Li Tai tightened the cloak around him, walked out of the mansion and boarded the carriage. He raised the curtain and glanced at the brightly lit front door of Fang's house. When he saw Fang Jun clasping fists at him on the steps and saluting, he nodded slightly.
He paid his respects and lowered the curtain.
It was dark inside the carriage.
The cold wind howled outside the car, but Li Tai's heart was churning like boiling water.
Today he suddenly realized that the struggle for the heir apparent that he had been avoiding was actually unavoidable. Once the prince lost power and the young slaves tried to seize it, even with the permission of his father, in the final analysis, it would be unjust and unfair, and the world would lose control of it.
It is inevitable for people to slander and disobey.
Perhaps when the young slave was the prince, he could still be friendly to his brothers and be harmonious to the royal family, but this may not be the case when he becomes the emperor in the future.
In worldly affairs, the most important thing is the honor and righteousness. If a child slave is promoted to the emperor as a younger brother, he is superior to his elder brother. It is impossible to convince people's hearts. There must be people who are dissatisfied and stir up trouble secretly. In order to preserve the throne and suppress the opposition.
The only way is to eliminate all those who may threaten the throne.
Including the prince, including him Li Tai, and even Li Ke who was far away in Silla were not immune.
Perhaps the child slave can always think of brotherhood and cannot bear to kill his brothers, but will the people around him let him go his own way, leaving so many people who are qualified to compete for the throne?
Just think about Changsun Wuji's viciousness. Once the child slave ascends the throne, he will definitely wield a butcher knife and start killing. It will be a disaster for the royal family.
The childish slave's character became the source of Li Tai's worries.
Although this child is smart and very friendly to his brothers, he never faces difficulties head-on when he encounters them. Instead, he finds a new path through twists and turns. He is not necessarily willing to fall out with his eldest grandson Wuji, who single-handedly supported his ascendancy to the throne, just to save his brothers.
Besides, even if he is willing to fall out, he may not be able to do anything to Changsun Wuji.
Since he can single-handedly support Zhinu to rise to power, Changsun Wuji will definitely seize all the power when he succeeds. The court and the army are all in his hands. How can Zhinu resist?
Since he couldn't resist, with his childlike nature, he would probably just tolerate it and watch his brothers being slaughtered. When Changsun Wuji was satisfied, he would wait for an opportunity to move him.
Maybe he wouldn't even bear the reputation of being a "hero of the massacre", but instead introduced some chess pieces to fight against Changsun Wuji. After the deed was completed, all the charges would be cleared away, and he would still be innocent and "the same"
"Dignified and serene", "generous and kind", "brotherly"...
…
The carriage swayed back to the mansion. After taking a bath, Li Tai locked himself in the study, drank tea and thought about the future, and stayed up all night.
When the rooster crowed for the first time and dawn was about to break, he ordered someone to prepare breakfast and ate some hastily. Then he changed his clothes and left the palace to go to Tai Chi Palace to meet the emperor.
*****
One morning, Fang Jun woke up with a splitting headache.
Although the wine these days is not blended with alcohol, the alcohol content after distillation reaches about 40 degrees. Drinking as much as you did last night is really hard for your body.
Sitting up from the Kang, she heard movement outside. Princess Gaoyang opened the door curtain and saw Fang Jun waking up. She quickly said: "The temperature of the ginseng soup is just right. I'll bring it to you."
Then he lowered the curtain, and there was a rustle of footsteps, as if he was whispering something to the maid. Then he opened the curtain again and walked in. He held a large white porcelain bowl in his hand, and the ginseng soup with red dates and wolfberry in it was steaming.
.
Princess Gaoyang is wearing a crimson dress, which makes her skin even whiter than snow. Her green hair is tied up in a bun casually, and she wears a wide jade belt around her waist, which narrows her waist. She looks very pure and charming.
Her demeanor is more like that of an ordinary rich young woman.
He walked to the edge of the Kang and sat down crookedly. He handed the bowl to Fang Jun and said softly with soft eyebrows: "Drink it while it's hot. Isn't it uncomfortable?"
Fang Jun took the ginseng soup, took a sip and tried it. He found that the temperature was just right, so he drank it all. The warm ginseng soup nourished the intestines and stomach, and his whole body suddenly became alive. He rubbed his swollen temples and sighed.
Said: "My head hurts a little."
"That's you!"
Princess Gaoyang took the bowl and put it aside, kicked off her shoes, moved her slender feet in snow-white stockings to the kang, sat sideways behind Fang Jun, pulled his shoulders and lay on her lap, and a pair of soft skin caressed him.
He pressed his temples gently, complaining: "After all, you are a high-ranking person, and you are not young. How could you drink so much? You thought you were a stupid boy of fifteen or sixteen! Look!
Look, you won’t be the only one who feels uncomfortable afterwards.”
Fang Jun lay comfortably on his wife's bed, closed his eyes and enjoyed the gentle massage, and said casually: "You don't know the situation at that time, how can I drink? It's just that I can't do it if I don't drink."
"Hmph! Why didn't I know? It's not just to fight against the child slave!"
Princess Gaoyang was angry, paused, and said softly: "After all, the young slaves are also our brothers. They are actually the same as His Highness the Crown Prince. It's just that you fight all the time. You must not lose the bottom line and do nothing.
Don't go to extremes, it will not only hurt the brotherhood, but also make father angry."
For Li Zhi, the younger brother, the brothers and sisters still love him very much, and they don't want to see him being bullied and embarrassed by Fang Jun...
Fang Jun opened his eyes and took a look. Seeing his wife's worried face, he comforted him: "It looks fierce, but in fact it's just for show. Who can really do anything to him? Besides, King Wei is here, so he will naturally protect him."
With him."
Princess Gaoyang sighed softly and said resentfully: "You men, you always pretend to have family and country in your heart, and you are constantly fighting for power. Sometimes you don't even care about blood and family ties. I really don't know what you think. Is the throne really true?"
Is it so important that people in the same room can fight each other and kill each other?"
Fang Jun was silent for a moment, then closed his eyes. After a while, he slowly said: "Maybe it doesn't matter who becomes the emperor, but you haven't seen the profound impact on the court and the structure of the empire. Once the Jin Dynasty
If the king succeeds in seizing the rightful son, the whole of Guanlong will be prosperous, and the troubles of the clan will last for several generations. Even if the King of Jin is a genius and can suppress Guanlong, the effort and price required will be unimaginable. Even if
It can affect the political structure of the Tang Dynasty, causing the center to lose military power, weakening the branches and laying the foundation for the country's subjugation..."
His tone was speculative, but he knew that once Li Zhi came to power, all this would become a reality.
In the process of supporting Li Zhi to ascend to the throne, Guan Long seized enough power. The most important thing was to firmly hold the military power of the Tang Dynasty in his hands. This led to Li Zhi later using the "abolition of the king and establishing a military force" to replace the queen and then establish a queen.
The plan to weaken and suppress Guanlong was not fully successful.
After that, it can be said that the entire empire's army was beyond the control of the emperor. Even though it went through the three dynasties of Gaozong, Empress Wu, and Xuanzong, it could not be fully recovered due to the deep abuses.
The final result is that the military power travels outside the center, the branches are weak and the branches are strong, and the border towns are strong.
The reason why the "Anshi Rebellion" broke out and destroyed the prosperous Tang Dynasty into pieces with a devastating force, laying the root cause of the country's subjugation in one fell swoop, was that because of the loss of military power, the central government could only watch the chaos spread to the entire empire.
, but was helpless.
In any era, military power is a top priority. Once military power cannot be controlled by the central government, the country will be destroyed.
It was like this in the Tang Dynasty, it was like this in the Song Dynasty, and it was still like this in the Ming and Qing Dynasties...
Fang Jun sighed softly and said: "The so-called fight for the reserve position, my husband does not care about his own power and glory, let alone safeguarding the interests of the family, but for the longer-term existence and development of the empire. I don't want to see this."
The prosperous times were only strong on the outside and strong on the inside. If there was a slight disturbance, the country would be overturned and the country could not be saved. In fact, the knowledgeable people in the court could see the consequences of the King of Jin's success in seizing the throne. However, some people only cared about the interests of the family and the surname and were unwilling to
It’s just a matter of seeing a prince who can continue your majesty’s policy of governing the country ascend the throne. It’s a pity that the crisis that the ministers can see is only seen by your majesty. Or maybe your majesty clearly sees it but is unwilling to face it.”
This was the most puzzling part for him.
With His Majesty Li Er's talent and strategy, how could he not see the dangers of Guan Long regaining military power once King Jin ascended the throne?
But this eternal sage just turned a blind eye and wanted to depose the prince and replace him with the king of Jin...
In fact, not only does he not understand it, many people do not understand it either.
Including Li Tai.
He stood outside Chengtian Gate, raising his head and looking at the majestic city gate and tower, waiting for his father's summons, wanting to express his feelings directly, even to offend Tianyan...