Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 397 Small Group

According to market rumors, the relationship between Gao Lishi and Li Bai is not good.

It is said that because Li Bai was drunk, he asked Gao Lishi to take off his boots. Gao Lishi was so angry that he slandered and exiled Li Bai.

This statement somewhat underestimates Gao Lishi's ruthlessness. Although he looks cheerful, if someone really angers him, it will not be as simple as banishing him once he takes action.

As for his relationship with Li Bai? Who in the world doesn't like Li Bai? How many people is Gao Lishi willing to take off his boots for?

Hearing Li Bai's name at this time, Gao Lishi immediately asked attentively: "Li Qinglian? How could he run to Fan Yang?"

"He said that 'a Confucian scholar is not as good as a knight-errant,' and that he should go to the battlefield in the north to 'sprinkle red blood' with his bare blade and serve the country with meritorious deeds."

Speaking of Li Bai, even Feng Shenwei seems a bit romantic.

"Nonsense." Gao Lishi snorted coldly and scolded: "Fan Yang is a land of tigers and wolves. What's the use of him being a scholar?"

"Yes."

I don’t know how many times he opened his eyes, but Li Dayi arrived in a hurry.

Gao Lishi said: "The saint is not awake yet..."

"When the saint wakes up, I will go with you to meet him."

Feng Shenwei felt this emotion. After waiting for a while, seeing that Gao Lishi didn't speak anymore, he asked: "Then, will the child report it again?"

"Where did he go?" Gao Lishi asked immediately.

"Call Li Dayi and ask him to inquire."

"Obviously, the people in An Lushan are already complaining to Yuan Siyi and asking him to explain in front of the emperor."

The eunuchs under him are very good at doing things. When they go out to inquire about news, they hear that Yuan Siyi is not here and ask him where he is. This is the most basic ability. But today, Wei Yue replied: "I asked, but the people in front of the emperor all refused to know."

He suddenly stood up, called over a young eunuch named Wei Yue, and said, "Have you gone to see if the saint has risen? Is Yuan Siyi still in front of the emperor? Ask him if he can come."

But Feng Shenwei had just arrived in Beijing, and he immediately went to Du's house.

He mentioned the plight of several families of soldiers who died in the Khitan war. If they were willing to cover up their defeat and continue to support An Lushan, they could receive rewards. However, if they dared to mention to merchants the experience of their fathers or husbands dying in battle, they would be rewarded. He became a prisoner. An Lushan thus became the sole ruler of the North.

Gao Lishi turned to look at Feng Shenwei and said, "Did An Lushan send someone back with you?"

He paced back and forth in the room, rubbing his face as usual to stop it from being stiff so that he could put on a peaceful smile, but he still felt anxious.

"Grandpa."

The information Li Bai spent time and energy to find out was obviously much more detailed than Feng Shenwei's experience in just a few days.

"Yuan Siyi's people deceived Wei Yue."

"At that time, the child was living in the post house. Suddenly someone brought hot water. He was dressed as a soldier of Fan Yang, wearing a felt hat and a beard. When he opened his mouth, I knew it was Li Bai. He had been in Fan Yang for a year. , and found out that An Lushan’s crusade against the Khitan last year was actually a huge defeat. In order to cover up the defeat, he bribed soldiers in the army and eliminated dissidents. Later, he conspired with the Khitan King Li Huaixiu to trade privately and gave the Khitan a large amount of food and iron tools. , now the people in Fanyang area are boiling, and they are all looking forward to rebellion..."

at last.

"I just went to see King Jianning a few days ago."

After hearing this, Gao Lishi was silent for a long time and murmured: "You should go directly to see the saint."

Although Li Dayi didn't know what happened specifically, but Yuan Siyi's people put him in such a position, his face became a little ugly and said: "Yuan Siyi doesn't know what is important. He has been in the Xingqing Hall and made people stop others from seeing the saint."

Instead, Gao Lishi calmed down, stood up and said, "Let's go, let's go and see him too."

Li Bai narrated it from a personal perspective of what he saw in Youzhou. The woman who lost her husband, the high-spirited Hu'er, and the court officials who dared not interfere in everything... created a scene of excitement.

"Here."

He believed that the saint was a very sensitive person. Now that Feng Shenwei went to meet the saint again, the saint would inevitably think that someone was plotting to frame An Lushan.

The situation was obviously much worse than he expected.

"Here."

Feng Shenwei felt uneasy and asked, "What should we do?"

"Where did Yuan Siyi go?"

Feng Shenwei thought to himself, it turned out that my grandfather had always known that An Lushan was ambitious.

Gao Lishi sat down slowly on the chair with a sigh in his tone.

"Yes."

Feng Shenwei asked: "Master, are you saying that the child should tell the saint all this?"

It is also said that Anlushan bought a large number of strong Hu'er soldiers as private soldiers and gave them generous rewards. These people only knew about Anlushan but did not know about the imperial court, and they agitated to invade Chang'an every day.

"He is interviewing the saint." Li Dayi said, "Feng Shenwei just came back, and Yuan Siyi went to interview the saint."

Feng Shenwei opened his mouth but stopped talking.

After Gao Lishi finished speaking, he closed his eyes and rested his mind. His posture is slightly different from usual, and he occasionally opens his eyes to take a look.

Wei Yue left quickly, but this time while waiting for his return, Gao Lishi felt that time passed extremely slowly.

~~
Xue Bai has returned to Chang'an from Lantian and declined a banquet. He seems to be very leisurely at home every day.

"Returning to General Gao, the saint has not risen yet, and General Yuan is not in front of the emperor."

Gao Lishi didn't answer, his eyes flashed with thought.

Du Wulang was sitting in the yard basking in the sun with his daughter in his arms, saying some silly things. When he heard the noise, he turned around and saw Xue Bai. He said in a low voice: "The godfather is here, let him hold him." hug."

Xue Bai didn't dare to hold the child and didn't know where to start. He declined Du Wulang's request and just stood aside and watched.

In just a moment, there was another carriage movement in the front yard, but it was the Du sisters who came back.

"what."

Du Wulang said: "Today is strange. I don't think anything big has happened. You are all here."

He looked stupid, but he knew that they must be here to meet.

Du Jin was too lazy to pay attention to him, stepped forward and pinched her niece's face before walking inside. Du Wei said to Xue Bai, "It's boring to sit in this courtyard. Why don't you go to the back garden and have a cup of tea?"

"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."

Du Wulang shook his head, secretly mocking them for still pretending not to be familiar with each other.

These people met mysteriously and plotted all day long, but he didn't bother to get involved and continued to hum a little tune and gently rock the milky-smelling child in his arms.

After a while, there was a horse neighing again, but it was endless.

"Let's go, we're not staying here anymore."

"Eh, eh."

Du Wulang just stood up and saw a knight rushing to the front door and said: "Du Canjun, King Jianning asked you to go to Baisun Courtyard."

If it weren't for this claim, Du Wulang would have forgotten that he also had an official position in the royal palace and joined the army.

~~
"Feng Shenwei is back."

"What's his attitude?"

"We can't find out after entering the palace, but one thing is that the first thing he did when he entered Chang'an was to send someone to see if Gao Lishi was in the house outside the palace."

Xue Bai pondered: "Let's go see Gao Lishi first. He must have encountered a lot of setbacks in Fan Yang."

Du Jin leaned forward and said: "Fan Yang sent two teams. One team came back to guard Feng Shenwei, and the other team must have met Yuan Siyi a few days in advance."

"Borrowed?"

"It must have been bribed. Yuan Siyi was on duty in the palace for two or three days in a row." Du Jin said, "Gao Lishi has been very free these days and has been meddling in your business."

"Really?" Xue Bai felt her scrutiny and touched his nose.

Du Wei, consciously or unconsciously, helped him out and said, "So Yuan Siyi is planning to put in a good word for An Lushan in front of the saint."

"It doesn't matter, our current strategy is to temporarily appease An Lushan and not force him to rebel."

"Yes, in addition, if Feng Shenwei can make Gao Lishi realize the seriousness of the situation, it may not be a good thing for us."

"I'm waiting for his attitude." Xue Bai leaned back, leaning on the rockery, stretching his posture, and said: "If he also supports us, we will be successful."

The momentum he is talking about now refers to the old and new forces in the East Palace, Li Cong and Li Tan, plus the forces he has accumulated and the forces he has drawn from Li Linfu's disciples. With the full support of Gao Lishi, many things can be done.

Of course, it's not easy to get Gao Lishi's full support. It also depends on Li Longji's attitude towards Feng Shenwei's report this time.

He had to wait, but fortunately, he was not in a hurry at Du's house and could wait.

At noon, because Du You Neighbor was still at the Yamen and had not returned from official duties, Du Zhai did not call them to eat. The three of them stayed until the afternoon. They were very hungry, so Du Jin ordered someone to go to Fengwei Building to get a food box.

"Er Niang, there is news."

Also delivered with the food box was Gao Lishi's movements.

"Gao Lishi was not on duty today, but he and Feng Shenwei went to Xingqing Palace early in the morning, and in the afternoon they went to Baisun Courtyard."

"Meet Li Tan?"

"Yes, Prince Jianning's Mansion."

Xue Bai was slightly disapproving of the fact that Gao Lishi went to Li Tan first instead of coming to him when something happened. He smiled and said, "That's fine, this is a clue."

~~
Baisun Courtyard, Jianning Prince's Mansion.

It is said to be a palace, but it is actually a group of houses with adjacent walls and no privacy.

For example, a few days ago, Li Fu, the king of Jiyin County, had an affair with a maid in the backyard, and the news soon spread to Li Tan's house.

Under such an environment, the so-called long history, Sima, and military service in the princes' palaces are naturally false. They don't have to go to the Yamen on weekdays. They just get an extra salary.

Du Wulang, the prince, could not put off joining the army at first, but he still came to accompany Li Tan to study and hunt a few times, and then he gradually became lazy.

Today, he was staying at home well, but he was suddenly called over and had to do an extra job for nothing, so naturally he was unwilling to do so. I simply rode a donkey and walked slowly from Shengpingfang to Yongxingfang, thinking that if I arrived later, I would do less.

After finally arriving, Li Tan was already looking forward to it. He was pacing in the front yard. When he saw him coming, he immediately rushed forward and asked: "Did you know that Feng Shenwei returned to Beijing from Fan Yang? How did Xue Bai react to this?" ?”

"I don't know." Du Wulang responded cheerfully.

"This is a big deal, answer me."

"I really don't know. I don't even know who Feng Shenwei is."

Li Tan waited for at least an hour, but received such a useless and sincere answer, and was stunned for a moment.

Du Wulang was not ashamed and had no self-consciousness as a subordinate of the royal family. He didn't want to get this job, it was forced on him by others. Besides, the salary was not high, far inferior to the dividend he received from Fengwei Building. He thought he had no responsibility to inquire about this for Li Tan.

I don’t know how long this silent atmosphere lasted. Just when Li Tan wanted to explain his cooperative relationship with Xue Bai, a servant came forward to report.

"Sanlang, General Gao is here."

"what?"

If Gao Lishi's first visit was a surprise to Li Tan, then his second visit in a short period of time made him extremely nervous and uneasy.

Of course, it was impossible for him not to see Gao Lishi and said, "I will go and greet him personally."

Du Wulang saw him and said, "Then shall I go back first?"

Li Tan was a little helpless with his lazy temperament and said, "How can I just leave like this? I still have important things to discuss with you."

"Me? What can I be of use to?"

Du Wulang was very self-aware, so he walked to the door with Li Tan. When he saw Gao Lishi, he turned sideways and went out.

"Is that Du Qi, the fifth son of the Du family?"

"what?"

Du Wulang was not familiar with Gao Lishi, so he subconsciously looked left and right, realizing that he must be calling him and couldn't avoid it, so he stepped forward and saluted, "I have seen General Gao."

"Let's stay and chat together."

Gao Lishi said casually, and without waiting for him to refuse, he walked forward openly and entered the hall with Li Tan.

Du Wulang was a little anxious to urinate, but he had no choice but to follow in. There were several people standing guard outside the courtyard, but letting him in only showed that his status was not low.

"Earlier in Huaqing Palace, Sun Xiaozhe killed Wang Zhongsi with a knife. The saint ordered Feng Shenwei to escort him to Fanyang to see what An Lushan would do. Now, Feng Shenwei is back..."

Gao Lishi slowly narrated the cause and effect. After listening to it, Du Wulang realized that this was what happened. He didn't talk much anyway and just listened to their conversation.

Later, when talking about what Feng Shenwei had seen in Fan Yang, Li Tan was not surprised by An Lushan's rebellious behavior. Instead, he thought of his conversation with Xue Bai at that time and thought that Xue Bai was very prescient.

Finally, Li Tan asked: "Can General Gao report these situations to the saint?"

Gao Lishi nodded but said nothing.

Li Tan asked: "Does the saint have any instructions on how to deal with it?"

"If the saint had told you how to deal with it, I wouldn't have come to see you, King Jianning."

"Don't you believe the saint?"

The first thing Li Tan thought was not that Gao Lishi's visit would bring him countless troubles, but that he couldn't believe that the saint still didn't believe An Lushan's rebellious intentions.

"Why don't you believe it?" he asked again.

"Before I met the saint, Yuan Siyi had already taken the lead and expressed many grievances on behalf of An Lushan." Gao Lishi said: "An Lushan heard about Sun Xiaozhe's behavior in Lishan and ordered him to be severely whipped. He just considered the Khitan generals. He was not executed because of his feelings. He also said that Feng Shenwei asked for bribes from him and was greedy. Finally, he said that there was a party in the court that was crowding out and suppressing him, and he was willing to resign from the post of Fan Yang and Pinglu Jiedu..."

"Then let him resign." Li Tan snorted coldly.

"It is precisely because he knew that the saint would not depose him that he acted like this." Gao Lishi said: "I should not have come here. It only increased the saint's suspicion. Instead, it confirmed what An Lushan said, that we colluded and excluded him."

Du Wulang deeply believed in this last sentence.

Gao Lishi changed the subject and added: "But it is not appropriate to always follow the saints. For fear of being suspected, you will say or do nothing. If things go on like this, the country will be ruined, so I am here anyway..."

It is difficult to imagine that these words came from the mouth of a eunuch.

But if you think about it carefully, on many things, when no one else dares to advise the saint, Gao Lishi is the only one who dares to speak. For example, after the case of the Three Common People, Li Heng was elected as the crown prince; for example, when Li Longji said that the world was fine and wanted to hand over power to Li Linfu... these were all major events that would really harm the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. , Gao Lishi, who was most obedient to the Holy Will, was the most active person to change the situation.

Gao Lishi came today to express his support for the plan discussed by Li Tan and Xue Bai to jointly solve the internal and external troubles of the Tang Dynasty, and to increase their voice in the court.

Therefore, he did not hesitate to express his stance to Li Tan, saying: "If King Jianning is interested in the country and has a way to prevent the unrest, I will definitely help him."

Li Tan was a person who dared to fight for something. He hoped that Gao Lishi could give more support, such as taking the lead in taking charge, rather than just expressing his stance, so he asked, "Can't General Gao personally persuade the saint again?"

"You are old, you young people should think of a way."

Gao Lishi sighed and made a gesture to support his knees, preparing to leave.

As for the "you" he said, of course he was not referring to Du Wulang, but to Li Tan and Xue Bai.

In addition, regarding Xue Bai's life experience, he has always speculated that Xue Bai is Li Ying's son. He has complicated feelings about this. Although he takes action to protect him, he is worried about causing greater chaos. Xue Bai and Li Tan joined forces, which was the best result for him.

After observing for the past two years, Li Tan has gradually become Gao Lishi's favorite grandson, especially after Li Chu was involved in a major case during the fireworks ceremony.

Today Gao Lishi came to Li Tan instead of Xue Bai, which also revealed this hope...

Du Wulang naturally couldn't understand the meaning that was hidden so deeply.

He heard Gao Lishi say that he would leave the problem to their young people, and he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Li Tan was frowning and discussing. Hearing this, he looked at Du Wulang and asked, "Does Wulang have any idea?"

Du Wulang was in urgent need of urination. There was nothing he could do, so he shook his head.

"How difficult it is to deal with An Lushan without forcing him."

"Right now, what is more important is to convince the saint that he has disloyal intentions." Li Tan pondered and asked, "Isn't it true that the saint has no suspicion at all?"

If the saint really had no doubts about An Lushan, Gao Lishi would not dare to leave the palace to contact him. Obviously, the saint still has the intention to observe the situation to some extent.

Li Tan didn't need to answer. He looked at Gao Lishi and confirmed this.

He then murmured to himself: "I have to find a way to test Anlu Mountain for the saint..."

Du Wulang tried his best to clamp his legs, and almost stamped his feet because of the urgency to urinate. He couldn't stand their slow discussion, so he blurted out: "Isn't that simple?"

"Do you have any idea?"

"Let the saint recall An Lushan as prime minister... I'll go change my clothes first!"

After Du Wulang said that, he ran away like a gust of wind.

He didn't understand why they had to discuss something so simple, why would they just give such substantive suggestions directly?

Of course, Gao Lishi and Li Tan had known for a long time that they could bring back the generals to serve as prime ministers. This was the tradition of the Tang Dynasty, and it was certainly not a method that only Du Wulang could think of.

They talked to test the attitudes of both parties. For example, the position on this matter, how much trust can be given to each other, how much effort each other will contribute to this matter, and how much profit will be made. After reaching this consensus, things will be much simpler.

Looking at Du Wulang's back, Li Tan shook his head and said with a smile: "He actually lives a simple life."

~~
When the dusk drum of Chang'an City rang for the last time, Du Wulang was able to lead the donkey and run into the side door of Du's house.

He was so tired that he stood there with his knees propped up, panting, and couldn't get up for a long time. After a while, he looked up and saw Xue Bai standing not far away, looking at him.

"Help me."

"If you don't usually eat so much and are too lazy to cook, you won't be out of breath like this."

"No...I'm so tired just because I'm pulling this stupid donkey. It's curfew and you can't leave."

"Then stay the night."

Xue Bai said calmly. As he spoke, he glanced at the side door again. Seeing that no one was coming, he turned around and went in.

He was waiting for Gao Lishi to send someone to find him today, because he was the first person to realize that An Lushan was about to rebel and to take precautions. But in the end, I only waited for Du Wulang to return.

Xue Bai can also understand, after all, many things depend on status.

The two of them walked to the backyard.

Du Wulang rarely experienced the feeling of him being involved in major events, and Xue Bai had to listen to what he told him, and rambled on about today's experience.

"I roughly understand what's going on. You have formed a new faction, let's call it 'New East Palace'. Now you want to stop An Lushan's rebellion, and this purpose has made you unite."

"more or less."

Du Wulang knew that Xue Bai had the most progressive temperament, so he deliberately teased him and said, "But they didn't take you with them during the discussion. They just asked me to deliver the message to you."

Xue Bai was not angry either. Instead, he smiled resolutely and said, "But do you know? The existence of this 'New Donggong' series is the result of my efforts. All of this was made possible by me." .”

Du Wulang was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Xue Bai. Sometimes he would envy this kind of hard-working and fruitful state. In fact, sometimes he wanted to imitate it, but after working hard, he found out again within two days. I don’t need it myself.

He then stopped teasing Xue Bai, and felt a little aggrieved for him, saying, "But you are the one with the lowest status here."

"Don't even think about it. Those are Gao Lishi and Li Tan. Can ordinary people win over them?"

"Too."

Regarding everyone's position, they only discussed this point, and Du Wulang quickly mentioned specific matters.

"My idea was to let An Lushan return to the court and serve as prime minister. An Lushan will definitely not come back by then, which proves that he wants to rebel. Am I very smart?"

"It can be done this way, but you are not very smart."

"Why?"

Xue Bai said: "You came up with the idea, so this matter fell on me."

"what?"

Xue Bai smiled and said: "Although An Lushan will definitely not come back, once the matter is brought up, Yang Guozhong will definitely oppose it. That person only cares about personal interests, and there will inevitably be a conflict. At that time, Fan Yang's various countermeasures, the government and the opposition The objections from up and down are all directed at me... Although it’s not too troublesome, it can be regarded as a little joke between Gao Lishi and Li Tan.”

Only then did Du Wulang understand why Gao Lishi and Li Tan, who were so smart, didn't say anything about such a simple method.

Those seemingly long words are actually blending and coordinating.

For example, today Gao Lishi and Li Tan were sitting roasting potatoes, discussing who would eat them, add fuel to the fire, and peel them. Du Wulang was anxious and worried, so he said, "Isn't this simple?"

So, the hot potato was handed over to him, but he couldn't peel it and didn't feel it was hot, so he happily took it back and gave it to Xue Bai.

Du Wulang scratched his head and said, "Then you push it back and let them do it?"

"No, it's not necessary."

Xue Bai knew that Gao Lishi took a risk by coming out of the palace to express his position, and Li Tan was not a person who only cared about personal interests. Everyone has a heart to protect the Tang Dynasty. If we all work together, it is inevitable that some people will have to bear more.

Du Wulang said "Oh" and said, "I just realized that there are so many twists and turns."

Today, there are too many people in the DPRK who are prevaricating and waiting to see what they do. Gao Lishi and Li Tan have actually made plans.

And some people who are said to be incapable of becoming officials are more straightforward in doing things. For example, Li Bai was able to go to Fanyang with just his passion.

Xue Bai was thinking about this and was too lazy to care about the attitude of the strongman. He said casually: "Since you have already discussed it, let's take care of the rest."

(End of this chapter)