"The Tubo general on Zanpo led the army to storm Hezhou, and Lou Shide, the governor of the Heyuan army, asked for help in a row," Zhang Guangbi, the official secretary of Xia, said, "Lord Su Liangsi, who stayed in Xijing, also came to ask the Holy Mother of God and Emperor to make a decision. In addition, Li Xing, the governor of Yunzhou, said that the Turks were ready to move, and from time to time small groups of light horsemen invaded the border, causing the people along the border to suffer greatly. ”

It was almost autumn, the grass was full of horses, and it was not surprising that the Tubo people would take advantage of the victory, and ordered Su Liangsi to levy 20,000 sharp soldiers in Guanzhong to go to Hezhou, under the command of Lou Shide, to resist the invasion of Tubo. The Jingnan army made Murong Xuanwei move to Yunzhou to guard against the Turks. At the same time, Qu Chongyu, the general of Zuobao Taowei, was ordered to lead 30,000 troops to move to Chang'an and Fengxiang. Wu Zetian commanded.

The documents of the Ministry of War had already been reported to the palace, and after Wu Zetian read them carefully, he had already taken countermeasures in his heart to make such an arrangement. Qu Chongyu led 30,000 troops to garrison Zhengzhou and Xuzhou, nominally Luoyang, the capital of Gongweishen, but in fact to guard against Li Zhen, the king of Yue. Now that the frontier is in danger, we can't take care of it for the time being, so we can only send heavy troops to the front line, and resisting Tibet is the top priority.

"Yes," Mr. Zhang said.

The Ministry of War had proposed in the recital that the soldiers of the Kannai Province be transferred to the front, but the specific soldiers and horses were not mentioned. For Wu Zetian, there are deep political considerations behind the mobilization of that part of the soldiers and horses, and the military department does not dare to be specialized, so as not to provoke Wu Zetian's dissatisfaction.

Zhang Guangbi told Wu Zetian about the route of the soldiers and horses, the supply of grain and grass on the way, and other trivial matters, and the two of them talked for most of the time before they roughly determined the matter.

Mobilizing tens of thousands of soldiers and horses is a very complicated matter, and it is difficult to calculate the amount of money and food consumed, not to mention the matter of levying Dingfu to prepare for the army. This year, the grain sent by Jianghuai to Shendu was greatly reduced, and the imperial court had to use spare military rations, which made Wu Zetian very angry when he talked about this matter. This is also the reason why Wu Zetian sent Di Renjie to Yangzhou to investigate the case.

"Tell Yuan Xing to rush over, I have something to say to him." Wu Zetian instructed the little eunuch beside him.

The little eunuch was ordered to quickly go to Xiyuan to find Yuan Xing and rush over.

Here, Shangguan Wan'er quickly wrote down the conversation between Wu Zetian and Zhang Guangbi, prepared an edict, and prepared to ask Wu Zetian to look at it and send it to Fengge Luantai for execution.

Shangyang Palace, the glazed pavilion next to Jiuzhou Pond, Wu Zetian stood on the side of the pavilion in palace clothes, looked at the small pond with a smile, and threw fish food into the pool from time to time, causing the red fish in the pond to gather in the water next to the pavilion.

"When the fish sees the food, they don't care if the fisherman's hook is there, and people are actually similar to fish." Wu Zetian heard Yuan Xing rushing over and said softly.

"How can a fish take the bait if it doesn't see bait," Yuan Xing rushed back.

"Xing Chong, come and walk with me," Wu Zetian said, getting up and walking slowly along the path next to the pavilion.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Holy Mother." Yuan Xingchong said.

"Earlier today, Zhang Guangbi, the official Shangshu of Xia, came to report that Tubo had invaded Hezhou, and I decided to send Qu Chongyu to Chang'an, and Fengxiang was stationed, and I was a little worried about Li Zhen, the king of Yue." Wu Zetian said.

Yuan Xingchong followed behind Wu Zetian, thinking about Wu Zetian's words in his heart.

"Li Zhen, the king of Yue, secretly recruited troops and horses, built armaments, and gathered grain and grass, which was really a big disaster for the imperial court. Isn't this transfer of Qu Chongyu to give him a chance to attack Luoyang? Yuan Xingchong said.

"Just like you just said, how can a fish take the bait if you don't see the bait, I turned Qu Chongyu to catch the big fish of Li Zhen." Wu Zetian said, "Lou Shi, both German and military, has fierce generals like Hei Zhi Changzhi under his command, and has support from Guanzhong, it is more than enough to block the Tubo people, as for the Turks, the Great Khan is not dead, and Mo Si will not enter the army in a big way without a stable interior, it is a good time to solve Li Zhen." ”

"What does the Holy Mother mean?" Yuan Xingchong asked.

"How many soldiers and horses Li Zhen has, where they are hidden, and who in the clan will respond to him, these are not clear." Wu Zetian said, "Especially the previous point, we must find out clearly, and then we can send troops to quickly wipe it out." ”

"The minister understands, it's better to send Li Rong to investigate." Yuan Xingchong said.

Li Rong has done several errands well, and he is very skillful, and he is the best candidate to investigate Li Zhen, the king of Yue.

"Okay, just leave it to Li Rong!" Wu Zetian said.

Back in the camp, Yuan Xingchong called Li Rong, retreated left and right, and talked with Li Rong alone.

"Li Zhen, the king of Yue, is plotting against him, but at present, Tubo and the Turks are attacking the border one after another, and the court is overwhelmed, in order to prevent Li Zhen from taking the opportunity to cause trouble, it is necessary to send someone to find out Li Zhen's movements. I recommend to Her Majesty the Divine Emperor that you take on this important task. Yuan Xingchong said.

After Li Rong saw Adani, he returned to the camp and meditated on the method of refining the Holy Fire that he obtained from Adani. When he was secretly happy, he met the call of Yuan Xingchong.

"The lowly will find out about Li Zhen, the king of Yue," Li Rong said calmly.

He knew that this was a test for himself by Wu Zetian, to see which side he was ready to stand on, whether he was inclined to the Li Tang clan, and on the other hand, it was also a test of Li Rong's ability.

In fact, Li Rong didn't have much affection for the kings of the Li Tang clan. As the saying goes: "Rather to Dan, Ya, Zhen, Bai, not Jiang, Teng, Jiang, Yu". It is said that the sons of Emperor Taizong, Li Yuanxiang, King of Jiang, Li Yuanying, King of Teng, Li Yun, King of Jiang, and Li Feng, the son of Gaozu Li Yuan, were greedy and excessive, and they did all kinds of evil. At that time, although Li Zhen, the king of Yue, who was known as the virtuous king, was known for his talents, he was cruel and cruel, and it was common for him to search for places whenever he went to a place.

"Okay, you pick a few people to go with you, and you must do this errand." Yuan Xingchong said.

"Yes," Li Rong agreed, and turned to leave.

Caizhou, the palace of Li Zhen, the king of Yue.

"Old Ma is dead, and the snake spirit's plan has failed." Lu Jie hurriedly ran over and reported to Li Zhen.

"Got it," Li Zhen said calmly, "what's going on with the Tibetans and the Turks?" ”

"As expected by Gao's army, Tubo Kouhezhou, on Qinling's younger brother Ronzanpo personally led 100,000 elite soldiers to attack Hetao Erzhou, Heyuan Governor Lou Shide was tired of coping, and Feishu asked the court for help. The Turks were also not stable, and repeatedly sent small groups of men and horses to disturb the border, which provoked martial law along the border of Yunzhou. Lu Jie said.

"How did the imperial court respond?" Li Zhen asked.

"Wu Zetian sent a sharp pawn to Hezhou, tuned Chongyu to move to Chang'an, Fengxiang, and the Jingnan army made Murong Xuanwei go to Yunzhou," Lu Jie said with a smile, "The people and horses of Zhengzhou and Xuzhou are about to enter the customs, and the gateway to Luoyang is about to be opened." ”

Li Zhen showed a look of surprise on her face, this was a God-given opportunity, and her hard work was not in vain.

"Wu Zetian played with power, thinking that she had thwarted our plan, then she knew that this was just the first step to confuse people, and when the soldiers came to the city, she would know the strength of my Li Tang clan." Li Zhen said.

The snake spirit's action was carefully planned, creating a flood and destroying the sacrifice was the first step, luring the Tibetans and Turks to attack, transferring the army that hindered the march to Luoyang was the second step, and the third step was the internal and external corresponding, capturing the divine capital Luoyang in one fell swoop and restoring Li Tang Jiangshan.

For this huge plan, Li Zhen secretly robbed the Jianghuai tribute, which not only met his needs to recruit troops and horses, but also made the imperial court have no food to use and could not support the war on the front line. At this time, if you contact the kings to start an incident, you can achieve your goal and ascend to the throne of the emperor.

"Immediately send someone to inform the snake spirit, implement the next plan, and order Pei Shoude and Fu Yanqing to strictly train the soldiers, especially to practice the tactics of light cavalry and long-distance running," Li Zhen ordered one after another, "Inform Chong'er, Han Wang Yuanjia, and Lu Wang Lingkui to prepare to start up together on the 28th of next month." ”

"My subordinates will do it," Lu Jie silently wrote down these orders in his heart and left the hall to deal with them.

"If you don't succeed, you will become benevolent," Li Zhen said softly, "Wu Zetian, you forced me." ”

Li Zhen is one year older than Emperor Gaozong, and Wu Zetian should be called a younger brother and sister according to his generation, of course, the family affection in the royal family is weak. Li Zhen was the eighth son of Emperor Taizong, and Li Zhi was the ninth son. However, Li Zhinai is the biological son of Empress Changsun, and his uncle is the prime minister's eldest grandson Wuji, who is of noble birth and has a strong force behind him, and has been made a prince since he was a child. Li Zhen was young at the time, did not show enough talent and ability, and did not dare to think about the emperor's throne, and when he grew up, Li Zhen showed excellent martial arts talent, and served in many places, cultivating rare talents, so that he was very prestigious in the clan. Now Wu Zetian is plotting to replace Tang, Li Zhen, the king of Yue, who is known as the virtuous king of the clan, and Li Shen, the king of Ji, must be a thorn in the eye, a thorn in the flesh, and the first object to eradicate is that Li Zhen has to rebel.

After Li Rong received the task, he picked Dong Xuanjing and Ge Fushun and other five people to go with him.

"After a while, you will each return home, change into ordinary clothes, and prepare for a long journey. Three days later, I went to the Taipei City Taiping Carriage and Horse Society to meet. Li Rong said to a few people, "By the way, inform Deputy Commander Wei Chi that the whole battalion of non-commissioned officers will take turns to take a bath for three days." ”

This mission is very important, and Li Rong does not want anyone to know about it, so as not to leak secrets and cause trouble.

"Yes," the five replied.

Li Rong did not give a few people a detailed explanation of the task of the trip in advance, and the five people also knew the importance of the matter, so they didn't ask too much and went home separately.

Ge Fushun followed Li Rong back to the Li Mansion, and this time he was able to travel with the young master, Ge Fushun was quite excited.

Back at Li's house, Li Rongjing came to see his father Li Hui, told him about the matter, and asked for his father's opinion.

"Li Zhen has some talents, but she will not be the opponent of the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother just transferred Qu Chongyu, but she didn't bait Li Zhen and lure him to the bait, it is estimated that Li Zhen also knows that the arrow is on the string and has to be sent. Li Hui sighed and said.

Li Zhen is not stupid, even if Qu Chongyu's large number of soldiers and horses leave, Luoyang is a rare fortified city in the Tang Dynasty, and there are tens of thousands of forbidden army twelve guards stationed in the city, as well as elite cavalry such as flying cavalry and thousands of cavalry, if Luoyang is attacked head-on, there are no more than 100,000 soldiers who can't take it at all. On the other hand, if Qu Chongyu didn't leave, Li Zhen would have no chance at all, so he had to choose to do it now.

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