Xu Xiangfeng took a step forward, raised his hand to the emperor, and said: "I think what Mr. Xiao said is reasonable, but his merits cannot be outweighed. However, the Lord of Taiping County has devoted his loyalty to the country and rescued people in danger, and his contribution is indispensable, and now

I am in the Qiang country at a critical time of war, so I am not in a hurry to pursue my faults."

Xu Xiangfeng asked the question back in a non-trivial manner. It seemed that he had said it, but it was all indifferent nonsense.

It's even unclear whether he agrees with Yan Qing's treatment or whether he doesn't.

The emperor looked back solemnly: "The Prime Minister is right, the war is the most important thing. All merits and demerits will be discussed again when General Yan returns to the court."

The emperor had already talked about this, and even though Xiao Lu was unwilling to do so, he could not say anything more.

After listening to the ministers arguing about some innocuous things, the emperor felt bored and glanced at An Ning.

An Ning understood, and before another person spoke, he interrupted with a smile: "My lords, what other important things do you want to report?"

An Ning emphasized the word "important matters" specially.

When the official who was about to speak heard this, he immediately stopped speaking and stood with his head bowed.

It seems that I can go to court early today.

The ministers were thinking in their hearts.

But the most fulfilling thing in the world is not being able to fulfill one's wishes.

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask Your Majesty to review the matter regarding the visit of the Xirong envoys for peace talks."

Liu Xiyuan stepped forward and presented the document for the reception of envoys that had been prepared by the Ministry of Rites earlier.

An Ning took the fold and carefully presented it to the emperor.

The emperor took the book, read it carefully and quickly, and frowned.

"Snapped!"

Closing the folding book with a sound, the emperor looked sullen and said, "What a big sigh!"

The ministers looked at each other in confusion, and finally their eyes fell on Liu Xiyuan, wondering what he had written to make the emperor so angry.

"A country that has been defeated in the war dares to bring up the matter of marriage even though its people are still in our hands!"

The emperor looked sullen and threw the folder out, and a document contained in the folder fell out.

The withered yellow parchment paper is the most commonly used for Xirong documents.

Xu Xiangfeng stepped forward and bent down to pick up the documents and memorials. After reading the documents, he opened the memorials and looked at Liu Xiyuan thoughtfully after reading them.

Liu Xiyuan stood in front of the palace with his hands folded and his head lowered. Facing the furious emperor, he never knelt down and prayed to the emperor to appease his anger like those old fritters who had been struggling in officialdom for many years.

He is a courageous person.

Xu Xiangfeng calmly withdrew his gaze and presented the documents and memorial again: "Your Majesty, since this marriage was brought up by Xirong, it is not a bad thing for us."

The emperor looked at him condescendingly and asked, "What do you mean, Prime Minister?"

"After defeating the enemy and making peace, we asked the two countries to forever be on good terms with Qin and Jin, and to turn conflicts into friendship. This is an ancient practice."

Xu Xiangfeng lowered his head and talked eloquently, "The winner is the one who, in order to show the magnanimity of a great country, sends a princess to make a marriage and settle the disputes between the two countries. The princess can also teach the barbarians and control the subject countries. It can be seen that the marriage is very important to the two countries.

, not a bad thing.”

"Furthermore, the two countries have been enemies for a long time and have been fighting for years. The people on the border are suffering terribly and it is difficult to reduce or reduce national taxes. If we can take this opportunity to shake hands and make peace, there will be no more wars for at least ten years. For the people of the two countries, this is also a good thing.

What a blessing.”

The emperor listened to Xu Xiangfeng's words that the people were the most important thing, his eyes turned cold, and he asked: "According to the Prime Minister, is this marriage a good thing?"

Xu Xiangfeng stood with his head bowed and respectfully replied: "Old minister, I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

"snort!"

Valley couch

The emperor snorted coldly and said, "According to what the prime minister said, I should accept the request of the Khan of Xirong and let the third child marry the princess of Xirong as his main concubine?!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the hall was shocked.

"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate."

At that moment, someone stood up and refuted, "Now His Highness King Xian is missing, and all the other Highnesses are dead. How can He, His Highness King Duan, be the only one who can marry a Fanbang princess as his concubine?"

Xu Xiangfeng turned his head when he heard the words, but saw that the speaker was none other than Liu Xiyuan. He couldn't help but slightly droop his eyelashes, covered with a hint of regret.

He looked smart at first, but why is he so restless and unable to think straight?

The emperor is in his prime, and the most taboo thing to talk about is the prince's affairs, especially now that all the princes are either dead or missing, and only Prince Duan's family is the dominant one.

Doesn't this imply that the emperor's successor will no longer have anything to offer, and the throne can only fall to King Duan?

It doesn't matter that he himself got involved because of this matter, but if it caused the emperor to take action against the entire Duanwang gang, it would be a real disaster for them.

The ministers were uneasy because of Liu Xiyuan's words. Their eyes all fell on Xu Xianfeng, but they heard Xu Xianfeng say: "I also feel that the marriage is inappropriate."

The ministers were anxious.

How could the Prime Minister be so confused at this time?!

Doesn’t this follow Liu Xiyuan’s words and admit that the emperor can only appoint Prince Duan as the crown prince?

The emperor's eyes had already darkened, but he heard Xu Xiangfeng say: "His Royal Highness Duan Wang has already been engaged to the daughter of the King's family, Minister of the Ministry of War. The wedding was scheduled to be held after His Highness was crowned, but there was no choice but to encounter a natural disaster.

The wedding was postponed due to man-made disaster. When His Highness comes back from southern Xinjiang, it is time to give an explanation to Miss Wang and Mr. Wang."

Before the emperor could speak, Xu Xiangfeng added another sentence, "Due to the engagement with His Highness Prince Duan, Miss Wang has already missed the best age to get married. It would be inappropriate to let her down like this."

What Xu Xiangfeng said was impeccable.

First, he talked about the benefits of getting married, which is beneficial to the country and the people.

However, he agreed with Liu Xiyuan that Wen Zhehan, who was likely to become the crown prince, should not be allowed to marry a Fanbang princess as his concubine, in order to prevent the royal bloodline from being confused and becoming a Fanbang puppet.

Then the marriage contract between Wen Zhehan and Wang Shuyu was brought up. Although every word was reasonable, every word was provocative, and the emperor and Wang Weitao both had a grudge against each other.

The emperor was afraid that Wang Weitao would be dissatisfied because the engagement was delayed again and again.

Wang Weitao was afraid that the emperor would become jealous because of his dissatisfaction.

But this is still secondary.

The most important thing is to get married.

If you agree, you are afraid that the monarch and his ministers will be alienated; if you don't agree, you will ignore the people's livelihood.

What a great move!

The emperor stared at Xu Xiangfeng with cold eyes, his knuckles clenched until they turned white.

Regardless of whether he agrees or not, he will not lose anything.

If he doesn't agree, the third child will not lose. Wang Weitao, as his son-in-law, will still support him; if he agrees, although he will offend Wang Weitao, the third child will get the support of Xirong Khan.

Although there is a rule that those who marry foreign countries are not emperors, if all the princes have died and only the third son is left, can he still hand over the country to others?

The emperor's mind was racing with thoughts, and his fingertips tapped on the armrest of the dragon chair.

"It's not urgent at all."
Chapter completed!