Chang'an has arrived in mid-spring, the sun shines through the pane, bringing warmth inside, the corner of the house, the green smoke curling in the Panlong agate furnace, the room is filled with a strange fragrance, and the warm air is filled with the smell of hypnosis.

But the Tang Emperor Li Longji did not have the slightest sleep, he struggled to review the folds in front of the imperial case, and the mountains of folds weighed his heart heavily, he had not entered the imperial study for a few days, but the twists and turns that came every day were not broken because of this.

A few days ago was his tenth birthday (note), the whole country celebrated, the lanterns were especially better than the Shangyuan Festival, and they were all funded by the government, Li Linfu deliberately curried favor, and the money spent was countless, but there was no mention of it in the recital, and Li Longji could guess it, but he didn't have the courage to face that number.

Reading the criticism, he began to feel dizzy, unable to concentrate his attention, looking at the pile of cases, Li Longji secretly sighed, and his heart actually had a kind of fear.

It's no wonder that he is a ten-year-old man, but he still has room at night like a young man, how can he still have the energy to deal with complicated state affairs, perhaps the decline of countless dynasties is due to these inconspicuous little things, lust naturally overdraws energy, overdrawn energy will naturally be mediocre.

Of course, you can't blame the country for being famous, and you can't blindly blame the king for being lustful, after all, people with self-control are in the minority, and the crux of the problem is why the king can have so many women.

Li Longji pushed a stack of folds with his hand, and the folds fell diagonally on the table and on the ground. Falling everywhere, he collapsed on his chair with a brow on his brow.

'Colliers! ’

Li Longji called in a low voice, but no one answered, and a brisk footstep approached,

"Your Majesty, the old slave is here!" The sound is low and pleasant.

Instead of listening to the voice of decades, Li Longji remembered that Gao Lishi worked his birthday. Tired and sick, he raised his tired eyelids, and in front of him was a eunuch about forty years old, contrary to the general white and fat eunuchs, this person had a slightly dark complexion, tall and thin body, if it were not for his thin voice. At first glance, it looks like a general returning from the Western Regions.

He was also a eunuch that Li Longji trusted very much, named Bian Lingcheng, who temporarily replaced him for a few days during Gao Lishi's illness, and without waiting for Li Longji's instructions, he picked up the folds from the ground with his hands and feet, gently put them on the table, and then stood aside with his hands down, waiting for the emperor's orders.

"You help me divide a point, and put it on one side if it comes from the book province, and put it on the other side when it comes up from the Hanlin Academy. There is also the fold of the imperial history placed separately. ”

This is Li Longji's habit of reviewing, and Gao Lishi in the past did not wait for his orders. It's always going to be done properly, and now Colliers is not there. These little things also need to be arranged by him personally. Bian Lingcheng agreed, and after a while, hundreds of books were sorted out, and only the small, and large folds were left on the imperial case, which shows that Bian Lingcheng is very familiar with the personnel structure of the Tang Dynasty.

"Well done!"

Li Longji praised it, but found a strange phenomenon, there was only one piece of music in the imperial history class, lying there alone.

"Is the world really peaceful?"

Li Longji smiled and picked up the fold casually. After only reading two lines, I was immediately attracted by the content. He turned back to the cover, which was the fold on the royal history of the king, saying that the governor of Yaozhou, Li impeached, the governor of Guoyi, and Li Qing, the governor of Guoyi, falsely preached the holy decree in the east, and sealed Han Chongdao as the governor of Nanning Prefecture without authorization.

Li Longji read it a few more times, and sneered in his heart, he believed that what Li said was true, and Li Qing dared to do it, if he didn't dare, it would be impossible for him to solve such a tricky Nanzhao problem for himself, the problem is not here, Wang Ji is Li Linfu's confidant, how could Li Linfu not have read this recital, but there is no review by him on it, and there is only this one of the recitals of the imperial history, is it possible?

Acting by the hands of others, this is Li Linfu's consistent practice, just a glance, Li Longji saw through Li Linfu's thoughts, he was jealous of Li Qing's merits in Nanzhao, hated him for cooperating with Wei Jian, and wanted to attack him.

Li Longji's heart suddenly became bored, and he casually threw this book to Bian Lingcheng, and said: "People in the palace, you have some knowledge, you can tell me, if this matter is true, how should I deal with it?" ”

Bian Lingcheng looked at the fold, as if he was looking at a tempting piece of Hu Cake, did he want to see it? He wanted to see, he did not enter the palace since he was a child, when he was young, he also read poetry and books, traveled to the great mountains and rivers, and went to heaven at dusk, which used to be his, "why don't the men take Wu Hook and collect Guanshan Fifty Prefectures" also yearned for him, but later entered the palace, and he was older, so that he was determined to fade, and the twilight gradually appeared, although he also showed his talent in front of Li Longji, but the physical disability made him inferior, and the sinister of the court made him timid, he did not dare to compete with Gao Lishi for power, and only planned to cripple this life in obscurity.

However, Gao Lishi's illness made him see a ray of light in the vast dark night, and in the past few days he replaced Gao Lishi, so that the seed that was dormant in the depths of his heart quietly bred and sprouted because of the rain, and the opportunity finally came, and the emperor actually let him comment on the minister's recital.

Bian Lingcheng didn't dare to look at it, it seemed to be another piece of red-hot charcoal, so he didn't dare to pick it up, this is a privilege enjoyed by Colliers, and he knows better than anyone what the consequences will be if he picks it up.

He raised his head slightly, but at a glance he caught a glimpse of the emperor's stern gaze, his hands trembled, and he picked up the folds, he had packed up countless folds, but he had never been as heavy as today's book, the opportunity was grasped by himself, since he had taken this step, he had no way back.

Bian Lingcheng took a deep breath and hurriedly browsed it, someone dared to falsely convey the holy decree, this is the crime of destroying the door, Bian Lingcheng was about to speak, but it seemed that an arm pulled him back, "Wait! Things will never be so simple, otherwise the emperor would not have looked so solemn and let himself refer to it. ’

His mind was thinking quickly, and he suddenly remembered what the emperor said to Princess Yuzhen yesterday, "Li Qing, whom you recommended to me, only took 300 people to Nanzhao, and actually solved the Nanzhao dilemma that had made me worry for more than ten years, and this is the best birthday gift I have received this year." ’

The words were joyful, and he laughed heartily, he had never seen the emperor so happy for many years, and now someone actually accused Li Qing of falsely passing on the holy decree in this eye, Bian Lingcheng quickly found out the emperor's mood at this time, disdainful and annoyed.

Thinking of this, he suddenly made up his mind to bet on his future and bet on it, Bian Lingcheng said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, the old slave was poor when he was young, and once his mother was sick and the family had no money to go for treatment, so I went to the hospital to steal medicine, and I was caught, but the doctor did not beat me, let alone arrest me to see an official, but instead saw a doctor for my mother for free, saying that I was doing it for filial piety and could not be regarded as stealing." What Li Qing did today is very similar to the old slave, maybe he faked the holy decree, but the emperor had to think about his situation at that time, there were only 300 people, and his position was low, and more importantly, he was serving the emperor, and the ultimate purpose of the fake holy decree was to solve the dilemma of Nanzhao for the emperor, not himself

Speaking of this, Bian Lingcheng peeked at Li Longji's face again, saw that his eyes were soft, his face was indifferent, he knew that he had bet right, and he couldn't help but secretly rejoice, and continued: "Although the old slave doesn't know the cause and effect, I think the emperor must have given him the right to dispose of it temporarily. ”

After speaking, Bian Lingcheng stood with his hands down, waiting for the emperor's fate, Li Longji stared at him, he didn't speak for a long time, and he suddenly said again: "Then I ask you again, if Nanzhao is suddenly split into two and is no longer as strong as before, then what will I do first?" ”

Bian Lingcheng thought for a while, and said in a low voice: "The old slave thinks that the first thing to do is to guard against Tibet. ”

"That's a good point, it's very good!"

Li Longji smiled, took out a gold medal from under the imperial case, handed it to Bian Lingcheng and said: "In the past two days, Li Qing, who has returned from Nanzhao, should go to Chang'an, you take my gold medal to pick him up, as long as he arrives in Chang'an, bring him to see me immediately." ”

The moment Bian Lingcheng took the gold medal and walked out of the door, a heart fell to the ground quietly, followed by ecstasy that his eyebrows couldn't hide, and behind him, Li Longji stared at his back and nodded secretly.

.

Li Qing led 300 cavalry to escort the last batch of officials from the Tang Dynasty to Nanzhao back to Chang'an, eating and sleeping all the way. On this day, they have seen the majestic Chang'an City bathed in golden light from afar, and finally arrived home, the soldiers invariably broke out into a cheer, and even the dozen or so officials who did not smile all the way couldn't help but smile. The Tang Dynasty mission is located not far from Nan'anmen, and the earth-shattering shouts of killing, the screams of dying, and the bloodstains that cannot be washed away have become the lingering nightmare of these officials.

It is still about five miles away from Yanguang Gate, and it is mid-spring at this time. The shade of the trees is thick and green, the apricot flowers are old, and many Chang'an citizens who go to the suburbs on the official road come and go, all looking at this strange team in surprise, wearing the military uniform of the Tang Dynasty, but they are all dark-skinned, full of wind and dust, many soldiers' armor is torn, and there are blood stains on it, passers-by dare not look more. Stay away from them.

Li Siye came to Li Qing's side and said with emotion: "It's a bad deal." I'm about to return to Anxi, this time with Yangming Nanzhao and his party. I have benefited so much, and the most important thing is to make friends with you as a brother. ”

He stretched out his long arm and pressed Li Qing's shoulder, his eyes showed a hint of nostalgia, and he said sincerely, "You should also come to the Western Regions!" That's where your talents come in. ”

Li Qing nodded silently, patted his hand and said, "I also want to, if I have the opportunity, I will definitely go!" ”

At this time, Gao Zhandao and Wu Xingsu also urged him to come immediately. Wu Xingsu has been silent these days, and people have become emaciated. Seeing that he had arrived in Chang'an, he couldn't hold back any longer, and hesitated and said to Li Qing: "I decided to resign from the military after I went back, there is no day when I will come out, I want to follow Yangming." ”

Li Qing hurriedly waved his hand, "How can this work, you have made a great contribution this time, and you will be rewarded when you go back, not to mention that you are also a captain, and you will even be promoted to Guoyi Captain, it is when you come out, follow me to be a small official at most, why bother!" ”

Wu Xingsu shook his head and said firmly: "I have been thinking about this issue since the east, and I will not change my mind just because you say a few words, if you don't accept me, then our friendship will be cut off!" And it's not just me, you look at the brothers, and even Nan Jiyun, who broke up in Chengdu, all have the same thoughts as me. ”

Li Qing looked up at everyone, only to see that all the people stopped their horses and looked at him silently in a circle, everyone's eyes were full of reluctance, Li Qing only felt that the corners of his eyes were a little sour, and he reluctantly smiled at everyone: "We all live in Chang'an, and there will be many opportunities to meet in the future!" I would always invite people to drinks. ”

At this time, Gao Zhandao stepped forward and said with a smile: "Actually, it is not impossible, this time Yang Ming has made a great contribution, the emperor will definitely promote your official, from the emperor to exempt you from being too reluctant, you should be a military position in the future, if you are sent to the place, you can take advantage of the emperor's pleasure and propose to take them all away, I think there are only three hundred people, the emperor should agree." ”

reminded Li Qing in one sentence that this is an opportunity, it is best to go to the local government to be an official, avoid being too co-opted by yourself, and kill two birds with one stone.

At this time, he suddenly remembered something, so he smiled at everyone: "I almost forgot, before leaving, I knocked on Yu Chengjie's bamboo pole, and everyone took it and divided it, ten taels of gold per person, and the brothers who died in battle should give double shares." ”

Ten taels of gold is equivalent to one hundred taels of silver, and it can be exchanged for one hundred and fifty yuan on the black market, although the Yulin Army is different from the ordinary government soldiers, you don't need to bring your own weapons, food, daily necessities, and even a little allowance, but it is only a few times a year, and this time it is a drudgery to go to Nanzhao, and you have money and ways to intercede and get out, and most of the people who accompany you are poor people.

Hearing that Li Qing was going to give each of them ten taels of gold, in ecstasy, everyone couldn't help but cheer loudly, looking at a group of officials with envy, and secretly sighing that they were not so lucky, but Li Qing smiled at them again: "All adults will naturally strictly abide by the precepts of the imperial court, but there should be an allowance for carriages and horses along the way, and it is not public money, everyone has a share of ten taels of gold, even if it is a little tea money for everyone, if you don't accept it, but don't give me face!" ”

The officials looked at each other, wanting to, but they didn't know how to speak, at this time Du Youlin laughed, "What General Li said is that although the money is not much, if you don't accept it, you really won't give it to you, and the old man will be the first to accept it." ”

When the officials saw that someone took the lead, and he was also the father-in-law, they all smiled happily, and said that they must give General Li a face, but they secretly praised Li Qing in their hearts for being a man and making a fortune.

It's not that Li Qing wants to give them to them, but when Yu Chengjie said goodbye to Jin, they all met on the side, if they don't stop their mouths, I'm afraid the soldiers' money won't be able to cover it for long.

At this moment, there was a miscellaneous sound of horses' hooves in the distance, only to see the banner waving, there seemed to be a large group of people and horses, this is the official road outside the Yanguang Gate, not the main road, the official road is narrow, the people along the road have fled to both sides, lest they provoke this group of horses, gradually the horse team approached, about five or a hundred people, all riding horses, and more than a dozen carriages, the personnel in it were mixed, there were sergeants with bright armor, there were fierce faces of fierce families, guarding nearly 100 men and women, all of them were not very old, all of them were red and green, and they were dressed in bright clothes, It's coming quickly in this direction.

Du Youlin looked at the curtain for a long time, and suddenly his face changed, and he shouted: "It's not good! It's those little bastards in Chang'an, everyone get out of the way! ”

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Note: Li Longji's birthday is August 5, and it was brought forward due to the needs of the plot.