In the middle of April of the second year of the early Yin Dynasty, the emperor ordered the left general Tian Quan to be the general of the Northern Expedition, divided into three generals, Xia Yuanhou, Yue Li and Wen Wei, the eldest son of Weiguo Gongwen Ke, to lead the three routes to the north and cooperate with the northern attack.

Xia Yuanhou led the army, marched to the northwest, and went straight to Linjing, Anding County; Yue Li led 50,000 soldiers and horses, directly facing Fuping County, Fengyi County, and facing the main force of the Murong Army.

And the prince of Weiguo, Wen Wei, led 30,000 iron horsemen, crossed the river to the east, and went north from Hedong County to join the main army of Sima Xia Yuansheng.

Among them, under Lu Zhaoyi's arrangement, she specially dispatched the Hedong Army that she led into the customs this time, set off in full gear, and together with Wen Wei, resisted the southern invasion of the north of Bingzhou and the Tuoba Department.

It was not until the beginning of May that the three-way army reached its destination.

When the military order of the front line was sent back to Chang'an, the Chinese army, with 50,000 soldiers and horses led by the left generals Tian Quan and Yue Li, had already fought back and forth with the main force of the Murong Army.

Every few days, military orders were reported to Xia Pei.

"Your Majesty, General Zuo is stationed in Fuping, and General Yue led the forward battalion to raid Beiding City, destroying 20,000 enemies, and regaining the lost territory......

"Your Majesty, the army led by the prince of Weiguo has arrived in Shuofang and is in contact with the Khan of the Tuoba Department......

"Your Majesty, General Xia Yuanhou led his troops to attack the north of Anding County, Wuzhi Chaona, failed to find the location of the camp of the Murong Khan, and the army on the Western Road is returning to defend Hanqi County, preparing to attack again......

Outside Chang'an City, in the high-rise building of Taiye Pool, Emperor Xia Pei calmly listened to a letter of report, and his face became more and more gloomy.

He didn't expect that Murong Khan, a Xianbei man, would be so insidious that he would be able to guess his plan, so that the army sent by him on the Western Route would be in vain and return in vain.

And Lu Zhaoyi's mood became more and more nervous.

The purpose of her trip was to give advice to the emperor, and at the same time to reveal the forces behind Wei and Wang.

But these days, Xia Pei is busy with military affairs and can't calm down and listen to her, and for more than half a month, she has been thinking about how to talk to Xia Pei.

Now, she has finally waited for her chance!

Thinking of this, she took a deep breath, stepped forward, bowed, and spoke in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, the minister has something to explain to His Majesty, can you hold back and leave the left?"

When Xia Pei heard this, his eyebrows raised, his eyes were still on Qiu Quzi, and he was still discussing how to find the royal court of Murong Khan, and responded to her casually, "What's the matter? Let's hear it. None of them here are outsiders."

"Your Majesty......"

Lu Zhaoyi roared angrily for a while, causing the people here to be stunned one by one, and looked at her in unison.

At this point, Xia Pei also frowned, looked at her, paused slightly, and asked, "What's the matter, do you have to let me quit my cronies, just listen to you alone?" This is a military and political matter!"

"What the minister wants to say is also a matter of the survival of the great abyss, if Your Majesty only wants to achieve the foundation of the first generation, regardless of the rise and fall of the future generations, then the minister has nothing to say."

These words really made the people present find a trace of doubt, saying such disobedient words is really a vain disregard for the distinction between the monarch and the minister, and the crime should be punished.

And among the ministers, Qiu Quzi hung his head gloomily, tilted his head, revealing the image of a wolf, and instantly returned to normal, always bowing his head, and bowed his hand to Xia Pei, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Lu Niangzi should have something, which is more important than the matter of the Northern Expedition, and the minister proposes that this military discussion be listened to for the time being, and when Lu Niangzi and His Majesty finish speaking, the minister will come and continue to discuss with Your Majesty."

With that, he turned around and left.

When the others saw this, Qiu Quzi left, and it was inconvenient for them to stay for a long time, so they asked for their lives to retire.

As a person who clearly knew Gou Chenzi's identity, Qiu Quzi was convinced of what she said.

And the other, who affirmed Lu Zhaoyi as Gou Chenzi in his heart, was Xia Pei himself, when he saw Qiu Quzi asking for his life to leave, he might realize how important what Lu Zhaoyi said.

"Okay, they're all gone, it's just you and me here, what do you have to say, just say it as soon as possible?"

In the middle of spring, Chang'an is rainy and rainy, and it is quiet here, only the sound of rain falling and hitting is uninterrupted.

It makes a ticking sound, which is unusually crisp and pleasant.

Xia Pei has been looking at her quietly, wearing a white plain skirt, her black hair is lightly pulled into a bun, a silver hairpin is inserted obliquely into her sideburns, and her stunning face is slightly powdered.

On the contrary, her temperament is extremely calm, even if she is like Xia Pei, who has been deaf and blinded by her father's scheming since she was a child, she can't really see the heart of the woman in front of her.

He felt very frustrated, he couldn't grasp her heart, how could he want to marry her in the future?

"Your Majesty always looks at your ministers like this, how can you tell Your Majesty?"

Lu Zhaoyi was stared at by Xia Pei's dark eyes, and suddenly felt uncomfortable in her heart, she looked away slightly, lowered her head to look at the tips of her shoes, and was speechless for a while.

"Ahem, you, just say it!" Xia Pei coughed to hide his embarrassment, and instead, his eyes turned to the table and picked up the latest note.

Seeing this, Lu Zhaoyi let out a sigh, straightened his face, his expression returned to the past, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, have you ever thought that since Your Majesty ascended the throne and became emperor, in the past year, from the Hebei rebellion of the Dongning Army, the Huainan County Rebellion and the Jiangzuo Rebellion, to the invasion of fields in Jingzhou, the greed for grain and grain in Yongzhou, and the southern invasion of Xianbei and the relocation of refugees from Bingzhou to Yongzhou......

"If all of them can be connected in series, Your Majesty think about it, but what kind of power can control all this?" Lu Zhaoyi's tone was flat, but every sentence was to the point.

And she still looked at Xia Pei with burning eyes, and said in a calm and clear tone: "These things can't be done overnight, and there must be a strong backstage."

Xia Pei's fingers paused slightly, raised his head, unconsciously put down his hand, looked at Lu Zhaoyi, and fell into contemplation from time to time.

Lu Zhaoyi continued, "Presumably Your Majesty should have thought of it, right?"

"Yes, I thought of it." Xia Pei squinted his eyes with a look of surprise, "When my father was alive, he reused the clan and enabled the children of the Han family, and it was all for the purpose of suppressing the scholars. Use the clan to suppress the nobles in order to achieve balance."

Lu Zhaoyi nodded and continued, "Yes! This is also the reason why the first king demanded that the military power must be in the hands of the clan during his lifetime, but the greater the power of the clan, the more difficult it is for His Majesty to control, and the nobles will resist more fiercely."

"On the contrary, if the power of the Shi clan is stronger, the clan cannot suppress it, and Your Majesty is not as bold as the previous king, at that time, how should Your Majesty deal with himself?"

Hearing this, Xia Pei sighed in his heart, and a touch of shock and incomprehension flashed in his eyes.

Although he is the Son of Heaven, he cannot fully grasp the situation of the entire world, in particular, he is not a generation of overlords, only by virtue of virtue, nor can he decide the fate of the world, his ability is also limited to the court, once the art of checks and balances loses its effectiveness, resulting in any party being strong, it will threaten the imperial power, and then cause harassment in the world.

He must have a strong skill of checks and balances in order to fight between the left and right factions and consolidate the imperial power.

If Lu Zhaoyi hadn't raised it, maybe he hadn't thought of the huge crisis hidden behind this matter.

At this moment, it can be seen from his eyes that he is already panicking.

"Qi Niang. You're right." Xia Pei's eyes widened, as if he was caught in a memory, "I remember my father once told me that the art of the emperor he understood was the art of weighing. However, I have always believed that his way is only applicable to troubled times, and under the rule of the world, it is necessary to talk about the wisdom and influence of the king, and govern the country with virtue. It seems that I am still wrong."

From his eyes, Lu Zhaoyi could see how much energy this young emperor carried in his heart.

It wasn't until this moment that she really understood why Duke Wu chose him as his successor.

Just at his words, he can hear slander and recognize his own shortcomings in time, how can such an emperor not reign in the world and achieve a meritorious deed?

Thinking of this, Lu Zhaoyi was still a little touched in his heart, and immediately took a step forward, wanting to comfort him.

But she could immediately realize her identity, and the step she took retracted

。

"Your Majesty, all these things that Fang Caichen said, since Your Majesty became emperor, from Huainan and Jiangzuo, to Merge, Yong, Jing, etc., may have this great relationship with one side of the force."

"Who?" Xia Pei heard this and hurriedly asked.

He couldn't understand what kind of force could have done these calculations in just a few years?

He couldn't help but wonder if there was a female cadre around him, or if there was anyone else in his court, he couldn't tell.

"Back to Your Majesty, above the court, the minister is not sure who the force is at the moment, but it must be related to the Yi people?"

"Which Yiren?"

"In addition to the Xianbei tribe in the north, the Di tribe in Lingzhou, and the Qian and Qiang tribes in Bingzhou are all possible."

"The Four Tribes?"

Xia Pei suddenly exclaimed, but Lu Zhaoyi's next sentence made him even more uneasy.

"What if you want to add another Hun? Has Your Majesty thought about it?"

Five Clans?

If this is to be united, won't it overturn the abyss?