Tibet

The person who invited Liu Yan to dinner was Dugu Ming. The place for dinner was arranged at the Wude Restaurant in Pingkangfang. This is the property of the Dugu family and is controlled by Dugu Ming. He hosted a banquet for Liu Yan in a separate courtyard, with Li Dai as his companion. .

The three of them sat down, and Dugu Ming smiled and said: "Don't worry, you can talk freely here, but it's not like that idiot Fang Guan, who actually met Cui Yuan in Taibai Restaurant. It was an ordinary elegant room on the second floor. When he went downstairs, he happened to be greeted by Yushitai. A group of officials saw it and heard that Li Fuguo's Divine Eagle Guards were also present."

"What is the Divine Eagle Guard?" Liu Yan asked in confusion.

Dugu Ming smiled slightly and said: "You know Li Fuguo's Tianji Tower! Its function is equivalent to your internal guard, specializing in checking for enemy spies lurking in Chang'an.

In addition, there is an additional function, monitoring the officials, which is actually a replica of Wu Zetian's Plum Blossom Guards. There are two agencies below the Tianji Tower, one is the secret agent, and the other is the execution army. The execution army is the Divine Eagle Guard, and there are about three About a thousand people. "

Liu Yan nodded, "In this case, Fang Guan will be dismissed as prime minister!"

Dugu Ming smiled lightly and said: "It has been confirmed that the prime minister will be dismissed. Today, the decree will be issued. Pei Mian will be the left prime minister. Pei Mian's successor will be either Xiao Hua or Zhang Hao, but I heard that Xiao Hua is more likely. At first, Wei Jiansu recommended Zhang Hao, but the emperor valued Xiao Hua more."

Li Dai frowned, "But Xiao Hua strongly opposes eunuchs interfering in politics. Can Li Fuguo pass it?"

Dugu Ming sneered and said: "It has always been the emperor's method to use the political affairs hall and the eunuch group to contain each other. Zhang Hao was supposed to take over, but Xiao Hua's strong anti-eunuch attitude made him stand out and be favored by the emperor."

At this time, food and drinks were brought outside, and the three of them drank a glass of wine. Only then did Dugu Ming say: "I have an important secret to tell you. The prince is likely to abdicate."

"What?" Both of them were shocked.

Liu Yan asked in a deep voice: "But is it related to Cui Yuan?"

Dugu Ming nodded, "The Supreme Emperor proposed the Crown Prince's plan, and the Emperor had no choice but to accept it. He probably wanted to delay the change and wait for the Supreme Emperor's death before abolishing the Crown Prince.

The prince was summoned to the palace last night, and the father and son talked for a long time. Early this morning, news came from the East Palace that the prince fell ill. It is estimated that the prince will eventually resign due to his illness. "

Li Dai shook his head, "This is too casual! Changing the prince is a major matter for the country. If it is not handled properly, it will shake the country. How can you make such a hasty decision?"

Dugu Ming smiled and said: "What I'm telling you is just a decision. It will take at least three months to half a year from decision to implementation. The prince is seriously ill and submits his resignation. It must be discussed in the political hall, reported to the emperor for approval, etc. There are proper procedures. There will be, but all of it stems from the decision made last night."

Liu Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Could it be that the plank road was built openly and secretly used to destroy the prince?"

Dugu Ming gave a thumbs up, "In fact, that's what happened. The plan was proposed by Queen Zhang, but it must be Li Fuguo's intention. He used this opportunity to let the prince submit his resignation and promised to reinstate the prince in the future, but he would not do it again in the future. There’s his chance.”

"But the problem is that King Yong is the emperor's younger brother. What about the interests of the emperor? Isn't it rumored that the emperor always wants to take back the throne?" Li Dai asked in confusion.

Dugu Ming thought for a moment and said, "I guess something happened to the Supreme Emperor? It's just that we don't know. Cui Yuan will not be sent to Chang'an for no reason."

"Brother Dugu doesn't have any spies in Chengdu?"

Dugu Ming shook his head, "Of course I have the spy, but so far, I haven't gotten any news from Chengdu."

Liu Yan picked up the jug and filled the wine for the three of them. The three of them drank a glass and picked up a few more chopsticks. Liu Yan put down his chopsticks and said, "This time I came to Chang'an, there is actually another important thing, which is about Uighur."

Dugu Ming and Li Dai looked at each other and asked in unison: "What happened to Huihe?"

"When I set out, His Highness King Qi had already led a large army to conquer Shuofang. The Tibetan army in Shuofang only had 20,000 people, which could be easily wiped out. The key is the Uighurs. Your Highness will not allow the Uighurs to come to the Tang Dynasty. If the Uighurs want to force their way through, Then a war will break out between the two sides."

The three of them were silent. Li Dai sighed and said: "Actually, the government and the opposition have reached a consensus on this matter. The people of Luoyang are sacrificed in exchange for Huihe supporting the Tang Dynasty. If we don't give in, the Uihe will accept Shi Siming's invitation to attack Chang'an together. The reality is cruel. , We are a swordsman and I am a fish, we have no choice but to choose the lesser of the two evils."

Dugu Ming also said after a while: "This matter is my responsibility. I should not tell him about the secret agreement reached between the imperial court and the Uighurs."

Liu Yan said helplessly: "In fact, none of us agree to fight against the Uighurs. This will trigger the Uighurs and Tubos to join forces and strangle us. However, His Highness has made up his mind and no one can dissuade him. I just want to know, once Helong If there is a fierce battle between the army and the Uighur army, what will be the court's attitude?"

Dugu Ming shook his head, "I don't know either. I will discuss this matter with my brother and see what his attitude is!"

The three of them were in a low mood and were not optimistic about the confrontation between Li Ye and Huihe.

At night, after listening to Dugu Ming's story, Dugu Lie said angrily: "How could he be so stupid? The Tibetan army is still in the confrontation, and they go to provoke a powerful enemy. Can he provoke the 400,000 Uighur army?"

Dugujun next to him said slowly: "Brother, Aye has always been very rational in thinking about problems, and he sees problems more deeply than we do. The year before last, the imperial court was trapped in Lingwu, and the imperial court asked Huihe for help, but rejected Huihe's conditions.

According to the character of the Uighur people, they will definitely not be reconciled to such an unhappy negotiation. If at that time, the Uighur army goes south and threatens Lingwu from behind, what can the court do to resist it? But Huihe didn't do this and missed this golden opportunity. Have you ever thought about the reason? "

Dugu Lie waved his hands impatiently and said, "Just tell me the reason!"

"The reason is that the Uighurs have not unified the grasslands. They still have their big enemies, the Geluolu people, who are confronting them in the west of the grassland. There is also the Jiankun tribe, which is also the Uighurs' big enemy. If the Uighur Khan really sends 400,000 troops south, then This created the conditions for the Geluolu and Jiankun tribes to join forces to destroy the Huihe, and they will never let this opportunity pass."

Dugu Lie's expression softened a little, "You mean, Aye also saw this?"

"Brother, Aye has been on good terms with Ge Luolu for so many years in Hezhong and Anxi. It's impossible for him not to have seen it."

"But what should the court do? The emperor was still counting on Huihe to send troops to help, but now the reinforcements that the emperor had been waiting for were eliminated."

Speaking of this, Dugu Lie stopped. His expression was very strange, as if he had thought of something?

Dugu Ming smiled and said, "Brother, did you think of something?"

Dugulie shook his head, "I find it very strange. Maybe I'm over the top. I suddenly thought, if the Helong Army defeats the Huihe Army, then what's the point of the court bringing back the Hehe reinforcements? It's better to just let the Helong Army come over to quell the rebellion. ”

Dugu Ming pondered for a moment and said, "I'm afraid that the Huihe people will become angry and support Shi Siming."

Dugujun sneered and said: "It's the same thing. If the Helong army defeated the Huihe people once, they can definitely defeat them the second time!"

“Let’s not think too much about this issue!”

Dugulie suddenly thought about it. His son-in-law had already made plans and had a plan, but he was thinking randomly here, which was completely meaningless.

"As agreed last year, we should hurry up and transport the grain to Longyou via the Wei River. We will support him with practical actions."

Dugu Ming left, leaving only Dugu Jun and Dugu Lie in the lobby. Dugu Jun said worriedly: "Brother, Qiming came to me at noon today and said that the prince may abdicate."

Dugu Lie nodded, "Lao San has already told me about this! The emperor and his son have reached an agreement, how can we outsiders interfere?"

"But once the prince abdicates and wants to take the throne again, the possibility is too low. I think the prince was plotted by Li Fuguo and Queen Zhang."

"Even so, there's nothing we can do!"

Dugujun still wanted to say, but Dugulie waved his hand and said: "It is impossible for the Lonely family to be involved in everything, especially when it involves imperial power. If we are not careful, we will be destroyed.

I see this matter very clearly about the prince. If he doesn’t fight for it himself, how can he expect others?

If we get involved, we can only be buried with him. The Dugu family will never get involved in this kind of thing. Don't ruin the entire Dugu family just because of your daughter's mood. "