Seeing Fang Xuanling's appearance, Changsun Wuji inadvertently showed a meaningful smile. He stood up, personally stepped forward to hold Fang Xuanling's hand as if to support him, and whispered softly: "Xuanling, since you are seriously ill, you should take a good rest, why should you worry about these things?"
The sympathy and sympathy between the two old comrades is beyond words. In fact, although Fang Xuanling was one of the assistants on the left and the right officer on the same level as Changsun Wuji, he got along well with everyone in the court. But as we all know, Fang Xuanling was a staunch princeling before, while Changsun Wuji was not in the same camp as him. Now that the crown prince has fallen, Xuanling should have lost power because of this. However, relying on the emperor's unreserved trust in him and the illustrious achievements he had made before, even Changsun Wuji did not hesitate when he was purging the court. Dare to touch him at all, but instead tried their best to recruit him, a general who can stand alone.
People with discerning eyes sneered secretly when they saw this. The two of them are obviously inseparable in appearance, but Changsun Wuji can act like a brother. This kind of city and face are already beyond the reach of others.
Fang Xuanling smiled politely, pushed Changsun Wuji's hand away politely, and said: "There is something going on in the country, how can Fang Mouan just sit back and ignore it? Previously, two meetings had been held on the Lanzhou war peace issue. At that time, Fang was seriously ill and in coma and did not attend. He has improved enough to get out of bed today, so he came uninvited. "
"Xuan Ling came just in time. How could such a major military and national event be carried out without the participation of you, the number one counselor of the Tang Dynasty?" Changsun Wuji cupped his hands and said, "Please take a seat quickly!"
Just like that, the vacant position above the chief was filled by Fang Xuanling.
Fang Xuanling's sudden appearance made everyone's hearts beat. At this time, many eyes were fixed on him.
Fang Mou and Du Duan have always been the two most powerful think tanks around Li Shimin. The decisive and wise Du Ruhui has passed away, leaving only the resourceful Fang Xuanling, who is especially good at military strategy and planning. From the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin listened to his opinions on many major battles. Therefore, Li Shimin personally said that before Zhenguan, Fang Xuanling had the most credit.
He is like Zhuge Liang of the Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period, and Wu Yong, the military advisor on Shuibo Liang Mountain, whose prestige is evident.
Everyone looked at Fang Xuanling. He indeed looked very weak after recovering from a serious illness. There was a sickly flush on his cheeks. His eyes were not as flexible and sharp as before, and his movements were two beats slower. However, no one despised him for this. From then on, the words that came out of his mouth could still be heard loudly in the Tang Dynasty court. His brain was no slower than anyone else's.
"Xuanling, we just conducted a 'democratic vote'—well, it was an anonymous vote based on Qin Mubai's suggestion. As a result, half of the people supported and opposed to the use of troops in Lanzhou, and it was just a draw." Changsun Wuji He said, "How about I invite you to vote and express your opinion first?"
"Oh? This is quite new." Fang Xuanling gave Qin Mubai, who was sitting at the end, a meaningful look. It was hard to tell whether it was kindness or malice. She chuckled and said, "Everyone, vote." Yet?"
"certainly."
"That's wrong!" Fang Xuanling said, "Except for me, there are a total of ninety-five people in this hall, which is an odd number. How can it be divided into two parties, with half as many on each side?" Fang Xuanling said.
"Ah?" Everyone was surprised. How come no one noticed this after coming in for so long? Fang Xuanling's old eyes are unusual!
Changsun Wuji was also stunned for a moment and asked: "Is there anyone who hasn't voted?"
"Yes." Chu Suiliang responded.
"Who?" Changsun Wuji frowned and asked.
Chu Suiliang looked up at Changsun Wuji and said, "Me."
Everyone looked at Chu Suiliang in surprise. Changsun Wuji glared at Chu Suiliang slightly angrily and said, "Why don't you vote?"
"I am a fair person, so I shouldn't participate in the voting, right?" Chu Suiliang said.
"You are also one of the courtiers, and one of the auxiliary ministers appointed by His Majesty the Emperor. Of course you have to vote." Fang Xuanling looked at Chu Suiliang, nodded meaningfully, and said, "Since everything has been specified , then, Chu Suiliang, please express your opinion in public."
Changsun Wuji breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself: Chu Suiliang, at such a young age and in such a deep city, he actually retreated with a vague attitude at this time. Fortunately, he is from our side. Together with Fang Xuanling, the overall situation of this matter should be settled. Although Li Ji, Li Daozong and others can barely compete with me and Wei Zheng, with the addition of Fang Xuanling and Chu Suiliang, they seem a bit insignificant!
At this time, a hint of wisdom gradually appeared on Changsun Wuji's face, and his expression became much more relaxed.
Chu Suiliang looked at Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji, one with a victorious smile on his face and giving him hints, while the other was motionless and had deep eyes that could not see any emotional fluctuations.
Chu Suiliang frowned in embarrassment and said: "Although Chu is in the center, he has only been responsible for recording the daily life of His Majesty the Emperor. He is just a side note clerk and has never participated in running the country. Therefore, he has neither experience nor qualifications." . On this matter, Chu Suiliang refused to have any opinions and only wanted to be an outsider in the recording office. "
Changsun Wuji frowned, gritted his teeth calmly, and said: "That's fine. You have already read everyone's voting opinions, and it is really inconvenient to vote again to show fairness. The two courtiers can't argue about this matter. It will be decided by the cabinet ministers and reported to His Majesty the Emperor for approval. Xuanling, you, me, Wei Zheng, and Li Ji are in charge of the center. The three of us have expressed our opinions. You happen to be here at this time, so you might as well express your opinion in public. state."
Qin Mubai's expression was as calm as water, and he looked at his nose and nose without squinting, but his palms were sweating. The four central prime ministers, Changsun Wuji and Wei Zheng were in opposition. Only Li Ji, the military prime minister who led the troops outside, supported sending troops. According to Fang Xuanling's usual stance, there is no doubt that he supports Changsun Wuji!
It seems that it is really finished!
"Okay!" Fang Xuanling responded, then coughed and breathed for a while, and then said, "As we all know, from the time His Majesty ascended the throne, Fang Mou, thanks to His Majesty, never gave up and became the Prime Minister. As the person in charge of money and food management, he had always been in charge of the money, rice, oil and salt of Du Ji in the Tang Dynasty. In the past, Fang often said that in war, he killed one thousand enemies and suffered eight hundred losses. Soldiers are not wary."
"That's true!" Changsun Wuji interjected and sighed, "Since more than a year ago, in order to run the Lanzhou Governor's Palace to compete with Tibet, Datang's two-year tax revenue was almost wasted, and the national treasury was emptied. Building city walls, planting trees, opening up trade routes, moving people into Lanzhou, and fighting successive wars were all a huge waste of time and money for the people. I, the Tang Dynasty, almost stagnated in Lanzhou for the sake of a corner of Lanzhou and suffered from it. Harmful. This is completely different from the strategy of governing the country at the beginning of the founding of the country. Military warfare has always been the way to defeat. Now Tubo is instigating Gaochang to rebel, and if it is not stopped in time, it will turn into a huge catastrophe. It will be like a huge whirlpool, swallowing up the prosperity and tranquility of our Tang Dynasty. The prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty that we have worked hard for for more than ten years under the wise leadership of His Majesty the Emperor will be destroyed by the war. "
Changsun Wuji's words were righteous, sonorous and powerful. They echoed back and forth in the assembly hall, leaving everyone speechless.
Qin Mubai shook his head and sighed secretly, and said to himself: Fang Xuanling's appearance gave Changsun Wuji more confidence. What he said was based on Fang Xuanling's characteristics and taste in the past. It could be said that he was in her favour, and it was clear that he wanted to win over him as an ally.
After Chang Sun Wuji finished speaking for a long time, Fang Xuanling smiled slightly and then continued: "Situ Gao's theory is reasonable. In the past two years, the money, money, manpower and material resources that Datang invested in Lanzhou can be said to be a waste of money. Your Majesty, this is to create a large picture of the Western Regions, looking at the centuries of the Tang Dynasty and the long-term development of the nation. Let me use an analogy: a young man is determined to achieve a lofty goal through twenty years of hard work. He has just gone out to study for two years. Years ago, his hard work had begun to bear fruit. But at this time, a fire broke out in his backyard and his house was destroyed. Should he give up school and go home to take care of his family, or should he continue to study abroad? "
Hearing this, Changsun Wuji, Qin Mubai and others couldn't help but be stunned: Fang Xuanling, what does this mean
Fang Xuanling just smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Gentlemen, why don't you answer Fang's question? Situ, you always have insights, why don't you take the lead?"
"Filial piety comes first. If your parents or relatives are injured or displaced, you should go home and take care of your family first." Changsun Wuji said, "This is human ethics."
Li Daozong smiled coldly and said: "If this child returns home if his parents are well, he will be a mediocre person. If he gets angry, he abandons his studies and returns home; if he falls ill, he abandons his studies and returns home; if his three aunts, six wives, seven uncles, and eight father-in-laws marry on their birthdays, they all have to return home." No matter what your ambitions are, you can study as a farmer at home and manage three to five acres of fertile land, which is enough to take care of your family."
Changsun Wuji was severely robbed and ridiculed, his face darkened, and he said: "But it's harmless to go home for a visit, and it won't conflict with studying. If you know that your parents are well and have settled down with your family, then you can go out to study. , isn’t it the same?”
At this time, Qin Mubai stood up, cupped his hands to the leader, and said, "Ms. Fang, I would like to answer this question despite my humble position."
Fang Xuanling's expression remained unchanged and she smiled faintly: "Okay, you tell me."
"Thank you, Mr. Fang." Qin Mubai cupped his hands and said, "If I were this student, I would never go home."
"Tell me your reasons." Fang Xuanling said calmly.
Everyone's eyes were on Qin Mubai.
"Because my parents and family hope that I will succeed in my studies and achieve my goals. I have filial piety in my heart, and filial piety is everywhere, why should I talk about it and be formalistic? If there is a fire at home, my family, relatives and neighbors will take care of me. It is my duty "It's about studying. If I succeed in studying, it won't be in vain for my family to work hard to support me in studying. This is a great filial piety. Going home to visit is a small filial piety." Qin Mubai said. At this point, he paused and said, "I don't know about others. If something like this happens to my Qin family, the first thing I will do when I return home is to be pushed to the ground by my father and beaten violently, and then driven away. Go out and continue your studies.”
"Well said! This is indeed the temper of the second brother Qin!" Yuchi Jingde said loudly, "It is a great filial piety to succeed in studies; it is a small filial piety to abandon school and go home. If his parents are sensible people, they will definitely be harmonious. Brother Qin does the same thing! Qin Mubai, Fang Xuanling used this analogy well, and you answered well! You are a talented person, ambitious and knowledgeable, don’t be like some rotten scholars!”
"What do you mean by this?" Changsun Wuji was furious and said sternly.
"Hey, did I mention you? It's obvious that you didn't bring it upon yourself, haha!" Yuchi Jingde laughed proudly.
"Okay, okay, no need to argue." Fang Xuanling waved her hand, coughed twice, and said, "Actually, Fang didn't come up with this analogy."
"That's..." Everyone asked in surprise.
"No need to guess, he is someone you would never expect." Fang Xuanling smiled slightly and said, "Although it is just a very superficial and simple story, it contains great truth and great wisdom. Your Majesty, listen to me After that, I felt enlightened.”
Changsun Wuji's expression suddenly changed, and he stared at Fang Xuanling, as if he suddenly didn't recognize him.
Qin Mubai looked at Fang Xuanling in surprise, with an incredible look on his face.
"Fang makes a statement. Whatever Fang says and does, I only represent myself, and no one else has anything to do with it. You don't need to make repeated guesses." Fang Xuanling said in a weak voice, "In this analogy, the person who went out has nothing to do with me. The students who are studying are like Lanzhou; that family is my country in the Tang Dynasty; the parents and relatives in that family are His Majesty the Emperor and us important officials of the court. I don’t know if this analogy is appropriate. Fang also shouldered all the blame.”
"Haha!" Yuchi Jingde jumped up and laughed, "I just said that if his parents are sensible people, they will definitely let the student not worry about his family and continue to study hard outside to achieve great filial piety! The eldest grandson Wuji! Do you want to be an unreasonable person? And many of you, don’t be too pedantic to act like a fool and just focus on your career, salary, and career. He is afraid that he will offend someone and suffer some disaster! Such a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death is like a hen that only knows how to sit in a nest. Even if he is given a young eagle, he can raise it like a fat chicken. All I forgot about is flying!”
Many people's eyes began to spit fire and their faces turned pale, but it was difficult to refute. Yuchi Jingde did not mention anyone by name when he was scolding him. Whoever spoke at the moment was the one he was scolding.
Qin Mubai was very funny and relieved to hear this. He had thought about this many times but couldn't find it easy to scold him, but Yuchi Jingde dared to scold him and scolded him heartily!
Li Ji and Li Daozong smiled alike and couldn't help laughing. Li Ji hurriedly made a gesture and said: "Okay, Lao Hei, this is the Hongwen Hall, but it's your military camp, so don't say a few words."
"Hmph, if you don't say it, don't say it!" Yuchi Jingde snorted and said, "I just can't understand one thing. Why do we not fight back when someone hits our door? You shamelessly give someone a daughter to ask for peace? Changsun Wuji, if someone bullies you like this one day, how many daughters do you have in your family?"
"What an outrage! How unreasonable!" Changsun Wuji was furious!
"Hahaha!" Yuchi Jingde laughed loudly, stood up, put one hand on his hips and pointed at the tip of his nose, and said, "I'm so reckless. What's wrong? I, Yuchi Gong, only don't act wild in front of five people in the whole world." Presumptuous, it's a pity that you, Changsun Wuji, are not among them! What, do you want to dismiss me from my position, and then put me in jail and kill me? Just do it to Hou Junji! Use this trick to deal with me! Look, I, Old Hei, will I blink my eyes or be afraid of you at all!"
"You!..." Changsun Wuji was so angry that his face turned pale and his body was shaking!
"Okay, Old Hei, don't make any more nonsense!" Li Ji and Li Daozong came out to persuade him. Cheng Zhijie hugged him, pressed him tightly, and said in his ear, "Don't make any more nonsense, otherwise it will be too much." Instead, it ruined Brother Qin’s affairs!”
"Humph, others are afraid of your grandson Wuji, but I, Lao Hei, are not afraid!" Yuchi Jingde still refused to give up and said angrily, "We are both the founding heroes of the country and we have shared joys and sorrows together, and together we have assisted His Majesty the Emperor in licking the blood of his life. Today, I didn't die on the battlefield, but I died at the hands of my own people! Changsun Wuji, what did Hou Junji do wrong, what did you do to offend you, how could you be cruel enough to drive him away? Are I, Lao Hei, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, and Duan Zhixuan next? Li Ji, King Jiang Xia, Li Jing, what do you think?"
"Cover his mouth!" Li Daozong shouted, and Li Ji and Cheng Zhijie on the left and right tightly covered Yuchi Jingde's mouth, making him unable to move.
At this time, Changsun Wuji's face was already very ugly.
These words may be on everyone's mind, but no one dares to say them out loud.
Now, the thin layer of window paper has been pierced by Yuchi Jingde. Changsun Wuji's situation has become quite embarrassing, and the contradiction between civil and military affairs has become clear.
"Everyone, there is no need to listen to Yuchi Jingde's impulsive words. My eldest son, Wuji, is devoted to the public, loyal to the emperor and the country. I am worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth, and I have a clear conscience." Changsun Wuji said this.
"Okay. Zhijie, please ask Jingde to rest in the tea room for a while, and then come back to the main hall of Hongwen Hall after your anger has subsided." Fang Xuanling said.
Yuchi Jingde gave Fang Xuanling some face, and let him go without any further struggle. He stood up, patted his clothes, glared at Changsun Wuji and hummed: "Hmph, go ahead! Changsun Wuji, listen, I, Lao Hei, do things for myself. Today, I want to say this myself, It has nothing to do with anyone else. If you want revenge, come and deal with me, but don’t get involved with anyone else!”
After that, Yuchi Jingde set off and left.
At this time, Qin Mubai was still standing in the hall. When Yuchi Jingde passed by him, he stopped for a moment, slapped him on the shoulder, and said in a deep voice: "Boy, we military men are still powerful as tigers, and we will die when we die." If the flag doesn’t fall, you have to keep up the good work!”
"Well..." Qin Mubai responded softly. Yuchi Jingde nodded to him and strode away with Cheng Zhijie.
"Okay, this old gangster has disturbed the situation. Let's get back to the business now." Fang Xuanling said, "After talking for a long time, Fang has only one idea - this ambitious student from Lanzhou who goes out to study and study hard should not be subjected to the consequences of his backyard. He gave up halfway due to the impact of the fire. Whether he could go home or not would have no impact on the disaster at home or the well-being of his family. Therefore, Fang firmly believed that Lanzhou was a place where he could study hard and study hard. , it’s time to go out to fight - resist, attack, spit, fan, ping, ding, gao, chang! "
Eight words, like thunder striking the ground, with lingering reverberations!
Everyone was stunned!
Qin Mubai's blood is boiling! !