“… That’s it.” Li Qishen spent about a quarter of an hour sorting out and explaining to Xie Wangzhi everything that had happened since November.
The situation was really not good, it was no exaggeration to say it was a mess. Li Chengjing had been on the throne for sixteen years. In the first two years, when Queen Cui was still around, there was someone to control him, and he could barely rely on her to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, Queen Cui had the talent to govern the country, but she was born a woman, and she was also short-lived. She didn't even live to see her own son grow up. Later, without Queen Cui's control, Li Chengjing gradually tested the bottom line of the court officials and acted recklessly. Now, a severe drought in Jiangnan has completely destroyed the superficial peace of the empire, tearing off the fig leaf that was maintained with great effort, revealing piles of white bones underneath.
It was only a matter of time before the Jiedushi of various places rebelled. If it wasn't Kang Lie, it would be someone else. Even if Kang Lie could endure it, this empire had already reached the edge of collapse, like the wooden blocks used to coax children, piled up into a house or a tower, barely having a shape, but the inside was unstable. Li Qishen watched helplessly as the pile of wooden blocks collapsed, and he couldn't find a place to start if he wanted to help.
From Fanyang to Weizhou, Bianzhou, and then to Xingyang, the cities were broken one after another, the rebels trampled them with their horses' hooves, the men were sent to the army and the women were enslaved, it is no exaggeration to say that the people suffered. At this point, the best result is that at least Chang'an City can be defended, and if all efforts are made to suppress the rebellion, the people's livelihood will be in decline; the worst result is that the country will change hands, and the Li Dynasty will be destroyed in the hands of Li Chengjing. Li Qishen can't hope to get a good deal, after all, he is a direct descendant of the legitimate Li emperor, and he is likely to be beheaded and sacrificed.
However, a month ago, Li Chengjing allowed the military governors of various places to resist on their own, and he embraced Concubine Xiao and slept in a trance after taking elixirs. He could not hear the thousands of cries when the city was broken, nor could he see the piles of bones under the city walls.
But Li Qishen would not say these things to Xie Wangzhi, not because he thought she didn't understand or looked down on women, but because he thought it was unnecessary. It couldn't be changed anyway, so there was no need to make her worry. So he spoke very easily, picking up some trivial topics, and patted the cat hair on his knees after he finished speaking, "Do you understand what I said?"
"Yes." He deliberately made it simple, so Xie Wangzhi could understand and asked the most important question, "Then... can the rebellion be quelled?"
After Xingyang, we should go to Luoyang, and then Tongguan. Once Tongguan is breached, Chang'an City will be a lonely and exposed piece of meat, and it all depends on when Kang Lie, the tiger and wolf, wants to come and grab it. But Li Qishen licked the tip of his canine teeth and lied again: "Maybe. The Zhaoyi Jiedushi is brave and resourceful, and he is still young. Maybe he can intercept the rebels before they reach Luoyang City."
Xie Wangzhi had little experience in government affairs and did not know the governor of Zhaoyi. He looked at Li Qishen for a while and nodded: "Oh..."
"It's nothing, it's all fate." Li Qishen comforted her and changed the subject. A relaxed smile appeared on his face, as if he was really troubled by this matter. "It's really unlucky that this happened during the Chinese New Year. I was thinking of coming to your house to propose marriage at the end of the month."
It was just after the Lantern Festival, and there were only ten days left until the end of the month. The Xuanzheng Palace had been very busy these days, and Xie Wangzhi took advantage of her father and brother's lack of time to take care of her, and secretly ran to the Prince's Mansion to see Li Qishen. She originally wanted to ask about the situation, purely for the sake of her family, the country, and the world, but Li Qishen changed the subject and shrunk the discussion back to the two of them.
Xie Wangzhi had no time to defend himself, and pursed his lips: "Why... do you bring this up?"
"Why can't I mention it? I like you so much, you should like me a little bit too. Are we going to remain unclear and not even have a name?" Li Qishen was sincere, but in the precarious situation, these words were meaningless. He couldn't give anything, couldn't promise anything. He was clearly pouring out his heart, but he had to say it in a teasing tone.
He really smiled, and looked at Xie Wangzhi half-seriously, pretending to be worried, "But I have nothing. If I go to your house to propose marriage, I can only make you a princess. Will your father or brother order someone to drive me out with a broom?"
"... Who dares?!" Xie Wangzhi's first reaction was this, frowning, speaking in a hard tone, showing the dignity of a noble lady. But when she saw the man beside her smiling, she realized that she was being fooled. She was slightly annoyed and turned her head away, "... Don't say such things. Getting married is my business, not the business of the Xie family in Chang'an. I have never thought of using my family's power to oppress others, nor have I thought of clinging to anyone. If my father really wants someone to do it, then why not kick me out together."
Although she deliberately didn't look at Li Qishen, she spoke very seriously, staring at the dead branches swaying in the wind in the courtyard, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and her pupils filled with two crescents of skylight. When she talked about the latter part, she even pursed her lips and slowed down her speech. She really thought it through carefully, so as not to act on impulse and regret it in the future.
This serious look aroused the malice in Li Qishen's bones. He should have continued joking, or even asked Xie Wangzhi what he would do if he was really kicked out together. Anyway, she could always give him the answer he liked to hear, and it was from the heart.
But he suddenly felt that it was meaningless, so he just reached out his hand and gently touched the top of Xie Wangzhi's head, saying in a relaxed tone: "Okay. Then you can only be with me, and you must be buried with me until you die."
Xie Wangzhi's eyelashes trembled and he uttered "hmm" softly.
"But I can't give you anything now, and I don't know what the future holds, so I haven't gone yet." Li Qishen sighed and withdrew his hand, "Let's wait a little longer."
He himself didn't know how long this "wait" would last, maybe he would even lose his life in the end, but Xie Wangzhi didn't know that, he just thought it was a promise. She calmed down a little, turned her head, raised her hand under Li Qishen's gaze, slowly pushed her sleeve up an inch, revealing her slender wrist, with a gold bracelet on it, and Tuyuhun birds flying around her wrist.
"You didn't give me nothing." Xie Wangzhi paused and said seriously, "This is a betrothal gift. You said it yourself, so it must be counted."
Li Qishen was slightly startled, then he smiled, his clear and light amber eyes immersed in the sunlight, like a pool of hot molten gold. He suddenly approached Xie Wangzhi and pressed her side with one hand. The two of them were originally sitting side by side on the couch outside the house, but in this way, Xie Wangzhi was half framed in his arms. At first glance, it seemed that they were rubbing their ears.
The scent of smoke on the collar blew towards him, and Xie Wangzhi's heart trembled: "You..."
"Of course it counts." Facing the girl's surprised and embarrassed gaze, Li Qishen slowly lowered his head and kissed the gold bracelet on her wrist, and then separated. He raised his eyes and stared at Xie Wangzhi, "You are wearing the betrothal gift with you. It seems that Madam Xie really wants to marry me."
It was clearly a kiss on the bracelet, and Li Qishen had even carefully controlled the degree of his head lowering, so that the hair left by the ear did not even touch Xie Wangzhi, but she inexplicably felt hot, as if the kiss had landed firmly on her face. She swallowed, suddenly leaned back, distanced herself, and stretched out a hand to push Li Qishen away.
Not to mention that she didn't have much strength, even if she did, it wouldn't matter if she hit him. Li Qishen thought it was fun, so he let Xie Wangzhi flutter around him and grabbed her arm.
One blocked, the other grabbed. After a while of playing, Xie Wangzhi was tired and put her hands back on her knees. She calmed her breathing for a while and suddenly called the man beside her softly: "Changsheng."
"Hmm?" It had been a long time since she called him like that. Li Qishen missed it quite a bit and responded with a smile.
"I'm asking you, don't hide it from me." Xie Wangzhi turned his head and looked at him, "Can the rebellion really be quelled?"
"… Why are you asking again?" Li Qishen paused, then said with a smile, "I remember you were only eighteen years old, and your birthday was young. How come your memory is so bad?"
Xie Wangzhi looked at him deeply and took a breath: "Changsheng, you don't believe in fate."
Li Qishen really didn't believe it. If he believed it, he should have jumped off the wall and followed Murong Feique when he died. At the very least, he should have lived under the command of his father and brother in fear and trembling. But he didn't believe it. He only believed in himself, so he could ridicule his father in court and dare to ride a horse and shoot a bow deep into the wolf pack.
But when talking about rebellion, he actually used the word "fate", a word he himself did not even believe in.
Li Qishen never expected that he would be exposed here. He stared at Xie Wangzhi for a while and smiled bitterly. He raised his hand and tapped the girl's smooth forehead, and a sound came out: "Yes, I don't believe it. But the truth is always hard to hear. Do you want to hear it?"
Xie Wangzhi's forehead was slightly hurt by the blow of the head, and she couldn't help but raise her hand to cover it. This not only made her look funny, but also made her look a few years younger. But when she nodded, her eyes were serious: "Of course."
"Okay." Li Qishen smiled, "Then let's start from the beginning."
Xie Wangzhi responded.
"Actually, this day will come sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to come so soon, and I didn't expect my father to be able to pretend not to know. From the beginning, the local military governors should not be allowed to recruit soldiers on their own, nor should they be given so much military power. It is not surprising that the land is divided and the soldiers are self-reliant." Li Qishen considered what to say, "My father is really not very good at politics, but he thinks he is very good. He probably learned about "checks and balances" from the Grand Tutor when he was young, so he really wanted to play this trick. He gave the military power to the military governors, hoping that the military governors would check and balance each other, and he also wanted to let the noble families in the court and the military governors outside the court fight each other, and he had to give power to the eunuchs. As for Kang Lie, he is just a dog he picked, so he gave him so much power."
"It's a good idea, but he doesn't have the ability to do it. It's a mess now. The noble families, eunuchs, and military governors are fighting each other, and no one cares about him as the emperor. Kang Lie even bit back." Li Qishen felt that Li Chengjin had brought this upon himself, and he didn't care whose surname the country was under, but after all, it involved the people of the world, and he still had some responsibilities in his bones. "It's a mess outside the palace, and it's not much better inside the palace. He dotes on Concubine Xiao, and there's also An Guangxing. The Lanling Xiao family and the An family are so domineering. Concubine Xiao and the Crown Princess spend thousands of gold on cosmetics every month. But there was a severe drought, and people in Quzhou ate human flesh. There are still many people freezing to death outside Chang'an now."
He exhaled slowly and concluded, "No dynasty or generation can withstand such a torment. Now the main beams have finally been eaten away, and the house is about to collapse."
The author has something to say: I think you can all tell that this is based on the An-Shi Rebellion... Of course, the regions and time points have been changed (scratching my head). I would like to state in advance that this is a love story. It does not involve power struggles, logic, or expansion of patterns or actual situations. All plots are only for the development and emotional promotion of the male and female protagonists. All textual research will be handled according to Sima Qian, and all logical entanglements will be handled according to Luo Ji (spitting smoke)