Chapter 46 The Storm is Coming
Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin was very impressed by the use of this counter-espionage strategy: "The Tuli and Jie Li have been at odds for a long time. Emperor Taizong of Tang has a superb grasp of people's hearts and is extremely brave, so he can make the Turks withdraw temporarily."

Many people knew that there was a conflict between the two Turkic Khans, but how many people could work out a feasible plan that would take immediate effect, and dared to implement it personally?

[Faced with Li Shimin's rising reputation, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji felt that they could not continue like this.

Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji invited Li Shimin to a night banquet in the Eastern Palace. After drinking, Li Shimin felt a sharp pain in his chest and vomited blood. The accompanying Huai'an King Li Shentong helped Li Shimin back to the Qin Palace in horror.

By the way, in the fifth year of Wude, Li Shimin was asked by Li Yuan to move out of Chengqian Palace and live in Hongyi Palace on the west side of the palace city.

Li Yuan still has some love and care for his son... not much, just a little bit.

So he went to Li Shimin's Qin Palace in person to inquire about Li Shimin's condition.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che laughed out loud: "Hahaha... Indeed, Li Yuan still has some love for his son, but not much. I guess that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji will not have any problems this time. After all, Li Shimin is fine, well, he is not dead."

In his opinion, Li Yuan did have some love for his son. Otherwise, with such great contributions, if Li Shimin was not his son, he would have been the first on Li Yuan's list long ago.

But there was definitely not much care, otherwise Li Yuan would not have allowed the fighting to this extent.

After hearing what Liu Che said, Huo Qubing had a subtle look on his face. While Liu Che was laughing happily, he whispered to Wei Qing, "Uncle, your majesty means that if Li Shimin is really poisoned to death, will Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji be punished?"

Wei Qing patted him silently, signaling him not to think too much for the time being.

Huo Qubing sat back down, and Wei Qing secretly sighed. Judging from the miracles, Li Yuan had many concubines, so he probably had children. If Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji had poisoned Li Shimin to death, then maybe Li Yuan would still support his youngest son.

After seeing Li Shimin, he ordered Li Jiancheng: "The King of Qin cannot drink alcohol. You should not have any gatherings or feasts at night."

He also told Li Shimin that you had contributed to the rise of the army in Jinyang and the pacification of the world. I wanted to make you the crown prince, but you firmly refused. Of course, I still have to fulfill your good intention. And your brother Jiancheng has been the crown prince for many years, and I can't bear to depose him. As for you brothers, "I see that you brothers are not harmonious. If you are in the capital, there will be resentment and competition."

What should be done? Li Yuan asked Li Shimin to leave Chang'an and go to Luoyang, and stay at the Grand Secretariat of the Eastern Shaanxi Road. "From Shaanxi to the east, you should be in charge of everything. I also order you to raise the emperor's flag, just like the Liang Xiaowang did."

Hearing this, Li Shimin cried to Li Yuan and said, "Today's appointment is not what I wanted." "Son, I don't want to leave your knees!"
But Li Yuan was probably more determined at this time and still insisted that Li Shimin go to Luoyang, saying, "Luoyang and Chang'an are very close. If I miss you, I can visit you anytime. You don't need to be sad."

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

When Liu Che saw the familiar name, he stopped mocking Li Yuan's love for his son.

No, it cannot be said that he stopped, but he found a new direction: "King Xiao of Liang, is this a good example?" King Xiao of Liang, isn't he Liu Wu, his cheap uncle? He was favored by the Empress Dowager Dou at the time, and was granted the title of Suiyang. His father had also promised that Liu Wu would inherit the throne.

But what was Liu Wu's role? To please the Queen Mother and to serve as a defense between the kings and the capital under the temptation of inheriting the throne, Liang State did hold out for quite some time during the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion.

What was Liu Wu's fate? He was depressed and later suffered from a fever, and died six days later. The Liang State was divided into five parts, and each of his five sons inherited it.

Li Yuan made this suggestion. Was it for the good of Li Shimin?

Sui Dynasty, the 18th year of Kaihuang.

Yang Jian always felt something was wrong.

It is known that Li Yuan appointed Li Shimin as the General of Tiance and allowed him to establish his own government and grant officials. Although there is no clear content at present, he speculates that the source of Li Shimin's power is definitely related to the military merit group that founded the country - otherwise Li Shimin would not have been able to achieve the point where the prince was so wary of him.

But here lies the problem: Why was there such a threatening group of founding military meritorious service gathered around Li Shimin?

Don’t say it’s because Li Yuan didn’t fight in person.

Even if he could not personally go into battle, Li Yuan, who held the orthodox and righteous position, could still start to gather such a group. And at this time, the chief general, Li Shimin, was Li Yuan's own son, which made Li Yuan occupy the moral high ground - the high ground of father to son.

The generals recognized this high point, or rather, most people recognized it.

Did Li Yuan lack means? Not really. With an orthodox education and years of experience, his means were sufficient even if they were not too brilliant.

Then why did Li Yuan still allow such power to gather around Li Shimin? -- He himself did not allow such power to get close to him, he did not accept the power of these people!
He is clearing out these founding military merit groups.

Yang Jian came to this conclusion and was a little confused. Li Yuan, do you really think so? Although it is not impossible (after all, Yang Jian himself has done this), can you control the situation?

Will Li Shimin just sit there and wait for death?
And your other two legitimate sons, the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and the Prince of Qi Li Yuanji, are they two good children? Obviously not.

[Li Shimin failed to convince Li Yuan to let him stay, so he could only prepare to go to Luoyang.

When he was about to leave, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji also received the news. Unlike Li Yuan, they did not think that letting Li Shimin go to Luoyang was a good choice. After all, Luoyang was Li Shimin's private land. When he arrived in Luoyang, Li Shimin would be like a dragon in water, with land and soldiers, and it would be difficult to deal with him. It would be better for him to stay in Chang'an for easier control.

So the two secretly asked their own people in the court to submit a memorial to Li Yuan, saying: "Most of the people around the King of Qin are from Luoyang. When they heard that he was going to Luoyang, they were all excited. It seems that once he left, he had no intention of coming back."

After hearing this, Li Yuan finally gave up the idea of ​​letting Li Shimin go to Luoyang.

By the way, in the seventh year of Wude, Li Shimin's Yizhou Dao Xingtai was abolished, or in other words, the Xingtai of the Tang Dynasty at this time had basically been gradually abolished by Li Yuan, and the only stable one was the Shandong Dao Da Xingtai. 】Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Year.

Zhu Bo complained: "Although Emperor Taizong of Tang was like a dragon in water after returning to Luoyang, he might not be at a disadvantage if he stayed in Chang'an!" However, it is true that Chang'an might still be controllable, but Luoyang was completely out of reach.

It's just that Emperor Gaozu of Tang really did care for his son a little, but not much. Someone advised the King of Qin that there were many people from Luoyang around him, meaning that the King of Qin had a deep foundation in Luoyang and was well-established, so you should give up letting him go to Luoyang...

Zhu Su was flipping through a book, reading the section on official positions in the Tang Dynasty, and ignored his brothers' discussion. Finally, he found what he wanted to read: "It said that Emperor Taizong of Tang was initially the Minister of the Chancellery, right?"

After attracting the attention of his brothers, Zhu Su began to read: "The positions of Shangshu and Shilang are responsible for the selection, appointment, honors, and examinations of officials throughout the country." This is about the Shangshu and Shilang under the Shangshu Ling. "For those above the fifth rank, their names are submitted to the Zhongshu Menxia, ​​and they are granted positions according to the imperial decree. For those below the sixth rank, their positions are determined according to their qualifications."

In other words, the Shangshu Shilang had a certain degree of freedom in appointing and dismissing officials below the sixth rank. Could this power be used by Li Shimin, who was the Shangshu Ling?
While senior officials are important, grassroots officials are equally important.

[At this point, the fight has begun to turn bloody, or in other words, everyone is gradually moving towards the final blow.

Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji had increasingly close ties with the concubines in the harem, and they constantly asked the concubines to spread rumors to Li Yuan.

Li Shimin also received many persuasions from people who were willing to serve him. For example, Li Jing and Li Shiji said, "Your Majesty is suspected because of your great achievements. Jing and others would like to offer their all to serve you."

And a person with a very interesting story was also "dancing on three eggs" at this time, yes, it was Feng Deyi.

On the one hand, he persuaded Li Shimin to deal with Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji as soon as possible;
On the one hand, he advised Li Yuan: "The King of Qin relies on his great achievements and is unwilling to be below the Crown Prince." If he is not going to be made the Crown Prince, he should quickly find a place for him to settle down;

Another side was to give advice to Li Jiancheng, asking him to start a rebellion: "A man who governs the world should not care about his relatives." The Emperor Gaozu of Han said that he would give me a share of the pie, which is a ready-made example. 】

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Silence filled the imperial palace at this moment.

Feng Deyi died of illness as early as the first year of Zhenguan. Li Shimin suspended court for three days for him, posthumously awarded him the title of Sikong, and gave him the posthumous title of "Ming".

Suddenly seeing Feng Deyi coming up with such a plan with three parties really broke everyone's past memories - although it was Feng Deyi who persuaded Li Yuan to depose the crown prince, they had some grumbles at the time, but did not take it too seriously.

At this point, it seems that Feng Deyi is really a talent! He was undercover on three sides, yet he didn't reveal his true identity. Everyone thought that he was loyal to them and very intelligent...

Immediately, some people began to impeach Feng Deyi. Perhaps because of the anger of being deceived, although it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, these ministers spoke eloquently and analyzed the issues in detail, sorting out all the problems that Feng Deyi had during his lifetime.

Feng Deyi did die of illness after the first year of Zhenguan, but Feng Deyi in previous time and space was still alive and highly trusted.

Especially in the Tang Dynasty before the Xuanwu Gate Incident in the ninth year of Wude, everyone, especially the three leaders of Li Yuan, Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng, looked at Feng Deyi, who was sweating profusely at this time - as a trusted minister, Feng Deyi was naturally also in the hall.

This honor in the past has now turned into a death warrant.

Feng Deyi's face was pale, but he tried his best to keep his composure. He knelt down and said to Li Yuan: "Your Majesty, I know that I have committed a serious crime. I only ask Your Majesty to spare the lives of other people in my house because I have worked diligently and have not made any serious mistakes."

Li Yuan's face turned pale. Although there was indeed discord between the father and son and the brothers, and it looked like the Tianmu family had indeed reached the point of a fight to the death, was it the turn of a minister to instigate it? ! The three parties were betting, and all three parties were urging them to start fighting as soon as possible. This was instigating the father and son and brothers of the Tian family to kill each other!
Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin looked equally unhappy.

The ministers were somewhat different. Although the ministers who were loyal to their lord also hated such a person, many of them secretly admired Feng Deyi's method of fooling the three parties: it seemed that if Shen Ji hadn't pointed out the matter at this time, Feng Deyi would probably have been able to conceal it for a long time, and no matter who won in the end, they would have been able to get the credit of following the dragon...

Capable man!
[Feng Deyi began to persuade the three parties to take action, so what exactly did these three parties think?
First, let’s look at Emperor Li Yuan, who occupied the highest commanding position at that time.

Although Li Yuan is often a background figure in Li Shimin's story, in fact, Li Yuan did quite a lot. While affirming Li Shimin's ability, we must also realize that Li Yuan himself was not small in ambition and desire for power.

Although Li Yuan did not go to the battlefield personally, he never gave up trying to gain military merit.

For example, when Liu Wuzhou invaded, he sent his absolute confidant Pei Ji to defend, in fact, he was trying to gain credit from it; and later when Dou Jiande's subordinate Liu Heita rebelled, he also did not mobilize Li Shimin immediately, but sent other generals. 】

Sui Dynasty, the 18th year of Kaihuang.

"I said that Li Yuan has learned a lot and has his own strategies and considerations." Yang Jian saw the content at this time. Although it was not detailed, he knew what Li Yuan was doing after a general explanation. "Why doesn't he collect military power, cultivate his own power, and then weaken the forces of all parties?"

Combined with what was mentioned earlier, there is only one Grand Executive Office left among all the local executive offices, the Shaanxi East Circuit, and the rest have been gradually withdrawn. This shows even more clearly that Li Yuan was sorting out the situation of the entire Tang Dynasty court.

Dugu Jialuo sighed a little, as if she saw the shadow of her own family in Li Yuan and his son: "Father and son, everyone has participated in it," she laughed suddenly, this is really a big brawl.

Li Yuan was guarding against Li Shimin and eliminating Li Shimin's power; Li Shimin wanted to fight against Li Jiancheng and resist his father's actions; Li Jiancheng wanted to suppress Li Shimin, but was he also thinking about tricking Li Yuan at the same time?
As for Li Yuanji, he also has a lot on his mind.

Dugu Jialuo thought of Li Yuan's wife, the mother of Li Shimin's three brothers: "As expected of her children, each of them is a tough one."

[In the court, Li Yuan generally favored his relatives and nobles over those who had military merits in founding the country. Of course, he relied more on the relatives and nobles who had military merits.

The use of relatives and nobles to govern is actually a governing model left over from the Sui Dynasty, and it is also a political model that emerged after the emergence of local clusters such as the Guanlong Group.

Li Yuan still chose this style at this time. On the one hand, it was related to the political situation at that time, his own education, and the circles he came into contact with; on the other hand, it actually still meant suppressing the group of founding heroes. After all, even if he could use various means to gather these generals, he did not lead the army to fight in person.

The greatest founding general at this time was Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin. With the Tiance Palace and the Prince of Qin Palace in existence, many founding generals served in the Tiance Palace or the Prince of Qin Palace in name only, rather than serving as officials in the court.

(End of this chapter)