"Presumptuous, regarding food, they...how dare they disobey me like this!!"
"Now, the people are in dire straits and have no food to eat, but they still have leisure time to play!!"
Looking at the fold in his hand, Li Shimin was so angry that he was shaking all over.
There are two folds in total.
One picture shows him asking for food from aristocratic families but being rejected.
The other picture showed several children of aristocratic families playing and eating wantonly. The food wasted on the wine table alone was enough to feed hundreds of victims.
"Are these aristocratic families really bullying me, Li Tang, and no one? Bullying me, Li Shimin, for not daring to take action against them?!"
Angrily throwing down the book, Li Shimin's eyes were red and he wanted to tear those children of the aristocratic family alive.
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling, who were beside him, were as silent as a cicada and did not dare to speak.
Even the eldest grandson Wugou, who understood Li Shimin best, could only gently caress Li Shimin's heart at this time. He didn't know what to say to comfort him for the family's behavior.
nowadays.
The family has great power, mainly due to the power given by Li Shimin.
In order to stabilize the throne, he tried his best to win over the aristocratic families, and the aristocratic families provided assistance for this, but their assistance was not free. After Li Shimin consolidated the throne, everyone got what they wanted.
It was originally a win-win situation, but this made the family full of children in the court, and they had such great power of speech that even Li Shimin's voice was being suppressed.
Now he is so arrogant that even if he asks for food, he will not give it to him! !
No……
The family brochure says it can be given.
But in that book, the names of children from aristocratic families were everywhere. Those positions were not held by children of aristocratic families. If they were compromised and handed over because of this, Li Shimin's voice would be reduced again.
And, this will also represent a signal.
The Li family, the royal family of the Tang Dynasty, bowed to the aristocratic family! !
He, Li Shimin, failed in this game. A failure would allow the aristocratic family to make further progress, and it is very likely that he would be used as a puppet emperor.
If he is an ordinary mediocre emperor, as long as he can keep the throne and the family can maintain the royal majesty for him, he doesn't care about anything else.
But Li Shimin is different. He is a king with ambition, ambition and a strong desire for power! !
He did not allow himself as an emperor to compromise with certain forces. Therefore, how could Li Shimin allow such a situation to happen when the court was full of children from aristocratic families? !
But if you don’t compromise, what can you do? !
In March of the second year of Zhenguan, a locust plague spread all over the pass. Chang'an and the palace were not spared. Even the imperial capital was affected, which shows the suffering of the people on the border.
In May of the third year of Zhenguan, locust plagues occurred in five prefectures and counties, resulting in no grain harvest.
In the autumn of the fourth year of Zhenguan, there was another locust plague in the three states.
This year, after the locust plague, the number of refugees reached a terrifying level, and they were all waiting for food rescue outside the imperial city.
If at this juncture, he had a falling out with the aristocratic family, and the aristocratic family had food, they could provide food to the starving people and demote him to Li Tang, which might lead to changes in generations.
And if there had been no disaster, the imperial city's treasury grain reserves would have been emptied out long ago by the disasters that followed in the past few years. Now that he has no grain in his hands, how can he keep the victims fed? !
Dead end.
This is a terrible dead end! !
Li Shimin also thought of this, his scarlet eyes were filled with helplessness, and he sighed for a long time, "Auxiliary machine, Xuan Ling, do you two have any tricks up your sleeve?!"
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling were his confidants and his think tanks. They helped him solve various problems in various wars and political affairs.
Encountering difficulties this time, Li Shimin looked at them expectantly, eager to get tips and tricks as before.
However,
This time his expectations were dashed.
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling both lowered their heads in shame.
"Your Majesty, this game is too difficult."
"I think it is best to send troops to the southern cities to collect food."
"As for the Imperial City family..."
Changsun Wuji paused and hesitated.
"explain!!"
Li Shimin's tone was slightly angry.
"yes!!"
Changsun Wuji said politely, "As for the aristocratic family, I believe that we should not take a tough approach. Today they jointly issued a statement asking Your Majesty to create positions for the children of the family. It is obvious that a united front has been formed and is monolithic."
"To deal with them like this, it would be okay if we remove them all at once, but if we only move one of them, it will only affect the whole body. By then, His Majesty will not only have to face the problem of food for the refugees, but also have to play a game with the aristocratic family, and the gain will not be worth the loss!!"
Fang Xuanling cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I second my opinion."
"So, there is no other way?!"
Li Shimin sighed.
Both Zhang and Sun Wuji bowed, not daring to raise their heads.
"Oh, go down, go down, all go down."
Li Shimin waved his sleeves and helplessly dismissed the two important ministers.
"promise!!"
Changsun Wuji and the other two hurriedly left.
After they left, Li Shimin sat down on the steps below the throne in a rather disgraceful manner, "Guanyin, according to what the auxiliary officers and others said, we are going to the south to get food. Let's not talk about whether there is any surplus food in the south. Just the journey, the wild beasts on the way, Many factors, including weather, will greatly slow down the return time.”
"When they return, how many of my people will starve to death? This situation... has no solution!!"
Li Shimin was extremely decadent.
Because he had not slept all night, two lines of hot tears fell from his scarlet eyes.
Changsun Wugou came to him and knelt down in front of him, still soothing his heart, "Your Majesty, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain. Don't fall into despair too early."
Li Shimin didn't even raise his head, "In this situation, there seems to be only one way left, and that is to bow to the aristocratic family. In this way, the aristocratic family hopes that the people will be saved, and both of them will benefit. It's just that my long-cherished wish has taken another step further."
"But, in order to save my people, we can only..."
I haven’t finished speaking yet,
Changsun Wugao put his slender jade fingers against Li Shimin's lips to prevent him from speaking.
"Guanyin Maid, you..."
Changsun Wugou laughed, his smile as bright as a flower.
"Your Majesty, it's not time to despair yet."
"As early as today when I came to the morning court, the guards told me that there seems to be some food in Kuan'er's house, a lot of it. Maybe we can go and find out. With Kuan'er's character that likes to store, maybe the food Can give us some surprises.”
Kuan'er? !
Li Shimin was slightly startled. Kuan'er's name was Li Kuan, and he was Li Shimin's second son. However, he was adopted as his son by his father Li Yuan in his early years and was given to King Chu Ai Li Zhiyun as his son. The father-son relationship between the two existed in name only.
I still remember that when Kuan'er was adopted by Li Zhiyun, he said nothing and felt extremely guilty. He subconsciously did not want to meet Li Kuan, so even if Li Kuan lived in Chang'an for a long time, he could not see him more than a few times a year.
If you don't want to meet each other, and the prince is still a teenager, how can you solve the food problem that is causing headaches for all civil and military officials?
So after hearing this in a hurry, Li Shimin waved his hands boringly, "Guanyin, I won't go."
"I'm tired, let's go back and rest first, and think about what to do next."
