"Your subject greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
Li Zhu ignored the ministers and bowed directly to his adoptive father, the emperor!
"Rise..."
"Thank you, Father Emperor!"
"Crown Prince..."
"Your subject is here!"
Li Zhu stood there, feeling somewhat uneasy, wondering what his adoptive father, the emperor, was going to do…
"Look at this evidence you submitted..."
Then Eunuch Tang handed him a white cloth listing the Yang family's crimes...
Upon hearing his father's words, Li Zhu was completely bewildered. When had he submitted any evidence?
However, when he saw the secret letter in his hand, his whole body trembled. He never expected the Yang family to be so audacious. Not only did they collude with foreign enemies, but they didn't even spare their own compatriots. They were worse than animals...
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Li Zhu's mind: this was about finding a scapegoat! In the current situation, no one was more suitable than Xie Yuanlong, who was locked up in the dungeon…
After figuring it out, Li Zhu immediately bowed and replied.
"Your Majesty, all of this was confessed by Xie Yuanlong, and I sent the Marquis to investigate secretly. Every word in his confession is true..."
The emperor snorted coldly, startling the assembled officials who immediately bowed, not daring to meet his gaze…
“You’ve heard it all, and I’ve shown you the testimony. Do you still think I did something wrong? If this counts as doing something wrong, then when is it right for me to take action against the Yang family? Should I wait until they hold a knife to my throat before I act?”
After speaking, the emperor glanced at everyone, feeling that none of them were honest and that the evidence against them was irrefutable, yet they still wanted to protect the rest of the Yang family…
"Ladies and gentlemen, His Highness the Crown Prince is kind and benevolent; this is the assessment you all have given him..."
The emperor paused here, observing the reactions of his officials. Upon hearing the word "good," their lips twitched involuntarily; they all wanted to retort, "If the Crown Prince is good, then there are no bad people in the world..."
But they dared not contradict themselves. If they did, they would be contradicting themselves, since they had indeed said those words. The circumstances at the time did not allow them to say that His Highness the Crown Prince was kind against their conscience; otherwise, they would have been killed by the Crown Prince like Yang Sixu.
Seeing that no one refuted him, the emperor continued.
"Since that's the case, I intend to send the Crown Prince to arrange a marriage alliance. I wonder if any of you ministers have any objections?"
Although they had heard rumors beforehand, they were still shocked when they heard the news. The expressions of the civil and military officials varied: some were relieved, some were gloating, some were thoughtful, and some frowned in dissatisfaction...
"Your Majesty, I believe this is inappropriate..."
At this moment, Prime Minister Yuwen Guo was the first to stand up and refute!
"Your Majesty, I believe this matter requires careful consideration..."
Surprisingly, the second person to stand up and refute was Director Wang. After all, Li Zhu had just gone to the Wang family and attacked them, making them lose face. This made the Wang family the talk of the town recently. Logically speaking, the Wang family should be the ones who most wanted Li Zhu to be sacrificed. But this time, they did something out of the ordinary. Could it be that they were really considering the future of the new Tang Dynasty?
However unexpectedly, after the two spoke, the others remained silent, waiting for the emperor's next reaction!
"Hmph! My New Tang Dynasty is plagued by internal strife caused by displaced people and rampant banditry. Even the Jie tribe is taking advantage of the situation to stir up trouble, making it impossible for the New Tang Dynasty to be stable. Moreover, it is surrounded by wolves from all sides: the Liao Kingdom, the Xiongnu, the barbarians, the Miao region, the Baiyue, and even Silla dares to jump up and claim that the Central Plains belong to them. This is simply too much..."
Under such circumstances, if we cannot quickly stabilize the borders, the fall of the New Tang Dynasty will be imminent. I sent the Crown Prince to Xiliang as a hostage to demonstrate the sincerity of the New Tang Dynasty. As long as we can obtain the assistance of the Xiliang cavalry, we can quickly sweep away enemies both inside and outside the country. Tell me, why can't we send the Crown Prince as a hostage?"
After speaking, the Emperor stared at Wang Dao and Yuwen Guo, wanting their explanation!
"Your Majesty, I have something to say..."
Just then, the remonstrating official Li Guyan suddenly stood up and said!
Upon seeing this stubborn old man, the emperor couldn't help but frown. Clearly, he had been subjected to this guy's sharp rebukes quite a bit, but because the other party was an official who offered advice, even if he were the emperor, he couldn't really do anything to him. Every time, he was left looking humiliated...
"No need to say a word..."
The Emperor told him to shut up, but he had clearly underestimated Li Guyan's persistence and audacity. Hearing the Emperor's order to silence him, Li Guyan stretched his neck and roared...
“Throughout history, wise rulers have always been open to good advice. Only foolish rulers fear the words of those who offer advice. Our Emperor is a man who has been chosen by Heaven. Would he really want to follow the example of foolish rulers and shut down the channels for advice?”
Li Guyan's words were incredibly hurtful; they meant that if he let me speak, I might still be a wise ruler, but if he didn't let me speak, I was definitely a foolish one...
"You...speak..."
Clearly, the emperor had no choice but to let Li Guyan speak!
"Your Majesty, there is no precedent in history for sending the Crown Prince as a hostage. Why is that? Because the Crown Prince is the heir apparent of the country and represents the face of the nation. If we send the Crown Prince away as a hostage, it would be a disgrace to the new Tang Dynasty, and also to the face of all the people of China..."
The Crown Prince once said, "Since ancient times, who has ever escaped death? Let our deeds be recorded in history. How can the people of the New Tang Dynasty compromise and submit? How will history record our story? This is a matter that will leave us with eternal infamy..."
Although I am an official responsible for remonstrating with the emperor, if the crown prince is humiliated, I, as his subject, will have no face to serve. Therefore, I implore Your Majesty to rescind your decree. Anyone who is dissatisfied should be punished. Future generations of history will remember us with honor. We must tell all our enemies that wherever China is, truth prevails…”
Hearing Li Guyan's words, Li Zhu was so excited that he wanted to grab his sword, mount his horse, and immediately go and wreak havoc on all sides...
"Hmm, Minister Li is right. Does anyone else have anything to say?"
"I believe that as His Majesty's son, the Crown Prince should proactively share His Majesty's burdens. For the sake of stabilizing the people of the New Tang Dynasty and ensuring their peaceful lives, I think it is entirely acceptable for the Crown Prince to go to Xiliang as a hostage..."
"I also think this is a good idea. Besides, going to Xiliang as a hostage is for the purpose of marrying the Xiliang princess. We can just treat it as visiting our father-in-law's house, so there's nothing shameful about it..."
"Your Majesty, I agree with your words. War consumes not only manpower but also countless resources. The new Tang Dynasty can no longer withstand further storms..."
The entire court was instantly divided in two, with some in favor and others against…
Emperor Li Qi observed the arguments in the court, carefully noting the actions of each person. Through their behavior, he could discern who was acting in the best interests of the new Tang Dynasty and who was acting for their own selfish gain…
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