My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 203: Changsun Wuji: Support Prince Jin to be the Crown Prince?

Luoyang, the eastern capital, is the center of the world.

Located in the core area of ​​the Central Plains, it is the hub of the Grand Canal and the center of national water transport.

In terms of commercial transportation environment, if Chang'an was not the political center of the Tang Dynasty, it would definitely not be able to compare with Luoyang.

Officials, nobles, soldiers, craftsmen, merchants, etc. in Chang'an City formed a huge consumer group, which led to strong market demand in Chang'an.

Moreover, with the frequent foreign exchanges in the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an became an important place for economic and trade activities between China and foreign countries. Merchants from home and abroad came to trade, and the market was extremely active.

Although Luoyang was also an important city, its political status was lower than that of Chang'an, its population and consumption capacity were relatively weak, and its market activity was not as good as that of Chang'an.

Chang'an's commercial influence spread throughout the country and even to neighboring countries. Through the Silk Road, it conducted extensive economic exchanges with Central Asia, West Asia and even Europe.

Although Luoyang's commercial development had a certain influence, it was mainly as a commercial center in the Central Plains, and its influence was more limited to the Central Plains. Compared with Chang'an's national and even international commercial influence, there was a big gap.

When Li Chengqian arrived, Tang Jian, who was in charge of the Eastern Capital, was already waiting with officials.

Tang Jian and Li Jing were black all their lives.

In the fourth year of Zhenguan, the power of Jie Li Khan of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate was greatly reduced under the attack of the Tang army. He sent an envoy, Zhishisili, to Chang'an to apologize and expressed his willingness to submit to the Tang Dynasty with his entire country.

Li Shimin sent Minister Tang Jian to the Turkic military camp to express condolences, and at the same time ordered Li Jing to lead his troops to accept surrender.

After Tang Jian arrived in the Turkic Empire, Jie Li Khan treated him to delicious food and wine, and the two had a very pleasant conversation.

However, Li Jing discussed with his deputy Zhang Gongjin and believed that although Jie Li was defeated, he still had a large number of troops under his command, and they would definitely retreat to the desert to preserve the strength of the Turks.

Now that the imperial court has sent envoys to the Turks, the Turkish army must be relaxed, thinking that the Tang army will not continue to attack. This is a good opportunity to destroy the Turks in one fell swoop.

Zhang Gongjin expressed his opposition, believing that the emperor's edict had already agreed to the Turks' surrender, and that the envoy Tang Jian was still with the Turks, so it was inappropriate to send troops at this time.

But Li Jing thought that this was the strategy Han Xin used to defeat Qi State, so-called "people like Tang Jian are not worth pity".

So Li Jing dispatched his troops at night to attack the Turks.

At that time, Jie Li Khan and Tang Jian were still drinking and having fun. When Li Jing's army arrived, they were both stunned.

Tang Jian smiled and said, Khan, it is your soldiers who are rebelling.

Then a soldier reported that it was Li Jing who led his troops to attack.

Fortunately, Jie Li Khan did not execute Tang Jian immediately, allowing him to escape and return in the chaos.

However, most of the officials who followed Tang Jian died.

From then on, Tang Jian lived for only one thing in his next life, and that was to scold Li Jing.

The scolding lasted from the fourth year of Zhenguan to the sixteenth year of Zhenguan.

Until last year, Li Shimin had no choice but to send Tang Jian to Luoyang to serve as the governor of the Eastern Capital.

The governor of Dongdu was the most powerful official in Luoyang.

Next down are the Yin of Henan and the Governor of Luoyang.

However, the highest official in Luoyang was nominally the Grand Chancellor of the East Shaanxi Circuit, a position held concurrently by Li Shimin.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince."

"No gift."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian led a hundred cavalrymen to the gate of Luoyang and entered the city under the support of a group of officials.

Once he left Chang'an, Li Chengqian was no longer subject to any restrictions.

In this great Tang Dynasty, no matter where he goes, no one's status will be more noble than his.

It would not be like in Chang'an, where the prince's orders would be restricted.

In the absence of an imperial edict, the Crown Prince's decree is the highest order for any place.

In the evening, Tang Jian held a grand banquet with singing and dancing performances.

After enjoying himself, Li Chengqian went to the palace to rest.

The army was carrying out supplies, including replacing some horses that might be sick, as well as other baggage and other matters.

The next morning, we continued our journey.
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The city of Chang'an did not change because of the war between the Tang Dynasty and Goryeo.

It did not become deserted because of the departure of Crown Prince Wei and King.

Most of the people are the same as before.

The difference is that the Tang Dynasty Gazette was not discontinued because of the prince’s departure.

The eunuch Wen Zhong continued to act according to the prince's instructions.

For example, the laying of cement floor in Suzaku Catastrophe.

This was something that had already been approved by Li Shimin.

After several months of cement production, there is now enough cement to complete the entire Zhuque Street surface.

In Tai Chi Palace.

Li Shimin has been very sad recently and has not yet come out of the painful shadow of losing his eldest daughter.

He had four legitimate daughters, but two of them are gone now.

The sadness of seeing a loved one die before an old one hit Li Shimin hard.

The most important thing is that Princess Changle is only two years younger than Crown Prince Li Chengqian, and she was also raised by Empress Changsun. This special connection makes it difficult for Li Shimin to let go.

So at this time, Zhang Ananda didn't dare to mention the matter of monitoring Princess Chengyang at all.

Your Majesty has just lost his eldest daughter. Now to say that the second legitimate daughter might be involved in the Crown Prince's rebellion is courting death.

Li Shimin was soft-hearted, but that only applied to his own children, not outsiders.

"Your Majesty, this is a memorial sent from the East Palace."

Zhang Ananda placed the document on the dragon table.

After Li Shimin opened it and looked at it, he asked in surprise, "Prince's cement factory, are all the cements ready?"

Zhang Ananda replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Shimin stood up and said, "Let's go to the back hall and take a look."

In the rear hall courtyard, there is a cement floor made of cement.

Li Chengqian ordered the craftsmen to lay it for Li Shimin to show.

However, due to a series of events, Li Shimin forgot about this matter.

I just heard the prince mention that cement floors would be very useful.

In the back hall.

An entire stretch of cement floor appeared in front of Li Shimin.

This cement floor has been in place for a long time. Li Shimin stepped on it and found that it was indeed very hard.

"Like stone bricks, better than cement."

Li Shimin quickly realized the role of cement floors.

The ground in Chang'an is easily bumpy. If it were paved with cement, it would be cleaner and tidier.

"The prince really has some wonderful ideas."

"I don't know how he suddenly found so many good things."

Li Shimin tried riding the horse for a while and then asked someone to send a carriage. The ride was very smooth.

Then he began to test the hardness of the ground and asked someone to bring a sledgehammer.

He swung the hammer and hit the ground, but it only made a small hole.

"It may be used for city walls."

Li Shimin soon came up with an idea.

The main material of Chang'an's city wall is rammed earth, and only some key parts, such as city gates and towers, are reinforced with stone bricks.

Therefore, the city walls of Chang'an are still mainly built with rammed earth.

Rammed earth is actually loess and clay.

Rammed earth walls will weather, causing cracks and peeling on the surface, resulting in dust falling off.

Therefore, when summer comes, a lot of dust often appears on the walls of Chang'an city. When there is a strong wind, it feels like the sky is filled with yellow sand.

There are plants growing near the city wall, and their roots can cause damage to the wall structure, which often requires cleaning and repair.

This situation continued until the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, when, with the further development of construction technology, masonry structures were more widely used in city wall construction, and stone bricks began to be used in large quantities. Now, cement, like stone bricks, is not easy to generate dust after being made, so it is a good material for strengthening city walls.

Li Shimin asked, "How much cement does the prince's cement factory have now?"

Zhang Anan said: "It should be enough for Suzaku Street."

"The prince's idea is that after paving Suzaku Street, we should then pave the roads outside other districts with the Imperial City as the center."

Li Shimin thought for a moment and said, "I approve the paving of the cement floor of Zhuque Street."

"But after that, cement will not be used on the ground for the time being. Instead, a layer of cement will be laid on the surrounding walls first."

Zhang Ananda bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
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On July 15th, Li Chengqian's army arrived in Xiangzhou.

Zhuque Street in Chang'an City was placed under martial law and the paving of cement floors began.

Horse-drawn carriages kept transporting cement and sand, and a large number of craftsmen were making cement floors.

The people are not unfamiliar with this matter.

Because the new edition of the court bulletin already talked about the laying of cement floors.

The article explains in detail that this is a new type of rammed earth invented by the craftsmen of the Eastern Palace under the leadership of the Crown Prince.

It is not easy to generate dust and is as hard as stone.

At the same time, Li Shimin also used some cement to test the cement paving of a small section of the Chang'an city wall.

And during this time.

Zhang Ananda finally found out some information.

It's about the connection between Du He and Li Anyan.

Ever since Du He felt that he was being monitored, he has been acting very carefully. He never met Li Anyan again and pretended not to know each other.

But there is a saying that goes, there is no wall that is impenetrable.

Zhang Ananda summarized Du He's interpersonal relationships, and Li Anyan's name did not appear at the beginning.

However, a famous eunuch said that he seemed to have heard that Du He and Li Anyan had a good relationship.

This immediately aroused Zhang Ananda's vigilance.

After all, as the commander of the imperial guards, if Li Anyan colluded with the prince to rebel, the impact would be too great.

Zhang Ananda didn't know that this matter was actually information specially revealed to him by Fang Xuanling.

Li Shimin's intelligence agency was originally established by Fang Xuanling.

Of course, it is not the Six Gates or Lijing Gate that were fabricated in later legends.

But such intelligence agencies do exist.

To foreign countries and to domestic countries.

But it was not as exaggerated as the Jinyiwei that Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty later set up.

So when Zhang Ananda was investigating Du He, Fang Xuanling also learned the news.

He knew that His Majesty was suspicious of the Crown Prince.

So he just went with the flow and passed on some information.

Through a series of investigations, Zhang Ananda quickly confirmed that Du He and Li Anyan did have some dealings.

The fact that the two pretended not to know each other made Zhang Ananda even more alert.

This news was quickly reported to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin looked gloomy.

You know, he has been very kind to Li Anyan.

As an official under the hidden Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, not only did he not punish him, but because of his loyalty, he chose to trust him and appointed him as the commander of the guards.

Unexpectedly, he would betray me and collude with the prince to rebel.

At the same time, Li Shimin felt a little scared.

If the prince really launched a rebellion, the people he trusted would actually be the prince's men.

Isn't this the same as when I first launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident?

"Your Majesty, do you want to arrest Li Anyan immediately?" asked Zhang Ananda.

Li Shimin shook his head: "No, transfer him to another place. It is not advisable to alert the enemy for the time being."

I definitely can't keep this person around anymore.

However, Li Shimin did not want to directly expose the prince's rebellion or let the prince know about it.

After all, the prince has already shown signs of rebellion. If forced into a corner, he will surely rebel again. The overall situation should be prioritized.

This also made Li Shimin suspicious of the people around him.

If a guard commander like Li Anyan could be bribed by the prince, what about the others?

So he ordered Zhang Ananda to intensify the investigation.

the other side.

After the prince and the King of Wei went on the eastern expedition.

Prince of Jin, Li Zhi, became the most honorable person in Chang'an City, except for the saint.

What's more, the current Prince of Jin, Li Zhi, is even more powerful than the Crown Prince and the Prince of Wei.

He is in charge of the Left and Right Jinwu Guards, the two imperial guards, all of which are under the control of Prince Jin.

The mind of a sage is difficult to fathom. Many people wonder whether Prince Jin is also qualified to seize the throne?

And because of the death of Princess Changle.

The relationship between Li Zhi and Changsun Chong suddenly improved.

Changsun Chong was the eldest son of Changsun Wuji, and as the elder brother of Empress Changsun, Changsun Wuji was the representative of the Guanlong clan.

In other words, Chang Sun Chong can be said to be the most noble young man in the Tang Dynasty.

Apart from the prince, no one has a more noble status than him.

What's more, Changsun served as Shaoqing of Zongzheng, a fourth-rank official.

The Shaoqing of Zongzheng was mainly responsible for managing the affairs of the royal clan.

Matters such as the compilation and management of clan genealogies, the registration and management of clan members, the coordination of internal relations within the clan, reflecting the clan's demands to the court, and the supervision of the implementation of policies for the clan.

There is also the organization and execution of ancestral temple sacrifices. For example, the ancestral temple sacrifices previously held by Li Shimin were arranged and coordinated by Changsun Chong.

Including royal ceremonial activities, such as enthronement, wedding, investiture and other ceremonies.

Although he seemed to have no power, in fact, all members of the Li Tang royal family were under his control.

In the past, Chang Sun Chong and Li Zhi had an average relationship, but after Princess Changle passed away, their relationship quickly warmed up because they had so many common topics.

Chang Sun Chong also knew that Princess Changle and his younger brother Zhinu had always had a good relationship.

But for other noble officials, the Prince of Jin, who was already in charge of the Left and Right Jinwu Guards, had a good relationship with the first noble son, Changsun Chong.

General Li Ji was once the chief historian of his palace, and the princess was favored by Princess Tongan.

With this calculation, the power of King Jin does not seem to be inferior to that of King Wei, and in some aspects, it is even slightly superior.

After all, the Five Surnames and Seven Families have great reputations, but they do not have much power in Chang'an, while the Prince of Jin has many connections in the past, and they are all powerful figures in Chang'an.

He already has the potential to compete with the King of Wei and seize the throne.

Changsun Wuji was very politically sensitive and quickly realized the inappropriateness of this.

He originally planned to talk to his son Changsun Chong and ask him to avoid the suspicion of King Jin.

However, after receiving the news that His Majesty might be investigating the Crown Prince's rebellion, his thoughts suddenly changed.

Although Changsun Wuji does not have as large a network of relationships as Fang Xuanling.

However, as the first meritorious official in Lingyan Pavilion, he still has many sources of intelligence of his own.

In fact, he did not receive accurate information, but made some guesses through Zhang Ananda's investigation of the prince's party and the prince's previous suspicion of rebellion.

If the crown prince was deposed for treason, the King of Wei was not his candidate for emperor.

Then Prince of Jin, Li Zhi, naturally came into his sight.

(End of this chapter)