The imperial capital, the yamen of the ministry, and the election of lawsuits.

In the stuffy signing room, a middle-aged official pulled the collar of his heavy official uniform, breathed a sigh of relief, and then pointed to the official document in his hand and said: "This new proposed prince of the East Palace Official Office of the Economic Bureau washes horses, and his name looks a little familiar?" ”

When the official sitting in the hall heard this, he snorted with his nose, took a sip of the West Lake Mingqian tea that was served this year, and then said leisurely: "Lao Tian, you are really, a small official from the fifth grade on the prince's side, is also worthy of such attention?" ”

"Lao Jianhua, from Cixi County, Yinzhou," the official surnamed Tian ignored the official and continued to mumble: "I vaguely remember...... In the past, there was a director of the Criminal Department who was also called by this name, and he seemed to be from Cixi. It can't be the same, right? ”

The officer straightened up from the circle chair: "Lao Jianhua?!" Are you talking about Lao Jianhua from the Arrest Department of the Criminal Department? Wasn't there a rumor before that he was actually a person from Beiya? Hurry up, show it to me! ”

Lao Tian didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly got together with the magistrate to carefully review the appointment document sent from Luoyi, and then they asked the scribe to take out the roster of the criminal department that had been sealed for many years for comparison. After studying carefully for a long time, the official said in a deep voice: "Lao Tian, this matter must be reported quickly." When it comes to the East Palace and the North Ya Reverse Scale Division, there must be no negligence! ”

-

After reading the report sent by the officials, Shen Lie slapped the official document on the case with a snap, his face full of murderous anger.

Lao Jianhua, Lao Jianhua, I never expected that you not only had the courage to return to Shengtang, but also dared to swagger into the house and go to serve under the prince.

Are you not afraid of the means of the Reverse Scale Division, or do you not take Shen in your eyes at all?!

Shen Lie pondered for a moment and decided to immediately enter the palace to report to the emperor. He planned to use the elite men and horses of the Northern Ya to arrest Lao Jianhua with all his might. However, this matter must first be approved by His Majesty.

Rules are rules, and you can't use royal private soldiers because of your own anger.

Leaving the North Yawei Station, Shen Lie passed through the Xuanwu Gate and the Chengtian Gate one after another, and came all the way to the Liangyi Hall of the Inner Court.

When Shen Lie climbed the stairs, he had just walked to the front of the hall, and happened to meet several important ministers who came out of it. He couldn't help but be slightly stunned, he didn't expect that the emperor, who had always liked to be lazy, had just finished the meeting.

When the ministers saw Shen Lie, they had a complicated look on their faces, and they all nodded and said hello before passing by. Only Liu Ce, the young master of the crown prince who was quite familiar with him, pulled Shen Lie to the side and talked in a low voice.

Liu Ce smiled and asked, "Lord Shen, since the incident in the East Palace last time, we haven't seen each other for a long time, how are you doing lately?" When such a change happens in the court, the burden on your shoulders is not light. ”

"Serve the emperor, I will not hesitate." Shen Lie also smiled, and then asked the other party curiously, "Lord Liu, now that the crown prince is in charge of the country, Your Majesty has not personally taken care of the government for some time, why is he discussing in the court today?" ”

Liu Ce looked at the ministers who had gone away and patiently explained, "You don't know anything. The crown prince is in charge of the country, mainly in terms of government affairs and people's livelihood. Whatever involves the army is still ruled by the emperor. Especially......" he stretched out his hand and pointed to the west, "especially when it comes to the western frontier, the palace must make up its mind." ”

Shen Lie was surprised and said, "Could it be ...... Is Your Majesty planning to use troops in the western frontier? ”

"Alas, quite the opposite." Liu Ce sighed: "Although most of the courtiers advocate an expedition to the west as soon as possible, they are afraid that if they are delayed for a long time, a situation that will be irretrievable will be formed. But Your Majesty...... Alas, every time this matter is discussed, His Majesty ......"

"That's it...... The dragon body is not safe? Shen Lie frowned.

Liu Ce couldn't help but laugh: "Yes, the dragon body is not safe." ”

Shen Lie was slightly disappointed: "In this way, Your Majesty really does not approve of sending troops to recover Western Xinjiang." Lord Liu, you are an important minister of the imperial court, what do you think about this? ”

"To be honest, I can understand Your Majesty's distress." Liu Ce lowered his voice: "First of all, although we have elite soldiers now, we have no good generals. This is not to say that there are no generals available to the DPRK and China, but that they do not know who they can really trust. ”

Hearing this, Shen Lie nodded silently.

The rebellion in the imperial capital can be hidden from ordinary people, but it can't be hidden from civil and military officials. Now if the emperor and the crown prince are in a state of confrontation. It is difficult for anyone to say, and those generals with heavy troops will not have the mind of "choosing a tree to perch on". If you easily give the tiger talisman, but you trust it to a non-human, I am afraid that you don't have to wait until you are at war with the Turks, and you will be in chaos first.

It can be seen that Xie Guang's actions are extremely harmful to Shengtang.

Liu Ce continued to analyze: "Secondly, Your Majesty is really a little scared. In a battle of Crescent Bay, 120,000 troops were lost, and they were all the elite forces of the dynasty. Looking at the world, except for the three legions of Xuanjia, Qilin and Long Knife, who dares to boast that they are stronger than Fierce Blade and Zhenjiang? However, the Xuanjia long knife is in Xie Guang's hands, and the Qilin wants to defend Gyeonggi, who does Your Majesty dare to send to the Western Xinjiang to feed the Turkic tigers and wolves? ”

"But in the ghost desert of Western Xinjiang, there are still loyal soldiers who stick to the country!" Shen Lie said excitedly.

Liu Ce waved his hand, motioned for him to be quieter, and continued: "I know, you're talking about the Captain Li who guarded Metasequoia City. However, it has been more than half a year since you left Western Xinjiang, how is the situation on their side? Did anyone survive? No one knows about eyeliner. Besides, we can't add thousands more for the sake of those 1,800 people, right? ”

Seeing Shen Lie's silent appearance, Liu Ce knew that he was not angry in his heart, so he took the initiative to change the topic: "By the way, you came to see Your Majesty, is there something important?" Oh, if it's inconvenient to say, then don't tell me. ”

"There's nothing inconvenient to say," Shen Lie said lightly: "The humble post has just received a report from the Ministry of Officials, and the traitor Lao Jianhua has been appointed by the East Palace as the crown prince to wash horses. ”

Liu Ce was slightly surprised: "This ...... Is the message accurate? ”

Shen Lie replied in a deep voice: "The specific situation needs to be further verified, but it should be eight or nine." Lao Jianhua and Xie Guang colluded with each other, and it was not a day or two, and I was not surprised that this situation occurred at the moment. ”

"It's a top priority!" Liu Ce grabbed Shen Lie, turned around and walked towards the main hall, and said hurriedly: "Now Your Majesty is most worried about not the Western Frontier, but His Royal Highness the Prince!" ”

-

In the past six months, under the double pressure of internal and external troubles, Li Chengwu, the Emperor of the Holy Tang Dynasty, has been much older than before. If he hadn't paid attention to maintenance when he was young and laid a good foundation for his body, I'm afraid he would have been unable to hold on.

Among them, the main reason is that I am tired.

The thousands of miles of frontier that the emperors of the past dynasties had worked so hard to lay down were lost in the hands of him, an unscrupulous descendant, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of saint-Tang soldiers were also put into vain. To say that you are not in a hurry is absolutely deceitful.

Whenever in the dead of night, Li Chengwu knelt in front of the spiritual seat of the former emperor's brother many times, secretly crying about the grievances and self-blame in his heart.

He talked to the imperial brother about the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang, about the protection of the capital of Zhenjiang, about Nian Jinsong, about He Jingming, and about all kinds of things, chattering endlessly, and sometimes he could even talk about the whiteness of the East and the dawn of the rooster.

Of course, the one he mentioned the most was the crown prince Li Bing.

As Liu Ce analyzed Shen Lie, if it weren't for Xie Guang's demagogy of Li Bing, who created the imperial capital incident that shook the government and the opposition at a critical moment, and then caused a series of unpredictable situations later, Li Chengwu would definitely not hesitate to gather a large army and send troops to the west. Even if you do your best, you must drive out the Turks and recapture the western frontier.

After all, although he Li Chengwu is a nest, what flows in his body is also the bloodline of the Li royal family. That kind of pride that looks at the world and is fearless is also beating vigorously in the depths of my heart!

It's a pity that God seems to be deliberately testing the Li royal family, so that the crown prince and nephew are suspicious of him at the most undesirable time, and disrupt the pace of the dynasty with Xie Guang. Li Chengwu, the emperor who respected the Holy Religion, always hoped to rejuvenate the country with benevolence and righteousness and rule by doing nothing, but the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind did not stop.

When Li Chengwu listened to Shen Lie's report, his anxiety worsened.

"Shen Qing, tell me carefully, what kind of person is Lao Jianhua?"

Shen Lie's expression was as calm as water, and he said loudly: "Your Majesty, do you remember Lord Qin Zhuqin?" ”

"Qin Zhu? Of course I do. Li Chengwu frowned slightly: "When the first emperor was in power, Qin Aiqing was the head of the Northern Ya Reverse Scale Division, and he was your predecessor." And if I'm not mistaken, Qin Zhu seems to be still your master, right? Why did you mention him? ”

Liu Ce, who was standing next to him, also nodded. He is a veteran of the DPRK, and naturally, like Li Chengwu, he knows the former chief Shi Qinzhu of the Northern Ya Reverse Scale Division.

In Liu Ce's impression, Qin Zhu was a very shrewd and capable person, and was deeply trusted by two generations of emperors.

I only heard Shen Lie continue to speak: "Your Majesty, what you said is right. Lord Qin is not only the predecessor of the minister, but also the master of the minister. From a certain point of view, he is still like Chen's father, like the sea. And Lord Qin was killed by Lao Jianhua! At that time, Lao Jianhua was Qin Zhu's most trusted and relied on deputy. ”

"Oh, I remember!" Li Chengwu glanced at Liu Ce and said in a deep voice: "Lao Jianhua did serve in the Reverse Scale Division, and his position is not low. It's just that after I succeeded to the throne, I didn't put much thought on Beiya, and usually only Qin Zhu came to meet him, and I didn't see that Lao Jianhua much. ”

Liu Ce continued: "At the beginning, the minister also heard about the murder of Lord Qin, but because it involved the Northern Ya, he didn't know about it. Unexpectedly, Lao Jianhua was actually the murderer of the director of the Reverse Scale Division. Lord Shen, do you have any ironclad evidence in your hands? ”

Shen Lie bowed slightly: "Lord Liu, the humble position is ironclad evidence. ”

After that, he faced Li Chengwu, who had a depressed expression, and Liu Ce, who was slightly stunned, and told a sad old story.