Chang'an City, Tang Emperor Li Yuan has been on the throne for nearly half a month, all kinds of affairs are complicated, a thousand things, but the imperial court is gradually running, at this time Chang'an on all sides of the war stopped, the Tang army and the Western Qin army are in a confrontation, the Western Qin army is seriously injured due to vitality, it is difficult to recover for a while, Xue Ju sent people into Chang'an to ask for peace, Li Yuan agreed to make peace, so he concentrated on dealing with Xiliang Li Rail.

At the time of the great drought in Liangzhou, starvation was all over the wilderness, but Li Liang, the king of Xiliang, refused to provide disaster relief, and built a large number of buildings to build the Jade Girl Terrace, which made the people's grievances boil, and at the critical moment, he listened to slander and poisoned Liang Shuo, the official who won the hearts of the people, causing the people's hearts to rebel.

Li Yuan found this opportunity, and then sent the famous Xiliang An Xinggui to envoy Xiliang, with a plan to divide the Xiliang army, so that Liangzhou had internal strife, the Xiliang army mutinied and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Li Liang was captured by the generals, sent to Chang'an to be executed, so far, the Tang army soldiers bloodless seized the five counties of Hexi, and obtained a valuable horse breeding land.

The wind in Chang'an in September is strong, the wind and sand blow from the north, so that the sky of Chang'an also becomes foggy, but the street is full of people, particularly lively, most of the residents of Luoyang are moved from Chang'an and Guanzhong, Luoyang's continuous war and soaring food prices make countless Luoyang people flee back to Chang'an and Guanzhong with their families, and the people of Luoyang who are looking for their ancestral homes can be seen everywhere on the street.

It was already dusk, and at this time, several men on horseback slowly entered Chang'an City from the Mingde Gate, and they looked curiously at the former capital of the Great Sui.

"Young master, should we stay first or do things first?"

The young master is about twenty-five or sixteen years old, slender and long, his eyes are shining, he is very shrewd and capable, his name is Koji Guigui, is the son of Hebei Jizhou Taishou Koji Ling, the current Dou Jiande's subordinate Cao Shen military, sent by Dou Jiande to Chang'an.

The reason why Dou Jiande sent the koji nobles to Chang'an was because the father-in-law of the koji nobles was Liu Wenjing, the Tang Dynasty's adviser, and he could meet the Tang Dynasty decision-makers through Liu Wenjing's relationship.

Koji nobles had been to Chang'an several times and were more familiar with Chang'an, so they said to their subordinates: "There are not many of us, so go directly to my father-in-law's house with me, and there is no need to stay in another place." ”

He whipped his horse lightly, and went north along Suzaku Street, inquiring all the way, and they entered Chongrenfang, and came to a large mansion, which was Liu Wenjing's new house.

Although Li Yuan was reluctant to use Liu Wenjing anymore, in order to appease Lao Xi, who raised troops with him in Taiyuan, coupled with the repeated persuasion of the crown prince Li Jiancheng, Li Yuan finally named Liu Wenjing as a confession and took charge of Menxia Province.

Liu Wenjing had just finished dinner and was drinking tea and reading in the study, when his housekeeper reported at the door: "Master, Gu Xin is back." ”

Liu Wenjing has three daughters, all of whom married early, because Liu Wenjing's father is also a high-ranking official of the Sui Dynasty, and his daughter is naturally married to a famous family of the Sui Dynasty, the eldest daughter is married to the son of Li Mi, the second daughter is married to the Taiyuan royal family, the son of Cheng Wang Sui of Jinyang County, and the third daughter is married to the son of Jizhou Taishou Ling, which is considered an official eunuch.

Liu Wenjing was stunned for a moment, his eldest son-in-law was dead, and the second and third sons-in-law were not in Chang'an, so he asked, "Which son-in-law?" ”

"It's the third aunt!"

Liu Wenjing thought about it for a while, and immediately guessed that he was seven or eight years old, either sent by Dou Jiande, or Lu Ling wanted to join Tang, and there would be no other reason at this time.

"Bring him to my study!"

After a while, Koji Minggui was brought into the study, and he knelt down and saluted, "The little son-in-law and the noble knock to see the father-in-law." ”

Liu Wenjing didn't like this son-in-law, to be precise, he hated his in-law Koji Ling, when Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan, he wrote to Koji Ling, Koji Ling immediately responded to surrender Li Yuan, becoming the first county outside Hedong Province to surrender, causing a sensation at the time, earning him a lot of face, but less than a month after the surrender, Dou Jiande's army captured Jizhou City.

Liu Tingjing hoped that Koji Ling would either run away to join Li Yuan, or commit suicide by observing the festival, but Koji Ling chose to surrender to Dou Jiande, which made Liu Wenjing lose face, Pei Lin made a fuss about this matter not long ago, and impeached himself, although Li Yuan did not pursue the matter, but hated the house and Wu, Liu Wenjing also hated his son-in-law.

Liu Wenjing said coldly: "Do you have anything to do with coming to Chang'an?" ”

Koji Minggui said respectfully: "The son-in-law was sent by the Duke of Dou to contact the Tang Dynasty, but there was no way out, so I had to ask my father-in-law for help." ”

Since it was official business, and it was sent by Dou Jiande, Liu Wenjing's face softened a little, and then asked her daughter: "How is Xiu'e doing?" ”

"Back to my father-in-law, Xiu'e is in good health, this time my son-in-law was temporarily ordered to set off from the army, and I didn't have time to go home, so I can't bring Xiu'e's letter to my father-in-law, please forgive my father-in-law."

Liu Wenjing also knew that Dou Jiande was preparing to attack Hanoi County, and today the Shengshang also talked about it in the early court, proposing to strengthen intelligence and pay attention to the situation in the Central Plains, and the news actually came in the evening.

Liu Wenjing suddenly realized that this was actually an opportunity for him to take advantage of his son-in-law as the envoy of Hao Jiande, strive to dominate this matter, and increase his voice in the court.

Liu Wenjing's heart suddenly became excited, and her attitude towards her son-in-law became more relaxed, and her face also had the unique smile of her father-in-law, "The virtuous son-in-law will go to eat first, and after eating, I will take you to see the prince." ”

Generally speaking, the crown prince is not allowed to participate in politics, nor is he allowed to make friends with ministers at will, but as the founding prince, Li Jiancheng was not bound by this aspect, on the contrary, his father Li Yuan also allowed him to set up his own door, collect talents, and even allowed him to lead troops to fight and establish military prestige, all because Li Yuan trusted Li Jiancheng very much, and he knew that his eldest son was a generous and benevolent person.

Li Jiancheng has moved to the East Palace, although he has moved into the palace, Li Jiancheng's henchmen and ministers can still come and go at will, at this time, Li Jiancheng is in the East Palace Xiande Hall and his wife, the crown princess Zheng, to discuss the reduction of the East Palace's expenses.

Li Jiancheng spent a lot of money on collecting talents, although his father had no objections, but at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the people's livelihood withered, and the taxes were not abundant.

Zheng is the daughter of the Zheng family in Xingyang, and was the daughter of Mrs. Zheng, the wife of Yang Xuangan, and the daughter of Zheng Shanguo, the prince of Lu County, Zheng Shanguo surrendered to the Tang Dynasty because of his son-in-law, and was named a guest of the prince, and was Li Jiancheng's confidant.

Zheng is quite virtuous and understands her husband's distress, so he proposed to cut his own fat powder money, and the following palace concubines can follow suit, but Li Jiancheng did not approve of cutting his wife's fat powder money, so he smiled and said: "After all, there is no point in reducing the fat powder money too much, even if it is, I think the diet can be cut by at least half, dozens of dishes per meal are too luxurious, and most of them are wasted." ”

"But did the prince ever think that although these meals could not be eaten, they were all rewarded to the guards in the end, in fact, they were not wasted, if the meals were cut, it was actually the blessing of the guards, which is not good!"

Zheng's suggestion made Li Jiancheng hesitate a little, and after thinking for a while, he smiled and said: "Forget it, if you can't throttle, let's find a way to open source!" My father also allowed me to set up an imperial businessman, and after thinking about it, it would be more effective to make money by doing business. ”

At this time, Yang Rong, the head of the East Palace guards, reported at the gate of the palace: "His Royal Highness the Prince, Liu Xiangguo urgently asks to see you!" ”

Yang Rong is of course Yang Xuangan's second son, Yang Yuanqing's brother, Yang Jun and Yang Rong surrendered to Li Yuan after the city of Chang'an was broken, and they have been left out in the cold, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, because the mother of the two brothers was the aunt of the crown princess, Li Jiancheng tried his best to protect the two of them as officials, although Li Yuan did not like the two brothers to betray their father, but considering that they might be useful in dealing with Yang Yuanqing in the future, they were allowed to be officials in the East Palace.

Yang Rong was appointed by Li Jiancheng as the head of the East Palace guards, Yang Jun was named the East Palace Doctor Shanzan, and Mrs. Zheng was also taken to Chang'an by the two brothers.

Li Jiancheng actually considered letting the two brothers rebuild the Hongnong Yang clan, after all, the Hongnong Yang clan is still there, and they still have a great influence in Hongnong County, which can attract many talents to join him.

Li Jiancheng heard that Liu Wenjing was in a hurry to find him, so he nodded, "Please ask him to wait in my study!" ”

In the prince's study, Liu Wenjing was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, he already knew Dou Jiande's intentions in detail, he was thinking about countermeasures, he already had an idea in his heart, but he still had to consider some details.

At this time, Li Jiancheng walked in and said with a smile: "What is the urgency to find me again?" ”

Liu Wenjing and Li Jiancheng have an excellent personal relationship, and they can be regarded as Li Jiancheng's confidants, so Dou Jiande's matter, he first came to report to Li Jiancheng.

"My son-in-law Koji Minggui just came to see me, he is Dou Jiande's envoy, and he brought Dou Jiande's handwritten letter to the saint, and Dou Jiande hopes to form an alliance with us."

Liu Wenjing took out a letter and put it on the table, this is Dou Jiande's handwritten letter, Li Jiancheng looked at the envelope, "King Changle of Hebei to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty......" He frowned slightly, Dou Jiande is a bandit after all, will an alliance with him affect the reputation of the imperial court, and the rank is not worthy.

"I don't think my father will consider forming an alliance, if it is to canonize him, it may be possible."

Liu Wenjing smiled, "Actually, the alliance is just a statement, we can cooperate with him instead, especially this time Dou Jiande attacked Hanoi County, I think it is an opportunity for us." ”

"What do you mean by Xiangguo?"

Liu Wenjing said slowly: "Dou Jiande personally led the army to attack Hanoi County, Yang Yuanqing will inevitably deal with it personally, in this way, Yang Yuanqing's army will be contained in Hanoi County, then we can take the opportunity to send troops to Hongnong County and occupy it, and then wait and see the battle situation in Hedong, if Yang Yuanqing is defeated by Dou Jiande, we can divide the army into two ways, cross the river from the west and the south at the same time, and occupy Hedong County, Yang Yuanqing will be afraid of being attacked by the Tang army and Dou Jiande's army at this time, and he will not dare to counterattack Hedong County, so We opened two roads to the Central Plains. ”

Li Jiancheng's eyes slowly lit up, he knew that his father had always been angry about the loss of Hedong, and he also wanted to find an opportunity to occupy Hongnong County, this was indeed an opportunity, his father would definitely be interested in this plan, he asked urgently: "I don't know where Xiangguo's son-in-law is now?" ”

"Just wait outside the East Palace."

Li Jiancheng immediately stood up and said, "Let's go see our father now!" ”

In late September, Li Yuan accepted Dou Jiande's request to change the alliance between the two sides to cooperation, he seized the opportunity of Yang Yuanqing being pinned down by Dou Jiande's army in Hanoi County, and ordered Li Xiaogong, the king of Hejian County, to lead an army of 30,000 out of Tongguan and kill Hongnong County, which opened the prelude to the Tang army's participation in the CIMC hegemony.

……