No matter how long he left or where he went, Xue Bai always seemed to return to Chang'an.
A few pigeons parked along the wall of Zhuque Street were frightened by the sound of horse hooves, and their white feathers contrasted with the green tiles and red walls. The melodious bells from the pagoda further away made him feel familiar.
All the way to Daming Palace, the generals waiting at the city gate were all old faces.
With a carefree smile on his face, Guo Qianli saluted Xue Bai and said: "King Yong, although I haven't fought a single battle, it is the most difficult thing to defeat others without fighting. King Yong said so, right?"
?”
Xue Bai knew him well, so he joked: "General Guo's military skills are superb."
After Guo Qianli made a joke, he stepped forward and whispered a few words to Xue Bai.
"The Emperor was in the Daming Palace. The situation at that time, I think it would be safer to move to the Daming Palace to guard..."
"knew."
Originally, Li Longji lived in seclusion in the Taiji Palace. This time, he must take advantage of Li Cong's escape to seize power. It is normal for him to take over the Daming Palace. As for Guo Qianli, it was for guarding reasons, and Xue Bai could also accept this reason.
Anyway, no matter how far Li Longji had gone in seizing power, Xue Bai interrupted the process as soon as he came back.
Guo Qianli looked carefree on the surface, but he was actually worried in his heart. After seeing Xue Bai's attitude, he felt relieved and retreated to the back.
He walked a few steps and suddenly saw an unusually conspicuous person standing in the queue. His eyes widened and he waved, "Li Taibai!"
Li Bai put one hand behind his back and stroked his beard with the other. He was looking up at the palace in the distance, recalling the past of Bachelor Ren Hanlin, and lamented that he was back in Chang'an after so many years. Suddenly he heard someone calling him and turned around.
, he recognized it first and seemed not to recognize Guo Qianli.
"Li Taibai, do you still remember me? When I was guarding the palace gate, you went to the Hanlin Academy every day and saw each other often."
After saying this, Li Bai remembered it and said with a smile: "I was often drunk at that time, and the general supported me to meet the emperor."
"Yes, yes, you even wrote me a poem!"
"Remember, remember."
Li Bai wrote too many poems in his life. He opened his mouth to read them, but then forgot about them. He raised his hands and waved them up and down, counting the rhymes.
Guo Qianli then made two gestures with his hands and spoke to remind him of the first two words of the poem.
"General..."
The two looked at each other, and the poem finally blurted out.
"The young general showed his martial prowess and entered the silver platform to protect Ziwei."
"The general is on his way to support the ship, and the flags on the river are blowing purple smoke."
The voices of both of them gradually weakened, and finally stopped, feeling a little embarrassed.
Guo Qianli scratched his head, the smile on his face was still there, but it was much stiffer.
Li Bai asked: "Could it be that the general is not General Tao of the Yulin Army? Haha, I admitted my mistake. In recent years, my eyesight has been poor and my eyesight has been poor."
Guo Qianli was quite resentful when he realized that Li Bai had sent poems to so many generals of the Forbidden Army, and even the sentence patterns were similar.
Although he was hurt in his heart, he was actually an open-minded person and was not very dissatisfied. He just didn't know how to alleviate the embarrassment at hand.
On the contrary, Xue Bai in front heard the commotion and came over to help Li Bai casually, saying: "General Guo and General Tao must look too much alike."
"Hahaha, yes, General Tao and I look so similar." Guo Qianli quickly agreed, but in his heart he was wondering which General Tao could compare with him.
Li Bai also laughed, put his arm around Guo Qianli's shoulders, and immediately composed a new poem.
"The strong wind blows the ancient moon, stealing Zhang Huatai. The falling star in the north moves with brilliance, and the fierce generals marching south are like clouds and thunder..."
I just returned to Chang'an. I didn't even drink, but I already had a drunken atmosphere.
"Dedicate your achievements to the Ming Dynasty and meet the Ming Dynasty. Painting portraits on the Qilin Terrace!"
As the last line of Li Bai's poem fell, the majestic palace gate of Daming Palace slowly opened.
The sun also came out from behind the clouds and shone on everyone's faces.
Guo Qianli knew that Li Bai's poem this time was not written to him. After all, he did not go to quell the Jiangling Rebellion, but he didn't know who it was written to. Was it to King Yong? Or was it written to Li Bai himself?
~~
Xue Bai stepped into the Daming Palace and walked through the long blue brick pavement.
He stopped at the foot of the stone steps of the Xuanzheng Hall and saw a figure wearing an imperial robe standing above him, looking at him. That was the Supreme Emperor Li Longji.
Li Longji was not on crutches and was originally supported by Gao Lishi. However, after seeing Xue Bai, he pushed Gao Lishi away stubbornly and stood there alone, motionless.
It seems to be declaring that he is not old yet and can still stand firm.
His eyes were majestic, like a beast showing that its territory was not inviolable.
Xue Bai had no need to compete with an old man to see who could stand firmer. He faced Li Longji's gaze and walked up the stone steps step by step.
"Good grandson."
As soon as Li Longji spoke, the fierceness in his eyes immediately faded away and replaced with a kind and kind expression.
There are many considerations behind his attitude.
Facts have proven that his sons were extremely wary of him. Li Heng and Li Heng launched a mutiny halfway through their escape and proclaimed themselves emperor. After Li Cong became emperor, he strictly guarded him and would rather hand over power to eunuchs.
Li Lin did not return the power to him; Li Lin raised an army in the name of filial piety, and wanted to be the emperor as soon as he arrived in Chang'an, instead of asking him to be the supreme emperor.
But if we put aside the inherent thinking and think about it from another angle, Xue Bai wants to supervise the country but his foundation is too shallow. Instead, he needs to rely on him as the Supreme Emperor to increase his influence.
In other words, if we ignore the risks to our ancestors' legacy for the time being, just from the perspective of Li Longji's personal path to power, he is willing to cooperate with Xue Bai and there is no other way.
As long as he gradually gains a firm foothold, there will be a way to deal with a "grandson".
On Xue Bai's side, he is not as arrogant as Li Lin. He understands the current situation better and knows that it is not a good opportunity to proclaim himself emperor yet. He still needs to govern the government in the name of Li family. But he will not let Li Longji pretend to be his grandfather.
Let's take care of him.
"Among my many descendants, you are the only one who is most like me." Li Longji said in a gratified tone: "Now that two traitors are causing trouble to the country, I can only rest assured if you can supervise the country."
"I have met the Supreme Emperor."
Xue Bai held the salute, raised his eyes, and stared at Li Longji sharply, as if murderous intent flashed through his eyes.
Li Longji was startled and subconsciously leaned back.
This was originally just a small movement, but Xue Bai was afraid that he would fall and rushed over.
"The Great Emperor!"
Suddenly seeing a figure rushing towards him, it was Xue Bai with ulterior motives. Li Longji quickly retreated, trying to avoid it. As soon as he took two steps back, he lost his footing and staggered.
Xue Bai supported him.
Li Longji just stabilized his figure, but when he was supported by Xue Bai, he swayed a few times with those strong hands and almost fell down.
"It's windy outside the palace. The Emperor is old. How can he stand here for a long time? Help the Emperor to rest quickly!"
Xue Bai's tone was stern and a little anxious, like a loyal minister, a younger generation who dedicated his life to filial piety, and more like the pillar of the family who was truly in charge.
Soon a group of eunuchs came over and helped Li Longji to the back of the palace.
Since Li Cong ran away, Li Longji has actually used many means to seize power, and they have been quite effective. Today, Japan plans to suppress Xue Bai's arrogance, and then consolidate some power through verbal confrontation, or with some mutual compromises.
.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they met, Xue Bai would use this method to imprison him again.
All means have not been used yet, but they cannot compare with Xue Bai's two most direct advantages - youth and strength.
After a period of confusion, Li Longji was taken away.
Xue Bai looked at the courtiers with different expressions and spoke first without giving them a chance to speak.
"Although the Emperor is not in good health, he still cares about the great affairs of the country. How can we not do our best and work with all our heart and soul?!"
Everyone was stunned, but it was Chen Xilie who responded first: "I should devote myself to it until I die."
"Since the Supreme Emperor has ordered me to supervise the country, I will temporarily take on the important responsibility."
At the critical moment, Xue Bai did not give in at all and directly issued a few orders.
He sent Guo Qianli to Fengtian to welcome the saint back. At the same time, he listed the ten major crimes of Dou Wenyang and his party members, dismissed him from a series of official positions, and ordered Dou Wenyang to be detained.
He sent an envoy to appease Guo Ziyi, saying that he had no intention of usurping the country and was only temporarily overseeing the country. He would return to power when the saint returned to the court. At the moment, stability should be the most important thing and avoid war.
In addition, he also issued an edict to the world that Li Lin did not raise an army to rebel, but went to Beijing to eliminate traitors out of concern for the Supreme Emperor. Although he was not guilty of treason, he violated the laws and regulations. He should be dismissed from all his duties and retain his title.
These are attitudes of minimizing major issues and are entirely out of consideration for quickly stabilizing the current situation.
As soon as various political orders were issued, Ying Yongwang's subordinates, including the surrendered general Ji Guangchen, quickly surrendered, and Xue Bai was able to successfully take over the defense of Chang'an.
In just two days, the city of Chang'an was calm, the people were relieved, the market reopened, and merchants began to do business.
~~
Li Lin didn't know that she had been pardoned by Xue Bai. After being captured by Guo Ziyi's subordinates, she kept claiming that Xue Bai was the rebel, hoping to convince the other party and then persuade Guo Ziyi to send troops to attack Xue Bai.
"Everything I said is true. Xue Shun once encouraged me to raise an army and agreed to divide the world equally. The letter is still in my arms. I came just to pacify him. Why did I become a rebel instead?"
Just as he said this, a scream suddenly came from outside the tent.
Then there was the intensive sound of horse hooves and fighting, and it was obvious that many people were being killed.
Li Lin saw that the soldiers guarding him left the tent and never came back. He guessed that it was his subordinates who had come to save him, and he couldn't help but feel hopeful.
Otherwise, how could anyone else attack Guo Ziyi's troops?
When the screams became less and less frequent, someone outside shouted: "We have found King Yong!"
"I'm here!"
Li Lin was overjoyed and shouted quickly: "Save me!"
God did not let him down, and soon someone entered the account.
"Are you here to save me?"
"Haha, we've found King Yong!" Several soldiers rushed forward, roughly pressed Li Lin down, and shouted: "Mine! I'll capture the leader of the thief first!"
When these last two words came into his ears, Li Lin was stunned, feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
He, his wife and children were dragged out of the tent, and they saw dozens of corpses spread on the ground, with blood everywhere.
Countless people surrounded their camp with knives in hand.
"It's...which general is it?"
"Recruiting envoy, Deputy Marshal of the Guanzhong Army, Zhou Zhiguang!"
Li Lin looked at the man sitting astride the horse in a daze, feeling very frightened by the ferocious and violent face.
He felt that Zhou Zhiguang's name was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember when he had heard of such a general, and he didn't know whether he was under Li Cong's command or Xue Bai's command.
"The general has misunderstood. I am not treasonous." Li Lin then repeated what he said about Xue Bai being the traitor.
Zhou Zhiguang listened indifferently, with a terrifying grin on his face.
Finally, he interrupted Li Lin and shouted: "If King Yong is not a traitor, where will the rewards of the general and these soldiers come from?!"
Li Lin was stunned for a moment, not expecting that a minister would blatantly say such words.
"I am the prince, do you want to step on me to achieve success?"
"good!"
Facing such a stubborn and vicious person, Li Lin became more and more panicked and had to say: "I want to see the emperor brother, take me to see the emperor brother..."
"No need."
Since Zhou Zhiguang dared to confide his feelings to Li Lin, he had no intention of letting Li Lin live to see Li Cong, and directly ordered: "Behead!"
Li Lin couldn't believe that he, a dignified prince and the emperor's younger brother, not to mention whether he actually rebelled, even if he did, he was not something that a minister could easily kill.
"How dare you? This is to kill first and then show off. You haven't thought about the consequences..."
"puff."
Seeing that his subordinates did not dare to take action, Zhou Zhiguang was impatient to continue waiting. He personally stepped forward to grab the big sword and beheaded Li Lin with one blow.
The head fell to the ground, frightening Li Lin's wife and children nearby and screamed.
"Pfft, pfft."
With two consecutive sounds, Zhou Zhiguang actually beheaded them too.
"I don't dare?"
Zhou Zhiguang threw away the knife and stepped on Li Lin's head, then kicked and stood on tiptoe to pick up the head and hold it in his hand.
After looking at it for a while, he ordered the head to be put into a box and presented to Fengtian to report his merits to the saint.
As for the things he received from Li Lin, including the letter that provided evidence for Xue Bai, he also accepted them.
"King Yong rebelled, and so did King Yong." Zhou Zhiguang muttered disapprovingly, "It doesn't matter, they are all stepping stones for me to make meritorious deeds."
He jumped from a humble status to a high position overnight. Naturally, he was so proud that he forgot that he had taken a shortcut by currying favor with the eunuchs, and only thought that it was all based on his own ability. He had seen cowardly emperors, but that was all. He was better than the emperor.
He has the spirit of an emperor, and becomes more and more unruly.
"Let's go to Guo Ziyi's army!"
~~
Guo Ziyi received two edicts almost at the same time.
The first letter was the saint's decree to order Zhou Zhiguang to lead the army in his place. The process of obtaining this imperial decree was a bit thrilling.
At that time, no eunuch came to deliver the order, but Zhou Zhiguang rushed outside his camp, saying that he had an important military report and asked Guo Ziyi to meet him.
But Guo Ziyi could tell at a glance that Zhou Zhiguang neither removed his armor nor entered the camp, and refused to retreat from the soldiers around him. He must be uneasy and kind-hearted, so he was cautious and did not go to meet him immediately.
After waiting for more than half a day, a sentry returned and reported that Zhou Zhiguang attacked his generals and killed King Yong.
When Guo Ziyi heard this, he was furious and almost sent troops to attack Zhou Zhiguang. Only then did Zhou Zhiguang send someone to deliver an imperial decree asking Guo Ziyi to hand over his military power.
The generals in the army were in an uproar. They said anything. Some cried bitterly and did not want Guo Ziyi to leave; some were furious and wanted to kill Zhou Zhiguang; some even threatened to march into Fengtian to eradicate the evil spirits around the saint...
"If Commander Ji does not kill the traitor, the country will be destroyed!"
"Shut up, everyone!" Guo Ziyi slapped the table and yelled, "I advise you to turn your back on me, otherwise you will be tempted by your own desires. I will kill you first!"
The generals were silent and sad.
It was at this time that the second decree arrived, from Chang'an, with the seals of the Supreme Emperor and the three provinces.
The content is that the imperial court has asked King Yong to supervise the country, and King Yong hopes that Guo Ziyi can work with him to welcome back the saint and end the turmoil.
Upon hearing this, the generals made comparisons and naturally agreed with this decree.
But one of the key contents was to kill Dou Wenyang. This was the same as what the radicals in the army had just said, that they were violating the holy will and committing rebellion. But since this was an order from the imperial court, Guo Ziyi's perception was somewhat different.
"What are you still hesitating about, Commander-in-Chief? If you ignore wise orders and fail to implement them, but instead obey this fatuous will, wouldn't it be foolishness and loyalty?"
However, Guo Ziyi did not make a decision immediately. After thinking about it all night, he wrote a personal letter and sent someone to Chang'an to invite King Yong to meet him.
He invited Xue Bai to go out of the city and talk on the Weishui Bridge. I think Xue Bai would not dare to come, but this is a test in itself. Depending on how sincere Xue Bai is, they might talk in the Forbidden Garden or in Chang'an City.
Unexpectedly, there was a reply on the same day, and Xue Bai agreed to go out of the city to meet him.
At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong also met with Jieli Khan on this bridge. Guo Ziyi did not dare to compare this negotiation with it, but he still admired Xue Bai's courage.
Everything was arranged, and two days later, when the messenger reported that King Yong had left the city and Guo Ziyi was planning to leave, Zhou Zhiguang sent another letter.
This time, what was sent was a letter written by Xue Bai to Li Lin. It was indeed written in upright Yan Kai, and the content was that Xue Bai encouraged Li Lin to rebel.
"General Zhou was anxious and impulsive when he saw this evidence of crime and killed King Yong. Although this was wrong, it was out of the desire to serve the country. In addition, the reason why the saint issued an edict to temporarily remove Guo Jie from his power was also
Because of this, I have concerns about the evidence of the crime, so I ask Guo Jieshuai not to join in with the traitors!"
Guo Ziyi received this letter of evidence of Xue Bai's crime with a serious expression.
If all this is true, he can actually understand the saint's consideration in deposing him.
"If Guo Jieshuai wants to prove his loyalty, it is easy." The messenger said: "You only need to take Xue Ni's head and present it to the saint, and the saint will take back his life."
~~
The Wei River was murmuring, and soldiers were arrayed on both sides.
Xue Bai was walking on the bridge, holding on to the bridge railing and looking into the distance, and said with emotion: "The weather is so nice."
"It's a good time."
"It would be better if there is no war. We can go for an outing, fly a kite, and lie down under the willow tree to sleep."
Xue Bai said, but he didn't hear Guo Ziyi's reaction. He turned around and suddenly asked: "Does Mr. Guo have something on his mind?"
Guo Ziyi reached into her arms and took out a letter.
"I originally hid a dagger in my arms, but after much thought, I still want to ask King Yong for confirmation."
"oh?"
Xue Bai took the letter, took a look at it, laughed dumbly, and said: "It's very similar to my handwriting, but it lacks craftsmanship."
Guo Ziyi was surprised and said: "This is not the handwriting of King Yong?"
"I will bring some manuscripts to Mr. Guo, and we will know after comparing them." Xue Bai said, "If I want to rebel, I will raise troops from Fan Yang and go south, or if I don't pacify Shi Siming from the beginning, I will leave you and Li Guangbi to contain him in Hebei.
But in Chang'an, we are in charge of the affairs of state alone. Why pacify Shi Siming and instigate Li Lin to raise an army? Isn't this unnecessary?"
Guo Ziyi said: "Perhaps King Yong was raising the bandits to suppress the big bandits and raising the small bandits. Otherwise, the Supreme Emperor was in Shu County at that time. Why did you let the kings stay with the Supreme Emperor?"
"How can it be calculated so accurately?"
Xue Bai shook his head disapprovingly and sighed: "If I didn't let him go at that time, it would be disloyal. But I followed the emperor's wishes and was still suspected of having ulterior motives. It was wrong for me to live in Chang'an and it was wrong to suppress Fanyang. When can we prove it?
My own innocence?”
"When you enter the court, suspicion is always inevitable." Guo Ziyi couldn't help but sigh.
"Yes." Xue Bai said: "People in the game can't help themselves."
He casually returned his "evidence of guilt" to Guo Ziyi, turned in the direction of Fengtian, and started talking about business.
"Take the case of Dou Wenyang for example. If I don't care now and allow him to manipulate the saint, will Mr. Guo believe in my loyalty and magnanimity? You asked me to delegate power, and I did it once. I went to Fanyang, but the result was
To this day, do I still have to prove my true intentions to Mr. Guo? Instead of getting rid of the traitor, will I have to prove myself by having a caesarean section?"
Guo Ziyi was silent for a long time, then raised his hand and threw the letter written by Xue Bai to Li Lin into the Weishui River.
The bamboo paper floated on the water for a while, and was soon swept into the river, never to be seen again.
In fact, Xue Bai had long seen Li Lin's ambition and regarded Li Lin as the "bandit" he would support and respect, so he would just have to let someone else write the story from the beginning.
But now, no matter what kind of conspiracy and conspiracy, it has gone with the water.
"Give me five days and I will pacify Zhou Zhiguang." Guo Ziyi said, "Welcome the saint back to Beijing."
"good."
~~
The generals looked at the figures of an old man and a young man talking on the bridge from a distance, and gradually they could feel the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
When Guo Ziyi returned and expressed his willingness to accept the imperial decree, everyone was overjoyed and asked for orders to pacify Zhou Guangzhi.
"A clown, arrogant and arrogant. The last general only needs 3,000 soldiers and horses, and he will be wiped out!"
"No need to rush."
Guo Ziyi did not give any orders, but only asked everyone to return to camp.
He came from afar and had many troops. The pressure on food and grass was much greater than that of Zhou Guangzhi, and Li Cong was unwilling to supply him. Now it was actually time to run out of food and grass.
Fortunately, a batch of grain was transported from Chang'an City, which alleviated the urgent need. Afterwards, Guo Ziyi informed all the soldiers that Guanzhong had experienced wars for a long time and the fields were barren. Now that the soldiers have returned to serve the king and made great contributions, in addition, many of them were originally from Guanzhong.
, anyone who is willing to stay in the field can sign up, and the acres will be distributed according to merit.
As soon as the news came out, the reaction of Guo Ziyi's soldiers was relatively calm. They had already opened fields in Longyou, but if they gave up now, they would lose a year's harvest. On the contrary, Zhou Zhiguang's soldiers quickly became agitated after hearing the news.
The troops Zhou Zhiguang brought were very mixed. In addition to the imperial troops in the capital, there were also reinforcements from various places in Guanzhong, as well as temporary recruits.
None of these people wanted to fight, and most of them were people who were originally farming in Guanzhong. When they heard that their fields were going to be distributed to others, their morale plummeted. Immediately afterwards, Guo Ziyi asked people to spread the news that war was over, and they were about to welcome the emperor.
When they returned to court, the news that they would be rewarded based on their merits made them lose their will to fight.
Zhou Zhiguang was furious and whipped the lazy soldiers in the army one after another, trying to arouse their fighting spirit.
But at this moment, Guo Ziyi arrived at the gate of his camp with only a few followers.
"Since Zhou Zhiguang said he has military affairs to report, I am here today and asked him to come out to meet you."
When Zhou Zhiguang heard this, he thought this was a good time to get rid of Guo Ziyi. He immediately issued an imperial edict and ordered all his troops to leave the camp to force Guo Ziyi to give up his military power.
He made a decisive decision to kill and went out of the camp gate. When he saw Guo Ziyi really coming, he immediately ordered to surround the few people.
"Guo Ziyi, I came to lead the army on your behalf, but you disobeyed the order, colluded with the rebels, and plotted evil. Is this a crime? Send the order and capture him!"
Guo Ziyi stood on horseback, with a majestic figure, only the long beard under his chin moved in the wind.
Faced with the trap, he did not give an explanation, but responded proudly: "Zhou Zhiguang, you are so unruly and domineering, you are in vain to be a minister!"
With this curse, Guo Ziyi didn't even issue any orders, but some of the soldiers beside Zhou Zhiguang started shouting.
"Follow Guo Jie to defeat the thief!"
Zhou Zhiguang was stunned, turned around angrily and was about to scold him.
Facing me, there was a sudden flash of sword light...