The Bad Guys: Playing the Fake Li Xingyun at the Beginning

Although he was mentally prepared, he still found it hard to accept when it actually happened.

The court is no longer under his control!

The rhythm of today's court meeting was firmly guided and controlled by the emperor. Even if some officials objected, with the support of King Qi, he would still decide the matter. Even if he stood up to refute it, it would be useless.

It was the first time since Li Cunxu's death that he felt he had lost control. He could no longer control the court.

The emperor is always the emperor.

An unspeakable indignation spread in his heart, devouring his emotions. When he was in power in the past, he thought he would become the next Li Cunxu, but the arrival of the emperor shattered his fantasy.

After discovering the intentions of the evil commander Yuan Tiangang, Li Siyuan wanted to be a powerful official. He was unwilling to be just a vassal like Li Keyong. He wanted to be like Cao Cao and Sima Yi, turning the emperor of the Tang Dynasty into a puppet and becoming a hidden emperor.

It was a long time before Li Siyuan calmed down. He looked at the messy room, ordered the servants to clean it up with an expressionless face, and left.

······

In the hall, Li Siyuan sat in the upper seat, staring at Ren Yuan, and asked, "The emperor has finally taken action. How do you think we should respond next?"

When An Zhonghui saw that Li Siyuan asked Ren Yuan right away, he knew that his status in the heart of King Jin was still not as good as his. A touch of jealousy spread in his heart. He glanced at Ren Yuan, wanting to know what his opinion was.

Ren Yuan stroked his beard, looking worried, "Your Highness, today the Emperor and Prince Qi sang the same tune in the court. The situation is not good for us. If this continues, the advantages that Your Highness has established in the court will be disintegrated step by step."

"Your Majesty is following a dignified path, and every step is within the rules of the court. If nothing unexpected happens, we will not be able to stop you."

Li Siyuan knew there was something else behind his words and asked, "What do you mean?"

Ren Yuan nodded to Li Siyuan and expressed his thoughts, "The only person the emperor can use now is the King of Qi. His wings are not full, but if this continues, he will have more and more people under his control. By then, it will be difficult for us to fight against the emperor."

"But the current emperor has a fatal weakness. He does not have a large army. There are only a few guards in the imperial city. They are all a bunch of young men who have never seen blood. They are completely useless. King Qi has been hiding in one place for many years. He only has more than 10,000 soldiers who can fight. It is difficult for him to accomplish anything."

"Once a war breaks out, he can only rely on Prince Jin. By then, he will no longer be able to target Your Highness."

After he finished speaking, An Zhonghui asked, "Ren Yuan, the governors of various places are now living together peacefully. If a war breaks out, it will be your reputation that will be damaged. Are you referring to the Khitan in Mobei?"

Khitan in northern desert?

Hearing these four words, Li Siyuan's eyes suddenly lit up. In the court, even if he had the advantage, he didn't have many ways to deal with King Qi.

After all, King Qi became famous too early. He fought for hegemony over the world very early, rescued Emperor Zhaozong, escorted him back to the capital, and established the State of Qi.

For decades, it has remained standing and enjoyed an outstanding reputation.

He has soldiers and territories, and so does King Qi. Now King Qi has become the head of the civil officials, and with the support of the emperor, he has no way to deal with him at all.

Of course, he knew that King Qi was a woman, but what was the use?

Court struggles have their own rules. For so many years, King Qi has always appeared like this. If he says that King Qi is a woman, will everyone believe it?

Moreover, if a woman were allowed to rise to a high position in the court, once the news got out, all the officials would be ashamed and the court would suffer a great loss of reputation.

If he did that, it would be tantamount to dying together with King Qi, and his political credibility would be destroyed. It would be too not worth it.

At this time, even if everyone knew that she was a woman, he must be a man, and this point could not be overturned. Therefore, this handle could never become the Achilles' heel of King Qi.

Since it is impossible to deal with the emperor in the court, then use tricks outside the court. This is the point of breaking the deadlock. Li Siyuan sees it very clearly that no matter how powerful the power in the court is, it cannot compare to an army loyal to him.

In these troubled times, the army is more useful than anything else!

Chapter 96: Attack the Aliens

In addition to his own martial arts, the army is what Li Siyuan relies on to make a living. Living in troubled times, Li Siyuan trusts no one but only these two things.

Li Siyuan nodded secretly and said in a deep voice, "Not long ago, our peace talks with the Khitan failed. The Khitans are ambitious and want to march south to the border and invade our Central Plains. Once the war starts, the court's attention will be diverted, and everything will give way to the war."

"At this time, even if the emperor wants to deal with us, he must consider the consequences of this matter."

The other two also nodded continuously. Using one's own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses is the practical tactic.

Only when war breaks out can the importance of military men be reflected. Only when war breaks out can Li Siyuan expand his power, use war to continuously seize benefits, and expand his territory and troops.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, local wars broke out and the military interfered in government affairs, so the later Song Dynasty went to the other extreme, using civil power to control military power, strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches, suppressing the status of military men, and castrating bloodiness.

From then on, the bravery of the men of the Han and Tang dynasties disappeared into history, and they rushed all the way to the imperial examinations.

Civil and military are the two legs of a country, and neither can be missing.

It's a pity that after the Song Dynasty made such a move, the status of military men dropped sharply and they became stinking soldiers. Everyone was proud to be a scholar, but few wanted to join the army. When the blood of a country was castrated, how could we expect it to have any pioneering and enterprising spirit?

Therefore, the armies of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were actually not bad, but they had to fight civil wars on the one hand and foreign wars on the other, and could not take care of both ends, so they appeared very weak. In addition, they were all scattered and their power was not concentrated, so they naturally could not withstand the powerful regimes on the grassland.

Of course, the current Khitan is only the most powerful country on the grassland, and has not yet achieved true overlord status. The Khitan only underwent substantial changes after it took over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, from a nomadic people to a semi-agricultural country.

After a few words, they made a decision.

Li Siyuan changed his previous discouragement and gave an order with high spirits, "Okay, since you all think so, send someone to contact the Jiedushi as soon as possible and ask them to find ways to provoke a war, expand the war, and drive the Khitans south."

The reason why it was the Khitan was that, on the one hand, the Khitans were the only powerful people on the grassland who could be considered a major enemy, while other ethnic minorities were too weak, and the garrisoning Jiedushi were enough to solve the problem.

On the other hand, it completely cut off the idea of ​​the emperor forming an alliance with the Khitan. Once peace talks were held again, wouldn't these warriors be useless in a short period of time?

Only war can solve the current problems.

……

Qianqiu Palace.

The screen in the hall was removed and replaced with a huge map. This map covered all the territories of the Tang Dynasty. Various forces were marked on the map, including Khitan, Zubu, Uighur, Tubo and local vassal states.

Su Ming marked various forces with different colors, but the red area representing the Tang Dynasty was pitifully small. It was surrounded by the military governors and divided into various places.

Outside the palace, the empress came slowly. In the harem, she also changed out of her official robes and put on a bright red palace skirt, looking beautiful and charming. "Empress, come and see how I did this picture?"

The empress came closer with a dignified appearance. The moment she saw the map, her heart trembled as if struck by lightning. This map was so detailed!

The details here do not refer to the hydrological topography and city markings, but the details of the power territory. Each power is marked with a different color, which is clear and easy to see at a glance.

In the Central Plains, the two largest colors are represented by Jin and Qi, followed by Yan, where Dingnan, Shuofang Jiedushi and Lulong Jiedushi are located.

The remaining Jiedushi huddled in one place, occupying the provincial capital. They had only a little power, but it was so dense, so complicated, and so shocking.

The empress knew that there were many Jiedushi in the Tang Dynasty, but she had never imagined that there were so many Jiedushi in various places. Even the areas around Luoyang were guarded by Jiedushi, like a tangled mess.

After looking at it for a while, she came back to her senses and said in surprise, "Huh? How do you know so much? Even the Privy Council in charge of military affairs in the imperial court probably doesn't have a map as detailed as yours."

Su Ming stood in front of the map, his hands behind his back, a faint sense of majesty emanating from him, "Didn't Meng Po lead the Xuanming Sect to surrender? I asked them to spread out to various places to gather information. Now they have only roughly figured out the Central Plains. It will take some time to divide the forces in the south."

At this time, the empress could not help but feel the gap between herself and Su Ming. In her hands, Huanyinfang was mostly used to gather intelligence and to act as an undercover agent to compete with Tongwenguan and Xuanming Sect, which could be regarded as a Jianghu intelligence organization.

Under his leadership, the Xuanming Sect withdrew from the disputes in the martial arts world and developed completely into an intelligence organization. It is unknown how much manpower and resources were consumed to compile this map alone.

"This map is the result of the work of thousands of Xuanming Sect members over the past six months. I drew this map after verifying the intelligence of Xuanming Sect with relevant information from the imperial court." Having said this, Su Ming turned around and looked at her.

"You are the first person to see this map besides me."

Hearing this, a trace of tenderness arose in the empress's heart. After all, he still trusted me.

Su Ming moved the copper lamp in the corner of the hall to make the map clearer. Without turning his head, he asked, "Li Siyuan suffered a loss in the court today, but he is definitely not someone who will sit and wait for death. Empress, what do you think he will do next?"

Suddenly, the tenderness and affection in the empress's heart disappeared, and she rolled her eyes at him unhappily, "Li Siyuan will not let it go. He suffered a loss in the court, and he must get it back somewhere else. As for where, I can't guess."

It's not because it's impossible to guess, but because there are many places where Li Siyuan can take action, including Bashu, Wu, Nanping, and even Khitan.

Of course, Li Siyuan would definitely not seek his own death by attacking the military governors.

When Li Cunxu was at the peak of his power, he did not dare to attack the Jiedushi, let alone now. If he dared to attack the Jiedushi, his subordinates would be the first to disagree.

You have to know that even in real history, Zhao Kuangyin's release of military power over a cup of wine took a lot of thought and effort after he had put down the rebellion of the Jiedushi. To take back the military power of the Jiedushi, he naturally had to pay corresponding benefits, otherwise, those Jiedushi would not be willing to do so.

Even Li Siyuan today cannot deal with the Jiedushi. As long as more than half of the Jiedushi in the Central Plains unite, the State of Jin will be in danger.

Su Ming's eyes stayed on the map for a long time, and finally fell on the Khitan in Mobei, "I think Li Siyuan may provoke a foreign war."

The empress was not too surprised by this and asked, "In your opinion, if Li Siyuan attacks a foreign race, will it be the Khitan, the Uighur, the Dangxiang, or the Tubo?"

Chapter 97 Predicting Li Siyuan's Operations

Su Ming looked at the large area of ​​the map occupied by Khitan and said solemnly: "It's Khitan!"

Khitan?

The empress frowned slightly and fell into deep thought. How could Li Siyuan dare to provoke Khitan? Khitan was now the largest country on the grassland. It had been established for decades and had strong troops and horses. If they did not go south, the court would be thankful.

How dare Li Siyuan provoke them?

As if he had guessed the empress's thoughts, Su Ming turned around. When he saw the bright red palace skirt on the empress, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. In this world, she should be the only woman who could control the red palace skirt so perfectly.

Her dignified temperament, beautiful face and graceful figure are like a delicate peony, which is captivating.

Noticing Su Ming's gaze, the empress raised the corners of her lips slightly, feeling somewhat proud. She had spent most of an hour getting dressed for this outfit.

After being distracted for a moment, Su Ming regained his composure, his eyes becoming calm, "The other alien races are too weak, the Jiedushi in various places are enough to deal with them. The court set up so many Jiedushi, not just to stand by and watch."

"In terms of strength, the Khitans have the upper hand over the Jiedushis in various places. No Jiedushi can resist them head-on. Isn't this the best time to expand the war? Besides, there is another purpose for fighting the Khitans."

"What purpose?"

"Completely eliminate the possibility of peace talks between the imperial court and Khitan!"

As long as a war breaks out between the Tang Dynasty and the Khitan, the peaceful situation between the two sides will be immediately broken. At that time, even if Yelu Abaoji does not want to fight with the Tang Dynasty, it will be impossible.

The new dynasty was just established and the imperial court could not step down, let alone the emperor.

In the past, when Li Cunxu ascended the throne, he was able to beat back the Khitans. If he, a legitimate descendant of the Tang Dynasty, did worse than Li Cunxu, his reputation in the hearts of people all over the world would drop significantly.

On the contrary, if he could drive the Khitan back to the grassland, his prestige would increase dramatically, the people would be more quickly attached to him, and most importantly, he would establish prestige in the court and gain greater political benefits.

An emperor with military achievements and an emperor without military achievements are two completely different things.

War is a winner-takes-all game.

Of course, sometimes, victory does not necessarily mean a real win, and defeat does not necessarily mean a real loss. There are many factors that determine the outcome of a war, and they are not limited to the battlefield.

The smile on the empress's face faded immediately, and her eyebrows slightly frowned, "If he really goes to war with the Khitan as you said, and the war escalates and cannot be ended, how will he cope with it then?"

Su Ming sighed softly, his eyes suddenly became sharp, "How will Li Siyuan end up? At most, he will resign, take off the honorary title of second-rank general, and return to Taiyuan to serve as his governor and the emperor of Jin."

"If the imperial court loses this battle, its prestige in the hearts of the people will be greatly reduced, and the people's support that has been gathered with great difficulty will be dissipated. If it wins, Li Siyuan will be able to gain enough military merits in this war and expand his power."

The empress's eyes flickered, but she had not thought of this. The Khitan was not an opponent that could be easily challenged. Once the war started, it would be difficult to end.

Unless they were directing the direction of the battle from the very beginning, but how is that possible?

Facing an old hand like Li Siyuan, Su Ming would never take it lightly or be careless. Even if he had a certain advantage, he would put himself in the other person's shoes and think about how to deal with him.

In the court, Li Siyuan could attack or defend, advance or retreat, and he had many paths to choose from. The worst case scenario was that he failed in the court and had to return to Taiyuan to continue serving as the governor and managing the State of Jin.

But if he did that, he would be far away from the imperial court, which would mean he would be far away from the political center of the Tang Dynasty. Once the emperor targeted them, he would not be able to respond in time, which would be very troublesome.