Chapter 1359: Li Tang aided Liu Yu and resisted Liu Ji
Chapter 1359 Li Tang aids Liu Yu and resists Liu Ji
Chapter 1357: Li Tang aids Liu Yu and resists Liu Ji
Li Shimin attaches great importance to his own reputation. He is well aware of the importance of reputation in the struggle for hegemony, so he has always kept himself clean and never does anything that will damage his reputation.
Li Shimin took Qin Wen as an example and tried to make it so that no one could fault him, but he never thought that the quality of his reputation did not depend on himself, but on others.
No matter how well he builds his reputation, he can't resist others throwing dirty water on him. As long as he puts it in a basin, it can't be washed away no matter how hard he washes it.
After hearing the news that "Li Shimin pretended to release hundreds of officials, but secretly sent troops disguised as the Qin army to intercept and kill the officials, with the intention of putting the blame on the Qin army," Li Shimin suddenly felt dizzy.
The crime of intercepting and killing hundreds of officials is too big, and it is no less serious than Dong Zhuo's crime of poisoning the young emperor and the empress dowager.
You must know that most of the officials come from major aristocratic families and are inextricably linked to aristocratic families all over the world.
Once the charge of intercepting and killing hundreds of officials is confirmed, Li Shimin will have offended all the famous families in the world at once, and his reputation will be completely ruined.
Of course, Li Shimin was not willing to be framed like this. He wanted to find out the truth and clear his name. However, after collecting all the information before and after the incident, he was disappointed to find that the other party's arrangement was perfect.
All clues, overt and covert, all point to him.
Even if the Qin army wants to intercept and kill hundreds of officials, it is impossible for them to just wear their own armor and kill hundreds of officials without any concealment, right?
In addition, as soon as the officials left Tongguan, they were immediately intercepted and executed. Isn't this a coincidence?
Under these doubts, Li Shimin sent Yang Jian to protect hundreds of officials returning eastward, but it seemed to be a bit cover-up and mysterious, and it was clear that this appearance would eliminate suspicion.
Although Li Shimin was concerned about the discussions from the outside world, he had no choice but to let them discuss it. But now even his internal subordinates believe that he did it.
Especially Yang Jian, he directly broke into Li Shimin's mansion and questioned him. Li Shimin swore to God. This dispelled Yang Jian's suspicion and saved this top warrior.
After collecting all the information and conducting on-site evidence collection, Li Shimin felt even more desperate.
This time Qin Hao must have planned it in advance, and the layout was perfect. All other clues have been broken, and there is no way to verify it. Even if he really jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn't be able to clean it up.
"Qin Hao, you are cruel enough." Li Shimin said through gritted teeth, his eyes full of anger and hatred.
Li Shimin knew without thinking that Qin Hao must be plotting against him this time. After all, there were only two protagonists in this incident, him and Qin Hao, so the real culprit must be between him and Qin Hao. He is naturally innocent, so There is only Qin Hao.
It has to be said that Qin Hao's plan this time was a fatal blow to Li Shimin, directly destroying the reputation and reputation he had worked so hard to build. Who else will seek refuge in a person with such a notorious reputation like him in the future?
“My lord, this incident looks very much like Jia Xu’s handiwork. It must be some old poisonous person who is planning it secretly.” Li Ru said with certainty.
Li Ru and Jia Xu have worked together for many years, and both parties know each other very well, but this incident is full of Jia Xu's style.
Li Shimin raised his head, looked at Li Ru, and asked: "Strategic Advisor, how should we break the situation?"
After looking at Du Ruhui, Li Ru said in a deep voice: "Jia Xu is ruthless in his schemes, but hard to guard against. Once he sets up a scheme, he will never leave any loopholes, so the lord wants to find evidence to clear his name." It may be difficult to get rid of suspicion, but we can also muddy the water.
The lord can send people to spread rumors, saying that the interception and killing of hundreds of officials was the work of Yuan Shao, Liu Xiu and other princes. They secretly photographed the people and disguised themselves as Qin soldiers, in order to clear away suspicion and shift the blame. It’s upon us.
In short, no matter what the outside world thinks, even if everyone thinks that it was the lord who did it, lord, you must never admit it. As long as lord, you don’t admit it, this matter will never be concluded. "
Li Shimin took a long breath and said with a bitter smile: "That's the only way it can be."
Li Ru's method is not very clever, and it cannot clear Li Shimin's charges, but for Li Shimin at present, it is the only way.
The reason why Li Shimin released Baiguan was because he wanted to rely on Baiguan to trip up Qin Hao, but he did not want to plot against Qin Hao. Instead, he was plotted against Qin Hao by Jia Xu. He was inexplicably saddled with a big pot and his reputation was ruined. It's like stealing the chicken but losing the rice.
"My lord, if Jia Xu does this, my lord, you will lose the heart of the world's noble family. Even if you can defeat Qin Hao after leaving the east, I'm afraid you won't be able to take control of the Central Plains."
Du Ruhui stood up and said in a deep voice: "In the opinion of my subordinates, it is better to concentrate on taking Guanxi and Yizhou first. It has already shown the power of the pre-Qin Dynasty. Then sit back and watch the disputes among the princes in the world. When their strength is exhausted, we will lead the Hundreds of thousands of troops marching eastward will definitely be able to unify the world. "What the military advisor said is very reasonable, but our Tang army only has Yongzhou and Hanzhong, and does not have the absolute strength to capture Liangzhou and Yizhou.
If the three major princes in Liangzhou fight in a melee, it will not be difficult for our Tang army to capture Liangzhou. However, Yang Guang, Ma Teng, and Han Sui are all extremely restrained and do not start the war lightly. They are obviously on guard against us. Li Shimin said with a distressed look.
"Master, don't worry. Yang Guang, Ma Teng, and Han Sui will fight for Liangzhou. It's just a matter of time. Before that, we can make plans for Yizhou first." Li Ru was extremely confident. said.
“Yizhou?”
Li Shimin frowned and said in a deep voice: "Yizhou is a country of abundance. The people are rich. There are also two great princes, Liu Ji, King of Shu, and Liu Yu, King of Chengdu. Their strength is no less than that of our Tang army. They want to seize Yizhou. I’m afraid it’s even more difficult than Liangzhou.”
Not long after Liu Ji became king, he formed an alliance with Liu Yu to fight against Chi You. After repelling Chi You, Liu Yu declared himself king in Chengdu in order to not be weaker than Liu Ji in terms of momentum. However, because the title of King of Shu had already been He was occupied by Liu Ji, and Liu Yu didn't want to be called King of Ba, so he could only retreat and call himself King of Chengdu.
“My lord, what you said is wrong.”
Du Ruhui laughed and said: "Although the three princes of Liangzhou are weak, they are united to the outside world. Although the two princes of Yizhou are strong, they are incompatible with each other. Therefore, for the lord, the difficulty of capturing Yizhou is actually lower than that of Liangzhou." .
Liu Ji held Bajun but claimed the title of King of Shu, which shows that his ambition for Yizhou was clearly revealed.
No, the alliance of Liu and Liu had just defeated the Southern Barbarian King Chi You, and Liu Ji immediately sent troops to attack Liu Yu. The two families were already fighting over Yizhou.
If Yizhou is unified, it can only expand its strength in the north and east.
Qin Hao in the east is powerful, but he is sitting on the imperial court and has great righteousness. Yizhou may not be his opponent, so whoever unifies Yizhou will definitely send his army north to attack Yongzhou.
Therefore, my lord, we must not let either side of the two Lius unite Yizhou, and the two Lius fight. As long as one side has the upper hand, the lord can help the weaker side to fight against the stronger side, and then send troops into Yizhou. Occupy a territory from Yizhou and gradually engulf Yizhou. "
…
Li Shimin smiled, clapped his hands, and said with a smile: "What the military advisor said is true. Now that the chaos has not broken out in Liangzhou, we can't just wait and give up the opportunity to expand externally. It seems that Yizhou is our best next step." goal.”
“That’s right…”
“Two military advisors, between you, who can be the final winner in the Yizhou dispute between Liu Ji and Liu Yu?”
Li Ru and Du Ruhui looked at each other and said in unison: "Liu Ji."
A smile flashed across Li Shimin's lips and he said: "The views of the two military advisors are exactly the same as mine. It seems that we, Li Tang, will support Liu Yu against Liu Ji next."
“Report…to inform my lord that Liu Yu, the king of Chengdu, has sent a letter asking for help…”
Li Shimin's eyes flashed. After reading it, he couldn't help but smile: "It seems that the situation in Yizhou is more critical than we expected. Liu Yu is about to be unable to handle it so quickly."
“Lord, this opportunity must not be missed, or the time will never come again.” Li Ru said in a deep voice.
"Um."
Li Shimin nodded, and then ordered: "Pass an order, order Li Xiaogong to be the chief general, and Yang Jian to be the deputy general. He will lead an army of 50,000 people and enter Shu to help Liu Yu, the king of Chengdu, against Liu Ji, the king of Shu."
)
(End of this chapter)