My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 93 The Prince and I Are Enmity
The Goryeo matter was settled, even faster than Li Chengqian had imagined.

The evil commander Ji Zhao who was sent to Yingzhou hasn't come back yet.

Li Chengqian felt somewhat regretful that this card was not played.

I understand Erfeng's thoughts.

It's nothing more than a thought that five or six thousand soldiers and horses are for the prince to show off.

The five or six thousand palace soldiers were not brought to the Eastern Palace for the Crown Prince to train.

Otherwise, how could Erfeng sleep with the deafening drumbeats next door?

In name, Erfeng cannot be considered a founding emperor, but in reality, he is basically the same.

He would not be too wary of the prince having military power.

In fact, to a large extent, military power is not the key to seizing the throne.

Li Shimin had great military power back then, but when he launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he only had 800 troops.

Does he think eight hundred people are enough?
No, this was the only number of troops that the Prince of Qin's Palace could mobilize in Chang'an City at that time.

The greatest influence of commanding the military on the throne is merit.

The biggest key to Li Shimin's succession to the throne at that time was his merits. The soldiers who followed him were promoted because of their merits, so many people in the army were supporters of the King of Qin.

In comparison, the Xuanwu Gate Incident, although seemingly horrifying, was actually not as difficult as imagined.

The news reached the Prince of Wei's palace.

Li Tai was very surprised. He didn't expect so many things to happen after the court session.

"The crown prince actually succeeded? He actually convinced the court officials and his father to conquer Goryeo next year."

Li Tai felt it was a little unbelievable. After all, all the ministers of the dynasty were against it.

How come the wind direction changed so suddenly?

Where has your integrity and literary character gone?

Fang Yiai said: "My father told me that the prince said something and everyone stopped objecting."

"What?" Chai Lingwu urged.

"The prince said that if he ascended the throne, the first decree he would issue would be to attack Goryeo."

Fang Yiai's tone was somewhat longing as he imagined how domineering the prince must have been when he said these words.

He is honest and straightforward, a pure warrior, and he admires the strong by nature.

Chai Lingwu couldn't help but sigh: "So that's the case, don't you dare to object?"

"Compared to Your Majesty, they are more worried about the Crown Prince. With this comparison, it would be better if Your Majesty is in control."

Everyone understands that, in the final analysis, this means not trusting the prince.

Li Tai felt a little jealous when he heard this, as he felt that he was better than the crown prince.

What's the point of the crown prince ascending the throne? It should be me who ascends the throne.

In fact, the King of Wei had no idea of ​​seizing the throne in his early years. After all, the crown prince had performed excellently at that time, and had never had any problems as regent, which was highly recognized by the ministers.

In recent years, the prince has become more and more absurd, and his legs are lame, and he no longer looks like an emperor.

In addition, the emperor's constant favoritism and pampering was even excessive.

This made Li Tai want to seize the throne.

After just two or three years of development, and with the support of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats, the Wei Wang Party had spread throughout the court and the country.

At this point, even if Li Tai himself wanted to retreat, it would be impossible.

Like Li Chengqian, he no longer had any way out.

Besides, who can be willing to give up everything?

"Father gave me the troops of the Five Prefectures. I should train them well. I can't let the Crown Prince steal the limelight."

Li Tai was still very surprised by his father's support.

Originally he thought it would be difficult to argue with the crown prince on this issue, but unexpectedly his father gave him the same treatment as the crown prince.

He seemed to see his father patting his shoulder and saying softly: The prince has a lame leg, you should encourage him.

Thinking about it this way, I get excited.

"Don't worry, King Wei. The Crown Prince will definitely not be as good as King Wei."

"We can ask the Five Surnames and Seven Families to assist us in training the troops and preparing food and fodder. This is the time for them to make great efforts."

"Your Majesty's edict did not specify which palace soldiers to use. At that time, all the noble families will be asked to transfer their elite troops to serve under the King of Wei."

"Let them appoint a famous commander. The troops under the King of Wei are beyond the reach of the Crown Prince."

"No matter how much those peasants train, they can never compare to the elite soldiers of the noble families."

Chai Lingwu immediately made a suggestion, which was deeply agreed by Li Tai.

In terms of personal bravery, he is still aware of his own limitations, which cannot be compared with the prince.

The prince has indeed inherited the excellent talents of his Li family.

But in terms of military, Li Tai felt that the two were similar, both were zero and had never commanded troops.

But on my side, with the support of the noble families, it is completely different.

"It's time to let them contribute. Otherwise, how can I be more glorious than the Crown Prince?"

"Speaking of which, I am the Grand Commander of Yangzhou. Didn't my father say that we should attack Goryeo by both land and sea?"

"In my name as the Grand Commander of Yangzhou, I ask all the noble families to raise money and find skilled craftsmen to build me a batch of large ships that can sail on the sea."

"If the emperor asks me to sail by sea, I won't be completely unprepared."

After thinking for a while, Li Tai expressed his thoughts.

After all, the supporters behind him are not comparable to those of the prince.

Li Tai can't see anyone behind the prince. His father is his biggest supporter, but his father supports him more.

As for my uncle Changsun Wuji, he only has power in the court, but he can never compare with the aristocratic families.

Thinking about what happened in the morning court, Li Tai felt very depressed.

The court is not his home ground, but the prince's home ground. There are so many people supporting the prince, but his people, with low official positions, have little say.

Therefore, the King of Wei had no choice but to confront the Prince himself, and was taught a lesson by the civil officials.

Not only did he not gain any benefit, not only did he fail to hurt the prince in the slightest, but his father even scolded him.

But things are different now.

Suppressed by Li Shimin, the Wei Wang Party had an advantage outside the court, not in the upper court.

Now that the battle with the prince is in the army, Li Tai is naturally full of confidence.

"The King of Wei is wise, and I think that's not only in his dealings with Goryeo."

"If we have enough warships, we can force Japan to surrender."

"When Japan refused to pay tribute, it was a loss of face for Your Majesty. If the King of Wei can take this opportunity to build sea vessels, defeat the enemy without fighting, and make them a vassal of the Tang Dynasty, Your Majesty will surely appreciate it and all the ministers will cheer."

Chai Lingwu immediately followed the King of Wei's words and flattered him.

Li Tai nodded slightly, very satisfied.

Fang Yiai looked at Chai Lingwu and wanted to say something, but he had too little knowledge and didn't know how to start.

So he turned to the King of Wei and said, "Me too." After finalizing the plan, he notified the Five Surnames and Seven Families and asked them to support him.

Naturally, the King of Wei cannot go to do such a thing. A fool like Fang Yiai will only cause trouble.

So Chai Lingwu ran around and got busy, informing the major families of the King of Wei's thoughts and decision.

The first to be hit were naturally the Qinghe Cui family of Chang'an City.

The five surnames and seven families help each other and advance and retreat as one.

As long as the Cui family of Qinghe approves, the matter will be almost done and basically settled.

Chai Lingwu was very familiar with Cui Wensheng. As the confidant of King Wei, he often conveyed messages on behalf of King Wei.

"Please tell the King of Wei that the Cui clan of Qinghe will give us full support."

Cui Wensheng said with a solemn vow.

He has suffered from the prince for a long time.

Especially the fact that there was a traitor in the clan had already spread among the prominent and powerful families.

Everyone was waiting to see the joke of Cui family's eldest daughter's marriage.

This is Cui's legitimate daughter.

You should know that although the Five Surnames and Seven Families had marriage alliances with other families, they were all concubines marrying off to consolidate the power of the aristocratic families.

For example, the daughter of Cui, who was married to Cheng Yaojin, an important official in the imperial court, only sounded impressive.

In fact, when Cheng Yaojin married her, she was already a 37-year-old widow.

Even so, in the eyes of the aristocratic families, it was still too high to marry.

Even Cheng Yaojin himself and other officials from aristocratic families felt so.

Under such circumstances, the eldest daughter of the Cui family married a poor boy from a southern aristocratic family, and even Cui Guangrui left the Cui family. How could Cui Wensheng swallow this?

Naturally, we must strongly support the Prince of Wei in his bid for the throne.

He had already secretly made a vow that if the prince really dared to destroy the foundation of his Qinghe Cui family and make Cui Fengzhu marry someone from a different family, he would never reconcile with the prince.

"With the help of Lord Cui, the King of Wei will surely be able to surpass the Crown Prince and win great military exploits in the conquest of Goryeo."

"The King of Wei is wise, so he should do so."

Although it was expected, Chai Lingwu was still excited that Cui Wensheng agreed so readily.

The rest of the journey will naturally be smoother.

East Palace, at dusk.

Du He rushed over.

The news from the court had already spread among the upper circles, and he had heard quite a few rumors.

Afterwards, he also heard about Chai Lingwu's activities from the sons of nobles with whom he was familiar.

"Your Highness, the King of Wei is now very proud and has the support of all the great families. He has no shortage of money, food, and men."

"I heard that the major families are going to work together to build a batch of sea vessels for the King of Wei in Yangzhou to gain credit."

"This is not a good thing for us."

Du He was a little worried. The major families were nothing in the city of Chang'an.

But outside of Chang'an, it is a top-notch force.

Otherwise, how could the court officials curry favor with her? They all wanted to marry into the Five Surnames and Seven Families, even if she was just a concubine's daughter, they would be happy to do so.

Now that we are all working together to support King Wei, there is no need to worry about manpower, horses, money and food.

On the other hand, the prince only has soldiers from five prefectures.

The Eastern Palace guards are useful in Chang'an, but at most there are only two thousand of them.

"Your Majesty, how can you allow the King of Wei to lead the troops? This is against you, Your Highness."

"How could Your Majesty not know that the King of Wei has the support of so many noble families? This is so unfair."

Du He said with some complaint, but your majesty's words are not without reason.

According to the rules, the King of Wei also has the power to lead troops. If he goes to his fiefdom, he will have far more than just the troops from these five prefectures.

Li Chengqian chuckled and said, "So what? Are you still afraid?"

Li Chengqian didn't care about the news at all.

Can we conquer Goryeo with just a few thousand more elite soldiers and a hundred or two more ships?

If that were the case, Goryeo would have been destroyed by the Sui Dynasty long ago.

No matter how powerful the King of Wei is, he can still be more powerful than Er Feng.

The emperor personally led 100,000 elite troops to lead the army, but he only gained some benefits and failed to destroy Goryeo.

How could Li Tai have the ability to achieve such great feats in this war?

If the King of Wei has such ability, and his military ability is even better than Er Feng's, then he might as well just abdicate the throne to the King of Wei. What's the point of fighting for this?

"Your Highness, how can you still laugh in such a situation?"

"We must now quickly find a way to get some support to strengthen our army."

"We can't rely on those palace soldiers. They are just peasants with poor fighting ability. We need to find some elite soldiers to replace them."

"It's just that the money and grain issue is a little troublesome. I will lobby for His Highness these days."

"In recent years, the southern nobles have made a lot of money by relying on the sea. Although they are not as rich as the seven noble families, they can still help a lot."

"In the battle of Goryeo, even if His Highness loses, the position of the Crown Prince will not be shaken. I think they will definitely be willing to support the Crown Prince."

Du He racked his brains and tried his best to plan for the prince. He was determined to win the battle against the King of Wei. Although he might not be better, he would not be too far behind.

His target was the relatively weak southern gentry in the Tang Dynasty.

Although the southern gentry had developed after only one migration of the elite to the south, they could not compare with the northern gentry. However, after all, they had been separated for many years and had a weaker foundation, so they should have had a lot of money and grain.

It is said that there is no limit on the Prince’s treasury, but this does not exist when it comes to matters such as the military.

Li Chengqian took a sip from the teacup to moisten his throat, then he said slowly, "Why are you in such a hurry? The envoys to Goryeo haven't even left yet."

"It's almost the end of the year, let's finish the year first."

Du He widened his eyes and said anxiously, "Your Highness, how can we wait? The King of Wei is moving so fast. After the New Year, they will probably be almost ready. We can't just sit there and wait for death!"

Li Chengqian, however, remained calm, gently put down the teacup, and said slowly: "You are just too impatient."

"We can't rush this. Not to mention that there is still some time before the expedition next year, even if the King of Wei moves faster, he may not be able to gain much advantage."

Du He frowned and asked in confusion: "Why do you say that, Your Highness? The King of Wei has the support of aristocratic families, and has sufficient money, food, and troops. If we don't act quickly, the gap will only get bigger and bigger."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Although the aristocratic families are powerful, their minds are also the most complicated."

"They support the King of Wei only to seek greater benefits. Once the situation changes, they will not follow the King of Wei wholeheartedly. As for us, we just need to wait and see and wait for the opportunity."

Du He advised: "Your Highness, even if the noble families are unreliable, if the King of Wei really builds a batch of sea vessels, it will indeed give him an advantage in conquering Goryeo."

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly. "Ships are not the key to victory. Goryeo has a complex terrain and a changeable climate. It is not easy to win with just ships."

At this point, Li Chengqian paused for a moment, and then said, "Besides, we are not without any advantages."

Du He's eyes lit up, and he asked hurriedly, "Your Highness, do you have a plan?"

Li Chengqian smiled mysteriously, and then slowly said: "Who do you think His Majesty would send as the commander-in-chief if he were to conquer Goryeo?"

(End of this chapter)