Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 79: Clear out the court (literally)!

"Okay, I'll do it right away!" Sun Fujia agreed immediately:
"I will write a document to the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate right away. After Minister Liu Decheng and Censor Wei Ting sign it, I will submit it to Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty nods and issues an order to the Sixteen Guards of the Southern Court, the Wannian County Court will dispatch its servants and ask General Ashina to assist in the investigation..."

"Wait, wait!" Li Ming interrupted Sun Fujia's chanting.

Damn it, process, process, I have to follow the process no matter how I travel through time!

Ashina Jieshe is escorting Li Shimin!
The mouse works as a gatekeeper for the rice warehouse.

After going through the whole process, I'm afraid Li Er will have to celebrate his seventh day...

"Can you simplify it a little and bring the criminal to justice first?" Li Ming asked.

Sun Fujia shook his head almost every second:
"The Lieutenant General of the Right Guard is a fourth-rank imperial guard commander.

"Although the confession of the Seventh Aunt is very valuable, it is still only the one-sided statement of the criminal woman. If we rashly arrest a General of the Imperial Guards for this reason, the court and the palace would have been in chaos long ago."

This concern is not without reason.

The Tang Dynasty is not a weird little country in Africa. How can it just dismiss high-ranking military officials without the approval of the top leader?

What's more, he is a high-ranking official of the Imperial Guards who is responsible for the security of the imperial palace.

If things go wrong like this, one day it will turn into an unlimited chicken-eating competition in Chang'an.

Even during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when human-like apes were everywhere, it was difficult to have such abstract behavior.

"The situation is extraordinary, so we have to use extraordinary measures." Unconsciously, Li Dao Zong completely stood on Li Ming's side:
"Can the Dali Temple send out its officers to control the Ashina Society first?"

The Minister of Rites also suggested this, which made Sun Fujia feel something unusual, and he said seriously:

"The Dali Temple is responsible for judging cases. Apart from the jailers and gatekeepers, there are no extra runners.

"Or, I can skip the Ministry of Justice and go to the palace right now to submit a memorial to Your Majesty first?"

Li Ming and Li Daozon looked at each other.

"do not you know?"

"what do you know?"

Sun Fujia's eyes sparkled with clear ignorance.

Having been 007 for several months, he has devoted himself to the case and has become disconnected from the outside world.

“Your Majesty went to Jiucheng Palace earlier today.

"Ashina Society leads the team!"

Sun Fujia was struck by lightning.

He finally understood the current serious situation and why Li Ming and Li Dao Zong were as anxious as ants on a hot pot.

The traitor is actually beside Your Majesty!

What’s worse is that the defense of Jiucheng Palace was far less tight than that of the capital, and there were fewer troops stationed there.

If you want to assassinate the emperor, it must be in Jiucheng Palace!

"What can we do? What can we do?"

Sun Fujia began to pace anxiously:
"I wrote a letter to ask Wannian County and Chang'an County to send out bailiffs?

"No, no, how can they be a match for the Imperial Guards..."

Many ideas came to his mind, but he dismissed them one by one.

Let’s not discuss whether these two county governments will obey the orders of the Dali Temple.

The yamen runners and police officers were either hired bad people from the capital or common people doing corvée labor.

They were going to fight the elite imperial guards in full armor? Really?

Li Ming recalled many jokes from novels, pulled Li Dao Zong's sleeve, and whispered:

"Can you mobilize the army to go to Jiucheng Palace to defend the king?"

Li Dao Zong rolled his eyes at him:
"Are you crazy? Without His Majesty, who dares to move the army?

"And even if you are not afraid of being killed as a traitor, if you lack any of the three things, your Majesty's handwritten order, your trusted envoy, and the tiger talisman, you cannot mobilize the troops in the capital.

"This is a new rule established by Your Majesty after the Crown Prince borrowed troops to besiege you."

From the emperor's perspective, this is indeed the case.

I had just gone on vacation when suddenly an army came shouting "The Imperial Guards have rebelled" and came to kill a Lieutenant General of the Imperial Guards.

Who betrayed?

Do you want to purge the emperor's entourage or purge the emperor?

The army forced and killed the people around the emperor, and Mawei Post was still more than a hundred years old!

"It's not like there's no other way."

Li Daozon pondered for a moment and spoke decisively.

All the ways to get people to come back have been blocked, so there is only one last way left -

Ride alone to break through the barrier.

"I will immediately rush to Jiucheng Palace and report this matter to His Majesty in secret.

"Your Majesty has a hundred cavalrymen around him, as well as other imperial guards from different garrisons. They should be enough to deal with Ashina."

Jiucheng Palace is three hundred miles away. It is neither far nor near. It can be reached in half a day if you walk quickly.

Li Ming shouted without hesitation:
"Take me with you!"

Li Dao Zong also refused without hesitation:
"No! It's too dangerous!"

On the other side are the cunning and well-trained Turkic imperial guards, and we must not take them lightly.

Apart from knowing about Ashina Jieshelu, all other important information was blank.

Who are the followers of Ashina Jieshe and how many people are there?

do not know.

Apart from the Right Gate Guards, are the Turks in other imperial guards also part of the same group?

do not know.

Were other military officers and Han imperial guards involved?

do not know.

Has the enemy already taken control of all the key nodes of Jiucheng Palace? Has he secretly increased his vigilance, cut off all entry and exit of personnel, and blocked all passages to see the emperor?

do not know.

Even whether the enemy has already taken action, whether they have succeeded...

I know nothing about it!
Li Daozon had already prepared himself for the possibility of no return when he set out alone to break through the barrier.

How can I bring another little burden along?

Facing the emperor's uncle's determination, Li Ming just asked calmly:
"If you leave for Jiucheng Palace now, it will be early morning when you arrive there. How can you enter the palace in the middle of the night without the prince leading the way?
"Or do you want to put it off until tomorrow?"

It is impossible to postpone reporting to Your Majesty until tomorrow.

If the association wants to take action, the best time is tonight.

By tomorrow, there may be no His Majesty!
"You might die, but you insist on going even so?" Li Daozon spoke bluntly, staring into Li Ming's eyes.

Li Ming did not avoid the gaze at all and answered affirmatively:
"If anything happens to my father, I will surely die!"

Putting aside the calculation of interests, how can a son stand idly by when his father is in trouble?

And after weighing the pros and cons, it is not difficult to find that only the dangerous path is the way to survive.

If he was a coward, he would die on the spot if the emperor was killed.

Even if he passed this hurdle, he would still die a slow death once his political enemies had undermined his base.

It’s better to close your eyes and rush forward.

Only by fighting hard can one earn more political capital to compete with the legitimate son.

Only those who fight hard are qualified to survive.

Li Dao Zong sniffed and nodded heavily:

"it is good!"

"We'll go too!" Sun Fujia and other Dali Temple officials volunteered. Seeing their horrible appearances that would fall down at the slightest breeze, Li Ming also rejected them immediately:
“If the other party hasn’t taken action yet, too many people going there will make them suspicious.

"Two or three people are enough to tip off the person."

…………

Li Ming and Li Dao Zong left the Dali Temple at full speed.

Lai Junchen said that he felt like he was at home in the Tianlao, so he was allowed to stay there and learn from his fellow enthusiasts.

Li Ming sat in the back, hugged Li Dao Zong tightly, and suddenly thought of a naive question:

"By the way, the association leader is the gatekeeper. What should we do if he doesn't let us enter the gate?"

The Minister of Rites patiently answered his question:

"The gate guards are divided into two offices, the left and the right. The left gate guards are responsible for entry, and the right gate guards, which is the office led by Ashina, are responsible for exit."

The prerequisite is that the left gate guard is not in cahoots with him... Li Daozon muttered to himself and turned his horse to the east.

"Oh, we've taken the wrong path. Jiucheng Palace is on the west side!" Li Ming shouted anxiously.

"Jiucheng Palace is at least three hundred miles away from the capital. A horse carrying two people will easily become exhausted. I will ask someone to borrow a few more horses!
"And we need some weapons, just in case!"

Li Daozon turned a corner and came to a big house.

The plaque on the door reads "Wei's House" in large letters. It is the home of Wei Daijia, Li Daozon's son-in-law and Li Ming's younger brother who is being poached.

The guard saw the master-in-law riding a horse and came over to greet him enthusiastically:
"His Royal Highness..."

"Open the door, it's urgent!"

Li Daozon raised his voice like a loud bell and shouted from a distance.

"Yes, yes, yes!" The guard was frightened by the scene and quickly opened the door.

Without wasting a second, Li Daozon jumped over the threshold on his horse, went straight into the depths of the mansion, and ran towards the stable as if he was familiar with the route.

There was a great chaos in the yard. Wei Ting was not at home. Wei Daijia came out hurriedly with a scroll in his hands.

Seeing the anxious look on his father-in-law's face, he asked in confusion:
"Father-in-law, what are you doing..."

A little head popped out from behind Li Daozon. It was Li Ming.

"Awei! Lend me a horse and weapons!"

"Okay!"

When he saw that it was the leader of the Fourteenth Party, Wei Daijia immediately threw the book away, did not ask any more questions, and personally led a few top-quality horses.

He also asked his servants to prepare a poplar wood bow and a long sword for his father-in-law.

"I don't want a sword, I want an iron bone flower!" Li Daozon shouted.

The Iron Bone Flower is a blunt weapon specially used to break armor. Who are you going to hit? ! ... Wei Daijia's heart trembled.

But I still followed my father-in-law's instructions and prepared a wooden-handled hammer with a hexagonal iron head the size of a flower bud.

This is the Iron Bone Flower, a hammer weapon commonly used in actual combat.

The watermelon hammers weighing dozens of kilograms as shown in novels do not exist in reality.

After all, not everyone is a Chinese superman.

"I also want a weapon, I want to protect myself!" Li Ming also shouted.

Li Daozong refused immediately:
"Forget it, what good is a child doing with a weapon?"

Li Ming retorted:

"What use can an adult be in facing the elite armored imperial guards?"

Li Daozon was speechless.

What on earth are the Nings going to do? Are they finally going to rebel... Wei Daijia trembled with fear when he heard this. He brought a miniature sword to His Highness Li Ming and personally helped him put it on his back.

You know what, it’s quite majestic.

"Your Highness, this is your sword." Wei Daijia wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"I have also prepared the finest horses and the best steel bones for you two.

"Now...can you tell me what happened?"

Li Ming replied: I will definitely do it next time.
"This is urgent. I'll explain it to you later!"

Li Daozon was very cooperative. He rode away directly, leaving Wei Daijia disheveled in the wind.

…………

As the Minister of Rites who had once led an expedition to the Western Regions, Li Daozon now learned from the advanced experience of the Turks and used a lasso to command several war horses at the same time.

The horses galloped westward in unison.

"Hiss... Huh?"

After leaving the city and walking halfway, Li Daozon suddenly felt something strange.

I know the Wei family loves horses, but isn’t this horse too obedient?

Why does it feel like someone is helping me drive the horse?

He muttered to himself and looked back.

My goodness, Wei Daijia was riding a horse and following behind, imitating his father-in-law, waving a long pole and helping to command the herd of horses.

Because of the chaotic sound of horse hooves, he didn't even notice that this prospective son-in-law had been following him all the way!
"What are you doing? Go back! This trip is dangerous!" Li Daozon shouted.

But Wei Daijia didn't listen at all and continued to argue:
"I am the Secretary of the Cao King, and I have the duty to record the words and deeds of Your Highness and convey the teachings of the Hadith to Your Highness.

"No matter whether it's fire or water, I will be wherever the king is!"

Li Daozon was startled and looked at Li Ming.

He has now gradually developed the habit of consulting His Highness Li Ming on everything.

Li Ming immediately made up his mind:

“Wei Daijia has commanded the Right Prison Gate Guards before, and is familiar with the personnel and shifts there, so he can serve as a helper.

"And three people without armor won't alert the other side."

Li Daozong thought this made sense, so he shouted to Wei Daijia:

"Let's go to Jiucheng Palace to protect the king!"

"what?!"

With the imperial guards here, is it your turn to protect the emperor?

Wei Daijia looked at the funny duo in silence, and suddenly he had the urge to listen to their advice and go home to study.

"Do you know how many Turks are among the right gate guards of the palace?" Li Ming asked.

"Turks?" Wei Daijia seemed to have guessed something:
"The Right Gate Guards received a total of 108 Turkic people who had surrendered. When I was on duty, there were about 20 people on duty in the palace.

“But after Ashina Jieshe took over, I don’t know whether the number of Turks entering the palace increased.

"In addition, there are forty Turks in the Left Gate Guard. Among the other imperial guards, there are Turks in the Left and Right Guards..."

He explained what he knew one by one.

Li Ming listened carefully, his expression becoming more and more serious.

All in all, there were several hundred Turkic guards in the palace!
These are all well-equipped and well-trained soldiers, not cannon fodder.

If put on the front battlefield, these hundreds of people are enough to disperse the nomadic troops of tens of thousands of people.

What’s more, it is in Jiucheng Palace.

"Are those people dissatisfied with the court? Do they all have rebellious intentions?" Li Daozon asked.

"That's not the case. Qibi and Heli, you know, right? Some Turks are like him, more Chinese than Chinese.

“Of course, there are more people who just want to live a simple life. As long as the salary is high, it doesn’t matter where they live.

"but……"

Wei Daijia recalled carefully:

"There are also quite a few Turkic people who are not used to life in the Central Plains and are eager to return to the grasslands..."

(End of this chapter)