When the rebels in the north were resting, the land in the south was still peaceful as a whole, and there was no war and chaos.

Southern Tang Dynasty, Jiangning Mansion, Jinling. This is the largest and most prosperous city in the south, prosperous and still prosperous, since the turmoil of the Tang Dynasty, through the management of the Wu and Tang dynasties, there has been no major war for thirty or forty years, which is very rare.

On both sides of the Qinhuai River, the city is densely packed, businessmen gather, accompanied by Jinling City, the surrounding area, the economy is developed, and the culture is prosperous. Even with the news of war and turmoil coming from the western part of the North, there is still a flourishing scene in this place.

The Mid-Autumn Festival has just passed, inside and outside Jinling, there is still a festive afterglow after the festival. It's really been peaceful for a long time, and the atmosphere of the whole city is full of joy and enjoyment, from high-ranking officials and nobles to Li Min Qiantou. Although Jinling is rich, there are poor people and poor people, but even the beggars in the market seem to be a little leisurely.

Jinling City is tired of being the capital, although it has a long history and profound heritage, but it has also been abandoned several times. The imperial city was expanded on the basis of the Yangwu Jinling Mansion in that year, and the scale was not small, luxurious and magnificent.

A wide chariot drove slowly on the smooth long street, towards the south gate of the imperial city, looking at the carriage decoration and the purple and yellow clothes used, the owner of the car must be a royal nobleman. Inside the car, there was a young man, with a wide face, a solemn bearing, and a purple python robe with a strong sense of nobility.

He is the eldest son of the Southern Tang Emperor Li Jing, Li Hongji, the king of Yan, who is not very old, but he already has a mouth of slightly dense stubble. In his calm countenance, contemplation emerged, and from time to time he touched his neatly trimmed stubble.

In the last year, his uncle Li Jingsui was made the emperor's younger brother, and after passing on to brothers, he, the eldest son of the emperor, was sent to Yangzhou, the eastern capital, and then moved to Runzhou. Although Li Hongji is young, he is ambitious, and with the spirit of youth, he is very unconvinced. This time he returned to Beijing from Runzhou, in addition to spending the Mid-Autumn Festival at the same time, but also for the purpose of "sending troops" to the Northern Expedition.

Some time ago, before Li Shouzhen plotted rebellion, he secretly had constant contacts with the Southern Tang Dynasty, and when he rebelled, he sent people to Jinling to invite troops to the same time. In response to this matter, whether to send troops or not, the Southern Tang Dynasty monarchs and ministers also attached great importance to it, and discussed it several times, but as usual, the court and the central government were divided into two factions, and they disagreed, and they continued to argue for more than a month, and the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed, and there was no result......

"The military dispute has not yet been resolved. This Manchu Dynasty is full of corpse vegetarian meals, extremely incompetent, what is the use of keeping it? Thinking of the situation of the imperial court collected in the past two days, Li Hongji suddenly burst out, smashed the wall of the compartment hard, and scolded with a cold expression.

The carriage stopped suddenly, as if frightened by the movement in the car, and after stopping for a while, there was still no movement, and he lifted the curtain and reprimanded outward: "Why stop? ”

Li Hongji is usually a calm person, but in fact, his temperament is jealous and impatient, and if he is slightly unsatisfactory, he is easy to break out.

The guards who were driving the car hurriedly said: "His Royal Highness the imperial brother got out of the car and drove in front." ”

It was such a coincidence that Li Hongji's expression flashed an unfriendly change, leaned out, stepped on the wheel, and jumped to the ground. At the corner of the street on the side, a more noble car was parked there, a young man in Chinese clothes with a gentle face, supported by the guards, got off the car slowly, saw Li Hongji, showed a modest smile, and said hello: "Hongji." ”

"Uncle Huang." Li Hongji arched his hand, his attitude was not salty or light, and between his uncle and nephew, he looked very rusty: "Uncle Huang is also going to enter the palace?" ”

"Your Majesty summons you, don't dare to slack off." Li Jingsui replied with a smile.

Li Jingsui seemed modest and polite, calm and elegant, but in the eyes of Li Hongji, he was even more repulsive, he just couldn't get used to the elegant and easy-going appearance of this imperial uncle, and only felt that he was pretending.

"If you are in a hurry, you can go first." Being able to feel Li Hongji's coldness, Li Jingsui stretched out his hand and said.

"The emperor's brother is in front, how dare the minister exceed the rules?" Li Hongji didn't seem to have any city government, and replied lightly: "It's better for Uncle Huang to invite first." ”

Simple communication, uncle and nephew are extremely estranged. Li Jingsui has a gentle temperament and always maintains his demeanor, but when he returned to the car, he sighed silently, and his expression was very worried.

Li Jingsui's image in the eyes of others is humble and polite, gentlemanly, and has no desire to fight for power. In the year since he became the emperor's younger brother, he has always been worried and has been very low-key. If it is said that Emperor Li Jing has no queen, it is fine, but there is Li Hongji, a grown prince, especially his temperament has been seen since he was a child, and he has deep concerns in his heart.

As the people arrived, after the service, the controversy about sending troops began again. An old minister who lost his teeth took the lead, leaning his old waist and speaking in a weak voice: "Your Majesty, the northern army is strong, and the Tang army is not accustomed to land warfare, and it has been fighting with the northern army for more years." At present, the Liu family has settled on the Central Plains, and although Li Shouzhen has rebelled, the situation is unclear, so he can't act rashly......"

The one who spoke was Li Jianxun, the minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who was old and old, and his words were not good, and he was still worshiped as a servant of the door and a member of Tongping Zhangshi. What he said was an old cliché, the northern army was strong, the situation was undecided, and so on, and his attitude was very clear, that is, he did not agree to send troops.

As soon as his words fell, someone immediately refuted them, and the reason was also the same old-fashioned, taking the Central Plains in Beiding and restoring the old capital. Such a slogan has been shouted by the Nantang side for a long time, and it is very empty.

When the Khitan destroyed the Jin Dynasty, he was shouting, the Liu family was shouting when he entered the Central Plains, and he was shouting when he was attacking the Houshu Fortification, and now Li Shouzhen is rebellious, and he can still show his political attitude. That is, the slogan was shouted loudly and never implemented.

In the past two years of turbulent changes in the Central Plains, on the side of the Southern Tang Dynasty, in addition to offending the Han Dynasty, the most active thing was to send the former Jin Mizhou Assassin Shi Huang Fuhui who surrendered to recruit and collude with the Huainan group of thieves, but after Liu Chengyou tried his best to suppress bandits and settle the chaos in the country this year, there was no follow-up.

The courtiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty were very literate, or they were good at writing, or they were good at poetry, or they were good at writing. Versatile and quick-witted, this kind of argument often starts and ends. All along, it's been like this.

Emperor Li Jing sat on the throne at this time, and he liked to discuss articles and poems with his subordinates, but this court always upset him, especially when the Manchu dynasty was arguing.

"Enough!" Finally, he couldn't hold back, his voice was angry, he glanced at the ministers in the hall, and couldn't help but sigh in a low voice: "If Feng Zhengzhong and Uncle Han are here, how can I be bothered so much?" ”

Li Jing just felt it, but if the two of them were really in the court, I was afraid that they would quarrel even more. The Feng and Han mentioned in his mouth are the former prime minister Feng Yansi and the Zhongshu people who know Han Xizai. These two are Li Jing's most trusted courtiers.

In the past few years since Li Jing succeeded to the throne, two factions have basically formed above the Southern Tang Dynasty. One faction is dominated by Song Qiqiu, Feng Yansi, Chen Jue and other founding fathers and old ministers, and the other faction is dominated by Han Xizai, Jiang Wenwei and other scholars who crossed from the Central Plains to the south, and the two factions fought fiercely.

However, he is not in Jinling at the moment, and he was relegated to a place by Li Jing. In the previous Pingfu, in response to the remnants of the Wang family in Fuzhang, Li Jing had the idea of striking the troops and appeasing them, but Chen Jue, who was the privy envoy at the time, sent troops to attack Li Renda in Fuzhou with Feng Yanlu, Cha Wenhui and other Tang generals.

This is something done by Song and Feng's party, so naturally they have to wipe their butts. Under the mediation, Chen Jue, Feng Yanlu and others were spared death, especially Chen Jue, who attacked with his life and was defeated, such a serious crime was only degraded. Han Xizai, Jiang Wenwei and others naturally refused to accept it, and impeached Song Qiqiu and Feng Yansi for bringing disaster to the country and the army, which made the two also degraded.

Song Feng and his party were naturally unwilling, and then found a reason to impeach Han Xizai and Jiang Wenwei, Li Jing was impatient, and simply demoted the two.

The dispute between the two parties has come to an end for the time being. However, although people are separated, above the court, the forces of the two sides are still fiercely confrontation and confrontation. Party struggle seems to be the most important contradiction in the Southern Tang Dynasty, in contrast, the battle for the storage position can only be described as mild, and Li Hongji, the king of Yan, is fledgling and can't make any waves.

"What does the imperial brother think?" Taking a deep breath, Li Jing asked Li Jingsui.

Li Jingsui glanced at the ministers of the two factions, his face was entangled, he thought about it, and then bowed: "The soldiers are in danger, and the ministers think that it is better to wait and see and then make a difference." ”

"If you wait and see, the situation in the Central Plains will be certain, and it will be too late to make any decisions at that time!" As soon as the words fell, a young and powerful voice refuted it.

Li Jing frowned, glanced at Li Hongji, and saw that he was out of the ranks, looking ashamed. He has always disliked this impatient son, who has no literary style and is not like himself.

Of course, Li Hongji didn't have that kind of look, he directly explained his thoughts, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, our dynasty has deep relations with the Central Plains, and there are many disputes on the border. If you don't take advantage of the predicament there, send troops out of Huai, the northern army will inevitably invade the south on a different day! The princes are arguing over this matter, without any practical measures, and in the opinion of the ministers, they have already missed the best time, and if they don't act, this matter does not need to be discussed! ”

As soon as this statement fell, when the court monarchs and ministers, all changed color. This Yan Wang is really young and vigorous.

"This matter will be put aside for the time being, Rong Zhen will think about it and retreat."

After all, unable to negotiate a result, Li Jing went back to the dormitory happily.

According to Li Jing's original thoughts, of course he still has the will to send troops, and now that the Southern Tang Dynasty is in full swing, even if he has a peaceful temperament, it is also a monarch, and he still has the heart to open up the territory and expand the territory. The previous time he took advantage of the Fujian chaos to send troops to destroy the Wang family, and he had to gain control of Fujian, which was a big boost to his reputation, of course, the subsequent defeats were not counted.

However, every time I hear conservatives talk about objective factors such as the strength of the northern army, the instability of Fujian, and the threat of Wu Yue, I feel intimidated again.

In the palace, after thinking about it for a long time and hesitating, finally, that night, Li Jing still made up his mind and issued an edict to send troops. With Zhenhai Jiedu envoy Li Jinquan as the northern camp to recruit envoys, led 30,000 Huainan soldiers to the north, aided Jizhong, and sent 10,000 forbidden troops from Jinling to the north.

Less than half a day after the edict, the news came from the north, the Han Emperor personally raised 100,000 male soldiers, and drove the west to quell the rebellion, Li Shouzhen had been destroyed by the Han army six days ago, and the city was broken and killed.

A piece of news, the Manchu Dynasty was silent, and then the conservatives who had just been suppressed rose up and actively advised the emperor to strike the army. Li Jing was obviously particularly surprised by the fighting ability of the Han army, and under the persuasion of a group of people, he humbly accepted the advice, and urgently ordered the lieutenant to go north with the gold medal to recall the envoy of the edict, and only issued an edict to let the prefectures and towns along the Huai River strengthen the defense of the border.

In addition, Li Hongji, the king of Yan, was driven back to Runzhou again.