While the promotion of meritorious officials caused a stir in the Northern Tang Dynasty, the Southern Tang Dynasty was also not peaceful under Li Heng's "wise" leadership.
Li Heng executed his son Li Tan, who was most capable of fighting, because of Empress Zhang and Li Fuguo's slander.
Because of this incident, Li Mi, the counselor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, gradually became estranged from the emperor Li Heng. However, due to the safety of the Southern Tang Dynasty, he had to continue to make suggestions for the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Li Mi originally thought that after Li Heng experienced the pain of losing his son, he would be cautious, work hard and stop listening to slander.
What Li Mi didn't expect was that just a few months after Li Tan's death, Li Heng's suspicion relapsed.
This time, the object of suspicion became Yong Wang Li Lin (the sixteenth son of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty).
Li Longji fled from Chang'an and experienced the Maweipo Incident. After being welcomed to Liangzhou by Zhou Jun, he issued an edict to distribute his sons to various parts of the country to command various military governors.
Among them, his 16th son, Li Lin, who was 35 years old at the time, was granted the title of envoy of Shannan East Road, Lingnan, Qianzhong and Jiangnan West Road, and governor of Jiangling County. He sat in Jiangling (now Jingzhou).
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After the Maweipo mutiny failed, Li Heng led more than a thousand imperial troops and headed south.
After hearing about this incident, Yong Wang Li Lin, who was in charge of Jiangling, not only did not embarrass Li Heng, but instead donated a lot of supplies and sent many soldiers. He even wrote a special letter to the four military envoys, ordering their cooperation.
Why does Li Lin treat Li Heng so well?
Because her mother died when Li Lin was young, and she was raised by Li Heng single-handedly.
For Li Lin, Li Heng was also his brother and father, and their relationship was extremely strong.
After that, Li Heng took over Jiankang and established the Southern Tang Dynasty.
But as time went by, Yong Wang Li Lin gradually became a worry for Li Heng.
Because according to the legal theory of the Tang Dynasty, Li Lin, who holds the seal of Li Longji, is the legal controller of the Four Jiangnan Roads.
In other words, if the New Tang Dynasty was established in the south of the Yangtze River, then the Emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Lin, should also be the first in line.
At this time, another rumor came to Li Heng's ears, saying that King Yong Li Lin seemed to be rebellious and planned to establish himself in Jiangling.
According to common sense, as long as Li Heng refuted such rumors or wrote a letter to appease them, everything would be fine.
However, Li Heng's suspicion arose, and in the name of the emperor, he issued a decree to Li Lin, asking the latter to come to Jiankang to meet the emperor.
After receiving the imperial edict, Li Lin had already heard some rumors, and the tragedy of Li Tan's execution was right in front of him, which made him start to feel fear, thinking that Li Heng summoned him with the purpose of executing him.
At this time, Li Lin's son Li Jian, counselor Xue Yu and others jumped out one after another, saying that Li Lin had the seal of Li Longji in his hand, and he should have been the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Moreover, people also said that Li Heng wanted to kill King Yong. At this time, life and death were at stake. Li Lin should raise a banner to fight for the throne and invite all the states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River to vote for him.
Li Lin, who was afraid of being killed by the emperor, was so hot-headed that he simply raised troops and sent messages to various places.
Li Bai, the immortal poet, was also under Li Lin at this time and wrote the impassioned Qijue poem "Song of King Yong's Tour to the East" for him.
However, at this time, Li Heng had been in the position of emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty for many years and his foundation was already stable.
When Li Lin's army reached the mouth of the Han River, it was blocked halfway by Lai Gui, the envoy of the Huainan West Road Jiedu.
Before the war started, several generals in Li Lin's army surrendered to the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Seeing that the situation was over, Li Lin hurriedly took some of his subordinates and children and fled to Lingnan.
Li Mi, who originally deployed defenses in Fengyang to defend against the Yan army's march south, hurried back to Jiankang after hearing about this incident.
Entering the palace and seeing Li Heng, Li Bi walked directly in front of the emperor regardless of the traffic, and said sadly: "Your Majesty, King Yong is unjust!"
Li Heng shook his head and said: "Li Lin has led the army and has left Jingzhou and is heading east. Even so, you still want to say that he was wronged?!"
Li Mi: "If King Yong wanted to be emperor, he would not have allowed His Majesty to go south. He only needed to take out the seal of the Supreme Emperor and send thousands of elite soldiers to capture His Majesty. Then he would be able to control the four roads south of the Yangtze River, and then obtain the Emperor's seal from the Supreme Emperor.
If you have obtained the throne legally, why wait until today to start an army and start a rebellion?"
When Li Heng heard this, his heart was shocked. At this time, he came back to his senses and slowly figured everything out.
If Yong Wang Li Lin really wanted the throne, all he had to do was send troops to capture him at that time, take him to Liangcheng, and then receive rewards for his merits. Then he could justifiably inherit the orthodoxy from the Supreme Emperor, so there was no need to do anything extra.
Seeing the regret on Li Heng's face, Li Mi tried to persuade him again: "Your Majesty, it's not too late now. Please issue an order immediately to order the army not to harm King Yong and his family, and to take him to Jiankang City!"
When Li Heng heard this, he quickly called Li Fuguo and issued an imperial edict, ordering Lai Yi not to harm King Yong and his family, but to bring them safely to Jiankang.
However, when this imperial edict was sent out, it was still too late.
A few days later, Yong Wang Li Lin and his family were intercepted and killed by the Lingnan army at the foot of the mountain.
When the body was brought to the Huainan West Road Jiedushi envoy Laigui, it had rotted into a human shape due to the intense heat and miasma, and it was impossible to even collect it for burial.
When this bad news reached Jiankang City, Li Mi locked himself in his room and was in a daze for a long time.
First it was Li Tan, then Li Lin.
After experiencing these two incidents, Li Mi gradually saw Li Heng's true nature.
When he was in Maweipo, he launched a mutiny in order to attack Li Longji; he listened to the woman's words and killed his son Li Tan; he also believed in rumors, which was detrimental to his close brother Li Lin.
Such kings who killed their fathers, sons and brothers were really far from the wise master in Li Bi's heart.
In Li Mi's heart, the idea of leaving became more determined.
After writing his farewell letter, Li Mi came out of his room and went to the palace to meet the saint.
After Li Mi saw Li Heng, he said: "Your Majesty, the situation in Jiangnan has gradually stabilized. Is it useless for Pindao to continue to stay here?"
Li Heng was shocked when he heard this: "Chang Yuan is leaving?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Li Bi nodded and said: "I am only halfway through practicing Taoism, and I have not yet realized the truth. I came down the mountain just to help your majesty. The situation is stable now, so I should continue to return.
I am practicing Taoism in the mountains."
Li Heng held Li Mi's hand tightly and advised: "You are the person I trust most. If you leave, how should everything in the court be handled?"
Li Mi: "For military affairs, you can ask Duke Deng (Zhang Xun), and for government affairs, you can ask the prince (Li Chu)."
Li Heng still refused to let go: "The rebels are now strong, Chang'an and Luoyang are all occupied by thieves, and Zhou Jun of Liangcheng is ambitious and wants to harm the Tang Dynasty. How can Chang Yuan abandon me at such a critical time?"
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At this time, Fan Yang has not yet been defeated, and Liangcheng has not yet broken out into turmoil among the clans.
Therefore, Li Mi patiently explained: "Although the rebels are powerful, they are plagued by internal troubles; Zhou Jun of Liangzhou was born in a slave, and if he wants to become a powerful minister, he will inevitably be criticized by the courtiers and may not have enough time to take care of himself; and Shuofang's army,
The Anxi Army is deeply trapped in the Hebei battlefield, fighting with the rebels, and cannot escape in a short time. Your Majesty's immediate priority is to step up military training and strengthen its strength. While the war in the north consumes the military power of Zhou Jun and the puppet Yan, he will seize the opportunity and go north to recover.
With both capitals, we can revitalize the Tang Dynasty and accomplish unparalleled achievements."
Li Heng nodded vigorously while listening, but still refused to let go when Li Mi wanted to say goodbye and leave.
After that, the two people went back and forth and had a war of words for half a month. Only then did Li Heng have no choice but to allow Li Mi to return to Hengshan. He also asked local officials to build a Taoist temple for Li Mi in the mountain and gave him a third-grade official.
treatment.
On the surface, Li Mi's departure meant that the Southern Tang Dynasty was missing an adviser.
However, Li Mi's role for Li Heng went far beyond being an advisor.
Li Mi used his eloquence and strategy to gradually unify the originally fragmented officialdom of the Southern Tang Dynasty; he also coordinated the military generals, civil servants and eunuchs within the Southern Tang Dynasty, so that the three parties reached a relatively stable balance.
However, after he left, Li Heng began to reuse eunuchs such as Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen.
The eunuchs, who were deeply trusted by the emperor, gradually took control of the affairs of the Southern Tang Dynasty and began to suppress civil servants and military generals, causing the entire Jiangnan to gradually enter the era of "eunuch monopoly".
This chapter has been completed!