A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 539 If I Were the Crown Prince

Chang'an

The Hongyi Palace, which Emperor Li Yuan built in the Western Garden for his second son Shimin, was finally completed.

Leaving the West Cloud Dragon Gate of the West Inner Garden of Chang'an, not far to the north is the Hongyi Palace.

The weather was fine today. After the court assembly, the emperor summoned his prime ministers and high-ranking officials to accompany the Prince of Qin to visit the newly completed palace.

"Because the King of Qin has made great contributions, I have built a scenic mountain village in the palace, which I greatly admire."

"Erlang, are you satisfied?"

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, dressed in a purple robe, accompanied the emperor, but he didn't seem to care much about the palace that had been specially built for him.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness."

Compared to Taiji Palace, Hongyi Palace appears deserted and sparse; compared to the grandeur of the palace complex, it is more like a garden villa.

However, since it was located west of the palace, it was still much better than the southwesternmost ward of Chang'an where the King of Qin had moved from Chengqian Palace.

Originally, the Prince of Qin's mansion was located in the southwesternmost ward of the outer city of Chang'an. Although it occupied the land of one ward, the wards to the south were now known as ghost wards.

Lu Kuan, the Palace Attendant, was also introducing the various palaces and pavilions to Li Shimin on behalf of the Emperor.

The palace contains the Hongyi Hall, the Chuigong Front Hall, the Jiwu Hall, the Xiuwen Hall, the Cuihua Hall, and the Jijiu Platform, among others.

“Hongyi Palace has three gates on the south side: the middle one is called Yingtian Gate, the left one is called Zuoye Gate, and the right one is called Youye Gate. There is one gate on the north side, called Xuanwu Gate. There is no gate on the west side, and the gate on the east side is called Jixi Gate.”

In front of the Hongyi Hall is the Renshou Gate, to the left is the Rihua Gate, and to the right is the Yuehua Gate. Behind the Hongyi Hall is the Yiming Gate, and further north is the Zhenghe Gate, inside which is the Renzheng Hall…

Hongyi Palace also has a Jade Pool, and to the northeast of the pool is Penglai Pavilion.

Li Shimin accompanied the emperor on a tour of various parts of Hongyi Palace.

The emperor had previously said that Hongyi Palace was hastily built and was a scenic spot in the mountains, but in reality it was just a smaller version of Taiji Palace. It also had three main halls, various side halls and auxiliary halls, and even an artificial lake, Yaochi. The entire Hongyi Palace was no smaller than the East Palace.

After the emperor destroyed Wang Shichong, he began to build this palace for him. It was completed so quickly, which is quite fast.

To be honest, this place is much bigger than the Chengqian Hall of the Taiji Palace where he used to live.

It was also much closer to the imperial city and palace than the Qin Prince's Mansion, which occupied only one ward in the south and southwest.

But Li Shimin's mind was not on this at all.

Lu Kuan had talked himself hoarse, but he didn't show the slightest bit of interest.

"His Majesty,"

Finally, when the emperor suggested boating on the Jade Pool and then having a midday banquet with his ministers at the Penglai Pavilion, Li Shimin could no longer resist.

"Your Majesty, the Turkic Khaganate, Jieli Khan, has invaded Daibei with 200,000 troops. Prince Dingxiang, Li Da'en, died in battle at Xincheng, and all 20,000 of his troops perished."

Now Liu Shirang has succeeded as the governor of Daizhou, leading 20,000 men to defend Yanmen City, where they have fought a bloody battle for a hundred days. Over 100,000 Turkic troops have besieged the city, yet not a single soldier has come to its aid.

Of the forty-one cities in Daizhou and Xinzhou, thirty-nine have now fallen, leaving only Yanmen and Xiurong, both of which are in imminent danger.

Where are the imperial reinforcements? Why is Liu Shirang fighting alone?

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Dingxiang was ordered to leave Mayi, but he was surrounded and annihilated before the agreed-upon troops arrived. Now, is Liu Shirang's 20,000 troops also destined to fight alone until they run out of food and die?"

Li Yuan's smile vanished.

She turned to look at her second son.

Li Shimin, however, did not stop there. Instead, he became even more excited and said, "Your Majesty, I am not only Your Majesty's son, but also a minister of the court. I am the Grand Secretary and concurrently the Chancellor, the Grand Commandant and concurrently the Minister of Works, the General of the Twelve Guards, the General of the Heavenly Strategy who commands the nation's conquests, and also the Governor of Yongzhou and the Grand Secretary of the Shaanxi East Circuit."

Your Majesty, I believe the situation in Daibei is extremely precarious and cannot continue. We must rescue Yanmen.

Li Yuan let out a long sigh. "Second Prince, I've come to see your Hongyi Palace today. As for the war with the Turks, the court will make its own decision."

Li Shimin's face flushed red. "Your Majesty, since I am still the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Grand Commandant, Minister of Works, General of the Twelve Guards, General of the Heavenly Strategy Army, and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat of the Shaanxi-Eastern Circuit, why am I now involved in these important military and national affairs?"

But I am not allowed to participate in the discussion?
His Highness the Crown Prince is in command, but he personally led the expedition to Hebei, and even after the battle was over, he hadn't left Tongguan Pass. Now, the situation in Hedong is critical, and a hundred days have passed, yet the Crown Prince is still in Puban, more than a thousand miles from the front lines.

Your Majesty, I believe that the Crown Prince is truly unsuitable to lead troops.

Your subject requests to replace the Crown Prince as commander-in-chief, personally travel to Taiyuan to oversee the various armies, and engage the Turkic Khaganate in a decisive battle at Yanmen Pass, driving them out of the Great Wall!

"His Majesty,"

"Enough." Li Yuan interrupted the Prince of Qin with a dark face. "You built an academy in the Prince of Qin's residence and recruited eighteen renowned scholars as scholars, having them take turns lecturing and teaching you, and organizing books and records in the residence."
But now it seems you weren't quietly reading.

"The Crown Prince was appointed commander-in-chief to resist the Turks and to oversee operations from Puban. That was my decree. Li Da'en's defeat at Xincheng was due to Dugu Sheng's failure to keep his promise, so I will exile him to Dunhuang as well."

The loss of many cities, including Xindai, is a desperate measure.

The imperial court has now reached a peace agreement with the Turks, and soon Prince Xiangwu Li Chen and Minister of Ceremonies Zheng Yuanzhu, among others, will be returned to the Turks.

The Jieli Alliance will withdraw beyond the Great Wall.

Li Shimin blushed and asked, "Does Your Majesty really intend to cede territory, pay tribute, and form a marriage alliance with the Turks?"

"Our Great Tang has now unified the world, so why should we still bow down to the Turks? Father, I believe that this war is worth fighting, so why should we lose without being defeated, or surrender before being defeated?"

"Shut up! Address me as Your Majesty!" Li Yuan snapped angrily. "Military and state affairs are not matters for you to decide on a whim. Are all the officials and civil and military officers in the court inferior to you, Li Shimin?"

"Your Majesty, I am willing to sign a military pledge: if we cannot win, I will commit suicide to atone for my sins!"

"Nonsense! What good would it do if you led your troops to defeat and then committed suicide? At that time, the Turkic horses would pound Luoyang and Chang'an, and the Li Tang dynasty would be destroyed. What use would your death be then?" "Your Majesty, the Turks are fickle and untrustworthy. If we now offer them tribute and marriage alliances, they will only take advantage of us."

They are merely using peace talks to deceive my Great Tang Dynasty.

If Your Majesty does not believe me, could you please ask Jieli to stop attacking Daizhou and Xinzhou during the peace talks, and could you please ask him to order a halt to the plundering of the northern prefectures?

Could you ask him to release the tens of thousands of people who were abducted from the northern border of our Great Tang Dynasty?
He won't.
He's just lying to us.
He continued his offensive, and he was still rounding up craftsmen to work day and night to build siege weapons.
When Yanmen Pass falls, when Xinzhou City falls...
Their next target is Taiyuan. If Taiyuan falls,...

Your Majesty, then the entire Hedong region will be in grave danger.

At that time, the Turks truly intended to drink from the Yellow River, march straight towards Luoyang, and even plunder Guanzhong.

Your Majesty, it will be too late to regret it then.

Please allow your son to go into battle. Your son will not accept the title of marshal. Your son is willing to serve as the commander-in-chief of a military campaign, personally go to Taiyuan to take command, and lead troops to Yanmen to reinforce Liu Shirang.

"As long as Your Majesty commands Li Yi of Weizhou, Dao Xuan of Beiyanzhou, Zhang Lun of Xizhou, and other officials to lead troops together, your son will surely defeat the Turks!"

Li Yuan looked at his son, whose face was flushed red.

"You're gambling with the fate of the nation,"

"Pick an auspicious day, move to Hongyi Palace, and settle down to read books."

After the emperor finished speaking, he turned and left.

Li Shimin stood there, lost in thought.

He hadn't expected the emperor to reject him so decisively and ruthlessly. Even though he was willing to let the crown prince continue to lead the army, and he would only be the general commander of the crown prince's army, the emperor still refused to let him lead troops.

Marriage alliances, tribute payments, and peace negotiations.

ridiculous.

If you can't defeat the Turks on the battlefield, can you make them retreat by sending women and money?
How can it be?

A greedy and untrustworthy man like Jieli.

Jieli was just stalling for time; what he wanted was to capture Yanmen and Xinzhou.

Yanmen was a formidable city. When Shibi Khan led 200,000 cavalry, he besieged it for 33 days but failed to capture it.

But now, Khan Jieli has been besieging Yanmen Pass for a hundred days.

Last winter, the siege lasted for more than a month.

The court may have thought that Jieli couldn't capture Yanmen, but Li Shimin felt that if the court didn't actively send reinforcements, Yanmen wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

If Yanmen City falls, the entire area north of Taiyuan will become a pasture for the Turks.

The Fengsheng and Hetao prefectures have already been ceded to the Turks. Are the Xindai prefectures also going to be given to the Turks?

In that case, Bingzhou would never have peace again, and it would be very difficult to defend it.

Does this mean Taiyuan will also be given to the Turks?

So, are Fenzhou, Jinzhou, Jiangzhou, Puzhou, and the entire Hedong region to be given to the Turks?

He simply couldn't understand the emperor's thoughts, and he couldn't tolerate the inaction of the crown prince in command.

The imperial court is not without the ability to fight.
Li Yi and Wang Junkuo's 40,000 Hebei soldiers were behind the mountain, and they could even pull 20,000 to 30,000 more from Hebei to the area.

Li Yi's great victory over Gao Kaidao and Si Jie's forces in Weizhou fully demonstrated the general's military talent. At Pingxing Pass, he was like a sharp knife pressed against Jieli's waist.

The 20,000 Youzhou troops led by Li Daoxuan and Wang Junkuo from Yunzhong were undoubtedly formidable in combat. Wang Junkuo led this army to quickly sweep through the three prefectures of Gaokaidao and captured the strategically important Juyong Pass in just one day and one night.

Although Li Daoxuan had just been transferred there, he had been incredibly brave and fierce in Haozhou and Xizhou.

With two elite forces on the flanks and rear, basic security is guaranteed.

If he were to lead the army, he only needed to gather 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Taiyuan. Then, he could march north to relieve the siege of Xinzhou and join forces with several other armies to besiege Jieli.
In Shizhou and Yanzhou, there are still several forces led by Zhang Lun and Duan Decao, who are also quite capable fighters.

We could have taken back what we lost on the battlefield.

The emperor, however, insisted on begging for peace and surrender at the negotiating table.
But what's the use of begging for mercy?

a long time.

Li Shimin let out a long breath.
He said to his brother-in-law, Changsun Wuji, who had come to find him, "Fuji, if I were the Crown Prince, given the current situation in Daibei, would I request His Majesty to lead the army?"

Will Your Majesty refuse me again like this?

Changsun Wuji was taken aback. Looking at his brother-in-law's serious face, he quickly looked around and said, "Second Brother, be careful, walls have ears."

Li Shimin gave a bitter laugh, "Your Majesty is so wary of me that you don't even care about the safety of the country."

Changsun Wuji sighed, "Who told him to be the eldest son of the legitimate wife? Since ancient times, the eldest son of the legitimate wife has been chosen, not the most virtuous."

“However, not all crown princes can become emperor in the end, nor is it that only the eldest son of the legitimate wife can become emperor.” Changsun Wuji lowered his voice and whispered in Li Shimin’s ear.

Those whispers were like the murmurs of a demon, making Li Shimin's breathing quicken.

"Isn't the Sui Dynasty a living, breathing example?"

(End of this chapter)