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

Chapter 1712: Who wants to die after massacring the cities of the Tang Dynasty?

Zheng was sitting on the imperial couch, with her youngest son Li Chongjun beside her, and in front of her were the courtiers who were respectful in the hall.

Although everything looked peaceful, Zheng couldn't help but think of the deaths of the two brothers Li Xian and Li Dan.

Even, that day in Luoyang, her son had become the emperor and she had become the empress dowager, but in the blink of an eye, she fell into oblivion again. So what about now?
The ministers in the palace were familiar with obedience.

In an instant, what Li Xuan said last night came back to her mind.

The world is managed by hundreds of officials, and the royal family supervises the officials.

The Queen Mother balances left and right.

If there are checks and balances like this, there will be no worries in the world.

Looking up, Zheng said gently, "Last year, the country has returned from chaos to peace. You have all worked hard. King Han, King Huo, you and the other princes of the royal family will toast to you on behalf of the emperor."

"We obey your order." King Han, King Huo, King Shu, King Lu, and even Li Xuan all looked surprised.

The entire clan bowed respectfully to Zheng, and then walked towards the ministers holding the wine jar.

In an instant, all the courtiers in the palace could feel that the royal family’s support for the empress dowager had increased a lot.

At this time, just this one sentence made many people begin to re-evaluate the Queen Mother's weight in the power of the court.

In a very short time, Zheng felt the caution in the eyes of the ministers as they looked at her.

There is also a hint of fear.

Finally, her heart completely relaxed and a smile appeared on her face.

……

Among the ministers, Zheng Xuankai had just put down his wine glass when his eyes inevitably fell on his daughter.

Naturally, he knows his own daughter best.

The Zheng family of Xingyang is one of the most powerful families in the world, and they are definitely good at educating their children.

Zheng Jiuniang read quite a few books, but most of them were books like "Nujie", "Nuxun", "Tao Te Ching", and "Zhuangzi". She would occasionally read "The Analects of Confucius", and that was all.

But his daughter is not the kind of girl who is extremely smart, does not even have good academic aptitude, and is kind-hearted.

She looks good, but she doesn't have much brains. Why does she feel different once she sits in that position?

Zheng Xuankai subconsciously looked at Cui Zhiwen...

"Report, urgent report, report quickly within six hundred miles."

Waves of loud cheers came from outside the Taiji Palace. Zheng Xuankai was subconsciously stunned, and then he suddenly realized that what he had been planning for several months was finally accomplished.

"Empress Dowager!" All the ministers turned around at the same time and looked at Zheng.

Zheng was immediately panicked. How could there be an urgent delivery of 600 miles? What was going on?

Zheng looked up at the ministers. Before her eyes fell on Li Xuan, Cui Zhiwen had already stepped forward and said, "Queen Mother, summon him immediately."

"Yes!" Zheng said subconsciously, "Spread it!"

"Send..." Amidst the thunderous voice, a dusty postman walked into the hall quickly, then knelt on the ground in an awkward manner and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, your Majesty, Rongzhou has urgent news. The Five Zhaos have rebelled and captured Junzhou. The Yuejun and Baiman people resisted stubbornly but were massacred."

As soon as the word "massacre" was uttered, the whole hall fell into dead silence.

Massacre. The prefectures and counties of the Tang Dynasty were massacred.

This is extremely rare in the entire history of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Xuan suddenly turned his head and looked at the other ministers in the hall. His cold eyes swept across the children of the three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng. Finally, he slowly stood up and walked to the center of the hall.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, and the Queen Mother." As soon as Li Xuan opened his mouth, all the ministers in the hall looked at him.

"Please speak, King Peng." Zheng relaxed at once. Li Xuan was the Grand Marshal of the Empire, and this kind of thing should have fallen on him first.

"Your Majesty and the Queen Mother may not know that although Junzhou is the territory of our Great Tang, it is actually a vassal state dominated by the Wuman, and is mainly composed of the three Wuman tribes of Wudeng, Lianglin and Fengpa. Wudeng covers an area of ​​a thousand miles, with six surnames of the Qiong tribe, one surname of Baiman and five surnames of Wuman. The Wuman are not very civilized, but the Baiman have been deeply influenced by our Great Tang. Nowadays, many Wuman children in Chang'an city are actually Baiman with habits similar to our Tang people." Li Xuan paused for a moment, waiting for the court officials to digest and absorb.

Zheng nodded slightly and said, "Uncle Wang, please continue."

"Yes!" Li Xuan bowed and said, "The massacre of the Baiman is not only a rebellion of the Five Zhaos, but also means that our Tang Dynasty's policy of civilizing the Wuman has suffered great damage."

Confucianism has always been known for educating the world.

The Turks, Tuyuhun, Tibetans, Goguryeo, Silla, and barbarians were all among those they educated.

Of course, it is okay for foreigners, but in the Tang Dynasty, people are proud to educate the barbarians and bring them into the Tang Dynasty.

This is true for Fumin, Jiangyou, Jingzhou, Huxiang, Qianzhou, Dianzhou, and even Jiannan.

Educating the barbarians has always been one of the means for the Tang Dynasty to penetrate into Yunnan. Now that the Baiman have been massacred, it means that this strategy has suffered a great setback.

"Send out troops." Cui Zhiwen couldn't help but stand up. He didn't expect that Li Xuan knew so much about the situation in Yunnan. If he continued, who knew if he would come up with some surprising means.

Palace Supervisor Zheng Xuankai followed and came over, cupping his hands and saying, "I agree to send troops."

Afterwards, Lu Chen, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, also stood up and said, "I agree to send troops."

As they were speaking, more descendants of the three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng stood up and supported the emperor in sending troops.

Only Cui Xuanwei, the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, hesitated for a moment and did not stand up.

Many people could see that the three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng seemed to want to show off the prestige of the new emperor, so they strongly supported the dispatch of troops. Soon, more people stood up, and only the military generals, several other prime ministers, and several other ministers did not speak.

"Queen Dowager, I would like to ask Prince Peng a few words." Lu Yuanfang bowed and stood up.

"Please speak, Left Prime Minister." Zheng nodded and her expression became solemn.

"Prince Peng." Lu Yuanfang bowed, then looked at Li Xuan and said, "I know that after the prince conquered Fanzhou, he had the intention of eyeing the Five Kingdoms, but the conditions were not ripe, so the late emperor did not allow it."

"Yes!" Li Xuan bowed slightly, then stood up and said, "The land of Wuzhao is complex and not a place that can be attacked easily. Therefore, if we don't have enough troops, sending troops easily will only waste people's money and time."

Li Xuan was actually not inclined to send troops, which surprised the ministers in the palace.

"But in this case, the Five Zhao took the initiative to attack and invaded Junzhou, and the Baiman were massacred in the city. We had no choice." Lu Yuanfang took a step forward and stared at Li Xuan.

"So we have to send troops." Li Xuan nodded, then looked up and said, "But our dynasty's annual harvest last year was only half of the year before, and we can't afford a major war. So we can only send 10,000 elite soldiers from Chang'an, and then mobilize 20,000 mountain soldiers from Jiannan Road. We will march into Junzhou and take it back first."

"Your Highness means that the corresponding food and grass should be supported by Jiannan Road?" Lu Yuanfang immediately understood the meaning of Li Xuan's words.

Li Xuan turned to look at Cui Xuanwei, the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, and said directly: "If the Ministry of Revenue feels that it can support it, the king has no objection."

"The Ministry of Revenue can contribute a part of it, but the majority still needs to be raised by Jiannan Road." The Minister of Revenue, Yun Hongyin, stepped forward and bowed solemnly to Queen Zheng.

"We can take back Junzhou first, but the Tang Dynasty cannot stay in Junzhou forever. If we don't hurt them thoroughly, there will be rebellion in the future." Cui Zhiwen stood up and bowed to Zheng and said, "Queen Dowager, I propose that General Tang Zhenxing of the Left Guard lead 10,000 Left Guards to the south to quell the rebellion."

"Uncle Wang?" Zheng couldn't help but look at Li Xuan again.

Li Xuan bowed slightly and said, "I think it's okay, but I think you can advance your troops, but don't do it too fast."

"Why?" Cui Zhiwen looked at Li Xuan with some confusion.

"The land of the Five Zhaos is located in the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, Canglan River, and Nujiang River. I suggest that the governor of Fanzhou and the pacification envoy of Luoshui Road, Heichi Changzhi, send troops from Fanzhou to build step dams along the rivers to the south, and at the same time divert water to irrigate both banks. Before summer, the water flow will be cut off. In summer, when it rains heavily, the dams will be opened to release the flood, which will destroy the entire land of the Five Zhaos in one fell swoop."

Li Xuan's words were not very serious, but they made all the officials in the court feel a chill.

In spring, your water flow will be cut off, leaving you with no water to use. In summer, floods will spread directly and destroy everything you have.

"Will this not be too much of a killing?" The new director of the Imperial College, Cui Rong, looked at Li Xuan with some concern.

Cui Rong was born in the Wushui branch of the southern ancestor of the Qinghe Cui family, and was not from the same lineage as Cui Zhiwen. Moreover, he had previously been Li Xian's prince tutor and had a close relationship with Li Xuan.

He was also present when Li Xuan was teaching Li Xian, so Li Xuan had his own plans when he nominated him as the director of the Imperial College.

"The counties and cities of the Tang Dynasty have been massacred." Li Xuan looked at Cui Rong gently.

Cui Rong was speechless for a moment, then bowed and returned to the train.

"Let's do as King Peng said." Zheng spoke first, then looked at Tang Zhenxing and said, "General, please pay attention to the consumption of food and grass."

"Yes!" Tang Zhenxing bowed without hesitation.

Zheng turned to look at Lu Yuanfang and said, "The Political Affairs Hall has drafted an order to urge all departments to hurry up. The emperor has just ascended the throne today, and such a thing has happened. It is really a bit disappointing. The people of the Five Zhao clan should be severely punished."

"Here!" All the officials in the palace raised their hands at the same time.

The envoys from various countries at the back also had a hint of fear in their eyes.

After the Wu family's chaotic rule, the Tang Dynasty's national strength did weaken, but if anyone underestimates the Tang Dynasty because of this, they are really asking for trouble.

With just one strategy, King Peng plunged the Five Zhao into an unspeakable state of suffering.

Of course, it is not realistic to rely on intercepting the water to directly destroy the Five Zhaos, as there are more than just three rivers within the Five Zhaos.

Wuzhao is mountainous, and the snow that accumulates in winter melts in summer, which can be beneficial, but don’t forget that Li Xuan’s methods are more than that.

We can intercept and release water today and next year.

In three to five years, or at most ten years, the Five Kingdoms would perish due to internal turmoil.

This is the real way to kill people without being seen.

……

After Zheng Xuankai talked to Cui Zhiwen for a few words, he came to the harem.

A moment later, Zheng Xuankai entered the Ganlu Hall.

In the Ganlu Inner Hall, Zheng had just coaxed Li Chongjun to sleep. When she saw Zheng Xuankai, she put Li Chongjun down and walked into the outer hall.

"Please take a seat, father." After Zheng sat down in the main seat, she asked Zheng Xuankai to sit down.

Zheng Xuankai looked at Zheng with a strange feeling and whispered, "Nineth Lady, you are different now."

Zheng was slightly stunned, then she looked at Zheng Xuankai and sighed softly, "Father is right, I am a little different now, but father should also understand that I am not only the Queen Mother of the Tang Dynasty, but also the mother of the Emperor. I will always help him to protect this world and not let it fall into chaos."

"That's why you have to start using the power of the royal family." Zheng Xuankai finally understood why. From the perspective of the empress dowager, the royal family is also a force that can be utilized.

"The left and right prime ministers are both wise ministers." Zheng looked at Zheng Xuankai and said softly, "Yesterday, the left and right prime ministers came to the emperor's court and proposed that Prime Minister Lu be appointed as the left prime minister and Prime Minister Wang as the right prime minister. The two prime ministers are also wise, but in order to prevent someone from causing chaos, we need someone to help keep an eye on the ministers below."

"So you believed the kings." Zheng Xuankai's face was full of disbelief.

Zheng shook her head slightly and said, "Father is only half right. In fact, when the kings keep an eye on the ministers, the ministers will also keep an eye on the kings. In this way, the government can be harmonious and balanced, at least for the next three to five years. After three to five years, when Chongjun is older, I will ask Prince Peng to teach him in person. After all, the late emperor was also taught by Prince Peng."

Zheng Xuankai fell silent for a moment.

Is this still his daughter?

(End of this chapter)