The clouds in the sky were faint, covering the thousands of buildings below, and a row of axles in the distance pulled up faint smoke and dust.
"Your Highness," a man in a blue shirt walked quickly up the rockery, with a dignified expression, and said in a deep voice, "I have something to do in the front hall, so go and have a look."
Li Ce turned his head, his face was no longer as calm and gentle as before, he frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice, "What's the matter?"
Sun Di also looked serious, frowning tightly, and said in a deep voice: "Big Xia's princess and relatives have an accident."
Many years later, "Simon's Benji" recorded such a bloody and tearful discourse: On the third day of September, the eighth princess of Daxia, Zhao Chun, was raped in the bedroom outside the palace. The slogan, Xia and Tang countries were in an uproar one after another, and for a while, the cry of destroying Yan resounded across the north and south of the river, sweeping across the entire land. On the empty Imperial Palace, there were all civil and military officials from Bian and Tang Dynasties. Tang Emperor Li Yizhou sat high in the shadows of the splendor and splendor. The emperor who was over fifty years old showed a kind of aging that surpassed his age, with gray beard and hair, and deep wrinkles. Deep, a pair of slender eyes have long lost the sharpness and hostility of youth, like an ancient well in the abyss, faintly reflecting the inquiring gaze from outside.
A 70-year-old Confucian official knelt down on the ground and said loudly: "The northern captives are so bold that they ignore me, Bian Tang Tianwei, and deliberately provoke the orthodoxy of the Eastern Land with a small area. If you don't teach them with the power of thunder, I, Bian Tang Where is the prestige of the country? Where is the might of my Bian Tang army? What is the face of my Bian Tang based on Simon, based on the list of the Three Kingdoms?"
As soon as this remark came out, everyone scrambled to agree, but a young official came out and said earnestly: "Big Xia is now at war with Yanbei, and I feel that it is really inappropriate for our country to join rashly."
The 70-year-old Confucian official was furious and shouted: "Xue Changling! You keep saying that it is not appropriate to send troops. What is your intention? I have been in the Tang Dynasty for thousands of years, and I have never suffered such a shame. Once this matter spreads in the mainland, what will happen to our country? Standing on your feet, how do you deal with yourself? You blindly protect Yan Bei, but you are secretly giving and receiving Yan Bei, is there an ulterior motive?"
"Your Majesty!" A cry came immediately, and another white-bearded old official cried out in mournful voice, "Such a shame and shame have never been seen in ancient times! The ancestors founded the country and lasted thousands of years. The world, conquering all directions with enlightenment, can be regarded as the leader of the Three Kingdoms, how has it ever been provoked like this, if this wind blows, I will be ashamed of Bian Tang, ashamed of my allies, and ashamed of my country's face!"
Xue Changling took a step forward and said excitedly, "Your Majesty, there are many doubts about Princess Daxia being insulted. We can't just rely on the words of Daxia officials and devote all our efforts to participating in the civil strife in other countries!"
"Bold and treacherous villain, dare to talk nonsense in the Imperial Palace, how important is the reputation of a princess of a country? The court nurse has proven her integrity, and the eighth princess of Daxia has just signed a marriage contract with me, Tang Dynasty. We are all to blame for being insulted within the territory, or even in the capital! If you don’t give Daxia an explanation, how will it end? Is it just because you, Xue Changling, have so many doubts about what you have said?”
"My lord Luo! I didn't say that I won't punish this matter. I just fear that we will fall into the trap of those who want to act too hastily!"
"Trap?" General Qi sneered, "What kind of trap? The trap is that Yanbei is afraid of our marriage with Daxia, trying to sabotage it!"
"I don't rule out such a possibility, but I can't rule out other possibilities. If it was Yanbei's actions, why did they shout out their identities before dying? They angered Bian in this way of self-incrimination. Tang, what are the benefits to Yanbei?"
Lord Luo snorted coldly, and said, "Datong dead men have always acted insanely, how can we judge them with common sense?"
A major general beside General Qi said: "Maybe they are just trying to confuse us and make us suspect that it is an act of framing. Everyone, don't Master Xue suspect it?"
Xue Changling said angrily: "Military and state affairs, of course, must be carefully considered. How can you draw a conclusion without common sense? A subordinate official is an official in the court and receives the imperial salary. Naturally, all the circumstances must be considered carefully!"
"Really? This officer feels that Mr. Xue has already considered it carefully enough. If we continue to think carefully, the frontier army of Daxia may be coming!"
"General Xu, you..."
"Your Majesty! The 30,000 soldiers of the Peking University Camp are ready to fight for the country!"
"Your Majesty! The blood debt needs to be paid in blood, so give an order! The veteran's sword has rusted after not fighting for many years!"
"Your Majesty! I swear to the death and ask for a fight!"
The entire hall was crowded with Bian Tang's courtiers, only Xue Changling stood alone. The young official's face was flushed purple, his lips trembled with anger, but he was speechless.
At this moment, there was a playful laugh outside the hall, and everyone turned their heads immediately. Li Ce was dressed in green and green clothes, a gold crown on his head, a jade belt around his waist, and his eyes were long and narrow like a fox. He walked up to the main hall with a smile, and said nonchalantly: "Today, there are so many people, even the elder Liuge is here, what's new? Why, did the Western Regions send a BMW, or did Nanqiu pay tribute to beauties? "
The crowd withdrew in two, and Li Ce walked through the crowd with Sun Di holding his head high. He knelt down under his robe and said, "I got up late, please greet my father."
"En." A slightly old voice sounded slowly from above, Tang Huang said lightly, "Do you know what's going on here?"
"Here? Oh!" Li Ce suddenly realized, his face suddenly became angry, he stood up, and said angrily, "It's too deceiving, this son came here for this matter!"
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were afraid that this unconventional prince would have some new tricks. Hearing what he said at this moment, he was immediately elated, and quickly echoed: "Yes! It's really deceiving people too much. What the prince said is absolutely true!"
Li Ce nodded angrily and said, "Big Xia sent two princesses in succession. The first one didn't cultivate women's morality, and the second one didn't observe women's morality. She put a big green hat on me. It's really unreasonable! Father, my son thinks Daxia has no sincerity about the marriage, let's drive their princess back, I think the eldest princess of Huai Song is pretty good, it is said that she has a younger sister who is also a beauty... "
All the ministers in the audience were stunned for a moment, and the elder Liu Ge who was over 70 years old suddenly let out a mournful cry, stepped forward and knelt down and said: "His Royal Highness, this is absolutely impossible!"
Li Ce turned his head, frowned and said, "Oh? Why not?"
"Daxia sent the princess here twice to make a marriage, which shows her sincerity. Now that Princess Daxia has suffered such a great humiliation in our country, if we don't hold Yanbei accountable, we will definitely be accused by thousands of people and by thousands of people. Reviled, despised by all parties. The crime of the present is the Yanbei thief, not the princess of Xia, I hope His Highness will learn from it."
Li Ce raised his eyebrows lightly, and said, "Oh, your words also make sense."
Liu Gelao wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and heaved a sigh of relief, "His Royal Highness is wise."
Li Ce said embarrassingly: "Since this is the case, my father, my son's future concubine has been insulted by the people of Yanbei. Although my son is not talented, he can't just sit back and watch his woman be bullied. I ask my father to send troops to Yanbei, my son I am willing to personally lead the army and swear to destroy Yan Bei by the sword!"
As soon as these words came out, the whole house was full of joy, and everyone looked at each other happily, with great joy in their eyes.
The crown prince has been naughty for so many years, but he never expected that at the critical moment, he still has the demeanor of a king of a country. The great country of Bian and Tang should show such an aura!
"In addition, father, my son has a little request."
Tang Huang frowned slightly, didn't say much, motioned him to continue talking.
Li Ce talked eloquently, dressed in brocade clothes, standing on the main hall, with sword eyebrows and star eyes, handsome and suave, and said loudly: "Since the eighth princess has made a marriage contract with me, she is already a citizen of Bian Tang." , I hope that I can refuse Daxia's request to send troops together. Yanbei is a small place, as long as you give me 100,000 elite soldiers, capture Yan Xun alive, and wipe out the remnants of Yanbei, it will be no problem!"
Everyone was taken aback when they heard this, but before they could say anything, Li Ce's bombshells hit one after another.
"In addition, sending troops to Yanbei from our country will pass through the Great Xia border along the way, stretching for thousands of miles. I remember that our army has reached Zhenhuang as far as it is. At that time, we used 300,000 troops and 2 million civilians. The number is less than half of that at that time, but the distance is extremely long, so I asked the Ministry of Households to recruit three million civilians, 200,000 horses, 200,000 matching weapons and armor, cotton clothes to keep out the cold, accompanying medical officers, and wound medicine. and fodder for horses, the Ministry of Grain raised 300,000 dan of grain and grass for the Northern Expeditionary Army.”
Hubu Shangshu Qiu Shihai's head suddenly became big like a bucket, as if being burned by fire, he jumped out and said quickly: "Your Highness, I believe that Yanbei is a traitor of Daxia, and the cause of the war is Daxia's princess. It is reasonable to send troops to help as the main force in the war. Although we send troops, they can only be used as auxiliary, and Daxia should also provide us with food, grass and military supplies."
Li Ce turned his head with a smile, blinked his long and narrow eyes and said, "Oh? Didn't Mr. Qiu call the national integrity and Bian Tang Guowei just now, and the voice was very loud? Why, could it be that my dignified Prince Bian Tang was worn by someone?" The green hat, I still have to rely on other people to send troops to seek justice for me? Liu Ge was right just now, we have never suffered such a shame and humiliation for thousands of years since the establishment of the country in Bian and Tang Dynasties. Paying tribute is trivial, so you don't have to worry about it in the Eighteen Prefectures of Hongchuan. Those bandits in the north are too arrogant now, and they don't take action to punish them. They don't know who is in charge on the mainland. I believe that the thoughts of the generals must be the same as mine , I will never keep saying that I want to conquer Yanbei, but in my heart I hope to wave the flag behind Daxia's buttocks and shout. Moreover, Daxia has just experienced a war, and it is a problem to eat by himself, and he has to buy food and grass from our country , how do you think they will respond to our rations?"
Li Ce stood in the main hall with a smile on his face. The upright and confident generals suddenly looked ugly. They looked at each other and agreed with a grunt, but none of them could speak.
"I heard that Yanbei has many generals, and Yan Xun is even more talented in the world. Back then, he managed to instigate the rebellion against the Southwest Township's envoy and break through Zhenhuang City, which our 300,000 troops haven't broken through in a hundred years. , forcing Daxia to move its capital to the north for the first time in three hundred years, almost subjugated the country, and then went all the way back to Yanbei. None of the entire northwest frontier army and the vassal princes and prefects could intercept his blade, and he was called the new generation of ' Yanbei Lion King'.
And I, Bian Tang, had no war for many years. Except for a few frontier soldiers who could not be dispatched from the south, most of the soldiers who had seen blood were over 50 or 60 years old, and the army was not uniform, and most of their weapons were rusty. But I think that as long as we are united and united, it is absolutely possible to span the entire land of Great Xia and cut down the lunatics who dare to offend Bian Tang. Li Ce said as he walked in the main hall, the more he talked, the happier he was, "After all, everyone has seen that in our annual military parade, the soldiers walk neatly and shout very loudly, even if they haven't killed anyone , but most of them have killed chickens, and they are very good at being jealous and fighting in brothels, and have very experienced actual combat experience. The baby generals in our Martial Arts Hall are also young and talented, and most of the sons and grandsons of the adults are in it. This is the wealth of our empire!
Although these young men have never been on the battlefield, I guess they have never even killed a chicken, but I think they all have a very high fighting spirit, and their daily slogans are also very loud. I think I can take them with me, as long as After some experience on the battlefield, you must be an invincible elite division! Moreover, we still have many treasures that Yanbei does not have. Although I recently heard that generals like Bian Cang, Xi Rui, and Wu Daoya are quite capable, and they can bloodbath tens of thousands of troops with a Datong warrior group of three to five thousand , and can retreat unscathed. But we, Bian Tang, will not be afraid. They are only a few years old, too young. Among our generals, there are many experienced veterans like General Dou and General Bai. They all have life experience and combat skills that those people cannot match. , As long as they sit on the battlefield, they will be invincible and the enemy will flee.
By the way, Old General Dou, when I came here, I saw your dentures at the door. I heard that you had a stroke a few days ago, and your speech is not sharp, right? It doesn't matter, I'll send someone to make another pair of agate for you right away. "