Li Zhaode stroked his long beard and said, "Once the situation in the southwest falls into chaos, it will become a huge threat to the empire. Now that the imperial court is sending troops to the Western Regions, we cannot push them too far. Otherwise, if the barbarians defect to Tubo or Nanzhao, the situation will become even more out of control. The southwest has always been a complicated place with many different races living together. Restraining them is the most suitable policy there. Thus, it is better to pacify them than to suppress them.
According to Yang Fan's words, the barbarians rebelled because they were threatened and extorted. Thus, it is better to pacify them. I believe that as long as the culprit is punished, the resentment of the barbarians will be resolved. Your Majesty should issue a decree to punish Huang Jingrong and order the officials of Jiannan to pacify the situation. "
Wu Zetian glanced at Li Zhaode and asked, "Chancellor Li is also stationed in the capital like me. How do you know that the situation in Jiannan is as Yang Fan said? If my judgment is wrong and the barbarians are really plotting a rebellion, they might have already colluded with Tubo and Nanzhao. If the imperial court's troops are delayed, Wang Xiaojie's return route to the east will be cut off! "
Li Zhaode said calmly, "The two of them have their reasons. It is difficult for me to distinguish right from wrong based on their memorials. However, if I look at the memorials from the officials of Jiannan, I believe that the truth will be clear. "
Wu Zetian was getting on in years and her energy was waning. She no longer cared about the affairs of the empire. Ever since she had two handsome men, Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi, she indulged herself in pleasures and became even less concerned about the affairs of the empire. When Li Zhaode mentioned the memorials from the officials of Jiannan, Wu Zetian had no recollection of it at all. She couldn't help but look at Shanghai Wan'er.
Shanghai Wan'er said, "The memorials that Chancellor Li mentioned were sent to the capital a few days ago. The Sage has already reviewed them. Wan'er, take a look."
Shangguan Wan 'er searched for a while and found a few memorials to the throne. She handed them to Wu Zetian. The one at the top was from Zhang Jianzhi, the Provincial Governor of Feng Province.
In the memorial, Zhang Jianzhi accused Huang Jingrong of extorting the local authorities, accepting bribes and slaughtering the innocent. In order to obtain benefits, he accused the barbarian leaders of treason and threatened them in the name of the imperial court, forcing them to contribute their wealth.
The memorials also mentioned that Huang Jingrong had detained the leaders of the barbarians, and would only release them after receiving contributions. It also mentioned that the leaders of two small tribes had not made any contributions, and had been accused of being accomplices in the rebellion, and had been executed.
In the end, Zhang Jianzhi said in his memorial that the southwest barbarians were valiant and the common people worshiped martial arts. Huang Jingrong's actions had caused the tribes to be filled with resentment. If he did not issue an imperial edict to reprimand her and order her to repent, he feared that there would be unforeseen consequences.
Seeing this, Wu Zetian suddenly had an impression. She had indeed seen such a memorial a few days ago, but she had not paid much attention to it at that time. Instead, she felt that Zhang Jianzhi's words were overboard.
She was the one who promoted Zhang Jianzhi to the capital and made him the Renhuang of the Phoenix Pavilion. She didn't expect him to refuse her edicts. In a rage, Wu Zetian drove him out of the capital. Since then, she didn't have a good impression of him.
In addition, the censor was responsible for supervising the officials. He stood on the opposite side of the officials and wasn't well liked. She didn't care about the censor's impeachment. The censor didn't care about the military and didn't govern the government. In her opinion, it wouldn't cause any harm. If the officials were to speak up for the censor, it would be really dangerous.
Especially since Zhang Jianzhi was a local official and Huang Jingrong was the censor from the capital. Their positions were very different. As an official, Zhang Jianzhi was concerned about the stability of the area under his jurisdiction and the interests of the local authorities. On the other hand, when the imperial court's officials left the capital, they were naturally in conflict with the local officials.
With this in mind, Wu Zetian did not take Zhang Jianzhi's words to heart. She only thought that he was bluffing to chase Huang Jingrong away. He did not want Huang Jingrong to cause trouble in his territory for him to clean up after. Now that she looked at Zhang Jianzhi's memorial, Wu Zetian had a different opinion.
Wu Zetian then looked at the other memorials. They were all memorials by Zhang Jianzhi to impeach Huang Jingrong. Although the words were much milder than Zhang Jianzhi's, the meaning was more or less the same.
Moreover, Huang Jingrong was indeed a tyrant in Jiannan, and there were plenty of evidence that could be used against him. Most of these memorials were filled with examples, and the more Wu Zetian read, the angrier she became. She could not help but ask, "Who is the current Jiannan Observer?"
Li Zhaode bowed and answered: "He is the Supervising Censor, Pei Huaigu!"
In the early days of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court would send out emissaries from time to time to supervise the various provinces and prefectures and counties. Their names were not fixed, such as the Interviewing Envoy, Observing Envoy, Supervising Envoy, Inspecting Envoy, Inspecting Envoy, or Jiedushi Observing and Disposing Envoy. Now that Pei Huaigu is the Observer of Jiannan, he is equivalent to the highest ranking official in the province.
Wu Zetian said: "Send an imperial edict to Pei Huaigu on a fast horse, ordering him to head to Yao Province to appease the barbarians. On the day the edict arrives, Huang Jingrong is to be stripped of his position as the Imperial Envoy! "
Li Zhaode stood up and said: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
The reason why Wu Zetian did not give this task to Yang Fan was because she had her own considerations.
Firstly, Pei Huaigu is the highest ranking official in Jiannan. The rebellion in Jiannan is part of his responsibility and it is only natural for him to be in charge of it. Bypassing him and sending an official from the capital would require constant communication with the capital and the local officials. Moreover, the official from the capital is not familiar with the local situation and it is hard to avoid trouble.
On the other hand, Yang Fan is the Patrol Envoy of Zhu Daoliu and he is not only in charge of Jiannan. How long would it take for the rebellion of Jiannan Path to be pacified through negotiations? What were the follow-up developments and the series of aftermath after the rebellion was pacified? All of these would require a lot of time. It was impossible for Yang Fan to stay in Yao Province to deal with this matter.
This was especially so after what had happened. Wu Zetian hoped that through his supervision, she could understand the situation of the other Imperial Censors.
Furthermore, Yang Fan and Huang Jingrong are on opposing sides. While Wu Zetian is 80% convinced of Yang Fan's words, Huang Jingrong's words are not without reason. The censor reported that Zhu Daoliu showed signs of rebellion and the imperial court sent people to investigate. Indeed, there was a rebellion there. Did this imperial envoy force the barbarians to rebel or did the barbarians have the intention to rebel?
Wu Zetian had some misgivings about this. If she let Huang Jingrong's arch-enemy investigate him, she would not be able to find out anything even if there were any questions. With these considerations, Wu Zetian decided to send another high-ranking official to quell the rebellion in Yaozhou. This was to ensure that she could find out the truth behind the Barbarians' rebellion.
Receiving the imperial edict, Li Zhaode cupped his hands and left. Wu Zetian picked up Zhang Jianzhi's memorial and read it again. She said thoughtfully: "This man is capable. If he is loyal to me, he will be a useful person!"
Wan-er said: "Zhang Jianzhi is over seventy years old and has passed the age of ruling the country. He is mature and experienced in handling matters. During Huang Jingrong's trip to the southwest, he was able to foresee that something bad would happen. As expected, he is an experienced and sincere person who plots for the country. If the Sage wants to use him, just use him. Currently, only Minister Li is the Sage's right-hand man in the court.
Wu Zetian was moved. She thought for a moment and said: "Put him aside for now. When the matter in Jiannan is over, we will change him to another place and observe him!"
Wan-er bowed and said: "Yes, Wan-er will remember it!"
…
"Brother Yang is back!"
A few White Man girls who were cooking in the camp shouted when they saw several horses galloping over. One of them was Yang Fan. Xun Er, who was squatting and adding firewood to the stove, stood up and looked at the horses.
Yang Fan galloped over on his horse. His head was wrapped in a white bun, and he was wearing a white button-down shirt. He was wearing a pair of wide blue trousers with a belt that dragged his beard. He was dressed like a white barbarian man. This White Man attire not only made him handsome, confident and in high spirits, but also gave Xun Er a sense of familiarity.
As he came closer, Xun Er could clearly see the scabbard that her father gave him on his waist, as well as a small pouch embroidered with a picture of bees picking flowers on the other side of his waist. The small pouch bounced up and down on Yang Fan's body as he galloped on the horse.
A sweet smile immediately appeared on Xun Er's face. Her dimples seemed to be filled with wine. That small pouch was sewn by her carefully. Originally, she was worried that Yang Fan would not accept it. Now that she saw that he really hung the pouch on his waist, her heart was naturally happy.
Yang Fan, Gao Qingshan, and the others stopped their horses. Xun Er immediately went forward and held the reins of Yang Fan's horse. There were several knights beside her, but her eyes were only looking at Yang Fan. She asked with concern, "Brother Yang, how is the matter? Did they agree?"
Yang Fan tilted his leg and jumped down from his horse. He smiled and said: "Do you think they like to fight? I have an imperial edict on me, they can't not believe it. After I explained the reason to them, they set up camp on the spot. They promised me that as long as you don't attack, they won't move a single soldier and will quietly wait for orders. Don't worry, Huang Jingrong's external help has been cut off. She is now a turtle in a jar! "
Yang Fan smiled and patted the neck of his horse. He then asked Xun Er: "Where are the two chieftains?"
Hearing him mention Meng Zhe Zhu, the sweet smile on Xun Er's face disappeared. She replied in a low voice: "The mountain has sent people to surrender. They are currently receiving the envoy sent by Wenhao."
"Oh?" Yang Fan's expression changed. He said: "I'll go take a look!"
Yang Fan quickly rushed to Xun Qi's tent. Xun Er looked at his back and wanted to say something but stopped. She hesitated and did not follow him in the end.
Before Xun Er went to the White River Stronghold, she knew that her father had betrothed her to Meng Zhe Zhu. At that time, she did not feel anything special. When a girl grew up, she would eventually have to marry someone. With her background and bloodline, the only path in the future was to marry to Nanzhao or Tubo to become a princess, or to become the wife of some influential person. Otherwise, she would become the wife of some chieftain or headman.
Meng Zhe Zhu was actually a very good choice. His identity and status were very high. Wu Man was not like the royal families of Nanzhao and Tubo who had so many rules to restrict her. Moreover, Meng Zhe Zhu was not very old. If he married another influential person, it was very likely that the other party would already be in their fifties or sixties.
Most importantly, Meng Zhe Zhu was famous in all the large tribes in Yao Prefecture. He was a famous hero. Which girl did not love a hero? Xun Er had also heard of his name. Therefore, Xun Er did not have any objections to her father's decision. She was not particularly happy, but she was also not sad.
But who would have thought that she would meet Yang Fan in the White River Stronghold. In fact, she was very clear that she could not marry Yang Fan. She was a barbarian princess. It was impossible for her to become a concubine of a Han official. Her family would not agree, and Yang Fan had also never expressed his love for her.
However, love did not know where it came from. It just happened.
Xun Er deceived herself and enjoyed the feeling of secretly liking a man. She did not want to think about the result, nor did she want to think about separation. However, there were some things that she could not avoid. Looking at Yang Fan's back, her heart was empty, and she felt a sense of loss.
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