The most romantic little emperor

Li Zhen continued, "So, the princes and emperors at that time were not convinced. For a time, the court was full of cliques and factions. Each prince and emperor had his supporters, and they suppressed each other, causing chaos."

"Among them, the Second Prince and the Second Prince had the greatest power at the time. They both had the support of the majority of people, and many of us old brothers were involved."

"Later, Emperor Taizu saw that the power of the princes was too great and they were deeply involved with the court officials. Seeing that the situation was out of control, he implemented the land enfeoffment system and drove these princes out of the capital, ordering them never to return to the capital."

"Once the princes left the capital, only the Second Prince's family was left in power, fighting openly and secretly with your father, competing against him."

"The current emperor is merciful and cannot bear to see the clan members fighting against each other. He has made concessions again and again, but it has not changed your uncle. Instead, your uncle has become even more aggressive."

"At this time, Emperor Taizu was already terminally ill and powerless to save his condition. It was too late to control his condition, and tragedy inevitably occurred."

"Just when Emperor Taizu passed away, your second uncle launched the "Shenwu Gate Incident" in an attempt to kill your father. Your father learned the news in advance and took the opportunity to kill him. In a short time, blood flowed like a river and the capital was in crisis."

"However, the matter was not over yet. When the princes who left the capital heard that Emperor Taizu had died and the Second Prince had been executed, they launched another coup d'état under the banner of your father's murder of his brothers and cholera in the royal family. This was known in history as the 'Rebellion of the Three Princes', and it lasted for three years before it ended."

"In the past three years, more than one million soldiers were killed or injured on both sides, and countless civilians were killed or injured. The national strength of Daxia has declined, and foreign enemies are eyeing us covetously. The country is in imminent danger."

"In order to stabilize the imperial court and prevent foreign invasions, Emperor Taizong pardoned the crimes of the three princes and appointed several of their brothers as vassal kings. Thus, Daxia entered an era of vassal separatism. Only then was the imperial court able to recuperate and the people were able to live and work in peace."

"After these two civil wars, Emperor Taizong is well aware of the importance of a smooth transfer of the throne. This is why Emperor Taizong has sent all the princes over the age of fifteen, except you, to their fiefdoms."

After hearing this, Qin Hao shook his head and sighed. He sighed for this era, and even more so for the soldiers and civilians who died and were injured in the civil strife, and even more so for the greed of human nature.

In his opinion, Daxia had missed too many best periods of development, so that now the people are still living in poverty, famines are constantly occurring, wars are frequent, and foreign races are eyeing the Central Plains covetously.

The reason is that these princes and emperors, for their own selfish desires and in order to sit on the throne, ignored the people of the world and the country of Daxia.

So, he sighed: "When prosperity comes, the people suffer; when decline comes, the people perish. I wish the people would stay away from war, and I wish there would be no war in the world."

Li Zhen felt relieved to hear that Qin Hao was so concerned about the country and the people.

However, he still shook his head and sighed: "Difficult, this is difficult!"

Qin Hao clenched his fists, his eyes gleaming with a gleam, and he said firmly: "If I reflect on myself and don't shrink back, even if I am wearing a loose and wide robe, I will not be afraid. If I reflect on myself and shrink back, even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will go ahead."

"Your Highness, you are so courageous! Even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will go."

After hearing this, Li Zhen was so excited that he immediately knelt on the ground and said in admiration: "I am an old minister. Although I am old, I still have a few days to live. I am willing to serve Your Highness at my utmost."

Qin Hao quickly helped him up and said with a chuckle, "General Li, you are too kind. With your help, I will be able to accomplish great things and prosper Daxia."

Li Zhen waved his hand and sighed, "I am old now. I don't have many days left to help Your Highness. I hope I can help you solve your problems."

"By the way, General Li, can you tell me about the time when my father personally led the army to fight two years ago?" Qin Hao suddenly asked.

Li Zhen looked solemn, and after thinking for a moment, he slowly said, "Your Highness, when I talk about this matter, I feel guilty towards the Emperor."

"Is there any hidden story behind this matter?" Qin Hao asked anxiously.

Li Zhen nodded and said in a deep voice: "Back then, the Liao Kingdom in the north invaded our border, plundered our cities, and killed our people. The situation was precarious."

"Originally, I planned to lead the troops and repel the enemy myself, but the time has changed. I am seriously ill and old. The emperor, thinking of our old friendship, is afraid that I will not be able to bear the long journey and die before the battle, so he ordered me to stay at home to recuperate."

"Later, under the instigation of Su Zhengfang, Dong Sicheng and others, the emperor believed the slander and insisted on his own way, deciding to lead the army in person."

"As a result, we fell into the enemy's trap and were trapped in Jinzhou City for several months until we ran out of ammunition and food, and no reinforcements were received."

"In the end, the emperor had no choice but to break out. Fortunately, the soldiers led the way and fought bravely, saving the emperor and successfully breaking out. However, during the breakout, the emperor was hit by an enemy arrow, which left him with a chronic illness that has not improved until now."

Qin Hao asked: "What happened next? The Liao did not pursue the victory and go deep into the hinterland."

"No."

Li Zhen shook his head and sighed, "The war that year happened very strangely, and ended very strangely."

"At that time, our Great Xia suffered heavy losses. Logically, the Great Liao should have pursued the victory, but it did not. Instead, the Great Liao took the initiative to negotiate peace, and asked our Great Xia to cede the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, as well as a large amount of war reparations to the Great Liao."

Qin Hao had many questions in his mind, and asked back: "This is too unreasonable. I feel like that war is a trap."

Hearing this, Li Zhen took a deep breath and replied in a deep voice: "Indeed, that war was too smooth and too strange. The Liao army was more powerful than us, but when we were almost annihilated, they suddenly proposed peace talks, and only made Daxia cede the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and pay a large amount of war reparations. This is indeed not the Liao army's style of marching and fighting."

"I had the same thought back then. I felt that there were invisible hands manipulating the war situation."

"Later, I checked many times and always felt that there was some resistance preventing me from investigating. I reported the matter to the emperor. Then, the emperor and I played a trick on each other. I withdrew from the court and secretly investigated the matter, but with little success."

"The main reason is that there were not many people who survived the war. Most of the soldiers were killed in the battle and there is no way to know the truth of what happened."

Qin Hao remained silent after hearing this, but his heart was in turmoil.

He knew that the country was going through a huge crisis, and the root cause of this crisis was as strange as the war. If one was not careful, one would fall into the trap of power.

Qin Hao clenched his fists, a gleam of determination flashed in his eyes, and he muttered to himself: "No matter which direction the wind blows, I will remain unmoved."

"Since I have chosen this most difficult path, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire, or a bottomless abyss ahead, I will move forward bravely and without regrets."

Ah Yue heard Qin Hao's inner voice, held his hand tightly, and said softly: "Your Highness, there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, and I will accompany you to cross them. There is a bottomless abyss ahead, and I will jump with you."

Qin Hao didn't care that there were people around him, he hugged Ah Yue in his arms and called out affectionately: "Yue'er..."