Outside the city of Samma, in the camp of the Tang Army.

Qin Mubai rode on a horse, picked up a bow, galloped on the gallop of the school field, and practiced riding and archery.

Three arrows came out, not only did not one arrow hit the red star, but one arrow missed the target and went far away.

The sergeants accompanying him were stunned, and secretly said in their hearts: What happened to the young marshal today? What a big disappointment! If you talk about archery, except for General Xue Rengui in the Kansai Army, I am afraid that no one can match the young marshal!

"I'm not practicing today!" Qin Mubai grabbed his horse, threw his bow, and jumped off the horse, his face was indeed gloomy, obviously in a bad mood.

"Master, but do you have something on your mind?" Qin Shi stepped forward and took the horse and asked cautiously.

Qin Mubai walked forward with his hands on his back and didn't say a word. Qin Shi didn't dare to ask again, so he had to take care of the horses.

"Qin Shi, come to my tent later."

"Yes, master."

After saying that, Qin Mubai left, and the left and right sergeants held their breath and didn't dare to say anything, for fear of touching the boss's moldy head. Qin Shi looked at Qin Mubai's back worriedly, and said secretly: It's rare to see the master so bored, what is the matter?

Due to his previous great achievements in the first battle of Phantom Moon Valley, Qin Shi, a lowly servant, was awarded the position of "Wupin Guerrilla General" by the imperial court, and was promoted to the title of Wujin County Baron (title), with food and official products, he is already an upright "nobleman". But he always only regarded himself as the "Qin family dog slave", and refused to even change his title.

Later, Qin Shi came to Qin Mubai's military tent and saw that Qin Mubai was looking at his armor with a somewhat serious expression. He called carefully, Qin Mubai came back to his senses and said to him, "Qin Shi, I have something for you to do." ”

"Please command, master!"

"It's not an ordinary errand, it's not very easy. But now by my side, you are the only one who is most worthy of my trust, so I can only send you. Qin Mubai said solemnly.

Qin Shi bowed down with a straight face, "Qin Shi is willing to go to the soup for his master, and he will never give up!" ”

"Get up." Qin Mubai helped him up, then walked outside the tent and reprimanded the left and right guard sergeants, and then whispered to Qin Shi, "I want you to go back to the Tang Dynasty, from Lanzhou all the way to Chang'an, and secretly spread rumors between the cities!" ”

"What rumors?"

"Let's just say that Qin Mu Bai is arrogant and arrogant, and he intends to support troops in the Western Regions and redraw the land and become king!"

Qin Shi was stunned for a moment, "This!" …… Master, why do you want Qin Shi to do this kind of thing, which is not good for the master? …… I—I'm not going to do it! ”

"Don't worry, listen to me." Qin Mubai pressed his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Now the situation is delicate and urgent, and I have no way to make a decision." ”

"I don't understand." Qin Shimu shook his head, "I only know that if you say bad things about your master, you just can't do it!" ”

Qin Mubai smiled and said, "Okay, I'll explain to you briefly." Otherwise, if you have a knot in your heart and are unwilling to do things, it will not be good to do it. ”

"Okay, okay." Qin Shi nodded again and again.

Qin Mubai said: "To tell you simply, now Chang'an is competing for the position of the prince, and there is a lot of trouble. You know, I have a very good relationship with King Wu. In the court, that is, the people in the 'same camp', one loses and one prospers. This time, if King Wu fails to seize the throne, then in the future, I am very likely to be purged by King Wu's political enemies. Just like Hou Junji at the beginning, understand? ”

"Got it." Qin Shi was still frowning in confusion, "But why spread the rumors of the master's rebellion?" ”

Qin Mubai said with a smile: "Rumors are naturally rumors, and they won't be true. But the more unfavorable the rumors are about me, the easier it is to reach the ears of some people in the court. These 'certain people' refer to my political enemies with King Wu. King Wu wants to win the heir, and the biggest reliance is on me. Now at this time, if there are rumors in Guanzhong that Qin Mubai has opposing intentions, then whether it is the emperor or my political enemies, they have to be cautious and cautious. If they are unfavorable to King Wu at this time, won't it be more likely to force me against me? Moreover, when His Majesty the Emperor considered the candidate for the crown prince, he also had to take into account the stability of the country and the stability of the army. In other words, if King Wu is made the prince safe and sound, then I, Qin Mubai, will definitely have no reason to rebel and establish myself as the king; On the other hand, if someone plots to kill the king of Wu or the king of Wu fails to seize the throne and is deposed, then ......"

"The villain seems to understand a little bit more." Qin Shi nodded and said, "Master, this is changing the way to protect His Royal Highness King Wu, right?" ”

"Clever!" Qin Mubai smiled and praised, "That's what it means." It is not only to protect King Wu, but also to protect myself. Because I don't want to be the second Hou Junji, understand? ”

"Understood...... Qin Shi sighed, but his brows furrowed, "But in order to protect King Wu, the master wants to damage his reputation......"

"People are not afraid of shadows, it's okay. I'm not really trying to rebel. Qin Mubai nodded with a smile, "It is precisely because of these rumors that I can lead the troops back with integrity and sincerity to prove my loyalty and innocence." When the three or four hundred thousand Guanxi troops return to Lanzhou, no matter who it is, they must also weigh the strong backing behind King Wu! …… Even if there is no guarantee that King Wu can successfully ascend to the throne, at least, he can be safe! ”

"The master's good intentions for His Royal Highness King Wu are really touching." Qin Shi said emotionally, "The villain will clean up and go back to the Central Plains immediately!" ”

"Be careful all the way." Qin Mubai patted him on the shoulder, "I'm going to work hard for you again." You can change your name and surname to disguise yourself as a horse trader and return to Lanzhou with the Han caravan. Later, I will give you twenty fine Dawan horses, which are great gifts from the kings of the nine kingdoms of Zhaowu. After you bring these horses back to Lanzhou, you will privately hand them over to Pang Fei, and ask him to keep these horses in the army for breeding, so as to improve the breed of war horses of our Kansai Army. ”

"Well, the villain made a note of it...... After the villain leaves, the owner has to take care of himself. Qin Shi knelt down and said goodbye.

"Get up." Qin Mubai helped him up again and said with a smile, "You are also a big man with officials and lords, don't call villains and masters like this, don't kneel on the ground if you have nothing to do, it's not a proper system." When you return to Chang'an after the war, you also have to buy land, marry a wife and settle down, and create a family business. ”

Qin Shi grinned, "I don't want anything, just follow the master to eat!" In the future, I will be where the master is, and I can serve the master's diet and daily life, and Qin Shi's life will be enough! ”

"Silly!" Qin Mubai shook his head helplessly and smiled, "Okay, don't say more." You go and get ready, and let's go! ”

"Well, the villain is gone!"

arranged Qin Shi, and Qin Mubai breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was in the Western Regions, Qin Mubai knew that Chang'an must be tense and nervous now. Li Ke is alone, how can he be the opponent of the eldest grandson Wuji and the king of Wei?

Although the Battle of Pingbo made Li Ke famous, once he returned to the court, Li Ke only had fame and merits, which could compare to the many intertwined henchmen of King Wei's party? Above the court, the number of people is public opinion and the right to speak. What's more, the eldest grandson Wuji leaned towards the government and the opposition, and the King of Wei operated near the water platform for a long time. Although in the past two years, Emperor Li Shimin has not trusted the eldest grandson Wuji as much as before, nor has he respected Li Tai, the king of Wei, as before, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse...... Unfortunately, Li Ke is a horse.

After a few days of thinking, Qin Mubai's heart was already very sober - Li Ke must become the prince of the East Palace, this is no longer a simple matter of the personal relationship between the two, but the collusion and unity of the interests of the two!

If the king of Wei becomes the crown prince, then he will definitely implement the statecraft of the eldest grandson Wuji in the future, and the rule of culture will become the master, stop military expansion, reduce military spending, and reduce the authority of generals. Then, purging the military party that originally supported King Wu will become their first priority.

At that time, Qin Mubai will be the first to be purged!

On the contrary, if King Wu inherits the throne, he will be able to reach a unity with Qin Mubai with his temperament similar to Li Shimin's 'accumulating and forging ahead to win the grand strategy', and the statecraft strategy of "ruling both civil and military, pioneering and enterprising". Then, Qin Mubai's political life will be extended indefinitely, at least he will not become the target of unloading the mill and killing the donkey!

In the political field, it has always been a naked power struggle and a life-and-death contest, and it is inevitable that there will be intrigue and intrigue. There is no real gentleman in this, because this kind of person would have died a long time ago.

Qin Mubai wants to support King Wu to enter the East Palace, both private and public. And in the face of such a major right and wrong, he has never hesitated to use some unconventional means, just like when he cheated Da Feichuan to death, and he won by surprise.

……

In the afternoon, King Kang sent an envoy to the palace, saying that the monarchs of the nine kingdoms of Zhaowu invited Qin Mubai into the palace to enjoy the singing and dancing and share the dinner. Qin Mubai politely refused on the grounds that he was ill.

For several days, the palace issued several invitations, but Qin Mubai did not go. The intention is very clear, it is to avoid the queen of Kangguo.

After lingering that night, the queen pearl's heart seemed to be embedded in Qin Mubai's body, and she couldn't take it back. But now that everything is in turmoil, Qin Mubai has no intention of having a long relationship with his children, and he doesn't want to go in and out of the forbidden place frequently, leaving behind to make people laugh. After all, one is the feudal official of the Celestial Empire and the other is the king of Kangguo, and the two have no clear relationship between husband and wife, how can they hook up day and night, and the body of the queen's husband is not cold!

Romance is romantic, Qin Mubai doesn't want to be scolded by someone pointing at his backbone behind his back.

A few days later, Yuwen Hongtai returned from the Sam River with the 100,000 soldiers and horses allocated to him by Qin Mubai. He handed over the order to Qin Mubai, saying that according to Qin Mubai's military orders, Su Dingfang had made peace with the commander of the Great Food, Nurman. The other party also agreed to Qin Mubai's strategy of peace and alliance and was willing to withdraw his troops. Since then, Da Shi and Kangju have crossed the river and ruled each other, without invading each other and having friendly exchanges. Nurman also sent a special envoy to return with Yuwen Hongtai and gave him a gift to thank Qin Mubai—a gold scimitar, a jewel, and three good horses that Nurman was wearing. He also said that the Great Food Country would send an envoy to reconcile with the Tang Dynasty and conclude a friendship alliance.

Qin Mubai sighed: Very good! Finally, the threat of the Great Cannibal has been temporarily solved, and precious time has been gained! Nurman is a smart man, knowing that Datang has gained a firm foothold in the Western Regions and formed an established fact to dominate the Western Regions. He was a step slower, and now he still wants to forcibly invade and compete with the Tang Dynasty for hegemony in the Western Regions, which is no longer possible.

"Fortunately, there is no formal war with the Great Food Country, nor has it completely eliminated the potential threat of the Great Food Country. As the saying goes, 'Flying birds are good and the bow is hidden', as long as this side of the Western Regions still faces the threat of the Great Food Country for a day, then I, Qin Mubai, will not be 'laid off' for a day! Thinking of this, Qin Mubai smiled darkly, "After destroying Tubo and pacifying the Western Regions, there are many fewer opponents." But the big food country...... I want to go to the court and tell them that this is a big Western country with a strength comparable to that of the Tang Dynasty, and they must be cautious and guarded against. It is necessary to unify the nine kingdoms of Zhaowu into one country to help us guard against strong enemies, and set up a large number of troops and horses in this place to prevent contingencies......"