In the Luoyang Palace, Empress Wu was lying on the couch drinking iced sour plum soup, listening to Li Ji's report. Now that Li Ji has replaced Xu Jingzong as the celebrity around Empress Wu, Li Ji has changed from a vassal to the current hardcore Empress Wu, because he found that Gaozong was rejecting him, and the crown prince was always targeting him, which made him have to move closer to Empress Wu. If he wants to get closer to the Empress Wu, Li Ji can't help but show some skills, and he has to overpower Xu Jingzong. Therefore, the current Li Ji, basically through his role as a pioneer, has replaced Xu Jingzong as the vanguard general around the Empress Wu. However, whether it is Empress Wu or Li Ji, they all know very well that Xu Jingzong's position in Empress Wu's heart will not be shaken, because Xu Jingzong is the person who always stands by Empress Wu's side at the most difficult moment, and Li Ji took refuge after Empress Wu was developed, and there is a big difference between the two.

For Empress Wu, Li Ji can replace Xu Jingzong, which is the result she is willing to see.

Therefore, as Xu Jingzong got older, his actions were sluggish and his energy was weak, unlike www.quledu.com general like Li Ji, who was born in the novel, was tough. Therefore, Empress Wu felt that Li Ji could share the pressure of Xu Jingzong, which was good for her, Xu Jingzong worked less, and she could stay in the position of prime minister for a few more years, as long as Xu Jingzong stayed for a few more days, she could buy her more time.

When it comes to being able to do practical things for her in the position of prime minister, Empress Wu still admires Xu Jingzong, who is very pragmatic and loyal to carry out Empress Wu's will, and will not question or be disloyal like Li Ji, let alone incapable of executing like others.

So in the heart of Empress Wu, Xu Jingzong can take a back seat and come forward to solve major problems for her at a critical moment. Li Ji's role is to replace Xu Jingzong's role as a powerful military empress before him, and just do his role as a pioneer.

To be honest, now the Empress Wu is at most greedy for power, and she has not yet thought of being an empress, so she only thinks that her understanding of military power is to maintain her existing rights, and it is not as urgent as the urgent need for military power for the coup d'état.

Li Ji also knew that he might not be able to replace Xu Jingzong's position in Empress Wu's heart in a short period of time, he used to put on a cold appearance when he got along with Empress Wu, and now that he has completely surrendered to Empress Wu, he can no longer do what he did when he was hovering between Empress Wu and Gaozong before.

Li Ji knows his current role, and he doesn't want to do it, but he has no choice, without Gaozong's respect, without Gaozong's protection, in the face of the prince Li Hong's step-by-step pressing, if he doesn't grasp the straw of the martial queen, it is estimated that everything he has now will be deprived by the prince, and then it will be given to Su Dingfang, Pei Xingjian and others.

Li Ji is a military general, he knows the importance of military power, if he doesn't have military power, can he be a butt if he just has a British duke?

"Niangniang, it seems that our method did not work, the prince went to the Luoyang County Ya, but we did not expect that they were immediately revoked from their official positions, and they were not punished, the prince's behavior is very strange." Li Ji said. He also wondered that if Li Hongshi had been placed in Chang'an City, it was estimated that the three officials of the Luoyang County Ya would have been removed from their posts long ago, and they would have written a letter with righteous words to let Dali Temple try the case of the three people in order to sentence them. But the current prince seems to be a lot calmer, and in Li Ji's opinion, with the prince's current age, he is too calm and weird.

"I didn't expect him to grow up so fast, it really surprised Hongu!" Empress Wu frowned. Li Hong's growth rate made her very frightened, Li Hong is only fifteen years old now, and he has grown to his current height, and if Li Hong is given three or five years, will there still be his own place in the court of the Tang Dynasty at that time? Empress Wu didn't dare to imagine...

"The experience of a war can make the prince transform into such a calm as he is now, but the old minister was negligent." Li Ji said apologetically.

In fact, this plan he proposed to Empress Wu was carried out by him personally, and now that he found that Li Hong did not enter his game, Li Ji felt very defeated, even if he didn't want to, he couldn't help but ask Empress Wu for guilt.

"Li Qing, it's too early to say that." Empress Wu got up, put the bowl on the plate in the hand of the chamberlain, walked to the jade case and said, "The prince has always been valued by His Majesty, and naturally he has his special features. His current actions are completely in line with his identity, and this is the most real prince in this palace. ”

Empress Wu didn't look at Li Hong as Li Ji thought.

Li Hong, who dares to compare with Liu Ju, how can he be a mediocre talent, and how can he be understood by ordinary people with ordinary thinking?

Liu Ju is the rebirth of the Buddha, and Li Hongdao is the ancestor of the inheritance. If Li Hong didn't have such ability, how could he beat Liu Ju?

Empress Wu knew Gaozong very well, and if her husband didn't believe in his son, he wouldn't be so supportive of his son. This shows that the husband is very optimistic about his son, and it shows that Li Hong's talent in some aspects is indeed very strong.

"Niangniang is saying that the prince is just playing tricks now, and he will eventually fall for our scheme?" Li Ji asked.

"This time we are playing with him Yang Mou, even if he knows that we are yin him, he can't ignore it, he will definitely take action, but he has become mature and stable now, he will not act rashly, he will definitely be cautious." When Empress Wu said this, she said to Li Ji, "Li Qing, this matter can't be rushed, the person we are dealing with is Li Hong, he has grown up, and he can no longer be treated as a teenager." ”

Empress Wu is different from others, whether it is Li Hong or someone else, as long as it is her enemy, Empress Wu will take and attach importance to her enemies very seriously.

This is the secret of her slowly climbing from a palace maid to today's queen position step by step.

If she told her the secret now, no one would believe her, because the secret of her success was too simple, and anyone could do it if she took her enemies seriously and valued them, but no one could succeed.

As a result, the most important point of success is overlooked.

"The old minister knows." Li Ji bowed down and said, now the Empress Wu is teaching him, and he has to accept it respectfully, otherwise what qualifications does he have to fight with the Empress Wu? Immediately, Li Ji suddenly reported to Empress Wu, "Niangniang, according to our eyeline in Luoyang City, it is said that the three people of Luoyang County have sent a letter of distress to their mastermind behind the scenes, and it seems that they are preparing to reconcile with the prince, what should we do?" The prince was not ready to move them yet, and they were ready to reconcile with the prince. If the two sides do reconcile, our plan will be in vain. ”

"Reconciliation?" Empress Wu sneered, "Do you think they are willing to reconcile with the crown prince?" The prince is their enemy, and they have a deep hatred for the prince. ”

"Besides, the way to reconciliation is interests, and it takes a lot of benefits to pay, do they have the courage to come up with enough benefits to satisfy the prince?" Empress Wu frowned slightly and said, "If they really had such courage, they wouldn't have been defeated so completely like now." ”

"What do you mean, we don't care?" Li Ji asked. He really can't keep up with the thinking of the Empress Wu, he doesn't know the power of the Empress Wu when he doesn't conspire with the Empress Wu, this time he threw himself into the Empress Wu, and became the vanguard of the Empress Wu, Li Ji found out that the reason why the Empress Wu achieved today's achievements was entirely by virtue of her resourcefulness.

"Yes. We ignore it, wait for the prince's plan, and then make adjustments, this time we must give the prince a little color, otherwise he will only gain an inch. Empress Wu's voice was a little cold.

Since Li Ji fell to her, Empress Wu began to feel that the Liaodong battlefield was her territory, and she should have the final say in the military power of Liaodong, but she didn't expect Li Ji to play Xue Rengui's idea, which made Empress Wu very annoyed, coupled with Li Ji's fanning of the flames, Empress Wu would use this way to warn Li Hong, so that Li Hong would be more restrained in the future, don't rob her people, and go against her.

Because of the relationship between Su Dingfang and Pei Xingjian, Empress Wu couldn't intervene in the Northwest Army at all, and now he finally got the support of the Liaodong Army, and he has Li Ji, the first person in the military. Li Hong began to beat her Liaodong Army's idea, and it was no wonder that Empress Wu was not angry.

Li Ji's face was a little unhappy, because in his confrontation with Li Hong, he obviously lost this round.

Empress Wu smiled, "Li Qing, don't be discouraged, take your time, we will defeat him." ”

Li Ji nodded slightly, "The old minister understands. ”

Immediately, Empress Wu chatted with Li Ji for a while, and then said goodbye and left the palace.

When Li Ji left, the attendant beside Empress Wu said, "Niangniang, the British duke's realization today is very strange, and it seems that he is deliberately hiding something." ”

"Hmph-" Empress Wu said coldly, "Li Ji, the old fox, how can this palace not know his thoughts?" But now we only have to rely on him, and we can only spoil him. ”

Obviously, Empress Wu is not stupid, she knows very well that with Li Ji's past performance, he is pretending to be stupid when he realizes so stupid today, as for why Li Ji is pretending to be stupid, Empress Wu is not clear, but she is not in a hurry, so she knows that Li Ji has no way out, so she can only follow her. And Li Ji, who left the palace, disappeared with a respectful attitude just now, and was suddenly replaced by a cold and murderous atmosphere. Today, he talked to Empress Wu, 80% of the time he was pretending, pretending to be stupid, pretending to be stupid, he knew that Empress Wu's cleverness must have discovered his weirdness today, but he was not afraid, because he felt that Empress Wu could not leave him now, without him, Empress Wu would have no right to speak in the military, and Empress Wu would continue to rely on him if he wanted to maintain his existing rights, or if he wanted to go further, he had to continue to rely on him.

As for why Li Ji did this... This can only be known by Li Ji himself!

Li Ji, who has stood on the right side several times in history, and has been able to reach such a high position today through this kind of political speculation, how can he be such a stupid person just now?

An old fox will always be an old fox, don't become an old sheep just because he's old.

……

A courtyard in the south of Luoyang City seemed very quiet, but the atmosphere in the courtyard was very gloomy. Because in the garden pavilion in the courtyard, there were three middle-aged men who were bowing their heads and pondering, and there was a letter in front of them, and the content of the letter was written by the county commander and the county lieutenant of Luoyang County, about giving gifts to Li Hong in order to eliminate Li Hong's punishment for them.

The content of the letter is very clear, that is, let the Qing Gang prepare 4 million yuan, and the three of them will send it to Li Hong's residence, and persuade Li Hong not to investigate their dereliction of duty when they were officials in Luoyang County, to put it bluntly, it is to buy Li Hong.

This letter is written very respectfully, and the wording is also very modest, but the three of them can see that the content of the letter is more than that, if they do not compromise, it is estimated that Li Hong will remove the three officials of Luoyang County, and hand them over to Dali Temple for trial.

The three people in the pavilion are Xu Wenqiang, the leader of the Green Gang, Ding Li, the deputy leader of the gang, and Du Yuesheng, the elder of the torture hall.

Xu Wenqiang is in his thirties, he looks like a scholar, maybe anyone who sees him will be confused by his appearance, in fact, he is a demon who kills people without blinking, otherwise he would not have laid down such a country in such a complicated place as Luoyang.

Ding Lichang's five big and three thick, full of reckless appearance.

However, he is indeed the most capable person around Xu Wenqiang, and he is also Xu Wenqiang's hair, if it weren't for Ding Li silently supporting him by Xu Wenqiang's side, Xu Wenqiang may not have today's achievements.

The rest of Du Yuesheng was very thin, and a gust of wind with a thin body could blow him down.

But no one who knew Du Yuesheng dared to provoke him easily, so Du Yuesheng was the most insidious and ruthless of the three giants of the Green Gang. The reason why Xu Wenqiang has today's achievements is that he can make the iron plate of the Qinggang run a close relationship with Du Yuesheng.

In the past, the Qinggang could discuss countermeasures with a cup of tea for the three of them when they encountered a major event, but today they have been sitting in the pavilion for three hours and drinking more than a dozen cups of tea, and they still have not discussed a result.

Because the person they have to deal with is very powerful, they are the crown prince of the current Tang Dynasty, and the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and all the actions they do today will inevitably affect the development and life and death of the Qing Gang in the future, and they have to think carefully.

As the saying goes, it is easy to fight the country, but it is difficult to defend the country.

In the same way, it is terrifying to enjoy a life of wealth and prosperity and then let you go back to a life of poverty.

Therefore, the current three of them no longer have the enthusiasm and courage they had when they worked hard, and they are thinking about how to enjoy and how to keep their current foundation, so they are so entangled.

Four million yuan of money is not a problem for them, the problem is that if they give four million yuan, it is equivalent to revealing their wealth to His Royal Highness the Prince, they understand the truth that wealth is not exposed, if the prince knows that they are so rich, if they often blackmail them in the future, what should they do? What if the crown prince really set his sights on his wealth because of a lack of money and wanted to destroy their Green Gang?

Therefore, they attach great importance to their own inheritance, and they also think a lot.

As a result, they are now very entangled, and a small problem has not been solved until now.

"Boss, you say something, what should we do?" Ding Li asked Xu Wenqiang. The two of them are young, he has listened to Xu Wenqiang's words since he was a child, and it is the same when he grows up, as long as Xu Wenqiang says east, Ding Li will not go west, as long as Xu Wenqiang says north, Ding Li will never look south. Therefore, although Ding Li is the deputy leader of one of the three giants of the Green Gang, he is actually more like Xu Wenqiang's bodyguard, or younger brother.

"Yuesheng, what do you think?" Xu Wenqiang turned his attention to Du Yuesheng, Du Yuesheng is the brainchild of their Green Gang, if Du Yuesheng has no ideas or solutions, he will not know how to solve the problem in front of him.

Du Yuesheng didn't answer Xu Wenqiang from Li Ji, but pondered for a while and asked, "Big brother, where do you think our path is?" ”

"Road?" Xu Wenqiang asked puzzled.

"Yes. Where do we go from here? Du Yuesheng continued to ask.

"What do you have to say, isn't it just to continue to collect protection money and live a happy life?" Ding Li said with a big grin.

"Deputy gang leader, you can live like this before, but not necessarily in the future!" Du Yuesheng said with a sigh.

"Yuesheng, how do you say that?" Xu Wenqiang asked.

"Big brother, have you ever heard about the Chang'an Axe Gang and the Snake Gang?" Du Yuesheng asked.

"Is it the Axe Gang formed by Cheng Dazhi?" As the boss of the Green Gang, he still knows a lot about the gangs in various cities, and the Axe Gang, as the gang of Chang'an City, Xu Wenqiang is naturally no stranger.

"Yes. Back then, it was because of Cheng Dazhi's relationship with the prince that he destroyed the Snake Gang and unified the underworld forces in the entire Chang'an City. Du Yuesheng said, "Now, the Axe Gang has a wide range of ways to make money, and the gladiatorial arena, the polo arena and the dog fighting ring are all their plates. ”

"The third child, the boss is asking you to figure out a way, what are you talking about these useless things for." Ding Li said with a little dissatisfaction.

Du Yuesheng ignored Ding Li, but continued to say to Xu Wenqiang, "Big brother, there are only two roads in front of us now, the first way, follow the prince and be the second Axe Gang, and the second way is to follow the person behind us and be his pawn, and the future achievements will be higher than the Axe Gang and Cheng Dazhi." ”

"We don't have any other choice?" Xu Wenqiang asked.

"Big brother, since we accepted this person's help to annex and annihilate the other gangs in Luoyang City, we can't be left alone." Du Yuesheng said with a sigh.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and since someone else has helped you and made you get such a big benefit, it is normal that he will want to ask you for something in return.

"Hey!" Xu Wenqiang sighed and said, "This is a difficult choice!" ”

"yes!" Du Yuesheng replied.

Immediately, the two fell silent.

Ding Li saw that Xu Wenqiang was pondering, and he didn't dare to speak and disturb him again.

After a long time, Xu Wenqiang opened his mouth and said, "Yuesheng, if you were asked to make a choice, what would you choose?" ”

"Big brother, I won't choose, I will only follow you, whatever path you choose, I will follow you." Du Yuesheng said.

"Ding Li, what about you?" Xu Wenqiang asked Ding Li.

"Boss, don't ask about this kind of thing, just tell me what to do, I'll listen to you." Ding Li also said boldly.

Xu Wenqiang glanced at Du Yuesheng, then at Ding Li, and was silent for a long time, he finally made his choice. Ding Li and Du Yuesheng are both his brothers, and he can't be too selfish for the sake of his brothers. If there was no Ding Li and Du Yuesheng, there would be no Xu Wenqiang today. Today, he Xu Wenqiang has done this, how can he only care about his own interests when he wants to make a choice?