Chapter 193 Two Questions (Four Thousand Words)

Li Shimin did not die as they expected, which was a blessing in disgrace. Because Li Zhen had already noticed the conspiracy of the aristocratic family, he had replaced all the so-called immortal pills that Lu Fangshi had presented to Li Shimin. Therefore, Li Shimin did not die as suddenly as they expected, but his condition worsened slightly. This is also one of the reasons why Li Zhi launched a mutiny, because Li Zhen would come back soon, and it would be absolutely fine to support Li Zhen's illness until Li Zhen returns.

Once Li Zhen returns to Chang'an, he will have a great chance of detecting the conspiracy of the aristocratic family. It is not certain how many people Li Zhen will kill, but as the culprit, Li Zhi will definitely not be able to survive. So when things are over, they want to stop and it is too late, so they can only fight to the death and launch a coup directly, hoping to control Chang'an City before Li Zhen returns.

But such a hasty uprising also led to their inadequate preparations. Although Chang'an City was already under their control, almost everyone understood that King Jin had rebelled, and in this way, they had lost the initiative morally and could no longer force Li Zhen with justice.

Secondly, Li Shimin has not been unaware of it over the years. He must have kept a backup plan. If Li Shimin really died suddenly, a considerable number of people who left behind would choose to be loyal to the new emperor, but now they obviously cannot do this. Instead, they will oppose Li Zhi in Chang'an City. After Li Zhen comes back, they will cooperate with Li Zhen inside and outside to help Li Zhen take over Chang'an City.

"Damn, they were doing so quickly." Li Zhen hammered on the table and said hatefully: "But I dare to imprison my father, this time I will never let them go, Li Zhi, Buddhism, Confucianism, aristocratic families... Originally, I planned to keep you slowly, but since you chose to tear your face, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Your Highness, my family also participated in it. The crime is unforgivable. I also asked the palace to surrender the crime." Pei Xingjian immediately knelt down and apologized because during this coup in King Jin, the Pei family in Hedong also participated, and the main branch was involved. Pei Xingjian had to apologize.

"I'll also ask the palace to surrender." Not only Pei Xingjian, but also other people from aristocratic families, also knelt down immediately.

"It's okay, this is what your master does, it's not your business." Li Zhen waved his hand. He had already understood the details clearly. Although it was the Pei clan in Hedong that rebeled, it was not Pei Xingjian's branch. To put it bluntly, this is just a matter of the two tribes with different ideas in the same clan. Pei Xingjian chose Li Zhen, and Li Zhi was the main line. Even if Li Zhen blamed him, he would not blame Pei Xingjian for his head.

Pei Xingjian said with gratitude: "Thank you for not blaming your grace. Don't worry, your highness. Although it was my cousin who rebeled, I would not show mercy."

"And you, don't be so nervous each one. I am not the kind of person who likes to implicate the nine tribes of the people. The only one who rebels is your fellow tribe, and it's not you... As long as you don't betray me, I will not do anything to you." There are many disciples of aristocratic families under Li Zhen's command, and this time, those who participated in the rebellion of King Jin almost included more than 90% of the large families in the Tang Dynasty. The Pei family was just one of them. Therefore, these people were very frightened, afraid that Li Zhen would punish them for this.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I am grateful. I will definitely not betray Your Highness." All people from aristocratic families immediately knelt down and thanked Li Zhen. Li Zhen's words were equivalent to giving them a reassurance and completely letting them go of their uneasiness. At least their lives were saved.

However, it is not Li Zhen's style to eat sweet dates, so his big stick comes next: "But I also talk about ugly things ahead. Of course, you will not be implicated by your fellow tribes, but if I can defeat King Jin by chance and punish him for any punishment, I don't want you to plead for them... Otherwise, I will never show mercy."

It’s not that Li Zhen is ruthless. He knows the nature of the aristocratic families too much. Although these aristocratic families are their own confidants, if they don’t take this opportunity to hit them, they will probably do something like stepping on two boats. Moreover, rebellion is a serious crime, and the least they are to confiscate the family and exterminate the clan. The culprit even has to be punished with various cruel punishments. Li Zhen does not want to do something like a killer as soon as he ascends the throne, but he will be misunderstood by the world as a person with a cold nature.

"I don't dare." Everyone was shocked and said they didn't dare.

"I hope so."

"Your Highness, I think we should have two things that we need to pay special attention to at present." Du He, who had just arrived yesterday, suddenly stood out. Tianzhu was too far from the Tang Dynasty. He arrived two days later than Li Zhen. As a result, he had just arrived in Dengzhou and met with Li Zhen. Before he could rest, he learned that Li Zhi usurped the throne in Chang'an City. He was hurriedly called by Li Zhen to have a meeting.

Li Zhen hurriedly asked, "What two things?"

Du He has always attached great importance to Du He's opinion. Du He is now nearly forty years old. After several years of experience, he is no longer as immature as before. He handles things in a well-organized manner. He is no longer inferior to his father Du Ruhui, and has even become a little Du. And this time he returns to Chang'an, it is conceivable that Du He's position will definitely rise. He may be almost in a hurry to enter the center and enter the general and the prime minister, but there is no problem to stay with Li Zhen at three levels in a row.

"The first thing is to ensure the personal safety of Your Majesty, your uncles and their families. Only in this way can we consolidate the Tang Dynasty in time after we win." Du He said that Li Shimin and the old ministers, but in fact he was referring to his own family, and Li Zhen naturally knew this.

Because this time Li Zhi usurped the throne, all those close to Li Zhen were imprisoned by him. In addition to those old ministers, their families were also imprisoned, and the Du family was the same. Although Du Ruhui and his death five years ago, Du He's mother and brothers and sisters were also in Chang'an City. The private room Yi Ai and Cheng Chuliang and others' families all fell into Li Zhi's hands.

These people are also the most dangerous people. After all, the one who really has prestige is their father. They are just ordinary nobles and have no prestige in the army and the people. Although Li Zhi is still taking the reputation of his old ministers and not daring to attack them for the time being, these people are undoubtedly an extremely important bargaining chip. Once the war is unfavorable or Li Zhen is too ruthless, it is inevitable that Li Zhi will give up and directly attack their family members. Whether it is to vent his anger or force Li Zhen to stop advancing or even surrender, it will put Li Zhen in a dilemma and bring him great trouble. If Li Zhen really does not care about his will, once Li Zhi really kills people, he will lose the loyalty of his confidants...

"Don't worry about this. I will naturally have the safety of the old ministers." Li Zhen said. He had installed many people around Li Zhi, and a considerable number of them had already been in the position of Li Zhi's confidant counselor or close guard. Some of them controlled a considerable part of Li Zhi's army. It can be said that Li Zhi's life is now held by Li Zhen. As long as he gave an order, he would not know who killed him if Li Zhi died. If Li Zhen had not wanted to see who jumped out in the end, he would have already taken action - even Li Zhi's life was controlled by Li Zhen, let alone the safety of those old ministers. It can be said that everything is under the control of Li Zhen, and there is no need to worry at all.

"Tell me the second thing."

"The second thing is about your safety issue." Du He heard Li Zhen say that his family's safety was already guaranteed, and he always trusted Li Zhen very much. Du He, who knew that he never lies, suddenly seemed to have a reassurance and no longer had the previous worries. Then he raised the second question with a serious expression.

"My safety? What safety issues can I have?" Li Zhen asked back: "I have hundreds of warships and more than 100,000 elite soldiers here. Under this heavy protection, who in the world can threaten my safety?"

"But Your Highness, will these hundreds of warships escort you all the way to Chang'an? Can more than 100,000 elite soldiers be the opponent of the elite 16 guards and 300,000 imperial guards?"

"This..." Everyone except Li Zhen was silent, because Du He said it was also true. The Marine Corps was better. If you took the land, you could still escort Li Zhen to Chang'an, but the warships were not good. Although there was a Yellow River waterway from Chang'an to Dengzhou, it was a pity that the Yellow River had accumulated all year round, and it was no problem to pass through some inland river boats. However, in order to boost the momentum, the ones escorted Li Zhen this time were all naval warships, and the smallest were destroyers with drafts of more than five meters. Such a ship could not pass through part of the Yellow River, let alone battleships with drafts of ten meters, which could not cross the Yellow River at all. If you can't walk from the Yellow River, can't you drag the boats from land?

But if there are no warships, the city of Chang'an can't be defeated by more than 100,000 Marines alone. The combat effectiveness of the Marines is similar to that of the Sixteen Guards of the Tang Dynasty. According to the news from Chang'an, Li Zhi has already controlled the nine guards of the sixteen guards, and the remaining seven guards are also in a swaying state and may rebel at any time. Once Li Zhi is allowed to subdue all the sixteen guards, the matter will be bad.

The number of sixteen guards was about 300,000, and they were waiting for their leisure. Faced with long-distance raids and only half of them, they didn't have to defend the city. They could only open the city gate and fight out in one battle. In other words, Li Zhen could not even protect himself by relying on more than 100,000 Marines alone, let alone taking Chang'an City.

Without giving Li Zhen time to ponder, Du He continued to ask: "What's more, the interests are moving. Your Highness, you will treat you as your confidants, but they may not be your true loyalty. Once the conditions given by Li Zhi are enough, they may not continue to be loyal to Your Highness. Maybe you will backfire at any time. Your Highness must be on guard."

As a result, Du He finished speaking, it immediately aroused public anger and everyone condemned him.

"Du He, what do you mean? Are you trying to get discord?"

"Du He, you are too villainous. I am loyal to Your Highness."

"Du He, Du He, you underestimate others too much. Your Highness treats me with kindness. How could I betray Your Highness?"

"That is, my loyalty to Your Highness can be seen in the sky. No matter what temptation Li Zhi gives, I will never betray Your Highness."-

"Your Highness, if you believe in your subordinates' loyalty, you will definitely not surrender to the King of Jin."

"The King of Jin is in a bad position and will be replaced by His Highness sooner or later. Am I a fool? Will I surrender to King of Jin at this time?"

“…”

Faced with Du He's suspicion, the people under Li Zhen criticized him and spurted him into blood.

However, facing the rebuke of everyone, Du He just said: "What if the King of Jin promised to be a title of Duke to you or even a title of fief? Wouldn't you betray him?"

“…”

quiet!

The crowd was originally full of emotions and the people who quarreled into the vegetable market were immediately stuck. For a moment, the originally lively conference room became instantly irritated. Except for those who were sincerely loyal to Li Zhen, everyone else looked at each other, and the eyes of each other were a little guilty in their eyes. No one dared to look at Li Zhen. Instead, while communicating with his eyes, he deliberately avoided Li Zhen's gaze.

"Why don't you stop talking?" This time it was Du He's turn to sneer: "Didn't you just show that you are more loyal than the other? Why did you all become mute as soon as I told you about the fiefdom? Or did you actually have already been in contact with the recruitment of King Jin and were tempted by the pie he threw out?"

"Bang!"

The sound of slapping the table broke the silence of the room. A man with a rough face stood up. Li Zhen knew him. This man was named Zhang Yucheng. Because of his face, he was called Xiao Zhangfei. He is currently the governor of the Navy Fleet of the Spice Islands and is also a student of the first naval fleet. However, the fleet he led was a Class B fleet, so it was a little worse than Lin Fa and others. However, being able to sit in the Shanghai Army at this age has proved his ability.

"Since you don't say it, let me open this." Zhang Yucheng's opinion attracted everyone's attention. He swept his eyes to Li Zhen and said loudly: "Your Highness, since Du He has asked this, then I think your Highness already knows the matter of King Jin's pulling us... I'll give you a briefing here. Yes, King Jin has indeed sent people to contact his subordinates a few days ago. The promise that King Jin has given us is that as long as we are willing to support him, then after the matter is completed, he can grant him a fiefdom of no less than three hundred miles..."
Chapter completed!