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Pei Lin walked into the imperial study and saw Li Yuan sitting behind the desk, still holding a copy of the recital in his hand. And beside him, a prisoner was helping him beat his back

"Show Master Pei tea!" Li Yuan ordered.

The supervisor hurriedly gave Pei Lin a cup of tea and brought it to Pei Lian.

"Go down first! I don't have to serve for a while! Li Yuan said.

The warden bowed, bowed and left the study, closing the door before leaving.

"Pei Aiqing, take a look at this piece first. It was sent by Li Xiaogong, who stayed in Xiangyang, saying that he had sent people to ask him for help, saying that he had found a large number of Zhou troops gathered in the Caizhou area, with a number of about 100,000, and it was possible to invade Xinyang in the near future and attack Jiangxia. Fu Gongzuo said that if the Tang army did not help him, Jiangxia would be difficult to hold, and then the Tang army and the Jianghuai army would be cut off, and the Zhou army's power would extend into the Jingxiang area. At this time, Li Yuan handed a copy of the recital to Pei Lian.

After Pei Lin looked at it for a while, he was also a little shocked. Because he never expected that, according to Li Xiaogong's report, the situation of the Jianghuai Army was worse than imagined. There was also a rift between the two sworn brothers, Du Fuwei and Fu Gongzuo, and there were faint signs of splitting between the two.

According to Li Xiaogong, Du Fuwei originally sent his chief Du Ping to Jiangxia as a guard, but now he also led his headquarters to withdraw to Yuzhang. At present, the Jianghuai army in Jingxiang, except for some garrison troops, can be used for mobile warfare less than 50,000, and the weapons and equipment are insufficient, and the morale is also very low. Wanting to count on them to resist the attack of the Zhou army is tantamount to a fool's dream.

Pei Lin was in charge of the intelligence agency of the Tang Army, and he also knew something about the contradictions between Du Fuwei and Fu Gongzuo, the two righteous brothers, so he immediately said: "Your Majesty, the contradiction between Du Fuwei and Fu Gongzuo was actually planted long after they defeated Yuhua Ji and occupied Jiangdu. Du Fuwei has no big ambitions, and a small wealth is peace. After conquering Jiangdong, there was no enterprising spirit. ”

In everyone's eyes, Du Fuwei's style of action is only suitable for being a leader of separatist forces, and he has no ambition to seize the world. However, Fu Gongzuo believes that the Jianghuai Army should take advantage of the situation and participate in the war against the world together with the Zhou Dynasty of our Tang Dynasty and Yuming. ”

"Therefore, the Jianghuai Army's recent battles to destroy Shen Faxing and Lin Shihong were all promoted by the auxiliary public. And the action of conspiring with our army to annihilate Xiao Mo mainly relied on the command of the auxiliary minister...... In this way, the prestige of Fu Gongzuo in the Jianghuai army is getting higher and higher, and he is close to Du Fuwei! ”

Therefore, Fu Gongzuo was jealous of Du Fuwei's two sons, Du Ping and Du Yu. He was afraid that he would take away his father's position as the leader of the Jianghuai army in the future, resulting in them not being able to inherit the throne of the Jianghuai king. So he spoke ill of Fu Gongzuo in front of Du Fuwei, saying that he had the intention of being independent. And after some investigation, Du Fuwei did find that Fu Gongzuo was secretly establishing his own team, especially this time to attack Xiao Mo with our army, those Jianghuai soldiers under his command almost only obeyed his orders, and regarded his son Du Ping as nothing. ”

After learning what Fu Gongzuo had done, Du Fuwei also became suspicious of this old brother, so he asked Du Ping to bring him a letter asking him to return to Jiangdu, saying that there was something important to discuss. However, after receiving Du Fuwei's letter, Fu Gongzuo thought that Du Fuwei wanted to seize his military power. Because the Jianghuai army in Jingxiang at that time, in addition to him, was the largest Du Ping. If he returned to Jiangdu, the Jianghuai army in the Jingxiang area would fall into Du Ping's hands. ”

So, Fu Gongzuo panicked and said that he was sick and couldn't withstand the long distance and refused to go to Jiangdu. But at this time, Du Ping found that although Fu Gongzuo had been bedridden, he even showed a delirious appearance when he went to visit. But he still holds the military power to death. Even if he, the titular Jiangxia stayed, he couldn't command the Jianghuai army in Jiangxia. Moreover, because he expressed his intention to take over the Jianghuai Army in the Jingxiang area. In the vicinity of his house, there are often more suspicious people. ”

Du Ping feared that his safety was threatened, and after reporting the current situation in the Jingxiang area to his father Du Fuwei, he led his own troops to withdraw to the Yuzhang area. Now that Du Fuwei has sent additional troops to Yuzhang County, if it weren't for the Zhou army to press the border in the north, I am afraid that there will be a civil war within the Jianghuai army first! Pei Lin sighed.

After Li Yuan heard this, he also nodded, he had also heard about the instability within the Jianghuai Army, but he didn't know so much about Pei Lian.

"Actually, I originally wanted to do something to the Jianghuai Army." At this time, Li Yuan said something that surprised Pei Lian.

"Although Du Fuwei is not a climate, he has always refused to agree to submit to my Datang, and only agreed to form an alliance to fight against Yuming. This person is really a little ignorant! Li Yuan said with some anger: "He doesn't want to think about it, with his current strength, is there still hope to follow Sun Wu and occupy Jiangdong to divide the world?" ”

Pei Lin listened, but smiled slightly: "Weichen thinks that this Jianghuai King just wants to sit on the ground and bargain with His Majesty." Of course, there is also a possibility that he can't see the future situation clearly, and he doesn't know whether it is my Datang or that Da Zhou who will win the battle for world domination in the future. If he hastily agrees to submit to us. But in the end, it was Da Zhou who won the world, then he would be finished! It's just that although this person is as cunning as a fox, he can't count Yuming to move faster than him, and now the large army of the Zhou army has been pressed, unless he surrenders immediately, otherwise the end is not as good as after the battle of Luoyang, he promised to surrender to our army! ”

"Hmm!" Li Yuan nodded and said, "Pei Aiqing, let's get down to business." Now in the face of Yuming's aggressive killing towards Jiangnan, how do you think our army should respond? At the court meeting, I saw that many ministers, including Liu Jing, were squeaky and refused to express their opinions. You're also suggesting that I'm going to have a private interview...... What exactly can't be discussed openly? Are you still worried about leaks? ”

When Pei Lin heard this, he smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, I can answer the former question, but the minister doesn't dare to say the latter." ”

"Don't dare to say? What is there not to say? Did you get some lines? Some of my ministers of the Tang Dynasty secretly threw themselves into Yuming? After Li Yuan heard this, his brows furrowed, and a trace of murderous intent appeared on his face.

"Your Majesty is too worried! Wechen didn't want to say that some of his colleagues had defected to the enemy, but that there was a lot of noise in the DPRK now. The discord with the two brothers of King Qin has affected the normal operation of the imperial court. Pei Lin gritted his teeth, and finally decided to explain the problem and the problem, as for how to solve it, that was what Li Yuan considered. This is something that no one can help with.

"Pei Aiqing, is the problem really so serious? Affected the normal operation of the imperial court? Li Yuan was a little unconvinced.

"That's true!" Pei Lin said: "During the previous court meeting, why even many ministers, including Liu Jing, were squeaky and unwilling to express their opinions on whether to rescue Du Fuwei, it was because they disagreed with King Qin's opinion. He did not approve of the immediate rescue of Du Fuwei, but the king of Qin wanted to send troops to rescue the Jianghuai army immediately. If they agreed to the rescue, they offended, and if they expressed their opposition to the rescue, they offended the king of Qin. Therefore they speak ambiguously, so that they may not be offended. But in this way, the meaning of the court is lost. If everyone doesn't express their opinions, how can they brainstorm ideas? Isn't the court meeting of the imperial court an ornament? ”

"How serious is the situation?" Li Yuan was taken aback when he heard Pei Lin say this. He never expected that the battle between his two sons would have such a great impact on the mentality of the courtiers.

"Yes! Because although Jiancheng is the lord of the East Palace, His Majesty asked the King of Qin to set up the Tiance Mansion, allowing him to recruit talents and talents. Moreover, King Qin has made many achievements in many battles, and his prestige and popularity in the Tang army are also very high. In this way, it is natural that many courtiers believe that the king of Qin may also inherit the throne in the future. Pei Lin sighed and said: "Therefore, among the courtiers now, a faction has gradually formed, one faction supports the establishment of the foundation, and the other faction supports the establishment of the King of Qin. Of course, these two factions are in the minority, and most of them, like Liu Jing, remain neutral in the face of not seeing the situation clearly, so as not to offend both. ”

After Li Yuan heard this, his brows furrowed even more. He didn't expect that his connivance with competition between children would cause the current result. Now that the pattern of the two competing for the reserve has been formed, and Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin have their own teams, it is difficult to eliminate the rift between the two brothers.

After thinking for a while, Li Yuanfang asked slowly, "Pei Aiqing, then what do you think I should do now?" ”

"Weichen thinks that the top priority is to establish the candidate for the prince as soon as possible!" Pei Lin said: "Your Majesty can make some statements to dispel the courtiers' doubts." If it is to be established, it can be announced that some unimportant government affairs will be handed over to review, and at the same time it can be declared that it has the power to control the army in the absence of His Majesty in Beijing. In this way, the ministers naturally understood that His Majesty did not hesitate on the issue of establishing a reserve, that is, he planned to establish a reserve. ”

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, and then continued: "If Your Majesty has no intention of establishing Jiancheng as the future prince, then you can find an opportunity to take advantage of Jiancheng's mistake to announce that he will be deprived of his position and replaced by the King of Qin, so that the wind and waves in the court will be calmed down, and the courtiers will no longer be submissive and at a loss!" ”

Li Yuan naturally understood what Pei Lin meant, that is, he wanted him to make a choice immediately, whether to appoint Li Jiancheng or Li Shimin as the prince.

After he was silent for a moment, Fang sighed and said, "To be honest, I haven't made up my mind either. Since ancient times, standing is to establish the long and not the young, and to establish the heirs but not to stand up. At that time, Emperor Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty broke this convention, abolished Yang Yong, and renamed Yang Guang, the king of Jin, as the prince, resulting in the death of the Great Sui II. I don't want to make a mistake like Yang Jian! ”

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