My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 237 Li Shimin: The Crown Prince is my eldest son after all
"The prince broke his leg when he fell off his horse, not his brain."

"What do the Tang noble families think of him doing this in Goryeo?"

"Does he think that by controlling Goryeo, he can ignore all the noble families in the Tang Dynasty?"

"Are you trying to piss me off to death?!"

Chang'an City, Da Nei.

The rear hall of Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin was so furious that his beard was blown up.

Zhang Ananda beside him could only lower his head.

The only one below is Changsun Wuji.

Hearing this, Changsun Wuji smiled bitterly and said, "Perhaps those nobles of Goryeo went too far, which made the crown prince furious."

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "Stop saying good things to him."

"If he can commit treason, what else can he not do?"

The reason why Changsun Wuji was the first meritorious official in Lingyan Pavilion was that in addition to his achievements, he was also Guanyin's maid and the brother of Empress Changsun.

The uncle of Li Shimin's three legitimate sons was a real family member to Li Shimin, a legitimate royal relative.

In the end, Li Shimin told Zhangsun Wuji about Li Chengqian's rebellion.

After all, in the current situation, the prince is about to rebel. From this perspective, treason doesn't seem to be a big deal.

Li Shimin knew that Zhangsun Wuji was a member of the Prince's Party.

Changsun Wuji was involved in the ice-making equipment in the cellars of the East Palace, the ice shop he had previously cooperated with, and the investment in the coal mine.

Originally, Li Shimin suspected whether Zhangsun Wuji was also involved in the prince's rebellion.

After checking later, I found out that Changsun Wuji was indeed unaware of this, so I felt relieved.

This morning, Li Shimin received news that the heads of the five surnames and seven clans all ran to Qinghe County to celebrate the birthday of the old man of the Qinghe Cui family.

Li Shimin never relaxed his control over the Five Surnames and Seven Families, and naturally he had arranged spies for them long ago.

Therefore, it is clear that the main purpose of the Five Surnames and Seven Families this time is not to celebrate the birthday, but to join forces to deal with the prince and help the King of Wei win the throne.

Li Shimin was already very angry with the prince, and when he heard the news, he became unhappy even more.

No matter what, the prince is his eldest son, the eldest son that Guanyinbi once loved the most.

His feelings for the prince are also real.

If a child makes a mistake, the father can teach him a lesson.

But which father would be willing to have his child dealt with by an outsider?

What's more, he and the Five Surnames and Seven Families were originally enemies.

Over the years, the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats have been interfering in the power of the imperial court, and he has been constantly suppressing them, but he is unable to do anything about it for the time being.

So Li Shimin immediately summoned Zhangsun Wuji to the palace to discuss the matter.

"Your Majesty, the prince actually doesn't want to do this. Sometimes, there are misunderstandings."

"Besides, the officials in Goryeo are all Han people we sent. There is also news from the Crown Prince that the students of the Imperial Academy will be given special treatment."

"The prince still has your majesty in his heart."

Changsun Wuji was helpless. At this point, he could only try his best to appease His Majesty.

In fact, he was also helpless.

Originally, because His Majesty was investigating the Crown Prince's rebellion, Zhangsun Wuji, considering his own future and not wanting the Prince of Wei to compete for the throne, was ready to support the Prince of Jin.

Who knew that the prince would suddenly burst out with such great military capabilities, not only conquering Goryeo, but also seizing Li Daozon's military power.

Now in Goryeo, he has an army of hundreds of thousands.

In addition, with the existence of siege weapons such as Thunderbolt, His Majesty became wary. Not to mention the matter of deposing the Crown Prince, he did not dare to provoke the Crown Prince too much.

If the Crown Prince rebels in Goryeo, it will be a huge blow to the Tang Dynasty and to Your Majesty.

The terrain of Goryeo was complex and dangerous, and Yeon Gaesomun used it to resist the Tang Dynasty.

Now that the prince has occupied that place and has Thunderbolt, if he starts a rebellion, how many troops will the Tang Dynasty have to send to take him down?
It is unknown whether the Tang army can win against the Thunderbolt.

Launching another Eastern Expedition would not only be costly and laborious, but it would also be truly embarrassing if we lost.

Moreover, once this war breaks out, Your Majesty will completely lose face.

The conflicted Changsun Wuji suddenly felt that it might be better to support the prince.

"The prince is just too willful."

"I have never suffered any loss, so I am arrogant."

"Now that you have achieved some small success, you are already arrogant and domineering."

"You must know that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Killing is not a skill, but forbearance is a skill."

"I think he will suffer a great loss sooner or later before he can understand these principles."

After Li Shimin scolded him, his anger subsided a lot.

Overall, Li Shimin was still very satisfied with the crown prince in his heart.

Especially the fear of the Five Surnames and Seven Families made Li Shimin feel quite happy.

These aristocratic families also know how to be afraid, and they are not afraid of anything.

Zhang Sun Wuji had no choice but to say, "After the crown prince governs Goryeo for a while, he will surely understand your majesty's difficulties."

Li Shimin nodded: "It is easy to conquer a country, but it is difficult to keep it."

"That's good. Let him mess around in Goryeo. It's better than messing around in the Tang Dynasty. He will also understand the way of being a king better."

Li Shimin was quite supportive of the crown prince.

Even now, when the Crown Prince's rebellion has been discovered, there has been no talk of deposing him.

Li Shimin had hesitated and thought about it before.

But after all, they are my own flesh and blood, and the rebellion has not happened yet.

It was because the crown prince was in Goryeo that when Li Shimin was initially furious, he took into consideration the crown prince's rebellion and suppressed the situation.

Later, after calming down and thinking about it, he thought that the prince's rebellious behavior might be related to his favor for Qingque in recent years, and he could not put all the blame on the prince.

After all, he himself was a rebel in the past, and he could empathize with the prince's current situation.

With the news of the great victory in Goryeo, Li Shimin was not so angry anymore.

From a rational point of view, the prince is indeed the most suitable successor to the Tang Dynasty.

Wen can develop an economy like a coal factory, which can provide employment for the people and bring more taxes to the national treasury.

Wu was able to improve the craftsmanship of Ming Guang armor, create Thunderbolt Fire, and achieved unprecedented military merit.

Nong, with the Tang Dynasty’s people in his heart, invented the curved plow to benefit the people and was given the title of Prince Nongze Shengrui.

Since ancient times, there has been almost no prince who can compare with him in terms of civil and military achievements.

He can be said to be the greatest prince of all time.

Li Shimin had been reading history books since he was a child, and he knew very well how important the excellence of the country's successor was to the Tang Dynasty.

At the same time, I was angry, but also proud of the prince.

"Your Majesty, I received some news a few days ago."

"It's about Japan."

"The prince threatened to pass through Silla and then attack Baekje."

"Baekje has already sent envoys to Japan, and it seems that they want to form an alliance with Japan to deal with the prince." Zhang Sun Wuji was the Shangshu You Pushe, in charge of the Ministry of War, and intelligence was one of his areas.

Baekje had always been in a coma with Goryeo and had joined forces to attack Silla, so naturally the intelligence gathering had already been going on for a long time.

Li Shimin didn't take it too seriously and said, "The Japanese can at most send some warships, but it would be a big deal if they can have tens of thousands of troops."

"Even if Baekje joins forces with Japan, it can only barely cope with the prince's attack."

"The prince has Thunderbolt, and Goryeo can't even deal with it, let alone Baekje and Goryeo."

"I heard that the prince has built a 50,000-man Shenwu Army in Goryeo, of which 30,000 are Goryeo people."

"Although the Crown Prince's actions against the Goryeo nobles were somewhat inappropriate, causing the entire Goryeo region to fall into war, after this, the Crown Prince will surely be able to completely control Goryeo."

What the prince is doing in Goryeo, especially the trial of all Goryeo nobles, seems a little difficult now, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that as long as he succeeds, the hearts of the people of Goryeo will completely belong to the prince.

However, such a situation is not suitable to be carried out in the Tang Dynasty, otherwise Li Shimin would have wanted to do it.

There are too many aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty, and they are deeply rooted and complicated. Any move can affect the entire body.

Most of the generals in the army and officials in the imperial court were from aristocratic families.

If Li Shimin did the same as the crown prince, he would probably follow in the footsteps of Emperor Yang of Sui.

Zhang Sun Wuji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am not worried that the Crown Prince will not be able to deal with Baekje and Japan."

“I am worried about Silla.”

"Although Silla has always been subservient to the Tang Dynasty, if the prince conquers Baekje, Silla will be sandwiched between the two sides. How can Silla not be worried and afraid?"

“And the prince may not say to let Silla go in the end.”

"It seems that the Crown Prince wants to unify the entire Liaodong region and bring Goryeo, Silla, and Baekje into the territory of our Tang Dynasty."

"But the prince is young after all, and there is no one around him who can give him advice. If he causes Silla to betray, he will probably suffer."

There is nothing new in history.

Although Silla was close to the Tang Dynasty before, it was not very loyal to the Tang Dynasty.

In the face of national interests, loyalty is a ridiculous thing.

If Changsun Wuji could see it, Li Shimin could naturally see it as well.

But I don’t know whether the prince can see it.

Li Shimin said: "Jin Deman is a woman, but she can become the king of Silla. She is quite capable."

"You are right. The prince is young after all. If he falls into a trap, it would be easy for him to capsize."

"How about this, you send someone to deliver a message, don't use my name to warn the prince about being on guard against Silla, and don't trust it easily."

At this point, Li Shimin paused for a moment and said, "The prince is stubborn by nature, so he may not take it seriously."

"Tell him again that if it is impossible, he can return to Dengzhou. After all, he is still the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty."

"Send another document to transfer Zhao Jie to be the governor of Dengzhou and to appoint the King of Han as the governor of Dengzhou."

Li Shimin also took great pains to plan for the future of the crown prince.

Zhao Jie and King of Han Li Yuanchang are both authentic prince's party members.

With them in Dengzhou, even if the prince fails, at least he will not fall into the hands of the enemy.

No matter what, Li Shimin was unwilling to let the prince's life be in danger.
-
Goryeo.

It sounds exaggerated to say that the war was going on across the country, but in fact it was just Su Dingfang's army suppressing the rebellion everywhere.

In fact, the people of Goryeo did not have much ability to resist the Tang army.

It's just that the Goryeo region is so large that it's very troublesome to travel around.

Li Chengqian didn't think it was a big deal and just regarded it as military training.

The main combat force was originally from Goryeo, and they were reluctant to send Han people to fight.

In fact, as of now, the military's morale is completely in Li Chengqian's hands.

Even in just one month, the hearts of the Goryeo soldiers had already completely submitted to the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

There is no way, what the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty gave was simply too much.

Although only the Shenwu Army has a fixed salary, there are also a lot of welfare benefits.

But compared with before, the life of Goryeo soldiers was a world of difference.

It cannot be said that the bullying of Koreans by Han people was completely prevented in the army; it was inevitable.

But the law is also enforced impartially.

For the lawyers in the Tang army, the Han people under their command were previously just civilians and were no different from the Goryeo soldiers.

This also ensures the fairness of military law to a certain extent.

Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, Pei Xingjian, Chen Yunchao, Li Dejian and others also understood the importance of military law.

Maybe Helan Chushi is a little worse, but it doesn't matter.

Besides, Helan Chushi is now anxious to improve his status in the prince's heart, and his father-in-law has been dismissed and taken back to Chang'an.

Without anyone to rely on, you can only rely on yourself.

This made him no longer have the capital to do anything wrong, and he became much more cautious in his actions.

Speaking of which, Helan Chushi can be said to have saved his life now.

Li Chengqian had planned to kill him earlier, but the situation changed too quickly and there was no need to do anything now.

Helan Chushi's ability is a little lacking, but he is from a prominent family. In today's Goryeo, he is far superior to most people.

As long as he acts seriously, Li Chengqian doesn't have to kill him.

Treason is nothing now.

The most anxious ones are probably Yeon Gaesomun and others.

Faced with the relentless pressure from the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, Yeon Gaesomun had fewer and fewer places to hide.

Although a group of troops were gathered, it would be useless to confront the Tang army head-on.

Now Yeon Gaesomun has reached the northern border of Goryeo, a sparsely populated area with freezing weather. From here he remotely directs the Goryeo nobles in their rebellion against the rule of the Tang crown prince.

But the results are currently very poor.

"These lowly people are really like dogs that cannot bear seeing bones. The prince of the Tang Dynasty only gave them a few benefits, but they forgot the kindness that Goryeo had shown them."

"They are all so confused that they don't even care about their own country and are trying to protect the prince of the Tang Dynasty."

Yuan Nan was shaking with anger.

Following his father's instructions, he instigated rebellion in the cities occupied by the Tang army.

After all, the Tang army only had so many people, and it was impossible to send troops to every city.

In fact, whenever the Tang army captured a place, they would basically not leave too many troops behind.

This gave Yeon Gaesomun an opportunity to take advantage of.

If these cities rebelled repeatedly, the Tang army would be exhausted.

But the fact is that Yuan Nansheng, in the name of the Crown Prince of Goryeo, sneaked around to the rear and tried to instigate a rebellion, but was discovered by the people.

These people also had to report their whereabouts to the Tang army.

Even the defenders in the city wanted to capture him and earn merit.

At the beginning, Yuan just thought he was unlucky and it was normal for a small town to be in such a situation.

But as the same situation occurred in the second, third, and fourth cities, Yuan Nansheng felt very angry.

(End of this chapter)