Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Li Chengqian knew very well that the prince who was driven away by his father to be a fiefdom would have little influence on his bid for the throne.

And princes like Li Zhi who stay with their father will pose the most direct threat to him.

Li Tai contacted other princes to rebel. The person who was most angry and worried was his father, the emperor. Li Zhi was watching covetously behind the scenes, but his position as crown prince was affected.

Therefore, Li Chengqian believed that the threat posed by Li Zhi to him now exceeded the threat posed by Li Tai.

Du He clasped his fists towards Li Chengqian and responded, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will have Pei Xingjian send spies to keep a close eye on Prince Jin!"

"If there is any movement from King Jin's side, I will report it to you immediately."

What Du He is most worried about now is not whether Li Shimin favors Li Zhi, but whether there are other external forces supporting Li Zhi behind the scenes.

You should know that Li Zhi is also a legitimate son and has the same opportunity to inherit the throne.

Moreover, Li Zhi did not have any strong team under his command. The benefits of those neutral ministers supporting Li Zhi would be far greater than supporting Li Chengqian, the fully-fledged crown prince.

Li Chengqian nodded solemnly.

Fortunately, he discovered it early and knew that his father was secretly supporting Li Zhi, otherwise he would have been kept in the dark and unaware of the new threat.

Think deeply for a moment.

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows and said, "Du He, what do you think of secretly sending someone to petition the Emperor to have Li Zhi go to his fiefdom?"

"As long as Li Zhi is not with my father, this potential threat will be completely resolved."

He had discussed this issue with Du He before, but Du He rejected the proposal at that time.

Now that Li Zhi has such a great influence on him, if he does not take Li Zhi, this potential opponent, seriously, he might really fall into the gutter in the future.

You should know that Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was the tenth son of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, but Liu Che finally sat on the throne.

Li Zhi is the ninth son of his father and one of the legitimate sons. He may ascend to the throne in the future!

Du He shook his head and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty is now intending to support Li Zhi to check and balance you. No matter who goes to petition His Majesty, His Majesty will not pay attention."

"It may even anger His Majesty, and he may even recall Li Tai back to Chang'an."

Then Du He did not hide anything and told Li Chengqian what was in his mind directly.

"Your Majesty, I'm sure you know better than me how your Majesty came to the throne, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"The current contradiction is that His Majesty supports your ascension to the throne, but is also worried that your strength is too strong and will affect His Majesty's throne."

"Your Majesty secretly supports other princes to check and balance you because he sees that the support of the East Palace is growing stronger and he is worried that you can't wait to usurp the throne."

"The best thing for us to do now is not to confront His Majesty head-on. You just need to leave the impression of being harmonious brothers and sisters in front of His Majesty."

For imperial power, this simplest contradiction has always existed, and there has never been a solution.

Especially for a long-lived emperor, being a crown prince is a very painful and helpless thing.

Fortunately, Li Shimin was still open-minded, and he was now clear about the issue of his eldest son inheriting the throne.

After hearing Du He's analysis, Li Chengqian stared blankly ahead, but his mind became extremely clear.

One word wakes up the dreamer!

Du He was right. His father was afraid that his power would be too great and would threaten his position.

Thinking about it this way, it seems that everything my father has done over the years can be explained!

"Hey!"

Li Chengqian sighed.

He whispered to Du He, "Du He, for the next period of time, we just need to manage our existing power, and I will stop trying to recruit other court officials."

"If Father does not continue to be aggressive and weaken my power, we will maintain the status quo."

"If my father continues to eliminate my forces, I will have no choice but to fight to the death!"

Du He felt relieved when he saw Li Chengqian suddenly realize the truth.

Now that Li Chengqian's heart knot has been untied, he should be more calm when facing some of Li Shimin's incomprehensible arrangements in the future.

Du He replied softly: "Yes, sir!"

The forces currently supporting the Eastern Palace are already strong enough. Two of the four top prime ministers fully support him, and there are also many generals supporting him behind the scenes.

If Li Chengqian continued to recruit Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Li Ji and others to his side, Li Shimin would probably be frightened awake at night.

All the ministers in the court are the prince's men. Wouldn't it be easy to sideline him in the future?

As an emperor who ascended the throne through a coup, he could have put a lot of thought into protecting himself in this regard.

Just looking at the complex protective forces in the imperial palace, one can tell how wary Li Shimin was of a possible palace coup!

After resolving Li Chengqian's concerns, Du He also told him about compensating Cui Shenji, Wang Jingzhi and Xiao Kai, the three guards.

"Your Highness, it has been two months since the army returned victoriously, and the soldiers who participated in the battle are also preparing to return home."

"At that time, we borrowed 350 guards from Cui Shenji, Wang Jingzhi and Xiao Kai. It's time to give them rewards and pensions."

These guards were all servants of the Cui family of Qinghe, the Wang family of Taiyuan and the Xiao family of Lanling. They served as laborers in the local Zhechoufu.

Now that the battle is over, the gang is just waiting to collect their rewards and then return to their respective homes.

Li Chengqian frowned and asked, "Du He, when will the reward from the Ministry of Revenue be issued?"

Du He replied in a low voice: "I just asked Lu Chengqing, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and he said that the rewards and pensions for ordinary soldiers will be issued within 10 days."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Then let's wait for the reward from the Ministry of Revenue to be issued first. Then the Eastern Palace will give compensation based on the reward from the Ministry of Revenue."

If it weren't for these strong guards who fought to the death, perhaps both Du He and he would have died in Goguryeo.

Therefore, giving a large sum of compensation to these guards and the prince's personal guards was what he should do.

In addition, other soldiers recruited in Hedong Road must also be compensated, and even placed in their own manors to work.

Du He smiled and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is merciful."

Although Li Chengqian is not as capable as his father, he is as generous as his father.

Even though he had meat to eat, he was willing to give some soup to the people below.

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Du He, you should go back and do your work first. I have to review the memorials now!"

Du He immediately stood up, clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, I will take my leave first."

Looking at Du He who opened the door and left quickly, Li Chengqian shook his head slightly, and then began to review the piles of memorials.

...

Du He had just returned to the Ministry of Works and had not yet boiled the water in the kettle when Pei Xingjian came to his door.

"Mr. Du, I have three things to report to you."

Du He pointed to the door of the room and said, "Close the door, and let's talk while drinking tea."

Although most of the people in the Ministry of Works were out tinkering with the new plow, Vice Minister of Works Yu Chang and many officials were still there, so some things had to be said behind closed doors.

"promise!"

Pei Xingjian responded, then turned around and quickly closed the door.