Chapter 325: Happy New Year to Li Linfu

As Gao Lishi said, the fact that Li Linfu was dismissed from prime minister and Yang Guozhong was promoted to right prime minister was like a major earthquake in the officialdom, which instantly shook the whole country. The Yang Party cheered and cheered. Although this was expected, it still shocked most people. The New Year should be a new atmosphere, but the wind blowing in the political arena was not fresh. Many old ministers who knew Yang Guozhong were secretly worried, with his ability and talent, they led the Tang Dynasty out of the predicament?

Whether it is contempt or jealousy, it is an indisputable fact that Yang Guozhong is in charge of the government. It is just dawn, and there are already long queues in front of Yang Guozhong's mansion. Unlike yesterday's gifts, this time he came in person. Some well-informed people even lined up all night. This situation is a bit like the public sale of housing in later generations. However, there seems to be an invisible barrier in the middle of the road in front of Yang Guozhong's mansion. All the carriages lined up on one side, and no one dared to step over the line.

Contrary to the excitement and expectations of many Yang Party members, Yang Guozhong himself was extremely depressed. He locked himself in the study and read the evidence of Li Linfu over and over again that yesterday's letter was worth ten thousand gold, but it was worthless after just one night. Yang Guozhong was like drinking too fast to drink fine wine and found a fly that had already entered his stomach. However, the fly was not in his stomach, but in An Lushan's hands.

The letter fell to the ground, Yang Guozhong sighed and buried his head in his palm. The only hope he had now was that An Lushan was afraid of his prime minister's power, so Babaer returned his promise with both hands. He looked back at the hourglass. An hour had passed, and the third son Yang Xiao should have news.

Just as he thought of this, a messy footsteps came from outside the door, accompanied by a hurrying whisper, "Be gentle! Don't hurt the young master!" Yang Guozhong was shocked and rushed forward and opened the door in two steps. He saw several families carefully lowering a stretcher. The stretcher was lying on the stretcher. He closed his eyes tightly, his face was pale, and he lay on the stretcher and said something. Yang Guozhong lifted a corner of the blanket on his body, and there was a large piece of red blood.

"What's going on?"

He had such a thing on the first day of his prime minister. Wouldn't this be slap in the face? Yang Guozhong suddenly shouted loudly, "Who did it?"

Several families looked at each other, and no one dared to speak. At this time, Yang Xiao slowly opened his eyes and said in a low voice: "Dad, the child is incompetent and has not been able to get the book back."

Yang Guozhong hurriedly squatted down and stroked his son's face with heartache, "Son! Did this do it by An Lushan's dog thief?"

"An Lushan himself is very polite. He said there was no guarantee letter, but as soon as I left, many masked people rushed out of the streets and alleys and beat us hard with wooden sticks!" At this point, Yang Xiao's eyes became vicious. He gritted his teeth and said, "The person in the leader's voice is very loud. I can hear that he is An Lushan's son, An Qingzong."

"An Qingzong?" Yang Guozhong slowly stood up. He asked his family again without believing, "Can you hear his voice clearly?"

"Master, it's indeed Anqingzong." A family member whose forehead was broken bowed and said, "Not only was the sound, but the old slave also saw him take off the scarf. The old slave felt that he was like, just like..."

"It's like something? Say!" Yang Guozhong's face was extremely gloomy.

"He was like he was deliberately letting us know who he was."

Yang Guozhong suddenly understood that it was An Lushan warning him that if he did not do as agreed, he would be ruthless. Yesterday, Li Qing injured him and his eldest son, second son, and today An Lushan injured his third son, and his attack was even more vicious. Yang Guozhong felt indignant. He was still inferior to one person, and he was superior to the prime minister? Anyone can deal with him. Don’t these bastards rely on how many soldiers they have?

"Li Qing, An Lushan, let's take your time. One day I will let you know how powerful I am."

Thinking of this, Yang Guozhong's waist suddenly stood up and turned around and said to the butler: "It's okay to start, just in the lobby, and let three people see me every time!"

The team lined up in front of Yang Guozhong's mansion finally moved slowly. Dozens of servants came out to maintain order. Each time three people were put in, the door of Li Qing's mansion opposite suddenly opened, and dozens of armored soldiers rushed out of the gate in a carriage. Some carriages on the road subconsciously leaned towards the side. Everyone stared at the carriage with complex eyes and drove past their eyes. This was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue that year, who was demoted from Beijing and was once a laughing stock in the capital, but only a few years later, he became a prince, with a higher position and a heavier power. As soon as he returned to Beijing, he fought against the most popular ministers of the dynasty, which made everyone feel inexplicably afraid of him, even several old subordinates of Li Qing in the team.

In contrast to An Lushan's despise Yang Guozhong at his heart, Li Qing was full of vigilance about his old friend's success. This was not because of how powerful he was. On the contrary, whether he was a powerful person or was vicious, he was far from comparable to Li Linfu. Li Qing was worried that it was his extreme and despicable behavior. He sacrificed his wife's appearance in order to make his own shop, and saw the big ones from the small. Once such a person has great power, he is very likely to ignore the overall situation and harm the fundamental interests of the Tang Dynasty for his own selfishness. This is the case. An Lushan's rebellion in history was from a certain perspective because of Yang Guozhong's repeated oppression.

Speaking of An Lushan, Li Qing remembered Gao Lishi's advice to him last night, "You who are leading troops to fight should be careful. You should try to keep a low profile in the capital. Don't let the censor participate in you. Like An Lushan, you will win over the court officials, bribe the princes and act recklessly. Your Majesty is already dissatisfied with him."

Although Gao Lishi was vague, Li Qing was sensitively aware that Li Longji had become suspicious of An Lushan.

Since that's the case, why didn't I seize this opportunity and completely deprive An Lushan of his military power?

Li Qing's carriage drove out of the gate of Xuanyifang and headed north for about a quarter of an hour. Finally, he stopped in front of Li Linfu's mansion, which was in sharp contrast with Yang Guozhong's gate. Li Linfu's door was deserted and there was no one who came to pay New Year's greetings. The gate was closed and a few lifeless lanterns were hung. However, this was not because Li Linfu stopped his appearance and formed such a desolate atmosphere. Before the sky was dawn, Li Linfu's nephews led by his eldest son Li Xiu to worship his ancestors. There were only women and children left in the entire mansion. Li Linfu stayed in the mansion for physical reasons. Li Qing came as a coincidence.

After a while, the housekeeper led Li Qing into the mansion and walked through a corridor. He saw Li Linfu leaning on a crutch and waiting for him for a long time with the support of two maids. Li Qing rushed forward and bowed and bowed and said, "Li Qing is here to wish the prime minister a New Year!"

"Li Qing, we haven't seen each other for a long time." Li Linfu pushed the maid away, stepped forward to hold Li Qing's hand, and pinched his arm, and smiled and said, "It's better to be young! It's strong and powerful, not only makes women fall in love with you, but also feel safe as an old man like me. I'm about to go to the back garden, please accompany me for a walk!"

Li Qing nodded and supported Li Linfu to walk towards the back garden. It was a sunny New Year. The cold winter had passed, and the ice in the back garden pond had begun to thaw. Several wintersweets were in bud. Some impatient ones had bloomed with tender yellow stamens, and the air was filled with a fresh fragrance.

"Sit down!"

Li Linfu sat down on a bench. The garden was very quiet, and there were only two of them. Li Linfu leaned on his hands on his crutches and stared at a cluster of wintersweets on the branches. After a long time, he slowly laughed: "I have embarked on the career of officialdom for more than 40 years. Today I realized that I have actually missed many wonderful things in my life. A small wintersweet contains the truth of the world and everything. What attracts people is always the moment it blooms. When it witheres and witheres, it leaves a kind of life to its descendants."

Speaking of this, Li Linfu turned his head and stared at Li Qing, and slowly smiled and said, "If one day my children are as difficult as Zhang Qiu's family, can you reward them with a bowl of rice?"

Li Qing shook his head and smiled faintly, "The Prime Minister is joking. The Prime Minister is a great cause, but he has been born to the descendants of a hundred generations. If there really is that day, Li Qing would have turned into dust."

"Well! Children and grandchildren have their own blessings, so why should I do that idleness?"

Even though he said that, Li Linfu was still a little unwilling to accept it. He changed the subject and laughed: "It's funny to say that we fought to the death. When the times changed, what happened? Who would have thought that Li Linfu stepped down from the world? The only person who came to visit me was my strong rival, Mr. Li."

He patted Li Qing on the shoulder lightly and smiled sincerely, "Yangming might as well say it. You came here specially today, but it's just as simple as seeing me?"

Li Qing stroking his palm and laughed, "I am worthy of being the old prime minister. His eyes are so fierce that he can see through Li Qing's intestines at one glance."

Speaking of this, his face looked slightly solemn, and he pondered for a moment: "Yes, I'm here today, and I'm really discussing something with the Prime Minister."

"A big deal?" Li Linfu sneered. He stood up with a hard time with a cane, walked slowly to the wintersweet for a long time before he slowly said: "From last night, I, Li Linfu, will no longer ask about any major deal."

Li Qing was unmoved and continued: "What if this big event affects the survival of Li Xiang's family?"

"What!" Li Linfu was shocked all over. He slowly turned around, stared at Li Qing for a long time, and suddenly sighed: "If I, Li Linfu, were trapped in your hands, I had nothing to say, but I was replaced by Yang Guozhong's candid, how could I be content!"

He shook his head hatefully, sat down again, raised his head and looked at Li Qing and said, "Tell me! What a big deal."

"Zhang Jiuling predicted many times that An Lushan would rebel in the future, but the prime minister would have to guarantee it."

Li Qing squatted down slowly, looked up at Li Linfu and said, "If one day An Lushan really rebelled, will the Prime Minister think that the emperor will take responsibility on him?"

Li Linfu looked at Li Qing in a daze, unable to say a word. When An Lushan was defeated by the Khitan, Zhang Jiuling strongly advocated killing him, and asserted that An Lushan would rebel in the future. It would be better to eliminate the disaster as soon as possible. At that time, Li Longji was also hesitant, but he had to guarantee An Lushan that he would not rebel. After many years, he forgot about this matter.

Today when Li Qingzhong mentioned this matter, he suddenly remembered something that worried him. In fact, he knew very well that since last year, the huge palace expenses made the court unable to allocate a penny of military expenses to the border, but instead allowed the governors to solve the problem by reducing local rents and giving in salt taxes. Although it could reduce the burden on the court, the border troops would become the private army of the governors, among which the more than 200,000 troops in the three towns of An Lushan were the largest. He knew that if such a sword hanging above the head of the court was not lifted as soon as possible, he would suffer. Just as he was about to seize his military power on the grounds that An Lushan had no support and caused Li Xianzhong to be defeated, he unexpectedly fell into it.

Li Qing was right. If An Lushan really rebelled, Li Longji would have taken the bad debt on his head and destroyed the whole family to thank the world. He had worked with him for decades, how could he not know what he thought?

"Li Qing, do you mean to get rid of An Lushan?" Without waiting for Li Qing to answer, Li Linfu shook his head himself. Not to mention that An Lushan brought nearly a thousand personal guards and never left him, it was almost impossible to assassinate him. Moreover, Li Longji favored him very much. Last year, he gave him an iron coupon and named him the Prince of Dongping. This was the first king of the Tang Dynasty with a different surname. He was so fond of him that Li Longji had to get rid of him, which was undoubtedly a dream.

At this time, Li Qing also shook his head and said, "I also know that it is not realistic to get rid of him. I just hope there is a way to transfer An Lushan to Beijing as an official, and to promote and surrender openly and secretly to deprive him of military power."

Li Qing thought about this for a whole night. The Anshi Rebellion in history broke out in November of the 14th year of Tianbao. An Lushan was full of wings and had sufficient food and grass preparations. Now it is the beginning of Tianbao's eleventh year, and there are nearly four years left. It is good if An Lushan's military power was removed successfully, but if it fails, it is better to force him to rebel earlier and minimize the intensity of his rebellion.

"How to deprive military power through openly and secretly?" Li Linfu closed his eyes tightly and raised his head to ponder. The key was that Li Longji, as long as he understood the possibility of An Lushan's rebellion, he would be willing to move An Lushan.

Li Linfu glanced at Li Qing. At this moment, he suddenly understood the purpose of his visit today. An Lushan was recommended by him by Li Linfu, and only he could convince Li Longji, such a cunning guy. Li Linfu sneered in his heart, but did not say it out loud.

After a while, he suddenly smiled at Li Qing and said, "You always do things first and then talk. If you don't have a scheming case, how could you ask me? You tell me first and let me refer to it for you."

Li Qing smiled slightly. Li Linfu had already seen his attempt to use him, but Li Qing didn't care. He knew that Li Linfu would definitely go to Li Longji to separate his relationship with An Lushan. Didn't he want to keep blessings for his descendants?
Chapter completed!