A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1244 The real murderer has surfaced

The fireworks bloom in the night sky, brilliant and dazzling.

Wu Huaiyu stood next to the emperor on the palace tower. The blooming fireworks not only lit up the night, but also illuminated the faces of kings and envoys from various foreign countries. There was amazement and fear on their faces.

It is no longer a secret that the Tang Empire in the Central Plains controls the divine thunder and fire. Too many barbarians have suffered miserable defeats under this divine thunder and fire.

The barbarians have passed on the story by word of mouth and it is no longer a secret. However, the more it is passed on, the more outrageous it becomes. It is extremely mysterious and profound, and it makes people more and more frightened.

The Tang Dynasty's Heavenly Khan took only sixteen years to defeat all the enemies around him and conquer one enemy after another, which further proved the power of this divine thunder fire.

In the legends of these barbarians, there was a land immortal named Xiaoyaozi who came to the human world and took away a boy. Later, the boy came to Chang'an. This boy was Wu Huaiyu. He got the divine fire of thunder from Xiaoyaozi and presented it to Tian Khan.

It was precisely because of this divine thunder fire that the Tang army was invincible.

"Huaiyu, I am very ashamed,"

The emperor seemed drunk, his face flushed, his mouth reeking of alcohol, his eyes red. He held Wu Huaiyu's hand and said, "We have known each other for seventeen years. You have been loyal to me and have made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty. You have even saved my life more than once."

"But I had mistakenly believed the slander and false accusations before. I really shouldn't have done that."

"Your Majesty was only deceived for a moment, and Your Majesty has always been very kind to me."

Li Shimin sighed.
"I have also heard that people in the streets are saying that your achievements are so great that they threaten the emperor. I have no intention of doing so. I said a long time ago that I do not want to follow the example of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty and kill his meritorious officials. What I want is to work hard with everyone, and then share the wealth and honor. My descendants and the descendants of my meritorious officials can continue to pass on the wealth and honor from generation to generation."

"Your Majesty started his army at the age of sixteen, conquered the east and the west, conquered the world on horseback, and ruled the country on foot. When he first inherited the country, it was devastated, with internal and external troubles. The Turkic Khan Jie Li led hundreds of thousands of cavalry to the Wei River and laid siege to the city. However, Your Majesty kept a low profile and worked hard to strengthen the country. In just three years, he sent troops to destroy the Eastern Turks and captured Jie Li Khan alive.
Over the years, the Tang Dynasty has been prosperous and its people have lived in peace, the four barbarians have submitted to it, and its civil and military achievements have far surpassed those of other dynasties. Which minister's contributions can surpass those of Your Majesty?
Although I have made some small achievements, they were achieved under the guidance of Your Majesty, the hard work of the soldiers, and the support of the court. Without Your Majesty's guidance, the hard work of the soldiers, and the supply of military supplies and logistics from the court,

I cannot achieve those feats.”

Although these words are often said, they still need to be said. This is an attitude.

Wu Huaiyu told the emperor that his achievements were mainly due to the platform of the Tang Dynasty and the emperor's planning.

The credit belongs to everyone; he is at most a laborer.

What's more, the emperor is a holy emperor who appears once every five hundred years. Who can surpass the current emperor in terms of civil and military achievements?

After hearing what Huaiyu said, Li Shimin laughed out loud.

this smile,
It also seemed to have completely eliminated the suspicion that had gradually arisen between the emperor and his subjects in recent years.

"Erlang," the emperor also changed his tone, no longer calling Huaiyu or Qingyang, but Erlang directly. "Don't worry, I will definitely give you an explanation for your assassination."

The emperor said this with a bit of gritted teeth.

This is not only to give an explanation to Wu Huaiyu, but also to give an explanation to the whole world.

If the real murderer cannot be found and caught, the emperor will always be blamed for assassinating his meritorious official.

Li Shimin was an emperor who cared a lot about his reputation, otherwise he would not have been obsessed with it for many years after he killed his brother and imprisoned his father to seize the throne, and always wanted to find the historian to sneak a peek at the daily records.

I just want to see how the daily records recorded the past events and his daily words and deeds.
For other historical books, Li Shimin could first review them and even review them, and request deletions and revisions, but the daily records were very special. They continuously recorded the emperor's words and deeds, and then compiled them into a book. The reigning monarch himself could not read them, and naturally the officials of the dynasty could not read them either.

It must be left for future emperors to read and compile into the history book of this dynasty in the future.

It was impossible for Li Shimin to bear the bad reputation of assassinating a meritorious official, especially since Wu Huaiyu had such a high reputation and influence in the court and the country.

This guy was not only a prime minister and a meritorious official, he was also a famous poet, the King of Medicine, and an expert in both calligraphy and painting. He was even called the Saint of Tea.

He was also a disciple of a land immortal and the second leader of the Louguan Taoist Longmen Sect.

Although Li Shimin had killed ministers before,
For example, Lu Zushang agreed to serve as the governor of Jiaozhou, but later refused to go because he thought the place was too remote. Li Shimin was so angry that he executed Lu Zushang, whose crime did not deserve the death penalty.

For example, Zhang Yungu, the Dali Temple Secretary, was also executed by Li Shimin in a rage, but his crime was not punishable by death.

In history, other generals who were killed in this way by Li Shimin include Li Junxian, Liu Lancheng and others.

The emperor also used assassination methods.

For example, Pei Ji, the prime minister of the Wude Dynasty, once served as Sikong, but he was the biggest obstacle for Li Shimin to compete for the throne. Therefore, after he seized the throne through a palace coup, he gradually reduced Pei Ji's power and also fabricated several cases to demote Pei Ji again and again.

Later, Pei Ji encountered a rebellion by the mountain beasts, and he organized a resistance with his servants, which caused a lot of noise. Some people in Chang'an took the opportunity to create momentum to force Pei Ji to return to Chang'an.

Li Shimin took advantage of the situation and ordered Pei Ji to return to Beijing.

But Pei Ji was in Jingzhou, fighting against the fierce rebellious mountain beasts for so long without any harm, but he suddenly died in the inn on his way back to Beijing.

Pei Ji was killed by the Hundred Cavalry Division sent by Li Shimin. It was not a formal death sentence, but he was poisoned secretly. It was announced to the public that he died of illness.

Li Shimin assassinated Pei Ji because he did not want him to return to the court, even though he was old. But Li Shimin had no legitimate reason to kill him. Although he had been demoted again and again before, he had to consider that Pei Ji was a meritorious official of Wude Yuanmou and had been the prime minister for many years.

If killing openly doesn’t work, then kill secretly.

If Pei Ji stayed in exile, the emperor might let him die of old age in the border area. But if he still wanted to return to Beijing, he had to be killed to prevent future troubles.

Wu Huaiyu was different from Pei Ji. The emperor was only a little suspicious or wary.
Moreover, the great achievements Wu Huaiyu made for the Tang Dynasty were incomparable to Pei Ji.

Besides, Wu Huaiyu is not alone, he has such a huge force behind him.

"Give me another half month,"

Li Shimin looked at the brilliant fireworks. The splendor of fireworks was also short-lived. After blooming brilliantly, they quickly faded and returned to darkness.

"Before the Lantern Festival, I will investigate this matter thoroughly and give you an explanation."

"You have been guarding outside for these years. It is really hard. You will stay in Chang'an from now on. After your injuries are healed, I still need your assistance, and the prince also needs your guidance."

The emperor talked a lot.
He kept talking as if he was really drunk.

"Tonight, stay in the palace. We will sleep on the same bed as king and subject, with our feet touching each other."

Wu Huaiyu wanted to decline, but the emperor would not allow it.
In front of all the ministers, he loudly asked Huaiyu to stay and have a heart-to-heart talk with him.

This scene attracted the envy of countless people.

There were only a few ministers who could stay overnight in the palace and sleep on the same bed with the emperor.

Whether Wu Huaiyu was willing or not, he had to sleep with the emperor tonight.

Taiji Palace, Ganlu Hall,
This was the first time that Wu Huaiyu slept with the emperor.

The emperor's sleeping palace is in Ganlu Palace, but there is more than one place. Even in Ganlu Palace, the emperor has several bedrooms.

The emperor’s bedroom is actually not very big. The ancients said that one should not live in a house with few people, and a bedroom that is too big will consume more yang energy.

The furnishings inside looked quite simple, not as magnificent as those of Emperor Qianlong's nouveau riche, but the imperial utensils were extraordinary, not to mention the excellent craftsmanship, the materials were also absolutely top-notch.

For example, the floor tiles in the house are called Beijing bricks, but the people mistakenly call them gold bricks. They say that the emperor's palace is the Golden Palace, with golden tiles on the roof and golden bricks on the floor.

In fact, it is also a fired floor tile. The large square bricks with a size of two feet two square are actually made of fired clay, but the process is complicated and the cost is very high.

A brick cost one ounce of gold, and ordinary people, a family could not earn more than one ounce of gold a year. In fact, there were few places in the emperor's palace where gold bricks were laid.

Wu Huaiyu was a time traveler, and to be honest, the gold bricks in the palace would not shock him. In later generations, ordinary people would at least use 80x80 tiles for decoration. Ceramic tiles are flatter, harder, and brighter. There are even bricks that are more than one meter long, which are much better than these 30-meter bricks.
The emperor's bedroom is not very big.
To be honest, the decoration inside may not even be as good as Wu Huaiyu's own home.

Because he was drunk, Li Shimin did not wash up and asked the palace servants to change his clothes.

"Erlang's body shape is similar to mine, so I'll take his."

The dragon couch was not actually very big, just like an ordinary bed. It was better to wear clothes and wash your feet. The king and his subjects each had one.
In the small bedroom, a palace maid was sitting next to the couch.

There were a few young eunuchs guarding the door.

There are guards outside.

The palace servants and eunuchs in this room were on duty all night. Wu Huaiyu was still not used to it. Li Shimin talked to him drunkenly.

Then there were two palace maids sitting beside the bed like sculptures, and there were a few eunuchs further away.

Li Shimin had gotten used to it and treated them as if they didn't exist, but Wu Huaiyu felt it was quite awkward. In his own bedroom, no matter where he slept at night, he would not allow maids to guard the inner room. There was also a couch in the outer room, and the maids would sleep there, and he would call them when needed.

I heard that the emperor was always accompanied by someone 24 hours a day.

In the outer court, the left historian recorded the emperor's words and the right historian recorded his actions. Even in the harem, there were eunuchs responsible for recording the emperor's daily life. Even when the emperor visited his concubines, they had to watch from the side and record the location, date, and even time. It was said that this was to help determine the emperor's bloodline and offspring.

Li Shimin said a lot that night, giving Wu Huaiyu the feeling that he was opening his heart and even speaking from the heart. Wu Huaiyu was of course very moved, but in fact, he was a little sleepy.
This reminded him of a word: act according to circumstances.

No one knew how long they chatted that night, but when the emperor's snoring was heard, Wu Huaiyu could finally fall asleep.

The next day, he woke up early.

After having breakfast with the emperor, he left the palace and went home.

He is still on sick leave.

Li Shimin went to the Yanying Palace next door.

Xu Luoren has been waiting for a long time.

The emperor came in and didn't look kindly at his childhood friend. Xu Luoren nervously handed him a report. The emperor took it and read it. The more he read, the uglier his expression became.
The last palm slapped on the table,
"After investigating for so long, this is your result. You haven't found anything yet? You don't know who these four female assassins are, but their clothes, their shoes, the crossbows they used, and the poison sacs in their mouths, aren't there any clues to investigate?"

"It is my incompetence, Your Majesty, please punish me."

Li Shimin was very furious. The assassination case had been investigated for such a long time but there had been no progress. What was even more terrifying was that not only was the Hundred Cavalry Division unable to find out anything, but the Imperial City Division and the Six Gates also had no progress.

Not to mention Luoyang.

The case is completely stuck there.

This was unacceptable to the emperor.

In Luoyang of the Tang Dynasty, not only was there someone so bold as to attempt to assassinate one of the three highest officials of the dynasty, but the court, despite its full efforts to investigate, was unable to find the person.

This is horrible.

What kind of force is behind this? It is completely beyond our control.

The emperor let out a long sigh.

This matter cannot be dragged on like this.

"Does this matter have anything to do with Wuji?"

"I have not found any connection yet."

"Then is this matter related to Huaiyu?"

“It has not been found yet.”

These two were targets that the emperor had suspected, so during this period the emperor's three secret spy agencies were also secretly conducting investigations. This was different from an ordinary investigation, as it was a pre-set suspicion and then an investigation.

But nothing was found.

This basically rules out the possibility that Zhangsun Wuji was behind the assassination, or that it was a self-torture trick performed by Wu Huaiyu himself.

This made the emperor even more confused. Who else could it be?
After a few days,
The emperor summoned Xu Luoren again.

The Hundred Cavalry Division led by Xu Luoren and the Luozhou Governor's Office, which he temporarily presided over, investigated with all their might, but still could not find any clues.

"Take a look at this."

The emperor threw a memorial in front of Xu Luoren and said, "After reading it, sort it out, and then report it to the court in the name of the Inspector General of Luozhou."

Xu Luoren took it and read it quickly. The more he read, the more surprised he became.

They had been making no progress in the assassination of Wu, but now there has been some progress with the emperor, and it can even be said that the case has been solved.

This memorial said that the mastermind behind the assassination of Wu Huaiyu was Goguryeo's Great Duilu and Eastern Lord Quan Gaisumun, who was the prime minister of Goguryeo and the most powerful official in Goguryeo, holding the military and political power of Goguryeo.

The memorial also said that the assassination attempt planned by Goguryeo also involved the involvement of the Xueyantuo Khanate in the northern desert.

Xu Luoren was surprised, and his first reaction was that he felt a little unconvinced.

How come it is also involved with Goguryeo in Liaodong and Xueyantuo in Mobei? Why did they want to assassinate Wu? Where did the assassin come from? Especially why did he do it in Luoyang? Why couldn't they find any clues after investigating again and again? How come someone has already found it so clearly now?

What made him most suspicious was that the emperor handed this thing to him and asked him to sort it out before submitting it to the court.

Why didn't the person who found out these things and wrote the memorial report it directly to the court? Or why didn't the emperor show the document directly to the minister, but asked him to submit it instead?

There were too many doubts, but in the end Xu Luoren didn't even open his mouth.

There are too many things wrong.

But since the emperor did so, he only needed to obey his orders and he didn't need to consider anything else.

On the same day, Xu Luoren sorted out all the things, wrote a memorial and submitted it.

The emperor also quickly forwarded it to the ministers in the Council of State for circulation, and also sent a copy to Wu Huaiyu.

While the prime ministers in the political affairs hall were still discussing the matter, the news had already begun to spread in the streets and alleys of Chang'an. For a time, everyone in Chang'an knew about it.
It turned out that Goguryeo and Xueyantuo jointly planned the assassination of Prime Minister Wu.
As for the reason why they assassinated Wu, it was of course simple. Wu had conquered the entire Western Regions in two years, and the next ones were Xueyantuo and Goguryeo.

They were afraid of Wu Xiang, so they took the initiative to attack.

It makes sense, that's them.

The scholars and common people of Chang'an all shouted for the destruction of Xueyantuo and Goguryeo.

Wu Huaiyu received the memorial copied by the emperor and threw it aside after reading it. He didn't believe it at all.

(End of this chapter)