Chapter 898: What about the heroes? (The third update!)
As the morning light shines, the city of Chang'an, which has been silent all night, begins to glow with vitality again.
Luo Xuanye packed up and headed for the imperial city.
But as soon as he arrived at the palace gate, he saw the eunuch beside Li Shimin looking around. When he saw Luo Xuanye, he immediately ran over and said with a flattering smile: "Greetings to Prince Zhou. Your Majesty asked me to wait here for Prince Zhou. He said that Prince Zhou has arrived. Hurry up and go to the back hall to meet the emperor."
Upon hearing this, Luo Xuanye knew that something big had happened again, otherwise the emperor would not be so anxious to find him. He hurriedly followed the eunuch into the palace.
As soon as he entered the hall, he saw Li Shimin pacing angrily in the hall. Luo Xuanye rarely saw him like this.
"His Majesty."
Seeing Luo Xuanye coming, Li Shimin immediately said, "Qingyang, Hou Junji falsely accused Li Jing of treason."
There were only nine short words, but the amount of information contained in them was so huge that Luo Xuanye was instantly stuck.
Hou Junji was one of Li Shimin's trusted generals, a staunch supporter of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, and one of the Twelve Generals of the Guards. He can be said to be one of the absolute core generals of the Zhenguan Dynasty.
Li Jing is now the second most powerful military official in the Tang Dynasty. He is Li Shimin's ultimate fighter against foreign vassals. Li Jing is responsible for all the key battles. Although he is not Li Shimin's confidant, there is no doubt that he is highly valued.
Treason is a capital crime.
False accusation will result in retaliation, and false accusation of treason is a capital crime.
So these nine words made Luo Xuanye stuck and he didn't know what to say.
In today's Zhenguan Dynasty.
In fact, it can be seen from the last attack on the Dong Turks that unless it was a situation like training Luo Xuanling, Li Shimin basically did not allow the old generals of the Qin Palace and the Tian Ce Palace to take action.
At most one or two people.
There are two reasons. First, these old people from the Qin Palace and the Tian Ce Palace were all Li Shimin's absolute confidants. He arranged them to serve as governors in various upper states to help him suppress the Tang Dynasty.
In this way, even if he encountered a military defeat, his confidants would not be in trouble. Although the death of people like Li Jing was sad, it was not as bad as that of people like Yuchi Jingde.
Secondly, Li Shimin wanted to share wealth and glory with his meritorious officials, and war, not to mention the possibility of failure and danger, also caused great damage to the body.
So from the bottom of his heart, Li Shimin did not want his meritorious officials to go to the battlefield.
For example, Luo Xuanye could actually have been promoted and could have been conferred the title of one of the Three Dukes during his lifetime. Li Shimin thought that was not a problem, but it was too dangerous for him to go to the battlefield.
Luo Xuanye almost died on the battlefield at least three times. No matter what Li Shimin said, he would not let Luo Xuanye fight again.
When Luo Xuanye heard what Li Shimin said, he knew that he did not want to kill Hou Junji. This was also related to the fact that it was Li Jing who made the false accusation. If Hou Junji dared to falsely accuse Luo Xuanye, Li Shimin might have killed him directly.
Li Shimin cursed loudly in the hall: "Qingyang, you said Hou Junji, how dare he break the law?
He doesn't take the laws of the Tang Dynasty seriously. How could he frame a minister of the imperial court?
What does he take me for?
I'm so pissed off.
If he dares to appear before me, I will kill him right now.
Alas, Qingyang, do you think I have been too indulgent towards them? I think it was not easy for them back then.
But now, I have also heard some things that my meritorious officials have become a little arrogant.
well.
It would be great if all my subjects were like you, Qingyang. I would be relieved."
The reason why Li Shimin liked Luo Xuanye so much was not only because of the close relationship between the two in the past, but also because Luo Xuanye was a clear stream among the meritorious officials.
Luo Xuanye had no demands for power. He would take it if Li Shimin gave it to him, and would not ask for it if Li Shimin did not. He went to court, listened to government affairs, and did his work normally every day. He never caused trouble and his personality was not arrogant. Although he kept people at a distance, this was also a good thing.
There is a leisurely feeling like watching the flowers bloom and fall in the courtyard.
Li Shimin liked this kind of personality, it made him less worried.
But unfortunately, Luo Xuanye's personality is very rare.
Although Li Shimin cursed harshly, he was so angry that he did not order Hou Junji to be beheaded. In fact, he did not want to kill him.
Luo Xuanye actually felt that there was nothing wrong with beheading Hou Junji. Framed officials in the court was not a trivial matter. But since Li Shimin did not want to kill him, he would not insist on killing Hou Junji. After all, although the two were not familiar with each other, they had no grudge against each other.
"Qingyang, what do you think I should do?"
Luo Xuanye sighed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, as the Son of Heaven, you promulgate all the laws of the world, so you are naturally above the Tang Law. If you want to pardon Hou Junji, you can naturally pardon him."
Li Shimin certainly knew that he could pardon him, but, "If I pardon Hou Junji now out of personal feelings, how will the laws of the Tang Dynasty restrain others in the future?
This is what I am worried about.”
Luo Xuanye said softly: "If Your Majesty has such concerns, then go and ask King Su to see if King Su will pardon Hou Junji."
Li Shimin immediately shook his head and said, "How can this disturb the King?"
After he finished speaking, he reacted and looked at Luo Xuanye. He knew what Luo Xuanye wanted to say. He thought for a moment and nodded slowly.
…
There were already quite a few people sitting in the Taiji Hall. What made everyone curious was that Luo Xuanye, the Prince of Zhou who always came early, had not arrived yet. The officials were chatting and laughing in groups of three or four.
It was originally a harmonious scene, but when Yuchi Gong and other generals walked in swaggeringly, things immediately changed. It was common for heroes to compete for credit at any time.
Although it is said that kindness and power come from above, there is still a word in this world called the weight of human heart.
Everyone has a scale in their heart to judge who should sit in what position.
If the person who should sit in a high position sits too low, he will feel resentful; if the person who should sit in a low position sits too high, something bad will happen.
This is called the bottom-up nature of power.
If a king does too many things that put his ministers in an improper position, he will lose the support of the people and his prestige.
Therefore, an excellent king always ranks his subjects according to seniority and employs them according to their merits and abilities.
Li Shimin was such an outstanding king.
Therefore, the ministers of the Zhenguan Dynasty were used to sitting in positions according to their merits. So who had the greatest merits?
Of course it’s the Founding Fathers!
Yuchi Gong saw that his position was at the back, and the person in front of him was someone he didn't even know. Since he didn't know him, his achievements must be inferior to his.
I suddenly became angry. What kind of bastard is allowed to sit in front of me?
Do you know who I am?
Yuchi Gong, who had a bad temper, stepped forward and slammed the table, shouting, "What qualifications do you have to sit here?"
ah?
The man was stunned for a moment. He naturally recognized Yuchi Gong, straightened his appearance and said, "I was arranged to sit here by the ceremonial officer."
Yuchi Gong yelled again, "What ceremonial officer? Get out of here right now. This is not a seat for you."
Under normal circumstances, this person would have given in, but seeing Yuchi Gong's attitude, he immediately stared at him and said firmly, "Then Duke Wu, I'm afraid the etiquette officer will have to speak to him."
Yuchi Gong became even angrier when he heard that. He grabbed the man by the collar and threw him aside. He held his head high and said, "I assisted Your Majesty in conquering the world and made great contributions. That's why I can sit here. People like you don't have the qualifications."
Being humiliated like this, the man was about to pounce on him, "Duke Wu, you are going too far."
Seeing that he dared to resist, Yuchi Gong stepped forward and was ready to kick him twice. Li Daozon came over and saw a fight breaking out in the hall, so he hurried over to stop them. However, he was hit directly in the corner of the eye by Yuchi Gong.
Now, the ministers who were watching nearby, such as Fang Xuanling, also came over to persuade Yuchi Gong.
"Duke Wu, forget it."
"Jingde, His Majesty will be here soon, please sit back down."
"We are all ministers in the same palace, so don't make things too ugly."
Especially Fang Xuanling and the others, they were actually a little panicked.
Just now, they all heard that Hou Junji had committed a crime and falsely accused Dai Guogong Li Jing. He is now imprisoned in prison. This matter might be discussed at today's court meeting.
If you still cause trouble at this time, you are really afraid of living longer.
Although Yuchi Gong was angry, he was surrounded by his old friends. It would be fine if he just beat Li Daozon, but he couldn't possibly beat Fang Xuanling and the others to death with just two punches. That would be really seeking death.
When all this was happening in the hall, Li Shimin and Luo Xuanye were walking to the door together, and then they heard Yuchi Gong talking nonsense in the hall.
Li Shimin had been thinking about Hou Junji's matter. After hearing what Yuchi Gong said, he immediately stood at the door with an expressionless face and a very low mood. Luo Xuanye narrowed his eyes slightly.
His relationship with Hou Junji was average, but his relationship with Yuchi Gong was good. On the battlefield, he captured Yuchi Gong with his own hands. Later, Yuchi Gong, who was invincible with his horse lance, half saved his life.
Deep down, Luo Xuanye didn't want anything to happen to Yuchi Gong.
"Your Majesty, it's time to enter the palace."
Luo Xuanye said that he didn't want Yuchi Gong to say anything else to provoke Li Shimin.
"Your Majesty has arrived!"
As the eunuch dragged out his voice, the noisy hall fell silent in an instant, and then there was a messy sound of footsteps, and the ministers returned to their seats one after another.
It's like the scene where the school bell rings and the students who were playing around in the classroom return to their seats.
Even Yuchi Gong, who had been quite arrogant just now, immediately shrank his body and returned to his previous position.
Li Daozon cursed in his heart, covered his bleeding eyes, and sat in his seat while enduring the pain.
Only then did everyone realize that Prince Zhou had come with the emperor, and both of them had the same expressionless face.
It's not good.
The emperor was in a bad mood and the atmosphere in the palace was tense.
————
How to deal with the relationship with the founding heroes has always been a difficult problem for the emperors of all dynasties. Most of the time, these people can only be described as arrogant and fierce. They ignore the law, take risks, and kill people at will. These advantages in troubled times have become death warrants in prosperous times. Li Shimin treated the heroes just like his reign title "Zhenguan". He followed the kingly way and thus prospered. - "The Rise and Fall of the Tang Empire"
(End of this chapter)
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