Late at night on the fifth day of September in the tenth year of Baoda, a fast horse galloped to Jinling, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty. After entering the city, it went directly to the residence of left prime minister Feng Yanji. Half an hour later, several riders from the Feng Mansion ran out and disappeared into the long dark street. More than half an hour later, several riders came in batches and entered the brightly lit Feng Yanji mansion.
In the middle hall of Feng Mansion, Feng Yanji was sitting upright, with a letter on the table in front of him, frowning and thinking deeply. There was a sound of footsteps at the door. Xu Xuan, the new right prime minister, and Wei Cen, the deputy privy envoy who had just returned from Yangzhou, entered one after another. Both of these two famous people in the court had just received a summons from Feng Yanji, and they still had a look on their faces. Tiredness from sleep.
"Prime Minister Feng, what's the urgent matter?" Wei Cen asked anxiously. Feng Yanji secretly glanced at him with disdain, disgusted with Wei Cen's impatient style. On the contrary, Xu Xuan, who had recently become a party member with them, came in silently like a shadow and stood quietly in the shadows aside without any unnecessary words or movements.
"Sit down and talk, and serve tea." Feng Yanji raised his eyes and glanced at them, nodding slightly.
The servants brought hot tea and placed it in front of the two of them, and then stepped back one after another. The last two people who walked out turned around and gently closed the door of the middle hall. In the shadow of the trees around the central hall, the guards maintained by the Feng Mansion closely monitored any movement within a radius of twenty steps around the central hall, as if facing a formidable enemy.
"Let's take a look, the letter from Shouzhou." Feng Yanji pointed to the letter on the eucalyptus. Xu Xuan had just stood up halfway, but Wei Cen, who was fat and round, was extremely agile. He got up and grabbed the letter in front of Xu Xuan, and he couldn't help but read the letter.
Xu Xuan's face was gloomy and he glared at Wei Cen fiercely, so he could only turn around and sit down.
Wei Cen read the letter quickly with a smile on his face. When he finished reading the letter, he suddenly laughed out loud, clapped his thigh and said, "Okay, Mr. Feng really has a way of doing things. With this, we can start tomorrow morning." .”
Feng Yanji stroked his beard and said nothing, pointed at Xu Xuan and said: "Show the letter to Mr. Xu before we discuss it."
Xu Xuan took the letter from Wei Cen's hand unhappily. After reading it quietly, he calmly folded it and stuffed it into the envelope and placed it in front of Feng Yanji.
"Have you read it?" Feng Yanji spoke calmly, without waiting for the two to reply, he reached out to pick up the envelope and lit it on the candle. He turned it in his hand and watched the letter burn to only a tiny bit. Throw it into the copper basin next to the eucalyptus.
"Prime Minister Feng, what are you waiting for? Now that we have Liu Renzhan's confession, we can take action." Wei Cen said.
Xu Xuan frowned and looked at Wei Cen, and said in a deep voice to Feng Yanji: "Prime Minister Feng, has Liu Renzhan's confession been sent? Otherwise, what can we say?"
Feng Yanji chuckled, took out a package from under the bed and spread it out on the table. There was an official document in the package. Feng Yanji took out the excerpt and raised it, saying: "The confession mentioned by Liu Renzhan is here. The true content of the excerpt only needs to be read in a few sentences. Listen."
Everyone was busy listening.
Feng Yanji read: "... The guilty minister hesitated for a long time, and finally felt uneasy. As a minister of the Tang Dynasty, he should be loyal to the emperor and put aside personal matters... The Governor of Langzhou and the military governor of Wuping Li Yuan rebelled against the emperor and harmed the country. As an envoy to a town, he failed to fulfill his duty to defend the land. He became a fool and stirred up trouble. He was called a prophecy and criticized Chengyu. During the rebellion in Shouzhou, he secretly allowed Li Song to rebel. The external alliance with the puppet court of the Northern Kingdom can be punished, and its crimes are difficult to write down. The power is contrary to the power, and the foundation of the Tang Dynasty is in danger...
The guilty minister, with tears in his eyes, begs Your Majesty to punish Li Yuan severely and not to bring chaos to the country. In view of my repeated hesitation and lack of loyalty, I have failed Your Majesty's great kindness and have to plead guilty..."
Wei Cen laughed loudly and said: "It's a dog eating dog, the show is about to begin."
Xu Xuan sneered and said: "How can these elegant words come from the mouth of a reckless general like Liu Renzhan? I'm afraid they are the handwriting of Mr. Feng! How can you not see how wise your majesty is? Based on this alone, it is really true Is Li Yuan's conspiracy a serious crime?
You must know that a few days ago, when His Majesty learned about His Royal Highness Prince Zheng's situation in Langzhou, he did not issue an order to question Li Yuan. Instead, he completely believed what Li Yuan told him, and even sent an order to reward him for his efforts in eradicating the traitors. Obviously, he was very grateful to him. Li Yuan is still partial..."
Wei Cen muttered with dissatisfaction: "In the final analysis, His Highness still mistrusted the surrendered general Zhou Xingfeng! Besides, how can it be called partiality? He was just making the best use of everything and hoping for a war in Chu! If you are serious about partiality, , why not send one soldier to Chu to reinforce?
Thinking about Li Yuan, a young boy who has reached a high position at a young age, his reputation in the Tang Dynasty is growing day by day. In recent days, there are even bizarre rumors among the people that Li Yuanshi is the reincarnation of our ancestor of the Tang Dynasty...
How can Your Majesty tolerate such arrogance? It's just that we missed an opportunity. Now, it's good, and it's finally in our hands! Who is Liu Renzhan? He is a highly respected veteran of our court. If the Liu family is loyal to three generations, I don't believe that your majesty will not adopt him. He is better than the unknown Duan Chong. "
Feng Yanji frowned and said softly for a long time: "Tomorrow morning we will only play this excerpt. His Majesty will definitely send people to Langzhou to investigate. Investigate the envoys of a town. If nothing else, in addition to the three divisions going to jointly investigate, , there must be Imperial Guards accompanying us! Wei Cen, now that you are also commanding the Shenwu Army, you know what to do."
Xu Xuan raised his hands and frowned: "Prime Minister Feng, don't forget that His Royal Highness Prince Zheng is still trapped in Li Yuan's hands! Li Yuan has a lot of troops now. If he makes him jump over the wall in a hurry, wouldn't His Highness..."
Wei Cen said coldly: "Xu Xiang's words are wrong! We finally have Liu Renzhan as a witness. How long will it take if we don't overthrow Li Yuan? Li Yuan has soldiers and horses in his hands. Do you think I, the deputy privy councilor, will do it?" Is it just a decoration?
The Shenwu Army is the leader of the six armies of the Tang Dynasty and is unstoppable. Li Yuan is currently fighting a fierce battle with the Han army and cannot protect himself. Even if he is a genius in commanding troops, how can he be distracted? I really don’t believe that he dared to touch His Highness Prince Zheng at all. That would be an out-and-out crime against the Zhu clan, which just gave the imperial court the opportunity to mobilize troops to exterminate him! "
Xu Xuan was silent for a moment, but his mind was very clear. For the two "Five Ghosts" in front of him, they were not supporting King Zheng and Li Congjia, but just to oppose King Yan Li Hongji. In the final analysis, King Zheng's life and death were theirs. I don't care at all, we just come together for the common interests of the moment. Then he sighed and said: "I still think it's better to discuss this matter in the long term!"
Feng Yanji didn't understand what Xu Xuan was thinking, so he deliberately smiled and said, "Oh? What is Mr. Xu's opinion?"
Xu Xuan muttered: "No matter what, we must ensure that His Royal Highness Prince Zheng returns safely! This matter must not be rushed."
Wei Cen shouted: "Xu Xiang, you keep talking, but you are just saying nothing! Let me tell you, Liu Renzhan's confession was hard-won. If it weren't for his stupid son who was greedy for wealth, he would have thought that the old man was so stubborn. Very soon, we are hiding in the military camp all day long, how can we easily hold him in our hands? Once it is delayed for a long time, something will happen! If something goes wrong with Liu Renzhan, how will this matter end? "
Xu Xuan sneered and said: "How long can perjury be sustained? Do you, the Ambassador of Wei, really think that your Majesty is Hutu? If your Majesty sends an order for Liu Renzhan to go to Beijing tomorrow, what will happen then? Well, what if your Majesty really orders troops to go there? Langzhou asked, as for you saying that the Shenwu Army is unstoppable, I don't think so. The defeat of the Northern Expedition was so tragic that even Ambassador Chen almost died. How can you, Wei Cen, have the confidence to fight against famous generals like Li Yuan?"
Wei Cen's face turned red and he spat: "Xu Xuan! I respect you as the Right Chancellor, do you really think you are a figure? Without our support, people like you who have no name will probably have to sit in the official department for the rest of their lives. ! I can’t do it, but you can? Then you have come up with a reliable method. As long as you can unseat Li Yuan, I, Wei Cen, will be at my wits’ end from now on!”
Xu Xuan turned around and said, "It's simply unreasonable. Your Majesty has appointed me as the prime minister. Why do you need anyone's support?"
Wei Cen looked up to the sky and laughed several times, and then scolded him disdainfully: "It seems that you are also an ungrateful person! Haha, what kind of master is the same kind of dog! You are both immature and stupid!"
Xu Xuan jumped up and said angrily: "Wei Cen! You are so brave! You are just slandering the truth, how dare you speak rudely to His Highness Prince Zheng?"
"What's going on?" Wei Cen was not timid at all, he stood up and pointed at Xu Xuan and said angrily.
Watching the dispute in the hall with cold eyes, Feng Yanji's face became increasingly ugly, and he kicked over the copper basin with a sudden kick. The "clang" sound was harsh. Xu Xuan and Wei Cen suddenly realized that Feng Yanji was still in front of them, so they had to calm down and shut up.
"Both of you are important ministers of the imperial court, do you have any decency to speak of? This is a time when we share the same hatred and the same enemy, so why should we argue with each other?"
Feng Yanji glanced at Xu Xuan with squinted eyes, thought for a moment and said: "Xu Xiangzhi's words do have some truth. However, the safety of His Royal Highness Prince Zheng is important, but we must not miss a great opportunity because of it. If we can't do it this time, we will have to wait for a long time." It will be difficult to suppress Li Yuan again. Time is running out, so we’d better discuss it as soon as possible!”
Knowing that they were impulsive, the two of them took their seats. Then the three of them discussed secretly and did not stop until the sound of morning drums sounded.
In the morning mist, Jinling City was as quiet and solemn as ever. In front of the main hall, hundreds of officials from the previous court gathered from all directions, greeted each other, bowed, talked and laughed as they entered the palace. No one knew that this seemingly ordinary day would be very unusual, and that the political situation of Southern Tang Dynasty would once again usher in huge waves.
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