Tibet

In Jixian County, Li Huaixian once again invited Zhang Tongru to his tent to discuss the progress of the negotiations.

Zhang Tongru thought for a long time and smiled: "Actually, the negotiation of inheritance rights is meaningless. The military power is in the hands of the envoy. When the day comes when inheritance is needed, who will care about the terms and conditions? Or appoint his son as deputy governor a few years in advance and take over. To hold military power and give the court face, just say that you should not avoid relatives when promoting talents; if you don't give the court face, just appoint him as a military envoy. How can the court deny it?"

"It makes sense, keep talking!"

"As for the appointment power of local officials, it can be divided into two. The appointment power at the state level is given to the imperial court, and the appointment power at the county level is given to Jiedu government. If the state official is obedient, give him some power. If the state official only wants to If you are loyal to the imperial court, then let the county directly stand aside, and state government orders cannot go out of the government office."

Li Huaixian took a few steps with his hands behind his back, "The imperial court is not a fool, they must understand our intention."

Zhang Tongru smiled and said: "Everything makes sense. We have to consider the interests of the local powerful! Therefore, the key to appointing county magistrates is to get Li Fuguo. He will explain to the emperor that as long as the court is willing to give in, then we can Is it right for you to give up your inheritance rights by giving up one step?"

Li Huaixian nodded slowly, "Chang Shi is right, Li Fuguo is the key."

In Chang'an, Zhao Feng once again visited Li Fuguo at night. This time he took out a box and placed it on the table with a letter underneath.

Li Fuguo opened the box. This time it was a large golden bead, as big as a pigeon egg, shining with golden light.

"This bead was given to his wife by An Lushan, and later it belonged to Shi Siming's wife, and now it belongs to Aweng!"

Li Fuguo nodded. He knew that this kind of large-grade pearl was a priceless treasure, a treasure that could not be seen on the market at all. He owned a lot of jade, but this was the first time he got such a large-grade pearl.

Zhao Feng smiled and said: "After the negotiation is concluded, I will give Aweng 30,000 taels of silver in one lump sum."

Li Fuguo smiled, picked up the letter and read it for a moment, then said: "I understand, and I will let you Jiedushi achieve what you want!"

The next day, Li Fuguo hurried to the imperial study and found the emperor Li Heng.

"Your Majesty, I saw Luo Fengxian's express report. It seems that the negotiations between the two parties have reached an impasse again?"

Li Heng nodded, "Inheritance rights and local government personnel rights are important matters! Both sides are unwilling to give in."

"Your Majesty, Wei Chen's opinion is that the right of inheritance must not be given away. Once the right of inheritance is obtained, the vassal town will become a kingdom and its nature will be completely different. As for local personnel rights, Wei Chen doesn't think it is a big problem. We also had the rights of Youzhou at the beginning. personnel rights, but An Lushan still rebelled.

Wei Chen feels that a warlord like Li Huaixian should value military power rather than local power. He should want to get the support of wealthy families from all over the country. You must know that county-level government offices are almost always controlled by local wealthy families. It is the local wealthy families that force him not to release personnel power. . "

Li Heng pondered for a moment and said: "You mean, using local personnel rights in exchange for the concession of the other party's inheritance rights?"

"Your Majesty, we have to make concessions, but Wei Chen feels that there is no need to give in too much. Give him the personnel power at the county level. He will give an explanation to the local wealthy. Wei Chen believes that he will not have any control over the personnel power at the state level. If you are interested, we can get the maximum benefit at the minimum cost.”

Li Heng nodded slightly, "I support your opinion. Both sides need to make concessions and compromises, but the political hall is gritting its teeth and refusing to let go of personnel power!"

Li Fuguo snorted, "We have given up our financial power, so what's the point of this personnel power? Help Li Huaixian collect taxes? Li Huaixian wants to raise an army and collect taxes, how dare the local government not cooperate? Beware that he will be forced to panic, and everyone will Kill, Your Majesty, the other warlords are watching! If Li Huaixian successfully surrenders, then Tian Chengsi and Zhang Zhongzhi will also surrender. The five-year rebellion will end, and the people of the world will no longer have to suffer from the war, and Your Majesty will have time. He used his energy to deal with the crisis of the emperor's brother, and failed to negotiate for a county-level personnel power. It's a small gain but a big gain!"

Li Heng originally had no opinion, but he was completely convinced by Li Fuguo. He nodded, "I have made the decision on this matter. I will transfer the power to appoint county-level officials in exchange for his concession on inheritance rights."

After both parties made concessions, the negotiations finally reached an agreement, and Li Huaixian formally surrendered to the imperial court. Li Heng randomly sent Luo Fengxian as envoy to Youzhou, and named Li Huaixian the envoy of Fanyang Jiedushi and Lulong Jiedushi, and also named him the king of Yanshan County.

At the same time, Li Huaixian ordered his second son Li Xu to escort the Ancestral Temple ritual vessels and Shi Chaoyi and others to Chang'an. Li Xu would stay in Chang'an as a hostage and serve as the Taichang Shaoqing.

The negotiations between the imperial court and Li Huaixian undoubtedly had a far-reaching impact. Immediately afterwards, Zhang Zhongzhi of Cangzhou and Tian Chengsi of Weizhou also expressed their willingness to follow Li Huaixian's example and surrender to the imperial court. They then used Li Huaixian's conditions to reach a surrender agreement with the imperial court.

Tian Chengsi and Zhang Zhongzhi sent people to bribe Li Fuguo, Yu Chaoen and other eunuchs with heavy sums of money.

With the full coordination of Li Fuguo, Yu Chaoen, Cheng Yuanzhen and others, Emperor Li Heng granted Zhang Zhongzhi the title of Chengde Jiedu Envoy and Hejian County Prince, and named him Li Baochen. The princes of Qinghe County, Zhang Zhongzhi and Tian Chengsi, also sent their sons to the court as hostages.

The establishment of the three vassal towns in Hebei means that the five-year Anshi Rebellion has officially ended.

However, the pacification of the Central Plains and Huaibei continued. Shi Chaoyi's troops separatized Li Chun to Xuzhou, while Liu Zhan's rebellion in the southern part of the Central Plains intensified. The reason was that Tian Shengong refused to accept the imperial reward for the Hebei feudal town, so he relaxed the extermination of Liu Zhan. He led his army south and occupied Yangzhou. He sent troops to plunder people's property and killed thousands of Persian merchants.

The taxes in the Jiangnan area were extremely heavy, and the people were struggling to make a living. Popular rebellions occurred one after another in Jianghuai. Fang Qing led the hungry people to rebel in Shezhou, and brothers Yuan Chao and Yuan Ying rebelled in eastern Zhejiang with great momentum.

There was also unrest within the Tang army. Tang generals Shangheng separatized Yanzhou, Yin Zhongqing separatized Yunzhou, and Laigui maintained his own troops in Huaixi and refused to hand over military power to the court.

The imperial court was in trouble both internally and externally, so Li Heng decreed that Li Guangbi be made the Prince of Linhuai County and the Military Envoy of Hebei Province. He led an army of 100,000 to quell the rebellion in the Central Plains, Jianghuai and Jiangnan.

An army of tens of thousands arrived in Haizhou. This army was Tian Shengong's army. Tian Shengong was shocked when he learned that the traitor Hou Xiyi, who was defeated by Li Huaixian, went south from Youzhou and occupied his hometown Qingzhou. He quickly led his army back from Huainan in an attempt to recapture Qingzhou.

In the big tent, aide Jia Yuan advised Tian Shengong: "Now the emperor is fatuous, the eunuchs in the court are rampant, black and white are confused, right and wrong, good and evil, how can rebels like Li Huaixian, Zhang Zhongzhi, and Tian Chengsi be able to save money?" If you save one side, you will be crowned king by a high noble.

How unfair it is that you, who sacrificed your life for the imperial court, are still an envoy of the capital of Qingzhou, with no title or official position. The imperial court clearly bullies the weak and fears the strong. Seeing that you are weak and easy to bully, you despise your position and advise you to seize Ziqing and force the imperial court. Follow the example of the three towns in Hebei and grant the envoys corresponding titles! "

Tian Shengong nodded, "You are right, I have seen through the imperial court. The strong will be the king, and the foolish and loyal will suffer great losses. Li Guangbi will never end well if he works for the imperial court, and I will never let the imperial court manipulate him." take!"

Jia Yuan added: "I heard that Li Huaixian and others bribed Li Fuguo. I feel that big things can be achieved with a little money. Why don't you follow suit?"

Tian Shengong had just plundered Yangzhou and had a lot of gold and silk in hand. He immediately adopted Jia Yuan's suggestion and wrote to the emperor that he would attack Hou Xiyi, the traitor who occupied Qingzhou. Liu Zhan handed over to Li Guangbi to continue the extermination, hoping for the emperor's permission.

He also asked his confidants to rush to Chang'an with a lot of money to bribe Li Fuguo.

Tian Shengong immediately led an army of 50,000 people to quickly go north to Qingzhou, his hometown, to attack the rebel general Hou Xiyi who occupied Qingzhou.