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Xidu, Chang'an.

General Wei’s Mansion.

At three o'clock in the morning, the general's mansion was busy and each performed its duties.

The Secretary of State Li Xuan and the Shizhong Li Ru have not been to court in recent days. They stayed in the general's mansion all day, and they also had food and accommodation.

Ten days ago, the Yuluo coalition troops attacked the border and captured three fortresses, including the northern city of Seibei, burned, killed, and looted, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were slaughtered. Now, the Fuluo army has advanced straight in, sweeping across the west of the Beidi County for a few days, with hundreds of miles of territory on the north side, and it is rampant and unable to resist. It is now approaching the county city, and perhaps the barbarians have already attacked the city at this time.

In the past three years, the Western Liang army has strong military strength, and has been invincible in every attack and is invincible. The surrounding territory of the three prefectures of Xiliang is no longer the border that it was originally. Almost all the borders have expanded outward for hundreds of miles, causing the entire territory under the rule of Xiliang to unknowingly increase by two thousand miles. The strong military force can make the surrounding barbarians avoid and flee in a panic. No tribe dares to resist the Western Liang army's military front.

Therefore, for more than two years, the Xiliang army has always sent troops to attack others, and never had the experience of being beaten to the door of the house by others. During this period, things like abandoned the city and lost land and being burned, killed and looted by barbarians have never happened. The major battle camps stationed on the border have always used attack instead of defending. If they do not attack barbarian territory, the barbarian leaders will burn incense. Who dares to take the initiative to invade the territory?

Perhaps it was because the Xiliang army had been enjoying peace in the troubled times for too long, and the border was as stable as the two years, and there was no war except for the Xiliang army taking the initiative to attack. Unexpectedly, Yu Fuluo suddenly led his troops to invade the territory. The Huben camp stationed in Beidi County was caught off guard. In addition, the generals who guarded the pass were careless and lazy, resulting in continuous loss of city and land. In half a month, Yu Fuluo's army actually advanced all the way, attacking the city and snatching the village. The momentum was unstoppable, and the momentum of whaling the Beidi County was faintly revealed.

Such drastic changes are undoubtedly a great humiliation for all the generals of the Xiliang Army. For the civil and military officials in Chang'an, some people are happy and some are worried. Some people who have been suppressed by Li Jue and Li Li for a long time finally saw the dawn of overthrowing Li's uncle and nephew. They were secretly excited and celebrating. In addition, most of the civil and military officials under Li Li's rule cheered up and carefully checked their own affairs, for fear of a slight mistake, otherwise they would be very likely to lose their lives.

Especially the officials of Cao, who were under the General's Mansion, have been with Li Li for a long time. They know that their lords have always practiced their character of not moving, but being thunderous when they move. This time, the invasion of the Fuluo army undoubtedly angered Li Li, and put the entire Xiliang army into shame. Once the news of the loss of the city and the land was spread, it meant that the Xiliang army, which had been preparing for two years, woke up from their sleep, showed its edge again, and launched a large number of troops to wipe out the barbarian army.

Now the general's office has no time to send troops. Their urgent task is to check whether there are any mistakes in their affairs. We must not follow the footsteps of Duan Wei, deputy commander of Huben Camp. On the third day after Fuluo's army attacked Beidi County, the cause of the disaster was found out. Duan Wei, deputy commander of Huben Camp, neglected his duties and was careless. He did not properly hand over the garrison when he left the garrison. As a result, Fuluo's army easily seized the three passes and attacked the hinterland of Beidi County for several days.

This kind of thing is unique among the Xiliang army. Duan Wei was the first to set the stage, and it is not difficult to imagine what the outcome was. In view of this, how could the general's office officials dare to slacken off a little? For more than ten days, they have worked overtime to check their respective affairs, and assisted the Shangshu Ling to raise food and grass, and do all the matters before the army set out.

The General Wei Mansion suddenly became nervous, and its chain effect was extremely great. The Grand Sima Mansion followed closely and led all the civil and military officials in Chang'an City.

For a moment, Chang'an City, which had been quiet for two years, became lively again.

In half a month, tens of thousands of troops gathered outside the city, the imperial city treasury was opened, and the soldiers of the baggage battalion transported food, grass and weapons day and night, moving away all the inventory of weapons that were only left. All day long, the sound of horse hooves in and out of the streets and alleys of Chang'an gates and streets was constantly sounding, and tens of thousands of soldiers were coming in and out, and an invisible lingering haze of war enveloped the hearts of everyone in Chang'an City.

Before we knew it, the people in Chang'an City were panicked, and many unknown people couldn't help but think of the Chang'an Rebellion three years ago. So the people stayed away and hid at home tremblingly, not daring to go out easily, or even dared to peek outside, for fear of causing unintentional disasters.

Bang bang bang!

A heavy sound of footsteps came into the main hall of General Wei's Mansion, and then the Grand Sima Li Jue appeared at the door and strode into the hall.

"Oh, it turns out that it is the Grand Sima coming. My subordinates have misunderstood. Please forgive me!" He looked up and saw Li Jue suddenly coming. The Secretary-General Li Xuan, who was guarding the General's Mansion, quickly stood up to greet him and bowed to him.

"Yuan Zhong is busy with everything, why should he be very polite?" Li Jie smiled and leaned over and looked like he stretched out his hand to help Li Xuan up, but in fact he had not moved his feet, three steps away from Li Xuan.

Obviously, Li Jie's move was just a polite word and had no sincerity.

Li Xuan heard the sound and seemed not to see Li Jue's politeness. He invited Li Jue to sit down as usual and waved his hand to greet the maid to serve tea.

However, Li Jue was different from last time. He did not take the lead in the position of coaching, but walked straight to the first place on the left and sat down, waved to Li Xuan to sit next to him.

Li Xuan sat down with a smile on his face. A hint of shock and suspicion flashed through his eyes when he leaned over. Obviously, Li Jue's inadvertent actions aroused his alertness. However, this kind of alertness is not a bad thing, but a good thing. After all, the enemy is in front of him. If Li Jue still cannot put his position right, it will be a very troublesome thing.

Through the last test, Li Xuan knew that his lord Li Li had not made up his mind to let Li Jue step down until now. He always thought of his uncle and nephew's relationship, and he gave in and refused to let go. This made Li Xuan quite helpless and couldn't help but feel a little discouraged, because the last incident was a trick he and Li Ru carefully planned. The purpose was to prompt Li Jue to show his thoughts, and thus follow the clues to find out a group of gangs, and finally forced Li Jue to step down and retire.

The entire layout went very smoothly, and everything was under the control of Li Xuan and Li Ru. However, after the stolen goods were captured, the lord Li Li easily let Li Jue go and suppress the matter. Instead, he sent the two generals Hu Zhen and Xu Ding directly to Li Jue, and gave it to Li Jue 20,000 county government soldiers.

This made Li Xuan and Li Ru clearly realize how heavy Li Jue was in Li Li’s mind and how high he was, which was almost unbreakable. Even if Li Jue had a different ambition and the evidence was conclusive, Li Li would not do anything to Li Jue, but instead tolerate it again and again.

This made Li Xuan and others quite helpless and worried. However, this involved the family affairs of the lord Li Li. Even if others were willing to help, they were unable to do so and had too many concerns, so it was difficult to grasp the right position.

Therefore, after Li Xuan and Li Ru were frustrated, they decided to completely let go of this matter and not want to be involved in it, so as not to cause trouble in the future.

"I don't know what the Grand Sima is doing here? If there is anything that needs to be done by my subordinates, Grand Sima will give me instructions. As long as Li Xuan can, he will not let Grand Sima down." After a cup of tea, Li Xuan asked softly with a smile on his face.

Li Jue's expression changed slightly when he heard the sound. He observed Li Xuan's expression suspiciously from the corner of his eyes, and smiled and said, "Yuan Zhong is so polite. We are a family, so why do we need so much politeness? I am here just to know when Wenchang will arrive in Chang'an so that all the officials in the court will leave the city to greet us."

"All officials come out to greet you?" Li Xuan was stunned when he heard this, turned his head to look at Li Jue, and said in surprise: "The Grand Sima's words are serious, isn't they a joke?"

"Hahaha!" Li Jue smiled happily and said, "In the morning court today, I have reported to the emperor. When Wenchang returns from Sili, the emperor will personally visit the city tower to greet him. I will lead all civil and military officials out of the city and welcome Wenchang's safe return. The emperor has already approved the report. I will just wait for confirmation of the time, and I will handle everything!"

"This, I'm afraid it's inappropriate!" Li Xuan's expression changed suddenly. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and said, "The lord's whereabouts are very secret before leaving. There are only a few people who know about this. Now that the lord has returned safely, he will naturally return quietly and will not alarm anyone at all. What's more, the lord's travel is not about returning from the expedition, so there is no need to make such a big noise? If the lord is unhappy and blames him, his subordinates and others can't afford it. Therefore, this matter is not feasible. Please feel free to Grand Sima Sansi!"

"Huh?" Li Jue pondered and said with thought: "Last night, I saw the Sili Jie News you copied. It said that Wenchang's trip was quite good and there was a lot of money and food. It shows that Wenchang's trip was not as simple as traveling. In addition, there is another sentence above: 'Kill the evil dragon that has been a disaster for hundreds of years on the bank of the river'. I wonder if this matter is true, did Wenchang really kill a dragon?"

"Uh!" Li Xuan was stunned when he heard this, and then nodded subconsciously and said frankly: "This is true. Half a month ago, the lord and his party went up the river and were kidnapped by water thieves on the way. The thief head Gan Ning forced the lord to sneak into the Poison Dragon Pond, hoping to take the opportunity to get the treasure at the bottom of the pond. As a result, the thief head was severely injured by the evil dragon and was still unconscious. Hundreds of thieves were slaughtered by the evil dragon. In the critical moment, the lord and General Huan Fei were not afraid of life and death, and joined forces to fight the evil dragon. In the end, the lord killed the evil dragon with his own hands. It is said that the evil dragon is more than eight feet long, with a huge body and invulnerable swords and guns. It has been hundreds of years since then, and its lifespan is longer than the four hundred years of Han Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Li Xuan continued to breathe a sigh of relief: "Now this evil dragon is in Xu Rong's army and will be sent to Chang'an soon. At that time, the Grand Sima can get close to watch it, and you will know the authenticity at first glance!"

"Ah!" Seeing Li Xuan's words so seriously, Li Jue was shocked and said anxiously: "So, this is true! Is Yuan Zhong sure that the evil dragon that Wenchang killed was not a big snake, but a real dragon?"

"Of course! Tens of thousands of soldiers in Xu Rong's camp have seen it with their own eyes, how can there be a falsehood!" Li Xuan said affirmatively without hesitation.

"Hu——" Li Jie was stunned for a while, and sighed with a complicated expression: "This is an unprecedented auspicious sign! God bless my Li family, God bless Wenchang! Such shocking things must be known to everyone in the world. People in Chang'an City, who can see the evil dragons killed by Wenchang with their own eyes, so that everyone knows that my Wenchang nephew is a protected person by the heavens. God blocks the gods and dragons blocks the dragons!"

After saying a word, Li Jue said with a decisive expression: "Since this matter is true, then I will leave it to me. If Wenchang blames it, I will bear it alone! This time, I will not only lead all civil and military officials out of the city to greet them, but also bring the emperor's carriage to welcome Wenchang back to the city! In addition, I will also send thousands of county soldiers to post notices, and Fei Ge sent letters to Sanfu County and County counties, and issued notices, and ordered the county government soldiers from all over the country to organize the people to come to Chang'an to see the evil dragon with their own eyes. This matter also requires Yuanzhong to inform General Tietuo and ask him to order the Sanfu County government soldiers to cooperate in their actions. I wonder what Yuanzhong wants?"

"Is it necessary to create such a big scene?"

Li Xuan was already scared by Li Jue at this moment and could not keep up with his thoughts. Because he had never thought about using the evil dragon to make a big fuss, but Li Jue was unexpectedly prepared to do the matter in a big way.

If everything is really done as Li Jue said, the scene will be big. At least more than 100,000 people flock to Chang'an in the Sanfu Land. In addition, tens of thousands of people in Chang'an City and surrounding people, at that time, at least 200,000 people will gather inside and outside Chang'an. If the 100,000 Xiliang Army that had been assembled at this moment, then on the day Li Li returned to the city, there would be 300,000 people inside and outside Chang'an City witnessed this grand event with their own eyes, and the scale was rare to date.

"Of course it's necessary!" Seeing Li Xuan's inexplicable look, Li Jue said without doubt: "Why can't Yuanzhong understand? Since ancient times, the emperor has claimed to be the true dragon emperor, but who in the world has seen what the real dragon looks like? Wenchang killed the evil dragon this time. This is a auspicious sign that has never been encountered in a century or even a thousand years! What does this mean? Shouldn't we tell you? Such a major thing should not be done with great success? Missing this opportunity and waiting for the Wenchang's dragon slaying to spread, even if this matter is true, no one would believe it. Instead of missing the opportunity for nothing, it would be better for me to start doing it now and make a sensation in the world!"

Speaking of this, Li Jue said excitedly: "Once this matter is done, at least 200,000 to 300,000 people in Chang'an City will witness the grand event with their own eyes. At that time, one will spread to ten thousand people, and it will spread throughout the world within a month, and it will be widely known. By then, whether the emperor will sit in court is irrelevant to us. Who in the world will dare to disrespect Wenchang, and no one knows the feat of Wenchang's killing the evil dragon! In this way, great things can be accomplished and hegemony is expected!"

Listening to Li Jue's words in his ear, Li Xuan couldn't help but nodded repeatedly, and his face showed an inexplicable sense of surprise.

Until this moment, Li Xuan had to admit that Jiang was still old, especially some people who were obsessed with power. When they encountered such good things, their reaction speed was amazing. In an instant, they knew how to maximize the use of this matter to achieve a sensational effect, and then to seek greater benefits for themselves.

However, the ultimate beneficiary of Li Jie's careful planning of this matter was not him, but Li Li.

What reason does Li Xuan have to object to this? He is naturally happy to see it happen. Not only that, he also has to do his best to help Li Jue do this well, making it more perfect and impeccable.

"Everything is decided by the Grand Sima. My subordinates must help them with all their strength. Please rest assured, Grand Sima!" After thinking it through, Li Xuan responded happily.

"Okay! Yuanzhong is very wise, Wenchang has not read you wrong!" Li Jue applauded and then got up, and wanted to start handling the matter immediately.

"Uh! By the way, when will Wenchang return to the city?" Li Jue suddenly stopped and turned his head and asked when he walked to the door.

Li Xuan responded: "Three days later."

"There is not enough time, what should I do?" Li Jue changed his expression and said anxiously.

Li Xuan walked quickly to Li Jue and whispered: "Da Sima, don't worry. The subordinate immediately sent a message to the lord and pushed back to the noon six days later. I wonder if the six days are enough?"

"Six days?" Li Jue was stunned when he heard this, and then thought about it: "Six days are still too tight. Fortunately, the official road in Xiliang is open, and there are many war horses and carriages in the post station along the way, so it should not be a problem. However, Yuanzhong still needs to order the post station along the way to avoid the cost of carriages within half a month, otherwise ordinary people will not be able to get on the carriages and can't afford to rush on the road!"

"Well, this is not a problem!" Li Xuan said after thinking for a while: "Da Sima is relieved, his subordinates immediately sent orders to open the post station, and temporarily dispatched 10,000 war horses from the Youfufeng County Horse Farm and 5,000 war horses from the Yiwu County Government to escort the people to Chang'an along the way. In addition, I will order General Tietuo to lead 50,000 county government troops to assist the Grand Sima in handling this matter. In this way, it should be foolproof!"

"Okay, that's great!" Li Jue nodded happily and then left quickly.

Watching Li Jue leave excitedly, Li Xuan's expression was extremely complicated, with both surprise and regret in his eyes.

The surprise was because Li Xuan didn't realize until this time that the Grand Marshal Li Jue was not a traitor or a greedy person. On the contrary, Li Jue could distinguish between priorities and priorities in the face of major issues, and his uncle and nephew relationship with Li Li still dominated and was not exhausted by power and fame and fortune.

And this is precisely the source of Li Xuan's self-blame and regret. Until now, he always believed that Li Jue was a greedy person with power and desire, and always coveted the military power in his lord Li Li, and seemed to have the ambition to replace him. Therefore, he and Li Ru were always on guard against Li Jue, fearing that he would become bigger day by day, thus threatening the supreme status of the lord Li Li Xiliang.

Fortunately, Li Xuan and Li Ru never got rid of Li Jue because they knew that their lord Li Li would never attack Li Jue. Even if Li Jue really rebelled, Li Li would not be determined to get rid of Li Jue. Therefore, Li Xuan and Li Ru set up a plan to force Li Jue to show their strength, and their real intention was nothing more than forcing Li Jue to step down and retreat, that's all.

Now that Li Li has seen Li Li run for Li Li with his own eyes, Li Xuan feels deeply ashamed. He knows that he had blamed Li Li before, which almost caused a big mistake. Fortunately, Li Li always sticks to the family affection of uncle and nephew and is unwilling to blame Li Li Li, otherwise Li Li would have been imprisoned now and will never have a day to turn over.

"Report to the Shangshu Ling, my master asked the villain to pass on the message. General Duan Wei will not be punished until he died. I also asked Shangshu Ling to say a few good words in front of General Wei." Just as Li Xuan was stunned, the housekeeper who had just followed Li Jie to run back quickly and said respectfully.

"Oh, okay, I understand." Li Xuan woke up from the voice and then said to the butler: "You go back and tell the Grand Sima that the most important thing at the moment is the matter discussed just now, and everything else is easy to say. Please rest assured, and I will persuade the lord to show mercy."

"Thank you, Shangshu Ling, the villain will leave first." After receiving a satisfactory reply, the housekeeper happily bowed and left.

After the butler left, Li Xuan smiled slightly and said to himself: "I tell you why the Grand Sima is here. It turns out that he is pleading for Duan Wei. But this matter is nothing compared to the dragon slaying. As long as this matter is done now, what's the difficulty of giving Duan Wei a lifetime?"

———————————————— (To be continued)
Chapter completed!