At the court, dozens of ministers all signed a petition, requesting that Crown Prince Li Xian be commended for his merits and pardoned for the crime of trapping and killing prisoners of war. It can be said that there was a surge of public sentiment. Under such circumstances, if Empress Wu did not agree,
Simply unbelievable.
However, what was surprising was that Empress Wu said in a deep voice: "What are you trying to do? Force the palace? Humph, how could Xue Qing be wrong about this matter? Although the prince has made a contribution to the peace, it is military law to trap and kill prisoners of war.
Taboo, even though Xue Rengui made a contribution in quelling Tiele's rebellion back then, he failed to do so. Today, although the prince's military exploits were great, the impact of trapping and killing prisoners of war was also bad. Even though Jin Famin died of illness,
Silla has never surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Shouldn't the prince bear the responsibility for this crime? Alas, actually speaking of this, sometimes there is a conflict between emotion and reason. We should discuss reason first, and then emotion.
, The prince is my biological son, the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, and has made great military exploits. He should not care about trapping and killing prisoners of war. However, if the emperor breaks the law and is guilty of the same crime as the common people, and the prince breaks the law, I cannot protect him. Therefore,
, in this battle, according to my opinion, the merits should be reduced to the demerits, just like the last time, there is no merit or demerit."
When Empress Wu said this, Xue Yuanchao immediately said loudly: "Wei Chen means exactly this. It is pitiful that he is so loyal that he is slandered by others. It is nothing for Wei Chen to be slandered. However, if the Empress of Heaven is misled by your colleagues, it will not matter to you."
The Crown Prince expressed his gratitude, but the ministers feared that the surrounding tribes would become increasingly dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty. In a short time, it would lead to a disaster even more serious than the joint rebellion of the Khitan and Sumo tribes! Fortunately, the Queen of Heaven
His sharp eyes were like a torch, and he could see through the treacherous plot, but he was not deceived by Xiao Xiao, which saved our Tang Dynasty from a major disaster."
"Hmph, Mr. Xue, who do you think Xiao Xiao is? Who is misleading the Queen of Heaven? Do you dare to tell me clearly?" Di Renjie is always an upright person, and he can't get rid of the sand in his eyes. After hearing what Xue Yuanchao said, he was furious.
asked in a deep voice.
"Hehe, Xiaoxiao is naturally..."
"Shut up!" Empress Wu had always admired Di Renjie. She also knew that Di Renjie had rejected Li Xian's attempts to win over her many times. Although he did not become hers, he was quite grateful to her. Today, he saw that Xue Yuanchao actually treated such a person.
After pushing towards Li Xian's camp, he couldn't help but gave a sharp shout, and then said slowly: "Xue Qing, Di Qing is also a loyal person to the country, but he just said a few straightforward words, why did Xue Qing accuse him like this? What's more?
What's more, what Di Qing said is not unreasonable. Well, the prince's hard work for many days can be regarded as meritorious service to the country. Today, I will make an exception and reward the prince with thousands of pieces of silk and one thousand taels of gold as a reward. However, the credit cannot be repeated.
Xu, this is already an exception. Please don't hold any grudges, Prince. As for Di Qing, you speak out so righteously and are loyal to our country of the Tang Dynasty. Your loyalty is commendable. I intend to worship Di Qing as the third-rank minister of Dali Temple. I don't know about Xue Xiang.
, what do Prime Minister Li and Prime Minister Pei agree?"
After Empress Wu finished speaking, a pair of phoenix eyes looked at the three chief prime ministers, Xue Yuanchao, Li Yiyan and Pei Yan.
These three people were all members of Empress Wu in name or in fact. Now that Empress Wu had spoken, they naturally could not object to anything, so they all expressed their approval in unison.
"Haha, if that's the case, then it's settled. Let's quickly prepare a decree to worship Di Qing as the minister of Dali Temple. Di Qing, you are outstanding in talent and upright. I think you should be the minister of Dali Temple. I hope you will love me.
In the future, I will do my best to repay the country with all my loyalty, and don’t let me and Your Majesty down!"
When Empress Wu finally spoke, she glanced at Di Renjie with a smile, and then spoke.
"I would like to thank the Empress of Heaven for your love, and please rest assured that I will serve the country loyally in the future to repay Your Majesty and the Empress of Heaven for their great kindness." Di Renjie was not pretentious, and immediately saluted Empress Wu solemnly, and then said loudly.
Here Li Xian also thanked Empress Wu. No matter what, after all Empress Wu rewarded him with a sum of money, even if it was out of politeness, Li Xian could only do this.
But Li Xian knew deeply what a wicked thing Empress Wu had done this time.
First of all, this army sacrificed so many people and paid so much price. In the end, only Li Xian received the reward. If this spreads out, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers, which will inevitably shake Li Xian.
To show her prestige in the army, and in order to prevent Li Xian from distributing this property to his soldiers, Empress Wu also emphasized that she would borrow this property first and return it with interest later.
Secondly, Empress Wu took the opportunity to promote Di Renjie, who spoke for Li Xian. This was an obvious attempt to win over Li Xian, and the purpose was naturally to weaken Li Xian's power, for fear that Li Xian would have another strong supporter like Di Renjie.
In addition, Empress Wu actually had a more sinister intention. Li Xian was not unaware of this, but Li Xian did not take it seriously. He believed that as long as he was more careful, Empress Wu would not be able to do anything to him.
.
"Haha, my queen mother really spared no effort to deal with me, but things are not as easy as you think. How could I just watch your plan without preparation?" Li Xian had a trace of sarcasm in his eyes.
After thinking about it for a while, he wrote a letter and handed it to his confidant to Zhang Wuchen. Then he said calmly: "You have a good plan, Zhang. I have a plan, and I will definitely not let you succeed this time."
After that, Li Xian raised another sum of money. The value of the money was as much as what Empress Wu had given him, and he claimed that it was borrowed and would be distributed to the soldiers who had made meritorious service, so that they could enjoy the joy of victory with him.
The reason why Li Xian did this was naturally to break Empress Wu's conspiracy to divide himself and his soldiers, and this was indeed the result, because after seeing this scene, the soldiers supported Li Xian even more, and their prestige was unparalleled.
"Haha, I wonder if Queen Mother is satisfied with this?" Li Xian looked towards the direction of Empress Wu's palace and asked lightly.
At the same time, a person came to Empress Wu's palace late at night and reported softly: "The Empress of Heaven, Your Highness the Crown Prince has indeed raised a sum of money and rewarded it to his soldiers. Our opportunity has come."
"Haha, I really did not disappoint you. For the sake of my prestige in the army, I ignored the laws and regulations of the army and privately accepted and recruited the lieutenants of the army. I wonder if this crime can make him feel sick and disgusted?" Empress Wu smiled faintly.
, said with a mocking look on his face.
"The Queen of Heaven, this is His Highness the Crown Prince, with such a character, haha..." The man smiled meaningfully, and then heard Empress Wu say lightly: "Next, you will take action and follow the first step of the plan.
Do it.” (To be continued.) This chapter has been completed!
