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

Chapter 342 Wei Zheng: Waiting for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne... (Part )
On the second day of the first lunar month, the sun is warm.

In the back hall of Duke Zheng's mansion, thick curtains were hung in front of the door, blocking the cold wind from outside and keeping all the warmth in the room.

Wei Wei glanced at the stove next to her, then looked at her father who was playing with Li Shan on the other side, and a hint of joy rose on her face.

A loving husband, a lovely son, and both parents are perfect.

There is no greater perfection in life than this.

To be honest, when Wei Zheng fell ill, he really scared Wei Wei.

And even now, Wei Zheng can only stay in the mansion, occasionally reading and writing, unable to do anything too strenuous, and cannot see too many outsiders.

It's just a life, but it's being kept hanging by ginseng.

What if one day...

A burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, and Wei Wei was so scared that she quickly put her thoughts aside. If something really happened because of her wild thoughts, she would be doomed to death.

With a creaky sound, the door was carefully opened, and Wei Shuyu stepped into the room. He bowed eagerly to Wei Zheng and said, "Father, His Majesty will come to visit you in a while!"

Wei Zheng was slightly startled, looked up at Wei Shuyu, frowned and asked: "Your Majesty, didn't you go to offer sacrifices to the North and South today?"

"Yes!" Wei Shuyu nodded, then said, "Your Majesty went to the northern and southern suburbs today to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and at the same time, he also reported the matter of the crown prince's enthronement to heaven and earth... Oh, Your Majesty also said that the enthronement ceremony for the crown prince will be on March 17th."

Wei Zheng nodded slightly and said, "March 15th is Empress Wende's birthday, so Your Majesty should proceed with the enthronement ceremony after offering sacrifices to Empress Wende... By that time, the imperial examinations for the year will be almost over, and the court will not be delayed because of this matter."

"Yes!" Wei Shuyu bowed, then looked at Wei Zheng and said, "Father, do you want to get ready?"

"What are you preparing for?" Wei Zheng asked subconsciously.

"Go and welcome His Majesty!" Wei Shuyu looked up with some confusion.

"You guys go and prepare, I won't." Wei Zheng shook his head and said nonchalantly, "The Crown Prince said that my body is most afraid of being hot and cold. It's fine like this. When His Majesty comes, you can lead him directly here."

The corners of Wei Shuyu's mouth twitched slightly, and then he looked at his sister.

Wei Wei nodded and said, "Brother, Wei'er will go with you. Your Majesty knows how Aye is doing.

Besides, Aye and His Majesty have been king and subject for so many years, so he will understand this. At most, Wei'er and my brother will apologize to His Majesty."

Wei Shuyu was still surprised.

Wei Zheng was already smiling, looking at Wei Shuyu and said: "Look at your sister... Wei'er, the East Palace is now..."

"Very good." Wei Wei smiled and nodded, saying, "My daughter can see His Highness every day. When His Highness is busy, we may only see each other once. Moreover, His Highness stays overnight in Yidong Palace every seven days. My daughter is very satisfied, especially now that Wulang is born."

Wei Zheng nodded with some emotion and said, "It's hard for you."

"My daughter is not suffering. His Highness treats her very well. He has done his best to treat everyone in the Eastern Palace well." Wei Wei shook her head and said, "It's just that His Highness is busy attending court affairs and can only see me at night."

Li Chengqian has tried his best to treat everyone equally, but he is so busy that he can't even explain himself.

Wei Zheng closed his eyes slightly, then sighed and said, "The prince sometimes can't be too busy."

……

"There are many Wei Zhengs out there. You didn't even come to greet me when I came to you." The emperor's voice of laughter and scolding came from outside the hall.

Wei Zheng was already standing at the door at this time, and the emperor's voice made him feel inexplicably at ease.

Seeing the emperor lift the door curtain and enter, Wei Zheng bowed seriously and said, "Your Majesty, I am Wei Zheng, the Prince's Grand Tutor, and I pay my respects to His Majesty!"

Li Shimin lowered the door curtain and looked at Wei Zheng, whose hair had turned completely white. He paused for a moment, then said with an inexplicable soreness in his nose, "Wei Qing, are you all right now?"

"I'm fine," Wei Zheng said earnestly, bowing. "Physician Qin said that as long as I don't move too much, don't get hot and cold, and keep taking medicine, I'll be able to hold on... I also want to thank Your Majesty for sending back a large amount of ginseng from Liaodong over the past two years. Otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to survive."

"As long as you are fine, what does it matter if I use up all the ginseng in the world!" Li Shimin shook his head slightly, then took Wei Zheng's hand and sat down on the main couch.

Li Chengqian, Wei Wei, Wei Shuyu, Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Li Zhi and Li Xiang all came in together.

Li Chengqian held Li Xiang with one hand, and Wei Wei held Li Shan and stood on the left.

Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Li Zhi stood on the right.

The emperor waved to Li Xiang, and Li Chengqian let go.

Li Shimin took Li Xiang's hand, then looked at Wei Zheng and said, "Mr. Wei, yesterday I appointed the crown prince's eldest son as the crown prince. What do you think?"

"I think it's very good." Wei Zheng nodded directly, and then said: "In the future, when the crown prince ascends the throne, the crown prince can be made the crown prince. In this way, the inheritance of the world will be settled, and no one will say anything more about many things." The emperor was stunned, and then he couldn't help laughing.

Changsun Wuji stood at the side and looked at Wei Zheng, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Only an old fellow like Wei Zheng would dare to say these words.

Everything was good in Li Shimin's life, the only thing he couldn't get over was the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

However, if his eldest son succeeded to the throne smoothly, and his eldest grandson also succeeded to the throne smoothly, and the system of primogeniture was passed down, then people would not say that he did anything wrong at Xuanwu Gate.

Wei Zheng was Li Jiancheng's prince's groom back then. When he said this, the emperor was even more satisfied.

"That's good." The emperor smiled softly, then looked at Li Zhi and said, "Wei Qing, after the Crown Prince's ceremony in March, the Prince of Jin will be leaving for Jingzhou. Do you have anything to teach him?"

"Since Your Majesty has said so, I will venture to speak." Wei Zheng pondered for a moment, then looked at Li Zhi and said, "Your Highness, Jingzhou is generally divided into four regions: Nanyang, Jingxiang, Jiangxia, and Yiling."

Li Zhi nodded slightly. Wei Zheng described the terrain of Jingzhou in one sentence.

"Everything in the world is about food security, and this applies to Jingzhou as well." Wei Zheng sighed and said, "There's no need to worry about Nanyang, Jingxiang, and Jiangxia. Xiao Gui and Cao Cao can handle it, but the key lies in Yiling. Yiling connects Bashu, but the river is dangerous. If Your Highness can achieve something in Yiling, it will benefit both the country and the people."

The emperor nodded, looked at Li Zhi and said, "Zhi Nu, what Prime Minister Wei said is very wise. You must remember it carefully."

"Yes!" Li Zhi bowed seriously.

"If there's anything we need to be wary of, it's the aristocratic families of Jingxiang." Wei Zheng looked at the emperor solemnly and said, "Since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there have been few wars in Jingxiang, and even if there were, they ended quickly. This has led to the aristocratic families of Jingxiang cultivating the local areas extensively, and they have hidden a lot of population and land taxes. Your Highness needs to be careful."

"Thank you, Prime Minister Wei. I understand." Li Zhi bowed seriously and took Wei Zheng's words to heart.

"Okay, that's all." The emperor suddenly smiled, looked at everyone in the room and said, "You all go away first. I have a private conversation with Wei Qing."

"Yes!" Everyone bowed in unison, but there was surprise in their eyes. The emperor came to see Wei Zheng, could there be some secret?

In recent years, Wei Zheng basically never leaves the house. What is there to keep secret?

……

After watching everyone leave, the emperor sighed and said, "In recent years, the Crown Prince has become more and more calm. I would like to thank you for your guidance."

Wei Zheng calmly shook his head and said, "I only gave the Crown Prince some pointers. The Crown Prince was able to wake up because he has a deeper understanding of the world and understands the importance of things, so he has gradually calmed down."

Li Shimin nodded. Only by knowing what the world is like can one understand how difficult it is to govern the world and how many enemies there are to face, and only then will one be more careful.

This is exactly the case because Li Chengqian has focused more on local governance and less on military affairs in recent years.

"By the way, there are two matters I'd like to ask your opinion on." The emperor's expression grew serious, and he continued, "First, regarding Duke Shen's request to retire. What do you think, my dear?"

"Gao Shilian?" Wei Zheng suddenly realized, then said, "Your Majesty, the old ministers are all old, and it is time for them to retire. If not, they can still accompany Your Majesty for a few more years."

After a brief pause, Wei Zheng gave a wry smile and said, "Over the years, I've come to understand Li Jing somewhat. I'm the same as everyone else. He's a military commander on the battlefield, and I don't know how many old injuries he's suffered over the years. If he hadn't been recuperating these past few years, he would have been dead long ago if he had been on the battlefield."

"That's true." Li Shimin nodded. He had a deep understanding of this, especially now.

"But this will leave the position of Shangshu You Pushe vacant." Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng and said solemnly, "Also, Xiao Yu has also requested to retire at the same time."

"Hasn't Li Ji already been promoted?" Wei Zheng glanced at Li Shimin and asked doubtfully, "Let him be Shangshu You Pushe or Shizhong. His military achievements are sufficient... Your Majesty is worried that the people will not be satisfied?"

"Yes!" Li Shimin nodded and said, "I originally planned to let him be promoted as a special minister and serve as Vice Prime Minister for two years before becoming Prime Minister."

Among the three ministries, only the Shangshu, Zuo Pushe, Zhongshu Ling and Shizhong were the prime ministers, while the assistant ministers of the other three ministries were all Canzhi Zhengshi, which were deputy prime ministers.

"Your Majesty, since they have already been promoted, then you should follow the example of me in the past and let Li Ji be promoted as a special minister and participate in the prime minister's affairs, in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. As for the Shangshu You Pushe, Your Majesty can either transfer Yang Shidao to be the Shangshu You Pushe, or transfer some other old ministers back, such as Du Zhenglun..." As he spoke, Wei Zheng's brows suddenly frowned.

Du Zhenglun was once the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Prince's Left Secretary, and is now the Governor of Jiaozhou. It is not inappropriate to transfer him now.

But in this way, the Eastern Palace would have too much say in the Council of State.

"Your Majesty, why not let Duke Zhao take charge of the Secretariat, transfer Yang Shidao to the position of Shangshu You Pushe, and let Li Ji take charge of the Ministry of Personnel as a special advancer. This way, there will be a balance." Wei Zheng looked up at the emperor.

Li Shimin nodded slowly and said, "Your Excellency is right. It is not convenient for Wuji to be in the Ministry of Personnel, but he can concurrently lead the Ministry of Central Secretariat."

The Shangshu and Zuo Pushe of the Menxia Province were both of the second rank.

But now Fang Xuanling is the Shangshu Zuo Pushe, and it is not appropriate for Zhangsun Wuji to be under him. However, it is appropriate for him to be the third-rank Zhongshu Ling and lead the Zhongshu Province alone.

"Then Your Majesty can rest assured and let the Crown Prince take charge of the government." Wei Zheng said lightly, and the emperor's face suddenly calmed down.

He raised his head calmly and said, "One last question. Li Ji has been promoted to the position of Minister of the Imperial Household and is now in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Who will then be the Minister of War?"

(End of this chapter)