Fu Tang

All the ministers were worried about this matter, Li Congjia only said: "Mother's filial piety has not been removed."

Zhou Zong almost burst into tears when he heard this reason, not because he was moved, but because he was angry!

"My lord, even if we start preparations now, it will take half a year for everything to be fully prepared. In addition, there are no auspicious days recently. Even if the enthronement ceremony is held, we will wait until next year." Zhou Zong felt very tired.

Li Congjia raised his eyebrows: "Mother has been filial piety for three years, but next year will not work."

Zhou Zong turned his head to look at Xu Xuan, Xu Xuan took the baton and came up with various quotations, telling him that keeping filial piety has nothing to do with ascending the throne. It has never been heard that the emperor will not ascend the throne when the empress dowager dies. Sometimes, the so-called etiquette can regress a little.

Li Congjia was unmoved: "Why worry? I have waited for so many years, why can't I wait for three years?"

But it's not the same thing!

Song Qiqiu also felt tired. When he was in the Western Regions, he would not be enthroned if he was not enthroned. Anyway, being enthroned at that time would only make the countries in the Central Plains laugh. the meaning of.

But it’s different now. The land area of ​​the Tang Dynasty is not small. Neither the Northern Zhou Dynasty nor the Southern Zhou Dynasty can be compared with the Tang Dynasty. However, Li Jixun and Shi Shouxin have both ascended the throne and proclaimed themselves emperors. In fact, in Datang, I can only be called my king, and I feel that I have been overshadowed by others all of a sudden!

Moreover, ascending the throne and proclaiming the emperor now can just bring psychological pressure to the state of Zhou, inspire the army and people of the Tang Dynasty, and it will also be good for sending troops to attack the Northern Zhou Dynasty at that time.

Li Congjia looked at Wang Pu. The old minister hadn't spoken a word since the beginning. Now seeing Li Congjia looking at him, he said, "Your Highness should put state affairs first."

Even Wang Pu said so, so Li Congjia had no choice but to follow suit and say, "Let's talk about it in a year."

After hearing this, Zhou Zong's heart ached, let's talk?Besides, you can't do it, you must be enthroned!

Li Congjia has been practicing Taijiquan all the time, which made the cabinet ministers feel a little puzzled-what's the fuss about?

In the end, they had no choice but to find Shi Xueting, who made the national teacher Jane in the emperor's heart?No matter how jealous these ministers are about this kind of thing, it's useless, after all, they have no life-long friendship with Li Congjia.

Shi Xueting has been watching coldly from the sidelines. He knows that Li Congjia must have ideas, but he draws the bottom line for himself, that is, if Li Congjia doesn't take the initiative to mention it, he will not ask about the affairs of the court, even if he is in charge of the intelligence department. , is also to give the information to Li Congjia, or to give the analyzed information to Li Congjia, and don’t ask or say anything about the rest.

Shi Xueting thinks this is a healthy limit, once he breaks this limit, maybe the days when he and Li Congjia treat each other as guests will not be far away.

Now that the ministers came to him, Shi Xueting had enough excuses, so he asked directly.

Li Congjia threw the notebook onto the desk and said, "It would be too troublesome to abdicate after ascending the throne. It's better not to ascend the throne in the first place, and leave this honor to Dalang."

Shi Xueting was slightly taken aback, he knew that Li Congjia had been planning to abdicate and travel around the world with him, it was just sweet talk, when he said it, he meant it sincerely, and when he regretted it, he meant it sincerely, Shi Xueting never had any hope , he felt that as long as he could be with Li Congjia and live a stable life, it would not be easy, but Li Congjia was already thinking about it.

Shi Xueting asked: "This is something that will last forever, you..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Congjia waved his hand and said, "That's not important. Even if I don't ascend the throne, my name will last forever. I still have this confidence."

Li Congjia felt that...he has worked so far, even though he is not as awesome as the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, nor as domineering as Qin Huang and Han Wu, but if he reaches this point, he will not be able to have a biography in the history books, unless the history books are all written by him!

Shi Xueting chuckled and said, "Then have you ever thought that there will be some accidents?"

Li Congjia looked up at Shi Xueting, and Shi Xueting said: "If you don't ascend the throne, as long as you live, Dalang can only be king. If he wants to ascend the throne, the first thing he has to do is to convince the public first, and then he has made great achievements." Someone will bring it up later, not to mention, if the Northern Zhou and the Southern Zhou are conquered in a few years, if you think the enthroned ministers will not agree, the first ones to persuade you are Su Guogong and Bai Guogong."

When Li Congjia thought about it, hey, if he does not ascend the throne, Li Jingda and Li Hongji can only be the princes of the state. After all, he himself is just a king. You can't be crowned king, and you can also raise your honorary title. It can be said that Li Congjia's failure to ascend the throne can be regarded as cutting off the way for a group of people to make progress. How could they bear it?

What's more, Li Congjia also said before that he would ascend the throne in the Daming Palace. Everyone was looking forward to it. Now that it was finally built, Li Congjia actually said that he would not ascend the throne. Isn't this too fast?

Finally Li Congjia said: "Yes, but there is a request. After Bei Zhou is defeated, at least avenge my aunt, so that there will be no regrets."

Shi Xueting thought for a while, and if it goes well for one year, Northern Zhou should have no problem, so he immediately agreed, then turned around and said to the cabinet ministers: "You can start preparing."

For a moment, Zhou Zong felt that it was great to have Shi Xueting here. Before that, he was very worried that the existence of Shi Xueting would make Buddhism the state religion of the Tang Dynasty. He was even worried that there would be a combination of politics and religion, or that religion would grow stronger and affect the country. Such things as taxes.

But at present, it seems that Shi Xueting has his own sense of proportion, the most important thing is that he can influence Li Congjia!

As for why, judging from Zhou Zong's experience in the court for so many years, it is best not to explore.

The cabinet heard that after Li Congjia decided to ascend the throne, he immediately asked the Qin Tianjian to calculate the auspicious days of the zodiac. The results were all solar terms without exception, and everyone laughed when they saw it, although they also had options in their hearts. , but still left this to Li Congjia to decide.

Li Congjia saw that the beginning of spring is too close, the beginning of summer is too hot, and the beginning of winter is too far away and too cold, so let's start the beginning of autumn!

After the time was set, almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Li Congjia raised the matter of attacking the state of Zhou, and everyone did not object. The civil servants felt that if the Northern Zhou Dynasty could be defeated, the enthronement ceremony could be held more grandly. I am eager to fight for a place. If I win, when Li Congjia ascends the throne next year and everyone is promoted collectively, maybe they can also be a marquis, and even the more ambitious want to win the throne, such as the king of the county. of.

In fact, Li Congjia already had an idea about these things in his heart. Of course, the idea was discussed with Shi Xueting. The ministers in the cabinet can no longer be promoted. Maybe he can still be promoted to chief assistant, only him.

Of course, it is just to say that there is only one chief assistant. Zhou Zong has not made a big mistake so far, and he will definitely not withdraw him. Then the civil servants in the cabinet can only be treated preferentially by the lord, and Li Congjia is particularly not sure about this.

Shi Xueting said: "Don't set it too high. Except for the royal family surnamed Li, you shouldn't show too much favor to the throne. If you can make a few people the duke of the state now, if the world is settled in the future, what will His Highness give them?"

Li Congjia thinks so, even if the Northern Zhou Dynasty is defeated, the Southern Zhou Dynasty will still be won sooner or later. If they are rewarded too much now, they will only be crowned kings at that time. Li Congjia is also unwilling to seal too much.

However, the only exception is Zhou Zong. Zhou Zong, the duke of the state, cannot escape. After all, after Li Congjia ascended the throne, Zhou Ehuang was the empress. It's Tweet.

The Duke of the state wants to be sealed, but he can play tricks on the sealing of the household, at least to leave some leeway.

Li Congjia proposed the promotion of civil servants, but the military officials did not move.

Shi Xueting asked: "Where the Privy Council...won't you make an appointment by the way?"

Li Congjia shook his head and said: "Bei Zhou hasn't fought yet, so no one knows what the situation will be like. Now that it's settled, what if it needs to be changed?"

Shi Xueting pondered for a while and said: "It is not suitable for the two princes to lead the army to fight against the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Zi Tinghou... it is best not to move lightly."

Li Congjia knew that what Shi Xueting meant was to tell Li Congjia not to let them take too much credit and create a situation where success overwhelmed the master. Otherwise, they would move if Li Congjia didn't move, but Li Congjia was not worried. Now the various rules and regulations of the Privy Council Generals have been largely prevented from having military power, and no matter how high their credit is, they may not have the ability to rebel.

Li Congjia thought for a while and said: "Gao Huaide and Pan Mei just came back, and they need to cultivate for a while, well, let Yang Ye be the vanguard."

Shi Xueting was stunned for a moment, then remembered that Yang Ye mentioned by Li Congjia was a general when the Northern Han surrendered. This Yang Ye was considered a mighty general in the Northern Han Dynasty, but in terms of reputation, he was not as good as the Tang Dynasty. They couldn't compare with each other, Shi Xueting didn't understand why Li Congjia chose him.

However, examples from the past to the present have proved that some of the things Li Congjia did may seem confusing at the time, but time will prove Li Congjia's correctness.

So in many cases, Shi Xueting would not object unless he made an obviously unreliable decision with a slap on the head. In fact, he would not object easily.

In history, Yang Ye was the ancestor of the generals of the Yang family. However, it was all written in dramas. His real strength currently seems to be inferior to that of Pan Mei and Gao Huaide, not to mention Zhao Kuangyin and others.

Asking him to play the vanguard is also intended to be a test. However, many people envy Yang Ye after receiving this task. Zhao Kuangyin, Li Jingda and Li Hongji are still in a stable mood. You need to start keeping a low profile, as long as you show up in the Privy Council from time to time to show your presence, and don't let Li Congjia forget them.

Pan Mei and Gao Huaide tried their best to get a spot when they attacked the Northern Zhou Dynasty, but in the end they gave it to the little-known Yang Ye, which made them quite unconvinced.

It is useless to be unconvinced, Li Congjia is not only the king, but also the Privy Council envoy, that is to say, in terms of military deployment, as long as he does not make a particularly stupid decision, then he has the final say.

Pan Mei and Gao Huaide could only sigh. The two of them had never used the weapons produced by the Ministry of Industry before. After using them in this expedition, they could be sure that as long as they had these weapons, Datang would be invincible, at least against Northern Zhou. Even when they are invincible, the only question is how long it will take to attack Northern Zhou.

After Yang Ye got the appointment, he prepared very seriously, regardless of the rumors outside, as a surrendered general, Yang Ye also had to think about the survival of the whole family, people always bowed to reality, and now it seems that Datang has already ruled the world Zhixiang, as long as Tang Wang doesn't die as early as Guo Rong, then there is absolutely no problem, and counting Tang Wang's age, not only is he in his prime, but he is very young!

Li Congjia knew that Yang Ye would be under pressure, but at the beginning he didn't say anything, just watched with cold eyes, and found that Yang Ye was really interesting, and he was completely unmoved by other people's comments. Work very hard.

Li Congjia was slightly relieved, thinking that Yang Ye would not disappoint his expectations.

At the same time, he looked at Shi Xueting and asked: "Tell me, what reason should I use to keep Uncle and Brother?"

Yes, attacking the Northern Zhou Dynasty is a big deal. Let such a Yang Ye, who no one knows how capable, be the leader. I guess no one will be convinced. Some people will ask why Su Guogong Bai Guogong and even Ziting are not allowed to go. Three, then Xuanwei General Pan Mei, and Zhengnan General Gao Huaide are also fine.

Shi Xueting said: "Let's use the border instability as an excuse. Now that the Khitans are about to move, although they are not targeting us, there is no guarantee that when we are fighting the Northern Zhou Dynasty, they will take advantage of the fire to carve up the Northern Zhou Dynasty with us."

Li Congjia slapped the table: "This method is good, let Pan Mei and Gao Huaide go to inspect the border. Now many small border towns are being rebuilt on the border, and many small towns have been newly built. Let the two of them go around in different directions. Look at the build process."

Shi Xueting chuckled: "I'm afraid they will think they are overqualified."

Li Congjia waved his hand: "They always have to adapt. There are endless battles in this world if you want to fight, but after we really win the Northern Zhou Dynasty, at most we will fight the Southern Zhou Dynasty again, but before that, we have to rest and recuperate first." .”

Shi Xueting frowned: "Where's Khitan?"

Li Congjia also hesitated: "Khitan...it's hard to say."

Shi Xueting couldn't help but said: "The Khitan must be fought, among other things, the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures must be taken back, otherwise without the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, the Great Tang would be nothing to the Khitans, without any barriers at all! "

How could Li Congjia not know about this?In history, Zhao Kuangyin's biggest worry was probably that he couldn't get back the Sixteen States of Yanyun, but the Song Dynasty didn't get it back after fighting with Khitan for a long time. Now the Tang Dynasty has reached its limit after years of wars, and the people also need to recuperate. How can this be possible at this time? Still supporting to fight?

Li Congjia sighed and said: "It's really not possible, leave Khitan to Dalang."

Shi Xueting:? ? ? ? ?

Li Congjia said happily: "Well, that's not bad. Otherwise, if I finish everything, Dalang can only keep up with it, and it's okay to do well. If it's mediocre, I'm afraid those historians will show no mercy to him." Well, it would be good to give him a mission, if he can take back Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, it will be one of the great achievements."

Shi Xueting... Shi Xueting didn't know whether to feel sorry for Li Zhongyu, who was assigned a task by Li Congjia before he grew up.

However, it turns out that not everything in this world can come true.

Li Congjia doesn't want to confront Khitan now, but Khitan doesn't think so.

The Wugu tribe rebelled before, and the Khitan was seriously injured. After losing two generals, the Wugu tribe was subdued, and at the same time, it missed the most favorable opportunity to attack the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

However, autumn was about to begin, and winter came early on the grassland. Even though the Khitan now occupied the Sixteen States of Yanyun, more tribes still lived on the grassland, and they needed more food and materials to keep out the cold.

However, the Khitan people are used to nomadic life. Apart from herding, their skills in farming cannot be compared with the Han people. Although the Yanyun sixteen prefectures also have Han people serving them, it is not enough, and they want more.

The Khitan wanted to plunder the Northern Zhou, but they also knew that the Tang Dynasty had declared war on the Northern Zhou. If they plundered the Northern Zhou first, the Tang Kingdom would have sounded the horn of attack on them after the Northern Zhou. Yelujing is not stupid, just looking at the terrain Knowing that Khitan is definitely a serious problem for the Central Plains Dynasty, he decided to take the initiative to attack.

When Li Congjia got the news that Khitan had attacked Yanzhou, he wondered for a moment if he heard it wrong.

"What... what?" Li Congjia looked at Shi Xueting and asked, "Is this news accurate?"

Shi Xueting put down the letter in his hand and said: "This was first passed on by the people below. It is estimated that General Pan will submit an official military report in a few days."

Li Congjia gritted his teeth and said, "Is Yelujing sick? It's good that I didn't bother him, but he came to me? Do you want to die?"

Shi Xueting asked: "What are your plans?"

Li Congjia's face darkened: "Go, go to the Privy Council."

At this moment, Li Hongji was processing various documents in the Privy Council. When he saw Li Congjia's guard of honor, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly sent someone to invite Li Jingda and Zhao Kuangyin over.

Although Li Congjia was an envoy to the Privy Council, he did not come to the Privy Council very many times, but the limited few times were when important events happened and required a meeting.

Li Hongji put down the paperwork in his hand to greet Li Congjia, while thinking about what happened?I haven't reported it in the past two days. Is there any trouble?

Everyone is gearing up, preparing to choose an auspicious day for Yang Ye to send troops, and the location of the attack has been selected——Xiangzhou, this is the place selected by everyone's brainstorming, even Li Congjia agreed, there should be nothing else Bar?

Soon Li Hongji's doubts were answered. Even Li Jingda and the three of them had already experienced great storms, and when they heard that the Khitan cavalry had committed crimes, they couldn't sit still.

The power of the Khitan cavalry is well known in the world, except for Li Congjia and Shi Xueting, no one else included Khitan in the column of enemies, and they were even subconsciously avoiding it.

Li Hongji frowned and said, "Khitan...is this trying to start a war?"

Li Congjia shook his head: "I don't know the details, just wait, it's time for Pan Mei's memorial to be presented."

As soon as he finished his sentence, Pan Mei's [-]-mile rush was sent to the Privy Council. It happened that Li Congjia was here, and the Privy Council of Ye Province sent someone to go there again.

Li Congjia raised his eyebrows after opening it for a glance, then passed the letter to Li Jingda, Li Jingda read it and handed it to Li Hongji, and finally Zhao Kuangyin, Li Ping, Zhu Yuan and others.

Li Jingda and others breathed a sigh of relief after reading it. The Khitans were just robbing the border, and they didn't really want to attack Datang. This was good news for them.

Seeing their expressions, Li Congjia's face suddenly darkened. When Li Jingda looked up and saw his calm face, he raised his heart again. He knew this nephew very well. Once Li Congjia showed this expression on his face, it means that he is now Not happy, very unhappy.

Li Congjia asked: "Do you think it is a good thing that Khitan did not use large-scale troops?"

Although this is true, everyone shrank aside to learn about quail, and even Uncle Wang Li Jingda didn't dare to say anything, and they didn't dare to say anything.

Li Congjia said: "If you endure this time, then in this war, no, this is a one-sided massacre. In this massacre, what about the hatred of the common people? Yes, not many people died, but Our swallowing will only make the Khitan more and more arrogant, this time they dare to attack Yanzhou, next time they will dare to attack Jinzhou, so if things go on like this, will they be able to directly attack Chang'an?"

At this time, it is no longer possible to pretend to be dead, Li Jingda coughed lightly and said: "Your Highness, don't get angry, it's not that far yet."

Li Congjia stared: "Of course it hasn't arrived yet, but if you keep swallowing your anger again and again, will people see you as honest and stop looting? No, they will only go too far. How far is Chang'an from Yanzhou? Do you dare to say that I am sensational? Now that the Great Tang has magical weapons, why should he be afraid of Khitan?"

After Li Jingda attracted the firepower, he sat on the side and pretended to be dead. At the same time, he looked at Li Hongji. At this time, Li Hongji could only bite the bullet and push forward: "No, we are not afraid of Khitan, but now... the food and grass cannot support the two-line battle, and we will soon The autumn harvest is coming, so we can’t let the young and strong go to war and stop doing farm work, right? If we have few professional soldiers after all, it might be no problem to fight the Northern Zhou Dynasty. If we add a Khitan... I’m afraid it won’t work. So, His Highness means to fight the Northern Zhou Dynasty Or hit Khitan?"

Li Congjia: Choose one or the other, what an annoyance!

The author has something to say: Li Congjia: National teacher, mother has been filial for three years, do you understand?

Shi Xueting: Well, I can bear it, can you bear it?

Li Congjia: You...don't make a move, I can bear it!