Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 133 Wei Zheng's Deathly Advice

Wei Daijia froze.

The plain words of the old rebel Hou Junji really made him feel uneasy.

"That is to say, if we make a mistake in our actions..."

"We are just fellow bandits, the stupidest rebels in the Tang Dynasty who would rather be princes and high officials than become emperors." Hou Junji said without hesitation.

Gulp... Wei Daijia loosened his collar with trembling hands, and suddenly felt that the honey tea in his hand was no longer fragrant.

The two were silent for a while, and then the study door was slammed open.

An unexpected person breaks in.

"How dare you drink tea and chat here?" The person who came in shouted in a hoarse voice. It was Xue Wanche.

He came specially to inform Hou Junji and Wei Daijia to go up the mountain. He originally wanted to pretend that he had escaped from the pursuit of the Red Turban Army and deceive Murong Yan's people.

Unexpectedly, just a few days after he left, Lulong County was in complete chaos, the guards at the city gate were useless, and he swaggered into the provincial capital.

Wei Daijia was somewhat surprised to find that this tough guy was not missing any limbs:

"General Xue, how are you?"

"Look at what I said." Hou Junji drank his tea calmly.

Xue Wanche was a little overwhelmed by these two guys who were out of their element throughout the whole process:
"You two should run away quickly, go to Yingzhou, go to Youzhou, or go up the mountain with me!"

Wei Daijia shook his head seriously:
"No, if we leave, we will be traitors."

Xue Wanche didn't understand the logic behind this, and was too lazy to argue with him, so he got straight to the point:
"Murong Yan has rebelled! He was the one who killed Liu Xin! If you keep hanging on, he will kill you sooner or later!"

"No wonder!" Hou Junji jumped down from the bed:

"No wonder Your Highness has not contacted the state government! I have long felt that there is something wrong with that local emperor."

Wei Daijia was a little annoyed:
"What should we do? We can't leave the state capital, otherwise we will be regarded as traitors by the imperial court!"

Hou Junji has already started packing his bags:

"I have no problem with you wanting to kill the country."

Wei Daijia: ...

…………

The group of three traveled light, packed up a little and ran away with their buckets.

Lulong County has fallen into chaos. The hearts of the people have long since flown to the depths of Yanshan Mountain. Even the guards are looking for red turbans and red hair strings everywhere, ready to "abandon the light and join the dark" at any time.

The state government was in fact paralyzed, except for a bunch of rigid bureaucrats who were still following their long-standing instincts and continuing to punch in for work, so no one cared when the three top leaders from Beijing sneaked out.

As soon as Hou Junji and his two companions left the provincial capital, they looked around furtively.

Finding that no one was paying attention to them, they followed the crowd leaving the city and went up the mountain.

However, they were wrong.

There was a pair of eyes in the dark, watching the three of them.

"Are the three of you leaving the state capital to meet up with Prince Ming?"

Zhang Liang's spies followed quietly and suddenly heard a chaotic noise.

I turned my head and was stunned.

As soon as Hou Junji and his two companions left, a raging fire broke out in the provincial capital!

The fire was so fierce that the officials of Pingzhou Prefecture were afraid that they would be in great danger.

"They have joined the bandits and massacred the imperial officials. These three have really rebelled... We must report this to our superiors immediately!"

The spy immediately changed direction and ran towards the inn.

That night, just as he was sending key information to Chang'an and preparing to return to the inn to rest, he heard a strange noise.

The county gate that had just been closed opened again.

Have the Red Turban bandits already invaded Lulong County... This was his first reaction.

However, it was not the bandits wearing red turbans who entered the city gates.

But it was the Tang army lined up in formation.

"Support from Yingzhou? Have they been allowed to enter Pingzhou? Or are there people coming from Linyu County?"

The spy felt something was amiss and hid in the darkness near the roadside.

Then, the leading officer said a word in Goguryeo.

The spy didn't quite understand what was said, it seemed like "three days" or something.

Then, he watched as these "Tang troops" suddenly turned into beasts, rushed into the houses and shops on the street, smashing and looting.

The city was suddenly in an uproar, with cries, shouts and curses making it a chaotic mess.

The spies saw several "Tang soldiers" coming out of a civilian house with rude smiles on their faces, and holding gold and silver objects in their hands and hanging around their necks.

A woman ran out holding a child:

"My husband is a captain of the Tang Dynasty. How dare you rob our family?"

Several "Tang soldiers" looked at each other, seemingly not understanding what the woman was saying.

But they didn't care. They just picked up their spears and stabbed her and the baby in her arms without any hesitation.

The woman was shocked. She really didn't understand why her own people suddenly went crazy and beat up their own people. Before she died, she subconsciously reached out her hand and pulled off the helmet of one of the "Tang soldiers".

Under the helmet, the man did not have his hair tied up, but instead had a strange braid.

The man's companions laughed, which annoyed him. He drew his sword and cut the bodies of the women and children into pieces. Then he became furious and set fire to the houses.

Fires broke out everywhere in Lulong County.

The people fled in all directions and corpses were scattered all over the ground.

"It's not the Tang army, it's the Goguryeo people. I remember Murong Yan said that the Red Turban bandits have always been in collusion with Goguryeo...

"Those bandits finally let the Goguryeo people in?!"

The spy realized something was wrong and recorded everything he saw in his mind.

…………

At the court meeting, Wei Zheng did not wear an official hat, but a red turban.

Li Shimin's mouth twitched and he pretended not to see it.

"He is not well-groomed and should be beaten with sticks!" Imperial Censor Wei Ting impeached him directly.

Wei Zheng was waiting for this reason, and said loudly:

"I dare not. But since Your Majesty intends to hand over the Tang Dynasty to the bandits, I have no choice but to obey your orders."

Li Shimin's face suddenly turned red and white.

Zhang Sun Wuji was also restless and immediately jumped out and scolded:
"Wei Zheng! You spread lies to confuse the people and roar at the court. What else do you want?"

However, Wei Zheng glanced at him, sneered, and continued to output:

"I advise Lord Changsun to prepare early and learn from me to wear a turban and sell his land. When the Red Turban Army reaches Chang'an, he may be able to survive."

"You...!" Chang Sun Yan's face turned red with anger.

Li Shimin took a long breath.

"Wei Zheng, you don't need to be sarcastic. You might as well put it more clearly."

"Isn't what I said clear enough?" Wei Zheng suddenly raised his voice:
"I have been talking about the bandit problem in Pingzhou for months! Your Majesty, have you heard it?
“They started from humble beginnings, and you didn’t care. They established their regime, and you didn’t care.

"They have destroyed the capital of Pingzhou, burned to death the imperial officials, and disregarded the dignity of the Tang Dynasty, and you still do nothing!
"Now, they have finally joined forces with Goguryeo and massacred the people of the Tang Dynasty! Are you still...

"Cough cough!"

Wei Zheng became so excited that he couldn't help coughing violently.

Li Shimin was not the only one who suffered and lost weight in the past few months.

There is more of him.

Your Majesty is clearly a wise ruler, but you keep procrastinating on the matter of Pingzhou.

It was delayed until the situation got out of control, until the Red Turban bandits openly rebelled, and until the people of Pingzhou were in dire straits!
Stupid! Stupid!
"Xuancheng..." Li Shimin felt a little distressed:

"I know what you mean, please take a break."

Although this farmer from Hebei kept arguing with him all day long.

But Li Shimin knew very well that everything Wei Zheng did was for the Tang Dynasty.

"I will not rest! I have not slept for days and nights! If your place rots a little, the whole Tang Dynasty will rot!"

Wei Zheng's words were so powerful that they attracted the attention of all the ministers.

This is no longer the realm of “speaking frankly and daring to give advice”.

This is pointing at the emperor's nose and calling him a tyrant in front of everyone!
Li Shimin's face darkened, and he held his aching forehead and whispered:
"Xuancheng, you came to court today just to curse like a shrew?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! I scolded you to wake you up!"

Facing the emperor's direct gaze, Wei Zheng did not avoid it.

This old minister exudes the spirit of "I will go forward even if there are tens of thousands of people against me."

He has been patient for several months since the uprising in Liaodong.

Now, he doesn't want to endure it anymore.

Because according to the latest intelligence, the Red Turban bandits colluded with foreign enemies and let Goguryeo in, and the common people were ravaged. This has broken all the bottom lines.

"Your Majesty, bandits are separatist, barbarians are plundering and wreaking havoc, the people of the Tang Dynasty are in dire straits, and the Tang army, which is so close, is not moving at all.

"How dare I rest? How can I rest?"

Wei Zheng was heartbroken:

"Your Majesty, how long are you going to delay until Goguryeo occupies the entire Yanshan Mountains, places its troops at the gates of Youzhou, and joins forces with the Xueyantuo?"

His tearful words moved all the ministers present.

They all understood the principles Wei Zheng talked about, and they also had the same questions Wei Zheng had.

How long are we going to keep letting the Red Turban Army go and delay like this?
Will it drag on until the country is destroyed?
The civil and military officials did not say anything, but their silence represented everything.

Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling could no longer hide the fact that people were on the right side of the political spectrum.

Because this time, the Red Turban Bandits really went too far.

Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng dimly and said:

"This matter... may not be true. The saying that 'the Red Turban bandits and Goguryeo are colluding' is just one-sided words of the local aristocratic family Murong Yan.

"And Hou Junji's previous correspondence also hinted that Murong Yan might not be trustworthy..."

As he spoke, Li Shimin's voice became softer.

He also felt that this argument was weak.

Because Hou Junji, Wei Daijia and Xue Wanche have already rebelled.

The moment the three of them left Pingzhou Prefecture, the prefecture mysteriously caught fire, killing countless officials and clerks.

This is corroborated by multiple eyewitnesses.

Since then, there has been no news of the three people.

From that day on, everyone inside and outside the imperial court had tacitly acknowledged that the leader of the Red Turban bandits was Li Ming.

The chaos in Pingzhou also got a simple and reasonable explanation:

Li Ming, together with Hou Junji and others, colluded with Goguryeo and attempted to split Liaodong...

Rebellion against Tang!

"Your Majesty, how long are you going to deceive yourself?"

Wei Zheng's tone softened, but his words were heartbreaking:
"Just because the leader of the rebellion is your son, you are going to tolerate him to the end?

"Don't you know how many sons, daughters, parents and wives have lost their lives because of Li Ming's evil deeds?!"

All the officials were as silent as cicadas.

Li Shimin trembled all over as if he had been hit by an arrow.

After a while, he spoke weakly, his voice trembling:

"You...want to force me to kill my own son?"

Wei Zheng straightened his back, lowered his head, and took a fearless step forward:
"I'm not killing my son, I'm just killing a traitor!"

Really loud.

No one dared to second the motion, but no one opposed it either.

Despite such outrageous remarks in court, Wei Zheng was not impeached by anyone for disrespect.

The silence of the ministers represents their attitude.

Changsun Wuji lowered his head and secretly observed His Majesty's expression.

Fang Xuanling still had no expression on his face, but his complexion was gloomy, and it was obvious that he had spent several sleepless nights thinking hard and to no avail.

Li Shimin was like a sculpture, motionless.

After a long while, he suddenly shouted angrily, like thunder in a summer night:

"roll!"

Having said this, he walked away, leaving all the officials staring in astonishment.

Before leaving, he did not forget to give Changsun Wuji a fierce look:
"Kill Li Ming and you'll get what you want!"

Changsun Wuji: ???
No, Your Majesty, this really has nothing to do with me...

…………

After the court was dismissed, Wei Zheng returned to his home and suddenly collapsed.

"Father!" Wei Shuyu hurriedly supported him.

Although Wei Zheng was full of energy in the court, his health was actually very poor.

As he was old, he had many worries, and the events in Pingzhou had been weighing on his mind for several months.

In addition, after learning that Hou Junji had completely rebelled and Goguryeo had moved south, he had not slept well in the past few days.

You have to know that what they learned in Chang'an was what happened in Pingzhou eight or nine days ago.

Now, who knows what kind of hell Pingzhou has become...

Whenever he thought of this, he couldn't sleep.

"I... I'm fine. Help me go to the study." Wei Zheng sat cross-legged and said weakly.

Wei Shuyu burst into tears and knelt on the ground and kowtowed:

"Father, please take a break! His Majesty won't listen to anything you say..."

"Help me up and go to the study!" Wei Zheng shouted again.

Wei Shuyu didn't dare to talk back and could only help his trembling old father up while wiping away his tears.

He was surprised to find that his father, who was quite tall, was as light as a piece of dry firewood.

"Father, I'll ask the servants to stew it for you..."

"Don't come in until I open the door."

Wei Zheng gave a cold order and closed the door of the study, locking his worried son out.

He sat down in his seat, let out a long sigh, cleared out a small space on the piled-up desk, twirled his pen, ground the ink, and began writing furiously.

Whether His Majesty reads it or not, he must write what he wants to write in a memorial and submit it.

This is his duty as a minister, and it is also the principle that makes him a human being.

Wei Zheng was not a stubborn person. He first followed Li Mi of Wagangzhai, then followed Li Jiancheng, and finally followed Li Shimin. He could also be very flexible.

But what Your Majesty did - or rather, what he did not do - in regard to the Pingzhou incident made him extremely angry.

Is this what a wise ruler does to delay a minor illness into a serious one and allow the barbarians to take advantage of the situation?
China has finally emerged from the shadow of the Five Barbarians' Invasion. Is it going to open its doors again and return to that dark period?
Your Majesty is still too emotional!

As an emperor, as the son of heaven, you should be like heaven, treating all things as straw dogs, and governing the world rationally, equally, and ruthlessly!

Wei Zheng put into writing everything he wanted to say, the emperor's words and deeds he wanted to advise, and the principles he wanted to convey.

As he wrote, he suddenly felt relaxed all over, as if he was floating in the air. The long-lasting fatigue and boredom disappeared.

He really felt like he was floating in the air, as if he had flown into the sky and was overlooking the earth.

In the city of Chang'an, the lights were turned on and the city was bright.

In the countryside, families are prosperous and live and work in peace and contentment.

Looking at Taiji Palace from afar.

Your Majesty is in the prime of his life, just like when he first ascended the throne. He is full of vigor and energy, and works hard to govern the country, sweeping away the haze that has shrouded China for hundreds of years.

What a prosperous and beautiful scene that made Wei Zheng linger.

Good, that's great...

…………

into the night.

Father hasn't come out of the study yet.

After much thought, Wei Shuyu finally made up his mind. He went against his father's instructions and gently knocked on the study door.

"Father, you must be starving. Eat something first and then write later."

There was no sound of rebuke from the father, and the study was quiet.

Wei Shuyu felt strange and shouted a few more times:
"Father, father?"

Still no response.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The study was dark and there was no light.