Chapter 4043 It’s hard to get married
His Majesty Li Er was sitting in his study, constantly flipping through the mountains of official documents on his desk. Unexpectedly, the clouds had gathered outside the window and the cool breeze was blowing, but it could not dispel the gloom and irritability in his heart.
The Eastern Expedition ended in a tailspin. Although Goguryeo was finally overthrown and the empire's biggest concern on the northeastern frontier was solved, and there would be no worries about border dangers for the next hundred years, the final battle was fought by the navy. When hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought, The army violently attacked Pingrang City for more than a month but returned without success. When they decided to give up this eastern expedition but were surrendered to Pingrang City by the navy, it meant that all the hidden contradictions would eventually burst out.
Nowadays, not only the military aspect, but also the internal affairs also have big problems.
This Eastern Expedition was a nationwide effort. Not only were all the soldiers and food in Guanzhong carried eastward, but even the rich lands in the south of the Yangtze River were almost completely evacuated. Now the hidden dangers have emerged, with public opinions and unstable situations in various parts of the south of the Yangtze River, and the families of the aristocratic families. Even ordinary people are complaining. Coupled with the floods in Guanzhong, countless fertile fields, houses, and towns have been destroyed. The number of victims is increasing day by day, and has accumulated to 200,000 people.
Guanzhong, known as the "Land of Abundance", has a population of only three million...
The first priority is disaster relief, otherwise once chaos breaks out in Guanzhong, the country will be unstable. But now that the national treasury is empty and Jiangnan is lacking, how can we raise money and food to help the victims? Especially after the Guanlong Mutiny, the operation of the entire imperial court was once in vain, completely stagnant and collapsed. If Fang Jun had not organized soldiers to participate in disaster relief under the royal banner outside the city, I am afraid that there would have been a wave of tens of thousands of refugees in Guanzhong by now, or all living beings would have gathered together. Something happened, or it hit the town, and the entire empire center was in chaos.
Even though he has been in charge of the empire for twenty years and is already familiar with handling various difficult government affairs, His Majesty Li Er still feels overwhelmed.
Every decision at this time is crucial. A slight mistake can easily lead to large-scale chaos. If we continue to implement the steps of easy storage...
Putting down the brush, His Majesty Li Er rubbed his brows and let out a long breath.
Outside the door, Wang Shoushi came in quietly with a cup of hot tea. He first placed the tea cup on the desk, then took out a secret folding bag from his arms and presented it with both hands: "Your Majesty, these are the recent records of your highnesses. ”
His Majesty Li Er hummed, took a sip of tea first, then took the secret fold from Wang Shoushi's hand, opened it and looked at it carefully...
In fact, records of the words and deeds of several princes are submitted here every day. Wherever the princes go and who they meet, there are spies from all over the place to record them one by one.
At this critical moment, His Majesty Li Er must carefully grasp the movements of his sons to speculate on their psychology in order to choose the best one...
Of course, the two people who paid the most attention were the King of Wei and the King of Jin.
As legitimate sons, according to the rules of "Zongyi Succession", once Li Chengqian's throne is abolished, these two people are the most qualified candidates to succeed him. If you bypass these two people and directly give the throne to other concubines, it will not only violate Rules, and it is easy to sow the seeds of disaster. It is never advisable unless it is a last resort.
As for the King of Wei and the King of Jin... His Majesty Li Er shook his head secretly, his eyes fixed on a line of words in the secret fold.
"The King of Jin went to the Duke of Liang's Mansion first, and then to the Prince of Wei's Mansion?"
"Your Majesty, that's right."
His Majesty Li Er frowned: "What did they talk about?" For some reason, since he returned from the Eastern Expedition, the two sons who were the closest to him suddenly became estranged, even being submissive and trembling when in front of him. What on earth is this? Why?
And he always felt that once these two people took action in private, it would not be a good thing. Last time, the two people directly stated that they did not want to compete for reserves...
Wang Shoushi shook his head: "When they met each other in the Duke of Liang's Mansion and the Prince of Wei's Mansion, they both hid in the inner room and no one else was around. There is no way of knowing why they were talking."
In fact, the nails he planted in the Duke of Liang's Mansion never entered the core ranks. After the last encounter with the "Hundred Cavalry" massacre, most of the nails lurking in various places were removed, and it was difficult to grasp all the news in the Prince of Wei's Mansion. However, in order to avoid His Majesty Li Er blaming him for his incompetence, he could only shirk the fact that the two conversations took place in the inner room, rather than that the nails he had buried could not be approached at all...
His Majesty Li Er thought for a while, and since he didn't know the details, he could only put it aside for the time being.
After flipping through the secret fold, he asked again: "How is King Qi doing now? I asked you to bring him here last time, but why haven't you seen him yet?"
Wang Shoushi said: "His Royal Highness the King of Qi has always been in the Youtun Guard Camp. He locked himself in a tent and never took a step out or saw any outsiders. Even after the Prince of Jiangxia County took over the Youtun Guard , I just said it through the window. A few words. My servant asked His Majesty to come here, but His Majesty said that he had committed an unforgivable crime and had no face to see Your Majesty. If Your Majesty wants to punish his crime, you can give him a cup of poisonous wine. No complaints.”
"Hoo!"
His Majesty Li Er sneered and said sarcastically: "You have the courage to die now? When the kings of Wei and Jin refused to join forces with Guan Long, and Guan Long had no choice but to force him to stand up and succeed him as the crown prince, why didn't he rather die? Don’t obey? Huh! This evil!”
However, despite scolding, I do hate that iron cannot become steel, but I also understand that under the circumstances at that time, I could not criticize too much because I was greedy for life and fearful of death, not to mention that there was still a chance of becoming the crown prince or even the new emperor. Generally, people with weak ambitions, How to resist?
In this way, it only shows the value of Qingque and Pheasant slaves who would rather die than obey...
"Let him stay in the Youtunwei camp for some time, he is a useless thing."
"Here."
Wang Shoushi quickly accepted the order. He had no room to comment on this kind of matter. If he said the wrong thing, the consequences would be extremely serious...
His Majesty Li Er flipped through the dense fold again, then put it aside and knocked Wang Shoushi out.
After sitting for a while, he got up and returned to the harem, where he came to where Concubine Yang lived. Concubine Yang hurriedly ordered people to make tea, and then served His Majesty Li Er to take a bath and change his clothes. After sitting in the side hall, while massaging His Majesty Li Er's shoulders, she curiously asked: "It's still early, Your Majesty has already arranged state affairs." Disposal completed? ”
His Majesty Li Er took a sip of tea, shook his head and said: "The national situation is difficult and the memorials are piling up like a mountain. How can it be finished? It's just that I feel a little tired, so I came to sit down and chat with you."
Concubine Yang couldn't help but be overjoyed. The women in the harem seemed to be rich and well-dressed, but in fact they had been chasing the emperor's favor for eternity. It was rare that at her age, she was still remembered by His Majesty. How could she not be happy?
The couple drank tea and chatted warmly in low voices.
After a long while, His Majesty Li Er suddenly asked: "Sizi is already quite old, and several marriage talks have failed. Do you have any suitable young men to recommend?"
When Concubine Yang heard this, she couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Princess Jinyang's marriage has long become a topic that the female family members in the palace cannot avoid. Who dares to rush to introduce the marriage? When it comes to young heroes, Qiu Shenji back then and Wei Zhengju not long ago were all good-looking and talented. But... Now when it comes to Princess Jinyang, who dares to covet her?
After all, in everyone's eyes, Princess Jinyang has already become Fang Er's forbidden love, and no one dares to touch her, otherwise she will end up in a terrible place, or even have a good death...
But when His Majesty asked this question, he could not avoid answering, so he said warmly: "Although His Highness Jinyang is old enough for marriage, his body is weak after all. It is better to raise him for another two years, otherwise he will have children after getting married. , the risk is too great... As for the consort, you have to choose from thousands of choices, and you must not wrong Jinyang."
His Majesty Li Er took a sip of tea with some depression. How could he not know the reason why Si Zi's marriage was difficult?
Although Fang Er never said or acted beyond the distance, Si Zi could not hide his thoughts from his father, so he naturally hated Fang Er as the culprit. But now Guo has seized Fang Jun's military power. If he continues to impose punishments, not only will the outside world say that he "treats his merits harshly", but he himself will also find it difficult to take action... After all, Fang Jun's merits are really there. No matter how angry His Majesty Li Er is, he cannot turn a blind eye.
He sighed and said helplessly: "Okay, anyway, please be considerate. Now that there is no owner in the palace, you have to take care of it. Don't be afraid of offending others. I will make the decision for you."
Concubine Yang responded softly: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I know what to do."
Since Queen Wende's funeral, there is no queen in the palace, so all affairs are inevitably in chaos. Originally, Concubine Wei had the highest rank, but after Guan Long launched an army, the Wei family added fuel to the flames and acted as a savior, which made His Majesty Li Er angry, so the responsibility in the palace naturally fell on Concubine Yang.
As a woman in the palace, who doesn't want to occupy the throne of the phoenix and be the mother of the world? It's just that Concubine Yang and His Majesty Li Er, a young couple, have the same feelings for each other, so they never ask for the position of the main palace.
His Majesty Li Er said again: "Ke'er, can I write you a letter? This boy went out to Silla, probably because he was resentful of me. Apart from greetings during the New Year and holidays, there was not even a letter telling you about his daily life. Alas, I feel a little disappointed.”
Concubine Yang hurriedly got up and went to the inner room to take out a few letters from Li Ke, put them on the table and said: "Ke'er received a letter not long ago, saying that Goguryeo was destroyed and many members of the Yuan clan were fleeing. In Silla, the situation is very urgent, so the army is being mobilized to suppress riots everywhere..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but shed tears: "Ke'er grew up in a deep palace since he was a child, and he couldn't bear the slightest hardship. But now he is working hard in a barbarian land thousands of miles away. I don't know if he has become darker or thinner. If he gets sick, Will there be a skilled doctor around... Wow, my mother is really incompetent."
When she cried like this, His Majesty Li Er's dissatisfaction with Li Ke immediately disappeared, leaving only endless pity. He quickly took Concubine Yang's hand and comforted her with gentle words: "A man with ambitions in all directions, how can he be imprisoned in a small area?" In the land of gentleness? Ke'er is a country, and the empire will never forget his achievements. Moreover, although the land of Silla. It's remote, but it's definitely not a barbaric and desolate place. Now that the navy has opened up waterways, more and more merchants from the Tang Dynasty are taking boats to do business. The place is no less prosperous than the capitals along the coast of the Tang Dynasty." When he said this, he felt something in his heart. At that time, I wanted to feudalize the world to achieve the goal of permanently consolidating the Tang Dynasty, but it was blocked halfway, and I slowly gave up on it in recent years. Letting Li Ke go to Silla to build a vassal for the country was a trade-off, but now it seems that the result is good. It not only prevents brothers from fighting for the throne but also creates a powerful vassal state around the Tang Dynasty... Why not continue to follow this method?
(End of chapter)