Chang'an.
This magnificent city is immersed in a strange atmosphere. Some people are terrified, some are eager to try, some are watching with cold eyes, but some have come forward.
Those who volunteered...such as Li Dewu.
Chang'an's order Li Qianyou had not yet returned to Beijing. County Lieutenant Li Dewu took charge of city inspections, prohibition of violence, and supervision of rape. He received support from the East Palace and even Prince Li Jiancheng allowed him to mobilize the Changlin Army.
The Changlin Army was formed by Prince Li Jiancheng after receiving Wei Ting's suggestion. The number was about 2,000, and they were stationed at the left and right Changlin gates. They were named Changlin Army.
More than a year after returning to Chang'an, Li Dewu finally became famous and could be called the Tang Dynasty version of Zhi Jinwu.
If Li Shan, who was still undergoing surgery every day in Guantao City, knew about this scene, he would definitely feel relieved and maybe even give Li Dewu a few rounds of applause.
Such as today's incident.
On the fifth day of October, Li Daoxuan, the king of Huaiyang, was defeated and went to Bo. On the eighth day of October, the battle report came to Beijing, and the whole city was shaken. It was said that Liu Heitai would return to Hebei.
The atmosphere in the court was strange. Some courtiers once wrote a letter asking the King of Qin to attack again, but the sage Li Yuan turned a deaf ear... After that, the news gradually spread that the Prince of the East Palace, Li Jiancheng, wanted to fight in person.
On the surface, no one said anything, but behind the scenes, anyone who is not confused can see... This has obviously become the focus of the battle between the East Palace and King Qin to seize the throne.
King Qin's military exploits were unparalleled, but they also caused shock to the court... Liu Heitai made such a fuss last year. If all the armies were not defeated, the saint would never use King Qin again.
This time, Li Shimin followed Du Ruhui's strategy and did not invite himself to go to war. Instead, he promised to use others to control Daxingtai of Shaanxi Province... This was considered cooperative enough, but Li Jiancheng did not write a letter to invite himself to lead the army to attack Hebei.
Obviously, this is stalling for time, until the weather gets colder and until the Turks return north.
But the problem is, reports of the defeat came one after another. Jizhou, Xingzhou, Beizhou, Cangzhou, Dezhou were lost one after another, and even Luozhou was lost. The saint was furious. If the East Palace hadn't protected it, he would have been punished. Li Yuan, Prince of Lujiang County.
Li Dewu didn't want to worry about any of this. What he wanted to know most now was whether Li Shan was alive or dead.
But Li Dewu couldn't pry, and he didn't dare to pry... He could only pray silently in his heart not to return to Beijing alive.
Li Dewu could not even imagine that if Li Shan returned to Beijing alive, the prince would wash his horse with Wei Zheng, and the prince's close friend Wei Ting would recommend him to the East Palace... Well, Li Shan can actually guarantee that this scene will never happen.
Looking at the time, Li Dewu put down his pen, changed his sweater, left the county office and went to the East Palace. Today, the East Palace was discussing matters, and someone sent a letter early in the morning.
Before arriving at the East Palace, Li Dewu stopped in surprise and turned his head to look at the crowded shop, "Why are you gathering?"
Wu Zhong, his follower, went up to take a look at it, and then came back and whispered a few words.
Li Dewu's face darkened and he went to see it in person... The pipa was playing like a thunderbolt, the drums were beating loudly, and more than a dozen big men were dancing and singing loudly.
"Accept the law and resign the head of state, and the prime minister will punish the rebellious ministers."
"Xiange "Breaking Formation Music", let's enjoy the Taiping people together."
It was the music of King Qin breaking the formation... King Qi stopped moving forward, and the East Palace was still undecided. At this moment, someone actually openly sang the music of King Qin breaking the formation!
Li Dewu didn't even think about it, he immediately sent the order, and soon dozens of Changlin soldiers came to kill him. After a period of confusion, more than a dozen big men were sent to the county prison.
When Li Dewu entered the East Palace, he unexpectedly discovered that this matter had been spread to the East Palace, and Wei Ting was using a mocking tone to accuse the Prince of Qin's palace of only playing such small tricks.
Xu Shimo, Zhao Hongzhi, Li Zhian and others all agreed. Wang Gui maintained his identity and remained silent. Only Wei Zheng shook his head slowly, "It was definitely not the work of King Qin."
"How can Brother Xuancheng see you?"
"The King of Qin should know that it will be difficult for him to go on an expedition again." Wei Zheng said slowly: "What's more, King Qin Xudonggong controls Daxingtai of Shaanxi Province. If he does this again, it will only attract the attention of the saint."
This was reasonable. Everyone was silent. Li Jiancheng nodded slightly. He didn't believe that his second brother would do such a stupid thing... This would only make his father even more afraid.
Wei Zheng continued: "I'm afraid it has something to do with yesterday's battle report. Turkic soldiers invaded Beizhou..."
"Xuan Cheng is right." Wang Gui nodded and said: "Even if Dou Jiande and Liu Heitai rebelled against Hebei, they would not dare to invade Beizhou, and they are all from Beizhou... Now that the Turks are invading Beizhou, what happened today is just I’m afraid it has something to do with the Cui family in Qinghe.”
This time everyone nodded, hearing that the Turkic soldiers were marching into Beizhou... Which of the Qinghe Cui clan members in Beijing was not frightened? Maybe in a few days, there would be continuous news of death.
Today's move is likely to be the Cui family of Qinghe's behind the scenes... I hope the imperial court will send troops to assist Hebei as soon as possible.
Li Jiancheng had a headache. He had discussed this matter countless times, but the Turkic soldiers had not yet returned north, so he really did not have the courage to send troops.
We can't blame Li Jianjun for being cowardly. Li Shimin wouldn't be much better.
At the beginning of the year, there was a great victory in Luoshui. Liu Heitai led a hundred cavalry to rush north. You must know that going north from Luozhou, you have to pass through Xingzhou, Zhaozhou, and Dingzhou before you can border the Turks.
Cheng Mingzhen led his troops in pursuit and had already caught Liu Heitai's tail in Dingzhou... But Li Shimin strictly ordered Cheng Mingzhen to withdraw his troops because he was afraid of provoking the Turks.
Looking at the questioning look from the prince, Wang Gui shook his head and said: "We have sent more Changlin soldiers to Dingzhou and Zhaozhou to inquire, but the Turkic soldiers were still in Beizhou a few days ago, and it is said that they may go south to attack Weizhou."
Li Jiancheng sighed and refused to let his second brother go on an expedition, so he, the crown prince of the East Palace, could only go into battle himself. However, with the fall of the Hebei provinces, the pressure was increasing... Even his father was dissatisfied.
"When the army goes on an expedition, food and grass come first." Wei Zhengjian said: "The Shangshu of the Hubu Department of Daxingtai in Shaanxi Province is concurrently served by Shangshu Youcheng Han Liang, and the Duzhi Langzhong is concurrently served by Shangshu Zuocheng Yu Zhining..."
Li Dewu understood it as soon as he heard it, but he just sat there without saying a word. He knew his weight very well. Although he could participate in the East Palace discussions, it was mainly because he had two big bosses, Pei Ji and Pei Shiju, behind him.
Wei Zheng's words are actually easy to understand. Han Liang and Yu Zhining are both lieutenants in the Qin Palace. The latter is also one of the eighteen bachelors, and they are both direct descendants of Li Shimin.
If Li Jiancheng used these two people as an excuse to delay for a while, it would be justified... Father, if my son leads the army to attack Hebei, I am afraid that in the end he will fail due to lack of food and grass!
After a rough discussion for half an hour, Li Jiancheng stood up and sent everyone off. He was never short of etiquette in this regard.
"By the way, Hardworking Dewu, I'll ask you more about today's matters later."
Li Dewu stepped forward to accept the order, his heart moved, and he smiled and said: "The county government's accounts are quite messy today, and I will go back to do the calculation later."
Wei Ting said casually: "The abacus came from the county government, but it's still not clear?"
"Ashamed, ashamed." Li Dewu cupped his hands and smiled bitterly, "I am not good at arithmetic. The officials and staff in the county government who are good at arithmetic all went south with the army and have not returned yet."
"Oh, by the way, Li Shan hasn't..." Wei Ting turned his head and asked, "Brother Xuancheng, then Li Shan hasn't returned to Shaanxi Province yet?"
Li Dewu was a little nervous... He succeeded in making insinuations, just because he wanted to hear this sentence.
Wei Zheng shook his head slightly, "Rong Jiusi, who joined the army in the press office of the Prince of Qi, has a good relationship with Li Shan. He has already replied to the letter, but there is no news at all. I heard that Li Shan left for Jizhou that day."
Li Dewu was overjoyed. King Xiabo of Huaiyang was defeated. All 30,000 Tang troops were wiped out. Li Daoxuan himself did not know whether he was alive or dead. How could you, Li Shan, escape the pursuit of the Turkic cavalry?
Finally feel relieved.
