My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 232: Controlling Goryeo and plotting against Silla

There is never a shortage of smart people in any era.

Even if Li Tai was a fool, he had so many talented advisers from aristocratic families under his command.

I will also analyze the current situation and conditions for him.

The crown prince once arranged for Hegan Chengji to assassinate him, and now the overall situation of Goryeo is controlled by the crown prince.

If he went to the capital of Goryeo, he would be walking into a trap.

Originally, Li Tai was disheartened and felt that there was no hope in winning the throne. After all, the power of the crown prince was too great.

Even if it affects my reputation and I run away, it doesn’t matter.

However, Zhang Liang's words immediately gave Li Tai hope.

"Father's secret decree ordered Minister Zhang to return to the court?"

Li Tai confirmed again.

Zhang Liang nodded affirmatively and said, "Yes, this is a secret decree. Please have a look, King Wei."

Zhang Liang did not hesitate, took out the secret decree from his bosom and handed it to the King of Wei.

After Li Tai took it, he looked at it carefully.

The content was very brief, just a few sentences, and it didn't say much, just asking Zhang Liang to return to the capital immediately and leave the Goryeo side to the control of the prince.

After reading it, Li Tai looked at Cui Shengyu and asked Zhang Liang without avoiding him, "What does your father mean by this? Is it because of the crown prince?"

In fact, Li Tai had already sensed in his heart that his father was wary of the prince, but he still wanted to confirm it.

Cui Shengyu nodded and said, "Yes, I'm afraid Your Majesty has also noticed the problem with the Crown Prince."

"The Crown Prince has taken away Li Dao Zong's military power. This behavior does not please Your Majesty, so maybe you have other arrangements."

After listening, Li Tai glanced at Zhang Liang.

Zhang Liang had no intention of speaking. He tilted his head slightly and remained silent.

He doesn't want to get involved in the affairs between the Crown Prince, the King of Wei, and Your Majesty.

In the fight for succession and the struggle for the throne, if the ministers get involved, they will become cannon fodder.

For Zhang Liang, with his ability, he has already reached the pinnacle of his official position. There is no need for him to take risks. He can just obey the orders of His Majesty.

Seeing that Zhang Liang didn't say anything, Li Tai didn't care.

This is different from before.

Previously, he had forcibly fled away to avoid the prince without any military orders.

Now this is the imperial edict from my father.

The meaning here is completely different.

The most important thing is that my father sent out a signal that he was starting to deal with the prince.

These arrangements are intended to prevent the prince from becoming more powerful.

"King Wei, I will take my leave first and prepare for my return to the court."

Zhang Liang opened his mouth and bowed.

Li Tai nodded and said, "Thank you, Minister Zhang."

Even if Zhang Liang had no intention of joining him, Li Tai would not go out of his way to offend him.

Originally, most of the important officials in the court would not choose to take sides, and most of them would not help either side and would only act according to the imperial edict.

Li Tai no longer had the heart to enjoy the scenery, and hurried back to gather Chai Lingwu, Fang Yiai and others to analyze the situation.

It is true that when you think there is no way out, you will find a way out.

If Your Majesty personally takes action to deal with the Crown Prince, then the position of Crown Prince will fall on him in the future.

As for whether the prince would win, Li Tai never considered it.

My father is such a great man, how could he lose to the prince?
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Anshi City.

Everything is going on in an orderly manner.

A large number of laborers were arranged to return home in batches.

More Tang troops, or the Tang civilians who followed them, could stay in Goryeo and serve as officials if they were willing.

The county lieutenant, the chief constable, the military marquis, the chief clerk, and even the county assistant and county magistrate.

Or become a military officer, a captain, a brigade commander, or a colonel.

Li Chengqian has already begun preparations to build Zhechoufu in various parts of Goryeo.

The civilians and militiamen who followed the Tang army were not forced, and were given the opportunity to choose freely.

As long as you are willing, you can make arrangements.

Goryeo is such a large place that Li Chengqian wanted to put all the landlords and gentry on trial, overthrow all the nobles, completely subvert the local classes of Goryeo, and redistribute wealth.

If such a thing were to happen in the Tang Dynasty, it would inevitably lose the support of the people and be attacked by the masses.

But this is Goryeo, the defeated Goryeo, where they can do whatever they want.

Anyone who dares to obstruct will be executed, and Goryeo will be completely molded into the shape that Li Chengqian wants.

When the news reached the grassroots, people were moved.

"This is a good opportunity. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has promised it himself. Should we stay or not?"

"I don't want to stay. My wife and children are waiting for me at home. I am in a hurry to go back for the New Year."

"Stupid, what a great opportunity this is. Are you crazy? This is a one-step promotion to an official position."

"You'll be scolded by your wife and children when you go back home."

"But this is Goryeo, it's so far away."

"Far? Is it far from Hedong Road to Jiangnan Road to be an official? How many scholars studied hard, finally passed the imperial examination, and went to Jiangnan Road, traveling thousands of miles. Can it be this far?"

"We have come at a good time. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has conquered Goryeo and is in need of manpower. We, the common people, have suddenly become officials. Isn't this a blessing from heaven? If you miss this opportunity, your ancestors will crawl out of their graves and slap you in the face."

The temptation of being an official is too great. Even if you are just a captain, a captain of a police station, or a military marshal at the lowest level, you are still paid by the emperor. This is completely different from the hard work you once had to do.

Some who wanted to go home were immediately scolded.

For ordinary people, this kind of God-given opportunity only comes once in a lifetime. If you miss it, you will never have it again.

"What a fool! Being an official here and bringing your parents, wife and children over to enjoy a good life, isn't this the best thing?"

After hearing this, the public was excited, and the Tang people who had originally been hesitant rushed to sign up to stay in Goryeo.

Especially the people in Hebei Province.

Hebei Road is only a few hundred miles away from Goryeo, and it is adjacent to it. There is no need to think about it, they must stay.

Even those who live far away are unwilling to miss this opportunity.

As a result, everyone is willing to stay and no one is willing to leave.

No one wants to give up this opportunity to change their destiny.

The feedback quickly reached Li Chengqian, which was completely expected.

For ordinary people, becoming an official is like ascending to heaven in one step.

In this way, Li Chengqian now had tens of thousands of Han people.

After all, Goryeo had a population of three million, and it was actually a little too few for tens of thousands of people to manage three million people. Fortunately, many Han people also fled there during the Sui Dynasty.

Unlike the Qing Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty still exists and is the suzerain state of Goryeo, so the people will not have much resistance.

In the past, only the royal family and nobles of Goryeo could learn Chinese characters, but now ordinary people can also learn them.

By this calculation, it seems that his status has been raised a lot. "Your Highness, Hou Junji and Li Ji suddenly left with a large army and headed southwest."

"From what they say, it seems that they are preparing to return to the capital instead of coming to Anshi City."

Su Dingfang came over to report the situation.

Li Chengqian frowned slightly.

He was also planning to seize Li Ji's military power and strengthen his own power again.

"Contact Hou Junji immediately and ask him what's going on and why he suddenly withdrew."

Li Chengqian is not a fortune teller. He was about to come over to join the army, but he is leaving now. What does that mean?
Does Hou Junji have other ideas?

"Yes, Your Highness."

"By the way, they didn't take the Korean civilians with them. Except for a small number, the rest were all left behind."

Su Dingfang replied.

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "Keep some of the elite troops, and send the rest away according to the previous arrangement."

Su Dingfang bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian thought about it and quickly guessed that it was Erfeng who was causing trouble.

Without Erfeng's order, how dare Hou Junji and Li Ji leave so blatantly without even seeing the crown prince?
But Hou Junji, why do you do this?

Is he going to betray?

impossible.

Hou Junji must have had some idea about treason in his mind. There was no possibility of him betraying, as that would be courting death.

Therefore, there is only one possibility, that Hou Junji was controlled by Li Ji.

It was probably Erfeng's instruction.

Li Chengqian was not surprised that Li Ji was able to control Hou Junji.

If there was a secret decree from Erfeng, Li Ji would have acted just like he had set up the Hongmen Banquet, taking the initiative and acting unintentionally. It was normal for Hou Junji to fall into the trap.

This is just like when a colleague invites you to dinner, but who would think so much and secretly arrange a large group of people to kidnap you.

It is difficult to prepare unless you get the news in advance.

The next day.

The news brought by Su Dingfang confirmed Li Chengqian's guess.

Li Ji did not hide it and told the envoy directly that Hou Junji had been dismissed from his post as the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Road by His Majesty, and that according to His Majesty's edict, he would take over the post and return to the court immediately.

"Your Highness, news has also come from Beisha City that Zhang Liang, the general commander of the Pyongyang Road, has received an imperial decree from His Majesty and is preparing to return to the court."

Su Dingfang reports.

Li Chengqian nodded: "It seems that His Majesty is worried. This is going to put some pressure on me."

Su Dingfang replied: "Your Highness, what are you going to do?"

Su Dingfang had already made up his mind to stand on the side of the prince, so he had nothing to say. After all, it was no different from rebelling now.

It is normal for Your Majesty to be on guard like this.

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "Three days later, we will go to the capital of Goryeo to accept the surrender. At the same time, we will pass on the order of the Crown Prince, ordering the King of Silla and Queen Seondeok, Kim Deok-man, to immediately go to the capital of Goryeo to welcome them."

Silla, the real ancestor of later Korea, the current king is the queen.

Similar to Wu Zetian, she is a master in political struggles. After the death of King Jinpyeong of Silla, her rival, Seal Lord Misil, gathered her cliques and monopolized power. However, with the growth of Kim Deok-man and various coincidences, with the help of Kim Yu-shin and others, Kim Deok-man gradually disintegrated Misil's power and finally ascended the throne.

Unfortunately, our country is not very capable in developing national strength.

Under the rule of Queen Seondeok Kim Deok-man, Silla's overall development was mediocre. It was attacked from both sides by Goryeo and Baekje, and lost a large number of cities.

There are now forty cities in Goryeo, which were once part of Silla.

This time when the Tang Dynasty attacked Goryeo, Silla sent 30,000 troops to cooperate, but it didn't have much effect, and on the other side it was also restrained by Baekje.
-
The capital of Silla, Jincheng.

Its urban planning is centered on the Palace City and Moon City, and adopts a criss-crossing system of strips and blocks like a chessboard.

The Tang envoy rode into the city at high speed to deliver the instructions from the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Inside Moon City.

Queen Seondeok, Kim Deok-man, summoned her confidants to discuss countermeasures.

Kim Yu-sin, a famous general of Silla, had outstanding military talents and rich experience. He was an important force in supporting Queen Seondeok.

Bidam, a Silla noble, was one of the people who supported Queen Seondeok in ascending the throne.

Historically, he was appointed as the Sangdaedang by Queen Seondeok. But later he became the leader of the pro-Tang faction, and in the first month of 647, he joined forces with Yeomjong and other nobles to launch a rebellion under the pretext that "the queen cannot rule well", in an attempt to depose Queen Seondeok. In the end, the rebellion failed and he was executed along with his entire clan.
Kim Chunchu was one of Queen Seondeok's confidants and later King Muryeol of Silla, the first king of Silla to be born with true bones.

In the Silla bone system, the sacred bones were equivalent to the royal family, while the real bones were for the great nobles. The system was inherited from generation to generation and the class system was solidified.

Now that the holy bones have withered, the only one left besides Queen Seondeok Kim Deok-man is her cousin Kim Seung-man.

That's why the Queen appears.

"The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty occupied Goryeo. Now the entire Goryeo is controlled by the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty."

"But the Crown Prince and the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty don't seem to be on good terms."

"While the Tang prince won a great victory, the rest of the Tang army has now been withdrawn and returned to the capital."

"Now, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty has asked me to go to the capital of Goryeo to welcome him. What do you think we should do?"

Kindman said with some concern.

She didn't really want to go. There were already many problems in the country. Although she ascended the throne, there were many voices of opposition. Many nobles were not convinced. After all, she was a woman.

But faced with the order from the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, she dared not disobey.

If we anger the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty and send troops to attack Silla at this time, that would be disastrous.

If Silla couldn't even defeat Goryeo, how could it resist the Crown Prince of Tang?

Jin Yuxin said firmly: "Your Majesty, if the prince of the Tang Dynasty wants to force you, I will fight to the death for you."

Jin Deman was very satisfied with Kim Yu-shin's statement, but this was not a solution to the problem.

Silla did not have the ability to compete with the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Bidam sighed, "The crown prince of the Tang Dynasty is a person that even the emperor of the Tang Dynasty has to be wary of. Yeon Gaesomun of Goryeo was so powerful, but now he has become a dog that has lost its home."

"Your Majesty can only obey the orders of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. From his behavior in Goryeo, we can see that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty is extremely strong and overbearing. If Your Majesty disobeys his orders, I am afraid that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty will really send troops to attack Silla."

"The thunder and fire in the hands of the Tang prince cannot be stopped by Goryeo, and even less by us."

"Yeon Gaesomun assembled an army of 220,000 to try to stop the Tang prince, but was defeated in one battle."

"We can't afford to offend."

After these words, everyone fell silent.

To them, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty was a giant that they could not afford to offend.

With the military force in the hands of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, it would be easy to destroy Silla.

Jin Chunqiu thought for a moment and said, "We can only act according to circumstances. The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty ordered the King to go to the capital of Goryeo. I'm afraid he has given some instructions. We'll see what happens then."

"No matter what the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty orders, we can only agree to it first."

Silla had no choice.

The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty would not give them any choice.

Weakness is the original sin.

It all depends on how you compromise.

(End of this chapter)