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

Chapter 1680: For the family inheritance, I am willing to die for the prince
Under the cover of night, in the Zuowei camp, Tang Zhenxing was sitting in the central military tent processing official documents.

Suddenly, a burst of hurried horse hoofbeats sounded outside the tent.

Tang Zhenxing subconsciously raised his head, and then saw two Qianniu guards rushing in from outside. They hurriedly bowed to Tang Zhenxing and said, "General Tang, the Grand Commandant has an order!"

Tang Zhenxing was slightly stunned. In an instant, ten Qianniu guards rushed out from his side. They looked at the two Qianniu guards at the door and shouted coldly, "Who are you? Why haven't we seen you two around the Marshal?"

Grand Marshal, Grand Commander.

Tang Zhenxing understood instantly what he felt was wrong.

The Qianniu Guards under King Peng were all those who had followed him all the way from the Lieutenant General of the Left Qianniu Guard to the General of the Right Guard, and now to the Grand Marshal. Perhaps some of the other generals and lieutenant generals called Li Xuan the Grand Marshal, but these old men had always just called him the Marshal.

"Kill!" The two foreign Qianniu Guards immediately drew their swords and rushed towards Tang Zhenxing, while opposite them, the ten Qianniu Guards had already divided into three teams.

Four people guarded Tang Zhenxing, and the remaining six were divided into two teams of three and directly killed the Qianniu Guards on the opposite side.

As soon as they took over, the familiar sword moves instantly made them realize that the opponent was not an outsider either, but also a Qianniu Guard, and the Left Qianniu Guard at that.

But they are just the Qianniu Guards of the Great Zhou.

As the knife flashed, a long spear suddenly stabbed in from behind and in the blink of an eye it had pierced into the chest of a Great Zhou Qianniu Guard, piercing him through in an instant.

The moment another Great Zhou Qianniu Guard was surprised, the tail of the spear had already hit his chest hard, knocking him flying.

Before he landed on the ground, three thousand-blade knives were already placed on his neck.

But at this time, more people's eyes fell on his chest.

An imperial edict suddenly fell out of his arms.

Everyone who saw this scene was stunned.

Tang Zhenxing's face immediately darkened. He could sense that Empress Wu had always wanted to trick him into betraying Li Xuan. Although the price kept rising, he didn't want to pay any attention.

If these two Great Zhou Qianniu Guards had not made a mistake in addressing each other today, Tang Zhenxing would have really left with them. Just this imperial edict alone would not be enough for him to explain even if he had ten thousand mouths.

“General, we have to go see the Marshal.” A Qianniu Guard walked up to Tang Zhenxing and whispered, “These matters still need to be handled by the Marshal.

Also, General, bring more men with you. If the Queen wants to assassinate you, she won’t stop so easily.”

Tang Zhenxing glanced at the imperial edict and nodded gently: "Okay!"

……

In the Xingluo Lake camp, countless soldiers were carrying and cutting wood back and forth.

Tang Zhenxing couldn't help but feel surprised when he saw this scene.

On the open space on the south bank of Xingluo Lake, Tang Zhenxing met Li Xuan who was busy and told him what happened in the big tent before. The four Qianniu Guards also brought up two corpses.

Two badges were handed to Li Xuan. Li Xuan took a look at the badges, nodded, and said, "They are the men of Zuo Qianniuwei."

Tang Zhenxing turned sideways, and another Qianniu Guard handed the imperial edict to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan calmly opened it and took a look. He looked a little surprised. He turned sideways to look at Tang Zhenxing and asked, "Brother Tang, you haven't seen it, right?"

"How does Your Majesty know?" Tang Zhenxing was surprised.

"Brother Tang, you wouldn't be like this if you had seen it." Li Xuan smiled, handed over the imperial edict, and said, "Brother Tang, you should take a look. The Queen Mother put a lot of effort into it."

Tang Zhenxing hesitated immediately.

"Promote me to the rank of general, grant me the surname Wu, and make me the Prince of Nanyang. Marry me to a daughter of the Wu clan, and make me the governor of Changzhou, in charge of the northwest. If you kill me, you can make me the Prince of Jing, and your heir the Prince of Nanyang, with 20,000 households."

Li Xuan stuffed the imperial edict into Tang Zhenxing's hand and said, "I don't care, so why do you care?"

"Yes!" Tang Zhenxing breathed a sigh of relief, took the imperial edict and opened it.

After taking a look, Tang Zhenxing's eyes couldn't help but change.

As Li Xuan said, Empress Wu gave him the surname Wu, made him the Prince of Nanyang, and wanted to marry him a daughter of the Wu clan. This alone was enough to show her sincerity.

Not to mention, he was also appointed as the governor of Changzhou, in charge of the northwest.

As for saying that if I kill Li Xuan, I can be crowned King of Jing...

Tang Zhenxing suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Xuan, and asked in surprise: "The prince doesn't seem to care?"

"What do you care about? Are you concerned about the Queen's rewards?" Li Xuan couldn't help but shook his head and sneered, "You know what the Queen is like. You need to make great contributions to her before she will give you great rewards. This is her. As for great contributions... Brother Tang, do you remember who was the last person who made great contributions to the Queen?"

Tang Zhenxing's expression changed slightly, and he lowered his head and said, "It's the Imperial Guard General Zhang Qianxu."

"Yes!" Li Xuan looked towards Chang'an and said softly, "General Zhang was executed for treason. According to the investigation of Qianniuwei, General Zhang went to Chang'an to hunt down the prince after the Luoyang incident but failed. He was then feared by the court officials and was placed under house arrest by the Empress. Then people were sent to force him step by step, and finally forced him to rebel... Brother Tang, don't you think this is familiar?"

"The matter of Prince Zhanghuai." Tang Zhenxing's breathing became heavy.

Empress Wu forced others to rebel, and then killed them in the name of killing the rebels. This was true for both Zhang Qianxu and Li Xian.

"In the final analysis, the Queen Mother still doesn't trust people who have betrayed others." Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said, "Zhang Qianxu was originally a man of Emperor Zhongzong, but was won over by the Queen Mother and eventually killed Emperor Zhongzong in Qianyang Palace.

In the eyes of the Queen, someone who can betray others today can betray her tomorrow, so such a person is never taken seriously by her.

The people she trusted were always Wu Sansi and other people from Taiyuan, even the Beimen scholar was a little bit behind. "

Tang Zhenxing fell completely silent. No matter whether he had thought about betraying Li Xuan or not, Empress Wu was just that kind of person.

"As the saying goes, a man of great merit will shock his master, and a tree will stand out in the forest." Li Xuan looked towards the direction of Ziwei Palace and said softly, "In fact, the Queen Mother doesn't even need to take action. The extremely jealous King Liang will probably take action first."

"Your Majesty!" Tang Zhenxing couldn't help but bow...

Li Xuan waved his hands and looked at Tang Zhenxing seriously: "Brother Tang, I can't give you too much here. After conquering Luoyang, you will be a General of the Left Guard and a Duke of Sha... But these are honorary positions. Brother Tang understands. If you are willing, you can be transferred to the General of the Left Jinwu Guard in two years, or be the Chief of the Military Governor's Office of Bingzhou, Yizhou, Jingzhou, or Yangzhou... Forget Changzhou, it's a windy and sandy place, and there will be bloodshed on the battlefield. As for the princess of the royal family..."

Li Xuan looked at Tang Zhenxing, who was already over fifty but still in good shape, shook his head and said, "Forget about it, Brother Tang. Find a son or grandchild at home. You have a grandson, right?"

Tang Zhenxing didn't know why, but his mind calmed down, and he bowed solemnly and said, "It's already ten years old."

"Yes." Li Xuan raised his head, looked towards Luoyang, and said softly: "After Luoyang is taken, let your grandson join the Right Thousand Bull Guard, receive training for a few years, and then transfer to the Left Thousand Bull Guard Captain, walk in the palace, and then let several royal princes take a look, see which one likes him, and then get married.

After that, he will be released and become a local Sima or Changshi. After returning to the capital, he will be assigned to work in the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and five bureaus. If he performs well, he will become a local governor after a few years..."

"Thank you, Marshal!" Tang Zhenxing knelt down on one knee and kowtowed deeply to Li Xuan.

Tang Zhenxing had completely calmed down at this time. The rewards given to him by Empress Wu were too extravagant, such as general, prince, princess of the royal family, etc., which were a mess.

All he could actually get was the position of Governor of Changzhou, but did Tang Zhenxing lack the position of a local governor?
Li Xuan's place was given to him casually, and they were prosperous cities such as Bingzhou, Yizhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou.

More importantly, it is the future and family heritage.

If his Tang family had Li blood, or even a local governor, it could at least ensure prosperity for three generations.

After four or five generations, even if the family declines, it will be completely fine to be a rich and idle person.

This is much better than living in fear day and night under Empress Wu.

And he doesn't have to suffer the suspicion of villains like Wu Sansi.

"There's no need for us to do this." Li Xuan stretched out his hand to pull Tang Zhenxing up, looking at the imperial edict in his hand, Li Xuan said softly: "The purpose of this imperial edict should be to turn you and me against each other, but Empress Wu has the wrong idea, because I am sure that you will not change!"

"Ah!" Tang Zhenxing looked at Li Xuan in surprise.

"Because your last name is Tang!" Li Xuan couldn't help laughing, and said with emotion: "Li Tang Li Tang, although your Tang family is not a royal family, in my eyes, it is no worse than a royal family!"

Tang Zhenxing paused, then slowly bowed and said seriously: "I am guilty!"

“Forget it.” Li Xuan waved his hand and said, “The human heart is subtle. The thoughts at this moment will be shameful the next moment. If you only grasp the fleeting thought, everyone in the world deserves to die, including me.”

Tang Zhenxing raised his head, and when he looked surprised, one could see that there was still a trace of emotion in his eyes.

"Go back." Li Xuan patted Tang Zhenxing on the shoulder and said, "Take a thousand men from the Right Guard back. The Queen's attempt to sow discord between you and me is not that simple. She must have a back-up plan. Maybe it's one of your generals who was close to Wang Xiaojie back then. Now he is in league with the Queen and is planning to take advantage of the conflict between you and me to stir up trouble. When you go back, find this person and send his head to me."

Li Xuan immediately showed a fierce killing intent, and Tang Zhenxing immediately bowed and said, "I will go back right away."

"That's right!" Li Xuan called Tang Zhenxing and said, "The 1,000 Right Guards will carry 10,000 bamboo hats to the Left Guards and distribute them. Also, starting tomorrow, the Left Guards will dig the road from the Yishui River to Qixia Gate and fill up the west bank to prevent the Yishui River from flowing to Dingding Gate."

"Here!" Tang Zhenxing looked at Li Xuan in surprise.

There is too much information in Li Xuan's words.

The bamboo hat is about to be taken off.

Digging up the road leading to Qixia Gate from Yishui River, this is a water attack.

"I'll go right away!" Tang Zhenxing bowed and turned away without any hesitation. At the same time, a thousand right guard cavalrymen followed Tang Zhenxing towards the left guard camp.

Only after Tang Zhenxing disappeared did Li Xuan shake his head with emotion.

Zhou Qian suddenly appeared behind Li Xuan and whispered, "Your Majesty, Li Shaoqing is here."

"Oh, he's out of town?" Li Xuan was a little surprised and turned around and asked, "Where is he?"

A middle-aged man wearing a black robe and a three-foot-long beard appeared at the side of the tent, accompanied by a lady and a boy.

Li Xuan strode towards the camp area. When he got closer, Li Xuan smiled and bowed first, saying, "Brother Li, long time no see."

"I, the Imperial Historian, am here to see Your Majesty." Li Yan quickly bowed in return, then said solemnly, "What Your Majesty has instructed me to do..."

"Let's talk about this later. Is it convenient for you to leave the city tonight?" Li Xuan waved his hand to stop Li Yan.

Li Yan immediately stopped talking, and then whispered: "The Qixia Gate is half open, and almost everyone who can get out has come out..."

(End of this chapter)