Li Shimin saw that everyone had taken their seats and said harmoniously:
“You are all the new generation in Shu, and the elders are only in their thirties, so I have high hopes for you.
Regardless of what the princes in the court think, as far as you are concerned, do you know why I am so persistent in countering the rebellion? "
Several people had more or less opinions on counterinsurgency matters, but they did not dare to reveal them easily in front of His Majesty, for fear of angering His Majesty if they said anything wrong.
So several people looked at each other, all silent and daring not to answer.
Li Shimin couldn't help but smile when he saw how cautious these people were.
Didn’t I just imprison Yang Yi and kill Li Hannan? Are you so afraid of me?
"Since I asked, you just say what you think. I am not the 'tyrannical king' in the rumors. You can speak freely!"
The six of them felt at ease after hearing what His Majesty said.
Fa Miao reacted the fastest, stood up and bowed his head and said:
"Your Majesty, I believe that rebellions are common, and the responsibility for countering rebellions is mostly shouldered by local county guards. Your Majesty's mobilization of troops and sending many generals to suppress rebellions is indeed a bit of a fuss."
Li Shimin nodded and asked Fa Miao:
"Then you may have thought why I am making such a fuss?"
After Famiao thought for a moment, Jishou replied:
"I'm sorry for my stupidity. I can only think that His Majesty acted like this in order to promote and re-employ our newcomers."
Li Shimin nodded slightly and motioned for Fa Miao to take a seat.
"Do you have any other opinions?"
Seeing no one answered, Huang Chong stood up and bowed his head and said:
"Reporting to your Majesty, I think that in addition to what Fa Miao said, your Majesty's large-scale suppression of the rebellion is also for the future Northern Expedition?"
After listening to Huang Chong's words, Li Shimin was very happy. It was rare for a Yizhou nobleman to think of the Northern Expedition.
Moreover, what Huang Chong said saved Li Shimin from going around in circles, and he could now directly enter the theme of the "Northern Expedition."
"As expected of Huang Quan's son, he can see the key point at a glance."
After saying this, he signaled Huang Chong to take a seat, and then Li Shimin asked everyone:
"What do you think is the purpose of me purging the court, suppressing the rebellion on a large scale, and promoting cronies? Is it to protect the land in the middle of Shu? Or is it to suppress the princes of Yizhou and sit in the court to enjoy wealth and honor alone?"
After listening to His Majesty's words, several people fully understood His Majesty's intentions. No wonder His Majesty was able to send out a luxurious lineup comparable to the "Northern Expedition" in several barbarian rebellions.
It turns out that all this is to compete with Wei and Wu one day!
Li Shimin saw that everyone was suddenly surprised and took the opportunity to continue asking:
"The reason why I sent you to fight the rebellion and gain experience is to promote you to become the pillars of the imperial court when you return. When Shu is strong and strong, I will lead the princes north to the Central Plains to help the Han Dynasty. I wonder if you know my intentions?"
Several of them were originally loyal to the imperial court and had no objections to the Northern Expedition. Seeing that His Majesty valued him so highly, they were each grateful.
His Majesty's words have come to this point, and these few people are not fools, so they naturally think that the time has come for them to express their loyalty to His Majesty.
Then several people stood up and bowed their heads, saying in unison:
"Your Majesty's wishes are known to me, and I am willing to carry out the war for Your Majesty, heading north to the Central Plains to help the Han Dynasty!"
Li Shimin was overjoyed. Although these people were not as loyal as the descendants of the senators, as long as they were loyal to the court and willing to contribute to the Northern Expedition, it was enough.
After briefly explaining to a few people some counterinsurgency matters, Li Shimin ended the conversation.
After a few people left, Huo Ge came.
"Your Majesty, Chen Zhong has returned from Yong'an. Li Yan set off a step later and was escorted by Chen Dao's personal soldiers."
Li Shimin asked Chen Zhong to stay on standby at the Jinxiu Inn. After the generals to suppress the rebellion tomorrow, he would discuss with Chen Zhong and others the establishment of the "Hundred Cavalry Division".
At the same time, in a remote courtyard in Chengdu, several people with swords around their waists were standing outside the door.
"What your Majesty has done recently has exceeded our expectations. If we don't take measures to counter your Majesty as soon as possible, things will really change in Yizhou when your Majesty's wings are full!"
A middle-aged man's voice came from the room, and then other different voices sounded in the room.
After a brief exchange, a young waiter walked out of the room and whispered beside the man with the sword outside the door.
Then a few people nodded and left, and then the people in the room also left...
After the court meeting the next day, Li Shimin led the ministers in the court, together with Zhang Yan, Mi Wei, Huo Ge and other escorts, and personally went out of the palace to quell the rebellion.
The reason why Li Shimin did this was to publicize the counter-insurgency in the open, so that those who tried to sabotage the counter-insurgency secretly would have some scruples;
The second is to build momentum for the younger generation that he will promote, so that they can quickly gain prestige in Shu and become useful talents as soon as possible.
The whole process was very solemn. Li Shimin personally rode a horse alongside the generals, and all the civil and military officials from the DPRK and China followed behind him on foot.
Guards of the Forbidden Army on both sides were guarding with swords, and even the Forbidden Army disguised as civilians shuttled between them and secretly guarded the people.
The large group of people walked through the surrounding Chengdu people until they left the Jiangqiao Gate and crossed the Wanli Bridge, and Li Shimin stopped.
"I wish you all a safe journey and immediate success! I will watch you off on this Wanli Bridge!"
After all the etiquette was completed, the counter-rebellion generals mounted their horses and paid homage to His Majesty. Then, according to the different directions of counter-rebellion, they rode off in groups.
When Li Shimin saw everyone gradually disappearing from sight, he also got on his horse, turned his horse's head and led everyone back to the palace.
As soon as they reached the city gate, they saw a chaos at the city gate in front of them. It seemed that the soldiers guarding the city had a dispute with someone.
Li Shimin signaled Huo Ge to come forward to check, and he got off his horse and walked towards the city gate.
"Please, Master, let us meet His Majesty!"
As soon as he got close, Li Shimin heard that someone wanted to meet him.
Li Shimin was puzzled and wanted to go forward to check, so he signaled Mi Wei and Zhang Yan to guard the left and right, and Huang Hao stepped forward to clear the way.
A few people accepted the order and protected His Majesty from the crowd to find out.
At this time, Huo Ge had squeezed out from the crowd. Seeing His Majesty about to move forward, Huo Ge quickly stopped His Majesty.
"Your Majesty, please stay. I have found out the cause of the matter. They are several common people who claim to be Li Miao tribesmen. They want to stop the driver to meet Your Majesty and ask for the return of Li Miao's head."
After Li Shimin heard this, he started to worry about it. Is it possible that the Yizhou princes took this opportunity to give me a difficult problem?
If I ignore them and drive them away, it will be true for the rumors that I am a "tyrannical king".
If I pay attention to it, I'm afraid these people won't let me get away easily. If they start a fight here and arouse public resentment, I will inevitably have another headache.
Just when Li Shimin was in a dilemma, another wave of common people came behind him. Under the banner of Yang Yi's tribe, they begged Your Majesty to spare Yang Yi's release.
When Li Shimin saw this scene, he felt that he could not escape, so he simply set up a low platform outside the city gate. He was on the low platform and summoned the two groups of people who were blocking his way.
At this time, the people of Chengdu and the officials of the DPRK and Central Government did not disperse because of their efforts to counter the rebellion.
Li Shimin summoned representatives of the two groups in full view of the public.
"It is a grave sin for you to block a holy chariot without permission in the capital city. I remember that it is your first offense, so I will not hold you responsible for blocking the chariot for the time being."
Li Shimin pointed at the man who claimed to be a member of the Li Miao tribe and asked: "Tell me first, why you want to stop the driver. If it makes sense, I will forgive you. Maybe I can grant your request. If it doesn't make sense, then I will give you treatment." You are guilty of bullying!"
Li Shimin stood on the commanding heights of legal principles, and first gave a few people a blow, and then looked at the people in the audience with displeasure.
Seeing His Majesty's majesty, the Li Miao people lost their momentum first. I forgot most of the words I had thought up before. But the matter has come to this, so I can only reply tremblingly:
"Reporting to your majesty, the common people are brave and request to take back the head of our master Li Hannan. I hope your majesty will be kind and leave my master's body intact."
Li Shimin did not answer, but just stared at the person speaking in front of him, muttering in his heart: "Could it be that he is really from the Li Miao tribe? If it is a problem that the princes of Yizhou have given me, then this excuse is too simple, right?"
When Li Shimin was thinking about it, another commoner in the audience who called himself Li Miao knelt down and cried bitterly:
"Your Majesty, the common man's family leader died unjustly! A few words from the bottom of his heart actually resulted in your majesty's sword and ax. It's not worth it for the common man to stand for the family master!"
Hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly became alert. It seems that the Yizhou princes are indeed using the topic to pose a difficult problem for me.
But at this time, in front of everyone, this person has already begun to speak, and I must not interrupt him, otherwise I will be labeled as "arbitrary and irrespective of public opinion".
Seeing that His Majesty had no intention of interrupting, the people in the audience raised the corners of their mouths slightly, then turned back to a sad look and continued:
"My family leader always cares about the people's livelihood in Shu, and does not want the people in Shu to suffer for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains; and he cannot bear to attack each other within Yizhou and waste money and food.
Therefore, I objected to Your Majesty's wanton handling of the Prime Minister's funeral affairs, and strongly suggested that Your Majesty send Yizhou generals to persuade the barbarians to conquer their hearts.
However, His Majesty's respect and love for the Prime Minister and his eagerness to promote and appoint people with little talent have resulted in the blood of our Lord's loyal and courageous people who dared to remonstrate in the court and his body was missing. The ordinary people are not worthy of standing up for my lord, so they are calling for injustice on my lord’s behalf! "
After saying this, before Li Shimin could say anything, someone from the surrounding people took the lead and shouted:
"A murderous tyrant, who refuses to accept loyal advice, oppresses the people of Yizhou and wants to go to war and waste money and food. Such mediocre lords who do not care about the people's livelihood but only seek their own short-term pleasure are not worthy of being the lord of Yizhou!"
Voices like this were heard one after another among the surrounding people, and some even took the lead in attacking the low platform where His Majesty was standing.
Most of the people in Chengdu didn't know why, but when they saw some people making noises and rushing towards the platform, they thought His Majesty was getting a reward, so they followed the crowd and pushed towards the platform. For a moment, everyone was in chaos, and the imperial troops around His Majesty were gradually unable to stop the people who were trying to squeeze towards the high platform.
Seeing this situation, Li Shimin did not panic. He only looked for the person who took the lead in making noise among the crowd.
"Hmph! I don't know how many times my father and brother used such tricks back then. Didn't I eventually ascend to the throne?"
