When the sun shone into the house through the broken window, Xue Bai woke up. He was in a city guarded by Zhang Xun. He slept very peacefully, which was a rare rest in recent times.
After all, although he arrived in Henan, he did not interfere with Li Guangbi's strategic command.
Diao Bing and Diao Geng were having breakfast in the yard when they heard something going on in the house. He came in with half a piece of biscuit in his mouth, put his oily hand in his mouth and sucked on it, and reported in a low voice: "Lang Jun
, Bai Zhongzhen secretly went to see Zhang Xun last night."
"Oh, give me a piece too." Xue Bai ate the same thing as them and asked them to bring in the biscuits and eat them together.
He listened to the report and learned that Hun Yao had also gone, so he spoke slowly and said: "The young man is thin-skinned, so let others ridicule him for hanging out with the treacherous eunuch."
"I understand." Diao Bing said, "He's so embarrassed."
Diao Geng hadn't used a knife for a long time, and his hands were itchy. He asked, "Mr. Lang, I think Bai Zhongzhen is cunning and cunning. Did I do it to him? In order to avoid missing a big deal."
"It's not necessary. Let's just watch him make trouble. If Zhang Xun can hang out with these people, he is no longer Zhang Xun."
Xue Bai thought of the eunuchs around Li Heng he had killed when he was in Jingzhou, and knew that as long as Li Cong still wanted to seek power, if he killed a group of eunuchs, Li Cong would castrate another group.
He then temporarily ignored Bai Zhongzhen and talked about business, saying: "Have you handed over the official document yet? Let Li Zhi and Li Xi go to Bianzhou as soon as possible to discuss military affairs."
"The stagecoach set off before dawn."
Diao Geng couldn't help but think that if Lang Jun didn't kill Bai Zhongzhen, he might kill Li Zhi, the successor king of Wu.
Even he knew that Xue Bai wanted Li Zhi to hand over the power of the Henan Jiedushi.
~~
Yanzhou.
In the wind and snow, the post envoy delivered the official document and handed it into the hands of Li Zhi, the successor king of Wu who was the envoy of Henan Province at that time.
Li Yi had an elder brother who was famous for his military exploits. He was Li Yi, the king of Xin'an County who had defeated Xi and Khitan. However, Li Yi's mother had a higher status and inherited the title of King Wu's first wife.
He is more than twenty years younger than Li Yi, and is now almost seventy years old. However, he is still tall and strong, with elegant demeanor. He is the elder of the clan and has great prestige.
At the most critical moment of the Tang Dynasty when An Lushan invaded Luoyang, he recruited troops to fight against the thieves as the governor of Dongping, maintained the stability of the Qilu area, and indirectly helped Yan Gaoqing, Zhang Xun and others guard the Jianghuai gate, which was a great contribution.
That day, he got the document summoned by Xue Bai to meet him. He sighed and said to his officials: "He is trying to blame me on the excuse that I failed to stop Zhou Zhi."
Immediately one of the staff responded: "The title and official position of the prince are no less than those of King Yong, and his qualifications and achievements are far greater than that of King Yong, so why should we be afraid of him? If he sends a message to summon him, it will be fine if he doesn't go."
Li Zhi said: "He controls the armies in the name of marshal. He can not only go from Luoyang to Bianzhou, but also from Bianzhou to Yanzhou. There are many difficulties in Sheji today. What if he introduces troops to attack and causes new disasters in Henan?
good?"
"The prince is the elder of the clan. How dare he treat me like this? Isn't he afraid of the public opinion in the world?"
Li Zhi was still hesitant, twirling his long beard and hesitating, then someone stood up to give him advice.
This person's name is Deng Jingshan, who belongs to Li Heng. He was a judge of Dali Temple during the Tianbao period. He interrogated Yuan Ming in the Bamboo Paper Case and was promoted to the supervisory censor for meritorious service. After the rebellion broke out, he ran to Lingwu and was appointed by Li Heng.
Serve as Qing Qi Jiedushi.
The so-called Qing Qi Jiedushi was to command Qingzhou and Qizhou. The reason why Li Heng was appointed was because Deng Jingshan was from Qilu, and he hoped that he could control this area without spending a single soldier. After Deng Jingshan took office, he was quickly convinced
Li Zhi supported Li Heng and completed his mission, but they had just gained momentum, and Li Heng himself surrendered first.
At that time, the emperor did not recognize Deng Jingshan's reputation as the Qing Qi Jiedushi, but Li Zhi admired Deng Jingshan's honesty and frugality very much, and petitioned to ensure that he would serve as a judge in the field under the curtain. The imperial court wanted all the places to work together to suppress the rebellion, so they agreed.
"The prince of the house is the elder of the clan. When we go to meet him, King Yong will never dare to harm the prince of the house." Deng Jingshan said, "Zhang Xun is in Bianzhou today. This man has a good reputation and will never let anyone harm the house."
Sir, King Yong did not summon us in Luoyang but came to Bianzhou in person to show his sincerity. On the contrary, if the prince does not go, he will find an excuse for not obeying the military order, and he will be dismissed from his post as Jiedushi!"
"Really?" Li Zhi was still worried.
Deng Jingshan added: "I heard that the governor of Guangling, Duke Li of the State of Yue, has arrived in Ningling with grain. He is the son of King Xin'an and the nephew of the prince. Why not send someone to contact him and go to Bianzhou with two famous officials of the clan?
, plus Zhang Xun, who maintains an upright spirit, why should we fear King Yong?"
As he spoke, he looked solemn and said: "At the time of the introduction, not only could King Yong not be able to hold the prince accountable for his temporary defeat against Zhou Zhi, the prince also had to ask him why he allowed people to kill He Lan and enter the Ming Dynasty!"
After hearing this, Li Zhi thought it made sense, and immediately sent a messenger to see Li Zong to ask for his attitude.
The messenger worked hard and arrived at Ningling the next day. However, he waited outside the government office for a while before being received by Li Xi.
Li Hong had read Xue Baifa's official document yesterday, and today he was inviting Li Bai to meet and ask about some old things, so he delayed for a while before meeting Li Zhi's messenger.
After reading Li Zhi's letter, Li Zong glanced at Li Bai beside him, pondered for a while, and gave a reply.
"I still want to investigate the doubts about King Yong's life experience, but he clings to the power, which is unjust, and even wants to remove my uncle from the post of Jiedu. I will definitely not agree!"
First, he expressed his attitude clearly, and then Li Hong gave him a solution.
Not long ago, he fought side by side with Zhang Xun and opened up the grain road blocked by Zhou Zhi. He trusted Zhang Xun very much. He also knew that Xue Bai did not have many troops and Zhang Xun was actually the most powerful in Bianzhou City, so he invited Li
Only go together to give Xue Bai a show of strength and show the clan's attitude to the world.
In order to make Li Zhi go to Bianzhou with peace of mind, Li Zong also made a guarantee.
"As long as my nephew is here, I will never let him hurt my uncle."
The uncle and nephew reached a consensus and agreed to go to Bianzhou to discuss military affairs under the order of the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses.
~~
The carriage ran over deep ruts in the snow and slowly entered Bianzhou City.
In front of the team, several important figures from the Henan battlefield met. They were all polite and the atmosphere was far better than expected.
Xue Bai did not wear armor, but wore a plain robe, and his expression was calm and humble. This made Li Zhi feel at ease a lot, thinking that Xue Bai really asked him to come here just to get acquainted with each other and discuss the important matter of thieves.
"When the Supreme Emperor wanted to depose Prince Ying, I strongly opposed it."
After chatting for a few words, Li Zhi actually still had a good impression of Xue Bai. He sighed and said, "You have suffered a lot since childhood. It is rare to be able to clear your name and vindicate the case of three common people. What is even more rare is that you never have any resentment in your heart."
Especially, I want to serve the country. Li Ying has a son like this, so he should be smiling."
Later, Li Zhi even burst into tears, and Xue Bai had to comfort him.
The two seemed to have become a rare family member. Li Zhi and Li Longji were of the same generation and were cousins who had not played in the fifth server, so Xue Bai called each other "Aweng".
When Li Zhi wiped his old tears, he changed the topic and said: "But everything is too much and too little is too much. When the water is full, it will overflow, and when the moon is full, it will lose. You have done enough to guard Chang'an. You must not cling to power or arouse suspicion. In the end, you will end up being jealous."
I made a mistake!"
"What Aweng said is true," Xue Bai said, "I share this sentence with Aweng."
The scene fell silent.
Li Zhi was still wiping tears in emotion. Hearing this, he raised his head with an astonished expression and turned to look at Li Hong.
Li Hong immediately frowned and said, "What does Sanlang mean by this?"
"Aweng is already old. For the sake of his health, it is not appropriate to work on pommel horses anymore." Xue Bai said: "The royal family in the court is withering, and the post of Zongzhengqing is vacant to wait for high-ranking officials. Wouldn't it be more suitable for Aweng?"
"Are you trying to hold me accountable?" Li Zhi was very angry. He banged his cane hard and asked, "Since the rebellion, have I ever felt sorry for the imperial court?!"
He knew that Xue Bai was going to attack him and took the lead. Then, before Xue Bai could continue to speak, he waved to Zhang Xun and changed the subject.
"Come and take a look."
Li Zhi turned around tremblingly, pointed at the carriages and horses behind him with his crutch, and said, "We transported some grain from Yanzhou."
Hearing this, Zhang Xun and the soldiers behind him all showed joy. Seeing this, Xue Bai was not in a hurry and first looked at Li Zhi's methods.
Deng Jingshan stepped forward and explained: "Food has been prepared long ago to support Bianzhou. However, Bianzhou was surrounded by Zhou Zhi before, so the support was inconvenient and delayed."
"I have made all the soldiers suffer." Li Zhi clasped his hands to everyone and said in an old and sad voice: "I apologize to you!"
"This must not be the case." Zhang Xun hurriedly went to help him.
In fact, Li Zhi had more opportunities to support him before. It was obviously due to the power struggle between the DPRK and China, and later because of the delay in Helan's entry into the Ming Dynasty. It was only now that Xue Bai came, forcing them to transport grain.
At this time, their actions quickly won the favor of the Bianzhou soldiers.
In the chaos, Bai Zhongzhen took the opportunity and stepped forward to help Li Zhi. He smiled and said: "The King of Wu has worked hard for the country, how can he be so self-indulgent? Come in and sit down quickly. There is a banquet in the army today to reward the soldiers!"
Xue Bai and Zhang Xun had no plans to hold a banquet, but since the atmosphere was heightened here, they could not disappoint the soldiers.
Instead, the eunuch who oversaw the army took the opportunity to interfere in minor military affairs.
Zhang Xun frowned, a little unhappy about this, but turned to look at Xue Bai and found that Xue Bai didn't care much.
Whoever cares about this supervisor is the one to worry about.
Soon, cartloads of grain and grass were unloaded, and each camp lit a fire to make food.
So it was a small accident.
At that time, everyone was talking in the hall, and suddenly they heard a quarrel outside. When the generals asked, they found out that there was a conflict between soldiers from Bianzhou and Yanzhou.
Zhang Xun then called Nan Jiyun and asked what happened.
"Your Majesty, the King of Wu has insulted me too much! He said that he was giving food to the army, but all that was brought was rotten rice. We killed enemies for the country, but we were treated like wild dogs?!"
After saying this, Nan Jiyun turned to look at Li Zhi, his eyes wide open and he wanted to question him.
Li Zhi didn't know why and asked Deng Jingshan what was going on.
Deng Jingshan then leaned into Li Zhi's ear and whispered: "We kindly brought the grain and fodder, but I don't know why they deliberately made things difficult."
As he spoke, he came to his senses and added: "This person is Nan Jiyun who killed Helan Jinming in vain. He must have been instructed by King Yong to provoke a conflict between the prince and Bianzhou."
Li Zhi then understood what he meant, and asked Zhang Xun to come forward in a friendly manner, saying: "You should find out what the situation is. Don't mistakenly believe the villain's words."
The sound was not loud, but Nan Jiyun still heard it. His expression immediately changed, he cupped his fists and knelt down between Xue Bai and Zhang Xun.
"The last general will repay the truth according to the truth, without a word of nonsense! The last general will not frown even if he dies on the battlefield. How could he ever slander King Si Wu for a few grains of rotten rice?"
"stand up!"
Compared to Zhang Xun, Xue Bai seemed to be more defensive. He stepped forward to help Nan Jiyun up and didn't say a word. He just looked at Li Zhi and Li Chong with a straight face.
These two people are his elders. How to deal with this matter, he has shown that he will listen to their wishes for the time being.
"Seeing is believing, you have to see it before making a final conclusion." Li Hong said.
Then everyone got up and went to see the food together.
Only then did he see the white smoke rising from the cauldron from a distance, and he could already smell a rotten smell. As he got closer, a cook came forward with corn in his hands and said, "Look, it's all rotten rice."
??????55.??????
When you blow the white snow that fell on it, you can see that the corns have turned completely black and are so eaten by insects that it is impossible to tell which ones are mold and which ones are millet.
Diao Bing took a closer look and saw many small insects emerging from the mold spots and wriggling above them.
He immediately thought of the hard days he had lived in the past, and his whole face wrinkled up. He was the most frugal person, and he would not throw away a pair of straw sandals until they were worn out. Even though he was now prosperous, he still wore the same shoes he had bought from Song Zhiti at Luhun Villa.
Shoes stripped from the corpse.
"It's a waste of food." Diao Bing sighed. It's a pity that these food can be left to mold. I'm afraid it has been left for ten years, right?
"How can it be a waste of food?" Diao Geng laughed and said, "Didn't King Si Wu bring food for us to eat?"
In one sentence, all the Bianzhou troops felt the same hatred towards the enemy and looked at Li Zhi one after another.
Zhang Xun then ordered all the grains delivered to be inspected, and the soldiers went forward and pierced each sack, and found that all the grain that came out was rotten rice.
Li Zhi's face turned ugly. He looked at Deng Jingshan and asked, "What's going on?"
Deng Jingshan's eyes changed, and he stood up and said loudly to everyone: "There is only this food in the treasury. In the past, when Tianbao was prosperous, the warehouses were rich in rice and millet, and there was too much to eat. The rebellion suddenly broke out, and the thieves
Looting, looting by the people to supply the troops, the new grain in the warehouse has long been used up, and only this rotten grain is left!"
These words may be able to explain to Li Zhi why he brought rotten food, but it obviously cannot eliminate the anger of the Bianzhou soldiers.
Deng Jingshan also knew it, so he strode into the snow, faced everyone, and unbuttoned his official robe, revealing a worn and patched inner robe. He then unbuttoned his inner robe, and even the spring shirt underneath
It's also very dilapidated.
The spring shirt was opened, revealing a skinny body inside. In the Tang Dynasty, where plumpness was regarded as beauty, there were indeed not many officials as thin as him.
"The country is in a lot of troubles today. The people are suffering from catastrophes. Starvation is everywhere, and the people are in dire straits. There is no other grain in the warehouse. I brought these grains here because this is what I usually eat!"
With that said, he strode to the cauldron in his thin spring shirt, scooped up the cooked rotten corn rice, held it up for everyone to see, and ate it with big mouthfuls.
"tasty!"
"fragrant!"
Deng Jingshan was neither afraid of cold nor hot. He stood with his slender neck and chewed the food in his mouth. He ate happily and made a satisfied cry from time to time.
"When the Emperor was in Nanxing, I was traveling from Chang'an to Lingwu. I ran out of food. I didn't eat a grain of corn for seventeen days on the way. I ate carrion and grass roots on the roadside. Compared with those, these corns are so fragrant!"
He did eat like this on a daily basis. Soon, some of his close officials came out, knelt down beside him, and cried loudly, explaining to everyone that what he said was true.
Li Zhi sighed, secretly thinking that Deng Jingshan deserved the reputation of Naqing and finally no longer blamed him.
"If you don't eat these grains of rice, how can you throw it away? If Mr. Deng can eat it, why can't I eat it?" Deng Jingshan's cronies cried and shouted loudly, "Sending goose feathers thousands of miles away is a matter of light.
Deng Gong was afraid that you would not have enough to eat, so he shipped the only grain he had in stock, so why should you be dissatisfied?!"
When Nan Jiyun heard this, his heart suddenly became angry.
It's not that he can't eat rotten food. When Yongqiu was besieged, they gnawed all the bark of the trees in the city, ate all the rats, and even bit off the leather from their weapons to wrap their bellies.
What he couldn't accept was this kind of deception and contempt. He and his soldiers endured hunger and fought to the death, not just to eat rotten food after making military exploits.
But as soon as Deng Jingshan's cruel plan came out, nothing he said was appropriate, and he could only hold his anger in his heart.
Not only him, but everyone did not say anything to refute.
Zhang Xun was always considerate of the soldiers, but he was also dragged into a dilemma. He simply stepped forward, scooped up a spoonful of rotten rice, ate it, and thanked Deng Jingshan for his kindness, indicating that the matter was over.
That night, Nan Jiyun and his soldiers were sitting in the barracks, feeling unhappy, when they heard movement outside. It turned out to be Diao Bing.
"King Yong ordered me to send these dry food, wine and meat, not much, to reward the soldiers. In addition, King Yong also brought a message."
"Brother Diao, please tell me."
"At first we guarded Yongqiu, and later we welcomed the Emperor back to Chang'an, all so that the soldiers fighting the enemy on the front line could have a full meal. The imperial court may have difficulties, but it will never fool everyone. Today some people are playing their own role,
I won’t really let everyone eat rotten food.”
Nan Jiyun just breathed a sigh of relief and said, "With King Yong's words, we will feel at ease."
~~
It was night, but Li Zhi still called Deng Jingshan and complained a few words.
"Now that we know that we are here to join forces with Li Xun and Zhang Xun, why are we still so stingy? We almost missed a big deal because of a small thing!"
"The lower officials are aware of the crime, but do you think that without this matter, King Yong would not find fault with us from other places?" Deng Jingshan said, "Zhang Xun and other subordinates may even eat human flesh when they are hungry.
However, even if you get grain, you are still dissatisfied and causing trouble. Isn't this King Yong instigating behind the scenes?"
Li Zhi heard the truth and remained silent.
Deng Jingshan said: "I have no shame in this matter. They thought they found a flaw, but I want them to know that they hit a hard rock this time!"
He has an upright face, and his honest and noble character has become his strongest foundation, and he is not afraid of any attack. Even Xue Bai can't do anything to him.
Li Zhi thought the same thing. What happened today was actually Xue Bai's secret loss and a hard nut to bite. It would be hard to ask for his removal from power next.
"That's good. Fortunately, you have always been honest and thrifty..."
At this moment, an official came to report, with a somewhat mysterious tone.
"The eunuch who oversees the army wants to see you."
~~
The next day, Xue Bai met Li Guangbi's envoy when he came together and promised many things, including food and grass, soldiers, weapons, and armor. As long as Li Guangbi asked for anything, he refused.
Even Diao Bingshou, who was listening outside, was very surprised and felt sorry for Xue Bai.
"My husband is so generous, where can I get the food and utensils from?"
After seeing off the envoy and having some time, Diao Bing couldn't help but ask: "If you want to transport it here from various places, wouldn't you just let Li Zhi, Li Hong and others hold it hostage?"
"Just convince them." Xue Bai said casually: "I wanted to make an attack yesterday, but they stopped me."
Diao Bing whispered: "Bai Zhongzhen was restless again last night and ran to see Li Zhi and Deng Jingshan."
"oh?"
Xue Bai was just trying to find an excuse to continue attacking Li Zhi. Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile and asked, "Do you know what they talked about?"
"Go check it out, little man."
"Start with Hun Yao and you should be able to find out."
"Here."
Diao Bing came out after receiving the order, still thinking about the rotten food.
The strange thing is that he is a frugal person, and so is Deng Jingshan. Logically speaking, he should understand similar people very well, but he always feels that he dislikes Deng Jingshan, and he can't figure out why.
Soon, he found Hun Yao.
Hun Yao was not in a good mood these past two days because many people in the army laughed at him for being close to the eunuch.
The young man was thin-skinned and quickly became angry. He deliberately retorted a few words, but then thought about how this matter was leaked.
While he was sitting depressed, he was tapped on the shoulder. He looked up and said, "Did King Yong summon me?"
"I want to ask you a few questions." Diao Bing sat down and asked, "What did Bai Zhongzhen, Li Zhi, and Deng Jingshan say last night?"
"you……"
Hun Yao was very surprised, quickly calmed down, retracted the next question, and pursed his lips.
"Do you really think that Bai Zhongzhen is the special envoy of the saint?" Diao Bing said: "A power-hungry man who doesn't know how to fight, are you trying to cling to him? Are you so swayed by others at such a young age?"
"You don't have to provoke me." Hun Yao was very angry at this comment and said angrily: "It's useless for you to provoke me!"
"Clinging to the powerful, clinging to the eunuchs..."
Only half a quarter of an hour later, Diao Bing went to repay Xue Bai.
"Mr. Lang, when I asked, Bai Zhongzhen didn't understand anything. He didn't say anything important, but there was a small thing."
When Diao Bing said it as a funny story, Xue Bai was slightly surprised and asked: "Really?"
"yes."
"Deng Jingshan doesn't look like such a person."
"The villain is used to being poor, so he is even more frugal than him." Diao Bing said, "But the villain also knows that thieves also have their ways."
"That's not how idioms are used, don't use them randomly."
Having said this, Xue Bai quickly went to discuss military affairs with the generals.
For him, military affairs meant rectifying local forces and dealing with those who disobeyed the court's orders. Therefore, he acted very tough as soon as he arrived, much stronger than yesterday.
In front of all the generals, Xue Bai asked directly.
"Deng Jingshan! You feed rotten millet to the soldiers and pride yourself on being honest. But privately, you ask for bribes of gold and jewels from my generals. Why is this?!"
When Deng Jingshan heard this, his face changed drastically, his eyes showed horror, he looked at Xue Bai and murmured: "How did you..."
Soon, Nan Jiyun led people to search out a box of priceless treasures from under Deng Jingshan's pillow.
The residence was watched by Yanzhou soldiers all night. Deng Jingshan had just come out of the house not long ago, so there was no chance of framing him. In addition, Li Zhi was extremely shocked. After being shocked, he seemed to know what happened, but
Turning his head to look at Bai Zhongzhen, he saw that Bai Zhongzhen's face was panicked.
"This is not asking for a bribe!"
Deng Jingshan was also anxious and immediately defended himself, saying angrily: "This is a reward!"
"Who rewarded you?"
"yes……"
In the middle of Deng Jingshan's words, Bai Zhongzhen was so frightened that he started coughing. He kept shaking his head at him and signaling with his eyes to stop talking.
He didn't want to embarrass the emperor, so he never told the truth, saying: "It was King Wu who rewarded me with gold and silver when he saw that I was poor. What does this matter have to do with King Yong?!"
Bringing a box of gold and silver is not a serious crime. The problem is that yesterday Deng Jingshan showed his integrity and thrift in front of countless soldiers, and today something like this happened.
The news spread quickly and immediately aroused the anger of the soldiers in the city. For a moment, the public was so angry that it was difficult to suppress it. It seemed that not killing Deng Jingshan would not be enough to calm people's hearts.
In fact, Li Zhi, Li Xun, and Zhang Xun all knew that those treasures must be used by Bai Zhongzhen to win over Deng Jingshan.
This eunuch is really too successful and too bad! I really think all officials are as greedy for money as they are, despicable and hateful!
Zhang Xun had no choice but to save Deng Jingshan's life, so he had to take him to prison. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Please give the order of King Yong to take Deng Jingshan to prison!"
Xue Bai was not in a hurry, but looked at Li Zhi and asked, "What do you think Aweng is?"
Li Zhi looked at Xue Bai's eyes and felt a chill go down his spine. He knew that if he followed Xue Bai's wishes and cut off his arm just after arriving in Bianzhou, it would not only be the fault of Deng Jingshan, but also of him, the elder of the Li Tang clan, and of the entire family.
Xiang Xue Bai was convinced.
So, not only did it fail to suppress Xue Bai's prestige, it also increased it.
Thinking about it like this, he couldn't help but secretly wonder, could the eunuch Bai Zhongzhen be Xue Bai's person?