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

Chapter 56 Li Shimin: Jun Ji, you are my brother
After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

In the Guande Hall, cups and bowls were scattered all over the place, and the air was filled with the smell of alcohol.

The emperor sitting on the imperial couch also had a blush on his face.

Li Chengqian sat on the side, his face full of smiles, his eyes hazy with drunkenness. Even Li Zhi, who was sitting behind him, felt dizzy after drinking a few glasses.

At this time, Li Shimin looked at Hou Junji, who was sitting at the top of the left seat, and said drunkenly: "Junji, you are my brother. Let me be honest with you. This time, the purpose of the military expedition was not achieved at all!"

Hou Junji numbly raised his head. After a moment's pause, he finally reacted, nodded, and said, "Your Majesty is referring to Ashina Yugu of the Western Turkic region. Yes, during the siege of Gaochang this time, he actually fled without a fight. I also find it strange... Of course, it's also possible that he was frightened by Your Majesty's attack."

Ashina Yugu was the nephew of Jie Li Khan. After the demise of the Eastern Turks, he fled to the Western Turks and continued to oppose the Tang Dynasty.

Li Chengqian sat aside and came back to his senses a little.

The affairs of the Eastern and Western Turks were a war, and it was not his turn to get involved now. What made him a little more sober was the emperor's words "brother".

This is not about the feeling of fighting side by side on the battlefield, but about being real blood brothers.

Hou Junji's mother, Lady Dou, was a cousin of the emperor's mother, Empress Taimu Dou. It was because of this relationship that Hou Junji entered the Prince of Qin's Palace very early.

Strictly speaking, Hou Junji was Li Shimin's cousin, and their blood relationship was not very distant.

That's why today outside the Jinguang Gate, Hou Junji dared to conceal the matter of Li Yuanji. In some aspects, his relationship with Li Shimin was even higher than Fang Xuanling, and second only to Changsun Wuji.

Li Chengqian lowered his head slightly with a cold expression.

This relationship can be gone in an instant.

……

"...We'll have to find a way to deal with him later." The emperor took a deep breath, looked at Hou Junji and said, "It's already the end of the year, Junji, you have to continue to manage the Ministry of Personnel, at least until the end of the year. A lot of official documents have accumulated this year, and you need to deal with them carefully."

"Uh, I'm not saying... Oh, look at my brain. I get dizzy when I drink too much." After a brief pause, Hou Junji pondered for a moment and said, "A month is a bit tight, but Your Majesty, don't worry. I will complete it before the New Year's Day court next year."

"Yes!" Li Shimin smiled and nodded, saying, "Next year, you won't have to worry about the Ministry of Personnel. However, I haven't decided on the new Minister of Personnel yet. You should think about it during this period, and I will give it some advice when the time comes."

"Yes!" Hou Junji's expression became solemn. The emperor's meaning was very clear. He still needed to guard the Ministry of Personnel for a while.

"This war is over. I will not confer a higher title on you as Duke." Li Shimin raised his head and said, "Siye, I will confer you the title of Earl of Jinchang County."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Hou Junji bowed sincerely with gratitude. Hou Siye was his second son, and now he was granted the title of Earl of Jinchang County, which was several decades earlier than in the future.

Li Shimin smiled, then looked at the generals behind him, his eyes fell on Jiang Xingben, and said, "Jiang Qing has worked hard, so I will transfer him to the position of Minister of the Imperial Guards."

"Yes!" Jiang Xingben bowed solemnly, then breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Shimin looked at Xue Wanjun behind him and said, "The Duke of Yong'an is granted the title of Duke of Lu and transferred to the Chief Clerk of the Grand Military Governor's Office of Jizhou."

"Yes!" Xue Wanjun immediately bowed.

Li Shimin looked at Niu Jinda, Qibi Heli, Ashina She'er, Qiu Xinggong and other generals in the army, and made simple arrangements.

The imperial edict has not been issued yet, so let them know what is going on first.

Li Chengqian lowered his head and looked at the wine in the glass.

In an instant, it was as if an extremely sharp long knife cut the wine liquid that had condensed into a ball into countless pieces.

……

"I have a knife here." The emperor's words made Li Chengqian look up involuntarily.

Li Shimin took out a long black sword with silk wrapped around it from under the table.

Li Chengqian was completely bewildered and looked at the knife in surprise. Wasn't that the knife he had given to the emperor?
Li Shimin gently drew out his long sword. The clear sound of the sword being drawn and the sharp light of the sword instantly woke up everyone in the hall.

"This sword was presented to me by the Crown Prince last month. I named it Zhuxie and am giving it to you today, Junji." Li Shimin looked at Hou Junji and said, "I hope you will be cautious in your future actions and think twice before acting."

"Yes!" Hou Junji wanted to stand up, but perhaps because he was drunk, he couldn't stand up for a while. He could only smile bitterly and bow to Li Shimin, saying: "I thank your majesty for your grace."

"Hahaha!" Li Shimin couldn't help but burst into laughter, and put his long sword back into the sheath. All the ministers in the hall relaxed for a moment and started laughing.

Amidst the laughter, several figures walked quickly into the hall.

Leading the way were Tang Jiao, the Vice Minister of Personnel; Cui Renshi, the Vice Minister of Revenue; Cui Dunli, the Vice Minister of War; and Ji Qian, the Junior Minister of the Imperial Treasury. They all walked in together.

Li Shimin, sitting on the imperial couch, looked at everyone with a smile and asked, "Why, have the military achievements been verified?"

"Your Majesty, the verification has been basically completed, but there are still some questions." Tang Jiao placed a memorial on Li Shimin's desk with a solemn expression.

The somewhat tipsy emperor asked with amusement, "Do you have any questions that could delay my conferring rewards on the monarch and his ministers?"

As he spoke, Li Shimin had already reached out to open the memorial, but after the first glance, the smile on Li Shimin's face gradually froze.

With a bang, Li Shimin slammed the memorial onto the table. Then, with a clang, he instantly drew his long sword with his left hand, pointing the tip of the sword straight at Hou Junji. The emperor roared, "Hou Junji, what have you done in Gaochang?"

The cold light of the sword instantly shot into the sight of all the civil and military officials present. The next moment, everyone couldn't help but shiver, and the drunkenness disappeared in an instant.

Everyone hurried out from behind the desk, bowed their heads in fear and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down."

Hou Junji, who had been drinking so much that he could barely stand, was the slowest to react. In the entire hall, even Li Chengqian had already knelt, but he was the only one still sitting there. Facing the cold sword light, Hou Junji muttered two words: "Your Majesty!"

"You embezzled a large amount of rare jewels and allowed your troops to plunder Gaochang for three days. Hou Junji, are you crazy?" Li Shimin suddenly raised his hand and subconsciously wanted to chop Hou Junji with his long sword.

In an instant, Hou Junji's eyes were filled with fear.

At the last moment, the emperor finally withdrew his hand. He looked outside the palace and shouted angrily, "Come here, imprison Hou Junji immediately. The Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Supreme Court will interrogate him... No, Fang Xuanling, you go and interrogate him yourself, and the others will assist. I want to find out what exactly happened."

"Ah!" Fang Xuanling looked up in disbelief, but even at this moment he was unable to react.

The same goes for other court officials.

The general who was about to be appointed as the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Personnel was imprisoned in an instant.

"Take him away!" The emperor's explosive roar rang out in the hall. Four Jinwu Guards immediately rushed into the hall, grabbed Hou Junji's arm, and dragged him out of the side hall.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent!" Hou Junji finally reacted and struggled to look at Li Shimin.

The emperor who had just called him "brother".

However, the emperor's face was terribly cold.

The dozen or so generals in the hall who had just followed Hou Junji back from Gaochang all kowtowed to the ground with grim expressions.

At this time, no one dared to plead for Hou Junji.

Or rather, they don't even know what to say.

He embezzled rare treasures and allowed his soldiers to plunder.

If they are guilty, they cannot escape.

……

What a show!
Li Chengqian knelt on the ground, looking at the ground, a hint of sneer in his eyes.

As soon as he entered the palace today, the emperor began to cut off Hou Junji and the generals under his command step by step.

Now, the imperial edict of reward has not yet been issued, but the emperor has already revealed all the contents to his ministers.

They each have their own place to go.

They are no longer under Hou Junji's command.

……

Li Chengqian lowered his head and was calm.

He had experienced something like this once in his previous life.

The last time, he chose to plead for Hou Junji.

It was also because of that plea that he and Hou Junji got together.

Today, when I take a closer look at all of this, I find that there are too many traces of human chiseling.

The emperor was prepared for everything.

The emperor was ready to punish Hou Junji...

Li Chengqian couldn't help but look up slightly and look at Li Jing, the Duke of Weiguo, among the ministers.

A hint of sarcasm was clearly visible on Li Jing's face.

When he conquered the Eastern Turks and Tuyuhun, wasn't the same outcome the same after he came back?
Hou Junji, why can't you see through it?

Li Chengqian seemed to hear Li Jing's voice in his heart, and his expression became solemn in an instant.

Last time, he made a mistake and didn't see the situation clearly. He even suspected that his path to a dead end started from this time.

At that time, he had no idea that this was a trap set by the emperor.

But this time, everything is different.

Li Chengqian's heart calmed down.

……

On the steps, the emperor's breathing finally calmed. He sheathed his sword and said, "Let's call it a day today. After the results come out tomorrow, Duke Zhao, Duke Liang, Duke Zheng, Duke Shen, Duke Ande, the Imperial Censor, and the Crown Prince, let's discuss this matter together... Oh, Duke Wei, you come too."

Li Chengqian suddenly looked up. In the previous life, when Hou Junji was being punished, Li Jing was not there!

Li Shimin's gaze swept across Li Chengqian and Li Jing's faces, and both of them had the same confused look on their faces.

The corners of the emperor's mouth curled up slightly.

(End of this chapter)