The ups and downs of the ages, the laughter of hundreds of years, I watched it for a while. I asked who unloaded it again, a piece of sail on the beach, and tied the cable to the setting sun?
——Excerpt from "Water Dragon Song: Crossing the Shuangxi Tower of Nanjian" by Xin Qiji
…
While feeding the lion cubs, Bai Fu asked, "Is anyone anxious to buy Mrs. Guo Guo's mansion recently?"
Alberts said with a smile: "Young Master Bai is very knowledgeable about things. The butler of Fang Guan, the young master of the Crown Prince, has come here three times recently to ask for the purchase of this house. The price is getting higher each time!"
Bai Fu smiled and said: "Then let him wait. Have we found our next home?"
Alberts said: "We have found it. The next family is the envoy from Da Shi to Chang'an. They will stay in Chang'an for half a year. After half a year, I asked them to transfer the mansion to the envoy from Da Qin.
These subordinates are all envoys from foreign countries, and they have a good reputation. Even His Majesty the Emperor will not easily issue an order to interfere in the business."
Bai Fu nodded and said: "Be cautious. The fewer people know about this, the better. You should sell this house to the envoy of Dashi as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams."
…
As soon as Alberts left, Fang Shuliu arrived with his hind legs.
The two entered the secret room, and Fang Shuliu said: "The witch who planned Gongsun's assassination of Su Zong was found. Her name is Aqi. She is a disciple of Taoist Master Bichen and a famous witch. It was she who guided Wu Daozi into Dendrobium.
You have also seen this witch, she is the singer in white gauze who used illusions to ambush everyone at the Yuelai Inn."
Bai Fu snorted coldly and said: "So it was her! She almost killed me on the banks of Qujiang River back then."
After that, he briefly told the story of Taoist Master Bichen's attack on him.
Bai Fu finally said: "This matter is quite strange. I obviously fell into the ice lake, but my friend Acheng said that he found me by the well near the Bashu Guild Hall."
Fang Shu flashed his long beard and said, "Brother Bai must have had some adventure and was rescued from the icy lake by a stranger.
Well, the time is also consistent. It was probably from this time that there was no news about Master Bichen in the world. He was probably eliminated by the senior master who rescued you."
Bai Fu said: "As far as I know, this witch has never appeared again. Why did she participate in the assassination of His Majesty again?"
Fang Shuliu said: "After Wu Daozi's death, she began to show up again. On the surface, she is the person of Wang Yu, the minister of Zhongshu, but there should be someone else who instigated her behind the scenes, and it has not been found out yet."
Bai Fu said: "Why did this enchantress get together with Wang Yu?"
Fang Shuliu said: "Wang Yu was Taichang Shaoqing, responsible for the ancestral temple sacrifices. Your Majesty believed deeply in ghosts and gods, and Wang Yu took advantage of this. Every time he reported the ritual etiquette, he mixed it with folk witchcraft and regarded this witch as a psychic witch.
The art of ghosts and gods flatters His Majesty.
As a result, Wang Yu became favored by His Majesty and was promoted to the rank of Vice Minister of Zhongshu, Tongping Zhangshi."
Bai Fu said: "In this case, we must be extra careful when arresting this witch. When we find out the person behind the scenes, we must kill him immediately.
Otherwise, the witch will definitely take advantage of His Majesty's favor for Wang Yu to confuse the public and cause the golden cicada to escape."
Fang Shuliu said: "I have also thought of this. Recently, there may be a chance to get rid of her.
Recently, His Majesty has been feeling unwell, and Wang Yu divined that it was the ghosts of mountains and rivers that were causing trouble. Therefore, Wang Yu suggested building a "Taiyi Shrine" in the southern suburbs of Chang'an to pray for God's blessings.
At the same time, Wang Yu proposed to send eunuchs to join the demon girl and take stagecoaches to the Mingchuan River to offer sacrifices to ghosts and gods.
In the name of offering sacrifices and praying, Wang Yu actually took advantage of this opportunity to ask the witch to go to various states and counties to extort bribes.
Therefore, I will devise a plan to get rid of this witch!"
…
After talking about the witch, Bai Fu asked: "Master Fang, what personnel changes will be made in the imperial court recently?"
Fang Shuliu said: "There are two main personnel changes: the crown prince's young master, King Guo Li Ju, will soon be appointed as the Yin of Henan, and he will also stay in Luoyang, Tokyo."
Zhang Hao, the Minister of Zhongshu and Tongping Zhangshi, will be dismissed from the post of prime minister and appointed as the governor of Jingzhou. Cui Guangyuan, the Minister of Rites, will succeed Zhang Hao as the governor of Henan Province."
Bai Fu was quite surprised and said: "Master Zhang is an honest official, a courteous corporal, and is highly valued by the courtiers. Why was he demoted?"
Fang Shuliu said: "Zhang Hao was indifferent by nature and refused to curry favor with the powerful eunuch Li Fuguo and others, so he was always hated by Li Fuguo.
When Zhang Hao was in charge of the military forces in Henan, he heard that Shi Siming had surrendered, so he sent a warning to Shu, thinking that Shi Siming was cunning and violent, and it was difficult to be influenced by kindness, so he must be a fake surrender. He advised the court not to hand over Shi Siming's authority and use tricks to obtain it.
Zhang Hao believed that Xu Shuji, the commander of the Huazhou defense, was cunning and changeable, and would definitely betray him when encountering danger, so he sincerely requested that he be summoned to serve in the capital.
Shi Siming's surrender allowed His Majesty to end the counter-rebellion ahead of schedule. Less than fifteen days after Shi Siming's surrender, the Supreme Emperor went to the Xuanzheng Palace and used a formal document to canonize His Majesty as the tenth emperor of the Tang Dynasty. It can be seen that this matter is of great significance to His Majesty, and of course it is acceptable.
No one else is allowed to question this.
Recently, the imperial eunuchs who inspected various roads returned to Beijing from Fanyang and Baima in Huazhou. Under the instruction of Li Fuguo, the imperial envoys unanimously praised Shi Siming and Xu Shuji for his loyalty and trustworthiness.
Therefore, His Majesty believed that Zhang Hao was impractical and demoted him."
Bai Fu snorted coldly and said: "Shi Siming was ambitious, insidious and cruel. Xu Shuji refused to save him during the siege of Suiyang, and was cunning and fickle.
Mr. Zhang saw these two people very accurately. Not only did they have no success, but they also suffered from them. If this continues, how can there be an upright and upright king in the court?"
Fang Shuliu sighed: "Zhang Hao worshiped Wu Jing as his teacher when he was young. He was good at reading Wang Ba's books, and he also had strategies for marching and fighting. With his departure, the counterinsurgency in Henan Province will probably have twists and turns."
Fang Shuliu's words awakened Bai Fu. After sending Fang Shuliu away, Bai Fu called Huang Zhen and Tang Kui into the secret room.
Bai Fu said: "Master Zhang Hao is upright and has high prestige. With him in charge of the armies of Henan Province, all the generals will obey, and he can form an encirclement against the rebels. If he leaves, things may go wrong in Henan Province."
An Qingxu was still in Ye County, and his generals such as Cai Xide, Cui Qianyu, and An Taiqing were all well prepared for war. Cui Guangyuan, the Minister of Rites, had never led an army and was obviously no match for the rebels.
Once the rebels severely inflict heavy losses on the Tang army and take advantage of it, Shi Siming and other Fan Yang armies will instantly resurrect and make a comeback. We must be on guard!"
Tang Kui said: "Gang Leader Jiang and Taifu Xu have already thought of this. A month ago, the Tang Sect sent an elite team of 100 people to secretly leave Shu and sneak into Fan Yang to collect intelligence.
Once Shi Siming rebelled, they would be responsible for instigating rebellion against enemy generals and waiting for opportunities to assassinate him.
According to time calculation, they should have arrived in Fanyang, and there should be pigeon messages coming in the near future."
Bai Fu was overjoyed, slapped his thigh and said: "With the information about Tang Sect, we are even more powerful!"