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

Chapter 356: His Majesty Intends to Abdicate and Become the Retired Emperor (Part )
It’s already the end of the year.

The twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.

Changsun Wuji has just returned from the palace.

Chu Suiliang submitted a memorial, advising the emperor to treat Fang Xuanling, an old minister who had come from Xuanwu Gate for many years, well. The emperor repented, went to Fang's mansion to meet Fang Xuanling in person, and then took Fang Xuanling back to the palace.

It is another scene of harmony between the monarch and his subjects.

After the New Year, Fang Xuanling will return to the Secretariat and everything will return to normal.

Changsun Wuji accompanied him from beginning to end.

The prince never showed up.

This time the turmoil finally ended silently with mutual understanding.

Just after returning to the mansion, the housekeeper who was waiting at the door came forward and whispered, "Master, Prince Jin has arrived and is now in the princess and young master's courtyard."

Changsun Wuji paused, then nodded and said, "If he wants to come over later, let him come to the study."

"Yes!" The butler bowed and stepped back.

Changsun Wuji walked calmly towards the study.

This was the first time in many years that Li Zhi personally went to his house to deliver New Year gifts.

A few years ago, Li Zhi was still young and had not even left the palace, so Xu Shuya was the one who delivered the New Year gifts.

In the 17th year of Zhenguan, Li Zhi got married. After the marriage, he was sent to Taiyuan, and Changsun Wuji also followed the emperor to Liaodong.

Last winter, Zhangsun Wuji had just returned from Dingzhou with the emperor when the Li Yifu incident happened.

For more than half a month afterwards, Li Zhi did not leave the house, and Ji Jiafu was asked to deliver the New Year gifts.

There was nothing major happening this year, so it was rare for Li Zhi to come in person to deliver New Year gifts.

If he really came to see him, Changsun Wuji had some things to say to his nephew.

Of course, Li Zhi had to come and see Changsun Wuji.

……

"Master, the Prince of Jin is here." A voice came from outside the door. Changsun Wuji, dressed in gray casual clothes, looked up and said, "Come in."

With a creaky sound, the door was pushed open, and Li Zhi walked in with a serious look on his face. He was the first to bow to Changsun Wuji and said, "Uncle."

"Zhi Nu is here." Chang Sun Wuji looked at Li Zhi, his expression softening. "Come and sit down."

"Yes!" Li Zhi carefully sat down on a low couch at the side, and then whispered, "When Zhinu returned to the capital from Jingzhou, she brought some local specialties for my sister, brother-in-law, and uncle to try."

"You've put in a lot of effort." Changsun Wuji nodded, put down the Analects in his hand, and then looked at Li Zhi and said, "You've done a very good job in all matters in Jingzhou this year. Your uncle and His Majesty often praised your efforts when they were in the palace."

"Thank you, uncle!" Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled slightly.

"Although my uncle has not held any official position, he has been the prime minister for many years and I can share some of his experience with you." Changsun Wuji looked at Li Zhi gently.

"Please give me some advice, uncle!" Li Zhi immediately became serious.

"Your Highness has been governing Jingzhou for a year. Do you know who your biggest enemy is?" Changsun Wuji leaned forward slightly, his eyes sharp.

Li Zhi's expression darkened slightly. After a moment's thought, he said, "It's the seasons. This year, there's been a lot of rain. Most of Jingzhou has weather similar to that of the south of the Yangtze River, but it's not exactly the same terrain as the south of the Yangtze River. So, despite my nephew's meticulous management for a year, the final result is only about the same as last year."

"Your Highness, what you said is both right and wrong." Changsun Wuji shook his head slightly and said, "The four seasons, the wind and rain, are all natural events that all officials must deal with. Handling them properly is naturally an achievement, but Your Highness is a prince, not an ordinary official, so you can't look at it that way."

"Please give me some advice, uncle."

Zhang Sun Wuji thought for a moment and said, "When Your Highness left the capital this year, His Majesty told you that the Tang Dynasty governs the world with Guanzhong, and the world supports Guanzhong. This sentence actually pointed out the core of Your Highness's governance of Jingzhou, but Your Highness didn't understand it at the time."

Li Zhi looked up in confusion.

"Aristocratic families, they are the local aristocratic families of Jingzhou." Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "Your Highness, when governing the local area, you will have to deal with three types of people: local officials, local aristocratic families, and local people."

Li Zhi nodded silently.

"Your Highness is a prince and the governor of Jingzhou. You are naturally different from ordinary local officials." Changsun Wuji paused briefly, then said carefully, "Local aristocratic families will approach Your Highness for various reasons, and then use Your Highness to expand their power, whether it's land, official positions, or even turning their attention to Chang'an."

Li Zhi frowned slightly and lowered his eyes.

Changsun Wuji didn't look at Li Zhi again, but shook his head and said, "The Tang Dynasty shouldn't do this, especially not Your Highness. As the governor of Jingzhou, Your Highness should recruit the sons of the younger generation of officials in the capital, bring them to the local areas, and use them to suppress the power of the local aristocratic families and powerful clans. This will help you maintain a balance of control over the local areas while also being able to connect with the central government."

With more local forces, it became easier for Li Zhi, the governor of Jingzhou, to control the local areas.

But in this way, his Jingzhou would be easily infiltrated by others.

This other person is the Guanzhong nobles in Chang'an.

But now, the Guanzhong nobles in Chang'an listened most to his uncle's words, his father's words, and in the future, the prince's words. No matter how Li Zhi cultivated and won over the Guanlong children in Jingzhou, he could never surpass the prince.

His royal brother is not the kind of person who would be easily taken advantage of by others.

It was impossible for him to have the opportunity to kill his brother and nephew and then become emperor like Emperor Ming of Song Liu Yu, Emperor Zhao of Qi Gao Yan, and Emperor Xuan of Chen Chen Xu.

So his uncle's intention was to let him let go of his core and let the emperor's people take control, and then he would use the struggle between the emperor and local forces to balance control over the local areas while cultivating his own power.

This emperor could be his father or his elder brother.

In this case, Li Zhi's own chances will become very small.

Maybe he could wait, but even if he really had the opportunity like Emperor Ming of Song, Emperor Zhao of Qi, or Emperor Xuan of Chen, his ending would not be any better.

Although Emperor Chen Xuan died of old age, his son was Chen Shubao!
No, he didn't want to be Emperor Xuan of Chen, he wanted to be Yang Guang.

No, he wants to be his father.

……

Li Zhi raised his head slightly and said sincerely, "Uncle, what you said is absolutely right. I will definitely learn your teachings seriously."

Zhang Sun Wuji smiled and nodded: "I'm glad that Your Highness understands."

"But uncle." Li Zhi lowered his head slightly, then thought for a moment and asked, "Zhi Nu has a question that I haven't been able to figure out lately."

"you say!"

"On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, Censor Yang Zheng impeached the Crown Prince for debauchery. Zhinu always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was."

"Your Highness is very perceptive!" Zhang Sun Wuji narrowed his eyes slightly, then sighed and said, "What happened that day was indeed deliberately planned by the Crown Prince. I can see it, and Your Majesty can see it too."

"What is the purpose of my royal brother doing this?" Li Zhi couldn't help but ask, but he didn't realize that Changsun Wuji's self-proclaimed title had changed from uncle to minister.

"Yang Zheng." Changsun Wuji shook his head and said, "Yang Zheng's talent is ordinary, but fortunately he is cautious and kind-hearted. Although his local administration often backfires, Your Majesty and I still value him very much. Therefore, he has been transferred to Chang'an as a Censor, where he can retire."

"Retirement!" Li Zhi seemed to have caught something.

"That's right." Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "Most of the imperial censors are young officials in their thirties, and Yang is the oldest. However, that day, the crown prince made a simple plan, and he made a mistake."

"Something went wrong!"

"The prince's meaning is very clear and direct. When people get old, they should accept their age. Otherwise, if they make a big mistake, it will be too late to regret it." Changsun Wuji looked indifferent.

"Father? Uncle?" Li Zhi looked at Changsun Wuji in surprise.

"Yes." Changsun Wuji nodded and said calmly, "That's what the Crown Prince meant. Your Majesty and I are both old, and old age makes us prone to making mistakes. If we refuse to accept our age, what will happen if we make serious mistakes in governing the country in the future?"

Li Zhi's expression was even more surprised: "My royal brother said that, and you actually accepted it."

"Everyone ages, whether it's Your Majesty or me. This is the law of nature and cannot be avoided." Changsun Wuji looked at Li Zhi, shook his head, and said, "Besides, even if I'm old, so what? It will take at least ten years for the younger generation to replace me."

Li Zhi was slightly stunned, then slowly nodded.

Among the current young generation, the most outstanding one is none other than Zhang Daxiang, the eldest son of the late Duke of Tan, Zhang Gongjin, and the Minister of Revenue.

This person is the one with the best chance of becoming prime minister among the younger generation in the court.

However, even for Zhang Daxiang, it would take at least five years to be promoted from the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and that was when he had made great contributions. If he wanted to become the Prime Minister, he needed to make even greater contributions, which would take another five years.

There cannot be any mistakes during this process, and I cannot be transferred to other places for training, otherwise it will be delayed for at least ten years.

Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.

"Besides, even if someone could replace me, who would it be?" Changsun Wuji glanced at Li Zhi and said calmly, "Changrui is now the Prince's Household Manager, and Dalang is already the Secretary General."

Li Zhi understood that if Zhangsun Wuji's statement that the Tang Dynasty ruled the world from Guanzhong was true, then their descendants would definitely replace them in the future, so what difference would there be between them and themselves?

"As for Your Majesty!" Changsun Wuji shook his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty's health is not that good. In his current condition, he can only hold out for half a year at most. He will have to put aside government affairs and retreat to the mountains. After that, governing the country will be the Crown Prince's responsibility. After another half a year, Your Majesty will return..."

"So, what happened that day was actually a tacit agreement between Father and my brother. In the future, Father and my brother will each rule the country for half a year." Li Zhi's face was indifferent. Then, he looked up at Zhangsun Wuji and asked, "Uncle, my brother is a good person, but can he really tolerate something like this?"

Zhangsun Wuji looked at Li Zhi, sighed softly, and said, "Your Highness doesn't understand the Crown Prince at all. Although the Crown Prince made some mistakes in the past few years, he now understands the governance of the country very well. So, he is not forbearing, he is using Your Majesty to gradually gain control of the country... Similarly, Your Majesty is also gradually passing the throne to the Crown Prince."

Li Zhi gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

He didn't expect that the succession to the throne had already begun in a place he couldn't see.

"Your Majesty and I have discussed that Emperor Gaozu abdicated the throne and became the Grand Emperor at the age of sixty. If Your Majesty lives to be sixty, you will also abdicate the throne and become the Grand Emperor at the same time." Zhangsun Wuji looked at Li Zhi and shook his head. "It will only take ten years. Ten years is enough time for Your Majesty to hand over the throne to the Crown Prince. Then he can enjoy his old age as the Grand Emperor."

Li Zhi lowered his head and nodded slightly, but a sneer flashed in his eyes.

Ten years, can the emperor live another ten years?
(End of this chapter)