Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-Four

Chang'an city. The palace was already heavily guarded, and the ministers were all stern, frowning, waiting anxiously outside the Hall of Spirit Talismans.Suddenly, the door of the palace opened, and five or six people walked out. Yang Fugong rushed up to meet him, and asked an old doctor among them about the emperor's condition.It turned out that the long-term exile and excessive panic had caused Li Xuan's body to age prematurely.When he returned to the palace again, he was bedridden, and his energy was getting worse day by day.Although the winter had passed, the cold snap of late spring made the young emperor fall down completely.It has been seven days, and Li Xuan has not been able to get out of bed. Although he is the emperor in name, he has been in a coma for several days now.Only the warmth from the ray of sunlight outside the window can make him know in his drowsiness that outside the window is his border.

The old doctor drooped his eyelids, looking older and older.His gray beard trembled a few times: "Your Majesty..." "How is your majesty?" At this time, the prime ministers and Hanlin who were waiting on the side all gathered together. The imperial doctor shook his head: "My lords, I am helpless. Your Majesty... Your Majesty's deadline is coming soon..." "How can this be good..." "The emperor is dying..." For a while, the ministers talked one after another. "My lords," a voice suddenly came from the crowd, "The emperor has no heirs now, if there is an accident, the country will not be left alone for a day!" People turned around and saw that it was Prime Minister Kong Wei who spoke.

"Master Kong's words are absolutely true!" "But who can supervise the country?" "The emperor is unconscious, what should I do?" "If you want me to say, you can only choose one person among the kings to be the emperor's younger brother and supervise the country." "That's right, that's the only way!" "Look, how is Shou Wang?" "Impossible, King Shou came from a humble background, how can he rule the world?" "How about King Ze?" "Let me tell you, let's support King Ji, who is wise and wise, and is also older among brothers."

"Ah, I agree." "Well, I think that's fine..." When all the officials were discussing, Yang Fugong had already quietly ordered his subordinates to act.The officials were taken to Shaoyang Courtyard, which was surrounded by the Forbidden Army.He can't let these ministers who have a new master slip away, and he can't publicly elect a prince to supervise the country as they wish.Because of this, in front of the new king, Yang Fugong did not have the slightest political capital to show off.As a lieutenant of the Shence Army, he has military power in his hands, and he wants to make full use of this convenience to help a prince who has no competitiveness ascend to the throne.In this way, he has the greatest contribution to support.After thinking about it, he bit his ear at Liu Jishu beside him.

Six Kings House. Ever since Li Jie adopted Lian Che as his concubine, there was a glimmer of hope in his miserable life.In this courtyard where he was born and grew up, accompanied by the rising sun every day, Li Jie plunged into the vast history books until the eunuchs brought meals at noon.In the Tang Dynasty system, the kings were not allowed to participate in the government.Since fleeing to Chengdu with the emperor's brother, the young Li Jie had the opportunity to get in touch with the government because all the officials had not gathered at that time and the people in charge of the imperial edict were in charge.Since then, he has set out to find the crux of Li Tang Jiangshan's decline.Relying on his solid literary foundation, Li Jie has read history books all over the place. A few years later, he has become a promising young man who respects Confucius and Mencius and is proficient in literature and history.And every afternoon, together with Princess He, he recited poems and made paintings in Hui ink.As a prince, his life is poor, but he is free and fulfilling.

He is not clear about the condition of the imperial brother Li Xuan.Since returning to the palace for the second time, he has never been able to see the emperor's brother again.He also wanted to visit and catch up with his brother.But those flamboyant generals of the imperial army and domineering eunuchs always try their best to stop them with various reasons.In fact, he also knew that Brother Huang's condition was very bad. The brotherhood between Li Jie and Li Xuan was established during the process of playing in this yard when Li Xuan was young, before and even for a long time after he ascended the throne.He knew his elder brother. In fact, his elder brother always wanted to be a son of the royal family who enjoyed peace and prosperity and did not interfere in the government affairs.However, he was inexplicably put on the throne as a political bargaining chip.Since then, their brothers have witnessed the overthrow of this country.He always told Lian Che that maybe if King Ji could sit on the throne back then, and if there hadn't been such a Tian Lingzi, the country might have returned to the plain, stable and rich era of the Zhenguan period.Taizong Li Shimin has always been a bright light in Li Jie's heart, an idol-like figure.

Late at night.Suddenly, there was a noise outside the house, disturbing the tranquility of the Six Kings Courtyard.The sudden rustling of Shence Army's armor and the sound of running uniformly made him feel a little uneasy. "Where is Shouwang? Please come out!" Lian Che came to Li Jie's study timidly, with a panicked expression, wanting to seek her husband's protection.Li Jie could tell that these people outside the house came for him.He didn't know what happened, and wondered if there was another mutiny in the palace?But why did these shenanigans look for themselves.

He stood up abruptly from an old carved nanmu chair, thinking to himself, whether it was a blessing or a curse, because there was no way to avoid the disaster.He turned around, the candlelight reflected Lian Che's flustered and innocent face.Li Jie caressed his concubine's blue hair with his hand, and comforted him: "Don't worry, you wait here for a while, I'll come back after I go out to have a look." Then, he blew out the candle on the desk, the moment he turned around, He felt Lian Che embrace his body, and an inexplicable warm current spread to his heart instantly.A slightly hoarse cry came from behind: "My lord, you must be careful..."

The room was already pitch black, but Li Jie still seemed to be able to see the full teardrops wrapped in Lian Che's eyes, as if they only needed to be blown gently, and they would cover Aifei's white, tender and smooth face. Li Jie strode out of the study and walked towards the familiar and spacious yard, temporarily leaving behind his love for his children. He came to the gate of the house and asked in a loud voice: "This king is here, what are you calling me?" Suddenly, there was no sound in the yard.The soldiers lined up neatly on both sides, all holding torches in one hand and spears in the other.The torches reflected the serious expressions of these soldiers, and only the "crackling" sound of the fire burning the wood could be heard.

"Lieutenant Liu Jishu of the Right Army of the Last General Shence Army pays homage to Lord Shou!" A general in bright light armor knelt on one leg in front of Li Jie, and the light from the torch illuminated Li Jie's burly body even more. "Liu Jishu?" Li Jie scolded disdainfully in his heart, "A dead eunuch is pretending to be such a dog!" He tried to calm himself down: "Why are you disturbed here late at night?" "Back to the lord, the emperor is critically ill, and Yang Junrong will escort the lord into the palace to see you." These words are not loud, but they are mixed with a strong penetrating power, and Li can be heard in every corner of the quiet Liuwang Mansion. A conversation between Jie and Liu Jishu.

At first, Li Jie was stabbed by this sudden correct answer. At that moment, his mind was spinning rapidly, as if all the results he could foresee had passed through his mind, but his mind was still empty. It was so empty that he didn't even know what happened.He just relied on his inertia or instinct, and said: "Please Captain Liu to lead the way." At this moment in Shaoyang Courtyard, all the officials below the prime minister were waiting anxiously.The house is heavily guarded—torches, blades, and Custodians.No one spoke, no one dared to make a sound, and no one knew what to say.It seemed like something was going to happen this night after all. Suddenly, the guards outside the gate flashed to both sides, and a group of people escorted Li Jie into the house.Liu Jishu replied in a loud voice: "Shouwang Ye has arrived—" When all the officials were still in doubt, and when Li Jie was still thinking about his elder brother, Yang Fugong had already ordered someone to carry a wooden chair carved with nine dragons to the middle of the courtyard. Inexplicably, Li Jie was helped onto the dragon chair. Only Yang Fugong announced loudly: "The imperial decree has arrived—" All the officials hurriedly knelt down. Because they were not prepared at all, many people knelt in different directions in the night. "...I lie on the couch with a disease, and I worry about the country...Shouwang Li Jie is extremely intelligent, dignified, and virtuous...He supervises the country for the emperor's younger brother...I hope all the lords will assist you..." So, the little eunuch will The prepared bright yellow dragon robe was changed for Li Jie, and the little eunuch even took the bright yellow backrest and put it on the dragon chair.Li Jie originally wanted to check on his brother's condition, but now he suddenly became a supervisor, which made him at a loss for a while.Immediately afterwards, all officials knelt down and saluted.Kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times, shouting that the emperor's younger brother Jian Guo is a thousand years old. This day is Renyin in the spring of March in the first year of Wende, 888 AD, the fifth day of the lunar calendar. The next day, news of Li Xuan's death came from the Hall of Spirit Talismans.In this way, Li Xuan went through his not-so-short but frightening and humiliating career as an emperor, for Tang Xizong.On the same day, Li Jie ascended to the throne of the Tang Emperor logically as the emperor's younger brother in charge of the country.According to the legacy system, Li Jie had to change his name. From then on, the longevity king Li Jie became Tang Emperor Li Ye, and he became the penultimate emperor in the history of the Tang Dynasty.This year, he was only twenty-two years old. The young Li Ye became the new master of Datang.This was something he never expected, and it was something he never dared to ask for.In terms of ranking, the former king Yizong had eight sons, and he was only the seventh; in terms of family background, his mother was just a lowly court lady, and she did not receive the title of concubine until she died.Among his brothers, Li Ye never liked to fight with others, maybe he thought in his heart that he was doomed to be a literati in his previous life.If he hadn't been born in an emperor's family, he might be able to travel all over the world and be a romantic poet at ease.If he hadn't been born in a troubled world, he might have been able to find the peace he longed for deep in his soul in writing, ink, and strings without worrying about food and clothing. But now, he has suddenly transformed into the monarch of Datang.This made him feel no joy at the moment when he ascended the throne of the emperor.In terms of ability, he never doubted that he could do great things in this complicated political situation with constant wars.The study of historical books over the years has given him many insights into governing the country.But now, such a status that he didn't dare to ask for has become a reality, and he suddenly found that he can put the way of employing people and the way of governing the country in his mind into reality - which made him a little relieved.But on the other hand, he felt a little ashamed.After all, when he ascended the throne, he already knew that his elder brother spent the last days of his life in a coma for several days.In other words, it is impossible for the emperor to issue the will of that night.Anyone can understand this point. With all the officials supporting his wise elder brother, King Ji, he himself would never become a supervisor of the country.But in the end, the eunuch monopolized power and supported him.He became the same as his elder brother Li Xuan, and even many previous emperors in the late Tang Dynasty, who ascended to the throne because of the support of eunuchs.These eunuchs relied on such tricks to show off their power in front of the new king.The emperor's elder brother Li Xuan handed over the whole world to Tian Lingzi just because he was young and ignorant.Compared to Li Xuan, fortunately Li Ye is already an adult at this time. "Your Majesty, it's time for you to listen to the new song!" said an old eunuch. "What new song?" After eating, Li Ye was still not quite used to leaving the life of Liuwangyuan.It's as if every new king, at the beginning of his role, has to face the fact that his life has become increasingly isolated.Just like every emperor has to call himself "Zhen", often after a few years, they seem to realize that they are really alone. "According to the system of the first emperor, Taichang Temple should offer new songs to the emperor every day." It is the system of the first emperor again!Li Ye was a little displeased.To be honest, since he can remember, he has heard many luxurious systems established by his father, and after his father passed away, Tian Lingzi taught all these dross to his elder brother Li Xuan hand in hand.No matter how turbulent the outside world is, the inner courtyard of the palace will always be a peaceful environment for singing and dancing.Every time Li Ye thought about the reunion with Lian Che and the unimaginable poverty that the common people in Xichuan lived, his heart was torn like a knife.Now, he has become the emperor, but how many of his people are still suffering in war and famine? "Call Yang Junrong here, I have something to say to him!" Not long after the old eunuch left, Yang Fugong strutted into Li Ye's imperial study.Seeing the new monarch, he just bent slightly: "This old slave pays his respects to the emperor." "Forget it." When Li Ye thought that he was put on the throne by this eunuch, he felt as disgusted as if he had eaten a fly. "There are a few things I want to discuss with you. Deshun and I It’s been many years, let him come and serve by my side, so that I can get more familiar with him. The father-in-law just now is not too young, so give him more than ten acres of land and go back to take care of him.” Yang Fugong nodded in agreement, reminding Li Ye to call himself "Zhen" from time to time. Li Ye said again: "You helped me to the throne, but I didn't have any virtue at all. At first, I was afraid that it would be difficult for the people of the world to surrender, but since it was done, I should set an example for the world. I see, oh, I see, just Let’s start with frugality. Nowadays, the common people are not rich, but I have a set of clothes and a song every day, which is a bit too much. If you don’t object, I think, let’s get rid of it.” "Yes! It is a blessing for the Tang Dynasty that the emperor can sympathize with the sufferings of the common people." In order to reverse the current situation of the country as soon as possible, Li Ye took multiple measures.On the one hand, a large number of talents have been promoted exceptionally, and the central system has been adjusted.In the late Tang Dynasty, the prime minister, Hanlin scholar, privy envoy, and shence army lieutenant were four different forces, and the emperor usually controlled power by reusing one of them.Due to his jealousy towards the eunuchs and his admiration for the Zhenguan Dynasty, Li Ye finally decided to reuse the prime minister.He not only worshiped Du Rangneng and Zhang Jun, the heroes who had been relied on by Emperor Xizong before, as prime ministers, but also dreamed of people who were worthy of their name and reality by day, and those who were beautiful in art and literature, and dreamed of heroes by night.Kong Weiben, the prime minister of the late Xizong Dynasty, had been appointed as Shanling envoy, and he would no longer enter the court according to the usual practice.But thinking of Kong Wei risking his life to escort Xi Zong twice when he fled south, Li Ye couldn't help admiring such a loyal and righteous man with a strong will and elegance.Two years after he ascended the throne, he reused this loyal minister.In addition, Li Ye vigorously advocated Taoism and emphasized Confucianism in order to reverse the secular atmosphere of worshiping Buddhism in the late Tang Dynasty. Li Ye's series of measures at the beginning of his accession to the throne have more or less achieved some results.More importantly, loyal people from all over the court saw a glimmer of hope for the country's recovery.At the same time, they were all rejoiced to have such a promising Mingjun. At this moment, the fighting in Xichuan has not stopped.Just half a month after Li Ye ascended the throne, countless memorials flew to the capital like a snowflake.How to deal with the difficult war between Xichuan Wang Jian and Chen Jingxuan became the first thorny thing before Li Ye. "Wang Jianzuo claimed that Chen Jingxuan caused chaos in Xichuan, refused to pay taxes to the court, and supported himself in an attempt to rebel. However, Chen Jingxuan insisted that it was Wang Jian who wanted to annex Xichuan. Please share your views." Li Ye summoned Du Rangneng , Zhang Jun, Wei Zhaodu and others discussed the matter of Xichuan. Du Rangneng said: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, this incident was originally provoked by Wang Guangtu. Wang Guangtu was originally based in Lizhou, and he never managed the prefectures and counties with peace of mind. Instead, he sent troops to occupy Langzhou, and then raised troops to contact Xichuan. , he mobilized former Zhongwu Army General Jin Guangyuan and others to besiege Chengdu. Gu Yanlang of Dongchuan also took the opportunity to send troops, which resulted in the current result. According to my opinion, Wang Guangtu should be dismissed and Xichuan should be restored to peace." Li Ye didn't speak after listening.He didn't have much contact with Wang Jian, but he appreciated his two acts of loyal escort, and he still had a good impression of Wang Jian. "Your Majesty," Zhang Jun said, "Wang Guangtu was famous for his might when he conquered Huangchao. All the soldiers and generals under him are brave to die. Now he has 20,000 elite soldiers and occupies Hanzhou. I heard that , he once besieged Chengdu for three days, and the fierce battle between the two armies was extremely fierce. A month ago, Wang Guangtu marched into Pengzhou. Jiazhou, Meizhou, Qiongzhou, Jianzhou, Zizhou, Yazhou, Lizhou, Maozhou and other eleven prefectures in Xichuan were all plundered by him. If he is ordered to stop the army rashly now, I am afraid that he will not be able to stop, but I am afraid that Sanchuan There will be no peace from now on!" Du Rangneng hummed in his nostrils: "So, if he rebelled against the imperial court, he can't be punished?" "Du Xiang," Zhang Jun said, "I'm afraid it may not be Wang Guangtu who really wants to rebel. Although he is now leading troops to harass the people, I'm afraid Chengdu will be blamed for the chaos in Xichuan..." Zhang Jun reminded Li Ye with one sentence, He hurriedly asked, "Is Tian Lingzi in Chengdu?" "Exactly, Eunuch Tian voted for his brother Chen Taishi in Chengdu." Li Ye remained silent. At this moment, he vaguely felt that the scar from being whipped by Tian Lingzi a few years ago began to ache again. "Is there a memorial from Dongchuan?" "Yes." Wei Zhaodu replied, "Gu Yanlang, the envoy of the Dongchuan Festival, said that the cause of this incident was all caused by Xichuan. Wang Guangtu's fault was that he did not report to the Ming court and used the name of the court to crusade without authorization. He asked His Majesty Pardon Wang Guangtu's crimes, and move Chen Jingxuan to another state, and ask the court to choose a general to suppress Xichuan." Li Ye fell into deep thought. Nishikawa. "My lord, don't be impatient. General Jin, General Li, and General Zhang are all in one place with the lord's soldiers, and they are already besieging Chengdu..." "Boya, apart from Chengdu, I'm more worried about Dongchuan!" Seeing Wang Jian's thoughts, Zhou Xiang looked outside the door and saw no one, so he said, "I know my lord has complaints about General Gu Er. Our army captured Hanzhou, but Gu Gong sent his younger brother as governor." This cannot be justified in terms of emotion and reason. Although Gu Gong had a grievance with Chengdu as early as when he took office, but my lord, don’t Don't forget that you promised to divide Xichuan equally, so Gu Gong agreed to send troops. A little intolerance can lead to chaos! Now we Although Dong Chuan's help is indispensable, but more importantly, Dong Chuan should be tied to us. In this way, you will not have to worry about the future, and you will not bear the blame of the princes of the world alone." "Well, it makes sense." At this time, the report outside the account: "Wang Zongkan, the pioneer of the second route, is here." While speaking, I saw a man wearing a white cloth armor and a sword hanging on his waist. Zhao Zilong's heroism is like Jiangdong Zhou Gongjin's free and easy.This person is Tian Shi, who has been renamed Wang Zongkan.Zong Kan and Wang Jian are from the same hometown of Xuzhou. In the early years, they also defected to the Zhongwu Army and followed Wang Jian for many years. "Is there something wrong with Zong Kan?" Wang Jian felt relieved when he saw his favorite general. "Father, Chengbei brought a letter from Fengxiang Jiedu Envoy Li Gong."