Linzhi

"The crown prince is going to ask for a fight?"

In the Prime Minister's Mansion, He Xiu put the teacup heavily on the table, with a suspicious expression on his face, puzzled.

"From the very beginning, the crown prince disapproved of war. He kept saying that peace is the most important thing, and the treasury was empty. But now he changed his tune and took the initiative to invite war. It must not be a sudden enlightenment, right? Or, he is just playing around Look, just for His Majesty to see?"

"Suddenly? I don't think it is sudden at all." Li Kuan smiled slightly, handed the teacup to his nose, sniffed the fragrance of the tea, and just started to drink.

It is popular nowadays to add salt, star anise, pepper and other condiments to tea. There are not a few high-ranking officials and dignitaries who like to add honey. Li Kuan is an exception. He likes to drink clean tea leaves. Wild tea trees are the best, bitter before sweet , endless aftertaste.

The news of Yunzhou and Ganzhou's emergency spread to the capital, although it also made many people panic, but everyone subconsciously thought that Chang'an was still impenetrable, and no matter how hard they fought from outside, they couldn't get here.

In the spring of Chang'an, the willows and the Baqiao, the red phoenix and the sun, are as stable as ever, as if the heaven and the earth are not affected by the slightest.

"The prince is in a hurry."

He Xiu was puzzled, "How do you say that?"

Li Kuan said slowly: "As I said before, the crown prince has not achieved an inch of merit. He was awarded the Eastern Palace only because he is the eldest son of the emperor and his majesty favors him. But his majesty's favor will change, just as his old man likes shortbread today and tomorrow. Maybe he likes Tang Cheese, the last time the crown prince pleaded for the East Palace officials, he already annoyed His Majesty, there was a rift between father and son, and he was eager to find an opportunity to make up for it. Now the Turkic invasion is both a crisis and an opportunity."

He Xiuzhen said: "Although that is the case, he has never been on the battlefield at all, and he is surrounded by poor children who can only talk. It is impossible to count on them. Does the prince still want to go to battle in person?"

Li Kuan asked back, "Why not?"

He Xiu froze for a moment, then frowned: "Did he take the military affairs as a chance for him to test?"

Li Kuan said: "Originally, the prince might not take the initiative to ask for a fight, but after His Royal Highness King Xing asked for a fight, he became anxious. King Xing and your mother and compatriots are the closest. This time, Yunzhou and Ganzhou are in emergency at the same time. Ganzhou With Chen Wei around, there will be no serious problems for a while, but Yunzhou can’t do it. Yunzhou has been destroyed once before, the city is unstable, and people’s hearts are scattered. Therefore, His Majesty will definitely send someone to go. If you are the only one who invites the fight, the crown prince can still stop it, but if it is King Xing who has just quelled the Nanyi Rebellion and has more experience, His Majesty will probably agree. This is why the crown prince is anxious, he cannot Let King Xing go to war again, and you two brothers can no longer hold military power and make military exploits, otherwise, on the day of your triumphant return, his position as crown prince will be even more precarious."

He Xiu is not a dull person, this remark caught his ears, and after thinking about it, he suddenly understood.

"This is why father-in-law asked me to keep Wulang to stay in the capital for a little longer? You know that Wulang will definitely take the initiative to fight if he stays in the capital, and the prince will definitely be motivated!"

Li Kuan nodded: "That's right. His Royal Highness King Xing would never have thought that his act of asking for a fight would actually stimulate the prince's behavior. However, if Queen Pei hadn't been pregnant, I wouldn't have any excuse to let you stay. It can be seen that the heavens are also on your side, Your Highness."

He Xiu frowned and remained silent.

Seeming to see what he was thinking, Li Kuan smiled: "Is Your Highness unhappy that I used King Xing?"

"Father-in-law is all for me, how can I be so ignorant?" He Xiu shook his head, "It's just Goro, he is my brother after all, these things..."

"King Xing knows that you are fighting with the crown prince and have suffered repeatedly, so it's fine if he doesn't help you. In order to avoid being involved in your affairs, he stays out of it and runs directly to Lingnan, but does he know that if there is no His Royal Highness in the capital? For his sake, can he be the only one in Lingnan, is it so smooth?" Li Kuan said earnestly, "His Royal Highness values ​​brother's love and righteousness, and does not ask for anything in return, but as your brother, shouldn't you also give something instead of just sitting back and enjoying it? What's more, I didn't ask him to do anything, just push the boat along the way, if His Highness is not happy, after the crown prince goes out, send King Xing back to Lingnan."

He Xiu hurriedly said: "Father-in-law misunderstood, I am not unhappy, you are very right, although Wulang and I have the same mother, but the older we are, we are not as close as before, but he obeys Saburo , there is absolutely no disobedience. Saburo asked him to go to Lingnan, and he went without saying a word."

Saying this, it is inevitable that it will also bring a bit of sourness.

Li Kuan said with a smile: "People have to live and die together before they can get close. King An and King Xing are no exception. If His Royal Highness was the one who went on an envoy to Western Turks back then, he must be closer to King Xing now."

"I wanted to go back then too, but it's a pity that Saburo was one step behind." He Xiu waved his hand, "Forget it, how many years have passed, these things don't matter. According to the father-in-law, if the crown prince asks for a fight, we will let him go? If the crown prince really goes Yunzhou has been captured, and Yunzhou is lost, what should we do?"

Li Kuan said: "Yunzhou has already fallen once, and it was looted. Even if it is breached, there is nothing to rob. The Turkic people will not be aware of this, so the Turkic raiding Yunzhou is just a bluff. Their real goal should be It's Ganzhou, or Lingzhou."

He Xiu frowned: "But Ganzhou has Chen Wei, and Lingzhou has Saburo..."

"No matter how strong Chen Wei is, he can't handle the Turkic and Xiaoyu troops. As for Lingzhou," Li Kuan shook his head. With the horses slumped and military discipline slack, even if King An wants to cheer up, it will be difficult to train an elite army in a short period of time."

Even though his father-in-law had put all the pros and cons before him, He Xiu still couldn't make a decision.

He couldn't pass the test in his heart.

"Anyway, the prince is my own elder brother after all, let me push him to die..."

Li Kuan sighed: "I understand, Your Highness should not participate in this matter, I will do it."

He Xiu: "Father-in-law..."

Li Kuan waved his hand: "You have always been against the prince, and you have repeatedly called for battle. If you suddenly change the direction and support the prince this time, it will easily make people suspicious. It is better not to speak."

He Xiu clenched his fists tightly, loosening and tightening, just like the faint unwillingness and struggle in his heart.

"We brothers, are we really going to go this far?"

Li Kuan's face was indifferent: "My retainer went through the door of Li Yun's concubine, and bribed the woman a hundred gold, so that she could find an opportunity to ask Li Yun's purpose for going to Lingzhou to find King An. Two days ago, the woman sent There is news that Li Yun revealed after he was drunk that the prince sent him to Lingzhou, and it really has something to do with you."

He Xiu unknowingly straightened her back, showing an expression of attentive listening.

Li Kuan's voice was unhurried: "The crown prince wants King An to add one more crime to the Lu family's charge of reselling military salaries: colluding with King Ji, reselling military salaries, making huge profits, secretly accumulating wealth, with evil intentions."

He Xiu's body shook, and he suddenly became furious: "I treat him as an elder brother, but he hates me so much!"

Li Kuan looked at him with gentle and compassionate eyes.

"So, your family affection is unnecessary to him."

……

Empress Pei gently stroked her unconceived belly, her eyes were gentle, and her tone of voice was three minutes slower than usual, for fear of disturbing the fetus in her womb.

It's no wonder that anyone who loses a child will only become more cautious.

"I just talked to the queen, what does the queen think?"

Seeing that she didn't answer, Emperor Jiayou asked again.

He even came to help Empress Pei with his own hands, treating her like broken glass.

Ever since Empress Pei became pregnant again, the number of Emperor Jiayou's visits has increased sharply. This is not because he especially dotes on Empress Pei—everyone in the harem now knows that Li Shi is the most favored. After giving birth to a prince, he was conferred the title of concubine Shu, only under the empress—and Empress Pei, because of the death of the little prince last time, ended up being nothing. Empress Pei is generous and virtuous, and Emperor Jiayou feels more and more What is owed, it will be even better when Queen Pei is treated. If the husband and wife respect each other like guests, it is better to say that they support each other like relatives.

"I disagree." Empress Pei said.

Seeing that Emperor Jiayou hadn't spoken, she repeated her attitude: "Your Majesty, I still have some energy left, no matter how bad it is, Sushuang can help, and Concubine Shu has a heart, but she doesn't need her to help with palace affairs for the time being. "

Emperor Jiayou was a little embarrassed: "The queen misunderstood. This was not proposed by Concubine Shu, but my idea. I already had a thorn in my heart about the previous incident. Fortunately, God blessed us and gave us a son. I'm afraid that you might make a mistake, so I want to pardon the world and pray for our unborn child."

Empress Pei smiled slightly, and said softly: "I understand your Majesty's intentions. However, palace affairs have long been followed, and it is not troublesome to deal with them. I will be more bored if I don't do anything all day long. It's good to have some things to do."

Emperor Jiayou seemed to want to say something, but he didn't say anything in the end. He nodded and said, "Forget it, as long as you know what's in your heart."

After saying a few gossips and telling her to rest well, Emperor Jiayou left, and Empress Pei got up and sent her to the door.

Seeing the figure of the Son of Heaven going away, Su Shuang said in a low voice: "I'm afraid Mrs. Li isn't the one who gave Your Majesty the pillow breeze?"

Empress Pei shook her head and didn't say anything. After a while, a palace lady came to report that Ling Xue had returned.

Lingxue is Empress Pei's close female official, both inside and outside of Sushuang are highly valued.

Earlier, the Crown Princess sent someone over to ask Sushuang or Ling Xue to talk, and Empress Pei sent Ling Xue there.

"Princess Concubine is because of what you said to her last time. Now that there is an echo from the Crown Prince, and I am afraid that the person I sent made a mistake in expressing it, so I specially asked my servant to listen to the words and pass them on to you when I come back. " Ling Xue said.

The matter of the crown prince's invitation to fight was not only widely circulated in the previous court, but also the harem soon learned of the news. Although Empress Pei seldom intervenes in the affairs of the court, it does not mean that she is completely indifferent. As soon as this matter came out, she would bring the crown prince over. , Said that the prince's daughter should not leave the capital to act rashly, so let the princess concubine persuade the prince not to act impulsively.

The Crown Princess Song also agreed, and now that she is looking for Ling Xue, there must be a reply from there.

Empress Pei asked, "What did the Crown Princess say?"

Ling Xuedao: "The Crown Princess said that the Crown Prince told her that this trip to Yunzhou is not to charge into the battle. There is also veteran Yao Wei in charge of the battle, and a hundred thousand imperial troops accompanying him. He is only in command in name, and he does not need to fight the enemy with real swords and guns. What's more, Yunzhou has already been captured once, and the possibility of the Turkic people going back is very slim."

Empress Pei frowned: "It's so small, it's not completely impossible. If the prince wants to go around and collect credit, he has to see if the credit will stab someone."

She said this so bluntly that Su Shuang was a little nervous and looked around subconsciously.

Lingxue said in a low voice: "Princess Concubine can't persuade the Prince, so I have to talk to Empress and ask Empress what else can I do."

Empress Pei shook her head: "What else can I do? I hope the prince's trip goes well."

Ling Xue and Su Shuang looked at each other, they couldn't say anything more, Empress Pei raised her hand, Ling Xue bowed and left.

Su Shuang took a step forward and held Empress Pei's shoulders.

"Since the prince has his own ideas, don't worry too much. I heard that many ministers in the court think that the Turkic people are just bluffing this time. In fact, they will not attack Yunzhou again. If you want to go, you will also go to Ganzhou, prince. With auspicious people and heavenly appearance, you will be safe and sound."

Empress Pei was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked her: "Have you read Mozi's "Seven Troubles"?"

Su Shuang was taken aback, shook his head and said no.

Empress Pei stopped talking, got up and went to the inner hall.

The author has something to say:

The seven troubles are implied, and will not be clearly stated in the text. In order to facilitate the cute babies without searching, I will paste the snippet of the seven troubles:

Mozi said: There are seven troubles in the country.Seven patients?If the walls and ditches cannot be guarded and the palaces are governed, this is the first problem; if the frontier country is at the border, and the neighbors cannot be rescued, the second problem is; first use the power of the people to do what is useless, and reward those who are incompetent. There are also four troubles: the official holds the salary, the traveler loves the jade, the king revises the law and begs his ministers, but the minister dares not to dispel them, these are the four troubles; If you don't know the precepts, there are five troubles; if you believe in disloyalty, and if you are loyal, you don't believe, then there are six troubles; if there are not enough beans and millets to feed them, if the ministers are not enough to serve them, if rewards are not happy, and punishments cannot be powerful, these are seven troubles.

If you live in the country with seven troubles, there will be no country; if you defend the city with seven troubles, the enemy will fall to the country.If the seven troubles are right, the country will suffer disaster.