The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 206 Is there no evil in the emperor?
"Man is no more than a reed, but a thinking reed. All human dignity lies in thought. This is reflected in the fact that everyone is different. Better, worse... just different. These specific people make up classes, production, and social relations. Therefore, politics avoids personifying organizations, regimes, and factions. Treating these gatherings as one person, labeling them as good or evil, determining by closeness or distance, distinguishing by loyalty or treachery, and dealing with problems while ignoring the ideological characteristics of their members will only result in disaster." - said the strange man.

The "aggression of the troops" was soon transformed into real political results.

In mid-October of the first year of Qianning, a manifesto was sent to various regions.

"After the difficult years of Tianbao, Shandong was in chaos. The military men were arrogant, and the rituals and music were broken. Only I have achieved virtue and have not lost my loyalty as a minister."

"Taifu Baochen was a general who rebelled against the government and was initially in charge of Zhenji. If he had not been humiliated by the inner traitors, how could he have been defiled later? Pushe Weijian was the emperor's guard. He was famous for his military power in Chanshui. With his humble status, he wiped out the bandits, defeated Huaiguang, plotted against Lingyan, and promoted Yuancong. A man who protected the sage was a general and a prime minister, and his blood-stained clothes were still on his body. In the Han and Wei dynasties, he was Ju Jun and Ji Shao. When Taiwei Wujun realized himself, he killed the bandits and refused to submit... When he died of illness, the emperor wept for him and built a temple to commemorate him. Si Tu Shizhen stopped the war and defended the good, and accumulated wealth, which was counted in billions. Taibao Chengzong was loyal and unchanging. Unexpectedly, the evil heart of rebelling against Wei was still alive, and he dared to advocate rebellion..."

"When Sikong Chengyuan was appointed, he was determined to get rid of the corrupt officials, and the three armies remained, and no changes were allowed. He moved to three towns, and the places he governed were known to be prosperous. Who will succeed Sikong as the prime minister of your generation? Zhongyuan Kui, he abolished the law, expelled guests, and destroyed the weapons. Everything he did was in accordance with the imperial edict. He defeated Han's army at Yaoshan and married his mistress Danfeng. Who wouldn't praise him?"

"When the previous king and his sons came, the universe was in chaos. Common people, low-class people, monsters and demons rose up one after another, and wanted to trample the heavens for fun. Local governors made false predictions and thought they could overthrow the royal family. Only the previous king and his sons shed tears and stained the book, and hurriedly submitted it. They selected the vanguard and generals, crossed the mountains and faced the danger... They became virtuous, loyal and filial, and their achievements will be recorded in history."

"Recently, Zhu Wen is a man who is a disloyal animal in Dangshan and a grass in the countryside. He is a disloyal animal in life and a disloyal ghost in death. He and the barbarians of Bian and Song say that the emperor has no blood and that the one with strong soldiers and horses can be the emperor. Does the emperor have no blood? Only the Li family has it! I heard that the royal army is going to attack, but the people of Bian are too evil and have not been restrained... Chengde has been angry and ashamed for many years! Rong was young and inherited the title of a vassal. How could he care about himself? Announce the crimes and lead the heroes. Respect the emperor and punish the traitors, that's all. I respectfully inform you..."

The royal family has been disgraced, and the lord has to personally brave the front and face the Bian bandits who lead beasts to eat people. This is a shame for the princes!

The country is in the midst of turbulent waves.

The shrine in Taiqing Palace was shaking, and the tombs of the saints were filled with anger!
Taizong cried bitterly in the fairyland!
The fate of the Holy Tang Dynasty could not be shaken in the slightest even in the hands of a man like Xuanzong. Could it be taken away by a common man from Dangshan today?

joke!

As a soldier, how can I be with Yang Xingmi, Li Kuangchou, Zuo Jie, Ma Yin and other mediocre people who can only see the interests within their own doorstep and do not care about the safety of the emperor and the country!

I think about her day and night. I think about her day and night.

I tossed and turned, unable to sleep day and night because of worry.

I mourn for myself, I mourn for myself. After a hundred years of feudal rule, we have enough wealth and honor. How can we be like Ding Hui and Ge Congzhou, a bunch of peasants, who, for a pitiful salary and a shabby official position, lose their self-respect and kneel down to Zhu San, a country bumpkin? Ten thousand gold coins are accepted without reasoning about etiquette and morality. What good can ten thousand gold coins do to me!
The remnants of the traitors were pardoned by the state, and they practiced the way of ministers, treated the emperor with respect, and taught the people with moral principles, so that the world praised their performance. What kind of people are they? The remnants of the traitors were pardoned by the state, and they were treated as powerful vassals, but they looked like eagles and wolves, and wanted to rob the family property of their benefactor. What kind of people are they?

Therefore, we follow the teachings of our ancestors, the wills of the previous kings, and respectfully obey the divine oracles of the emperors Zu, Tai, Gao, Su, Dai, Xian, Mu, Wen, Wu, Xuan, and Xi, and we rise up in arms!
I ask you all:

Those who are willing to serve the king together, please come to our side immediately.

Those who are unwilling to join can be ridiculed by you on the side of the road.

Anyone who dares to stop us, send out your troops. The people of Zhao will never retreat!

When we meet, our blades are bladed and our blood is gushing; why should we care about honors when dying?

Respect the emperor, punish the traitors, and kill the rebels!

So that the emperor does not have to go through fire and water anymore, and escort the emperor who is as constant as the night back to his throne in the Mingtang where he remains unmoved by wind and rain!

As soon as the manifesto came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

Such a powerful manifesto with a serious stance actually came from Chengde!

It seems that Hebei is not entirely against the court. They just oppose the court's policy of taking Hebei as their own and the emperor who engages in such activities. However, under the subtle influence of traditional feudal ethics, they are still loyal to the royal family. In other words, they oppose any force that threatens them. If it comes from the Li family, they will oppose the Li family. If it comes from others, they will help the court suppress it.

As Song Dynasty scholar Yin Yuan summarized to Emperor Renzong: "For two hundred years, there were traitors and barbarian generals, but they did not dare to covet the sacred artifacts. It was not because of lack of strength, but because of fear of the power of the princes. After Guangming, all the people in Guandong rebelled, and Hebei could not resist, so the Liang people took over the country in one fell swoop. Therefore, the princes weakened the Tang Dynasty. The princes maintained their power even though it was weak."

The fierce and irreconcilable roar surged towards the south of the river!

"My dear, your family is already rich and powerful, why did you abandon me and my son and go on an expedition?"

"The pig demon is wreaking havoc on the world, and war is raging in the Holy Tang Dynasty. Why do you think so?"

"My dear, have you ever thought about why the world has become like this? Huang Chao, Qin Zongquan, and Zhu Wen were all ordinary men, but they were able to conquer the world. Why? The Mandate of Heaven is gone, this is the general trend. Yes, the emperor has recovered, but it is just a flash in the pan, like the rejuvenation of a person before death. The Ji family has lasted for thousands of years, but they still cannot avoid being swallowed by the Qin and Zhou dynasties. There is no immortal dynasty. Moreover, the court will not really trust the remnants of An Lushan, but will only win them over and use them when needed. This is not the Zhou Dynasty. The emperor rules the world alone, and loyalty? The emperor does not care whether you are loyal or treacherous, but only whether you have the strength to rebel."

"Why did Wang Chengzong become enemies with the court? Didn't the court want to use the atmosphere to incite the army to kill him? Is Tian Xing loyal enough? Why was he transferred to us? Because Zhao and Wei have a grudge, and they want to use Chengde to get rid of Tian. Tian Xing repeatedly requested to retain 2,000 Wei Bo guards, but the court pretended not to hear. My dear, you should understand these things better than me."

"…Give up. As long as we have weapons, it doesn't matter if Zhu Wen becomes the emperor. If he attacks, it will be like dealing with Emperor Xianzong. After two or three battles without hope, he will naturally give up."

"Ma'am, you are wrong."

"The Li family and Zhu Wen are different. My ancestors were uncivilized barbarians, but as for me, even I know that there are people who should not be killed. What about Zhu Wen? They are both being attacked, who do you choose as your opponent, the Li family or Zhu Wen? The emperors have consciences, so they have never been able to defeat us. Zhu Wen does not have consciences, so don't expect him to be soft-hearted. While the emperor is here, you can still call on the princes to follow him to defeat Zhu Wen and save me from foreign invasions. This is equivalent to fighting the future wars."

"The root cause of the chaos in the country is the imbalance among the princes. The emperor is unable to stop the strong from devouring the weak, and it has become another Warring States period. The person who tied the bell must untie it. To maintain stability, the situation must be restored to the situation before the chaos - the court is superior to the princes, but it cannot eliminate all the vassal states. The princes are equally powerful, and any one of them is far inferior to the court, so they dare not start a war lightly."

"As for Li Keyong's covetousness, Madam, you must understand that once the situation returns to the situation before the Chaos Rebellion, he will not be able to stir up any waves. It is precisely because he is spying that we should support the court even more. The current emperor is the reincarnation of Guangwu. When the foundation is more solid, will he let Keyong bite people at will? At that time, Keyong himself would not dare to do so. The dog thief is not stupid."

"Besides, if the situation continues like this, how many more people will die? When everyone is tired of fighting, it doesn't matter if the Holy Tang Dynasty is destroyed, but China's vitality will be exhausted. Will the enemies from all directions invade? Will the Yongjia Incident happen again? I am a Khitan, and I know the frontier too well. The Khitan in the north are rising. When those barbarians who eat raw meat and drink blood grow stronger and see the devastation in the interior, they will definitely have evil intentions. Who can resist them then? Can we rely on beating them until only a bunch of ruffians and scoundrels are left? I'm afraid we can just let them be beaten to death."

"I have read so many scriptures, but I can't care about the bitter wind and rain outside the window. I compare myself to Qubing, Jiang Wei, Zu Ti, and Li Guangbi. I feel resentment and pity, stay out of it, and feel helpless. I thought my life was going down, but I was blessed by God... I can't control what my comrades think, and I don't care. I just want peace. I have heard enough of the tragedies of women in the cauldron while the fetus is still in the womb! I just want people to understand that the descendants of loyal ministers are not necessarily loyal, and the descendants of treacherous ministers are not necessarily treacherous. In every ten households, there must be a loyal and faithful person. There are many heroes in Zhao."

"Even if it means losing my life, Xiao Wu?"

“Everyone has to die, some are heavier than Mount Tai, some are lighter than a feather.”

"Wow... I regret marrying you... You are a murderer who values life and death!"

Xiao Xiu galloped on his horse on the snowy road, with a sea of infantry and cavalry in front and behind him that stretched as far as the eye could see. His wife's angry cries still lingered in his ears: "If you don't come back for a year, you can go with the emperor."

……

Zhuolu.

My uncle had a rare good time recently. With the connivance of the Youzhou army, he easily captured Wuzhou (now Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province) and reached Xinzhou on October 27. The defenders did not put up much resistance and asked Li Keyong how much money he was willing to pay. If the money was in place, he would be appointed as the governor. If it were someone else, he would have already taken office. But my uncle was short of money, and when he heard that he wanted a reward of one million coins, he flatly refused.

One million... He worked hard for a whole year and still owed the saint three hundred thousand strings of cash!

But it doesn’t matter. It will be easier once we conquer Youzhou.

To this end, my uncle held a small banquet and celebrated happily with the civil and military officials.

These past few years have been really weird!
After fighting for so many years, we only got Zhaoyi, um, and Datong Army. Two towns, not a small number. Moreover, Luzhou, Xingming, Ci, and Datong have a good economic and population base. What's annoying is that the positions are limited and there are not enough to go around.

Before Li Cunxiao ran away, he wondered all day long why he was the best in military merit but could not even get a half-military title?

Outstanding young military officers such as Li Siyuan and Guo Jian (Guo Wei's father) were even more miserable.

Li Siyuan served as a military commander for ten years but was not assigned any position. Li Keyong felt guilty and set up a cavalry commander and appointed him as a military commander. Well, actually, he was a general. Hengchong commander had less than a thousand troops, so what kind of military commander was he?

In comparison, those who received the dowry were able to enjoy a high status.

He was given the name Wang Zhu, and was registered in the family of the Empress Dowager (the Saint's biological mother). He was adopted by the Saint's uncle Wang Gui, who was killed by Yang Fugong, and was given the name Wang Zhu. He was given the title of Yunzhongzi, and was promoted to Zhongdafu, a civil official below the fourth rank. He was also Zhonglangjiang, the chief of the Fanjun Division, and married a county lady from the imperial clan.

It makes people very jealous.

Hey, let Pig be so lucky. Why didn’t the Marshal send us away when he married off his daughter?

And Li Cunxiao. Not long after he arrived, he was appointed as the Defense Commissioner of Dengzhou...

It's so discouraging.

My uncle was very worried about this.

He could clearly feel that many of his subordinates were eager to enter the court.

It is human nature for people to want to move up, become officials, and bring honor to their families. My uncle can understand this, but he also knows that this won’t work. Fortunately, this trip went smoothly. After taking over Youzhou, a dozen states, and expanding the army by 40,000 to 50,000, there will be another dozen cities, and we can appoint people at will.

"Let my son-in-law slowly fight with Quanzhong!" Li Keyong drank a cup of horse urine and couldn't close his mouth. "After destroying Li Kuangchou and supporting Liu Rengong to take the throne, we will attack Zhao from two directions to avenge the flood of Tuohe River. Then we will take Weizhou and Henghai. When we fight with Zhu the thief in the court, Hebei will be settled! By then, everyone will have a governor and a general! If my grandson can't become the crown prince, I will let him go to Hebei and be crowned emperor and king."

The generals laughed.

"Let us pacify Hebei, and then we will submit a petition together to enthrone the virtuous concubine as the second saint!"

"The King of Dai is not noble enough. If you want to confer a title, make him the King of Jin!"

"Yes, change his title to King of Jin!"

"If we support him as emperor, we will all be regarded as his loyal ministers and make Taiyuan our capital."

"With us here, who else can be the crown prince but the King of Dai? The King of De is cowardly, and his family can't even muster ten males. The King of Liang, Li Zhengyang, bah! It's all thanks to his good mother! By the way, Zhao Fu, Zhao Jia, Zhao En, Zhao Hui, the King of Liang's relatives, are said to be quite threatening."

"If you dare to compete with the King of Dai, I will kill you all!"

"Ahem." Gai Yu tugged at Li Keyong's sleeve.

Li Keyong did not react. He continued to drink and imagine the future.

Gai Yu covered his face and quietly kicked twice under the table.

Brother, please hold back!

The King of Dai is only one year old, and you said in front of all the generals that you would take him to Hebei to be the emperor... I dare not imagine what you will say when the King of Dai is a little older! Isn't this asking for trouble for the King of Dai? What if he dies suddenly or dies young?
After his foot was kicked, Li Keyong looked at Gai Yu strangely:

Seeing him winking at me repeatedly, Fang came to his senses, waved his hand and said, "Alright! Be more restrained, everyone be more restrained."

The generals nodded with a smile.

"It's snowing heavily. Let's rest today. Tomorrow..." After drinking more than a dozen cups, Li Keyong's face had turned red. Just as he was about to say something, an officer hurried in, handed him a scroll of brocade, and whispered something in his ear.

Li Keyong opened the brocade book with both hands and leaned back to take a look.

"…I am the only one who has achieved virtue…I respect the emperor and punish the traitors, that's all. I hereby inform you…"

Snapped!
The brocade book is turned upside down.

Gai Yu took it silently. His eyebrows knitted together as he looked at it.

Chengde has surrendered to the saint, so how can we fight him and under what pretext can we fight him?

hiss.

As expected of a Zhao thief, he is very cunning.

We must find a way to destroy the relationship between Chang'an and Hebei. Or, let the sage suffer a defeat to reduce his prestige and popularity. In the world, if the ministers are strong, the king will be weak, and vice versa. If the court's deterrence and appeal to the local areas and the subjects become stronger and stronger, they will be restricted in doing anything, which is extremely unfavorable for external expansion.

Li Keyong looked calm and asked the officers to continue eating and drinking, while he pretended to go to the toilet and walked out.

Gai Yu followed.

"This matter needs to be handled with caution."

"What's the plan?"

"The Zhao people have already set out. The best strategy is to stop while we are ahead. After we have taken Wuzhou, we should conquer Xinzhou as soon as possible, and then ask Li Kuangchou for some money, so that this trip will not be in vain. Then we should quickly turn the army around and take advantage of their weakness, claiming that the Zhao people are rebelling or seeking revenge. If we can defeat them, then the matter will be settled. The saint cannot make enemies with Hedong for the sake of a broken heart, so he can only accept it with a pinch of the nose. If we cannot defeat them, then we should attack more urgently, forcing the Zhao people to draw a clear line with the court, forcing their army to come back to help, and forcing the saint to attack me..."

"The middle strategy is to attack Xia in the name of attacking the Tanguts. When the sage hears the news, he will be shocked and will have to send troops to rescue. He will transfer part of his direct troops. If he relies on the miscellaneous Hu, foreign troops and the troops of the princes of Ding, Zhao, Pu and Xia, not only will he not be able to defeat Zhang Cunjing, but he will probably be counterattacked by Pang Shigu and start the defense battle of Puguan and Tongguan again."

"No, this is too risky. Zhu Wen will definitely lead his main force westward upon hearing the news. The Saint has done me justice in the past few years, and I cannot bear to put the court in danger."

"The worst option is to return to the capital and attack Heyang and Heyin as agreed. Create a strong image of loyal subjects and wait for an opportunity to enter Henan first."

"What kind of ideas are these? They give me a headache." Li Keyong listened and waved his hand: "Continue to attack Youzhou and kill Li Kuangchou first. Damn you for stirring up trouble several times!"

Gai Yu stood there in a daze.

"Your Majesty!"

"Okay, I'll think about it."

"It is necessary to discuss this in the previous chapter to arouse the sage's suspicion of Chengde."

He traveled thousands of miles to help the king, but was given the cold shoulder and full of defensiveness. Will the people of Zhao be able to write such a eloquent and brilliant manifesto next time?

"You decide." Li Keyong was not very interested in these conspiracies and told him, "Pay attention to your words. Be heroic and don't make me look like a villain. The saint has been kind to me, and I am a relative of the emperor who is also a general or a minister..."

He is tongue-tied and doesn't know how to express himself.

In fact, it is very simple. The conflict between him and the imperial court was not a life-and-death confrontation, but a struggle of mutual calculation and exploitation.

He would not destroy the Tang Dynasty or bully the saint like Li Maozhen and Han Jian did, and it was not in his principle to deal with things.

In a word, he has ambitions, but he has a bottom line. He will fight you within the scope allowed by the rules and the situation. Just like now, the situation of the strong and the weak devouring each other among the princes has not been reversed, so he can follow the crowd, conquer cities and expand his strength, and make plans for the future, with peace of mind and no burden.

　These two chapters help everyone understand the situation of Chengde Town. In fact, the larger vassal states in the late Tang Dynasty all had their own characteristics, and it is not as if some research results and novels have been read, which easily give a specific personified hat to a certain vassal state or a certain person. There are many ordinary people and experts who understand textual research and have insight into history, but they do not necessarily understand the dirty and vulgar politics, or the brightness and ugliness of people. Some readers, when reading historical novels, should not label the author as a "literary youth". You think that the author is literary in some places, is it possible that you have not seen enough. The guards in Wei Bo and Chengde often cried because of trivial things. If I write about them, would I also be called a literary youth? In history, Kong Wei, the 40th generation grandson of Confucius, the prime minister of the late Tang Dynasty, was desperate about the dark world and the demise of the Tang Dynasty. He refused to take medicine after falling ill and died. Literary youth? The scene in the book where Cui Anqian said goodbye to the protagonist was actually based on the scene where Emperor Zhaozong went out of the city to see Kong Wei off, and the monarch and his minister wept with emotion, but I didn't write it so affectionately. If you don't know, go and check, read, and understand it yourself, instead of labeling the author as soon as things exceed your poor imagination and knowledge reserves.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)