Chapter 323 An Yang Meeting

"Your Majesty wants to make the decision for me!"

Yang Guozhong knelt in front of Li Longji, two blood-red whip marks crossed his face and neck, his left eye was clear, and his clothes were also broken. He sobbed and cried to Li Longji: "Li Qing, the governor of Anxi, committed violence in front of the empress's house this morning and forced his property to rob him of his property. I was angry, so I went to him to argue, but he didn't even let him go. He fought hard, and both of his sons were injured by them. Your Majesty, Li Qing had no state laws and no ministers. He thought that holding troops would be so arrogant and would definitely be even more arrogant in the future. He must be severely punished this time!"

Yang Guozhong became more and more excited as he spoke, and finally burst into tears. Except for being beaten by Zhang You, the governor of Jiannan for twenty years, he never lost a single hair. What's more, he has become a prime minister now, but he has suffered such a great humiliation. How could he swallow this? However, Li Qing had soldiers in his hands and could not defeat him. In a rage, he rushed to complain to Li Longji.

Li Longji didn't say anything for a long time. This was the first time he heard about such things. One was the Minister of War and the other was the Jiedushi of Anxi. He did not have any official etiquette of the court officials. He was simply two rogues in the market.

However, he also knew that the two of them had a deep relationship, and it was true that Yang Guozhong suffered a loss, but Li Qing would never act as simple as he described. This move must have a deep meaning. He thought for a moment and asked, "You said Li Qing was robbing your property in front of your mansion, why is that?"

"This..." Yang Guozhong hesitated for a moment. What did he say? How many people give gifts? Although everyone knows this hidden rule. Li Longji is usually deaf and dumb, but when he says it, everyone's faces can't be stopped. In desperation, he had to force himself: "It's New Year, many old friends come to beat me. Maybe the carriage is too parked too much, blocking the gate of Li Qing's mansion. He can discuss with me. I'll just give up the carriage, but he fights directly, without even thinking about the kindness of being an official in the same palace. Your Majesty, I think Li Qing's move is not just aimed at me, but challenging His Majesty's authority, and he dares to attack people at the foot of the world."

"Okay! I understand."

Yang Guozhong wanted to continue talking, but Li Longji interrupted him impatiently, "What are old friends and what are the fun of Qiu Feng?" It is obvious that there are too many people giving gifts, blocking the road, and Li Qing found an excuse to teach him a lesson."

Li Longji's face slowly became gloomy. He took great pains to create his image as Prime Minister Yang Guozhong. He appointed him as the Prime Minister of Yi, so that he could have the capital to become the prime minister. He gave him the capital to become the prime minister of the three days and one day a big reward for five days. He was so rich that his family would not destroy his own feathers for money. But it was just like this man who was about to replace Li Linfu as the right prime minister, and he was so greedy and accepted bribes in the name of the New Year. Today's affairs will inevitably cause storms. Where is his reputation at that time? What is his prestige?

If his nature is difficult to change, it would be fine if he is determined to accept gifts, but what makes Li Longji angry is that Yang Guozhong is still so simple after so many years of training. Li Qing has used the same method for the second time. He broke his brother's legs back then, but today he directly attacked him. Why didn't he think of such a simple thing?

Not only was Li Longji angry, Gao Lishi, who was standing behind him, also sighed secretly for Yang Guozhong, saying that such childish words as "challenging His Majesty's authority, dare to attack people at the feet of the world." Li Longji has been an emperor for more than 40 years, and his words and deeds have been carefully considered. Will he attack a Jiedushi who has mastered heavy troops just because of his few words?

There is also Li Qing and Gao Lishi sighed for him. Gao Lishi understood his purpose, but this time it was different from the past. If he interfered too much in Li Linfu's affairs, he might even become a burial person.

The room was very quiet. Li Longji's silence made Yang Guozhong slowly wake up. He did this recklessly. Now it was a critical moment to defeat Li Linfu, but he had fought with Li Qing. It was really a confusing!

Even though he reacted quickly, he originally wanted to continue to participate in Li Qing's slaves in Shiguo to establish the Dayuan Army, but now it is not the time. He immediately pressed the matter and sighed: "Your Majesty, I am so angry that I am so confused. Now I think I have the responsibility. I can't blame Li Envoy all. Tomorrow is the New Year, but I am ashamed of this little thing!"

"You know, go!"

Seeing that he admitted his mistake, Li Longji didn't want to make things difficult for him too much, so he smiled and said, "As the saying goes, the prime minister can hold a boat in his stomach, don't let me down."

Yang Guozhong could understand what Li Longji meant, which was to let him focus his energy on Li Linfu, not to distract himself, nor to be caught. "Please rest assured, your Majesty, I will never let Your Majesty down!" He bowed deeply and slowly retreated.

After Yang Guozhong left, Li Longji sat up on the chair. He closed his eyes tightly and said nothing. After a long time, he opened the crack slightly. A trace of cold chill shot out from the crack. He sat up and turned to Gao Lishi and said, "Tonight is New Year's Eve. You make arrangements. I want to go and see Li Xiangguo."

Yang Guozhong changed his clothes in Xingqing Palace, and then walked out of the palace gate to go back to his house. He kept recalling Li Longji's words in his mind: "The prime minister can hold a boat in his belly." He was going to be prime minister and would replace Li Linfu's right prime minister. Although he had known that there would be such a day, he still excited to say it from Li Longji today.

Whether it was the Tang Dynasty or the Song Dynasty, there was more than one prime minister. In the Tang Dynasty, the Minister of the Central Secretariat was the right prime minister, and the Minister of the Jung Shou was the left prime minister. In addition, the left and right ministry of the Shangshu Province, the Minister of the Ministry of War, the Crown Prince Zhanshi, and even the Minister of the Minister of the State can perform state affairs. The key is whether the title of "Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi" is the symbol of the prime minister. For example, Li Qing was granted the title of "Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi", but he was not given the title of "Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi" at the same time. Therefore, he was not the Prime Minister, but only received a false title. Although Yang Guozhong was the Minister of War, he was also added to the Pingzhangshi of the Minister of the Secretariat at the same time. In this way, he was qualified to attend the Political Affairs Hall meeting.

Among all the prime ministers, there is another chief prime minister, known as the "Political Affairs Pen". The current chief prime minister is Li Linfu, and what excited Yang Guozhong is that he will become the new chief prime minister.

While excited, he reminded him of a troublesome thing, which was how to pull Li Linfu off the horse. The emperor only hinted that he used Li Xianzhong's defection case to make a fuss, but Yang Guozhong also knew that it seemed that the responsibility of impeaching Li Linfu for recommendation was not enough. If Li Linfu found evidence that he had nothing to do with the case, for example, at a certain year, he once suggested that the court should use Li Xianzhong carefully, so that he would escape the disaster.

After thinking about it all the way, he was still at a loss. Yang Guozhong's carriage was parked on the right side of Xingqing Palace, which was a place for ministers above the third rank and above to dock. When he approached his carriage, he unexpectedly found a tall and thin old man standing next to the carriage, which seemed to be waiting for him. Sure enough, when he approached the carriage, the old man stepped forward and raised a famous thorn above his head, bowed to him and said, "My boss prepares a glass of wine, and I'm here to invite Yang Shangshu to drink together."

"You are..." Yang Guozhong suddenly felt that this person was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him. He took the post casually and saw the word "An" in the lower right corner. He suddenly remembered that this person was An Lushan's aide Gao Shang.

"It turns out to be Mr. Gao." Yang Guozhong smiled gently. He accepted the post and said, "I have received your grandmaster's wishes. But today is New Year's Eve, and I will drink with him another day."

"My boss has something that Yang Shangshu is interested in." He whispered a few words in Yang Guozhong's ear. Yang Guozhong's eyes lit up. He grabbed Gao Shang's arm tightly and said excitedly: "What you said is true?"

Gao Shang nodded with a smile, "Of course it's true, otherwise why would my general ask Shangshu Yang to drink at this time?"

"It's not too late, let's leave now!" Yang Guozhong jumped into the carriage and shouted: "Go to An Lushan's mansion."

An Lushan’s mansion was in Qinrenfang. Interestingly, Guo Ziyi’s mansion was later opposite his house. An Lushan had two wife, one stayed in Chang'an as a lord, and the other lived with him in Youzhou. His eldest son An Qingzong was also his eldest son.

An Lushan arrived in Chang'an three weeks ago. In contrast to the low-key and forbearance of other governors, An Lushan held banquets at home every day, invited ministers and nobles and titles from the court. He also ordered many concubines to dance in the hall. Anyone who was favored by the ministers and ministers would be given to him. An Lushan praised him as a tide.

When An Lushan heard that Yang Guifei was lonely in the palace, he found a white parrot from Silla who could speak people, named it Snow-clothed girl, taught her Chinese language, and sent someone to the palace to relieve her boredom. After that, every festival, he would collect rare treasures and present them to Li Longji and Yang Guofei in his personal name. Or he heard that Li Longji was sick, so he would cry and bathe and fast and pray for Li Longji. It has never stopped for more than ten years, which moved Li Longji and personally named him "Hu Chi'er".

Although the holy favors him day and deeper, An Lushan was still afraid of one person, that was the right prime minister Li Linfu. First of all, he was the person promoted by Li Linfu, and his kindness was more important than that of the mountain. Secondly, Li Linfu gave him both kindness and righteousness, and he was obedient and comforted him, and agreed to continue to stay in office. If there was any disobedience, he would immediately cut off food and money, and even threaten to transfer.

Over the past decade, An Lushan gradually developed a deep-rooted fear of Li Linfu. He hated him even if he was afraid of him. He also tried every means to find out the news that was not good for Li Linfu. In Chang'an, An Lushan had a confidant, which was Yang Guozhong's right-hand man Ji Wen. In the eighth year of Tianbao, Ji Wen betrayed Li Linfu and defected to Yang Guozhong. Unexpectedly, Li Linfu escaped. Ji Wen was panicked and secretly colluded with An Lushan to leave a way out.

It was from Ji Wen's mouth that An Lushan knew Li Longji's intention to overthrow Li Linfu. Under the careful planning of his two advisers Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang, An Lushan created the case of Li Xianzhong's defection and finally pushed Li Linfu to the forefront.

Today, An Lushan invited Yang Guozhong to drink, but there was a big deal with him, saying that it was drinking, but it was just putting two small cups in An Lushan's study. Each of them had a glass of wine. An Lushan had no intention of asking for it, and Yang Guozhong had no intention of drinking. After a few greetings, Yang Guozhong went straight to the point. He laughed dryly: "I heard that An Shuai received letters from Li Xianzhong and Li Linfu, but is it true?"

"Of course it's true!" An Lushan narrowed his eyes and drank the wine in his glass, and then sighed: "It's also luck. After Li Xianzhong's thief defected, I sent someone to his house to find evidence. Unfortunately, I was one step late. The letter was taken away by Li Linfu's son. I thought he would burn it, but with a glimmer of hope, I sent someone to keep staring at him. Unexpectedly, he still kept those letters in his hands. It can be seen that God favored me and I finally got them again."

As he said that, An Lushan took out a letter from his arms. He glanced at Yang Guozhong and said lightly: "This letter was a reply from Li Xianzhong a month ago when he defected. It means to persuade him to return to his roots. Do you want to hear it?"

'Please advise him to return to his roots', and Li Xianzhong defected to Mobei. Yang Guozhong was so heartless that he was shocked. This letter was there. Li Linfu was sure to die. He reached out to pick it up without realizing it, but he caught it. Yang Guozhong was stunned and saw that the letter had been brought into his arms by An Lushan. His eyes turned to heaven and he said to himself: "Li Prime Minister is as kind as a mountain to me, how can I put the blame on me at this time?"

Of course, Yang Guozhong understood what he meant. He never thought that he would get these letters for nothing. He gritted his teeth and said, "We are not secretly speaking, so you can offer a price. If I can do it, I will definitely follow it!"

"Okay! An Lushan, a soldier, likes people who speak quickly. Since Shangshu Yang treats him honestly, I am not pretentious."

An Lushan leaned against Yang Guozhong with a fat body and whispered: "I have two conditions."

"Ship An, please speak out!"

An Lushan nodded and said, "First, after Li Xianzhong defected, I gathered him for 40,000 defeated soldiers, and the court will not pursue this matter."

Yang Guozhong thought about it and nodded and agreed, "I will send someone to deal with this case. At that time, An Shuai just needs to say that they have been sent back to his hometown, so the matter will be settled."

Yang Guozhong easily solved An Lushan's first condition, and his confidence increased greatly. He was impatient and said, "What about An Shuai's second condition?"

"The second condition! I want the ten thousand Mo Daotes of Anxi Army, you can transfer them to Fanyang."

"This..." Yang Guozhong gasped. Ten thousand Mo Daozhan was the main force of the Anxi Army. Li Qing was reluctant to answer. Li Longji had just warned himself not to provoke Li Qing. What can I do if he could do this? After a change of mind, he made a decision and said with a smile: "It's better to have a proposal from the Ministry of War. I also equipped ten thousand Mo Daozhan in Fanyang. What do you think?"

"No, I only want 10,000 Modaomen from the Anxi Army. This condition cannot be bargained." An Lushan shook his head firmly. The Anxi Modaomen is not only well-equipped, but more importantly, they are experienced and experienced many battles, and this is definitely not something that money can buy.

Seeing that Yang Guozhong was still hesitating, he showed a sly and slick smile on his honest face, "I didn't want you to do it now. I'll give you three months. After you overthrow Li Linfu and you will be promoted to right prime minister, and then you will try to transfer Li Qing away and insert it into your own people. At that time, wouldn't you do whatever you want?"

He took out the letter and patted it in his hand, smiled and said, "How about it? Yang Xiangguo, why not do this one kills two birds with one stone?"

'Two kills!' Yang Guozhong murmured to himself. He touched the whip marks on his neck, and a sense of evil aroused from the bottom of his heart. He has been bullied by him for so many years. Do you still have to look at his face as a right prime minister? Yang Guozhong's face turned blue and white, and the bruised eyes looked extremely ferocious. He finally couldn't withstand the temptation of the letter, and said in his heart: "Okay! I promise you."

"It's not OK to just agree."

An Lushan swept off the cup and plate on the small table with one hand, spread a piece of white paper, and handed him the pen and said, "You must write a letter of commitment to ensure that you can do the above two things."

Although Yang Guozhong knew that it was not good to leave a book, he was already confused by the right prime minister's position and hatred for Li Qing. He no longer cared about the consequences, picked up the pen and signed his name again.

An Lushan received the letter of guarantee and was overjoyed. He solemnly handed Li Linfu's letter to Yang Guozhong, and pinched his arm affectionately, and smiled respectfully: "If Yang Xiangguo doesn't dislike An's vulgarity, I would like to recognize you as my brother."

"Brother An is really a wonderful person!" Yang Guozhong stretched out his right palm, and the two of them hit each other, and they couldn't help but look at each other, and they all burst into laughter.
Chapter completed!