Under the rising red sun, a cavalry team came running.
The ones leading the way were actually General Yunhui and Baiqi Commander Xu Luoren.
The emperor has arrived.
Wu Huaiyu was arranging for people to pack the prince's luggage in the manor. Hearing that the emperor had arrived, he was very surprised and hurriedly went out with Qin Qiong to greet him.
The emperor arrived with only five hundred imperial cavalry,
The tall golden Kangju horse, the emperor dressed in military uniform,
The emperor personally came to take the prince back to Beijing.
"I'm here to take Qian back to Beijing."
The prince came a step late and just heard this when he walked out of the door. His eyes were wet with excitement. Li Shimin saw Cheng Qian walking out without any support or crutches. He strode over without any inconvenience.
The eye sockets are also red,
"Slow down, your foot is just fine."
"Father, my legs have fully recovered,"
Li Shimin quickly stepped forward to support Cheng Qian, looked left and right, and finally squatted down and lifted Cheng Qian's robe and trouser legs to look at the scars on his legs.
"Are you not feeling any discomfort at all? Will it still hurt?"
"Everything is healed. Only this scar is left. I used the teacher's scar removal plaster and it is getting lighter and lighter." Cheng Qian raised his leg and made movements.
"That's good,"
Li Shimin stood up and took Huaiyu's hand, "I really want to thank you and reward you heavily. What do you want?"
"I was just trying to atone for my sins. I was not well-protected that day. Fortunately, thanks to the blessings of my ancestors and the great blessings of the saints, His Highness recovered."
Li Shimin laughed.
"It seems that the insect bone soup can indeed strengthen the muscles and bones, so let's go hunt some more and drink more, Prince."
The emperor just said a word, and I don’t know how many tigers would be unlucky.
Li Shimin held Cheng Qian in his left hand and Huai Yu in his right hand. He held the two of them affectionately and entered the manor with Qin Qiong. Also coming with the emperor were the uncle of the state, Changsun Wuji, the Minister of War, Zhou Shaofan, the Minister of Civil Affairs and the Crown Prince.
Zhan Shi, Tang Jian, and Li Daozong, the Minister of Criminal Affairs of Jiangxia County.
The emperor has not had breakfast yet,
Seeing that the prince was recovering so well, Li Shimin had a great appetite.
Gu Louzi stuffed with a pound of mutton stuffing, I ate two of them in one go.
After breakfast, the emperor was in no hurry to take the prince back to Chang'an. The sky was a little gloomy and the sun looked pale and weak.
"Wait until the sun gets warmer and the wind subsides later before leaving,"
After walking around the White Deer Manor, the emperor also inspected the archery skills of Lu Ben and the East Palace guards, and rewarded those who performed well.
Back to the courtyard,
"Let's play chess."
Li Shimin asked someone to fetch Go, and he played it with Huaiyu first. Wu Huaiyu was not bad at chess. He used to play with the old Taoist when they were in the mountains. Later, he took Runniang as his concubine, and his chess skills improved again. Runniang used to play in Yongkang.
The official's name is Siqi, and he is very good at chess.
But playing chess with the emperor is a test of skill. You can neither beat the emperor nor appear weak. You have to find a way to make the emperor feel just a little better than you.
Wu Huaiyu racked his brains and even broke out in a sweat, and finally lost his son.
Li Shimin was very happy to win this set and was very happy.
"Replace Sima,"
Li Shimin called Tang Jian,
Tang Jian smiled and sat down opposite the emperor, and took the initiative to choose Heizi, who would go first.
The emperor is very happy today. He just won another very exciting game of chess, especially the big dragon escaped, and finally won half the game.
It will be easier to get off with Tang Jian,
Tang Jian played chess very quickly.
Tang Jian and the emperor were old chess friends. When they were in Taiyuan in their early years, Tang Jian and Li Shimin played very well. Although they were 20 years younger in age,
Tang Jian's great-grandfather was once a Zuopushe of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and his grandfather was a Youpushe of the Northern Qi Dynasty. When his father was the governor of the Sui Dynasty, he also served as a guard general with Li Yuan. The two had a very good relationship.
Both of them are familiar with each other's chess moves and can play quickly.
The emperor was playing chess and chatting,
Before I knew it, the chessboard was almost full.
The emperor held white, Tang Jian held black,
Tang Jian forcefully broke the eye and kept sealing it. White could not get out and the eye could never be made.
White's life hangs on a thread, but Black refuses to give in.
Make a fatal move to kill the dragon,
In the end, White lost.
Li Shimin held a white chess piece in his hand, but he had already lost.
The emperor's face was gloomy and ugly,
How happy I was to win in the last round, and how miserable I am to lose in this round.
A dragon-slaying game,
Li Shimin looked at Tang Jian, picked up the ivory dial, brushed all the chess pieces to the ground, and then said to Tang Jian, "Back off."
Tang Jian often played chess with the emperor before, and it was not that he had never won the emperor's game, but he rarely saw the emperor look so ugly after losing.
Is this something you can’t afford to lose?
Tang Jian resigned angrily, feeling a little regretful in his heart. It was all because Wu Huaiyu played a game of chess with the emperor in the beginning. He played too well and aroused his interest. In the end, he didn't stop and killed the emperor's dragon.
After Tang Jian left, the emperor lost interest in playing chess.
Then he asked the ministers to retreat,
But Wu Huaiyu, Changsun Wuji and Su Lie were left behind.
Li Shimin got up and walked around the hall,
After a long while, he said, "Tang Jian was rude and rude to me. I want to kill him."
"Su Lie, after you return to Chang'an, when you go to court tomorrow, your Majesty will testify that Tang Jian had evil intentions, deceived the emperor, and slandered the court."
Su Lie stood there stunned,
After hesitating again and again, he said, "Your Majesty, Tang Jian is presumptuous and disrespectful of Your Majesty. All he needs to do is deal with him according to the laws of the court. He will not be punished until death."
"I ask you to come forward and testify. Just do it. When the matter is completed, I will grant you the governorship of Yaozhou and reward you with half of Tang Jian's property."
"I forgive you for not being able to do this. I don't know that Tang Jian has evil intentions, so I can't come forward to testify against him."
Su Dingfang thought about it again and again and said.
Li Shimin stared,
"You dare to disobey me?"
"I just don't dare to make things out of thin air. If Tang Jian really has evil intentions, Your Majesty can ask someone to investigate and collect evidence. If you ask me to come forward to testify, I really can't do that."
"You don't want to be the governor of Yaozhou anymore?"
"If you help me handle this matter, I can reward you with Tang Jian's Dukedom of Ju."
Su Lie still shook his head, "I know that Tang Jian offered advice to Taiyuan and had meritorious service in the uprising. Later, he exposed Dugu Huaien's conspiracy to rebel against the country. After that, he served as the Minister of Huangmen, the Minister of Rites, the Sima of Tiance Mansion, or as the governor of foreign affairs.
, or sent several missions to the Turks, etc., all of them were loyal and loyal.
Although he was a little presumptuous just now, he is a hero of the country after all. Now he is also the Duke of Ju and the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. If he wins a game of chess with His Majesty just because of his presumptuousness, he wants to kill him. I cannot agree with this.
Your Majesty, please calm down."
"I didn't want to kill him because of this game of chess. Someone reported that Tang Jian had evil intentions and deceived the emperor."
"Then please let your majesty leave it to the Three Law Departments to handle it impartially."
"It is not convenient for the matter to be handed over to the Three Law Departments. I want your Majesty to come forward and testify in public,"
"I can't."
The emperor suppressed Su Lie,
He was even tempted by promotions, but Su Lie remained unmoved.
Wu Huaiyu and Changsun Wuji knelt down and sat aside.
Neither of them spoke.
The incident was sudden, but the two of them realized almost immediately that it was impossible for the emperor to kill Tang Jian. Even if he did, he would not let Su Lie testify without evidence and then kill him.
Wu Huaiyu knew about Tang Jian. He was a great hero in Yuanmou in Taiyuan, and had also served as Sima of Tiance Prefecture. He had a good relationship with Li Shimin.
However, during the Wude period, it is said that Tang Jian supported Jiancheng. It cannot be said that he was a princeling. It can only be said that he was on the side of the emperor and the court, and the attitude of the emperor and the court was that Jiancheng was the crown prince.
But it is wrong to say that Li Shimin wanted to kill Tang Jian because of this.
After all, during Tang Jian's years in the Zhenguan Dynasty, although his official positions were frequently transferred, his position was not low, and he was still the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Crown Prince Shao Zhan.
It was true that the emperor was angry just now.
But I won’t kill the minister if I lose the chess game.
He is not the prince Liu Qi who smashed Prince Wu to death with the chessboard when he lost.
Just because this thing is so outrageous,
So when the emperor behaved so abnormally, Wu Huaiyu didn't stand up and speak immediately.
Changsun Wuji also remained silent, so he probably had the same thoughts as him.
Bystanders are clear,
The emperor's pressure was not directly directed at them. Wu Huaiyu thought that this might be the emperor's opportunity to test Su Lie, who was not a direct descendant.
Su Lie's ability has been proven long ago.
However, Li Shimin was not sure whether this remnant of Hebei rebels was worthy of trust, whether he clung to Li Jing and Wu Huaiyu for the sake of wealth, and even climbed to the East Palace for this reason.
Take this opportunity to test it out.
"Su Lie, do you know what will happen to you if you disobey me?"
"I can remove you from your citizenship and make you a commoner."
"You can also be demoted to Changliu, Lingnan!"
"I dare not disobey His Majesty, but I cannot falsely accuse a minister out of thin air."
"I said, I have evidence,"
"Then let the department hand over the evidence to the Third Law Division for public investigation and trial, or hand the evidence over to the minister for prosecution. Why let the minister testify without evidence?"
The two were at loggerheads.
Su Lie's courage is commendable.
Li Shimin looked at this Hebei warrior who was older than himself.
This was a powerful general under the command of Dou Jiande in Hebei Province who was no less powerful than Liu Heitai.
This is also a warrior who can command 5,000 Hebei elite Tang cavalry, defeat more than 100,000 Turkic cavalry in Baidao, and can lead only a few hundred elite cavalry into the desert to capture Jie Li.
He even dared to beat up Prime Minister Hou Junji on Chang'an Street.
He even dared to lead people to directly copy the Sogdian Zoroastrian Temple in Huaiyuanfang, and also involved Hou Junji, who demoted him to Hou Junji in the Western Regions and then to Lingnan.
There was always something unruly about this tough general, especially his background, which made Li Shimin not trust him.
Li Shimin asked again,
Su Lie still answered like that.
"I will now summon Tang Jian, Zhou Shaofan, Li Daozong, Qin Qiong, Xu Luoren and other ministers, and give you another chance to testify against Tang Jian in public."
The emperor asked people to invite the ministers who were accompanying him.
Li Shimin said that someone had accused Tang Jian of having evil intentions and slandering the court, and wanted to confront Tang Jian.
Tang Jian turned pale after hearing this and couldn't believe it.
"Su Lie, is this possible?"
The emperor's gaze was like a sword, piercing Su Lie.
Su Lie's face was extremely serious. He stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know about this, I have never heard of it, and I dare not come forward to testify."
"you sure?"
"I dare not talk nonsense,"
"Hahaha!"
The emperor, who had a gloomy face, suddenly laughed loudly,
Wu Huaiyu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. It was just as he had guessed.
Fortunately, Su Lie didn't just agree to kill Tang Jian unjustly for the emperor because of his official position and wealth. Otherwise, Su Lie might have been killed on some charge, or at least he might have completely lost the emperor's trust and would not be reused again.
He passed this test.
Fortunately, Wu Huaiyu knew his character.
Li Shimin stretched out his hand to help Su Lie up and said with a smile, "You are not only brave and brave, but also loyal and courageous."
Then he helped Tang Jian, who had just been frightened and pale, to his feet.
"It seems that there was a misunderstanding. I was wrong. Let me correct it."
"But what Ding Fang did was to be honest and outspoken, and to plan for three benefits and benefits. This saved Tang Jian from a wasted death, me from a wasted death, and Ding Fang from being misguided. These are the three benefits.
It also gave me the reputation of being a reformed man, Tang Jian the good fortune of being reborn, and Ding Fang the reputation of being loyal and upright. These are the three benefits."
After speaking, Li Shimin announced that he would reward Su Dingfang with a thousand pieces of silk.
"Tang Jian played chess with me and did not lie or deceive, which is very commendable. Later that year, the governor of Yizhou and Gao Shilian, the governor of Yizhou, returned to the court. This important position became vacant.
I then appointed Tang Jian as the Chief of the Governor's Office of Yizhou and the Governor of Yizhou, and also served as the Prince Shao Zhan."
"Su Dingfang was loyal and upright, so he was promoted to the governor of Yaozhou, governor of Yaozhou, and was granted the title of Duke of Linqing County in Jin Dynasty. He was still the prince's right commander."
A happy scene for everyone.
Tang Jian let out a long sigh of relief, and Su Dingfang also breathed heavily.
This transformation is a bit too amazing,
Wu Huaiyu took the lead in shouting, "The saint is wise, long live our emperor!"
Changsun Wuji also shouted long live,
Su Dingfang was dizzy and shouted long live. After he came to his senses, he was very excited. He thought Li Shimin was a fool, but it turned out to be just a small test.
