His Majesty Li Er glanced at the battlefield and said to Li Ji next to him: "Keep an eye on Mao Gong, don't worry about casualties, clear the periphery of Pingrang City as soon as possible, and be ready to besiege Pingrang City. If the war situation continues indefinitely, there will be too many variables. .”
The British Duke, who usually had a slim, neat appearance, already had a messy beard and a haggard face. Since the beginning of the Eastern Expedition, he had worked hard and exhausted every day, and he had aged by more than ten years.
Hearing this, he accepted the order and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will spare you the trouble."
The weather is getting colder and colder, and each snowfall is heavier than the next. Not only is it becoming more and more difficult to transport food and baggage, the frostbite of the soldiers in the army is also getting more and more serious. War-weariness is gradually spreading, and morale is gradually declining uncontrollably. These are all taboos for military strategists.
Once some unpredictable changes occur, the entire war situation will immediately change dramatically.
His Majesty Li Er nodded, then turned around and followed the chamberlain back to the central military tent.
Halfway through, a strong wind blew, mixed with fine snowflakes, and chilled me to the bone.
The winter in Liaodong is different from that in Guanzhong. The snow here does not melt. The snowflakes fall with the north wind and are frozen together when they fall on the ground, making them as hard as stone. When the north wind blows, even if there is no snow, the snow particles on the surface will be blown up and swept around.
A real drop of water turns into ice.
Returning to the central military tent, he took off his armor and pockets under the service of the chamberlain, washed his face with warm water, sat down at the desk and drank a cup of hot tea. His whole body warmed up, but he clicked his tongue in disgust.
There are mountains and rivers near Pingrang City, but the water quality of this spring is far inferior to that of Guanzhong. It is a pity that this first-class tribute tea...
Putting down the tea cup, the chamberlain had already placed the letter from Chang'an on the desk. His Majesty Li Er picked up a handkerchief and wiped his hands. Then he took out one of the three or four letters, personally checked whether the lacquer was intact, and then opened it. envelope, take out the letter paper, and read it carefully.
After just reading a few lines of words, a pair of sharp eyebrows frowned, and Yintang raised the word "Chuan", obviously angry.
After he finished reading the letter, he slapped it on the table and cursed: "What a bunch of bastards! They are lawless and do whatever they want. What do they want to do?!"
The chamberlain didn't know what was going on. He lowered his head and tied his hands with fear, staring at his toes, not daring to breathe.
It is said that since the imperial commander came to Liaodong in person, His Majesty's temper has become worse day by day, and his anger often rises. It is even more common for him to punish and curse the servants and guards around him, and he often even gets angry for no reason, which is really confusing. No idea...
His Majesty Li Er cursed for a while, and then opened the remaining letters one by one and read them.
After a long while, he calmly put the letter paper into the envelope and put it in a drawer under the desk.
He drank a pot of tea alone, his eyebrows furrowed and his face gloomy. After a long while, he said, "Invite Mr. Zhao Guo."
"Here."
The servant quickly went out quietly, closed the tent door, turned around in a moment, and invited Changsun Wuji over.
Changsun Wuji was wearing thick cotton clothes, his already short and fat figure became more and more bloated, his beard and hair were all white, and he was haggard. He came to His Majesty Li Er, bowed and saluted, and asked: "Your Majesty has summoned me, what are your orders?" "
His Majesty Li Er stared hard at Changsun Wuji and asked coldly: "I want to ask Duke Zhao if there is a bottom line for your Guanlongmen clan's usual behavior. If so, what is this bottom line? I also want to ask you. , is it that with the advent of the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty and the world living and working in peace and contentment, you Guanlongmen are not satisfied with the status quo and despise that the benefits are too little, so you have re-introduced the old tricks of making profits out of chaos and taking millet out of fire, in order to make the world In a great chaos, a country will be established and a country will be destroyed, and a king will be destroyed and a king will be established?"
Angry and aggressive.
Changsun Wuji trembled all over, knelt down quickly and said in surprise: "Old minister, I don't know why your majesty said this? The Guanlong family is certainly a bit arrogant, relying on the merits of following your majesty to conquer the world, which is indeed too much. But Our only wish is to follow Your Majesty and assist Your Majesty in creating a prosperous Tang Dynasty. We dare not have the slightest selfishness, let alone talk about building up a country and destroying another? Your Majesty, I am so scared!"
Liaodong is thousands of miles away from Chang'an. Although there are special post roads for correspondence, His Majesty's letter exchange speed is definitely faster than that of Changsun's family. At the moment, I haven't heard any news yet, but His Majesty is so furious and keeps questioning the Long family. It is inevitable that Something big happened in Guanzhong, but I didn't know about it yet.
The information asymmetry between the two parties made him very passive. He did not even dare to say one more word, lest he say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, which would cause unfavorable consequences later.
I was thinking about what kind of trouble those bastards at home had caused. They were really damned. None of them looked like me. They were so stupid...
"Ah!"
His Majesty Li Er sneered, leaned over and took out the few letters from the drawer, threw them on Changsun Wuji's instant noodles, and said: "See for yourself, you are really capable, each one is lawless, maybe one day you can do it There is a big event to assassinate the king, kill the driver, usurp the throne and commit rebellion!"
Changsun Wuji was startled and said, "Old minister, I'm scared!"
He quickly picked up the letter, took out the letter paper, and looked at it one by one.
It doesn't matter if you don't look at it. Once you look at it, you will be shocked and break out in cold sweat.
The Guanlong clan had plans in the Western Regions. Changsun Wuji knew this. He had reported it to his family in previous correspondence. It's just that he thought it was the Guanlong family's plan for the interests of the Western Regions, and he didn't want to give up the wealth lost due to the war in the Western Regions. But how did he know that these bastards actually colluded with foreign enemies, intending to annihilate the Youtun Guards and assassinate Fang Jun?
This is a major crime for the Yi tribe!
What is particularly important is that among all the families in Guanlong, only the Changsun family has always maintained a close relationship with the Turks. The two parties have always been engaged in smuggling trade in refined iron, tea, etc. This matter has not been investigated at all. As long as one investigation can be found Know the role of the Changsun family in this.
Moreover, the reason why the Great Shi Kingdom took advantage of the Tang Dynasty's Eastern Expedition to invade was because he ordered Changsun Jun to go to Damascus to inform the Great Eaters. This makes the Changsun family likely to be the only Guanlong family that has connections with the Great Eaters. .
So the Great Eater dared to send a cavalry to sneak for hundreds of miles, evade all the eyes and ears of the Tang army's sentries and scouts and camps, penetrate into the hinterland of the Western Regions, and even hand over Baishui Town to the place where the Great Eater thought he could live. There must be something else in this. The hand and tail of the Changsun family...
This is like punching a hole in the sky!
The most important thing is that after committing such a heinous crime, the matter has not yet been completed. For some reason, Fang Jun came to Alagou and arrested everyone, and everyone got the stolen goods...
This is really life-threatening.
Where are my sons from these bastards? This is clearly the ancestor of debt collection!
Changsun Wuji put the letter aside, knelt on the ground, paused, and said in panic: "Your Majesty clearly knows that this matter is too important to rely solely on the prince's words. There are many things in it."
His mind was spinning rapidly, looking for excuses to suppress the matter.
His Majesty Li Er said coldly: "Does Duke Zhao mean to order the Third Law Department to open a case for investigation and find out the matter clearly?"
"Well……"
Changsun Wuji was speechless.
Without the need for any personal or material evidence, he was sure that it must have been the work of his unfilial sons. If the Three Laws Division opened the case for investigation, it would be putting the matter on the table openly, without any room for change.
Once it is found out that the Changsun family is the mastermind, where is the national law, and can only be punished according to the law.
But after hearing what His Majesty said, he seemed not to want to get to the bottom of it...
Although he and His Majesty Li Er have gradually drifted away over the years, his familiarity with His Majesty Li Er's temperament has not weakened by half. Changsun Wuji was keenly aware of His Majesty Li Er's attitude and said quickly: "This is a serious matter. Once it is serious, Investigate, I'm afraid it will be widely implicated. How many families in the DPRK have made wealth through the Silk Road, and are they inextricably linked to the Western Regions? Once the Three Law Departments intervene and pursue the investigation vigorously, it is difficult to protect innocent people from being caught in it, and they will have no way to defend themselves. It has been turned into an unjust case. And the overall situation of the Eastern Expedition is still uncertain, and the court is even more turbulent. It is better to put this matter down for the time being, and wait until His Majesty returns to the court after victory. The old minister would like to express his position here. If anyone from the eldest grandson family is involved Among them, no matter who it is, even if it is the biological son of an old minister, he will never say a word of pleading to His Majesty. Everything will be handled according to the laws of the country, and there will be no sophistry!"
He kowtowed, but did not hear His Majesty Li Er's words.
After a long while, when he was getting more and more frightened and anxious, he heard His Majesty Li Er sigh quietly from behind the desk, and said in a deep voice: "Auxiliary machine, get up quickly, let's talk slowly."
