Not long after Du Qi left, another eunuch entered to report that Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, and Feng Deyi had entered the palace together. Li Yuan immediately let the four enter.
Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and Chen Shuda were all Li Yuan's trusted aides.
All of them were old officials.
Especially Pei Ji, who was highly regarded by Li Yuan and could be called Li Yuan's number one trusted aide. The four entered the Sweet Dew Palace together. After bowing to Li Yuan, they each took a seat.
Li Yuan looked around at everyone, retracted his gaze, and said solemnly, "In the morning, we have been talking about how to deal with the Turks, and we also talked about a general direction. You all have thought about it. Now, let's talk about your opinions. "
Feng Deyi sat below and took the lead to say, "Your Majesty, I suggest sending a diplomatic mission to the Turks to appease them. After all, the King of Qin is fighting outside, and the court does not have enough strength to resist the Turks. Now, we can only send a diplomatic mission. "
Everyone was aware of this suggestion.
Chen Shuda also nodded and said, "Your Majesty, this old official also agrees."
Chen Shuda was the half-brother of Chen Shubao, who was born in the royal family. After Sui destroyed Nanchen, Chen Shuda entered Sui as an official. When Li Yuan raised his troops in Jinyang, Chen Shuda submitted to Li Yuan.
After the Tang Dynasty was founded, he was appointed as an attendant by Li Yuan.
Attendants were high-ranking officials under the government.
During the Tang Dynasty, there was no special prime minister position, and the three high-ranking officials were called prime ministers.
The three provinces were divided into Menxia Province, Zhongshu Province, and Shangshu Province. Menxia Province's official was an attendant, Zhongshu Province's official was Zhongshu Ling, and Shangshu Province's official was Shangshu Ling.
The officials of the three provinces were all prime ministers.
In fact, during the Tang Dynasty, because Li Shimin held the position of Shangshu Ling, after Li Shimin ascended the throne, no one held the position of Shangshu Ling. Only the left and right servants of Shangshu Ling were there, and Shangshu servants were equivalent to prime ministers.
However, during the late Tang Dynasty, Shangshu servants were everywhere, and to become a prime minister with real power, one had to add other titles.
The current Chen Shuda was equivalent to a prime minister.
His power and influence were immense.
After Chen Shuda spoke, Xiao Yu also stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty, this old official also agrees."
Xiao Yu was the Minister of Revenue.
This was equivalent to holding the purse of the Tang dynasty, and he was the most important courtier.
After listening to Feng Deyi, Chen Shuda, and Xiao Yu's words, Li Yuan's gaze finally fell on Pei Ji. He asked, "Pei Qing, what do you think?"
In the imperial court, Pei Ji held the position of the Right Servant of the Minister and was extremely powerful.
He was highly regarded by Li Yuan.
Pei Ji was now close to fifty years old. Although he was not yet fifty years old, his hair had already turned white due to the hard work he had put in, making him look rather old.
Pei Ji smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this subject agrees with Assistant Minister Feng's suggestion. However, this subject believes that simply sending officials to the Turks is definitely not enough. "
"Apart from this, we also need to send an order to the Duke of Dingxiang to have him organize his troops in Daizhou. Once the Turks attack, we must go all out to fight them and let them know how powerful we are. Otherwise, just sending officials to the Turks will be a waste of time. It won't be able to intimidate the Turks. "
Pei Ji said, "If we want to stabilize the situation at the border, we need to rope them in as well as beat them. Only by using both methods can we be effective. "
After hearing this, Li Yuan nodded in approval.
Pei Ji's suggestion was similar to Du Qi's. They both needed to prepare for war on one side and rope in the Turks on the other to stabilize the situation and not let it go out of control.
After a moment of silence, Li Yuan said in a deep voice, "Pei Qing's suggestion is good. We'll arrange according to Pei Qing's suggestion. However, when it comes to sending an envoy, who is the most suitable person to send? "
Hearing this, everyone was silent for the time being.
Although Feng Deyi already had an idea in his heart, in fact, he was only the Assistant Minister of the Secretariat. Therefore, for the time being, he did not jump out in a hurry to speak.
Li Yuan's gaze turned and fell on Feng Deyi again. He said, "Feng Deyi, do you have a candidate in mind?"
After being called, Feng Deyi was no longer polite. He said directly, "Your Majesty, regarding the candidate to be sent to the Turks, I think it needs to be both civil and military. They must know military affairs and can deter the Turks. They must also have literary talent and let the Turks see the brilliant literary style of the Tang dynasty."
After a pause, Feng Deyi said, "Therefore, my suggestion is to send General Zuo Xiao Wei, Zhangsun Shunde, as the envoy. Because General Zhangsun is someone who came out of the battlefield. With General Zhangsun, the Turks will not dare to be presumptuous. "
Chen Shuda glanced at Feng Deyi and said, "Assistant Minister Feng's words just now talked about military generals, but we also need civil officials. However, who is the most suitable civil official? "
Everyone looked at Feng Deyi, waiting for him to speak.
Feng Deyi paused for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I think Du Qi is the most suitable."
Boom!!
Like a clap of thunder, it sounded in the hall.
Everyone was shocked.
One by one, they looked at Feng Deyi as if they were saying, "Feng Deyi, are you crazy? How could you let a twelve or thirteen-year-old child be the envoy of the Tang dynasty? "Everyone was shocked.
Even Li Yuan was also shaken by this suggestion until he was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
Xiao Yu glanced at Feng Deyi.
However, Xiao Yu did not say anything.
Li Yuan took a deep breath, suppressed the surprise in his heart, and said, "Minister Feng, how did you think to let Du Qi be the envoy? Do you know that he is only twelve or thirteen years old? He is very young. "
Such a suggestion was extremely bold.
It was to the extent that, beyond everyone's expectations, no one had expected Feng Deyi to push Du Qi out.
Feng Deyi smiled and explained unhurriedly, "Your Majesty, when it comes to literary talent, I'm afraid that not many people in the court can compare with Du Qi. Of course, this is without mentioning the classics. "
"If we cite classics, there are great scholars who understand the classics, and Du Qi can't compare. However, Du Qi is a man of great literary talent, and he is unwilling to pass on this responsibility. "
"Du Qi's poetry can be said to be superb."
"It's not an exaggeration to say that Du Qi is a prodigy. Such a talent, as the envoy to the Turks, can let the Turks see the brilliant literary style of the Tang dynasty. "
"Let the Turks know the heritage of the Tang dynasty."
Feng Deyi continued, "The most important thing is that I heard the market's description of Du Qi. Du Qi is not only eloquent, but also very smart. Moreover, Du Qi is also the seventh-grade Xuanyi Lang, appointed by Your Majesty, and has an official position. It is completely reasonable to arrange for Du Qi to be the deputy envoy. "
After hearing this, Li Yuan's expression gradually relaxed.
Feng Deyi's words were reasonable.
However, Li Yuan didn't make a decision immediately, so he asked, "What do you think?"
Chen Shuda objected, "Your Majesty, although Feng Deyi's words are reasonable, Du Qi is too young after all, only twelve or thirteen years old."
"If we let a twelve or thirteen-year-old child go as the envoy, won't people think that there is no talent in the Tang dynasty?"
"What's more, Du Qi is too young. He has been in Chang 'an all his life and hasn't seen the real world. If we let him go as an envoy and he sees the big scene outside, he might be scared out of his wits, or even be frightened by the scene at the frontier fortress. It might affect Du Qi's ability to think and make a smart child lose his wisdom. I'm afraid it won't be good. "
Chen Shuda expressed his concern.
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