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

Chapter 986: Conversation between the Emperor and His Ministers (I)

Li Zhi saw that the other ministers were kneeling together, while there was a large empty circle around him. All the ministers avoided him as if he were the plague god. Even his uncle Zhangsun Wuji, who had always supported him, left alone after the 'court dismissal'.

After entering Chengqing Hall, he didn't say a word to himself and stood with important officials such as Fang Xuanling, Cen Wenben and Xiao Yu.

Even if it was just an encouraging look, I didn't.

At this moment, Li Zhi knew that he had been ruthlessly abandoned by his uncle.

Everyone could see that the emperor wanted to appoint himself as the crown prince today, but Hou Junji used the power of the Eastern Palace to manipulate the situation, causing all the ministers to second his opinion, resulting in more than 90% of the officials standing against him.

No matter what their considerations were, they actually played a role against themselves.

Everyone is in a situation where they are riding a tiger and it is difficult to get off.

If he offended me and then made me the crown prince and then the emperor, everyone would face my hatred and revenge. Instead of this, it would be better to oppose to the end and choose a crown prince who has no grudge against everyone.

No matter how what happened today happened, since it happened, I am doomed to have no chance of becoming the crown prince.

Whoever sticks to me again will offend the new king?

Since he has become a dead pawn, Changsun Wuji will naturally withdraw in time. If his own uncle is like this, then those ministers who have been secretly won over by him, such as Su Xu, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Gao Jifu, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and Zhang Xingcheng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, will avoid him as much as possible.

The throne?
This is the supreme throne.
Given my father’s health condition, it won’t take more than two months for me to successfully ascend the throne and rule the world.

The dragon throne was only a few steps away from him, but it was like a chasm that he could never cross, blocking him forever on the other side.

The throne will disappear from his sight forever and will never be accessible again.

Li Zhi's heart was twisted with anger and hatred, and he wanted to eat Hou Junji's flesh, sleep on his skin, peel off his skin, pull out his tendons, grind his bones and scatter his ashes. Even if this were to happen, it would not alleviate the pain of missing out on the throne, which was almost suffocating.

Suddenly, a strong feeling of suffocation came over Li Zhi. His head was churning and he felt dizzy. He covered his chest and slowly fell down.

"Oh no, the King of Jin has fainted." A minister nearby saw a body rolling to the ground, and when he saw it was the King of Jin, he shouted hurriedly.

All the ministers turned around and looked at the green figure lying on the ground, many of them felt regret and sympathy.

Changsun Wugou looked over, sighed silently, and shook her head. She was very aware of the pressure that this young son was under. However, if the skin is gone, the hair will not be attached. The most important thing now is to restore the imperial power. She has no energy to care about his future.

"Come, help Prince Jin to the side room to rest, and call the imperial physician to rescue Prince Jin." Following the Queen's order, several eunuchs stepped forward to help Prince Jin out.

Changsun Wugou drew her attention back. She also had to appease the emperor's ministers and do the aftermath work.

Seeing the ministers kneeling and confessing their crimes, Changsun Wugou felt relieved. The royal dignity was still there and the emperor's prestige had not been completely lost.

With an admiring look at Hou Junji who took the lead in apologizing, Changsun Wugou waved his hand and said, "All the ministers, please stand up. The emperor does not blame you, but he is not in good health now and cannot meet with the ministers. You all should go back!"

"Everyone should perform their duties, ensure the normal operation of all departments and institutions of the court, maintain the stability of Chang'an City, and prevent any more chaos. When the emperor's health improves, he will naturally summon you all."

"Yes, madam!"

Afterwards, Changsun Wugou walked into the hall, and the other ministers slowly stood up. They looked at each other and knew what was going on.

They were sure that they would not be able to see the emperor, so they dispersed in groups of three or four.

Zhangsun Wugou dismissed all the officials from the three provinces and six ministries, leaving only Hou Junji behind. "Duke Lu, I will go in to see the emperor's condition and plead for you. When you see the emperor later, you must not contradict him again."

"The emperor is in such a bad condition that he can't stand any more trouble."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Hou Junji was grateful and said, "Don't worry, your Majesty. I will never make the same mistake again."

Changsun Wugou breathed a sigh of relief silently. Everyone else could be released, but Hou Junji had to stay in the palace and be kept under her watch.

Although Hou Junji looked like he was sincerely apologizing, what happened in the court today, if Hou Junji left the palace and returned to the mansion, and some daring generals or ministers with ulterior motives instigated him.

If more trouble happens, the Tang Dynasty will be finished.

To ensure that nothing could go wrong, they used this as an excuse to quietly detain him in the palace. Li Xiang was in Qiyun Palace, and without these backbones, even if some people wanted to cause trouble, they would have no chance. On the other hand, if other officials dared to take advantage of the opportunity to stir up trouble, the presence of Hou Junji, a heavyweight general, could also serve as a deterrent.

It has to be said that Zhangsun Wugou was worthy of being the one who had gone through many storms with Li Shimin. In just a moment, she took into account various situations, isolated the inside and the outside, and checked and balanced each other, and handled the situation extremely properly.

Finally, she said to Haitang and Ankang, "You two stay outside to talk with Duke Lu, and I will go in to take a look first.

"Yes, mother." Haitang and Ankang responded in unison.

In the bedroom of the inner palace, Li Shimin slowly woke up under the treatment of the imperial physician. Just now in the court, Li Shimin could neither advance nor retreat. He was so angry that he was exhausted and dizzy, and he really didn't know how to deal with that situation.

Half-truthfully, he fainted.

After returning to the inner palace and getting away from that environment, and after being treated by the imperial physician, she was able to calm down and feel better.

It has to be said that power has infinite power. In the past, Li Shimin fainted for at least several hours. But today in the court, he once again felt the feeling of ruling the world and holding great power. Li Shimin felt that infinite power suddenly emerged in his body.

His attachment to and reluctance to give up power actually kept him from completely collapsing even in such a critical situation.

After waking up, Li Shimin immediately summoned Fang Xuanling. He was worried about the court and wanted to know what happened next as soon as possible.

When Fang Xuanling came in, he saw Li Shimin lying on the couch, looking sick and tired. He felt a pain in his heart and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, today is all my fault. It was because I did not do my job as Zuo Pushe well that the court officials lost control and such a thing happened."

"I am guilty. If the emperor gets into trouble because of this, how can I live in this world with dignity?"

After saying this, Fang Xuanling lay on the ground and started crying.

Li Shimin waved his hand, and Wang De called the imperial physician, maids, and eunuchs, and quietly retreated, guarding the door of the bedroom with Ma Xuanliang.

"Xuanling, is Zhinu really so despicable and so annoying to you that all the ministers in the court have united to oppose him to the death?" Li Shimin's voice was hoarse, and he seemed extremely frustrated and depressed, with a hint of unspeakable resentment at the same time.

Fang Xuanling shook his head with tears in his old eyes: "No, Your Majesty, the Prince of Jin is intelligent, modest, studious, kind and polite to others. Some people in the court may not like him, but no one will hate him."

"Then why do almost all the officials in the court oppose my making Zhinu the crown prince?"

Today's events have developed step by step to this point. As a bystander, Fang Xuanling sees it most clearly.

After carefully choosing his words, Fang Xuanling choked up and said, "I have known about your plan since the beginning. I have carefully considered the candidates you have chosen and your strategy, and I think there is nothing wrong with it."

"The emperor used Cen Wenben to detonate the intention of the King of Wei to form a clique for personal gain and plot something sinister, and then took down the King of Wei with lightning speed. If anyone dares to stand up at this time, I will not hesitate to suppress him with thunder and lightning."

"Before the ministers can react, push the King of Jin and make it a fact. As long as the ministers are intimidated by Your Majesty and hesitate for a moment, and are coerced by me to pay homage to the crown prince, the status of the monarch and the ministers will be determined, and the whole situation will go on the right track."

Having said this, Fang Xuanling raised his head and tears rolled down his wrinkled face.

"I have thought about it again and again, and deduced it many times. The whole process was completed in one go, but there is a fatal flaw, which is the Achilles' heel of your Majesty's overall plan."

Li Shimin's face turned cold, his eyes fixed, and he said decisively: "Where is the fatal spot?"

"In today's court, apart from the princes of the royal family, some of the emperor's close ministers, and a few ministers who are self-disciplined, most people cling to each other and form private cliques. Among them, the factions of several princes have many wings and are powerful."

Li Shimin knew all these, but he didn't dare to speak them out loud. The emergence of these factions was originally a product used by the emperor to check and balance his ministers. In order to avoid one faction dominating and create conflicts among the princes, the emperor was above them.

Even personally support or attack to maintain the balance of power between each other.

Fang Xuanling's mention of these things would inevitably make Li Shimin feel embarrassed, so he looked at Li Shimin cautiously halfway through his speech.

Li Shimin had a gloomy face, and it was unknown what he was thinking. Seeing Fang Xuanling stop, he urged: "Go on."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Seeing that Li Shimin had no scruples, Fang Xuanling was no longer restrained and began to speak out: "Among them, there are the Donggong faction, the Wu Wang faction, the Wei Wang faction, the Qi Wang faction, etc. Among them, the Donggong faction and the Wei Wang faction are the most powerful, and the Wu Wang faction is slightly weaker."

"The King of Qi, the King of Shu, the King of Jiang, the King of Yue, the King of Jin, etc. can almost be ignored."

"After the court meeting begins, it doesn't matter which faction the emperor attacks, because all the other factions are standing behind the emperor. If the emperor attacks the King of Wei, the other factions will only feel happy and will fully support your majesty."

(End of this chapter)