Realm of Power

"The Western Army of the Imperial Court, Your Majesty's Western Army!"

The old Prime Minister Mrs. Li's voice shook the court, her robes were blown away by the wind, and a breath of silence filled the entire court. Generals, look at me, I look at you, no one dares to argue anymore! Even Li Dongyang wanted to argue a few times and looked around, but he could only shake his head and stand back to his position dejectedly.

What else to say now! The old prime minister has made it so clear that whoever is sent to take over the Western Army at this time is the second Long Yang! Although it is unjust to beat everyone to death with a stick, it really hits the point.

The Western Army is occupying the fertile land of six provinces, and more than 100,000 elites are eyeing it. During the heyday of Central and Bibia, this force was so powerful that it made the court feel nervous, not to mention that "now it is the main force of the central armies." With serious war damage, the central government had just stabilized the situation, and the Linhang area was left with nothing to do, and the fertile north was lost. , the empire's finances were mostly empty at once. As soon as spring arrived, they couldn't wait to collect this year's spring taxes, as well as various miscellaneous items. Even so, there were still three to four million empty rows of palaces to build. It's summer harvest time, and if we start a war with the Western Army, not to mention 100,000 elite troops, even 50,000 capable troops cannot be dragged out.

The Luzhou Army marched north and was trapped, and the court was unable to rush to the rescue. If the Southwest Army rebelled, what could the central government do to stop it? After finally driving away a Long Yang, who can guarantee that after mastering the population resources of the six southwest provinces and the more than 100,000 Western troops that the Long family has painstakingly cultivated, the new Western Army general sent by the court will not march. Pointing the finger at Linhang?

It's so dangerous, but fortunately the old prime minister sees far!

The young emperor of Central Asia had a stern look on his face. He was still a little stunned. After hearing Prime Minister Li Tai’s explanation, his body sitting on the dragon chair shook slightly, and his eyes burst out with a bright and terrifying luster. How could he be so confused? Xi The military strength is now greater than that of the court. Since it must be controlled, it must not be in the hands of a certain general. This power can only belong to the central government and the royal family!

According to the current situation of the Western Army, sending anyone to the center of the court may arouse the hostility of the Western Army.

The Western Army has been a self-contained system for decades. Generals and generals, and officers and officers, are almost like a big family with tight cobweb connections. It is not an exaggeration to call it a monolith. Over the years, the Central Committee has tried every means, but it only caused the split of the Western Army decades ago. But that time, it also led to a complete break between the Central Committee and the Western Army. The central government's vigilance has been raised to the highest level. Almost none of the military attachés sent by the central government can stay safely for five years without being sent back in despair on inexplicable charges. He was executed by the Long family on various charges, so that in the past ten years or so, the military cabinet has issued appointment lists, and anyone who saw them went to the southwest. Each and every one of them seemed to have lost their souls.

Instead of doing this, it is better to introduce the Song people who have always been entrenched in the south into the southwest

Mountain barbarians versus the Western Army, the current situation. Only the power of the Song clan can still make the Western Army feel nervous, as long as the Western Army feels nervous. It will be much easier for the court to push the boat to intervene in the southwest. After all, the Song clan is a mountain barbarian. The Western Army that dominates the southwest, no matter how opposed to the central government, will never follow this mountain barbarian. The Song clan also has With this formidable enemy pressing overhead, the possibility that the Western Army might rebel was suddenly reduced to zero. Likewise, except for Unless the Western Army wants to start a war with the Song clan and the Central Committee at the same time, otherwise there will be absolutely no room for opposition to this appointment. With one appointment, the Western Army, which has been separated from the Central Committee for decades, has a faint tendency to move closer to the Central Committee, and the Southern Song Dynasty will The family has been dragged into the quagmire of internal strife. This is no longer a conspiracy, but a conspiracy, which makes people unable to resist the conspiracy.

Even if the Southern Song Dynasty knew that it would be troublesome to enter the southwest, they would bite into this piece of fat even if they were injured.

Who doesn’t know that the Song clan has almost gone crazy trying to find opportunities to come up from the south in recent years. Last year’s rebellion in the six barbarian villages was pushed by the Song clan, but it was suppressed by the old enemy Luzhou Army. Now let The Song Clan moved into the southwest justifiably, and the Song Clan would not tolerate such an opportunity that was rare to find in a hundred years.

Shi Lilong, the Minister of Military Cabinet, sighed secretly, and was truly impressed by the old prime minister. His eyes swept across the hall, and at this moment, the expressions of everyone in the court were also reflected in his eyes.

The wind blows from the southwest, but it is Hanglin thousands of miles away.

After the palace meeting is over, the news will spread throughout Linhang like the wind, and the Song clan will take control of the southwest! You don't need to think about it to know how sensational it will be. It's like a drop of ice water falling into the oil of a rolling Buddha. It would be a ghost if it doesn't explode. Although the Song clan has a huge power in the south, this mountain dragon may not be able to suppress the Western Army, an earth snake that has been entrenched for many years. It is best for the Western Army and the Song clan to have internal conflicts. At that time, everyone will be looking for opportunities to swarm forward and carve up the southwest and south. In the south, it is not impossible. With the determination of the emperor, the conspiracy theory of the old prime minister Li Clan, and the selfish motives of all the forces in the court, the most incredible appointment letter in the history of the Central Asian Empire was passed.

It was raining outside the palace. Coming out of the place where the palace meeting was held, in front of the eighty-one-step white jade, Li Long was about to step down the steps when he suddenly heard a thunderous voice coming from behind him: "Li Sanlang, please stay!" "Li Long ranks thirteenth in the family and is the nephew of Prime Minister Li Tai. Although Li is a civil leader, his power in the army cannot be underestimated.

Li Long was able to climb to the fourth position in the Military Pavilion. In addition to the support of his family, it was also because Li Long was good at strategy and had a proud experience of serving as a military supervisor in Yanzhou North for fourteen years. He had seen blood. Civil servants who have never seen blood are different in the eyes of the Central and African army. When it comes to the real battle, On the field, faced with enemies coming like a tidal wave, the general would naturally not want to be commanded by a cowardly civil servant who had never even seen blood. However, Li Long was different. Although he was a civil servant, he had been in the most tragic situation. He served in Yanzhou and personally led the army to defend the most important Luojiang defense line on the northern flank of Yanzhou.

In that battle, Li Long, as a civilian supervisor of the army, personally commanded the Yanzhou army to defend the Luojiang defense line for seven days and nights when the Yanzhou army leader was seriously injured, smashing the siege of 100,000 prairie cavalry on the Yanzhou flank. The prairie army fought Sixty thousand people died, the catastrophe of the imperial capital Previously, the grassland army suffered the most disastrous defeat, and that victory also made everyone in the Zhongbia court optimistic that as long as the Yanzhou defense line was there, there would be no possibility for the grassland people to set foot south, and they were eventually defeated in the Battle of Imperial Capital. The fight was completely defeated.

"Lord Tang Qianwen!"

Li Long squinted his eyes and looked at the people walking in the distance. He looked a little surprised and saluted quickly. The person who came was burly, wearing a bright red second-grade robe, with a belly like a pot helmet, and a gentle smile on his face. There were six or seven civil servants behind him, like stars holding the moon.

It was Tang Qianwen, the literary master of the Foreign Affairs Pavilion who was one level higher than himself in the Six-Ministry Pavilion of Zhongbia. He was only the fourth figure in the Military Pavilion. This is the real head of the Foreign Affairs Pavilion, a man who keeps his word. Although Tang Qianwen looks rough on the outside and speaks with a voice like thunder, in fact he is delicate on the inside and can embroider.

The Foreign Affairs Cabinet is responsible for China's diplomacy and vassal state management. The China-Bia Empire's diplomacy has always been very monotonous.

In the central country, all other countries are barbarians. One can imagine the arrogant attitude of the Foreign Affairs Pavilion towards foreign countries. The so-called diplomacy is more like a charity from the superior country, so the main aspect of the foreign affairs cabinet is still dealing with the affairs of the vassal countries of the Central Asian Empire. Li Long knew that in the eyes of those vassal countries, this Lord Luo Qianwen was a very scary figure. This Lord was known as Qian Wen Tongtian. If you have money, you can say anything, as long as it's not rebellion. He only cares about the boiling public dissatisfaction in these vassal countries. He has no money, disrespects the suzerain, and sends it to His Majesty's table in defiance of His Majesty's proclamation. Your Majesty will be furious, and the monarchs of those vassal countries may have to be re-established." Li Long Your Excellency is so kind!"

Tang Wenqian's chubby eyes narrowed into a thin line. Li Long was a person specially cultivated by the Li clan. His identity and experience were extraordinary. There were even rumors that he was the successor of Prime Minister Mrs. Li. The same was true for Mrs. Li back then. Civil servants experienced martial arts, and before entering the inner cabinet, they stayed in Yanzhou for seventeen years, seeing blood and killing people. , Conspiracy, conspiracy, can be easily obtained. The Li clan has been in the ascendant for twenty years in its hands, but the Tang family and the Li family are both of the first rank, and his official position is still higher than that of Li Long, so receiving this gift from Li Long is considered As expected, he waved his hands to his subordinates behind him and said with a cold face, "You stay here."

"Yes, sir." Several subordinates quickly stopped.

Tang Wenqian walked forward quickly alone, looked around, and said in a low voice, "Thirteenth Lang is in charge of the Ministry of Military Affairs. He knows more about military matters than I do. I encountered a difficult problem this time. What's the matter?" Please let Thirteenth Lang know! ""What's difficult?" Li Long was stunned for a moment. Tang Wenqian was in charge of foreign affairs and vassals, and he really had no place to communicate with the military cabinet. Is there anything difficult you need to ask me? "Does Thirteenth Master know about the Falcon Empire?" Tang Wenqian said with a strange expression. "The most powerful country in the Western Continent, the Falcon Empire?" Li Long blinked his eyes. He had read a lot of secret letters from the military. As a member of the military department, The fourth person in the pavilion has naturally heard of the Falcon Empire. This country has risen like a hurricane, sweeping across most of the Western Continent, and even single-handedly destroyed Gaul, the century-old enemy of Central and South Africa. He wants to make people ignore it. It's really too difficult. "Ahem" Tang Wenqian was a little embarrassed. He coughed, took a deep breath and said, "Since Thirteenth Lang said that the Falcon Empire is the most powerful country in the Western Continent, then it should be true. Our Foreign Affairs Department has just received a circular, and the Falcon Empire's special envoy will be here soon." He came to Hanglin, saying that he represented the emperor of the Falcon Empire, congratulating the empire on the new establishment of Hanglin, and specially came to give His Majesty two gifts. ""It's just two gifts. Although the Falcon Empire is the most powerful country in the Western Continent, this is Zhongbia, why are you so nervous? "

Li Long's face was slightly stunned, and he was a little confused. When did Mr. Tang Wenqian change his gender? The most powerful country in the Western Continent sends a special envoy to send gifts. In the eyes of the foreign affairs cabinet, it is a great thing. For the central country, barbarians come to court, let alone the largest country in the Western Continent. This is a big shame. Logically speaking, this person Mr. Tang Wenqian should have shown off to everyone in the court long ago, but now, why is he acting coquettishly like a little-footed daughter-in-law who has been caught?

Is there something wrong? Or is there something wrong with the gift? Li Long thought with some malice in his heart. He had always despised the style of the second-in-command figure of the Tang Clan. Among the four first-level figures, Li Clan was the leader of civil servants, while Tang Clan controlled the empire's finances and foreign affairs. His whole body smelled of copper and he was always looked down upon by civil servants. However, most of the economic lifeline of the empire was in the hands of the Tang clan. The logistics of the entire imperial team followed the Tang clan's extensive trade routes throughout the empire.

Tang Wenqian hesitated for a moment, and took out a gift list from his arms. He gritted his teeth, as if what he was holding was not a gift list, but a red-hot iron. "To be honest, Thirteenth Lang, this time is indeed very troublesome, you see. Now you know your brother's difficulty. "Oh?" Li Long was really curious, what could bring this person to his death? Qian Wentongtian was so frightened that Lord Qian took the gift list and glanced at it casually. His hands suddenly trembled and his eyes almost bulged out. The congratulatory gifts from the Falcon Empire this time were really not many, just two things. , but these two things, no matter which one, are enough to cause Hang Lin to cause huge fluctuations,

"Now Thirteenth Master knows how I feel!" Tang Wenqian had an extremely depressed smile on his face, thinking that when he saw the gift list for the first time, he was not as calm as Li Long. Sure enough, he was worthy of drinking in Yanzhou The grassland people are bloody cruel people,

"Why should you come to me for this matter?"

Li Long now hates this Lord Tang Wenqian. Why do you tell me this? Wouldn't it be better for everyone to pretend not to know? However, as the other party was the leader of the military department, Li Long only dared to think about it in his heart. At the same time, he was secretly glad that he knew about it in advance. Otherwise, when the imperial envoy arrived in Linhang, the entire military department would be in trouble. Even if it is completely wiped out, without this, what does Falcon Empire mean?

Tang Wenqian said with a gloomy face, "Since we haven't arrived in Hanglin yet, there is still a chance on the way. The foreign affairs cabinet cannot do this kind of thing, but the military cabinet can do it. There are countless masters in the army. With one order, Of course you don't know what to do! It's not like you want to kill the other party, you just need to pretend to be a robber and stop the things. "I can steal things, but what about people? I, Princess Mingyue of Zhongbia, you also let our military department Grab it? "

Li Long rolled his eyes, as if he saw a pig climbing a tree. He looked at Tang Wenqian. Princess Mingyue was the emperor's sister and the eldest princess of the empire. Not to mention her noble status, the problem was that during the catastrophe in the imperial capital that day, this Mingyue The fact that the princess stood alone in front of the palace to block the prairie army from entering the palace was already known to everyone in Central Asia.

From the bottom of my heart, as long as you are a Central Asian, who dares not to admire the courage of Princess Mingyue! Hearing that she was being carried away by the grassland people, many Central and Bian men were heartbroken. When the army was recruiting new soldiers, the slogan they once put forward was to march north to welcome Princess Mingyue back. Now that Princess Mingyue is back, the question is what? It was sent back by the Falcon Empire.

Thinking of another gift from the empire, Li Long felt that his blood was boiling. He was not excited, but ashamed. The shame of being a member of the Zhongbia Emperor. The other gift was Lang Rui, one of the Eighth Army of Dongting. The head of the military leader Annaning! That was the first devil to invade the centuries-old Imperial Capital that day. Under the horse's hooves were the innocent souls of hundreds of thousands of people in the Imperial Capital. It was the most terrifying nightmare in the hearts of many Central and Libyan soldiers.

But this demon was actually killed by the Falcon Empire, which was originally a good thing. Unfortunately, in such a situation, it was a slap in the face to the entire Central Asian army!

Finally, Li Long's eyes fell on the signature on the back of the gift list, and he was immediately stunned. The very elegant signature was actually a small red script in small Chinese characters "Yuehua" printed on top of Yuehua. That's a Li character! Li Yuehua! The red mark is like blood! (To be continued...)

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