His Majesty Li Er was wise and powerful, decisive in killing, and he was as hard-hearted as iron and went his own way. This kind of person was called a "straight man of steel" in later generations. He only doted on Queen Wende and regarded the three thousand beauties in the harem as his own. It can be seen that the tool is unwilling to waste any more emotion.
It's almost hopeless...
However, everyone has weaknesses. His Majesty Li Er, who is so steely and strong, has a pair of children who have grown up with him since childhood.
He was deeply in love with Queen Wende and his wife, not only because the Guanlong nobles behind Queen Wende helped him seize the supreme imperial power of the Tang Dynasty. The woman who married him at the age of thirteen established the foundation of the Tang Dynasty with him. Although the foundation of the Tang Dynasty was a country, it did not enjoy much honor and luxury. His intelligence, elegance, dignity and virtuousness made His Majesty Li Er feel guilty every time he thought about it.
It is precisely because of this that when Queen Wende held her hand before her death and asked him to treat her children well no matter what, His Majesty Li Er swore to heaven that he would not fail to do so.
Therefore, even though he has been dissatisfied with the prince for a long time, he has never been able to depose him decisively, because it is difficult for a deposed prince to have a good ending. If the prince dies because of this, not to mention that he, as a father, would not be able to bear it. He just said that when he is under the Nine Springs a hundred years later, how will he face his queen?
Furthermore, the children left by Queen Wende are all smart and cute, and they are even more well-behaved and smart in front of me. Even the prince, who I am quite disappointed with, has become more and more "benevolent" in the past two years. How can I Will you not love me?
At this moment, in front of him, Princess Jinyang's eyes dropped, tearing His Majesty Li Er's heart to pieces...
"Si Zi, don't cry, don't cry."
The majestic emperor is also in a hurry right now, not knowing what to do.
Princess Jinyang lowered her head, her eyes kept falling down, and she said with sobs: "My father is cruel to me."
His Majesty Li Er: "..."
Good daughter, you probably don’t know what is “fierce”, right? When your father takes care of the King of Qi, the King of Shu, and Fang Jun, then that’s called “fierce”, okay?
But daughters are different from sons after all. If any son fails to live up to his expectations, even the pheasant slave he loves the most will have to be scolded and kicked a few times. The daughter can only hold it in the palm of her hand...
"Yes, yes, it is my father's fault. I am a little impatient. How about I apologize to Sizi? Don't cry, Sizi..."
His Majesty Li Er hurriedly tried to wipe away the tears of his daughter, but the little girl turned her head to the other side, sobbing in frustration.
With nothing to do, His Majesty Li Er sighed, patted his thigh, and said angrily: "My father is indeed a little careless, but what can I do? You let my father go into battle to kill the enemy and take care of government affairs, that's no problem. , but I’m really not good at raising children. It’s just that your mother died early, leaving your father all alone, and she doesn’t know how to take care of you. I’m afraid I won’t be able to see you in a hundred years. behind the scenes.”
The vicissitudes of words vividly explain the downfall and sadness of a middle-aged widower.
Just...a middle-aged widower?
Oh, you are the emperor...
Princess Jinyang bit her lip, wiped her tears with the back of her tender white hand, and retorted without putting on the condom: "Don't say it so harshly, there are so many concubines in my father's palace, all of them are stunning in the world, and my daughter is not the same." I have never seen my father so sad."
His Majesty Li Er knew that this girl was smart, so he could only say: "She is sad or happy. As a father and an emperor, how can I express the anger in my heart? On many occasions, it is just a forced smile."
He himself somewhat believed what he said...
Although Princess Jinyang knew clearly that her father was pretending to get her forgiveness, she still felt sorry for her father and couldn't bear her father to really blame himself for this, so she turned around, raised her beautiful eyes to look at His Majesty Li Er, and said softly: "
As an emperor, my father takes great care of his family and country, so why do he care about such trivial matters?"
What she was referring to, of course, was the matter of summoning Fang Jun into her bedroom.
You are a majestic emperor, but you have so many important matters of family and country that are not enough for you to worry about. Do you have to take care of the affairs between your children out of nothing?
His Majesty Li Er was heartbroken: "How can this be a trivial matter? Anything related to Si Zi is a first-class matter in my father's heart! Fang Jun is a foreign minister after all, and he can just go to the palace on a regular basis, but how can he put it into his father's heart?"
Why did he call you into your palace privately? You are now in your prime, and you will have to find a family to marry in two years. If some rumors spread at this time, wouldn't it delay the marriage? "
Princess Jinyang pursed her lips and said in a low voice: "Then the daughter will not marry, she will stay with her father for the rest of her life and be raised by him."
"Nonsense!"
His Majesty Li Er said angrily: "Getting married and having children are the top priority for a daughter's family in her life. Don't be like your sister Changle. She eats fasting and chants sutras all day long. Do you want to make your father angry to death?"
Speaking of Princess Changle, his head grew even bigger.
That girl had long since reconciled with her eldest grandson, and her character, appearance, and family background were among the best in the world. No one disliked her because she was a "harmonious woman." On the contrary, countless aristocratic family members wanted to marry her home, but the girl
But they all looked at each other coldly and had no intention of getting married.
Especially the unclear relationship with Fang Jun made him feel uncomfortable every time he thought about it.
If this little girl follows the old path of Changle, His Majesty Li Er feels that he may be depressed to death...
"So, as a father, this is all for your own good. When you grow up, you have to know how to avoid suspicion. In the future, you should not be as close to Fang Jun as you were when you were a child."
Listening to her father's nagging instructions, Princess Jinyang did not speak, but lowered her head again, and after a while, she softly hummed.
I felt a little sad for no reason in my heart and wanted to cry.
Tears rolled down again...
*****
If you don’t celebrate the Lantern Festival, you won’t celebrate the New Year.
In previous years, even the entire first month would be filled with a New Year atmosphere. Although the yamen would open after the Lantern Festival, if there was nothing urgent, most of the officials would do their duty at noon in the morning and then go home at noon.
Looking for a place to eat, drink and have fun, it wasn't until February 2nd that I finally put my mind back together.
In this era, transportation is inconvenient and the speed of information dissemination is extremely slow, which leads to an extremely slow pace of life. Unless people encounter natural disasters and cannot eat enough to survive, otherwise they will show an appearance of being indifferent to the world and living a stable life.
Live life.
However, the New Year of the 18th year of Zhenguan had just passed, and on the fifth day of the lunar month, the entire city of Chang'an suddenly became tense.
The Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo was a national policy and had been prepared for two years. If His Majesty Li Er had not suddenly fallen ill last year, the army would have already set off for Liaodong. It had to be postponed for a year. Although more money was spent and the opportunity was delayed, all aspects of the campaign were
After a year of preparation, it has become more complete and sufficient.
When it comes to the Eastern Expedition, there is no need to rush for a short time, let alone be stingy with money and food, but to ensure stability.
The previous Sui Dynasty's three expeditions to Goguryeo resulted in a crushing defeat. The Tang Dynasty was about to embark on another expedition under the personal control of His Majesty Li Er. The preparations in all aspects were more than twice as good as those of the previous Sui Dynasty. Therefore, although the army did not move,
But no one in the government or the public believed that Goguryeo could replicate the war of thirty-five years ago and remain as secure as a rock despite the fierce attack of the Tang cavalry.
…
Ministry of War Yamen.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the yamen, which was on holiday for the Chinese New Year, became lively. Almost all officials were on duty. The backlog of documents during the New Year period were gathered in the yamen. After being reviewed and approved by officials at all levels, they were then distributed to various Zhechong prefectures and the army.
.
In the duty room of the Minister of War, Fang Jun and Jin Wang Li Zhi sat opposite each other. There was a cup of fragrant tea in front of them. The tea was fragrant, but the atmosphere was not very pleasant.
Li Zhi sat upright, stared at Fang Jun, and asked: "The ordnance has arrived at the Yingzhou pier safely, and the mission of the Ministry of War has been completed. However, there is heavy snowfall in all parts of Yingzhou. If you want to transport this batch of ordnance to the garrison in various places,
, it is inevitable that the soldiers will brave the severe cold weather and trek through the high mountains and snowy ridges with both feet. I don’t know how many soldiers will be lost. Why can’t we wait until the spring warms up in a few days and then calmly distribute the weapons? They are all raised by father and mother.
, you are sitting in a warm office like this, drinking hot tea, but the soldiers on the front line are freezing to death and suffering from frostbite, how can you bear it?"
Fang Jun raised his eyes and glanced at Li Zhi, who had an upright and indignant expression on his face, shook his head and took a sip of hot tea.