Li Shimin, one emperor through the ages

Chapter 9: Ready to Go (1)
1
The prison in Taiyuan is gloomy and strong, although it is very spacious, it is still overcrowded nowadays.In some cells, the inmates seemed unable to sleep.As the county magistrate, Liu Wenjing received special care, occupying a cell of seven or eight square meters by herself.The windows of this prison cell are higher than the head of the person, and the small window on the iron door is closed at all times. People inside are really barren.

Liu Wenjing was right to be worried. Regarding Li Mi's matter, the emperor let Li Yuan go, but not him.Li Yuan said that he would not go to Yangzhou because of his illness, but the emperor said, "Let's talk about it after we get well!"Then the emperor delivered another decree: put Liu Wenjing in prison.Obviously, the emperor hated Li Mi to the core, and he would severely punish anyone who had relations with Li Mi.However, what pleased Liu Wenjing was that the emperor let Li Yuan go this time.Liu Wenjing knew that it wasn't that the emperor didn't want to deal with him, but that he took into account the powerful forces that rebelled against the court both inside and outside.The emperor himself didn't even dare to return to Chang'an, the capital, so how could he have the strength to deal with Li Yuan, who seemed to be a vassal with a heavy army in his hand?Obviously, if Emperor Sui Yang could escape this catastrophe, finally quell the rebellion and stabilize the government, Li Yuan must be severely punished at that time.Liu Wenjing believes that she has seen this point, and Li Yuan and his son Li Shimin, who is more intelligent than ordinary people, must have seen this point. This is exactly where Liu Wenjing's hope lies.As a small county magistrate, Liu Wenjing had no power to oppose the Sui Dynasty, but Li Yuan, who had a heavy army in his hand, had such power.When this deep-rooted descendant of the military family knows that the emperor is going to be against him at any time, it's no wonder he doesn't turn the world upside down!Liu Wenjing shouted in her heart, her uneasy heart calmed down, and even became a little excited.At this moment, Liu Wenjing is not only full of hope for the future, but also secretly glad that she can participate in such an earth-shattering event in such a situation.He began to think seriously and waited patiently.He believed that Li Yuan would definitely send someone to visit him.

The next afternoon, the closed iron door was opened, and two people came to visit him.

"Second Young Master!" His eyes lit up, and he called out happily.

"Jinyang order." Li Shimin also called him, and ordered Hou Junji, who came with him, to put the food and wine on the table, poured two glasses of wine himself, handed a glass to Liu Wenjing, took a glass and said:

"I respect you, I've done it." After saying that, he drank it all in one gulp.

Liu Wenjing also picked up the cup and drank it down. Although the two had only met once in the Jinyang Palace, now in the prison, they looked at each other, as if they had known each other for many years, and their hearts were connected.

"Father wanted to come to visit in person, but because the eyes and ears of the emperor around him were worried that the Jinyang order would be rebelled, so..." Li Shimin said quietly and stopped here.

"I know, the second son's coming is the same as staying behind."

"My father asked me to tell you to stay here at ease, and he will try his best to keep you out."

"Please tell the second son to stay behind. I, Liu Wenjing, am very grateful."

"I will. There is one more thing that makes it difficult for my father."

"what's up?"

"Just after you were imprisoned yesterday, Xihe County was occupied by Li Shanfei rebels, and the situation is very critical."

"Li Shanfei has only a few thousand people, but he actually occupied Xihe County?"

"They have grown to tens of thousands."

"Unexpectedly, when a few thieves raised their flags and shouted, there were so many people responding, alas!" Liu Wenjing sighed heavily.

"Jinyang Commander don't have to worry, my father will definitely come here to fight against the rebels." Li Shimin said confidently.

"I'm not worried about Li Shanfei's rebellion. They are not your father's opponents. As long as they stay behind, they will surely be captured. I am worried that it is the current Sui Dynasty. God forgives people's grievances. Otherwise, like Li Shanfei How can there be tens of thousands of people around you?" At this point, Liu Wenjing stopped and looked at Li Shimin.Seeing his calm face, looking at him with piercing eyes, waiting for him to finish speaking, he continued:
"Nowadays the world is in chaos, if there is someone like King Tang and Emperor Wu to raise his arms, the world will surely be pacified."

"Jinyang Ling thinks that there are no people like King Tang and Emperor Wu in today's world?" Li Shimin asked in a deep voice with bright eyes.

"Have!"

"Where!"

"Far in the sky, close in front of your eyes, it's your father and son of the Li family. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just that your father is deeply loved by the emperor, and he is also a relative of the emperor. Although there are complaints, he will not come forward to oppose the Sui Dynasty."

"Do you really think my father is like that?"

"At least it's like this now." Liu Wenjing nodded.

"But, last time, didn't you say that the throne of the emperor was obtained by killing brothers and fathers?"

"Yes. The current emperor killed his father, Emperor Wen of Sui. Back then, Emperor Wen of Sui also entered the emperor with his aspect and used his power to force your mother's uncle to abdicate."

"Then why can't my father?"

"Your father's loyalty to the emperor is clear and deep."

"It doesn't matter if it's a wise ruler, why should such a foolish ruler be foolish and loyal!" Li Shimin said awe-inspiringly.

After hearing this, Liu Wenjing was overjoyed. She filled two glasses of wine, handed one to Li Shimin, picked it up herself, and said with a smile, "Cheers for the agreement between you and me?" All down.

Li Shimin nodded, stretched his neck and drank it in one gulp.The two dropped their wine glasses at the same time, looked at each other, and laughed.The voice was still echoing in the cell, Hou Junji hurried in and said: "The cell boss said that Wang Wei and Gao Junya are coming to visit the cell, please leave quickly, Second Young Master."

After hearing this, Li Shimin raised his hands and said, "Jinyang Ling, Shimin will take my leave now. I will visit you again in a few days. Please take care of yourself." After saying that, he walked away slowly with Hou Junji.

20,

The ancient city of Jinyang is located on the banks of the Fen River and the Jinshui River. In the early Warring States period, it was the capital of the State of Zhao. After Qin Shihuang unified China, the world was divided into 36 counties. Taiyuan County was set up on this ancient land. By the Sui Dynasty, It has become the third largest city in the country.The bustling streets of this city are full of Taiyuan people who are dressed in loose clothes with long sleeves, free and easy and elegant, with the right collar cross-collared in Hanfu.Li Shimin and Hou Jun came out to visit the prison, and among these ordinary people, they went to Dashikou.

Li Shimin lives in a political family, and has been deeply influenced by politics. He has been far-reaching since he was a child, but he is not yet 17 years old, and he has a strong and outgoing personality. Cockfighting, gathering crowds to gamble, hunting on horseback, and even fighting happened to him.Now, my father is leading the army away from Taiyuan, and went to Xihe County to attack Li Shanfei. Changsun Wuji accompanied Changsun's family to offer incense in Taiyuan Temple. The scenery of this ancient city is amazing.Unexpectedly, he didn't go far, and suddenly saw many people watching in front of him.

"There is a play to watch." Li Shimin nodded at Hou Junji, smiled like a child, and went straight to the lively place.Not to be outdone, Hou Junji followed closely behind him.The two quickly squeezed into the crowd and reached the front.Opening his eyes, he saw a dozen servant-like people fighting with a strong man.The strong man dodged and retreated, seeing that he couldn't hold back, Li Shimin shouted: "Stop!"

The sound was like thunder, and both sides stopped for a moment.Seeing that it was such a young man shouting, one of the servants walked up to Li Shimin, stared and asked: "Who are you, dare to meddle in Jiu Ye's affairs?"

"Bastard!" Hou Junji stood in front of Li Shimin, cursed loudly, then lowered his voice and said to him, "Speaking out will scare you to death!" Just as he was about to speak, seeing Li Shimin's signal, he knew that he would not let him After revealing his identity, he hurriedly closed his mouth again.

The servant looked at Li Shimin, then looked at Hou Junji, he didn't know him at all, he couldn't help laughing, and said: "Wow, I didn't expect that at such a young age, he would still put on airs to scare people, hit me."

As soon as the words fell, the servants raised their sticks one after another and fought violently.Li Shimin and Hou Junji were about to fight back when they heard the strong man who was beaten just now roar:

Come on me!
After roaring, the strong man's fists and feet intersected, knocking all the servants to the ground.Without changing his expression or beating his heart, he looked coldly at the servants who were lying on the ground and said, "I'm sorry." Then he turned his head, turned to Li Shimin and Hou Junji, and said with a bow:
"Thank you for your chivalrous hearts." After speaking, he turned and left.

When Li Shimin saw it, he liked it very much in his heart. He rushed to catch up and said, "Strong man, please stay!"

The big man stopped, turned around, and looked at Li Shimin.

"I just don't know something, and I want to ask the strong man, but I don't know if I can tell you."

"If it's someone else, I don't want to say anything more. For a person with a chivalrous heart like you, I will tell the truth when asked."

"Okay, may I ask the strong man, why did you just dodge and retreat at the beginning, and then show your skills when we want to help you?"

"This……"

"If it's inconvenient to say, that's fine."

"I, Liu Hongji, have nothing inconvenient to say, but it's a long story."

"So the strong man's name is Liu Hongji, my name is Li Shimin, and my friend's name is Hou Junji." Li Shimin straightforwardly introduced, "How about this, let's find a place, have a few drinks, and have a good chat."

"That's a good idea." Liu Hongji looked at Li Shimin: "Seeing that you are also the son of a rich family, I'd rather be obedient than respectful."

The three of them looked at each other and smiled, and went to Yixian Restaurant in the downtown area together.After sitting down, Liu Hongji smiled secretly and said, "I was beaten by Master Jiu's servant just now, and I deserved it, so I didn't fight back."

"You deserve it?"

"Yes, I stole the cow from Master Jiu's family, slaughtered it, and sold it for food."

"It seems that you don't look like a sneaky person. I don't know why you have fallen to such a point?"

"To be honest, my son, I am from Chiyang, Yongzhou. My father, Liu Sheng, was also the governor of Hezhong. He died early due to a sudden illness, and I don't know how to take care of the family property. No, within a few years, I became destitute. If it’s not enough to go to the army, I’ll just use Jiu Ye’s cattle..." Liu Hongji laughed when he said this.

Li Shimin laughed after hearing this.

"It turns out that a strong man wants to join the army. If so, why not follow my second son." Hou Junji blurted out.

Liu Hongji listened and looked at Li Shimin seriously.

"To tell you the truth, Li Yuan, who stayed behind in Taiyuan, is my father. If you don't mind being a strong man, come with us and do great things."

Liu Hongji was overjoyed when he heard this, and the three of them raised their glasses and drank it all together.

2
Although Li Shanfei had a large number of people, they were poor and hungry mobs who were looking for food, and their combat effectiveness was poor. When Li Yuan arrived, they immediately dispersed like birds and beasts.Li Yuan took back Xihe County, and instead of blaming Xiao Yu, the prefect of Xihe County, he gave him good words of comfort, asking him to stay at Xihe County with peace of mind, and said to Xiao Yu: "If the prefect has urgent matters in the future, he only needs to send someone to tell him." , Li Yuan will be there immediately."

Xiao Yu was deeply moved when he heard this, and said: "I used to only hear that Liushou understands righteousness and treats people with loyalty, but now that he is rescued from a disaster, he knows that this is true. I am very grateful to Liushou. If I can use my place in the future, As long as you stay behind and open your mouth, the old man will definitely do his best."

Li Yuan was very happy when he heard this, he held Xiao Yu's hands tightly, and said repeatedly: "The prefect is serious, Li Yuan is here to thank you first, and I will definitely come to invite you if I have something to do in the future."

It turned out that this Xiao Yu was originally the brother-in-law of Emperor Sui Yang, and the empress Xiao of Emperor Sui Yang was his own sister.Xiao Yu received a very good education since he was a child. He is famous for his filial piety, he is good at learning and writing, and he is deeply proficient in Buddhist principles.Because of Empress Xiao, Xiao Yu became a silver green doctor in her 20s and participated in important government affairs.Due to Xiao Yu's upright nature, he repeatedly admonished Emperor Yang for his actions, which often made Emperor Yang very dissatisfied with him.After breaking out of Yanmen Pass, Xiao Yu insisted again and again that Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty should fulfill his promise and reward the soldiers. Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty could not spend so much money to fulfill his promise, so in a rage, he demoted Xiao Yu to Xihe County.As a civil servant, Xiao Yu can have his own opinions on many matters of the court and can handle many things well, but as the chief of a county, especially when he has to resist the invasion of the enemy, he has no such ability.Because of this, Li Shanfei's mob who had no fighting power almost lost the city.Rescued by Li Yuan this time, the two have a good impression of each other and have established a deeper relationship.

After having a chat with Xiao Yu, Li Yuan returned to Taiyuan.Li Shimin held a banquet in the mansion to celebrate his father's triumphant return.

During the dinner, Li Shimin introduced Liu Hongji to his father, and especially talked about how Liu Hongji showed his skills when he saw that they were going to rescue them.Li Yuan was originally a suave, open-minded, self-willed and straightforward person, and he liked to make chivalrous friends, but now he saw Liu Hongji was a handsome man, bold and chivalrous, and he was the son of the former governor of Hezhong, so he was very happy, and secretly praised his son for his eyesight.After the banquet was over, Li Yuan retreated to the left and right, called Li Shimin to the front of the hall, and asked:

"Jinyang Ling is in prison, are you okay?"

This was something he entrusted Shimin to do before sending troops to Xihe County.In these few days, although he thought about many other things, he never forgot Liu Wenjing.From the moment he received the imperial decree asking him to detain Liu Wenjing, he couldn't help but regard Liu Wenjing's today as Li Yuan's understanding, linking Liu Wenjing's fate with his own.He secretly vowed in his heart: he must save Liu Wenjing and the Li family.Li Shimin originally planned to tell his father about Liu Wenjing after Xi San, especially Liu Wenjing's words about King Tang and Emperor Wu. He had thought about it for a long time and had some ideas. He really wanted to tell his father.Now, after listening to his father's question, he answered seriously:

"Okay, I conveyed my father's intention to try his best to protect him, and he said that he was very grateful. He said that his father would definitely succeed in making trouble for Li Shanfei, and he really has some insight."

"If you don't even expect this, he is still Liu Wenjing." Li Yuan twirled his beard and said.

"And..." Li Shimin looked at his father, hesitating to speak.

Li Yuan didn't urge him, but asked slowly: "Is there anything else I can't say to my father?"

"The order of Jinyang said that the world is in great chaos, if someone like King Tang and Emperor Wu came, the world would surely be pacified. He also said that my father was such a person, but he was loved by the emperor and didn't want to stand up."

Li Yuan listened and remained silent for a long time.Born into a political family, Li Yuan is bold and unrestrained, but also very sensitive and cautious.The noble blood of Zhu Kingdom of the Northern Zhou Dynasty flowed in his body, which made him dare to do any daring things.He has great ambitions and has always wanted to do something big.For his cousin Emperor Sui Yang, Li Yuan didn't take into account the slightest sense of loyalty to the emperor, because he saw with his own eyes how Emperor Sui Yang's father used the prime minister to force the emperor to abdicate, and he also saw with his own eyes how Emperor Sui Yang killed his father and brother And fight for the throne.What he cares about now is his own strength, whether he can win if he stands up and revolts.Li Yuan knew better than anyone else that if he didn't have enough strength, if he wasn't absolutely sure of winning, and as long as he had a slight rebellion and was noticed by others, what awaited him would not be the end of the matter, but the tragic result of the extermination of the nine clans.This meant that not only was he himself dead, but the entire Li family disappeared from sight.Therefore, he must be patient enough to wait for a very suitable opportunity, just like Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, when he was strong enough to throw the emperor away without any effort, and then do this earth-shattering thing.However, some people around him, such as Liu Wenjing and his second son, seem to be ready to move. In Li Yuan's view, this is a good thing, but also a very dangerous thing.So, he solemnly said to Li Shimin:
"Some of Liu Wenjing's words are right. Your father is loved by the emperor, so don't have the slightest resentment. You must remember this, and you must be like your father."

"But the current emperor..."

"I know what you're going to say. The emperor is very happy and made everyone angry, but he is not mean to our Li family."

"But he still doesn't believe you, so he sent his cronies to monitor you."

"This is human nature. It's the same with ministers who hold heavy armies, and kings of all dynasties." Speaking of this, Li Yuan looked at Li Shimin, and seeing that he was about to argue again, he used gestures to prevent him from speaking, and continued to say :
"The king is like this. As ministers, we must also seek self-protection. From now on, I will be a stupid official, drinking alcohol every day and greedy for small profits, so that the emperor thinks that I have no ambitions. Maybe it will reduce his many doubts about me. Of course, this is not enough, but...do you remember what you said in Jinyang Palace?" Li Yuan suddenly changed the subject and asked Li Shimin.

"To remain invincible, one must accumulate power." Li Shimin blurted out.

"Okay, you haven't forgotten, which means that you have thought about this. Now, I want you to imprint this deeply in your heart, and put it into action. It is very important for you to do something for your father. things."

"What's the matter?" Li Shimin asked abruptly.

"A major event, a major event related to the life and death of our Li family." Li Yuan put his eyes on Li Shimin and said with relief, "Although you are just over 16 years old, you can already entrust important matters to you."

2
When Li Shimin heard that his father was entrusting him with an important matter, he couldn't help being more energetic. He looked at his father hopefully, waiting for him to tell him what the important matter was, but unexpectedly, his father changed the subject and said:

"Although I was born prominently, because your grandfather died early and Sui replaced Zhou, although my position in the court was superior, I have not been able to maintain military power. Over the years, I have been wandering between the third rank and the fourth rank Until the year before last, even though I was transformed from a civil servant to a military officer, I still couldn't stand alone and own my own territory. Unexpectedly, the emperor was besieged by Yanmen, and my opportunity came instead. I was left behind in Taiyuan and had my own territory. "Speaking of this, Li Yuan's eyes sparkled, he paused, and then continued:
"This, God gave me a good opportunity for the Li family to turn around. I defeated Li Shan and flew back, and the children of the Guandong family kept coming to seek refuge. Among the local officials in Hedong, some people kept talking to me about the rebellion against the Sui Dynasty. You go Visiting Liu Wenjing, he also has the same intention. Do you think I can turn against Sui now?"

"My boy thinks that after Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty ascended the throne, he started building large-scale construction projects and frequently sent troops to fight. It is already a grievance. At present, there are more than 100 anti-Sui armies in various places. It is inevitable that the Sui Dynasty will fall. Father now dominates the fortress and holds the The army should follow the will of God. The child believes that as long as the father rises up, the Sui Dynasty loses the northern barrier, and there is an extra force to destroy him, and the demise should be absolute."

Li Yuan listened quietly to Shimin's words, feeling a little happy and a little worried.I am happy that at such a young age, Shimin can actually have such insights into major national affairs; what worries me is that although my son has some insights, he cannot think deeply about them.For such a thing, Li Yuan knew that unless he didn't think about it, once he thought about it, he couldn't think deeply about it, and he would definitely die without a place to bury him.So full of hope, I asked the people of the world inspiringly:
"What happened after Emperor Sui Yang fell?"

(End of this chapter)