Chapter 47 7. Hongmen Banquet: Murder in Yingying's smile

After Tang Ping settled the Quartet, the hidden danger of border defense that could not be completely eradicated was the Turks.From Shibi Khan to his successors Jieli Khan and Tuli Khan, although they had always established an alliance with Tang, they repeatedly invaded the border. Although it did not pose a huge threat, it also made the border defense uneasy.In a certain sense, Li Shimin should be grateful to the Turks for their continuous harassment, because in the fight and peace with the Turks, his military talent can be valued and become a weight in the game with the prince. Li Yuan was very troubled by the current situation of the quarrel between King Qin and the crown prince, and he was a face-saving father. He didn't want the news of the two sons' quarrel to spread too much, so he always took the attitude of calming things down. The sharper it is.The prince could not tolerate Li Shimin's continuous growth, and Li Shimin's ambitions were also expanding step by step.After a period of brewing, this contradiction is bound to erupt like a blowout.

In the eighth year of Wude, for the peace of the border, Li Yuan agreed to the request of the Western Turks and made a marriage; at the same time, in the war with the Eastern Turks, Li Daozong, Wang Junkuo and others achieved good results, and finally let Tang get a short rest. .Although the flames of the frontier extinguished slightly, the war above the court intensified. At a court meeting, Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, first challenged Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and revealed to Li Yuan that Zhang Liang, the chariot general of the Qin palace, had plotted against him in Luoyang. When Li Yuan was furious, he ordered Zhang Liang to rush from Luoyang to Chang'an to ask what happened.Luoyang was originally the base area that Li Yuan entrusted to Li Shimin, and he was allowed to establish a government agency there. Now Li Yuanji said that Zhang Liang was rebelling in Luoyang. Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling and others strongly suggested that Zhang Liang should go to Chang'an to plead guilty.Li Shimin said: "The king of Qi has ulterior motives. Now that General Zhang comes to Chang'an to plead guilty, I'm afraid there will be no return."

Fang Xuanling said: "In the current situation, the emperor is furious because of King Qi's slander. Regardless of whether it is true or not, he will suspect you because of this. Rebellion is different from other crimes and cannot be taken lightly. If Zhang Liang does not come to Chang'an, he will definitely become a criminal. The emperor will also believe in the evidence of King Qi's rumors. After coming to Chang'an, as long as he insists that there is no such thing, he may be safe." Zhang Liang's recruitment and forging of weapons in Luoyang were actually instructed by Li Shimin. The reason for doing so was because Li Shimin hoped to cultivate his own power in Luoyang to prevent accidents.Because Li Yuan once allowed him to establish a military and political organization in Luoyang, these actions belonged to the legal category.But now Li Yuanji used Zhang Liang as a breakthrough point and pointed out Zhang Liang's rebellion.However, because Li Yuan was extremely jealous of the self-respect of local soldiers, it produced an effect that satisfied both the prince and King Qi.

At Fang Xuanling's insistence, Zhang Liang was ordered to come to Chang'an, where he was tortured by the Ministry of Punishment to extract a confession.Under Li Shimin's behest, he insisted that he did not recruit troops privately, it was just a routine deployment of soldiers.Li Shimin also interceded for him in front of Li Yuan at the same time, and finally had to let Zhang Liang go because there was no other evidence.Li Yuanji's plan failed again. The plan failed again and again, which made the prince very anxious. He watched Li Shimin escape again and again, and knew that if he waited any longer, the chances would only decrease.The counselors offered advice for him, and Xu Shimo and others finally took out their trump cards: "Since killing with a knife cannot succeed, it seems that we are the only ones to do it ourselves!"

Li Jiancheng asked: "Killed King Qin by yourself? Isn't it too obvious? The emperor wants to blame him." Zhao Hongzhi said: "Now King Qin's Tiance Mansion is growing stronger and stronger, if the prince wants to completely eradicate this hidden danger, he has to take risks!" Wei Zheng, the prince shogunate, also stood up to support this plan. He said: "Since ancient times, there has never been a power struggle without bloodshed. Since you have made up your mind to eradicate King Qin, and King Qin has repeatedly escaped, if you continue like this, you can only scare the snake away and let the enemy die." The king of Qin is getting more and more defensive, and our chances are getting less and less. It is better to conquer the enemy once and have a quick battle. At that time, the deal is done, and even if the emperor blames him, there is nothing he can do with the crown prince."

Under the advice of the ministers, Li Jiancheng finally made up his mind to completely eradicate Li Shimin.One day in June of the eighth year of Wude, he invited generals such as King Qi, King Qin, and Li Shentong to a banquet in the East Palace, intending to take the opportunity to kill Li Shimin on the banquet. Although Li Shimin knew that the prince was planning to do something wrong, he couldn't ignore the prince's kindness. After receiving the invitation, he brought Yu Chigong, Hou Junji and others happily to come.Li Jiancheng held a separate banquet for his entourage outside the hall, leaving Yu Chigong and Hou Junji to stay outside to drink, and he took Li Shimin's hand affectionately to the banquet.

When the wine was in full swing, the prince said to Li Yuanji, Li Shentong, etc.: "Half of the country of my Tang Dynasty depends on King Qin. If King Qin was not born and died, and fought bloody battles, how would there be prosperity and peace today? We should respect King Qin together." A cup!" Everyone echoed and said, "King Qin is a god-like warrior, you should toast!" Li Shimin said humbly: "God bless the Tang Dynasty. Only with the blessings of the emperor and the prince can we win on the battlefield." He picked up the wine glass, but Li Jiancheng took his hand and said, "There is an emperor in my palace." I have always been reluctant to drink the good wine bestowed by the emperor, so I would like to ask my second brother to share it with me today." As he spoke, he picked up a wine jug and poured a full glass for Li Shimin, then turned to fill a glass for himself, picked up the wine glass and said : "I hope you and my brother can always drink together like this!"

Li Shimin, who had doubts at first, saw that Jiancheng also poured wine for himself with the same pot, so he took up the wine glass and thanked the prince with confidence, and drank it all in one gulp.But he didn't know that there was a mystery hidden in the jug in the prince's hand. One jug contained two kinds of wine, and as long as he controlled the wine pouring, the world would change. Seeing that he finished drinking, Li Jiancheng enthusiastically poured another glass for him. Just as he was about to persuade him to drink again, Li Shentong beside him suddenly stood up and said to Li Shimin: "I have traveled to many places with King Qin. If there is no King Qin Strategy, I'm afraid I won't be able to return from the battlefield long ago. I also want to offer a toast to King Qin!"

As he spoke, he came over with a wine glass to toast. Li Yuanji quickly grabbed him and said, "The crown prince and the king of Qin haven't finished drinking, so you can toast later!" Li Shentong, who was already a little drunk, shook off Li Yuanji said with his hand: "The King of Qin and I are life-and-death friends on the battlefield, how can we not toast?" He staggered and walked towards Li Shimin. He fell over, overturned the table in front of Li Shimin's eyes, and rolled to the ground together with the cup. The sudden change caused Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji to exchange glances quickly.Li Yuanji stepped forward to help Li Shentong and said, "You've drunk too much, you should go back and rest early!" But Li Shentong pulled Li Shimin's sleeve and said, "I must have a drink with King Qin." He kept pestering him and refused to leave.

He was about to drink the wine given by the prince, but was interrupted by Li Shentong. Li Shimin had no choice but to stand up and support Li Shentong, saying: "You drink too much, let's drink together another day, let's go here first." Turning around, he said to Li Jiancheng, "I'll go to the door and find someone to take him back, and then come back to drink with the prince." Li Jiancheng let out an "uh" and just wanted to stop him, but Li Shimin had already helped Li Shentong to the place where the attendants were drinking in the outer hall, and asked someone to call Li Shentong to follow him and take him back to the mansion.

As soon as Li Shentong was sent away, Li Shimin suddenly felt a heat in his chest when he was blown by the cold wind outside, followed by abdominal cramps, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.Yu Chigong and Hou Junji took a look, stepped forward to support Li Shimin, and asked nervously: "King Qin, what's wrong!" Although Li Shimin had cramps in his abdomen, he quickly thought about it in his brain. It is impossible for him to suddenly get sick. The wine must be poisonous.He hurriedly said to Yu Chigong: "You go and tell the prince, just say that I am unwell, and leave first." Then he said to Hou Junji: "Hurry up and get your horse back to the house!" The King of Qi and the Crown Prince waited for a long time holding their wine glasses, but Li Shimin did not come back, but Yu Chigong came in and said: "The Prince of Qin is not feeling well, and he has to go back to the mansion first. Please forgive me, the Crown Prince and the King of Qi, and come to plead guilty at another time." Seeing this, Wei Zheng and other counselors hurriedly persuaded the prince to send someone to hunt him down, but Li Jiancheng felt that the king of Qin had been poisoned and there was no need to hunt him down. He hesitated and gave Li Shimin time to escape back to the palace of the king of Qin.With timely treatment, Li Shimin actually recovered. Regarding the hematemesis at the banquet, Li Shimin made a peace report to Li Yuan.But Li Yuan saw that the two sons were fighting each other, but he didn't want to publicize it. He just said to Li Jiancheng: "King Qin has never been able to drink, so don't invite him to drink at night again!" For Li Shimin, Li Yuan also felt a lot of guilt in his heart, so he said: "The prince is your elder brother, and I can't abolish him easily. But your brothers are so incompatible, I think you should go to Luoyang, where I can take him away." The area east of Shaanxi is under your management, and you can also use the emperor's guard of honor, which is much better than Chang'an." This solution can only be thought of by Li Yuan, who is calm and peaceful, but since the emperor has already spoken, it is difficult for Pei Ji and others to intervene.All this looks very glorious, and being in Luoyang with the emperor's guard of honor is actually not inferior to the life in Chang'an at all.However, this is not what Li Shimin wants, leaving Chang'an means failure for him, he wants to grab what he wants here.Kneeling at Li Yuan's feet, he said sincerely: "Father is getting older and older. If I want to leave Chang'an, I have to stay away from my father. How can I do it? I am not at ease and I will leave you like this. Please allow me to leave Chang'an." I have always been by your side, even if there are many dangers, as long as I can see you every day and do my filial piety at your knees, I am willing to die." At Li Shimin's insistence, he stayed in Chang'an. Although Li Jiancheng almost killed him by directly killing him, Li Shimin not only escaped, but also successfully gained Li Yuan's sympathy.So in this struggle, Li Jiancheng still failed to succeed.The contradiction has not been completely resolved, and it is bound to intensify further. Li Shimin has realized that he has been pushed to a desperate situation, and if he does not fight back, he will only put himself in a more dangerous situation. break out.