According to the Tang system, the prince can be placed as a bureaucrat when he leaves the cabinet to open the palace, and when he is in the country of the elderly, the bureaucracy will accompany him as an acting official. The Tang Dynasty's restrictions on the vassal king were more severe than the Han Dynasty, although the prince of the country concurrently served as the local governor of the assassin history, but in fact he could not intervene in political affairs, Wang Fu as the highest subordinate official of the palace was easily not placed, only as a favor and preferential treatment of the old ministers of the court, once set, the power and prestige of the vassal king will be above the kings, Zhenguan during the old prime minister Wang was appointed as the king of Wei, it was once misunderstood by the ministers of the court as Li Shimin wanted to abolish the crown prince and establish the king of Wei's signal, although the king was conscientious and constrained, Li Tai still tried his best to provoke the wind and rain, and finally caused a earth-shaking battle for the storage position, and finally the two brothers were demoted at the same time, the Jin King Li Zhi Yuwen benefited from the East Palace, and the male lord of a generation Tang Taizong was physically and mentally exhausted by this matter, and it took two years to recuperate before recovering his spirit.

At that time, as the chief subordinate official of the royal palace under the prince, Changshi often served as the governor of the local state and county, and was actually in charge of state affairs, and also assumed the responsibility of supervising and inspecting the prince. In the Tang Dynasty, the lower the status of the vassal king in the later period, the status of the subordinate officials was correspondingly reduced, and by the end of the Tang Dynasty, the subordinate officials such as Changshi Sima had long been abandoned, and most of the princes could only place some minor officials such as guests in the palace.

Chai Rong, the newly crowned prince, is naturally different from this case.

He himself is a foreign vassal into the court, and he is the only heir to the throne, although there is no explicit decree to prepare the East Palace, but he is by no means different from other vassal kings. What's more, he is also concurrently serving as the actual post of Kaifeng Mansion Yin and Tongping Zhangshi at the moment, and he is on duty every day under the Zhongshu Gate.

Therefore, some old people who had followed him since Lanzhou came to Beijing one after another, and did not enter the palace as officials, but entered the court and Gyeonggi one after another. Wang Min, who was formerly a judge in Lanzhou, entered the Zhongshu Gate to inspect the five chambers of the province, and Cui Song, the former judge of Lanzhou, entered the Privy Council as the deputy capital. Wang Pu, the former secretary of the Jiedu of Lanzhou, entered Kaifeng Mansion as a pusher, Cao Han, the former Zhuya of Lanzhou, served as the lieutenant of Changheng County, and Cao Bin, the former governor of Lanzhou, entered the forbidden army as the commander of the former division of the palace. Although Chai Rong was crowned the king and opened the mansion, he did not govern affairs in the mansion. His Royal Highness the King of Jin only returned in the forbidden place every day, rushed to the palace early in the morning to greet Guo Wei, and handled government affairs under the Zhongshu Gate in the morning. After lunch, he went back to the Kaifeng Mansion to deal with official business, and did not return to the palace to rest until the moon was on the West Mountain.

Since entering April. Concubine De suddenly contracted an illness, and Guo Wei always felt sorry for this old wife who survived the Qianyou Incident, so she has been serving herself these days. It moved China and foreign countries. But it is also quite worrying for the prime ministers and ministers. After all, the emperor is not an ordinary person, and leaving state affairs to care about his wife's illness is not the way of the Ming monarch to govern the country anyway.

It is inconvenient for Chai Rong to say this, and the three prime ministers of Fan Zhen, Li Gu, and Wang Pu have entered the palace like a marquee in the past few days to advise, but they have never seen Guo Wei's advice.

In fact, since Wang Jun left the capital, Guo Wei's spirit has obviously not been as good as last year, sometimes he will doze off when discussing things in the court, and these days because of Concubine De's illness, people are gradually emaciated and haggard. All this was even more worrying to the courtiers.

For this matter. Even Feng Dao, who had been hiding in the mansion and didn't ask about anything, went into the palace to give a good advice, Feng Linggong stayed in the palace for two hours, but when he came out, he looked lonely and regretful, shook his head and didn't say a word, and went back to the house to continue pretending to be his grandson!

Even Feng Dao couldn't persuade him. Ministers also felt powerless. had to work hard to take care of the central affairs for the emperor, and as the de facto crown prince. The burden on Chai Rong's body also became heavier and heavier invisibly.

At the end of the day, Chai Rong greeted Fan Zhen and brought a few copies back to Kaifeng Mansion for approval.

This was originally a matter of overstepping the system, Fan Zhen and others would never be accommodating in this kind of thing, but first, now Chai Rong has gradually gained a foothold under the Zhongshu Gate, and secondly, the emperor is not in court, and in extraordinary times, all the ministers are busy at a loss, and Fan Zhen also closes his eyes and does not speak.

In fact, Chai Rong brought these pieces back, in fact, to show Wang Pu.

Wang Pu is now worshipping the right and is actually serving as the official of Kaifeng Mansion, so it stands to reason that he is not qualified to hear about military affairs. Lin Lei

As soon as the emperor picks a son, the Manchu Dynasty is in a hurry, and everything is in power.

Wang Pu was telling an errand to a military attache of the Jiupin class, Chai Rong stepped in, directly pulled out a copy of the fold from his arms, and handed it to Wang Pu.

Wang Pu was not polite, took a glance and looked at it, and immediately raised his head in surprise: "Zhe Kejiu, this is in a hurry to go on the Northern Expedition?" ”

Chai Rong sat down and drank tea and said, "Without Li Huairen's nod, even if he defeats Suizhou, he may not be able to defend it!" He has endured it for more than 30 years, how can he be in a hurry at this time? This is obviously Li Huairen's initiative! ”

He did not shy away from speaking, but the young military attache with a handsome face was a little unable to stand, and bowed to withdraw.

Wang Pu beckoned to stop him: "Don't go, this matter has a lot to do with what you said!" ”

Chai Rong glanced at the military attache in surprise, but didn't ask much, turned to Wang Pu and said, "Sir, what are the chances of winning a war against the Dingyan Army at this moment?" ”

"I don't know." Wang Pu said honestly, "How can the Yinxia Solstice Jingshi stop thousands of miles? The imperial court can only control Li Huairen and Zhe Kejiu remotely, and they still know the situation of the border counties best. ”

Chai Rong thought for a while: "Then it will be a long time, he is deployed in the Guanbei camp, according to reason, there is no reason for his strategy to be rejected by the Chinese Book and the Secret Academy, unless the father speaks, otherwise the face of the Duke of Zhe Ling still has to be given!" ”

Wang Pu continued: "Even Li Huairen can't be easily dismissed. It's just one thing, it's impossible for Li Huairen not to know about it, he knows and approves of this matter, which can only show one thing - the matter of Gyeongju has been suppressed! ”

Chai Rong frowned: "Li Huairen's performance seal has not yet arrived." ”

Wang Pu nodded: "Gyeongju is farther away from Jingshi than Yeonju, and it is common to be a day or two late." It's just that how to arrange the aftermath of Gyeongju, Li Huairen is afraid that he will have to take measures for a while, and the officials are expected to think within ten days. There should be news! ”

Chai Rong asked: "If Li Huairen is based on Yanqing, he can take Suiyin for a long time, and the north and south are connected, does it matter?" ”

Wang Pu shook his head: "Yanqing and Yanqing are both border counties, and the land is barren, so there is nothing to worry about; The two states of Suiyin are even less significant. Even if the Fold family occupies its place, it must be on guard against the counterattack of the Dingyan army at any time. Without the support of the imperial court, the Northern Han Dynasty and the Tuoba family will be attacked from both sides, and it will be very difficult to live for a long time! Xia Guan was worried that if Li Huairen really wiped out the four states of Yinsui Xia You in one fell swoop. and Zheyang Yang and the two families equally share Yinxia. What should the imperial court do? ”

Without looking at the map, Chai Rong knew that if what Wang Pu said became a reality, it would be a foregone conclusion that the power of these three local warlords would become large, and the center of affairs in the northwest would depend on the eyes of the three families, not to mention the small feudal towns in Guanzhong.

Wang Pu continued: "Does the king know that the Feng family in Lingzhou has sent people into Beijing this time!" ”

Chai Rong nodded: "Gong Zheng said once a few days ago, it was nothing more than for the Feng family Qilang to ask for a fief, there are too many things, and he can't arrange this matter for the time being." Not to mention the granting of festivals. Only the father and the emperor can decide, and we can't overstep our responsibilities. And the father seems to be quite concerned about this matter, and he is quite dissatisfied with Feng Qilang's killing of his brother and taking the throne. Even if the father decides to move the town for Feng Qilang, it is inevitable! Park twisted his beard. Said slowly: "The king knows. This person from Lingzhou also brought an uninvited guest? ”

Chai Rong was taken aback: "Who?" ”

"Li Yiyindi's nephew, Li Guang, the assassin of Suizhou!"

"What?" Chai Rong cried out.

"Where?"

"They went to the Jin Palace's mansion last night to submit a book, but they couldn't do it. Today, I came to Kaifeng Mansion to pay homage to the king, and the king was not there, so he left their prayer posts and letters on behalf of the king, but the gifts were returned. The young military attache replied without humility or arrogance.

Chai Rong nodded, took the name card, put it on the table, opened the envelope directly, and looked at it.

After reading it, he handed the letter to Wang Pu and said lightly: "Li Yiyin is willing to pay tribute to the imperial court, and raise the land of the four states of Yinxia to return to obedience!" ”

Wang Pu's face suddenly became solemn, he took the letter and read it for a long time, and said slowly: "The plan to delay the army? ”

"Not like that!" Chai Rong shook his head, "The plan to delay the army will not send the dignified Suizhou Assassin Shi, nor will it take out a thousand horses to make a big deal, the letter makes it clear that as long as the imperial court announces this matter, they will immediately send the horses into Beijing." This old thief is really anxious, Li Huairen and the Zhe family are pressing step by step, even if he wants to use the strategy of delaying the army, he should also know that even if the court will be fooled, Li Huairen will not be fooled, and he will not be fooled for a long time! ”

Wang Pu thought for a while, took a breath lightly, and said: "Your Majesty, with all due respect, if for the sake of China, the Li family of the Dingyan army died one day earlier, and Li Shu in the northwest would have been healthy one day earlier. However, for the sake of the court and the king, the more balanced the forces of the various factions in the northwest, the easier it will be for the king to clean up in the future. Once Li Huairen and Zheyang divide the Yinxia equally, it will be difficult to requisition and transfer the town in the future. ”

Chai Rong sat on the chair and listened silently, but there was no clear expression on his face.

After Wang Pu finished speaking, he also calmed down and looked at Chai Rong without saying a word.

After a long time, Chai Rong said lightly: "I have always paid attention to the number of soldiers in Yanzhou, Li Huairen's department, the number of the top sky is only 3,000, the north and south roads of the Zhejia family will not exceed 6,000, and the Yang family is only half of the Zhejia at most, and the total is only 12,000 people." What Tang Mingzong's 50,000 army didn't do back then, can Li Huairen and Zhe Kejiu do it with more than 10,000 people? If these forces are excluded from the soldiers guarding the local cities, the number of troops that are really finally gathered under the Tongwan City will be seven or eight thousand at most, with such a force, can they take the Tongwan City, which has been dominant for thousands of years? ”

Wang Pu shook his head lightly: "If it is according to common sense, it will never be possible." These forces can't even surround the city of Tongwan, let alone siege it. Li Huairen has a good record, but this kind of thing cannot be calculated by means of clever schemes. Xia Guan thought that the clear rejection of the Northern Expedition strategy of folding Li would cause too much shock, and second, the Li family would breathe a sigh of relief, but they were afraid that their thoughts would inevitably recur. Therefore, this battle will never be fought without fighting. Instead of sailing against the current, it is better to push the boat along the river, on the one hand, to allow Zhe Kejiu to enter Yinxia, and on the other hand, to acquiesce to the Li family's mutual trade between Lingzhou and Chinese prefectures and counties through the Feng family, and to the Feng family, Feng Qilang's temperance envoy. It's better to give the land. It is very unwise for the imperial court to be angry with the real power of the feudal town in this kind of matter. It's just an empty name, nothing is spent, and leaving Li Yiyin and Feng Jiye in Guanzhong to contain Li Wenge and the Folded Family should be a way to kill two birds with one stone. ”

Chai Rong nodded slowly, Wang Pu made sense. The crusade against the Dingyan army is a foregone conclusion, and it cannot be directly intervened. But you can make some fuss secretly.

Instead of doing what you can't do, it's better to do what you can, this is Wang Pu's way of thinking.

Chai Rong felt quite reasonable about his chief think tank's plan, but he still felt a little uneasy in a trance. It seems that there is something that should be taken into account by oneself, but I do not pay attention to it.

"The King. The prince's plan is actually inappropriate......"

The two of them looked up in amazement, but saw that it was the young and handsome military attache who spoke.

One is the dignified prince of the Jin Dynasty, and the other is the Kaifeng Mansion Governor Zhongshu Zhizhi, all of whom are incredible big shots, the military attache stood there and smelled the military affairs for a long time, and took the initiative to quit without knowing the interest, which is already beyond the norm. Who would have thought that this guy would dare to interject rashly when the two were talking? Chai Rong was quite surprised in his heart, and couldn't help but glance at Wang Pu. Wang Pu remained silent. His eyes didn't look at Chai Rong, his eyes stared at the military attache and said, "What's wrong, Zhong Xun said to listen to it!" ”

The military attache looked humble, but without the slightest look of panic, and said calmly: "The imperial court and the feudal town. Build a town and cut the domain. It's all a family affair. If the party members are not of our race, their hearts will be different. Rebellion or obedience, both are enemy state affairs. The exclusive power of the Duke of Zhe Ling and General Li is subject to the current court, and if there is a change in the imperial court's strategy, it can be prepared and declared. Now the front-line soldiers, no matter where their hearts belong, after all, they are fighting under the banner of my Great Zhou, attacking the city and conquering the land, and the recovering land is also the land of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It is inappropriate for the court not to reward and reward, how can it secretly favor the enemy and restrain the generals? The lord is still unwilling to do this, but the king is the king? ”

Chai Rong saw that this person was in a sentence, and he was cautious and cautious in his words, but he had an awe-inspiring meaning, and he was even more surprised in his heart, but he refused to show it on his face, and only said lightly: "However, the disaster of the feudal town, since the late Tang Dynasty, has lasted for a hundred years, if you don't take precautions early, once you raise a tiger and a carbuncle becomes a disease, what should it be?" ”

The young military attache was not afraid, and said: "What the king said is a different matter, the feudal town is insulted by foreign countries, and the court should supply it with money, food, soldiers and horses, this is one layer; The feudal town did not accept the king, and the court used the heavenly army to attack it, which is another layer. The disaster in the late Tang Dynasty was due to the mediocrity of the monarch, the incompetence of the ministers, and the weakness of the forbidden army to fight. Now that the emperor of this dynasty has come from the army, the king has also experienced the army since he was a child, and the combat power of the forbidden army is the crown of the world. ”

Seeing that Chai Rong and Wang Pu were staring at him and refused to speak, the military attache smiled to himself: "Forgive me for being disrespectful, ordering the public soldiers to enter Pingxia, and folding Li Yang's three families is a private matter, but it is the overall situation in the imperial court, the first major enemy in this dynasty is the Khitan and the Northern Han Dynasty, Li Yiyin is a vassal to the Northern Han Dynasty, and so far the soldiers are willing to submit to the territory, which is actually a big disrespectful act. In contrast, the sincerity of the order to lead the troops into the pass, and General Li made a special trip to Beijing to offer four horses, is not his sincerity far away? Now the imperial court is suspicious of the warriors who are determined to defend the western region for the Great Zhou, but it is tolerant of the traitors who openly resist the king, just for the balance of power in Guanzhong, and spread it. ...... that will chill the hearts of the world's heroes"

In fact, he said at the beginning that Chai Rong had already figured it out, and the reason why he himself felt that Wang Pu's strategy was inappropriate was that he felt that this containment strategy was too obvious, and the pattern of the instruments was a little narrow, and it was not the king's doing. Now that this military attache is talking about the Tao, Chai Rong is becoming more and more interested in this person.

He squinted at Wang Pu, but saw Wang Pu looking at him with a smile on his face, and suddenly realized in his heart that Wang Pu was obviously intentional today, he turned his eyes to look at the military attaché, but he didn't know if Wang Pu had greeted him in advance in this play.

"Who are you? What is the current official position? Chai Rong asked lightly.

The man was stunned for a moment, but he didn't react, raised his head and looked at Chai Rong in amazement.

Wang Pu stroked his beard with a smile: "He is the head of Kaifeng Mansion, his surname is Pan Mingmei, the word Zhongxun, and the name of the Daimyo Mansion!" ”

Chai Rong nodded, waved his hand, and said, "Got it, you can retreat!" ”

Pan Mei's words were actually not finished, but seeing the look on Chai Rong's face, he smiled bitterly: "The king is the future lord of the world, and he should think of the people in the world, after all, a conspiracy is a conspiracy, not the way of the emperor to govern the country......"

Chai Rong waved his hand, and Pan Mei retreated with a gloomy expression.

"Did you consult him beforehand about this?" Chai Rong turned his head and asked Wang Pu.

Wang Pu shook his head lightly: "How can the lower officials be so ignorant?" ”

Chai Rong nodded: "Actually, even if Li Yiyin is not allowed, Zhe Kejiu and Li Huairen will not be able to conquer Tongwan City this year, what does Mr. think?" ”

Wang Pu smiled lightly: "The king clearly sees that the lower officials think the same, and the exchange of money with him is actually just to induce this young man to speak!" ”

Chai Rong smiled bitterly: "I almost hid it......"

Wang Pu bowed: "The king forgives his sins!" ”

Chai Rong waved his hand: "Mr. is collecting materials for me, what is the crime?" ”

He paused and said: "This Pan Mei, put it in Kaifeng Mansion to be the head of the team, I will be in the clerical department, make up for the worship officials in the west, and serve the widows around the ......."