Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty Seven

Following Ah Qian around the muddy path, there is a village outside the city. In a certain farmhouse, the former daughter of the He family lived.Li Jie's heartbeat began to speed up, he didn't know what kind of emotion he would feel when he saw the girl he was thinking about day and night.Four years have passed, and the former boudoir girl has become more and more graceful, and the rough and plain appearance can't conceal the silty and unstained clarity.Countless encounters in dreams were exchanged for tears in reality... After a long time, Lian Che Fangru woke up from a dream and shyly asked Li Jie to sit down.Deshun and Ah Qian also stepped back and closed the door.

Only then did Li Jie start to ask: "I heard... something happened to your house... I asked Deshun to look for you after that, but it was already in ruins..." Lian Che nodded: "Everyone in the family...but my father let me escape ahead of time...I am not his biological daughter, but he gave me his life and left his death to himself..." Before he finished speaking, he hid face crying. "What did you say? Isn't He Yuanwai your biological father?" Lian Che nodded: "Well... I am an orphan... My mother was sick since I was a child, and she left me when I was five years old. My father also loved me, but he died in the battle against Nanzhao after years of fighting. The He family and my family were family friends, so they took me in as an only daughter. He Yuanwai treated me like a pearl in the palm of his hand. I never suffered a little bit of wronged in the He family, until his family also suffered from the same misfortune... After that, I came to On the outskirts of the city, I took refuge with my aunt who lives far away so that I can have something to eat..." As she spoke, Lian Che took out the jade pendant from her bosom, "Since we parted with the prince, we don't know when we will meet again. Heaven has eyes, today I finally saw you again..."

Hearing this, Li Jie's eyes were blurred with tears. He held Lian Che's hands tightly: "I never thought that you and I had the same miserable childhood..." "The prince is a prince and enjoys all the glory in the world. How can he share the same life with the daughters of the people?" "You don't know! Since ancient times, the princes in the palace are more precious than their mothers. My mother is just an ordinary maid in the palace. It was just an accidental night, because the father got drunk and got lucky. I was born just now. In terms of ranking, I am the seventh prince, with six elder brothers in front of me; in terms of birth, my mother passed away shortly after giving birth to me, and she didn't even get the title of concubine when she died...

"After my mother left, I was even more lonely. Although I had brothers and my father, I often didn't see my father for half a year. When I was seven years old, my father passed away, and my elder brother inherited the throne. However, the eunuchs control the government, and we princes and grandchildren live like prisoners..." At this point, Li Jie saw the scene of Tian Lingzi beating himself on the horse again, and his back seemed to be aching... With the world people.In this way, the two hearts waiting for each other finally came together after the storm.Therefore, Li Jie finally kept He Lianche by his side, told Li Xuan again, and bestowed Lianche as Princess Shou.

After two months of trekking, Li Xuan finally returned to the place where he grew up, and finally returned to Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.Seeing the Daming Palace full of thorns and foxes and rabbits, Li Xuan couldn't help but burst into tears.With the sharp reduction of tax revenue, the sharp increase of military expenditure, and the chaos of the world, this ill-fated emperor still had to face the situation of waiting for prosperity.On the second day after returning to Chang'an, he boarded the Xuanzheng Hall again.In order to have a new starting point for the revitalization of the Tang Dynasty, an imperial edict was issued to amnesty the world and change Yuan Guangqi.

Late at night. Wang Jian led a guard of more than 30 people to patrol the palace in an orderly manner. The palace city of the Tang Dynasty is composed of three groups of palaces: the Taiji Palace in the west, the Daming Palace in the east, and the Xingqing Palace in the south.The palace buildings here used to be majestic and magnificent but also elegant and lively, and they used to be grand and concise.But all of this, after the catastrophe, seemed to be in decline and dilapidated.The ever-beautiful Taiye Pool is always surrounded by lush greenery, and the former imperial gardens are so fascinating—the East Inner Garden in the southeast of Daming Palace, the West Inner Garden in the north of Taiji Palace, and the Furong Garden in the east of Qujiang Pool. It is like a section of legendary myths, the splendor from the Heavenly Palace, and the softness from the Yaochi. This place was once a famous animal paradise and plant kingdom in China, but after the war, it became a barren land where wild beasts infested... Thinking of this, Wang Jian couldn't help but sigh the fate of the most prosperous and largest city in the world.

In the distance, an official in plain attire hurried towards him.Wang Jian recognized Prince Shaobao Kong Wei.So, he hurriedly stood aside respectfully, in his eyes, the officials who were still going to face the saint at this time must be the pillars of the country and loyal ministers.When Kong Wei saw Wang Jian, he nodded friendly and asked, "Is the emperor in the study?" "I'm reviewing the memorial." Wang Jian replied.He could hear the anxiety in Kong Wei's words.At this moment, not only are the ministers not resting, but the emperor is still keeping company with the long night.In retrospect, since returning to Chang'an, the emperor has been extremely diligent and seems not to dare to relax in the slightest.He seems to be fulfilling the last duty of the royal family of Li and Tang, trying to save the fate of the dynasty from decline.It is still cold outside the house, the palace is still dilapidated, and the dragon case is piled up with reports of struggles and complaints between feudal clans and towns, as well as irreparable financial losses.Although Li Xuan is not capable of controlling the courtiers in the world with a piece of paper, he no longer hopes that he is Tian Lingzi's puppet.

Deshun led Kong Wei to the study.Wang Jian held the sword at his waist and stood on the side of the stone steps under the door with his head held high.Faintly, he heard the emperor asking something, and then he heard Kong Wei's voice: "Your Majesty, Qin Zongquan appointed hundreds of officials in Caizhou, and openly proclaimed himself emperor..." As the emperor slammed the book case angrily, Wang Jian's heart trembled.Qin Zongquan, he is so familiar with this name.After escaping from Xuzhou Prison, he was introduced by Han Jian to be under Qin Zongquan's command.Later, he returned to the Zhongwu Army and heard that Qin Zongquan was still recruiting troops to strengthen his strength.Soon, attacking neighboring counties, annexing prefectures and counties, poisoning living beings, storing corpses and cannibalizing people... A series of heinous rumors about Qin Zongquan swept the world.Now, he blatantly set up a private court to fight against the Tang Dynasty and proclaim himself emperor, which is something that no emperor can tolerate.

Wang Jian raised his head and saw the bright moon hanging high, and the night in late spring was still a little bit chilly.He could hear the little eunuch picking up the teacup that the emperor had just dropped on the ground, but he couldn't hear the emperor and Kong Wei discussing the countermeasures quietly... Wang Jian's thoughts were still flying in the air, and suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps behind him vigilantly came.He turned his head suddenly, only to see Li Xuan and Kong Wei leaving the study one after the other. "Long live the final general!" Wang Jian quickly knelt down.

"Oh, it's Guangtu. It's already the second watch, and you haven't rested yet?" "Wang Jian is on duty tonight, long live the guard!" "Well," a smile flashed on Li Xuan's face, "I have heard that you are outstanding in martial arts, and I am relieved to have you here. It just so happens that Mr. Kong and I want to come out to get some air, so you can follow behind me." "yes!" Then, Li Xuan took out a memorial and handed it to Kong Wei: "This is a statement written by Tian Junrong on the reduction of salt tax. Please read it and talk about your thoughts."

"Yes!" Kong Wei respectfully took the memorial with both hands, and looked at it in the faint light of the hanging lanterns in the corridor. He just scanned it once and was shocked: "Your Majesty, you want to move Xie County, Anyi, etc. Two big salt ponds?" "That's right, Henan, Hebei, Jianghuai, these former important tax towns no longer pay tribute, relying on the counties of Gyeonggi, together with the states of Fengxiang, Tongzhou, and Huazhou, how can they maintain the current huge expenditure?" Li Xuan turned around and asked Wang Jian, "How is the life of the soldiers in the Shence Army you command?" Wang Jian didn't dare to lie, and reported truthfully: "Western Shu recruited left and right shence troops, a total of fifty-four capitals. Since Long live the guards returned to Beijing, they have not been paid, and even the most basic clothing and food cannot be satisfied! Soldiers, There are so many complaints..." Li Xuan nodded appreciatively, obviously he wanted to hear the truth. "If things go on like this, even the lives of people around me will not be guaranteed..." Li Xuan stopped talking halfway.Kong Wei sighed: "Since the Anshi Rebellion, our dynasty has implemented a salt and iron monopoly system. The two major salt ponds in Jie County and Anyi have always been important sources of taxation... This, of course, I know." "Exactly!" Li Xuan continued, "If I remember correctly, Tian Junrong said in the memorandum that only in the sixth year of Xuanzong's reign, Chi Yan's income was as high as more than 1.2 million guan! But what about now? Since Zhonghe, Wang Chongrong has specialized in Hezhong, and he only contributes 3,000 carts of salt every year! Tian Junrong wants to serve as Liangchi’s salt envoy. What about the court?" Seeing that Li Xuan had already made up his mind, Kong Wei knew that things were inevitable, so he asked carefully, "What if Wang Chongrong resists the order?" "He dares! If he dares to resist the decree, I will regard him as Qin Zongquan!" Li Yan was almost roaring, and his voice echoed in the night sky.However, such a heroic declaration seems so pale and powerless when a dynasty is about to decline. Kong Wei quickly knelt down: "Your Majesty, pardon me for the death penalty, and dare to say that Wang Chongrong once killed Huang Chao's envoys and took the lead in breaking with the bandits. He also made great contributions in the process of destroying Huang Chao and recovering Zhu Quanzhong! Your Majesty cannot ignore him." Because of Qin Zongquan's party, if he really doesn't turn his head around for a while, His Majesty must not send troops to attack!" Kong Wei's words are considered art, and there is one sentence he dare not say in front of Li Xuan, that is: Behind Wang Chongrong is Li Keyong!If Li Ke is really going to be pushed into a hurry, the world will be out of control again. "Okay, I depend on you." In fact, Kong Wei's worries are not superfluous.Both the two salt ponds are under the rule of Wang Chongrong, the Jiedu envoy of Hezhong, and this is his confidant's place, so of course he will not give it up.After the edict was issued, Wang Chongrong went up to explain one after another.In order to achieve his own goals, Tian Lingzi provoked conflicts between Wang Chucun, Li Keyong and Wang Chongrong, but they saw through Tian Lingzi's methods and were not fooled.Seeing this, Tian Lingzi could only use force to seize him. Although Li Xuan followed Kong Wei's suggestion, he really believed that the court's strength compared with Hezhong's was not enough to be sure of victory, so he did not agree to send troops.However, Tian Lingzi insisted on going his own way, blatantly sent troops, and colluded with Binning Jiedu Envoy Zhu Mei and Fengxiang Jiedu Envoy Li Changfu to organize an army of 30,000 people to attack Wang Chongrong. Of course, Wang Chongrong knew that his own strength could not resist the imperial court's conquest, so he was heartbroken and sent a letter for help to Li Keyong like flying.Li Keyong thought that if he sent troops to Hezhong immediately, he could cut off Zhu Quanzhong's wings, and clear the emperor's side. Why not do both?So in November of the first year of Guangqi (885 A.D.), Wang Chongrong sent troops to attack Tongzhou. Zhu Mei and Li Changfu also rejected Li Xuan's edict requesting reconciliation between the two armies.In the twelfth month, Zhu Mei and Li Changfu were defeated, and each fled back. The defeated army burned and looted wherever they passed. Li Ke forced the capital with troops!This almost desperate news reached Daming Palace!