Half an hour later, five prime ministers, Chen Shuda, Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing, Tang Jian and Gao Shilian, two prince consorts, Chai Shao and Zhao Cijing, and General Li Shentong, all of them rushed to the Wude Hall. . The fastest update

Everyone knew what was going to happen. The prince had been back for two days, and it was time to announce it.

Everyone has different ideas about the deposed crown prince. Li Shentong and Pei Ji must support him. They support Qi King Li Yuanji as the crown prince.

Chen Shuda and Chai Shao are supporters of Prince Li Jiancheng, and they firmly oppose the abolition of the prince. As for the other four, except for Tang Jian and Zhao Cijing who were centrists, Liu Wenjing and Gao Shilian supported Qin King Li Shimin.

If the deposed prince could make Qin King Li Shimin the crown prince, Liu Wenjing and Gao Shilian would also support the abolition of the crown prince. However, the news from the palace was that the emperor did not intend to establish another crown prince, and it might even be the son of Concubine Yin De to make a profit, so Liu Wenjing and Gao Shilian were a little ambiguous about the deposed prince.

Everyone has their own thoughts, and the hall is particularly silent. The emperor has not yet come out. At this time, Chen Shuda said to everyone: "The year's ceasefire is about to end in a few months. Our army has not increased. On the contrary, the Zhou Dynasty's army has reached 800,000, four times that of us. If we cannot unite sincerely and are still keen on power struggles, it will be really internal and external troubles. Let's persuade the emperor to give up the idea of ​​abolishing the prince!"

The emperor was about to come out, and Chen Shuda was also very nervous. He seized the time and did not prepare any emotions. He said it quickly and urgently, but there was no reaction in the hall. There was still silence. Only Chai Shao nodded slightly to him and expressed his agreement with his point of view. At this time, a guard shouted: "The Lord is here!"

Chen Shuda retreated and saw the emperor Li Yuan walking quickly into the hall from the side surrounded by several guards.

"Dear friends are here, please sit down!"

Everyone bowed and sat down. Li Yuan sat down on the dragon couch and said slowly to everyone: "I believe that my dear friends know what happened recently. Although family scandals should not be made public, this is indeed not a family matter, but also a matter of the country and the future of the Tang Dynasty. I have been considering whether to re-establish the crown prince. However, the Tang Dynasty is not my own country, but also my country. So I want to discuss this matter with you today. It is of great importance. I hope everyone can talk about it."

After saying that, Li Yuan glanced at Pei Ji, meaning that he would say first. Pei Ji wanted to retreat, but was targeted by the emperor. He had to bite the bullet and stood up and said, "Your Majesty, can you say a few words first?"

Li Yuan nodded, "Pei Xiangguo, please tell me!"

Pei Ji said to everyone: "Today I went to the Eastern Palace to question the prince according to the will of the emperor. The prince firmly denied the act of assassinating the emperor. Of course, this is understandable. Now, it can only be said that the prince is the biggest suspicion of assassinating the emperor. It is not certain that it was his actions. However, Prince Zhongyun admitted that he was ordered by the prince to poison the King of Chu, and also signed the document. The motive for poisoning was that the King of Chu threatened the position of the prince. The Qianji San used for poisoning was also found in the Eastern Palace. The king also admitted that he sent someone to buy the kitchen, so the prince poisoned the King of Chu and had all the evidence. As for the steel needles in the Eastern Palace, I don't have much to say, and everyone understands it."

At this time, Chen Shuda stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I want to add three points to what Prime Minister Pei said. Please allow me to speak."

Li Yuan was a little reluctant. He knew that Chen Shuda must be defending the prince. He asked Pei Ji to say first to rob Chen Shuda of the beginning, but Chen Shuda still followed it, and it was very smooth, directly targeting the three things Pei Ji said. However, the words were already open, how could Li Yuan slap himself in the face?

"Please tell me, Chan!"

The tone of the tail was very strong, showing Li Yuan's helplessness. Everyone immediately heard the emperor's thoughts and wanted to depose the prince, but he was not as anxious as the previous two days ago. The prince's strategy of delaying the entry into the capital worked, and the emperor finally calmed down a little.

Of course, Chen Shuda also heard that he seemed to have seen a glimmer of hope. No matter what, he must save the prince today.

"Your Majesty, I am discussing the matter. I dare to use Xiang Gong's head to guarantee that the dozen steel needles found in the prince's bedroom were definitely not done by the prince."

This incident was revealed in a letter brought to Chen Zhongfang by Li Jiancheng, and Li Jiancheng told Chen Shuda how to know the secret, otherwise Chen Shuda would be stunned when the emperor asked about such a secret matter.

But there was an uproar in the hall. With Chen Shuda's caution, he actually said something to use the head of the neck to guarantee it. There must be another hidden information here, and all his eyes looked at Chen Shuda.

Li Yuan knew it very well, but he was a little surprised. How did Chen Shuda know about this?

The emperor did not object, but just acquiesced to Chen Shuda to continue speaking. Chen Shuda continued: "Last year, I discussed negotiations with His Highness the Crown Prince in the study of the East Palace. In the middle of the journey, I went to the toilet and passed by the Prince's bedroom. At that time, I was wearing the soft silk armor given to me by His Majesty. As a result, I was sucked at the door of the bedroom. I realized that there were two huge ci stones at the entrance of the bedroom. Later, the steel needles were found in the East Palace. I asked him about the two ci stones removed by His Majesty two months ago. How could His Highness the Crown Prince get the steel needles into the bedroom?"

Li Shuda decided to start from easy to difficult, starting with the easiest thing to expose.

Li Yuan also knew that going to the toilet from the prince's inner study room did require passing through the bedroom gate, but he did not believe Chen Shuda's statement. The prince must have told Chen Shuda in advance, and he would not dare to take the powerful minister to his inner study room no matter how brave the prince was.

Everyone in the hall looked at each other. There were two charity stones at the entrance of the prince's bedroom. How did the guard patrol? That must be no iron weapon.

Pei Ji secretly complained that the King of Chu had added to his feet and put the steel needle into the prince's bedroom, but instead he was exposed to the sank.

At this time, Li Shentong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, in fact, if the steel needle is placed in a jade box or a copper box, it will not be sucked. Only an iron device as big as a dagger will be sucked. The needle will not have much impact."

Chen Shuda immediately retorted: "General, will the prince bring steel needles to the bedroom even though he knows that there is Cishi at the door? Even if he won't be sucked, at least he will feel it on his hands, right? In this case, I think it's more reasonable to use copper needles or jade needles. At least I can be sure that these steel needles have nothing to do with the prince."

"This may be because there are a few steel needles in the bed. The palace maid missed the clothes and fell into the gap for decades and was sucked out by Ci Shi. I think there is a possibility."

Li Shentong knew that the conspiracy of Steel Needle was exposed, so he immediately pulled the reason. I am afraid that the matter would continue to be investigated in depth. Anyway, there is no villain, Steel Needle can be used for other purposes.

Li Yuan waved his hand, "You can look back at this matter. I am not trying the case now, so don't worry about these details."

"Your Majesty, this is not a trial, it is related to the innocence of His Royal Highness. Please allow me to say a few more words."

"Secretary Chen, what else do you want to say?"

"Your Majesty, I want to say that the king is dead. Today I saw his body covered in bruises and was tortured to death, and even his tongue was cut off. Your Majesty, can you believe the confession he confessed like this?"

At this time, Chai Shao also stepped forward and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, no matter what, the deposing of the prince is a major event that shakes the foundation of the country, and will completely lose confidence in the people of the Tang Dynasty. Your Majesty, the Zhou army is about to launch a large-scale attack. We must unite and unite to the outside world!"

Tang Jian, Zhao Cijing, Liu Wenjing, and Gao Shilian also stepped forward and pleaded: "Please think twice!"

Chen Shuda knelt down and said in tears: "The officials do not want the Tang Dynasty to go in chaos. Maintaining stability is the most urgent task. We can investigate in the future whether a new crown prince should be established. Your Majesty, if the crown prince really has a strange intention, he will not return to Chang'an. Please think twice!"

Pei Ji couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, the prince has no power anymore. I think it's not a big problem to live in the Eastern Palace."

Pei Ji reminded Li Yuan that as long as the prince is placed under house arrest and surveillance is the same as deposing him or not.

Li Yuan pondered for a long time and finally nodded and said, "Although I cannot confirm that the prince is the planner of the assassination case, he is indeed the biggest suspect. I have surrendered him to the crown prince. From now on, he will not be allowed to leave the Eastern Palace."

In the face of the steel needle case and the poisoning loopholes, with the unanimous plea of ​​the important officials, Li Yuan, who was originally determined to abolish the crown prince, finally compromised and no longer sought to abolish the crown prince. Instead, he demoted his eldest son to the crown prince. With the crown prince, he would not have established a new crown prince. If he wanted to establish a crown prince, he would still be the crown prince, in fact, he would be the crown prince without a title.

This was Li Yuan’s biggest concession in the case of the prince.

Although the prince Li Jiancheng was not completely abolished, it was not possible for the prince to be abolished or not to abolish it. Li Yuan placed his eldest son under house arrest in the Eastern Palace and deprived him of all his power. Li Jiancheng even wanted to spread words to the outside world, or if outsiders wanted to spread words to him, it was impossible for him.

Of course, things have not reached the worst point. Li Jiancheng retained the position of the crown prince and was also the legal heir to the throne. In other words, if the emperor Li Yuan died unexpectedly, all officials could directly support him ascend the throne to the emperor, but this must be supported by the army. If the army does not support it, this legal heir is still meaningless.

Li Yuan also knew this very well. He did not hesitate to dismiss the generals who had been in command of Li Jiancheng without hesitation. Pei Ji drafted a list of more than 20 people, from General Lang to General, and more than 20 people, including General Zhou Shaofan, were all dismissed. So far, Li Jiancheng's power in the army was completely cleaned by Li Yuan, and even his son-in-law Chai Shao lost his position as Minister of War and was renamed Minister of Works, which had nothing to do with the army. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!