Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 521: Kill the Concubine
"How do you know that the Nan clan would send out troops in a hurry?"

Tubo had just suffered a major defeat, and the domestic situation was in a mess.

Chimalu felt that given the situation, no matter how big the conflict was, they had to wait until the people's livelihood in the country was appeased. Sending troops now would be the stupidest decision.

Chimaluo did not think that starting a civil war at this time was a good choice. In her heart, she did not agree with Chen Qingsi's judgment.

But the facts proved that Tubo did send troops, and the man in front of him guessed correctly again.

Chen Qingsi was in a good mood and explained, "Your ideas are too broad, or simply put, too reasonable. There are not so many reasonable things in this world. As you said, Marpa Wangren is the most famous Bon master in Tubo. His influence cannot be ignored."

"The Nan family is stronger than the Chen family and controls the core area of ​​Luoshui City. Naturally, they are not in a hurry to attack. Time is theirs..."

"Now Wang Xiaojie has begun to perform the duties of the Zamp and called on the powerful to eliminate the bandits. His face is the real Zamp. Those who can really see the clues are all in Luosi, under the control of the Nan family. The others have only met a few times, or even met from a distance at gatherings. How can they tell the true from the false? At this time, the great Bon master Marba Wangren has also joined the team, and the wind is no longer in the Nan family's direction."

"If you don't fight me when I have the upper hand, do you think you can wait until Chen Shi, relying on the prestige of the Zamp and Mapa Wangren, integrates the tribes on the plateau and becomes stronger than him before fighting?"

"There is no such thing as reasonable or unreasonable. From their perspective, the most reasonable thing to do is to destroy the other party."

"Food and the livelihood of the people are not the same thing. If there is no food, it's easy. We can just rob them. Anyway, they won't starve..."

"This is a war. War is irrational. Who would be reasonable at a time like this?"

"If there is no way to solve the current problems, why think about the future?"

"This battle has long been destined and is inevitable."

Chen Qingsi looked at Chimalo who seemed a little dazed.

Chimalu has a strong political mind and thinks calmly and rationally. He ignores the fact that if everyone in this world can consider problems calmly and rationally from a macro perspective, many problems will not exist.

Although it is said that people who do not think about the future will have immediate worries, people ultimately live in the present...

Chima Luo was silent for a long time, and seemed to have figured something out. He muttered, "So Gal Dongzan wanted to take over the government by force. He knew that doing so would hurt Tubo. But if Tubo doesn't get through this hurdle, there will be no hope for the future..."

Seeing Chima Luo draw inferences from one example, Chen Qingsi also nodded and said, "Indeed, Gal Dongzan is the most strategic person I have ever met. His existence has brought a lot of trouble to the court. Since the court stationed troops in Qinghai and blocked Tubo's way down the plateau, Tubo has no future. It's like being in the desert, with two roads, one with a giant guarding the spring, and the other a long desert with nothing known. He did not choose to gamble whether there was water ahead, but chose to challenge the giant..."

"How can I put it? This choice is stupid..."

Chen Qingsi gave this evaluation. Although Galdongzan was successful in history, he cannot escape the blame for the current situation of Tubo.

As a loser, he lost the entire future of Tubo.

Chimalo didn't think Galdongzan was stupid, he just met the wrong person.

Who wouldn’t lose if they met Chen Qingsi?

Chimalu admires heroes. The man in front of him has a plan that is impeccable and is the most powerful hero in the world.

"Who do you think will win in the end, Chen or Nan?"

Chimaro was thoughtful.

Chen Qingsi said: "No one can win, they are all losers."

"Why?" Chimaro blurted out.

Chen Qingsi seemed to think that this question was stupid, and said as a matter of course: "I don't support them, so why should they win?"

He paused and emphasized: "Whoever I let laugh last can laugh last. The choice of winning or losing is never theirs, but mine!"

Chima Luo looked at Chen Qingsi, who was always telling the truth, with a charming look, and said, "Why can't it be Mei Lu? No one is more loyal to the Tang Dynasty than Mei Lu..."

Chen Qingsi smiled secretly in his heart, because with you here, no matter who he chooses, he can't choose without Lu.

In the future, without Lu as the third in command to assist Wang Xiaojie, the Tibetan king, he will never be able to become the second in command.

He didn't want to give the Meilu family a chance to make a comeback, but Chimalo had the ability to do so.

Of course, he didn't intend to say that. He just said with a little embarrassment: "In fact, Meilu is indeed a good choice, but I didn't expect Mangsong Mangzan to have no feelings for the old times and force you Meilu into this state. Before I could implement the plan, you Meilu surrendered. Now Meilu is no longer qualified to laugh."

Although he knew that Chen Qingsi was trying to sow discord, Chimalo couldn't help but get angry because he was telling the truth.

Mangsong Mangzan's indifference and incompetence caused the Meilu clan, who were the most noble nobles in Tubo, to fall to their current situation.

Chimalo was so angry that he was itching.

Chen Qingsi didn't mind if the Lu family didn't return to the Tibetan political arena. Most of their clansmen returned to the north and had already been branded by the Tang court, which could not be washed away.

It was in Wang Xiaojie's plan to have the Meilu clan assist Wang Xiaojie in stabilizing the plateau. But he had to give Chimalo more eye drops. The Meilu clan could take power, but the descendants of the Zamp clan could not.

Wang Xiaojie will become Mangsong Mangzan, which also means that he cannot attack his own son and relatives.

By putting on trouble for Chimalo, he also wanted to use her as a means of revenge against the Zamp clan.

Thinking of this, Chen Qingsi also thought of something and asked, "Do you know any other powerful people on the plateau who have a woman of the right age and outstanding appearance?"

Chima Luo looked strange and asked with some caution: "Why are you asking this? Do you want to marry again? Do you have any good poems?"

There was a sour taste in her mouth when she said this.

When she was in Chang'an, she had heard that sentence and poem, and felt that Chen Qingsi was indeed worthy of being the leader of literati and the pioneer of poetry in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. But now when she thought about it, the words "I don't know where the love comes from, but it is deep and lasting" and "I will not let down the emperor or you", her mouth was full of sadness.

Chen Qingsi said, "What are you thinking? Wang Xiaojie, this Mangsong Mangzan, will have a queen sooner or later. You can't let him pick up Mangsong Mangzan's old shoes and then choose one from them? This matter must be arranged, and Wang Xiaojie can't do it on his own. It's okay when that guy is here, but if he's gone, you can't be sure what kind of bastard he will do."

Chima Luo was enlightened and said, "I see. I'll go find out more about this matter and I'll make sure to choose a girl who likes the Central Plains culture."
-
On this day, Cui Zhao went to the palace to report for duty, exhausted both physically and mentally. As the Taicang Office Secretary of the Inner Palace, his office was in the palace. He was also in charge of the food supplies for the Eastern Palace, and his office was not far from the Eastern Palace. While walking on the road, he saw Li Hong's team coming from afar.

Cui Zhao quickly stepped aside to make way, lowered his head and bowed from a distance.

Cui Zhu was like a thief who came from a distance and dared not look at Li Hong, but the thief had an irresistible urge to see if the person he had wronged knew him.

He raised his head secretly, and found that the other person's eyes were on him.

Li Hong did not know Cui Zhe, but he was a humble person. He met people's eyes, smiled politely, and then nodded.

Cui Zhao felt even more guilty and lowered his head again. It was not until Li Hong and his group left that he mustered the courage to raise his head.

Looking at Li Hong's disappeared figure, he felt mixed emotions. That was the direction to where Li Zhi and Empress Wu rested. Li Hong was loyal and filial, and even as the crown prince, he never forgot to visit his parents every morning and evening.

Li Hong's health has improved today, so he must have gone to visit Li Zhi and Empress Wu.

Thinking about Empress Wu's methods, I couldn't help but feel chilled in my heart. It was truly horrifying that there was a mother in the world who could be so cruel.

Feeling guilty, Cui Zhao went to his own palace. As per custom, he had to carefully check today's food that was shipped from outside the palace.

As the Minister of Taicang, this is the last hurdle for him and also the easiest one to start with.

Because there is no one to check afterwards...the cooking department is directly responsible for preparing the food.

This was not the Qing Dynasty at that time, so there were no such messy and disgusting rules as food tasting.

Cui Zhe usually took action at this time. The fish is not poisonous, but if the fish eats the insects, or if people eat the fish, then it will be harmful.

This method of poisoning is not feasible with pure poison detection methods.

Because of this, what Cui Zhao did was never discovered.

Only Li Hong tasted something strange...

Cui Zhao looked at the live fish in the basin in front of him, thought for a moment, and walked away.

He had two sons and two daughters, and he was reluctant to let them be buried with him. Even though he was tormented, he did not have the courage to make his actions public.

But if he was asked to harm Li Hong again, he would not be able to get past this hurdle, so he might as well just pretend that he had poisoned him...

Cui Zhe returned to his office, took out the porcelain bottle hidden on his body, and poured the insects inside into a bunch of potted plants on the windowsill, thus completing his task.
-
Yongpingfang.

Wan Guojun went to Xizhou, and now the person who has dealings with Li Yifu is a young man named Andepeng.

In the past, Li Yifu formed a clique for personal gain and sold official positions and titles, which had great power.

Li Zhi had always tolerated Li Yifu because most of the people he had won over were from poor families...

Children from poor families often tend to show two extremes: being too arrogant and honest, or being too unscrupulous.

Chen Qingsi and Li Yifu took two different paths.

Children from poor families have no connections or anything else but "reputation". If they want to stand out, they must be like Wei Zheng and Ma Zhou, who are not afraid of power, are upright and honest, do practical things and tell the truth. In this way, they can have a good reputation to protect themselves and seek a future for themselves.

No matter what they are like inside, they must look bright and beautiful on the outside. This is their means of survival.

There is another type like Li Yifu, who cannot see the light, so he keeps company with darkness. He completely disregards moral rules and does things without regard for the consequences. He has no bottom line and will do anything as long as it is beneficial to him.

Most of the people cultivated by Li Yifu are like this, they are of humble origins, eager to succeed, and have been beaten by society...

Andepeng was such a person, but Li Yifu fell from power while he was still in the probationary stage.

Lacking the support of Li Yifu, Andepeng had a hard time surviving in Chang'an, suffering from the fickleness of human nature and the vicissitudes of the world.

So when Li Yifu came to him, Andepeng agreed without hesitation.

Even if I die, I must die in a blaze of glory and leave a lasting infamy.

This is better than being a speck of dust and disappearing into the world.

Andepeng knelt respectfully in front of Li Yifu and said, "Cui Zhu's condition is not right. He seems to have softened his heart..."

Li Yifu's ghostly face began to laugh. Although he was laughing, his deformed facial features were shaking, making him look as scary as an evil ghost.

"Not strange, not strange!"

"Our Cui Shucheng is a member of the Cui family..."

He was full of jealousy when he said this. He was burdened by his status and looked down upon by others. So even though he knew that Li Zhi disliked the Five Surnames, he still became a member of the Five Surnames to let the world know that he, Li Yifu, was not lowly, but also a descendant of the Zhaojun Li family.

As a result, he was invited into the family tree and then taken out of the family tree, becoming a laughing stock.

Now, whenever the five surnames were mentioned, Li Yifu's heart was filled with murderous intent and hatred.

"It is no surprise that the noble Cui family felt so grateful and burst into tears when they were suddenly treated so well by the benevolent Crown Prince."

"I guess our Minister Cui did not treat the crown prince with the worms as agreed these days... Otherwise, the crown prince would not have gotten better and would not have been able to pay respects to His Majesty and Empress Wu..."

Li Yifu knew very well the power of those insects.

Li Yifu had no idea about these strange methods. It was during his exile that a vicious poisoning incident occurred in Nanzhong.

Half of the people in the village died inexplicably, and there was no cause or cause to be found.

Later, the Miao people were invited to find out that this was a "poisonous insect". There were many miasma and poisonous insects in the south. In order to survive, the locals studied these poisonous insects, and some used them as medicine, making great achievements and contributing to medicine.

But some people use this as a means to bring disaster to others and commit evil.

Li Yifu suddenly discovered that there was such a horrifying magic and secretly learned a few moves.

His face was deformed by the poisonous insects and there was no trace of Li Yifu's original appearance.

His methods are not actually very sophisticated, but they are hard to guard against.

Ande Peng asked: "Then what should we do next? Cui Zhu's approach is not working, should we try another approach?"

Li Yifu said in a deep voice: "There is a way, but before using it, Cui Zha must be eliminated."

Ande Peng said: "I don't think Cui Zhu has any intention of leaking the secret. He is just a small soldier. Even if he is exposed, it cannot be traced back to us. No matter who instructed this, he was the one who poisoned the insect. Even if Li Hong is merciful, he will not let this matter go. What's more, with Your Majesty here... This crime is enough to implicate the whole family, Cui Zhu may not dare..."

He didn't say anything else because Li Yifu's devil-like eyes were staring at him fiercely. All the words were stuck in his throat and he dared not say any more.

Li Yifu said viciously: "Those who want to accomplish great things should not be soft-hearted. Who can guarantee that he will not let the cat out of the bag in a fit of impulse? Only dead people can make us feel at ease. Our great enemy is certainly not in Chang'an, but the vicious dog he left behind cannot be underestimated. Especially that Di Renjie, the direction he is investigating is a bit dangerous, and we cannot leave any clues behind..."

"Kill those who deserve to be killed!"

(End of this chapter)