On the fifth day of the seventh month, Chang'an fell.

"Your Majesty's health has improved a little. Don't let Your Majesty know this news for the time being." The queen looked at Qin Zhao, Xue Ping and Tian Lingzi in front of her and said.

"I understand." The three of them nodded and said yes.

Zhu Wen has taken Chang'an, but Luzhou is still in a stalemate. As the main force attacking Luzhou, the Wuwei army has not moved yet. Li Ze is still building a temple for his deceased mother. It is only a dozen days since the temple has passed.

If Li Ze does not move, the Hedong Army will naturally not move. Compared with the army of more than 100,000 in Wuwei, the tens of thousands of troops in Hedong cannot chew on Luzhou City.

"What exactly does Li Ze want?" The queen looked at the three people in front of her. They were real confidants.

The three of them looked at each other, and finally Xue Ping hesitated for a moment and said, "Empress, I'm afraid Li Ze himself doesn't know what he is going to do!"

"What are these words!" the queen said in surprise: "He is not a three-year-old child. He is in his position. What he thinks, does and says must have a purpose."

"Empress, although Li Ze has risen rapidly, judging from his past actions, he is indeed a far-sighted person, but in my opinion, this time, he really doesn't know what he wants, just a simple anger and sadness. After all, he is only twenty years old, and considering his childhood experience, it is understandable that he has this state of mind at this time."

"We can only meet their needs if we want them. If he wants nothing, that is the most troublesome." The queen sighed: "What should we do?"

"It is indeed not a solution to drag it down." Tian Lingzi hissed: "Zhu Wen has taken Chang'an. After resting here, he will definitely not watch Luzhou fall into our hands, watch us control Zhaoyi, nor will he see Zhu Youzhen being held by us. He will inevitably organize a large army to rescue. If this step comes, it will be hard to say who will kill this battle."

The queen's eyes fell on Qin Zhao.

When it comes to military affairs, Qin Zhao is the best at this people in the room.

"General Qin, how long will it take if Zhu Wen is coming?" asked the queen.

Qin Zhao thought for a while and said, "Empress, Zhu Wen has taken Chang'an now, but it is not something that can be done in a short time to safeguard the Heluo land in Guanzhong, so it is impossible to draw a large number of elite troops to come to Zhaoyi."

Hearing this, the queen's face cleared a little.

"But although he could not draw out the main force, he could also send a force to support him. In this way, the morale of the enemy surrounded by Luzhou will inevitably be greatly boosted, and it will be even more difficult for us to attack. More importantly, this may cause new problems in other places." Qin Zhao hesitated and said: "We have surrounded Luzhou but have not attacked for a long time. Naturally, there will be no problems in a short period of time, but over time, the outside world will inevitably know that there is something wrong with us. I am afraid that those who originally tend to us will turn to Zhu Wen's side. This is a vicious cycle."

Taking a deep breath, the queen asked again, "Then how long will it take if we attack Luzhou?"

Qin Zhao looked at Xue Ping with some embarrassment. Seeing the other party lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyelids, he could only say: "Empress, if the Wuwei army did not go out, it would be impossible for us and Hedong to capture Luzhou alone. Tian Yue, Luzhou, had already made some arrangements, gathered a large amount of food and grass in Luzhou and built countless camps. After Zhu Youzhen joined forces with him, his troops now exceeded 60,000. If you consider the young and strong men, even if there is a hundred thousand."

"What if the Wuwei army joins the war?"

"Wuwei army will first shake Luzhou in its momentum. If the other side is united and with the combat effectiveness of the Wuwei army, I estimate that it will be enough to end the war in two to three months. If there is a problem within Luzhou, then maybe the war can be ended in just one month."

"You mean there may be problems within Luzhou?"

"Yes, there may be something wrong." Xue Ping raised his head and said, "Actually, I had contact with Xue Jian and Pei Zhiqing earlier and convinced them. And according to the news they sent back, Tian Ping is now shaken. But all this must be based on strong external pressure. Without strong external pressure, they will not take any action. If they can still see hope for victory, how can they surrender to us?"

"So, the intervention of the Wuwei army still needs to be taken." The queen said in a silence.

"Yes." Xue Ping nodded.

"In other words, without Wuwei, we can do nothing!" The queen looked at the three of them.

The three of them all lowered their heads. This was obvious. In the north, Wuwei was the dominant one. Hedong was originally a hero in the north, but with Gao Pian's death, Hedong was no longer as powerful as before, and now he is in a state of internal struggle. The former general of Hedong had long become a pawn in Li Ze's hands.

"So that's what Han Qi thinks?"

Tian Lingzi said dissatisfiedly: "Empress, Han Qi is unreliable."

"How do you say this?" the queen said in surprise: "In my opinion, Han Qi should be a loyal minister."

"I believe that he is loyal to the court, but his loyalty is based on his own plans. At this critical moment, he is still trying to incite General Li to push the court into the fire pit." Tian Lingzi plucked his mouth and said angrily. "Mr. Xue, let's talk!"

Tian Lingzi's mouth was pressing his teeth away, and his statement was leaking, and he was a little confused, which made everyone very difficult to hear.

Xue Ping looked at the queen helplessly and said, "Han Jiedu is loyal, but at this time, he tried his best to win over people and compete with General Li. All his actions were to establish his appearance as equal to General Li in front of everyone, so as to gather people and expand his power."

Qin Zhao continued: "Empress, if Han Jiedu was at other times, this practice would not be offensive, because General Li's family would dominate, there would naturally be problems. Only balance can maintain stability in the government. In the past few decades, although the prestige of the court has been lost, it is still very calm in general, because the governors in various places are restrained. However, with Zhang Zhongwu's rebellion, this balance was broken, and powerful towns began to appear, beginning to truly threaten the rule of the court, and eventually Zhu Wen's rebellion occurred."

"Since that's the case, Han Jiedu's approach is not wrong!" the queen said inexplicably.

"It's right, but the time is wrong." Xue Ping said: "At this moment, we should unite together, take down Luzhou first, completely pacify the northern land, and then we can talk about other things. Now Han Jiedu is moving frequently, and what I worry most is that I really anger Li Ze."

"Will they have internal strife?" the queen asked in surprise.

Xue Ping shook his head: "Li Ze will not do this, but he is very likely to withdraw. For example, he no longer attacks Luzhou, but turns around to attack Wei Bo, then beat Lu, and sit back and watch us fail in Luzhou. Once we fail in Luzhou, Zhang Jia from Shuozhou will inevitably send troops to Taiyuan and then sweep over Hedong. Zhang Jia is also Li Ze's person! In this way, Li Ze can still become the most powerful person in the north and form a confrontation with Zhu Wen again, but he can completely abandon the court. Empress, if she really gets this step, I'm afraid that Your Majesty will have nowhere to go."

Tian Lingzi said with a sad face: "Empress, to put it bluntly, now we have something to ask for Li Ze, not Li Ze needs us. Don't we know that Li Ze's power is too great and needs checks and balances? But this is not now! Li Ze is still willing to be the emperor and serve the court. Once he feels that the court has let him down, he will stand by and watch, and ignore it, it will be all over. At that time, he can unify the northern land and rule with Zhu Wen. Then the Tang Dynasty will be really over!"

Hearing this, the queen turned pale.

After a while, he said, "But we rely so much on Li Ze, how can we check and balance him in the future?"

"First of all, we must quickly win the victory in Luzhou." Xue Ping raised his head and said, "As long as the Wuwei Army joins, the Hedong Army can be preserved. After conquering Luzhou, the court still lives on Li Ze's territory, but the power of loyalty to the royal family is still very strong. The ministers are there, the Qin general is there, and the Shizhong is there, and Han Qi can also count one. In addition, Gao Lei in the river can be fought for, and Yiwu, Fengdu, Xiasui and other places will inevitably move closer to the royal family, otherwise, they will inevitably be gradually embezzled by Li Ze. In fact, this is a very simple truth. At that point, relying on the strong will be eroded, and the weak will be united to keep warm, and they can compete with them. In this way, a balance will be formed in the court. At that time, even if Li Ze is given the power to take charge of the government affairs, with these restraints, the royal family can still rest assured."

Speaking of this, Xue Ping paused for a moment before continuing: "This is what Gao Pian and Gao Shuai said when he was about to leave, Li Ze could be both a hero in troubled times and a capable minister in governing the world. What we need to do is to try our best to turn him into a capable minister in governing the world."

"But how can we do this? How can we make Li Ze immediately send troops to attack Luzhou and end this war?" The queen looked at the three of them.

The three of them were speechless.

After a while, Xue Ping said, "I will go to his camp again. If he refuses, I will die there."

The queen was silent for a while and said, "Don't be angry with Xue Qing, but I understand the truth here. I want to think about it carefully, and you guys can go."

"Yes!" The three of them stood up, saluted and retreated.

Looking at the backs of the three of them, the queen sat down dejectedly.
Chapter completed!