Li Zhen's army was stationed about twenty miles south of Liucheng next to a small town called Qimingbao, which was also the only way for Yingzhou to go south to Yuguan, and its geographical location was very important.

After the defeat of the Khitan conspiracy this time, the Khitans were forced to really sue for peace with the Tang army, so the contradictions within the Tang army also needed to be sorted out, each performing its own duties and taking care of its own affairs, but the current situation was just the opposite, Di Renjie, who was in charge of diplomacy and military affairs, participated in the war, while Wu Youyi, who was in charge of the march and the war, negotiated with the Khitans.

This is an unacceptable result for both sides, and they can't explain it to Emperor Wu Zetian, so they need to coordinate and compromise with each other.

Li Zhen only arrived at Qiming Fort yesterday afternoon, and he originally planned to visit Wu Youyi today, but he didn't expect Wu Youyi to take the initiative to come to the door.

"General, please come in"

Li Zhen invited Wu Youyi into the big tent with a smile on his face, and ordered the soldiers to serve tea, Wu Youyi seemed a little preoccupied, and he didn't want to taste the hot tea, he sat for a long time, and then said slowly: "Sun Wanrong sent people to come to the Tang Army to negotiate peace, General Li should know."

"I've heard a little about it, I don't know how to talk about it?" asked Li Zhen with a smile on his face.

Wu Youyi shook his head, "I didn't talk to the Khitan envoy in detail, does General Li know why?"

"If the general is willing to let me know, I will listen"

"Of course I won't hide anything, I told the Khitan envoy the facts, I'm afraid it is not appropriate for me to reach an agreement with the Khitan, I am going to suggest that he go to Yuguan to talk to Di Xiangguo in detail, I wonder if Di Xiangguo is willing to negotiate with the Khitan envoy about the armistice and peace talks?"

Li Zhen understood what Wu Youyi meant, Wu Youyi said very implicitly, in fact, he said that he was willing to give the initiative to peace talks with the Khitan to Di Renjie, but Li Zhen also knew that Wu Youyi would not be so generous, since he proposed to give up peace talks with the Khitan, then he must have conditions.

Li Zhen bowed slightly and smiled: "Di Xiangguo served as the envoy of the Guanjun, and the peace talks between him and the Khitan were indeed smoother, I believe that Di Xiangguo is very willing to accept this challenge, I wonder if I can do something for the general?"

Now that the words of the two sides have been clarified, Wu Youyi is no longer polite, and he also said frankly: "The battle that happened in the White Wolf Valley was Li Qianzhong's attempt to attack my logistics army, but fortunately, General Li Duozuo's counterattack caused Li Qianzhong to suffer a heavy setback, I need to use Li Dianzhong to boost the morale of the Tang army, and I hope that General Li can give Li Dianzhong to me temporarily." ”

This is the condition that Wu Youyi offered, he gave Di Renjie the opportunity to negotiate peace with the Khitan, but asked Li Zhen to hand over the Khitan chieftain Li Quanzhong to him, so that it would become his victory on the battlefield, and it would also wash away his reckless negligence in going north.

After Wu Youyi finished speaking, he looked at Li Zhen very nervously, he knew that he was in an extremely disadvantageous situation, if Di Renjie wrote a report to the Shengshang, the Shengshang would definitely let Di Renjie lead the negotiations, and he Wu Youyi was not qualified to negotiate with the Khitan on behalf of the Tang Dynasty at all.

And the credit for discovering and defeating the Khitans has nothing to do with him, as long as Li Zhen writes the report truthfully, with the shrewdness of the saint, he will definitely know about the problem, so Li Zhen must have something to hide, this is where he Wu Youyi asks Li Zhen.

Li Zhen was silent for a moment, he was actually not uncommon for this merit, he didn't want to turn his face with the Wu family because of this matter, and more importantly, Wu Zetian appointed Wu Youyi as a general, just hoping that the Wu family would make achievements in military merits, if the military merits were snatched away by him Li Zhen, it would only be exchanged for Wu Zetian's hatred of him, which was by no means a wise move.

Before Wu Zetian named him the governor of Pingzhou, he was already hinting to him not to cross the line and let his military merits be given to the Wu family, so even if Wu Youyi didn't come to him, he had to take the initiative to find Wu Youyi, but it seemed that Wu Youyi didn't realize the crux of the problem, which gave Li Zhen the opportunity to bargain.

Li Zhen groaned and said: "I can hand over Li Quanzhong to General Wu, but I also hope that the negotiation between Di Xiangguo and the Khitan will be in Yingzhou, after all, Di Xiangguo is also the assassin of Yingzhou, and he has the obligation to restore order and people's livelihood in Yingzhou, what does General Wu think?"

Li Zhen's condition was not too much, Wu Youyi was relieved, and said with a smile: "Then we will make a decision"

Li Zhen also smiled slightly: "It is indeed a very pleasant thing to work with General Wu. ”

"To each other"

The two of them looked at each other and both laughed tacitly.

At the head of Yuguan City, Li Zhen accompanied Di Renjie to take a slow walk in the moonlight, Di Renjie looked at a round of bright moon with his hands, and couldn't help but feel a little upset in his heart, the war in Liaodong has ended, he will soon return to Luoyang, and re-serve as the prime minister, after more than a year, the court has long been a matter of fact, can he still do something practical for the country and the people as before?

Di Renjie couldn't help but sigh softly, and Li Zhen asked in a low voice on the side, "What is Uncle worried about?"

Di Renjie said worriedly: "The imperial court was originally a seven-phase system, but since the saint got rid of Li Dezhao, it has unknowingly become a five-phase system, Wu Sansi entered the cabinet, Zong Chuke is actually also a Wu clan, Su Wei has no backbone, and will also be attached to the Wu clan, and in the end only I and Lou Shide are left, and they are all old, once we retire, it will inevitably be a new Wu clan faction into the cabinet, the saint is far-sighted, in fact, he wants the Wu clan to gradually grasp the power, plus Wu Youyi led the army to the Northern Expedition, once the military and political power of the Tang Dynasty are controlled by the Wu clan, less than ten years, Datang is about to change. ”

Li Zhen pondered and said, "If Wu San is allowed to give up, does my uncle think that he can turn the situation in the court around?"

"The saint is determined to let the Wu clan take power, and it will not be so easy for Wu Sansi to quit, unless Wu Sansi has done something rebellious, so that the saint is under pressure and has to dismiss Wu Sansi, such an opportunity is difficult to get. ”

"Maybe I can give it a try," Li Zhen smiled slightly.

Di Renjie glanced back at him, and couldn't help laughing, "What the virtuous nephew does is often unexpected, but Wu Sansi was really dismissed, and the saint really couldn't find a suitable Wu clan person for a while, and finally had to use the old man, is there anything the virtuous nephew can do?"

"I haven't thought of a method for the time being, but Wu Sansi has a lot of loopholes, and the eyes and ears of the guards should be able to find out, and I will immediately start implementing this matter after returning to Beijing. ”

Di Renjie nodded, if Wu Sansi was deposed, he would have no constraints, and he could slowly restore the clarity of the imperial court, and he also hoped that Li Zhen could help him fulfill this wish.

There were no surprises in the ensuing negotiations, the Khitan almost completely accepted all the conditions proposed by the Tang army, released all prisoners of war and captured civilians, issued a letter of apology to the Tang Emperor, and the Khitan chieftain held his son hostage in Luoyang, etc.

In late September, Wu Zetian issued an order again, sealing Di Renjie as the prime minister, and appointing the squire under the door, the Pingzhangshi under the Tongzhong Shumen, Na Yan, and the imperial historian of the right Su Zhengtai, giving purple robes and turtle belts, and the news that Di Renjie was reappointed to the Xiangguo made the government and the opposition excited, which means that the imperial court, which has been shrouded in terror, will tend to stabilize.

At the same time, Li Zhen was also relieved of his temporary military position, reinstated as the general of the internal guard, and will follow Di Renjie back to Luoyang.

In early October, after more than two months of traveling to Liaodong, Li Zhen finally returned to Luoyang.

Compared with two months ago, Wu Zetian's mental state is much better, and the worries that linger between his eyebrows have also been swept away by a series of happy events.

The Turks were also coerced by Wang Xiaojie to lead the army, far away from Hexi, and the Turkic Khan Ashnamo sent an envoy to Beijing, expressing his willingness to propose to the Tang Dynasty for the son of the Tang Emperor and for his daughter, and at the same time the Turks returned all the captive Hexi people, in addition, the Turkic envoy also hinted at the Tang Dynasty that he was willing to fight the Khitan with the Tang army under certain circumstances.

But what made Wu Zetian happiest was that the Liaodong problem was solved, and the Khitan died down without causing big trouble, there are many factors here, and the most critical factor is that Li Quanzhong was captured, and the process of Li Quanzhong's capture is vague in Wu Youyi's report, and it is written a little vaguely, which seems to be related to Li Duozuo.

But Wu Zetian learned that the Lu Longjun led by Li Zhen had appeared in Liaodong, but Wu Youyi's report did not mention it at all, which made Wu Zetian have to be suspicious.

At this time, Gao Yanfu appeared at the door of the study, bowed down and saluted: "Your Majesty, the old slave is back"

Wu Zetian turned around and asked, "What did Li Duozuo say?"

"Back to Your Majesty, Li Duozuo didn't say it directly, but Chen Ziang, who joined the army, told the old slave that it was Li Zhen who sent someone to inform Li Duozuo, in fact, it was Li Zhen who discovered the Khitan army first, he cut off the Khitan army's retreat, and captured Li Quanzhong, but in the end he handed Li Dianzhong over to the king of Jian'an. ”

Wu Zetian showed a sneer on his face, and as expected, it was Li Zhen's army that captured Li Qianzhong, and in the end, Wu Youyi snatched the credit, but she didn't say anything, and asked again: "Li Zhen can be in the internal guard office?"

"He should be in now"

"Spread my will and summon Li Zhen to come to the imperial study to see me"

Gao Yanfu hurried to summon Li Zhen into the palace, but Wu Zetian was very uncomfortable in her heart, she felt a deep disappointment, she gave the Wu clan such a good opportunity, but they still couldn't grasp it, which shows the incompetence of the Wu clan, how can such a clansman govern the country?

Wu Zetian paced back and forth in the room with her hands in her hands, thinking about how to deal with this matter, of course she also understood that Li Zhen and Di Renjie did not submit the battle report, they gave this credit to Wu Youyi, it should be that they understood their intentions, but Wu Zetian faintly felt that something was wrong, this kind of attack can only be self-deception, but the army can't hide it, and the army will despise the Wu clan even more.

But if it is otherwise, Wu Youyi's battle report, the Wu clan people will not be able to gain this face in the government and the opposition, which makes Wu Zetian feel very embarrassed.

At this time, a eunuch reported outside the door, "Your Majesty, General Li of the internal guard has arrived, and he is waiting for His Majesty to summon him"

Wu Zetian nodded slightly, "Pass him to Jin"

After a while, Li Zhen walked into the imperial study quickly, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "Weichen see His Majesty the Emperor"

Wu Zetian saw that he was much thinner than last time, and knew that he was going to Liaodong very hard, and his heart was also a little moved, so he smiled and comforted him: "General Li's trip to Liaodong has been hard. ”

"It doesn't matter if Wechen is tired, the key is to complete the task entrusted by His Majesty, and live up to the mission, Wechen himself is deeply pleased. ”

"Well said"

Wu Zetian praised it, and said with a smile: "Escorting Di Xiangguo all the way to the north, I didn't encounter any problems."

Li Zhen groaned, Wu Zetian was so old and spicy, she immediately saw Li Zhen's hesitation, her face gradually sank, and asked, "Could it be that something happened halfway?"

"Wechen didn't dare to hide Your Majesty, we did encounter a night attack by Qingzhou bandits in Qufu, and Wechen deployed first and wiped out this bandit. ”

The bandits from Qingzhou ran to Qufu to attack Di Renjie, which was obviously unreasonable, she immediately guessed the reason, and asked, "Who instructed them?"

Li Zhen shook his head, "They don't know, someone paid a thousand taels of gold to buy Di Xiangguo's head, and entrusted an intermediary to negotiate with them, Wechen later learned that the middleman who negotiated with them was also missing, and he didn't know where to go, and he didn't have any clue about this matter, so Wechen couldn't write a report to His Majesty." ”

Of course, Wu Zetian understood Li Zhen's true intention of not writing a report, and everyone knew in their hearts that there were only a few people who dared to assassinate Di Renjie, and no matter who was found, it would cause turmoil in the imperial court, so Di Renjie kept silent and did not embarrass himself.

Wu Zetian sighed slightly in his heart, and said: "I remember this matter, and I also want to ask you, what happened to the capture of Li Quanzhong?"

Li Zhen knew that this matter could not be hidden from Wu Zetian, the reason why he agreed to cooperate with Wu Youyi was just a gesture, sooner or later Wu Zetian would ask about it, but Li Zhen also had a case in his heart, and he knew very well how he should answer.

"Back to Your Majesty, there are actually some accidental reasons for this matter, Weichen was worried that the Khitans would attack Yuguan, so he sent many soldiers to the north to inspect, and as a result, a patrol team found Li Jinzhong's army, and he was worried that the Tang army would lose, so he led his troops to support, and cooperated with General Li Duozuo tacitly, blocked the Khitan army in the rift, and captured Li Qianzhong alive. ”