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

Chapter 369: Father Becomes the Retired Emperor, How Many Years Can He Live? (Part )
In the Prince of Jin's Mansion, Li Zhi stood in front of the study window, holding a long sword with a black sheath in his hand.

The long sword was suddenly unsheathed, and the afternoon sun shone on the long sword, reflecting a colorful glow.

But it's fleeting.

Li Zhi stared at the sword blade, not even turning back, and asked directly: "What's going on in Kucha? Why has it suddenly come to the point of mobilizing troops?"

Luo Binwang bowed and said, "King Sufadi of Kucha has passed away. His brother Helibushibi has succeeded him. He has banned tribute and failed to show respect for his subjects. Therefore, Your Majesty has returned to the capital from Mount Zhongnan and has begun to undertake the campaign against him."

"Banning tribute means losing the courtesy of a subject?" Li Zhi turned around in surprise.

"Kucha is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Its king has just been established. According to the regulations, he should send someone to Chang'an to report and be conferred the title by Your Majesty at the same time. However, Helibushibi did not do so." Luo Binwang shook his head slightly, with a cold look in his eyes.

How dare such a small marginal country challenge the majesty of the Tang Dynasty?

Li Zhi nodded, then changed the subject and said, "Although Father's early return to the capital has disrupted some plans, it's not entirely a bad thing."

"Yes!" Luo Binwang nodded and said, "If Your Majesty takes power again at the end of the year, you may be able to hold on until March of next year. But if you return to the capital now, I'm afraid you will have to go to Zhongnan Mountain to recuperate after the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year."

Li Zhi smiled and nodded, saying, "Indeed, so we must be cautious in all aspects."

Li Zhi's expression calmed down in a very short time.

"Yes!" Luo Binwang bowed seriously.

"The necessary arrangements have been gradually put in place over the past year. All that remains is a little bit of adjustment." Li Zhi suddenly looked serious. He looked at Luo Binwang and said, "My royal brother, you have people in Jingzhou keeping an eye on me. That's fine, but what I'm really worried about is the Hundred Cavalry Division."

"Your Highness!" Luo Binwang suddenly paused.

Li Zhi waved his hand slightly and said, "Before, I was struggling desperately out of powerlessness, so I didn't care about the Hundred Cavalry Division at all. Therefore, it was inevitable that my actions would be noticed by the Hundred Cavalry Division and by my father, but..."

Luo Binwang did not recover from his shock and just bowed subconsciously.

Li Zhi sneered softly and said, "Although the emperor has sent people to keep an eye on me, I may have been a little careless in the beginning, but I have become more and more cautious later on. Even if the emperor knows something, it's not much, especially since he has been recuperating for the past two years... The most important thing is that the emperor needs me to take action."

"Your Majesty is using Your Highness to check and balance the Crown Prince." King Luo Bin immediately understood.

Li Zhi took action, which was what the emperor wanted to see, as it would be a perfect way to check and balance the prince.

"This way, my brother's attention will be on me, not on my father." Li Zhi raised his head slightly, his expression bitter and sad, and with a hint of resentment, he said, "Just like you said, my father knew about the King of Wei's deeds back then, but he did nothing. In the end, he watched the King of Wei plot treason and be apprehended by the Crown Prince."

"Your Highness!" Luo Binwang's mouth twitched slightly, and then he said, "That's because Your Majesty knows that the King of Wei's target is the Crown Prince, not Your Majesty."

"Does Father know now that I'm going to take action against him?" Li Zhi shook his head and said, "He doesn't know, because even I haven't considered taking action against Father directly yet. I will only take action when Father's body can no longer support him."

Li Zhi suddenly sighed, looked down at the sword in his hand, and said softly: "I am just protecting myself."

"Your Highness!" Luo Binwang couldn't help but bow.

Li Zhi raised his head and waved his hand, saying, "We should be prepared and wait for the day to come. If we really make a mistake in our judgment, then we will ask Father to become the Grand Emperor... His health is not good, and being the Grand Emperor may help him live a few more years."

"Yes!" Luo Binwang lowered his head slightly.

"Okay, that's where we were." Li Zhi came back to his senses and said, "Yes, the Hundred Cavalry Division, the people from the Hundred Cavalry Division might be keeping an eye on me, so after returning to Chang'an, I will basically stay in the palace to accompany the princess. All matters, both internal and external, will be handled by Jiafu."

"Yes!" Luo Binwang's expression became serious.

Li Zhi returned to Beijing early this time because the Princess of Jin was almost seven months pregnant. In order to avoid accidents, the emperor summoned him back.

After all, after so many years, this is Li Zhi's first child.

Of course, there is also a sense of checks and balances here.

Last year, as soon as Li Zhi returned to Beijing, the emperor seized power from Li Chengqian.

……

"Your Highness, where is Prime Minister Chu?" Luo Binwang looked out the window and then asked carefully.

"Don't worry about that. Someone will contact us." Li Zhi waved his hand and walked to the main couch to sit down. Then he looked at Luo Binwang and said, "Prime Minister Chu and I talked about something. This thing shows that he is more worried about the future than I am."

The only reason Li Zhi could convince Chu Suiliang was the career prospects of his descendants.

The prince doesn't like him, so naturally he doesn't like his descendants, and the prince's descendants may also inherit this inexplicable resentment.

These words were originally thought up by Luo Binwang; he didn't think of anything else.

"Although the Duke of Song has requested retirement due to the deaths of Cen Wenben and Liu Li, but..." Li Zhi raised his head, looked at Luo Binwang, and said seriously, "Prince, the Duke of Song's son is the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department, and his nephew Xiao Jun is the Chief Secretary of Luozhou. Although we currently have Commander-in-Chief Qiu as the Governor of Luozhou, in a few years, when my brother ascends the throne and this Governor-in-Chief is gone, Xiao Jun will become the official Third Rank Chief Secretary of Luozhou."

Because Qiu Xinggong was the governor of Luozhou, Xiao Jun's position as Luozhou Chief Secretary was only of the fourth rank. However, once the emperor transferred Qiu Xinggong, Xiao Jun immediately became the third rank Luozhou Chief Secretary.

"The Xiao family alone has at least one Junior Minister of the Imperial Household and one Chief Clerk of Luozhou." Li Zhi shook his head and said, "And Xiao Rui's Junior Minister of the Imperial Household might even become Minister of the Imperial Household when the Crown Prince ascends the throne. That's enough to trigger a counterattack from the entire Jiangnan faction, not to mention the presence of Xu Jingzong and Shangguan Yi."

Luo Binwang's face became serious and he nodded slightly. It was indeed difficult to eradicate the Jiangnan faction.

"The Crown Prince's Concubine Zhang's father, Zhang You, was a doctor of the Imperial Academy, and his brother-in-law is from the Xiao family." Li Zhi raised his head, looked outside, and whispered, "Prime Minister Chu said that what he's most worried about isn't these young people, but Duke Song... If our father passes away and the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he'll likely reinstate Duke Song."

Luo Binwang stood up suddenly, looked at Li Zhi in surprise and said, "Could it be that the prince had planned the Duke of Song's retirement long ago?"

"Prime Minister Chu is worried," Li Zhi said, looking at Luo Binwang and sighing softly. "It's not just the Duke of Song, there's also the Duke of Zheng and the Duke of Wei. These retired ministers all have good relationships with the emperor."

Xiao Yu, Wei Zheng, and Li Jing.

Especially Li Jing, Luo Binwang felt a heavy heart for a moment.

He quickly bowed and said, "Your Highness, there is no time to delay."

"We have to wait." Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "We have to be calm and wait. Otherwise, if we show any sign of something wrong, the Hundred Cavalry Division will notice."

"Yes!" Luo Binwang forced himself to calm down.

"But we're not doing nothing." Li Zhi raised his head and looked outside. "The emperor isn't that easy to deal with. The Eastern Palace is full of talented people. Perhaps we can use some of them, but in the end, the final say will come from the sword. Zheng Rentai, Li Anyan, Qin Huaidao, and Xue Wanbei all need to be dealt with in advance."

Zheng Rentai and Li Anyan both fought their way out of Xuanwu Gate back then, so it goes without saying how powerful they are.

Qin Huaidao is the son of Qin Qiong. Although Xue Wanbei's combat ability is not obvious, his two elder brothers, Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche, are not ordinary people.

"Yes!" Luo Binwang's expression became serious. Although they had a lot of manpower, they had almost no real generals.

The only one is Tian Renhui, who is still in their calculations.

Tian Ren could deal with one, but not necessarily two.

"Li Anyan will rarely leave the palace, so we need to remove at least two of Zheng Rentai, Qin Huaidao, and Xue Wanbei." Li Zhi looked at Prince Luo Bin and said, "I'm thinking, could we use this opportunity of sending troops to Kucha to transfer two of them?"

"It's feasible." Luo Binwang nodded and said, "Zheng Rentai is a veteran general from that time, so he has no problem joining the battle. Xue Wanbei has two older brothers and is also quite capable, so he's the right person to be transferred to the front line. As for Qin Huaidao, Duke Hu died early due to illness, so Qin Huaidao may not inherit much. He's actually the easiest to deal with."

Battlefield veterans and military families are difficult to deal with because they are very sensitive to danger.

But this is not necessarily the case for young people like Qin Huaidao.

"Okay, then. Write the letter." Li Zhi looked outside and called out, "Jiafu."

"Your Highness!" Ji Jiafu quickly came in from outside. At this time, Luo Binwang had quickly finished writing the content on the table and finally handed it to Ji Jiafu.

Ji Jiafu took it, then quickly turned and left.

……

Li Zhi sat on the couch and looked at Luo Binwang. He said, "The manpower around my brother is one thing, but there are still many powerful generals in Chang'an City, such as the Yuchi and Cheng families... If we fail in the front and my brother escapes to Chang'an City, we will need to pursue him with an imperial decree. Therefore, the only person I am worried about now is my uncle."

"Your Highness!" Prince Luo Bin thought for a moment and said, "Since Prime Minister Chu is here, why not simply lure Duke Zhao to Cuiwei Palace ahead of time, control him first, and then use him to influence Chang'an City. That way, Your Highness can use the imperial edict and the power within Chang'an City to pressure the Crown Prince... At the very least, you can neutralize some people."

"That's right." Li Zhi smiled and nodded, saying, "That's indeed the way it should be. However, it's not that easy to lure my uncle out. If someone from the Crown Prince says that the Crown Prince went to Cuiwei Palace in advance..."

"Duke Zhao will follow immediately." Luo Binwang reacted immediately and bowed to Li Zhi, saying, "I will do it immediately."

"Be careful." Li Zhi nodded to Luo Binwang, then stood up and sent him to the door.

Luo Binwang bowed seriously, then put on his hood and left quickly.

A moment later, Ji Jiafu returned to the room.

Li Zhi sighed softly and said, "Actually, I feel a little sorry for him. If he were to be exposed at Mingde Gate, he would most likely die."

Ji Jiafu bowed slightly, his face silent.

Li Zhi raised his head and said calmly, "There's nothing else to do. The last thing I saw was the Mount Li Hot Spring Palace... When will my father go to Mount Li at the end of this year?"

(End of this chapter)