Tibet

On the carriage, Wang Changling explained the customs and customs of Xiangyang to Li Bai all the way. Li Bai said with emotion: "I came to Xiangyang ten years ago and was not very impressed. But when I come back now, I feel that it is ten times more prosperous than ten years ago. Why is this?" "

Wang Changling sighed: "Anlushan rebelled, and millions of refugees fled from the north, as well as a large number of wealthy families. The number of wealthy families who fled from Chang'an alone exceeded 20,000, and at least half stayed in Xiangyang. The wealth they brought It makes Xiangyang extremely prosperous."

After a pause, Wang Changling smiled again and said: "Another important reason is that His Royal Highness King Lu ordered Shannan East Road to be exempted from commercial tax, so merchants gathered. In just half a year, the number of merchants in Xiangyang tripled, and it is still increasing. "

Li Bai pondered for a moment and said: "If business taxes are exempted, how will military expenses be raised?"

"At present, we still have some money and food foundation, and we can still support the army for the time being. The transshipment envoy Liu Shijun proposed to restore the salt and iron monopoly system, but His Highness King Lu believes that the conditions are not mature yet, but it may be implemented in the future."

Li Bai nodded and asked, "What position does Brother Shaobo have now?"

"I am now the Sima of Jianghan Jiedu Prefecture, just a staff officer."

"What's in charge?"

"It's a lot of things, including recruiting soldiers, giving pensions to soldiers, building weapons, equipment, military camps, and also managing the prisons in Shannan East Road. It's completely unrelated things, and I'm so busy that I don't even touch the ground every day."

Li Bai smiled and said: "He who is capable should work hard! Now King Yong is also recruiting talents from all over the world. If Brother Shao is willing, I can vouch for Shao Bo and join the prefecture and county as a real official."

Wang Changling secretly laughed in his heart. Although Li Bai meant well, he really didn't understand officialdom! He actually came here to poach someone.

"Hey! I accept your brother's offer. It's just that I'm too old and don't have enough energy. I plan to finish these two years and go home to retire."

Only then did Li Bai react and said with a smile: "I forgot, the young uncle followed King Lu to Shaiye, so naturally he will not leave easily."

Wang Changling smiled slightly and stopped talking. In fact, he was originally going to be the governor of Tangzhou, but Li Ye was worried about his safety, so he left him in Xiangyang. Now he is one of the four chief officials under Li Ye. He was in charge of both military and political affairs and was very powerful, equivalent to the Prime Minister in charge of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice.

As for Yongwang Li Lin, forget it! How can he defeat his battle-hardened lord Li Ye with just a few tricks?

Arriving at the distinguished hotel, Wang Changling first arranged for Li Bai to stay and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness King Lu is not in Xiangyang. Before he left, he entrusted me with full authority to negotiate on his behalf."

Li Bai was greatly disappointed, "His Royal Highness King Lu is not in Xiangyang?"

"Kang Chuyuan of Yuezhou rebelled, and his army has invaded Jingzhou. Isn't my dear brother unaware of this?"

Li Bai was stunned, "I really don't know about this?"

Wang Changling knew that Li Bai would not lie, and it was clear from this incident that Li Lin did not regard Li Bai as a confidant.

Wang Changling nodded and said: "Brother Xian, have a good rest first. Li Changshi and I will pick up the wind in the evening. We will talk in detail tomorrow!"

Li Ye's reluctance to see Li Bai was also due to his control. He could warmly receive Li Bai and let his subordinates negotiate with him, but he would never show up. This was actually a matter of attitude.

This is not only an attitude for the emperor Li Su, but also an attitude for his civil and military officials. He will not fall out with Li Lin easily, but he will never take refuge in Li Lin.

Historically, Li Lin's separatist regime was very vigorous at first, but it collapsed in just a few months. The fundamental reason was that Li Lin was not justified in his reputation. He did not think about how to eliminate An Lushan's rebellion. Instead, he wanted to separate the regime into the Eastern Tang Dynasty. He violated the righteousness of the world and was surrounded and suppressed by officials from all over the southeast.

But Li Ye hopes that Li Lin can last longer than in history, so that he can make full use of the struggle between Emperor Li Heng and Li Lin to maximize his own interests.

So not only will he not destroy Li Lin, he will also find ways to make him persist longer.

In the living room, Wang Changling and Li Mi reported to Li Ye the information about their conversation with Li Bai today.

Wang Changling handed a letter to Li Ye and said: "This is a letter written by King Yong Li Lin to His Highness. Li Bai is actually here to deliver the letter. He is not Li Lin's confidant and does not have any decision-making power. Li Lin just wants to take advantage of his reputation."

Li Ye took the letter and read it again, and said with a smile: "Prince Yong Li Lin is still generous."

"What did he say?" Li Mi asked.

Li Ye handed the letter to him and said: "He promised that as long as I am loyal to him, he will make me King of Anxi and give me Beiting and Anxi as vassal towns. He also said that this letter will be used as evidence, which is absolutely true."

Li Mi shook his head, "This person is still a little too immature politically. If he wrote this letter in his own hand and handed the evidence to the enemy, he would lose the qualification to become the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Do you want your Highness to reply to him?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Of course I want to reply to him, but it is not a private letter, but an open letter, copied to the governors of each state, asking King Yong to put the overall situation first, comply with the general trend of the world, comply with the will of the people, and work together to stabilize peace. During the Lushan Rebellion, he supported the recovery of the two capitals with practical actions. If he is smart enough, he should know what he should do now."

Li Bi said with a smile: "Your Highness said it so righteously, but the emperor may not be happy!"

Li Ye said calmly: "I just want the emperor to understand that no one in this world is a fool. He wants me to be loyal to him. If I don't show any sincerity, just relying on the words 'Prince Lu's Mansion' will not be effective."

Wang Changling pondered for a while and said: "Then how will I explain my attitude to Li Bai tomorrow?"

Li Ye took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Do they have carrier pigeons?"

Wang Changling nodded, "I think he brought it with him. He said he could contact King Yong at any time."

Li Ye smiled and said: "Tell Li Bai clearly that King Yong can borrow the road, exchange Mianzhou and Ezhou for me to be loyal to him, but I must see the emperor's edict passing the throne to him."

Wang Changling said worriedly: "But what if King Yong really takes away the Supreme Emperor and holds the Emperor hostage to order the princes?"

Li Ye took out a mailbox from his arms and handed it to Wang Changling, "Wang Sima, look at this!"

"This is..." Wang Changling took the mailbox in confusion.

"This is a reply from my father. I just received it at noon today."

Wang Changling opened the eagle letter, and Li Mi also came forward to take a closer look. There was only one sentence on it, 'Received, the emperor has agreed! ’

The two looked at each other and asked together: "Your Highness, what does Li Xiangguo mean by this sentence?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Five days ago, I sent an eagle letter to my father, suggesting that he remind the emperor that King Yong would send a navy to Sichuan to snatch the emperor, and suggested that the emperor transfer the emperor to Hanzhong."

Wang Changling and Li Mi were stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing at the same time. Li Mi gave a thumbs up and praised: "Your Highness is so clever that he took the firewood from under the cauldron. King Yong really failed to steal the chicken, and lost all the rice."

After hearing the report from his men, Feng Yanhuan breathed a sigh of relief. Li Ye went south to quell the chaos under the pretext of going south, which meant that he would not meet the special envoy of King Yong. Of course, Feng Yanhuan knew that Li Ye was in Xiangyang and did not go south. Li Ye Not seeing the special envoy showed his attitude. He would not refuse or fall out, but he would not compromise or be loyal.

In this way, he could also explain to the emperor. Feng Yanhuan immediately wrote a report and ordered his men to rush to Longyou and hand it over to Li Fuguo.

The night before Li Bai arrived in Xiangyang, a cavalry force of ten thousand people, led by Nan Jiyun, rushed to Jiangling overnight.

Since Li Lin wanted to send people to negotiate, but Kang Yuanchu rebelled in Yuezhou at the same time, it shows that Li Lin was making preparations on both sides, Wen's side and Wu's side. Once the negotiations were unsatisfactory and Wen's side failed, Kang Yuanchu would immediately attack. Jiangling, captured Jingzhou by force.

But this just gave Li Ye a little time to send troops to support Jingzhou as quickly as possible.

This was also the first time that Nan Jiyun led his army southward independently. Although it made him so nervous that he could not sleep, he firmly believed that he would successfully defend Jingzhou.