My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 382 The Crown Prince's Secret Move

Li Zhi left in disgrace.

He never expected that his father would be so partial to the prince.

That’s right, in his opinion, the reason why his father didn’t care was entirely because of the crown prince.

Wei Zheng was just a minister. No matter how good the relationship was, he must be punished for saying such things, otherwise where would the royal dignity be.

But this time, my father really didn't want to act at all.

Watch Li Zhi leave.

Li Shimin's expression gradually faded.

In fact, he knew in his heart that Wei Zheng's advice was correct, but it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

After having enough money, he couldn't go back to his previous simple life.

The matter of the coal factory gave Li Shimin a good excuse. The money was the royal treasury, and according to common sense, how he spent it was his own business.

The national treasury is now very full and there is no major deficit. In this case, why not enjoy it a little?

Wei Zheng let him complain a few words.

In the early years at the court, he didn't give any face at all. Now, his drunken remarks are nothing.

Chang'an City, Buzhengfang.

As soon as Li Chengqian's prince's order came, the Jinwu Guards here suddenly looked confused and hesitant.

But soon there was no time to hesitate, because General Jinwu Lu Tong came in person.

Wang Shun was just a subordinate General of the Central Army. Facing Lu Tong, the General of the Imperial Guards, he wanted to resist but did not dare to.

"General Lu, the King of Jin personally led a team to arrest Wei Zheng. Please..."

Before Wang Shun could finish his words, Lu Tong slapped him in the face.

The loud slapping sound made the Jinwu Guards look at each other in bewilderment.

Lu Tong was timid in front of the prince, but as a general in the Jinwu Guard, his authority was unquestionable.

"roll!"

There was a loud shout, so powerful that everyone was frightened.

Wang Shun subconsciously stepped aside and dared not to stop him.

He was just a subordinate of the Right Jinwu Guard, the General of the Left Guard. In terms of rank, he was far inferior to the General of the Left Guard.

Lu Tong was his superior's superior, spanning two major levels.

It is true that behind Wang Shun stood the Prince of Jin, but behind Lu Tong stood the Crown Prince.

Lu Tong glanced at the many Jinwu Guards calmly and said, "I am here on the orders of the Crown Prince. If you do not respect the orders of the Crown Prince, are you planning to rebel?"

The Jinwu Guards were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and shouted that they dared not.

Lu Tong's tone softened a little: "We are all brothers of the Jinwu Guard. Don't think that just because you follow the King of Jin, you can look down on the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince has ordered you to die. How dare the King of Jin stop you?"

"Don't think that I am using my power to oppress others. In fact, I am saving your lives."

These two sentences of explanation immediately earned the gratitude of many Jinwu Guards.

The struggles among the upper classes are so terrifying that sometimes, if you are not careful, you will become a victim.

If the prince really blames them, will the prince of Jin be able to save them?

Everyone knew that the Prince of Jin could only watch and would not completely fall out with the Crown Prince for them.

"Okay, take me to pick up Duke Wei from prison."

This time everyone was much more enthusiastic and hurried to lead the way for Lu Tong.

Wang Shun, who was originally the General of the Central Army, lost all his prestige after this blow.

It was obvious that his subordinates were extremely dissatisfied with Wang Shun.

It was Wang Shun who dragged them into the royal struggle.

The Jinwu Guard’s cell is relatively clean.

Or perhaps Wei Zheng's cell was pretty decent.

After all, Wei Zheng had a reputation, and after Li Zhi captured him, he also ordered that no bullying should be allowed.

At this moment, Wei Zheng was naturally sober and felt very regretful for his drunken words.

At the same time, I felt a little uneasy.

I don’t know what will happen next.

At this time, Lu Tong came over with a group of people.

"I am sorry for causing you so much trouble. I am late, please forgive me."

Lu Tong looked guilty, and the Jinwu Guard beside him quickly took out the key and opened the prison door.

"This is."

Wei Zheng was still a little confused and looked a little bewildered.

Lu Tong hurriedly whispered: "When the Crown Prince learned of this, he immediately issued an order and ordered me to take Duke Wei home."

Wei Zheng was stunned, and immediately understood the whole story.

He was immediately moved and said, "It is me who has caused trouble for the prince."

It has been about an hour since he was caught.

The person who arrested him was the Prince of Jin. Wei Zheng knew very well that the Prince of Jin wanted to use this to strike a blow against the Crown Prince. He never expected that the Crown Prince would rescue him so quickly.

"It's late at night, Lord Wei should go back and rest early."

"I have to attend the morning court tomorrow."

Lu Tong said comfortingly that his mission had been completed.

It would be best to send Wei Zheng home as soon as possible to avoid any further complications.

I don't know whether the King of Jin will take any action, or whether the King of Wei will intervene after getting the news.

In fact, what Lu Tong was most worried about was the attitude of His Majesty. If His Majesty still held a grudge against Wei Zheng's drunken words, there might be a new imperial edict.

At that time, the prince's orders would conflict with the emperor's edict, and he would be caught in the middle and be in a dilemma.

But if Wei Zheng goes back, and Your Majesty issues an imperial decree to come again, it will have little to do with him.

It depends on how the prince responds.

Wei Zheng nodded and strode out of the cell.

Obviously, Lu Tong's worries were unnecessary, as nothing unusual happened until late at night.

However, I heard that Prince Jin had come out of the palace and returned to the residence of the General of the Right Jinwu Guard.

But there was no movement at all, as if leading the team to arrest people before had nothing to do with him.

Little did they know that this was the residence of the General of the Right Jinwu Guard.

Li Zhi was furious.

This was the first time he lost his temper like this.

The candlelight flickered and the desk was in a mess. Li Zhi threw the jade paperweight at the bronze animal-head candlestick, and the gilded fragments splashed on Li Yifu's moon-white robe.

Li Zhi kicked over the Hu stool, and the jade belt buckle hit the edge of the table with a sound.

"It was clearly Wei Zheng who was drunk and spoke recklessly, but Father only said 'drunk talk'!"

"Wei Zheng is just relying on the power of the prince's cronies, but my father doesn't even bother to give me respect!"

Li Zhi felt that he was not a legitimate son, but a bastard's son.

My father dotes on the Prince of Wei and the Crown Prince too much, and it seems like he doesn't care about my feelings at all.

Li Yifu's mood was even more complicated. He and the King of Jin were planning to seize the throne, but now the King of Jin seemed to have no favor in front of His Majesty. It couldn't be said that there was no favor at all, after all, the King of Jin had been restored to the position of the General of the Right Jinwu Guard.

However, anyone with a discerning eye knew that restoring the position of Prince Jin was only to better suppress the Crown Prince.

Just suppress it, Li Zhi accepted it.

But why did he attack Wei Zheng? Logically, this was in line with his father's wishes, but why did he treat him like this?

Left and right became his right and wrong.

"Perhaps your majesty feels sorry for Wei Zheng."

Li Yifu said comfortingly.

"He feels sorry for Wei Zheng? What about me? I personally led the Jinwu Guards to arrest people, and the entire court was watching! Now that the Crown Prince has issued an order, that old dog Lu Tong slapped my General of the Household in the street! This is not a slap in my face, it's a gouge out of my father's eyes!"

Li Zhi now hated Lu Tong very much and regretted having accepted him before.

I originally thought that he would become one of our own, but who would have thought that as soon as the prince returned to the city, this bastard would immediately come up to me, wagging its tail, and now he won't even give me the slightest bit of face.

Wang Shun is his man, so he has to give face to the Buddha instead of the monk. However, Lu Tong did not give him any face at all, making Wang Shun lose face, which also made him lose face.

Li Zhi wanted to take action to comfort the people after what happened in Buzhengfang Prison, but he didn't know how.

At the same time, I was also worried that the prince would have some concerns.

Since we failed to strike the prince this time, he will definitely fight back.

This made Li Zhi a little worried and scared.

If I had known this would happen, I would not have arrested Wei Zheng.

Seeing that Prince Jin was somewhat depressed, Li Yifu asked, "Prince Jin, have you ever thought about why His Majesty indulges the Crown Prince only at this time?"

Li Zhi didn't even turn his head: "It's because the prince holds a large number of troops!"

Li Yifu suddenly raised his voice and said firmly: "No, it's because Your Majesty is afraid."

Li Zhi turned his head sharply and looked at Li Yifu: "What did you say?"

Li Yifu said slowly: "When the prince built the Daming Palace, he built many secret workshops and guarded them heavily. You can often hear the sound of metal and stone."

"They must be secretly building more artillery and gunpowder, hoping to change the world."

"The walls of Xuanwu Gate are indeed strong and the soldiers are elite, but what can we do if artillery fire falls from the sky? How can a human body withstand the thunder and fire?"

"Just like Tongguan, even though Li Weigong was guarding it and his soldiers were fighting for their lives, how could they stop the artillery fire that was like a rainstorm?"

Li Zhi suddenly reacted at this time.

After the prince entered the city, it seemed that he had not made any major moves. Even when His Majesty spoke up about the attack on Suzaku Street that he and the King of Wei had carried out together, the prince did not seem to care much and handled it with care.

It turned out that the prince had been planning the Xuanwu Gate attack.

"How dare he?"

Li Zhi swallowed his saliva, and his heart suddenly became nervous. He asked, "You know about this matter, how could the emperor not know about it?"

Li Yifu sighed and said, "Yes, I have heard about it. Your Majesty, you know it, but what can you do? Will you raise an army to surround them?"

"The prince has already occupied Daming Palace, which is in a strategic location, and he has tens of thousands of elite soldiers. If he swoops down and heads straight for Xuanwu Gate, how can we stop him with artillery support?"

Li Zhi immediately felt the seriousness of the matter. At this moment, he suddenly understood that if what Li Yifu said was correct, the current prince already had the ability to seize the throne.

"But, is it because of the prince that you are still not taking action?"

Li Zhi was puzzled. According to Li Yifu, the prince was already capable of breaking through the Xuanwu Gate, but now there was no movement. Even though his father had not allowed the prince to be regent and the court meeting was held in the Taiji Palace, the prince did not make any move.

This made Li Zhi very puzzled.

Li Yifu saw it clearly and explained: "It's not that they can't, but they don't want to."

"If the prince attacks Xuanwu Gate by force, it will not be a matter of justice, but a case of the lower class rebelling against the superior, and the son rebelling against the father, which will cause chaos in the social order, and the world will be in turmoil."

"To rule Chang'an does not mean to rule the Tang Dynasty. If the prince wants to secure his throne, it cannot be achieved by simply breaking through the Xuanwu Gate."

"During the 20th year of Zhenguan, we rested and recuperated, reduced taxes and levies, simplified laws and prudent punishments, accepted advice from all quarters, appointed people based on their merits, built water conservancy projects, stabilized commodity prices, defeated the Eastern and Western Turks, and attracted the homage of all nations."

"The prosperity of the Tang Dynasty is not only in Chang'an, but also in the whole world."

"If the prince were to do something perverse, the whole country would be shaken and there would be endless uprisings. Moreover, Your Majesty fought many battles in the early years and had countless generals and soldiers under his command. If he were to take the throne by force, countless people would work hard for Your Majesty to restore the throne."

Having said this, Li Yifu paused, hesitated for a while, his throat rolling, but he said nothing.

What he wanted to say was that in addition to imprisoning His Majesty, the prince could also kill his father, but the impact of killing his father would be even greater.

By then, not only the King of Wei and the King of Jin, but also many royal nobles will have the righteousness to rebel.

That means many heroes rise up, just like the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty.

The prince then became like Dong Zhuo.

But I think the prince would definitely not do such a thing that goes against the will of heaven.

After hearing what Li Yifu said, Li Zhi thought about it. Although his words were a bit shocking, they made sense when he thought about it carefully.

Even though the Zhenguan period was known for its peace and prosperity, there were still some incidents of civil rebellion.

Due to the problems left over from the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, corruption among local officials, natural disasters and other factors, small-scale uprisings or local rebellions still occurred during the Zhenguan period. However, these incidents were small in scale and short in duration and did not pose a substantial threat to the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

For example, Lingnan rebelled because of dissatisfaction with the new taxation system implemented by the Tang Dynasty and the rough governance style of local officials.

For example, in the 14th year of Zhenguan, Liu Deyu launched an uprising.

It was like this during the Zhenguan period. If the prince were to go against the grain, there would be even more chaos.

"What should the prince do then?"

Li Zhi noticed the prince's predicament and thought about it for a long time, but he could not figure out how the prince would solve these problems.

So the prince is trapped.

Could it be that the prince will remain in a stalemate with his father until his father passes away and he ascends to the throne?

If that's the case, what chance does he have?

"King Jin, don't forget Luoyang."

Li Yifu reminded: "The prince is in Chang'an City, under the influence of His Majesty, it is difficult for him to do anything, but Tongguan is still controlled by the prince. The previous aristocratic families in Luoyang were destroyed, their foundations were cut off, and officials resigned, but it has been planned too early."

"Because the prince entered Chang'an, he attracted the attention of the world, while Luoyang was forgotten. However, the prince was secretly developing Luoyang."

In fact, Li Yifu did not realize the situation in Luoyang at the beginning.

Because the prince entered Chang'an, the King of Wei and the King of Jin jointly attacked, and then the prince occupied the Daming Palace. In addition, the Western Turks were destroyed some time ago. It can be said that the attention of people all over the world was attracted to the city of Chang'an.

Just a few days ago, when Li Yifu was at home, he occasionally heard the housekeeper say that the price of rice in Luoyang was cheap, lower than that in Chang'an.

So he curiously inquired about the news in Luoyang.

Only then did I know a little about the situation in Luoyang.

It would have been fine if I didn't understand this, but once I did, I was shocked.

"What changes have taken place in Luoyang?"

Li Zhi asked curiously.

Li Yifu thought about it, not knowing where to start, and it took him a while to organize his words.

"Prince Jin, don't forget that Liaodong is under the control of the Crown Prince."

"I heard that Liaodong ships fill up Luoyang and pass through the Grand Canal. Goods from all over the country gather in Luoyang City. I don't know how many there are."

"In just a few months, the population of Luoyang has exceeded one million, and the streets are bustling with merchants coming and going."

"It is said that the majority of these people are from Liaodong."

Li Zhi took a breath and he understood.

The prince was secretly transporting troops to Luoyang in the name of merchants.

(End of this chapter)