Jiuxi

Chapter 344 Chapter 342 [The disease of the poor]

Lu Chen knew very well that Li Duan's question in person was not to test him, but a kind reminder.

The relationship between him and Li Bingxue was pure and innocent, but whether it was the fact that he was injured in the assassination in Xiliu Lane the year before, Li Bingxue directly took him to Li's house to recuperate, or the almost inseparable relationship between the two after the victory of Lei Ze, Luo Bingxue In the eyes of outsiders, it is inevitable that they will murmur a few words.

Although the Weaving Department is not yet pervasive, Lu Chen is a young minister that the emperor pays great attention to. Qin Zheng will definitely devote part of his energy to him, and it is impossible to ignore the details of his relationship with Li Bingxue.

Li Duan pointed this out because he wanted to tell Lu Chen that there were some boundaries that could not be crossed.

He could accept that Xiao Wangzhi spared no effort to support Lu Chen because of his kindness to Lu Tong back then.

Putting aside the guilt he felt towards Yang Guangyuan as the son of the late emperor, the most important thing was that Lu Chen himself was strong enough, otherwise it would be useless no matter how much Xiao Wangzhi tried.

This process and result are beneficial to Xiao Wangzhi, Lu Chen himself and the Da Qi court.

However, as an emperor who struggled to hold power, Li Duan could not accept that Lu Chen became Li Tianrun's son-in-law with the support of Xiao Wangzhi.

This young man has already shown his military talent. If he can develop his power to span the two most powerful frontier military governors' mansions, Li Duan will not be able to sleep well without the need for the public to advise and remind him. .

Lu Chen wanted to understand these issues in a short period of time, so he denied them firmly and neatly.

He did not naively treat the emperor as an elder and tell him that Li Bingxue was attracted to him but had to give up due to reality.

It was precisely because he understood the emperor's thoughts that he dared to call out the word "bastard" in an occasion like Wende Palace.

In general, he has a clear conscience and is confident.

Hearing the emperor's ridicule, Lu Chen said angrily: "Your Majesty, forgive me, I made a mistake. This rumor maliciously slanders the innocence of me and Captain Li, and may even be an attempt to sow discord between the border generals. His intentions are terrible. Execute! Your Majesty, no matter who is talking nonsense in front of you, I suggest that the matter be thoroughly investigated!"

Li Duan didn't expect this young minister to be so stubborn and persistent. At this moment, he no longer struggled with the relationship between Lu Chen and Li Bingxue, and said warmly: "Okay, I'm just asking casually. Why are you so angry?"

Lu Chen knew that he couldn't act too exaggerated, so he said in a low voice: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Duan thought that it might be because there had been several criticisms against Lu Chen in the court, which made him have a lot of negative emotions in his heart, so he had such a violent reaction.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel that his previous worries were a little unnecessary. After all, the young man in front of him was only in his early twenties. How could he compare with those old foxes in the court?

Looking at Lu Chen's slightly aggrieved expression, Li Duan took the initiative to change the subject and said, "Do you think Emperor Jing Guo and Qing Yugong will reach a point of breaking up?"

Conflicts between monarchs and ministers are common in any dynasty.

Li Duan had a deep understanding of this. Although he did not receive much information about the North, he could still judge the relationship between Emperor Jing and Qing Yugong from clues.

There is no doubt that this is a topic that Lu Chen is familiar with, so he cannot continue to act like a stern person. The faint anger on his face gradually faded, and after thinking for a moment, he replied: "Your Majesty, I find it difficult."

Li Duan asked: "Why?"

Lu Chen said slowly: "Judging from the information I have, Emperor Jingguo and Qing Yugong are both very smart people. Emperor Jing's beating on Qing Yugong is more like a tacit understanding between the two parties. Your Majesty, I'll be honest, Before Emperor Jing realizes his ideal, he will not push Qing Yugong to the edge of the cliff unless..."

He hesitated.

There is a saying that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. Although Li Duan has shown more magnanimity than the average emperor until now, he feels that he has no need to take risks.

Li Duan seemed to have guessed his scruples and did not put him in trouble. He said bluntly: "In other words, before Jing Guo achieves the result of destroying Da Qi, Emperor Jing will not make drastic actions? This is reasonable, then The emperor's palace in Jingguo is so deep that if you don't see a rabbit, you won't let an eagle fly."

Lu Chen nodded and said: "Yes, Your Majesty. In fact, in the previous year, I have not thought about starting from this aspect, including after conquering Heluo, I treated Qing Yugong's daughter with courtesy and constantly instilled in her the Emperor Jing The idea of ​​burning bridges across rivers is all paving the way for future plans.”

Having said this, he paused slightly and sighed softly: "But I always feel that this is a narrow path. If I want to defeat the main force of the Jing army and drive the Jing Lian tribe back to the far north, the key lies in how to enhance the strength of our army. "

"If the main force of Jing's army goes south now, what are the chances of our frontier army winning?"

"Your Majesty, war is a very complex event. It is related to factors such as the strength, morale, combat power, ordnance, logistics and on-the-spot command of both sides. The battle deduction must have enough objective conditions. Take the Northern Expedition. In terms of the battle, after the victory of Leize, the Huaizhou West Route Army was able to capture Heluo. This was because Qingyu Zhongwang could not restrain himself and wanted to actively look for fighters. If this necessary condition was missing, the minister could only lead his army to withdraw. Jane In short, many times we can only roughly judge the direction of the war until it reaches a critical stage."

"I have often discussed military matters with Privy Council Guo and others, and no one has spoken as directly and thoroughly as you."

"Your Majesty, what you said is a little biased. Privy Council Guo and several generals are in a high position, and there is no need for such detailed calculations as the ministers. However, your Majesty does not need to worry too much. Even if the main force of Jing's army goes south, as long as I defend the city against the border troops, the enemy will be very vulnerable. It’s difficult to make significant progress.”

Lu Chen paused for a moment and then said: "I told Governor Li before returning to the capital that Qing Yugong may not have any large-scale operations in the next year, but there will definitely be exploratory offensives. As long as Governor Li sticks to it However, with the passes to the west and north of Dingzhou as strongholds, Jing's army could not gain much advantage. Jing's army was good at decisive battles in the field but not good at attacking fortresses. At least it has not been significantly improved so far, otherwise they would not need to spend a whole day. It took years to annex Zhao State, and it required Qing Yugong to personally take charge and hundreds of thousands of the main force to mobilize." Li Duan felt relieved. He had always had a lingering worry, that is, in the past two years of war, the great Qi side The army was victorious, but the main force of Jing's army did not go south due to various reasons. It was like a tiger watching from the side, and it might roar into the mountains and forests at any time.

Lu Chen broke down his judgment and made it clear. Li Duan no longer hesitated and nodded: "I will give Li Jingda a decree to keep the Dingzhou border honestly."

Listen to the meaning behind these words...

Lu Chen stood calmly and did not ask where he was going in a hurry.

Li Duan seemed to know what he was thinking, and said kindly: "I hope you stay in the capital for a while, mainly for several reasons. First, I want to know more about the border and Jingguo from you. In addition, I want to know more about the border and Jingguo. I don’t know much about military affairs, and I can’t specially recall Xiao and Li, so I can only ask you to stay temporarily.”

Lu Chen lowered his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty's words are serious, and I can't bear it. Whether it's on the border or in the capital, if Your Majesty needs it, I will do my best."

Li Duan was very satisfied with his statement and said slowly: "Secondly, I always believe that the safety of Daqi cannot rest entirely on the border troops. This is unfair to you. However, it has been difficult to increase the combat power of the Beijing army. If we rashly allow them to rotate with the border troops, we may be afraid that the enemy will find an opportunity to take advantage of us. Therefore, you can also be useful in the capital."

These words made Lu Chen's heart tighten, and he said with a slight embarrassment: "Your Majesty, do you want me to intervene in the military affairs of the Beijing army?"

"Mainly in terms of daily training. I have read the battle report sent by the border army. The Ruishi Battalion has only been trained in your hands for less than a year, and it can face the main force of Jingjun. This shows your talent in training. I also Before I get angry with others, I’ll ask for your opinion first.”

Li Duan looked gentle and his eyes were full of expectation.

But this matter was a bottomless pit for Lu Chen.

The Beijing army is the lifeblood of Guo Congyi and others and the Jiangnan nobles. This can be seen from the time when Wang Yanjian asked Xiao Wangzhi to stay in the border area. Chen Lanyu had already intervened in it. Now if Lu Chen tries again, the reaction of those people will definitely be extremely fierce. .

This is no longer a question of advantages and disadvantages. Lu Chen's reputation is now far better than that of Chen Lanyu, second only to Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun. There is no guarantee that Guo Congyi and others will not fall out directly.

Lu Chen looked at the emperor intently, thinking, is this why you asked Xu Zuo to tell me that there will be a big reward after I return to Beijing?

It was indeed a big surprise.

Li Duan obviously understood the look in the young courtier's eyes. He coughed twice to relieve his embarrassment and said, "I did this because I was considering the future. Lu Chen, you are still very young, and you have a lot of time to lay a solid foundation." , but the premise is that you have to shift part of your attention to the capital. If you only focus on the frontier, you will never be able to enter the center."

"Can you understand my intention?"

The emperor looked very sincere at this moment.

Of course Lu Chen understands, but he thinks that the time is not yet ripe to compete with the powerful people in the south.

The most critical issue is that from the moment he walked into the Hall of Wende today, the emperor behaved completely differently from the last time he met in some aspects.

In the two meetings with the Holy Spirit the year before last, although the Emperor could not confirm the chances of winning the Northern Expedition, he was generally calm and unhurried in front of Lu Chen, but today he seemed particularly eager.

From the fact that he confirmed the rumors about Lu Chen's life experience, pointed out the problems between Lu Chen and Li Bingxue, and even now focuses on pushing Lu Chen to the front, it all reveals that time will not wait for us.

Lu Chen didn't understand why he was so anxious?

At this moment, Lu Shizhou came in and said, "Your Majesty, Qin Tiju wants to see you."

"Xuan."

Li Duan noticed that Lu Chen's expression was a little solemn, so he stopped the previous topic.

Qin Zheng walked into Dongnuan Pavilion with steady steps, and saluted: "Your Majesty, I have found out clearly. The literary meeting mentioned by His Highness the Prime Minister will be held in Moyuan, Beicheng three days later. Most of the participants are great Confucian scholars, and there are A few officials and nobles.”

Lu Chen couldn't help but turn his head to look at the warp weaver Tiju, secretly saying that the other party's information was indeed well-informed. The second prince had just mentioned it outside the palace gate, and Qin Zheng had found out everything in such a short period of time.

Li Duan looked at Lu Chen and said with a smile: "You have just arrived in Beijing. It's a good time to rest for a few days. Don't worry about business. We can discuss it later. The Prime Minister invites you to attend a cultural gathering. I will ask Qin Qing's family to check if there is anything wrong." Trouble, you should just go and relax, and get familiar with the environment in Beijing."

Qin Zheng stood silently.

Lu Chen bowed slightly and saluted: "I thank your Majesty for your care."

(End of this chapter)