Jiuxi

Chapter 145 144 [The general trend of the world]

An ordinary carriage slowly approached the Imperial City Square, followed by six guards holding waist knives and six weaving swordsmen in mysterious clothes.

Lu Shizhou, the young eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was waiting outside Hening Gate with a few young men. When they saw the carriage, they stepped forward. When the young man with a handsome face got off the carriage, he bowed slightly and said: "Lu Captain."

Lu Chen raised his eyes and saw that the man was tall and had a strong face, which was completely different from the stereotype of a feminine and cunning eunuch. He returned the favor and said, "I have met Mr. Lu."

Lu Shizhou smiled and said: "Your Majesty is waiting at the Hall of Rende. Lieutenant Lu, please come with me."

Lu Chen's heart moved slightly. Now he knew more about the situation in the palace. The Emperor usually summoned ministers in the Wende Hall, which was also where the Emperor handled government affairs on a daily basis.

Rende Hall is close to the harem and is a temporary resting place for the emperor during the day. In a sense, it is equivalent to the palace.The emperor summoning his ministers here is undoubtedly a sign of extreme trust. Usually only the prime minister or a few important figures in the Privy Council can enjoy this kind of treatment.

Lu Chen showed a hint of flattery, and then followed Lu Shizhou into the palace. The Lu family guards and the swordsman of the Sutra Weaving Department remained outside the palace.

Speechless all the way.

When they came to Rende Hall, Lu Shizhou whispered: "During this period, because of the case of the attack on Captain Lu, Your Majesty got angry several times. Gao Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment and Lord Zhao of Dali Temple received a lot of reprimands. Your Majesty is very concerned about Lu. I will inquire about the details of Captain Lu's injury every day. His Majesty was very happy to hear that Captain Lu woke up safely a few days ago. If it weren't for the fact that Captain Lu needs to rest, His Majesty would have summoned Captain Lu to the palace to see him early."

Lu Chen understood the intention of these words and couldn't help but express admiration: "Your Majesty is so kind to me, I am ashamed to accept it."

Seeing this, Lu Shizhou said kindly: "Your Majesty has high hopes for Captain Lu, and I only hope that the Captain can appreciate your Majesty's painstaking efforts."

Lu Chen nodded in agreement and said, "Thank you, Mr. Lu, for the tip."

A high-denomination banknote was quietly stuffed into Lu Shizhou's sleeve.

Lu Shizhou was a young eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and one of the highest-ranking eunuchs in the palace. He was extremely knowledgeable. Of course, he would not be shaken by a banknote. However, he smiled slightly at this moment and said gently: "Thank you. Reward from the captain."

"Don't dare."

Lu Chen lowered his head slightly.

The two of them had a tacit understanding and said no more words.

Lu Chen stepped into the Hall of Rende, turned around the picturesque screen, and saw the emperor standing next to a giant map with his hands behind his hands.

Li Duan turned his head, looked at Lu Chen from top to bottom, and asked with a smile: "I heard from the imperial doctor that your injury healed very quickly. It seems that you are well now?"

Lu Chen came closer, saluted meticulously, and said solemnly: "I'm very good. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen's impression of the king in front of him who succeeded Zuo of the Great Qi Kingdom gradually improved.

Before entering the capital, he had a vague judgment about the emperor through the narrations of Xiao Wangzhi, Li Tianrun and his father. It was roughly between a conservative monarch and a pioneering and enterprising king. Going further could promote the Northern Expedition, while taking a step back would mean settling in a corner.Regardless of these big-frame trade-offs, both Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun recognized the emperor's character.

After witnessing this period of time, Lu Chen gradually understood how difficult it was for the emperor, especially when the emperor, despite the opposition of most of his important ministers, did not hesitate to expose all his trump cards just to fulfill his promise to the general of the border army. No wonder Li Tianrun was loyal to him. .

As for the emperor's high regard and praise for him, although a large part of the reason was due to the emperor's reliance on the two frontier commanders, as well as the consideration of Li Mu Jianxin and his daughter to buy horse bones, in the end Lu Chen received great benefits but Is the truth.

Based on various considerations, Lu Chen's attitude in front of the emperor seemed very sincere.

Li Duancheng interacted with the old foxes in the court every day, so he could naturally see the young man's thoughts. His expression became gentler and he said: "I summoned you to the palace today. Firstly, I want to see how you are recovering. Secondly, There are some things that I want to hear your opinion face to face."

Living in Li's house these days, Li Bingxue didn't allow him to think too much, but Lu Chen had already made a preliminary judgment on the assassination case. Now that he heard the emperor's words, he had a plan in mind.

However, Li Duan's next words surprised Lu Chen slightly: "Do you know the Seven Divisions of Shazhou?"

Lu Chen looked up and saw that the emperor's eyes were calm and somewhat profound. He moved his eyes to the side and noticed that this giant map included almost all the forces in the world.

The Northern Yan and the Southern Qi were bounded by the Hengjiang River, but now the Southern Qi also has part of the territory on the north bank of the Hengjiang River, including part of Jingzhou, the seven cities in the north of the Yangtze River, and the entire territory of Huaizhou, and these territories are connected by three ancient roads along the southern line of the Shuangfeng Mountains. Into one piece.

On the south bank of the upper reaches of the Hengjiang River, there are Daozhou and Chengzhou on the western frontier of Qi State. The west of Chengzhou borders Shazhou Qibu.

According to Lu Chen's concept of his previous life, the Seven Tribes of Shazhou were similar to the self-contained Tusi tribe. They accepted the jurisdiction of Daqi before the Yuanjia Revolution and were extremely loyal to Daqi for some historical reasons.However, after the incident that year, [-] local soldiers from the Seven Divisions of Shazhou were killed in Yanziling, north of Heluo City. From then on, they regarded Daqi as a feud, and they often raided and harassed the Chengzhou border for more than ten years.The emperor's question was very simple, but it involved too many grievances. Lu Chen thought for a while and replied: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the main thing is to appease the seven tribes of Shazhou."

Li Duan nodded slightly, and then said with a complicated expression: "I will admit that because of some wrong things done by the late emperor, the seven tribes of Shazhou and Daqi were separated from each other, and they lost a powerful support. But today I want to share the same feelings with you. What you are talking about is not about past entanglements, but I want to tell you another thing. The geographical location of Shazhou Qibu is far more important than you think."

Lu Chen was taken aback.

He looked at the territory belonging to the Seventh Division of Shazhou on the giant map, and gradually gained a sense of understanding in his heart. He slowly said: "Your Majesty is saying that the Seventh Division of Shazhou controls another channel for the Northern Army to move south?"

Li Duan said approvingly: "That's right. Puppet Yan has always set its sights on Jing and Huai because these two places control the main route to the south, but this does not mean that there is no other way to go. At the source of the upper reaches of the Hengjiang River, there is an ancient Yunling Road that can be passed by large armies. If the puppet Yan army goes south from this road, they can directly reach the territory of the Seven Divisions of Shazhou, and then head east to invade Chengzhou."

Lu Chen did not ask in a hurry, because this matter had never happened before, so he knew that there must be strong resistance, otherwise there would be no need for Beiyan and Jingchao to fight against Jingzhou and Huaizhou.

After a moment of silence, Lu Chen said tentatively: "Your Majesty, although the Seven Tribes of Shazhou are enemies of Da Qi, they will not vassal the Puppet Yan or even the Jing Dynasty?"

Li Duandao: "Yes. There is a Feiniao Pass at the south end of the Yunling Ancient Road, which means that birds cannot cross it. This dangerous pass is guarded by the Yutong tribe among the seven tribes in Shazhou. You have seen Panlong Pass and Yongquan in the north of Huaizhou Passes, we should know that these passes are easy to defend and difficult to attack, but compared with Feiniao Pass, these passes in Huaizhou are like smooth roads. The Yunling Ancient Road is in the mountains, while Feiniao Pass is built between two thousand-ren high mountains and is less than [-] meters wide. Five feet, and the slope to the south is gentle, but to the north it is extremely steep.”

He gestured to describe the slope to the north of Feiniao Pass. Lu Chen couldn't help but feel emotional. The slope was close to [-] or [-] degrees. If Yanjing's army wanted to attack from the north, it would be impossible unless all of their soldiers could fly in the wind.

"If Feiniao Pass is not opened for a day, it will be impossible for the Northern Army to pass through here. The seven tribes of Shazhou hate Da Qi, and they will not vassal Yan Jing, because it was the Jing Dynasty cavalry who surrounded and killed [-] native soldiers. Based on that year For his mistakes, and the current attitude of the Shazhou Seven Tribes towards the Yanjing Dynasty, I often inform the Chengzhou Governor's Office to ask them to make appropriate concessions to the Shazhou Seven Tribes, mainly to appease and comfort them, even though the Shazhou Seven Tribes send troops to harass every year Chengzhou border.”

Li Duan's words were sincere and somewhat helpless.

Lu Chen had gradually forgotten the purpose of entering the palace. He originally thought that the emperor wanted to discuss the details of the assassination with him, but he did not expect that he would suddenly turn to this unfamiliar topic.

While Lu Chen was thinking, Li Duan asked another slightly sharp question: "If you were the governor of Chengzhou, what would you choose to do when faced with the actions of the seven tribes in Shazhou that harassed and killed the people under your rule?"

This is a dilemma.

Da Qi failed to let down the seven tribes of Shazhou first, and also hoped that the other party could continue to hold Feiniao Pass to avoid giving Beiyan and Jingchao opportunities to take advantage of.In this situation, no matter how tyrannical a general is, he can only hold his nose and endure the other party's harassment, but how innocent are the people on the border?

Facing the emperor's penetrating gaze, Lu Chen said slowly: "Your Majesty, I will find a way to resolve the grudges of the past."

"How to resolve it?"

"I don't know."

Li Duan looked at him steadily, and this answer was slightly beyond his expectation.

If it were some ministers, I'm afraid they would be eager to boast at this time. For example, the army would attack and wipe out the seven tribes of Shazhou, and incorporate Feiniao Pass between the mountains into the territory, so that they would be safe and worry-free.

Lu Chen said calmly: "The seven tribes of Shazhou have lived there for generations. They know the terrain very well and are good at fighting in that complex environment. If you want to conquer by force, I'm afraid you have to conquer Jingzhou and Huaizhou twenty-nine times." All the remaining tens of thousands of border troops are involved, otherwise the effect will definitely not be achieved."

Li Duandao: "But if we do this, the Hengjiang defense line will be in vain, and the gain will not be worth the loss."

Lu Chen considered it and said: "What your Majesty said is absolutely true. I don't have enough information now, and I can't have an in-depth understanding of the Seven Tribes of Shazhou, but I have some immature ideas. The living environment of the Seven Tribes of Shazhou is relatively harsh. Before the Yuanjia Revolution, they had the protection and rewards of the Qi court, which was why they were so loyal, but now it is obvious that they cannot return to the original state. If their living environment can be improved, and the contradictions and conflicts among the seven tribes can be used to divide the forces , maybe it’s a way to try.”

After hearing this, Li Duan was noncommittal and suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

Lu Chen was slightly puzzled.

He didn't think his idea was so surprising. There were so many smart people in the court that someone would definitely think of this, and this method may not solve the fundamental problem. The hatred of the seven Shazhou tribes against Da Qi came from his death in Heluo. Eight thousand native soldiers on the north side of the city.

How can a blood feud involving eight thousand lives be easily resolved with just two words of gold and silver?

At the same time, he became more and more curious about the emperor's thoughts.

At this point in the summons, the meeting had completely deviated from Lu Chen's expectations. The Emperor had not even mentioned the assassination case at all, but instead pulled him to talk about seemingly unrelated things.

Could it be that...the Emperor wanted to send him to the Chengzhou Governor's Mansion to solve the Seven Shazhou Tribes that had troubled the Qi court for more than ten years?

(End of this chapter)