Li Longji raised his eyes and glared at Chen Xuanli. His expression was very displeased. As the Emperor of the Tang dynasty, he had supreme power. The psychological advantage formed by more than 30 years of being the Emperor made it harder and harder for him to listen to loyal advice.
Wei Zheng once said that when the husband was in distress, he would treat him wholeheartedly. Since he had achieved his goal, he would indulge in his pride. When Tang Long's coup was launched, Li Longji treated the wise with respect and tried his best to befriend Chen Xuanli and the other generals of the cavalry. After ascending the throne, he was also able to humbly accept the advice of Yao Chong and Song Jing, thus pushing the Tang Empire to prosperity.
However, as the Tang Empire gradually grew stronger, Li Longji began to be complacent and gradually lost his fighting spirit. It was difficult for him to listen to the loyal advice of his subjects. In addition, he was old. His physical strength and energy were not as good as before. At this time, what he needed the most was an obedient and capable subject like Li Linfu. Only Li Linfu could accurately understand his meaning and immediately do things according to his instructions. This could greatly reduce his energy and give him more time to rest.
Chen Xuanli's disobedience had already made Li Longji very unhappy. Chen Xuanli's failure to protect Queen Dong and almost let her be assassinated by the Tufan assassins was Chen Xuanli's dereliction of duty. A derelict subject, instead of waiting to be reprimanded, still wanted to disobey the Emperor's orders. How could Li Longji not be angry?
"The matter of the Turks can be put aside for now. Tufan is so presumptuous and must be severely punished. Otherwise, where is the prestige of the Tang dynasty? Where is my face?" Li Longji reprimanded and stared at Chen Xuanli. "Chen Xuanli, do you know what the consequences will be if Queen Dong dies in the hands of the Tufan assassins?"
Chen Xuanli was shocked and bowed his head to the ground. "This is all my fault. Your Majesty, please punish me."
Li Longji sighed. "Since Queen Dong is safe and sound, I will not punish you. However, this kind of thing must never happen again."
At this time, Chen Xuanli had already confessed and Queen Dong was safe and sound. It was a false alarm. As an old subject who had been loyal to him for more than 30 years, Li Longji would not punish him easily. It was necessary to remind him from time to time.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I have selected hundreds of soldiers from the Dragon Army to protect Queen Dong day and night. I will not let the Tufan assassins have a chance."
"Alright, we need to properly interrogate the captured Tibetan assassin. If there's nothing else, you can leave."
Li Longji waved his hand and dismissed Chen Xuanli.
Chen Xuanli cupped his fists and bowed. He slowly took a few steps back and turned to leave the Zichen Palace.
Li Longji's anger gradually dissipated. He supported himself on both sides of the dragon couch and was about to stand up. Gao Lishi quickly reached out to support him.
In fact, Li Longji was not so old that he needed help to stand up from the dragon couch. Gao Lishi did this as a form of respect and to show his loyalty to the Emperor.
"General, how old is Zhao Yefu now?"
Li Longji paced around the Zi Chen Palace and asked.
"Everyone, she is already 17."
Li Longji chuckled and placed his right hand on his waist. "I remember that she was only this tall the last time she came to the capital. In the blink of an eye, she has ascended to the throne. Time really flies."
"Everyone is right. I also remember that she asked everyone for candy to eat."
Gao Lishi echoed.
"Haha," Li Longji's mood was much better. He said softly, "She has to shoulder the heavy burden of governing the country at such a young age. She must be under a lot of pressure. However, she is also a child. Instead of staying in the courier station, she actually went to Fanchuan to hunt. Fortunately, she met the righteous people of the Tang dynasty. Otherwise, it would be terrible. Oh right, why does this young master named Ang Lee sound so familiar?"
After speaking, Li Longji frowned.
Gao Lishi raised his eyebrows. There was a hint of excitement in his eyes. He said respectfully, "Everyone, this young master Ang Lee is the one who defeated the Fan army in Yuzhou. At that time, everyone was very happy when they saw the battle report. They immediately ordered Ang Lee to come to the capital for an audience.
Li Longji heard it and suddenly realized, "There is such a thing. I am really old. I have forgotten it in just a few days. General has a good memory.
”
Gao Lishi did not dare to be above the emperor. He hurriedly said, "Everyone works hard for the country all day long. It is inevitable that you will forget such a small matter. I have been nagged by my daughter from time to time these days. That's why I deliberately remembered the name Ang Lee."
"Oh, why is that?"
Li Longji's eyes were full of suspicion. Why would Gao Lishi's adopted daughter mention Ang Lee from time to time?
Gao Lishi naturally did not dare to hide it from Li Longji. He told Li Longji about how his wife and adopted daughter encountered bandits on the way and were successfully rescued by Ang Lee. He also praised Ang Lee as a heroic young man and the pillar of the Tang Empire.
After listening to Gao Lishi's story, Li Longji was very happy, "General, you owe me a favor, haha!"
"This old servant owes everyone a favor. I can't repay it in a few lifetimes. I can only serve everyone with all my heart in this life."
Gao Lishi grinned. Although his smile was not good-looking, it was very sincere. His loyalty to Li Longji was unadulterated. Li Longji also knew this.
Recalling the contents of the battle report in Yuzhou, Li Longji's face was full of excitement. In the border battle that happened not long ago, the Tang Army won a complete victory and heavily injured the main force of the Xi Clan. They would not be able to recover for at least 20 years. And in this border battle, Ang Lee's performance was undoubtedly the most eye-catching.
He first used a deceptive tactic to scare off more than 10,000 elite cavalry from the Xi Clan's army and saved General Hengye Zhang Qiqiu. Then, he used two schemes to lure the snake out of its hole to eliminate all the spies that infiltrated the Anbian City and resolved the crisis in the city. Then, under the situation of having an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength, he used 300 soldiers to launch a surprise attack on the Xi Clan's army camp and defeated 5,000 elite soldiers. He also personally killed the Xi Clan's general, Li Tianlong. Finally, with 100 elite warriors, he ran back and forth within a radius of 100 li. At the cost of not losing a single person, he annihilated nearly 1,000 Xi Clan's army. The Xi Clan's army was so frightened that the children did not dare to cry at night.
This outstanding battle record, even if Sun Wu and Wu Qi were alive, they would not be as good as this. Li Longji was naturally very satisfied with this. This was also the main reason why he wanted to summon Ang Lee.
"This Ang Lee is really lucky. First, he made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty. On the way to the capital, he saved the General's family. When he entered the capital, he even saved the Queen of the East. His future is limitless."
Li Longji grinned and chuckled, praising Ang Lee. He knew that Ang Lee saved Yue 'er and her daughter, which would inevitably make the Gao Lishi very grateful. And he saved Zhao Yefu and resolved a diplomatic crisis. He not only won the favor of Zhao Yefu and the soldiers of Dongnu Province, but also made him very satisfied. In addition, he made great contributions in Yuzhou before. If he did not reward him heavily, it would be unreasonable.
Gao Lishi understood Li Longji's meaning and nodded in agreement.
"Pass down my decree. Ang Lee will be conferred the title of Xuan Jie Commandant. He will be rewarded with 100 pieces of silk and satin and 50 pieces of gold."
Li Longji issued a decree to reward Ang Lee.
Xuan Jie Commandant was a military officer at the upper rank of the eighth rank. There was no specific work. It was an honorary position. However, the salary of the Tang Dynasty was based on the rank of the military officer. The rank of the military officer represented the level of the salary. Therefore, when Ang Lee received the title of Xuan Jie Commandant, he received the salary of the eighth rank official of the Tang Dynasty.
After issuing the imperial decree, Li Longji looked at Gao Lishi next to him, "Prince Ning will be here in a few days. I don't want to summon anyone for the time being. However, the General can see Ang Lee first. Tell this kid that I value him very much."
Gao Lishi nodded and said, "Yes, everyone. This old servant will go today."
Li Longji nodded and continued to read the memorials on the case.
In the Secretariat of the Daming Palace, Li Linfu, the Head of the Secretariat, finished dealing with the government affairs with great efficiency. He walked out of the Secretariat and headed toward the Yuehua Gate.
In the past few days, he had been thinking about how to frame Wang Zhongsi and the Crown Prince by using the incident of Ang Lee eating the godly bird. Although he didn't have enough evidence to link Ang Lee's personal behavior to Wang Zhongsi and the Crown Prince, he believed that it would be enough if Li Longji became suspicious of the Crown Prince.
After entering the Yuehua Gate, Li Linfu first headed north, bypassed the West Upper Pavilion, and then headed east. He stopped at the Chongming Gate south of the Zichen Palace. After checking the fish talisman, he entered the Chongming Gate.
"Li Xiangguo."
A young eunuch who had just walked out of the Zichen Palace and was about to head to the Spiritual State to announce the imperial edict greeted him warmly.
When Li Linfu saw that this person was Li Longji's eunuch, Yu Chaoen, he smiled sweetly and stepped forward. He took out a jade thumb ring from his sleeve and stuffed it into Yu Chaoen's hand. "Yu Chaoen, how is His Majesty today? Is he in a good mood?"
Yu Chaoen didn't refuse and accepted Li Linfu's kindness. He said respectfully, "Li Xiangguo, everyone is healthy and in a good mood."
Hearing this, Li Linfu smiled even sweeter. However, this wasn't what he wanted to know. He wanted to know what Li Longji had been doing recently.
"Yu Chaoen, what has His Majesty been busy with recently?"
Yu Chaoen accepted Li Linfu's gift, so he naturally had to satisfy Li Linfu's curiosity. He leaned over to Li Linfu's ear and told Li Linfu everything that the Emperor had been thinking and doing for the day.
"Yu Chaoen, you're saying that His Majesty is asking you to confer Ang Lee the title of Xuanjie Commandant?"
The smile on Li Linfu's face suddenly disappeared. However, it only paused for a moment before he revealed his signature sweet smile again.
Yu Chaoen was able to serve Li Longji, so his intelligence was naturally not weak. He could tell that Li Linfu was dissatisfied with Ang Lee's conferment. However, he was smart enough not to say it out loud.
"Li Xiangguo, I still have to go and announce the imperial edict. I can't delay any longer. Everyone is in the Zichen Palace. Xiangguo, please."
Yu Chaoen prepared to leave and pointed to the Zichen Palace behind him.
Li Linfu smiled sweetly. "Yu Chaoen, take care."
Yu Chaoen cupped his hands and left with a few eunuchs from the Guangshun Gate on the right side of the Zichen Palace.
Li Linfu looked at Yu Chaoen slowly leaving. His heart was very heavy. The plan that he had racked his brains for was probably not going to work.
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