Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 53
"The last general used to be in the East Palace, and he planned for his master. He should do his best. If you judge the crime by this, it is not your fault, the prince. Because the master was trapped, he sacrificed his life to save him at the Xuanwu Gate. This is the duty of his subordinates. If you are a subordinate of others, you will not like him, Prince, if you accept his kindness in life and escape in death."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's heart moved, he burst out laughing, and said, "He is indeed a loyal and chivalrous man, and this crown prince confers on you as Zuo Tunwei Zhonglang General to contribute to our Tang dynasty."

Feng Li fell to the ground to thank him, and said excitedly: "For such a great kindness, fortunately, I am lucky enough to receive alms, and I will finally pay for it with my death."

Li Shimin nodded triumphantly after hearing this, and heard Feng Li say again: "The last general has something else to play, please."

"Zhong Lang will speak quickly."

"Xue Wanche, the general of the Eastern Palace, is now fleeing to Zhongnan Mountain near the capital with dozens of cavalry. I also ask the crown prince for permission. The general is willing to recruit him to contribute to our Tang Dynasty."

"This is a good suggestion. The Crown Prince will trouble General Zhonglang to take a hard trip and go to Zhongnan Mountain to tell Xue Wanche that the Crown Prince respects him for being loyal to what he does, so he will not be punished."

"Obey!" Feng Li fell to the ground and bowed again.

14
Wei Zheng was originally from Shandong. Before he came to the Tang Dynasty, he was originally a subordinate of Dou Jiande. After he came to the Tang Dynasty, his first big gift to Li Jiancheng was to appease Li Jiancheng's former subordinates of Dou Jiande in Shandong and Hebei.Now, under the order of the new prince Li Shimin, this gift that had been given to the former prince Li Jiancheng was transferred to the current prince Li Shimin.

Wei Zheng is not only upright, but also chivalrous, loyal, and courageous. Seeing that Li Shimin not only did not blame him, but also entrusted him with an important position, he naturally no longer cares about personal gains and losses, and only seeks to benefit the new crown prince.

It was a beautiful autumn day, and Wei Zheng led a group of people to leave Chang'an and travel southeast.Along the way, boundless fallen trees descended, few people on the mountain road, empty green wet clothes, rushing all the way to Cizhou.Before he could rest, he went to the state capital.From a distance, people can be seen in front of the gate of the state capital, which is extremely crowded.Wei Zheng ordered dozens of soldiers to open the way ahead, and finally entered the state government office.Cai Chong, governor of Cizhou, was sitting upright in the hall, and below the hall were the newly captured and bound officials of the East Palace and Prince Qi's Mansion, Li Zhian and Li Sixing.Then Cai Chong patted the gavel and shouted sharply:
"The five criminals in the hall still haven't knelt down."

"The ministers are loyal to the Lord, what is the crime?" Li Zhian also asked loudly.

When the yamen servants escorting them saw them, they punched and kicked them one after another, forcing them to kneel down.These five people refused to accept and struggled desperately, especially Li Sixing, who is a military officer with first-class fist and kick skills, even though he was wearing a rope, he still kicked down several officials.Cai Chong saw it and shouted loudly:

"Stick Hand!"

"exist!"

More than a dozen sturdy stickmen on both sides agreed in unison, their voices were thick and powerful, as if they wanted to lift the roof of the state government office.

"Hold them all down for me, beat them to death, each with a hundred sticks."

After hearing this, the sturdy stick hands hit the ground with their sticks in unison as a promise, and then they went to hold down the five struggling people, and raised the sticks in their hands high, as if they were about to hit them down.

Seeing this, Wei Zheng yelled loudly, "Wait a minute!" and stepped forward slowly.

"Who are you, dare to call me here?" Cai Chong stared angrily at Wei Zheng and asked.

Wei Zheng didn't answer, took out the hand of the new crown prince Li Shimin, shook it, and stepped forward a few steps.Cai Chong saw him, and as soon as he looked at him, the secretary of the state government hurried over to stop Wei Zheng, took the hand and looked at it, with a silly smirk on his face, and said to Cai Chong:

"My lord, it's an imperial envoy sent by the prince."

After hearing this, Cai Chong got up in a hurry, took the metaphor, and after reading it, with a smile all over his face, he walked up to Wei Zheng:
"I don't know that my lord is coming, so I am far away from welcoming you, please forgive me."

"It's okay." Wei Zheng smiled slightly.Then he became serious again, pointing to Li Zhian and other five people and asked Cai Chong: "I don't know what crime they committed?"

"They are all the best friends of the East Palace and Prince Qi's Mansion." Cai Chong replied.

"Does your lord know where this official was originally serving?" Wei Zheng asked word by word.

"This... But, they are best friends." Cai Chong hesitated for a while, and answered boldly.

"How will my lord deal with them?" Wei Zheng asked again.

"After the interrogation, send the capital to the capital."

"I want to ask for credit." Wei Zheng asked coldly.Seeing that Cai Chong was a little panicked, he went further to look at Cai Chong and said: "Now the imperial court has proposed an amnesty, but you have arrested Li Sixing and others, tortured them, and sent them to the capital to ask for merit. Blame."

Cai Chong was taken aback when he heard this, his eyes rolled over and over again, but he still couldn't decide how to deal with this matter.Wei Zheng watched from the side, and he had already seen clearly what he was thinking.So he went further to Cai Chong and whispered in his ear:
"The prince's decree is very clear. The East Palace and Qi Wang's residence must pardon their crimes and will not be questioned again. If you still send them to the capital now, it is against the prince's order. It's hard to survive. My official advice here is that you must understand the meaning of the prince, that the first evil must be dealt with, and the rest will not be asked, so as to stabilize the hearts of the world. I'm telling you now, if you still refuse to believe it, you have to go your own way and kill them Escorting the capital, making mistakes one after another, it will be too late to regret."

After hearing this, Cai Chong was sweating all over, but he still hesitated.Seeing this, Wei Zheng listened to his ear and said: "If the governor is still in trouble, you can hand over Li Zhi'an and five people to the imperial envoy, and I will handle it with the imperial envoy."

"That's good, that's good!" Cai Chong smiled relievedly, and said to the servants and stickmen, "Lord Wei is an imperial envoy sent by the current crown prince. You all disperse and hand over these five sinners to the imperial envoy." , The stick hand heard the words, quickly let go of his hands, and moved them to the sides one by one.

"Come on!" Wei Zheng yelled, and dozens of soldiers who followed him rushed forward, looking at Wei Zheng eagerly waiting for his order.

"Untie them! Release them all to me." Wei Zheng ordered.After hearing this, the warriors quickly untied the ropes of the five people.

"You can go now. If anyone dares to make things difficult for you, you can come and tell the imperial envoy directly, and you will definitely not go around him." Wei Zheng said.

Li Zhi'an and the others thought that only one person would die before them, but who knew that there would be a bright future, and the dead end would be saved, so they all knelt down and shouted in unison:
"Thank you Chin Chap!"

"Wrong, you are wrong!" Wei Zheng yelled loudly: "East Palace, Qi Wang Mansion and so on, all will be pardoned and not questioned again, this is the will of the current prince. If you want to thank, you can only thank the present prince!"

"Thank you for the great kindness of the present prince." Li Zhian and others said in unison.

"That's right. Go ahead and tell all the people in the East Palace and Qi Mansion that the current crown prince will pardon them and don't question them. Please come back with peace of mind and do business for the present crown prince."

"Obey!" Li Zhi'an and the others said, and withdrew from the government office.

Wei Zheng's move was really extraordinary.In less than half a month, Li Jiancheng's old ministries in Shandong and Hebei were attached to the current prince Li Shimin one by one.For a while, Shandong and Hebei gradually stabilized.When Wei Zheng returned to Chang'an, Li Shimin heard about Wei Zheng's words and deeds early on, and knew that his actions not only appease the former Li Jiancheng's former ministries in Shandong and Hebei, but also established a tolerant and open-minded image for himself. Wei Zheng.

"Wei Gong's trip will be successful immediately, and he is really capable." Li Shimin praised him sincerely.

"However, it is for the sake of the prince's heart, so the minister has this merit." Wei Zheng said sincerely: "Now that I think about it carefully, there is still a fly in the ointment. I also ask the prince to further show favor to Shandong and Hebei, so that the people's hearts can be as good as they are." Tie, longing for the prince."

"Wei Gong, please speak clearly." Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng and asked.

"Shandong and Hebei have been taken care of by the East Palace and the Qi Mansion for a long time, so they yearn for them, but they are all small favors. If the crown prince can decree that the two places will be exempted from taxes for a year, people's hearts will definitely change fundamentally, and the hearts of the crown prince will be the same."

Although the Sui Dynasty had abundant grain reserves, it was always in war until the end of the Sui Dynasty.The Tang Dynasty won the world, but it still unified internally and used troops externally for years.Nowadays, the storage of grain in the DPRK and China is very limited.Li Shimin is very aware of this situation.However, in order to win the hearts of the people in Shandong and Hebei, Li Shimin weighed the pros and cons, and finally gritted his teeth and said:
"According to the doctor's words, Shandong and Hebei will be exempted from taxes for one year."

Wei Zheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately knelt down and said, "On behalf of thousands of people in Shandong and Hebei, I would like to thank the prince."

14
Li Shimin watched Wei Zheng leave, full of joy.Now, Shandong and Hebei have been stabilized; the outstanding talents of Donggong and Qifu have also been used by me; Chen Shuda and Xiao Yu, whom my father trusted most and have always used, have also received further courtesy and promotion from me.It's just that I, a capable man and sage in my original palace, haven't justifiably entered the decision-making core of the Tang Dynasty. This problem should be resolved.Only by solving this problem can I do what I want to do with ease.Thinking of this, Li Shimin found his former official of Qin Palace and said:

"You have followed this prince and have always been loyal, giving advice, shedding blood and sweat, and making great achievements. It is because of your dedication that this prince can have the prestige of today. But for a period of time, this prince has been trapped by many reasons and cannot give Your titles, which are worthy of the name, have promoted the original important ministers in the court and the capable people in the East Palace and the Qi Mansion. Now, it is time for the prince to express his gratitude to you." Speaking of this, Li Shimin picked it up and thought about it for many days. "Letter of Appointment", read:

"It is planned to promote Shi Lian to be a servant, Changsun Wuji to be the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Du Ruhui to be the Secretary of the Ministry of War, Yuchi Jingde to be the soldier of the left guard, Cheng Zhijie to be the soldier of the right guard, Hou Junji to be the general of the left guard, Qin Shubao to be the general of the right guard... ..."

Li Shimin read out his personnel appointment one by one, and then said: "After the prince hears about his father, all the ministers will take office immediately." After hearing this, the bureaucrats knelt down and thanked him.Only Fang Xuanling knelt down slowly, looked at Li Shimin, and seemed to have something to say.When Li Shimin saw him, he asked Fang Xuanling:

"Sir, do you have some opinions because your official position is too small?"

Fang Xuanling shook his head again and again, and said: "I have been lucky enough to be able to serve the prince, and to be able to serve the left and right sides. How can I be happy or sad because of the size of the official position. Just after hearing the prince's appointment letter, I suddenly thought of someone to come."

"Who?"

"Pei Ji, Mr. Pei."

"Pei Ji!" Li Shimin chewed on the name, showing disdain on his face, and he even didn't quite understand why his important and loyal minister Fang Xuanling mentioned this person at such a moment.

Pei Ji, whose name is Xuanzhen, stayed in Taiyuan since Li Yuan, and was also in charge of Jinyang Palace Supervisor.Pei Ji, who is the deputy warden of Jinyang Palace, sees that this is his once-in-a-lifetime chance to stand up.So, he tried his best to entertain Li Yuan with all his heart.Not only did he let Li Yuan sleep with the court ladies of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, he urged Li Yuan to raise troops, but he also devoted everything in the Jinyang Palace, including 9 dendrobium rice, 5 horses of miscellaneous colors, 40 armors, and 500 court ladies, to Li Yuan. .When Li Yuan established the Grand General's Mansion, he was appointed as the chief historian.Li Yuan once entrusted Pei Ji with a heavy responsibility, went to battle several times, but always returned in a big defeat.Because of his deep personal feelings, Li Yuan never held him accountable.After Pei Ji persuaded Li Yuan to become emperor, he was worshiped by Li Yuan as the right servant of Shangshu, and he was rewarded with many treasures.During the court, Li Yuan let Pei Ji sit with him, and after the court, he invited him to talk in his inner room, and often sent him the imperial meal.When Li Yuan went out to inspect, Pei Ji was asked to stay in the capital.Once, someone sued Pei Ji for treason. Not only did Li Yuan not believe it, but he also comforted Pei Ji and said: "Union enjoys the world, and it is the public who promotes success. If the public rebels, no one in the world will believe it!" After dinner, he went to Pei Ji's mansion to hold a banquet for him, and stayed up all night until dawn.In the third year of Wude, when the imperial court reformed the old coins, Li Yuan actually gave Pei Ji the right to mint a furnace of coins by himself, and also ordered his son Zhao Wang Li Yuanjing to marry Pei Ji's daughter as his concubine.In the fifth year of Wude, Li Yuan was promoted to Pei Ji as Zuo Pushe.To Pei Ji, Li Yuan has always "followed what he said," and even praised Pei Ji in front of everyone, saying: "It is the power of this gentleman that has enabled me to be what I am today."

Even though my father treated Pei Ji like this, in Li Shimin's eyes, Pei Ji was just a villain who only knew how to flatter.Therefore, before the army was raised in Taiyuan, after being forced to ask Pei Ji to persuade his father to raise the army because of Liu Wenjing's suggestion, he no longer wanted to deal with Pei Ji.

Fang Xuanling knew that Li Shimin looked down on Pei Ji, but he hoped that Li Shimin would take the initiative to deal with Pei Ji again as he did before the Taiyuan uprising, so he said: "There is no one in the current court who can compare with Pei Ji. .”

"So what?" Li Shimin still asked coldly.

"If you are close to someone, you will naturally obey their words."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's heart suddenly brightened, and he said in his heart: This Fang Xuanling is really Fang Xuanling, who can seek people what he can't.So he nodded and said:

"Sir, what you said is reasonable. Pei Ji has already been shot by Zuo Pu of the Shangshu. The official is from the second rank. The prince intends to worship him as Sikong. The official is from the first rank. He heard about it to the emperor. This way, he can speak for me."

?

14
"Autumn air is as clear as water, and Tuipeng sleepless at night." It was already late at night, and Li Yuan and Pei Ji were still drinking in the Tai Chi Palace accompanied by several beauties.On one side of the wine table was the letter of appointment sent by Li Shimin in the afternoon.

"It's unexpected that the old minister can be on the same appointment letter as Fang Xuanling and the others." Pei Ji said with a smile.

"I didn't give it to you, Shimin gave it to you, it's rare!" Li Yuan said.

"Rare?" Pei Ji's eye circles were red: "Sikong, first rank! Since the old minister raised his troops in Jinyang, he followed the emperor, and from a deputy palace supervisor in the palace, he was able to shoot at the left servant. How can he? He is all the emperor's family!" Love, the old minister is content. But now, the world is settled, and there is no more trouble, please give the emperor's permission, don't accept rewards for nothing, and the envoys do what they do, and I beseech the bones so that they can return to their hometown."

After hearing this, Li Yuan couldn't help crying.I thought of my own life, especially the eight years after the first year of Zhenguan.Li Yuan remembered that in the 13th year of Daye, the news that Emperor Sui Yang was killed by Yu Wenhuaji in Jiangdu reached Chang'an. It was Pei Ji who helped Emperor Gong of Sui to leave the dragon chair with both hands, and then Pei Ji supported Li Yuan with both hands. Step by step into the Tai Chi Hall.On May 13, 5th year of Daye, Li Yuan became the emperor in the Taiji Hall, amnesty the world, changed Yuan Wude, and established Chang'an as his capital.Thinking of this, Li Yuan asked:

"Do you remember the scene when I ascended the throne?"

"How can you not remember that day, when you ascended the throne for the first time, it seemed as if you had sat there for 100 years, everything was so calm and comfortable, noble and decent, your voice was like a roar of a dragon, more majestic than before... "

"Yeah, you arranged everything that day for me, so naturally you remember it clearly. You still remember clearly the letter of appointment I announced at that time."

"Remember, it's been eight years, and everything seems to be just yesterday. That's how you read it at the time." Pei Ji cleared his throat, and seriously recited Li Yuan's letter of appointment back then.

"Zhaogong Li Shimin is the order of ministers, Huang Taigong Li Yuan is the servant of the Ministry of punishment, Shi Peiji, the governor of Xiangguo, is the right servant and Zhizhengshi, Sima Liu Wenjing is Nayan, Silu Dou Wei is the order of internal history, and Li Gang is the minister of the Ministry of rites. In the election, Yin Kaishan was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Zhao Cijing was the Minister of the Ministry of War, Wei Yijie was the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Chen Shuda and Cui Mingan were the Ministers of the Huangmen, Tang Jian was the Minister of Internal Epic, and Pei Xi, who recorded and joined the army, was the Minister Zuo Cheng; Xiao Yu, Minister of Civil Affairs, is Minister of Internal History, Minister of Rites, Dou Jing, Minister of Households, Duke Jiang, Qu Tutong, Minister of War, and Chang'an Order Dugu Huai'en, Minister of Industry..."

"The public has a really good memory." Li Yuan couldn't help but praise.

"What the emperor said, I should always try my best to keep it in my heart."

"Okay, okay! It would be great if... there were a few more people like you. I remember that some of the people who were appointed at that time are no longer there."

"Yes, Yin Kaishan, Qu Tutong, Liu..." Pei Ji wanted to say Liu Wenjing, but just said "Liu", he stopped and said, "Four of them are gone."

"It's only been eight years, and there are four..." Li Yuan sighed.

"Yeah, eight years, the changes are really great." Pei Ji agreed.

"In my opinion, the biggest thing is that the dynasty will change." After saying this sadly, Li Yuan raised his head, looked around, and said, "I'm afraid I won't be living in this Taiji Hall for long."

Pei Ji didn't chew.

"What do you think?" Li Yuan asked him forcefully.

"He has taken control of the military and political power."

"Yes, he has already taken control of the military and political power, but he still came to ask me everything. In the afternoon, he came to give me this letter of appointment, did he seem a little impatient?"

"Shimin is still young, and he is your son again..." Pei Ji muttered.

"Tell me, is he impatient?" Li Yuan asked.

"Shimin is very talented, and..."

"He is very talented?" Li Yuan was annoyed, and looked at Pei Ji with forgiveness: "He is very talented. Could it be that I won this world by myself? If I didn't have talent, I would be able to defeat those who are many times stronger than me one by one. The enemy, captured Chang'an? Didn't I use political and military means to stabilize the north and create good conditions for the unification of the whole country, Li Shimin could defeat Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande? It wasn't me..." Li Yuan couldn't go on talking excitedly, coughing violently .

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Pei Ji caressed Li Yuan's chest, and said with tears in his eyes, "Your Majesty, how can the people of the world compare with His Majesty? I just want to say: He has great ambitions."

"Yes, he has great ambitions. Fortunately, he is my son."

"Your majesty, you are his father. You have won all the people in the world, but it is difficult to win your own son. It's not that you can't win him, but you never thought of winning him. You don't want to win him, but you want him to win." Can win!"

"Well said, well said! I never thought of winning him, but I hope he can win!."

"He won, but you, Your Majesty, actually won!"

"Yes, yes, the more you say it, the more reasonable it is, reasonable!" Li Yuan's eyes were full of tears, "It seems that I am destined to lose? No! I am destined to win!!"

Seeing Li Yuan's sad look, Pei Ji couldn't help but hugged Li Yuan, weeping.Li Yuan pushed him away, looked at his tearful face, and laughed through tears.

"I'm crying, Mr. Pei is crying."

"Your Majesty, you cried too."

"I won't cry, and I won't let you cry. I'm going to announce a big decision now: give up the throne to my capable son. From now on, I will be the Supreme Emperor." .Pei Ji, don't ask for 'give the bones back to your hometown,' you will be Sikong, I will be the Supreme Emperor, and we will enjoy the old age together, it is not a good thing!"

In the eighth year of Wude, the ninth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar was a very good day. Li Yuan went to court for the last time and announced in front of the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs:

The Zen throne was given to Crown Prince Li Shimin.

(End of this chapter)