My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 84 Chapter 83: It’s time to let the civil officials know how powerful we are (ask for monthly tickets)
This confrontation between Li Chengqian and King Wei naturally ended with Li Chengqian's complete victory.

After it was over, Li Anyan passed the message to Du He while changing shifts.

Du He was very excited to hear that the prince not only completely dispelled His Majesty's suspicions, but also suppressed a case of treason.

Li Anyan didn't hear the specific details, but he roughly knew what it was.

This also puts them at ease.

Although we are preparing for a rebellion and have a backup plan, it would be irrational to rebel at this time.

If he chooses to take action, the only option left for Li Chengqian is to kill his father.

Li Shimin's influence is enormous.

Simple imprisonment is meaningless. Most people will try their best to rescue the emperor instead of supporting the prince to ascend the throne.

Putting aside the reputation of patricide, the first thing Li Chengqian had to face was turmoil in the court and chaos in the world.

It is just like when Qin lost its deer and the whole world was chasing it.

The noble families will stand up one after another to support the rebellions of the local princes, while Li Chengqian will have no military power, will have lost his reputation, and even his economy will completely collapse.

No matter how strong one's personal combat power is, it is very likely that one will lose the world and be brought down.

The path of patricide is one that is only chosen as a last resort.

This is also the reason why Li Chengqian prepared for a long time in history but was always preparing without taking action.

Li Shimin killed his brothers and sisters, but he did not dare to go so far as to kill his father.

With the support of Li Yuan, he served as the crown prince for a period of time.

He had many civil and military officials under his command, and was able to take over the court smoothly. In addition, Li Shimin did not attack the former prince's officials, which enabled him to achieve a smooth transition of power.

At dinner, Du He came to the East Palace.

Li Chengqian arranged several Hu girls to dance this time.

If no arrangements are made, the dancers in the East Palace will soon be out of work.

We used to dance every day, but now we have taken a break for about a month and we are all very panicked.

If you are dismissed, you will be assigned to Taichang Temple or Honglu Temple, but it is not as comfortable as the Eastern Palace.

During the banquet, the dancers all danced very hard.

This made Li Chengqian feel as if he had returned to the day when he first arrived.

Only the man in the middle was replaced.

"Your Highness was really smart today. You played the King of Wei around."

"I later heard from someone that it took the King of Wei more than half an hour to enter the palace, and he brought 30 guards with him. It was really sinister, and it was clearly a trap."

"I'm afraid this trap was thought up by Fang Xuanling. This old guy has never made his position clear. He seems to be not close to the King of Wei, but he is actually secretly giving him advice."

"Fortunately, Your Highness was a step ahead and had a plan in advance, otherwise we would have fallen into the trap of that old man."

Du He was in no mood for singing and dancing. He held the wine glass, talked nonstop with a ruddy face, and was even a little outspoken.

Hearing this, Li Chengqian was speechless and didn't bother to argue with Du He.

After all, it’s brilliant, but it’s my handwriting.

Li Chengqian, whose courtesy name is Gaoming, how could he not be brilliant?

Today is a real victory for the princelings.

But if you think about it carefully, the real power of the princelings has indeed declined.

I can count them clearly on my five fingers.

The ministers in the court nominally supported the crown prince, but in reality they were just defenders of the primogeniture system.

"Your Majesty has handed over the case of Prince Qi's treason to me to handle."

"During this period of time, you should get in touch with Yin Hongzhi and find out how many court officials are close to him."

Li Chengqian's words made Du He a little excited.

"Your Highness, do you want to catch them all in one fell swoop?"

"I will definitely find out all of them, and this time I will make Your Highness famous."

"Let all the court officials know your majesty."

Du He said this with great confidence, as if he was about to become the prince's first attacker.

"what are you thinking about."

Li Chengqian was speechless.

"What does your highness mean?" Du He was a little confused. He was already drunk, so his brain was working very slowly.

"Yin Hongzhi is doomed to die. No one can save him. But the King of Qi is not plotting a rebellion now, and Your Majesty does not intend to sentence him to death."

"Over the years, Yin Hongzhi has been deeply trusted by His Majesty, and has been attached to nobles. Since he wants to rebel, he must have recruited a lot of talents, even my trusted guards. Think about it carefully, how much he spent."

"Look at our Eastern Palace. I am the crown prince, but how many people do we have at our disposal?"

"You know the situation in the Zhanshi Mansion. They are called the Eastern Palace, but the people there are arranged by the court. The transfer of personnel does not need to go through me, the crown prince."

"So, you understand what Yin Hongzhi is going to do."

If Du He still doesn't understand after hearing this, then he should go to his father's grave and repent.

After suddenly realizing what was going on, Du He couldn't help but say, "Your Highness is very wise."

As soon as the words came out, Du He reacted.

He apologized repeatedly and drank three glasses of wine as punishment.

Li Chengqian felt that his mouth was dry and he did it on purpose.

Compared with the prosperity and joy in the East Palace, the Prince of Wei's Mansion is much colder.

The lobby of the Prince of Wei's mansion was in a mess at this moment, and the servants were kneeling on the ground and trembling with fear.

Fortunately, after venting, Li Tai felt a lot more relieved, at least his chest was not so stuffy anymore.

Otherwise, you might vomit blood again.

Li Tai sat cross-legged at the top, breathing heavily. In the Prince of Wei's palace, one did not sit on a Hu bed.

Everyone was kneeling.

This is not because the King of Wei did not enjoy himself, but mainly because he talked and laughed with great scholars and had no ordinary people around him.

But for the aristocratic families, sitting on random beds and sleeping on random beds were things that had to be discarded.

Most of the people in the Prince of Wei's Palace are scholars from aristocratic families, especially those from the Five Surnames and Seven Families, so they can only follow the trend.

"Where's Fang Yiai? Why hasn't he come back yet? Why does it take so long to ask him a question?"

For Li Tai, Fang Xuanling is now the backbone.

After all, although they have many people, no one can compare with Fang Xuanling.

After returning from the palace, Li Tai immediately asked Fang Yiai to explain the situation and plan what to do next.

When Chai Lingwu saw the King of Wei speak, he knew that the anger had temporarily subsided.

"It should be soon. It should be because the landlord has made more representations."

"Fang Yiai's memory is not that good, so he has to listen to it twice more. He might even be scolded by Mr. Fang."

Chai Lingwu is a smart person with a quick mind who knows how to ease the atmosphere and relationships.

When this little joke was made, Li Tai thought of Fang Yiai's silly look and couldn't help laughing out loud.

Seeing this scene, Chai Lingwu also arranged for his servants to start cleaning up.

Li Tai still has one good point. Although he likes to smash things, he doesn't like to hit his servants.

Even if they made mistakes, they would usually be punished normally.

On the contrary, if something pleased the King of Wei, the reward would be generous.

Li Tai was very careful about his reputation. The reputation of the King of Wei was spread by scholars, and he was well-known among the people, even more famous than the crown prince.

From the perspective of the common people or the lower classes, the King of Wei is a well-known good man.

In the martial arts world, the prince who goes against the King of Wei is the villain.

These days, the pen is in the hands of scholars, and the Five Surnames and Seven Families are the leaders of the scholars. Naturally, they vigorously promote the King of Wei whom they support.

However, it is obvious that the will of the Tang Dynasty will not be changed by the voice of the people.

At least no one dares to spread rumors about the prince, as it would be a waste of time and effort.

Soon, Fang Yiai arrived.

The King of Wei quickly asked him to sit down, and then he couldn't help asking, "Does Lord Fang have any instructions?"

Fang Yiai recalled and said, "My father told me it was very big, but I didn't remember it."

"Basically, he told the King of Wei not to worry, and he would go and talk to His Majesty."

"Although the Crown Prince has the advantage for now, the King of Wei doesn't have to worry too much."

"Regarding the affairs of the King of Qi, the King of Wei may also be able to get involved."

"Oh, by the way, father also told the King of Wei to practice martial arts more recently." Li Tai felt that it was nothing when he first heard it, but when he heard the last sentence, the humiliation the prince inflicted on him when he left Liangyi Palace suddenly appeared in his mind.

In an instant, the whole person began to stagger, his face turned pale, and his chest felt stuffy.

Seeing this, Chai Lingwu hurried over to support him.

He couldn't tell what went wrong. Could it be the martial arts?

Is it because the prince’s martial arts are too strong?

"King of Wei, perhaps Lord Fang wants to fight with Your Majesty for the military power for King of Wei."

Chai Lingwu quickly expressed his guess.

This sentence was like a panacea. Li Tai immediately felt better and more energetic.

"Does Lord Fang really have a way to let me control the military power?"

Li Tai asked this, but he was a little bit unconvinced in his heart.

The emperor has always been partial to him and gave him almost anything he asked for, even the most precious things in the palace. As long as he asked, the emperor would give it to him and would not care even if it was an encroachment.

But as for military power, he had asked for it many times over the years, but his father had never given in.

Originally, Li Tai also loved riding and shooting. Although he was not very good at martial arts, he was decent enough.

I haven't gained this much weight before.

Later, he felt that he could not get his hands on military power, so he devoted himself to music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs. Over time, he naturally gained weight.

"That's what I guess."

On his way back, Li Tai told Chai Lingwu what had happened in the hall.

"The prince lacks nothing, but military power."

"In the Jinwu Guard, Su Dingfang is the prince's man. Everyone knows this. Moreover, he is in charge of our Yankangfang."

"Now that His Majesty has asked the Crown Prince to try the case of Prince Qi's treason, this, to a certain extent, is almost an agreement for the Crown Prince to take charge of the military."

"Your Majesty did not allow the King of Wei to command the army before, not because Your Majesty did not like the King of Wei enough, but because the Crown Prince did not command the army either. If you had given the King of Wei military power at that time, the ministers would have opposed it, and in the end it would have been nothing."

"Now that the Crown Prince has opened the door, if Lord Fang goes to lobby a little more, the King of Wei will have a good chance of commanding the army."

Chai Lingwu's analysis made Li Tai nod frequently. He also felt that this should be the case.

Fang Yiai listened and couldn't help muttering, "Why do I feel that what you said is somewhat similar to what my father said."

Hearing Fang Yiai say this, Li Tai immediately felt at ease.

In the past, it was often Fang Yiai who passed on messages and Chai Lingwu who analyzed them.

Nine times out of ten, Chai Lingwu's analysis will not be wrong.

Can understand the meaning of the words very well.

Therefore, Li Tai relied heavily on Chai Lingwu and understood this situation.

When intellectuals speak, they like to say half and keep the other half hidden.

If you say it all out loud, you'd be uncultured, and no different from a crude warrior.

Fang Xuanling's performance here is relatively good, the biggest problem is that Fang Yiai's communication is prone to errors.

Those from the Five Surnames and Seven Family Names would not hide even half of it. They would like to tell you all the riddles, but they still don’t give you the answers.

Whether you guessed wrong or right, that is all up to you to understand.

"It seems that I need to practice my martial arts."

Thinking of what the prince said before, Li Tai frowned and asked, "Could it be that the prince already knew about this?"

At this moment, he felt that the prince's previous words seemed to have another deeper meaning, as if it was not just a simple humiliation to him.

Or maybe they took the opportunity to humiliate him.

But even now, the emperor has not confirmed it, so how can the prince know about it?

Could it be that all this was within the prince's plan?

Did the Crown Prince have planned what would happen today from the very beginning when he sentenced Hegan Chengji to death?

Hegannuo's visit to the Prince of Wei's palace was clearly a move that the prince had planned long ago.

Suddenly, Li Tai felt a chill all over his body.

It was as if there were a pair of eyes always watching everything that happened to me.

All his actions, even his inner thoughts, were seen clearly.

"King Wei, what's wrong with you?"

Chai Lingwu asked with some confusion.

This woke Li Tai up from his distraction.

Li Tai swallowed his saliva and said hesitantly: "Tell me, are there any spies sent by the prince in our mansion?"

Chai Lingwu thought for a moment and frowned, "Since we can bribe the people in the East Palace, the prince can naturally bribe the people in the palace. There must be some spies."

"But King Wei doesn't need to worry too much about this. Those who can be bribed are just small-time characters who are not presentable. When there is something important, just dismiss them."

"Even if they find out through internal investigation, it's meaningless. They can still bribe other people."

Li Tai did have the idea of ​​conducting an internal investigation.

But after Chai Lingwu's persuasion, he also felt that it made sense.

Even if the person is caught today, the prince can bribe someone else tomorrow. As long as it is not too important, it doesn’t matter much.

After all, the people around him, young and old, all live in the Prince Wei's Mansion and he knows them all.

Fang Xuanling really understood Li Shimin.

After all, he had followed him for so many years and was his military minister before the rebellion began.

He was extremely clear and familiar with Li Shimin's thoughts.

After listening to Fang Yiai's retelling of the situation, especially the case of the Crown Prince trying the Prince of Qi's rebellion, I knew that Your Majesty would probably agree to let the Crown Prince take charge of the military.

However, the matter of commanding the army and conquering Goryeo has not even started.

Li Shimin wanted to lead his troops to conquer Goryeo himself.

The next day.

After Li Chengqian finished his morning martial arts training, he began to inquire about the current situation of the rumors in Goryeo.

Public opinion has begun to boil, and this has touched the pride of the people of the Tang Dynasty.

Besides, the fighting gene in the bones of the Chinese nation has never been lacking.

Speaking of war, let alone now, even in the future, everyone would be eager to try.

It also has some impact on the court, but for now, that’s all, and the final say is in the hands of civil servants.

It is even worse than in later generations. These days, civil officials care even less about the voices of the people.

Fighting a war only improves the status of military generals, while civil officials cannot gain any benefit from it.

Moreover, the collection of corvée labor affected local areas and directly shook the fundamental interests of the aristocratic families.

Just like Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, why he recruited a million troops? Among them, many were children of aristocratic families and the people ruled by aristocratic families.

The three expeditions to Goguryeo brought about the destruction of the Sui Dynasty, but at the same time, the aristocratic families were also severely damaged, and no one benefited greatly.

Although there is a saying that dynasties come and go but aristocratic families remain unchanged, in reality, aristocratic families hate the change of dynasties the most.

Every change of dynasty is also a reshuffle for the aristocratic families. Even if they remain standing, there will be losses.

If you accidentally stand on the wrong side or follow the wrong dragon, the impact will be huge.

For example, the Qinghe Cui family now has no say in the court due to Li Shimin's constant suppression.

To influence the emperor's will is the greatest pride for aristocratic families.

They never liked to go against the emperor, and what they wanted to do most was to train the emperor.

In the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian listened to the eunuch Wen Zhong's account of the situation.

He said softly, "Go and record the addresses of the civil officials who are causing the most trouble in the court and the neighborhoods they are in."

"It's time to let them have a taste of what the people's anger is like."

Since the matter is not big enough, then find a way to make it bigger.

Li Chengqian had already made preparations and took action against these civil servants.

Even though it sounds a bit despicable, it works.

The most important thing is that the difficulty is very low.

Most of the civil servants' residences have no protection measures.

For example, in Wei Zheng's home, there were not even many servants, let alone guards.

The other civil servants were roughly the same; even if they were rich, they did not dare to be too presumptuous.

It's really easy to attack them.

(End of this chapter)