Chapter 330: Confrontation

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, today is the end of the Fourth Heavenly Day holiday in the New Year. The officials from various yamen began to work normally, and the entire Tang Dynasty's state machinery began to operate.

Li Qing's report was scheduled to be held at Shen Shizheng (3:00 pm). The location was the Zichen Hall of the Daming Palace. Before the seventh year of Tianbao, the report was held here every year. Later, it was changed to Huaqing Palace. This year, Li Longji returned from Huaqing Palace in advance, and the report was returned to the old place.

Li Qing only received a report from the Hall Supervisor the night before, and learned that the governors who reported their work today had to enter the imperial city according to the morning court time. However, Li Qing did not know this detail, which led to the cancellation of his plan for his family's travel in the morning.

Just like being the Minister of Revenue in the past, he set out from home before dawn. Zhuque Street was full of carriages of officials entering the court, and orange lanterns swayed gently in the cold wind, making Li Qing feel as if he had returned to the past.

Although the emperor had stopped celebrating early, all the officials still entered the Zhuque Gate and Danfeng Gate in an orderly manner. No one would be late. Li Linfu left the rules and did not slacken because of his departure.

It was still early, and officials gathered in groups of three or five in the imperial city. Today is the first time that the New Year has entered the country. The colleagues seem to be intimate and seem to have disappeared. In fact, many people just broke up a few hours ago. Most of the officials talked about were romantic and romantic, and important topics were finished as early as the New Year.

"Li Qing! Lord Li!" Li Qing's carriage had just stopped in front of the gate of the Ministry of War when he suddenly heard someone calling him. Looking through the window, he saw several people standing on the steps. The leader was a middle-aged man in his fifties. Li Qing had seen him, the governor of Shuofang, Zhang Qiqiu. His performance was arranged to be arranged tomorrow morning. Li Qing got off the carriage, but his eyes fell on the person next to Zhang Qiqiu. He was about forty years old, wearing a military uniform, thin and tall, standing there like a straight benchmark. He had dark skin and a clear face. He half-closed his eyes and looked at the sword in his waist, with a faint glow in his eyes.

Li Qing quickly stepped forward and bowed to Zhang Qiqiu and smiled, "Don't Lord Zhang report his work tomorrow? Why did he come today?"

"I heard that this year's report was very difficult to pass, so I had to come here today to make up for it." Zhang Qiqiu said, but saw Li Qing keep looking at his deputy, so he pulled his hand and introduced: "This person has just taken over Li Xianzhong's position. My famous general Li Guangbi, Mr. Li, have you heard of it?"

Li Qing suddenly realized that no wonder he was powerful. It turned out that he was Li Guangbi, and he was indeed a famous general. Another general, Guo Ziyi, is also the deputy envoy of Shuofang's military governor, and is currently staying in Shuofang. Li Qing met him once in Kucha in the middle of last year.

Li Qing nodded to Li Guangbi with a smile, saying hello, but Li Guangbi wanted to speak but stopped. He glanced at Zhang Qiqiu from the corner of his eyes and then said nothing.

Seeing that he seemed to have something to say to him, Li Qing smiled and changed the topic and said to Zhang Qiqiu: "I heard that the Shuofang Army suffered heavy losses in the Li Xianzhong Rebellion. Is there any such thing?"

Zhang Qiqiu's face changed slightly and he said, "My Shuofang Army was defeated and naturally suffered heavy losses. Don't mention this matter! Don't mention this matter!"

Li Qing stopped asking more questions and bowed to him, "Li Qing has to prepare for his work in the afternoon. He will invite Lord Zhang to drink another day, so he won't be with him."

"Okay, please, Lord Li!"

The first glow of clouds began to appear in the east sky. The morning bell rang. The officials chatting everywhere walked back to their yamen. The imperial city quickly calmed down. At this time, Geshuhan, accompanied by more than a dozen aides, rushed towards the direction of the Daming Palace. His report will be held in half an hour.

Although the governors did not serve in the court, they were of high power and came to conduct their annual report. The Ministry of War also specially prepared a room for them. Li Qing's room was at the easternmost head of a long corridor. The front and back yards were planted with flowers and plants. A stream passed through the bridge. Although it was still cold winter, the flowing water seemed to be a bit full of vitality. The original copy of the report had been handed in, and he had a copy in his hand. At this moment, he was silently reciting the content of the report to see if there were any loopholes. At this time, the door knocked gently, and his aide Zhang Ji whispered outside the door: "Emister, the person has been invited."

"Please come in!" Li Qing packed up his performance report, and the door opened with a creaking sound. Li Guangbi's dark and contoured face appeared at the door. He strode in, clasped his fists at Li Qingyi and said, "Guangbi has seen Lord Envoy."

"General Li, please sit down!"

Li Qing asked Li Guangbi to sit down. A personal soldier served him tea and took him to the door and walked back. There were only the two of them in the room. It was very quiet. Li Qing lowered his head and smiled and spoke first: "I just saw General Li wanting to speak, but it was hard to say that it was hindering Lord Zhang's face. If you have anything to say now, please just say it."

Li Guangbi was silent for a moment and suddenly asked, "I just saw that the envoy's sword looked very familiar, but was it Wang Zhongsi's old thing?"

"Yes, this sword was indeed given by Wang Zhongsi." Li Qing took the sword from his waist, put it on the table, gently pushed it towards Li Guangbi, and smiled slightly and said, "General Li, but it's okay."

Li Guangbi was stunned. When he met for the first time, he actually gave the sword to himself. He silently picked up the sword and looked carefully, "Yes! Yes! It's his sword, although the sword is in a human being, it's dead." Li Guangbi gently stroked the sword, and before he knew it, his eyes turned red.

After a while, he carefully returned the sword to Li Qing and sighed: "This sword follows Wang Shuai's military service for the rest of his life. I don't know how many enemy chiefs died. He once told me that those who obtained this sword could inherit his mantle. Later, Wang Shuai died unjustly, and the sword disappeared without a trace. We all thought that this sword had been destroyed, but I saw it in the general today."

Li Guangbi became more and more excited as he spoke. He lifted the hem of his clothes and knelt down at Li Qing on one knee: "Please accept my beloved by the general!"

Li Qing did not help him, but just smiled faintly and said, "I hope General Li worships me, not this sword."

"No!"

Li Guangbi's face was flushed and he suddenly stood up and said loudly: "The sword returns to the sword, the people come back to the people. The general travels across the Western Regions to open up territory for our Tang Dynasty, fight against Tubo, and attack the big food. In Guangbi's eyes, this is the true inheritance of Wang Shuai's mantle, not just a sword. If it weren't for this, I would never bend it even if I broke my legs."

Li Qing was silent and apologized for a long time: "I blamed you wrongly. I apologize to you here. General Li, please sit down and talk. I have something to ask you."

Li Guangbi saw that the great Anxi Protectorate, the Shangshu Zuo Pushe, actually admitted his mistake to him. He was moved, and the dissatisfaction he had just aroused was immediately wiped out. He sat down and said happily: "The General has something to ask."

"I want to ask Li Xianzhong about his defeat. General Li might tell me the truth?"

Li Guangbi was silent. In fact, he followed Zhang Qiqiu to Beijing to expose to the court that An Lushan had privately captured the Shuofang Army. But last night, Zhang Qiqiu suddenly found him and told him that Yang Guozhong had intervened in this matter and was not allowed to mention it again. Li Guangbi was extremely angry, but helpless. Now Li Qing suddenly asked him about this, which made him suddenly see a ray of light in the long darkness.

He was a very principled person and could not tolerate Yang Guozhong and An Lushan's elite troops conspiring for the reconnaissance of the Fang army, and it should have been his army.

"Weapons are the weapons of the country, how can we abandon them for our own selfishness?"

Li Guangbi made up his mind, and he slowly said in a low and slightly hoarse voice: "Now this army is stationed in the clouds. It has no number. It is completely An Lushan's private army. I came to the capital to report this matter, but last night, Lord Zhang suddenly told me that Yang Guozhong had intervened in this matter and ordered me not to mention it again. An Lushan's inclusion of Shuofang Army was given up."

"So what evidence is there to prove that Yang Guozhong has intervened in this matter?"

Li Guangbi shook his head and said, "I don't know much about the specifics. Lord Zhang only told me that the Ministry of War's investigation was incomplete. Since he said it was Yang Guozhong, there must be some support."

Before he knew it, Li Qing had already stood up and stood in front of the window. He couldn't sit still. It was a chance to meet Li Guangbi today, but what Li Guangbi said made him discover a huge secret: There was an ulterior motive between Yang Guozhong and An Lushan.

They should just trade rather than alliances, otherwise An Lushan would not beat Yang Guozhong's third son. Perhaps Yang Guozhong had some handle and was pinned by An Lushan, or perhaps An Lushan and Yang Guozhong exchanged what they needed.

But none of these matters. What matters is that Yang Guozhong and An Lushan have already walked on the same road. Although things are small, Li Qing has seen a lot of things from this, just like an iceberg. Ordinary people only see the part on the sea surface, but Li Qing has seen another rich iceberg world under the sea level.

First of all, Yang Guozhong didn't know about the account book, otherwise he would not have done such stupid things as similar to the conspiracy of rebellion. Secondly, Li Longji did not tell him this, which shows that Li Longji still had some doubts about Yang Guozhong, and he did not trust him very much, and even Li Longji believed in himself more in this matter.

This seemingly subtle relationship often affects the formulation of major decisions of the court and even determines the direction of history. However, things are still unclear now. Although Li Qing only saw a vague outline, he had a brand new idea in his heart.

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Time flies very quickly. After lunch, Li Qing was taken to the Zichen Hall of the Daming Palace by several eunuchs. The report was advanced. It was originally scheduled to be held at Shenshi, but now it is an hour ahead of schedule, because An Lushan's report ended in less than a quarter of an hour.

Li Qing stood outside the hall for only a moment. With a crisp cloud board ringing, the performance officially began. An eunuch trotted out and shouted loudly: "Let the Xi Jiedushi Li Qing meet with him."

Then several guards took Li Qing in. Zichen Hall was the third hall of the Daming Palace, also known as the Emperor's Palace. It is the place where the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty stayed most often except the imperial study room. Many military and national affairs were decided here, so when entering this hall, the courtiers called it "enter the pavilion", which was a very honorable thing.

The hall was spacious and magnificent, but there were only a dozen people sitting at the end, and these dozen people were the highest decision-making group of the Tang Dynasty.

The tallest part in the middle of the steps was naturally the Emperor Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty. Although he didn't take a nap, he was still energetic and rosy in his skin. He was smiling and watching Li Qing approach.

Li Qing strode forward and knelt down and bowed to Li Longji, "My minister Li Qing will meet His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Li Aiqing is exempted from courtesy and is given a seat!"

Li Longji waved his hand gently, and immediately two eunuchs placed on a heavy chair. Li Qing sat down and glanced at both sides. The first one was to see Gao Lishi standing behind Li Longji. He held a stack of documents, his eyes were cold, and there was no expression on his face.

Secondly, there were two rows of people sitting on both sides of him. The first one in the right head turned out to be Li Linfu's seat. Now he was sitting with a sneer on his face. From time to time, he stabbed him with a gloomy look. Next to him was the Minister of Revenue Zhang Jun, who looked worried. Seeing Li Qing's eyes, he sighed slightly and shook his head gently. Further down there was the Minister of Rites Pei Kuan, who was closing his eyes to rest, as if he knew nothing, but there was a hint of pity and helplessness on the corners of his mouth.

The first person opposite Yang Guozhong was the newly reinstated left prime minister Chen Xilie. Today was his first day to attend such an important report meeting. At this moment, he was smiling proudly, with a rich expression on his face and coughing constantly, fearing that others would not know about his existence.

Next to him was Li Qing's old subordinate when he was in the Ministry of Revenue. Wei Jiansu, who had just been promoted to the Minister of War, had a serious face, his lips turned white and stretched into a straight line, and he seemed quite nervous.

Further down there is the gloating Minister of Xing, the former governor of Jiannan, Guo Xuji, and finally the Minister of Works, but now he is temporarily short of his position, Fang Guan, the Minister of Personnel.

In addition to these dozen cabinet members, there were also some auxiliary officials sitting around, such as the Censor Zhongcheng, the Secretary of the Secretariat, the Hall of the Superintendent, the Hanlin Bachelor, etc.

But Li Qing's eyes finally stopped on someone, which shocked him secretly. This person was no one else, but Li Cong, the King of Qing. From a corner of his stairs, he was blocked by Chen Xilie. After three years of not seeing him, he lost a lot and seemed very energetic. However, at this moment, he did not see Li Qing, but was staring at the note in his hand with all his attention. It should be An Lushan's performance report. Li Qing couldn't help but smile coldly. It seemed that Li Longji wanted to make his eldest son the crown prince in the end.

"Let's start!"

Li Longji's smile disappeared. He took Li Qing's performance report from Gao Lishi, turned a page, and said to Li Qing: "Yesterday afternoon, I held a meeting with several prime ministers and states to discuss, basically agreeing with your plan to expand the west, but I want to clarify some questions again. The first is the tax issue. If the number of troops is sent as a soldier, you can get tax exemption. If there are too many tax exemptions, where will the government's tax come from? Have you considered it? This is the first, you can answer it first."

"I have considered that first of all tax exemptions is not all land tax exemptions. The tax exemption I mentioned is only tax exemption for Yongyeland, and the part of the land distribution still has to pay rent, but the tax is slightly lighter. Secondly, the number of troops set by Your Majesty for the Anxi Army is 74,000. Since there is an upper limit, not every household can serve as a soldier. Some people will inevitably not enjoy tax exemption. This will have a part of the tax source, and then implement military garrisons to make military rations self-sufficient. But these are not the most important. My real tax source comes from commercial tax, salt tax, and the government itself has also established commercial banks. I have calculated that as long as the trade volume between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions countries can reach 70% of the 25th year of Kaiyuan, the tax collected will be enough to cope with daily expenses."

Li Longji nodded slightly and asked the Minister of Revenue Zhang Yun, "What do you think Zhang Aiqing thinks?"

Zhang Yun smiled and said, "Our people who went out of the Ministry of Revenue are naturally relieved. Even if they have no choice in the end, Mr. Li will also hunt gold from the river."

He spoke humorously, and everyone would smile. Li Longji also chuckled softly and said, "I have forgotten his old skills." He waved his hand and said, "If this first one is passed, you will write down the details to the Ministry of Revenue in the future."

Li Longji turned the next page again, looked at Pei Kuan, and said to Li Qing: "There is another one proposed by Shangshu Pei, which means that your plan does not involve the post station. Is there any omission?"

Li Qing was stunned. He really forgot this one. He hurriedly replied: "This is something I missed."

"The post station is extremely important. This involves the connection between the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty. Don't be careless. You should turn around and make up for it!"

Seeing Li Qing nodding in agreement, Li Longji stopped mentioning the matter and turned another page. A strong interest suddenly flashed in his eyes and asked: "There is a school in your plan. I don't understand the regulations that start from the fifth-aged child and enrollment for ten years. You might as well talk about it."

Li Qing's consideration was naturally established according to the nine years of compulsory education in later generations, but it also has his profound meaning to set up here.

"Your Majesty, the west of the Pamir Mountains is more than ten thousand miles away from the Central Plains of Tang Dynasty. There are many Hu people there. In the future, I will immigrate to the Central Plains and will inevitably intermarry and live with them. In order to allow the culture of the Central Plains to be passed down forever among their descendants, and to ensure that they will not forget their roots, I use the compulsory method to order children over the age of five, whether they are older than five years old, must be admitted to school for ten years. If anyone violates the order, he will be a hundred sticks and is not a slave. This is the top priority in my opinion. I hope your majesty agrees."

"Okay! Very good!" Li Longji stood up and applauded loudly, 'Don't forget his roots'. He read it twice in a row and exclaimed sincerely: "Just with your article, I want to let you stay in the Western Regions for a few more years. This is actually what I am worried about. Ten years later, they may still know that they are a citizen of the Tang Dynasty, but what about a hundred years, hundreds of years later? Can they still remember where their roots are? So I absolutely agree with this article of my dear, including girls entering school, and I am also very sure."

Speaking of this, Li Longji smiled at several ministers and said, "I have talked with Li Aiqing a few days ago, so I have no questions. Do you have anything to ask? If not, the report of Li Qing, the governor of Anxi, will be calculated."

"Your Majesty, I have something to ask." It was naturally Yang Guozhong who stood up. He had been waiting for this moment for nearly a year, so how could Li Qing end his report in admiration?

"Your Majesty, I think that since it is a report on my job, it should be about what I have done in the past year. I also want to know Anxi's recent situation. But after listening for a long time, what Li Envoy said is all future plans, and I don't mention anything about what happened in the past year. Since the emperor has recognized Li Envoy's report on my job, I have nothing to say. However, at the end of last year, I met an Anxi general who impeached Li Envoy for bloody massacre of 30,000 Tang Allied Forces before the Battle of Talas. I want to ask Your Majesty to agree to let this person come in to testify."

"Your Majesty, I object!" Zhang Yun stood up step by step, and he turned around and stared at Yang Guozhong and said, "Supreme Minister Yang, the court has discussed this matter many times, and it has been concluded that Li Qing has made merits and demerits, but he has already made up his merits and demerits. Why should he mention this matter again? Besides, this did not happen last year. If you follow the meaning of Yang Guo, you don't need to mention it again, so Yang Guo still thinks it clearly before talking about it."

"Zhangshu Zhang was surprised by this, and I wanted to say a few fair words." These two sentences were so sarcastic that Chen Xilie stood up and stroked his goatee's beard and said, "Your Majesty, the qualifications here are the oldest, and the most qualified to preside over justice."

He glanced at Li Qing. This was this person who almost killed him when he was in Nanzhao. He had been obsessed with this hatred. Now he is Yang Guozhong's iron-killer. New and old hatreds burst out in his heart. How could he not stand up?

"Although this happened two years ago, the matter was not over. Until last year, Ge Luolu's envoy came to ask about this matter, but still did not give someone a reply today. It really hurts my appearance in the country. Besides, Gao Xianzhi was removed from the position of Anxi Jiedushi after doing something similar, and Zhang Shangshu, who is an official in the same court, why do he favor one and the other?"

"But what Li Qing killed is not the same as what Gao Xianzhi killed, so why should we compare it?" Zhang Yun sneered.

Chen Xilie snorted heavily and said, "But in my opinion, Li Qing's killing is even more serious!"

"alright!"

Li Longji spoke out and stopped their quarrel. He had been observing Li Qing just now. Seeing that he sneered and knew that he had a solution, he asked him: "Li Qing, are you willing to have someone prove to confront you?"

"I have no objection!" He also wanted to know who the person Yang Guozhong said was?

"Okay, I will allow Prime Minister Yang to request."

After a moment, Wang Tao, who defected to Yang Guozhong, was brought up. Although Yang Guozhong had told him many times, his official position was humble. He had been in such an occasion for the first time in his life. He had been so scared that he trembled all over and fell to the ground and could not say a word.

"Wang Tao, it's you!" Li Qing walked to him and sneered, "I'll criticize you for taking leave to go back to Beijing to visit relatives. It turns out that this is how your relatives visited?"
To be continued...