The winter noon sun, hanging far above the nine heavens, emitted a bleak white light weakly, without any warmth to speak of. Gao Lishi, a hussar general who was over sixty years old, stood in the corridor outside the Zichen Hall of Daming Palace, feeling the cold to the bone.

Chang'an on the first day, the north wind is whining, the weather is cold, and if there is no warm clothes, it is naturally quite difficult. Fortunately, the world has been peaceful for a long time, and the residents of Chang'an City, who are poor and rich in fur, will not suffer from the cold and cold.

Dressed in a cotton robe carefully sewn by the Ministry of Internal Service with the white cloth and cotton of the Western Regions, a specialty of the Western Regions, Gao Lishi naturally knew that this inescapable cold was actually the work of his own uneasy heart.

Thinking of the noisy and lively Yuan Ri Dynasty just now, the festival envoys from all over the country did everything to smile for Bo Shengyan, and Gao Lishi always had the feeling of going to the lake to watch meteors with his maid Ah Hua when he was a child. The silver meteor instantly pierced the night sky and fell to the black lake in the distance, brilliant but short-lived, and fell into boundless loneliness and loneliness after a moment of prosperity.

Thinking of Ah Hua and the meteor by the lake, the tall general who leaned into power couldn't help but feel a slight flurry, and a bright and helpless smile like a meteor appeared on his serious face. Life is like a white horse, and he has been away from home for more than 50 years in a blink of an eye, although he has become famous, but looking back, his biggest ideal is to inherit the family business of the Feng family in Gaozhou City, Lingnan and marry Ah Hua as his wife.

Unexpectedly, the sky was not as good as people wanted, and a small suspicion of the Emperor of Heaven in Luoyang, the capital of the gods, passed through thousands of mountains and rivers and landed in the distant Lingnan, which became a catastrophe of raiding the family and exterminating the clan. His father died and his mother was scattered, and he was also castrated into the palace, changed his name and surname to Gao Lishi, and was involved in the turmoil of the court situation in Chang'an from the remote Lingnan.

Fortunately, he had to meet the master, and was gradually trusted by Li Longji, who was only a child of an ordinary sect at that time, and became his personal right-hand man.

For more than 50 years, he has faithfully assisted the saint, and the saint has always trusted him, leaving the internal service of his personal service to himself. As a son of the Feng family of the Lingnan family, Gao Lishi has also read poetry and books since he was a child, and knows that since ancient times, those who have been temple supervisors have left a lot of infamy and few people who have been famous, so he often admonishes himself to introspect and restrain his children not to be arrogant. Gao Lishi deeply hopes that he can work with the saint to leave a beautiful legend of the monarch and the minister and the eunuch in the history.

Gao Lishi looked at the increasingly cold sky, and felt that his ideal was like the Zhongnan Mountain in the south of the city, and he always felt very close when he looked at it, but he was still a little short of a distance. What frightens Colliers is that in recent years, the ideal feeling has become farther and farther away, and it is not because of himself, but because the saint has become more and more difficult to figure out and grasp.

Back then, Wei's dictatorship, colluded with Wu Sansi and Shangguan Wan'er, and teamed up with Princess Anle to control the forbidden army of the North and South Ya, poison Zhongzong, and support the young emperor Li Chongmao to ascend the throne, in a vain attempt to follow in the footsteps of Wu Cong and become the second empress to reign in the world.

At the right time, except for Princess Taiping, the Li Tang clan was silent up and down, and no one dared to express dissatisfaction. Only the saint was not afraid of the power of the Wei family, and won the support of Chen Xuanli, Wang Maozhong, Ge Fushun and other captains of the 10,000-horse battalion.

After the destruction of Wei's family, Princess Taiping assumed herself to be the sister of Ruizong and the aunt of the saint, forming a party for personal gain, playing with the government, and wanting to abolish the position of the prince. The sage struck first and decisively sent troops to imprison Princess Taiping, forcing her to commit suicide, breaking all dreams of careerists who tried to become the second Emperor of Zetian.

Since ascending the throne for more than 30 years, the saint has been well-fed, exerting great efforts, sorting out the political system, rectifying the rule of officials, appointing people on the basis of merit, and has successively enabled Yao Chong, Song Jing, Zhang Shuo, Zhang Jiazhen, Zhang Jiuling and other famous ministers, creating this glorious and prosperous era praised by all the people. Colliers thinks that with such a holy monarch and a prosperous age, he will definitely be able to leave a name in history.

But in recent years, Colliers has felt that the saint has become more and more moody and relaxed. In the matter of the country, he connived at Li Linfu to attack the prince, first through the Wei Jian case and the Du Youlin case, and gave the death of the eldest brother of the crown princess, Wei Jian, and the then envoy of the Hexi Jiedu Emperor, Wei Ming; Now, under the pretext of fighting for the stone fort and guarding against the righteousness of Tibet, he suppressed Wang Zhonghei, who had served as the envoy of Longyou, Shuofang, Hexi, and Hedong at the same time, and basically cut off the main supporters of the prince in Chang'an and the local area, which made the princes agitated and threatened to shake the country.

Gao Lishi, who has been through the rain of swords for a long time, of course understands that the heavenly family has no family affection, and the emperors of all dynasties have been deeply wary of the crown prince. In particular, Taizong of this dynasty forced Xuanwu Gate with a sword and forced Gaozu Chan to concede, which intensified the distrust between the sage and the prince. It is necessary to beat the prince, but the beating needs to be mastered to a certain degree, moderate beating is a spur, and excessive blows are devastating. Gao Lishi was faintly worried that the series of measures taken by the sage from the fifth year of Tianbao might be prepared for the abolition of the crown prince.

In the court and politics, the sage no longer has the diligence when he first ascended the throne, and let the right minister Li Linfu decide the government, while he hid in the deep palace and the concubine to enjoy the flowers and the moon, sing and dance. Of course, Gao Lishi knew that the saint just asked Li Linfu to do it for him, not so absurd that he loved beauty and didn't love the country. But the rapid expansion of Li Linfu's power still worries Gaolis.

However, since the year before last, the sage began to reuse Yang Guozhong, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone, on the one hand, to please the concubine, on the other hand, to divide the power of the right minister, especially the very important financial power. It's just that Yang Guozhong is superficial and unliterate, slick, and has no style of heavy ministers, which makes Gao Lishi not very relieved.

If the political problems are not big, in the military and political affairs, the sage's strategy in recent years has made Gao Lishi very anxious. Therefore, since the founding of this dynasty, one-third of the strong government soldiers have gathered in the Guanzhong area near Chang'an, maintaining a strong military advantage over any place in the world. However, more than 100 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government military system has gradually deteriorated, and there are few government soldiers in Guanzhong. However, the sage's heart is getting hotter and hotter, and the ten major festival envoys all recruit and hoard heavy soldiers, forming a situation where the branches are strong and the cadres are weak, and Tai'a is holding back.

Fortunately, the sage Junwei was grand, Li Linfu was good at using power, and the envoys of various festivals did not dare to have the heart to confront the center. But not daring does not mean that it can't, if the feudal town is strong, the central government is in danger, and it is urgent to suppress the power of the envoys in various places, but the sage and Li Xiang have their own plans, and they have never considered their minds in this direction.

During the Chinese New Year's Eve distraction, Gao Lishi keenly discovered that the dozens of tooth soldiers of the Beiting Jiedu envoy were strict in order and highly skilled, and the aura of victory on their bodies was far superior to that of the Longwu army who were on duty in the Daming Palace every day. With such a strong army, it is naturally a sharp edge to the outside, but if you turn around and turn inward, I really dare not imagine whether the mere Longwu army can resist it. It is reported that An Lushan's subordinates are also brave soldiers, not under Anxi and Beiting. For An Lushan, Gao Lishi always feels that he can't see through it......

"General Yu, the crown prince, Li Xiangguo, Chen Xiangguo, and Ashina are already about to arrive at the Zichen Palace." Xiao Huangmen's proclamation interrupted Colliers' long thoughts. After the Yuan-Ri Dynasty meeting, the sage confessed to Gao Lishi and sent someone to invite the prince, the left and right Xiangguo and Ashina Yang to come to the Zichen Hall to discuss matters. In the whole world, there are only a few important ministers who can let Gao Lishi wait in front of the palace.

"Gao Weng has been waiting for a long time, this is a certain sin!" Li Linfu, who was about the same age as Gao Lishi, had not yet walked to the front of the hall, so he first made a gesture to Gao Lishi to show his reparation. Gao Lishi looked fixedly, and the black-faced prince Li Heng walked at the front of the group, followed by three ministers, in the center was Li Linfu, the right minister, and the left minister. Xilie is on Li Linfu's left-hand side, and Ashina Yang, the deputy protector of the Beiting Metropolitan Protector's Mansion, is on the right-hand side of the right minister. Behind the three ministers, followed by the two small yellow doors in the palace and Li Jingzhong, the prince's attendant.

Gao Lishi found that Li Linfu's preemptive voice did not make the prince unhappy, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The prince also followed Li Linfu's words and made a gesture: "Second brother, it's too late!" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare! The saint is still changing his clothes, and the prince and the princes will enter the hall to wait for the saint. Gao Lishi asked Xiao Huangmen to push open the door of the hall, and he introduced the prince and others into the main hall of the Zichen Palace.

"The prince and the princes will stay for a while, and then they will go to invite the saint." Colliers pushed the door open. walked outside the hall and beckoned to Li Jingzhong, who was standing in the corridor. Li Jingzhong, who had an ugly face, with a smile that was more ugly than crying, rushed to Gao Lishi's side!

"Jingzhong, I sent you to serve in the East Palace, but not to cause trouble for the prince! Have you forgotten the Wei Jian case? Gao Lishi stared at Li Jingzhong viciously and said word by word.

"Why did the general say that? If it weren't for the general's lifting, the servant would still be feeding the horses in the dragon stable! The servant is in the East Palace, reciting the general's teachings all the time, and he does not dare to violate it in the slightest! Li Jingzhong, who was dominating the East Palace, was trembling all over his body at the moment, like a deer that had been pounced on by a lion.

"What is the riot on Chinese New Year's Eve? How dare you say you don't know? Gao Lishi was unmoved, and grabbed Li Jingzhong's robe.

"On Chinese New Year's Eve, the prince has been thinking about the congratulatory message of the Yuan Ri Dynasty meeting, and according to the requirements of the sage's will, he is thinking about the stone castle and the big food. The prince also learned about the riot at a very late time, but in order to avoid suspicion, he did not dare to enter the palace to visit the saint. Although Li Jingzhong's body sifted through chaff, his answer was leaky.

"Whether you tell the truth or lie, you don't bother to care. I just hope you remember two things: anyone who endangers the safety of the saint is an enemy of so-and-so! Any act that endangers the saints will be investigated to the end! Don't think that the prince can protect you! Do you know where the princess Wei is now?! Do it for yourself! Gao Lishi let go of Li Jingzhong, as if he had thrown away a piece of waste, and walked away without looking back, leaving Li Jingzhong, who was out of breath, like an ugly old dog exhaling in the cold wind.

Although Gao Lishi did not look back, listening to the heavy panting sound behind him, he knew that he had given this mad dog who was about to break free today enough warning and lessons. So far, Colliers is still unsure whether the Chinese New Year's Eve incident has anything to do with the crown prince, but it doesn't matter. The important thing is that in the past six months, Li Jingzhong thinks that he has won enough trust from the prince, and he seems to be a future hussar general. I need to let him polish his dog's eyes to recognize and see clearly who is the first person in these tens of thousands of servants.

When Gao Lishi followed the saint who had changed into civilian clothes and returned to the Zichen Palace, Li Jingzhong stood at the door of the hall with a smile on his face, as if he was a well-behaved domestic dog, greeting the owner who returned from the snowy night. Facing Li Jingzhong, who was low-eyed and pleasing to the eye, Gao Lishi just nodded nonchalantly. "Zhuzi, when you were crisscrossing Chang'an, you didn't know where the palace gate of Daming Palace was!" Colliers was pleased with the effect of the beating.

After everyone paid homage to the saint, Gao Lishi helped the saint to sit down on the throne in the main hall of the Zichen Palace. The Zichen Hall is different from the Hanyuan Hall in that it is more used as a sage's hall rather than a great court. Those who can participate in the deliberations in the Zichen Hall are all the pillars of the Tang Dynasty, and they are all particularly trusted by the saints. Therefore, the saint is more casual in the Zichen Palace, and there is no need to deliberately hide his old state.

After the sage sat down, the crown prince Li Heng sat down on the first couch on the east side, and Li Linfu sat on the first couch on the west side. Old. Xilie sat on the second couch on the east side, and Ashina Yang had the lowest position, and he sat at the end of the west side with the last seat. Colliers, on the other hand, stood on the side of the throne without moving.

"The purpose of this court meeting has been announced to the prince and the princes on the 29th. I will repeat it again at this moment, three things, namely the reward of the great victory of the broken leaves, the envoy sent by the Great Food Country to ask for help, and the temple calculation of the battle of the Stone Castle. I think it's better to make a decision after the easy and then the difficult, so let's start with how to reward the Broken Leaf Victory! Speak your mind. ”

"Your Majesty, as the deputy protector of the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate, it is not suitable to participate in the negotiation of the reward for the victory of the broken leaves. The minister begged out of the palace to avoid. As soon as the sage's words fell, Ashina Yang first stood up and asked to leave the temple.