Chapter 26: Devoting oneself to the country, no regrets even in death

  Du He is being unreasonable, but what he said does make sense.

  Hongwen Academy is affiliated with the Department of State, and the Department of State is located within the Imperial Palace. For convenience, each student has a token for entering and exiting the palace. Normally, Du He walks around in the imperial palace, and the passing guards rarely ask questions, only at the gate will they be inspected as usual.

  Today's incident also occurred because Du He was holding someone and running hastily in the imperial palace, attracting the attention of the patrolling imperial guards, who then came forward to investigate. In order to save time, Du He chose not to respond.

  But if he can stop and explain every time he encounters a check, and show his waist card to verify his identity, Du He can walk freely in the palace without any obstacles.

  It is undeniable that as a student of the Imperial Academy, Du He indeed had the power to enter and exit the imperial palace.

  It is true that Du He broke into the imperial palace, but it can also be said that he did not break in.

  It depends on how the authorities handle it.

  At this time, Fang Xuanling stepped forward: "Your Majesty, what Du He said is not unreasonable, and Wei Daren is also not wrong. However, one is young and the other is not in a position of authority, so their opinions are not acceptable. It should be asked to the Grand Court and the Ministry of War to see if Du He's actions constitute the crime of breaking into the palace, and then to see if Du He has clashed with the Imperial Guard, causing casualties."

  "En!" Li Shimin narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "What Fang Xiang said makes sense! Da Li Temple, I ask you, can Du He's actions be considered as a palace coup?" He stared at the eyes of Da Li Temple, a pair of tiger eyes shooting out waves of cold air, the threatening meaning in his eyes was self-evident.

  The Duke of Dali Temple's son trembled slightly, and not everyone was like Wei Zheng, who could ignore the anger of Emperor Li Shimin of the Great Tang.

  "Your Majesty's wise judgment, Du He is a student of the Hongwen Academy and has the privilege of entering and leaving the palace freely. This move did not cause any disturbance in the palace!"

  The reply of Dalisi Temple pleased Li Shimin, who nodded with a smile and then looked at an official standing behind Du Ruhui, "Hou Aiqing, what do you think?"

  The Minister of War, Hou Junji, said: "This matter involves Lord Li directly, it's more appropriate for the Emperor to ask him." Hou Junji had always been on good terms with Wei Zheng, and Wei Zheng had even recommended Hou Junji as a candidate for prime minister several times. Logically speaking, Hou Junji should have stood by Wei Zheng's side, but Li Shimin's attitude was clear. He didn't want to offend Li Shimin, nor did he want to offend Wei Zheng, so he retreated and took a secondary position, standing aside and becoming an onlooker.

  Li Shimin was a man of great talent and insight, but he couldn't see through Hou Junji's thoughts. Feeling somewhat displeased, he could only look to Ying Gong Li Ji.

  Li Ji smiled and said, "The key to breaking into the palace is the palace gate. The imperial palace has gates with guards all around, and one must go through checks when entering or leaving. If one does not go through these checks, it can be considered as breaking into the palace. Du He came from a single route, and there were only two gates he passed through: First, Yong'an Gate; Second, Zhuque Gate. Zhuque Gate was opened by order of this old minister himself, allowing them to pass through. As for Yong'an Gate, this old minister also asked the gate guards, and Du He indeed showed his identity. It's just that Princess Changle was in a critical situation, and Du He was somewhat anxious, which led to a small misunderstanding. Therefore, I think Du He made a small mistake, but it's not enough to be considered as the crime of breaking into the palace." Li Ji told a small lie here.

  Li Shimin burst out laughing: "Haha, you are absolutely right! Wei Qing, what else do you have to say?"

  Wei Zheng was stunned and opened his mouth, but had nothing to say: "I have nothing to say!"

  Li Shimin saw Wei Zheng eating a humble meal, and his mood was exceptionally pleasant. It seems that this Tang emperor had indeed been annoyed by this stubborn old man many times before.

  "Alright! Let us disperse, everyone! As I said at the morning meeting, each of you should attend to your duties. As for the request from Tubo Songtsen Gampo, I have rejected it. I only have one daughter, Princess Wencheng, who is of marriageable age; how could I let her suffer in a distant land?"

  "Yes! Your subjects withdraw!" All the ministers in the room withdrew together, with Du He among them.

  "Du He, stay behind and have a chat with me!" Li Shimin called out to Du He as if he were an old friend.

  All kinds of suspicious eyes stayed on Du He.

  Du He reluctantly agreed, his face bitter.

  After all the officials withdrew, Li Shimin looked at Du He with a faint smile and said, "How is it? Don't you recognize me?"

  "Ah, how can that be! Your Majesty is wise and powerful, with a broad and benevolent heart. The three armies adore you, the people praise your name, comparable to the great emperors Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, Zhou, and Confucius... My admiration for you is like the endless flow of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, just as majestic as Mount Song and Mount Tai..." Du He shook his head and swayed back and forth, reciting words of praise like a memorized text, extolling the virtues of the great Tang Emperor before him.

  "Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop..." Three black lines appeared on Li Shimin's forehead as he called out five "stops". "Hearing these words from someone else might have pleased me a little, but coming from your mouth, I feel uneasy all over. Never mind, don't say that to me again, I'm really not used to it. Since you're of the same generation as your father, just call me Uncle Li."

  He pointed to the seat beside him and asked Du He to sit down.

  Du He was naturally unrestrained and really didn't get used to calling out "Your Majesty" one by one, sat down beside Li Shimin and thanked him.

  Li Shimin at this moment also had no emperor's airs, and waved his hand: "You don't have to be polite to me either. To tell the truth, I've taken a new look at you again. Do you know that in order to capture you, half of the 20,000 imperial guards in the Great Tang Palace were mobilized? Even cavalry was deployed. As a result, one by one, they let you shake them off and couldn't even catch your shadow. If it weren't for General Li Ji's prior speculation that your goal was to leave the palace, taking a shortcut to set up an ambush at the Zhuque Gate, perhaps you would have really broken out. It's all thanks to him, he acted decisively, as soon as he heard your reason, he immediately gave the order to let you through. If it were someone else, I'm afraid they wouldn't have had the guts to make this decision."

  Du He was indeed stunned, and he did not expect things to become so big. However, until now, he has not regretted his own judgment, and smiled: "What I thought was that I didn't want to see Princess Chang Le die in front of me, especially when it was within my power to do something about it. If I didn't do anything, I would be uneasy at heart. As for causing trouble, I really didn't think about it, even if I did cause trouble, what's the big deal? As long as I have a clear conscience, who cares what others say?"

  "Hurry up and speak!" Li Shimin patted his palm and smiled lightly: "I appreciate your personality, now you have another trait, decisive action, calm in crisis, no less than your father! If you hadn't yet come of age, I would have appointed you as an official today, let you serve the great Tang for me."

  "This time, Du He did not refuse, but instead said loudly: 'Born in China, grown up in China, serving the country with all one's might, no regrets even if I die a thousand times! As long as Uncle Li is alive, I, Du He, dare not disobey.'"

  Li Shimin burst out laughing and paused for a moment before saying: "Then I'll test you first to see how capable you are. Do you know about the Fubing system?"

  Duhe replied, "This is naturally understood. The Fubing system is the foundation of our Great Tang's military strength, with its characteristic being the integration of soldiers and farmers. In peacetime, the Fubing are farmers who cultivate the land, training during their spare time, and going to war when called upon. With 533 military prefectures spread throughout the empire, plus the martial spirit of the Tang people and the bravery of the commoners, everyone is eager to join the army. Therefore, our military strength is endless, and the dynasty's prestige shakes the four barbarian regions. That's why the Fubing system is the foundation of our Great Tang's prosperity. However, there is one shortcoming - precisely because of the integration of soldiers and farmers, the cavalry in the Fubing must be extremely scarce, making it impossible for us to conquer the four directions."

  As soon as Du He's voice fell, Li Shimin suddenly stood up with a "brush" sound, his tiger eyes staring at Du He, and an unbelievable expression appeared in his eyes.

  He had just received information from Hou Junji, the Minister of War, that this year's newly recruited garrison troops totaled 1.5 million, but those who were good at riding did not exceed 100,000.

  Everything is just as Du He said, generally without exception.

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