An Lushan returned to the Ziben Square, trembling with fear. At this time, the one thousand guards under his command had already been transferred out of the city, leaving behind less than twenty personal guards. In addition, in order to ensure his safety, and at the same time, to better monitor him, the imperial court had placed two hundred imperial guards in his residence.
Seeing that his guards had been transferred out of his residence, An Lushan's heart was very heavy. He was now under surveillance, and he still didn't know what would happen next.
After he returned to his residence, the first thing he did was to look for Yan Zhuang. He wanted to ask Yan Zhuang what was going on. If Yan Zhuang couldn't give him a reasonable explanation, he would not hesitate to kill Yan Zhuang and push all the bigger crimes onto Yan Zhuang. He would only bear the blame for not using people properly.
However, An Lushan didn't find Yan Zhuang. Ever since he returned, he heard from his personal guards that Yan Zhuang had already left when he entered the palace. As for where he went, no one knew.
Because he was a suspect, An Lushan could only obediently stay in his residence in the Ziben Square and pretend to be sad, accompanying his dead son. As for Yan Zhuang, he could only continue to pursue the matter after he passed this hurdle in front of him.
Yan Zhuang had indeed slipped away long ago. Actually, it couldn't be said that he had slipped away. It should be said that he had gone to find a backer for himself.
In the capital, Li Linfu, Gao Lishi, and Ang Lee were the most favored. He first went to look for Li Linfu. In the end, when Li Linfu heard that he was An Lushan's trusted subordinate and that An Lushan couldn't even protect himself, he naturally wouldn't get involved in this muddy water. Thus, he closed the door and refused to see him. Gao Lishi was accompanying the Emperor in the palace, so naturally, he couldn't see him just because he wanted to.
Without any other choice, Yan Zhuang could only come to look for Ang Lee and express that he could work for Ang Lee.
Ang Lee didn't reject Yan Zhuang. However, the matters in the north were mainly caused by An Lushan and Yan Zhuang. Ang Lee didn't like this person. Furthermore, according to his speculation, Yan Zhuang would very likely be executed by the Emperor. Even if he stepped forward to protect him, it might not be of any use. He understood the Emperor too well. Even if he knew that An Lushan was the mastermind, he would still use Yan Zhuang as a scapegoat in order to stabilize the hearts of Fanyang and Pinglu.
However, Ang Lee couldn't tell Yan Zhuang the Emperor's intentions. He could only act as a kind person and persuade Yan Zhuang to meet the Emperor and push all the blame onto An Lushan. He also wanted to expose all the things that An Lushan had done in the north to deceive the Emperor. The more he said, the more the Emperor hated An Lushan. Thus, the more he believed what he said.
Yan Zhuang was persuaded by Ang Lee. Moreover, he had originally planned to do so. Hence, he immediately entered the palace to meet the Emperor. He was prepared to completely expose An Lushan's background and expose all the things that An Lushan had done.
When Yan Zhuang was heading to the palace, Li Longji was coincidentally looking for Yan Zhuang. After all, the assassin a few days ago had pointed out that the person was Yan Zhuang. He had to find Yan Zhuang and ask him clearly.
"Your humble subject Yan Zhuang greets Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor."
Yan Zhuang appeared very elegant. He didn't have the exaggerated expression that An Lushan had.
"Yan Zhuang, do you know your crime?"
Li Longji asked coldly.
"Your Majesty, I know my crime. Your Majesty, please punish me."
Yan Zhuang admitted his crime honestly.
Li Longji was slightly surprised. This guy's attitude of admitting his crime was very good. Li Longji liked him.
"Well, then tell me, what crime have you committed?"
Li Longji asked.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject has committed the crime of following orders under duress. For so many years, this humble subject has done whatever Marshal An Jie asked this humble subject to do. Even if he asked this humble subject to kill someone, this humble subject would still do so.
Yan Zhuang explained.
"Oh, you have committed the crime of following orders under duress. But An Lushan said that everything was your own idea and that he didn't know about it?"
Li Longji continued to ask.
Yan Zhuang sneered and said, "Your Majesty, I am just a lowly aide. If Marshal An Jie didn't give the order, I wouldn't dare to act recklessly. Whatever this humble subject does, it is Marshal An Jie's idea. "
"Well, I will believe you for the time being. Then tell me, what have you done for An Lushan all these years?"
Li Longji continued to ask.
Yan Zhuang didn't hide anything. Instead, he exaggerated and reported to Li Longji all the things An Lushan had done in the north over the years. He even blamed An Lushan for the death of Ang Lee's father, Li Wu, and the destruction of White Wolf Village on An Lushan. Many of them were done by An Lushan's subordinates. An Lushan was also responsible.
Listening to Yan Zhuang's report, Li Longji became more and more shocked. He never thought that An Lushan had done so many evil things in the north.
"Yan Zhuang, I will send people to investigate what you have said. However, even if you are cooperating, your crimes are not small."
"If Your Majesty can forgive me, I can atone for my crimes by testifying against An Lushan and helping Your Majesty get rid of this traitor."
Yan Zhuang hurriedly said.
Li Longji frowned and looked at Yan Zhuang in confusion. He asked, "Yan Zhuang, since you are working for An Lushan wholeheartedly, why did you suddenly make an enemy out of An Lushan? Also, along the way, you hid many things so that An Lushan could go to the capital without worry. What were you thinking?"
"Your Majesty, I have always obeyed An Lushan, but his demands became more and more excessive. This time, he even wanted to kill the princess. I tried my best to stop him, but he reprimanded me. Moreover, he asked me to find the princess at all costs and kill her. I couldn't bear to do that. After I found the princess, I didn't do anything. Instead, I watched as the princess was taken away by the armored artillery brigade."
Yan Zhuang casually made up a story.
"Since you deliberately let the two princesses go, why did you order people to kill the armored artillery brigade at the crossing of the Yellow River?"
Li Longji asked sternly.
"Your Majesty, I have been wronged. I have never given such an order. Those fellows acted on their own. After the incident, they were afraid that Your Majesty would punish them, so they pushed all the blame to me."
Yan Zhuang tried to explain himself.
Li Longji now had a headache. He couldn't figure out which of An Lushan's words were true and which were false. At the same time, he also couldn't figure out which of Yan Zhuang's words were true and which were false. In short, what the two said seemed to be true, but also seemed to be false.
After questioning for a while, Li Longji asked Yan Zhuang to leave. There were many things that he needed to digest slowly. In addition, there were more than 100,000 soldiers in Fanyang and Pinglu Towns. These soldiers had been under An Lushan's command for some years. Especially in Pinglu Town, there must be many loyal followers of An Lushan. Once An Lushan was punished, it was bound to involve a lot of people. Once it caused a riot, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After An Lushan entered the capital, the railway line from Chang 'an to Luoyang City was smooth again. News from the north came back one after another. Many of An Lushan's deceptive acts were dug out one by one. Many of them were consistent with what Yan Zhuang had said. That was to say, An Lushan was indeed a big bad guy who could cover the sky with one hand.
After confirming that An Lushan's character was not good and he was bold and reckless, Li Longji's trust in An Lushan weakened a lot. However, he didn't dare to punish An Lushan for the time being in order to avoid causing a riot in the north. After thinking it over and over again, for the stability and prosperity of the Tang dynasty, he decided to reduce An Lushan's crime. An Lushan's crime would be greatly reduced, which would appease the generals in the north. But at the same time, he didn't dare to let An Lushan go back, in case this guy continued to do whatever he wanted and his foundation became more and more stable. In this way, he would raise a tiger and invite calamity.
At the same time, Li Longji also realized that he was giving more and more power to the border generals. Since An Lushan could do whatever he wanted in the border towns, would the other border generals do the same? If tens of thousands of border generals did whatever they wanted and became more and more powerful, how could he, the emperor, control them in the future?
Thinking of the stories of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Li Longji felt that he shouldn't give so much power to the border generals. Otherwise, once the border generals rebelled, the consequences would be unimaginable.
He believed that other than An Lushan, there must be other generals who did things that they shouldn't have done. It was time to reorganize and weaken the border towns.
Of course, weakening the border towns didn't mean reducing the border towns' military strength. Instead, he wanted to control the border towns' Jiedushi's authority so that they could only manage the military and not the economy and public order. In this way, their independence would be greatly reduced. In addition, he also planned to set up the position of Observer in all the border towns, which would be under the charge of the eunuchs in the palace. Moreover, they would have to be transferred frequently to prevent these eunuchs from being too familiar with the border towns' generals and having an affair.
After so many years, the border towns' Jiedushi's authority had become greater and greater. The main reason was because the Tang dynasty's finances were somewhat difficult, and because the border towns were often in a tight situation, they needed to increase their military strength and pay, but the imperial court was unable to provide all of it. Thus, they took the method of directly delegating power to each town's Jiedushi, allowing the border towns to become more and more like an independent kingdom.
It was very necessary to completely reorganize the border towns, but before that, he had to deal with An Lushan's matter to prevent it from causing chaos before the reform.
After discussing with Li Linfu, Ang Lee, and the other officials, Li Longji made the final decision. Using the reason that An Lushan didn't know how to use people and dereliction of duty, Li Longji stripped him of the position of Prime Minister and removed him from the positions of Jiedushi of Fanyang and Pinglu. He only kept the empty position of Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites and let him retire in the capital.
As for Yan Zhuang, who was responsible for all the crimes, he was executed by Li Longji to give an explanation to the people of the world and the court. As for Fanyang and Pinglu, An Lushan's subordinate, Shi Siming, was first appointed as Pinglu Jiedushi. As for Fanyang Jiedushi, which had more military strength, he sent Pei Kuan, who had a good reputation, to take over.
In this way, Shi Siming would be very happy to be promoted and naturally wouldn't care about whether An Lushan was doing well or not. As for Pei Kuan being transferred back to Fanyang as Jiedushi, many people were happy.
First of all, the people of Hebei Province would be very happy. When Pei Kuan was transferred, they were sad for a long time. After An Lushan came, they missed Pei Kuan even more and hoped that Pei Kuan, who loved the people as if they were his own children, could come back to take up his post.
In addition, Li Linfu had always been jealous of Pei Kuan's talent and wanted to frame him. At this juncture, it was good to send him away and let him take up a post in Fanyang. This way, he wouldn't pose any threat to him.
After the decree was issued, An Lushan knelt down to express his gratitude. Shi Siming happily went to take up a post in Pinglu and promoted a group of subordinates. Pei Kuan calmly took up the heavy responsibility and set off from the capital to take up a post in Fanyang. Yan Zhuang had no choice but to accept the final outcome. He had schemed for so many years, but in the end, he lost his life. He was unwilling and helpless.
As for the two Tibetans who had been defeated and fled to Mobei, Li Longji sent envoys to comfort them and express the Emperor's apology. He asked them to return to their territories and obediently be the subjects of the Tang dynasty.
Everything went very smoothly. There were no disturbances or twists and turns, which made Li Longji very satisfied. This hurdle was finally over. Next, it was to reduce the power of all the border towns and supervise them. This step was also very important. He had to be very careful and there must not be any disturbances.
For the two princesses to be able to successfully return to the capital, Ang Lee's contributions could not go unnoticed. Li Longji even suspected that Ang Lee had already known everything. Otherwise, many things would be difficult to explain.
However, these were no longer important. Right now, the most important thing was to reduce the power of the Jiedushi in the border towns as soon as possible.
Li Longji felt that Ang Lee's brain was not bad and was a very powerful talent. Thus, he immediately summoned Ang Lee. He wanted to hear Ang Lee's opinion on this matter. After all, Ang Lee had too many mysterious things on him. As long as he asked Ang Lee, he would definitely not be wrong.
After Ang Lee entered the palace, he heard that Li Longji had the intention of reducing the power of the Jiedushi in the border towns. He repeatedly praised the Emperor's wisdom and spoke of the benefits of reducing the power of the Jiedushi in the border towns. In other words, he fully supported Li Longji's wise decision.
In terms of the specific details of the operation, Ang Lee also gave very constructive suggestions. He let Li Longji do it one by one. Starting from the furthest Anxi and Beiting, he sent the most trusted eunuchs to supervise. Then, it was Hexi, Longyou, Shuofang, Hedong, and finally Fanyang and Pinglu.
After sending the eunuchs to supervise, if the Jiedushi in the border towns did not have any reaction, the next step would be to remove the economic and political power of the Jiedushi in the border towns. They would only be in charge of the military. As for all the needs of the military, the imperial court would be responsible for providing them. In any case, after Ang Lee's series of industrialization and commercialization, the imperial court of the Tang dynasty did not lack money, food, nor weapons and ammunition. They were completely capable of providing all the resources needed by the army. They already had the conditions to take back the extra power of the Jiedushi.
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