After the banquet, Li Zhi seemed to inadvertently ask about Xue Shao's roasted tail banquet, and Xue Shao said that he had been busy in the martial arts academy recently, and he had not yet opened up.

Li Zhi said that it was time to show up, the roasted tail banquet was nominally just a small banquet, but in fact it was the most important political activity for those who entered the office, and it could not be delayed for too long. and told Xue Yi that your second brother is busy with your role as an elder brother.

Both brothers agreed to their promises, and both understood what the emperor meant. With the foreshadowing of the previous words, Li Zhi is nothing more than reminding Xue Shao that Pei Yan must be invited to the Burning Tail Banquet!

Xue Shao analyzed from Li Zhi's performance today, although he has been hiding in the deep palace to recuperate, he still has everything under control of the overall situation of the court. Not only that, but he is already making careful calculations for the Tang Dynasty in a hundred years.

Li Zhi's ideal minister is Pei Yan.

The government and the opposition know that Xue Yuanchao has always been at odds with the Empress Wu, and Pei Yan's promotion has been carried out by the Queen Mother, and the two are a pair of very close political partners. Then it means that Li Zhi did the design for the Tang Dynasty a hundred years later, and he did not leave Wu Zetian behind.

In this way, although there are suspicions and games between Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, he still trusts Wu Zetian in general. After all, Wu Zetian has been a husband and wife with him for almost 30 years, and he has experienced so many ups and downs together, and he has always been relieved to let Wu Zetian be his "spokesperson for governance".

Xue Shao thought to himself that since Li Zhi experienced the dictatorship of the eldest grandson Wuji and Chu Suiliang, it seemed that he had not particularly trusted the minister. In his opinion, it is human nature that his thirty-year-old wife is more trustworthy than outsiders; At the same time, I am afraid that there is an important premise, out of a thousand-year-old political tradition, Li Zhi believes that it is impossible for a woman to rob his Li family - this may be the most important reason why Li Zhi dares to entrust the ruling power and the major events behind him to Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian in history was able to have the opportunity to ascend the throne of the empress, and Li Zhi "made great contributions"!

Later, Li Xiaoyi came to ask for instructions, saying that today there is a martial arts meeting of Zuo Fengchenwei Qianniu, did His Majesty come to watch and preside over the awarding of the Qianniu Imperial Sword?

Li Zhi said that he would let the prince preside over on his behalf.

Li Xiaoyi did not raise any objections, and immediately went to the East Palace to invite the crown prince Li Xian in person.

"Zuo Fengchenwei, it seems to be quite prosperous recently." Li Zhi said to the Xue brothers half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Back then, your father was General Zuo Fengchenwei, and he set the rules for Qianniu to talk about martial arts. Now it seems that he did the right thing! ”

The Xue Shao brothers bid farewell to the emperor and left the Hanbing Palace.

Xue Yi held a sullen breath in his chest for a long time, let out a long exhale, and wiped his forehead with a wave of his sleeve.

"Why is Big Brother so nervous?" Xue Shao asked.

Xue Yi smiled bitterly, "Didn't Erlang hear it, the meaning of His Majesty's words was extremely profound, and even a little dangerous?" ”

Xue Shao said with a somewhat uncertain tone: "Junior brother guesses, is His Majesty reminding us not to get too close to Xue Yuanchao, but to gain the trust of the Queen of Heaven and Pei Yan as soon as possible?" ”

Xue Yi blinked, "You're smart." ”

Xue Shao smiled, do you think I just know the Dao?

"Erlang, after all, my brother is far away from Kyoto, and I don't have a particularly thorough understanding of some of the subtleties of current affairs in the center of the court." Xue Yi looked around vigilantly, and found that there was no eyeliner to watch, so he whispered: "This time I went back to Beijing to handle your marriage, but I smelled some strange smells for my brother!" ”

"What's the smell?"

Xue Yi said nervously: "The authority of the Tang Dynasty is more and more in the hands of the Queen of Heaven!" ”

Xue Shao nodded very seriously and seriously, "That's right." The lack of safety in the dragon body under His Majesty led to the increasing power of the Queen of Heaven. ”

"Xue Yuanchao, it seems that he has some intention of retreating......" Xue Yi muttered thoughtfully, "He is the patriarch and leader of our Fenyin Xue clan, once he retreats, I'm afraid he will ......"

When Xue Shao heard what he said, a bright light flashed in his heart - could it be that the eldest brother intended to take Xue Yuanchao's place?

So Xue Shao said tentatively: "Big brother, why don't you take this opportunity to ask for an order to be transferred to the capital?" ”

"Oh?" Xue Yi cheered up a little when he heard this, and said, "I have been doing Jeju Assassination for ten years for my brother, and I have never been an official in the center for a day. I'm afraid it's a bit abrupt to make this request suddenly, right? ”

"Ten years ......" Xue Shao blinked, "The term of office of foreign officials in Datang is generally two terms, one term every four years, and they will be transferred at the end of the term." The eldest brother has been working for ten years, far more than two terms, and it shouldn't be too much to apply for a transfer back to Kyoto, right? ”

"Having said that, but ......" Xue Yi hesitated a little.

Xue Shao saw it, he was both hesitant and very tempted.

After all, they are all officials, who doesn't want to climb up and get closer to the core of power? This is definitely human nature, or "official nature".

"What's the concern of the eldest brother?" Xue Shao asked.

Xue Yi sighed lightly and said, "Erlang, being an assassin state official and being an official in the center are completely different things. In Jeju, I have always only dealt with people like the county commanders, gentry and common people below, and I have been shepherding and educating the people on behalf of the heavenly patrol, and I have been persuading the people to teach agriculture and mulberry on behalf of the people. As soon as I gave instructions to Sima and Changshi on the affairs of the state, most of them were appropriate. As long as there are no major events such as rebellions, famines, and great droughts and floods in the administration, I, the governor of the Assassin Prefecture, will be able to do quite safely. In other words, the governance experience accumulated by the elder brother over the years is limited to being a local parent official. Suddenly let me return to the center as an official, if I were given a big official and let me seek the country and the army, I was afraid that I would not have such a talent and thus mislead the country and the people; If I give it to a petty official or an idle official, I might as well be a stab in the local area where I can do practical things with real power! ”

Xue Shao couldn't help but smile and said, "Then according to the eldest brother's opinion, should I continue to do the Jeju Assassin History, or should I ask for an order to be transferred back to Kyoto?" ”

Xue Yi blinked his eyes and asked rhetorically, "What do you think?" ”

Xue Shao thought for a while and said, "Of course I am willing to be an official in Beijing." In this way, the younger brother can serve the elder brother day and night, and can fulfill our brotherhood. ”

Xue Yi nodded thoughtfully and said, "I will think about it carefully, and I still focus on your marriage at the moment." Anyway, I've been doing this assassination for two years, so I might as well finish it. Wait a year or two and decide on the situation. ”

"Okay." Xue Shao nodded, and the eldest brother said to wait for a year or two to see the situation, this "situation" should refer to - how can I, the "colt", mix!

In history, Xue Yi made many friends with the Li family royal family as a relative of the royal family and the governor of the assassin state, so he was involved in the rebellion of the Li family's royal family, and finally involved Xue Shao. This is a direct trigger for Xue Shao to be executed by Wu Zetian in history.

Now that the eldest brother has the will to return to Beijing to be an official, this is a good thing. It's better than letting him stay in Jeju all the time, I can't "control" him!

"Since Your Majesty has personally inquired, I have to help you manage the roasted tail feast." Xue Yi said, "Without further ado, I'll go and write a request." Do you have any people you have to invite? ”

"I won't talk about the same ancestor of the Xue family, there are a few others." Xue Shao said, "First of all, of course, Pei Xingjian, and Wei Xuantong, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Yuan Wailang Yuan Wanqing of the Ministry of War; In addition, there is Xue Rengui's eldest son, Chengmen Lang Xue Ne; Zuo Fengchenwei, General Li Xiaoyi, and several of my colleagues and subordinates. ”

Xue Yi nodded and said, "Didn't you bring four thousand cows to study in the Martial Arts Academy, and do you want to invite their relatives and elders to go together?" ”

"It's inconvenient." Xue Shao said, "My friendship with my colleagues is one thing, and I have always been separated from their relatives and elders. rashly invited, there is a suspicion of flattering and pleasing and forming a gang. I'm afraid it's not good. ”

"Makes sense." Xue Yi said, "Then Pei Yan...... How to go about please? ”

Xue Shao frowned and shook his head, "I've never seen Pei Yan yet, so I don't know how to invite it for the time being." Moreover, I also have a layer of concerns, and now everyone knows that my relationship with Pei Xingjian is not ordinary, and Pei Xingjian and Pei Yan have always had some discord. ”

"That's a problem...... Xue Yi frowned in embarrassment, "The roasted tail banquet is different from ordinary banquets, it's not as simple as pushing cups and changing lamps together. Since you invited Pei Xingjian first, it's not good to invite Pei Yan again - stepping on two boats, it will inevitably capsize! ”

"Then don't invite Pei Yan!" Xue Shao said it categorically.

Xue Yi's brows furrowed even tighter, and he whispered, "Your Majesty just said that......

"Then you can only weigh the two, choose one or the other!" Xue Shao said, "I am now already Pei Gong's protégé, if I go to Pei Yan again, Pei Xingjian and even the government and the opposition will doubt my political character." So how will I stand in the future? In contrast, I'd rather not stammer Pei Yan. ”

"......" Xue Yan shook his head in embarrassment and said, "Listening to Your Majesty's breath, Pei Yan will inevitably rise up in the future." If you don't invite him to the roasted tail feast, he will be displeased. Leaving such a shadow at the beginning may not be conducive to your career in the future! ”

Xue Shao's brows also furrowed, what the eldest brother said was still very reasonable. People are in officialdom, who doesn't talk about face? If I don't invite Pei Yan to my roasted tail banquet, he will definitely be unhappy in his heart.

"Big brother, there's no way around it, we can't do everything." Xue Shao said, "Of course, being an official must be tactful, but if you slip too much, I'm afraid it's not a good thing." Since I worship under the door of Wei Gongmen, I must respect Pei Xingjian as a teacher and take a long-term view based on the army. You can't have both, so you have to make a trade-off. ”

"Okay...... That's all it can be! Xue Yi sighed lightly and shook his head, "It can also be seen from this that the Jingguan is embarrassed, all of them are the great lords who can't afford to offend!" ”

Xue Shao smiled and said, "Big brother, the capital is indeed full of dignitaries, and it's not easy to offend. However, if we correct our position and do not make mistakes in the general direction, even if there are some parties above the court who are in the same position and disagree, we will not hurt the fundamentals. ”

"Yes!" Xue Yi nodded approvingly and said with a smile: "Erlang is so young and sober-minded, it's really rare!" ”

Xue Shao nodded and smiled, now can you understand the good intentions of many of my previous actions, including alienating Xue Yuanchao and persuading you to reconcile with the queen of heaven?

It has always been true that the one who wins the trend is the one who wins!