Late Tang

This evening, in the main building of Xingqing Palace in the south of Chang'an City, Emperor Li Zhaozheng had a meal with his favorite second-rank Zhaoyi Li Jianrong. Li Zhao's real name was Li Jie. When the Yang brothers made him the emperor's younger brother, he changed his name to Li Zhao when he was in the army.He is the great-grandson of Xianzong, the grandson of Xuanzong, the son of Yizong, and the seventh younger brother of the current Supreme Emperor. At the same time, he is also the nephew of Muzong, the nephew of Jingzong, Wenzong, and Wuzong. After disappearing again, he became the most noble prince in Li Tang's royal family, and because of this, he was finally able to ascend to the throne.

However, although Li Ye came to the throne at the age of 15, for a long time, seeing Li Tang's country crumbling in the hands of his elder brother, he still hoped with all his heart that the decadent rule of the Tang Dynasty would not only avoid extinction, but also hope to revive Li Tang. I hope that I can become the master of ZTE like my great-grandfather Xianzong, and I also hope that I can become a little Taizong like my grandfather Xuanzong, govern the world like Xiaozhenguan, revive the Tang Dynasty, and be a master of ZTE.

After ascending the throne, he struggled desperately, but he was depressed.The originally fair face now looked pale and haggard under a few palace lanterns, there were already a few crow's feet in the corners of the eyes, and the eye sockets were also a little dark.He hasn't had a good night's sleep for several months, and it's the same today.

Although the Yang brothers controlled the internal and external government affairs, especially Yang Fugong became more and more domineering, even surpassing Tian Lingzi's domineering in the palace back then.At the beginning, Tian Lingzi's status was extremely low, and he relied on the support of the emperor to defeat those powerful eunuchs in the palace. , Liu, Han and other big eunuchs are still not small, coupled with the influence of the prime minister, he dare not be too domineering, but now Yang Fugong, he established the emperor with one hand, and even their brothers wiped out Huang Chao. Fanzhen Jieshuai are almost all their godsons.Yang Fugong, in particular, was crazy about accepting godsons. Now he has taken in more than 300 godsons. These godsons were placed by him in the imperial guards of Chang'an, and held important positions such as governors and town generals in other towns. Come to the sky with one hand.

Li Ye felt Yang Fugong's domineering more and more. He was often a showman, and he didn't even have the slightest say in major political affairs.But even so, he still insisted on going to court on time every day, and even if the right to dispose of the memorials was with Yang Fugong, he still insisted on getting a copy of all the memorials to him every day, and carefully reviewing them himself, even if the reviewing was not done. Can't send it out, but he is also studying so hard, hoping that one day he will not be at a loss when he can take charge of the government.

When his father was the emperor, he just cared about playing and spending money all day long, and left all important affairs of state to the trusted eunuchs to handle.When his elder brother became emperor, it was the same. All important matters were handed over to Tian Lingzi. As a result, the great-grandfather Xianzong's Zhongxing rule and grandfather Xuanzong's Xiaozhenguan rule worked hard to restore some vitality of the Tang Dynasty. In the hands of his father and elder brother, but in a short period of time, the flames of the Tang Dynasty were everywhere. The Pang Xun rebellion in his father's time and the Huangchao rebellion in his elder brother's time completely wiped out the last bit of vitality in the Tang Dynasty. There is no prestige at all.

Now that he is in charge of the throne, he vows to be different from his father and brothers, and he will do everything by himself from now on.

These days, he has to "review" a large number of memorials every day, so he also clearly knows what kind of threat the court is facing now.

Last year, Li Jing refused the reward of Admiral Tiance, rejected the queen's entry into the palace, and took the initiative to attack the west of Henan by recruiting the remnants of Huang Chao, which eventually caused the imperial court to attack Qin from the north and the south.When the war just broke out, Li Ye actually supported the war in his heart. In his opinion, making Li Jing Tiance the general and making Li Jing the queen, this is the biggest reward for Li Jing from the new dynasty, but so Li Jing not only refused to accept such a great honor, but instead went to incorporate the remnants of Huang Chao, took the initiative to attack the new dynasty, and even proposed to establish a new emperor, which he could not tolerate.In his mind, the Qin army was indeed very powerful, but the new dynasty had more than 30 feudal towns, and in terms of troops, it was more than the Qin army.What's more, Li Jing, the king of Qin, was still fighting outside the customs with an army of 40. If he could take this opportunity to beat up the Qin army and force Li Jing to face up to the new dynasty and admit him as the emperor, that would be great.

It's just that the outcome of the matter was unpredictable at the time. From last year to this year, the attack of Eighteen Towns is almost a joke now.When the main force of the Qin army was not at home, they could say that they hadn't made any progress.On the southern front, they were suppressed and beaten by the Qin army and were on the defensive. The war has always been fought on the territory of the new dynasty.

On the northern line, although the Qin army was on the defensive, even the people from Shatuo, Baoda, and Dingnan, who have always been known as sturdy, the Tuyuhun people from Tiande and Zhenwu, and several others The towns teamed up, and Wei Bo and Chengde, the old Hebei feudal towns who were always fierce, finally failed to take down a single city from the Qin army. After fighting for almost a year, they turned into a group of robbers, only looting The villages on the border of the feudal clan robbed some food, money and people.

These were not the results Li Ye wanted at all. What he wanted was to win a decent victory, to show off the power of the court like Li Jing, and force Li Jing to submit honestly.Hit a stick first, and then give Li Jing two dates, so that Li Jing will not rebel against the court.But the result now is that an act of showing off has become a robbery. Not only will it not deter Li Jing, but it will only anger Li Jing.

Now, Li Jing has returned with 30 people, and they have to face the reality that they messed everything up.If Li Jing really declared himself emperor in a fit of anger, it would be a fatal blow to the new court!

Thinking that he might be the last emperor of the Tang Dynasty, a king of subjugation, Li Ye couldn't sleep all night.

Seeing that the situation is getting more and more difficult, every day is chaotic, all kinds of documents sent into the palace every day are like snowflakes all over the imperial case, he has endless documents and memorials every day, often sleeps after the third watch, and sometimes stays up all night, But even so, the more he seemed to have more than enough energy, he was unable to accomplish anything. He could only see that the situation was getting more and more unfavorable, but he was helpless.

"No matter what, we must appease Li Jing. The imperial court must not continue to fight with Li Jing right now. You said, Li Jing even refuses to accept General Tiance. What exactly does he want? Does he really want it?" Is my world a million miles away?" Li Ye sighed, put down the bowl and chopsticks, turned to Zhaoyi and Li Jianrong, but seemed to be talking to himself.

"Your Majesty, since the court cannot fight Li Jing, then don't fight."

"In the current situation, whether to fight or not is up to us. The decision is completely in Li Jing's hands."

"Then tell Li Jing not to fight."

"How to do it?" Li Ye looked at the woman he loves the most and sighed, "Li Jing even refuses to accept Tiance Admiral, this is an official position that only Emperor Taizong has held."

"Isn't Shangshuling only the emperor Taizong's official position? But the original court awarded Li Jing differently, and the general of the world's soldiers and horses is also the position only the prince can hold, and Li Jing was also awarded." Li Jian Rong said lightly.

Li Ye's heart moved, thoughtful.But then he shook his head again, "Even if Li Jing is re-appointed the positions of Generalissimo and Minister of the World, how can he be satisfied?"

"Then add more."

"Add more?" Li Ye was stunned.

How else can I add it?What official positions are there above the Grand Marshal of the World's Army and Horses, General Tiance, and Shang Shuling?If you add more, you have to be a great prime minister, a fake yellow axe, add nine tins, or even a sword shoe to go to the palace, and you will not be named in praise.But if you really want to do this, what prestige does the court have?If such a reward is really to be given, it will be the pinnacle of a powerful minister, and after that, it can only be a Zen seat.How can this work, he shook his head.

Li Zhaoyi looked at the haggard man, feeling sorry for her.Originally, it was not her turn to intervene in these state affairs, but remembering that the current state affairs are all in the hands of Yang Fugong, she said that it would not affect the state affairs, so in the end she couldn't help saying: "The Supreme Emperor once called Li Jing the emperor's uncle, I also added Li Jing, Generalissimo of the World's Army and Horses, Shang Shuling, and fake Huangyue. I remember that it was the time when the rebels were at their peak. At that time, several towns surrendered the rebels, and other towns were also waiting to see and refused to resist the rebels. Li Jing also stood still. It was the Supreme Emperor's extraordinary reward that made Li Jing finally send troops to fight against the thieves, and made other towns also raise troops to fight for the king, so that they finally destroyed Huang Chao."

Li Zhao looked at this beautiful woman, and asked for help, "Then what kind of reward do you think can make Li Jing not rebel this time? As long as Li Jing can't openly rebel against Tang, we can still hold Li Jing well." Jing, now that the new dynasty has just been established and is not yet stable, I cannot afford the consequences of Li Jing's rebellion against Tang at this time, even if Li Jing eventually rebelled, it would be better if it was later."

"Li Jingke is General Tian Ce, Shang Shuling, Generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, the commander-in-chief of all military forces at home and abroad, the King of Qin, the Taifu, the envoy Chijie, the Daxingtai Shangshuling of Shaanxi Province, and the commander-in-chief of Hebei, Shandong, Military and political affairs in Huainan, Liaodong, and Liaoxi, the ambassadors of Khitan, Xi, Bohai, Heishui, Silla, North Korea, Shiwei, Tatar, and Uighur. Praise the nameless!"

Hearing the series of names, Li Ye frowned urgently and remained silent for a long time!This is not an easy decision, this string of names is too loud.At least in the more than 200 years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, no courtier other than the clan has ever been given such a heavy duty and such honor. Even if it is the clan, no one has reached this height.These awards are actually tantamount to acknowledging Qin Fan's separatism, which is nothing more than a humble grievance.

If the grievances can be accommodated, Li Ye is absolutely willing to bear the grievances, but the question before him is, will Li Jing be willing to accept his grievances?He didn't know, not at all. (To be continued.)