At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Li Yuan has been living in Taiji Palace since he abdicated. Now that Li Yuan died, his coffin was moved to the Taiji Temple, and the Taiji Palace was finally vacated.

At this time, I saw Li Shimin sitting on the throne of the Wude Hall, with a stern expression, and the civil and military ministers lined up on the left and right, everyone looked solemn, and the atmosphere was oppressive and strange.

Now the 20 troops of the Qi State are approaching the city, surrounding Chang'an City, the Tang army has been defeated frequently, and the counties in Guanzhong have fallen one after another. Now the government's decree can't even go out of Chang'an City, and the emperor's edict is limited to Chang'an City, internal turmoil, There are no soldiers and horses outside, and Li Tang Jiangshan's life is actually hanging by a thread, and he is in danger.

And now there are rumors circulating in the market, claiming that the king of Wei Li Xuanba was not actually the son of the first emperor, but a descendant of the Northern Zhou royal family, not only killed the first emperor Li Yuan, but also controlled the emperor Li Shimin with sorcery. Conspiracy, so he was killed, and his son-in-law Chai Shao was so angry that he defected to Gao Qi and led the Qi army to attack Chang'an.

Although Li Shimin has issued an edict to Anmin, and even clarified in public, pointing out that this is a conspiracy deliberately spread by Gao Qi, intending to create chaos and unrest within Datang, but still failed to completely quell this "rumor". After all, this "rumor" "It's well-founded and well-founded, and Chai Shao did defect to Gao Qi, and even led his men to attack Chang'an.The son-in-law, who is a relative of the emperor, suddenly turned against the water, took the initiative to let the Qi army in, and personally led the army to attack the city and seize the land, which shows that he is indeed full of anger.

Closer to home, let’s say that Li Shimin glanced majestically at all the civil and military ministers present, and said in a deep voice: “As a son-in-law, Chai Shao failed the trust of the late emperor and me. Drive straight in, now that the Qi army is approaching the city, our Tang Dynasty is in danger, this is the autumn of life and death, do you have a good strategy to retreat from the enemy? You may wish to speak freely."

All the ministers present bowed their heads and lowered their eyebrows, and for a while, no one dared to speak rashly.It's no wonder that the situation is really too difficult now. In the first battle of Huoyi, Li Shimin wiped out all the elite troops of the Tang army, while Changsun Shunde, Hou Junji, Liu Hongji, Yin Kaishan, Wang Junkuo, Qu Tutong and other capable generals Either die in battle or be captured, and then Chai Shao defected to the enemy again, Tongguan fell, Huai'an County King Li Shentong was defeated, lost the Yellow River defense line, defeated the remaining [-] Tang troops, and only led thousands of remnants to flee. Back to Chang'an.

Although there are still tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Chang'an City, most of them are old, weak, sick and disabled, and their morale is low, and people's hearts are fluctuating. How can they resist the 20 tiger and wolf divisions of the Qi army?Whether Chang'an City can hold for a month is still unknown!

Li Shimin saw that no one made a sound, his expression became more serious, and there was a trace of sadness in his eyes. He thought that there were many soldiers and generals around him, and there were many advisers, but now there are few soldiers and few advisers. Even the chief adviser Fang Xuanling is also sick. Dead, there are very few of these courtiers who are worthy of great use, how desolate!

At this time, one person finally came out. It was Zhang Gongjin, the former strategist of the Tiance Mansion, and one of the heroes of the Xuanwumen Mutiny.Li Shimin felt a little comforted in his heart, and looked at Zhang Gongjin with a slow look, who bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, the Qi army is now powerful and unstoppable, and more than half of the counties in Guanzhong have fallen. Jian Jun Wang Li Xiaogong has returned to his teacher Qin Wang."

"Your majesty is keeping people under the knife!" Tang Jian, who had been silent all this time, came out first to intercede, and others also came out one after another to ask for the pardon of Liu Zhenghui.

Liu Zhenghui bowed his head and said: "The old minister's naked eyes can't see it, but it must be an empty hole, and on the first seven nights of the first emperor, someone did indeed see King Wei leading troops to blockade Huo Guogong's mansion. After that, Princess Pingyang was guarding the Jianchun Gate. It is also a fact that Jiang Tong escaped from the city, and I hope that the emperor will find King Wei to confront him, so as to quell public doubts, soothe people's hearts, and achieve internal unity."

Liu Zhenghui lifted the hem of his official robe and knelt down in the tunnel: "Nowadays there are rumors that His Highness King Wei was not born of the late emperor, but is actually a remnant of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He killed the late emperor and controlled the emperor with sorcery, trying to usurp the Great Tang Dynasty Jiangshan, because Princess Pingyang saw through this matter, was killed, Huo Guogong Chai Shao was also forced to rebel..."

As soon as this remark came out, all the ministers present showed vigilance.

This person is Liu Zhenghui, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, he is loyal and upright, I saw him respectfully said: "Your Majesty, this old minister thinks that there is only one way to save the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin quickly waved his hands and said: "No, everyone has their own ambitions. If your father refuses to change his mind, you can stay by his side and serve him. You can't let Third Sister cut off her blood."

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "How to clean up the internal affairs and stabilize people's hearts? Liu Qing's family might as well say it clearly!"

Zhang Gongjin retreated, Li Shimin looked at Li Shentong, the latter immediately bowed his head guiltyly to avoid it, he suffered a big defeat not long ago, lost the front line of the Yellow River, managed to save his life and fled back to Chang'an, now he heard Li Jing's words The name is trembling, how dare to come forward.

Li Shimin's eyes flashed a little undetectable blood, and he said coldly: "I have said long ago that this is a conspiracy deliberately spread by Gao Qi. It is nothing more than trying to mess up Datang from within, and Liu Qing's family is using it to spread rumors." To confuse the crowd, what is the intention, could it be that he also turned to the enemy like Chai Shao?"

Hearing this, the guard immediately pushed Liu Zhenghui out of the main hall and swung his knife down, and then his head fell to the ground. The smell of blood drifted into the Wude Hall with the wind, and all the ministers in the hall were silent, deathly silent.

Chai Zhewei was a little older, looked a little mature, knelt down and said: "The guilty minister dare not."

A cold light flashed in Li Shimin's eyes, and he interrupted coldly: "Does Liu Qing's family feel that I have been bewitched?"

"Get up." Li Shimin said softly.

Liu Zhenghui said loudly: "The old saying goes well, to fight against the outside world, one must first secure the inside. Now the biggest threat is not from Gao Qi, but from within."

Li Shimin sneered and said: "I clarified it a long time ago, and even issued a special decree to tell the world. If you don't believe me, what's the use of clarifying it a thousand times or ten thousand times? I see that you are deliberately deceiving people and disturbing people's hearts. The intention is to cooperate with the Qi army to break the city. Come here, take down the traitor Liu Zhenghui and chop him up to set the record straight!"

Liu Zhenghui's complexion turned pale, and he trembled with his forehead touching the ground: "I am loyal to Datang and to the emperor, and there is no difference. I just want the emperor to clarify the facts and appease people's hearts."

Liu Zhenghui's words undoubtedly expressed the aspirations of most people present, and some even nodded involuntarily.

Li Shimin hurriedly said, "Please tell me, Liu Aiqing."

The two younger brothers knelt down in front of the throne and kowtowed in trembling, "The son of the guilty minister kowtowed to the emperor."

Chai Lingwu snuggled up beside his elder brother and shivered.

As soon as the order was given, the guards in front of the palace rushed in and arrested Liu Zhenghui.

Only then did the two brothers dare to stand up, and Chai Lingwu asked aggrievedly, "Uncle, where are my father and mother? Why are you arresting us?"

Li Shimin was unmoved at all, and said coldly: "I said a long time ago that whoever talks about this matter will be punished as a crime of treason. Liu Zhenghui will deceive the public with false words in public, and the crime will be aggravated. He will be pushed out and beheaded!"

Soon, two children walked into the Wude Hall tremblingly. The older one was about ten years old, and the other was seven or eight years old. They were the two sons born to Princess Chai Shao and Pingyang, named Chai Zhewei and Chai Lingwu.

Li Shimin was immediately disappointed when he heard the words. Li Xiaogong lost to Xu Shiji in Bashu, and now he is in danger. He has no energy to go back to rescue Chang'an, so Zhang Gongjin's words are vain. .”

Liu Zhenghui was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. The faces of all the ministers present were pale, including the former ministers of Tiance Mansion. The former King Qin was so magnanimous. He would never kill ministers just because of his words. , too cruel.

Li Shimin frowned and said, "What does Liu Qing's family mean by this?"

Chai Lingwu immediately lowered his head, and Chai Zhewei respectfully said: "Your Majesty, my father only joined Gao Qi in a moment of confusion. I implore the emperor to allow Zhewei to go out of the city to meet my father. I will persuade my father to return from his lost way."

"Second brother, don't talk nonsense!" Chai Zhewei reprimanded in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, the hearts of the people in the Tang Dynasty are fluctuating and the morale is low. Only by purging the interior, stabilizing the hearts of the people, achieving unity, and working together can we defeat the Qi army." Liu Zhenghui said loudly.

Li Shimin didn't change his face, and said indifferently: "Bring him up."

Chai Zhewei said happily after hearing the words: "Thank you for your kindness, if the father refuses to turn back, the child will die in front of him."

Just when Li Shimin was extremely lost, an old official with a gray beard stood beside him secretly gritted his teeth.

Li Shimin frowned and looked at Tang Jian, who was also one of the main counselors of Tiance Mansion, but at the moment he didn't say a word, as if an old monk had settled down, ignoring Li Shimin's gaze at all.

Li Shimin's eyes showed a trace of gentleness, he raised his hand and said, "Pingshen!"

Li Shimin sighed and said: "I and Sichang are good friends, and he is my brother-in-law. I really didn't expect him to betray me. Anyway, you go out of the city to persuade him. If you really know how to go astray and make meritorious deeds, I will definitely do it." let bygones be bygones."

Chai Zhewei was even more moved when he heard the words, and vowed to persuade his father Chai Shao to change his mind.

All the ministers in the hall couldn't help but look at each other. The emperor had just beheaded Liu Zhenghui ruthlessly, but now he is so lenient to Chai Shao, who is really treasonous and defected to the enemy.

The Chai brothers were young and not deeply involved in the world, they only thought that the emperor cared about the kinship, so they didn't think otherwise, and left Wude Hall happily.

Next, Li Shimin really ordered the two brothers to be sent out of the city to meet their father Chai Shao. Before leaving, he also gave them a lot of food and supplies. He was very considerate, and this uncle was nothing to say.

Sorry, this update is also hard to say.But the book is almost finished, and there are probably a few chapters left, so you can read it together after the book is finished.