My father, Li Shimin, requests Your Majesty to become the Retired Emperor.

"Emperor Jing of Han was desperate and would try anything; in that critical situation, he couldn't think of any other way."

He actually followed Yuan Ang's advice and killed his teacher Chao Cuo, hoping that the armies of the seven kingdoms would retreat.

However, to his disappointment, the armies of the seven kingdoms not only did not retreat, but instead launched an even more ferocious attack.

Emperor Jing's actions exposed his weakness, demonstrating that the Han court feared an attack from the coalition of seven states.

therefore,

The Wu-Chu allied forces launched a frenzied attack on Chang'an.

Emperor Jing of Han became even more panicked. In desperation, he appointed Zhou Yafu as Grand Commandant and sent him to quell the Rebellion of the Seven States.

Zhou Yafu lived up to his reputation as a great general. He was calm, collected, and resourceful, and in just three months, he utterly defeated the Wu-Chu allied forces.

General Chang, His Majesty values ​​you highly.

"You must learn from Zhou Yafu. No matter what, you must protect Chang'an and ensure the safety of the Emperor Emeritus, the Emperor, and the Empress." Wei Zheng shook his head and began to recount that period of history.

Upon hearing this, Chang He blushed and said, "Lord Wei, you are absolutely right. I am far inferior to Zhou Yafu."

Wei Zheng nodded: "General Chang, you don't need to be so modest."

We all know that without your help, His Majesty would likely have struggled to succeed in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

in fact,

Wei Zheng said these words intentionally for Li Shimin to hear.

The implication is that although Chang He was reckless and careless,

but,

He was extremely loyal to the court. A general like him is rare indeed. How could we easily dismiss him from his post?

Li Shimin, being so intelligent, naturally understood Wei Zheng's meaning and sighed: "When the court is in trouble, naturally we hope for good generals."

now,

I can understand how Emperor Jing of Han felt at that time.

but,

Regardless of the circumstances, I do not approve of Emperor Jing of Han executing Chao Cuo.

On the one hand, Chao Cuo was his mentor of many years;

On the other hand, Chao Cuo was also a loyal minister; how could a loyal minister be killed?

"Your Majesty is wise! The reason Emperor Jing of Han doesn't have such a high reputation in history is because he killed Chao Cuo, and the method was extremely cruel. Chao Cuo didn't know beforehand and was cut in half at the waist while still wearing his official robes," Wei Zheng paused here.

"Emperor Jing of Han not only killed Chao Cuo, but also forced Zhou Yafu to commit suicide."

Zhou Yafu was a soldier, upright and intolerant of injustice.

If he encounters something he finds unacceptable or unreasonable, he will speak out and offer his opinions.

On one occasion,

Five Xiongnu kings surrendered to the Han Dynasty.

This was a major victory for the Han Dynasty.

Emperor Jing of Han intended to enfeoff the five kings as marquises in order to attract more Xiongnu nobles to surrender to the Han Dynasty.

However, Zhou Yafu firmly opposed it.

Zhou Yafu said that the five kings had surrendered and had no military merits, so how could they be granted titles?

This contradicts the Han Dynasty's system that stipulated no one could be enfeoffed as a marquis without military merit.

If we do that,

Doesn't that encourage everyone to become a general who surrenders?

Then, where is the loyalty and righteousness of the people?

Emperor Jing of Han ignored his advice and continued to enfeoff the five kings as marquises.

later,

Emperor Jing of Han wanted to enfeoff Wang Xin as a marquis. Wang Xin was the elder brother of Empress Wang Zhi.

Zhou Yafu again objected, arguing that "no one other than a member of the Liu family should be granted the title of king, and no one should be granted the title of marquis without military merit."

Wang Xin had no military achievements, which was also inconsistent with the imperial court's system.

Emperor Jing of Han was very unhappy.

For various reasons, Emperor Jing of Han wanted to depose Crown Prince Liu Rong.

Zhou Yafu, however, firmly supported Liu Rong.

He said Liu Rong was the eldest son and had done nothing wrong, so how could he be deposed?

Because of these things, Zhou Yafu completely offended Emperor Jing of Han.

It so happened that Zhou Yafu's son had acquired 500 pieces of armor, intending to use them as funerary offerings after Zhou Yafu's death.

However, Emperor Jing of Han learned of this matter.

Emperor Jing of Han used this as a pretext to arrest Zhou Yafu and imprison him, ordering minor officials to interrogate him.

Zhou Yafu was upright and honest. He had once commanded an army of millions. How could he tolerate the humiliation from those petty clerks?

He starved himself for five days and died vomiting blood.

So yeah,

Countless later generations felt that Emperor Jing of Han was too heartless and lamented the death of Zhou Yafu.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin remained silent.

obviously,

Here, Wei Zheng compares Chang He to Zhou Yafu and Li Shimin to Emperor Jing of Han, implying, "Your Majesty, do you want to emulate Emperor Jing of Han? Do you also want to leave behind a bad reputation?"

Wei Zheng continued, "Putting aside other matters, let's take the matter of Zhou Yafu quelling the Rebellion of the Seven States for Emperor Jing of Han as an example. Emperor Jing of Han shouldn't have treated Zhou Yafu that way. Wasn't that going too far?"

Without Zhou Yafu,

The Han Dynasty has already fallen.

Could Emperor Jing of Han still hold onto his throne securely?

Li Shimin blinked, waved to the two guards, and they left.

"Chang Datou, quickly put on your helmet plume and sword seal, and hurry up and find out the enemy situation outside and report back to me."

in fact,

Chang He just said those words in a moment of impulse.

How could he bear to lose his position as commander of the Imperial Guards?

It was as if he had just woken up from a dream.

Wei Zheng had helped him out of trouble more than once, and he was very grateful to Wei Zheng.

He steadied himself and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this humble general will go and investigate immediately."

After Chang He finished speaking, he turned and left.

Li Shimin didn't really want to remove Chang He from his official position; he was just giving him a warning.

Li Shimin frowned: "My dear minister, who do you think dares to besiege Chang'an?"

Wei Zheng pondered for a moment: "Your Majesty, I think it is unlikely to be the army of Fuyu and Yanqi."

Why?

"Because they had been terrified by the Crown Prince and their strength was greatly diminished."

Besides, Chang'an is a formidable city, with strong defenses, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

They wouldn't dare come until they had accumulated enough strength.

As the saying goes, "once bitten, twice shy," they will not easily take the risk again.

Last time, the allied forces of Zhang Zhongjian and Li Yuanli reached the gates of Chang'an, and His Majesty was furious.

The soldiers guarding the pass became even more cautious, fearing for their lives.

therefore,

"It's highly unlikely they could break through all the defenses and suddenly reach the gates of Chang'an," Wei Zheng analyzed.

Li Shimin nodded slightly, finding Wei Zheng's analysis reasonable: "You say it wasn't the army of Fuyu or Yanqi, then where could it be from?"

"Firstly, didn't Songtsen Gampo say that he had already sent a message by carrier pigeon to Grand Minister Shangnang, ordering him to lead 20,000 cavalry to Chang'an at top speed?"

Therefore, it is highly likely that Tibetan cavalry were among them;

Secondly, Your Majesty has decreed that Murong Shun of Tuyuhun be given to Li Ke, but I think Murong Shun will probably not agree to this.

Thirdly, the Tuoba Chici of the Tangut people was quite unique.

He really liked the book "Han Feizi".

Last time,

When the Crown Prince and Crown Princess went to subdue the Dangxiang, they brought him a copy of "Han Feizi," which is said to be the original work.

Tuoba Chici was deeply moved after reading it.

Tuoba Chici, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess had engaged in in-depth discussions of Han Feizi and had become friends.

"Oh, is that so? Isn't Han Feizi a representative work of the Legalist school?" Li Shimin asked in return.

Yes, Legalist thought has had a profound influence.

Two prominent figures among them are Shang Yang and Han Fei.

Qin Shi Huang especially valued Han Fei's works.

then,

To obtain Han Fei, Qin Shi Huang did not hesitate to wage war.

However, after Han Fei arrived in Qin, his classmate Li Si was also in Qin.

Li Si knew his talents were inferior to Han Fei's, and thus became jealous.

He worried that Han Fei's status would eventually surpass his own.

Ultimately, Han Fei was killed by Li Si.

When Li Shimin heard Wei Zheng recount that period of history, he was deeply moved and said, "This is probably what they mean by 'Heaven is jealous of talent.'"

"Your Majesty, although the Dangxiang have been changed to a tributary state and assigned to Li Tai,

but,

Tuoba Chici, however, did not think highly of Li Tai.

He admires the Crown Prince, so it's very likely that Tuoba Chici will lead his troops here.

Fourthly, Prince Pungjang of Baekje and King Sanbee are close friends with you, Crown Prince.

If they learn that Li Chenggan is in danger, they might send troops.

Li Shimin was skeptical of what Wei Zheng said.

About half an hour later, Chang He and Gongsun Wuda arrived together. After exchanging greetings,

Chang He said to Li Shimin, "Your Majesty, General Gongsun and I just went outside the city to investigate and found out what happened."

"Oh, who are these people who have come?" Li Shimin asked.

"Among them, the Tibetan Grand Minister Shangnang led 20,000 troops."

Murong Shun of Tuyuhun and Tuoba Chici of Dangxiang each led 10,000 cavalrymen to come.

Prince Pungjang of Baekje and King Yamabe no Ōe of Wa each brought a navy of ten thousand men.

Li Shimin was also taken aback, as Chang He's report was almost identical to Wei Zheng's guess.

"Do you know what they want to do by leading their army here?"

Gongsun Wuda stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, I have already investigated and found out that their main purpose in coming here is to ensure the safety of the Crown Prince and to ask Your Majesty not to arrest Li Chenggan and to restore the Crown Prince's freedom."

There might be some other things involved as well.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin slammed his hand on the table: "Rebellion! This is truly rebellion!"

They're plotting a rebellion!

Who let them in?

Issue the decree.

Slay all the guards along the way!

Wei Zheng quickly dissuaded him: "Your Majesty, you must not!"

"Why not?" Li Shimin's anger had not subsided.

"Your Majesty's feelings are understandable to this humble subject."

but,

"Your Majesty cannot do this," Wei Zheng advised again.

"Aren't they at fault? What use are these useless people to me?"

"There's a saying, 'The law doesn't punish the masses.' Can Your Majesty say that all the garrison commanders should be killed?"

The reason why the armies outside the city were able to arrive in Chang'an so quickly was...

I believe there are several possible reasons:

Firstly, the Tibetans, Tuyuhun, and Dangxiang had all submitted to the Tang Dynasty; in other words, they were now considered part of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore,

Our border guards were not on guard against them;

Your Majesty, do you still remember how Han Xin conquered the Qi region back then?

then,

It's unclear what Liu Bang was thinking; on one hand, he ordered Han Xin to attack the Qi region.

Let Han Xin lead troops to attack the Qi region;

on the other hand,

He then sent Li Shiqi as an envoy to the State of Qi to persuade the King of Qi to surrender.

Unexpectedly, Li Shiqi was truly eloquent. After arriving in the State of Qi, he managed to persuade the King of Qi to surrender to Liu Bang.

King Qi thought that since he had already surrendered to Liu Bang, there was no need to defend those passes.

Therefore, an order was given to evacuate them all.

Halfway there,

When Han Xin heard that the King of Qi had surrendered to Liu Bang, he thought, "Why bother fighting again?"

Han Xin then decided to withdraw his troops and cease his attack on the State of Qi.

but,

His advisor, Kuai Che, advised him to continue attacking the State of Qi.

Kuai Che said to Han Xin: "You command hundreds of thousands of troops, yet your achievements are inferior to those of a scholar. Where do you put your face?"

Also, did Liu Bang issue you an order to stop the attack on Qi?

Han Xin said, "No."

"That's it. Since it's not there, then you should take it by surprise, attack them when they're unprepared, and seize the land of Qi."

Han Xin thought about it and felt that Kuai Che's words made sense.

then,

Following Kuai Che's advice, Han Xin suddenly led his army in a fierce attack on the State of Qi.

Since the King of Qi had already withdrawn the defenses,

Therefore,

Han Xin triumphed all the way, capturing dozens of cities in succession.

King Qi was furious, believing that Li Shiqi had deceived him.

Therefore,

They then had Li Shiqi cooked and killed.

So,

Your Majesty, may I ask...

Are our current situation somewhat similar to that of those years?

Songtsen Gampo was already engaged to Princess Wencheng, and Murong Shun and Tuoba Chici had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore,

Our Tang Dynasty's western garrison commander lowered his guard against them.

It's not surprising that King Yamabe and Buyeo Pungjang were able to suddenly arrive at the gates of Chang'an.

Because they traveled by water, not land.

They went upstream along the Yangtze River.

and also,

This may also reflect the will of the people.

The eyes of the masses are discerning; people see things very clearly.

The Crown Prince is loyal to the court and very filial to His Majesty and the Empress. He is a benevolent and filial Crown Prince. Where can you find such a good Crown Prince?

Therefore, people do not want anything to happen to the crown prince.

They might then stop those who wanted to rescue the prince.

Li Shimin thought Wei Zheng's analysis made some sense, so he decided not to kill the generals guarding the route.

Li Shimin looked intently at Chang He and Gongsun Wuda: "I order you to immediately organize troops to retaliate."

"Send them back to where they came from!"

Chang He frowned upon hearing this. In truth, he didn't entirely agree with Li Shimin's decision, but because of what had just happened...

He could no longer contradict Li Shimin, so he agreed.

"promise!"

Chang He and Gongsun Wuda agreed and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

Wei Zheng called them both back to their feet.

Chang He and Gongsun Wuda stopped and turned around, looking at Wei Zheng, waiting for him to continue.

Wei Zheng was speechless: "Oh dear, Your Majesty, what's wrong with you today?"

Why is my temper so fiery?

"You can't hit him."

"Why is that?"

Li Shimin was indignant. "Do they think I'm easy to bully?"

Wei Zheng gestured with his hands: "The art of war says: A general should not raise an army in anger."

If we absolutely must fight, we must think things through calmly.

Back then, our Great Tang Dynasty had only been established for a short time.

The Eastern Turkic Khaganate's Khan, Jieli, led hundreds of thousands of troops to the gates of Chang'an, causing panic among the civil and military officials.

His Majesty, however, only took a few dozen horsemen to the Wei River, where they met across the river and reached an alliance with Khagan Jieli.

How magnificent is Your Majesty?

His Majesty's majesty was deafening.

now,

After more than a decade of development, our Great Tang Dynasty is now much stronger than before.

Why has Your Majesty become so impatient?

"When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it. What's wrong with that?" Li Shimin still didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

"The art of war also says: 'To win hearts and minds is the best strategy; to attack cities is the worst strategy.'"

Your Majesty, if it really is the Yanqi army that has come to attack, then we have nothing to say, let's just start fighting.

but,

Songtsen Gampo, Tuoba Chici, Murong Shun, Fuyu Fengzhang, and the Great King of Shanbei,

They've already subdued our Great Tang, how can we start a war so easily?

Moreover, offending one country is already a serious matter, so how can we afford to offend several countries at the same time?

Having too many enemies is probably not a good omen.

"Then how can we withdraw our troops?"

"This is very simple. Just close the gates of Chang'an, raise the drawbridge, and then send someone to bring the Crown Prince back."

"As long as the Crown Prince ascends the city wall and utters a few words, everything will vanish, and tens of thousands of troops can retreat immediately."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin became even more furious: "What did you say? Does our Great Tang Dynasty have no one besides Li Chengqian who can repel the enemy?"

"I want to personally ascend the Xuanwu Gate tower and see what they really want."

Wei Zheng quickly advised, "Your Majesty, your body is of utmost importance; you must not act rashly."

Times change, and so do circumstances.

then,

The reason you were able to reach an agreement with Khagan Jieli at the Wei River is because His Majesty has just wiped out the separatist forces of Xue Ju and his son Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, and Liu Heita.

Its power remains undiminished.

in addition,

Jieli Khan only had his Eastern Turkic forces.

They couldn't discern our true strength, which is why His Majesty was able to successfully reach an alliance with him.

But now, the situation is different.

"Your Majesty has not led troops into battle for several years, and you are also getting on in years. If Your Majesty is no match for those people, your reputation will be tarnished, and the consequences will be unimaginable."