My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 239: This is pushing His Majesty to the side of the Crown Prince

Chang'an City.

King Li Tai of Wei was in high spirits and looked very proud.

The threshold of Prince Wei's mansion was about to be broken down by people.

With the five surnames and seven noble families uniting to fully support King Wei, the King Wei's party grew extremely rapidly.

The Wei Wang Party, which was originally under pressure because of the relationship with the Crown Prince, is now growing in power at an alarming rate.

Under the instructions of several family heads, civil officials from the three provinces and six ministries, including a large number of military generals, came to the Prince of Wei's palace to express their support to the Prince of Wei.

This is even stronger support for Li Jiancheng than before.

Such a big change in the situation naturally could not be hidden from Li Shimin.

Although there is no exclusive intelligence agency like the Jinyiwei, there are certain arrangements in the area of ​​intelligence work.

What's more, Li Shimin has always been supervising the people of the Five Surnames and Seven Families in Chang'an.

at this time.

In the palace.

Changsun Wuji sat in front of Li Shimin.

There is no Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng and others.

Because in Li Shimin's heart, people like Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng also had unclear relationships with the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

For example, Fang Xuanling was born in Qinghe County, and his wife was the legitimate daughter of the Fanyang Lu family.

Only Changsun Wuji stood against the Five Surnames and Seven Affiliations.

Therefore, when it came to matters involving the aristocratic families, Li Shimin would seek advice from Changsun Wuji alone to discuss countermeasures.

This does not mean that Fang Xuanling and others will betray us. The situation is too complicated.

"It seems that they are afraid."

"This is the first time I've seen them so scared in all these years."

"I am determined to let Qingque take the throne."

Li Shimin smiled faintly and said that everything was under his control.

The growth of the Wei Wang Party was even tacitly approved.

Because only in this way can the Five Surnames and Seven Families be completely desolate this time.

How could Li Shimin let go of such an opportunity to solve the problem once and for all?

Zhang Sun Wuji sighed, "Of course they are afraid, afraid that the prince will dig up their roots."

"If we follow the prince's method in Goryeo, which family can withstand it?"

Not only the Five Surnames and Seven Families were afraid, but Changsun Wuji was also a little afraid.

No one would give the prince face because they were afraid that he would go crazy.

Li Shimin sneered and said, "I want to see what ability they have to dare to interfere with the succession to the throne so blatantly."

"Have you asked someone to record the people who went to the Prince of Wei's mansion?"

Zhang Sun Wuji nodded and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I have arranged for people in the Prince of Wei's palace to record all the people who have given gifts or visited the palace during this period, including civil officials and military officers."

"only."

Changsun Wuji paused, and then continued: "I'm just afraid of these people, but they are just the tip of the iceberg."

The Five Surnames and Seven Families were making a fuss in Chang'an, but in reality the real impact was not that great.

He has been suppressed by Li Shimin in recent years and has been driven out of the political center.

In comparison, their roots are all in the local area, which is why Li Shimin has always been helpless.

Li Shimin waved his hand and said: "These people in Chang'an are just cats and dogs. They are nothing and can be destroyed with a single move."

"As for their roots, we can only let the prince dig them out."

"The transfer from the Ministry of War must be arranged as soon as possible."

For Li Shimin, the prince's rebellion is no longer important.

Originally, Li Shimin was still a little conflicted about this, but now the actions of the Five Surnames and Seven Families have completely forced Li Shimin to the side of the Crown Prince.

It was as if they helped Li Shimin make the choice.

How could Li Shimin be willing to see the Five Surnames and Seven Affiliations support the Prince of Wei in his successful bid for the throne? Doesn't this mean that the Tang Dynasty has returned to the situation during the Southern and Northern Dynasties when one family and one surname could change the world?

Moreover, with such strong support, if the King of Wei succeeds in winning the throne, he will eventually become the emperor.

Then what was the point of Li Shimin's suppression? Was it a waste of effort?

Li Shimin could not agree, and neither could the Guanlong warlords represented by Zhangsun Wuji.

By then, when the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats come to power, won’t they suppress them?

The merits that once helped Your Majesty launch the Xuanwu Gate Incident will become a joke.

Changsun Wuji originally wanted to support Li Zhi.

But given the current situation, there is no time to provide gradual support.

Maybe next year, maybe the year after.

This political struggle is about to come to an end.

Two years is not enough time for Li Zhi to develop.

Now, Changsun Wuji was forced by the five surnames and seven families to choose the crown prince.

Political struggles are sometimes so helpless and beyond our control.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I'm already making arrangements."

"Just to avoid suspicion, all the replacement work may not be fully completed until the middle of next year."

Changsun Wuji replied.

The Ministry of War was mainly under the charge of Zhangsun Wuji, the Shangshu You Pushe, and many of his confidants were also in the department.

After the prince reorganized Goryeo and conquered Silla and Baekje.

The best opportunity is to take action against the foundations of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats in Hebei, Hedong, and Henan on the way back to the capital.

Li Chengqian once thought so, and now Li Shimin and others can naturally guess it.

Why is it said that the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats are suspected of being a country within a country?

This is just like the Treaty of Chanyuan. Most of the city garrisons in these places are either members of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, or their in-laws.

The fact that the Eastern Turks were able to break through directly to the city of Chang'an once proved the control of the Five Surnames and Seven Families over these local cities.

Simply put, under normal circumstances, they would obey the imperial edict.

However, if the imperial edict conflicts with the interests of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, the imperial edict will be of little use.

Over the years, Li Shimin compromised with the aristocratic families and never argued with the Five Surnames and Seven Families in this regard.

It's not that we can't move, but once we move, the Tang Dynasty will be in turmoil, and it will cost the people a lot of money and resources.

The plate is too big, and many things cannot be done spontaneously.

Even though the Eastern Turks are gone, there are still the Western Turks, and there are many other tribes that are being eyed by other countries.

As long as they see that the Tang Dynasty lion is weak, they will rush up like wolves and can't wait to bite it.

Although the Central Plains seemed stable, in reality wars of all sizes on the borders had almost never stopped.

What Li Shimin asked Zhangsun Wuji to do now was to arrange some of his own people to join the soldiers defending the city within the influence area of ​​the Five Surnames and Seven Affiliations when the Ministry of War made transfers.

If the prince really launched a sweep against the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats, then these soldiers would be able to play a big role and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Li Shimin placed people and dispatched Zhao Jie and King of Han Li Yuanchang in preparation for the prince's next move.

Li Chengqian didn't actually say anything, but the tacit understanding between father and son regarding the situation was clearly visible at this moment.
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Goryeo, Pyongyang City.

Shenwu Palace.

Li Chengqian continued to reprint and approve the memorials submitted.

Many of these documents are various appointments for students who came from the Tang Dynasty.

It is relatively simple to arrange military officers such as county lieutenants and military marquises.

You don't need to be literate, as long as you understand some legal principles, you can do it.

However, the positions of county magistrate, chief clerk, and registrar could only be filled by scholars. Relatively speaking, the gap in the civil service was still very large.

Li Chengqian didn't care about so many things. As long as the students had been educated and had some achievements, he would recruit them and assign them to various places in Goryeo.

Even the power to appoint officials was shared by Su Dingfang, Chen Yunchao and Li Dejian during this special period.

The emperor's eldest grandson Li Xiang was in charge of Liaodong City, and Li Chengqian also gave him the power to appoint officials.

Anyway, do it as quickly as possible.

The examinations on character and knowledge will be put aside for the time being and will be improved step by step later.

Relatively speaking, Li Chengqian was relatively relaxed.

Because he didn't know any of these officials anyway.

"Your Highness, I was incompetent and let Yeon Gaesomun and his men escape."

After Su Dingfang returned, he reported to the prince somewhat helplessly.

"It's okay, just run away."

"Without the source of soldiers, he won't be able to achieve anything."

"As for the current Goryeo, even if there are some small actions, it is harmless. It is just a bandit."

Li Chengqian said indifferently.

The northern part is sparsely populated and has few resources; it is the territory of the Mohe tribe.

Although it is called a territory, in fact there is not even a city, which is equivalent to a nomadic people.

Yeon Gaesomun had a good relationship with the Mohe tribe, and the Mohe tribe had always relied on Goryeo for development.

Now that Goryeo has changed its ruler, will the Mohe people continue to support Yeon Gaesomun?

Only Yeon Gaesomun could experience the feeling of living under someone else's roof.

Moreover, even if the Mohe tribe continued to support Yeon Gaesomun, it would not matter much to Li Chengqian.

The entire Mohe tribe had a total population of only a few hundred thousand, and was made up of many tribes. They had few craftsmen and decent armaments.

Can such a barren land develop better than the present Goryeo?

It wasn't possible before, let alone now.

By the time Li Chengqian unified the Liaodong Peninsula, the Mohe tribe would be easily destroyed.

Su Dingfang did not continue to pursue because the area was vast and sparsely populated, and he did not bring much food. Moreover, it was freezing cold and it would be easy for him to suffer heavy losses.

According to maps of later generations, the territory of the Mohe people today is where the Heilongjiang River is located.

"The New Year is coming soon. I think Silla has almost finished its preparations these days."

"Li Dejian is already making arrangements, and I estimate it should be almost ready after the New Year."

"We need to know where their food and fodder are located and where their main forces are distributed."

"We will strive to capture Jincheng directly in the shortest possible time and take full control of Silla."

Li Chengqian gave the order.

To be honest, Li Chengqian didn't care whether Silla was truly loyal or not.

What about passing through Silla and destroying Baekje first? These are just empty words.

From the very beginning, Li Chengqian had no intention of skipping Silla to attack Baekje. Wouldn't this make the journey more difficult for the soldiers?

Besides, what credibility and loyalty does Silla have?

At the national level, who cares about these things?

Not to mention there is a certain possibility, even if it is a one in ten or one in a hundred chance, there is no need for Li Chengqian to gamble.

Simply sending troops directly to Silla would be against morality, so we need a legitimate reason.

In terms of having a legitimate reason to fight, the Han envoys were undoubtedly at the top of their time.

However, Li Chengqian did not intend to follow the example of the Han envoy and send someone to ask for death.

From the current intelligence, Li Chengqian knew that there was both opposition and support for the Tang Dynasty in Silla, and that it was not completely on the side of the Tang Dynasty.

So this is easier to deal with. If we put some pressure on them, someone will definitely stand up and join Baekje to betray us.

As long as he found this excuse, Li Chengqian could send troops directly on the pretext that Silla had betrayed him.

As for the evidence.

If you want to add a crime, there is nothing wrong with it.

Instruct Silla to prepare food and fodder and mobilize troops, so that they can better annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop instead of having to carry out sweeps everywhere.

Li Chengqian wanted to taste the sweetness he had tasted in Anshi City again.

Su Dingfang replied: "Please rest assured, Your Highness. I am also arranging people to investigate."

"There is one thing I would like to ask for your advice, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian asked: "What's the matter?"

Su Dingfang said: "It's about the current situation at the Silla border."

"Your Highness distributed land and reduced taxes, which made the people of nearby Silla covetous, so many people came to our side privately."

"In order to stop the people from fleeing, Silla secretly used its army as bandits to rob the fleeing people and force them to return."

"I think it might be able to scare a few people."

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "Silla is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Especially in this border area, the bandits are so brazen, it seems that they don't take me seriously."

"Go and pass on the message to Silla to immediately solve the bandit problem and not endanger the people of the Great Tang."

Su Dingfang couldn't help but ask: "What if they turn a blind eye to this? Your Highness, please give us instructions."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "If that's the case, General Su should arrange some people to help them and catch the bandits."

"Then we will say that the people here have also been harassed by bandits, and it must be their doing."

Su Dingfang smiled and replied, "I understand."

It's so easy to make excuses.

The more pressure we put on Silla, the more evidence we can find, making it more legitimate to send troops to Silla next year.

At least the people in the Tang Dynasty can't say much.

The news from Erfeng has now reached Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian just smiled at the actions of the five surnames and seven families.

Speaking of which, Li Chengqian should also thank the Five Surnames and Seven Families, because by doing this, they were pushing Erfeng to their side.

With Erfeng's personality, how could she let the Five Surnames and Seven Families succeed?

The coordination between Zhao Jie and Li Yuanchang is the best explanation.

Many things do not need to be said out loud. Just see how you do it and you will naturally understand them in your heart.

As the year was coming to an end, Silla arranged a team of envoys to come.

It was to send a beautiful girl to the prince.

There were more than thirty people in total.

The leader of the team this time is Silla's Holy Bone Kim Seung-man.

The main hall of Shenwu Palace.

Jin Shengman led twenty Silla maids and ten musicians to pay a visit.

These twenty Silla maids and musicians had impeccable appearance and manners.

However, when Li Chengqian took a look, he was attracted by Jin Shengman's pair of charming peach blossom eyes.

Her eyes are flashing and full of spring.

The sultry posture was faintly visible under the robe.

Peach blossom eyes, they look at dogs with deep affection.

Even among more than twenty top beauties from Silla, Kim Seung-man did not give in at all.

The fact that the word "beautiful and graceful" was recorded in the Records of the Three Kingdoms and the Annals of Silla is enough to show how beautiful Kim Seung-man was.

(End of this chapter)