Obviously, Wu Zetian is a typical pragmatist. She didn't care about Li Zhi, but she cared more about the living than the dead, so she paid close attention to Xue Shao's injuries and came to visit them in person; It's not that she doesn't pay attention to Li Zhi's funeral and so many current court affairs, but she pays more attention to the militaristic crisis hidden behind the assassination case, so she leaves everything behind and sits down quietly to discuss this important matter with Xue Shao.

This was the longest conversation between Xue Shao and Wu Zetian in history, and it was also the first time that Wu Zetian consulted Xue Shao about military affairs.

Xue Shao still clearly remembers the scene when he first entered the palace to meet Wu Zetian more than a year ago. At that time, the scene was that of a queen who held the authority of the world, facing a gentleman in white clothes. Since then, Wu Zetian's posture in front of Xue Shao has always been high-minded, sometimes even domineering, often bluntly teaching and even reprimanding Xue Shao.

Even after the marriage between Xue Shao and Princess Taiping was confirmed, Wu Zetian still maintained his high profile, his way of speaking was always from a high position, and his expression was mostly indifferent and arrogant.

Compared with the past, the scene of today's conversation between the two made Xue Shao's biggest feeling that Wu Zetian's posture was much lower, and the identity gap between the two was no longer so distinct and strong. Vaguely, Xue Shao felt that Wu Zetian's attitude towards him already had a layer of respect and reliance in the past.

This is rare, and it also gives Xue Shao an inexplicable sense of achievement.

What could be more important for a man than to gain status through his own hard work and hard work, to show his unique value, to earn the respect of others?

"Chengyu, this palace has a lot of questions, I need you to help me answer them." Wu Zetian said.

Xue Shao's heart moved slightly when he heard Wu Zetian's fresh name for himself, the monarch or the elder can call the subordinate or junior in a more formal conversation, which can go beyond the name. If you call the other person's name, it is a great respect.

This made Xue Shao think of Pei Gong...... When he was an old man, he always called himself like this.

"Queen, please speak." Xue Shao replied.

"Last time you experienced the Northern Expedition, although I heard a lot about it, and I also knew about it in the military intelligence report, it was either hearsay or unknown." Wu Zetian said, "In other words, this palace actually doesn't know much about your experience in the Northern Expedition. So, I don't particularly understand why the Turks are so jealous and hateful of you? ”

Xue Shao smiled. I thought that Wu Zetian was really frank enough today, she told the truth, and she also said human nature.

People always have nothing to do with themselves, and most of the time they hang high. Others will never be able to experience their own suffering, and they will never be able to fully understand the suffering of others.

This is like a child who only laughs when he takes boiling water to scald ants to play, but does not know the pain of ants; I saw a lot of tragic car accidents in the newspaper and listened to the news, and although I felt pitiful, I was never able to truly appreciate the tragedy of the person concerned.

In the same way, one should never expect a person in charge of the overall situation to truly understand the difficulties and hard work of his subordinates. Especially people like kings and prime ministers, they basically don't really understand how difficult and miserable the soldiers in the army are. They are only concerned with the victory or defeat of the war and the consequences it brings, and even so many soldiers and soldiers killed and wounded and so many families are destroyed, in their opinion, it is just a cold number written on the military intelligence report, not to mention the details of the war process and some personal experiences.

This is not entirely due to indifference, but rather due to the difference in perspective and thinking brought about by the different roles and positions that each person plays.

"Why are you smiling and silent?" Wu Zetian asked with a slight frown, as if he was a little dissatisfied.

Xue Shao arched his hand, "Queen of Heaven, you can take care of the overall situation, as for those small things, you don't have to think too much about it." ”

"What if I must want to know?" Wu Zetian was still a little stubborn, and said, "You are my son-in-law and my humerus." I'm interested to know about your experiences. ”

"Okay......" Xue Shao smiled and said, "The details of the events that made the Turks jealous and hateful of me, I think, are about three. ”

"In detail."

Xue Shao nodded and said, "The first thing, of course, is that I attacked the black sand. At that time, the Turkic army was very strong, Pei Gong's main force still did not reach Shuozhou, and General Cheng Wuting held the lonely city alone. In that case, anyone would be holding the city and waiting for reinforcements. But I did the opposite, attacked and killed the Turks behind the emptiness with an army of 100 men, stabbed their lair, captured their khans and others, and then retreated. ”

"This move is wise and courageous, and the world knows about it." Wu Zetian nodded solemnly in approval, "Wonderful!" ”

Xue Shao smiled slightly and said, "After this, there is a small detail that has little to do with the war itself, but it cannot be ignored. ”

"What details?"

Xue Shao replied: "When Pei Gong interrogated Fu Nian, he once pointed at me and said to Fu Nian-remember this person, he will definitely be a nightmare for all your Turks in the next few decades!" ”

Wu Zetian smiled, "This is familiar." It can also be seen that Pei Gong has high hopes for you. ”

Xue Shao also smiled, Fang Cai Wu Zetian seemed to have reminded me of this, but she was referring to Ashina.

"The second time, I served as an envoy in the army, and I took Ai Yan to the rebel camp of Ashdwin Fu." Xue Shao said, "The situation at that time was very complicated, and it was difficult to explain. In short, I used a beautiful trick in the enemy camp, so that Ashdwin and Fu and his son were suspicious of each other and killed each other, and finally led to the death of both his father and son, and the steppe rebels fell into a great internal scuffle without a leader. ”

"Go to the army and strategize, great wisdom! Go deep into the tiger's den to find the tiger, strong! Wu Zetian clapped his hands and praised, "This is the first time that this palace has heard of it!" ”

Xue Shao smiled indifferently and said: "The third thing is that in the final period of the war, as the commander of the march of the former army of Heisha, I actually commanded the battle of Yudu Jinshan, which is the last battle. In fact, the process of the war is not worth writing about, and the decline of the rebels shows that our army is full of momentum. But in the process of moving out of Fu Nian to appease the leaders of the various tribes of the grassland, I left a deep impression on them. Because many of the leaders of the grassland tribes were captured alive by my net. At that time, they were all in danger of being discredited and wiped out. These horrors are what I brought to them. ”

"It seems that what Pei Gong said is true, your first appearance in the grassland made all the grassland people have a nightmare." Wu Zetian nodded approvingly, "No wonder the Turks are so deliberate against you." You've only just returned from the Northern Expedition when they're watching you closely. As soon as he found out that you might be in charge of the army, he used a plot like assassination against you. ”

Xue Shaoluo smiled, "Queen of Heaven, I don't know if the assassination is an act of the Turks. Actually, I'd rather it wasn't. Otherwise, Datang will face a militaristic crisis. ”

"What if it is?"

"That has to be precautionary." Xue Shao said, "I look at the entire northern border of the Tang Dynasty, and the Youzhou Metropolitan Governor's Mansion has always been the border town of my Tang Dynasty, and the Turks may not dare to commit a minor offense with a large number of troops. The two states of the Shuo Dynasty were easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the god of war Xue Rengui guarded them, and the Turks had always been in awe of his old man, and they might not dare to take offense lightly. In this way, they can only go south to Yinshan Mountain to attack the most empty breach in the northern defense line of the Tang Dynasty. ”

"You mean, the Lingwu and Shuofang areas of Xiazhou?" Wu Zetian's brows furrowed deeply.

Xue Shao nodded, "The ten Turkic tribes in the Western Regions and the Turkic tribes in Mobei are in the same lineage, so it is reasonable that they collude with each other. Now it seems that the rebellion of the ten Turks in the Western Regions is difficult to say whether it was a rebellion secretly instigated by Ashina Gu Dulu. The purpose is to distract Datang's attention and thin our troops. Of course, the Turks with the ten surnames were affected by the two steppe rebellions before and after, and they must have also nurtured some wolf ambitions to dominate the Western Regions and establish their own kingdoms. Otherwise, they will not be willing to be used by others. ”

"......" Wu Zetian was silent, and his expression was so strict that it was a little ugly.

Xue Shao guessed that she must be very annoyed in her heart now. Because it turned out that at that time, pulling back the Western Expeditionary Army and sending Wang Fangyi to quell the rebellion was another stupid decision made because of the need to move the capital and fight against the government.

Of course, the actual connotation of moving the capital is precisely because of Wu Zetian's personal political ambitions. Because Chang'an is Li Tang's foundation, Luoyang is where she is like a fish in water.

Wu Zetian sighed heavily, "The matter has come to this, what can I do?" ”

"There are only two ways." Xue Shao said, "First, stop the western expedition and recall Wang Fangyi's headquarters, and take strict precautions against the Turks in Mobei. ”

"The arrow has to be sent on the string, now that the war has been more than halfway through, Wang Fangyi has fought hard and has just achieved a little success, how can he give up halfway? Moreover, the Western Regions are thousands of miles away, and it has been more than a month since the orders were exchanged back and forth, and it is also a serious question whether Wang Fangyi can quickly retreat. In addition, the generals will not accept the orders of the foreign monarchs, and the soldiers in front will fight bloodily, and the imperial court will recall them halfway with a single order, which is absolutely a waste of their efforts and blood, and it is bound to cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers. Wu Zetian said, "This method doesn't work, let's talk about yours - second." ”

"Second, of course, the imperial court sent troops to the area of Lingwu and Shuofang to strengthen the defense." Xue Shao said.

Wu Zetian was silent again, his expression was very grim.

Xue Shao knew that in fact, the two methods she said were not as complicated and profound, how could she not have imagined that she had been in charge of the military affairs for so many years? She just didn't want to do that. So she held a hint of luck and came to ask if there was any other way available.

Sure enough, after pondering for a while, Wu Zetian said, "Second, no!" …… Is there a third one? ”

Xue Shao shook his head, "The queen of heaven, the minister is stupid, I can't think of the third!" ”