An ordinary carriage slowly approached the Imperial City Square, followed by six guards holding waist swords and six warp weavers in black robes.

Lu Shizhou, the young eunuch of the Inner Servant Province, waited outside the Hening Gate with a few small yellow gates, and when he saw the carriage, he stepped forward, and waited for the young man with a handsome face to get out of the carriage, bowed slightly and said, "Captain Lu." ”

Lu Shen raised his eyes and saw that he was tall and resolute, which was completely different from the stereotyped eunuch palace man who was feminine and cunning, so he returned the salute: "I've seen Young Eunuch Lu." ”

Lu Shizhou smiled and said, "Your Majesty is waiting in the Rende Palace, Captain Lu, please come with me." ”

Lu Shen's heart moved slightly, now he has a better understanding of the situation in the palace, and the Son of Heaven usually chooses to summon ministers in the Wende Palace, which is also the place where the Son of Heaven deals with court affairs every day.

The Rende Hall is close to the harem and is a temporary resting place for the Son of Heaven during the day, which is equivalent to a sleeping palace in a sense. The Son of Heaven summoning his courtiers here was undoubtedly a sign of great trust, and usually only the prime minister or a few high-ranking figures in the Privy Council could enjoy such treatment.

Lu Shen showed just the right amount of flattery, and then followed Lu Shizhou into the palace, and the Lu family's guards and warp weaver swordsmen remained outside the palace.

Nothing to say all the way.

When he arrived at the Rende Palace, Lu Shizhou said in a low voice: "During this time, because of the case of Lu Duwei's attack, Your Majesty has been angry several times, and Gao Shangshu of the Criminal Department and Lord Zhao of Dali Temple have been reprimanded a lot. His Majesty was very concerned about Captain Lu's injuries, and would ask for details every day, and a few days ago he was quite happy to hear that Captain Lu had woken up safely. If it weren't for the fact that Lu Duwei needed to recuperate, His Majesty would definitely summon Lu Duwei into the palace as soon as possible. ”

Lu Shen understood the intention of these words, and couldn't help but admire: "Your Majesty, you can't bear it. ”

Seeing this, Lu Shizhou said a little kindly: "Your Majesty has high hopes for Captain Lu, and I only hope that Captain Lu can understand Your Majesty's painstaking efforts. ”

Lu Shen bowed his head and said, "Thank you Young Eunuch Lu for mentioning it." ”

A silver ticket with a large denomination was quietly stuffed into Lu Shizhou's sleeve.

Lu Shizhou, as a young eunuch of the Inner Servant Province, belonged to one of the highest-ranking eunuchs in the palace, and he was extremely knowledgeable, of course, he would not be shaken by a silver ticket, but he smiled slightly at the moment and said gently: "Xie Du Wei reward." ”

"Don't dare."

Lu Shen lowered his head slightly.

The two tacitly agreed and said no more.

Lu Shen walked into the Rende Palace, turned the picturesque screen, and saw the Son of Heaven standing next to a huge map with his hands in his hands.

Li Duan turned his head, looked at Lu Shen from top to bottom for a while, and asked with a smile: "I heard from the imperial doctor that your injuries healed quickly, and now it seems that you should be very well?" ”

Lu Shen came closer, saluted meticulously, and said solemnly: "The minister is very good, Your Majesty Xie is so concerned." ”

For the king in front of him who continued the Great Qi Kingdom, Lu Shen's impression in his heart gradually improved.

Before entering Beijing, he had a vague judgment of the Son of Heaven through the narration of Xiao Wangzhi, Li Tianrun and his father, which was roughly between the king of Shoucheng and the pioneering spirit. Putting aside these trade-offs in the big framework, whether it is Xiao Wangzhi or Li Tianrun, they all recognize the character of the Son of Heaven.

After witnessing this period of time, Lu Shen gradually understood that it was not easy for the Son of Heaven, especially the other party did not hesitate to expose all his hole cards in the face of the opposition of most important ministers, just to fulfill the promise to the border army generals, no wonder Li Tianrun was loyal to him.

As for the Son of Heaven's respect and reward for him, although a large part of the reason was due to the Son of Heaven's reliance on the two border governors, as well as the consideration of Limu Jianxin and the daughter to buy horse bones, it was a fact that Lu Shen finally got great benefits.

Based on various considerations, Lu Shen's statement in front of the Son of Heaven at this moment seemed very sincere.

Li Duancheng dealt with the old foxes in the court for a few days, and naturally he could see this young man's thoughts, and his expression became more and more gentle, and said: "I summoned you to the palace today, one is to see how you are recovering, and the other is that there are some things I want to hear your opinions face to face. ”

Living in Li's house these days, Li Bingxue doesn't allow him to think too much, but Lu Shen already has a preliminary judgment on the assassination case, and when he hears the words of the Son of Heaven at this moment, he has a plan in his heart.

However, Li Duan's next words made Lu Shen slightly surprised: "Do you know the Seven Divisions of Shazhou?" ”

Lu Shen looked up, the Son of Heaven's gaze was calm and a little deep, he moved his gaze to the side, and noticed that this huge map almost included all the forces in the world.

Northern Yan and Southern Qi are bounded by the Hengjiang River, but now the Southern Qi also has a part of the territory on the north bank of the Hengjiang River, that is, the first part of Jingzhou, the seven cities of Jiangbei and the whole territory of Huaizhou, and these territories are connected by three ancient roads on the southern line of the Shuangfeng Mountains.

On the south bank of the upper reaches of the Hengjiang River, there are Daozhou and Chengzhou in the west of Qi State, of which Chengzhou borders Shazhou to the west.

According to the concept of Lu Shen's previous life, the seven tribes of Shazhou were similar to the self-contained Tusi tribe, which was under the jurisdiction of Daqi before the Yuanjia Change, and was extremely loyal to Daqi for some historical reasons. However, after the accident that year, 8,000 native soldiers from the seven divisions of Shazhou died in Yanziling, north of Luocheng, and since then they have regarded Daqi as a feud, and have often attacked the border of Chengdu for more than ten years.

The Son of Heaven's question was very brief, but there were too many grievances involved, Lu Shen thought for a while and replied: "Your Majesty, in the humble opinion of the ministers, the seven departments of Shazhou should be appeased. ”

Li Duan bowed slightly, and then said with a complicated expression: "I don't shy away from it, because of some wrong things that the first emperor did at the beginning, so that the Seven Divisions of Shazhou and the Great Qi separated from Germany, and they lost a powerful boost. However, what I want to tell you today is not about the past entanglements, but to tell you another thing, the geographical location of Shazhou Qibu is far more important than you think. ”

Lu Shen was stunned.

He looked at the territory belonging to the Shazhou Seven Divisions on the giant map, and gradually had a trace of realization in his heart, and said slowly: "Your Majesty is saying that the Shazhou Seven Divisions control another passage for the northern army to go south?" ”

Li Duan said approvingly: "That's right. Pseudo Yan has always set his sights on Jing and Huai, because these two places control the main road to the south, but this does not mean that there is no way to go otherwise. At the source of the upper reaches of the Hengjiang River, there is a Yunling ancient road that can be passed by the army, if the puppet Yan army goes south from this road, it can go directly to the territory of the seven divisions of Shazhou, and then invade Chengzhou in the east. ”

Lu Shen didn't ask in a hurry, because this incident had never happened, so he knew that there must be strong resistance in it, otherwise there would be no need for Beiyan and Jing Chao to stumble Jingzhou and Huaizhou.

After a moment of silence, Lu Shen said tentatively: "Your Majesty's intention, although the Seven Divisions of Shazhou are enemies of Great Qi, they will not be vassals of Pseudo-Yan or even the Jing Dynasty?" ”

Li Duan said: "Yes." There is a bird pass at the south end of the Yunling ancient road, which means that the birds cannot be crossed, and this dangerous pass is guarded by the Yutong Department of the seven departments of Shazhou. You have seen Panlong Pass and Yongquan Pass in the north of Huaizhou, and you should know that these passes are easy to defend and difficult to attack, but compared with Flying Bird Pass, these passes in Huaizhou are like smooth roads. The Yunling Ancient Road is in the middle of the lofty mountains, and the Flying Bird Pass is built between two thousand high mountains, the width is less than five zhang, and the south slope is gentle, but the north is extremely steep. ”

He made a gesture to describe the slope of the north side of Flying Bird Pass, Lu Shen couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this slope is close to sixty or seventy degrees, if Yan Jing's army wants to attack from the north, unless all their soldiers can fly against the wind.

"If the Bird Pass is not opened for a day, it will be impossible for the Northern Army to pass through here. The seven tribes of Shazhou hated Daqi, and they would not be vassals of Yan Jing, because it was the iron cavalry of the Jing Dynasty that besieged and killed 8,000 native soldiers. Based on the mistakes of the past, and the attitude of the Shazhou Seventh Department towards the Yanjing Second Dynasty now, I often told the Chengzhou Governor's Mansion to make appropriate concessions to the Shazhou Seventh Division, mainly to appease and convince them, even though the Shazhou Seventh Division would send troops to attack the Chengdu border every year. ”

Li Duan's words were earnest, but also a little helpless.

Lu Shen had gradually forgotten his purpose for entering the palace at this moment, originally thinking that the Son of Heaven wanted to discuss the details of the assassination with him, but he didn't expect that he would suddenly turn to this unfamiliar topic.

While Lu Shen was thinking, Li Duan threw out a slightly sharp question: "If you were the governor of Chengzhou, what would you choose to do in the face of the actions of the seven tribes of Shazhou to attack and kill the people under your rule?" ”

This is a dilemma.

Daqi lived up to the Shazhou Seven Divisions first, and pinned his hopes on the other party to continue to hold on to the Flying Bird Pass, so as not to give Beiyan and Jing Chao an opportunity to take advantage of. In this situation, no matter how strong the general is, he can only pinch his nose and endure the attack of the other party, but how innocent are the border people?

Facing the profound gaze of the Son of Heaven, Lu Shen said slowly: "Your Majesty, the ministers will find a way to resolve the past grudges. ”

"How?"

"I don't know."

Li Duanduan looked at him steadily, and this answer was slightly unexpected to him.

For some courtiers, I am afraid that at this time, they will be eager to talk about it, such as the army to sweep away the seven departments of Shazhou, and incorporate the Flying Bird Pass between the mountains into the territory, so that they can be safe and worry-free.

Lu Shen said calmly: "The seven tribes of Shazhou have lived there for generations, they are extremely familiar with the terrain, and they are good at fighting in that complex environment. If we want to conquer by force, I am afraid that we must put into it all the more than 200,000 border troops in Jingzhou and Huaizhou, otherwise we will inevitably not be able to achieve results. ”

Li Duan said: "But if you do this, the Hengjiang defense line will be like a fictitious one, and the gains outweigh the losses." ”

Lu Shen pondered and said, "What Your Majesty said is extremely true. The minister lacks enough information now, and he can't talk about an in-depth understanding of the seven departments of Shazhou, but the minister has some immature ideas. The living environment of the Seven Divisions of Shazhou was relatively harsh, and the Yuanjia Revolution had the protection and reward of the Great Qi Imperial Court before, which was also the reason why they were so loyal, but now it is obvious that they cannot recover as before. If we can improve their living environment and take advantage of the contradictions and conflicts between the seven tribes to divide the forces, it may be a way to try. ”

Li Duan was noncommittal after listening to it, and suddenly let out a hearty laugh.

Lu Shen was slightly puzzled.

He didn't think his idea was so strange, so many smart people in the court must have thought of this, and this method may not solve the fundamental problem, the hatred of the Shazhou Seven Divisions for Daqi came from the 8,000 native soldiers who died in the north of Heluo City.

The blood feud of 8,000 human lives, how can the words gold and silver be easily resolved?

At the same time, he became more and more curious about the mind of the Son of Heaven.

At this point, the summons had completely deviated from Lu Shen's expectations, and the Son of Heaven did not even mention the assassination case at all, but instead pulled him to talk about something that seemed irrelevant.

Don't...... The Son of Heaven wants to send him to the Chengzhou Governor's Mansion to solve the seven departments of Shazhou that have plagued the Great Qi Imperial Court for more than ten years?

(End of chapter)