The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 384
In Yanjia Hall, Li Jing was concentrating on revising the music score.

If there is anything about the Tang Dynasty located in the south of the Yangtze River that can compare with the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it must be the splendor and luxury of the various palaces in the Xingtang Palace.

As the main hall of Li Jing's bedroom, Yanjia Hall is a collection of craftsmen from the south of the Yangtze River, with golden lacquer glazed tiles, algae well murals on the dome, and imperial gold bricks fired from Suzhou clay on the floor. They are three feet square and each weighs hundreds of catties.

The bed where Li Jing usually rests and naps is made of red sandalwood. The frame is covered with gilt copper and decorated with dragon patterns. The nanmu partitions are made of double-sided enamel Kui dragon frames. There are countless other rare jade articles, antique calligraphy and paintings.

Li Jing recently liked the color green and asked the palace officials to replace all the hanging curtains in the palace with green gauze curtains. He sat among them playing the piano and playing music, which was particularly leisurely.

Li Jing was only 36 years old at the time, but her face had aged greatly, and her hair had obvious graying. At first glance, she looked like a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

His figure also perfectly inherited the old Li family's tradition of being wealthy, with a big belly and a rosy face. The imperial doctor once told him to eat less meat and fish, but Li Jing didn't stick to it for two months, and he started drinking and drinking meat.

When Li Congjia came back from Jingzhou, he learned the art of Hexi mutton skewers. After tasting it, Li Jing exclaimed that it was delicious and asked Xiao Liuer to come to the palace to roast it for him for several meals.

Some officials reported that Li Congjia, as the king of the county, was unseemly in tinkering with his cooking skills. Li Jing agreed on the surface and pretended to reprimand Li Congjia, then turned away and let him cook in his house from now on. He would have something fresh and delicious. Just send the dishes to the palace.

Li Congjia was a filial son. He knew that I was greedy but could not eat too much, so he often went to the palace empty-handed to advise me.

Li Jing complained on her lips, but she was still very happy in her heart.

Li Jing and Li Congjia, father and son, do have many similarities.

His figure became out of control and gradually developed horizontally. He showed great talent in poetry and songs from an early age. He likes to taste delicious food and has a generous personality.
The difference is that Li Jing likes to eat and taste, while Li Congjia prefers to do it by himself.

Compared to Li Hongji, Li Jing actually prefers Xiao Liuer Li Congjia.

First, Li Congjia's temperament and appearance were more like him, and second, there was no natural barrier between the emperor and the prince, and the father and son communicated more closely and casually.

Just for the sake of the stability of the court and to prevent the eldest son from being distracted, Li Jing never paid much attention to Li Congjia. However, in private, the relationship between father and son was still very good.

Recently, a song called "Song of All Living Beings" has become popular in Jiangning city. Li Jing knew that it had been sung by the Hou Ming Jiaofang Ensemble.

The melody is sad, and the lyrics are full of the bitterness of the world.

Li Jing also clapped her hands and shouted "Great!"
He recently wrote a new poem called "Breaking through the sand of Huanxi·The fragrant lotus leaves are gone", which tells the story of a woman who longs for her distant husband in autumn.

He wanted to compose a new melody for this song, so he hired musicians from the school and worked hard for more than half a month, but he still couldn't compose a tune that satisfied him.

"Zhongsheng Song" also expresses sadness and sorrow. Li Jing thought of adapting the tune of "Zhongsheng Song" to the song "Breaking Through the Huanxi Sands".

Unfortunately, after trying it several times, I found that the lyrics and music were a bit out of tune and didn't sound harmonious.

"'The fragrance of lotus leaves is gone, and the westerly wind is worried about the green waves. It is still haggard with the time, and it is unbearable to look at. The drizzle dreams back to the chicken plug, and the small building blows through the jade and cold. How many tears can limit hatred, leaning on the railing Dry.'"

A performer with a beautiful voice sang the lyrics sadly, while more than a dozen musicians played musical instruments to accompany the song.

Li Jing wore regular clothes, sat on the bed, listened carefully with her eyes closed, and tapped her knee gently with one hand.

There are clear sapphire bowls on the tables next to it. The bowls are filled with lotus seed soup. It looks like it has not been touched yet.

"Stop, stop, stop! No, no!"

After listening to it a few more times, Li Jing still felt that the lyrics and music didn't match, and it sounded awkward. He changed the song several times, but it still didn't work, and he didn't know what the problem was.

The actors looked at each other and knelt down: "Slaves are incompetent, please punish me~"

Li Jing waved his hand: "That's all, you guys should step aside for now and think about it carefully when you get back. Whoever can compose a suitable piece of music will be rewarded heavily by me."

"Thank you, officials. I will take my leave~"

The actors left the dormitory one after another.

Li Jing depressedly picked up the sapphire bowl and took a bite of the lotus seed soup, but she felt that it had no taste at all.

Li Jing's luxury is not only reflected in spending a lot of people and material resources to build palaces, but also spending a lot of money to raise a large number of acting officials in the palace. The scale of the teachings has been expanded unprecedentedly in his hands. Officials with acting backgrounds are also in today's court. Not uncommon.

His extravagant enjoyment and excessive playfulness are also the areas where he is most criticized.

However, Li Jing was also aggressive when he came to the throne, and most of the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty was laid down during his reign.

In the second year after taking the throne, he sent Zha Wenhui to attack the Min Kingdom. The war lasted for two years, and the Min Kingdom was destroyed. The Tang Kingdom's territory advanced southeastward to the Changting and Youxi areas of today's Fujian Province.

Only one Zhangzhou local was left to serve, and he was appointed as the Qingyuan Jiedushi. Although he retained the vassal system, he had to respect the Southern Tang Dynasty as the orthodox one and pay tribute as a minister.

Two years ago, Li Shouzhen rebelled in Hezhong, and he secretly contacted the Tang court. Li Jing convened the courtiers to discuss, hoping to fish in troubled waters and support Li Shouzhen to separate Guanzhong and become independent.

When Li Shouzhen was wiped out by Uncle Guo, Li Jing immediately sent people to Kaifeng to congratulate him.

At the beginning of the year, the leader of the Southern Chu Kingdom, Ma Xiguang, was killed by his younger brother, Ma Xi'e. The generals of the Chu State were dissatisfied with Ma Xi'e, launched a mutiny, imprisoned him, and made their younger brother, Ma Xichong, the leader of the country. They also sent people to send letters of credence to Jiangning, saying that they were willing to attach themselves to the Tang State. .

Li Jing saw that the civil strife of the Ma family in Southern Chu was a good opportunity to fish in troubled waters, so he decisively sent Bian Hao, the governor of Xinzhou, to attack Nanchu, with the intention of destroying the Chu state in one fell swoop and taking the territory of southern Hunan as his own.

The war has been progressing smoothly so far, and Li Jing has been touted by both the government and the public as a holy master whose civil and martial arts skills are comparable to those of the Wutang Sect of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Li Jing's recent mood is like bathing in the spring breeze in March, which is particularly wonderful.

Just as the bowl of lotus seed soup was about to be finished, the chamberlain waiting outside the hall suddenly ran in in a panic and fell to his knees with a thud.

"So flustered, how decent"

Li Jing glanced at it and scolded him unhappily.

"Official, official! Something bad happened. General Zheng Cunlu, led by the Zuo of the East Palace, sent people to report that a gangster broke into Jujingyuan at night last night and kidnapped the crown prince!"

"呯呲~"

The sapphire bowl in Li Jing's hand fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

"what!"

Li Jing stood up loudly, eyes wide open in shock and anger.

How could such a shocking and vicious incident suddenly occur in Jiangning City, which has always been peaceful and prosperous?
Kidnapping the prince is a crime of treason!

The chamberlain said tremblingly: "One more thing. Last night, an unknown number of bandits attacked the Taifu Mansion, causing unknown casualties."

Li Jing's eyes opened a little wider.

Why did so many thieves and gangsters emerge from Jiangning City overnight?

It's calm on the Yangtze River, and the Zhou Dynasty from the north hasn't attacked yet. What's going on?

Just when Li Jing was about to summon someone, a chamberlain reported: "I am reporting to the official family that Prince Anding, Mrs. Zhou, and Shangshu Xu are requesting an audience!"

Li Jing was stunned for a moment: "Hurry up!"

The three of them entered the palace hand in hand. Before they had finished praying, Li Jing came forward in panic: "Old Master, something bad has happened. The prince has been kidnapped! I heard that there was also an attack in the Taifu Mansion. What is going on? What's going on? Is the old master okay?" Zhou Zong raised his hands and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, I'm worried about you, but I'm fine. Please don't worry, I'm already aware of the prince's affairs, and I believe the prince will not be in danger for the time being."

Li Jing was not slow to respond. He heard something from Zhou Zong's tone and asked doubtfully: "Old Master, do you know the details?"

Zhou Zong sighed and said worriedly and angrily: "This matter is all caused by the misfortune of the old minister's family."

Immediately, Zhou Zong stated the reason of the matter concisely.

According to Zhou Zong's description, the reason why this matter has developed to this point is because Zhou Ling, in order to fight for family power, frantically wanted to murder Zhou Zong, and then put the blame on this group of northerners.

Even Zhou Xian was sent to Jujingyuan by Zhou Ling to present to the prince, but Zhou Zong vaguely described it as a misunderstanding.

Li Jing was stunned.

He was not stupid, he immediately heard other meanings from these few words.

Zhou Ling was just a small leader of the Gongsheng Army. How could he dare to assassinate the current imperial master without any support or encouragement?

The fighting that lasted for nearly half an hour was very noisy. If no one was behind the plan, how could the street patrols, government officials, and Jinwu guards stationed near Sanshan Gate not even show their faces?
We still have to wait until the Shenwu Army and the Longwu Army deploy troops into the city under the pretext of quelling the riot?

Zhou Ling is just a small person, he doesn't have that much energy to mobilize all forces.

For a moment, Li Jing was shocked and angry, and he could almost tell which black hands were behind this.

What made him even more uneasy was that the Zhou Dynasty, which was far away in Jiangbei, had actually reached out to Jiangning!
A newly promoted founding prince, deputy envoy of the Huai Army, unexpectedly came to Jiangning quietly, and had the audacity to kidnap the prince!
Is this really a misunderstanding?
Did that group of people really go south to find relatives?
Is there any arrangement by Zhou Lord Guo Wei behind this?
Li Jing's mind was very confused. He had not yet figured out how to deal with the newly born Zhou Dynasty.

Guo Wei was an iron-blooded and brave horse-mounted monarch. Even the Khitans were firmly suppressed by him to the north of the Hutuo River and did not dare to move.

After the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, they couldn't wait to form an army to suppress Huaihe in Suzhou. Is there any intention to go south to fight for the land in Huainan?

Although he claimed to be Zhengshuo of the Tang Dynasty and looked down upon the world with the emperor's attitude, Li Jing's inner confidence was actually insufficient.

First of all, the Central Plains has been the orthodoxy since ancient times, and the Tang State was located in the south of the Yangtze River. No matter how tough it was verbally, it always looked up to the Central Plains regime mentally.

Li Jing can be regarded as having gone through Shi Jin, Liu Han, and Guo Zhou Dynasty, sitting in Jiangning and watching the change of political power in the Central Plains.

Originally, he was thinking that he could take advantage of the war in the Central Plains to give soldiers from the south of the Yangtze River the opportunity to send troops northward to regain the homeland of the Tang Dynasty.

But after several trials, he found that even if the Central Plains were reduced to a pot of porridge and the soldiers and horses from Jiangnan crossed the river, they would not be able to gain any advantage.

When it comes to fighting, Jiangbei has more experience and knowledge than Jiangnan, and is more courageous and good at fighting.

What's more, there are ferocious and terrifying Khitans in the north. They were able to drive the Khitans out of Hebei. Li Jing didn't say anything, but she still admired Liu Zhiyuan and Guo Wei in her heart.

He knows his own worth. If it were him, I'm afraid... haha~
If what Zhou Zong said is true and involves the generals of the vassal town of the Great Zhou Dynasty, if this matter is not handled well, it may escalate to the point of enmity between the two countries.

Li Jing was sweating profusely on his forehead. He was now concentrating his efforts on wiping out the forces of the Jingxiang and Ma clans, but he did not want to offend the great Zhou Dynasty who was just beginning to roar.

However, diplomatic matters could not be taken into consideration for the time being. The life of his son Li Hongji was more important.

"Old Master, the identities of Zhu Xiu and his group will be verified later. The most important thing now is to protect the Crown Prince. We must not let the Crown Prince lose anything!"

Li Jing wiped away the oil and sweat with a serious expression.

Zhou Zong said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, officials. I believe that Zhu Xiu kidnapped the prince just to protect himself. He sent his men to protect the old minister, just to tell the old minister that he has no intention of going against our court and no intention of harming the prince's life."

As long as the official family can ensure his safety, I believe he will release the prince immediately. "

Li Jing felt a little more at ease. As long as the prince was fine, anything could be discussed.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Jing pulled Zhou Zong aside and whispered: "What did the old master think about the incident in the Taifu's Mansion last night? You might as well tell me, and I will definitely uphold justice for you!"

Zhou Zong smiled lightly, cupped his hands and said: "The official family, the old minister is already dying, and he will not be able to serve the official family for a few years. The old minister only hopes that the court will be stable and the country will be stable, and he has no intention of pursuing personal honor and disgrace. Absolutely, let the children and grandchildren of future generations enjoy a few years of peace, and the veteran will be content!"

Li Jing looked at him: "Do you really think so, old lady?"

Zhou Zong took a step back and bowed deeply.

Li Jing held him up with both hands, hesitatingly said: "That Zhou Ling"

Zhou Zong took the words and said with a smile: "Zhou Ling was treasonous and unethical. He tried to covet the position of the head of the family and hired thugs to assassinate the old minister. He committed suicide last night after being defeated! This matter was all caused by Zhou Ling and had nothing to do with anyone else!"

Li Jing took a deep breath, patted his arm gently and said, "The old lady thinks about the country and me, and takes the overall situation into consideration. He is indeed my good teacher and helpful friend! Don't worry, old lady, I will not treat the Zhou family badly."

Zhou Zong smiled, but there was a bit of decline, helplessness, and disappointment hidden in his vicissitudes of life.

What happened last night should not happen in a court where "the king is wise and the ministers are wise".

Li Jing's reaction should not be that of an ambitious and capable king.

"In this case, the old master took my handwriting and rushed to Jujingyuan, ordered Zhu Xiu to release the prince quickly, and then invited the man to live temporarily in Honglu Temple, waiting for me to summon all the ministers to discuss, and then deal with it. "

Li Jing warned.

"The old minister obeys the order."

Li Congjia saluted and said: "Father, my son and Zhu Xiu are old acquaintances in Jingzhou, and I also want to come forward with the old master to persuade him."

"Chen Xu Xuan is also willing to go!"

Li Jing looked at them and said in surprise: "You two were hanging out with Zhu Xiu in Jingzhou before, right? It seems that you got along well during that time and formed a friendship."

Li Congjia said honestly and honestly: "Zhu Xiu is a good person in both talent and learning. My son and I learned a lot from him."

Xu Xuan said solemnly: "Zhu Xiu is a great talent in the world, if you can get his advice, it will be of great benefit to the reform and prosperity of our dynasty!"

"You actually admire this person so much?" Li Jing was surprised, "Then you go to Jujingyuan with the old master, and be sure to persuade Zhu Xiu to release the prince."

The two quickly took their orders.

A gentle voice from a chamberlain sounded outside the palace: "I am reporting to the official family, Mr. Song is asking for an audience!"

Li Jing's face fell, and he waved his sleeves and said angrily: "Tell him to come in!"

Zhou Zong, Xu Xuan and Li Congjia exited the hall and met Song Qiqiu.

Zhou Zong lowered his eyelids in greeting, said nothing, and hurriedly walked down the steps.

Xu Xuan and Li Congjia paused, saluted, and followed closely.

Song Qiqiu watched the three of them leave Yanjia Hall and stepped into the hall door with a cold snort.

Soon, Li Jing's angry scolding could be heard faintly from deep in the hall.
(End of this chapter)