The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 378
"Father, my son thinks that the key now is to figure out how to deal with the various families. I think they will know about Chang'an in a short time. We should figure out how to deal with it before they enter the palace to ask Before speaking, we must think of countermeasures." In the Xiangyang palace, Li Jiancheng said in a deep voice: "Yang Tong wanted everyone to know, so he sent people to speak out on the border, especially the Dou family. This time the loss is heavy, if we don't try to save each other, I'm afraid it won't be justified."

"Yang Tong is obviously embarrassing us. Where can we get so much food to redeem people?" Li Yuan sighed like a deflated ball.

A moment of silence.

Suddenly, Li Yuan's eyes turned cold and he said, "Can this matter be defined as the unauthorized action of the Guanlong family?"

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin glanced at each other, and they both saw surprise in each other's eyes. The two brothers discovered the meaning of the father from the words of the father.

In the eyes of the father, the Guanlong family who left Guanzhong has lost the greatest use value. He thinks that now is an opportunity to get rid of the Guanlong family, so he has the idea of ​​giving up this pawn.

"Jiancheng, what do you think?" Seeing that the two sons were silent, Li Yuan asked.

"Father, my son and I don't know much, so it's hard to make a conclusion. Let's listen to what the second brother said." Li Jiancheng is not stupid. If the disciples of the Guanlong family made a clear statement, they would probably be used by their second brother.

Li Jiancheng knew Li Shimin very well, and he was a person who could not get ahead without profit. He did everything in consideration of his own interests. Without enough interests, the second brother would never run back from Xicheng County in person.

What is this benefit?It is almost unnecessary to think about it, it must be the political power of the Guanlong family. Li Shimin is going to take this opportunity to sit back and watch himself make mistakes, so as to integrate the military and political forces of the Guanlong family into one, weaken himself and strengthen himself.

This time is indeed an opportunity to abandon the Guanlong family. From the attitude of the father, it can be seen that this is not an idea for a day or two, but if he is asked to hand over the power of Guanlong to Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng is absolutely unwilling, because it will shake him. Therefore, he pretended not to know and gave Li Shimin the right to choose. If Li Shimin made a decision instead of his father, it might not be his own opportunity.

Li Jiancheng can see through this, so why not Li Shimin?He secretly said cunning in his heart, and then said: "My son thinks it can't be done."

"Why?" Li Yuan frowned.

Li Shimin cupped his hands and said, "It's just because Yang Yu said that the change of the Daxing Palace was done by us, and everyone knows about the border. If we give up, I'm afraid no one in the army will be willing to serve the Tang Dynasty."

"Heh!" Li Yuan took a deep breath, and said calmly, "Yang Tong is really scheming, if I, the Tang Dynasty, don't admit it, I can easily turn the frontier army against me."

"I'm afraid it's not just the frontier army!" Li Jiancheng frowned and said, "If we don't care about it, the Tang Dynasty and other places will be in turmoil, and then affect the war in the south. If this happens, our Tang Dynasty will be in danger."

Now that Li Shimin has made his statement, of course he has to say it, and what he said is very deep and thorough, which makes Li Shimin very depressed. As his big brother is getting more and more meticulous, he really doesn't want to suffer at all.

In my mind, I couldn't help but think of that unremarkable man who was always smiling, but always giving people a cold feeling--Changsun Wuji!
Had I known earlier, I shouldn't have—

In name, he said that he was supported by the Dugu family, but the Dugu family wanted to get more from him. Up to now, the Dugu family has not helped him much, but he has lost many important people.

"Also..." Li Shimin sighed, "It is said that the Yang Tong people already knew about the changes in the Daxing Palace when they were in Wuyuan. It was taken over by the Sui army first. On the day of the incident, the Sui army in Chang’an pretended to leave Chang’an, but at night, they entered the city. There is no definite information yet, but I am afraid that someone among the senior officials of the Tang Dynasty was instigated. If this person or this force cannot be corrected, every move of our Tang Dynasty will be under the supervision of Yang Tong."

"Father, my second brother said that there was a spy who betrayed me, and my son agreed very much, but if he said that he appeared at a high level, he didn't agree." Li Jiancheng said with a frown.

"Why do you know that?" Li Shimin asked, he was quite convinced of his eldest brother's level of governance.

Li Jiancheng said: "The high-level Tang Dynasty and the big families are the number one rebels of the Sui Dynasty. There is no chance to compromise with the Sui Dynasty. Moreover, Yang Tong's attitude towards the family is the same. Regardless of whether the family surrenders or not, he Yang Tong will Don't let it go, since you will die if you surrender, and you will die if you don't surrender, how can the various families flirt with the Sui Dynasty?"

"They and the Datang Dynasty have a relationship of both prosperity and loss. Once the Great Tang is destroyed, they will also die. These people are very smart and will definitely not spoil the good things of the Great Tang, let alone hinder it. They can only continue Support the Tang Dynasty."

"Then how do you think we should catch the spies?" Li Yuan nodded, with a look of understanding in his eyes. Multiple bets have always been the means of the family. If the Tang Dynasty is strong, these families will not dare to go too far. The Tang Dynasty is not what it used to be, giving people a sense of the twilight and twilight, so some people recklessly seek a way out for themselves.

Li Jiancheng smiled wryly and said, "I think it's very difficult. Because not only the major families in Longguan, but also the families in the Guandong and the South participated in this operation. Even if they knew there was an inner ghost, they couldn't find out. If we mobilize people to investigate, It is inevitable that people will panic and everyone will be in danger, which is very detrimental to my Tang rule, and we can investigate secretly."

"Will this be too slow?" Li Shimin frowned.

"My Tang Dynasty can't stand the big turmoil now."

Li Jiancheng's words put an end to Li Shimin's desire to conduct a thorough investigation, and he also knew what the Li Tang dynasty looked like now.

Li Yuan also thought that what Li Jiancheng said made sense. There were so many patients in the Tang Dynasty in front of him, and he really couldn't take strong medicine, so he turned his thoughts to his eyes and asked: "How do you brothers think that the matter in front of you should be solved? You can't let Yang Tong Is it such a blackmail, kid?"

At this moment, both Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin felt a headache.

Li Tang didn't want to set up enemies on all sides, he just wanted to stare at Xiao Xian, a soft persimmon, but Li Tang's actions seriously violated the interests of Li Mi and Wang Shichong, making the three parties an enemy of Li Tang at the same time even though they were not in alliance.

All the troops that Li Tang gathered with great difficulty were devoted to the Jingzhou battlefield. If he fought the Sui Dynasty again at this time, he would definitely kill himself.

You must not fight.

But this ransom, Li Tang can't get it out, not to mention not having it, even if there is, Li and his son are not willing to join the enemy again.

But the problem is that Li Tang didn't want to fight, which doesn't mean that the Sui Dynasty didn't fight; Li's father and son didn't want to buy it, but it didn't mean that the various families agreed.

Moreover, Yang Tong asked people to spread the news on the border with vigor and excitement, and it would spread throughout Li Tang's territory in a short time. If Li Tang didn't redeem people, what would the soldiers, civilians and officials think?At that time, if the Sui Dynasty goes south, I am afraid that it will not take tens of thousands of people to take down the troops from all over the country that have no fighting intention.

Li Yuan also knew this truth, and the resentment and depression in his heart almost made him scream to the sky.

"Your Majesty!" At this moment, a servant's voice sounded at the door, "Pei Ju, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, begs to see you."

Li Yuan was taken aback, and looked at his two sons.

"Father, my son rushed back to Xiangyang immediately. Pei Ju probably didn't know about the changes in the Daxing Palace! Maybe he came for something else." Li Shimin said firmly.

Li Jiancheng thought for a while and said, "Father, this matter will reach Xiangyang sooner or later. Why don't you ask Pei Ju's opinion first? Maybe he can give Father a good suggestion."

Li Yuan's eyes lit up, he slapped his thigh and said, "That's right! Pei Ju is a remarkable person, please hurry up."

After a while, Pei Ju walked into Li Yuan's imperial study under the leadership of his servants. Li Shimin's appearance surprised him a bit, but as a tumbler in the political arena, he would not show the slightest emotion because of this. He stepped forward and saluted: "Mr. See Your Majesty."

"Pei Aiqing is welcome, please sit down!" Li Yuan's voice was reserved yet kind.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Pei Ju thanked meticulously, and then saluted Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin one by one.

The Li brothers returned the courtesy politely.

Only then did Pei Ju slowly take his seat. His current status was the Minister of Rites in the Li and Tang Dynasties. His official rank was not low, but the Ministry of Rites had always been a fringe yamen with no real power or benefits. It was a completely forgotten Qingshui yamen. The Minister of Rites is very leisurely now.

Pei Ju was in charge of the affairs of the Western Regions in the old Sui Dynasty, and he was involved in the policies of the Western Regions such as the annexation of Yiwu and Tuyuhun in the Great Sui Dynasty.

Now that the situation has changed, he has become a courtier of Li Tang, and he is not yet the center, but he still pays close attention to the general trend of the world, especially after the Sui Dynasty defeated the Eastern and Western Turks, he took advantage of public opinion and annexed Gaochang without bloodshed. feel.

And Yang Tong's ruthlessness towards the Eastern and Western Turks made him very amazed. In terms of foreign policy, this straightforward and decisive manner is much better than compromise and compromise.

He feels that this is the spirit that a country founder should have. He should not only have an open mind to accept all rivers and rivers, but also be ruthless and ruthless to eradicate dissidents.

Li Tang, by contrast, was gloomy.

In his view, after Li Tang withdrew from Guanzhong to the south, he should have taken advantage of the time when the Sui Dynasty was fighting with the Eastern and Western Turks to consolidate the ruling power of the Li and Tang Dynasty in Bashu. The effect of the army and the unification of the hearts of the people allowed the popularity of the Li and Tang Dynasty to be rooted in the people. The next step is to use the popular will to unify and erode the various factions in the court, so that Li and Tang have only one voice to enhance the efficiency of the court.But Li Yuan didn't. After he arrived in Xiangyang, he still focused on plotting land instead of talking about management. This behavior made him very disappointed. He felt that Li Tang, whose foundation was unstable, would lose no matter how much land he had. clean.

Because the Western Turks are a living example. Tongyehu Khan was so radiant in his lifetime, and the countries in the Western Regions were obedient, but a disastrous defeat wiped out the painstaking efforts of the Western Turks. Why did the countries in the Western Regions turn against him? so fast?The root cause is that the West Turks are unpopular.But Li Yuan did not learn a lesson from the defeat of the Western Turks.

Because of this, Pei Ju made a major decision - to resign and go home to take care of himself.

Although there was nothing abnormal about the Li family and his son at this time, Pei Ju could still vaguely feel that something serious must have happened to Li Tang again, which made him even more eager to get off the ship.

(End of this chapter)