Tibet

Pugu Huai'en was completely wiped out and fled in panic. Emperor Li Heng finally breathed a sigh of relief and gave himself a day off to return to the harem.

Although Li Ye was also a huge threat to his throne, fortunately, Li Ye respected martial ethics, had a sense of proportion and a bottom line, and respected the court enough, and would not act recklessly like An Lushan and Pugu Huaien.

So Li Heng can't take care of Li Ye for the time being. His most urgent opponents are still the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor's younger brother Li Lin. Pugu Huai'en's rebellion is also a continuation of Li Zhen's coup, and it was also instigated by the Supreme Emperor. I really don't know that the Supreme Emperor He will also stir up some trouble and cause trouble for himself.

Sitting in the inner study room, Li Heng carefully looked at the Emperor's Trust Treasure in his hand. Li Heng sighed. There are also six jade seals in the hands of the Supreme Emperor, especially the national sacred treasure and the mandated treasure. When will they return to his hands?

The jade seal is a dead object, and it is correct to say that it is not important. Emperor Taizong did not get the jade seal passed down to the country, so he carved an ordained treasure by himself, which did not affect his rule of the world.

But to say it is important, it is indeed extremely important. After all, it is a status talisman. Only by obtaining it can one be the authentic emperor, so the key depends on whose hands they are in. In the hands of merchants, they are just valuables exchanged for money. In the hands of ministers, they become a ladder to climb up. In the hands of traitors, holding them to the throne can only be a clown.

But if it is in the hands of a prince, especially a prince who has the right to inherit the emperor, it will be troublesome. For example, in the hands of Li Lin, coupled with an imperial edict from the Supreme Emperor, his accession to the throne will become legal, and he will have the right to pass on the country. With the jade seal and the mandate treasure, as well as the edict of passing the throne from the Supreme Emperor, and the wealthy Bashu as his foundation, the court could not accuse him of usurping the throne.

"What is your Majesty thinking?" Queen Zhang appeared next to Li Heng at some unknown time.

She picked up the jade seal curiously, looked at it carefully, and suddenly realized, "Is this the Emperor's Xinbao?"

Li Heng nodded, hugged Queen Zhang and sat next to him. Li Heng had a deep Oedipus complex in his heart, and although Queen Zhang did not have the demeanor of a mother to treat the world, she did have a maternal figure, with a plump and wide body. , with ridges on her breasts, which made Li Heng very obsessed with her.

It's a pity that she was too ambitious and wanted to imitate Wu Zetian and the two emperors came to the court. With Wei Jiansu's retirement, the emperor's power gradually increased. During this time, Queen Zhang began to encourage Li Heng to bring the court affairs back to the harem. She had Opportunity was involved.

Empress Zhang had already learned from Li Fuguo about the emperor's trust in the treasure. She still pretended to be confused and asked: "Where did your majesty get it?"

"It's King Li Ye of Qi. He exchanged Xinbao and me for Yanzhou!"

"Didn't His Majesty say that King Qi also had ambitions to usurp the throne? How could he give the jade seal to Your Majesty?"

Li Heng shook his head, "I don't know, maybe he doesn't like the trust treasure. If it was a divine treasure or a destiny treasure, he wouldn't give it to me."

"Your Majesty, did the Supreme Emperor collude with Li Ye and asked Li Ye to help him regain his throne, so he gave the Xinbao to Li Ye?" Queen Zhang also reacted.

Li Heng sneered and said, "That must be the case, but Li Ye refused."

"He would refuse such a good thing?"

"I couldn't figure it out at first, but now I finally understand it."

"Your Majesty, can you please tell me?"

Li Heng said calmly: "Because of Li Lin's presence, the Supreme Emperor was actually controlled by Li Lin. Whether it was Li Zhen's coup or Pugu Huai'en's rebellion, they seemed to support the Emperor's restoration, but in fact they were all done for Li Lin. Regarding the wedding dress, Li Ye must have seen this, so he refused to cooperate with the Supreme Emperor and did not want to make Li Lin's wedding dress."

Queen Zhang's brows furrowed, "Your Majesty, you mean that the 14th Lang is the biggest threat?"

Li Heng nodded, "The Emperor is already old, and all his troubles are nothing but trouble for me. But Fourteenth Lang is different. He is ready to replace me at any time and at any time. I have named him the Emperor's younger brother. He has not yet Satisfied, he is still conniving with the Supreme Emperor to stir up trouble everywhere. Does he think I don’t understand? Without his acquiescence, how could Yang Hui see the Supreme Emperor, and how could Gao Lishi get to Longyou?"

"In that case, why doesn't he encourage the Supreme Emperor to ascend the throne directly? He can just be the Crown Prince."

"You think he isn't now?"

Li Heng sneered and said: "With an army of one hundred thousand in his hand, he has the final say in the officialdom of Bashu. The life and death of millions of people in Bashu are all in his hands. He has built three palaces and six courtyards, and married seventy-two concubines. He has the final say." What is he if he's not a local emperor? The so-called status, huh! He's very ambitious, he wants to be the emperor of the world, not the local emperor of Bashu."

Empress Zhang pondered for a moment and said: "Actually, there is a way to solve it. Your Majesty finds an excuse to send troops into Bashu, kill the Fourteenth Lang, and bring the Supreme Emperor under control. Your Majesty is always so worried, so why not be more decisive and use the army Go figure it out!”

Li Heng smiled bitterly and said: "I also know, but there are not many troops in Guanzhong. We need to wait until the rebellion in the Central Plains subsides and the army returns before I can have enough troops in my hands."

"Why doesn't Your Majesty recruit troops and expand the army? If there were 200,000 troops guarding Chang'an, Pugu Huai'en's crisis would not have happened."

Li Heng stood up and walked to the window, looking lonely into the distance. The Tang Dynasty was ravaged by the Anshi Rebellion. The Central Plains and Hebei were devastated and riddled with holes. The court's tax revenue was less than 30% of what it was during the Tianbao years. Now he doesn't even have the minister's salary. If we can't send them out, where will we have the financial and material resources to recruit troops?

Thinking of this, all kinds of bitterness surged out of Li Heng's heart, and he couldn't help but raise his head and let out a long sigh.

Qingyang Palace in Chengdu was originally the emperor's palace. After the Emperor moved to Tongtian Temple in Qingcheng Mountain, Li Lin began to repair and expand the palace. A few months later, it became Li Lin's East Palace. As the emperor's brother, he He lived grandly in this palace covering an area of ​​nearly a thousand acres.

At this time, in the Qinzheng Hall, Li Linzheng secretly met with an eunuch. This eunuch was none other than Xia Zhiming, Gao Lishi's subordinate.

In fact, most of the eunuchs and maids around the Supreme Emperor and Gao Lishi were bribed by Li Lin. He could know what the Supreme Emperor was doing at any time? What do you want to do?

The Supreme Emperor wanted to use Li Zhen to launch a coup. Li Lin did not object at all, and even supported it. Anyway, he would be the one to pick the final fruits of success. He escorted the Supreme Emperor to Chang'an, and then the Supreme Emperor handed over the power to himself on the grounds of physical discomfort. Isn’t Tang Tianxia himself?

Li Zhen is nothing, she has the support of a hundred thousand troops, does he have it?

However, Li Lin is still a little uneasy about Li Ye. He can't control Li Ye. Li Ye's military strength far exceeds his. When he was in Jingxiang, he was beaten to pieces by Li Ye and lost the Jiangnan West Road. Now He was also afraid of Li Ye.

"What? The Emperor gave the Emperor's Xinbao to Li Ye?"

Li Lin's eyes widened suddenly. He couldn't believe his ears?

Xia Zhiming said tremblingly: "To repay Your Highness, I have indeed given the Emperor's Xinbao to Prince Qi. I saw with my own eyes that Eunuch Gao took the Xinbao to Prince Qi's Mansion and disappeared when he came back."

"asshole!"

Li Lin was so angry that he punched the table hard. He had an agreement with his father that all the seven treasures in his father's hands would be kept to him and could not be given to the court. Although Li Ye was not the court, it was essentially the same thing.

At first, the Supreme Emperor refused to give the Qibao to him. Considering that he was his father, Li Lin did not want to push too hard, so the two parties signed an agreement. The Qibao could only be kept for himself and could not be handed over to the court. Unexpectedly, The Supreme Emperor actually handed the Xinbao to Li Ye.

Li Lin was so angry that he paced back and forth in the main hall. Although the Xinbao was not very important, if the Supreme Emperor got hot-headed and handed the sacred treasure or the ordered treasure to Li Ye, he would really vomit blood.

It’s no wonder that Li Lin valued the jade seal so much. In the future, when he competes with his brother for the throne, the only basis that can prove his legitimacy is the emperor’s edict on passing the throne, plus the sacred treasure of the country and the treasure of the emperor. The emperor’s brother can’t get the sacred treasure of the country and the treasure of the emperor. It proves that his position is incorrect.

At this moment, Li Lin made up his mind to take back all the remaining six treasures.

At this time, Xia Zhiming whispered again: "Your Highness, we have also found the whereabouts of the imperial concubine!"

Li Lin's eyes lit up, "Did you really find the imperial concubine?"