Of course, Li Shimin was not a person with a narrow-minded vision. He did not act casually when he put Shi Lei in his current position, but was carefully considered, which could be said to be a way to kill more birds with one stone.

For the outside world, mainly for the Feng family, Guangzhou is the capital of the entire Lingnan Road, and it is also the place where the entire Lingnan is most devoted to the Tang Dynasty. It can even be said to be a bridgehead to resist the invasion of the Feng family when the Feng family changes. In such a place, the leaders of the local garrison will naturally have to be carefully screened.

On the one hand, Shi Lei was chosen because he and the Feng family got along well. Putting such a person in this position would not put too much pressure on the Feng family, would not feel forced, and would not easily intensify the conflicts between the two sides, so that the Feng family and the Tang Dynasty court were disunited.

On the other hand, Shi Lei was also a powerful general in the Tang Dynasty, and his deterrence against the Feng family was strong enough. If there was any change, if a powerful general like Shi Lei was guarding, Guangzhou would not be defeated without attack.

Internally, putting Shi Lei in this position is also a means to maintain balance. It is not only a reminder to the Shi family to pay attention to the struggle with the two families and control the issue of a degree, but also a warning to the old nobles behind the Shi family.

On the other hand, it was also a warning to the two families, because the one who was replaced by Shi Lei could have been said to be a member of the Dou family, but it provided a lot of convenience for the Dou family's trade.

Part of the wealth accumulated by the Dou family over the years comes from large-scale industries like coal mines, and of course it also has a lot of shares, which depends on foreign trade. The Dou family's main focus is the Southeast.

This is not like Changsun Wuji's side. His family's industries were mainly expanded on a large scale after Li Shimin came to power. Some directions have been almost divided by the old nobles, and he cannot easily open up the situation, so he is also aimed at emerging markets, and this trip was almost beaten by the Shi family.

However, the Dou family not only cooperated with local forces in Lingnan led by Feng Ang, but the footprints of the caravan also involved further south and even overseas. This is also an important reason why they had the confidence to find Feng Ang and wanted to convince him to kill Shi Lei.

If the two families had never met each other, they would come to the door rashly and simply seek death. If the two families had not had this relationship, the dead man who made great contributions to Shi Lei would not even have the chance to see Feng Ang, so how could he express his conditions?

If Li Shimin removes this capable manpower from the Dou family, it will inevitably have a significant impact on their family's trade. Could it be that he still hopes that Shi Lei will take care of his Dou family's business specifically?

This disguised form also further weakened the strength of the Dou family through Shi Lei's hand, achieving the effect of suppressing the power of the aristocratic family that he has been pursuing tirelessly since he came to power.

At the same time, this is also a warning to the Dou family and even all aristocratic families. If you can use a method, this strategy of killing people with a knife will still be a red line, and anyone who touches it will have to pay the price.

Moreover, putting Shi Lei in such a position is nominally a reward for Shi Lei's contribution to the suppression of the rebellion of the Lingnan people. In fact, is it a raised board that is raised high, and whether it is gently dropped or heavily hit Shi Lei, it depends on how he, the person involved, does it.

Everyone was eaten by Li Shimin. This is the way a top chess player is enough to determine the direction of the chessboard. It should play.

But Shi Lei certainly couldn't understand these things. He was still rushing on the road while worrying about his future.

Feng Ang, who had reached a certain level, had a relatively accurate guess about the mentality of the king Li Shimin, so he flatly rejected the Dou family's conditions and chose Shi Lei, the seemingly weak side. After knowing Shi Lei's new position, he knew that he had bet right.

On the other side of Chang'an, Changsun Wuji, who has always been known as the worm in Li Shimin's belly, also clearly understood Li Shimin's intentions. Then he found the head of the Du family who was already a little exhausted recently and told him about his guess.

Of course, the other party is the object of suppression, so he would not say that. Although he had cooperated before, his interests were relatively consistent with Li Shimin in this matter, and he could even be said to be the beneficiary because he had a share of the interests that these old families were forced to vacate.

The result of their discussion spread almost all over the circle of nobles in Chang'an the next day.

"I didn't expect that the Shi family was so powerful that they beat the Dou family and the Changsun family begged for mercy. Tsk tsk, it seems that they will re-examine their relationship with the Shi family in the future." This is probably the sigh that the most nobles have given.

Yes, the result of Changsun Wuji's discussion with the Dou family was to go to the Shi family to express his attitude of calming down the situation. For this reason, he even gave some gifts, put his posture very low and gave in thoroughly.

There is no way. The two enemies who are now united are forced to retreat step by step. If they do not seek reconciliation with the Shi family, they will never be able to get real peace and will not be able to settle down to deal with those enemies who are usually completely worth mentioning.

If you continue to do this, unless Li Shimin makes his own voice and personally protects the two families, it is not impossible for them to be in a depressed state.

But in that case, they basically withdrew from the battle for the highest power stage, and they are likely to fall out of the top and transcendent ranks of the small group of nobles, which is the most unacceptable for them.

Instead of doing this, it is better to take the courage of a hero to cut off his arm, sacrifice his face and some of his reputation, and first resolve the biggest and most fierce enemy of the Shi family, which is equivalent to temporarily appease the power of the Cheng family and the others, and no longer give them an excuse to attack. If they free up their hands, they can solve their internal and external troubles one by one.

Uncle Fan and the others also saw some signals from Shi Lei's appointment, knowing that Li Shimin, the emperor, did not want the situation to be out of control. The Tang Dynasty could not fall down two top powerful people at the same time. Such a situation would be particularly chaotic and would not be conducive to the stability of the Tang Dynasty.

They were even more reluctant to see Shi Lei squatting in Lingnan and unable to return to a more remote place, so they could only accept the sincerity of the two rivals. After being a little reserved and getting enough benefits, they sent out a signal of a temporary ceasefire.

Although this battle of nobles that could not be seen on the surface, but in private, it had already flowed into blood and almost caused turmoil in the Tang Dynasty, finally ended with the seemingly weak Shi family, who completely defeated the seemingly powerful two giants.

After this battle, the Shi family not only did not suffer much losses, but instead reaped huge benefits, but also completely consolidated its status and raised it to a new level.

No one treats the Shi family as an ordinary junior anymore, and they all put it on a relatively equal level, which provides a lot of convenience for the Shi family's further development. Of course, it also shows that the challenges that will be encountered in the future will definitely be more difficult.

On the other hand, the Dou family and Changsun Wuji suffered a great loss this time. They must be kept low and make a comeback for a while. When they regain their glory, they don’t know which guys will be in trouble.

When Shi Lei received a report from Chang'an's home and knew that the battle had ended with his own victory, they had successfully arrived in Guangzhou City and handed over their posts.

Another new world is waiting for Shi Lei, and he has set a considerable goal for his term of office.
Chapter completed!