Chapter 225 The Emperor

Although he was a military commander, Hou Junji could only be regarded as a staff member at most, and he had no experience in leading a large army.

When he assumed that he was Geshu Han, he sadly found that no matter what choice he made, he seemed to be doomed in the end.

There was only one way to survive: Cui Ganyou knelt on the side of the road and offered his head when he led the troops out of the pass.

But this was of course impossible.

It was at this time that Hou Junji suddenly realized:

"It's still good for everyone."

From entering the Qin Palace when he was young to now, he has been smooth sailing.

He has never encountered such a dead end where the master was suspicious and his colleagues framed him.

And from another perspective, the merit of destroying Gaochang Kingdom was also a reward from His Majesty.

For a while, Hou Junji even felt a great sense of relief:

What if he was a famous general? What if he could fight? Can he compare with His Majesty, who is the greatest emperor in the history?

I think the future generations should be very envious of me, right?

I don't know what happened to my descendants when they were involved in the An-Shi Rebellion?

It's only been a hundred years, so the legacy of Hou Junji should not have been exhausted, right?

Li Shimin was unaware of this. He took three breaths to suppress the raging fire in his heart and could only tell himself:

The family style of the Li Tang royal family should be rectified.

Lack of ability is not a problem, but lack of responsibility will inevitably bring disaster to the people.

Li Shimin saw through Xuanzong's little tricks, and therefore hated him even more.

Why didn't he inform the officials and the people? He just wanted to delay the rebels.

…

"Xuanzong called for an expedition three times, and ended up forcing three generals to death."

Fa Zheng's face was full of ridicule:

"I couldn't tell who was the traitor for a while."

Zhang Fei shook his head:

"To the people, An Lushan was a traitor, and Xuanzong was also a traitor, what's the difference?"

"One took lives, and the other dug up roots."

Zhang Fei asked Kong Ming for advice:

"Military advisor, isn't the fall of Tongguan just as Guangmu said, that all fortresses were broken from the inside?"

Kong Ming nodded:

"Attacking the city is inferior, and attacking the heart is superior."

"And such internal disputes are taken advantage of by others, which is rare."

Kong Ming had a thorough understanding of the attack on the heart couplet he had obtained from Guangmu before.

Zhao Yun lamented:

"It's a pity that 80,000 men guarding the border all died here."

"Zilong, it's too early to lament." Kong Ming shook his head, the end of the empire made him look disappointed:

"In a hundred years of prosperity, the capital fell for the first time, and the offensive and defensive situation changed."

"The glory of the Han Hutong serving the Tang Dynasty will never appear again."

"The blood of the Tang Dynasty will not end until the blood of the Tang Dynasty is dry."

The people in the Chengdu government office were shocked.

[After the fall of Chang'an, the Anshi Rebellion would no longer be possible to end in the short term.

The originally good situation collapsed directly into an irreversible abyss.

Chang'an's sufficient population and money and food gave the rebels a big boost.

More importantly, this was the first time that the capital of the Tang Dynasty fell, which was of great significance.

The Hu soldiers plundered Chang'an, which had been prosperous for a hundred years and was supported by the world and the Silk Road.

On the other side, another important turning point of the Anshi Rebellion, the Mawei Slope Mutiny, came.

There is a rather strange point about Xuanzong's escape, that is, did Xuanzong really love Yang Guozhong so much?

After all, no matter how you look at it, An Lushan's banner was to purge the court and kill Yang Guozhong.

Since Xuanzong could ruthlessly abandon the civil and military officials to attract firepower, how could he take Yang Guozhong alone?

"Old Book of Tang" records that Xuanzong went out in a yellow and yellow color, and no one knew where he was going. He met Su and Guozhong at Yanqiu Gate.

There are two pieces of information here. First, Xuanzong just wanted to escape at that time. An Lushan came from the east, so he had to go west. It was that simple. As for where to go? No one knew where he was going.

And at Yanqiu Gate, he met Yang Guozhong and Wei Jiansu.

Yanqiu Gate is the west gate of the Forbidden Garden. He "coincidentally" met Xuanzong here in the middle of the night. It can only mean that Yang Guozhong was also very clear about his situation. He had bribed the palace people and was always watching this life-saving straw.

So it is not difficult to guess that Xuanzong entered Shu. It can only be Yang Guozhong who strongly advocated it.

The Yang family itself originated in Shuzhong. At this time, Yang Guozhong himself also served as the governor of Jiannan, and the previous two governors were also his confidants.

Therefore, it is almost possible to guess that Xuanzong should have been considering how to kill Yang Guozhong since they met.

On the other side, Prince Li Heng, who was traveling with Xuanzong, was pounding because he suddenly discovered that:

Among the three thousand imperial guards who fled with him, two thousand were his direct subordinates.

The tradition of the Li Tang royal family cannot be lost, so Li Heng immediately decided: fuck my father!

After arriving at Maweipo the next day, Li Heng sent his confidant Li Fuguo to win over the general Chen Xuanli to deal with Yang Guozhong. With Xuanzong's tacit approval, the mutiny began.

Yang Guozhong and his son were hacked to death, and Yang Yuhuan was forced to hang herself.

Killing Yang Guozhong was to punish the thief, and forcing Yang Yuhuan to death was on the one hand to convince the public, and on the other hand to make Xuanzong look good.

In Li Heng's imagination, the next step should be to force his father to abdicate.

But Chen Xuanli took the lead in expressing his loyalty to Emperor Xuanzong, disrupting Li Heng's deployment.

In fact, Chen Xuanli followed Li Longji when he was young, and was one of the main participants in the Tanglong coup launched by Princess Taiping and Li Longji.

If it weren't for Emperor Xuanzong's tacit approval, Li Heng would not have been able to command Chen Xuanli.

Father and son fighting each other seemed to be a reserved drama of the Li Tang Dynasty. Both sides were cautious and eventually had to go their separate ways.

Xuanzong went to Chengdu under the protection of Chen Xuanli, while Li Heng went westward under the escort of his personal soldiers, and finally ascended the throne in Lingwu and honored Li Longji as the emperor. 】

Silence and stillness are the main themes of Ganlu Hall now.

The Xuanwu Gate Incident, for future generations, for Zhuge Wuhou, and for Li Longji and Li Heng, is hundreds and thousands of years away.

But for them in Ganlu Hall, only four years have passed.

Others just held their breath and waited for the reaction of His Majesty to judge how to act.

And Wei Zheng's face was pale, his body was a little shaky, and sweat was dripping down his face.

Although he was in Ganlu Hall, Wei Zheng remembered his past masters more clearly than anyone else.

But his shaky body was soon supported by a pair of powerful hands.

"My dear, this mirror, I still want to use it for twenty years. I can't do it when my body is so weak."

Wei Zheng looked back and saw the emperor of the Tang Dynasty with a calm face.

Li Shimin spoke gently, and Wei Zheng's heart fell back into his stomach.

Patting Wei Zheng on the shoulder, Li Shimin's face was slightly serious, and finally he just sighed:

"The disaster will be passed on to future generations."

The tradition of the Tang Dynasty royal family, the Li family's reserved drama, and other descriptions made Li Shimin no longer have a trace of luck in his heart.

Du Ruhui comforted softly:

"Everyone, it's not too late to make up for it now."

Of course it's not too late, Li Shimin knew it in his heart, which was also the reason why he invited the princes and princesses to celebrate the New Year together a few days ago.

But as the leader of Xuanwu Gate, Li Shimin knew that there was no room for tenderness in the struggle for power.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the prince Zhi is only two years old now.

In this way, even if this "Emperor Gaozong" wants to play some tricks, he will have to wait at least ten years.

And ten years may be enough for him to find a foolproof... no, feasible method.

But on the other hand, Li Shimin also confirmed that Xuanzong seemed to be really not simple when he was young.

He participated in the coup when he was young, and the coup attempt by Princess Taiping to seize the throne failed. It can be said that he was defeated by Emperor Xuanzong.

With such a skill, why did he favor An Lushan in his later years?

Li Shimin couldn't figure it out.

In the end, he casually chanted a poem whose meaning he only understood now:

"The young emperor opened the purple pole in Chang'an, and the sun and the moon hung in the sky to illuminate the world."

"At least, Chang'an can be recovered..." Li Shimin could only comfort himself in this way.

...

"This Li Tang royal family..."

Liu Bei hesitated for a moment:

"Wu De is so abundant?"

Kong Ming remembered that when Guangmu talked about the generals of Zhenguan, he mentioned this heartache of Li Shimin.

"Killing brothers and brothers..."

Kong Ming thought very clearly.

Just like the Cao family imitated Wang Mang, and the Sima family imitated the Cao family.

His Majesty Erfeng set a precedent and forged the beginning of the prosperous era without too many criticisms.

For his descendants who are not the eldest sons, following the old deeds of the previous emperor is also a way to ascend the throne.

It's just that this road is destined to be full of blood.

Then Kong Ming thought to himself: One emperor and one coup?

After all, referring to Empress Lü, Kong Ming would never believe that the female emperor ascended the throne and abdicated without a coup.

Because he was more and more curious:

How could the Li Tang Dynasty be so strong in the early stage when there were frequent coups?

It was not easy for everyone to criticize the family affairs of the Li Tang royal family.

After all, the main person watching together might have a headache, so the attention was still focused on the Anshi Rebellion.

"Is An Lushan dying soon?"

"Then Guo Ziyi is probably embarrassed now. Who should he listen to first?"

"This Chang'an should be recovered as soon as possible?"

[Even with the recovery of Chang'an, the rebels are still at a disadvantage in terms of military strength in the world at this time.

Xuanzong retreated to Chengdu and no longer had the opportunity to do anything fancy, but before he entered Chengdu, he sent a hidden bomb to the prince... or Tang Suzong.

The day after Xuanzong ran away from Chang'an, Fang Guan, who was working as a leisurely minister in Chang'an, woke up and found that the emperor was missing.

Without thinking for too long, Fang Guan simply packed up his things, abandoned his family, and went west out of Chang'an to chase the emperor.

Finally, he caught up with Xuanzong at about the location of Jiange.

At this time, Xuanzong had already experienced the Mawei Slope Mutiny and was already discouraged, and the prime minister had died in the mutiny.

Seeing such a loyal minister, the seventy-year-old Tang Xuanzong waved his hand and said: From now on, you are the prime minister!

Yes, it is so magical.

After arriving in Chengdu, Li Longji also received a notice from his eldest son: Congratulations on your promotion to the emperor!

At this time, Xuanzong no longer had any temper. Perhaps he really thought about the survival of the Tang Dynasty. He finally decided:

Send Wei Jiansu and Fang Guan to Lingwu to fill the team for his son.

Wei Jiansu was soon dismissed by Li Heng as a sinecure, while Fang Guan, with his clever words, made the ignorant Li Heng sigh:

You are indeed my Zhuge!

Later, whenever Li Heng thought of this sigh, he probably wanted to slap himself in the face. 】