Although there were also ministers such as Feng Dao and Li Yu in the Later Tang Dynasty, when it comes to their confidants, they were the six people in the side hall at this moment.

The Privy Councilor Han Zhaoyin, the Privy Councilor Liu Yanlang, the Privy Councilor Li Zhuangmei, the Imperial City Envoy Song Shenqian, and the Xuanhui Northern Court envoy Fang Hao were the confidants of Li Congke when he was in Fengxiang. Li Congke was able to make up his mind to "clear the ruling lord" and seize the throne, so he made plans for these five people. As for the Privy Councilor Xue Wenyu, the Privy Councilor, also played a very important role in the process of the reprising.

"Everyone has read the memorials of Han Qing's family." Li Congke said: "The group of people who suddenly rose up in the northwest have risen very strangely. If they are not taken seriously, they will become a big problem in the future. Can you please do a proper way to deal with it?"

Fang Hao came forward and said, "Your Majesty, recently, a Hu monk came to the Eastern Capital. He was very supernatural and knew the past and future. There was something happening in the northwest today. He might have to do it on this Hu monk. After the teacher left his class, he could visit it carefully, or he could get enlightenment from it."

Among these old advisers of Li Congke, Fang Hao was known for his affairs of ghosts and gods. When Li Congke first started his army, the city was surrounded. He was frightened. Fang Hao used the sorcerer of the rivers and lakes to invite the gods to the body and speak the words of the gods, and said to Li Congke: "The king has few soldiers, so the heavens specially dispatched troops from the east to help the king." Li Congke felt a little relieved, and the morale in the city was slightly stabilized, so he continued to use military strategies. Later, one of them came to attack the army to betray Li Conghou and surrender Li Congke. Therefore, Li Congke has a lot of faith in the affairs of ghosts and gods. Fang Hao was good at using ghosts and gods, and played a great role in stabilizing the king's morale and attacking the political and enemy forces.

"Good," Li Congke said: "But I can only hope for the affairs of ghosts and gods. How to deal with them depends on your plans. According to the report of Zhe, Zhang Mai has obtained Anxi and Hexi, and now there are at least 100,000 troops. Such a great trouble is not under the Khitan. If he is allowed to annex Lianglan states, it will border our Tang Dynasty."

He remembered Zhang Mai's name, but Zhe Bu Huang didn't remember it, but he just used "some".

"In fact, your Majesty does not need to worry too much," said Xue Wenyu, a direct scholar of Privy Councilor, "The report from Privy Councilor Han is based on the one-sided words of the Zhebu clan in Liangzhou. It is unknown whether Zhang Mai is really so brave. As for the army of more than 100,000, it may be an exaggeration."

Li Congke shook his head and said, "That experience of starting a military and political strategy expressed in the memorial is not like a false act. If he merged with Anxi and Hexi, it would be no problem to have more than 100,000 troops."

"Even so, Your Majesty does not need to worry too much." Xue Wenyu said: "Since ancient times, those who have never been able to settle west and go to the world. Now, the troubles of our Tang Dynasty are the internal floods and droughts, which have made the people poor and helpless, and the vassal states are strong, which has exhausted the country's wealth. Outside, the Khitans are spying on it, and the northern border is difficult to maintain peace. Even if there are changes in the northwest, it is only a problem of brothers and feet. You will be the first to be the confidant and then the brothers and feet, which is the way to do the basics."

Among the six people, Song Shenqian was more aware of military affairs and said, "Don't take it lightly. Since ancient times, the soldiers in Longyou are the most powerful, and the people in the northwest are fierce. If Zhang Mai takes over Liang and Lan, he will collect all the people in Hexi, and then he will see our Lingwu and Fengxiang. He is afraid that the disaster in the northwest will not be under the Khitan."

Han Zhaoyin also said: "What Xue Xue said about the confidant's confidant's hand and foot is very insightful, but the confidant's troubles must be concerned, and the hand and foot troubles must not be ignored. Since the Czhe of Liangzhou and others submitted a memorial, why not take the opportunity to issue an imperial edict and make it an official position to stop Zhang Mai's eastward advance."

Another direct scholar of the Privy Councilor Li Zhuangmei said: "Liangzhou has been granted a royal title, and Sun Chao was originally a queen. Sun Chao has not come up with the memorial. The Zheji family is a mixed family of Tubo, Qiang people and Han people. If they abandoned Sun Chao and granted Zheji, wouldn't they be close to Hu and leave Han? Besides, Zheji is just a local tyrant. The Hu people came to court, probably because they were forced by Zhang Mai. Therefore, they went to court to seek support and rely on him to stop Zhang Mai. It was like driving a dog and resisting tigers, and they were just doing nothing - this matter must not be done!"

Li Congke's sect originally came out of Shatuo people, but after entering the Central Plains for a long time, he had already regarded himself as a Han person. Moreover, his subordinates and soldiers were mostly mixed with Hu and Han. The Shatuo people themselves did not form a military and political system. It can be said that the Later Tang Dynasty only had the mark of Hu people on the emperor's bloodline, and their customs were relatively Wuye, which was completely different from the situation in later Mongolia and Manchus. Therefore, Li Congke did not take it seriously when he heard it, and took it for granted.

Han Zhaoyin said: "If you only rely on someone's family, it will naturally not work. However, the various captives in Hexi have long been accustomed to separatist and autonomous rule. Since Zhang Mai has the intention of swallowing Hexi, the princes of Hexi will be shocked. Therefore, as long as you need to descend to order the states in the northwest to be supported, the states will inevitably join forces to resist Zhang Mai and serve as the guards of our dynasty."

Song Shenqian said: "If this happens, it may be difficult for us to confront Zhang Mai to turn things around."

Li Zhuangmei snorted and said, "Your Majesty is the lord of the world! All directions should come to pay tribute. If you don't pay tribute, you will be a traitor. The traitor will be killed, so why fear of confrontation!"

Li Congke frowned slightly. Among the counselors under his command, Han Zhaoyin and Liu Yanlang were relatively pragmatic, but the reputation was not good. Li Zhuangmei was known as honest, but his style was more literati. Although Li Zhuangmei's words just now were upright, the Later Tang Dynasty is now full of internal and external troubles. Li Congke was clear about this situation and would not have been said by a few good words and a high hat would be floating.

Xue Wenyu said: "I have a plan to help Hexi!"

"speak!"

When Li Congke started his career at the beginning of the year, he met a Bu Shi and said to him: "The king is going to meet a great sage this year. With such a great sage, he will definitely be like King Wen of Zhou who got Jiang Ziya and Emperor Gaozu of Han who got Zhang Zifang." Soon Li Congke met Xue Wenyu, and all the signs were inconsistent with what Bu Shi said. After that, Xue Wenyu made many plans and everything he said was right, so Li Congke trusted him more. Therefore, although Xue Wenyu was not Fengxiang's old team, Li Congke's confidants were not under Fengxiang's five people.

At this time, Xue Wenyu said, "Looking at the memorial, although Zhang Mai doesn't know where the faction is, his actions are all called Zongmu Datang. He also called himself after the imperial envoy of the Tang Dynasty, and called himself the Han Dynasty as a call. There are many righteous men in the northwest, and Zhang Yichao is one of them. Although he has been isolated for many years, his thoughts on Zongtang have not been extinguished. Zhang Mai also admires Zhang Yichao, and may also admire his actions. His subordinates will be moved after listening to his words for a long time. In this case, why don't Your Majesty follow the trend and enthrone him, and let him command the towns of the states west of Liangzhou. At the same time, he will be sealed with Liang, Lan, He, and other states. If Zhang Mai hears the title, he cannot go against Your Majesty's intentions.

From then on, all the states of Lianglan were ministers in front of Your Majesty’s palace, and there was no excuse to attack each other. If he refused to enfeoff, he would be self-disciplined by the orthodox Tang Dynasty, and his subordinates would be suspicious of him. Your Majesty issued another order to denounce his appearance as Han and actually as Hu. Then all the tribes in Hexi also suspected that he was private and not public, making people turn against Zhang Mai. Even if the heroes resisted, Zhang Mai might not be able to conquer Lianglan Hekuo by virtue of his strength. Moreover, according to the news from Liangzhou, Zhang Mai was also unstable, so the people coming from the east were not the main force. If he could not comfort his subordinates and consolidate the border outside, he would still be too busy to look at himself. How could he go east to Liang, Lan, and see my Lingwu, Fengxiang?"

Li Congke was happy when he heard this, and Li Zhuangmei also said, "What Xue Xue planned is very correct, which is what our dynasty should do. Lianglan's states have been outside the country for a long time, and now under the pressure of Zhang Mai, they will all be granted tribute. In this way, they will not be able to save the power of one soldier or one soldier, and they can be safe in Hexi."

Song Shenqian refused to believe it and said, "It is necessary to pacify thousands of miles of Hexi without spending a soldier. I am afraid that there will be no such good things in the world. I will still order Fengxiang, Shuofang, Zhangyi, and Xiongwu to strictly prevent and consolidate the border. Lingwu Zhang Xichong was always afraid of the Hu Hu, and Lingwu was close to Liangzhou, so he could allow him to do things at a cheap price. I heard that Beiting was a subordinate of the Khitan. After Zhang Mai attacked Beiting, he invaded the Khitan. He could secretly send people to the north and bribe important Khitan officials to make Yelu Deguang pay attention to the matters in the northwest. If Yelu Deguang could lead Ma Xi to see, we would have two great troubles at the same time."

Li Congke heard what both sides said make sense, but he was unable to make a decision for the moment. He asked Han Zhaoyin, and Han Zhaoyin said: "I think the two strategies can be carried out in parallel. On the one hand, they can increase their vigilance on the border, and on the other hand, they can enthrone Zhang Mai and the princes of Lianglan Prefectures. It is better to let Zhang Xichong go as the candidate for the canonization. At the same time, they will send people to the Khitan to provoke Yelu Deguang to the west."

Liu Yanlang also said: "What the Privy Councilor said is very good."

Li Congke said: "Okay, according to what Han Qing said, the two strategies will go hand in hand. The specific actions will be handled by the Privy Council."

Zhe Ying came to Dongdu for a walk, but failed to see the emperor. Because Li Congke attached great importance to this matter, the officials did not dare to delay. After making a decision, they sent someone to send Zhe Ying to Lingwu the next day. Before leaving, Liu Yanlang asked for bribes from Zhe Ying. Zhe Ying offered five good horses and half a box of ox horns. Liu Yanlang was very dissatisfied, so Zhe Ying offered another ten taels of gold. Liu Yanlang complained in his heart and cursed: "There are these local tyrants! There is really no one to carry!" He gave Zhe Ying a freely position as a Liangzhou regiment. Zhe Ying thanked him for his gratitude.

The group came to Lingwu. This time they went from Liangzhou to Dongdu, and then from Dongdu to Lingzhou. Except for the five days in Dongdu, they did not stay for more than three days. This is really rare and is also because the situation in all aspects is a coincidence.

At this time, the governor of Shuofang was Zhang Xichong, a famous general of the border of the Later Tang Dynasty. After receiving the order from the Eastern Capital, he first asked about the situation in Zhe Ying about the northwest. He then summoned the general Zhe Congling and Lingzhou Governor Yang Zezhong to discuss it and said, "I have heard of that Zhang Mai. However, this year, our dynasty is a matter of trouble, and the affairs of Anxi are mostly heard and not convinced, so I dare not report it for a moment, so I would not dare to report it for a moment, so the court would not take the blame for this matter to cause confrontation. But I had already sent a lot of details, and I had already settled the news. I had already reported it, but I had already issued an order. Liangzhou was close to Shuofang and Liangzhou had something to do, so we had to wait for the imperial edict to be issued. In this way, we seemed to be negligent."

Yang Zezhong said: "It has been a while since Zhang Mai's story was spread to Shuofang. I have also heard a lot of "The Long March Transformation of the Tang Army in Anxi". He contacted Hexi Temple and wanted to be the lord of the Tang Dynasty's hometown west of the Yellow River. His ambition was really great. Now all the prefectures and counties in Hexi have already been there. I heard that all the temples have sent monk envoys to Liangzhou. They plan to meet in twenty days. If the order is to act, they need to hurry up."

Zhe Congling said, "Look at Zhang Mai's actions this time, since he will send someone to Hexi provinces first, he will wait until the people gather and then go to Liangzhou. In order to show his honor, we can take the opportunity to stop him and announce His Majesty's decree, and catch him off guard."

Zhang Xichong said: "Zhang Mai defeated the Uighurs and occupied Shagua, and they all used troops to win. An imperial edict may not be able to convince people. Well, since the capital already has a suggestion, I will take a trip to Liangzhou. From the tomb, you can choose five thousand light cavalry and follow me to Liangzhou to pass the edict!"

Yang Zezhong said: "If Ling Gong leaves, what should Lingzhou defense do? When Ling Gong is here, Dingnan Army Dangxiang dares not act rashly. If Ling Gong leaves the country, what if Li Yichao becomes ill-intentioned? What will happen to you then?"

Zhang Xichong said: "The Tuoba family is in a difficult position. Although he is domineering, he still dares not rebel openly. But Zezhong's words make sense. Now that your Majesty has ordered me to act cheaply, you will plan your order for me and transfer Li Yichao to lead 4,000 troops to follow me into Liang, and then inform me of the prefecture and the prefecture and the prefecture and consul Ruan, so that he can pay close attention to the movements of Xiazhou. If there is any abnormal movement, you can help him. The affairs of Liangzhou may affect the safety of the northwest in the next ten years. I must not be careless."

The Shuofang capital was located in Lingzhou, and the Dingnan Army was located in Xiazhou. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Dingnan Army has been severing the Tuoba clan of Dangxiang. Because it was given the surname Li in the Tang Dynasty, it was also called the Li family. It has been passed down from generation to generation, and now it has been passed down to Li Yichao. It is still a vassal to Luoyang and is self-governing internally.

The distance between the Xiazhou in Lingzhou is very close. If the fast horses gallop in relay, they will arrive in one day. After receiving Zhang Xichong's order to dispatch troops, Li Yichao summoned the generals to discuss. His younger brother Li Yiyin said: "The Lord of the Central Plains is afraid that our Li family is more than one generation. Now that my father has just passed away, they will come to transfer our troops into Liangzhou, not to mention the plan to transfer tigers from the mountain."

Li Yichao said: "Otherwise, I have heard about Zhang Mai's incident, and it should be true. Moreover, Emperor Li had just ascended the throne and the various vassal states were not settled. His great trouble was in Hedong and not in us. If we use such a strategy to deal with us now, it would be of no benefit to him. We are granted the imperial edict in the world, so we must listen to the order of dispatching troops, otherwise we will give the Han'er an excuse to attack us."

Li Yiyin said: "Since that's the case, I'll take a walk on behalf of my brother."

Li Yichao said: "Since Zhang Xichong is going to Liangzhou in person, how can he leave with peace of mind if I don't go? Let me lead the troops to go. Brother, please lead your children to your home and wait for me to come back. Since Zhang Xichong left, Yang Zezhong was not a problem, but he had to be careful when he passed by Ruan in the east. Also, since Zhang Mai swept across the Western Regions, there were also Khitan vassal states in the Western Regions. This time, the Khitans may also intervene in the Liangzhou affairs. Therefore, in Xiazhou, in addition to guarding against the east and south, you also have to be optimistic about the northern border."
Chapter completed!