Stupidity! ”

In the study room of the Qin Palace, Li Shimin was furious and couldn't help scolding, he had just received the news that his father was ready to give up this good opportunity to attack Hedong, but he was tied up by a piece of agreement, and he was extremely angry in his heart.

The one who sent him the news was Dou Iodine, the head of the household, because Li Shimin and Dou Liang jointly dealt with the Western Qin State in Longxi, the two established a good personal relationship, which also made the Dou family gradually favor Li Shimin.

Due to Dou Wei's death at the beginning of the year, Dou Lian should have replaced Dou Wei as the prime minister, but the crown prince Li Jiancheng strongly recommended Chen Shuda, which made the Dou family unhappy, which made the Dou family very dissatisfied with the prince, which in turn strengthened the relationship between Li Shimin and the Dou family:

In fact, there were also fierce factional struggles at the top of the Tang Dynasty, Pei Lian, Liu Wenjing, Dugu Zhen, Xiao Li, Dou Wei, this is the Tang Dynasty's five phases, the five phases were originally a relatively balanced power structure, Liu Wenjing and Dugu Zhen supported the crown prince Jiancheng, Pei Lin and Dou Wei supported Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and Xiao Li was a centrist.

But after Dou Wei died, the court agreed that it should be Dou Riddle into the phase, but the crown prince Li Jiancheng strongly recommended Chen Shuda, Li Yuan also considered weakening the power of the Guanlong nobles, so he changed everyone's expectations, and promoted Chen Shuda to the prime minister, the prince's power accounted for three places at once, and Li Shimin's power was very weak, breaking the original balance.

The huge political pressure made Li Shimin have to end the battle of the River Emperor and return to Beijing to serve as Shangshuling to make up for the weakening of his power in the imperial court, but his Shangshuling is completely different from Yang Yuanqing's Shangshuling, just a name, without any real power, which makes Li Shimin, who returned triumphantly, extremely depressed.

However, Li Shimin also understands that his military strength will inevitably make his father support the prince politically, so that the prince will form a political strength, if he is strong militarily, no matter how strong he is politically, it will threaten the status of the prince, which his father must not tolerate

Li Shimin walked a few steps in the room with his hands behind his back, and asked Dou Riddle again, "What is the attitude of the father." Could it be that the father and emperor support their so-called righteousness like this? ”

Dou bowed and saluted, "Your Highness, I heard that the Holy Lord originally wanted to take the opportunity to attack Hedong. But he was persuaded by the crown prince and others to give up the idea of attacking Hedong:"

"No, I'm going to persuade my father, the Sui army is attacking Hebei, and the troops in Hedong are empty, if we give up this opportunity, we will regret it in the future."

Li Shimin couldn't sit still anymore, he wanted to persuade his father to change his mind before this matter was finally settled, Li Shimin left the mansion and hurriedly went to the palace:

He came all the way to the door of the imperial study, there was a eunuch for him to go in to report, Li Shimin paced back and forth in front of the door of the imperial study with his hands behind his back, the Sui army seized Youzhou also made him deeply worried, Yang Yuanqing seized Youzhou, has taken the first step of expansion, and the Tang army was trapped in Guanzhong because of the defeat of Hongnong County.

If in the past, the Tang army only had the land east of the river, and it was slightly inferior to the Tang Dynasty that seized Guanlong, Hexi, and Bashu in terms of strength, then once the Sui army seized Hebei, Hedong and Hebei were connected, it formed a situation to compete with the Tang Dynasty.

Yang Yuanqing has now become their first rival, and in dealing with such a fierce rival, his father will still be righteous, and he is simply the second of Song Xianggong.

"Your Highness!"

A eunuch said at the door of the imperial study: "His Royal Highness Shengshangxuan is here!" ”

Li Shimin tidied up his clothes and walked into the imperial study quickly, in the imperial study, Li Yuan was discussing the imperial examination with the crown prince, and next month, the Tang Dynasty will also hold the first imperial examination after the founding of the country. There are a lot of details to be dealt with in the selection of talents in the world, so Li Jiancheng took the initiative to ask Ying to serve as the chief preparer of this imperial examination.

When the father and son were discussing, Li Shimin walked in, knelt down and kowtowed to his father, "My son asks my father for peace!" ”

Ordinary ministers do not need to kneel to the emperor, but Li Shimin is seeing his father as a son, so his etiquette is particularly respectful.

Although Li Yuan was dissatisfied with Li Shimin's delay in launching the campaign to exterminate the Liang Division, this was his valued son after all, and Li Shimin defeated the Liang Division with very few losses, getting more than 40,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of war horses, which made Li Yuan extremely happy:

Li Yuan smiled and said: "The emperor doesn't have to be polite, there are only three of us father and son here, it's better to be casual." ”

"Thank you, Father!"

Li Shimin stood up and gave another salute to his eldest brother Jian's concubine, Li Jiancheng nodded, "Second brother, sit down and talk!" ”

Li Shimin sat down and bowed first: "The sons and daughters must thank their father for the reward first!" ”

After the end of the Battle of Heshan, Tuyuhun presented 200,000 cattle and 300,000 sheep to the Tang Dynasty as an apology, and Li Yuan rewarded them all to Li Shimin's army, and Li Shimin gave them to his soldiers to bring their cattle and sheep home, which made him further win the hearts of the army.

Li Yuan nodded, "That is the reward that the soldiers deserve for their meritorious service, is the emperor here for this?" ”

"Nope! Erchen came for the matter of the Sui envoy. ”

Li Jiancheng's face next to him immediately became a little solemn, and he vaguely guessed that the second brother might have come for the Sui army, and now he guessed correctly.

A hint of surprise also flashed in Li Yuan's eyes, he quickly concealed his uneasy look, and said with a slight smile: "The Sui envoy is here to congratulate us on the extermination of the Liang Shidu, does the emperor think there is anything wrong?" ”

Li Shimin glanced at Li Jiancheng slightly, he didn't want his brother to be by his side at this time, but the eldest brother obviously had no intention of leaving, the arrow had been wound, and Li Shimin was not allowed to send it. Father, the Sui Dynasty is our first rival, in the past, now, in the future, now their main force expedition to Hebei, Hedong is empty, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to strike at the Sui Dynasty and recapture Hedong, if we give up this opportunity, then we will have no chance in the future, Father, the opportunity must not be lost! ”

"This ......"

Li Yuan didn't expect the second son to talk about it, he was speechless for a while, and in the morning he decided to abide by the agreement, and now the second son came over again, and he said it vigorously.

"Second brother, this matter has been decided by the imperial court."

Next to Li Jiancheng tried his best to use a gentle tone to solve the path and maintain the prince's calmness", the court believes that since there is an agreement between the two sides, and it is an agreement between the two courts, it should be abided by, and it cannot be broken in the world, which is related to the credibility of the country, and there will be opportunities, but the lost reputation is irretrievable, you don't persuade your father anymore. ”

The anger in Li Shimin's heart was burning rapidly at an irrepressible speed, and the blood was almost breaking through the top of his head, but he still strongly restrained the anger in his heart, took a deep breath and said: "Brother Huang, the agreement cannot represent the fundamental interests of the country, the so-called reputation is just a matter of face, it is related to the death of my Datang, and it is related to whether my Datang can win the world' You are for the so-called face, so that we lose the only chance to defeat the Sui army, Brother Huang, don't you think the price paid for a reputation is too great?" ”

Li Jiancheng was also slightly angry, and he said in a deep voice: "Second brother, credibility is not face, it is the letter of a country, the agreement we signed in the name of the imperial court has the autograph of the prince of the Tang Dynasty. With the treasure seal of your father, you can tear it up as you like, how do you let the people of the world look at the Tang Dynasty, how can you believe in us" treachery, can you afford to memorize these four words? A hundred years from now, what will our children and grandchildren say about us? Second brother, faith is the foundation of the country, don't take this, letter, and words too lightly. ”

The dispute between the two sons made Li Yuan's heart very entangled, in fact, he agreed with both sides, he felt that the eldest son was right, and he couldn't break his trust in the world, but he felt that Shimin was reasonable, and he missed this. Opportunity, I'm afraid there won't be another one in the future, he was extremely conflicted in his heart, and let out a long sigh.

"Shimin, you can't help but think that the Sui army is too simple, if we move the army, the Sui army will be withdrawn from Hebei, the last vicious battle, if it wins, it's okay to say, if it fails, the loss of the army will be broken, and the infamy of dishonesty will outweigh the loss!"

Li Shimin ignored Li Jiancheng, stepped forward and said to his father: "Father, the soldiers are in the dark and no longer ostentatious, the soldiers are at great speed, the sons are willing to raise five thousand cavalry, hurry to Yan'an County, cross the river from the Yellow River pontoon bridge at night, and kill directly to Taiyuan, I am afraid that the news has not yet reached Hebei, and the sons have already taken Taiyuan, and at the same time send two more armies to seize Feihuyin and Jingmo, and block the main force of the Sui army in Hebei, and Hedong will be taken down. The Sui army invaded Guanzhong, at that time we said that the Sui army broke the agreement first and wanted to attack Pujin Pass, as long as we hyped it, the courtiers would believe it, and the people of the world would not know who was right and who was wrong, father, the opportunity must not be lost! ”

"Father, Datang founded the country with integrity, not a thief like Dou Jiande and Li Mi, he can't overturn his credit, let alone use this kind of despicable tricks, there will be opportunities in the future, and he must not be quick for a while!"

The two brothers competed against each other, and Mian didn't let it, Li Yuan's heart was extremely contradictory, he lowered his head and pondered for a while, and said to Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin: "You all retreat first!" Let Lian think again. ”

Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin stood up, gave their father a deep salute, and both retreated, retreating outside the imperial study, but the two did not look at each other and left.

Several eunuchs looked at their backs and shook their heads, they were brothers, how could they reach the point of turning against each other?

Li Yuan paced back and forth in the imperial study with his hands behind his back, bowed his head and pondered for a while, and sighed up to the sky for a while, Li Yuan had actually been moved by Li Shimin's suggestion, and sent strange soldiers to recapture Taiyuan, he knew that this was an opportunity, and it could be done, but how could he explain it to the courtiers?

This is not only to the problem of the world's untrustworthy people, but more importantly, he is untrustworthy to the courtiers, ninety percent of the ministers of the imperial court advocate trustworthiness, but he betrayed his promise, maybe what way can be used to make the Sui Dynasty lose his trust, just like the people said, send people to pretend to be the Sui army to invade Guanzhong first, and deceive the courtiers.

At this moment, there was a rush of running outside the room, and a eunuch panted at the door: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother... The Queen Mother is not good! ”

Li Yuan was startled, and hurriedly took the chariot to the inner palace, the Empress Dowager Dugu is the sister of Yang Jian's wife, Queen Dugu, and the daughter of Dugu Xin, married to Li Yuan's father, Tang Guogong Li Sun.

Li Yuan's mother is extremely filial, during this time his mother was in very poor health, and the imperial doctor hinted that he might have to prepare for the future, so Li Yuan worried about his mother every day, he ran to the palace gate, only to hear the cry from the palace, Li Yuan's heart fell into the abyss, and an old eunuch knelt down in front of Li Yuan and cried, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother...... It's gone! ”

Ji Yuan's eyes darkened, and he fainted on the spot.

In February of the second year of Wude, the Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty died, Li Yuan posthumously crowned his deceased mother as Empress Yuanzhen, he was extremely sad in his heart, and ordered the whole country to hang filial piety, seal the weapon for three months, and was not allowed to discuss the attack on Hedong within three months.