Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4335 Prepare for the Worst

As the well-deserved "Military No. 1", the British Duke Li Ji does not have any troops directly under his command. This is a common practice, and it is to beware of powerful people, so as to avoid the occurrence of military and political powers.

However, Li Ji's past merits and status doomed his influence in the army to be rarely matched by others. If he went out of the palace at this time to summon the old troops to contact the garrisons in various places, it would be easy to pull up another tyrannical force. ...

In the final analysis, because of Li Ji's various performances before, Li Chengqian felt that there was a problem with his position, and he must be restrained in the palace, and he could not be let the tiger go back to the mountain.

Li Ji understood Li Chengqian's intentions, but he didn't feel any humiliation or anger. It was indeed that he did not support, disapprove, and stood by at the beginning of Li Chengqian's ascension to the throne. How could he expect Li Chengqian's unreserved trust?

Li Junxian strode into the hall. After saluting, he reported the latest battle situation: "The rebels stormed the inner heavy gate, the defenders of the inner heavy gate were defeated, and the city gate fell. The rebels entered through the inner heavy gate, and the Xuande gate The garrison entered the palace to help defend, but the rebels marched very fast. Cheng Wuting had no choice but to lead the army to the front line of Ganlu Hall and Shenlong Hall to assist the imperial guards in the palace to build a defense line. Now the battle is fierce, the guards are weak, and the casualties are heavy. Breakthrough by the rebels, Your Majesty should make preparations early."

Taiji Palace has a "difference between court and sleeping". Behind Taiji Hall is Zhuming Gate, and to the north is Liangyi Gate. The horizontal street between Zhuming Gate and Liangyi Gate is the boundary between court and sleeping.

The dormitory area is divided into two rows of palaces at the front and back by a Yongxiang. Four horizontal gates are added in the Yongxiang: Donghengmen, Xihengmen, Rihuamen and Yuehuamen.The south of Yongxiang is the living area of ​​the emperor, that is, the "emperor's bedroom", and the north of Yongxiang is the living area of ​​the empress and concubines, that is, the "back bedroom", and foreign officials are absolutely prohibited from entering.

In the middle of the front row is the building complex of Liangyi Hall. To the north of the horizontal street, in the middle is the Ganlu Gate, and inside the gate is the Sleeping Hall Ganlu Hall.There are Shenlong Hall and Anren Hall on the left and right of Ganlu Hall, and then there are Daji Hall, Baifu Hall, and Chengqing Hall on both sides. Each hall has its own courtyard.

To the north of Ganlu Hall is the Houyuan, which is now completely occupied. Once the rebels break through the Ganlu Hall, they will enter the "back bedroom" area. The palaces and pavilions here are staggered, which is very unfavorable to prevent defense. Once the rebels break in, the troops will disperse If they act independently, their superiority in military strength will be fully revealed, and there is only one step away from the Hall of Wude.

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, no matter how rigorous Li Chengqian's preparations are in advance, he should have made preparations at this time, either move to the Taiji Hall to sit temporarily, and withdraw from the palace city by Chengtianmen when the situation deteriorates completely, or directly by the military. The secret passage under the Hall of Virtue goes out of Beijing, completely abandons the Tai Chi Palace, and admits failure...

Li Chengqian shook his head: "It's not yet critical time, so don't panic. If I move out of the Martial Virtue Hall to avoid danger at this time, it will not only make the guards in the palace unstable, but also shake the positions of the government and the public. When the real defeat is decided, I will not sit still and wait for death. I am the crown prince conferred by my father's golden canon. If you act on your will, in this life, you will be incompatible with the rebels!"

During the Guanlong Mutiny, he was once forced to rush to Xuanwumen to prepare for exile. At that time, he even had the will to die, full of despair and hope for the future, and died.

But now he is definitely not the original mentality. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, even if Chang'an falls, he is confident to regroup and regain the lost land.

Everyone also breathed a sigh of relief. As an emperor who controls the world, his self-esteem and pride are naturally extraordinary. Sometimes it is difficult to accept failure. If Li Chengqian can't bear the blow, becomes discouraged and loses his fighting spirit, it will be a shame for the people present. It's the end of the road.As long as Li Chengqian's fighting spirit is not extinguished, so what if Chang'an is captured by the rebels?
The big deal is to separate the country and the mountains and do their own thing, and then counterattack Chang'an again after recuperating...

Li Ji asked, "Does Duke Yue have anything to say?"

Li Junxian shook his head and said: "Cheng Wuting is in charge of the army. The Duke of Yue has never been on the road, maybe he is still in the barracks outside Xuande Gate."

Li Ji frowned: "At this time, Fang Jun is not in the army leading his subordinates to resist the rebels, but he is still staying in the Forbidden Garden barracks?"

This is clearly not right.

Fang Jun is not a rough person, but the kind of person who you can rest assured no matter what you do, as long as you leave it to him, no matter how difficult things are, he will always handle them properly.At such a critical moment, let only one Cheng Wu stand up to lead the army, and he hides by himself?
There must be something going on.

At this moment, Wang De, the chief servant, entered the hall, came to Li Chengqian's side, bowed and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, His Highness Changle has come to meet up with the people in Shujing Palace, how should we arrange it?"

Li Chengqian was taken aback. The rebel army suddenly stormed up and directly attacked the inner heavy gate and quickly broke in. The entire Taiji Palace was in danger of fighting fiercely. What an accident, this life is hard for me...

He hurriedly said: "Directly lead to the Queen's place. Besides, have Jin Yang and the other princes and princesses been properly settled?"

Since he ascended the throne, since the Tai Chi Hall was almost destroyed in the Guanlong Mutiny and has been under repair, he stayed in the Wude Hall to handle official business and receive foreign ministers, and he did not go to the Shenlong Hall where the emperor stayed. The situation has been unstable recently. There are many civil servants and generals coming and going in the Wude Hall, so they rest in the Lizheng Hall on the west side, where the Empress Su is also there.

Wang De replied: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, when the rebels attacked the Neizhong Gate, the old slave has already sent people to take all the princes, princes, and princesses here, and temporarily place them in the Daji Hall."

Only then did Li Chengqian feel relieved: "Send them all to the Lizheng Palace, let the queen take care of them properly, and there must be no accidents."

"Here!"

Wang De responded, turned around and walked out of the hall with his waist bent and leaning against the wall.

Li Chengqian met everyone's eyes and ordered: "Give Wei Gong a decree, let him gather the troops of the East Palace Sixth, who have already defended the Bashui line, to return to Chang'an and enter Jingqin King. In addition, pay close attention to the army of King Jin in the south of the city. Since Li Daozong The rebels entered Xuanwu Gate, presumably the King of Jin must also attack Mingde Gate to respond, and must be blocked, otherwise the north and south will attack, and the situation will be dangerous."

Li Ji said happily: "Your Majesty is wise."

At such a time of life and death, Li Chengqian did not panic in his heart, but dealt with it with a calm demeanor. It can be seen that although his character is a little weaker, he also has a bit of integrity in the face of danger, and he has prepared in advance. Prepare for every change in advance.

But he didn't know the details of it at all. It can be seen that he had been excluded by the emperor from his confidants...

But instead of being depressed because of this, he was very relaxed.The reason why he stood on the sidelines during the Guanlong Mutiny or even at the beginning of Li Chengqian's ascension to the throne was that he didn't want to get involved in the center of power again and make himself "highly successful", which eventually caused the emperor's suspicion and fear.

When the water is full, it will overflow, and when the moon is full, it will lose money. Everything cannot be perfect, otherwise it will inevitably suffer backlash.

Now that the emperor can confidently resist the rebels without him being involved, the chances of winning seem great, so why not do it?

He has already started to think in his heart, if the rebel army succeeds and the king of Jin takes power, should he follow Li Chengqian into exile and become a loyal minister of Zhengshuo, or stay in the court and submit to the king of Jin, assisting him to stabilize the court and become a generation of virtuous ministers?
No matter how you choose, you can achieve your own reputation, but no matter how you choose, there are also flaws...

*****
Lizheng Hall.

Under the light rain, the night was dark, and the servants and guards in a hurry all around lit up all kinds of lanterns and candles. There was an atmosphere of depression and panic mixed with the splendor, and even the light reflected by the glazed tiles on the roof of the temple It seems a bit thick and restrained.

When Princess Jinyang walked in from the Qianhua Gate, she stepped on the blue bricks that had been washed clean by the rain. She was in a trance for a while...

Since she was born, she has lived in this palace, living together with her father, mother, and ninth brother. She is doted on by her parents and elder brothers, and enjoys more family happiness than other sisters. She has never felt that so-called "Golden branches and jade leaves style Dugu".

After the mother died, she continued to live here with the ninth brother, and was raised by her father.

The red walls, gardens, houses, and attics in front of her are familiar everywhere. The corners of the alleys and the back porches of the houses seem to be the shadows of her childhood, and a series of laughter like silver bells echoed faintly in her ears. ...

Now that she has reached adulthood, she has finally become what she imagined when she was a child, but she no longer has the happiness of that time.

The gentle, beautiful, dignified and gentle queen mother passed away, the optimistic and cheerful father who ruled the world passed away, and the ninth brother who grew up with him and was inseparable also led the army to rebel, wanting to overthrow the elder brother who had a mother and compatriots, Sitting on the throne of the ninety-five supreme...

All family ties were crushed in the courtyard of the supreme palace in the world. The Tai Chi Palace, which symbolized the supreme power in the world, had already become a cold tomb, burying all the happiness she had since birth.

Walking into the hall with a dazed expression, the Queen Su Shi who was waiting here came forward, first held Princess Jinyang's hand, and then found that there was something wrong with her expression, she was startled, her beautiful face was full of worry The color, holding her slender body in his arms, asked softly: "Did Si be frightened?"

This princess, who was the direct descendant of Empress Wende, was loved and cherished by her brothers and sisters because she suffered from a serious illness since she was a child, and she was well-behaved.

Only then did Princess Jinyang come back to her senses, and forced a smile: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, I'm fine..."

Then he was taken aback, feeling a hard bulge on the queen's chest, and asked in amazement, "What is hiding in sister-in-law's arms?"

Empress Su's expression paused for a moment, and then she said indifferently: "Bring some things with you, just make preparations."

As he spoke, he took out a delicate finger-sized porcelain bottle from his bosom.

The expressions of the surrounding servants and maids changed drastically, they all knelt down on the ground and kowtowed, and a close maid cried out sadly: "The empress can't..."

Princess Jinyang's eyes were concentrated, and she understood.

She held Queen Su's palm with her backhand, her eyes were full of eagerness: "Sister-in-law, why are you here?"

The rebel army just broke into the inner heavy gate, so the situation is still unknown. There are still many troops loyal to the emperor outside the palace, so why put poison on them?
(End of this chapter)