In July of the third year of Wude, the sage Li Yuan ordered the King of Qin Li Shimin to attack Wang Shichong and set up a dummy Daxingtai of Shaanxi Province in the Central Plains south of the Yellow River.
In March of the fourth year of Wude, Li Shimin cut off the grain road and successively captured the surrounding areas of Dongdu, making Luoyang an isolated city.
In May of the fourth year of Wude, Li Shimin personally led 3,000 cavalry to fight against Dou Jiande, who came for reinforcements. After a month-long confrontation, the cavalry charged into the formation and routed the enemy.
Capturing two kings in one battle created a noble image of Li Shimin as an unparalleled commander, and also made Li Jiancheng, the prince of the East Palace far away in Chang'an, restless.
From that time on, Li Jiancheng and Wang Gui, Wei Ting, Xu Shimo and other advisers began to plan Hebei... Dou Jiande had been defeated, and Li Shimin had taken charge of Shaanxi Province. It was impossible for Li Yuan to entrust Hebei Province to the Qin Palace.
It can be said that all the subsequent actions of the East Palace had a certain direction, including admitting Wei Zheng, summoning the children of the Cui family of Qinghe into the East Palace, and sending the former Duke Shi Wanbao and the Prince of Lujiang County Li Yuan to Hebei.
Even before Li Shiji's victory in Luoshui... although he had no obvious bias, he was still getting closer to Donggong.
It can be said that for a year and a half from May of the fourth year of Wude to now, the East Palace has been working hard for Hebei and Shandong, but all of this came to nothing after the third good news arrived in Beijing. .
This blow to Li Jiancheng was bigger and more serious than the first good news, which slapped him and blocked him from leading the army, and the second one, which slapped him in the face and caused his reputation to plummet.
Cheng Mingzhen was a chess piece selected by the East Palace long ago. This man had already surrendered to the Tang Dynasty in the second year of Wude, but he was never reused. He did not serve as the Yongnian County Magistrate of Luozhou until after the First World War at Hulao Pass... The county magistrates of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, their powers, powers, and The jurisdiction and level were much higher than those of the county magistrates in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
After the great victory at Luoshui, Li Shimin was urgently recalled to the capital. Cheng Minzhen was the only important general who attended the banquet of King Qi. It was also at that time that he officially entered Li Jiancheng's sight.
After Shi Wanbao "committed suicide out of shame" and Li Yuan, the king of Lujiang County, fled back to Beijing, Cheng Mingzhen became Li Jiancheng's only hope.
For Cheng Mingzhen, Li Jiancheng was almost shameless in the Liangyi Palace... and insisted on pushing him to the important position of Luozhou Governor, so that Cheng Mingzhen could appease Shandong for the East Palace after the war.
In the East Palace, Li Jiancheng sat down on the couch with an expressionless face, staring out the window with distracted eyes. Under the dim light, the snow that had stopped for two days began to fall again, and the snowflakes fluttered into the house in the whistling wind.
The moment he heard the battle report, Li Jiancheng was still a little confused, and even felt happy... Cheng Mingzhen took away such a great achievement in killing Liu Heita.
But not long after, Li Jiancheng was confused. In addition to Cheng Mingzhen, Li Daoxuan was also leading the pursuit!
One is the General Manager of Weizhou, and the other is the King of Huaiyang, the General Manager of Hebei Province Marching Army. Is there any suspense about who will be the leader?
The battle report clearly stated that Cheng Mingzhen captured Liu Heitai alive and beheaded him in the government office of Guantao County.
Capturing Liu Heita alive, what a great achievement is this?
Li Daoxuan actually allowed Cheng Mingzhen to behead him. What does this mean?
The reason why Li Jiancheng was able to win over Cheng Mingzhen was because he promised him to kill Liu Heita to avenge his mother, wife and children.
All this was in vain... If Cheng Mingzhen had not surrendered to Prince Qin's palace, would Li Daoxuan have nodded?
This is a simple logic, and Li Jiancheng can't tell Li Yuan all his difficulties... just because Li Daoxuan and Xu Cheng Mingzhen beheaded him?
Even if what you say is true, and the King of Qin avenges him, it is only logical that Cheng Mingzhen throws himself into the Prince of Qin's palace... In this era, the emperor is not the only master of every official.
Li Jiancheng's hands and feet were cold, and he thought to himself, how long can he sit in the position of prince under his butt?
It seems that he has the support of his father, the support of important ministers and prime ministers, and there are many talents in the East Palace. Except that the civil and military ratio cannot be compared with that of the Qin Palace, it is not much worse than it.
But whether a prince can sit firmly depends on too many factors...
Externally, Li Jiancheng now has little influence on the military. Internally, Li Jiancheng's reputation plummeted due to Shi Wanbao's forgery of the sage's edict, which led to the destruction of the army... Among them, the Qin Prince's Palace also put in a lot of effort to replace him. Li Jiancheng made a big publicity.
And Li Shimin...has a very high prestige both in Chang'an and outside Chang'an. His influence in the military is not even comparable to that of Li Yuan. Now in addition to Shaanxi Province, there may be a Hebei Province. .
Li Jiancheng stood up suddenly, pushed open the half-covered window, and let the cold snowflakes hit his face.
Just give up?
Since ancient times, can any deposed prince survive?
Yang Yong, the first crown prince of the previous dynasty, was deposed as a commoner. The first thing Yang Guang did after he ascended the throne was to kill Yang Yong. Most of his descendants were killed, except for a few children who were exiled to Lingnan.
A plump woman in her thirties slowly walked in and put a coat on Li Jiancheng's shoulders, "Your Highness, be careful of catching a cold."
"Guanyin..." Li Jiancheng's eyes gradually became sharp, and he patted the back of his wife's hand with his backhand, suddenly thinking of his second younger brother and sister for no reason.
One is Zheng Guanyin, and the other is Guanyin's maid.
"Report to your highness that the saint has summoned you at the Manna Hall."
The report from the palace people came from outside, and Li Jiancheng took a deep breath. The Ganlu Palace is behind the Ganlu Gate and to the north of the cross street. It is a palace that is difficult for foreign ministers to enter, which means that Pei Ji must not be present.
Second brother, do you think you will win?
Second brother, don’t think that you have no control over me!
When Li Jiancheng entered the Manna Hall uneasily, Li Shimin came up to him and said with a smile: "Brother really knows how to recognize people. Cheng Mingzhen is really talented. He made a great contribution by beheading Liu Heita..."
"Already captured alive, he wanted to kill indiscriminately. Although he had merit, he also had faults." Li Jiancheng replied indifferently, turning to look at Li Yuan, "Father, although Cheng Mingzhen killed Liu Heitao, it was the younger brother of the King of Huaiyang who led the pursuit. "
Li Yuan nodded slightly, indicating that he knew. This was clearly written in the victory report, but Cheng Mingzhen killed Liu Heita to avenge his mother, wife and children. It was a matter of course, and even he, the emperor, could not say anything wrong.
Li Yuan didn't know the details of Cheng Mingzhen's incident, but he vaguely guessed it from Li Jiancheng's change in attitude. He was a little helpless about this. Who can let you down?
"Daoxuan has made many meritorious deeds. After returning to the capital..." Li Yuan thought for a moment, "He was given the crown of Gun, a second drummer, a squad of twenty swordsmen, and two thousand catties of gold."
"Father, for such a great achievement, isn't it a little understatement?" Li Jiancheng said loudly: "And father has not yet rewarded his second brother for his contribution."
Li Shimin's face changed slightly, and Li Yuan was a little strange. He frowned and asked, "Why are you rewarded?"
Although Li Daoxuan was attached to Li Shimin, and Qi Shanxing and Tian Liuan were from the Prince of Qin's palace, this was not the reason to reward Li Shimin.
"This time Liu Heita was defeated and captured alive. Although my second brother is in the capital, he has really made great achievements." Li Jiancheng cast an unclear look at his second brother. "Tian Liuan defended Weizhou with insufficient troops. The second brother sent Shaanxi Province to the east Send troops, cross the river and go south, attack from both sides, and finally achieve a great victory in Wei County."
"Is there such a thing?" Li Yuan's expression finally changed.
Li Shimin pursed his lips tightly and calculated in his mind. It was certain that the details of the Hebei war report had entered Beijing and reached the East Palace... But the only people who sent troops from Shaanxi Province were Wang Junkuo himself, Qu Tutong, Han Liang, and Yu Zhining, who were still in Hebei. Li Daoxuan, Tian Liuan and others knew about it.
How did the eldest brother know such secrets?
If he knew it later, it would still be possible...but if he knew it so quickly, what was wrong with it?
Li Shimin's thoughts suddenly changed. He had an informant in the East Palace. Could it be that his eldest brother also had an informant in Prince Qin's Mansion?
Li Shimin, who was ambushed, was confused and a little confused, but Li Jiancheng thought for a long time and kept talking.
"Hebei Province has been in chaos for many years. Dou Jiande and Liu Heitai have caused chaos three times successively. The fields are barren and the people's livelihood is difficult. Hebei Province should be set up as a platform to control it."
"The younger brother of the King of Huaiyang advanced bravely, killed Liu Heita, and regained Hebei. He also served as the general manager of Luozhou and served as the Minister of Xingtai of Hebei Province."
There was silence in the huge Ganlu Hall. Li Shimin's cheeks were twitching. Brother, are you trying to overturn the table?
