A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

As the Imperial Guards were about to step forward, they discovered that Li Longji had ordered them to arrest a group of important court officials, led by Li Bai, the Minister of Personnel.

If this group of people were arrested, the entire imperial court would be emptied, and the government would be completely paralyzed.

Not to mention that Li Bai, the Minister of Personnel, was from the Wei family. If Li Bai were to be harmed, the whole country would be shaken.

The Imperial Guards looked at Li Longji hesitantly, which only made Li Longji angrier.

The Imperial Guards were his personal guards, but even they disobeyed his orders at this critical moment.

Although the Imperial Guards only hesitated, Li Longji saw it as a betrayal.

As his personal guard, the Imperial Guard should obey his orders.

Even if there are mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead, as long as he gives the order, they will charge forward without even flinching.

But now he was facing nothing more than Li Bai, yet he dared to hesitate.

If it were Wei Mai, would they have to turn around and hand him, their master, over to Wei Mai?

This batch of Imperial Guards is no longer usable and must be cleaned up and replaced immediately.

After the replacement, more troops will be drawn from the border army.

No, the border troops and the Wei family have always been close. If we draw troops from the border troops, wouldn't that give the Wei family an opportunity?

Then we'll draw from the hands of the regional military governors. An Lushan was promoted by me and is extremely loyal to me, so we'll draw some from him.

There's also Shi Siming, the military governor of Fanyang. He comes from a respectable family and has no connection with the Wei family. He's someone we can rely on, so we'll take another portion from him.

Good people from all over the country have always been deceived by the Wei family's hypocrisy and false benevolence. This is not right.

Needless to say, the powerful families in various regions were even more involved. Selecting imperial guards from the sons of these families was no different from entrusting one's life to them!

However, in addition to drawing manpower from An Lushan and Shi Siming, we also need someone to check and balance them.

What a headache! The emperor of the mighty Tang Dynasty is now finding himself with no one he can rely on.

Li Longji glanced around the court and found something remarkable about Gao Lishi.

Although eunuchs were not allowed to join the army, their families had already been branded as eunuchs, making them unacceptable to any power and naturally and completely loyal to him.

Then we should select some more people from the families of these eunuchs to form a new army and replace all the imperial guards.

The thought flashed through Li Longji's mind, but in reality, it didn't last long.

The matter of the Imperial Guards is of great importance and should not be taken lightly.

We still need to take a long-term view.

The imperial guards who entered felt their scalps tingle under Li Longji's murderous gaze.

But he remembered his duty, and seeing that Li Longji had no intention of retracting his order, his face fell.

What bad luck! Why is it his turn to be on duty today?

If only he weren't on duty today, we could have gotten rid of this hot potato.

Support Li Bai or the emperor?!

This choice determined his life or death, and he felt a deep bitterness in his heart.

"I'm sorry, Minister Li."

As the Imperial Guard, the Emperor's personal troops, the Emperor's orders were their supreme decrees.

Li Longji's angry gaze softened slightly.

Li Bai smiled slightly and said to the imperial guard, "This is troublesome."

"It is a great pity that the great cause was not accomplished, the eunuchs were not completely eliminated, the treacherous officials were not completely eliminated, and I was unable to persuade Your Majesty to take the right path. This is Li Bai's fault."

"Where is the general from?"

As they were being led out of the main hall, Li Bai asked them in a friendly tone, but he deliberately lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear him.

"A man from Didao, Longxi".

Imperial Guard Captain Zong Shen also answered in a low voice.

"Didao is a good place. Since ancient times, it has had a strong martial spirit and has produced many famous generals."

"What a pity."

Li Bai sighed.

Zong Shen looked at Li Bai with a puzzled expression, but since they were in the imperial court, he didn't ask.

"General, you should know that there is a county called Anle in Didao Prefecture. Some time ago, a new magistrate was appointed to Anle County. His surname is Gao, and he is a relative of Gao Lishi, a trusted eunuch of His Majesty."

"The poor people of Anle County are living in dire straits."

"I heard that many people have been persecuted to death, and their families have been torn apart."

"Some common people would have the county magistrate appraise their marriages first."

"Entering the city required paying a gate tax, digging a well required paying a mining tax, drinking water required paying a water fee, and chopping wood required paying a wood-chopping tax. It was truly miserable."

"I heard that the magistrate would steal anything he saw on the road. If you obediently gave it to him, you were fine, but if you resisted even slightly, he would lead his constables to execute your entire family."

"General, you're not from Anle County, are you?"

The Imperial Guard captain stopped in his tracks; his home really was Anle County.

A bad feeling rose in his heart.

He was standing right at the door; of course he knew what was happening in the court.

Li Bai opposed Li Longji precisely because he wanted to bring down Yang Guozhong and Gao Lishi, along with the powerful relatives of the emperor and the eunuchs.

"Could it be that the general is really from Anle County?"

Li Bai raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected that Li Longji would break through the defenses in court and directly use the Imperial Guards to throw them into the Heavenly Prison.

So it was just something I said casually, but I didn't expect it to come true.

"good."

Zong Shen said silently.

"Why did you stop? Hurry up and press down!"

Li Longji said impatiently, he no longer wanted to see Li Bai.

When was the last letter from the general's family?

Li Bai seemed to be deep in thought.

Zong Shen's face darkened further; it had been half a year since his family last wrote to him.

Moreover, one of his younger brothers is getting married soon.

The last letter mentioned this matter, and I will write to him again later so that he can take a break and go home to attend his younger brother's wedding.

But to this day, I still haven't received any letters from home.

Based on Li Bai's words, one can imagine the fate of his family.

Given the strong-willed nature of his family members, how could they possibly yield and suffer such a humiliating disgrace?

I'm afraid that now, he's probably the only survivor of his entire clan.

My condolences!

Li Bai sighed, "The world is too vast; there will always be people like this."

"Zong Shen, what are you whispering about with Li Bai?"

Li Longji's voice sounded from behind him, and Zong Shen slowly turned around and knelt down in front of Li Longji.

"I urge Your Majesty to follow Minister Li's advice and severely punish the eunuchs in order to restore order to the court."

"presumptuous!"

Li Longji's anger, which had just subsided, erupted again. Zong Shen, following his orders, took Li Bai and the others away. He also regained some confidence in the Imperial Guard.

However, the Imperial Guards were persuaded by Li Bai in just a few words.

His desire to replace the Imperial Guards grew even stronger.

"I now order you to imprison Li Bai, Du Fu, and the others in the Imperial Prison and execute them at a later date!"

Are you also going to disobey the imperial decree?

Zong Shen raised his head and looked directly at Li Longji. This was the first time he had dared to look Emperor Xuanzong of Tang so boldly.

"Your Majesty, my family and I exchange letters every quarter, but it has been half a year since we last received any."

Zong Shen's tone was filled with boundless rage; his entire family was dead, so he naturally had no scruples.