Chapter 70 161 Li Mi returns to the mountain

When Tang Suzong first ascended the throne in Lingwu, there were less than thirty civil and military officials around him, and everything in the temporary court was in chaos.Some generals are not willing to obey orders.If Suzong wanted to quell the rebellion, how much he needed a capable person to help him. At this time, he remembered that Li Mi (sound bi), a good friend of his when he was the prince, sent someone to bring Li Mi from Yingyang (in today's Henan Province) to Lingwu. Li Bi was originally from Chang'an. He was very smart when he was a child and read a lot of books.Zhang Jiuling, the prime minister at the time, saw his poems and essays, highly regarded him, and praised him as a "child prodigy".When Suzong was the prince, Li Mi had grown up. He sent a memorial to Xuanzong and made some comments on state affairs.Tang Xuanzong admired it very much, summoned him, and wanted to give him an official position.He reasoned that he was young and did not want to be an official.Xuanzong asked him to make friends with the prince.From then on, he often went to the East Palace, and the prince also liked to be close to Li Mi, treating him as a teacher.

Later, Li Mi couldn't get used to Yang Guozhong's power, and wrote poems to satirize Yang Guozhong.For this, he was pushed out of Chang'an by Yang Guozhong.Seeing the chaotic political situation, he didn't want to be angry, so he simply went to Yingyang to live in seclusion. This time, Tang Suzong came to invite him. He thought that the court was in trouble, so he went to Lingwu.When Tang Suzong saw Li Mi, he was as happy as getting a baby.At that time, the temporary court did not pay much attention to etiquette.Tang Suzong and Li Mi were just like when they were young, they came in and out, they were together, and they discussed everything with him.If Li Mi had any ideas, Tang Suzong did not disobey him.

Tang Suzong wanted to make him prime minister, but Li Mi was unwilling.He said: "Your Majesty treats me like a bosom friend. This is more valuable than being a prime minister. Why do you have to give me a name?" Su Zong saw that he couldn't force him, so let it go.When Li Mi lived in seclusion in the countryside, she wore common clothes, but when she arrived in Lingwu, she still wore the same old cloth jacket. Once, Li Mi accompanied Tang Suzong to inspect the army on horseback. The soldiers pointed at the back and said, "The one in the yellow robe is the emperor, and the one in the white coat is a hermit from the mountains."

Tang Suzong heard the soldiers' comments and thought it was too conspicuous, so he gave Li Mi a purple official uniform and forced him to wear it.Li Bi had no choice but to put it on.Suzong smiled and said, "Since you are wearing an official uniform, how can you not have an official title?" Then he took out an imperial edict from his sleeve and appointed Li Mi as the commander-in-chief of the Marshal's Mansion (quite a military adviser). Li Mi still refused to agree, Tang Suzong said: "Now that the country is in trouble, I have to wrong you temporarily. After the rebellion is put down, I will let you be free."

At that time, Guo Ziyi had already arrived in Lingwu.The imperial court has to command the war of the whole country, and the military affairs are very busy.Documents were sent from all directions, without a break from morning till night.Tang Suzong ordered that all the documents received should be sent to Li Bikai for reading first, and only those that were particularly important would be sent to Suzong.The key to the palace gate is in charge of Prince Li Chu (sound chu) and Li Mi.Li Mi was so busy that she didn't even have time to eat, and she couldn't sleep well. Tang Suzong wanted to go back to Chang'an wholeheartedly, so he asked Li Mi: "The enemy is so powerful, what should we do?"

Li Mi said: "An Lushan launched a rebellion, and only a few people really helped him, and the rest were forced to participate. According to my estimation, they can be wiped out within two years." Zong made a military plan to suspend the recovery of Chang'an, and sent Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to march into Hebei in two ways to attack Fanyang, the old nest of the rebels. In the spring of the following year, An Lushan's son, An Qingxu, killed An Lushan and proclaimed himself emperor.To eliminate the rebels, this would have been a good opportunity.But Emperor Suzong was eager to return to Chang'an, so he didn't listen to Li Mi's plan, so he transferred Guo Ziyi's troops back from Hedong to attack Chang'an by storm, but he was defeated.Later, Guo Ziyi borrowed the elite soldiers of Huihe (one of the ancient northern ethnic groups in my country, He sounded he) and gathered 150,000 horses to attack Chang'an.Then, Luoyang was recovered, the rebel leader An Qingxu fled to Hebei, and Shi Siming was forced to surrender.

Tang Jun regained Chang'an and Luoyang, Tang Suzong felt satisfied, and took Li Mi to Chang'an with a horse. Tang Suzong's favorite concubine Zhang Liangdi and eunuch Li Fuguo suspected that Li Mi had too much power, and they had long colluded with each other to get rid of Li Mi. Prince Li Chu found out that Zhang Liangdi and the others wanted to harm Li Mi, so he told Li Mi.Li Mi said: "It doesn't matter. I have an appointment with the emperor. When the capital is recovered, I will return to the mountain and nothing will happen." This time, Li Mi saw that the Tang army regained the two capitals, and it was a wish fulfilled, so he decided to leave the court.

One night, Tang Suzong invited Li Mi to drink and let him sleep together.Li Mi took the opportunity and said to Suzong: "I have repaid His Majesty, please let me go home and be an idler!" Tang Suzong said: "Hey, my husband and I have shared adversity for several years, and now I want to enjoy happiness with you. Why are you leaving?" Li Mi said earnestly: "I made friends with Your Majesty too early; Your Majesty used me too much and trusted me. It is for these reasons that I have to leave." Tang Suzong said: "Go to sleep today, and talk about it the next day."

Li Mi said: "Today I sat on the same couch with His Majesty, and you refused to agree to me. When I come to the court, there will be no room for me to speak. If you don't let me go, it will be tantamount to killing me." Although Tang Suzong didn't want Li Mi to leave, he couldn't stand Li Mi's repeated requests, so he had to agree. Li Mi went to Mount Heng (in present-day Hunan Province), built a house on the mountain, and resumed his secluded life. After Li Mi left, Tang Suzong lost an upright minister, and Li Fuguo and other eunuchs became more powerful.