My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 76: Your Majesty, are you going to slander the Crown Prince?
The morning court is over.

The civil and military officials were apparently unable to reach a consensus.

However, in terms of momentum, the voices calling for an attack on Goryeo were clearly stronger.

The generals in the army also became more vocal in their support for the prince.

The main reason why the civil servants opposed was that Goryeo was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it would be easy to fail if they attacked Goryeo.

Once the Tang Dynasty fails in its war against Goryeo, it will trigger a chain reaction, and neighboring countries will also have different thoughts.

Moreover, fighting Goguryeo would be exhausting. The Sui Dynasty had an army of one million, and the Tang Dynasty would have to have at least 100,000 troops, and it is not certain that they can win.

To have a force of 100,000, at least 200,000 civilians would need to be recruited for labor service and to prepare for logistics.

If we cannot win the war quickly and a stalemate occurs, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty will suffer great losses and more than ten years of peace will be broken.

If a war breaks out at that time, the Tang Dynasty may follow the same path as the Sui Dynasty. If the Tang Dynasty loses, the prestige of the Tang Dynasty will be affected.

In fact, as long as Li Chengqian took out the gunpowder, the court would definitely support the expedition against Goryeo.

But by that time, Li Chengqian would have even less chance to lead the troops.

Don't even think about it, Li Shimin would definitely step forward and lead the army in person to take the credit.

After the morning court session, Gao Shilian naturally did not leave, but followed Li Shimin to the Liangyi Hall.

"Why did Lord Gao come to the court meeting today? This is really too much work."

"If Lord Gao has anything you want to tell me, just tell me directly."

"Could it be possible that I would not receive Lord Gao?"

Although Li Shimin was the emperor, he was also Gao Shilian's junior. Naturally, he could not put on the airs of an emperor in front of Gao Shilian.

After all, filial piety is also a belief in the Tang Dynasty.

"If I hadn't come, I'm afraid His Majesty would have deposed the Crown Prince."

Gao Shilian said unhappily.

"That's impossible. When did I ever say I wanted to depose the crown prince?"

"Where did this rumor come from? I will investigate it thoroughly and bring him to justice."

Li Shimin immediately became angry.

Gao Shilian said, "The prince told me so. Your Majesty, go and bring the prince to justice."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's momentum suddenly dropped.

"How can the prince say that? He has misunderstood me."

"Misunderstanding? The King of Wei's three hundred cavalrymen, is that also a misunderstanding? The Eastern Palace doesn't even have three hundred war horses. When Your Majesty was the King of Qin, did you have three hundred cavalrymen?"

"Didn't I later reward the Eastern Palace with a hundred war horses?"

Li Shimin's voice was quite weak.

Gao Shilian advised earnestly: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is the foundation of the court. Even if Your Majesty favors the King of Wei, you should stop at the right time and not overstep your bounds."

"Now that Goryeo is eyeing us covetously, how can we annihilate Goryeo if our Tang Dynasty is not stable internally?"

"In recent days, the Crown Prince has performed excellently and is extremely brave. If he continues your majesty's bravery, he will surely make our Tang Dynasty more prosperous."

Hearing this, Li Shimin felt a little angry.

I am still so young. Should I hand over the power of the court to the prince and then live peacefully as an emperor?

He remembered that Gao Shilian once supported him in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Li Shimin's tone was somewhat unhappy: "The Crown Prince wants to rebel, and Lord Gao wants to support him?"

Gao Shilian was shocked and said, "How could this happen? How could the prince rebel?"

Then he thought of something and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, are you really going to slander the Crown Prince?"

Only Gao Shilian dared to say this.

Li Shimin was so angry that he laughed, and said, "Okay, okay, let Gao Gong see if I have slandered the prince."

"Zhang Ananda!" "I am here."

"Quickly summon the King of Wei to the palace and have him bring Hegan Nuo, the son of Hegan Chengji, to me for personal interrogation."

"According to the order."

Gao Shilian's face looked a little heavy. He felt that things were not that simple.

He asked, "Your Majesty, what is going on?"

Li Shimin did not hide it and said bluntly: "Yesterday Fang Xuanling came to the palace to see me late at night. The prince may be suspected of treason."

"On the side of the King of Wei, there is a man named Hegannuo, who is the confidant of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace and the son of Hegan Chengji."

"A few days ago, the crown prince suddenly ordered the death of his confidant Hegan Chengji, and no one knew the reason. Then Hegan Nuo surrendered to the King of Wei and said that his father's death was due to his participation in the crown prince's rebellion."

After hearing this, Gao Shilian retorted: "Your Majesty, how can you trust the words of a child?"

This excuse was too absurd, and he felt that His Majesty was deliberately trying to attack the prince.

From the information he had investigated in the past few days, Gao Shilian also knew how powerful the prince was now.

Gao Shilian knew very early on that Li Shimin was using the Prince of Wei as a whetstone to suppress the Crown Prince.

At that time, he could also understand His Majesty. After all, the prince was too young and too outstanding. If he was not suppressed, it would easily cause turmoil in the imperial power.

Such behavior is also in line with the interests of the court ministers. A new emperor appoints new ministers, and no one wants the dynasty to change too quickly.

Therefore, Li Shimin's suppression of the crown prince actually gained the support of important officials in the court.

But if they want to depose the crown prince, then I cannot support it.

The reason why Gao Shilian stood up to support the prince was that he felt that His Majesty had gone a bit too far. If he continued like this, it would be easy to get into trouble, and this was not the result they wanted.

"I don't believe it either, otherwise I wouldn't have interrogated Hegannuo in person."

"If it were anyone else, I would not ask, but Hegan Chengji is the crown prince's trusted guard, and Hegannuo is his son. I must interrogate him about what he said."

Li Shimin's tone softened, and he himself did not want to depose the crown prince.

But the prince's rebellion was something he had been worried about in the first place, and now that such a thing had come to light, how could he feel at ease?

Gao Shilian nodded and said, "Okay, then I will accompany Your Majesty and see what Hegannuo has to say."

It still takes some time to get from Yankangfang to Da'nei.

Now that the weather is cool, Li Shimin asked Gao Shilian to go inside.

Originally, the emperor and his ministers were to discuss matters, but now that the crown prince was plotting a rebellion, it naturally had to be postponed.

The affairs of Goryeo are nothing compared to the affairs of the crown prince.

At this time, outside the palace.

The commander of the imperial guards, Li Anyan, had a worried look on his face.

He heard the conversation between His Majesty and Gao Shilian just now.

How did His Majesty know about the Crown Prince's rebellion?

He is also a member of the prince's rebellious army.

Prince, it’s okay for you to sentence Hegan Chengji to death, but you cannot leave any trace and let Hegan Chengji’s son run away to the Prince of Wei’s Palace.

Li Anyan was almost going crazy with anxiety. If his crime was exposed, it would be a serious crime that would result in the execution of his entire family.

He wanted to leave now and tell the prince the news immediately so that he could make preparations early.

No, that won’t work. Standing guard without permission will more easily arouse suspicion.

Today, he feels like every day is a year in a row, but he dares not show it.

He waited until the shift change at noon before leaving in a hurry.

He did not dare to go directly to the Eastern Palace, but went to find the son-in-law Du He.

Du He was the Shangcheng Fengyu and was also on duty in the imperial palace.

(End of this chapter)