My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 372 Cooperate with the Five Surnames and Seven Families?
The morning mist on Chang'an Zhuque Street had not yet dissipated when a clear horn suddenly tore through the sky.

The soldiers guarding the city gate rubbed their eyes and saw yellow dust rising from the official road in the distance. A postman was galloping towards them, breaking through the mist. The red silk ribbon tied to his horse's mane fluttered in the wind.

"Report the great victory in Hedong!"

The postman pulled the reins hard in front of the Vermillion Bird Gate, and the neighing of the pigeons startled the flock of pigeons under the eaves.

The Jinwu Guards on the city gate tower immediately knocked on the cloud board, and the deep sound spread to the imperial city like ripples.

The vendors who had just opened for the morning market stood there holding their scales, the Turkic woman selling Hubing dropped the dough in her hands to the ground with a thud, the waiter who was pouring tea in the teahouse forgot what to do while holding the copper kettle, and the whole street fell into a strange silence in an instant.

The news spread faster than the wind. When the first ray of sunlight climbed up the Chiwen of Hanyuan Hall in Daming Palace, the whole city of Chang'an was already boiling.

The wine shop owners in the East Market opened the sealed bottles of aged wine overnight, the Hu girls in Zuixianlou changed their pomegranate skirts for scarlet silk shirts symbolizing victory, and the sound of drums and music overflowed from the brothels and taverns in Pingkangfang.

The Sogdian merchants in the West Market raised their wine glasses and cheered. They knew that with the fall of the Western Turks, the caravans on the Silk Road would no longer suffer from looting, and camel caravans loaded with Persian carpets and Arab spices would soon pass through the Yumen Pass in an endless stream.

Inside the palace, green smoke curled up from the gilded incense burner.

The messenger was kneeling under the red steps, holding a brocade box containing the crown given by Ashina Yugu, Khan of the Western Turkic Khanate.

Li Shimin was in a good mood.

This meant that the Western Turks were destroyed and the entire grassland was under the control of the Tang Dynasty.

He became a veritable Heavenly Khan.

"Issue an order! Grant amnesty to the entire nation. A ceremony to present captives will be held at Suzaku Gate in three days!"

The historians wrote quickly, and before the ink had dried on the bamboo paper, the news had already been transmitted to various prefectures via the post roads.

On the day of the captive surrender, the streets of Chang'an were deserted. In the square in front of Danfeng Gate, the three-meter-high victory flag fluttered, and the white tiger totem embroidered on the flag seemed to be about to burst out in the sun.

Twelve chariots decorated with golden animal heads carried the treasures of Western Turkic Khaganate slowly past. Colored glass cups, luminous cups, and armor encrusted with rubies cast a psychedelic halo in the sunlight.

When the shackled Ashina Yugushe was escorted to Zhuque Street, the crowd erupted in thunderous curses.

When dusk falls, thousands of lanterns are lit in Taiji Palace.

The disciples of Liyuan played the newly composed "Pozhen Music". The dancers wore pheasant feathers on their heads and the silver bells around their waists jingled as they danced.

Li Shimin raised his luminous cup to salute the sky: "Today's achievement should be celebrated with the whole world!"

Wine was splashed on the white marble steps, and in the distance came the endless cheers of the people of Chang'an, as if even the weeds at the base of the city wall were swaying gently with the joy.

However, where some are happy, others are sad.

at the banquet.

Fang Xuanling looked at Changsun Wuji, raised his glass to signal him, and then asked, "Changsun Situ, why are you not happy?"

Chang Sun Wuji took a sip of wine and asked, "Is Lord Fang happy?"

Fang Xuanling sighed softly.

"The external threat has been resolved, but what about the internal worries?"

Changsun Wuji looked at Hu Ji who was dancing the Hu Xuan dance. Normally he liked these the most, but today he was not very interested.

"Your Majesty has restored the position of Right Jinwu Guard to the King of Jin. The Turkic incident originally involved the King of Wei."

"But a few days ago, the King of Wei entered the palace and testified against Cui Wenxin of the Qinghe Cui family, saying that he secretly colluded with the Turks and smuggled food and grass. He also used the Cui family's name to coerce and bribe the border generals."

"After your majesty has heard this, let the Prince of Jin go and get the person."

"Cui Wenxin committed suicide in his residence."

"Your Majesty was so angry that he ordered his body to be fed to the dogs."

After Fang Xuanling finished listening, he thought for a while and asked, "What does Changsun Situ think?"

It seems to be an irrelevant answer, but it actually goes straight to the point.

Your Majesty's punishment of Cui Wenxin means that you should let the matter of King Wei go lightly.

The Five Surnames and Seven Clans are doing a stable job, and there is no evidence that the King of Wei is colluding with the Turks.

Even if someone wants to spread the rumor, they will be stopped.

Even if this is the case, what can Your Majesty do with the Five Surnames and Seven Families?

After hundreds of years of development, the Five Surnames and Seven Families have formed a huge and stable political ecological chain.

They are intricately connected with the royal family, local vassal states, bureaucratic groups and other forces, and any move they make can have an impact on the entire system.

Even though Li Shimin was a powerful military, many key positions in the court were still held by the children of aristocratic families or their disciples. For example, among the core officials of the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel, nearly half were from the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan. If they were forcibly executed, it would not only cause government affairs to stagnate, but it would also likely cause collective panic among officials, and even some local forces would take the opportunity to rebel.

That is to say, the Qinghe Cui family used Cui Wenxin as a scapegoat, but how could the actions of one person represent the entire family?

Many things cannot be solved overnight.

Hedong Road, Hebei Road.

The foundation of the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

Once something unexpected happens, it will cause huge turmoil for the entire Tang Dynasty.

Changsun Situ was silent for a while, then said, "The prince did not make a move."

"He wouldn't be unaware of this."

Fang Xuanling nodded slightly.

The Crown Prince was certainly aware of the King of Wei's collusion with the Turks, but he did not make a fuss about it.

To do so, one must have greater ambitions.

Fang Xuanling sighed: "Although the prince is young, he is not arrogant. This means he doesn't want to fight with the King of Wei and the King of Jin."

Changsun Wuji also sighed.

If I don’t fight with the King of Wei and the King of Jin, then I will have to fight with Your Majesty.

The prince understood that he had to fight the King of Wei and the King of Jin no matter what.

So what if I win.

Your Majesty always puts it down gently and then balances it.

When Fang Xuanling said that the prince was young, he was also saying that Your Majesty was not old.

There can only be tit-for-tat relations between father and son.

Fang Xuanling sighed and said nothing more. He just raised his glass and drank with Changsun Wuji.

The current situation is complicated and troublesome, and no one knows how to choose.
-
Daming Palace.

This place was naturally a sea of ​​joy. Li Chengqian ordered a grand banquet.

Just in the back hall.

Li Chengqian summoned Du He, Zhao Jie, King of Han Li Yuanchang, and even Hou Junji and Li Anyan.

The Western Turks were destroyed and all the nations surrounding the Tang Dynasty submitted.

From then on, the Tang Dynasty was free from external pressure, at least for the time being.

The power struggle between the emperor and the prince was laid out in the open.

The problem now is how Li Chengqian is going to take power.

If it were any other emperor, there wouldn't be so much trouble and he could just charge directly at Xuanwu Gate.

But this is Li Shimin.

Li Shimin, who had been fighting with a stick for most of his life and ascended to power through the Xuanwu Gate, had his own core interest group.

To put it simply, it means that there is a large group of brothers who are fighting together to conquer the world.

It is easy to attack Xuanwu Gate, but difficult to take control of the court.

He rushed into Xuanwu Gate and imprisoned Li Shimin, making it impossible for him to command the world.

These ministers and soldiers did not want to surrender to the new emperor, but to restore the monarchy.

This is the most troublesome thing.

"The wolf flag of Western Turkic has fallen, but the wolf cubs in the palace have bared their fangs."

Hou Junji reached out and fiddled with the gilded animal-head incense burner on the table while speaking.

This refers to the King of Wei and the King of Jin.

Du He analyzed: "When the King of Wei testified against Cui Wenxin, I knew it was a plan to kill two birds with one stone. He used the blood of the five surnames and seven nobles to vent his own grievances and muddy the waters at the same time."

Zhao Jiehe said: "The King of Wei's plan may seem cruel, but it actually reveals his eagerness. If he really has no connection with the Five Surnames and Seven Families, why would he be so eager to associate himself with the Cui family?"

"The key point now is, why did your majesty send Prince Jin to arrest someone?"

Han Wang Li Yuanchang suddenly sneered, and the deerskin wine bag on his waist shook out the wine, leaving dark marks on the blue bricks: "Zhi Nu has always pretended to be loyal and honest. Your Majesty sent him to test Cui's depth and to warn the King of Wei."

"Our emperor is better at balancing things than anyone else. Just like a revolving lantern, he lets his sons fight each other while he sits firmly in the center and makes all the decisions."

Hou Junji slammed the table and said, "So we can no longer follow your majesty's chess path."

"What did your Majesty rely on to execute his brothers at Xuanwu Gate? It wasn't because of your reputation as a benevolent monarch, but because of the Xuanjia Army in your hands! Now, Prince, you are directly in charge of the Right Guard, but most of the generals of the Left Tunwei and Yulin Army are your Majesty's former subordinates."

He suddenly lowered his voice, and a rusty cruelty appeared in his voice.

"We must keep the imperial guards of Chang'an City in our hands, especially the commanders stationed at Xuanwu Gate."

Hou Junji is now the person who most hopes that the prince will rise up in rebellion, not to mention that he doesn't think that much.

Having spent several years in prison, he is now determined to have the prince ascend the throne.

Because only when the prince ascends the throne, all his previous sins will turn into merits.

As an old man who participated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Hou Junji believed that as long as the prince was ruthless enough, nothing would be a problem.

"How easy is that?" Li Anyan smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Your Majesty is very strict with the Imperial Guards. Last month, the new General Zuo Yu Lin was replaced by a former groom from the Prince of Qin's Palace! Those old generals only obey Your Majesty's orders, so how could they take the Crown Prince seriously?"

Zhao Jie suddenly said: "Don't forget, Prince, there are still the Five Surnames and Seven Families."

"Cui Zhiwen, the secretary of the Central Secretariat, is from the branch of the Boling Cui family. Lu Chengqing, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is from the Fanyang Lu family. Even Zheng Xuansu, the newly promoted deputy minister of the Dali Temple by Your Majesty, is a nephew of the Xingyang Zheng family."

"Although these people are not direct descendants, they are spread across the six ministries like a spider web. If we can get a handle on them, why worry that they will not serve us like dogs and horses?"

Hou Junji snorted coldly: "What kind of people are the Five Surnames and Seven Families? When your majesty pacified Luoyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang dared to embezzle the gold and silver from Wang Shichong's treasury! If you want to cooperate with them now, you are simply courting disaster!"

"Back then, Crown Prince Jiancheng wanted to win over the Shandong nobles, but he was beaten by Your Majesty without any chance to fight back. Is the Crown Prince going to repeat the same mistake?"

Hou Junji looked down upon these hypocrites the most. Each of them seemed to be well-read, but in fact they were full of evil.

Zhao Jie retorted: "Prince Jiancheng wants to use the power of the nobles to check and balance Your Majesty, but he forgets that the nobles only care about their own interests. Now we are not trying to win them over, but to make them have to rely on the prince."

"Cui has 3,000 private soldiers in Boling, Lu controls three horse ranches in Fanyang, and Wang has been operating an iron mine in Taiyuan for 20 years. If these forces can be used by the crown prince, they can block the local troops during the Xuanwu Gate Incident and stabilize the local prefectures and counties afterwards."

Li Anyan: "But this is like putting a knife to your own neck!"

Zhao Jie retorted: "The Five Clans want fame and status, and we want power. We just take what we need."

Du He suddenly poured a glass of cold wine in front of Zhao Jie: "Do you know what happened to He Jin when he led Dong Zhuo to the capital in the late Eastern Han Dynasty? If the Five Surnames can help us seize the throne, we can support other clans to replace them afterwards!"

Li Yuanchang said: "Emperor Wen of Sui was sidelined by the Guanlong nobles, which gave Emperor Yang an opportunity to take advantage of it!"

Du He shook his head and said, "Before Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he also relied on the disciples and former officials of the Yuan family of Runan to spread all over the country. The roots of the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan are deeper than we think. The Recorder of the Secretariat is a distant relative of the Zheng family of Xingyang. The Cang Cao Assistant of the Left Guard married a daughter of the Lu family of Fanyang. Even the chef of the Shangshi Bureau in the palace was inserted by the side branch of the Cui family of Boling."

Hou Junji suddenly slammed the table and stood up: "In the past, I followed Your Majesty to fight all over the world, and I saw too many sons of noble families who were afraid of fighting in battle!"

"The prince now has 30,000 Shenwu troops, plus my old subordinates, which is enough to control the imperial city."

"What happens after we take control of the imperial city?" Du He suddenly asked, pulling out a list from his sleeve. "Among the 24 departments of the Shangshu Province, 70% of the chief clerks are disciples of the five surnames. Without them, even official documents cannot be sent out of Chang'an City." He pointed to the names circled in red on the list. "Take this Wei Ting, for example. He seems to be an old subordinate of Guanlong, but he actually married the daughter of Wang from Taiyuan. Last year, he helped Lu to smooth the salt and iron tax."

Zhao Jie said, "Prince, please take a look - among the officials above the sixth rank in the Secretariat, 43 are disciples of the five surnames; and among the 24 chief clerks in the Shangshu Province, 70% are related to the nobles. If we can control the circulation of documents through their hands, when the Xuanwu Gate Uprising breaks out, your Majesty's imperial edict to support the king won't even be able to leave the Shangshu Province!"

Du He said, "Chao Cuo of the Han Dynasty died after reducing the power of the feudal lords, and Yu Liang of the Jin Dynasty caused chaos after conquering the vassal states. The Five Surnames and Seven Families have been intertwined for hundreds of years. When Your Majesty led the Black Armor Army to pacify Luoyang, he still gave some face to the Zheng family of Xingyang. Why does the prince think he can control these old foxes?"

Li Yuanchang took a sip of wine. "In my opinion, Du He is right. Two years ago, I was ordered to investigate Hebei's salt and iron industry. The Lu family dared to exchange 20 carts of private salt for official silver. They even dared to embezzle your majesty's money. Will they really help the prince?"

Li Chengqian snorted coldly: "Enough! When my father killed my brother to seize the throne, the Five Surnames and Seven Families stood by and watched; now that I want to start a rebellion, they suddenly want to pass me a ladder - where in the world can there be such a cheap deal?"

"The Five Surnames and Seven Families want to extend their claws into the Xuanwu Gate?" He suddenly sneered, rubbing his fingertips on the Xiezhi pattern on the jade belt buckle at his waist. "The legitimate daughter of Zheng family in Xingyang was once betrothed to Prince Jiancheng. When the head of Lu family in Fanyang opened the city of Luoyang to welcome the surrender, his boots were stained with Wang Shichong's blood. Their plan is to gain the credit of following the dragon in the new dynasty, but they forgot..."

"I'm not an uncle."

In fact, as long as Li Chengqian agrees, the Five Surnames and Seven Families will come forward on their own.

Before this, the Five Surnames and Seven Families had hinted many times that they were willing to abandon the King of Wei and follow the Crown Prince.

Even after years of suppression, the influence of the Five Surnames and Seven Families is still huge.

If Li Chengqian really cooperated with the Five Surnames and Seven Families, it would not be a big deal for him to ascend to the throne.

Zhao Jie's idea was that the prince should first rely on the power of the Five Surnames and Seven Families to ascend to the throne.

Once you become the emperor, will you still be afraid that you won’t have time to deal with the Five Surnames and Seven Families?

(End of this chapter)