Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 219: Secret Order Before Departure, the Power of the Imperial Guard (Part )
On the first day of March, after the first day of the lunar month.

The late spring sun is warm and the breeze is gentle.

Beside the Lizheng Hall, Li Chengqian sat on a sedan chair, swaying towards the Wude Hall.

Looking at the emperor sitting on the imperial carriage in front of him, Li Chengqian's breathing gradually calmed down.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

During the past half month, everyone seemed to have quieted down.

The Eastern Palace fell silent, as did Hou Junji and Li Tai. It seemed as if everyone was waiting for the emperor to leave.

The imperial carriage stopped in front of the Wude Hall. The emperor stood up and walked into the Wude Hall.

Li Chengqian then stood up and followed the emperor into the Wude Hall.

Except for the two of them, everyone else was left outside.

……

The emperor stood in front of the central hall, and on the table in front of him was a long black and gold box.

Looking at the box, Li Shimin suddenly sighed and said, "Ten days ago, the Secretariat sent a memorial to transfer Li Junxian, General of the Left Guard, to General of the Right Guard; Li Mengchang, General of the Right Guard, to General of the Left Guard; and Li Anyan, Prince's Household Secretary, to General of the Right Guard. I will issue the memorial today."

There were originally two generals in the Right Guard of the court, General Xue Wanche and General Liu Lancheng.

Now that Liu Lancheng was beheaded, the position of Right Guard General in the court became vacant.

At any other time, this wouldn't be a big deal and could be put off for a while, but not now.

The emperor was preparing for the Eastern Expedition, and the Left Guard and the Right Guard would be the main forces, so it was not surprising that the Secretariat, no, more accurately the Ministry of Personnel, would submit such a memorial.

But the key is Li Anyan, who is Li Chengqian's prince's household steward.

The Right Guard General was of the third rank, while the Prince's Household Director was of the fourth rank, which was a promotion.

Moreover, Li Anyan was a military general, so there was absolutely no problem in him being appointed as the General of the Right Guard.

Li Chengqian's expression turned slightly grim, but he still bowed earnestly and said, "Your Majesty has commanded, and I will obey your command. However, I hope that your Majesty... can be transferred to Liaodong, to accompany Your Majesty in battle and establish military merit."

Li Shimin turned around, looked at Li Chengqian, and said with a smile: "Yes, you are sensible. I am very satisfied. Don't worry, I will not transfer him to Liaodong. He will stay at Yanxi Gate and help you keep an eye on him."

Yeonhui Gate is located on the east side of the Eastern Palace, right next to it.

"Thank you, father!" Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, don't you want to ask who will be the next Prince's Household Manager?" Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian jokingly.

Everyone knows that the Prince's Household Manager is the person the Prince trusts the most.

Now that Li Anyan has been transferred out of the Eastern Palace, the next person to be selected will be extremely critical.

Li Chengqian immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness will follow your father's instructions."

"Chang Sunxiang," the emperor said directly. "The Crown Prince's Chief Guard, Chang Sunxiang, will be transferred to the Crown Prince's Household Warden, and the Ministry of Revenue Doctor Lai Heng will be transferred to the Crown Prince's Chief Guard."

Lai Heng, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, was the elder brother of Lai Ji, a clerk in charge of communication, and the son of Huer, a former general of the Sui Dynasty.

"Your Majesty is wise." Li Chengqian couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The people of the Lai family have always been famous for their loyalty. Lai Heng was transferred to be the Prince's Chief of Guards under Li Chengqian. So, apart from the orders of the emperor and Li Chengqian, Lai Heng would not listen to anyone else's orders.

Even Lai Heng may not be inferior to Li Anyan in terms of martial arts.

Of course, the most important thing for Li Anyan is that he controls the few external spies under Li Chengqian.

Once he was transferred out of the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian would be one step slower in receiving news from the outside world, which could be fatal at a critical moment.

"It's good that you can accept it." Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian's relaxed expression, sighed softly, and said, "It would be great if everyone could be like you."

"Father!" Li Chengqian's expression changed slightly.

Li Shimin turned around, placed one hand on the black and gold box in front of him, and then said calmly: "There is an imperial edict inside."

"Ah!" Li Chengqian's pupils suddenly widened, and he immediately knelt down: "Father."

Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Stand up. I will leave this imperial edict here. You can open it when the critical moment comes... You know when the critical moment is, so don't open it too early."

Li Chengqian fell silent. The emperor gave him an imperial edict, which was not to be opened unless necessary.

What a critical moment, what a necessary moment.

Of course it was when Hou Junji and Li Tai rebelled.

Li Chengqian did not expect that the emperor would give him such a thing.

Li Chengqian immediately understood that Li Anyan had been transferred out of the Eastern Palace, and the power of the Eastern Palace was rapidly weakening.

In order to prevent the situation from getting out of control, Li Shimin directly gave Li Chengqian the biggest amulet.

"Father, please take Xin'er to Luoyang!" Li Chengqian kowtowed to the ground and said sincerely, "Father, Xin'er and Zhinu have a good relationship. Please take him to Luoyang and let him study with Zhinu."

Li Xin is Li Tai's eldest son. Although Li Tai's second child is about to be born, he is still Li Tai's eldest son.

Li Shimin sighed softly and said, "You can do it better than I can...Okay, I will do as you say."

"Thank you, father!" Li Chengqian kowtowed heavily to the ground.

"Someone!" Li Shimin looked outside the hall. A general in red and golden armor walked in and said, "Your Majesty!"

"Li Xuansi, the General of the Imperial Guard." Li Shimin looked at Li Xuansi and said, "After I leave Chang'an, you will only obey the crown prince. You must do whatever the crown prince tells you to do." "Yes!" Li Xuansi bowed expressionlessly.

Li Chengqian, who was kneeling on the ground, looked up in surprise. Was the emperor handing over the entire North Gate Guards to him?

When the emperor goes on an eastern tour, General Zhang Shigui of the Imperial Guard will accompany him, and General Li Xuansi of the Imperial Guard is the one who actually controls the North Gate Guards in the imperial palace.

"Alright, that's it." Li Shimin said, and headed straight out of the hall. He also said, "The Crown Prince will stay in the Wude Hall and return to the East Palace after dark."

"Your son obeys your order." Li Chengqian kowtowed again.

When he raised his head, he was the only one left in the hall.

Looking at the black-striped box on the table in front of him, Li Chengqian suddenly felt dizzy.

He couldn't believe that the emperor actually left him a secret decree, and even after he left, he secretly handed over the North Gate Guards to him.

There were some things that Li Shimin did not reveal to his face.

But when he already knew that Li Tai was going to rebel, he even knew that Li Chengqian knew the news that Li Tai was going to rebel.

Of course, Li Chengqian also knew that the emperor knew about Li Tai's rebellion.

However, none of them revealed the secret until Li Tai took that step.

Because once the truth is revealed, they will immediately need to deal with Li Tai, or even arrest Li Tai and depose him.

But this was not what Li Chengqian and Li Shimin wanted. What they wanted was to find out all the people behind Li Tai who might rebel during the emperor's eastern expedition.

Yang Guang went on an expedition to Goguryeo. In fact, during the second eastern expedition, he might have completely destroyed Goguryeo. However, Yang Xuangan's sudden rebellion destroyed everything. The final result was the destruction of the former Sui Dynasty.

Learn from history, learn from history.

The emperor's favorite thing was to learn from history.

What Li Shimin was most worried about was repeating Yang Guang's mistakes, so he set up a trap to bury Li Tai, Hou Junji, Zhang Liang, and anyone else who might fall into this trap.

At that time, he was also staring at Li Chengqian at the same time.

If Li Tai had not suddenly emerged to rebel, the person the emperor would have been most worried about should have been Li Chengqian, but Li Chengqian was too cautious.

No, in Hou Junji's words, he knew too well what kind of prince the emperor wanted, so he was acting as that kind of prince.

But even so, Li Chengqian was still worried.

Although Li Anyan was transferred from the Eastern Palace by Hou Junji, the emperor himself was happy to see it happen.

Li Chengqian's only contact outside the Eastern Palace is Li Anyan. Once he leaves Li Anyan, Li Chengqian will be deaf and blind to people outside the palace.

Therefore, the emperor gave Li Chengqian a secret decree.

An imperial edict that could only be opened by Li Chengqian when Li Tai rebelled.

Of course, the emperor would send people to monitor when Li Chengqian opened the imperial edict and what he did after opening it.

As for Li Tai, he probably didn't even know that the emperor had already laid a big net waiting for him.

There are also Hou Junji and Zhang Liang.

Of course, there is also Fang Xuanling.

If Fang Xuanling made a mistake at this time, he would also be buried with the emperor.

Throughout Chang'an, everyone was under the emperor's test, with no one being an exception.

The same thing happened to Li Xuansi, the General of the Imperial Guard.

So what is written in this secret letter?

……

In the Chongjiao Hall of the Eastern Palace, Li Anyan bowed to Li Chengqian with a grim expression and said, "I have been transferred to the position of General of the Right Guard. Your Highness...should I resign?"

"Once you resign, I'm afraid all your positions will be resigned as well." Li Chengqian smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It's just a transfer out of the Eastern Palace, and it's only a few steps away, so there's nothing to worry about."

"What about what's happening outside?" Li Anyan's voice lowered.

Outside the palace, they had finally managed to avoid everyone's spies and establish an intelligence network. If the information could not be delivered to Li Chengqian through Li Anyan in time, the effectiveness of this network would immediately be greatly reduced.

Li Chengqian waved his hand slightly and said, "You keep the core things for yourself. If there is anything serious, send it to me through the Prince's Household Secretary.

As for the rest, leave it all to my cousin. I will build another network with him as the core, but this network will not be kept secret from my father...so your side is the key."

"Yes!" Li Anyan bowed, then raised his head and said, "Your Highness, what will I do in the future?"

"Don't worry too much." Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Let's deal with the Qingque matter first... Now that you've been transferred out of the Eastern Palace, keep an eye on Chai Lingwu. I want to know all his secrets."

"Yes!" Li Anyan bowed seriously.

"As for the rest, we'll have to wait until after my father launches his eastern expedition to Goguryeo." Li Chengqian looked at Li Anyan and suddenly smiled, "Perhaps then, it will be time for me to send you to the battlefield... When my father launches his eastern expedition to Goguryeo, the Xueyantuo, Tubo, and Western Turks will all remain in turmoil. At that time, I might even send you to the battlefield."

"Your Highness!" Li Anyan's face looked a little heavy.

Li Chengqian stood up, patted Li Anyan's shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Protect yourself, protect yourself. As the General of the Right Guard, guarding the Yanxi Gate, I will be able to protect myself to the greatest extent... This is the most important thing."

Li Anyan's eyes suddenly lit up.

He knew what he should do.

(End of this chapter)