Chapter 474 Appearances are in harmony but minds are separate
In the sixth month of the tenth year of Wude, Chang'an, Mingde Gate.

From the Crown Prince and the Prince of Jin down, all the kings, prime ministers, generals of the guards, dukes, ministers of the six ministries and nine departments, and other officials and dignitaries from all over Chang'an were outside the gate, holding their own ceremonial guards, waiting for His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, the lord of the six states and one capital in Guandong.

The Crown Prince and the Prince of Jin were each sitting under an umbrella waiting. Their umbrellas were almost touching, and they were sitting very close to each other.

The two of them were talking all the time.

From this perspective, it seems like a deep brotherly love.

However, the trusted officials under the command of the Prince of Jin and the Crown Prince stood in two clearly separated areas. As for the court officials, they were somewhat suspicious of the extremely close relationship between the two brothers.

Are these two really clear about the distinction between public and private, or are they just pretending to be brothers?

At the beginning of the sixth year of Wude, the Crown Prince recalled the Prince of Jin despite his serious illness and entrusted him with the important task of regulating the country.

The Prince of Jin lived up to everyone's expectations and handled state and military affairs in an orderly manner. Both the court and the public praised him for his wise management.

However, after the emperor returned to Chang'an, the prince's health gradually improved, and the two brothers were able to live in harmony at first.

But as time went on, the two brothers had more and more differences and conflicts over state affairs.

The forces surrounding the Crown Prince and Prince of Jin gradually began to surface, forming two interest groups that were fighting openly and secretly.

This forced the two brothers to drift apart passively under this circumstance, but Li Yuan was very happy to see this situation.

He had even wanted to create such a situation before, but failed to achieve it and was defeated in Hebei.

Now that he has almost lost his real power, he did not expect that the situation would turn in his favor.

The two brothers then began to want to get Li Yuan's support. After all, he was the emperor, the founding emperor.

He didn't completely become a puppet.

However, so far, the struggle between the two is still within the controllable range, so the two men who were diametrically opposed in the court still often went hunting and feasting together after the court, as if there was no gap between the brothers.

The reason why King Qi was summoned back to Chang'an this time was because there were differences in the formulation of strategy.

After several years of recuperation and military preparation, the vitality of Guanzhong has gradually recovered. In the past few years, the Crown Prince and the Prince of Jin have successively established 120 Zhechoufu. With strict training and excellent equipment, they have gradually become elite troops.

It's like a sword that has been hammered repeatedly, waiting to be sharpened.

After almost four years of accumulation, food supplies were sufficient to support large-scale military operations.

Therefore, unifying the world was once again put on the agenda.

The original consensus was to go north first and south later, and difficult first and easy later.

First, he had to deal with the toughest nut to crack, the Northern Han, and then he would march southwards, unify the country, and achieve unprecedented achievements.

But this was the consensus before the Battle of Baigou. As the situation changed, the plan naturally could not keep up with the changes.

The prince's idea was to keep things unchanged, first eliminate the growing threat of Northern Han, and then "send an order to pacify the world."

But what Li Sanlang meant was that the Northern Han was strong, and it would be difficult to gain an advantage in the strategic situation by actively attacking Hebei. They had been on the defensive in recent years, so it would be better to concentrate their forces to first destroy the Western Wei, then the Eastern Wei, and finally combine the benefits of the world, take Hebei, destroy the Northern Han, and complete the great cause of unifying the world.

The disagreement between the two is not only a strategic difference, but also a struggle for strategic dominance.

Li Yuan didn't know which side he should take. He felt that both strategies had their merits, but he was unwilling to publicly support one side.

In this situation, summoning the King of Qi to the court to formulate a strategy became the solution to the problem.

Because no matter whether it is the strategies of the Crown Prince or the King of Jin, they cannot be separated from the support of the King of Qi in Guandong, and even the support in terms of troops, materials and food.

Therefore, Li Yuanhui had no choice but to enter the court.

Finally, the soldier in charge of lookout shouted a reminder that the King of Qi's troops were only a few miles away from the city gate.

Two miles.

One mile.

The originally loose formation was now arranged in the order and specifications set by the Ministry of Rites. The Crown Prince stood at the front of the team, the Prince of Jin was half a body behind him, and behind him were the princes and grandchildren. After Li Yuanhui got off the carriage, the ministers began to pay their respects, and he walked up to his two brothers to pay his respects.

"Greetings, my two brothers."

"Fourth brother, there is no need to be polite."

The three brothers exchanged a few words of greeting. Li Yuanhui asked his two sons to come and pay their respects to their uncle, while the crown prince and the sons of Prince Jin came out to pay their respects to their fourth uncle.

Among them were the sons of his eldest brother Li Xiaoyan.

Li Yuanhui paid special attention to the fourth child of his eldest brother's family, Prince Lanling Li Changgong, who was sixteen years old, extremely handsome and tall.

The fifth brother, Prince Ande Li Yanzong, was a little fat. Li Yuanhui felt that these two brothers had the potential to be famous generals just by looking at their names, and they could be summoned to his side for further training in the future.

As for Li Chengqian from my second brother's family, he was fourteen years old. When he was performing the ceremony, it felt like he was just going through the motions, and his temperament seemed a bit impetuous.

On the other hand, ten-year-old Li Chengtai was also a little fat boy. He was much more well-behaved than Li Chengqian, looked very smart, and always had a smile on his face.

As for Li Chengyu, the eldest son of the third brother, he is already thirteen years old. He does not look like a child of a military family, and is in sharp contrast to his father's tall and strong appearance.

In general, the next generation of the Li family seems to be okay and has no tendency to become like the Gao family.

Li Tang cannot become the Gao family of Northern Qi, at least not while he is alive. This is his lowest bottom line. Any madman with the potential to become mentally ill must be sent away before he dies.

No matter if it's a son, nephew, or brother, we treat them all equally.

After the welcoming ceremony, the Crown Prince and Prince of Jin agreed to have a banquet in a few days. Li Yuanhui naturally attended the banquet and then entered the palace to pay homage to the Emperor.

In the Wude Hall, Li Yuan looked at Si Lang whom he had not seen for several years and said with relief: "I haven't seen you for four years. How is Si Lang?"

Li Si replied: "Thank you for your concern, Father. I have nothing to worry about in Guandong except for the Northern Han. In recent years, Guandong has enjoyed good weather and good harvests, and my family is peaceful at home."

Li Yuan smiled and said, "Well, I heard that you have several more children, so I guess you are living a good life."

Li Si also smiled. What he actually wanted to say was that you are not as great as me, Father. Now the number of princes is in double digits, and the number of grandchildren is not as many as the princes, not to mention the princesses. You are really getting stronger with age.

I can't accept it.

The father and son chatted and talked about family matters. After more than half an hour, Li Si felt that Li Yuan was a little tired, so he said goodbye and went back.

"Well, you should take a rest. You've been traveling so long. I'll welcome you back in a few days."

"Yes, Aye, take care of yourself. I'll take my leave."

In addition to the Wude Hall, we went all the way back to the Prince Qi's Palace in Yongxingfang, Chang'an.

When he returned to the palace, Murong Wuji, the Minister of Taichang Temple, was already waiting. When he saw Li Yuanhui, he bowed.

"Your Majesty."

"No need to be polite, Wuji, sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Murong Wuji was Li Yuanhui's spokesperson in Chang'an. He collected information about Chang'an for him and communicated with court officials.

Convey the will of the Prince of Qi's Palace.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter what position he actually holds. What matters is that he must be given an official position that matches his status.

Therefore, even with limited qualifications, he was still able to serve as the Minister of Taichang Temple, one of the Nine Ministers.

The two of them exchanged almost no nonsense and got straight to the point after a brief greeting.

Murong Wuji used very concise language to explain the situation in the court, the factions of the ministers in the court, the garrison situation of the Weifu Army, and the recent disputes between the Eastern Palace and the Prince of Jin's Palace.

The two talked until nightfall, and Li Yuanhui couldn't help but sigh: "Wuji has the talent to make plans and assist fate."

(End of this chapter)