I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

Li Shimin showed no expression when he heard the rumors about the Eastern Palace.

It was like listening to a trivial matter.

This made Ma Zhou and the others even more confused.

It seems that His Majesty must know about this matter, otherwise even if he is not angry, he would show a surprised expression.

Now it’s quite intriguing that he has no expression at all.

Ma Zhou could only report the truth:

"Your Majesty, there was thunder and lightning last night. For some reason, the East Palace was struck by lightning.

There is a lot of discussion in the court now, and everyone says that this is an ominous sign and a warning from God.

I came here to ask Your Majesty to decide how to deal with this matter."

After Ma Zhou finished speaking, he stood there respectfully waiting for Li Shimin's reply.

The scene fell silent for a while. Li Shimin did not speak, and the other two did not dare to speak either.

Li Shimin just looked at Changsun Wuji and the other two.

After a long time, Li Shimin finally spoke:

"You two are here for this matter too?"

He was asking about Changsun Wuji and Gao Jifu.

"Your Majesty, I am here for this matter."

"Your Majesty, so am I."

The two replied one after another.

"Haha, an ominous sign, a warning from heaven? Warning of what?

Tell me, what is the warning from heaven?

Only then did the calm expression on Li Shimin's face turn serious.

He looked at the three of them with some questioning in his tone.

"this....."

San was suddenly speechless.

What warning? The three of them didn't dare to speak directly about this matter.

"Humph!"

Li Shimin snorted twice, which frightened the three people.

Li Shimin is not Li Chengqian. The three of them have followed him for many years, especially Changsun Wuji, who has followed Li Shimin the longest.

He is also the person who knows Li Shimin best.

That's why Changsun Wuji was even more afraid, because he knew very well how cruel and ruthless Li Shimin was.

After Zhenguan, how many old ministers died at the hands of Li Shimin, and how many of them died unjustly.

Tang Jian, Liu Li, Zhang Liang, Li Junxian, these founding heroes, would have also died unjustly if they had not been rescued by Prince Ji Li Shen.

Just the fact that Tang Jian was going to be killed just because he won a game of chess shows how cruel Li Shimin was.

So when the three of them heard Li Shimin's two cold snorts, they couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Afraid of offending the emperor.

"Is this a warning to the prince that his virtue is not worthy of his position? His character is not good enough?"

"Bang!!"

Li Shimin slammed the desk heavily and said sternly:

"Do you want me to depose the crown prince and establish a new emperor?"

"I don't dare!"

The three men were so frightened that they bowed to the ground and did not dare to look up at Li Shimin.

"Huh, then what is the reason for you coming here today?"

Li Shimin snorted coldly and asked.

"Your Majesty, we are here to ask Your Majesty to make a decision. There is a lot of discussion in the court and among the people.

Your Majesty, I ask you to make it clear."

Changsun Wuji raised his body slightly and said respectfully.

"Decide? What do you want me to decide? You three are the Three Dukes, the top officials among all the officials.

The responsibility is to lead all officials and assist the new emperor.

There are rumors in the court. Do I need to make the decision on such matters?

If I can take care of everything, what use would you have? "

Li Shimin's tone was filled with anger, and he finally shouted angrily.

The three people were so frightened that they immediately bowed and apologized:

"I am guilty~~"

Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. No matter how powerful you are in the court, you may lose your head at any time in front of a ruthless emperor like Li Shimin.

The three of them all thought of one person, Lu Zushang, the governor of Jiaozhou.

Just because he was disobedient, Li Shimin beheaded him in the court to serve as a warning to others.

Back then, Lu Zushang was a hero who participated in the great cause of unification and followed Li Shimin in his campaigns.

Just because Jiaozhou was short of people and Lu Zushang was both civil and military, Li Shimin wanted to make Lu Zushang the governor of Jiaozhou.

At that time, Jiaozhou's economy was backward, the environment was very harsh, and it was far away from Chang'an.

After a while, Lu Zushang could no longer stay in the position, so he resigned to Li Shimin on the grounds of illness.

Li Shimin tried to persuade Lu Zushang again and again, but he was still unwilling to go.

In the end, Li Shimin became furious and ordered Lu Zushang to be beheaded in the court.

The three of them still remember this incident clearly, which was that Li Shimin used Lu Zushang to establish his authority.

"Okay, get up."

After a long time, Li Shimin slowly spoke.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"This matter should not be decided by me. As the heads of all officials, this is your responsibility.

Correct the unhealthy tendencies in the court.

I hope that there will be no evil tendencies in the court, and that everything will be clear and bright.”

Li Shimin looked at the three of them and said.

"Your Highness obeys your order~"

Although Li Shimin said that he would not make the final decision, his meaning was very clear.

If these three people still don't understand what it means, then how can they be ranked among the Three Dukes?

"Your Majesty, thunder from heaven has always been a bad omen. Although I, your servant, can rectify the affairs of the court, the news has now spread among the people.

Chang'an was the capital, with many merchants and envoys from vassal states.

I am afraid that as time goes on, the rumors will spread to local areas and even to vassal states.

At that time, the reputation of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be affected, and the people will be unstable.

Your Majesty, please make the decision?"

The Minister of the Court Gao Ji Fu stepped forward and asked again.

When Li Shimin heard the ominous word, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Then do you have any countermeasures?"

The news spread among the people, and Li Shimin also thought about this problem. Now the population of Chang'an City is over one million, and there are at least tens of thousands of floating population every day.

Most of these people are businessmen from all over the place.

They would spread any news from Chang'an City to other places.

"Your Majesty, should we issue a ban so that the people are not allowed to discuss this matter?"

Changsun Wuji stepped forward and made a suggestion.

"Your Majesty, I think this is not possible. It will easily lead to wrongful convictions.

This kind of thing has existed since ancient times.

Your Majesty, it is better to ease the situation than to block it. I think the best policy is to issue a notice to appease the people."

Ma Zhou came out to refute.

Literary inquisition has always been a scourge in any dynasty.

“Your Majesty, the common people are just ordinary people. I’m afraid that the more the court explains, the more they will believe that the matter is true.

I think even if the imperial court issues a notice, it will be of no avail and will have little effect.”

Gao Ji Fu came out to refute Ma Zhou.

Li Shimin nodded, what the three said made sense.

A ban must not be issued. If it is issued, it will easily cause civil unrest, and the people will believe it to be true.

The same principle applies to the notice. Explanation is a cover-up, and this is the mentality of the people.

“Your Majesty, for thousands of years, the people have had a deep-rooted fear of lightning strikes, and it may not be easy to solve it.

I believe that this matter does not have much impact on the Crown Prince and the court.

It would be better to wait for a while and let the rumors among the people dissipate on their own.

After a while, people will naturally forget about it.”

Changsun Wuji suggested.

"Let me think about this for a while, and you go back and do what you should do. I don't want this to affect the Crown Prince.

Go down. "

Li Shimin waved his hand tiredly.

"I'm waiting to retire."

The three of them bowed and left the Ganlu Hall.