Chapter 65 sixty-four

Li Shimin looked at Cen Wenwen from the corner of his eyes, and then said: "You are the Minister of Zhongshu, and a close minister by my side. To you, I have always been open and honest! I have not shown this confession to other ministers except you. If it is not made public, I will not be able to deal with the prince's fault in Taicang. But what if it is made public? The soldiers know the commander of the Zuo Tunwei Army, such a high-ranking general He is actually a spy. In the future, the imperial court will be a shadow of a snake, and everyone will be in danger. The morale of the army and the people will be severely damaged. Why talk about the Northern Expedition? Sigh, this really poses a big problem for me. I think about it. , and only you can help me come up with a good plan to deal with it!"

Cen Wenwen took a look at Li Shimin, then walked to the table, picked up the confession paper and lit it in front of the candle.Li Shimin's face changed: "What are you doing?" Cen Wenwen said to Li Shimin: "This is the minister's idea. For the sake of national stability and the great plan of the Northern Expedition, we can only destroy these two confessions together, so that this matter will remain a secret forever!" Li Shimin asked in surprise, "Two confessions? What about the other one?" Cen Wenwen replied, "The other one is in the prison of Dali Temple, which is Sun Da himself. Please issue an order from the emperor to execute him immediately!" Li Shimin's face There was a smile on his face.

After this conversation, Li Shimin announced that Cen Wenwen would be responsible for dealing with the aftermath of the mutiny of the Zuotun Guards.A few days later, Cen Wenwen reported that he had found out that the mutiny was caused by Hu Cheng's dereliction of duty.Two warehouses in Taicang were flooded by rain, but he didn't notice that moldy rice flowed into the camp.He asked Li Shimin to dismiss Hu Cheng and exile him for three thousand miles on the charge of dereliction of duty.Cen Wenwen also said in the memorial that after the mutiny, several generals led the army back from Beiyuan in time. Rebellious soldiers, who died in the line of duty, should be buried generously and posthumously named Marquis to show their loyalty.

Li Shimin replied that although there was some chaos in the Zuo Tunwei Army, only a few people died, and it subsided within a few hours. The choice is right, the rewards for these heroes are light, and they should be promoted to another level!Chang Sheng died a heroic death and was a role model for the generals. He was posthumously named Marquis of Pingyuan, and he will be enshrined in the Martyr's Shrine forever!Then, Li Shimin issued another decree: to transfer Cheng Huailiang to be the general of the Weiyi Mansion in Zuotun. Of course, Li Ke was greatly disappointed by this result. He rushed to Cen Wenwen's mansion and said angrily: "Sir, how can you help them speak? Taicang's terrain is so high, how could the food get wet? Besides, the Zuotun Guards came out For such a big matter, even though Chang Sheng died, it is hard to shirk the blame, and the crown prince should also take some responsibility, why do you still ask the emperor to praise them? Isn’t this a funeral as a happy event?”

Cen Wenwen calmly replied: "It is to treat the funeral as a happy event!" He went to the chessboard, picked up a chess piece and said, "To tell you the truth, I never went to Taicang, nor did I have Hu Cheng interrogated. It was done to boost morale and stabilize the situation." Li Ke said unhappily: "The situation in his East Palace, can we do our best to stabilize it?" Cen Wenwen smashed the chess piece on the chessboard, looked up at Li Ke and said, "The situation in the Eastern Palace? You are wrong, what I want to stabilize is the situation in the Tang Dynasty! This world is not owned by the Eastern Palace! Since ancient times, emperors have been happy Watching ministers and princes fighting, if these people don't fight with each other, they should fight with the emperor! However, no matter how much you fight, you can't cross a hurdle. This hurdle is the rise and fall of the world. If the country falls, big guy What are you still arguing about?" In the last few sentences, Cen Wenwen's tone was very severe, which was unprecedented. Li Ke looked at Cen Wenwen in confusion and said, "Sir, what's the matter? Hiding it from me?"

Cen Wenwen waved his hand and said: "I can't say a word clearly, and I can't tell the whole story, but I want to remind Your Highness that no one should ask this matter anymore. Chang Sheng can only be a hero! You can only lie down." In the Martyr's Shrine, you ask your people to withdraw all the memorials accusing him of corruption, otherwise you will be an enemy of the emperor! To be an enemy of the emperor is to be an enemy of your ministers! A Zuo Tunwei Zhonglang general, then Coupled with the gratitude in the emperor's heart, I should be content to get so many things at once! Things will be smoother if things are slow, too much is too late!"

Cen Wenwen is an elegant scholar, and he has always spoken softly in front of Li Ke. Today, he spoke in such a strong tone, which made him feel a little baffled. Fortunately, he is a flexible person, and immediately said: "I just listen to what you say, sir." Then, he changed the topic and played chess with Cen Wenwen.After losing three sets in one go, he left Cen's mansion. It was originally a huge matter, but it calmed down like this. After a few days, Li Shimin called his eldest grandson Wuji to Chengqing Hall to have a drink together.Li Shimin seemed to be full of thoughts, he took a sip from his wine glass and said: "Supporter, since I joined the army at the age of sixteen, I have never been afraid of death, but after the incident in Taicang, I suddenly became afraid of death. There is bound to be a battle, the outcome is unpredictable, maybe I will go to conquer myself, if I win, it’s fine, if I lose, or even I die on the battlefield, what should the people of Tang Dynasty do?"

Changsun Wuji was startled, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, are you still angry with the prince?" Li Shimin shook his head and said, "I'm not angry with him. He did such a stupid thing to build a bedroom for me. A son has such filial piety. What more can a father ask for? I pity him in my heart." Ah, he wanted to do something but couldn't do it, just like a bird that wanted to fly but couldn't. Auxiliary machine, it's a blessing to have a filial son in the family, but as the heir of a big country, just filial piety is not enough. The people of the world need What is more important is a prince who can lift up the sky, not a filial adou."