My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 335: The prince only has one thousand, King Wei, do you want two thousand?

After some thought, Li Zhi did not go to find Mei Niang this time, but agreed to Chai Lingwu's proposal.

Alliance with King Wei.

The reason why he was so direct and decisive was because Li Zhi had realized that this was not a question of positioning anymore.

Now that my father is seriously ill, once my elder brother enters the city and takes control of the court situation, the position of crown prince will have nothing to do with him in the future.

Therefore, unless one directly surrenders to the prince, the prince must be captured at this time.

With one thousand soldiers and horses, this is when the prince is at his most vulnerable.

the other side.

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, and Chu Suiliang were also discussing the matter.

One of them is the possible impact that will be brought about by the prince entering the city.

Although the prince had been regent for many years and was experienced in this regard, the situation at the moment was completely different.

The current prince is completely different from the previous prince.

The prince used to be very obedient, but is he still obedient now?

"How is His Majesty's condition?"

Fang Xuanling asked with a frown.

Although he is an important minister, the only one who can come into contact with His Majesty at this time is Changsun Wuji.

This has nothing to do with merit, it’s mainly because of identity.

"The imperial physician said that His Majesty's condition is improving and he may wake up in the next two days."

Changsun Wuji's tone relaxed a little.

As long as Your Majesty wakes up, the problem ahead will not be too big.

Chu Suiliang pondered for a while after hearing this, and suggested: "The prince's entry into the city is also a big event, can it be delayed for a day or two?"

After hearing this, several people felt that there was some truth in it.

If we can delay it for two or three days until His Majesty wakes up, this matter will be much easier to handle and they won't be under so much pressure.

They all came from Xuanwu Gate, and no matter what, they have always stood on Your Majesty's side.

Besides, His Majesty is still young, and even though he is seriously ill, he can just get through it.

"Please ask Duke Wei to go and give us some advice."

Fang Xuanling thought for a moment, then bowed to Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng has a good relationship with the prince, so he is the most suitable person to go.

Wei Zheng was somewhat reluctant, but if he did, wouldn't that be betraying His Majesty and standing in the Prince's place?
"Okay, I'll try."

"But the prince is smart and may not agree."

Several people felt that the possibility was not high, but how would they know if they didn't try?

Chu Suiliang bowed and said, "Thank you, Lord Wei."

Wei Zheng was not vague and immediately went out of the city to talk to the prince.

Military camp outside the city.

Hearing this, Li Chengqian sneered, "What do you mean, Lord Wei? My father is seriously ill and unconscious, and I, the crown prince, still need to find an auspicious day to enter the city and supervise the country?"

"Is this the regent or the successor?"

"Or maybe there is some conspiracy in the court. Is there any other hidden reason behind my father's illness?"

Hearing the prince's questioning, Wei Zheng was speechless.

But it's just a try, so it doesn't matter if the prince doesn't agree.

"When does the prince wish to enter the city?"

"Of course the sooner the better, and the best time is now."

Wei Zheng hesitated and said, "How about tomorrow?"

Li Chengqian did not hesitate any longer: "Okay, then we will enter the city tomorrow."

Not long after Wei Zheng left.

Su Dingfang came to report: "Your Highness, Prince Consort Du in the city has sent news that Lu Tong has agreed to support Your Highness and seize the city gate."

Li Chengqian nodded, but was not too surprised.

This was what he expected.

Lu Tong was a person who was very good at judging the situation. Moreover, since he had helped him do something against the rules back then, he had already been labeled as the crown prince.

Now, his chances of winning are very high. He just needs to take advantage of Li Shimin's unconsciousness and enter the court to control the situation.

That would naturally be just like what Li Shimin did before, ascending the throne.

"How many people have been arranged at Furong Garden?"

Li Chengqian turned and asked.

Furong Garden, it was there that Li Chengqian was assassinated by Goryeo warriors.

The Goryeo warriors at that time took the secret passage of Qujiang Lake and secretly hid in Furong Garden.

After the assassination, Furong Garden fell into the hands of Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian did not bury the secret passage directly, but rebuilt it and readjusted the entrance and exit of the secret passage.

In fact, I didn't expect this to happen today, but it can be used.

"Two thousand elite soldiers. If there are more, it will be easy to be exposed."

Su Dingfang replied.

This secret passage is not meant to accommodate as many people as possible.

The key is to hide inside.

The space inside the secret passage has determined that only so many people can be hidden.

Ever since the Crown Prince went on the Eastern Expedition, he was still nominally managing Furong Garden, but in reality, he was no longer under its control.

Fortunately, the secret passage has been covered up, so we just need to hide it first.

"Two thousand people are enough."

There are a thousand people on my side, plus these three thousand, making a total of four thousand.

Lu Tong can probably mobilize two to three thousand people.

That’s about six or seven thousand people.

It won't be a problem to seize the city gate by surprise.

Even if Lu Tong's people don't come, three thousand people are enough.
-
in the city.

Cui Mansion.

The construction of Furong Garden was originally designed by Cui Wensheng.

As the eldest son, Cui Shengyu came to Chang'an later and was not very clear about this matter, but his confidant Cui Fu always remembered it.

"Sir, the secret passage in Hibiscus Garden was built by our Cui family when it was built. The prince did not fill it up after renovating the garden, so it is very likely to be kept for important use. Now the prince only brought a thousand soldiers into the city, and this secret passage may be his hidden special force."

The teacup in Cui Shengyu's hand trembled slightly. He looked up at Cui Fu, his eyes full of thought: "Is the news reliable? This is of great importance."

Cui Fu nodded vigorously, his expression firm: "It is absolutely true. Not many people know about this secret passage. I learned about it from the old craftsmen who participated in the construction. It is absolutely reliable. The prince is in the city to supervise the country this time. The situation is delicate. This secret passage may be the key."

Cui Shengyu put down his teacup, stood up and paced: "This is a tricky situation! From the perspective of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, it is most beneficial for us to support the King of Wei to ascend to the throne. The King of Wei is well-known for his talent and his meticulous mind. If he ascends the throne, it goes without saying that he will rely on our family."

"But now the crown prince... although he only brought a thousand soldiers into the city, he has been the regent for many years and has a deep foundation. Once he takes control of the court, I'm afraid our previous support for the King of Wei will be settled."

Cui Fu looked at his son, hesitated for a moment and then said, "Sir, in my opinion, it is a foregone conclusion that the crown prince will enter the city to supervise the country. His Majesty is in a coma, and the ministers are leaderless. For the sake of stability in the court, we agreed to let him bring in only a small number of troops."

"But once the prince enters the city, it will be easy for him to seize power in the court with his means."

"If we try to stop him now, we won't stand a chance of success. We might as well... do him a favor. If the prince wins in the end, considering that we are showing goodwill at this time, he might show some leniency to the Cui family of Qinghe."

“After all, our Qinghe Cui family has extensive connections, so the Crown Prince has to be cautious.

Cui Shengyu stopped and looked into the distance: "You have a point. The crown prince has rich experience in supervising the country and has prestige in the army. If there are a few thousand more soldiers, it will not be easy." Cui Fu hesitated and said: "Sir, do you mean to tell the King of Wei about this?"

Cui Shengyu was silent.

After a long while, he said, "Go away. Let's not talk about today's matter for now."

Cui Fu cupped his hands and said, "Yes, sir."

In the current delicate situation, Cui Shengyu doesn't want Qinghe Cui to be the first to take action again.

When people talk about the Five Surnames and Seven Families, the first one that comes to mind is the Cui family of Qinghe.

The tree catches the wind.

Regardless of whether the prince had any arrangements for the secret passage in Furong Garden or had other plans, Cui Shengyu did not want to get involved.

It ruined the prince's plan. It would have been better if the prince had failed.

My worry is that the prince will win in the end.

That means there is no face at all.

Once the prince ascends the throne, it would be more trouble than gain to target the Qinghe Cui family.

Aristocratic family inheritance never cares about a single dynasty, and one cannot directly fight against the monarch.

Even if we lose power this day, as long as the foundation is still there, it will be there for the next generation and the next generation.

This is the ancestral precept that has been passed down by the Qinghe Cui family.
-
Prince Wei's Mansion.

"I will teach this old bastard Li Jing a lesson in the future."

Li Tai was very angry, so he overturned the table again.

Chai Lingwu and Fang Yiai were used to this.

Even the servants looked calm, and cleaned up in an orderly and skilled manner.

After suffering losses at the hands of Li Zhi, Li Tai discovered that the Wei Wang Party, which he relied on for its great power, was actually so fragile.

At first, Li Zhi was timid in front of him, so you dared not say a word.

But now, we can use the Right Jinwu Guard to directly suppress them.

Li Tai realized the importance of having soldiers in his hands.

Before this, when they marched eastward to attack Goryeo, the crown prince had 5,000 soldiers and he also had 5,000 soldiers.

At this moment, these five thousand soldiers are under the control of Li Jing.

Li Tai was thinking, if he could take the troops back temporarily, he could become tougher.

So he sent someone to tell Li Jing.

Those soldiers are all from noble families. As long as Li Jing does not stop them, they will naturally obey the orders of the King of Wei.

However, Li Jing sternly refused.

So Li Tai simply went there in person. As a prince, he had to give face.

Even if we can't have 5,000 people, 2,000 will do.

Unexpectedly, Li Jing said, "The prince entered the city with only a thousand men, but the King of Wei wanted two thousand men. What do you want?"

Li Tai was immediately angry.

And now there is the scene of overturning the table.

At this time, a spy came to report.

"According to the order of the King of Wei, I have been keeping an eye on Lu Tong. Last night, I discovered that a mysterious person visited him late at night. After identification, I found that this person was the son-in-law Du He."

Li Tai was surprised: "But it can be confirmed."

The spy said confidently: "I have seen Prince Consort Du, it must be Prince Consort Du."

Li Tai sneered: "Humph, this young slave is nothing more than this."

Chai Lingwu said: "This Du He is the prince's confidant. His late night visit to Lu Tong may not be that simple. Lu Tong is now in charge of the Right Jinwu Guard and has military power. If he secretly colludes with the prince, it will be very disadvantageous to us."

Li Tai nodded slightly, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes: "How could this king not know this? This Lu Tong is fickle. He defected to the King of Jin before, which made my plan for the Right Jinwu Guard fail. Now Du He went to find him, it must be that the prince wanted to instigate Lu Tong to rebel and let him be an insider in the city."

Chai Lingwu said, "In my opinion, we might as well take advantage of the situation. Since we know that Du He went to see Lu Tong, we can send someone to reveal this news to the King of Jin. On the one hand, it will make the King of Jin suspicious of Lu Tong and destroy the trust between them; on the other hand, it can also show our sincerity to the alliance. After all, the Crown Prince is at the gates, and we still have to stick together."

"In this case, whether Lu Tong surrenders to the crown prince or not will not have much impact."

Li Tai nodded and said, "Okay, quickly arrange for someone to deliver the message."

The news that the prince will enter the city tomorrow has spread. After all, everyone is paying close attention to it.

This point in time is also very urgent.

Li Tai does not have many troops, so he still has to rely on Li Zhi to deal with the prince who enters the city.

If something went wrong with Lu Tong and things went wrong, he would be the one who suffered the most.

Soon, a messenger rode at full speed towards the residence of the General of the Right Jinwu Guard.

At this time, Prince of Jin Li Zhi was in the study, sitting opposite Li Yifu. Both of them had serious expressions as they discussed strategies to deal with the crown prince.

It is not an easy task to take action against the prince by force this time.

To put it more seriously, it is considered an insubordination.

But if I don’t do this at this point in time, I’m afraid I won’t have another chance in the future.

At this time, the servant came to report.

The King of Wei sent a secret letter.

Li Zhi took the secret letter and felt confused. He opened the envelope, took out the letter, and his face instantly became gloomy.

After reading the letter, he slammed the letter on the table and said angrily: "Lu Tong, this old man, actually dared to collude with the prince behind my back! Yifu, take a look at this letter."

Li Yifu picked up the letter, glanced through it quickly, frowned slightly and said, "Prince Jin, this matter is indeed tricky. Du He's late-night visit to Lu Tong is indeed suspicious."

"However, is it too hasty to conclude that Lu Tong has betrayed us based on this alone? Perhaps there is another hidden story."

Li Zhi snorted coldly: "What else is going on? Who is Du He? He is the crown prince's confidant. What good can come of him going to Lu Tong?"

"I trusted Lu Tong so much before and let him control the Right Golden Guard, but I didn't expect him to do such a thing!"

Li Yifu hesitated for a moment and said nothing more.

Because the current situation does not allow for any changes, it doesn't matter whether Lu Tong agrees to join the prince or not.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the prince’s plan to sow discord or not.

King Jin couldn't afford the gamble.

If he really surrendered to the prince and then turned against him in the middle of a battle, he would be in big trouble.

Li Yifu thought for a moment and said, "But Lu Tong has quite a few people under his command. If we act rashly, we might alert the enemy and cause some trouble."

Li Zhi said coldly: "You go and discuss the important matters with him, and ask him to come to the palace to discuss the matter."

"I have arranged an ambush, waiting for Lu Tong to enter the mansion and immediately capturing him."

This was the method that Lu Tong had used before to deal with the Wei Wang party.

Now Li Zhi used Lu Tong again.

Even without Lu Tong, Li Zhi was still very confident that he could deal with the prince's one thousand soldiers.

The Wei Wang party members were removed earlier and replaced by their own people.

It is not a problem to mobilize five or six thousand people from the Right Jinwu Guard now.

Besides, it shouldn't be a problem for the King of Wei to gather 800 people.

With 6,700 people, victory is assured.

Not long after, Lu Tong, who received the order from King Jin, followed Li Yifu here.

At this moment, Lu Tong didn't think much about it and didn't know that he had been exposed.

When he saw that there was no one else in the yard, he began to panic.

Li Zhi said calmly: "Take it down."

(End of this chapter)