Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 116 News of the Yangzhou Rebellion

Li Xian's expression changed.

What are the angels from God's Capital doing at this time?
Could they have discovered cotton?
Liu Jianjun, on the other hand, was much calmer. He patted Li Xian on the shoulder and said, "Don't panic, Xianzi. It shouldn't be about us."

Then, he looked at Liu Rengui and asked, "Lord Liu, do you have any place here where His Highness Prince Pei and I can make way for each other?"

Liu Rengui instantly understood Liu Jianjun's meaning, chuckled, stood up, walked to a door to the side, and pushed it open: "You and Prince Pei should hide in this room first, while I meet this angel from Luoyang."

Liu Jianjun pulled Li Xian through the door. This place was a smaller study, which should be Liu Rengui's private office, separated from the previous room by only one wall.

Li Xian wanted to find a quiet place to sit down, but Liu Jianjun grabbed him and squatted down in the corner with a wicked grin, lowering his voice to say, "Aren't you curious about what the angel from Luoyang said to Old Liu?"

Li Xian was instantly moved.

But he was too embarrassed to press his ear against the wall like Liu Jianjun did, so he just stood close to the wall, holding his breath.

A short while later, noises came from the next room.

The first words spoken by the so-called angel stunned Li Xian: "Lord Liu, there is a rebellion in Yangzhou!"

Li Xian immediately followed Liu Jianjun's example, pressing his ear against the wall to hear the intermittent conversation between the two next door.

The man who arrived had a loud voice... or rather, his tone was somewhat arrogant. Judging from how Liu Rengui addressed him, the man seemed to be surnamed Jiang, and Liu Rengui called him General Jiang.

When Li Xian heard from General Jiang that the rebellion in Yangzhou had just begun and had grown to more than 100,000 rebels in just over ten days, the Empress Dowager entrusted Pei Yan with handling the matter. However, unexpectedly, Pei Yan made excuses and procrastinated after the war began.

Even more absurdly, one morning during the court session, the Empress Dowager asked Pei Yan for advice on how to quell the rebellion in Yangzhou, which was so fierce. Pei Yan actually said, "I believe that the reason why Li Jingye's rebellion has attracted support is simply because the Emperor is old, while the Empress Dowager is reluctant to let the Emperor rule in his own right. As long as the Empress Dowager returns power to the Emperor, the rebels will surely collapse without a fight."

Upon hearing this, Li Xian's eyes widened. He looked at Liu Jianjun and asked in a low voice, "The one who rebelled in Yangzhou was actually Li Jingye?"

Liu Jianjun was puzzled for a moment, then asked, "What happened to Li Jingye?"

Li Xian was already used to Liu Jianjun's unfamiliarity with court affairs, so he lowered his voice and explained, "Li Jingye didn't do anything, but his grandfather Li Ji made great contributions. Back when Father Emperor was still alive, if it weren't for Li Ji saying, 'This is Your Majesty's family matter, why ask outsiders,' how could Mother have turned the tide and been made Empress by Father Emperor?"

Jiang Langjiang's words echoed in her ears again: "The Empress was furious, and the entire court was silent. Pei Yan actually forced the emperor to abdicate at this time!"

Li Xian's pupils contracted sharply, and he hurriedly quickened his pace to explain to Liu Jianjun: "Therefore, Li Ji became the most respected minister of the Emperor and Empress Dowager, and was granted the title of Duke of Ying. Li Ji's son died early, and the title of Duke of Ying was passed on to Li Jingye."

"Logically speaking, Li Jingye was a member of the Empress Dowager's faction, so why would he rebel? ...And how did he end up in Yangzhou?"

Liu Jianjun chuckled: "I'll tell you about that later. Don't say anything, just keep listening."

Li Xian shut up and obediently pressed his ear against the wall.

General Jiang exclaimed in surprise, "At this moment, Imperial Censor Cui suddenly stepped forward and said, 'Yan has been entrusted with the care of the emperor and holds great power. If he has no ulterior motives, why should he ask the Empress Dowager to return power to him?' As soon as these words were spoken, the entire court was shocked. Immediately afterwards, an imperial edict was issued, declaring Pei Yan a traitor and ordering his arrest and imprisonment!"

Then, General Jiang couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, his words full of praise and admiration for Empress Wu.

After listening for a while, Liu Jianjun seemed to think there was no important information left, and then looked at Li Xian and said, "Did you hear about what happened in Yangzhou just now?" Li Xian looked at Liu Jianjun in confusion.

“Li Jingye, Li Jingyou, Wei Siwen, Tang Zhiqi, Du Qiuren… and Luo Binwang.”

This time, Li Xian's eyes widened instantly, and he asked in confirmation, "Luo Binwang?"

“Not bad.” Liu Jianjun glanced at Li Xian meaningfully, but did not say much on the topic. He then whispered, “Look at what these people have in common. Li Jingye was demoted, and his younger brother Li Jingyou did not do a good job as an official either. He was dismissed from his position as county magistrate.”

"So let me speculate on what's going on. These two disheartened brothers are full of resentment and want to go out for a trip to clear their heads. Yangzhou is a hub for water and land transportation and is known for its beautiful scenery. I'm not sure if Yangzhou is their destination or if they're just passing through."

"But... take a look at the others."

"Wei Siwen was demoted to commoner status and detained in Yangzhou. Du Qiuren was demoted to county magistrate. Tang Zhiqi... this person seems to have been your subordinate before? He was also demoted and exiled. Luo Binwang was the same. Such a large group of disillusioned literati gathered together. We are all fellow sufferers in this world. Why should we need to have known each other before?"

Liu Jianjun clicked his tongue and continued, "These down-on-their-luck literati met in Yangzhou and started drinking together."

"After a few drinks, we started talking more, and our complaints flowed like a torrent."

"When it comes to fate, everyone complains about the unfairness of the higher-ups, saying that someone as talented as them shouldn't have been demoted. When discussing the court, they all say that the Empress Dowager is ambitious and the Emperor's future is uncertain..."

"Men, who doesn't talk about politics after drinking?"
"This has always been the case throughout history."

"So as we chatted, someone, whoever it was, in a stroke of genius, combined the two things together and said that now that the Empress Dowager is ruling, she is universally reviled. If we raise the banner of restoring the Tang Dynasty, people will surely respond. If we succeed, won't the world be ours?"

"So, after a few of them got together, they decided they had to rebel!"
"...Well, especially with Luo Binwang's fiery temper adding fuel to the fire," Liu Jianjun concluded.

Li Xian asked in confusion, "How do you know that Luo Binwang has a fiery temper?"

"...Um, what Wang Bo told me before, wasn't it? I sent Wang Bo out for a while...but that's not important!"

Liu Jianjun waved his hand to interrupt, and continued, "Look at these people here. The Li Jingye brothers are sons of high-ranking officials and playboys, while the others are disillusioned scholars. These are the most distinctive types of people."

"First, they have a certain sensitivity to politics and can easily find a way to get to the bottom of a problem. Second, they are arrogant and ambitious but lack talent. In short, they think that rebellion is just a matter of talking and it's over. So they are most prone to impulsiveness."

"And so the rebellion was launched in a flurry of activity."

"What puzzles me is, what banner these people are flying under, that they were able to gather 100,000 rebels in just over ten days?"

No sooner had Liu Jianjun finished speaking than Li Xian heard Liu Rengui ask the same question to that General Jiang.

Jiang Lang answered in a loud and carefree voice, somewhat similar to Liu Jianjun's tone.

"Who else could it be but His Highness Prince Pei!"

……

(End of this chapter)