Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 116

Inside the Mingde Hall, Wei Zheng was lying on the soft couch exhausted, trying to talk to Wang Gui and Wei Ting about what he had seen and heard in Wuling County during this period of time.

Prince Li Jiancheng has already rushed to the Tai Chi Palace...I'm afraid Li Shimin will be ahead of him.

"King Qi will definitely not send troops to the north." Wei Zheng shook his head and said, "If you say that it was because of the crown prince's order before, then now...the battle of Xiabo, the great earthquake in Hebei, and the people around Luoyang are shaken."

Wei Ting and Prince Li Jiancheng were good friends when they were young, and they were also familiar with Li Shimin and Li Yuanji, and they nodded in agreement... Li Yuanji is brave on the outside and timid on the inside.

"By the way, there is a reason why I advised His Highness not to invite you to go out immediately." Wei Zheng said suddenly: "More than half a month ago, the King of Qi had to transport a large amount of grain and grass into Hebei, and sent them to Xingzhou to be handed over to Qi Shanxing, the governor of Xingzhou. .”

Although Li Shan didn't go back, the team that escorted the food and grass did.

Wang Gui blinked his mung bean-sized eyes, "If Qi Shanxing joins the enemy, or is defeated...Liu Heita will have all the food and grass."

If Xingzhou fell and there was a large amount of food and grass to support it, Liu Heitai might continue to go south, and the Turkic soldiers might not return north so quickly. This is why Wei Zheng urged Li Jiancheng to delay sending troops a little bit.

It's mid-October now, and it's going to be half a month... It's already deep winter, and it's snowing. I don't believe those Turkic people will spend a Spring Festival in Hebei!
Wang Gui discussed carefully with Wei Zheng and Wei Ting, and within half a month, it happened to persuade the sage to do something about Daxingtai on Shandong Road.

Moreover, this kind of thing is not just a sage nodding, it will inevitably be strongly opposed by the whole line of the Qin Palace, which can only be determined after a game between the court and China.

However, the advantage is still on the side of the East Palace. After all, the prince does not need to completely control the Eastern Shaanxi Road.

Wei Ting had a lot of ghost ideas, and whispered: "This time the crown prince's personal conquest, he will have a large army, and he will be a general who can fight in the court..."

"The generals of the Six Protectors' Palaces on the left and right sides of King Qin's Palace?" Wang Gui hesitated for a while, then shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

Wei Ting said with a smile: "But if it's just the lineage of the King of Qin... mobilized in the name of a saint, and follow the crown prince to conquer Liu Heita, it's justified."

Wang Gui pointed at Wei Ting with a smile, "There are so many ingenuity, it's quite the legacy of Brother Shi Chong."

The so-called Shi Chong refers to Wei Ting's father, Wei Chong, Minister of Civil Affairs of the Sui Dynasty.

At dusk, Chang'an County Government.

Chang'an ordered Li Ganyou to follow the Qi king to garrison Wuling, and the county government was ruled by Li Dewu, the county lieutenant.

Half a month ago, he was also the crown prince, and he was favored by the crown prince, and he often went to the East Palace. Li Dewu has already risen, at least no one in the county government dared to despise him.

Li Dewu went to the county government office every morning to handle official duties, and in the afternoon he went to the East Palace to serve the prince, but he didn't go today.

Because he learned that the crown prince Xima Weizheng returned to Beijing in a hurry.

When he was in Wuling County, Li Dewu often saw Wei Zheng and Li Shan talking about the war in Hebei, and once heard a few words.

The eloquent remarks that day became the reason why Li Dewu was valued by the prince, but then he was told by Wei Ting... The hero sees the same thing, and Wei Zheng also mentioned those in the letter to the prince.

That is to say, the content of the letter I peeked at that day was the product of private discussions between Wei Zheng and Li Shan.

Under such circumstances, Li Dewu was a little timid and did not dare to meet Wei Zheng.

"Lang Jun, someone from the East Palace invites you to the banquet."

"A banquet?"

Wu Zhong carefully looked at Li Dewu's gloomy face, "Yes, a message from the Eastern Palace guard."

Li Dewu was silent for a moment before getting up, seemingly calm, but actually worried.

He knew that Wei Zheng wouldn't know that he had peeked at that letter, but a thief always has a guilty conscience.

He couldn't help thinking that he didn't know which state capital in Hebei Province Li Shan escorted the grain and grass to. It would be great if it was Jizhou.

Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan was defeated and his [-]-strong army was wiped out. You must be unable to escape, right?

When Li Dewu entered the East Palace, he was a little excited and puzzled, because today was just a small banquet, and most of the people present were the officials of the East Palace and the prince's confidantes.

It is a good thing for me to be present, but why can I be present?

In addition to Wang Gui, Wei Zheng, and Wei Ting, there were Prince Sheren Xu Shimo, Donggong Zuo Second Guard Xue Wanche, Prince Qianniu Li Zhian, Donggong Zhan's master Zhao Hongzhi, Zhan's master Zhao Hongzhi, and Li Dewu's familiar Pei Longqian.

Pei Longqian is also the Pei clan of Hedong, the nephew of the Prime Minister Pei Ji, and he is the crown prince Zuowei.

Most of the remaining people were familiar faces, but Li Dewu couldn't name them.

After all, today has to report a big defeat in Xiabo, and the life and death of Li Daoxuan, a son of the clan, is still uncertain, so there is no singing and dancing during the banquet, just drinking and talking freely.

Everyone made a toast to Wei Zheng who had returned to Beijing one after another, and Li Dewu was last in line.

"Xuan Cheng visited Shandong for His Highness to observe heroes in Shandong, but unexpectedly, he introduced heroes for His Highness before he entered Hebei." Wei Ting said with a smile, "Brother Li's offer of advice has won His Highness's favor."

Wei Zheng looked at Li Dewu in front of him suspiciously, without thinking too much, just nodded slightly.

Li Dewu forcibly suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, saluted the prince first, and then said to Wei Ting: "If the prince hadn't been as open-minded as a valley, and a virtuous corporal, how could I speak so rashly?"

Wei Ting laughed and nodded, and Li Jiancheng nodded slightly.

Life is alive, it is necessary to establish people.

Li Shimin's personality is set as the God of War in the Tang Dynasty, and the four victories in Qianshuiyuan, Luoyang, Hulaoguan, and Luoshui, either stabilize Guanzhong, sweep the Central Plains, or pacify Hebei, which makes Li Shimin's prestige in the army unmatched.

Moreover, Li Shimin is also a person who likes to die... He often makes legends about being surrounded by enemy troops, but capable of defeating thousands of troops and breaking out of the encirclement.

In addition to the first battle in Qianshuiyuan, Luoyang twice, Hulaoguan once, Luoshui once... Li Shimin perfectly established his own character design.

In this regard, Li Jiancheng is incomparable. His character design focuses on handling government affairs and respecting corporals.

This is also one of the reasons why Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin's brothers have frequently shot openly and secretly since last year. Although they knew that the root cause was the seizure of the heir, Li Jiancheng was still upset.

The second child, you have earned enough military merits, and now you are also acting like a corporal and humbly, and you have brought out an eighteen bachelor, obviously trying to grab my job.

I have to say that Li Dewu is quite good at flattering.

Wang Gui looked at Wei Zheng, "Although Xuancheng has not entered Hebei, he is originally from Shandong. Please introduce him for Your Highness."

Wei Zheng reported a series of names like a few treasures, including children from aristocratic families, scholars from poor families, and Dou Jiande's former department. Among them, Zhang Xuansu, the Jingcheng recorder who joined the army, was mentioned.

Although Zhang Xuansu's official position was not high in the Sui and Tang dynasties, he was very famous in Hebei. When Dou Jiande captured Guanzhou and wanted to kill Cao Zhang Xuansu, a householder in Jingcheng, more than a thousand people were willing to die on his behalf. The story spread in Shandong.

"Cheng Mingzhen, the general manager of Weizhou, although he is Dou Jiande's old department, but he is a man of culture and martial arts. At the beginning of the year, he led the army to attack Jizhou and Beizhou, destroying boats, vehicles and horses, cutting off Liu Heita's grain road, and made great achievements."

Seeing that Li Jiancheng frowned slightly, Wei Zheng explained: "Cheng Mingzhen's parents, wife and children were all killed by Liu Heitai. After the Luoshui War, Liu Heitai fled to the north. He insisted on pursuing him without the permission of the King of Qin."

Only then did Li Jiancheng feel relieved. Obviously, Cheng Mingzhen was not directly related to his second brother, and this was a target he could win over.

After a pause, Wei Zheng said again: "Before I visited Wuling with the King of Qi, I met a young man. Although he was not crowned, he was a first-class person."

Li Dewu thought about it, and pinched his thigh fiercely with his right hand, then maintained his posture, smiling, as if he was listening quietly.

"First class person?" Wei Ting laughed loudly and said, "Could it be Wang Xizhi reincarnated?"

Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the nine-rank official selection system has been prevalent, and those who can be rated as the first are all heroes from aristocratic families, but in fact, there are not many people who have been rated as the first in the final history, and the most famous one is the book sage Wang Xizhi.

Wang Gui sneered and said: "The rebirth of the book sage will benefit His Highness's great cause... I would like to ask Xuan Cheng to explain in detail."

"This man's name is Li Shan, and his ancestral home is Chengji in Longxi. His calligraphy is not worth mentioning, but he has a strategy in his chest, a good plan in his belly, and a precise eye. He is good at judging people." Wei Zheng sighed: "What's more rare is that, This person analyzes the current situation like a dog trying to solve an ox, he vividly remembers it, what he said in the letter to His Highness is mostly determined by a certain person after discussing it with him."

Li Jiancheng straightened his back, he knew how accurate Wei Zhengxin's description of the current situation was.

"If you hadn't heard it with your own ears, it would be hard to believe..." Wei Zheng shook his head and said, "Half a month ago, when Liu Heitai broke through Dingzhou and went south, Li Shan asserted that Liu Heitai would definitely defeat the Tang army, so he could only stick to the city and wait for the cold winter. Send troops to defeat the enemy again..."

These few words were cryptic, but those present were all the prince's confidantes, and it was very clear that Wei Zheng's cold winter was aimed at the Turkic people.

Wang Gui frowned. Although he only spoke a few words, it was basically the same as the East Palace's strategy, but the problem was that the strategy was finally decided today... and the young man said so half a month ago.

Prince Sheren Xu Shimo heard Wei Zheng's detailed speech, and couldn't help turning his head to glance at Li Dewu, as if it was similar to what this person said that day.

"This person's education is mixed. Because he is good at arithmetic, he was invited by Chang'an Commander Li Ganyou to follow the army to manage accounts, and he also has good medical skills. A certain person met him and was treated by him. That day..."

"Oh, I remembered. It's Li Shan from Dongshan Temple... who is good at arithmetic. Chang'an ordered Li Qianyou to be the master of Qi Palace. By the way, his son Li Zhaode is familiar with Li Shan."

It was Wei Ting who spoke, and he said with interest: "Your Highness, do you still remember what happened at Dongshan Temple at the end of last year?"

Seeing Li Jiancheng frowned, Wei Ting added: "It's just for Du Keming to return home..."

"It turned out to be that young man." Li Jiancheng raised his brows and said with a smile, "He entered Qi Palace?"

Wei Zheng hesitated for a while, then shook his head and said, "Shouldn't have entered Qi Palace."

Of course, if he entered the Qi Palace, how could he be sent to send food and grass to Hebei Road?

Wei Ting is a direct descendant of the Eastern Palace, but he himself became Li Jiancheng's confidant, on the one hand because he was born in Jingzhao Webster, on the other hand because he was a close friend of Li Jiancheng when he was young, and he himself did not have outstanding abilities, so he was more sensitive to the information disseminated. sensitive.

After just mentioning a few words casually, everyone suddenly realized that they might not know Li Shan, but they had heard of the things Li Shan provoked.

"I have tasted Dongshi Qiongyaotraminer, it is worthy of the name of Qiongyao..."

"Dongshan Restaurant...is delicious and quite innovative, but the price is too high."

Prince Qianniu Li Zhi'an said with a smile: "I've heard about Changle Po. It is said that the children of Prince Qin's family were beaten to death. The grandson of Lord Tan Guogong Qiu who just entered the capital, and the eldest son of Gao Shilian have a bruised nose and a swollen face."

Xue Wanche added in a low voice: "I don't know anything else, but I heard that Yu Chigong's eldest son was knocked out by two people face to face, so it seems to be Li Shan's name."

The more Li Jiancheng listened, the more interested he became, and he kept asking questions. He vaguely remembered that King Qi had mentioned it when he was in Beijing... Li Dewu, who was sitting farthest away, couldn't find Li Dewu, who was sitting farthest away, forced a smile, and the expression on his face could hardly be maintained.

Zhao Hongzhi, Zhan's victim, glanced at Wei Zheng, "I heard that the abacus is the secret art of the Li family's Danyang house in Longxi...is it actually taught by Li Shan?"

Surprisingly, when everyone was discussing, Wei Zheng who brought up this topic remained silent.

Wang Gui smiled and said: "Such a young hero, Xuan Cheng must recommend him to His Highness."

Li Jiancheng nodded again and again, "The ancestral home is Chengji in Longxi, and he has a close relationship with Danyang's house brother. Could it be the Li family in Longxi?"

Wei Zheng shook his head slightly, and after a moment of silence, he said, "The King of Qi sent five hundred soldiers to escort food and grass to the Hebei Road. Li Shan accompanied him because he was good at arithmetic, but he didn't return. It seems that he stayed in Xingzhou."

"The king of Qi sent a letter back to Beijing that day, and a certain book wanted him to bring the letter back to Beijing, but unexpectedly..."

Several insiders looked at Li Dewu in unanimous agreement, that is to say, it was originally Li Shan who returned to Beijing, but in the end it was Li Dewu who returned to Beijing, and Li Shan escorted the grain and grass to Hebei.

Li Dewu looked surprised... his acting skills are good.

Li Jiancheng shook his head in disappointment, and stopped asking, Wei Ting quickly changed the subject.

No one noticed that Li Dewu's body was trembling slightly, but he didn't go back to Shandong Road, but stayed in Hebei.

Staying in Xingzhou... I'm afraid it will be more ominous than ominous.

Liu Heikai led the main force to attack Xingzhou, and there were tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers accompanying him... Qi Shanxing was very difficult to defend... Maybe he had already surrendered to the enemy.

Li Dewu was full of joy but didn't dare to show it... He didn't laugh out loud until the small banquet was over, in the carriage.

"Why is your husband so happy?" Mrs. Pei was surprised to see the undisguised smile on Li Dewu's face.

Li Dewu hugged his wife tenderly, looked down at the baby lying on the bed, "Today the prince is hosting a banquet, and both husband and brother-in-law are invited."

"Is it the third brother?" The Pei family also knew that Pei Longqian was the crown prince's left guard.

"Hmm." Li Dewu asked in a low voice, "I heard that Prime Minister Pei came to the door today?"

Mrs. Pei nodded, "Fourth Uncle came after noon. He talked with Father for a long time and didn't leave until dinner."

After entering the East Palace for half a month, Li Dewu has gradually figured out the background of the Pei family in Hedong. Pei Jiji was favored by the sage, and was even given the right to mint coins.

Pei Ji's stance was towards the East Palace, and although he had not broken face with King Qin, he had never had any contact with him, and his nephew Pei Longqian entered the East Palace in the first year of Wude to serve as the crown prince's left guard.

Although his father-in-law, Pei Shiju, was also the Prince Zhan, he was vacillating. At least on the surface, he did not favor the East Palace... Of course, he did not favor the King of Qin either.

Now, Li Dewu's appointment as the prince of the East Palace Qian Niu Beishen, has given Pei Shiju a certain inclination...at least in the eyes of outsiders.

Li Dewu pondered in his heart for a while, Pei Ji's visit is probably related to today's battle report and the prince's invitation to go out soon... Maybe even to test his father-in-law's attitude on behalf of the East Palace.

Until late at night, his wife had already fallen asleep beside him, and Li Dewu didn't feel sleepy, staring straight at the dark sky above.

After a long time, Li Dewu finally closed his eyes.

You can't blame me for this, the team that escorted the food and grass can all go back to Shaanxi Road, it's you who refuse to come back!
Don't cry out for injustice under the nine springs!
(End of this chapter)