At this moment, a voice came from outside.
"Your Majesty, Murong Lin, the envoy of Tuyuhun, is here to bring you."
"Tell him to come in!" Li Shimin said in a deep voice.
In an instant, a middle-aged man wearing strange clothes and with obvious plateau features walked into the political hall.
"Murong Lin, the envoy of Tuyuhun, meets His Majesty the Khan of Heaven."
"May your Majesty remain young forever and live a long life."
Murong Lin put his hands together and performed a unique salute to Tuyuhun.
"Get up."
Li Shimin said displeasedly,
"Murong Lin, I have something to ask you."
"You said that you came to pay tribute with the sincerity of Murong Fuyun, the leader of your country. I naturally accept this."
"But why are your Tuyuhun troops invading Liangzhou in the Tang Dynasty when you are paying tribute?"
"Is it easy to bully the Tang Dynasty?"
"Let me tell you, the grass on the grave of the last Turk who acted like this was already three meters high! Now Jieli Khan of the Turk is still dancing in Chang'an! Why, Murong Fuyun is also a good dancer and wants to come to Chang'an to dance?"
What stood out in these words was his domineering attitude, which fully demonstrated the intimidation of Tian Khan!
Murong Lin was shocked when he heard this.
"Is this...impossible?"
He looked a little scared and said,
"Your Majesty Tian Khan, maybe there is some misunderstanding here?"
"Our king respects you from the bottom of his heart. How could he do such a thing?"
"I wonder if there is a mistake? Those are not my soldiers from Tuyuhun, but some other bandits?"
Li Shimin frowned.
"What, you did something dirty and you still refuse to admit it?"
He said angrily,
"My guard will see it wrong? Even if he sees it wrong once, will he see it wrong three times?"
"Wearing the clothes of your Tuyuhun people, speaking your language, owning weapons and war horses, you call yourself a bandit? Who are you fooling!"
"Look, do I look like a fool?"
This bastard is still here pretending to be stupid!
"This...I..."
Murong Lin was speechless now and said with a troubled expression,
"Your Majesty, Tian Khan, forgive me. I really don't know about this..."
"How about this, I write a letter to ask the king about the situation, and then come to see your majesty and explain to you?"
Li Shimin snorted coldly.
"Explain? I can explain!"
Li Er tapped his finger on the table and said unhappily,
"Let him come to Chang'an in person and apologize in front of me!"
"If we can do this, I might be able to give him a chance and treat him as the lord of the vassal state."
"If you can't do it, then don't blame me for being rude! The swords of the Tang Dynasty have not been used for a long time. Maybe some people have forgotten how sharp they are!"
Murong Lin: "!!!"
He could clearly feel that when Tian Khan finished speaking these words, several people in the hall began to gear up!
Needless to say, everyone knows... he must be a general from the Tang Dynasty!
They all look forward to fighting and making meritorious deeds!
Even a country as big as the Turks was defeated by these terrifying generals, let alone their Tuyuhun.
Lord of the country, Lord of the country, isn’t there something wrong with your brain?
You are fine, why are you provoking Datang? Is your neck really itchy? !
"Yes, yes! Yes!"
Murong Lin claimed yes, nodding and bowing in a humble posture.
"Go!"
Li Shimin waved his hand and said,
"I'm waiting for him to come to Chang'an! I want to have a good talk with him!"
Murong Lin retreated in embarrassment.
All the ministers in the political hall laughed.
"Um?"
Li Shimin stroked his beard and said,
"My dear friends, why are you laughing?"
Fang Xuanling responded:
"His Majesty treats foreign envoys very domineeringly."
"If I were that Murong Lin, I would be scared to death and wouldn't even be able to sleep tonight!"
They have to use troops at every turn, and the use of troops will directly destroy their own country!
This is equivalent to your neighbor looking at you, sharpening his knife, and smiling evilly at you.
Who can withstand this?
"Humph, that's natural!"
Li Shimin said proudly,
"My kindness is always towards my own people!"
"To outsiders, they naturally have to be more domineering! What's more, these Yi Di have no literacy to begin with. They have always submitted to their fists. Whoever's fist is big enough, they will submit to!"
"If you are afraid of power but not ethical, then you will naturally have to establish prestige for them!"
When all the ministers heard this, they all praised him.
Xu Fenglei also nodded in approval.
This is the style of a king.
I don't know how much better it is than those monarchs who are "submissive to the outside world and strike hard at home" and "measure China's material resources and win the favor of friends"!
"Your Majesty, let alone this annoying Tuyuhun."
Changsun Wuji took out a piece of paper from his arms and said,
"This is this year's autumn finals list. Look, it has been reviewed three times."
"If there is no objection, let the people from the Ministry of Punishment execute him."
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and opened the list of autumn games to take a look.
Good guy, it’s so densely packed, there are three to four hundred names!
Among them, Hou Junji's name is impressively ranked first!
In fact, Hou Junji's sentence was originally "beheaded in prison", but it was never commuted to permanent imprisonment, so his name was included in the list of autumn finals every year.
But every time, Li Er would find a reason for him and give him an extension for another year.
This has been going on for two years.
Regarding this, he and Xu Fenglei had reached a tacit understanding, so Xu Fenglei didn't say anything. As long as Hou Junji was not released, he could say anything.
This time...it's time to find excuses for Hou Junji again.
"So many death row prisoners?"
Li Shimin frowned and said,
"Are there so many people committing crimes in our Tang Dynasty?"
"What crimes have these people committed? Murder and arson?"
Tang Law was originally relatively strict, but since the "Zhenguan Law" was changed, it has become much more relaxed, and the number of death row prisoners has naturally been greatly reduced.
But even so, there are still a large number of people in Qiujue every year!
"Your Majesty, yes, they are all serious crimes."
Fang Xuanling said,
"It's not murder, arson, rape, robbery, some people's behavior is even worse than the enemy!"
"Of course, most of them are vendettas and love killings."
"Killing people must pay for their lives, and debts must be repaid for their money. This is a matter of course. If they kill someone, they must pay for their lives."
Li Shimin looked at the list again and again and nodded.
"You're right, you deserve your life if you kill someone."
Li Er held his forehead and said,
"However, I was thinking...the death row prisoners are also human beings. Can we give them a chance to reform?"
"If they can be taught a new life under the guidance of the imperial court...can it become a good story?"
Changsun Wuji was slightly startled.
"...That's right."
He said,
"If they are given a chance and they can really change their ways, it will definitely be the political achievement of the imperial court and the achievement of His Majesty's enlightenment."
"But it's difficult... Just like animals become aggressive after eating blood, it's difficult for death row criminals to change their ways. Maybe one day they will have the idea of killing again and be violent again. Starting to kill people..."
Li Shimin shook his head.
"How will you know if you don't try? I am very interested in educating the prisoners on death row."
He stood up and said,
"When I was at war, many of you were not my subordinates. Not only were you not subordinates, you even stood on the opposite side of me, causing me great trouble! How many tens of thousands of soldiers and generals were lost?"
"But I won the war, but I didn't kill you. Instead, I reused you."
"After you turned from darkness to light, weren't you extremely loyal to me and devoted all your efforts to me?"
"It can be seen from this - people can be reformed! If you have nothing to do recently, let's go to the prison! If any of you have free time, come with me to teach!"
After that, Li Shimin stood up and walked towards the Punishment Department with great interest.
The remaining ministers all looked at each other in shock.
"This...what kind of style does Your Majesty have?"
"Who knows... I'm not going to educate the prisoners on death row anyway? I might as well educate a few more children. At least they can be molded."
"Just... let's go, let's go do some work after the meeting..."
The ministers whispered and left one after another.
The generals Li Jing and Li Ji had no fight, so naturally they were in low spirits, so they met for a drink together:
"Pharmacist, come to my house later. The sand table in my house is quite big."
"Oh? Have you piled Tuyuhun?"
"Of course there are a lot of them! Mainly the border of our Datang Dynasty! Are you interested in joining me in the deduction?"
"Ha! That's what I meant, let's go, let's go..."
"..."
The two generals were arm in arm.
There are no actual battles to fight, so just deduce and play games!
Xu Fenglei also wanted to get up and leave the table, but was stopped by Changsun Wuji.
"Master, are you really silent now and practicing silent meditation?"
Changsun Wuji asked with a smile,
Xu Fenglei shrugged.
"I think your wisdom is enough and you don't need any more advice from me."
He said casually,
"Besides, it takes a lot of brainpower to come up with an idea, and if it is adopted, you still have to implement it. How tiring is this?"
"It's better to fish for fun, and one day has passed. I plan to hang around like this for another ten years, then retire and return to my hometown to retire in Moyu Mountain... It just so happens that my fiefdom is also there."
Li Er is still considerate in this regard.
Fiefdoms are food fiefs, and the ministers' own choices are basically respected, and they can live wherever they want.
Of course he would choose Moyushan, his hometown!
Changsun Wuji: "..."
"If I remember correctly, you are only in your early thirties, right? Even if it takes another ten years, you will still be in your forties, which is the time when you are in the prime of life!"
He couldn't help but said,
"It would be outrageous to retire at that time!"
In these thousands of years, I have never seen anyone retire and return to his hometown in his forties, and his beard has not even turned white yet!
You have to be over sixty no matter what!
"Then I don't care. Anyway, the prince and the others have grown up, and their teachings are almost done. My mission has been completed."
Xu Fenglei raised his hand and said,
"gone!"
Having said that, he was about to leave.
"Hey, Grand Master, why don't you go to Tianlao to have a look?"
Changsun Wuji pointed to the door and said.
"Why do you want to go see it?" Xu Fenglei was a little surprised.
Doesn’t this increase the workload for yourself?
"Why do you think His Majesty is so interested in going to the Heavenly Prison?"
Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and lowered his voice and said,
"The first one on the list for the Autumn Finals is Hou Junji!"
"He misses an old relationship and wants to visit him! Can you rest assured if you... don't go with me?"
Xu Fenglei was startled.
Good on you Li Er! He also said that he wanted to educate the condemned prisoners, but it turned out that he had such a hidden purpose!
It is false to educate death row inmates, but it is true to visit Hou Junji!
However, he didn't care.
"Just go. If I can stop him for a while, can I stop him for a lifetime?"
Xu Fenglei spread his hands and said,
"At that time, it will arouse his rebellious spirit even more..."
"Go ahead, go ahead. My bottom line is there. As long as Hou Junji is not released, I don't care about anything else."
In fact, what Li Er did was really annoying.
His character of nostalgic and never forgetting old feelings is a good thing for all heroes.
If something really happened in the future, at least the emperor would remember his old love and let him go.
If someone is mean and ungrateful, killing them will only chill people's hearts.
Hou Junji's condition... is that life imprisonment is the best.
"What if Hou Junji moved his Majesty with a burst of snot and tears, and Your Majesty wants to release him?"
Changsun Wuji followed and said,
"It's not that you don't know that our Majesty is the most soft-hearted master."
"When it comes to using troops today, I guess he is thinking of Hou Junji who fought bloody battles for him. After all, that guy's contribution is still very great."
I have to admit that Hou Jun put in a lot of effort when he launched the Xuanwu Gate Revolution!
During this period, he was also fighting in the north and south. He had followed Li Shimin early, and his seniority was also high!
Xu Fenglei curled his lips.
"Then keep an eye on it for me. If he really wants to be released, help me stop him."
He hummed softly,
"When the time comes, the worst we can do is have another quarrel with the emperor!"
"That's the truth. No matter what, whether it's one year or ten years, I'm the one who makes sense!"
After saying that, Xu Fenglei turned around and left.
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling were left looking at each other in confusion.
"Then let's... follow?"
Fang Xuanling said,
"The Grand Master is right. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to stick to it."
"Let's help keep an eye on it. As long as we don't release Hou Junji, we can say anything. I'm afraid that His Majesty will be confused for a moment, and then Master Etai's temper will inevitably cause a big fuss."
Changsun Wuji nodded with deep understanding.
"That's right, let's go!"
He said helplessly,
"Your Majesty has been too busy recently. He has nothing to do and wants to go to prison to educate the condemned prisoners!"
"Isn't he too busy? With this time, I hope he can give birth to more princes and princesses..."
When Fang Xuanling heard this, he immediately laughed.
"Isn't that something you do only at night? Our Majesty is not Yang Guang, and he can't do ridiculous things like prostitution in the daytime!"
"Hahaha……"
The two chatted without fear of anyone hearing them.
This means that Li Shimin is tolerant, and his control over public opinion is extremely loose. If he were a sensitive emperor from another dynasty, he would be able to chop off his head directly with just these few sentences of the emperor's words!
…
(End of chapter)
