The night was dark and silent.

Chang'an, the ancient and magnificent capital, is like a tired giant falling into a deep sleep in the dark night, and like a towering Cangshan Mountain, before a storm that swept the world came, it seemed surprisingly quiet.

Recently, the atmosphere in Chang'an has been very unusual. The reason for all this is because of a nonsense remark made by an unreasonable and troubled person at a banquet.

This person is the one who has just surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and came to Chang'an, the former Western Turkic Khan of Beiting, who wants to set up.

After returning to the Tang Dynasty, he was named the king of Heshan County and enjoyed treatment superior to that of the national prince, which somewhat made him, the king of the dead country, a little overjoyed. So he drank a few more glasses at the state banquet where Li Shimin entertained him, because he was not familiar with the Chinese principle and added a gaffe after drinking, he actually regarded Li Tai, the king of Wei, who came to toast, as the "prince" in public, and showed him great affection, in order to obtain glory and peace for the rest of his life.

But the problem is that the King of Wei is only the King of Wei, not the crown prince!

So on the spot, the faces of many people changed, and Li Tai, the king of Wei, was even more panicked, so he almost knelt down on the spot to ask him to stop patting him.

One of the most acute problems in today's Datang was finally pierced by an outsider. So some ministers took advantage of the situation to make a statement to Li Shimin, borrowing ancient metaphors for the present, citing from the side, making long speeches, and tirelessly saying a lot, but in fact, there is only one meaning - the Tang Dynasty should also establish a prince!

The voice of the ministers is nothing more than that: Emperor, your old man is not clear about the prince, isn't it embarrassing for us courtiers? - You're not in a hurry, we're in a hurry! Now that the battle is over, it's time to take care of the internal affairs of the imperial court. Now the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are facing the big problem of the life-and-death choice of "standing in line", and no one wants to stand on the wrong side now and be purged in the future!

Li Shimin also knows that paper can't contain fire after all, and contradictions and problems can't always be blindly covered up. The biggest hidden danger and crisis since the Zhenguan Dynasty is also time to be solved!

"Within a year."

Li Shimin, for the first time, expressed his position in public and gave a deadline for establishing a prince.

This year is also destined to be the most special and important year for Datang since its founding. It will determine the life and death of many people, as well as the future direction and national fortunes of Datang.

For this reason, Li Shimin couldn't sleep at night. Tossing and turning until late at night, he simply got up in his clothes and prepared to go to the room to sit down.

As soon as I arrived at the room, there were lights and figures inside. When I went in, I saw that her baby daughter Xiao Zizi was lying on the table and scribbling something, and there were two palace ladies waiting next to her.

"Your Majesty!" Gong E saw Li Shimin and hurriedly knelt down.

"Father!" The little son screamed happily and threw himself into Li Shimin's arms with a squeaky smile.

"Why haven't you slept so late?" Li Shimin caressed the little son's head lovingly and asked.

"The emperor can't sleep!" The little son blinked her big smart eyes and said seriously, "The emperor misses the queen mother!" ”

Li Shimin was speechless for a moment, and walked to the desk with his little son in his arms to see what she had just painted.

Originally, the little son would be a portrait of the eldest grandson queen, but unexpectedly, the painting was a general riding a big horse.

Although the little son is only ten years old, he has been very talented since he was a child, especially in painting and law. As early as two years ago, at the age of eight, she was able to imitate Li Shimin's one-handed "flying white" method vividly, making it difficult to distinguish the authenticity. In the past two years, she began to learn painting with the palace painters, and she has learned a wonderful brush, which is amazing.

Li Shimin just glanced at it, and at a glance he thought who the little son was drawing.

Because she painted too much like it. If you don't see it with your own eyes, it's hard to believe that this painting was made by a 10-year-old girl.

"Well drawn, little son." Li Shimin smiled, put the little son down and said, "Tell my father, why don't you sleep in the middle of the night and run to the room to paint his portrait?" ”

"Because of the emperor, I also miss the village chief......" the little son's mouth pursed slightly, and he said aggrievedly, "The emperor originally wanted to paint a portrait of his mother, but the emperor ...... But I can't remember my mother's appearance. These days, the emperor has been alone in the Penglai Palace, and even the ninth brother has not come to accompany me. At night, the emperor is lonely and scared, and he misses the village chief. In the past, as long as the village chief was there, the emperor was not afraid of anything, he could be very happy and happy, listen to his stories, and let him take me and Brother Jiu to play...... Father, where has he gone to the village chief, he hasn't come to visit the emperor for a long time! ”

said something that made Li Shimin's heart inexplicably sour. He said in his heart: I have been working hard to be a good emperor and a good father. But at the end of the day, I was still a terrible father with a lack of love for my children. Now, San Lang, Qingque, and Zhinu are brothers who are not tolerant of each other because of the matter of the prince; Even the innocent little son was left alone......

"Father, why don't you speak?" The little boy asked softly.

He ...... I'm coming back soon. Li Shimin smiled reluctantly and said, "Little son, when you are a few years older, my father will pick a good horse for you." Then you won't be lonely and won't be afraid. ”

The young and casual little son slapped his face and giggled: "Okay! Let the village chief be a colt! Emperor, I like him the most! ”

"......" Li Shimin was stunned at first, and then laughed, "Then how can it be done?" He's your Imperial Sister Gaoyang's concubine! ”

"What does that matter?" The little son smiled innocently, and said happily: "I also like Sister Gaoyang Huang, so let me marry the village chief with her!" ”

"Haha!" Li Shimin was amused and laughed loudly, "When you grow up, you won't think like this." ”

"Father...... the little son's face suddenly changed, and he begged pitifully, "You just let the village chief be my concubine?" Do you know that the emperor has no favorite person except for his father, the ninth brother and the queen mother who doesn't remember his appearance. Now that the queen mother is gone, my father is busy with state affairs all day long, and the ninth brother has also moved to live in the palace outside the palace...... Only the village chief, he loves me the most. By his side, the emperor always felt warm in his heart, just like with his father. ”

"Hehe......" Li Shimin stroked the little son's head and smiled.

In the smile, there is indescribable love, shame and sadness.

"Then father, call the village chief back for you, okay?"

"Okay!" The little son slapped happily.

"But......" Li Shimin stood up, paced a few steps thoughtfully, and whispered meaningfully, "He may not be willing to come back now......"

The night was getting deeper.

Li Shimin came to the Hongwen Pavilion. Today's prime minister who stayed on night duty was Fang Xuanling, and in the middle of the night, he couldn't help but be a little surprised to see the emperor come to Hongwen Hall in person, and hurriedly greeted him.

"Your Majesty, why didn't you sleep so late at night, but you came to Hongwen Pavilion?" Fang Xuanling asked.

"I have a lot of things in my heart, and I can't sleep, so I just go out for a walk." Li Shimin said lightly, "Xuan Ling, talk to me!" ”

"Yes......"

The two of them came to sit down in the official office where Fang Xuanling usually took care of official business, Li Shimin glanced around and said, "Xuanling, you are old. In the future, this kind of night duty will be handed over to young subordinates! ”

"It's okay, Wechen is used to it." Fang Xuanling replied with a smile.

"Well......" Li Shimin seemed to have a thousand words to say, but he didn't know where to start for a while, and after being silent for a while, he said, "What news about the West has been recently?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, after the establishment of the Beiting Khan Desire Valley back to the Tang Dynasty, there is no major news from the Western Regions for the time being. Lanzhou and Luo have no major events, and everything is peaceful. Fang Xuanling replied, "On the Liaodong side, Goguryeo seems to have made some changes, and wants to unite with Baekje to use troops against Silla." The king of Jiangxia, who had just returned to the Youzhou Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and was reinstated, came to the chapter to ask the imperial court if it needed to respond? ”

"The Koreans are dishonest again?" Li Shimin snorted coldly a little annoyed, "They saw that the Tang Dynasty had no time to look east when they saw that the front of the Quartet had been stretched in recent years, so he took the opportunity to annex Silla and unify the peninsula." In fact, a few years ago, I thought about sweeping away Goryeo with my own accompaniment to eliminate future troubles for future generations. But there are always things of one kind or another, delayed. Now, Li Tao has eliminated Xue Yantuo and swept away the northern desert, and Qin Mubai conquered Tubo and leveled the Western Regions, just free up his hands to clean up Goguryeo! ”

"Your Majesty......" Fang Xuanling stopped talking, his face was sad.

Li Shimin smiled and said, "I know what you want to say. You can rest assured, within three years, I will not let Datang have any more wars. The Northern Expedition, Pingbo and the Western Expedition have emptied the treasury and made the people suffer. Now if you don't cultivate literature with martial arts, Datang's family foundation will be hollowed out, and there will be chaos in the world. If this is the case, even if there are thousands of miles of territory, it will be weak. ”

"Your Majesty is wise!" Fang Xuanling took a breath and said, "Back then, the Han Dynasty drove the Xiongnu to the west to the Western Regions, and the army of the Han Dynasty was mighty. But because of the perennial poor soldiers, the national strength was empty, and the people were miserable, and later it also caused a catastrophe......"

Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he smiled: "Xuan Ling, do you have something to say to me?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, there is no ......"

"Huh!" Li Shimin smiled, "What you just said about 'causing a catastrophe' doesn't you mean the 'witch curse' in the later years of Han Wu?" ”

Fang Xuanling's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly surrendered his hand, "Weichen didn't mean that!" ”

Li Shimin waved his hand and said with an easy-going smile: "The witch curse in the last years of the Han Dynasty led to the death and suffering of the queen, the crown prince and countless ministers. You are not wrong to learn from the past and the present. The East Palace is the future and foundation of the country, the East Palace is not solid, and the people's hearts are unstable, which will lead to a catastrophe for the country. I know that now is also the time to choose a prince for Datang. ”

Fang Xuanling didn't dare to speak.

"What has King Wei been doing lately? I didn't see him come to the court. Li Shimin asked suddenly.

"Wechen doesn't know. Recently, Weichen did not see King Wei in Hongwen Pavilion. Fang Xuanling replied truthfully, "Maybe...... Is it sick? Otherwise, the King of Wei would not have come to the court. ”

Li Shimin smiled indifferently, "What he gave birth to is the disease of the East Palace!" ”

Fang Xuanling smiled bitterly, "Since Your Majesty knows, why should you let so many people suffer from this disease in the East Palace?" ”

Li Shimin also smiled bitterly, "Why don't I have this disease?" This strange disease has been plaguing my Tang Dynasty for several years, and it has not been cured. ”

"Your Majesty, please forgive Weichen for speaking out. It's one thing to get sick and not be cured; To cure or not to cure is another matter. In any case, there is always hope if it is cured, and if it is not cured, it ......" Fang Xuanling stopped.

"To the point." Li Shimin nodded approvingly, "I want to be ruthless now, and treat this disease." But this disease has been in place for a long time, and it is not easy to treat! I need to take a few strong pills; When it comes to the last resort, even ...... Cut the flesh and mend the sores! ”

Fang Xuanling's heart suddenly flicked, a look of horror flashed in his eyes, and he asked carefully, "What does Your Majesty ......mean by the fierce medicine?"

Li Shimin's eyes narrowed, his expression became miserable and helpless, he sighed lightly, and said: "I, I have always hoped to be able to cure this disease through recuperation and comfort, but I didn't expect it to become more and more serious, and it has reached the point of being terminally ill. If this disease is not cured, my Tang Dynasty court will be in chaos, and the world will be in chaos. All the efforts we have made before and everything we have now will be in vain...... I have no choice but to dig up the meat here to make up for the sores of my Tang Dynasty! ”

As he spoke, Li Shimin pointed to his chest.

Fang Xuanling's expression suddenly froze, and his hands and feet also felt a burst of coldness.

At this moment, a terrible thought came to Fang Xuanling's heart-His Majesty the Emperor was going to dig up his own heart...... This should mean that at least two of the three kings of Wei, Wu, and Jin will be greatly harmed!

"What a ...... Cut the flesh and mend the sores! Fang Xuanling sighed deeply, "Your Majesty, Weichen is also the father of man. To make such a decision......"

Li Shimin waved his hand to signal that Fang Xuanling didn't have to continue, he shook his head with a wry smile, "I, is there any other choice?" ”