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

Chapter 967: Jin Wang Li Zhi
Five days later, Li Shimin met his last legitimate son, Prince of Jin Li Zhi.

Li Zhi was eighteen years old this year, tall and thin, with a handsome face, clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and looked as beautiful as a woman. In particular, Li Zhi was fond of Taoism, and even built a Taoist temple at home, supporting an old man with profound Taoist skills.

He talked with him all day long about the ancient masters with profound cultivation. He was yearning for them. Having been involved in the study of otherworldliness for a long time, Li Zhi often wore a green robe and had a rather otherworldly temperament.

Li Zhi was the ninth child in the family. Li Shimin's second son, Li Kuan, had once adopted his uncle, Prince Ai Li Zhiyun, as his successor under the auspices of Li Yuan. Unfortunately, the second son was in poor health and died early. In fact, Li Zhi was the eighth child in terms of seniority, and was truly the Eighth Prince.

Li Zhi usually stayed away from the court, pretending to be at peace with the world and seeking the truth. In fact, he adopted a very clever strategy of competing for the throne without competing, allowing his older brothers to fight desperately and throw feces at each other.

He stayed out of it, watched from the sidelines, and quietly accumulated strength.

If the emperor and his court officials were disappointed with the older princes who were fighting each other, they would naturally pay attention to him. If his plan failed, he would avoid exposing his intention and ambition to seize the throne, so as not to be feared by future emperors.

It has to be said that Li Zhi was ranked too low, so he could only adopt such a strategy of survival for the weak, but it was extremely wise.

In fact, Li Shimin had noticed this elusive and mysterious son a long time ago.

Li Shimin also greatly appreciated Li Zhi's attitude of fighting without doing anything. On the one hand, he pushed the older Li Ke and Li Tai forward to screen them out in the brutal power struggle; on the other hand, he prepared a backup candidate who had no grudges with anyone and made preparations in secret.

It is not necessarily true to say that Li Shimin was optimistic about Li Zhi from the beginning.

It was just an extra preparation. The disappearance of Li Chengqian, with no one seeing him alive or dead, gave him the opportunity to keep the title of crown prince vacant. On the surface, he pretended to actively search for the lost crown prince, while privately he could train a new crown prince without leaving any trace.

The crown prince is the heir to the throne and the reserve emperor.

The birth of a crown prince is often accompanied by the sad end of several backup candidates. Although cruel, it is very realistic. After all, the future of a great country cannot be pinned on the successful success of one person.

As for who he would pass the throne to in the end, Li Shimin had no idea before that.

Everyone thought that the succession of the throne must have been decided long ago. In fact, who would inherit the throne depended on luck and fate, the age and state of the emperor when he passed the throne, and the situation of the world and the court at that time.

There is also the subsequent development and needs of the dynasty, and even a change in the emperor's attitude before his death, which may completely negate everything that has been done before. Therefore, even the emperor himself cannot be sure early.

Just like Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, he was a tough person who could not tolerate any injustice. To put it nicely, he was a man of unyielding will; to put it bluntly, he was mean and ungrateful and could not tolerate others.

Zuo Zhuan said, "If the government is lenient, the people will be lazy. If they are lazy, they should be corrected with severity. If they are harsh, the people will be cruel. If they are cruel, they should be treated with leniency." Leniency can help with severity, and severity can help with leniency. This is how the government is harmonious.

What kind of monarch the court needs is often not entirely based on the will of the previous emperor, but rather on the stage of development of the world and the objective needs of the next step. As long as the monarch is not incompetent, he will put the country first.

Kangxi was fatigued in his later years. In order to maintain his reputation as the "Ten Perfect Man", he allowed the court and local governance to deteriorate. The treasury was empty, land annexation was serious, and the local tyrants oppressed the people. The entire country had reached a point where it would decline if it did not change.

At this time, an emperor with a strong character and who is not afraid of power is needed to put in order the chaotic government and the collapsed civil service system and solve the problems that have accumulated over a hundred years.

This was not only Kangxi's personal need for the eternal inheritance of the country, but also the common need of the ruling elite with the Aisin-Gioro family as the core. Therefore, the strong-willed Yinzhen came forward to respond to the situation. His governance was responsible for the rise and fall, honor and disgrace of the dynasty at a critical juncture.

It's about wading into deep waters and chewing on hard bones.
You have to know that Yinzhen originally had few supporters in the court. If he had not obtained the full support of the ruling core, he would not have been able to keep the throne even if Kangxi passed it to him. The throne can never be sat on simply by relying on an edict of succession from the previous emperor.

In history, there were cases where the emperor personally selected his successor but failed to gain the approval of the entire ruling class. He was sentenced to death by a forged imperial edict, was exiled and hanged himself, inexplicably fell into a river and drowned, was almost strangled to death by a palace maid, and was almost hacked to death by a madman from outside the palace who broke into the palace.

He was even forced to hide in the harem for thirty years and was not allowed to attend court. He was poisoned to death by a red pill for health preservation. There were all kinds of strange ways of death. If you don't know, you can hardly believe that these bizarre ways of death actually happened to the emperor.

It can be seen that the emperor's will is nothing but a piece of empty paper if it cannot represent the will of the entire ruling class.

Therefore, Li Shimin also had to consider the attitude of the aristocratic families.

Li Shimin was well aware of this unexpected incident, especially since it happened after the feudal system and after he instructed Fang Xuanling to propose the division of property. No matter how perfectly those people acted on the surface, Li Shimin knew it in his heart.

This is simply because his usefulness has been exhausted and the aristocratic families don't want to fight with him any more, so they have taken extreme action.

If Li Shimin had Li Yan's perspective on history, he would know that in the later Qing Dynasty, there was a fourth brother who looked very similar to him and had a very similar fate to him. They were both chosen to take on important tasks when needed. After being used, they were ruthlessly discarded.

Li Shimin did not investigate the murderer behind the scenes, nor did he blame Li Chongshan, who was making the elixir. From beginning to end, he did not alarm anyone, nor did he make a case out of his accident. He just regarded it as the result of his greed for elixirs, which led to his physical collapse.

Knowing that this was the choice of the entire aristocratic family, Li Shimin did not take any unnecessary action, just like Kangxi did with the dead eagle incident.

What he is most concerned about now is who will take over the Tang Dynasty after he is gone. His successor must be able to gain the support of the court, not arouse strong opposition from the aristocratic families, and at the same time be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of fighting against the aristocratic families.

After this period of court struggle for the crown prince, Li Shimin has discovered that although the aristocratic families cannot tolerate him, they have great differences on which prince should inherit the throne. This means that there is no prince that the aristocratic families prefer or reject.

No matter who comes to power, it will not affect their interests. That's why the top leaders of the aristocratic families have not made a decision, but let the people below play the game slowly.

Yes, the real big bosses behind the scenes only care about the main contradictions. As for who will inherit the throne, they don’t care as long as it does not touch the common interests of all the clans.

After Li Shimin realized the true attitude of that group, he began to calmly examine the princes and make the final decision.

In fact, most of the princes, such as Li You, Li Yin, Li Yun, and Li Zhen, were not included in the inspection. Li Shimin met with them one by one, just to bid farewell to his sons, because from then on, there would be no chance for them to be alone together.

By the way, he used many princes to conceal his true intentions.

After Li Ke was rejected on the first day, Li Tai's impulsive words made Li Shimin see his son's ruthless side and his unscrupulous nature to ascend the throne. Li Shimin suddenly became very disgusted with this son whom he usually loved.

The focus was shifted to the last legitimate son, Li Zhi. If Li Zhi was untrustworthy, Li Shimin really didn't know who to pass the throne to?

Li Zhi came to the dragon bed and looked at Li Shimin, who used to be wise and mighty. Now he was thin, tired, with slightly dark eye sockets, white hair and beard and wrinkled face, looking particularly desolate and haggard.

"Father, are you feeling better?"

Li Shimin raised his head, looked at his panicked and slightly nervous son, and forced a smile: "Chi Nu, what have you been busy with recently?"

"Your Majesty, I usually follow Mr. Zhao to learn the ancient sages' ideas on governing the world. In my spare time, I enjoy Taoist collections and imitate the calligraphy of various famous calligraphers. Occasionally, when I get tired of studying, I go for an outing in the suburbs. My life is quite fulfilling." Li Zhi honestly recounted his recent situation.

Seeing Li Zhi immersed in his own happiness and not participating in the government affairs, Li Shimin smiled faintly, squinted his eyes and asked: "Chi Nu, my father's time is running out, and the position of crown prince in the court is vacant. Who do you think can take on the important task?"

"Father, I don't know much about the affairs of the court."

Li Zhi said cautiously, "Third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother, sixth brother, etc., those brothers are all good. They either helped father to manage government affairs early on, or they took charge of one side by themselves. I think they can live up to father's trust, right?"

Li Shimin didn't care when he heard Li Zhi's talk of having the best of both worlds. He didn't have much time and energy, so he didn't have the energy to play around with his young son.

So he changed the subject and asked directly: "Zhi Nu, where do you think the real threat to our Tang Dynasty lies?"

"Ah, your son doesn't know?"

Li Zhi blurted out, and seeing Li Shimin's unhappy face, his heart tightened. For some reason, Li Zhi was very flustered. He knew that Li Shimin's time was running out, and he was now making the final considerations. The next step was to determine who would rule the country.

If he continues to hide his incompetence and fails to show his outstanding side, once he leaves, the position of crown prince may miss him forever.

Now everyone in the world knows that our father does not have much time left, which means that after being named the crown prince, it won’t be long before he can ascend the throne and become emperor.

This is the throne of the emperor, the supreme ruler.
The most honorable position in the world. Throughout history, countless heroes and overlords have devoted their entire lives and given everything for this position.

Now, this position is right in front of him, as if it is within reach.

(End of this chapter)