In the pear orchard, the fallen snow covered the branches like pear blossoms.
In the cold weather, Jiang Caiping and Fan Nu were on the stage, wearing some thin opera robes, dancing with long sleeves, and singing a new song written by Li Longji.
An accident changed their lives, and living in seclusion in the palace, only folk music still comforted the loss in their hearts.
Li Longji holds a glass of warm wine in his hand, his eyes are lonely, but the sadness in his heart can only be expressed through poetry and opera. He has loved these all his life, and now is the peak of his creation.
He gradually realized that his previous poems were useless and mediocre works.
Gao Lishi was sitting beside him. When he saw Dou Wenyang coming this way, he got up and went over to ask a few questions. When he came back, his face was a little unhappy, and he said to Li Longji: "Your Majesty, the saint has come to pay his respects to you."
Li Longji didn't want to see Li Cong's ugly face, but he also hoped that Li Cong would pay him greetings frequently. Otherwise, the powerful people in the palace would think that the Emperor was not taken seriously and deduct his food and clothing expenses.
He also saw Gao Lishi's unhappiness. In Gao Lishi's city, no one could tell if he wanted to keep his face secret. At this time, he was obviously very dissatisfied with Dou Wenyang.
Both the master and the servant were not very happy, but they had no choice but to cheer up and deal with it.
When I met Li, the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Since Li Cong issued an edict to change the year to the year and rename it as Zhengshuo, he has denied Li Longji's achievements and claimed that his achievements were even worse.
But in Li Longji's eyes, this son was just an incompetent waste who was held hostage by foreign ministers.
They looked at each other with disgust and were speechless.
In the end, it was Dou Wenyang who spoke first: "The Supreme Emperor, now that the left treasury is empty, we should let the states and counties pay tribute to the treasures for the palace expenses. It's just that the governors of each county do not obey the sage's decree, so they have to be ordered by the Supreme Emperor."
Li Longji waved his hand and said with waning interest: "Who else can I ask to move?"
This is a refusal. It has been less than two years since Li Cong took the throne. Li Longji must still have great influence on all counties and counties in the world.
Dou Wenyang said: "When the Supreme Emperor was in Shu County, he sent many princes and important ministers to various roads..."
"Are you a slave worthy of talking to the Supreme Emperor?!"
Gao Lishi suddenly shouted and scolded Dou Wenyang.
Dou Wenyang's face suddenly turned ugly, and the light in his eyes was uncertain, and he finally said: "This slave is consulting for the saint."
"A saint will speak up when he has something to ask. Between father and son, do we still need your eunuch's help?!"
Dou Wenyang was furious.
He is now the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Prison, and his actual power is much greater than that of Gao Lishi. How can he humiliate Gao Lishi like this?
"Hasn't Gao Weng ever sent a message to the Supreme Emperor? If so, who knows if Gao Weng speaks the next time he has the intention of the Supreme Emperor!"
Li Cong quickly smoothed things over, asking Dou Wenyang to shut up, and said to Gao Lishi: "You all go down, I will talk to my father."
In the past, when Gao Lishi was in power, he was called "Aweng", but now he is naturally no longer so commensurate and is just a slave.
After the two slaves retreated, Li Cong glanced at Li Longji, but still did not speak.
Li Longji just couldn't stand his incompetence, so he spoke first and said: "Recalling the past recently, I regret very much. I shouldn't have killed Li Ying in the first place."
Li Cong felt that these words were mocking him for being far inferior to Li Ying, and he felt unhappy.
Just listen to Li Longji continue: "Now that Li Ying has been rehabilitated, his spirit in heaven has finally forgiven me. He gave me a dream a few days ago, and he still has a trace of his grievance soul that has nowhere to go. He needs an heir to observe mourning in the mausoleum for three years and sincerely go to heaven."
prayer."
All of Li Ying's children were adopted by Li Cong, and the kindness of raising them cannot be cut off. Now only King Yong can keep his filial piety.
This was the purpose of Li Longji identifying Xue Bai as soon as he arrived in Chang'an and confirming the identity of the emperor's grandson. He had many ways to restrict Xue Bai.
Unfortunately, his eldest son was stupid and did not know how to give up power to him. He held the remaining power and handed it over to a eunuch.
It was not until this time that Li Cong asked for help that he was willing to reveal his method.
If he had said this before, Xue Bai would have used Shi Siming's rebellion as an excuse to refuse. Now that the rebellion has been put down and the world is at peace, this is an opportunity.
When Li Cong heard this, he first agreed that this was a good idea. His next thought was that Li Longji was still very capable, so he felt a sense of fear, but he didn't show it on his face, instead he said: "Father's clever plan."
Li Longji nodded matter-of-factly and said, "You can't leave that crotch in Fan Yang for a long time, or the tail won't fall off."
"How did the emperor know that he was in Fan Yang?"
"If not, could Dou Wenyang be so domineering?"
It was Dou Wenyang who said this, but he was mocking Li Cong for taking advantage of Xue Bai's absence to dare to correct Shuo, which was deeply contemptuous.
Li Cong also spoke directly, saying: "Since my father knows that I can control the government without him, how can I let him return to Beijing too early?"
"Humph, his foundation is shallow. Once the war is over, people's hearts will naturally be with you."
Li Cong couldn't listen to this and thought that Li Longji said all this because he was angry because Xue Bai had robbed Yang Yuhuan. However, the path Dou Wenyang pointed out to him was very correct. What he lacked now was money to win people's hearts.
He then asked Li Longji to issue an order to allow all counties and counties to resume paying tribute, recreating the grand occasion of "Sanlang got the treasure" back then.
In fact, Li Longji was very willing to do this. He asked him to instruct local officials so that he could participate in state affairs and regain some power. Just now, Gao Lishi deliberately scolded Dou Wenyang to prevent Li Cong from alerting him.
So, he reluctantly agreed and sighed helplessly.
Li Cong was overjoyed and hoped that everything would be fine once he had money to clear the way.
In the past, Li Longji's behavior of squandering money and rewarding officials had left a deep impression on him. Although he did not know it, he believed in his heart that this was the most powerful means of conspiracy.
~~
Dou Wenyang talked to Li Cong several times about buying people's hearts and taking money from internal funds. Later, he accepted bribes from officials and assigned them official positions, which made more and more incompetent officials in the court express their loyalty to the saint.
It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone, getting two cents of money for one thing.
He grew up poor and humble, and had a greedy desire for money. What impressed me most since he was a child was the scenes of powerful people competing with each other and fighting for wealth.
It was indeed a grand scene in Chang'an City during Tianbao's reign. Whenever Yang Yuyao saw someone's mansion more luxurious than hers, she would demolish her own house and rebuild it. But there were countless mansions in Chang'an, how could she win the first place? Nothing else.
It is said that Wang Zhi's Ziyu Pavilion is unique in its craftsmanship and high cost.
Dou Wenyang can now finally participate in such extravagant behavior.
Although he is not short of money, he will never be satisfied.
In addition, for many things in the world, money is not enough.
On this day, Dou Wenyang was angry with Gao Lishi in the palace. When he returned home, he saw his son Dou Yu squatting on the threshold of the lobby in grievance and crying, with a lot of snot and tears.
Of course, Dou Yu is not his biological son, but his nephew. He is only seven years old this year. He is white, fat, round, and very cute. Dou Wenyang has long been envious of his brother for having such a son, and he adopted him after he became powerful.
"What's wrong? Are you crying?"
"Grandpa!" Dou Yu cried: "My son was bullied in the Imperial College. They... they took advantage of my son's life."
Dou Wenyang watched as a snot bubble appeared under Dou Yu's nostril and then burst. When he heard what he said later, he was immediately shocked and angry.
"What? Even the puppies dare!"
Dou Wenyang cursed, hurriedly stepped forward, untied Dou Yu's belt, and saw that the little thing was still there.
Only then did he heave a sigh of relief. The lifeblood of continuing the family lineage was not lost.
But he was petty and angry, and he was still gnashing his teeth and cursing.
"Let's go! Go to the Imperial College and find out everyone who dares to bully you!"
Since Xue Bai, who was far away in Fan Yang, valued academic affairs, as his lifelong rival, Dou Wenyang was not to be outdone and decided to teach his disciples a lesson.
However, when he arrived at the Imperial Academy, he was blocked by Zheng Qian, Su Yuanming and others, and the eunuchs were not allowed to enter the gate of the Imperial Academy.
Dou Wenyang was now a third-grade eunuch. He believed in his high rank and looked down on these two minor officials. He stood on the steps and pointed at them and cursed them.
However, this was not Miyagi, and no one was pampering him. Instead, there were boos.
"Treacherous eunuch, you dare to break into the Imperial College even if you take a piss to look at yourself."
"Oh, he has to squat down to urinate."
Everyone laughed, Dou Wenyang stood there furious, wishing he could order the imperial guards to come and capture all these scholars, but among the imperial guards there were generals like Guo Qianli and Zhang Xiaojing who were close to Xue Bai, and they firmly controlled Chang'an.
defense force.
He could not be scolded and scolded, but could not be killed, so Dou Wenyang had no choice but to stomp his feet and return with anger.
Afterwards, he sent an edict from the saints to demote Zheng Qian and Su Yuanming, hoping to kill them on the way. However, when the edict reached Zhongshu's subordinates, Yan Zhenqing immediately rejected it, and in turn accused Dou Wenyang of being domineering.
"Am I domineering? I've been bullied to this point and am still domineering?!"
Dou Wenyang was finally so angry that Yan Zhenqing cried.
This incident was regarded as a head-on conflict between him and King Yong's forces. It was like kicking a stone. The other party did not move at all, but he was kicked hard.
But if he let it go, not only would he not be able to swallow this breath, but he would also not be able to afford to lose this person.
After all, there are many officials serving under him now. If he is bullied like this and cannot fight back, who will listen to him in the future?
After thinking about it all night, he couldn't sleep peacefully. At dawn the next day, Dou Wenyang suddenly had an idea and had another idea.
He summoned his servants, gave a few instructions in a low voice, and said: "Go and get it done quickly."
Later, when Dou Yu was about to go to the Imperial College, he waved others to come to him and said, "There is no need to go to study anymore."
"Really, Master? That's great!" Dou Yu was overjoyed.
Dou Wenyang said: "Why are we studying? Isn't it to be an official? But I told you that you can be an official without studying. I also want to give you a red robe to make those bastards who dare to bully you jealous.
Make them mad."
"Great!" Dou Yu clapped his hands happily.
But after all, he went to the Imperial Academy to study and knew some things. After a while, he couldn't help but ask: "But my son is only seven years old, can he still be an official?"
"You can't carry on the family line at the age of seven, but why can't you be an official? Come on, I will take you to see the saint."
Today, General Zhang Xiaojing of the Jinwu Guard was on duty outside the Daming Palace. He was standing on the palace wall with a dried persimmon and chewing on it. When he saw Dou Wenyang's carriage arriving, he looked over and spat: "Why did you bring a kid here?
"
"It should be his son." One of the soldiers said: "The one named Dou is working so hard to make money, but it will all belong to his son from now on."
"Dear?"
"How can it not be possible? Adoption is also inheritance. Speaking of which, he might as well let me be his son. I can have more children." The soldier said with a playful smile.
Zhang Xiaojing sneered twice and muttered to himself: "Adoption is also inheritance. Why can Li Qiu inherit it but King Yong can't?"
Over there, Dou Wenyang led Dou Yu into the palace to meet Li Cong.
Li Cong was naturally curious as to why he brought his son here today, so Dou Wenyang cried out his story, and at the end, he burst into tears.
"Yan Zhenqing has gone too far to bully others. If he continues like this, I'm afraid he will ride on His Majesty's head."
Li Cong said: "I have been thinking recently, why not pardon Chen Xilie, Zhang Bian and other old ministers, worship them as prime ministers, and divide the power of Yan Zhenqing."
Dou Wenyang was concentrating on crying. He was shocked when he heard this and asked: "Who gave your Majesty this idea?"
He had only been away from duty in the palace for one day, and Li Cong suddenly had such an idea. Thinking back to yesterday when he went to the Tai Chi Palace to pay his respects to the Supreme Emperor, he was startled.
"It's not what the Supreme Emperor said to His Majesty, right? If these senior people are allowed to serve as prime ministers again, isn't Your Majesty afraid that the Supreme Emperor will regain power?"
Li Cong waved his hand and said, "I thought of it myself."
"That must be a hint given by the Supreme Emperor." Dou Wenyang quickly tried to persuade Li Cong to give up this idea.
Fortunately, Li Cong was not determined for the time being. Seeing his objection, he said nothing more.
Dou Wenyang then quickly brought the topic back to Dou Yu's matter.
"They slapped me in the face, but they damaged His Majesty's majesty. I have weighed it many times and found that there is only one way to make things right."
"What's the solution?"
Dou Wenyang led Dou Yu forward and said, "Your Majesty, please give him a fifth-grade official position."
Li Cong was stunned for a moment, his eyes fixed on Dou Yu's lips.
He saw traces of dried snot from his nose, and also saw Dou Yu's eyes that were so pure that they looked a little stupid.
How can such a young kid become an official?
However, Li Cong was still thinking about how to politely refuse Dou Wenyang, but Dou Wenyang had already spoken again.
"Why don't you thank Your Majesty for your grace?"
This was said to Dou Yu. Dou Yu also obeyed and immediately knelt down in front of Li Cong. Although his movements were clumsy, his words were very sophisticated.
"I thank your Majesty for your grace."
Li Cong opened his mouth when he saw this, not knowing what to say.
Dou Wenyang was very considerate. He was worried that the saint's edict would be rejected by Yan Zhenqing when it reached Zhongshu's disciples, so he prepared the official robe, official seal, personal declaration and a set of documents, and prepared to send them directly to the Shangshu Province.
Raw rice is cooked, let's see what Yan Zhenqing can do.
He hurriedly waved for someone to bring the altered red official robe and put it on Dou Yu in front of Li Cong.
After a lot of work, Dou Yu touched his belly, put on his belt, looked around, and muttered proudly: "Let's see who dares to grab my little baby."
"How are you talking?" Dou Wenyang lectured: "When you and I work for His Majesty, we should see who dares to defy the power of heaven."
When Li Cong saw the father and son saluting again, he could only sneer and say: "This kid looks so cute wearing official robes."
"hey-hey."
Dou Yu giggled. He was so naive and adorable.
~~
"General, look at that godson."
At the palace gate, Zhang Xiaojing looked over and saw that the child Dou Wenyang was holding had changed into a red official robe when he came out of the palace, and couldn't help but let out a "ha".
"This powerful eunuch has brought chaos to Chang'an. How can the general still laugh?"
Zhang Xiaojing said: "Prodigies, there is always no shortage of them in Chang'an City."
In fact, the first thing he thought of was that in the past, people always said that King Yong was too young to take on big responsibilities. But now, with a seven-year-old fifth-rank official, who can still dislike King Yong.
As for Dou Wenyang's troubles that made Chang'an miserable, he had some other opinions.
King Yong asked himself to guard Fan Yang. Perhaps he deliberately allowed this powerful official to offend the public, so he blocked him. On the contrary, he felt that Yan Zhenqing was really thinking about Li Cong when he blocked Dou Wenyang's perverse actions several times.
It's a pity that even he, a warrior, understands the truth, but the saint does not understand it.
At this moment, Li Cong was still standing in the hall in a daze.
Only today did he suddenly realize that he seemed to have never rejected any of Dou Wenyang's proposals.
So, after relying on Dou Wenyang to get rid of Xue Bai, will Dou Wenyang become the next Xue Bai?
It's like using the power of the Supreme Emperor to control a place. Will the Supreme Emperor in turn take control of the country?
Thinking about this, Li Cong was confused. He really didn't know what he should do to avoid being hijacked by others...
Gangneung.
The water of the Yangtze River is rolling, rushing thousands of miles. Although the cities along the river are not big, they look majestic and majestic because of the vast Yangtze River.
In front of the city gate, a group of knights galloped over on horseback.
"Hush!"
Li Lin, who was rushing at the front, pulled the reins hard and stopped the horse's momentum abruptly.
A guard caught up and wanted to help Li Lin. He had already got off the horse and touched the neck of the horse. Without sweating, he threw out his whip and said, "Take it for another lap. There is too much water here.
I can’t have enough fun running.”
He is not used to living here yet and prefers the flat and open Guanzhong Plain.
After getting on his luxurious and flat carriage and returning to the mansion, his aide Yang Xu quickly greeted him.
"Prince Yong, a letter from Chang'an has arrived."
It was said to be a family letter, but since Li Lin was a prince, the person writing to him was either the emperor or the supreme emperor.
He was not in a hurry to read the letter. He sat down and ate some fruits first, and said with a smile: "The only good thing about the south is that there are many fruits. No wonder my father spent so much effort to dig out the Shu Road."
"Yes, it's almost Chinese New Year, but I can still eat these. I wouldn't have dared to think about it when I was in Chang'an."
"It's almost the New Year." Li Lin sneered, "My brother really thinks that he is better than Yao and Shun. If the year changes, I'm waiting to see him make a big fool of himself."
Yang Xu was still holding the so-called family letter in his hand, with a smile on his face, and said: "Everyone in the world hates Dou Wenyang for wielding power, saying that there is no change in the celestial phenomena, and causing such ridiculous things, I'm afraid
Before next year, the saint's prestige will fall to the bottom."
Li Lin then took the letter and opened it to read. He frowned for a while, pondered for a while, and seemed to realize something.
After a while, he raised his head and murmured: "Father asked me to present the treasure."
Yang Xu said: "The Supreme Emperor is now living in seclusion in the palace. How can he issue such an edict? I'm afraid it's a saint's instruction."
"Oh."
If Li Lin was convinced by Li Heng, she always looked down upon Li Cong, his disfigured and childless eldest brother.
If he was asked to present treasures to Li Congjin, he would naturally be extremely repulsive.
Yang Xu also knew what he was thinking, so he complained a few words about this matter, and tactfully said that Li Cong's behavior was simply whimsical.
Li Lin pushed the letter over, the smile on his face became stronger and stronger, and then said: "Do you know why my father wrote this letter to me?"
"Is it because of the saint's request?"
Li Lin shook his head, showing a mysterious expression. After a while, he said leisurely: "Father, you want me to inherit the throne."
Yang Xu was stunned and read the letter again, but could not see any such instruction in the letter.
But for such a big matter, he didn't dare to show his incomprehensible expression, so he pretended to nod, pretending to be suddenly enlightened. He was still thinking in his heart, which sentence was the instruction for King Yong to succeed to the throne?
Li Linzhi was very proud and murmured to himself: "Li Cong, this loser, will lose his ancestral inheritance to outsiders in the future. The second brother is also incompetent. He led Anxi and Shuofang people failed to put down the rebellion, and instead made his father
The emperor is captured. Now Xue Ni has evil intentions. Looking at my father, the emperor, and all his sons, I am the only one who can help the country."
"That's of course. King Yong's gifted posture is outstanding among all kings and is unmatched." Yang Xu praised him in a matter-of-fact tone.
Li Lin's elder brother was mostly killed because of his ability, while his mother's status was slightly higher, and it was indeed because she was more favored by Li Longji that she was sent to take charge of the transfer of money and food in times of crisis.
He has always had such confidence, and said thoughtfully: "This letter must be my father looking for an opportunity to contact me."
Yang Xu thought that was the case, nodded and agreed: "Then King Yong should send someone to Chang'an and try to contact the Supreme Emperor."
This sentence finally hit the point, making Li Lin feel that she had not hired this staff member in vain.
But it is easy to send an envoy to Chang'an, but it is difficult to contact the Supreme Emperor in the palace. After all, they are thousands of miles apart, and they don't even know what is happening in Chang'an.
Yang Xu then went to summon the messenger for questioning.
The messenger started talking non-stop, starting from the resentment caused by the unfair reward when offering prisoners to the people of Chang'an, to Dou Wenyang's appointment of his seven-year-old son to an official position, which angered the officials.
Li Lin listened and clapped his hands and laughed.
"Li Cong will lose people's hearts by using powerful officials so much. If God doesn't take it, he will be blamed for it. This world is determined by me!"
Yang Xu held the ceremony and said: "I see that Dou Wenyang is greedy and nepotistic. If I go to Chang'an with heavy gifts, I will definitely gain his trust. When the time comes, I will contact the Supreme Emperor and ask the Supreme Emperor to give him a secret decree, and then King Yong can follow the imperial edict and come to the capital."
"Hurry." Li Lin said: "I don't have to look at the sky, I just look at the situation and I know that the time when the throne will be shaken is not far away."
Major matters were agreed upon, but Yang Xu thought of another question.
"King Yong, if Xue Ni raises his troops to go south, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with it."
Li Lin smiled faintly and said: "When my father fled, I was kidnapped by Xue Bai and brought back to Chang'an. But do you know why he let me go to Shu County?"
~~
It was a snowy day in Fanyang today.
Xue Bai has received the envoys from Khitan and has initially reached an agreement on mutual trade.
On this day, a messenger also came from the south and handed a piece of information to Xue Bai.
Unfolding it, it says that the saint has decreed that Xue Bai should observe filial piety to Li Ying to appease the wronged soul.
With the word "filial piety" suppressed, even Yan Zhenqing could not reject the decree.
It was the people Xue Bai placed in Zhongshu's province who sent a horse to deliver the news in advance.
Li Longji's move seems to be unsolvable.
In fact, as Shi Siming's rebellion was put down, Xue Bai's position as the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses was inevitably facing resignation.
When you are ordered to do something in danger, if you don't respect yourself, you will inevitably face the end of losing sight of the enemy.
Xue Bai read the news, but did not feel any embarrassment. He seemed to have expected it. He calmly wrote a letter and handed it to the messenger with a few instructions.