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

Chapter 37: Clearing the Court, Killing Changsun Wuji [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

"What do you mean?"

Li Shimin calmed down and asked with a serious face.

He had previously reminded Xiao Yu to understand the major issues of right and wrong and to be aware of the current situation. However, just as he was about to do something big, Xiao Yu stood up to oppose him.

It seems that this guy's previous statement of "understanding" was just a perfunctory answer!
This is really unreasonable!

As if sensing the wrath burning in His Majesty Li Er's heart, Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment before bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, it's not that I'm exaggerating, but rather that Your Majesty has forgotten the current state of the Tang Dynasty."

"Although the Tang Dynasty has restored some of its national strength by reducing the number of kings, it is still not enough for the Tang Dynasty to squander its wealth recklessly. For example, Your Majesty's request to revise the book is, in my opinion, an inappropriate move."

"If Your Majesty insists on having his own way, it will easily lead to chaos in the country."

"Oh, what a joke! Revision of a book has plunged the country into chaos?"

Before Li Shimin could speak, Chu Liang beside him couldn't help but sneer.

Xiao Yu glanced at him indifferently and said, "Mr. Chu, you don't govern the country, so you don't know the difficulties it faces. Let's not talk about anything else for now, just consider the people needed to compile the book. Does the court need to provide these people with food, clothing, housing, and transportation? Do you know how much it would cost?"

"This"

Chu Liang was stunned and subconsciously looked at Li Shimin.

But Li Shimin frowned and said nothing.

"If Your Majesty holds a grand ceremony, it will require even more people and cost even more. This will incur a significant expense to the national treasury, which will be extremely detrimental to the current state of the Tang Dynasty!"

Xiao Yu continued, "Therefore, I suggest to Your Majesty that you do not revise the book for the time being. Wait until the Tang Dynasty becomes prosperous before revising it. Perhaps it will be better!"

After hearing this, Li Shimin, who was no longer as excited about the "Zhenguan Ceremony", calmed down.

Because what Xiao Yu said was true.

It is now a problem for people in the Tang Dynasty to even have food, so how could they have spare money to repair books?

The saying that books are compiled in prosperous times and classics are compiled in troubled times is not without reason.

"hehe."

Li Shimin smiled knowingly, then glanced at Chu Liang, then at Xiao Yu, and nodded, saying, "Left Pushe's words are from the heart. I was not considerate enough."

"but."

As he spoke, he changed the subject and said firmly:

"I will definitely compile the largest, most comprehensive, and most perfect book in history! One day, I will make the Tang Dynasty the most prosperous dynasty in history! I want to tell future generations about the glory of our era!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Liang and Xiao Yu looked at each other and complimented each other in unison.

The glory of the Tang Dynasty is definitely not just the glory of Li Shimin, but also the glory of the entire nation.

The Chinese nation has gone through thousands of years of ups and downs. It was once glorious and powerful, but it has also suffered humiliation and danger several times.

But he never accepted his fate.

Because every Chinese person believed that they would prosper again one day, this civilization was continued and led them to stand up tenaciously.

Why is the Yongle Encyclopedia praised by later generations?
Because it represents not only a book, but also thousands of years of cultural heritage of China, a spirit, a spirit of self-improvement.

Therefore, the "Zhenguan Encyclopedia", which was completed hundreds of years earlier, will also shine for future generations like the "Yongle Encyclopedia".

Although the compilation of the Zhenguan Encyclopedia was not as smooth as Li Shimin had hoped, the compilation of the Zhenguan Encyclopedia became one of Li Shimin's goals in governing the country.

He wanted to use his actions to tell the world that he wanted both the prosperous Zhenguan era and the grand Zhenguan ceremony.

An era that belongs to him has arrived.

However, even in such an atmosphere of the times, there are still people who are willing to defy the world and go against the current once again.

At this moment, in a relatively deserted tavern outside Chang'an City.

Prince Yi'an Li Xiaochang is secretly contacting two people.

They were General Liu Deyu of the Right Guard and Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard Yuan Hongshan.

But Yuan Hongshan complained angrily;

"Is Changsun Anye really capable? He invited us here to discuss something, but he himself didn't show up. What's going on?"

"Haha, Brother Yuan, don't be angry. Anye has other things to do. We don't need to wait for him!"

Li Xiaochang smiled and comforted Yuan Hongshan, then poured him a glass of wine personally.

Yuan Hongshan was flattered to see Li Xiaochang personally pouring wine for him, and even his anger subsided a lot. "I know that Prince Yi'an and Changsun Anye are close. Actually, I don't have any objections to Changsun Anye. It's just that our business can't be delayed!"

"Brother Yuan, I understand what you mean!"

Li Xiaochang nodded, then told the truth: "To be honest, An Ye didn't mean to stay away. He went to Prince Changle's place to take care of our affairs!"

"Oh?"

When Yuan Hongshan heard Li Xiaochang's words, his eyes suddenly lit up and he turned to look at Liu Deyu.

Liu Deyu narrowed his eyes slightly and asked in a calm voice, "So, Prince Changle will also get involved in our affairs?"

Li Xiaochang glanced at him and said vaguely: "If An Ye has the ability to convince Prince Changle, it is not impossible."

"This"

Liu Deyu frowned slightly, and then said helplessly: "To be honest, we had no choice but to do this!"

Li Xiaochang sneered in his heart, but said in agreement: "Isn't it the same for me? I was forced by Li Shimin!"

"Hey!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Deyu couldn't help but sigh: "Feng Deyi is dead, and Yuwen Shiji has also been dismissed. We have lost two more veteran ministers in the court!"

"Yes! Now that Zhangsun Wuji has become the Right Prime Minister, things may be a little difficult!"

Li Xiaochang echoed this, then changed the subject: "However, we are not without a chance. If Prince Changle is willing to intervene in this matter, we can definitely make a feint to the east and attack in the west to get this done!"

"How confident is Changsun Anye?" Liu Deyu couldn't help but ask.

Li Xiaochang pondered and said, "Before I went to Liangzhou, I exchanged letters with him. He said he was 90% sure, but I don't know if it was true or not."

"Ninety percent? Doesn't that mean success is certain?"

Yuan Hongshan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "I never thought that Changsun Anye had such ability. Why didn't I see it before?"

"I think this matter doesn't seem like the wisdom of Changsun Anye, but rather the work of the retired emperor!"

Liu Deyu shook his head and said, "You all know Prince Changle's temper. Apart from the Emperor, who can persuade him?"

"Brother Liu, do you mean that Changsun Anye was sent to Liangzhou by the retired emperor?" Yuan Hongshan asked.

Liu Deyu smiled and said meaningfully, "If we weren't considering the face of the retired emperor, would we be able to contact Zhangsun Anye?"

"This..." Yuan Hongshan reacted instantly and showed a look of sudden enlightenment.

Li Xiaochang glanced at them, then straightened his posture and continued, "Regardless of whether An Ye succeeds or not, each of us must repeat our mission. Don't make any mistakes, otherwise it will harm both ourselves and others!"

"Haha, don't worry, Prince Yi'an, we've all kept it in mind!"

Liu Deyu smiled and said, "I control Xuanwu Gate!"

"I control all the officials and all the major gates of Chang'an City!" Yuan Hongshan also said with a smile.

Li Xiaochang nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, and then said, "I will lead the troops of Yuzhou into Chang'an and escort the retired emperor back to his throne!"

After saying that, he looked around at the two of them and said seriously, "Do you have anything else to add?"

"This"

The two looked at each other, but heard Liu Deyu say with some concern:
"Although Zhangsun Anye told us that the Emperor Retired intends to restore the throne, it wasn't the Emperor Retired himself who told us. I'm a little worried. If we succeed, will the Emperor Retired obey our arrangements?"

"Ah!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaochang couldn't help but snort. He said solemnly, "Li Shimin wasn't able to sit on the throne because it wasn't given by the emperor. He seized it himself. As for Li Yuan, if he can obey Li Shimin's arrangements, then he can obey ours!"

Having said that, he paused, his eyes gradually becoming cold:

"To put it bluntly, he is just a pawn in our hands, not some emeritus emperor, nor an emperor!"

"If he's obedient, we can let him continue to be the emperor. If he's disobedient, he'll still be the emperor emeritus!"

After these words were spoken, Liu Deyu and Yuan Hongshan looked at each other in surprise.

However, their hearts finally settled down and they no longer worried about what would happen after they succeeded.

"Oh yeah, one more thing!"

Just as the three of them were about to reach an agreement, Yuan Hongshan suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Li Xiaochang, "Chang'an has tens of thousands of troops. How does Prince Yi'an plan to respond?"

"What we are planning is not a rebellion, but a purge of the imperial court. This king has never thought of rebellion, you must understand this!"

Li Xiaochang said with a bit of amusement: "Besides, if I am not absolutely sure, I will not take the risk myself!"

"What this means is that Prince Yi'an has a way to deal with those tens of thousands of troops?" Liu Deyu asked excitedly.

Li Xiaochang glanced at him, hesitated slightly, then stood up from his seat and said calmly, "Come on, I'll take you to see something. You'll understand once you see it!"

"This"

Liu Deyu and Yuan Hongshan looked at each other and immediately became interested. Then they followed Li Xiaochang out of the tavern without saying a word.

Before long, they arrived at a remote forest.

At this time, someone was already waiting for them in the woods.

It was obvious that Li Xiaochang seemed to have been prepared.

He walked straight towards the man in black in the woods and asked calmly, "Have you put everything away?"

"It has been put away and the people nearby have been driven away!" the man in black replied with a bow.

Li Xiaochang nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Liu Deyu and Yuan Hongshan and said with a smile, "Generals, don't get scared later! Remember to cover your ears!"

"Ha! Prince Yi'an is joking. We are not three-year-old children. How could we be scared?"

"Yes, Prince Yi'an, we are all veterans who have fought in the battlefield and killed people. We have seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How could we be scared?"

Seeing that both of them were full of confidence, Li Xiaochang raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and without saying much, he immediately took a torch from the man in black, walked to a place twenty meters away, and lit a fuse on the ground.

Then he ran away quickly.

Sparks suddenly flew out of the fuse, which startled Yuan Hongshan and the other man so much that their eyes widened.

It seemed as if they were seeing such brilliant fire for the first time, and they even forgot to follow Li Xiaochang and run away.

Boom!

Before they could react, a loud explosion resounded throughout the forest, causing the ground to shake.

I rub!

When Yuan Hongshan and the other man heard the explosion, their hearts trembled and their legs fell to their knees in fear, their faces pale.

What's going on? !

What kind of extraordinary thing did Prince Yi'an master that he could actually create thunder from the sky!
Could it be that this is the key to his confidence and success?
Thinking of this, Yuan Hongshan and the other two couldn't help but look at Li Xiaochang.

Li Xiaochang came over with a half-smile and said, "How's it going, you two? Do you believe I can succeed now?"

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved, and immediately several men in black helped Liu Deyu and the other two up.

"It's not Prince Yi'an, what was that thing just now?"

"Yes, King Yi'an, why have we never seen that thing before? How could such a powerful thing exist in the world? Could it be the work of an immortal?"

Seeing the two people asking him questions in shock, Li Xiaochang smiled and continued, "When I first saw it, I was also shocked. This thing was actually obtained by Changsun Anye. It's called a fire thunder and it's a gunpowder weapon!"

"Fire bombs? Gunpowder weapons?"

Liu Deyu was stunned for a moment, then said with emotion: "No wonder the movement just now was like thunder, it really lives up to its reputation!"

"hehe."

Li Xiaochang smiled noncommittally, then looked around at the two of them and said:
"You've seen the fire bombs, so I don't need to say anything else. You also understand that Li Shimin's tens of thousands of troops are no threat to us!"

Liu Deyu nodded in agreement and said, "With this fire bomb, we can definitely accomplish great things!"

"Then we need some new moves!"

Li Xiaochang interjected, "In my opinion, we can't rely solely on Prince Changle, nor can we rely on nothing at all. We should first reach a consensus with the kings in the city!"

"What does Prince Yi'an mean?" Yuan Hongshan asked curiously.

Li Xiaochang glanced at him and said thoughtfully, "After becoming the Right Prime Minister, Changsun Wuji repeatedly helped Li Shimin suppress the kings. Since we want to purge the imperial court, why not start with him? Once Changsun Wuji is dead, the kings will surely be delighted!"

"By then, we'll be able to get more support for becoming king!"

After saying this, he paused and added, "If our actions go against us, I can still use the troops of Yuzhou to fight against Chang'an. Together with the guards under your control, I can openly propose to kill Changsun Wuji and purge the court, and I can also gain support!"

Liu Deyu thought for a moment after hearing this, then nodded and said, "That's right! This is a brilliant plan!"

"Hmph! I've long disliked Changsun Wuji. Let's kill him and purge the court!" Yuan Hongshan agreed with a cold snort.

"Okay! Since you all have no objections, it's settled!"

Li Xiaochang clapped his hands and smiled.

Soon, the three of them left the woods and prepared for their next move.

……

Happy National Day to all my fellow book lovers! If you have guaranteed monthly tickets, remember to vote for me! Double luck!
(End of this chapter)