Great Tang Southern Emperor

However, this answer did not satisfy Li Zhi. He also knew that this was not the biggest reason why the family opposed Li Zhen, and he also knew the specific reason. Now that he has lost his face, he doesn't have to worry about anything, and said with a blunt smile: "Hahaha... In the end, you are still afraid of Li Zhen, right? You are afraid of the 30 young army in his hands, and you are also afraid of Wen Tian Shuyuan under his command , you are even more afraid of the endless money in his hands...

Why can you control the court and be immortal?Isn't it because you have an army that can overthrow a country, countless talents who can overthrow a dynasty, and a huge amount of wealth that can control the lifeline of the country's economy?So much so that even the emperor who is as wise as his father has to act according to your face, otherwise, once your interests are touched, you can easily send them to death——Emperor Sui Yang of the previous dynasty, no Is this how you played to death?

But Li Zhen is different. Although he has only risen for 20 years, his background is no worse than yours. His young army has the courage to rule the world. An army of 30 can easily destroy the army of millions under your control , Your military power poses no threat to him at all.

Although Wentian Shuyuan under him is not well-known, thousands of excellent talents can be produced here every year. After a few years, the number of talents in his hands is enough to support the operation of the empire. Act according to your face, otherwise your talents can be replaced in minutes, and you who have no official positions, what is it?Do you rely on your books?With printing and papermaking, there is no shortage of books in the world.

As for money, not to mention, Li Zhen's chamber of commerce earns as much money as the treasury tax. Do you have so much money?And wealth needs to be protected by military power. No matter how rich you are, other emperors would not dare to take you, because your military power is enough to make the emperor feel troublesome, but now your army has been replaced by the young army. Lost, without the wealth to protect, it is like a beautiful woman without clothes, who can be picked by others.

Not only that, but Li Zhen doesn't like you very much, so once he becomes the emperor, not only your money and status will be taken away, including your life, but Li Zhen will also take away your life, leaving you without a place to die ... So, it's not that Li Zhen rejected your friendship, but it's purely because you're afraid of him. That's why you desperately want to kill him, right? "

"Shut up... Otherwise, we don't mind pulling you down and putting another emperor up." Wang Ping's face darkened completely after being poked at the sore spot by Li Zhi, and he changed several times in succession. , It is estimated that he wants to give Li Zhi a good beating at this time.

Li Zhi was first ridiculed, then persecuted, and finally threatened. He has been depressed for a long time. At this time, he has the upper hand, so naturally he will not listen to Wang Ping: "To be honest, I admire Li Zhen very much. If it wasn't for me being the prince of the Tang Dynasty, I really don't want to fight against him, but live comfortably under his rule, and let's see how unlucky your family is."

"I told you to shut up, did you hear?" Wang Ping grabbed Li Zhi's front, his eyes red: "You still have the nerve to talk about us? What kind of good are you? Li Zhen treats you well. I have promised to give you enough fiefs, but you are still not satisfied. Is it because you are too greedy to fall into the current situation? Who can you blame?"

"Hehe, I have no regrets. I have never regretted it. It is not because of greed that I compete with Li Zhen." Li Zhi kicked Wang Ping away, his eyes were red and he roared: "Li Zhen It’s really good for me. The land entrusted to me is also very large, almost equivalent to half of Tianzhu. Although it is a little barren, as long as it is well managed, it is completely fine to become a rich land. But, why? Why? The throne will fall on his head? Why is it that he entrusts me with fiefs and not me? He is only one year older than me. We grew up together, and I don’t know him better than himself No, I think my ability is not inferior to him, so why should he take all the benefits? But I can only accept his charity, as if it was a rare food... He thinks he is kind to me, but in my opinion, he is right. My biggest insult, if he hadn't promised the land at the beginning, maybe I would still be willing to be a happy prince."

Wang Ping got up from the ground, and said with a sneer: "Hehe, you said so lightly, you simply don't know good from bad, not to mention, you think that after Li Zhen entrusted the rest of the brothers, only you will be left alone. What do you think in your heart? Could it be that you also think like this now? I'm afraid that the injustice and jealousy in your heart at that time would have burned you to ashes long ago, right?"

Li Zhi still wanted to refute, but Wang Ping waved his hand: "Forget it, why am I telling you these things? I just came here this time to inform you, so that you can be mentally prepared. Now the notification has arrived, and I will meet you in a few days." There are envoys from Dashi and Western Turks to submit their credentials, and then you can just sign and seal on it, and you don’t have to worry about anything else... Well, that’s it, I’m leaving.”

"Ah..." After Wang Ping left, Li Zhi's angry voice came from the hall, accompanied by the sound of "crackling, ping-pong". It was obvious that Li Zhi was venting his anger again.

"..." Wang Ping paused when he heard the movement, but quickly shook his head and left without saying anything.

……

Chapter 1250

Chapter 2 Breaking the Game

What happened in the palace was quickly spread to Li Zhen. Although no one else was present when Wang Ping and Li Zhi were talking, Li Zhen still got the news that the family was planning to collude with Dashi and the Turkic invasion.

"Damn it, how dare they? It's time to get rid of this group of moths in the aristocratic family. Aristocratic families, you'd better pray that I fail this time, otherwise I will definitely not make it easier for you..." Li Zhen said angrily. Slapping his palm on the table, he was really angry this time, and his heart was completely murderous towards the family, intending to completely destroy the existence of the family.

To be honest, Li Zhen actually didn't intend to completely wipe out the family, because he knew that the family could not be wiped out, and what he really wanted to kill was only the big family of the seven clans and five surnames that could threaten the Tang Dynasty.As for the other aristocratic families, even if he wanted to, he didn't have the ability. After all, there were hundreds of aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty, and almost every state had many aristocratic families.If Li Zhen really wants no one to stay, then the number of dead people will be in the hundreds of thousands. He is not a murderer who kills without batting an eyelid. Come better.

Moreover, Li Zhen also knew that the aristocratic family could not be eliminated, even after the Tang Dynasty, it seemed that the aristocratic family had disappeared, but is this really the case?These aristocratic families have only been hidden and become even more unknown, but they can be found in every aspect of the entire empire.Even in the later 21st century, in the corners we can't see, there are actually aristocratic families that are secretly manipulating everything in the country.

What's more, Li Zhen himself is also supporting the aristocratic family. The difference is that he is supporting the new aristocratic family, such as Fang Yiai, Du He, Cheng Chuliang Brothers, Yuchi Brothers, Qin Huaiyu, Xue Rengui, Xi Junmai and others. Now, these people will follow him to prosperity, at least one Duke is indispensable.Especially Fang Ducheng, Yuchi and others, after they were nobles, their fathers were already dukes of the state. Once they were canonized as dukes of the state by Li Zhen again, they would all be dukes of the same family, with unparalleled glory.This honor alone is enough to lay a solid foundation for their family. As long as they don't die and develop slowly, their family will eventually become a big family in less than 50 years. This is no matter what It is also unavoidable.

It's just that the composition of the aristocratic family is doomed to be a family-centered organization. In their eyes, the interests of the country and the safety of the people are all imaginary, and only personal interests are real.For the benefit of their own family, they can do anything. No matter how loyal the ancestors were to the country at the beginning, they will become self-centered when they come to future generations. This is almost the doomed law of the development of the family. dreadful.

So he has already made up his mind that aristocratic families can exist, but they must not develop and grow. Big families like the seven clans and five surnames are definitely not allowed to exist. Only small families can survive in the land of the Great Tang. When the family has developed to a certain level, there are only two options - either to separate the family, or to be exterminated.

Originally, this was a policy formulated by Li Zhen, but when what the family did today really appeared in front of his eyes, he couldn't help but feel a sense of killing in his heart, wanting to completely eliminate the existence of the family, However, he quickly suppressed this murderous intent, because the aristocratic family simply cannot be destroyed... But even though it cannot be destroyed, it is time to think of a way to teach the aristocratic family a good lesson—thinking of this, Li Zhen suddenly remembered that she had submitted to Li Shimin, but because of the fierce opposition from the family, it ended without a problem. Maybe this is a good way...

"Your Highness, what happened?" Fang Yiai asked next to him. They were discussing the military situation just now, but a young soldier came over and passed an information to Li Zhen, so he became like this.

"The aristocratic family colluded with the Turks and Dashi, and planned to invade the frontier while we were attacking Chang'an..." Li Zhen passed the information to him: "Everyone pass it on to each other, this is our aristocratic family of the Tang Dynasty, It really is a country of public loyalty, hehe..."

"What? They are so brave..." Fang Yiai just took a rough look, and immediately burst into anger: "These damned families, for their own benefit, dare to ignore the safety of millions of people in the Tang Dynasty, they are so selfish Absolutely, Your Highness, it seems that this family really can't be kept, this subordinate begs for orders, when we defeat King Jin, let this subordinate take action against this family..."

Du He also finished reading the information, and said, "This is the pissing nature of the aristocratic family. It's not like you don't know that they never have the concept of a country in their eyes. They are just a bunch of selfish ghosts who abandoned everything for the sake of their small family... ...I'm sorry, Pei Xingjian, I didn't say what you mean. "

When it came to the end, Du He suddenly came to his senses. He suddenly thought that under Li Zhen's command, there were also many children from aristocratic families working for him, so he quickly apologized.

"It's okay, I understand." Pei Xingjian smiled bitterly, expressing his understanding, and quickly explained to Li Zhen: "Besides, we are different from those families. Although we are all from families, most of them are branch disciples. I don't care about the Zong family's way of thinking. Your Highness, these things have nothing to do with us."

"Of course I know, and I don't mean to blame you." Li Zhen waved his hand and said, "Let's leave this matter as it is. I already have a solution, so please don't talk about it until we take it down." Chang'an, these traitorous dogs will naturally have the fate they deserve."

"But Your Highness, the family's conspiracy must be guarded against." Qin Huaiyu handed the note to Cheng Chuliang, and said worriedly: "You must know that Dashi and Turkic countries have prepared millions of troops. If we broke into the Turkic prairie and the hinterland of Tianzhu, and we didn't take any precautions, the loss would be nothing more than that, and it would really disrupt our deployment. At that time, King Jin can ignore it, but we But we can't ignore it, if we really ignore it, I'm afraid it will have a big impact on your highness's reputation..."

Cheng Chuliang also read the note, and echoed: "Yes, although we have already learned of the family's conspiracy, but knowing the conspiracy, we must also crack it, otherwise Datang will definitely suffer heavy losses."

"Don't worry about this. Since I have already learned the news in advance, how can I let the family do what I want?" Li Zhen's anger was gone, and she couldn't help chuckling when she heard the words: "The conspiracy between the family, Western Turks, and Dashi is actually very serious. Simple, the most important thing is surprise, now that we have learned of their plan, this surprise will naturally be abolished, and without surprise, their plan should not be too simple to crack."

Du He's eyes lit up, and he also smiled: "That's right, they don't know that we have such a magic weapon as wireless telegraphy. As long as we send the information to Tianzhu and the Turkic Grassland, the garrisons in these two places will be ready in advance. Not only is it impossible for the enemies in this surprise attack to make meritorious deeds, but they will also be bruised and bloody due to our preparations. They may even come and go, and it is not impossible for us to leave them all in Datang. Not only will the family’s conspiracy be shattered by then , we also have an excuse to declare war with the two countries, as long as your Highness defeats King Jin, then we can directly send troops to arrest the monarchs of the two countries for questioning."

"And that's not all. I think the performance of those two generals is not very normal. They should have their own plans. They shouldn't have been bought by the family. It doesn't make sense at all." Pei Xingjian added beside him, Judging from what he said, it should be to help the border line for the assistant, but the two generals who were bought by the family were whitewashed.

It's just that his words were not opposed by others, but Li Zhen's approval was also welcomed: "It makes sense, I know Li Jingxuan a little bit, he may have a little problem, but if you say he will rebel against Tang Dynasty , that is simply impossible, and I am very sure of his loyalty. As for Zhang Wenguan, although I don't know much about him, he was recommended by General Li Ji and picked by his father. I am afraid that the speed will not be too low, at least not the kind of people who are easily bought... So I guessed that these two people should have seen through the conspiracy of the family, so they planned to plan to come one after the enemy army came in. Close the door and beat the dog."

Both Li Jingxuan and Zhang Wenguan were famous ministers in the Tang Dynasty. They both served as prime ministers when Li Zhi was in power. Among them, Li Jingxuan was an old man who followed Li Zhen at the same time as Pei Xingjian. After a long test, Li Zhen began to promote him. Similarly, he also started as a county magistrate, and then under the attention of Li Zhen, he accumulated meritorious service and was promoted to be the governor of Shuzhou (a state in Nanyang). , but it is also obvious that the people live and work in peace and contentment.

In this way, Li Zhen spent five years examining him before finally promoting him to the rank of general. Just at the time when the generals on the border of the Great Tang were guarding against the sudden death of a large army, Li Zhen thought of him and general He was placed in the past and became a general in charge of an army of [-]. His power was not even worse than that of the general of the Sixteenth Guards, or even worse than the current governor of the Tang Dynasty.It is also Li Zhen's kindness to know and meet, Li Jingxuan is so grateful to Li Zhen, and dedicated all his loyalty.Therefore, although he is also from a family, Li Zhen believes that he will not do anything that betrays the country.

As for Zhang Wenguan, he is stationed at the border between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Turks. He is also a capable person. Although he is not as famous as those famous ministers in history, he can be the prime minister of Li Zhi after all. In fact, his ability is quite good, almost no worse than those names.

Like Li Jingxuan, Zhang Wenguan also came from an aristocratic family, and was in the same place as the Qinghe Cui family, which was the Qinghe Zhang family.This is their unlucky place. It stands to reason that the Zhang family in Qinghe is also a big family. If it is placed anywhere else, it is the overlord of one side, but their unlucky luck is that they are in Qinghe. Shi's world.So the Zhang family has become like this, and has become an existence suppressed by the Cui family. There has been little development in the past few decades. They couldn't do what the Cui family could do, so they chose a foreign aid—that is, the imperial court, and became loyal supporters of the imperial court, which was even earlier than when the Lu family joined the imperial court.

Even this time the Family Alliance and Li Zhen were against each other, the Zhang family did not get involved. Of course, they did not fall for Li Zhen. They just maintained a neutral attitude and watched from the sidelines. It was time for them to express their stance—after all, their allegiance was to the Tang Dynasty, not to a certain prince. Neither Li Zhen nor Li Zhi had any opinion on this point.

Therefore, Li Jingxuan and Zhang Wenguan should have thought of going together, and they should have the same plan, but the result just gave the family an illusion, making them think that the two of them were successfully bribed in the rainy season—of course, even if all of this It was Li Zhen's speculation that the two of them had really been bought, and they were not good at anything. After all, he had already made all preparations. Even if the border could not be defended, relying on the strength of the inland troops would be enough to drag the invading enemy alive. died.

"Let's just let this matter go. Let's continue to discuss the next action." Li Zhen changed the subject. Anyway, in his eyes, after helping Li Zhi to force the palace, all the participating families are already dead, and he has already thought about it. Well, there is no need to discuss how to deal with these traitors, and now it is more necessary to pay attention to the next war.

"Yes." Du He took out a report, stood up and said, "We are now less than three days away from Chang'an, which means we will be able to reach the outskirts of Chang'an around the afternoon of the day after tomorrow, but according to the proposal of the staff department, we will be able to reach the outskirts of Chang'an at the end of the day." It’s best not to get too close to Chang’an.”

"Why?" Cheng Chuliang asked: "We have already arrived in Chang'an, so shouldn't we take down Chang'an City in one go? Why stop again?"

Li Zhen helped to explain: "That's because in Chang'an City, there is a powerful weapon—a giant cannon."

"So that's how it is." Li Zhen didn't need to talk about it anymore, everyone was stunned, because the giant cannon is so famous, it can be said to be the most powerful cannon in the Tang Empire.Of course, the powerful here does not mean comprehensive performance. As I said before, the cannon with the best comprehensive performance in Datang is the Tanlang cannon. The powerful color mentioned here simply refers to firepower rather than comprehensive performance, but even so, it is still A tough cannon.

Chapter 1251

Chapter 2 Seventeen

Jumen Cannon, just from the name, it can be heard that it is a product of the same period as Tanlang Cannon. After all, Jumen and Tanlang are both the names of Xingxiu - of course, it is just that the two are the same on the design drawing. It was designed at the same time. In fact, the giant cannon was many years earlier than the Tanlang cannon. After all, the structure of the giant cannon is simpler than that of the Tanlang cannon, so it is easier to produce.

And different from the powerful comprehensive performance of the Greedy Wolf Cannon, the biggest feature of the Jumen Cannon is that it is big enough to fit a person's caliber, so the Jumen Cannon is just a code name, and its really good name is actually "Zhenguan Thirteen Type 400" Mortar"—that's right, this is the mortar with the largest caliber, the largest mass, and the greatest power mentioned before. It has a barrel of [-] millimeters, which is enough to crush a thin people stuffed in.

Although the giant cannon is inconvenient to move and the range is not far enough, it is not suitable for installation on a warship, but its huge power makes this cannon the most powerful weapon for breaking down a city, no matter how strong the city wall is, even if it is The fortress made of concrete is only as fragile as a piece of paper in front of the giant cannon, and it will be torn apart easily.Since it can attack the fortress, it can naturally be used as a defensive weapon in the fortress. When the shells weighing hundreds of kilograms fall to the ground, let alone explode, they can kill more than one or two people just by hitting them. When the explosive explodes, there is no living person within a radius of [-] meters—such a powerful force is enough to destroy a battalion-level unit gathered together, and people who are closer to the explosion point will not even think about a whole corpse If it stays, it will be torn into pieces by the shock wave.

But now in the city of Chang'an, there are more than a dozen of these cannons, all of which are located in the city. If all the cannons are fired, no matter if they are cavalry or infantry, as long as they are within range, they will not be able to get out alive. Not to mention being torn apart by the explosion, the shock wave and vibration of the explosion alone are enough to cause the internal organs of people within the range to rupture and die.

Fortunately, this cannon is not without its shortcomings. In addition to being too heavy and inconvenient to move and slow to load, another shortcoming is that the range is seriously insufficient. After all, the giant cannon is only a mortar, and its range is inherently higher than that of ordinary cannons. The cannon is much lower. Although the designers of the arsenal have modified it many times, the range of the giant cannon still has not exceeded ten kilometers. Fall like the city.Therefore, these cannons are placed along the city walls, which leads to these cannons not being able to play concentrated fire, they can only shoot alone, and it is difficult to adjust the muzzle, that is to say, as long as the first shot is calculated, avoid In this area, the attack of the giant cannon can be avoided.

"Giant cannon, this is not a guy to mess with." Hearing Li Zhen talking about the giant cannon, Cheng Chuliang sighed: "I was lucky enough to witness a test firing of the giant cannon... Good guy, I stand Ten miles away, I could feel the ground trembling. After waiting for the shooting to finish, I took another look at the target... My God, a target that was bigger than a house was completely wiped out. But the target made of cement, built purely according to the specifications of the fortress, can't stop a shot from the giant cannon, it's simply terrible."

Du He nodded and said: "So what the staff department means is that we have to station the camp at least twenty kilometers away to avoid the attack of the giant cannon... and then find a way to lure them to shoot the first round, and wait for the first round of shooting to be completed. After that, it will take at least a quarter of an hour to load the shells of the giant cannon, and we can rely on this quarter of an hour to rush the troops to the dead end of the cannon, and then talk about other things..."

"I'm afraid that twenty kilometers is not very safe, right? After all, the Tang army can reach a range of [-] kilometers, and the cannons of twenty kilometers should not be too many." Qin Huaiyu frowned and said: "I think everyone is a little too valued on the power of giant cannons. We know that although the giant cannon is powerful, it also has many shortcomings, especially in terms of the rate of fire. It can only fire eight rounds in one hour. As long as we disperse enough and pay attention to where the shells fall, we don't have to worry about this at all. How much threat will a cannon pose to us.

I think what we really need to worry about are the fast-firing and long-range cannons... You must know that Chang'an City can be said to be equipped with cannons of almost all specifications in the Tang Dynasty, whether it is the naval guns on our battleships or the fortresses. There are all kinds of cannons in Chang'an City. Most of these cannons have a range that exceeds that of the giant cannon, and the rate of fire is even higher than it. Although the power is not as powerful as the giant cannon, the super fast rate of fire is enough to make up for it... …If you don’t pay attention to these threats, why should you pay attention to a cannon that is not a big threat? "