I have 800,000 private soldiers. The emperor forces me to hand over military power?

"By the will of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims:"

"Kuo Han Chen Qingzhi, who has received my great grace, is among the princes and enjoys the country. He should have fulfilled his duties, assisted the government, and ensured the safety of the people and the country;"

"However, regarding the punishment of Jin Wang Chen Longxiang for raising troops to rebel, the Duke of Han Chen Qingzhi acted in a rebellious manner and abused his power. He was indeed a great treason and his crime was unforgivable;"

"I am deeply saddened by the foundation of the country and the safety of the society. I have no choice but to punish him severely according to the law to serve as a warning to others..."

In the Jinluan Palace, at the court meeting.

The eunuch Cai He, the writing eunuch of the Silijian, read out the contents of the imperial edict drafted by Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian in a sharp voice. It was about dealing with and punishing the Duke of Han Chen Qingzhi for arbitrarily disposing of the corpse of Jin Wang Chen Longxiang who raised troops to rebel in violation of the provisions of the Tang Dynasty Laws and Regulations.

It took only three days from the time when Chen Qingzhi, Duke of Korea, and his entourage returned to Beijing from the Goguryeo Peninsula to the time when Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian issued an order to deal with and punish the criminal Chen Qingzhi.

The speed of the handling and the severity of the punishment were beyond the expectations of the civil and military officials in the court, and did not give the civil officials in the court who wanted to take advantage of this incident to make a fuss a little chance.

In the Jinluan Palace, a group of civil officials headed by Liu Huaiyi, the censor of the Supervisory Yuan, listened to the eunuch Cai He of the Imperial Household Department reading the imperial edict, while secretly looking at Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian sitting on the dragon throne in the Jinluan Palace with the corner of their eyes;

At this moment, the eyes of these "old ministers of four dynasties" looking at the young Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian have already increased a bit of awe and fear from the bottom of their hearts.

Previously, Liu Huaiyi and other civil officials had always believed that Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian was an indecisive king who ruled the world with benevolence. From the series of benevolent measures since he ascended the throne, it is not difficult to see that Emperor Zhaowu did not seem to be willing to rule the country with an iron fist at the beginning of the founding of the country;

In fact, in many cases, he would rather issue a self-blame edict to take the blame for the mistakes made by his ministers than to kill them;

This led to a group of civil officials in the court constantly choosing to challenge Emperor Zhaowu's bottom line in the form of persuasion to achieve their own goals;

Anyway, the emperor couldn't just chop off his own head and kill his nine clans for this.

However, since the rebellion of Prince Jin, a group of civil officials in the court found that the emperor seemed to have changed overnight and was no longer the emperor everyone was familiar with!

Not only did he purge all the "Four Kings of the Former Dynasty" who secretly assisted the enemy with thunderous means, but he also beheaded all the families of the kings involved and more than 40,000 people from their nine clans;

He was still merciless when dealing with Chen Qingzhi, the founding hero of the court and the head of the Six Dukes, stripping him of his title and exiling him to the border;

Speaking of which, Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea, secretly preserved the body of Chen Longxiang, the King of Jin, on the front line of Goguryeo. After the news was reported back to the court, all the generals of the Longcheng faction admired Chen Qingzhi and believed that this was a direct expression of loyalty and righteousness;

They were even prepared to write a joint letter to request Emperor Zhaowu to deal leniently with Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea.

However, before these generals of the Longcheng faction were ready, an imperial edict from Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian sentenced Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea.

In the Jinluan Palace, the eunuch Cai He was still reading aloud: "Here is the Duke of Korea, Chen Qingzhi, whose crime is clear and cannot be forgiven. According to the Tang Dynasty Law, I have decided to deprive him of his title of Duke of Korea, remove his fiefdom, and escort him to the Goguryeo Peninsula today for life exile without recall;"

"I will not pursue the innocent family members in his family for the sake of old friendship, but they must move to other places, be strictly disciplined, and not be involved in government affairs again."

"I know that this is not what I want, but the law of the country is ruthless and the king's power is not to be played. I hope that the monarchs and ministers of the world will take this as a lesson, abide by their duties, be loyal to the country, and build a prosperous and peaceful world together!"

"I decree this——"

......

The eighth day of the third month in the second year of the Tang Dynasty.

Today is the day when Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea, the first of the six founding dukes of the Tang Dynasty, was exiled to Goguryeo.

When Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea, who was in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, changed into prison clothes, was handcuffed and shackled, and was taken to the prison car to drive out of the prison, he was shocked by the scene in front of him.

In addition to being shocked, he was more moved beyond words.

From the outside of the prison of the Ministry of Justice to the Xuanwu Gate, the streets were already crowded with people from the Tang Dynasty who came to see him off;

Among them, there were many Tang Dynasty generals wearing Mingguang armor and ring-headed swords on their waists standing proudly among them.

It can be seen that Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea, still has a very high prestige in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the Jinling Imperial City;

Although he privately buried the corpse of Jin Wang Chen Longxiang, he disregarded the laws of the Tang Dynasty and the dignity of the royal family, but he won the recognition of the soldiers and civilians in the city. After learning that Chen Qingzhi was exiled, everyone spontaneously came to the street to see this Duke off.

When the prisoner car reached Xuanwu Gate, Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea, could no longer hold back his gaze at Jinling City behind him, and two lines of hot tears fell.

In his mind, the scene of the emperor visiting the prison of the Ministry of Justice and talking to him heart to heart emerged again.

The next moment, Chen Qingzhi followed the prisoner car out of Xuanwu Gate without looking back and drove to the Stone City Pier outside the city.

At the pier, a warship of the Tang Navy Fleet was waiting here, which would carry Chen Qingzhi, who was exiled to Goguryeo, to the place that changed his fate.

At the same time, in the imperial study.

Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian did not go to see off Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Korea, even if he secretly took another look at this white-robed Confucian general who had made great contributions to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty.

Last night, he visited the prison of the Ministry of Justice and had a heart-to-heart talk with Chen Qingzhi.

From a personal perspective, as Chen Longxiang's brother, Chen Huaian, on behalf of his mother Xu Ruoyun and other royal family members, expressed gratitude to Chen Qingzhi for preserving Chen Longxiang's body;

From the perspective of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he had to use Chen Qingzhi as a warning to others and alert future generations.

With Chen Qingzhi being exiled to Goguryeo, the rebellion of King Chen Longxiang of Jin came to an end.

But Chen Huaian's journey as the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty is still continuing.

On this day, Marco Polo, the envoy of the Carolingian Dynasty of the Charlemagne Empire, who had traveled around Jinling City for more than a month and witnessed the rebellion of the prince of the Tang Dynasty and was suppressed in a short time;

Finally, after submitting the letter of credence, under the arrangement of Zhang Fu, the Minister of Rites of the Tang Dynasty, he met the legendary Emperor Chen Huaian of the Tang Dynasty in the imperial study.

On behalf of Charlemagne, who was far away on the other side of the ocean, he paid high respect and the most sincere greetings to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

And, he brought Charlemagne's request to conclude an alliance with the Tang Dynasty and jointly send troops to fight against the Arab Empire.

"Your Majesty, the barbaric Arabs are marching eastwards and fighting fiercely with the Crusaders of Charlemagne in the Mediterranean;"

"If, if Your Majesty orders at this time, the Tang army stationed in the Tianshan Mountains in the Western Regions will cross the Pamir Plateau and march eastwards, and will surely be able to reach the Arab capital Baghdad in one go, and avenge the Arabs' eastward march to the Western Regions;"

Marco Polo continued: "Your Majesty, in return, my Charlemagne Empire is willing to establish comprehensive and in-depth cooperation and exchanges with the Tang Dynasty in the fields of economy, culture, and scientific and technological development;"

"And, the priority of dividing and eroding the Arab Empire will also be given to Your Majesty and the Tang Dynasty!"

"I hope Your Majesty will make a decision as soon as possible and send troops to the West!"