Huangfu Weiming, who was the envoy of Hexi Jiedu at the time, returned to Beijing this time because he recently fought against Tubo again, but it was only a small victory. The good news was transmitted back to the capital, Xuanzong Li Longji was actually happy, Xu was tired by the recent battle between the family lords, so he ordered the emperor to return to Beijing to offer prisoners, intending to celebrate with the ceremony of offering prisoners.

Therefore, the prisoner sacrifice ceremony was very grand, first by the emperor, the hundred officials took the captives to the Taimiao to hold the ceremony, Emperor Xuanzong read the sacrifice in front of the ancestors, in order to tell the ancestors their merits. Then Luan drove back to the palace, and hundreds of officials gathered in the Qinzheng Building to hold a ceremony to announce the cloth, and let the world know about it. After all the ceremonies are completed, Li Longji will also reward the soldiers who participated in the battle, and at the same time give a banquet to the emperor.

From this ceremony, it can also be seen that Emperor Xuanzong has been too keen on these beautiful moves over the years, and such a small victory is inevitably a bit of a fuss.

After the banquet, Li Longji left Huangfu Weiming alone to narrate. The Tang Dynasty in the northwest, where ethnic minorities lived together, was the place where kings of all generations cared the most, and Li Longji also paid the most attention to the military affairs in the northwest at this time.

Huangfu Weiming replied: "Please rest assured, after the civil strife in Tibet, it has not yet recovered its vitality. The ministers and Wang Zhonghei often spoke loudly, not only training the troops internally, but also coordinating the defense, and the border defense was solid, and the Tubo people did not want to attack further. In fact, the Tibetans do not have the power to intrude now, and it is not easy for them to defend the existing land. ”

Li Longji bowed his head and said: "Yes, you and the loyal heir advance and retreat together, so that Longyou and Hexi are connected, so that the two are superimposed, and its power is prominent." ”

"Your Majesty, only Longyou and Hexi are still too thin, if Shuo can be connected with these two towns, then the north town Turkic, and the Tubo has the tendency of Mount Tai to suppress the top. Huangfu Weiming said frankly.

Hearing this, Emperor Xuanzong glanced at him deeply, then smiled, and said, "Okay, Hexi is connected to Shuofang, you can contact in the center and make the three towns coordinate defense." ”

Unexpectedly, Huangfu Weiming didn't seem to see the hidden meaning of the emperor's smile at all, and then said: "Your Majesty, the minister's idea is that the Shuofang Jiedu envoy will either be concurrently served by the minister, or concurrently served by Wang Zhonghei, so that a joint force can be formed." ”

Li Longji was silent for a moment when he heard this, and then said slowly: "Qing's intentions, let's wait for me to discuss with the left and right before deciding." By the way, the loyal heir has not returned to Beijing for a long time, relatively speaking, Longyou has fewer battles than Hexi, is he still busy training troops every day?"

"Returning to His Majesty, the loyal heir is not only busy training troops every day, but he also has one more ability over the years, that is, he is good at selecting generals. ”

Li Longji was very interested when he heard this, so he motioned to Huangfu Wei to explain it in detail.

Huangfu Weiming is like a number of treasures, one by one said: "Under the account of the loyal heir, the original two generals are the most well-known, one of them is Ge Shuhan, a Turk, first a general under the account of the loyal heir, and then he was promoted to the general of the right military guard, this person is both civil and military; Later, Gao Xianzhifeng, the deputy envoy of Anxi, was transferred to Longyou, and there were also two people under his account, named Changqing and Guo Ziyi, all three of whom were brave and strategic, and their loyal heirs relied on them very much. In this way, the loyal heir has the name of 'Five Tiger Generals'. ”

Li Longji said: "Ge Shuhan, Li Guangbi, Gao Xianzhi, Guo Ziyi, and Feng Changqing are the five tiger generals, and I have written down their names." He asked again, "Huang Fuqing, it is not easy for you to return to Beijing once, but this time you have made great contributions, you can stay in Beijing for a few more days and then come back." If you ask for anything, ask for it. ”

Huangfu Weiming bowed down and said: "Your Majesty has a very generous reward this time, and the minister is already grateful, and he has nothing more to ask for." Your Majesty, the minister has a suggestion, but it does not involve the military, I don't know whether to talk about it or not?"

"There is no taboo in Qingyan, I allow you to speak boldly. Emperor Xuanzong said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, Li Linfu has been the prime minister since the twenty-fourth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and it has been more than ten years. His Majesty had previously conferred the post of prime minister, and his term of office was mostly about three years, and the ministers and others privately thought that Li Linfu's time as prime minister this time was too long, and he didn't know if he was thinking about it?" Huangfu Weiming said bluntly.

Li Longji's heart suddenly shook a trace of unhappiness, thinking that as a border general, this central matter is a little more lenient! So, Li Longji asked in a cold voice: "Could it be that there is something wrong with this Li Linfu?"

Huangfu Weiming was a man with a true temperament, and he really didn't notice the change in Li Longji's tone, so he still replied frankly: "The minister has been at the border for a long time, and he doesn't know what is wrong with Beijing, so it is difficult to know what is wrong with Li Linfu. The reason why the minister made this suggestion was that he compared the post of prime minister before and after, and felt that Li Linfu had been the prime minister for too long. ”

This reason is the true thought in his heart, but listening to the ears of the Son of Heaven, who is always immersed in power and scheming, it is inevitable that he will be a little blind.

Li Longji smiled and said: "During the Zhenguan period, that Fang Duxian got along with the prime minister until he died, but Emperor Taizong never thought that their tenure was too long. Then he looked at Huangfu Weiming with burning eyes, and asked: "Oh, you said that Li Linfu is not appropriate, can you recommend people for me?"

Emperor Fu Wei Ming has been in the army for a long time, and his speech has always been straightforward, but today's answer is right, but Emperor Xuanzong looks so easy-going, and his previous words of advice also make the emperor feel the slightest unpleasant. So Huangfu Weiming, who had never guessed the emperor's thoughts, blurted out the following words, but he didn't know that he had made a big mistake and laid the foundation for the subsequent downfall.

Huangfu Weiming said: "The minister thinks that Wei Jian, the secretary of the Criminal Department, is worthy of the job. ”

Of course, Emperor Xuanzong knew that Huangfu Weiming was friendly with Wei Jian and Li Shizhi, and Huangfu Weiming suggested that he should dismiss Li Linfu as prime minister, so that Li Shizhi and Wei Jian would become the left and right phases, which was too obvious!

Li Longji laughed secretly in his heart: "If you don't know how to play this set, don't come to play!"

Li Longji may not have thought that Huangfu Weiming's clumsy plan may not be selfish, but his true feelings and sincerity, but Huangfu Weiming, as a border general, is enthusiastic about the affairs of the court, if it is really as he suggested, the two rulers of the court and the central government are his friends, then can he, the emperor, sleep peacefully?

When the stakes of trusting a person are high enough to endanger their survival, there are not many people who choose to believe it. What's more, it is the nature of emperors to be suspicious.

Li Longji did not reprimand Huangfu Weiming on the spot, but only said lightly: "I know, you can step down." ”

Huangfu Weiming did not notice the change in the emperor's mind from beginning to end, and immediately entered Li Shizhi's office after withdrawing from the Great Interior, and followed Li Shizhi into his Qujiang villa at night to drink and talk, as if old friends had been reunited after a long absence. Of course, in Huangfu Weiming's view, a qiē book is just that simple.

In addition to building houses and living in various squares in the city, the dignitaries of Chang'an also loved to build houses and courtyards in places with excellent scenery in the suburbs, as a place to visit in their private leisure. Because of the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Qujiang River, it has become the best place to choose a location. The villa of Li Shizhi, the prime minister on the left, is built on the east bank of the Qujiang River and is half waist-waisted, facing the pond, and the whole building is hidden among the trees and flowers, which is really an elegant place.

For two days in a row, the two of them drank in the house at night, or walked along both sides of the Qujiang River hand in hand, and Huangfu Weiming naturally stayed in this villa.

Unbeknownst to them, there were several pairs of falcon-like eyes in the darkness, watching their every move.

In an ordinary small courtyard in Chang'an East City, Wan Dezhao, who sneaked all the way and took several days to arrive in Chang'an, was looking at the information sent by Wan An in the room at the moment.

Wan An on the side reported at the same time: "Master, the emperor is clearly in the trap! Now he is living in Li Shizhi's courtyard. ”

Wan Dezhao just nodded slightly, and said: "With Huangfu Weiming's frank temperament, since we have sent someone to accuse him of Li Linfu's arbitrariness, this time we will enter the court, and we will naturally find an opportunity to speak to the emperor." ”

It turned out that Emperor Xuanzong had already learned the news that Emperor Xuanzong had allowed Huangfu Weiming to return to Beijing to offer prisoners long before Wan Dezhao left, so the plan to counterattack had been prepared a long time ago, and it was necessary to cross the vast Gobi Desert in the middle of returning to Chang'an from Hexi, and there was enough time for Wan Dezhao to act.

Although Huangfu Weiming has a straightforward temperament, he is not stupid, and under the condition that Li Linfu has no mistakes, he admonishes him to depose the ruling government out of thin air, which is a bit of a joke.

It's just that Wan Dezhao's people made him believe that Li Linfu had become jealous of him, so he decided to strike first, but this famous general who was in the middle of the battlefield knew a lot less about these schemes.

Therefore, when the answer is correct, it will go straight with a single knife, without a trace of cover-up, but it is still the method of driving straight on the battlefield.

"This Emperor Fu Weiming is too reckless, and he is so straightforward when he answers correctly, which really makes people don't know what to say. A smile appeared on Wan An's face, and he looked at Wan Dezhao after speaking.

Wan An's joking words were actually to let the head of the family, who had been tired for many days, relax for a while.

It's just that obviously it didn't have much effect, Wan Dezhao quietly put away a stack of papers full of various information, and then said slowly: "Huangfu Weiming is not reckless, let alone stupid, but because he is only good at these, do you want to use means that you are not good at to deal with unknown risks?"

Wan An was helpless and smiled stupidly.

Wan Dezhao then said expressionlessly: "Okay, let's go prepare the car!"

"Where is the master going?" Wan An asked.

"Right Xiang, Li Linfu's mansion. Wan Dezhao replied.

An ordinary carriage drove out of Dongshi, headed north, circled a few squares, and soon stopped at the gate of the Prime Minister's mansion.

The seven officials in front of the prime minister's door, and the people who walked out of such a shabby carriage wanted to enter the door of the prime minister's mansion, which was a bit extravagant. It's just that Wan'an, the master of the Grandmaster Realm, is here, just a faint glance, and the porter, who is still somewhat knowledgeable, felt his heart tremble involuntarily, so he obediently took the greeting post in Wan'an's hand and went in to report.

In the study of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Linfu took the letter of worship handed by the concierge and looked at it silently for a long time.

Seeing this, Qian Yi, a staff member on the side, said loudly: "Xiangye, the head of the Yuzhang family came in person, I don't know what happened?"

Li Linfu chuckled and said, "What else can happen? I was forced by the gang of people from the Seven Sects and the Five Surnames!"

Qian Yi could actually guess Wan Dezhao's intentions, but he didn't have any countermeasures for this matter, so he had to leave the problem to his own owner.

"Then ...... now," Qian Yi looked at Li Linfu with an inquiring gaze.

Li Linfu said with a smile: "Open the middle door to welcome guests!"

Qian Yi's eyes rolled, and he praised: "Xiangye is wise!"

So, a moment later, the left prime minister's mansion, the middle door was wide open, two rows of well-trained family fish ran out, respectfully separated on both sides, the chief staff of the prime minister's mansion, Mr. Qian Yi personally greeted at the gate, a qiē with the highest specifications, immediately attracted many curious eyes.

In front of everyone's eyes, Qian Yi walked to the plain carriage with a smile, and invited him politely: "The master of the family has been waiting for a long time, please!"

Wan An's face was gloomy as he looked at the corners of his mouth raised, his body bowed slightly, and his face was full of sincere Qian Yi, and he couldn't wait to kill him with one slap.

Wan Dezhao in the carriage naturally knew the movement outside, shook his head helplessly, and said loudly: "There is Mr. Lao Kaiyang, Wan Mou will go in with you." ”

As he spoke, he lifted the curtain and walked out, and it was too much to cover it up.

So, the enthusiastic Qian Yi led Wan Dezhao all the way to a pavilion in the back garden of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

In the pavilion, when Li Linfu, the right minister, was fiddling with a set of tea sets in civilian clothes, and after a series of movements, a cup of fragrant tea was delivered to Wan Dezhao, who was already seated.

At this time, only Wan Dezhao and Li Linfu were left in the hall. Wan Dezhao took the fragrant tea, tasted it carefully, closed his eyes and savored the various tastes in the tea soup, and praised it after a long time: "Good tea!"

Li Linfu smiled and said, "Brother Wan, we haven't seen each other for almost twenty years, right?"

"At the end of the year, twenty years!" Wan Dezhao put down the teacup and said.

Li Linfu sighed with emotion: "Yes, time flies so fast!"

Wan Dezhao didn't have time to sigh, just looked at Li Linfu quietly, Li Linfu saw this, and said with a dumb smile: "I haven't seen you for many years, but Brother Wan is a lot anxious." ”

"When life and death are at stake, I can't afford to stop. Wan Dezhao looked at Li Linfu and said with a solemn expression.

Li Linfu shook his head, and then stopped prevaricating, and asked straight to the point: "What can I get?"

Both of them are extremely smart people, and Li Linfu already knew the purpose of Wan Dezhao's visit, so he asked directly, since he wanted to cooperate, he naturally needed to come up with a suitable price.

It's just that the price quoted by Wan Dezhao is a little different from Li Linfu's expectations.

Wan Dezhao said: "I can help you pour him, and naturally I can help him pour you." ”

When Li Linfu heard this, he squinted his eyes, looked at Wan Dezhao, and said in a cold tone: "Can I think that you are threatening me?"

Wan Dezhao nodded calmly and said flatly: "I have already said just now, at the moment of life and death, as long as it can play a role, I will do anything!"

Li Linfu looked at Wan Dezhao directly, Wan Dezhao looked at him calmly, and after a long time, Li Linfu chuckled: "Tell me about your plan!"

Wan Dezhao bowed slightly, and reported a few names like a few family treasures: "Huangfu Weiming, Li Shizhi, Wei Jian plus a loyal king." ”

"A border general, a ruler, a noble relative and a prince, so many people of enough weight get together, enough to rehearse a big scene. Wan Dezhao continued.

Li Linfu glanced at Wan Dezhao deeply, he hadn't seen him for many years, and Wan Dezhao was really as extraordinary as ever.

Li Linfu nodded silently and didn't say anything.

But Wan Dezhao knew that Li Linfu had agreed to cooperate with him, so he stood up and bowed to him seriously, and then turned to leave. As for how Li Linfu cooperated with him, Wan Dezhao was not worried at all, if he couldn't even do this little thing, Li Linfu wouldn't be worthy of coming to this day.

After Wan Dezhao left, Qian Yi entered the pavilion with irrepressible joy on his face: "Xiangye, are you finally willing to agree?"

Li Linfu sighed and said, "Can you disagree? With Wan Dezhao's ability, he can do anything under the wall in a hurry, and he can do it! If he doesn't agree, he will find Li Shizhi and turn his gun against me, after all, all Wanjia needs is a turmoil, and no matter who wins or loses, ......."

On the second day, Li Shizhi came to Li Linfu's office, held a letter in his hand and said, "Li Xiang, how did this letter from Huajun get to my case?"

Li Linfu took the book and read it, and said: "Yes, it must be that the cardinal's room was confused, and he was inadvertently assigned to the Zuo Xiang case. So let's leave this book here. ”

However, Li Shizhi had a strong interest in what the book said, so he said excitedly: "Li Xiang, what is said in this book is really a great thing! Huajun has discovered gold mines in Huashan, and if it is excavated, the Tang Dynasty can increase a lot of wealth. But I don't know if it's true?"

Li Linfu picked up the book and read it, a thought suddenly flashed in his heart, and he said secretly: "Wan Dezhao's movements are so fast!"

So, his face showed joy at the right time and said: "Yes, if it is as Huajun plays, the excavation of this mine will be of great help to alleviate the constraints of the national treasury." As for the truth or falsity of this matter, if you want to come to Nahua County, you don't dare to deceive the saint in such a big matter. ”

It turned out that what was said in the book was that Huajun had just discovered a gold mine in Huashan. Li Shizhi was in charge of the affairs of the military department, and such matters should normally be assigned to Li Linfu by the cardinal's room.

"In that case, why didn't Li Xiang report this matter to the Holy God earlier?" Li Shizhi agreed with Li Linfu's opinion, so he smiled.

Li Linfu bowed his head, held his long beard in his hand and said, "Yes, the sooner the Holy Lord knows about this, the sooner he can rejoice." It's just that I have just met the Holy One, and if I enter the palace again, the Holy One will accuse me of doing things too casually. Anyway, postpone the matter for two days, and then report it to the Holy Lord. ”

Li Shizhi glanced at Li Linfu with an inexplicable meaning, thought about it for a long time, and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he said: "Li Xiang, I just want to enter the palace to meet the saint in person to report on the military situation in the northwest. If Li Xiang doesn't think I'm troublesome, how about bringing it to the Holy Lord?"

Li Linfu smiled and said, "That's just right! Let the Holy Lord know about it as soon as possible, and it is also my wish." Then there will be Lao Zuoxiang. ”