As soon as Li Bing said this, Murong Xue was stunned on the spot.
Princess Shang, marrying a wife is different from marrying a wife. It is a royal ceremony and dignity, which can be said to be extremely noble. For the sake of Princess Shang, isn't it funny to ask a meritorious official to change his wife to a common wife? !
How will it be done if it is spread out?
There has indeed been such a precedent before. During the 21st generation of emperors, Zhu Jie, the new number one scholar, was rich in knowledge, handsome, tall and handsome, and was deeply loved by the eldest princess at that time.
The eldest princess was a nymphomaniac, crying and arguing that she would not marry anyone but him, which made the emperor feel embarrassed. On the one hand, Zhu Jie did not dare to offend the eldest princess, but on the other hand, he also coveted glory and wealth, so with the emperor's approval, he turned his first wife into a common wife and officially welcomed the eldest princess.
But the problem is that even though Zhu Jie got his wish and became the prince-in-law, he was still scolded by the people for the rest of his life. There are even some meddlesome people who made a repertoire of his life and events, portraying Zhu Jie as a bad clown, and put them in various theater troupes to perform in turns. The theater was almost full and everyone was laughing.
And the eldest princess was not much better. Before the age of forty, he died in depression because he could not bear the long-term criticism from the royal family and the court.
Li Bing is now using them as a precedent to grant marriage to Li Jiangyao and Princess Fenyang. He is really willing to give up his cousin, and he doesn't care about the reputation of the Protector of the Xinjiang Army.
Wei Zixuan glanced at Murong Xue triumphantly and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is wise. The seventh princess was the apple of the late emperor's eye. Li Jiangyao killed the enemy chief and regained the imperial capital, which was tantamount to avenging the late emperor. The princess's commitment to her life shows that the royal family If you are kind and righteous, if you know how to repay your kindness, it will surely become a story that will last forever."
Gong Chengze also joked: "It is true. The soldiers of the three armies serve the country, and the most they can do is to have a wife and a son, and to honor the ancestors. Being able to welcome Princess Shang is simply unthinkable. This honor is enough to envy everyone. "
With the two of them taking the lead, many ministers quickly followed suit and praised the Emperor's wise decision to award the reward.
Li Bing smiled and said loudly: "Then it's settled. The Zhongshu Province drafts the edict, the Menxia Province approves it, the imperial edict commends Li Jiangyao, the minister who has made great achievements in resisting the enemy, and the royal family grants a marriage to Princess Shang Fenyang!"
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From the perspective of political power and politics, in Emperor Li Bing's concept, the Zhenjiang Army was not much better than the Xuanjia Army.
Although the foundation of the Zhenjiang Army is the original Zhenjiang Protectorate, no matter the flag, military system, doctrine, command system, or even military uniforms, they are in the same line as the soldiers and horses of the Holy Tang Dynasty and are no different. However, after all, this army emerged from the war-torn wilderness and had no close connection with the emperor himself or the imperial court. Its military strength was mainly composed of the people of Western Xinjiang.
Therefore, it is difficult for it to be regarded as an orthodox direct lineage by the Central Plains Dynasty.
The more important question comes from the commanders who lead this huge legion.
Li Jiangyao, a former school captain of the Zhenjiang Protectorate, was convicted and wanted by the court for the Baron Metasequoia incident;
Xu Youchang, the former captain of the vanguard of the Xuanjia Army, was wanted by the court because he was previously involved in the assassination of Commander He Jingming;
Xie Tanzhi, a low-level local official in Xijiang, was dismissed from his post jointly by the Zhenjiang Protectorate and the Xijiang Government Office for unknown reasons.
It's really strange that the three giants of the Zhenjiang Army all had issues with the imperial court.
In addition, the spy learned that Li Jiangyao had frequent contacts with Tanli, the second prince of the Turkic Empire, and Tanli actually called Li Jiangyao his brother; Xu Youchang had a close relationship with the Turkic Yingyang Princess Hesijia, and there may be an affair between their children; Xie Tanzhi has maintained a long-term cooperation with Emene, an important minister of the Persian Empire, which involves the transaction of a large amount of military equipment and internal and external intelligence; the female assassin who previously assassinated Cheng Kaiyang, the leader of the Long Sword Legion, was also hiding in the Zhenjiang Army at this time, and has been under the supervision of Li Jiang Remote protection.
Any of these things, if uncovered, would be regarded as a shocking case for the dynasty. But for Li Jiangyao and the others, these things seemed to be normal and without any scruples, and they were not afraid of the court's inquiries at all.
In the final analysis, they still support their own troops and do not take the emperor seriously.
Therefore, after the Turks were eliminated, the "status" of the Xinjiang Army in Li Bing's heart was rapidly improved, and it became as important as the rebels.
Of course, this can only be hidden in his heart for the time being and cannot be said openly. After all, Li Jiangyao has no clear objection yet. "Doubting loyalty and killing meritorious officials" will seriously affect the emperor's reputation and even arouse strong dissatisfaction within the court and the people.
Li Bing has now completed the reorganization of the Central Plains army and has basically taken military power in his own hands. The next step is to deal with the Zhenjiang Army. And marrying his cousin Li Xi to Li Jiangyao is just a good move to test and differentiate.
If Li Jiangyao is willing to accept Princess Fenyang and become his consort, then he can use Li Xi's connections to gradually encroach and divide the various generals within the Zhenjiang Army until they are completely paralyzed and dismembered, and deal with the Western Army like the Southern Army.
At the same time, it can also destroy the relationship between Li Jiangyao and Xia Hou Ninghan.
If Li Jiangyao refuses to honor the princess, it can lay a foreshadowing for the government and the public: the emperor sincerely praises and wins over the general of the Zhenjiang Army, but the other party refuses the kindness, which may imply a disobedient heart. In this way, Li Bing can gradually make a big fuss in terms of morality and public opinion, closing in on Li Jiangyao step by step.
As long as the struggle is not completely brought to the table and the two sides directly quarrel with each other, then as the monarch of the dynasty, Li Bing will always be the more dominant side.
With this idea in mind, the royal family's decree of marriage was sent from Luoyi and spread all the way to the imperial capital.
After the big bosses of the Zhenjiang Army heard about this, their first reaction was one of astonishment.
Are you saying this is not a reward? The majestic Princess Fenyang was the daughter of the late emperor, the royal family with the purest bloodline. Marrying a general from a civilian background would be regarded as an honor to honor one's ancestors in any dynasty or generation.
But you want to say this is a reward? The seventh princess Li Xi is the biological sister of the rebel king Li Kuang, and the Great Protector already has a wife. Asking Xiahou Ninghan to become an equal wife and make way for the sister who rebelled against the king, it is outrageous no matter how you look at it!
Xu Youchang felt that something was fishy, so he quickly took Xie Tanzhi and went to see Li Jiangyao together.
Looking at Daduhu who had his legs crossed on the table and was leisurely picking out his ears with a straw stick, Xu Youchang couldn't help but said in a deep voice: "Jiang Yao, I see why you are not in a hurry at all?"
"Afraid?" Li Jiangyao was a little confused: "What should I be anxious about?"
Xu Youchang glanced at Xie Tan helplessly, and then said: "The imperial court sent an imperial edict saying that in order to reward you for defeating the Turks and regaining the imperial capital, Fenyang Princess Li Xi will be betrothed to you. Don't you have any idea about this? "
Li Jiangyao smiled faintly: "Oh, so this is what you are talking about. I have already written a reply to Luoyi, thanking you for your love, but it is difficult for me to accept it. I would like to ask Your Highness the Princess to choose another virtuous son-in-law."
"Did you really refuse?" Xu Youchang asked curiously: "Straightforwardly, refused to accept the emperor's reward?"
Li Jiangyao dropped the straw stick and asked calmly: "Do you think I should marry that princess?"
Xu Youchang shook his head: "That's not the case. To be honest, the imperial court's doing this is so cold to the hearts of the soldiers. If you don't accept it, no one can find reason. Judging purely based on merit, sealing the country's pillars It's not an exaggeration, even if you give her a title, it's fine. What kind of thing is it to bring a nondescript princess?"
Xie Tanzhi also said: "What's more, the emperor knew that the protector of the capital already had a wife, but he actually deliberately proposed to refer to precedents and have equal wives for the main wife. This is not a reward at all, but a deliberate attempt to make things difficult. Who is living a good life? It's okay. What if you want to cause trouble and change the wife of the first wife to the wife of a common wife?"
Xu Youchang muttered a curse and asked, "What's Ning Han's reaction? You're not angry about it, are you?"
Li Jiangyao smiled: "I wrote that polite rejection letter in front of her. Not only was she not angry, but she was worried that if I did this, I would cause trouble."
"Don't be afraid of getting into trouble!" Xu Youchang waved his hand: "We don't care about insincere rewards. I really don't know what is going on in Li Bing's mind? He still has the same virtue as when he was a child!"
"Commander Xu be careful what you say." Xie Tanzhi reminded him kindly: "He is the emperor after all. As ministers, we just have to abide by our duties and there is no need to make unreasonable comments."
Xu You rolled his eyes at him: "Lao Xie, you don't have to be timid. I grew up in the imperial capital and spent a lot of time fighting cocks, hunting, and horse racing with Li Bing. I know best who he is. Jiang Yao, what does the imperial court mean to us? There's something wrong with my attitude, I'm afraid I need to make preparations early. What do you think, Lao Xie?"
Seeing that Xu Youchang had made his words clear, Xie Tanzhi no longer had any scruples. He nodded and said: "General Protector, what Xu Shuai said makes sense. Ever since our troops left the two passes, the imperial court has been acting strangely, and then there was another incident." You have ordered the army to be organized, and now you are using Princess Fenyang's marriage as a reward. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the emperor does not trust you and the Zhenjiang Army."
Li Jiangyao smiled and said: "You said you should prepare early, how can you prepare?"
Xu Youchang and Xie Tanzhi looked at each other and said: "Lao Xie and I are considering that there are three things to come, and we must discuss the countermeasures in advance. The first is the imperial capital, the second is to organize the troops, and the third is the rebels. Now, One more thing, if you reject Princess Fenyang’s marriage, what impact will it have in the future?”
Xie Tanzhi explained: "The issue of the imperial capital is probably the most important matter in the world at present. Our army controls Tongguan, including the Gyeonggi area, and the entire Guanzhong is under control. Does the imperial court want to return the capital? How to get back? How to hand over the defense zone ? These are all big issues that affect the whole body."
"It's still unknown whether Li Bing dares to run into our territory." Xu You smiled and said: "There are also two matters: troop formation and rebels. At the critical moment of the decisive battle with the main Turkic force, our emperor Not only did they not send troops for reinforcements, but they hurriedly changed us into the Phoenix Legion. The establishment given by the Ministry of War clearly stated that there were 120,000 soldiers. So, how to calculate the more than 300,000 soldiers left? Disbanded? The Turks are finished now Now, next is Lao Jianhua, will you send us to fight the rebels?"
