As the oldest person in the Yongwang line, he took office and a series of personnel transfers followed, which meant that the Yongwang line shifted their focus eastward and northward, from the court to the local government.

transfer.

Chen Xilie was a very tactful person. The first thing he did after returning to the prime ministership was to write a letter to express his loyalty to Xue Bai. He was also very polite to Yan Zhenqing, a junior. He usually kept silent when discussing state affairs, just like when Li Linfu was the prime minister.

.

But before the first month came out, a case broke out in Chang'an City.

Some students from the Imperial College accused Yan Zhenqing of conspiring with Wei Shu, Zheng Qian, Su Yuanming and others, criticizing Cheng Yu, and falsely claiming prophecies.

Li Cong immediately expressed his absolute trust in Yan Zhenqing and ordered that the student who complained was thrown into prison and sent to Zhongshu's lower province. However, Yan Zhenqing did not dare to implement it and simply asked to be appointed to the official position.

He was a hero, so Li Cong naturally would not allow him to become an official, so he ordered Chen Xilie to investigate the case thoroughly and try to clear Yan Zhenqing's innocence.

Chen Xilie took advantage of the opportunity of Yan Zhenqing's recusal from presiding over the case and began to take control of political affairs. He promoted Wei Jiansu as his servant and entered the ranks of the prime minister.

In this way, matters that were decided by Yan Zhenqing in the past can be discussed and voted on by the three prime ministers. As long as two people agree on a matter, it is enough.

As long as this case was not settled for a day, Yan Zhenqing would have to avoid suspicion and would not be able to serve as a director of the province. A few days later, he again submitted his resignation with sincere words.

Li Cong had no choice but to approve the matter.

Therefore, less than a year after the end of the rebellion, the heroes who put down the rebellion either left the border fortress or were in the northwest to prepare for the autumn. The prime ministers who were now staying in the court also retired. Accordingly, King Yong and his family were in the court

His power is at its most empty.

Li Cong worked hard for so long and finally cleared away the obstacles and took charge of the court.

The first thing was naturally to appoint officials. Dou Wenyang promoted his confidants to important ministers of the imperial court. These people regarded themselves as loyal ministers of the emperor and were the best at flattery, which soon made Li Cong feel elated.

After appointing officials, it is natural to have political achievements, and what are political achievements? Naturally, it is to fill the national treasury, so Dou Wenyang asked officials at all levels to find ways to increase taxes.

After the talent and money policies are decided and implemented, the biggest problem to be faced is Xue Bai, a serious enemy.

During the daily court meetings, the ministers gathered together and offered their own suggestions. They all believed that the time had come for Xue Bai to return to Chang'an to guard Li Ying's mausoleum and to remove him from the post of general marshal of the world's troops.

In short, Li Cong has already taken control of Chang'an, and he has to take advantage of Xue Bai before he takes control of Fan Yang.

~~

Jizhou.

The rolling mountains are gone, and there is flat grassland to the north, dotted with black or white cattle and sheep.

A large cloud floated over, very low, as if I wanted to overlook what a large group of people were doing on the grassland.

It was a market that was the mutual market between Khitan, Xi and Tang.

A messenger galloped from the south on horseback. He found a group of tough guards and asked, "Where is King Yong? I have something to tell you."

"Keep your voice down and I'll take you there."

A guard led the messenger forward and saw Xue Bai, wearing an ordinary robe, wrestling with a Khitan boy.

Everyone in the army knew that King Yong was very powerful and could dance a long arm weighing tens of kilograms without any problem. However, they did not expect that the thin-looking arms of the Khitan boy also contained great strength. The two were in a stalemate.

The dark and thin face of the Khitan boy was a little red. He was clearly young, but he had a sense of vicissitudes and maturity after a long period of experience. Only his eyes retained the innocence and simplicity of a young man.

Seeing the messenger coming, Xue Bai increased his strength, the muscles on his arms became more prominent, and finally pushed him down.

He didn't know how the Khitan boy's thin arms could be so strong. He was immediately annoyed, stood up, and said in his unskilled Chinese: "Okay, I'll sell you my horse."

Xue Bai smiled and bought his horse. It was a very handsome colt with powerful hooves and would not stop running.

Just when he saw the Khitan boy pulling the reins, the horse raised its head and neighed. Xue Bai took a fancy to it at a glance and went up to ask for the price. The Khitan boy wanted to sell it but was reluctant to sell it.

He rode this horse himself, but he needed to buy necessities back home, so he was a little tempted by Xue Bai's price.

After receiving the money, he enthusiastically invited Xue Bai to his home and invited him to drink mare's milk, showing the unique enthusiasm of a young man.

When Li Linfu placed great emphasis on the Hu people, he said that they were powerful and simple-minded. When Xue Bai came into contact with them, this was indeed the case.

"King Yong, I'm afraid you have to go back to Fanyang immediately."

The messenger finally found an opportunity, handed over the letter from Chang'an, and conveyed Yan Zhuang's words.

Xue Bai read the letter, waved his hand and said, "Don't be in a hurry, just stick to the planned itinerary."

A few days later, he met the new Khitan Khan in the grasslands farther north, threatened him, and then returned to Fanyang without haste.

Yan Gaoqing, Yuan Luqian and other officials had already arrived and greeted Xue Bai at the city gate.

They were both comrades-in-arms in Changshan, and they were very happy to see each other again.

When it came to the matter of farming, Yan Gaoqing was really clear-headed and answered many of Xue Bai's doubts.

They also mentioned that the imperial court wanted to collect taxes from Hebei.

I thought that Xue Bai was self-respecting as a soldier, so he would not hand over the civil register and field register to the court, let alone pay taxes.

"As early as two years ago, the imperial court issued a decree promising not to raise taxes, but now it frequently breaks its promise. If this continues, where is the prestige of the imperial court?"

As expected, Xue Bai first expressed his resistance to this, but then he changed the topic and said: "But Hebei is also the land of the Tang Dynasty. In the past two years, due to the rebellion, it has not paid taxes. Now that it has been recovered, it should be paid

The taxes will not be less."

After that, he asked people to hand over the field register and the people's register to Yan Gaoqing.

He has great ambitions for the world, and there is no need to resort to the evil tactics of separatist rule for a small amount of money.

The urgent matter that the messenger mentioned was not the urgent matter that required Xue Bai to rush back. Instead, the official decree from the imperial court arrived. Xue Bai Bai was sent to the Marshal of the Army and waited for his official position, and ordered him to return to Chang'an and visit Li Ying's mausoleum.

I stayed at the mausoleum to fulfill my filial piety for three years.

"King Yong, raise your troops."

History is always surprisingly similar. It was only after the Anshi Rebellion subsided that Yan Zhuang once again stood in the lobby of Fan Yang Jiedu Envoy's Mansion and said the same words.

He has already thought about it. The power of King Yong's family in the court is now at its most empty, and Yan Zhenqing is no longer in power. If Xue Bai surrenders his military power and returns to Chang'an, he will undoubtedly die.

But if you don't go back, you are disobeying the decree. It is better to start a rebellion first. Taking advantage of the remaining power of quelling the rebellion, it is not difficult to capture Chang'an.

Xue Bai was very calm and asked: "In what name?"

Yan Zhuang also considered it, and of course he could not raise troops in the name of unwillingness to guard the mausoleum and fulfill his filial piety, so he simply replied: "Qing Jun's side."

He put on a righteous and stern look and said in a deep voice: "Since the saint re-employed the eunuchs, he has gone against the grain and made the people of the world dissatisfied. King Yong should raise his army in the name of killing Dou Wenyang."

Xue Bai asked: "What if Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, Feng Changqing and other generals lead their troops to stop me?"

Yan Zhuang hesitated for a moment and licked his lips nervously because of what he was going to say next.

The reason why the imperial court dared to recall Xue Bai was to bet that these famous generals would not condone Xue Bai's rebellion. Once he raised an army, Feng Changqing could blackmail Xue Bai from behind.

"Please ask King Yong to invite Feng Changqing to Fan Yang for a banquet, get rid of him during the banquet, and seize the military power of Pinglu; and send envoys to win over Li Guangbi. I heard that he has long been dissatisfied with the saint's reuse of eunuchs and has a grudge in his heart. I should be able to persuade him;

In this case, only Guo Ziyi, with the sharpness of King Yong's army, can defeat him."

Xue Bai asked again: "Look at which general under my command who is completely loyal to me has the ability to defeat Guo Ziyi?"

"Fan Yang surrenders." Yan Zhuang said: "Tian Chengsi, Zhang Zhongzhi and others are loyal to King Yong and will definitely be willing to help King Yong seize the throne."

Xue Bai looked around and could see that Yan Zhuang's eyes were very eager, wishing that he would immediately start an army to rebel. This must have been the case when he first persuaded An Lushan.

But Xue Bai is not An Lushan. He has his own considerations and will not mess up his rhythm just because of a few words of encouragement.

Now he seems to have a high prestige, but in fact many of his generals follow him in order to help the Tang Dynasty. To raise an army at this time is to destroy the foundation. And there is no need at all. He believes that there will be better opportunities in a few years.

"Do you know what is the biggest difference between me and An Lushan?"

Yan Zhuang was stunned for a moment and replied: "King Yong's heroic appearance and extraordinary martial prowess are definitely not comparable to those of An Lushan."

Xue Bai said: "He is a rebel, but I am loyal to the imperial court. How can I imitate him and raise an army to rebel?"

Yan Zhuang didn't believe it. He could tell at a glance that Xue Bai's high-sounding rhetoric was used to confuse the world, and there must be a more powerful method behind it.

It's just that he hasn't figured it out yet.

But the next day, Xue Bai actually sent a letter to the court, received an edict to express his gratitude, and expressed his willingness to relinquish military power and return to Chang'an. However, Fan Yang's military camp had just begun, and he could not bear to give up halfway, leaving the soldiers without food and grass and had to wait.

It will take a month or two to set off.

When this memorial was slowly delivered to Chang'an, Li Cong was overjoyed after reading it.

His uneasy heart finally subsided. Looking back on his path to seizing power, he felt that his methods were really superb.

Looking back on everything, ever since the year changed, it has been like time, and many things have gone smoothly. Even he is thinking that maybe it is really God's timing.

Maybe a comet really appeared in the east that night, indicating that he would become a wise king with lasting achievements.

~~

After the New Year, Yang Xu set off from Chang'an and returned to Jiangling.

Although he did not bring back Li Longji's secret decree, he gained a lot and contacted a group of officials in the court.

These officials either saw Xue Bai's ambition and were unwilling to rebel, but failed to be reused by Li Cong, or they saw Li Cong's incompetence and had high hopes for Li Longji and high hopes for Yong Wang Li Lin.

Good impression.

Their intention was that King Yong could increase the authority of the Supreme Emperor so that the Supreme Emperor could correct the mistakes made by the saints in state affairs, such as re-employing eunuchs.

But after listening to Yang Xu's description, Li Lin thought that these officials wanted to make him emperor, and her confidence immediately increased.
To be continued...