imperial concubine is a god. Hu'er has been an orphan since he was a child. He wants to recognize the imperial concubine as his mother."
"..."
It was quiet in the palace.
Everyone looked in the direction of the imperial court, and were so surprised that they were speechless, because An Lushan was already forty-four years old, fat and ugly; Concubine Yang was only in her twenties and looked younger than his daughter.
Li Heng hadn't recovered from the surprise at the previous moment. He lowered his head and looked at An Lushan and was surprised again.
He was really fed up with this fat pig and the foolish king who indulged this fat pig.
The foundation of the country left by our ancestors has been turned into a mess!
He turned to look at Zhang Ting.
But Zhang Ting shook his head slightly at him, indicating that he would wait patiently.
"尻."
Wang Zhun almost dropped the wine glass in his hand and cursed in a low voice: "Zhahu is shameless."
Xue Bai has stood up.
It wasn't because he was surprised. In the entire Qinzhengwu Building, he was the only one who was least surprised by this matter.
From a distance, he and Yang Yuyao looked at each other and shook their heads...
At the same time, Li Longji pointed at An Lushan and cursed with a smile.
"Ignorant of etiquette and disgrace as a minister."
An Lushan was frightened and quickly leaned down and twisted his fat and round buttocks.
Li Longji seemed to be cursing, but he was not angry.
Zhang Jiuling is very dignified as a minister, and he hasn't been exiled yet. As the prime minister of a country, Li Linfu can't read all the characters and has no bearing, so how can he be behaved like a minister?
A wise king does not need decent ministers, he only needs servants who are obedient and do everything possible to make him happy.
So, after scolding An Lushan, Li Longji turned his head happily.
"What do you think, noble concubine?"
Yang Yuhuan was still in a daze, but he laughed out loud at the reaction of the monarch and his minister, and was about to nod in agreement.
suddenly.
"How can it be so easy?"
The woman who spoke had a pleasant voice and a smile, but she was Yang Yuyao.
"If Mr. An wants to be the adopted son of the imperial concubine, then he wants to be the nephew of our brothers and sisters. How could you not ask us?"
An Lushan saw that a good thing was about to happen, but he didn't expect that there would be unforeseen complications. He turned around with a flattering smile on his face and called out, "It would be great if Third Aunt recognized Hu'er as my nephew."
"No, I still hope to stay young and beautiful." Yang Yuyao said, "If I have a nephew like you, wouldn't it make me look old?"
Everyone couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that Aunt Yang came forward because she was afraid of looking old.
An Lushan rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, Hu'er can recognize the concubine as his mother, and he can also become a sibling with his third aunt. This is a step-brother in Hu's custom, which is very auspicious."
"Siblings?"
Yang Yuyao had an idea and said: "What a coincidence, I am planning to get a younger brother, and he is a young and handsome man who will complement me. Just your beard."
An Lushan looked at Li Longji with innocent eyes and said: "The third aunt recognized her brother, and the noble concubine recognized her son without any delay. They are two good stories during the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"What good story? The imperial concubine recognized her son, and the third aunt has grown old." Yang Yuyao wanted to stop her.
While speaking, she looked towards Xue Bai.
Yang Yuhuan followed her gaze and couldn't help but smile. Then he had an idea and said, "It seems like it would be a good fortune to recognize my relatives. In that case, how about you guys competing?"
An Lushan was stunned and asked stupidly: "Who are you competing with?"
Yang Yuhuan said: "What did the sage say? It's interesting to have a competition. How can it be so easy for me to become the adopted son and adopted brother of my concubine?"
There was that little girl-like naughtiness in her eyes again, but she was so beautiful.
Li Longji immediately smiled, nodded, and said loudly.
"Since Taizhen and Third Aunt have said so, Xue Bai, why don't you come forward?"
The process of writing this royal banquet is not easy to arrange. I am writing slowly today. The second chapter is not so fast. You don’t have to wait~~