The eldest son's stern attitude made Li Yuan puzzled, "Why is Jiancheng so out of shape?" ”

Li Jiancheng hurriedly said: "Father, the son knows Zhai Rang very well, he will never be willing to be subordinate, he has no way to take refuge in us, if he is allowed to enter Bashu, it is like a dragon entering the sea, he will occupy Bashu sooner or later, and then we will regret it." ”

Li Yuan also felt that the eldest son was reasonable, and he looked at Li Shimin sternly.

Li Shimin said coldly: "Why is my brother so excited, I just said to let the Wagang Army go to Padang to deploy, not to let Zhai Rang go with me, I know who Zhai Rang is, and it won't be long before he will die of an arrow." ”

Li Jiancheng also stretched his face, "Who did the second brother decide to appoint as the new leader of this Wagang Army?" ”

"I'm going to appoint the hussar general Zhang Liang to take over this army, but I need to remind my eldest brother that the Wagang Army no longer exists, and it is now renamed the Badong Army."

"No!"

Li Jiancheng shook his head and said: "Zhang Liang is just a hussar general, how can he command an army of 15,000 with his qualifications, and this kind of army sitting on one side must be led by the Li royal family, what does my father think?" ”

Li Yuan nodded, "Jiancheng is reasonable, Shimin, I also think that Zhang Liang can be a general, but he can't be alone, and we can't forget the lesson of Zhang Xuan's single-town Qingzhou." ”

The corners of Li Shimin's mouth showed a hint of imperceptible sneer, he seemed to know that his brother would say this, he hurriedly said: "Back to my father, let Zhang Liang lead this army is just Erchen's original idea, but the old general Qu Tu has dissuaded Erchen in time, as my brother said, this kind of opportunity to be alone in one side cannot be handed over to outsiders, so Erchen changed his mind on the way to Beijing, Erchen handed over the army to Xiaogong, and asked him to serve as the commander of the Badong Army, I think there is Xiaogong in charge, my father should rest assured!" ”

Li Yuan has absolute trust in his nephew Li Xiaogong, not to mention that Li Xiaogong is now in Bashu, so he smiled at his eldest son: "Let Xiaogong serve as the leader of the army, I don't think there is a problem." ”

Li Jiancheng was a little bitter in his heart, he didn't expect the second brother to be so scheming, first use Zhang Liang to dig a pit, let himself fall into the pit, and then launched Li Xiaogong, so that Li Jiancheng has nothing to say at all, it was he himself who proposed to be the leader of the royal family, and Li Xiaogong fully met this standard.

Li Jiancheng sighed in his heart, and said helplessly: "Since my father agrees, the minister has no opinion." ”

In fact, Li Yuan is not unable to see that the two brothers are competing for the Wagang Army, and he can also understand the feelings of the eldest son for the Wagang Army, but Li Yuan has a principle, the army is handed over to the second son Shimin and the fourth son Yuanji, and the government is handed over to the eldest son Jiancheng, so he supports Li Jiancheng's envoy plan, but accepts Li Xiaogong to sit in Badong, which is the concrete embodiment of this principle

Li Jiancheng returned to the East Palace depressed, although the second and fourth brothers were responsible for leading the army to the south and the north, but it did not mean that Li Jiancheng absolutely had no military power.

In fact, Li Jiancheng also has an army indirectly controlled by him, that is, the 30,000 troops he brought out from the Wagang army, although the Eastern Expedition caused heavy losses to his army, but now there are more than 10,000 people, currently stationed in Lishi County, Bingzhou, nominally led by Li Yuanji, the king of Chu, but in fact Li Jiancheng's henchman Wang Bodang was the commander.

Li Jiancheng's greatest wish is to restore the army loyal to him to 30,000 people, but his father has always refused to give him a supplementary source of troops, of course, Li Jiancheng knows that this is a tacit understanding between him and his father, his father only wants to maintain the army loyal to him at 10,000 people, and there will be a little guard between the emperors and princes of all dynasties.

And Zhai Rang's surrender to the Tang Dynasty made Li Jiancheng see an opportunity to expand the army, the Wagang army is different from other armies, and he Li Jiancheng has a deep relationship, as long as he proposes it, although his father will be reluctant, but in the end he will still give this army to himself, because he has a good reason, and his father is not easy to refuse.

It's just that Li Jiancheng didn't expect his second brother Li Shimin to start first, sent this army directly to Badong, and handed it over to Li Xiaogong, obviously he didn't want to give this army to himself, and his father also pushed the boat down the river, so that he lost this opportunity before his eyes, which made Li Jiancheng not very annoyed.

Li Jiancheng returned to his study and sat at the table in a daze, he only felt upset for a while, but he didn't know what he was bothered about, like a huge threat standing beside him, but he couldn't see or see clearly.

At this time, a pair of snow-white slender hands put a bowl of ginseng tea in front of his eyes, and then he felt a burst of warmth in his head, and a warm chest leaned against him, "What is the husband bothering about?" A soft voice echoed in his ears.

Li Jiancheng snuggled his head against his warm and soft chest, and at the same time held his wife's hand, although he was upset, his wife gave him an indescribable comfort, making him feel the other side of life, in addition to power, his life has life, as well as family and wife and children.

At this time, there was a guard outside the door to report, "Your Highness, Mr. Wei asks to see you!" ”

His wife Zheng smiled: "The concubine should avoid it first!" ”

Li Jiancheng nodded, Zheng Shi bowed down, at this time the troubles in Li Jiancheng's heart had subsided a lot, he picked up the bowl and drank ginseng tea, "Please let him in!" ”

After a while, Wei Zheng walked into the court room quickly, bowed and bowed, "See Your Highness!" ”

"Excuse me, sir, please take a seat!"

Wei Zheng was Li Jiancheng's confidant and adviser, and he heard that Li Jiancheng was in a bad mood when he came back from the Wude Palace, so he knew what had happened and hurried to see Li Jiancheng.

Wei Zheng saw that Li Jiancheng was smiling reluctantly, and his smile could not hide the loss between his eyebrows, so he asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, what happened?" ”

Li Jiancheng smiled bitterly, and told Wei Zheng what happened in the court and the imperial study today, and finally said: "Actually, Zhai Rang's Long Wujun has nothing to do with me, he created it after I left Wagang, and it doesn't matter if I can't get it, I just feel very sorry, after all, I have been in Wagang Village for many years, and I have a special feeling for Wagang Army, but my father can't understand it." ”

Wei Zheng's heart was as meticulous as a hair, and he immediately discovered a loophole in it, "Fifteen thousand troops, the King of Qin can hand them over to Li Xiaogong without authorization, and can appoint the chief general without the permission of the Son of Heaven, doesn't His Highness think it's strange?" ”

Li Jiancheng was shocked, he actually ignored this problem, the cross-army transfer of more than 3,000 people must be approved by the Son of Heaven, and it must be filed in the Ministry of War, and the second brother handed over 15,000 troops to Li Xiaogong, and the father seems to know today, this is unreasonable!

Could it be

Li Jiancheng suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, he suddenly understood, the second brother must have reported to his father before, and with his father's consent, he dared to hand over the army to Li Xiaogong, so his father's performance today turned out to be pretending, pretending not to know, and deliberately agreeing to his suggestion that he should not be the chief general if he was not a member of the imperial family.

Li Jiancheng only felt a chill, he was unwilling to speculate on his father without basis, but if this was the case, then his father would hurt his heart too much.

Wei Zheng understood Li Jiancheng's mood, so he comforted him and said: "Your Highness doesn't have to be too sad, in fact, this is normal, although the Holy Lord is His Highness's father, but at the same time he is also the emperor, as long as he is the emperor, he will use some imperial tricks to a greater or lesser extent, this is true for the minister, and it is actually the same for the son." ”

"What Imperial Mind?" Li Jiancheng asked a little puzzled.

Wei Zheng didn't tell Li Jiancheng explicitly, but said euphemistically: "Didn't His Highness see the contradiction between Liu Wenjing and Pei Lian?" Sometimes even arguing in front of the saint, that kind of sabre-rattling hostility, the saint actually did not reconcile the contradictions between them, which is incomprehensible, but many emperors in history deliberately created contradictions between important ministers, and the emperor balanced in the middle This is the common technique of emperors, and Weichen does not refer to the saint, just to talk about history. ”

Although Wei Zheng denied it, Li Jiancheng still understood what Wei Zheng meant, his father was deliberately creating contradictions between his second brother, and then balancing the relationship between himself and his second brother, but what was the point of doing so?

Li Jiancheng saw that Wei Zheng still had nothing to say in his heart, he got up and closed the doors and windows, and ordered the guards to stand in the distance, then he lowered his voice and said: "Mr. and Jiancheng are friends in adversity, and they are also the most trusted people in Jiancheng, and now my attitude towards my father is very confused and confused, as if I don't know the direction in the dark, I implore Mr. to tell me frankly, Jiancheng swears to the sky, today's words are only in your heart and mine, and no third person will know." ”

Wei Zheng sighed, "His Royal Highness has the grace of knowing Wei Zheng, Wei Zheng would rather be punished by God than hide His Highness, Wei Chen thinks that the problem of the saint is that he ascended the throne too late, and the saint only tasted the sweetness of the emperor's wine at the age of fifty-four, but His Royal Highness is already thirty years old, the saint is healthy and well-maintained, there should be no problem in the reign of twenty years, but after ten years, His Highness will be forty-one years old, although His Highness has no intention, but the pressure on the saint is very great!" ”

Wei Zheng's words pierced Li Jiancheng's heart like a needle, and he fell into a long contemplation. (To be continued.) )