Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 474 The World is Divided
"Is he ill?"

Li Shimin looked at Chen Linan beside him with a confused look on his face, and uttered cries and questions from the bottom of his soul.

Chen Linan, Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and even Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng who had just joined the group, all smiled secretly with their heads down, but said nothing.

"Cough-cough-"

After Chen Linan laughed twice, he looked at the collapsed and confused Li Shimin and said, "Don't worry, don't worry. He is your father after all, hahahahahaha."

Li Shimin almost collapsed. He looked at Chen Linan who was laughing wildly and said, "If you laugh again, I will write a letter to Uncle Chen!!! None of us will have a good life!"

Chen Linan stopped smiling. He rubbed his stiff face and said, "In fact, Li Yuan's idea is easy to understand. Now that you are powerful, there is almost no suspense in the battle with Yu Wenzhi. The Central Plains will definitely be yours."

“And that’s where the problem arises.”

Chen Linan analyzed the current situation for Li Shimin: "Can he beat you?"

"In fact, he himself knows that his forces are absolutely incapable of fighting against us. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Chen's and your reactions, Li Yuan's forces might not even be able to swallow up Dugu Jian, let alone Yu Wenzhi and even you."

"So, what should Li Yuan do in this situation?"

Chen Linan had a mocking and disdainful look on his face. He curled his lips and said calmly, "Then we can only make a fuss about something else, such as the word filial piety."

"You, Li Shimin, are his son, so he is acting like a good father now, as if he is making way for you, allowing you to pacify the Central Plains, and even establish a country before you, and then conferring you the title of General of Heavenly Strategy and the title of King of Qin."

"The purpose of this is to frame you."

Chen Linan said: "Li Yuan is not a fool - but he is indeed ambitious. In order to achieve his desire to dominate the world and sit on the throne, he can do some seemingly shameless things."

"He's gambling."

After hearing this, Li Shimin and others fell into silence. None of them were stupid. They just thought that Li Yuan was a "clown" before, but after Chen Linan explained it clearly, they instantly understood Li Yuan's thoughts.

How can one become an emperor when one does not have the power to do so?
The answer is obvious.

Use your own son.

In the land of China, in the Central Plains, "filial piety" seems to be an eternal proposition, and the greatest malicious accusations against a person are "disloyalty", "unfilial piety" and "unrighteousness".

Among them, disloyalty and injustice can still be forgiven - after all, in today's China, Confucianism has not yet developed to the point of "the ruler is the ruler, the minister is the minister", and what is emphasized is still the theory of the ruler and the minister's friendship from the Spring and Autumn Period.

Dong Zhongshu wanted to add the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues to Confucianism, but before he could open his mouth, he was opposed by the great Confucian scholars of the time. Some of them even came to Guandu and asked Chen's people to expel Dong Zhongshu from the Confucian lineage in the name of "Mencius".
After all, Mencius's true teachings were indeed in the Chen family.
But the only thing that cannot be forgiven is "unfilial piety". After four hundred years of inheritance of the Han Dynasty, filial piety seems to have been integrated into everyone's bones - they are bound by filial piety.

Even as time went by, starting from Dayu, "selecting filial and honest people" was no longer a way to become an official in the court.

Li Shimin fell silent. He wiped his face and said with emotion: "I know that he has no father-son relationship with me, but I didn't expect that he could do this."

He raised his head and sighed, his face and heart full of disappointment.

How does the human heart gradually move towards despair?
After experiencing one disappointing thing after another, I gradually fell into despair.

When you are truly desperate about someone, does it mean that you still care about him and still hate him?

Li Shimin seemed to understand something at this time.

The real despair towards a person is not hatred, not caring, not disappointment, not sadness, but emptiness and indifference.

When disappointment reaches a certain level, you will no longer care or hate.

That person was just a wisp of dust floating by, and then became a wisp of smoke in this world, the most ordinary wisp of smoke.

He stood there, with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky.

"Forget it. Since he is heartless, why should I care about the so-called father-son relationship?"

"I ordered people to secretly spread the news of what Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng did, and beheaded the so-called "envoy" who came to deliver the imperial decree, and hung his head on the city wall."

Li Shimin was silent for a moment, then spoke again: "Also, have someone check on the family of this "envoy" and make sure they are well settled."

He closed his eyes.

In fact, he did not want to kill the envoy, but this was the only way to get rid of "Li Yuan" at this time. Any other actions would be interpreted by Li Yuan as "old feelings".

Li Yuan must be aware of his own reactions and actions, and the person he sent might not be what Li Yuan wants.

Li Shimin smiled bitterly: "He really is my father."

"I really underestimated him before."

Chen Linan also sneered: "Yes, we all underestimated him in the past."

"This is a brilliant way of killing someone with a borrowed knife."

The person who was sent here was probably the one who opposed Li Yuan in the "Tang" court of Li Yuan. If Li Yuan sent this person here, he would get no credit if he succeeded, but he would lose his life if he failed.

After all, other people don’t know what the relationship between father and son is. Could it be that Li Yuan himself doesn’t know?

The best outcome for the envoys was that Li Shimin, who had to accept the imperial edict helplessly, would bear a grudge against them and then secretly retaliate against them; the worst outcome was that Li Shimin would behead them and display their heads in public to show his determination.

Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "No need to investigate. I'm afraid that when this person came, Li Yuan had already taken care of his family. After I kill him, he will put the blame on me. This will remove an obstacle and win people's hearts at the same time."

He narrowed his eyes and said, "He did this, but I can't let him do what he wants."

His mind was full of thoughts, and then he smiled and looked at Chen Linan: "Qilang, I'll leave this person to you."

"You should know how to do this, right?"

Chen Linan looked into Li Shimin's eyes, and then he understood instantly. He laughed loudly: "Hahahaha, that's good too. Let Li Yuan suffer the consequences!"

The fourth year of Changde, late winter.

On the last day of the year, countless snowflakes were falling from the sky.

Heavy snow fell on the ground, dyeing everything white. As the capital of "Da Jin", Luojing seemed a little desolate at this time.

Inside the palace

Yu Wenzhi sat in the imperial study, pressing his forehead, feeling sad about his future.

"Tell me, can I still go on?"

Pei Ju was sitting in front of him, handling a memorial in his hand. Even if Li Shimin was about to attack Luoyang City, he still had to deal with government affairs. With so many people waiting, was he going to stop the functioning of the Jin Dynasty?
He can't do such a thing.

"I don't know what your majesty is talking about."

Pei Ju put down the memorial in his hand and said: "But if Your Majesty wants, I can write a letter for Your Majesty."

Revise a book?

Yu Wenzhi looked up, bewildered: "What book should I write? What should I write?" Pei Ju smiled playfully: "Of course, it is a letter of surrender."

He spread his hands, looking quite helpless: "Your Majesty, Li Shimin is only three days away from Luoyang City. If his army gallops, I'm afraid they can reach Luoyang City within two days."

"And you?"

Pei Ju looked at Yu Wenzhi and said with some regret: "You are still sitting here complaining and grumbling about whether there is a way forward."

"Do you want to resist or not?"

"If you want to resist."

Yu Wenzhi leaned on the table with both hands and looked at Pei Ju: "What if you want to resist?"

Pei Ju pulled out a few memorials from a pile and said, "If you want to resist, I can allocate food and troops for your majesty. These can defend Luoyang City for about half a year."

"And these six months are enough to keep Li Shimin here."

"After that, I can contact Liangzhou and other places, as well as Li Yuan's forces in the south, and unite together to eliminate Li Shimin first."

"In this way, although it is highly unlikely that we will be able to wipe out Li Shimin, we can still protect ourselves and gain a firm foothold. After that, based on the current national strength of the Jin Dynasty, we can retreat to Liangzhou and then divide the world into three parts with the Southern Tang and Li Shimin."

Yu Wenzhi frowned slightly: "Under this situation, what is the probability of the world being divided into three parts?"

Pei Ju said: "About 20%."

After all, the power of the Jin Dynasty is weak, while Li Shimin has strong military power.

Yu Wenzhi frowned again and asked, "But how could Li Yuan agree with our idea? Li Shimin is his son! What's the difference between Li Shimin getting it and him getting it?"

Pei Ju looked at Yu Wenzhi speechlessly. At this moment, he really felt that some people's brains would still not work well even after they became emperors.

"Your Majesty, do you really think that the relationship between Duke Tang and Duke Tiance is still father and son?"

He looked towards the distance, as if he was looking at the upcoming "bloody battle" through a heavy snow.

"Duke Tang listened to his eldest son's advice in his early years and wanted Li Shimin to adopt Li Jiancheng's eldest son as his eldest son - in this way, the position of Duke Tiance in the future will still belong to Li Jiancheng's lineage."

"The problem is that Li Shimin is not childless, but he has been married for two or three years and there has been no movement. He is still young, so why would he need to adopt someone else's child?"

"This Duke Tiance may have already fallen out with Duke Tang."

"If your majesty doesn't believe it, just wait and see - there will be a good show to watch in a few days."

Yu Wenzhi nodded, and then said: "What if you don't want to resist?"

Pei Ju spread his hands and said, "That's even easier."

"I will write a letter of abdication and a letter of surrender for Your Majesty, and then we will go to see Li Shimin. Then we can follow Li Shimin to conquer the world. Your Majesty's bravery and martial arts will be put to good use, and you don't have to be confined to the deep palace anymore, and I can be less busy."

Yu Wenzhi burst out laughing.

He sighed and said, "Alas, Pei Ju, have you long thought of joining Li Shimin?"

Pei Ju nodded generously and said happily: "Fang Xuanling and his gang have already run away. Now all the affairs of the court are on my shoulders."

He pointed at his head and said, "Your Majesty, how can anyone be the head of the three ministries? You didn't even send me a few deputies. Now I am in charge of all the affairs of the three ministries. Do you know how long I haven't had a good night's sleep?"

Listening to Pei Ju's questioning, Yu Wenzhi subconsciously raised his head and put his hands behind his back: "Ah? What? What did you say? I can't hear you."

After a moment, they both laughed out loud at the same time.

"All right."

After the laughter ended, Yu Wenzhi looked at Pei Ju and said, "In fact, I have already regretted it a long time ago."

"I took this position just because I was impulsive. But I am totally unsuitable to be an emperor. I don't have the brains for that. I still prefer to be a general, traveling around the world, riding a horse to kill the enemy, and being free and unrestrained."

"only."

Yu Wenzhi was a little worried: "Will Li Shimin accept me? After all, I have..."

Pei Ju looked at Yu Wenzhi and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry about this. Li Shimin is different from Yang Guang."

He asked a very straightforward question: "Even if you were to mount a horse and kill the enemy as a general, could your majesty defeat Li Shimin?"

Yu Wenzhi was silent, then thought about Li Shimin's record and said, "No."

Pei Ju chuckled: "Isn't it over then?"

"It is true that if one's achievements are greater than his master's, he will end up in a bad situation, especially if he was of a noble status before. But - he must be able to overshadow his master. It is difficult for us to surpass a man of such great talent and strategy as Li Shimin."

He pulled out two memorials from a pile and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, please take a look."

"This is the letter of surrender and the edict of abdication that I wrote for Your Majesty—"

Yu Wenzhi rolled his eyes: "I knew you, it turns out you had already written it."

He took it, glanced at it, and nodded: "Well written."

"The orthodoxy of this world should be handed over to someone with ability."

"I really can't sit on this throne anymore."

Yu Wenzhi chuckled and said, "Fortunately, I seized the throne myself, not inherited from my ancestors."

He stroked his chin and said, "Is it true that I am the only king who founded a country and also the king who destroyed it?"

Thirty miles outside Luoyang City

In the military tent

Li Shimin looked at the abdication edict and the letter of surrender in his hands with a very strange expression.

He looked at everyone in the military tent and asked the same question.

The fifth year of Changde, January 3rd.

Li Shimin's army arrived thirty miles outside the city of Luoyang. At this time, the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty, "Yuwen Huaji", issued a letter of surrender and an edict of abdication.

From then on, there were only two forces left in the world.

Li Yuan and Li Shimin.

(End of this chapter)