Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 89: The Three Elements of Enfeoffment: Location, Location, and Location
Changsun Wuji left Lizheng Hall with brisk steps, not trying to hide the smile on his face.

"Mr. Changsun, is there any good news?" A colleague passing by greeted him.

Chang Sun Wuji responded to the greetings one by one in a friendly manner:

"Of course there are good things. Your Majesty has a good way of rewarding and punishing, and he is generous in rewarding meritorious officials. This is a blessing for the country!"

When his colleagues heard this, they knew that Lord Changsun had benefited from another recent political deal, and they all bowed to him:

"Let's have fun together. Why don't we go have a drink together after work so that we can all share in the blessing of the country?"

"Definitely next time." Changsun Wuji joked with his colleagues in a cheerful mood, turned around, passed through the Wude Gate, and walked into the East Palace.

As soon as he entered the East Palace, an arrow grazed his ear and shot into the mound behind him.

In front of him, there were many people with long hair, left-side robes, and Turkic appearance, waving swords, bows and arrows, and dancing in the courtyard of the East Palace.

Changsun Wuji broke out in a cold sweat.

No way, rebelling again?

"uncle!"

"Lord Chang Sun!"

Among the "Turks" in the Eastern Palace, two men dressed as leaders rode on horses and walked towards Changsun Wuji.

Needless to say, one of them with disheveled hair was the Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who loved role-playing.

The other one was also of great status. He was the illegitimate son of the retired emperor Li Yuan and the half-brother of the current emperor Li Shimin, the King of Han Li Yuanchang.

Although Li Chengqian and Li Yuanchang are of different generations, they are actually not that far apart in age, and they have similar tastes.

But this little trick could not escape Changsun Wuji's eyes.

Li Yuanchang was trying to please Li Chengqian and get close to him on purpose.

There must be a purpose.

Chang Sun Wuji's cheerful mood became depressed, and he asked politely but coldly:
"What are your Highnesses doing?"

"Imitating the Turks in fighting. The arrow just shot had no arrowhead. Don't take it seriously, uncle. Haha~" Li Chengqian imitated a rough man's laughter, but his laughter turned out to be very charming.

Li Shimin's plan failed.

After being frightened by the Turks, Li Chengqian seemed to think that the Turks were indeed manly and heroic, and he became more determined to become a Turk.

Zhang Sun Wuji's face became darker and darker:
"Your Highness, will you follow the example of the Turks and treat the Central Plains as a prairie in the future?"

Li Chengqian laughed and patted the saddle:

"Yes, let's learn from the Turks and divide it into East and West Central Plains. I and the King of Han will each rule half. Isn't that wonderful?"

Li Yuanchang felt that the other party seemed to be talking about a very dangerous topic, so he slipped away with an excuse.

Li Chengqian had difficulty walking, so he just sat on the horse. Zhangsun Wuji led the horse for him, and walked to a secluded corner, where no one was around, and asked his nephew in a very unsympathetic manner.

"Since returning from Jiucheng Palace, Your Highness has become even more self-destructive. Why is that?"

Li Chengqian smiled sadly:
"Father always creates enemies for me. First it was the King of Wei, and now it's Li Ming.

"If he wanted to appoint a new crown prince, why would he keep me in such a hurry and make me feel anxious every day?"

Changsun Wuji felt a stomachache.

As expected, His Highness Li Ming performed brilliantly in the Jiucheng Palace incident, which made the prince feel strongly threatened.

What made the prince even more puzzled was that even if he wanted to kill Li Ming now, he couldn't.

After turning the tide and saving the entire royal family and fully demonstrating his wisdom, courage and filial piety, Li Ming is now an invincible figure surrounded by the emperor's favor.

If anything happens to Li Ming, Your Majesty will be furious.

If the prince dares to harm Li Ming now, then Your Majesty may not dare to change the crown prince.

After all, there are still two legitimate sons.

Perhaps His Royal Highness is now regretting why he didn't kill Li Ming once and for all on the night when His Majesty was unconscious...

However, if Li Ming had passed away at that time, a large number of royal relatives, including the crown prince, might not have lived to this day.

Alas, that naughty kid really makes people love and hate him...Changsun Wuji also feels very conflicted.

Just as his thoughts were galloping across the prairie of consciousness like a wild horse, Li Chengqian interrupted him with an even wilder question:
"Uncle, my father is now in love with Concubine Yang. He will not forget the years of love he had with my mother and want to take Li Ming...

"Straighten it up?"

Zhang Sun Wuji looked at this daring yet timid nephew and couldn't help laughing:

"Your Highness can rest assured. I came to the East Palace today to dispel your doubts."

"Oh? What happened?"

Li Chengqian had great faith in this capable uncle. His expression immediately turned from cloudy to sunny and he calmed down.

When he was calm, his brain was just as quick as his father and brother's, and he got straight to the point:

“After the Jiucheng Palace incident, it was natural for my father to confer the title of king on my younger brother Li Ming.

"Could it be that the fief given to him by the Emperor..."

Chang Sun Wuji nodded quietly and said in a low voice:
"Appoint Li Ming as the King of Song and let him govern Xuzhou."

"Xuzhou? Xuzhou... Ha, the emperor gave him Xuzhou?!"

The prince's eyes lit up again, the corners of his mouth curled up in relief, and he relaxed.
“Father, you are wise.

"Xuzhou is a place of great feng shui. I hope that my brother will govern it well in the future and not let down the emperor's grace."

…………

"There have been more than 50 large-scale wars in Xuzhou throughout the ages. It is difficult to say whether they were right or wrong."

Chang'an, Marquis's residence.

Hou Junji finally returned to his long-lost home and enjoyed family happiness with his family.

But today, he coaxed Hou Baolin out to play early, and concentrated on receiving a distinguished guest in the inner room.

His current boss, the future King of Song, Li Ming.

Sima Hou Junji of the Song Palace unfolded the map and analyzed the strategic situation and gains and losses of the future base to his lord Li Ming.

"Putting aside the right and wrong of the battle, just in terms of strategic position, Xuzhou, an ancient battlefield in the Central Plains, is doomed to be a disaster for us."

Li Ming leaned comfortably against the window, sniffing the scent of soil in the courtyard after the rainstorm, and listened to the first report of the 14th Party's new employees. He couldn't help but frowned:
"Xuzhou is a thoroughfare with convenient transportation and fertile land. Why did it become so dangerous?"

When facing his own people, Li Ming never acts pretentiously and his attitude is always quite casual.

After helping Li Shimin to resolve the Jiucheng Palace Incident and accumulating enough imperial favor, the first person he appointed was Hou Junji, and he specifically asked the Minister of Personnel Hou Junji to assist him.

Li Shimin had no reason to refuse.

Although he was also worried that Li Ming's growing power might lead to the easing of the situation between the princes and the escalation of the situation again.

However, there was no way out, as Li Ming’s imperial grace points were almost overflowing.

No matter how you look at it, he is just an aide. The staff around Li Tai and Li Zhi are more brilliant than those around Li Ming.

To refuse such a "small" request would be a bit unkind and would be written into history books by Chu Suiliang for future generations to criticize.

"Because Xuzhou is an ancient battlefield in the Central Plains." Hou Junji's answer interrupted Li Ming's recollection. Li Ming: "So?"

Hou Junji: "So Xuzhou fought many battles."

Li Ming: “And then?”

Hou Junji: "This shows that Xuzhou is a very suitable place for fighting."

Li Ming: "You might as well make your words clearer."

Listening to one word from you is better than reading half of it.

Looking at the foolish young master with a clear expression, Hou Junji, who usually had a hot temper, was surprisingly patient. He tore it apart and explained it in detail:
"Because Xuzhou is a strategically important place, it is difficult to develop stably during times of war and chaos."

He unfolded the map and explained patiently:

"Xuzhou borders Qi and Lu in the north, Heluo in the Central Plains in the northwest, and Huaishui in the south. It is all a flat plain.

"With the Bian River and Si River flowing through it, Xuzhou has become a place of war on all sides. It has no strategic location to defend and is easy to attack but difficult to defend. If there is unrest in the world, this place will not be able to provide stable food and troops for the front line, and it will waste manpower on defense."

On the first day of working for the 14th Party, Hou Junji was very enthusiastic.

The fact that the emperor could resist the objections of the crown prince and Zhangsun Wuji and forcibly assign Hou Junji to Li Ming was also inseparable from Hou Junji's own efforts.

After all, he has said so much that he would rather die than not assist Li Ming.

What could Li Shimin do? Would he really sentence Hou Junji to death?
Don’t forget that Hou Junji also accumulated a lot of imperial grace points and personally saved Li Shimin’s life in the rainstorm!
After returning to the palace and killing his savior, does it mean that Li Shimin, as a result of current public opinion and historical evaluation, has no attachment to him at all?
Therefore, under the influence of two irresistible forces, Li Shimin resolutely ignored the opposition of the prince's party and chose to satisfy Li Ming's wish and forcibly appointed Hou Junji as the Sima of the Song Palace.

Sima was the highest military officer in the palace. He worked together with Fang Xuanling, who was the Chief Clerk, to manage the civil and military affairs of the palace for the prince.

"I see." Li Ming stroked his nonexistent beard and said thoughtfully:

“That is to say, the things that my father bestowed on me, whether it was the plaque of the King of Song or the actual positions of the Governor of two states or the Grand Commander of a prefecture, were just bluffs.

"But once I become an enemy of the imperial court, my territory will be easily conquered by the enemy, and I will just be a bigger living target?"

Hou Junji nodded heavily:

"exactly."

"Hiss..." Li Ming also fell into deep thought.

"It seems that this proposal to make me the King of Song is just a sugar-coated bullet, which looks good but is useless.

"We have to find another good place to start our business."

This is why Li Ming went to discuss with Hou Junji today - to help him consult and find out if there are any hidden dangers in his being conferred the title of King of Song.

If there is a mine, then we should ask Li Shimin to change the fiefdom.

What is a sugar-coated bullet... Hou Junji had become accustomed to Li Ming's speaking habits, and naturally ignored the strange words that occasionally popped up. He walked to the bookshelf and turned the guard in the dark.

The mechanism opened, revealing a stack of folded papers.

Hou Junji spread out the paper, almost covering the entire study.

This is a topographic map of the entire Tang Dynasty, with every detail marked.

This is the terrain intelligence obtained by scouts from various places over the years, and Hou Junji personally compiled this information into a book.

It has been compiled into a huge, all-encompassing map.

It is no exaggeration to say that this map embodies the hard work and lives of countless people, contains priceless intelligence information, and can be classified as the highest level of state secrets.

Hou Junji kept this painting privately and dared not let others know about it.

And now, he just spread this map containing huge amount of information on the ground casually.

Let Li Ming crawl around, looking for a suitable place to "start a business".

"Where should I choose to start..."

Li Ming scratched his head as he looked at the densely packed map.

He wanted to take advantage of the fact that he had enough imperial grace points now to ask his father for a new fiefdom.

Unlike the previous time when he was only given the title of King of Cao in name only, this time he was given the title of a powerful vassal king.

It is not an exaggeration to call him a prince, because in addition to the throne, he also obtained the additional titles of governor of two states and governor of one prefecture.

He was given money, land and soldiers, and was in charge of the local military and political power.

This is also the operation that Li Shimin often plays-

Let the descendants whom he trusts lead the troops and establish their own territory.

Yes, Li Shimin actually always had a dream of enfeoffment in his heart.

A few years ago, there was even a "hereditary governor" who was a vassal king with a different surname and a county system skin mod.

Fortunately, this abstract operation was defeated by the joint efforts of Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling.

From Li Shimin's perspective, this idea makes sense.

The Zhou dynasty practiced feudal fiefdom and lasted for more than 800 years. The Qin dynasty chose centralization but perished in the second generation.

The Han dynasty had counties and kingdoms running side by side, and the dynasty lasted for more than 400 years. The Sui dynasty chose to centralize power, but it perished in the second generation.

By enfeoffing descendants in various places, the Li Tang royal family could not only strengthen their control over local powerful people, but also jointly protect the capital.

To take a step back, even if the trunk becomes strong and the branches become weak in the end, the various princes will not submit to the central government and will imitate the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and fight against each other.

At least it can be guaranteed that the one who can successfully ascend the throne in the end will still be a descendant of the Li Tang royal family.

Li Shimin's actions also left Li Ming with a lot of room for maneuver.

With both land and people, he had a solid foundation.

With a strong base, he can stand up straight and confront all hostile forces head-on.

Li Ming has now become the elephant in the room, and there is no way to avoid it.

Therefore, he had to change his past strategy of "hiding his capabilities and biding his time", and began to accumulate strength and wait for an opportunity to take the initiative.

The fiefdom is the source of his hard power. It can be used for offense or defense, and is the greatest capital he can rely on in the future.

If you advance, you can increase your weight in the court.

Retreat is also a large rear area where one can avoid disasters.

However, enfeoffment is also a science, which can be roughly understood as an alternative "real estate" -

The most important thing is location, location, and location.

Therefore, the starting location must be chosen carefully.

If you airdrop to a place like Xuzhou where there are many enemies, you will easily be killed as soon as you land.

Li Ming suddenly felt like he was playing a business strategy simulation game.

Just as he was immersed in the mountains and rivers of various places, a calm voice came from the door:

"What are you doing?"

Li Ming looked up.

The person who came was Fang Xuanling.

(End of this chapter)