Chapter 27 Twenty-six
Yuchi Jingde looked surprised: "Your Majesty, why is this? Li Yi's loss of food and grass is a good opportunity to seize Jingzhou!" Li Shimin said in a low voice: "Right now Li Yi is no longer our main enemy. , a real rival is coming." Li Jing: "Your Majesty means—" He looked at Li Shimin, his face suddenly changed: "You mean Jieli?" Zhi, I am in great chaos in Chaofujing, and I have long expected that he will not be able to hold back in the face of this opportunity." Yuchi Jingde looked puzzled: "No way, Jieli has fought for so many years and just unified the grassland. You have to catch your breath before you can use your troops again, besides, haven’t Ashin’s cavalry retreated north after they robbed the food?” Li Shimin shook his head: “Can the grassland fill Jieli’s ambition? Think about it, Jieli Li Ming knows that Li Yi is my formidable enemy, so why would he rob me of food and help me? There can only be one explanation, he wants to use this method to let us attack Li Yi without worry, and his troops are probably not far away from Chang'an now."
Li Shimin decided to leave Li Jing to lead the troops from Lingzhou and most of the elite soldiers of the Qin Palace to continue to monitor Li Yi, and he took Yuchi Jingde back to Chang'an overnight.Before leaving, Li Jing and Li Shimin had a secret conversation. Li Jing, who had been guarding against Jieli in the direction of Lingzhou for more than a year, was well aware of the combat power of his cavalry. decisive battle.Li Shimin asked Li Jing, how can he retreat his troops without fighting?Li Jing's answer was to withdraw the wealth from the treasury.This surprised Li Shimin, "I really didn't expect this to come from Brother Jing's mouth."
Li Jing looked panic-stricken: "Did I say something wrong?" Li Shimin shook his head: "No, you told the truth, but from now on, you must not tell anyone. Because, you are a big The symbol of the invincibility of the Tang army, I must keep this flag for the soldiers, otherwise the morale of the army will be shaken." Li Jing was moved a lot by these words.Li Shimin asked him to quickly clear up the situation in Jingzhou and go south. If he went south one day earlier, the country of Datang would be more secure.From Li Shimin's expectant eyes, Li Jing saw the weight of the burden on his shoulders.
A group of prison cars were being escorted to the execution ground, attracting many people to watch.There were four prisoners in the prison cart, Changsun Wuji was riding on a war horse, and Chang He was beside him. He had already fulfilled his wish and became a fifth-rank military officer. Same day.
Changsun Wuji looked at a middle-aged man in the first prison car, squinted and said, "I mean Wei Zheng, haven't you been urging Prince Yin to kill the emperor and me? Hmph, how is it? Now Prince Yin is already cold It's been many months, how about you? Didn't it still fall into my hands?" Wei Zheng closed his eyes and said nothing.Changsun Wuji went on to say: "In the past, you were the one who persuaded Prince Yin to kill us all. In the end, let's see who kills who." A glance at Wei Zheng: "The executioner will chop off your head later to see if your mouth is still tough!"
"Changsun Wuji, what are you doing?" Changsun Wuji raised his head, and a small group of travel-savvy people appeared at the intersection ahead, the leader was Li Shimin, and Yuchi Jingde followed.Changsun Wuji hurriedly got off his horse and saluted: "Your Majesty, you are back. Wei Zheng, Wang Gui, Wei Ting, and Feng Li, the best buddies who have been established, have been captured by the minister. The situation is very chaotic at the moment. I am afraid that the night will be long and dreamy, so I ask the emperor to send them immediately." Execute to deter the loyal followers of Prince Yin."
Li Shimin said "hmm", jumped off his horse and walked up to Wei Zheng to look him up. Since the sixth year of Wude, this person's name has appeared in his mind countless times, but it was the first time he saw him.I saw that Wei Zheng was not tall, with a thin body, wearing an old gray robe, and looked very haggard.
Li Shimin asked: "Wei Zheng, why did you persuade the crown prince to kill me?" Wei Zheng said lightly, "Because you are far better than the crown prince in terms of intelligence and martial arts, and you can only keep him by killing you." Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng for a long time There was silence, and suddenly, he drew out his sword and slashed it down. There was an exclamation from the crowd, and Wei Zheng closed his eyes.When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find that the sword edge did not fall on his head, but split the prison car.Then, Li Shimin ordered: "Changsun Wuji, let them go too." Changsun Wuji showed a stunned expression on his face.Li Shimin stared: "I have already issued an order, do I need to say it again?" Changsun Wuji ordered the soldiers with displeasure on his face: "Let them all go!"
Wei Zheng looked at Li Shimin and asked, "What are you doing? Don't you kill me?" Li Shimin said kindly, "Why did I kill you? You are just doing your duty! I also need a loyal minister like you who speaks out , are you willing to come out and help me? I will appoint you as a counselor." Wei Zheng raised his head: "Hmph, do you think that if you forgive my life, you can take away the ambition of a loyal minister? With an official hat Can a loyal subject be betrayed? You'd better find another prison van and send me to the execution ground!"
Li Shimin sighed: "I didn't see the wrong person, you go, I won't make things difficult for you!" Wei Zheng and others looked at each other, not knowing why.Li Shimin walked towards his horse, took a few steps, and suddenly turned around: "Wei Zheng, I will be leaving today. I don't know when we will meet again. I have a few words to give you. You know that you are loyal to the old master, but you don't know how to be loyal to the world." , This is loyalty but not great loyalty; you know how to keep one's ambition, but you don't know how to do something for the millions of people who are being tortured. This is a virtuous person but not a great sage! I still don't understand the truth that it is easy to be a loyal minister but difficult to be a great loyal minister, and it is easy to be a sage but even more difficult to be a sage, I really feel sorry for you!" After finishing speaking, Li Shimin pulled the reins to mount his horse.
Wei Zheng stretched out his hand: "Please stop." Li Shimin stopped and looked at Wei Zheng.Wei Zheng said: "If, if you must let me be the admonishing doctor, can you agree to my first advice?" Li Shimin raised his eyebrows: "You say." Wei Zheng said every word: "Change the etiquette." Bury the hidden prince."
The faces of all the people present changed, and everyone's eyes fell on Li Shimin's face.Li Shimin put his hand on the horse's back, lowered his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly turned his face to Changsun Wuji and said: "Pass down my decree, follow feudalism to become the king of Xi, and Yuanji to be the king of Hailing! Funeral according to the etiquette system!" Wei Zheng, Wei Ting, Wang Gui and Feng Li looked at each other when they heard the words, tears filled their eyes, and they knelt down together: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!" Li Shimin helped Wei Zheng up: "It is I who should say thank you, only the burial of the prince Yin can calm the hearts of the people in the world, and the whole world I am benevolent and fraternal! Your advice is worth a hundred thousand elite soldiers! Changsun Wuji, you should send an edict immediately to entitle Wei Zheng and Wei Ting as counselors, Wang Gui as the servant of Huangmen, and Feng Li as Zuo Tun Wei Zhong Lang General!" Changsun Wuji reluctantly replied "Yes".
Then, Li Shimin ordered Wei Zheng to go out of Beijing to comfort Shandong, stabilize the situation there, and give him a hand order that Wei Zheng can make arbitrary decisions on major events in the twenty states of Shandong!This surprised Wei Zheng even more, and he said to Li Shimin, "You are not afraid that I will raise rebellions after I go, that is the twenty states!" Li Shimin smiled: "You don't doubt the employment, and you don't need the suspect! Since I invited Xuan Cheng to come Assistant Zhen, I will never give you a false title, why, twenty prefectures are not too few, right?" Wei Zheng's face became solemn, and he watched Li Shimin kneel down with one hand: "The minister leads the decree!" Li Shimin helped Wei Zheng up, showing his face Excited: "With Xuan Cheng's help, the world will be at peace!"
After he finished speaking, he turned his head, only to see that Changsun Wuji had already walked away.
Sure enough, as Li Shimin expected, the news that Jieli's striker broke the martial arts came the next night.Martial arts are in the west of Gyeonggi, and when the enemy arrives there, it can be said that soldiers are approaching the city.