In July of the third year of Wude, the sage Li Yuan ordered the King of Qin, Li Shimin, to attack Wang Shichong and build a dummy Daxingtai of Shaanxi Province in the Central Plains south of the Yellow River.
In March of the fourth year of Wude, Li Shimin cut off the grain road and successively captured the surrounding areas of Dongdu, leaving Luoyang as an isolated city.
In May of the fourth year of Wude, Li Shimin personally led 3,000 cavalry to fight against Dou Jiande, who came for reinforcements. After a month-long confrontation, the cavalry charged into battle and routed the enemy.
Capturing two kings in one battle created Li Shimin's lofty image as an unparalleled commander, and also made Li Jiancheng, the prince of the East Palace who was far away in Chang'an, restless.
From that time on, Li Jiancheng and Wang Gui, Wei Ting, Xu Shimo and other advisers began to plan for Hebei... Dou Jiande had been defeated, and Li Shimin was already in charge of Shaanxi Province. It was impossible for Li Yuan to entrust Hebei Province to the Qin Palace.
It can be said that all the subsequent actions of the East Palace had a certain direction, including the accommodation of Wei Zheng, the summoning of the Cui family's descendants from Qinghe into the East Palace, and the transfer of the former Duke Shi Wanbao and the Prince of Lujiang County Li Yuan to Hebei.
Even before Li Shiji's victory at Luoshui... although he had no obvious bias, he was still getting closer to the East Palace.
It can be said that for a year and a half from May of the fourth year of Wude to now, the East Palace has been working hard for Hebei and Shandong, but all of this came to nothing after the third good news arrived in Beijing.
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This blow to Li Jiancheng was bigger and more serious than the first good news, which slapped him and prevented him from leading the army, and the second one, which slapped him in the face and caused his reputation to plummet.
Cheng Mingzhen was a chess piece selected by the East Palace long ago. This man had already surrendered to the Tang Dynasty in the second year of Wude, but he was never reused. He did not serve as the Yongnian County Magistrate of Luozhou until after the First World War at Hulao Pass... The county magistrates, powers and powers of the Sui and Tang Dynasties,
The level of the jurisdiction was much higher than that of the county magistrates in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
After the great victory at Luoshui, Li Shimin was urgently recalled to the capital. Cheng Mingzhen was the only important general who attended the banquet of King Qi. It was also at that time that he officially entered Li Jiancheng's sight.
After Shi Wanbao "committed suicide out of shame" and Li Yuan, the king of Lujiang County, fled back to Beijing, Cheng Mingzhen became Li Jiancheng's only hope.
For Cheng Mingzhen, Li Jiancheng was almost shameless in the Liangyi Palace... and insisted on pushing him to the important position of Luozhou Governor, so that Cheng Mingzhen could appease Shandong for the East Palace after the war.
In the East Palace, Li Jiancheng sat down on the couch with an expressionless face, staring out the window with absent-minded eyes. Under the dim light, the snow that had stopped for two days began to fall again, and the snowflakes fluttered into the house in the whistling wind.
The moment he heard the battle report, Li Jiancheng was still a little confused, and even felt happy... He had killed Liu Heita, and such a great achievement was actually taken away by Cheng Mingzhen.
But it didn't take long for Li Jiancheng to be confused. In addition to Cheng Mingzhen, Li Daoxuan was also leading the pursuit!
One is the General Manager of Weizhou, and the other is the King of Huaiyang, the General Manager of March in Hebei Province. Is there any suspense about who will be the leader?
The battle report clearly stated that Cheng Mingzhen captured Liu Heitai alive and beheaded him in the government office of Guantao County.
What a great achievement it was to capture Liu Heita alive?
Li Daoxuan actually allowed Cheng Mingzhen to behead him. What does this mean?
The reason why Li Jiancheng was able to win over Cheng Mingzhen was because he promised him to kill Liu Heita to avenge his mother, wife and children.
All this was in vain... If Cheng Mingzhen had not voted for the Prince of Qin's palace, would Li Daoxuan have nodded?
This is a simple logic, and Li Jiancheng still can't tell Li Yuan all his difficulties... just because Li Daoxuan and Xu Cheng Mingzhen beheaded him?
Even if what you say is true and the King of Qin avenges him, it is only logical that Cheng Mingzhen throws himself into the Prince of Qin's palace... In this era, the emperor is not the only master of every official.
Li Jiancheng's hands and feet were cold, and he thought to himself, how long can he sit in the position of prince under his butt?
It seems that he has the support of his father, the support of important ministers and prime ministers, and there are many talents in the East Palace. Except that the civil and military ratio cannot be compared with that of the Qin Palace, it is not much worse than it.
But whether a prince can sit firmly depends on too many factors...
Externally, Li Jiancheng now has little influence on the military. Internally, Li Jiancheng's reputation plummeted due to Shi Wanbao's forgery of the sage's edict, which led to the destruction of the army... Among them, the Qin Palace also put in a lot of effort to replace him.
Li Jiancheng vigorously promoted it.
And Li Shimin...has a very high prestige both in Chang'an and outside Chang'an. His influence in the military is not even comparable to that of Li Yuan. Now in addition to Shaanxi Province, there may be a Hebei Province.
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Li Jiancheng stood up suddenly, pushed open the half-covered window, and let the cold snowflakes hit his face.
Do you want to give up?
Since ancient times, can any deposed prince survive?
Yang Yong, the first crown prince of the previous dynasty, was deposed as a commoner. The first thing Yang Guang did after he ascended the throne was to kill Yang Yong. Most of his descendants were killed, except for a few children who were exiled to Lingnan.
A plump woman in her thirties slowly walked in and put a coat on Li Jiancheng's shoulders, "Your Highness, be careful of catching a cold."
"Guanyin..." Li Jiancheng's eyes gradually became sharp, and he patted the back of his wife's hand with his backhand, suddenly thinking of his second younger sister for no apparent reason.
One is Zheng Guanyin, and the other is Guanyin Maid.
"I would like to report to Your Highness that the saint has summoned you at the Manlu Palace."
The report from the palace people came from outside, and Li Jiancheng took a deep breath. The Ganlu Palace is behind the Ganlu Gate and to the north of the cross street. It is a palace that is difficult for foreign ministers to enter, which means that Pei Ji must not be present.
Second brother, do you think you will win?
Second brother, don’t think that you have no leverage in my hands!
When Li Jiancheng entered the Manna Hall in a state of confusion, Li Shimin came up to him and said with a smile: "Brother really knows how to recognize people. Cheng Mingzhen is really talented. He made a great contribution by beheading Liu Heita..."
"Already captured alive, he wanted to kill recklessly. Although he had merit, he also had faults." Li Jiancheng replied indifferently, turning to look at Li Yuan, "Father, although Cheng Mingzhen killed Liu Heitao, it was the younger brother of the King of Huaiyang who led the pursuit.
"
Li Yuan nodded slightly, indicating that he knew. This was clearly written in the victory report, but Cheng Mingzhen killed Liu Heita to avenge his mother, wife and children. It was a matter of course, and even he, the emperor, could not say anything wrong.
Li Yuan didn't know the details of Cheng Mingzhen's incident, but he vaguely guessed it from Li Jiancheng's change in attitude. He was a little helpless about this. Who can let you down?
"Daoxuan has made many meritorious deeds. After returning to the capital..." Li Yuan thought for a moment, "He was given the crown of Gun, a second group of drummers, a squad of twenty swordsmen, and two thousand catties of gold."
"Father, for such a great achievement, isn't it a little understatement?" Li Jiancheng said loudly: "And father has not yet rewarded his second brother for his contribution."
Li Shimin's face changed slightly, and Li Yuan was a little strange. He frowned and asked, "Why are you being rewarded?"
Although Li Daoxuan was attached to Li Shimin, Qi Shanxing, and Tian Liuan came from the Qin Palace, this was not the reason to reward Li Shimin.
"This time Liu Heita was defeated and captured alive. Although my second brother is in the capital, he has really made great achievements." Li Jiancheng cast an unclear look at his second brother, "Tian Liu'an defended Weizhou and lacked troops. The second brother sent Shaanxi Province to the east
Send troops, cross the river and go south, attack from two sides, and finally achieve a great victory in Wei County."
"Is there such a thing?" Li Yuan's expression finally changed.
Li Shimin pursed his lips tightly and calculated in his mind. It was certain that the details of the Hebei war report had entered Beijing and reached the East Palace... But the only way to send troops from Shaanxi Province was Wang Junkuo himself, Qu Tutong, Han Liang, and Yu Zhining, who were still in Hebei.
Li Daoxuan, Tian Liuan and others knew about it.
How did the eldest brother know such secrets?
If we knew it in the future, it would still be possible...but if we knew it so quickly, what was the mistake?
Li Shimin's thoughts suddenly changed. He had an informant in the East Palace. Could it be that his eldest brother also had an informant in Prince Qin's Mansion?
Li Shimin, who was ambushed, was confused and a little confused, but Li Jiancheng thought for a long time and kept talking.
"Hebei Province has been in chaos for many years. Dou Jiande and Liu Heitai have caused chaos three times successively. The fields are barren and the people's livelihood is difficult. Hebei Province should be set up as a platform to control it with the order of the minister."
"The younger brother of the King of Huaiyang advanced bravely, killed Liu Heita, and regained Hebei. He also served as the general manager of Luozhou and served as the Minister of Xingtai of Hebei Province."
There was silence in the huge Ganlu Hall. Li Shimin's cheeks were twitching. Brother, are you going to overturn the table?