Chapter 715: The Southern Expedition

In the imperial study, Li Chengde, who was a little depressed, glanced at Li Xian in fear. He hung his head, his body trembling slightly. Speaking of which, I don't know what's wrong, every time he sees Li Xian, he has a fear from the bottom of his heart. At the very least, it seems that he really has a genuine fear.

The smell of sandalwood still wafted in the room, but Li Chengde's heart couldn't settle down at all.

"Scared?"

Li Xian sat on a chair and asked after taking a sip of tea.

"Yes...... No! ”

Li Chengde, who was a little distracted, said with some trepidation: "Doing things for the emperor's uncle, my nephew doesn't dare to be afraid, and he can't be afraid." ”

"Anyway......"

Li Xian put down the teacup in his hand and said, "You are the emperor now, and the most important thing an emperor should have is courage...... I'm not telling you this now, not pretending to be doing. Looks...... It seems that the most lacking thing in your temperament is courage, and of course, tenacity, you are like the weeds on the wall that sway back and forth in the wind, and whichever side is stronger, you bow down in the direction of the wind. ”

"But you still have a paranoia in your bones, and the paranoia of lack of courage often makes you more and more miserable, and even do crazy things that even you can't control. Lone knows that you shouldn't be forced to sit in a seat you don't want to sit, it's really too much pressure for you...... But you haven't learned how to do nothing. ”

"You have unwillingness in your heart."

Li Xian said lightly.

"Nephew doesn't dare!"

"After you entered the Taiji Palace, you ate and lived in the imperial study...... I rarely go back to the dormitory, and I rarely go outside. You like to sit in front of the desk in the imperial study and write, and you like to write with a red pen. ”

"Nephew...... Nephew is just bored. ”

"You don't have to be afraid of anything."

Li Xian looked at him and said seriously: "Lone won't kill you, but I don't want to see anything dirty." ”

He pointed to the bookshelf and said, "There is a secret passage in this imperial study, do you know?" ”

"My nephew doesn't know ......"

"You don't know, but Li Yuan knows. As you said just now, you don't dare to be afraid to do things for me...... If everyone Ye hadn't appeared at the door of the imperial study in time that day, would Li Yuan have successfully left the Taiji Palace after killing Miki? Miki is a lonely person, Li Yuan doesn't know, but you know...... Do you understand what it means? ”

"My nephew was wrong!"

Li Chengde knelt down with a thud, not daring to raise his head.

"This method will not be thought up by Li Yuan, it can only be you. Even if Li Yuan was flustered at the time, he would not think that he could get out by pretending to be a eunuch. But you know that you can try, because Miki is a lonely person and a person from the Military Inspectorate, so wearing Miki's clothes and mixing out of the Taiji Palace may not be successful. This is not a difficult thing to deduce, and I don't want to find out whether you are doing this out of fear, worried that you will be killed, or if you really want Li Yuan to escape, but you are wrong after all. ”

Li Xian looked at Li Chengde and said word by word: "Moreover, don't pretend to be so frightened in front of Lonely, your fear is real, but it is never like what you show." There is no fool or idiot in the Li family, and the people in the Li family are very good at acting...... Lone saw this very clearly a long time ago. ”

After hearing these words, Li Chengde's face really became extremely ugly.

"Actually, you don't need to think about it carefully, you can guess what purpose you let Li Yuan go. As long as Li Yuan doesn't die and Li Shimin doesn't die, you can continue to sit on the throne, even if you are an emperor with no real power. On the contrary, if all foreign enemies are destroyed, then you will have no meaning as an emperor, and you will be afraid...... Actually, this is it. ”

"When Xu Shiji brought you to Chang'an, he said that you were panicked, but not really panicked. He said that he saw ambition in your eyes, and although he hid it carefully, he still couldn't hide it. That's probably what you were going to do......"

Li Xian stood up, walked slowly to Li Chengde and said, "Sit on the dragon chair first, don't care if you have real power." Because you are the emperor, and the people have some ignorant fear and blind trust in the emperor. There are also many people in the court who are against Lonely, the common people, and the courtiers who are against Lonely, all of whom you can take advantage of. As long as you sit on the dragon chair long enough, you'll find a way to overturn the lonely. ”

"Right?"

Li Xian squatted down, looked at Li Chengde's pale face and said, "Li Yuan entered your imperial study, and you were so frightened that you sat on the ground...... It's also fake, you're acting for Lonely. ”

"You wish I could fight with Li Yuan, and I wish Li Shimin could fight back."

Li Xian patted Li Chengde on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You don't need to be afraid of anything, because you are right, until all foreign enemies are cleared, your throne will still be stable." Loneliness won't move you, and you can still live as before. ”

He stood up and walked slowly to the door.

"The secret passage in the emperor's bedroom has been blocked, and this one in the imperial study is meaningless...... Although I don't know how many times Li Yuan has taken the secret passage to the imperial study to discuss anything with you, and I don't know if you often go to the dormitory to ask Li Yuan for advice, but you can live in the dormitory in the future, and you don't have to toss back and forth...... In addition, the gate of the dormitory is guarded by military guards in the future, so it is very safe. ”

Li Xian glanced back at Li Chengde, and the smile on the corner of his mouth was particularly cold.

"You killed Li Yuan because you were afraid that Gu would know...... You've been plotting with him for a long time, but no matter what...... Thank you, because it's hard to kill Lonely. ”

On the fifth day after the bloodshed, Emperor Li Chengde was so frightened that he was too weak to go to court, so he decided to recuperate in the palace until he recovered.

……

……

On September 12, Pei Lian, the first person after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a letter to ask for the old man to return to his hometown on the grounds of being sick. King Yan retained three times, Pei Lone's heart was firm, and King Yan immediately gave him 100 hectares of good land, 10,000 pieces of silver, and 1,000 horses of brocade, and allowed him to retire.

On September 13, the right servant of Shangshu shot Yu Shinan, the Zhongshu ordered Liu Zhenghui, and Zhang Gong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, wrote a letter to ask for guilt, and the king of Yan read the loyalty of the three of them and stayed in Chang'an, and the left servant of Shangshu shot Yu Shinan to be reduced to the Ministry of Rites, and Liu Zhenghui was demoted to the Ministry of Works, and Zhang Gong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, was reduced to the head of the household department.

On September 15, King Yan appointed Du Ruhui as the prime minister and the prime minister.

Xu Shiji was appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of War, the eldest grandson Wuji was appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Fang Xuanling was the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Wei Zheng was the imperial envoy of the capital, Pei Caozhi was the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and the official position of Duguxue of the Criminal Department remained unchanged, and Hou Junji was the squire of the Ministry of War, temporarily acting as the secretary of the Ministry of War.

On September 16, King Yan ordered the military department to raise supplies and dispatch 80,000 elite troops of Yanyun Army in Chang'an City to prepare for the southern expedition, with Luo Shixin as the vanguard general and Xia Fengchun as the deputy general, leading 20,000 troops to the south first. The former head of the Ministry of Rites, Changsun Wuji, had almost arrived at Wudang Mountain at this time, and King Yan ordered the Military Inspection Department to urgently send a message, asking the eldest grandson Wuji to stay where he was, waiting for Luo Shixin's vanguard.

The armies waiting to be sent out in the city are assembled and drilled, ready to march with His Royal Highness King Yan at any time.

The General's Mansion of Tiance

Li Xian put down the book in his hand and listened intently to the words of the people below.

In a row of chairs, sitting in the front seat is the prime minister Du Ruhui, and behind is the household department Shangshu Fang Xuanling, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu Pei Caozhi, and the military department waiter Hou Junji.

Pei Caozhi was the county guard of Qi County during the Great Cause, and Zhang Xutuo, a famous general at the end of the Sui Dynasty, was a barrier to the peace and prosperity of Qi County, and it was precisely because of Pei Caozhi in Qi County that Zhang Xutuo could lead the army to suppress thieves without worries. The two of them have a tacit understanding, and it can be said that without Pei Caozhi's support behind them, there would be no victory in the battles of the elite soldiers of Qi County in front.

After Qi County belonged to Yanyunzhai, Pei Caozhi was appointed as the Taishou of Qi County, governing the two counties of Qilu, and his status among civil officials was second only to Du Ruhui.

This person has the ability, and he is considered to be a descendant of Yan Yunjun, so it is normal to be on top, after all, there are not many Wenchen in Yan Yunjun.

"My lord, Chang'an has been decided...... Is it a second thought to send troops so soon? The minister thought that it was better to wait a few more months, when the spring of the coming year was warm, the army was resting, the grain and grass were ready, and he could also mobilize people and horses from Dongping County, Qi County, Jiangnan County, and Taiyuan, and then he could gather hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers and go south with thunder momentum...... Even if Li Shimin can conquer the land of Jingxiang, it will be difficult to resist. ”

"Minister...... Seconded. ”

Pei Caozhi leaned over slightly and said.

Li Xian snorted, didn't answer, but asked Hou Junji, "What do you think?" ”

Hou Junji pondered for a while and said: "When the minister first arrived in Chang'an, he shouldn't have made more fallacies about things he didn't know...... But the minister didn't dare to tell the truth, and the situation in Jingxiang was ...... It's better to care about it as soon as possible. Xiao Milling has 400,000 troops under his command, and it is not as good as Dou Jiande's men and horses who have more green forests. Before Xiao Mo used troops against Sichuan and Shu, and divided troops to garrison various counties, Li Shimin took advantage of the loophole, so he would attack the city with less than 200,000 recklessly and seize the opportunity. ”

"Xiangyang City is trapped, but the defenders in the city are only afraid of no less than 50,000, Li Shimin is difficult to conquer easily, even if it is overcome, Li Shimin's men and horses under Xiangyang City will inevitably suffer huge losses. If the elite soldiers sent by Xiao Mo to the southern expedition rush back, I am afraid that Li Shimin will have no hope of victory. He can only seek speed now, and conquer Xiangyang before Xiao Miao's elite troops come back...... Therefore, the minister thought that although there was no detailed information from the Military Inspectorate, it was not difficult to analyze that the battle of Xiangyang was bound to be tragic. ”

"Taking advantage of this opportunity, the lord's army is heading south, which is the right time."

Li Xian snorted, and asked Fang Xuanling again: "Does the household department still have any money left?" ”

"Yes!"

Fang Xuanling nodded and said, "If you count it as 100,000 horses, you don't have to worry about military salaries." The silver in the treasury was enough, and Yang Guang was greedy for money, but he saved a lot of money...... Two batches of grain and grass have arrived from Xingluocang and Liyangcang, and the last batch will arrive in three or five days at the latest. Wang Qinian is a good worker, he only went to the Eastern Capital for a month, many dead debts have been sorted out, and the silver in the Eastern Capital is more than that of Chang'an. ”

"There are more Jiangdu, but it's a pity that it was destroyed by Yu Wenhua and his hands."

Li Xian sighed and said with a smile: "Although killing Yang Guang has made Yu Wenhua and his back notorious, the silver of Bai Huahua is really stuffed into his arms. Yu Wenhua was killed by Dou Jiande in Hebei, and most of the silver was cheaper for Dou Jiande. ”

Li Xian stood up, pushed open the window and took a breath of fresh air: "Since entering Chang'an City, Lone's temperament has become more and more indecisive...... I don't know if it's because the days in this city are too idle, so that I feel lazy...... Fighting Jingxiang is indeed the right time. Li Shimin stirred up a miasma there, and the Liang army suffered huge losses, whether it was Li Shimin's victory or Xiao Miao's victory, the matter of the southern expedition could not wait any longer, the opportunity would not come again and again, and there was no second or third Li Shimin to run to consume Xiao Miao's troops for Lone. ”

"Letting go of Li Shimin is not useless."

"The affairs of Hebei will be handed over to Mao Gong to do, Qin Qiong guards the place where Qilu is rooted, and Lone can rest assured...... Although Niu Jinda has only only gone to the south, it is no problem to recruit tens of thousands of horses. ”

He glanced at Pei Cao and said, "I originally planned to send you over to help Niu Jinda, but Chang'an was troublesome, so I had to keep you again...... After the lonely army leaves Chang'an, you can't be idle...... Guarding the grain road for loneliness is the top priority. ”

"Whoa!"

"That's it, since you have to fight sooner or later, let's fight as soon as possible...... The bane that Lone released by himself will be removed by himself. ”

At the same time, it was two hundred and ten miles away from Chang'an City.

Ashina lifted the curtains of the car window one by one, and there was some worry between her eyebrows.

"The military guards haven't sent any news yet, could it be that something happened to Chang'an?"

She whispered to herself, her tone slightly uneasy: "Gelentai, hurry up!" ”

The majestic man who was driving the car answered and snapped the horsewhip.