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

Chapter 963: The Cunning Changsun Wuji

Seeing Wei Ting's depressed face, Wei Dezheng sighed helplessly: "Do you think we want to kill the king? There is really no other way. If Li Shimin's prestige was lower, or his character was weaker, we would not do such a drastic thing."

"It's a pity that Li Shimin was wise and brave, astute and capable."

"Back then, everyone thought he was a warrior, but they didn't expect him to be a man of great talent and strategy, with a hidden ulterior motive. He is even more difficult to deal with than Li Yuan. The nobles really don't have the confidence to escape unscathed from his next attack."

"The only way is to remove the firewood from under the cauldron. Although it is simple and crude, it is extremely effective. It is better than doing what Emperor Yang of Sui did, causing a lot of trouble and involving the whole world, right?"

"Originally, the nobles wanted to use the Turks to check and balance Li Shimin, but I don't know what kind of concessions Li Shimin made to the Turks during the Fengzhou negotiations, which made the Turkic Right Wise King always adopt a friendly policy towards Li Shimin."

"Although the Right Wise King came from the Central Plains, he was a villain without a doubt. He was extremely greedy. On the one hand, he made endless demands on the Tang Dynasty. On the other hand, he exploited my noble family in every possible way. The noble family could no longer tolerate this and sent people to assassinate him several times."

"They wanted to support Jie Li's son Shiluo Die to regain power, or for his leaders to replace him, but unfortunately they failed."

Wei Ting didn't expect that the nobles had done so many things behind his back and he was completely unaware of it.

"In recent years, the Tang Dynasty has been successful in the west and its territory has expanded greatly. Li Shimin's prestige has risen and he has won the support of the people. After the feudal system, the imperial power of the Li family will be greatly concentrated, which will make Li Shimin stronger than the aristocratic families."

"In order to avoid further losses, the patriarchs of more than a dozen clans agreed to solve the problem once and for all."

"In fact, Li Shimin's health has long been failing. Even if we don't do anything, he won't last many years. Look at him, he is only in his forties or even fifties, his hair and beard are all white, his waist and back ache, and sometimes he can't even walk. He is much worse than Li Jing, who is nearly seventy years old."

Wei Ting closed his eyes in pain. Caught between the monarch and the family, as long as people are human, how can they be so cold and indifferent as Wei Dezheng? However, things have come to this point, and he has no choice. As a member of the aristocratic family, he has done his utmost to not help either side.

"Who do you choose as the next monarch?"

When Wei Dezheng saw Wei Ting's expression relax, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, Wei Ting is the highest-ranking official in the court of Meicheng Gongfang. If Wei Ting is unwilling to cooperate with the family's next actions.

After this incident, Wei Ting will also be marginalized.

There is competition between the various branches within aristocratic families, and the cruelty of internal competition is no less than that of external competition.

The Wei family appears as a whole to the outside world, but the allocation of internal resources depends on which branch has made greater contributions, achieved more, holds an important position in the court, and can play a more significant role.

It is almost impossible to do nothing and wait for the benefits to be distributed to you.

The Wei family now has as many as thirteen branches. Every time there is a major change in the court, there will be branches that stand out and there will also be branches that are brought down to the ground.

The Wei family will definitely get more benefits this time, but if Wei Ting is unwilling to contribute, then the Wei family may be able to go further and get more benefits. However, the public housing in Meicheng where he lives will not get any benefits.

Wei Dezheng thought for a moment and said, "In fact, although the aristocratic families have reached a consensus on replacing Li Shimin, they also have different opinions on who to push forward."

"The Longxi Li family doesn't have much preference on who will take the throne, as long as they are the descendants of Li Shimin. As the family behind the royal family, as long as someone from the Li family takes the throne, no matter who it is, they will win them over, and their interests will not be harmed."

"The Xie family of Chenjun and the Yang family of Hongnong prefer Li Ke, the Prince of Wu; the Cui family of Boling, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang, and my Wei family of Jingzhao prefer Li Tai, the Prince of Wei; the Wang family of Langya, the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Xiao family of Lanling, and that old fox Changsun Wuji prefer Li Zhi, the Prince of Jin, who is slightly weaker among the princes."

“And Du Shi has placed bets both in the East Palace and the King of Wei, which is somewhat ambiguous.”

"If nothing unexpected happens, the next emperor should be born among the three kings: the King of Wu, the King of Wei, and the King of Jin."

Wei Ting was startled and asked in confusion: "Didn't they say that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace also had a chance to compete for the throne? Why is it that no noble family is willing to support them?"

"The lineage of the Eastern Palace is originally the pioneer for the king."

Wade said disdainfully: "Even if Li Chengqian hadn't died on the grassland, he would have been driven out of power over the past decade. You know the attitude of the aristocratic families towards the royal family. They are desperate to prevent the Li family from continuing the inheritance."

"Continuously weakening the prestige and influence of the royal family."

"A strong monarch ascending to the throne is not in the interests of our aristocratic family. A weak monarch without a strong opinion will be more dependent on our aristocratic family."

"Although the emperor's eldest grandson is young, he is a good character to be a puppet."

Wei Dezheng said with a gloomy look in his eyes: "Unfortunately, the power of the Eastern Palace cannot be underestimated. Not only does he have the support of the new military elites, led by Hou Junji, but he also has the background of the grassland tribes. Once he takes power, the power of the military faction and the grassland tribes will increase greatly."

"Why else do you think that cunning Changsun Wuji abandoned the Eastern Palace and the King of Wei and instead supported the King of Jin, who was not favored by many and had always been aloof from the world? Did he really think that Li Zhi was more talented than others? In the final analysis, he was just trying to solve a problem."

"In addition, I think Li Zhi has a weak character and is easy to control, so he can monopolize the power of the regent in the future."

"Do you think that Li Shimin's series of reform policies did not affect the interests of the Changsun family? To be honest, although Changsun Wuji did not participate in the attack on Li Shimin, he was aware of it." "What?"

Wei Ting was shocked, and beads of sweat instantly formed on his forehead. He looked a little panicked: "Zhangsun Wuji is from the royal family. His relationship with Li Shimin is as close as a bone. Empress Changsun is still alive, and she is his brother-in-law. How dare he do this?"

"Hey hey hey"

Wei Dezheng smiled coldly: "Do you think Changsun Wuji will sacrifice the interests of the Changsun family to help Li Shimin?"

"No"

"Zhangsun Wuji was first and foremost the patriarch of the Changsun family. In fact, he was the elder brother of Empress Changsun and Li Shimin's brother-in-law. A daughter who is married off is like water spilled. In his eyes, Empress Changsun was just a member of the Changsun family who depended on the imperial power."

"I am just the maintainer of Changsun's interests. The interests of Changsun's family always come first."

"Changsun Wuji is really not a simple person. After the death of Changsun Sheng of the Former Sui Dynasty, the country had already fallen into decline. But he managed to climb back up little by little by relying on his marriage with the Li family."

"Why did he instigate Li Shimin to carry out the Xuanwu Gate Incident? On the surface, it was for Li Shimin, but fundamentally it was for the prosperity of the Changsun family. If Changsun Wugou had married Li Jiancheng or Li Yuanji, he would have taken the risk as well."

Seeing Wei Ting's incredible expression, Wei Dezheng said indifferently without any emotion: "The fight between the nobles is also a life-and-death struggle, no less than the competition with the royal family. Who can achieve the final victory often depends on who is more ruthless."

"If you let your emotions get the better of you, you will be eliminated from the competition early."

"In the past, Changsun had no choice but to devote his heart to Li Chengqian, the Eastern Palace. After Li Chengqian died on the grassland, he gradually distanced himself from the Eastern Palace and flirted with the King of Wei. But we all discovered it recently."

"The person he really supports is actually the immature guy, Prince Jin."

"Start with a cold stove, then take a risky move and make a big leap."

"This is the key factor that led to the rapid rise of the Changsun family, from a poor family that was almost kicked out of the aristocratic clan group to re-entering the core of the Guanlong military aristocratic group. This time, supporting Li Zhi is just a repeat of the old trick."

"This old guy is hiding really well, isn't he?"

Wei Dezheng narrowed his eyes and murmured, "But he chose to support the weakest, which is in line with the interests of the aristocratic family."

Wei Ting nodded silently: "Since everyone has different opinions, the final result will depend on the attitude of the southern nobles?"

"Pooh"

Wei Dezheng had a look of disdain on his face: "Although there are many noble families in the world, they are still dominated by the Five Surnames and Seven Families and the Eight Great Families of Guanlong. Those southern noble families are nothing! This is in the north, in Guanzhong. They have no say in matters such as changing dynasties."

“Who do we support, then?”

Wei Ting was a little confused: "Is it the King of Wu, the King of Wei, or the King of Jin?"

"The clan leader has decided to support the King of Wei, but I have tried to get him to do so for you. Then you can support the eldest grandson of the emperor in the court."

"Uncle, didn't you say that the eldest grandson's lineage basically has no chance? Why did you ask me to support him?"

Wei Dezheng explained: "Now there are only two legitimate sons left, the King of Wei is in the open and the King of Jin is in the dark, one is strong and the other is weak. Judging from the situation, the King of Wei has a greater chance, so the clan leader personally expressed his support, and I think there are not a few people who support the King of Jin."

"As a side branch, you won't make much difference if you're not there. There's no point in adding icing on the cake. When the time is right, you vote for the eldest grandson, not to support him in taking the throne, but to pave the way for him to win over the power of the Eastern Palace faction."

"After the new emperor ascends the throne, he will certainly take action against the other contenders. Although the Eastern Palace faction has a lot of power, most of them are not supported by aristocratic families. Old ministers like Hou Junji, Zhang Xuansu, Yu Zhining, and Ma Zhou will definitely be cleared out of the court."

"But Changsheng, Xue Rengui, Pei Xingjian, Li Jinxing, Wang Xuance, Liu Renyuan, Sun Renshi, Xi Junmai, Gao Kan, Xiao Siye, Li Jingxuan and other members of the Eastern Palace are now the young and powerful leaders of the military."

"Although these people are nothing if they are separated, they are a very powerful military group when they are united. The old generals of the Tang Dynasty are dying out, and many of them can no longer go to the battlefield. In another ten years, these outstanding generals who have emerged from the army will definitely control half of the military power of the Tang Dynasty."

"Speaking of which, Li Chengqian really had a keen eye for talent back then!"

"Over the past decade, each of these people has been talented and outstanding, and has shown outstanding military talent. If Li Chengqian had not been in trouble, relying on the support of these people, it would have caused an earthquake in the Tang Dynasty military to bring him down."

"Once the new king ascends the throne, you must immediately help them and win them over to our Wei family to increase our Wei family's foundation. Do you understand?"

Wei Ting pondered for a long time, and finally nodded: "Okay, I will listen to my uncle in everything."

(End of this chapter)