At this time, Fei Yi saw that Xue Zong did not answer immediately, but just stood there and meditated, feeling that it was almost done.
He quickly came out of the queue and said:
"Your Majesty, I, the Han Dynasty, are in alliance with the Kingdom of Wu. Since the allies have sent envoys here, I think they must have important matters to discuss.
Now that the greetings are over, I thought it would be better to order Xue Shangshu to clarify his future intentions.
If the two sides keep arguing with each other, I am afraid that the meeting will last until sunset and no one can come to an agreement. "
When Xue Zong finally saw someone saying something normal, most of his anger disappeared. After looking at Fei Yi gratefully, he bowed his head and said:
"It seems that in the Shu Han court, besides Jiang Gongyan, there are some sensible ministers.
Since there are people who are willing to listen, I will make my future intentions clear, and I hope your Majesty will allow it. "
Li Shimin couldn't help but smile when he saw that Xue Zong showed no weakness and never missed any opportunity to tease himself and the princes in the court.
It turns out that such elegant and knowledgeable people are as competitive as the warriors in the army...
"Xue Shangshu only wants to speak, and I should listen attentively."
Xue Zong first looked around at the princes in the court, then set his eyes on Jiang Wan, and said seriously:
"Your Majesty, since I learned that Prime Minister Zhuge passed away, my Lord has been often sad, so he wanted to send us to express his condolences.
At this time, the border residents and border commanders in our territory have reported to my lord many times that there are frequent troop mobilizations in the southern county of your country.
At first my lord thought that your country had just experienced a great change and was about to adjust the local garrison.
However, in the past few days, the mobilization of officers and soldiers has become increasingly frequent, and battles of various sizes have occurred.
When my lord heard the news, he thought that there was unrest in Shu, so he sent additional troops to Wuling, Jiaozhou and other places to prevent changes.
On the way to increase the troops, there were often people from barbarians and Yue people spying secretly, and some large tribes even ambush the officers and soldiers on the road.
My lord does not know whether these Barbarian Yue soldiers are local Barbarians from Wuling or barbarians fleeing from Shu, and he does not know the situation in Shu.
There was some hesitation, and with this hesitation, the condolences were delayed.
Nowadays, the barbarian Yue in Wuling and Jiaozhou are becoming more and more powerful. My lord is really unable to make a choice, so he thinks of condolences again.
I am waiting here to express my condolences firstly, and secondly to ask Your Majesty on behalf of my lord, what is the situation in Sichuan, and whether my lord needs to send troops to help? "
When everyone heard this, they were all shocked and angry.
The reason for surprise is that what Xue Zong said about "mobilizing troops from the middle of Shu" should correspond to His Majesty's previous attempt to put down the rebellion.
However, the counterinsurgency was only carried out within their own territory, and no information was disclosed to the outside world.
Sun Quan was firmly established in Jianye, and he was actually able to understand the situation in Shu. Either there was a traitor, or Wu Guo had already sneaked into Shu with careful tactics.
As for Xue Zong's statement that "the barbarians in Wuling are becoming more and more powerful", it is pure fart.
They just wanted to use this matter to cover up their intention to send more troops to the border.
I'm angry because His Majesty is responsible for strategizing the situation in Sichuan.
Whether it's a change of defense or unrest, as long as my master doesn't mention it, it won't be Wu's turn to worry about it.
Now Wu State's border has been increasing troops for a long time, but it has just sent an envoy to say, isn't this deceiving us and there is no one in Shu?
Li Fu had a hot temper, and his political sense was extremely sensitive. After hearing Xue Zong's words, he couldn't help but become furious.
"Xue Jingwen! Your master has a good plan!
The matters within my territory of Shuhan will be decided by Your Majesty and the ministers of the DPRK.
Although Shu and Wu are allies, it is best for them to take care of their own affairs.
Let me ask you, how did your border people and county guards know about the mobilization of troops and horses in Shu?
Could it be that you are coveting the land in Shu and have already sneaked in the details? "
Xue Zong was not impatient after hearing this and smiled:
"My lord is very irritable, and since I am an envoy, I am also a guest.
You don't know your family status, and suddenly you burst out and accuse me and question me, it's too unpopular!
Is it possible that from Jiang Gongyan, Deng Bomiao, and Fei Wenwei down, there are no useful people in Shu? "
At this time, Li Shimin had been secretly thinking in his heart that Xue Zong's words seemed to be intentionally cowardly and rude, as if he wanted to anger the princes in the court.
Since the envoy from the State of Wu is here, and not to dissolve the alliance, he should be tactful and neither humble nor overbearing.
Why is it that Xue Zong is so arrogant and quarrelsome with his words?
Could it be that he wanted to anger someone in the court, such as himself, and then lead himself to reveal some information?
But even if he angered himself, the most he could do was drive him out of the palace and ignore him.
Xue Zong should be able to think of this, so who is he trying to anger?
Before Li Shimin could figure out the key, Du Qiong stepped out and said:
"Since Xue Shangshu wants to know the situation in Shu, since you ask, we should tell you sincerely.
As the two families were close friends, there was no need to speak so fiercely. "
After saying this, Du Qiong bowed to His Majesty and said:
"Your Majesty, I believe that this matter should be decided by your Majesty himself.
After all, Xue Shangshu came to ask on behalf of Lord Wu. We, the ministers, can only discuss with each other, and naturally we cannot express our opinions on behalf of His Majesty beyond the ranks. "
Li Shimin was delighted when he saw that Du Qiong had given him the right to express his opinion.
This is to characterize all quarrels and conversations between courtiers and Xue Zong as personal communications between the courtiers.
As long as he doesn't express his position, even if everyone in the hall is quarreling, it won't matter to the court.
Unexpectedly, Du Qiong's tricks are quite deep. I must conquer this person in the future!
While he was thinking about it, Xue Zong spoke again:
"Are you, all the princes in the court, just people who are wasting their national salaries?
Jiang Wan and other old officials in Prime Minister Zhuge's palace exaggerated the truth, and Prime Minister Zhuge did everything personally when he was there.
Now that the Prime Minister is away, do you want His Majesty to do everything personally? "
Li Shimin listened to Xue Zong's words and recalled the situation in the court since the last dynasty, and suddenly discovered something strange.
According to common sense, Jiang Wan is the head of the hundred officials in the court. When encountering such aggressive foreign ministers, it is impossible for Jiang Wan to remain silent.
But now Jiang Wan seemed to have disappeared, leaving everyone in the hall red-faced and noisy, but Jiang Wan did not come forward to speak.
What's even more strange is that Xue Zong seems to be targeting the princes in the court. No matter who speaks, Xue Zong will fight for it.
It's just that Xue Zong almost never leaves the word "Jiang Wan", as if he attaches great importance to Jiang Wan's attitude.
Could it be that the answer to the matter lies with Jiang Wan?
Li Shimin felt worried when he thought of this.
Jiang Wan was definitely loyal and supported the Northern Expedition. If Jiang Wan had an affair with Wu State behind his back and revealed the matter in court, what would he do? Where is the reputation of the Shu Han court?
"My lords, please be calm and don't be impatient. I have been listening to this for a long time on this dragon couch.
Although the words of both parties are inappropriate and offensive, the matter itself is beneficial to both countries.
I would like to first thank Lord Wu for expressing his condolences to the Prime Minister, and also thank Lord Wu for caring about the situation of our great Han Dynasty.
It's almost noon now, and I'm a little tired. Everyone in the hall has been having a heated discussion for a long time, so they must all be tired.
It's better to stop here today and arrange for Xue Shangshu to express his condolences to the Prime Minister later at Taichang and Honglu Temples.
It won't be too late for us to discuss it again when arrangements are made, either tomorrow morning or at the reception banquet tonight. "
Xue Zong couldn't help but frown when he heard this. Just as he was about to speak, Li Shimin said majestically:
"Everyone in the hall, I have made my decision and that's the end of the day. Anyone who makes noise or makes noise again will be punished according to the order of disobedience!"
Seeing that His Majesty insisted on ending the discussion, everyone in the hall thought that His Majesty did not have a suitable way to deal with it, so they forcibly ended the meeting.
Now that they knew His Majesty's thoughts, all the princes hurriedly agreed with Your Majesty:
"I obey the order!"
When Huang Hao saw this, he immediately said loudly without giving Xue Zong any chance to react:
"Taichang and Honglu Temple officials will follow the order later! Retreat from the court!"
After Huang Hao finished speaking, He Zong and Du Qiong hurriedly stepped forward to grab Xue Zong and discuss the condolence matters with Xue Zong.
When Xue Zong saw that His Majesty had already left the Qinzheng Hall through the inner gate of the palace, he couldn't help feeling anxious and wanted to go up and chase after His Majesty.
It's just that He Zong and Du Qiong didn't give him a chance at all, and directly pulled Xue Zong towards Honglu Temple.
Li Shimin lowered his head and remained silent all the way, and quickly arrived at the Gold and Silver Palace.
"Huang Hao, go and call Jiang Gongyan. If anyone asks, just say that I want to tell his son Jiang Bin."
Huang Hao took the order and left.
At this time, the three people around Li Shimin, Zhang Yan, Chen Zhong, and Huo Ge, saw that His Majesty's expression was gloomy, and they kept thinking or shaking their heads.
Except for Zhang Yan, the other two people did not dare to disturb His Majesty. They just stood around, bowing their heads and saying nothing.
Zhang Yan couldn't stand such a negative and depressing atmosphere. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows and said boldly:
"Brother Adou, don't worry, have you seen the sword in my little sister's hand?
This sword was specially made for me by two masters, Guo Da and Pu Yuan, who were members of the Prime Minister's Army.
When I was presented with hairpins, the Prime Minister personally gave them to me.
Now the foreign minister Xue Zong is arrogant and domineering in our Han Dynasty court, and speaks rudely.
If His Majesty is angry, my younger sister will use the sword given by the Prime Minister to assassinate him on His Majesty's behalf.
Guaranteed no one notices! "
Li Shimin felt better when he heard the names of "Guo Da" and "Pu Yuan".
As the saying goes, "If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his weapon." He happened to intend to equip the elite troops such as the Flying Cavalry Guard with the "Tang Hengdao" from the previous Tang Dynasty.
Originally, he wanted to find a way to find skilled craftsmen, develop a method of forging steel, and then cast the "Tang Hengdao".
Now Zhang Yan's words just reminded me.
In history, Pu Yuan and Guo Da were craftsmen who accompanied the Shu army.
In the past, the three thousand "Huanshou Swords" were made by Pu Yuan.
Guo Da is a "magic hand" who can quickly make 3,000 arrows overnight.
After a little thought, Li Shimin made up his mind and took the time to summon the two of them after the annual meeting.
"Little sister, please don't act out of emotion. Now Xue Zong just has other agendas, so he is confronting us tit for tat in the court.
I believe that once Jiang Wan arrives, all questions will be solved. "
While the two were talking, Jiang Wan arrived.
Li Shimin didn't wait for Jiang Wan to salute, but he took the first step and said in a deep voice:
"Jiang Gongyan! How brave you are to have an affair with Wu State. No matter what, you will tell all the truth today.
Otherwise, I will certainly punish you for the crime of deceiving the emperor! "
