Li Yuan hurriedly stood up, raised his hands towards Jinling City and said loudly: "I am ashamed! The emperor's kindness is so great that I have nothing to repay. I can only die to repay His Majesty's grace!"
"Haha." Li Hongji said with a hidden smile: "The emperor's kindness is so great? In my opinion, you don't need to be grateful for the emperor's kindness. Do you think my father really trusts you?"
Li Yuan paused, but still remained calm and said: "How can I allow you to speculate on His Majesty's holy will? I am always grateful for Your Majesty's kindness..."
Li Hongji snorted and said: "There are no outsiders here, why do you need to act like this in front of me? If you are really grateful to your father, I suggest you go to the imperial court, take the initiative to release your military power and return to Aurous Hill, and become a soldier at any time." The general waiting to be summoned has got it, haha...
Li Yuan, I am really disappointed by all your actions over the past year. Li Yuan, I believed in you very much before. Back in Qingliang Temple, I personally said that I will treat you as a guest in the future, because your old father-in-law treats me with sincerity and is loyal to me. I believe in him. vision.
But now I have to doubt his ability to recommend people, because I find that I can't see through you more and more. Can you tell me that you are really willing to help me? Can I trust you? "
Li Hongji turned around and looked at Li Yuan with lightning eyes.
Li Yuan frowned, raised his hands and asked, "Your Highness, I don't know what I did to arouse His Highness' suspicion. I have always been cautious in my words and deeds, and I have never done anything detrimental to Your Highness."
"You didn't answer my question." Li Hongji said coldly: "It is true that the king of Japan did not make an agreement with you in the past, and you have been my king's person since then. But, don't you know your father-in-law's position? Or, Although you and he are one family, we are not of the same mind."
Li Yuan responded calmly: "My father-in-law supports your highness, and I have received great favor from my father-in-law, so I naturally lean towards your highness. Your highness still remembers that it was me who suggested that your highness be wary of King Zheng——"
"Yes." Li Hongji interrupted directly: "If you say that, I am a little speechless. That's right, you suggested that I test Lao Liu Tao Hui's heart, and the result was exactly as you said. Yan, since then I have secretly admired your vision. It is a pity that I acted carelessly at that time, but Lao Liu seized the opportunity and took the position, and suffered backlash.
After that incident, you went with the army to the west, and then even established a festival in the Chu land, thousands of miles away from me. Since then, you have lost contact with me, but I once naively thought that , you built the Jie Commander to be my king’s outside arm, so I let you go.
However, when I led the army to the Northern Expedition, I specifically asked Zhou Liu to stay on guard, and asked him to try to inform you that he wanted you to lead the army north to help. However, you agreed, but you refused on the grounds that there was an urgent need to expand the army. When your father refuted Zhou Liu guard's report, Just go and do your own thing. "
Li Yuan said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, at that time when Wuping was first established, many of the elite soldiers of the Holy Guard Army under my command were taken away by Minister Chen. In addition, they were all Langzhou soldiers who had not yet decided their hearts and minds after surrendering. The Chu region was surrounded by strong enemies. Then The minister is indeed in a dangerous situation and his troops are weak. If he is not well prepared and Tang raises his army to go north, not only will he not be able to help His Highness with his weak brigade, but he will also be more likely to lose his territory...
Besides, since Your Majesty has made it clear that I am not allowed to lead the army northward, and I have ordered you to concentrate on controlling Dongxi, should I resist the decree? "
In fact, Li Hongji had long understood that even if he criticized Li Yuan face to face, Li Yuan would definitely have a very legitimate reason to defend himself, but he still shook his head with resentment and said: "It is true that father's will cannot be violated, but you You are really obedient! A decree made you abide by it for a long time, until my entire army was wiped out! The battlefield is changing rapidly, and you need to know that the envoys of a town have the right to act independently during wars. Do you know the pain that my king felt when he returned in a hurry after being defeated? What a torture! What a shame!
Li Yuan, after returning to the court, I always had a vague feeling that you were deliberately evading the orders I gave you, and were actually taking the opportunity to expand your own strength. I was so angry that I couldn't sleep for several days, and I wanted to drag you in and kill you. How many knives! But I still remember that you went to Shouzhou to quell the rebellion at that time. At that time, we were in a bitter battle. After all, you made a contribution to the country, which made me feel better. "
Is it pain? Is it regret? Or jealous? Li Yuan immediately understood that King Yan, who looked bitter and resentful in front of him, should also know that he could not justly blame himself. Anyway, he was probably just venting his long-standing dissatisfaction and frustration. After all,
King Yan was defeated so miserably, but on the other hand, he was victorious in many battles...
But thinking about how isolated and helpless he was in Xiapi City at that time, and how later only a few dozen riders of the 50,000-strong army fled back in embarrassment, I couldn't help but feel a deep pity, a kind of pity that the strong had for the weak.
Li Yuan then let out a long sigh, cupped his hands and shook his head: "Your Highness, you really blamed me wrongly! Do you think I don't want to go north to help you? I was really powerless at the time, and for this reason I even went ahead of schedule. On the date of getting married, I originally planned to rush to Jinling to meet my bride during the period of army expansion. After returning to Langzhou, the army expansion will definitely be completed, and then I will immediately send troops to the north.
It's a pity, alas, people are not as good as God. Unexpectedly, on the way to welcome the bride, they happened to encounter Li Jinquan's rebellion. This was something that no one could have expected.
In fact, on Bagong Mountain outside Shouzhou City, Meng Hu, the governor of Haozhou, suggested that I lead the army north to rescue His Highness, but the rebels had no choice but to hold on to the city with strong force. The war was uncertain for a while. If I led the army to leave, , causing the rebels to escape. It should be noted that there were no elite soldiers available in Jiangbei at that time. If Jinling is threatened and the court fails, the consequences will be disastrous.
Your Highness thought carefully, if the country is destroyed and the king is destroyed, it will be of no use even if the ministers help His Highness win the battle in the northern country. A single army will never be able to sustain it for long. Even if we are lucky enough to return south, you and I will not be able to face the people of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, I and Liu Renzhan, Marshal Liu, thought over and over again and finally did not dare to lead the army northward. In fact, they were thinking about His Highness and the overall situation!
His Highness's defeat was not his fault, but a temporary act of God's will, which was due to the great power of the Zhou Dynasty. "
"The Kingdom of Zhou is at its peak?" Li Hongji frowned and murmured for a while. Suddenly, he thought of that frightening figure, the commander-in-chief of the Zhou army named Guo Rong. He felt extremely regretful in his heart, and then sighed softly: "Forget it. After all, did I blame you wrongly?"
Li Yuan immediately said: "Your Highness, you mentioned it just now, and I said it bluntly. Throughout the ages, it is difficult for those who are in charge of heavy military forces to avoid being jealous of the court. Moreover, my father-in-law has always been loyal to you, even if I don't admit it. , who in the civil and military dynasties does not think that I am yours? Therefore, I have to be cautious in everything I do, because no matter what kind of behavior I have, the court will definitely associate it with His Highness.
Besides, His Highness must be aware of the relationship between me and Prince Zheng. If I don’t support His Highness, do I have any choice? I will definitely consider His Highness, this can be learned from day to day!
Therefore, I sincerely hope that Your Highness will be trustworthy in employing people, and only then will you trust me absolutely in the future. "
Li Hongji raised his head and sneered: "Are you saying that I am paranoid? If I were really like this, would you still be alive today? Or do you think that now that I have lost power and no power, I will not be able to deal with you? I The king tells you, now that you have entered the muddy waters of the court, never have the childish thought of staying out of it."
Li Yuan was silent for a moment. He wanted to reorganize the words in his mind to deal with it, but he heard a word that caught him off guard and was enough to make his heart feel dark.
"Zhou Xingfeng, do you think he is really the sixth man?"
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