Mountains and Seas

Chapter 62: The great eunuch Tian Lingzi

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May 18th, the second year of Zhonghe.

The Northern Allied Forces defeated Meng Kai. On the same day, Li Keyong and Yang Fuguang captured Fanglin Gate, Dong Jin then captured Jingyao Gate, and Feng Shou finally captured Guanghua Gate. The three allied forces broke through the nine gates of Chang'an and entered Chang'an.

On the same day, Huang Chao was isolated and helpless, so he took advantage of the chaos to flee south; Zhu Wen, who was trapped on the north side of the water, suddenly heard that Chang'an had fallen, and immediately surrendered to Wang Chongrong who was stationed north of the water. Wang Chongrong accepted his surrender, settled him in Tongzhou, and immediately rushed to Chang'an.

On May 19th, Zhu Li met Shi Yan and Meng Juehai outside the city of Chang'an, and incorporated and reorganized the Cao army prisoners on the spot. Two days later, he leisurely entered Chang'an. At this time, the Jiedushi, garrison commanders, and provincial governors who participated in the king's defense had already completely occupied Chang'an and turned the palace upside down. They looted an unknown amount of gold and jewels. Of course, except for those that could not be touched, it is estimated that almost all that could be taken went into the pockets of these local warlords.

In the imperial palace, Huang Chao fled in a hurry, and many concubines, wives and daughters became captives of officials from all sides. What's worse, some people even fought over a prisoner. If Zhu Li had not arrived in time, the people of Chang'an would have been implicated and affected by the war.

After entering Chang'an and meeting the senior officials, Zhu Li first stopped the fighting among them, then immediately gathered everyone together, discussed their merits in public, recorded them in a book, and immediately sent someone to report to Chengdu. As for how Xizong would reward these senior officials, that was not something Zhu Li had to worry about.

Zhu Li did everything he could, and he openly wrote the merit book to appease the concerns of officials from all sides. Even if the Tang court's rewards were slightly biased in the future, it would have nothing to do with him, Zhu Li. After all, he had reported all the records of everyone's meritorious services truthfully. What else could these officials say

During the time of waiting for news from Chengdu, Zhu Li was not idle. He gathered nearly 60,000 defeated soldiers of the Cao Army. Chang'an had been controlled by Huang Chao for nearly two years. It was no exaggeration to say that it was the base camp of the Cao Army. Now Huang Chao had fled, Meng Kai, Huang Ye, Shang Rang and others had all escaped, and Zhu Wen and others had surrendered. These defeated soldiers of the Cao Army who were forced to stay near Chang'an all surrendered to Zhu Li.

Why didn't they surrender to others? Of course, it was because of the role model figure Meng Juehai. He was highly trusted by Zhu Li, and this also aroused the worries of these Cao army soldiers. With the example of Meng Juehai, they surrendered to Zhu Li and were still full of hope for their future.

Zhu Li scraped together money from all over and barely armed 40,000 defeated soldiers of the Cao Army. However, these prisoners could not form a fighting force in time, so he asked Meng Juehai to take them to Fuping and asked Zhou Dewei to take these people back to Shuozhou. As for the family members and relatives of these more than 60,000 defeated soldiers of the Cao Army, he also packed up and asked Meng Juehai and Zhou Dewei to send them away. After all, whether in his past life or this life, Zhu Li himself was a grassroots person at the bottom of society, and he could better understand the ties in the hearts of these grassroots soldiers.

In early June of the second year of Zhonghe, an envoy from Chengdu arrived in Chang'an, and Zhu Li led officials from all parties to greet him.

The man who came was a eunuch with a fair complexion and no beard. He was the famous and powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi.

Don't underestimate this eunuch. He is a big shot in front of Emperor Xizong. Even Emperor Xizong himself calls him "father" without any taboo. He is indeed the most powerful official in the Tang court.

One of the eunuchs.

"Welcome, Mr. Tian." The old eunuch had just arrived at the Jinguan Gate west of the imperial city. The local emperors who had been waiting for a long time did not dare to neglect him and quickly put on a flattering look.

Zhu Li was naturally an exception. He stood in the front and bowed to give face to the old eunuch. After all, as the General of the Left Guard, the Protector General of Shanyu, a third-rank general, and a second-rank honorary title, he believed that he could still be on equal footing with the old eunuch in terms of status.

However, his behavior made Tian Lingzi feel a little unhappy. Although Zhu Li was highly recommended by Zheng Ting, Li Tao and others, he was not a member of his powerful eunuch family after all. What's more, Tian Lingzi had some dirty dealings with Zheng and Li in secret. Naturally, the old eunuch felt a little unhappy with Zhu Li.

However, in front of so many people, this powerful eunuch did not say anything. Zhu Li was a talent, he had to admit, and he did not want to offend him rashly, so he said very casually: "Please don't embarrass me, I am just a servant who runs errands and makes rice paper, I don't deserve such a great gift from you."

Tian Lingzi pretended to be sincere and changed the subject, "Let's not just stand outside the city. Let's go to the palace and talk about it. What do you think, General Zhu Li?"

"Everything is up to Mr. Tian." Zhu Li seemed to feel a hint of coldness from Tian Lingzi and immediately became alert.

"Well, let's go back to the palace together." After saying that, Tian Lingzi didn't even look at Zhu Li, but approached Yang Fuguang cordially, rode into the city, and walked straight towards the palace.

The other military governors, local garrison commanders, and provincial governors looked at Zhu Li meaningfully and hurried to follow him. However, in a flash, Zhu Li felt a clear sense of alienation from everyone.

"Governor, this eunuch is so abominable." Shi Yan quietly stepped forward, glaring at Tian Lingzi who was surrounded by the crowd, and said indignantly.

Zhu Li smiled at him and comforted him, "Don't worry about anything. Tian Lingzi is not an ordinary person. He is an eunuch who has watched Your Majesty grow up. The sage doesn't care about things, but this person is in charge. We should be cautious with our words and actions when it comes to people who stay by Your Majesty's side all the time."

"But this old fellow is clearly trying to flatter you, the governor." Shi Yan was still indignant.

"Well, so what? I heard that Zheng Sikong, Li Guogong, and Tian Lingzi are somewhat dirty. My current official position was recommended by them. Although the recovery of Chang'an this time is the achievement of everyone, I am the commander-in-chief after all. According to convention, I should get more than half of the credit. Tian Lingzi and other powerful eunuchs will not be satisfied with this credit." Zhu Li sighed and explained carefully.

"But it was you, the commander-in-chief, who devised the plan of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, and concealing the truth from the world. You were able to gain military merits by your own ability. So what if they are unwilling? If they have the ability, wouldn't they fight for it themselves?" Shi Yan said unconvinced.

"It would be great if they could strive to make meritorious deeds as you said, but when these people do things, they are either powerless or incapable of doing anything. But when it comes to grabbing benefits, they are better than anyone else." Zhu Li rode his horse and followed the crowd slowly with Shi Yan, looking at Tian Lingzi, a representative of the powerful eunuchs who was one of the three evils in the late Tang Dynasty and almost destroyed the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and said with resentment.

The three evils of overthrowing the Tang Dynasty, the powerful eunuchs were the first to bear the brunt, they played the emperor as a trick

He is the number one pest that harms the country and the people.

Passing through the Jinguan Gate, the Taichang Temple, the Shangshu Province and other important places, the group entered the Taiji Palace. In the main hall, Tian Lingzi stood under the dragon throne, and the eunuchs who accompanied him held a pile of imperial edicts. Looking at those imperial edicts, the officials from all parties had burning eyes. It seemed that after several days of waiting, what kind of rewards they would get would soon be revealed. How could these warlords not be excited.

The officials from all parties who participated in the campaign stood on both sides of the hall, looking at Tian Lingzi eagerly. Tian Lingzi seemed to enjoy this feeling very much. He slowly picked up a pile of imperial edicts, seemingly casually, but actually deliberately pulled out a scroll from the pile and unfolded it, saying: "The sage said: I only rule the world with culture and suppress rebellions with force. The military commanders and generals are the pillars of the court and the pillars of the country. They are both civil and military, and they can make efforts to serve the country. How can their achievements be forgotten and not praised? Here is Yang Fuguang, the military commander and governor of Xuzhou. He is loyal and righteous, and can shine in the sky. He has worked hard for the people and has made great contributions to the recovery of Chang'an. Hereby, you are specially granted the military commander of the whole country, the three officials of the government, the governor of Tonghua, and the title of Hongnong County Duke, and the title of 'Zi Zhonghui Wu Kuang Guo Ping Nan Gongchen'. I bestow the imperial edict on him in Xi... Imperial edict, May 26, the ninth year of Emperor Xizong."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. Yang Fuguang congratulates Your Majesty on your long life. "This was a letter of honor specifically for Yang Fuguang. When Yang Fuguang heard the imperial edict, he immediately walked to the center of the hall and bowed deeply to express his gratitude.

As soon as this imperial decree came out, everyone else looked at Zhu Li with flickering expressions, intentionally or unintentionally. Yang Fuguang was suddenly appointed as the commander-in-chief of all the troops in the world, commanding all the troops in the world. Zhu Li's tenure as temporary commander-in-chief was probably over.

Rather than saying that this was an imperial decree bestowed upon Yang Fuguang, it would be more accurate to say that the powerful eunuchs immediately seized the military power from Zhu Li after retaking Chang'an. However, Zhu Li did not care about this at all. He looked calm and composed, as if he did not understand the meaning of this.

After Yang Fuguang was conferred the title, the next two were Wang Chongrong and Zhou Ji. Zhou Ji was Wang Chongrong's subordinate. It was Zhou Ji's credit that the Eastern Army forced Zhuge Shuang to surrender and captured Chang'an, because Zhu Wen had not surrendered at that time. Wang Chongrong himself was stationed on the south bank of the water and confronted Zhu Wen, so naturally he also had a share in the credit for retaking Chang'an.

The Tang court granted Wang Chongrong the titles of Acting Grand Marshal and Co-Prime Minister, and conferred him the title of Prince of Langya and Acting Grand Tutor for his meritorious services; and Zhou Ji was promoted for his merits and succeeded Yang Fuguang as the Governor of Xuzhou.

In addition, the Tang court conferred the title of Li Sigong (originally: Tuoba Sigong) as the Prince's Grand Tutor and the title of Duke of Xia; Li Xiaochang was promoted to the position of Senior Minister of Works; Song Wentong was promoted to the position of Senior Minister of War and the title of Prince of Langya; Li Keyong was promoted to Senior Minister of Works and the governor of Hedong; Wang Chongying was promoted to the position of Senior Minister of War and the title of Prince of Langya, and he was promoted to Senior Minister of Works and the title of Senior Minister of War.

After all the awards were given, Zhu Li was the only one who did not receive one. However, there was a scroll of documents left in the hands of the eunuch serving Tian Lingzi. It seemed that the scroll was the imperial edict of the Tang court to confer a title on Zhu Li. For some reason, Tian Lingzi kept it until the end.

Just when everyone thought that Tian Lingzi would confer the title on Zhu Li next, Tian Lingzi said, "You have all worked hard for the country for a long time. Now the saint has lavishly rewarded you. Your merits have been fulfilled. If there is nothing else, you can all withdraw. I want to talk to General Zhu Li."