At the beginning of the New Year, Feng Ang was fighting with Tan Dian and hadn't entered the court for a long time. The various prefectures reported Feng Ang's rebellion more than ten times. Li Er planned to send the General of the Right Guards, Lin Mu, and the others to the Jiang and Ling provinces to suppress him.
Wei Zheng advised, "The Central Plains has just been pacified. Lingnan is far away and the terrain is dangerous. There is miasma and plagues, so we can't station a large army there. Also, Feng Ang's rebellion hasn't formed yet, so it's not good to mobilize a large army. "
Li Er said, "There is an endless stream of people reporting Feng Ang's rebellion. How can you say that the rebellion hasn't formed yet?"
Wei Zheng replied, "If Feng Ang rebelled, he would've split up his troops to occupy the strategic areas and attack the neighboring provinces. It's been a few years since he's been reported, but the Feng troops haven't left the country yet. There are no signs of rebellion. The various prefectures already suspect that the Feng family is rebelling, but His Majesty hasn't sent an envoy to appease them. The Feng family is afraid of death, so they don't dare to come to the court. If His Majesty sends an envoy to show his sincerity, the Feng family will be happy to avoid trouble. This way, they won't have to use the army to make him obedient. "
Thus, Li Er ordered the troops to withdraw. At the same time, he sent Wei Shuxun and Li Gongyan to Lingnan to express their condolences to Feng Ang.
At the end of the tenth month, as Wei Zheng expected, Feng Ang sent his second son to the capital to show his loyalty. In essence, he used his second son as a hostage to express his intention to surrender.
… … …
After asking about the cause and effect of the incident, Li Zexuan mounted his horse and slowly moved forward. He fell into deep thought.
Li Zexuan, who had read a few transmigrating Tang novels in his previous life, knew a little about Feng Ang. This person was the undisputed king of Lingnan!
The so-called Lingnan referred to the five ridges (Yuecheng Ridge, Dupang Ridge, Mengzhu Ridge, Qitian Ridge, and Dayu Ridge) in southern China. It included all of modern Guangdong, most of Guangxi, southeastern Yunnan, and northern Vietnam.
Feng Ang's father used to be the governor of Gaozhou. At first, he used his ancestors' merits to become the county magistrate of Song Kang. In the second year of Renshou's second year, Chao, Cheng, and the other provinces rebelled. At that time, Feng Ang personally went to the capital to ask for an imperial decree.
Emperor Wen summoned his left servant Yang Su to discuss the enemy's situation with him. Feng Ang's analysis was clear and logical. Yang Su was very surprised. Thus, he ordered Feng Yi to lead the Jiangling troops on a crusade. After the rebellion was quelled, he was given the title of Golden Purple Guanglu Daifu and Hanyang Prefect.
In the seventh year of Daye, Feng Ang followed Emperor Yang to Liaodong and was later promoted to General of the Left Wuwei.
In the second year of Yi Ning, the Sui Dynasty was destroyed. Feng Ang and his second son, Feng Zhidai, fled back to Lingnan. They gathered the chiefs of the various tribes and had fifty thousand soldiers to guard the land and prevent chaos. Not long after, Feng Ang used Cangwu, Gaoliang, Zhuya, and Panyu regions to rely on Lin Shihong, who had set up a separatist regime in Lingnan.
In the third year of Tang Wude's reign, Gao Facheng and Xian Baoche of Panyu and Xinzhou rose up and killed the officials of the imperial court. Feng Ang led his troops to quell the rebellion of Gao and Xian. Later on, Xian Baoche's nephew, Xian Zhichen, gathered his troops at Xinzhou and refused to fight. Feng Ang led his troops on an expedition. During the battle, Feng Ang took off his armor and shouted, "Do you know me?"
When Xian Zhichen's soldiers saw that it was the famous Feng Ang, they immediately put down their weapons and knelt down to surrender. Xian Baoche, Xian Zhichen, and the others were all captured by Feng Ang.
From then on, from Panyu to Cangwu (Guangxi Wuzhou), to Zhuya (Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island), they all submitted to Feng Ang. Feng Ang proclaimed himself to be the Chief Steward. He ruled over twenty prefectures and thousands of li of land. His territory was even larger than Zhao Tuo's (Martial Emperor of South Yue, Qin Dynasty's Southern Sea Dragon Chuan Commander, founder of South Yue Kingdom, and former Qin Dynasty General). He was the undisputed king of Lingnan!
"Not simple! This matter shouldn't be as simple as it seems on the surface! "
Li Zexuan sat on his horse and muttered softly.
Heroes were born in troubled times. For Feng Ang to be able to rule Lingnan and govern it well, he was definitely not an easy person. It was not an exaggeration to call him a hero of a generation!
Li Zexuan believed that such a person would not be as cowardly as Wei Zheng said to Li Zexuan. Li Zexuan did not believe that Madam Feng was afraid of death and did not dare to come to the imperial court.
This time, when Feng Ang sent Feng Zhidai to the capital, in the eyes of others, it might be Feng Ang showing his loyalty to Li Er by sending his son over as a hostage. However, in Li Zexuan's eyes, this move might not be without the intention of spying on the imperial court.
Li Zexuan had always disdained those who sent their sons to the capital as hostages to show their loyalty. A few hundred years later, Zhu Di sent his sons to Jinling as hostages to the Jianwen Emperor. Was that enough to show his loyalty? In the end, he still usurped the throne!
If someone really wanted to rebel, they would not stop just because their sons were in someone else's hands. Moreover, Li Zexuan had heard that Feng Ang had more than thirty sons! If he really wanted to rebel against the imperial court, would he give up his throne for a son? Obviously not!
Li Zexuan was not measuring the stature of a gentleman with his own yardstick. It was just that in this feudal era, he felt that there were very few people in the world who had no ambition like him. There were even fewer people who had great power but no ambition!
Lingnan was a dangerous place, and the emperor was far away. Li Zexuan did not believe that Feng Ang did not have the slightest bit of ambition in his heart.
…
"Your Majesty, Feng Ang has sent his second son to Chang 'an. He is now outside the palace and asking for an audience!"
In Ganlu Palace, Li Er had just finished his afternoon nap. Zhao Song hurried in and bowed before he could even warm his seat on the dragon bed.
Li Er was shocked. He narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself, "They're finally here!"
Feng Zhichen and his men had to pass through more than ten prefectures from Lingnan to Chang 'an. As the supreme ruler of the world, there was no way that Li Er did not receive the news in advance.
"Summon ~!"
After a few breaths, Li Er came back to his senses and ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After a while, a bronze-skinned, tall, and strong young man walked in. Although he was tall and strong, his clothes and hair accessories made him look like a Han Chinese scholar. Apart from being bold and strong, there was also a hint of elegance!
"Your subject, Feng Zhichen, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
The young man walked up to Li Er, bowed deeply, and said respectfully.
Li Er looked at Feng Zhichen for a while before smiling. "At ease! Tianci must be tired from the journey. Why don't you rest at the inn for a few days before coming to see me? "
(Feng Zhichen, courtesy name Tianxi, courtesy name Fuyuan)
Feng Zhichen immediately bowed and said very sincerely, "Your Majesty, my father is being attacked by scoundrels. As a son, there is no time that I do not want to help my father clear his name as soon as possible so that Your Majesty will not be suspicious. Therefore, I rushed all the way here to ask for forgiveness on behalf of my father. How would I dare to rest at the inn? Here is a letter written by my father. It explains the situation in Lingnan in detail. I hope Your Majesty can read it! "
At this point, Feng Zhichen took out a painted letter from his sleeve and raised it above his head with both hands in a very respectful manner.
…
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