Since a thin snow fell at the beginning of the month, the weather in Jinling City has become colder day by day. On the streets, people wearing thick winter coats hurriedly walked with their sleeves rolled up. The Forbidden Army cavalry galloping past were still roaring back and forth unscrupulously. The white steam was steaming from the mouths of the horses and the soldiers on the horses, and the cold wind brought by them made the people nearby squint their eyes and cover their faces to avoid them.
In the Nuan Pavilion of the Chengxin Hall of the Imperial Palace, the four braziers in the corners are burning red, and the Nuan Pavilion is as warm as spring. Li Jing, wearing thin clothes, sat on the couch and read a memorial. Not only did he not feel cold at all, but there was also a thin layer of sweat on his wrinkled forehead.
"How can this not make sense? How can this not make sense!" Li Jing suddenly threw the memorial to the ground and said angrily: "You bastard, do you really think I am easy to deceive?!"
Several chamberlains standing nearby were startled. Standing beside him, Shaojian Liu, who was stooped and gray-haired, hurriedly bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, what happened?"
Li Jingyu was still angry and pointed at the memorial on the ground and said, "Look, pick it up and read it. What does Li Zhenggu's memorial say?"
Liu Shaojian hurriedly staggered away, bent down to pick up the memorial, unfolded it and read it slowly. Li Jing reached for the tea on the table and drank it. When he touched his lips, he found that the tea was cold. He immediately became angry again. He threw the tea cup with his hand, hit a waiter on the forehead and cursed angrily: "Old dog slave, serve me." You didn’t even care, and you dared to make me a cup of cold tea."
The chamberlain held his bleeding forehead and repeatedly begged for mercy. Liu Shaojian frowned and shouted: "Back off! Why don't you make hot tea for Your Majesty again?"
The servants were busy cleaning up the mess on the floor and making tea again. Liu Shaojian approached Li Jing and whispered: "Your Majesty, calm down. There is no need to be angry because of this memorial. It is important to take care of the dragon body."
Li Jing glanced at Liu Shaojian and said, "What do you mean by not being guilty? Have you read this memorial? Tell me, what does Li Zhenggu want to do? What does he want to do to suppress the Nan Army?!"
Liu Shaojian thought for a while and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this old slave doesn't think it's a big deal. What Ambassador Li said in this memorial is simply that because of the severe cold weather and the difficulty of garrisoning, he requested that the Zhennan Army be allowed to enter Hezhou City to temporarily take shelter from the snow. Old Master. I don’t know much about military affairs, but I feel that as Li Shixiang is the Deputy Privy Envoy of the Tang Dynasty and the Minister of War, he should know how to march. His decision must be made after careful consideration..."
Li Jing said angrily: "Young Supervisor, why do you only know how to make peace all day long? If everyone wants to defend you, no one can defend you. Can't you see the hidden edge in this memorial? Look at these few sentences, what are they saying?" This crusade against the Zhou Kingdom is really a laborious attack. One hundred thousand officers and soldiers of the Zhennan Army are trapped and their horses are exhausted. If they do not take shelter from the cold, there is a risk of chaos. The matter is very important, and I am afraid that I will not be able to do it. Your Majesty, please think twice."
Did you hear that? What Li Zhenggu meant was that if the Zhennan Army was not allowed to enter Hezhou City, one hundred thousand soldiers might mutiny and cause chaos! He is threatening me! It's so awesome, even I dare to threaten you openly. Am I getting old? Um? Young Prisoner, tell me, am I getting old? "
Li Jing stretched out her hand and knocked on the table angrily, making a loud knock on the mahogany table.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, you have not yet reached the age of 40, and you are still in full swing! The present situation of the Tang Dynasty is all due to your Majesty's ability. Thousands of people in the world hope that your Majesty will grow old with heaven! Li Zhenggu and others The words were a bit exaggerated, but he is straight-tempered, and perhaps he did not mean to be disrespectful to His Majesty." Liu Shaojian said with an apologetic smile.
Li Jing shook his head and said: "Li Zhenggu should have retired from official service when the late emperor was in power, but not only did I ignore the previous suspicion, but also because of his contribution in governing Yuanzhou, I made an exception and promoted him to be the Minister of the Ministry of War. I showed great kindness to him and changed his hometown "Gaohou Township" to "Nostalgic Township" and "Gaocheng City" to "Yengxiuli". Recently, I listened to the suggestions of the ministers and promoted him to Privy Council. The deputy envoy can be said to have received all the honors and favors.
But look at how he repaid me. I had previously agreed to his proposal to mobilize the Zhennan Army for the Northern Expedition. I originally wanted to take this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, I would let him check and balance the Song family and his son, and control the Zhennan Army for the imperial court. Secondly, they devoted all their national power to provide him with sufficient food and supplies in order to contribute to the country.
However, he has always used the excuse that it is not suitable to go to war in the middle of winter. Recently, he has teamed up with Song Mojie to deliberately place a hundred thousand troops outside Hezhou City, and even wrote this memorial asking to enter the city. What is this doing? Since we will fight again in the spring, why should we gather the army now?
It should be noted that Hezhou City is the nearest city gate to the south of Jinling, less than a hundred miles away. Their intention is so blatant, are they crazy! Could it be that Li Zhenggu and Duke Wei have been colluding for a long time, and this time they really want to target the capital and subvert my empire? Are they so eager to oust me from the throne? "
Liu Shaojian hurriedly leaned over and trembled: "Your Majesty, don't think too much. Minister Li may have his own reasons."
"What's the point?" Li Jing stared and said, "Young Supervisor, why do I think you have been speaking for Li Zhenggu? Could it be that you want them to come to the capital so that someone else can become the emperor?"
Liu Shaojian dropped his knees and kowtowed quickly: "Your Majesty, I don't dare to die! I don't dare to die! I hope you won't get angry and hurt yourself!"
Li Jing sighed, shook his head and said, "Well, in the final analysis, I thought too simply before. I always thought that Duke Wei was getting old, and as long as I could restrain him in Jiuhua Mountain, I would be able to sit back and relax. After all, I always thought Thinking about it, even the late emperor could tolerate his existence, why can't I?
But I didn't expect that they really didn't take me seriously, and they actually thought that I could coax and threaten them at will? Now that things have developed to this point, the situation has become critical. For the sake of the inheritance of our ancestors, I have to be ruthless. "
Then Li Jing straightened up suddenly, changed his dejected expression for many days, his eyes flashed coldly and said word by word: "I just hope that their treacherous act will not implicate my son, otherwise I will not only If I want them to die, I want them all to be exterminated."
Hearing these key words, Shaojian Liu was silent on the surface, but he was secretly happy in his heart. It seemed that Governor Li was right. His Majesty had already known everything. This time, some people were afraid that they would really come to an end. And he had to feel lucky that God still favored His Highness the King of Yan. Fortunately, the emperor did not see the authenticity of this memorial, otherwise his shame would have been wiped out on the spot...
"Young Supervisor, leave the palace immediately and secretly announce that Sun Sheng and Han Xizai will come to the palace to see me. I want them to see this memorial from Li Zhenggu. Remember to pay attention to your whereabouts during this trip and do not let others know, especially Prince Zheng's Mansion. Again. I sent an order to Weiwei Qing Zu Zhongen to lead his army to take over all the city gates in Jinling immediately." Li Jing frowned and said in a deep voice.
Liu Shaojian nodded and said: "I understand, so I will do it immediately. But Your Majesty, Sun Sheng is now white, and I don't know if he is still in Jinling City."
Li Jing said solemnly: "If I can't find you, don't come back! Go now, and take my oral instructions with you. I will ask Sun Shengqi to serve as Shangshu's right servant, and make peace with Zhongshu's disciples, and ask him to come to the palace immediately." If he doesn't want to, you can carry him into the palace on a soft chair, and by the way, take my soft chair to pick him up."
