The next day, at dawn.

The people of Chang'an City woke up in terror.

Many people got out of bed and walked in the direction of the city gate to see what was going on.

When he saw that although the city gate had collapsed, the soldiers were waiting for him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

There are still blood stains on the ground that have not been cleaned up, and people know that there was a bloody battle here last night.

It didn't take long for someone to replace the gate, and the people left one after another, inquiring about last night's events.

In the palace, there was no early dynasty today, and Li Shimin did not go to it, but he called Fang Yuan and other court ministers.

"I'm sure you've heard about last night!"

Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot and he said slowly.

He thought about it for a long time last night, thinking about how to deal with Li Chengqian.

After almost a sleepless night, Li Shimin finally made a decision.

"Your Majesty, have you found anyone who blew up the city gates?"

The eldest grandson Wuji was the first to speak.

Everyone nodded, their eyes full of annoyance.

The 50,000 Tsing Yi soldiers who came to the city did not make them angry, but blowing up the city gate was the bottom line.

The gate of Chang'an City is strong, and ordinary sieges cannot take the gate at all, but blowing it up is different.

Fortunately, the Huojiao army appeared last night to guard the city gate, otherwise Chang'an City would have been captured by the Tsing Yi army, and everyone's physical and mental health would not be guaranteed.

"I found it, it's Li Chengqian."

Li Shimin said expressionlessly.

"Huh? This? ”

Eldest Sun Wuji's face suddenly collapsed.

was originally indignant, but now he is embarrassed and speechless.

In any case, Li Chengqian is his eldest nephew, and he is his uncle.

This kind of thing, no matter what you say as an uncle, no matter how you talk about it, it's not good.

Everyone was also in an uproar, looking at each other, and it was a little difficult to accept this result for a while.

Immediately, Liu Zhenghui, Li Daozong and the others looked at Fang Yuan, and when they saw that Fang Yuan was silent, they knew that the matter was true.

"Everyone, tell me, what should I do with that rebel?"

Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

When the words fell, everyone looked at each other again.

After a long while, someone finally spoke.

"Your Majesty, the minister thought that he could be lightly dismissed."

"After all, there were no substantial casualties."

Fang Xuanling was the first to stand up and express his opinion.

He knew Li Shimin very well, and when he heard Li Shimin say that he was a rebel, he knew that Li Shimin actually didn't want to severely punish Li Chengqian.

Although he was speechless, Li Chengqian now has no position, only one life, and it is unlikely that Li Chengqian's life will be killed, so it is better to be sent lightly.

"Your Majesty, the minister also thought that he should be sent lightly."

Wang Jue also stood up to express his opinion.

The people present were all human spirits, and they all understood the reason why Li Shimin did not call them in private in the morning.

It's just that he doesn't want to punish Li Chengqian heavily, after all, he is the eldest son, and losing the position of prince is miserable enough.

Even if the mistake is made again, but there are no substantial consequences, it is still possible to fight for a chance.

"Your Majesty, if you don't demote Chang'an City, degrade to a commoner, and be glorious and rich for a lifetime."

Liu Zhenghui said in a deep voice.

The face is not very good-looking.

This is the treatment that only princes have.

If it were someone else, it would be easy to kill the head, and it would be possible for the whole clan.

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

The remaining ministers seconded the motion.

"Fang Shangshu, what do you think?"

Li Shimin frowned slightly, not very satisfied with such a punishment.

It's okay to be demoted out of Chang'an City, but if you become a commoner, won't your descendants also become commoners?

Everyone looked at Fang Yuan, and then remembered that Fang Yuan hadn't spoken all along.

"Listen to Your Majesty!"

Fang Yuan said indifferently.

Be sure to do whatever you want.

He said that he would not interfere in the struggle for imperial power.

No matter what the ministers decide to do with Li Chengqian, they will do as they wish.

"Since this is the case, then according to what Liu Shangshu said, degrade Chang'an City and degrade to the common people."

Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

He wanted the punishment to be lighter.

However, the punishment is too light to convince the public, and it is easy to cause serious consequences.

For example, it will have a bad effect on the princes: the punishment for making mistakes will not be too severe.

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

The crowd saluted.

"Ministry of Works, repair the city gate as soon as possible and check the city problem."

"Yes!"

"Ministry of Rites, appease people's hearts and warn the people of Chang'an City not to be afraid!"

"Yes!"

"Soldiers, always on standby, I don't want any mistakes in the transfer of troops!"

"Yes!"

"Criminal Department, there will definitely be a lot of villains in the city recently, you and Dali Temple must prevent villains from making trouble!"

"Yes!"

"The household department, money expenditure, in the recent period, first approve and then review, to ensure that there is no shortage of money in every link!"

"Yes!"

"The Ministry of Officials, supervise hundreds of officials, and prevent low-quality officials from doing things that should not be done."

"Yes!"

Li Shimin issued orders to the six subordinates respectively.

The tense atmosphere suddenly made Fang Yuan and the others feel a lot in their hearts.

Now is not an ordinary time, it is a critical moment, a time when the fate of Datang is at stake.

At this time, if anyone drops the chain, it is estimated that Li Shimin will definitely be very strict in his investigation.

After all, everyone is not Li Chengqian, and it is impossible to forgive like Li Chengqian.

"Let's all disperse."

Li Shimin waved his hand and said in a deep voice.

"Wait for the resignation!"

Everyone got up and took leave.

"Fang Shangshu, you can stay for a while."

Li Shimin suddenly stopped Fang Yuan.

Everyone's eyes changed slightly, but they still dispersed in an orderly manner.

Recently, Li Shimin often asked Fang Yuan to stay, which made everyone a little unhappy about it.

"Your Majesty, is there something wrong?"

Fang Yuan said directly.

"Is there enough money?"

Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

Not long ago, there was a problem with the Seven Star banknotes, and the money bank lost a lot of money every day.

Now the minting and printing of money are working rapidly, but every day there are people exchanging paper money and copper coins, and the pressure on the money bank is huge.

"It's a lot of pressure, and I'll try my best to cooperate with the ministries with money."

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.

Now money is tight, and the treasury is almost empty.

If it weren't for the fact that the money was being printed, the imperial court would have run out of money.

Now it is impossible to worry about subsequent inflation.

However, Fang Yuan was still trying to control it, controlling the amount of exchanges per day.

If the credit of Datang Bao's banknote can be maintained, then the problem behind it will not be too big.

"If you say this, I'm relieved."

"Let's go with me to see Zheng Zaiyou, and I have to torture him to find out the whereabouts of the firecracker."

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief and said in a deep voice.

Now among the six departments, the most pressure is actually the household department.

Without money, it will be difficult for other ministries to do a good job, and it may also be chaotic.

So Li Shimin personally left Fang Yuan and asked Fang Yuan about his situation to determine what to do.

"Okay."

Fang Yuan said.

He was also curious about where Zheng Zaiyou had hidden the firecracker.

Yesterday, the Tsing Yi army outside the city had already arrived because of Zheng Zaiyou and others.

But it's not because of the arrival of the firebolt that it can't be determined.

The gates of the city were blown open, and I don't know if the firecrackers were smuggled out.

All of this still has to ask Zheng Zaiyou to know.

It didn't take long for Fang Yuan to follow Li Shimin to the prison.

The prison is a felon, and there is almost no chance to get out in the whole of his life.

Many of Sun Simiao's human experiments were carried over after being executed here.

Soon, Fang Yuan and Li Shimin saw Zheng Zaiyou and sat peacefully in the corner of the cell.

At this time, Zheng Jaeyou was leaning against the wall, with a black round pill in his hand, and his expression was tangled.

After hearing the footsteps of Fang Yuan, Li Shimin and the others, Zheng Zaiyou suddenly looked at the two of them in a panic, and then swallowed the pill in his mouth.

"Zheng Jaeyou, what are you going to do?!"

Fang Yuan was shocked, and hurriedly wanted to drink Zheng Zaiyou.

However, the sound couldn't stop it, and Jung Jae-woo still took the pill.

"Quick, open the door, please the imperial doctor!"

Li Shimin was also shocked, and immediately ordered to open the door and call the imperial doctor.

Swallowing a black pill at this time is definitely not a good thing, and it is very likely to commit suicide by taking poison.

Now that he was about to get the fire gun from him, where did he go, how could he just let him die?

The jailers were fast, immediately opened the gates, and rushed into the cells as fast as they could.

Several jailers are very experienced, and while holding down Zheng Jaeyou's body, they beat Zheng Jaeyou's stomach at the same time, trying to spit out what Zheng Jaeyou swallowed.

However, Zheng Jae-woo tried to curl up his body, his whole body tensed, and he held on to prevent the jailers from succeeding.

After a few strokes, Zheng Jaeyou vomited blood, but he just didn't see the black pill spit out.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

The jailers looked at Li Shimin tremblingly.

They tried their best, but they still couldn't get the pill out of Zheng Jaeyou's stomach.

"Stand down!"

"Zheng Jaeyou, what did you eat?"

Li Shimin's face was ugly, and he said in a deep voice after approaching Zheng Zaiyou.

Damn, it's so hateful, who the hell brought him the pills?

"Didn't Your Majesty guess?"

Jung Jae-woo laughed while coughing up blood.

He struggled to get up, but collapsed again because of the severe pain in his abdomen.

"Bastard!"

"Where's the firebolt?"

Li Shimin was furious and shouted in a low voice.

But in the face of Zheng Jaeyou's cold ridicule.

"Laugh, laugh."

"We'll let all your people go down to accompany you, especially your close relatives!"

Fang Yuan suddenly interjected and said coldly.

He was also very angry and dissatisfied with Zheng Jae-you.

Not only did he despise himself at first, but now he also flouted the laws of the imperial court.

What's even more excessive is that there is poison in the prison, and the infiltration of the five surnames and seven hopes is too terrible.

Such a family is really terrible, and they must be suppressed.

"Not bad!"

"If you don't say it, I will definitely send your parents, wife and children down to you!"

Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice.

I don't know what happened to Zheng Jaeyou's poison, but now I can only force the other party to tell if the whereabouts of the fire gun will be.

"Emperor, the sin is not as good as the family, the sin is not as good as the family!"

Zheng Jaeyou's face changed, and he said in a panic.

He struggled, and finally stood up and pleaded with Li Shimin.

At this time, his lips began to turn purple, and the blood flowing from the corners of his mouth turned black.

"Then tell me the whereabouts of the firebolt!"

Seeing this, Li Shimin's expression sank, and he understood how powerful Zheng Zaiyou's toxicity was, and it was estimated that he would not be able to do it soon.

"I don't know where the firebolt is."

"After I got him, I handed it over to the person who answered it, and I don't know where he sent it now or to whom."

Jung Jae-woo struggled to explain.

As he spoke, he vomited more blood from his mouth, all black.

In the end, he knelt down under Li Shimin's knees, grabbed Li Shimin's clothes, and begged again.

"Who is he?"

Fang Yuan asked loudly.

Li Shimin also raised his eyebrows and looked at Zheng Zaiyou urgently.

"Yes, yes"

Zheng Jaeyou struggled, black blood kept coming out of his mouth.

Before he finished speaking, he was completely speechless, and finally fell to the ground with his face and died completely.

"Ahhhh

Li Shimin was so angry that he kicked Zheng Jaeyou's body away.

Fang Yuan's brows suddenly wrinkled into Sichuan characters, and he walked quickly to Zheng Zaiyou, pressing his fingers on Zheng Zaiyou's neck.

He's dead.

Li Shimin saw Fang Yuan's expression, and he was so angry that he kicked again.

But this time it was the jailer who was kneeling on the ground, and the jailer was kicked away, and his face was hideous in pain.

"Let's go, Your Majesty."

Fang Yuan said with a sigh.

The whereabouts of the firebolt are a mystery.

It is no longer certain whether they will be taken out or not.

The only thing that was fortunate was that Fang Yuan was prepared from the beginning, and they were all inferior firecrackers.

"Is it possible to find the missing firebolt?"

Li Shimin said as he walked, his face was ugly.

"The likelihood is almost zero."

"Let's think about the problem at hand."

Fang Yuan followed alongside and said in a deep voice.

The current problem is already a headache, and there is not much energy to think about it so much.

Since the fire gun has been given to the Zheng clan in Xingyang, he is ready not to come back.

"That's all it can be."

Li Shimin sighed deeply and left the prison.

There are indeed many things in Chang'an City, the construction of the city gate, the pacification of the people, the monitoring of the family, and the problems left by the Seven Star Banknotes

After coming out of the prison, Fang Yuan and the others didn't have time to rest, and they were so busy every day.

Because of everyone's daily busyness, the situation in Chang'an City slowly returned to normal, and the city gate was repaired.

After the fighting that night, the 50,000 Tsing Yi soldiers were killed and wounded more than 10,000, and they never appeared after they disappeared.

But under unknown circumstances, Li Chengqian was secretly demoted from Chang'an City.

Although Li Shimin deliberately did not let the people know that the bombing of the city gate was related to Li Chengqian, after all, the paper could not contain the fire and was spread out.

For a while, people had a lot of opinions about the royal family, thinking that it was because of the royal family, and they almost lost their lives.

But before things could ferment, bigger news came back.

In the war between Datang and Tuyuhun, Tuyuhun was defeated and retreated, and he was not Datang's opponent.

However, Tubo suddenly sent troops to attack the Tang army, and Tuyuhun attacked the Tang army, which made the Tang army lose and the battle situation reversed, and the Tang army almost collapsed and was unable to return to the sky.

Although the Tang army finally gathered under the guidance of the military god Li Jing, the losses were still very large, and the casualties were very large.

This kind of news can't be hidden, sooner or later it will be leaked one day, plus Li Shimin and others felt that this battle would be won, so they didn't deliberately hide it, so more people knew.

"How so? Has the god of war also been defeated? ”

"Oh my God, it won't cause other countries to crusade against our Datang, right?"

"The Tsing Yi Army was terrible enough last night, it won't be like the situation in Wude's ninth year, right?"

"Do you want to run away? Do you want to run away? I think those big families have been preparing to flee for a long time! ”

People were panicked, like a stone pressed in their hearts, and the entire Chang'an City became even more depressed.

(End of chapter)