As the Lantern Festival approaches, Chang'an City gradually becomes prosperous.
On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, Yan Chunqing walked into a Taoist temple in Daozhengfang.
The Taoist temple occupies a small area and is very quiet inside, making it difficult for others to guess that the person living here is Li Xiazhou, who now has a rather transcendent status.
When Yan Chunqing arrived, Li Yazhou was holding a book and reading.
Seeing the cover page of the book, Yan Chunqing couldn't help but ask: "You, a Taoist priest, are actually reading Buddhist scriptures?"
"How do you, a Confucian scholar, come to my Taoist temple?" Li Xiazhou asked in return.
Yan Chunqing stroked his beard and smiled: "I'm here to meet an old friend."
"Then I'll make some good tea to treat my friends."
The two had a lot of contacts in Yanshi County, and their interactions were simple and natural. They soon put the tea set on the table and started boiling water.
Yan Chunqing looked at Li Yazhou's smooth movements, lifted up the tea cake on the table and smelled it, and was greatly surprised.
"The middle of winter has just passed, and you actually got some good tea?"
"A few days ago, Li Qiwu came to visit me and gave me a lot of precious medicinal materials and these boxes of tea balls. What's even more rare is that there is a very strange young man beside him."
As he said that, Li Yazhou paused slightly and thought about how to evaluate the other party.
"Although that young man is unattractive in appearance and has a stutter, he is so charming that people can forget his appearance. He is an extraordinary conversationalist, full of witty words, and extremely intelligent. It is very wonderful. It is very wonderful. It is even rarer that he understands tea.
If you understand water, you also understand Buddhism.”
Yan Chunqing asked: "What is the name of such a person?"
"Lu Yu."
"But I've never heard of it."
Li Xiazhou said: "He is an orphan. He was probably abandoned by his parents because he was ugly since he was a child. Zen Master Zhiji, the abbot of Longgai Temple in Jingling, picked him up by the lake outside the west gate of the city and adopted him. He did not want to convert.
He was not a Buddhist, but he ran to become an actor. He acted very well, and was appreciated by Li Qiwu."
Yan Chunqing nodded, pointed to the Buddhist scriptures on the side, and said: "You are worried that you will lose when you talk to him about Buddhism next time, so you are hiding here today to secretly make up for it."
"Only when you know yourself and the enemy can you fight a hundred battles without slacking off." Li Xia said with a smile.
At this point, we got to the point. Yan Chunqing's face became a little more serious and asked, "You didn't tell His Highness the idea you gave him. Could it be that Lu Yu made you change your view on Buddhism?"
"It has nothing to do with this." Li Xiazhou said: "It's just that the season has not come yet. After all, this year is still the second year of the Yuan Dynasty."
What he meant was that although Xue Bai supervised the country, he still used the reign name of Li Cong and did not truly ascend the throne and take power. Since his footing was not stable, it was not appropriate to express his idea.
~~
Shaoyangyuan.
"Li Xiazhou probably wants to persuade me to suppress Buddhism."
Xue Bai did not leave Shaoyang Courtyard today. He was looking through the farm book and suddenly said this to Li Tengkong who was helping him organize documents.
Li Tengkong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "How can it be like this?"
She was a Taoist priest herself, but she had never thought of excluding other religions. Therefore, she could not help but feel a little bad about Li Xiazhou. She reminded Xue Bai tactfully that Li Xiazhou was planning to suppress Buddhism again. A very serious Taoist priest.
Xue Bai couldn't help but laugh and teased Li Tengkong: "What about you? You are a serious Taoist priest?"
"I hate it. Ignore it."
Li Tengkong turned his back.
Xue Bai had no choice but to pull her back and said, "Okay, we are very serious."
"I'm worried about you. Your status is unstable. How could you do such an offending thing?"
"The reason why I am considering this matter is not because I am confused by Taoism." Xue Bai said: "It has little to do with the dispute between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The only reason that makes me linger is... land and population."
Li Tengkong was the daughter of the prime minister, and he understood immediately upon hearing this, and the worry in his eyes only became heavier.
She carefully considered her words and said: "I am a clan member and a Taoist priest. I feel uncomfortable hearing this matter. Even if I don't care about anything else, I am worried about retribution. What's more, they are your enemies. They will not think about it. You are thinking about the country and will only use this matter to deal with you."
Regarding this matter, it was difficult for Xue Bai to explain his thoughts clearly even to those closest to him.
He was also hesitant because the situation he was facing now was very different from the original situation in history when Wuzong destroyed Buddhism.
The difference is that, on the one hand, the Anshi Rebellion was put down in advance, and it has not yet experienced the wars of successive years of conquering vassal towns. The Tang Dynasty's wealth and population have not suffered such serious losses; on the other hand, the Tang Dynasty has not yet experienced the admiration of the following emperors. Buddhism, for example, holds activities to welcome the Buddha's bones. At the moment, Buddhism has not experienced such extreme expansion.
But on the other hand, the land and population occupied by Buddhist temples today cannot be underestimated.
After the destruction of Buddhism in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the redevelopment of Buddhism began with the promotion of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian. Although Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, claimed to be a descendant of Laozi, he also believed in Buddhism. In his later years, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was worried about life, so he promoted Buddhism and ordered monks and nuns to be saved. There are nearly 20,000 people; under Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian, they advocated Buddhism vigorously and built Buddhist statues everywhere. The temples were extremely luxurious, comparable to palaces.
With the destruction of the rent-yong system, it was inevitable that a large number of farmers not only took refuge in the names of aristocratic families, but also many became monks, or became temple tenants, tenants, or hired fugitives from temples to farm the land without paying taxes to the court, and then merged More land absorbs more people.
In the past two or three years, there have been constant wars. The imperial court was stretched thin, the treasury was empty, and the economy was in decline. Instead, Buddhism expanded its manors, had slaves and maids, and colluded with big families and local officials to help each other, marry monks privately, evade taxes, and make private money. , or loan sharking parties to make profits, and then occupy the fields of ordinary farmers.
If left unchecked, it will just snowball and get bigger and bigger.
Xue Bai wanted to change and solve the stubborn problem of land annexation, so he couldn't start by targeting aristocratic families and local warlords. In comparison, Buddhism was a slightly softer persimmon.
This can be regarded as a good starting point on his road to governance.
Of course, given Xue Bai's current situation, it is not appropriate to make such a big move. He is not yet the emperor, so there will be many constraints. Acting rashly will have the opposite effect, and even increase the resistance to everything.
The best thing is to remain unchanged in response to all changes, continue to accumulate strength, endure until Li Longji and Li Cong are dead, and all internal obstacles have been cleared, and then take drastic measures.
Finally, Xue Bai closed the farm book on the case and said, "Don't worry, Li Yazhou has never spoken to me in person, and I know the time has not come yet. It's just a chat."
He temporarily restrained the impulse in his heart and told himself again that he was still young and had a long way to go, so there was no need to rush.
After a while, someone from the palace came to report that Du Wulang requested an audience, and the Du sisters also came to visit the princess.
After Xue Bai supervised the country, he still attached great importance to obtaining intelligence, and Du Jin was the one who inquired about civilian intelligence for him.
Because Du Jin visited Shaoyangyuan too frequently, she would sometimes come in the name of Du Wulang.
This time, she didn't bother to talk to Xue Bai about personal matters first. Instead, she looked solemnly and said straight to the point: "I got news that Guo Ziyi secretly sent someone to Chang'an and seemed to have secretly contacted Li Longji."
"Is this true?"
"Still investigating," Du Jin said, "But there is more to him than just this one thing."
Xue Bai asked: "What else?"
"There are rumors that Guo Ziyi privately discussed peace negotiations with the Tibetan commander Dazalu Gong."
Du Jin also knew that this was no small matter, so he lowered his voice and continued: "It is said that Guo Ziyi's nephew Guo Xin was ordered to patrol Anxi and was now surrounded by Tubo. In order to save his nephew's life, Guo Ziyi and Da Zhalu Gong
There is communication by messenger."
Xue Bai wondered: "Just because his nephew is inclined to peace talks?"
"Guo Ziyi's younger brother Guo Ziyun died in battle in his early years, leaving only Guo Xin as a single seedling. Therefore, Guo Ziyi values him more than his son."
"Where did the news come from?"
Du Jin said: "A business traveler from Tibet learned about this and spilled the beans while drinking."
Xue Bai pondered: "It's too detailed."
Du Jin asked: "Are you saying that someone may have deliberately released the news?"
"Don't rush to a conclusion, check the source of the information."
~~
A few days later, before Du Jin could find the source of the news, Xue Bai received a memorial from Guo Ziyi.
Guo Ziyi said in the memorial that Tubo wanted to negotiate peace with the Tang Dynasty and wanted to send envoys to Chang'an to discuss the matter.
Along with the memorial, Tibetan credentials were also handed over, which were written by Dazalu Gong himself.
Dazalu Gong said that Tubo, like the Tang Dynasty, had experienced turmoil. Their Zanpu Chidaizhudan passed away two years ago. Today, Zanpu is still young. He admires the Tang Dynasty and hopes to reunite with the Tang Dynasty.
, begging Trisong Dezan to marry a Tang princess.
In addition, Guo Ziyi also attached a letter analyzing the situation.
He first expressed his position directly, believing that Tibet did not really want peace, but just wanted to paralyze the Tang Dynasty. It would slowly digest the land it had occupied, and sooner or later it would go back on its promise, and this peace negotiation might even be fraudulent.
But on the other hand, Datang has just experienced war and does not have the strength to fight Tubo for a long time. It is better to agree first and try to return to Shazhou, Suzhou and other places to open up connections with Anxi. He said in the letter,
Dazalu respectfully sent an envoy to tell him that as long as the Tang court was willing to negotiate peace, the Tibetan army was willing to withdraw from Hexi, showing great sincerity.
Finally, Guo Ziyi said that although he had doubts and was worried that it was a trick, the situation was such that he had to report it to the court for a decision.
Xue Bai frowned and thought, looking at the map from time to time.
This situation is different from that in history. Because the An-Shi Rebellion was put down early, the Tubo did not invade Guanzhong and marched straight into Chang'an. But on the other hand, the Tibetan army also concentrated its strength and occupied many prominent places on its western front.
Anxi was separated from the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty.
If the Hexi Corridor could not be reopened, not only would Datang lose its vast territory, but the Silk Road would also be blocked, which Xue Bai would never allow.
But if the Tang Dynasty wants to send troops, let alone the issue of whether it can fight or not, it will inevitably fall into the vortex of the two big countries consuming each other's national strength. At that time, they will not be able to stop at any time.
Since there is no war for the time being, it seems that peace talks are a good idea. However, things may not be that simple. Guo Ziyi said that the Tibetan people are cunning, and the proposal of peace talks is probably to deceive.
Xue Bai couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he summoned the ministers again to discuss the matter and handed them Tibet's credentials.
Among the several prime ministers, Yan Zhenqing and Li Mi were the ones who understood Tubo best.
"It will be impossible to take back the Hexi states by relying on peace talks alone." Yan Zhenqing said: "If Dazalu Gong made such a promise to Duke Guo, it must be a lie."
Li Bi said: "Guo Gong is not someone who is easily deceived. Since he came up with this plan, it must be Dazalu Gong who showed great sincerity."
"Why?"
"Yes." Li Miyi thought, "What's the purpose of throwing such a big bait?"
The two discussed that if Dazalu Gong could make such a promise, it would not bring peace. Instead, it would make the Tang Dynasty relax its vigilance and send a large army to the country next year.
This matter has been discussed for several days, but there is no result. Now Li Guangbi, who is stationed in Jiannan to fight against the Tibetans, has also sent a memorial, saying that Songzhou, Weizhou, Baozhou and other places in the northwest of Shu County are surrounded by Tibetan troops. It can be seen that
The Tibetan army showed no sincerity and firmly opposed peace negotiations with Tibet.
~~
The war was still undecided, so Xue Bai wrote to Wang Rao, who was now stationed in Puzhou to supervise the military garrison, asking for his opinion.
Wang Nannan actually sent a horse directly to request that he come to the court to report on his duties. Xue Bai agreed, so within a few days, Wang Nannan hurried back to Chang'an, covered with travel.
Everyone else in the Xuanzheng Hall was driven away.
"Has Your Highness ever thought about taking the opportunity to remove Guo Ziyi?" Wang Ruolan pondered and said slowly.
When Xue Bai heard this, he did not react immediately, but looked thoughtful. After a while, he said: "Speak carefully."
"Guo Ziyi is a veteran and famous general. He is resting and recuperating. He will be sent out when needed. This will be enough to deter foreign enemies. There is no need to keep him on the front line all the time."
Xue Bai understands this meaning. The biggest card does not need to be played. It is enough to keep it as a deterrent.
Wang Nan said: "What's more important is that Guo Ziyi is not one of His Highness. Dazalu Gong seems to want to negotiate a peace, but sooner or later a large army will be raised to attack. If Guo Ziyi is to command the three armies at that time, if he has different ambitions at any time,
He can enter Chang'an and abolish the establishment. Even if he doesn't do it, how can he deploy his troops and generals if he has such concerns?"
Xue Bai nodded and added: "Also, Pugu Huai'en, who is now in charge of Lingwu, is Guo Ziyi's old subordinate. Pugu Huai'en has no friendship with me. Once Guo Ziyi is dissatisfied with me, Pugu Huai'en will send troops to help.
he."
"That's right." Wang Nan said, "The heartland west of Guanzhong cannot be completely left in Guo Ziyi's hands. In the worst case scenario, he can unite with Pugu Huai'en, Tubo, and Uihe, and have the power to overthrow everyone."
Xue Bai said: "This time Guo Ziyi negotiated peace with Dazalu without authorization, which is an opportunity to transfer him. Moreover, Li Guangbi has different opinions with him. It can be confirmed that the two will not collude. It is basically safe to transfer him."
Wang Nan said: "It is still early before summer and autumn. It is better to transfer him at this time than to change the commander before the battle."
Xue Bai stretched out his hand, patted Wang Lanlan's shoulder, and said: "If I transfer Guo Ziyi, I believe you can resist the Tibetan invasion."
"Although there is no complete guarantee, there is only one human head left here. If the enemy cannot be stopped by then, Your Highness will behead me!"
"The national treasury is empty, the soldiers are exhausted and the people are short. If taxes are not increased, the northwest defense line cannot deploy more troops. However, all the Tibetan people are soldiers, and they can easily gather 200,000 people..."
When Xue Bai said this, he paused.
The current Tang Dynasty is an era where famous generals emerge in large numbers. In addition to Guo Ziyi, he has many famous generals who can fight against the Tibetan army.
But Guo Ziyi has an advantage that no one else has, that is, he has prestige and has blocked the invasion of the Tibetan army twice. Dazalu Gong is afraid of him.
Just this word "fear" may save Datang hundreds of thousands of money and food.
Thinking of this, an idea flashed in Xue Bai's mind.
"This time, Dazalu Gong invited Guo Ziyi to negotiate peace. If Guo Ziyi refused directly, he would be deciding state affairs without authorization. If the court wanted to negotiate peace, he would have to be punished. Therefore, Guo Ziyi could only test Dazalu Gong's attitude, and then
Reported to the imperial court. But when he reported it, he was naturally suspected. As long as the Tibetan army deliberately put pressure on the Tang Dynasty in Shu County, Li Guangbi would definitely oppose the peace talks with his strong character."
At this point, Wang Ruanrui came to his senses and said: "Your Highness, do you mean that these are all Dazalu Gong's alienation tactics?"
Xue Bai said: "That's my guess."
He spread out the map and continued to deduce: "If we remove Guo Ziyi, Dazalu Gong can take the opportunity to incite Pugu Huai'en's dissatisfaction. When you took office in Jingyuan, he suddenly led an army to attack. At that time, your footing was not stable, and your troops
If you don’t know the generals and the generals don’t know the troops, how can you deal with it? And once you are defeated, I will not be able to control the situation in Chang’an.”
Wang Ran suddenly broke out in cold sweat on his back.
"Dazarugong, a barbarian, can have such a scheme?"
"Don't underestimate him."
~~
"Your Highness, Li Qiwu has asked to see you, saying that he has something very important to report to Your Highness."
Xue Bai remembered that Li Qiwu was also an important minister of the Tang Dynasty, and he used to be Yang Yuyao's neighbor.
Li Qiwu was also a very motivated man. When he saw Xue Bai, he saluted very solemnly. This was also a way to show his loyalty.
"I heard that you have given Li Yazhou a lot of gifts recently, and he said a lot of good things about you here." Xue Bai said.
Li Qiwu was taken aback and said quickly: "I have something very important to report to Your Highness, but I have no chance to meet you, so I have to ask Taoist Master Li to introduce it."
"Say it."
"Here."
Li Qiwu first looked around and saw that there was no one else in the palace, then he said: "Guo Ziyi once sent someone back to Chang'an, visited me secretly, and asked about the saint's current situation."
As he spoke, his voice became softer and more mysterious.
Xue Bai asked: "Who did he send to see you?"
"His Royal Highness, he is a general from Jingzhou named Gao Hui, who serves under Guo Ziyi."
"Where are the people?"
"I don't know, I only know that he seems to have met with many clan members, such as Li Zhen, the king of Siqi, and Li Zhi, the king of Wu." Li Qiwu said, "What he said is even more..."
He deliberately paused again, waiting for Xue Bai to ask more questions, and then continued: "It even revealed that Guo Ziyi had the intention of borrowing troops from Tubo to clear the emperor's side."
However, after saying this, Xue Bai did not have the expected reaction, but seemed quite calm.
"I know, Li Zhen has already told me."
Li Qiwu was stunned and couldn't help but raise his eyes to glance at Xue Bai. When he saw those unfathomable eyes, he was suddenly shocked.
If it were the usual style of Li Longji, Li Cong, Li Heng and others, they would definitely be suspicious when encountering this matter. But this time, Xue Bai was different. He walked and pondered, and became more and more sure that it was a estrangement plan.
"Dazarugong, you are self-defeating."
He deliberately murmured something in a low voice to see if Li Qiwu could react.
Li Qiwu was not stupid. His body trembled, his eyes widened, and he said: "Your Highness, is this a plan to alienate Dazalu Gong? If you are like this... I am ashamed!"
"Get up."
In any case, Li Qiwu took the opportunity to express his loyalty to Xue Bai, and Xue Bai asked him for his advice on the matter.
"I think that His Highness has a clear eye and has seen through Dazalu Gong's conspiracy."
"I'm afraid it's a conspiracy."
"Yes, yes." Li Qiwu licked his lips and muttered: "Since it is a divorce plan, in addition to deliberately spreading rumors in Chang'an, he will also encourage Guo Ziyi. This is a conspiracy."
"How do you think it can be cracked?"
"It's not appropriate to replace Guo Ziyi at the moment, and it's also inappropriate not to withdraw." Li Qiwu thought for a while, and quickly came up with an idea, saying, "Why not send a supervisory army to Guo Ziyi's army to take charge?"
"Stand back." Xue Bai was too lazy to talk to him any more and waved his hand.
But he actually didn't have any good solution. He just wrote a personal letter to Guo Ziyi, sincerely expressing his trust.
However, this cannot solve the fundamental problem. The threat from the Tibetan commander Dazalu Gong still exists.
After being imprisoned, Xue Bai often felt in trouble and did not act as boldly as before.
State affairs often affect the whole body, so whenever he wants to solve a problem, he will find that there are too many problems that are holding him back, making it impossible for him to act rashly.
~~
The next day, in the Xuanzheng Hall, the important ministers discussed state affairs again.
Several prime ministers were indeed more capable than Li Qiwu. In just a few days, everyone except Du Youlin saw Dazalu Gong's plan to alienate him.
"I would like to go to Jingyuan to negotiate peace with Tubo on behalf of the imperial court."
It was Wei Jiansu who first proposed a solution.
Although Wei Jiansu had not supported Xue Bai before, he was still very concerned about state affairs. By going as prime minister, he could not only appease Guo Ziyi and eliminate the impact of the alienation plan, but he was also qualified enough to talk to Dazalu respectfully.
.
But Xue Bai actually didn't want to talk about it. What he was thinking about was whether there was another way to get revenge since Dazalu Gong was plotting this time.
While the prime ministers were discussing, he was thinking about this and suddenly realized that the relationship between Dazalu Gong and Trisong Detsen, the young Zanpu of Tibet, was like the relationship between Guo Ziyi and him.
Xue Bai then asked Yan Zhenqing: "Are there no conflicts between Dazalu Gong and Trisong Detsen?"
"Of course there is."
At that time, Xue Bai captured the Tibetan princess Nalanzhen, Trisong Detsen's sister, in Nanzhao. It was Yan Zhenqing who escorted her back to Tibet as an envoy, so she knew these things best.
"When Chidai Zhudan died, Dazalu Gong got rid of the Tubo rebels. He joined forces with Ma Xiang and took control of Tubo. Dazalu Gong fought outside and Ma Xiang took power inside. He claimed that Chidai Zhudan's death was because of his belief in Buddhism.
.”
"Buddhism?" Xue Bai thought of something when he heard this.
"Yes, Dazalu Gong and Ma Xiang both believe in Bonbo religion, while Chidaizhudan believes in Buddhism." Yan Zhenqing continued: "Trisong Detsen Chongling succeeded to the throne, and the government was controlled by foreign ministers, so he was dissatisfied...
"
Xue Baihu asked: "Tubo wants to send an envoy. Are there any people from Trisong Dezan?"
He was thinking that the two problems affecting the whole body might be solved together.