Chapter 257: The Storm of Entering the City (Part 1)

At noon the next day, Li Qing'an's team arrived outside Chang'an City, but because he led a lot of troops and could not enter the city as usual, the Ministry of War arranged for his army to be stationed in a military camp outside the city.

Dugu Mingyue did not follow her into the military camp. After arriving in Chang'an, she returned home with dance clothes and the poetic sisters. The soldiers were busy packing their belongings in the military camp. The officials of the Ministry of War had just left. Several officials from the Taipu Temple Statuary Bureau and a group of servants arrived again. Then more than a dozen eunuchs from the Escort Province also arrived on horseback. The officials of the Taipu Temple brought thousands of camels and war horses with the army brought by Li Qing'an. The camels and war horses were fodder every day, which added a lot of affairs to the officials of the Taipu Temple.

The eunuchs from the Eunuch Province came to count and hand over the spoils that Li Qing'an had given to Li Longji. This was a private matter of Li Longji. The court did not interfere, and the Eunuch Province was responsible for handling it.

The military camp was busy, and in the tent, Li Qing'an was discussing the entry of the city with Ji Wen, the Minister of War. When Li Qing'an returned to Beiting, he received an order from the court. In order to commend his achievements, Li Longji intended to hold a city entry ceremony for him to show his glory.

However, Beiting and Chang'an are far away, and it takes time to go all the way, and many details are difficult to implement. Now Li Qing'an has arrived in Chang'an, but Li Longji has not returned in Huaqing Palace, which has brought variables to the entry of the city.

When Ji Wen was the young minister of Dali Temple, he was Li Linfu's right-hand man. He and Luo Xishi collectively called "Luoquanji.com". Since last year, Li Linfu gradually fell into decline and became sick. People from the Prime Minister knew that Li Linfu's deadline was approaching, so they went their separate ways. Ji Wen did not surrender to the popular Yang Guozhong, but instead surrendered to An Lushan, who had always had a relationship with him, and became An Lushan's spokesperson in the court. As An Lushan's power continued to rise, he was named the Prince of Dongping. Ji Wen also rose and was promoted to the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War.

Ji Wen was the specific person in charge of Li Qing'an's entry ceremony this time. Li Longji refused to return for a long time, which made him feel embarrassed. He knew that the trick was that it was Yang Guozhong. In fact, when Li Qing'an passed Fengxiang, he sent a letter to the emperor who was in Huaqing Palace, but the letter he sent was like a rock sinking to the sea, and there was no news.

When Li Qing'an arrived in Wugong County, he sent another letter, but there was still no news. The day before yesterday, the emperor sent someone to ask him when Li Qing'an would return? Ji Wen then realized that the emperor had not received the letter he sent twice, so where did the letter go?

Ji Wen carefully interrogated the sender and found out that the letter was handed over to Pei Xiao, the rank of the Yulin Army who guarded the Huaqing Palace. Pei Xiao was transferred in. The problem lies with Pei Xiao, but Pei Xiao was Yang Guozhong's brother-in-law and his wife Pei Rou's younger brother. This was Yang Guozhong's method. In the name of strengthening security and defense, any foreign items must be inspected by the Yulin Army, including memorials sent from the court. In this way, the Yulin Army became a barrier for Li Longji to contact the outside world. Yang Guozhong got the opportunity to know the content of the memorials in advance through Pei Xiao, the rank of the Yulin Army.

As for whether the memorials that were not conducive to Yang Guozhong would be sent in, only God knew that Ji Wen knew in his heart that the letter he sent must have been detained by Pei Xiao of Yulin Army, which made him very angry, but he was unwilling to turn against Yang Guozhong over Li Qing'an's affairs.

"General, my idea is that the general should not enter the city first. Waiting outside the city for a few days, someone has already reported to the emperor and I guess he will come back in the next few days. General, please be at ease."

Li Qing'an didn't say anything. Li Longji kept saying that he had held an entry ceremony for himself, but he had already arrived in Chang'an, but he had not returned in Mount Li. This was ridiculous. If it weren't for the dereliction of duty by the official, Li Longji would have no intention at all. However, Li Qing'an saw that Ji Wen's expression was a little unnatural, so he guessed that there might be something else in this matter.

Li Qing'an immediately looked dark and stood up and said, "Mr. Ji, my soldiers of Anxi Army are far away from their hometown, and have sacrificed their lives to fight for the Tang Dynasty. I deserve this glory. I received the imperial edict from Your Majesty in Beiting that the city will be held for the Anxi Army. I have spread this news all over Anxi, and the military and civilians are all excited. All the emperor is grateful for the emperor's grace. But now our army has arrived in Chang'an, the emperor is still in Huaqing Palace. It would be fine to cancel my entry into the city, but Ji said that everything will not change. I don't understand whether it is the court unwilling or the emperor intentionally arranged it? If the emperor intentionally arranged it, I have nothing to say, but if the imperial court deliberately makes things difficult for me, then I will go to find the emperor. This will give me an explanation and an explanation to the seven thousand soldiers who died in the Anxi Army."

After saying that, Li Qingan snorted heavily and walked out of the tent, "Prepare horses, I'm going to Huaqing Palace!"

Ji Wen chased after him in panic and shouted repeatedly: "General, calm down! Please calm down!"

Li Qing'an stopped and sneered: "Is it because Minister Ji is deliberately making things difficult for me, Anxi Army?"

"If this is the case, the general and I have no grudges. That year, I was in the same seat as the general. Later, I was ordered to arrest the general at the Xianyang Post Station. I am not dissatisfied with the general at all."

"Hmph! Since it has nothing to do with Mr. Ji, Mr. Ji, please don't ask."

Li Qingan turned over and said to the guards around him: "Go to Huaqing Palace!"

Ji Wen was so scared that he grabbed the reins of Li Qing'an's war horse, "God General, please wait!"

He looked at both sides and whispered: "This matter was actually done by Yang Guozhong!"

"Yang Guozhong?"

Li Qing'an narrowed his eyes, "How should I say this?"

Ji Wen sighed and told Pei Xiao about the seizure of the letter in his own right. Finally, he took out a copy of the two letters of return last time and handed it to Li Qing'an: "This is the copy of the last two letters, and there is also the date of the letter to be delivered, so use this as evidence."

Seeing that he was even ready for the copy, Li Qingan couldn't help but sneer in his heart and said, "Since that is the case, why didn't Minister Ji report the situation to the emperor and impeach Pei Xiao to privately intercept important documents."

Ji Wen smiled bitterly and said, "The key is that there is no evidence to prove that it was Pei Xiao's work. I can only prove that I have reported the letter. But at which point the problem lies, I dare not talk nonsense. Please forgive me."

"Okay! Let's give up this matter for the time being, but I do want to go to Huaqing Palace to report my duties. If Mr. Ji has nothing else to do, then I will take a step first."

Although Li Qingan said this, he did not return the two copies to him. He bowed to Ji Wen with a fist and led the three hundred guards away.

Ji Wen looked at Li Qing'an's back, a hint of pride gradually flashed in his eyes, and he murmured: "Yang Guozhong, your opponent is back!"

Ji Wen and Yang Zhao both thugs Li Linfu. At that time, Yang Zhao first entered the Censorate and was very unfamiliar with all aspects. Ji Wen was his master. In the Weizhuang case, he taught Yang Zhao how to torture confessions and frame him. Now Yang Guozhong is the prime minister, and Ji Wen still has to rely on other people's eyes to act. This Ring Ji Wen was full of jealousy, yes! It is jealousy. This is a kind of instinct of human beings, but it is particularly fierce in Ji Wen. In the past two years, he has been paying attention to Yang Guozhong's words and deeds all the time. Yang Guozhong's mistakes can allow him to seize countless opportunities for impeachment, but the Censorate does not dare to impeach, and he also dares not. He knows that his own words are light and cannot afford to offend Li Linfu's successor.

This time when Li Qing'an entered the court, Yang Guozhong once again used his methods unscrupulously. Will Li Qing'an bear this breath? Ji Wen waited and saw with anticipation.

Huaqing Palace is a different palace of Li Longji, which is the famous hot spring palace. It is located at the foot of Mount Li. It is a large-scale building complex with hot spring water smoothing. The hot spring palace has always been the best place for Yang Yuhuan to go to winter. When the cold winter comes, thousands of trees are bleak and the snowy sky is ice and snowy. Huaqing Palace is as warm as spring, singing and dancing, and Li Longji and Yang Guifei enjoy the luxury of the world here, without thinking about returning home.

It is early spring and it is the time when it is still cold. According to the past practice, we should return to Chang'an in mid-February when the weather is slightly warm. However, because Li Longji wanted to hold an entry ceremony for Li Qing'an, they had to start packing and prepare to return to Beijing.

The Huaqing Palace was in chaos, with messy boxes and cages everywhere. The palace maids and eunuchs were busy packing up all kinds of items, but the atmosphere in the palace today seemed a little strange. All the palace maids and eunuchs were careful and did not even dare to take a breath.

Li Longji's angry curse came faintly from the imperial study room in the palace: "You find out for me, who is brave and dares to intercept memorials from the court. If you can't find out this matter clearly, I will punish you!"

In the imperial study room, the chief generals of the Yulin Army, Sun Quanxu and Chen Xuanli, knelt on the ground, sweating profusely and tremblingly, and did not dare to say a word. The matter that angered Li Longji was Ji Wen's report. Li Longji had just received the news that Li Qing'an had arrived in Chang'an, and Ji Wen sent two letters in a row before this, but was intercepted by the Yulin Army.

This incident made Li Longji angry. It was not only that he could not explain to the Anxi Army, but that someone dared to deceive him and took away his right to know as the emperor. He must investigate to the end and severely punish those who are bold and arrogant.

"Go! Check it from top to bottom, and check it out one by one. I will give you a day. If you can't find it out, you can just stop it yourself!"

"I obey the order!"

Changsun Quanxu and Chen Xuanli kowtowed and left the imperial study room. Li Longji had a blue face and stared at the ceiling. The irresistible indulgence in the past two years made him obviously old. There were more and more age spots on his face and hands, his temper became more irritable, and his personality became more paranoid. What he believed would never change. He could never listen to the minister's advice and advice.

As his body ages, Li Longji's energy is not as good as before. He almost no longer cares about the affairs in the court, and delegates more and more power to Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong, especially Yang Guozhong, and allows him to submit his own report directly and approve all the things he reports. However, he often adds a sentence to Li Linfu's request, which can be discussed with Yang Shangshu.

Although Li Longji ignored the affairs of the court, there were two things he still remained unambiguous. One was the throne, which he regarded stricter than before. The Eastern Palace had been empty for nearly two years, and he never refused to appoint a crown prince. He even told Gao Lishi that he might designate the person who inherited the throne in the will. He had never been so much for the throne as he is today. Although he knew that the crown prince would have to be established sooner or later, he would delay it and would not discuss this matter with the ministers.

The second thing is military power, which is the power he firmly grasps in his hands. Even Yang Guozhong could not have any idea of ​​getting a slightest, Fan Yang, An Lushan from Pinglu; Geshuhan from Longyou, Hexi; Gao Xianzhi from Jiannan; An Sishun from Shuofang; Li Qing'an from Beiting, Anxi; Zhang Qiqiu from Hedong, these six ministers with millions of troops were directly loyal to him.

Moreover, all of these six people have Li Longji's favorite character, which is to be brave and enterprising and open up territory for him. An Lushan attacked the Khitans and Xi people in the northeast and expanded the territory of the northeast; Geshuhan continued to march towards the hinterland of Tubo, expanding the border of Tang and Tibet thousands of miles westward; Gao Xianzhi used his troops effectively and defeated Nanzhao in a row. At the end of last year, he had recovered Yaozhou and connected Jiannan and Annan again. Needless to say, Li Qing'an recovered Shuye, completely wiped out Tuqishi, defeated Dashi, and regained Hezhong.

The outstanding achievements of these frontier officials met Li Longji's ambition and strengthening, and gradually allowed him to catch up with the achievements of Taizong, making him the Tiankang who surpassed Taizong. In order to gain more territory, Li Longji spared no effort to support these six frontier officials. The treasury was not enough to pay military expenses, so he allowed them to raise money and grain by themselves, including An Lushan, Geshuhan and Li Qing'an. He also delegated the power to mint coins, all in order to satisfy his ever-increasing ambition to open up the territory in his heart.

If we look at it from today's perspective, Li Longji has suffered from a mild geriatric paranoia, which is mainly manifested in that in order to realize the dream of a Tian Khan, he has begun to deviate from the national conditions of the Tang Dynasty. People in the Tang Dynasty do not understand this, but Li Longji's paranoid arrogance has made some wise people worried.

Gao Lishi is one of them. Since the prince was deposed, Gao Lishi's right to speak has not been as effective as before. He asked Li Longji several times to establish the prince, but was repeatedly scolded by Li Longji. Li Longji simply seized his right to criticize memorials and delegated all his power. The second is the military supervision power. Li Longji deprived Gao Lishi of the power to control the military supervision since last year, but directly controlled it. The military supervision report directly to him. But the problem is that Li Longji had no intention of inquire about the military supervision situation. He only asked when he thought about it. This invisibly established Gao Lishi and reported every three days to the military supervision rules.

What's more, Li Longji thought of it and would not ask Gao Lishi, but asked another confidant eunuch, Yu Chaoen, to ask, which meant that Yu Chaoen became his military supervisor.

Gao Lishi lost all his power, but because some things were inseparable from him, he was able to stay by his side. Otherwise, Gao Lishi should retire from the officialdom and go home.

Although Gao Lishi lost his power, he knew better than anyone else that Li Longji's anger was not because someone dared to intercept his memorials, but because he ignored him and was unable to let go of his face when things came out. This time he was angry.

Who intercepted the imperial edict? Is it still necessary to ask? Who is in charge of the periphery of the Huaqing Palace? Pei Xiao, this was Yang Guozhong's deliberate arrangement. At that time, Li Longji agreed to it. Doesn't he know what Yang Guozhong is? Now that the problem is, he wants to force Changsun Quanxu and Chen Xuanli to investigate, just to ask them to clear Pei Xiao's responsibility.

Gao Lishi felt sad. The emperor's favored Yang family had reached this point, and even a small general of the Central Army had to protect him. If he had known that he would not have led Yang Yuhuan to him, it might have been better.

Li Longji suddenly glanced at him and asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I am thinking that since Li Qing'an has arrived in Chang'an, it is better for the emperor to announce his visit first and then enter the city."
Chapter completed!