Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4962: In front of Wude Hall
Zhide Gate is located in the north of the East Palace. Outside the gate are the mountains, forests, rivers and lakes of the West Inner Courtyard. Usually, there are few people and wild animals. Under the heavy snow, the light on the tower is dim and there are few guards. Li Anyan led his confidants to attack Lizheng Palace. The remaining soldiers were at a loss and didn't know where to go. When they saw an army suddenly appearing in the snowy night, they were startled at first, but when they saw the flags of the Left Jinwu Guard and Fang Jun and Li Ji standing under the city, they quickly opened the palace gate to let the people in, and then knelt on one side of the palace gate.

Seeing the teams of fully armed Zuo Jinwu Guards in helmets and armor rushing into the palace gate in front of them, the Eastern Palace guards were all nervous and uneasy.

No matter how stupid they were, they knew that Li Anyan was attacking Lizheng Palace at this moment, which was an act of treason. Although they were abandoned because they were not Li Anyan's confidants, they were still Li Anyan's subordinates after all. How could they know whether they would be implicated?

If Li Anyan succeeds and the crown prince is killed, I'm afraid all the guards of the Eastern Palace will be implicated...

Fang Jun and Li Ji walked side by side into Zhide Gate. They heard the roar of gunfire but were not in a hurry and walked leisurely.

After entering the gate, Fang Jun looked at the Eastern Palace guards kneeling on one knee on both sides. He knew what they were thinking and waved his hand, saying, "Everyone, stand up and continue to protect the safety of Zhide Gate. As for whether there are any traitors among you, we will identify them one by one later. We will not let any traitor go, but we will not wrongly accuse any innocent person either."

Li Anyan was plotting a rebellion, and as his subordinates, it was difficult for them to escape from the conspiracy. For example, did they know that Li Anyan was plotting a rebellion? Did they know that Li Anyan was recruiting his confidants? What's more, Li Anyan hid his own assassins in the East Palace in advance. Did these guards really know nothing about it?
However, at this time, it is most important to stabilize the morale of the army, so there is no need to pursue it too much.

Li Ji shook his head, took a few steps forward, and then said, "The grace comes from the Lord. Even if a pardon is granted, it should be granted by the Emperor. How can we, the ministers, interfere in other people's affairs?"

Fang Jun glanced at him and said, "What is grace? Love outside the law is grace. The so-called grace comes from breaking the rules. If this continues, where are the rules?"

The reason why the king dominates the world is that he has the power of life and death, and can ignore any rules to show favor to his subordinates. The life and death, demotion, appointment and dismissal of his subjects can all be decided by the king. The biggest flaw of this kind of rule is that everything depends on the king's likes and dislikes, and there is no trace to be found and nothing to follow.

Therefore, a sycophant who is good for nothing can be promoted step by step and hold power by guessing the intentions of his superiors and currying their favor, while a diligent and hard-working official may be idle or even imprisoned because of failing to do a good job.

"Rules" are the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. Ignoring the rules is one of the reasons why this dynasty did not last long.

Li Ji remained silent.

He didn't know where Fang Jun's transcendent cognition came from, which made him, who was born into the Confucian idea of ​​"loyalty to the emperor", feel very subtle.

There is complete identification in my heart, but also a fear of "betrayal".

He even felt that compared with the rebellious Li Shenfu, Li Anyan and others, Fang Jun was more like a "traitor". The former was ambitious to replace the emperor, while the latter wanted to dig up the foundation of the imperial power, which was even more "treasonous"...

"If you have any thoughts, you should keep them in your heart and don't tell others about them. I will just pretend I didn't hear them."

Li Ji walked leisurely and gave a reminder.

Fang Jun walked side by side and said with a smile: "Thinking and doing are two completely different things. Oftentimes, it is just thinking, which does not mean that you have to put it into practice. For example, if you see a beautiful lady, you will probably admire her with admiration and then fantasize about kissing her, but you may not put it into practice."

"..."

Li Ji was both angry and amused, and said dissatisfiedly: "You are now the Grand Commandant, you must follow the rules in what you say and do, otherwise you will lose face for the court."

Given his current status, even his old buddies are in awe of him. Who would dare to ridicule him with such words?
That is to say, this unscrupulous "stick hammer", no respect for elders...

In the distance, the flames of battle in front of Lizheng Palace were already brightly illuminated, the shouts of killing became more intense, and teams of soldiers from the Zuo Jinwu Guards rushed forward quickly to the battlefield.

Fang Jun said: "This sounds a bit sour, Lord Ying is a little jealous, right?"

Li Ji snorted and said unhappily, "Life is nothing but fame and fortune. I am the prime minister, the head of all the ministers, but I have not yet been ranked among the three highest officials. You have suddenly climbed over my head. Do you know how many people in the world have ridiculed me for this?"

It's not hypocritical at all, it speaks directly from the heart.

The position of the Three Dukes, the highest position among the ministers, who could be indifferent and indifferent to such a situation? However, he was afraid that he could not receive such an honor when he was in the court. If he wanted this title, he would either retire or be awarded it posthumously.

But by then, one will either enjoy the beauty of nature or be buried in the dust, and the honor of being a Duke of the Three Realms will not be of much significance...

The Wude Hall was in front of him. Fang Jun tightened the silk belt around his waist and straightened his helmet. As he walked, he said, "Maybe if you think about the fact that I got the title of 'Grand Commander' because of you, you will feel better."

Li Ji smiled bitterly and shook his head. Of course he understood what it meant.

The person most favored by His Majesty at all times is Fang Jun. Although Fang Jun has made outstanding contributions and has great influence, he is still inferior to him, a meritorious minister of the Zhenguan period. He lacks experience and prestige. Therefore, he gave him the title of "Grand Marshal" to enhance his reputation and achieve the purpose of competing with him in the army.

In a sense, it makes sense that Fang Jun was given the title of "Grand Marshal" because of him.

But who is Li Ji, to deceive himself like this?
If there is, there is, if there is not, there is not.

……

The battle in front of the Wude Hall was fierce. Both sides charged, held their ground, and fought each other within the limited area in front of the hall. There were casualties everywhere and blood was flowing. Li Shenfu's eyes were red. Except for his son Li Wenliang and more than a dozen of his own death warriors, he urged all the others to join the battle, striving to capture the defense of "Yuancong Laozu" as soon as possible.

After all, if they want to enter the Wude Hall, they still need to break through the defense line of the "Hundred Cavalry Division", and the time has been delayed for too long...

Li Shenfu was so anxious that he could not help but draw out his sword, took a few steps forward, and shouted: "Everyone, rush into the Wude Hall and save His Majesty. This is our duty. Even if we are struck by swords and axes and die here, we should still move forward! I will fight the enemy side by side with you. If we fail, we will die!"

Hold the knife and wave it a few times.

Even though it was just a pretense, it immediately inspired the morale of all the royal family members, their family soldiers, and their death squads. Among the royal family members at the moment, Li Xiaogong naturally had the highest prestige, followed by Li Shenfu, and even the King of Han was slightly inferior. The fact that a royal family member of the "ancestor" level like Li Shenfu personally wielded a sword to kill the enemy was unparalleled in its inspiring effect.

Moreover, the vast majority of these royal family members, family soldiers, and death squads did not know that this was a mutiny instigated by Li Shenfu, but they actually believed his lies that "Your Majesty was framed by thieves and the country was in turmoil."

The country has been established for only 30 years, but the bloodiness of the Li Tang royal family is still there. Even the princes and sons of the princes dare to kill and fight. At this moment, they are aroused by Li Shenfu's actions and words, and they fight bravely and charge desperately, and actually force the line of "Yuan Cong Laozu" to retreat, which is a sign of collapse.

Li Shenfu was overjoyed when he saw this. Although he was weak and could no longer kill anyone, he still waved his sword and shouted loudly to cheer and boost morale.

The "old soldiers of Yuan Cong" were defeated step by step, and chaos had already appeared...

The elite soldiers of the "Hundred Cavalry Division" who were guarding the last line of defense in front of the Wude Hall were holding swords and bows, ready to provide reinforcements. However, they were slow to hear the order, so they couldn't help but look at Li Junxian on the steps.

Li Junxian stood still, but his hands behind his back were clenched into fists, and he sighed silently in his heart: without the emperor's order, he dared not order the "Hundred Cavalry Division" to reinforce. After all, these "old soldiers" were put together by His Majesty with all his efforts, and he hoped that they could replace the "Hundred Cavalry Division", "Left and Right Tunwei" and other troops, and make great contributions in this palace crisis.

He knew clearly what His Majesty was thinking. On the one hand, always relying on others to turn the tide made him seem somewhat useless as an emperor. On the other hand, how could he be rewarded for such a great achievement?
If Li Junxian were to receive more rewards, he would certainly be sent to govern a region and command a large army, and there would be no one to take over the "Hundred Cavalry Division".

And Fang Jun... has reached the limit of what titles he can be given and what rewards he can receive.

So Li Junxian could only wait, waiting for the "old soldier Yuan Cong" to burst into blood and reverse the situation in one fell swoop.

However, the situation did not turn out as he expected. Although the "old soldiers of Yuan Cong" were invincible in the past and are still brave now, they are old and weak and have not been on the battlefield for a long time. Under the fierce charge of the princes, heirs, grandsons of the royal family and their death squads, they have to fight and retreat, struggling to hold on, leaving corpses all over the ground and blood staining the white snow red.

There was a sudden commotion at the Wude Gate to the south of the Wude Hall. The guards were greatly encouraged, knowing that reinforcements had arrived. The faces of the rebels changed drastically, and Li Shenfu pretended to be crazy and shouted repeatedly: "Charge forward and charge into the Wude Hall!"

He had been planning this day for a long time and would not allow anything to fail at the last moment.

Because there is no way back at this point, either he has to charge into the Wude Hall to find Li Chengqian's body and force the ministers to appoint a new king, or he will die here and his entire family will be wiped out.

At this moment, the little covetousness in his heart had long since disappeared, and he only wanted to establish a new king and make contributions to his support...

But the "old soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty" also knew that reinforcements were about to arrive, so they boosted their morale, tried their best, and fearlessly held the last line of defense.

Soon, shouts and screams came from both sides. Liu Li, Ma Zhou and others, with hundreds of guards who had joined them, bypassed the Wude Hall from the main gate and rushed over.

When Liu Li and his companions saw Li Shenfu surrounded by his family soldiers, they were immediately furious and drew their swords: "Traitors and traitors, everyone has the right to kill them!"

"kill!"

(End of this chapter)