Li Jing laughed and said, "What if you say it a dozen times? I've come up with talent, and it's not too much to say a hundred times. By the way, Li Yuan, you have done a particularly good job in Dongxi, and before that, Peng Shiyu came to Beijing to thank him, and personally promised that all the tribes in Dongxi would forever submit to my Tang Dynasty, and ensure that the western part of Chu can be peaceful, which is also my wish."

Li Yuan said with a smile: "This is the duty of a courtier, congratulations to Your Majesty, Congratulations to Your Majesty."

Li Jing smiled and said, "Then Peng Shiyu has praised you for your kindness in front of me, and I have heard that you married his sister as a concubine, right?"

Li Yuan hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, the minister did marry Peng Guogong's sister as a concubine."

Li Jing laughed and said, "Interesting and interesting, this method is not bad, it is good to marry Dongxi, this is also a strategy for long-term stability. Hey, I heard that the Dongxi barbarian girl looks terrible, and it has made you suffer, but I understand your hard work."

Li Yuan was stunned, but he didn't argue, but sighed lightly and saluted, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Jing nodded and sighed, "I am very pleased, I have a large number of capable people, and the country is as stable as a rock, which is my blessing. You can work hard and do your best for the community, and I can live a comfortable life. By the way, you were wounded by the Assassins earlier, can you heal?"

Li Yuan arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty Xie cares, and he has already recovered."

"Then I will be relieved." Li Jing nodded, winked again, and smiled: "You must know that the assassination is really hateful, but I also ordered a severe punishment, which can be regarded as a bad anger for you, and now that you have recovered, it is over." Rest assured, you are a meritorious man, and I will not allow this to happen a second time."

The emperor took the initiative to talk about his assassination, and Li Yuan naturally understood his intentions, which was nothing more than to calm things down.

"That's what Your Majesty said." Li Yuan changed the topic again and said: "Regarding the fact that His Royal Highness King Zheng was held hostage in Langzhou, the minister wants to ask for the guilt, and the rebel general Zhou Xingfeng is the hand that moved in my Wuping territory, and in the final analysis, it is the minister's fault, and the minister is extremely ashamed."

Li Jing waved his hand and said: "This matter has nothing to do with you, you are a party of moderation, you can manage the good people, how can you manage the ill-intentioned people, it is true that the sixth child is in danger, I am very sad, but it is not your fault, you can save the driver in time and kill the traitor, it can be regarded as meritorious." You saw it last time you talked about it, and you don't need to blame yourself for it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Jing asked again, "By the way, last time you asked for an army expansion, I also approved it, how is the situation now?" When are you going to send your troops south to recover Guiguan?"

Li Yuan replied: "Back to Your Majesty, the people of Chu are grateful for Your Majesty's great kindness, Zhuang Ding is very enthusiastic to join the army, and the expansion of the army in Wuping is smooth. However, the minister was a little hesitant about sending troops south, which is also the reason why the minister hurried back to Jinling this time, in addition to coming to thank His Majesty, he also wanted to make a request to His Majesty."

Li Jing wondered, "Oh? What request?"

Li Yuan paused and said, "The minister wants to ask His Majesty to allow the minister to send troops to the north, so as to be ashamed of returning to the Northern Expedition."

Li Jing was stunned, reacted instantly, and said with a smile: "It seems that you know the imperial court's will for the Zhennan Army to crusade against the Zhou State in the near future."

Li Yuan nodded honestly and said, "The minister knows."

Li Jing smiled and said, "No wonder you hesitated to send troops south, it turned out that you were asking for the Northern Expedition. Last time, our dynasty was defeated in the north, and even my eldest son was almost killed, and the country's prestige was greatly damaged, which has always been a problem for me.

Li Yuan, your loyalty and courage are commendable, but this time you can concentrate on the war in the south according to the invitation you originally gave me, and you don't have to worry about this matter. Although your Wuping Town is very close to the Zhou Kingdom, it is not necessary for you Wuping Army to be responsible.

Besides, now that Guiguan is still in the hands of the puppet Han, Lingnan is always eyeing the enemy, and your Wuping soldiers and horses have experienced several months of war, and the casualties are not small, now you should take advantage of the expansion of the army to recuperate, and then you can recover Guiguan for me in one go and destroy the Lingnan puppet Han."

Li Yuan said, "Your Majesty, the ministers are merged

Instead of forcing himself to replace Li Envoy to crusade against the Zhou State, the minister's intention was to send troops to coerce him. Your Majesty is right, the expansion of the army has not been completed now, and the soldiers and horses continue to recuperate after a long battle, but it is still possible to take out 10,000 elite soldiers to accompany the expedition, and the minister dreams of capturing Xuzhou City and avenging the heroic souls of the soldiers of our Northern Expedition in the past."

Li Jing smiled and said, "I approve of your thoughts, but I have already made up my mind in this matter, rest assured, the Zhennan Army is a brave army, and I believe that they will be able to succeed immediately."

Li Yuan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive the ministers for talking too much, in the minister's opinion, the previous defeat of the Northern Expedition was a big pimple in the hearts of the subjects of the whole country. In this war, we should do our best and not lose anything, otherwise the hearts of the people in the country will fluctuate. The minister knows that His Majesty is sticking to my Wuping army and people, but this war is related to the honor and disgrace of the country, if the minister cannot participate, not only will he be depressed in his heart, but he will also be ashamed of His Majesty's repeated promotions."

Li Jing frowned and said, "Are you serious about this?"

Li Yuan said: "This is the reason why the minister came to Jinling, how dare he open his mouth."

Li Jing shook his head and said, "I don't think it's okay, the imperial court still needs your soldiers and horses to pacify Chudi, don't take care of one or the other."

Li Yuan pretended to be embarrassed: "Your Majesty, in fact, even if the ministers don't send troops, this battle will have nothing to do with my Wuping Town."

Li Jing said, "How do you say this?"

Li Yuan said, "Your Majesty can notice the small country of Jingnan? The imperial court ordered Li to lead the army from Huaishui to the north to attack Xuzhou, 100,000 Zhennan army is huge, Zhou's military strength in the south is in addition to the Qingxu forbidden army, but don't forget that there is also Jingnan Gao, Jingnan is now a loyal dog in the north, the minister expects that they will respond, must be guarded against! Wuping borders Jingnan, how can the minister not prepare? How can you go south with peace of mind?"

Li Jing nodded and said, "I understand, you mean that Li Zhenggu led his army north, and in addition to mobilizing the forbidden army to fight, Jing Nan may also send troops to respond, which is intended for Chu. Is that what you mean?"

Li Yuan arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty is wise, this is exactly the minister's concern. Therefore, instead of the enemy coming to attack me, it is better for me to organize people first. At that time, when Li envoy attacked, it was better for Xu Chen to attack Jingnan. If Zhou rescued Jingnan, wouldn't it just involve their energy, but would give Li Envoy some help. If Zhou Guo ignores them, I will try my best to take down some prefectures and counties in Jingnan and disgust them, making them suffer unbearable pain and dare not act rashly."

Li Jing frowned and pondered, "In this way, there is some reason to send troops. I'm just worried that you're not done expanding your army yet, your troops and horses are tired, and you'll suffer a loss in battle."

Li Yuan said with a smile: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the high mountains, dense forests, swamps, and poisonous miasma ministers in Dongxi have all seen it, how can you be afraid of Jingnan, which is narrow and widowed? Besides, the minister does not want to seize Jiangling Mansion, the capital of Jingnan, but only a few small cities, the risk is actually not high, and it can also open up territory and expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Jing thought for a while and said, "That's right, compared to Xuzhou City, those prefectures and counties in Jingnan are just small battles. Have you brought this matter up to the Privy Council?"

Li Yuan said: "The minister entered the city in the evening, and just returned to the old house to settle down and came to meet His Majesty, the important ministers of the court may not know that the minister has returned to Beijing, if His Majesty allows the minister's request, the minister will write a note tomorrow and send someone to the Privy Council to report the matter." But before that, the most important thing is to get His Majesty's approval."

Li Jing's face immediately showed a look of approval.

You must know that last year, there were rumors about the former privy envoy Chen Jue and Li Yuan, Li Yuan was indeed recommended by Chen Jue before, and the close relationship between the generals of the forbidden army and the privy envoy was nothing, and Li Jing didn't care. But now that Li Yuan is a Jiedu envoy, although Li Jing does not believe that the Privy Council headed by Wei Cen and Li Yuan will do anything now, if the relationship between the border town Jiedu envoy and the emperor's relatives and ministers is too close, Li Jing will feel somewhat uncomfortable, because it is a taboo thing. Now Li Yuan's actions obviously made Xuanzong feel much more comfortable.

"Well, tomorrow after you ask the Privy Council, if there is no objection from there, I will approve this matter. You can rest assured, this time the attack on Jingnan should be paid by the imperial court, and I will immediately issue an order, and your Wuping army will also be regarded as the Zhennan army, and I will order the Privy Council to give priority to you in allocating some armor and weapons.

Let's not talk about these things for the time being, I am very happy for you to come back to Beijing, listen to the music with me, and tell me about the interesting things about what I saw and heard in Dongxi, and how I marched and fought. while

In the presence of Peng Shiyu, it is not easy for me to ask him about those barbarians, lest he think that I have no respect for him." Li Jing laughed.

Li Yuan nodded and sat down, Li Jing ordered the musician to play music, and the court band below began to pluck the silk and bamboo orchestra, and several servants also began to sing loudly. Li Yuan was actually not in the mood to listen to any tunes, but he also pretended to shake his head and admire it. Li Jing himself was so angry that he ordered the band to stop playing soon after.

Li Jing said with a look of chagrin, "I'm about to be mad by this group of guys, and I don't know what to sing, I have no meaning at all. Li Yuan, I told you that after the Feng brothers left Beijing one after another, no one arranged and wrote lyrics for me, which made me very unhappy.

None of these lyricists and musicians in my palace are as good as one, and I have changed them several times, none of which can make me feel comfortable. Hey, that's a real headache. I love to listen to music and lyrics, but now even the fun is dying."

Li Yuan heard him talk about the two brothers of the Feng family, and unconsciously glanced at the Empress Zhong. Zhong Shiben leaned lazily on the pillow, raised his eyebrows unconsciously when he heard the words, and also glanced at Li Yuan. The two made inexplicable eye contact, seemingly tacitly, but quickly avoided each other's gazes.

"Your Majesty doesn't need to worry, in fact, these lyrics and songs are quite good, but Your Majesty is used to the previous tastes, so he naturally thinks that these musicians are too ordinary. Why don't you present some new songs and good lyrics to Your Majesty in a few days, and bother these musicians and servants to perform a song for Your Majesty, so that Your Majesty can relieve your boredom and make Your Majesty smile."

"You know that?" Li Jing was very surprised, and then stroked his palm and smiled, "Okay, good! That's great. That's fine, I'll be waiting for you."