My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 158 A 2.5 billion yuan gift
Cui Shengyu was moved.

My heart was severely moved.

The prince has a huge advantage over the King of Wei.

Moreover, the crown prince is the natural legitimate heir. Unless there is a major accident, it is almost impossible to shake the crown prince's position.

Cui Shengyu knew very well that the sage's preference for the King of Wei was just to avoid the conflict between the emperor and the prince.

In fact, the prince is the most suitable heir in the saint's mind.

If the sage was not young and the prince had grown up, there would be no chance for the King of Wei now.

This opportunity itself is very slim for King Wei.

However, the Qinghe Cui family had no other choice but to support the King of Wei in his fight for the throne.

But if the prince cooperates with him.

That is a strong alliance, so what is there to worry about?

Of course, Cui Shengyu would not be so easily overwhelmed by the prince's words.

The threat from the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats was a huge obstacle to the imperial power itself.

The saints can see this, and the Five Surnames and Seven Families can see it themselves.

The Five Surnames and Seven Families represent the power of ministers.

The Guanlong clans represented military power.

The saint represents imperial power.

Will the prince really cooperate with them sincerely?

"Your Highness, Prime Minister Changsun is your uncle, and so many ministers in the court support you."

"Why would Your Highness think of me, Qinghe Cui?"

Cui Shengyu pondered for a long time before asking.

This means that you, the Crown Prince, naturally have the support of the Guanlong clans, so why do you want to unite with me?

Li Chengqian smiled and shook his head: "You are wrong, it's not Qinghe Cui, it's you."

"Me?" Cui Shengyu was a little confused.

Li Chengqian continued: "Yes, it's you, Cui Shengyu."

"You are the partner I want, not the Cui family of Qinghe."

"I didn't have this idea originally, but after understanding your situation, I came up with this idea."

"Perhaps you still don't believe it in your heart, but it doesn't matter. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles tests a horse's strength, and time reveals a person's true character. I will give you some time."

These words sounded full of temptation to Cui Shengyu.

Li Chengqian understands PUA. After all, he had eaten a lot of big cakes in his previous life, so now he is very familiar with making cakes.

For Cui Shengyu, the biggest temptation is to lead the Qinghe Cui family back into the power center of the court.

What is the success rate of the King of Wei in his bid for the throne, one in ten?

But how to cooperate with the prince means that all Qinghe Cui needs to do is wait patiently, and she will be able to enter the long-awaited Taiji Palace and Taiji Hall again.

As the eldest son of Qinghe Cui family and the future head of the family.

Cui Shengyu's dream and ideal is to lead the Qinghe Cui family to become great again.

Gain the emperor's recognition and benefit the country and the people.

Some people may find it strange that such a powerful Qinghe Cui family did not rebel and become emperor themselves.

After all, considering the strength of the entire Qinghe Cui family, they could compete with Li Tang and even, to a certain extent, suppress the imperial power with their ministerial power.

Even almost all of the 360 ​​states in the Tang Dynasty were influenced by the Qinghe Cui family.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just rebel?

This involves the inheritance foundation of the Qinghe Cui family.

In Li Shimin's eyes, the Qinghe Cui family was the leader of the entire northern prominent family, the leader of the public opinion trend in the Tang Dynasty, a country within a country, a stumbling block, and a boulder on the road to imperial rule.

But Qinghe Cui herself doesn't think so.

The Qinghe Cui family respected Confucianism and passed it down from generation to generation. The Confucian concepts of loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, and hierarchical order had a profound influence on them.

Family members have been educated in Confucian classics since childhood and regard loyalty to the monarch as a moral code and behavioral norm. This ideology makes them deeply resist rebellion, an act that violates ethics and morality.

Even the eldest son Cui Shengyu, or the current head of the Qinghe Cui family.

If one day I get carried away and say to all my tribesmen, let's rebel, let's rebel and become emperor ourselves.

So what will he face?
With the support of their clansmen, are the Qinghe Cui family united in rebelling and establishing a country?
No, quite the opposite.

No matter how much his fellow tribesmen love him, he will immediately be deserted by everyone.

The elders in the clan would collectively reprimand him in turns, and the young people would angrily accuse the head of the family of having lost his moral character.

He will be despised by the entire family.

They might even be locked up, used as examples, and subjected to criticism and trial.

Why would their head of the family have such a rebellious idea?

This is the real Qinghe Cui family.

Almost all the scholars of the Cui family of Qinghe were influenced by Confucianism, and in their minds, Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, parents and teachers are the most important.

Loyalty to the emperor is engraved in their bones.

It sounds a bit ridiculous, but nowadays, this is what they insist on.

Historically, although the Qinghe Cui family was powerful, there had never been any rebellion or disloyalty.

On the contrary, the Qinghe Cui family has always been a loyal supporter of the Tang Dynasty.

Throughout the Tang Dynasty, the Qinghe Cui family produced twelve prime ministers, and countless family members served as officials in the court.

Adhering to the ideological principle of serving the court above and being worthy of the dawn below, he worked diligently and took it as his responsibility to maintain the stability of the country and the rule of the monarch.

Made great contributions to the culture, economy and politics of the Tang Dynasty.

In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, social class contradictions intensified.

In the early years of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty's Zhenyuan period, after the death of Wei Gao, the governor of Jiannan West Sichuan, Liu Pi, the deputy governor, intended to rebel and tried to win over Cui Cong, who was an official in Qiongzhou at the time and was from the Qinghe Cui family.

However, Cui Cong sternly rejected his proposal. Liu Pi became furious and sent troops to attack Qiongzhou. Cui Cong defended the city and fought hard.

Therefore, when looking at some issues, we must take a historical perspective and adopt a dialectical point of view.

From its peak to its decline, the Qinghe Cui family has always been a supporter of imperial power and has never shown any signs of rebellion.

On the contrary, most of the Qinghe Cui clan members who held official positions were self-disciplined, honest and fair in their work.

Supporting the Prince of Wei in his bid for the throne was nothing more than a political necessity. After all, the Prince of Wei was the emperor's legitimate son and had the right of inheritance.

Looking back at history, the system of primogeniture is correct, but there are only a handful of legitimate eldest sons who have actually succeeded the throne.

That's nothing.

As for land annexation, concealment of population, tax evasion and so on.

It's just a little arrogance that comes from power.

Relatives protect each other, officials protect each other, these are the most normal things in human emotions.

"Your Highness, how do you think I should cooperate with you if we don't have any?"

Cui Shengyu felt his heart trembling, and he swallowed subconsciously and asked.

If it really succeeds, it will have a huge impact on him and even the entire Qinghe Cui family.

"That depends on how sincere Master Cui is."

Li Chengqian replied calmly.

Cui Shengyu thought for a moment and asked hesitantly, "Isn't His Royal Highness the Crown Prince afraid?"

He didn't finish his words, but Li Chengqian understood the meaning.

"Why should I be afraid? Can't other noble families become bigger?"

“Raise a tiger to eat another tiger.” “There will still be a tiger here. What’s the point of putting so much effort into it?”

"Instead of one tiger dominating alone, it's better to have two tigers fighting each other. What do you think, Master Cui?"

Li Chengqian's words were very straightforward.

The Guanlong clan represented by Zhangsun Wuji now has political protection and is growing rapidly.

When they grow up and completely suppress the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats, they will just become the new Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats.

Cui Shengyu felt relieved when he heard this.

He understood the prince's thoughts and was also clear about the prince's governing philosophy.

This is to make the Five Surnames and Seven Families fight against the Guanlong clans.

Cui Shengyu did not reject this matter. Originally, political struggle was mainly about balance, which was also the art of ruling.

The prince intends to create a political structure of two-party struggle in the court, which is actually a good thing for Cui Shengyu.

The reason why Li Shimin did not do this was because Li Shimin's Guanlong clans were, to a large extent, two sides of the same coin with Li Shimin.

The Guanlong clans were essentially military aristocrats, Zhangsun Wuji was the representative, and Li Shimin was the leader.

But the prince and the Guanlong clan cannot be considered one and the same.

From this point of view, supporting the Qinghe Cui family is not a bad thing for the prince, but a good thing.

"What does your highness want me to do?"

Cui Shengyu's tone became respectful and his attitude became more correct.

Because from this moment on, he has already surrendered to the prince.

Li Chengqian hesitated for a moment and said, "We will do it the same way we did it before."

"Master Cui should know that the King of Wei is nothing to me. The real obstacle I face is His Majesty."

"Of course, if Master Cui finds any important news while at the King of Wei's place, he will naturally tell me in time."

"Besides that, there is one more thing. I hope Master Cui can support me."

Cui Shengyu said respectfully: "Your Highness, please give your instructions."

Changing identities was not an obstacle at all for Cui Shengyu; it was very natural.

Li Chengqian asked, "Master Cui should have heard about my plan to mine coal in Jinzhou."

Cui Shengyu couldn't help but say: "Your Highness means that we, the Cui family of Qinghe, should also participate."

Li Chengqian said: "I want you to participate, but not now."

"If the Qinghe Cui family supports me and abandons the King of Wei at this time, it will not be a good thing."

"So for many things, I can only trust you and can only tell you."

"In my opinion, mining coal is also beneficial to the country."

“It takes several years, even more than ten years, for a tree to grow, but it only takes a few sticks of incense to cut it down.”

"With a population of one million, Chang'an consumes a huge amount of firewood every day. The trees around Chang'an are constantly disappearing."

"For the sake of the future, I have decided to vigorously mine coal to replace firewood to supply Chang'an and even the entire Tang Dynasty."

"The profit is only to better develop this industry."

Cui Shengyu was in awe; he had not expected the prince to have such lofty ambitions.

"I am willing to contribute my humble efforts to Your Highness."

Li Chengqian nodded: "That's great, but I don't know how much Master Cui can give."

Cui Shengyu thought for a moment and said, "I originally prepared a sum of money to be used for business development."

"Now it is just the right time to present it to His Highness, about 30,000 gold."

Li Chengqian was silent for a moment.

One tael of silver is equivalent to one string of coins, or a thousand coins.

One tael of gold is equal to five taels of silver.

Thirty thousand gold is equal to 1.5 taels of silver, or million coins.

At the beginning, only 70,000 coins were spent, but Zhang Xuansu reported to the emperor and accused the prince of extravagance.

As for Changsun Wuji, he was still hesitant about raising tens of millions.

Now Li Chengqian was going to ask for money from Cui family in Qinghe, but he asked for 30,000 gold.

Is this the confidence of a century-old prestigious family?

When Cui Shengyu saw that the prince was silent, he thought something was missing.

He gritted his teeth and said, "I can still mobilize some money in my hometown, but it will take some time, about half a month, to raise another 20,000 gold for Your Highness."

Wow, that’s 2.5 million dollars.

No wonder when it came to fighting Goryeo, the Five Surnames and Seven Clans directly took out money to build ships for the King of Wei.

You should know that the cost of building a ship starts at one million coins, and a slightly more sophisticated one would cost two to three million coins.

A shipyard will also be opened in Yangzhou.

This is an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, and it’s given as soon as it’s said.

"Okay, I was right about you."

"With this money, I think the mining in Jinzhou will be completed quickly."

"But I have to make it clear in advance that this money cannot be counted on the Qinghe Cui family, but only on Mr. Cui."

Cui Shengyu replied: "It is my honor to serve the Crown Prince."

Fifty thousand gold is definitely not a small sum for the Cui family of Qinghe.

But compared to their accumulated wealth, it is not a big amount.

As a prominent family with a history of more than a hundred years, the Qinghe Cui family has passed down Confucianism from generation to generation. They do not advocate extravagance, but emphasize avoiding excessive luxury and waste while meeting basic needs, and focus on inner moral cultivation rather than external material pursuits.

This resulted in the Qinghe Cui clan accumulating more and more wealth, to the point that the money in the cellar was starting to mold.

Cui Shengyu brought 30,000 gold coins to start a business. Strictly speaking, it was not a business, but an investment.

The purpose was not to make money, but to expand the political influence of the Qinghe Cui family while making business partners.

When it comes to investment, who could be more meaningful than investing in the prince?

So Cui Shengyu joined the ranks of the princes without hesitation.

This is the natural advantage and legitimacy that a prince possesses.

Faced with the prince's recruitment, few people would not be tempted.

Because the emperor represents the present of the Tang Dynasty, and the prince represents the future of the Tang Dynasty.

The promise of the King of Wei cannot compare with that of the Crown Prince.

Li Chengqian was in a good mood, as this was a wave of sudden wealth.

With 2.5 million yuan, how many ice cream shops would you need to open and how much ice cubes would you need to sell to make that much money?

Here it comes.

"Bring some wine. I want to have a drink with Master Cui today."

Li Chengqian gave an order, and the eunuch Wen Zhong hurried to get the wine.

At this time, the King of Wei was still outside, running around because of Cui Shengyu's matter, trying to put pressure on the prince to release him.

However, he didn't know that the core members of his own Wei Wang party had already betrayed him and joined the prince's side.

Not only did he give the prince 50,000 gold, he also wanted to become the prince's undercover agent.

Perhaps there will come a day when the King of Wei is completely defeated.

Cui Shengyu stood in front of King Wei and said, "Sorry, I am the prince's man."

(End of this chapter)