Seeing that the King of Qin had made up his mind, General Qianniuwei and Hou Junji, the commander of the Flying Tiger Army, said to Li Shimin, the king of Qin: "His Royal Highness the King of Qin, the left and right Qianniuwei where the minister is located have been in charge of the security of the palace. Now that His Royal Highness has decided to get rid of the crown prince and the king of Qi in the palace. The minister suggested that His Highness must control the Xuanwu Gate. ”

Everyone asked in surprise, "Xuanwu Gate?" ”

Hou Junji explained: "The Xuanwu Gate is the north gate of the imperial palace. The palace sits in the south and faces north, and the Xuanwu Gate, which is the north gate of the palace, is the main gate of the palace and the only gate for the courtiers to enter the palace. Only by controlling the Xuanwu Gate, the army of the three guards that His Highness can control can enter the palace and ambush unknowingly; Only by controlling the Xuanwu Gate, once the battle starts in the palace, the army controlled by His Royal Highness can rely on the Xuanwu Gate to block the army of the crown prince, King Qi, and other families from the palace, so as to facilitate the implementation of His Royal Highness's plan. ”

Everyone suddenly realized, nodded again and again, and said: "It should indeed be like this, control the Xuanwu Gate." ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, who got rid of the shackles of loyalty and filial piety, has already radiated his previous brilliance at this time, calm and calm, brave and decisive, as if he has become the commander of the army of hundreds of thousands of troops, silently listening to everyone's analysis, watching everyone's reactions, and secretly analyzing the feasibility of each step of the plan, gains and losses in his heart.

He asked Hou Junji unusually calmly, "Who is the guard of the Xuanwu Gate?" ”

Hou Junji replied: "The guard of Xuanwu Gate is Chang He, and the deputy general is Gao Yaxian. Both of them were originally subordinates of the traitor Liu Heimin. When the prince built and pacified Hebei, they led their troops to take refuge, and made great contributions in the war to pacify the traitor Liu Heimin, and were recommended by the prince as the guard general of Xuanwu Gate and the deputy general of Xuanwu Gate. ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, said with displeasure on his face: "The prince's subordinates? ”

Hou Junji replied: "They are indeed all subordinates of the crown prince. Your Highness, look, shall we ......? As he spoke, Hou Junji made a slashing motion.

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, denied: "No. After all, Chang He and Gao Yaxian are both forbidden generals guarding the palace, and getting rid of them is too big, so it may expose our plans in advance. ”

Hou Junji said helplessly: "Then what should I do?" They are not our people, and they can't be killed? In this way, how can the Xuanwu Gate be controlled? ”

At this time, Tang Jian, who had been unknown, stood up and said: "Although Chang He and Gao Yaxian are not our people, we can turn them into our people. ”

Hou Junji said in frustration: "How to change? ”

Tang Jian said: "Chang He, Gao Yaxian, I have been in contact with them, and they can be regarded as friends, and they have drunk and chatted with each other a few times. Don't think that they are subordinates of the crown prince, they are completely loyal to the prince. In fact, in private, they complained a lot about the crown prince. The crown prince built and reused the Qi Wang Yuanji and the Shandong Hao family, and he did not attach great importance to them. Chang He and Gao Yaxian were originally the left and right generals of the rebel Liu Heimin who were in charge of 100,000 troops, and they were all famous generals and fierce generals who had been famous for many years, but although the prince Jiancheng recommended them, he made them the Xuanwu Gate guards of the fifth grade and the deputy general of the Xuanwu Gate from the fifth grade, and looked at the palace gate, which made them have a big gap between their thoughts and reality, and they were extremely resentful of the prince Jiancheng. When pacifying the traitor Liu Heimin, Chang He and Gao Yaxian also made great contributions, and the prince Jiancheng once made a promise of 'capturing and killing the traitor Liu Heimin, sealing the marquis of ten thousand households, and entering the general', but the prince finally broke the appointment, which made Chang He and Gao Yaxian complain and curse all day long. ”

Qin King Li Shimin's eyes suddenly lit up and asked, "This?" Is this really the case? ”

Tang Jian replied: "This matter is indeed true. When I first came into contact with Chang He and Gao Yaxian, they still said two good words about the prince and the king of Qi, and after a long time, they became acquainted with each other, and they showed their unusual dissatisfaction with the prince Jiancheng and the king of Qi Yuanji, and they all regretted taking refuge in the prince Jiancheng and the king of Qi Yuanji. ”

Li Xuanjin said: "This is a good opportunity. It's better to let Tang Jian introduce me, and I'll meet Chang He and Gao Yaxian to see if the two can be co-opted. If not, we'll find another way. ”

Li Shimin, the king of Qin, nodded in agreement.

At noon on the second day, the imperial capital Chang'an's world-famous Dongxiang Spring Wine Shop was in a good private room. Li Xuan, accompanied by Tang Jian, met Chang He and Gao Yaxian. Gao Yaxian is honest and rude, Chang He is shrewd and cunning, and his eyes are dripping and turning, and he looks very clever. The two were dressed in civilian clothes, and the clothes were not luxurious and glamorous, showing that the two of them were not very happy in the imperial capital of Chang'an, and both of them were sad and frowned.

The table was already full of fine food and drink. After the four of them made a pleasant exchange, they began to drink. At the beginning, Chang He and Gao Yaxian didn't say much. They all thought that they were going to have a drink with Tang Jian, and they all came over with great interest. Unexpectedly, Tang Jian actually brought Li Xuan. Who is Li Xuan? That was the confidant and strategist of Li Shimin, the king of Qin. And what about them? They were the ones built by the crown prince. The crown prince and the king of Qin are like fire and water, they and Li Xuan are not on the same line with each other, and they are still hostile to each other. They were deeply wary of Li Xuan.

After a few glasses of wine, Chang He and Gao Yaxian's cheeks were flushed, and the atmosphere on the wine table eased.

Li Xuan took a sip of wine and asked Chang He with an intoxicated face: "General Chang, what do you think of this Dongxiangchun wine?" ”

Through the contact just now, Li Xuan understood that Chang He was the most important object to woo, and Gao Yaxian listened to Chang He in everything.

Hearing the word general, Chang He was filled with joy. In fact, according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, his five-rank Xuanwu Gate guards can only be regarded as a captain level, and cannot be called a general. But Li Xuan called him a general, although he knew in his heart that this was Li Xuan's compliment, but he was comfortable listening to it in his heart, and his expression couldn't help but relax and said, "I have to say, this wine is really good." ”

Li Xuan proposed: "It can be seen that General Chang is also a person who understands wine." How about we drink in a big bowl today? ”

As soon as the words fell, Gao Yaxian interjected: "Should I use a big bowl?" What's the point of taking a sip like this? ”

Chang He was wary, but he had to agree to drink in a big bowl.

Soon, the four large bowls of wine were full. Li Xuan picked up the big bowl, touched it with the three of them, and said, "Come, drink." ”

As he spoke, he drank it all. Chang He, Gao Yaxian, and Tang Jian also drank it all.

Each person drank seven or eight bowls in a row. Chang He and Gao Yaxian's faces showed a hint of drunkenness, and their vigilance was completely relaxed, and they began to talk more.

Li Xuan said to Chang He and Gao Yaxian: "The two generals have a lot of wine." It is said in the army: If you drink well, you will have good ability and high military achievements. When I saw it today, it really made sense. The amount of alcohol of the two generals is admirable, and this battle exploit is even more admirable. I heard that in the first battle of pacifying the rebel thief Liu Heimin, the two generals commanded a full army of 200,000 people, and pursued the thief leader Liu Heimin for ten days and ten nights, and finally conspired with Zhuge Dewei, the commander of Raoyang County, to capture the thief leader and Liu Heimin, the king of Handong, and his military exploits were really prominent. ”

Capturing Liu Heimin alive is really the most proud stroke in Chang He's life. Zhuge Dewei's every move was arranged by himself in advance, and when Liu Heimin was about to flee to the Turks, he was captured alive. When he mentioned this, Chang He was very interested, and he told Li Xuan and Tang Jian about that experience with his eyebrows, and Gao Yaxian also added it from time to time.

Li Xuan pretended to be attentive, and finally praised sincerely: "The two generals are really resourceful." A generation of heroes and thieves Liu Heimin still didn't escape the two generals' schemes in the end. The two generals pacified the traitor Liu Heimin for the Tang Dynasty. Such a great achievement, I don't know how His Royal Highness the Tang Crown Prince rewarded it? ”