Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 301 Li Shimin: Falling into a trap

Li Chengqian felt that his father, the retired emperor, was deceiving him, and he had evidence.

Li Ming has already deployed his troops north of the river and east of Mount Tai.

Even a fool knows that Central Plains will be the main battlefield.

However, according to Li Shimin's "grand plan", the country's main combat forces, even including a considerable part of the troops originally deployed on the Central Plains front during the "Eight Kings Rebellion", were transferred to Yangzhou!
Now that they have decided not to land and have not filled the empty defenses in the Central Plains, they are just letting a large number of troops sit in Yangzhou Harbor and stare at each other in amazement. What is the point of this?
Open the door to welcome thieves?

Are we hoping that Li Ming will have a brain accident and not attack the Central Plains and Guanzhong, but instead march south from Qi and Lu to Xuzhou and Yangzhou?

If it was in the past, then my father must have had his reasons for doing this.

But now, Li Chengqian felt that he needed to remind his old father, whose mind was sometimes not so clear:
"Father, the Central Plains is not only a rich land, but also the gateway to Guanzhong. The Central Plains is poorly guarded. If the enemy takes advantage of this opportunity to enter, they will go straight to Tongguan."

Li Shimin glanced at him with his drooping right eye, and the left corner of his mouth curled up, but the right half did not move, giving people a feeling of a fake smile:
"I know."

This made Li Chengqian even more uncertain:

"Wouldn't the defense of the Central Plains be empty? If the pseudo-Ming attacks, we will lose a large area of ​​fertile land."

Li Shimin's smile deepened:

"I know too."

Li Chengqian was almost going crazy:
"Then why don't you rush to help the Central Plains?"

"What's the point of rushing to help now?" Li Shimin shrugged.
"It will take several days to move the large army back from Yangzhou to the Central Plains battlefield. It will take several more days to rest, garrison, and form combat effectiveness. It will take at least ten days in total.

“And within these ten days, the Ming Dynasty may launch a full-scale attack at any time.

"What's the difference between sending the troops back now and trying to stop the boiling water by adding more water?"

Li Chengqian's brain froze for a while, and he couldn't hold it anymore:
"But wasn't it you, father, who sent the troops to that damn place in Yangzhou?!"

What are you saying now?!
Li Shimin's smile gradually widened:

"Yes."

Li Chengqian took a breath and whispered:

"I am just guessing, I hope your Majesty can clarify -

"Do you really want me to give up the Tang Dynasty and hand over the world to Shisi Lang?"

The tone was so serious that even the words used became formal.

However, this question made Li Shimin stunned. He stood there for a long time, and then he laughed so hard that he fell backwards:

"Hahaha! Dalang, ah Dalang, have you always believed this?"

He laughed so hard that he had a headache before he could catch his breath.

"Of course not! I am the emperor emeritus. The ownership of the world has nothing to do with me anymore."

He spoke in a very detached manner, totally like a retired cadre.

Yet his eyes burned with fire.

It was like the purest desire to win aroused by a lion king when he was challenged by another young lion in his territory.

The aura of the real dragon was so great that even the emperor could hardly look at it directly.

"Then..." Li Chengqian's arrogance was suppressed all of a sudden, and he asked with some grievance:

"So, what should we do next?
"Father, you said that Li Ming is about to launch a full-scale attack on the front. Is this true?

“If it’s true, how should we respond?”

Li Shimin slowly lay down on the couch and said lazily:
"Give me the military power. I have a clever plan that can solve this dilemma."

Li Chengqian controlled his mouth from twitching and asked patiently:
"Father, what's the trick?"

"Snore, snore..." The only answer he got was his old father's heavy snoring.

Li Chengqian: "...Father, you are actually pretending to sleep, right?"

"Snoring, snore..." Li Shimin turned over on the couch and turned his back to him.

Li Dalang suddenly realized that he seemed to have fallen into a trap.

Transferring a large army to Yangzhou under the pretext of supporting Silla was actually a scam.

Old Li saw through his eldest son's unwillingness to completely transfer the military power, and deliberately created a deadlock.

Only Lao Li can solve this problem.

Either hand over the military power to your father, or hand over the world to your younger brother.

It should be said that he is worthy of being the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Even when he had a stroke, he did not forget to play such a trick...

Li Chengqian suppressed the dark impulse in his heart and said quietly:

"Everything I have was given by my father, so why not give it back to him? You don't have to be so scheming."

Li Shimin did not answer, but the snoring stopped and he just turned his back to his eldest son.

There was silence on both sides for a long time, just when Li Chengqian thought his father was really asleep.

Li Shimin asked calmly:

"What made us, father and son, suspicious of each other? Was it power?"

Is that so... Li Chengqian just put a question mark in his mind.

"Power is like firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. Do you know Cheng Qian?" Li Shimin said quietly.

"What does it mean? It's very important?" Li Chengqian patiently tried to follow his old father's train of thought.

Li Shimin lay down and shook his head:
"It means, I have what others don't have, others have what I don't have—

"Including between father and son."

Li Chengqian's expression became serious.

"So the relationship between the emperor and the prince has always been difficult." Li Shimin said bluntly:

"As a son, I naturally hope that my father will live longer. But as a crown prince, the later I ascend the throne, the less power I will have, and the more fear I will have.

"And the emperor naturally knows the prince's little thoughts, because the emperor himself has been through the same thing."

Li Chengqian felt that the direction of the topic was not good, and the darkness in his heart was about to stir.

"Father, I have absolutely no such intention!" He said in a way that was intended to cover up his mistake.

Li Shimin did not continue the conversation, but abruptly changed the subject:

"Have you read the 'Emperor's Model' that I dictated to you?"

Does this have anything to do with today's topic? Is Father confused?

Li Chengqian muttered in his heart, but still gave the standard answer:
"Every word in your father's masterpiece is a gem, and contains profound principles of governing a country. I study it day and night and am deeply inspired..."

Li Shimin waved his hand, interrupting his son's polite words.

“That crappy book is written for historians. It has too much nonsense. You can read it when you are bored.

"What I want to teach you today are a few words from my heart."

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows:
"Is that what father is talking about, the mind of an emperor?"

"It's not something so superficial." Li Shimin denied it bluntly:
"The theory of the Legalists is nothing more than a tool. Don't lose sight of the main point and treat the tool as the goal."

Li Chengqian's eyebrows quickly frowned again:
"Forgive me for being so stupid that I didn't understand."

"You know what it means to be Confucian on the outside and legalist on the inside, right?" Li Shimin asked.

Li Chengqian nodded: "I know this, it has been like this since the Han Dynasty."

To govern the world with benevolence and to control the subjects with the mentality of an emperor - these are the basic skills that qualified rulers of every dynasty must possess.

"This is what mediocre kings do. You shouldn't learn from them." However, Li Shimin sang a different tune to the emperor's "peer practice" which was almost the truth.

Li Chengqian became more and more confused about what his father meant.

The old father's thinking is becoming more and more unconventional.

If there is some logical connection between giving Li Ming an open door and wanting to take back the military power.

The subsequent discussion about the suspicion between father and son, and about power and governance, completely deviated from the main topic.

Will this help Li Chengqian and the Tang Dynasty escape from the imminent crisis? Is it time to chat about the world?
"Father, what do you want to say? I am willing to hand over the military power to you, why do you still seem dissatisfied?"

He couldn't help but ask.

Li Shimin seemed to have not heard his son's question at all, and continued to speak:
“In fact, the true governance of a country is not Confucianism on the outside and law on the inside.

"It's a law on the outside and a Confucian on the inside."

"Father, you didn't answer my question..." Li Chengqian was about to get impatient, but he was stunned:
"Legal outside, Confucian inside? What does this mean?"

It is really strange to arrange Confucianism and Legalism in this order.

Confucian benevolence has natural moral advantages. Whoever listens to it will like it, so it is naturally put "outside" to win people's hearts.

The Legalists’ political tactics are too utilitarian. They sound bad if spoken out loud and should be kept hidden inside.

But you reverse the order, hiding the bright and beautiful disguise inside and exposing the naked political power outside. What is your motivation?
Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?

"Legalism on the outside and Confucianism on the inside" means that the power you consolidate by using Legalist tactics is ultimately for the purpose of implementing Confucian benevolent governance.

Li Shimin said slowly:

“Rather than fighting for power for its own sake like the Legalists did.

"What is the difference between this kind of fool who is obsessed with power itself and a beast who is obsessed with appetite and lust? It's just buying the casket and returning the pearl."

Li Chengqian could not fully understand what Lao Li meant. He felt that what the other party was talking about was still the outdated Confucian "benevolent government".

He also did not intend to dwell on macro-narratives such as "philosophy of governance". He was only concerned with more pressing practical issues: "Father, does this have anything to do with your plan to regain military power and fight back against Li Ming?"

Alas... Li Shimin turned his back to his eldest son who inherited his empire, sighed silently, and said with emotion:

"The only one who understands me is Li Ming."

Li Chengqian's eyebrows are so sharp that they can kill flies.

Li Shimin completely ignored his eldest son's displeasure and continued:
“I am not talking about the benevolent government advocated by Confucius, but the benevolent government with Legalism as an external factor.

"That is to say, in order to achieve peace and order in the world, the ruler of a country should use the methods of the Legalists.

"That is, use whatever means necessary."

Li Chengqian didn't quite understand: "Father, you mean..."

"I am a sentimental person, and the passing of old friends always brings me a lot of pain." Li Shimin seemed to have changed the subject, but then changed the subject.

"However, I still have no regrets about killing my two brothers at Xuanwu Gate with my own hands."

What does this have to do with Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji...Oh?

Li Chengqian felt as if he could gradually catch up with his old father's somewhat fragmented logic.

"Father, you mean...

"In order for you to be able to rule the country and implement the benevolent policies you envisioned, you had to... kill Crown Prince Yin and King Chaola?"

Li Shimin agreed without hesitation:

“Any wise ruler in my position should have made the same choice.

"Otherwise, he would not be a qualified monarch."

Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment, and his breathing suddenly became rapid.

He felt as if he understood the meaning of his father's words.

From the fundamental contradictions between military power, power, the emperor and the crown prince, to the so-called "legalism on the outside and Confucianism on the inside", the Xuanwu Gate Incident, which used any means to achieve its goals...

All this points to one fact:

"Father, do you mean that he is a stumbling block on my road to power? As long as he is alive, the Tang army will never obey me?
"Does he want me to...kill him?"

Li Chengqian was shocked by his own understanding.

"No, how is this possible...

"But why did he bring up the matter of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji?"

Just as he was racking his brains to come to an answer, a sweet and familiar female voice rang in his ears:

"Your Highness is so kindhearted. Even at this point, you are still hesitating whether to take action or not?"

Li Chengqian was not at all surprised by the sudden voice and spoke naturally:

"But, Mei Niang... now with the army approaching and the gates wide open, if it were Father, Li Zhi and I alone wouldn't be able to handle it, right?"

He turned his head.

Wu Meiniang was standing beside him, as if she had always been there, with an evil smile on her lips.

"But, Your Highness. If this world is not yours, then even if you finally stop Li Ming's attack, what is the meaning to you?"

Li Chengqian remained silent.

Wu Meiniang's smile became even more gloomy:

"Don't forget what that man did to you."

Li Chengqian's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he nodded firmly:
"You're right, Mei Niang."

"Mei Niang?" Li Shimin was stunned:
"Such a familiar name, did I hear it wrongly?"

The phantom of Wu Meiniang had suddenly disappeared, and in Empress Changsun's dressing room, there were only the emperor and the emperor emeritus.

"What Mei Niang? What are you talking about, father?" Li Chengqian pretended to be stupid very skillfully.

Li Shimin muttered incoherently:

"I am also becoming more and more confused, and recalling some unhappy memories from the past...

"Is there anything else you want?"

"I'm leaving now." Li Chengqian left the room very decisively.

As the current emperor, the most powerful person in the world.

He had a thousand ways to make an old man who had suffered a stroke and looked like he was on his last legs die quietly in the palace.

He doesn't need to do it himself.

…………

Yanzhou, a populous province west of Mount Tai, is a border city between the Tang Dynasty and the "Pseudo-Ming Dynasty".

Although this place is close to the front line, the two armies are on the verge of a fight.

However, not only has the exchange among the people not stopped, but it has been growing steadily.

Ming merchants set out from neighboring Yizhou and Qizhou and frequently traveled between Yanzhou and the counties under its jurisdiction, buying and selling goods and making a lot of money.

The currency in Yanzhou was also very diverse. The paper money of the Ming Dynasty could be directly used by the people, while the Kaiyuan Tongbao of the Tang Dynasty was also accepted by Ming merchants.

Although these "foreign currencies" cannot be used in the Ming Dynasty, they can be exchanged for paper money at the ubiquitous Ming Bank.

The Ming government collected these copper coins and used them as "foreign exchange reserves" for direct transactions with foreign countries, or as ammunition in currency wars to strike hard at the Tang Dynasty and other copper-based vassal states.

However, Ming merchants generally did not like to transport these heavy and stolen currencies back to the country intact.

They would rather consume the goods within the Tang Dynasty, purchase other materials, ship them back to the Ming Dynasty, and make another profit.

"You stinking outsider, are you here to beg for food in Yanzhou? You dare to do business here without paying protection fees?"

Several local thugs in Yanzhou beat up a merchant from the Ming Dynasty, robbed him of his money and goods, kicked him out of the city gate, and surrounded him and beat him up again.

"Grandpas, I was wrong, I was wrong!"

The businessman admitted his mistake and finally managed to coax these thugs away.

After making sure they were far away, the merchant got up from the ground, unable to swallow this breath, and gritted his teeth and said:
"Damn these robbers, I'm going to report them to the police!"

He tried to enter the city, but was stopped by the guards:
"Where is your customs clearance document?"

The businessman felt very confused:

"I put it in my bag and it was snatched by those thieves. You saw it all just now!"

"I saw something! Don't talk nonsense." The guard waved his hand impatiently:
"I only recognize documents. No one without a document is allowed to enter the city!"

"You?!..." The businessman realized that he was being targeted by the people of Yanzhou.

As tensions between the two places intensified, the Tang Dynasty officials' attitude towards Ming Dynasty merchants became increasingly hostile.

Now they don't even bother to act, it's obvious that they just want to make trouble for them.

"Is there still justice? Is there still law?" the businessman cursed angrily at the door.

The guard waved his gun and threatened:

"If you disrupt the order again, you will be thrown into jail!"

The businessman ran away angrily.

But of course he did not admit his loss.

"Just wait for me! If the Tang people don't judge me, I will go find a place that can judge me!"

Just like a child who goes to his parents when he is bullied outside, the first thing the merchants do when they return to Qizhou is to complain to the government.

"The Tang Dynasty on the other side is going too far! Master, you have to make the decision for me!"

Qizhou Governor Hou Junji listened carefully to the people's voices and waved his hand:
"Don't worry, I will seek justice for you.

"After you capture Yanzhou, you will be allowed to plunder for three days."

"what?"

The businessman blinked in confusion.

How come I know every word but can’t understand them when they are put together?

…………

That afternoon.

The Ming Dynasty's Qizhou Military Governor's Office marched out in full force and attacked Yanzhou City directly.

The defenses of Yanzhou were weak, and for some reason, their will to resist was almost zero.

After Hou Junji used his specialty "urbanization" and deployed several rows of catapults under the city of Yanzhou.

The defenders opened the back door without hesitation and the entire army retreated.

With almost no bloodshed, Yanzhou City was handed over intact to the Ming Dynasty.

"what?!"

Watching his own army marching into the city in orderly steps, the merchant didn't know what to say.

Is...is it because of me?

But... there is no need to go to so much trouble...

(End of this chapter)