"What's going on?" The emperor and his ministers both rushed out, picked up the lost old eunuch Zhu Quan from the ground, and asked loudly.
There is no need for Zhu Quan to repeat himself. The shouts of killing outside the courtyard explained everything. "Qingjun side!"
fall.
This is a temporarily borrowed temple backyard. Although it is not as splendid as the Buddhist temple in the capital, it still has a sense of transcendence. But now, the tranquility and peace of all Buddhist pure places have disappeared.
What's more, there is a strong smell of blood, which is accompanied by the waves of shouting and killing sounds, making people almost nauseous.
"Escort! Come here, protect your majesty and rush out!" After all, he holds the rank of hussar general, has never eaten pork, and has seen pigs running. Almost in an instant, Gao Lishi judged that the cry of death was coming towards the emperor.
They were forced to come from the temple, shouting orders at the top of their lungs.
"Protect, protect, protect, protect, protect!" the response was weak. A dozen eunuchs, holding the swords and Zen staffs they found temporarily, stumbled over and stood in a row in front of Li Longji, trembling.
This time, let alone a breakout, it was impossible even to stand still and wait for help. Gao Lishi was so anxious that stars were flashing in front of his eyes, and he continued shouting at the top of his lungs: "Cheng Yuanzhen, where is Cheng Yuanzhen? Where did he take the Feilong Imperial Guards?
Oh! Who are you waiting for to see Cheng Yuanzhen, Zhang Chu, and Yang Fang? They haven’t seen each other, even Hu Zengshun!”
No one answered his questions. Several confidant eunuchs who had the authority to command the Feilong Guards were all missing. Only these powerless little eunuchs were left, holding weapons one by one and chattering their upper and lower teeth.
.
On the other hand, Li Longji himself, at the critical moment, showed a bit of his true nature as an emperor. He put the young eunuchs aside and said with a sneer: "Okay, Feng Yuanyi, you are really wronged if you don't become an actor! Don't
Let’s act for me again! Tell me, what conditions does the prince propose, I will agree to them all!”
"Old slave, if I ever colluded with His Highness the Crown Prince, may the heavens strike with thunder and fall into the realm of animals for the rest of my life, never to be reborn again!" Hearing the emperor call him by his original name, Gao Lishi turned around, tears streaming down his face.
How could Li Longji believe it? He looked into his eyes and sneered. The sadness on Gao Lishi's face was not fake this time. He knelt down and bowed deeply: "I know that your Majesty doesn't believe it. In a hurry, I can't do anything."
Prove yourself. But your Majesty, think about it. In the past forty years, the old slave has relied on your majesty's favor. He has almost no problem in and out of the palace, and his status is no less than that of the current prime minister. If he joins His Majesty the Crown Prince, he can still give the old slave
Is there a greater benefit?”
This sentence was on point, and Li Longji had no way to refute it. His dull eyes suddenly brightened up again, and he quickly asked: "Then who did you find when you went out today, and what did you say to them? Give them all to me.
Tell the truth? Don’t tell lies, and don’t beat around the bush, otherwise, our monarchs and ministers will die without a burial place!"
"Old slave, I am under the supervision of Your Majesty. I am worried that after Your Majesty goes to Shuzhong, the government will be controlled by Yang's party. So I have my own thoughts and want to force Yang Guozhong to resign. Therefore, I will go first today.
He went to the imperial censor Wei Fangjin and others, hinting that His Majesty was very dissatisfied with Yang Guozhong's recent performance on the issue of rebels and bandits. Then, he went to inform Chen Xuanli and told him to act according to the situation. When necessary, he could withhold money.
Long Wujun’s food is exciting, exciting..."
At this moment, Gao Lishi had not forgotten to share the emperor's worries, and took the initiative to take all the ideas of dealing with Yang Guozhong on himself. Li Longji only listened to half of the story, and then he figured out the problem, and he was so angry that his eyes were on fire. He stepped forward.
He grabbed Gao Lishi by the collar and gritted his teeth: "You, you old man! If you fail to succeed, you will be exposed! If you fail to succeed, you will be exposed..."
Gao Lishi was much taller than Li Longji, but he didn't have the courage to struggle. He lowered his head and apologized in a low voice: "Old slave, I betrayed His Majesty's trust. Old slave, I deserve death!"
"I should have killed you ten thousand times if I had known this!" Li Longji dropped him heavily and roared in a low voice. Comparing Gao Lishi's words with the situation in front of him, the truth was already obvious. It was Prince Li Henry who used it.
Gao Lishi suddenly launched an attack against Yang Guozhong. There can only be two reasons why Prince Li Heng was able to grasp the timing so accurately. Either Gao Lishi did not do things secretly and Li Heng got the news in advance. Or Longwu General Chen Xuanli
Already colluded with the prince.
The possibility of the latter is far less than that of the former. Chen Xuanli was also a confidant who shared life and death when he was the prince, so he should not be easily pulled away by his son Li Heng. Relying on his intuition, Li Longji quickly made an inference. "Left and right Long Wujun."
How many people are left now? What is the specific strength of Donggong Liuli? What about Yang Guozhong? How long can his Jiedushi tooth soldiers last against Donggong Liuli? "
Under the throne, there has been no family ties since ancient times. Back then, Emperor Taizong was able to kill his brother to force his father, and Empress Zetian was able to kill two sons in a row. Even Li Longji himself had to kill his aunt Empress Wei and his direct aunt Princess Taiping to firmly control them.
The throne was in his hands. So at this moment, he did not dare to expect that his son Li Heng would only target Yang Guozhong, and immediately began to prepare for the worst. (Note 1)
When it comes to specific data, Gao Lishi is very familiar with it. After thinking about it, he quickly responded: "There are still about 10,000 people in the Longwu Army. When the Sixth Army of the East Palace left Chang'an, they only brought about 5,000 people. But then there were more and more people.
Many generals came with their families, and they should be around 10,000 at the moment. Yang Guozhong's military governor Ya Bing once tried to form an army of his own, but was annexed by Ge Shuhan and now only has 500 troops left.
No, I know this. Today, Xue Jingxian, the magistrate of Chencang County, came with a large number of people to deliver food. The total number of people was at least three thousand..."
Thirteen thousand against ten thousand, and he was unprepared. No wonder the prince dared to take action. After comparing the strengths of all parties, Li Longji quickly made a decision: "Immediately find a way to send a message to Chen Xuanli, ordering him not to tangle with the soldiers and horses of the East Palace.
Immediately lead the Longwu Army to come closer to me! At the same time, summon the clan members and order them to lead their servants into the temple to escort them!"
"No!" Gao Lishi agreed, turned around and left. Before he could reach the door of the courtyard, there was suddenly another harsh noise outside. Following closely, two eunuchs in armor led more than a hundred flying dragons.
Wei, barged in aggressively.
"Your Majesty, don't panic, old slave Cheng Yuanzhen is here to escort you!" The leading eunuch was so angry that he roared out, shocking everyone in the yard to the point where their faces turned pale.
"Old slave Li Jingzhong, on the order of the prince, come to escort him!" Another eunuch also stepped forward quickly, stood solemnly and raised his hands to Li Longji.
"What are you doing? Get out of here! Get out of here!" Gao Lishi blocked the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji, behind him with a single stride, and scolded him sternly.
No one paid attention to him. Whether it was Cheng Yuanzhen, the prison general who always obeyed him, or Li Jingzhong, who considered himself a junior, they all ignored him as if they were nothing.
"You, you..." Gao Lishi opened his arms like a hen guarding the nest, blocking anyone who tried to get close to Li Longji. "Your Majesty has always treated you well, but you actually dared to collude with the prince to rebel.
, aren’t you afraid of being infamy for thousands of years?”
"Rebellion?" Cheng Yuanzhen smiled with contempt on his face, "Are you confused, General Gao? The prince is the crown prince appointed by His Majesty himself, so how can he plot his own rebellion? As for His Majesty's usual kindness to each other, how dare we dare to do so easily?
Forgot. Have the remaining flying dragon guards rushed over to escort you? Your Majesty, please relax. At this moment, not to mention the traitors, not even a bird can fly within ten steps of this courtyard!"
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, there was another sound of neat footsteps outside the courtyard. Hundreds of sergeants wearing the uniforms of the flying dragon guards filed in and pressed against the walls, blocking the entire courtyard tightly.
"You, you..." Gao Lishi was angry and frightened, trembling all over. The Feilong Guards were trained by him personally, and most of the low-level generals inside could be called by their names. But today's
The group of people wearing the uniforms of the Feilong Imperial Guards all had unfamiliar faces, and it was obvious that they had been replaced a long time ago.
"Yuan Yi, please step back!" After all, Li Longji was the one who single-handedly created the prosperous Kaiyuan era. Even when he was at the end of his rope, he did not panic to the point of losing his mind. He sighed softly, pushed Gao Lishi away, and smiled at him.
Cheng Yuanzhen and Li Jingzhong said: "Two generals, no courtesy. I was worried about the noise outside. I didn't expect you two to rush over so quickly! What happened outside? Who among you can tell me
Can I tell you about it?"
Cheng Yuanzhen and Li Jingzhong looked at each other, with a bit of surprise on their faces, and more of a sense of shame. But soon, they changed their minds and responded in unison: "Your Majesty, the traitor Yang Guozhong and Wei Fangjin, Song Yu
The thieves colluded with the Tubo people and tried to rebel. They have been killed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Now the Sixth Leader of the East Palace is searching for the remaining thieves. They are afraid that they will jump over the wall and disturb the Holy Emperor, so the Crown Prince specially ordered me to come and protect him. "
"Oh?!" Li Longji nodded as if he had enlightenment, with a happy smile on his face, "The prince is decisive in doing things, which is very pleasing to me. Come here, take my sword and give it to His Highness the prince. Order.
He uses this sword to kill anyone who dares to open his eyes for Thief Yang, without asking me what I mean!"
"No!" Gao Lishi agreed and raised his feet to go into the house to get the emperor's sword. As soon as he moved, four flying dragon guards rushed towards him and surrounded him tightly in the center.
