Chapter 398 Someone with status

The next day, when Xue Bai went to see Yang Guozhong, the right minister was busy handling official duties.

It is said that Yin Xianyu Zhongtong of Jingzhao hired skilled craftsmen to carve a stone tablet for Yang Guozhong with "Quan Zongzhi Neng" and planned to erect it outside the gate of Shangshu Province. In this way, officials from the six departments could see it when they went to the Yamen, and they would always remember his political achievements.

The inscription was written by Xianyu Zhongtong himself, but the problem is that the saint became interested after learning about it, read the article himself, and changed a few words. But now that the stele has been engraved, they are discussing what to do.

Xue Bai waited in the side hall for half an hour. They finally found a solution and decided to fill it with gold and re-engrave those words.

When Xue Bai entered, he met Xian Yu Zhongtong coming out. After saying hello, he asked: "Jie Shuai has been in Sichuan and Shu for a long time. Are you still used to it in Chang'an now?"

"The weather in Chang'an is too dry."

Xianyu Zhongtong thought that even if he could not be called a famous general, he had done practical things in Sichuan and Sichuan, but now he was just a lackey who followed mediocrity like Yang Guozhong. He felt unspeakable in his heart, shook his head, and left.

Xue Bai entered alone. When Yang Guozhong saw him, he smiled brightly and said, "A Bai is here. I heard rumors from Chang'an that you have been very lucky recently."

"Brother, have you heard that Feng Shenwei has returned from Fan Yang?"

"Yeah?"

Yang Guozhong looked confused, as if he had even forgotten what Feng Shenwei was doing in Fan Yang.

Xue Bai had no choice but to repeat the matter again, but unlike Du Wulang who directly presented the solution, he threw Yang Guozhong a series of difficult problems.

"In the past, when Li Linfu was here, An Lushan was extremely flattering. Now he is so unruly and unruly. It seems that he is dissatisfied with my brother. The saint will surely inquire about this matter soon. How are you going to answer?"

"Abai, do you have any clever ideas to teach me?"

"It's nothing more than a statement." Xue Bai said casually, "The saint doesn't want to believe that Hu'er will rebel, and he has doubts. You either insist that he will rebel, or you follow the holy will to reassure the saint."

"Can I still say that he won't rebel?" Yang Guozhong raised his eyebrows and said thoughtfully: "But I have to find a way to make the saint believe in me."

Xue Bai still did not propose a solution. After raising the question, the topic changed and he began to seek an official position for himself, saying that he wanted to go further.

"Do you want to make progress again?"

Yang Guozhong was upset and impatiently asked Xue Bai for an official position, saying: "How long will you be a talent in Zhongshushe? Let me tell you a piece of news, which is worth a thousand gold."

"Then I accept it respectfully."

"The sage told me earlier that he thought you were too young to be in an important position under Zhongshu, and wanted to give you some setbacks to hone your skills. I am the one who has been taking care of you, otherwise you would have been demoted long ago. Listen to me,

Now is not the time to make progress."

Since it was not the time to make progress, Xue Bai showed little interest in government affairs, his attitude was visibly perfunctory, and he quickly stood up to leave.

Yang Guozhong had something important to ask him. Seeing him like this, he was dissatisfied. He looked at his back and snorted secretly.

"They are just short-sighted, selfish people."

~~

But the problem had to be solved. One day later, Yang Guozhong was actually summoned by the saint and asked his opinion on Fan Yang's incident.

Of course he spoke honestly.

Unfortunately, the saint remained silent and did not express his position on this.

Yang Guozhong felt very disappointed. After returning home, he immediately summoned his staff to discuss the matter. However, they failed to come up with a result for several days. Instead, they heard some rumors in Chang'an City.

"What?"

"The lower officials heard that the saint intends to call An Lushan into the court as prime minister."

Yang Guanghui heard this news from the diners in the next private room while having a drink in Qingmen yesterday. The other party claimed to be an official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so the news should be accurate.

"How can this be so?"

As long as there is a possibility of losing the phase, no matter how small the risk is, Yang Guozhong is unwilling to accept it, and he immediately shows his disgust.

He had never been so resistant to Li Linfu's spit.

Yang Guanghui said quickly: "This news was also obtained by the lower official. It is said that after hearing Feng Shenwei's report, the saint wanted to test An Lushan... The lower official believed that the miscellaneous Hu would never return to the court to serve as prime minister.

"

"He won't? Are you right?!"

Yang Guozhong scolded angrily and said: "Even if he does not return to the court, as long as the sage orders it, there will be another prime minister in the court. How do you want me to deal with it?!"

This was quite reasonable, but Yang Guanghui couldn't answer it, so he had to retreat quietly.

Yang Guozhong thought about it and became more and more worried. So he sent someone to invite Xue Bai again to ask about the matter.

"Has it come to this?" After hearing this, Xue Bai deliberately showed some surprise, took two steps and asked, "Have you explained An Lushan's ambitions in front of the saint?"

"That's right." Yang Guozhong was annoyed by his deliberately arrogant manner, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Xue Bai said: "Brother said that Hu'er wanted to rebel, so the saint recalled him to the capital to serve as prime minister. If you back down again at this time, wouldn't you be making the saint unhappy?"

"ha."

When it came to his own important interests, Yang Guozhong was not stupid at all. He immediately understood that Xue Bai and Yang Guanghui actually meant the same thing.

Of course, the meaning is the same, but the perspective shown when saying it is completely different. Yang Guozhong did not reprimand Xue Bai, but waved his hand firmly and said decisively: "You don't need to say any more, I will never let the saint issue an edict."

.”

Xue Bai knew that persuading him was not that simple. He was too lazy to waste time on this matter. He had his own other methods and sneered: "Is it as simple as not issuing an edict now?"

"what else?"

"Since he refuses to call An Lushan back to pay homage to the prime minister, he will rebel sooner or later. We must prepare for the worst. When the day comes for a military confrontation, will we have enough troops to cope with it?"

Yang Guozhong asked: "What do you mean?"

"Of course it's to strengthen your power in the army. I can give you a list of names later to recommend talents to the prime minister's office."

Xue Bai had a very important purpose in making friends with Li Tan. He knew that Li Heng had been operating in the Northwest Army for many years and had close relationships with many generals, such as Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, the two famous generals who put down the Anshi Rebellion in history.

This is where Xue Bai's thinking is different from that of Gao Lishi. Gao Lishi wanted to prove to Li Longji that An Lushan was going to rebel, but he underestimated An Lushan's strength and did not realize that proof alone was useless; while Xue Bai

Bai wanted to guide a group of generals as soon as possible, and when Yang Guozhong was full of entanglements, he could just use the power of the right prime minister to do things cheaply.

…

Yang Guozhong thought about it for a while and decided to listen to Xue Bai's two suggestions, guide a group of military talents, and show kindness to them.

As for the appointment of An Lushan as prime minister, he thought it was meaningless. Instead, issuing an edict would only shake the prestige of the court, so he sent people to the palace to request an audience, preparing to oppose the matter to the saint's face.

After entering the palace, he observed carefully and found that the person accompanying Li Longji today was Gao Lishi, so he secretly applauded and his confidence greatly increased.

After the salute, when Li Longji asked him what he wanted to see, he hesitated slightly and said: "I heard that the saint wanted An Lushan to be the prime minister. Although he has military achievements, he can't read, how can he be the prime minister? If the saint makes books, I will

I’m afraid the barbarians despise the Tang Dynasty.”

He had thought about these words for a long time and said them in response to the saint's great joy in success. The saint was so proud that he would probably listen.

Unexpectedly, Li Longji had a dumbfounded smile when he heard this, and said: "What Yang Qing said is true, but I don't know that I want An Lushan to be the prime minister. Where did Yang Qing get the news?"

Yang Guozhong was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had learned the news from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Later, he remembered that Yang Guangfei had learned the news from a teahouse and restaurant.

"There was such a rumor in the court, but I mistakenly believed it to be true. I have neglected my duty."

It was extremely ridiculous for a prime minister to make such a mistake. But Li Longji didn't take it seriously. He was more curious, so he glanced at Gao Lishi and asked with his eyes.

Gao Lishi then said: "There must be someone who thinks that An Lushan's achievements are very high, so he advised the right prime minister to call An Lushan back to the capital to pay homage to the prime minister."

If Li Longji really had this plan, he might have given up after Yang Guozhong's persuasion, but Yang Guozhong made a fool of himself first and reminded him instead.

Even if he trusts that fat man who is always willing to make a fool of himself in front of him, and someone is constantly suing him in front of him, with his suspicious temperament, how can he not be suspicious at all?

However, Li Longji would not discuss it with Gao Lishi and Yang Guozhong. These two people had prejudices against An Lushan and their words would inevitably be biased.

As an emperor who was wise enough to refuse advice, when he was occasionally indecisive, he found that there were fewer and fewer people around him who could negotiate.

After Yang Guozhong retreated, he thought for a while and ordered Gao Lishi to summon Zhang Bian.

There were times when Zhang Bian wanted to make progress, but he had been accustomed to being generous since he was a child. When he encountered some setbacks, he would retreat to his original comfortable life, and he was not as concerned about government affairs as others.

Therefore, it was rare for him to remain aloof in front of the emperor. He stood there listening to Li Longji's inquiries and thinking about it. He did not give an answer immediately, but first stated his concerns.

"This is an old custom of the Tang Dynasty when a general comes out and becomes a prime minister. If An Lushan is illiterate, Yang Guozhong's knowledge is also not profound. What I am worried about is that when An Lushan returns to the court, to whom will your Majesty entrust Fan Yang and Pinglu?"

After saying that, Zhang Bian paused for a moment before analyzing another possibility, and said slowly: "And what if he doesn't want to return to the court?"

It is easy to test, but the many problems caused by the test made Li Longji difficult.

"According to Zhang Qing's wishes, it is inappropriate for me to summon An Lushan back to pay homage to the prime minister?"

"I dare you to ask the sage if you need to clear up your doubts?"

"good."

Zhang Bian then said: "If An Lushan is willing to go to the court to pay homage to the prime minister, which shows his loyalty, then he can be made minister Zuopushe and still stay in Fanyang to pay homage to the prime minister without returning to the capital. This will reassure his heart and praise his loyalty."

"Yes." Li Longji nodded endlessly. This was the result he wanted to see most. The national affairs were calm and he could continue to be his emperor.

Zhang Bian continued: "As for An Lushan who is unwilling to enter the court, I think I should send people to kill him quickly. I will send the generals from the four towns of Hexi, Longyou, Shuofang and Hedong to Fan Yang to quell the rebellion."

Compared with Gao Lishi and Feng Shenwei's complaint, Yang Guozhong's embarrassment, Zhang Bian's suggestion seemed more appropriate, but Li Longji still had an imperceptible frown. He had prepared himself mentally for the trouble this move might cause, and just nodded.

He raised his head and said: "Let's do it this way."
To be continued...