Chapter 335: Planning Hexi (3)

The reason why Li Qing had the idea of ​​seeking Hexi was that it was an by-product that was about to be produced after An Lushan's anti-intention was exposed, that was An Sishun's career. An Sishun was the younger brother of An Lushan clan. How could Li Longji not be prepared for him? An Lushan's foundation in Hebei was stable, but An Sishun would not be the case. He served as the governor of Hexi for less than two years. Both the morale of the army and the people were unstable. In fact, after Gao Xianzhi captured the Imperial Kingdom in the ninth year of Tianbao, Li Longji considered replacing An Sishun as the governor of Hexi, but An Sishun instigated the Hu general to resist his life and forced him to stay in Hexi. It seemed that there was no An Sishun. The Hu people in Hexi were rebelling. Li Longji would have just thought, but now the situation has changed. If An Lushan revolt, An Sishun responded again, causing Chang'an to be attacked from both sides and the Tang Dynasty would be over!

An Sishun's report was just over after Zhang Qiqiu, the governor of Shuofang. It was almost noon. Li Longji had lunch and was resting in the side hall. Although he had the habit of taking a nap, he had been lying for nearly half an hour today but could not fall asleep. In the past few days, the matter of An Lushan has been lingering in his mind. He has lived too comfortably over the years and has long since been concerned about political affairs. The sudden challenge has made his mentality grow old overnight, without any signs, and no one reminded him that his first reaction was to kill.

After An Lushan, he did not dare. An Lushan, who had always been loyal, actually had a disobedient heart. What about Ge Shuhan? What about An Sishun? Do they also have a disobedient heart? Even Li Qing, Feng Changqing, Zhang Qiqiu, all the border generals holding heavy troops were suspected. In this case, he did not dare to act rashly, for fear of moving one son to move the overall situation, for fear of killing An Lushan and stirring the others up. He could only pretend not to know anything and let the situation continue to develop, and he tried his best from behind to resolve the crisis one by one.

From Yang Guozhong, Li Longji already knew that An Lushan had not fully controlled Hedong, and he could not rebel for a while. He had time to arrange it calmly. Now, he needed to pick out someone to test and see the reactions of other governors.

"Are Ge Shuhan waiting for the order?" Li Longji's eyes suddenly opened a crack and asked thoughtfully.

Gao Lishi on the side replied respectfully: "When you say to your Majesty, Ge Shuhan will have arrived in the morning."

"Supreme him to see me!"

After a moment, Geshuhan was taken to the side hall. He had not slept for almost a night due to foot disease last night, and his face was exhausted and burnt. However, he did not want to show physical discomfort in front of Li Longji, so he forced himself to take the eunuch into Li Longji's inner room. At this time, Li Longji was still lying on the couch, with only a thin gauze curtain between them. Geshuhan's huge body knelt down and leaned over and said, "My de Geshuhan bowed to His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Give it a seat!" Li Longji sat upright and asked with concern: "I heard that your foot disease has worsened, and you have suffered a lot in the past two days!"

Although his tone was kind and gentle, Geshuhan seemed to have poured a basin of ice water on his head. The emperor not only knew that he had a foot disease, but his foot disease worsened in the past two days. The emperor actually knew what this means, and it means that the emperor has always understood his condition. Geshuhan was in a state of confusion. He did not dare to think deeply, so he stood up and replied: "Thank you for your care. My foot disease is just a minor illness. When it occurs, it is just impossible to ride a horse. Others have no effect."

Li Longji smiled faintly, no longer asked, and thought for a moment. He changed the topic and said, "I have been very busy these two days and have no time to talk to you in depth. I call you here, just want to confirm something with you?"

"Your Majesty, I will answer all my questions."

Li Longji walked a few steps behind his back before saying slowly: "The last time I met Li Qing, the governor of Anxi, he mentioned to me that the horse bandits in the Hexi Corridor were rampant, and even hinted that they were all sent by An Sishun to dress up. Have you ever heard of this?"

The person Li Longji wanted to move was An Sishun, not only because he was An Lushan's clan's brother, but more importantly, his power was just in the middle among the major military governors; secondly, An Sishun didn't take office for a long time and had a deep foundation; furthermore, the geographical location of Hexi also destined to have little impact on Chang'an. It is not like Longyou is too close to Chang'an, nor is it like Anxi can develop indefinitely westward. It is facing the desert in the north, Qilian Mountains in the south, Longyou in the east, and Anxi in the west, and is compressed into a long area.

After thinking for two days, Li Longji finally decided to take action against An Sishun to test the reactions of the various governors.

But if you move, you need to be famous for your army. You can't be implicated because he is An Lushan's clan's brother. Wouldn't that meant that An Lushan was going to rebel? So Li Longji summoned Geshuhan and used his hand to get rid of An Sishun.

"Your Majesty, everything Li Qing said is true. The Hexi Mahara bandits were indeed sent by An Sishun to dress up. In the Western Regions, this is an open secret. Everyone knows it. If Your Majesty does not believe it, you can send someone to Hexi to investigate."

Geshuhan said while peeping at Li Longji's expression through the gauze curtain. He saw him face inward, his back to himself, his fists were clenched tightly, and his shoulders were trembling slightly. This shows that his chest was extremely angry. Geshuhan was secretly proud of himself, and he added jealousy: "Your Majesty, it is still light to rob business travelers. He also raised taxes without authorization and set up names to collect money. As far as I know, he set up green seedling money on land taxes, and he set up horse money for grazing horses, other salt taxes, tea taxes, commercial taxes, and count taxes. As long as he wants, he collected taxes. People in Hexi are living in poverty. Some people fled to Anxi and some fled to my Longyou...."

"Enough!" Li Longji angrily scolded and interrupted Geshuhan's statement. He turned around suddenly and stared at him and said, "Write down everything you know for me, and no word is allowed to be missed."

He pointed to Gao Lishi again and ordered: "Give him paper and pen and let him write now."

"I obey the order!" Ge Shuhan's pride could no longer be concealed, and it was already overflowing with his face. He lowered his head quickly and followed a little eunuch to the hall.

At this time, Li Longji was no longer sleepy. The palace maid served him to wash up briefly, then drove towards Zichen Hall. The cabinet prime ministers were also resting in their respective rooms. When they heard that His Majesty had arrived early, everyone rushed to the hall.

"In the afternoon, Xian Yu Zhongtong's performance report was changed to tomorrow morning. I have something to discuss with you now."

Li Longji winked, and Gao Lishi immediately brought the red lacquer plate with Geshuhan's memorial to Yang Guozhong.

"You can pass it on first, and I will speak!"

The atmosphere in the hall was solemn and quiet, with constant harsh coughs. Everyone circulated Geshuhan's memorial one by one. The ink traces were very fresh, and some of the words were not even dry yet. It was obviously just written that Geshuhan listed An Sishun's ten major crimes, one by one, and attacked An Sishun with all his might. Some of the crimes were even a bit outrageous. For example, he accused An Sishun of privately raising 100,000 Hu soldiers in the third item, which was obviously a Hu writer. There were more than 70,000 troops in Hexi, plus 100,000 Hu soldiers. With the small population of Hexi, there were not many troops, so how could it raise nearly 200,000 troops.

Although there were many loopholes, no one dared to point it out. Li Longji's intention was obvious. He wanted to dismiss An Sishun. Everyone had their own thoughts and were silent.

"Cong'er, take a look!" Li Longji handed the note to Li Cong who was sitting beside him, "Don't be silent all day long, you can also express your opinions."

"Yes! Father." Li Cong took the memorial respectfully, sat down and read it, and only looked at a few lines. He was secretly shocked, and his eyes quickly raised, and he looked at Yang Guozhong. How could it be such a coincidence? Yesterday Li Qing found himself, and today his father wanted to discuss An Sishun's affairs. Could it be that he knew in advance?

"Your Majesty, I want to say a few words."

Zhang Yun, the Minister of Revenue, stood up and owed Li Longji and said, "As far as I know, An Sishun has the hearts of the Hu people in Hexi. If the truth is said in this memorial, wouldn't it be that the people were already resentful? How could the court know nothing? Perhaps An Sishun had something wrong with it and wouldn't be so cruel. I suggest not to draw conclusions first and send the censor to Hexi to investigate the situation before making a decision."

Zhang Yun was one of the few people who dared to tell the truth at the end of Tianbao. He had a strong family background and a respectable status. Even Li Linfu could not do anything to him. He naturally knew what Li Longji meant, but he opposed using An Lushan's affairs to implicate An Sishun. Although the two were brothers of the clan, he knew that An Sishun would not follow An Lushan, so Zhang Yun took the lead in opposing him.

"This statement from Shangshu Zhang is a scholar's opinion!"

The person who spoke was Chen Xilie. Although he was the left prime minister, he was actually a puppet of Yang Guozhong. He had no right to do anything, and he was not even as good as when Li Linfu was in charge. He usually had no chance to show his performance in front of Li Longji. It was rare that Zhang Yun refuted the emperor's face in public today, which just helped him.

He first bowed and asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, can you please say a few words?"

Li Longji glanced at Zhang Yun with dissatisfaction, then waved his hand and said, "Please tell me!"

Chen Xilie stroked his goatee and sneered at Zhang Yun, "Shangshu Zhang said that he would send the censor to Hexi to investigate first. What if it is true? Can Zhang Shangshu guarantee that An Sishun will come to Chang'an for trial? Private equity investment of 100,000 troops is a crime of beheading. If you follow Zhang Shangshu's words, it would be strange if An Sishun does not rebel. Therefore, I suggest that An Sishun immediately surrender to Dali Temple and torture it strictly."

"What about you think? Yang Xiangguo!" Li Longji kicked the ball to Yang Guozhong again.

Yang Guozhong hurriedly stood up and said, "I always know that Brother Shuhan is a loyal and upright person, and will not make any mistakes, so I agree with the words of the left prime minister."

"What is the opinion of the Ministry of War?" Li Longji's eyes turned to Wei Jiansu again. Wei Jiansu was startled. He stood up nervously and waved his hands repeatedly, "I have no objection!"

"The Ministry of War has no objection, but the Ministry of Rites wants to say a few words!" The voice was like a loud bell. It was Pei Kuan, the Minister of Rites. He stood up and bowed to Li Longji and said, "Please forgive me for taking the liberty."

"Pei Aiqing, but it's okay!"

Pei Kuan clasped his fists to the crowd, and then laughed: "The old minister is also a soldier. Geshuhan's words are trustworthy, but they cannot believe them all. For example, private equity investment of 100,000 Hu soldiers may be in Hedong and Jiannan, but it is impossible to be in a sparsely populated place like Hexi. I believe this is also heard about Geshu. For example, robbing a business trip. Old minister also heard that there is such a thing in Hexi. Let's believe it. In short, I think An Sishun should not stay in Hexi anymore, but it will not be torture as Chen Xiangguo said."

Speaking of this, Pei Kuan suddenly increased his voice and said solemnly to Li Longji: "The old minister is willing to recommend An Sishun as the Minister of Works and become an official in the court."

On the surface, Pei Kuan is extremely slippery. He is neither as weak as Zhang Yun nor as extreme as Chen Xilie. He takes the middle route and does not offend both sides. But in fact, he is a person who truly sees through Li Longji's thoughts. He must be smooth and smooth, and not alarm An Lushan, otherwise why should Geshuhan write any impeachment memorial?

Sure enough, Li Longji gave Pei Kuan a smile of praise, nodded slowly and said, "What Pei Aiqing said is very consistent with my wishes. Then you can tell me, if I transferred An Sishun to the court as an official, who is more suitable to take over?"

Pei Kuan had discussed this matter with King Yong. Geshuhan was a staunch supporter of King Yong. He was the position of Hexi Jiedushi. He looked down and thought: "Longyou, Hexi was originally one. When fighting, it was a united force, and when it was a fight, it would be replaced by its people. Therefore, I recommend Geshuhan to serve as the governor of Hexi."

Li Longji smiled, but he didn't express his opinion. When he saw Yang Guozhong eager to speak, he smiled and asked him, "Is there a good candidate for Yang Xiangguo?"

"Yes!" Yang Guozhong stood up and glanced at Li Cong, saying, "The candidate I am optimistic about is Li Qing, the governor of Anxi. He was once the governor of Shazhou and was quite familiar with the generals of Hexi. He was young and promising and energetic. It was time for him to serve as the governor of Anxi."

As soon as Yang Guozhong said this, everyone was stunned. I heard that they had many conflicts, even to the point of death. How could he change his temperament today? He actually recommended Li Qinglai. Everyone looked at each other and couldn't figure it out.

Even Li Longji was a little surprised, but he didn't reveal it. He returned to his seat and waved his hands to everyone and said, "I'm a little tired, so let's stop here today!"

After dismissing all the ministers, Li Longji also headed towards Xingqing Palace. He was walking on the outer city walls, with thousands of Yulin troops guarding each other closely.

On the dragon chariot, Li Longji was closing his eyes to rest, while Gao Lishi was serving the marquis carefully. When he was about to arrive at Xingqing Palace, Li Longji opened his eyes slightly. He was considering the candidate for Hexi Jiedu all the way. Pei Kuan recommended Geshuhan, but Yang Guozhong recommended Li Qing. To be honest, Li Longji didn't want to use these two people. He had heavy troops in his hands, so how could he let them join the town again? Wouldn't this be the second place in An Lushan?

"Your Majesty, you are going to get out of the city wall. Let me pull the curtain for your Majesty." Gao Lishi stepped forward and carefully pulled the curtain for him.

Li Longji glanced at him and suddenly asked, "General, do you have good ideas about who will be the governor of Hexi?"

Gao Lishi nodded, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared. He pondered for a long time before he squeezed out three words from his mouth, "Feng Changqing!"
Chapter completed!