The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 662 Li Shimin's carelessness
"Oh, then tell me the reason. Anyway, I feel that Zhijie is a little weird today, as if he has a lot on his mind." Li Shimin asked curiously. The unstable mood of an important frontier general is no trivial matter.

"For the position of Dingxiang Road's marching commander!"

Li Yan said something lightly, which stunned Li Shimin. He sat up straight and stared at Li Yan with a stern expression: "How did you know?"

When Li Yan opened his mouth and was about to speak, Li Shimin suddenly ordered loudly: "Ma Xuanliang, stand guard outside. No matter who comes, push them away."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Ma Xuanliang, who was standing at the door, closed the door, stood at the door, and sent the guards at the door to the end of the corridor.

Seeing Li Shimin looking at him seriously, Li Yan said, "Yesterday, Cheng Yaojin came to the East Palace to thank me for recommending Cheng Huaimo. I invited him to have lunch at the East Palace at noon, and we drank a few glasses of wine at the end. Cheng Yaojin might have drunk too much and couldn't control his mouth?"

"The thing he regretted most in his life was that they were transferred away by Li Yuanji on the day when his father needed them, so he failed to fulfill his duty as a minister and let his father take risks alone. In the end, his father became resentful and exiled him to the frontier. He had no regrets and only blamed himself for not fulfilling his duty as a minister at the critical moment."

"He and Qin Qiong regretted this to their heart's content. They dreamed of their father fighting at Xuanwu Gate in the middle of the night, covered in blood, but they could only watch from a distance and could not go to help. They were unworthy of being his subjects and would never be forgiven."

As Li Yan spoke, Li Shimin's expression became very serious and his face looked very ugly. The scar in his heart was revealed again. Li Shimin's face was faintly ferocious, as if he remembered something. His hands were unconsciously clenched into fists and his teeth were clenched.

"Father." Li Yan asked with a hint of concern on his face.

"Oh?"

Li Shimin was startled, then reacted, and then said in a daze: "I am listening, you continue."

"Yes, Father!"

Li Yan continued, "Later, I saw that he was in a bad mood, so I asked him carefully. Cheng Yaojin told me that my father intended to unite the prefectures, counties, and counties in Yunzhong, including Changze, Shuofang, Ningshuo, Xiazhou, and Hengshan, and set up a Dingxiang Road camp, with the general commander of the march commanding the front-line defense against the Turks."

"But he didn't consider the old generals of the Qin Mansion. He didn't blame his father, but only blamed himself for doing something wrong and offending the emperor."

"To be honest, I have been with my father all day, but I didn't hear about this. Cheng Yaojin, a frontier general who rarely returns to Chang'an throughout the year, knows about it. I asked him how he knew about it, but Cheng Yaojin was a little drunk at the time, and his words were vague, so I didn't hear it clearly."

After saying that, Li Yan looked at Li Shimin with curiosity.

"Oh, that's what happened!"

Li Shimin frowned and said, "This is because Li Ke came back from Suizhou last time and said that the distance between the border and Chang'an is too far. The Tang Dynasty and the Turks are thousands of miles apart. In the past two years, there have been frequent wars, but the border towns are not under the jurisdiction of each other and fight on their own. They are always defeated by Jie Li one by one, and there is no time to rescue them."

"So I suggest that you divide the prefectures, states and counties in the border areas into several routes and appoint a general commander to command them. This will help us concentrate our forces more effectively and coordinate with each other to protect the border towns."

"I didn't think it through clearly at the time, so I casually asked Li Ke who would be the chief steward if we set up a camp in Dingxiang. He recommended Yuchi Jingde to me, but I didn't make any comment."

At this point, Li Shimin paused, his pupils shrank, and his face suddenly became extremely gloomy. He had not even revealed this matter to Yuchi Gong, and had only discussed it with Fang Xuanling in private among the court officials. However, Fang Xuanling was a steady man and would definitely not shout it to the world.

So, either Li Ke went to curry favor with Yuchi Gong, or he boasted to his die-hard followers, and Cheng Huailiang was not dead at that time?
From this, it was only natural that the news reached Cheng Yaojin's ears. Cheng Huailiang would definitely inform his father about such a big thing.

Thinking of Li Ke's impartiality at that time, I even praised him, but I didn't expect that he was so impetuous and didn't know the importance of the matter. How could he talk nonsense about military and national affairs that have not been settled?

What made Li Shimin even more worried was that old generals like Cheng Yaojin who had not participated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident would definitely have a knot in their hearts after he ascended the throne. They had guarded the frontier for several years and were no more emotional than the generals in the capital. Now he was going to set up a camp, but he transferred Yuchi Gong from the rear to serve as the chief steward.

Doesn't this clearly show that he has a grudge against them and doesn't trust them?
There are quite a few of these people. If they have a grudge against themselves, over time, they may even become afraid because of worry, alienated because of fear, and finally become disloyal. There were only nine generals who participated in the Xuanwu Gate, but there were dozens of absentees. The reasons for their absence were also different. Some were stationed in other places at the time and could not help; some were closely watched by Li Yuan and could not alert the enemy; some were transferred by Li Jiancheng to Li Yuanji's subordinates and were brought to the military camp in the name of going to war.

Of course, there were also people like Li Jing and Li Ji who rejected themselves personally, and there were quite a few of them.

If these people worry all day long that the emperor is holding a grudge against them, something big will surely happen over time, right?
Just now, Cheng Yaojin cried so sadly in front of me. At that time, I thought he was just being foolish for his son. Now I understand, he was not crying for his son at all.

He was crying for his own future and destiny, feeling sad about being despised and neglected by his own emperor. Looking back now, Cheng Yaojin, a big and strong man, had tears in his eyes filled with regret, unwillingness, worry and uneasiness.

So much so that a stubborn warrior and a general commanding tens of thousands of troops was actually overwhelmed by these heavy worries.

Yes
I never want to think about the Xuanwu Gate incident. I have woken up from dreams many times. Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were beheaded with a single knife, blood spurting everywhere. They stared at me with despair and unwillingness, and never closed their eyes until they died.

He has his own knot in his heart, and Li Jing and Cheng Yaojin also have their knots in their hearts. Qin Qiong's illness has become more serious in the past two years, and he also regrets his past actions.

Cheng Yaojin had a double knot in his heart about these people, so much so that he was so scared that he dared not return to Beijing with his two sons for three years. Seeing the passage of time, he finally released Cheng Huailiang back to Chang'an, but he died unexpectedly because of the remnants of the hidden prince.

This is probably the reason why Cheng Yaojin returned to Beijing in person. He was afraid. He was afraid that he would settle old scores, and he was even more afraid that he had instructed someone to kill Cheng Huailiang. He was so worried that after a long time, even a man of iron would not be able to bear it, right?

Li Shimin could no longer sit still, his face was extremely cold and solemn, he stood up and walked around in the hall. He suddenly realized that as an emperor, he actually ignored the thoughts of these generals, only thinking about the nine generals of Xuanwu Gate, and forgot about the old generals of Qin Mansion.

Perhaps he couldn't forget it in his heart. As his subjects, those old generals must be more important to him than himself. Under mutual suspicion, it would become a nightmare and a demon in his heart. Moreover, there were people like Li Jing and Li Ji. If they could not gain his trust and reuse, they would probably choose to betray him in the end.

But he cannot do without these people. There are just too many of them, and their strength is too great. If they get drunk and get together every time, they will talk about the old days of Xuanwu Gate, and he will be worried and frightened all day long.

The one who will be unable to sleep in the end will be himself, the emperor.

He was indeed careless in this matter. Thinking of this, even the iron-blooded emperor Li Shimin felt a chill down his spine!
Li Yan smiled in his heart, looking at Li Shimin's anxious face, pretending to be unaware of the situation and asked in panic: "Father, did I do something wrong, or did I say something wrong?"

"I shouldn't have allowed Cheng Yaojin to have dinner in the East Palace yesterday. If your father thinks that your son has violated the court's taboo by privately contacting these important frontier generals, your son apologizes to your father!"

"No, Qian'er, you did a great job. If you hadn't reminded father, father would have missed the important thing. Now I finally know why Zhijie looked so distraught and broken just now." After Li Shimin returned to the imperial desk, he sighed deeply and slowly recovered.

Fortunately, I discovered this problem before the Northern Expedition, and I was able to deal with it calmly. Even if this problem was not solved, I could still delay the war.

If it really gets delayed until the war begins, who knows what changes will arise?
"It's okay, don't worry!"

Li Shimin looked at his eldest son, who was affected by his emotions and looked uneasy, and said with a smile: "If other ordinary princes were to contact these generals, it would be taboo, but you are the crown prince, the legitimate heir to the throne of my Tang Dynasty. It is not a bad thing to contact these generals more and learn about military affairs and border military information. I don't mind."

"Oh, thank you, Father!"

Li Yan seemed to suddenly remember something and said, "I have something else to report. The last time I went to pay my respects to General Cheng Huailiang on behalf of my father, Cheng Yaojin pulled me aside and talked to me for a long time. He also introduced his youngest son Cheng Huaibi to me."

"I didn't understand what he meant at the time, but yesterday in the East Palace, he said he wanted to let his youngest son enter the East Palace as my companion. Father, I wonder if I should accept or refuse?"

Li Shimin was stunned and a bitter smile suddenly appeared on his face. It seemed that he was really busy with court affairs every day and ignored the concerns of these generals. Cheng Yaojin was clearly trying to show goodwill to him and repair the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, but he did not realize it. What a failure!
Perhaps this was not just Cheng Yaojin's idea, but a test from a group of generals.

(End of this chapter)