Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

In the Liangyi Hall, Li Chengqian sat upright on the throne with a slightly frown on his face, waiting for battle reports from the front line.

Time passed minute by minute, but no news came from the front line.

The three people responsible for leading the army this time are all young talents. In Li Chengqian's mind, each of them has his own abilities.

Qin Ruzhao, after observing and considering for a period of time, has already reached a conclusion.

With Qin Ruzhao's current ability and experience, he is more than qualified to be a general in the charge into battle, but when it comes to commanding the three armies and controlling the overall situation, he is still a little immature and cannot easily take on the important task of commander-in-chief.

Zhang Xianhuai is quite different. He is the last disciple of Lin Pangzi who was carefully taught by him. His talent is naturally extraordinary.

From the moment he took command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Li Chengqian keenly noticed his unique qualities.

When Zhang Xianhuai acted and planned, he always looked at the overall situation and had a far-sighted vision. Whether it was his insight into the situation or his overall arrangement of tasks, everything was orderly and he showed his commanding style.

It was for this reason that Li Chengqian entrusted him with the important task of commanding the Jinyiwei, believing that he would live up to the trust.

As for Xue Rengui, he is a figure who has left his name in history and his talent as a famous general shines brightly.

Even though he was still young, his military talent and attainments had already been fully demonstrated.

He was a shining star on the battlefield, destined to leave a significant mark in the military history of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Chengqian also had full faith in his military talents and felt very relieved.

Although this expedition was nominally to attack the Cui family, Li Chengqian knew in his heart that it was actually a life-and-death battle with all the aristocratic families.

The outcome of this battle is related to the future direction of the Tang Dynasty.

Once they return victorious, they can completely eradicate the troubles caused by the aristocratic families and restore a clear and bright world to the Tang Dynasty, with clear politics and a peaceful life for the people.

If the army is defeated, there may be some trouble, but the situation can still be controlled. We only need to transfer the border troops to quell the rebellion.

However, if a foreign race took advantage of the chaos to invade the Tang Dynasty and border wars broke out again, the situation would become complicated and unpredictable.

"Your Majesty, Commander Qin is back!"

Zhang Ananda walked into the hall in a hurry, his tone a little anxious but respectful.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian perked up and quickly nodded, saying, "Quickly let Commander Qin in!"

Qin Biwu stepped steadily into the hall, bowed, and then quickly handed the intelligence in his hand to Li Chengqian. With a serious expression, he said, "Your Majesty, we have investigated everything. It was Cui who did it."

Li Chengqian hurriedly took the secret report and began to study it carefully.

His face gradually became gloomy and his eyes were filled with anger.

After a while, he slowly put down the secret report in his hand and angrily scolded: "These noble families are really good. They dared to collude with foreign races and sell my Tang Dynasty's technology and a large amount of ironware to Tubo, just in exchange for that wealth."

"They even dared to have someone intercept reports from the Tang Dynasty!"

"audacious in the extreme!"

"Have they ever considered that this action has led to the brutal massacre of the people of Songzhou, the shattering of countless families, and the devastation of countless lives?"

"Okay, that's great!"

Li Chengqian was so angry that his chest heaved violently and his hands were clenched into fists.

"Biwu, take my imperial edict and go to the front line."

Li Chengqian suppressed his anger and said through gritted teeth.

"Yes! Your Majesty!" Qin Biwu accepted the order, turned around and left quickly.

……

Shouan County, Guzhou.

Wu Meiniang was wearing the uniform of a seventh-rank official. Her figure was graceful but revealed a sense of determination. She slowly stepped down from the carriage.

This time, the court equipped her with twenty guards, who temporarily served as runners in the county government.

For a seventh-rank county magistrate, such an arrangement was really simple and shabby, but Wu Meiniang did not care.

Because she donated the largest amount of medicinal materials, she was assigned to Shou'an County as a county magistrate and was awarded the seventh rank official title.

With her talent and ambition, although she cannot be said to have risen to the top, it is not unfair either.

Shou'an County had previously been ravaged by dysentery, killing nearly half of the population.

The affairs of the county government are now in chaos, and are temporarily managed by ten Jinyiwei.

They received the news that the new county magistrate was about to take office, and they could finally put down their burdens and return to Chang'an to report.

These ten people were all wearing Feiyu clothes, holding embroidered spring swords, and had extraordinary bearing.

When they saw Wu Meiniang getting off the carriage, they were stunned.

They were surprised and confused to see that the person in front of them was actually a woman.

In their opinion, can a woman be a county magistrate?

When did the Tang Dynasty have female officials of the seventh rank?

Several people looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

However, they were Jinyiwei after all, and did not use too many verbal offenses against Wu Meiniang because of her identity as a woman.

He simply followed the usual procedure and asked, "Are you the new magistrate of Shou'an County?"

Wu Meiniang nodded slightly, her expression calm, and said softly, "That's right."

"Show me your seal, certificate and token." The Jinyiwei's voice was emotionless.

Wu Meiniang waved to the yamen runners behind her and called out, "Rui'an, show the things to the Jinyiwei."

Ryan nodded quickly, walked forward quickly, opened the package behind him, carefully took out the seal, certificate and token one by one, and respectfully handed them to the Jinyiwei for inspection.

Several Jinyiwei took the item, carefully examined it, and after confirming that it was correct, they bowed to Wu Meiniang and said, "Everything has been checked. From now on, Shou'an County will be handed over to you, County Magistrate Wu."

"We haven't touched any of Shou'an County's documents. We are only responsible for maintaining stability in Shou'an County."

"In that case, let's return to Chang'an to report!"

Wu Meiniang also politely returned the greeting and said, "Sirs, take care."

After the Jinyiwei left, Wu Meiniang looked up at the dilapidated Shou'an County wall in front of her.

"Let's go in and take a look."

Wu Meiniang did not choose to take a carriage, but walked. Seeing this, the twenty yamen runners naturally followed closely behind her.

As they entered Shou'an County, the scene before them made everyone gasp.

There were very few pedestrians on the street, only figures in twos and threes were walking around.

Their faces were haggard, their eyes were empty and numb. They just glanced at Wu Meiniang and her group, then sat listlessly on the street, staring at the sky with dull eyes.

The surrounding houses are also dilapidated, with broken walls everywhere. The thatched roofs tremble in the wind, the doors and windows are crooked, and some have even collapsed.

It is hard to imagine how these people survived this long and cold winter in such a harsh environment.

Wu Meiniang ignored the numb people around her. She just looked for the location of the county government office according to the map given by the Jinyiwei.

The county government office is located in the center of the county town, and it seems out of place compared to the dilapidated houses around it.

It was built quite luxuriously, with flying eaves, brackets, carved beams and painted buildings. There were almost no residential houses around it, leaving a large open space.

Wu Meiniang walked into the county government office calmly. She first went straight to the room where the documents were stored and began to carefully look through the piles of documents.

Rui'an cleverly went out to investigate. Not long after, he ran back with a look of surprise on his face, excitedly shouting, "County Magistrate Wu! There's still money in the government warehouse!"