Chapter 513 Fengxiang Nishino

Daming Palace, Purple Orchid Hall.

Today, Li Shimin invited Tubo's surrender minister Abandoned Zong Nongzan and others, together with a group of important ministers such as Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and Chu Suiliang, all of whom appeared. The prince of the banquet elected by Li Shimin is Li Tai, the king of Wei.

Li Taishan is good at socializing, and it is quite appropriate to attend such public occasions.

Now, Li Zhi, the king of Jin, who performed mediocrely during the period of prison and was "abandoned" by Changsun Wuji, appeared in public less and less, almost refrigerated. Li Ke is far away from the remote place of Tibet, and only Li Tai often serves the emperor. He enters the palace and court meetings every day, but he is present on occasions of all large and small occasions. Therefore, the ministers can't help but guess in their hearts. Since the alliance between Li Tai and Changsun Wuji, his chances of entering the East Palace have greatly increased?

However, no one can ignore Li Ke, who is far away in Tibet. The reason is very simple. Now as friends, this group of Tubo people are all "invited" from the plateau by Li Ke and Qin Mubai. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there were only three people who made such a wonderful contribution. Li Shimin, who beat half of Li Tang, Li Jing, who was in the south of the Yangtze River and the north of the Yangtze River, and Li Ke and Qin Mubai.

Although everyone knows that the victory of this war has little to do with Li Ke, who called him the supervisor sent by the emperor? In terms of meritorious service, the prince of the expedition on behalf of the emperor is the first.

Therefore, at this time, although Li Ke and Qin Mubai did not return to the court, their reputation and influence on the people of the Tang Dynasty and the court have been rising day by day.

Although Li Ke still stayed in Luoxi City, Li Shimin sent a large number of literary ministers to help him deal with the aftermath of Tibet. However, the meritorious generals who have returned to the court, such as Li Daliang, Li Junxian, and Qin Mubai's eldest brother Qin Tong, have been greatly rewarded.

Li Daliang, a founding veteran who has just returned to the dynasty for three or five days, was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of War (second only to Li Xun, the Minister of the Ministry of War, equivalent to the Vice Minister of National Defense), and also served as the Zuowei General Su Wei Huangcheng, and his title was also promoted from the Duke of Wuyang County to the Duke of Wu. Li Junxian continued to take charge of the extremely important military of the Hundred Horses after returning to the dynasty. Yamen, who also served as the left prison guard general Suwei's harem, was almost under the command of half of the imperial army of the imperial city, and the title was also promoted from the county to the Duke of the State. Qin Tong was directly transferred from a Baiqi deputy envoy to the Youwei General, one of the 16wei generals, and also worked as a Baiqi supervisor. Even Qin Bin, the second son of the Qin family, who did not go on an expedition, was blessed because of the great contributions of his two brothers. In addition to the original position of deputy order of the Hundred Horses, he was also transferred to Zhongshu Province as a Zhongshushe. He became one of the emperor's think tanks, and was awarded the title of Marquis.

In addition, the above people have also received countless rewards from fertile fields, luxury houses, food and gold and silver.

Even these people have received such rich rewards, so what should be the day when Li Kemin and Qin Mubai return to the dynasty?

The courtiers have seen too many changes in the ups and downs of the eunuch sea. They guessed that the day when Qin Mubai, the commander of the Kansai Army, returned to the court would be the time to enter the center. Although he was still very young and less than 30 years old, the emperor took command at the age of 16 and ascended the throne at the age of 28. There has never been a shortage of young heroes in the history of the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin has always liked to boldly use young people - if Qin Mubai enters the center of the cabinet and becomes one of the auxiliary assistants, there is no doubt that he will have enough strength to compete with Changsun Wuji!

In this way, there will be two distinct parties on the court and the opposition. One is the old faction and civil servant group led by Changsun Wuji; the other is represented by Qin Mubai, Li Xun, Li Daozong and others, and the emerging forces and military groups joined by Fang Xuanling, a special figure. .

And these two groups now also have a clear flag. The flag raised by the eldest grandson is undoubtedly Li Tai, the king of Wei; and the military group seems to have no choice but Li Ke.

In the imperceptible, the core contradiction of the imperial court finally surfaced, that is, the battle of the East Palace has been officially put on the table. Li Zhi, who was originally a unique one, quietly withdrew from the stage of competition. And Li Tai and Li Ke stood at the forefront again.

And this time, Li Ke already has strong capital in his hand, which is enough for him to challenge Li Tai!

It's just that Li Ke is still in Tibet. Li Tai is close to the water platform. Whether he can get the month first may be executed in the period when Li Ke still hasn't returned to court.

Therefore, Li Tai has been quite active recently. I'm afraid he is also aware of the crisis and the urgency of time. He must rush between Li Ke's recall to Chang'an by his father and take the throne of the prince of the East Palace.

Li Tai, now he is determined to win, and there is no other way out and choice; while Li Ke is still single-mindedly dealing with the plateau affairs at hand. Qin Mubai, his most effective arm, does not do anything strange.

The silence of the two princes formed a sharp contrast. The smoke on the Tubo Plateau has not yet dissipated, and another struggle on the court of the Tang Dynasty has been waged.

At the imperial banquet in the Purple Orchid Hall, Li Tai was the first to persuade the drink, and the atmosphere was still harmonious. Li Shimin allowed the abandonment of Zong Nong to keep the original clothes and crowns, and respect their diet and language habits. These details are in place. Although abandoning Zong and others can't avoid the worry and anger of the subjugation of the country, they have nothing to say about such kindness and courtesy.

Halfway through the banquet, Li Shimin got up and changed his clothes. When I arrived at the back hall, I was meeting Li Chunfeng.

The History Bureau is responsible for compiling the calendar, observing astronomy, measuring geography, and regularly reporting to the court on climate prediction and the occurrence and handling of disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. But Li Chunfeng is not an ordinary "Taishi", and Li Shimin has always treated him differently. Today, he specially waited for the shelf outside the Zilan Hall. I guess there is also an important report. So Li Shimin came forward and asked him what was going on.

Li Chunfeng said to Li Shimin, "I have been starry at night recently, and I have found that there is something different in Nishino."

Li Shimin asked, "What's wrong?"

"The star shows that Feng Xiang is in Xiye, and there is a heroine who will prosper." Li Chunfeng said.

"Fengxiang Xiye, the heroine must prosper?" Li Shimin thought about it for a while and smiled, "I just subdued Tubo. The western border of Jingqing is stable. Is there any other woman who dares to rebel in the West?"

"It's not the western border of Kyushu in the Tang Dynasty, but... the farther west outside Kyushu." Li Chunfeng's eyebrows were slightly heavy and he said directly, "It should be, Western Regions."

"Western Regions? The heroine?" Li Shimin was even more puzzled, "Who would that be?"

"The stars are mysterious, and Weichen can't know everything." Li Chunfeng said, "In fact, as early as a few years ago, Weichen had observed such a strange star phase with my brother Yuan. I remember that after Brother Yuan's calculation, he once adolded His Majesty that there was a heroine, Wu, who would replace Li Tang after a few years. This is the number of days and irreversible. But later, the demon star appeared in the world, and the star changed greatly. This heroine..."

"I know!" Li Shimin smiled indifferently and said, "You mean Wu Mei Niang, right? - In fact, I don't believe you, but I don't want to disturb myself anymore. However, you deliberately told me about this at this time. Do you want to say that Wu Mei Niang will be king in the Western Regions when she goes to the Western Regions?

"Weichen, I dare not assert." Li Chunfeng said righteously, "But fate is destiny. Where fate returns, you can't escape!" Although the demon star has changed the fate of the Tang Dynasty, it can't change all the fates of everyone! Although Wu Mei Niang will no longer have the opportunity to replace Li Tang and be emperor, her imperial order can never get rid of it - if it is not expected by Wei Chen, as long as she goes to the Western Regions, she will be king!"

"Is she the king? Are you kidding!" Li Shimin smiled and said, "Now she is just a businesswoman, the wife of my general of the Tang Dynasty. What does she call the king? - What does she want to do? Is she an enemy of me and compete with the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Chunfeng's face changed slightly. The second half of the emperor's words were what he really wanted to say, and he said the real thoughts in his heart. He thought about it for a while and said, "Weichen can't see through the sky, so he can only look at it. The stars show that Fengxiang Xiye in our Tang Dynasty is a good news, and there is no sign of disaster. Therefore..."

Li Shimin waved his hand with a smile, "That's all, no needless to say. The world is so big that I can't control everything. I want to conquer the Western Regions, but mainly to ensure the smoothness of the Silk Road and the stability of the neighbors, I did not integrate it into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. There are different countries, and the historical origin and racial distinction are extremely complicated. I have the ambition to conquer Tibet, but I will not be able to completely conquer dozens of countries in the Western Regions in my lifetime. If someone can unify the Western Regions and transfer it to one country, it may not be a bad thing for our Tang Dynasty. I don't mind having a friendly neighbor in the Tang Dynasty. It's better than dozens of neighbors living next door and making noise all day long. Even if this big country becomes an enemy of the Tang Dynasty in the future, it will be easy to do - since I can defeat Tubo, I can defeat it, but it will be once and for all. As for who will establish this unified Western Regions country, I don't care!"

After listening to these words, Li Chunfeng was stunned for a long time.

The emperor's thoughts and minds are indeed different from ordinary people.

"Do you have anything else to do?" Li Shimin asked relaxedly with a smile on his face.

"There is one more thing about Your Majesty."

"Tell. How did you hesitate today?

"Weichen's brother, Yuan Tianang... He has become an immortal more than half a year ago. Weichen, I didn't know the news until recently.

"Oh? ..." Hearing the news, Li Shimin was stunned for a moment. He nodded slightly, and he didn't say much. He just said, "I know."

"Weichen quit."

After Li Chunfeng left, Li Shimin walked alone for a moment, and a smile gradually appeared on his face. After taking a long breath, he said to himself, "I should be satisfied!"

Returning to the banquet, Li Shimin continued to exchange cups with the abandoned Zong and ministers. Inadvertently, he asked Chu Suiliang if Lanzhou memorials could be delivered recently?

Chu Suiliang replied that no. Only half a month ago, I received a letter from Qin Mubai about the transfer of some generals and officials under the governor's office of Lanzhou, and asked the court for instructions.

"Why don't you... go to Lanzhou and have a look!" Li Shimin seemed to say inadvertently, "If there is nothing important over there, you can ask Gao Yang and Qin's son-in-law to go back to Chang'an. Just say, I miss them."

Chu Suiliang's hands holding the wine glass trembled, and he hurriedly put down the glass, "Weichen obeys the order!"

"Oh, this is not the imperial edict." Li Shimin said relaxedly with a smile, "I just want you to have a look. If Qin Mubai said that he still has important things to do there, you don't have to say anything. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Weichen understands..." Although Chu Suiliang was confused and didn't understand anything, he could only answer like this.

The emperor has never given such a confused order.

What does it mean to have something to do and what does it mean to have nothing important to do? - Chu Suiliang has a big head. If he goes to Lanzhou, how can he talk to Qin Mubai?

Li Shimin seemed to see through Chu Suiliang's thoughts and said with a smile, "Don't think too much. It's just that Defei has been missing Gao Yang very much recently. In addition, after Gao Yang gave birth to Lin'er, I and Defei have not seen each other, so I want their couple to go back to Beijing for a few days. But of course, the premise is that state affairs and military affairs are the priority, right!"

"Weichen knows..." Chu Suiliang responded carefully and said to himself: The more the emperor said so, the more he said that he suddenly wanted to call Qin Mubai back with ulterior motives. Moreover, he was called back to Beijing in such a private and informal way!

"At such a time, what will Qin Mubai's return to Beijing mean?"