My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 257 King Wei: Everything the prince has will be mine

Prince Wei's Mansion.

The news of Baekje's surrender soon reached Li Tai.

After hearing the news, water seemed to drip from Li Tai's gloomy face.

"How can the emperor be so partial to the prince?"

"Originally, we were only going to conquer Goryeo in the east, but now both Goryeo and Silla are in the hands of the crown prince."

"We also launched a new policy."

"That's fine, but the Crown Prince is already very powerful in Liaodong. If we can't stop the Baekje incident now, in the long run, when he becomes fully fledged, will we still have a place to stand?"

Li Tai's eyes were sinister: "No, we can't just sit there and wait for death."

Chai Lingwu coughed lightly and said slowly, "We can't rush this matter. His Majesty has already issued an order in the court. If we insist, it will only anger him. We have to act in a roundabout way and find a reason to make everyone think that handing Baekje over to the crown prince is full of hidden dangers."

"Besides, not many people know about Baekje's affairs. If we make the matter bigger, even His Majesty will not be able to control it."

"As long as His Majesty does not agree immediately, we still have hope."

The influence of the court officials is still very large. Li Tai stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and nodded: "Arrange a few censors with good reputations and ask them to find an opportunity to write a letter of impeachment. As long as the noise is big enough, the emperor will definitely reconsider."

"And that Buyeo Long, go and discuss a solution with him. It would be best if you could create some noise in Chang'an, so that Baekje's surrender to the Tang Dynasty would be highlighted."

Upon hearing this, Chai Lingwu suggested, "Perhaps we can publish the news of Baekje's surrender in the Chang'an Gazette."

Li Tai's eyes lit up: "Have you arranged for someone to join the court report?"

The Chang'an Gazette was created by the Crown Prince himself, and no one had the ability to interfere with its contents.

But now, the prince has been away from Chang'an for more than half a year. It is impossible for these editors in the Eastern Palace to be completely loyal to the prince. They will find loopholes by taking advantage of every opportunity, coercion and inducement.

Chai Lingwu replied: "We are worthy of the King of Wei's trust. Two editors have already contacted us secretly."

Li Tai's frown suddenly relaxed: "Okay, very good."

"If the prince knew that the official newspaper he created has now become a knife in our hands, I wonder what he would think."

"I really want to see what he looks like when he knows about this."

It’s exciting to think about using the prince’s things to deal with the prince.

"By the way, is there any progress at the coal factory?"

Speaking of this topic, Li Tai asked again.

Li Tai wanted not only the court reports, but everything that belonged to the prince.

What they want most is naturally Thunderbolt, besides that, there is the coal plant which brings huge income.

Chai Lingwu lowered his head slightly and said, "This situation has not spread yet. Most of the prince's coal mines are located in places where few people go, and they are not under the jurisdiction of the local government."

"Besides, most of the income now does not go to the East Palace, but goes to His Majesty."

"It would be very troublesome for our people to intervene."

The management model of the coal plant is more like that of later state-owned enterprises, with its own independent set of rules and regulations.

Because the Tang Dynasty opened up salt and iron to private operation, the coal factories could not be supervised by the government.

In addition to the commercial tax exemption policy and the fact that it is the prince's industry, it has no dealings with the government in terms of taxation.

Moreover, the coal factory was basically full of workers and craftsmen, which made Chai Lingwu feel like he had no idea where to start.

Although the Crown Prince is not in the Tang Dynasty, His Majesty is keeping a close eye on him.

There are also two main leaders: King of Han Li Yuanchang and Zhao Jie.

Hearing this, Li Tai frowned slightly: "Forget it, it's just a little money. As long as I can succeed in my bid for the throne, all of this will belong to me in the future."

"Tell the Five Clans and Seven Nobles about Baekje's affairs, and ask them to contribute and make it happen as soon as possible, so that the crown prince won't get the news."

Chai Lingwu bowed and said, "Yes, King Wei."
-
Shan Yao, the woman who thought she was the daughter of the flying general Shan Xiongxin.

In recent days, I have been practicing martial arts hard.

But every time I think of the scene I saw at Qujiang Lake and the prince's powerful archery skills, I feel weak all over.

Will she ever really get her revenge?

Even if the prince stood in front of her, could she assassinate him?

With such archery skills, his martial arts skills must not be too bad, and he is also born with supernatural powers.

Shan Yao was a little hesitant, afraid that the prince could easily deal with her with just one hand.

If he couldn’t even assassinate the crown prince, how could he assassinate Li Shimin?
Just when she was feeling troubled and depressed, Shan Yao heard a commotion in the front yard.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and went out to take a look.

There was a lively scene in the front yard, with about a dozen people gathered together, as if there was some happy event.

Shan Yao walked forward curiously.

Chen Ming had sharp eyes, and when he saw Shan Yao coming over, he quickly greeted her, "Miss."

Shan Yao asked with some doubt: "Uncle Chen, is there any good news?"

Uncle Chen smiled and replied, "Of course there is good news. It's your brother Shi Hong who has replied to the letter. He is now in Gaoli, oh, now I should say Liaozhou Mountain City, and has been promoted by the prince to county magistrate."

"This letter is about wanting to take us all over to live in Liaodong."

"It also said that the land in Liaodong is barren and there is a shortage of manpower. The prince has prepared a large number of people to open up the wasteland and cultivate the fields. Anyone who goes there can be exempted from taxes for two years."

When he said this, Chen Ming became a little excited.

"The most important thing is that the crown prince has said that for the reclamation of the Liaodong land, regardless of the grade of the reclaimed land, the family can get 30% of it, and it will be registered and issued with land deeds after evaluation by the government."

Shan Yao was startled and said subconsciously: "This is not a lie."

Strictly speaking, I was scared twice.

The first one is Shi Hong, Uncle Shi’s son, who is only a few years older than Shan Yao.

Uncle Shi dreamed of becoming a scholar, but unfortunately he had no chance, so he sent his son to school. He passed the most basic imperial examination, but had no manuscript and could not get a recommendation, so he was never able to take the imperial examination.

Shan Yao had also heard about Shi Hong's trip to Liaodong, but she felt that it was not a good thing. After all, the prince was not a good person.

But I didn’t expect that in less than half a year, he became a county magistrate?
This is the county magistrate, an official, and a high-ranking official in charge of a piece of land.

It sounded like a fairy tale to Shan Yao.

The next step is to reclaim wasteland.

You must know that no matter which dynasty it was, the law declared that all land in the world belonged to the country.

The fertile land that has been reclaimed must be registered and brought into the hands of the government. How can it be given to private individuals?

But now the prince said that 30% would be privately owned, and he would also issue land deeds.

This practice is simply too exaggerated.

Does it mean that if you reclaim 100 acres of land, you can get 30 acres for yourself?

What if we reclaim one thousand acres of land, that would be three hundred acres?
"Your brother Shi Hong wrote this letter specially, how could it be false? He is already the county magistrate."

"The letter also said that we should go there as soon as possible. The prince's approach has a time limit. It said that it will be implemented this year and the results will be observed next year. If too much land is reclaimed, no one can say whether the land reclaimed next year can be kept by ourselves."

"Shi Hong said that he has left thousands of acres of good farmland for us. If we can open it up, we can get 300 acres."

"This is just the basics. If you are more skillful, you may be able to open more."

This might be the time when Uncle Chen was the most eloquent in his life.

He spoke very fast, his eyes were full of expectation, and his whole spirit was different. Not only Chen Ming, but also the people around him, their eyes were shining, and they couldn't wait to set off immediately.

Shan Yao opened her lips slightly, wanting to say something, but swallowed her words back.

She wanted to ask what would happen if everyone left and then the assassination of the emperor would be carried out.

And that mysterious man, will he target them?

Of course, if they really went to Liaodong, the mysterious man probably wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. After all, that was the prince’s territory, and the aristocratic families in the Central Plains wouldn’t dare to act wildly in the prince’s territory.

What's more, Brother Shi Hong is the county magistrate there. With Brother Shi Hong's protection, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Just, just.

What about my father’s great revenge?

Not reporting it anymore?

When Chen Ming saw Shan Yao's expression, he suddenly remembered something.

He was surprised by the news at first, and he had never thought about revenge or anything like that. After all, it was all fake and he was just doing it for a living.

Now that there is a better opportunity, everyone naturally wants to go.

But Shan Yao.

Chen Ming's mind raced, and he immediately came up with an idea.

"Miss, please take a moment to speak."

Shan Yao followed Uncle Chen and came to the side.

Chen Ming asked, "Miss, are you worried about revenge?"

Shan Yao turned her head to glance at the still happy crowd and nodded slightly.

Chen Ming asked, "Who do you think should be avenged, Miss?"

Shan Yao's expression was stern: "Of course it's that dog emperor."

Chen Ming asked again: "What about the prince?"

Shan Yao hesitated slightly: "He deserves to die."

Chen Ming shook his head slightly: "The disaster will not affect my family. When the general was defeated, there was no reason to kill them all."

"Besides, the current prince is really good to the people."

"If the prince becomes emperor, it will be a blessing for the people of the world."

Shan Yao frowned slightly: "What do you mean by that, Uncle Chen?"

Chen Ming said: "There are some things that you may not know. According to some secret information, the prince may be preparing to rebel."

Shan Yao was a little confused: "This is a rumor, right? He is the crown prince, how can he rebel against his own family?"

Chen Ming said: "There is no father-son or brother-brother conflict in the fight for the throne. Since ancient times, there have been many cases of fathers and sons killing each other and brothers killing each other for the throne."

"It is well known that the dog emperor favors the King of Wei. Now that the prince has troops and territory, it is no big deal for him to rebel."

Shan Yao was a little confused: "But what does this have to do with our revenge."

Chen Ming explained: "Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. Our enemy is the dog emperor, so naturally we should not involve other innocent people."

"But it is so difficult to kill the dog emperor. The imperial guards are very strict. With so few of us, I am afraid it will be difficult to accomplish it in this lifetime."

"It's been so many years, and we're getting old. We don't have much time to wait any longer."

"Now, there is an opportunity."

"Miss, think about it, if the prince raises an army to rebel and finally pulls the dog emperor off the throne, won't it be our chance for revenge?"

Shan Yao felt that her brain was a little confused.

I always feel like something is wrong, but I can't put my finger on it.

Chen Ming continued: "So, when we went to Liaodong, we were still on the road of revenge, but in a different way."

"Perhaps we can help the prince and instigate a rebellion, causing them to kill each other. This would also be revenge for the general, wouldn't it?"

"As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. To help the prince is to deal with the dog emperor."

Shan Yao was silent.

It seems that there is some truth in this.

It's better than wasting time in Chang'an.

Besides, by going to Liaodong, in addition to revenge, everyone seems to be able to live a good life without having to worry about anything, killing two birds with one stone.

It’s just that everyone goes to reclaim wasteland for the prince. Is this helping the prince?

Why do I feel so unreliable?

Chen Ming also knew that what he said seemed to be self-consistent, but in fact it could not stand up to scrutiny.

After some time, the young lady will figure it out.

Fortunately, he still has a backup plan.

"Recently, I got a message from someone over there that the crown prince of Baekje came to Chang'an and wanted to surrender to the dog emperor."

"Originally, the crown prince wanted to attack Baekje and take it under his control. If Baekje surrenders to the imperial court first, the crown prince might lose his reputation."

"This is our chance. Perhaps we can pass this news to the Crown Prince so that he can prepare early."

Shan Yao nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and asked, "It would be best to tell Brother Shi Hong about this news, and then have him tell the Crown Prince. This will also be beneficial to his career in Liaodong."

Chen Ming shook his head slightly and said, "I think it would be better for the young lady to go there in person."

"If the eldest lady goes to tell the prince in person, she may still have a chance to stay with the prince."

Shan Yao couldn't help but ask: "How can I meet the prince?"

But not everyone can meet the prince. Even Shi Hong, who is the county magistrate, is not qualified to meet the prince.

Chen Ming continued: "Right now, there is an opportunity."

"Miss, you have heard of the prince's eunuch, right? There is also the Roman princess who was very famous in Chang'an City before."

Shan Yao nodded.

The Prince's eunuch is very famous in Chang'an.

He was just a eunuch in the Eastern Palace, but once he left the Eastern Palace, everyone in Chang'an who saw him would call him Eunuch Wen.

The matter of the Roman princess was very popular in Chang'an before.

But to be favored by the Crown Prince is the dream of many women in Chang'an.

Especially after the Qingyu'an Lantern Festival, the prince had become the dream lover of almost all the unmarried ladies.

The same is true for those who are already married.

Chen Ming said: "They gave them a mission, saying that this eunuch Wen and the Roman princess, under the instruction of the Crown Princess, secretly went to Liaodong, and asked them to intercept and kill them."

Shan Yao understood a little: "What does Uncle Chen mean?"

Chen Ming said: "Those people acted closely. It must be not just us who received this mission, there are others as well."

"If the young lady could save Eunuch Wen and Princess Roman during the assassination attempt, would she still worry about not having the chance to meet the crown prince?"

(End of this chapter)