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

Chapter 781 How can the future be as satisfactory as everyone wants?

It was dusk, and under the west gate of Taozhou, people in twos and threes were returning home.

Above the city gate, three people stood side by side, watching everything calmly.

Li Xuan stood in the center, Lu Yuanfang stood on his left, and Di Renjie stood on the right. The three of them looked at Xicheng, and in fact they also looked at the entire Taozhou.

"There are only a few days of peace. In five days, the Hangzhou Guard will transport a large amount of grain, grass and ordnance to Taozhou, then transport it from Taozhou to Hezhou, and finally from Hezhou to the Kuozhou front line." Li Xuan looked sideways at Lu Yuanfang , said seriously: "Uncle Shi, after the war begins, everything in Taozhou will be settled."

Lu Yuanfang nodded solemnly, glanced sideways at the city gate guard, and then said: "The matter in Taozhou is not difficult. Although Zhang Yungong is the governor of Taozhou, the governor of Taozhou and Sima are not on the same side as him. People, other Cao Shenjun and him are not closely related, so it is not difficult to deal with state affairs."

Speaking of which, Zhang Yungong is really unlucky. His layout in Taozhou is actually very good. Yang Jin, a member of the Kucao army, is his future in-law, and the captain of the city gate is his brother-in-law. He himself controls the soldiers and households. Although Cao, other Chang Shi and Sima were not his people, they were unable to shake his control.

However, after Li Xuan came to Taozhou, as the deputy marshal and deputy general manager of the Taohe Road March, he directly took control of the Taozhou soldiers and Hucao. After that, Yang Jin turned against him, and the remaining meritorious officers, Shi Cao and Fa Cao all turned against him, and the situation was completely out of control.

Step by step, the power around him was stripped away layer by layer, and in the end there were only six hundred hidden cavalry left, but in the end they were not used at all.

……

"Today's Taozhou, the really tricky thing is how to handle the logistics and transportation and the people's harvest." Lu Yuanfang is now inspecting the Taozhou governor, and of course he must look at the overall situation from the perspective of a state governor.

Although he is responsible for the transportation of Taozhou, he also understands the importance of local governance.

"How to balance it all?" Li Xuan put her hand on the city wall, feeling the warmth of the city wall, then turned sideways and looked in the direction of the Marshal's Mansion, and said with a gesture: "Isn't there the key to solving the problem there?"

"The King of England?" Lu Yuanfang was stunned for a moment, looked at Li Xuan in surprise, and then said: "My nephew means that the King of England should be more involved in Taozhou's government affairs, especially in the affairs of the people in the fields."

Li Xuan nodded and said: "Your Majesty once ordered that the King of England write a memorial and return to Chang'an every three days, detailing what he experienced every day, as well as his self-reflection. If you can seize this opportunity, let Your Majesty If we pay more attention to Taozhou, then even a tax reduction or exemption will be good."

After Li Xuan finished speaking, Lu Yuanfang's eyes couldn't help but move, but then he didn't know what he thought of, and his face suddenly became solemn.

"Your Majesty really has good intentions." Di Renjie suddenly said.

Li Xuan fell silent, as if Di Renjie's words hit home.

A moment later, as the sun sank into the ground, Lu Yuanfang suddenly said: "Xiannephew, we are still officials of the East Palace."

"The affairs of the saints are about sacrifice and military affairs, but what we are talking about now is the people and taxes. His Royal Highness is now the shepherd of Luozhou. In the future, he will inevitably have to govern the people of Luozhou. It is not a bad thing to know a little about the sufferings of the people in advance." Li Xuan simply In a few sentences, the matter was summed up.

"But the foundation of sacrifice and military service is the people and taxes." Lu Yuanfang's tone was light and his eyes were solemn.

Li Xuan smiled faintly and said: "Uncle Shi has overthought it. His Royal Highness has a naughty temperament. The Tibetan cavalry came to attack earlier. For the sake of personal safety, he could be restrained in the mansion. Now that the danger is gone, he may not be able to endure it." Keep your temper, find something for him to do, and let him spend more time with Uncle Shi. It is also a kind of protection for him. After all, at this time, there are still undercurrents surging."

"Your Majesty, are you talking about people from the Demon Cult?" Di Renjie immediately revealed the hidden meaning behind Li Xuan's words.

"That's right." Li Xuan turned to look at Di Renjie, and then said seriously: "During this battle, the guards of the Royal Palace never left the King of England. They were on guard against those from the Demon Cult. However, in the end, those from the Demon Cult Still hasn’t shown up, which is quite strange.”

"Has the prince found the reason?"

"No, it's just a guess. Maybe the Tubo people don't have that much trust in the people of the Demon Sect, so they excluded people from the Demon Sect from this battle. The people of the Demon Sect may have chosen to sit on the sidelines because of this. In the end, Brenzan Blade was defeated If defeated, Tubo will have to rely on people from the Demon Cult." Li Xuan sighed, shook his head, and said: "Soldiers, deception, large army operations, intelligence, and spies are all indispensable. If something happens to one of Tubo's own people, they will naturally have to rely on the Demonic Cult."

"So the Demon Cult will still attack the King of England?" Di Renjie frowned tightly.

Lu Yuanfang glanced sideways at Di Renjie, shook his head helplessly, and then looked at Li Xuan: "Then how should the prince explain?"

Li Xuan smiled, and then said: "Uncle Shi inspected the prince's horse washing, and my nephew inspected the prince's right to praise the good doctor. He should advise the prince on what the King of England did in Taozhou. Uncle Shi will send a memorial to him every three days. Just go to the East Palace, I just hope the prince can see more."

"There are too many people around the prince." Lu Yuanfang sighed softly and finally shook his head.

The emperor appointed Lu Yuanfang to inspect the prince's studies. Lu Yuanfang also visited Li Xian more than once to teach and advise, but Li Xian was too deeply influenced by other people.

No matter what Li Xuan or Lu Yuanfang persuaded him, Li Xian listened to the advice in person, but when he turned around and put it into practice, it was another matter.

Now, Li Xuan wants to use Li Xian to stimulate Li Xian, but it may not work.

……

"This time the Crown Princess is pregnant, I heard it's all because of the Prince." Lu Yuanfang turned sideways, facing the cold wind at the top of the city, looked at Li Xuan with a half-smile, and said, "I'm afraid the Prince will have a lot of troubles in the future. "

"Alas!" Li Xuan waved her hands quickly with a wry smile on her face. He did not expect that just once, Princess Fang would be pregnant.

Before, when the imperial decree came, the Qianniu Guards who delivered the decree came and went in a hurry. It was not until later that they met Lu Yuanfang and Di Renjie that they talked about this matter.

Now Lu Yuanfang suddenly mentioned the matter of the Crown Princess, somewhat intending to change the subject. Although Li Xuan had a helpless face, she still said solemnly: "As a son, a husband, and a father, I hope that His Highness the Crown Prince can make more progress this time." , handling things more tactfully will also make people feel more at ease.”

After Li Xuan finished speaking, Lu Yuanfang and Di Renjie fell silent at the same time.

There are some things that Li Xuan can say, but Lu Yuanfang and Di Renjie cannot.

Today, the two biggest undercurrents in the court are the power struggle between Empress Wu and the Crown Prince.There are too many people around Li Xian, and too many established families have bet on him, so that he often can't help himself.

When doing things, Li Xian was too aggressive and collided with Empress Wu several times.

Fortunately, the emperor maintains a balance. There is conflict, but it has not become too intense, but that trend is uncontrollable.

If nothing else happens, Li Xian will be deposed in a few years, and then Li Xian will come to power. Then Empress Wu will depose Li Xian, Li Dan will come to power, and Empress Wu will proclaim himself emperor.

What Li Xuan has been doing is one thing, pushing everything back.

Even if Li Xian is deposed, he must be pushed until Li Xian has grown up enough, so that he will not have nothing and be at a loss after he ascends the throne.

As long as Li Xian is not deposed within one month of taking office, everything after that can be slowly turned around.

By then, even if Li Xian is deposed again and Li Dan comes to power, it will not be so easy for Empress Wu to depose him.

At that time, the one who should use extreme measures is Empress Wu. If she makes the slightest mistake, the whole world will turn against her.

This is Li Xuan's plan for the next ten years. He believes that the emperor must also see it clearly.

But what the emperor could see clearly was only the front half.

How can the future be as satisfactory as everyone wants?

……

The morning light shines brightly on the Tao River.

The flags are fluttering and there are many tall trees.

Li Xuan sat on a horse under the west city gate, raised his hands to Li Xian, and said: "His Highness is in Taozhou. Although he is safe, he should try his best to disturb the place as little as possible on weekdays. If you are free, you might as well listen to Lu Jieshi Explain more about some local interesting things. He has governed Yangzhou for many years and has unique insights into many things."

Li Xian nodded seriously, and then said: "Uncle Wang has worked hard. Sanlang understands it and just obeys the order. However, everything in Hezhou is difficult, so I hope Uncle Wang will be careful."

"Your Highness, be careful. I will leave the escape route to Your Highness." Li Xuan smiled, then turned to look at Lu Yuanfang and Di Renjie, cupped his hands and said, "Uncle Shi, Brother Huaiying, see you someday."

"My lord, take care." Lu Yuanfang and Di Renjie handed over to Li Xuan at the same time.

"Take care!" Li Xuan nodded, then turned the horse around, then waved his hand and ordered: "Let's go!"

The [-] cavalry began to slowly cross the Tao River Bridge, heading towards the west bank, then headed north, crossed the Rouge River, and headed for Hezhou.

Hezhou is to the west of Taozhou and is the real logistics base for the conquest of Tibet along the Tao River.

Kuozhou further to the west and Diezhou to the southwest are already on the border with Tubo, and war may break out at any time.

Li Jinxing set out for Kuozhou, and after Heiji Changzhi entered Diezhou to the west, it was Li Xuan who was responsible for transporting grain, grass and ordnance supply points to them.

But the transportation and supply of grain, grass and ordnance has never been an easy task. Guo Daifeng is a very conspicuous example.

During Li Xuan's trip, in addition to being careful about sabotage by Tubo cavalry and traitors, he also had to be careful about people spying on the secrets of the army. Li Xuan would not be idle even in the rear.

In the middle section of Rouge River, once you pass the cliff, you are already in Hezhou.

For some reason, Li Xuan felt like a sandy wind was blowing against her face. She was surrounded by the sparkling and clear Rouge River, and the mountains and forests on both sides were full of green.

Before Li Xuan could think clearly, a rush of footsteps suddenly came from behind the army.

Li Xuan subconsciously looked back and saw three fast horses chasing from behind. The leader was Di Renjie in black official clothes.

Li Xuan was a little surprised, but he still waved his hand. The army immediately made way for a passage, and Di Renjie quickly came to Li Xuan.

"Hey!" Stopping the horse, Di Renjie immediately raised his hands to Li Xuan and said, "Your Majesty!"

Li Xuan returned the gift with cupped hands: "Brother Huaiying is here to do something else?"

"There are two people who should be in Taozhou Prison, but now they are missing?" Di Renjie looked at Li Xuan with bright eyes.

"It's Chen Xia and Zhang Qiniang." Li Xuan slapped her forehead fiercely and said as she remembered: "Originally, I should have explained this matter clearly to Brother Huaiying, but because of the complicated matters, it was delayed."

"Your Majesty, please speak!" Di Renjie looked solemn.

Li Xuan gave a helpless smile, then took out a book of this chapter from her arms and handed it over, saying: "This is a copy of Zhang Qiniang's confession. It has been sent to Chang'an. Your Majesty and Duke Duan of Dali Temple have a copy. After Brother Huaiying reads it, be sure to keep it secret."

"Here!" Di Renjie looked solemn. After taking it, he read the memorial seriously, and his face gradually became serious.

(End of this chapter)