The banquet was immediately announced, and Wu Zetian and the prime ministers immediately rushed back to the political hall to discuss important matters.

Before leaving, Wu Zetian deliberately and publicly said to Xue Shao, "You come too." ”

"Yes." Xue Shao promised.

Pei Yan looked sideways at Wu Zetian and Xue Shao, as if he wanted to say something, but after all, he didn't open his mouth and left.

Xue Shao looked at Pei Yan's back and couldn't help but think in his heart: Could the matter be related to Pei Yan?

When the group returned to the government hall, it was already evening. Everyone just sat down, without any opening remarks, Wu Zetian said straightforwardly: "There is a rebellion in Yangzhou. ”

Xue Shao's heart was suddenly shocked: Yangzhou rebellion? I remember that there was such an event in history that there was a lot of commotion. The leader is Li Jingye, the grandson of Li Tao and the British Duke Li Jingye who inherited the title of Li Tao - could it be that this is the case?

At this time, Cen Changqian, the first to receive the news, said: "I just received an urgent report that the British Duke Li Jingye was appointed as an assassin in another state, and he was demoted a few months ago because of dereliction of duty and bribery. At the same time, his younger brother Li Jingyou was also demoted for breaking the law. The two brothers went to Yangzhou with a personal grudge, gathered Wei Siwen, Tang Zhiqi, Luo Bin Wang and Du Qiuren and other degraded officials, designed to hunt and kill Yangzhou Governor Shi Chen Jingzhi to occupy the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion, and then rebelled in the name of Kuang Fu Luling King! ——They opened prisons to release prisoners, spent a lot of money to recruit homeless people in the market, and coerced the various prefectures and counties and people under the rule of the Yangzhou Governor's Office, and in just a few days, they have already entangled 100,000 horses and conquered six county seats, and their power is still growing, and they are about to attack the entire Jiangnan! ”

"Huh?! ——”

In the government hall, a shout of astonishment erupted.

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, it has not been uncommon for conspiracy coups in the court, rebellions conspired by individuals or small peasant uprisings, but it is really rare for more than 100,000 people to rebel and attack half of the country. Especially since the reign of Gaozong, the world of the Tang Dynasty has been peaceful and peaceful, and such a thing is even more unheard of!

The prime ministers here are all peace officials who have never experienced war, and in their opinion, an armed brawl of hundreds of people can already be regarded as a serious incident, and now they suddenly heard that there was a rebellion in Yangzhou with more than 100,000 troops, and they were all dumbfounded!

There were only three people present, who were calm.

The first is Wu Zetian, who came all the way from the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong. She has been in contact with too many founding ministers and generals. Her father was one of the founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty, so she was no stranger to the turmoil and wars in the early days of the Tang Dynasty. What's more, she has experienced too many storms over the years, not to mention the Yangzhou rebellion thousands of miles away, even if there are rebels with knives on her neck now, it is difficult to surprise her.

The second one who calmed down was Pei Yan. At this moment, Pei Yan was extremely quiet, almost without saying a word. It seems that the Yangzhou rebellion is not worthy of his attention at all, and has nothing to do with him.

The third person is the most calm, Xue Shao.

From the moment he heard the words "Li Jingye" from Cen Changqian's mouth, Xue Shao sighed in his heart, all my attention has been on Pei Yan for a long time, and I have ignored the important historical event of the Yangzhou Rebellion. It's just that I don't have a ready-made history book in my hand, so many things happened in history, how can I remember even the years and months that happened one by one?

Xue Shao thought again, the Yangzhou rebellion seemed to be accidental but was inevitable. From the day of Emperor Gaozong's death, the situation in the Tang Dynasty was constantly turbulent, and even the emperor was changing. In this series of major events, all of them are inseparable from Wu Zetian's figure. She is now in charge of the dynasty as a woman, as if she directly dominated the abolition of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the overall situation of the government, which inevitably caused strong dissatisfaction among a group of people.

However, a benevolent and righteous person who truly cares about the world will not launch a mutiny and rebellion lightly. Because they know that no matter who wins or loses in such a civil war, it will inevitably be the Tang Dynasty and the people of the Tang Dynasty who will suffer losses. On the contrary, those selfish ambitious fanatics would launch a rebellion under the pretense of opposing the Empress Dowager Wu's proclamation of the dynasty and raising the banner of supporting Li Tang.

Li Jingye and others are undoubtedly the latter!

Therefore, Xue Shao despised and despised Li Jingye's group of ambitious fanatics from the bottom of his heart. No matter how turbulent the court of the Tang Dynasty was, no matter how strict the border troubles were, the centralization of power and military defense were not relaxed at all, but were strengthened more than in the era of peace. Li Jingye and others launched a mutiny and rebellion at this time, it was definitely because Zhi Dacai was ignorant of current affairs - he was clearly looking for death!

So Xue Shao was very calm. In his opinion, it is a hundred times easier to deal with the Yangzhou rebellion than to rush to the aid of Hebei; Compared with Ashide Yuanzhen, Li Jingye is a clown.

"Princess, do you have a strategy?" Wu Zetian asked.

Pei Yan didn't speak. Xue Shao didn't say anything.

Cen Changqian, as a squire in the Ministry of War, was responsible for this kind of thing when the secretary of the Ministry of War was far vacant. So he immediately said: "Queen Mother, the imperial court should immediately organize people and horses to quell the rebellion!" ”

Other prime ministers such as Liu Qixian and others did not speak, and quietly turned their eyes to Pei Yan, waiting for him to come forward to express his position first.

Unexpectedly, Pei Yan just didn't speak today, and no one knew what he was thinking.

For such a militaristic event as the Yangzhou Rebellion, if the chief prime minister does not speak, everyone else will not be able to make up their minds. So Wu Zetian looked at Pei Yan and took the initiative to ask, "Pei Zhongshu, do you have a high opinion?" ”

"Hmm...... Queen Mother, please think twice. Pei Yan said.

Everyone was stunned and thought twice?

Wu Zetian was obviously a little unhappy, but he didn't have a seizure, he just said: "Okay, please ask Pei Zhongshu to think about it more, I will listen to Pei Zhongshu's opinions." ”

In this way, there was silence in the government hall. Everyone seemed to have become a mud fetus Bodhisattva, quietly waiting for Pei Yan to "think twice".

Xue Shao was angry, and secretly scolded this old man in his heart for being able to pretend to be forced! Rebellion is a heinous and heinous capital crime in any dynasty. As long as it is a court that can still breathe, the first thing to think about is how to put down the rebellion! ——Pei Yan, as the chief prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, there is a man-made opposition to the Tang Dynasty, you should be the first to stand up and refute this group of anti-thieves with righteous and strict words, and actively organize people to recruit and transfer troops and horses to start quelling the rebellion, this is the position and approach you should have

- Think twice, think twice, think twice!

- Old Puff!

- Pretend to be a criminal!

How long was quiet in the political hall, and Xue Shao scolded Pei Yan in his heart.

Everyone was waiting a little impatiently, including Wu Zetian. She was about to open her mouth to ask a question, but Pei Yan took the initiative to arch her hand and said, "Queen Mother, the minister drank a few more cups today, and I felt very dizzy. How about asking Rong Chen to go back and rest first, and then reply another day? ”

Everyone was stunned again, another day?

Xue Shao was angry, and he really wanted to jump up and scold: Go home? Some other day? - The mules you raised at home are anxious to get you!

"Okay!" Wu Zetian was calm when he was approaching a big event, and said lightly: "Pei Zhongshu is not feeling well, please go back to the house to rest." It's not too late for us to talk about it tomorrow. ”

"Thank you, Queen Mother!"

Pei Yan got up and gave a salute, and walked out of the political hall like this.

Everyone was stunned.

Xue Shao's face was full of disdain and anger, and he couldn't turn his two eyes into two blades, so he poked into Pei Yan's back and stabbed a transparent hole.

"All the princes are tired today, please go back to the house to rest!" Wu Zetian said.

"Empress Dowager Xie-" The prime ministers were confused and hesitant, and quietly walked out of the political hall one after another.

Xue Shao didn't leave.

Wu Zetian didn't leave, he sat upright and pondered.

"Queen Mother." Xue Shao stepped forward, hugged his fist, and said, "Please give me 20,000 soldiers and horses, and within three months, I will put Li Jingye's neck on the head of the dog and bring it to see you!" ”

"Whew-"

Wu Zetian exhaled heavily, his face finally softened, and showed a heartfelt smile.

"Xue Lang is in the court, the world is worry-free!"

Xue Shao smiled bitterly, what kind of sycophants are you filming at this time?

"Queen Mother, do you want to give it?" Xue Shao was rarely annoyed and impatient

Wu Zetian smiled, "Don't be in a hurry. ”

"The minister can't help but be in a hurry." Xue Shao said: "The loss of national strength brought about by the civil war is far more powerful than that of the foreign war. Now, with every day of delay, the danger of the Yangzhou rebellion will intensify by one point. At this time, the imperial court must move quickly, without a moment's delay. I don't want too much money and food for soldiers and horses, let me light 20,000 light cavalry in the Weishui camp outside the city and only bring the March rations, I sent troops to Yangzhou overnight, and took advantage of Li Jingye's spring and autumn dream of these anti-thieves to do a good job, I picked off their heads in an instant! ”

"The soldiers are fast, and the court should indeed do this to quell the rebellion." Wu Zetian sighed lightly and looked left and right, "Let's go, this is not the place to talk." Today, Qi'er's birthday, go to your house. I'm going to give my baby grandchild a hug. At that time, we will discuss it privately. ”

"Okay." Xue Shao said, "Queen Mother, please!" ”

When Empress Dowager Wu drove out of the palace, it was already late and the palace gates were closed. In order to avoid too many troubles, Xue Shao rode a horse and called open the Xuanwu Gate of Daming Palace, and invited Wu Zetian's car out of the palace and went directly to Princess Taiping's mansion.

Wu Zetian's first words when he got off the carriage were, "This palace has been in this palace for many years, and I haven't stayed outside the palace." ”

Xue Shao smiled slightly, "Taiping and Qi'er will definitely be very happy to see your old man." ”

Wu Zetian smiled with great relief, "Hearing you say this, I remembered that I am also a mother, a mother-in-law, and an old woman who has become a grandmother!" ”

"What does the Queen Mother say, you are not old at all." Xue Shao's words were not against his will. Wu Zetian is already sixty years old, but she is very good at maintenance and is very good at makeup. Now she looks like this, at most, forty years old, and even gray hair is rare.

In the Tang Dynasty, where the average life expectancy was not very long, Wu Zetian was definitely an ageless wonder.

Princess Taiping was already about to bathe and lie down, just waiting for Xue Shao to come back. Unexpectedly, her mother arrived in person, which made her both happy and surprised, and hurriedly changed her clothes to welcome her.

"Mother, why are you here?" Princess Taiping stepped forward to catch Wu Zetian, very happy.

"Why, can't you come to your daughter's son-in-law's house as a mother?" Wu Zetian said with a smile, "You have been married for two or three years, and it is the first time I have come to your house for a stay." Aren't you welcome? ”

"Mother, look at what you said!" Princess Taiping grinned and rubbed on Wu Zetian's body, played coquettish for a while, and finally said: "Tonight, I will sleep with my mother!" ”

"Good, good." Wu Zetian said with a smile, "You go and rest first, and your mother will come later." ”

"Oh!" Princess Taiping obediently agreed and said, "I'll go and arrange the fragrant soup first, and then ask my mother to take a bath." ”

"Okay, you go first!"

Princess Taiping obediently left. Thinking of today's banquet, it was not difficult for her to guess that her mother must have come to discuss important matters with Xue Shao when she left the palace so abnormally late at night. Curious, Princess Taiping left the main hall but hid behind the door and did not leave, quietly eavesdropping.