Chapter 612: His Highness the Crown Prince Braves the Opposition of the World
"What my master is doing now is to determine the Western Regions, right?" Li Hong slid his finger on the Kanyu map, and finally designated the position of the Western Regions.
Di Renjie sighed and said: "The Western Regions are very important to Chang'an. If the Western Regions decline, Chang'an will inevitably decline.
However, the Western Regions are too vast, and it is not feasible to station a large-scale army. In the end, only a small number of elites from the Tang Dynasty, supplemented by strong local troops in the Western Regions, were finally divided into counties and counties, and capable officials were sent to the Western Regions to govern.
Ten years later, the Western Region may be able to stabilize.
Governing the Western Regions is not only a matter for the army and officials, but also for Confucian scholars, Buddhists, and merchants.
The Western Regions can be managed well only by working on all sides and moving forward together, and eventually this vast land will become the inherent territory of the Tang Dynasty.
No matter which aspect goes wrong, it will leave endless troubles.
I think back in those days, when the First Emperor conquered six countries, he drove his carriages on the same track, wrote on the same text, and used weights and measures to use the road as a rein to tightly bind the land of China together. Only then did we have the land that the Tang Dynasty has today.
If the prince wants the Western Region, he must do these things well according to Xiao Gui and Cao Sui. Once the customs, habits, discourse, and writing are unified, the Western Region will also be unified.
What Yun Chu is doing now is to demonstrate to the cannibals who are most likely to destroy the Western Regions, and to warn the cannibals not to go too far.
The purpose of doing this is to buy time for the prince to govern the Western Region. As long as he has ten years, Naha's Buddhist kingdom can be completed and he can give orders to one side.
In twenty years, the imperial court's governance of counties in the Western Region will begin to bear fruit, and in thirty years, we will be able to complete tribal-style rule over the wandering herdsmen...
Things in the Western Regions need to be dealt with, things in Liaodong need to be dealt with, the tribes on the grasslands need to be dealt with, and the fan states and barbarians in the south also need to be dealt with.
Therefore, we have to deal with so many things in the future that it will be impossible to complete this great narrative in our lifetime."
Li Zhi was very smart. After listening to Di Renjie's words, he sighed and said, "In other words, in the years to come, we need to try our best to maintain everything we have now and abandon the Central Plains to plot the frontier, right?"
Di Renjie laughed and said: "How can the wealth in the border areas be comparable to that of one-third of an acre in the Central Plains?"
Li Hong smiled and nodded: "In that case, it's up to you to persuade the eldest grandson to come to my east palace for the ceremony."
Di Renjie said: "Am I not the prince's secret helper? Isn't it a good idea to expose it to the public?"
Li Hong said with a smile: "You are too underestimated by my father and mother. I don't have enough manpower on the surface, so how can I have extra manpower to be used in the dark?"
From beginning to end, Li Hong never talked to Di Renjie about Yunchu's current situation in the Western Regions. Although Di Renjie twice directed the topic to Yunchu, Li Hong still chose to ignore it.
It's not that he doesn't want to know, it's that he knows it too clearly.
Many times, when Li Hong sat alone in the East Palace and looked up at the stars, he would always bring himself into Yunchu's team exploring the west.
Many times he thought about how he should deal with those things when he was in Yunchu's position.
Naha's Buddhist country is under the snow-capped mountains, and the prayer flags are flying like a fairyland. Although the food is not good, Naha and the little girl covered with Buddha paintings are walking out of the snow-capped mountains with firewood on their backs.
It should be extra sacred...
I am in Chang'an, but my heart is thousands of miles away...
The tall Wild Goose Pagoda once again blocked the sunlight. Li Hong wiped his eyes and said to himself: "It turns out that a place with people is my hometown."
After speaking, Li Hong looked around with a guilty conscience. He did not want his words to fall into the ears of his father and mother.
King and father, king and father, the king is in front and the father is in the back. If you have been emperor for a long time, you will no longer be able to be a good father.
Li Hong felt that he worked very hard to love his father and mother, but they were more willing to treat him like a close minister.
Li Hong felt that he was almost getting used to this way of getting along with his parents, and was slightly uneasy, but he couldn't change it.
Just like he forced Di Renjie to support him in the open, it was a necessary process that could not be omitted.
Di Renjie was not angry. Instead, he felt that this was a sign that Li Hong had gradually matured. Now that he had chosen to join the prince's camp, he absolutely did not want the prince he was assisting to never grow up.
After convincing Changsun Chong to join the prince's camp, it was obvious that the prince was interested in the Changsun family's property, and this was all that Changsun Chong could get away with now.
The emperor and empress had already cut off Changsun Wuji's right-hand man before taking action against Changsun Wuji. This process was not silent, but Changsun Wuji did not choose to resist.
Instead, he watched helplessly as his close subordinates were demoted, killed, or died without a burial place.
Something is very wrong with this...
When Di Renjie arrived at the Princess Mansion where Chang Sun Chong lived, Chang Sun Chong was lying on the gate of the Princess Mansion, topless, drinking.
After the death of his wife Princess Li Lizhi of Changle, Changsun Chong has been living in the princess's mansion and has not returned to the Changsun family because he is Princess Shang, not marrying the princess. In real terms, he is the princess's vassal.
The reason why Li Hong chose Changsun Chong as his face to hide his shame was because he was the Li family's consort.
Di Renjie stood at the door and looked up at Changsun Chong. This consort who used to be very particular about tidiness now had a beard that was as long as grass and spread all over his face. His originally white body had been baked into a dark red by the scorching sun in Chang'an these days.
So much so that a white translucent film formed on the surface of his skin, which could be lifted up by just tearing it off with your hands.
Now, Changsun Chong was drinking and taking pleasure in tearing off his own skin. He didn't waste the white skin he tore off and ate it with wine.
He already knew his fate, that he would be sent to Lingnan, a place full of mist and mist, by the emperor.
It is almost impossible to come back alive.
However, before the last moment, Changsun Chong also wanted to protect the concubine and the three concubines who lived in the princess mansion.
The way he protected them was to use the tiles on the gatehouse to scare officials who wanted to enter the princess's mansion on various errands.
People from Honglu Temple, Shaofu Prison, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment were guarding in front of the gate. The emperor did not order the expulsion of Chang Sun Chong. Before killing Chang Sun Chong, they acquiesced in Chang Sun Chong's resistance and were not in a hurry anyway.
Under the strange gazes of those officials, Di Renjie came to the gatehouse, took out a document, and read aloud: "Under the guidance of the prince, eldest son Chong is promoted to the East Palace Ceremony, and he will take office immediately."
As soon as Di Renjie finished speaking, the crowd at the gate of the Princess Mansion was like wasps exploding their nests. Countless people jumped on their fast horses or bolted away. They all wanted to inform their superiors about the changes in the Changsun family as soon as possible.
Changsun Chong took up the post of Donggong Dianyi. Although this was a minor official from the sixth rank, it probably represented a turning point in the emperor's handling of the Changsun family, even a huge turning point.
If this is the case, the embezzled assets of the Changsun family need to be cleared out, and those who have harmed the Changsun family need to consider whether they need to ease their bad relationship with the Changsun family.
The people who betrayed the Changsun family were on the verge of tears when they heard the news.
If the Changsun family is allowed to escape this disaster, there is a very high possibility that their family will make a comeback.
A fourth-grade red-robed official came to Di Renjie and cupped his hands and said, "Di Renjie, what you just announced was the Prince's Religion, not His Majesty's will, right?"
Di Renjie faced his immediate boss and said calmly: "Is Hu Shaoqing going to test the Prince Cult?"
Hu Chenglong, the young minister of Dali Temple, solemnly shook his head and said, "I don't dare."
Di Renjie smiled and said: "If you don't dare, just leave. The prince's teaching has been established, and there is no room for slow change."
Hu Chenglong looked at Di Renjie with gloomy eyes and said, "Your roots turn out to be His Royal Highness."
Di Renjie laughed and said: "My roots are in the Tang Dynasty. I am just a person who was captured by His Highness the Crown Prince to preach the Crown Prince's religion."
Hu Chenglong knew that the prince's swordsman had just been ordered to kill a school captain.
He stared at the Prince's Cult in Di Renjie's hand for a moment and said, "I sincerely obey the Prince's Cult. I, Hu Chenglong, resign."
As Hu Chenglong left, hundreds of Dali Temple trappers left one after another. The rest of the people at the Yamen Gate also evacuated without staying much. Among them, the retreat of the Shaofu Prison was the most spectacular. They brought dozens of people with them.
A carriage.
The haggard and inhuman Changsun Chong quickly came down from the gate, put on a set of clean clothes, and hurried to the front door. After thanking the prince for his kindness, he opened his mouth full of blood scabs and asked, "Where is my grandpa?"
Have you also received His Majesty’s grace?”
Di Renjie shook his head and said: "For you to raise the Sun family, His Highness has already risked the disdain of the world.
I advised His Highness the Crown Prince to give up the Changsun family, but His Highness the Crown Prince said, how can one give up on one's own flesh and blood relatives."
After saying that, he angrily slapped the prince into Changsun Chong's arms, turned around and left.
Changsun Chong shouted from behind: "Brother Di, where are my other brothers?"
Di Renjie shouted angrily: "The prince is young, how far do you want to go to kill him?"
Changsun Chong's lips twitched a few times and he looked back at his concubine and his children who were crawling at the gate to look at him. Finally, he knelt on the ground and said loudly: "I, Changsun Chong, thank the prince for his kindness."
He understood that everyone in the world wanted the Changsun family to perish, and the prince's ability to protect his family was the limit of what the prince could do.
When the court comes tomorrow, or maybe even before the court comes tomorrow, a snowstorm of impeachment documents will arrive at the East and West Pavilions, and will eventually land on His Majesty's desk.
What Di Renjie said was not wrong at all. The prince risked the whole world's disapproval for his eldest grandson.