Chapter 662: Re-baptizing the power of the court

Before dawn, a carriage was galloping on the street like lightning. If it were usual, even if it was not dawn, people would still come and go on the street. After all, it was already early summer, and the coolness of the morning would still attract many people to leave early.

But today is extraordinary. The streets are empty and there is no pedestrian. Even the carriage can run wildly. More than a hundred entourages around the carriage can also let go of their horses' hooves, just like a Mercedes-Benz on the grassland.

In the carriage, Zhang Yun frowned, looking at the empty streets and the teams of Qianniu Guards and Inner Guards running from time to time. He did not expect the situation to develop so quickly. Shortly after Wei Tao was arrested at around the Xu hour last night, Chang'an began to enter martial law. Jingzhao Yin Ligan asked Li Qing'an for assistance. Li Qing'an immediately dispatched 20,000 Niu Guards soldiers and began to arrest them from house to house. In just one hour, all 325 spies from the South Tang Dynasty were arrested.

But this was just the beginning. As Qi Xun's confession continued to increase, the situation began to become more serious. An operation to clean up and collude with officials from the Southern Tang Dynasty began. At the first update, Li Qing'an dispatched 50,000 troops into the city and surrounded more than 100 backbone of the Wei Party's party, based on the sign-in book of the Wei Mansion Banquet last night.

At this time, Zhang Yun was both happy and worried. Huanxi was his mortal enemy, Wei Tao, and finally fell down. Not only Wei Tao, but also judging from the situation, it seemed that almost all the Wei party members were arrested, but he was also worried that Li Qing'an's pace was too big and caused turmoil in the court.

It's like a martial arts artist, dancing swords and catching a few cheers, but the artist seems to be too excited and dances with long spears and sticks, which will hurt the onlookers next to him.

Zhang Yun disagrees with the entry of 50,000 troops into the city. He believes that this is a risk of expanding the situation. Will expanding the situation also involve Zhang Yun's interests?

Today, no matter what, he had to dissuade Li Qing'an. Conspiracy could be carried out and purges could be done, but it could not be expanded. After all, the court must continue to operate, and after all, everyone's officials must be on the way.

When the carriage arrived at Xingdaofang, it was the most vigilant place. Half of Li Qing'an's ten thousand direct guards were stationed here.

The gate was closed, and the former servants turned into fully armed soldiers. Everyone's face was tense and there was no smile. When Zhang Yun's carriage arrived, the soldiers were as if they were facing a great enemy, and even bows and arrows were squeezing. Zhang Yun sighed, why are you so nervous? You have no experience!

The carriage stopped fifty steps away, and one of his guards came forward with Zhang Yun's gold medal. The gold medal was awarded by the Political Affairs Hall, and the holder could be called Kaifangmen smoothly.

"It's Premier Zhang... I'm going to see His Highness Zhao if you have something urgent!"

At this time, the gold medal in the Political Affairs Hall was meaningless. Only the title of Prime Minister had some effect. The lieutenant on duty immediately ran to the room next to check. There was a list where people could be accessed.

After a moment, the on-duty captain came back and said, "The Prime Minister can enter the carriage, but the entourage please stay outside."

Zhang Yun's guard was about to go up to argue, but Zhang Yun waved his hand, "Don't argue, you just stay outside and wait."

The carriage continued to move forward and stopped in front of the Zhao Prince's Mansion for a moment. A personal lieutenant was already waiting at the door. Seeing that the carriage stopped, the lieutenant greeted him.

"Zhang Xiangguo, the general is already waiting."

"Well! Has Your Highness used breakfast?" Zhang Yun asked casually.

"The general hasn't slept for almost a night and has already used breakfast."

Zhang Yun nodded and followed his personal soldiers into the palace. He walked all the way to Li Qing'an's outside study. The captain reported: "General, Zhang Xiangguo is here."

"Please come in!" Li Qing'anluo's somewhat hoarse voice came from inside.

Zhang Yun sorted out his clothes and pushed the door open and walked into the study room. In the study room, Li Qing'an was sitting behind the table and flipping through the information from various places he had just sent. He had not been asleep all night, his eyes were covered with blood, but he was full of energy and did not show any fatigue.

"Your Highness!"

Zhang Yun came in and gave a bow, and asked with concern: "I heard that your highness has not been sleeping all night?"

Li Qingan smiled, "Isn't the prime minister the same?"

He waved his hand and said, "Please sit down!"

Li Qingan seemed to know why Zhang Yun came. Before Zhang Yun could speak, he moved away from the topic, "I want to tell the prime minister something, I have decided to increase troops in Hanzhong in five days."

Zhang Yun was surprised, "Your Highness means to officially attack Nan Tang, right?"

Li Qing'an nodded. He took a letter and handed it to Zhang Yun, "This is a letter I received when I left Taiyuan. It was written by Jia Chongguan, a general of the Southern Tang Dynasty to Yunnan. He is willing to surrender to me. His subordinates currently have 15,000 troops, so they can completely obey my orders."

Li Qing'an took out another letter and said with a smile: "This is the letter from the Prime Minister yesterday. Luo Feng, the King of Yunnan, surrendered to him. He expressed his recognition that Chang'an was the only court of the Tang Dynasty. What did the Prime Minister think of these two letters?"

After reading Jia Chongguan's letter, Zhang Yun said, "This is a tacit understanding between the two of them."

Li Qing'an nodded, "That's right. I learned from the people sent by Jia Chongguan to deliver the letter that Jia Chongguan and Ge Luofeng had had many secret negotiations. It can be seen that the surrender of the two is the same thing. In this way, the time to attack Nan Tang will be ripe."

Li Qing'an walked a few steps behind his back and said, "What I have always been most worried about is that Li Heng retreated to Annan after his defeat and continued to maintain the Southern Tang regime in Annan. Although it has little impact on the Central Plains, its existence will always give many people an excuse. In any case, I must completely wipe out the Southern Tang. Now the surrender of Jia Chongguan and Ge Luofeng means blocking Li Heng's way to Annan. In this way, my worries are gone, and it is time to take action against Southern Tang."

Zhang Yun knew in his heart that the so-called surrender of Nanzhao was just an excuse that Li Qing'an had found. The fundamental reason was that the situation in Hebei had been controlled, and Li Qing'an's energy began to turn to the south. From his attack on Wei Tao and re-sweeping the court; from his preparation to attack Nan Tang, all this reflected his idea. It seems that his pace of taking over the throne has begun to accelerate.

Zhang Jun pondered for a moment, then asked, "Are your highness going to lead the army south personally?"

Li Qingan shook his head, "I am going to send troops to two groups. One of them is Li Guangbi who goes to Hanzhong and directly attacks the Southern Tang Dynasty. The other party is Li Sheng leading the troops to capture Jingxiang. As for me!"

Li Qingan smiled, "I am going to inspect the canal transportation and taxes in Jiangnan again."

"Your Highness is not in charge of Chang'an?"

Li Qing'an smiled and said, "I don't want to interfere in the government affairs for the time being. With you here, I believe the court can operate smoothly."

The two of them unknowingly redirected back. Zhang Yun seized the opportunity and said, "Since your highness is preparing to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty, I think the first thing to do is to ensure the stability of the court. Your Highness also said that he hopes the court can operate smoothly. There is no problem with arresting Wei Tao last night, but your Highness later ordered 50,000 troops to enter the city. I thought it would be unfavorable to stability, and it would make the court's people panic. Your Highness should handle this matter carefully!"

Li Qingan didn't say anything. He stood in front of the window and stared out the window. After a while, he asked slowly, "Is this what the Prime Minister means?"

"No! It's not just what I mean."

Zhang Yun took out a proposal and placed it on the table, "This is also the meaning of several other important officials, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Yan, Pei Min, and Wang Jin, they all have the same idea as me. This proposal contains their signatures. Please consider it carefully."

Li Qingan opened the proposal and looked at it. It was indeed their signature. They all opposed his sending troops into the city and oppose martial law, which surprised Li Qingan.

At this moment, footsteps came from the door, and a personal soldier reported: "General, the Queen Mother's decree has arrived."

Li Qingan was stunned, and he quickly ordered: "Change me quickly and I'll go and receive the order."

Li Qing'an changed into court uniforms and hurried to the front yard of the royal palace. Zhang Yun also followed behind. In the front yard, a eunuch seemed a little scared under the gaze of fully armed soldiers. He didn't know how to issue this order, so he asked Li Qing'an to put on an incense table to receive the order. He didn't dare, but Li Qing'an just took it over casually, and he couldn't go back and explain it, which made him extremely embarrassed.

Soon, Li Qing'an walked out of the inner palace. When he saw Li Qing'an coming out in formal first-class court uniforms, he shouted, "The Queen Mother's will!"

Li Qing'an stepped forward and knelt down: "My memory, Li Qing'an, listened to the order!"

"Issue Your Highness, although there are pseudo-Tang Xiaoqiu, the chaotic dynasty, it does not hinder the overall situation. We should focus on stabilizing the people's hearts and the court's principles. We hope to lift the martial law quickly, give people vitality and give order to the government. I admire this!"

Li Qingan sighed secretly, it seemed that the Empress Dowager was also putting pressure on him, "I obey the order!"

He stood up, and the eunuch quickly gave him the Queen Mother's will, and said with a smile: "Your Highness, the Queen Mother has a message, I hope the General will not forget the promise he gave her."

"I understand. Please tell the Queen Mother that I am a soldier and I will do my best."

After seeing off the eunuch, Li Qingan returned to the study. He changed his clothes and slowly walked out of it and said, "Since everyone opposes the martial law of garrison, I can cancel it."

Li Qing'an took out a gold medal and handed it to his personal soldiers and said, "Go and pass my order to General Qin and General Nan, and immediately lift the martial law, and the 50,000 troops will be returned to the camp."

"As for order!" The personal soldiers quickly went with the gold medal.

Zhang Yun was very happy. He thought that the membership had a lot of effort to convince Li Qing'an, but he didn't expect that he would agree so quickly. He knew that the reason why he could deal with Wei Tao with glamorous face this time was that the empress dowager played a role. This must be what Li Qing'an agreed to. It is estimated that Li Qing'an still has some place to ask for the empress dowager, so he would give in. Otherwise, with Li Qing'an's strength, how could he easily make concessions at such a time?

Although he understood in his heart, Zhang Yun still took Li Qing'an's favor in front of him, "Thank you, General for accepting everyone's opinions."

"I'm not that stubborn, I'll give in when it's time to give in."

Li Qingan smiled faintly, and he pondered for a moment and asked, "Since the martial law has been lifted, what plan does the Prime Minister teach me?"

Zhang Yun had a stolen case in his mind and hurriedly said, "I have discussed it with everyone. The opinions are basically the same. You can use centralized residence and separate house arrest so that you don't have to alarm the people in Chang'an or martial law, which will also facilitate centralized case handling."

Li Qingan pondered for a moment and said, "Okay! I won't participate in this case, so the Political Affairs Hall is fully responsible for the case. I suggest forming a Grand Third Department for Trial. All the officials involved in the case will be held one by one. I can provide all assistance. If a soldier is needed, the prime minister can contact the internal security directly, and I will naturally give Qin Haiyang the order."

Li Qingan finally agreed to Zhang Yun's plan. Not only did he agree, he also decided to delegate power. If Zhang Yun did not come up with this proposal, delegating power would be absolutely impossible. He would never give up this huge political interest to Zhang Yun alone.

Since other important officials signed the proposal, it means that they also have to participate. The power struggle is actually the reallocation of interests.

Every important minister has his own mountain, and every boss has his own younger brother. This time, the defeat of Wei Tao and Lu Huan will undoubtedly carry out a comprehensive purge of the Wei Party. Everyone understands this principle and no one will let go of this opportunity.

As the highest ruler, Li Qingan must have the awareness of the highest ruler. Of course, he would not go to Zhang Yun. Pei Min and others to compete for the land of the mountain. The world belongs to him. He does not need to lower his identity to go to Zhang Yun to compete. He is the helmsman of the giant ship of the Tang Dynasty. He only needs to grasp the direction and discuss the distribution of the remaining interests by themselves, and he does not have to intervene.

Li Qing'an's concessions made Zhang Yun completely relieved. Li Qing'an's letting go mean that the crisis can be solved by the civil servant's method. The civil servant's method is much more complicated than the military general's method. The military general's method is very simple. Kill it with one knife, and it will be over. But the civil servant will not do this. The civil servant will not do anything. They also have to leave a way out for themselves.

But Zhang Yun also understands that delegating power is not to give up power. Granting power is not to keep it, but to throw it out. Delegating power is to have some gifts and some leave. This degree between giving and leaving is allowed to be controlled by Zhang Yun himself.

He must confirm some things in advance. First of all, Wei Tao and Lu Huan are dealing with them. What Li Qing'an wants to deal with is actually two people. The fate of these two people and even their family must be decided by Li Qing'an.

"Your Highness, the old minister wants to ask, if Wei Tao and Lu Huan are really guilty, what should we do with them?"

Li Qingan nodded secretly. Jiang is worthy of being a good old man. Zhang Yun is indeed a veteran in the officialdom and is very accurate in his position.

He did not answer immediately, but walked slowly to the Tang Dynasty map and stared at the Lingnan area. Finally, he slowly said: "Although Wei Tao and Lu Huan are suspected of colluding with the Southern Tang Dynasty, they are important officials after all. They are exempted from exile and demoted them instead! If the crime is conclusive, Wei Tao can be demoted to the Prime Minister of Engu, and Lu Huan is demoted to the prefect of Lianzhou."

Enzhou is today's Yangjiang area in Guangdong, while Lianzhou is today's Beihai area in Guangxi. It was a remote and barbaric place in the Tang Dynasty.

"What about their family members? Will they be demoted together?" Zhang Yun asked again.

Li Qing'an glanced at him and smiled, "The prime minister is confused. Demotion is not exile and has nothing to do with his family. They are willing to stay in Chang'an or go to Lingnan, and they will all follow the emperor."

The conclusion that Li Qing'an made against Wei and Lu was equivalent to setting the tone of the case. Even Wei and Lu were demoted, so other officials would not be exiled and their families would not be implicated. This is a good sign.

This made Zhang Yun feel relieved, but in addition to this, there is another major event he also needs to be determined, that is, the re-distribution of power in the Political Affairs Hall. Now there are only him and Wang Jin in the Political Affairs Hall. Although Yan Zhenqing is the Minister of War, he has no power and has not entered the Political Affairs Hall. There are only two people in the Political Affairs Hall. This is definitely not possible. Li Qing'an just said it clearly that this case will be dominated by the Political Affairs Hall. The implication is that a new Political Affairs Hall must be formed first and then the Qi Xun case will be tried again.

Generally speaking, when the emperor is absent, the candidates for the Political Affairs Hall will be decided by the official vote of officials above the fifth rank of the court. However, it is estimated that Li Qing'an will not use this method, but will use the method of direct appointment of the empress dowager. This is the realization of his will.

Although Zhang Yun knew that Li Qing'an would go to discuss with the Empress Dowager, as the right prime minister, he still wanted to know more about Li Qing'an's thoughts.

"Your Highness, can you talk to the old minister about the arrangements of the Political Affairs Hall first?"

Perhaps because Zhang Yun cooperated very well in this case, Li Qingan didn't want to hide it from him. There was no need for him to be too modest in front of Zhang Yun.

"My idea is to continue to use the seven-phase system. Currently, there are three prime ministers, Zhang Youqiao, Cui Zuoqiao and Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice. According to general practice, the right prime minister is also the Minister of Personnel, the left prime minister is also the Minister of War. I consider the position of Minister of Rites Yan Zhenqing, the Minister of Revenue, the Minister of Revenue, Liu Yan, Pei Min is the Minister of Personnel to be the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Works. There is also a Minister of Works, and I plan to be Guo Ziyi to be the Minister."

Guo Ziyi's entry into prime minister was an agreement reached between Li Qing'an and Guo Ziyi when he was in Taiyuan. Guo Ziyi himself knew very well that Li Qing'an already had a 500,000 army, and his 70,000 army had no meaning of confrontation. Once Li Qing'an came to power, Guo Ziyi would either rebel and become independent or hand over the military power, and he would go home to support his old age.

Instead of being forced to hand over military power at that time, it would be better to negotiate the future now. So after the two bargaining, Guo Ziyi agreed to hand over the military power to Li Siye, while Li Qing'an agreed to let him become prime minister and transform from a military general to a civil servant. His generals, Li Ruoyou, Li Guoliang, Lu Sigong, Li Zhongchen and others, were also rewarded and promoted in terms of military merits, just like the generals of the Anxi Army.

This is normal in the Tang Dynasty. For example, Niu Xianke, the left prime minister in the first year of Tianbao, was originally the governor of Hexi, and for example, An Lushan and Li Longji once wanted him to enter the court as prime minister. As for Guo Ziyi himself, he was extremely successful in history and was named the Minister of the Central Secretariat.

He has abilities and reputation. Li Qing'an let him become a prime minister, which is what the military wants and is also what Guo Ziyi has been looking for in his life. He often tells his subordinates that a real man should become a prime minister, so that his life will be worthy of his life. This arrangement is also a joy.

When Zhang Yun heard that Li Qing'an appointed Guo Ziyi as prime minister, he couldn't help but secretly praised him for his clever methods. In this way, the court's military power was under Li Qing'an's control.
To be continued...