Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 728 The night here is quiet
Lu Qi told Lu Jing that he was going back to Xiangyang to report to Li Lu that he could not advance. Lu Jing did not think much about it and sent someone to escort Lu Qi out of Hongzhou and did not care about it anymore. After all, he still had to guard against the possible surprise attack of the Bianzhou army and did not have time to waste with Lu Qi.

However, when Lu Qi arrived at Jianyang Post, he ordered his followers to go out. When the followers came back, they brought back a fat and round middle-aged man wearing a brocade robe and dressed like a merchant.

Jianyang Posthouse is a large-scale posthouse between Jiangling and Xiangyang, and it can even be said to be one of the largest transportation hubs in the Tang Dynasty. It was rebuilt from an earthen city built by the army and is adjacent to the Yang River, hence the name.

At that time, seven important post roads extended outward with Chang'an as the center, connecting the whole country. Among these seven post roads, there were two main post roads, the north-south and the east-west, which intersected at "Jianyang Post", which shows its importance.

The Jingxiang court stationed heavy troops here, so it was relatively safe, so it was also a place where travelers and merchants traveling from north to south liked to stay temporarily.

It was already night, and the sounds of night owls calling for sex could be heard from time to time. The tung oil lamp in the wing room swayed with the breeze blowing through the crack in the door, casting Lu Qi's shadow on the slightly mottled earthen wall.

He stood in front of the table, his fingertips stroking the template used to cast copper coins. His face had a calm expression, making it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

Liu Fu, a salt merchant kneeling on the ground, kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead hitting the blue bricks with a thud, and begged bitterly, "Minister, spare my life! Privately minting official coins is a serious crime that will kill three generations of your clan!"

"You also know about the extermination of three clans?"

Lu Qi's expression suddenly changed. He stepped forward and stepped on Liu Fu's palm, causing his finger bones to crackle.

He looked at the man's face, which was distorted by pain, with a half-smile, and couldn't help sneering, "Let me help you recall. Last year, the three ships you used to smuggle salt to Jiangling were seized by Yan Zhenqing's men. I helped you clean up the situation myself. If I hadn't stepped in, you would have executed your entire clan. Why wait until today?"

Lu Qi shook out a yellowed document from his sleeve and shook it in front of Liu Fu.

Although he had dealt with the matter, he left behind a lot of evidence, just to clamp down on Liu Fu, the salt merchant. If he wanted to, it would be easy for Liu Fu and his entire family to be executed tomorrow.

This is the power of power!

"Since you are already selling private salt, isn't it a small matter to make some private money? Don't say that the stove in the cave behind Jianyang Posthouse is for you to keep warm.

Do you understand what I mean?"

Lu Qi asked with a smile.

Liu Fu froze, letting cold sweat soak through his linen clothes. When Lu Qi stuffed the coin casting template into his arms, the strange stench mixed with tung oil entered his nose like a cold snake.

“It’s not troublesome.

You just need to cast a few thousand coins, using a ratio of nine copper and one lead. After casting, give three coins to me, and the rest to Yuzhang, Hongzhou. Do things cleanly and let the peddlers use the money, understand?
When distributing these coins, remember to say that these are coins minted by Lu Jieshuai, which are more reliable than government money! If you are willing to exchange one for another, there will be no discount! Give them to the vagrants and ruffians in the city!"

There was no emotion in Lu Qi's voice.

He originally used this trick to deal with Yan Zhenqing, but now it seems unnecessary. He can also use this incident to drag Yan Zhenqing into the water.

This is called killing two birds with one stone!
Liu Fu assured solemnly: "Please rest assured, Minister Lu, when I was in Bianzhou selling illegal salt, I passed by Hongzhou and have quite a few connections. This matter will definitely be handled well."

He seemed to have said something extraordinary, but Lu Qi didn't take it seriously. Because everyone knew that the salt from Bianzhou was cheap, and the salt from Bianzhou, "public salt", was equivalent to private salt.

Every year, a large amount of rice from Jingxiang is transported by water through the Yangtze River to Hongzhou, and then smuggled salt is smuggled back to Jingxiang for profit. Liu Fu is not the only one doing this kind of business, so there is no need to delve into it.

Although the Jingzhou court reformed the salt tax in an attempt to obtain the bulk of the support for court expenses, it had little effect.

Because private salt is so popular, the profit margin is more than ten times! How can this be stopped by administrative orders?
Salt merchant Liu Fu has strong execution ability.

When the fifth watch clapper rang, the blast furnace used for casting copper had been ignited in the cave behind the post station.

The shirtless craftsman poured the copper liquid into the coin casting template. Liu Fu stared at the flowing golden red. He remembered Lu Qi's whisper before he left: "Let this money flow out of the black market in Yuzhang, and let the peddlers and hawkers spread the word that Lu Jieshuai's money is more real than official money."

"Minister Lu has such a vicious heart."

Liu Fu sighed, deeply worried about his future. With Lu Qi, the hungry wolf staring at him, it would be difficult to escape in the future.

Two days later, Lu Qi arrived in Xiangyang and went straight to the "Imperial Palace" to meet the emperor without saying a word.

Li Lu and Li Lin had the same bad habit, that is, even if they did not live in Chang'an, their palaces had to be decorated like the Daming Palace. Therefore, there is also a "Purple Palace" here.

It was a sunny day, but outside the Zichen Palace, the late autumn sunshine lacked a hint of warmth.

Li Lu sat on the dragon throne in the Purple Palace, looking at Lu Qi who was kneeling on the ground, and then looked at Yan Zhenqing who was standing beside him with an embarrassed expression.

For a moment I didn't know who to trust.

Li Lu arranged three extremely exquisitely cast copper coins, which had obviously more copper content than the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" coins cast by the court, into a vertical line, then pushed them down and rearranged them, playing with them for a long time.

Next to it, there are various copper coins that can be seen in Xiangyang City today, there are more than a dozen kinds!

From the Sanzhu coins of the Han Dynasty, the iron coins of the Southern Liang Dynasty, to the Kaihuang Wuzhu coins of the Sui Dynasty, and finally the Kaiyuan Tongbao coins of the Tang Dynasty, they all exist, and their quality varies greatly!

The Emperor of Jingxiang was wrapped in apricot yellow pajamas, his eyes dark with insomnia, and he sighed, "Minister Lu said that Lu Jing minted private coins to enrich himself, but Minister Yan praised him for his good military management last month. Who should I believe?"

Over the years, Li Lu went from being full of confidence to being upset and lost his energy and spirit.

Because he found that even if he was not as lustful as Ji Ge, and even if he was not as promiscuous as Ji Ge, the Jingxiang court had all the problems that occurred during the Tianbao era.

Civil officials were fighting among themselves, military generals were ready to make moves, government orders could not be issued beyond Xiangyang, the market was in chaos, copper coins were minted privately, private salt was rampant, the national treasury was empty, the people were living in misery... and so on and so forth.

There are more or less of them, just to varying degrees.

It seems that none of them should appear, but none of them can be solved by the court.

When Lu Qi came back from Hongzhou, he directly filed a complaint against Lu Jing, saying that he was "afraid of the enemy and did not move forward" and "minted copper coins indiscriminately", which seemed to indicate that he had rebellious intentions.

In fact, if this is true, then what Lu Qi said is naturally correct, because being afraid of the enemy and not advancing is equivalent to disobeying the imperial edict, and indiscriminate minting of copper coins is equivalent to controlling the local economy.

In addition, Li Lu was very sensitive to the word "Jiedushi" and was extremely afraid of it. It must be said that Lu Qi's punch this time was ruthless and hit the vital point.

"Your Majesty clearly shows you!"

Lu Qi knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily, crying to Li Lu: "The children in Yuzhang City are all singing about using Lu family coins to exchange for the country. The people in the city like to use the coins made by Lu Jing instead of the money of the court. I hope Your Majesty will understand!"

Yan Zhenqing, who was standing by, was so disgusted and speechless after watching Lu Qi's performance.

Sure enough, Li Lu looked at him with a worried expression and asked.

"Your Majesty, I have nothing to say. Now that the war is imminent, changing generals before the battle is a taboo in military strategy. But after this battle is over, summon General Lu back to Xiangyang for a confrontation."

Yan Zhenqing said to Li Lu calmly, he was too lazy to argue with Lu Qi.

Many people have very low standards as human beings.

Their ability is to pull you down to their level, and then they use their rich experience to muddy the waters to defeat you.

For this kind of person, just ignore him and don't follow his ideas.

The evidences presented by Lu Qi cannot be verified at all, but the problem is that they cannot be disproven either!
It is a fact that Lu Jiong was unwilling to advance his troops. If you argue with Lu Qi about why Lu Jiong did not advance his troops and why he was "shrinking back", you will fall into his trap!
"His Majesty!"

Lu Qi suddenly interrupted Yan Zhenqing with a hoarse voice, "Prime Minister Yan has always had a good relationship with General Lu. General Lu was recommended by Prime Minister Yan to be the governor of Jiangnan West Road! Prime Minister Yan is speaking for his own people and ignoring right and wrong. He deserves death!"

His fingers were already bleeding from pinching, his heart was in turmoil, but tears were streaming down his face. He continued to cry, "I am a sincere minister, willing to die for my country, but I am afraid... I am afraid that some people will collude with each other, deceive Your Majesty, and do what Fang Qing of Bianzhou did!"

Lu Qi was implying something, and he almost pointed at Yan Zhenqing's nose and scolded him for trying to usurp the throne. Li Lu stood up suddenly, and the teacup on the table fell over and stained the memorials yellow. Just as he was about to curse, he suddenly felt dizzy and had to hold on to the Panlong Pillar. It took a long time for him to recover.

Li Lu looked at Lu Qi who was kneeling on the steps and crying, and then looked at Yan Zhenqing who was standing beside him with a calm expression and disdain to argue. Suddenly, he remembered the story of Zheng Bo defeating Duan Yu Yan that his tutor had taught him when he was a child.

I was so disgusted. Scholars looked down on each other and fighting was the norm. Zhang Jiuling liked to say bad things about Li Linfu, and Li Linfu liked to bite back.

But among the two ministers in front of him now, who is Zheng Bo and who is Shu Duan?

Li Lu was not a fool. He knew that Lu Qi's words were obviously exaggerated and that he had his own personal purpose. As for the nursery rhyme, it was also very likely that Lu Qi made it up himself.

Of course, Li Yu also knew that the reason why Lu Qi could speak so freely here was because he, as the emperor, needed this tool to suppress the powerful Yan Zhenqing. If Yan Zhenqing was gone one day, there would be no need for Lu Qi, a waste, to stay.

If Yan Zhenqing and Lu Jing join forces, their power will be enormous and they will have the ability to depose and enthrone emperors.

In other words, it doesn’t matter whether a person has ideas or not; what matters is whether he has the ability to do so.

It doesn’t matter whether Lu Jing has rebellious intentions or not. What matters is that he has a good relationship with Yan Zhenqing. If they collude with both internal and external forces, it would be enough to replace the emperor!

Thinking of this, Li Lu's expression changed slightly, and then he sat back on the dragon throne.

He sighed and said to Yan Zhenqing: "Hongzhou is an important frontline location and must not be lost. It is better for you to go to Yuzhang to secretly verify these things and, by the way, appease General Lu and the soldiers of the three armies."

Hearing this, Yan Zhenqing knew that there was no turning back. He folded his arms and saluted Li Lu, saying, "Your Majesty, I will leave for Yuzhang now. Please take care."

After saying this, he turned and left the Zichen Palace.

Lu Qi slowly got up from the ground, secretly glanced in the direction where Yan Zhenqing left, and the heavy stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

……

"Look what I brought back for you, Marshal."

Hao Tingyu said excitedly that as soon as he got off the boat, he handed the bag in his hand to Li Guangbi who came to greet him.

The two of them came to a bamboo building somewhere in the Poyang Lake Water Fort, which was Li Guangbi's temporary residence.

After sitting down, Li Guangbi opened the bundle, which contained a new thick cotton coat and a letter. He opened it and saw that it was written by Wang Yunxiu to his "brother".

The letter was full of gossip about family matters, saying that Li Guangbi's son Li Hui was now living with them, studying very hard, and preparing to take the imperial examination and become an official in a few years.

He also said that winter was coming soon, so he sent a set of cotton clothes to Li Guangbi to keep him warm, and asked Hao Tingyu to bring it.

"My foster father's death was so unworthy!"

Li Guangbi put the letter down and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"Marshal, we will also be founding heroes in the future, and we will not bring shame to Marshal Wang's reputation."

Hao Tingyu smiled.

Li Guangbi glared at him but said nothing more.

Yes, what reason did he have to stand up for Li Tang now? Hao Tingyu was just too frank.

Even if I declare myself king, I can't be a dog for the Li emperor!

"Where are the letters from the court?"

Li Guangbi asked back.

Hao Tingyu suddenly realized what was going on. He took out a letter from the Privy Council from his sleeve and handed it to Li Guangbi.

After taking the letter and reading it quickly, Li Guangbi laughed out loud, then took out another letter from the table. It was written to him by Yan Zhenqing.

There is a lot of nonsense in it, but it can be summed up in four words: "abandon darkness and turn to light"!
"The writing of the clerks in the Privy Council is stiff. Take a look at Yan Zhenqing's writing. After reading it, I want to surrender to Xiangyang."

Li Guangbi handed the letter to Hao Tingyu.

The latter was a rough man. After reading it, he looked at Li Guangbi with a strange expression and asked with a puzzled look:
"Is Yan Zhenqing a fool?
For his righteousness, we abandon our wives and children, regardless of our family in Bianzhou, and work for his shitty court?
And then be condemned by everyone?

After all, the emperor is related to the Marshal, so who is Yan Zhenqing?
If you want to bribe someone to join you, you should at least set a price. How much money should you give? Do you have any land? You should first send a welcome gift as a token of your appreciation."

Hao Tingyu spoke too bluntly, and Li Guangbi didn't know how to evaluate him.

It should be said that this person's words are rough but his logic is sound.

What's the use of explaining the righteousness to others? Can the righteousness be used to make a living?
Now the court of Bianzhou has the momentum to sweep across the country, with a vigorous and vibrant attitude. So it's not comfortable to wait and become a founding hero, so you have to go to Jingxiang to suffer?

After reading Yan Zhenqing's letter, Li Guangbi felt that this man was both respectable and pathetic.

"Let's not talk about Yan Zhenqing's matter for now. This military order from the imperial court is quite complicated."

Li Guangbi placed the letter from the Privy Council on the table, put away the smile on his face and became serious.

"What the commander said is absolutely right. The emperor told me personally to wait for the right opportunity and make sure we don't get defeated. Don't underestimate the enemy and rush in."

Hao Tingyu explained.

Li Guangbi shook his head and sighed, "That's not what he meant. You don't understand. He is a veteran fighter."

Hao Tingyu was confused by this.

Seeing that the other party seemed confused, Li Guangbi explained: "The emperor is testing my ability and giving me a chance to enter the palace in the future."

Many things don't need to be explained so clearly.

Fang Zhongyong's loyal followers all form a circle and stick together. No matter how biased Fang Zhongyong is, he still has to consider the opinions of these people.

However, people with ability can be given extra responsibilities, and outsiders will not comment on this.

In other words, everyone admires people with real abilities.

Fang Zhongyong's meaning was actually quite clear: if you win this battle, you, Li Guangbi, will have a place in the new dynasty. Otherwise, you can only exist as a foreign relative general.

This is both an opportunity and a test. You need to think carefully about how to grasp it.

To make progress, there will be sacrifices and endless risks.

If Li Guangbi only defended Poyang, it would prove that he was just an average person, and Fang Chongyong would not be able to fight for power for him. After all, the generals' status was earned by themselves.

Of course, Li Guangbi didn’t dare to think about what the consequences would be if he lost, and he didn’t need to consider this possibility.

"Tomorrow you will pretend to be a salt merchant and go to Yuzhang to sell salt and investigate."

Li Guangbi folded his arms and said thoughtfully, "I have heard some unfavorable rumors about Lu Jing. Please verify their authenticity and see if there is anything you can do about it."

(End of this chapter)