Tibet

Dugu Ming sat down and said with a smile: "How do you say this?"

Li Fuguo said coldly: "I also want to help His Highness King Qi do something, but where should I start? Dugu Prince Consort didn't explain it to me clearly last time."

Dugu Ming smiled apologetically: "Because the last negotiation hasn't started yet, I don't know what I can ask Li Changshi to do?"

Li Fuguo snorted, "Actually, there is no need to negotiate at all. When Tian Chengsi crossed the border and forcibly occupied Dezhou at the beginning of the year, the court was also very dissatisfied. Didn't he hold his nose and admit it in the end? If the King of Qi ignored the court, the court would What can be done?”

Dugu Ming shook his head, "Prince Qi and Tian Chengsi are not the same thing."

"Then let's not say so much. Now that the negotiations have begun, should Dugu Prince Consort have the answer?"

Dugu Ming nodded, "The answer is the ownership of Bashu's financial rights. Financial rights involve taxation rights, tax collection rights, transshipment rights and property rights. The King of Qi can hand over part of the tax to the court. This is not a big problem, but the key is the taxation rights. King Qi must get it and the transshipment rights, and it is very likely that the negotiations will be deadlocked on this tomorrow."

Li Fuguo sneered: "It's easy to break the deadlock. The political hall has never been monolithic!"

"So we need Li Changshi to help!"

"I see!"

Li Fuguo nodded and asked, "What about military power?"

"The emperor needs to completely let go of the military power. Of course, King Qi will also compensate the emperor with some benefits."

"What can be compensated?" Li Fuguo asked unequivocally.

"The first is to hand over the Emperor's coffin to the Emperor, the second is to hand over the six jade seals to the Emperor, and the third is to hand over the Emperor's brother Li Lin's family to the Emperor, as well as the treasures that the Emperor brought to Chengdu. The calligraphy and paintings have been handed over before. It was handed over to the Supreme Emperor. If the two parties completely reach an agreement, then the King of Qi will return the remaining treasures of the Supreme Emperor to the emperor."

Li Fuguo's heart skipped a beat. The last point was also the one he was most interested in. He could also get some treasures from it.

"Our family understands. We will do our best to promote the success of the negotiation. We only hope that King Qi will fulfill the deal we reached."

Dugu Ming smiled slightly and said: "Li Changshi, don't worry, King Qi will definitely keep his word!"

Li Fuguo left.

Liu Yan and Dugu Ming chatted for a few more words and left in a hurry.

Dugu Ming meditated in the room for a long time with his hands behind his hands. He still felt uneasy and went out to find his elder brother Dugu Lie.

In the study, Dugu Lie listened to his brother's explanation, nodded and said: "As I expected, the power of appointing and removing officials is actually a very fictitious thing. On the surface, it seems that the court has taken advantage of it, but when it comes to individuals, That's not the case. First of all, what should we do with the existing officials? Should they all be removed from office? Absolutely not. We can only maintain the status quo and transfer a few individuals at most.

But will new officials be loyal to the court? To take a step back, so what if you are loyal to the court? Can taxes be taxed according to the court's tax rate? Can you secretly hide all the taxes, money and food and give them to the court? If he dares to do this, it will not be as simple as supervision, and he will lose his life. Therefore, the power to appoint and remove officials seems good, but without the support of the army, it is easy to be ignored, and the government cannot even issue government orders. "

"Brother is right, the power of supervision is crucial. I know Guanlong's supervision process. If someone reports it, a supervisor will come to verify the report. Once the report is true, the supervision process will be started. First of all He was suspended by the supervisory team and taken away for interrogation by the internal guards. I'm afraid they didn't know about it, so they agreed to hand over the supervisory power."

Dugu Lie pondered for a moment and asked: "What does Li Fuguo mean when he says that the interior of Zhengshitang is not monolithic?"

Dugu Ming thought for a while and said: "I guess Li Fuguo wants to promote the voting method. He wants to use the influence of the eunuch party to divide the five ministers of the political hall."

"But there is a problem here. Among the five prime ministers of Zhengshitang, only Wu Qi is from Yu Chaoen, and Pei Mian is said to have hugged Li Fuguo's thigh. So in the vote, there is still one less vote, unless there are three prime ministers left. Among them, there is also a member of the eunuch party, who is hiding very deep!"

Dugu Ming suddenly asked: "Brother, have you gone to find Mr. Pei?"

Dugu Lie nodded, "I visited him last night and he rejected me flatly, but I can guarantee that he is definitely not a eunuch."

The old man Pei they are talking about is the Prime Minister Pei Zunqing. There is a very secret relationship here. Pei Zunqing was once Dugu Lie’s father-in-law. Princess Qi Dugu Qiuyue was actually Pei Zunqing’s granddaughter. Pei Zunqing’s daughter died of puerperal fever. Dugu Lie basically So he and Pei Zunqing severed their relationship as son-in-law. Later, Dugu Lie married another man and had no contact with Pei Zunqing at all.

Yesterday, Dugu Lie went to see Pei Zunqing, hoping that he would support King Qi for the sake of his granddaughter, but Pei Zunqing refused.

Dugu Lie sighed and added: "But if he didn't drive me away, it means his attitude has become loose. I will go find him again."

"If Pei Zunqing is not the eunuch, then only Li Xian and Li Kui will be left."

Speaking of this, the two brothers looked at each other meaningfully. It could not be Li Xian. Li Xian was recognized as a hard-line opponent of the eunuch party, even tougher than Xiao Hua. If he were removed, only Shangshu Youcheng would be left. Li Kui was stunned.

Li Kui is the most low-key person in the Five Prime Ministers Kingdom and has the least qualifications. No one would have thought that he was actually from Li Fuguo.

Dugu Ming suddenly slapped his forehead, "I'm so confused! It's so obvious, I didn't expect it."

"What didn't you expect?" Dugu Lie asked anxiously.

Dugu Ming knocked on the table and said: "Li Kui's position as prime minister originally belonged to Li Fuguo. Li Fuguo recommended Yuan Zai first. The emperor thought Yuan Zai was not qualified and did not agree. At this time, the right to recommend was still in Li Fuguo's hands. Finally, The emperor appointed Li Kui as prime minister, which must have been recommended by Li Fuguo."

Dugu Lie suddenly realized that no wonder Li Fuguo dared to accept one hundred thousand taels of gold. It turned out that the eunuch party had already controlled three prime ministers.

Although Li Kui was in ambush, Dugu Lie decided to persuade Pei Zunqing again.

At night, Emperor Li Heng met with Li Fuguo, Yu Chaoen and Cheng Yuanzhen at the Linde Hall. The three of them were representatives of another political group in the Tang Dynasty. They could not be absent from the Bashu affairs.

Yu Chaoen said: "Your Majesty, I have received the latest news. King Qi's army in Bashu has exceeded 200,000. Li Lin's surrender alone has 70,000 to 80,000. If we want to take back Bashu, we must at least Preparing an army of 300,000 troops is unrealistic based on the current situation. We don’t have that many troops. Even if we have so many troops, we cannot throw them into Bashu, otherwise those rebellious officials and traitors will see the opportunity."

Cheng Yuanzhen also spoke. He was the general manager, and Li Heng trusted him as much as Li Fuguo, and sometimes even more than Li Fuguo.

"Your Majesty, we have observed the King of Qi for many years. He is not a minister who wants to rebel. His garrison in Bashu does not mean that the court will lose Bashu. It is completely different from the three towns in Hebei. The so-called old slave advises your majesty not to care too much about the garrison power. The problem is, Bashu and Helong are one. As long as Helong does not rebel, Bashu will not rebel. The real threat to the court is not Helong, but Hebei. Your Majesty should focus the army on Hebei."

Li Heng was originally a very soft-spoken person, and these eunuchs were his confidants, so they could impress him with every word. He nodded and said, "It does make sense. Even if Li Ye gives me the power to garrison troops in Bashu, I will not Can you afford a monthly military salary of hundreds of thousands?"

Li Fuguo smiled slightly and said: "So we all advise Your Majesty to be pragmatic and not to live in vain. If you can't get the right to garrison, give up decisively and use the right to garrison in exchange for the greatest benefits."

Li Fuguo's last words touched Li Heng's heart.