The time came to the seventh day of June in the ninth year of Wude, although this day was not the day of Zhengshuo, but Li Yuan, the emperor of Wude, still passed down the will to hold a grand court meeting attended by all the officials above the nine grades in Chang'an City! Prior to this, under the instruction of Li Shimin, after the personal operation of Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, the eldest grandson Wuji, Wei Chi Jingde and others, the inside and outside of Chang'an City had been completely stabilized!

Although the court meeting on this day is grand, some people are happy and some are sad. It is Li Shimin and others who are happy that they can finally control everything; The sorrow is the Wude Emperor Li Yuan, this sorrow is full of helplessness and sadness! I saw that in the Taiji Hall of the majestic Daxing Palace, Li Yuan officially canonized Li Shimin as the new prince of the Tang Empire in front of hundreds of civil and military officials! At the same time, an edict was issued that changed the direction of history: from today on, all major military affairs, no matter how big or small, will be entrusted to the prince to handle and decide, and then report to me! Although Li Shimin is only the crown prince in name, all the rights of the Tang Empire have been firmly controlled by him.

The sun and the moon are flying swords, thousands of miles long, and their eyes come to this prison of the Criminal Department, which has long been filled with the party of the abolished prince, and the sound of wailing is endless. And in the depths of the cell, Tianzi No. 1 single room. With the large window of the bowl, a faint light came in. I saw the old man Higashino sitting quietly on the straw-paved bed; Wei Zheng held a straw in the corner of his mouth and lay leisurely, sometimes looking east, sometimes looking west.

In the heart of the old man Dongye: If you become a king or lose a villain, since you are defeated, at most you will die, and if you die, you will die, you must leave openly and honestly. I saw a cloud of dust fall on the left sleeve with a dim light, and he brushed it away! Although the cell looks dirty, the old man Higashino, who has always loved cleanliness, has no trace of sloppiness, and sits upright every day! However, Wei Zheng next to him looked very arrogant, and in a few days, he was already unkempt and embarrassed, even so, but he seemed at ease! It's like being at home, I just eat and sleep every day, and then eat after sleeping, without the slightest mentality of going to jail.

Suddenly, Wei Zheng opened his mouth and asked, "Sir, do you say that we will live or die this time?" ”

"Life and death are not in the hands of you and me, but in terms of fate, you and I should not die, there should be such a hurdle." Mr. Higashino replied unhurriedly with his eyes closed!

Wei Zheng was very dazed when he said this, sat up from the straw couch in a flash, and asked in surprise: "What do you mean by sir?" ”

"At the moment of the change of Xuanwumen, the old man wanted to go with the completion of this life, but in this cell, he gradually figured out everything. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the King of Qin has worked hard to employ people in order to be outstanding and brave in the world; However, it is not clear how old and decaying the country is. Emperor Yang of the previous dynasty is also a great talent, but in the end he still lost the country. Therefore, if the king of Qin wants to rule the world and win the hearts of the people, he will definitely use virtuous; However, there are very many people who talk about soldiers on paper, and there are very few people who are down-to-earth, everything depends on the fortunes of the Tang Dynasty and the plan of King Qin for his future! If you want to become a generation of Ming Jun, you will definitely buy the hearts of you and me to seal the mouth of the world; If you want to become a generation of heroes, you and I will not be able to save our lives; Therefore, life and death are between the thoughts of King Qin, so everything is determined! ”

Hearing such an analysis, Wei Zheng also nodded involuntarily, and at this moment, he also considered it in his heart. Indeed, life and death are not up to oneself. Everything depends on the ambition and ambition of this "future man"!

Every day is accompanied by straw and prison food, leisurely, and it is some time. The day gradually dawned, the earth was hazy, and I saw a person standing alone on the steps of the Chengqian Hall overlooking the inside and outside of Chang'an City. As the morning sun rises, the glow has turned the pavilions and pavilions of Chang'an City into golden yellow, and the gradually increasing number of pedestrians fills the bustling streets. The silence of the sky, accompanied by the early morning birdsong, pierced the silence. Pieces of colorful auspicious clouds, once again filling the sky, look spectacular! And the person standing alone was Li Shimin, looking at such a magnificent morning glow, he couldn't help but think of the evening of the Xuanwumen Change, and suddenly, he remembered Wei Zheng and the old man Dongye who were still in prison.

Thinking of this, one of them turned around and returned to the main hall. In this Chengqian Palace, Li Chunfeng was still waiting on the side early, and Cheng Yanjin was finishing the errand he had explained a few days ago, and he hurriedly came to return early in the morning, watching Li Shimin look into the distance outside the hall, and under Li Chunfeng's instructions, he didn't bother the prince of this empire! Seeing him come in, Cheng Yanjin hurriedly greeted him and bowed. After he finished explaining his errand, Li Shimin said to them while sorting out the notes on the desk: "You two happen to be fine, just accompany me to this prison of the Criminal Department to see this Wei Zheng and Mr. Dongye!" ”

"Could it be that His Highness wants to use these two people?" Cheng Yanjin asked casually

"It Did"

"It's good to have a minister go through such a trivial matter, so why let you condescend to it. Since His Royal Highness originally wanted to use these two people, I will sing them a red face, and tie them all to here, and then it would be better for Your Highness to have you come to explain Yan Yan! ”。

Hearing Chen Yanjin's words, Li Shimin stopped the music that he was arranging casually, was slightly stunned, and smiled at Li Chunfeng. I saw Li Chunfeng say with a smile: "I never thought that General Cheng was also a person with thick and fine!" ”

Li Shimin was also overjoyed, looking at Cheng Biting Jin, who was wearing a scarlet official uniform with jade around his waist and like a blazing fire, and praised with relief: "I didn't expect that our former boss and coarse man now have such a scheming, so good, that's fine, then you have full authority to handle this matter, but this time I only brought Mr. Dongye over." ”

A beautiful word, Cheng Yanjin was suddenly embarrassed, hurriedly received the general's order, hurried out of the Chengqian Palace, turned around and went to the right to lead the mansion to raise a hundred black armor troops. I saw these black-armored sergeants, all in their early twenties, all of them in high spirits, wearing black helmets and black armor, holding a one-foot long Mo knife, with a mulberry standard bow at their waists, riding a chasing horse, and running along Suzaku Street towards the prison of the Criminal Department, attracting countless market vendors to whisper!

With a cup of tea, Cheng Yanjin rushed to the prison of the Criminal Department, and after verifying the documents, he went straight to the No. 1 cell of Tianzi of the old man Dongye and Wei Zheng. At this moment, the old man Dongye is talking with Wei Zheng about this strategy of governing the country; When it comes to the way of the Son of Heaven, the way of governing the country must uphold the heart of loving and cherishing the people. Suddenly, I heard a loud shout: "Old man Dongye, that is the old man of Dongye" Before anyone heard the voice, the two of them had already guessed that they were not far from ten, this is basically Cheng Biting Jin, and when they met and smiled, they stopped talking!

With the roar, the cell boss raised his trembling right hand like a deflated ball, and pointed to Cheng Yanjin tremblingly. Looking back at all this, the cell head is walking on thin ice; Cheng bites the gold mighty and majestic; Behind him, countless black-armored soldiers were armed with Mo knives, and the narrow passages of the cell were tightly blocked; The prison that mourns all over the field every day was instantly silenced by this scene.

The old man stood up slowly, patted the straw stuck to his shirt, and turned his hands behind his back, and stood like this. Cheng Yanjin looked him up and down: clean clothes, elegant beard, neat hair, it didn't look like there was any trace of imprisonment; Look back at the person next to him, he is already unkempt and no longer human! Seeing this, Cheng Cheng bit the gold and scolded the cell head: "Damn, is your criminal department prison going through the back door, is he in prison, how can he look more decent than not in prison!" ”

Hearing this reprimand, the cell boss was so frightened that he "poofed", knelt down and shouted "no"! The old man Dongye, looking at the oppressed cell head, with disdainful eyes, glanced at Cheng Biting Jin, and slowly opened his mouth: "I have always been like this, please don't embarrass the cell boss."

"Hey" you a prisoner, and plead for a cell boss! As soon as Cheng Yanjin heard this, he immediately kicked the cell head and kicked the cell head upside down: "I'm just embarrassed for him, what can you do to me!" Dying, so much nonsense"!

With this kind of arrogance, this kind of unreasonableness, the old man Dongye glanced at it, stared at the wide-eyed Chen Biting Jin, and then slowly closed his eyes. He felt that with such an unreasonable person, you can't argue clearly, and if you die, you will die, so why bother with a word!

Looking at the old man Dongye who was not timid at all, Chen Yanjin also felt a sense of admiration in his heart! But admiration is admiration, and the work on face still has to be done, so he ordered: "Tie me up and take it away." The two black-armored soldiers immediately stepped forward with ropes, grabbed the old man's arms, and prepared to tie them up!

But seeing the old man of Dongye, he pushed them away and said, "Don't bother the general, I'll naturally go with you; Soldiers, just step down" Between the words, the gentleman stepped out of the cell with heroic feelings. This sudden scene actually made Cheng Yanjin stunned, he saw that the momentum was not right, if he didn't tie it up, how could he come here to explain Yan Yan, so he yelled: "Why are you still stunned, tie me up"

But when he saw the black-armored soldier who came back to his senses, he tied up Mr. Higashino with five flowers! So Cheng Yanjin also took a vigorous step, looked at the old man Dongye with disdain, and under the escort of the soldiers, he was loaded into the stinking willow prison car! A puff of smoke rushed towards Daxing Palace.

At this moment, the filthy Tianzi No. 1 cell left only the unkempt Wei Zheng alone. Sitting alone, I recalled the words of the old man Dongye before: if someone came to escort them to the dharma, if no one tied them up and just took them away silently, they would definitely die. If you must be tied up with five flowers, you should not die. Wei Zheng also wanted to ask Mr. why, but the old man Dongye always played dumb riddles like this, and he didn't explain the reason, just said that it would be good for him to wait and see what happened when the time came!

When I came to this Hongwen Museum, Li Shimin's current office was next to a mahogany carved imperial case, carefully reviewing the notes that were submitted. Although this Hongbunkan is not very large, it looks quite compact; The prosperity of the decoration is vulgar and simple. All kinds of books are placed on the Nanmu bookshelf placed against the wall, next to a warm collapse is his daily resting place, and several carved hollow show piers are placed next to it for the ministers who perform daily work to sit.

At this time, I saw this Chen biting gold, tiptoeing, and came in softly, seeing that Li Shimin was dealing with government affairs, he didn't bother too much, and stood quietly aside. The first person to see him was Li Chunfeng, and when Li Chunfeng wanted to speak, Cheng Bingjin waved his hand to stop his words. Although this journey of biting gold is light at this time, all this has already made Li Shimin see through it. He lowered his head, signed the imperial approval, and asked casually, "Is the matter done?" ”

Cheng Yanjin hurriedly replied with helplessness: "Your Highness, this is really a talent, like me, a big and arrogant person went to the prison of the Criminal Department; tried his best to be stunned but didn't scare him; He made it look like he was fine, but in the end, I kidnapped him. ”

As soon as Li Shimin heard this, he put down the wolf pen in his hand and said with a smile: "Then bring it up!" ”

Originally, the old man of Dongye wanted to leave by himself, but the black-armored sergeant was stunned. So the old man Dongye, with his hands tied behind his back, was escorted by two black-armored sergeants, and entered the Hongwen Hall in embarrassment.

When he came in, Li Shimin deliberately lowered his head and worked hard to deal with this sloppiness. And the old man Dongye broke free from the escort of the soldiers, raised his head and stood under the imperial case, looking at Li Shimin at this moment, he seemed to ignore his own existence, and said sharply: "Death is death, why humiliate a dying person so much" Li Shimin heard such words, and then returned quite politely: "It's Mr. Dongye who is here, fast seat, fast seat, let me finish this performance"!

It was only half a cup of tea, this Li Shimin, put down the pen in his hand, raised his head again, and looked at it fixedly, but what he saw was such a scene of the old man Dongye. "I was surprised", with a scolding tone on his face, he scolded Cheng Biting Jin: "What did you do badly, I asked you to invite Mr. Higashino over, and you actually tied him up, what is the reason?" As he spoke, he continued to order: "Come on, pull out the rod for me and punish 30 military sticks!" While speaking, Li Shimin hurriedly put down the note on the desk, walked quickly to Mr. Higashino, and quickly untied Mr. Higashino's rope with his own hands.

I only heard Cheng Yanjin's "aggrieved" reply: "Please atone for your sins, the minister thinks that Mr. Dongye is the mastermind of the rebellion against the abolished prince, and he has not understood His Highness's will, and the crime deserves death, please also ask Mr. forgiveness" said "poof", and knelt in front of Li Shimin.

But seeing that Li Shimin was very complaining, he reprimanded him: "Mr. is my guest, not a sinner, I didn't let you treat Mr. like this; How do you make your husband look at me, and where do you put me?"

While scolding this Cheng for biting gold, he also scolded the little yellow door next to him: "Don't go to move a stool for Mr." As soon as he heard this, Xiao Huangmen hurriedly moved a carved hollow show pier with trepidation! After listening to Li Shimin's "scolding", Cheng Yanjin also knew his mistake when Xiao Huangmen moved Xiudun and came over. After Li Chunfeng's prompt, Cheng Yanjin hurriedly took Xiudun from Xiaohuangmen's hand, walked up to Mr. quickly, slowly helped Mr. to Xiudun, and said in a sincere tone: "Please atone for your sins, I misunderstood His Highness's will, so that today's result is caused by Mr. Yaliang, and I hope to atone for the sin of disrespect."

Since the old man Dongye heard Li Shimin's first words and demeanor, he has penetrated everything. At this time, he looked at Cheng Biting Jin with an aggrieved face in front of him; looked Li Shimin, who was quite humble, up and down, not only with a kind smile on his face, but also with a look of appeal in his eyes. Therefore, he pushed the boat down the river, and said on the donkey: "As the main culprit of the party of the abolished prince, it should be so, I never expected that it was His Royal Highness's high righteousness and such courtesy, which made the old man deeply surprised!" There is nothing guilty or not, General Cheng really shouldn't get this board! I beg your pardon! With that, he hurriedly got up and gave Li Shimin a long look.

Although the old man Dongye was so benevolent and righteous, Li Shimin still said to Cheng Yanjin "harshly": "Thank you, sir, what are you doing in a daze." After Li Shimin's reminder, Cheng Biting Jin, who was in a daze, hurriedly gave a big gift to Mr. After that, he took a small broken step and retreated stupidly. And Li Chunfeng looked at this scene of reconciliation, and also followed Cheng Yanjin's steps, withdrew from the Hongwen Pavilion, and closed the door casually!

At this moment, in the Hongwen Pavilion, only the old man Dongye and Li Shimin remained.

One is red-faced, the other is white-faced, and the two monarchs and ministers understand the righteousness in this way; And the old man Dongye, as a virtuous person, has already penetrated all this, but he can't bear to say it thoroughly! History will develop in that direction, will he really become Li Shimin's important minister? Please see the next ......