Chapter 3847 Cold-blooded Cruelty
There was silence in the house. It was stormy outside the window. Big raindrops pattered on the window, making it noisy. The wind leaked in through the cracks in the window and the candlelight flickered on and off.
After a long time, Changsun Wuji sighed and said slowly: "Although I don't know the truth, my guess is not far off even if it is not correct. We can be His Majesty's 'sword', but we cannot be used by His Majesty. Destroy immediately , so we must go all out to conquer Taiji Palace this time. As long as the East Palace is destroyed, the prince is dead, and all the nobles and private armies are destroyed, Li Ji may not be willing to kill Guan Long. This is Guan Long's only chance."
Everyone nodded, agreeing with this speculation.
Although Li Ji holds His Majesty's imperial edict, he must have a mission against Guan Long. However, as long as the clan's private army is destroyed, Guan Long will not be able to cause trouble, and there will be no hindrance to Li Ji's control of government affairs and monopoly of power. Moreover, once Guan Long is completely purged from the court, Shandong aristocratic families and Jiangnan gentry will inevitably swarm in to fill the gap left by Guan Long and seize the benefits that Guan Long spits out. Without Guan Long's clan in the middle, Shandong will The aristocratic family and the Jiangnan nobles are facing each other, and there will definitely be another battle in the court, and the court situation will never be peaceful.
Now that the war has been going on for nearly half a year, half of the city of Chang'an was destroyed by the war, and Guanzhong is a white land with refugees everywhere. Restoring production and rebuilding the city after the war is an extremely arduous and long process. Since Li Ji has sole power, he is bound to make a difference in it. How can he allow the internal fighting among the parties to consume the last bit of vitality of the empire, and the road to reconstruction is far away?
Therefore, Li Ji is very likely to stop here and leave the Guanlongmen clan, which has wiped out all the private armies, as a tool to ease the direct conflict between the Shandong aristocratic families and the Jiangnan gentry.
This is Guanlongmen's only chance to survive.
However, Yu Wenshiji suddenly frowned and looked for a flaw: "This guess is generally reasonable, but there is a flaw in it. With your Majesty's wisdom, how can you not know Fang Jun's loyalty to the prince? As long as Youtun Wei is here , even if we attack Taiji Palace, the prince can withdraw from Xuanwu Gate, and Fang Jun will lead the Youtun Guards to retreat to the counties in Hexi to regroup and wait for a comeback. One day, it will be the time when the empire splits, because neither we nor Li Ji must establish another prince to declare and declare the orthodoxy to the world... By then, there will be two princes in Guanzhong and Hexi, one inside and one outside. Emperor. In this way, a long-lasting civil war will last for unknown years... His Majesty has devoted his life to the prosperity of Zhenguan, how can he be willing to bury it with his own hands?"
If there is really a posthumous edict, the purpose of His Majesty Li Er ordering Li Ji to act like this is to have Guan Long overthrow the East Palace, and then let Li Ji clean up the mess, so that Yi Chu's matter can be justified and no future troubles will be left. But once the prince was escorted out of Guanzhong by Fang Jun, the pattern of the civil war was doomed, and it was impossible for anyone to reverse it.
How could your Majesty make such an arrangement?
Changsun Wuji looked at Yuwen Shiji and said in a faint tone: "You forgot one thing. The prince is not in Youtun Guard."
Yu Wenshiji was puzzled: "But outside the Neizhong Gate is the Xuanwu Gate. As soon as you exit the Xuanwu Gate, you will immediately join the Youtun Guards. Even if we capture the Taiji Palace, we will not be able to prevent the prince from withdrawing from the Xuanwu Gate... Are you talking about the Xuanwu Gate?" Door? ”
At this point, he realized what Changsun Wuji meant and couldn't hide his exclamation.
A thunder exploded outside the window, shaking the roof beams and extinguishing candles. Yu Wenshiji's words shocked the other two people to their feet.
Linghu Defen exclaimed: "Another Xuanwu Gate Incident?"
In the ninth year of Wude, His Majesty Li Er, who was oppressed and had no choice but to set an ambush at Xuanwu Gate, killed the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and the King of Qi Li Yuanji who came to the palace for an audience. Since then, he has usurped the throne and ruled the world. .
Now, he wants to leave a legacy after his death and assassinate his eldest son under the Xuanwu Sect, thereby achieving his goal of destroying the private army of the clan and establishing a new king for Yi Chu?
Changsun Wuji nodded slowly, put the already lukewarm teacup on the table, and said: "Zhang Shigui, the Duke of Guo State, is your Majesty's true confidant. Otherwise, how could the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty be entrusted with the important task of banning Su Wei Palace?" To him? You know, Zhang Shigui The "Beiya Forbidden Army" in charge was originally part of His Majesty's personal "Xuanjia Iron Cavalry". If Zhang Shigui entrusts his life and property to...the important task of cutting off the Xuanwu Sect, how can it not be carried out by Zhang Shigui?"
A chill arose in the hearts of Yu Wenshi and the other three people.
It is almost conceivable that when the Guanlong army defeated the Sixth Army of the East Palace and invaded and occupied the entire Taiji Palace, the prince saw that the situation was over and had to withdraw from the Xuanwu Gate to the outside of the palace. He reunited with Fang Jun, whom he trusted most, and tried to retreat all the way west to Hexi. Counties Stabilize the position and regroup... Unexpectedly, the Xuanwu Gate has been tightly blocked by Zhang Shigui. Faced with the dead situation of driving away the tiger through the front door and entering the wolf through the back door, the prince could only drink his anger on the spot... And all of this was caused by his... Planned by my beloved father.
Linghu Defen shook his head, a little unbelievable: "This inference is indeed reasonable, and His Majesty is indeed one of those heroes who will use any means before achieving his goals... But don't forget, no matter how unbearable the prince is, he is still your Majesty's eldest son , In the past, Yi Chu's heart has been raised many times, and each time he gave up because he was worried that the prince would not die well after Yi Chu. Now that his majesty has passed away, how can he leave such a vicious plan on his deathbed to completely cut off the prince's hope of survival?"
Your Majesty is indeed cruel to your brothers and father. He pursues the principle of "eliminating the root cause and never causing future troubles." Back then, the East Palace and Prince Qi's Mansion killed many people, even the children who were waiting to be fed. But over the years, Your Majesty has treated all of you. The prince's love and care was exemplary.
How could such a loving father treat his eldest son so viciously?
Changsun Wuji asked in return: "Do you think in His Majesty's heart, which son is more important, or is the Li and Tang dynasty more important forever?"
Linghu Defen was speechless.
Not just His Majesty Li Er? No matter who you are, your temperament will change drastically once you ascend to the throne of God. This is determined by the supreme power and your position, and few people can escape.
How can a mere eldest son compare with the continuation of the Li Tang Dynasty?
Even not just the eldest son, as long as there is one son left in the end, even if there is only one left, the rest can be abandoned under the threat of the empire's inheritance.
If the prince is not dead, how can he tell the world to crusade against the powerful private armies?
Another point is that if the prince does not die, it will inevitably create a situation of two princes, one inside and one outside, or even two emperors. At that time, all forces in the world will take sides, and a massive and protracted civil war will be inevitable. That is His Majesty Li Er The last thing you want to see.
Therefore, as long as the prince dies, everything will return to His Majesty Li Er's plan...
Everyone was silent again, despite the loud sound of wind and rain outside the window, but they did not want to speak for a long time.
Eighteen years ago, they experienced brotherly feud and fratricide together. Now, they will experience another father-son antagonism and flesh-and-blood massacre...
The most ruthless emperor's family.
Changsun Wuji glanced across the faces of the three of them one by one, and asked in a deep voice: "Now, do you still question my decision to use all my strength to attack Tai Chi Palace?"
Everyone was silent and said nothing.
There is no doubt that this is the most correct and only way to survive at present.
If peace talks are reached with the East Palace and the mutiny is eliminated, I am afraid that tomorrow Li Ji will command the army from Tongguan and attack Chang'an. He will be the first to attack the Guanlong clan, and the crime will be "raising troops and plotting rebellion and causing chaos in the country." ", all the relevant Longmen clan will be implicated. All the adult men in the clan will be ostracized, the young ones will be sent away for three thousand miles, and the female family members will be sent to the Jiaofangsi. This is the most merciful punishment...
At that time, Zhang Shigui would even urge his "Beiya Forbidden Army" to enter the inner gate, kill the prince, and then put the blame on the Longmen clan.
The Guanlong crime will be increased by one level.
The prince died, Guanlong was destroyed, and all the sects and private armies outside the pass perished in the middle of the pass. The power of the sects in various places dropped sharply, and they could no longer intimidate the local areas and run rampant in the countryside as before. After the new king succeeded to the throne and implemented the imperial examination for twenty or thirty years, a large number of students from poor families entered the court, further disintegrating the political foundation of the wealthy families, and finally reached the point where the powerful families and the poor families ruled the world together, complementing each other and checking and balancing each other...
Yu Wenshiji let out a long sigh, feeling both shocked and admired, and sighed: "As expected of Your Majesty, you have absolutely no plans...I'm afraid that when we raised our troops to start an attack, Your Majesty had already calculated all the possibilities, so before he died, He left a legacy and became a hero in the world."
Changsun Wuji raised his head and looked out the window with deep eyes. (End of chapter)