Shang Jing returned to Chang'an ten days ago. However, unlike more than two months ago, when he left Chang'an to go to Luocheng in order to reconcile with Tubo and his relatives, he was lucky to be able to return to the familiar Chang'an capital alive from the snowy plateau this time. Second, in order to cooperate with the implementation of Nasimo's strategy of saluting first and then soldiering, he accompanied Yangzong, who was the envoy of Tubo, to ask the Chang'an court for land repair.

Yang Zong, who chose the lord and faction, as an envoy to Chang'an to ask for the title, talked about Lang Ge's cunning and played a balancing act with the grandmaster Kampot and the general Nasimo. Liang, Shan, Gua, Sha, the four states of hundreds of miles of land, only in exchange for the eldest brother Shangbang's false name, anyone with a discerning eye can see through it at a glance, Tubo's move is just to buy more time for the use of troops after the autumn. How could the Huanghuang Chang'an Imperial Court agree to such a humiliating condition for repair?

As soon as he approached the border between the two countries, Shang Jing was surprised to find that the two sides of the border had lost their former calm compared to when the mission came, and the air was filled with the smell of scorched earth and blood, and the flames of war had been truly rekindled, but it had not yet had time to spread widely.

When the group crossed the Xingsuchuan Pass and passed by the Tianwei Army garrison to destroy the sand castle, Shang Jing suddenly found that Qian Dashun was gone.

Qian Dashun's resignation cast a shadow on Shang Jing's heart: it seems that when he set off from Chang'an, there were people sent by various forces in the mission, Na Yu was sent by the concubine and the eldest princess of Changning, this Qian Dashun should not be a member of the remnants of the Zhang family.

Along the way depressed back to Chang'an, Shang Jing introduced Yangzong and his entourage to Honglu Temple, took care of life, and made a preliminary agreement with Yangzong, three days later, he would take him into the palace to see the emperor, and then he said goodbye to Yangzong, and hurried to Daming Palace alone to see the emperor.

When the emperor heard that someone had come to report that Shang Jing had returned to Chang'an alive, he was both surprised and happy, and immediately withdrew from everyone and met him alone in Yanying Palace.

But when Shang Jing reported the situation in detail to the emperor in the Tubo court, the emperor couldn't help but take the case, and scolded: "Yuernan is a remote state, so ignorant of elevation. In the first dynasty, I was commensurate with my dynasty and uncle, but now I want to marry my sister and him, and I am still not satisfied with being a brother, and I want to send an envoy to me to forcibly ask for land, how can this really be true! ”

Shang Jing had expected that the emperor would be furious, so he didn't say a word, but quietly waited for the emperor to vent his anger and gradually recover his senses, and then reminded softly: "No matter how you prepare to reply to the Tibetan envoys, you must be ready to start a war with the Tibetans as soon as possible." ”

The Emperor had just received two military reports from Hezhong and Yuzhou.

Fu Yi reported that the danger was not complete to increase the number of troops in the river by 50,000, and the enemy and us were currently in a stalemate, and whether there would be enough food, grass and reinforcements would become the key to determining the future victory or defeat of the main battlefield in the river, and implored the imperial court to prepare as soon as possible.

It has been confirmed that the new commander of the rebel camp in Puzhou, King Ying, is Li Shu, the king of Jiangling, and the rebel camp in Puzhou openly provoked the white flag, putting on a posture of mourning the decisive battle, and in five days, that is, three times almost broke through the danger of the river, attacked the city of Yuzhou, and asked the imperial court to send reinforcements as soon as possible.

The north road and the east road are in urgent need of replenishment of troops and grain and grass, and the southwest of Tubo is looking at Helong again, the emperor heard Shang Jing talk about preparing for war with Tubo as soon as possible, and suddenly felt anxious, the only soldiers who can fight in the Helong area are Yu Chengen's 30,000 Shenhe army, so as to defend the vast territory of more than a dozen states in two provinces, it is absolutely impossible, but where can the troops be drawn from in a short time.

After a night of hard thinking, the emperor finally came up with a plan to delay the army. He handed over the mission of negotiating with Tibet to Li Jinzhong, and tactfully indicated to Li Jinzhong the bottom line of the negotiations, that is, not an inch of land could be given to Tibet, and at the same time he tried his best to avoid provoking Tibet and restarting the war.

Li Jinzhong was reluctant to accept this mission at first, he had been an errand boy in the Inner Dynasty for a long time, and he knew nothing about the affairs of the domain, and at the same time knew that negotiations with the Tibetans would not lead to good results. But I can't stand the emperor's face-to-face praise, saying that such a military event has to be "Shang's father" in person to succeed, "Shang's father" has been assassinated many times, I have demoted Zeng Qingze to a foreign post, Jing Zhaoyin's candidate also asked "Shang's father" to recommend talents to fill the position, etc., plus he and Tubo were originally made by Li Jinzhong to the emperor in person, and now he can't make peace, but provoked Tubo to start a war and threaten each other, and came to ask for a seal, as the head of a hundred officials, he blindly shirked and avoided, for fear of being criticized by the government and the opposition, so he agreed.

The emperor freed his hands, and on the one hand, he strictly urged the collection of troops from all provinces in Jianghuai and sent them to the envoys of various provinces to strengthen drills and training, so as to prepare for emergencies; While hiding in the harem, he began to plot to cut Li Jinzhong's power and take the power of the court into his own hands.

Shang Jing was first chosen by the emperor to replace the dead Xie Liangchen in charge of the affairs of the Inner Minister, but he was worried that Li Jinzhong would overreact to the matter, so he adopted the current method.

On the surface, the emperor had to visit Jingxuan's Baoxiang Palace every morning to listen to the three internal servants of the province, Lu Guangting, Wu Xiaozhong, and the monk Jing, perform all kinds of court affairs, but every time Shang Jing had to arrive half an hour earlier and perform the important affairs of a day or two to the emperor alone.

There was lightning and thunder early this morning, and Shang Jing arrived half an hour earlier than usual.

Before the emperor arrived, Jing Xuan passed Shang Jing into the main hall of the Baoxiang Palace to see that the tea had been completed, as if he asked casually: "This time I went to Luo, along the way, my father-in-law and Na Xing'er got along well?" ”

Shang Jing hurriedly stood up and replied respectfully: "Back to Niangniang's words, Lai Xing'er was ordered to pretend to be His Royal Highness King Mu, and it can be said that he did his best along the way. Although he was young, he was very bold and clever, and he met the Tibetan Zampu in the city of Luoqi, and he was not surprised, neither humble nor arrogant, and successfully completed his mission. In our family's opinion, this son is worthy of a big responsibility. ”

Although he was pardoned and returned to the palace for a short time, he also heard that Jing Xuan was quite close to Lai Xing'er, so he chose some good ones to say.

"Father-in-law doesn't know, that Lai Xing'er is an impostor eunuch who has not been purified, and he has committed the crime of defrauding the king. Now although the emperor spared him from death and punished him to guard the grave of the 'wild fox', he may be beheaded one day. Isn't it bad for his father-in-law to praise him like this, isn't it bad for the emperor to hear it? ”

Shang Jing was frightened by the turmoil that happened in the East Palace two years ago, and was deliberately frightened by Jing Xuan, so he panicked, his legs couldn't stop shaking, and even his voice changed: "Niangniang Mingjian, our family really doesn't know, I really don't know."

Seeing that he was so timid, Jing Xuan was amused in his heart, and he was afraid that the emperor would arrive at this time and disturb his plan, so he lowered his voice and said to Shang Jing: "My father-in-law also knows that this palace had a miscarriage back then, thanks to Lai Xing'er who invited the divine doctor Xia Mama, and saved a life in this palace. Now that it is difficult to come to Xing'er, the palace can't bear to stand by, and wants to ask the father-in-law to say a few kind words in front of the emperor at the right time, regardless of whether it is a selection of imperial examinations or military experience, but it is good to give this child a chance to advance. My father-in-law is an old man who has followed the emperor for many years, and he speaks differently from others."

Although Shang Jing served Lai Xing'er diligently during his envoy and did not dare to slack off, he did it according to his orders, more like a play on the spot, which does not mean that he is really good to Lai Xing'er. On the contrary, whenever he recalled the unusual actions of Lai Xing'er in Nasimo's mansion, and the fact that he had a secret between him and Na Yu and Qian Dashun, the two uninvited guests mixed with the mission, Shang Jing became extremely suspicious of Lai Xing'er.

How could he rashly plead with the emperor for such a person whose identity is unclear and has nothing to do with him?

But Jing Xuan is now the head of the harem, and the emperor chose the place to listen to the report in her Baoxiang Palace, which shows that the emperor has great trust in her. However, if you accept it in person, but you don't do it, or if you can't do it, won't you also offend her?

Shang Jing was in a dilemma, and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, but inadvertently touched a piece of music in his arms, his eyes lit up, and his arm was slightly forced, and the music bounced out of his arms and fell to the ground.

Shang Jing took advantage of the situation and bent down to pick up the fold, smiled with his eyebrows, and said to Jing Xuan with the fold in his hand: "If it hadn't slipped out, our family wouldn't have remembered it for a while, and there was a great happy event to report to the emperor and Niangniang today." ”

In the past, the emperor listened to government affairs in the Baoxiang Palace, and Jing Xuan always avoided it. At this time, seeing that Shang Jing avoided answering what he had entrusted him, and took the initiative to report the good news to himself, although Jing Xuan was dissatisfied with him in his heart, he couldn't help but ask curiously: "What kind of happy event is it, could it be that Mr. Liu led the army to capture Puzhou, or General Fu Yi recovered the river?" ”

Shang Jing turned his head and glanced at the door of the hall, and when he saw that the emperor had not yet arrived, he also imitated Jing Xuan, lowered his voice, and said happily: "I can't tell you how happy you will be when you wait a while." According to the report from the 600-mile post in Bazhou, His Royal Highness King Mu has found it! ”

(To be continued.) )