Western Zhou Imperial Palace, Jade Pole Palace

Ning Decai, the prime minister of the Western Zhou Dynasty, also talked about Wang Ji Linbing, and said his thoughts, and the Empress Dowager Ning of the Western Zhou Dynasty fell silent after hearing it.

In fact, in this matter, it really can't be talked about who is right and who is wrong, the mother-in-law says that the mother-in-law is reasonable, and the public says that the public is reasonable.

Ning Decai, as the prime minister of the Western Zhou Dynasty, presided over the state affairs on behalf of the emperor and queen, and it was reasonable to strive for stability.

As the general of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Li Wang Ji Linbing is also the commander of the 400,000 troops this time, and it is not wrong to advocate the speed of the soldiers, so as to expand the results of this mobilization.

At present, the two have disagreements, and it can only be said that the two sides are in different positions, and Wei has different ideas, so they confront each other on this matter.

In fact, Empress Dowager Ning herself knows that up to now, neither Ning Decai nor Ji Li can convince each other, and the real final choice seems to be in her hands.

Did you send troops ahead of schedule?

As long as she, the queen mother, makes a choice, she can immediately let this debate decide the winner.

As for Emperor Amano, who is the most suitable person in the palace to make a decision, he is too young to be in charge............

Empress Dowager Ning's phoenix eyes were unfazed and patrolled on Ning Decai and Ji Linbing, who were standing in the center of the main hall, and slowly pondered in her mind.

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Here, for the convenience of readers, we must first introduce the current power situation in the court of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

As mentioned above, the first emperor Zhou Taizong Ji Shan, before his death, left three auxiliary ministers to the little emperor, these three people are the former prime minister Yu Cong, the general Pang Longhu, and the son of Taizu, Li Wang Ji Linbing.

Judging from the situation at that time, the auxiliary ministers left by Taizong to the little emperor were not considered inconsiderately.

But the world is impermanent, and no matter how thoughtful Zhou Taizong is, he can't withstand the changes in current affairs.

In order to prevent the two countries from attacking, the generals Pang Longhu and King Li led troops to garrison the border of Jin, Zhou and Chu respectively.

Two of the three auxiliary ministers commanded the troops abroad, the little emperor could not govern in person, and the Empress Dowager Ning was a woman, and the Western Zhou Dynasty became the world of Prime Minister Yu Cong.

At first, Prime Minister Yu was quite honest and conscientiously handled the government for the little emperor, but as he was in charge of the court for longer and longer, Prime Minister Yu slowly began to become arrogant and even domineering.

treated his colleagues in the court as slaves, regarded the emperor and queen as nothing, acted arbitrarily, repeatedly violated taboos, and even had several blatant trespasses.

Empress Dowager Ning endured him for nearly two years, and finally couldn't bear it anymore, and secretly ordered King Li to lead his troops back to Beijing, and let his maiden brother Ning Decai, who was the secretary of the Ministry of Rites at the time, and Ning Dewu, who was the deputy commander of the forbidden army at that time, the three of them should cooperate with each other, arrest Prime Minister Yu Cong, and hand him over to Dali Temple for interrogation, and then give him a cup of poisoned wine to death.

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After Prime Minister Yu was killed, King Li was named a former general for his merits, and the Ning brothers also had their own rewards, one was appointed as the secretary of the ministry, paving the way for taking over the position of prime minister later, and the other was from a small four-rank military general, one step to the sky to become a three-grade military boss, and the future is bright.

At the same time, after two years of lurking, Empress Dowager Ning finally stepped into the front desk of the court, listened to the government, and became the veritable supreme head of state in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

After that, the general Pang Longhu retreated bravely, said goodbye to the old man and returned to his hometown, and King Li naturally took over the position of general, and the Ning brothers were also promoted one after another.

Today, Ning Decai has become the prime minister of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and Ning Dewu has become the left general of the Quartet General, ranking among the top three in the military.

In addition to the two brothers Ning Decai and Ning Dewu, the Ning family, where the Empress Dowager Ning is located, there are many people who hold important positions in the court.

Ning's family is the first family in Ningzhou, the ancestor was a king with a different surname in the previous dynasty, and later defected to the Western Zhou Dynasty Taizu Ji Li's account, although he was not awarded any title, but several generations of children have been quite active in the court, and it has a great influence in Ningzhou.

Now, with the support of the Empress Dowager Ning, the Ning family, which has a lot of children, has been a blowout of talents in the past two generations, plus tobacco relatives, friends, classmates, and various officials who are related to the Ning family, the Ning family is getting stronger and stronger in the court, and it is gradually unstoppable.

At this time, King Li, who had a good relationship with Empress Dowager Ning because of the eradication of Prime Minister Yu, suddenly intervened in court politics as an auxiliary minister, and suppressed the Ning family, and many courtiers who couldn't stand the Ning family were thrown into King Li's command.

Slowly, the Western Zhou court was divided into three major factions, the Hou Party centered on the Ning family, and the backer behind it was the Empress Dowager Ning; The royalist party headed by King Li aimed to defend the orthodoxy of the Ji clan and assist the emperor in his own government.

There is also a faction of neutrals, advocating inaction, balancing the two factions of the emperor and royalists, and maintaining the stability of the court.

At present, the Hou Party represented by the Ning clan is the strongest, and King Daniel has military power in his hands, as for the neutral faction, they have high prestige and old seniority, and neither the Hou Party nor the Royalist Party dare to offend them.

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In Empress Dowager Ning's heart, she is naturally towards the back party where her mother's family is located, and she usually stands out for it.

But at the same time, Empress Dowager Ning, as a mother, had to worry about her son Emperor Amano, she was afraid that the Ning family would become a relative and threaten her son's throne, so she deliberately connived at King Li's royalist party to be active in the court, in order to contain the Ning family.

Even, behind the neutral faction, there is also the figure of the Empress Dowager Ning, she guards against the Ning family, so if she supports King Li, she will naturally guard against King Li, so she raised Gao Ming and others, who were mainly old ministers of the former emperor, in order to suppress King Li's ambitions.

Such a ring is set on a link, so that the three parties of the DPRK and China contain each other, although the Empress Dowager Ning is a woman, but the political means must not be underestimated.

Now it is the same way, although King Li and Ning Xiang are ostensibly fighting for the opportunity to send troops, but behind the scenes, the dispute between the two is also a collision between the Hou Party and the Royalist Party.

It stands to reason that Empress Dowager Ning should support her brother Ning Decai, but in her heart, she agrees with Wang Binggui's speedy approach.

Helping relatives, or reason, has become the biggest problem in Empress Dowager Ning's heart at this time.

Fortunately, Empress Dowager Ning was able to support her son to the throne among the harem concubines, and strategized to eradicate the prime minister, and now she is supporting the three factions in the court to fight and sit firmly in the back seat, it is impossible not to have this decisive power.

After thinking for a while, Empress Dowager Ning was sure in her heart, raised her eyes and swept past her brother Ning Decai, who was full of hope, and looked at Ji Linbing, the first general of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

"King Li, if the mourning family asks about it, you tell the mourning family the truth, and you are a little sure of the troops in advance."

Ji Linbing didn't answer immediately, but muttered seriously for a while before replying.

"Seventy percent, Queen Mother, the younger brother is seventy percent sure of defeating the Jin army, if the situation is good, the younger brother is even confident to take Yongzhou."

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"Okay."

Empress Dowager Ning didn't ask King Li any stupid words of "what if you can't do it", but instead shouted good, and then looked at King Li with a solemn expression.

"King Li is so sure, the mourning family will fulfill you once, as you wish, send troops to attack the Northern Jin Dynasty in advance, the specific time is up to you."

King Li's face showed joy, and he leaned down and bowed: "Brother Empress Dowager Xie is complete." ”

Empress Dowager Ning looked kind: "You just have to rest assured to go to war, there is a mourning family in the rear to watch in person, there will be no mistakes, King Li, the emperor can count on you, the imperial uncle." ”

King Li nodded fiercely: "Minister, I will live up to the expectations of the Queen Mother and Your Majesty." ”

Empress Dowager Ning was satisfied with her jaw, and explained a few words to King Li, who was anxious to rush to the camp to reorganize the army, preparing to go to war, and after a while, he asked to leave the palace.

After King Li left, Empress Dowager Ning sent the eunuchs and palace maids to take the little emperor down to rest on the grounds that the little emperor was sleepy, and then Feng Mu looked at Ning Decai, who had been silent since she agreed to King Li's invitation, with a slightly hesitant expression, and asked.

"Brother, it's strange that the mourning family responded to the king's side."

Ning Decai shook his head, and a smile appeared on his chubby face: "There are pros and cons to whether or not to send troops in advance, it is inevitable that the Queen Mother will have a tendency, and the minister has already expected it in his heart." ”

Empress Dowager Ning was a little puzzled: "My brother knows that the mourning family wants to support King Li. ”

Ning Decai nodded: "This battle is the first major war launched by His Majesty since he succeeded to the throne, and it is related to the merits of the Amano Dynasty, and the Queen Mother naturally wants to achieve great results. ”

"Since the elder brother knows the meaning of mourning, why should he argue with the king." Empress Dowager Ning was still puzzled.

The chubby Prime Minister Ning Cheng showed a hint of a smile: "King Li presided over the battle of Jin this time, and he was in charge of 400,000 soldiers and horses, and the army was monstrous, so he had to prevent him from breeding bad intentions."

Now, I openly contradict him, it is to let him know that there is still a stumbling block behind me, so that he can take care of it, and in addition, the Queen Mother's support for his proposal between me and him today is also regarded as a favor to him, which is also a bond to him. ”

Empress Dowager Ning suddenly realized, and then she understood why Ning Decai had such a strong attitude just now, and a feeling of guilt suddenly appeared in her heart, and finally turned into a sentence.

"Brother has a heart."

Ning Decai shook his head and looked gentle: "Family, it should be." ”

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Half an hour later

Ning Decai came out of the palace, returned to his prime minister's mansion, and said with a gloomy face to his younger brother Ning Dewu, who rushed to hear the news.

"The Ning family and her son, did she still make a choice?"

Ning Dewu is only in his thirties this year, with a sturdy body, and his face changed for a while when he heard this, and finally asked in a hoarse voice.

"What do we do now?"

Ning Decai's fat face flashed a shadow: "I want to find a way to stuff you in, this battle is the best time for us." ”

Ning Dewu was a little embarrassed: "Ji Linbing is not easy to provoke, I'm afraid......... Can't fight him. ”

"Don't worry."

Ning Decai smiled confidently: "And me, besides, if this Ji Linbing really wins a big battle, you said that the orphan and widow in the palace can sit still, doesn't she like to play balance, see how she plays this time." ”