After the two prime ministers retired, Li Duan looked at Qin Zheng and said, "Accompany me for a walk." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Qin Zheng bowed his head.

After entering the first month, the weather in Yongjia City warmed up significantly, and there were only a few remote corners of the palace where there were traces of snow.

The two monarchs and ministers came out of the East Warm Pavilion of the Wende Palace, Li Duan did not have a clear destination, and unconsciously walked to the southeast Guanyun Terrace, Qin Zheng followed step by step, and five or six zhang away was a group of groveling palace people.

"It's irritating to me."

Li Duan spoke slowly, although Qin was his most trusted courtier, he rarely expressed his heart so bluntly in front of the other party.

Qin Zheng's eyes were slightly condensed, and he said calmly: "Your Majesty, when the minister heard this rumor, he felt that there was no wind and no waves, and there were many people secretly adding fuel to the fire. Judging from the minister's experience, there should also be a shadow of a spy in the north in this matter, which is more like another move by them in addition to attacking the right minister, with the purpose of sabotaging the northern expedition of our dynasty. It's just that compared with the right minister being attacked, this time things are a little different. ”

"Huh."

Li Duan chuckled expressionlessly, and there was no smile in his eyes: "They don't dare to move the right minister, because they know that I will never agree, but Lu Shen is different, although this young man is very good, after all, he is not a military general promoted by me personally, and he is not close to Huaizhou, Jiangbei." What's more, compared to the they did against the right minister, Lu Shen's life experience is enough to make me feel uneasy. ”

That's the problem.

There are only two answers to the rumors about Lu Shen's life experience, one is that he and Yang Guangyuan have no blood connection, this is purely a rumor made up by someone with a heart. In this case, Li Duan naturally had to quickly cut through the chaos to quell the rumors, and then show his favor to Lu Shen and the soldiers of the border army to encourage the morale of the army.

The second is that the rumors are true.

Standing in Li Duan's position, there is no problem in employing people, but the premise is that this courtier must at least be loyal to the court, even if his loyalty is not so firm, he cannot naturally carry hatred.

If Li Duan continues to promote and reuse Lu Shen, God knows if Lu Shen will fight back in the future because of the revenge of killing his father?

As the Son of Heaven, he had to consider this possibility.

Qin Zheng knew the root cause of the Son of Heaven's boredom, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the reason for the emergence of this rumor is not entirely a rumor made by the north. ”

Li Duan paused, looked at the cloud viewing platform not far ahead, and said in a deep voice: "Go on." ”

"Yes."

Qin Zheng responded and said unhurriedly: "The first time Chen heard the name Lu Shen was Su Yunqing's report in March last year. At that time, with the assistance of Lu Shen, he thwarted the conspiracy of the Pseudo-Yan Prosecutor's Office, and arrested many spies of the Inspectorate in the Guangling Territory. To this day, Chen still remembers Su Yunqing's overflowing admiration at that time, Lu Shen was a piece of jade in his eyes, and he was even willing to use his own merits to change Lu Shen's identity as a doer. ”

Li Duan walked up the first step of the cloud viewing platform, his eyes deep and far-reaching.

Qin Zheng continued: "All kinds of signs proved afterwards that Su Yunqing's vision of people was very accurate, this Lu Shen was like a young eagle flapping its wings and soaring into the sky, standing out from the Battle of Guangling, and then rose to prominence in several battles last year, and the rapid rise was impressive. In fact, the reason why this rumor has a certain degree of credibility is that in the process of Lu Shen's rise, Xiao Wangzhi's help to him is obviously beyond common sense. ”

Li Duan came to the second floor of Guanyuntai, stopped beside the Gangan, raised his hand to press the white jade stone carving, and said: "I was originally a little curious, Xiao Wangzhi's subordinates have a lot of talents, Chen Lanyu, Pei Di, Song Shifei, etc., which one is not a handsome man who fought on the battlefield, not to mention that his own son is also by his side, why would he be so concerned about the son of a businessman?" ”

Qin Zheng sighed softly, many things in this world seem to be traceless, but if you look back on it afterwards, you often feel like it was.

Li Duan stared at the sky high and the clouds were far away, and said lightly: "When Zuo Xiang said these rumors, I immediately thought of my doubts, and then I felt that this rumor was quite credible. If Lu Shen and Yang Guangyuan had nothing to do with him, how could Xiao Wangzhi spare no effort to promote him like this? ”

Generally speaking, when the Son of Heaven publicly uttered such a statement, his inclination was already very evident.

The government needs evidence to handle the case, but this kind of thing that involves the stability of the imperial power does not need evidence, it only lies in the thoughts of the Son of Heaven.

Qin Zheng was silent and did not defend Lu Shen at this time.

Li Duan raised his hand and gently tapped on the stone carving, and asked slowly, "How do you think I should deal with this matter?" ”

Qin Zheng pondered for a moment and replied: "Your Majesty, now that the Northern Expedition is in a critical period, it is not appropriate to make a big move to affect the morale of the army, so the minister thinks that there are two countermeasures. ”

"Come on."

"First, summon Lu Shen and Lu Tong's father and son into Beijing, clarify the original situation of the matter, and then let Lu Shen return to the border army to continue to serve in the military, but Lu Tong must stay in Beijing. The imperial court couldn't treat Lu Tong harshly, it was nothing more than spending more money to raise him in the capital. ”

Li Duan was noncommittal, and asked again, "What about the second?" ”

Qin Zheng said calmly: "The second is to let Lu Shen enter the capital in the name of praising and rewarding the soldiers of the border army, and then leave him in Beijing to be idle. There is no need to deliberately mention the rumors of his life experience, just let him stay in Beijing, and at the same time let the Warp Weaving Department and the relevant ministries of the imperial court slowly investigate the matter. In Chen's opinion, under any circumstances, he could not take overly tough measures against Lu Shen, which would lead to the detachment of the border army and the imperial court. ”

Li Duan felt a little ironed in his heart, not to mention whether Qin Zheng's proposal was reasonable, at least this warp weaver was completely for the sake of the Son of Heaven.

Although there was still a chill in the air, today was a rare sunny day, Li Duan looked at the majestic and solemn imperial city, his eyes kept extending to the north, and suddenly he changed his words and said: "I want to hear your true thoughts, the true thoughts about this rumor." ”

Qin Zheng's expression was the same as before, there was no change, and he lowered his head slightly and said, "I don't believe it." ”

Li Duan turned his head to look at him and asked, "Why?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister just mentioned the story of Lu Shen's fledgling, in fact, he was already nineteen years old at that time."

Qin Zheng is not the first rat to see the wind at both ends, but before he is unsure of the Son of Heaven's intentions, he will never interfere with the judgment of the Son of Heaven, just as he said to Yang Jingxuan before.

Only when the Son of Heaven needs it will he speak his judgment.

Li Duan said puzzledly: "Nineteen years old? What's the mystery about this? ”

Qin Zheng replied: "Your Majesty, Lu Shen has lived in Huaizhou Guangling Mansion for nineteen years, while Xiao Wangzhi has served in the military in Huaizhou for more than eighteen years, and it has been ten years since he took over as the governor of Huaizhou. If Lu Shen was really Yang Guangyuan's widow, why didn't Xiao Wangzhi recruit him into the army to cultivate him slowly? Do you have to wait for him to make a splash in Guangling, and then can't wait to pull out the seedlings to help him? The difference between this, Chen believes that Xiao Wangzhi can definitely discern it, and he can completely promote Lu Shen logically, without leaving such an obvious flaw. ”

Li Duan was slightly stunned, thinking about the logic of Qin Zheng's words, and then asked with interest, "Why didn't you say it before?" ”

Qin Zhengdao: "The minister is inferred out of common sense, but this does not guarantee absolute accuracy. In other words, the minister believed that as long as it was in line with common sense, then he could trust Lu Shen's loyalty to the imperial court. But in His Majesty's opinion, as long as there is a 1 in 10 million possibility of this matter, then it has to be guarded against. For the sake of His Majesty, the minister is willing to take the responsibility of attacking Lu Shen, but for the sake of the overall situation of the Northern Expedition, His Majesty may need to make a risky decision. ”

After Li Duan listened, he fell into a long silence.

The cold and slightly cold wind blew by, and the two monarchs and ministers both looked solemn.

"In the final analysis, I have to choose between killing mistakes rather than letting go and employing people without suspicion."

Li Duan laughed at himself, pressed his left hand tightly on the stone carving, and then said word for word: "The Northern Expedition cannot be stopped." ”

Qin Zheng's heart froze, knowing that the Son of Heaven had already made a decision, he lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty Shengming." ”

"I will help that young man to block this storm, but you must not be careless, and continue to investigate what should be investigated. I have a hunch that although Lu Shen is not Yang Guangyuan's widow, this Guangling Lu family must be inseparable from Yang Dashuai back then. Therefore, I will watch Lu Shen go down step by step and support him to realize the ambition in his chest, but I can't completely pin the country of Daqi on the word trust. ”

Li Duan turned his head to look at Qin Zheng, his tone was low but revealing a bit of imperial majesty: "Do you know what to do?" ”

Qin Zheng bowed and said, "The minister understands that the minister will secretly place people around Lu Shen in case of emergency. ”

Li Duan bowed slightly, said no more, turned around and walked towards the bottom of the cloud viewing platform.

There is no wind and rain in Yongjia City, but in the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival, the discordant sound is becoming more and more obvious.

Therefore, a few days later, the Son of Heaven left the palace with a will, and a group of military and political ministers entered the palace together and gathered in the East Warm Pavilion of the Wende Palace.

Li Duan sat behind the imperial case, his cold eyes swept over the more than ten important ministers in front of him, and his resolute tone echoed in everyone's ears.

"Recently, rumors have been rampant in Beijing, saying that Lu Shen, the commander of the Huaizhou Ruishi Battalion, is Yang Guangyuan's widow, and such absurd remarks can reach my ears, I don't know if the divisions have any intentions! I will now clearly inform you and others that Lu Shen has nothing to do with Yang Guangyuan, and if anyone wants to use such rumors to undermine the morale of the soldiers of the border army, and then destroy the good situation of our Northern Expedition, I will not spare it! ”

As soon as the words came out, the ministers were shocked.

Li Daoyan, the left minister, looked up at the Son of Heaven with a solemn expression, even if the old man had been through wind and rain for a long time, his heart was like iron stone, and he couldn't help but feel a little dazed at this moment.

The Son of Heaven actually trusted that Lu Shen so much, and even disdained this kind of rumor that could threaten the stability of the imperial court, after all, he would definitely not find out what was going on in just two days.

Wrong......

Li Daoyan quickly reacted, this does not mean that the Son of Heaven absolutely trusts Lu Shen, but that there is nothing more important in his heart than the overall situation of the Northern Expedition.

As soon as he thought of this, the old man couldn't help but sigh secretly.

(End of chapter)