After listening to Yang En's narrative, Li Ke pondered for a moment, and then ordered Wang Zhongchang to summon Xu Jingzong to his Nine Astronomy

Li Ke was also very clear about his weaknesses and strengths. He used strategies, especially in conspiracy, and Xu Jingzong was ten times stronger than him. Just like the 5,000 Tubo Jingqi riot case, it was Xu Jingzong's masterpiece. He took care of them with wine and meat when Tubo Jingqi entered the military camp. When a few days passed, the Tubo Jingqi relaxed his vigilance against the Tang army. At this time, he designed the Eagle Guard to pretend to be Tubo people and mingle in the camp. On the night when Lu Dongzan and Sang Xiong got drunk, he took the opportunity to incite the already drunk Tubo soldiers, so that the military camp would cause trouble.

Not long after Wang Zhongchang left, Xu Jingzong walked into Li Ke's study.

"Your Highness--" Xu Jingzong bowed to Li Ke.

"Yan clan, please help me analyze it. Lu Dong praised him what he wants to do!" Li Ke said lightly, "Just just now, my father ordered me to marry the Tubo princess. I am puzzled!"

"Your Highness, Tubo Lu Dongzan wants Princess Sangyang to marry you?" Xu Jingzong was also stunned. In theory, Tubo sent the princess to Chang'an to be a concubine for the emperor, but why did he let Li Ke marry Princess Sangyang of Tubo now?

"Yes, so, I asked you to help me analyze it!" Li Ke said with a little distress.

Xu Jingzong did not finish his words in time, but fell into deep thought. Li Ke did not urge him and just waited quietly.

After a while, a trace of light flashed in Xu Jingzong's eyes.

"Your Highness, what is their real purpose for the Tubo princess to marry in Tang Dynasty?" Xu Jingzong asked.

"Tubo wants to negotiate with the Tang Dynasty through marriage!" Li Ke said lightly.

"Who is the pro-war faction who strongly advocates sending troops against Tubo?" Xu Jingzong continued to ask.

Suddenly, Li Ke seemed to have clearly realized the key to the problem.

"Yes, Lu Dongzan's mind is here!" Li Ke said coldly, "But just Lu Dongzan, can he come up with such a countermeasure? Can he control the ideas of other ministers and father?"

"Of course not!" Xu Jingzong said, "But what about adding some other people who advocate peace talks?"

"Changsun Wuji?" Li Ke said in surprise.

In his influence, no matter how treacherous Changsun Wuji was, he would not make any inappropriate actions on the national policy of the Tang Dynasty. However, for this peace talks, he would definitely let himself marry the Tubo princess.

Li Ke really couldn't believe that Changsun Wuji would do this.

"Your Highness, think about it, in two years, your war between Tuyuhun and Tubo ended. How much contribution will you have at that time? How many credits did you make for the Tang Dynasty?" Xu Jingzong said cautiously, "The northern expedition to the Turks eliminated Jie Li, the great confidant of the Tang Dynasty; the western expedition to Tuyuhun completely destroyed the country and then destroyed Tubo, then how big the territory of the Tang Dynasty will be expanded. You know very well. How will the emperor reward you to commend your merits? Relieve your position, let you be idle in Chang'an, and derogate you in disguise? Or let you continue to be in the border town and continue to expand your power?"

Li Ke didn't say anything. He thought about this issue very clearly and had made targeted arrangements. However, when he heard Xu Jingzong say this here, he felt that the problem was not as simple as he thought. Because his desire to delegate power does not mean that Li Shimin would think that he willingly delegated power, and does not mean that the ministers in the court also think so.

"Your Highness, the emperor is a rare wise ruler since ancient times. How can he doubt you because of your military achievements? But if that is not the case, how can you reward your merits?" Xu Jingzong analyzed calmly, "There is only one way to demote Li Chengqian's position as crown prince and make you the crown prince."

Xu Jingzong was silent when he said this.

Indeed, as Li Ke's absolute confidant, he dared to comment on Li Shimin so arrogantly. If he were in front of others, he would never make such an analysis, nor would he guess Li Shimin's thoughts.

"We thought of this result, and Changsun Wuji naturally thought of it too. Changsun Wuji has always supported Li Chengqian and is your mortal enemy. He knows very well what he is in after you become the crown prince. Therefore, for him and his family, it is understandable that he can do this. His purpose is to restrict my king from expeditioning to Tubo through peace talks, so that you can lose this military merit?" Xu Jingzong continued. "Your Highness, in your heart, the elimination of Tubo is for future generations, but in the hearts of many ministers in the court, you think that you have started a strong war against Tubo and just want to accumulate merit for yourself. This inevitably complicates the problem and gives Changsun Wuji an opportunity to take advantage of it."

"Is Changsun Wuji's purpose that simple?" Li Ke asked, "He thinks that if this king gets married to the Tubo princess, he can change his position and not start a war against Tubo?"

"No--" Xu Jingzong said affirmatively.

Li Ke did not speak, and waited for Xu Jingzong to continue to analyze.

"Your Highness, as long as you marry the Tubo princess, you are husband and wife. This is an undisputed fact. When you attack Tubo, in terms of the position of the Tubo princess, his husband led his army to attack his father, which would have a great blow to her." Xu Jingzong analyzed, "Think about it, if you lead the army to break through the logic and capture Songtsen Gampo, it would be fine. With Songtsen Gampo's personality, he would choose to commit suicide and would never survive. What will happen after Songtsen Gampo's suicide? What would the Tubo princess think? When you return to Chang'an, when the emperor wants to make you the prince, the Tubo prince mainly committed suicide suddenly. At that time, your reputation will be affected, and the emperor's pressure will increase. Will he be able to defy the public and make you the prince?"

Li Ke did not speak, and he quietly fell into deep thought. Indeed, just as Xu Jingzong said, when Li Shimin discussed with his ministers to depose Li Chengqian and make himself the crown prince, Princess Tugu suddenly committed suicide, which would have a great impact on his reputation. Since ancient times, he has strict requirements on the candidates for the crown prince, and he pays great attention to the special morality. If the problem of Tubo princess committing suicide in such an emergency occurs, then the ministers can legitimately oppose the establishment of himself the crown prince. As long as he fails in the battle for the position of crown prince this time, will there be any future? There is definitely not!

Thinking of this, Li Ke was sweating all over! He didn't expect that Changsun Wuji had dug such a big pit for him and set up his plan at his most critical moment three or four years later.

If it weren't for the conspiracy expert Xu Jingzong, who was a conspiracy, Li Ke would not know how he would be killed by Changsun Wuji.

After a while, Li Ke sorted out his thoughts and asked Xu Jingzong, "What does it mean to continue?"

"Your Highness, the emperor issued an order to marry a Tubo princess. Do you have any other choice?" Xu Jingzong said lightly, "Actually, as long as we understand Changsun Wuji's conspiracy, why don't we use the Tubo princess to confuse Changsun Wuji. At that time, at a critical moment, as long as we deal with the problem of the Tubo princess, wouldn't we take advantage of the power to arise?"

"Well——" Li Ke nodded, "Yan tribe is right, so do it!"

Li Ke also felt that this was the only way to do the trick now!

Immediately, he said to Xu Jingzong, "I heard that during this period, Tubo Sangxiong often went to and from the wine shops and teahouses in Chang'an City. Do you think this issue is worthy of our attention?"

"Your Highness, Lu Dongzan's trip to Chang'an is probably not just about having a friendly and friendly talk with the Tang Dynasty!" Xu Jingzong analyzed, "There will be a battle between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty sooner or later. When this battle is not over, no one knows which side can win. Because if Tubo wants to fight across the country, their 500,000 troops will definitely not be able to compete with the Tang Dynasty!"

After Xu Jingzong finished speaking, he paused for a while and continued, "So, the purpose of Tubo Lu Dongzan is very simple, which is to find an ally in this free time. Fortunately, when Tubo and Tang war started, they caused some trouble to Tang."

"Are there any other countries besides Goryeo and Fusang?" Li Ke said disdainfully, "These two countries like to put down the wrongs!"

"It's very likely that Your Highness, Sang Xiong may be secretly meeting the envoy of Goryeo Fusang!" Xu Jingzong said.

"Hey, the sale of Fushou cream in the past few days has made me worry about military expenditure, but it has also made the people resentment of Goryeo and Fusang." Li Ke said worriedly, "After you said this, it should be worth noting that Goryeo and Fusang do not have many troops, and the combat effectiveness of the army is not strong. However, if they have to cause chaos in the northeast and coastal areas at the critical moment when the Tang Dynasty went to war with Tubo, they may affect the entire situation of the war!"

"Yeah——" Xu Jingzong also echoed.

"Yan tribe, you send a letter to ask Zhu Tong to mobilize half of the secret guards in Taiyuan to enter Chang'an. You are responsible for this part. Be sure to figure out the true purpose of Tubo Lu Dongzan." Li Ke ordered.

"No" Xu Jingzong accepted the order.

"By the way, you can also send a letter to Ashinayun and let them come to Chang'an!" Li Ke said again.

"I understand!" Xu Jingzong said goodbye and left.


Chapter completed!