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

Chapter 1023: Court Battle (Part )

Ugh.
Li Yan sighed in his heart. It doesn't matter. After all, Changsun Wuji is his uncle. He should give face to the Buddha. For the sake of his mother Changsun Wugou, he should protect him when necessary and suppress him when necessary.

Pressing him down is actually protecting him.

Li Yan looked down and saw Fang Xuanling and Cen Wenben both lowered their heads and said nothing. Li Yan originally wanted Cen Wenben to take the lead, but after thinking about it, Cen Wenben was still too weak, and it would not be a good thing for him to confront Changsun Wuji too early.

If I call his name, he will naturally come out to challenge Changsun Wuji and sing a different tune.

Whether he likes it or not, the emperor's trust and promotion have stamped him with the mark of the emperor's confidant. No matter what his true thoughts are, he can only stand up to protect the interests of the emperor.

However, at this time, Changsun Wuji was at the height of his power, and this matter involved huge interests of the court. Cen Wenben obviously could not bear such a heavy responsibility.

It is easy for Changsun Wuji to find a sore spot and peel off a layer of skin, which will affect the future cooperation and governance of the two.

So Li Yan turned his gaze and looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "Mr. Fang, I heard that in Fengzhou that year, the emperor and the Right Wise King of the Turks met face to face and agreed on a series of cooperation matters, which laid the foundation for the peace between the two countries for so many years."

"Now, the emperor has left the court, and Duke Wei is no longer involved in political affairs. Of the three people who witnessed the incident, only you are left. How should this matter be handled? I would like to hear your opinion."

'call'

Cen Wenben secretly breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Li Yan with guilt, and at the same time felt extremely grateful. He knew that the emperor loved him and couldn't bear to make things difficult for him.

In fact, after returning home last night and pondering all night, Cen Wenben knew that the new emperor had high hopes for him and was training him as the future right prime minister. There was no doubt that he and Zhangsun Wuji would be in long-term opposition.

At this time, he should stand up and refute Changsun Wuji to determine the future structure of the court.

But today, Changsun Wuji came with great force and used huge benefits to coerce all the ministers in the hall.

Is this wealth comparable to the annual treasury revenue of the Tang Dynasty?
Even I am tempted. If I come forward now and oppose against my will, it may turn into a crusade against me by the entire court.

When Cen Wenben was worried, Li Yan asked Fang Xuanling directly.

Cen Wenben suddenly felt relieved. The emperor's question was very neutral. Fang Xuanling was highly respected and had rich experience. He had a very high prestige among the ministers. No matter how he answered, he would not be strongly rejected by Changsun Wuji.

It is indeed much more appropriate for Fang Xuanling to come forward than for me to do so.
Everyone knew that Fang Xuanling would retire soon. Changsun Wuji was too aggressive and seemed mean, and would easily lose the support of the people.

While Cen Wenben was relieved, Changsun Wuji sighed inwardly and loosened the fists clenched in his sleeves. At the same time, he glanced at Cen Wenben, who was sweating profusely, and then looked at Li Yan with complicated eyes.

Li Yan's guess was correct. Today, Changsun Wuji did intend to take the initiative.

On the one hand, he seized the right to speak by suppressing the new emperor, established his own prestige, and paved the way for taking over the post of Zuo Pushe and taking charge of government affairs. At the same time, he set a trap for Cen Wenben to fall into, as long as Cen Wenben could not hold back and wanted to speak for the new emperor.

Or maybe Li Yan was inexperienced and urged Cen Wenben to come out to restrain him, which would naturally lead him into Changsun Wuji's trap and lead to a series of blows.

In fact, the so-called Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty had come to the Tang Dynasty a long time ago, or had never stopped. Whether it was before the Turks invaded the Japanese land or after the Tang Dynasty and the Turks reached a cooperation, the Japanese had always stayed in Chang'an, begging the Tang Dynasty to make decisions for them.

The reason why this man was asked to appear before the emperor today was not, as Li Yan guessed, to really start a war, or to use the huge amount of silver production to lure the ministers and pave the way for his own achievements in the future.

In fact, Changsun Wuji's move killed three birds with one stone.

First, he announced his strong return, attracted the support of his ministers and strengthened his power; second, he implicitly weakened the emperor's authority to lay the foundation for becoming a strong prime minister in the future; finally, he struck a blow against Cen Wenben and eliminated his threat in the bud.

Since yesterday, Li Yan promoted Cen Wenben in the court and added the position of Prince's tutor to him.

Changsun Wuji knew what Li Yan wanted to do. He not only wanted Cen Wenben to share his power, but also wanted the Jiangnan gentry to restrain the Guanlong gentry. This trick was not new. Yang Jian, Yang Guang, Li Yuan, and Li Shimin all did this.

It was not surprising that Li Yan did this.

Li Yan had no choice but to do this, and Changsun Wuji had to come forward to fight for it, not only for himself, but also to win over the Guanlong nobles behind him. He wanted to do it for these people to see, so that they would regard him as a representative who protected their interests in the court.

In this way, you can gain greater influence.

As for going to war with the Turks, a behemoth that is no less powerful than the Tang Dynasty, just for a mere silver mine in Japan, unless he is crazy, unless Li Yan is crazy, and finally all the aristocratic families in the court are crazy, otherwise they will never start a war lightly.

In the eyes of everyone in the Tang Dynasty, the Japanese land is not a concern, but the Turks in the north cannot be ignored, and the Right Wise King is a key core.

Why do people keep sending people to assassinate the Right Wise King? Isn't it just to start a war?

Once the Right Wise King was assassinated, the grasslands were leaderless, and the princes rose up and fought each other. The Tang Dynasty only needed to sow discord, help the weak and suppress the strong, and naturally weaken the Turks. When the Turks were seriously injured, the Tang Dynasty could easily pacify them by sending out troops from the Western Regions, Guanzhong, and Liaodong.

This is the strategy of the Tang Dynasty to defeat the Turks, which was reached by all the knowledgeable people in the Tang Dynasty!

After these years of peace, the Tang Dynasty had accumulated a large amount of wealth, including population and materials. But the Turks were not bad either. With the influx of key resources such as food and medicine from the Tang Dynasty, the population of the Turks also grew rapidly.

If the Tang Dynasty could now withdraw a million troops for the Northern Expedition, then the Turks could easily muster two million troops for an invasion of the South. The direct force available for combat is truly terrifying.

Moreover, in terms of the composition of the army, at most half of the Tang Dynasty's troops were cavalry.

The Turks could easily make their entire population cavalry, and fight on their own land on the grasslands. Even gods could not defeat them!
Even Li Jing, the military god of the Tang Dynasty, once said that as long as the Right Wise King was not dead, the Tang Dynasty would never launch an expedition to the north.

Therefore, when the Right Wise King Li Yan was still alive, the Turks were a whole, and the Tang Dynasty could only indirectly suppress and weaken them through other means.

For example, sending experts to disguise as assassins from other countries to assassinate, or secretly supporting the two big guards on the left and right through commercial means.

Some people were sent to Urge to persuade the titular Great Khan Shiluodi, hoping that Shiluodi could rise up, punish treacherous officials, and restore the glory of their ancestors. They also mobilized the last strength of the Ashina clan to fight to the death with the Right Wise King, so that the Tang Dynasty could reap the benefits!

And so on, these are all actions that do not take place on the frontal battlefield.

Therefore, Changsun Wuji had no intention of actually starting a war, but just wanted to use this excuse to achieve his three plans.

Even if Li Yan made up his mind to go to war, Changsun Wuji would advise him to take a long-term view afterwards.

Many officials in the court also knew these principles, so they secretly encouraged and cheered for Changsun Wuji.

Even Changsun Wuji didn't expect that he would run into obstacles everywhere with Li Yan.

Changsun Wuji secretly looked at Li Yan who was sitting high on the dragon throne, and then he realized that he had overlooked a lot of things.

The most obvious thing is that Li Yan, a young man full of vigor and vitality, once gained power and became the only supreme ruler in the world, was not excited, agitated, or excited. Instead, he was extremely calm and acted very steadily.

He is so steady that he doesn’t even seem like a young man!

From the very beginning, he had no opinions of his own when he attended court. No matter how intense the arguments among the ministers below were, or how one-sided the situation was, his emotions were not affected at all. He always humbly sought the opinions of other important ministers and never made decisions rashly.

Changsun Wuji's pupils shrank slightly. He was shocked and unbelievable. He seemed to see the shadow of Li Shimin in Li Yan.

No.
Li Shimin was not so calm either. Changsun Wuji had dealt with Li Shimin all his life and knew that Li Shimin was a chivalrous and righteous man who took pleasure in repaying his enemies. He had a more impulsive personality and was not as calm as Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng.

Otherwise, he would not have launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident under the instigation of his few words, and killed the entire family of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.

In fact, the only two people who posed a real threat to the throne were Li Shimin and Li Yuanji.

Once they died and Li Shimin ascended the throne, their descendants would naturally become the offspring, and there was no need to kill them all, or to kill them all so quickly. Their existence was a real threat to close ministers such as Changsun Wuji and Hou Junji.

They did not dare to retaliate against Li Shimin, and would definitely use the name of the royal family to deal with these ministers.

Zhangsun Wuji was afraid that the rabbit would be abandoned after it died, so he persuaded Yuchi Gong and Li Shimin to eradicate all evil. At the same time, he also asked Li Shimin to do his best, leaving him with no way out. Only by relying on them could he avoid the situation of having to hide his bow after all the birds were gone.

After that, the two depended on each other for more than ten years.

Changsun Wuji not only assisted Li Shimin in the court, but also did many private and dirty things for Li Shimin in private. He knew Li Shimin very well, so when Li Shimin was a little afraid of him, he withdrew from the court with the advice of his sister.

He knew Li Shimin better, even better than he knew himself.

But now Li Chengqian, who was sitting on the dragon throne, was as calm as a still pond. No matter what happened in the court or how the ministers recommended him, he was neither anxious nor impatient, but responded calmly, appearing reserved and introverted, without any fireworks.

As long as his ministers had not formed an opinion, he would never easily express a conclusion.

Changsun Wuji's heart sank. He knew that although this seemed to make him seem indecisive, it actually allowed him to avoid the direct battlefield where his ministers were fighting for power. He would not be involved in it, and naturally, he would not be held responsible.

Being so aloof, over time, people will no longer target him and will only focus on his opponents in the court.

Anyway, since he had dealt with his opponent, the emperor would naturally follow his advice.

(End of this chapter)