Chapter 73: The Situation in the DPRK
Li Longji is now in a state of great ambition and success. He no longer likes to listen to the unpleasant words of his ministers who advise him, but only likes to hear compliments.

Therefore, Wu Huifei's words completely hit Li Longji's heart, and Li Longji benefited greatly from hearing them.

Li Longji stood up with a smile on his face and said proudly, "What Concubine Hui said is very true. Although I am in Chang'an, my heart is filled with the nine provinces and four seas, and all the people in the world. The Qin Emperor and Han Wudi were no more than that in their time."

Li Longji boasted, and then said: "It's fine for Ke'er to go and take a look, there is no need to lead the army to fight against Tubo in person."

"This is his filial piety." Wu Huifei's eyes were filled with tears. "In the letter, Ying'er said that if he could not be filial to me and Sanlang, he would rather die on the border of the Tang Dynasty and use his last life and his heroic spirit to protect the mountains and rivers of the Tang Dynasty forever."

At present, the ministers of the Tang Dynasty were all pursuing the goal of becoming a general or a prime minister. In other words, fighting on the frontier was for the purpose of being granted a title of nobility and appointed as a prime minister in Chang'an one day. Therefore, people like Li Ying, who had the opportunity to compete for the crown prince, voluntarily went to the frontier for exile. Apart from what Concubine Wu Huifei said, they could not find any other reason.

If it is for real power, what is the point of having real power for a dying person?
Even if he gained the real power of the four towns in Longyou Road, what could Li Heng do?
Moreover, if Li Heng really wanted to take real power, his first choice should be Jiannan, because Li Heng was the Jiedushi of Jiannan, and the hometown of Li Heng's wife Yang Yuhuan was also in Jiannan Shuzhou.

The second choice should be Hebei, because Hebei is in chaos and the people are very resentful of the central government of the Tang Dynasty, so the success rate of doing evil things there is high.

But Li Heng did not make any choice, but went to the front line of Tubo, the biggest threat to the Tang Dynasty.

Apart from defending the border with one's death, what other thoughts could there be?
Li Longji was touched and said, "Ying'er is a good son. If he really dies on the battlefield, I will give him the highest honor."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Wu Hui immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I bow to you and thank you!"

"What are you doing?" Li Longji immediately helped Concubine Wu Hui up, "Ying'er is your son, and also my son."

Li Longji wiped away Wu Huifei's tears and continued, "You don't have to worry too much. I'll go and ask if there is any new battle report. If there is no bad news, it means that Ying'er is safe now."

"Yes." Concubine Wu Hui nodded, "I have invited a few famous musicians from the south. When Sanlang comes back, I will lead them to perform for him."

"Okay, okay." Li Longji nodded happily and went to the Purple Palace.

Looking at Concubine Wu Huifei's back, she thought to herself, "Ying'er, although I don't know what you want to do, helping you is the only thing I can do for you."

……

The Purple Palace is next to the Xuanzheng Palace. The Xuanzheng Palace is where the emperor meets with officials, while the Purple Palace is where the emperor usually sits and governs.

Inside the Zichen Hall.

Zhang Jiuling, Pei Yaoqing, Li Linfu, Niu Xianke and other important ministers stood there.

Li Longji sat on the throne and asked, "Is there any news about Prince Shou's expedition to Xiaobolü?"

Zhang Jiuling, who was in charge of military affairs, reported to the emperor, "Your Majesty, not yet. The distance from Kucha to the Kingdom of Xiaoboluo is over 3,000 miles, and the road is a desert with mountains and rivers. Your Highness Prince Shou is marching in the ice and snow. Even if there are no accidents, it will take at least four or five months, and at most seven or eight months to arrive."

Zhang Jiuling was not exaggerating. Generally speaking, it would indeed take that much time, but Li Heng and his men only took more than three months. This was entirely due to the good scheduling and organizational mobilization by General Gao Xianzhi and others.

Li Longji asked: "Can we win this battle?"

"Not necessarily." Zhang Jiuling analyzed truthfully, "Your Highness Prince Shou and his men have marched 3,000 miles. Even if they don't get lost in the desert, it will be a problem to continue to provide food and grass. Even if these two problems are solved, when the army reaches Xiaoboluo, Xiaoboluo is surrounded by thousands of mountains and is located in a high and cold area. If they cannot make a quick decision and get into a fierce battle, their chances of winning will be greatly reduced."

Li Heng's journey was full of difficulties, and Li Longji found it difficult just by listening to it.

Thinking of what Concubine Wu Hui had just said about Li Ying's willingness to defend the country with his life, Li Longji was even more moved and said, "Someone impeached Prince Shou the other day for sending troops on his own without consulting the Ministry of War." Li Longji knew that the people who impeached Li Ying were subordinates of the Crown Prince and Li Heng. He sneered and asked Zhang Jiuling, "Mr. Zhang, what do you think should be done about Prince Shou's sending troops on his own?"

Zhang Jiuling thought of the letter written by Zhang Mujin, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Prince Shou is indeed guilty of sending troops on a long expedition without authorization."

Everyone present was a little surprised when they heard this.

Li Longji asked, "Does Zhang Qing really think so?"

"Yes." Zhang Jiuling answered affirmatively, and then said: "However, if the Tang Dynasty sits idly by and does nothing about the Tubo invasion of the Little Bolor Kingdom, it will not only be difficult to maintain the friendship between the Tang Dynasty and the Little Bolor Kingdom, but also make the Tang Dynasty lose a key road in the Western Regions. More importantly, the Tang Dynasty will no longer be able to command the Western Regions. If I could switch places with His Royal Highness Prince Shou, I would also be willing to do so, and would rather die than commit this crime!"

Everyone present was even more surprised.

Because Zhang Jiuling was speaking for Li Heng in a negative way.

Li Longji was silent for a long while before he asked Pei Yaoqing and Li Linfu, "What do you two think?"

Pei Yaoqing thought for a moment and said, "Even if there are a thousand reasons and difficulties, it is still against the rules. Besides, what if we lose this battle? If we lose this battle, many soldiers will die in vain, and the prestige of our Tang Dynasty will also be damaged. If we ask for instructions in advance and gather ideas, it may be more conducive to advancing."

What Pei Yaoqing meant was that no matter what your reasons were, if Li Heng won the fight, his merits and demerits could be offset, but if he lost, he should be punished.

His thoughts were also shared by many people in the court.

Li Longji did not reply and looked at Li Linfu.

Li Linfu said: "Thunder and rain, is it God's grace? Your Highness, the Prince of Shou, is a prince, and it is not for us to discuss. The heart of the saint is like a mirror, and the saint's wisdom is shining. I ask the saint to make the decision."

What Li Linfu meant was that whatever Li Longji said was the truth.

Among the three prime ministers in charge, one spoke for Li Heng, one opposed Li Heng, and one did not express any opinion.

However, Zhang Jiuling, who spoke for Li Ying, was a supporter of Crown Prince Li Ying. The one who opposed Li Ying was the centrist Pei Yaoqing, while the one who did not express his opinion was Li Linfu, who had previously supported Li Ying.

But in fact, Li Linfu didn't really want to cut ties with Li Heng immediately. He was not that stupid.

The reason why he said this was because he knew from some rumors that Li Longji supported Li Heng in his heart, so listening to Li Longji's opinions was also equivalent to supporting Li Heng in disguise.

As for why he didn't say it himself, it was because Zhang Jiuling had already expressed his support. If he continued to support it, it would seem that Li Heng was deeply loved by the court and the public, which would in turn arouse Li Longji's disgust.

Therefore, he simply chose not to say anything. This was the greatest support for Li Heng and would not cause opposition from others.

After listening to the opinions of the three people, Li Longji nodded and said, "In this case, the outcome of the war is still unknown, so let's wait and see."

After saying that, he left the Purple Palace and went to attend the concert prepared for him by Concubine Wu Huifei.

Zhang Jiuling, Pei Yaoqing and Li Linfu were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

(End of this chapter)