Yuan Zhengri, the second year of Xinyuan (762), was the second year after the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty ascended the throne.
In the early years of the New Year, Li Longji passed away. In order to mourn, the country reduced entertainment activities. Even the annual Shangyuan Festival was kept simple.
In the second year of the New Yuan Dynasty, the period of filial piety of the Supreme Emperor had passed. In order to celebrate the enthronement of the new emperor in the Northern Tang Dynasty, the whole country was decorating with lanterns and colors and holding wedding banquets.
At this time, state officials and military generals from all over the Northern Tang Dynasty also came from all over the country, firstly to report at the end of the year, and secondly to participate in the great court meeting.
On the day of Yuan Zhengri, a great court meeting was held in the Liangcheng Palace.
Different from the Tianbao period, the Liangcheng Great Court Meeting lasted only one day, and the whole ceremony was divided into three periods: early morning, afternoon and night.
In the early morning, Emperor Zhou Jun and hundreds of officials went to the rooftop of the central hall to burn incense and worship, praying to heaven for good weather and good weather for the country and peace for the people in the new year.
At noon, all the officials entered the court hall according to their rank and lined up in order, waiting for the emperor's arrival.
In the hall, edicts are hung high on the ceiling, and colorful embroidered flags are fluttering.
After Emperor Zhou Jun entered the palace, the Ministry of Rites led hundreds of officials to salute according to the rules. Envoys from small countries around the Tang Dynasty presented gifts, and the royal family received countless gifts.
When the sun sets, the Imperial Court will enter the night banquet session, and the Heyi Hall behind the Imperial Palace serves as the venue for Yuanzheng's banquet.
As you pass through the doorsteps, what you see are countless desks, flowers, exquisite carvings and palace maids passing by.
In the middle of the hall, Zhou Jun was dressed in royal robes, sitting on the throne, looking at the civil and military officials and envoys from various countries in the hall, recalling the memories of the past, and felt a little emotional for a moment.
Yin Yu, who was sitting next to Zhou Jun, saw that the emperor was in a daze and reminded him softly: "Erlang, the juniors have come to worship."
Zhou Jun reacted and looked down, only to see Zhou Xiao, Zhou Yi, Zhou Wanniang and other princes and princesses bowing under the throne and calling "Father" again.
Zhou Jun smiled and said: "Get up."
After the ceremony was completed, a group of children stood up and ran to play happily.
Then all the civil and military officials came to the throne to pay their respects according to their official rank and position.
The first to come up were the political chief ministers of Anxi, Liangcheng and Chang'an.
The territory of the Northern Tang Dynasty spanned a huge area, stretching nearly ten thousand miles from east to west, but roughly divided into three areas, namely Anxi, Liangcheng and Chang'an.
Anxi was Zhou Jun's base camp when he started his career. Imperial College, arsenal, commercial center, and religious center were all located there. The people's loyalty was the highest among the three places, and the chief political assistant was Liu Zai.
Liangcheng was the capital of the Northern Tang Dynasty, and mainly governed Hexi, Shuofang, Hebei and other places. The chief political officer was Feng Changqing.
Chang'an was the newly conquered deputy capital of the Northern Tang Dynasty. It governed Guanzhong, Hehuang and other places. The chief political officer was Gao Shi, a veteran of the Northern Tang Dynasty.
The civil servants were divided into three regions, followed by their respective chief officials, and came up one by one to congratulate the emperor.
After the civil servants went through the formalities, it was the military attache's turn next.
The Jiedu envoys from Shuofang, Hexi, Fanyang, Pinglu and other places, as well as the military envoys on the march, as well as many generals from the Ministry of War, came forward to congratulate him.
According to the court etiquette, those ranking behind the military attachés should have been the Shangguan of various prefectures and counties.
But now, Jinyiwei, as the only official in the palace, has also earned a place in the palace banquet and lined up.
When the banquet was over, Zhou Jun rubbed his stiff smile and said to Fan Jinian standing aside, "Let's start the banquet."
Not long after, in the banquet hall, bells and chimes were ringing, and singing and dancing continued.
While Zhou Jun was watching the singing and dancing, Du Fu, the Minister of Rites, came to the front of the throne. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "Today at the great court meeting, I have the courage to invite an old friend to congratulate Your Majesty."
Du Fu was not good at words. He usually immersed himself in work and rarely flattered others.
Today, he suddenly came over and said that he had found someone to congratulate him. This made Zhou Jun a little surprised and a little curious.
Zhou Jun: "Let him come in."
Du Fu: "Here."
After a stick of incense was burned, an old man appeared in front of the main entrance of Heyi Hall, following Du Fu, walking tremblingly inward.
At first, Zhou Jun, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were discussing border defense and did not notice the visitors coming in.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gao Shi, Liu Zai, Cen Shen and other civil servants standing up one after another. Zhou Jun unconsciously stopped talking and looked towards the palace door.
The old man who followed Du Fu had white hair, a stooped figure, and a face full of grooves, but his clothes and accessories were meticulously groomed, and his expression was vaguely arrogant.
Du Fu led the old man to Zhou Jun. He felt a little uneasy and said, "Your Majesty, this is..."
Zhou Jun looked at the old man and whispered softly: "I am born with talents that will be useful, and I will come back after all the money I have spent."
The old man's body trembled, he looked at Zhou Jun, bowed his body and bowed deeply.
The old man in front of me is none other than Li Bai, one of the most brilliant poets in the Tang Dynasty and perhaps in Chinese history.
Zhou Jun walked down from the throne and came to Li Bai. He looked up and down for a while, then sighed softly, then took the latter by his hand, brought him to the throne, and asked Fan Jinian to arrange the meal.
When Du Fu saw this, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
Others may not know how much risk Du Fu took by introducing Li Bai to the emperor tonight.
When the Anshi Rebellion broke out, Li Bai first went to the Southern Tang Dynasty, and then joined Yong Wang Li Lin and became an aide.
Afterwards, Li Heng proclaimed himself emperor in Jiankang, and Li Lin's subordinates encouraged King Yong to follow him in proclaiming himself emperor and separatizing the south of the Yangtze River. Naturally, Li Bai was among those who followed suit.
Li Bai was brilliant in literary talent, but lacking in political views.
At that time, he wanted to promote King Yong to the throne, and his idea was very simple, because King Yong had the letter of jurisdiction granted by Li Longji.
However, King Yong's short-sightedness and the changes in the situation caused Li Bai to be on the wrong side of politics twice, and eventually ended up wandering around.
Li Bai first defected to the Southern Tang Dynasty and then to the Yongwang Dynasty. Logically speaking, this is a dark history on his personal resume.
Du Fu risked being dismissed from office and beheaded to introduce Li Bai to the Northern Tang Dynasty. He had only one thought in mind, that is, he would risk his life to help his best friend.
If the emperor of the Northern Tang Dynasty had been someone else, he might have been furious at this time, but Du Fu and Li Bai were lucky, and the current emperor was Zhou Jun.
After Zhou Jun settled Li Bai properly, he walked up to the throne again and asked: "In the early years, when I lived in Bachuan, layman Qinglian came to visit me several times, but unfortunately I just passed by."
Hearing this, Li Bai cupped his hands and said, "When Your Majesty was in Chang'an, there was widespread rumors that there were great talents in Bachuan who were assisting in government affairs. I went there several times at that time, but it was a pity that we could not meet each other."
Zhou Jun looked at Li Bai. The two exchanged pleasantries first, and the former asked about the latter's current situation.
According to Li Bai's story, King Yong Li Lin failed in his attempt to rebel, and his family died in Lingnan. Li Bai was therefore imprisoned in Xunyang Prison.
Bian Jiuqu, the Jiangnan Xuanwei envoy at that time, was well aware of Li Bai's talent, and because Li Bai's wife Zong was asking for help, he ordered Li Bai to be rescued from prison.
After Li Bai was released from prison, he became Bian Jiuqu's staff.
Bian Jiuqu wanted to recommend Li Bai to Jiankang as an official, but the Southern Tang Dynasty not only refused to agree, but instead issued an order to reprimand Bian Jiuqu and banish Li Bai to Guizhou.
Li Bai set out from Xunyang and headed for Guizhou. On the way, he encountered An Shouzhong's attack on the Southern Tang Dynasty, so he had to give up the journey and take refuge north. Finally, he went north through the Three Gorges and entered the Guanzhong area.
After traveling around Guanzhong for several months, Li Bai met Gao Shi, an acquaintance from Northern Tangzhong, in Chang'an.
Gao Shi wrote to Du Fu about Li Bai's situation, and Li Bai finally went north to Liangcheng.
After listening to Li Bai's narration, Zhou Jun sighed for a while.
Historically, the place where Li Bai lived a long time was not Guizhou, but Yelang.
Yelang in Lingnan has always been a place plagued by evil diseases. Li Bai contracted a serious disease while on his way. Although he recovered later, the root cause of the disease was lost and he passed away at the end of 762 AD.
In this life, due to An Shouzhong's attack on the Southern Tang Dynasty and the change of Changliu's location, Li Bai went north to Chang'an and finally to Liangcheng due to a combination of circumstances. It has to be said that it was a blessing from God.
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Seeing that Zhou Jun was silent for a long time, Gao Shi thought that the emperor had doubts, so he stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the layman has had a rough life and behaves in various ways. It can only be said that fate has played a trick on people."
Zhou Jun knew clearly in Gao Shi's words that he was interceding for Li Bai.
In fact, Li Bai's reputation was widely spread among the Tang Dynasty.
Not only Du Fu, Gao Shi, Cen Shen and other civil servants, but also people with military backgrounds such as Feng Changqing and Guo Ziyi also heard about it.
Zhou Jun thought of this and said to Li Bai: "I am grateful for the talents of the lay people, so I ordered Liangcheng Hanlin Academy to serve as the main outer school of Xuanwen Hall."