Chapter Nineteen: The Second Court Debate

  The Grand Secretary, Yu Huai-zhen, the Manager of Government Orders, Fang Suo, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of War, Yu Chou, and the Remonstrance Official, Shen Jie, all saw me clearly. Wei Lao-tou, in particular, was extremely enthusiastic in his greeting, calling out to me warmly as "Rong-ruo" (people in ancient times had courtesy names; I also came up with a good one for myself). He introduced me to everyone else present. As the current Prime Minister, he didn't need to be polite to someone like me, who was only a fourth-rank official. However, under the current circumstances, their lives and fortunes were all more or less dependent on me, so I naturally didn't think it was because of my own abilities or charm.

  This gentle and elegant Wei Jian is not a mediocre person, he was personally recommended by Yang Guozhong, but was called a virtuous minister. It's worth noting that Yang Guozhong was notorious for being jealous of talented people, especially those who were more famous than himself, so it wasn't easy for Wei Jian to gain a good reputation in the infamous Yang clique, at least it shows his ability and moral character are equally good.

  (In the Tang Dynasty, there was no clear distinction between civil officials and military generals. As a military general with governing talent could also enter the cabinet and become a prime minister, while civil officials familiar with military strategies and tactics could also lead armies to fight wars and expand territory. So, this general who doesn't know martial arts can also get by quite well.)

  It wasn't until I talked to him that I realized that the position of Sanqi Changshi was a non-military one, and although its rank was lower than mine as Zhonglang Jiang, it was a high-ranking advisory official who could attend the emperor at any time and participate in policy discussions. I thought to myself: which faction do I belong to? The old emperor really lacks people to use, I'm good at leading troops but when it comes to participating in policy discussions, I can only be a figurehead.

  The main event of the morning meeting was the direction of the future, also the focus of controversy. I listened to their debate with a poker face, while secretly sighing in my heart - what kind of people are these? All they say is nonsense. The emperor personally led the expedition, oh dear, another old man with a fevered brain. Have you forgotten how humiliatingly you ran away? Do you think the tens of thousands of rebels surrounding Chang'an are vegetarians? Guanzhong has many plains, and the area around Chang'an is flat as a pancake. We couldn't even hold our ground in Chang'an back then, now we're rushing to go die outside the pass. Some say we should head towards Hezhou or Lingwu, others say Taiyuan - all sorts of opinions.

  I shook my head again, these days have been too smooth in dealing with the pursuing soldiers, and someone even shouted out the slogan of fighting back to Chang'an. It was clear that none of them were to his liking, and Emperor Xuanzong hesitated without speaking.

  The dispute became increasingly fierce, regardless of courtesy and etiquette, with red faces and ears, like fighting cocks, grabbing each other's collars, spitting out angry rebukes, accusing each other of ulterior motives and sinister intentions to trap the emperor in a precarious situation, until the old emperor intervened several times to calm them down.

  The last obvious focus was on the dispute between Beizheng and Nanxia. The main argument of Beizheng is: "Going north to Lingwu, Hexi, the court has been operating for many years, with a lot of accumulation of money, grain, soldiers, and horses. The four roads of Longyou, Xifang, Anxi, and Beiting have not yet been occupied by the enemy, and most of the border military prefectures and garrison troops are still intact. In addition, there are also 16 Wei troops stationed on the border with Tubo that can be called upon, which can serve as a basis for suppressing the rebellion."

  While marching south, the main argument is: "Relying on the richness of Bashu and the danger of the four passes, the Sword South Jiedushi has many soldiers and sufficient grain. Advancing can be attacked, retreating can be defended. It can occupy the danger to avoid the enemy's army when it is strong, and also counterattack the place where Guanzhong is located in the future. The northwest region is vast and flat, with no danger to defend."

  "Under the command of Guo Zong, most are in Shu, how can we go there, and throw ourselves into a dead end?" As soon as he spoke, it was clear that he was an officer of Hu people's bloodline. He was one of the six battalions in the Northern Army, a special existence, just like those aristocratic sons, without actual establishment, belonging to the garrison officers on duty. According to tradition, in order to show loyalty to the Tang Dynasty, the tribal chieftains and nobles who surrendered to the Great Tang would send their second son to Chang'an as the emperor's guard (in fact, a hostage), so it was also called the "Zi Ziying" camp. An Qingji, one of An Lushan's four sons, had also been a member of this camp before he was killed and used as a sacrifice to calm down the flag.

  His words not only represented the opinions of most of the original Beiyang Army officers, but also reflected the sentiments of many courtiers who were extremely dissatisfied with Yang's party. The old emperor could not ignore this, although he had previously expressed his intention to eliminate Yang's party completely. However, they still refused to give up and even got a group of generals to jointly petition in strong opposition, showing that it was well-planned.

  Although I dislike being involved in these disputes, the old emperor did not mean to let me stay out of it. With one sentence, he kicked the crux of the problem over to me, "Liang Qing, what do you think?" This sentence that pushed me onto the stage can be understood as having multiple meanings: firstly, it reminded them that there is still a superior above them; secondly, it was testing whether I was aware of their intentions and had joined forces with them; thirdly, it hoped to use my words to reject them.

  I reluctantly stepped forward, having watched the court's discussions for many days. I began by speaking a heap of humble and irrelevant words, until the old emperor grew tired and guaranteed that he would not pursue my past mistakes. Only then did I slowly and calmly use my usual tone to refute one by one the various fanciful suggestions. "Go to Taiyuan, you have the ability to first break through the siege of tens of thousands of rebels in Gan Prefecture, and then break through the treacherous Tong Pass." "Leaving the pass is a good idea, but before the Huihe people arrive, what Tujue or Khitan strongmen will be happy to destroy you first, and then invite the emperor to be their guest?" I particularly scolded the crazy idea of returning to Chang'an. "What do you mean by 'the hearts of the people are with us', 'the hearts of the people are united', 'the rebel forces are flourishing'? Do you want to throw unarmed civilians into battle against the rebels, and trap the emperor in a disadvantageous position?" I was given a big hat to wear. Those people's faces changed color again and again, until they were interrupted by the old emperor, who had also grown impatient. "Li Ke, as you see, where are we going? Simply put."

  As for the direction to go, I suddenly thought of a very serious problem and my whole body felt cold. It seemed that I had missed an important historical event, which was that the people along the way gathered together to block the road and ask the emperor to stay behind to preside over the resistance against the enemy. Emperor Xuanzong ordered the crown prince to comfort the crowd, and at this critical moment, the crown prince showed extraordinary wisdom and eloquence, dispersing the crowd. And thus he broke away from the main team and went north to establish a new dynasty to preside over the great cause of resisting the enemy and punishing the rebels.

  And now, although I know the course of history, it's just a general impression. As for specific details and inside information, I'm also unable to grasp them all. The day before yesterday, an incident occurred during the journey, with common people blocking the road and making trouble, demanding an audience and shouting something about palaces and mausoleums, recovering temples, going east to defeat bandits. At that time, when I heard there were people blocking the way, I thought it was just another group of hot-headed fools, so I sent someone to forcefully disperse them. Now thinking back, it's bad - this seems to be a famous historical event: "Common people block the road and beg to stay, willing to exert their strength to defeat bandits, Xuanzong then entrusts the crown prince to declare and comfort, and heads north." It was ruined by me in such a muddled way. If the crown prince and his entourage really followed us into Sichuan, wouldn't that be disastrous? From my personal selfishness, I don't care about the outcome of history, but if Sichuan becomes a war front because of this, won't my plan to live out my days in peace be ruined?

  It's clear that I'm once again at a historical crossroads, and my heart is surging with emotions. My pulse has quickened instantly. Previously, the destruction of the Mawei incident was an unavoidable move, and I don't regret it much. I even have some gratitude towards Yang Zongbao's life. Now, it's clear that I've made a choice. Instead, I'm somewhat bewildered. In this situation, my views, which are not influenced by any factional background and are spoken as someone with an important position, seem to carry more weight.

  "I think going west or south are both viable options." Everyone was shocked, and they all showed expressions that this wasn't nonsense. I really admired myself for being able to say these half-baked official phrases in one breath after just a few days of learning them. Just when everyone thought I was about to make excuses again, I dropped a bombshell. "I think Your Majesty can entrust the Crown Prince to lead the troops from the northwest to quell the rebellion, while you enter Shu to oversee the overall situation. This way, both sides won't be neglected. Furthermore...", according to historical records, I said everything that needed to be said and waited for their reaction. Clearly, they didn't expect me to be so blunt, and there was a moment of stunned silence. Even the old emperor had an expression of shock on his face.

  Judging from his expression, I thought to myself that something was wrong. The higher the position, the more suspicious one becomes. Earlier, I had spoken too much and clearly showed my inclination towards the Crown Prince, which probably had a counterproductive effect on the old Emperor. He indeed could not be easily swayed, and after a few ambiguous and perfunctory words, he let me withdraw for now.

  I recalled another matter, and at the morning meeting, I brought up the issue of reorganizing the promotions and demotions of a large number of new military officers, as well as the excessive number of officials in the Imperial Guard. The old emperor surprisingly made a swift decision on the spot. He also handed over the original organization of the Feathered Forest to me for reorganization, clearly because he was dissatisfied with those people but didn't want to openly express it. However, this operation would result in many people from the Northern Army being demoted and some officials becoming empty titles without troops, which would further marginalize and isolate the old generals of the Northern Army. It's no wonder they had objections. Of course, there was immediate opposition, but the old emperor displayed his imperial demeanor on the spot, scolding those few old generals from the Northern Army until they were speechless with fear. He also quickly made a decisive declaration, bestowing upon me a sword with the inscription "All princes and officials below are subject to control... Those who resist orders will be beheaded and reported." This completely eliminated their ideas. Not only was everyone shocked, but even I was stunned, wondering if this was what they called a magic sword. The old emperor's move was indeed clever, immediately shifting the focus of attention to me. It never occurred to me that things would turn out this way.

  It was Wei Jian who finally understood the Emperor's intention, and stepped forward to say: "If we are to return to the capital, we must have troops to guard against bandits. At present, our troops are too few; how can we return east? It would be better to go to San Pass first, and then decide what to do next." In short, one word decided the matter (San Pass was the gateway to Shu, and going there was equivalent to entering Shu). Only then did Xuanzong nod his head. He ordered the officials to transmit his order, and since most people agreed, they continued to follow him forward. The court discussion ended without a result.