Before Li Mao met the Son of Heaven, only Tutu Chengguang dared to visit Li Mao in the Jinju Academy. The old eunuch knows Li Chun's temper very well, and at the same time shoulders a special mission, so he is not afraid of gossip and slander.

Suddenly Tu Chengxuan's situation in the court, Li Mao is still clear, his biggest trouble now is to be involved in the dispute between the prince and the prince, this is a road without turning back, once he walks on, he can only go all the way to the dark.

Li Mao saw through his intentions at a glance, and he wanted to pull Li Mao as his foreign aid to consolidate his position in Chang'an.

Collusion between internal officials and other towns to gain self-respect is a shortcut to consolidating power, but if they are not careful, they can easily fall.

And for the outside marshals, it is also very easy to set themselves on fire, and they are implicated by those who fall, and if they are not strong enough, they are likely to fall with them, and even suffer to be killed.

However, for Li Mao, this kind of risk is not big, his status is made by himself with a knife and a gun, not a paper reward from the imperial court, as long as the territory and soldiers and horses are still there, nothing can shake his status.

On the other hand, it is beneficial to have a reliable ally by the emperor's side, and his Liaodong, which now includes Youzhou and Yingping, although he did not intend to rely on the imperial court to live from the beginning. But after all, the imperial court is the right thing in the world, and it is not appropriate to abandon this imperial court until it is absolutely necessary, start anew, and make that mess by yourself.

Li Mao said to several of his closest assistants: "If you make a mistake in this game of chess, you will lose the game sooner or later." As an old friend, I can't persuade him to turn back, all I can do is to leave a way for him to survive in advance, so do your best. ”

Li Mao believed that it would not take long for these words to reach Tu Chengguang's ears, and the old eunuch was not confused, and he should be able to understand his kindness.

He said to Chen Muyang again: "Do you know which of the officials in Chang'an can become our allies and which ones will become our opponents?"

Chen Muyang has been smooth sailing in Chang'an in the past few years, and his achievements have been remarkable, and he can't help but be a little fluttering and self-absorbed, Li Mao beat him in front of him in this condescending tone, hoping that he can wake up.

Chen Muyang is not afraid of the earth, but he is afraid of Li Mao, and the more the official is afraid, the more afraid he is.

Chen Muyang replied respectfully: "I have three booklets, which record our allies and opponents, respectively;;;;;;;;

Li Mao said: "How do you distinguish these three booklets, and what is the basis?"

Chen Muyang said: "In the first booklet, I assume that one day, the marshal will leave Liaodong and Youzhou, enter the pilgrimage to worship the prime minister, or move to the Central Plains, and continue to be the military commander of the Tang Dynasty. In the second booklet, I assume that the marshal stays in Youzhou and becomes the military marshal of the Tang Dynasty. In the third booklet, I assume that the marshal will one day return to Liaodong. ”

Li Mao asked with great interest: "Liaodong, Youzhou, and the Central Plains are all military towns of the Tang Dynasty, what is the difference between the vassals of these three places?" ”

Chen Muyang said: "Liaodong is lonely overseas, called Junzhen, it is actually a kingdom, and the vassal marshal does not seek many friends in the court, but has few opponents. Youzhou is located in Hebei, and its status is more special than that of the Central Plains Domain, and the vassal has more friends in the imperial court, and the number of opponents is not a problem. And the vassal commander of the Central Plains, there are more friends in the capital, fewer opponents, and it is better not to have a mortal enemy. ”

After a pause, he said: "If the big man is in Youzhou, I will make a good relationship for the big handsome, pull more friends, regardless of his background, as long as he doesn't go against my Youzhou, he is a friend, on the contrary, whoever goes against my Youzhou, I will not be polite to him, and I am not afraid of offending people." If the marshal returns to Liaodong, I will focus on those who are dissatisfied with Liaodong, appease them, but if they fail, I will use means to get rid of him and eliminate future troubles. If there is a day when the marshal moves to the Central Plains or enters the pilgrimage to worship the prime minister, then on the one hand, he will have a good relationship, and on the other hand, he will not be able to solve the grievances, and the road will be easy to walk if there are more friends. ”

Li Mao nodded with satisfaction and asked him where the list of three volumes was.

Chen Muyang pointed to his head, and Li Mao laughed.

Li Chun dragged on until the beginning of August, when he met Li Mao at a court meeting, said hard work, asked a few questions, and said nothing else.

This was Li Mao's first public official appearance in Chang'an, and since then, there have been more and more carriages and horses in front of the Academy.

ushered in the send-off, there was one person who impressed Li Mao: Guo Liang.

Guo Liang was originally a large household in Fan County, Puzhou, Ziqing Province, and in the past, there was a famine in Puzhou, so he took advantage of the situation to gather a group of people, raised the banner of righteousness, and Zhu Mazi, Zhu Jiu, Pei family brothers, Li Zhong and others ran rampant in the township to fight against the official army.

Li Mao was the commander of the Qing Navy Gushan Town, led the army to quell the chaos, captured and killed Zhu Mazi in one fell swoop, and surrendered Zhu Jiu, Pei family brothers, Li Zhong and others, Guo Liang saw that the general trend had gone and returned to the imperial court, after which his sister Guo Ren married Li Mao's retinue and brother Mo Qi Shentong as his wife, after Li Mao entered Beijing, their family also moved to Chang'an.

Guo Ren is not a thing in the pool, after arriving in Chang'an, he is like a fish in water, and he will soon get ahead. Guo Liang also followed the light, and became a pivotal figure in Chang'an City.

His current public identity is the second leader of the Four Seas Society, but his actual power is greater than that of the puppet boss Hong Feng, who controls tens of thousands of horses in Chang'an City.

Li Mao's friendship with Guo Liang has always been extensive, and since Mo Qi Shentong and Guo Ren parted ways, the two have no other contact.

Guo Liang came here to be a lobbyist for his sister-in-law, and persuaded Li Mao to stand on the side of the prince and not to get too close to Tutu Chengxuan.

Li Mao believed that his actual intention was to spy on his intimacy with Tu Tu Chengguang.

There is no evidence that there is any particularly close relationship between the Guo brothers and sisters and the crown prince Li Heng, but I heard that when Guo Ren was in and out of the palace in the past, he was very close to the late prince Li Ning, and it was once rumored that Guo Ren seduced Li Ning, angering Long Yan, and finally caused the prince Li Ning to die of depression.

However, the secret news of the palace is true and false, false and real, and no one in the clouds can tell.

The only thing that can really reach the sky in this world is the emperor, and for the courtiers, all they can understand is the sky in front of their eyes, and it is impossible to cover everything.

Li Mao perfunctory Guo Liang, Guo Liang was very dissatisfied, and said before leaving: "Another day, Mrs. Jingyi will have a banquet for Li Shaobao at the Plum Blossom Nunnery, and I hope to take the time to appreciate the light." ”

Li Mao was very disgusted with the stalking of Guo Ren's brothers and sisters, but since he arrived in the capital, he could only deal with it patiently, which is the special thing about the capital that is different from other places.

When you arrive in Chang'an City, you have to curl up as a dragon, a fierce tiger, and you have to endure with your minions.

The right wing used considerable strength to finally figure out the real culprit behind the assassination of Li Mao in the suburbs of Taiyuan, the mastermind is surnamed Wang, the single name is a guizi, and there are two assistants, one of whom is still an acquaintance: Yi Qiao.

Li Mao asked Qin Mo: "She is also seventeen or eighteen years old this year." ”

Qin Mo said: "Sixteen and a half years old, although he is young, he is a rising star in the rivers and lakes, and he has a great reputation. ”

Li Mao said: "I have never heard this person's name when I was in Youzhou. ”

Qin Mo said: "It's just an assassin, and I can't get into your eyes." ”

Li Mao said: "Wang Shiyuan's generation has become famous, and gradually faded out, and it is their turn again. There are talented people from generation to generation, each leading the way for hundreds of years. The profession of assassins will not disappear, and the more chaotic the world, the better their business. And the terrible thing about them is that they take people's money and people to eliminate disasters, they never ask right and wrong, they take your money to kill others today, and they come to kill you tomorrow after receiving other people's money, and they eat it all right and right, which is really terrible. ”

Qin Mo said: "Assassins also have the rules of the assassin line, and most of the time they still keep their promises. This is the foundation of their existence. They are sometimes more trustworthy than the deceit of officialdom. ”

Li Mao didn't want to dwell on this, so he asked: "Who is the real culprit behind the scenes, have you found out?" ”

Qin Mo smiled: "You are knowingly asking, her brother-in-law is Wang Chengyuan's doorman, who do you say she is working for." ”

Wang Chengyuan was riddled with a vicious illness, and his life was not long, his son was still young, forcing him to start arranging the future affairs early, and his first step was to seek to capture Yingmo Erzhou and support Wang Tingcuo to act as a buffer between Youzhou and Liaodong.

The second is to join forces with Mrs. Liang Guo to bring down Tian Xing, and to support Tian Huai's pro-government and this assassination of himself are in the same line, he doesn't want his son to face the two strong enemies of the north and the south at the same time after his death, now that Tian Xing is dead, the south is worry-free, he naturally aimed at the north.

Now that he has found out who is the murderer, Qin Mo's revenge plan was immediately launched, this time he wanted to use the Goryeo killer to give Wang Shiyuan a little color. Let them know that Youzhou is not easy to mess with, and Li Mao is not so easy to kill.

Li Mao is not very optimistic about this, Taiyuan assassination incident, not even a single hair of his hair was injured, how could the other party be willing to give up Wang Shiyuan has gradually faded out of the rivers and lakes, or does not have the courage to come to Chang'an to find trouble again, Yiqiao is a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, it is difficult to guarantee that she will not follow Chang'an to create trouble, but Chang'an is Chang'an, although the fish and dragons are mixed, the mud and sand are all down, but the power of the righteous path is still strong.

If you want to toss some waves in Chang'an, you have to have some real talent and real learning.

Li Mao decided to respond to all changes with the same and look at the opponent's path first.

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