The eldest son's persuasion has always worked for Li Dan, so he breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Go back and tell San Lang that Emperor Taizong once said: 'The king is the boat, and the people are the water, and the water can carry the boat and also overturn the boat.'" The locust plague is related to the foundation of people's livelihood, first settle the people, and then come to me to fulfill filial piety! ”

No matter what Li Dan has brought to the Tang Dynasty, whether he was mediocre when he was on the throne, and even whether future generations will say that he has more than merit, it cannot change the fact that he was once the son of the Tang Dynasty. He is the emperor and the son of heaven of the Tang Dynasty first, and he is himself, this is his responsibility, and he has never forgotten it.

Xiao Jiangyuan couldn't help but officially change his opinion of Li Dan, and his attitude became more and more respectful. When she returned to Zichen Palace, half an hour had passed. Along the way, at first, Bian Lingcheng also urged, but when he saw Xiao Jiangyuan squinting at him, his footsteps continued as usual, so he didn't dare to say anything more.

General Xiao's thoughts can't be hidden from the emperor, just as his actions can't be hidden from General Xiao.

But no matter how clever he is, he can't control it so much. He didn't say that Yang Siqiao was looking for Xiao Jiangyuan, but faked Li Longji's order, which was already the maximum he could do, as for the emperor's feelings, how could the anger of the Son of Heaven be important to him?

In the past half an hour, it has been extremely tormenting for Bian Lingcheng, and it is even more like half a life for Yang Siqiao.

Li Longji had been holding Ni Ruoshui's letter tightly, the paper scroll was a little wrinkled due to his strength, he didn't say anything, as if he fell into a kind of doubt. It wasn't until Xiao Jiangyuan came back that he came to his senses and put all doubts about himself behind him.

He is the Son of Heaven, and his intentions are the intentions of God, and there can be no mistake!

Thinking about it like this, he became much firmer, and when he looked at Ni Ruoshui's recital, he felt even more disgusted. He was really angry, and he had nowhere to vent, so he had to throw the music to the ground heavily, as if the music was like Ni Ruoshui himself.

That song smashes in front of Xiao Jiangyuan's feet.

Since Li Longji came to power, he has never disrespected his courtiers, and it seems that he is really angry when he can do this time, and the matter is still very serious, no wonder even her righteous brother, who is not afraid of heaven and earth, is obediently silenced. Xiao Jiangyuan only felt funny, squatted down and was about to pick up the song, and then heard Li Longji shout: "Don't pick it up!" ”

Xiao Jiangyuan didn't stop his movements, he still held the music in his hand, smoothed the paper a little, and wiped the dust on it with his sleeve.

"You!" Li Longji trembled his hands and pointed at Xiao Jiangyuan, only to see Xiao Jiangyuan smiling lightly, looking at himself with a touch of comfort in his eyes, as if coaxing his little prince who could just walk. He was even more angry about this, "you" for a long time, and finally remembered the word "presumptuous", but he was immediately stunned when he was about to speak.

- Xiao Jiangyuan Zhengzai carefully looked at the music spread out in her hands, and the corners of her eyebrows, eyes and lips slowly appeared with a vivid smile that was completely different from usual. The afternoon sun was shining through the window, and her skin was already snow-white, so it was even more like glowing, making Li Longji's eyes sparkle.

Xiao Jiangyuan finished reading the recital, got up and walked to Li Longji's imperial case, and put it back on the table: "Everyone is so angry because of this?" ”

Li Longji's eyes burned: "Have you seen clearly what he said?!" ”

Xiao Jiangyuan bowed his head and said: "The locust plague is a disaster from the sky, and the heavens warn it, and manpower cannot solve it. As a monarch, everyone should examine themselves carefully and improve their virtues, but they want to exterminate locusts and fight against the will of heaven. In the past, when the emperor named Liu Cong was in power, he had exterminated locusts, not only did not eliminate them, but also killed more and more, and finally even the country died, which is a lesson from the past. ”

"Look at what he said, he almost pointed at my nose and scolded me for being immoral and incompetent, that's why there will be a locust plague, all the responsibility lies with me, I really shouldn't trouble them to disobey the mandate of heaven and eliminate the disaster for me!" Li Longji got up and brushed his sleeves and paced in the hall, "Since I have spoken widely, these courtiers have become more and more unpolite when they speak!" ”

Xiao Jiangyuan was very calm: "This is still the one who dares to say it, and those who dare not say it are only afraid of more." ”

"You!"

"Humility has worked, everyone should be happy. As for the extermination of locusts, since someone has already done it, it should not be so troublesome for everyone. ”

Li Longji was not yet dizzy, so he naturally understood Xiao Jiangyuan's meaning in an instant, and immediately sent someone to find Yao Chong and asked him to reply to Ni Ruoshui's recital. This letter is not a good reply, it represents the attitude of all the local officials who oppose and dare not carry out the order of extermination, and if the reply does not convince them, the matter of exterminating locusts cannot be properly carried out at the convenience of the locality.

In fact, what Li Longji was most angry about was not Ni Ruoshui's unkindness, but that he didn't know how to reply, so that he could not not fall into the majesty of the Son of Heaven, but also make the ministers obey and obey willingly. It was only then that he realized that his youth was really a shortcoming that was difficult to ignore.

This matter is much simpler for Yao Chong. First of all, he is the prime minister, so he can reply to the words of the courtiers for the Son of Heaven as a bystander, and he can say what the Son of Heaven cannot say, so he has a lot less worries; secondly, he has been a good looker many times, experienced and sophisticated, similar to the brutal recital, he has dealt with a lot; In the end, his eloquence is recognized as good by the DPRK and China, let alone dealing with Ni Ruoshui.

The next day, Yao Chong sent a spy book to Ni Ruoshui: "Liu Cong is a hypocrisy, and his virtue is invincible; Today's holy pilgrimage is invincible. The good guard of the ancients, the locusts avoid the realm, if their cultivation of virtue can be avoided, how can they have no virtue! Sitting and watching the seedlings today, why can't you bear to save it, because of hunger, how will you be at ease? Fortunately, don't be late to return, and regret your miserliness. ”

How dare you compare the current Sage Monarch with Liu Cong's faint monarch? According to what you said, if the magistrate is virtuous, the locusts should avoid the land and not eat, but the locust plague in your territory is not light, isn't it because of your lack of virtue?! How can you bear not to save the locusts as you watch the locusts eat the food and seedlings on which the people depend? How can you be at ease when the people of the coming day fall into famine?

Words and sentences, deafening. If Yao Chong just used imperial power to suppress, Ni Ruoshui had something to say, but the world regarded virtue as higher than life, so he didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore, and devoted himself to exterminating locusts.

At this point, no matter how many doubts other local officials had in their hearts, they had to lead their soldiers and horses, unite with the local people, and officially launched a monstrous war against the overwhelming locust clouds. In this battle, the officials, soldiers, and people worked together as never before, plus Yao Chong published the hunting and killing situation in various places throughout the country through the Di Bao at every turn, and also relied on the situation of the locust extermination to judge the political achievements and rewards and punishments, and at the same time asked Li Longji to send the imperial historian to the local supervision, and the assassins in various places were all active and diligent regardless of what the heavens warned and hurt the heavens or anything, so it was only more than a month, and the effect was already significant.

Only Bianzhou, where Ni Ruoshui is located, has 140,000 stones of locusts, and if it is measured by the weights and measures of later generations, it is enough to have 14 million catties! The rest of the states were not far behind, so except for a few places that were seriously affected at the beginning, most of the harvest of the rest of the areas that were affected by the locust plague was saved.

Li Longji was overjoyed, and in order to encourage the courtiers and the people, he set up a banquet in the Linde Hall of the Daming Palace to celebrate the success of the locust extermination.

This banquet was personally supervised by Li Longji, even Xiao Jiangyuan couldn't interfere, everyone was very curious about this banquet, until the day of the banquet, Li Longji sat firmly on the throne of the Son of Heaven, three high-fives, everyone saw a new dish on each table, this is the deep meaning of the Son of Heaven.

- The new dish turned out to be a smoked locust!

Xiao Jiangyuan, who has never been as immobile as a mountain, his smile froze, and Li Longji saw it in his eyes, and his heart was about to bloom. He picked up chopsticks, picked up a locust, and said to the ministers: "In the past two months, Zhongqing and I have done a big thing. Now it seems that what is a little locust, has it not become a meal on my plate? But at that time, it was thousands of them, flying all over the sky like heavenly soldiers, everywhere they went, invincible, we couldn't do it for a long time, let it rage, hurt many people without harvest, and praised it as a godsend! It's ridiculous......"

When the ministers heard this, they all bowed their hands and said, "The ministers are terrified! ”

Li Longji said again: "At this moment, Zhong Aiqing still thinks that this locust plague is the will of heaven? ”

The Lin De Hall was wide and full of music, and at this time, it sounded even more empty.

Yao Chong looked at the silent appearance of the other courtiers, raised his lips and smiled, and said, "There is no doubt that it is providence." ”

"Oh? What does Yao Gong mean by this? ”

"The old minister thinks that the saint's ascension to the throne is unusual, I am afraid that it is unexpected by God, and this locust plague is the test of the saint by God, to see if the saint can be a holy king. Today, thanks to the grace of the saint, the old ministers and others enjoyed a feast in the Lin De Hall to celebrate the victory of the locust extermination, and the result is self-evident - the locust plague is indeed the will of heaven, and the saint is impressed by the will of heaven. Yao Chong sat upright as he spoke, picked up the wine glass with both hands, and respectfully saluted Li Longji, "Kaiyuan Shenwu, the Son of Heaven is ten thousand years!" ”

The ministers hurriedly followed: "Kaiyuan Shenwu, the Son of Heaven is ten thousand years!" ”

For a while, no matter how magnificent the music was, it could not be heard.

Li Longji smiled, threw the locust into his mouth, and chewed it.

He hadn't seen a locust before, let alone eaten it. Before the entrance, he was also constantly beating drums in his heart, but he still maintained a confident and flamboyant smile, guarding the face of the Son of Heaven. After chewing stiffly for two bites, he relaxed and ate sincerely—this roasted locust was quite delicious.

The Son of Heaven ate it himself, although the courtiers were not timid, but they also endured the nausea and moved the chopsticks, I wanted to mean it, just eat one or two, but I didn't want to and felt that it was unexpectedly delicious, so I couldn't stop.

While Li Longji was eating, he asked people to give some tastings to the emperor, Princess Xue, and even the concubine. Princess Xue was a bold woman, knowing that the monarchs and ministers had eaten it, she didn't even use chopsticks, she grabbed one and swallowed it. Li Dan only felt that Li Longji must be crazy with happiness, and persuaded himself not to worry about this little child, and at the same time, under the persuasion of Princess Xue, he picked a small one and tasted it, and his mood instantly calmed down a lot.

The concubines were drinking tea and chatting with Queen Wang in Penglai Pavilion, and when they saw the locusts, they couldn't help but lose their faces, which showed that Queen Wang ate with relish, so they all tried it, and after a while, a plate was gone.

Those who were still uneasy after the success of the locust eradication were completely relieved after eating the locusts.

There was only one person who didn't eat a single one the whole time.

This roasted locust, Li Longji is not rewarded by anyone, the imperial concubine wants to be filial, the concubine is sharing, the ministers are really doing their best these days, this is an additional reward, only Xiao Jiangyuan is the only one who is named and rewarded by the Son of Heaven, but she only worships and does not dare to eat on the grounds of no merit, and respectfully withdraws from the Linde Hall after speaking.

It makes sense that the ministers didn't pay much attention to this point, and their focus was drawn to another place.

- What did the sage call Xiao to prison?

Checkmate?