My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 206: Prince: King Jin, do you want to steal my house?
Who doesn’t want to be an emperor?

There are only three people in the world today who are qualified to inherit the throne.

The King of Jin is one of these three.

If there is even the slightest chance, who would be willing to give up?

Since ancient times, countless heroes have sacrificed their lives and shed their blood for this position. It is not uncommon for brothers to kill each other and for fathers and sons to turn against each other.

If I could have a chance to meet him, even if I was torn to pieces, what would it matter?

Li Zhi was moved.

But he also knew that now was not the time to reveal his ambitions.

You need to be patient and even more so, hide.

The Crown Prince and the King of Wei had been working together for many years, and he couldn't defeat them all in one go.

Especially the prince, with his current power and followers.

Even if he joined forces with the King of Wei, he would not be able to win.

But if the prince himself rebelled, it would be completely different.

No matter how outstanding a prince is, can he still be the prince after he rebels?

Thinking of this, Li Zhi was actually very confused and even questioned his own guess.

Is the prince really plotting a rebellion?

Why did the prince rebel?

Li Zhi had never been a crown prince. In his opinion, there was no need for a crown prince to rebel. It would be better for him to live peacefully and wait to inherit the throne.

The crown prince naturally has the legitimate right of succession, so why would he do anything rebellious?

Li Zhi couldn't figure it out and couldn't understand it.

Perhaps only after becoming the crown prince can I empathize with my elder brother's current situation.
-
Li Shimin was in a bad mood.

He was impeached for wanting to open more cement plants.

Yes, a large number of officials impeached him as the emperor.

It is simply the opposite of Tiangang.

Especially Wei Zheng.

At the morning court session, he almost pointed at his nose and scolded him.

"I just want to make Chang'an City better and the people more comfortable."

"Am I doing something wrong?"

"Why are these ministers so determined?"

In Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin was sulking.

There were too many people who opposed it, so his edict was not issued for a while.

Even if it is sent out, the Menxia Province will reject it.

Zhang Ananda listened to his majesty's complaints, but didn't know what to say.

The ministers had good reasons.

This is not a question of paying the workers, but that the population of the Tang Dynasty is insufficient.

Wei Zheng stood in the court and made a convincing argument.

The prince is building a coal factory with ten coal mines, which will employ nearly 100,000 people.

There are already more than 10,000 people working at the cement factory.

More than 400,000 civilians were recruited for the Eastern Expedition.

There are about 500,000 young and able-bodied laborers here who have left farming.

The Tang Dynasty was based on agriculture, and the lack of such a large labor force was already a huge burden for this year's autumn harvest.

Now, Your Majesty, you are still recruiting workers, and the conditions you offer are so tempting. Isn't this encouraging the people to give up farming and take up working?

If this continued, grain production would decrease, prices would rise, and the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty would come to an end.

These words won the approval of all the ministers, who unanimously opposed the sage's proposal.

Some even suggested that the coal mines in Prince Edward should be cut down and workers should be returned to agriculture.

Although honeycomb coal is easy to use, it is more expensive than firewood, which increases the burden on people.

Seeing that the ministers' words were getting more and more outrageous, Li Shimin became so angry that he announced his resignation from court.

"It would be nice if the prince was here."

Li Shimin suddenly missed the benefits of having the crown prince around.

After all, the prince bypassed the court through the Crown Prince's Order and opened his own coal factory and cement factory and recruited workers.

This was a completely legal transaction, and even if the ministers had complaints, they had no way to stop it.

When Zhang Ananda heard this, he suddenly felt a little nervous.

He had already found out the key points in his investigation into the prince's rebellion.

Perhaps it won't be long before the whole truth is revealed.

Now that His Majesty suddenly remembers the Crown Prince's good points, should I continue investigating?

This made Zhang Anan feel even more conflicted.
-
Fang Xuanling was no longer troubled.

After knowing that Zhang Ananda was investigating the prince's rebellion, he felt relieved.

Anyway, he had no intention of continuing with the series of things happening to the prince.

For Fang Xuanling, this was undoubtedly the best opportunity to escape unscathed.

If you think about it carefully, up to now, even though he has some evidence, he has not launched an attack on the prince.

Everything was done in secret. Even if the prince had noticed something, he had no evidence.

The current situation was something that Fang Xuanling himself had not expected.

Instead, I am somewhat glad that I am indecisive.

If he hadn't hesitated, how could he have waited for this opportunity and jumped out of the vortex of the struggle between the Crown Prince and the King of Wei.

"Father, are we really going to just ignore everything?"

"If we can help the King of Wei win the throne, our Fang family will surely become even stronger."

Fang Yizheng felt it was a pity. After all, he had spent so much energy, connections and relationships in order to expose the prince's rebellion.

It's the end, just half a step away from success.

But my father suddenly gave up everything.

Fang Xuanling said earnestly: "You only see the benefits, but not the disadvantages here."

"My father's career has come to an end. Helping the King of Wei succeed in his bid for the throne will not allow me to take any further steps. There is no way forward."

"Besides, Yiai is already the confidant of King Wei. Even if King Wei takes the throne, he will not treat our Fang family unfairly."

"On the contrary, if the crown prince succeeds to the throne, what awaits our Fang family is the crown prince's reckoning."

"If we win, how much can we win? If we lose, we lose everything."

Fang Yizhi was still a little unwilling: "But we have already won."

Fang Xuanling shook his head slightly: "For such things, who can tell until the last moment? Even if the prince has only a one in ten or two chance of turning the tables, there is no need for us to do so."

"Think carefully, why has Your Majesty only been secretly investigating the Crown Prince's rebellion until now? Does Your Majesty really want to depose the Crown Prince because of his leg disease?"

"The Crown Prince is very good. Since ancient times, there have been few crown princes as good as the Crown Prince. Your Majesty will not depose or enthrone him unless it is absolutely necessary."

Fang Yizhi was puzzled: "Since Your Majesty does not want to depose the Crown Prince, why is he secretly investigating the Crown Prince's rebellion?"

Fang Xuanling explained: "Your Majesty's investigation into the Crown Prince's rebellion may not necessarily be to depose the Crown Prince, but more likely to protect the Crown Prince."

"Because once the conspiracy is exposed, it will cause too much commotion, and even if Your Majesty doesn't want to, you can't protect the crown prince."

Having said this, Fang Xuanling paused slightly.

In fact, Your Majesty still has a way to protect the Crown Prince, that is to abdicate directly after the rebellion.

But this is obviously impossible.

There is no reason for an emperor to abdicate in his prime. Even if it was for the sake of reputation in history books or even if he was not greedy for power, he would not do such a thing.

It is a good thing that the prince is excellent, but it is not a good thing if he has to abdicate and let others take over.

Who among us doesn't care about himself, even father and son?

"So, in this kind of situation, it is extremely rare to have this opportunity to escape."

"Let's not get involved anymore. This is a godsend."
-
Power is like a besieged city. People inside the city want to get out, and people outside the city want to get in.

Fang Xuanling saw a gap in the city wall and squeezed out without hesitation. Wu Zhao saw a gap in the city wall and squeezed in with all her might.

"Madam, Xiao Chunzi said that Eunuch Zhang asked them to keep an eye on Prince Consort Du's movements."

"Recently, they have been asked to monitor the guard commander Li Anyan."

"Every move you make, who you meet, who you talk to, you have to remember it."

"It's not just the people in the palace, there are also arrangements outside the palace."

Wu Zhao's personal maid Chunxue tells the information she has gathered.

To be able to become an empress, Wu Zhao was very scheming and capable.

She is very clear about her own positioning and value.

How long will it be good to use your beauty to please others?

This sentence comes from Li Bai's poem "My Poor Fate", which was decades away from Li Bai's birth.

But that’s what it means.

If you want to occupy a larger position in King Jin's heart, you need to not only have emotional strength, but also demonstrate your own role.

Given Wu Zhao's current status, the only thing she could be useful for is naturally the intelligence and information in the palace.

So Wu Zhao developed a group of low-level palace maids and eunuchs to gather information for her.

Wu Zhao was now just a talented woman, not even a concubine. Why would those palace maids and eunuchs act as spies for her? Don’t they know what the consequences would be if they were discovered?

The Tang Dynasty's court had not yet developed to the point where eunuchs interfered in government affairs.

But the struggle in the palace is far more direct, bloodier and more brutal than the struggle for power in the imperial court.

The eunuchs and palace maids at the lower level were responsible for all kinds of heavy physical labor and chores in the palace.

The salary they received was extremely meager, and if they wanted to live a slightly better life, they had to show filial piety.

Most eunuchs have easily twisted minds due to their castration.

He tried hard to curry favor with the royal family and nobles, but was moody in front of his subordinates, and scolding and beating them were common.

If you want to live a good life, you have to climb up step by step.

If you don't climb, others will climb on your head and shit and pee on you.

It is really like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward you will move backward.

Everyone wants to get close to a powerful concubine, but not everyone can get close to a powerful concubine.

It is impossible for the concubines to accept a large number of palace maids and eunuchs. Otherwise, what do you want to do? Rebellion in the palace.

For the lower-level palace maids and eunuchs, let alone the unfavored concubines, even the lowest-ranking eunuchs on duty were not people they could afford to offend.

If you can find a backer, no matter what kind of backer it is, you will be envied and lucky by others.

If you want to make a living in the palace, you can't survive without some connections.

The talented person is also of the fifth rank.

Getting some protection and sometimes some rewards is the greatest blessing.

Even this is not something that everyone can do.

"Your Majesty is indeed preparing to take action against the Crown Prince."

"That's right. At the beginning, the Crown Prince was outside the city and refused to accept the imperial edict to enter the palace to participate in the sacrifice. Your Majesty summoned the ministers to discuss the matter overnight because he had this concern."

Wu Zhao was somewhat delighted. Now that the news was confirmed, there was an opportunity.

Different people look at the same thing and often come to different conclusions.

From Wu Zhao's perspective, her judgment is naturally opposite to that of Fang Xuanling.

She believed that His Majesty was plotting against the Crown Prince and was preparing to depose or enthrone him.

If they are going to rebel, what good will it be?

Wu Zhao felt that if she were the emperor, she would never allow such a rebellion to happen.

There are so many outstanding people. If there is no prince, will the sun and the moon stop moving?
Judging others by her own experience, Wu Zhao felt that her idea was correct.

"By the way, Madam, I also heard that Prince Jin has been very close to Chang Sun Chong recently."

"It's rumored outside the palace that the King of Jin is now extremely favored and many people are vying to get close to him. Who knows, he might be another King of Wei."

At this point, Chunxue said proudly, "How can they compare to Madam?"

Chunxue felt somewhat fortunate that he had not gotten involved with the prince.

Who would have thought that the prince, despite his great power, was actually in danger.

Even His Majesty is going to take action against the Crown Prince.

In fact, the story of Changsun Chong and Prince Jin has been circulating in Chang'an City for a long time, but the palace was isolated from the outside world, and it was not until today that Chunxue heard about the situation.

'Changsun Wuji!'

When Wu Zhao heard this, her heart brightened.

It will be extremely difficult for Prince Jin to succeed in his bid for the throne.

Even if the crown prince was deposed, according to the system of primogeniture, it would be the King of Wei, not the King of Jin, who would succeed him.

In terms of reputation, the King of Wei has a good reputation and is favored by Your Majesty.

So how can we better support Prince Jin in his bid for the throne?

This requires the help of court ministers.

Who else has more power than Changsun Wuji, the first meritorious official?

If the crown prince was deposed, and Changsun Wuji supported Prince Jin as the crown prince, the chances of success would become very high.

Changsun Chong is the eldest son of Changsun Wuji. Through this line, he can probably get in touch with Changsun Wuji.

However, it is still quite difficult to get the support of Changsun Wuji.

After thinking for a while, Wu Zhao said to Chun Xue, "Find out who in the palace has connections with the Changsun family. Find out secretly and don't let others know."

"When you have some clues, let me know."

Although Haruyuki didn't understand, he obeyed the order: "Yes, ma'am."

Wu Zhao's mouth corners curled up slightly.

If Changsun Wuji knew that His Majesty was investigating the Crown Prince's rebellion, would he still stand firmly on the Crown Prince's side?

Although one can also support the King of Wei, the supporters of the King of Wei's party are the five surnames and seven families.

However, Changsun Wuji was from the Guanlong clan and was not on good terms with the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

By this calculation, for Changsun Wuji, Prince of Jin is the best choice.

Your Majesty has only three legitimate princes, and no one else.

Of course, due to the limitation of intelligence, Wu Zhao did not know that the information she knew had already been known by Zhangsun Wuji, and even more and earlier.

And we have already started preparing for this matter.

But this did not affect Wu Zhao.

Because it was impossible for Wu Zhao to contact Zhangsun Wuji and expose her relationship with Li Zhi.

All she had to do was tell Li Zhi the news.

Thus, he could gain more weight with Li Zhi.

Therefore, as long as Zhangsun Wuji did not tell the Prince of Jin in person, Wu Zhao had made contributions to Li Zhi.

Even if you say it, it can express loyalty and hard work.

Some people want to bring down the prince, while others want to gain the credit of following the dragon.

Speaking of power in the harem, Concubine Yang, as a princess of the previous dynasty, naturally had no less power.

Zhang Ananda's movement was not big, but in the eyes of those who were paying attention, it was not small either.

Concubine Yang had a very high status in the palace, and many palace maids and eunuchs left over from the Sui Dynasty had a natural liking for her.

After Li Yuan took over Chang'an City, there was naturally no such thing as dismissing all the palace maids and eunuchs and replacing them with a new group.

The old men of the Sui Dynasty have now also held high positions in the palace.

Even if Concubine Yang did not manage things as deliberately as Wu Zhao did, there would still be many people reporting news to her.

Moreover, the intelligence information is even more extensive than that of Wu Zhao.

Concubine Yang grew up in the palace and was familiar with the power struggles in the palace.

After receiving the news, a decision was made quickly.

(End of this chapter)