Chapter 693 I’ve revealed my cards. What do you want to do?
late July.

Chang'an City, Changshoufang, inside a prince's palace.

Four teenagers were sitting on an empty rooftop, chatting idly.

Although these four young men are young, they are all wearing black robes embroidered with four-clawed golden dragons.

In other words, they are all princes of the Tang Dynasty.

One of the young men, with a cold and pale face and sinister eyes, complained to the other three:
"Now you should know what 'brothers' mean, right? In the past, our good 'Second Brother' always talked about 'brothers', but now more than 30 brothers and sisters are not as close to him as his own children. He is indeed a ruthless man who kills his brothers..."

"Silence!"

As soon as the young man uttered the last sentence, the expressions of the other three young men suddenly changed.

The oldest boy had a gleam of disgust in his eyes:
"Yuanxiang, if you dare to speak ill of His Majesty again, we will leave!"

The youngest of the boys quickly smiled and said:
"Brother Nineteen, don't be angry. Brother Twenty is just complaining. We are all brothers here, and there are no outsiders."

Seeing that his nineteenth brother, the Prince of Lu, Li Lingkui, seemed really angry, Prince Jiang Li Yuanxiang also apologized:
"Don't be angry, Brother Nineteen. I drank two extra cups this morning and I'm a little confused."

The last young man, the secret king Li Yuanxiao, also gave some advice.

Except for 'Nineteenth Brother', the other three young men were descendants of Emperor Gaozu who were born after the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Because of their young age, the four have not yet been granted fiefdoms.

The ancients believed that a son is most precious to his mother, and a mother is most precious to her son.

Li Lingkui's mother was from the Yuwen clan of the Guanlong Army and was given the title of Zhaoyi.

During her lifetime, Yuwen Zhaoyi was deeply favored by Li Yuan and was almost made empress by Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan.

The other three young men were Li Yuanxiang, Prince of Jiang, Li Yuanxiao, Prince of Mi, and Li Yuanying, Prince of Teng.

The mother of Prince Jiang Li Yuanxiang was from the Hongnong Yang clan and was given the title of Concubine Yang.

The mother of Prince Mi Li Yuanxiao was from the Lu clan of Fufeng and was given the title of Talented Lady.

The mother of Prince Teng Li Yuanying was from the Hedong Liu clan and was given the title Baolin.

In the feudal dynasty where "a son is more honored than his mother", Li Lingkui was naturally superior to his three younger brothers.

Seeing that the arrogant expressions on the faces of his three brothers had subsided, Li Lingkui sat down again, but his expression was still serious, and he warned the three of them:
"Your Majesty is a wise and heroic man. He must have a plan for everything he does. If you dare to question His Majesty again, don't blame me for turning my back on you three brothers."

Although the three of them were not convinced in their hearts, they repeatedly expressed their obedience.

After Li Lingkui calmed down, the three of them looked at each other again and said:

"Brother Nineteen, the effect of the Pei Yuan Pill is truly miraculous. I have inquired about it. Changle's asthma and Zhinu's nearsightedness and farsightedness were both cured. We brothers don't expect His Majesty to personally help us make the pill. As long as His Majesty can give us a copy of the recipe, that would be great."

Li Lingkui looked at his three half-brothers with a look of pity and suspicion in his eyes:
"You asked me to come here just to ask me for the recipe, didn't you?"

"Brother Nineteen, the four of us should go and ask for it together."

Li Yuanxiao was afraid that Li Lingkui would not want to go, so he quickly promised: "As long as you can get the recipe, the three of us will take care of the materials needed for refining the elixir. When the elixir is successfully refined, we will naturally give a portion to Brother Nineteen."

Li Lingkui was also moved when he heard Li Yuanxiao's words.

His queen died after giving birth to a son, leaving him with a frail and sickly eldest son, Li Shen.

Li Shen is now less than one year old, but he is almost becoming a frequent visitor to the Imperial Medical Bureau.

If Your Majesty could give me the recipe for the elixir, I would definitely give everything I have to buy the medicinal materials and help my son make a batch of Peiyuan Dan.

The four princes quickly reached an agreement and agreed to go to see the emperor together the next day.

After Li Lingkui returned to the palace, he was still a little nervous and afraid of Su Mingzhe's majesty.

However, after he saw his son Li Shen, all his worries were thrown behind him.

The princess is gone, and my son’s life must be saved!

It was the next day in a blink of an eye.

Li Lingkui arrived at the entrance of the Suzaku Gate of the imperial palace and reunited with his three other brothers. The four of them together handed in a sign requesting an audience with the emperor.

"My four princes, you have come at a very unfortunate time. His Majesty is discussing matters with several ministers. How about you go to the side hall and take a rest first?"

The eunuch responded to the four people with a smile, and then without caring about the four brothers' expressions, he led them to the side hall next to them.

When the four of them entered the door, they were stunned.

There were already nearly ten people in the side hall waiting to be summoned by His Majesty.

Moreover, the person sitting at the door was the brother-in-law of the four people, Princess Yongjia's consort, Duke Dou Fengjie.

The four of them looked at each other and hurriedly greeted their brother-in-law Dou Fengjie.

"Silence."

When Dou Fengjie saw that the four brothers were about to speak, he quickly signaled to them not to make any sound.

The four brothers followed Dou Fengjie's gaze and looked inside. Unexpectedly, there were two people inside who they knew, namely Pei Xuanji, Duke of Anyi County, and Chai Lingwu, Duke of Xiangyang County.

Pei Xuanji was the son of Pei Ju, who was also a hero in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Chai Lingwu was the son of Chai Shao, the consort of Princess Pingyang. Moreover, Chai Lingwu married Princess Baling. The fact that both father and son were consorts was an extremely favored affair in this dynasty.

Chai Lingwu was lower in seniority than the four princes, but in the eyes of the emperor, his importance far exceeded that of his four brothers.

In addition to these three people, there were six old men in the side hall, all of whom were people that Li Lingkui and his four brothers did not know. These six old men sat aside, closed their eyes and rested, and ignored others.

Upon seeing this, Li Lingkui's mind turned, and he couldn't help but guess, these people came to see the emperor, could their purpose be the same as that of his four brothers?

the other side.

Inside Hanyuan Hall.

Su Mingzhe was handling government affairs in Hanyuan Hall. Those who discussed government affairs with him included important officials such as Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Gao Shilian, Wei Zheng, Tang Jian, Li Jing, Hou Junji, Wang Gui, and Li Daozon.

Most of these people are old officials who are already in their sixties.

Wang Gui is the oldest, almost seventy years old.

However, Changsun Wuji, who was in his forties, and Li Daozon, who was thirty-nine years old, became the two youngest among the important ministers.

Wait until everyone finishes discussing government affairs.

No one offered to leave, but just sat quietly on the cushions, and began to meditate: eyes on the nose, nose on the heart, and heart on the freedom.

Seeing that this group of important officials did not speak, Su Mingzhe did not speak first either.

Everyone has been in the court for so many years and they all have thick skins. Let's see who can't help but speak first.

At this point, we have to praise Fang Xuanling, who is worthy of being a moral role model of the Tang Dynasty.

We had agreed to play the 'silence' game together, but Fang Xuanling couldn't help but speak first:

"Your Majesty, after the grand court meeting last month, I misunderstood that Your Majesty was refining elixirs and was obsessed with immortality..."

"Xuan Ling did not misunderstand."

Su Mingzhe raised his hand to stop Fang Xuanling from apologizing, and then, in the surprised eyes of the ministers, he directly admitted:
"I am indeed refining an elixir for longevity. The Peiyuan Pill I gave to the prince and princess last time is an elixir that can prolong life."

When the ministers saw that Su Mingzhe actually admitted it directly, they were immediately surprised.

People like Wang Gui, Gao Shilian, Tang Jian and Li Jing were all quite old, and a cold or fever might kill them.

If there really is a panacea that can prolong life, how many people in this world would be willing to refuse it?

Gao Shilian had a short temper and considered himself the uncle of Empress Changsun, so he shamelessly pleaded:
"Your Majesty, I am old and weak, and I would like to ask Your Majesty to grant me a magic pill..."

"My uncle asked, I shouldn't have refused."

Su Mingzhe saw Gao Shilian speak first, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes, but he still politely declined:

"It's just that the medicinal materials for refining Peiyuan Pills are extremely scarce. Many of them are not in the territory of our Great Tang Dynasty. We need to buy them from foreign merchants. I can't be sure when I can start refining pills next time."

When Gao Shilian heard Su Mingzhe say this, he quickly asked what medicinal materials were needed to make the elixir, and he was willing to do his best to help collect them.

Su Mingzhe casually mentioned more than thirty kinds of rare and precious medicinal materials, and also mentioned more than a dozen things that were not available in the Tang Dynasty.

The ministers saw that the emperor's words were both accurate and not false.

Su Mingzhe continued:
"I have already found substitutes for some uncommon herbs. But there are still three herbs that cannot be replaced. The first is Tianshan Snow Lotus, the second is Korean Blood Ginseng, and the third is Cordyceps sinensis! These three herbs are all holy medicines that can prolong life, and in order to have the effect of prolonging life, they must be fresh herbs picked this year."

Tianshan Snow Lotus, as the name suggests, originates in Tianshan Mountain.

The Tianshan Mountains are in the Western Regions.

Korean blood ginseng, produced in Goryeo.

Cordyceps sinensis is found on the plateau.

If you want to get fresh medicinal materials from these three places, you may not be able to buy them even if you spend a lot of money.

Unless... these three places become the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

Su Mingzhe's words made the ministers present feel embarrassed.

In order to eliminate and weaken the power of the aristocratic families, Emperor Yang of Sui launched three expeditions to Goguryeo.

Su Mingzhe also wanted to weaken the power of the aristocratic families, but he did not want to weaken the national strength. After much thought, he could only take out a Peiyuan Pill as bait.

If you, the powerful people in the Tang Dynasty, want the Peiyuan Pill, then please organize an army on your own initiative and help me conquer the Western Regions, Goguryeo, and the plateau!

Several important ministers were outstanding people, so they naturally understood the meaning of the emperor's words.

Peiyuan Dan is just a bait.

It is still a bait that no one can refuse.

You know, most of the court officials are old men with white beards.

How many of these old guys are willing to accept their fate of dying?

Throughout the ages, countless heroes, emperors, and generals have lost their reason and wisdom and created many jokes in order to prolong their lives and live a few more years.

Now, the emperor only wants to attack three places: the Western Regions, Goguryeo, and the plateau.

Even if the important officials present refuse, I'm afraid other court officials will try to create disputes on the border, right?
In the end, several important ministers looked at each other and resigned to the emperor.

This is a serious matter, so we should all consider and discuss it carefully.

Seeing several important officials leave with solemn expressions, Su Mingzhe reached out and touched his beard, with a proud look on his face:
"These old guys always keep saying 'A country may be great, but it will perish if it loves war'. Today I'll see if you guys will take this bait."

(End of this chapter)