Chapter 928 The thirteenth year of Zhenguan!
Luo Jingcheng, Prince of Gusu, was appointed as the Minister of Works, responsible for supervising the construction of large ships that could sail on the sea.
This was a relatively important political news at the beginning of the 13th year of Zhenguan.
Li Shimin already had a plan to conquer Liaodong in his mind, but no one knew about it except Luo Su. They could only guess whether the emperor had any new plans based on Li Shimin's sudden order to supervise the construction of warships.
But no one thought that Li Shimin already had a new war plan.
Because the Gaochang War had just ended, given Li Shimin's character, he would not start another war of annihilation in such a short period of time. After all, Li Shimin has always held the attitude that war should not affect the people's livelihood.
Since the Zhenguan period, the Winter Turks were defeated in the fourth year of Zhenguan, and it was not until three or four years later that they attacked Western Yan, and another three or four years later that they launched a war against Gaochang.
Even Wei Zheng, a minister who made a living by giving advice, could not say a word about Li Shimin's vanity, let alone his warmongering.
…
Luo Su was also calculating the current situation.
The Luo family has completely emerged from its predicament and has firmly established its foothold in the Tang Dynasty. Although the fortune is not particularly large, with the continuous influx of luck, at least there is no need to worry about the extinction of the family. They have also found Wu Zhao, the key figure mentioned by the Su Wang, and they already have an idea. The next step is to push for it and completely complete the unification of Li and Luo, and the complete fusion of blood, just like Ji Jiang.
In order to complete this plan, it is worth it even if it means using divine weapons. As long as this plan can be completed, the Luo family's luck and fortune will explode in an instant, and may even be accumulated enough to activate the God of Four Seasons.
God of the four seasons!
The Luo family's truly invincible artifact would cost Luo Ling millions of luck points to use.
If an ordinary member of the Luo clan uses this invincible weapon, not only will he lose millions of luck points, but he will also have to pay with at least one life.
"These things are almost all left to be concluded. It seems that it is time to confront Li Shimin. I hope he can bear it now. He is the greatest saint king in history."
Luo Su stood with his hands behind his back, looking in the direction of the East Palace.
…
Crown Prince Li Chengqian is a strange person.
No matter from which angle you look at it, you can't say that he is incompetent. He has been famous for his diligence since he was young, and he has some ability in government affairs. Of course, he cannot be compared with Li Shimin, but his achievements are also remarkable.
But the teachers who taught him, except Luo Xuanye, basically scolded him more than praised him, because he was weird and really did not conform to the aesthetic of the Central Plains for more than a thousand years.
Li Shimin loved the Xia and Yi people the same way, but he never wore Turkic clothes or danced in the East Palace. He also said after drinking that he wanted to go to the grassland and become a Turk.
Luo Juncheng knew that Li Chengqian wanted to ride a horse and feel the freedom because he had a lame leg.
Especially on the grassland, people don't care about diseases like lameness, so it is normal for him to have some yearning, because it is not a yearning in essence, but an expression of his own physical defects.
But it is difficult for ordinary people to understand and they just think he is sick.
This brings us to his second peculiarity: he would not speak out when he felt wronged, but would instead speak harshly to others.
Back then, he could tell his story to Luo Xuanye and Empress Changsun. Now that they are both gone, the remaining people will only scold him and ask him to correct his mistakes. He doesn't want to tell these people his true thoughts at all.
So what is shown to outsiders is that he does not listen to advice and is unrepentant.
Luo Juncheng knew it, but how could he tell others, especially the emperor? He couldn't just say, "There is a rift between the prince and your uncle, and he doesn't want to tell you his true feelings." Then King Wei Li Tai would really laugh out loud.
Li Chengqian has been increasingly criticized by officials in the Eastern Palace over the years and is almost becoming autistic. If Luo Juncheng hadn't talked to him, he would have really had mental problems.
But although Luo Juncheng was favored and Li Lizhi was also a princess favored by Li Shimin, the Prince Zhou's Mansion was quite different from when the two great figures, Princess Pingyang and Prince Zhou, were there.
In other words, they are not that afraid of Luo Juncheng. Everyone is doing things according to the rules. Even if you are the Prince of Zhou, you cannot go beyond the laws and rules of the Tang Dynasty.
When Li Chengqian made Li Shimin angry, Li Tai would try every means to please Li Shimin. He was very good at making Li Shimin happy, and now there was no Luo Xuanye to suppress him.
The most terrifying thing is that Li Chengqian and Li Tai both knew about this.
Li Chengqian knew that Luo Xuanye was gone, and he had lost his greatest support. Li Tai also knew this, and the prince no longer had a real support. As for Wei Zheng and Li Jing...
In fact, only Wei Zheng supported it, and only Wei Zheng spoke for Li Chengqian in front of Li Shimin.
As for Li Jing, since Luo Xuanye's death, he can only be described as silent as a cicada. You know, after conquering Gaochang, he hardly even spoke a word about military reform. He is the undisputed number one boss in the military, but he kept silent about something that might affect his interests.
Why is this so?
Because Li Jing thought that if he spoke again, it would not be a question of whether he could keep his interests, but whether he could keep his life.
Under such circumstances, how could he dare to collude with Crown Prince Li Chengqian? What if the emperor suspected that he and the crown prince were trying to stir up trouble?
…
In the Taiji Hall, Li Shimin was quite angry, and the faces of his ministers were not very good either.
"How can you, ministers, look down on my son like this? I think it is proper for a minister to pay respect to a prince."
Theoretically, there was no problem for a first-rank prince to ask a third-rank prime minister to perform a salute, but none of the ministers were willing to do so.
Luo Xuanchen said directly, "Your Majesty, according to ancient etiquette, although we are all third-rank officials, we are actually ministers who sit and discuss with the emperor, and although the kings are first-rank officials, they are all dukes who have to go out to serve as fiefs. Since the Zhou Dynasty, it has never been heard that ministers should pay respect to dukes."
Luo Xuanchen's words made all the prime ministers present straighten their backs. This is exactly the truth. Although we are now of the third rank, we are ministers. Although your son is noble, except for the crown prince, what qualifications do the other kings have to make us pay tribute to him?
To put it bluntly, if the emperor hadn't taken sides, any one of us could have easily killed the kings.
Wei Zheng also seized the opportunity and said, "Your Majesty, when you were still the King of Qin, you were prominent because of your honor as the General of Tiance, as well as the positions of Taiwei, Situ, Shangshu Ling, and Shangshu Ling of the Great Executive Office of the East Shaanxi Road, but not just because of your status as the King of Qin.
Why are you proposing something so ridiculous now?"
Wei Zheng's words made the prime ministers in the hall jump in their hearts. This old guy is really a master at pretending to be confused. The emperor did this because the ministers did not respect the King of Wei enough and were angry when they saw that the King of Wei did not take the initiative to salute. Now Wei Zheng directly linked this matter together, involved all the prime ministers, and suppressed the emperor.
Although a few people do not want to be involved in the affairs of the Crown Prince and the King of Wei, they must stand together today. The Three Dukes and Nine Ministers are the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, and they must not be below the prince. It is fine not to allow the prince to salute, but to salute when seeing the prince, what kind of dukes and ministers are they who sit and talk? From now on, they should kneel when they see the emperor.
Zhang Sun Wuji also spoke up, "Your Majesty, I also think it is inappropriate."
After Luo Xuanye's death, Changsun Wuji was the one who was most trusted by Li Shimin. Now even Changsun Wuji said so. Li Shimin's eyes swept across the whole audience. Fang Xuanling was silent, Chu Suiliang did not speak, and the other six ministers and ministers, seeing him looking over, all bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I second the motion."
This had never happened before. All the prime ministers collectively rejected Li Shimin's suggestion. Li Shimin had known that this would not pass, but he still wanted to give it a try.
After seeing this scene, he suddenly laughed out loud and said, "Great, you all expressed your views like this, I feel relieved. My prime ministers are all upright people, none of them are trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful.
I have recently heard some rumors in Chang'an City, saying that the prince is a cripple and cannot become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. They also said that I favor the King of Wei, so I intend to depose him.
I can now say that I did not mean that.
Although the prince has a leg disease, he can still walk, and he governs the world with wisdom, so there is no problem with the prince.
Besides, the prince has a child. I will not abolish his position or abandon the etiquette and laws.
Let everyone know what I mean.
Cut off the thoughts of those who harbor evil in their hearts.”
Li Shimin's sudden words caused the Taiji Hall to fall into silence. This sudden turn shocked almost everyone.
Some rumors in the streets actually reached the ears of the emperor, which meant that the emperor was actually paying attention to the news in this regard. It was impossible for the emperor to be as calm as he was now.
Fight for the throne.
Everyone knows what this incident means to the current emperor, and the prime ministers know even more clearly that the current emperor absolutely does not want to see that scene.
So whenever possible, they don't want to get involved.
Since the death of Prince Zhou Luo Xuanye, this was another public statement by the emperor that he would not depose the crown prince.
But this time's political statement is different from the last time, which only makes people more frightened.
Because Prince Zhou was there last time, it was like building on a solid foundation, and everyone could walk in openly without worrying about the house collapsing.
Now the emperor's reaffirmation is just lip service. In fact, there is no way to resolve the conflict between him and the prince. This is like a castle in the air that may collapse at any time. What if the emperor changes his mind later?
After all, his love for Prince of Wei Li Tai was not fake.
He was often angry with the prince, and it was not fake.
They all have eyes.
and.
The emperor said these words on purpose today, which reminded these cunning people of an ancient saying.
“The more people lack something, the more they emphasize it.”
The emperor emphasized that he was maintaining the status of the crown prince. Could it be that he couldn't stand the crown prince anymore?
(End of this chapter)
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