Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 254 I Grant You Privileges (Part )
In the Zhenguan Hall, Li Chengqian glanced at the emperor and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I don't think so. I simply believe that if the court has other options, it's best not to use the Changping granary. After all, if the Changping granary is used, the world will immediately know that something is wrong with the court, and then the price of grain will skyrocket."

"So that's what you think." Li Shimin nodded slowly, but he still took note of this matter in his heart.

Whenever something happens in the world, there will always be people who will target Changping Warehouse.

Although the Changping Warehouse currently stored in Hebei has been constantly updated in the past two years, Li Shimin is not sure how much has been tampered with deep inside.

"Yes!" Li Chengqian cupped his hands and said, "Sending grain from Jiangnan to Hebei, regardless of whether there's profit or not, as long as it can stabilize the people of Jiangnan and Hebei, then this is what the court should do."

"you're right."

"If Jiangnan and Hebei are stable, then Qi and Lu in between will remain unaffected and will also settle down." Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Next year, I will continue to focus on grain production in Guanzhong, as well as Henan... As long as Guanzhong and Henan remain stable, the impact will radiate to Longxi, Jiannan, Shannan, and Huainan. Together with Hebei and Jiangnan, the whole country will be stable."

"So that's it." Li Shimin immediately understood.

It is only necessary to stabilize the grain prices in Jiangnan and Hebei, and to actually control Guanzhong and Luoyang, then most of the country can be kept stable.

Li Shimin had never thought of this before.

Li Shimin rolled his eyes slightly and asked, "Then there is also the land of Fujian and Guangdong south of the Yangtze River?"

"Too far." Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "In fact, it is more important to prevent floods in the areas south of the Yangtze River. If there are no floods, the areas south of the Yangtze River in Hunan, Fujian, Fujian and Guangdong will not have too big a problem. All we need is for the provincial governors to govern them smoothly."

At this point, Li Chengqian bowed his head slightly and said, "My father is not in Chang'an. I dare not do too much in Hunan, Fujian, Fujian and Guangdong, for fear of being taken advantage of."

Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian, who was extremely cautious, and felt for the first time that Prince Li Chengqian was really a good one.

He originally thought that he would focus on the power struggle in the court, but unexpectedly, he was thinking more about the stability of the world.

Yes, this is the proper and dignified method.

As long as the world is stable, even if the power struggle reaches a certain level, there will not be too big a problem.

"I originally thought that once you had achieved some success in the trades, you would become obsessed with them. Now, it seems that you have been able to grasp the fundamental principles of the world from this. I am very pleased." The emperor sighed, then said, "However, the reason I called you here today is actually more to discuss the issue of human hearts."

"Your son will obey your father's teachings."

"As you said, when I'm not in Chang'an, people's hearts will inevitably be in turmoil." Li Shimin's eyes were cold and he said calmly: "Over the years, some of the guys I defeated and forced to hide in the mountains and forests, as well as the Xueyantuo, Western Turks, Tuyuhun, and even some Tubo and Turks, are all ready to make a move and even make a move to test me."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian's expression became serious.

"What's most deadly is the combination of the two, plus some greedy people in the court. Once a disturbance is stirred up, the situation will be critical with attacks from both inside and outside." Li Shimin looked up at the night scene in Zhenguan Hall. He was almost completely certain that these people would take action.

"Yes!" Li Chengqian bowed seriously.

"Therefore, I grant you the privilege...Dou Zhijie, Zhang Xuan." Li Shimin looked behind him.

In the shadows of the hall, Dou Zhijie, the Junior Eunuch, and Zhang Xuan, the Left Thousand Oxen Guard General, stood up and bowed silently.

"These two will be in charge of the Hundred Cavalry Division while I'm away." Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian and said seriously, "I grant you special privileges. When I'm away, if they have any problems, they will report them to the Duke of Liang and you as well. The Prime Minister is unaware of this."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian's pupils dilated slightly. Did the emperor not believe Fang Xuanling, or was he deliberately provoking conflict between them?
"If you think the time has come, I allow you to mobilize the Hundred Cavalry Division and the Thousand Oxen Guard to investigate and arrest all officials below the fourth rank." Li Shimin's expression was grim.

"Your son obeys your command." Li Chengqian bowed with an extremely solemn expression.

"This is for internal and external affairs," Li Shimin continued, "If the Xueyantuo and Tuyuhun rebel, or if there's any Tubo rebellion, I authorize you to mobilize two armies, Chai Zhewei of Yanzhou and Xi Junmai of Shanzhou."

Li Chengqian's pupils had completely dilated. Chai Zhewei was the general of the Right Tunwei, and Xi Junmai was the Sima of Lanzhou. The former had 5,000 main forces of the Right Tunwei, and the latter could mobilize 3,000 palace soldiers in Lanzhou. This meant that Li Chengqian already had the right to mobilize 8,000 elite soldiers, or even 8,000 cavalry.

"You also have people in various departments of the court, including General Zheng Rentai of the Left Jinwu Guard, General Li Anyan of the Right Jianmen Guard, and your prince's guards. At the critical moment, you can call on Yuchi and Li Jing. With your ability, it is enough to suppress all accidents." Li Shimin waved to the side.

An eunuch holding an imperial edict walked up from the side and came in front of Li Chengqian.

"This imperial edict is the privilege I grant you. It cannot be used unless it is an emergency. Do you understand?" Li Shimin looked extremely stern.

Li Chengqian bowed earnestly and said, "I will do everything in my power and in every possible way to prevent anyone else from knowing the existence of this edict before your father returns to the capital."

"That's right." Li Shimin smiled, nodded, and said with emotion: "We are all veteran officials. I don't want things to develop to that point."

"Yes!"

"But we still need to be on guard." After a brief pause, the emperor continued, "Although I have dealt with some people in Shazhou and Suzhou Prefecture regarding the mess behind Zhang Liang, I have a vague feeling that there are still people behind them. You must be careful."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian's face was extremely solemn.

Li Shimin stepped forward, patted Li Chengqian on the shoulder, and said, "Be careful and cautious. If you don't make mistakes, you will be the greatest deterrent to others."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian bowed again.

"Okay, you can rest now." The emperor waved his hand and smiled slightly.

"Yes, your son will take his leave." Li Chengqian bowed again, then took the imperial edict from the side, put it in his sleeve, and then bowed and left.

……

After leaving the Zhenguan Hall, the cold winter wind blew, and Li Chengqian felt heavy in his heart.

It is indeed as the emperor said, once he leaves Chang'an, people will inevitably become uneasy and ready to take action.

This is not something that can be solved by Crown Prince Li Chengqian as regent and Fang Xuanling as assistant in government administration.

These are the crises that Li Chengqian needs to face.

Even Fang Xuanling could be one of the potential crises.

The emperor left the capital, and went thousands of miles away for many years. He would be suspicious of everyone.

This includes all enemies lurking beneath the water, and naturally there are also enemies on the surface.

Under such circumstances, the emperor first chose to trust Li Chengqian, the regent prince.

He is his son, his crown prince.

No matter what, no matter what happens, Li Chengqian will maintain the emperor's interests to the greatest extent.

That's enough.

What he can do is even better than what Fang Xuanling can do.

Of course, he also has hidden dangers.

However, his hidden dangers are concentrated only on himself.

In addition, there are too many of the emperor's people around him, so it is easiest to deal with him.

Therefore, the emperor would leave enough backup plans on him to control everything.

This is the origin of the secret decree in Li Chengqian's sleeve.

Li Chengqian raised his head and exhaled a breath of hot air. Chengtian Gate in front of him was already in sight.

Turning around, Li Chengqian couldn't help but glance at the Zhenguan Hall, then turned and walked towards the palace gate.

In the Zhenguan Hall, the emperor stood in front of the hall gate, as if he could see Li Chengqian leaving the Duanmen with his own eyes.

He turned sideways and said calmly, "Call him Duke Liang. Now it's time to tell him what to do."

"Yes!" Zhang Ananda walked out from the shadows on the side and bowed solemnly.

The emperor is leaving the center.

That night, he didn't know how many people he would have to give his final explanation to.

……

Mingli Hall of the Eastern Palace.

The central hall was brightly lit, while the inner hall was dim.

Li Chengqian was sitting in the inner hall. A beam of candlelight from the outer hall shone through the crack in the door and fell on the imperial edict on the table.

Fang Xuanling.

Li Chengqian sighed lightly, but at this moment, in his mind, Fang Xuanling's figure disappeared, and the one who emerged was Zhang Liang.

Li Chengqian certainly knew that there was more to Zhang Liang's matter than that, and the emperor knew it too.

Although Zhang Liang had three hundred adopted sons and was also the Minister of Works and the Prince's Right Guard, it was precisely because of these reasons that he was unable to leave Chang'an.

Although he was extremely low-key, he was the Minister of Works and was one of the most prominent figures in the world.

Although he has the support of the Qinghe Zhang family, to be honest, the Zhang family is not considered a top family in the world.

The aristocratic families in Guanzhong include Wei, Pei, Xue, Liu, Yang and Du.

The Guandong nobles include Cui, Lu, Zheng, Wang and Li.

There is no such thing as his Zhang family.

Therefore, although Zhang Liang could communicate with the east, west, south and north as the Minister of Works, it was just communication.

He is just a person who makes decisions.

With his downfall, the other families that deserved it would suffer, and those that deserved to be cut off would be cut off. Naturally, new people would be found to support this network.

The image of the huge Wang family of Taiyuan appeared silently in Li Chengqian's mind.

The Wang family of Taiyuan, a clan that was still one of the most prosperous families in the world even in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, must have occupied an extremely important position in this network.

Li Chengqian knew this, and the emperor knew this too.

Li Chengqian does not need this network because he is the crown prince and he will succeed to the throne in the future.

However, he needs to have the most complete penetration into this network.

The Wang family of Taiyuan, no, the emperor was also watching them, even Li Zhi was watching them.

It was a pity that he had to secretly infiltrate this network, but he couldn't do it through the Taiyuan Wang family.

He had to find another way.

However, Li Zhi may also be eyeing the Wang family of Taiyuan.

In the darkness, Li Chengqian sneered softly.

Li Zhi was not the emperor. If he really clashed with the Wang family of Taiyuan, it might not be the Wang family of Taiyuan who would be in trouble in the end.

In particular, the Wang family of Taiyuan is the maternal family of his prince Liangyuan.

Li Chengqian looked up and fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)