"The saint blindly seeks stability, and he wants to affect the morale of the army!"

In the study, the Li brothers sat opposite each other, Li Xiaogong's eyes were red, he put the wine glass on the table, and said to Li Shimin bitterly: "Everyone in Tongguan knows that the woman who robbed Huang Junhan of the bastard, everyone knows that he is jealous and unwilling to send troops, but the saint believes his words, are the soldiers all fools?" ”

Li Shimin silently poured him a glass of wine and sighed, "In fact, there are some details that can explain the truth, Huang Junhan dismissed 5,000 troops to return to Tongguan in the evening of the same day, these troops and generals knew that Huang Junhan was going to surrender, at this time it was still early for Yang Yuanqing to launch an attack, he could lead the army to take over the defense of Ruxiang County and prevent Huang Junhan from surrendering, but he didn't do it, but waited for Yang Yuanqing to cross the river and occupy Ruxiang County, so it can be seen that he hoped that Yang Yuanqing would cut off the back road of Hongnong's army, Revenge for your impeachment of him, this is his inner viciousness, but it is not the root cause of failure, I know very well what the problem is? He obviously led 20,000 troops to aid you, but his father appointed him as the commander of Tongguan, which confused his duties, and his father had a great responsibility for the defeat of this battle, in fact, Qu Tutong was right, and he really couldn't set up two commanders in a war. ”

Li Xiaogong raised his neck and drank all the wine in the cup, snorting wine and said: "You are right, Tongguan originally had 10,000 troops stationed, which was enough to defend 100,000 people to attack Tongguan, but he used 30,000 people to defend Tongguan, and then Zhao Cijing wanted to save me, he only gave Zhao Cijing 5,000 people, obviously asking him to die, Tongguan scouts found that Zhao Cijing's army was surrounded and in danger. He ordered the gate of Tongguan to be closed, and no entry or exit was allowed, making it clear that he was letting Zhao Cijing die, he was vicious, and even his brother-in-law could be sent to death, did he really think that he could deceive his superiors and subordinates? ”

Speaking of this, Li Xiaogong ordered in a loud voice: "Bring them in!" ”

Moment. The soldiers brought the two middle-aged men in, and they knelt on the ground, "Xiaomin see the prince." ”

Li Xiaogong pointed at them and said to Li Shimin: "These two people are human witnesses. It was a merchant outside Tongguan who witnessed the bastard robbing Huang Junhan's woman, and I sent someone to Tongguan to find them. ”

"Tell me about the situation."

A merchant nodded, "The villain was selling dry food among the people who were retreating west. On the official road, which was about two miles away from Tongguan, we saw more than 100 soldiers rushing up on horseback, surrounding a carriage, and four people beside the carriage fought with them, and as a result, two were killed on the spot, and the other two were surrounded, and the cavalry dragged out a woman from the carriage, who was very beautiful, put her on the horse, and ran in the direction of Huayin County. Later, when those sergeants came back, we learned that they were the personal soldiers of His Royal Highness the King of Qi, and when they returned to the prince, there were still many soldiers transporting food on the official road at that time, and they also saw it. ”

Li Xiaogong waved his hand. Let him take them down, and said to Li Shimin with a long sigh: "I was a little suspicious at first that Huang Junhan lied to me, but now that the evidence is ironclad, the saint would rather believe the words of that fool than investigate in detail in Tongguan, I know that he is trying to maintain stability." But there is justice in people's hearts, and he favors his son like this, has he ever considered the feelings of the soldiers? ”

Li Shimin drank a glass of wine quietly and slowly, in fact, the purpose of his coming today was to reach a consensus with Li Xiaogong, so as to draw him to his side, but he also knew that his father had already made up his mind, everything could not be changed, and it was useless for Li Xiaogong to find more evidence, and the question now was how to make Li Xiaogong choose a position and stand on his side.

He pondered for a moment and then said, "I will go to my father today and persuade him to send Huang Junhan's wife and children to Hedong, we have lost our trust in the army, and this will at least save a little bit." ”

Li Xiaogong's eyes showed gratitude, he also wanted to convince the saint in this matter, since the people of the world were willing to come forward, it would be the best, at this moment, there was a sound of running outside the door, and a guard anxiously reported, "Lord, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived." ”

Li Xiaogong and Li Shimin glanced at each other, both of them were stunned, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually left the palace, Li Xiaogong hurriedly got up, "I'll go to greet His Royal Highness the Prince." ”

He glanced at Li Shimin again, meaning to ask him if he would go? Li Shimin groaned, stood up and said, "I'll go with you." ”

In front of the palace, Li Jiancheng was wearing a green robe, wearing a small hat, standing on the steps with his hands behind his back and waiting, he came to appease Li Xiaogong, Li Jiancheng was not blindly partial to his brothers, as the crown prince, he knew that the stability and unity within the royal family at the beginning of the founding of the country was conducive to the expansion and growth of the empire, on the contrary, premature internal strife and division would make the empire fall into a kind of internal friction, and could not continue to expand.

Protecting the fourth brother Yuanji can avoid royal scandals, maintain the image of Li Tang's royal family and his father, and help win the support of the people of the world for the Tang Dynasty, but he also knows that it is not enough to protect Yuanji, he also needs to appease another party, Li Xiaogong, so as to avoid the division of the royal family, and Li Jiancheng can also be described as well-intentioned.

At this time, Li Jiancheng stood on the steps with his hands in his hands, squinting at the group of horse-leading guards who were waiting on the opposite side, this was the guard of the second brother Li Shimin, he recognized it, it turned out that the second brother was also in Li Xiaogong's mansion, which was a bit of a coincidence.

At this time, there was a series of footsteps behind him, and Li Xiaogong hurriedly walked out, bowed down and apologized, "Let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wait outside the palace for a long time, and the ministers are guilty!" ”

"It's nothing, it's uninvited, it's abrupt, I should be apologetic."

Li Jiancheng smiled slightly, and his eyes fell on Li Shimin behind Li Xiaogong, "Is the second brother here too?" ”

Li Shimin stepped forward and bowed, "The younger brother knows that Xiaogong is in a depressed mood, so he came to comfort him." ”

"Really? What a coincidence, I'm also here to comfort Xiaogong. ”

Li Jiancheng looked at the sky again, trying his best to hide the unnaturalness on his face, "The weather is not very good, it should be raining soon!" ”

Although the second brother Li Shimin can't talk about threatening his crown prince's position, but the precedent of the Sui Dynasty is ahead, it will still make people involuntarily think in that direction, not in his position, not seeking his government, since he is the prince, Li Jiancheng will naturally take into account the stability of his prince's position, in addition to gaining the trust of his father, but also to prevent external threats, among all brothers. The second brother Shimin is undoubtedly his biggest threat.

Li Jiancheng said that the weather was bad, and he reminded the second brother that it was time to say goodbye and leave, but Li Shimin had no intention of leaving, only smiled, and still stood behind Li Xiaogong.

Li Xiaogong is the master, he saw that the atmosphere was a little embarrassing, and hurriedly smiled: "Don't stand at the door of the mansion and talk." His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, please come in. ”

Along the way, Li Jiancheng wanted to say a few words to his second brother, but the two looked at each other, but they couldn't find anything to say. He originally wanted to ask about the war in Longxi, but mentioning Longxi would inevitably touch Li Shimin's entry into Beijing without being ordered, which would be even more embarrassing. Both were silent.

Li Xiaogong invited Li Jiancheng to your guest room, and the three of them sat down, Li Jiancheng sat first, Li Xiaogong and Li Shimin sat on both sides, and the two maids served fragrant tea.

As the crown prince, Li Jiancheng can't leave the palace at will, he can't stay outside for too long, and it is impossible to greet and test around and around, since the second brother refuses to leave, he can only be open and honest.

Li Jiancheng groaned for a while and said, "I'm here today." The main thing is to talk to Xiaogong, and I hope you can understand the good intentions of the saints. ”

Li Xiaogong took the teacup and tasted the tea slowly, he didn't speak, and Li Shimin next to him didn't speak, but fiddled with a piece of jade pendant in his hand a little absent-mindedly. It seems that his brother Li Jiancheng's words have nothing to do with him, he is just an observer.

Li Jiancheng said, but his eyes were gradually attracted by the jade pendant in the second brother's hand, and he suddenly recognized that the jade pendant was the butterfly-shaped jade pendant that the fifth sister Princess Guiyang took out the day before yesterday when she complained in front of her father. Zhao Cijing asked his soldiers to bring a token to Princess Guiyang, how could the jade pendant be in the hands of the second brother Shimin?

Could it be that Princess Guiyang has already talked to her second brother about something? Li Jiancheng found that his second brother Shimin's involvement in this matter was actually very deep, and he wondered for a while, how would this matter evolve?

was thinking in his heart, but his words did not stop, and he said earnestly to Li Xiaogong: "The Tang Dynasty has just been established, and it is particularly important to maintain the unity and stability within the imperial family at this time, which is related to whether we can finally win the world, and the saint actually knows that things are not as simple as King Qi said, but he has no choice, at this time he can only calm down the situation and let everyone forget about this matter as soon as possible, so as not to affect the reputation of the royal family, I hope Xiaogong you can understand the hard work of the saint." ”

Li Xiaogong still didn't speak, but Li Shimin finally couldn't help it and sneered, "I can understand my father's good intentions, but my brother's explanation is unconvincing, and even counterproductive!" ”

Li Jiancheng showed an extremely unhappy look on his face, the reason why he didn't want his second brother to be here was that he was afraid that he would meddle in this matter and make his efforts to persuade filial piety to be in vain, and now what he was worried about had really happened, the anger in Li Jiancheng's heart suddenly ignited, he took a deep breath, restrained the dissatisfaction in his heart, and said in a rare tough tone: "You say!" How can it be unconvincing, and where can it backfire? ”

Li Shimin didn't care about his brother's attitude, he still said unhurriedly: "The flood in the Middle Ages, Kun used the law of containment to rule the water, and the result was that the flood was more monstrous, and Yu used the rule of law to rule the water, and finally calmed down the flood, how similar to today's things, the king of Qi broke the law was originally a trivial matter, revoke his military position, take a heavy responsibility, and the matter will be solved, the soldiers will only feel that the saint is just and strict, the prince violates the law, and the common people are guilty of the same crime, which will only make the prestige of the father more high, but the father has adopted the method of blocking, and refuses to cure the crime of the king of Qi, Directly led to the fiasco of Hongnong County, was Huang Junhan's surrender accidental? But now the father still refuses to admit it, and continues to block it even harder, thinking that a wall can be done, but I don't know that although this can block the mouths of the soldiers, but it can't block the hearts of tens of millions of soldiers, a small thing is getting bigger and bigger, which is distressing, the elder brother is the crown prince, and he does not persuade his father to admit his mistakes, but is shielding and conniving at the king of Qi, fueling the troubles, so that the father and the emperor are going farther and farther on the wrong road, shouldn't the elder brother introspect? ”

Li Jiancheng was furious, stared at the second brother Shimin and said fiercely: "Then what do you want, let your father kill the fourth brother, and then issue an edict for yourself?" Maybe that's exactly what you want, but brotherhood is dispensable for you. ”

Li Shimin's corner of his eyes quickly glanced at Li Xiaogong, seeing that his face was full of resentment, he knew that this resentment was not aimed at himself, but at his brother, and his goal was achieved, Li Shimin's tone gradually calmed down, "I'm just talking about things, since there is a conclusion at the court meeting, can I really force my father to admit his mistakes?" I still say the same thing, justice is in the hearts of the people, and the eldest brother will regret it one day for shielding Yuanji......