Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

It was not until now that Cui Jingming woke up as if from a dream and realized that he had made a big mistake.

Moreover, this mistake is not ordinary, it is extremely fatal.

At the beginning, he should have taken advantage of the time when his power was stable and acted decisively to wipe out all these old family officials who lived in their own world.

Instead of naively choosing to wait, hoping that they will die naturally from old age due to the erosion of time.

Then find a way to revive the Cui family.

This idea was originally a good one, and he would also become an outstanding leader among the heads of the Cui family.

But things in the world are unpredictable, and plans can never accurately predict changes.

He had never expected that such a resolute emperor would actually appear.

Even though the emperor knew that the Tang Dynasty would face a huge risk of collapse, he was still determined to eradicate the power of the aristocratic families at all costs and did not care about the chair under his butt at all.

At this moment, Cui Jingming knew that he had no time to make up for his mistake.

Now that things have come to this, we must not be soft-hearted anymore. Even if the means are ruthless, we must preserve the last hope of the aristocratic family.

His eyes flashed, and he shouted loudly: "Someone come!"

In an instant, a group of well-trained Cui family guards rushed in.

These are all personal guards trained by Cui Jingming himself, a total of 3,000 people, and they only obey his orders.

And they were all born in ordinary families.

These guards stood tall and straight, waiting for Cui Jingming's instructions with determined eyes.

Cui Jingming's face was gloomy as he gave a cold order: "Guard these elders well. No one is allowed to leave the Cui Mansion without my permission. Anyone who dares to disobey will be severely punished!"

"Yes, master!"

The guards responded in unison.

The others looked at Cui Jingming's resolute expression, their faces filled with disbelief.

Cui Huaide was so angry that his face turned ashen. His eyes were wide open and he shouted at Cui Jingming: "Jingming, what on earth do you want to do?"

"Are you trying to imprison us elders?"

"How are your actions different from those of a tyrannical dictator?"

At this time, many people were secretly regretting in their hearts that they should not have been so blinded by greed and helped such an ungrateful and ungrateful person to the high position of head of the family.

Cui Jingming pretended not to hear and just glanced at Cui Huaide coldly, with a bone-chilling coldness in his eyes.

Then, he walked out of the room slowly, step by step, leaving only a group of elders standing there, looking at each other.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, at a loss as to what to do because of this sudden change.

……

The heads of various families were now gathered in the spacious and magnificent main hall of the Cui Mansion.

They all sat upright, but could not hide the anxiety and uneasiness on their faces, and were anxiously waiting for Cui Jingming's arrival.

I hope he can give everyone a reasonable explanation and a good plan to resolve this catastrophic disaster.

Cui Jingming walked slowly along the long corridor from outside the main hall with slightly heavy steps.

Lu Jingchuan was the first to spot Cui Jingming. He jumped up from his seat and asked anxiously, "Have you found out? Cui Jingming?"

Cui Jingming nodded slightly and said solemnly, "Everything stated in Li Chengqian's imperial edict is absolutely true. The court must have irrefutable evidence that Cui Shouren of our Cui family is collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country."

After hearing what Cui Jingming said, the hearts of the other family heads instantly fell into an icy cave.

The great reputation accumulated by the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Clans over hundreds of years, and passed down to their generation, is it going to be destroyed in an instant, and turn them into despised traitors?

"Cui... Cui Jingming! You've caused us so much trouble!"

Li Chongshan was already old and weak, and when he heard the bad news, he was so angry that his chest heaved violently.

He stretched out his dry and trembling fingers and pointed at Cui Jingming tremblingly, full of anger and resentment.

Cui Jingming remained silent, but bowed to the heads of the families and performed a very respectful salute.

"Gentlemen, this matter is the fault of our Cui family. We, the Cui family, are truly sorry to you all."

"But now the imperial army is already outside Beizhou City, watching covetously."

"If we have irreconcilable conflicts within our ranks because of this matter, how could the imperial court let us off so easily after they capture the city?"

Cui Jingming looked at the family heads sincerely and spoke earnestly.

"I have a humble request, and I hope you can agree to it."

"Although we now have 600,000 troops, it seems that our military strength is strong, but in fact it is not."

"The command of these 600,000-strong army is too fragmented, like a pile of loose sand. They are simply unable to engage in a head-on decisive battle with the imperial army."

"Therefore, I dare to ask for the command of this 600,000-man army."

"Only in this way can we unite this force and twist it into a strong and powerful rope."

"Only in this way can we have a glimmer of hope and a chance to fight against the imperial court."

"I also ask the heads of the families to hand over the military power to me."

"I, Cui Jingming, hereby guarantee with my life that I will never let you down. I will do my utmost to lead everyone through this difficult time."

Upon hearing Cui Jingming's sudden request, the heads of these aristocratic families all showed expressions of extreme shock and disbelief on their faces.

Zheng An, the head of the Zheng family in Xingyang, just turned fifty this year and has just passed the prime of his life.

He stared at Cui Jingming's face with wide eyes, shaking his head repeatedly, his face full of anger: "Cui Jingming, your Cui family has caused us to fall into this hopeless situation of treason with you, and you still have the nerve to ask us for military power?"

"This is absolutely ridiculous! Anyway, no matter what you think or how you plan, I will never hand over the military power of my Zheng family to you."

"I've made up my mind. I'm leaving! You guys can discuss it among yourselves!"

After saying that, Zheng An stood up angrily and strode towards the door with Zheng family's confidants.

Cui Jingming stood in the center of the main hall, his posture upright and unmoved.

Just as Zheng An was about to step out of the hall, he was quickly stopped by a group of well-trained Cui family guards.

Immediately afterwards, team after team of Cui family guards poured in like a surging tide, instantly surrounding the main hall.

All the family heads were so shocked by this sudden change that they stood up suddenly from their seats. They widened their eyes and looked at the stern-looking Cui family guards around them in horror.

"Cui Jingming, what do you want to do?"

"Do you want to go to war with us?"

"Cui Jingming, are you crazy?"

……

The rebukes echoed in the main hall, each one deafening.

Cui Jingming slowly raised his head, his eyes extremely cold, scanning every family head present, and said in a low voice: "Gentlemen, you can't leave here today. This is the Cui Mansion, the residence of my Cui family!"

"Look at the current situation. Although we, the Five Clans and Seven Families, always claim to be of the same blood and share weal and woe."

"But what about the reality? It's a fact that we are suspicious of each other and wary of each other!"

"This is also true for our troops. They are fighting on their own, with no cohesion at all."

"How can such a coalition compete with the imperial court?"

"Now we have lost the initiative and are in a very passive situation."

"I, Cui Jingming, have no other choice but to completely integrate this force and unite them into a unified force. Only then will we have a chance of survival in this desperate situation."

"So, if you, the family heads, do not want to suffer from sudden illness or unexpected accidents, please hand over your family head seals to me."

As soon as Cui Jingming finished speaking, all the Cui family guards drew their weapons in unison.