Tanghua old story

In the next few days, Wei Yuchen was forced to stay by Qi Tang's side, Renjin served the emperor, and the emperor served the prime minister instead.Until the accompanying imperial physician said that Wei Zhenchen's injury was no longer serious, Qi Tang still wanted to keep Wei Zhenchen by his side to take care of him.

Wei Weichen was really helpless, and said: "If Your Majesty keeps his ministers to live by his side again, the queen will be jealous if she finds out."

Qi Tang gave up and let Wei Yuchen go away, and also told Eunuch Renjin not to reveal any news in front of the queen after he returned, which made Eunuch Renjin really dumbfounded.

"Oh, I don't know if Yu Yi's illness is cured..." After Wei Yuchen left, Qi Tang thought of how the empress Yu Yi was sick before the expedition, and couldn't help muttering to himself worriedly.

After marching for more than a month, the Qi army stationed in the border area of ​​Yanheng City.Just when the army was planning to take a short rest, a new problem appeared, that is, there was not enough food and grass.

Lu Tong couldn't figure it out. The good grain and grass would be gone, so he asked the officials in charge of the grain and grass, headed by Zhao Shi and Mei Ming, to question him. Take those officials to the prime minister.

"I really can't think of it," Lu Tong said angrily, "There are still people who dare to take money and break the law. Don't you know the methods of Prime Minister Wei?"

Lu Tong personally led people to escort the people headed by Zhao Shi and Mei Ming to Wei Xichen's tent, and unfortunately Qi Tang was also there.When Lu Tong saw Qi Tang, he immediately regretted that he was so angry and impulsive that he didn't ask if Qi Tang was in Wei Xichen's tent. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his life could be saved in all likelihood, after all, the emperor was so benevolent.

Sure enough, after Lu Tong told about the crimes of Zhao Shi, Mei Ming and other officials, Qi Tang was shocked and angry, and Wei Weichen proposed to hand those people over to him.Just as Qi Tang was about to agree, the officials burst into tears. Zhao Shi and Mei Ming cried and complained that there were seniors and juniors. Quietly wiping tears.

"Forget it, forget it, remove all officials, reduce them to ordinary people, and let them go back to their hometowns." Qi Tang looked at the tearful and regretful officials, and couldn't bear it.

"Your Majesty!" Although Lu Tong knew this would happen, he was still angry.

"General Lu, please spare them, it's poor." Qi Tang instead pleaded for the officials.

Lu Tong was well aware of Qi Tang's character, so he had to give up. He released Zhao Shi, Mei Ming and others, and said: "As the ruler of a country, your Majesty, although benevolence and love are good, you should be more or less decisive."

"I know." Qi Tang replied.

Lu Tong sighed dully. As the emperor, Qi Tang had always been too benevolent and scheming.

"General Lu, how to solve the problem of food and grass now?" Wei Weichen spoke to pull Lu Tong out of his hatred of iron and steel.

Lu Tong pondered for a moment and said: "Now the surplus food in the army can last about seven or eight days. The next batch of food and grass will be transported in about 20 days. If we can break through the Shuoyun Pass of Yan State within ten days, our army will be able to get the Yan State." Army rations and grass, tide over the difficulties temporarily."

"How can we break through Shuoyun Pass?" Qi Tang asked.

"Yan Guo has heavily defended the road leading to Shuoyun Pass. It is really not easy to break through this pass." Lu Tong frowned and thought, "It is better to let the ministers retreat first and ask the generals about their intentions."

"Alright."

After Lu Tong left, Qi Tang remembered the cries of several officials just now, and asked curiously: "Wei Qing, why did those people get so frightened when they heard that they were going to be handed over to you?"

"I don't know." Wei Yuchen said gently.

"It's really strange, how could they be afraid of someone as gentle as Wei Qing?" After leaving the prime minister's tent, Qi Tang asked Eunuch Renjin in puzzlement.

Eunuch Renjin smiled wryly, and thought to himself, how would you know, Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has always been kind to you, but to others, saying that he is cruel and merciless is not wronging him.

"What is Renjin's strange smile? Why don't you speak?" Qi Tang asked.

"The servant doesn't know either." Eunuch Renjin said hastily.

After Qi Tang left, Wei Yuchen faded the gentle smile on his face, and ordered to closely monitor the few officials who had just been released, especially the leaders Zhao Shi and Mei Ming.

Qi Tang didn't notice the abnormal behavior of those officials at all. Lu Tong might have noticed but didn't care, but Wei Weichen would not let it go.

Wei Weichen didn't believe that in the past few years, he had used severe punishments and strict laws to rectify the administration of officials in Daqi, and that there were still officials who dared to take money and bend the law. If it was just one person, Wei Weichen at most thought that he was not very smart, but this time, there were several people in the same position in succession. It's still blatant for people to take bribes and break the law together.

Wei Weichen couldn't help but suspect that Zhao Shi and others had other masterminds behind them, tempting them with huge benefits, so much so that he was willing to bet his life on whether he could see the merciful emperor Qi Tang before being sent to Wei Weichen's men for rectification. With Qi Tang's character, if he saw them, he would not be in danger of his life if he cried and complained.

After Lu Tong left from Wei Yuchen, he immediately summoned the generals and counselors to discuss the matter of conquering Shuoyun Pass.

There are two ways to attack Shuoyun Pass in Yan State from Yanheng City where the Qi Army is currently stationed.One is to walk through Fenqin Valley, but the terrain of Fenqin Valley is complicated and it is not easy to march; the other is to walk along Zhemei Road, but Zhemei Road seems to be heavily guarded.

Lu Tong argued with the generals until midnight, but he still couldn't come up with any perfect solution.

In the early morning of the second day, when Wei Weichen went to visit Qi Tang, he found that Qi Tang was in an unusually good mood, full of smiles.

"Your Majesty seems to be in a good mood." Wei Weichen said.

Qi Tang raised a letter in his hand with a smile, and said, "I received a letter secretly written to me by Sister Rou."

Seeing the doubts on Wei Yuchen's face, Qi Tang added: "Qi Rou, my elder sister."

Wei Weichen understood, Qi Rou, Emperor Zhaoqi's first child, Qi Tang's elder sister, the eldest princess who married Yan Kingdom ten years ago: "What did you say in the letter?"

"You'll know when General Lu and the others come later," Qi Tang said with a playful smile, "Anyway, it's a good thing."

As soon as the words fell, the generals Lu Tong, Ling Ce and others walked into the account.

Qi Tang immediately put on the majestic demeanor that the emperor should have, roughly described the content of the eldest princess' letter, unfolded the map, and said: "Today I received a letter from the eldest princess Qi Rou secretly, which said that Dayan The monarch is seriously ill, and the princes are ready to move. They want to fight for power with the prince. The prince mobilizes some troops to return to the capital to protect himself. Therefore, the troops in Fenqin Valley are scarce. I think this is a good time to send troops. Fenqin Valley, take the fortress Shuoyun directly, what do you think?"

After carefully observing the map, Lu Tong said: "The terrain of Fenqin Valley is complex and changeable, and it is not easy to march. It is indeed reasonable for Yan Kingdom to choose to reduce the defense here. Fenqin Valley is easy to sneak and ambush. If Fenqin Valley has few troops, our army can directly pass through it." However, if we are not prepared to attack Shuoyun, Shuoyun Pass is the fortress of Yan State, if we can break through, our army will have a high chance to go north and point directly at the capital of Dayan."

Most of the generals nodded in agreement.

"I don't think so," Wei Weichen said calmly, "Your Majesty and General Lu's plans are all based on the factual information in the letters sent by His Royal Highness the Princess. Her Royal Highness has been married to the Kingdom of Yan for nine years, so how do you know that she is loyal to you? Qi or serve Yan?"

"Wei Qing is too worried," Qi Tang said, "The eldest princess has lived in Daqi for more than [-] years since she was a child, not to mention being forced to get married back then, how could she betray Qi Xiaoyan?"

Ling Ce smiled lightly, shook his head disapprovingly, and the silver bell around his waist also rang: "Your Majesty, I think what Prime Minister Wei said is that people's hearts are fickle, and His Majesty should send people to investigate in many ways to prove the truth of the princess's letter. "

Lu Tong said again: "What General Ling said is that more consideration should be given to this matter. It is not too late to send someone to investigate the real situation of Yan State before taking action."

After the officials left, Wei Weichen talked to Qi Tang again about how the eldest princess might not be trustworthy, but Qi Tang said how could Sister Rou lie to me, and Wei Weichen argued that people's hearts would change.

Qi Tang smiled and asked: "Will Wei Qing's heart change?"

"will not."

"Then why did Sister Rou change?"

Wei Weichen sighed: "Your Majesty doesn't understand."

"Okay, Wei Qing, stop arguing with me, and wait for General Lu Tong to send someone to investigate." Qi Tang laughed.

After Wei Weichen left, Qi Tang picked up the letter from the eldest princess Qi Rou again. The letter was written in a dignified and elegant manner. Looking at the elder sister's handwriting that he hadn't seen for many years, Qi Tang seemed to see Qi Rou's lively and gorgeous appearance again.

In the imperial palace of Daqi, the most beautiful season was when all the flowers were in full bloom in spring, and the most beautiful and agile person was the eldest princess Qirou.

"Tang'er," Qi Rou said with a smile while sitting on the branch of the old apricot tree in Yueyue Palace, "are you back?"

Qi Tang had just finished the homework assigned by the old master, and came to visit his mother Concubine Lan in Yueyue Palace. Seeing this, he said: "Sister Rou, come down quickly, be careful to let the emperor know, and you will have to be disciplined."

"It's okay, it's okay, I heard that the emperor and the ministers are gathering today, and he doesn't have time to take care of us. Let's steal some wine later, and call other brothers and sisters to go to the garden to have fun." Qi Rou jumped from the tree lightly Come down, smell the fragrance of flowers all over your body, and drop apricot blossoms all over the ground.

Although the eldest princess Qi Rou has the word "soft" in her name, she is not cute at all, she is naughty by nature, you must know that the Qi Tang brothers learned from Qi Rou the skills of climbing trees, over walls and digging out bird nests.

Sure enough, after lunch, Qi Rou took Qi Tang and other siblings into the imperial garden with a jar of good wine.

Qi Rou lifted the lid of the wine jar, and a burst of wine scented his nostrils. The Fourth Prince Qi Gui, who likes to have fun the most, could not help exclaiming when he smelled the wine: "Sister Rou, this is the lotus brewed as a tribute from the local government a few days ago. , this can all be done by you!"

"Yeah," Qi Rou said proudly, "How about it, elder sister, I'm not that small, right?"

"This wine has a long aroma, soft in the mouth but full of stamina, sister Rou must not be drunk."

"Don't worry, Father is going to have a banquet with the ministers today, it's out of our control, Gui'er, don't worry."

What happened later proved that the Fourth Prince Qi Gui was not just worrying blindly.

Qi Rou was really drunk, she leaned against the peach blossom tree and passed out, muttering in her mouth: "Nonsense, I'm not drunk, I'm just a little sleepy..."

When Qi Tang and his brothers and sisters were feeling helpless about the eldest sister, a young lady in the palace hurried over to say that His Majesty and ministers came to admire the flowers in the imperial garden.

At that time, the princes and princesses were still young, fearing that their father would punish him for copying books after seeing him playful, they immediately dispersed, leaving only Qi Tang and his eldest brother Qi Tong staring at Qi Rou, who was lying drunk under the peach blossoms.

Seeing his father getting closer and closer, Qi Rou couldn't wake him up, so Qi Tang and his elder brother Qi Tong looked at each other slightly, and stepped towards the father, entangled to lead him into another path.

What Qi Tang didn't expect was that he and his eldest brother lured his father away, but one person still found Qi Rou who was sleeping soundly on the peach.