Chapter 41 1. Brothers fight against the wall: Only the light of the knife is seen, but it is difficult to see the affection of the family

In the feudal system of hereditary monarchs in ancient China, the throne was passed down from elder to younger, and the succession of father to son was the most basic model.In order to ensure the safety of the succession of the throne, legislators established the primogeniture system in the early stage, hoping to avoid unnecessary contention through this rigid rule.After the eldest son has no virtue or dies young, the others can follow in turn.But under the lure of the power and glory above ten thousand people, there is no system that can restrain the madness in human hearts.In order to compete for imperial power, bloody wars between brothers and fathers and sons continued to occur. It is not uncommon to use the long sword of profit to pierce the warm veil of family affection, and to write the legend of the new emperor with the blood of relatives.

In the first few years before the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan did not foresee that such a thing would happen to him.Although the third son, Li Xuanba, died prematurely, the remaining three sons and one daughter were all very sensible and helped Li Yuan in many things during the process of founding the country.The eldest son, Li Jiancheng, was established as the crown prince as a matter of course; the second son, Qin Wang Li Shimin, was outstanding in talent, invincible, and outstanding in military exploits, and was appointed as Tiance Admiral, above the officials and below the prince; the fourth son Li Yuanji was named King Qi, although he is not as outstanding as his two elder brothers, he is not mediocre either.The daughter, Princess Pingyang, is also the husband of the female middle school. She leads the Women's Army and contributes a lot to the unification of Tang Dynasty.These children were all born to Mrs. Dou. Li Yuan had a deep affection for Mrs. Dou, so he loved these children very much.

After suppressing all the "anti-kings" who were enemies of Tang, Li Yuan felt that he could finally enjoy the glory of an emperor, but he never thought that there would be a war waiting for him without swords. For a long time, Prince Li Jiancheng followed Li Yuan and stationed in Chang'an because of his status; while Qin Wang Li Shimin continued to send troops to various places to conquer, so he established extraordinary military achievements, both in the court and in the word of mouth of the people.This made Li Jiancheng, who was in Kyoto, very frightened.After he expressed his doubts in front of Li Yuan several times, Li Yuan also sent him to pacify Liu Heitai, but these achievements are not comparable to Li Shimin's military achievements in pacifying Xue Ju and his son, Liu Wuzhou, Dou Jiande, Wang Shichong and other giants. In comparison, it is still not worth mentioning. Even Liu Heitai was defeated by Li Jiancheng only after Li Shimin beat him severely.

Because of these things, Li Jiancheng was worried, especially when he saw the courtiers' admiration for Li Shimin and Li Yuan's trust in Li Shimin, he was even more disturbed.Sometimes, Li Yuan simply had an attitude that he could not find any honor to reward Li Shimin in order to express his appreciation for his meritorious deeds.Li Jiancheng once watched Li Yuan give Li Shimin a money-making furnace in the court hall. This was a dangerous signal, so he tried his best to stop it and advised Li Yuan: "The production and management of coins is the lifeblood of the country. How can this kind of power be used?" It can be bestowed upon a person!"

However, Xiao Yu, Pei Ji and other close officials of Li Yuan said: "The king of Qin is so talented that he should be rewarded to inspire people!" Li Yuan smiled and said: "The people of the world have fought in various places and won the world for me. Although he was appointed General Tiance, General of the Twelve Guards, and Situ concurrently, these are not enough to reward him for his efforts. Great achievements made by my Tang Dynasty! Although this coin furnace is used to mint coins, I don’t think King Qin would use it to mint much money. My original intention is to give it to him as an honor, let him You know, Datang has not forgotten his credit for going through life and death and fighting bloody battles!"

After hearing what Li Yuan said, Li Shimin knelt down on the ground with a 'plop', choked up and said: "What I have done is the duty of a courtier, but the emperor rewards me so much, I am ashamed! From now on , I will go through fire and water for the Tang Dynasty, and I will never say goodbye! I swear to protect the safety of the Tang Dynasty and His Majesty!" Everyone was happy and happy, but Li Jiancheng who was standing aside was very depressed: vow to protect the Tang Dynasty?Swear to His Majesty?It seems that Datang is like him and His Majesty, where do you put me, the crown prince?

On the way back to the East Palace, Li Jiancheng frowned, Li Shimin's words were always ringing in his ears, Li Shimin's complacent look and Li Yuan's extremely admiring smile flashed before his eyes.The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he slapped the sedan chair with his palm, his palm was flushed red. Seeing that the prince was so worried and angry, the staff who were accompanying him dared not speak for fear of making him even more angry.Only Prince Sheren Xu Shimo and Prince Zhan Shizhu Zhao Hongzhi quietly said to him: "No matter how angry Your Highness is, don't worry, it won't be too late to discuss it when you return to the East Palace."

When they arrived at the East Palace, Xu Shimo and Zhao Hongzhi came to Li Jiancheng's study, and they couldn't help being surprised when they heard Li Jiancheng talk about the gift of the stove today.Xu Shimo said: "From this point of view, the emperor's trust in the King of Qin cannot be increased. If this continues, what else can match the King of Qin?" Zhao Hongzhi said: "King Qin's military achievements are a bit more, but the emperor did this without considering the prince's feelings at all, it really shouldn't be." Li Jiancheng frowned, sighed deeply, and said: "Above the court, Xiao Yu, Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others are all facing the King of Qin. The emperor has done such a disproportionate thing, and no one has stood up to say a word. , This is what makes me feel even more uneasy.”

Zhao Hongzhi said: "Over the years, the King of Qin has fought in the South and the North, and Liu Wenjing and others have followed him many times, so they have a good personal relationship, which led to this situation. However, it can also be seen from this that the King of Qin has actually been wooing these people all the time. Let them speak well in front of the emperor, the emperor can be said to be obedient to Pei Ji and Xiao Yu, which makes the emperor trust him so much." Li Jiancheng said unwillingly: "Actually, whether it is conquest or strategy, I believe that I am not under the King of Qin. It is only because I, as the prince, can only be stationed in the capital, that's why he has won so many military achievements. If I led the If the army goes out to fight, he can also wipe out the barbarians, so how can it be his turn to show off!"

This sentence, which seemed to be full of enthusiasm, suddenly reminded Xu Shimo. He said to Li Jiancheng: "The matter has come to this point, and it is useless for us to talk more. But if we can't make military achievements, we may not be at a disadvantage. The prince has been in Chang'an all these years. , can’t go to war, but we have managed the country well and won the respect of many people, which is also our advantage. Why don’t we take advantage of it?” What Li Jiancheng and Zhao Hongzhi said made their eyes shine.Li Yuan is a very suspicious person, which makes it difficult for him to trust others, and also makes him always choose his relatives first when meeting people. In addition to his sons, he is also very fond of his cousins. trust.And because these royal relatives lived in Chang'an for a long time, they all maintained a very good relationship with Li Jiancheng.In this case, why not use them and let them speak well for themselves in front of the emperor?

Thinking of this, Li Jiancheng smiled slowly: "You are right, we should make use of our own advantages, and not only see the advantages of others." Zhao Hongzhi said: "Now, in this situation between you and King Qin, there is another person who is very important, and that is King Qi! If he can support you, the emperor will definitely look at you differently." This suggestion also expressed Li Jiancheng's thoughts. If Li Yuan's three favorite sons could unite with King Qi, they would definitely be able to overwhelm Li Shimin.And King Yiqi's strength will never form such a competition with himself, so he is very relieved about this fourth brother.Li Jiancheng said: "Actually, I just hope that the king of Qin can stick to his duty and not do things that are presumptuous. He is my younger brother. As long as he is docile and obedient, how can I treat him badly?" Both Zhao Hongzhi and Xu Shimo said: "The prince is kind, I believe the King of Qin will definitely feel your kindness." The next day, Qi Wang Li Yuanji received an invitation from the prince, inviting him to the East Palace for a banquet.During the banquet, the prince expressed his love for the fourth brother, and thought that among the brothers, Li Yuanji was the one he admired the most.And Li Yuanji was well aware of the prince's words, he knew very well that Li Shimin was a great man, and he didn't need to do anything for him, so he didn't even have the idea of ​​forming an alliance with King Qin.On the contrary, the prince is kind and kind, and now he has lost some power in the court. It is the time when he needs help. Maybe if he does something for the prince, he can get more protection in the future.Therefore, he responded enthusiastically to the prince's overture. Different from Li Jiancheng's slow temper, Li Yuanji is an impatient person. After hearing the crown prince's dissatisfaction with King Qin, he immediately expressed that he would stand up for the crown prince.Li Yuanji said: "Tomorrow, the emperor will come to Qi Palace with the King of Qin, and then you can see me!" Li Jiancheng was very happy to see King Qi supporting him so much.The next day, he also accompanied Li Yuan to Prince Qi's Mansion, where the father and son got together and talked happily.Li Yuanji whispered to the prince: "Later, I will invite King Qin to appreciate a famous painting in the inner room. There is a warrior named Yu Wenbao who is my confidant. He has already ambushed inside. As long as King Qin enters, he will be assassinated." When the time comes, you can appease your father and leave the rest to me!" Upon hearing this plan, Li Jiancheng was shocked, and the wine glass in his hand fell to the ground.Both Li Yuan and Li Shimin looked at him very strangely. He hurriedly covered it up, pulled Li Yuanji aside, and said sharply, "No way! You and I were born of the same mother, how could we kill each other! Besides, father and mother Now that the emperor favors the King of Qin so much, if you do him harm, I am afraid that the father will not spare you! I know that you are doing it for me, but I don't want to see this situation!" Under Li Jiancheng's strong opposition, the assassination plan designed by Li Yuanji was forced to abandon.Although Li Shimin felt that most people in the clan were on the side of the prince and constantly opposed him, he didn't take it seriously at all, and he didn't even know that his fourth brother had set up a scheme to murder him. At the beginning of this battle, although Li Shimin made great achievements in battle, he was not completely in an advantage.On the contrary, it was Li Jiancheng who suppressed King Qin everywhere because of the intricate connections he had established in Chang'an for many years.Because of his personality, and because he didn't clearly recognize King Qin's ambitions, Li Jiancheng just hoped that King Qin would restrain himself, and he was unwilling to turn this fight into a life-and-death situation. The King of Qin planted a hidden danger for Li Jiancheng's future crisis.