When Li Xiaogong returned to his mansion, he was still anxious. As a person who had experienced strong winds, waves, and frights, his nerves were much more sensitive than he appeared. He was keenly aware that there seemed to be a storm.
brewing.
Confused, he walked to the martial arts field. Far away, he heard the sound of shouting. Li Xiaogong walked in and saw a young man moving around and beating the wooden figure. It was Li Chongyi, Li Chongyi
He was originally going to give the armor to Li Chongyi, but he was stopped by Li Xiaogong on the way and was directly tied back to his home and grounded. He has not been out for more than ten days.
Li Chongyi couldn't resist, so he had to find something to do for himself. It was impossible to study, so practicing martial arts became the only way for him to consume energy. He didn't talk to Li Xiaogong every day. He started practicing after eating and eating when he was tired.
I kept doing this until I went to bed, and it looked a bit like lifting weights in the gym in later generations. It had some effect, and the muscles on my body gradually started to show some shape.
Li Xiaogong did not disturb Li Chongyi, did not make a sound, and stood on the edge of the martial arts field and watched. He was a military commander, not a corrupt scholar. Seeing his son so heroic, he was actually happy in his heart.
Li Shimin wanted him to come out this time. The reason why Li Xiaogong hesitated was also because of Li Chongyi. As far as he was concerned, he had experienced the ups and downs of his life. He had also held hundreds of thousands of troops, sat on one side, and commanded an army.
Going south, conquering lands thousands of miles away. It can be said that he has experienced and enjoyed everything except being an emperor in his life. When he was an emperor, he couldn't beat Li Shimin, and he didn't even dare to think about it. So, now in his life, he has
It's over. For the rest of the days, it's better to just be more sensual and happy. There's nothing wrong with that.
But if so, what can he leave for his son?
According to the current system of the Tang Dynasty, the royal family has to downgrade the title. In other words, he, the county king, can only be the Duke of the country when Li Chongyi succeeds. If he wants Li Chongyi to succeed as the county king, he is needed
He has to make great achievements. Naturally, he can't make any achievements if he stays in Chang'an. Only by accepting Li Shimin's will and becoming the Protector of Dingxiang can he have such an opportunity.
But--
Li Xiaogong did not dare to take this step easily, not only because of concerns from Li Shimin, but also from Li Mu.
There is no airtight wall in the world. The story of Li Mu and Wang Ou is now known to everyone in Chang'an City. Whether it is the huge age difference between Li Mu and Wang Ou or the things that Wang Ou and Li Shimin can't explain.
It is a topic of conversation that people like to talk about.
Countless people are guessing what Li Shimin will do with Li Mu. Whether he will kill him, or whether he will not care about these things at all.
All forces are also waiting and watching. After all, what Li Mu did before has made enemies everywhere. There are far more people who want to see him suffer misfortune than those who want to see him good.
"Prince."
A person came up behind Li Xiaogong, who was the housekeeper of the palace. Li Xiaogong looked back at him, and the housekeeper stopped and hid behind the screen wall.
Li Xiaogong also turned around and went out. The two hid behind the wall and started talking quietly.
In fact, Li Chongyi had seen Li Xiaogong a long time ago, but he was just angry and didn't want to pay attention to him, so he deliberately pretended not to see him. But when he saw Li Xiaogong and the housekeeper acting mysteriously, he felt very strange, so he walked over quietly, leaned his back against the wall, and raised his eyebrows.
Listen carefully.
"... Your Majesty, my subordinates have already made inquiries. In the past few days, Your Majesty has met with the main leaders of various bureaus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and issued an order to promote them. The main responsible persons have all been promoted by at least one level.
People like Chang Sun Chong and others are already well-established bureau chiefs. Officials at all levels of the Ministry of Works are also rewarded. It seems that His Majesty intends to show favor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Works——"
"I understand."
The butler didn't answer. He knew what not to say.
Li Xiaogong sighed and said: "Sure enough, dragons have reverse scales, and those who touch them will die. It seems that Your Majesty is going to take action against Li Mu, but His Majesty wants to be a wise king through the ages, and Li Mu has made great achievements, how could he
Is he killing the hero in vain? Isn't he afraid that the historian will write it down and stain his great achievements? Or does your Majesty have another plan?"
The butler whispered: "Your Majesty, my subordinates believe that if you want me to die, I have to die. If your Majesty wants to punish someone, don't you have many excuses? Your Majesty, it is better to make a decision early, and don't make your Majesty unhappy."
"I understand. You, stop talking. You are now a housekeeper, not an adviser to me. If you have any random ideas, let's go!"
"I obey my orders."
After the housekeeper left, Li Xiaogong was still upset and walked back to the martial arts arena. He saw that Li Chongyi was still practicing martial arts. Thinking of Li Shimin's words, he left with a sigh.
Li Chongyi watched Li Xiaogong go away, immediately threw the weapon in his hand on the ground, went out from another door of the martial arts field, turned around, and came to a secluded corner. There was an abandoned well here. Li Chongyi opened the manhole cover and jumped directly
Got in.
There is a secret passage nearly 20 meters inside the well that leads to the outside of the wall. Li Chongyi spent a lot of effort to dig this before, just so that he could sneak out during the grounding. He was afraid that Li Xiaogong would find out, so he rarely used it, so he didn't use it this time.
Can't catch up.
Taking out the house, Li Chongyi ran like crazy, came to the Sihai Gambling House, found Ergou, told Ergou the news he heard, and then ran back. Ergou learned the news and did not dare to delay for a moment.
He went to the valley to find Dugujiu and told him the news.
Dugujiu immediately flew a pigeon to deliver the message. At midnight, Li Mu, who was still three days away from Chang'an, received the news.
At about the same time as this news, there was also Li Shimin’s flying pigeon letter.
Li Shimin told him that because the Turkic crisis had been resolved, Tuyuhun, Tubo, Xue Yantuo, Goguryeo and other countries that had been waiting for an opportunity had all submitted memorials of apology and sent envoys with heavy gifts to Chang'an to apologize. In addition, the three Li Mu brought this time
Envoys from more than a dozen small countries in the Western Regions, and envoys from more than fifty countries will gather in Chang'an by then. This momentum is directly catching up with the prosperity of the previous dynasty. So he wanted to take this opportunity to force the barbarians to write a letter to officially honor him as the emperor.
Khan, the message was sent to ask Li Mu what he meant and whether this matter was feasible.
This was the first thing written on the front of the note, and the second thing written on the back was to ask Li Mu about the reward. Li Shimin said that Li Mu had made great contributions to solving the Turkic crisis and subsequent crises without blood this time. He had already
It has been decided to grant Li Mu the title of Duke of Kaiguo County. The location of the title has not yet been decided. The Ministry of Rites is currently discussing it.
Judging from Li Shimin's note, his trust in Li Mu is still the same. It has not decreased even a little bit, but is even stronger than before. It has definitely reached the level where he can tell everything he knows and speak everything he knows.
But Li Mu felt chills. The reason why he felt awkward was that he could no longer find any sense of intimacy between the lines of Li Shimin's words. Things like 'stinky boy' and 'see if I kick you'.
The words can no longer be seen. Although grace remains the same on the surface, grace can also be the sword used to kill people and bury people. The grace of today may not become the sword of tomorrow.
"Brother, how about we escape?"
Li Chongyi looked aside for a long time and choked out a sentence.
Li Mu burned the note with the candlelight and said: "Escape? Where to escape? Isn't it the king's land in the whole world, and the king's ministers are on the shore of the land. Should we escape to a place where wild monkeys live?"
Besides, your sister-in-law is still in the valley, and I escaped. Even if I’m not guilty, I’m guilty. What will they do?”
"But if you go back this time, you will--"
"Put your heart in your stomach." Li Mu patted Li Chongyi on the shoulder and said, "There are many people who want to kill your eldest brother. Isn't your eldest brother still alive? It's not that easy to die."
"Oh." Li Chongyi responded and said no more, but he was still unsure. He had experienced life and death with Li Mu several times. When Li Mu was imprisoned, he was with him. He was not worried at that time because he
Knowing that the emperor valued Li Mu, he would not let him die. But now, the opponent is the emperor, can he still muddle through like before?
Li Mu blew out the lamp and lay down, with his back to Li Chongyi. His expression was no longer so confident. He didn't know what he was thinking. After all, he had robbed the emperor's woman, and the hatred of his wife was so easy to swallow.
What? Changing places, Li Mu thought to himself that if he were Li Shimin, he would never be able to swallow this breath. No matter who this woman likes, I am the emperor, and the world is mine, let alone a woman?
"Go to sleep, we have to go on a journey tomorrow."
Li Mu said something and closed his eyes. Li Chongyi responded and held the ax in his arms. His body like an iron tower blocked the wind at the door so that the cold wind that came in could not blow on Li Mu.
…
Chang'an City has not been lively for a long time. Ever since the news of the alliance between the Turks and the Tang Dynasty came, there have been many people of all kinds in Chang'an City. Most of them are envoys from various countries. They took advantage of the opportunity to wait for the emperor's summons to wreak havoc in Chang'an City.
The purchasing is completely like a stupid person with too much money.
But in fact, they are not really stupid and rich. The reason why they do not consider the cost is that their profits are too high. Chang'an City is the most advanced and developed city in the world. Everything here can be
These small foreign countries are flocking to them. As long as they bring these things back to their own countries, it will be ten times or twenty times the profit. Therefore, for these small countries, being an envoy is not something that can be done casually. They must be the most powerful talents in the country.
OK.
After learning that the Turkic crisis was over, all countries sent envoys. But between countries, strength is the most important. The strength of the country also determines how much face the envoy can have in the Tang Dynasty.
In the ranking list of the Tang Dynasty, the Turks have always been in the most important position, because the Turks have always been the main enemy of the Tang Dynasty since Jieli. After the collapse of the Eastern Turks, this position fell to the Western Turks.
On the body, now that the Western Turks have formed an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, and the two sides have entered a period of friendship and peace, the diplomatic relations between the Western Turks have become even more important. Li Shimin even ordered to build a building specifically for the Western Turk envoys at Honglu Temple.
The envoy is permanently stationed.
Under the Western Turks, there are two countries that are also worthy of respect. They are ranked second. One is Tubo and the other is Goguryeo. One is in the southwest and the other is in the northeast. They are both the most important countries on the border of the Tang Dynasty.
Envoys from these two countries have special etiquette officials to receive them.
In the third rank, there are Tuyuhun, Xue Yantuo, etc. They have to be a lower rank, or one Yuanwailang is responsible for two countries, or the principal is responsible, depending on the situation.
At the bottom of the list are small countries such as Wa, Zhenla, and Shiwei. Their status in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty is similar to that of the Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions. When Honglu Temple is busy, sometimes even the principals cannot be seen.
noodle.
After the Turkic crisis was lifted, Tubo, Goguryeo, and Tuyuhun all sent envoys. Tuyuhun angered Li Shimin because of the incident of King Tianzhu's attack on Li Mu, and was kept in the dark. The envoys from Tubo and Goguryeo were treated very favorably.
Regardless of whether they are hostile countries or not, the strength of Tubo and Goguryeo is enough to make Tang Gao take a look.
On this trip to Tubo, a prince and a national advisor came. They acted in a low-key manner. After meeting Li Shimin, they stayed in the small courtyard of Honglu Temple and did not go out. Everything they needed was brought to them by the Ministry of Etiquette.
Help with purchasing.
The person who came to Goguryeo on this trip was a crown prince. The system of Goguryeo was similar to that of the Central Plains. Their crown prince was the son of the brother of the King of Goguryeo, similar to the son of the Duke of Tang Dynasty. Although his status was not as good as that of the prince of Tubo, he was still inferior.
Not much. He came with him, a shaman from Goguryeo.
Contrary to Tubo's low-key style, the Crown Prince of Goguryeo had a very high-profile style. He went out early every day and came back late, as if he was looking for something. When he saw the envoys from Baekje and Silla, the Crown Prince of Goguryeo also acted in a high-profile manner.
They looked as if these two countries were their slaves. Although the envoys of the two countries were very angry, they did not dare to fall out. Naturally, the Tang Dynasty would not care about the affairs between them. After a few days, the envoys of the two countries were really
I couldn't stand it anymore, so I moved out of Honglu Temple and found a place to live on my own.
When future generations talk about Goguryeo, many people will automatically think of Goguryeo and the two countries on the peninsula. They will also be puzzled by the Sui and Tang dynasties, which can be said to be the most powerful period of military power in the Central Plains. The two great empires conquered Goguryeo. Why did one
A 'small country' could have such a large force, it brought down the Sui Dynasty and took up the whole life of the great leader Li Shimin.
In fact, Goguryeo is an extremely powerful country with a very long history. As early as 37 BC, Jumong, a native of Buyeo, established the Goguryeo Kingdom until the fall of Goguryeo during the Gojong period, which lasted for seven hundred years. This is in line with the subconscious mind of the public.
The difference between Goguryeo and Goguryeo is that Goguryeo and Goryeo are not the same thing. The people of Goguryeo are mainly from the North and the Buyeo people, not Koreans. And Goguryeo, two hundred years after the fall of Goguryeo, could not bear the oppression of the Silla nobles.
A country was established after the common people revolted. They are mainly descendants of the "Three Hans". It cannot be said that they have nothing to do with Goguryeo, but it is not big.
In the early Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo had nearly 300,000 armored men and possessed terrifying force. It was a serious and powerful country.