"This is outrageous! Isn't this the infamous Xuanwu Gate Incident? It was during this period that Li Shimin killed his brothers, forced his father, and ultimately ascended the throne, rewriting history. I feel a lot of pressure facing such a ruthless person."
Kill Li Shimin?
Kill Qin Qiong?
Kill Cheng Yaojin?
Kill Changsun Wuji?
Kill Fang Xuanling?
Kill Du Ruhui?
Given his current status as the head of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng's household guards, it's safe to say that after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, while others might survive, he, as the head of the household guards, was certain to perish. Even if he surrendered, Li Shimin would find some pretext to execute him.
Needless to say, today is already the first day of the sixth lunar month. The Xuanwu Gate Incident in history occurred on the fourth day of the sixth lunar month. That means there are only three days to prepare. Then, they will have to face off against Li Shimin, the chosen one of this world's destiny!
The most foolish thing to do after entering another world is to confront the protagonist head-on. And isn't Li Shimin, in this situation, the protagonist of this world?
Although Li Shimin was morally corrupt and of questionable character, a veritable monster, this could not conceal the fact that he was highly capable, ruthless, and decisive in his killings.
"What a rip-off! And what's even more rip-off is that there isn't a single trace of spiritual energy in this world. All kinds of talismans and magical artifacts are completely unusable. Even if you force them to be activated, their power is almost zero."
“Otherwise, if a single lightning talisman had been used to blast open the Xuanwu Gate at the crucial moment, even if Li Shimin had great abilities, wouldn’t he have been doomed? What a pity.” Lin Yang shook his head and said, while carefully checking the circulation of the Longevity True Qi and the current condition of his body.
However, the most urgent task is to figure out the specific situation at this time, as well as the identities of Shi A and Cai Yan.
...
At night, this place, located within the palace grounds, was an extremely secluded little pavilion. No one lived here; it had been abandoned for many years. Therefore, even the night patrol guards rarely checked this place.
At this moment, the moon was high in the sky when three people dressed in black appeared. All three were dressed in black, and their faces were covered with black cloths. However, judging from their build, there were roughly two men and one woman.
These three were Lin Yang and his two companions. Although this world lacked spiritual energy, rendering spells and talismans ineffective, martial arts were still usable. Therefore, it didn't take much effort for the three of them to gather here.
"Let me start. My identity is the head of the Crown Prince's personal guards, that is, the leader of all the guards," Lin Yang said.
"I am the head of the Crown Prince's guards, responsible for his personal protection," Shi A said.
“I am one of the two Shanggong (court ladies-in-waiting) in the palace, the highest-ranking female officials, responsible for the daily lives of the concubines. Therefore, I was bribed by the Crown Prince long ago, so I am considered one of his people,” Cai Yan said.
However, the three people's voices had changed by now, sounding hoarse and low. Even if someone overheard their conversation, they wouldn't be able to tell who it was from their voices.
"Speaking of which, we are all the Crown Prince's men. The fact that we've come to this world can only mean that the Emperor's second son, Prince Qin, Li Shimin, will definitely make some moves. Otherwise, the mission wouldn't be to survive in Chang'an for seven days," Lin Yang analyzed.
Actually, this is quite obvious. The Land of Reincarnation can't possibly let the Chosen Ones go on vacation to other worlds, can it?
Although Lin Yang wanted to warn him to be careful of the Xuanwu Gate Incident and Prince Qin, Li Shimin, how could he have made such a judgment without evidence? Was he some kind of innate diviner? Even if he were, he couldn't have predicted it so precisely!
"Indeed, I have gathered a great deal of intelligence today, and the current situation is roughly as follows."
"After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, various warlords rose up. Then, Li Yuan, with his strategic planning, raised an army in Taiyuan. Within half a year, he directly occupied the entire Guanzhong Plain, laying the foundation for his future unification of the country."
"It can be said that this person is truly cunning and shrewd, with superb methods. If he hadn't made various preparations in advance, how could such a vast Guanzhong region, the foundation of a kingdom, have been taken over in such a short time?" Cai Yan said with some admiration.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang almost burst out laughing. Did you know that in later historical records, Li Yuan was nothing more than an indecisive old scoundrel?
Even the uprising was attributed to his second son, Li Shimin? And all the subsequent actions were still attributed to Li Shimin? Although Li Shimin was only sixteen or seventeen years old at the time.
"Now the world is unified, but in the process, the second son Li Shimin has made many contributions by launching numerous campaigns. So, his ambition gradually grew and he wanted to become the crown prince."
“However, the Crown Prince himself, Li Jiancheng, is quite methodical in his actions and is well-liked by the ministers. Moreover, his political skills are superb, and he has now almost driven Li Shimin to a dead end,” Cai Yan said. (This dead end refers to completely losing hope of becoming the Crown Prince, not to any immediate danger to his life.)
Indeed, no matter what, the Xuanwu Gate Incident was actually a desperate coup launched by Li Shimin after he had completely failed in his political struggle and had no hope left.
If there had been even the slightest hope, Li Shimin would not have launched a direct coup. In other words, no matter how much slander or historical revisionism is employed, it cannot change the fact that Li Shimin had already been thoroughly persecuted and had virtually no chance of becoming crown prince. Therefore, he resorted to a direct coup.
However, compared to Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin was even less principled. Otherwise, if Li Jiancheng had been even half as ruthless as Li Shimin, he wouldn't have met such a tragic end.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang chuckled. He then said, "Most of the ministers nowadays support the Crown Prince. After all, there is an order of seniority, and the primogeniture system is a very good system. Only this system can guarantee the perfect continuation of aristocratic families and the dynasty."
After all, it's hard for people who aren't from this era to imagine how immense the influence of the eldest son was for these ministers in the classical feudal era.
It can be said that as long as Crown Prince Li Jiancheng didn't become mentally deficient or make mistakes, even if Li Shimin performed perfectly, he would not have been able to become Crown Prince. This was something that was destined from the day he was born.
"Moreover, Li Jiancheng has a greater advantage in the inner palace. He not only bribed me, the palace maid, but also befriended Li Yuan's favorite concubines, and could constantly whisper in their ear. Although the methods weren't sophisticated, they were very effective. It can be said that in this respect, Li Shimin is still at a disadvantage," Cai Yan said, shaking her head.
While bribing the palace ladies and cultivating relationships with Li Yuan's concubines might be considered somewhat underhanded, it was still within the bounds of the rules. Otherwise, would they really think Li Yuan was a dead man who wouldn't even know this?
In the imperial court, Li Shimin was at a disadvantage; in the harem, he remained at a disadvantage. Therefore, only the army remained.
"And the army? Who has the advantage in the army?" Shi A asked. After all, this Prince Qin, Li Shimin, looked like he had been through countless battles; didn't that mean he had a significant advantage in the army?
Upon hearing this, Cai Yan shook her head with a wry smile: "Even within the army, Li Shimin still doesn't have the upper hand. The largest force in Chang'an is the Imperial Guard. And the Imperial Guard is directly controlled by Li Yuan."
"In addition, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng controls the Changlin Army. This army is the Crown Prince's trump card, consisting of two thousand warriors recruited by the Crown Prince from Chang'an and other places, stationed near Changlin Gate. It is his personal guard, and its strength is incomparably powerful," Lin Yang said, recalling the memories added to him by the system.
After all, Lin Yang's identity was that of the head of the family's guards. This Changlin Army was, in fact, personally commanded by him.
“Li Shimin, on the other hand, secretly trained eight hundred elite warriors. Eight hundred against two thousand, both of them were elite troops. Clearly, Li Shimin had no chance of winning at all,” Lin Yang said, shaking his head.
“Yes, but in my opinion, this ambitious Li Shimin is definitely unwilling to accept defeat and will rebel. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have come into this world. However, I don’t know when he will rebel, or what his trump cards are,” Shi A said, puzzled.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang couldn't help but smile. Who could have imagined that Li Shimin would be so ruthless? It could be said that the Xuanwu Gate Incident completely destroyed the last remaining shred of kinship within the Li Tang royal family.
From then on, sons deceived their fathers, elder brothers betrayed their younger brothers, younger brothers framed their elder brothers, and wives killed their sons. It can be said that all the chaos that followed in the Tang Dynasty royal family was the result of those princes and empresses learning from Li Shimin.
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