A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 646 The battle for the prince
When Li Shimin heard this, his expression suddenly changed.

"The Tang Dynasty is different from the Sui Dynasty, and the Holy Emperor is different from the Sui Dynasty Emperor Wen. They cannot be generalized." Li Shimin said solemnly.

"His Royal Highness has conquered the South and North, and his meritorious service is the highest in the Tang Dynasty. He has also been granted the title of General Tiance, opened his own palace, and appointed subordinate officials. How do you think the Crown Prince will treat Your Highness and the ministers under His Royal Highness after he ascends the throne?" Wang Xuanjing continued. said.

Li Shimin said nothing, but he knew very well that if the prince ascended the throne, his best end would be to become an idle prince in Chang'an, with all his generals and officials dismissed or even killed.

If the prince were more narrow-minded, he might even be killed.

He knew his brother very well. In the past, the relationship between the brothers was good and he treated his younger brothers well. However, in recent years, the two of them have become at odds with each other.

If the prince ascends the throne, his fate is self-evident. He has only two options now, one is to give an order from Li Yuan to abolish the crown prince's position, and the other is to kill the crown prince himself.

But when he thought about the consequences of killing his brother to seize the crown prince's position, Li Shimin hesitated.

Wang Xuanjing did not rush him. He knew very well that this was a difficult decision. Throughout the ages, the reputation of those who succeeded to the throne by killing their brothers or by killing the emperor had not been very good.

Wang Xuanjing and everyone in the Wang family are very clear about the consequences of doing so. From the perspective of Zhu Xia's moral philosophy, killing his brother and ascending to power will cause great moral pressure.

Hebei.

In history, there have been many people who rose to power by killing their brothers or regicides, and most of them ended up being bad.

With these noble families agreeing to surrender, it will be easier for the remaining wealthy families in Hebei. Soon after Li Jiancheng publicized Li Tang's recruitment, 90% of the noble families in Hebei chose to join him in less than half a month.

With this pressure, Li Shimin would not dare to relax, and he would not be greedy for enjoyment.

Without the expenditure of the family members, Liu Heitai's troops began to be greatly reduced, and at the same time officials from various places began to surrender to Li Tang. In just half a month, after defeating Li Tang, the mighty Liu Heitai's army fell apart.

Originally, these Hebei gentry were about to give up, but now with Li Jiancheng's promise and Wei Zheng's guarantee, these gentry finally chose to believe.

But Wang felt that Li Shimin was too young. Although his military ability was extremely strong, Wang was afraid of the emergence of an emperor who worked hard in the first few years and then began to enjoy himself wantonly.

After the incident of killing his brother and ascending the throne, if Li Shimin wants to gain a good reputation, he must become a wise king for a generation, or even a wise king for the ages.

Under the strong request of Chief Wei Zheng, Prince Li Jiancheng finally reluctantly led the army to Hebei. After arriving in Hebei, Wei Zheng immediately began to contact the scholars in Hebei and informed them of Li Tang's pardon edict.

Li Shimin was very smart. Just tonight, he had been looking forward to the idea that his father would order him to become the prince. He had only one way to go, but he was still not prepared for this road.

Naturally, Wang wanted Li Shimin to choose this. Of course, Wang would not force him, but would leave the choice to him.

Li Jiancheng was not good at military affairs, but he was very good at politics. He immediately assured these people that as long as they surrendered, they would be given the opportunity to serve as officials. The court would give them official positions.

Wei Zheng was originally a member of the Jizhou gentry and had many connections with the gentry in Hebei. His presence, coupled with the personal visit of Prince Li Jiancheng, immediately convinced the Hebei gentry of the Tang Dynasty's sincerity.

Wang Xuanjing said nothing more. He had already said what should be said and what should not be said. There was not much time left for Li Shimin.

Liu Heitao's army lacked food and grass, and people's hearts were unstable. His rise was based on the support of the noble clans. Now without their support, how could he be Li Tang's opponent? Li Jiancheng directly ordered Li Tang's army to attack.

Liu Heitai had long lost his fighting spirit at this time, and the army collapsed at the first touch.

Liu Heitai could only escape with his own soldiers, but the whole of Hebei had surrendered. Where could he run? He was quickly ensnared by a local wealthy family and brought to Prince Li Jiancheng. When he saw Liu Heitai, who had repeatedly defeated the Tang army, being escorted over, Li Jiancheng felt very proud and immediately ordered him to be killed and then sent to Chang'an.

When he learned that Prince Li Jiancheng had conquered Hebei and captured Liu Heitai, Li Yuan was overjoyed and rewarded him heavily at the court meeting.

In the main hall, seeing such excited Li Yuan, Li Shimin felt very uneasy.

His father forced him to return to Chang'an several times, and he had to hand over the credit for pacifying Hebei and Shandong to his eldest brother. His father had no intention of letting him inherit the throne.

By now, he had completely given up.

Now there is only one way for him to take the throne.

Li Shimin didn't want to take this path in his heart, but reality forced him to this path bit by bit.

Soon, the triumphant army returned.

However, this time it was Li Shimin who led his ministers ten miles out of the city to greet the army.

Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were very happy to win the big victory. Li Jiancheng was very proud when he saw Li Shimin coming to greet him, but on the surface he still looked calm.

It's just that Li Yuanji didn't have this city, and he said proudly: "With this feat, my eldest brother is far better than the King of Qin!"

Upon hearing this, King Qin Li Shimin had no reaction, but Qin Qiong, Wang Xuanlie, Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Yaojin, Shan Xiongxin and others behind him glared angrily.

"You've got a bargain but you're still good. I don't know who was so frightened by Liu Heitai that he stopped moving forward." Cheng Yaojin muttered next to him. Although his voice was low, it was just enough for Li Yuanji to hear.

Li Yuanji was furious and swung his whip directly at Cheng Yaojin, but was caught by Cheng Yaojin.

Cheng Yaojin stared at Li Yuanji coldly. Li Yuanji tried hard in his hand but couldn't pull the whip back.

Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qin spoke one after another.

"King Qi, no!"

"Zhijie, let go!"

Cheng Yaojin glanced at Li Yuanji and threw away the riding crop.

Li Yuanji stretched out his hand to continue, but was stopped by the prince.

After this episode, Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng did not continue to be polite, quickly completed the triumphal ceremony, and then took Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji into the city to meet the emperor.

Then take a bus to the Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices.

After Li Jiancheng pacified Hebei this time, he gained a lot of benefits. Not only did he get the support of the gentry in Shandong and Hebei, he also had an army on his hands.

Defeating Liu Heita this time, Li Jiancheng surrendered many of Liu Jun's elites, who were included in Li Jiancheng's bodyguard.

(End of this chapter)