Yang Guang conquered Goguryeo three times, and Liu Hongji saw that he was bound to fail. In order to avoid conquering Goguryeo, he deliberately slaughtered farm cattle privately and was imprisoned. Later, he defected to Taiyuan, followed Li Yuan and his son, and had a very good relationship with Li Shimin.
Liu Hongji made great contributions to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty and was awarded the title of General You Xiaowei for his merits.
After the Xuanwumen Revolution, he was awarded the title of Wei Qing and was granted the title of Duke of Kui.
King Li Xiaochang of Nghe An, Sun Anye, the prison general, and others were executed for conspiring to rebel. Liu Hongji had a relationship with Li Xiaochang and was also implicated, and was dismissed from office.
It was not activated until the third year of Zhenguan reign. However, because of the previous events, Liu Hongji was disheartened and had no desire for power, so he was not very famous.
Huang Si Cheng came to the Liu Mansion and met Liu Hongji after being notified.
"I have seen you, sir." Huang Sicheng bowed and saluted.
Liu Hongji asked: "You are coming here at this time. Could it be that something happened to Honglu Temple?"
"Replying to your lord, Jin Chunqiu, the envoy of Silla Kingdom, said that envoy Fusang has summoned envoys from various countries to prepare for a joint meeting to put pressure on His Majesty tomorrow." Huang Sicheng said.
"What?" Liu Hongji asked in shock, "Are you telling the truth?"
Although Liu Hongji has no intention of being powerful, it does not mean that he wants to be accused.
If Li Shimin was caught off guard tomorrow by envoys from all over the world, he, as the Minister of Honglu Temple, would definitely bear the greatest responsibility.
"Sir, this is what Jin Chunqiu, the envoy of Silla, said personally. After checking it, the envoys from various countries did stay in the courtyard of the Fuso Mission for half an hour because they sent away all the people we arranged to serve. We will discuss it in detail.
I don’t know what it is.” Huang Sicheng said.
He was not stupid and could not believe Jin Chunqiu's words alone. He also made a special investigation before coming to see Liu Hongji.
Liu Hongji knew the seriousness of the problem and said: "Now go and take Silla's envoy to the palace gate. I will go change clothes. We will meet at the palace gate to meet His Majesty."
"Yes, I'll go immediately," Huang Sicheng said.
Liu Hongji ordered the housekeeper to prepare a carriage, went into the house, changed his clothes, got into the carriage, and hurried to the palace.
Honglu Temple is slightly closer to the palace than Liu Hongji's family is to the palace.
Therefore, Liu Hongji did not wait long before Huang Sicheng came over with Jin Chunqiu.
When Jin Chunqiu first came to Chang'an, Liu Hongji hosted a banquet for him. Naturally, he knew Liu Hongji, and he quickly saluted: "I have met Mr. Liu."
Liu Hongji said with a smile: "Envoy Jin understands the righteousness and does not attempt to destroy the peace between the two countries like those people. Your Majesty must be very pleased to know that."
Jin Chunqiu was overjoyed, and he naturally understood what Liu Hongji meant, which was to help him speak well in front of Li Shimin.
After reporting, Liu Hongji took the two of them to the Manlu Hall.
"My lord, please see your majesty."
"The envoy of Silla Kingdom, Jin Chunqiu, meets His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!"
"No gift."
Li Shimin gave Liu Hongji a strange look. Tomorrow is the meeting of the imperial court, and he didn't understand why he brought the Silla envoy here now.
Liu Hongji told Jin Benyang about summoning envoys from various countries to unite to put pressure on Datang.
"boom!"
Li Shimin shouted: "I don't know how to live or die. If you really think they are envoys, why don't I dare to kill them?"
"Your Majesty, calm down!" Liu Hongji secretly signaled to Li Shimin that there was an envoy from Silla here.
Li Shimin's sudden burst of momentum made Jin Chunqiu feel very depressed.
Jin Chunqiu was very glad that he told Li Shimin about it.
He often met with the Queen of Silla, and when he was on an envoy to Goguryeo and Fusang, he was also received by their kings.
Jin Chunqiu had never felt such a terrifying aura from anyone else.
Li Shimin took a deep breath, calmed down, and asked: "Tell me, what do they want to do?"
"Your Majesty, I listened to what was said by the Silla envoy, so I may have made some omissions. I'd better let the Silla envoy tell Your Majesty," Liu Hongji said.
Li Shimin nodded, looked at Jin Chunqiu, and said, "I would like to trouble the Silla envoy to describe in detail what happened at that time."
Jin Chunqiu glanced at Liu Hongji gratefully and said respectfully: "At that time, the foreign minister was counting the tributes. Fusang Deputy Envoy Bai Gangshun personally came to invite the foreign minister..."
Jin Chunqiu had a good memory. He not only told Li Shimin what each person said and which country they were from, but also described their expressions at the time.
After hearing this, Li Shimin pondered for a while and asked, "What is the identity of Yeon Gae So-moon?"
If it weren't for Yeon Gaesumun, even if Tsumotoyo formed an alliance, there would be no threat.
It was because of Yeon Gaesoo's few words that those people became greedy and agreed.
"Your Majesty, Yeon Gaesumun is the eldest son of Goguryeo Molizhi." Jin Chunqiu looked like a courtier of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Shimin has always been thinking about launching troops against Goguryeo. He naturally knows how powerful Goguryeo Molizhi is in Goguryeo.
"You have made a great contribution this time, and I will reward you afterwards. You can go down first." Li Shimin said.
"I resign!"
"The foreign minister resigns!"
"Hongji stays." Li Shimin said.
After Huang Sicheng and Jin Chunqiu exited, Li Shimin asked: "What do you think of this matter?"
"Your Majesty, there are too many countries involved in this matter, and I can't think of a solution at the moment." Liu Hongji said.
How dare Liu Hongji make any suggestions? It would be fine if nothing happened, but if something happened, he would be in big trouble.
Li Shimin rubbed his head and said: "Li Mu, summon Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Li Jing...Lin Xuan to come to discuss matters."
Li Shimin highlighted a series of names, thought about it, and finally added Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan has always been quick-witted, and in this situation, there may be a way.
…
Lin Xuan slept until noon and then got up. It wasn't that he couldn't fall asleep, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
Just after eating, someone from the palace summoned him to the palace.
There were too many people to call, so it was naturally impossible for Li Mu to come in person.
The eunuch Lin Xuan didn't know him, and he couldn't find out anything after asking him. He just asked him to enter the palace as soon as possible.
Lin Xuan didn't waste any time, changed his clothes, and followed the young eunuch to the palace.
Arriving at the palace gate, Lin Xuan met Cheng Yaojin and Wei Zheng, which gave Lin Xuan a bad feeling.
During the Chinese New Year, you were so anxious to summon them, including civil servants and military generals. Could it be that there was an emergency at the border?
Cheng Yaojin and the others also realized this, and the three of them hurriedly entered the palace without saying much.
Along the way, Lin Xuan saw that Wei Zheng looked solemn, while Cheng Yaojin was a little excited.
When the three of them arrived at the Manna Hall, the eunuch at the door asked them to go in directly without even having to report.
When he walked into the main hall, he saw that Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and a dozen other ministers had already arrived.
The three of them saluted Li Shimin, and Li Shimin waved his hand and asked them to sit down without saying anything else.
Obviously, there are still people who haven't arrived yet.
After waiting for a while, some more people came intermittently.
Lin Xuan counted roughly thirty or forty people.
They are all important ministers of the court, most of them are princes of the state, and the worst are also princes of the county.
No, there is also myself, the Marquis.
No matter how you look at it, he has the lowest status. Lin Xuan doesn't understand why Li Shimin asked him to come?
"Everyone is here, Hongji, please tell them what happened." Li Shimin said.
Liu Hongji stood up and spoke once more about uniting the envoys from various countries and preparing to put pressure on Datang.
After listening, some of the people present looked solemn, some looked excited, and some were very calm.
"You already know the matter, tell me your opinion." Li Shimin said.