The Hexi Army of the Longyou Army was defeated at Shibao City, and more than half of the 150,000 troops were lost, and Wang Zhongsi escaped with his life under the protection of Li Guangbi and 500 personal guards. After the break, Geshuhan was wounded in many places, but with his BMW mount, he was lucky enough to escape back to the camp of Gravel Mountain. When the news of the defeat reached Chang'an, Xuanzong was shocked and speechless for a long time.

Ten days later, the preliminary results of the investigation into the cause of the defeat of the war were obtained, and Dong Yanguang went to the court to give a detailed account of the course of the war, saying that Wang Zhongji had neglected the fighters, did not coerce and obeyed, and did not act according to the plan agreed in advance. As a result, the Tubo people seized the opportunity to break each one. It also led to the inability to implement his siege strategy, and he had to avoid losses and withdraw his troops immediately.

Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong took this letter and folded it into Yan Xuanzong, who was in a state of anger and ordered Wang Zhonghei to be dismissed from all his positions and suspended pending investigation. The duties of the three envoys are to be replaced by others. Ordered Ge Shuhan to be the envoy of the Longyou Dynasty, Li Guangbi to be the envoy of the Hexi Dynasty, and Zhang Qiqiu to be the envoy of the Shuofang Festival. Overnight, Wang Zhongsi fell from the clouds to hell, and the glory of the past was swept away, and he became a sinner of the Tang Dynasty.

Soon after, Ge Shuhan and Li Guangbi jointly played to exonerate Wang Zhonghe, and the crown prince Li Heng also asked to see Xuanzong, asking Xuanzong to remember Wang Zhonghe's past achievements and give him a lenient sentence. Xuanzong's anger is also slowly subsiding, and his attitude towards Wang Zhongsi is slowly changing, and he also summoned Wang Zhongsi once. Many people thought that His Majesty would reactivate Wang Zhongsi and forgive him for his crimes, after all, Wang Zhongsi was an indispensable minister in the imperial court, and he was indispensable in the border town. Only his prestige can intimidate the Turkic Khitan enemies.

However, not long after, a report from Jiyang and Wei Lin made the matter change. A few years ago, Wei Lin served as the assassin of Shuozhou in Shuozhou, which was under the jurisdiction of Shuofang Jiedu, and had a lot of contacts with Wang Zhonghei, who was the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu. After Wei Lin learned of Wang Zhonghe's strange defeat, he remembered what Wang Zhongsi had said to him back then, and secretly recited these words to the political affairs hall.

"Back then, I grew up with King Zhong in the palace, King Zhong was kind and benevolent, and he will be a bright monarch in the future. If it is said that my king's loyal heir will only be loyal to one person in this life, this person is the loyal king. ”

This is a sentence in Wei Lin's compromise, this sentence can be described as a big rebellion, and the meaning contained in it is quite profound. When Li Linfu presented this secret letter to Xuanzong, Xuanzong immediately thought of the strangeness of this defeat, and the fact that Wang Zhongji had been reluctant to attack Shibao City and wrote a recital to satirize his great achievements.

The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I became. The more I suspected that Wang Zhongji had a problem, the more I felt that there must be something wrong with him. Wang Zhongji so openly stated that he was only loyal to the crown prince, could it be said that this defeat was deliberately done by him? Deliberately unwilling to allow himself to hope to see the surrender of Tibet in his lifetime?

Xuanzong was not soft on these matters, and immediately ordered Wang Zhongsi to be handed over to the three divisions of the Yushitai of Dali Temple of the Criminal Department for interrogation, and strictly investigated the plot behind Wang Zhonghe. Poor Wang Zhongji just saw the hope of rising, and was beaten into the abyss by this stuffy stick.

This time the matter involved was more serious, and some of the people who complained about Wang Zhong's heir and pleaded in front of Xuanzong did not dare to speak anymore. This matter is very easy to be suspected of rebellion, and no one dares to provoke it. The only person who rushed to the capital to intercede for Wang Zhonghei and guaranteed Wang Zhonghe's loyalty to His Majesty with his life was Ge Shuhan. The performance of this Hu born Tang general is much more backbone than that of the authentic Tang people, and it is said that he chased Xuanzong's side in the palace for several days to intercede, and finally made Xuanzong relax a little. Soon after, Wang Zhongji was demoted to Hanyang Taishou and left the capital forever.

Since the beginning of the first month, there has been an uproar in the DPRK and China over the case of Wang Zhonghe. Although Wang Zhonghei is full of injustices, there is one person who is more annoyed than Wang Zhonghe, and that is the crown prince Li Heng. When Wang Zhongsi was once again deeply involved in Wei Lin's secret performance, Li Heng could not intercede for Wang Zhongsi, because the person involved in Wang Zhongsi's remarks in Wei Lin's secret performance was himself. At this time, Li Heng must not say a word, because his father's eyes are burning at him, and the slightest inappropriate words and deeds will have devastating consequences.

The anger in Li Heng's heart can be imagined, everything seems to be a repetition of history, and the emperor Fu Weiming was also for similar reasons, and today it is Wang Zhonghei's turn again. The arms around him were cut off one by one, and the pain was indescribable. And what made Li Heng grit his teeth with hatred was that the things of Huangfu Weiming and Wang Zhonghei were all done by the same person, Li Linfu twice used the same means to make his father cut off his own arm, and put himself in an isolated and helpless situation, Li Heng couldn't wait to break Li Linfu's body into thousands of pieces to relieve the hatred in his heart.

Obviously, Wei Lin didn't jump out early or late, but he jumped out at this time to write this letter, which must have been arranged. Li Linfu is cunning and knows when and what means to make things irreversible. All this was the result of his careful design, and he was once again defeated in the battle with him.

In the gloomy Shaoyang Courtyard, Li Heng couldn't sleep all night, and it was difficult to fall asleep while sitting on the bed all night. Whenever there was a disturbance, he would nervously open his eyes and look around, for fear that his father had ordered someone to send someone to get him. He suffered hard until Wang Zhongji was demoted out of Chang'an, Li Heng was both relieved and felt infinitely lost.

Since Wang Zhonghei was not killed because of that secret letter, it means that this matter is the same as the case of Emperor Wei Jian's Fu Weiming, and his position as the crown prince has at least been retained. But as soon as Wang Zhongsi fell, all the chips in his hands were lost in an instant, and he no longer had any strong support to rely on. From now on, Li Linfu will deal with himself unscrupulously, and he has no power to fight back. So how many times can his position as the crown prince be impacted?

On the night of Wang Zhonghe's departure from Beijing, Li Heng finally had some thoughts to discuss with Li Fuguo what to do next. Before that, Li Heng was not in the mood to discuss countermeasures with Li Fuguo because he was worried, and Li Fuguo could only wait patiently.

In the study, under a lone lamp, Li Heng sat behind the desk, his pale and haggard face flickering under the candlelight, like a soulless shell. Li Fuguo looked at Li Heng's appearance and sighed in his heart: How can such a person control the Tang Dynasty in the future? He's not an emperor's material at all. Indecisive, irritable and suspicious, and has no plan in the face of problems. It's a pity that he can only do his best to assist him, and there is no one else who can assist. But this is also good, when the crown prince ascends the throne, it will be easier for him to control him, which is not a good thing.

"Li Fuguo, what do you say about the current situation? How can I cope with this dilemma? Wang Zhonghei was demoted, all the three towns in Shuofang in the west of the Longyou River under his control changed hands, Ge Shuhan and Li Guangbi and their princes had no dealings with them, would they support me? Li Heng lowered his eyes and said in a hoarse voice.

Li Fuguo stood in front of Li Heng, with a hint of contempt in his eyes, but his words were very sincere: "Your Highness, don't try to win over Li Guangbi's brother Shuhan now." At this time, who is willing to openly express their loyalty to you, the crown prince? Isn't that asking for trouble? In order to gain their allegiance, the situation must be broken. ”

Li Heng looked up at Li Fuguo expectantly: "How to break the dilemma in front of you?" I already expected that Li Linfu, the old thief, would be unscrupulous in the future. There is also Yang Guozhong, and the downfall of Wang Zhonghei also has his part, these two people are united, and my position as the crown prince is in jeopardy, maybe...... Maybe tomorrow my father will take away my position as the crown prince by a holy decree. ”

Li Fuguo sighed and said, "Your Highness doesn't need to be so alarmed, the more you are at this time, the more you have to stabilize your position." Does Your Highness know why you are in this predicament? There is a saying that the slave does not know whether to say or not. ”

"It's all at this time, what else should I not say?" Li Heng shouted.

Li Fuguo said: "The slave and maid risked death to say." If the words are inappropriate, please forgive your sins. ”

Li Heng waved his hand and said: "Don't have any worries between you and me, just say whatever comes to mind, you know that this prince has never been defensive against you, you are the most trusted person by this prince, and no one can replace your position in my heart." ”

Li Fuguo arched his hand and said: "Thank you prince, the slave and maid are grateful." What the slave wants to say is that you are too hesitant and indecisive, prince. Originally, the prince had a lot of opportunities not to let the situation fall into such a predicament, but he still slipped into this time step by step. At the beginning, the death of Huangfu Weiming and Wei Jian, the crown prince should have been warned. Prior to this, the prince had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the prince's three guards, as well as nearly 250,000 soldiers and horses in the four towns of Wang Zhonghei, what a good situation, it was buried in vain. ”

Li Heng frowned and said, "What do you mean by this?" ”

Li Fuguo said: "Prince, 250,000 soldiers and horses are enough to do big things. The crown prince is decisive, and now you are sitting on the Jinluan Hall to accept the worship of the ministers. ”

Li Heng was shocked and said, "You mean...... Are you saying that I should rebel and seize the throne? ”

Li Fuguo frowned and said: "That's not called rebellion, that's called Qingjun's side." Traitorous ministers such as Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong flaunted their might by His Majesty's side, making the court uneasy. If the prince raises troops to clear the king's side, the soldiers and horses of all towns will support the prince. Besides, what's so bad about taking the throne? Isn't my Taizong the great treasure of the Xuanwu Sect's change to ascend the throne? Even if His Majesty is now, didn't he kill Empress Wei, force Emperor Xiaojing to give way to him, and then even Princess Taiping died? Some people will say that His Majesty is half a half, isn't it? The victor and the prince and the loser die, and the emperor's seat is coveted by everyone, if he is not decisive, how can he sit there? ”

Li Heng said angrily: "Bold, you slandered your father, do you want to die?" ”

Li Fuguo sneered: "Even if Your Highness killed the slave maid, the slave maid has long wanted to say these words. Who is the slave saying this for? Not for you, Your Highness? You are filial, but what is the result? The people loyal to you have been knocked down one by one, and Your Highness is left alone, once the crown prince is taken away, will Your Highness still have a chance to live? If Li Linfu ascends the throne as the new crown prince, His Royal Highness will be the first person to be given death, doesn't His Royal Highness still understand this truth? ”

Li Heng was speechless, and after a while, he sighed and said, "What's the use of talking about this now?" Time has long passed, and now there are no 250,000 soldiers and horses in the hands of this prince, only a lonely family remains. ”

Li Fuguo said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, it's not time to despair yet, don't forget, Your Highness still has Luo Yimen in his hands." There is also a Wang Yuan under the jurisdiction of Luo Yimen. Wang Yuan is the envoy of Jiannan Festival, and the 50,000 soldiers and horses in his hands are also the soldiers and horses of His Highness. ”

Li Heng frowned and said, "Wang Yuan? Do you believe that he will be of my use? This person may not be truly loyal to me, especially at this time, and he is unlikely to be loyal to me. ”

Li Fuguo smiled and said: "Your Highness, no matter whether Wang Yuan is sincerely loyal to His Highness or not, his identity as Luo Yimen will not change. His Royal Highness has reached the point of exhaustion, and this handle will still be effective. He has worked hard to get to the point where he is today, and he will never give up easily, and His Royal Highness does not want him to rebel, but uses him to break the predicament. ”

Li Heng's spirit was shocked, and he said in a low voice: "How can you say this?" ”