Linzhi

When Emperor Jiayou received this news early in the morning, he was really in a bad mood.

Before the ministers were called into the palace to discuss countermeasures, he had already made his own decision.

Eastern Turks fighting against Western Turks, this is an internal struggle among the Turks. Although the imperial court formed an alliance with the Western Turks, it was a matter of the late emperor's reign, and now the imperial treasury is empty, and it is true that it cannot allocate money and food. It is not intentional to say the least. Breaking the contract is just powerless.

When the ministers arrived, most of them did not agree to send troops.

When Li Kuan and Zhang Song had a rare meeting and agreed, although the reasons they explained were different, they all had the same meaning: the Turkic dispute between the East and the West just caused them to fight each other, and there was really no need for the imperial court to intervene.

The Minister of the Household Department complained that the court had no money and could not fight wars. The Minister of the Ministry of War said that the whereabouts of the Turks were uncertain. Even if the court sent troops, it was impossible to directly attack the opponent's court from the rear.

The crown prince didn't express his opinion, but Ji Wang insisted on going to war, and volunteered, saying that he was willing to lead troops to attack the East Turks.

This is the first time that Li Kuan and Ji Wang have different opinions in public, but everyone does not take it seriously. After all, Ji Wang has been keen on military exploits for a long time, and it is reasonable to take the initiative to ask for a fight. It's not normal to say a word.

However, the emperor was afraid from the bottom of his heart to deal with the murderous Turkic people. He wished that the Eastern and Western Turkic people would lose both sides, and the court could reap the benefits of the fisherman.Seeing that the courtiers were all opposed to sending troops, and then He Rong Feima handed over the memorial requesting the court to send troops to rescue Princess Zhending, which was naturally left unpublished and put at the bottom.

Even if someone informs He Rong, it is impossible for him, who is far away in Lingzhou, to know the emperor's decision so quickly, so he made a second memorial while asking Zhang Ze and the others to step up their military training in case of emergencies .

But in the depths of He Rong's heart, he had already vaguely prepared for the worst. When the court refused to send troops, how would he deal with himself?

If there is no purpose to send troops, it will be tantamount to conspiracy; but if he does not rush to help the Western Turks, he will not be able to explain to Princess Zhending.

On the third day after He Rong's second memorial was issued, He Tu couldn't wait any longer. He asked to see He Rong and asked to go back to Yanqi City.

"The princess has treated me with kindness. Now that the princess is in trouble, although I can't move back to rescue the soldiers, I can't stay out of it. If Your Highness doesn't want to send troops to rescue, why don't you tell me straight, so that I won't continue to waste time here. Go back as soon as possible, and live and die with the princess!"

He Tu was so anxious that he almost got angry, but He Rong didn't care about it. If something like this happened, Xue Tan and the others would only be more anxious if he was trapped.

"This place is far away from Chang'an, and I can't control the court's decision, but I have a plan, and it's a way I can't win."

He Tu couldn't help frowning when he heard the other party say that.

King An granted Ling Province before, and there were many rumors and rumors, among which the most convincing one was that King An made a big mistake and fell out of favor, so he had to come here.Of course, He Tu also knew that King An's people were here, and whether the emperor sent troops in the end was not up to him to decide, but the person who formed an alliance with Princess Zhending that day was King An, and besides him, He Tu didn't know who else to turn to.

"Your Highness, please speak."

……

With the sound of hoofbeats, the horse entered the city of Lingzhou and returned to Le City. After a long journey, its speed slowed down significantly. The owner of the horse didn't mind letting the horse rest for a while, because their destination had already been reached.

Li Yun was a little surprised.

In his opinion, even if Lingzhou was not a desolate place, it would not be prosperous there, but what he saw and heard subverted his previous inherent impression.

There are many shops here, a variety of goods, men, women and children, and a dense population. It can be called a small Jiangnan.

Since Jiang Yue said something wrong in the East Palace, although the emperor did not do anything to him in the face of the prince's pleading, Jiang Yue was still expelled from the court, and he was driven far away to become a small county magistrate, and Li Yun replaced him. His status has made him the most trusted official of the prince.

When He Rong's first letter arrived in the capital, he was ordered by the prince to go out of the capital and come to Lingzhou day and night.

From time to time, soldiers passed by in a line in the city, walking in a hurry and well-trained, unlike the local government soldiers with loose military discipline in Li Yun's impression, it seemed that they could still fight.

Was it like this in the past, or did it change after King An came?

Li Yun found the Governor's Mansion and handed over a name card, and soon someone opened the middle door to welcome him in.

What Wang An and he saw in the capital didn't change much. If not, it might be that the face is more intimidating when the face is not smiling.

"His Royal Highness misses you very much, and specially ordered me to come here with Chang'an Tuyi to express his miss." The opening speech was quite satisfactory, and Li Yun cupped his hands.

He Rong was a little surprised that the prince suddenly sent someone over, but his face remained completely motionless.

"Go to the Three Treasures Palace for nothing, the big brother asked you to come, it must be related to the East Turkic troops?"

Li Yun pondered for a moment, then looked at the other people in the hall.

He Rong waved his hand: "Yushen and the others are not outsiders, just say what you have to say."

Li Yun still refused: "The crown prince has ordered that this can only be said to His Highness, and please forgive me."

He Rong stared at him for a moment, and instead of turning away others as Li Yun expected, he said, "Then there is no need to talk about it."

Li Yun: "..."

He had never dealt with He Rong before, and he really had no way to deal with Wang An who played cards unreasonably.

"His Royal Highness killed Zhou Shu first, the capital knew about it, and His Majesty was furious. Fortunately, the crown prince intervened and mediated, and finally the major incident was resolved."

He Rong smiled but said, "In this case, I should ask you to thank my elder brother for me. Lingzhou is located in a remote place, and there are no earthen instruments. Later, someone will load two carts of goji berries for you to take back to Chang'an."

Li Yun came here all the way, not for two carts of wolfberries.

He was able to stay by the prince's side, so he was naturally a smart person. He heard that Wang An was dissatisfied with him beating around the bush, and sighed secretly, so he had to explain the meaning more clearly.

"Your Highness forgives me for my misstatement. The Crown Prince loves his brothers dearly. His Highness guards the frontiers of the country. He is naturally very happy to do something for His Highness. However, the East Turkic army is strongly opposed by the whole court. It is difficult for the crown prince to turn the tide on his own, so he specially asked his subordinates to express his apology to you on his behalf."

He Rong said lightly: "Brother is serious, he has difficulties, I can naturally understand."

"But," Li Yun changed the subject, "it's not impossible. The crown prince said, if you insist on sending troops from the imperial court, he can ask His Majesty to let Lingzhou send troops to help the Western Turks."

He Rong raised his eyebrows: "Lingzhou sent troops, not the imperial court?"

Li Yun smiled bitterly: "Yes, it is impossible for the imperial court to send troops. You also know that the treasury is empty and there is no money to allocate, and all the ministers have the ambition to oppose the imperial court's dispatch of troops. the opposite of."

He Rong: "But my second elder brother, King Ji will definitely ask for a fight."

Li Yun asked back: "Do you think His Majesty will agree? This time the court is arguing fiercely. The six ministries all say that there is no money and no one. Even Li Xiang also opposes King Ji's proposal. His Majesty has already ordered that all important border towns should not be tampered with unless ordered by the emperor." Violators will be punished as treason. I heard that the decree to Lingzhou has already been dispatched and will arrive soon."

He Rong looked at Li Yun, who was talking eloquently, and suddenly felt angry in his heart.

Are those people in the court hall like Li Yun, looking forward and backward, weighing left and right, and complacent about taking the overall situation into consideration.

"At that time, the imperial court formed an alliance with Western Turks, and Princess Zhending was conferred the title of Princess Zhending of Dayi by the late emperor. This incident is vivid in my mind. Now that Western Turks are in trouble, the imperial court has abandoned the previous alliance and refused to save them. Who will dare to do so in the future? Surrender to the imperial court and make friends with us? Is this the bearing of a great celestial dynasty! What's more, the Western Turks were destroyed, and Fu Nian's next target must be the Central Plains. Could it be that there are so many smart people in the imperial court? Do not understand?!"

The tone was not high, but Li Yun could clearly feel the other party's anger.

It's not that the court officials don't know how powerful they are, and it's not that they don't understand that lips and teeth are interdependent. It's just that the treasury has no money to send troops. The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass go first. A dispatch of troops costs a lot, and military expenditures have to be moved by all means. This involves the interests of all parties. He didn't want to offend anyone, and the Minister of War didn't want to take responsibility, so he went to fight a war that didn't see any benefits at the moment, and said that even if the imperial court sent troops, it would force the East Turks to withdraw from the West Turks, but if so Wouldn't it be worth the loss to annoy Fu Nian Khan to transfer his anger to the Central Plains?At that time, can the Western Turks still assist the Central Plains in the same way that the imperial court helped them?

To put it bluntly, one is afraid of trouble, and the other is lack of money.

Li Yun smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, it's useless for you to point this fire at me, not to mention His Royal Highness, even if you are still in Chang'an, can you guarantee to convince His Majesty?"

In fact, He Rong was not angry at Li Yun, he was just expressing his opinions that he could not express to the emperor in person.

Xue Tan smoothed things over with a smile: "Li Sheren, don't get me wrong, His Highness is not angry at you, His Highness is just concerned and chaotic, in a moment of urgency."

Li Yun cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness, I can understand your feelings, but it is a pity that the interests of all parties are entangled. With the identity of the East Palace, if he wants to do something, it is also difficult. Because of this, the crown prince can't bear to let you down. Let me come over and explain to you, I hope you can understand the court and understand his difficulties, and convincing His Majesty to agree to send troops from Lingzhou is the best effort the crown prince can do for you."

He Rong suddenly smiled: "Then what does the elder brother want? He asked you to come here specially, isn't it just to make me understand?"

Li Yun coughed lightly, and said: "The Lu family in Lingzhou is rich and ruthless. They colluded with the Zhou family and the Fan family to resell the military pay. Behind the Zhou family and the Fan family are high-ranking families. The Lu family and the British Duke are also distant relatives, and the British Duke and Ji Wang are also distant relatives." They are in-laws, they are so bold, is there any instigation and connivance behind the aristocratic family? Your Highness, do you want to investigate further?"

The other party went around in a big circle, and finally said what he wanted.

He Rong finally understood what Li Yun was doing all the way here.

The other party represented the prince and came to deal with He Rong.

The crown prince is willing to persuade the emperor to agree to He Rong's sending troops. In exchange, He Rong will dig deeper into the issue of reselling military salaries by merchants in Lingzhou. Wang Ji was accused of ignoring the law and discipline, giving and receiving privately, and plotting to commit crimes.

It is impossible for Li Yun to say these words clearly, but the implication is nothing more than that.

Since Emperor Gaozu took over the country, due to successive years of natural disasters, people's livelihood has been difficult, and the national power has not been able to reach its peak. Therefore, even Xiao Yu proclaimed himself king, and the court failed to make up his mind to send troops to take it back.

He Rong's eyes never stop at the corner of Lingzhou. Over the years in Fangzhou, Lingnan, and Lingzhou, he can feel the changes in the hearts of the people in the world. There are more and more people who cannot eat enough and wear warm clothes. It is also getting weaker and weaker. If it continues like this, there is only one lead to lead to any consequences. History books throughout the ages have already written clearly.

He suddenly sneered and met Li Yun with a bewildered expression.

"Go back and tell His Highness the Crown Prince, whatever crime the Lu family should commit, that's the crime. I won't punish you lightly, and I won't make something out of nothing."

Li Yun's complexion changed, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Highness just needs to push the boat along the way..."

He Rong interrupted him: "Go back and ask your elder brother if he still remembers the hardships of the He family in Zhushan County."

Li Yun came here with great difficulty. Unexpectedly, King An refused without even thinking about it, and said without giving up: "Why is your highness so stubborn, this matter is beneficial to you and not harmful..."

He Rong sneered: "The crown prince is my eldest brother, and King Ji is also my second brother. I don't care how they fight against me, but I don't want to do those things that make things worse. If you don't leave, don't blame me for being rude."

"Your Highness..."

Without further ado, He Rong picked up the empty teacup next to him and threw it in Li Yun's direction.

"roll!"

Li Yun ran away with his head in his arms, and fled in despair.

From Xue Tan's point of view, Li Yun deserved it, and it was impossible for him to plead for the other party, but he still said: "Your Highness, it seems that as we expected, the imperial court will not send troops."

He Rong rubbed his eyebrows: "But I thought His Majesty would at least send someone to bring Princess Zhending back, but they didn't even mention it. Even if His Majesty couldn't think of it, others should have thought of it."

Xue Tan shook his head: "The existing map of Mobei in the imperial court was drawn by me when I was in Western Turkic. Besides, the imperial court was blind to it. Rescuing Princess Zhending is a waste of manpower and does not meet the current needs. In their view, the Western Turks are actually not our race, and it is a good thing for the Central Plains to let the two sides fight to the death."

He Rong said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid that instead of weakening the strength of the Eastern Turks in the end, it will make them stronger."

Xue Tan sighed: "Then we can only resign ourselves to fate!"

Li Yun left the Governor's Mansion disheartened, seeing that the other party didn't even stay for a meal, and didn't want to make fun of himself, so he directly went to the Governor's Mansion to meet Yu Feng, hoping to dig something out of the other party's mouth.

But Yu Feng was subdued by He Rong long ago, and he was terrified by He Rong's killing of Zhou Shu, how could he dare to agree to him? Hearing that the other party was sent by the Eastern Palace, Yu Feng, who had a quick mind, immediately went to the court to fight Lenovo thought that the crown prince was at odds with King An, and came to collect information about King An, so he and Li Yunxu and Wei Snake immediately went to the governor's mansion as soon as the other party left, and reported Li Yun's coming to find him. He Rong.

Li Yun walked around in Huile City, but found nothing in the end, so he had to go back home, rubbing his butt that was numb all the way, and set off on the return journey again, worrying about how to explain to the prince when he went back.

He Rong didn't care about Li Yun's going or staying, because he still had more important things to pay attention to. The most common thing he did every day was to send people to look outside the North City Gate, waiting for what might come, or might never come. people.

This matter is so important that for a month, His Highness Wang An was a little out of his mind, not to mention Xue Tan, Sang Lin and others who stayed by his side every day, even Gao Changning could see his abnormal state , specially sent someone to deliver the soup made by himself, which is called calming the nerves and calming the mind, please He Rong take it.

In the early morning of this day, as usual, a cup of thick soup stewed in an earthen pot was placed on He Rong's desk, and he pushed the soup cup towards Xue Tan without even looking at it.

"Help me drink."

"Don't!" Xue Tan waved his hands again and again, "Your Highness, how much have I helped you these days? You've gained a lot of weight, my family thought I was eating and drinking outside all day, please forgive me! I really don't have the good fortune to accept Mrs. Gao's wishes, so you should drink it yourself!"

He Rong frowned: "But I don't like wolfberries."

There is nothing else in Lingzhou, there are so many goji berries, last time when He Rong said that he would send a car for Li Yun to take back, it was not all a joke.

Xue Tan asked strangely: "Don't you like to eat sweets? Goji berry is sweet, isn't it just what you want?"

He Rong twitched the corner of his mouth, and said critically: "But it still smells like medicine, and I'm not sick, and my nose bleeds after eating too much."

Xue Tan laughed: "Then why didn't you tell Mrs. Gao?"

He Rong: "After saying that, she will send me farewell in different ways, forget it."

The two were chatting, but saw Sang Lin running all the way from outside, shouting from a long distance: "Your Highness, they are here! They are here!"

He Rongteng stood up.