Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 307 The Emperor's Heart Was Frustrated
"Great victory! Great victory in Rongzhou!!"

In mid-March, the light cavalry, reporting the victory, entered Chang'an City from the Mingde Gate, shouting the victory along the Zhuque Road.

People along the way stopped to look, some stood on tiptoe, some talked in low voices, and guessed the details of the war.

Zhuque Street, as the main road on the central axis of Chang'an, is also the celestial street corresponding to the meridian in the sky.

Tianjie is nearly ten miles long and nearly a hundred steps wide. It is the widest and largest street in the world today.

The ten-mile-long street gathered merchants from all over the world, as well as dignitaries in Chang'an City.

Because of this, when the light cavalry reporting the victory passed by, at least tens of thousands of people knew about the great victory in Rongzhou.

Most of the markets in Chang'an were separated by walls. There were no places to buy things on the streets. There were only people flowing and the occasional Wutoumen.

The Wutou gates representing the third-rank officials were opened one after another, and the servants in the mansion were collecting the content of the victory report that had just passed by.

When they confirmed the news, they immediately passed the message to the owner of the mansion.

After hearing the news, these officials sent people to the palace to find out the details.

Some young men from aristocratic families raised their glasses to celebrate in the restaurant and talked loudly about the strategic significance of Rongzhou, as if they had personally commanded this victory.

Compared with the calculations of the officials, the high-spirited children of the noble families...

Deep in the alleys of Chang'an, ordinary people's lives continue as usual.

Several children were playing in the alley, imitating the Qingqi, waving their arms and shouting, "Great victory! Great victory!"

Their laughter was in stark contrast to the noise in the distant streets, while the elderly man in the dilapidated courtyard squatted in the corner, listening to the cheers in the distance and sighed softly:
"What if we win? We still have to pay taxes and live our lives."

The woman weaving in the courtyard also stopped spinning and said to her father-in-law, "It's said to be a great victory, but the taxes have not been reduced by a cent."

"After a few days, the cruel officials came again to collect the money."

"Whether my family can pay the tax depends on how much I can sell this piece of cloth for..."

"Bang!!"

During the conversation, the dilapidated wooden door of the yard was kicked open.

Before the father and daughter could react, several cruel officials rushed in and shouted:

"Wang Sanlang, your family still owes three hundred coins for last year's autumn tax. When will you pay it?!"

The old man, who was still walking away from the government office with the girl, stood up immediately after hearing this, stepped forward and said with an apologetic smile: "Wang Zhibai, isn't there still five days left?"

"My wife will soon finish weaving the cloth, and then she will be able to pay the tax owed."

"This little money is just an apology for bothering you to make an extra trip. Please don't take it as an offense... Please don't take it as an offense..."

While the father-in-law was apologizing, the woman ignored the loom, got up and went into the house.

Seeing that what the old man said made sense and that the silk cloth on the loom was almost finished, the cruel officials looked at each other, and one of them snatched more than ten coins from the old man's hand, weighed them and said:

"Then it's a deal. We'll come to collect the taxes in five days. Don't be unable to pay the taxes you owe by then."

"Also, this year's summer tax will be collected in June. Remember to prepare your 500-yuan summer tax!"

"Yes, yes, yes... Thank you for taking the trouble to make the trip." Although the father-in-law was clearly humiliated, he still had to apologize.

Seeing that he was honest, several straightforward people turned around and walked out of the yard, leaving the old man alone to pick up the broken wooden plug on the ground with a distressed look on his face.

"Wang Zhibai, it's hard to find work. I really can't afford it today. Please give me a few more days!"

"Leniency? How can you just relax the imperial court's taxes just because you say so?!"

The father-in-law could only sigh softly as he heard the quarrels between neighbors and cruel officials.

Half an hour later, as the group of cruel officials harassed all the people in the alley and left, the woman came out and said:
"These cruel officials come three or five times a month, and take more than ten coins from you each time."

"If they hadn't been collecting the embezzlement, we would have paid off the taxes we owed long ago!"

"Oh..." The old man was helpless. He lowered his head and sighed, but dared not speak anymore.

While they were silent, there were constant praises in the court of Daming Palace in Chang'an.

"Good good!"

"Gao Qianli actually won such a great victory, he deserves a reward! He deserves a reward!"

On the Golden Terrace, Emperor Li Yi was so happy when he learned about the great victory in Rongzhou that he wanted to give rewards.

However, facing his excitement, Pei Xiu, who was in charge of finance, was worried and could not help but say:
"Your Majesty, the great victory in Rongzhou is certainly gratifying, but the burden on the people is heavy. If the taxes are not reduced, there may be unrest among the people."

"Your Majesty, I second the motion." Jiang Shen and Bi Zhen bowed in agreement.

Seeing that the three prime ministers had spoken, all the ministers in the hall sang in agreement.

Facing such an attitude of his ministers, Li Yi frowned slightly and said: "When the world is at peace, the people will naturally live and work in peace and contentment."

"If we cut taxes now, how will the government solve the problem of arrears?"

Pei Xiu bowed and said, "The people are suffering, and the heavy taxes must be reduced."

"However, local commoners controlled the administration of officials and often embezzled money from the government offices when they collected taxes."

"I think it would be better to reduce the old nine cents rent and increase taxes on salt, iron, tea and wine instead."

Pei Xiu suggested this, but many officials in the hall frowned slightly.

Those present were not mediocre, and they naturally knew that these additional miscellaneous taxes would eventually fall on the people.

The only difference is that after the reduction of taxes such as Ding and Rent, the people will be grateful to the court.

If the local commoners raised the prices of salt, tea and iron, the people would hate these commoners instead of the imperial court.

However, doing so would easily cause the common people to become dissatisfied with the court.

There are quite a few commoners in the temple, but when faced with the methods targeting them, they all turn a blind eye and do not care.

They used to be commoners, but now they have become officials.

Now, as long as they manage it well, they can transform themselves from commoners to a noble family, and then gradually gain a foothold among the noble families.

Many families throughout history have been like this, growing from humble beginnings to become aristocratic families that have been passed down for hundreds of years. Why can't they do the same?
"In that case, let's follow Prime Minister Pei's arrangements!"

Li Yi didn't care who to tax. He only cared whether the court had money and whether it was enough to deal with the current situation.

Now it seems that Gao Pian has made such great achievements in the south that the southern barbarians will not be able to invade in the short term.

Taking this opportunity to make some adjustments will not affect anything major.

As he thought about this, a figure gradually emerged in Li Yi's mind, and he couldn't help but speak majestically:

"Recently, there are more and more refugees in Jiannan Road. I heard that most of them fled to Longyou."

"Since the recovery of Helong, we only donated maps and books more than ten years ago. Now that so many years have passed, we should measure the land, register it, and hand in new maps and books!"

As soon as Li Yi finished speaking, all the ministers in the hall raised their heads in disbelief.

Pei Xiu, Jiang Shen and Bi Zhen all frowned, while Zhang Yichao, Feng Bangyan, Yang Zhiwen and other officials unconsciously clenched the tablets in their hands.

Everyone in the government and the country knew that refugees from Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road had poured into Longyou, but no one dared to bring it up in the court.

After all, the war between the imperial court and the southern barbarians was still undecided, so the matter of Longyou should be put aside to avoid igniting war on the western front.

On this issue, officials from both the government and the opposition agree that Longyou has now grown to a level that is not inferior to the three towns of Heshuo.

The three towns of Heshuo are separated from Guanzhong by Hedong and the Yellow River, but Longyou and Guanzhong are only separated by the Long Mountain.

The problem in Longyou became serious because of this, and it made all officials wary.

Because of this, no one dared to raise this question...but now it has been raised by Li Yi, the emperor.

"When the late emperor was still alive, he often said that he wanted to eliminate the Helong vassal state."

"I originally wanted to invite Liu Jilong and Zhang Huai to serve as officials in the court soon after I ascended the throne, but I didn't expect the war in the southwest to break out again, so I neglected Helong."

"Now that the Nanman have suffered a setback, it will take a year or two for them to recover their strength. Therefore, I think..."

Li Yi glanced at the officials in the palace, and then said, "Now is a good time to eliminate the Helong vassal state!"

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice..."

In a short moment, everyone in the hall bowed, and almost all the officials bowed and kowtowed, asking Li Yi to retract his idea.

Even so, the ministers knew that the emperor's words in the Changchao Palace would probably flow into Helong soon.

If Liu Jilian was enraged by this and unwisely plotted rebellion, Guanzhong would be in danger.

Thinking of this, all the ministers came up with words of persuasion, and the prime ministers Pei Xiu, Jiang Shen and Bi Zhen had an obligation to do so.

"Your Majesty!" Pei Xiu bowed in a deep voice:
"Although Tubo is in internal turmoil, Shang Moyan has risen suddenly, with nearly 100,000 soldiers under its command. Only Liu Muzhi and Zhang Tanzhi can control Helong."

"If we rashly dispatch these two people to the capital, Helong may be in danger..."

Anyone who understands the situation in Helong would not take Pei Xiu's words seriously.

Although Longyou has built an iron wall to keep out outsiders, the same is not the case with Zhang Huaishen's Hexi.

Shang Moyan was the son of Shang Bibi, and Shang Moyan was good friends with Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilian, so it was not an exaggeration to say that the three of them were allies.

Therefore, Pei Xiu's remarks, on the surface, were saying that Helong could not do without Liu and Zhang, but in fact he was telling Li Yi that if he touched Liu Jilong, he would have to touch Zhang Huaishen and the monk Moyan.

These three men are strong in both warfare and are no worse than the southern barbarians. If we act rashly, disaster may occur.

Seeing how serious Pei Xiu was, Li Yi gradually gave up the idea of dealing with Liu Jilong. "In that case, let Liu Jilong and Zhang Huaishen take charge of Helong for the time being."

Li Yi quickly passed over the matter and turned to walk down the golden platform.

When he stepped down from the golden platform, all the ministers breathed a sigh of relief, and the Minister of the Honglu Temple also sang: "Dismissal!"

"Tens of millions of years old..."

All the ministers sang loudly, and Li Yi left the Purple Palace and went to the Xianning Palace.

He said nothing along the way until he gradually arrived at Xianning Palace. He saw many people in purple robes standing outside the palace gate from a distance.

"Tens of millions of years old..."

Wang Zongshi, Wang Maoxuan, Qi Yuanshi, Qi Yuanjian, Yang Xuanjie, Yang Xuanji, Wang Zonghui, Zhang Huaiding and others appeared outside the Xianning Palace one after another.

Behind them and on both sides were hundreds of actors and musicians who were called out of the hall.

"What do you want, gentlemen?"

Li Yi had already thought of the intentions of these people and couldn't help feeling a little unhappy.

In response, Wang Zongshi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that you want to attack Longyou..."

“Just throwing out ideas!”

Li Yi interrupted Wang Zongshi rudely, because he knew very well that as long as he did not take action against the eunuchs in the Northern Division, these eunuchs would not take action against him.

"Yes……"

Wang Zongshi was a little annoyed, but considering his age, he decided to keep the peace.

"Is this the reason you came here?" Li Yi asked everyone. Seeing this, everyone bowed in response to Li Yi.

"Let's go into the hall and talk!"

Li Yi walked into the Xianning Palace with a flick of his sleeves. Soon he walked up to the golden platform and sat down, watching the ministers take their seats.

After they all sat down, Li Yi said, "Liu Jilong occupied Helong and took refugees from Jiannan Road with him."

"When the previous emperor was alive, its power was difficult to contain, and now it is even more difficult for the court to get rid of it."

"From Weizhou to Chang'an is only about 800 miles, and the only terrain in between is the Long Mountains."

"If we continue to allow Liu Jilong to grow in power, he will certainly threaten the imperial court and my safety in the future."

"Today I want to ask you, is there no way for the court to bring Liu Jilong back to the capital?!"

For Li Yu, Heshuo was too far away from the Nanman, and Longyou was too close.

As time went by, he gradually understood why his father was thinking about taking over Longyou and Liu Jilong in Longyou before his death.

It was not that Liu Jilian showed any rebellious intentions, it was just that he was too close to Chang'an.

A man is innocent, but he is guilty of possessing a treasure...

The purpose of asking Liu Jilian to hand over the maps of Longyou Road was to test his strength. Only after obtaining the maps could plans be made against him.

"Your Majesty, Liu Jilong is quite obedient. Why do we need to attack him?"

Wang Zongshi was speaking against his conscience, and Li Yi couldn't help but chuckle: "Are you really submissive?"

"If you are truly obedient, you should return all the troops, people, and land in Longyou to the imperial court instead of taking them for yourself!"

Wang Zongshi didn't know how to respond to Li Yi's words. He just felt that Li Yi was too immature compared to Li Chen and Li Yan.

Did Wang Zongshi not want to attack Liu Jilong? No!
The reason why he and the court officials did not allow Li Yi to attack Liu Jilian was because the imperial court did not have the strength to do so for the time being.

The "Wang Shouwen Rebellion" was still fresh in people's memory. With only three thousand Chishui troops, they took over the eight towns in the northwest of Beijing and Hezhong Town.

Afterwards, troops from Xuanwu, Heyang, Tianping, Yicheng, Zhaoyi and other towns were mobilized to completely suppress Wang Shouwen in Puzhou.

Wang Shouwen didn't perform as well as he did later when he was in Helong. Was it because he was hiding his incompetence in Helong? Of course not!

The reason why his performance in Helong was mediocre was that Helong was a place where many forces competed.

Liu Jilian, Zhang Huaishen, Chengle, Dugazhi, Shang Bibi, Suo Xun and other forces were competing with each other. People like Wang Shouwen could only hide in Chishui City and wait for the end of the war when facing the struggle between Hexi and Ganzhou Uighurs and Liangzhou Emo, and could not intervene at all.

As a result, when they returned to the Tang Dynasty, their fighting ability was even more courageous than that of the cavalrymen from Youzhou.

The three thousand rebels from Helong alone stirred up chaos in Guannei, Jingji, Hedong, Hebei, Henan and other regions.

If the imperial court really wanted to attack Liu Jilong, and if Zhang Huaishen and Monk Moyan joined forces with him, would it be able to defeat Liu Jilong in a short period of time?
If the rebellion cannot be suppressed, the barbarians in the southwest will take the opportunity to cause trouble, and the court will be caught in a dilemma.

Of course, this is not the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is that a civil uprising also occurs in the Central Plains.

With the court's current national strength, opening up two battlefields, let alone three, would be enough to cause trouble.

Thinking of this, Wang Zongshi couldn't help but secretly curse Li Yi for not knowing how to fight.

"The Shen Ce Army has over 100,000 soldiers, and the eight towns in the northwest of Beijing have over 100,000 soldiers..."

"I just don't believe that an army of only 300,000 cannot conquer a mere Longyou!"

Li Yi was still speaking nonsense, but the ministers in the hall all looked unhappy.

They knew very well what the Shen Ce Army was like.

More than 100,000 people are the number on the roster, and it is even a question whether we can actually pull out 30,000 people.

The several thousand armored soldiers used by Wang Zongshi in the palace coup were basically all the elite troops of the Zuo Shence Army.

The Left Shence Army is like this, not to mention the Right Shence Army.

As for the eight towns northwest of Beijing, they have enjoyed peace for so many years. At that time, tens of thousands of people could not even deal with Wang Shouwen's three thousand men. How could they deal with Liu Jilong's tens of thousands of men?
You must know that after Wang Shouwen's rebellion, many vassal states speculated that the imperial court was strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

If Li Chen had not been smart and did not use the Shence Army to encircle and suppress Wang Shouwen, the strength of the Shence Army would probably have been exposed.

What the vassal states fear now is nothing more than the reputation left behind by the Shen Ce Army after it subdued some vassal states in the past.

If the true nature of the Shence Army were to be exposed, there would probably be another "Anshi Rebellion".

It’s just that the Tang Dynasty in the past had Li Guangbi, Pugu Huai’en, and Guo Ziyi, but in today’s Tang Dynasty it is difficult to find even a prime minister with real talent and knowledge.

Wang Zongshi and others couldn't believe that they relied on Gao Pian, Wang Shi and Li Chengxun to quell the rebellion of the feudal lords.

"Why is no one speaking? Are they mute?!"

Seeing Wang Zongshi and others keeping silent, Li Yi became furious.

His eyes swept across everyone and finally stopped on the great and mighty General Zhang Huaiding.

"Zhang Shenwu, don't you also support me in defeating Liu Jilong and Zhang Huaishen?"

After he finished speaking, Li Yi shook his head and said, "By the way... Zhang Huaishen should be your cousin, right? Even if you don't want to..."

"Your Majesty, I will only obey your orders!" Zhang Huaiding interrupted Li Yi's mumbling, stood up and bowed, his eyes firm as he said:
"As long as your majesty gives the order, the Left and Right Divine Armies will go out. Even if the whole army is annihilated, we will complete your majesty's will!"

Zhang Huaiding's attitude made Li Yi's eyes flash with surprise, but it also brought dissatisfaction from Wang Zongshi and others.

Now everyone is advising the emperor not to cause trouble, but Zhang Huaiding is the only one who takes a tough stance. Doesn't this make the others seem particularly cowardly?

Thinking of this, Wang Zongshi was about to scold Zhang Huaiding, but saw Li Yi snorted coldly: "Left and right Shenwu Army belongs to me, not you."

"Do I need to ask for your opinion on how to use the Left and Right Divine Armies?!"

"I dare not!" Zhang Huaiding quickly knelt on the ground, and Li Yi snorted coldly and looked at Wang Zongshi.

"What the Minister said is absolutely right. I will not create any more trouble before resolving the rebellion of the southern barbarians."

"But the comments in the government today may make Liu Jilong and Zhang Huaishen uneasy."

"Please ask the internal minister to discuss with the Southern Court and reward some money and food to the two of them."

After Li Yi finished speaking, Wang Zongshi breathed a sigh of relief and forgot about teaching Zhang Huaiding a lesson. He quickly agreed:
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will discuss this matter with the three ministers right away."

"In addition, shall we discuss the reward for Gao Qianli's great victory in Rongzhou?"

Wang Zongshi did not forget Gao Pian. After all, he was his strongest foreign aid now.

Li Yi nodded and said, "This matter is under the full authority of the internal minister. I want to watch the show. If you are willing to stay, then stay and watch the show."

"I will take my leave now. May you live for tens of millions of years..."

Now that the matter was resolved, everyone naturally had no intention of staying and they all sang and left the Xianning Palace.

Soon, actors and musicians walked into the hall, and music began to play slowly.

But after leaving Xianning Palace, Wang Zongshi still looked at Zhang Huaiding and said coldly: "Zhang Shenwu is really good at scheming!"

"I don't understand what the Minister is talking about."

Zhang Huaiding was calm and composed. Although he bowed in return, his attitude was somewhat domineering.

The reason why he dared to do so was because he had already figured out the details of the Shen Ce Army.

He thought the Shence Army was so powerful, but after spending so many years investigating it, he found out they were just a bunch of good-for-nothings.

If Wang Zongshi really wanted to attack him, Zhang Huaiding would not mind mobilizing the left and right Shenwu armies to fight him in Tianjie.

"Humph!"

Wang Zongshi was probably also afraid of the three thousand Shenwu Army under Zhang Huaiding's command. He snorted coldly and led everyone out of the Daming Palace.

Looking at their backs, Zhang Huaiding sneered, and at the same time he couldn't help but think of his own father.

"Aye, look carefully, only soldiers and horses can be so domineering!"

(End of this chapter)