In the evening of that day, in the Hall of Wude, His Majesty Li Er looked at the naval memorial spread out on the table in front of him and felt a thorn in his side...
The Suga clan secretly contacted various forces in the Japanese country and gathered heavy troops to raid the naval base at Nambajin in an attempt to resist the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Liu Ingui, who was stationed here, organized troops for defense while sending people to Su Dingfang who was patrolling the coast of Silla.
After sending the message, Su Dingfang led the main force of the navy to rush for reinforcements, and personally sat in Nambajin, commanding the army to kill the enemy invaders and attack Asukakyo.
At the same time, the Ezo people in the northern part of the Japanese country raised their troops to attack south under the command of the navy, and attacked Asukakyo with the navy. The Soga clan was completely defeated. Asukakyo was full of people and corpses were lying on the ground, and the Japanese country was completely destroyed.
While Su Dingfang was cleaning up the mess and stabilizing the situation, he wrote to Chang'an for instructions on how to deal with the aftermath...
His Majesty Li Er frowned at this.
How to deal with the aftermath is not difficult. Before that, his beloved young son had already given the answer - follow the example of Silla, grant the land of Japan to the King of Jin, and establish the Pingfan Fan...
At this moment, His Majesty Li Er was angry that the King of Jin was too smart to avoid the current predicament, and he was also worried about the navy's combat power. The Japanese country was not just a flat city.
, the lineage of the Emperor had existed for hundreds of thousands of years and had unparalleled prestige. However, under the naval attack, it melted and collapsed in an instant like boiling soup and snow.
The Youtun Guards, the Navy...these two armies, which were originally weak and even disorganized, immediately exploded into extremely strong combat capabilities after being trained by Fang Jun. The latter was even formed by Fang Jun. This shows that Fang Jun's
In terms of talent, he may not be as talented as Li Jing, a great master of military art in the world, but when it comes to practicality, he should be the first in the army, and even those outstanding Zhenguan ministers should be ranked below him.
However, in this case, Dong Gong's background is too great, and his attempt to force Yishu to do so will easily lead to extremely strong reactions...
Just as he was frowning and in a dilemma, a servant came into the room and told him that it was Duke Shen who was paying an audience.
His Majesty Li Er was slightly startled. Duke Shen Guo has been a noble and honest official for a long time. He no longer cares about political affairs. He spends his days either living in the palace to enjoy his family life or traveling around mountains and rivers. Why did he suddenly come to the palace to pay an audience?
But no matter what, you must see it.
Everyone knows that he relied on the assistance of the Guanlong Clan to seize the throne, but without Gao Shilian's recommendation and help at the beginning, how could the Guanlong Clan put all their chips on his second son?
On your body?
"Xuan."
"Here!"
The chamberlain exited, and His Majesty Li Er stood up and walked out from behind the desk. He knelt down on the mat by the window and ordered someone to make a new pot of tea. He turned his head and looked at the scenery outside the window, his mind spinning rapidly.
After a moment, Gao Shilian, who was dressed in rich clothes, entered. After greeting him, His Majesty Li Er smiled and invited him to sit in front of him.
Gao Shilian's qualifications, identity, and status naturally meant that he would not be restrained in front of His Majesty Li Er, and he knelt down opposite him with a smile. It was only when His Majesty Li Er dismissed the servants and poured tea with him with a pot in his hand that he became frightened and said: "
I can’t afford it!”
"Hey! I have been busy with government affairs recently and have no time to visit my uncle at home. Fortunately, my uncle came today. There is no need to be formal. It is just a matter of family affairs between us nephews and uncles."
His Majesty Li Er looked kindly, and regardless of Gao Shilian's humility, he filled the teacups in front of them with tea.
Gao Shilian could only bow slightly to receive it...
…
There were only two monarchs and ministers in the side hall, and all the internal servants stayed away, so no one knew what was discussed. It was only an hour later that they walked out together with a smile. His Majesty Li Er even personally sent Gao Shilian outside the hall.
, and watched him leave.
Early the next morning, Menxia Province received His Majesty's edict. After reading it, the officials could not hide their shock. They hurriedly stamped the imperial seal and immediately distributed it to all the yamen of the imperial court.
Then countless bookboys and servants quickly returned to various mansions from the provinces, and the news spread quickly: Your Majesty has an edict, and Cheng Yaojin, the Duke of Lu State, led his Zuowuwei to Chang'an, and the palace of Suwei was banned...
There have been various signs before that the clans in Shandong and Jiangnan have completely turned to the Jinwang. Now the much-anticipated post of Suwei Jingji has fallen into the hands of Cheng Yaojin of the Shandong faction, which indicates that the strength of the Jinwang family has skyrocketed.
, and His Majesty’s intention is clear.
At stake is the reserve position, which involves numerous interests and disputes. Naturally, the government and the opposition are in shock, and all parties take action upon hearing the news.
That night, the city gates of Chang'an were not locked. Groups of well-equipped Zuowu guards marched into the city and stationed at the camps where the Sixth Army of the East Palace was originally stationed in various squares. They formally took over the defense of Chang'an and joined forces with the "Xuanwumen" stationed at Xuanwu Gate.
The "armored cavalry" stayed together in the Wei Palace.
This indicates that His Majesty Li Er is determined and Yi Chu is imminent...
…
In Furong Garden, King Li Tai of Wei was upstairs overlooking the brightly lit military camp beside Qujiang Pool, his face was as gloomy as water, and his thick eyebrows were knitted together.
The hands behind his back were clenched into fists, and the veins were bulging...
Fang Jun was sitting on the side of the table, drinking tea slowly.
Li Tai stood in front of the window for a long time, then returned to sit in front of the table. He raised his hand to take the full tea from Fang Jun, took a sip, put down the tea cup, and pursed his lips without saying a word.
Anyone can see the despair and unwillingness in his heart...
Fang Jun picked up a piece of pastry and put it into his mouth to chew, and asked casually: "I wonder why Your Highness summoned you at night?"
Only then did Li Tai come back to his senses. He looked at Fang Jun and asked instead, "I thought you wouldn't come. Didn't I fear your father's suspicion earlier and didn't dare to have too much contact with me?"
As the pillar of the East Palace faction and a former military general, he had close contacts with the prince who was vying for the throne, which was a taboo for any emperor.
Even Zhenguan ministers like Cheng Yaojin, who had always been deeply trusted by His Majesty Li Er, usually tried to hide behind their backs when meeting with the King of Jin, and did not dare to show themselves openly to others...
Fang Jun put the cake under his eyes, took a sip of tea, sighed, and said helplessly: "Why do you ask, Your Highness, knowingly?"
The overall situation has been decided, so there is no need to worry too much.
What His Majesty Li Er is afraid of is that before he can make up his mind, Li Tai's power will soar and compete with the King of Jin. The fight between the two tigers will be very involved. As long as he makes up his mind, he will naturally not have these worries. People like Fang Jun can't do it because of it.
Fighting for reserves and deliberately rebelling...
Li Tai was stunned for a moment, twitching the corners of his mouth and giving a wry smile.
It's just that this smile is uglier than crying...
After pondering for a long time, he rubbed his face vigorously, exhaled a long breath, and said in despair: "I am the second son of my father. If the prince is deposed, I should succeed... Besides, I have an excellent reputation and prestige.
Zhuo Zhuo, in the past few years, he has been building schools and establishing education, and countless people in the world have praised and commended him. Why did my father turn a blind eye and instead choose a useless pheasant slave? "
He couldn't figure it out.
Pheasant Nu had been trained in Shangshu Province before, and was mediocre and ignored everyone. Later, he went to work in the Ministry of War. Under Fang Jun's suppression, he was submissive and could not see any amazing talent.
Is it just because the pheasant slaves grew up beside their father and have a stronger affection for each other than other princes?
But this is choosing the crown prince!
Although the pheasant slave is intelligent, he has a soft character and is too easy-going. Compared with the prince, he is no less generous. How can such a person be decisive in killing and be a good emperor?
So he was both angry and dissatisfied...
Fang Jun took his free time to sip his tea cup and advised: "After all, the imperial edict has not been promulgated yet, your highness can still fight for it."
They are just words of relief. Historically, His Majesty Li Er considered this situation in many ways, and the final answer was to abandon Li Tai and choose Li Zhi. Of course, Changsun Wuji supported Li Zhi on behalf of the Guanlong clan, but
There is also the factor that His Majesty Li Er believed that Li Zhi had an unparalleled filial piety, a gentle personality and could be friendly to his brothers. After all, he had personally experienced the "Xuanwu Gate Incident" and would never want the killing of brothers to happen again among his sons...
The inertia of history will never change easily, so even if the current situation is completely different from that in history, as long as His Majesty Li Er is determined to be easy to reserve, the possibility that the reserve will belong to Li Zhi is still very high.
How could Li Tai not know that things had reached this point and not much had been changed?
It's just that we were only one step away from that position. How could we be willing to give up like this?
His eyes were red and his face was ferocious. He grasped Fang Fangjun's hand and said in a deep voice: "If Erlang is willing to fully support this king, it may not be impossible to persuade my father to change his mind! I can swear here that as long as he does everything in his life,
If you succeed, you can issue an edict to honor the prince and support him in the Jiuzheng Palace, and allow his children and grandchildren to inherit the title of king, which will never be abolished. He will be rich and glorious and live with the country! I will also treat the pheasant slaves with kindness and protect their wealth and honor.
, to reuse his descendants... If you violate this oath, you will be destroyed by heaven and earth!"
Fang Jun was silent for a moment, withdrew his hand, sighed softly, and said, "His Highness...do you believe it?"
Li Tai: "..."
He was speechless.
Fang Jun himself does not have the power to compete with the clans in Jiangnan and Shandong. If he wants to turn things around, he can only bring the entire Dong Palace team over to form a confrontation. Only then will his father be afraid of internal fighting and have to start a new battle.
Weighing the balance between him and Pheasant Nu, establishing him as crown prince is more in line with the interests of the empire.
But even if he could force his father to make him the heir apparent, how would he, Li Tai, face the crown prince Li Chengqian after his father dies in the future?
The team that assisted him in ascending the throne were Li Chengqian's former subordinates. How could he safely watch Li Chengqian raise the Jiucheng Palace?
There is no room for others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch.
Who knows whether these people will return to Li Chengqian's command again, help him start a mutiny, depose him as emperor and replace him?
Today, Pheasant Nu can rely on the support of the clans in Shandong and Jiangnan to gain the approval of his father, and he is one step away from Dabao. When the Japanese ascend the throne as emperor, how can they tolerate Pheasant slaves wandering around freely, openly and covertly with the clans of the two places?
Exchanging tunes and flirting with each other?
Faced with Fang Jun's questioning, Li Tai remained speechless.
Even if he took the oath at this moment, he himself did not believe that he would be able to treat the prince and the pheasant slaves well in the future, so how could he convince his father?
He always thought he had a chance to compete for the reserve position, but only now did he realize that it was a dead end.
Suddenly there was a sound of hurried footsteps downstairs. Not long after, a chamberlain quickly went upstairs and came to the two of them. He said quickly: "Your Highness, news just came from Taiji Palace. Your Majesty suddenly became dizzy and vomited while handling government affairs."