Li Shimin listened to the words of several people, and then thought about the names provided by the previous people, and felt that there should be no omissions.
"Zhang Shao, take these people under custody first, and inform Lu Yi to send a few people out on business at random, and let them disappear temporarily for the next few days.
After I finish handling the affairs of the Yizhou princes, I will deal with a few more people. "
Li Shimin saw that the sky was getting brighter and ordered Jiang Wan and others to conceal their return to Beijing in the court hall. And don't expose Wang Li and others' forgery of documents in the middle of the court, just delay the Yizhou princes for one more day.
After arranging everything, Li Shimin stretched himself and told the others to return to their places. He only took Zhang Yan to guard the left and right, and went straight to the palace.
Li Shimin was exhausted after many days of traveling and traveling all night and rushing back to Chengdu.
After arriving at his palace, Li Shimin ordered Zhang Yan to rest, while he climbed onto the dragon couch and fell asleep.
That night, Li Shimin had enough rest and regained his former energy.
At this time, he was talking with Zhang Shao, Huang Hao, Chen Zhong, Jiang Wan and others in the Gold and Silver Palace.
"Is there anything strange among the princes of Yizhou today in the meeting hall of Shangshutai?"
"Your Majesty, except for He Zong who seemed to be uneasy and did not say a word, the rest of the Yizhou courtiers continued to confront Jiang Wan and others as usual."
"He Zong? Could it be that He Zong has heard about what happened last night?"
"This...it's hard for me to guess. Maybe I'm sick or have some other emergency..."
Li Shimin thought for a moment, then said to Zhang Shao:
"No matter what happens to He Zong, I want to ask you to do some important things tonight."
Zhang Shao heard this and said seriously:
"Please give me your Majesty's orders. I will definitely not obey your Majesty's orders!"
Li Shimin took out the list recorded by Huang Hao last night, handed it to Zhang Shao, and ordered:
"I order you to invite the people on the list to the Gold and Silver Palace one by one tonight! No!
No matter who asked, just say that I have important matters to call you. If there is anyone who is ignorant of current affairs, I allow you to use force.
I am determined to teach these evildoers tonight that life is worse than death, and I have vented this bad breath for the princes of Jingzhou! "
Zhang Shao took the list and left with the order.
Not long after, Zhang Shaoxian brought the military governor to join Wang Li.
Wang Li was sandwiched between two flying cavalry guards, with a look of surprise on his face as he staggered towards the Gold and Silver Palace.
When Li Shimin saw Wang Li arriving, he ordered Huang Hao to escort a jailer from yesterday.
Huang Hao accepted the order and went to arrest the people.
Just as Huang Hao left, Wang Li happened to enter the Gold and Silver Palace.
Seeing that His Majesty's face was gloomy and staring at him, Wang Li couldn't help but his legs softened and he knelt down in front of His Majesty with a "plop".
"I, Wang Li, would like to pay homage to Your Majesty..."
Li Shimin waved his hand in disgust to interrupt Wang Li, and said majestically:
"Wang Li! Let me ask you, what are your duties as a military governor?"
When Wang Li saw that His Majesty suddenly appeared in the palace and summoned him late at night for questioning, he was worried that His Majesty had discovered Yang Yi's affair.
But seeing that His Majesty only asked about his duties, he thought that someone was slandering him and slandering him for dereliction of duty.
After thinking about it, I didn't know how to answer His Majesty, so I was stunned for a while.
Li Shimin saw Wang Li's eyes wandering and his face turned pale, knowing that Wang Li was in confusion.
Then he suddenly slapped the case with his hand and said angrily:
"I'm asking you a question! Why don't you answer me? Is it possible that you don't even know the responsibilities of your own military governor?"
Wang Li was startled by the sound of His Majesty's slap on the case. He didn't think much about it and hurriedly bowed his head and said:
"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty... your duty is to regulate prisons and determine punishments in accordance with the law..."
"Since you know it well, let me ask you again, if a prisoner disturbs the county government, how should he be sentenced?"
Wang Li was shocked when he heard this. He thought that by paying off the jailer, he would be able to remain unnoticed, but to his surprise, his majesty found out.
"This... Your Majesty, forgive me! I, I was ordered by others and couldn't help myself!"
When Li Shimin saw Wang Li begging for mercy, he was secretly happy and said sharply:
"Since you are asking me to forgive you, does that mean you are admitting that Yang Yi's death was related to you?"
Wang Li was initially frightened and subconsciously begged for mercy. Unexpectedly, His Majesty took advantage of the situation and directly confirmed his involvement in Yang Yi's suicide.
I couldn't help but feel annoyed, but for a moment I couldn't tell the difference, so I simply lowered my head and accepted it as acquiescence.
At this time, Huang Hao happened to escort the jailer from yesterday. When the jailer saw Wang Li kneeling and trembling in front of His Majesty, his heart trembled, thinking that today might be a bad day.
So he hurriedly knelt down to worship His Majesty, and then left with his fingers:
"Your Majesty clearly knows that this villain was coerced by this person, so he concealed the fact that Yang Yi committed suicide!"
When Wang Li saw that His Majesty still had a witness, and that this witness was the person he had threatened the day before, he was immediately filled with despair.
A few days ago, Ma Qi's intention to rebel was still fresh in his mind, but now his majesty found out that he had falsely passed documents and forced Yang Yi to commit suicide.
If we go by the standards of Ma Qi's incident, he is at least guilty of "deceiving the emperor and neglecting his superiors, knowing the law and breaking it." Although it is not as serious as treason, it is still enough to be beheaded and the property confiscated.
Thinking of this, Wang Li cried bitterly, knelt down and kowtowed, and kept shouting, "I hope your Majesty will have mercy!"
Li Shimin felt reassured when he saw Wang Li surrender and confess his crime.
Then he softened his tone slightly and asked:
"You and other Yizhou people were often promoted by the late emperor and prime minister, and are many times more powerful than when Liu Yan and his son were in the past.
Why do you insist on being my enemy and do things that endanger the imperial court many times? Is it just because I want to inherit the legacy of the late emperor and prime minister that I advocate the Northern Expedition? "
Wang Li saw that His Majesty's tone was not as harsh as before, and he did not immediately hold himself accountable, but only asked about the Northern Expedition.
A glimmer of hope arose in my heart, so after thinking for a while, I bit the bullet and explained to His Majesty:
"Your Majesty is aware of this! I and other Yizhou princes do not originally oppose the Northern Expedition.
However, after the fall of Jingzhou, there was first the defeat of Yiling, and then the Southern and Northern Expeditions. All the troops, horses and materials were provided by people from Yizhou.
The country has been fighting for years with little profit. We Yizhou people see no hope and can only waste money and food.
Therefore, most of the Yizhou nobles have long been tired of or even disgusted with the country's conquests. In addition, the princes of Jingzhou and Dongzhou often have superiority over us Yizhou people, which makes us have deep resentments and wish to eliminate all external forces and then be quick.
If it had not been for the benevolence of the first emperor and the great efforts of the prime minister to turn the tide, I am afraid that the princes of Yizhou would have been alienated from the imperial court and become the same.
Now that the country is free from external dangers, it is time to recuperate and recuperate. However, His Majesty made it clear that he wanted to invade the Central Plains with force, so we had no choice but to disrupt the situation in Yizhou openly or covertly in the court and force His Majesty to compromise.
I believe that most people in Yizhou still support the imperial court in their hearts. If your Majesty can compromise on this, maybe Shuzhong will be able to settle down from now on.
In time, when the world changes, we may be able to contribute to His Majesty again and help His Majesty send troops north to the Central Plains! "
When Li Shimin heard this, he was troubled in his heart and felt that what Wang Li said was reasonable.
But then I thought about it and realized that there were many flaws in Wang Lizhi's remarks.
For example, let yourself compromise, stop going on conquests, and just wait for the weather to recuperate.
It seems that he is thinking about the court, but in fact the conflict between himself and the Yizhou princes cannot be resolved with a "compromise".
Now that he is in his youth, the loyal followers around him are all high-spirited, and he is still able to control the court.
If I compromise on this, I will leave it to the Yizhou princes.
As time goes on, his energy declines, the loyal people around him may wither, or they may become accustomed to enjoying wealth and wealth, and lose their fighting spirit. By then, if he wants to regain control of the court and send troops to the Northern Expedition, won't it become a luxury?
What's more, the national power of Wei and Wu is far superior to that of Shu. If everyone keeps checking each other, there is still a glimmer of hope in Shu.
Once each develops stably, the gap between the three families will only become wider and wider. By then, there will be no chance for the Shu Han to send troops to the Northern Expedition. I am afraid that only Wei and Wu will conquer the middle of Shu...
After thinking about it, Li Shimin sneered:
"Wang Boyuan, you are a very eloquent person. What you said just now seems to be sincere, and I almost started to admire your words.
However, I am not a fatuous lord, and you and other Yizhou princes will not sincerely support the Northern Expedition. If I were to occupy several states, your suggestion might be realized.
Now we have a state in the middle of Shu with little land and few people, but your Yizhou family controls most of the land and population.
If I compromise with the princes and each enjoys wealth and honor, the imperial court will only become weaker and weaker, and you Yizhou nobles will only become stronger.
Even if the time has come and I want to reorganize the army and start the Northern Expedition, by then the Yizhou princes will be full-fledged, but my court will be withering day by day, I am afraid that you will not be able to give orders to me, right? "
Wang Li saw that His Majesty didn't buy what he said, and was about to make another quibble. However, His Majesty waved his hand and interrupted.
Li Shimin said first without waiting for Wang Li to say more:
"I don't necessarily want to fight to the death with you and other Yizhou people, but the Yizhou princes have too little confidence in me, and they all agree that I will definitely fail in the Northern Expedition.
This has also led to the fact that you just want to stick to Shu and enjoy the glory, and your opinions against my use of foreign troops have increased.
But these are not important anymore. In order to make the Northern Expedition and then unify the world, I still have a lot to do.
I don't have much extra energy to make you and other Yizhou people happy. Those who can trust me, such as Wang Ping, will naturally not treat them badly. Those who are not convinced, I will naturally find ways to convince them. "
Li Shimin saw that Wang Li was listening seriously and was already thinking and thinking. He paused for a moment and then continued:
"It's a pity that a talented person like you made a big mistake that I can't forgive. In order to give an explanation to the deceased Yang Yi and the princes of Jingzhou, I have to punish you."
When Wang Li heard this, he couldn't help but get excited, looked at His Majesty with doubts, and said in his heart: "I am almost convinced by what Your Majesty said, and I have not shown any disobedience.
As long as your majesty gives you a step, I will definitely borrow the donkey from Poxia to show my loyalty to your majesty. Why does Your Majesty suddenly want to punish me again? "
While Wang Lizheng was thinking, he saw His Majesty with his hands behind his back and said seriously:
"Chen Zhong, take Wang Li down. Tomorrow morning I will issue an order to behead Wang Li in public display!"
