Capital Datang

On the flat concrete road, a team rushed to Chang'an against the setting sun.Li Yin on the carriage watched the evening scenery outside quietly, turning his head to look at Li Shimin with his eyes closed from time to time.Today they stayed in Xianling for a whole afternoon, and they didn't leave Xianling until dusk.

In this afternoon, Li Shimin's mood has been fluctuating violently. It was not until after offering sacrifices to Li Jiancheng that he slowly regained his calm. Now he is half lying in the carriage, his eyes are closed, and his face shows a tired look. He looked as if he had fallen asleep, but Li Yin knew that Li Shimin was still very awake.

"Liulang, tell father the truth, am I a good emperor?".Li Shimin suddenly asked, although he had repeatedly claimed that he was a good emperor in front of his brother Li Jiancheng's tomb, and the current prosperity of the Tang Dynasty also proved this point, but in his heart, he was still a little unconfident, so now He wanted to hear how his son would evaluate him?

Hearing Li Shimin's question, Li Yin hesitated for a while, then looked outside the car, and then replied solemnly: "Father, this question does not need to be answered by a minister, look at the people on the road. , these people are ordinary people who work or do small businesses in Chang'an. Their clothes are clean and tidy, their complexions are rosy and healthy, and many of them still carry the purchased goods in their hands. Beyond the level of food and clothing, what is this scene if it is not a prosperous age?"

Hearing Li Yin's words, Li Shimin suddenly became interested, propped his body to the side, and then looked out.It turned out that it was just in time for a nearby school to finish school, and a group of students in Hu suits were riding small bicycles.While playing and riding past the carriage, a little guy sitting in the back of the carriage saw the old Li Shimin on the carriage.He even made a very mischievous face at him, which made Li Shimin couldn't help showing a surprised smile. [

Although these children are noisy, their clothes are very clean and tidy no matter whether they are new or old, and most of them are chubby, which looks extraordinarily cute. As for the bicycles they ride, they are now popular in all parts of Datang and Daqi Come on, whether it's an adult or a child.Almost everyone owns one, and the price is very cheap. Even the poorest people can't even afford a bicycle.It's just that the current bicycles are mainly made of wood, and most of the parts are usually replaced after a period of use. As for the stronger iron bicycles, because they are more expensive, generally only some wealthy people will buy them.

Look at these noisy children, and look at the same neatly dressed people on the road.Most of them, like those children, rode bicycles on the cement road, and some rich people rode tall horses and followed the crowd without haste.Although the price of horses has dropped a lot in recent years, it is easy to buy a horse, but it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to raise a horse.Even if ordinary people can afford it, they still find it too troublesome.Only those rich people who need to support the scene will hire people to feed the horses for themselves.

Li Shimin clapped his hands.After watching the crowds outside for a long time, a gratified smile finally appeared on his face. As an emperor, seeing the people in his country live so richly made him feel an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.As for whether he is a good emperor, just look at the smiles on the faces of those people.

That night, Li Shimin, who let go of the heaviest burden in his heart, was in a good mood. Although he felt tired physically, he was in good spirits. He even made an exception and drank an extra bowl of porridge, which made everyone very happy.

And it is worth mentioning that when Li Yin arranged for Li Shimin to rest, Li Zhi went to find him and asked where they went today?Originally, Li Shimin told Li Yin not to disclose this matter to anyone, but out of some considerations, Li Yin finally told Li Zhi the truth.

Of course, Li Yin only gave a rough idea of ​​what happened this afternoon. He didn't tell Li Zhi that Li Shimin was crying while holding Li Jiancheng's tombstone. uncle.When Li Zhi heard that it involved the Prince Yin who was competing with his father for the throne, he immediately knew it and didn't ask any more questions.

In the next period of time, Li Yin accompanied Li Shimin to go out every now and then, mostly to sacrifice some dead people, some of these people were Li Shimin's friends and courtiers, and some were his former enemies.Among them, there are four that impressed Li Yin the most, two were his courtiers Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, and the other two were his enemies Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande.

Wei Zheng is well known to the world for his direct remonstrance.Actually speaking, the real reason why Wei Zheng repeatedly remonstrated with Yan Zhi, although Li Shimin was very angry, but dared not deal with him, was that Wei Zheng could point out his mistakes and gained great popularity in the court. It also has a lot to do with Li Jiancheng.

Wei Zheng was originally Li Jiancheng's man, but after Li Jiancheng was killed, he had no choice but to work for Li Shimin.It is also because of such a relationship that in Li Shimin's view, Wei Zheng is not an ordinary courtier, but a ruler to measure the pros and cons of himself and his brother Li Jiancheng.He wants to prove to others and himself that Wei Zheng can display his talent with his elder brother Li Jiancheng, and he can also display his greatest talent in his own hands, so no matter how Wei Zheng doesn't give him face, Li Shimin will endure it.

However, after Wei Zheng's death, some people framed Wei Zheng's cronies, and Wei Zheng copied the words of remonstrance to Chu Suiliang, the historian at the time, which made Li Shimin mistakenly think that Wei Zheng made a name for himself, so he was very angry. He not only dismissed several officials of Wei Zheng's disciples, He also wanted to smash the tombstone that he had personally written to Wei Zheng, and even the marriage between Princess Hengshan and Wei Zheng's son had to be suspended.

Fortunately, some of Wei Zheng's former friends tried their best to remonstrate, and they asked Li Yin for help, but Li Yin kept admonishing him again and again, finally reminding Li Shimin of all the help Wei Zheng had given him during his lifetime, and finally calmed down his anger. The last unhappiness of this pair of emperors and ministers was avoided, and the wedding of Princess Hengshan was also held as usual.

Compared with Wei Zheng's direct remonstrance, Fang Xuanling, the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, was more helpful to Li Shimin, especially after Du Ruhui's early death, Fang Xuanling single-handedly provoked half of the Tang Dynasty, and worked hard to assist Li Shimin in governance Chaozheng helped him create a Zhenguan rule that is famous for later generations. Although Fang Xuanling's ranking in Lingyan Pavilion is lower than that of Wei Zheng, in fact, in terms of contribution to the Great Tang, Fang Xuanling is more important than the eldest grandson who ranks first. The merits of bogey must be great.

It is precisely because of the above that, in the last days of his life, Li Shimin dragged his seriously ill body to the grave of the two men, babbling a lot of what was in his heart, and even talked about the situation that Datang met now. Some questions were raised, as if they wanted to discuss with the two confidant ministers again, but unfortunately the two who have passed away could no longer give Li Shimin a good suggestion.

As for Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, these two were the two most difficult opponents Li Shimin encountered when he unified the Central Plains. Especially at that time, the Tang army only occupied Chang'an in Guanzhong, while Wang Shichong was entrenched in Luoyang, and Dou Jiande in the north of the Yellow River interacted with each other. Correspondingly, if the combination of the two cannot be broken, Datang will only be trapped in Guanzhong.

So under such circumstances, Li Shimin personally led the troops, and the battle of Hulao broke out with these two rivals. At the same time, that battle was also Li Shimin's most proud victory, because it was in that war that determined the rule of the Central Plains that Li Shimin Together with his generals Qin Qiong and Yu Chigong, he led three thousand cavalry to defeat Dou Jiande's one hundred thousand army, captured Dou Jiande alive, and forced Wang Shichong to surrender.

It was also that battle that made the name of Li Shimin's enemy spread all over the world, and the Xuanjia Army under him became the most powerful army in the world.With the help of the prestige of this battle, Li Shimin almost swept the world in the subsequent wars, and put down all the princes in the late Sui Dynasty, laying the foundation for the rule of the Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop.

Although Li Shimin later launched wars with foreign countries many times and wiped out Turkic, Goguryeo, Xichang and other countries. Some of the wars were far larger than the Battle of Hulao, but most of those wars were commanded by his generals, so it was far inferior to his personal command. And the battle of Hulao, where he fought in person, had a greater impact on him.Therefore, in the last days of his life, Li Shimin also listed these two former enemies as sacrifices.

And it is worth mentioning that Li Shimin still admires Dou Jiande very much. Although this reckless hero is suspicious by nature, he also has many advantages, such as a generous temperament and is very kind to the people under his rule. , There are people in the north of the Yellow River who built temples for him, which shows how much he is loved by the people under his rule.

Even after sacrificing the two enemies, Li Shimin took the train happily to the battlefield of the Hulao Battle, and personally pointed out to Li Yin the situation of the two armies at the time, and how he defeated Dou Jiande with three thousand cavalry. The process of one hundred thousand troops.Seeing Li Shimin's high spirits, no matter what, he couldn't believe that it has been a long time. [

However, Li Yin did not accompany Li Shimin all the way during the sacrificial offerings these days. There was one time when Li Shimin was going out to offer sacrifices, but just in time for Li Zhen and Li Yun to arrive in Chang'an that day, Li Zhi was dizzy with piles of government affairs. There was no time to greet him, so I had to trouble Li Yin.

It was also that time that Li Yin failed to accompany Li Shimin to go out.What's more strange is that Li Shimin only brought shadow guards with him when he went out this time, and the itinerary was also very secretive.Afterwards, Li Min made indirect remarks, wanting to find out from Li Shimin where he went that day?

But Li Shimin smiled and said nothing, which made Li very curious, but no matter how he asked, Li Shimin refused to say anything.It wasn't until later by chance that Li finally knew where Li Shimin went that day. (to be continued...)