Volume 1 Princess Taiping Grows Up Chapter 24: Unintentional
Li Yuechen didn't know what Li Zhi and his wife discussed with the ministers. Two days later, the imperial edict was issued: Xue Rengui was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Luosha Road Army, with Ashina Daozhen, the general of the Right Guard, and Guo Daifeng, the general of the Left Guard, as deputies, and an army of 100,000 was sent to attack Tubo directly!
In order to make their cause more legitimate, this time they raised the banner of helping Tuyuhun to restore its country. After Tubo surrendered again, they sent Tuyuhun King Murong Nuohebo back.
Li Yuechen has read a lot of national history and is quite familiar with this guy's deeds.
In the fifth year of Xianqing, which was five years before Li Yuechen was born, Tubo invaded Tuyuhun on a large scale.
Tuyuhun King Murong Nuohebo fled to Liangzhou with his wife Princess Honghua and thousands of civilians, and asked the Tang Dynasty for help.
At that time, Li Zhi ordered Zheng Rentai and Su Dingfang to gather troops in Liangzhou to protect the remaining forces of Tuyuhun while preparing for war.
However, Li Zhi did not take the initiative to attack Tubo at that time, but sent envoys to strongly condemn Lu Dongzan's act of invading other countries' territories!
At that time, Li Zhi thought that if he dared to kill the envoy or invade the Tang Dynasty, he would just beat him up, which would be a legitimate reason.
However, Lu Dongzan was a smart old man. Not only was he polite to the special envoy, he also sent his own special envoy to the Tang Dynasty to strongly condemn Tuyuhun's behavior of bothering the Tang Dynasty while the two countries were fighting!
The two sides did not fight, and in this way, the land of Tuyuhun was annexed by Tubo.
In fact, last year many ministers submitted memorials suggesting sending troops to Tubo to help Tuyuhun recover its homeland.
However, Yan Liben submitted a memorial, vetoing the deployment of troops on the grounds that the country was unable to undertake military action due to severe drought and poor harvest.
In the end, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian's order to relocate the Tuyuhun people to Qilian Mountains was not carried out.
Li Yuechen was not sure whether it would be good or bad if such an order was carried out in this era, but she knew that Qilian Mountain would be a good place in the future.
If it can be developed well in this era, it will have a great positive impact on the economy of the Tang Dynasty.
However, it was impossible for her to make such a suggestion to Li Zhi and his wife now.
Firstly, she had no idea whether the Qilian Mountains of this era were the same as those of the future. Secondly, as she was still a child, it would be better for her not to get involved in such things.
Although Wu Zetian has not yet come to power, the royal family does not strictly punish women or other people who discuss state affairs, but it is still better to try not to arouse suspicion.
After all, the events of Empress Lü during the Han Dynasty are still fresh in our memory...
Li Zhi's order was issued quickly and was executed quickly.
However, at this time, no one could tell whether the order was issued by Li Zhi or Wu Zetian.
This couple stays in Yanying Palace all day long and never goes out. Who knows what is going on?
However, Li Yuechen was more inclined to believe that it was her mother, Wu Zetian, who made the decision, because Li Zhi was in very poor health now, his eyes could not even see clearly, and he basically played ball in the palace every day.
It is worth mentioning that the folding chairs made by Li Yuechen are very popular with the couple. Now the Yanying Hall has been replaced with such chairs and taller desks. I wonder if they can improve the efficiency of reviewing memorials.
In fact, this is also one of the things that Li Yuechen likes about the Tang Dynasty, that is, its open and inclusive policy.
If you find something good, use it.
Nowadays, Han people will not be scolded if they walk on the streets of Chang'an wearing Hu clothing. Instead, it is considered a trend.
Moreover, people were hired regardless of their nationality, and many ministers in the court were not Han Chinese.
Speaking of this, there is something interesting.
Now the eldest son of the Turkic chief is a hostage in the Tang Dynasty. Just after the Chinese New Year this year, Li Zhi issued an edict to let this person go to the Eastern Palace to serve as Li Hong's attendant.
At that time, all the ministers had no objection, except for Xu Qidan, a servant of the Western Palace, who stood up and said, "Your Majesty, you are going too far! The prince should be surrounded by literary and virtuous people. How can you allow people from the Rongdi border to serve him?"
Li Zhi was too lazy to argue with him over such a small matter, otherwise he would be scolded by the censor again, so he waved his hand and agreed.
Then Xu Qidan said, "Changsun Wuji is your majesty's maternal relative. You shouldn't destroy his ancestral tomb just because of the mistakes made by his descendants, right?"
The reason for this is that there were many official tomb destructions in the Tang Dynasty, and Changsun Wuji was convicted of treason after all.
Never mind whether he really committed treason or not, at least that’s what the charge says.
In the Tang Dynasty, these crimes were often punished by official orders to destroy ancestral tombs.
Therefore, when Zhangsun Wuji rebelled, the family’s ancestral tomb was also destroyed.
His suggestion was eventually adopted by Li Zhi, who then ordered the restoration of his ancestral tomb.
I have to say, Li Yuechen likes this very much.
As someone who comes from a civilized society, she simply cannot accept such an immoral act as digging up people's ancestral graves.
Originally, she had thought that when she grew up, she would find an opportunity to talk to Li Zhi about abolishing this practice. Now that someone has said it, that couldn't be better.
Li Yuechen, who has nothing to do, now spends most of his time writing Journey to the West, except for practicing martial arts every day.
I have now written about the Pansy Cave, and it will take some time before I finish.
Li Zhi and his wife became the most loyal readers. Every time a new chapter was updated, they would ask Zhang Chengxin to get it as soon as possible. They were completely addicted.
This made Li Yuechen feel comfortable. As long as she could make them both happy, she would feel comfortable.
But after just two days of comfort, something happened again.
Because of the Tubo issue, Xue Rengui, the governor of Andong Protectorate, was transferred away. Many people in Goryeo were originally dissatisfied with the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and took this opportunity to start a rebellion.
Jian Moucen supported An Shun, the grandson of the former King of Goryeo, as king and launched a rebellion.
This is what Li Yuechen heard from Eunuch Fu.
In this era, as long as it is not a secret of state affairs, the servants in the palace are often the most informed.
Li Yuechen was a little worried at first. If this happened, the Tang army would have to face the situation of fighting on two fronts.
But then he shook his head. Many people in Goryeo had already been moved inland, and those who were left would not be able to cause any trouble. At most, they would just be a little troublesome.
Thinking of this, Li Yuechen shook his head and continued to write his Journey to the West.
Seeing her continue writing, Shangguan Wan'er, who was leaning her chin on the table beside her, couldn't help but ask, "Isn't Your Highness worried?"
"What is there to worry about? When the Tang Dynasty was first founded, it was surrounded by powerful enemies, but now all of them have surrendered. If you want to worry, you should worry about them!" Li Yuechen smiled calmly and shook the hair hanging in front of him.
Hearing her words, a gleam of light flashed in the eyes of Eunuch Fu next to her.
Shangguan Wan'er, who was sitting at the table, blinked her big eyes, not knowing what she was thinking.
…
Two days passed in a blink of an eye, and Li Yuechen finally finished writing the chapter about Pansi Cave.
After getting up in the morning and practicing yoga with Shangguan Wan'er and her two sisters, she ate something and asked Zheng to help her copy it down, then she went to the yard to practice.
After lunch, I took the latest copied chapter to find Li Zhi and Wu Zetian.
But when he arrived at Yanying Palace, he found no one there.
Li Yuechen grabbed a passing palace maid and asked, "Where is my father and mother?"
"Your Highness, the Emperor and His Majesty are both in the Xuanzheng Hall," the maid replied with a salute.
"Haven't you left court yet?"
"Exactly."
Li Yuechen felt a little surprised when he heard the palace maid's answer. It was already past noon and it was not usually so late for the court to end.
Did something big happen?
Feeling curious, Li Yuechen ran to the Xuanzheng Hall, sneaked in through the back door, and then went to the side passage to listen.
Although the ministers could not see her, Li Zhi sitting on the dragon throne and Wu Zetian behind the pearl curtain could both see her.
However, the couple did not say anything about Li Yuechen sneaking into the hall, so if she wanted to listen, she could listen.
Even in the first year after Li Yuechen was born, Li Zhi held her in his arms when he went to court.
Li Zhi, who was sitting on the dragon throne, took a quick glance and saw Li Yuechen sticking out her tongue at him with a barely perceptible smile on her face.
The health ball in his hand seemed to spin a little faster.
Wu Zetian behind her raised her hand and gestured to her to keep quiet, and Li Yuechen nodded to show that she understood.
"cough……"
Li Zhi cleared his throat and said, "We have discussed this for two days. Now that all the ministers have no objection, let's make it happen! Appoint Gao Kan as the commander-in-chief of the Dongzhou Road and Li Jinxing as the commander-in-chief of the Yanshan Road to attack An Shun! This time we must..."
“Boom, boom, boom…”
Before he could finish his words, he heard the rhythmic beating of the big drum above the Danfeng Gate.
Both Li Zhi and the ministers in the court subconsciously stopped what they were doing and looked outside.
Li Yuechen, hiding behind the screen, listened carefully and found that it was the sound of military drums.
This kind of drum sound means that there is a military report, and the door must be opened immediately. The Wu Hou who is responsible for delivering the letter can ride his horse all the way to the bottom of Longwei Road.
If it is urgent military information such as an 800-mile express, you can even ride all the way to the gate of the hall.
Hearing the drumbeat, Li Zhi did not continue speaking, but waited for Wu Hou, who was delivering the military report, to come.
"Report——"
A Wu Hou with two long feathers stuck on his back shouted and ran all the way to the entrance of the hall.
After handing his weapon to the Qianniu Guard at the door, he showed his token and ran into the hall.
When he arrived at the foot of Li Zhilong's chair, he saluted and panted, "Your Majesty, this is a personal letter from Zhang Peng, the deputy commander of the Andong Protectorate!"
Li Zhi stretched out his hand: "Show it up!"
Zhang Chengxin, who was standing next to him, quickly went down to take it, then gave it to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi's eyesight was very poor now. After opening it, he squinted and looked closely, and the expression on his face changed.
All the civil and military officials in the court looked curious, including Li Hong who was standing at the front.
Li Yuechen, who was playing behind the screen, was observing Li Zhi's expression, trying to see something from his face.
About two minutes later, Li Zhi suddenly leaned back and said, “Hahahaha…”
This sudden laughter scared the ministers below. Li Hong raised his head suddenly, not knowing what was going on.
Li Zhi was laughing happily, but his hand was unstable and he lost his grip on the health ball, which fell to the ground with a dull "bang".
Zhang Chengxin hurried over to help pick it up and put it in his hand. Li Zhi took it and handed him the letter, then waved his hand, laughed and said, "Read it!"
Zhang Chengxin, who received the order, took the letter, stood beside Li Zhi, and began to read it aloud.
"Your Majesty, An Shun and Jian Mou Cen led the people to rebel a few days ago! However, since Lord Xue took office, he has established our Great Tang, raised orphans, supported the elderly, dealt with thieves and bandits... promoted and employed talents from Goryeo, and commended and rewarded people with excellent character. Therefore, An Shun's rebellion was almost unanswered! Now he is trapped in Anshi City by me and my people, and will be able to report victory soon!"
After reading it, Zhang Chengxin turned around and respectfully handed the letter back to him.
Li Zhi waved his hand and asked him to pass it to the queen behind him to see.
The ministers below were also stunned, especially Gao Kan and Li Jinxing who had just been appointed, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Hahaha..." Li Zhi laughed again.
The ministers below seemed to be amused and started laughing as well: "Hahahaha..."
For a moment, the entire Xuan Zheng Hall was filled with laughter, almost blowing the roof off.
Li Zhi above was laughing non-stop, and Wu Zetian behind the pearl curtain was also covering her mouth and chuckling.
Li Yuechen, who was behind the screen in the side aisle, also wanted to laugh, but she couldn't.
I didn't expect that the suggestions I made subconsciously would produce results so quickly. Aren't ordinary people in this era too easily brainwashed?
But if this happens, I'm afraid Li Zhi and Wu Zetian's attention will be focused on her again. I don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.
For a moment, Li Yuechen felt a little worried.
After laughing for a long time, Li Zhi's face turned red, and then he gradually stopped.
When the ministers below saw the emperor stop, they forced themselves to stop as well, but a few of them were still shaking their shoulders silently.
Li Zhi took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, but there was still a smile on his face.
"My dear ministers, how should we deal with this situation?"
Yan Liben took two steps forward and raised the tablet in his hand slightly: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, although it has not been successful this time, we should not take it lightly. We should send someone to serve as the Protector General of Andong."
Li Zhi nodded: "Well, what you said makes sense. Do you have any candidates?"
"I still recommend General Gao Kan of the Left Guard!" Yan Liben replied.
"Well, do you have any objections, my dear ministers?" Li Zhi asked, looking around.
The court was very quiet and no one spoke this time.
Originally Gao Kan was scheduled to go and quell the rebellion. Now he has just changed his position, and the content of his work has not changed, so there is nothing to argue about.
The subsequent matters were much simpler. After Li Zhi made a few remarks in the court, he announced his resignation.
He walked into the corridor hand in hand with Wu Zetian, and looking at Li Yuechen who was still standing behind the screen, his smile became even wider.
"Chen'er is indeed my lucky star!" Li Zhi reached out and touched her head.
Li Yuechen forced a smile and said, "Did the child make any contribution?"
"Yes!" Li Zhi made a serious expression, "It's a great contribution!"
"If I can help my parents, I'll be happy!" Li Yuechen smiled awkwardly.
At the same time, I was madly telling myself in my heart, damn it, I will never talk nonsense again!
Let me pray hard, hoping that the ministers won’t know that today’s incident has anything to do with me!
