Chapter 329 Murderous intent is everywhere

In Hebei, after Shi Siming and Cai Xide took Changshan, they allowed their soldiers to burn, kill and loot, killing more than 10,000 innocent people. Then they continued to "suppress the rebellion", fighting and killing along the way. Yejun, Guangping, Julu, Zhanjun, Shanggu, Boling, Wen'an, Weijun, Xindu and other places fell one after another.

The battle went all the way to Raoyang, where the prefect of Raoyang, Lu Quancheng, swore to fight to the death and refused to surrender, thus slowing down Shi Siming's progress.

……

The news that An Lushan asked Cai Xide to go back to quell the rebellion soon reached Tongguan, and Li Lin took this opportunity to impeach Li Heng for missing the opportunity to fight.

When the memorial was delivered to Li Longji, Li Longji, a master of micro-manipulation, immediately became suspicious.

But Li Heng had made great military achievements after all, so Li Longji endured it.

But Li Henglai exaggerated the story.

When Li Heng saw that Li Heng was named the Grand Marshal of the Army, he felt that if Li Heng succeeded in suppressing the rebellion again this time, his position would be in jeopardy, so he seized the opportunity and prepared to stab Li Heng from the back.

Li Longji was listening to Jiang Caiping playing the zither in Chenxiang Courtyard at this time. Seeing that Li Heng did not let Jiang Caiping stop, he just asked, "What's the matter with you, Prince?"

Li Heng said: "Eighteenth brother is a master in military operations, but I don't know why he did not move his troops after he was stationed at Tongguan this time."

Li Longji said: "I'm afraid there is no suitable opportunity to fight."

Li Heng said: "Uncle and nephew Yan Zhenqing have raised an army in Hebei, and the rebels are coming to support them. This is a good opportunity. With your talent, you should be able to seize it."

Li Longji's expression changed slightly, and he asked, "Then why do you think it is?"

"An Lushan led three towns and started a rebellion. My eighteenth brother also led three towns..." Li Heng observed Li Longji's expression from the corner of his eye, "I'm not saying that my eighteenth brother has the intention of rebellion. I'm just worried that my eighteenth brother is in poor health and can't control the Helong soldiers. If something happens, the Helong soldiers will not go out to fight, but will fight backwards...Tongguan is only a hundred miles away from Chang'an."

Li Longji remained silent.

He also had this worry in his heart, but now the country was in ruins, and he was unwilling to move Li Heng and cut off his arm unless it was absolutely necessary.

Seeing that Li Longji didn't say anything, Li Heng knelt down and said, "I shouldn't have said anything suspicious at this moment, but there have been rumors everywhere in the capital recently, saying... saying..."

"What?" Li Longji asked.

Li Heng said: "It is said that father...is greedy for pleasure and appoints treacherous ministers, which has led to the people's misery and forced An Lushan to rebel. But eighteenth brother is both virtuous and talented, both civil and military, and is a wise king known throughout the world. Father, why don't you... why don't you abdicate the throne to eighteenth brother, so..."

Li Heng didn't say anything else because he saw that Li Longji's face had turned black.

Since An Lushan launched his rebellion, he has been spreading rumors about Li Longji's misconduct. Li Longji has also heard about these news, but now when he heard Li Heng say it in person, he still finds it hard to accept.

Li Longji suppressed his anger and said, "People in the world don't understand my painstaking efforts, so let them talk."

Li Heng said: "Father, you are very broad-minded, but I cannot bear to hear such rebellious nonsense."

Li Longji said: "If you have so much time to spare, why don't you take care of Shibalang's wife and children? Shibalang is leading the troops outside, and as his brother, you should fulfill your responsibilities."

"I also want to take care of my younger siblings and nephews and fulfill my responsibilities as a brother, but in the past ten years, Princess Shou has only returned to Chang'an once." Li Heng changed the subject and sighed, "But that time I was fortunate enough to hear Princess Shou's singing in Qujiang. It was really like the sound of nature. No one else in the world can sing like that."

Upon hearing this, Li Longji recalled what Li Ying said when he was deposed. At that time, Li Ying said that Yang Yuhuan was the most beautiful woman in the world. Now Li Heng said that Yang Yuhuan had the best singing voice in the world. Li Longji began to wonder what kind of person Yang Yuhuan was.

Curiosity was secondary. The more important thing was that in more than ten years, Yang Yuhuan had only returned to Chang'an once. Every time she was asked to come back, she had various reasons.

If Yang Yuhuan was just an ordinary woman, it would be fine if she didn't come back, but the two best men in the world have been hiding and not coming back. Are they guarding against him for something?

Li Longji clenched his fists. If he had really been on guard against him, then Li Heng's intentions were worth pondering.

At this time, Gao Lishi said inappropriately: "Sir, the Right Prime Minister has something to report."

"Xuan." Li Longji's tone was filled with anger.

Gao Lishi took the order and brought Yang Guozhong in after a while.

Yang Guozhong glanced at Li Heng and reported: "Your Majesty, if His Royal Highness Prince Shou does not go out to fight the rebels and recapture Luoyang, the government troops will be out of food and money. All the food and money to be supplied to Chang'an must be transported from Luoyang. The food that was to be transported in June this year was all taken away by the rebels in Luoyang."

After Yang Guozhong finished speaking, he handed over a stack of memorials and continued, "These are all memorials impeaching His Royal Highness Prince Shou."

Li Longji stood up, took the memorials, and quickly read them all.

The memorials impeached Li Heng for raising troops and nurturing the enemy, and for having ulterior motives.

Li Longji was furious and pushed over everything on the dragon table, saying, "At this critical moment of life and death, the civil and military officials in the court do not know how to unite as one, but are actually thinking of attacking each other."

Li Longji knew that although these impeachment memorials ostensibly impeached Li Ying for harboring the enemy to gain power, they were actually attacks by civil officials on military generals.

Ever since Li Linfu banned border generals from becoming prime ministers, a situation of civil-military confrontation gradually formed inside and outside the court. Now that An Lushan, a military general, had rebelled, the civil officials in the court became even more wary of military generals.

And Li Heng is the current head of the military generals.

They were afraid that Li Heng would really come to power and bring military generals into the court.

Yang Guozhong and Li Heng were at odds, and he feared that he would be completely ruined if Li Heng took the throne. Therefore, even in the face of Li Longji's anger, he still said, "These impeachment memorials are not completely unreasonable. His Highness Shou Wang is clearly invincible, but he is guarding the pass and not coming out. This is indeed... indeed suspected of nurturing the enemy for his own benefit. Even if His Highness Shou Wang has concerns, he should consider the difficulties of the court and not drag down the court."

Li Heng continued, "Why not transfer Wang Zhongsi to guard Tongguan? Wang Zhongsi's talent is not inferior to that of my eighteenth brother. If my eighteenth brother doesn't want to fight, let Wang Zhongsi fight."

Yang Guozhong said, "I second your proposal, Your Highness. The main force guarding Tongguan is the Helong Army. Your Highness Prince Shou has led Helong for many years, so it is inevitable that he is colluding with the Helong Army. Transfer Wang Zhongsi to Tongguan, let Your Highness Prince Shou lead Shuofang, and transfer the former Shuofang generals to Longyou. This way, we can suppress the rebellion and also check and balance each other."

Li Longji hesitated, thought for a while, and said, "In this case, I am afraid they will not obey my order."

Li Longji had just become suspicious of Li Heng, but Li Heng was different from Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing in history.

Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing were killed in the army, of course, because of their loyalty, but more importantly, it was because their direct troops were not with them.

But Li Heng's direct descendants are right beside him now. If Li Heng has already had ulterior motives, wouldn't it be giving him an excuse to provoke him now?
Yang Guozhong was still arrogant and said, "If you don't obey the imperial edict, it means you are plotting a rebellion. The sage can call on the whole country to punish you."

"Let me think about this." Li Longji despised Yang Guozhong in his heart and stood up. "However, the Art of War says that we should be prepared for danger in times of peace. It is not a perfect plan for General Shibalang to station all his troops at Tongguan without any backup. The Right Prime Minister should go and recruit 3,000 soldiers and station them at Bashang as backup."

Yang Guozhong understood that Li Longji said he was recruiting soldiers as backup, but in fact he was supervising the battle in the rear and guarding against Li Heng, so he happily accepted the order and said, "The saint is wise."

Li Longji stepped forward and said, "I heard that Princess Shou is ill. Call the imperial physician and follow me to see her."

Jiang Caiping, who had been playing the zither, looked at the backs of Li Longji and his son, sighed secretly, and thought to herself: "As expected of father and son, they are equally shameless!"

Jiang Caiping thought for a while, returned to the room, wrote a note and handed it to the maid, asking her to give it to Concubine Wu Huifei.

　Don't worry, there is no unnecessary plot, and Li Longji does not only think with his lower body, it's just that everyone has his own stance and motives.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)