The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 245
"I believe in Sheng Tang."

"I am loyal to the Holy Tang."

"Sheng Tang made my generation rich."

"We are governed by the system of the country and become virtuous."

"One morality. One customs. Civil officials serve in the morning. Military officials defend the autumn. Tributes are paid continuously. Actions must be in accordance with the imperial edict. Soldiers must maintain integrity in the face of adversities... Although the military has their own power and authority, we also train them to be loyal and filial, and teach them never to bring disgrace to the vassal state."

"In the fourth year of Zhonghe, Ke Yong petitioned to cede Linzhou to the emperor. The emperor granted his request. He petitioned to appoint Ke Xiu as the commander of Lu, which the emperor granted again. Soon after, the emperor petitioned to dismiss Yunwei from the defense and to attach him to Hedong, and the emperor granted his request again. In addition, Wang Chucun married Zhuxie's daughter for his nephew. As a result, Jin was connected to Youzhou in the north, Chengde in the east, and Yiwu as a party."

"I was afraid that he was eyeing Shandong, so I conspired to destroy him... but it didn't work. In the following years, Jin continued to expand eastward, fighting with Yan and Zhao, killing people like they did with Huang Chao, and looting counties. Zhenji, Shenzhao and the people suffered...

In the quiet dark room, bronze lamps were embedded on the wall. The intricate paintings of ladies on the wall were a little faded, but still vivid and full of ancient charm. A curtain separated the emperor and his subjects. A huge mahogany Luohan bed was placed by the window. On the bed, the emperor was lying in the posture of an immortal. His long hair was parted in the middle, hanging down on his shoulders and the bed like black water. His eyes were bright. He had a method to maintain his youth, so he looked only 23 or 24 years old.

Wang Zimei knelt behind the curtain and whispered, "The chaos in Hebei was not Zhao's fault."

This brings us to the relationship between the central government and local areas in the Tang Dynasty.

The Heshuo type pursues the concept of "comparing the stories of the Warring States Period" and Chang'an acquiesces but does not give up the great unification, and tries to suppress it with a combination of soft and hard tactics. This is reflected in the two, the fuse of each conflict and the war demands in Hebei always revolve around the right of inheritance, the appointment and removal of officials, the implementation of policies, how to punish arrogant vassals, etc.

For example, in the spring of Wei Bo, Yun, Cai, and Heng tried their best to persuade Xing, but Xing refused to listen. So they decided to discuss the matter: "Tian's misfortune should be dealt with together!"

Wang Chengyuan entered the court and killed the obstructing retainers before he could leave. Li Tongjie asked for his father to die and his son to succeed him. Wei pretended to be a rebel, but in fact he secretly assisted Chengde. For example, after Tian Xing was killed, Chengde could not reach a consensus on the policy towards the court and launched a coup, which then evolved into a civil war. This is the same performance.

The struggle for local governance and the tug-of-war between autocratic centralization and feudal autonomy were the core driving forces behind the changes in the relationship between Chang'an and Hebei.

The middle-class prototype is popular with pirates.

After four years of fighting against Cai, the generals looked at each other with disgust.

Lu Congshi relied on the bandits for support.

Although Han Hong was the commander-in-chief, he always did not want the troops to achieve success and secretly hindered them. Every time he heard the news of victory, he would be unhappy for several days. This was how he sought credit at the expense of the country.

Cui Qun was worried that Wang Zhixing would be difficult to control, so he secretly requested to be summoned to the court to take up another post. When the matter was leaked, Zhixing broke through the gates and entered the court, killing those who were dissidents and expelling all the people. He violently plundered the Salt and Iron Bureau and the tribute from the Bian Road, taking seven or eight out of ten. He also expelled the governor of Haozhou. The court could not impose additional punishment on him, so it sent an imperial edict to hold the imperial seal.

To summarize: except for direct rebellion and hereditary succession, use all means possible to seek benefits.

The Guanzhong southwestern frontier type and the financial source type have been controlled to death, so we will not mention them.

Over the past hundred years, these two types have been the main targets of the battle. After Yuanhe, on the whole, the relationship between Chang'an and the Heshuo type has become relatively stable and intimate, and there is even a honeymoon period. The relationship with the Zhongyuan type is relatively tense, and they are often bullied.

In the fourth year of Huichang, Zhaoyi sent troops to garrison Daibei. Five thousand soldiers drank alcohol before departure, and counterattacked Luzhou after getting drunk. In the Xiantong year, the concubine of Zhaoyi Jiedushi Shen Xun committed adultery with a servant. When the incident was discovered, the servant asked for help from the warriors, but the government troops slaughtered Shen Xun's entire family.

Let’s not talk about Xuzhou—“The soldiers with silver swords, carved flags, guns at the gates, and horses often sit on the eaves with their swords exposed. If they are not satisfied, one man will shout loudly, and the others will join in. The governor will escape through the back door. The cost of rewards is tens of thousands every day, and the wind, rain, cold and heat will add to the fatigue, and they will still make noise from time to time.”

He sat outside the office with his sword drawn to intimidate the governor and officials, often scaring the governor into running away through the back door, and he thought this was fun. He kept giving out rewards, and he would always complain that you gave him too little.

The examples are too numerous to mention. The difference is that in the Heshuo type, people are usually executed democratically only if they have made mistakes or committed crimes that have caused public outrage. The latter may be killed even if they have done nothing wrong.

These two categories are also the ones that dominate the development of history.

After the Chaos, the Central Plains Hedong and Xuanwu rose up, and the expansion of the former caused security problems for Hebei. Wang Chucun felt that the order was out of control and formed an alliance with Li Keyong to protect himself, which aggravated the tension between Yan and Zhao, which bordered the two families. There was the Five Feudatories War in the Zhonghe Year, and Zhu Wen saw this and said, "Keyong will eventually become a national threat. I ask the three towns of Bian, Hua, Meng and Hebei to eliminate him together."

This was also the reason why Emperor Zhaozong and Zhang Jun had the confidence to attack Li.

Zhu and Li have a mortal feud. Hebei has fought several rounds with Li Keyong.

Now the two powerful vassals of the two rivers are the main force, with the assistance of Bin, Qi, Hua, Fu, and Xia, and the Shen Ce Army is doing miscellaneous work. Without a God's perspective, you would probably think, how can this be lost? Most likely, Hebei and Central Plains will unite to defeat the fierce general.

What happens after the war?

When Zhao and Wei saw the people of Bian intervening, they immediately became alert - "Bian asked for leave to attack Hedong, but was not granted."

Although Quanzhong sent generals to attack Zezhou, he did not go there himself, so he quickly attacked Xu and Yun.

Xing Yu and Mao Zhen fled without fighting. The Shen Ce Army "collapsed" under the secret instructions of Yang Fugong - because Yang Fugong's family was Li Keyong's strong support in the court. He was able to replace Tian Lingzi and ascend to the throne because of the support of Li Keyong and Wang Chongrong.

Seeing their friendly troops fleeing in a swarm, the Sigong brothers tried a field battle but failed to win, so they also crossed the river and returned west.

This is the art of war in terms of strategy, human nature, pattern, and calculation.

It seems like a sure win, but in reality it has none of the elements for victory.

This is also where Zhu the thief's insidiousness and scheming lies.

After the war, the prestige of the imperial court fell again, internal friction intensified, the Li and Wang people outside were arrogant, and the Dangxiang no longer dared to obey orders... Zhu Wen took the opportunity to subdue Wei Bo and severely damaged Yun and Xu. It not only hit Li Keyong, but also promoted the contradiction between Hebei and Li Keyong... Win Ma.

"The rebellion in Hebei was not the fault of Zhao. I understand that." The saint was silent for a moment and responded, "There is no need to explain the origin of your grudge with my uncle."

None of them are pure ministers.

The nature of the Heshuo-type alliances is almost ingrained in their bones. All policies are based on maintaining rule. From their discussion of "Yi, Ding, Yan, Zhao, and the rest, destroy them and share them together", it is also quite rampant. The court's nail in Hebei, you say to destroy it?

My uncle seemed to have some simple loyalty and affection for the court, and he had made contributions to the revival of the dynasty, but his brutality was also obvious to all. After thinking about it, I think he was the same type of person as Li Huaiguang, Pugu Huai'en, Han Hong, and Wang Zhixing.

Now, no one can hold the saint accountable, so we can only stop talking about it.

"If you have any disputes in the future, please come to me and I will help you get justice."

Wang Zimei nodded and replied, "I respectfully accept your request."

"This is not the Daming Palace, nor the main government office. It's just my other courtyard where I live. Relax, don't be nervous." The saint gathered his long hair and crossed his legs on the armrest. He raised his hand and pointed at the female imperial concubine next to him: "A Miao, bring Wang Qing a Hu bed and a cup of tea."

"I am overwhelmed." Wang Zimei thanked him and sat down on the small stool.

A Miao turned around and went out, brought two sets of tea sets and placed them on the table for the emperor and his ministers, then stood aside.

"Have some tea." The saint pointed to the table.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Zimei picked up the tea bowl, took a symbolic sip, then put it down and sat with his hands folded.

Then the sage was heard talking as if about family matters: "Since Changqing, the government has become increasingly corrupt, and finally it has fallen to this point. Who do you think is to blame? It is a fact that the court has lost its way, and it is normal for the people in Guandong to be dissatisfied. But Chao Cai and his people eat raw meat and drink blood, and lead beasts to eat people. The people in Guandong did not rebel even though they were eaten, and were willing to follow and serve them. Why is that?"

"There's no one else here, so you can speak freely."

Wang Zimei looked up at the saint.

"There are no taboos. I never punish you for your words." The saint supported his head with his right hand and combed his hair hanging in front of his body with his left hand.

"Your Majesty is wise and has won over the court." Wang Zimei complimented, thinking about where to start.

This topic was too big, and he could not figure out the saint's thoughts for a while. Out of caution, he said: "In my humble opinion, the chaos in the world began with the chaos in the temple, and the chaos in the temple came from the chaos of the clan system. When the clan system is in chaos, the emperor will be in chaos. Moreover, since ancient times, the emperor has used the censors as hawks and dogs, as his ears and eyes, and the prime ministers as his hands and feet, as his internal organs. Today is really the fault of the disorder of yin and yang, rituals and music, and the sins of the Seven Saints of Changqing, the prime minister, and the eunuchs."

"As for the common people and soldiers in Guandong who are alienated from the imperial court, I think the emperors were too merciful and killed too few people. These people are so stupid that they can't tell good from evil. They are afraid of power but not virtue. They are beasts in human form and only care about profit. They can fight to the death with their neighbors for trivial matters. They all think that there is no difference between kings, princes, generals and ministers. And whoever is the emperor in the world does not affect their farming. Therefore, they are most easily bewitched and used, and they rebel as soon as they get a chance. When our ancestors held the imperial seal in Hebei, they also had to clean up the city first. They didn't rebel against Chao Cai, but Chao Cai would really massacre the city and eat people. They worked for Chao Cai because they were afraid of being killed, scared and tempted by small profits."

The saint was not surprised. He tapped his knuckles on the Arhat bed and said, "Isn't it because he can't survive? Have you read Liu Yunzhang's theory of eight sufferings, nine destructions and five deaths?"

"Of course I have read it." Wang Zimei nodded and said, "There are such people. From ancient times to the present, whether under the rule of the imperial court or in Hebei, Jianghuai, they all exist. But this is only a small part——"

"Then." The sage waved his hand. "I have killed all the eunuchs. If the prime minister is incompetent, I can dismiss him at any time and execute him. I am not like my father and brother who abandoned their spies and lackeys. Instead, I gave the censors greater power and made them as domineering as the embroidered envoys. So, what do you think should be done to revive the country in the future? Don't make grand speeches, be detailed."

"Yes." Wang Zimei had already prepared a plan: "The future and rejuvenation of the country are based on the stability of the country. And given the current situation, the stability of the country depends on your Majesty alone."

"And the above are busy with all kinds of affairs, fighting in all directions, and I have my own illness. Forgive me for being arrogant. If something happens, does your majesty think that the ministers and the army will obediently support a certain king? Do you want to see the army involved in the fight for the throne and the internal consumption, and Han Wei, Wang Congxun, Zhao Fu, Wang Zhu, the Privy Councilor, the Xuanhui Envoy, the Shufei, the Xianfei... met with an untimely death? These are loyal ministers and your majesty's loved ones. The army is the Buzhou Mountain of the court. Their death due to the change of the throne is really a loss to the country and a regret for your majesty. I really feel deeply worried and painful for your majesty!"

"Therefore, I sincerely suggest that Your Majesty consider the issue of the crown prince and seek a smooth transfer of imperial power. Only in this way can we talk about revival and the future. Otherwise, if things go wrong, the world, which has finally been peaceful, will fall into chaos again."

The saint frowned and said quietly, "I have sent my eldest son to Liangzhou to study with Xu Yanruo."

(End of this chapter)