Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 180 Using Me? Then Don't Go Back to Chang'an

"My dear brother!"

Xu Jingzong walked over with a big smile on his face. When he saw Wen He, he looked at her as if she were his savior.

It's not that Wen He can help him in any way, but with the former around, at least some of the Emperor's anger can be mitigated... right?

"You haven't angered the Sage, have you?" Xu Jingzong blinked and asked softly.

"No," Wen He gave a dry laugh.

What he did just now shouldn't be considered angering Li Shimin, right?

Upon hearing this, Xu Jingzong breathed a long sigh of relief, patted his chest a few times, raised his eyebrows, and pointed towards the Lizheng Hall.

"That's good, that's good. Did the sage tell you?"

"I told you, someone wanted to rebel. But I'm very curious, those were a thousand Divine Arm Crossbows. Only a little over nine thousand were sent to Huizhou before, and those were made by seventy percent of the artisans in the Ministry of Works. How could those thousand have been embezzled without anyone noticing?"

Previously, Li Shimin had been pressing him for details, so he hadn't had a chance to ask. Now that Xu Jingzong was here, he could finally answer the questions in his mind.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jingzong looked helpless and bitter. He tugged at Wen He's sleeve and said, "This was a mistake by our subordinates. They hurriedly wrote down the confession. In reality, those thousand were crossbows that had been discarded by the Divine Arm Crossbow. However, there were indeed two hundred Divine Arm Crossbows that were reported as losses."

He adopted a pleading tone and lowered his voice to Wen He: "If it is believed that the sage is questioning me, I hope that you, young master, can put in a good word for me."

"This matter is not insignificant. Whether it is the Jue Zhang crossbow or the Shenbi crossbow, this matter is not trivial."

Even if it's just a broken crossbow, this is a big deal.

The so-called "juezhang crossbow" can be considered the ancestor of the "shenbi crossbow". Its usage is very similar to that of the "shenbi crossbow", except that it does not have a labor-saving device.

Moreover, its pulling force is stronger than the latter, and it is more strenuous than the Divine Arm Crossbow.

The range is reduced by about fifty paces, but it can still penetrate armor within one hundred and fifty paces.

In this era, bows and crossbows were deadly weapons, especially since they were lost within the city of Chang'an.

This is equivalent to losing more than a thousand rifles and more than two hundred semi-automatic rifles.

If this were in later generations, it would be enough to form an armed force in some place.

However, this can be considered a mistake by the Hundred Riders.

After all, it was the first time interrogating a prisoner, and Xu Jingzong must have been urging him on at the time, so it was inevitable that such a mistake would occur.

"However, the Hundred Cavalry must be punished for this, and such a thing must not happen again in the future. Brother Xu, you must know that a single error in intelligence can affect the lives of tens of thousands of people."

Wen He spoke with great seriousness, and Xu Jingzong was taken aback by his earnest expression.

After a long pause, he nodded and solemnly said, "Don't worry, my dear brother, I will remember this."

"Alright, let's go see the sage."

"Wait a minute."

Just as Wen He was about to go in, Xu Jingzong grabbed her again. Turning around, she saw him looking embarrassed: "Actually, there's something else."

"what?"

"That Qian Huai is dead."

"Forehead……"

Wen He was stunned. Did this mean the trail had gone cold?

But Xu Jingzong continued.

"However, we found a letter in his house. It was written by Wang Junkuo from Youzhou. Although the content was just mutual greetings, I felt something was strange. How could the dignified Left General of the Army and Governor of Youzhou write a letter to a mere subordinate for no reason?"

Upon hearing Wang Junkuo's name, Wen He immediately understood what was going on.

It really is related to Li Yuan.

"Could this matter be related to the Prince of Lujiang? His Majesty previously summoned him to the capital, but he refused."

Xu Jingzong suddenly sensed a hint of conspiracy.

Wen He could sense his excitement.

'Was making him a lieutenant in the Hundred Cavalry a good thing or a bad thing?'

Wen He was genuinely worried that he would transform from a treacherous minister into a cruel official.

The former ends up infamous and carries a lasting stigma, while the latter simply dies.

“Wenxianzi, we should inform His Majesty about this as soon as possible.” Xu Jingzong grabbed his hand and led him into the Lizheng Hall.

Wen He suddenly called out to him, "Brother Xu, you should leave this matter for now."

"what?"

Xu Jingzong turned around in surprise and looked at Wen He.

"Well, listen to me, you wait outside first, I won't take credit for this."

Speaking of Wang Junkuo, Wen He suddenly thought of something.

There is a later theory that Li Yuan was tricked by Wang Junkuo, because when he was plotting a rebellion, the latter suddenly betrayed him, killed him, and took his head to Chang'an to claim credit.

Moreover, this was done too obviously. A thousand crossbows suddenly disappeared. Wasn't Wang Junkuo afraid of being investigated?
Qian Huai was just a manager; wasn't he afraid that the former would betray him on such an important matter?

However, Wen He was not good at investigating cases, so he planned to tell Li Shimin the whole story first and let the latter analyze it himself.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jingzong was genuinely tempted by Wen He's attempt to steal the credit, but seeing her earnest expression, he could only remain skeptical.

"Then I'll wait outside."

"Well, it's best to go back to the original position."

Wen He smiled and pointed in the direction Xu Jingzong had come from.

"Uh, this."

He looked in the direction Wen He pointed, somewhat hesitant.

But considering the martial law in place, His Majesty the Emperor surely wouldn't want outsiders to hear his conversation with Wen He. So he decided not to ask any more questions, bowed to Wen He, and turned to leave.

When Wen He entered the Lizheng Hall, Li Shimin frowned as he saw him come in alone.

"Why are you alone?"

"It's Xu Jingzong who's here. I told him to wait outside for a while, as I have some matters to report to His Majesty privately," Wen He said.

"About Li Yuan?" Li Shimin narrowed his eyes, his face turning cold.

Although Wen He's words were interrupted, the former could guess what he was going to say next.

He just said that Li Yuan was the first to rebel, so perhaps preparations began around this time.

"You said."

Li Shimin tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his expression softening considerably.

Upon seeing this, Wen He spoke up: "Xu Jingzong just said that the Ministry of Civil Affairs official has been corresponding with Wang Junkuo. If I am not mistaken, he should already be instigating Li Yuan to rebel."

Li Shimin did not speak, but simply looked at him silently.

Seeing that he had no reaction, Wen He continued, "According to historical records, you summoned Li Yuan back to Chang'an under the decree of the retired emperor, which made him very uneasy. So he consulted with Wang Junkuo, but Wang Junkuo wanted to use this opportunity to make a name for himself."

Later historical records state that Li Yuan was cowardly and incompetent, lacking the talent to serve as a general. Emperor Gaozu of Tang was worried that he would not be able to perform the duties, so he appointed Wang Junkuo, the Right General of the Imperial Guard, to assist him.

Wang Junkuo was once a bandit, brave and fierce, treacherous and cunning. Li Yuan relied on him wholeheartedly and agreed to become in-laws with him.

"Therefore, Wang Junkuo advised Li Yuan: The outcome of the incident in the capital is still unknown. Your Majesty is a member of the imperial family and has been ordered to guard the border with an army of 100,000. How can you accept a summons from a single envoy?"

"Moreover, Prince Zhao has already been handed over to the prison officials. Now that Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince Qi Li Yuanji have suffered this calamity, can Your Majesty protect yourself in this situation?"

"Li Yuan believed Wang Junkuo's words, and then..."

"Snapped!"

Before Wen He could finish speaking, a loud slamming sound came from the front.

He looked at Wen He, and instead of being angry, he smiled.

"Then that fool Li Yuan believed it, and when he rebelled, Wang Junkuo killed him, right?"

It must be admitted that Li Shimin was truly an expert in rebellion.

Even before Wen He finished speaking, he had already guessed most of it.

"When Li Shiji was transferred to Youzhou by imperial decree, Li Yuan must have been even more apprehensive. Now that Li Shiji has returned to the capital, he can't wait any longer."

Li Shimin's eyes gleamed with a cold light.

He wanted to get rid of Li Yuan, but not through such means.

Moreover, wasn't Wang Junkuo using him in the same way?

"No wonder Xu Jingzong was able to find out about this so easily. He could have used the transfer of those thousand crossbows to Youzhou to defend against the Turks, but he chose to use such an easily seen-through method. He wanted to tell me that Li Yuan was going to rebel!"

At this moment, Li Shimin was not angry about Li Yuan's rebellion.

Instead, it was Wang Junkuo who dared to use him!
This is deceiving the emperor!
"Go, have Xu Jingzong mobilize a hundred cavalry and capture all the officials in Youzhou..."

"and many more!"

Before Li Shimin could finish speaking, Wen He suddenly remembered something and interrupted him.

“There is one good person, Cui Dunli, who was not involved in this matter. When Li Yuan rebelled, he was even imprisoned. This person is capable.”

Cui Dunli was born into the Cui clan of Boling, and it was precisely because of this identity that he was spared his life and Li Yuan dared not lay a hand on him.

“Cui Dunli, this man was sent by me to deliver an imperial edict. He is not an official of Youzhou. You brat, do you think my memory is not as good as yours?”

Li Shimin glared at him irritably.

Wen He felt embarrassed.

He suddenly remembered it and didn't have time to recall it carefully.

He only remembered Cui Dunli, who had served as a court attendant, a general of the Left Guard, a secretary in the Secretariat, a vice minister of the Ministry of War, and a minister of the Ministry of War.

Moreover, he was knowledgeable about the situations of various tribes and made several diplomatic missions to northern tribes such as the Turks, Uyghurs, and Tiele. He also followed Li Ji in defeating the Xueyantuo.

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi), he entered the Secretariat directly and served as Attendant-in-Ordinary and then as Chancellor.

I just forgot that this person was sent to Youzhou by Li Shimin.

"I understand. Go and tell Xu Jingzong to take men to Youzhou and contact Li Shiji to lead troops back to Youzhou to capture Li Yuan. Also, tell him that I do not want to see Wang Junkuo return to Chang'an, and that his family members should all be exiled to Lingnan."

Li Shimin spoke calmly, but his words were filled with murderous intent.

I'm afraid we'll never see this person again.

Wen He said no more, bowed and withdrew, but before he had left the Lizheng Hall, he suddenly heard Li Shimin say something.

"And don't forget about Goro."

"Your humble servant will not forget."

Wen He smiled kindly.

Li Shimin didn't mention Li Xiaochang's matter, but it's highly likely that the man didn't survive either.

As for why he didn't ask, it was probably unnecessary.

Li Shimin didn't need to care why Li Xiaochang rebelled; he only needed to know that he would rebel.

He wasn't even my own son, so I can just kill him.

Wen He breathed a long sigh of relief as she left the Lizheng Hall.

As she walked outside, she looked around for Xu Jingzong.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his sleeve from the side.

(End of this chapter)