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

Chapter 267: Li Zhi: Wu Mei Niang is Not Hard to Use (Part )
Taiyuan, Prince Jin’s Palace.

study.

Li Zhi sat on the main couch, while Wei Ting, Xu Shuya, Li Yifu, Xue Yuanchao and others stood on both sides.

Wei Ting bowed and said, "Your Highness, Dou Changshi has arrived in Daizhou and has begun to inspect the northern Turks. The Yunzhong Governor's Office has also begun to be on alert."

Li Zhi raised his head, looked at Wei Ting uncertainly, and asked, "Mr. Wei, will the Turks really move at this time?"

"Most of them won't move, but some will definitely." Wei Ting cupped his hands and said solemnly, "The Goguryeo people traveled all the way from the grasslands to Xueyantuo, and there's no news from the grasslands at all. This can only mean that someone on the grasslands is stirring again."

"Your Highness, have you forgotten the incident at Jiucheng Palace?" Xu Shuya stood up and bowed, saying seriously, "Back then, Tuli Khan's brother, Ashina, formed a society and led a rebellion. They planned to take advantage of Your Highness's visit to the palace to storm in and assassinate Your Majesty. If Your Highness had not been delayed by something, no one knows what the outcome would have been."

Li Zhi's face turned pale. He remembered that incident. If Ashina had succeeded in forming a conspiracy at that time, not only would the emperor be in danger, but he, Li Zhi, would also not survive.

Wei Ting nodded and said, "Although the Eastern Turks have been destroyed, the descendants of Jie Li Khan, the descendants of Tuli Khan, their brothers, and their brothers' descendants are always thinking about restoring the Eastern Turks. Therefore, there must be a group of people on the grasslands who are secretly communicating with each other."

"But Your Highness need not worry too much." Xu Shuya continued, "Right Guard General Xue Wanche has stationed his troops in Dingzhou. The Turks will not be able to disrupt Your Majesty's retreat."

"But it's still possible that they might cause trouble in Daibei and Yunzhong." Xue Yuanchao stepped forward, looked at Wei Ting and Xu Shuya, and said, "If they make a scene and then flee directly into the depths of the grassland, it won't be easy for us to track them down no matter how hard we try."

"Bingzhou's military strength is sufficient to deal with any crisis," Li Yifu finally spoke. He looked at Li Zhi and bowed. "Although the letter from the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Fang didn't explicitly state it, there is a threat that cannot be ignored. Someone may assassinate Your Highness. If anything were to happen to Your Highness, Daibei would inevitably be in chaos."

Li Zhi's brows furrowed, then he nodded and said, "Mr. Li's words make sense. However, we must inform the Taiyuan County Magistrate, Hou Zhiyi, and the Jinwang County Magistrate, Li Yiyan, and have them step up their guard."

"Yes!" Wei Ting immediately bowed.

Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "The situation is critical now. The Chief Secretary will take command of the overall situation. Master Xu and my cousin should pay more attention to the army. Li Qing should keep an eye on the food and military equipment in Taiyuan. Be careful of anyone secretly communicating with the Turks."

Wei Ting was the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Jin, Xu Shuya was the Secretary of the Prince of Jin, Li Yifu was the Assistant Secretary of the Prince of Jin, and Xue Yuanchao was the Military Attendant of the Prince of Jin.

The four of them are the core members of Prince Jin's Mansion.

"Yes!" Everyone bowed in unison, and then retreated.

A moment later, Xue Yuanchao returned alone and bowed to Li Zhi, saying, "Your Highness!"

"Cousin," Li Zhi sighed softly and said, "Now that the emperor is fighting in Liaodong, my brother has to start paying attention to the northwest. The Turks in Bingzhou are uneasy, and yet there are still people who are thinking about those nonsense."

"Your Highness, Censor Li just had a few more drinks with County Magistrate Li. They are from the same clan, so it's no big deal." Xue Yuanchao persuaded in a low voice.

Li Yifu and Li Yiyan, one was the Imperial Censor and the official of Prince of Jin, and the other was the magistrate of Jinyang County. Their status in the court was similar, especially since they were brothers, so naturally they had a closer relationship.

Li Yifu and Li Yiyan are both from the Longxi Li family.

They are from the Longxi Li family, but they are not members of the royal family.

"Li Yiyan and Hou Zhiyi have a good relationship." Li Zhi shook his head slightly, his face solemn.

Hou Zhiyi came to Bingzhou half a year earlier than him. He was the son of Hou Junji. What was rare was that he was not implicated in Hou Junji's affairs, but instead saved his entire family.

This is naturally related to Hou Junji's suicide, but Hou Zhiyi's decisiveness at the critical moment is also admirable.

However, what really concerned the people of Bingzhou was that the prince had arranged to communicate with him in advance, and had made a firm promise afterwards, and had extraordinary trust in him.

Although Li Yiyan was the magistrate of Jinyang County, he had no relationship with Li Zhi.

Since Li Zhi took office as the governor of Bingzhou, Li Yiyan has not had any special private audience with the emperor. His meaning is very clear.

Not to mention, there is now the Wang family of Taiyuan who is eyeing Li Zhi covetously and staring at him all the time, which makes Li Zhi feel very uncomfortable.

Xue Yuanchao bowed and said seriously, "Your Highness, His Majesty appointed you as the governor of Bingzhou so that you can take charge of the local area. However, Your Highness needs to be prudent and steady. How to get along with the local clans and how to control the local area require great patience."

Li Zhi nodded slightly, then sighed softly.

The emperor asked him to take office in Bingzhou so quickly that he had no time to react. He had just married the granddaughter of Hongnong Yang as his princess, and the next thing he knew, he was driven to Taiyuan by the emperor.

There was no warning, no preparation.

Li Zhi came to Taiyuan like this.

But fortunately, everyone in his palace followed him.

Especially Xue Yuanchao, the Xue family’s roots were in Hedong. It was because of this that Li Zhi was able to gradually gain a foothold in Taiyuan.

The situation in Taiyuan is very tricky. Hou Zhiyi is a loyal follower of the prince, and Li Yiyan has a good impression of the prince. After all, Li Yiyan does not want to stay in Taiyuan forever. Li Yifu was very close to the Eastern Palace in the past few years, and even now, he has a very good relationship with the officials of the Eastern Palace.

Not to mention the Wang family of Taiyuan.

To be honest, at the beginning, Li Chengqian married the daughter of Taiyuan Wang, and Li Zhi had some opinions about him.

However, when Li Zhi arrived in Taiyuan, he immediately realized that it was impossible for the emperor to marry him to the daughter of Wang from Taiyuan.

He was the governor of Bingzhou. If he married the daughter of the Taiyuan Wang family, the largest family in Bingzhou, as his princess, he would have to worry about whether Bingzhou would get out of control.

It was because he figured this out that he quickly figured out why the emperor married the daughter of Taiyuan Wang to the prince as his concubine in a blink of an eye.

The emperor wanted to use the Wang family of Taiyuan to check and balance his own son.

Just like a few years ago, the emperor used Qingque to check and balance the prince.

Li Zhi instantly felt the emperor's cold heart. However, unlike Li Tai, the emperor seemed to have learned his lesson and no longer allowed Li Zhi to develop his power in Chang'an. Instead, he exiled him to Bingzhou.

Then he colluded with the Yang family of Hongnong, and added the Wei family of Jingzhao and the Xue family of Hedong to barely check and balance the prince.

However, all this seems wonderful, but in fact, not to mention the Hongnong Yang family and the Hedong Xue family, even the Qinghe Zhao family did not invest enough power in him.

But the good thing is...

Li Zhi looked up at Xue Yuanchao and asked, "Cousin, has the Wu family responded?"

"Yes!" Xue Yuanchao nodded and said, "Madam Helan Wushun wrote back to her sister, telling her to be cautious and not to get involved with the palace. However, Madam Yingguo also wrote another letter telling her not to worry about it."

"Oh?" Li Zhi's eyes lit up and he looked at Xue Yuanchao: "Is that what Guo Xiaoshen said?"

"Yes!" Xue Yuanchao bowed and said, "The court has been busy this year, and they've hired a lot of scholars to serve as clerks and scribes. Wu Shun wanted to have Guo Xiaoshen join them, but Guo Xiaoshen was reluctant. Then he heard that Your Highness was recruiting talented people in Taiyuan, so he returned to Taiyuan."

"Very good." Li Zhi nodded with satisfaction. Lady Yang, the Grand Lady of Yingguo, was his wife's legitimate great-aunt. No wonder she was so close to him.

On the contrary, Wu Shun, who was a generation apart from him, did not have much good feelings towards him.

"Cousin." Li Zhi turned to look at Xue Yuanchao and said, "Send Guo Xiaoshen to Daibei with his men. Under the pretext of trade, gather information about Daibei. Initially, grant him the position of Inspector of the Prince's Palace Recorder. Once he demonstrates his abilities, we'll find a way to appoint him as a military officer in the palace... With the Taiyuan Guo family as an example, other families will become closer to me."

After a slight hesitation, Xue Yuanchao said, "Your Highness is the governor of Bingzhou. Maintaining good relations with local noble families is beneficial to the stability of the region, the people, and the court."

"Yes, yes, cousin, you are right." Li Zhi nodded quickly.

"In that case, I will get busy." Xue Yuanchao bowed, then turned and left.

Li Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xue Yuanchao leave.

The Taiyuan Guo family, the Taiyuan Qi family, the Taiyuan Wu family, the Taiyuan Di family, the Taiyuan Yan family, etc., all have extremely huge potential power in the local area.

Many of the judicial officials in various counties are their people.

There are captains and lieutenants in the military squadron, and there are many more people related to them.

Li Zhi stood up from the couch, walked to the window, raised his head, looked out the window, and said softly, "Taiyuan Yan family."

It was not until Li Zhi arrived in Taiyuan that he learned about the deep relationship between the Yan family of Taiyuan and the brothers Yan Liben and Yan Lide.

Yan Liben is now the Minister of Works, and Yan Lide is the Governor of Guangzhou and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Yan family is very powerful.

Although the Crown Prince saved the Princess of Wei and her children, they were eventually demoted to commoners.

If they want to change their fate, it is not enough to rely on the Yan brothers alone, they also need higher-level power.

"Take it easy, that day will come." Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and let go of the Yan family's affairs. The figure of Wu Meiniang suddenly appeared in his mind.

Li Zhi met Wu Meiniang several times in the palace, but there was no substantial contact between the two sides.

But now, Wu Meiniang has become his princess's cousin, which is interesting.

Li Zhi gently closed his eyes, and couldn't help but weigh the power comparison between him and Li Chengqian in his mind.

After a moment, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

Under normal circumstances, if the prince does not make any mistakes, he will have no chance of becoming the crown prince.

But given the prince's caution, how easy would it be to make him make a mistake?

It is even possible that you will fall into his trap instead.

Therefore, even if Li Zhi took control of Bingzhou, it would be extremely difficult for him to make further progress.

Therefore, we must find another way.

Yang Guang, harem.

The reason why Yang Guang was able to become the crown prince was inseparable from the support of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, from his harem.

Yang Guang was the Prince of Jin, and Li Zhi was also the Prince of Jin.

Although Li Zhi disdained Yang Guang, he would not mind learning some of his methods as long as it was beneficial to himself.

"Talented Wu." Li Zhi smiled lightly, thinking of the woman with a beautiful appearance but eyes full of ambition.

Such a woman is not difficult to take advantage of.

"Taiyuan Wu Family!" Li Zhi's expression became restrained. There was more to the story behind Taiyuan Wu Family than meets the eye.

There were some things that Wei Ting never told Li Zhi, but Li Zhi had already found out something through his own means.

Some methods can only be most lethal when used at the most critical moment.

Li Zhi closed his eyes gently: Chang'an, he missed Chang'an so much.

(End of this chapter)