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

Chapter 1255 The Emperor’s Trust in Li Xuan
On the royal couch, Li Zhi raised his hand with a relaxed expression: "Di Qing, please ask, Cui Qing, please answer everything truthfully."

"Here!" Cui Ding bowed to the emperor, then turned to look at Di Renjie.

Di Renjie's eyes fell on Cui Ding, and he raised his hands and asked seriously: "I dare to ask General Cui Zhonglang, since the King of Nanchang had already seriously injured Lun Qinling when he was at Gradandong Pass, why was he still able to escape when he was in Amdo... Later, during the Battle of Cuona Lake, Lun Qinling was seriously injured and dying, and finally escaped into Nagqu. After the city of Naqu was destroyed, Lun Qinling escaped again."

Di Renjie turned to look at the emperor and bowed solemnly: "Your Majesty, I just want to ask, is the King of Nanchang deliberately instigating the enemy to support the bandits, or is he using Lun Qinling to plot something?"

The ministers in the palace immediately couldn't help but complain, after all, you Di Renjie is still a good friend of the King of Nanchang, and you still helped him to exonerate him in the end.

The emperor smiled, waved his hand and said, "Cui Qing, tell the truth."

"Here!" Cui Ding breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at Di Renjie, cupped his hands and said: "Gradan did seriously injure Lun Qinling when he passed the East Pass. It is precisely because of this that when he was in Anduo and Cuona Lake, he was in the final battle. At a critical moment, the injury suddenly becomes painful... In a life-or-death crisis, people will involuntarily choose to retreat at this time."

Cui Ding couldn't help but shook his head. Fortunately, Anduo didn't see Lun Qinling at all.

But when they arrived at Cuona Lake, three thousand heavy cavalry attacked, and Li Xuan attacked directly from the side. Lun Qinling should have faced the difficulty, faced Li Xuan's offensive, boosted morale at the same time, and finally defeated Li Xuan's offensive in one fell swoop.

Cui Ding was ready to fight to the death, but Lun Qinling suddenly retreated.

As soon as he retreated, the morale of all the Tibetan soldiers on the battlefield collapsed instantly, and then it plummeted for thousands of miles.

Afterwards, they analyzed that besides being injured, there was another important reason for Qinling itself.

He is old.

He was old, but when he needed to make a last ditch effort, he chose to turn around and escape without hesitation.

When you get old, you no longer have the courage to be decisive.

Li Xuan's sentence "The brave will win when we meet on a narrow road" was recognized by all the soldiers.

"Then, how did Lun Qinling, who was seriously injured and dying, escape from the heavily besieged Nagqu City, and how did Lun Qinling, who was seriously injured and dying, escape?" This was the biggest problem hanging over Li Xuan now. question.

If the previous war was because there were too many enemies and insufficient military strength, and finally Lun Qinling escaped, then in the siege of Nagqu City, it should have been the primary target, and as mentioned before, Lun Qinling was seriously injured and dying, and he escaped again There are some things that shouldn’t be done.

It would be understandable if Li Xuan was plotting something else, but if he really deliberately indulged the enemy or even encouraged the invaders to respect themselves, then he would be punished.

Of course, lying about military information is also a serious crime.

……

After Di Renjie finished speaking, Cui Ding immediately felt endless malice falling on him, and he subconsciously turned to look at the emperor.

Li Zhi nodded gently, and Cui Ding was completely relieved.

Turning around, Cui Ding looked at Di Renjie and cupped his hands and said: "During that song, the commander's arrow did hit Lun Qinling. It shot out from under the left side of the ribs and went straight into the internal organs. He vomited blood on the spot, and even more after that. I was chased and chased endlessly, and even though I finally escaped into Nagqu, I only breathed my last breath."

"Since he only had his last breath left, how did he escape from Naqu?" Di Renjie followed up and asked.

At this time, the eyes of everyone in the palace fell on Cui Ding, waiting for his answer.

Cui Ding shook his head slightly and said seriously: "As for Qin Ling not escaping from Naqu..."

Having said this, many people couldn't help but be stunned. Almost in a flash, some people already understood something.

"... Even if Qin Ling did not escape from Naqu, he even died on the night he escaped into Naqu." Cui Ding's words suddenly sounded like thunder in the palace.

Most people in the palace were shocked by the news.

On Qin Ling actually dead?
Lun Qinling, who had brought so much trouble to the Tang Dynasty for so many years, died unexpectedly.

Did he just die like that?

By now, many people had expressions of disbelief, but then they suddenly raised their heads and stared at Cui Ding.

"Since Lun Qinling is already dead, why are you still trying to conceal his death?" Di Renjie calmly asked the other people's questions.

"We did not deliberately conceal the news of Lun Qinling's death. We only targeted Tubo. The purpose was to create the illusion that Lun Qinling was still alive and prevent Tubo from joining forces to resist the Tang Dynasty. After all, our military strength is limited and we cannot bear it. Big damage, as for the inside..."

"As for the court." The emperor took the words, then looked at the ministers and said: "At the beginning of the month, the King of Nanchang had already informed me of everything in secret, and I agreed, and, Cui Ding returned to Chang'an today and brought back the body of Lun Qinling."

"Ah!" The officials in the palace did not expect such a turn of events.

It doesn't matter that Qin Ling died in Naqu. The key point is that his body was brought back to Chang'an at this time.

On Qinling is now in Chang'an.

Many people's minds are in chaos at the moment.

Too many things happened today, so much that they couldn't even react. Sitting on the royal couch, Li Zhi took in everyone's expressions with great interest, and his expression gradually calmed down.

"My lords, it is true that Qin Ling is dead. The only question I am thinking about now is what should be done with his body." Li Zhi turned to look at Liu Boying, the Minister of Rites, and asked: "Minister of Rites, please tell me. , how should this matter be handled according to the imperial system?"

Liu Boying walked out steadily, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Qinling has been the Prime Minister of Tubo for many years, and he has fought many battles with our country in front of the battlefield. Not to mention other things, in the battle of Dafeichuan alone, there were 100,000 soldiers. He was killed or wounded, so I suggest that he be buried in accordance with the Tubo customs, following Jie Li's story."

"What are the customs of Tubo?" Li Zhi continued to ask.

"After the death of the Tubo people, there are three ways to deal with it. One is sky burial, where the deceased's body is placed in a high place for birds and animals to eat; the other is cremation, where the body is cremated and the ashes are scattered into the river; the third is cremation. Burial." Liu Boying said the burial was very simple and did not want to say more.

But all the officials in the palace knew that in Tubo, only the poorest people would choose to be buried in the sky; those with a little money would be cremated; and the real noble families would be buried in the ground.

"Back then, Jie Li, I remember, scattered the ashes into the Bahe River after the cremation." Li Zhi nodded gently.

"Yes." Liu Boying cupped his hands and said, "Sky burial, cremation and burial are similar customs in Turks."

Li Zhi pressed his eyebrows slightly, and then said: "The sky burial is not advisable. Even if I don't have that intention, the current situation of Qinling is also not advisable."

"Your Majesty, may I ask what is the current situation of Qinling?" Zhongshu Ling Xue Yuanchao stood up and asked the officials' questions.

When a person dies, he is already dead. There is nothing undesirable.

"He was indeed seriously injured and died under the arrows of the King of Nanchang, but on the night he was rescued in Nagqu, he was injected with special toxins into his body. In the end, his body became incorruptible, which was used to deceive others and also conceal the theory of Qinling Mausoleum. News of his death." Li Zhi shook his head and said: "Sky burial may harm birds and beasts..."

"Haha..." Several people in the palace couldn't help but laugh.

Li Zhi raised his eyes and glanced gently. The next moment, the palace suddenly became quiet.

Xue Yuanchao continued to hand over his hands at this time and asked: "Does your Majesty have other ideas?"

"It's not that I have other ideas, it's that the King of Nanchang has other ideas." Li Zhi shook his head helplessly and said, "The King of Nanchang wants me to consider burying the remains of Lun Qinling with Zhaoling..."

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible." Liu Rengui stood up directly, cupped his hands and said, "How can a minister from an enemy country be buried with Zhaoling in the Qinling Mausoleum?"

Li Zhi waved his hand and said: "The King of Nanchang has written to Lun Qinling's fifth brother Brenzanren, telling him the truth about Lun Qinling's death."

The ministers in the palace suddenly fell silent. The King of Nanchang chose to hide the news of Lun Qinling's death from all the Tubo people, but decided to tell Lun Qinling's fifth brother. This has already touched upon Li Xuan's feelings towards the Tubo royal family and the Gar family. Provoke calculations.

"Your Majesty." Di Renjie took a step forward and seemed to have thought of something. He raised his hands and asked, "Is he the Tibetan general who was captured by the King of Nanchang in Taozhou and was later returned to Lun Qinling with a large number of cattle and sheep?" ?”

The ministers in the palace were slightly stunned, and some did not understand what was going on here.

Li Zhi looked at Li Xian standing aside.

Li Xian immediately raised his hand and said: "Return to my father, I was the commander-in-chief of the march on Taohe Road at that time. Brenzanren led 3000 Tibetan elites to attack. In the end, Uncle Wang of Nanchang planned to use Taozhou City as a bait to mobilize the right leading army guard. Attacked from the north and south, killed them all in one fell swoop, and finally captured the Blenzan Blade, and then used the Blenzan Blade and the remains of three thousand Tibetan elites in exchange for 100,000 cattle and sheep."

Li Zhi suddenly remembered. He looked at Li Xuan's secret book. The content of the secret book was that Brenzanren was Lun Qinling's fifth brother, but there was not much else said.

"Since this person has some connection with the King of Nanchang, the King of Nanchang is fully confident in persuading this person." Li Zhi nodded slowly.

Li Xuan has always liked to play with people's hearts, and the Brunzan Blade has fallen into Li Xuan's hands before, so this time his plan can work. "

"Your Majesty." Di Renjie handed over his hand again and asked: "What is the situation in Tubo now? Since we have captured Naqu, why not consider marching straight in and inserting ourselves into Luoxue City?"

"It's not that simple." Li Zhi waved his hand and asked Wang Fulai to pass on Li Xuan's memorial, while saying: "Now in Luozhe, the Queen Mother of Tubo and the Lu family have attracted quite a few nobles who are opposed to the Gar family, and She also has 10,000 Tubo troops on hand."

The word "Guangjun" immediately alerted the courtiers who knew this name.

"On Qinling's brother Zanxi, if you still have 100,000 soldiers, including 30,000 elites, if you march straight in, once there is a stalemate on the front line, it will be easy for someone to steal the food route. If the way back is in danger, the front line will be uneasy, so fight steadily and hold on Naqu, transport grain and grass..."

Li Zhi shook his head slightly and said: "Now in Tubo, autumn is already deep and the weather is cold, which is not good for Luo Zhe Taoist troops. Therefore, it is better to wait until next year. By the way, at this time, I can provoke the hearts of Tubo monarchs and ministers. If If we can make the royal family and the Gar family completely turn against each other, it will be much easier next year."

Working steadily, Liu Rengui, Liu Shenli, Li Jingxuan, Dou Xuande, Duan Baoxuan, Liu Boying and others nodded involuntarily.

This is what the prime ministers in the DPRK appreciate most. If you act steadily, you may not have a big victory, but you will definitely not have a big defeat.

And if he can solve part of the military consumption by himself, he will already be an irreplaceable military commander in the eyes of the prime ministers.

"These are the situations in Tubo." Li Zhi knocked on the table gently, and then said: "In this case, it depends on how far Brenzan can go. If he can wipe out the Tubo royal family, and then surrender to the Tang Dynasty , I just let Lun Qinling enter Zhaoling, so what’s the problem?”

The ministers were suddenly in awe. At this moment, there was a sudden shout from outside the palace: "Good news, good news, great victory on Dingxiang Road."

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help laughing.

(End of this chapter)