At the south gate of Jinling, a few light horses galloped like the wind, and they rushed all the way after crossing the Zhenhuai Bridge.

This is the national capital, in the end, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, how can Jinling Yin let go of such a wanton gallop on weekdays? It's unimaginable! As the dust kicked up, street vendors scrambled to move their stalls, while the surrounding people stopped to watch.

One of the leading cavalrymen was wearing red armor, with a flag marked with the word "Ling" behind his back, and kept shouting "Great victory!" Great victory! The Western Expeditionary Army conquers Langzhou! Wei Shengjun Du Yu Marquis Li Yuan captured and killed the enemy leader Liu Yan! ...... Great victory! Great victory! The Western Expeditionary Army conquers Langzhou! Wei Shengjun Du Yu Marquis Li Yuan captured and killed the enemy leader Liu Yan! ...... Great victory! Great victory! The Western Expeditionary Army conquers Langzhou! Wei Shengjun Du Yu Marquis Li Yuan captured and killed the enemy leader Liu Yan! ......”

The so-called important things were said three times, and this battle soon caused a sensation in the entire Jinling City. The national capital indirectly represents the will of a dynasty, and the people here are under the holy decree of the Southern Tang Emperor every day.

Soon after, on the banks of the Qinhuai River, there was a rumor in the teahouse of the wine shop, about "Li Langyue attacked Langzhou, and the lone army bravely fought to capture Liu Yan", which caused the whole city to talk about it for a while, and even the girls in Qingxi Fang were full of spring, of course, this is a later story......

In the main hall, Emperor Li Jing was discussing with his ministers.

Recently, he has been suffering on his face and anxious in his heart. First of all, the defeated army of Xuzhou came to report, and all the 5,000 elite soldiers were lost in Shuyang, and even the main general Yan Jingquan was captured by the Zhou State, and since Chen Jue handed over the first report, saying that after the army besieged Langzhou, there was no report on the western expedition for more than ten days.

Li Jing's heart has fallen into deep self-doubt. He has always been conceited, and he has never thought that there was any mistake in his national policy of fighting in the east and west for many years.

I am the son of heaven of the Tang Dynasty, if I don't take it as my responsibility to dominate the world and return the two capitals, what face will I have to meet the first emperor and the ancestors in the future? But if it is true that the war has been lost again and again, it must not be my fault, I am a son of heaven, and I have not lost my morality, how can I complain about heaven? It can only be that the subordinates are incompetent......

Sitting on the throne, Li Jing frowned, immersed in his inner world, constantly carrying out a series of self-torture, and obviously had no time to pay attention to what the ministers below said.

"Your Majesty!" The right servant shot Sun Sheng Fangcai was talking dryly, and seeing the emperor's absent-minded appearance, he hurriedly raised his voice: "Your Majesty, the minister has advised Your Majesty before, and the ancestor once said that as a king, you should cultivate political affairs and rest with the people, as for the great sword soldiers, you will be tired of the people!" His Majesty has been using troops for many years, and the people have paid heavy taxes, and the people's grievances are boiling! Since the beginning of the year, there have been successive expeditions to the north and west, which is really against the way of heaven! The defeated general Yan Jingquan ......"

These extremely irritating words had obviously pulled the emperor back from the fugue, and then Li Jing was furious and said, "Sun Sheng! Are you teaching me how to be an emperor?! The northern country is trapped in the war in Yanzhou, and he has no time to look south, is he Yan Jingquan arrogant and slow, rampant, and has failed my expectations, how can he be invincible? ”

Sun Sheng's forehead was slightly sweaty, and when he saw that the emperor was angry, he hurriedly bowed down and said, "Your Majesty! Advice is against the ear! The minister only wishes that my Tang Dynasty will be prosperous, and I really can't see Your Majesty being deceived and mistaken! ”

Then he suddenly shifted the target of the attack: "Feng Yansi! You and Chen Jue have both received great favor from His Majesty and presided over the important affairs of the court, why have you repeatedly deceived the Holy Hearing and instigated Your Majesty to go on an expedition? Losing the hearts of the people and hurting the country, what crime should you be guilty of?! ”

Han Xizai, the squire of the Chinese scholar, and several ministers immediately stood up and echoed: "Your Majesty! Sun Xiang is loyal to the country, please Your Majesty punish Feng Yansi and Chen Jue, and warn the people of the people! ”

Feng Yansi, who was on the side, was in a daze, and suddenly heard Sun Sheng mobilize his henchmen, and began to grit his teeth at himself, cursing in his heart, but he still said disapprerovingly: "It's just that you have framed your true appearance!" Why, are you trying to force the palace in this battle? ”

Sun Sheng was so angry that his old beard trembled: "Feng Yansi! Above the court, how can you be allowed to reverse black and white so much?! I'm waiting for a piece of loyalty, how can I call it a forced palace? ”

"That's it!" Every time the court is basically such a scene of contention, Li Jing only felt a headache, hurriedly raised his hand to stop it, and said helplessly: "You are all my humerus, the good minister of the country, don't argue!" ”

"Your Majesty!" At this time, Young Eunuch Liu shouted, hurried to the palace gate, and saw such a scene as soon as he entered. This old eunuch has always had eyes, and he has long been accustomed to the competition between the two parties, so he went straight through the ministers, ignored no one, and trotted to Li Jing's side and whispered.

After a while, the ministers were surprised to find that Li Jing's face gradually changed, and they exclaimed, "Good!" Good! Then he continued to shoot the case excitedly, and took a sip of the tea soup handed by the palace man next to him, seemingly extremely emotional.

Young Eunuch Liu saw Li Jing nodding at him, so he walked to the jade steps in front of the palace and said loudly: "The Western Expedition is a great victory!" The privy envoy Chen Jue said, the Wei Shengjun is Yu Marquis Li Yuan, and more than 10,000 barbarians came to help in front, and then led a light cavalry to attack Langzhou at night, capturing and killing Liu Yan, our army has conquered Langzhou, and the northern border of Chu has been pacified, and the enemy has been captured more than 30,000 prisoners of war, and countless money, grain, and equipment have been captured! Today, Tang reported and Liu Yan's head and was sent back to Jinling. ”

All the ministers present were excited, and even more old ministers were in tears, long live the mountain! Looking at it, Feng Yansi and his party have always been the main advocates of conquest, and at this time they were triumphant, and the heads of the case congratulated each other with their chests up, while Sun Sheng's party, as the opposing war-stopping faction, at this time, in addition to the joy they deserved, was more of a panic buried in their hearts.

Feng Yansi smiled happily and said loudly: "Your Majesty! The soldiers of the Western Expedition used their lives to win this great victory, which is enough to show that Your Majesty's heavenly power is prosperous, so that all the people surrender! The state-owned heroes are inside, and there are elite soldiers and good generals outside, and the recovery of the Central Plains is just around the corner! Congratulations to Your Majesty! ”

"What Feng Qing said is very true! That's true! Li Jing was overjoyed, and at this time his heart was surging wildly, in the ten years since he ascended the throne, he has repeatedly fought against foreign countries, which time is not aggrieved? Ambitious to fight everywhere, but the Min State can't beat it, Wu Yue can't beat it, the Southern Han State can't beat it, and the Zhou State can't beat it...... The repeated defeats have already embarrassed Li Jing, and he is almost disheartened!

But only the war against the Chu State can be regarded as good news!

Li Jing couldn't help but joke in his heart, could it be that this Chu land is my blessed land? Then he reluctantly denied it, although the northern border of Chu had been pacified, but at this time, the two departments of Bian Hao and Zhang Luan in the south were struggling with the Southern Han Kingdom...... Suddenly, I thought inexplicably that Li Yuan, the number one hero of today's report, said in Tanzhou Mansion last time that it was he who surrendered the king of Chu, and this time he was the one who made the first contribution to the battle of Langzhou!

Could it be that this person is my blessed general?

Thinking of the young but calm face when he summoned Li Yuan back to the first time, Li Jing let out a loud voice: "Haha! Ladies and gentlemen, Chen Jue has already reported to me that Li Yuan, the Wei Shengjun, should be the first credit! Tell me, how should I reward him? ”

The name Li Yuan, since it appeared in the government and the opposition, most people understand that this is the confidant of the privy envoy Chen Jue. Since they have chosen to side with Feng Chen and his party, Sun Sheng's party has a natural aversion to Li Yuan. Later, after hearing the rumors in the streets and alleys of Jinling, Li Yuan climbed up to Chen Jue's sworn enemy, Zhou Zong, a neutral minister in the Eastern Capital, and even made a marriage contract with the daughter of the Zhou family. And the relationship between Li Yuan and Chen Jue does not seem to have changed, they are still reused, and they lead the army to join the army, which is confusing for a while.

At this time, after the emperor spoke, something that made Sun Sheng's party even more unpredictable came again, and Feng Yansi, who was supposed to ask for credit for Li Yuan in their speculation, turned gloomy at this time, and the same party behind him was silent.

Han Xizai quietly whispered a few words behind Sun Sheng's back, and then suddenly pushed forward.

Sun Sheng couldn't help but stumble a few steps, and then stood up inexplicably.

At this time, seeing that the emperor and the ministers were looking at him, he could only swallow his saliva, and according to Han Xizai's words, he said helplessly: "Your Majesty, Li Yuhou is wise and brave, in the past, it was said that the king of Chu and the light capture of Tanzhou can be seen in his resourcefulness, and this time the western expedition broke the city at night and captured and killed the enemy's head to show his bravery!" Your Majesty, at such an age, you have such a great talent, and you are so loyal to the country, which is really a sign of the rejuvenation of my Tang Dynasty!

Li Yuantian descended to the stars, His Majesty's guard, Huo Ye! Your Majesty should not hesitate to reward and give generous favors, so as to show the sainthood of the Son of Heaven, and the people will surely rejoice! ”

Sun Sheng, who has always been harsh, is rarely so generous to a person today? Li Jing was stunned for a moment, then clapped his hands excitedly and smiled: "Okay! Even Sun Xiang praised it so much?! Well, this Li Yuan, if it is really my guard and Huo, how can I chill his heart? This time, I will reward him heavily! ”

Then Li Jing turned his head and asked with a smile: "Liu De, tell Chen Jue about Li Yuan's reward and tell you Aiqing!" ”

Young Eunuch Liu hurriedly bowed down and said, "The old slave obeys!" ”

"Chen envoy is commensurate, this western expedition, Li Yuan should be the first credit. However, there are still Dongxi barbarians in the west of Langzhou, and it is necessary to leave the general to guard it in order to protect Langzhou. According to Li Yuan's work, a festival can be built. ”

Emperor Li Jing seemed to acquiesce, nodded with a smile and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think?" ”

Jianjie, as the supreme glory of military generals, is the most feared thing for Wenchen. As soon as Shaojian Liu's voice fell, the ministers had already argued with each other.

After a while, Feng Yansi, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly stood up and said coldly: "Your Majesty, although Li Yuhou has the talent of a general, after all, he is still young and has no experience in governing the government and soothing the people. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, when has there been a precedent for building a festival outside the country at the age of 21? The ministers plan for the Tang Dynasty and the people, please think twice! ”

Han Xizai, who has always been the most elegant, shook the sleeves of his robe at this time, and took over unhurriedly and said, "Feng Xiang's words are wrong! Your Majesty wants to promote useful talents, but when they should be judged by their talents and merits, how can they be measured by their age? Your Majesty has just said that Li Yuan has Wei and Huo Zhicai, and when he wanted to worship the marquis in the past, how old was it? Feng Xiangmo didn't deliberately mislead His Majesty, if he wronged the heroes, how would His Majesty deal with himself?! ”

"You!" Feng Yansi was suddenly choked with red light, and could only respond vaguely: "The minister is just thinking about His Majesty, how can Han Shilang misinterpret it indiscriminately?" ”

Young Eunuch Liu interjected lightly: "Chen envoy Xiang this report, Feng Liushou is also signed......"

This sentence came extremely cleverly, and it suddenly pierced Feng Yansi's heart, and he was already resentful, and he cried bitterly in his heart, Feng Yanlu, Feng Yanlu, you are the younger brother of the original appearance, how can you be so confused? Don't you know that this Li Yuan and my Feng family's festival? Then several resentful faces seemed to appear in my mind one after another, my son, Zhang Shilang, and the noble concubine......

Seeing that Feng Yansi fell into a short silence, and the henchmen behind him no longer argued with others, Sun Sheng, Han Xizai and others, who were in the limelight, then talked eloquently. Gradually, the appointment of Li Yuan as the envoy of Wuping Jie Du seems to have become the mainstream of public opinion.

Until Sun Sheng asked suspiciously: "Your Majesty, wasn't the post of Wuping Jiedu envoy promised to Bian Hao before?" If so—"

"What's the matter?" Li Jing smiled disdainfully, shook his head and said, "I originally ordered Bian Hao to build Wuping, and I ordered him to wait for the opportunity to lead the army to conquer Langzhou, but for several months, he has been defenseless!" Now that he has lost one after another in Guizhou, he is the envoy of Wuping Festival, according to my opinion, don't do it! ”

Thinking of this, Li Jing seemed to have made up his mind, and smiled at Young Eunuch Liu: "Liu De, immediately draft an order, the Wei Shengjun will be Yu Marquis Li Yuan, worship the right Qianniu Wei general, promote the Wei Shengjun Army, fill the military level and give the inspection school captain, control the military of Langzhou, and specialize in calming down the barbarians of Dongxi." (Note: full, which means actually filled; The inspection of the school is the local festival to make the habitual addition of officials, not the actual position)

After this series of titles, the ministers have probably known it, and Li Yuan will undoubtedly be the rising star of the Tang Dynasty from now on!

Then Li Jing began to pick up another letter and talk about the Northern Expedition to Xuzhou.

The emperor was on the verge of a great victory, and after tossing for half a day, the ministers came out of the Golden Palace with hunger and weakness.

As the sun sets, a canopy carriage wrapped in silk on all sides slowly moves onto the street, and the gilded window edge splashes the sunset, which is particularly eye-catching. Passers-by don't need to guess, the car must be precious.

On the carriage, Sun Sheng finally couldn't help it, and said with a stomach full of questions: "Brother Han, why do you want to protect that Li Yuan?" There is also Zhou Liu, and there are many talented people in the Tang Dynasty, why did you fall in love with him? The Manchu Dynasty knows that he was single-handedly pulled by Chen Jue! This is raising tigers for trouble! ”

Han Xizai smiled faintly, lifted the crepe curtain and looked at it for a moment, before turning around and saying, "The things that puzzled me before have been revealed. Do you know why Zhou Liushou married his beloved daughter to Li Yuan? And ask me to support you secretly? ”

Sun Sheng shook his head and said, "Is it because I can't wait?" ”

Han Xizai whispered mysteriously, "For King Yan." ”