Tibet

Li Ye led an army of 120,000 people to evacuate Liang County, Ruzhou. After receiving the news, Emperor Li Heng couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. He could finally sleep peacefully.

However, Li Heng is now somewhat interested in the assassination of King Dalu. Although his grandson Li Shi's life was saved, his body was severely traumatized and it was difficult for him to become the heir to the throne again, which aroused the anger of hundreds of officials.

All the officials demanded severe punishment of the murderer and limited the power of the eunuchs.

This time Li Heng was also extremely dissatisfied with Li Fuguo. Li Xilie had no interaction with King Lu, so it was impossible to assassinate King Lu. Li Xilie could only assassinate King Lu in order to please someone, and this person was most likely Li Fuguo.

Li Heng paced back and forth in the royal study with his hands behind his hands. If he wanted to make his second son Li Xi the prince, the civil servants would not object much now, but the eunuchs would. They only wanted to make the five-year-old King Ding. Li Tong is the crown prince because Li Tong is the legitimate son born to Queen Zhang.

Although this reason is good, Li Heng understands the selfish motives of powerful officials, and five-year-old children are easier to control.

Although Li Heng trusted eunuchs, he also had a bottom line when it came to using eunuchs. His bottom line was that the emperor controlled the eunuchs, rather than the eunuchs controlling the emperor.

This time the assassination of King Lu finally made Li Heng wake up a little. He could no longer allow the Quanhuan Group to become powerful.

He has two major things to do now. One is to weaken the power of Li Fuguo, increase the power of Yu Chaoen and Cheng Yuanzhen, and provoke infighting among the powerful eunuch groups.

The second thing is to eliminate the influence of the Quanhuan Group in the political hall. This is very important and related to the selection of the crown prince.

Provoking internal strife within the Quanhuan group can be done slowly. The top priority is to remove Li Kui and Yuan Zai from their positions. Both of them were installed in the political hall by the Quanhuan group. When selecting the crown prince, they will inevitably favor Ding Wang Li. Dong.

Thinking of this, Li Heng ordered: "Hurry up and tell Prime Minister Pei to come see me!"

Soon, Pei Zunqing hurried to the imperial study, bowed and saluted, "I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"

Li Heng stood in front of the window and asked: "Who does Pei Xiangguo think is more suitable to appease the East Road of Shannan?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are actually many candidates. Xiao Hua, Li Xian, and Zhang Hao can all serve. Your Majesty can choose a suitable senior minister. I have no objections!"

Li Heng nodded, "Then let Li Kui go to Jingxiang to appease the officials and people for me!"

Pei Zunqing was stunned. Wasn't this just to remove Li Kui from the prime minister?

Li Heng said calmly: "Li Kui has gone to Jingxiang. Who will take over as prime minister? Does Prime Minister Pei have any recommendations?"

Only then did Pei Zunqing understand that the emperor's intention was to remove the eunuch forces from the political hall, otherwise the emperor would ask Li Fuguo to find a suitable candidate.

Pei Zunqing felt excited. He thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I have always wanted to recommend Li Dai, a great scholar, to be reinstated as prime minister."

"What's the reason?"

"Your Majesty, first of all, Li Dai himself is very capable. He was a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs, a Shaoyin of Jingzhao, and served as the governor of Runzhou. He also served as the pacifier of Shannan East Road. He has been an official in the Ministry of Rites for a long time and served as the prime minister three times. He worked hard and never complained. , is diligent and conscientious, and he has excellent character. He does not compete with others and always keeps the losses to himself. Regardless of talent and virtue, Li Dai deserves the honor.

In addition, Li Dai's appointment as Prime Minister is of great significance to stabilizing the King of Qi. If Luoyang encounters any crisis, it is most appropriate for Li Dai to come forward and seek help from the King of Qi, especially because the King of Qi will respect the court more for his father's sake. In a few days, his various appointments will also be registered with the court. "

Li Heng said happily: "Although I am very afraid of King Qi, I also trust Li Dai from the bottom of my heart. Many years ago, when I was the prince, he was my confidant. Yes, I agree to Li Dai's return to the throne!"

Li Heng didn't mention Yuan Zai. He didn't want to be in such a hurry. He wanted to take another look. If the effect had been achieved, Yuan Zai would not be touched.

That night, the emperor Li Heng issued a decree appointing Li Kui as the pacifier of Shannan East Road and the governor of Xiangzhou, exempting him from the qualification of Pingzhangshi under the Shumen.

At the same time, Li Ye, a bachelor, was appointed as the minister of the family, and Tong Zhongshu was appointed as the minister of finance.

With the resignation of Li Kui as Prime Minister and the appointment of Li Dai as Prime Minister, the appearance of the Political Affairs Hall suddenly changed. A civil servant group headed by Pei Zunqing, Li Dai, Cui Huan, and Du Hongjian was formed, occupying an absolute position in the Political Affairs Hall. Advantage, the only spokesperson of the Quanhuan Group in the political hall is Yuan Zai.

There was also a power adjustment within the Quanhuan Group. Li Fuguo was removed from the post of commander of the Plum Blossom Guard. The Plum Blossom Guard was replaced by Cheng Yuanzhen, and a rotation system of the Marshal's Seal was implemented. Each person held the seal for one year, starting from Yu Chao'en, Yu Chao En holds the seal of the Marshal's Mansion.

Li Fuguo's two major powers were taken away, and he was left with only the right to submit memorials on behalf of others. He held on to it and at the same time donated 50,000 taels of gold to Li Heng's inner treasury, equivalent to 1.5 million taels. This money made Long Yan very happy, so Li Heng opened his eyes and retained Li Fuguo's right to write on behalf of the imperial study.

In late May, Li Ye led the army to Chang'an. At this time, Helan Jinming, who stayed in Chang'an, had already led the army to retreat. Because Li Ye sent 40,000 cavalry to the Bashang barracks, he also supervised the retreat of the garrison in Guanzhong and Guannai Road.

Under the close supervision of the Helong Army, Helan Jinming did not dare to make any trouble. He closed the treasury in strict accordance with the agreement and did not dare to rob the people. Qiu did not hesitate to evacuate Chang'an.

At the same time, Li Sheng, the military governor of Guan Nei, also led 30,000 troops to evacuate and stationed in Yuzhou. He served as the deputy military governor of Henan Province and would cooperate with Guo Ziyi in launching a war to annihilate Li Xilie.

Li Heng was waiting for Li Ye's two million taels of silver. Once the money arrived, he would have the money to start a war.

Li Ye led 20,000 cavalry into Chang'an from Mingde Gate, and was welcomed by hundreds of thousands of people in Chang'an. The people sang and danced and welcomed him warmly. Not only did Li Ye lead the army and people of Chang'an to surround Chang'an, he defeated An Lushan's 20-year-old army. Ten thousand elite troops counterattacked and attacked the city. More importantly, the King of Qi was in charge of Guanzhong, which meant low tax burden and low food prices.

As the news that King Qi was about to take over Guanzhong reached Chang'an, the price of grain in Chang'an immediately dropped from 400 cents per meter to 200 cents per meter, a sudden drop in price by half.

In front of the Zhuque Gate, Li Ye made four passionate promises. The first promise was to ensure that the price of grain in Chang'an would drop to 50 cents per meter within ten days, and that 500,000 shi of wheat from Longyou would be on board and heading towards the Wei River along the Wei River. Shipped from Chang'an.

The second biggest promise is to ensure that all the lonely elderly people and orphans in Chang'an have food and clothing. He will provide monthly food, salt and cloth to all elderly people over sixty years old who have lost their labor force. All orphans who have lost their parents will also provide food, salt and cloth. He will be raised by the government until he is sixteen years old.

The third major commitment is that Chang'an will temporarily cancel all taxes except land tax and household tax. The land tax and household tax are also the same as Longyou, and will be reduced by more than half of the current taxes.

The fourth major promise is that starting tonight, Chang'an will cancel the curfew and no longer close the gates at night.

As soon as the four major promises were announced, the entire city of Chang'an was in an uproar. Hundreds of thousands of people on Zhuque Street raised their arms and shouted, "Long live! Long live King Qi! Long live!"

Excited shouts echoed through the sky.