The clouds in the sky are like burning, and the cicadas are panting and thundering, and the ice is melting.

On June 18, the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754), the time was about to end (nearly 11 o'clock in the morning), like the blazing sun scorching the square of the Xingqing Palace Qinzheng Mansion Building.

The saints, the high and the right are noble, and they can rest in the pavilion. Other members of the imperial family, officials above the seventh rank in Beijing, and vassal envoys had to stand silently in the square.

Although the pavilions with cornices and paintings blocked out some of the hot light, and the corners of the square were piled up with buckets of ice, many courtiers in ornate and complicated dresses were still sweating hot and red-faced.

However, worship and Rong are major events of the country, and the sacrifice of prisoners has both etiquette and soldiers, and it is the most important thing, and there must be no slackness. Therefore, whether it is a court official with gold and purple or a young talent with low power, they all stand tall and straight, standing like a pine.

The square is surrounded by the dragon warriors and flying dragon soldiers with bright armor and high heads, adding a bit of solemnity and solemnity.

"Calculate the time, the Anxi Army's prisoner offering team should come out of Taimiao." Wang Fei, who was standing in the square, squinted and glanced at the position of the sun.

As one of the most solemn celebrations in Datang, the process of offering prisoners is extremely cumbersome. The Anxi Army's achievements in conquering Tibet and Da Bolu were so brilliant that the sage specially ordered the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War to celebrate with great color and vigor to show the great martial arts of the Tang Dynasty. For this reason, it was easier for the government to go through the classics and repeat them before finalizing the final process.

At that time, the Anxi army escorting the prisoners of war converged with the Feilong Forbidden Army at the Chunming Gate, with the 24 singers and musicians of the Taichang Temple Propaganda Department as the lead, and successively went to the Taishe and the Taimiao in the majestic and majestic Qin Wang's broken array music, and displayed the flags of the prisoners and the enemy, and sacrificed to the heavens and the earth and the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty.

At noon, after the salute, the procession will come to the main building of the diligent government office, and let the saint personally review the tiger and check the results.

"Gao and Feng used their soldiers like gods, and they quietly plotted against the Subi Department, which is admirable. If there is no Anshi Rebellion, the decline of Tibet will be inevitable, and how can there be the shame of Chang'an being captured by it? ”

As a history buff, Wang Fei understands the general trend of historical development, but it is impossible to be familiar with all the details. He didn't know anything about the Subi tribe, and naturally he didn't remember that there was such a record in the "Zizhi Tongjian": "In the spring of (755), in the first month, the prince of Subi went to Tibet to surrender. ”

Thinking of the Anshi Rebellion, Wang Fei was slightly annoyed and failed to seize the opportunity of An Lushan's entry into the court, which caused the clouds of war in the sky of the Tang Dynasty to linger.

"According to historical records, next winter will be the time of An Lushan's rebellion. Time is pressing, no matter what, it is necessary to completely weaken An Lushan's military power during this year's winter court meeting. Wang Fei clenched his fists: "Judging from the last confrontation, Li Longji has been wary of the expansion of power in Jiezhen, but he is indulging in pleasure, listening and believing, and is reluctant to transfer An Lushan back to the center. Moreover, the forces of all parties in the court are intertwined and clamp each other, and the transfer of An Lushan into Beijing touches the interests and nerves of all aspects, and the resistance is very great. In this case, only by treating everyone equally and balancing the power of the envoys in terms of institutional design can we eradicate the Anshi Rebellion and the disaster of the feudal towns caused by the failure to fall behind. ”

Since entering Beijing, Wang Fei has been thinking about how to avoid the Anshi Rebellion. At the end of last year, after repeated discussions with Ayitengna and Wang Yong, he compiled the results of his thinking into a document and sent them to Tingzhou for his father to review.

A few months later, Wang Fei received a reply from his father: "My son's negligence in correcting the disadvantages of the times and knowing the emperor's heart will surely be appreciated by the saints." If the policies are implemented, the four seas can be safe. However, sorrow is born from ignorance, evil arises from subtlety, and it is indispensable to plan for opportunities. For the sake of the world, this omission is indispensable; For the sake of self-planning, this omission should not be done in the morning. I hope that Wu'er will be cautious in his words and deeds, and wait for the opportunity. ”

Regarding the confidentiality of Wang Zhengjian's reminder, Wang Fei deeply agreed. Since the decisive battle was scheduled for the Winter Solstice Imperial Meeting, he planned to secretly submit the song to Li Longji through Gao Lishi about a month before the Winter Solstice, as a killer weapon for the Winter Solstice court meeting.

Moreover, at the moment, Wang Fei couldn't care about the music for a while, and the scorching sun above his head and his soaked clothes reminded him all the time that dealing with the raging drought was the top priority.

According to the information collected by the Chaotangdi newspaper and the Suyeju branch in various places, the drought in the eastern part of Henan Province and Gyeonggi Province is the most severe, and some prefectures and counties are Jiaojin Shuoshi and Chidi for thousands of miles.

Su Sanniang's hometown of Huaizhou, Hanoi, was extremely affected by the disaster, and she couldn't rest assured that she handed over her daughter to Wang Yong to take care of her and returned to her hometown to visit relatives alone.

Wang Yong proposed that she bring a few Beiting Ya soldiers with her, but Su Sanniang rejected it with a cold face; Ashina Wenxia wanted to go with her master, but she was also politely refused.

Wang Fei knew that Su Sanniang's swordsmanship was skillful, but for the sake of Wang Yong's heart, he still arranged more than ten Su Ye dart masters to secretly protect him. Of course, with Su Sanniang's alertness, it is estimated that Chang'an City will find the "tail" behind him. At that time, whether the Suye dart master can play the responsibility of "protection", Wang Fei has no bottom in his heart.

In fact, compared with last year's turbid floods, the current drought has affected fewer prefectures and counties, and the affected people can barely survive with the support of grain storage in the village community and the opportunity to work in Suyeju businesses. Some of the bold victims even took the initiative to find Suyeju, hoping to move to the west of the moraine.

After Wang Fei consulted with Gao Lishi and Gao Xianzhi, the Privy Council revoked the local household registration of the victims in the name of recruiting the Long March athletes, and Su Yeju was responsible for the relocation of the victims throughout the process.

King Sheng learned the lesson of the burning of the manor, and although he still released grain for relief, the movement was much smaller, and the number of guards doubled. The crown prince still asked Li Li, the king of Guangping, and Li Qi, the king of Jianning, to come forward for disaster relief. The two sides have gone their own way, and there has been no conflict for the time being.

But what made Wang Fei indignant was that at this juncture, the right minister Yang Guozhong not only did not worry about disaster relief, but insisted on going his own way, in the name of Nanzhao's "disobedience to Wang Hua and slightly resisting the heavenly soldiers", with the intention of raising troops again in July.

From the tenth year of Tianbao (751), the war in Jiannan was full of twists and turns. Yunnan Taishou Zhang Qiantuo humiliated the princess of Nanzhao, causing Ge Luofeng to raise troops against the Tang Dynasty, punish Zhang Qiantuo, and capture 32 Yizhou in Jiannan; After Xian Yuxiang regained the lost territory, he led his army to attack the city of Taihe, the capital of Nanzhao State, but was killed by the combined forces of Tubo and Nanzhao and lost his armor; The Nanzhao army pursued the victory, crossed the Dadu River and invaded the Tang realm again, and after encountering the head-on attack of the Jiannan army, Empress Cang retreated; In the summer of last year, Cui Yuan used the tactics of step-by-step to occupy part of the northern part of the Nanzhao army, and repeatedly thwarted the counterattacks of the Nanzhao army with deep ditch barriers; Later, because Yang Guozhong was anxious to return to Beijing, regardless of the floods in Guanzhong and northern Yizhou, the Jiannan army took the initiative to attack, but instead suffered several defeats, resulting in an emergency in the Jiannan war; Before Li Linfu died, he advised the sage to withdraw his troops to defend the Dadu River, and the smoke of Jiannan gradually stopped.

Looking back on the ups and downs of the Tang Zhao War due to Yang Guozhong's selfish desires, Wang Fei was full of anger, but he had no power to turn things around. The foundation of the Taiyuan Wang clan is in Hedong, and Wang Zhengjian's influence is concentrated in the north court, and he is beyond the reach of Jiannan; Although Gao Lishi has the right to listen to heaven and the power of the court, Yizhou is regarded as a forbidden person by Yang Guozhong and never allows others to interfere.

Although Wang Fei infiltrated through means such as a joint operation of a hot pot restaurant with Hongnong Pavilion and the opening of a Suyeju branch in Yizhou, it is still far from the Yang family, which has been rooted in Jiannan for many years. So much so that when he helped Jian Ruoxi, the shopkeeper of Su Yeju, find her husband who had not returned from the southern expedition, Wang Fei had to ask Ashina Xiaoyun to come forward and use the power of the Yang family in Jiannan as the daughter of the concubine.

In order to prevent Yang Guozhong from fighting again and conquering Nanzhao despite the drought, Wang Fei drew on Wang Zhonghe's strategy of conquering Tibet, and discussed the war in Jiannan in detail. Tibet is strong, and it should be checked and balanced by the joint edict. In order to completely weaken Tibet, he should take advantage of the opportunity of his internal strife to negotiate peace with Nanzhao and allow him to return to the ranks of vassals. Tang Zhao joined forces to march westward, but they could slowly encroach on the eastern border of Tubo and gather the tribes who were dissatisfied with Tubo. In the long run, the four towns of Jiannan, Longyou, Anxi, and Hezhong were blocked on three sides, and they were fought piecemeal, and after a few decades, Tubo will inevitably decline and no longer be a strong enemy of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, if Nanzhao betrays, it is necessary not to punish him slightly, and he should cut off the key places in the north during the peace talks to prevent Ge Luofeng from rebelling.

According to Gao Lishi, after reading Wang Fei's recital, the sage hesitated, and while leaving the recital in the middle, he ordered the political hall to suspend the discussion of the Jiannan War.

Wang Fei thought that the dawn was ahead, but a few days later, the wind direction suddenly changed, and the sage ordered the government to discuss whether to conquer the Southern Zhao.

At the time of the court discussion, the crown prince Li Heng stayed out of the matter; Li Qi, the king of Sheng, agreed with Yang Guozhong's proposition; Zuo Xiang Chen. Heelly didn't say a word; Zhang Jun seconded the prince and never said much. Only the privy envoy Gao Xianzhi said that the drought was raging, and the expedition to the south in July was too hasty, and it was a taboo for the soldiers, and suggested that the Jiannan army should first train soldiers and horses, accumulate grain, and then go south next year.

But Yang Guozhong, who had been prepared for a long time, said that the assassination of Tubo Zampu was a godsend, and without the help of Tubo, the southern edict was determined to surrender. As for the drought, it is only a mustard disease, which can be alleviated by a single summer rain.

When Gao Xianzhi and Yang Guozhong were arguing, the sage made a decision and agreed to send troops.

After the edict allowing the Jiannan army to march southward was issued, the unwilling Wang Fei tried to persuade Gao Lishi to come forward to redeem it, but he politely refused. Gao Lishi, who is well versed in the sage's heart, clearly told Wang Fei: "The sage opens the side to mean rest, there is a fox in the right clan, Your Majesty's eyes have been blinded, and a certain person does not dare to say more, and Fei Langjun must not touch the scales again." Thinking about the world without regard to the body is commendable, but if the body does not exist, everything will rest. ”

In desperation, Wang Fei turned to ask Ashina Xiaoyun to borrow the power of Yang Yuhuan, but the noble concubine who looked aggrieved and did not understand government affairs felt that the war in Jiannan was irrelevant, and Wang Fei did not take it to heart because of the fuss.

Seeing that the situation was irreversible, Wang Fei had no choice but to repair a letter to Cui Yuan, the deputy envoy of Jiannan Jiedu and the future minister, and implored him to be cautious in the use of troops in the name of his juniors. At the same time, Wang Fei handed over more than 130 cans of fierce oil fire to Jiannanya Lieutenant Li Sheng through the Suye Dart Bureau, which was all the inventory that Chang'an Suyeju could quickly mobilize in addition to the necessary reserves.