Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 129 Visiting Zhou Zheng

When Gao Ming told Zhou Zheng everything about his encounter with Zhou Hong, Zhou Zheng couldn't help but shed two lines of tears.

"Hong'er, I'm the one who's sorry for her, woo woo woo..."

Zhou Zheng seemed to feel guilty towards Zhou Hong, or because he thought of his unknown fate, he suddenly felt sad and wept endlessly.

Seeing this scene, Gao Ming also sighed.

"Oh, cry, cry, maybe you will feel better after crying. When your daughter asked me to save you, I once said that as long as you are a good official, then I will protect you and restore you to your post. Thinking about it, I have to break my promise now."

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Zhou Zheng, who was crying, shook his head immediately, then wiped away his tears and raised his head to look at Gao Ming.

"Since my Zhou Zheng eats the king's salary, I have to fulfill my duties. My Zhou Zheng asks himself that he is worthy of the country, the country, and the people of the Li people. The only one who is sorry is my poor daughter. I have such an end this time. Injustice, treacherous ministers are in power, I hate..."

Zhou Zheng's voice was very loud. Seeing him start howling again, Gao Ming quickly covered his ears, waited for him to finish his yelling before putting down his hands, and then shook his head towards him.

"Zhou Zheng, let me say something that doesn't please you. Don't complain about the injustice of the world. When you offended the Zheng family to death, did you really Is it for the country and society of the Tang Dynasty?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Zhou Zheng answered without hesitation.

"That's natural!"

Seeing Zhou Zhengli's upright look, Gao Ming sneered suddenly, and then spit on the ground in one gulp.

"Are you really ashamed to say it? I'm bah!"

When Zhou Zheng saw Gao Ming's actions, he immediately became angry.

"you……"

But before he could say anything, Gao Ming interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"My Tang Dynasty is able to have what it is today, relying on the power of the aristocratic family. It has been less than 30 years since the founding of the country. Do you know what will happen to the Tang Dynasty if the Zheng family is moved now?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Zhou Zheng frowned.

"This……"

Seeing his expression, Gao Ming suddenly sneered again.

"You can't tell, can you? Zhou Zheng, you came from a humble family, so you love the common people. You are right about that. You are right about going up against the Zheng family for the sake of the common people. But you have to know that what matters in politics is profit. , not right or wrong!"

Having said that, Gao Ming let out a long sigh.

"Hey... People say that rabbits die like dogs, but rabbits bite people when they are in a hurry, let alone dogs? If my Li family really went to Zheng's house for you, then the one waiting for Datang might be Zhan Luan. Back then I The Li family was able to rely on the strength of the other four families to rebel against the Sui Dynasty, so why is it so strange that the Zheng family is rebelling now with the help of the other three families?"

After listening to Gao Ming's words, Zhou Zheng suddenly showed a look of astonishment, he couldn't stand upright suddenly, and fell to his knees on the ground with a "plop".

"Am I wrong? Am I really wrong?"

He muttered to himself, after a while, when he raised his head to look at Gao Ming, two lines of tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Last year, there was a severe drought in Jinzhou, and the people had almost no crops. The Zheng family took away nearly [-]% of the relief food provided by the imperial court. At the end of the year, there were several heavy snowfalls. In Jinzhou, [-] people died of freezing. Yu Hu, but Jingzhao Mansion’s report did not mention a single word, Your Highness, among the children who died of freezing, the youngest was only three years old, Your Highness... woo woo woo woo..."

Having said that, Zhou Zheng couldn't help but knelt on the ground, hugged his head and began to cry. Seeing this scene, tears were shining in Gao Ming's eyes.

"There are more than 300 households who died of freezing in Jinzhou, but do you know how many households there are in Datang? Let me tell you, it is 300 million households! If there is a war, do you think there will be any remaining households among the [-] million households?" How many?"

Speaking of this, Gao Ming immediately supported the wooden fence of the prison, and stared at Zhou Zheng who was crying bitterly with his eyes wide open.

"I know better than you the dangers of aristocratic families, but you can't move them at this time, otherwise the Tang Dynasty will be in chaos, and more people will die by then. Do you think that you can give advice to the country after reading a few lectures on Neo Confucianism? Did you save the people of Limin? You are dreaming, you not only destroyed your own home, but also destroyed the Tang Dynasty! Zhou Zheng, are you guilty?"

Following Gao Ming's roar, Zhou Zheng, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled all over, and kowtowed three times to Gao Ming.

"The criminal minister is guilty, the criminal minister is guilty, woo woo woo..."

After finishing speaking, Zhou Zheng cried even more miserably. Looking at this scene, Gao Ming finally couldn't help but shed tears. In order not to let Zhou Zheng see, he immediately turned around.

"In the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the people were displaced and the population dropped sharply. Now what the people of Tang Dynasty need is to recuperate and recuperate. They can no longer stand the torment. Zhou Zheng, although you did it unintentionally, it is also a big mistake. I will kill you to correct people's hearts and calm the world!"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Zhou Zheng kowtowed heavily to Gao Ming again.

"Sinner, thank the crown prince for giving me death!"

Gao Ming didn't turn around, but nodded with his back to him.

"You don't have to worry about your daughter, I will let the crown princess recognize her as a righteous sister, and then find a suitable husband for her, she will not be bullied, you can rest assured!"

"Sinful minister, thank the prince for his kindness!"

Gao Ming didn't speak any more, but walked directly towards the outside of the prison, but when he reached the door, he was stunned.

"Old man, why are you here?"

It was Li Shimin who was standing at the door of the prison at this time. When he saw Gao Ming with tears all over his face, he immediately sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Come to the Royal Study Room."

After finishing speaking, Li Shimin turned around, got on the sedan chair and left, while Gao Ming was slightly taken aback, then got on the chariot and followed Li Shimin's sedan chair.

After entering the Forbidden Garden, Gao Ming got off the chariot, and then entered Li Shimin's imperial study, looking at Li Shimin with his back turned to him, Gao Ming immediately cupped his hands and bowed to him.

"My son has seen his father!"

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Li Shimin, who had his back turned to him, suddenly turned around with a smile, and then patted him on the shoulder lightly.

"Gao Ming, I feel that when you are called my father, you are not as close as when you are called my old man. Why?"

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Gao Ming suddenly showed a forced smile.

"Then I don't know. I guess it's your own problem, old man. This is a disease and needs to be cured!"

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Li Shimin immediately reached out and tapped Gao Ming on the head.

"rude!"

Seeing Li Shimin's sulky look, Gao Ming rubbed his head and smiled.

"hey-hey!"

Seeing Gao Ming's playful smile, Li Shimin smiled and nodded.

"Gao Ming, I heard what you and Zhou Zheng said just now. In fact, I also knew that you sent people to Jinzhou, but what I didn't expect was that you actually learned from this. Gao Ming, you did not disappoint me!"

If Gao Ming heard Li Shimin's praise before, he might have been happy for a while, but now that he has experienced Zhou Zheng's incident, he feels heavy in his heart, and he can't be happy at all. smile.

Seeing this scene, Li Shimin shook his head immediately.

"Gao Ming, I would like to ask you, what do you think of the aristocratic family?"

Hearing Li Shimin's question, Gao Ming let out a long sigh.

"Old man, why do you think Yang Guang ended up ruining his country and family?"

Gao Ming's question seemed to be irrelevant, but Li Shimin narrowed his eyes after hearing his question.

"Since you have asked this question, you must have your own opinion, so let's talk about it!"

This time Gao Ming was also unambiguous, nodded and started talking.

"Yang Guang's biggest mistake was that he wanted to be Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty as well as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but in the end he took too many steps, so it was a mess."

"..."

Hearing Gao Ming's statement, Li Shimin's face twitched twice.

"speak English."

"All right!"

Gao Ming shrugged his shoulders, then spread his hands.

"Yang Guang is actually a guy with high eyesight and low power. What he did was actually right. The fault was that he was too anxious, such as the Grand Canal. If he didn't rush for success and spent decades digging, then the treasury of the Sui Dynasty would also be destroyed. There will be no deficit, and the power of the people will not be so severely depleted. When the Grand Canal is successfully dug, this will be enough to show off the achievements of several generations."

Speaking of this, Gao Ming immediately looked at Li Shimin.

"However, his overjoyed character made him go to extremes. The excavation of the Grand Canal was done with the bones of the common people. It became the last straw that broke the camel's back of the Sui Dynasty, old man, am I right?"

Hearing Ge Gaoming's words, Li Shimin immediately nodded approvingly.

"Well, yes, our Great Tang was indeed the last straw that broke the camel's back in the Sui Dynasty. If Yang Jian had been around, it would have been impossible for us to succeed. So what does this have to do with my great Tang family?"

As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, Gao Ming gave him a blank look.

"Old man, you are so naughty, I just said it so clearly, I don't believe you can't understand..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Shimin glared at him.

"Ok?"

Seeing Li Shimin's threatening eyes, Gao Ming didn't dare to make any mistakes immediately, and quickly answered his question honestly.

"What I mean to say is that when we deal with those aristocratic families, it is like digging the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty. We should not rush, but take our time. It takes one generation or even two generations, just like boiling a frog in warm water. Slowly suppress and disintegrate them."

Hearing what Gao Ming said, Li Shimin showed a satisfied smile this time.

"Well, that's a good point, then how do you want to suppress and disintegrate them?"

As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, Gao Ming looked at him in astonishment.

"Hey, what does this have to do with me? This is something you should consider, okay? Who is the emperor?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Li Shimin narrowed his eyes again.

"Ok?"

Looking at this familiar threatening gaze, Gao Ming showed his helplessness again.

"Okay, I said..."

(End of this chapter)