Chapter 9: Conspiracy
Li Tai had his adviser Wei Ting, the military historian, and Du Chuke, the minister of the Ministry of Works and the chief historian of the Prince of Wei's palace, summoned to the Prince of Wei's palace.
In addition to Du Chuke and Wei Ting, there were also confidants such as the son-in-law of the emperor, Chai Lingwu, and the son-in-law of the emperor, Fang Yiai, who gathered at the Prince of Wei's palace.
Li Tai was Li Er's most beloved son, and Li Er favored Li Tai to an outrageous degree.
Li Er was willing to violate the rules to favor this son, and Wei Zheng and others had made memorials for this matter, asking Li Er to stop such behavior.
Li Er, however, did not care and still doted on Li Tai! He even wanted to issue an edict to let Li Tai move to Wude Hall.
Fortunately, Wei Zheng argued with reason, and Li Er gave up the idea of letting Li Tai live in Wude Hall.
After Li Tai finished compiling the Comprehensive Geography, Li Er was very happy. He not only put the Comprehensive Geography into the Royal Library, but also continuously rewarded Li Tai with wealth.
The amount of reward even exceeded the standard for the crown prince, which eventually caused Chu Suiliang to write a memorial to advise him, but Li Er still ignored it and rewarded what was due.
In order to give Li Tai more, he did not reduce Li Tai's expenses, but cancelled the crown prince's expense limit, in this way to maintain Li Tai's excessive expenses in disguise.
In this way, Li Tai had more ideas about the throne. Li Er's approach was like planting the seeds of succession in Li Tai's heart, which continued to take root and sprout in Li Tai's heart.
This also led to the brothers Li Tai and Li Chengqian becoming enemies.
"Today, Li Chengqian left Chang'an and went to Huayin County. What do you think Li Chengqian is doing?" Li Tai said.
"Your Majesty! Someone saw Zhao Jie, the governor of Yangzhou, go to Huayin County a few days ago and return to Chang'an early this morning. Later, he talked to the prince about something, and the prince left Chang'an and went to Huayin." The person who spoke was a young official.
"Who am I talking about! It turned out to be Sun Yifu, the director of the Ministry of Rites." Chai Lingwu said disdainfully.
Chai Lingwu was the grandson of Li Yuan, the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and the son-in-law of Li Er. He served as the junior minister of the Imperial Household, the governor of Weizhou, and was granted the title of Duke of Xiangyang County. He was of noble status and held a high position.
Naturally, he looked down on Li Yifu, who was born in a poor family, was good at intrigue, and had a lower official position.
The Dianyi of the Menxia Province was only a minor official of the ninth rank, in charge of applauding and
the order of seats in the palace. Generally speaking, Li Yifu's job was to be a minor official in charge of calling the roll and arranging the seating order of ministers during court sessions.
Wei Ting turned around and asked, "Li Dianyi, do you know why Zhao Jie went to Huayin?"
"This, this, your humble servant doesn't know!" Li Yifu said in embarrassment.
When Zhao Jie left Chang'an, he, Li Yifu, happened to meet him, and combined with Li Chengqian's departure from Chang'an today, he guessed that the two might be related.
How could he actually know what Li Chengqian went to Huayin for?
"Your Majesty! No matter what Li Chengqian went to Huayin for, now is a great opportunity! Your Majesty must not miss this opportunity." Wei Ting said.
"Good opportunity? What good opportunity?" Li Tai didn't understand what Du Chuke meant.
"Li Chengqian's departure from Chang'an City is a great opportunity for us to take action. The king only needs to send assassins to Huayin to kill Li Chengqian..." Wei Ting gestured to Li Tai with his hand, as if he was wiping his neck.
Wei Ting's intention was obvious, that is, he wanted Li Tai to kill Li Chengqian in Huayin.
Li Tai was a little tempted! If he could get rid of Li Chengqian in Huayin, then he would be the prince, and he would be the emperor of the Tang Dynasty in the future.
"No!" Du Chuke and Li Tai showed joy on their faces, and were shocked in their hearts! They quickly spoke up to stop him.
"Wei Ting, why not!" Wei Ting was very dissatisfied with Du Chuke's rejection of his suggestion, and turned to Li Tai and said: "Your Majesty! Opportunities are rare! If you don't get rid of Li Chengqian now, you won't have such a good opportunity again. Your Majesty must not miss this opportunity."
"Your Highness! Sending assassins to assassinate is extremely dangerous. If His Majesty knows about this, Your Highness will have no hope of becoming the crown prince."
"If Li Chengqian cannot be solved, Li Chengqian will definitely be alert! It will be difficult to take action against Li Chengqian next time!" Du Chuke said.
Du Chuke did not approve of Li Tai taking this risk. After all, Li Tai is now in the emperor's favor and will become the crown prince in no time!
He can't let this happen! Otherwise, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain? He placed his greatest treasure on Li Tai.
If Li Tai failed to become the crown prince, he would regret it to death.
Anyway, given Li Chengqian's situation, it was only a matter of time before he was deposed, and there was no need to resort to such despicable means as assassination.
Therefore, he had to stop Li Tai from doing anything stupid, lest everything he had done would go to waste.
"Humph! Nonsense!" Wei Ting was shaking with anger. Du Chuke was good in everything except being decisive. If he let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rid of Li Chengqian slip away, he would regret it. "
Your Highness! As long as Li Chengqian dies, Your Highness will be the crown prince, and the Tang Dynasty will belong to Your Highness!" Wei Ting persuaded.
He was determined to persuade Li Tai to kill Li Chengqian today.
Li Tai was really tempted. He had long coveted the position of crown prince. Since there was a chance to get rid of Li Chengqian, Li Tai was really unwilling to give up.
"Okay! I'll do it..."
Li Tai wanted to do what Wei Ting said. As soon as he said that, Du Chuke hurriedly knelt down in front of Li Tai.
"Doctor Du, what are you doing?"
Du Chuke raised his head and said, "Your Highness! If the assassination of Li Chengqian fails, Your Highness will really miss the position of crown prince. Please think twice!"
"Du Chuke, don't listen to the alarmist words! You are deceiving Your Highness here." Wei Ting scolded Du Chuke, turned around and said to Li Tai, "Your Highness, don't listen to Du Chuke's slander. If you don't do it, you will definitely get into trouble! Your Highness!"
Wei Ting finished speaking and knelt down on the ground!
"Your Highness! The Crown Prince is the foundation of the country. If he is assassinated, His Majesty will definitely investigate thoroughly. If His Majesty finds out, Your Highness will never be crowned as the Crown Prince again."
"Your Highness is not the only one who can become the Crown Prince. Have you forgotten that there is also the Prince of Jin?" Du Chuke said with a loud noise.
Du Chuke's last sentence made Li Tai break out in a cold sweat. If Li Chengqian fell, the person who could become the Crown Prince would not only be Li Tai, but also his younger brother, the Prince of Jin, Li Zhi.
His uncle Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang and other old ministers were not willing to support Li Tai. If Li Chengqian committed suicide, he would be doomed.
It was not difficult for Li Tai to become the crown prince . After Li Chengqian was deposed, it was legitimate for Li Tai to become the crown prince. Changsun Wuji and his men could not object. However, if it was really as Du Chuke said, Changsun Wuji and his men would definitely let his father make Li Zhi the crown prince.
Wouldn't all his efforts be in vain?
"What Doctor Du said makes sense! I'll listen to you, Doctor Du." Li Tai stepped forward and helped Du Chuke up and said with a smile.
Wei Ting was a little disappointed with Li Tai. He felt that Li Tai was not a person who could do great things.