Taiping Inn

Li Xuandu could not confirm the truth of the old Khan's words for a while. The Golden Horde now has three pillars, namely the army stationed on the northwest border, the army stationed on the Liaodong border, and the Khan's personal guards stationed in the royal court. If the old Khan eliminated Ili Khan, wouldn't it be cutting off one arm? Doesn't the old Khan know the principle of letting the wolf into the house?

The old Khan saw what Li Xuandu was thinking and said, "Ili Khan is not equal to the Qiexue Army, and destroying Ili Khan is not equal to destroying the Qiexue Army as a whole. No matter what method Liaodong uses, as long as Ili Khan is defeated, I can take away his position as the Grand Commandant in the name of the Khan. This has two advantages. The first advantage is that the new Khan does not have to face an uncle with high power. It is not difficult to exile Ili Khan, who is no longer the Grand Commandant of the Qiexue Army. The second advantage is that the new Khan can re-promote Ili Khan without facing the situation of no more titles. . In this way, the one who shows favor to Ili Khan is the new Khan, and Ili Khan will naturally be loyal to the new Khan.

Li Xuandu praised: "The Khan is well versed in the art of being an emperor."

"No need to flatter me." The old Khan waved his arms, "I learned it from the people of the Central Plains. Before his death, Emperor Wude of your Great Wei divided the power of the emperor into two, giving them to Zhang Suqing and Xie Zhi respectively. His original intention was good, thinking that the two could check and balance each other, and when the little emperor grew up, he could smoothly take back the power from his teacher and mother, but what was the result? The little emperor has I have grown up and have my first son, but I have not taken back my power. My mother is like this, let alone my uncle? "

Li Xuandu said: "Ili Khan is Mingli Khan's man."

The old Khan shook his head and said: "Mingli Khan is Mingli Khan, and Ili Khan is Ili Khan. I believe in Ili Khan's loyalty, but I have to say that he is sometimes too nosy. In the words of you people in the Central Plains, Ili Khan has exceeded his duties as a minister. He should not participate in the struggle in the royal court, and he should not dictate my decisions. feet, even if he is right. Of course, this does not prevent me from respecting him very much. Sometimes I think that if Ili Khan is not my brother, but my son, then I don’t have to worry so much. He is a perfect successor. I can safely hand over the Qiexue Army to him without doing anything. He can completely clear all obstacles with his own strength. "

Li Xuandu fully agrees with the old Khan's words. Ili Khan’s biggest disadvantage is not that he does not have the blood of the Khan, but that he only has the blood of the previous generation of Khan, but not the blood of the current generation of Khan.

The old Khan continued, "To be honest, according to the old rules, the succession should be from the elder brother to the younger brother, but the Golden Horde is no longer the same as it was back then. The tents have become palaces, and even cities have been built on the grasslands. The throne of the Khan has become inherited by father and son, and even from the youngest son to the eldest son. The people of the Golden Horde are becoming more and more like the people of the Central Plains. Ili Khan fought the most with the people of the Central Plains and was most influenced by them. Do you think he looks like a stereotypical Central Plains person? He even married a Central Plains woman, who he said he brought back from the Central Plains. The woman was the daughter of an official family. , read a lot of books, Ili Khan likes to talk to her about Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and then he becomes more and more like a minister in the Central Plains, always wanting to give orders to the Khan. What is the word? "

Li Xuandu whispered: "Advise."

"Yes, advise." The old Khan said: "Always want to advise, not greedy for money, greedy for fame. Maybe you can talk to him."

Li Xuandu asked: "Why can't Mingli Khan inherit the position of Khan?"

The old Khan said: "In fact, you know, Mingli Khan is too old. In fact, the speed of the succession of the Khan position is secondary. The key is that he has He has lost all his ambitions and only thinks about how to keep his power. If such a person becomes the Khan of the Golden Horde, the Golden Horde will only sink and degenerate, and eventually become corrupt. "

Li Xuandu asked again: "With the help of the old Khan, Liaodong can help the old Khan defeat Ili Khan, but what can Liaodong get? I have to give an explanation to the Ministry. "

The old Khan said: "There is a saying in the Central Plains that the emperor does not lack hungry soldiers. Even if the little emperor wants to order Zhao Zheng to do something, it is extremely difficult, not to mention me, the lord of the enemy country. However, defeating Ili Khan It is the best reward in itself. Zhao Zheng wants to enter the pass and go south, but he is worried about his future. Although the Golden Horde can form an alliance with Liaodong, no one believes that a mere contract can bind both parties. But he defeated Ili Khan, and the Golden Horde no longer has the energy to attack Liaodong. This is more reliable than any contract. I believe Zhao Zheng will not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "

Li Xuandu had to admit that what the old Khan said made sense. Defeating the Golden Horde army led by Ili Khan was the biggest trouble for Liaodong, which was far more tempting than gold, silver and land.

However, Li Xuandu still felt that the Khan's idea was a bit too bold, and couldn't help asking: "Isn't the Khan afraid that Liaodong will take the opportunity to attack the royal court?" The Khan said: "Migratory birds fly south in autumn to spend the winter, and fly back in spring. The Northern Expedition has always been chosen when the weather is warm. Who would go to the grassland in the cold season? By then, the warriors of the Golden Horde will not need to take action, the snow, the north wind, and the severe cold will defeat them." Li Xuandu said: "But it will be spring soon."

Lao Han smiled and said, "I have lived on the grassland all my life, living by the water and grass, moving according to all seasons. In spring, the royal court will move to the East Court and stay away from Liaodong. Secondly, the spring is still chilly and snow is accumulated on the grassland. Without transformation, the cavalry in the Central Plains cannot be forced to fight for an expedition under such conditions. Finally, if the Liaodong army wants to go south, it must be guarded against the golden tent behind it. If Liaodong wants to go north, do you need to guard against the Central Plains court on the other side? ? ”

Li Xuan had no choice but to nod, "Old Khan is far-sighted and thoughtful."

Lao Han smiled and said, "I have recorded the praises of the Central Plains messengers. When people get old, they always like to listen to some pleasant words."

Li Xuandu said: "It's not just flattery. Lao Khan's wisdom really convinced me."

Lao Khan laughed loudly, "An old man hates the contempt of young people the most. Being sincerely praised by an outstanding young man will give me a good mood all day long."

Li Xuan smiled slightly and didn't say anything. In front of Lao Khan, although he had a superb level of cultivation and could kill this old man with just a thought, Lao Khan's aura made him feel that he could not make it powerful. It was not that he was afraid of Lao Han, but that he could see the shadows of Li Daoxu and Xu Wugui in Lao Han. At the same time, Lao Han had a personal charm that was hard to refuse, and he might be called Wang Ba The aura is something that Li Daoxu and Xu Wugui lack. To be fair, if Lao Han was not the Great Khan of the Golden Tent, but the Emperor of the Great Wei, it might be difficult for Li Xuan to develop a hostile heart.

At the beginning, Li Xuandu had the idea of ​​assassinating Lao Khan, and wanted to use Lao Khan's death to stir up chaos in the royal court, but now Li Xuandu has changed his mind and decided to change from a fake messenger to a real one. The messenger promoted this "peace negotiation" and completely defeated Yili Khan. Maybe Zhao Zheng didn't expect that Lao Khan would give such "rich" conditions. Having said that, Lao Khan could not tell Yue Jie about such a big event, and then let her pass the message to Zhao Zheng. He could only tell him personally, and the identity of the Central Plains messenger must be sufficient, so Lao Khan He was sure that Qin Qing came in person as an envoy, and said that if Qin Qing came in person, he would meet him as soon as possible, and if he was an unknown man, he would not show up at all.

Thinking of this, Li Xuan suddenly realized that Zhao Zheng was not completely unaware of the "good intention" released by Lao Khan, so he decided to let Qin Qing go to the gold tent in person. It was just that Qin Qing could not do it for some reason, so he asked Li. Xuandu went there on his behalf, and Zhao Zheng was just speculating that he could not fully grasp the intention of Lao Khan. In addition, Zhao Zheng and Li Xuandu did not have a deep relationship. If this matter was leaked, he would be slandered by the Confucian clan as a traitor who colluded with the enemy and treason. , he could not argue, so he was not good at telling him the truth. He could only talk about Li Xuandu in detail and only talk about Wang Ting's truth.

While the two were talking, Lao Khan's carriage was approaching Lao Khan's golden tent. After all, Xiao Yan's temple was closely adjacent to Lao Khan's golden tent. Lao Khan enjoyed the kneading of the two female slaves and said : "Emister, the national master wants to see you, do you want to see him?"