Late Tang

Yanjing in October is always colorful. .

In the late Tang Dynasty, Yanjing did not have such a bad climate as later generations, there was no gray sky, no dust blowing directly into the mouth, and no smog and sandstorms.Especially in autumn, it is full of beauty.

The autumn wind in Yanjing is also full of warm tones. It combines the yellowish color of birch leaves, the deep red color of maple leaves, and the golden color of poplar leaves to form a gorgeous color.Wisps of autumn wind blowing, it makes people feel like they are wandering on a huge colorful picture scroll.

This autumn wind full of warm colors shakes the leaves and shakes off countless fragments of sunshine that are still warm colors.

The whole autumn of Yanjing is like a poem, a scroll of painting.

Especially wandering around the foot of Xiangshan Mountain looking at the red leaves, strolling under the Forbidden City and caressing the red wall, the background is the unique red color of Yanjing, the bright sunshine in front of you, and breathing the warm air makes the whole person feel refreshed I feel comfortable all over.

Under such clear sunlight and warm autumn wind, Li Jing stood on a high place, on the top of the coal mountain behind the Forbidden City, looked around, and suddenly felt an indescribable sense of comfort.Meishan was originally not the name, at first it was called Qingshan, and later it was called Jingshan.The Qin army stationed in Youzhou and built the Forbidden City here. It once piled up a large amount of coal transported here. The coal piled up here is like a mountain, and there are also a large number of coal processing factories.Later, everyone simply called it Meishan. Firstly, it was a taboo for the venerable, Jing Jing, and ordinary people spontaneously avoided it. Secondly, everyone was used to the coal here. Therefore, Meishan replaced the original Qingshan and Jingshan.

However, when the moat was built in the Forbidden City, a large amount of excavated soil was piled up here, and the original small hill was piled up into a large earth mountain.After the Forbidden City was built, flowers, plants and trees were planted all over the earth mountain, and many attic pavilions were built. This place also changed, from a dark coal mountain to a royal palace. The royal family garden where family members and subordinate civil servants climb together to enjoy the flowers, look at the scenery, practice arrows and have a banquet.

At this time, Li Jing was standing in the three-storey pavilion on the top of the town palace mountain. The Yanshan Mountains in the distance could be seen clearly without borrowing a telescope. Within reach, to climb.The vast North China Plain can be seen all the way to the sky, the wind blows the trees, and the cattle and horses walking in the fields can be clearly seen.

Looking at this quiet and serene picture scroll, Li Jing couldn't help but feel a sense of boundless boldness and pride.

This is his base camp, and this is the center of the heavenly kingdom he plans to establish.

Standing here, he seemed to have a panoramic view of the kingdom he wanted to build.

Looking back at the rising new capital city, overlooking Yanjing City, the red walls of the Forbidden City, golden glazed tiles, crimson pillars, dark green cypress trees, and white marble railings, they are colorful and beautiful. Beautiful.

The Forbidden City, which is decorated and outlined by big colors, is full of domineering, just like the millions of tigers and wolves of the Qin army that swallowed thousands of miles like a tiger, showing the mighty and majestic majesty of the Qin army.

Standing at such a height and looking at such a scenery, one feels majestic but also unconsciously small.

Even so, Li Jing still likes to look at Yanjing City from this angle, looking at this capital city that he built by himself.

"The generals and soldiers of the Qin Army take it as their duty to defend their homes and defend the country, and the places on the border that suffer from military disasters must immediately rescue the people with all their strength." Li Jing said calmly, "Winter is coming soon, and the governments of all places must do everything before winter. All the people have houses to live in, enough food and clothing, and the injured people have to be treated in time. Moreover, from now on, I will not allow a single enemy soldier to set foot on our Qin Fan's land. No matter who dares to cross the border, everywhere The garrison must fight back without hesitation, without hesitation!"

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. The Allied Right Army in Bohai has completely collapsed. With the surrender of Heishui, the Shiwei people have also been forced to surrender. A small number of Khitans tried to resist, but they have been wiped out. Now only The Khitan-based enemy forces on the western front. At present, the second batch of [-] soldiers from the Bohai Sea has arrived in Dalian, and will soon arrive in Tianjin. In addition, this time there will be [-] new Bohai Navy and [-] soldiers Wei and other tribes descended, and the four newly formed legions formed together returned together. It is estimated that they will all reach Tianjin before the Liaohai freezes. Since His Highness returned to Yanjing, the first batch of ten who returned to Beijing triumphantly Thousands of soldiers have deployed defenses to thousands of miles of borders in the four provinces of Shanxi, Beiping, Hebei, and Shandong, and they are on guard. As long as anyone dares to cross the border, they will definitely fight back." Jingxiang, the left envoy of the Chief of Staff He replied, "Actually, according to my subordinates, it is the time when autumn is high and horses are fat. With the [-] soldiers who have returned from Bohai Sea and the second batch of [-] soldiers who have already arrived in Dalian, there is no need to use them at all." The descending army of Mohe and the descending army of Shiwei and other tribes have sufficient superior forces to launch a strong revenge war against Li Keyong and others."

Li Jing didn't answer Jing Xiang's words, he looked down at the Forbidden City for a while, and then took a cup of tea from a guard. The faint tea fragrance was refreshing, and he took a sip with his lips.Looking thoughtfully at this azure official kiln teacup, it seems that he is admiring this exquisite and precious porcelain.

Jing Xiang was a little uncertain about Li Jing's thoughts, and he couldn't help but feel a little panicked.Li Jing's power is getting stronger and stronger now, and sometimes he doesn't need to speak at all, just a gesture of his hand and a gesture of his foot will make him feel a lot of pressure.This is the coercion of a king. Although this is a much younger man than him, just over [-] years old, but he holds millions of soldiers in his hands and leads tens of thousands of people. It can directly feel the life and death of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people.This is the coercion of the king, which is invisible but exists all the time.

It has been a while since Li Jing returned to Yanjing.But to everyone's surprise, Li Jing, who returned to Beijing triumphantly after nearly two years, neither kept a conservative strategy on the left-behind meeting, which caused the border area to be harassed and suffered a lot of damage and was held accountable, nor did he immediately send troops to attack Li. Ke Yong waited for the towns to retaliate.

Li Jing didn't do anything, but called one or two important ministers to listen to the report every day, and he didn't even disclose his comments on current affairs or his plans.The only clear order Li Jing ever gave was to take over the defense of Yanjing, Tianjin, Daliao, Dengzhou, Qingdao, Hejian and other important places with the [-] soldiers and horses who had just triumphantly, and then let the soldiers and horses in these places After the change of defense, he drove to the long northern border of Qin Fan to garrison and stand by.

Does anyone know what King Qin is thinking?

If it was the King of Qin in the past, he would definitely take revenge on the feudal towns when he came back this time.

But King Qin didn't, he didn't say anything.

Jing Xiang thinks that Li Jing is considering a very important matter, so before this decision is made, he will not make any big moves for the time being.And the matter he was considering, he thought, was most likely to decide whether to stand on his own in the Tang Dynasty.Jing Xiang felt that only such an important matter could keep King Qin in his current state.Because this matter is too important, once it is decided to formally oppose the Tang Dynasty, then Qin Fan will have too many things to do.

Jing Xiang was also thinking about this question. After King Qin returned to Beijing this time, the war in Bohai Sea was almost a foregone conclusion, and the victory was already decided.The three most powerful forces in the tribal coalition, the Blackwater Alliance has completely surrendered and is controlled by the Qin army.As for the Shiwei Alliance, half of them have now surrendered to the Qin army, and the Bohai Kingdom has been completely controlled by the Qin army until now, barely maintaining the name of a foreign country, but the King of Qin still feels that the Bohai court and the royal family still have some That's all.

There is only one Khitan and half of the Shiwei alliance left, and they are completely unable to prevent the victory of the Qin army.

A steady stream of elite Qin troops are returning triumphantly from the pass, and a large number of tribal descendants have also been brought into the pass.It is only necessary to maintain a small number of combat troops outside the pass, and send some additional auxiliary soldiers to reserve troops, which is enough to maintain the situation.

Up to now, Qin Fan really has no worries.At this time, King Qin's prestige reached its peak, and his soldiers and horses were also elite soldiers and powerful generals, with a huge number.At this time, the Li and Tang courts split into two, one in Chengdu and one in Chang'an. It was a time of uncertainty.If Li Jing turned against Tang at this time, the timing is completely sufficient.Although there will definitely be some obstacles and disadvantages, Jingxiang believes that the time is ripe for turning against Tang.But after thinking about it for a long time, should I express my opinion immediately?

Persuading them to advance is also a matter of discernment. If you persuade them too early, it will not only disrupt the current internal unity and stability of the Qin clan, but may even be looked down upon by the King of Qin.But if the timing of the persuasion is right, and the person who puts forward the persuasion first, the credit is also great.

He felt that the time was ripe, the time was ripe for King Qin to take Tang Zili, and the time was ripe for him to persuade him to enter.

The attendants standing next to them are not ordinary maids and eunuchs. Although there are eunuchs in the Forbidden City, like Zhang Chengye, they are extremely trusted by Li Jing. The steward can even participate in secrets.However, Li Jing also took very strict precautions against eunuchs. Not only were the number of eunuchs in the palace much smaller than that of the Tang Dynasty, but also the eunuchs could neither command the army nor interfere with secrets, so there were strict restrictions.When Li Jing usually discusses matters, he doesn't even use maids and eunuchs to wait on one side, but uses selected personnel from the Internal Affairs Bureau, the Secret Service Bureau, and the Department of Attendants.

These people are very clever and clever, they pay attention to Li Jing at all times, as long as they have any instructions, they will execute them immediately.At this time, they knew that Li Jing and Jing Xiang were going to talk about confidential matters, but seeing that Li Jing didn't have any instructions, they didn't automatically avoid it.As soon as Li Jing's eyes left the teacup, an attendant immediately stepped forward, took the teacup with a lacquered gold plate, and then stepped back carefully. backed out.

At this time, only Li Jing and Jing Xiang were left in the pavilion.

Jing Xiang stood up and said to Li Jing in a solemn tone: "Your Highness, the situation in the Northeast has been settled. I believe that this is the time to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and stand on our own. I invite Your Highness to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, and establish a new dynasty!"

Li Jing glanced at Jing Xiang, he knew that Jing Xiang was not alone in thinking this way.In fact, even Li Jing himself has been thinking about this issue recently.Especially when the Li and Tang courts split into two, and the Chang'an court suddenly dispatched troops from eighteen towns.

Proclaiming emperor is inevitable, and sooner or later Li Jing will proclaim himself emperor.

The only question facing Li Jing now is whether to proclaim the emperor now or to postpone the proclaiming emperor.

Proclaiming the emperor now has the advantages of being the emperor now. At least, by showing the banner, it can boost morale even more, and it will no longer be restrained and fettered by Li Tang.But there are still some disadvantages in proclaiming the emperor now. Although Li Tang is lingering on his last days, after all, he is a centipede, and he will die for a while but not stiff.Although Li Tang's prestige was lacking, all the feudal towns still held up this banner to fight differences with the same party.The people all over the world still have a feeling for Li Tang for a while, especially those nobles. For them, the new court also means that they may lose the power they had in the old court.

It means that the old order is broken.

The old and new dynasties are changing, and the gentry landlord class is the most worried group of people. They would rather maintain it like this than change suddenly, because change represents the unknown.

Qin Fan has expanded rapidly in recent years, and this power is no longer a pure power, but an alliance of interests.Right now, everyone has the same interests and goals, so they can naturally be linked together.But if Li Jing wanted to become emperor on his own, with such a big change, would other forces, those allies, still be willing to help Li Jing in the same boat?

And there is another point, if he proclaims emperor, it means a complete break with Li Tang, which may even unite the divided Chengdu and Chang'an courts, and even some other feudal towns. as the primary goal.

Is it worth taking this risk, or should we continue to wear Li Tang's coat and wait for a while, until the mansion of Li Tang finally collapses, when the fruit is naturally ripe and ripe, and then relax What about picking?

No matter which decision it is, it is extremely important, and it is related to Qin Fan's strategic direction for a long time to come.

"Build walls high, store grain widely, and slowly become king!"

Li Jing recited these nine words softly, and his excited mood gradually calmed down.

The fruit is right in front of you, within reach.But this fruit has not really matured yet, and if you pick it too early, you will only get a fruit that is not sweet, or even sour and astringent.Do you need to rush this moment?

I should wait, Li Jing finally made a decision in his heart.

So what if he proclaims himself emperor later, the throne cannot escape.Think about Cao Cao, who never proclaimed himself emperor in his life, but this can't change the reality that he was the most powerful in the late Han Dynasty.For example, Yuan Shu couldn't wait to proclaim himself emperor, but his elder brother and Sun Ce brothers who had a good relationship with him turned against him.At this time, if you don't rush for a while, Qin Fan's interior can be more stable.

What's more, although the battle in Bohai Sea has secured victory, it is not completely over yet, and the army that has just returned from Bohai Sea has not yet undergone a rest.

Compared with rushing to proclaim the emperor, how to completely win the victory in the Northeast and digest the fruits of victory of Bohai and other tribes in the Northeast is the most important thing.

There are several fruits, but don't rush to pick them all at once, pick one at a time, pick only the most ripe ones, and pick another after eating one, that's the best.

"Although we now have the strength to be proud of the crowd." Li Jing suddenly turned around, "But we are not in a hurry to fight for this superficial name. We cannot have both. This fruit, after several years of watering, is now finally ripe. What we need most now is to digest the victory fruit of the Northeast. As for Li Tang, let him continue to linger for a while. We don't need to become everyone in the world just for a false name target."

"However, His Highness establishes a new dynasty as soon as possible to unite and unite the morale of the soldiers and common people in the domain. Besides, the Chang'an court has dealt with us in this way, how can we not fight back?"

"Of course we have to fight back against their provocations, but we only need to deal with those feudal towns that provoked us, to retaliate against Li Keyong, etc. , we don’t need to rush to make enemies with them. One goal at a time, one step at a time, this is our strategy.” Li Jing smiled at Jing Xiang, “Senior, good food is never afraid It's late, don't worry, wait a little longer, the food will be more delicious then!"

Seeing Li Jing's confident expression, Jing Xiang bowed back with a salute, he knew that Li Jing's words were true, not a false pretext.He sighed in his heart, knowing that this time he was mistaken again.King Qin is not the kind of person who is eager to become emperor. (To be continued.)