Huaiyu tidied up his court clothes and got out of the car. The land in front of the East Palace Gate was quite clean. Yongzhou Yamen had specially spread Chanhe sand on this land.
Hundreds of officials gathered in front of the palace. It was freezing cold and many officials wore furs outside their court uniforms.
There were mink fur coats, even sheepskin fur coats, fox furs, bear skins, etc. In the dim light, it looked like a group of ghosts and monsters were gathering.
Huaiyu himself wore a large sable cloak and held a copper hand warmer in his hand.
Many people greeted him. Wu Huaiyu is doing well now. The prince Xima of the Economic Affairs Bureau is also a bachelor of the Chongwen Hall and the owner of the hall. This is a job that is harmless to humans and animals. However, many relatives of the emperor, prime ministers, princes and children are studying in the Chongwen Hall, and even
I might also go to school in the future,
You must be polite to your child's teacher, not to mention that he is still an official of the East Palace, and Wu Huaiyu also has the status of a miracle doctor, a great painter, and a great poet. There is no conflict of interest, but he is still useful, so naturally he is polite.
Taichang Qing and Military Supervisor Yang Shidao has been very enthusiastic about Wu Huaiyu recently. He has sent gifts to Wu Huaiyu's door several times and wanted to ask Huaiyu to paint portraits of him and the princess.
Not only did Yang Prince-in-law directly send a lot of money and silk as a deposit, but he also bought a lot of elixirs, salt, soap, etc. at Huaiyu's Qianjintang, etc., becoming a long-term big customer. Not to mention, Lao Yang's loyalty to his subordinate, Warrior Ke,
He was very considerate. Not only did he give me a concubine as a gift, but Lao Wu also gave him the best rating in his assessment.
"Erlang, are you free recently?" Yang Shidao came over with a smile and handed Huaiyu a betel nut. "This thing from Lingnan is quite refreshing."
"I just chew two slices of mint. Eating too much of this betel nut is not good. If you chew it often, your mouth will become smaller and smaller. In the future, you will not even be able to open your mouth, and you will not be able to eat meat. You can only drink porridge."
This stuff is poisonous."
Yang Shidao was startled, "I have a slave who is on errands in Lingnan, and I brought him back to show his respect. Damn, he dared to poison me. I'll kill him with a stick when I get back."
"No, this betel nut is only slightly poisonous. It doesn't matter if you eat it occasionally, but you can't eat more. It's best to concoct it first. That person definitely didn't intend to kill Mr. Yang."
"Since Erlang speaks for him, I will spare his life, but this kind of person cannot be kept. I will ask my servants to give him and his family to Erlang later. Don't keep Erlang around. Send them to Zhuangzi."
Just go there and farm."
Yang Shidao could not tolerate Huaiyu's rejection.
This person's ability to climb the ladder is really strong, but he also has this kind of capital, just a room of slaves is nothing, not as good as a drop in the bucket.
"Erlang, I've been feeling sore and weak in my waist and knees lately. Do you think I need some treatment?"
Huaiyu took his pulse directly and asked about the situation.
"In Mr. Yang's case, it may be that he has worked too hard, is a little weak, and has insufficient kidney energy. I suggest using Liuwei Dihuang Pills. If Mr. Yang wants to have more children, then after one course of treatment with Liuwei Dihuang Pills, you can switch to Wuzi Yanzong Pills.
, not only can solve the symptoms of soreness and weakness in the waist and knees, but also make you more energetic and have more children and more happiness.”
Yang Shidao chuckled, "This is good, this is good,"
"I will write a prescription to Qianjintang later and ask them to prepare it and send it to Mr. Yang. Mr. Yang will tell you how to take it."
"Erlang, yesterday the saint summoned him and talked about the matter of dealing with Yunzhou Heng'an Yuan Junzhang. He mentioned the memorial written by Erlang. The saint agreed very much with your analysis of Yuan Junzhang's poor situation."
"I have taken the initiative to ask Ying to go to Hedong. I will go there after the new year and be responsible for recruiting Yuan Junzhang to recover Yunzhong. I request the saint to take you as my deputy. Let's make great achievements together and recover Yunzhou."
Yang Shidao originally thought that by winning the deputy envoy position for Wu Huaiyu, he was giving Wu Huaiyu an opportunity to make meritorious deeds, which was a great favor. However, Wu Huaiyu did not look very happy.
"What, you don't want to go?"
"It's a bit sudden." Huaiyu felt helpless.
"This is a rare opportunity. The world has been unified. Now there are only two rebels, Yuan Junzhang and Liang Shidu. If we don't hurry up, there won't be any soup left."
Since the Tang Dynasty started its army, it has not done much to deal with Yuan Junzhang in the north and Liang Shidu in Shuofang. It is not that they cannot defeat them, but it is a strategic decision in the early Tang Dynasty. It is to first suppress the rebel kings in the Central Plains and strive to unite with the Turks.
Although the Turks continued to invade later, Li and Tang always had the attitude of not fighting if they could. He tried to appease them first, and if that didn't work, he gave them some money and silk. He must first concentrate on unifying the Central Plains.
Therefore, the main strategy for Liang Shidu, Yuan Junzhang and others was to restrict their southward invasion, and intentionally left them as a buffer zone with the Turks.
If they dare to invade, they will fight back, but they will not go to war to destroy them, just to create a buffer zone with the Turks.
Go south first and then north, and make peace with the outside first.
This strategy was actually quite successful. The Tang Dynasty pacified the Central Plains very quickly.
Now that the Central Plains has been pacified, it is natural to start heading north. Before the sudden decisive battle, these two remnants must be dealt with first.
Yuan Junzhang is the remnant force of Liu Wuzhou. From the beginning, it owned the three counties of Yanmen, Mayi, and Yunzhong, but now only the town of Heng'an is left, and its strength is the weakest.
Not only did Wu Huaiyu see that Yuan Junzhang was at the end of his rope and could only surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but everyone in the court who had some knowledge could also see it.
As the emperor's brother-in-law, Yang Shidao grabbed the recruitment task, so he wanted to take the credit. He asked to take Wu Huaiyu as his deputy, so naturally he wanted to share the credit with Huaiyu.
If others can get this opportunity, I would be grateful.
But Wu Huaiyu had no intention of going.
"Do you think there will be more trouble on this errand?"
"Does Yuan Junzhang still dare to do it again?"
In fact, Yuan Junzhang had already surrendered to the Tang Dynasty in the sixth year of Wude. First, Yunzhong Yuan Junzhang and Mayi Gaomanzheng allied forces to attack Yanmen, but failed to capture it. Li Yuan sent an envoy to surrender and promised to give an iron bond guarantee.
Not to kill. Yuan Junzhang refused to accept it and invaded Daizhou again, but was still repelled by Tang generals.
Gao Manzheng of Mayi proposed to kill the Turks and surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but Yuan Junzhang refused to listen. Gao Manzheng secretly surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and led his troops to attack Yuan Junzhang. Yuan Junzhang fled to the Turks, but one of his sons and 200 Turkic cavalry were killed.
Afterwards, Yuan Junzhang led the Turkic army to fight back and captured Mayi. After he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, he was named the general manager of Shuozhou. Gao Manzheng of Rong Guogong captured and killed him, but soon he had to abandon Mayi and retreat to Heng'an.
The Tang army launched a massive counterattack, and many of his subordinates deserted him and defected to the Tang Dynasty. Yuan Junzhang was afraid and asked to surrender. Li Yuan sent his envoy Yuan Pu to give him an iron certificate and an official title. As a result, Jieli Khan sent people to come to Yuan.
Jun Zhang went back on his word and captured Yuan Pu and sent him to Jie Li, where he was killed by Jie Li.
"Yuan Junzhang is so weak that even his son wants to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and more of his subordinates want to join in. This year, the Turks have suffered a big setback in their southward march. Yuan Junzhang must have sensed the situation. Yang Gong went to recruit surrender, and Yuan Jun
Zhang has no reason to do it again, and he dare not say that the robbery envoy is planning to kill him, so there is no need for Mr. Yang to worry."
Yang Shidao laughed and said, "In this case, Erlang, don't hesitate. Come with me. It may only take two or three months. By then, you can easily achieve this great feat."
Early morning.
It was over after a boring ceremony.
The chamberlain announced an edict and called out some names, asking them to stay in court for a meeting. Not only the prime ministers, but also the Minister of War Du Ruhui, Taichang Qing Yang Shidao and others.
The names of Prince Xima Wu Huaiyu are also among them.
Sure enough, when he came to the palace and changed into a dragon robe, Li Shimin directly talked about his plan for Liang Shidu and Yuan Junzhang.
He always beat Master Liang, but he only caressed Yuan Junzhang.
"Take Chai Shao as the general manager of Shuofang Road, Xue Wanche as his deputy, and Niu Jinda as the vanguard to attack Liang Shidu."
"Your Majesty, I object!"
Before the emperor finished speaking, Wang Gui, the minister of Huangmen, stood up and objected loudly, "We, the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, only formed an alliance and truce at Weiqiao in September. Now, in less than three months, they are going to fight again. Can't your majesty, keep a low profile and bide your time?"
"Has Your Majesty forgotten the ten-year rest and recuperation we agreed upon?"
"With this war going on, the Turks will have another excuse to invade the south. Then there will be endless wars. How will the people recuperate?"
Immediately afterwards, Shangshu Zuocheng Wei Zheng immediately followed up and firmly opposed sending troops to attack Liangshidu, "If we in the Tang Dynasty send troops to attack Liangshidu, the Turks will definitely go south to protect them. Then the Tang-Turk war will resume, and there will never be peace."
"
"Your Majesty, please bear with me for now."
Li Shimin couldn't bear it, not even for a day.
Although Du Ruhui, Minister of the Ministry of War, was a scholar, he firmly advocated war.
"Your Majesty, I have to report that after the Turks returned to the grassland in September, there was a white disaster in the grassland this winter, and many livestock froze to death. Now they have no time to take care of themselves. Moreover, the Tiele tribes in Mobei are also unwilling to accept the Turks' control of valley construction, expansion, etc."
"When the Turks suffered a disaster, they levied heavy taxes on livestock and fodder from the Tiele tribes, completely disregarding the lives of the Tiele people. This caused great dissatisfaction among the Tiele tribes, and now they have started fighting."
"I believe that now is the perfect time for us to send troops to regain Shuofang. This opportunity cannot be missed or it will never come again!"
There was a lot of snow in Chang'an this winter.
The snow in Saibei is heavier.
It was reported that the snow was several feet deep. This kind of heavy snow on the grassland is called a white disaster.
This is a fatal snow disaster. Countless livestock will freeze to death. For grassland people, livestock is their foundation. If such a disaster occurs and livestock freeze to death, people will starve to death.
Generally, after the Great White Disaster, the grasslands will fall into turmoil. Either all the tribes will unite and go south to rob the Central Plains to solve the famine, or the big fish will eat the small fish, the big tribes will rob the small tribes, and the Turkic Khanate will rob Tiele and Khitan subordinates’ cattle and sheep.
Or raise taxes.
But raising taxes in a year of great disaster is sure to trigger rebellion.
So it's either internal fighting or external invasion.
However, spring and summer are not suitable for large-scale invasions southward. There is no grass on the road, and there is no fat for the cattle and horses, so they cannot support long-distance marches. If the border guards are on guard, they may freeze and starve to death halfway.
The best invasion season is still in autumn, when autumn is high and horses are fat, the weather is cool, and cattle and sheep are fat.
In the palace.
Caught in a big dispute, Du Ruhui, Minister of War, suggested taking the opportunity to attack Liang Shidu, recruit Yuan Junzhang to surrender, and deal with the last two rebel kings.
Zuo Pu shot Xiao Yu even more fiercely. He proposed not only to recapture Shuofang and Yunzhong, but also to take advantage of the Turkic disease to kill him. After capturing Shuofang Yunzhong, he would also take advantage of the victory to pursue Wuyuan in Hetao and Dingxiang in Daibei.
He also took it back in one fell swoop.
If there is an opportunity then, he will destroy the Turkic Khanate in Chilechuan and drive the Turks completely across the Yinshan Mountains.
However, Sun Wuji, the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was firmly opposed to directly sending troops to the Turks. He was suspended from his post at home for a period of reflection and now resumed his original post.
"We can't break our word. The Tujue Covenant has just been renewed in three months, so we can't take the initiative to break it." Changsun Wuji agreed to regain Shuofang Yunzhong at this time, but he could not attack the Turks.
"Xuanling?"
The emperor was not in a hurry to express his position, but asked his confidant Fang Xuanling.
"Your Majesty, when the Turks have not broken the treaty and invaded, if we take the initiative to send troops, it will be a breach of trust. It will inevitably waste people and money. This is not the king's army, and we are not ready yet."
"I suggest that you send a secret envoy to contact the Tiele tribes such as Xue Yantuo, Huihe and others in Mobei, offer generous rewards, and even promise marriage, promise to destroy the Turks and ennoble them as founding kings, so that they can rebel against the Turks and fight against Jieli. We will
Send troops to recover Shuofang and represent the north."
"Step by step, within three to five years, all the tribes will be rebellious and there will be no animals left."
"Then wait until he is found guilty and send out troops to attack him. This is justifiable and he is the master of the king."
Li Shimin stroked his beard and nodded, and just as he was about to speak, he glanced at Wu Huaiyu in the palace and found that he didn't seem to agree.
When Wu Huaiyu heard the word "he", his brows wrinkled involuntarily.
