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

Chapter 978: Changes in the Court (Part )

Suddenly, Li Shimin's face darkened. He thought of one thing. The reason why he didn't meet Hou Junji was that he didn't want to break up with him. He wanted to use the situation to coerce and oppress him, to win without fighting, and to make Hou Junji give up his intention to support Changsun.
But Hou Junji refused to see him, so he took advantage of the situation and did not want to reveal his true intentions, so as to avoid eliminating hidden dangers in advance.

OK!

It turns out that everyone can use an abacus, and the game depends on one's own ability. I can calculate others, but can others also calculate me?
It seemed that he had already made up his mind to fight him head-on at all costs. Both sides had the same plan, so there was a close fight in the court.

Li Shimin's eyes flickered and he weighed the pros and cons in his mind: the enemy and I are in the dark, the enemy knows me, but I don't know the enemy. I don't know how much strength Hou Junji has used to stop me?
Li Shimin quickly calculated the manpower that Hou Junji might mobilize, and kept scanning the crowd below.

Hou Junji alone is not scary. What is scary is that Hou Junji will secretly collude with all the officials of the Eastern Palace to launch a joint attack. If this happens, those officials of the Wei, Wu, Qi and other factions who have just been temporarily suppressed by him will take the opportunity to launch another attack and rush forward. The situation will then get out of control.

Li Zhi was a prince who never formed cliques and had no power in the court. Most of the nearly 200 middle and high-level officials standing in the Taiji Hall were close relatives of several other princes, and few of them truly supported Li Zhi.

Even if these people were centrist ministers appointed by himself in advance, even if Li Zhi secretly recruited a few more people, it was obviously not enough.

No, speed is of the essence in war.

There is no room for delay. I must act with drastic measures as quickly as possible and put out the flames that have just risen with lightning speed. I cannot give them a chance to spread the whole field.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin made up his mind and clenched his fists little by little.

Seeing that Li Shimin was about to go crazy, Fang Xuanling stepped forward and advised: "Duke Lu, I don't remember much about what happened back then. Whether it happened or not, it was more than ten years ago. As the saying goes, times have changed, and things are different. What the Tang Dynasty needs now is a wise and brave crown prince."

"The eldest grandson is still too young. He can't support the Tang Dynasty at all?"

Seeing Fang Xuanling winking at him and stepping forward to mediate, Li Shimin's firm determination began to hesitate again.

He was not considering the relationship between Hou Junji and himself, but was afraid that if he decisively took Hou Junji down now, it would touch the sensitive nerves of the ministers and cause them to feel uneasy.

After all, although Hou Junji was a little rude, he still followed the procedure when reporting things. He was worried about the consequences of a prairie fire, but most of the ministers did not know this. If they were to arrest such a prestigious and meritorious minister in court just because they were concerned about the consequences, they would not have done so without any explanation.

Not only will it end badly, but it will also cause all the ministers to come out and beg for mercy.

The most important thing today is to appoint a crown prince. If there are too many complications, the core goal may be easily diverted in the end.

Let’s take another look?

If Xuanling can resolve this matter quietly, everyone will be happy; if not, it won't be too late for me to take ruthless action?

I originally thought that if Fang Xuanling came forward, Hou Junji would be cautious and give him some face.

Unexpectedly, Hou Junji said without hesitation: "Prime Minister Fang, I don't agree with what you said. In terms of age, isn't the King of Wu more mature and experienced? The Emperor has even praised me for my achievements!"

"Among all the kings, King Jin is even younger. He is only three years older than Changsun?"

"Everyone in the court knows that Prince Jin has always been focused on seeking immortality and has ignored the affairs of the court. How can he take charge of the country and society of the Tang Dynasty?"

Having said that, Hou Junji glanced at King Wu Li Ke who was standing there in a daze, and finally his eyes passed across Cen Wenben's face.

At this moment, Cen Wenben's heart skipped a beat before he realized that the game was not over yet, so there was still a chance?

Just now when Li Shimin called Li Zhi up, Cen Wenben was already in despair. When Li Shimin, this old man, summoned him to Chengqing Palace two days ago, he expressed his dissatisfaction with Li Tai in his words and deeds, and seduced him to stab him in the back.

With such vague words, he really had the illusion that as long as he defeated Li Tai, he could support Li Ke.

Now it seems so insidious, huh?

Li Shimin was just using me, taking advantage of my obsession with the King of Wu and my eagerness to help him ascend to the throne, to kill with a borrowed knife.

Let the King of Wei and the King of Wu fight each other, and in the end the King of Jin will be the winner.

Cen Wenben felt an extremely strong sense of humiliation in his heart, and he roared in his heart, "Why? The King of Wu and the King of Wei have been fighting for the throne for twenty years, including the Suizhou negotiations, the Cheng Yunliang incident, the assassination attempt on Chengtian Street, digging wells to fight drought, the return of scattered soldiers, the merger of officials, the relocation of people from narrow villages to wide villages, the equalization of land tax, and so on."

The two princes risked their lives for the peaches thrown by Li Shimin, and took on many blames. Three ups and three downs are not enough to describe the hardships and blessings in it. This is not just about the two princes. How many officials in the court, for the future merit of supporting the throne, gave up their homes and careers to join the game, followed the two princes, went through wind and rain, and suffered how much hardship and suffering?

Now, the peach has finally ripened, and when Li Shimin is about to hand over power, no matter whether the King of Wu or the King of Wei inherits the throne, although everyone is reluctant, no one will say anything.

But in the end, everyone worked in vain, being the scapegoat, and the one who sat on the sidelines and watched the fun got the benefit.

Who is the King of Jin?
He is only eighteen years old today. When the King of Wu took huge risks and fought Jie Li in Suizhou, was he still breastfeeding?

As he faced a series of tough challenges, he just sat on the sidelines in the Prince of Jin's mansion and watched. What contribution did he make to the establishment of the prosperous Zhenguan era? What qualifications did he have to be compared with the King of Wu and the King of Wei? He wanted to be the crown prince before his hair even grew fully grown?
Cen Wenben turned his head with a gloomy face and looked at Du Chuke, a general of the Wei King's faction in the court.

Sure enough, Du Chuke also looked sad and angry. It was obvious that he had thought of these things, and his dissatisfaction with Li Shimin had reached its peak.

In the chaotic court, the two people's eyes met unexpectedly in the crowd. Both of them were wanderers in the world, and then they nodded slightly, and a tacit understanding flashed between them.

Cen Wenben had made up his mind. Seeing Fang Xuanling trying to take sides and blur the matter, he immediately stood up and said to Hou Junji, "Duke Lu, the emperor did say that if anything happened to the crown prince, he would make the grandson the heir."

"Lord Fang, Lord Changsun, and Master Zhang are all witnesses. We have not denied it."

"But the situation is different now. You can't use the emperor's promise to threaten His Majesty. This is not the way to be a minister, right?"

Well.
As soon as Cen Wenben finished speaking, Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji turned their heads suddenly and looked at Cen Wenben in surprise, with disbelief on their faces.

Damn it, standing aside without saying anything, isn't this just adding fuel to the fire?

The two of them didn't react for a while, thinking that Cen Wenben said the wrong thing in a moment of anxiety. After all, from Cen Wenben's behavior of stabbing the King of Wei in the court just now, it can be seen that Cen Wenben should also be the emperor's man, and they are all in the same group.

But when Li Shimin, who was standing on the stage, heard this, his eyes went dark and he wished he could shut Cen Benwen's mouth.

Only he and Cen Wenben knew that he was just using Cen Wenben and they were not in the same group.

Cen Wenben was obviously taking revenge on Li Shimin for breaking his promise to him.

On the surface, he was trying to dissuade Hou Junji, but in fact, he was endorsing Hou Junji's words and admitting to all the ministers that the emperor did make such a promise and several important ministers did hear it. But now the emperor wants to go back on his word and not keep his word.

You guys decide?

While Cen Wenben was speaking, he quietly moved his body, with his back to the Danchi and facing Hou Junji, without turning his head. He knew that Li Shimin's sharp eyes must be on him at this moment, but as long as he pretended not to see it, he could pretend not to know.

At the same time, Cen Wenben's mouth curled up slightly, and an incomparable sense of pleasure surged in his heart, with a hidden gloom and coldness flashing in his eyes.

Haha, the emperor cannot be insulted, but the ministers cannot be insulted either. Such a joke is simply too much, how can we tolerate it?
Cen Wenben thought to himself, Your Majesty, since you look down on me, I will let you see your own value. I will embarrass you even if I die. Even if I cannot establish the King of Wu, I will not let you succeed. This is the price of deceiving yourself.

Like an old ox, I have been pulling the millstone for him all my life, serving him carefully. For decades, I have been working like an ascetic, my hair has turned white, and I have exhausted all my energy.

Is it really not worth the trust?

If Li Shimin really told him the truth, although he would be unwilling, he would not necessarily refuse to help him.

But as an emperor, he never believed in himself and used despicable and sinister tricks to deceive himself, causing Li Ke and Li Tai to fight each other.

This is simply not considering oneself as a human being. If this is the case, then there is no need to talk about the relationship between a ruler and a subject?

At this time, Cen Wenben's mind was in a frenzy. Decades of getting along between the emperor and his subjects now seemed like nothing more than a show. The humiliation of being used by Li Shimin was even worse than Li Ke's anger at not being chosen as the crown prince. He wanted to stand on the opposite side and vent his anger on Li Shimin as an enemy.

Cen Wenben secretly made up his mind. He no longer cared whether the King of Wu was established or not. What he cared about was that no matter who was established, the King of Jin could not be established, so as not to let Li Shimin succeed.

"Uncle, you are the prime minister, one of the Three Dukes. Can you please come out and say something?" Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Li Zhi kept pushing Changsun Wuji, wanting him to come out and help, to save the unfavorable situation.

Li Zhi was a smart man, and he knew that a stable situation would be good for him, while a chaotic situation would be bad for him. If things continued like this, more and more people would get involved, and his position as heir would not be decided today.

(End of this chapter)