Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 218 The Eve of the Civil War
"Minister Liu, take care~"

into the night.

Li Qianyou said goodbye to the Yellow Gate Minister Liu Li with a smile on his face, and walked back to his room yawning.

He was about to jump off ship.

In the past, he never took sides, let alone got involved in dramas like "Four sons fighting for the throne".

This is an important reason why he has been able to remain standing despite years of officialdom and the many hardships he has experienced.

But the past was the past and the present is the present.

He has already offended the future Majesty Li Ming, and his amulet - Brother Li Jing - is about to expire.

If he continues to cling to the old dogmas, he will be in big trouble.

So, when he heard that His Royal Highness Prince Li Zhi of Jin was recruiting talents, he approached him without hesitation.

Although it is difficult for a little kid leading a group of ministers with evil intentions to confront His Royal Highness the Regent head-on.

But for Li Qianyou, he had no better choice.

"The noble families have actually been dissatisfied with 'that' prince for a long time, but he has been backed by His Majesty recently and has been arrogant and domineering, so everyone has to tolerate him temporarily.

"If there is a change in the world, it is still unclear whether the people will support it or not."

Li Qianyou was thinking in his mind, and naturally excluded ordinary people from the scope of "public opinion".

Just as he was getting undressed and getting into bed, the servant suddenly came to report:
"Ming Mansion... Yes, there are guests coming..."

"Who? Who would come to my house at this time?" Li Qianyou's tone was already unhappy.

The servant stammered:

"Yes Yes……"

"it's me."

An official in a red robe came uninvited with a few yamen runners.

Li Qianyou squinted his eyes and identified it for a long time under the light:

"Minister of Justice, Liu Dequan..."

He suppressed his anger and smiled flatteringly:

"Minister Liu, what's so urgent that you come to me at this time..."

Liu Dequan said in a muffled voice: "It's urgent, come with me."

"No problem, wait till I get dressed... Hey hey hey!"

Li Qianyou wanted to put on his official robe but was dragged off the bed by two yamen runners.

"Your Majesty the Regent has urgent orders. There is no time to delay."

The disheveled Chang'an Ling was dragged across the yard and thrown into the prison van of the Ministry of Justice.

The servants along the way looked around curiously, wanting to laugh but not daring to. They pretended not to see anything, with a tense expression on their faces.

"Hey you guys... forget it."

Li Qianyou was completely embarrassed after being exposed in public in front of the servants.

But no matter how resentful he was, he could only endure it by relying on his years of cultivating his energy.

A little impatience will ruin a great plan. Now that Your Majesty and Brother Li Jing are still here, I guess the young prince won't dare to do anything to him.

…………

Arrived at the Ministry of Justice.

Nothing happened.

A few people threw the disheveled Li Qianyou into the interrogation room and went about their own business.

It is almost late autumn now, and it is still very cold in the middle of the night.

When the county magistrate was about to have bubbles of snot from the cold, a chief clerk arrived late.

"Mr. Li Mingfu, I have a question for you."

After all the hassle of the night, even someone as sophisticated as Li Qianyou was getting impatient and asked unhappily:
"what is the problem?"

The chief clerk asked:
"Recently, many wealthy officials and merchants in the capital have been defrauded by the Sogdians. Does the governor know about this?"

"I don't know." Li Qianyou skillfully uttered the three-word mantra.

The chief clerk did not say much, but simply wrote down what Li Qianyou said, and then handed him the notes in his hand:

"If you have no objection, please sign and confirm."

As an old hand who has been invited for tea several times, Li Qianyou is very familiar with this process.

He squinted his eyes and read it through, making sure that the clerk did not write down anything strange, and then signed it readily.

After completing this process, the Ministry of Justice did not make things difficult for him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ming, please."

The chief clerk pointed to Li Qianyou the direction of the exit.

Obviously, there was no intention to send Li Mingfu back.

Li Qianyou's mouth twitched:
"Then...can you at least send someone to my house to notify the servants to pick me up?"

The chief clerk had already left and no one paid any attention to him.

Li Qianyou took a deep breath.

Okay, okay, that’s how I want to play it, right?

It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge after ten years!

…………

The next night.

"Ah!"

Li Qianyou caught a cold after being troubled by the Ministry of Justice's actions last night. He refused to see any visitors that day and went to bed early to rest.

Then, people from the Ministry of Justice came again.

"Mr. Li Mingfu." Liu Dequan bowed again.

Li Qianyou's eyelids twitched, and he said weakly:

"Can you..."

"Sure, sure." Liu Dequan was very generous this time.

"This time I can wait until you are dressed."

Isn't this asking me to report to the yamen tonight... Li Qianyou has more or less guessed that it is His Royal Highness the Regent who is torturing him in various ways.

A naughty kid is a naughty kid. His helpless and furious look is quite naughty... He muttered silently and followed Shangshu Liu to the Ministry of Justice.

Just like yesterday, he was left alone for a long time today. It was almost dawn when the chief clerk finally arrived.

"Regarding the recent Sogdian fraud case, someone came to report it to you, Mr. Li Mingfu. Is this true?" the chief clerk asked simply.

Li Qianyou had been locked up until he was unconscious, so he nodded without even thinking:
"That's what happened."

Just sign it quickly and leave.

…………

Day three.

When Shangshu Liu Dequan arrived at Li Qianyou's house, Old Li had already put on his clothes and was waiting.

"Again? Asking boring questions every day, is that interesting?"

After not getting a good night's sleep for three consecutive days, Li Qianyou has become impatient.

Even towards the Minister of Justice, who was of higher official rank than himself, his attitude was not very nice.

Liu Dequan agreed repeatedly:
"Tonight is the last time. After tonight, I will never bother Mr. Li Ming again."

When they arrived at the place, this time Li Qianyou was not left waiting for a long time.

Someone was already waiting for him at the door.

It was a wretched young boy, about ten years old, staring at him with sparkling eyes.

"Mandarin Li Ming... hehe, I finally got you." The young man hunched his back, exuding an awkward aura that was both innocent and extremely vulgar.

"who are you?"

Li Qianyou frowned in disdain.

He smelled the poverty of the common people from this young man.

"His name is Lai Junchen." Liu Dequan was obviously very afraid of Lai Junchen and introduced him briefly:
"He's here to interrogate you."

Li Qianyou was immediately unhappy:

"What crime have I committed that you want to interrogate me?"

Liu Dequan took out two pages of interrogation records:
"Are the words on it all written by the Ming Mansion himself?"

Li Qianyou nodded:

"Yes."

Liu Dequan pointed to two statements in the corner of the interrogation record:

"'If it is not true, I am willing to bear the corresponding legal consequences' - I believe that this sentence must have been familiar to Li Mingfu when he signed it?"

Li Qianyou frowned.

He was so tired at the time that he didn't look carefully at all.

However, he did sign the transcript himself and he cannot deny it.

"What does Minister Liu want to say?" He felt that something was wrong.

Liu Dequan smiled:
“Li Mingfu, the day before yesterday you claimed that you had no knowledge of the Sogdian fraud case, but yesterday you claimed that the victim had clearly reported the case to you.

"Your testimony is inconsistent. You must not have told the truth. You are well aware of the consequences of not telling the truth, so the Ministry of Justice has sent a formal letter asking you to assist in the investigation."

Li Qianyou's facial muscles twitched.

Been tricked.

To arrest an official of the fifth rank or above, a joint signature from the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate is required.

But “assisting in the investigation” does not require this.

"I hope you will not break the law knowingly. I will be detained for a maximum of six hours."

Li Qianyou, a seasoned man, is already familiar with the relevant laws:

"And you can't torture me."

"No problem, no problem." Lai Junchen said:
"As long as there are no visible scars on the body, there was no torture."

Li Qianyou felt like something was wrong.

"Li Mingfu."

Liu Dequan patted his shoulder, as if he was looking at a dead person:
"Take care of yourself."

"what?"

Li Qianyou was stunned.

Minister Liu had already left with his men, leaving behind only two jailers.

In the small room, only Li Qianyou and the commoner boy named Lai Junchen were left.

Li Mingfu didn't even look at the other person, and was thinking in his mind with great ease.

Assisting in the investigation, he will be detained for half a day at most.

As long as he doesn't talk nonsense for the next half day, even the Regent won't be able to do anything to him.

"Li Shuang Li Qianyou, do you recognize me?"

Lai Junchen asked him gently.

Li Qianyou ignored him completely.

What kind of person is worthy of talking to him?

"You are also a noble person who forgets things easily. I will recall them for you."

Lai Junchen's lips curled up in an exaggerated arc and he slowly closed the door.

That night, bursts of shrill wails were heard from the Ministry of Justice.

…………

"Li Qianyou has confessed everything?"

The next day, Li Ming summoned Lai Junchen directly to the palace. "Yes, he gave us a lot of interesting information. For example, Li Jing, the Duke of Weiguo, actually had an unclear relationship with Xiao Xin's forces, etc."

Lai Junchen said with his back straight.

"I already know about Lord Li Wei's affairs. I'm sure Father is also aware of it. He doesn't need him to sell out his brother for fame."

Li Ming waved his hand and looked curiously at Lai Junchen who was standing with his back straight.

For some reason, Li Ming always felt that after interrogating the Chang'an Ling he had been thinking about, this guy's entire temperament changed.

"You'd better find out something." Li Ming sighed and patted the pile of accusations on the table.

"You've driven Li Qianyou crazy, but the emperor specifically told us not to touch him before he left.

"Now, a bunch of ministers have used this as an excuse to impeach me for disobeying the king's orders."

If it were usual, Lai Junchen would definitely make some greasy noises and push the pot away.

But today, he was surprisingly honest.

"Your Highness can just kill me, that will at least shut up those officials."

Li Ming raised his eyebrows:
"This is not like you, what's wrong with you today?"

How come after he bullied Li Qianyou, he seemed like a different person?

"He once had a case that he couldn't solve, so he arrested me and made me take the blame. I was tortured." Lai Junchen brushed it off lightly and changed the subject:
"That fraud was indeed committed by him. The other Sogdians were just his white gloves."

It is basically consistent with what Li Xiaogong's sixth concubine, An, had said.

"Was the defrauded money also transported to the Youyun area under his orders?" Li Ming asked.

Lai Junchen shook his head:

"he does not know."

What this means is that there is someone behind Li Qianyou.

This is not unexpected at all.

"Who is behind him? Did he mention 'King of Qi' or 'Li You'?"

Li Ming went straight to the point.

If, if the person behind the scenes manipulating Li Qianyou once again used the white gloves of "Prince Qi Li You"...

That is a very, very big problem.

Lai Junchen shook his head and said:

"No."

Huh... Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief silently.

"Li Qianyou said that the person who gave him the idea and asked him to do this,

"It's Li Tai, the Prince of Wei."

…………

Lai Junchen left.

Li Ming sat alone in the study, his face livid.

The truth is out and the matter is serious.

It is known that Li Tai had attempted to assassinate the emperor and the crown prince in the Jiucheng Palace incident.

Now, Li Tai strikes again.

Most likely, the sword was directed at those two people.

Transporting copper and iron to the grassland, increasing the armor rate of the Xueyantuo, and improving their combat effectiveness in a short period of time can indeed cause certain troubles to the Tang army.

However, if you think you can use Xueyantuo's knife to kill Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, then you are really thinking too much.

Judging from the cunning Li Tai showed in the Jiucheng Palace incident, he must have prepared a series of tricks for his emperor father.

"Cen Wenben..."

Li Ming suddenly remembered this minion of Li Tai.

Cen Wenben went to the Daxianbei Mountain to contact the Shiwei tribe, ostensibly to seek reinforcements for the Tang Dynasty.

What if this Shiwei tribe is not helping the Tang Dynasty?

But what about Li Tai and Xueyantuo?
What if, besides the Shiwei, there are other forces that will stab the Tang army in the back at the critical moment?
By that time, can the emperor still be as stable as a rock?
"But now is different from the past. Even if Li Tai really killed the emperor and the crown prince, he would not be able to take the throne...

"I am the next person in charge. Is he paving the way for me to take the position?"

This is of course impossible. Li Ming was thinking about the strategy that Li Tai might use to deal with him.

It didn't take him long.

"army……"

The uneasiness that had always been lingering deep in my heart was immediately magnified infinitely.

According to Di Renjie's intelligence, Li Tai had been contacting the other seven princes who were away.

These eight princes all had some nominal military power to a greater or lesser extent, some being the generals of the Sixteen Guards, or the governors of the Military Governor's Office.

For example, Li Tai theoretically still controlled half of the capital's security forces - the Zuo Wuhou Guard.

When the emperor is still alive, this so-called "military power" is useless and the soldiers will not listen to them.

But, if something happens to the emperor...

Isn't this honorary position going to become a real job?
If the seven princes with military power attacked Chang'an under Li Tai's instigation...

Oh my god, the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, right?

What a hell.

I used to think that those illegitimate brothers were nothing but good-for-nothings and insignificant.

Unexpectedly, he became the key figure in deciding the throne of the Li family!

"Calm down, first call where my aircraft carrier fleet is..."

In Liaodong, it is three thousand miles away from Chang'an.

When he first became regent, Li Ming wanted to transfer the Red Turban Army to Beijing to support the emperor so that he could sleep more peacefully.

However, Li Shimin was still alive, and this operation, which was highly suspected to be an attempt to usurp the throne, was too much like performance art and was stopped by everyone.

So as to prevent His Majesty Li Shimin from sleeping restlessly on the front line in Mo Nan.

However, now it is probably too late to mobilize troops!
If Emperor Li II met with any misfortune, Li Tai would immediately take command of the army and attack from Luoyang.

The Red Turban Army cannot quench immediate thirst with distant water!

"Do the other armies under my control have the strength to fight?"

Li Ming counted his strength.

When something happened to Emperor Li Shimin, such as being captured, losing contact, or... dying.

Theoretically, Li Ming's power as regent was unlimited.

He had the power to order all the Zhechoufu in the country to mobilize immediately and go to the capital to purge the emperor's side (literally).

However, as mentioned earlier, in reality, because Emperor Li II's Northern Expedition drained the elite troops from Guanzhong, the capital and the areas to the north were left empty, and the Zhechoufu became an empty shell with almost no soldiers.

The Zhechoufu further south encountered the same embarrassing situation as the Liaodong soldiers - they had no time to enter the capital.

Therefore, if Li Ming wants to resist the army of the Eight Kings, he must use the ready-made troops in the capital.

The "gatekeeper general" of the imperial palace, the left and right gate guards, and the imperial guards in the palace were all at his disposal at any time.

As for the left and right Wuhou Guards in the capital, that may not be the case.

The nominal generals of these two armies were Li Tai and Li Zhi.

If anything happens to the emperor, their position cannot be relied upon.

Not to mention helping His Royal Highness the Regent to fight against the rebels, they themselves would be considered loyal to the emperor and patriotic if they didn't kidnap little brother Li Ming and hand him over to big brother Li Tai.

As for the most critical Xuanwu Gate Left and Right Guards, it can only be said that their attitude is more subtle than that of the Left and Right Wuhou Guards.

After realizing that the capital was empty, Li Ming consciously increased the rewards for the garrison guards and went to Xuanwu Gate to win people's hearts whenever he had time.

In addition, Li Ming enjoys a very high reputation among the people.

The middle and lower levels of the garrison still support him very much.

However, the real leader of the Tunwei, Li Junxian, has not made a clear statement...

"Eunuch Wang."

Li Ming called out.

An eunuch stepped forward quickly and asked, "Your Highness?"

"Please invite the Garrison General Li Junxian to come into the palace for a chat."

"Yes."

The eunuch trotted all the way to Xuanwu Gate.

After a long time, he came back alone.

"Where is General Li?" Li Ming's face looked a little unfriendly.

"That..." Eunuch Wang hesitated.

"General Li said that he is just a gatekeeper and only obeys the orders of Your Majesty. It is not appropriate for him to get too close to the princes..."

Oh, are you pretending to be noble with me? A few days ago, I gladly accepted the invitation to a banquet from His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin. Why don't you know how to avoid suspicion?

Li Ming placed a spy next to Li Junxian, so he had a certain understanding of the other party's whereabouts.

In this way, Li Junxian's actual position was also revealed.

"Tsk, trouble..." Li Ming smacked his lips.

The situation was more serious than he had expected.

If Li Shimin met with an unexpected accident, the eight kings headed by Li Tai would gain military power.

In Chang'an, he would quickly find himself in a situation where he was outnumbered!

In the event that the garrison guards might rebel, even the palace would be unsafe!
This is Li Tai’s complete conspiracy, linked together in every detail!
What’s even more disgusting about this trick is that even Li Ming realized it.

He couldn't even make targeted strategic deployments.

Because nothing had happened to Li Shimin yet, he did not have the authority to command troops in various places.

Everyone is in a pause state, this civil war game has not yet begun!
"What should we do? Go to Liaodong? Just give up Chang'an and leave the country in this mess?"

Li Ming thought for a moment and stood up without hesitation.

"Your Highness, are you returning to the harem?" Eunuch Wang greeted him enthusiastically.

Li Ming briefly said:
"Call the imperial guards and go to Lizheng Palace."

The murderous aura filled the air, and the eunuch Wang turned pale instantly.

Finally, after a period of diligent work, the naughty prince is finally going to reveal his extreme nature...

He did not dare to delay and immediately went to summon the imperial guards.

Li Ming didn't say another word and walked out of the Liangyi Hall, having already made corresponding plans in his mind.

The first step is to control Li Zhi!
Because Li Tai is not the only one with dishonest little hands.

And there is Li Zhi.

Similar to Li Tai, Li Zhi also controlled the other half of the capital's security forces - the Youwuhou Guard, and he was also connecting with his clans.

According to the information from Di Renjie's father Di Zhixun.

Li Ming's taciturn and scheming brother has been colluding with a dozen or so uncles left by old man Li Yuan.

Those imperial uncles also have military power!
It is not known whether Li Zhi joined forces with Li Tai to rebel, or whether he was simply imitating Li Tai's actions to increase his military bargaining chips.

No matter what his intentions are, Li Ming must control him.

"Damn it, if I had known earlier, I would have shot these two rebels right from the start..."

Li Ming felt a little regretful.

At the beginning, he wanted to keep his distance from the third legitimate son and perform a fairy tale drama of "brotherly love and respect" for his father Li Shimin.

In order to avoid being accused of "fratricide", which would anger Li Shimin and ruin his own future.

And now, Li Ming just wants to fuck.

There is no possibility of peaceful coexistence with these legitimate sons.

They must be treated extremely and completely.

When everyone says you're extreme, you'd better really be.

(End of this chapter)