On the second day of the fourth month of the first year of the Tang Dynasty, the early dynasty.

"It's all a bunch of rubbish." Gaozong had just sat on the dragon chair, and after suffering the fiasco of the ministers, he suddenly heard that Si Yuan Tai Chang Bo (Hubu Shangshu) had reported that the disaster relief matter could not be completed on time, and he asked for a few more days.

And at this moment, I suddenly heard Si Rong Taichang Uncle Jiang Ke playing: "Your Majesty, the western emergency, a few days ago, the Tubo general Garqinling commanded the army to capture my Baizhou and other 18 states, and with Khotan to attack Qiuzi to exchange cities, now the four towns of Anxi are in danger, and Your Majesty will quickly send troops to rescue, otherwise, I am afraid that the four towns of Anxi will not be restored to my Tang Dynasty." ”

"What do you mean?" Gaozong was shocked when he heard the report, took the fold and slowly browsed it, his face suddenly turned pale, he threw the fold on the dragon case, and scolded angrily: "The enemy army is only tens of thousands, and the soldiers of our border army add up to a lot, and they can be killed by the eighteen states of Pilink, even the four towns of Hexi are almost not guaranteed, and Dong Baoliang, the governor of Anxi, Zheng Guang, the governor of Liangzhou, and others really deserve to be killed!" ”

In fact, Gaozong's words also wronged Dong Baoliang and others, although there are a lot of soldiers in the entire Western Regions, but after all, they are scattered and guarded, how can they be compared with the Tubo army that is in one place? Coupled with the Tubo general Garqinling is a famous general in the world, it is inevitable that Dong Baoliang will be defeated under the light enemy.

Scolding and scolding, but the situation in the west still has to be managed, Gaozong sighed, and then asked: "The Tibetan thieves are so rampant, they are really too deceitful!" If I don't fight back, how can I have the face of Datang? Jiang Aiqing, who do you think can send troops to recapture the four towns of Hexi and repel the barbarians? ”

I saw that Jiang Ke thought about it, and then saluted and said: "Originally, this matter was the most suitable for the British duke, but it is a pity that he passed away in the last year, and now that I think about it, the most suitable person is the right Weiwei general Xue Rengui, General Xue is in the prime of life, wise and brave, when the three arrows set the Tianshan Mountain, and when he conquered Goguryeo, he also made outstanding achievements. Loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, salty and graceful. The Goryeo scholars are all happy to admire and forget the pain of losing the country. Weichen believes that with General Xue leading the army to the battle, he will definitely defeat the enemy and raise the prestige of the Tang Dynasty. ”

Hearing this, Gaozong immediately nodded and said, "I also belong to Xue Qing, I don't know what the Qing Qing wants?" ”

The ministers in the court saw that the emperor had opened their mouths, even if they had opinions, they could only keep them, not to mention the Tang Dynasty at that time, Xue Rengui's military talent was indeed unmatched, coupled with the great power of Tibet, even if there were some soldiers who wanted to make meritorious contributions, they had no chance of winning, so they had to give this opportunity to Xue Rengui.

Since all the ministers had no opinions, Gaozong naturally struck while the iron was hot, and immediately ordered Dongtai (Zhongshu Province) to draw up an order, with Xue Rengui, the general of the Right Weiwei, as the general of the Luosa Road march, commanding 50,000 troops to attack Tibet, and ordering people to send the will to Pyongyang immediately, so that Xue Rengui would return to Luoyang as soon as possible, order the army, and set off to conquer Tibet, not only to recover the occupied territory, but also to attack the territory of Tibet, and teach it a lesson.

Because it was ordered by the emperor and the situation was very urgent, it was naturally a special matter, from the draft decree of the Dongtai Sheren to the approval of the Xitai Shilang, and then to the emperor's seal, it was less than a pillar of incense before and after.

Immediately after the decree was issued, Gojong sent the decree to Pyongyang through an expedited 800-mile process.

But he said that the chamberlain in charge of the order had brought enough dry food after receiving the order, and was about to go on the road immediately, but was suddenly stopped by someone.

"The prince is slow." I only heard a neutral voice, and that voice was full of an unquestionable taste, which made the inner servant Wang Gui have to stop......

"It turned out to be the king of Zhou, I don't know what the king is about? Please also command quickly, there is a decree from the saint, and the slaves and maids do not dare to delay. Although the time was tight and the task was heavy, when the chamberlain Wang Gui saw that the other party was Li Xian, the king of Zhou, he had to stop and explain with a smile on his face, after all, Li Xianping was generous and arrogant, and he didn't get any benefits from him, if he put on a cold face, he still couldn't do it.

I saw Li Xian arch his hand and said with a smile: "But the prince went to Pyongyang to give an order to General Xue?" ”

"Hehe, the king is really well-informed, it is true, I don't know if the king has any slaves to serve?" Wang Gui was patient and smiled respectfully.

But seeing Li Xian said with a smile: "Without him, just my father-in-law goes to Pyongyang and sends a word to General Xue, I don't know if my father-in-law is willing to help with this?" Xiao Wang will definitely not forget the benefits of his father-in-law. ”

After finishing speaking, he saw Li Xian stretch out his sleeve robe to Wang Gui, and then handed a small piece of gold to him under the cover of the sleeve robe.

Wang Gui naturally knew the truth of repaying the favor, and hurriedly said with a smile: "But please ask the king to command, the slave and maid will definitely live up to their mission." ”

"Hehe, since that's the case, Xiao Wang will thank his father-in-law, and his father-in-law only needs to say a few words to General Xue, and these words are, beware of someone taking the opportunity to make trouble and threaten Anton."

"It turns out that the king's move is for state affairs, and the slave and maid really live the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain. Please also ask the king to take back this thing, otherwise the villain will be ashamed. ”

That Wang Gui thought that Li Xian's message to him was because of a private matter, but he didn't expect it to be because of official business, so he couldn't help but be ashamed, and he wanted to return the small piece of gold in his hand to Li Xian.

saw Li Xian laugh and said, "Isn't it for national affairs that my father-in-law has worked so hard to go to Liaodong?" Therefore, Xiao Wang's reward, his father-in-law is absolutely deserved, and please don't shirk it, accept Xiao Wang's heart, otherwise Xiao Wang will be uneasy. ”

Seeing that Li Xian was so sincere, Wang Gui didn't shirk it, thanked Li Xian, and rode on his horse.

At the same time that Wang Gui was on the road to Pyongyang, there was a quarrel within the court, and the direct reason was the competition for the candidate of Xue Rengui's deputy in this war.

After all, everyone agrees that Xue Rengui is the most outstanding person in the Tang Dynasty today, and I believe that as long as he sends troops, this battle will definitely have an absolute chance of victory, and no matter who it is, as long as he follows Xue Rengui as a deputy general, he will be able to easily share the rich achievements.

Therefore, the two sides argued around this core issue.

In fact, Gaozong originally belonged to Pei Xingjian, the young man of Si Lie, or the king of Suzhou Assassin Wang Fangyi, but he knew that these two people would definitely be opposed by Empress Wu, because Pei Xingjian was dissatisfied with Empress Wu when he abolished Wang Liwu, and he offended Empress Wu and was demoted to the governor of Xizhou. And Wang Fangyi was born in the Taiyuan Wang family, and he was a close branch of the queen of the year, which naturally aroused the vigilance of the Empress Wu.

Gaozong sent Xue Rengui as the general of the army without the consent of the Empress Wu, and he was already uneasy in his heart, and now if he sent Pei Xingjian or Wang Fangyi again, he knew that he would definitely be resolutely opposed by the Empress Wu, which was a fatal disaster for the cowardly Gaozong, so Gaozong did not dare to say this again, and finally took the proposal of the members of the Hou Party, and appointed the right guard general Ashina Daozhen and the left guard general Guo Beifeng as the deputy general of the march of the Luo Suo Dao, and accompanied the Empress Wu to fight.

Gao Zhi's intention has come out, and he just wanted to announce the dissolution of the dynasty, but he heard the Lantai Taishi Ling Helan Minzhi suddenly stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen knows that with the identity of Weichen, he really shouldn't put his beak in the war, but the battle of Tubo is very important, the Tubo thieves are arrogant, and it is difficult to resist the enemy without wisdom and bravery, so I dare to recommend one person to Your Majesty, I believe that as long as this person goes out with General Xue, he will definitely be invincible." ”

"Oh? Who do you don't know? Seeing that Helan Minzhi, who had always been silent in the court, also stood up to recommend talents, he couldn't help but be curious, and hurriedly asked with a smile.

"Hehe, the person cited by Weichen is indeed both civil and military, and it is difficult to compare with ordinary generals, but this person is from the royal family, and Weichen is afraid that the saint is not willing to do it." Helan Minzhi is not stupid, he even knows how to use the method of agitation, so that Gaozong faces the ministers, although he has the intention of licking the calf, but it is not easy to protect him.

Sure enough, when Gaozong heard this, he smiled and said, "What did Zhi'er say? Although my son is also my Tang courtier, he naturally has the responsibility of defending the land and resisting the enemy. As long as I can do this, I will definitely allow him to go into battle and kill the enemy. ”

But he saw Helan Minzhi looking at Gaozong deeply, and then said with a straight face: "Your Majesty looks at home for my Tang Dynasty Society, even the ancient sage, how fortunate is Weichen?" was able to assist the Holy Monarch, and he left a name in history every day, and he was also stained with the grace of the Holy Lord. His Majesty should know that in the Goguryeo battlefield, the King of Zhou was always the first, and the soldiers of the three armies were all killed, so when they fought with less, they often won more with less, and there were dozens of battles, but there was no defeat, which was General Xue back then, and it was also difficult to achieve, and now the country is in trouble, and it is the time when the King of Zhou uses force. ”

"The original son wanted to protect Xian'er, but I heard that you are closer to Xian'er, and there seem to be some people who want to protect him?" Hearing this, Gaozong was more interested and couldn't help but ask with a smile.

But Helan Minzhi, who listened to it, said angrily: "Weichen is close to King Pei, so he knows that although King Pei's literary attainments are stronger than King Zhou's. But in terms of military talent, it is quite inferior, so Weichen will recommend King Zhou, although Weichen is not talented, but he must also learn the style of the ancients. ”

"Hehe, a good 'internal move does not avoid relatives, external moves do not avoid hatred', Zhi'er can do this, and it is not in vain what I have expected from you over the years, even so, it is not impossible to consider letting Xian'er go on the expedition, what is the meaning of the secretary?" Gaozong was happy and naturally agreed to Helan Minzhi's request, but such a major event must also be approved by the prime ministers of the political affairs hall, so he asked again. (To be continued.) )