Don't be a prince

So, every morning, a beautiful little girl would sneak into the room of the prince and the princess to serve the princess.Li Chengqian, on the other hand, would use the excuse of morning exercises to leave early.

Since there is no way to refuse, let's try not to overlap as much as possible!

The Crown Princess is happy, so it is natural to write a letter to report back to the Empress for such a big event.Therefore, when the team turned away from Jingmen and arrived at Luoyang all the way up the Han River, they had to stop at Luoyang Wharf at noon.Because, the empress went out of Beijing in person and waited in Luoyang!

"It's clumsy, be careful, and hold the boat steady!"

Before the boat docked, Li Chengqian saw his eldest grandson gesticulating on the shore.

The first person to get off the boat was pushed aside, and the second person to get off the boat was also slapped away. When the heavyweight got off the boat, the eldest grandson burst into laughter.Holding one in each hand, I didn't even hug my little son.

Li Tai winked at Li Chengqian, touched his shoulder, and said, "It's over, we brothers are completely strangers now."

Li Chengqian cupped his hands to Li Taigong: "It turned out to be Brother Yi, a passer-by. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Li Tai also cupped his hands, and the two brothers laughed helplessly but happily at the same time.

On the way from Luoyang to Chang'an, the brothers were completely separated from the eldest wife. According to the order of the eldest grandson, after Su Yuan and Yan Wan returned to Chang'an, they would move to the palace and be taken care of by her for a period of time.

After leaving for three years, and returning to Chang'an, I can immediately feel the great changes in Chang'an.

Businessmen have always been a discerning group of people.Chang'an's status as the capital of the country made it undoubtedly a center of commerce.And whether it can occupy a place here as soon as possible is the most important thing for its own development.Therefore, when entering Chang'an, as long as it is a house facing the street, it has either opened or is in the process of opening.Inside Fang City, many places have also become homes for rich merchants, and there are very few ordinary people who can live in Chang'an City.

When the carriage passed by Pingkangfang, Li Chengqian looked at the auction house with his head, and retracted his head involuntarily.

Good guy, while Chang'an's commercial atmosphere is getting stronger and stronger, Pingkangfang is also getting more and more fierce.A lot of brothel girls, obviously in the early winter season, are still wearing light gauze clothes, with bare shoulders, standing at the door to welcome customers.

"Look at it, even if Su Shi is pregnant, you can only be with Xiuxiu or Ashina Xue, the royal blood cannot be tarnished!"

Feeling the sharp pain in his ears, Li Chengqian was speechless. The eldest grandson didn't know what to think, but insisted that he and Li Tai also go to Fengjiao. He felt bored, and Li Tai was even more frantic. In such an environment, he couldn't do what he wanted to think about himself.

Therefore, when the carriage stopped at the gate of the East Palace, the two brothers fled almost at the same time.

After getting out of the car, Li Tai immediately asked the guards to prepare the carriage and take him to the academy's research institute. He has too many ideas now, and it can't be done simply in his mind. He needs actual experiments.

In the end, Li Tai still couldn't make it, and was held back by Li Chengqian.As smart as Li Tai, at this moment he even forgot that he should greet the emperor first.

After getting off the carriage, they went to the East Palace to wash away the dust and change their clothes. Li Chengqian and Li Taicai went to the harem to pay their respects together.

It was already afternoon at this time, and the emperor was either in Liangyi Hall or Ganlu Hall at this time.The possibility of being in the Ganlu Hall is a little higher. After all, the queen brought her two daughters-in-law into the Liangyi Hall together. No matter how nervous the emperor is, he still has to avoid suspicion.

I originally thought so, but when I arrived at the Ganlu Hall, Li Jian told the emperor that the court meeting had not ended yet.

"Haven't the meeting ended at this time?"

After counting the current day, Li Chengqian frowned.It's not a year or a festival, it's not a big court meeting, and the court meeting can be held until the afternoon?

There must be a big deal!

Just when Li Chengqian was about to sneak back to the East Palace, an eunuch ran over from a distance, and when he saw the figures of the two, he sped up a little.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness King Wei, Your Majesty announces that the two of you will go to the palace to discuss matters!"

The eunuch's words were categorical, Li Chengqian and Li Tai looked at each other, and immediately walked quickly to the Tai Chi Hall.

On the main hall, the emperor did not sit high above, but strolled below. The civil servants only left Fang Xuanling and others, and all retreated from the Shangshu down.On the general side, there is no shortage of one.

The crowd surrounded a large map, which was different from ordinary maps. On the map, gravel was piled up, and it could be vaguely seen that it looked like a city wall.

Seeing the map spread outside the encirclement of the ministers, Li Chengqian's heart skipped a beat. There is no doubt that this is the map of Goryeo.The emperor and others looked at the land and Liaodong, but ignored the sea and peninsula.

Seeing Li Tai and Li Chengqian brothers approaching, Li Shimin walked over quickly and said: "It's not necessary to salute, please come and see this quickly."

When he walked to the city wall built by the craftsmen with equal proportions of cement, Li Chengqian realized that Ouyang Shuo was also here.

Seeing the prince looking at him with burning eyes, Ouyang Shuo cupped his hands and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness, now I am the chief officer of the Gunpowder Department of the Ministry of War, responsible for the preparation of gunpowder, and does not belong to the gunpowder workshop."

Looking at Ouyang Shuo's hands full of burn marks, Li Chengqian immediately understood what the emperor meant.Keeping them locked up in a secret place is not enough. People like Ouyang Shuo will eventually be rewarded for their efforts, and if the reward is in the small valley of the Gunpowder Department, it will not be worth it. This is the so-called Jinyi Night Walk.

Walking in front of the city wall, Ouyang Shuo suddenly became serious: "His Royal Highness, this is the city wall that Goryeo is building now. In the construction of the city wall, they fully considered the power of our gunpowder weapons. The height reached ten feet, and the thickness reached five feet. !"

"what?"

Hearing Ouyang Shuo's description, Li Chengqian was extremely shocked.

Chapter 4 is no longer the original mentality

(Pirate readers, come back and read the original version. If you go whoring again for nothing, the author will not even have the motivation to write it down. Aside from your indignation at the eunuch of the wonderful article, have you never thought about why?)

Ten feet high, five feet thick?If one zhang is counted as four meters in later generations, it would be 40 meters and 20 meters. Good guy, this height and thickness, even if it is just a simple mound of earth, is difficult for gunpowder weapons to fight against.

The power of black powder has its upper limit. This point should be confirmed by the experiment of the Gunpowder Department. When this upper limit is reached, it will not be so easy to break through whether it is increasing the amount of powder or increasing the size and thickness of the gunpowder bullet.Although the infinite upward increase can indeed increase the power, but the transportation of gunpowder bombs the size of a house is an unsolvable problem.

Looking at the city wall, Li Chengqian frowned and said: "Father and all the ministers are worried about this, but if the gates of a city can be made like this, it's not a big deal, but the border spreads thousands of miles. The project, even our Tang Dynasty can’t afford it, how can Goryeo do it?”

"Because of desperation, because of aid."

On one side, Tang Jian came out, cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince doesn't know something. It can be said that the people in Goryeo are living in dire straits. From the first age of 15 to the age of [-], and there is no upper limit, Goryeo can almost be regarded as The whole people have been mobilized. What's more, not only Goryeo, Silla Baekje, Shiwei Mohe, etc. have reached an interest alliance with Goryeo. Although they did not blatantly send people to help Goryeo, how can the food and grass come from such a huge project in Goryeo? ?The whole people don't farm the land anymore, what do they eat?

So, although there is no trace found in Honglu Temple, there is no doubt that Goryeo has their support! "

Tang Jian didn't make it clear, but no one doubted his guess.Because this is already obvious.

Pointing at the city wall, Li Shimin frowned and said, "The envoys and spies from Honglu Temple are a little late. Now the Great Wall of Goryeo has been built for more than a hundred miles. With Goryeo's madness regardless of the cost, the Great Wall is likely to be completed. ! Once the Great Wall is built, how can we do anything to Korea?"

"maritime!"

Li Tai came out and said, "They can't build the Great Wall around the sea anymore. Since we can attack Goryeo once at sea, we can also attack the second time. As long as we build enough warships, no matter how many soldiers can be sent there !"

Li Jing was sitting in a wheelchair and was in the innermost circle. Even if he was at home now, it was impossible for such an important matter to be excluded.

Hearing Li Tai's words, Li Jing shook his head: "In terms of the art of war, surprise soldiers can only be dispatched once, and those who dispatch the second time are not surprise soldiers. Although I waited for a party at the beginning, it almost severely damaged Goryeo's sea power, but they completely There is no need to fight with us at sea. I wonder if you guys still remember the battle to attack the village? If His Royal Highness hadn't forcibly raised the morale of the army, I am afraid that we may not be able to persist until the arrival of reinforcements in the face of [-] elite soldiers.

Since ancient times, offense and defense have been mutual. We crossed the sea and attacked by sea. This is an expedition of hard work. Goryeo waits for work with leisure. We only need to stick to it, and we can lose our vigor bit by bit.Coupled with the Great Wall, Goryeo will have a large number of troops that can be allocated to the coast, which is very difficult to deal with.We are fighting on the beach, which is like a tree without roots. Once we fail to break through the enemy's defense line and penetrate into the enemy's territory, we will be defeated and it will be difficult to retreat smoothly! "

No one would ignore Li Jing's speech. Maybe he is not the most vigorous of the military generals, but he is the most calm one.Although he has used a strange soldier to take risks more than once, but the facts have proved that even if he takes risks, he will still maintain at least four points of stability.

Li Shimin was very satisfied with Li Jing's honesty since Xianfu was at home, and he actually bowed his hands to Li Jing: "Since this is the case, I dare to ask Wei Guogong, how should we deal with such a deadlock?"

Li Jing returned a salute, looked in Li Chengqian's direction and said, "Your Majesty, why do you want to ask this humble official? Your Highness the crown prince was trained by a humble official, and even the green is better than the blue. What's more, the biggest reliance of my Tang Dynasty now, gunpowder, is still the crown prince." Your Highness invented it. I think that maybe His Highness the Crown Prince has a solution?"

Hearing Li Jing's words, Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction, and looked at Li Chengqian.He is still very satisfied with this eldest son.When he first learned the art of war with Li Jing, he still felt that it was a little redundant, after all, the emperor wanted to coordinate the overall situation and not fight on behalf of the soldiers.Now it seems that I was narrow-minded at the beginning.In the current situation, masters of war like Li Jing are undoubtedly the most important.The most important thing is to make a decision now, the prince will not be influenced by people like Li Jing at all, and the emperor's favorite thing is not to be checked and balanced.

Seeing that many eyes were focused on him, Li Chengqian couldn't help laughing wryly.Looking at Li Jing with an innocent face, his head hurts even more.In the current situation, Li Jing must have a solution. He even doubted whether Li Jing's legs are really bad. This guy is obviously hiding his clumsiness.

There's no need to expose Li Jing, Li Chengqian is well aware of how difficult Li Jing's life has been since he "retired".Now it's hard to prove to the emperor that he really has no intention of power and status, so naturally he can't "make a comeback".

Walking in front of the city wall cast by craftsmen, Li Chengqian lifted up his clothes and kicked it up!

The craftsman's construction is quite particular. With this kick, only a small gap was opened, but as Li Chengqian kicked it out, a gap appeared soon.

Withdrawing his feet, Li Chengqian said, looking at the puzzled faces, "It's actually very simple. You can't break through once, just keep attacking. Goryeo tried to use such a huge project to curb Datang's attack on Goryeo. Very good, but their Great Wall, even if it has reached such a scale, is still a sham after all. May I ask, if a complete city wall has a gap, is it still complete? What if it is two or three? It can only be a decoration.

If one day we attack Goryeo, we only need to keep a distance and break through their walls to make a few gaps, then their Great Wall will be useless.Perhaps, the process of breaking through must be extremely difficult, but after breaking through, what we gain is far more than what we lose.What's more, I found that now, including Father, everyone has entered into a misunderstanding. "

After speaking, Li Chengqian cupped his hands, waiting for everyone's reaction.

"Misunderstanding? Tell me."

Li Shimin looked at his eldest son in surprise. He knew very well that the prince must not be joking on such a formal occasion. Since he said it, he must have it.

Li Chengqian said seriously: "This misunderstanding is that after possessing gunpowder, our Tang Dynasty is not invincible, and gunpowder weapons are not invincible either. Yes, the appearance of gunpowder weapons has indeed reduced the casualties of soldiers on a large scale, but, This does not mean that my soldiers in the Tang Dynasty will not have to suffer casualties. Weapons are indeed very important, but in the face of the Great Wall of Korea, if we pin our hopes on the weapons in our hands and forget what courage is, what is the point of breaking it? use it?

War is about death, even if Goryeo is weak, we still have death.A war without casualties is not a war.If we stood in front of the walls of Goryeo, worried about casualties and only pinned our hopes on the weapons in our hands, what would we fight?The more timid we are, the stronger the walls of Goryeo will be, a strength that can crush our hearts.

In fact, as far as I personally feel, my Tang Dynasty is not the strongest period now. Although the imperial court has begun to replace the equipment of the troops in various places, it is invincible and dares to provoke, but it is still not the strongest period.When we were the strongest, it was precisely when we attacked the Eastern Turks.At that time, the military expenditure was squeezed out by the imperial court, the armor of the soldiers was broken, the weather in the grassland was cold, and our enemy was powerful. Even so, we still defeated the Eastern Turks, captured Xieli alive, and the Megatron all over the world. "

After finishing speaking, Li Chengqian bowed to Li Shimin: "I dare to ask my father, do you still have the courage to put all your eggs in one basket?"

Facing the generals again, Li Chengqian cupped his hands and said, "May I ask you generals, do you still have the blood to fight to the end and never turn back?"

Looking at Fang Xuanling and the others, Li Chengqian cupped his hands again: "Dare to do it for everyone, do you still have the determination to work hard just to win?"

Every time Li Chengqian saluted, his head would bow down.Facing his questioning, no one, including the emperor, even dared to give a decisive answer.

Yes, the most difficult period has passed. Now the Tang Dynasty is invincible and the people live and work in peace and contentment. It has officially entered the beginning of the prosperous age. However, with the arrival of a stable and prosperous life, the original courage, vigor, confidence, patience, and determination , It seems that it has dimmed a lot.Constrained by today's hard-to-get peace, everyone is constrained.

"well said!"

A loud roar shocked everyone, and they all looked at the radiant emperor with puzzlement in their eyes.

Nodding in satisfaction, Li Shimin said: "Originally you stayed in Lingnan for two years and did not come back. I was going to teach you a lesson. But listening to what you said today, instead of punishing you, I will reward you. Crown Prince , You are right. I really did not have the courage I had back then. Especially after Mount Tai became Zen, I once felt that I could be compared with the virtuous kings of the past dynasties, and even qualified to catch up with the footsteps of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors. Because of this, I am even more afraid of making mistakes. .

What you said today made me feel enlightened, little Goryeo, when is it worth my trouble to wait so much?Tang Jian and Honglu Temple continued to spy, especially to find out what kind of alliance the Eastern countries had reached. "

Tang Jian stood up and responded loudly: "This humble minister leads the decree!"

The words were firm, just like the moment when he decided to go to the Eastern Turks and use his life to delay the time for the army.

"Ouyang Shuo, the gunpowder secret secretary who passed the order, still has to study gunpowder weapons. You can't lose your confidence, and you can't stagnate in weapons."

Ouyang Shuo stood up and accepted the order with his hands in his hands. His firm eyes resembled the time when he decided to carry the secret of gunpowder and dedicate his life to Datang.

"Li Ji, I order you to go to Liaodong to temporarily replace Zhang Jian. First, let Zhang Jian have a rest, and second, prepare for the future attack on Korea."

"Sir, take the lead!"

Li Ji stood up, his back straight, his words sonorous and forceful, and the same tone was the first time since the founding of Datang.

"Changsun Wuji, ordered the Ministry of Households to start hoarding the military food and grass needed to attack Goryeo. At the same time, the projects that have already started in the country at this stage must not be stopped, do you know?"

"Sir, obey the order!"

Changsun Wuji stood up, no longer his usual friendly appearance, but serious.It seemed that the iron cock who was stingy to the extreme back then had returned.

Nodding in satisfaction, Li Shimin glanced at Li Chengqian with satisfaction, turned his head and said to the abandoned housekeeper who was recording this court meeting: "I will sort out what the prince said, and I will inform the civil and military officials, all the soldiers of the army, and the people of the world!"

"what?"

In the solemn scene, only Li Chengqian was shocked and turned pale. He was just speaking in accordance with the trend at the time, and after a few words, he was guided by his emotions to say such a big sentence. Now, when he recalls it, he feels very ashamed. Want to tell the world?Terrible, really terrible!

"Ah, what, you have been slack in Lingnan for two years, I will reward you instead of punishing you, it is cheaper for you, and I will take office in Shangshu Province tomorrow, with your words and the merits of Dengzhou and Lingnan, I am afraid no one will object You have served as the minister."

After the emperor finished speaking, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others all laughed.The prince's ability is obvious to all. Anyway, Shang Shuling was also a position held by the emperor before, and it is nothing to assign it to the prince now.Perhaps, before the princes of all dynasties formally inherited the Datong, it would be a good thing to participate in politics not symbolically, but in a formal official position like Shang Shuling.

As for the emperor's attack on Goryeo, no one objected, not even Wei Zheng, who hated the war on one side.They are all people who have experienced the end of the Sui Dynasty. They deeply know that the Sui Dynasty’s attack on Goryeo failed, but itself fell apart, and how much face the Central Plains lost to the world.

Personal honor and disgrace, in the overall situation, can be tolerated, or even abandoned, but the shame of a country or an ethnic group can only be washed away with blood.

The court meeting ended here, the generals and ministers left, and Li Tai was among them, ready to go back to his engineering school.

Li Chengqian wanted to leave at first, but someone grabbed his ear unexpectedly.

is the emperor.

"Others can go, but you can't. Stay. I still have a lot to ask you about Lingnan."

Seeing Li Tai looking back and gloating, Li Chengqian sighed helplessly.

Just know that after returning to Chang'an, the time that belongs to me is gone forever!

Chapter 4

Reluctantly, he stopped, seeing that the emperor's father had already turned and walked towards the apse, so he had no choice but to follow.

Passing through the Liangyi Gate, seeing the Liangyi Hall but not entering, Li Shimin rarely returned to his bedroom, the Ganlu Hall.After all, both daughters-in-law are there, even if he has a thick skin, he still has to avoid what should be avoided.

There was obviously a lack of popularity in the Ganlu Hall, and Li Jian was carefully sorting out the memorials on the dragon case.

Instead of dealing with government affairs, he ordered the eunuch to bring tea.Sitting on the table beside him, and motioning for Li Chengqian to also sit down, Li Shimin said, "Okay, although you have been in Lingnan for the past two years and are unwilling to come back, but the Crown Princess is pregnant anyway. This is the best first child." It's your son, so if the ministers complain about you, they can only shut up. You don't have to worry about Qingque, no matter whether he has a son or a daughter, the position of the emperor's eldest grandson will still belong to your son."

Li Chengqian nodded with a smile, he knew that the emperor was comforting him.After all, Li Tai's child was conceived a little too early.However, because the gap between before and after is less than a year, there are still many ways to do it.For example, wait until the child can walk and then do a hundred years old...

They clapped their hands, and at the emperor's signal, an eunuch immediately took out the map of the Lingnan area, which was not weaker than Feng's map in the slightest.Just looking at this map, Li Chengqian knew that Baiqisi had not been idle all these years.Under the impetus of the emperor, Baiqisi covered the entire territory of Tang Dynasty like a spider web, even Lingnan, which had just penetrated.

What is the majesty of the emperor, civil and military officials are afraid of the emperor, not just because Mount Tai enshrines Zen, the Baiqisi is the most important.Li Chengqian had reason to believe that if the emperor wanted to know which minister had sex with which wife and concubine on a certain day, Baiqisi would be able to answer.

"Look at this map, is it any different from what you know?" While drinking tea, Li Shimin pushed a bamboo pole to Li Chengqian's side.

He picked up the teacup and took a sip, but his eyes never left the map.

After taking a sip of tea, Li Chengqian pointed at the position of Hainan Island with a bamboo pole and said: "The location of Nanhai Island is a bit to the east. It should be below Bianzhou, and there is still a distance from Gaozhou. The land of Ryukyu is not so small. That is a huge piece of land. Moreover, regarding the current territorial waters of our Tang Dynasty, it is still a bit rash. They used the wrong scale when drawing the map. It should be that they have not really sailed by boat.

In other words, the people of Baiqisi have no chance to go on a long voyage by boat.After all, only the South China Sea Fleet is currently cruising above the South China Sea and even reaching the southernmost tip of the territorial waters of the South China Sea.Although Feng Ang does not have the ability to directly command the South China Sea Fleet, he can only command it during wartime.However, with his prestige, no matter whether it is the local family or the people of Baiqisi, I am afraid that they would not dare to attack the South China Sea Fleet. "

Li Shimin laughed loudly, the only one who dared to casually mention Baiqisi in front of him was the crown prince.Over the years, as shrewd as Fang Xuanling, he kept trying to get rid of the influence of Baiqisi by changing the servants in the mansion, but the property of the East Palace remained the same.Even if some members of the Baiqi Division were exposed, they would not attract contempt. Instead, they were hired by shopkeepers such as Li Dahai and Lao Jin to follow them closely, and they didn't feel that they were being watched at all.

It's not that he doesn't know that Baiqisi is like a sharp knife hanging above his head to civil and military officials, and no one is happy.But ah, the world still needs to be under supervision in order to be stable.The Liu family in Quanzhou thought their plan was perfect, but they didn't know that not only Feng An, but Baiqisi also closely watched their actions from beginning to end.The reason why he didn't attack earlier was because he really wanted to see how Feng An would choose.

Facts have proved that Feng An is still very loyal and not pretentious.He chose to help conceal it first, and persuade the Liu family, and only if the persuasion fails, he sacrificed his righteousness and begged for loyalty.