People in the Tang Dynasty, Jian'an style

Pooh!

If anyone dares to say that, Wu Lezhang will spit in his face!

It was my Royal Highness the Crown Prince who proposed it. Why didn't Wu Shigui immediately run to the East Palace to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for his strong recommendation? Instead, he went to thank the King of Qin?

If the King of Qin had already had this idea, why didn't he bring it up on his own initiative, but instead asked our Crown Prince to say it?

What if Li Shimin disagrees?

That's even better!

You, the King of Qin, are jealous of talented people and afraid that your subordinates will surpass you?

Oh, you all need to think about it more. Under the control of such a person, can you make any further progress?

Even if such a thing did not happen and there was no discord between Li Shimin and Wu Shigui, then for the prince, at most he would have gained nothing.

There is no loss at all.

No, it cannot be said that there is no gain - then the time can be mobilized for the officials of the crown prince's faction to hype up the matter and portray the crown prince as a wise king who is judged not by his background but by his ability.

Anyway, the prince is invincible!

Thinking of this, Wu Lezhang's admiration for Li Wenbin deepened.

If originally he only valued Li Wenbin's identity as Li Shimin's eldest son, now he has some appreciation for him as a person.

Humph, I really have a keen eye to discover such a talent!

Li Wenbin looked at Wu Lezhang's expression and knew that he had heard what he said. He smiled and said, "How about it, Brother Wu? Is my idea feasible?"

"Great, really great!" Like an old traitor, Wu Lezhang gave a thumbs up, "Young Master, this move is really amazing!"

Now Wu Lezhang could no longer sit still. He wanted to rush back to the East Palace and report this idea to the crown prince.

"Brother Wu, if you have urgent matters, please go ahead and do it." Li Wenbin said sympathetically.

"Haha, I'm sorry to make you laugh, young master. I do have some things to go back and take care of. In that case, I'll take my leave... Young master, please take a seat. I'm too humble to bother you to see me off."

Wu Lezhang bowed repeatedly, backed out of the private room, then waved to the owner of Baihualou.

He threw a few golden cakes into his hands and pointed at the private room, saying, "Whatever the guest inside asks, you must satisfy him. Even if he wants to pick something from the sky... Never mind, you really can't do this, but that's what I mean. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. Please rest assured, sir."

Although he was a eunuch, he was also the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, so the owner of Baihualou naturally did not dare to offend him.

"Well, if you handle this well, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will reward you handsomely." Before leaving, Wu Lezhang did not forget to instruct, "Don't move that private room anymore. Leave it for the noble inside. Do you understand?"

"promise……"

……

Inside the private room, Zhangsun Wugou had already hurriedly taken off her veil and asked repeatedly, "Master Wen... How could you do this? You have to know that the prince is your father after all! Moreover, do you think it is a good thing for this man to be close to you? If something happens to your father, there will be no one left alive in the entire Qin Palace. Don't you understand this principle?"

Li Wenbin poured himself a glass of wine and said slowly, "Guanyin, you don't underestimate me. I can even subdue you, let alone a eunuch?"

Zhang Sun Wu Gou said angrily: "You are not allowed to compare me with this kind of people."

Li Wenbin snorted and said, "I'm not a fool. If I were a fool, I would have died long ago."

Hearing the resentment and coldness in his words, Changsun Wugou shuddered and dared not speak.

"You don't need me to tell you that I understand the truth that if the skin is gone, the hair will not stay. My existence is meaningful only when the King of Qin is here. If not, Li Jiancheng, or even Wu Lezhang, would not even look at me straight in the eye."

"Master, I hope you understand. You..."

"I haven't finished speaking yet." Li Wenbin interrupted Changsun Wugou and continued, "But even if this is the case, it doesn't mean that I will help him, Li Shimin, without reservation. Right?"

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes: "You are persuading me like this, are you still in love with him? Yes, as the saying goes, a husband and wife for a day will be grateful to each other for a hundred days, this is normal."

Zhangsun Wugou's face turned pale and he dared not speak.

Although she dissuaded Li Wenbin out of consideration for his own good, she could not deny that most of her thoughts were still on Li Shimin.

Looking at Changsun Wugou's expression, Li Wenbin knew that his guess was correct.

I secretly sighed in my heart that the Obedient Pill did have its shortcomings.

The human heart is indeed the most unpredictable thing in this world.

Wanting to control it with just a pill is really like a fool's dream.

"I...said the wrong thing. Please punish me, Master." Changsun Wugou lowered her head and said pitifully.

Seeing her like this, Li Wenbin could no longer control the violence in his heart.

Li Wenbin said as he untied his belt.

"Since you want to punish me, then I will grant you your wish."

"Well--"

Changsun Wugou's tears came out and a cry of sorrow came from her nostrils, but this made Li Wenbin feel even more excited.

Li Wenbin laughed loudly: "My dear father, have you ever thought that you treated me like nothing, even like a pig or a dog. But now, your beloved wife can only kneel in front of me and serve me with her lips and tongue?"

As he spoke, he reached behind Changsun Wugou.

He was surprised to find that there was already a gurgling stream there and it was very damp.

"Oh, I never thought that my dear Princess Qin actually has the characteristics of a masochist. This is really a surprise... Someone, bring me a plate of ice cubes."

The ice cubes were delivered quickly. Li Wenbin grabbed a handful of ice cubes and stuffed them into Zhangsun Wugou's horrified eyes...

Chapter 61: Retreat to Advance

A few days later, there was a court meeting.

"If you have the foundation to start a memorial, if you don't have the foundation to retreat from the court."

Following the eunuch's confident shout, Wei Zheng, the Eastern Palace Groom, responded: "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to report."

"Oh, what do you want to say, my dear?"

"Your Majesty, I impeach the governor of Chengdu Prefecture in Jiannan, Guo Ling, for corruption and abuse of power..."

"I have a memorial to impeach the governor of Jiazhou in Jiannan Road..."

"I have a memorial to impeach the governor of Luzhou in Jiannan Road..."

Suddenly, more than a dozen officials jumped out, all of them impeaching officials from Jiannan Road, either for corruption or various other problems.

Moreover, the evidence is solid and the words are substantial, and are definitely not hearsay or hearsay.

When Li Yuan saw this, he immediately ordered the officials involved in the case to be dismissed from their posts and taken to Chang'an to be handed over to the three judicial officials for a decision.

"King Qin..."

"Your son is here." When Li Shimin heard Li Yuan calling him, he hurried out of the office.

"As the Minister of the Yizhou Grand Secretariat, do you have anything to say about this?" Li Yuan stared at him with his tiger eyes and said dissatisfiedly.

"I have nothing to say. I know I was wrong."

Li Shimin was also helpless. He had never been in office as the Minister of the Yizhou Grand Secretariat for a single day and it was just an honorary title.

But his father was questioning him in front of so many ministers, and he couldn't talk back in court, so he could only accept it.

"Admit your mistakes? Just admit your mistakes and that's it?" Li Yuan slammed the table and said angrily, "This is a crime of deceiving the emperor!"

The ministers in the hall were discussing something when Li Jiancheng stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report to you."

At this time, Li Yuan was not as helpless as he would be later when he could only eat and wait for death. He still had some of the heroic spirit of an emperor. He was very happy to hear Li Jiancheng speak.

"Oh, Prince, if you have any suggestions on state affairs, feel free to raise them."

"Father, please calm down. I think the King of Qin cannot be blamed for this."

wow——

After Li Jiancheng said this, the discussion among the court officials became even louder.

Even Li Shimin looked at his elder brother in disbelief, wondering why he said that.

Could it be that he took the wrong medicine this morning?

Li Jiancheng did not even look at Li Shimin, but just said to himself: "The King of Qin has just returned from the Turkic expedition, and he is busy with state affairs. Although my second brother holds the title of Shangshu Ling of Yizhou Daxingtai, he is also unable to do anything. Even if he wants to help Yizhou thousands of miles away, he is powerless."

In any case, Li Yuan was happy to see his eldest son pleading for his second son, and he looked quite relieved.

He also didn't want his two sons to be like fighting cocks, beating people's brains out at any time.

Li Yuan looked at Li Shimin, his expression softened a lot: "Erlang, I am indeed a little too demanding of you."

"Your Majesty, I am terrified." Li Shimin said quickly, and then expressed his gratitude to Li Jiancheng.

Li Jiancheng smiled - the foreplay was over, it was time for the main part.

"Father, I think that since my second brother is too busy to handle everything, why not replace him with a minister of Yizhou? I think that Yingguogong Wu Shigui can take on this responsibility."

After hearing this, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Wu Shigui.

Wu Shigui was stunned, then he was surprised, happy and worried.

What was shocking was that before going to court today, he never thought that something like this would happen.

The good news is that although he is now the Minister of Works, second only to a few people but above tens of millions of people, if he goes to Yizhou to be the Shangshu Ling, once he gets there, the emperor is far away and the sky is high. What difference is there between him and a local emperor?

Moreover, Chengdu, the capital of Yizhou, is also very prosperous, not much different from Chang'an, which is an absolutely good choice.

As for worry...

If I rashly agreed to it, would the King of Qin mistakenly think that I was trying to steal his official position?

Wu Shigui glanced at Li Shimin secretly, but could not see any expression on his face, and felt even more uneasy.

"Hahaha, big brother, this suggestion is really great."

Li Shimin suddenly burst into laughter: "Father, I also think that Duke Ying is a very good choice to be the Minister of the Yizhou Grand Secretariat."

When Li Yuan saw that his two sons, whom he regarded as his right-hand men, said so, he nodded happily.

As a result, Duke Yingguo Wu Shigui resigned from the post of Minister of Works and was appointed as the Minister of the Grand Secretariat of Yizhou in the Tang Dynasty, and concurrently served as the Grand Commander of Yizhou.

After the court was dismissed, Li Jiancheng had not taken a few steps out of the hall when he heard Wu Shigui's voice behind him.

"Your Highness, please stay."

When he looked back, he saw Wu Shigui taking two steps at a time and chasing after him in a hurry.

"Oh, Duke Ying, what's the matter with you calling me?" Li Jiancheng pretended to be ignorant.

"I have come here specially to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..." As he said this, Wu Shigui bowed deeply.

"Oh, Duke Ying is too polite." Li Jiancheng showed respect to the wise and helped him up. "I am only promoting talents for the country. Duke Ying is an old minister who followed my father in the rebellion. You can't do this."

The two men were arm in arm and talking happily, and outsiders who didn't know would think they were brothers.

"I have nothing to do today. How about Duke Ying come to the East Palace and have a seat?" Li Jiancheng made an invitation.

Wu Shigui looked at Li Shimin not far away, gritted his teeth, and made a decision in his mind in an instant.

"I dare not disobey your command."

"Hahaha, let's go, let's go. I happened to get some good wine yesterday, so I can try it with Duke Ying."

Seeing Li Jiancheng and Wu Shigui leaving hand in hand, Li Shimin's face was so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip out of it.

"Your Highness..." Behind him, Zhangsun Wuji, who was a doctor of the Ministry of Personnel and was granted the title of Duke of Shangdang County and looked about 60% similar to Zhangsun Wugou, shouted.

"Wuji, don't shout." Li Shimin took a deep breath and waved his hand, "If this is the case, then we have lost!"

"Yes." Changsun Wuji also knew that if he showed too much and caught the attention of someone with ulterior motives, Li Shimin would probably lose even more points.

only……

It's really hard to swallow this anger!

"let's go."

"promise."

On the way back, Li Shimin still couldn't let go of this matter, and said to Zhangsun Wuji: "My elder brother has always been ambitious but not very talented, but today he seems to be a little bit unlike himself."

"Your Highness, the prince must have received help from a master to use this strategy of retreating to advance." Changsun Wuji repeatedly recalled Li Jiancheng's performance at the court meeting and finally came to this conclusion.