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

Chapter 974 The storm rises

In the study, Li Bi looked solemn and carefully handed over his hand: "Princess, there is a secret message from the palace: In early February, someone died in the East Palace, and there is a rumor in the palace that we need to investigate..."

Liu Jinyu's brows instantly rose: "It's common for people to die in the East Palace. Is there anything to investigate?"

"There was a tip in the East Palace in February, and there were rumors secretly spreading in the East Palace." Li Bi's face was extremely cautious.

Liu Jinyu immediately understood that the dead man must be behind the rumors, and she subconsciously asked: "What rumors?"

"East Palace News: After the emperor's eldest grandson's full-moon banquet, someone spread the news that the prince was not the Queen's biological son. He also died after that." After finishing speaking, Li Bi bowed deeply.

Liu Jinyu couldn't help but shudder, and then asked quickly: "Our people are not involved, are they?"

"I don't know, because I never know their identities. These people were put in by the prince after careful consideration and a lot of time."

Li Bi shook his head slightly and said cautiously: "There are countless maids in the East Palace and Daming Palace, and no one knows who belongs to whom."

"Inform them to be careful." Liu Jinyu shook her head. She couldn't help but worry that these things would involve the palace.

"There is no way to announce it." Li Bi looked up at Liu Jinyu and said, "In recent years, my subordinates have only accepted information from these channels without sending any replies."

Similarly, he has never checked who these people are, and there is no need to check.

Liu Jinyu raised her eyebrows, and Li Xuan's solemn look flashed in her mind.

She doesn't know who these people are, so she won't take any action against them. In this way, even if something happens to these people, she doesn't have to take any action, and she won't be implicated.

"Do you think the court officials will know about these people?" Liu Jinyu's eyes flashed slightly.

Zhao Gong, the court official, was the commander of the secret guards in the palace. Li Xuan had to go through Zhao Gong to arrange for these people.

Similarly, if something happens to these people, Zhao Gong will be the first to help them.

Likewise, it was Zhao Gong who silenced them when necessary.

……

Liu Jinyu looked at Li Bi and asked, "Does the prince know these things?"

"The prince knows." Li Bi bowed slightly.

"What did the lord say?"

"The prince did not reply."

Liu Jinyu took a deep breath and looked solemn.

No reply is the best reply.

Liu Jinyu remembered what Li Xuan told her before leaving Chang'an. She finally understood that everything today was originally part of Li Xuan's plan.

"So, just stay away from the prince."

Liu Jinyu nodded. She could tell that her husband was not optimistic about the prince's future.

Over the years, her husband had advised the prince more than once, but the prince rarely listened.

Now, the storm is rising.

Liu Jinyu shook his head slightly. It was not unusual to criticize the prince.

There are always many people who want to remove the prince from power. Li Xian and Li Dan may not have many ideas, but the people around them have many ideas.

Not to mention Ming Chongyan and Beimen Bachelor, even Yao Lingzhang and Li Xuan may not have been moved.

But those who have always taken the initiative are Ming Chongyan and Beimen Bachelor.

Li Xuan and Yao Lingzhang, even if they occasionally admonished the prince, they were actually just watching with cold eyes.

Moreover, when the two brothers Li Xian and Li Dan came back from their dreams at midnight, did they really not have the idea of ​​sitting on the dragon throne?

It is never easy to remove the prince from his position.

Ming Chongyan and Beimen Bachelor did not target Li Xian every year or two, but they never fundamentally shaken Li Xian's position.

The people around Li Xian are not vegetarians either. Huangfu Gongyi and Zhang Daan are not simple people.

Not to mention, it was the emperor who really supported Li Xian.

Until the emperor wants to depose Li Xian, no one can shake his position.

……

"We should also stay away from the Prime Minister." Liu Jinyu murmured to herself. No wonder Li Xuan wouldn't let her go out easily.

Anyone caught in the battle for the right to inherit the throne would be in huge trouble.

Those who want to criticize the prince and those who want to protect the prince will regard them as pawns.

Raising her head, Liu Jinyu looked at Li Bi and said: "From now on, only you and I can know the news from the palace, and no one else in the palace is allowed to know."

"Here!" Li Bi handed over his hand and his eyes fell on the paper.

The paper was full of densely packed lowercase numbers. Only Li Xuan, Li Bi and Li Mo knew the translation of these secret words.

Even when translating, you can extract it directly from your heart without writing it on paper at all.

Liu Jinyu lowered his head and thought carefully about what was going on inside.

Although her husband advised the prince from time to time, she could feel that Li Xuan did not trust the prince in his heart.

Or maybe they don't think that the prince can be the final winner of this battle for the right to inherit the throne.

Therefore, neither Prince Peng's Mansion nor Lecheng County Government can be involved.

But the prince will step down one day, and even her husband will become an official one day, so he needs to prepare for the future...

Liu Jinyu suddenly thought that maybe her husband was already making preparations.

Her husband has a good relationship with the King of England, not just because they grew up together, but also because he made bets in advance.

It is precisely because of their relationship that Ming Chongyan, Bachelor Beimen, and even the palace did not take the threat of this relationship seriously.

In other words, they don't care about the King of England now.

In other words, the power possessed by the King of England is far from enough to become a threat to everyone.

Liu Jinyu looked at the paper in front of him. Suddenly, the faces of He Zhizhang, Zhuge Minghui and others flashed through Liu Jinyu's mind.

She immediately understood that her husband had prepared these people for the King of England's future use.

But it's not enough. It's not nearly enough.Liu Jinyu remembered that among her Aweng's old subordinates, there were also many future generations of talents.

If it takes two years, these will be sent to the Imperial College one after another...

Don't have too many people, as too many people will easily attract attention, and it will also be easy for someone to pick peaches in the middle.

Three or two people are enough.

Liu Jinyu took out the paper from the side and began to write quickly on it.

The owners of this letter are all local military officers and county magistrates.

Among them was a man named Song Wuben, who is now the magistrate of Yueyang County. In his early years, he accompanied Liu Rengui on an expedition in Silla.

Song Wuben's son was named Song Yuanfu, and he was the sihu of Weizhou.

Song Yuanfu had a son who was also a famous young genius in Weizhou, named Song Jing.

……

The bright moon hangs high, and the sky is as clear as blue.

Huge bamboo rafts rowed across the wide lake.

The cold wind at night blew by, and the soldiers in black armor on the bamboo rafts held their long spears with expressionless faces and stared at the lakeside town ahead.

Li Xuan stood at the front of the bamboo raft, holding the Eight-sided Han Sword in her hand, staring at the temple above the town ahead.

That temple is called Dacang Temple, located northwest of Zoige City.

After a month and a half of long journey, Li Xuan and his party finally arrived in Zoige.

Li Xuan turned around and saw soldiers standing densely on the bamboo raft behind him.

3000 people, [-] Hangzhou Guard Cavalry, [-] Yangzhou Guard Water Soldiers, and [-] Yizhou Mountain Soldiers.

Along the way, they not only had to go up the Yellow River and kill the Tibetan and Dangxiang checkpoint guards along the way, but they also had to ensure that the subsequent road was smooth.

The Tubo people must be killed cleanly, and food and grass must be available at any time.

After all, what Li Xuan wants is not a temporary road, but a long-term trade road for development.

Qinghai specialties, salt, fur, herbs and jade.

There is no shortage of salt and herbs in Shu, and the demand for fur is not high, but jade is in short supply for many local officials, nobles and wealthy businessmen.

Although there is not much demand, it is a good thing to have demand.

If the road is open, people will naturally come.

Western Region, foreign businessmen.

Brocades, silks, and tea from Sichuan can be transported from Songzhou to Changzhou, and then sent to the Western Regions from Tuyuhun in the west.

Specialties from the Western Regions can also be sent to Sichuan through this trade road.

But the prerequisite is that there should be fewer checkpoints and exploitation on this road, so that businessmen can be attracted to go straight to Shuzhong instead of Guanzhong in the north.

In this way, even if the road is difficult, as long as there are enough benefits, there will be enough caravans.

Li Xuan turned around and looked at Zoige City further away.

I'm afraid no one has noticed this trade route yet, but by the time they notice, Li Xuan has already succeeded in everything.

……

The bamboo raft docked, but before anyone could get ashore, a dozen black shadows jumped out of the darkness.

The soldiers on the bamboo raft raised their crossbows in an instant.

At this moment, at the front of more than a dozen black figures, a figure whispered: "Zhao Zhao has Tang."

“God provides for all nations.”

Li Xuan responded immediately, then jumped directly to the shore, grabbed the arm of the figure opposite, suppressed his excitement and asked: "Brother Thirteen, why are you here in person?"

Li Chongjing smiled and patted Li Xuan on the shoulder and said: "When your people arrived in Songzhou, my father did not hesitate at all. He immediately launched his troops to attack the north. My brother led his people across the mountains and arrived here three days ago. , I just didn’t expect you to actually survive this hundred-mile death swamp.”

"The Death Swamp is a bit exaggerated. There is still a black river in the middle that can be crossed." Li Xuan smiled, looked back at the water surface, which was obviously much higher than usual, and said: "It was so smooth thanks to the three days ago. It rained heavily all day and night.”

The water rose, and heavy rain fell for three days and nights. The water level in the entire Ruoergai Baili Swamp rose a lot, allowing Li Xuan and the others to pass smoothly.

Li Chongjing looked at the bamboo rafts that were more than 20 meters long and more than ten meters wide on the water. He couldn't help but look at Li Xuan and asked: "Mr. 27, you didn't predict this rain in advance, did you?"

"I'm not that exaggerated." Li Xuan waved her hand and said, "But it rains here in summer, which is within my expectation."

"No wonder you are confident that you are coming from Changzhou." Li Chongjing couldn't help but sigh.

Li Xuan turned sideways, and countless black-armored soldiers had already landed on the beach, and at the same time, they quickly moved towards the small town in the distance.

"This road is relatively easy to pass when it rains in summer and is frozen in winter. Who dares to run around in the quagmire of spring and autumn." Li Xuan turned back to look at Li Chongjing and said, "Brother Thirteen, how are you preparing the food and grass? Already?"

"We have arrived in front of the Songzhou Army... I don't know what happened this year, but several states and counties have been very active in sending food and grass." Li Chongjing couldn't help but shake his head.

He is very clear about the nature of officials in prefectures and counties. They have always been procrastinating when they can and doing things when they can't, but it is really rare to be so efficient this time.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "Just be prepared. Once the road is open, Lun Qinling should feel the thorn in your back."

Li Chongjing nodded seriously.

The Jiannan Dao army is divided into two groups: north and south.

The army on the south route was led by Zuo Qianniuwei General Li Jinxing and marched from Luding, Yajiang, Litang to Linzhi.

The northern army was led by Li Xiaoyi, Duke of Liang County, and traveled through Songzhou, Partridge Mountain, and Anqiang areas, and arrived at the source areas of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

In the Zoige area to the north, the army could not pass due to the hundreds of miles of lakes and swamps, so it was abandoned.

Now that Li Xuan has taken the road of Songtsen Gampo and opened up the road from Tuyuhun to Sichuan, the entire northern route will be alive.

……

"Mr. 27, what's next?" Li Chongjing looked at Ruoergai County in the distance with a sharp expression.

Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said: "Don't worry, let the army come in first... The people here can survive, but at least half of the party leaders will die.

Betrayal of the Tang Dynasty was not without price. "

(End of this chapter)