It is no secret that Li Shimin wanted Li Chengqian to inherit the throne.
Moreover, Li Shimin had been planning this for a long time. How could he let Li Chengqian run away?
After all, Li Shimin had long said that if Li Chengqian could ascend the throne, it would be his greatest achievement in his life.
And Li Chengqian didn't come back to his senses until now.
At the beginning, he naively thought that hiding was only temporary, and sooner or later Li Shimin would change his mind.
Unexpectedly, this guy was determined to make himself the heir early on.
Although Li Chengqian felt speechless, what else could he say?
He could only accept it.
Who says someone is a father and he is a son?
After a feudal prince established a family, he would go to his fiefdom, which has been a common practice since ancient times.
The purpose is nothing more than to show the emperor's importance to the frontier, so as to boost the morale of the frontier soldiers.
Of course, there is another meaning in this, which is to prevent the imperial power from falling aside and causing unnecessary disturbances in the capital.
Li Chengqian's fiefdom was in Qin.
Logically speaking, today's Chang'an City is within Qin.
However, since he is stationed in the fiefdom, he will definitely not be allowed to be so close.
Even if Li Shimin agreed, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty would not agree.
If it were any other prince, forget it.
But this guy is Li Chengqian after all. After all, he is the prince who has made the most enemies in the world.
Not to mention the literary giants from aristocratic families and the people, there are many ministers in the court who look down on him.
At that time, I am afraid that as long as Li Shimin asks Li Chengqian to stay in the capital, the house will be overturned by the ministers on the spot.
Therefore, the stationing point finally decided for Li Chengqian was Liangzhou.
After all, this guy is also the nominal governor of Liangzhou, so it is perfect for him to go to Liangzhou.
… Northwest Liangzhou.
In an inconspicuous tavern.
A lame old storyteller limped around the first floor of the tavern, knocking on bamboo boards and telling stories.
What was he talking about? He was talking about an unknown battle during the Third Northeastern Campaign.
It talks about how the soldiers fought bloody battles when they were blocked in the canyon during that war, and how they withstood the enemy soldiers who were several times their own.
It was about how the young prince led three thousand people to survive in danger, and finally turned defeat into victory.
It talks about how the three thousand Liangzhou soldiers fought with the enemy with swords and swords.
At the end of the sentence, the old storyteller raised his head and looked northwest, and Yigong fell to the ground with his head almost touching the ground.
After he got up, he seemed to have drunk too much. He swayed three times and chanted: "It's a pity that this prince has to leave the capital and go to his station in the northwest."
"In the future, there will definitely be peace in the northwest."
The old man raised his hand to touch the tears that overflowed from the corners of his eyes, and murmured to himself: "We old soldiers in Liangzhou may be able to see a prosperous day in Liangzhou..."
After finishing his words, the old storyteller sighed secretly.
Then he slowly turned around and walked back to the small resting table specially prepared for him by the tavern owner.
Only then did he suddenly see that there was an extra money bag containing about a hundred copper coins on the small table.
The old storyteller then looked up and saw that the man and two women who had just listened to his story had walked out of the tavern.
In the heavy snow, the young man opened the curtains and helped the two women into the carriage one by one.
When the curtain was lowered, the young man seemed to sense something, and then slowly turned around and bowed to the old storyteller.
For a brief moment, the old man seemed to see the emperor who once led him on the battlefield standing in front of him.
But when he came to his senses, the young man had already driven away.
The carriage drove out of Liangzhou City and headed straight to the northwest.
From the map, the entire Longyou Road looks like an unsheathed scimitar, with a total of fifteen state capitals within its territory.
Among them, fourteen states are distributed outside, surrounding the capital Liangzhou in the center.
The advantage of such a terrain is that it is difficult to support one side from all sides.
Of course, there are disadvantages. Once Longyou Road is destroyed, there will be only Tongguan left in front of Chang'an City.
There are mountains and hills in the southeast and two directions of Longyou Road, there are jungles and rivers in the north, and there is only yellow sand everywhere in the west.
Under Liangzhou, there are two cities under its jurisdiction, one is Baicheng and the other is Wucheng.
Wucheng is not bad at all. The residents there can at least live and work in peace and contentment. .??.
But the further west you go, the more desolate the land becomes.
People living west of Liangzhou like to use the saying "Ten miles of road and nine miles of sand" to describe this place.
In fact, this sentence can completely summarize the situation in western Liangzhou.
Going further west from Liangzhou is Yumen Pass. The people living nearby are particularly tough in their customs.
Not to mention young and strong men, there are women and seven or eight-year-old children. As long as they are given a spear, they dare to fight against the invading foreigners.
But instead of making people proud, this makes people feel a little sad.
After all, this sturdy folk custom was forced out by years of constant war.
If there was no war in this world, how could anyone live well but want to die?
While scooping water from the water tank, the old man said to a man and two women who were sitting in the courtyard of his home: "It was really difficult at the beginning, but it got better later and there are no more barbarians." "In a few days, the prince who led the Tang Dynasty to many victorious battles will be here. Maybe our life will be easier."
Hearing this, one of the women covered in gauze frowned and said, "Uncle, do you trust that prince so much?"
"Of course."
Old man Zhao said with a smile: "The prince is a powerful person. Not only did he defeat these foreign enemies, he also helped our Tang Dynasty conquer a vast territory."
The woman wanted to say a few more words, and the man beside her raised his hand and patted her arm gently.
The man smiled and said to the old man: "But it seems that life is much better now, and the desert barbarians are not attacking so frequently."
"That's natural."
Old man Zhao filled several water bottles, put them on the table, and said, "When the prince came, he led his soldiers to scare those barbarians."
"It's just that this year the Western Turks have expanded outward very obviously. I'm afraid that war will break out again in a while."
The young man nodded, took out the copper plate from his pocket, put it on the table, and said, "Thank you, uncle, for entertaining me."
Looking at the nearly one hundred copper coins, Old Man Zhao's eyes almost fell.
Ordinary people can only earn one or two thousand copper coins at most throughout the year. One hundred copper coins is enough for him to eat steamed buns for a whole year.
"No, no, no, no, I just have a few cans of water and some rotten tea leaves. It's not entertainment. I don't dare to accept the money."
"Just take it."
The young man smiled, got up with his two wives, said goodbye to the old man again, then got into the carriage and drove away.
Looking at the shadow of the carriage getting further away, Old Man Zhao held the copper coins in his hand, shook his head and sighed.
But when he turned around, he suddenly froze, and then looked back at the carriage again.
He always felt like he had seen that young man before somewhere...