In the court, the ministers argued hard, but in the end they didn't come up with a good idea.

After going down to court, Nangong Ao kept Cao Hu.

Cao Hu understood Nangong Ao's intention to leave him. He fought for the Northern Tang Dynasty all his life. Now that the border war is in a hurry, he, the veteran, will of course take action.

After going down, Nangong Ao called out, "Uncle!"

"Your Majesty, the old minister is willing to go to the border and help the fifth prince with his help." Cao Hu said.

Cao Hu asked again and again, Nangong Ao nodded and agreed, "I will remember my uncle's contribution to the Northern Tang Dynasty. The safety of the border depends entirely on my uncle."

Cao Hu clasped his fists, "I will definitely live up to the emperor's heavy trust."

"Let Tianyue and uncle go to the border together?" Nangong Ao said.

Cao Hu thought about it and said that Chen Liang's son Chen Ru'an was on the border, and the fifth prince was there, and there was no shortage of generals there. "No, there are Chen Ru'an and the fifth prince at the border, and I have enough, so let Tianyue stay and standby."

Nangong Ao felt it made sense and nodded.

Nangong Ao still sent Cao's army to the border for support.

After Cao Hu set off, Nangong Ao was very uneasy. On the surface, he seemed to be strong in Northern Tang, but in fact, there was no outstanding general except for a Cao family army.

Zhang Fugui returned from the imperial tomb and immediately reported to Nangong Ao, "Emperor, the third prince's corpse in the tomb of the master is still there."

Nangong Ao glanced at Zhang Fugui, scolded a fool in his heart, and after investigating for a long time, he investigated such a little news.

The corpses in the imperial tomb are still there. What is the problem? Can it mean that it is the Third Prince?

Nangong Ao had already guessed that the corpse was not the third prince. When he fought with the third prince, Nangong Ao concluded that it was the real third prince, not a fake one. As for why the third prince was poisoned and did not die, Nangong Ao guessed that the third prince was cheated of death and deceived them all in the eyes.

"Go down!" Nangong Ao was upset and asked Zhang Fugui to go on.

As soon as Zhang Fugui retreated, Nangong Ao, who was standing there, heard the sound of the door opening, turned his head and was about to scold the person who came to retreat, when he saw Zhou Qiang hurried in.

"Your Majesty, big things are not good, there is a war between our country and Nanzhao." Zhou Qiang replied.

"What?" Nangong Ao couldn't believe what he heard.

"Nan Zhao invaded our country and provoked the war first." Zhou Qiang repeated again.

Nangong Ao, who was standing in front of the desk, did not stand firmly and staggered forward. He immediately reached out to support his body that was planting forward.

"Emperor, there are three princes inside to rebel, and there are these tiger and wolf country that want to kill us in Northern Tang, what should we do?" Zhou Qiang asked.

Nangong Ao did not reply to Zhou Qiang and looked down at the map on the table. The northeastern border was an important pass in the northern part of the Northern Tang Dynasty.

After looking at the border between Southern Showa and Northern Tang, if you lose this place and let the Southern Zhaoren come in, it would be like the gate of Northern Tang opened to Southern Zhaoren, which is absolutely not allowed.

"Grandpa, go and send Zhang Sheng to me." Nangong Ao said.

Zhang Fugui, who was standing outside the study door, immediately went to pass on Zhang Sheng.

Within one day, the two borders of the Northern Tang Dynasty were invaded by foreign enemies. Nangong Ao thought this was definitely not an accident, and someone must have secretly united these foreign enemies.

"Everything north and south is attacked by the enemy, and this is by no means accidental." Nangong Ao said.

"Can it be the third prince who united these people?" Zhou Qiang said carefully.

After hearing Zhou Qiang's words, Nangong Ao was also thinking about this issue in his heart.

Seeing Nangong Ao silent, Zhou Qiang said again, "Your Majesty, should you let go of the matter of governing the court? Now wars are frequent, and it is the time to use people. These days, because of vigorously punishing corruption, many officials have been arrested, and all the ministers have been in danger. They all warned and acted cautiously. In the court, they even reported that it is better to have less than more things. Few people dared to stand up and offer suggestions."

Nangong Ao was also thinking about this matter. If he arrested all the court officials who violated the law at this time, the court would definitely be uneasy. If these people all formed an alliance to rebel at this time, then he would really not have the ability to put out the fire.

"Your Majesty, war is about to break out. It is the place where people are hired. Corrupt officials can investigate at any time, but war does not wait for people!" Zhou Qiang felt that the current situation was very dangerous.

"Then what do you think should be done?" Nangong Ao asked.

"Stop it, kill one to warn a hundred, so that these ministers no longer worry about their own safety, and let them work for the court wholeheartedly." Zhou Qiang said.

"Do you agree with letting Shen Liang go?" Nangong Ao asked.

Zhou Qiang thought for a while and replied, "Your Majesty, anyone can replace Dr. Shen's function now, but Shen Ru'an is a rare general, and the most scarce one is these generals and ministers."

"Everyone says that I, an emperor, can act arbitrarily, but when I act, I have to worry about this and that, what is wrong without thinking about it? Even if I punish myself, I have to look at my face and my expression." Nangong Ao said angrily.

Zhou Qiang stood there without saying a word. Zhang Sheng came in at this time and said, "Your Majesty, although Doctor Shen is guilty, Doctor Shen is still useful to the country now. If Doctor Shen is killed now, it will not only not change the corruption in the court, but also lose the talents who can contribute to the country."

"Even you want to plead for Dr. Shen?" Nangong Ao said to Zhang Sheng.

"I have no intention of this. At this time of internal and external troubles, I believe that the emperor can only fight against foreign countries first and then settle the country. Moreover, although Lord Shen is a little domineering, he still has the ability." Zhang Sheng said.

Nangong Ao also understood that this time should be when he was working together to fight against foreign enemies. Most of the officials in the court were found to have committed any illegal acts during this operation to rectify the court. It can be said that the court had undergone a major blood change. If Shen Liang, an influential court official, was killed, how big a storm would cause? Nangong Ao knew very well.

Nangong Ao glanced at Zhang Sheng and said, "Please put the matter of sorting out the corruption in the court first, and dealing with these two wars first. What is Lord Zhang's opinion?"

After hearing this, Zhang Sheng replied, "There are General Cao in the east, the fifth prince and Shen Ru'an, so there is no need to worry. The key is the war on the border of Nanzhao. When Nanzhao sent troops to provoke the war this time, Nanzhao's ambition was very obvious. He wanted to use this place as an exit and then move to the southwest to compete for the Liaocheng here, where salt and iron ore are also produced here." Zhang Sheng said with his finger in the area of ​​Liaocheng.

Nangong Ao listened to Zhang Sheng's clarity and looked at the city on the map. He snorted coldly, "Nan Zhao is very ambitious!"

"Your Majesty, you must not underestimate the enemy this time!" Zhou Sheng reminded.

"Who will be sent to fight?" Nangong Ao asked.

When Nangong Ao asked who was suitable to send, Zhang Sheng immediately lowered his head.

Nangong Ao's black eyes were gloomy and his heart was filled with anger.

"The Cao family army went to the Northeast, if it is recalled now..." Zhang Sheng stuttered.

After hearing Zhang Sheng's words, Nangong Ao immediately raised his voice and said, "The Cao family army has just set off. Now it's halfway summoned, which will ruin the morale of the soldiers. Besides, General Cao Hu has only one, and he has no ability to do anything to clone. He can't care about the north and the south. Now he has summoned him back. Are you going to fight in the northeast?" Nangong Ao said angrily.

"Emperor!" When Nangong Ao was angry, Zhang Fugui came in tremblingly.

"What's the matter?" Nangong Ao asked with anger.

"The Empress Dowager!" Zhang Fugui replied.

When Nangong Ao heard that the Empress Dowager was late, he winked at Zhang Sheng and Zhou Qiang, and the two of them immediately retreated.

"Mother," Nangong Ao saluted the Empress Dowager and greeted her.

The Empress Dowager looked at Nangong Ao and said, "When the Emperor said he wanted to rectify the court, the Ai family agreed with one hundred, but the emperor's actions were too big, and he changed most of the ministers in one go."

Nangong Ao thought about it carefully now and felt that he was really a little too hasty.

"If the current situation is uncontrollable, and the emperor cannot control the mess, he may not even be able to protect the foundation left by the previous emperor." The Empress Dowager said.

Nangong Ao remained silent after hearing this, and the Empress Dowager said again, "Shen Liang cannot move now."

After hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Nangong Ao asked, "Would the Empress do your son-in-law let Doctor Shen go?"

"Let him make meritorious service, let Shen Liang go, and send Doctor Shen and Nan Zhao people to fight." The Empress Dowager said.

"Doctor Shen was imprisoned for smuggling salt. If he had to pursue this, he could destroy the nine clans. How could he let him go now?" Nangong Ao said.

"Does the emperor have conclusive evidence?" asked the Empress Dowager.

Nangong Ao shook his head and the empress dowager said, "The emperor has no conclusive evidence, only Gu Erxi's one-sided statement. It is not impossible for the emperor to convict Shen Liang, but the emperor must see clearly what the situation is now."

The Empress Dowager said majesticly, and Nangong Ao thought carefully in his heart. It was not that he had thought about not moving Shen Liang for the time being. He planned not to kill Shen Liang for the time being, and to keep Shen Liang for the time being, and then punish Shen Liang after these wars were pacified.

"Your Majesty, look at the court and the country, there is no one available in the country." The Empress Dowager said earnestly.

"Although Shen Liang is guilty, as long as the emperor has an order, Shen Liang dares not refuse to obey. Look at Ye Changyu. Although he is capable, he has no practical actions except to serve the country with just a mouth." The Empress Dowager said.

Nangong Ao was silent. He knew that what the Empress Dowager said was very reasonable and indeed true, but he thought that if Shen Liang was released, it would encourage the bad atmosphere in the court.

"Who is the emperor going to send to fight?" The Empress Dowager knew that Cao Hu had gone to the Northeast to support the fifth prince, and knew that there was no army in the Northern Tang Dynasty that could resist foreign enemies except the Cao family.

"Cao Tianyue." Nangong Ao replied.
Chapter completed!