The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1004: Mutual Schemes
In just a moment, Li Yan figured out the key.

"It is a blessing for Lord Wei that Xiang'er has caught his eye. The Jingzhao Wei family is one of the most prestigious families in the Tang Dynasty. I am happy to see our two families marry."

Li Yan happily confirmed it, and then hesitantly said: "But Lord Wei also knows that I just returned to Chang'an, and I don't know much about the court. I dare not make a decision on Xiang'er's marriage. I still need to ask my father."

"Of course, I can express my opinion to the old man here. As long as my father has no objection, I have no objection."

Wei Ting was overjoyed. He didn't expect the trip to be so smooth. Li Chengqian agreed so decisively. It seemed that he was really here.

As for Li Yan's words, he didn't care.

Everyone knew Li Chengqian's current situation. He was about to take the throne, so he would definitely not make any mistakes, let alone anger Li Shimin. Since the obstacles were not on Li Chengqian's side, there was nothing to worry about.

It seems that at this critical juncture of the transition from the old to the new, Li Shimin would not dare to offend the aristocratic families again.

From now on, the Tang Dynasty entered the era of Li Chengqian. Li Shimin was a thing of the past and should be forgotten.

"Hahaha, since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has no objection, I am relieved. Wei still has some face with His Majesty. I will ask Concubine Wei in the palace to come forward and ask for permission. I think His Majesty will not object to this happy event."

What made Wei Ting even happier was that Li Chengqian readily agreed, which represented tolerance and acceptance of the aristocratic families. Unlike Li Shimin who was on guard against and suppressed them in every possible way. With this attitude, the aristocratic families would be very satisfied.

There will be no more obstacles for Li Chengqian to ascend the throne.

Wei Ting took out a piece of paper from his bosom and handed it over: "This is the birth date and horoscope of my granddaughter. Your Highness can take it to Yuan Tianshi of the Imperial Observatory to have it calculated. When His Majesty agrees, Your Highness can give the prince's horoscope to Wei, and the marriage between our two families will be settled."

Seeing that Li Yan accepted it without any hesitation, Wei Ting was completely relieved. As for Yuan Tiangang, Old Yuan was an understanding person and would definitely not interfere in such matters.

Li Yan also breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that this move was very important for his smooth succession to the throne. Li Shimin would not object. The two had the same attitude towards the aristocratic families.

In the past, it was Li Shimin who was in charge, so naturally everything was done according to his ideas.

Now it was his turn. Whether in terms of power, achievements, prestige or influence among the people and the army, he could not be compared with the Heavenly Khan. He could not confront the aristocratic families head-on. He could only adopt a more moderate approach and boil the frog in warm water.

A long way to go!

The stubborn problems accumulated over hundreds of years cannot be dealt with hastily, and temporarily making peace with the aristocratic families is also a strategic necessity.

In addition, Li Yan was also worried that his cheap uncle, Changsun Wuji, would ask for a marriage alliance. Changsun Wuji loved to do this kind of thing. He had not done it before, but after his disappearance, he was afraid of being implicated by the Eastern Palace, so he avoided it as much as possible.

Now that he is back and inheriting the throne is a foregone conclusion, his thoughts are naturally different.

If I wait until he brings it up and then refuse, I will undoubtedly offend him.

As a descendant family, the Changsun family received strong support from Li Shimin during the Zhenguan period, and its strength was greatly expanded. In recent years, even Li Shimin had to be wary and let Changsun Wuji withdraw from the court. How could Changsun Wuji not have complaints about Li Shimin?

If the Changsun family had absolutely supported Li Shimin, I think Li Shimin would not have ended up like this.

The demise of Li Shimin was the result of the abandonment of the interest group he represented, which naturally included the Changsun family, which Li Shimin had fostered in order to deal with the aristocratic families.

Li Yan had already experienced this in his first life in the Qing Dynasty, and was very clear about the ins and outs of these power cores.

Kangxi had been on the throne for half a century. He had great prestige and strength, and he also fulfilled his father's righteousness. Why was he so afraid of his son Yinreng?

To put it bluntly, he is just afraid that the board of directors behind him will feel that he is too old and can no longer work and is about to die, so they will choose a new chairman.

Once those people made up their minds and made the deployment of the new dynasty, it would be useless for Kangxi to have high prestige and great power. He relied on these people to control the world, and he could do nothing if these people turned to Yinreng.

This is the fundamental reason why Kangxi was so eager to suppress the Crown Prince and the Eighth Prince, in order to prevent the emergence of a new power core.

And the people around Li Shimin, such as Zhangsun Wuji, Gao Shilian, Xiao Yu, Dou Dan, Fang Xuanling, Cheng Zhijie, Yuchi Gong, Tang Jian and others, are actually members of aristocratic families in general. In this situation.

How could Li Shimin have a chance of winning if he used these people to deal with the aristocratic families?
On this road, Li Shimin was almost fighting alone, which further demonstrated the power of aristocratic politics. Tian Khan could defeat Jie Li, the invincible grassland overlord, and easily wipe out the Turkic, Tuyuhun, and Gaochang states, but he had no way to deal with the interest groups around him.

This once again proves an irrefutable truth: it is easy to resist foreign aggression but difficult to maintain domestic stability!

As for the Changsun family, who were in cahoots with the noble families, Li Yan had to win them over and use them, while also gradually weakening their influence, so that they could not continue to expand in the name of imperial power. Since they were a member of the noble family, he could only treat them as members of the noble family. They could be temporary allies, but they could not be considered his own people.

From a short-term perspective, there are also objective reasons why Li Yan does not want to marry Changsun Wuji. First, the two families are relatives. Changsun Wuji is his uncle, and his granddaughters are his cousins. How can he let his son marry into a marriage alliance?

Don’t mention Changle. Changle married out. After she got married, she is no longer a member of the Li family. She becomes the Changsun family’s business.

Second, Zhangsun Wuji was too cunning. He was too senior and experienced for Li Shimin to fully control him, let alone himself. He only cared about the interests of his own family.
Thirdly, the Changsun family is already firmly on his carriage, so there is no need to waste another spot. It would be more valuable to use this crucial position to win over the Jingzhao Wei family. Hou Junji is no match for Changsun Wuji.

But Wei Ting could easily resist Changsun Wuji's calculations, and they restrained each other. If Wei Ting wanted to become the most important minister around him, he naturally had to find a way to suppress Changsun Wuji.

Even after he inherited the throne, he made Li Xiang the crown prince, and in addition to the crown prince's principal wife, he married several more wives. If other aristocratic families were interested, he would also accept them.

In fact, Li Yan felt that he was less than 30 years old and in his prime, so he could also be used for marriage. The standard configuration of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was one empress, four wives, and nine concubines; there were nine imperial concubines, nine beauties, and nine talented women; there were twenty-seven imperial concubines, imperial maidens, and twenty-seven concubines, all with corresponding ranks.

There are hundreds of positions already, not to mention some unworthy palace maids, those are all his.

As Li Yan thought about it, a look of longing and yearning appeared on his face.

"Old man, from now on, we are your family, and I will not be polite to you anymore."

Li Yan did not hesitate to win me over, and said eagerly: "You know, I have been away from home for many years, and I am already unfamiliar with Chang'an. I have not been involved in court affairs for more than ten years, and I am completely in the dark about the situation in the court. I urgently need someone who knows the inside story to understand some of the situation."

"You all know about my father's condition. He is ill and has to arrange the abdication ceremony with Lord Fang and Lord Changsun. He has no energy to explain all these details to me. I also don't want to appear too incompetent and be looked down upon by my father. I can only find someone else."

"You are a veteran of two dynasties, highly respected, and now you have become my elder. I hope you will be generous in giving me some advice?"

"Haha, that's natural."

Wei Ting was excited and his eyes lit up. He thought to himself, as expected, if the previous rumors about Li Shimin's intention to abdicate were just some rumors, hearing it from Li Chengqian himself today undoubtedly confirmed this speculation.

My uncle is right, marriage is the best way to bring people closer together.

Look, the marriage hasn't been finalized yet, but Li Chengqian no longer treats himself as an outsider and does not even hide such confidential information.

Wei Ting stroked his beard with great satisfaction, leaned back in his chair, picked up the tea bowl, sipped it comfortably, and then looked at Li Yan with satisfaction: "Your Highness, you have asked the right person. When it comes to military affairs, I don't know as much as Duke Lu."

"But when it comes to understanding the power in the court, even that old fox Changsun Wuji may not be better than me?"

"Your Highness is willing to ask, and I will tell you everything I know."

Although Wei Ting had a high status in the past, he was just one of the many important officials in the court and was not particularly valued by Li Shimin.

The so-called text has no first, Wu has no second.

In Wei Ting's opinion, his talent was even better than those of Fang, Du and Changsun who came from impoverished families. It was just that he was unlucky. He did not meet the young Li Erlang, and later joined Li Jiancheng's army.

He made the wrong bets several times in a row, which led to him wasting his time. He was over 50 years old before he was able to get a position as a third-rank Imperial Censor.

If I had the same opportunity as them, even becoming the Prime Minister or one of the Three Dukes would be no problem.

However, a new emperor appoints new ministers.

The old dynasty lost and the new dynasty made up for it. He joined Li Chengqian and now entered Li Chengqian's core through marriage. As long as he showed enough talent, he would be valued. Fang Xuanling was old, who said that the next Zuo Pushe would not be himself?

Now with Li Yan, Wei Ting suddenly felt the importance he had never felt before. In his eyes, in another half month, Li Chengqian would be the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

This kind of courtesy is no less than that of an emperor, right?

Wei Ting was extremely excited and was busy cheering himself up. He was just about to take this opportunity to leave a deep impression on the future emperor that he was a pillar of the country and a smart and capable person.

(End of this chapter)