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

Chapter 1297 I can’t bear it too
There were few people on the long street after the rain.

A black-covered carriage swayed forward, heading towards the Wenxi County Government House ahead.

Su Liangsi looked away from the corner of the long street outside and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked at Li Xian and said, "Your Highness, the Wenxi County Government Palace is just ahead."

Li Xian wore a black robe with gold silk and a black hat. The two beards on his mouth looked very mature.

"Sima, do you think the Wenxi County Guild will accept the position in the East Palace?" Li Xian raised his head with concern and looked at Su Liangsi: "From the prime minister to the guests of the East Palace, will the gap be bigger?"

Su Liangsi said with a wry smile on his face: "I never thought that Your Majesty would ask Zhongshu Sheng to draft the imperial edict first."

Su Liangsi was also helpless.

The emperor took the initiative to draft the imperial edict, which directly led to everyone now complaining about Pei Yan's fault-finding and Pei Xingjian's imprudent behavior.

Now the imperial edict is resting there. Taking a step forward, Pei Xingjian will be the Duke of Jiang, serving in the palace. But if he cannot get through that step, Pei Xingjian will be delayed there, unable to move at all.

In other words, he will always be the Minister of the Ministry of War, but because of the difficulty in his heart, he can't even go to the Ministry of War.

If he does not go to the Ministry of War, he will not be the Minister of the Ministry of War.

This means that after a hard battle, Pei Xingjian not only failed to become prime minister, but also lost his position as Minister of War in disguise.

If he continues to complain about illness and refuse guests behind closed doors, I am afraid that the guilt in the emperor's heart will turn into suspicion and resentment.

Li Xian came to visit Pei Xingjian this time, hoping that he would be a guest of the prince in the East Palace.

Su Liangsi didn't dare to mention Li Xuan's previous suggestion of Prince Shaobao.

If there was no emperor's holy decree in front of them, they might be able to give Prince Shaobao a step up to Pei Xingjian, but in front of the emperor's holy decree, it was impossible for Li Xian to surpass the emperor.

Moreover, the problem in this matter does not lie with the emperor, but with Pei Yan.

Anyone who is truly informed understands that this is the two brothers Pei Yan and Pei Xingjian competing for the position of prime minister. However, Pei Yan and Pei Xingjian are brothers of the same clan, and it is not easy for outsiders to even intervene.

In addition, what Pei Yan said was not unreasonable, and even Li Xian could not intercede for Pei Xingjian in front of the emperor.

He could only make this trip in person to persuade Pei Xingjian to downgrade and accept the position of guest of the prince, but Li Xian also knew that the possibility of Pei Xingjian accepting it was too low.

"How did things come to this?" Li Xian sighed, looking at the red painted door slowly appearing outside the car curtain, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes, and then he stood up.

……

"Your Highness!" The tall, muscular butler in his sixties couldn't help shouting when he saw Li Xian: "Come here, open the middle door..."

"No need." Li Xian waved his hand and said as he walked in: "I came to visit Mr. Wenxi County. How is Mr. Wenxi County?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, Sir, his old illness has relapsed, and it is not convenient at the moment." The butler stepped back, but he always stood in front of Li Xian, and said at the same time: "I will inform the Lord first, clean up a little, and then see you again, Your Highness .”

"Old illness?" Li Xian finally stopped and looked at the housekeeper with a strange expression.

"Yes!" The butler said with an embarrassed smile on his face: "This is an old injury from early years. Although the spring is warm now, there are also repeated cold weather in late spring. The injury is somewhat pus-filled and needs to be treated a little. Your Highness, please come in first. The nave…”

"No need." Li Xian waved his hand directly and said unexpectedly gently: "The weather in Chang'an is indeed not suitable for recuperation now. Please tell Duke Wenxi that Her Royal Highness Princess Wen Chang is going to Yangzhou to recuperate. I wonder if Duke Wenxi has Are you planning to go to Yangzhou to recuperate together?

In addition, I still have some troubles in Yangzhou, and I need the help of Mr. Wenxi County. I hope Mr. Wenxi County will not refuse. "

After speaking, without waiting for the butler's answer, Li Xian nodded, then turned around and walked away.

Li Xian left directly without going in to see Pei Xingjian.

Sitting in the carriage, Li Xian looked cold and solemn, and said directly: "Enter the palace, I want to see my father."

"Yes!" Su Liangsi looked at Li Xian in surprise, bowed slightly, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

……

In the study, Pei Xingjian, who was wearing a white silk singlet and writing something, suddenly raised his head and said in surprise: "The prince is here...ahem...and he's gone again?"

"Yes, the prince said that Yangzhou is suitable for recuperation. I would like to ask you to accompany Her Royal Highness Princess Wencheng to Yangzhou to recuperate and help with some affairs of the East Palace." Although there was a trace of surprise on the butler's face, he still told the story completely.

"Ahem..." Pei Xingjian coughed a little, lowered his eyebrows slightly, and said softly: "Yangzhou, Sima of the Governor's Office of Yangzhou... A small stick is followed by a big stick, the prince is not such a smart person... He belongs to the King of Nanchang Strategy? Does the prince trust the King of Nanchang so much? "

The housekeeper listened dazedly and asked uncertainly: "Sir, what is the Sima of the Governor's Office of Yangzhou?"

Pei Xingjian took a deep breath, waved his hand and said, "This is a retreat prepared by another smart man for me. It saves face and gives you some lee, but others may not be willing to give him this retreat, and I may not be willing to accept it. "

The housekeeper looked at Pei Xingjian with some uncertainty and said, "Master..."

"Bang, bang, bang!" The study door was knocked gently, and the servant's voice outside sounded: "Master, the great master is here."

"Well!" Pei Xingjian looked at the door in surprise, then couldn't help laughing, shook his head, and said: "It seems that the King of Nanchang is really shrewd. I'm afraid he just came from Pei Yan." ?”

The butler's brows couldn't help but jump, then he looked at Pei Xingjian and said, "Master..."

Pei Xingjian sighed softly and said: "Let's go and meet. Although this matter seems to be a matter of my Pei family, the real decision is made by His Majesty and the Queen... Forget it, let's write a memorial first... Ahem... "

...In the Zichen Hall, Li Xian stood respectfully in the middle, while Empress Wu above was reviewing the memorial.

The golden pen in her hand was lightly stroked, and Empress Wu did not raise her head and asked directly: "Do you want to invite the Duke of Wenxi County to be the guest of the crown prince and concurrently serve as the governor of Yangzhou?"

"Yes." Li Xian bowed and said seriously: "My son just went to visit Wenxi County Duke. Wenxi County Duke's old illness has relapsed, and it may not be easy to recuperate in Chang'an. It happened that Aunt Wencheng was going to Yangzhou to recuperate, so I invited Wenxi County Duke My father went to the south of the Yangtze River to recuperate, and it just so happened that the East Palace was about to take over the matter of inspecting the fields in the hands of Pei Shangshu."

The gold pen in Empress Wu's hand paused and she stared straight at Li Xian. After a moment, Empress Wu asked softly: "Prince, do you know that this year there has been a drought in the south of the Yangtze River. There are already people in Yuezhou, Yangzhou, Changzhou and other places. Inciting public sentiment?”

"Ah!" Li Xian's eyes widened in disbelief. He quickly raised his hands and said, "Mother, didn't Uncle Wang of Nanchang settle the affairs in Jiangnan a few years ago? In recent years, the weather in Jiangnan has been smooth and the people are happy. , how could someone instigate..."

Li Xian's brows furrowed tightly. He couldn't understand why such a thing happened here?

Seeing Li Xian's appearance, Empress Wu immediately lost interest, waved her hand and said: "It has nothing to do with the previous matter, it is something else, but someone is taking advantage of the drought in Jiangnan. After all, there is not only one smart person in the world. "

Li Xian held up his hands and said carefully: "Mother, do you want to deploy troops to suppress it?"

"What kind of troops are you deploying? This year, the fighting has finally stopped and the people are at peace. If we mobilize our troops again, there will be trouble this year." Empress Wu glanced at Li Xian angrily, then shook her head and said, "Since you have the intention to mobilize troops, If he goes to Yangzhou, let him handle it, but this matter must be handled by your father..."

A slight sound of footsteps sounded outside the hall, and then without stopping, they came directly to the hall.

The chamberlain in green clothes handed over the memorial and said: "The Queen of Heaven, I heard that the Duke of Xi County is ill and requested to resign as Minister of the Ministry of War."

Empress Wu was stunned for a moment, and then said with emotion: "It seems that he also understands your painstaking efforts, forget it..."

"That's it." Li Zhi said and walked out of the side door. Li Xian quickly bowed and said, "My son, I pay homage to my father."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said: "That's it. To be honest, I can't bear that the situation has reached this stalemate.

The Duke of Wenxi County has been fighting for the Tang Dynasty for many years. Now he just made a slight mistake and was misunderstood by his colleagues. Forget it, since he wants to recuperate, he will go to Yangzhou to stay for a while.

As the prince's guest, he was appointed as the governor of Yangzhou, and many affairs in the southeast could be left to him to handle. "

"My dear father, thank you very much." Li Xian bowed solemnly, with a grateful look on his face.

Li Zhi smiled, waved his hand and said, "It's hard for you, you actually have the ability to adjust yin and yang... Go ahead, go to Wenxi County Duke's Mansion in person to deliver the order. He, the Duke of Jiang, should accept it."

"Here, father, emperor and mother, I take my leave." Li Xuan bowed deeply to Li Zhi and Empress Wu, then quickly turned around and retreated.

In the palace, Li Zhi walked to Empress Wu and sat down.

Empress Wu looked at Li Zhi curiously and asked, "Your Majesty, why did this matter end like this?"

"Xue Yuanchao is not Pei Yan's opponent." Li Zhi shook his head and said: "The situation always needs to be balanced, and this matter must be dealt with quickly. There are too many people in the army watching. He is If you can't handle it at the moment, then many people in the future won't be able to handle it, and things must be finalized."

Mistake, misunderstanding, these two words suddenly appeared in Empress Wu's mind.

The emperor has determined this matter. It was Pei Xingjian who did something wrong.

Ashina Funian was a criminal who fought against the Tang Dynasty. He should have been charged with a serious crime, but Pei Xingjian had promised in advance that as long as Ashina Funian could deliver Ashina Wenfu to surrender, he would be spared his death. But he didn't set a deadline.

In the end, Ashina Funian fought against the Tang Dynasty until the last moment. When he was desperate, he chose to surrender to the Tang Dynasty.

He obviously took advantage of a loophole here.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty did not recognize the fact that Ashina Funian surrendered.

The reason why Pei Xingjian was so unacceptable was that the court did not recognize what he promised. In this way, he no longer had authority in the Ministry of War and the army.

It was impossible for the emperor to retreat, and it was impossible for the court to retreat. The only one who could retreat was Pei Xingjian.

Reporting to illness and recuperating was his last resort.

But in this way, the damage to the prestige of the court will also be great.

Pei Xingjian did not admit his mistakes, which meant that the court and the emperor were treating their meritorious officials badly, which was very fatal in the eyes of the generals.

As for talking about breaking one's word and those who surrender being killed, no real soldier cares about that.

If this is the case, when Li Jing attacked Jieli, he should not have taken advantage of Tang Jian to tell Jieli that the Tang Dynasty would not take action.

Li Xuan should not have re-attacked Luoche just a few months after receiving the tribute promised to Tang Dynasty from the Tubo royal family.

No one cares about these things. As long as the army is strong and gives a reasonable reason, some people will be willing to believe it.

……

After hearing Li Zhi's last words, Empress Wu looked silent.

Xue Yuanchao was not Pei Yan's mastermind. Pei Yan's greatest ability was to make everyone believe that he, Pei Yan, would definitely win this round while Pei Xingjian was away for more than a year.

Even the emperor was a little afraid of this method.

(End of this chapter)