Chapter 437 Forced into the Palace
September, the fifth year of Wude.

Luoyang, the palace city.

Li Yuan dressed himself up under Concubine Yin's clothes early in the morning and felt that he was in good spirits, so he ordered people to summon Prime Minister Pei Hongde, Shangshu Pei Ji and others. He wanted to discuss with a few people how to return to Guanzhong.

It’s not that the road is blocked and we can’t go back, it’s purely out of courtesy.

The Battle of Baigou and the Battle of Qishui, these two battles caused the Tang Dynasty to lose 100,000 troops, and the entire Central Plains was shaken. Li Yuan could even imagine that the people in Yanzhou and Yuzhou were beginning to waver, and there should even be many Central Plains nobles who have sent letters to Liu Xuanji to express their feelings.

Just like after the Battle of Yingchuan, his desk was filled with letters from the gentry in the Central Plains and the nobles in Luoyang.

So Li Yuan finally cheered up. After all, he had to go back to Guanzhong and couldn't stay in Luoyang forever.

When the eunuch went to Pei Hongde's house, Pei Hongde was meeting a guest.

The guest was named Du Keming. During Li Yuan's visit to Luoyang, he entered the Eastern Palace and returned to Li Er's service, becoming the Prince's Secretary.

Pei Hongde was surprised when he saw Du Keming.

Du Keming's father and Pei Hongde were old friends. Although the Wenxi Pei family was a prominent family in Hedong, they had lived in Guanzhong for a long time, so they were often connected with the Guanzhong nobles such as Wei, Du, Dou, and Ma.

"Why is Keming here?"

Du Keming bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Pei. I am here with the Crown Prince."

Pei Hongde frowned upon hearing this. His heart was already filled with turmoil, but his expression remained calm as he asked, "The prince came to Luoyang? When did it happen?"

Seeing Pei Hongde's expression and facial expressions, Du Keming couldn't help but praise him in his heart. He was indeed a prime minister. He was a man who would not change his color even when facing a mountain collapse. Then he said respectfully: "Replying to Lord Pei, after receiving the war report, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince traveled day and night and arrived in the suburbs of Luoyang the day before yesterday. Yesterday, he met with the King of Jin and the King of Qi at the White Horse Temple."

After hearing this, Pei Hongde sighed and said, "Why is it so?"

A smart man like Pei Hongde actually understood what the Crown Prince was planning when he met with the King of Jin and the King of Qi without anyone in Luoyang knowing.

Even if Li Yuan could still become emperor this time, he would probably lose the power to govern.

When he saw Du Keming for the first time, Pei Hongde thought that the prince wanted to do something to the King of Qi.

As soon as the three of them met, Pei Hongde realized that the three brothers must have some plan against Li Yuan.

"What does the prince want me to do?"

Du Keming said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince hopes that you can advise His Majesty in the hall later. I agree with the proposals of the King of Qi and the King of Jin."

Pei Hongde nodded when he heard this, "I will consider it myself."

Du Keming said: "In that case, I will take my leave first."

Pei Hongde looked at Du Keming's back as he left, shook his head, sighed, and said, "Why did it come to this?"

On the other hand, Li Er and Li San led 800 soldiers into the city respectively, while Li Yuanhui led 600 soldiers to wait at the palace gate.

Li Yuan was still in the palace, talking to several ministers. He was in a good mood today and was in a talkative mood. Pei Ji kept talking to him, while Pei Hongde was relatively silent.

Although both were from the Wenxi Pei family, Pei Ji and Pei Hongde were not actually close relatives and could only be considered from the same clan. However, after becoming prime ministers, they had frequent interactions with each other.

Pei Hongde was the prime minister in the previous dynasty and had a great reputation. Pei Ji was Li Yuan's confidant, and they had a closer relationship and a very good personal friendship.

The existence of the two is relatively complementary. Together with Pei Minzhi who entered the court as the Minister of Guanglu Temple, the Wenxi Pei family was actually very powerful in the Tang Dynasty.

But Pei Hongde was a little worried today, as he didn't know what would happen.

The prince sent someone to inform him, which was actually to ask him to take sides, but he was not worried about the prince, but the king of Qi.

This is Luoyang, a city that the King of Qi has managed for a long time. The internal and external armies are all controlled by the King of Qi. Is he really just trying to support the crown prince? Is he putting so much effort into this just for the crown prince to ascend to the throne?

It was hard for him not to suspect that the King of Qi had other plans. But he could do nothing now, because at this time, he, the prime minister, was just a fish on the chopping board. The King of Qi's troops had already controlled the entire palace city, and even the entire Luoyang. What could he do?

Pei Hongde was thinking about how to respond to the situation later, but Li Yuan asked, "Mr. Pei, I have often felt that the palace in Luoyang is much more magnificent than that in Chang'an, and has the style and majesty of an emperor. How about making it the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty, just like the previous dynasty?"

Pei Hongde immediately understood what Li Yuan meant when he heard this, and it turned out that he didn't want to return to Guanzhong.
If you think about it carefully, it is true. The Guanzhong army was destroyed in one fell swoop, and seven or eight out of ten court officials, generals, nobles, and royal family members were killed or captured.

Li Yuan was indeed a little nervous about returning to Guanzhong at this time.

This is the emperor, who personally led the army to fight like this. But if Luoyang is upgraded to the Eastern Capital, corresponding to the Western Capital Chang'an, then there is a reason to stay in Luoyang.

On the other hand, Luoyang has well-developed waterways, which makes it more convenient to use goods and more prosperous and lively than Guanzhong, which is surrounded by dangerous mountains and rivers.

But Pei Hongde suggested: "Your Majesty, although Luoyang is good, we really need to face the harassment of Northern Yan now. If the capital is here, I am afraid it will be restless day and night. Moreover, Guanzhong is the foundation of the Tang Dynasty and is a solid mountain and river. This matter is of great importance, please consider it carefully."

Even at this time, Pei Hongde still stated his opinions in a very organized manner and did not make any excuses because of the impending changes.

After listening to this, Li Yuan nodded repeatedly. Before he could say anything, a eunuch hurried into the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, the King of Jin, and the King of Qi want to see you."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan immediately stood up from his seat, "What did you say? Say it again!"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, Prince Jin, and Prince Qi request an audience."

Li Yuan immediately left his seat and strode to the entrance of the hall, where he saw three people standing in front of the hall.

Li Er, the crown prince, sits in the center, wearing court robes and a fu hat.

On the left and right were the King of Jin and the King of Qi. The three of them standing there looked like the Chinese character "山", steep and majestic.

Behind the three men, there were more than a dozen generals in armor. Li Yuan looked around and saw that they were all famous warriors in the Tang army.

On the wide ground in front of the main hall, countless armored soldiers stood like a forest, a black mass that added a solemn atmosphere to the long steps.

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

The three of them immediately paid homage with great respect, being extremely polite and courteous, without showing any disrespect at all.

But Li Yuan was speechless when he looked at the team at the bottom of the stairs. After a while, he said, "What do you want to do?"

Li Xuanqing, the Prince of Jin, said, "I heard that Luoyang was in danger, so I brought soldiers and horses with me to protect you."

Li Yuan frowned upon hearing this, and began to regain his senses from his shock.

"In that case, let's go into the palace and talk."

"promise."

Several people responded in unison, and the three brothers stood up and followed Li Yuan into the hall.

After Li Yuan entered the hall, he turned around and questioned the three people: "You three brought the troops here, what do you want? Tell me."

The first person to speak was Li Sanlang: "Father, you are old. How about letting my second brother take care of state affairs for you in the future, so that you can enjoy a peaceful and comfortable life in your old age? What do you think?"

Li Yuan looked at Li Si, and after a while he sneered, "Well, Si Lang, you have done a great thing."

(End of this chapter)