People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1072 The emperor’s little tricks

"Urgent report from Luoyang."

A fast horse ran from Luoyang to Chang'an overnight, entered Chang'an in a hanging basket, and then rode quickly to the palace.

As soon as the emperor got up in the morning, he had already received the report from Luoyang.

There was a formal memorial from Li Xuan and a secret report from the secret guard.

Handing the memorial in his hand to Empress Wu, Li Zhi said with some disbelief: "In one day, he found a way to solve this troublesome Turkic matter."

"Using the story of Emperor Xiao to shock people, and then using the denaturalization tax to exploit wealth, the King of Nanchang is becoming more and more sophisticated." After reading the secret memorial, Empress Wu looked at Li Xuan's memorial, shook her head and sighed.

"More than that." Li Zhi smiled and said: "There are countless checkpoints along the way from Chang'an and Luoyang to the grassland. These people are no longer the people of the Tang Dynasty. If they want to leave the Tang Dynasty, the checkpoint guards and the yamen servants of various prefectures and counties, There are countless ways to make these Turks return to the grassland in poverty."

"But they returned to the grassland after all." Empress Wu looked at Li Zhi worriedly.

"These people who would rather lose everything and return to the grassland cannot be stopped no matter what." Li Zhi shook his head calmly and said, "I don't want to kill them all. Losing everything is already the best punishment. And these people will not have a good life after returning to the grassland."

"Can they join the army?" Empress Wu looked confused.

"Don't pretend to be stupid." Li Zhi rolled his eyes at Empress Wu angrily and said, "These people are willing to return to the grassland because the grassland can bring them a better life. But when they returned to the grassland, they found that the grassland of the grassland The cattle and sheep have all been divided long ago, and they have no share at all. How do they feel?"

Empress Wu calmed down the confusion on her face and nodded solemnly.

After these people returned to the grassland, they suddenly found that they had no other way out except joining the army. You can imagine the sense of loss in their hearts.

"That's not all." Li Zhi looked outside the Zichen Palace and said with a sneer: "Even if these people join the Turkic army, no one will give these latecomers any good positions. Even with swords, guns and horses, they are the worst." , maybe someone will use some kind of loan trick..."

Empress Wu sat aside and raised her eyes. Someone was already taking notes quickly.

"They are the cannon fodder at the forefront when they go into battle, and they are the paupers with nothing when they go out. How will they live as a family?" Li Zhi sighed with satisfaction: "Now, winter is about to come. Let them go back at this time. I don't know. No matter how many people died on the grassland, a large or small fight would be indispensable."

The person who is recording on one side writes faster.

……

Li Zhi turned his head and said directly: "Tell Luoyang, Henan, and the four counties of Wannian, Chang'an, that when they choose, they should be more careful and select them one by one. Those who are old and weak should be given the highest priority, and those with large populations should be selected first." Put them in the back, and those strong men who have no family ties will be registered and monitored one by one, delayed indefinitely, and none of them will be allowed to go back."

"Here!" The person behind the curtain immediately stood up and held his hands.

"Also." Li Zhi knocked on the table and said seriously: "Those who are still unwilling to return to the Turks, recruit more in Chang'an Wannian, Luoyang, Henan, left and right Xiaowei, wait until the news comes from the grassland, compare with each other , I want to see how many people are willing to go back to the grassland."

"Your Majesty is wise." Empress Wu patted the horse.

Li Zhi smiled and said: "There are many things that the secret guards can do here. If the Turks want to cause trouble, I will turn them into a farce.

Let the secret guards contact the people from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of War, and make trouble for me on the grassland. Those who are close to the Tang Dynasty will get some benefits, and those who are against the Tang Dynasty will be destroyed directly. "

"Yes!" Empress Wu nodded.

This time the Turks saw the opportunity very accurately. The Tang Dynasty still had the potential to win in Tubo, but with repeated victories, the news and benefits brought by the victory were rapidly decreasing.

The seizure of Qamdo gold and gold mines this year was actually an accident.

Without the provocation of the Tibetan envoy at the beginning of the year, Li Xuan would not have attacked this year.

But these gold and gold mines were supposed to be next year’s earnings.

This means that once a war starts next year, the income will decrease and the expenditure will increase.

The Tang Dynasty as a whole is moving downwards. At this time, it is the best opportunity for the Turks.

But unfortunately, for so many years, some people among the Turks have been dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty, especially the Mobei tribes.

In fact, this itself was a strategy of the Tang Dynasty. The Turks who were close to the Tang Dynasty gained more resources and wealth, while those who were hostile to the Tang Dynasty were driven to the remote Mobei.

But now, this dissatisfied trend has spread from Mobei to Monan.

This trend of thought first appeared after the defeat of Dafeichuan. The Tang Dynasty, which had been invincible for decades, suffered a big fall in Tubo.

This was also the reason why Silla had been entangled with Tang Dynasty in the past few years.

Now they have become Turks again, but the Turks are not comparable to Silla. Both Empress Wu and the emperor can see clearly.

They see the situation of the Turks very clearly, but how to deal with it is the difficult problem.

Especially in Chang'an and Luoyang itself, there are countless Turks. In addition, there are millions of Turks inside and outside the Great Wall, in the south and north of the desert. If chaos really breaks out, it will be difficult to deal with it.

……

"First clean up the Turks in Chang'an City. Catch those who should be arrested and kill those who should be killed. I will not stop them from returning to the grassland, but no one can take away the things that should be left behind." Li Zhi looked sideways. Empress Wu glanced at him and said, "Let Ma Si Zong be responsible for this matter. Yuan Qing's literati are always a little weak in these matters."

Empress Wu nodded slightly, Yuan Wanqing did indeed do something wrong.

Speaking of the May Sect, Empress Wu couldn't help but think of Qiu Shenji. Unfortunately, Qiu Shenji died in Muzhou and at the hands of the demon sect. At that time, Masizong was the same as Qiu Shenji, a general in Zuo Jinwu's guard. Although he was a little older, he was not very big and his ability was sufficient.

In terms of decisiveness in killing, he is not inferior to Qiu Shenji, but in terms of keeping quiet and maneuvering, he is much better than Qiu Shenji.

"After the Turks in Luoyang, Chang'an, are stabilized, let Pingyang County Duke send troops. There is no need for him to wait in Chang'an until Wenxi County Duke returns." After a slight pause, Li Zhi continued: "Transfer the King of Nanchang back to Chang'an. This matter He has done a good job, if he can capture Xiao Tianzi and Li Jingye, then the marriage will be regarded as a reward."

"I obey my orders." Empress Wu nodded lightly, and then said: "Your Majesty, the King of Nanchang already has three wives and concubines who were directly granted marriage by me. If he wants to make meritorious deeds in the future, it will not be easy for me to do this. .”

"There's nothing difficult to do." Li Zhi ignored the insinuations in Empress Wu's words and said calmly: "The Tubo matter has been decided a long time ago. As for the rest, I don't believe that the King of Nanchang will have fewer children in his life. "

"Yes." Empress Wu laughed softly, and her eyes relaxed a lot.

If the emperor really wants to give something, he can give it. There is no way he can give nothing.

It's nothing more than that the emperor's power skills were too poor and he didn't do well in many aspects.

At this moment, Wang Fulai appeared at the door, cupped his hands to the Emperor and Empress Wu and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven has already gone to court."

"Yes!" Li Zhi nodded and said, "Summon all the ministers into the palace!"

"Here!"

……

North gate, in a secluded courtyard.

Yuan Wanqing walked into the courtyard calmly, with a trace of relaxation on his face.

Fan Lubing, who had just come on duty, glanced at Yuan Wanqing and asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

"The King of Nanchang sent back a memorial from Luoyang overnight. He has appeased the Turks in Luoyang. He also sent a list of Turks in Huaiyuanfang of Chang'an who had connections with Emperor Xiao." Yuan Wanqing looked up. Xiang Fan Lubing looked complicated.

"Why, His Majesty didn't ask you to arrest anyone?" Fan Lubing immediately understood Yuan Wanqing's worries.

"It's Ma Si Zong, the general of the Zuo Jin Wu Guard." Yuan Wanqing sighed softly and said, "This is not an ordinary person. Now he has completely caught the eyes of the Queen of Heaven."

Fan Lubing pondered for a moment, and then said: "It is much easier for generals like them to do this kind of thing than us. Even Master Shiyin had Qiu Shenji standing in front of him back then, but Qiu Shenji died later. , he had no choice but to rush to the front, but what was the result? "

"He's dead." Yuan Wanqing looked up in surprise.

"This itself is a difficult thing to do. It would be good for us and the Prime Minister if you step back a little." Fan Lubing directly mentioned the key point.

"Yes, if you want to make the people in the court sincerely convinced, you can't get too close to the secret guards." Yuan Wanqing nodded slowly, with a solemn expression.

After all, it is better to use the threat of a secret guard to win over others than to win over others without such a relationship and use one's identity as a scholar or the king of prime minister to win over others.

Or to be more precise, too much blood is not a good thing.

"You are right." Yuan Waqing recovered his thoughts, then looked at Fan Lubing and said, "It is best for Ma Si Zong to handle this matter. It is best if he can also take over the affairs of the Criminal Department and Wei Siwen."

"Wei Siwen's matter is easy to handle. It's just a matter of being sent out. The key is the Ministry of Punishment." Fan Lubing frowned and asked, "Who tricked Pei Yan this time?"

"I don't know." Yuan Wanqing sat on the short couch, looked at Fan Lubing with some humor, and said, "Pei Yan is also unlucky. Someone has actually planted a chess piece in his own home."

"It should be Li Jingye." Fan Lubing nodded and said, "Only he has the ability to take action in the Ministry of Justice, and only he has the motivation to take action at this time."

"It's hard to say." Yuan Wanqing shook his head and said, "I always feel that something is not quite right here, but I can't explain what is wrong."

Fan Lubing suddenly raised his head, looked at Yuan Wanqing and asked, "What's going on over there in the East Palace?"

"No, there is no movement at all." Yuan Wanqing's face became solemn and he said seriously: "We all know that the case of Master Shi Yin is closely related to the prince, but there is still no evidence. Now Luoyang has finally made a breakthrough. , as long as we dig deeper, it will be difficult for the prince to distance himself from the relationship, but the problem is that the prince is too quiet."

Once Luoyang really finds out something and their Li Xian is deposed, they will already be on the agenda.

But under this circumstance, the East Palace was too quiet, which made Yuan Wanqing and the others feel extremely strange.

"Could it be that His Majesty made the explanation on purpose?" Fan Lubing frowned and glanced in the direction of Zichen Palace.

"Your Majesty has made an explanation, but it is in other places and has nothing to do with the East Palace itself." Yuan Wanqing shook his head gently.

"Keep an eye on him more." Fan Lubing pondered for a moment and said softly: "No one can guess His Majesty's thoughts. Even if the Crown Prince has, in the final analysis, it is just a lack of ability.

Once His Majesty really wants to depose the Crown Prince, the etiquette followers in the court will definitely not give up, and Your Majesty will probably have to retreat. "

"Yeah!" Yuan Wanqing nodded and said, "King Ying..."

A rush of footsteps interrupted Yuan Wanqing's words. A secret guard in black walked in quickly from outside and handed a secret letter into Yuan Wanqing's hand.

After opening the secret letter and seeing the content inside, Yuan Waqing was surprised and said in a voice: "Ma Si Zong failed."

(End of this chapter)