Li Xi still has some connections in the imperial capital. Not to mention the court, just in the various high-ranking mansions, many female relatives of the family have a lot to do with her.

Especially in the matter of opposing Wang Li Kui, Princess Fenyang passed the test smoothly and was not implicated in any way, which made everyone relieved and re-engaged with her.

Coupled with the factor of Murong Xue, he is a general who is a close confidant of the imperial front, and he is also the young head of the wealthy Murong family, which makes all the ladies and young ladies deliberately stammer at him, and his reputation is growing.

With the help of this favorable condition, Li Xi not only gathered a group of "red and pink henchmen", but also got closer and closer to Wei Zixuan's wife Xiang's family.

Of course, this is only scratching the surface. Behind the scenes, whether it is Wei Zixuan and his wife, or the seventh princess Li Xi, they all regard each other as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, always be vigilant and pay attention everywhere.

A while ago, Wei Zixuan instructed his servants in the Ministry of Rites to give a note to Emperor Li Bing.

The content of the note is unusual: the canonization of the queen.

The Ministry of Rites proposed that the emperor had been on the throne for a long time, and there were only two imperial concubines in the harem at present, but there was no queen in the main palace, which was not in line with the laws of the imperial court and was not conducive to the stability of the imperial family, so he advised Li Bing to determine a suitable candidate as soon as possible to take charge of the harem.

Urging the emperor to marry a wife should indeed be worried about by the Ministry of Rites. And Shengtang has never had a queen mother, which is related to the emperor's bloodline and the reproduction of heirs, which is also very worthy of attention and worry.

Therefore, as soon as the excerpt from the Ministry of Rites was presented, it quickly received a reply from Li Bing.

Emperor Li Bing meant: Now that the Turks have just been destroyed and the south is not peaceful, all his energy is focused on crusading against rebellion and restoring people's livelihood, and he has no time to worry about personal marriage, choosing a queen, and so on.

This reply was expected by Wei Zixuan and others.

As soon as the emperor's reply came, seven or eight officials were dismissed one after another the next day, and they counted all kinds of shortcomings of not being crowned queens. They talked about the monarchs of the previous dynasty from the three emperors and five emperors, and from the iron law of the royal family to the rise and fall of the society, in a word: your emperor begging for a wife is not your own business, but about the entire Shengtang country!

As soon as this big hat was buttoned over, Li Bing suddenly felt a little unbearable. Helpless, he had no choice but to find a few important ministers and began to discuss the matter of the future.

Regarding the canonization of the queen, there are basically two ideas, one is to choose from the two current imperial concubines, and the other is to re-select outside the palace.

Under Wei Zixuan's advance instruction, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu advocated merging these two paths together and proceeding at the same time.

The reason, of course, is that the best of the best is fair and reasonable.

Li Bing never considered that Wei Zixuan would engage in conspiracy and trickery on this, so after consulting the opinions of several other ministers, he finally made a decision to adopt the method proposed by the Ministry of Rites, and let the imperial family and the imperial court nominate the queen.

As soon as this news came out, the entire imperial capital, and even half of the Saint Tang in the north, were all agitated.

The official eunuch family and the wealthy family, as long as they have unmarried sisters and daughters, are all eager to try.

Queen, mother of the world, this honor can't be cultivated in a few lifetimes, how can you easily miss it?

All of a sudden, officials from the second rank and above and the royal family who are qualified to recommend candidates for the queen have become the objects of various wealthy families, and even Li Xi's mansion is full of visitors all day long.

The sensitive Seventh Princess quickly sniffed out the smell of conspiracy, but she couldn't be sure what the hell Wei Zixuan was doing, so she sent a letter to Li Jiangyao to ask for his opinion.

Li Jiangyao was not interested in this kind of. However, since this involves wasps, it must also be indispensable for Lao Jianhua, so it should still attract enough attention.

Anyway, the matter of fighting was handed over to Wang Wenlie and them, and he was idle, so Li Jiangyao thought it was a change of brain, a rest, and began to analyze the issue of electing a queen.

Since ancient times, the queen has not been just the emperor's wife.

As the phoenix lord of the world, the queen is also a very important political role in a dynasty. In all dynasties, there are many cases of harem interference, the dictatorship of the descendants, and even the queen directly usurped the throne and became the king of a country.

Therefore, the current thing seems to be choosing a wife for Li Bing, but it is actually shaping a strong political faction or supporting a strong political family.

And this is only one aspect, and the other aspect of the problem is more direct: to stir up contradictions and disputes.

Because the queen's status is extremely noble, and the power and benefits she brings are incalculable, she is bound to become the target of fierce competition.

The previous quasi-queen Liu Yanru, who was born in the Wenkui Liu family, was the granddaughter of Zhongshu Ling Liu Shiming. With such a background, even the Ma Hongjie family, which had an army of 500,000 Jingxiang at that time, and the Murong family, which was rich and rivaled, could not be compared, let alone other families who dared to come out to compete with her.

However, it is a pity that Miss Liu died tragically on the way to Luoyi's wedding, causing the position of queen to be vacant.

Now that there is no strong player like the Liu family, everyone will naturally not accept anyone, and they will definitely fight for the queen's throne.

Li Jiangyao thought, will Wei Zixuan take this opportunity to provoke infighting in the court?

It's possible, but it's still a little superficial.

He shook his head slightly. Although creating contradictions and cultivating power can disrupt the situation to a certain extent, for the rebels in Jiangnan, it still cannot solve its fundamental pressure.

Only by hitting the key point of the imperial court can there be a chance to really turn the tables.

So, what is the key point of the imperial court?

Emperor Li Bing? Five legions? Zhenjiang Army? I?

As soon as he thought of himself, Li Jiangyao suddenly became alert:, Wei Zixuan, that guy shouldn't be coming for me, right?

If you want to list the person that Lao Jianhua hates the most, Li Jiangyao will definitely be able to easily enter the top three, or simply the first.

Among the top five, there must be Shen Lie and Murong Xue, and maybe Xu Youchang and Dong Tianxing. These people all have a deep connection with themselves.

Therefore, if he can kill Li Jiangyao, it will not only destroy the relationship between the Zhenjiang Army and the imperial court, but also implicate Shen Lie and them, and even make the entire Western Xinjiang Ghost Desert form a blood feud with Shengtang.

In this case, the north will surely fall back into great chaos, giving the south an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Li Jiangyao stood up from the rattan chair, paced in the handsome tent, and began to seriously consider the question in front of him: Wei Zixuan tried his best to plan the establishment of the queen, how did he have anything to do with me?

Or rather, where will the real breakthrough be?

-

"Regarding the issue of the Governor of the Navy, I think we should be more cautious."

Li Bing hurriedly took a few bites of the already slightly cool dinner, and said to the ministers standing in front of him: "As soon as Li Jiangyao left, he quickly reversed the disadvantage of the navy and won a great victory on Jiangxin Island, which shows that he can do it." At present, the battle situation is tense, and I agree to investigate the killing of Sun Chen and others, but I want to say that Li Jiangyao is replaced...... Who can take his place? ”

Yin Chengyi bowed his hand slightly, and responded: "Your Majesty, the minister has already understood clearly. In the Battle of Jiangxin Island, the actual main general was Yang Li of the Imperial Capital Yanwutang, Li Jiangyao himself was not familiar with the method of water warfare, and he did not personally command the fleet to fight. ”

Li Bing was stunned when he heard this: "Is this true? ”

"Absolutely." Wei Zixuan replied beside him: "Everyone knows that in the battle that day, Li Jiangyao only led his troops to land on Jiangxin Island and raided the fortress, and the battle was still a land battle. The one who sank more than 100 warships of the rebels was Yang Li, the son of Yang Xingtai's capital protector. Before, the ministers and others failed to discover this talent, the crime of dereliction of duty, and asked His Majesty to punish him. ”

"So, Yang Li can fully carry this burden?" Li Bing was still a little hesitant.

Yin Chengyi nodded: "Your Majesty, Yang Li is definitely competent." He is the teacher of the Imperial Capital Yanwutang Sailor Department, and he was born in a family of generals, no matter his ability or background, he is the best candidate for the Naval Governor. ”

Li Bing pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "What about Dong Tianxing?" Why didn't he come? ”

Wei Zixuan responded: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten?" Lord Dong set off yesterday to inspect the eastern state capital and coordinate the fight against the thieves. ”

"Oh yes, I remember." Li Bing patted his forehead lightly: "Alas, the matter of the water army, you should also listen to his opinion." ”

Yin Chengyi sneered and said, "Dong Tianxing? Your Majesty, what else can he say, naturally he is speaking to Li Jiangyao, and it has always been so. ”

Hearing this, Li Bing was slightly stunned, and immediately didn't say anything more.

Tian Mu opened his mouth at this time: "Your Majesty, it is imperative to remove Li Jiangyao. Otherwise, the Reverse Scale Division would not have been able to launch an investigation among the trolls. You should be able to understand the resistance. ”

Li Bing thought about it, and suddenly smiled bitterly: "I can understand, but ...... Such a move of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge is also chilling. Presumably, many people will talk about it behind their backs, saying that our dynasty is changing and changing. ”

Wei Zixuan arched his hand and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, this is a bad word. This incident was completely caused by Li Jiangyao's dictatorship and indiscriminate killing, not your change of order, let alone crossing the river and demolishing the bridge. The law of the imperial court has always been like this, merit is merit, fault is fault, merit must be rewarded, and fault must be punished. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. Just because you have made a small contribution, you can't condone the general's reckless behavior. Tian Muyin said compassionately: "Today he dares to unjustly kill the officials of the court for no reason, and tomorrow he dares to rebel." The Jiangnan rebels are enough, is it possible to raise another evil tiger? ”

This is said very seriously, and it is almost said that Li Jiangyao has a rebellious heart.

Li Bing pondered for a moment, and said cautiously: "In this way, for the time being, don't remove Li Jiangyao from the position of governor of the navy, but promote Yang Li to deputy governor and assume the right to command the navy." An order was issued to summon Li Jiangyao to return to the imperial capital, and the military department, the governor's mansion and the northern government worked together to inquire about the beheading of Sun Chen and others. If he can explain things clearly, he will still let him lead the naval army. ”