Chapter 249 Please ask the prince to supervise the country!
Li Yan arrived outside the Zichen Palace where he had been away for a long time.
There was no change in the main hall, but he sniffed slightly and his brows moved slightly.
This taste...
But Li Yan didn't say anything and walked in at a normal pace...
When we got downstairs, there was no one to sit down this time.
Li Zhi's voice sounded weaker than before, and his tone became extremely harsh: "Li Yuanfang, you are not allowed to issue an imperial edict and returned to Beijing without permission. Do you know that this is a serious crime?"
Li Yan didn't even say a word of defense and said directly: "I know the crime!"
Li Zhi stared: "Why did you come back?"
Li Yandao: "The power of the Tang Dynasty, the three armies worked hard, the Tibetan army suffered a disastrous defeat, and the Tuyuhun royal city was destroyed. However, there were no orders from the saints, and there was no supply of food and grass. Moreover, I heard that the disaster in the pass was getting worse. The morale of the army was unavoidable, and I had trouble sleeping and eating, so I returned to Chang'an.
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Empress Wu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Yuanfang did not tell anything about Qiu Ying and Jia Sibo.
Although she knew very well that her position as queen would not be deposed, she really could not add fuel to the fire at this time.
"Chen Gui" is still useful.
Li Zhi snorted coldly: "You are young and frivolous, there is no one else in the army, why do you want you to take the lead?"
After that, he softened his tone slightly and sighed: "Yuanfang, the court system must not be disrupted. Once you come back, the credit for this trip to Tibet will be halved!"
Li Yan fell silent, with three points of regret welling up in his brows, and a hint of seven points of perseverance, which was particularly dramatic.
Li Zhi stopped mentioning the matter and suddenly asked curiously: "What is that on your arm?"
Li Yan showed his Pulu armband, and the big beads inlaid on it were shining: "Tubo Zanpu is grateful for His Majesty's heavenly grace, and the vassal is Zanpu Zhong, which means Zanpu's younger brother."
Li Zhi laughed out loud: "What kind of etiquette is this? Besides, you are the deputy envoy, so if you want to grant an imperial edict, you should be conferring the title of Duke Li, right?"
Li Yan said: "I am young, but Li Gongde is highly respected, how can I recognize Zanpu as my brother?"
Li Zhi suddenly said: "Yes, how can Mr. Li be granted the title by him? It's quite interesting. Take it off and let me see it!"
Li Yan took off his Pulu armband, and the chamberlain handed it to Li Zhi.
"Zanpu Bell...Zanpu Bell..."
Li Zhi caressed so many Dasese, his heart was filled with joy and his body felt a little stronger.
Zanpu Zhong was indeed not granted casually. Historically, it was also granted to the King of Nanzhao, which shows that the two countries are brothers, which is of great significance.
But now it was awarded to a Tang Dynasty official, which greatly satisfied Li Zhi's vanity.
Although there is no actual power, it is just a name, but for this name, many emperors who are eager for success even do not hesitate to launch wars.
Li Yan asked Wang Xiaojie to grant him this title, firstly because tea would be easier to sell, and secondly because he would be prepared to come back to coax the emperor.
Li Zhi was conquered by Dasese. After playing with it for a long time, he said: "Li Gong has reported to me what you did in Tubo. Although the Gar family is weak now, it has a deep foundation and there is still the possibility of recurrence. That's fine."
Pu Yinren is also a powerful enemy, so you must be on guard against him!"
Li Yan thought to himself that even Li Yiyan didn't dare to tell you the truth. What kind of role have you got? "Your Majesty is a wise man!"
Li Zhi thought to himself that the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Dafeichuan was really just a fluke. I am indeed wise: "Give me a seat!"
Hao Chujun and Yin Zhongyan did not leave, they were still in the hall.
The two men waited outside for almost an hour and stood inside for another half an hour, but they could only watch the newcomers sit down, feeling miserable in their hearts.
Your Majesty, we are also loyal ministers!
But the loyal ministers in Li Zhi's eyes were obviously not divided in that way. Without looking at the two of them, he continued to ask: "Now that the royal city of Tuyuhun has been conquered, in your opinion, can Tuyuhun be turned into the Jisi Prefecture of our Tang Dynasty?"
Jisi Prefecture was founded during the Zhenguan period as a special governance method for prefectures and counties established by surrounding foreigners.
It is a bit like the autonomous regions of later generations. The administrative organization is based on the Tang Dynasty court, but the officials are served by leaders of foreign races and are allowed to be hereditary.
It has financial autonomy, but must accept the supervision of the Protectorate. The management policy is loose, but it can be slowly absorbed and digested.
Li Yan frowned slightly: "I am young and young, so I am afraid that such a big thing will happen..."
Li Zhi said: "It doesn't matter, just say it, I'm just giving it a reference."
Li Yan thought for a while and said: "I feel that the time is not yet ripe. There have been wars in Tuyuhun for many years, the people are suffering, and the Qiang people are resentful towards us, the Tang Dynasty, and it is difficult to submit to control in a short time..."
Li Zhi said coldly: "The barbarians are afraid of power and have no morals, and they are disobedient to control? There are many ways to make them surrender!"
Li Yan continued: "The key is that the Tuyuhun land has also suffered a major disaster recently. Previously, the Tibetan army had plundered food for the young men. If we in the Tang Dynasty want to establish Jisi Prefecture, we must first provide relief to various ministries. I am afraid that Longyou will not be able to bear the food expenditure."
.”
When Li Zhi heard this, he knew there was no chance, and said angrily: "Let Princess Guanghua and the Lord of Qinghai return to the country to protect the Tang Dynasty!"
Although the vassal state was re-established as a barrier to the Tang Dynasty and it required tribute every year, it was not within the territory after all. This emperor who was enshrined in Zen on Mount Tai could not help but regret it.
Li Yanze shook his head secretly.
It is a good thing to continue to expand the territory, but the ruling ability of the imperial court must be taken into consideration.
Agrarian dynasties have inherent limits to their rule. Expansion is equivalent to growing fatter, eating more and more, and becoming more and more weak.
When you don't have enough to eat, if others don't come to cut the meat, you will have to do it yourself.
During the Zhenguan period of Li Shimin, the national power gradually recovered compared to the late Sui Dynasty. After the destruction of Tuyuhun, they acted within their capabilities and did not directly swallow up the territory.
By Li Zhi, although the starting point was much better than when the country was first established, and the territory expanded to an unprecedented level, the control intensity also declined.
If the country is strong, it is not impossible to conquer Tuyuhun and Tubo, but if the domestic struggle is like this, how can we annex foreign territories?
Li Zhi was also aware of this problem, took a deep breath, and began to ask: "Yuanfang, when you came back from Tyuhun, you happened to pass through Longyou and Guannei. What did you see along the way, how was the disaster?"
Li Zhi had been mentally prepared to a certain extent, but as Li Yan told the story, the saint's face became increasingly ugly.
Because Li Yanzhuan picked out what he couldn't stand and said: "I returned to the Tang Dynasty from Tuyuhun, covered with stars and moons all the way. Before going to Liangzhou, the first city I entered was Lanzhou, where the population is sparsely populated and the price of food has risen to a hundred cents a dou."
"There are people selling sons and daughters outside the city. Some people from Longyou come to buy girls from the pass to take home as wives, but they only want wives, but not babies. One can imagine the fate of those babies..."
"The envoy was in the royal city of Tubo, and I also saw this kind of refugees. The Nagars ignored the refugees, but instead selected the strongest among them and trained them into secret spies and assassins. They also abducted women from the land of Sun Poru. They did not know how to put the people first.
He eventually suffered the consequences and was regained his power by Zamp."
"What I saw and heard in Lanzhou was similar to what I saw in Tubo, and even more miserable. Although it was caused by a natural disaster, I cannot accept it!"
Li Yan's tone became more and more high-spirited as he spoke, and his words became even more intense later on.
Among the many things Li Yiyan reported, Li Zhi knew it was true, but he couldn't bear to hear it.
How could the Tang Dynasty under his rule be inferior to Tubo, a barbarian land?
Li Yan went on to say: "When I first started working as an official, I saw people dying of hunger all over the fields. The victims were begging during the day and sleeping outside at night. Many people vomited yellow water in their sleep and their bodies were left on the roadside."
“I really didn’t want to see the tragic situation of the victims, so I took the wild road in the mountains. However, there are many wild animals in the wilderness, and there are hungry wolves and wild dogs everywhere. These animals are not afraid of people at all. They not only attack people in the wild, but also dare to rush into the village.
Treat the villagers as food rations."
"When the Tuyuhun area was hit by a disaster, there were still Buddhist monks going around giving porridge to save people and saving all sentient beings. When I returned to the Tang Dynasty, I saw that in the temples I saw, there were few disaster relief actions. The doors of the temples were all closed and they were sweeping away the snow in front of them...
…”
The energy Li Zhi had just cheered up disappeared, and he became more and more depressed. He took a breath and whispered: "Okay, why is the disaster in the pass so serious this time?"
Li Yan said without hesitation: "It's not a natural disaster, there are also man-made disasters!"
He looked at the other person on the imperial wall with shining eyes: "It's because the queen only focused on fighting for power that countless people died!"
The atmosphere in the hall was quiet.
Empress Wu was furious: "Li Yuanfang, you are so presumptuous!"
"Chen Gui" is given away for free!
Li Yan held his head high and spoke tit-for-tat: "I've been so presumptuous today!"
"I would like to ask the queen that the price of rice in Chang'an is thirty cents per dou. It is obvious that some thieves deliberately deceived it. Doesn't the queen not know at all?"
"Even if you didn't know it at first, why didn't you check it afterward? Did you let the treacherous officials do harm to the country and the people?"
"I have been waiting for the summons at the palace, but the queen ignored the disaster and only wanted to take power. Who knows how many people will die every moment outside the city!"
"The disaster in Tuyuhun is not as embarrassing as that of the Tang Dynasty. If things continue like this, the customs will be in decline and Chang'an will be in turmoil. How can the queen see the ministers and the people of the Tang Dynasty?"
Yin Zhongyan was dumbfounded and suddenly felt that this person should sit down.
Hao Chujun was also stunned. Even he used general words such as "greed for power and selfishness".
This guy is so good, he just pointed at his nose and scolded me!
Empress Wu was so angry that her chest heaved, but she was speechless.
What she did is clear at a glance. Now when she meets someone who dares to speak out, she cannot drag him down and chop him into pieces. He can only bow to Li Zhi and say, "Your Majesty, please make the decision for me!"
Li Zhi was watching the play nearby and stared at Empress Wu coldly.
He knew that Empress Wu could no longer be in power, as this woman had obviously offended the public.
Even if other ministers were not as young and energetic as Li Yuanfang and dared to speak out for justice, they would still have a lot of resentment in their hearts.
In times of great disaster, if there is disharmony between the upper and lower levels and the central government becomes restless, great chaos will occur.
It's a pity that my body...
Unfortunately, this period of time is disappointing!
Li Zhi closed his eyes and became serious: "Li Yuanfang, the queen was deceived by an adulterer. It is definitely not what you thought. She deliberately ignored the victims! You grew up in Liangzhou and care about the people. I am really happy, but I respect you."
There is a difference between humbleness and humiliation. Are you committing a crime by reprimanding the Queen like this?"
Li Yan accepted it and said, "I don't dare!"
Li Zhi punished him: "I'll fine you half a year's salary. I won't do it next time!"
Empress Wu trembled. She only received half a year's salary. What kind of punishment was this?
If word of this gets out, will she be able to govern with dignity in the future?
Li Yan said: "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty!"
Li Zhi was exhausted and felt that he could no longer hold on. He said no more and asked directly: "Now that the matter has come to this, do you have any ideas on how to provide disaster relief?"
Hao Chujun and Yin Zhongyan were refreshed and encouraged silently on the sidelines: "Take advantage of the victory to pursue and destroy the queen! Destroy the queen!"
Empress Wu became nervous, her body tensed, veins popped out in her hands, and she held them tightly: "Li Yuanfang! Li Yuanfang!!"
Li Yan lowered his head and sniffed.
After confirming the guess, he said firmly and forcefully:
"Your Majesty, please allow the prince to supervise the country and provide disaster relief!"