Chapter 220 Li Chengqian: I will beat you with a steel whip!

Li Shimin took the memorial and looked at Li Xiang suspiciously.

He knew that his grandson had a good temper and was very reasonable.

Generally speaking, people will not kill others easily.

Of course, Hou Junji is an exception.

Thinking of this, he opened the memorial.

Then, the name on the memorial made him look up suspiciously.

"Zhang Shenji, Li..." Li Shimin raised his head suspiciously: "Zhang Liang didn't provoke you, did he?"

Li Xiang was immediately unhappy. He sat down on the stool with a slightly arrogant tone.

"After all, I am Jingzhao Yin, the grandson of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. How could I deliberately target someone just because they provoke me?"

"Well, you are right." Li Shimin continued to read on, still muttering: "Zhang Shenji actually dared to speak rudely to public officials. It is really hateful. This kind of atmosphere must not be encouraged!"

"Without rules, there will be no order." Li Xiang said, "But there is much more to it than this. Please continue reading, Aung."

As they were talking, Li Mingda followed his three brothers into the house.

"Xiang'er? Why are you here?" Li Mingda asked in surprise.

"I missed my aunt, so I came to see her." Li Xiang replied with a smile.

Li Mingda was quite happy to hear this, but the little elephant was exposed by Old Li on the spot.

"Why does he miss you? This guy has been sentenced to death and comes to me, the emperor, for review!" Li Shimin exposed the truth without mercy.

"It turns out that Xiang'er is such a scumbag." Li Mingda wrinkled his nose, seeing through Li Xiaoxiang's scumbag nature.

"Okay, then I won't miss you." Li Xiang said with a smile, his hands on his hips.

But he was unexpectedly slapped on the back of his head by Li Chengqian.

"I will hold a steel whip and beat you!" Li Chengqian sang the same tune as Li Xiang did back then, pointing at Li Xiang and criticizing him: "Beat you to death, you bastard!"

Li Xiang rolled his eyes and retorted, "Yes, according to what you said, I am the little bastard, then you, the three uncles and the aunt are the middle bastards, and the old... the old man is the old..."

Of course, he didn't dare to continue saying this.

I almost said "Lao Li" because of a stutter in my mouth just now.

"You little bastard!" Li Chengqian took two steps forward, but Li Xiang was so slippery that he slipped to the side of Li Shimin.

"Okay, okay, we'll talk later if there's anything else. We're busy with business now." Li Shimin set the tone: "Qingque came at the right time. This matter has something to do with Zhang Liang. You should take a look too."

"It has something to do with Zhang Liang, why should I care?" Li Tai was still pretending.

However, Li Shimin was very observant, so how could he not know about what happened between him and Zhang Liang in private?

"Then don't look at it." Li Shimin snorted, "Zhang Liang, such a disaster has happened in his family. Look at his adopted son Zhang Shenji, who dares to openly confront law enforcement officers. He is really crazy!"

Li Tai took the memorial and said that it was what he wanted to say, but how could he not care about what happened to Zhang Liang?
What he never expected was that this time he opened a big hole in his eye.

"No, this..." Li Tai flipped through the memorial and said in shock, "Zhang Liang, has the family tradition reached such a level?"

"You know that too?" Li Shimin glanced at him.

"This...his adopted son actually had an affair with his wife Li..." Li Tai looked shocked.

Li Shimin knew about this matter, and in fact Li Tai knew it too, but they still pretended to be shocked.

But among those present who were unaware of what happened, Li Zhi and Li Chengqian were both included.

He only knew that Du He and Zhao Jie rejected Zhang Liang, but he never expected that Zhang Liang could do such a big job?

No, just...

It is somewhat difficult to judge. Li Chengqian even suspects that this is the reason why Zhao Jie and Du He reject Zhang Liang?

It should be said that normal men are extremely contemptuous of sluts, especially sluts like Zhang Liang who are green-headed...

I would like to call him Master Turtle, Li Xiang also complained in his heart.

Li Zhi opened his mouth wide. He had never expected that such a thing would happen.

"The family of the Duke of Yun actually...actually plays so extravagantly?" Li Zhi asked in astonishment.

In fact, what Li Zhi didn’t know was that he would become more extravagant and more treacherous than Zhang Liang later on.

Just like Wu Meiniang's sister and her niece, both were welded by Li Zhi.

After Li Zhi's death, Wu Meiniang had more fun than Li Zhi did, and even set up a special bureau for controlling cranes.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with playing with Huahua herself. The mistake was that she believed the slander of her male favorite and killed her own grandson.

I can’t imagine how long other emperors would be scolded if they listened to the slander of their favorite concubine and killed their own grandson.

Of course... not many people would talk about Awu about this incident, because among all the bad things Awu has done, this incident is really not a big deal.

"A toad marries a frog, and the frog is ugly." Li Xiang spread his hands and said with a smile, "Besides, this Li even openly organized her family generals to resist when I led people to arrest Zhang Shenji, and I caught them on the spot."

"There is nothing wrong with your way of handling the case and the punishment." Li Shimin put down the memorial in his hand with emotion. "Back then, Zhang Liang was recommended by Xuanling and was summoned to the Qin Palace by me. Later, I gradually valued him and I gradually regarded him as my confidant."

"Prince Yin was forcing me very hard. He took my orders to Luoyang and secretly made contact with Shandong heroes in case of changes in the situation. After Yuanji learned about this, he reported Zhang Liang's evil intentions to Emperor Gaozu. Emperor Gaozu then ordered officials to torture Zhang Liang, but Zhang Liang kept the secret and did not give me away. He was eventually released and sent back to Luoyang."

"He was a great man, how could he end up like this? It's really heartbreaking!"

Li Xiang smiled and said, "As a man, it is inevitable that his wife is not virtuous and his son is not filial. This is normal."

"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Li Shimin sighed: "These old brothers of the past, alas... one by one, are gradually withering away and leaving me. In fact, I am also wondering, what is the purpose of life?"

"People are like flowers in a pot, and life is a mess." Li Xiang also responded, but then he felt that the following words were a bit unlucky, so he stopped talking.

"Go on, keep talking, isn't it good?" Li Shimin said with a smile. Although this grandson sometimes spoke too fast and his words were a bit confusing, he could always say something to comfort people.

"What's there to say? Aung, please sign this first." Li Xiang pointed at the memorial and said, "I'm waiting to kill someone over there."

Li Shimin glared and said, "You little brat, I finally have something to say to you, but you say these things that ruin the mood."

"Who said it wasn't? Xiang'er still owed us an explanation just now." Li Tai stood behind Li Shimin and said with narrowed eyes: "Xiang'er, this brat, became the crown prince, but he doesn't take his elders seriously and even openly claimed that we are turtles? This is really intolerable!"

"Beat him?" Li Chengqian suggested.

Hearing this, everyone present was a little moved.

Several people looked at Li Xiang with evil eyes. The little elephant's heart grumbled and he quickly ran behind Li Mingda.

"Aunt, save me!"

"Huh, didn't you just say I was a cuckold?" Li Mingda turned his head away.

"Good aunt, please save your nephew this time!" Li Xiang begged for mercy.

After all, he loved the little elephant, so Li Mingda's heart softened and he snorted, "Okay, then I'll forgive you this time."

Li Xiang, who had received the assurance, chuckled and changed the subject behind Li Mingda: "Actually, Grandfather, my grandson has an immature idea."

"What's your idea? Are you going to frame your elders again?" Li Shimin asked, stroking his beard.

"Hey, how can that be possible?" Li Xiang said quickly, "Just now I heard the old man sighing that the old brothers who followed you to conquer the world are gradually dying, so I thought of asking Yan Shaojian to make portraits of the heroes. Hmm... why not let the old man select 24 heroes and enshrine their portraits in the palace? If the old man misses them, he can go and see them anytime to ease his longing. What do you think?"

When Lao Li heard Li Xiang's proposal, his eyes lit up.

Li Shimin was such a person, he attached great importance to feelings.

The longing for those old brothers is not fake.

"Xiang'er's suggestion is very good. Hmm... I think we should call it Lingyan Pavilion. I will designate twenty-four founding heroes and let Yan Liben paint their portraits to be enshrined in Lingyan Pavilion. That's it!" Li Shimin made the final decision.

In fact, according to the historical trajectory, Lingyan Pavilion should have appeared in the 17th year of Zhenguan.

However, in the 17th year of Zhenguan in this world, Old Li led the army in person and marched to Luoyang, so this matter was delayed.

Of course, Li Xiang also knew that his little butterfly wings had inadvertently destroyed an important pheromone of the Tang Dynasty, so he had been thinking of some way to hint to Lao Li. Now, he finally found the opportunity.

So, at Li Shimin's order, the Lingyan Pavilion was built in the Taiji Palace.

According to Li Shimin's idea, the Lingyan Pavilion is divided into three floors.

The innermost layer depicts the ministers with the highest merits, the middle layer depicts the ministers with the highest merits of the king and princes, and the outermost layer depicts other meritorious officials.

In fact, the ecology of the Tang Dynasty was very different from that of other dynasties. In other dynasties, it was Taizu or Gaozu who conquered the world, such as Han Taizu Liu Bang, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, and Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang; while in the Tang Dynasty, it was Emperor Taizong Li Shimin who conquered the world, while Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan followed closely behind.

Of course, Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, does not count, but this guy's Jingnan Campaign can actually be considered as his attempt to conquer the world again.

With such an idea in mind, the next step is to determine the order of meritorious officials.

It is certainly inappropriate to let court officials do this.

After all, these heroes are still alive, so it would not be appropriate to praise any of them too highly or too lowly.

Therefore, it was still up to Lao Li to complete it personally.

However, Lao Li had already drafted this list in his mind countless times, so there was no need to worry about it now, as the rankings had already been thought of long ago.

The first one is naturally the prime minister, Duke of Zhao, Changsun Wuji. After all, Changsun Wuji gave him a younger sister.

The second one was Li Xiaogong, Prince of Hejian, followed by Du Ruhui, the Minister of Works and Duke Cheng of Lai; Wei Zheng, the Minister of Works, Governor of Xiangzhou, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince and Duke Wenzhen of Zheng; and Fang Xuanling, the Minister of Works and Duke of Liang.

After them, they were Gao Shilian, Duke of Shen, Yuchi Jingde, Duke of E, Li Jing, Duke of Wei, Xiao Yu, Duke of Song, Duan Zhixuan, Duke of Bao, Liu Hongji, Duke of Kui, Qu Tutong, Duke of Jiang, Yin Kaishan, Duke of Yun, Chai Shao, Duke of Qiao, Changsun Shunde, Duke of Pi, Zhang Liang, Duke of Yun, Hou Junji, Duke of Lu, Zhang Gongjin, Duke of Tan, Cheng Zhijie, Duke of Lu, Yu Shinan, Duke of Yongxing, Liu Zhenghui, Duke of Yu, Tang Jian, Duke of Ju, Li Ji, Duke of Yingguo and Qin Qiong, Duke of Hu.

Even though Hou Junji did such a rebellious thing, Li Shimin still did not forget his contributions in the past.

Speaking of Lao Li, he really values ​​feelings.

That afternoon, Li Shimin summoned Yan Liben into the palace and asked him to make portraits for his ministers.

Li Xiang did not join in the fun. After he left Lizheng Hall, he planned to go to Li Su to see what she wanted to see him about.

The palace was bustling with activity, and Chang'an City was also very lively.

There was no other reason. The series of big news had made everyone a little full, and they urgently needed to find someone to have a chat under a tree at the entrance of the village to vent their feelings.

The wisdom of the people is endless. Ever since Li Xiang gave a joke template, everyone started making jokes.

But nowadays, there is a more interesting joke, which is "Duke Zhang Liang of Yun in Goguryeo".

Joking aside, most people sympathize with Zhang Liang.

There is no way. After all, love is a light, which can always make people feel green and uneasy.

Not only that, it even rose to the level of the Zhaojun Li family.

In fact, the Li family of Zhaojun was also a bit unlucky. Although they were a Shandong gentry and belonged to the same five surnames and seven families, they had not been too openly involved in previous events, and the imperial court did not hold them accountable when investigating.

Now that the incident with Zhang Liang’s wife Li has happened, people are feeling very uncomfortable.

For a while, women from the five surnames were infamous in Chang'an City, and no one clamored to marry them anymore.

Come to think of it, why marry her home? To have her on your head and let the wind blow the grass and the cattle and sheep be seen?

The previous joint rumor-refuting effort by Hongfu Temple and the Fang family was also brought up by everyone.

The people of Chang'an were stabbing the Shandong gentry in the back not only in private but also in public.

If you think that the Five Surnames and Seven Families are shameless and have to use our Tang princess as an excuse, look at how virtuous the Xiangcheng Princess is. She is a model of princesses since ancient times! Look at the Changle Princess, she is even more virtuous and beautiful like a fairy. Marrying such a woman home would be a blessing for all eight generations of ancestors!
Let's talk about Princess Gaoyang. She is even more like this. She is vigorous and resolute outside and can also make money. How can this be said to be marrying a wife home? This is clearly marrying a phoenix that lays golden eggs!
Under such public opinion, the princess' popularity was more than one level higher than that of the women of the five surnames.

This was also what Li Xiang liked to hear. After all, the rumors in later generations that Tang princesses could not be married were really embarrassing.

(End of this chapter)