Chapter 115 Undercurrents Resurface, Cutting Off the Supply Line
Prince Li Zhi's retreat was like removing the hottest fuel from boiling water. The heated debate in the court over whether the Crown Prince was "strict" or not, though still burning, eventually subsided. The opposition lost its most symbolic and potentially influential banner, suffering a significant blow. Many previously restless forces went back to dormancy, observing the situation.
However, the apparent calm often masks a deeper undercurrent. Li Chengqian knew better than anyone that although Changsun Wuji's counterattack had been temporarily thwarted, this shrewd uncle and the vast aristocratic interest group he represented would not give up so easily. They had simply changed their strategy, shifting from trying to support a spokesperson for direct confrontation to more covert infiltration, delays, and covert obstruction.
What alarmed him even more was that Li Zhi wasn't the only prince in the harem. Although he and Li Zhi were the only legitimate sons left, the princes born to other concubines, as they grew older, might have their maternal families develop ulterior motives. Especially those concubines from powerful clans, seeing the crown prince increasingly suppressing these families, might secretly take action for the future of their families or their own offspring. History is replete with examples of turmoil caused by harem interference in politics and the rise of powerful maternal relatives.
“We can’t give them another chance.” In the study of the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian spoke to his trusted advisors, his voice as cold as a knife. “While Father Emperor’s prestige is still intact and the court is still under control, we must speed up our efforts to eliminate those most restless and threatening ‘hard bones’! When I ascend the throne, facing a greatly weakened aristocratic structure, I will then employ a strategy of appeasement and division to gradually achieve long-term stability.”
His goal was clear: to move away from full-scale, fierce confrontation and instead launch precise, lethal "surgical" strikes. The focus was on eliminating the core aristocratic families and their key branches that had potential connections to old cases (such as the death of Li Xiang), resisted the Crown Prince's new policies most fiercely, and still wielded considerable influence in the court and the military. He wanted to break the backbone of these families, causing them to fall into internal division and fear after losing their core strength and banner, making it difficult for them to form an organized and powerful resistance.
The strategies have also been adjusted accordingly, becoming more covert and complex, and paying more attention to the guise of "legitimacy" and the tactics of "divide and conquer".
First, he strengthened his control and investment in the Hundred Cavalry Division and the Eastern Palace's secret guards, ordering them to spare no expense in digging up evidence of the target aristocratic families' illegal activities over the years—not just issues of land ownership and hidden households, but also more serious crimes such as bribing officials, interfering with the judiciary, exploiting local communities, and even colluding with local powerful families and raising private armies. The collection of this evidence was no longer carried out openly, but rather like a patient spider, quietly weaving a web in the shadows.
Secondly, he made full use of the imperial examination system and the Ministry of Personnel's assessment system. On the one hand, he further expanded the scope of the imperial examinations, especially in practical fields such as law, mathematics, and engineering, promoting a large number of talented individuals from humble backgrounds with no connections to fill middle and lower-level positions in key government departments such as the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Ministry of Revenue. He even placed them in deputy positions or assistants in local prefectures and counties where powerful families held sway. These newcomers were full of vigor and were grateful and loyal to the crown prince who promoted them, making them a sharp weapon for carrying out specific investigation tasks.
On the other hand, stricter and more detailed requirements were imposed on the annual performance evaluations of officials in the Ministry of Personnel, with particular emphasis on "political achievements" and "integrity." Officials from prominent families with mediocre performance or a history of misconduct, regardless of rank, were subject to rigorous evaluation; those who deserved demotion were demoted, transferred (often to sinecure positions or remote areas), and investigated. Conversely, officials from prominent families who possessed reasonable abilities and showed some cooperation with the Crown Prince's new policies, or at least remained neutral, were retained or even promoted at the discretion of the authorities, sending a clear signal that "those who obey me may not prosper, but those who oppose me will perish."
Third, on the economic front, he instructed the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Household Department to conduct stricter audits and supervision of certain industries closely associated with the target aristocratic families (such as salt and iron, canal transport, large-scale mining and metallurgy, and border trade), to verify tax revenues, clear up franchises, and crack down on monopolies and illegal operations. Simultaneously, through the Imperial Treasury and some secretly controlled trading companies, he began to venture into or support emerging industries that competed with the traditional strengths of the aristocratic families (such as improved textiles, new-style porcelain, and overseas spice trade), gradually eroding the lifeblood of these families from its economic foundation.
Fourth, and most insidious, was the strategy of sowing discord and division. Li Chengqian secretly instructed others to use reliable intermediaries to convey "goodwill" and "promises" to other aristocratic families with long-standing grudges or conflicting interests with the target core families. For example, they might hint that during an investigation of a particular family, its competitors could be given lenient treatment, or even preferential policies; or they might suggest that the Crown Prince would reward collaborators in the future, such as favoring them in official promotions or business opportunities. He wanted to incite the aristocratic families to fight amongst themselves, weakening each other, while simultaneously drawing some aristocratic families to the side of the imperial family, or at least ensuring their neutrality.
These methods, like countless fine yet resilient threads, slowly tightened from the imperial court to local areas, from politics to economics, from the open to the covert, weaving an invisible yet deadly giant net that enveloped those targets whom Li Chengqian had listed as "must be eliminated."
The effects were significant, but they were also accompanied by more covert resistance and new risks.
Some astute aristocratic families began to sense something was amiss. They discovered that their sons serving as officials in the imperial court were finding it unusually difficult to get promoted, and were frequently transferred to less desirable locations; their family businesses were constantly subjected to various "compliance" inspections, leading to endless troubles; the investigations into hidden households at their local estates seemed to be more thorough than in other places; and even some old, less-than-honorable transactions within the families seemed to be being unearthed again.
Panic and discontent spread within the aristocratic families. Some advocated for a hardline confrontation, while others suggested finding new patrons (but the example of Changsun Wuji made them hesitate). Many more lived in constant fear, attempting to transfer assets and destroy evidence in more covert ways, or desperately seeking connections with the Crown Prince to protect themselves.
Although open and heated debates were no longer taking place in the imperial court, a more somber and eerie atmosphere began to permeate the air. Memorials increasingly revealed instances of buck-passing, shirking responsibility, and delays regarding specific matters; some policies encountered various "unexpected" difficulties in their implementation; and even rumors began to circulate quietly in small circles about the Crown Prince "appointing cruel officials" and "fabricating charges," their origins difficult to trace, yet spreading like poisonous fungi.
Even within the imperial harem, things were not entirely calm. Several high-ranking concubines from aristocratic families seemed to be moving around more frequently than before. They might not dare to directly interfere in politics, but they attempted to exert influence by affecting those close to the emperor, pleading for their own sons, or subtly mentioning topics such as "the merits of certain veteran officials and their families" and "benevolence and compassion" to the emperor. Emperor Li Shimin seemed to be aware of this, but his attitude was ambiguous. He neither severely reprimanded them nor explicitly supported them; instead, he became even more secluded and indifferent to matters of the harem.
Li Chengqian knew that this was the stalemate before the decisive battle, the time that would best test his patience and composure. Although the opponent's counterattack had become underground, it might be even more insidious and difficult to defend against. He could not afford to relax in the slightest.
He strengthened his own defenses and those of the Eastern Palace, and his protection of Wu Zetian and her children was extremely tight. At the same time, he was also looking for and cultivating a new generation of people who were younger, more loyal, and had no connection with the aristocratic families, as the foundation for his future complete control of the government.
“It will be soon…” Li Chengqian stood on the highest pavilion of the East Palace, looking down at the majestic and continuous palace city in the twilight and the myriad lights of Chang’an in the distance. His eyes flashed with cold stars. “Once I remove these thorns one by one, once I truly sit on that throne… aristocratic families, your era will come to an end.”
He seemed to already see a new era unfolding under his planning and promotion: a new era in which imperial power was highly centralized, elites from humble backgrounds and commoner families became the backbone of the court, and aristocratic families were weakened to the point that they could only survive by relying on imperial power. All of this was predicated on completing the most crucial and dangerous purge during this "window of opportunity" when his father was still able to maintain order and he himself had not yet formally ascended the throne.
Undercurrents surged underground, and murderous intent gathered in the shadows. A battle fought without gunpowder, yet potentially more brutal, was quietly approaching its climax in the final twilight of the Zhenguan era. Li Chengqian, like a seasoned alpha wolf, calmly directed this hunt against the millennium-old beast, proceeding step by step with unwavering determination.
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