Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 992 – The Old Emperor and the Minister that Hides Behind the Shadows
Battle Map, Luoyang.
Di Chen and the others led their men outside of Luoyang City. Learning that Tong Pass had already been taken down, Di Chen smiled as he said to them, “Even Gaia is standing on our side this time. Let’s see what that old fox can do.”
‘Haha.’
Chun Shenjun and the others laughed. Being able to win against Ouyang Shuo once in the Battle Map had great meaning to then, and it was able to raise their confidence.
Di Chen said, “After I meet An Lushan, we will lead our troops to take down Chang An and not give the old fox a chance.”
“That’s right!” Xiong Ba said.
With the 300 thousand army to rely on, Di Chen and the others did not even have An Lushan in their eyes. The moment the Yanhuang Alliance Army landed in Luoyang, the decisions that the An Lushan camp would make was up to them.
************
Chang An, east outskirts.
Since Ouyang Shuo was going into the city to meet Tang Xuanzong, he did not need to go through the entire Chang An city. In truth, if he entered through the east city gate, the first building cluster on the right side was the Xingqing Palace.
Xingqing Palace was Tang Xuanzong’s residence when he was the King Fan. After he ascended, it was expanded to become one of the three palaces of the city. The other two were the Taiji Palace and the Taiming Palace.
During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, the Xingqing Palace was the administrative center of the Tang Dynasty and was where Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei lived. After the An Lushan rebellion, Xingqing Palace lost its position as the administrative center and became where the empress occasionally lived.
In the Xingqing hall, Ouyang Shuo met Tang Xuanzong and the minister Yang Guozong.
As the longest serving emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji was 72 years old. His hair was white, and his skin was loose. His body far was from before, and he was not as majestic as when he was young.
Time was a grinding stone, soundless and invisible.
Li Longji was able to restructure his empire when he was young, expanding quickly and spreading his fame, fulfilling his ambitions in several decades.
As an emperor who stood at the top, Li Longji was able to run the difficult country well in the 20 years since he ascended, bringing peace to everyone. Administrative matters were efficient, and many countries came over to visit. What ruler in three generations could do that?
Despite the talents of Qin Shihuang, and the intelligence of Hanwu Emperor, neither was able to create such a prosperous scene. Hence, at the peak of his life, when he looked at the list of over 70 countries who came over from afar to visit, Li Longji felt really satisfied.
At the same time, he also felt really tired.
Normally speaking, it was rare for one to live till 70 during this time. It was all the more rare for an emperor to live till 70. After all, working so hard in the day, beauties using up your strength at night, it was a miracle if one did not die after a few decades.
Li Longji had created a miracle. Although he was busy before 50 years old, he took time to have 30 sons and 29 girls.
An Lushan’s rebellion made Li Longji really sad and tired.
Li Longji loved and treated An Lushan really well. He gave him the officials he wanted, money, troops, and fame.
Let us raise a few examples.
When An Lushan moved over to Chang An, Li Longji had previously invited a few ministers to play football together. However, to make An Lushan happy, he specially ordered to postpone the football game and ordered the ministers to attend An Lushan’s feast.
During the time that An Lushan was in Chang An, every time Li Longji ate a delicious food or hunted a rare delicacy, he would send someone to send it to An Lushan.
To put it simply, Li Longji was not as caring to his own son.
Surprisingly, due to him recognizing Yang Guifei as his god mother, An Lushan could enter the palace as he wished to talk to Yan Guifei and have meals with her.
The outside world spread the news that there was something going on between them but the god father did not care. Facing such treatment and kindness, even a beast would have some feelings, right?
However, An Lushan still revolted.
Losing Tong Pass had crushed Li Longji’s psychological defenses. He now wished to flee from Chang An to Shu Lands to avoid all of this and live in the accompaniment of beauties as he lived out the rest of his life.
Yang Guozhong was only 40 odd years old, and at this time he was still really energetic. His sister Yang Yuhuan had looks that could take down cities while his looks were not that far off. However, his face was filled with anxiousness and fear.
Based on history, this minister who stepped on Li Linfu to climb up would quickly reach the end of his life.
Objectively, no matter how scheming Li Linfu was and how much he abused his power, he should not be able to damage the country. However, due to his tricks, be it the officials or the generals, he was able to cover them and make them yield.
This was similar to Yan Song, who joined Great Xia not long ago.
An Lushan was loved by the emperor and did not even place the other officials and generals in his eyes. He was only respectful toward Li Linfu, and he was both respectful and afraid of him.
Meeting him, even in the cold seasons, An Lushan would break out in cold sweat that would soak his attire.
An Lushan had planted spies in the city. Each time he returned to Fanyang, he would care about the instructions of Li Linfu the most. If the spies brought back good words, he would be delighted. If Li Linfu showed signs of unhappiness, An Lushan would panic, “Oh no! I’m going die!”
If Li Linfu did not die, An Lushan definitely would not have the courage to rebel.
Furthermore, as a minister who focused on the system and on his job, although Li Linfu abused his power, he still did what he was supposed to do. He pushed out several beneficial policies and was not totally useless.
However, his replacement Yang Guozhong was not only a lot weaker in terms skill, but apart from focusing all his energy on sucking up to the emperor, deceiving him from matters on the ground, abusing his power, and the like, he basically did not do any work.
Although they were ministers with much power, in the history books, Li Linfu was listed as a despicable minister, while Yang Guozhong could only be remembered as a relative of the emperor.
Not mentioning things that were too far away, for the An Lushan Rebellion to reach this stage was due to Li Longji misreading the situation. Yang Guozhong could not push the blame for that.
It was not without reason that he was killed by furious soldiers during the mutiny of Maweiyi.
Now, Ouyang Shuo was facing such an old emperor and such a useless minister. To be able to meet Li Longji was also due to the 150 thousand troops he had outside.
The first words that Li Longji said were nearly enough to infuriate Ouyang Shuo, “What great timing. I have decided to leave for the Shu Lands. Lead your men and follow me.”
“….”
Ouyang Shuo was speechless.
“Your majesty, the 150 thousand troops that I brought are all elites and can fight.” Ouyang Shuo naturally did not want to just retreat out of Chang An because that was the same as surrendering.
“Preposterous!”
Within the hall, a huge shout broke out as Yang Guozhong pointed at Ouyang Shuo, “His majesty’s safety is of utmost importance. Are you planning to go against orders?”
Ouyang Shuo frowned, sweeping his gaze across Yang Guozhong.
As the king of Great Xia, it would be difficult for a historical person like Yang Guozhong to even meet Ouyang Shuo usually, much less act so arrogantly. Even in the Battle Map, Ouyang Shuo would not let that happen.
“You….”
Being looked at by Ouyang Shuo like that, although he did not want to admit it, he felt afraid. That invisible aura was something he did not feel before even in front of the emperor.
‘Cough cough!’ Li Longji saw that his loyal minister was in a tough spot, so he said, “There’s no need to argue. We will not be able to defend Chang An. It’s best to retreat into the Shu Lands first.”
If it were 10 or 20 years ago, with the 150 thousand player forces, maybe Li Longji would have the courage to fight against the rebels.
However, time waited for no one, and the current him only wanted to leave this place.
Seeing that, Ouyang Shuo knew that Li Longji had already made his decision, and there was no meaning in going on. “Since that’s the case, I can only follow the orders. However, I have a small request, please fulfil it.”
“Speak!”
Receiving Ouyang Shuo’s promise, Li Longji was really happy. With the 150 thousand player troops following along, he did not need to worry about anything. Even if Ouyang Shuo wanted his concubines, apart from Yang Guifei, Li Longji would agree.
Ouyang Shuo said, “To prevent the people from being unsettled and causing chaos in the city, allow me to lead some troops to defend the city and ensure your safety.”
During the Battle of Tong Pass, the troops that Ge Shuhan had in Chang An and Longshi, as well as those recruited from Chang An and Luoyang were basically all used up.
The 200 thousand troops that the dynasty had gathered were lost.
Now, there were only three thousand guards in charge of defending the palace. As such, it was no wonder that Li Longji was hellbent on fleeing. If not, he would be captured alive by An Lushan.
Hearing that Ouyang Shuo wanted to lead troops to aid in the defense, Li Longji did not even think about it and agreed.
Seeing Ouyang Shuo so caring, Li Longji naturally repaid the favor, giving him a title and handing him a talisman. With it, he could bring troops in, and no one would stop him.
When Yang Guozhong saw that, he originally wanted to play some tricks. However, after being shocked by Ouyang Shuo previously, he still had not regained his senses. He could only watch on as this player became the focus of attention.
Naturally, he felt threatened, and his eyes were filled with jealousy.
As for Ouyang Shuo? He did not even take a look at Yang Guozhong. He simply accepted the talisman and took his leave.
“Your highness, aren’t you treating that player too well?” When Ouyang Shuo left, Yang Guozhong tried to sow discord.
“No worries, as long as we retreat into the Shu Lands, it will be easy to deal with that player.”
“Your majesty is wise!”
…
Walking out of Xingqing Palace, Ouyang Shuo did not go back to his camp. Instead, he turned and headed to the prince’s manor.
