The prince's car finally arrived in front of the waiting crowd and stopped. Prince Li Chun's slightly tired face also opened out of the car, and he got out of the car and greeted him personally.

"Your Highness is frightened!"

"Brother Wang has always been good?"

"There is Lao Shilang who is concerned······ Brother Wang has always been a good ······"

The expression of feelings was being foreshadowed,* and as it was approaching, a voice sounded:

"Your Majesty has an order, summon His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to attack immediately."

As soon as the crown prince Li Chun's car arrived outside the Mingde Gate, before he had time to greet the princes, county kings, and ministers who greeted him outside the door, Li Zhongyan conveyed the emperor's dictation in a sharp voice. Li Chun had to leave a signature smile, said "Let's talk later", and got into the car and entered the city with the support of the eunuch Wang Shoucheng. Tutu's father-in-law has been exiled to Lingnan for greed.

The three thousand forest guards escorted the prince to the city gate in a majestic military posture and then returned to the station, and now the prince was followed by three hundred guards. The leader is none other than the young general Gao Yu who has one arm hanging from him.

"Three thousand escorts, what a big show!"

Although he knew that there were only 300 people in front of him, Li Wei couldn't help but talk about 3,000 people. Li Jing was expressionless and said:

"In a few years, the pomp will be bigger."

The place where Li Yu met Li Chun was still in the Zichen Palace. However, the crown prince had to wait outside the palace, because the emperor was listening to the report of Tian Hongzheng, the envoy of the Shuofang Festival who had returned to Beijing two days earlier. After saying "Your Highness, sit down", Li Zhongyan went in to serve the emperor.

Compared with when he took office a year ago, Tian Hongzheng's face was much rougher, but his spirit was much stronger. After taking Tian Huai's advice and replacing him, although no one dared to say that Tian Hongzheng was not in the name of righteousness, there were still many people who disdained him behind his back. At this time, Li Yu transferred him to Shuofang to entrust him with important tasks, which was tantamount to announcing to the Quartet that the imperial court supported Tian Hongzheng, and Tian Hongzheng was also grateful for this.

After arriving in Shuofang, for more than a year, Tian Hongzheng worked diligently and visited all the border defense areas of Shuofang. When Fan Xichao took office as Shuo Fang, although Shuo Fang was well governed, after all, he was old and could not bow down to many things, and it was inevitable that he would be deceived or poorly implemented. And Tian Hongzheng is in the prime of life, and he is a person who knows the soldiers, and under his governance, Shuofang is becoming more and more prosperous.

The overall combat strength of the Shuofang Army has also been greatly improved after Tian Hongzheng's arrival. Tian Hongzheng intensified the training of the army, and changed the strategy of the Fan Xi Dynasty to be kind to his neighbors, replaced training with battles, and taught a few party tribes that were relatively close to Tibet, and repelled several Hui Youyong who were plotting to fight the grass valley, thus expanding the security depth of Shuofang. Shi Xiancheng and He Jintao, the two famous anti-bone boys, did not express any dissatisfaction after arriving in Shuofang, but made some small side achievements. This made Li Yu sigh that current affairs are stronger than people. As long as you are strong and there is no internal chaos, who would dare to rebel?

This made Li Yu regret his handling of Liu Ji a little, if Liu Ji was alive, he might be able to use it at the border. Because he hated Liu Ji's personality, and Liu Ji rebelled later in history, so in the autumn of last year, Liu Ji, the envoy of the Yicheng Army and the king of Pengcheng County, had an accident on the way to inspect and was swept away by a flash flood. This is, of course, the work of the Grain Statistics Division. After Liu Ji's accident, Li Yu lamented a few words of immortality, and ordered his son Liu Cong to attack the Duke of Pengcheng County and appoint him as the general of the Right Military Guard.

After Liu Ji died, Li Yu did not send a festival envoy to Yicheng again, plus the Yicheng army had already garrisoned Luoyang, and three months later, Zhongshu Province ordered the revocation of the Yicheng army. Then, the Xuanwu Army and the Heyang Army were also abolished. There is no longer a feudal town on the ground in Henan, and all of them are under the jurisdiction of Henan Province.

By the time Tian Hongzheng finished the meeting, half an hour had passed. It was obvious that the emperor was very happy to see Tian Hongzheng, and from time to time there was a hearty laugh from Li Yu in the hall.

Although Li Chun did not return to Chang'an for most of the year, he really wanted to see his father, but there was no anxiety on his face, but Wang Shoucheng had a lot of opinions about Tian Hongzheng's lack of eyes, and his mouth was a little chattering. After being glared at by Li Chun, he became honest.

Li Chun didn't have nothing to do, but looked at the eunuchs who served him around him, and watched them stare at the palace, Li Chun understood what they were thinking in their hearts: This Duke of Yi Guo is the emperor's favorite minister, and he has to take care of it.

Li Chun suddenly remembered what Li Yu had said to himself, everyone has their own interests and requirements, as a person in a higher position, you must understand the minds of the people around you, you can't deny this kind of demand, but you must meet those who do well, suppress those who do poorly, know how to reconcile and weigh their interests, control them, drive them, and make them do what they want, this is easy to succeed. Otherwise, you will be easily deceived and become a mediocre or even mediocre monarch.

When he succeeds to the throne in the future, the people around him will definitely pay attention to which minister he likes and which minister he hates, and then praise or arrange which character according to his own will. And they will also proceed from their own interests, make friends with ministers outside the palace, support those who are close to them, and spare no effort to crack down on those who are alienated from them. Just like this Wang Shoucheng, is he also showing his loyalty to himself?

It's really hard to be an emperor!

"Hiromasa Chenda sees His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Unconsciously, Li Chen's interview was over, and Li Chun was still indulging in reverie, until Tian Hongzheng saluted him, he came back to his senses, and saluted Tian Hongzheng, saying:

"Tian Shuai has worked hard, if you have time, go to the East Palace to sit, so that the widow can ask about the affairs of the army."

Tian Hongzheng hurriedly returned the salute, stretched out his hand and said:

"Your Highness is polite, the minister really doesn't dare to be - Your Highness, please."

Li Chun also stretched out his hand and said:

"Please!"

When Li Chun saw Zichen Palace, Tian Hongzheng turned around and left. Li Chun thought in his heart:

"This Tian Hongzheng is really a cautious person, and he doesn't even dare to go when the widow invites him."

Entering the hall, a wave of heat came vigorously, but Li Chun's heart was a little sad, and the person sitting in front of him was obviously old. Thinking about it, I already feel tired just by worrying about a major event in the Western Expedition, and my father has to worry about the major events in the world, can I not grow old?

As soon as Li Chun knelt down to say goodbye, he heard Li Yu ask:

"Do you think I'm getting old?"

Li Chundao:

Erchen didn't feel it. Erchen just felt that his father's spirit was better than before, and Erchen really liked it in his heart, and Erchen wished his father and the emperor good fortune and Tianqi, and immortal longevity. ”

Li Yu smiled:

"Where can you be immortal and longevity, those are deceitful nonsense. You have to remember that no emperor is immortal, and the so-called immortality is a deceptive nonsense, which can blind the deaf monarch, but cannot deceive the emperor of the sage. The true immortality of an emperor lies in his merits and his benevolence, such as Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xuanzong, with their merits, they should live forever, but in fact this is not the case, what is truly immortal is their wisdom. History and the people will not remember a man who only seeks eternal life, but they will not forget a wise man. ”

Li Chundao:

"The retainers have been taught."

This cheap son died in two things, one was that he believed in the eunuchs around him too much, and the other was that he was weak and wanted to live forever. Li Yu is now seizing all the time to educate Li Chun, as for whether he is really taught, Li Yu can only say that he will do his best and obey the destiny of heaven. After all, it is difficult to change the minds of people of an era. Just restricting the wealth of the temple has caused countless criticisms, and Li Yu believes that he has not yet had the ability to change the world.

Later, Li Yu asked with concern about the situation of Li Chun's attack, the war and customs of Longyou, the people's life, recovery and reconstruction, and so on. After more than half an hour, Li recited:

"You haven't seen the children for a long time, so let's go back to the East Palace first. In the evening, I will take the crown princess and the children to Daming Palace, and I will take care of you with your mother. ”

After Li Chun thanked his father, he retired. That night, Li Yu held a banquet in the Yanying Palace, and all the princes and grandsons attended together. Li Yu was in a good mood that night, and the banquet was slightly more luxurious than before, but when he "signed the order", Li Yu once again saw the destructive power of the "imperial worm", and regretted it very much. The next day, it also attracted criticism from the prime minister and the imperial historians, and a newspaper in the eastern city wrote in a rare tone:

"The soldiers are bathed in blood, and the commander is drinking, wanting to make the 300,000 soldiers of the Western Expedition cold-hearted?"

It's against Li Chun again. Li Yu pondered that it was time to implement newspaper supervision. However, these days, Lu Longjiedu made Lu Zhen, Ziqing Sanzhen Jiedu envoy Liu Zongyuan, Wei Guanzhi, and Li Ting, Wei Bojiedu envoy Zhang Hongjing, Lingnan Jiedu envoy Yang Yuling, Zhedong Jiedu envoy Lu Tan, Huainan Jiedu envoy Li Yan, Jiangxi Observation envoy Chen Ji, Shannan Dongdao Jiedu envoy Li Fan, Hedong Jiedu envoy Yu Youpage, Zhenwujun Jiedu envoy Li Guangjin, Dongchuan Jiedu envoy Ma Zongdu and other local officials returned to Beijing one after another, and Li Yu put the matter of newspaper supervision back to Beijing.

A few days after Li Chun returned to Chang'an, the New Year's Day of the fifth year of Xingzhi came in the expectation of everyone. On New Year's Day, Li Yu feasted the ministers in the Yanying Palace, and the officials above the five grades in Chang'an City gathered in the Yanying Palace, and the prince Li Chun and the prime minister Pei Tuzi led the clan and the ministers to shout long live, wishing Li Yu a long life. Of course, Li Yu also had a reward for his ministers according to the custom.

In the end, there is a war this year, and after the day, the various offices of the imperial court will be busy again. Hexi Province has an excellent New Year's gift for everyone:

Li Guangyan, the head of the march of Hexi Road, reported that the general Xiahou Cheng made a surprise attack on Yanzhi Mountain on New Year's Day, broke more than 20 beacons, seized the Shandan military horse farm, and obtained 10,000 good horses and 100,000 cattle and sheep.

For the first achievement of the new year, of course, Li Yu will not be stingy, but he also noticed the proportionality of the reward. In general, as the enemy forces in Longyou were suppressed, and the towns of Lulong, Hedong, Shuofang, and Zhenwu all adopted a strong posture on the border, Li Guangyan was under less pressure and did not perform outstandingly.

What's more, Li Guangyan has a striker who has lost his trace in the desert and has not been heard from for several months?

On the first working day after the New Year, the imperial court promulgated the decree of re-establishing Longyou and Hexi Erdao and abolishing the Baoyi Army, and also announced several new personnel arrangements for this purpose:

The Baoyi Army was abolished, the original Baoyi Army was merged into the Fengxiang Army, and Liu Shu, the founding prince of Lintao County and the former Baoyi Army, was appointed as the Fengxiang Army Festival Envoy.

Hao Jue, the king of Baoding County, was appointed as the envoy of Longyou Jiedu, and his station was Shanzhou, which was still under the control of the Tubo people. At the same time, the armies of Lintao, Heyuan, Baishui, Anren, Zhenwu, Weirong, Momen, Ningsai, Jishi, and Zhenxi were re-established, as well as Suihe Shouchuang, Hechuan Shouchuang, and Pingyi Shouchuang. The eight armies of Yongbian, Weisheng, Tiancheng, Zhenwei, Shence, Jintian, Wuning, and Yaowu, which were established in the thirteenth year of Tianbao, will not be restored for the time being. This is a great stimulus for the four armies of Shence.

Chen Guogong Li Guangyan was appointed as the envoy of the Hexi Jiedu, and the station was Ganzhou, which was still in the hands of the Tubo people. At the same time, the Chishui, Dadou, Jiankang, Ningkou and other armies were re-established, and the Herong army was newly established. The Yumen Army, the Moli Army, the Doulu Army and other armies will not be restored for the time being.

Li Yu, the Duke of Liangguo, was appointed as the deputy ambassador of Longyou Jiedu and the deputy ambassador of Hexi Jiedu.

Considering the urgency of the war between the two commanders, Wei Zhiyi, the son-in-law of the late Prime Minister Du Huangshang and the former Hunan observer, was appointed to serve as the ambassador of the Longyou Yingtian Capture and Robbery Domain, and became the highest civil governor of Longyou. Li Jingjian served as the ambassador of Hexi Yingtian to arrest and depose the thieves and dethrone the feudal clans, and became the highest civil governor of Hexi. He also appointed Li Wei as the Linzhou Assassin, Li Liang as the Hezhou Assassin, Lu Wen as the Lanzhou Assassin, and Yuan Zhi as the Yuanzhou Assassin. Cui Qun was appointed as the envoy of Longyou and Hexi.

On the surface, it seems that the dispatch of civil officials was to consolidate the rule of the recovering region and share the pressure of the commanders, but in fact, this was a separation of military and political affairs implemented by the imperial court in advance in order to prevent the recurrence of the situation of supporting the army and self-respect during the Tianbao period.

In addition, the imperial court also promulgated the Tuntian Law and the Qingmiao Law implemented in Longyou and Hexi.

On this day, the part of the decree that was not noticed by people was also appointed, that is, the former Zhenwu Army Festival Envoy, Ning Guogong Li Guangjin was transferred to the Right Dragon Wu Commander Army due to illness, and Zhang Maozhao was appointed as the Zhenwu Festival Envoy. Those who are familiar with the operation of the imperial court believe that this is because Li Guangyan has a heavy army outside.

After the fifteenth day of the first month, the crown prince Li Chun, escorted by 3,000 armor soldiers led by Li Zhong, the general of Zuoyu Linwei, went to Lanzhou Longyouxingtai. Of course, this time I went back with not only a large stack of farewells, but also a lot of rewards.

Immediately afterwards, the senior officials of the towns who returned to Beijing to report on their work also returned to the town after completing their work reports. Of course, the people who returned to the town were different, such as the Lingnan Festival envoy, Yang Yuling who returned to Beijing, and the one who took office has become Wang Ya. Yang Yuling returned to Shangshu Province and served as a waiter in the household department.

"Since the defeat of the decisive battle between the short Lizang and Li Yu, the Tubo army in the west of the Longyou River no longer dares to fight with our army in the flat land, and has turned to defend the fortified city, and the current strategic intention of the Tubo army is obvious, that is, to divide the troops to guard, resist step by step, in Longyou, to defend Shanzhou, Kuozhou and other places, and in Hexi to defend Ganzhou, Guazhou, Shazhou and other places, it is really not possible, they can also retreat to Qinghaitou and defend Shibao City. Its purpose is only one, that is, to delay the offensive of our army, to exchange land for time, and to strive to hold out until next spring, when reinforcements from the Western Regions and the mainland can be turned from defense to attack. ”

At the cabinet meeting, Pei Du explained with a large sheepskin map. In addition to the usual cabinet members, there are also officials from the fourth rank and above who are about to go to Longyou and Hexi to take up posts, and it is really unprecedented for so many people to attend the cabinet meeting as observers. On the opposite side of the map is a big sand table, and everyone present is already familiar with the situation in Longyou and Hexi, but they are still listening attentively to Pei Du's analysis, especially the officials who are about to take office, and they are afraid of missing a word.

Pei Du continued:

"Whether it is Longyou or Hexi, the current situation of our army is that the advance is too slow. This is due to the fact that the enemy army is extremely frantic in the resistance of the fortress, and there is also the reason why the soldiers of our army are tired after being out of the division for a long time. Up to now, Longyou's planned plan to encircle Shanzhou has not been completed, and Hexi has only advanced to Shandan. If this continues, the situation will certainly be unfavorable to our army, and even if it is finally victorious, it will pay a considerable price. This is what His Majesty does not want to see. ”

Li Yu nodded. Ruling Pei Tuzi continued:

"Therefore, after you arrive in Longyou Hexi, you must recognize the current situation and do a few things, one is to consolidate the place in time, regardless of Hu and Han, you must make a record; Second, it is necessary to do a good job of spring ploughing quickly, and strive to realize that by the autumn we will no longer rely on the imperial court, and by next year every family will have a family foundation, we must build water conservancy, roads, improve the soil, and raise more good fields; Your Majesty said that as long as the people are strong and good at fighting, our army will be equal to adding a million male divisions, can we not need these million male divisions? Your Majesty believes that you have the ability to do these things well, and it will be up to you to show your skills when you take office. ”