Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 367 Our whole family rebelled (Part )
Zhong Nanshan, Cuiwei Palace.

It was hot in June, but the mountain breeze blew away most of the heat.

Wu Meiniang stood by the railing of the high bedroom and looked at the Chang'an city in the distance.

After a month and a half of heavy rain, Chang'an City was rarely in a mess.

Wu Meiniang turned and looked into the bedroom. The emperor was sitting on the couch, holding a secret book in his hand, and whispering something to Zhang Ananda.

Looking at this scene, Wu Meiniang's eyes became solemn.

The emperor did not avoid her most of the time, and only let her leave temporarily when Zhang Ananda delivered the secret book.

Wu Meiniang didn't know what was in the secret book.

But she knew that these things came from the Hundred Cavalry Division.

The Hundred Cavalry Division monitors the entire world and also monitors the four directions.

Officials at all levels, and all the barbarians inside and outside the country.

The emperor was watching closely at all times.

Even though he is now recuperating in Zhongnan Mountain, and even though he is now the Crown Prince Regent, there are still many things that are sent directly to Zhongnan Mountain without bypassing the Crown Prince.

I’m afraid even the prince doesn’t know what’s inside.

Of course, the prince also sent a large number of memorials to Chang'an City every day.

However, the emperor did not read most of them. He only read the memorials written by the six ministers, the chief secretaries of the four major military governorates, the chief secretary of Yongzhou, and the governor of Luozhou.

There is no need to explain the importance of the six ministers. The remaining Yongzhou and Luozhou, plus the four major military governorates of Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou and Bingzhou, are the fulcrums for the emperor to control the world.

As long as the emperor controls these places, he will not be afraid of chaos in the world.

Wu Meiniang turned around again and looked at Chang'an City again.

……

Crown Prince, Prince of Jin.

The two people immediately jumped into Wu Meiniang's mind.

It has been three months since Prince Jin left Beijing, and a lot of things have happened in the meantime.

One month after Li Zhi left Beijing, Princess Zhao of Jin was found to be pregnant.

The emperor originally wanted to summon Prince Jin back to the capital immediately, but unfortunately, it rained heavily.

Of course, Wu Meiniang knew in her heart that even if there had not been this continuous heavy rain, the emperor would not really recall Prince Jin back to Beijing.

He just wanted to act like a good person. As soon as he opened his mouth to say something like this, Changsun Wuji and the prince would stop him.

The Crown Prince was regent and encountered heavy summer rain.

Fortunately, there was just as much heavy rain last year. Under the leadership of the crown prince, the entire Chang'an, the entire Yongzhou, and even the entire world handled the flood in an orderly manner and rescued the victims.

Now it is the end of summer and the rain has finally stopped.

However, based on last year's experience, there will probably be several more rains after autumn.

But Wu Meiniang didn't care about these things. What she really cared about was where Li Zhi was now?
Did the emperor notice?
After Chu Suiliang left Beijing, Li Zhi wanted to win him over completely. The window period was from the time Chu Suiliang left Beijing to the time he received the emperor's edict to transfer him back to Beijing, which was definitely not too long.

In March, Li Zhi left Beijing first, and Chu Suiliang left Beijing later.

The two never met, nor had the opportunity to meet.

After all, whether it was Li Zhi or Chu Suiliang, there were too many people watching them along the way.

If two people overlap even a certain distance, they will be targeted.

Of course, this may also be because they feel guilty.

However, Wu Meiniang was not too worried about this. Li Zhi had been preparing for these matters for a long time. He should be able to meet Chu Suiliang secretly and convince him.

If Li Zhi couldn't even do this, Wu Meiniang would abandon him without hesitation.

"Mei Niang!" The emperor's voice came from the palace.

……

Wu Meiniang came to her senses and turned around to see that the emperor had put the secret book aside, and there was a plate of fresh lychees on the table.

Wu Meiniang walked over curiously, bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, are there lychees in May?"

"Of course, there are lychees in Guangzhou in April." The emperor smiled, then said meaningfully, "Someone in the south rushed them to Chang'an and presented them to me. They were sealed with ice water along the way, so they were still fresh when they arrived in Chang'an. Come and have a taste."

"Yes!" Wu Meiniang didn't care. She was not a girl who knew nothing. Lychees were also produced in Shu. It was normal for someone to do these things to please the emperor.

Moreover, the emperor has been less concerned with state affairs in the past few months, and he has done a lot of these enjoyable things.

The most important thing is that Wu Meiniang did not have a direct feeling about the distance between Guangzhou and southern Shu.

"Not bad, it's delicious." Wu Meiniang picked up one, peeled off the shell, and put it in her mouth. Finally, she looked at the emperor with a smile and said, "It's very sweet. Your Majesty, please have one too."

"No." Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "The imperial physician said that I can't eat anything too sweet. You can eat it."

"Then I won't eat it either." Wu Meiniang quickly shook her head.

"It's alright." The emperor smiled and said, "I've already had these things delivered to the palace. The concubines in the palace all have them, so you don't need one more."

"Then I'll put it aside and eat it in the evening." Wu Meiniang shook her head slightly, her eyes firm.

"Haha!" Li Shimin laughed even more heartily, and then said: "It's up to you, but my beloved, you've been staying in the mountains for a long time. Aren't you bored? Why don't I accompany you for a walk down the mountain."

"Let's wait for a while." Wu Meiniang looked at Li Shimin and said tenderly and sincerely, "Your Majesty, it's the hottest time of the year now. It's inevitable that you will sweat when you get down the mountain. It will be bad for your health. It's better to wait until autumn."

"Okay!" The emperor nodded with some relief.

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the palace. Zhang Ananda walked out, then walked back, bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, the chief envoy to India, Li Yibiao, the Imperial Guard, and the Deputy Envoy, Wang Xuance, have arrived in Dunhuang and will be back in Chang'an soon. The Crown Prince has asked whether they should be allowed to come before Your Majesty."

"Li Yibiao has returned from India?" Li Shimin seemed a little dazed.

"Yes, we are in Dunhuang now. We can reach Chang'an in half a month by riding fast." Zhang Ananda bowed slightly.

"Tianzhu!" Li Shimin thought for a moment and said, "Let the prince meet them first, and then let them come to Zhongnanshan."

"Yes!" Zhang Ananda immediately bowed, then turned around and passed the order.

Wu Meiniang looked at Li Shimin curiously and said, "The envoy has returned from India. Is there really Buddha there?"

"Haha!" The emperor laughed and looked at Wu Meiniang and said, "I know that my beloved concubine worships Buddhism, but Buddha is in the Western Paradise and in my heart, but not in India."

"Oh!" Wu Meiniang immediately understood.

"Okay, I'll take a break."

"Yes!"

……

Chang'an City, Wude Hall.

Li Chengqian sat on the couch, looking at the lychees that had just been taken out of the ice cellar, his eyes slightly solemn.

It's not ice, and he doesn't know how to make ice. Although he knows some ways to make ice, he has never done it, doesn't plan to make it himself, and doesn't plan to do it now.

I'll find someone to make ice cream in the summer. He's interested in lychees.

Although these lychees were taken out of the ice cellar and it was unknown how long they had been picked, Li Chengqian was still full of doubts when he saw this thing.

Too new, too new.

Compared with the lychees sent to Chang'an City in previous years, this year's lychees are too new.

After riding the red dust princess smiled, no one knew it was Litchi.

Litchi Road.

In order to transport fresh lychees to Chang'an, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and officials in the court put in a lot of effort.

As for the source, Lingnan, some people in later generations said that Lingnan was Guangzhou, after all, it is the main producing area of ​​lychees.

Some people also say it is Bashu, after all, Bashu also produces lychees, and there is a lychee called Feizishao.

The historical records are self-contradictory, saying that lychees came from Lingnan. After all, "If I can eat 300 lychees a day, I would be willing to be a Lingnan person forever." However, the recorded place of departure is from Bashu.

It is already difficult to travel from Guangzhou to Jingzhou, and it is even more difficult to go up the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River to Bashu.

But from Li Chengqian's perspective, whether it is Bashu or Lingnan, the lychees in this era are not enough to ensure that they can be delivered to Chang'an City so fresh.

After all, Litchi Road has not been built yet.

Unless, someone was conducting some kind of experiment from Guangzhou, and specially selected lychees, sealed them with ice all the way, and sent them to Chang'an at full speed day and night.

What experiment, post station transportation.

Li Chengqian himself had proposed the reform of post station transportation, but the emperor asked him to implement it slowly because he thought it involved huge risks.

The emperor did not lie to him. There was indeed a huge risk involved, and Li Chengqian could see it.

That's why he took his time in Gansu, Liang, and Longyou, and also in Guanzhong.

But now he sees this reform elsewhere.

Do it slowly and carefully.

If the emperor had not sent lychees to the palace a few days ago, Li Chengqian would not even have noticed the problem.

Someone was doing it quietly, and the emperor knew it.

If it was done in Lingnan, there is no reason why Li Chengqian would not notice it.

Wang Youlan's father, Wang Renyouke, was still serving as the governor of Songzhou.

So, it can only be Guangzhou.

Someone used the express post station method from Guangzhou to deliver the lychees to Chang'an and to the emperor, and then the emperor delivered them to Li Chengqian.

They couldn't have gone to Bashu, so the only possible destinations were Jingzhou, Luozhou, and then Yongzhou.

……

Li Chengqian raised his head slightly and looked outside the hall.

Jingzhou.

Li Zhi.

Because Li Zhi was in Jingzhou, although Li Chengqian also paid attention to Jingzhou, much of his attention was on Li Zhi.

Li Chengqian suddenly understood.

Beyond his notice, the emperor was also doing something.

The emperor was also preparing something for Li Zhi.

The emperor has his own plans.

Post station, reform.

Jingzhou, Li Zhi.

Li Chengqian looked at the lychees in front of him, and he finally understood everything.

The emperor sent this gift of lychees with a certain degree of warning.

He knew that Li Chengqian was keeping an eye on Li Zhi, and if Li Zhi really did anything, Li Chengqian would definitely take drastic measures.

However, the emperor did not know the details of what Li Zhi was planning to do.

He had no idea how far Li Chengqian had infiltrated Li Zhi.

Moreover, to be honest, at this point in time, even Li Chengqian was acting very cautiously.

If Li Zhi had thought more deeply and made other arrangements, Li Chengqian's plan would not only fail to hurt him, but would instead trap himself.

The emperor was trying to take control of the situation.

Or to be more precise, he wanted to save Li Zhi.

Li Zhi was courting death, and the emperor wanted to save him.

He didn't want to see Li Zhi repeat Li Tai's fate, and he didn't want to see the Xuanwu Gate incident happen again.

He didn't want to be like his father.

He is afraid.

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly. Many things are not what you want them to be.

For example, in the Xuanwu Gate incident back then, it was not just Li Shimin who rebelled, but the entire Qin Palace.

There was their queen mother, their brothers, and all the civil and military officials in the Qin Palace.

It's the same today.

Li Zhi was imitating the emperor, imitating the Xuanwu Gate that the emperor had built in the past.

He is not alone, he has a group of people behind him.

Many of them were even pushed forward by the emperor himself.

And Li Chengqian, who was sitting opposite Li Zhi, was not the Li Chengqian in the emperor's heart.

The original Li Chengqian is dead.

The current Li Chengqian is the Li Chengqian who came back from hell.

He wants revenge, he wants revenge, father.

Li Chengqian raised his head and took a deep breath calmly.

Take your time, Father.

Take it slow and see what happens in the end?
……

Li Yifu walked in from outside the hall with a solemn expression, bowed to Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness, Li Yibiao and Wang Xuance have arrived."

"Xuan!"

(End of this chapter)