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

Chapter 1439 Empress Wu was suspicious and moved around

In the Qianyang Hall, Li Xuan kowtowed respectfully to the ground and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I am the pacifying envoy of Luoche Road, the marching general of Luoche Road, the Protector of Fanzhou, the governor of Fanzhou, the general of the right guard, the guest of the prince, Prince Peng. Xuan, pay your respects to the Queen of Heaven. May the Queen of Heaven be blessed and safe."

Empress Wu raised her eyes from the memorial and said calmly: "Get on your feet."

"Thank you, Queen." Li Xuan stood up slowly this time, bowed her hands and stood solemnly.

"Your Majesty asked me to summon Prince Peng, mainly to inquire about the affairs of the Western Regions. What does Prince Peng think of the war in the Western Regions?" Empress Wu looked at Li Xuan calmly, with a concerned look on her face.

Li Xuan cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to the Empress of Heaven, according to my opinion, the war in the Western Region is not difficult. As long as the Anxi Protectorate Army and the Luoshitao Army are cautious, it will not be a problem to stabilize the defense. But if you want to go further, then A large amount of supplies are needed and properly deployed by the government. By the middle of next year, the Western Turks will be no match for the Tang Dynasty and will be defeated. "

"Retreat, just retreat?" Empress Wu frowned, her eyes dissatisfied.

Li Xuan raised her hands with a solemn expression and said: "Tianhou, although there is a plateau in the way, it is only 3,500 miles from Chang'an to Luoxue. However, it is 6,000 miles from Chang'an to Dabolu, and there are another thousand miles in between. In the desert, it is extremely difficult to supply food, weapons, and soldiers. The farther west you go, the greater the consumption. "

"Then where are you going to send troops?" Empress Wu leaned forward and stared at Li Xuan.

"By sending troops from Luoche Road, I can attack Kang State and Shi State, but further west, I will also need the support of the DPRK." After a slight pause, Li Xuan cupped his hands and said: "The Queen of Heaven, if you want to completely pacify the Western Turks, I think The court must have at least five years of preparation and five years of war, and there must be no mistakes in the middle. "

Empress Wu's eyes fell on Li Xuan. Li Xuan's face was full of bitterness, and Empress Wu couldn't help but nodded slightly.

"Okay." Empress Wu chuckled lightly, looked at Li Xuan and said: "I know that this is extremely difficult and needs to be arranged in detail. In the past few years in Fanzhou, just concentrate on this matter. Wait until Fanzhou is over. I will transfer you to Anxi and calm down slowly."

At least Li Xuan, if he's not careful, he might not be able to leave the Qianyang Palace today.

The dissatisfaction of the people of the Western Turks was the root cause, and the Tang Dynasty had no ability to appease and suppress the dissatisfaction of the people of the Western Turks.

Empress Wu waved her hand and said: "DTZ is also dissatisfied with Datang. After a war, it is not settled yet."

……

"Yes, Prime Minister Cui has already told me." Li Xuan handed over his hands with a serious expression.

Li Xian is now with the emperor, and the emperor is also asking Li Xian about this matter. If the two of them don't get along, they will be in big trouble.

Li Xuan wanted to say something, but after he opened his mouth, he still held his tongue. He raised his hands to Empress Wu seriously and said, "What the Empress said is extremely good."

Over the years, Tubo was pacified. After the defeat of Dafeichuan, Tang Dynasty licked its wounds and worked hard to cure it. It took ten years to completely conquer Tubo.

"The method of vertical and horizontal can also be used." Li Xuan cupped his hands and said: "Tianhou, if I sit in Anxi, move east and west, move north and south, and instigate inside and outside, you can also do it. However, the Western Turks are dissatisfied with the people of the Tang Dynasty, and they will be guaranteed for ten years at most. Stability, after ten years, it will not be so easy to calm down the war again. "

Empress Wu frowned. What will it look like ten years from now?
"Does it have to take ten years?" Empress Wu looked at Li Xuan and asked seriously: "Ten years of preparation, how much food, soldiers, and ordnance will be consumed? King Peng, is there any other way to calm the war? , it doesn’t necessarily require tough measures.”

Today, Empress Wu made detailed inquiries face to face to see how much truth Li Xuan would tell.

Another ten years?

Empress Wu frowned, just calculating like this would take ten years.

"Okay, let's talk about the things in Chang'an." Empress Wu leaned forward slightly and looked at Li Xuan with a half-smile: "Those people who looted people in Chang'an have been cleaned up. The things about Prince Peng's Mansion and the Cui family should be It’s already over.”

Li Xuan pondered Empress Wu's thoughts, and continued: "The Cui family will be transferred to Taiyuan in the near future, and the Cui family will serve as Wannian County magistrates. In addition, Cui Xiang promised that from now on, the Cui family and Lu The family will not make a fuss about the prince's affairs, and even in government affairs, if the prince has a big plan, the Cui family and the Lu family will fully support it. "

"I accept the order." Li Xuan bowed solemnly.

Without Ouyang's reminder that night, Li Xuan might have had to hide a lot of things, but now, he knew that he had reached a critical moment of life and death.

"Oh?" Empress Wu raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Li Xuan with a smile: "Supporting the prince, for such a big thing, Prince Peng said so."

He knew that Empress Wu did not know the details of his conversation with Cui Zhiwen on the Wei River yesterday, but she knew that they had talked. As for what they wanted to talk about, Empress Wu could also guess a thing or two. It was not difficult. .

Li Xuan still lowered his head and said: "The prince, the prince, should have the support of the courtiers. As long as the prince governs properly and reasonably, the prime ministers of the court should also support him, instead of blocking it for his own selfish interests. The Cui family and the Lu family support Prince, it is also with the permission of His Majesty and the Queen.”

Empress Wu paused slightly, then nodded with a smile and said, "You are right. As long as the prince's governance is done properly, he should have the full support of the prime minister."

Empress Wu sighed in her heart, Prince Peng is a smart man.

Empress Wu understood the meaning of Li Xuan's words very clearly. As long as things were legitimate and reasonable, the Cui family and the Lu family would support the East Palace, but if things were unreasonable and unfair, the Cui family and the Lu family would not support the prince.

What the East Palace wants is that the Cui family and the Lu family support the prince within reasonable and legitimate limits.

Li Xian himself is already a prince. As long as the emperor does not issue an order to depose his prince, the Cui family and the Lu family will and should fully support him. This is a conspiracy, and even Empress Wu would find it difficult to say no.

This is not the first time Li Xuan has used this method.

At the beginning of the year, Li Xuan found a teacher for the prince, gave lectures every day, and even asked the ministers of the Eastern Palace to participate.

This also means that every move of the prince is under the watchful eye of Empress Wu and the emperor.

The emperor was in poor health, so he should be suspicious of the prince.

But Li Xuan's move has easily dispelled the emperor's suspicion. What a trick!

Until now, not to mention the emperor, even Empress Wu had never thought of deposing Li Xian as crown prince.

……

Empress Wu raised her head, looked at Li Xuan, and asked, "What about the Zheng family? The Cui, Lu, and Zheng families have always advanced and retreated together. Why didn't you mention the Zheng family?"

Li Xuan bowed slightly, cupped his hands and said: "Tianhou, the Cui family is in the center. There are prime ministers, ministers, governors, censors, young ministers from the Nine Temples, Si Ye, the prince, and six doctors. They are in the court. The foundation is deep and once locked, it is difficult to turn around.

The situation of the Lu family is similar to that of the Cui family, but only the Zheng family has too little foundation in the court. "

"If the foundation is too shallow, it is easy to turn against one another." Empress Wu nodded. She understood the meaning of Li Xuan's words. Even if the Zheng family turned to Li Xian, they would not be able to gain much benefit because of their shallow foundation in the court. On the contrary, if they Support another person to ascend to power. Once successful, the benefits will be unimaginably rich.

"Only in this way can they have the greatest benefit." Li Xuan bowed deeply, and at the end of his words, he did not say the word "Xiang Wang".

Empress Wu nodded slightly. Empress Wu had already experienced the dangers of the Zheng family's ambition.

"Therefore, I propose that if it is feasible, the daughter of the Zheng family can enter the East Palace and serve as the crown prince Liangdi. In this way, the family will be stable, the government and the public will be stable, and the world will be stable." Li Xuan bowed solemnly, and he did not hide anything about the daughter of the Zheng family. out.

"Marriage." Empress Wu nodded, then looked at Li Xuan funny and said, "For San Lang, you are really willing to use any means."

"The prince is the prince appointed by your majesty and the queen of heaven. I also act according to the orders of your majesty and the queen of heaven. Moreover, the prince is generous and kind, and he is also suitable to be the crown prince of the world." Li Xuan lowered his head and spoke very carefully every word.

Empress Wu looked at Li Xuan deeply, and her eyes fell on the bullet of Yuan Wanqing on one side. Empress Wu had a feeling that Li Xuan might know about this bullet.

Of course, no one knew about this memorial from Yuan Wanqing to Empress Wu's hands, so Li Xuan couldn't have believed it from them.

But before this memorial fell into the hands of Yuan Wanqing, the three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng knew a lot.

Now it seems that it was the Cui family who betrayed the Zheng family.

"There is no need to worry about the crown prince's acceptance of the concubine." Empress Wu waved her hand, looked at Li Xuan and said, "We will wait until after the ceremony of enthronement."

"Here!" Li Xuan bowed deeply.

"This year, Prime Minister Zuo and He Yuqiu have done a good job in water control. If there are no major events next year, then Prime Minister Zuo should also take a good rest, but are you the Water Supervisor?" Empress Wu looked at Li Xuan and asked, "Du Water Supervisor, what are your plans?"

Li Xuan held up his hands and said seriously: "I heard that Duke Xi was investigating hidden fields in Shandong for trouble. If the capital water supervisor can be sent to Shandong, it might be effective."

Empress Wu nodded slightly. It was not only Pei Xingjian who found it difficult to trace the hidden fields, but also the bachelor of Hebei Beimen.

It is indeed a strange move to use the Metropolitan Water Supervisor to check Hidden Fields.

"It can be seen that King Peng is very careful in managing everything." Empress Wu nodded in approval, and then said: "I see that when you were governing Fanzhou, you were quite harsh on your subordinate officials, especially those from aristocratic families. Why? , Does Prince Peng have any objections to the children of the aristocratic family?"

"Queen of Heaven." Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, and then bowed and said: "Queen of Heaven, it's not that I have any objections to the children of the aristocratic family, but that what they did is very despicable to me."

"Oh." Empress Wu became interested, looked at Li Xuan, and said, "Tell me more."

"Here!" Li Xuan handed over his hand and said: "Tianhou, after this year, dozens of descendants of aristocratic families will come to Fanzhou to take office. However, less than three months after taking office, they have already secretly occupied Fanzhou through their family servants. The state has hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, and the worst person has thousands of acres of land, and none of the land has paid taxes.”

Li Xuan looked at Empress Wu with worried eyes, handed over a memorial at the same time, and said seriously: "Taxation is the foundation of the world. It is almost instinctive for aristocratic families to erode their fields and swallow up taxes. If I hadn't pressed harder this year, I would have checked harder. , I’m afraid it’s more than that, the 10% tax that Fanzhou sent to the court this year is gone.”

Empress Wu frowned, but stared at Li Xuan tightly, and said: "You are right, it is instinct for the children of aristocratic families to devour the fields, but it is the same in the world, in Fanzhou, Shandong and Hebei. That’s why we’re investigating Hidden Fields now, so what’s your plan for the current situation?”

Li Xuan's expression became solemn, she cupped her hands and said: "..."

(End of this chapter)