The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 71 Test
The old guy has quite a lot of followers.

Li Sizhou, the commander of Yaowu Army, succeeded the King of Tan and commanded 6300 Yaowu soldiers. Li Yanzhen, the commander of Shangchendu Army, was a descendant of Li Chengqian and commanded 2000 soldiers. Ximen Xi, the commander of the left wing of Baoguo Army, and Ximen Zhao, the commander of the right wing of Baoguo Army, commanded 8000 Baoguo Army soldiers. Ximen Wuji, the commander of Yousheng Army, commanded 4000 soldiers. Ximen Huan, the commander of Longhu Army, commanded 4000 soldiers. Li Junshi, the commander of the left wing of Neizhi Army, and Li Yun, the commander of the right wing of Neizhi Army, commanded 6000 soldiers.

Ximen Qi was in charge of weapons in the palaces and gardens of the two capitals, Ximen Yuanyuan was in charge of the bow and arrow warehouse, and there were also many provincial governors, military supervisors, and garrison commanders who were sent out from the old man's school.

Generally speaking, they are not as powerful as Tian Lingzi and Yang Fugong, but the background of the eunuch family for 150 years is fully exposed, and Li Sizhou, Li Yanzhen, Li Junshi, Li Yun, Cao Cheng and other royal relatives are also willing to be driven by them. When the old pig herder dies, these are all his inheritance.

wait.

The old man won’t last long in this condition.

Old guys like Tian Lingzi, Han Wenyou, Liu Xingshen, Yang Fuguang, and Ximen Sigong have successively retired. Yang Fugong resigned, Ximen Zhongsui became seriously ill, and an era is about to end - the rule of eunuchs is about to exit silently.

However, the internal affairs will not be calmed down. In the past, Li Keyong led his army to force Tian Lingzi to step down and support Yang Fugong. In history, Li Maozhen and his ilk had several attempts to gain power, killed Yang Fugong and Ximen Chongsui, and allied with Han Quanhui and others. Now that the eunuchs have lost control over the emperor and suffered unprecedented damage, they are no longer valuable. What spokespersons will the Jiedushis introduce? In this situation where it is easy to fail in the struggle and be sentenced to death without the support of foreign troops, many court officials are also seeking the support of the vassal states.

Now that the emperor has regained some power, he can guarantee their safety. I hope there will be fewer ministers like this, or even better, no ministers at all.

On the way back to the palace, the officials and common people saw the carriage and learned that the sage had defeated the rebel army and killed more than 20,000 bandits in Mibei Lake. They breathed a sigh of relief and cheered along the streets, shouting "Long live the emperor". Over the years, the people have been ravaged by the troops of Qi, Bin, Tong, Hua, Pu, and Jin, and have been killed, abused, and preyed upon by the bandits. They are afraid, so they hope that the court can win this time and everyone can be safe.

For this, they were willing to perform corvée labor and pay taxes - even if their livelihood was already difficult, living under the rule of this failing court was still a hundred times better than Wang Xingyu's gang. At least they would not be caught, chopped up and roasted, forced to fill trenches, robbed, or their entire families killed.

This victory gave the Chinese people hope to continue living.

The victorious army was given leave in turn, so that the men could relax and contribute to the country's population growth. The rewards had been issued. After a great victory, the saint was very arrogant and rewarded each warrior with various goods worth six pieces of silk. Humming a leisurely tune and enjoying the worship and praise of his subjects, the saint entered the Danfeng Gate.

As usual, there were a lot of people downstairs congratulating him. This time, there was no grand procession, so the ministers did not go out of the city to welcome him. The chief and deputy envoys of Feilong Court, Xuanhui Court, Neizhuang House, Qitian Treasury, and officials of the three provinces and six ministries above the fourth rank all bowed down, clasped their hands and bowed to the carriage, with a solemn expression. The sage nodded, looked at this, asked that, and his face was frozen with smiles.

"Great, great!" After entering Danfeng Gate, only more than 20 core confidants were left in the team. Du Rangneng could no longer hold back and clapped his hands and laughed. He praised the warriors for their loyalty and bravery, and then held the saint's hand and whispered intimately: "Good. Being able to bend and stretch, the dignity of the ruler is becoming more and more solemn. Also, holding the magic sword in hand, rewarding good and punishing evil depends on the heart, why not be a king!"

"You are too kind, Commander." The sage smiled proudly, shook hands with the old man, and said modestly, "Thanks to the efforts of my subordinates, the dedication of my officers and soldiers, and the loyalty of my officials, I have made some small achievements."

"The emperor led the army to the battle, and there were only seven saints." Du Rangneng's face was radiant and he repeated meaningfully: "When Emperor Gaozu founded the country, he fired seventy arrows in a row and killed seventy bandits. Wu Duan'er fled in fear. In Mayi, the Turks were defeated and the Hu fled at night. Emperor Taizong conquered the east and the west and was successful in everything. Emperor Xuanzong swept away the Wei family, Emperor Suzong traveled thousands of miles to fight, Emperor Daizong attacked An Qingxu in Luoyang, Emperor Dezong fought against Shi Chaoyi in Shaanxi, and Emperor Shunzong established himself in Qianxian City, fighting with swords and guns, with blood all over his face. The saints shuttled between swords and guns, and the Tang Dynasty was able to turn danger into safety many times."

At this point, the old man warned in a low voice: "The so-called great power comes from oneself. How can we rely on heaven and earth instead of ourselves? If we win a few more battles, the emperor's grace and prestige in the army will be firmly established. Who would dare to rebel easily? Su, Dai, and De were born in troubled times. They understood this and ventured into the dragon's den and the tiger's den as if it were their own home. That's how they sat firmly on the throne. Otherwise, would the world still be called Li? Your Majesty, remember this."

This is like the scene of the Baiyishanren and Li Heng getting along with each other. The monarch and his subject slept in the same bed, ate and lived together, and talked about everything - Li Heng was like a good husband who treated his wife like a mother - tricked Li Mi into wearing purple clothes, grilled meat and peeled pears for Li Mi, and built a mansion. The only thing missing was sharing his wife... Unfortunately, it didn't work out. The Baiyishanren left, and the Huangyishanren missed him unbearably.

Listening to the old man's indecent but sincere words, the saint shook his hand and said with a smile: "Don't worry, General, I won't worry about it."

"I still have official business to attend to, so I will return to the Secretariat first." The old man looked at the female officials not far away and reminded them, "Tomorrow, you can summon the wives of generals such as Wang Congxun to the palace, and invite Concubine Shu and Concubine Xian to bring their children to have a banquet with them. This will help to maintain harmony between the monarch and his subjects, and help them advance and retreat together, so that villains won't take advantage of them."

"Good." The saint accepted it.

Back in the Penglai Palace, Privy Councilor Zhao was sitting there sorting memorials - basically all of them were written by Chinese and foreign officials to the emperor personally.

Part of it was the dispute among the military governors, fighting over land, people and wives. Yes, it was so weird that they went to the saint to sue.

Some of them killed people to ask for the banner. For example, Wang Jian, who was having a hard time, presented a memorial, and his words changed from arrogant. Under the siege of the Wai Zhai Lang, facing the terrible situation of more than 40 states in the east and west Sichuan, most of them were in a state of confrontation, the thief Wang Ba had lost the prestige he had when he first entered Chengdu. He thought that the court would end up in muddy, otherwise he would be beaten to death!

For example, Dong Chang of eastern Zhejiang asked the sage to be named King of Yue.

Some of them were private reports from generals and governors of various places. For example, Li Cunxiao, a good and righteous son of Li Keyong, raised the flag of rebellion, but felt that he could not defeat the Crow King, so he wrote a letter to the sage, requesting to offer the three states of Xing, Ming and Ci to the court. For example, Li Kuangwei, the governor of Youzhou, was expelled and wandered around, and also wanted to bring 2000 personal troops to the court. For example, Zhao Kuangning of Jingchu was frightened by Zhu Quanzhong, and suggested that the sage call on all heroes to fight against Zhu the thief.

Officials from the Privy Council came in and out, presenting various memorials to Zhao for his review.

"Send it to the Secretariat, and have the third-rank Tongpingzhangshi and the fourth-rank Yushitai come to the meeting."

"Transfer the draft to the on-duty Hanlin scholar."

"The Guangzhou Maritime Customs Commissioner's report? It will be forwarded to the three departments of the Ministry of Revenue. The coin minting, rent, labor service, salt, iron and green seedlings commissioner Du Taiwei will make the decision."

"A king? Dong Chang is too bold. He went back to the Zhejiang People's Court to report to the emperor."

"..."

Exhausted! Zhao rubbed her temples. One moment you want this, the next moment I yell that I want to stop the taxation, the next moment Zhang San threatens to lead troops into the court, the next moment Li Si clamors to purge the emperor's side.

Li Kuangwei wants to enter the court, can the saint stop him? Zhu Ci dared to occupy Chang'an with 5,000 Youzhou soldiers and proclaimed himself the Qin Emperor, sweeping Emperor Dezong out of the court. Li Kuangwei is now desperate and wants to lead his troops into the court. What is he thinking?

And there was that clown Sun Ru, jumping up and down, threatening to "wait for the peace to be established and then lead troops into the pass to eliminate the treacherous worms in the court." The hateful Zhu Quanzhong, Yang Xingmi, Qian Liu and other incompetent people were beaten and fled by a group of hungry Cai thieves.

Zhu Quanzhong is asking for the three military governorships of Yan, Yun and Xu again, and the great general Li Keyong, a relative of the emperor, is instigating the emperor to ask for Zhu Quanzhong... and the bastard, blinded by lust, is asking for the emperor's concubine, Chen. Although Zhao dislikes Chen Zhaoyi, who is beautiful and talented but always cold and has a white swan temperament, she is not someone who can be sent to the governor to be punished.

All these troubles gave her a headache. If the eunuchs were still in power, those people would give away anything to please the vassal states and bring them in as support. Fortunately, the leaders of the inner court had their hearts cut out by Yuwen Rou. Han Quanhui and his people were also uprooted by the saint, and their entire family was slaughtered, and their followers were beheaded by the Wei River.

Thinking of this, she wanted to laugh out loud - good kill!

"Just like an empress." The saint walked in and smiled.

Zhao looked in the direction of the sound and saw the Saint taking off his armor. When the servants in the hall saw him, they all knelt down, their bodies trembling.

"Get out!" Zhao cursed. Whenever she saw a birdless person, she would feel a strong desire to kill him.

The eunuchs withdrew in a hurry as if they had been pardoned.

"The saint has made new achievements and defeated tens of thousands of bandits in the two towns. You are becoming more and more like an emperor." Taking the armor that Li Ye had taken off, Zhao praised with a smile on her face.

"There's no peace inside the country, so why talk about the emperor?" The saint sat down comfortably behind the low table where she worked and flipped through the memorials piled on the desk - what a bunch of crap!

Zhao knelt beside him and expressed her feelings about the new position in the past few days: "The power of the Privy Council is not small. I think the officials of the Council should be scholars, either newly-appointed Jinshi or assistant officials of the six ministries. According to the system of the Hanlin Academy, eunuchs should not be allowed to participate in secrets. Secondly, eunuchs are not allowed to attend the meetings in Yanying Hall."

"Let's wait until the old guy dies." The saint paused and then instructed: "Officials of the upper and lower Privy Councils, you should eliminate the existing middle-class people as soon as possible and recruit female imperial concubines from the Ye Ting Bureau. I will select new people after the imperial examination next year."

"Can we start a system of selection to recruit talented people from the public who are knowledgeable, eloquent, outspoken, virtuous, and upright?"

"We'll make plans after we pacify the border." The saint held a bamboo slip and tapped it gently on his palm, as if he was thinking about something.

Hearing this, Zhao changed the subject and talked about something else: "Yesterday, the chief and deputy chief officials of the Secretariat, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Shangshu, together with the third-rank officials and the fourth-rank officials of the Censorate, discussed dividing the forty states in Sichuan. They said that according to the current geographical division, it is easy to create strong vassal states."

This aroused the saint's interest.

He had been to Sichuan several times in his previous life. It was a natural place for division. Surrounded by rivers and boundless mountains, transportation in many places was extremely dangerous in the 21st century. In northeastern Sichuan, Daba Mountain and Mi Cang Mountain stretched for hundreds of miles, and the road was surrounded by a thousand-foot cliff filled with clouds and mist... In this era, if the plank road burned, the Central Plains dynasty would be left staring blankly. Attack? Without 100,000 soldiers, a million stones of grain, and 10,000 ships, don't even think about it.

By this time in later generations, Wang Jian had basically secured his throne.

However, after Li Ye arrived, he ignored all of Wang Jian's requests, causing more than 40 states in Shu to disapprove of this local king. He also tolerated Yang Fugong and preserved his power. This year, the Wai Zhai Lang headed by Yang Shouliang was threatened, so they joined forces to deal with the thief Wang Ba. Six Jiedushi and two governors recruited troops and attacked Wang Jian with more than 200,000 people.

The imperial court is now redividing the regions, and it should have noticed this situation. If you can't control the strong vassal, then eliminate the soil that may produce strong vassal and turn Xichuan into several small towns. In this way, even if someone rebels, it will be easier to deal with - an old routine.

"How is the Southern Court divided?"

Zhao interpreted them one by one: "Establishing Suining Town implies peace in Suining, and the title of Defense Envoy was given to Wang Zongkan, the adopted son of Wang Jian."

The saint was delighted when he heard this. This was the same trick used to deal with Li Keyong and his son. Li Keyong claimed to be the governor of Datong Army. The court's mediation was fruitless, so it sent someone to replace Li Guochang. Li Guochang was transferred to Datong Army.

I'm going to sit in my son's seat. Will my son give way to me or not?
This time, Li and his son were in trouble and rebelled. Some people thought this was a stupid way. But it was a good strategy that touched people's hearts, because it tested the friendship between father and son, and between superiors and subordinates. Can the relationship between Wang Jian and his adopted son and his generals stand the test?

"A Jiedushi of Jiazhou was appointed, who governed the four states of Mei, Ya, Jia, and Rong, and appointed Zhang Qianyu, a general under Wang Jian, as the governor."

"These are the two towns determined at the meeting. Tomorrow we will issue an imperial edict, send envoys, and grant them flags and emblems."

"All right," the saint approved.

It can be seen that the Southern Court is very concerned about the situation in Shu. Wang Zongkan and Zhang Qianyu, the two people selected, should be quite trustworthy under Wang Jian? I wonder if their loyalty can withstand the temptation. Wang Jian is now in a difficult situation. He was suddenly attacked by the court. In addition to cursing, his suspicion of his subordinates will definitely rise.

Even though Wang and Zhang are extremely loyal, the thief Wang Ba has to ask himself from time to time: Do these two guys have any intention of rebelling?

Du Rangneng and his group of old guys are also taking advantage of the ambitions of the warriors. Now that Wang Jian is surrounded by enemies and the self-proclaimed king is not recognized by the local authorities, can the people under him not have some ideas?
wonderful.

With the limited power of the imperial court, this is the only way they can do to Shuzhong - to take advantage of opportunities and sow discord while letting things take their own course. If it were like in history, Wang Jian would have become a powerful figure, and in the face of absolute power, all conspiracies and tricks would be meaningless.

In addition, with the destruction of the three towns of Qi, Bin, and Hua, it was necessary to consider what strategy to use to govern this vast fertile land. Li Ye had an overall idea - to avoid the emergence of new separatist regimes to the greatest extent possible. The details still needed to be considered.

There is also a lucrative Tongzhou, which is still in the hands of Wang Xingyu's followers. It is a bit difficult to attack, because it is adjacent to Hezhong in the north. Directly attacking Tongzhou will arouse the fear of the Wang family and may lead to geopolitical conflicts. The lesson of the three towns attacking Chang'an in the Guangqi period must be learned.

Perhaps I could ask my father-in-law to step in on this matter.

(End of this chapter)