Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 226: The Tang Dynasty will have two leaders! [Seeking monthly votes]

On the streets of Chang'an, horse-drawn carriages would occasionally drive towards the Prince's Mansion.

Li Shimin sat in the carriage, looking at the ministers he knew well, bringing their own children with them. He couldn't help but ask Wushe with a puzzled look on his face, "Why would those ministers bring their children to the Crown Prince's Mansion?"

Wushe hesitated for a moment, then sent someone to stop a minister's carriage.

Soon, the man returned with a report: "Your Majesty, this is the request of the Supreme Emperor. He said that Mr. Yuan wants to select talents for the Tang Dynasty, so he wants to let their children watch the competition together!"

Li Shimin was even more confused: "The Mr. Yuan you are talking about, could it be Yuan Tiangang?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is Yuan Tiangang, Mr. Yuan!"

"This"

Li Shimin was surprised for a moment, then frowned and asked, "How did he get together with the retired emperor?"

You know, he once sent someone to find Yuan Tiangang, but Yuan Tiangang said that he wanted to travel and collect folk songs, so he politely refused him.

But now, Yuan Tiangang actually got together with Li Yuan, and he couldn't help but be vigilant.

After all, Yuan Tiangang is a mysterious person.

Especially Yuan Tiangang's physiognomy skills were so amazing that even he admired them very much.

Of course, he went to see Yuan Tiangang not to ask him to read his fortune, but because he had a very important matter that required Yuan Tiangang's help.

But Yuan Tiangang rejected him and got involved with Li Yuan, which really made him depressed.

The person who reported the incident continued, "Your Majesty, according to the minister just now, Mr. Yuan returned from Taiyuan. They must have gotten together while they were in Taiyuan!"

"Oh?"

When Li Shimin heard this, his eyes narrowed slightly.

However, he did not continue to ask.

On the other side, outside the Prince's Mansion.

After dealing with the disaster in Henan Province, Ma Zhou originally planned to go to Hebei Province to check the situation. Later, he heard that Wei Zheng had arrested many people in Hebei Province. In addition, Li Chengqian had already made a plan, so he returned to Chang'an from Henan Province according to the original plan.

At this time, he had just gotten off the carriage.

Sun Fujia, who was standing at the door to greet the guests, suddenly shouted, "Brother Ma Zhou!"

The dignitaries who had originally gotten off the carriages and were greeting each other immediately looked over, and even their lovely daughters stood on tiptoe to look, as if they wanted to see whether this "traitor" and "killer from an aristocratic family" who was famous in Chang'an was as terrifying as the rumors said.

At this moment, Ma Zhou saw many people looking at him, and suddenly felt embarrassed as if he was caught red-handed.

Fortunately, the dignitaries all handled things with propriety and did not quarrel in public. Apart from looking at each other, they all greeted each other politely. So Ma Zhou also saluted with a dry laugh, then glared at Sun Fujia and slipped into the Prince's Mansion like a loach.

"Brother Ma Zhou! Don't walk so fast!" Sun Fujia caught up with him and still shouted loudly.

Ma Zhou really wanted to beat this guy up, so he lowered his voice and said, "What are you yelling about? Can you be quieter?"

"Brother Ma Zhou, are you scared?"

Sun Fujia winked and said, "Now you've probably become a thorn in the side of those aristocratic families. But few have seen you, so when they finally meet you, of course they want to take a few more glances."

"You don't even need to tell me that. Why do you think I keep a low profile?"

Ma Zhou glared at Sun Fujia unhappily, then looked around and pulled Sun Fujia to a corner, saying, "It looks like His Highness is ready to take action. How is the preparation going?"

"The Crown Prince's Mansion is now ruled by the Retired Emperor, and the Crown Prince is still imprisoned in the Zongzheng Temple!"

Sun Fujia said with some amusement: "But you don't have to worry, the prince should be released by His Majesty soon!"

"I'm not worried about the prince, I'm worried about our plan. Those aristocratic families are so despicable. You don't even know what they did in the disaster area!"

"Yes, I have come to understand them clearly during this period. If we don't get rid of them, the people will have a hard time getting ahead!"

"Ah."

Ma Zhou nodded solemnly, looked around, and whispered, "Will His Majesty come?"

"The Emperor himself invited him, and there are so many ministers, so he should come!"

Sun Fujia said with uncertainty.

Ma Zhou pondered for a moment and said, "Where is the emperor?"

"I'm currently in the main hall, waiting for His Majesty with the ministers. Would you like to go with me to the main hall?" Sun Fujia replied.

Ma Zhou asked curiously, "You're not welcoming guests?"

"These people might be our enemies. Meeting them is a waste of time!"

"Too."

As they were saying this, the two were about to head towards the main hall, but after they had taken two steps, Cen Wenben and Liu Rengui caught up with them.

"Brother Ma Zhou!" Liu Rengui was the first to greet him, much more polite than Cen Wenben.

However, Cen Wenben, who was usually very polite, saluted absentmindedly, and kept looking back.

"What are you looking at?" Ma Zhou turned his head in confusion.

I saw the ladies who were at the door before, surrounding a girl who looked somewhat similar to Cen Wenben. They were standing not far away and whispering towards this side.

"It's okay." Cen Wenben glared at him fiercely, then pulled Ma Zhou's sleeve and said, "Let's go!"

"and many more!"

The girl who looked somewhat like Cen Wenben took a step forward and distanced herself from the group of ladies who were originally surrounding her, but those ladies seemed to feel insecure and came closer again.

"Is this girl a member of your family?" Ma Zhou asked Cen Wenben in a low voice.

Cen Wenben seemed disgusted and pulled Ma Zhou's sleeve to leave, but the leading girl refused and called out to Ma Zhou again: "You must be the Left Secretary of the Eastern Palace, right? I am Wenben's sister, and my name is Wenmin."

Ma Zhou guessed that this was the case, but he didn't understand why Cen Wenben reacted that way.

Are you afraid that you might fall for his sister?

"Since Wenben won't help introduce me, I can only introduce myself. If this is rude, please don't be so polite, Zuo Shuzi."

Sister Cen Wenben bowed to Ma Zhou, and then the group of ladies behind her also bowed in a hurry.

"So it's the elder sister of the Cen family." Ma Zhou had no idea what these siblings were up to, but since they had saluted, he returned the salute, then asked suspiciously, "Why haven't I heard that Brother Cen has an elder sister before?"

"I always beat him up, and he doesn't want to acknowledge me as his sister."

Cen Wenmin bluntly stated the conflict between the two, then said to Ma Zhou with a generous smile, "But as a sister, it's not right for me to leave without saying hello when I meet Wen Ben's colleagues."

"Go find your father!"

Cen Wenben seemed very unhappy and pulled Ma Zhou away.

Ma Zhou had no choice but to look apologetic towards Cen Wenmin.

"Wen Wen is stubborn and has caused a lot of trouble. I hope Zuo Shuzi will forgive me." Seeing Ma Zhou being dragged away, Cen Wenmin did not chase him. Instead, he stood on tiptoe and shouted, "If Wen Wen doesn't cooperate with you, Zuo Shuzi can come find me and see how I beat him!"

Hearing this, Cen Wenben, who was pulling Ma Zhou, turned around and glared at his sister with a red face, which made all the ladies burst into laughter. However, Cen Wenben's sister remained generous and decent, and waved at Cen Wenben who was glaring at him.

"Sister Wenmin, you are amazing. You can actually talk to Zuo Shuzi!"

A lady from a prominent family hid behind Cen Benmin and said with lingering fear, "I heard he's a ruthless man who harmed many people in the disaster area. My father told us to stay away from people like him, saying he has evil intentions!"

"This is your own family's business."

Cen Wenmin stood on tiptoe, looking at Ma Zhou. Seeing that he was no longer in sight, he turned around and said, "Besides, Zuo Shuzi is from the Crown Prince's Mansion. What's there to be afraid of?"

"Is this also the first time Sister Wenmin has seen him?"

"Yes!"

Cen Benmin didn't care, but suddenly remembered something and warned the ladies, "But I was the one who fell in love with him first, so you're not allowed to have any ideas about him!"

Hearing this, the girls shyly played with Cen Wenmin.

"There are many talented young men in the Prince's Mansion. It is said that Xue Rengui is as handsome as Ma Zhou and is also very brave."

"Yeah! Brother Wenwen is also very handsome."

"Well, you guys, how dare you set your sights on my brother!"

"It was you who stopped us from targeting others."

"I'll tickle your little hoof!"

The girls walked away, chatting and playing.

At the same time, Cen Wenben was still pulling Ma Zhou's sleeve, making Ma Zhou feel a little bit at a loss for words: "What's wrong with you? I'm not a flower thief, what can I do to your sister? Can you be more normal?"

"The flower picker?"

Cen Wenben finally stopped, and then said anxiously: "My sister has ulterior motives!"

"What?"

Ma Zhou's eyes widened: "Your sister is the flower thief?"

"Ma, Brother Ma Zhou doesn't know something."

Cen Wenben was so anxious that he stuttered and said quickly, "My sister already has a marriage contract, and he is from the Longxi Li family, but my sister doesn't like him and wants to find a shield!"

"what?"

Ma Zhou was bewildered, and then couldn't help but ask: "Is your sister trying to use me as a shield?"

"What do you think!"

"What are you waiting for? Retreat now!"

As they were talking, they finally arrived at the main hall.

Sun Fujia announced it outside, and soon Li Yuan let them in.

By this time, the main hall was already filled with people, mostly court officials. Li Yuan sat in the main seat, feeling as if he were back in the old days.

But he knew very well that the reason these ministers came to the Prince's Mansion was not because of him, the retired emperor, but because of Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

Although the power struggle between Li Chengqian and Li Shimin had not yet been made public, the things Li Chengqian did after returning to Chang'an had already established a certain prestige for him as the prince in the court.

As long as the ministers in the court wanted to serve peacefully in the capital, they would not easily offend Li Chengqian.

After all, the News Department controlled by Li Chengqian is the "butcher" who wields the knife of public opinion.

It is more effective than the impeachment of the censors from the Censorate.

Li Yuan smiled and said, "Everyone, I invited you here today for no other reason than to invite you to a fun competition. If you like it, you can form your own team and play with everyone!"

"What kind of competition is the retired emperor talking about? I'm very curious. Is it related to the new armor that the prince asked the Ministry of Works to make some time ago?" Cheng Yaojin spoke first.

Yuchi Gong, standing by, glared at Cheng Yaojin and asked, "How do you know about the Ministry of Works? Are they planning to equip your Right Guard?!"

Beads of sweat rolled down Cheng Yaojin's forehead, but he remained calm on the surface. He said to Yuchi Gong, "Don't be so unreasonable, old man. I, the Right Guard, am the imperial city garrison. Even if I am equipped with armor, it is to protect Your Majesty. What's the big deal?"

"Bullshit! Don't I, the Left Guard, protect Your Majesty?"

"How about a fight?"

"Just hit us!"

Seeing the two old men suddenly start arguing and then suddenly fall silent, the other ministers were speechless.

It was not until someone turned their gaze to Li Yuan that they discovered that Li Yuan was looking at Yuchi Gong and Cheng Yaojin with an indifferent expression.

This made them immediately realize that the two old men were still frightened by what happened that night.

It's just a lot of noise but little action.

Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere didn't last long. A voice came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, His Majesty has arrived!"

"Well, let him in!"

Li Yuan nodded calmly.

Soon, Li Shimin walked into the main hall.

All the ministers immediately straightened their bodies and saluted him: "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to you!"

"No gift!"

Li Shimin waved his hand calmly, then walked straight towards Li Yuan and saluted, saying, "Greetings, father!"

"Ah."

Li Yuan nodded calmly and said, "Since Erlang is here, let's go watch the game!"

"But father, you invited so many people with such fanfare, is it just to watch the game?" Li Shimin asked with some confusion.

Li Yuan glanced at him calmly and asked, "You invited envoys from various countries with great fanfare, is it just to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival?"

"No, how can it be the same?"

Li Shimin frowned somewhat displeasedly and said, "That's a matter of state!"

"Who says this isn't a matter of state?"

Li Yuan sneered, then stood up from his seat and walked towards Li Shimin step by step. He said with a stern face, "You haven't even watched the game, so how can you be so sure that I am different from you?"

"This"

Li Shimin was speechless, and then subconsciously looked at Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others.

But Zhangsun Wuji laughed wryly and said, "Your Majesty, since everyone is here, there's no harm in taking a look!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! I heard that the prince has been preparing for a long time. I think it should be good!"

"Your Majesty, how about we take a look together?"

"."

As Changsun Wuji finished speaking, the other ministers also echoed him.

When Li Shimin heard the ministers' agreement, his brows furrowed even deeper.

Meanwhile, Li Yuan walked out the door and announced, "Have Xue Rengui and Su Dingfang lead their teams to the training ground!"

"promise!"

There was a response from outside the door.

The ministers looked at each other and then at Li Shimin.

Although Li Shimin still didn't know what the grandfather and grandson were up to, he would not contradict Li Yuan in front of all the ministers, so he said reluctantly: "Since the emperor has such a refined taste, I will naturally accompany you!"

"Your Majesty is benevolent and filial!"

The ministers smiled and complimented him, then followed Li Yuan and Li Shimin to the parade ground.

At this time, Li Chengqian and Yunduan had already arrived at the training ground in advance.

Also present with them were Li Xiaogong, Li Daozon, and a cousin whom Li Chengqian had never met.

Li Dao Zong then asked with a puzzled look on his face, "Prince, why did you hold such a competition before the Double Ninth Festival?"

Li Chengqian smiled and glanced at Li Daozong, then looked at Yunduan and said, "Uncle King Jiangxia, do you know why my father is holding the Double Ninth Festival banquet?"

"This"

Li Daozong hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Li Xiaogong and said, "It is said that this is to celebrate the Tang Dynasty's pacification of the Turks!"

"Then why did you invite envoys from various countries? Do you want them to celebrate with the Tang Dynasty?"

"This"

Li Daozon was speechless.

Li Xiaogong, standing by, laughed and said, "You must be harboring some evil intentions. Are you planning to intimidate those foreign envoys?"

"Uncle Prince of Hejian, you're joking. My Tang Dynasty is a great nation. How could we threaten a small foreign nation?"

Li Chengqian said this disapprovingly, then changed the subject, "Uncles, do you think that if the Tang Dynasty pacifies the Eastern Turks, will the border be peaceful?"

"This"

Li Xiaogong and Li Daozon looked at each other in bewilderment.

Li Xiaogong then said thoughtfully, "Your Highness, what you mean is that even if the Eastern Turks were destroyed and Jie Li was captured, there would still be no peace on the border?"

"There may be peace for a while in the short term, but there are still many tribes on the grassland. If we can't completely eliminate them, the hidden dangers will still exist!"

"But for thousands of years, no dynasty has truly solved the problem of grasslands. How can the Tang Dynasty solve it?"

"No dynasty has solved it, not because it can't be solved, but because the solution is incorrect!"

"Then according to the prince, do you have the correct method?"

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian was slightly stunned and looked in the direction of the voice.

I saw that my cousin who had been silent all the time was looking at me with her beautiful eyes full of hope.

"Xue'er, don't talk nonsense!"

Li Daozon saw this and immediately scolded him.

Li Chengqian smiled and waved his hand, then asked with interest, "Sister Xue'er, do you know the solutions used throughout the dynasties?"

"Know!"

"What is it?"

"Marriage!"

"Then do you think the marriage will be useful?"

“It’s useless, but it works!”

"Ah!"

Li Chengqian smiled and thought that this cousin was quite knowledgeable.

However, the facts are indeed as she said.

Throughout the dynasties, the most effective way to solve the grassland problem was to marry a princess to the emperor.

However, marriage alliances have a certain time limit, and it does not mean that the grassland will be completely stable after the marriage.

Once the marriage partner is replaced by someone else, the grassland will soon fall into chaos again.

Therefore, marriages between foreign allies have always existed in all dynasties.

But then Li Chengqian's cousin said, "The Crown Prince probably won't agree to the marriage!"

"Ok?"

Li Chengqian was stunned again, and then he smiled dumbly: "Sister Xue'er, are you worried about being married off?"

"Cheng Qian!" Li Daozon's face changed, and he seemed very dissatisfied with Li Chengqian making fun of his daughter.

But Li Chengqian's next words stunned everyone present.

Li Chengqian's expression suddenly turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "At the Double Ninth Festival, I want everyone to know that the Tang Dynasty will have two leaders!"

"What."

Li Daozon and his daughter, as well as everyone else including Yunduan and Li Xiaogong, felt their scalps tingle instantly.

　Please give me a monthly ticket. Please give me a monthly ticket.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)