Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

Chapter 657
Shang Jiezan fled back to Migan City, but Xue Hu didn't catch up with the plateau directly. Instead, he waited in Jincheng for reinforcements and supplies from the rear, and at the same time built a sentry tower at the mountain pass to monitor the movement of the Tubo army on the plateau.

Although the situation in Lanzhou has stabilized, the letters for help from Lanzhou prefect Su Tong were sent to Chang'an one by one.

Lanzhou is an important town in the frontier state. After Su Tong's request for help was sent to the Ministry of War, officials from the General Administration Department of the Ministry of War dared not neglect it and immediately sent it to the Political Affairs Hall.

The prime ministers, who were worrying about Chang'an Qianfa, stood up from the collapse in shock after seeing this military situation.

The prime minister of the Tang Dynasty is the real prime minister, not the secretary board of the later emperors. Each prime minister has his own clear division of labor.

The prime minister Miao Jinqing was in charge of the Ministry of War. When he saw the urgent report from Lanzhou, Miao Jinqing immediately stood up and said, "I want to enter the palace!"

It is not uncommon for Tubo to knock on the side. Before Tubo attacked Hexi, the imperial court only let Hexi defend itself.

But Lanzhou is different. Lanzhou's position is too important. If Tubo occupies Lanzhou, it can cut off the connection between Hexi Lingzhou and Guanzhong, and can always threaten Guanzhong.

Datang can lose Longyou, and even Hexi, but Lanzhou must not be lost.

If Lanzhou fell into the hands of Tubo, then the Tang court in Guanzhong would be under the enemy's back and forth, and everything would lose its strategic depth. Where would the emperor move to?
Move to Shuzhong or Jiangdong?
We must know that the courts that favored the south in history are tantamount to voluntarily abandoning the north, and there is no hope of unifying the country anymore.

Shangbo brought a lot of gifts, and his request was very simple, that is, to ask Pei Mian to suggest to the emperor that the Hexi army should be dispatched to help Lanzhou.

But Tongguan is like a bottomless pit, constantly asking the court for soldiers, food, and money.

When people encounter problems, they will hold the idea that procrastination is temporary.

Although Cui Guangyuan didn't want to see Wang Chengwei, he also knew that Wang Chengwei was from the King of Yue, and he also learned about the military situation this time from Wang Chengwei in advance.

After discussing this matter with the monarchs and ministers, the Hall of Yanying fell silent. Now that the Tang Dynasty is in such a situation, what else can be discussed?
Prices in Chang'an have soared, and now the exchange rate of Qianyuan Chongbao in the black market has dropped to [-]:[-], and there are still many businessmen who are unwilling to accept Qianyuan Chongbao.

And after the other prime ministers left, Li Linfu would report the private affairs of his prime minister and colleagues to the emperor, and slander the emperor.

However, everyone present was in a low mood, and most of the Shuofang army was transferred into the customs to defend Shi Siming in Tongguan.

Li Heng seemed to have grasped the life-saving straw, and immediately said:
"Yes! Let Du Hongjian enter Lanzhou to support Jincheng!"

For example, Li Linfu, the treacherous prime minister during the emperor's period, also joined the Zhengshitang as prime minister when Zhang said he was the chief prime minister.

Tubo marched into Lanzhou again at this time, and Datang really had no soldiers available.

Now Shi Siming is besieging Luoyang and watching Tongguan.

Pei Mian said: "Yuan Fu, calm down! Now Chang'an is in chaos because of the money law. If Lanzhou military information spreads, what will Chang'an do? It is not customary for a prime minister to enter the palace. Let's send this military information to the palace first."

As a member of the prime minister, every prime minister has the obligation to maintain the prime minister's power, so after Miao Jinqing calmed down, he followed Pei Mian's method and asked the eunuch to send the general to the palace.

Seeing that the rest of the prime ministers had no objections, Li Heng immediately said to Yu Chaoen: "Let the Hanlin scholars draw up an order, and order the King of Yue to be the Northwest Defense Ambassador, responsible for the Northwest Defense."

In the prime minister system of the Tang Dynasty, unless he was alone, the prime minister could not meet the emperor alone.

Letting Du Hongjian take charge of the Northwest, Li Heng was really not at ease. Anyway, he didn't want the King of Yue to go to the front line, as long as he was in the rear to organize the logistics.

Cui Guangyuan continued:
"Your Majesty, this is a national war against Tubo. Although Du Hongjian is the envoy of Lingzhou, to resist Tubo requires the cooperation of all towns in the northwest. Du Hongjian may not be able to suppress it."

The emperor's collusion with the prime minister is a bit harsh, but the supreme power of the Tang Dynasty needs to be confirmed by the emperor and the prime minister to be effective.

Now the northwest is also in chaos, and everyone from the emperor to the prime minister feels a sense of powerlessness.

Pei Mian was the first to stand up and said: "I think Cui Xiang's suggestion is appropriate, and the northwest really needs a clan to sit in charge."

It should be at the behest of the King of Yue. Cui Guangyuan's entry into the cabinet was originally promoted by the King of Yue, and Pei Mian also participated.

And the emperor would not summon a certain prime minister alone, he would only discuss matters with the entire prime minister team.

Wang Chengwei didn't know his precious daughter well. Wang Chengwei was unmarried and was born as the number one scholar.

This is not an express regulation of the imperial court, but a long-term political practice.

"Your Majesty, please let the King of Yue serve as the Northwest Defense Envoy to take charge of the Northwest Defense in an all-round way."

Some unreasonable decrees of the emperor will be sent to the political affairs hall when Zhang said that he is not around, and Li Linfu will immediately confirm that the imperial decree will be issued.

Miao Jinqing continued: "Your Majesty, please send troops to Lanzhou immediately to support Jincheng. As long as Jincheng is defended, the Tubo army can be held back."

Nanzhao invaded Xichuan and threatened Shuzhong.

But before Pei Mian could speak, Cui Guangyuan said first:
"Your Majesty, previously, His Majesty ordered Du Hongjian, the envoy of the Lingzhou Festival, to enter Hexi to help defend against Tubo. Now that Tubo invades from Lanzhou, the Hexi army can rush to assist Lanzhou."

However, Pei Mian has been in the cabinet for the longest time and has made the most contributions, so his speech in the Zhengshitang is more important than other prime ministers.

This system is to prevent a certain prime minister from slandering the emperor, and also to prevent the emperor from colluding with the prime minister to control the government.

Xichuan urgently reported that after the great victory in Huichuan, Nanzhao attacked again, and now it is almost reaching the city of Chengdu.

The food in Chang'an has also increased a lot because of this, and now some middle- and lower-level officials are starting to have no food.

Du Hongjian's Shuofang army was less than 1. If Tubo really came with 20 troops, how could it stop it?

Only then did Li Heng remember that his son, since he was sent to Longyou, the northern border of the empire has been very stable.

The specific implementation is the imperial decree drafted by the emperor. If it is not confirmed by the prime minister, it is not authoritative.

A few days after the Yanyingdian meeting, Su Tong’s request for help came again. This letter was written by Su Tong at the “suggestion” of Xue Hu. Su Tong exaggerated the number of Tubo troops and compared the situation in Jincheng It's very urgent.

Li Heng had also been emperor for several years, but the news of the Tubo invasion still made him quite flustered. After the prime ministers entered the Hall of Yanying, Li Heng immediately asked:

Today's Prime Minister who holds the pen is Pei Mian, although the emperor implemented a system of taking turns to hold the pen and canceled the nominal chief chancellor.

"King Yue?"

"My dear friends, Lanzhou asks for help, and what can I do for it?"

The emperor immediately nodded and said, "Xu!"

Li Heng was terrified after receiving the military information, and immediately opened the Yanying Hall and summoned all the prime ministers for a meeting.

Miao Jinqing also felt that what he did was inappropriate, so he sat down again with his head down.

Pei Mian took a deep breath, he actually knew about the Tubo invasion earlier than other prime ministers.

Miao Jinqing, who was in charge of the Ministry of War, first said: "Your Majesty, Longshang is the gate of Guanzhong and must be rescued. The imperial court should first grant Su Tong, the prefect of Lanzhou, the right to act arbitrarily in battle, and allow him to recruit troops in Lanzhou to resist Tubo."

The Zhengshitang can refute the imperial edict (return the emperor's will), or refuse to use the seal on the imperial edict (disagree with the emperor's will), these methods can invalidate the emperor's imperial edict.

Anyway, a dead horse is a living horse doctor. If the king of Yue can't stop it, and think of other ways, the current Tang court has no spare power to support Lanzhou.

But this guy never came to propose marriage, but he seemed to have a good relationship with his daughter.

The emperor said distressedly: "But now that the Guanzhong army has been sent to Tongguan, where will the troops be transferred?"

Lanzhou must be saved!

What's more, Tubo is coming fiercely, and I don't know if King Yue can stop it.

"Also let Lingzhou Jiedu envoy Du Hongjian be the main general and immediately support Jincheng!"

Li Heng looked around and asked, "What do you think, Zhu Aiqing?"

There is also a loophole in this system. If the prime minister completely obeys the emperor's orders, then the emperor can use his own will to issue imperial edicts.

Even the prime ministers who have always supported Guo Ziyi are complaining that if this goes on without Shi Siming fighting, Datang himself will collapse first.

The Xichuan Jiedu envoy quickly fell back to the Xichuan Army and Huichuan Army for rescue, and the once prosperous and prosperous Shuzhong also became a mess.

Every time he called for the right party, Li Linfu would say that he had a foot problem, and deliberately left the Hall of Yanying after the other prime ministers.

Pei Mian took a deep look at Cui Guangyuan. Was this what Cui Guangyuan thought on his own, or did he also get the King of Yue's instruction?

Yesterday, Shang Bo, the post-stay envoy of the Longyou Governor's Mansion, paid an overnight visit to Pei Mian and informed him of the Lanzhou military situation.

Li Heng asked: "What does Ai Qing mean?"

After the Anlushan Rebellion, the imperial power was severely weakened. The emperor's system of close ministers acting as sole ministers had been abolished, and the power of the ministers was also increasing.

And Cui Guangyuan also knew about King Yue's ambitions, so he had this political speculation.

The rest of the prime ministers couldn't come up with a better plan. Now that the crown prince and King Qi are both in the local area, it is no problem for King Yue to take charge of the defense of the northwest.

The emperor did not ask Du Hongjian to defeat Tubo, at least he could delay it for a while.

Cui Guangyuan naturally got the news from Wang Chengwei. For Wang Chengwei, Cui Guangyuan loves and is angry at the same time.

This time the emperor issued an edict again, asking Yue King Li Tan to control Longyou, Hexi, Lingzhou, and Lanzhou, and ordered Hezhou, Yuanzhou, and Minzhou to be controlled by Li Tan, the Northwest Defense Envoy, to control the entire Northwest states. Tubo's defense task.

This edict assigned almost the entire Longshang area to the King of Yue, but none of the court ministers felt that it was inappropriate.

The northwestern states have long been drained of troops by the imperial court, and these territories are a mess for the King of Yue.

In contrast, among the sons sent out by the emperor, the prince who went to Bianzhou was the most comfortable. In the eyes of some people in Chang'an, this seemed to be some kind of "hint" from the emperor, and the East Palace gate became lively again.

(End of this chapter)