Chapter 45 Dezong tightened his belt

On the first day of the first lunar month of the new year, Emperor Dezong's court amnesty the world, and at the same time changed the year name to "Zhenyuan". The previous "Xingyuan" reign title was abandoned after only one year of use.These two characters in the New Year's name come from "Book of Changes", which is an abbreviation of "Starting from Zhenxia", which means that the severe winter has passed and spring is coming.As for Emperor Dezong and his ministers, of course they hope that the word "Zhenyuan" can make the Tang Empire, which has gone through a lot of calamities, come back to life in the new year and be reborn from the ashes...

Whether the empire will be prosperous in the new year is still hard to say, but Lu Qi, the former prime minister of the empire, is indeed about to turn around.As soon as Dezong's amnesty decree was promulgated, he was transferred from his post as Sima in Xinzhou (now Xinxing County, Guangdong) to Jizhou (now Ji'an City, Jiangxi) as the chief historian. Although on the vast territory of the empire, from Xinzhou to Jizhou is like a small step for a worm, but this small step is a meaningful signal. Lu Qi keenly caught this signal. He knew that Emperor Dezong would soon use him again, so he said to everyone, "I will definitely enter the court again."

Sure enough, just a few days later, Dezong ordered the Secretary of State to draft an edict to promote Lu Qi from the position of governor of Jizhou to governor of Raozhou (now Boyang County, Jiangxi). Obviously, this is by no means worms wriggling on the map, it is a triple jump of a former prime minister Xianyu turning around - just one more jump, he can jump back to the heart of the empire, and once again be the one under him, the ten thousand people The prime minister of the scenery above! Yuan Gao, who was in charge of drafting the imperial edict, realized that something was wrong, and immediately went to the current prime ministers Lu Han and Liu Congyi, and said: "During Lu Qi's prime ministership, Luan Jia was relocated and the country was devastated. Why did he suddenly get promoted again?" ? Ask the two prime ministers to report to the emperor."

Reflect to the emperor? That's easy to say! Facing Yuan Gao who was overconfident and meddling, Lu Han and Liu Congyi smiled wryly in their hearts. In the eyes of these two current prime ministers, Lu Qi is certainly not a good guy, but the problem is that he has a good relationship with the emperor, what can you do with him?Besides, for a small matter of yours, just write your imperial edict seriously, why bother with that carelessness?Moreover, the emperor is not such a persuasive person, let alone you Yuan Gao, even the two of us would never dare to haggle with him for an order he personally issued.

There is no doubt that Lu Han and Liu Congyi are wise and safe people. They believe in the philosophy of life that "one thing more is worse than one thing less". possible.Therefore, they quickly bypassed Yuan Gao and found someone else to draft the imperial edict for Dezong. On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, the imperial edict was issued, but Yuan Gao withdrew the edict angrily, insisting on not letting the Ministry of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promulgate it. He went to Dezong in person and said sadly: "Lu Qi is a treacherous and evil person. Everyone regards him as an enemy, and the soldiers of the six armies wish to swallow his flesh alive, how can such a person be reused?"

Although Yuan Gao dared to remonstrate directly with Yan Yan, he was soft-spoken after all, so he couldn't change Dezong's mind at all. On the same day, Zuo Buque, Chen Jing, Zhao Xu and others jointly named Shangshu and said: "Lu Qi has been in power for three years, and the court is in chaos. The hearts of all peoples in the world." On the 21st day of the first lunar month, Yuan Gao publicly remonstrated at the court meeting.Dezong suppressed his anger and said: "Hasn't Lu Qi been pardoned twice?" The implication is that no matter how serious the crime is, he can be pardoned.

Yuan Gao said: "The amnesty is only to pardon his criminal responsibility, it does not mean that he can be the governor!" Chen Jing and others also joined together and remonstrated, saying: "When Lu Qi was in power, all officials often felt that the sword was on their necks. Once it was reused, the traitor party would definitely take advantage of it!" "Presumptuous!" The unbearable Dezong finally let out a furious roar. The waiters on the left and right had never seen the Son of Heaven get so angry, and they took several steps back in fright.The admonitors who were still talking aggressively just now also lowered their heads involuntarily, their faces full of panic.

Among all the admonishers, only Chen Jing still stuck his neck, and said loudly to Yuan Gao, Zhao Xu and others: "Don't shrink back, this is a major national event, and we will fight to the death!" Fight to the death? Dezong Li Shi never expected that the re-use of Lu Qi would attract such a huge wave of opposition, and it even reached the point of "fighting to the death"!Although the opponents were all small officials as big as sesame seeds and mung beans, who would dare to assert that they did not have the support of the prime minister or ministers behind them? After a period of unbearable silence, Dezong waved his hand helplessly, indicating that the court will be disbanded.

Careful people can easily find that the anger on the emperor's face has automatically dissipated a lot. Perhaps, the emperor, who realized that public anger is difficult to commit, is ready to make concessions. The next day, Dezong summoned Lu Han, Liu Congyi, and Li Mian, the three prime ministers, to test their attitudes.Dezong looked at them and asked cautiously, "What do you think of letting Lu Qi become the governor of a smaller state?" Lu Han and Liu Cong were expressionless and silent, only Li Mian spoke.He said flatly: "Your Majesty wants to use Lu Qi, even if it is a big state, it is all right, but the result will definitely be disappointment to the world!"

The world is disappointed! Nothing can represent the prime minister's attitude better than these four words. Dezong felt deeply helpless.A few days later, the imperial court finally issued an edict to transfer Lu Qi to Lizhou (now Lixian County, Hunan Province) to Biejia.At the same time, Dezong sent someone to send a sentence to Yuan Gao: "I slowly think about what Xianqing said, and I think what you said is very reasonable." Admonitions from the Higher People.Li Mi said: "These days outsiders have been discussing a lot, comparing His Majesty to Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling in the late Eastern Han Dynasty; after hearing His Majesty's decision today, I realize that even Yao and Shun may not be comparable to Your Majesty!"

A bright smile bloomed on Dezong's face, and he was reluctant to wither for a long time. In this world, there are two kinds of people who like to be coaxed most: one is children, and the other is leaders.The younger the child, the higher the level of leadership and the greater the reliance on it.In this sense, leaders of such a high level as the emperor should of course be treated like children: people need to give them "thumb education".Especially when they feel that they have worked hard to do something right, they need people to reward them with tangible and intangible candies. Li Mi is very aware of this, so he is not stingy with his praise. Lu Qi was dumbfounded when he received the imperial edict. He didn't expect the result to be like this.Although from the map, Lu Qi took another step closer to Chang'an, but his official position fell down one level inexplicably. What does this mean? Lu Qi knew better than anyone that this was not Dezong's unintentional mistake, but to convey another message to him—sorry, you have no chance to return to court. Lu Qi knew that Dezong had abandoned him under the pressure of public opinion, and abandoned him forever! After realizing this, Lu Qi lost all thoughts. It didn't take long for Lu Qi, who was depressed and desperate, to die in Biejia Ren in Lizhou. In the spring of the first year of Zhenyuan, Li Huaiguang's situation was more embarrassing and difficult than ever before.In late March, General Lu Mingyue of Hezhong secretly contacted Ma Sui, preparing to lead his troops to surrender.Unexpectedly, when the incident was leaked, Li Huaiguang immediately slaughtered Lu Mingyue's family.Although Lu Mingyue's actions were not successful, it was obviously another heavy blow to the already torn hearts of He Zhong. Soon, Ma Sui marched into Baoding (now west of Wanrong County, Shanxi), defeated Li Huaiguang's army in Taocheng (now northwest of Yongji City, Shanxi), and beheaded more than ten thousand ranks.In mid-April, Ma Sui and Hun Yan joined forces at Changchun Palace and defeated Li Huaiguang's army again.The generals in the river saw that the officers and soldiers were victorious in successive battles and their troops were strong, so they surrendered one after another. Li Huaiguang knew that his situation was over, but in order to last a little longer, he lied to his followers that he was willing to surrender to the imperial court, but he just needed some time to prepare the money for tribute. Li Huaiguang's "dragging" tactic, on the surface, seems to be just lingering, but in fact his intention is not so simple. Because he knew that at this moment, the life of Emperor Dezong's court might not be much easier than him. Although the imperial army was victorious on the battlefield, the increasingly large military expenditures had already overwhelmed the empire's finances. Coupled with the large-scale drought and locust disasters since last year, the empire's finances were even worse.Therefore, it is still unknown whether the Dezong court has enough financial resources to continue this protracted war. Because of his position, Li Huaiguang has reason to spend money with the court.If it takes one more day, the court's finances will be under more pressure. When it is unable to bear it, it may take the initiative to pardon Li Huaiguang. What Li Huaiguang was waiting for was the court's pardon. It is conceivable that if Li Huaiguang voluntarily surrendered, then his territory and military power would be completely deprived by the court, and at most he could only get a nominal job, and in the end he still could not escape the fate of boiling frogs in warm water.But if the court took the initiative to pardon Li Huaiguang, the situation would be completely different.Not only could the imperial court not deprive him of his military power, but in order to appease him, he had to return the territory that Ma Sui and others had laid down to him.At that time, Li Huaiguang will still be a big official in the frontier who supports the soldiers. Therefore, even though Li Huaiguang was at the end of his life at this time, he was not completely desperate. He believed that the person who finally compromised might not be him, but Dezong Li Shi. As Li Huaiguang expected, in June of this year, the imperial finances sounded the alarm again.The financial officials responsible for providing food and salaries to the army asked Emperor Dezong to pardon Li Huaiguang, because the treasury was about to bottom out! Li Sheng, who was Fengxiang Jiedu envoy at the time, learned of the situation, immediately went to Shudezong, put forward five reasons why Li Huaiguang could not be pardoned, and offered to "send 20,000 troops, prepare their own resources, and ask Huaiguang alone."On the first day of July, Ma Sui also rushed back to the court from the front line and told Emperor Dezong: "Li Huaiguang's crime of rebellion is more serious than other rebels. If he is pardoned, he will not be able to command the world. Please call another For the grain of the month, I will beg your Majesty to pacify Li Huaiguang." Food for a month? No matter how poor the imperial court is, they can still get enough food for this month, right? Dezong gritted his teeth and agreed to Ma Sui's request. Just when Dezong's court was tightening its belt and preparing to launch a final blow against Li Huaiguang, another mutiny broke out that was close at hand. At the beginning of July, Shanguo (the governing place of Shanzhou, today's Sanmenxia City, Henan Province) knew that Da Xi Baohui, a military envoy, killed Jiedu envoy Zhang Quan with poison, seized the military power, and asked the imperial court to grant him Jiedu envoy Jingjie. At the same time, Daxi Baohui also secretly contacted Li Huaiguang's general Daxi Xiaojun, asking him to lead his troops into Shanzhou to assist in the defense. When Dezong got the news, he almost collapsed to the ground. At this moment, no matter where the rebellion is, it will not cause such a big blow to Dezong. Because Shanzhou has a very unique geographical location. First of all, Shanzhou, Chang'an, and Hezhong are roughly located at the three corners of a triangle, with Shanzhou in the east, Chang'an in the west, and Hezhong in the north.That is to say, once Daxi Baohui and Li Huaiguang join forces, it will not only mean that the imperial court's war against Li Huaiguang will come to nothing, but also the two rebel forces will form a confrontation, posing a serious threat to Chang'an. What's more terrible is that Shanzhou is an important hub of water and land transportation, and it is the place where the Jianghuai grain transportation must pass through to enter Guanzhong. Once Daxi Baohui strangles this throat, it is tantamount to cutting off the lifeline of the imperial court.Now that the imperial court is so poor that it is almost impossible to get rid of it, and Shanzhou has an accident at this juncture, isn't this forcing the court of Dezong to a dead end? what to do? In this situation, it is impossible for the imperial court to fight on both sides. The only way is to find a capable person to rush to Shanzhou and put down the rebellion in Shanzhou with the least cost. However, who can take on this important task? Dezong hurriedly found Li Mi and said, "You know the importance of Shanzhou. In this situation, I can only trouble you to make a trip." On July 8, Emperor Dezong appointed Li Mi as the defense envoy of Shaanxi and Guodu and the land and water transfer envoy, and planned to send the Shence Army to accompany Li Mi there.He asked Li Mi: "How many people do you need?" Li Mi replied: "I am enough alone." Dezong was shocked: "How can you get in alone?" Li Mi said: "People in Shanzhou have never resisted the central government. In fact, there is only one Daxi Baohui who is in trouble now. If our soldiers suppress the border, Shanzhou will definitely resist behind closed doors. I will go alone now. If he If you send out a large army, you can only be treated as a laughing stock; if you send one or two young generals to kill me, they may not be instigated by me, but will be used by me. If your majesty is really worried about the safety of your ministers, you only need to do one thing: Ma Sui now While still in court, Your Majesty can let him leave Beijing on the same day as me, and go for a walk together. Shanzhou is afraid of Ma Sui's Hedong Army and is afraid of being attacked by them in the future. They will definitely not dare to harm me casually. " Dezong was still worried: "Although that is the case, I am planning to reuse you. I would rather lose Shanzhou than lose you. Forget it, I should send someone else." Li Mi shook his head: "Others will definitely not be able to enter Shanzhou. Now that the incident has just started and everyone's minds are still uncertain, they can catch Daxi Baohui's plot by surprise. If you send someone else, once you hesitate and delay, let Daxi Baohui control the situation. It won't be easy." Seeing Li Mi's insistence, Dezong had no choice but to agree. Of course, Li Mi does not fight unprepared battles.Before going single-handedly to break into that dragon's lake and tiger's lair, he had to do one thing first. The next day, Li Mi summoned the officials of the Shanzhou Office in Beijing and said: "The emperor knows that there is a famine in Shanzhou recently, so he appointed me as a transshipment envoy. The purpose is to dispatch some of the Jianghuai grain for disaster relief. There is no other meaning. As for Daxi Baohui, the imperial court will examine his performance, and if there are no problems, he will be awarded the Jiedu envoy soon." Daxi Baohui's spies in the capital immediately conveyed the court's intentions back.After hearing this, Daxi Baohui finally let go of his uneasy heart. After releasing the news, Li Mi said to Dezong: "In this way, the soldiers and civilians in Shanzhou are eager for disaster relief food, Daxi Baohui is eager for festivals, and it is too late for them to respect me. How can they kill me?" Hearing this, Emperor Dezong admired Li Mi's wisdom and praised him again and again. On July 15th, Li Mi and Ma Sui left Beijing on the same day. After leaving Tongguan in the east, Li Mi discovered that Daxi Baohui never sent a general to meet him.On the contrary, along the way, I saw a lot of people in disguise and acting suspiciously.Li Mi knew that it was a spy sent by Daxi Baohui to investigate the situation. The night before arriving in Shanzhou, Li Bi went to Suquwo (now Quwo Town, southwest of Sanmenxia City).That night, a large group of people suddenly came to the inn where Li Mi was staying.Li Mi opened the door and saw that they were civil and military officials from Shanzhou. They rushed over to express their goodwill to the special envoy of the Son of Heaven without waiting for Daxi Baohui to order. Li Bi said to himself in his heart: "I have done my best!" The next day, Daxi Baohui finally came to greet him fifteen miles away from Shanzhou.Li Mi praised his contribution to protecting the environment and the people, and said: "There are some rumors in the army at present, you don't have to mind. The emperor said that your official positions and positions will not change." Hearing this, Daxi Baohui took another reassurance. After entering Shanzhou, local civil and military officials asked to have a private interview with Li Mi, but he politely refused.Li Bifang said: "When the commander-in-chief is changed, there will inevitably be some false rumors in the army. This is normal. Since I came here on the order of the emperor, those rumors are meaningless. Therefore, there is no need for you to say something. , I don't need to listen." Li Mi knew very well that the reason why so many officials from Shanzhou took the initiative to greet him, and now so many people wanted to meet privately, was to express their loyalty to the imperial court through him, and at the same time to distance themselves from Daxi Baohui and wash away the rebellion suspicion.In other words, from the moment Li Mi entered Shanzhou, the civil and military officials in Shanzhou no longer looked at Da Xi Baohui's face, but all looked at Li Mi's face. That being the case, Li Mi has reason to conclude that Daxi Baohui's mutiny is completely unpopular.To put it bluntly, the current Daxi Baohui is basically a polished commander, and it is easy to get rid of him! On the second day after arriving in Shanzhou, Li Mi had a showdown with Daxi Baohui without hesitation. He met Daxi Baohui alone, and immediately said, "You know what? I can kill you right now!" Daxi Baohui turned pale with shock, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead instantly. "However, I won't kill you." Li Mi said slowly, "I don't kill you, not because I love you, but because I worry that wherever similar incidents occur in the future, the generals sent by the court will not be able to go to the post smoothly. So , I spare your life today, but you have to prepare food and drinks for me, paper money, and go out of the city to pay homage to the former Jiedushi. After the memorial ceremony, you can go wherever you want, but don’t enter the customs until you find a safe place Then come back secretly to pick up your family members. If you do what I say, I can guarantee that you will not have any trouble." After hearing this speech, Daxi Baohui's whole body was soaked in cold sweat. In fact, he also knew that Li Bi was confident in saying these words.Judging from the performance of the vast majority of officials in Shanzhou in the past two days, it is not difficult to prove this point.Of course, he might as well go all out and fight Li Bi to the death, but the odds of winning are obviously very small.Therefore, he had no choice but to do what Li Bi said. Da Xi Baohui absconded that day. Before Li Bi left Beijing, Emperor Dezong gave him a list of seventy-five people, including civil and military officials who had participated in the mutiny confirmed according to intelligence.After Li Mi expelled Daxi Baohui and successfully took over Shanzhou, Dezong immediately asked him to kill all seventy-five people.However, Li Mi insisted on not doing so.A few days later, Emperor Dezong sent eunuchs to urge him.Li Mi had no choice but to escort the five main generals involved in the mutiny, including Lin Tao, the soldier and horse envoy, to Beijing, and begged Dezong to pardon their capital crimes. Dezong gave Li Bi face and exiled Lin Tao and others to the Tiande Army to guard the border.But more than a year later, Dezong ordered people to kill them. After Daxi Baohui went into exile, no one knew his whereabouts.When Li Huaiguang's general Daxi Xiaojun led his troops to the border between Pu and Shaanxi according to the previous agreement, he learned that Li Mi had taken over Shanzhou, so he had to lead his troops back angrily. In this way, with his wisdom and courage, Li Mi successfully resolved a potential rebellion that was separatist.The story of him single-handedly pacifying Shanzhou can be called the legend of a lone hero. In the late July of the first year of Zhenyuan, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong, and the Bashui and Chanshuis were almost dry, and all the wells in Chang'an could not draw a drop of water.At the same time, the finances of the empire, which had already been overwhelmed, were at their last juncture. The chief financial officer reported to Emperor Dezong with a sad face that the funds for the palace and the court were only enough to last for 70 days. Seventy days? Dezong's face was as pale as paper in an instant. Could it be that the majestic Tang Dynasty will declare bankruptcy in seventy days? On the second day of August, Emperor Dezong urgently issued an edict, announcing that from now on, all expenditures that are not urgent and necessary must be stopped; at the same time, all redundant personnel inside and outside the court will also be abolished. Dezong had to tighten his belt again. At this moment, as the poorest emperor in the more than 160 years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shi can only pray to the sky silently—hoping that the court can completely calm down Li Huaiguang within these 70 days, and hope that he can see him before he goes bankrupt. To the tribute and money from all directions...