Tibet

Li Mi nodded and said: "Liu Shangshu is right. It is very likely that Uighur's target is Taiyuan City, so His Highness will also send more troops to Yunzhou and add the most advanced firearms. I believe Yunzhong County can hold it. As long as By holding on to Yunzhong County, the Uighur army would not dare to advance southward, so their next step would most likely be to go to Youzhou. There is already evidence that Zhu Si surrendered to the Uighurs. "

Li Bi's inference was basically consistent with Li Ye's idea, except that Li Ye believed that the focus of the Uighur army was Hebei and Yunzhou was secondary. Of course, they would also attack Yunzhong County. Once they could not capture it, they would immediately divert to Hebei.

Li Ye walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "I am considering killing from Feihuxing this winter and killing Zhu Si first. What do you think?"

Li Mi shook his head and said: "Your Highness's idea is good, but from an overall perspective, it is not the best choice."

Li Ye did not interrupt Li Mi and let him continue.

Li Mi continued: "Youzhou is too complicated. It is not only the home of the rebel forces, but also nearly 200,000 Goguryeo people, as well as the Khitan and Xi people. In particular, the Khitan people have occupied Liaodong and have been eyeing Pingzhou. The assassination of Zhu Tao in Luoyang was proof that the Khitans were eyeing the Central Plains. They wanted to use the assassination to mess up the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, it is easy for Your Highness to defeat Zhu Si's army and easy to capture Youzhou, but it is too difficult to stand firm in Youzhou. It is like standing on an unstable rock, with the Uighur attack in front, the counterattack of the feudal town behind, and the internal A large number of internal forces have rebelled and attracted the enemy. Don't you feel very passive, Your Highness? "

Liu Yan next to him also said: "Li Shangshu discussed this matter with Beizhi before. We all thought that as long as Yunzhou is defended, Youzhou should be left alone. We should follow the original plan and eradicate Li Zhengji in the south of the Yellow River first. There will be no worries, and then Launch the Battle of Hebei."

Li Bi also said: "This is the opinion of Hsinchu, but Hsien would like to remind His Highness to pay attention to three points. First, beware of Shuozhou. If the Uighurs cannot take Yunzhong County, the Huihe Khan will probably send troops to detour south and massacre the city. Mayi County and Shanyang County to avenge the past; secondly, the alliance of the vassal towns should not be underestimated. In the face of destruction, they will definitely share the same hatred with the enemy. Once His Highness sends a large army to attack Li Zhengji, the alliance army will surround Wei to save Zhao and attack Weizhou and Huaizhou threatened Luoyang and forced His Highness to retreat, so I suggested that Lei Wanchun's army withdraw to Huaizhou; thirdly, the power of kerosene was experienced by all the feudal towns, and I believed that Huihe had hoarded a large amount of kerosene and they would use it. The kerosene comes to support the feudal town, so your highness must be prepared for the kerosene."

The internal security investigation was extremely efficient. In just two days, Li Chenghua submitted a supplementary investigation report to Li Ye.

"Your Highness, the Imperial Guard has visited nearly 300 businessmen in the past two days and has obtained a large amount of information, which is basically consistent with the report. However, a few points need to be added. There is a reason why the first Geluolu showed weakness to Huihe. Internal disputes also broke out among the Geluolu people. It is said that a conflict broke out between the Pogo tribe Geluolu and Jinshan Geluolu last year. The cause of the conflict is unknown. Jinshan Geluolu were defeated and suffered heavy casualties. They did not have the strength to confront the Uighurs. Show weakness and withdraw from the Xue tribe’s land.”

Li Ye nodded silently. He had an intuition that the conflict between the two Geluolu people was probably related to the eastward expansion of Zoroastrianism. When he thought of Zoroastrianism, Li Ye thought of Jinshan Ling. He quickly shook his head and removed the woman from Get it out of your mind.

Li Ye didn't want to think too much about this matter, and said: "What next? Keep talking!"

Li Chenghua continued: "Then there is Liaodong. It is said that the Khitan army has garrisoned in Pingzhou and has trained a Goguryeo army of tens of thousands. The leader of this Goguryeo army seems to have been from the imperial court."

A person suddenly popped into Li Ye's mind, the former Plum Blossom Guard general Wang Siyi. After conquering Luoyang, he disappeared, and a group of his close men, about 2,000 people, also disappeared.

The leader of the Goguryeo army in Youzhou should be Wang Siyi, and his two thousand troops, Jiaotu Sanku. Wang Siyi and his men escaped the encirclement and suppression of his army and crossed the Yellow River to the north.

"Anything to add?" Li Ye asked again.

"Just these two points, nothing else for the time being."

Li Chenghua handed the report to Li Ye. Li Ye thought for a long time and said: "After we captured Taiyuan, the Hebei feudal town was very nervous. We wanted to prevent them from jumping over the wall and sending assassins to Chang'an. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Chenghua nodded, "I understand!"

To stop the war, kill those who want to start the war. This weak idea is very popular in the feudal towns. From Li Xilie to Tian Chengsi, and then to Zhu Si, they have always done this, and they will definitely do it again. Dry.

This new year will be the most challenging one for internal defense.

In the afternoon, Li Ye issued two orders. The first order was to add 30,000 troops to the northern part of Hedong Road, of which 10,000 were added to the defense of Yunzhou and the other 20,000 were added to the defense of Shuozhou.

The second order ordered Lei Wanchun to lead his army to retreat to Huaizhou, ready to support Xue Song's tribe in Weizhou at any time.

There is also a trace of dissatisfaction with Xue Song. As the last warlord outside the vassal town, Xue Song did not enter the capital. This shows that Xue Song has not awakened. He only has 10,000 troops and one Weizhou left in his hands. With little military power in his hands, Li Ye decided to take this opportunity and asked Lei Wanchun to arrange an opportunity to capture Xue Song to prevent him from leading his army to surrender to the feudal town.

Early the next morning, Li Ye came to the Yuan Hall of Zhongshu Province to participate in the fifth routine military and political discussions.

The military and political affairs were actually a court meeting, but it was not called a court meeting, so there was no need for the Empress Dowager Zhang and the Emperor to attend.

There are two ways of military and political discussions. One is temporary military and political discussions. When there are important matters temporarily, Li Ye summons civilian officials above the fifth rank to participate.

The second type is the regular meeting, which is held every fifth day of the month, that is, it is held on the fifth, fifteenth and twenty-fifth days of each month. There are three military and political meetings a month.

Today is December 15th, and nearly a hundred officials of the fifth rank are gathered together. The officials are all sitting on stepped seats around them. The lower the seat, the higher the official position.

At the bottom are the nine members of the Zhengshitang, plus the two Zhengshitang walkers, Yan Zhenqing, the imperial censor, and Cui Huan, the admonishment doctor. A total of eleven members sit around a huge circular table. To the north is the regent. Li Ye's seat is slightly higher than the other eleven people, and there are also several secretaries and supervisors sitting behind him and below.

Today's proceedings are presided over by Wei Jiansu, the Minister of Rites. The seven assistant ministers take turns presiding over each month. This month it is Wei Jiansu's turn.

However, the discussions in the political hall are convened and presided over by the right minister, which is different from the military and political affairs.

Not every minister is qualified to speak in military and political affairs. Generally, only the regent and members of the political hall have the right to speak directly, that is, they can speak directly without consent.

Other officials must first obtain the consent of the chief official, then register with the presiding officer, and finally submit an application to speak on the spot. The regent Li Ye can only speak after he agrees.

Officials of any dynasty are not allowed to speak or report beyond their level at will. This is disrespectful to their superiors and violates the etiquette system of hierarchy.

But there are exceptions to everything. How could many low-level officials risk their lives to write to the emperor?

Especially after Wu Zetian broke the rules and allowed lower-level officials to leapfrog their superiors to submit memorials. Although the emperor later criticized Wu Zetian, he retained her rule of allowing lower-level officials to leapfrog their superiors and submit memorials.

But you can't go up to the next level as you please. There is a channel for this, which is the Remonstrance Court.

The Remonstrance Court was somewhat similar to the Petition Office of later generations. It was not only a channel for communication between the court and ordinary people, but also a channel for communication between low-level officials and those in power.

At present, there are four bronze chariots at the gate of the Remonstrance Court, which are green, red, white and black. Among them, the "Yan'en chao" is thrown by those who seek official advancement; the "Zhaojian chao" is thrown by those who want to comment on the gains and losses of the government; "Redress the grievance" is for those who have grievances; "Tongxuan" is for those who talk about catastrophic changes in the sky and secret military plans.

Although a large number of informants appeared when Wu Zetian established it, which made everyone in the court panic, the original intention of its establishment was to clear up grievances and inform the public.

It's a bit far-fetched, but with a clear sound of the cloud plate knocking, military and political discussions began.

Wei Jiansu said slowly: "There are two topics today. The first is to discuss the Chang'an city expansion plan, and the second is to nominate candidates for next year's reign. Both plans have been sent to everyone in advance. Let's start with the first one. A topic to discuss the Chang’an city expansion plan.”