Ouyang Lin looked as usual and asked calmly: "I wonder what the rumors you are talking about are referring to?"
Regarding this question, Cheng Wen did not answer directly, but suddenly changed the topic: "I remember that before the fall of Wei Zixuan, I summoned you once and talked about some interesting things. Do you still remember it?"
Ouyang Lin responded: "I remember."
Seeing that he cherished his words like gold, Cheng Wen was a little unhappy: "Then do you still remember what I said?"
"The empress said that our common enemy is Li Jiangyao." Ouyang Lin replied unhurriedly: "Moreover, he is also the biggest enemy of the emperor and the court."
Cheng Wen nodded slightly: "It seems that you did mean it and you haven't forgotten it to this day. Ouyang Lin, you are His Majesty's most trusted minister. Are you prepared for Li Jiangyao's ulterior motives?"
Ouyang Lin was silent for a few seconds, and then responded: "Empress, as long as your Majesty has your decree, I will go through fire and water without hesitation."
"Okay, what I want is your words!" Cheng Wen said loudly: "The Forbidden Army, tigers and leopards, riding on thousands of oxen, are ready for Ouyang Lin to accept the order!"
"Wei Chen is here."
Cheng Wen stared at Ouyang Lin: "The emperor's decree requires Ouyang Lin to investigate Li Jiangyao's family of traitors in the court, and jointly investigate with Xin Zhongshu. All the people involved will be arrested, regardless of their official position or rank."
After hearing this, Ouyang Lin asked quietly: "Is your Majesty thinking that Xin Zhongshu poisoning Your Majesty is related to Li Jiangyao?"
"It's not what I think, but what your Majesty thinks." Cheng Wen said coldly: "Of course, it's not just Li Jiangyao, including Princess Fenyang Li Xi, Prince Consort Murong Xue, Minister of War Dong Tianxing and others, and even Yixiang Palace Concubine Hui Murong Ling is also involved. Your Majesty wants you to investigate those people from this direction and prepare for the subsequent suppression of the rebellion in Zhenjiang."
Ouyang Lin nodded, cupped his hands and said, "My lord, I obey the order."
Seeing that he agreed so readily, Cheng Wen couldn't help but be a little surprised: "What? Aren't you curious why His Majesty thought they were suspects? And you have been investigating the Xin Zhongshu poisoning case for so long, but you don't have any other ideas?"
Ouyang Lin bowed his head and said: "My dear, I am a sharp sword in your Majesty's hand. As a weapon, there is no need for independent thought. Whatever the emperor asks the minister to do, I will do it. Whatever the emperor asks the minister to do, I will do it. How to do it. That’s it.”
Cheng Wen couldn't help but giggle and said: "They say Mr. Ouyang is smart, and it is true. In terms of ability and character, you are much better than that Tian Mu. Ouyang, like His Majesty, I have admired you very much from the beginning. I hope you will grasp it." Good opportunity, it is not impossible to be granted the title of Marquis and Prime Minister in the future. Do you understand what I mean?"
Ouyang Lin bowed his hands again and replied calmly: "I don't seek glory, I only hope to do my little bit for the emperor and empress."
-
After leaving Fengyi Palace, Ouyang Lin couldn't help but let out a long breath. He looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, and was slightly lost in thought for a while, then quickly walked down the steps and disappeared into the dark forbidden garden.
Cheng Wen, who was still sitting in the hall at this time, raised her hand to signal. Following her action, a person came out from behind the screen of the side hall, it was Cheng Dong who had just been appointed as the commander of the Forbidden Army.
"How is it? How do you feel?" Cheng Wen asked lightly.
"I'm afraid I can't keep this person any longer." Cheng Dong replied in a deep voice: "Ouyang Lin neither disclosed the progress of the investigation nor questioned the arrangements for a thorough investigation of Li Jiangyao and Princess Fenyang, nor did he ask the emperor a word With his current recovery status, he is obviously deliberately avoiding this topic. I'm afraid he has become suspicious of you."
Cheng Wen nodded slightly: "You think the same as me. With Ouyang Lin's shrewdness, he should not agree to my order so easily to connect Xin Zhongshu and Li Jiangyao. Brother, what should we do next?"
Cheng Dong thought for a while and said: "He belongs to the Forbidden Army Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Strictly speaking, he is my subordinate. Tomorrow I will try to stabilize him first, and then secretly control or get rid of him."
A complicated look flashed across Cheng Wen's eyes, and she murmured: "Ouyang Lin is a rare talent. It would be great if he was willing to be loyal to me."
Cheng Dong nodded in agreement: "Our biggest problem now is the lack of talent. Whether it is the court, the army, or secret agencies like the Nilin Division, there is really a shortage of available people."
Cheng Wen knew that when her brother said this, he was still complaining about her punishing officials. As a result, there would be fewer people willing to serve. However, Cheng Wen didn't care much about this. She smiled slightly: "Useful talents need to be carefully discovered and cultivated for a long time. Those who are won over halfway will eventually be difficult to concentrate on and can only be used temporarily."
"The key now is to employ people, especially in the army." Cheng Dong sighed softly and said worriedly: "Sister, I'm not the brother to say something depressing. You let me be the commander of the forbidden army, and also let the third and fourth brothers go. I’m not happy at all commanding an army.”
Cheng Wen raised her eyebrows and asked curiously: "What? Are you afraid that you can't beat Li Jiangyao?"
Cheng Dong glanced at his sister angrily and said helplessly: "It's not that I'm afraid, it's that I can't fight in the first place. Sister, I told you before that the army is different from the court. It's not just about the number of people or the power. You can judge the outcome. Li Bing is not a fool. After Luoyi organized his troops, his apparent strength is not bad, but why is he still very afraid of Li Jiangyao and does not dare to fall out easily? "
"Because he is not sure of victory on the battlefield." Cheng Wen responded lightly.
"That's right," Cheng Dong smiled bitterly: "Except for the Forbidden Army, among the six major legions of the Holy Tang Dynasty, among the other five, the Phoenix Legion ranks first in terms of combat power. There is no doubt that it is followed by the Qinglong Legion and the Xuanwu Legion. There is no distinction between them, and then there is Ma Hongjie’s Suzaku Army. And the White Tiger Army, hey, the bottom ones, very crotchless.”
Cheng Dong paused for a moment and continued: "Although the Forbidden Army has a large number of people, it has almost never fought any big and tough battles. In terms of real combat power, it is simply incomparable to the Xinjiang Army that fought out of the mountains of corpses and sea of blood. Comparatively. I am not exaggerating at all. Two hundred thousand sheep versus two hundred thousand tigers and wolves is just enough for the opponent to have a full meal."
Cheng Wen frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "The Forbidden Army plus the White Tiger Army, plus the new Long Sword Army, can't they deter the opponent at all?"
Cheng Dong shook his head: "It depends on who you intend to frighten. For the imperial court and the civil and military officials, a few thousand forbidden troops can suppress them and let you round them up and flatten them. However, in Li Jiangyao, Xu Youchang has these In human eyes, not to mention the 400,000 weak brigade who have never been on the battlefield, even if they are hundreds of times stronger than this opponent, they have still fought. Sister, think about it, the Turks and the Jiangnan rebels, which one is not better? Our strength is strong? Which party will not be defeated by the Xinjiang Army in the end?"
"Hey, brother, although I have read military books for a few days and practiced swordsmanship for a few years, in Li Jiangyao's opinion, I am just a joke."
After hearing Cheng Dong's discouraging words, Queen Cheng Wen couldn't help but feel a little upset. As a general, it is never a good sign to be timid before fighting. However, trouble comes back, Cheng Wen herself knows nothing about military affairs and is not as good as her brothers. Of course, it is difficult to find any appropriate method.
Her original planning and consideration was that as long as she controlled a similar number of large forces, even if she could not completely defeat the Zhenjiang Army for the time being, she could at least be equally matched and suppress the other party from daring to act rashly, and then cooperate with various political means to gradually deal with Li Jiangyao.
But now listening to what Cheng Dong said, it was obvious that he had simplified the problem.
After thinking for a moment, Cheng Wen asked: "Brother, do you think Li Jiangyao really dares to attack us with his army?"
Cheng Dong glanced at his sister helplessly and thought to himself: Haven't you always planned to force Li Jiangyao to rebel? It's so ridiculous to ask such a childish and ridiculous question now.
Of course, Xianggui thought so, but he did not dare to contradict the queen face to face, so he had to answer honestly: "I think Li Jiangyao's main goal now is to completely eliminate Li Zhenglao Jianhua's rebels. Once the south is pacified, the Zhenjiang Army will If we no longer have any worries with other frontline legions, it’s time to turn around and ask what happened in the court. If we don’t have a proper response, war... may be unavoidable."
Cheng Wen was silent for a moment and then asked: "How long will it take for you, Cheng Nan, Cheng Bei and others to be ready to defeat the Zhenjiang Army?"
Hearing this, Cheng Dong was slightly startled. He wanted to say that even if you give me a lifetime, I won't be able to defeat the Zhenjiang Army. But when the words came to his lips, he hesitated and said: "Of course, the longer the better. The troops need to strengthen combat preparation training and improve their combat effectiveness, and my brothers and I also need to be familiar with the situation of our respective legions and cultivate direct lineage strength..."
Having said this, Cheng Dong raised his head and looked at Cheng Wen who was sitting in front of him: "The best policy is not to fight if possible. Once a full-scale competition begins, the best result is only to lose both sides, and the more likely one is that, It ends with our defeat."
Cheng Wen wondered: "Didn't you just say that once Li Jiangyao frees his hands from the south, he will definitely come back to deal with us, how can you delay the fight?"
Cheng Dong mustered up his courage and said in a deep voice: "We can also choose not to confront Li Jiangyao head-on. Send a secret envoy to negotiate with Li Jiangyao, make him king, and agree to all his conditions. Before the two sides reach the point of war, we still have something in our hands. We have leverage, before everything gets completely out of control. Sister, we can still compromise."
Cheng Wen looked at her brother in shock and said in disbelief: "What did you say? Compromise? Let me bow to Li Jiangyao?! Have you forgotten the hatred between father and second brother? I took a huge risk, What is the purpose of working so hard to do all this?"
"I have not forgotten those hatreds." Cheng Dong said calmly: "However, we cannot be dazzled by hatred. Sister, you have taken the most dangerous step. Now it is time to assess the situation and control this crazy car. The carriage, don’t let it crash directly off the cliff.”
