In the afternoon, Li Shimin, wearing a printed Shu brocade robe and a Jinxian crown, dressed like an ordinary noble scribe, left the palace and went straight to the streets of Chengdu.
"Your Majesty... ah no, young master, pass the Longjing Pond and follow the official road to the south. There is an inn outside the Xianyang Gate of the big city, which is the place for the secret meeting."
Huo Ge was on the right, pointing forward and introducing the route and location of the secret meeting to Li Shimin.
Also accompanying him was Mi Wei, the son of Mi Zhu and the general of the House of Tigers, and the surrounding Forbidden Army secretly guarded him in regular uniforms.
"Now that I have a thorough understanding of the situation in Sichuan, the top priority is to promote and train trustworthy people.
You two must not say anything until you have determined whether the person you met today is worthy of great use.
When we met, I only said that I felt lonely after the Prime Minister left, so we had a private meeting to reminisce about old times. "
Li Shimin recalled the large number of loyal and outstanding talents such as "Lingyan Pavilion" under his command in the previous life, and then compared the available people around him who could be counted on one hand, Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh:
"I hope these descendants of the elders will not disappoint me..."
Three people and three horses walked along the official road to the inn outside Xianyang Gate.
The inn is not small, with two floors, a front yard, a backyard, and stables. It has green bricks and green tiles, and "Splendid Inn" is written on the door.
As soon as the three of them arrived at the door, a busboy from the store came to greet them: "Several adults, please come inside!"
As he spoke, he took the reins of the horses from the three of them.
Arriving at the inn, Huo Ge walked up to talk to the shopkeeper, glanced upstairs, and then returned to Li Shimin.
"Sir, the guests are waiting in the private room upstairs, shall we go up now?"
Li Shimin smiled and nodded.
Huo Ge understood and led the way, leading Li Shimin and Mi Wei upstairs.
Mi Wei walked at the end and winked at the imperial guard calmly.
Several guards immediately understood and dispersed throughout the inn pretending to be diners or guests.
"I don't know what kind of medicine Shaoxian sells in his gourd. I came home a few days ago and said that a noble person wanted to see me. He also specifically asked Changfu not to say anything."
As soon as Li Shimin walked to the door of the private room, he heard a bold voice coming from inside the room.
Huo Ge raised his head and smiled awkwardly. He didn't expect the people inside to plot so loudly...
"It's okay. I believe you have arranged everything before coming. Let's go in."
Huo Ge raised his hand and knocked on the door, knocking lightly three times and then harder.
When there was a knock on the door, the room suddenly became quiet.
"We've booked the second floor of the inn today, and we asked our friends outside to find another place!"
"The noble man from Wudan Mountain has arrived."
After Huo Ge said the "secret code", the door to the room opened.
The person who opened the door was a fat, white-faced scholar who looked to be around 30 years old.
When he saw Li Shimin behind Huo Ge, he was stunned for a moment, then quickly knelt down and worshiped:
"Your Majesty Zhang Shao..."
Huo Ge quickly covered Zhang Shao's mouth.
"Be careful! Let's go inside first."
There were men and women in the room, about seven or eight people, some of whom had seen His Majesty, some of whom had not.
After everyone heard that Zhang Shao called himself "Chen", they all became calm.
"Xian Shao, Xian Shao, you have deceived us so hard! Since His Majesty is summoning us now, why are you going to such trouble?"
After everyone sat down, Li Shimin said softly:
"After the late emperor's meritorious deeds, you all should have a prominent position in the court. However, the humerus of the late emperor has all withered, and the court is no longer the same as the late emperor."
"The reason why we have a secret meeting today is that my father-in-law has passed away and everything in Shu has fallen on me. I, Shao Xian and a few other people feel lonely and want to reminisce about the past with everyone.
Secondly, the situation in Sichuan is now chaotic and complicated, and we are all outsiders. I am exhausted from dealing with the court officials and local people every day, and I don’t want to cause any more complications in this matter. "
After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Li Shimin went on to say:
"Huo Ge, Mi Wei, Zhang Shao, etc. all served in the imperial court, and I am familiar with them.
The rest of you have not seen each other for many years. Time has passed and circumstances have changed. I am ashamed that I can rarely distinguish your identities. Why don't you introduce yourselves first? "
After everyone listened, they all felt that they should introduce themselves. Everyone knew that His Majesty relied on the Prime Minister in the past, and even the court officials did not recognize him, let alone these people whom they had not seen for a long time.
"I'll go first. Apart from Your Majesty, I should be the eldest among you."
Zhang Shao had participated in the several court meetings where Wei Yan was demoted to Yang Yi, and he was most familiar with His Majesty's changes. In order to avoid embarrassment to everyone, Zhang Shao took the lead in introducing himself:
"My father, Zhang Yide, and my eldest brother, Zhang Bao, have all passed away. Now, I, Zhang Shao, am the only one of my father's lineage left in the court."
Seeing someone starting to speak, everyone was no longer restrained and introduced themselves according to age and seniority.
Li Shimin also matched these people with the names he thought of at the time.
Those present today include: Zhao Yun’s second son, Zhao Tong and Zhao Guang, are currently just doing their work at home while inheriting the title;
Among the nephews and sons of the late emperor, in addition to Mi Wei, Zhang Shao, and Huo Ge, there is also Ma Chao's youngest son Ma Cheng, who now also bears the title of his father's generation and the family's idle wealth;
There is also a woman from the late emperor's nephew's generation, Miss Guan San, whose nickname is Yinping. She lives with her husband Li Yi in Yuyuan County, Jianning County.
The remaining people are all young people of the late emperor's grandson generation, among them Liu Lin, son of Liu Feng, Guan Tong and Guan Yi, sons of Guan Xing, are also there.
Liu Lin is slightly older, and Guan Tong and Guan Yi are both fifteen or sixteen years old.
After everyone was introduced, Li Shimin felt happy. After all, everyone here, including their clan members, could be regarded as his direct descendants.
"The current situation in Shu is fine externally for the time being, but internal court battles, barbarian rebellions and many other things really give me a headache. I wonder what you guys have to say about this?"
Li Shimin saw everyone looking at each other with some restraint, then he laughed and said:
"Hey~ You are all descendants of the late Emperor Humerus, and you are all brothers and sisters to me. Besides, today is just a private gathering, so you can feel free to speak freely."
Seeing that everyone was still a little reluctant to let go, Huo Ge immediately stood up and said: "Since you are so humble, I won't be polite."
After that, he bowed his head to Li Shimin and said:
"Nowadays, in the court, all the courtiers are only interested in their own glory and wealth, and very few are willing to die for the country and His Majesty.
People from Jingzhou and Dongzhou, who have no roots in Shu, can still live in peace and be prepared for danger.
The people of Yizhou, regardless of the generals, are just literati, counselors and local powerful people. Most of them only know wealth and glory, but do not know how to pioneer and enterprising..."
Most of the people in the room were secretly sad after hearing Huo Ge's words, and some looked angry.
Li Shimin glanced at everyone without leaving a trace, and felt comforted when he saw this scene.
It seems that although the abilities and reputations of these descendants of these elders are quite different from those of their parents, they have still inherited their ideals and will.
"Xian Shao, according to what you said, could it be that everyone in the court is an enemy now?"
Ma Cheng really couldn't stand listening anymore. In his impression, the First Lord was united as one in Shu, which was far from what Huo Ge said.
Mi Wei took over Ma Cheng's words and said slightly excitedly:
"You all don't know. A few days ago, His Majesty was in the court, and in order to save General Wei Yan, he did not hesitate to confront the ministers.
On the surface, it seems that he is complaining about General Wei Yan's affairs, but in fact, His Majesty is fighting for the fate of Shu. "
Having said this, Mi Wei was so excited that he was speechless. Zhang Shao patted Mi Wei, took over the conversation and continued:
"Just imagine, if His Majesty had not expressed his position in the past few days, the ministers would have allowed the late emperor to suffer injustice.
If things go on like this, if His Majesty keeps compromising, he will lose his prestige in the court.
Today there are still people in Jingzhou and Dongzhou, and His Majesty can still follow your instructions, but they will inevitably wither away.
In the end, when all the powerful people in Yizhou were in charge of the court, was this Shu Han still the Shu Han created by the late emperor? "
Yes, these words sound a bit far-fetched, but Li Shimin knows history. The fact is:
Deng Ai's three thousand remnant troops attacked from Jiangyou all the way to Mianzhu, and everything they passed was lost to the wind.
Even if Liu Chan wanted to fight, the local nobles who already controlled both inside and outside the court would not agree!
At this point, everyone was silent, only the screen was closed and weeping silently.
"Sister Guan, why are you crying?"
Guan Yinping stopped crying and said sadly:
"In the past, the late emperor and my father, who had been wandering for half their lives, finally established this legacy.
However, the weather was unfavorable, and my father Guan Yunchang and eldest brother Guan Pingping were both killed in the battle of Jingzhou. A fire broke out in Hou Yiling, which burned most of the late emperor's inheritance.
Now, those of us who are alive cannot repay the kindness of the late emperor, nor can we assist His Majesty in the court. Thinking about it now, I just feel sad. "
When Guan Yinping was talking, he suddenly paused and seemed to think of something.
"Your Majesty, there is one person here who you have not called."
Li Shimin was slightly surprised, but then he was relieved. After all, he was not from this world, and he couldn't find them all at once.
"Who is the person my sister is talking about?"
"My nephew Guan Yue, his father is my eldest brother Guan Ping, and his mother is General Zhao's youngest daughter Zhao."
Li Shimin did not expect that there would be an unexpected gain. The more descendants of the Guan family, the better. Guan Yunchang, who was powerful in China, still had a high status in Li Shimin's heart.
"Please sister, please elaborate."
"In the past when Jingzhou fell, the Zhao family took their youngest son Guan Yue to hide incognito in Nanjun to avoid the war.
During this period, I exchanged letters with my family. I didn’t want them, mother and son, to go through danger all the way to Yizhou, so I didn’t mention the matter again..."
Li Shimin was overjoyed and hurriedly asked about the whereabouts of Guan Yue's mother and son, and said that he would send someone to secretly escort them to Chengdu.
As time went by, the descendants of the elders in the house became familiar with each other, because they were descendants of the late emperor Humilius and had the same aspirations. Soon he let go of his reserve and spoke freely.
Li Shimin knew the general abilities and personalities of these people based on their words and deeds.
"The next step is to find official positions for them in the court based on what they are good at and start training and promoting them."
Li Shimin had made up his mind, and before parting, he told them that they would meet again soon.
And the time to see each other again is the time to encourage everyone openly and openly in the court.
