Tibet

Emperor Li Heng could not sleep because of Li Ye's incident. He knew very well the complementarity of the Supreme Emperor and Li Ye. One had status but no strength, and the other had strength but no status. If the two cooperated, it would be difficult to keep his throne.

Li Heng stood in front of the window with his hands behind his hands, anxious in his heart.

At this time, the eunuch reported: "Your Majesty, the chief steward has something urgent to see you!"

The general manager is Li Fuguo, who holds many positions and is also the general manager.

Li Heng nodded, "Let him in!"

After a while, Li Fuguo hurriedly came in and saluted, "I'm disturbing your majesty's rest!"

"It's so late, what's the emergency, General?"

"Your Majesty, I have received a secret report. This time Liu Yan comes to Beijing and may bring a jade seal."

"What jade seal?"

"I don't know about my humble position, but someone saw Liu Yan handing a box similar to the emperor's treasure to Dugu Consort."

Li Heng shook his head, "If the general hasn't seen it with his own eyes, don't jump to conclusions for the time being. The Seven Treasures of the Emperor are in the hands of the Supreme Emperor and have nothing to do with Li Ye. It should be just an exquisite jade article, perhaps a birthday gift from Li Ye to the old lady Dugu. "

"Your Majesty, if the Supreme Emperor gives one of the treasures to Li Ye as a sign of sincerity for cooperation between the two parties, will it be possible?"

Li Heng was shocked. It was really possible, but

"Even if it is one of the Seven Treasures, what does it mean for Li Ye to bring it to Beijing and give it to the Dugu family?"

Li Fuguo said slowly: "It is very likely that Li Ye didn't know whether it was true or not and asked the Dugu family to identify it. Wei Chen thinks this is the most likely possibility."

Li Heng nodded, "What do you think?"

This was what Li Fuguo was waiting for. He bowed and said: "I beg your Majesty to give me a decree. I am going to search Dugu Ming's house and find the emperor's jade seal. How could the Dugu family dare to hide the emperor's seal secretly?" eight treasures!"

Li Fuguo knew the emperor Li Heng very well, and he already had a demonic desire for the emperor's eight treasures. If the emperor knew that the Dugu family had a jade seal, he would definitely do everything possible to dig it out.

He can use this opportunity to deal with Dugu Ming severely.

Li Heng is indeed a little tempted. If it were another family, he might agree to Li Fuguo's request, but this is the Dugu family, with the entire Guanlong noble family standing behind it. It is not that easy to offend. Moreover, the Dugu family has a close relationship with Li Ye , this matter was not handled well and angered Li Ye. Wouldn't that push Li Ye to the Supreme Emperor?

The thoughts in Li Heng's mind turned around a few times, then he shook his head and said, "All your ideas are just speculations and there is no real evidence. How can I approve you?"

"His Majesty."

Li Fuguo was unwilling to give in and wanted to fight for it again. Li Heng waved his hand and interrupted him, "The Dugu family is not easy to mess with. I am very glad that they did not support the Supreme Emperor. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Fuguo had no choice but to resign. He was secretly annoyed. He suddenly found that the emperor was not so easy to manipulate. In the past, as long as he said it, he would definitely agree. Today, he actually refused. This seemed to be the first time he refused. Own.

For the first time, Li Fuguo had the idea of ​​abolishing the emperor. The seeds of abolishing the emperor took root in his heart tonight.

The next morning, Emperor Li Heng summoned Longyou's special envoy Liu Yan alone.

Li Fuguo came to the imperial study and saw a group of eunuchs standing at the door. Even Han Fengen was kicked out. He suddenly said angrily: "Is the emperor the only one in there?"

Han Fengen nodded helplessly, "They talked very confidentially. The other party asked all personnel to leave, so the emperor kicked out the villain."

"It's really unreasonable. Why is there anything shameful about the emperor's discussion of state affairs?"

Li Fuguo was very angry. When he turned around, he saw Pei Mian, the right prime minister, coming in a hurry. Li Fuguo went up to meet him and asked, "Is it the emperor who summoned the prime minister?"

Pei Mian shook his head quickly, "The emperor did not summon me. I just heard that the emperor was receiving the Longyou special envoy, so I came here to take a look."

Li Fuguo lowered his voice and asked: "The emperor is very strange today. He summoned the Longyou envoy alone, and even the eunuchs who served him were kicked out. I wonder what they were talking about? Does the right minister know?"

Pei Mian still shook his head, "I don't know anything either!"

Pei Mian couldn't keep it off his face. Only then did he realize that he had been tricked by Liu Yan yesterday. Liu Yan obviously had other things, but refused to tell him. Today, the emperor met him alone, which really embarrassed him.

At this time, the door of the imperial study room opened, and Emperor Li Heng personally sent Liu Yan out. He was smiling and in high spirits, and said with a smile: "Please Liu Sima tell His Highness King Qi for me that he can understand the general situation, take the overall situation into consideration, and protect the people." The Tang Dynasty is stable, I am very grateful!"

Liu Yan bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty, there is no need to see you off far, I will take my leave!"

Liu Yan turned around and left, and Li Heng immediately ordered to Pei Mian: "Pei Aiqing happens to be here, call the political hall for discussion immediately!"

He ignored Li Fuguo and turned back to the imperial study. Li Fuguo was really embarrassed, snorted coldly, turned around and left.

Li Heng was in a good mood. On the one hand, Li Ye clearly rejected the Emperor's request for cooperation. Secondly, Li Ye told him important news that the Emperor would not survive next year.

Li Heng was simply overjoyed. Only when the Emperor really passed away could he become a worthy emperor. At that time, he would not recognize the Emperor as his younger brother.

Moreover, Li Ye was willing to exchange the Emperor's Xinbao for Yanzhou, and also agreed that the taxes would still return to the court. Li Heng agreed immediately. He knew that Li Ye was interested in Yanzhou's kerosene. He was not interested in kerosene, but he valued it more. The emperor believed in the treasure, and the taxes returned to the court were just an explanation to the political hall.

It turned out that part of Helong Jinzouyuan was converted into an inn. Liu Yan was worried that there were too many idle people and the Xin Bao was not safe, so he gave it to Dugu Ming for safekeeping. Fortunately, he did not listen to Li Fuguo's advice and did not make a big mistake.

It was also because of this incident that Li Heng felt a trace of dissatisfaction with Li Fuguo.

In a moment, all five prime ministers rushed to the meeting hall of the imperial study. Li Heng walked in briskly. Everyone stood up and saluted: "See your majesty!"

"Dear ladies, please take a seat!"

Li Heng smiled and asked everyone to sit down. He also sat down above him and said with a smile: "I invite all the Prime Ministers to come here to discuss several important matters. The first thing is that the Helong Army has expelled the Tubo Army from the Tang Dynasty. The restoration of Tianbao's thirteen-year boundary is worthy of a special mention. In order to commend the Helong Army, I decided to assign Yanzhou to the jurisdiction of Shuofang Jiedu Prefecture."

The ministers looked at each other in shock and commended the Helong Army for their great victory, but assigned Yanzhou to Li Ye's jurisdiction. What does this mean? It’s completely irrelevant!

Seeing everyone's confusion, Li Heng said calmly: "Yanzhou produces important strategic materials, kerosene. I actually rewarded the kerosene to the Helong Army, but in order to prevent future conflicts, I assigned the entire Yanzhou to Shuofang. The Jiedu Mansion is under the jurisdiction of the Government, I have already decided this matter, and the Government Hall should not argue about this anymore!"

Of course, Li Heng couldn't say that he would exchange land for the jade seal, so he found an excuse to commend Shanzhou for his great victory and assigned Yanzhou to Shuofang.

"Your Highness, what should the officials do now?"

"The current officials will continue to serve. After their term of office expires, they will be recommended by the King of Qi and appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. Taxes will be returned to the court, minerals will be returned to Helong, and Helong will have the right to garrison troops."

The tax return to the imperial court was not bad and pragmatic, so everyone remained silent.

Li Heng continued: "The King of Qi reminded me that Pugu Huai'en is likely to rebel, and suggested that the court should prepare a response as soon as possible. Although I don't believe it, I also feel that there is nothing wrong with taking a little precaution. We cannot wait until his army comes to the city. , we were caught off guard.”

Everyone immediately started talking, and Pei Zunqing, who had just been promoted to left prime minister, asked: "Excuse me, your majesty, did King Qi tell you the reason for Pugu Huai'en's rebellion?"

"The King of Qi did not give a reason. You can find any reason. The key is the motive for the rebellion. His son died in Ba, which is a motive. Secondly, he is dissatisfied with the court and believes that the court's rewards are unfair. It is also a motive, but these are not important. , what matters is how we respond, which is why I have convened everyone for discussion."

Li Xian asked: "Your Majesty, does His Highness King Qi have any suggestions?"

Li Heng nodded, "He suggested that I use Guo Ziyi to deal with Pugu Huaien!"

Everyone agreed with this suggestion. Guo Ziyi was Pugu Huaien's old superior and had high prestige in Pugu Huaien's army. It was most appropriate for him to come forward to deal with Pugu Huaien's rebellion.

However, Guo Ziyi was still in Tongguan, and Li Heng immediately issued an order: "Quickly summon Guo Ziyi to lead the Tongguan garrison to Beijing!"