When the rebellion in the north is over, the land of the south is generally peaceful, with no war and no chaos.
Southern Tang Dynasty, Jiangning Mansion, Jinling. This largest and most prosperous city in the South is still prosperous. Since the chaos of the Tang Dynasty, it has been managed by the separatist forces of the Wu and Tang dynasties. There has been no major war for thirty or forty years, which is very rare.
Both sides of the Qinhuai River are densely covered with shops and merchants. Along with Jinling City, the surrounding area has a developed economy and a prosperous culture. Even though news of war and turmoil continue to come from the western border of the Northern Kingdom, there is still a prosperous scene here.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has just passed, and inside and outside Jinling, there is still a festive aftertaste after the festival. It has been peaceful for a long time, and the atmosphere of the entire city is filled with a sense of enjoyment, from the high-ranking officials and nobles to the common people. Although Jinling is rich, there are also poor people and paupers, but even the beggars in the market seem a little leisurely.
Jinling City is a city. Although it has a long history and profound heritage, it has experienced several ups and downs. The imperial city was expanded on the basis of Yang Wu's Jinling Mansion. It was large in scale, luxurious and magnificent.
A large carriage drove slowly down the long, flat street, heading towards the south gate of the imperial city. Judging from the carriage's decoration and purple-yellow uniforms, the owner of the carriage must be a royal nobleman. Inside the car was a young man with a broad face and a serious demeanor. He was dressed in a purple python robe and exuded a strong sense of nobility.
He is the eldest son of Emperor Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty and King of Yan Li Hongji. He is not very young, but he already has a slightly thick stubble. There was a look of deep contemplation on his calm face, and he touched his neatly trimmed beard from time to time.
Last year, his uncle Li Jingsui was appointed as the emperor's younger brother. After passing down the inheritance from brother to brother, he, the emperor's eldest son, was sent to Yangzhou, the eastern capital, and later moved to Runzhou. Although Li Hongji was young, he had always been ambitious, and coupled with his youthful spirit, he was very unconvinced. This time he returned to Beijing from Runzhou not only to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival together, but also to "send troops" for the Northern Expedition.
Earlier, before Li Shouzhen planned to rebel, he had secretly communicated with the Southern Tang Dynasty. When Li Shouzhen rebelled, he sent envoys to Jinling to invite troops. In response to this matter, whether to send troops or not, the emperor and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty also attached great importance to it and held several court discussions. However, as usual, the court was divided into two factions. They had different opinions and continued to argue. After more than a month of discussions, the Mid-Autumn Festival was over. , there is no result yet...
"The important military matter has been postponed to this day. All the ministers in the dynasty are just corpses. They are extremely incompetent. What's the use of keeping them?" Thinking about the situation of the court collected in the past two days, Li Hongji suddenly became violent and smashed him hard. He lowered himself to the wall of the compartment and cursed with a cold expression.
The carriage stopped suddenly, as if frightened by the movement inside the carriage. After stopping for a while, there was still no movement. He opened the curtain and yelled out: "Why did you stop?"
Li Hongji has always been a kind-hearted person, but in fact he has a very impatient temperament and will easily explode if he is not satisfied at the slightest moment.
The guard who was driving the carriage quickly reported, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, is driving ahead."
It was such a coincidence that Li Hongji's expression flashed with an unfriendly change, he leaned out, stepped on the shaft of the car, and jumped to the ground. At the side street, a more luxurious car was parked there. A kind-faced young man in Chinese clothes, with the help of a guard, slowly got out of the car. When he saw Li Hongji, he showed a humble smile and said, A greeting: "Hongji."
"Uncle Emperor." Li Hongji cupped his hands, his attitude was neither salty nor cool. The uncle and nephew looked very unfamiliar: "Uncle Emperor also wants to enter the palace?"
"Your Majesty has summoned me, and I dare not neglect it." Li Jingsui replied, still smiling.
Li Jingsui seemed modest, courteous, calm and easy-going, but in Li Hongji's eyes, he became even more repulsive. He just couldn't stand the emperor's uncle's elegant and easy-going appearance, and thought he was just putting on an act.
"If Hongji is in a hurry, you can go ahead." Li Jingsui stretched out his hand and said, sensing Li Hongji's coldness.
"The emperor's brother is in front, how dare I go beyond the rules?" Li Hongji didn't look like he had any trouble with the city. He responded calmly: "It's better for the emperor to invite you first."
Simple communication between uncle and nephew is extremely alienated. Li Jingsui had a gentle temperament and always maintained his demeanor. However, when he turned back to the car to drive, he sighed silently and looked very worried.
Li Jingsui's image in the eyes of others was that of a humble and courteous man, with the demeanor of a gentleman and no desire to compete for power. In the year since he became the crown prince, he has always been worried and kept a low profile. It would be fine to say that Emperor Li Jing had no heirs, but with Li Hongji, a grown-up prince, he had deep concerns, especially since his temperament had been developed since he was a child.
In Qinzheng Hall, as everyone gathered, after the service, the debate about sending troops began again. An old and toothless minister took the lead in the procession. He hunched over his waist and said in a weak voice: "Your Majesty, the Northern Army is strong. The Tang Army is not used to land warfare. It has been with the Northern Army for many years." Confrontation. At present, the Liu family has secured the Central Plains. Although Li Shouzhen has rebelled, the situation is unclear and cannot be acted upon..."
The person who spoke was Li Jianxun, a minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He was very old in his seventies, and his words were no longer useful, but he was still worshiped as his servant and Tongping Zhangshi. What he said was an old saying, that the Northern troops were strong and the situation was uncertain. His attitude was very clear, that is, he did not agree to send troops.
As soon as he said this, someone immediately refuted it, and the reason was the same old one, using Beiding in the Central Plains and returning to the past. This kind of slogan has been shouted here in Nantang for a long time, and it is very vain.
The Khitans were shouting when they destroyed the Jin Dynasty, the Liu family was shouting when they entered the Central Plains, and they were shouting when Hou Shu was attacking the key points. Now that Li Shouzhen has rebelled, he can still use it to express his political attitude. That is, the slogans are shouted loudly but never implemented.
In the past two years of the turbulent changes in the Central Plains, the most active thing the Southern Tang did, besides offending the Han Dynasty, was Huangfuhui, the former governor of Mizhou in Jin Dynasty who sent Nanben to surrender to recruit bandits from Huainan. However, today, After Liu Chengyou tried his best to suppress bandits and put an end to chaos in the country at the age of 18, there was no follow-up.
The courtiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty were very literary, some were good at poetry, some were good at poetry, some were good at writing. He is very talented and quick-thinking, and this kind of argument often never ends once it starts. This has always been the case.
Emperor Li Jing was sitting on the throne at this time. He liked to discuss articles and poetry with his ministers, but the political affairs of the dynasty always made him upset, especially when the whole dynasty was full of arguments.
"That's enough!" Finally, he couldn't hold it back, his voice was sullen, he glanced at the ministers in the palace, and couldn't help but sigh in a low voice: "If Feng Zhengzhong and Han Shuyan were here, why would I be troubled like this?"
Li Jing just made this out of emotion, but if those two people were really in court, they would probably quarrel even more. The two people he mentioned, Feng and Han, were former prime minister Feng Yansi and Zhongshu Sheren Zhigao Han Xizai. These two people are Li Jing's most favored ministers.
In the past few years since Li Jing succeeded to the throne, two factions have basically formed in the Southern Tang Dynasty. One faction was dominated by the founding fathers of Song Dynasty, such as Qiqiu, Feng Yansi, and Chen Jue, while the other faction was dominated by scholars such as Han Xizai and Jiang Wenwei who had traveled south from the Central Plains. The two factions fought fiercely.
However, he is not in Jinling now, and was demoted to another place by Li Jing. In the previous war against Fujian, Li Jing had the idea of stopping troops to appease the remnants of the Wang family in Fuzhou, but Chen Jue, then the Privy Councilor, corrected his order and sent troops, and together with Feng Yanlu, Zha Wenhui and other Tang generals, Li Renda, who had stolen Fuzhou, ended up Wu Yue sent troops and attacked from both sides. The Tang army was defeated.
This is something done by Song and Feng's party, so naturally they have to wipe their ass. Through mediation, Chen Jue, Feng Yanlu and others were saved from death. Especially Chen Jue, who tried his best to attack and was defeated. Such a serious crime was only demoted. Han Xizai, Jiang Wenwei and others were naturally dissatisfied and impeached Song Qiqiu and Feng Yansi for causing harm to the country and the army, causing them to be demoted.
Song and Feng's party were naturally unwilling to give up, and then found an excuse to impeach Han Xizai and Jiang Wenwei. Li Jing couldn't bear his annoyance and simply demoted them.
The dispute between the two parties has come to an end for the time being. However, even though people were separated, the two forces were still fighting fiercely in the court. Party strife seemed to be the main contradiction in the Southern Tang Dynasty. In comparison, the struggle for the reserve position could only be described as mild. King Yan Li Hongji was still in his infancy and could not make any waves.
"What do you think, the emperor's brother?" Li Jing took a deep breath and asked Li Jingsui.
Li Jingsui glanced at the ministers from the two distinct factions, with a tangled look on his face. After thinking for a while, he bowed and said, "The war is fierce and dangerous. I think it's better to wait and see before making any decisions."
"If we continue to wait and see, the situation in the Central Plains will be determined, and it will be too late to make any decisions by then!" As soon as he finished speaking, a young and powerful voice refuted.
Li Jing frowned, glanced at Li Hongji, and saw that he was out of the queue, looking like he was not ashamed of his talk. He had always disliked this impetuous son, who was uncivilized and unkind to himself.
Of course, Li Hongji didn't look that way, and expressed his thoughts directly, saying loudly: "Your Majesty, our country has deep enmity with the Central Plains, and there are frequent disputes on the border. If we don't take advantage of the predicament there and send troops out of Huaihe, the northern troops will inevitably invade the south one day!" The princes have been arguing over this matter endlessly and have taken no practical measures. In my opinion, the best time has been missed. If we don't take action, this matter will no longer need to be discussed!"
As soon as these words were said, the expressions of all the officials in the court changed. This King Yan is really young and energetic.
"Let's put this matter aside for now. Let me think about it and withdraw from the court."
In the end, no result could be reached, and Li Jing returned to the palace in low spirits.
If Li Jing's original thoughts were followed, of course he still had the intention to send troops. At present, the Southern Tang Dynasty was at its peak. Even if he had a peaceful temperament, he was still a monarch, and he still had the ambition to expand the territory. The previous time he took advantage of the rebellion in Fujian and sent troops to destroy the Wang family, and gained control of Fujian, which was a great improvement to his reputation, of course not counting the subsequent defeats.
However, every time I hear conservatives talk about objective factors such as the strength of the Northern Army, the instability of Fujian, and the threat from Wu and Yue, I feel intimidated again.
In the palace, Li Jing thought for a long time and hesitated. Finally, that night, Li Jing made up his mind and issued an order to send troops. Li Jinquan, the envoy of Zhenhai Festival, was sent to camp in the north to recruit envoys. He led 30,000 soldiers from Huainan to the northern expedition to aid the river. He also sent 10,000 forbidden troops from Jinling to the north.
Less than half a day after the edict was issued, news came from the north that the Han Emperor personally sent a hundred thousand troops to march west to suppress the rebellion. Li Shouzhen had been destroyed by the Han army six days ago, and the city was destroyed and people died.
With this news, the whole court fell into silence, and then the conservatives who had just been suppressed rose up and actively urged the emperor to stop the army. Li Jing was obviously very surprised by the fighting ability of the Han army. After being persuaded by others, he humbly accepted the advice. He hurriedly went north with the gold medal to call back the envoys who sent the edict. He only issued an edict to strengthen the prefectures and towns along the Huaihe River. Border defense.
In addition, Li Hongji, the king of Yan, was driven back to Runzhou again.
