"Murong, pay attention to your identity!" Li Bing, who was on the throne, had a calm face, but his tone was slightly stern: "Above the court, just talk about things, don't be disrespectful." ”

Murong Xue arched her hand helplessly, and said in a deep voice: "The minister was just excited for a while, and I ask Your Majesty for forgiveness." However, what Tian Mu said was ambiguous and imaginary, and there was no lack of suspicion that the enemy deliberately manipulated and sowed discord. ”

"Oh? Is General Murong so sure? Tian Mu sneered: "Isn't it a fact that Tanli fled back to the Turks from under the noses of the Zhenjiang army?" Is it not true that the imperial capital was burned to the ground? Li Jiangyao's meeting with Ashina Zhijin was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people, could it be that I made it up blindly? ”

Murong Xue glared at Tian Mu: "What can these things mean?" Persuasion to surrender before the battle is originally a situation that is often encountered in battle, you go and ask, which person who led the troops to fight has not had the same experience? Li Jiangyao let Tanli and them go, obviously to divide the enemy, shake the hearts of the Turkic army, and lay the foundation for the decisive battle in the future. As for the burning of Ashina Jin and the emperor, it just proves that the Turkic Khan is stubborn and crazy, what does this have to do with the Zhenjiang army? ”

Wei Zixuan said on the side: "What the general said makes sense. But the question is, why didn't Li Jiangyao consult with the imperial court in advance? Even if it's too late, then why don't you explain it to us afterwards? Does he still have His Majesty in his eyes? ”

This hat was buttoned up, and it was directly related to Emperor Li Bing, Murong Xue was afraid that she would not be able to handle it well and fall into passivity, so she did not easily refute it for a while. Seeing this, Dong Tianxing said quietly: "Lord Wei, there is something I want to ask for advice from the lower officials. ”

Wei Zixuan glanced at Lao Dong and snorted, "Dare to ask Dong Shilang what he has to teach him?" ”

Dong Tianxing smiled: "Your Excellency has always been in charge of the treasury and assets, may I ask, since you took office, have you allocated a tael of silver and a grain of rice to the Zhenjiang Army?" ”

Wei Zixuan sneered: "You are asking knowingly. We are separated from the Western Army by the Turks, how can we allocate military supplies, food and grass? According to your will, if I don't give him money, he can disown His Majesty? ”

"Lord Wei misunderstood, Xia Guan didn't mean that." Dong Tianxing said unhurriedly: "What I want to express is that since Lord Wei, you have sufficient and reliable reasons to explain why you have not given a single money or food to the Zhenjiang Army, which is also part of the Saint Tang Army, for so many years, and everyone can understand and accept such a statement. So, why can't the Zhenjiang Army explain its difficulties such as fighting alone and poor information, but instead you say that it is a ruler? ”

Wei Zixuan was stunned, he didn't expect the other party to refute him from this angle. Dong Tianxing didn't wait for him to respond, turned to Li Bing and said, "Your Majesty, whether a person is at fault or not, whether he is worthy of the country and the imperial court, the most important thing is to see what kind of result he comes up with." If Li Jiangyao and the Zhenjiang army were disloyal to the emperor and the Shengtang, would they fight desperately and annihilate the main Turkic force? On the occasion of this great victory, the whole world is praising His Majesty's wisdom and martial arts, but if you don't reward those soldiers who have made meritorious deeds as soon as possible, but talk about their so-called mistakes first, then how will the people inside and outside the government and the opposition and the people of Li think of you and the court? ”

Lao Dong's words are quite lethal, and the logic behind them is also very clear: the heroes with great achievements did not receive any rewards, but were punished for their crimes, doesn't it seem that you are a faint king?

Li Bing snorted angrily: "I have never said that I will not reward those meritorious soldiers, so don't talk about it." The question now is how to make sense of the reward. ”

Now that the emperor has set the tone, Wei Zixuan hurriedly saw the wind and steered: "What Your Majesty said is very true. When the minister mentioned Li Jiangyao's mistakes, he did not want to be held accountable immediately, but he had some different ideas about General Murong's suggestions. The minister thought that whether he was knighted or promoted to the Pillar Kingdom, it was a bit excessive. ”

"And what do you mean?" Murong Xue snorted coldly: "How should I be rewarded to be worthy of Li Jiangyao's military exploits?" ”

Wei Zixuan smiled and looked at Wang Bo, the secretary of the Ministry of War: "The Ministry of War has a meritorious department, and everything must naturally be done according to the rules of the law." ”

Wang Bo belonged to the neutral faction, he didn't want to offend the court forces of Wei Zixuan's family, nor did he want to easily anger military bigwigs like Murong Xue and Li Jiangyao, so he hurriedly responded: "Lord Wei doesn't know anything. The Ministry of War's Meritorious Service Examination Department usually only checks and evaluates the annual achievements of ordinary military attaches below the fourth grade, and rarely involves the reward and comparison of senior generals. This matter has to be decided by the officials. ”

When Luo Fangju, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, heard this, he also hurriedly pushed out: "Although our Ministry of Officials is in charge of the power of rewards and punishments, it is also only for ordinary officials. A general like Li Jiangyao who commanded the army...... Well, who am I qualified to speak? ”

Although Luo Fangju is obviously prevaricating, he is also telling the truth, since the founding of the Holy Tang Dynasty to the present, from the personnel power of officials above the third grade, it has always been in the hands of the emperor himself, and the officials are just decorations, just a mouthpiece.

Li Bing sighed depressedly and looked at Shang Shuling and Zhongshu Ling: "You are all elders of the Three Dynasties, tell me your opinions, so that I can refer to them." ”

Zhongshu made Liu Shiming groan for a while, and said tremblingly: "According to the old minister's view, how about sealing General Yunlu, rewarding 100 gold, and giving 800 hectares of good land?" ”

His "how" is asking Shang Shuling Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian frowned and thought about it, and said with some hesitation: "General Yunlu is a fictitious title from the third grade, and this seal is equivalent to not being sealed." As for the one hundred taels of gold and eight hundred acres of fertile land that you just mentioned...... Tsk, can he look at that General Li? ”

Does this need to be asked? Of course not!

The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were thinking at the same time: Li Jiangyao had hundreds of thousands of heavy troops, and the entire ghost desert in Western Xinjiang respected him as the holy king, and now he personally conquered Guanzhong and the northwest. Eight hundred hectares? Eight thousand hectares is not uncommon!

You're going to ask for food?

Liu Shiming squinted his eyes and nodded slightly: "Well, what you said makes sense, it's really not easy to do, it's not easy to do." ”

Li Bing saw that the two old foxes deliberately pretended to be confused with him and played Tai Chi, and he was also quite helpless, and couldn't help but say in a deep voice: "The reward is not much, and there is no problem that cannot be looked at." Even if I award him with just a few words, it will be a great blessing! ”

Liu Shiming and Zhang Jian responded at the same time, "What Your Majesty said is very true", and then they didn't speak, which means: You can do it yourself.

Seeing that the emperor's face was not good, Wei Zixuan smiled faintly and said loudly: "Your Majesty, since all the adults feel that it is difficult to handle, the minister has an idea. ”

"Oh? Tell me about it. ”

"The minister believes that rewarding official positions is not as good as rewarding status, and knighthood is not as good as rewarding the imperial family." Wei Zixuan said unhurriedly: "Since General Murong and Dong Shilang both feel that Li Jiangyao has made great contributions and is also quite popular among the people, it is better to raise him higher and kill two birds with one stone." ”

Li Bing was a little curious: "Rewarding identity? Crowned emperor? What do you mean? ”

Wei Zixuan said: "There are eleven princes and seven princesses under the knee of the first emperor. Among them, the seven princesses are the youngest and the most loved by the first emperor, and have never been married. might as well give Li Jiangyao as a horse to welcome the seven princesses. In this way, if this great hero can become a member of the royal family, won't he have his identity and face? ”

Hearing this, Murong Xue and Dong Tianxing couldn't help but move in their hearts, and at the same time secretly scolded Wei Zixuan for being insidious and ruthless.

The seventh princess Li Xi, that is, the princess of Fenyang of the Holy Tang Dynasty, is indeed the favorite daughter of the first emperor Li Chengwu, as Wei Zixuan said. However, there is another big problem in this: Li Xi and Li Kui, the king of Huaiyang, are brothers and sisters of the same mother, both born to the former queen Hengzhi Niangniang, and the relationship between the two is much closer than that of other descendants of the first emperor.

Right now, Princess Fenyang's eldest brother rebelled and fought to the death with the emperor, her situation was already very bad, and now she has to marry Li Jiangyao, which is simply chaos!

Li Bing was also a little hesitant about this: "This ...... Is it appropriate? ”

Wei Zixuan said loudly: "Your Majesty, there is nothing more suitable than this. Li Jiangyao is young and his position is already extremely high. If you want to add officials to the rank of knight and extremely popular minister, once you make new contributions in the future, the court will have no room to reward you. On the other hand, if he is qualified to welcome Her Royal Highness the princess because of his outstanding military achievements, and become a relative of the emperor and the emperor, it will be the best result for himself, the government and the opposition, the people, and the Zhenjiang army. ”

"What you say is indeed very reasonable, but ......" Li Bing hesitated: "Ximei and the anti-king Li Kui ......"

"That's even more fine." Wei Zixuan said with a smile: "Your Majesty said before that King Huaiyang is the King of Huaiyang, Princess Fenyang is Princess Fenyang, and if a brother makes a mistake, he should not affect his innocent sister." And the seventh princess also made it clear that she was willing to obey the edict of the first emperor, serve you as the emperor, and sever relations with the anti-king Li Kui. Isn't your marriage to her a sign of trust and affection for her? ”

Murong Xue knew that Wei Zixuan was deliberately making things bad, so she hurriedly objected: "Your Majesty, this idea is not appropriate. Li Jiangyao already has a wife, how can he still be a princess? ”

Who knows, it's good that he didn't mention this matter, but when he mentioned that Li Jiangyao had a wife, Li Bing suddenly remembered Xiahou Ninghan, and couldn't help but be jealous.

Li Bing secretly calculated in his heart: Although Wei Zixuan was clearly provoking trouble, this plan did have its own merits. Giving Fenyang Xu to Li Jiangyao not only solves the problem that there is no reward now, but also adds a lot of troubles to Li Jiangyao. Anyway, this guy will never surrender to me, and I don't have to care about making peace with him in the future!

Thinking of this, Li Bing raised his hand to stop Murong Xue and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter whether Li Jiangyao marries a wife or not. It is important that I have the attitude of rewarding him. There is no lack of similar precedents in the previous dynasties, and it is not impossible for the meritorious ministers to be princesses and county lords, and to honor the venerable, and turn the main room into a flat wife. And the son of the flat wife is still the heir, and the family is still happy. ”