Today's Jinling is full of panic from top to bottom, and the court is in chaos.
Since Li Jing successively received news of the defeat of the Northern Expedition in Xuzhou, as well as Li Jinquan's rebellion in Shouzhou, and Li Song's rebellion, the ambitious emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty obviously could not withstand the double blow. He was frightened and became furious. He actually fainted on the spot in the main hall, and his heart was in chaos for a while.
It was not until a few days later that Li Jing regained his composure under the "careful care" of the concubines in the harem and convened several urgent court meetings.
Seeing the emperor's anger on the throne, the main war faction headed by Feng Yanji was frightened and did not dare to speak. Correspondingly, the ministers of the other faction headed by Sun Cheng, Han Xizai, etc. naturally occupied Upside.
But Sun Cheng still couldn't control Li Jing's thoughts after all.
Sun Cheng was a famous official in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Unlike Feng Yanji and others who blindly flattered and catered to Li Jing's southern and northern wars, he always insisted on his political opinion of suspending the army to support the people. This was not due to the fighting in the court, but from that. Li Ming, the late Emperor Li Ming. As a member of the Zhongshu family next to Li Min when he was young, Sun Cheng had already been deeply influenced by his strategy of recuperating and recuperating the country. In the end, Li Min became a strong national power in the Southern Tang Dynasty, which he greatly recognized from then on.
Therefore, whenever Sun Cheng went to court, even if he had reached the position of prime minister, Emperor Li Jing and his courtiers could often hear Sun Cheng repeatedly admonishing him with a concern for the country and the people. At the end of his words, he often liked to say The late emperor moved it out.
Once or twice is fine, but often it's counterproductive.
As the emperor of a country, how could Li Jing tolerate his ministers commemorating the late emperor in the court every day? Isn't this just plainly telling everyone that he, the emperor, is not as good as his own father? And as Sun Cheng got older, the tone and tone of his speech often reminded Li Jing of that tall figure as a mountain. This heartfelt fear originated from the prince's period.
Therefore, Li Jing often wanted to find an excuse to expel people like Sun Cheng from the court, but he would soon retract this idea because the power of the party members left by Song Qiqiu, such as Feng Yanji, Chen Jue and others, was too huge. , in order to maintain the balance of the imperial court, he had no choice but to use Sun Cheng's party to suppress him.
But this time, when Li Jing was worried about the internal and external crises in the Southern Tang Dynasty, Sun Cheng led a group of ministers to stand up again. He first scolded Feng Yanji, Chen Jue and others for mislead the country and the people, and then continued as before. , after trumpeting the benefits of resting with the people, he suggested sending envoys to Zhou to withdraw troops and make peace.
As for the rebellion of Li Jinquan and Li Song, because the main roads were cut off by the rebels and the news was delayed, the court was unable to rescue them. Now, according to the latest report sent from Haozhou, the two famous generals Liu Renzhan and Li Yuan have already led their troops. Going to quell the rebellion should be able to stabilize the situation for the time being. However, Shouzhou City was strong after all, and the rebels were powerful, so Sun Cheng suggested quickly dispatching the Jiangnan Forbidden Army for reinforcements.
In fact, Sun Cheng's suggestions were exactly what Li Jing wanted.
Shouzhou and other places were all part of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Li Jinquan and Li Song were deeply favored by the emperor, but they openly rebelled and stabbed them in the back during the Northern Expedition of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Li Jing hated this deeply and wished they could be torn into pieces. Therefore, thunderous measures must be taken against these rebels.
The disastrous defeat of the Northern Expedition did not wake Li Jing from his dream of reviving the prosperous Tang Dynasty. He still believed that it was due to the incompetence of Chen Jue, Liu Yanzhen and others, and the delay in rescue by King Yan Li Hongji, and it was not his own decision. mistaken. However, in order to promote the Northern Expedition, the treasury of the Southern Tang Dynasty was already overwhelmed, and now civil strife broke out. Even if Li Jing did not admit defeat, he had no choice but to give up at this time.
Just when Li Jing confirmed Sun Cheng's suggestion and was about to make a decision, Sun Cheng unexpectedly thought that the stubborn emperor had finally been persuaded by him. He was deeply moved and said that defeat was the way of heaven. As a result, he repeated his old tricks and began to praise the late emperor's merits with tears in his eyes, and his tone became more and more harsh.
Li Jing, who was already in a state of extreme frustration and anger, finally couldn't bear it anymore, and the emotions that had been accumulated for a long time began to explode.
Immediately issued an order to remove Sun Cheng from his official position, preparing to prosecute him for disrespecting the late emperor. The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were shocked, especially Sun Cheng's group, and they hurriedly stood up one by one to intercede for him.
But Feng Yanji, who originally thought that a disaster was imminent, saw that it was not him but his mortal enemy Sun Cheng who was defeated. While shouting that he was lucky, he actually gloated about the misfortune, so he jumped out and started to inflict insults on Sun Cheng.
But Feng Yanji was still too naive. The reason why he didn't deal with him was not that the emperor forgot, but that he didn't have time.
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Now that he was in the crosshairs of the gun, Li Jing immediately pointed the finger at Feng Yanji, blaming all the blame for the failure of the Northern Expedition on the left prime minister. After scolding him bloody for a while, he was still not satisfied and started again. Shifting the target and calling out names one by one makes everyone in the court feel at risk.
Finally, Han Xizai, who had been silent for a long time, finally stood up.
After all, he had been with Li Jing in the East Palace for seven years. The most eloquent minister of Zhongshu did not intercede for others or make other new suggestions. Instead, he began to praise Li Jing's expansion since he came to the throne. The merits of soil.
Later, he avoided talking about the failure of the Northern Expedition and focused on Shouzhou. He specifically mentioned the deeds of Liu Renzhan who suppressed the rebellion alone and Li Yuan who rushed thousands of miles to help. It was precisely because of these two famous generals that they were able to be so loyal to the emperor and protect the country. The appearance of the sage Li Jing. Li Jinquan went against heaven, and these two men followed heaven and fought against the rebellion. The rebellion will soon be put to rest. With Li Jing as emperor, the country is lucky and the people are blessed...
Li Jing had long been tired of hearing those flattering words, but Han Xizai's words at this time made Li Jing feel like a spring breeze. She felt a lot more comfortable and her mood gradually stabilized. She was temporarily relieved of questioning the courtiers. a paragraph.
After calming down, Li Jing issued a new decree to remove Sun Cheng and Feng Yanji from their titles of "Tongping Zhangshi". However, considering the two people's years of hard work and great achievements, and the intercession of all the courtiers, he still kept them as servants. position.
Then regarding the Northern Expedition, after discussion with the ministers, Li Jing decided to send Sun Cheng as an envoy, and immediately went north to the Yanzhou front line to meet with Zhou Emperor Guo Wei to negotiate peace. At the same time, he ordered Privy Councilor Chen Jue and Yan King Li Hongji to immediately rectify the matter. The army returned south, and they would be questioned one by one after returning to the court.
The counter-rebellion matter was the most important. Li Jing immediately issued an order and appointed Liu Renzhan and Li Yuan as the chief and deputy envoys of Shouzhou, responsible for counter-rebellion affairs. He also ordered Qi King Li Jingda to take command and Feng Yanji to supervise the army and mobilize the troops. The 60,000 Jiangnan Forbidden Army rushed northward for reinforcements.
The emperor's decree soon spread from the capital of Jinling to all places. The crisis of internal and external difficulties in the Southern Tang Dynasty was known to everyone, and the whole country was panicked for a while.
Nowadays, in the restaurants and teahouses by the Qinhuai River, the literati in Jinling are naturally worried and angry about the country, but their attention is more focused on the court. At this time, Sun and Feng actually resigned from the prime minister at the same time. The two factions were hit hard, and it was a time when the political situation changed drastically. This is a rare opportunity, and some people who are depressed may have to make it through...
