Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 398: Someone with status

The next day, when Xue Bai went to see Yang Guozhong, the right minister was busy handling official duties.

It is said that Yin Xianyu Zhongtong of Jingzhao hired skilled craftsmen to carve a stone tablet for Yang Guozhong with "Quan Zong Zhi Neng" and planned to erect it outside the gate of Shangshu Province. In this way, officials from the six ministries can see it when they go to the Yamen, and they will always remember their achievements.

The inscription was written by Xianyu Zhongtong himself, but the problem is that after learning about it, the saint became interested, read the article himself, and changed a few words. But now that the stone tablets have been carved, they are discussing what to do.

Xue Bai waited in the side hall for half an hour. They finally found a solution and decided to fill and re-engraved the words with gold.

When Xue Bai entered, he met Xianyu Zhongtong coming out. After saying hello, he asked: "Jie Shuai has been in Sichuan and Shu for a long time. Are you still used to it in Chang'an?"

"The weather in Chang'an is too dry."

Xianyu Zhongtong thought that even if he could not be called a famous general, he had done practical things in Sichuan and Sichuan, but now he was just a stooge in the sect of mediocre people like Yang Guozhong. He felt unspeakable in his heart, shook his head, and left.

Xue Bai entered alone. When Yang Guozhong saw him, he smiled brightly and said, "A Bai is here. I heard rumors from Chang'an that you have been very lucky recently."

"Brother, have you heard that Feng Shenwei has returned from Fan Yang?"

Unfortunately, the saint remained silent and did not express his position on this.

Xue Bai knew that persuading him was not that simple, so he was too lazy to waste time on this matter. He had his own other methods and sneered: "Is it as simple as not being able to issue an edict now?"

Yang Guanghui heard this news from the diners in the next private room while having a drink in Qingmen yesterday. The other party claimed to be an official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so the news should be accurate.

"He won't? Are you right?!"

Of course he was honest and outspoken.

"Since he refuses to call An Lushan back to pay homage to the prime minister, he will rebel sooner or later. We must be prepared for the worst. When the day comes for a military confrontation, will we have enough troops to cope with it?"

Xue Bai said: "Brother said that Hu'er wanted to rebel, so the saint recalled him to the capital to serve as prime minister. If you back down again at this time, wouldn't you be making the saint unhappy?"

Yang Guanghui said quickly: "This news was also obtained by the lower official. It is said that after the saint heard Feng Shenwei's report, he wanted to test Anlu Mountain... The lower official believed that the miscellaneous Hu would never return to the court to serve as prime minister. "

When it comes to his own important interests, Yang Guozhong is not stupid at all. It was immediately clear that Xue Bai and Yang Guanghui actually meant the same thing.

This was quite reasonable. Yang Guanghui couldn't answer, so he had to retreat quietly.

"Can I still say that he won't rebel?" Yang Guozhong raised his eyebrows and said thoughtfully: "But I have to find a way to make the saint believe in me."

~~
But the problem must be solved. One day later, Yang Guozhong was indeed summoned by the saint and asked his opinion on Fan Yang's matter.

"Then I accept it respectfully."

Since it was not the time to make progress, Xue Bai showed little interest in government affairs, his attitude was visibly perfunctory, and he quickly stood up to leave.

Yang Guozhong felt very disappointed. After returning home, he immediately summoned his staff to discuss the matter. However, they failed to come up with a result for several days. Instead, they heard some rumors in Chang'an City.

"The lower officials heard that the saint intends to call An Lushan into the court as prime minister."

Yang Guozhong thought about it and became more and more worried. So he sent someone again to invite Xue Bai to ask about the matter.

Yang Guozhong had something important to ask him. Seeing him like this, he was dissatisfied. He looked at his back and snorted secretly.

"Not bad." Yang Guozhong was annoyed by his deliberately arrogant manner, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"is it?"

"The sage told me earlier that he thought you were too young to be in an important position under Zhongshu, and wanted to give you some setbacks to hone your skills. It's me who has been taking care of you, otherwise you would have been demoted long ago. Listen to me, Now is not the time to make progress.”

Of course, the meaning is the same, but the perspective shown when saying it is completely different. Yang Guozhong did not reprimand Xue Bai, but just waved his hand firmly and said decisively: "You don't need to say any more, I will never let the saint issue an edict." .”

"How can this be so?"

"Of course it's to strengthen our power in the army. I can give you a list of names later to recommend talents to the prime minister's office."

Xue Bai still didn't propose a solution. After raising the question, the topic changed and he began to seek an official position for himself, saying that he wanted to go further.

Yang Guozhong looked confused and seemed to have forgotten what Feng Shenwei was going to Fan Yang for.

"Abai, do you have any clever ideas to teach me?"

"What else?"

"what."

"Do you want to make progress again?"

Yang Guozhong scolded angrily, and then said: "Even if he does not return to the court. As long as the saint's decree is given, there will be another prime minister in the court. How do you want me to deal with it?!"

He had never been so resistant to Li Linfu's spit.

"what?"

Yang Guozhong was upset and impatiently asked Xue Bai for an official position, saying: "How long will you be a talent in Zhongshushe? Let me tell you a piece of news worth a thousand gold."

As long as there is a possibility of losing the phase, no matter how small the risk is, it is something Yang Guozhong is unwilling to accept, and he immediately shows his disgust.

"In the past, when Li Linfu was here, An Lushan was extremely flattering. But now he is so unruly and unruly. It seems that he is dissatisfied with my brother. The saint will surely inquire about this matter soon. How are you going to answer?"

Yang Guozhong asked: "What do you mean?"

Xue Bai had no choice but to repeat the matter again, but unlike Du Wulang who directly presented the solution, he threw Yang Guozhong a series of difficult problems.

"Has it come to this?" After hearing this, Xue Bai deliberately showed some surprise, took two steps and asked, "Have you explained An Lushan's ambitions in front of the saint?"

"Just a short-sighted, selfish person."

"It's nothing more than a statement." Xue Bai said casually, "The saint doesn't want to believe that Hu'er will rebel, and he has doubts. You either insist that he will rebel, or you follow the holy will to reassure the saint."

Xue Bai had a very important purpose in making friends with Li Tan. He knew that Li Heng had been operating in the Northwest Army for many years and had close relationships with many generals, such as Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, the two famous generals who put down the Anshi Rebellion in history.

This is where Xue Bai's thinking is different from that of Gao Lishi. Gao Lishi wanted to prove to Li Longji that An Lushan was going to rebel, but he underestimated An Lushan's strength and did not realize that proof alone is useless; while Xue Bai Bai wanted to guide a group of generals as soon as possible. While Yang Guozhong was full of entanglements, he could just use the power of the right prime minister to act cheaply.

……

Yang Guozhong thought for a while and decided to listen to Xue Bai's two suggestions, guide a group of military talents and show kindness to them.

As for the appointment of An Lushan as prime minister, he thought it was meaningless. Instead, issuing an edict would only shake the prestige of the court, so he sent people to the palace to request an audience, preparing to oppose the matter to the saint's face.

After entering the palace, he observed carefully and found that the person accompanying Li Longji today was Gao Lishi, so he secretly applauded and his confidence increased greatly.

After the salute, when Li Longji asked him why he wanted to see him, he hesitated slightly and said: "I heard that the saint wanted An Lushan to be the prime minister. Although he has military achievements, he can't read, how can he be the prime minister? If the saint makes books, I will I’m afraid the barbarians despise the Tang Dynasty.”

He had thought about these words for a long time and said them in response to the saint's great joy in success. The saint has a good face, so he must be able to listen.

Unexpectedly, Li Longji had a dumbfounded smile when he heard this, and said: "What Yang Qing said is true, but I don't know that I want An Lushan to be the prime minister. Where did Yang Qing get the news?"

Yang Guozhong was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had learned the news from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Later, he remembered that Yang Guangfei had learned the news from the teahouse and restaurant.

"There was such a rumor in the court, but I mistakenly believed it to be true. I have neglected my duty."

It is extremely ridiculous for a prime minister to make such a mistake. But Li Longji didn't take it seriously. He felt more curious, so he glanced at Gao Lishi and asked with his eyes.

Gao Lishi then said: "There must be someone who thinks that An Lushan's achievements are very high, so he advised the right prime minister to call An Lushan back to the capital to pay homage to the prime minister."

If Li Longji really had this plan, he might have given up after Yang Guozhong's persuasion, but Yang Guozhong made a fool of himself first and reminded him instead.

Even if he trusted the fat man who was always willing to make a fool of himself in front of him, and someone was constantly suing him in front of him, with his suspicious temperament, how could he not be suspicious at all?
However, Li Longji would not discuss it with Gao Lishi and Yang Guozhong. These two people had prejudices against An Lushan and their words were inevitably biased.

As an emperor who was wise enough to refuse advice, when he was occasionally indecisive, he found that there were fewer and fewer people around him who could negotiate.

After Yang Guozhong retreated, he thought for a while and ordered Gao Lishi to summon Zhang Bian.

There were times when Zhang Bian wanted to make progress, but he had been accustomed to being generous since he was a child. When he encountered some setbacks, he would retreat to his original comfortable life, and he was not as concerned about government affairs as others.

Therefore, it was rare for him to still have a sense of detachment in front of the emperor. He stood there listening to Li Longji's inquiries and thinking about it. He did not give an answer immediately, but first stated his concerns.

"This is an old custom of the Tang Dynasty when generals come out and become prime ministers. If Anlushan is illiterate, Yang Guozhong is also not very knowledgeable. What I am worried about is that when Anlushan returns to the court, who will your majesty entrust Fan Yang and Pinglu to?"

After saying that, Zhang Bian paused for a moment before analyzing another possibility, and said slowly: "And what if he doesn't want to return to the court?"

It is easy to test, but the many problems caused by the test made Li Longji difficult.

"According to Zhang Qing's wishes, shouldn't I summon An Lushan back to pay homage to the prime minister?"

"I dare you to ask the saint if you need to clear up your doubts?"

"good."

Zhang Bian then said: "If An Lushan is willing to go to the court to pay homage to the prime minister, which shows his loyalty, then he can be appointed as Shangshu Zuopushe and still stay in Fanyang to pay homage to the prime minister without returning to the capital. This will reassure his heart and commend his loyalty."

"Yes." Li Longji nodded. This was the result he wanted to see most. The national affairs were calm and he could continue to be his emperor.

Zhang Bian continued: "As for An Lushan who is unwilling to enter the court, I think I should send people to kill him quickly. I will send the generals from the four towns of Hexi, Longyou, Shuofang and Hedong to Fanyang to put down the rebellion."

Compared with Gao Lishi and Feng Shenwei's complaint and Yang Guozhong's embarrassment, Zhang Bian's suggestion seemed more appropriate. However, Li Longji still had an imperceptible frown. He had prepared himself mentally for the trouble this move might cause, and just nodded. He raised his head and said, "Let's do it this way."

"According to the order."

There were only Gao Lishi and Zhang Bian in the hall, but Li Longji still added, "What we discussed today must not be revealed."

The reason why it cannot be leaked is that others cannot know what the consequences will be if An Lushan comes or does not come.

~~
The next day, Zhongshu went to the province.

Xue Bai also participated in the preparation of the imperial edict to return Lushan to the imperial court and serve as prime minister. After waiting for less than half an hour, he left the imperial city through Jingfeng Gate in the east and entered the Yingxiang Temple in Chongrenfang.

A few years ago, Prince Li Heng often secretly met with courtiers here. But with his loss of power, Yingxiangguan has long lost this role.

Generally speaking, any prince or grandson who wants to have a secret meeting with courtiers would not choose such a conspicuous place again. However, when Xue Bai passed through the back hall, Li Tan was already waiting there.

In fact, their identities are not considered sensitive, and it is okay for young people to meet often in private. The reason why he chose the secret meeting today was because Li Tan got a secret revealed in the palace.

"The saint has no intention of letting An Lushan return to pay homage to the prime minister."

"I just made an edict under Zhongshu's sect." Xue Bai said.

Li Tan shook his head and said: "What I mean is that even if An Lushan really returns to the court, the saint intends to let him stay in Fan Yang despite the summons."

"Is there no more suitable candidate for Fan Yang Jiedushi?"

"How could it not be possible? The saint just doesn't want to change." Li Tan said with worry on his face: "What we want is to keep An Lushan in Chang'an to prevent him from rebelling. The saint only wants to test, but after the temptation, there are What’s the benefit?”

Xue Bai said: "I don't think it matters."

"What do you mean?" Li Tan asked. When Xue Bai didn't answer, he understood and nodded: "If he dares to come, we will kill him."

"He won't come." Xue Bai asked, "If he doesn't come, what will the saint do?"

"Send someone to kill him and guard Fan Yang in his place." Although this was what Xue Bai could guess about Li Longji's attitude, it was extremely important to him to get the most accurate and first-hand information.

He made his decision almost immediately.

"Who will you send to kill him? I will do it."

Li Tan was stunned for a moment, his eyes brightened, and he asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Hebei's problems cannot be solved by killing An Lushan. We need a capable veteran to replace him. My qualifications are far from enough. I can serve as a military envoy and an interview envoy, but I still need a... no, They are the candidates for the two military governors.”

"Do you have a candidate?" Li Tan asked, "Who?"

"Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi." Xue Bai said: "Let these two go out to control Fan Yang and Pinglu to serve as my backup. In this case, I am willing to send an envoy to Fan Yang to kill An Lushan."

In fact, Xue Bai had previously suggested that Gao Xianzhi go to Fan Yang and Guo Ziyi go out to Anxi. He thought this was more in line with their characters. But now the situation is more urgent and a more direct approach is needed.

Li Tan took a few steps, quickly digested his proposal, and asked, "Let General Gao come forward?"

"There is no need to let him get involved too much. I have asked Yang Guozhong to support these two generals. I think the saint will notice their names in the memorial recently."

"Then, when the saint begins to consider candidates to replace An Lushan, can they be considered?"

"Not bad." With the direction, Xue Bai was already a little excited, and asked again: "Have you started preparing for this?"

"No." Li Tan's eyes were already bright. Hearing this question, he took a break from his excitement and said, "I am afraid that the saint is inclined to An Lushan to return to the court and is not in a hurry to send envoys."

"I'll get ready."

Xue Bai walked out of Yingxiang Temple, and the late autumn wind blew by, making him sober.

He thought calmly for a while and then went to find Du Jin.

"Recall Lao Liang, Jiang Hai, Fan Lao and others..."

~~
Changshan County, Zhending County.

This was Shijiazhuang in later generations, under the jurisdiction of Fan Yang Jiedushi.

In early October, there were soldiers guarding the city gate, identifying passers-by, and a group of people entered the city gate.

The horse's hooves stepped on the rammed earth ground. Yang Qixuan frowned slightly because he disliked the shabby place here. He turned to look at the notice board next to him, but his eyes were attracted by a piece of sea arrest document.

This was the first time in his life that he saw such a sea fishing document. The painting was not the usual bearded man, but a man who made people feel elegant at first glance. He turned sideways, showing three strands of long beard. He wears a long sword on his waist and stands with his hands behind his back.

Because this document was so special, Yang Qixuan could not help but drive his horse forward, leaned forward to take a look, and screamed in surprise.

Ji Wensui was also attracted. He looked over and said, "Li Bai? He is also in Changshan County... and he killed someone?"

"If you kill one person in ten steps, you must have killed many people."

Yang Qixuan didn't know what he was thinking, so he responded casually.

Afterwards, the team passed through Zhending County. He turned his head and looked around from time to time, and finally saw Fenghui Bank on a shop at the intersection...

They entered the prefect's mansion all the way and met Pei Yushu, the prefect of Changshan, in the lobby.

He is a man in his fifties, with three long beards. He has a very good appearance, but he is somewhat similar to the Li Bai on the sea fishing document.

Because Ji Wen was An Lushan's confidant, Pei Yushu treated him very politely, and after chatting for a few words, arranged for them to rest in another courtyard.

Others would just do as they pleased, but Ji Wen, who was born in a prime minister family and was used to being pretentious, asked: "Prefect Pei, I stayed in this prefect's mansion last time. What's wrong? I'm going back to Beijing. Come again, you don’t like me anymore?”

Pei Yushu didn't expect to encounter such a tricky question. He was stunned for a long time and didn't know what to say. Finally, he recovered from the surprise and said: "I was rude. Mr. Ji is staying in the prefect's mansion."

Ji Wen looked at his expression and felt relieved when he saw that he really didn't look down on her.

While the entourage and guards were settling their luggage, everyone chatted a little more. They talked about the documents they saw at the city gate. Yang Qixuan asked, "But I don't know who Li Bai killed?"

Pei Yushu really couldn't answer, so he waved his hands and said he didn't know.

Ji Wen then asked: "Isn't it that Governor Pei is searching for Li Bai?"

"It was a general from Fan Yang's army who came here and blocked the whole city."

Ji Wen was demoted to Liaodong that year, and soon he joined An Lushan in the shogunate. He was familiar with many people in Fan Yang's army, and he immediately asked: "Which general?"

"Tian Ganzhen."

"Ah Hao?" Ji Wen smiled happily and said, "I'll go see him tomorrow."

Pei Yushu was stunned for a moment, and an imperceptible look of worry flashed across his eyes.

The rooms in the guest house were arranged, and Ji Wen and Yang Qixuan went there together. On the way, Ji Wen looked around and suddenly said something.

"Li Bai is hiding in the prefect's mansion."

"Ah? How does Ji Gong know?"

"Oh, have you forgotten what the people of Chang'an call me? I am a prison officer, best at interrogating prisoners." Ji Wen said proudly, "Pei Yushu used to like Li Bai's poems, but today he shirks it in front of me, and his expression is not the same. Don’t even try to hide it from me.”

"But there is no evidence for this."

"Do I want evidence?" Ji Wen pointed to his eyes, "My eyes are the evidence."

Yang Qixuan was also speechless, thinking that cruel officials like Ji Wen only acted based on intuition. In other words, they were deceptive. Sometimes they were right and sometimes they were wrong.

Of course, it doesn't matter if I got it wrong this time. If I got it wrong in the past, countless people would be ruined.

Although it was still afternoon after settling in, Yang Qixuan went to bed early. He hadn't slept on such a soft and thick bedding for a long time, and he slept soundly. He was shaken awake from his sleep, and immediately after, he smelled the familiar stench again.

"I know where Li Bai is hiding." Ji Wen said.

"No, others searched for half a month but couldn't find it, and Mr. Ji found it right after he came?"

"Don't you see who I am." Jiwen's eyes were filled with a sinister smile, and he raised a hand, which was dripping with blood.

Yang Qixuan was shocked and said: "This is it? Who did you torture?"

"Two servants from the Prefect's Mansion."

"Ah? But what if I wrongly accuse them..."

"There is no injustice this time." Ji Wen said, "Li Bai is hiding in the woodshed in the west entrance courtyard of the prefecture. He just moved there when we came."

Yang Qixuan was already a little confused.

Ji Wen added: "I'll go find Ahao and ask him to come and get the person. Keep an eye on him and don't let him run away."

"How do I stare at..."

Before he finished speaking, Ji Wen ran out happily.

Yang Qixuan wanted to sleep for a while, but when he woke up, he couldn't fall asleep. He simply got up, called the two guards assigned to them by the Anqing sect, and headed west to the woodshed of the courtyard.

He thought that this was probably what Jiwen meant by staring.

When I arrived at the Xijin Courtyard, I opened the door of the woodshed and saw no one at all. I thought it was Ji Wen who had committed another unjust, false and wrong case this time.

However, when he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of soft and thick bedding on the wall, and he stepped forward to touch it.

Warm.

Yang Qixuan was surprised that Ji Wen actually guessed it right. His eyes widened, he raised his head and looked at each other with the guards.

The two guards understood immediately and strode out in pursuit. All the way out of the prefect's mansion, they looked around and saw a figure in the darkness.

"Chase!" They immediately chased after him.

Yang Qixuan chased for a while, but was soon left behind. He wanted to stop, but he was not familiar with Zhending County and could not find his way back, so he had to chase with all his strength.

As they walked into an alley, screams suddenly rang out in front of them. Yang Qixuan thought they had killed Li Bai. He rushed over and saw several figures standing in the darkness, having killed his guards.

"what?"

He didn't expect Li Bai to respond, so he took a few steps back in fright. Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine, and a knife was pressed against his back.

Death was so close, Yang Qixuan shivered with fright and couldn't help but said: "Don't kill me."

"This is a well-born man, do you want to kill him?" the person behind asked.

"Don't kill me! Listen to me, I know who you are, I, I, I...are indeed a person with an identity..."

~~
When Ji Wen arrived excitedly with Tian Qianzhen, what he saw were two bodies lying in a pool of blood.

"Look, I'm going to say that Pei Yushu is covering up Li Bai."

"I didn't expect Pei Yushu to dare to kill people." Tian Qianzhen said: "He likes poetry, but he is still loyal to the prince."

"Whether you are loyal or not, I will know after one review."

Ji Wen didn't care about Li Bai's escape. What he cared about was that he could handle the case again.

His eyes flashed with excitement, he twirled his whiskers and murmured: "There is no infidelity that I can't detect..."

At this moment, in a dark corner in the distance, someone emerged from under a broken dustpan and called tentatively this way.

"Ji Gong?"

As soon as he heard the sound of air leaking, Ji Wen knew it was Yang Qixuan, and was a little surprised that he was not dead.

As for how Yang Qixuan survived? You can tell by looking at his cowardly look of not daring to come near.

……

Yang Qixuan did not know what happened to Pei Yushu, the governor of Changshan, because he left Changshan the next day and went to Fan Yang.

Because he had "the hatred of seizing his wife" with Xue Bai and shared the experience of adversity with Ji Wen, he was quickly accepted by Fan Yang Wenwu.

In the next few days, Yang Qixuan walked around Fanyang City and did not see any Fenghui branch.

On this day, he was wandering on the cross street of Fanyang City when he suddenly heard shouts coming from there.

"The envoy is here again."

Yang Qixuan was stunned, and his heart suddenly became tangled and nervous.

He had a hunch that someone would soon contact him, a "person with status."

(End of this chapter)