All the princes in Yizhou, especially Qiaozhou, looked at Huang Hao with cold eyes.
If Huang Hao says the wrong thing, the princes of Yizhou will definitely let Huang Hao die without a burial place!
Huang Hao didn't think so and said confidently:
"Your Majesty, I dare you to mention the death of the Prime Minister again."
Li Shimin did not comment, nodded and said: "As long as what you say is reasonable and the evidence is solid, I will forgive you!"
After receiving His Majesty's decree, Huang Hao became more confident and said loudly:
"Thank you, Your Majesty! In the past, when the Prime Minister's funeral was announced, Your Majesty once issued an oral decree not to attend the funeral. After the decree was issued, His Majesty cried bitterly until he fainted.
At this time, all the princes in the court were present. I believe that except His Majesty, who was so distraught that he ignored the incident, the other princes must have never forgotten it! "
As soon as Huang Hao raised his head, everyone in the hall became confused. Especially Qiao Zhou, who is an honest and studious nerd himself. When encountering such a situation, he felt that he had lost all face and felt guilty.
Huang Hao didn't wait for everyone's reaction, then said:
"At this critical moment, all the princes in the court knelt down in front of the hall and prayed for His Majesty.
Only Qiao Zhou disobeyed His Majesty's orders and went to Jiange to attend the funeral without authorization.
However, no one in the court, especially those in Yizhou, stopped him. In the past two months, no one mentioned this matter. "
Huang Hao gradually became angry, beat his chest and stamped his feet and said:
"It is Your Majesty's kindness not to pursue the matter, but today Qiao Zhou interrupted Your Majesty's counter-insurgency work for no reason, and used provocative words to tease Your Majesty.
The servant really couldn't bear it anymore, so today she went to the court to accuse Qiao Zhou of disobeying the imperial edict and going to the funeral privately, and then accused the Yizhou princes of knowing the crime and deliberately shielding him! I hope your Majesty will learn from this! "
After hearing this, Li Shimin sighed. Unexpectedly, this eunuch who left a bad reputation in history would actually turn the tide at such a critical moment and make such a big contribution to his "differentiation and win-over" plan.
"Do you think you have any objections to what Huang Hao said?"
In order to confirm what Huang Hao said, Li Shimin immediately asked the ministers of the DPRK.
The princes of Yizhou were already frightened out of their wits. Regardless of Qiao Zhou's crime of resisting and disrespecting the imperial edict, even if he deliberately shielded him, it was enough to make them drink a pot.
With such solid evidence, who dares to say "no" in front of His Majesty?
Everyone in Yizhou only regretted that they had forgotten the imperial edict given by His Majesty before he fainted!
Today, it is still unclear whether the princes of Yizhou can escape this disaster. Who has the mind to care about the assassin? Will Your Majesty pursue it?
"I have no objection..."
Except for the princes of Yizhou, everyone in the hall immediately agreed with His Majesty.
Seeing that most Yizhou officials did not speak up, Li Shimin suddenly said proudly:
"Qiao Zhou? Du Qiong? You and other Yizhou people, do you have any objections? If you don't have any objections, what crime should you be punished for resisting the decree and not obeying the laws?"
Qiao Zhou was already flushed with embarrassment, and fearful of His Majesty's punishment, he couldn't breathe and actually fainted in the main hall.
Seeing Qiao Zhou fainting, all the princes in the court took a deep breath, especially the princes of Yizhou, who were so frightened that no one dared to step forward to help him.
Huang Hao, with quick eyes and quick hands, hurriedly called several guards in front of the palace to help Qiao Zhou.
Huang Hao knew full well that Qiao Zhou was a great scholar in the world and a supporter of the Prime Minister. Your Majesty will not easily punish Qiao Zhou, and considering the current situation, your Majesty wants to win over some Yizhou nobles, so nothing can happen to Qiao Zhou.
Li Shimin sighed inwardly at Huang Hao's loyalty and at the same time praised Huang Hao's delicate mind. At the same time, he did not forget to instruct Zhang Yan to visit the imperial doctor.
Du Qiong and other Yizhou civil servants felt even more uneasy when they saw this situation.
Now, it is not known how many of the Yizhou generals Wang Pingping have defected to His Majesty, and such embarrassing things have happened in the court.
It seems that the assassin incident has finally become a nail, deeply wedged into the hearts of all Yizhou nobles.
As long as His Majesty doesn't mention it, no one in the court will dare to mention it...
Li Shimin saw Qiao Zhou Youyou wake up and asked with a hint of sarcasm: "Qiao Aiqing, I haven't done anything to you yet, why did you faint first?"
Qiao Zhou came to his senses slowly and couldn't help but tremble all over when he saw His Majesty looking at him teasingly.
"Your Majesty, forgive me! I...I admire the Prime Minister with all my heart, and I treat the Prime Minister's affairs with me..."
Li Shimin stood up, stood sideways, shook his sleeves, and interrupted Qiao Zhou.
"I believe that you are indeed loyal to the country and sincere to the Prime Minister. I will remember this for now. If I hear any bad news about you in the future, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
After hearing His Majesty's words, all the Dukes of Yizhou, including Qiao Zhou, breathed a long sigh of relief. We will talk about the future later, and we have escaped today.
Li Shimin did not wait for Qiao Zhou to express his gratitude and continued:
"Since you Yizhou nobles can blatantly resist the decree and cover up, then I must not be able to get the truth from your mouths about the assassin."
Li Shimin glanced at Wang Ping and continued:
"Wang Aiqing, I don't care whether the news I heard a few days ago is true or false. I will leave the assassination matter to you. No matter the time limit, until you find out, before that, all the princes in Yizhou are in trouble in my eyes. No suspicion."
When Wang Ping heard His Majesty's words, he felt bitter in his heart. With Your Majesty's arrangement, wouldn't he become a thorn in the eyes of the princes of Yizhou?
Even if Wang Ping knew roughly what happened with the assassin, he would not dare to tell His Majesty.
He said that it might be easier for him to stay here with your majesty, but didn’t the Yizhou nobles turn from suspicion to certainty that he was the villain who informed his majesty?
Not telling him might make him feel better, but wouldn't it be clear that the suspicions and conflicts caused by the assassination would never be clear?
Thinking of this, Wang Ping felt a chill running from head to toe. It seems that His Majesty is a conspiracy. At present, I can only choose to side with His Majesty...
"I accept the decree..."
After much deliberation, the rather helpless Wang Ping had no choice but to accept the order.
At this time, Zhang Yi and Jufu also felt that something was not good. His Majesty came up and appointed the two as generals to suppress the rebellion, and then cooperated with the assassins. Isn't this a conspiracy to force themselves to take sides?
The two of them looked at Wang Ping and then thought about themselves, feeling helpless.
Leading the order to quell the rebellion is tantamount to siding with His Majesty. If you don’t accept the order...who dares to do this? Qiao Zhou just woke up!
Li Shimin was overjoyed when he saw that not only had his goal been achieved, but the effect was even better than imagined.
"Now that other matters have been dealt with for the time being, the matter of counterinsurgency should also be concluded."
Seeing that the nobles in the hall had no intention of objecting, Li Shimin said seriously:
"I would like to give Wei Yan the title of Pingman General and lead the three armies to counter the rebellion. All generals who suppress the rebellion are under the control of Wei Yan."
"In addition, Jiang Wei was given the title of Pingyi General, in charge of the remaining sporadic rebellions in Nanzhong. Ma Zhong and Zhang Yi were his deputy. I order you to wipe out all the counties except Zangda, Xinggu, Yuexi and Wenshan counties within one year. The remaining barbarians and bandits in Shu are causing trouble. I can only go there with the order after I select the deputy general who will accompany the army."
"Wang Ping is in charge of the war and Xinggu to quell the rebellion. In addition to Zhao Tong Zhao Guang, I will add another deputy general to the army on another day. Only after receiving the order can we send out troops to quell the rebellion."
"The same goes for Ju Fu and Zhang Yi."
Li Shimin briefly arranged the new counter-insurgency tasks, and saw that all the ministers were bowing down and there were no objections. Li Shimin smiled and nodded.
"Regarding the matter of assassins, don't limit it to Wang Ping. If anyone remembers anything, you can come to me and tell me."
Huang Hao saw that His Majesty had made all the arrangements, so he loudly said in a timely manner: "In matters of countering the rebellion, all you have to do is wait for His Majesty's decree. If there is anything else to do, please report it. If there is nothing else, please leave the court!"
All the ministers, especially the princes of Yizhou, have long been in no mood to play with His Majesty in the court. Status and life are still important.
So all the ministers shouted long live and exited the hall.
After leaving the main hall, the princes from Jingzhou and Dongzhou naturally divided into two groups, each talking and laughing freely, and walked to the government office together.
The princes of Yizhou were divided into several small groups, each with Wang Ping and several others as the core, and went to the government offices respectively.
Representatives of civil servants such as Qiao Zhou and Du Qiong gathered many hesitant civil servants, formed their own group, and headed towards the government office.
No matter how many groups they are divided into, the discussions among the Yizhou princes are nothing more than analyzing who betrayed the Yizhou nobles, or discussing whether they should join His Majesty to preserve their glory and wealth.
Under Huang Hao's brilliant performance, Li Shimin reversed the situation in the court, once again achieved his goal, and won the battle between imperial power and the gentry.
At this point, Wang Ping, Ma Zhong, Zhang Yi, Zhang Yi, Jufu and others could only choose to die for His Majesty. The situation for Yizhou generals is basically clear.
After retiring from the court, Li Shimin took advantage of the excitement in the court to draft an imperial edict in his study.
"Now the counterinsurgency is done. I will find an opportunity to meet Ma Cheng and others in a few days and explain the matter clearly. This time I embark on the road to counterinsurgency again. I hope they will not disappoint me! "
Since Li Shimin traveled through time, it was only now that he really took the first step.
Looking back on the nearly two-month journey, Li Shimin said with emotion:
"There is still a long way to go to change the destiny of the Shu Han Dynasty. I am determined to let the glory of the Tang Dynasty reappear in the troubled times of the late Han Dynasty!"
