Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 780: Visiting the Wrong Pier
"Your Majesty! The ascension to the throne in Bianzhou is against etiquette and law. Now that the Tibetans are arrayed in battle array to the west of Chang'an, you should worship the Taimiao, offer sacrifices to your ancestors, and hold a grand ascension ceremony in the Taiji Palace to boost the morale of the people!
Your Majesty, please understand!"

In front of the gate of Xinfeng Posthouse, a man in a scarlet official robe knelt on the ground and shouted towards the inside of the gate.

Behind him, there were also people kneeling in official robes. These people were "central officials" who had once served in Chang'an and were now unemployed.

They came here to "persuade" Li Qi to hold the "coronation ceremony".

If a Son of Heaven does not ascend the throne in Chang'an, he is a wild Son of Heaven! He will not be recognized by the Tianlong people in Guanzhong!
Now these Tianlong people in Guanzhong have recognized the puppet emperor Li Qi and the powerful minister Fang Qing, so the etiquette cannot be abolished, and it is only natural to hold the coronation ceremony in Chang'an.

This concerns their vital interests. As for whether Li Qi is a puppet emperor or not, it is not important to them, they are very flexible!

When a unified dynasty declines and turns to division, the identity of the so-called "last official" becomes particularly embarrassing.

You say they are officials, but the new court or the rulers of separatist forces do not recognize their status.

You say they are not officials, and they are obviously not anything other than officials.

When Li Qi just arrived in Chang'an, the Guanzhong Tianlong people did not take him seriously at all. After all, Li Wan, whom Li Baoyu had supported, had just been defeated not long ago.

In this kind of world where things change so quickly, you can't really blame the Tianlong people for remaining calm and unmoved. They are simply afraid of being cheated.

However, two days ago, Fang Qing completed a beautiful division and encirclement battle right under the noses of the Tibetans, and completely wiped out a part of the Tibetan army, especially the part that participated in the massacre.

It is of great significance both in military and political terms.

These Chang'an Tianlong people realized instantly: This time, the "Son of the True Emperor" has arrived!
The evaluation criteria for this "Son of Heavenly King" is very complicated. It includes strength, bloodline, orthodoxy, people's hearts and so on. There is no unified answer.

But it is really simple. The one who is the best at fighting is the only true God, and the others are just silver-plated spear heads.

Fang Qing was good at fighting and could resist the Tibetans and even fight back, so the puppet emperor Li Qi whom he supported was the real emperor in name only.

These Guanzhong Tianlong people waited outside the gate until the flowers withered, and knelt for an hour, but the gate of Xinfeng Posthouse did not move at all. The civilians who came and went to transport grain treated them as a joke, pointing and talking as they passed by.

Just as these people were about to stand up and leave, the gate of Xinfeng Posthouse slowly opened, and Li Qi, wearing a dragon robe, walked out accompanied by Yan Zhenqing and others.

Li Qi looked at these fence-sitters kneeling in front of the gate of Xinfengyi Station. For a moment, he was too lazy to even curse them and just laughed out of anger at them.

Although Fang Qing is a powerful official, he really does it when there is something to do! He is never vague! What's wrong with you losers who don't do it when there is something to do, but come to flatter and seek official positions afterwards?

Li Qi glanced at Yan Zhenqing, then looked at the people kneeling on the ground, and asked in a bad tone: "Chang'an is still a war zone, and the Tubo army is still camped at Xiwei Bridge. As native people of Guanzhong, shouldn't you be fighting the Tubo people on the front line? What are you doing here? Besides, I have already ascended the throne in Bianzhou, so why are you coming back to Chang'an to ascend the throne?"

His question was somewhat impolite, and the former Chang'an central officials who were kneeling on the ground all looked embarrassed, not knowing how to answer.

These people didn't have the courage to argue with Li Qi, so they could only blame Li Qi for being "ignorant" in their hearts.

They believed that since Li Qi was a puppet emperor, if he wanted to take back power from Fang Qing bit by bit, he would have to rely on the power of the Guanzhong Tianlong people.

Then he took back the military power of the imperial army, rebuilt Chang'an, revived Guanzhong, opened up the Hexi Corridor, and restored the trade route from Guanzhong to the Western Regions. Every step had its own routine.

Of course, just leave the construction of Guanzhong to them, and as for fighting Tubo, let Fang Qing do it. If Fang Qing can fight, let him fight to his heart's content!

The situation is very good now, and it is the time to place our own people. How come you, the ignorant emperor, don't understand the principle that "a colorful sedan chair is carried by people"?
With us supporting you, you might not be a puppet emperor anymore. Why don't you understand?

The former officials kneeling on the ground had complicated feelings, but no one stepped forward to persuade Li Qi.

Just as Li Qi was about to scold Yan Zhenqing, he suddenly saw dozens of cavalrymen riding towards him in the distance, led by Zhang Guangsheng, the captain of Fang Chongyong's personal guard.

The group of people soon arrived at the gate of Xinfeng Post Station. Although all of them dismounted and did not move unusually, it seemed obvious that they had bad intentions.

"General Zhang, does the emperor have anything urgent to discuss with me?"

Li Qi walked forward, not daring to put on airs, and asked in a friendly manner.

He thought that he had not done anything out of line. Based on Fang Qing's usual principles, Zhang Guangsheng should not have come here to cause trouble, at least not to question him, the puppet emperor.

As expected, Zhang Guangsheng clasped his fists and bowed to Li Qi, reporting: "Your Majesty, I had a bloody battle with the Tubo army in the west of Chang'an City, annihilated one of them, and captured several staff members around the Tubo general, and learned some very interesting secrets."

Zhang Guangsheng glanced at the officials who were kneeling on the ground and had no time to get up. Without waiting for Li Qi to answer, he loudly announced to these people:
"According to the Tibetan captives, there are officials in Chang'an who are secretly communicating with them! These people are trying to lead the Tibetans and are planning to kill officials and the emperor. Their crimes are unforgivable!"

After saying that, Zhang Guangsheng pointed at the people kneeling on the ground and shouted sternly, "You are all suspects."

He put away the anger on his face and continued to speak to Li Qi calmly, "Your Majesty, the emperor said that Chang'an City is still very dangerous. Many people are secretly communicating with Tubo, and there are even spies sent by Tubo lurking in their homes. It seems that Li Chenghong dared to rebel before, and he was very confident and not without support. There may be Tubo spies among the former Chang'an central officials here at this moment. The emperor asked me to take them back for a careful examination. With the confessions of the Tubo captives, I believe it will not be difficult to find out who participated in the rebellion."

"Come here, take them back to Dutingyi and interrogate them slowly! Interrogate them carefully!"

Zhang Guangsheng waved to the personal soldiers behind him, and those ferocious soldiers rushed over instantly, tied up the Guanzhong Tianlong man who was kneeling on the ground, his face pale with fear, with ropes, and dragged him away like a dead dog.

Those people cried out like crazy, but it was of no use.

Seeing that the work was done, Zhang Guangsheng saluted to Li Qi and said, "Your Majesty, please rest here. The Tibetans have suffered a great defeat, and their vitality and morale have been greatly damaged. It is foreseeable that they will flee Guanzhong. As long as Your Majesty does not leave Xinfengyi easily, there will be no worries about military disasters. I still have military affairs, so I will take my leave now."

Zhang Guangsheng turned around and left very quickly. The soldiers he brought with him, as well as the Tianlong people who had sought official positions here before, were all taken away. The gate of Xinfeng Posthouse became quiet again. From a distance, it looked no different from a holiday resort.

"Mr. Yan, Fang Qing has tolerated you until today because he remembers your loyalty to the country. But just because he can tolerate you doesn't mean he can tolerate others.

Fang Qing cannot tolerate these people who curry favor with the powerful. You should be more cautious in the future and don't be fooled by these villains."

Li Qi warned Yan Zhenqing meaningfully.

Currying favor with the powerful? No problem, people always seek benefits and avoid harm.

However, if one wanted to curry favor with the powerful, he should go to Fang Qing, not to Li Qi, the puppet emperor. These people came, and whether they were guilty or not, they touched Fang Qing's reverse scale.

The consequences are self-evident.

Li Qi knew very well what Fang Qing feared the most, and he also knew what happened to Li Lin and Li Wei, so he was very careful in this regard.

"It's my fault. I will pay more attention next time."

Yan Zhenqing sighed softly, saluted Li Qi with his arms folded and said.

These people first found Yan Zhenqing and then asked Yan Zhenqing to help thread the needle. He thought Fang Chongyong would not care about these, but he did not expect that the official Fang would not tolerate any sand in his eyes.

As soon as there was any sign of trouble, he dealt with it promptly and would not let things get out of control.

"Fang Qing is indeed brave and good at fighting, beyond the reach of ordinary people."

Yan Zhenqing shook his head and sighed again.

This is the contradiction of imperial power. A capable person will not be manipulated. The more capable a person is, the easier it is for him to become a powerful official and sideline the emperor. However, mediocre people are useless at critical moments. Usually, everyone is fine, but when something goes wrong, no one is fine!
Fang Qing is capable, but he is a powerful official who manipulates the emperor and has power over the world, always plotting to change the dynasty.

Is this kind of person good or bad?

Yan Zhenqing was also conflicted and confused. If Fang Qing bullied men and women, killed innocent people indiscriminately, and was extremely licentious, that would be easy to deal with. But the key point was that this official Fang was very self-disciplined and did not have these problems.

They just want to establish a new dynasty! They don't want anything else! If you want to talk about purity, it's really pure.

Fang Qing's crime was disloyalty.

Li Qi's crime lies in incompetence.

Yan Zhenqing pondered over this so-called "king and subject" who were neither king nor subject in his mind, and found that their abilities seemed to be mismatched. But to some extent, they just happened to be able to match each other.

For a moment, Yan Zhenqing didn't know how to evaluate it.

Li Qi didn't know what he was thinking, so he yawned and said, "I have been worried about the Tibetans attacking Xinfengyi at night these past two days. Now I can have a good sleep."

He walked into Xinfeng Posthouse on his own, intending to take a nap in the bedroom. Judging from the signs, it seemed that the Tibetans were going to flee. Then he, the puppet emperor, would soon be able to return to the prosperous Bianzhou.

There is everything in Bianliang City, and there is no danger. The empress, imperial concubines and others are all around, and there are people to serve you.

There is a ghost in Guanzhong.

Although Fang Zhongyong had not yet issued the order to return to Bianzhou, Li Qi's heart had already flown away. As for the absurd things that those people in Chang'an thought of, he, the puppet emperor, had never thought of them at all.

To kill Fang Qing, one needs a more powerful official than Fang Qing, and this powerful official may very well become the next Fang Qing!
Even a morally corrupt version of Fang Qing.

When he was in Huainan, the Yuan Chao uprising frightened Li Qi so much that he lived in a state of panic. At that time, he had already realized the only way to survive in troubled times, which was to stay alive!

If the sky falls, let someone taller hold it up. If you are not cut out for it, don't try to stand out.

If you try to stand out, you will die. If your head falls off, it will really fall off and will not grow back. Many times, Li Qi felt that Fang Qing was actually quite kind-hearted. For example, if he were Fang Qing, he would have killed Yan Zhenqing's entire family long ago.

Seeing that this puppet emperor had no ambition, Yan Zhenqing seemed to understand something.

"Your Majesty, since you have no intention of reviving the Tang Dynasty, I have no choice but to leave you."

Looking at Li Qi's back, Yan Zhenqing talked to himself, his face full of disappointment.

……

"Wugong Su family, Jingzhao Wei family, Jingzhao Du family, Hedong Pei family..."

Looking at the long list in his hand, Fang Chongyong felt dizzy.

When he heard that someone wanted to curry favor with Li Qi, he asked Zhang Guangsheng to find a reason to arrest that person. Unexpectedly, all those captured were local Tianlong people from Guanzhong.

Each of them has a considerable background.

“Send them to Shanyuan Villa to farm. These people usually live a life of luxury. Let them learn how to wield a hoe.

Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is the result of hard work? "

Fang Chongyong waved his hand gently and rejected Zhang Guangsheng's suggestion.

Xiao Zhang suggested beheading all these people and sending their bodies to their homes to deter others.

However, Official Fang chose to destroy their hearts and not kill them. Instead, he made these people become farmers and let them eat the food they grew, which seemed to be more educational.

"Sir, if you don't remove the roots, the grass will grow again in the spring breeze. You wrote this poem, have you forgotten it?

These people are born to be lowly. If the government doesn’t kill them, they think the government is weak.”

Zhang Guangsheng suggested in a low voice.

He came from a poor family and he hated to see such high-ranking members of bureaucratic families!
From head to toe you are nothing!

These soldiers fought bloody battles with the Tibetans on the front line and had just won a great victory, but these Tianlong people were messing around in front of the puppet emperor.

My uncle can tolerate it, but my aunt can’t!

"Everything should be done step by step. As long as Chang'an is there, these people will have the confidence. It is useless to try to stop the boiling water by adding more water. We need to remove the fuel from under the cauldron."

Fang Chongyong looked at the map of Chang'an City and muttered to himself with a deep look in his eyes.

"Your Excellency, you think too highly of them. After this battle, Chang'an has been destroyed. Even if we try our best to manage it, it will take at least 10 to 20 years to recover. The number of households alone has decreased by 70 to 80 percent."

Zhang Guangsheng advised earnestly, thinking that Fang Chongyong was too cautious.

"It doesn't matter. We have more important things to do than eradicating these insects."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hands, not wanting to dwell on this trivial matter any longer.

At this time, Nan Jiyun was led in by his personal soldiers and reported to him: "Sir, the scouts have found out that the Tibetans have begun to retreat in turns to cover each other. General Wang is leading his men to follow closely behind them, but the Tibetans are moving very slowly and cautiously, so there is no chance for the time being."

Dazalugong really retreated!

Although this news was not surprising, Fang Chongyong did not expect that the Tibetan minister would leave so abruptly.

In the past, the Tibetans were able to get rich after staying in Chang'an for only fifteen days. It seemed that there was a reason for this. Fang Zhongyong's pride instantly decreased by half.

This move of his at most made the Tibetans move a little faster, accelerating the process, but it did not play a decisive role.

"Sir, are you not going to chase them? The king has limited cavalry and cannot annihilate all the Tibetans."

Zhang Guangsheng suggested.

"I won't chase them. I'll just let Wang Nanzhi slowly follow the Tibetans and force them to leave Guanzhong quickly. If there's a chance, we'll fight. If there's no chance, forget it."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said that his plan had been carried out a long time ago, so there was no need to rush at all.

However, there was no need to tell Zhang Guangsheng about these things. Many things only needed to be brought up and talked about after they were successfully implemented as planned. If it was not successful but it was said in advance, it would be embarrassing and embarrassing for both myself and others.

(End of this chapter)