People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1618 Chang'an, Chang'an

Tianshui is the place where water flows into the Milky Way.

Although the Wei River originates from Weiyuan in Tianshui, it actually takes shape in Tianshui. After the Hulu River north of Tianshui flows into the Wei River, the water flow of the Wei River increases greatly.

Traditionally, large ships had to switch to small boats when sailing to the Wei River.

Even Li Xuan is no exception.

……

The moonlight shines brightly in Tianshui City.

Zhao Renben, who had been retired for a long time, lay quietly on a large recliner in a small pavilion in the backyard of his home. He raised his right hand slightly, and then a white piece fell on the chessboard in front of him.

North and south are crisscrossed, black and white are clearly distinguished.

Li Hui, who was sitting opposite Zhao Renben, looked at the chessboard for a long time and couldn't make a move.

Zhao Renben, with a head full of silver hair, shook his head slightly and said, "Your heart is already in turmoil, why bother to hold on."

Li Hui smiled bitterly, put the black piece back on the chessboard, glanced at the two Qianniu guards at the backyard door, shook his head slightly, and said, "So what if I am upset? The war is in chaos now, and Hui Ju can't help at all."

"What? The Duke still plans to fight against King Peng?" Zhao Renben looked at Li Hui in surprise, but his eyes inadvertently swept to the horizon.

Although the small courtyard where they are now is peaceful, the entire Tianshui has been plunged into war.

Just last night, Anxi Protector Wang Fangyi suddenly led his army to the north gate of Tianshui. There were not many people, only 5,000, but they were all cavalry, fierce and fierce.

In an instant, most of Tianshui's soldiers were transferred there.

Then this morning, Li Duozuo suddenly appeared in the south of the city with his troops. If it weren't for the Wei River blocking the south of the city, the South Gate would have been breached if we weren't careful.

As a result, all the soldiers that could be mobilized in the city were sent to the north and south gates, and the west gate was seriously understaffed.

Especially at noon today, General Wang Xiaojie of the Left Guard was killed in battle in Tianshui. King Peng led his army into Longyou and quickly bypassed Dingxi and headed towards Tianshui.

All the people in Tianshui City who could escape had already fled through the East Gate of Tianshui.

Even those who couldn't run away hid at home, trembling, hoping that the war would end soon.

Although Li Hui was the Northwest Rebellion Commander appointed by Empress Wu, he was actually just a symbol. The one who truly controlled the army was Wang Xiaojie.

Even though Wang Xiaojie went to Lanzhou, there were still Guo Qianguan and others in charge of logistics.

Li Hui couldn't do anything. The only convenience for him was to play chess with Zhao Renben every day.

But even so, he was always closely watched by the Qianniu Guards sent by Guo Qianguan.

Hearing what Zhao Renben said, Li Hui said with emotion: "Prime Minister Zhao knows that when the late emperor attacked Goguryeo, he appointed Hui Ju as the governor of Youying and two states to ensure the logistics of the army. He has wanted to personally go to the front line for many years, but unfortunately he never had the chance."

Zhao Renben was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "So the Duke is testing Zhao."

Li Hui's expression suddenly became serious.

Zhao Renben lay back on the recliner and said calmly, "King Peng has arrived outside Tianshui City now, right?"

"Yes!" Li Hui nodded and sighed, "The Qianniu Guards came to deliver a message that King Peng can enter the city at any time, but Tianshui is the territory of the Zhao family. King Peng wants to ask what the Zhao family's plans are for the future?"

"Plans?" Zhao Renben sighed and said, "I have been retired for three years. I don't care about anything. Now I just live a quiet life at home. The Queen Mother sends people, but I don't go out. King Peng sends people, but I don't go out. I can't manage the affairs of Chang'an, and I don't want to manage them."

Chang'an, Li Xuan asked Li Hui to find Zhao Ren originally for Chang'an.

Now Empress Wu moved most of the court to Luoyang.

There were only Liu Rengui and Lu Yuanfang in charge of Chang'an. Even if they wanted to get three prime ministers, they couldn't do it. How could they run the government?

It is hard to say how many of the people in Luoyang are useful. Li Chongzhao is still in Luoyang, while Pei Xingjian, Wei Daijia and others are far away in Yangzhou.

Li Xuan was stationed in Chang'an. If he wanted to stabilize people's hearts, it was inevitable that he would stabilize the government.

I don’t know how many people are needed to cover the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and five academies.

After all, Zhao Renben was once a minister.

Apart from anything else, for many years, every time the imperial edict was announced, it was Zhao Renben who read it out.

No matter who you are, you have to owe some favors.

The same is true for Li Xuan.

What's more, Zhao Renben had many students and old friends in the court. If Li Xuan could invite him to Chang'an to be prime minister, many people would inevitably think of the Gaozong period.

It played a great role in consolidating Li Chongzhao's orthodox status.

"It's good that Prime Minister Zhao knows what's going on. Hui Ju is just here to pass on a message." Li Hui looked at the night sky in the distance and said softly, "Under the current situation, Hui Ju can't do anything?"

"It seems that the royal family has chosen to support King Peng?" Zhao Renben leaned back in the recliner, feeling inexplicably heavy-hearted.

"There's nothing we can do about it. The Queen Mother is too wary of us." Li Hui shook his head helplessly and said, "In fact, as long as the one sitting on the throne is the descendant of Emperor Taizong or Emperor Gaozong, we old guys don't care. But if there is no place for us and our descendants in the court..."

"Is it about deposing the crown prince?" Zhao Renben immediately understood Li Hui's concerns.

"The Tang dynasty lasted for three generations, and Wu replaced the Tang dynasty. Everything is becoming more and more obvious." Li Hui said solemnly, "King Peng is right. If the Tang dynasty had not been completely destroyed, how could Wu replace it?

Huiju is now fifty-three years old, but my grandson has just grown up, so I have to give him more consideration. "

Zhao Renben nodded. The fact that Ma Sizong killed the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian had a very bad impact.

Especially since this is Longxi, the incident is far more serious than people imagined.

Although Li Hui was the chief commander in suppressing the rebellion in the northwest this time, he had no power at all and was even being monitored like a prisoner.

The cause of Emperor Zhongzong's death remains a mystery, the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian was murdered, and they all survived the death of Emperor Xiaojing, so the turmoil at that time was also quite big.

With the precedent of his three sons, how could Li Dan be any better?

If Li Dan's death was unclear, then Wu's replacement of Tang would be even closer.

If Tang had not been destroyed, how could Wu have replaced it?

Even if it wasn't for themselves, for their descendants, Li Hui and his men had to take a chance. A burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the front yard, and then a general with four Qianniu guards rushed in and bowed to Li Hui and said, "General, we just received news that Dingxi City has fallen, the general of the Left Jinwu Guard has fallen into the hands of the bandits, and Tianshui is no longer defensible. Please leave with me immediately."

"Well!" Li Hui sat there and raised his head calmly, then looked at the person who came and said, "Go ahead."

Hands-on?

Before the man could react, he felt a sharp pain all over his body. Four thousand-ox swords pierced his body directly at the same time, and then quickly separated from him to prevent too much of his blood from splattering on the ground.

Li Hui looked towards the west city and said softly, "Guo Qianguan is trying to escape."

"Yes, King Peng is coming into the city." Zhao Renben nodded calmly.

Guo Qianguan wanted to escape, and with the army's morale affected, it was inevitable that Li Xuan would enter the city.

"In the past, every time King Peng returned to Changzhou or Fanzhou, he would always stay in Tianshui for one or two nights. The time he stayed there was even longer than in Lanzhou." Zhao Renben couldn't help but look towards the direction of the west city gate. It was time to open the gate.

……

With a "creak", the gate of Tianshui West City opened wide.

Two hundred black-clad cavalrymen rushed directly into the city, half of them rushed into the city and the other half rushed to the city gate.

At this time, Li Xuan slowly rode in on horseback.

Li Zhu and Li Gu guarded both sides, with Qu Chongyu, Tang Zhenxing, Ren Enci and others following behind them. Behind them were countless cavalrymen. A small half of them followed Li Xuan into the city, and the rest split into two, heading towards the north and south respectively.

A middle-aged general wearing fish-scale armor and looking more like a scholar bowed to Li Xuan solemnly and said, "Welcome King Peng into the city."

"You're too polite, General Yuan." Li Xuan nodded gently to Yuan Xiao, the General of Qinzhou Household Department who was standing on the side.

This Yuan family soldier in Qinzhou opened the city gate at the critical moment to welcome Li Xuan into Tianshui.

The Yuan family itself is a big family in Longxi, and many of its members are employed in various places in Longxi.

Although it is not as prosperous as the early years of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there are still several provincial governors in the local area.

There were even more other chief secretaries and generals who joined the army.

"Captain Yuan was almost imprisoned a few days ago. If it weren't for Brother Ming saving him, the consequences would have been even more serious. I hope that the prince can rush to Luoyang as soon as possible to restore order." Yuan Xiao had already made his position clear in just one sentence.

"It's almost time. The army will rest in Tianshui tonight, and tomorrow Xuan will lead the army to Chang'an." Li Xuan took a deep breath and said, "Let's go to the governor's mansion first. Wang Duhu and General Li should be here soon."

While Li Xuan was speaking, loud noises came from the South City and the North City at the same time, and the city gates were broken again.

……

Qinzhou Governor's Mansion, the Qinzhou Governor has been imprisoned and will be dealt with at a later date.

Li Xuan sat behind the desk, looked at everyone with a serious look and said, "Order the garrisons to strictly guard their positions and not harass the civilians."

"Here!" All the generals raised their hands.

Li Xuan looked up at Yuan Xiao and said, "General Yuan, I order you to act as the chief officer of Qinzhou and assist the public security of Hejian County in transporting grain and grass to the local area."

"Yes!" Yuan Xiao immediately stood up and bowed.

Li Xuan turned to look at Li Hui and said, “Brother, please continue to stay in Tianshui and serve as the pacification envoy of the Northwest Road. You will be responsible for transporting food and grass to the local areas, and at the same time, you will stabilize the people and stabilize the autumn harvest.

At the same time, he ordered the provincial governors not to pay attention to the affairs of the central government, and all priorities should be placed on this year's autumn harvest.

When your majesty returns from Jiangnan in winter, he will assess the governors of each state with the autumn tax, and those who fail will be dismissed immediately. "

"Yes!" Li Hui accepted the order solemnly.

Li Xuan nodded and continued, "Hualien General Hua Dazhi and General Nan Ju of the Right Garrison Guard will serve as deputies to assist you, brother, in organizing the guards, returning them to their respective positions, restoring order, and clearing up the local area. You have a heavy responsibility."

Li Hui cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, Prince Peng. Hui Ju will definitely not let you down."

"Okay." Li Xuan stood up and said, "Xuan will go to visit Prime Minister Zhao first. After he takes Chang'an, he will invite you to Chang'an to handle government affairs."

"Yes!" Li Hui's expression suddenly became serious.

Li Hui is the son of Hejian Prince Li Xiaogong. He has been living in the local area for many years, but to be honest, he also wants to return to Chang'an.

……

"King Peng has sent people to Chang'an, right?" Zhao Renben was lying on a recliner, covered with a thin quilt, looking at Li Xuan curiously.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "Two teams of Qianniu Guards have already rushed to the Right Guard of Chang'an. The Right Guard has 5,000 soldiers in Chang'an. Among all the guards, the Right Guard has the strongest military force in Chang'an."

"Your Highness forgot the left and right gate guards. They are the main force guarding Chang'an." Zhao Renben raised his head, looked at Li Xuan, and said seriously: "Not to mention, Xue Guwu is also in Chang'an."

Crown Prince Li Chengqi was regent, Liu Rengui and Lu Yuanfang were assisting in the administration, but in Chang'an, there was still a garrison led by General Xue Guwu of the Left Thousand Bull Guard.

Chang'an doesn't need to deal with many political affairs now. Li Chengqi, Liu Rengui and Lu Yuanfang are just puppets.

Xue Guwu is the leader of Chang'an.

"It doesn't matter. I can take this opportunity to settle the matter in Luoyang with General Xue. He is also one of the culprits in the matter of Emperor Zhongzong." There was a hint of coldness in Li Xuan's eyes.

"Oh!" Zhao Renben sighed softly.

Li Xuan continued, "Please Prime Minister Zhao contact the noble families in Longyou... Brother Wenxuan is now a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel, right?"

"The Ministry of Personnel, Department of Conferment." Zhao Renben smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness's target today is still the Governor of Qizhou, Yun Hongyin, right?"

"I heard that Governor Yun is a student of Prime Minister Zhao." Li Xuan looked at Zhao Renben calmly and said, "Xuan only plans to bypass Qizhou City directly. The army will go straight to Chang'an. I just hope that Governor Yun will not take any action."

Zhao Renben shook his head slightly, smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid that not only will he not obstruct the prince, he will even help the prince. When the emperor was filial to the emperor as the crown prince, Hong Yin was once the crown prince's junior secretary, but later he was transferred to the governor of Huzhou for many years."

Li Xuan raised his eyebrows. He had no idea about this event which happened so long ago.

But right now, it is a very good thing.

……

Chang'an!
(End of this chapter)