Lu Shen knew very well in his heart that Li Duan was not testing him by asking that question in person, but a kind reminder.

The relationship between him and Li Bingxue is innocent, but whether it is his assassination and injury in Xiliu Lane the year before last, Li Bingxue's direct move to take him to Li's house to recuperate, or the almost inseparable relationship between the two after Lei Ze's victory, it is inevitable that they will mumble a few words in the eyes of outsiders.

Although the Warp Weaving Division is not yet pervasive, Lu Shen is a young courtier that the Son of Heaven pays great attention to, and Qin Zheng will inevitably devote some of his energy to him, and it is impossible to ignore the details of his relationship with Li Bingxue.

Li Duan made this matter clear because he wanted to tell Lu Shen that there were some boundaries that could not be crossed.

He can accept that Xiao Wangzhi spared no effort to support Lu Shen because of Lu Tong's kindness back then.

Putting aside his guilt towards Yang Guangyuan as the son of the first emperor, the most important thing is that Lu Shen is competitive enough, otherwise no matter how much Xiao Wangzhi bothered, it would be useless.

This process and result are beneficial to Xiao Wangzhi, Lu Shen himself, and the Great Qi court.

However, as an emperor who was difficult to power, Li Duan could not accept that Lu Shen had become Li Tianrun's son-in-law under the premise of having Xiao Wangzhi's support.

This young man had already shown his talent in military affairs, and if he could still develop his power across the two most powerful border military capitals, he would not need to be advised and reminded by the court, and Li Duan would not be able to sleep soundly.

Lu Shen figured out these questions in a very short period of time, so he resolutely and neatly denied them.

He did not naively regard the Son of Heaven as an elder, and said what Li Bingxue liked him but had to give up because of reality.

It was precisely because he saw through the thoughts of the Son of Heaven that he dared to shout the words "bastard" on such an occasion as Wende Palace.

Probably yes, with a clear conscience, it is justifiable.

Hearing the ridicule of the Son of Heaven, Lu Shen said angrily: "Your Majesty forgives your sins, but the minister has lost his words." This rumor maliciously slanders the innocence of the minister and Li Duwei, and may even want to provoke the relationship between the border army generals, and his heart can be punished! Your Majesty, whoever is talking nonsense in front of you, the minister advises to investigate the matter thoroughly! ”

Li Duan didn't expect this young courtier to be so stubborn, at this moment he was no longer entangled in the relationship between Lu Shen and Li Bingxue, and said gently: "Okay, I'm just asking casually, why are you so angry." ”

Lu Shen knew that he couldn't be too exaggerated, so he said in a muffled voice: "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

Li Duan thought in his heart, maybe it was because there were several attacks on Lu Shen in the court, which made him have a lot of negative emotions in his heart, so he had such a fierce reaction.

As soon as he thought of this, he couldn't help but feel that his previous worries were a little redundant, after all, the young man in front of him was only in his early twenties, how could he compare with those old foxes in the court?

Looking at Lu Shen's slightly aggrieved expression, Li Duan took the initiative to divert the topic and said, "Do you think Emperor Jingguo and Qing Yugong will come to a breaking situation?" ”

Contradictions between kings and ministers are common in any dynasty.

Li Duan has a deep understanding of this, and although he has not received much information from the Northland, he can also judge the relationship between Emperor Jing and Qing Yugong from the clues.

There is no doubt that this is a topic that Lu Shen is familiar with, so he can't continue to play the posture of a bone fish, the faint anger on his face gradually faded, and after thinking for a while, he replied: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks it is difficult. ”

Li Duan asked, "Why?" ”

Lu Shen said slowly: "Judging from the information held by the ministers, Emperor Jingguo and Qing Yugong are both very smart characters, and Emperor Jing's beating of Qing Yugong is more like a tacit understanding between the two sides. Your Majesty, with all due respect, until Emperor Jing completes his ideals, he will not force Qing Yugong to the edge of the cliff, unless he ......"

He wanted to speak, but he stopped.

There is a saying that a companion is like a companion tiger, although Li Duan has shown more than the average level of the emperor until now, but he feels that he has no need to take risks.

Li Duan seemed to guess his scruples, did not let him fall into a dilemma, and said bluntly: "In other words, before Jingguo achieves the result of destroying the Great Qi, Emperor Jing will not make drastic moves?" This is also reasonable, the Jingguo Emperor is very deep in the city, and he doesn't see rabbits and eagles. ”

Lu Shen bowed his head and said, "Yes, Your Majesty." In fact, in the previous year, the minister didn't think about starting from this aspect, including after breaking through Heluo, the minister treated Qing Yugong's daughter politely, and constantly instilled in her the idea that Emperor Jing was going to cross the river and demolish the bridge, all of which were paving the way for future planning. ”

Speaking of this, he paused slightly, and sighed lightly: "But the minister has always felt that this is a small road, and if you want to defeat the main force of the Jing army and drive the Jing Lian clan back to the extreme north, the key is how to enhance the strength of our army." ”

"If the main force of the Jing army goes south now, what is the chance of victory for my border army?"

"Your Majesty, war is a very complicated event, which is related to factors such as the troops, morale, combat strength, ordnance, logistics, and even the commander-in-chief's on-the-spot command. Take the battle of the Northern Expedition as an example, after the victory of Lei Ze, the Huaizhou West Route Army could capture Heluo, because Qing Yu Zhongwang couldn't help but want to take the initiative to find fighters, if this necessary condition was missing, the minister could only lead the army to withdraw. In short, in many cases, we can only roughly judge the direction of the war until it has advanced to a critical stage. ”

"I have always talked about military affairs with Guo Shumi and others, and no one is as direct and thorough as you say."

"Your Majesty's words are a bit biased, Guo Shumi and several generals are from a high position, and there is no need to be so meticulous and calculating like the minister. However, Your Majesty does not need to worry too much, even if the main force of the Jing army goes south, as long as our border army sticks to the city, it will be difficult for the enemy to make great progress. ”

Lu Shen paused slightly, and then said: "Before returning to Beijing, the minister told Li Dudu that Qing Yugong may not have large-scale actions in the next year, but there will definitely be a tentative offensive. As long as Li Dudu could not hold out, and used the passes west and north of Dingzhou as a stronghold, the Jing army would not have much advantage. The problem that the Jing army is good at decisive battles in the field and is not good at attacking fortifications has not improved significantly, at least so far, otherwise they would not need to spend a year to annex Zhao State, and they would have to be personally in charge of Qing Yugong and hundreds of thousands of main forces. ”

Li Duan's heart was relieved, he had always had a lingering worry, that is, in the two years of war, the Great Qi border army had won victories one after another, but the main force of the Jing army did not go south for various reasons, like a fierce tiger watching from the side, and it could roar the mountains and forests at any time.

Lu Shen broke his judgment and crumpled it clearly, Li Duan no longer hesitated, and said: "I will give Li Jingda a will, let him honestly guard the Dingzhou frontier." ”

Listen to what that means......

Lu Shen stood calmly, not in a hurry to ask where he was going.

Li Duan seemed to know his thoughts, and said kindly: "There are several main reasons why I want to stay in the capital for a while. First, I want to know more about the frontier and Jingguo from you, and I don't know much about military affairs, so I can't specially summon Xiao and Li back, so I can only wronged you to stay temporarily. ”

Lu Shen bowed his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty's words are serious, and the minister can't afford it." Whether in the frontier or in the capital, if Your Majesty needs it, the minister will do his best. ”

Li Duan was very satisfied with his statement, and said slowly: "Second, I always believe that the safety of the Great Qi cannot be all pressed on the border army, which is unfair to you, but it has been difficult to improve the combat power of the Beijing army. If they are allowed to rotate with the border army, they are afraid that the enemy will find an opportunity to take advantage of it. Therefore, you are also useful in the capital. ”

These words made Lu Shen's heart tighten, and he said with a little embarrassment: "Your Majesty, do you want the minister to interfere in the military affairs of the Beijing army?" ”

"It's mainly about daily practice. I have read the battle report sent by the border army, and the Rui Shi Battalion has only been trained in your hands for less than a year, and it can face the main force of the Jing army head-on, which shows your talent in training. I haven't gotten angry with anyone else yet, so I'll ask for your opinion first. ”

Li Duan's expression was gentle, and his eyes were full of expectation.

But this matter is a bottomless pit for Lu Shen.

The Jing army is the lifeblood of Guo Congyi and others and the Jiangnan Shi clan, it can be seen from Wang Yan's suggestion to let Xiao Wangzhi stay in the frontier, Chen Lanyu has intervened in it before, and now if Lu Shen comes again, the reaction of those people will definitely be extremely fierce.

This is no longer a matter of advantages and disadvantages, Lu Shen's reputation is far better than Chen Lanyu's, second only to Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun, it is difficult to guarantee that Guo Congyi and others will not turn their faces directly.

Lu Shen looked at the Son of Heaven steadily, thinking to himself that this is what you asked Xu Zuo to say, saying that there will be a heavy reward after I return to Beijing?

Sure enough, it was a big surprise.

Li Duan obviously understood the young courtier's eyes, coughed lightly twice to relieve the embarrassment, and said, "The reason why I did this is because I think about the future. Lu Shen, you are still very young and have a lot of time to lay a solid foundation, but this premise is that you have to divert some of your attention to the capital. If you only focus on the Frontier, then you will never be able to enter the Hub. ”

"Do you understand what I mean?"

The expression of the Son of Heaven at this moment was very sincere.

Of course, Lu Shen understood, but he thought that if he wanted to fight with the magnates in the south, the time was not yet ripe.

The most crucial problem is that since he walked into the Wende Hall today, the Son of Heaven has behaved completely differently from the last time they met today.

The two times before last, although the Son of Heaven could not confirm the chances of winning the Northern Expedition, he could probably be called calm in front of Lu Shen, but today he was particularly eager.

From his confirmation of Lu Shen's life rumors, to the problems between Lu Shen and Li Bingxue, and even to the fact that he is now pushing Lu Shen to the forefront, all of them reveal the meaning that time is not waiting for me.

Lu Shen didn't understand why he was in such a hurry?

At this moment, Lu Shizhou came in and said, "Your Majesty, Qin Tiju asks to see you." ”

"Xuan."

Li Duan noticed that Lu Shen's expression was a little solemn, so he stopped the previous topic.

Qin Zheng walked into the Dongnuan Pavilion with a steady pace, and saluted as he approached: "Your Majesty, the minister has already found out. Three days later, the meeting was held in the Moyuan of Beicheng, and most of the participants were Confucian literati, as well as a few officials and nobles. ”

Lu Shen couldn't help but turn his head to look at this warp weaver, and secretly said that the other party's news was really well-informed, and the second prince mentioned it outside the palace gate, and Qin Zheng found out it in such a short time.

Li Duan looked at Lu Shen and said with a smile: "You have just arrived in Beijing, so you can rest for a few days, you don't need to worry about business, and you will discuss it later." King Xiang invited you to attend the literary meeting, I asked Qin Qing's family to check that there would be no entanglement, you should just go and relax, and by the way, familiarize yourself with the environment in Beijing. ”

Qin Zheng stood silently.

Lu Shen bowed slightly, saluted, and said, "Thank you for Your Majesty's care." ”

(End of chapter)