In late March of the second year of Wude, King Li Shuliang of Changping failed to attack Zhu Can and was trapped in Nanyang City. The King of Lujiang was defeated and retreated to Wuguan.
When the news came back to Chang'an, Li Yuan was furious and summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures.
Wude Hall.
The six prime ministers of the Political Affairs Hall, Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Dou Wei, and Dou Kang, were the first to arrive. Then the prince hurried over, and finally the emperor Li Yuan.
"Meet Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, no courtesy." Li Yuan waved his hand and sat down.
When Li Jiancheng raised his head, he discovered that Li Yuan had a cloth wrapped on his forehead.
"Father, are you not feeling well?" he asked with concern.
Li Yuan was a bit indifferent to him and hummed: "I want to take good care of my health, but there are always things that make it difficult for me to sleep and eat well. Someone told me that the King of Lujiang can be of great use, but now? Ah!"
Li Jiancheng immediately felt aggrieved. He knew that his father was talking about the war in Shangzhou. But at the beginning, he told Li Yuan that Li Yuan was only leading the army to support, and the commanding power belonged to Li Shuliang. Besides, he was against Li Shuliang's initiative to attack Zhu Can.
Now that things are messed up, you can't take your anger out on him.
Liu Wenjing said: "Your Majesty, now that King Changping is trapped in Nanyang, the imperial court must send troops to rescue King Changping."
This is a nutritious nonsense. If you don’t save King Changping, how can you watch him being roasted and eaten by Zhu Can?
Pei Ji said coldly: "When Prime Minister Liu suggested that Li Yuan lead an army to support King Changping, I opposed it. Although Li Yuan is a member of the clan, he has never led an army or won a battle before, so how can he serve as the commander of an army?
Responsibility? Sure enough, now King Changping is trapped in Nanyang because of Li Yuan, and his life and death are in danger."
Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing, the enemies, have been quarreling with each other in the political hall for a long time. Others have long been used to it.
Even Liu Wenjing was not surprised that Pei Ji attacked him at this time, but he still felt angry.
"His Majesty also agreed with King Lujiang to lead the army at the beginning, but now, Prime Minister Pei has passed the responsibility to me alone. It is really ridiculous!"
In his heart, he hated Li Yuan, a loser. He finally fought for the opportunity, but ended up being like this by Li Yuan, making it impossible for him to step down.
"You mean, this is all His Majesty's fault?" Pei Ji asked back.
Liu Wenjing is a smart person, so she naturally knew that Pei Ji was digging a hole for him, so he immediately retorted: "When did I say that!"
"Every wrong has its owner, and every debt has its owner. Someone must be at fault. Is it possible that King Lujiang led his army to Shangzhou without the consent and support of the court?" Pei Ji refused to give up.
Liu Wenjing gritted her teeth and said: "Prime Minister Pei also agreed with King Lujiang to lead the army in the expedition."
"That's because some people praised King Lujiang so much that they confused His Majesty!" Pei Ji's mouth was very venomous.
"That's enough!" Li Jiancheng interrupted and said: "Shangzhou was defeated, and I will have my own thoughts afterwards. Now we should think about how to rescue the emperor's uncle."
"Ahem." Li Yuan coughed and reminded Li Jiancheng that this is the Wude Palace, not your East Palace. The only one who can speak loudly here is the emperor.
Li Jiancheng lowered his posture and said softly: "Father, please forgive me. I am just worried about the safety of my uncle."
Li Yuan sighed: "My dear friends, do you have any countermeasures?"
Dou Wei and Dou Kang were silent, and Xiao Yu was also silent. Li Yuan did not consult with them when he sent troops to Shangzhou, so naturally they would not speak now.
As for Chen Shuda, he will not help the prince and Liu Wenjing.
Of the six phases, four are silent, and only Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing are left. But what is the use of these two talking, they are just attacking each other.
Seeing this situation, Li Yuan was angry, and Li Jiancheng was also angry.
"Is there no one in our Tang Dynasty? How can we do anything with a small Zhu Can?" Li Yuan scolded angrily.
It’s not that there is no one, it’s that you don’t treat people as human beings. Dou Kang sneered silently in his heart. He didn’t tell them at that time, but now if something goes wrong, he needs someone to find a solution.
Does this prime minister specialize in cleaning up your excrement?
Pei Ji appropriately said: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Liu once followed the King of Qin to defeat Xue Ju, and he must be proficient in battle formations. I recommend Prime Minister Liu to lead troops to support Shangzhou, and he will definitely defeat Zhu Can."
What a poisonous heart!
Liu Wenjing wished she could stab this bastard Pei Ji to death. He scolded people and refused to expose his shortcomings. This bitch was dedicated to exposing his shortcomings.
"Your Majesty, I have few talents and little knowledge, and I am not capable of taking on big responsibilities." Liu Wenjing hurriedly declined, fearing that Li Yuanzhen would send him to Shangzhou.
The last time we conquered Xue Ju, he was tricked once and almost lost his position. This time, even if we beat him to death, we wouldn't go out and mess around.
The most valuable thing about a person is self-awareness. Liu Wenjing knew that she was not good at fighting.
Pei Ji said sadly: "Xiang Liu himself didn't dare to go. How could he have the courage to recommend King Lujiang to support Shangzhou? Could it be that you are blind and deceive the king?"
"Pei Ji!" Liu Wenjing suddenly broke her guard, "You are talking nonsense!"
"Discourteous!" Pei Ji shouted angrily.
Calling people by their first names was a very rude behavior in ancient times.
"That's enough!" Li Yuan slapped the case and yelled, "Noisy, noisy, noisy, noisy, noisy, noisy, noisy, how can King Changping get out of trouble if you argue here! Shut up!"
Wude Hall was quiet.
Li Yuan was tired.
As Li Yuan's caring little cotton-padded jacket, Pei Ji knew that Li Yuan didn't like to see him continue to quarrel with Liu Wenjing at this time, so he said seriously: "Your Majesty, I think we should send troops to Nanyang immediately to rescue King Changping first, and then defend Wuguan
."
"Humph, who doesn't know what to do?" Liu Wenjing was obviously not as good as Pei Ji in trying to figure out the Holy Will.
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yuan's face darkened and he asked, "What do you think Mr. Liu has to say?"
Liu Wenjing said: "The reason for the defeat of Shangzhou was that King Changping failed to assess the situation and forcibly attacked Zhu Can. I thought that I should send troops to Shangzhou to support King Lujiang and let King Lujiang make meritorious service. Not only should I rescue King Changping, but also
We must defeat Zhu Can!"
Li Jiancheng was slightly moved. At this time, Liu Wenjing was the only one who was still thinking about helping him save Li Yuan.
However, Li Yuan's face turned even more ugly.
"You said it was all the responsibility of King Changping?" Li Yuan threw the letter of help from King Changping in front of Liu Wenjing, "See for yourself, King Changping first captured Nanyang, and then asked Li Yuan to cooperate with him to attack Zhu Can, but Li
Yuan was defeated! Whose responsibility do you think this is?"
At first, the prince asked him to stop King Changping from attacking Zhu Can, saying that King Changping's choice was wrong. Now Liu Wenjing also said that King Changping was wrong.
However, King Changping was the general he personally ordered.
King Changping was wrong. Could it be that he, the emperor, did not know people well?
There is nothing visible!
Liu Wenjing lowered his head, and the memorials on the floor were in a mess, reflecting his mood at the moment. He couldn't understand why the emperor wanted to protect King Changping so much.
Just because he is a member of the clan?
Liu Wenjing couldn't understand it, but outsiders could see it clearly.
Dou Wei could tell at a glance that Li Yuan did not want to admit King Changping's failure, because once he admitted it, it would mean that he, the emperor, would not choose people.
At this time, Chen Shuda said: "Your Majesty, it is right for King Changping to attack Nanyang. When he attacked Xue Ju, King Changping also won like this. I believe that the reason for this defeat is that King Lujiang failed to cooperate with King Changping."
Listening to these words, Lao Li felt less upset.
"There are still people who understand."
He snorted and looked at Li Jiancheng, "This is the talent you recommended, and now he is like this!"
Li Jiancheng pursed his lips. He now roughly understood what his father meant. Li Shuliang defeated Nanyang and wanted to find a scapegoat. There had to be two scapegoats, one was an outside general and the other was the prime minister of the political affairs hall.
In this way, the emperor could explain to his courtiers.
Thinking of this, he also understood why his father was angry when he initially advised his father to stop King Changping from attacking Zhu Can.
Not allowing him to intervene in the army is only one of them. More importantly, if King Changping fails, it will be the failure of his father.
"Father, my son and I know people poorly, which has brought losses to the Tang Dynasty and put the emperor's uncle in deep danger. I know that I was wrong." Li Jiancheng paid his respects.
Seeing Li Jiancheng admit his mistake, Li Yuan's expression suddenly softened a lot.
"That's all, you are also promoting virtues for the country, so I can't blame you. However, you have to give an explanation to the courtiers about this matter."
Li Jiancheng bowed his head and agreed. After all, he was not asked to take the blame.