Before the official convening of the court meeting, Mu Sheng separately summoned the Taisha envoy Portuchi Kakun, and when he heard that the emperor had summoned him, Portuchi Kakun followed the people of the temple in the palace into the palace to meet the emperor.

When Potuqi Jiakun really saw Emperor Benrao, he was stunned, because he was almost exactly the same as the Immortal Emperor, he had seen the true face of the Lord of Yucheng, but before the court meeting, Mu Sheng was wearing a crown on his head, and he couldn't see the emperor's true face, and Portuqi Jiakun thought in his heart that it might be similar to the Immortal Emperor.

Portucci Kakun stepped forward and said in a hesitant tone: "Foreign minister, I want to meet His Majesty the Emperor, I don't know what His Majesty summoned his ministers to come here today. ”

Mu Sheng saw that he was hesitant and funny, and naturally knew that he was suspecting something.

Mu Sheng said: "What, if you say goodbye to Yucheng, the Duke is okay?" ”

Portucci Kakun's face instantly became extremely exciting, either skeptical or disbelieving, this tone was clearly the tone of the old turtle of the lord of Yucheng.

Portucci Kakun said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, are you the Great Emperor?" This... This...... Impossible, right? This...... How is this possible? When did you become the new king of the Great Jin? ”

Mu Sheng laughed when he heard this: "Why is it impossible? I was originally a disciple of the Great Jin Dynasty, and now I have become the emperor of the Central Plains, what is so strange? ”

Portucci Kakun has mixed feelings in his heart, he understands that the flesh of this old turtle may be the child of the clan of the Great Jin, how can he turn around and ask this old thing to come here, this world is really crazy.

Portucci Kakun stabilized his mind, since they are all old acquaintances who have dealt with him, then forget it, there is no need to detour, and said, "Eh...... You ...... the Emperor"

Mu Sheng waved his hand and said: "Follow the customs of the locals, and when you arrive in the Central Plains, call me Your Majesty." ”

Portucci Kakun bowed slightly: "Your Majesty must have summoned Elder Yucheng, and has also judged the current situation in southern Xinjiang. ”

Mu Sheng said: "I already know the situation in southern Xinjiang, this is different from Yucheng, I have just ascended to the throne, many things have to be discussed with the important ministers of the imperial court to decide, I am looking for you today to communicate with you in advance, and you will personally explain the current situation in southern Xinjiang to the courtiers, and then decide whether to become friends with your country after my court discussion." ”

As soon as he heard it, he understood that the Immortal Emperor had just succeeded to the throne, and his foundation was unstable, so it was impossible to be like a mountain puppet and achieve the level of a true word, but Portucci Kakun still decided to probe the wind and see the true attitude of the Great Emperor Benrao.

Portucci Kakun said, "Then Your Majesty, what do you mean?" ”

Mu Sheng said: "The former clan is bigger, and it is not good for my dynasty, nor is it good for the mountain puppets, the former clan borders on the southern border counties of my dynasty, if you allow it to develop and grow, sooner or later it will become a problem for your henchmen, I still want to be as peaceful as possible in southern Xinjiang, and it will depend on you when the time comes, can you understand?" ”

Portucci Kakun naturally understood as soon as he heard it, this is to make the threat of the former clan more serious, so that the court can reach a consensus as soon as possible and settle the matter as soon as possible, it seems that the emperor is very eager to promote this flattery.

Portucci Kakun thought for a moment and said further tentatively: "Your Majesty, if it is true that the situation in southern Xinjiang is so critical that it is out of control, does Shangbang have any plans to send troops south?" ”

Mu Sheng thought about it, snorted, and said, "When the time comes, it depends on the situation, if it really comes to the point of being out of control, I will definitely not sit idly by." ”

Portucci Kakun secretly scolded the old fox, this is nothing, as for how to sit idly by, you can understand it as sending troops to interfere, or you can understand it as watching the fire from the other side, whether to help or not, it is all in the thought of the monarch and ministers of the Great Jin.

In fact, as long as the behemoth of the Great Jin Dynasty can express the corresponding attitude, it is enough to deter the countries of southern Xinjiang, before the Jin army marched south to hammer Taisha, the former overlord of southern Xinjiang, into what kind of appearance, all the countries of southern Xinjiang are in the eyes, this is the deterrent power of super powers.

After carefully communicating with Taisha's envoys, Mu Sheng signaled Yang Jin to prepare a court meeting to discuss the possibility of courting Taisha.

In the afternoon, Zhangtai Palace, Huo Zheng of the left minister, Wang Yi of the right minister, Gao Zhong of Wei, Zou Dan of Shaofu, Huo Jun of Lang Zhongling and other important ministers, and the representatives of the Chinese ministers of the palace are almost all Huo Zheng's cronies, and Huo Zheng's attitude is the attitude of the courtiers and the attitude of the imperial court.

The military representative is the former general Wucheng Marquis Lu Sheng, the old man Rong Ma has been in his life, this year's sixty seven are considered to have participated in the unification war in the era of Emperor Wu, the only fruit remains, and he is also the military representative with the highest prestige, his eldest son Lu Feng, the right general, is an important commander who guards the border pass, his opinion is the opinion of the military, although he is an old acquaintance with Mu Sheng, Mu Sheng did not dare to deliberately get close to Lu Sheng, so as not to misunderstand Huo Xiangguo, who leaned towards the government and the opposition.

The later general Cheng Pu is a new generation of generals promoted in the era of Emperor Wu, his father and ancestors have participated in the unification war, in his early forties, the Taiji Palace has been in chaos, suppressed the rebellion of the prince, and has been awarded the title of Loyal and Righteous Marquis, which is considered a representative of the military Shaozhuang faction.

Participating in the court discussion today, almost all the core and important ministers of the court were present.

Later, Mu Sheng entered the palace and saw that Portuqi Kakun was also present, so he said first: "Ladies and gentlemen, let Taisha's envoys understand the situation in southern Xinjiang this time, and then we will decide whether to form an alliance with Taisha." ”

Hearing this, Portucci Kakun stepped forward to explain to the ministers the purpose of Taisha's visit and the current situation in southern Xinjiang, and only after making a generous statement did he withdraw from the main hall. The rest of the matter is that it is time for the internal decision-making level of the Great Jin Dynasty to start the discussion in the court, and it is a little inappropriate for him to be present in the presence of an outsider Taisha envoy.

As soon as Portucci Kakun left the scene, Gao Zhong and others at the court meeting subconsciously glanced at Huo Xiangguo to see what the real principal said about this matter, and then everyone was following up.

Seeing this, Huo Zheng coughed lightly and said: "Colleagues, since it is a court discussion, you should express your opinions and state your interests, if it is a loyal word, Your Majesty will adopt it." With that, he kicked the ball back again.

Seeing that Huo Zheng did not express his position, the ministers also stepped forward to express their opinions, and Shaofu Zou Shan stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers think that our dynasty can form an alliance with Taisha, Taisha's attitude is humble, and the face is enough, and Taisha is still a strong country in southern Xinjiang, and now we have an alliance with it in the situation of southern Xinjiang, and the advantages of forming an alliance with our dynasty outweigh the disadvantages......

Lang Zhong ordered Huo Jun to step forward and said: "Lord Zou's words are open to discussion, the minister thinks that our dynasty doesn't have to care about the affairs of southern Xinjiang, it's just a bunch of barbarians, they are willing to fight around, that's their business, let's not easily wade into the water." ”

Zou and Huo Errao's views basically represent the opinions of the ministers of the two factions, accept the alliance, the court will look good, and its influence on the southern Xinjiang region will be significantly enhanced, and they will have to bear obligations accordingly, and they will have to spend money and food to send troops to help.

If you don't accept the alliance, it's basically just sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, go with them, and it has nothing to do with you what you do, you don't have to take responsibility, take one step at a time.

Mu Sheng saw that the right prime minister Wang Yi didn't say a word, and he also knew that he was in an embarrassing situation now, and his real power was deprived by the left prime minister Huo Zheng, that is, he was a nominal prime minister, but he still asked: "What advice does Wang Xiangguo have?" ”

Wang Yi didn't expect the emperor to suddenly ask him what his opinion was, so he had to reply stiffly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the words of Lord Huo and Lord Zou are both meritorious, the art of war, the soldiers who surrender without a fight, and the good people, our dynasty can neither sit back and watch the situation in southern Xinjiang deteriorate, nor can it involve too much ......."

Wang Yi was halfway through, basically not expressing his position, and Mu Sheng also understood his mentality of only seeking self-preservation now, so he didn't ask.

Huo Zheng listened to the opinions of the two factions, but still did not express his position, and turned his head to the former general Lu Sheng and asked: "General Lu has been passing through Lingnan in the past and has an in-depth understanding of the countries in southern Xinjiang, what does the old general think about this?" ”

Former general Lu Sheng heard this: "The old man thinks that the former tribe borders on our southern border county, and the former tribe is warlike, if we completely let it grow, I am afraid that it will become a problem to raise tigers. ”

Lu Sheng's views basically represented the views of the military, and Cheng Pu, the general of the Marquis of Zhongyi, also stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the minister seconded the proposal." He also agreed with Lu Sheng's opinion.

Huo Zheng, the prime minister of Zuo, listened to the opinions of all parties, and then turned his head to the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it is not appropriate for our dynasty to form an alliance with Taisha, but the corresponding support must be there, our dynasty and Taisha are thousands of miles away, and the territory is not bordered, and the minister has a strategy, our dynasty and the mountain puppet have already formed an alliance first, and the king of Zhennan has also accepted the canonization of our dynasty, and the minister thinks that he should do his best to support the armed mountain puppet, and the court will contribute money and materials, so that the mountain puppet can help stabilize the situation in southern Xinjiang, which is equivalent to supporting Taisha in disguise, Of course, the imperial court still had to send envoys to the former tribe to sternly warn them not to stir up trouble again. ”

Huo Zheng said that, his henchmen Gao Zhong and Lang Zhong ordered Huo Jun and others to come forward to second.

Mu Sheng listened, and calculated in his heart, this relatively compromise strategy is also feasible, which is equivalent to borrowing strength, even if the situation is deteriorating, it is a big deal to fight a proxy war, and Dajin does not necessarily have to interfere in person, in fact, what he is exercising is the strategy of using razing to defeat raze.

Mu Sheng saw that the basic ideas of the important ministers of the court were supportive, but they didn't necessarily have to form an alliance, so he simply agreed: "Huo Xiangguo's advice is loyal to the country, which is very in line with my intentions. ”

Mu Sheng also knew very well in his heart that Huo Zheng's last speech was the attitude of the imperial court, and he could only agree, this is the consequence of a very normal succession, if it was the former prince Bai Shunli who succeeded him, he would not face such an embarrassing situation, even if An Guojun's son Xiu succeeded smoothly, he would not be so passive.

The two of them are not only upright and young, but also have the support of forces behind them, and the first emperor has also cultivated a ruling team for them early, and there will not be a situation where no one can command after Mu Sheng came to power, and whoever helps you up has to listen to whom, which may be the real reason why Huo Zheng supported him to take the throne in the first place.

After the ministers retreated, there was a person behind the palace, it was Wu Xie, who had been listening to the discussion of the ministers in the back.

After seeing Wu Xie take his seat, Mu Sheng asked, "What do you think about the opinions of the ministers?" ”

Wu Xie said: "Your Majesty must be inclined to flatter Taisha?" ”

Mu Sheng sighed and said: "Well, the best strategy is indeed to form an alliance with Taisha, what General Lu said, distant friendship and close attack are very agreeable, but what!" ”

Wu Xie naturally knew why the emperor sighed, he had no name, no power, and he had to listen to Prime Minister Zuo for everything.

Wu Xie said: "Your Majesty, Huo Xiangguo is acting like this, not only for state affairs, but also for a deeper level. ”

Mu Shengqi said: "Oh? Sir, but it doesn't matter. ”

Wu Xie said: "Huo Xiangguo's policy is not the best for the imperial court, but it is indeed a good policy for Huo Xiangguo and the supporters behind him, if I form an alliance with Taisha, in case the situation in southern Xinjiang deteriorates, the imperial court may move troops south again, which is equivalent to giving the generals led by Lu Sheng the opportunity to make meritorious contributions and be rewarded again, and their right to speak will naturally be more important in the imperial court, which Huo Xiangguo does not want to see, Huo Xiangguo's basic strategy for the generals is to both win over and suppress." ”

Mu Sheng bowed his head slightly and said, "What Mr. said is extremely true. ”

Mu Sheng had no choice but to accept this strategy, the state is not an actor who can make decisions completely according to his own wishes, the state is an actor who combines countless interest groups.

Since there are interest groups within the country, the leader of the interest group in power does not care most about the highest interests of the country, but about safeguarding the interests of the group to which he belongs as the highest criterion, followed by the interests of the country.

This leads to the fact that many country-level decision-making is not the highest embodiment of national interests, but a compromise result of various domestic interest groups and public demands compromised with each other.