Chapter 458: The branches are everywhere

"You are Wang Wei who writes about the bright moon shining among the pines and the clear spring flowing on the stone?"

Li Qingan looked up and down at the middle-aged man with dark skin and thin figure. He felt a little incredible. In his impression, Wang Wei should be a handsome and elegant person. Even if he is middle-aged, he should have the elegant and elegant demeanor of white face and long beard. How could he be dark and thin, so he is not so handsome.

Li Qingan did not judge people by his appearance, but Wang Wei's image was too far from his imagination, which made him difficult for a while.

Because Wang Wei offended Yang Guozhong, he was in a half-hidden and half-official state since the eleventh year of Tianbao. He wanted to resign from his post several times, but he could not let go of the officialdom that had been suffering for nearly twenty years. He was well versed in Buddhist principles and regarded Buddhist principles as a kind of knowledge, but he was not the kind of person who was tired of the world and saw through the world.

To a large extent, he was unsatisfied in the officialdom. Now that Yang Guozhong is going south, the Qingliu reformists Pei Min, Li Yan and others have taken over the power, Wang Wei has developed a sense of thought and wrote a letter to Lu Huan, who has a very good relationship with him, wanting to return to the officialdom and do another career.

Today, Lu Huan brought him to Pei Kuan's birthday. He wanted to find a quiet place, but unexpectedly he met Li Qing'an. Although Li Qing'an did not know Wang Wei, Wang Wei knew Li Qing'an. As early as the eighth year of Tianbao, Wang Wei had seen him in Hanyuan Hall.

Every poet of the Tang Dynasty had a dream of the Western Regions in his heart, and Wang Wei was no exception. In the 25th year of Kaiyuan, Zhang Jiuling was demoted, and Wang Wei was dismissed as the judge of the Hexi Jiedushi in Liangzhou. He spent two years in Hexi. In Hexi, he wrote countless popular poems, such as the lonely smoke in the desert, the setting sun in the long river, etc.

His former career in the frontier gave him a unique feeling for the Western Regions. When he accidentally met Li Qing'an, it aroused his nostalgia for the Western Regions, and he felt a little touch in his heart.

Of course he understood that Li Qing'an had special arrangements in this small courtyard, so he bowed and said, "Xiaoguan really doesn't know that the general is here, so I disturb you, so I will say goodbye!"

"Will the King of Envoy go in and sit down?" Li Qing'an said with a smile.

"No, I'll go somewhere else."

Wang Wei respectfully bowed to Li Qing'an, then turned around and left. Li Qing'an looked at his back and walked away, and he felt quite moved in his heart. These famous poets of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei, Wang Changling, Cen Shen, and Gao Shi, except for Du Fu, who had not seen him, he had contacted the rest of the others. Du Fu was appointed as the commander of the Right Guard in the tenth year of Tianbao. After Li Yu ascended the throne, he was appointed by the Ministry of Personnel as the county magistrate of Suicheng County, Yizhou, Hebei Road.

However, at this time, Du Fu could not compare with famous poets such as Li Bai and Wang Wei. He was just an unknown second-rate poet. If there was no Anshi Rebellion, would Du Fu still be Du Fu?

Li Qing'an felt emotion. At this time, the bell of Pei's mansion rang, urging guests to enter the lobby. Seeing that the time was almost over, Li Qingan stopped going back to the courtyard and went straight to the lobby.

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In the afternoon, almost all the powerful ministers of Chang'an went to Pei'an, and the entire Chang'an public security defense was also concentrated in the Jingshanfang area. Especially the Jinwu Guards in Wannian County were densely distributed around Jingshanfang, and the Jinwu Guards in other buildings were significantly reduced.

The weather was still very hot. In the afternoon, pedestrians on the road were rarely seen. The streets in Qinglongfang were deserted. At this time, Wei saw a carriage driving out of Su's mansion. The carriage looked very ordinary, no different from the common taxi carriages on the streets of Chang'an. The speed was extremely fast. After coming out of the mansion, he ran towards the south of the city.

He had just left immediately, and a figure flashed out from the alley opposite Wei Jiansu's mansion. He turned over and chased the carriage faster.

After a moment, the carriage rushed to the front of the Xia gate of the mansion. The soldiers guarding the city immediately stopped the carriage and asked for routine inspection.

"stop!"

Several soldiers rushed up, but generally there was no need to check, but after a large number of officials fled south, Chang'an City gradually strengthened the inspection of vehicles coming and going, especially carriages, which were almost stopped and interrogated.

Several soldiers stopped the carriage, and a lieutenant on duty stepped forward and asked the coachman: "Who is it? Where are you going?"

A crack was opened in the car window, and a fat middle-aged man handed out a silver medal. At this time, the temporary pass was exempted from inspection. Only officials of the fourth rank or above had it. When the lieutenant saw this, he immediately looked in awe and waved his hand and said, "Let it go!"

More than a dozen soldiers made way. The coachman vibrated his long whip. The carriage passed through the city cave and quickly drove out of the city. The carriage walked about a mile away. More than a dozen black-clad knights chased after him. The soldiers guarding the city were about to come forward to interrogate, but the leader shied the token in his hand. It was the token of the senior official of the Guanzhong Army. The soldiers guarding the city were so scared that they did not dare to ask more questions, so they quickly dodged.

Seeing that the carriage was indeed heading south, the leader shouted to his subordinates, "Notify the army ahead!"

A pigeon rose into the air, flapped its wings and flew southward. More than a dozen soldiers urged their horses again and chased them towards the carriage.

The carriage left Chang'an and accelerated its speed again, running south along the official road. After about an hour, the carriage entered the road to Ziwu Valley. The road began to bump, and the coachman slowed down.

"Butler Liu, the horses can't hold on like this, so they have to rest."

The fat middle-aged man in the carriage saw that there were thick forests on both sides, and couldn't help but feel a little worried, so he ordered: "Get out of these forests quickly, leave first, and then stop slowly to rest."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gong sounded, and a large number of cavalry rushed out of the forests on both sides, surrounded the carriages, holding spears, crossbows and arrows in their hands, with murderous intent, as many as a thousand people, all of them were Guanzhong Army. The coachman was so scared that he shivered and even the whip landed on the ground.

"What are you going to do?"

He trembled and said, "We are the carriages on Mr. Wei's mansion."

A central police officer urged him to step forward and said coldly: "It is because you are the carriage of the Wei Mansion that you intercepted you."

The car window opened, and the fat middle-aged man leaned out and smiled, "It must be a misunderstanding. My master is Mr. Wei of the Ministry of War. The master is still attending a banquet in Pei Mansion!"

As he said that, he handed a silver medal to the General of the Central Army and smiled and said, "It's all your own people. Just look at this silver medal."

The General of the Central Army was unmoved and did not look at the silver medal. He said, "We are ordered to search the carriage from the south. No matter who it is, we will be inspected and get off!"

The fat middle-aged man's face changed and he shouted, "You are bold, can you even search the carriage of Mr. Wei?"

The General of the Central Army turned around and waved his hand, "Search it for me, those who dare to resist will kill you on the spot!"

Hundreds of soldiers, like wolves and tigers, rushed up. They pulled the carriageman off the carriage, opened the car door and rushed in. The fat housekeeper did not dare to resist. He just let out a muffled groan and was knocked over by the soldiers and tied up. Then he threw the carriage away and searched for only a moment. He heard soldiers in the carriage shouting: "Suspicious items were found!"

Several soldiers carried a heavy wooden box off the carriage and placed it on the official road. The Zhonglang general pointed his sword and said, "Open it!"

A soldier stepped forward and pried open the wooden box with a knife. He saw that the box was full of documents. General Zhonglang took a copy and flipped through it. These documents turned out to be information about the Guanzhong Army, including the number of people, equipment, training status, and records of each army staying in the Ministry of War. All officers above the lieutenant had them, and recorded their hometown, family population, living background, etc. in detail. In other words, it was easy to get these documents and try to instigate any officer. At this time, a soldier searched another letter and handed it to General Zhonglang.

The General of the Central Army looked at it and sneered, saying, "It would be fine if the dignified Minister Wei wants to surrender to the enemy, but he even betrayed the Guanzhong army. The evidence is conclusive, let's see how he explains it."

The fat housekeeper shouted at the top of his voice: "We didn't want to surrender to the enemy, we just wanted to put this information in the farm."

"Fuck! There is obviously Wei Jiansu's handwritten letter here, and your carriage is on the official road leading to Ziwu Valley, and you still want to make a fuss?"

The General of the Central Army shouted loudly: "Take it away!"

The soldiers tied the fat butler and the coachman like rice dumplings, blocked their mouths, threw them into the carriage, and drove the carriage towards Chang'an.

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The birthday banquet of Pei's mansion had been in full swing for more than two hours and gradually reached its climax. The lobby was very lively. In the open space in the middle, a team of invited Hu men danced the passionate and unrestrained Hu Xuan dance with the accompaniment of dance music. Dozens of dancers wearing bright red dresses circled in the sound of drums, and the dance skirts were flying, like gorgeous flowers blooming.

Generally speaking, after the Pei family sent the invitation, they did not know the specific number of guests, whether they were coming with their wives and daughters, or only their sons. These were not clear, and the seats were difficult to arrange, so they could only estimate a total. Therefore, except for some important people who had fixed seats, most of the other guests sat casually, and there was no strict distinction between male and female guests. They could sit with their family members or sit at the same table with their familiar friends.

It is precisely because men and women are sitting together that the atmosphere is particularly warm, with laughter everywhere, and men are talking about funny topics, which makes noble women laugh constantly. Many young men and women even take advantage of this opportunity to convey their feelings and find their favorite other half.

Li Qingan was originally sitting next to Pei Kuan's main seat, but he firmly gave the seat to a senior Pei family elder who came from Hedong. His seat was transferred to the guest seat and sat with several prime ministers. Zhang Hao, the minister of the disciple, came alone and happened to sit in the same seat with Li Qingan.

Zhang Hao drank a few more glasses of wine and seemed very excited. He held the wine glass and said to Li Qing'an: "I have a suggestion to the general, don't you know whether to speak or not?"

Li Qingan smiled slightly and said, "If you have anything to say at the wine table, Mr. Zhang can just say it."

Zhang Hao pondered for a moment and said, "I want to talk about An Lushan. I have been in Taiyuan for many years and have a deep understanding of this person. Generally speaking, those who have been to Youzhou say that An Lushan will definitely rebel. He sold iron tools and grain for the Uighurs and Khitans, and all exchanged war horses for the horses. The horses he obtained were used to recruit troops. Now, in addition to the tens of thousands of people within his commission, he has also secretly recruited at least 100,000 people. Since he sent troops to occupy Hedong, his ambition to rebel was undoubtedly revealed. Although the general defeated him this time, his foundation is still there. He is now like a wolf with a retracted claw. If the court ignores him and allows him to recover his vitality, he will inevitably invade Hedong again. By then, he will raise the banner of rebellion, which will make the people of Hedong and Hebei suffer."

Li Qing'an nodded and said, "I also know An Lushan's wolfish ambitions, so I am planning to deploy heavy troops in northeastern Hebei. At least half of the troops recruited in Guanzhong and Guannei Road this time will be deployed in Hedong. There are also some elite troops I have transferred from Anxi. We will also arrange some of them to prevent An Lushan from invading Hedong again."

"I also heard that the general will deploy troops in Hedong, but I think this is not enough. I suggest that the general train the militia and hide troops from the people. If An Lushan invades Hedong in a large-scale attack, the people can also organize their resistance spontaneously. I mean, temporarily release the control of weapons in Hedong and allow the civilians to use military crossbows and long weapons."

"I think it's inappropriate to release the weapons control among the people!"

Wang Gong, who was sitting next to him, suddenly interjected. He had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Li Qing'an and Zhang Hao, and finally couldn't help saying: "If weapons control are released in Hedong, what should I do if Guanzhong, Guan, Henan, and Longyou? I dare not say that all parts of the Tang Dynasty will follow suit for half a year. In that case, if the people rebel, it will be difficult for the officers and soldiers to wipe out, and even if they wipe out, it will be costly. In the past few years, landless farmers rebelled everywhere, which has caused a headache for the court. If the restrictions on weapons are relaxed, it will be difficult for the people to control it!"

Zhang Hao frowned and opposed him, "The King of Kings said this a bit before the horse. Since ancient times, people have been forced to rebel, and they will rebel only after they can't survive. If the court treats the people well, reduces taxes, strictly controls land annexation, and gives the people a way out, even if there are many weapons piled up in front of them, they will not rebel. On the contrary, those powerful landlords who want to rebel, even if you limit your weapons, they will still hide weapons. This has nothing to do with whether they control weapons. If the people have the ability to defend themselves, then whether it is the Hu invasion or the thief invasion, the people can defend themselves and resist themselves, and not be slaughtered like sheep."

Li Qing'an nodded secretly when he heard this, "hiding troops to the people." What Zhang Hao said was exactly Anxi's usual practice, and he reminded him that the Central Plains could actually be promoted.

Li Qing'an smiled and said, "Let me tell you about Anxi's situation! As early as three years ago, Anxi relaxed the restrictions on the people's weapons, especially for Han immigrants. Anxi forced every household to have a spear and a pair of armor. If there were two men in the family, they also had to have a military crossbow and a war horse. They had to train for one month every three months. This is Anxi's militia system, which I think can be promoted in the Central Plains."

Wang Gong was dissatisfied and said, "Anxi can be feasible, but the Central Plains may not be feasible. Raising a tiger can hurt people, but it can also kill you. Although hiding troops to the people sounds good, if it is used by An Lushan, we will work hard to train the militia and become his weapon for attacking the court. I am afraid that the general will not cry at that time."

Li Qingan snorted and said loudly: "The Wang Xiangguo underestimates the people of my Tang Dynasty too much. Who is right and wrong, who is right and who is right and wrong, and who is right and who is evil. The people know better than us. If the people support An Lushan and are willing to help him overthrow the court, it means that our tyranny has made the people unbearable. As the saying goes, harsh policies are more powerful than tigers! Then An Lushan overthrows the court is our own fault."

Wang Gong was speechless, turned his head with a blue face, but Zhang Hao secretly gave a thumbs up and praised in a low voice: "The general said it well, the harsh government is more powerful than the tiger, I, Zhang Hao, have received the teachings."

Li Qing'an's heart moved slightly. Because Zhang Hao has always been Li Heng's person, he never paid attention to this person. But judging from today's situation, Zhang Hao is very consistent with his own temperament and is a target that can be fought for.

At this time, a burst of applause broke out in the lobby. When Li Qingan turned around, he realized that Pei Kuan had come out of the back hall, wearing a red robe with oil paint on his face, looking energetic, but after all, he was thin and trembling when walking. His two granddaughters, Pei Yu and Pei Wan'er, supported him from left to right, carefully let him sit in the main seat, and stood behind him.

The music and dance stopped, and the dancers retreated. Today's emcee was Pei Xi. He stood up and said loudly with a smile: "Today is the 75th birthday of my father. Thank you for coming to Pei's mansion to celebrate my father's birthday. Although the emperor and the governor were unable to attend for some reason, they all sent gifts and blessings. Here I would like to express my deep gratitude to my father and the Pei family. Secondly, I would like to thank Wang Xiangguo, Li Shangshu, Fang Shangshu, and Cui Shangshu...."

Pei Xi was thanking the members of the Political Affairs Hall except Li Qing'an and Pei Min. These were almost sitting together, and everyone looked at this side. At this time, Li Qing'an glanced at him and saw Pei Wan'er standing behind Pei Kuan. Her eyes were staring at her like autumn water. Li Qing'an smiled slightly at her. A red glow suddenly flew across Pei Wan'er's white porcelain face, and she quickly turned her head away and went to whisper to Pei Yu.

"In addition to thanking the prime ministers, I also want to thank all the guests who came to attend the birthday ceremony. This first glass of wine represents everyone."

Li Qingan picked up the wine glass and stood up and smiled, "This first glass of wine should be toasted to our old birthday star, come! We all drank this glass together, wishing Pei Ge the best fortune of the East China Sea and the longevity of the South Mountain!"

Everyone stood up, raised their glasses and smiled, "I wish Mr. Pei Ge a long life!"

Pei Kuan's eyes were slit in a slit. He wanted to get up and say a few words of thanks, but he couldn't stand up. He had to pick up the glass of wine and have a drink with everyone.

Everyone sat down one after another. At this moment, a butler hurriedly ran into the lobby outside the lobby, looked panicked, tripped on the steps, and almost fell down, "Master, it's not good!"

The eyes of thousands of people in the lobby looked at him, and Pei Zunqing said in great displeasure: "What's the matter?"

"Master, some officers and soldiers are here!"

As soon as the housekeeper finished speaking, more than 300 fully armed Guanzhong Army appeared outside the lobby. The leader was the fourth person of the Guanzhong Army, General Yunhui Lin Jian. They were murderous and wanted to break into the lobby, but more than 60 Li Qing'an's personal soldiers standing guard outside the lobby stopped them.

The captain Yang Yunfeng drew his sword and shouted: "This is Mr. Pei's birthday gift, you must not be arrogant!"

"We are ordered by His Highness the Superintendent of the State to arrest the enemy spies. Here is the command of His Highness the Superintendent of the State to dodge and do not interfere with military affairs, otherwise we will kill them regardless!"

Lin Jian's voice was very loud, and everyone in the lobby could hear it clearly. Everyone's eyes showed great surprise. This was the Pei family's birthday hall. Not only did they break in with arms, but they also wanted to arrest people on the spot in front of thousands of guests. This was obviously not giving face to the Pei family. Li Qingan was also surprised. He then realized that Wang Sili and Chen Xuanli had not come, and Li Heng did not come either. He glanced at him and saw that Wang Gong had a lust on his face. He couldn't help but understand that they were prepared!
Chapter completed!