Chapter 662: Resetting Power in the Court

It was still dark when a carriage raced swiftly down the streets. Normally, even in the absence of daylight, the streets would be bustling with people—after all, it was early summer, and the cool mornings still drew many out early. But today was different; the streets were empty, with not a single pedestrian in sight, allowing the carriage to move freely while its over a hundred attendants could spur their horses on, as if galloping across the plains.

Inside the carriage, Zhang Yun frowned as he watched the empty streets and the groups of Qianniu Guard and Imperial Guard soldiers passing by from time to time. He hadn’t expected the situation to develop so quickly. Shortly after Wei Tao was captured around the hour of Xu last night, Chang’an entered a state of martial law. Li Qing’an requested assistance from Li Qian’an, who immediately dispatched twenty thousand Qianniu Guard soldiers to arrest people door to door. In just one hour, all 325 spies from Southern Tang were captured.

But this was only the beginning. As more confessions from Qi Xun emerged, the situation grew more severe. A purge of officials colluding with Southern Tang began. At the first watch, Li Qing’an brought fifty thousand troops into the city to surround the residences of over a hundred key members of Wei’s faction, using the guest list from Wei’s banquet the previous night as evidence.

At this point, Zhang Yun felt both joy and concern. He was glad that his arch-rival Wei Tao had finally fallen, and it seemed that almost all of Wei’s followers had been captured. Yet he was worried that Li Qing’an’s actions might be too drastic and cause turmoil in the court. It was like a street performer who uses swords and knives to earn applause, but if the performer becomes overly enthusiastic and starts using long spears and sticks, it could hurt the onlookers.

Zhang Yun opposed bringing fifty thousand troops into the city, believing it risked escalating the situation. And if the situation worsened, could it also affect his own interests? Anyway, he had to persuade Li Qing’an today. Schemes and purges could proceed, but they must not be taken too far—after all, the court needed to continue functioning, and everyone needed to keep their positions.

The carriage arrived at Xingdao Fang, the most heavily guarded area, where half of Li Qing’an’s ten thousand personal guards were stationed. The gate was closed, and the former clerks had been replaced by fully armed soldiers, all with stern faces and no trace of smiles. When they saw Zhang Yun’s carriage approaching, the soldiers acted as if facing a formidable enemy, even nocking their arrows. This made Zhang Yun sigh—why such tension? They lacked experience!

The carriage stopped fifty steps away. One of Zhang Yun’s guards stepped forward with Zhang Yun’s official gold plaque, issued by the Government Hall, allowing its holder to open the district gates without delay.
“It’s Prime Minister Zhang… There’s an urgent matter requiring me to see Prince Zhao!”
At this point, the Government Hall’s gold plaque was useless; only the title of prime minister still held some significance. The on-duty officer immediately ran to a nearby room to check a list of those who could pass through specially.
After a moment, the officer returned and said, “Prime Minister Zhang’s carriage may enter, but his entourage must stay outside.”
Zhang Yun’s guard wanted to argue, but Zhang Yun waved his hand and said, “No need to argue. Stay outside and wait.”
The carriage continued forward and soon stopped in front of Prince Zhao’s palace. A military officer was already waiting at the door. When he saw the carriage stop, he stepped forward.
“Prime Minister Zhang, the General is already waiting.”
“Hmm! Has His Highness had breakfast?” Zhang Yun asked casually.
“The General hasn’t slept all night and has already had breakfast.”
Zhang Yun nodded and followed the officer into the palace, all the way to Li Qing’an’s study. The officer reported, “General, Prime Minister Zhang has arrived.”
“Please come in!” came Li Qing’an’s slightly hoarse voice from inside.
Zhang Yun adjusted his attire slightly before pushing the door open and entering the study. There, Li Qing’an was sitting at his desk, reviewing messages sent from various places. He hadn’t slept all night, his eyes bloodshot, yet he seemed energetic and free of fatigue.
“Your Highness!”
Zhang Yun entered and bowed, asking concerningly, “I heard you haven’t slept all night?”
Li Qing’an smiled. “Aren’t you the same, Prime Minister?”
He waved his hand and said, “Please sit down.”
It seemed Li Qing’an already knew why Zhang Yun had come. Before Zhang Yun could speak, he changed the subject. “I want to tell you something. I’ve decided to send more troops to Hanzhong in five days.”
Zhang Yun was surprised. “Does Your Highness mean to launch a formal attack on Southern Tang?”
Li Qing’an nodded. He took out a letter and handed it to Zhang Yun. “This is a letter I received when I set out from Taiyuan. It was written by Jia Chongguan, the general of Southern Tang in Yunnan. He’s willing to surrender to me. He has 15,000 troops under his command, fully at my disposal.”
Li Qing’an took out another letter and said with a smile, “This is a letter Prime Minister sent me yesterday—a letter of submission from King Ge Luo of Yunnan. He acknowledges that Chang’an is the only legitimate court of the Tang Dynasty. With these two letters back to back, what do you think?”
After reading Jia Chongguan’s letter, Zhang Yun said, “It seems they’ve reached some understanding between them.”

Li Qing’an nodded. “Exactly. From the messenger sent by Jia Chongguan, we learned that Jia Chongguan and Ge Luo Feng had held several secret meetings. This shows that their surrender is part of the same plan. With that, the time to attack Southern Tang is ripe.”

Li Qing’an walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and added, “What I’ve been most worried about is Li Heng retreating to Annam after his defeat and continuing to maintain Southern Tang’s regime there. Although it has little impact on the Central Plains, its existence will always give many people an excuse. Anyway, I must completely eradicate Southern Tang. Now that Jia Chongguan and Ge Luo Feng have surrendered, it means Li Heng’s path to Annam is blocked. With that, my concerns are gone—it’s time to take action against Southern Tang.”

Zhang Yun understood that the so-called surrender of Nanzhao was just an excuse invented by Li Qing’an. The real reason was that the situation in Hebei had been brought under control, and Li Qing’an’s attention was turning southward. His actions, from targeting Wei Tao to reshaping the court, and his plans to attack Southern Tang, all reflected this strategy. It seemed his ascent to power was accelerating.

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Yun asked, “Your Highness plans to lead the army south personally?”

Li Qing’an shook his head. “I plan to send troops in two routes. One group will be led by Li Guangbi through Hanzhong to directly attack Southern Tang, while another group will be led by Li Sheng to take Jingxiang. As for me…”

Li Qing’an smiled. “I plan to go to the south again to inspect the grain transport and taxes there.”

“Your Highness won’t stay in Chang’an?”

Li Qing’an laughed. “I don’t want to interfere in court affairs for now. With you all here, I believe the court can function smoothly.”

Their conversation unconsciously returned to the topic. Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Yun said, “Since Your Highness plans to attack Southern Tang, I think we should first ensure stability in the court. As Your Highness said, you hope the court can function smoothly. Arresting Wei Tao last night wasn’t a problem, but then you ordered 50,000 troops to enter the city. I think this is not conducive to stability and may instead cause panic in the court. Your Highness should handle this carefully!”

Li Qing’an remained silent. He stood by the window, gazing outside. After a long while, he slowly asked, “Is this what the Prime Minister means?”

“No! It’s not just my opinion.”

Zhang Yun took out a proposal and placed it on the table. “This is also the opinion of several other senior officials—Yan Zhenqing, Liu Yan, Pei Min, and Wang Jin. They all share the same view as me. Their signatures are on this proposal. Please consider it carefully, Your Highness.”

Li Qing’an opened the proposal and saw their signatures indeed. They all opposed his plan to send troops into the city and impose martial law, which surprised Li Qing’an.

Just then, footsteps were heard at the door. A bodyguard reported, “General, the Empress Dowager’s decree has arrived.”
Li Qing’an was taken aback. He quickly ordered, “Get me changed quickly; I’ll go receive the decree.”
Li Qing’an changed into formal court robes and hurried toward the front courtyard of the mansion. Zhang Yun followed behind. In the courtyard, an eunuch appeared nervous under the watchful eyes of the heavily armed bodyguards. He didn’t know how to deliver the decree—he didn’t dare ask Li Qing’an to set up an altar to receive it, but he also couldn’t go back and report as nothing had happened, leaving him in a difficult position.
Soon, Li Qing’an came out from the inner chambers. Seeing him dressed in formal first-rank court robes, the eunuch shouted, “The Empress Dowager’s decree!”
Li Qing’an stepped forward and knelt down. “Your servant, Li Qing’an, listens to the decree!”
“By imperial decree, although there are traitors from the fake Tang regime causing chaos, it does not affect the overall situation. Stability for the people and order in governance should be prioritized. Immediate lifting of the martial law is ordered to bring hope to the people and order to the court. Thus it is decreed!”
Li Qing’an sighed inwardly. It seemed the Empress Dowager was also putting pressure on him. “Your servant obeys the decree!”
He stood up, and the eunuch quickly handed him the decree, adding with a smile, “Your Highness, the Empress Dowager also has a message—she hopes the General will not forget his promise to her.”
“I understand. Please convey to Her Majesty that I am a soldier who keeps his word.”
After sending the eunuch away, Li Qing’an returned to his study. He changed clothes and slowly came out, saying, “Since everyone opposes maintaining troops and martial law, I can lift it.”
Li Qing’an took out a gold plaque and handed it to a bodyguard, saying, “Go deliver my order to General Qin and General Nan—immediately lift the martial law, and have the 50,000 troops return to their camps.”
“As ordered!” The bodyguard rushed off with the gold plaque.
Zhang Yun was overjoyed. He had thought it would take a lot of effort to persuade Li Qing’an, but he agreed so quickly. He knew that the key to dealing with Wei Tao smoothly this time was the Empress Dowager’s influence. This must mean Li Qing’an had agreed to some conditions, likely because he still needed her help, otherwise, given his determination, he wouldn’t have conceded so easily at such a time.
Although he understood this, Zhang Yun pretended to accept Li Qing’an’s favor, saying, “Thank you, General, for considering everyone’s opinion.”
“I’m not that stubborn. I’ll make concessions when necessary.”
Li Qing’an smiled faintly. After a brief pause, he asked, “Since martial law is lifted, what plan do the ministers have to suggest?”

Zhang Yun already had a plan in mind and quickly said, “I’ve discussed this with everyone, and we’re generally in agreement that we can adopt a method of centralized residence with separate house arrest. This way, we won’t disturb the people of Chang’an or need to impose martial law, and it will also facilitate centralized handling of the case.”

Li Qing’an pondered for a moment before saying, “Very well! I won’t be involved in this case. Let the Political Affairs Hall take full responsibility. I suggest forming a grand tribunal to hear all the involved officials one by one. I’m willing to provide any assistance needed. If soldiers are required, the Prime Minister can directly contact the imperial guards, and I’ll naturally give instructions to Qin Haiyang.”

Li Qing’an finally agreed to Zhang Yun’s plan. Not only did he agree, but he also decided to delegate power. If Zhang Yun hadn’t presented this proposal, such delegation would have been absolutely impossible—he would never have handed over such significant political advantages to just one person.

Since other high-ranking officials had signed off on this proposal, it meant they too would have to get involved. Power struggles were essentially about the reallocation of interests.

Each high-ranking official had their own faction, and each leader had their own followers. Toppling Wei Tao and Lu Huan, two members of the Political Affairs Hall, would undoubtedly lead to a thorough purge of Wei’s faction—a truth everyone understood, and no one would miss such an opportunity.

As the supreme ruler, Li Qing’an must possess the awareness befitting his position. Of course, he wouldn’t compete with people like Zhang Yun or Pei Min for power. The world belonged to him, and there was no need for him to lower himself to compete with them. He was the helmsman of the great ship of the Tang Dynasty; he only needed to steer it in the right direction, leaving the rest of the interest distribution to them to handle.

Li Qing’an’s willingness to yield gave Zhang Yun a huge sigh of relief. His decision to delegate meant the crisis could be resolved using civil officials’ methods. Civil official methods were far more complex than those of military officials—military officials would simply cut things off outright to end things quickly, but civil officials wouldn’t do that. They wouldn’t go to extremes, as they also needed to leave themselves a backdoor.

Yet Zhang Yun understood that delegating power wasn’t the same as relinquishing it. Renouncing power meant giving everything away without keeping anything, while delegating power meant giving while still retaining some control. The balance between giving and retaining was left to Zhang Yun to decide.

There were a few things he needed to confirm in advance. First was what to do with Wei Tao and Lu Huan. What Li Qing’an really needed to deal with were those two individuals, and the fate of their families had to be decided by him.

“Your Highness, I would like to ask—what should be done if Wei Tao and Lu Huan are indeed guilty?”

Li Qing’an nodded silently. Jiang was truly experienced; Zhang Yun was indeed a veteran of the bureaucracy, handling things with great precision.

He did not answer immediately but slowly walked over to the map of the Tang Dynasty, gazing at the Lingnan region. Finally, he said slowly, “Although Wei Tao and Lu Huan are suspected of colluding with Southern Tang, they are after all high-ranking officials. Instead of exile, let’s demote them! If the charges are proven, Wei Tao can be demoted to the position of governor of Enzhou, and Lu Huan to the governor of Lianzhou.”
Enzhou was in what is now Yangjiang, Guangdong, while Lianzhou was in what is now Beihai, Guangxi—both remote and uncivilized areas during the Tang Dynasty.
“What about their families? Should they also be demoted?” Zhang Yun asked again.
Li Qingan glanced at him and smiled. “The prime minister is confused. Demotion is not exile, and it has nothing to do with family members. It’s up to them to decide whether they want to stay in Chang’an or go to Lingnan.”
Li Qingan’s decision regarding Wei and Lu essentially set the tone for the case. Since even they were only demoted rather than exiled, other officials would not be exiled either. Moreover, the fact that their families would not be affected was a good sign.
This relieved Zhang Yun somewhat, but there was still one major issue he needed to resolve: the reorganization of power within the Political Council. Currently, only he and Wang Jin were part of the Political Council. Although Yan Zhenqing was the Minister of War, he had no power as prime minister and was not part of the council. With only two people, it was clearly insufficient. As Li Qingan had made clear earlier, the Political Council would take charge of this case, implying that a new council needed to be formed before the Qi Xun case could be reviewed.
Generally, when the emperor was absent, the members of the Political Council were chosen through voting by officials of rank five or above in the court. But Li Qingan likely wouldn’t use this method; instead, he would appoint them directly by the empress dowager, so as to truly implement his will.
Although Zhang Yun knew Li Qingan would discuss this with the empress dowager, as the right prime minister, he still wanted to understand Li Qingan’s thoughts.
“Your Highness, could I discuss the arrangement of the Political Council with you first?”
Perhaps because Zhang Yun had cooperated so well in this case, Li Qingan didn’t want to hide anything from him. In front of Zhang Yun, he didn’t need to be overly modest.
“My idea is to continue with the system of seven prime ministers. Currently, there are three: Right Prime Minister Zhang, Left Prime Minister Cui, and Minister Wang of the Ministry of Punishments. According to convention, the right prime minister also serves as Minister of Personnel, the left prime minister as Minister of War. I plan to have Yan Zhenqing, the Minister of War, take on the role of Minister of Rites. Liu Yan will serve as Minister of Revenue. Pei Min will become vice minister of personnel and join the council as a prime minister. There’s also a position for Minister of Works, which I intend to assign to Guo Ziyi.”

Guo Ziyi’s appointment as prime minister was the result of an agreement reached between Li Qing’an and Guo Ziyi while Li Qing’an was in Taiyuan. Guo Ziyi was well aware that with Li Qing’an already commanding a force of five hundred thousand troops, his own army of seventy thousand had no chance of resisting. Once Li Qing’an came to power, Guo Ziyi would either rebel and establish his own rule or hand over military power and retire home. Rather than being forced to surrender military control at that time, it was better to arrange things in advance. After some bargaining between the two, Guo Ziyi agreed to transfer military power to Li Siyeh, while Li Qing’an promised to appoint him as prime minister, allowing him to transition from a military general to a civil official. His subordinates, such as Li Ruoyou, Li Guoliang, Lu Sigong, and Li Zhongchen, would also be rewarded and promoted based on their military achievements, just like the generals of the Anxi Army. This was quite common in the Tang Dynasty. For example, Niu Xianke, who became left prime minister in the first year of Tianbao, was originally the governor of Hexi. Another example is An Lushan; Emperor Li Longji once wanted to appoint him as prime minister. As for Guo Ziyi himself, his great contributions earned him the position of head of the Central Secretariat. With both ability and prestige, it was only fitting that Li Qing’an appoint him as prime minister, as it met the expectations of the military and was what Guo Ziyi had long desired. He often told his subordinates that a true man should become a general and then prime minister to live a meaningful life. This arrangement satisfied everyone involved. Hearing that Li Qing’an had also appointed Guo Ziyi as prime minister, Zhang Yun secretly praised his clever tactics, as now all military power in the court was under Li Qing’an’s control. At that moment, Li Qing’an added, “Cui, the left prime minister, is nearly done with dredging the Grand Canal. He can return to the court to oversee the relevant departments. I recommend Guan Zhong’s transport commissioner, Du Gu Changfeng, as the transport commissioner for Jianghuai and Henan, as well as the governor of Henan, to continue Cui Ning’s work on the canal project.” Li Qing’an’s suggestion shocked Zhang Yun, as Du Gu Changfeng’s appointment meant Li Qing’an was beginning to rely heavily on the Du family… In June of the second year of Qingping, the shocking Qi Xun case began to yield initial results. Wei Tao, the minister of Rites, was found guilty of conniving at and covering up Qi Xun’s actions to disrupt government affairs. By imperial decree, he was removed from his position as prime minister and demoted to the position of governor of Enzhou. Lu Huan, the minister of Works, was also punished for his involvement and removed from his position as prime minister, being demoted to the governor of Lianzhou. The other forty-four officials who were involved with Qi Xun or implicated by Wei and Lu were either demoted or dismissed, with none spared. Meanwhile, Empress Dowager Shen Zhenzhu ordered the reconstruction of the Political Hall and appointed seven people—Zhang Yun, Cui Ning, Pei Min, Yan Zhenqing, Wang Jin, Liu Yan, and Guo Ziyi—as prime ministers, while dissolving the Secretariat.

After this reshuffle of imperial power, the Tang Dynasty was transformed completely. It was at this time that Li Qingan turned his attention to Southern Tang, and the sound of sharpening blades began to be heard.