Xishi Cheng Wei Ling died, and Li Hong, who got the news, smiled. It's just that before he was happy for a while, news came from the palace, saying that he should immediately go to Zichen Hall to discuss state and military affairs.

Li Hong was stunned for a moment, this Wei Ling has such great ability, why did a group of prime ministers become like this as soon as he died? He asked Zhao Hongskirt to hurriedly change into court clothes for him, and rushed to Zichen Palace.

Zichen Nei Gaozong and Empress Wu are both there, and all seven prime ministers have arrived.

When Li Hong arrived at the Zichen Palace, the atmosphere in the hall seemed very dull, and looking at everyone's expressions, it was obvious that there had been a violent quarrel just now.

"Prince, take a look at this battle report and tell me your opinion!" Seeing Li Hong walking into the Zichen Palace, Gaozong stopped him from giving a salute, and said in a slightly angry tone.

Li Hong bowed down to receive the order, and then took the battle report handed to him by the chamberlain, and he was also surprised after reading the content carefully. Because the war report said that Bai Tieyu instigated the people to rebel and captured Chengping County, Bai Tieyu proclaimed himself the Holy Emperor of Brightness, appointed a hundred officials, and was attacking Suide and Dabin, and the rebels burned down the houses and killed the local officials wherever they went, and the momentum was very huge.

"Father, the thieves rebelled, they should send troops to exterminate them, don't let them continue to grow!" Li Hong returned the battle report to the chamberlain beside him and said to Gaozong.

"So who do you think is the best person to send to lead the troops?" Gaozong asked quietly. As soon as his words fell, Empress Wu's gaze also fell on Li Hong's face, and the seven prime ministers in the Zichen Hall moved their gazes to him at the same time.

Seeing this scene, Li Hong had a general understanding of why the atmosphere was so dull when he came in the Zichen Hall just now, and why there was a quarrel between the prime ministers.

It is estimated that the quarrel arose between the prime minister, who represented Gaozong's opinion, and the prime minister, who represented the opinion of Empress Wu, over who to send to lead the troops to quell the rebellion. After all, Bai Tieyu's rebellion, although the momentum is huge, but after all, it is a group of rabble, how big a wave can they make? Therefore, like this kind of counterinsurgency, as long as the leading generals are not straw bags or idiots, and have a little ability to command the troops, the problem is generally not too big, and the credit for pacifying the rebels is not small, if anyone acts as the commander, the reward at that time will naturally not be small, Gaozong and Empress Wu as the people in power, they naturally want to give this cheap credit to their henchmen to cultivate their loyalty.

Li Hong guessed the power struggle behind this controversy, so he didn't dare to take a bold position, but asked Xu Jingzong, "What is Xu Xiang's opinion?" ”

Because Xu Jingzong is the confidant of the Empress Wu, the person he supports is naturally the person who is important to the Empress Wu.

"The old minister's suggestion is to send the right leader Wei Zhonglang to lead Cheng Wuting to lead the army to quell the rebellion." Xu Jingzong said respectfully.

"What does Dai Xiang mean?" Li Hong asked Dai Zhide again. He asked Dai Zhide this, and the purpose was still the same, because as Dai Zhide, who was Gaozong's confidant, the person he supported was naturally the person Gaozong wanted to cultivate.

"The minister's suggestion is naturally to let the Xiazhou Assassin Wang Fangyi lead the army to quell the rebellion." Dai Zhide also spoke.

Gaozong was very satisfied with Li Hong's cautious attitude, and when he looked at Li Hong, his eyes showed appreciation, because this was the prince he valued, while the Empress Wu on the side was the opposite, when she saw that the prince seemed to have become much more mature and stable, and was no longer as reckless as before, there was a subtle glint in her eyes.

Just as Li Hong was thinking about how he should answer, Li Ji, who was an old god on the side, suddenly opened his eyes, stared at Li Hong and asked, "I don't know who Your Highness thinks is more appropriate to send to quell the rebellion?" ”

Li Ji asked without giving Li Hong time to think, he was trying to force Li Hong to make a decision immediately!

Li Hong didn't know where he had offended Li Hong, but he remembered that Li Ji had not targeted him like this once or twice, but Li Ji was in a high position, and now his favor was doubled because he fell to the Empress Wu, and he couldn't be lazy now, so he hurriedly asked, "The famous general of the British Duke, I don't know who you like more?" ”

"Cheng Wuting has followed his father Cheng Mingzhen to fight in the east and west since he was a child, and he is famous for his courage in the army, and this counterinsurgency will be foolproof if he leads the army." Li Ji replied in a flat tone.

"Then why is the British Duke not optimistic about Wang Fangyi?" Li Hong continued to ask.

Wang Fangyi is skilled in handling government affairs, and when he was serving as a assassin in Suzhou, he built houses for hungry people to live in shelter from the cold, and built water mills and water mills, which is quite a bit of political achievement. It's just that he is weaker than military affairs, and if he is allowed to lead the army to quell the rebellion, I am afraid it will be difficult to exterminate the traitors in a short time. Li Ji spoke eloquently.

He did not say that Wang Fangyi could not put down the rebellion, but only emphasized that it would take time. That's where he gets old as a celebrity. Because of this, it will not make Gaozong, who supports Wang Fangyi, lose face, and secondly, it is taboo to waste too much time in the process of quelling the rebellion, so he said this is more convincing for him to support Cheng Wuting and lead the troops to quell the rebellion.

"The British Duke really deserves to be the famous general of the country, let Gu admire it!" Li Hong said in a respectful tone.

Regardless of Li Ji's current position, from his analytical point of view, it is quite more appropriate to send Cheng Wu than Wang Fangyi. It's just that Li Hong knows Wang Fangyi's ability to lead the army to fight, and he knows more that Empress Wu wants to infiltrate her strength into the army, as long as Empress Wu's strength becomes strong, it will be no good for him, so he prefers to let Wang Fangyi lead the army to quell the rebellion.

It's just that in the dispute between the "emperor and queen", he wants to play the role of a filial son, and he will neither support Gaozong nor Empress Wu, so he can only suppress the idea of letting Wang Fangyi lead the troops to quell the rebellion.

"Your Highness said this, does it mean that you agree with the old minister's suggestion?" Li Ji asked with a smile.

"Of course." Li Hong replied.

As soon as his voice fell, the expressions of Gaozong, Dai Zhide, Le Yanwei, and Sun Chuyue became a little stiff, and a faint smile appeared on the calm face of the Empress Wu, and Xu Jingzong, Dou Dexuan, and Jiang Ke also showed joy.

"But—"

Li Hong pondered for a while, and then spoke, "Bai Tieyu gathered a crowd to rebel, and in just a few days, he captured Chengping County, and his troops pointed directly at Suide and Dabin, which shows that their rebellion is not occasional, and it may have been planned very well a long time ago. ”

Speaking of this, Li Hong glanced at Gao Zong, whose face was not too good-looking, and Wu Hou, who had a serious expression, and continued, "In this case, we can't be cautious when we send troops to quell the rebellion. ”

"What is Your Highness's suggestion?" Without waiting for Gaozong and Empress Wu to speak, Le Yanwei had already hurriedly asked.

"Father, mother, and son's suggestion is to divide the troops into two routes, one to lead the troops with the Xiazhou Assassin Wang Fangyi, to attack Chengping County from the east of Xiazhou, and all the way to Cheng Wuting as the main commander, leading the troops north to support Suide and Dabin, and our two soldiers and horses are flanking the traitors at the same time, even if Bai Tieyu has already had a careful plan, he can ensure that the rebellion is quelled." Li Hong said the plan in his heart, and looked at Gaozong and Empress Wu Jing and waited for the two to answer.

Whether it was Li Ji or Xu Jingzong and other prime ministers, when they heard Li Hong's suggestion, they all showed their approval.

In fact, they knew very well in their hearts that for this counterinsurgency, such a troop arrangement was more secure, but in addition to the excessive cost of money and food to counter the rebellion, there was also the military merit of thinning the counterinsurgency, so no one dared to suggest it to Gaozong and Empress Wu. Another reason why they didn't dare to suggest this to Gaozong and Empress Wu was that although it was not safe to send only one large army to quell the rebellion, they would always put down the rebellion. Since the result is the same, it will annoy Gaozong and Empress Wu if it is suggested, and it will not be a big problem if it is not recommended. Why should you ask for hardship for yourself?

"I wonder what the queen's consciousness is?" Gaozong asked Empress Wu. In fact, in the controversy just now, there were only three people on his side, Dai Zhide, Le Yanwei and Sun Chu, and there were four people on Empress Wu's side, including Li Ji, a famous general in the army, and the result of the argument was that Empress Wu won, only because Li Hong had already participated in politics and could participate in the resolution of major military affairs, Gaozong would use this as an excuse not to agree immediately, but was ready to listen to Li Hong's suggestion. Now Li Hong suggested that the troops should be divided into two routes, so that Wang Fangyi also had the opportunity to lead the army to quell the rebellion, and Gaozong was also very satisfied.

As for Empress Wu, Li Hong was the crown prince and had quite prestige in the court, so Li Hong's suggestion could not be considered carefully. Now even if the soldiers are divided into two ways, Wang Fangyi and Cheng Wuting each lead a soldier and horse to quell the rebellion, but how can Wang Fangyi's combat ability of the Xiazhou Mansion soldiers be compared to Cheng Wuting's right leading guard? So even if the troops are divided into two ways, Cheng Wuting still has an advantage in terms of troops, plus Cheng Wuting is braver and better at fighting than Wang Fangyi, and is better at commanding troops, she feels that Cheng Wuting is the first to make this achievement, so she nodded slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the prince's suggestion is good, and this palace agrees with his arrangement." ”

Empress Wu agreed, and Gaozong breathed a sigh of relief when he was relieved, and symbolically asked Xu Jingzong, Li Ji and other prime ministers, "What do you think of Aiqing?" ”

"The minister agrees with the prince's arrangement." Xu Jingzong was the first to speak. Immediately, Li Ji also agreed. Dou Dexuan and Jiang Ke naturally had no objections. At this time, a faint smile appeared on Gaozong's face, because he was also very satisfied with this result, at least he did not fall behind in the confrontation with Empress Wu today because of Li Hong's support.

"Xu Aiqing, how to plan for you, think about it yourself!" Empress Wu said, "Your Majesty is also tired today, so you can go down!" ”

Xu Jingzong and Li Ji and their entourage got up to say goodbye, and were about to leave, when they saw Zhang Dehai hurriedly walking into the main hall, Gaozong saw that he was reckless, and just about to open his mouth to reprimand, Zhang Dehai had already spoken, "Your Majesty, Xiao Shangshu of the Criminal Department asked to see him outside the palace, and said that he had something important to report to His Majesty immediately." ”

Xiao Shangshu of the Criminal Department in Zhang Dehai's mouth is Xiao Dezhao, the Shangshu of the Criminal Department, he is also the right concubine of the crown prince of Li Hongdong Palace, and he is also one of Gaozong's cronies.

Xiao Dezhao, as the secretary of the criminal department, came to see him in such a hurry, which shows that the matter is not trivial, so he was about to leave Gaozong and Empress Wu and sat down again, Empress Wu also called Xu Jingzong and Li Ji and others who were about to leave, and said to Zhang Dehai, "Let him come in!" ”

Zhang Dehai received the order and bowed down and withdrew from the Zichen Palace.

Xu Jingzong and Li Ji sat back in their seats, guessing what big things had happened that would make Xiao Dezhao so nervous. Only Li Hong knew in his heart that since it was the Shangshu of the Criminal Department who suddenly had an urgent matter, it was estimated that it was related to the cause of death of Cheng Wei Ling in Xishi.

As for who to lead the army to quell the rebellion, if Li Hong can't make a choice, he can keep his mouth shut, and the death of Cheng Wei Ling in Xishi was planned by him, the purpose is to investigate the corruption of taxes in the East and West Cities, so after Xiao Dezhao walked into the Zichen Hall and returned to the palace, how should he talk to Gaozong and Empress Wu so that Empress Wu could hand over this matter to him to be responsible, he began to think about countermeasures in his heart.