Chapter 340: The Kingdom is like a chess (5)

It had already snowed in Chang'an during the day, and it melted as soon as it landed, leaving no trace, but the red clouds above Chang'an were thicker and denser, and the north wind blew hard. By dusk, heavy snow finally floated in the sky. Gradually, the wind became heavier and heavier, and Chang'an was buried in the white wind and snow.

The Xingqing Palace was very quiet, a bit strange. The palace maids and eunuchs on duty stood with their hands hanging down against the cold walls. Everyone was so arrogant that they dared not let out a word. The atmosphere seemed very tense. The emperor had locked himself in the imperial study room for nearly two hours, and even Gao Lishi was driven out. But this was not the real reason for the tense atmosphere. The real reason was that the emperor had just summoned a person, a person that no one could have imagined: the former deposed prince Li Heng.

At the door of the imperial study room, the light was dim, and the lights and lights made Gao Lishi's gloomy face look a little ferocious. His eyes were complicated and he seemed worried. He did not expect Li Longji to summon Li Heng again, without any signs, nor did he pass by himself. Gao Lishi thought that on the night that An Lushan escaped last year, Li Longji had received a secret report before Gao Xianzhi reported. Who arranged the spy for him at that time? And when did he pass on the decree to summon Li Heng tonight?

He narrowed his eyes slightly and recalled the loophole that appeared today. He only left for a while while Li Longji took a nap. Could it be that it was not possible at that time?

But now these are trivial matters and not important. What is important is that Li Longji summoned Li Heng again. He could not have thought that this should not be a temporary matter, but that he had planned things long ago. Although he did not know what Li Longji summoned Li Heng, Gao Lishi vaguely realized through intuition that this should have something to do with the Eastern Palace.

As soon as this thought came to mind, Gao Lishi immediately thought of Li Cong. Yes, he has only discovered many things that do not conform to Li Longji's usual style, such as acquiesce to Li Cong to open academies and gain talents. Li Ying and Li Heng only have the reputation of the prince. Chongwenguan and Liulu Mansion belong to the Eastern Palace in their name. Secondly, he allowed Li Cong to freely communicate with all officials, but in the past, Li Ying and Li Heng were extremely strict in the rules and strictly prohibited from getting along with all officials alone. He also took the initiative to ask Li Cong to review memorials and participate in the court discussion. In the past, Li Ying and Li Heng tried every means to remove their power.

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These are unreasonable!

Gao Lishi thought that the East Palace was still closed and Li Longji showed no sign of letting Li Cong enter the East Palace. It seemed that there was a little thunder and a little rain on Li Cong's affairs. The more he thought about it, the more he became more and more confused. If Li Longji had no intention of establishing Li Cong, then why did he favor Li Cong in the past year and let him do the prince's affairs?

Gao Lishi suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Could it be another carefully set up game?

He couldn't help but look at the Imperial Study room, which was separated by a cold door. At this moment, Gao Lishi's heart was also cold. He suddenly realized that he could not see through Li Longji at all.

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The room was particularly warm, with bright lights but not dazzling. Li Longji leaned against the thick cushion, and his face looked a little red because the room was too warm. He silently stared at Li Heng, the third son standing with his hands down. His eyes were soft and friendly. He had not seen him for more than three years. He had lost a lot of weight, no longer the repulsive cringe that made him feel, and his eyes were no longer as timid as before.

"I heard that you go to the restaurant every day at noon?" Li Longji asked with a smile.

"Yes! I have to go for a few drinks every day." Li Heng replied respectfully, and then the two fell silent again. Although they were father and son, their knots had not yet been untied, and the struggle a few years ago was still vivid in my mind.

The atmosphere in the room was a little awkward, but Li Longji smiled inadvertently and picked up a list on the table and flipped it up. This is the list of officials who have entered and left Li Cong's mansion over the past year. There are detailed records of their entry and exit, time and number of times. Among them, Yang Guozhong was the first, followed by left prime minister Chen Xilie. The most unexpected thing to Li Longji was the third person, who was the Minister of Revenue Zhang Yun, and further down was his brother Zhang Ye.

"The road is far away and the horse's strength can be seen, and people's hearts will be seen over time." Li Longji sneered in his heart, thinking about how modest he was when he first used Li Cong at the beginning of the year. He dared not read the memorials he sent, and sent them back intact and asked him to discuss the government affairs. He remained silent, but it was less than a year since the officials of the Ministry of Personnel were transferred and promoted. The money and grain from the Ministry of Revenue must be approved by him before it can be heard. It was nicknamed "Western criticism" by the court. It seems that he has regarded himself as the prince.

Li Longji put down the booklet and glanced at Li Heng again. Seeing that he was still lowering his head and looking down, he didn't move, and smiled and said, "Can you receive a letter from Chu'er recently? Is it good that my eldest grandson is in Anxi?"

When Li Heng heard his father mention Li Chu, he suddenly jumped. He received the decree from Yu Chaoen at noon. The father wanted to summon him tonight. He was excited and confused. The father did not forget him, but he was confused but did not know why his father summoned him? Since entering the imperial study, the father talked to him about family matters. After several turns, he suddenly mentioned Chu'er and took a very serious word "Emperor Changsun". Li Heng sensitively realized that the real purpose of his father summoning him tonight was probably Chu'er.

He hurriedly replied: "My son received a letter from Chu'er's family the day before yesterday. He is now running a school in Suoye. He has worked very hard and has lost ten kilograms in a few months."

"Operation school?"

Li Longji raised his head and laughed: "I used to give Li Qingyan that the most important thing to immigrate to Anxi is to make them not forget their roots, so running a school has always been my top priority. I am really pleased that my grandson can shoulder this burden."

Speaking of this, he pondered for a moment and said, "Chu is the name of a young man. My eldest grandson has become an adult. It is not advisable to use this name again. So I want to change him a name. Today I will ask you to discuss this matter. Do you agree?"

Li Heng's heart was beating wildly. He remembered that his father changed his name to Heng and then appointed him as the crown prince. Has he repeated the old story?

He tried his best to restrain the excitement in his heart and whispered to Li Longji: "It depends on the father and the sons have no objection."

Li Longji walked slowly in the room with his hands behind his back. He suddenly turned around and smiled, "The Doctrine of the Mean" says, everything is ready, and if it is not, it will be abandoned. I changed my Changsun name to Yu, 'Li Yu', this name is in line with my wishes!"

Li Heng suddenly knelt down, kowtowed to Li Longji heavily, and cried with tears in his eyes: "I thanked my father for his favor for Yu'er!"

Li Longji sighed softly, helped him up, patted him on the shoulder and said, "I have been wronged over the years, go ahead! For the sake of you giving birth to a good grandson for me, I will forgive you for the past."

Li Heng slowly retreated, Li Longji stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, silently watching the heavy snow outside the window, looking thin and old. The twelve years of Tianbao are about to come, and there should be an explanation for the matter of the crown prince.

The wind was blowing very tightly, and the snowflakes were flying in the air like torn cotton wool, falling everywhere without a destination, and the streets were already empty. On a snowy night, talking around the fire at home is undoubtedly a great enjoyment in life.

The road in front of the Ten Kings' House was also empty. At this time, a carriage was galloping from the dense snowflakes. The sound of horse hooves and wheels came far away in the empty streets. This was Li Heng's return from Xingqing Palace. The carriage drove by quickly in front of a mansion. Li Heng glanced at the mansion from the car window and snorted coldly. The coachman seemed to understand the owner's thoughts. He raised the horse whip and pulled the flower in the air, making a "pa" sound.

He shouted vigorously, and the carriage drove arrogantly, and a fog of snow arose behind the wheels. The main door of the mansion was still closed, but the side door was opened. After a while, a pair of eyes approached the crack of the door, and looked at the carriage with complicated eyes and stopped in front of the mansion in front of the front. Then, Li Heng walked out of the carriage with the help of two servants and quickly walked into the gate. The gate closed with a "boom" sound, but aroused the anger of the voyeurists in the distance.

He also slammed the door and turned his head with anger. He saw a big face, like a big round cake, and a few white sesame seeds. His eyes bulged out like crabs because of his anger, but it was King Qing Li Cong.

He received a secret report from the palace half an hour ago. His father summoned Li Heng and closed the door and drove everyone out. No one knew what they were talking about.

Li Cong looked up at the sky, feeling irritable. In the eleventh year of Tianbao, everything went smoothly, but he didn't expect that something like this would happen at the end of the year. It was like a widow who had been chastity for ten years, and was about to get the archway of chastity, but at the last moment, Lao Wang next door climbed over the wall and raped him.

"Have you informed Yang Xiangguo to go?" He stared at the housekeeper with a look of murder, and asked viciously. Bai Tian's image of humility and virtue disappeared at this time.

The butler replied tremblingly: "I'm going, I should be here soon."

As soon as the words were finished, the sound of a carriage was faintly heard in the wind, mixed with the sound of horse hooves like a burst of beans, "The Yang Xiangguo is here!" The housekeeper wiped a cold sweat and opened the door in panic.

After a moment, a wide carriage slowly stopped in front of the steps under the protection of hundreds of cavalry guards. This was obviously a parody of Li Linfu. Two people got out of the carriage. One person in front was staggering like a duck with a big belly. It was Yang Guozhong who was very powerful. Yang Guozhong became much more majestic and obviously gained weight. Perhaps in order to meet the saying "The Prime Minister can hold a boat in his belly", so his weight was mainly reflected in his belly, and his belly became extremely fat, but of course, the boat may not be able to hold it.

The thin and small person behind him was Ji Wen, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War. Ji Wen is now Yang Guozhong's number one confidant and the strategist he relies on now. Ji Wen was originally An Lushan's inner supporter in Chang'an, but when An Lushan's attempt to rebel was known to passers-by, Ji Wen immediately avoided it like a scorpion and threw himself into Yang Guozhong's arms again. In order to win the trust of him, his first plan for Yang Guozhong was to deal with Li Linfu's family. This was well understood by Li Longji's heart. When Yang Guozhong's impeachment memorial came out, Li Longji accepted it half-stop. He issued an edict to count Li Linfu's dozens of crimes, ordered Li Linfu to be dug out of the coffin, whipped three hundred corpses, and stormed Li Linfu's sons and sons-in-law, and exiled.

This move made Li Longji and Yang Guozhong famous. Countless ministers and family members who were persecuted by Li Linfu were all grateful, and made Yang Guozhong pay more attention to Ji Wen and discuss everything with him. Today, Yang Guozhong also received news that Li Longji summoned Li Heng. He had just found Ji Wen and the people sent by Li Cong arrived.

"Secretary Yang, do you know what happened?" Li Cong came up and asked anxiously.

Yang Guozhong nodded, turned around and waved to Ji Wen, signaling him to follow him. He turned around and said to Li Cong, "Let's talk about this matter!"

Li Cong led the two into the secret room and closed the door. Before he could speak, Yang Guozhong took the lead and said, "Your Highness, when you get the news, can the emperor summon him? "

Li Cong shook his head depressedly, and then asked, "I got the news when my father summoned him. Is there any progress in the future?"

"When he came out, he was happy and looked at the bad luck that had not dissipated for many years was wiped out, which was really worrying." Yang Guozhong sighed and said, "I heard from the Empress that the emperor was worried all these days and had the idea of ​​becoming a crown prince, but he happened to summon him at this time. This opportunity was intriguing!"

A sentence touched Li Cong's thoughts. Over the past year, the father used him to trust him and gave him the greatest power, but he did not mention anything about the matter of the Eastern Palace. He thought that there would be progress next year, but unexpectedly, things suddenly changed. Although he was extremely uneasy, he still comforted himself: "Maybe the father just wanted to find something for him to do, but we were thinking too much."

Yang Guozhong looked at him with pity, shook his head and said, "If you find something for him to do, then how can you explain to drive Gao Lishi out too? Your Highness, you may have done too much in the past few months."

Li Cong's face turned pale in an instant, and he couldn't say a word. He sat down dejectedly, and after a long time he whispered, "Yang Xiang, you did a lot of things for me, why didn't you say them earlier?"

Yang Guozhong touched his nose (this is also a habit of imitating Li Linfu). He just asked Ji Wen to remind him on the carriage, why do you want him to say it earlier?

"This, Your Highness, since the incident has happened, let's think of a solution!"

Li Cong raised his head weakly and said with a wry smile: "I can't think of a solution, do you have one?"

Yang Guozhong gave Ji Wen a wink and asked him to tell the solution he had thought of. Ji Wen took the order and walked to Li Cong and whispered: "Your Highness, now there is only one way to stop the emperor from taking his ideas into action."

"What method?" Li Cong's dark eyes suddenly felt a hint of hope, and he was tightly warm, without blinking.

"War!" Ji Wen smiled sinisterly, "Only war can distract the emperor's attention, and we have the opportunity to take advantage of it."

"You mean An Lushan?" Li Cong suddenly reacted.

Ji Wen nodded slowly. He actually had selfish intentions. He was too close to An Lushan in the past. Many people knew that in order to cleanse his innocence, he had to force An Lushan to rebel as soon as possible.

"But if An Lushan rebelled, how should we avoid the losses of our Tang Dynasty?" Li Cong hesitated for a moment and asked worriedly.

"Have Your Highness forgotten my position?" Ji Wen smiled coldly and said, "I am the Minister of War. Some things can't be hidden in my eyes. The emperor has been preparing for An Lushan for a year. He has gradually transferred 70% of the country's troops into Guanzhong in the name of garrison. The grain transferred from Jianghuai, Shannan, Jiannan and other places has also filled the capital warehouse. This is actually the time to showdown with An Lushan."

Ji Wen's words slightly untied Li Cong's heart, but he was still a little worried, "But two months ago, Wei Jiansu advised the emperor to relieve An Lushan from the position of Hedong Jiedushi, but the emperor's attitude was ambiguous and it ended up leaving it alone. I was worried that this time it would be the same."

"It might be better, the emperor was not ready two months ago, and the situation is different now.

Ji Wen lowered his voice and said, "I have two plans. One is to ask Yang Xiangguo to go to the emperor tomorrow to remove An Lushan from the position of Hedong Jiedushi...."

"What about another solution?" Li Cong interrupted Ji Wen's words impatiently.

"Another solution!" Ji Wen suddenly laughed gloomy and whispered: "Kill Anqing Sect!"

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and even his vision was blurred. He could only see the thirty steps ahead. It was already very late when Gao Lishi returned to the mansion. He was indeed a little tired. He had not known the details of Li Longji summoning Li Heng tonight, but he had already guessed one or two from the fact that Li Longji changed Li Chu's name to Li Yu, but he still needed to look at the evidence. Perhaps when things developed, they would naturally be revealed.
Chapter completed!