The envoy stepped forward and said to Li Yuan, "Your Majesty still has something for me to bring to King Tang." ”

After speaking, he looked at both sides.

Li Yuan made a gesture, and the attendants in the palace silently retreated, leaving only Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin.

The envoy glanced at the two brothers, then lowered his voice and said slowly: "Your Majesty said that he is very optimistic about King Tang, and when King Tang arrives in Luoyang, he will spare no effort to help you ascend to the throne."

"Your Majesty said that he is a cousin with you and has a close relationship, and he can rest assured that he will hand over the country to you.

"As a sign of sincerity, this time Your Majesty asked me to bring the Li clan and your friends who were previously imprisoned to Chang'an and hand them over to you."

Speaking of this, the envoy took two steps back and raised his voice: "I have completed the task assigned to me by His Majesty, so I will not bother King Tang and leave here." ”

Li Yuan politely retained, and the envoy repeatedly refused, so Li Yuan sent someone to escort the envoy out of the city, and at the same time sent someone to pick up the hostages outside the palace and enter the palace.

There were no idle people in the hall, and Li Jiancheng couldn't help but ask, "Aye, what did Your Majesty say?" ”

If it was in the past, if he blatantly asked about secrets like this, he would be reprimanded by Li Yuan if he was not punished. But at this moment, Li Yuan did not reprimand him, but told them: "Your Majesty said that he would spare no effort to help me ascend the throne and become the co-lord of the world." ”

The two brothers opened their mouths in disbelief, unable to digest the news for a moment.

Li Jiancheng was thinking in his heart that if his father ascended the throne, then he would be the crown prince, and after his father would be a hundred years later, he would be ......

Li Shimin thought in his heart that if his father ascended the throne, then he would have a chance to become the crown prince.......

After thinking about it, "Aya, could this be the Hongmen Banquet?" ”

Li Shimin's words were like an initiation, which extinguished the ecstasy in Li Yuan's heart and made him calm down and think about this matter.

At this moment, the chamberlain said outside: "King Tang, the people of the Li clan are asking to see you." ”

"Xuan."

When those Li clan people saw Li Yuan, their eyes were red with excitement, and they cried with joy, Li Yuan was also very moved, and he was appeased, and ordered the chamberlain to take them down to settle down.

In addition to the Li clan, there are also some people who have had even had a relationship with Li Yuan in the past, such as Xiahou Duan.

Xiahouduan and Li Yuan met in Weiwei and became confidants, and now the two meet again after many years, but in this situation, they will inevitably sigh.

After waving everyone back, Li Yuan only left Xiahou Duan behind, and said with emotion: "In the past, if you hadn't reminded me that the Emperor Taishang cared about the ballad of "Tao Li Zhang" very much, especially the person surnamed Li who was taboo and persuaded me to hibernate, I'm afraid there would be no me now."

"Xiahou, thank you very much."

Although Xiahou Duan was embarrassed, he still maintained his demeanor as a scholar, and said modestly: "King Tang's words are serious, this is your life, I don't dare to take credit." ”

Hearing the word "fate", Li Yuan was overjoyed and asked eagerly: "Then you can help me calculate, can I win this Shangsi Festival feast and sit on the throne?" ”

This was asked directly, and Xiahou Duan was embarrassed for a while: "..... I've been in prison all the time, and I've never looked at the stars, and I'm afraid I can't answer that question now. ”

Only then did Li Yuan realize that Xiahou was in the dust, and he hadn't freshened up yet, so he said: "It's me who is anxious, I'll let someone take you to freshen up and rest first, and then set up a banquet in the evening to catch you and wash the dust." ”

After speaking, he summoned the chamberlain and instructed the chamberlain to arrange an independent palace for Xiahouduan.

Then he ordered: "Pass the order and summon hundreds of officials to the Wude Hall to discuss matters." ”

----------

After the hundred officials circulated the edict, Li Yuan asked, "What do you think about this matter?" ”

Liu Wenjing took the lead: "Since the Emperor Taishang has announced to the world, it is imperative to do this, not to mention that this matter is also beneficial to the people of the world, I think we should respond to the call of the Emperor." ”

"No."

Pei Lin put forward a competing opinion: "Mencius said: If it is not fate, obey it, so those who know their fate do not stand under the rock wall."

"After all, Luoyang is the capital of the Sui Dynasty, heavily defended, and the edict states that the leaders of all parties cannot bring more than 1,000 people.

"What's more, the Emperor Taishang stipulates this, don't you want to catch them all? At that time, if something happened to King Tang, it would be too late for us to regret it. ”

Li Yuan was thoughtful.

Xiao Yu retorted: "Although the Emperor Taishang is tyrannical, he has already issued an edict of guilt before, which shows that he is truly repentant and wants to calm the war and let the people out of the sea of suffering."

"And the emperor has a good face, this time he told the world, he will not regret it, otherwise without our action, everyone in the world can drown him with spit.

"I think that the Emperor Taishang really wants to take the Zen throne and elect a virtuous person to take charge of the country, we just need to find a way to win the competition."

Next, the ministers argued word by word, and they were roughly divided into two factions.

One faction, led by Liu Wenjing, advocated attending the feast, and the other faction, led by Pei Lian, advocated not going to Luoyang.

As he spoke, the voices became louder and louder, and in the end, the officials of the two factions actually quarreled, and neither of them was convinced.

Li Yuan was so noisy that he slapped the throne heavily and shouted: "Shut up for me." ”

There was silence all around, and the red-faced people returned to their original positions and straightened their slightly messy sleeves.

Li Yuan looked at Li Jiancheng, who had not spoken: "What do you think?" ”

Li Jiancheng had already prepared and replied calmly: "Father, I think that at this moment, the Emperor Taishang proposed the Zen position because he realized that the Sui Dynasty's qi had been exhausted, and with the power of the Sui Dynasty, it was impossible to calm the war in the Central Plains, so he wanted to save the last face and propose the Zen position."

"In the presence of the people of the world, it is convincing to all that a suitable virtuous person is to be selected in a fair manner. It not only calmed the war, but also appeased the people, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone, so that the emperor can also leave a good reputation in history.

"So I think the Emperor Taishang's move is sincere."

After a pause, he continued: "If we win the Shangsi Festival feast, it will be recognized by the Sui family and the people of the world, and the name will be justified, and no one will criticize it in the future, and we will be able to unify the world smoothly and smoothly." ”

Li Yuan bowed slightly, a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes, and these words won his heart.

He turned to the other son: "Erlang, tell me what you think." ”

Li Shimin slowly paced forward, his face solemn and deep: "I agree with my brother's opinion, however, I have a few points to add.

"First of all, Chang'an is not very far from Luoyang, and there is still a month before the Shangsi Festival feast, so we can wait and see what happens, and send people to inquire about the movements of other forces. If Liu Wuzhou, Xue Ju, Xiao Mo and other forces all go to Luoyang, it will not be too late for us to set off.

"Secondly, we can make two preparations, on the one hand, we can select the most talented people and the most elite soldiers in the territory, and go to Luoyang with the most sophisticated equipment to ensure the safety of my father. It is also so that in case of an unexpected situation, we can have a strong enough force to withdraw from Luoyang.

"On the other hand, he sent troops to garrison near Luoyang, in addition to deterrence, he could also pick up his father.

"Finally, there is the issue of rear defense, and we must adjust the deployment of troops to prevent others from taking the opportunity to capture ......"