Prince Li Bing sat silently, just looking at Xie Guang quietly, waiting for him to make up his mind.
Xie Guangze felt an unprecedented pressure.
He stood up from his seat, clasped his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth in the open space in front of the commander's tent. Sometimes he stopped and lowered his head in thought, sometimes he raised his head and looked up to the sky in trance. No one around him dared to say a word, and they could only follow Li Bing. Same, silently watching Shang Zhuguo.
After about a full stick of incense, Xie Guang suddenly stopped, turned around and laughed at everyone: "It seems that the current situation is a solution that has both ends. It can save His Highness's health." position, and would not lead to a quarrel with the imperial court. With this incident in the imperial capital, we originally planned to support His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to ascend the throne early and fully take charge of the country of the Holy Tang Dynasty, so as to avoid long nights and dreams, and some people coveting the throne, so as to give birth to a child. Unwarranted variables. However, judging from the current situation, the time may not be ripe yet."
He paused briefly and seemed calm: "Now, His Majesty is still in his prime, his throne is stable, and he has not yet clearly expressed his intention to abolish the throne. Therefore, although we have seen some bad signs, we cannot rush. Furthermore, chaos suddenly broke out in the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang, and the dynasty's border was in crisis. It really shouldn't have broken out at this time, and a large-scale civil war was finally taken advantage of by foreign enemies. Fortunately, we have a group of people who are loyal and uphold the Holy Religion Covenant. With the loyal ministers present, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can finally patrol the Eastern Capital and exercise the power of governing and supervising the country, making the crown prince's position more stable. Even if someone attempts to abolish the crown prince in the future, we still have the power to protect ourselves. Therefore, I believe that it is better to It is best to act according to your orders first.”
"So, our long sword army will go to the west obediently?" Feng Yiwei asked doubtfully.
"Yes, go to the border pass!" Xie Guang nodded: "Brother Wei, when you lead the army to Zijin Pass this time, you must remember one thing - defend with all your strength, and do not take the initiative to start a war with the Turks. Firmly grasp If anything happens to anyone in your legion, you must first send someone to Luoyi to obtain the will of His Highness the Crown Prince before making a decision."
Feng Yiwei understood what the other party meant: "Okay! The Crown Prince is in charge of the army and oversees the country. Without His Highness's will, I won't pay attention to anyone who speaks!"
After instructing the commander of the Long Sword Army, Xie Guang said to Di Xian: "Immediately send out several messengers to find Mr. Lao in Western Xinjiang and ask him to come to Luoyi quickly to assist the prince. The sooner the better!"
Di Xian agreed, turned around and ran away.
Xie Guang bowed deeply to Li Bing: "Your Highness, if you have no other wishes, let's set off to Luoyi now."
The Crown Prince of Shengtang returned the gift slightly: "From now on, I will thank you for everything."
-
The imperial capital, Anhua Gate, city tower.
Li Chengwu was dressed in a white satin scholar's uniform and a black velvet cloak over his shoulders. He stood in the clear cold wind at the top of the city, looking particularly lonely.
At this moment, he was looking at the continuous military tents not far outside the city, slightly lost in thought.
Just half an hour ago, the Xuanjia Legion began to fully mobilize. The 60,000-strong army broke down their camps, packed up their equipment, and prepared to embark on the journey east.
Two large flags were erected in the military camp that had become somewhat scattered.
One flag is a pure black commander's banner, with a big word "Xie" embroidered in the middle, and on both sides are the words "Xuanjia Grand Commander of the Shangzhu Kingdom of the Holy Tang Dynasty".
The other flag looked much simpler, with only "李" written in it. The bright red font looked a bit dazzling on the bright yellow flag.
Li Chengwu looked at the bright yellow flag that he found unexpectedly, representing the location of the prince's chariot, and couldn't help but sigh in melancholy.
Fu Bao, the chief chamberlain, said softly from behind: "Your Majesty, the wind in this city is too strong, so we should go back to the palace..."
Seeing that Li Chengwu had no reaction, Liu Ce, who was accompanying him, said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I am ashamed of you and the imperial court. As the prince's young master, I failed to fulfill my duty of teaching and admonishing the prince, and even caused your highness to enter by mistake. I have gone astray, and now that I think about it, I am really to blame. I am a humble minister... please punish me."
Li Chengwu turned his head and glanced at Liu Ce lightly, but it didn't mean anything. After a moment of silence, he continued to look at the military camp in the distance.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry," Shen Lie, who was standing on the other side, bowed and said, "As long as you give the order, Nilin Division can bring the prince back from Luoyi..."
When Murong Xue, who was guarding the back, heard this, he not only thought to himself: The so-called "bringing back" by Shi Shi, the director of Beiya Nilin, is probably more appropriate to say "kidnapping back", and it does not matter whether it is a living person or a dead body. .
He was about to speak when someone suddenly tugged on his sleeve. Murong Xue looked in shock and saw the old general Xu Lie shaking his head slightly at him.
At this time, the Emperor Li Chengwu could only be heard saying leisurely: "What if I take him back? I'm afraid my heart won't come back even if I come back."
Wang Huan, the commander of the Forbidden Army, had a stern look on his face and said with cupped hands: "Your Majesty, I think Lord Shen Lie's suggestion is worthy of consideration. Aren't you worried at all that His Highness the Crown Prince will be coerced by Xie Guang and do something outrageous?"
As a minister, this sentence is obviously very serious. If it were not the emperor's most trusted personal guard, no one would dare to speak so directly.
"Bing'er always has to grow up," Li Chengwu sighed softly, and his tone became a little more serious unknowingly: "Since he wants to grow up and inherit the eight hundred years of country and country, he must start from the beginning. From now on, learn how to face powerful officials, learn how to survive and protect yourself..."
At this point, Li Chengwu suddenly stopped, and then, as if he was deliberately avoiding the topic, he asked: "Did the Long Sword Army depart according to the order?"
Wang Huan reported back: "Your Majesty, Feng Yiwei, the commander-in-chief of Changdao, just sent someone to reply to the order, saying that the entire army of 100,000 soldiers will always be loyal to the emperor and defend the Holy Tang Dynasty. They immediately set out according to the order and would never dare to delay the military aircraft. Shangshu The provincial military order book and the marching instructions from the Ministry of War have also been sent to the Long Sword Legion, and they are gathering."
"Okay, okay, very good." Li Chengwu finally breathed a sigh of relief and said happily: "If they are willing to obey, it will be easy to handle. The west side is indeed very urgent, and we can't just leave things unattended and unasked. General Xu, Liu Ce, when you go back, remember to say hello to the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office, and ask them to go all out to ensure the food and clothing of the soldiers, and make sure no mistakes are made. It is bitterly cold in the northwest, and you have to fight with the sturdy Turks. Don’t lose those children during the battle.”
Xu Lie said tremblingly: "Ahem... Your Majesty, I thought... Ahem, I'm afraid this matter is not that simple. Ahem... The Turks have invaded the country in a large scale this time, and the current total strength has exceeded 100,000. Its commander is the famous Western Continent war general Prince Ronya of the Temple. Ahem, Feng Yiwei’s two brushes may not be the opponent of the Turkic army... So, we still have to plan early and take some precautions in advance. Just be prepared.”
When Mr. Xu said that he was coughing and wheezing like this, Emperor Shengtang Li Chengwu immediately felt the chill in his body getting even more chilly, but he didn't know whether it was because of the coldness in his body or the coldness in his heart. He nodded quickly and said: "Yes, yes, old general, what you said makes sense. As for the prince's affairs, I think we'll just leave it like this for now. Don't worry too much about it for the time being. Let's go back to the palace and discuss it." How to deal with it in Western Xinjiang is the top priority!"
-
In this way, the rebellion in the imperial capital that occurred in the year 821 of the Holy Tang Dynasty came to an end temporarily in a seemingly strange and peaceful way. Both opposing sides feel that they have finally gained something, and they also feel that they have finally lost something.
When historians of later generations recounted this thrilling history, due to some special reasons, they were often vague, complicated, and inconsistent.
In fact, it’s no wonder they are. Because regarding that rebellion, except for a few important ministers and generals who were qualified to participate in decision-making at the time, no one could really tell clearly what exactly happened in those Celestial Capitals and how it happened.
All people could see was a story that was as outrageous as any other: On an unusually sunny spring day, the Xuanjia Army suddenly entered the imperial capital and blocked the bustling Suzaku Street; then, they were captured again. The Qilin Army drove out of the imperial capital with lightning speed; then, the imperial palace issued the edict that was famous all over the world - the prince supervises the country; and then, the Xuanjia Army led by the Dong Palace Heading to Luoyi, an army of 100,000 swordsmen marched out for two battles; and again and again... and there was no more.
You want to say that this is not a rebellion, but that seems wrong.
Without any warning, there were continuous armed bloodshed incidents in the imperial capital that violated orders and prohibitions, and hundreds of soldiers and more than a dozen senior officials of the imperial court died inexplicably. It is really unbelievable.
But if you want to call it a rebellion, it doesn't seem right.
The emperor is still the emperor, and the prince is still the prince. In the whole chaos, no one was convicted, and no one had his or her family confiscated or exterminated.
The rumored initiator, Xie Guang of Shangzhu Kingdom, was later promoted to a noble rank, as if he had accomplished some great feat.
Therefore, according to the official statement given by Shengtang, this incident can only be regarded as a small-scale public security disturbance.
The cause of the riot, the Jingzhao Yin Mansion later explained: A certain officer named Feng from the Qilin Army and an officer named Liu from the Xuanjia Army broke out because they were competing for Zhai Jiaojiao, the top girl in the "Yihong Courtyard". There was a fierce argument and a fight at close range; the two called a large number of their colleagues to participate in the fight, which eventually turned into an armed conflict.
The blame for this security incident, which was officially named "Feng Liu Zhai (a homophone of Feng Liu Zhai) riot", was laid by the chief executive of the imperial capital, Jing Zhaoyin Liu Zhong. Mr. Liu failed to deal with it well and was fined for half a year. Yihongyuan, a well-known entertainment venue in the imperial capital, had its owner jailed and closed down for rectification.
Everyone is happy.
However, people at the time did not know that this so-called small riot was just a prelude to the big drama.
The real stormy sea of Shengtang has just arrived.
