My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 159 Who is the undercover agent? First eliminate the correct answer

The Five Surnames and Seven Clans supported the King of Wei because they could only support the King of Wei.

We all know that it is easier to support the prince, so we can have this choice.

The Guanlong clans themselves were supporters of the prince, and then there was the support of the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

All the noble families in the world support the prince. I wonder if Erfeng can continue to be the emperor.

Then it's not just as simple as fear.

The prince's power will, to a large extent, suppress the emperor and turn the tables.

In fact, Erfeng can also turn the court politics into a two-party struggle pattern.

However, the resources controlled by the Five Surnames and Seven Families are simply too enormous.

If they are allowed to continue to develop, the entire court will become their people, especially when it comes to hiding the population and evading taxes.

From the emperor's perspective, all the wealth and money in the world should belong to the court.

However, the wealth and money controlled by the five surnames and seven families are comparable to those of the imperial court, or even more. How can this be tolerated?

The development of the Zhenguan Reign, in fact, from another perspective, was that Li Shimin continued to cut meat from the fat piece of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats.

The Guanlong clans are the knife that cuts meat.

So it was actually a very simple matter for Li Chengqian to instigate Cui Shengyu to rebel.

The same is true for the other six companies.

As long as the prince shows a little sincerity, they will abandon the King of Wei and join the prince's camp.

But he cannot be discovered and cannot do it blatantly.

Inciting Cui Shengyu to rebel was actually very threatening to Li Chengqian.

If Erfeng finds out, she will most likely take drastic action, even taking away the prince's military power.

Under the current circumstances, taking away all the prince's military power is just a matter of an imperial edict.

For example, Su Dingfang and Lu Tong were directly sent to serve as officials in other places.

The prince had no way to mobilize the Jinwu Guards.

So can the prince maintain his current strength?

It can be said that General Su Dingfang of the Left Jinwu Guard and General Lu Tong of the Right Jinwu Guard gave the prince convenience in his actions to a great extent.

It was not until dark that Cui Shengyu came out of the East Palace.

Upon receiving the news, the King of Wei rushed over immediately.

Only when he saw Cui Shengyu's rosy complexion and good appearance did he feel relieved.

"The prince has not done anything to you, has he? If there is any injustice, just tell me and I will file a complaint with my father."

Li Tai said sincerely.

He was also helpless. Apart from filing a complaint, he really had no other good way to deal with the prince.

"Don't worry, King Wei. The prince has done nothing to me."

"I just asked about Cui Wensheng and the Koreans."

Cui Shengyu had a complicated expression.

I felt somewhat guilty towards the King of Wei.

It's not easy to be an undercover agent.

You have to endure inner torment all the time.

But for the sake of Qinghe Cui family and for the sake of justice, Cui Shengyu felt it was worth it.

He cannot reveal his relationship with the prince, because once it is exposed, it will be a huge blow to the prince.

For the sake of the ideal in my heart, I can only put up with the King of Wei.

"It's good that you're alright. I'll hold a banquet in the mansion to wash away the bad luck for Master Cui."

Li Tai naturally would not have thought that the core elders of his own Wei Wang party had already rebelled in less than two hours.

Even if someone told him directly about this kind of thing, he wouldn't believe it.

"Thank you, King Wei."

After Cui Shengyu bowed and saluted, he got on the carriage with the King of Wei.
-
Taiji Palace, Taiji Hall.

Zhang Ananda is reporting the situation.

"The prince did not do anything to Cui Shengyu. He should be treated with courtesy."

"When he came out of the East Palace, his manners were intact and his expression was calm. The prince had never been too embarrassed."

"I also sent people to the East Palace to inquire, but heard nothing unusual."

"It seems that the Crown Prince had Cui Shengyu arrested mainly to attack the King of Wei, and not against the Cui family of Qinghe."

After listening, Li Shimin felt a little disappointed.

The prince's power is now too great, which is not conducive to the stability of court politics.

The King of Wei was useless, and the King of Jin did not dare to ally with him and go against the Crown Prince.

This resulted in the prince's power growing too quickly, and he could easily clash with himself.

Although the officials in the court have not made any move yet, they may already be on the side of the prince in their hearts.

It would be a good thing for Li Shimin if the prince confronted the Qinghe Cui family.

On the one hand, it can suppress the prince's power more effectively, and on the other hand, it can also strike a blow against the Qinghe Cui family.

It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Unfortunately, the prince did not play by the rules and killed everyone, but the result was much ado about nothing.

As for the idea that Cui Shengyu might surrender to the prince, it never occurred to Li Shimin.

Or no one would have thought of this possibility.

Including Cui Shengyu himself.

If the prince wanted to instigate Cui Shengyu to rebel, it would be impossible for him to send the King of Han to arrest him.

You have to know that under the circumstances at that time, if the guards had been a little slower, Cui Shengyu would have been shot dead.

Later he shot arrows directly and killed more than ten of them.

How could the Eastern Palace guards led by Prince of Han Li Yuanchang dare to do this without the Crown Prince's tacit consent?

This is what no one expected.

He really dared to do this.
-
The team to capture Cui Wensheng has already set out from Chang'an.

They went directly to Qinghe County.

If he was only connected with the Goryeo royal family, Cui Wensheng might be able to save his life by hiding in Qinghe County.

But now there is a case of assassinating the crown prince, and it was done by Goryeo warriors.

Furong Garden was the place that Cui Wensheng was responsible for repairing and managing.

Under such circumstances, even Cui Wensheng, the head of the Qinghe Cui family, would have no one to protect him.

However, before the arrest team set out, someone had already passed the news to Qinghe County.

The purpose was not to let Cui Wensheng escape, but to let him commit suicide out of fear of punishment.

They also had to drink poisoned wine in front of the arresting officers.

Speaking of which, Cui Wensheng was also very miserable. He was actually very cautious. Although he knew that there were Korean spies in Chang'an City, he had never even seen these spies, let alone know Kim Yunho.

He was simply being overly cautious, which resulted in him not knowing the situation on Kim Yun-ho's side.

As a traditional family member, Cui Wensheng did not want to see too much turmoil in the Tang Dynasty, which would also be detrimental to the development of the Cui family.

If he had known this earlier, Cui Wensheng would have certainly stopped it.

Unfortunately, no if.

In Chang'an City, Li Chengqian did not pay too much attention to the assassination case.

However, the investigation into the assassination went smoothly.

With Cui Shengyu's active cooperation and provision of clues, anyone who participated in the assassination, intentionally or unintentionally, was arrested.

Cui Wensheng's many years of business in Chang'an can be said to have been completely destroyed.

Cui Shengyu didn't care because he had now secretly defected to the prince.

And on the next day, during the evening curfew, he secretly sent 30,000 gold to the prince.

Thirty thousand taels of gold is three thousand jin, or 1.5 tons.

It sounds like a lot, but if it is considered as a whole, the volume is not that large.

One ton of gold is about the size of a modern computer host.

1.5 tons, can be loaded into two slightly larger wooden boxes.

At this time, Li Chengqian felt why Li Shimin wanted to attack the aristocratic families. They were really rich. This was just money, not to mention how much food the aristocratic families had hoarded.

The accumulation of any one of the five surnames and seven famous families is an extremely terrifying number.

If the wealth of any family was taken out to help the people, how many people would survive?

If we could get all the money and grain from the five surnames and seven families, it would truly be like the fall of a whale, and all things would come to life.

Looking at the dazzling golden light of the two boxes, a sharp cold light was reflected in Li Chengqian's eyes.

He had originally planned to settle accounts with the entire northern family after conquering Goryeo.

It now seems that this wave of liquidations may allow the court to directly rise to an extremely wealthy stage.

With enough money, Li Chengqian no longer needs to ask Erfeng for money.

The Jinzhou coal project was launched directly.

Luo Hui took money and followed Zhao Jie and Li Yuanchang's troops to Jinzhou.

After the Lantern Festival, all the princes and officials had to leave Chang'an and return.

Zhao Jie and Li Yuanchang did not go to Jinzhou according to their logic. Jinzhou was in the north, and they went to the west.

This special trip was also arranged by Li Chengqian, to provide escort for the coal mining in Jinzhou.

With the protection of being a vassal king of the Tang Dynasty and the governor of Yangzhou, it can be said that no one dares to provoke Jinzhou.

What’s more, it is the prince’s property.

End of month.

Li Chengqian had a rare period of free time during this period.

There is Su Dingfang in the Military Academy and Li Dejian in the palace soldiers.

With spring ploughing approaching, the manufacture of curved plows had become popular throughout the Tang Dynasty.

The prince's fame is about to reach an unimaginable height.

However, Li Chengqian could only hear general news in the East Palace.

But there is no doubt that this will make all the people of the Tang Dynasty grateful to Prince Nongze Shengrui.

During the dynasty era, imperial power did not extend to the countryside.

People in some remote areas may not even know who the emperor is.

This time, however, they may not know the emperor, but they definitely know the prince.

In the East Palace, Theodosius was learning phonetic Chinese characters from the Crown Princess Su Yuer.

After all, Theodosius has a special status, and as far as the current situation is concerned, she is obviously the prince's concubine. It is not very convenient to ask others to teach her, so it is better for the crown princess to do it herself.

"Your Highness, Theodosius is now able to have simple conversations."

Crown Princess Su Yuer said with a smile.

"Oh, let me listen."

Li Chengqian looked at Theodosius and asked with a smile.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, the Crown Prince."

Theodosius's accent had a Roman accent, but it made Li Chengqian feel close to him.

Because what she said was spoken in Mandarin.

Just like the foreigners I saw in my previous life.

Li Chengqian nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, you have made great progress."

Theodosius smiled brightly: "Thank you, Your Highness."

From the situation on Theodosius' side, Li Chengqian could also feel the learning progress of the Military Academy.

After all, compared to Theodosius, the students of the Military Academy have some basic skills, at least they don’t have much problem with pronunciation.

It can be predicted that most of the students in the Military Academy now should be able to read and write simplified Chinese characters.

After all, there are only a few thousand commonly used characters.

Theodosius was a clever girl.

During the time I have been in the Eastern Palace, I have never mentioned asking His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to help Rome.

She knew very well that as long as she could live in the Eastern Palace, she would represent the prince's attitude, which would have far-reaching political significance.

Alex asked someone to pass the message to him a few days ago.

Tell her not to worry. The people in the Arab delegation are very anxious now. They are very worried that the Emperor of Tang will be influenced by the Crown Prince of Tang and send troops to the Arab Empire.

By the time her news reaches the Arab Empire, Rome's crisis will most likely be temporarily alleviated.

The Arab Empire had to consider the possible impact of the Tang Empire.

Even though the Arab Empire is very powerful now, the Tang Empire is far more powerful and wealthy than them.

As a middleman on the Silk Road, the Arab Empire knew the Tang Dynasty even better than the Tang Dynasty itself.

Hundreds of years ago, the ancient Eastern Empire defeated the powerful Xiongnu Empire.

These defeated Huns became a nightmare for Central Asia and Europe.

It is called the 'Scourge of God'.

Such a terrifying ruler was defeated by the ancient Eastern Empire.

The Tang Dynasty's influence in the international world, apart from the Silk Road, which gave other countries the impression that it was a prosperous place, came from the Huns' propaganda.

Therefore, even if the Tang Empire did not send troops directly, as long as the Tang Empire set its sights on the Arab Empire, it would make the Arab Empire nervous.

Moreover, the Arab Empire is now opening up many battlefields. If it goes to war with an ancient and powerful empire like the Tang Dynasty, it will have a huge adverse impact on the overall situation of the entire Arab Empire.

This is also the reason why the Arab delegation is anxious.

"Your Highness, the King of Qi wants to see you. He said there is something important he wants to tell you."

After receiving the news, the eunuch Wen Zhong immediately reported it.

Li Chengqian nodded: "Okay, let him come over."

Prince of Qi Li You is now imprisoned in Yanfufang and is not allowed to leave without an imperial edict.

But if the prince allows it, it is also possible.

After receiving the reply from His Highness, Wen Zhong sent someone to conduct the interrogation.

Inside Yanfufang.

Prince Li You of Qi is waiting for a reply.

Originally, he planned to wait for the King of Wei to come to him to discuss the specific situation, and then report the details to his elder brother.

However, half a month had passed since the Lantern Festival, and there was no news from the King of Wei.

Li You felt that this was not a solution, so he simply told his elder brother about it first.

So he sent someone to deliver a message to the East Palace.

In fact, Li Tai would no longer come to see him.

After the last conversation with Fang Xuanling, he realized that it was a wrong decision for him to find Prince of Qi Li You, and naturally he would not continue this mistake.

Recently, Li Tai appointed Fang Yiai as the captain of the palace soldiers, and he also paid more attention to the training of the palace soldiers in accordance with Fang Xuanling's instructions.

Although they are all children of aristocratic families, they are essentially loyal to the Tang Dynasty. As long as there is no conflict with their family interests, they will naturally obey the orders of the King of Wei.

"King Wei, King Qi went to the East Palace."

Li Tai got the news as soon as he came back from outside the city.

After listening to Fang Xuanling's words, he arranged people to monitor the movements of the King of Qi at all times.

"Damn it, the King of Qi really would stab me in the back."

Before, Li Tai still had illusions and thought that what Fang Xuanling said was mysterious, but the King of Qi himself should be a sensible person.

I have promised him so many benefits. As long as I can become the crown prince, I will make him king again. Logically, the King of Qi should not betray me.

Today's events made Li Tai see clearly the wickedness of human nature. It turned out that it was Mr. Fang who was in control.

So in this case, Hou Junji is probably also the prince's man.

He was the commander-in-chief of the expedition against Goryeo.

There is also Li Anyan, the commander of the imperial guards beside my father.

How many people did the prince collude with?

Is there an undercover agent around me?
Li Tai couldn't help but start to think deeply about who was most likely the undercover agent arranged by the prince.

Of course, Cui Shengyu must be excluded first.

It could be anyone, and Cui Shengyu is the least likely to be an undercover agent arranged by the prince.

(End of this chapter)