After the Emperor took his meal, the city of Chang'an was slightly deserted for a few days, but soon became lively again after the beginning of spring.
Because the Silk Road was open again, business travelers from the Western Regions came to Datang in an endless stream.
This was a prosperous time. Without the imperial reform and the series of turmoil caused by the reform, it would have been a sign of the ZTE.
In the late spring of April in the sixth year of Zhengxing, King Yan Li Bin received a very important guest to him, Li Qijun, in the residence of the Ten Kings.
Li Qijun was a Jinshi for seven years in Tianbao. He was on the same list as Xue Bai. He had an extraordinary background and was a direct descendant of the Li family in Zhao County. He also had outstanding talents. He had previously made contributions to the battlefield of Fangqiu and the subjugation of Pugu Huai'en. He was appointed to the Ministry of Punishment.
Minister, you are only one step away from becoming the prime minister.
Such a figure expressed his willingness to help Li Bin ascend to the throne, which made Li Bin very happy and called him "sir".
"Sir, are you here today? Do you have any good news?"
Last time, Li Qijun told Li Bin that the princes had a plan to surround Luoyang and force the palace. If this happens, Xue Bai may abdicate.
Li Bin is the twentieth son of Li Longji. Although he is ranked very low among his brothers, his brothers died too many times. Now he is considered the oldest and most prestigious among the kings. He also has many sons and is the successor.
A strong candidate for the position, it is inevitable to have high expectations.
"Good news."
Li Qijun spoke three words neatly, and Li Bin couldn't help but smile.
"Xue Ni has already admitted that he is not Li Qian, but pretends to be the emperor's heir to usurp the country." After Li Qijun finished speaking, he said with a ceremony: "I invite the king to come to the Daming Palace to announce the government."
Li Bin was overjoyed and said: "He admitted it?! That's great."
After that, he thought that Guo Ziyi's attitude in the past few days was not very supportive of him, so he couldn't help but ask: "Sir, now that I have entered the palace, Guo Ziyi won't think that I am treason, right?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, Duke Guo has expressed his position."
Li Bin thought to himself, it seems that the overall situation in Luoyang has been decided, so even Guo Ziyi has firmed his attitude.
He was too busy to entrust Li Qijun with the position of prime minister, claiming that he had no moral character and would have to entrust Li Xianggong to govern the Tang Dynasty in the future.
After that, he naturally happily ordered people to pack their luggage and prepare to enter the Daming Palace.
He has already had enough of living in these ten kings' houses.
Li Bin has many children, and there are still more than 20 underage ones. The procession is huge and attracts people to watch.
This situation made Li Binzhi very proud, and he even laughed and said to his wife: "The people of the Tang Dynasty are paying homage to the Emperor."
He entered the Daming Palace through Danfeng Gate and went to settle down with his family. Over there, Li Qijun went to the Political Affairs Hall to discuss the follow-up matters with the ministers.
Li Bin also grew up in Daming Palace when he was young. When he came back this time, he felt a big difference. He first went to Penglai Palace to see it.
Penglai Hall was Xue Bai's living place after he came to the throne. It is a "work"-shaped palace. The front hall is used to summon ministers and discuss state affairs. The back hall is also equipped with tables and bookshelves for handling confidential matters and reviewing memorials.
In this place, there is also a bed placed behind the screen.
Because there were too many books and documents piled up, the hall was filled with the smell of paper and ink. Although it was not unpleasant, Li Bin didn't like it.
He likes the luxurious and gorgeous style. There are no furnishings here and it gives off a sense of coolness.
"It needs to be renovated."
He sighed to himself, thinking about how to arrange it in his mind.
He had to move his square table over and play dominoes every day.
Suddenly, his son Li Yan ran over quickly and shouted in a panic: "Father!"
Li Bin frowned and said impatiently: "What are you shouting about? You live in Shaoyang Courtyard and don't compete with your brothers for the palace."
Although this sentence was said in a reprimanding tone, it was actually a great reward, that is, he wanted to make Li Yan the crown prince.
However, Li Yan was not as ecstatic as expected. Instead, he leaned close to him and began to talk eloquently.
"I just heard someone say that Xue Ni killed all the ministers who opposed him..."
"Hearsay, nonsense!"
Li Bin shouted.
He shook his head, thinking that his son was too unsatisfactory, had no judgment of his own, and couldn't even distinguish rumors.
"Xue Ni has already confessed. He is not the emperor's heir. Since he can confess, he has naturally reached the end of his rope."
"Father, he didn't confess, he admitted it in public."
"What does this mean?"
"He...he just rebelled against the Tang Dynasty!" Li Yan didn't know how to explain it. He waved his arms and said, "He killed all the officials who were loyal to the Tang Dynasty and wanted to send troops to fight back to Chang'an!"
This kind of thing is so ridiculous that Li Bin doesn't believe it at all.
"Mr. Li didn't say that. Could your information be more accurate than his?!"
"Father, look at this." Li Yan couldn't help but put a newspaper into Li Bin's hand.
Li Bin couldn't help but be stunned when he saw it, wondering why Li Qijun didn't say anything at all.
Could it be that this matter is very dangerous?
~~
"Now that things have come to a point, the only way is to raise troops to attack."
Li Qijun looked at Guo Ziyi solemnly and said: "Since he confesses that he is not a descendant of the Li family and looks like the Wu family usurping the Tang Dynasty, how can we tolerate him?"
Guo Ziyi stroked his beard and said nothing, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"What are you still hesitating about, Mr. Guo?" Li Qijun asked.
"It's not hesitation." Guo Ziyi finally spoke, but she gave him an unexpected answer, "I'm thinking about how to win."
"As long as Duke Guo leads his troops to march eastward, how can he be invincible?"
"The troops and horses have not moved yet, but food and grass go first. Not to mention the food and salary of my soldiers, Chang'an has to rely on the supply of food and grass from the Eastern Capital. How can we raise an army without money and food?"
"Xue Ni lost the people's support and was defeated in an instant. Why should Duke Guo worry about money and food?"
"According to the common practice in the army, if soldiers and horses leave their station to support other places, they must be given three times the food. How can they be provided in the Chang'an warehouse?"
Li Qijun said: "I will raise funds for Mr. Guo."
"There's no rush." Guo Ziyi raised her hand and waved, and said, "I have sent someone to inquire about it. I believe the news will come back soon."
Li Qijun still kept persuading.
He was standing on the side of justice in this matter, and Xue Bai did go too far. Guo Ziyi had no reason to refuse.
Finally, Li Qijun said: "Today King Yan has entered the Daming Palace. If Duke Guo still wants to respect Xue Ni as the emperor, in his eyes, you are already rebellious."
Guo Ziyi smiled bitterly and sighed: "How can I care about such a personal future?"
"Well, Duke Guo was deeply benevolent to the Tang Dynasty, and he must not be able to bear to see the rebellious ministers and traitors overthrow the country?"
No matter what, when it comes to this, Guo Ziyi can only agree.
"good."
He is a very smart and smooth person, able to discern danger early and come up with various ways to protect himself. But at the same time, he is also a very pure person. When the only choice is between loyalty or disloyalty, he will definitely do it.
Choose to be loyal to Li Tang.
After making his choice, Guo Ziyi immediately became determined, recruited his own soldiers, and ordered: "Go and ask Pu Gujuan to come."
"Here."
"Here comes paper and pen. I'll write a handwritten letter to Feng Changqing, Li Guangbi and others."
Seeing Guo Ziyi like this, Li Qijun felt relieved and said that with such good generals in the Tang Dynasty, there was no need to worry about restoring orthodoxy.
He compared Wu Zhou to Xue Bai, but did not compare Guo Ziyi to Li Jingye, who crusaded against the Wu family, because Li Jingye was ultimately defeated and died; nor did he compare Guo Ziyi to Zhang Jianzhi, the mastermind of the Shenlong coup who forced Wu Zetian to abdicate.
Because Zhang Jianzhi did not end well in the end.
They just remained silent and contacted the righteous people all over the world to take action with a determined attitude.
At this moment, Li Bin rushed over.
"Sir, I heard that Xue Ni massacred loyal ministers and righteous men. Is this true?"
Li Qijun was afraid of scaring Li Bin, so he didn't say anything, and planned to wait until Li Bin officially ascended the throne.
Now seeing that Li Bin knew about it, Li Qiyun immediately said with righteous indignation: "Yes, Xue Ni went against the grain and harmed the loyal and good. People and gods are indignant."
"But he is not defeated yet."
"Sooner or later he will be defeated." Li Qijun said: "I just ask King Yan to ascend the throne first, and then he can issue an edict to the world about Xue Ni's serious crimes, and mobilize his troops to attack this beast."
This is completely different from Li Bin's idea.
He originally thought that Xue Bai had been defeated and he had picked something ready-made without taking any risks.
But if he is asked to fight Xue Bai, what is the difference between this and him fighting the world by himself?
If he was willing to expend this effort, he might as well have participated in the battle for the reserve position before.
Li Bin was naturally reluctant to give up the throne that he was about to get, so he couldn't help but ask.
"Can you really destroy Xue Ni?"
Without waiting for an answer, Guo Xi, the son of Guo Ziyi, walked in quickly. He did not salute him, but walked directly to Guo Ziyi and whispered something.
Visibly, Guo Ziyi's eyes became serious.
Li Bin couldn't help but feel nervous and asked, "What happened?"
"Your Majesty, there is no need to be alarmed."
"No, what can't I listen to? You persuade me to become the emperor, but you hide everything from me?"
Guo Ziyi didn't hide anything from Li Bin and said, "Over at Luoyang, Fan Yang's troops have been mobilized to go south."
"That is to say, Xue Ni has sent troops to attack us?" Li Bin said, "What about us? Where are our troops?"
Li Qijun said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to be anxious. All the families in Guanzhong will support your Majesty, but things must be done step by step. Your Majesty needs to ascend the throne first, then everything will be justified."
"Xue Ni has been killed right in front of us, and he is still taking one step at a time?" Li Bin said, "When can we mobilize all the troops and horses to defeat him?"
Li Qijun was a little impatient with his stupid questions and did not answer them. He only said that they would make arrangements.
Li Bin couldn't ask anything, and couldn't help but become more and more frightened.
Gradually, his ambition and greed were suppressed by fear, and finally burst out.
"I am no longer the emperor, you can find someone else."
After saying that, Li Bin turned around and left.
He had thought about it, becoming an emperor might not be as happy as his current life of playing dominoes and watching operas every day, so why take such a big risk?
He yelled loudly when he said "Xue Ni usurped Li's country", but actually he didn't believe it in his heart.
If Xue Bai is not Li Qian, can he win the first prize with a lowly qualification? Can he rise all the way to the top? Bullshit.
Could dominoes, stir-fry, opera, and all kinds of things have been thought up by an official slave? It must have been secretly arranged by Emperor Xuanzong, in order to help Li Ying, his son, become the crown prince.
Li Bin felt the same as Ming Jing. He used to tell lies because he thought it would be beneficial to him, but now he understands.
"Wait a minute!"
Li Qijun shouted, and two soldiers immediately rushed to stop Li Bin.
"What are you doing? I won't play with you anymore, let me go."
"Does your Majesty think that the position of Emperor is yours to do as you please?"
Li Bin asked in surprise: "What do you mean? I don't want to be the emperor anymore, can you still force me to become the emperor?"
"Please prepare to ascend the throne, Your Majesty."
Li Qijun responded bluntly and asked someone to take Li Bin away.
He actually forced Li Bin to become emperor.
Li Bin couldn't believe that there was such a ridiculous thing in the world. He was stunned for a while before he realized that he had been taken away some distance.
"Li Qijun! I finally understand that you are planning to use me for the benefit of the Li family in Zhaojun. Listen carefully, I will not rebel with you!"
These words were exactly Li Bin's inner judgment of the situation. The more Li Qijun forced him, the more certain he became.
As a result, he became more and more panicked, feeling that he was being kidnapped on a pirate ship.
"Listen carefully, I, Li Bin, have no intention of rebelling! Li Qijun forced me to do everything, and he is the rebel!"
Along the way after leaving the political hall, Li Bin kept shouting.
In his mind, how could Li Qian admit that she was not the emperor's heir? It must have been a frame-up by the ministers of the family whose interests were affected by the new law. They were all lies.
He must draw a clear line with these people as soon as possible.
"Did you hear everything? I didn't want to be the emperor, I was forced to..."
Li Bin's voice became farther and farther away, and Guo Ziyi couldn't help but worry, saying: "If King Yan is like this, this battle will be even more difficult to fight."
Li Qijun said: "Don't worry, Mr. Guo, we have the support of the Long family."
~~
A few days later, an imperial edict was placed in front of Li Qiyun.
It was sent by Xue Bai from Luoyang, saying that the emperor would return to Chang'an soon and asked the ministers who stayed in Xijing to prepare to welcome him.
Then, the conversation changed and he said that some people were rebelling in Luoyang and asked if there were any remnants in Chang'an.
For Li Qijun, this imperial edict was more like a proclamation, a letter of challenge from Xue Bai to the opponents who stayed in Chang'an.
The so-called "welcome" is more like the first battle of the emperor's personal expedition.
"How about letting Pu Gujun be the vanguard and go to 'welcome' him?" Li Qijun asked Guo Ziyi.
"No."
"Why?"
Guo Ziyi shook his head and sighed, saying: "Pu Gujuan doesn't want to follow our actions."
"How come?"
Li Qijun was greatly surprised.
In his opinion, Pu Gujun had complained about Xue Bai because he failed to succeed him as Jiedushi, and he was the military commander in Chang'an who was most against Xue Bai.
Guo Ziyi said: "He said that when he followed King Zhong in the past, everyone believed that King Yong was the emperor's heir. Now that King Zhong is dead, people no longer believe in King Yong. He doesn't care if it is true or false. He is living a much better life than before.
happy."
"It seems that, as the rumors said, he only cared about living and drinking after arriving in Chang'an." Li Qiyun said, "He will definitely regret that he failed to make the contribution to the dragon this time."
"yes."
Guo Ziyi thought about it, and then appointed his son Guo Xi as the vanguard to "welcome" in Chang'an City.
However, Guo Xi did not accept the order as happily as usual, but asked: "Master, what should we do after we greet the enemy? Attack him?"
Until now, it seems that he is not mentally prepared for a military confrontation with the current emperor.
Guo Ziyi was decisive and nodded.
~~
Li Bin's enthronement has been prepared and he has chosen a good and auspicious day. He originally planned to hold the ceremony in these few days, but was interrupted by Xue Bai's unexpected return.
In other words, he was not the emperor yet, but a prisoner imprisoned in the Daming Palace.
Under this situation, the dignitaries in Chang'an were caught off guard when facing Xue Bai.
The name has not been corrected, the food and grass have not been collected, the soldiers and horses have not been mobilized... To put it bluntly, it is not resolute.
The day before the arrival, the dignitaries of Guanlong were discussing the matter, and someone actually put forward a suggestion that Li Qijun found very ridiculous——
"Why not talk to the emperor and persuade him to restore the surname Li and stop the reform."
"How come you are so lucky now?" Li Qiyun was very angry, because it was his clansmen who said such weak words.
"What else? Is there really going to be a fight in Chang'an? How many people will suffer because of this?!"
Li Qijun was an important minister who had the trust of the emperor and a bright future. He was about to become the prime minister. It was these people who persuaded him to oppose the new law. At that time, Li Qiyun did not want to oppose Xue Bai, but only hoped that the matter could be settled slowly.
It was Xue Bai who went on a killing spree at the Qianyuan Gate and abandoned the surname Li, which completely angered him and made him embark on the path of supporting Li Bin.
The result was good. At this time, those who had encouraged him in the beginning became timid and retreated.
"Can you persuade him?" Li Qijun said: "So many ministers and ministers have forced themselves in front of the Mingtang, but they have not been able to persuade him at all. How can you persuade him with your life?"
"This time must be different. After all, Li Mi and Li Changyuan are by his side. I think the tone of the edicts coming from Dongdu in the past few days has become much gentler."
Li Qijun knew in his heart that these people were simply afraid of death and that the war would damage their fields.
It's a pity that it's too late. The emperor has publicly admitted that he is not the heir to Emperor Li Tang. It's hard to recover from the flood. Is there any possibility of turning back?
"Mo relaxed his vigilance after just a few edicts. Perhaps this was Xue Ni's trick. If he didn't want the tragedy in Luoyang to happen again, he had to rise up and resist."
Li Qijun strengthened everyone's determination, knowing that they had no way out.
…
The next day, on the outskirts of Chang'an City, Ba Shang.
Flags fluttered in the wind, with the Chinese character "Tang" written all over them.
In order to intimidate Xue Bai, and even keep Xue Bai out of the city, Guo Ziyi specially brought out his elite soldiers, and lined them up in armor by the Ba River, as if to meet the enemy.
These are the anti-autumn troops in the west. Today they number tens of thousands and are very powerful.
Behind them, the gates of Chang'an City were closed and heavily guarded.
Guo Xi had no idea what he wanted to achieve here, whether to persuade the emperor who was determined to change his mind or to simply put down Xue Ni.
So, he asked Guo Ziyi again, hoping to confirm the matter.
"war."
Guo Ziyi may have been hesitant before, but he is a person who becomes more decisive at critical moments.
Especially on the battlefield, he has abandoned all distracting thoughts.
Gradually, fast horses came galloping back from the front and hoisted a signal flag, indicating that a large group of soldiers and horses were coming from the east.
Not long after, the deafening sound of horse hooves came over, and the earth trembled.
Guo Ziyi raised his telescope and looked at it. He could see a large group of cavalry riding on horseback in the dust and smoke. The flag was Fan Yangjun.
Back then, Xue Bai had resisted Fan Yang's rebels here. Who would have thought that one day, it would be Xue Bai himself leading the Fan Yang rebels to come back.
Guo Ziyi did not think it was because of worldly affairs, but that Xue Bai lost his original intention to protect the Tang Dynasty in the power.
"Defend the enemy!"
What greeted Xue Bai was not any drum music, but the sound of military horns.
"Woo——"
The soldiers unfurled their bows, nocked arrows, and raised their spears.
Gradually, Xue Bai's chariot appeared on the other side of Ba River, confronting Guo Ziyi across the river.
Guo Ziyi immediately sent people across the river to express his attitude.
The envoy was his sixth son-in-law, named Zhang Yong. He was handsome, manly and eloquent.
Zhang Yong crossed the river and was not afraid of the murderous soldiers and horses. He went straight to the emperor to ask for an audience, and was soon taken to see Xue Bai by the soldiers.
Xue Bai, on the other hand, was dressed in military uniform, riding on a horse, completely in the posture of a military commander.
"The humble minister Zhang Yong is here to greet you."
"Since we are waiting to greet you, why are you holding your bows and arrows and fighting against each other?"
Zhang Yong said: "The officials and people of Chang'an were extremely happy to learn that His Majesty had returned to the court. However, a few days ago, there were rumors that Your Majesty was not His Majesty, which made people panic. Therefore, Duke Guo ordered his ministers to come and confirm."
"Yes, I have told the world that I am not the heir of Emperor Li Tang. How do you treat me?"
Zhang Yong was stunned. He had actually given Xue Bai a step down.
I thought that in the face of Guo Ziyi's military attack and the united efforts of the Guanlong nobles, Xue Bai would feel the pressure and give up his stubbornness and compromise a little.
Unexpectedly, it was like kicking a hard rock.
But Zhang Yong is a very smart person, and he responded immediately even when he was caught off guard.
"Your Majesty said angry words."
Zhang Yong showed a decent smile and said: "It must be some blind ministers who angered your majesty and made him tell the truth. I ask your majesty to calm down."
But he was here to show off for Guo Zi, and he couldn't just keep compromising like this.
"It's just that Duke Guo is a rigid person. He insists on confirming this matter. He shoulders the responsibility of guarding the land and cannot let the rebellion against the Tang Dynasty enter Chang'an..."