Chapter 217 Ganlu Palace
As soon as he returned to Chang'an, Li Er took a short rest and then called the prince to Ganlu Palace.
Ganlu Palace is the emperor's bedroom.
There is a Zhuming Gate behind Taiji Hall. To the north of Zhuming Gate is Liangyi Gate. The cross street between Zhuming Gate and Liangyi Gate is the boundary between the court and the bedroom.
The bedroom area is divided into two rows of palaces in front and back by a cross street (Yongxiang). Since this part is the bedroom, the defense is more stringent.
Four cross gates were added in Yongxiang: East Cross Gate, West Cross Gate, Rihua Gate, and Yuehua Gate.
The south of Yongxiang is the emperor's living area, namely the "Emperor's Bedroom", and the north of Yongxiang is the living area of the empress and concubines, namely the "Queen's Bedroom".
Except for the emperor and his concubines, underage princes and princesses, and the maids and eunuchs who served him, outsiders were absolutely forbidden to enter. Even adult princes were not allowed to enter whenever they wanted.
In the center of the front row is the Liangyi Hall complex. To the north of the cross street, in the center is the Ganlu Gate, and inside the gate is the emperor's bedroom, the Ganlu Hall.
On the left and right sides of the Ganlu Hall are the Shenlong Hall and the Anren Hall, and on both sides are the Daji Hall, the Baifu Hall, and the Chengqing Hall. Each hall has a courtyard.
The famous Ganlu Change took place here.
Li Chengqian was neither unfamiliar nor familiar with the Ganlu Hall.
Since he became the prince, this was the first time that Li Er summoned him to the Ganlu Hall, and he had never been to the Ganlu Hall before.
Therefore, this was the first time that Li Chengqian walked into the bedroom where he would live after becoming the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I am here to see you!" Li Chengqian came to the dragon couch and saluted Li Er.
Li Er sat casually on the dragon couch, patted the seat beside him and said, "Chengqian, come, sit next to me."
"Thank you, Father!" Li Chengqian stood up and walked to sit next to Li Er.
As soon as Li Chengqian's butt touched the dragon couch, the voice of His Majesty Li Er reached his ears.
"Chengqian, do you know your crime?"
Li Chengqian was stunned!
Calling me here in the middle of the night just to bring charges?
No, if he was going to bring charges, he should have been scolded by Li Er as soon as he came in. As early as when he stepped into the Ganlu Palace, he should have been yelled at to kneel down. He
would never let me sit next to him so gently. Unless
he didn't want to bring charges at all, thinking of this, Li Chengqian immediately felt relieved.
"My father went on a long expedition to Goguryeo, and I was ordered to supervise the country. There was not a single mistake. I am stupid! I don't know where my crime is?" Li Chengqian said.
Li Er glanced at Li Chengqian, who was sitting next to him calmly and neither humble nor arrogant, and felt a little satisfied.
He would not immediately lie on the ground and shout that he admitted his guilt, but did not realize his own mistakes at all just because he asked such a question casually.
On this point, Li Er was still satisfied with Li Chengqian.
"You still dare to say that you are not guilty. You left the palace privately and went to Xiazhou. How do you think I should punish you?" Li Er looked back at Li Chengqian and pretended to be angry.
Li Chengqian stood up and bowed, saying, "Father, you have wronged me!"
"Oh! How did I wrong you?" Li Er said. He wanted to see how Li Chengqian would refute.
"Father, the soldiers of our Tang Dynasty have worked hard to defend the border and protect the people. Without the dedication of these soldiers, how could there be peace in our Tang Dynasty?"
"As the crown prince, I should comfort the soldiers. What's wrong with that? What's more, I went to Xiazhou openly this time." Li Chengqian said.
As the crown prince, he didn't need to go to comfort the soldiers in secret.
"You are right. I won't bother with you about this matter." Li Er said.
Li Chengqian was telling the truth, and he couldn't use this as an excuse to educate the crown prince.
"Then I ask you, what is the matter with Xueyantuo?" Li Er asked again.
As long as Li Chengqian's answer was slightly wrong, he would take the opportunity to reprimand and teach him a lesson.
"Xueyantuo? I don't quite understand what your father means?" Li Chengqian said.
He was secretly trying to figure out what Li Er wanted to do, why did he suddenly ask about Xueyantuo.
He had to think about how to respond to Li Er's next question, how he should answer.
"I ask you, Bazhuo invaded our Tang Dynasty, you only need to defeat Bazhuo, why do you want to destroy Xueyantuo?" Li Er asked.
"Father, Xueyantuo has repeatedly violated the Tang Dynasty and ignored your authority. Xueyantuo's rebellious heart has long been exposed."
"I originally wanted to defeat Bazhuo's army and teach Xueyantuo an unforgettable lesson, and then send envoys to Mobei to publicize the grace of our great country and the country of etiquette."
"Let Xueyantuo not dare to violate the prestige of the Tang Dynasty again, never have two hearts, and submit to the Tang Dynasty for generations." Li Chengqian said.
He didn't blush at all when he lied, as if he was telling the truth. He had no intention of letting Xueyantuo go from beginning to end.
"Really?" Li Er questioned, but seeing that Li Chengqian had a serious expression and didn't seem to be faking it, Li Er believed Li Chengqian's words.
"Every word I said is true, from the bottom of my heart, without any falsehood, the sun and the moon can testify to it!" Li Chengqian lied with solemn oath.
"Since you said so, I will believe you."
"Since you plan to send envoys to Xueyantuo to promote the power of our Tang Dynasty, why did Xueyantuo perish?" Li Er asked.
Li Chengqian had already thought of a countermeasure for Li Er's question, and he knew what was the best answer.
"Father, please allow me to report that our army defeated Bazhuo's army that day. After Bazhuo fled, I told people not to chase him and to return to Wantong City immediately."
"Who knew that before I returned to Wantong City, I received news from Mobei that because of Bazhuo's cruelty, the tribes could not tolerate his atrocities and rose up to resist Bazhuo's rule."
"The tribes, led by the leader of the Uighur tribe, Tumidu, broke through the royal court of the Xueyantuo Khanate in one fell swoop and killed all the Xueyantuo."
"I was worried that Mobei would be in chaos because of this, so I sent Wang Fangyi to lead 10,000 troops to the outside of the Great Wall and stationed them at Yu Dujun Mountain, intending to shock the tribes."
"Who would have thought that this would cause misunderstanding among the tribes, who mistakenly thought that the Tang Dynasty was going to destroy the Xueyantuo, so the Uighurs sent troops to kill Bazhuo and sent his head to my son."
"There was no leader in Xueyantuo, which led to constant internal turmoil. I had no choice but to order Wang Fangyi to send troops to suppress it."
"Fortunately, the Xueyantuo turmoil did not lead to a bigger turmoil this time, otherwise it would be the fault of my son." Li Chengqian told Li Er about the event of destroying Xueyantuo with a slight change.
"It's not your fault! You did a good job!" Li Er said. How could he not know what Li Chengqian did in this matter?
But Li Er did not blame Li Chengqian. After all, Li Er had been unhappy with Xueyantuo for a long time, but he had never found a suitable opportunity to take action.
Otherwise, Xueyantuo would have been destroyed by Li Er several times! If Xueyantuo is not eliminated, the border of the Tang Dynasty will never be peaceful.
This time, Ba Zhuo led his troops to attack, which gave Li Er an excuse to destroy him, but Li Chengqian got there first.