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

Chapter 96: Li Shimin: People are treacherous, the Crown Prince needs more experience (Part )
Orioles sing in March and flowers bloom in spring.

The golden crow hangs high in the sky, and the palace is cold and solemn.

In the Taiji Hall, more than a dozen golden-armored guards stood on both sides of the hall, and several palace censors were staring at everyone in the hall.

The emperor sat high on the imperial couch, his eyes looking down.

All officials looked solemn and stood at attention, holding their tablets.

Minister of Personnel Hou Junji stood up and bowed, then said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, in the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, the first place in the Xinchou imperial examination was Wei Xuantong, a native of Gucheng, Dingzhou; the second place was Cen Changqian, a native of Jiyang, Dengzhou; the third place was Ge Xiyuan, a native of Junyi, Bianzhou; the fourth place..."

Starting from the Lantern Festival, the entire Tang Dynasty has been preparing for one thing.

That is the imperial examination.

All the heroes in the world are within my grasp!

The emperor's proud words at Chengtian Gate completely ignited the enthusiasm of the entire Tang Dynasty for the imperial examination.

After the entire month of February, the results of the imperial examination were finally announced.

……

Li Chengqian stood on the third step of Danbi with a calm look, then glanced at Su Xu, Yan Liben and others.

He knew that during this period, since Li Tai returned to the Prince of Wei's Mansion, he had been very low-key in everything he did.

But in places where people cannot see, Li Tai used Su Jun, Su Gan and others to win over a group of young scholars.

Especially Cen Changqian and others.

Su Jun is the son of Princess Nanchang and the son of Su Xu, who was once one of the eighteen scholars in the Qin Palace. Su Xu is now majoring in "Guo Di Zhi" and is naturally very popular.

However, they never expected that after all their efforts to win over others, the first place in this imperial examination was not Cen Changqian, but the previously unknown Wei Xuantong.

During this period, Li Chengqian did nothing.

Although he said at the Su family in the first month that he wanted to win over scholars and sent people to make some moves afterwards, he stopped after that.

But Li Tai has been taking action in secret.

Especially Cen Changqian, after all, behind Cen Changqian stands the Secretary of the Central Secretariat Cen Wenben.

Everyone knew that Cen Wenben was deeply trusted by the emperor and was only one step away from becoming the prime minister.

So, Li Tai secretly tried to contact Cen Wenben through Cen Changqian...

However, the current number one in the imperial examination is Wei Xuantong.

Li Chengqian looked at Cen Wenben, who had a slightly grim expression on his face, standing behind the ministers.

Cen Changqian failed to get the first place in the imperial examination this time, which will have a great impact on his future career.

There is no palace examination in the Tang Dynasty now, and the imperial examination is completely presided over by the Ministry of Personnel.

The first place in the Ministry of Personnel's imperial examination is equivalent to the future top scholar.

Of course, the top-ranked Jinshi today is not yet qualified to be an official. He can only be granted an official position after passing the examination of the Ministry of Personnel.

After the examination, the first place in the imperial examination will be directly appointed as the proofreader of the Secretariat, which is of the ninth rank.

After one year of transition, you will soon be promoted to the eighth rank.

Either they were left or right Shiyi (censors), or they were supervisory censors, and then they embarked on the fast track to an official career.

But the second place will be awarded the position of Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, which is the ninth rank, and then assessed according to the imperial examination system.

This step is slow, and it requires more effort to become a Censor.

Of course, there are still many things that can be done here, but it is still far from being the first in the imperial examination. After all, the second place in the imperial examination is still a much lower starting point.

Look at Sun Fujia. He took part in the imperial examination in the fifth year of Wude and ranked first. Now, he is the Minister of Dali Temple.

Does anyone know who is the second place in his class?
Cen Wenben had a grim expression on his face, but he glanced at Su Xu and Yan Liben with some resentment from the corner of his eyes.

He had already thought of something.

Li Chengqian followed and looked over.

Although Su Xu and Yan Liben stood there with calm expressions, everyone who knew the situation could keenly see that they were in pain.

Li Chengqian withdrew his thoughts.

Whether it is Wei Xuantong or Cen Changqian, they all need to transition in the Secretariat for a year. As for one year later, Li Tai may have stepped into an irretrievable situation.

Whoever goes in will die, even Cen Wenben.

In his previous life, Cen Wenben chose to support Li Tai in the fight between Li Tai and Li Zhi, which forced Li Chengqian to take action secretly and trick Cen Wenben.

Although Cen Changqian has outstanding literary talent, to be honest, with Cen Benwen, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, around, once Cen Changqian becomes the first in the imperial examination, people like Wei Zheng will definitely have to play the music.

With Cen Changqian's talent, it was far from the point where the emperor could ignore Wei Zheng for him.

Cen Wenben could have seen all of this clearly, but unfortunately, since January, the open and covert struggle between Li Chengqian and Li Tai has made the people who are already concerned about this matter think that Cen Changqian will become the first in the imperial examination, and even made Cen Wenben couldn't help but have hope.

But unfortunately, Wei Xuantong was not involved in these things, not to mention that his ability was not inferior to Cen Changqian. In his previous life, he was the first in the imperial examination.

It was just a small game, a small game that Li Chengqian played casually, and it was not worth saying much.

There is no trouble without cause, there is no smoke without fire, and there is no smoke without fire.

If there are no difficulties, create them.

That's all.

...Cen Changqian, Wei Xuantong, Ge Xiyuan and other new scholars slowly withdrew from the Liangyi Hall.

The emperor then spoke: "The Ministry of Personnel must speed up the examination. I am still waiting for talents to be employed."

"Yes!" Hou Junji bowed solemnly and then retreated back to the train.

"Does anyone have anything else to say?" the emperor continued to ask.

Cui Dunli, the Vice Minister of War, stepped forward, bowed to the Emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, Xi Junmai, Commandant of the Resolute and Formidable Commandery of Shanzhou, reported yesterday that the Tuyuhun Prime Minister, King Xuan, was plotting to attack Princess Honghua and kidnap their king, Murong Nuohebo, who had fled to Tubo. Upon hearing this, Murong Nuohebo fled to Shanshan City on horseback. Upon learning of this, Commandant of the Resolute and Formidable Commandery, Xi Junmai, led 120 cavalrymen to kill King Xuan that very night."

Li Shimin raised his hand slightly, and Zhang Ananda immediately took the memorial and handed it to the emperor.

Li Shimin read it carefully, then turned to look at Li Chengqian and asked uncertainly, "Prince, did you once instruct the army to act decisively?"

"Yes!" Li Chengqian bowed, looking at the memorial in surprise, and said, "However, I am instructing Li Dejian, the Chief Clerk of Lanzhou, because the Tang and Tibetan armies are about to approach, and Tuyuhun will inevitably be affected... Some of them are loyal to the Tang, while others are loyal to the Tibetans. It is inevitable that they will do something chaotic at this time, so we need to prepare in advance."

The emperor immediately understood: "Ever since the Tang Dynasty re-established Tuyuhun, although the Murong clan has been in charge of all the regions, they also have Prime Minister Xuan Wang, who is popular among the people. However, in recent years, the Murong clan has become increasingly popular, especially with the marriage of Princess Honghua last year. They felt threatened and tried to defect to Tubo."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly. The Tuyuhun still mainly relied on the tribal system. There were people supporting the Murong family, and there were also people supporting Prime Minister Xuan Wang, who were in opposition to each other.

"So, upon hearing the news, Shanzhou immediately prepared to take action. Coincidentally, Li Dejian was in Shanzhou, so he suggested it, and Xi Junmai acted decisively. One hundred and twenty cavalrymen launched a surprise attack, severely defeating King Xuan and killing his three brothers." Li Shimin looked at his ministers and said seriously, "The question now is whether Tibetans were involved in this incident."

The Tang Dynasty and Tubo are forming a marriage alliance, and the princess has already set out from Chang'an. But now, the prime minister of Tuyuhun wants to kidnap his king and queen and defect to Tubo.

If there is a slight misjudgment here, not only will the marriage be ruined, but the Tang Dynasty and Tubo may even go to war immediately.

Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian, raised his head and asked, "Prince, you are more familiar with the situation of Tuyuhun, please tell us."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian immediately bowed, then said, "In my opinion, if the Tuyuhun King and Princess were abducted before Songtsen, it would be of great benefit to Tubo and would greatly enhance its prestige. However, if it succeeded, the risk to Tubo would be enormous. Will the Tang Dynasty go to war with Tubo, with whom it has just formed a marriage alliance, because of the Tuyuhun incident?"

"Where is the princess now?" Li Shimin suddenly changed the subject.

"We'll be arriving in Tianshui soon." Li Chengqian bowed.

Princess Wencheng had been away from Chang'an for two months and had walked less than six hundred miles in total, walking very slowly.

Go to worship at the Buddhist temple today and stay for three days. Go to worship the mountain god tomorrow and stay for three days again. It would be strange if you could achieve your goal quickly.

Li Shimin nodded, and then said: "Then when will the Tibetan king be able to reach the Sea of ​​Bitterness?"

"Early July!" Li Chengqian bowed and said, "The princess will first go to Tuyuhun and rest for half a month. After all, her body needs to adapt to the high altitude miasma."

"In that case, the Tibetans simply don't have enough time." The emperor nodded calmly.

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Yes, if Tuyuhun succeeds, then the Tang Dynasty will have enough time to reconsider its marriage with Tubo, both before and after... If the Tang Dynasty and Tubo completely fall out, not only will the Tang Dynasty say so, but Songtsen's efforts during this period will all be in vain."

This is a sunk cost issue.

Once the Tang Dynasty falls out with Tubo because of this incident, all the energy and costs Lu Dongzan has spent in Chang'an will be sunk, and even Lu Dongzan himself will die in the Tang Dynasty.

"So I think that even if Tibetans were involved in this matter, it's likely that those in Tibet who oppose this marriage were behind the scenes." Li Chengqian shook his head slightly and said, "The so-called King Xuan is nothing but a fool."

Li Shimin nodded slightly, then continued to ask: "What else?"

"I'm afraid the forces within Tuyuhun that oppose the Tang Dynasty still need to be cleaned up." Li Chengqian's expression became serious.

"That's right." The emperor was surprisingly calm. He looked at his ministers and called out their names, "Wuji, what do you think?"

Zhangsun Wuji stood up with his hands clasped, and said seriously, "Your Majesty, I wonder what would happen if King Xuan succeeded and escorted the princess and Noharbo to the Tibetan king Songtsen. But Songtsen then betrayed King Xuan and sent him, the princess, and the consort back to Tuyuhun. Your Majesty, what would happen to the Tang Dynasty then?"

The ministers in the palace were suddenly in an uproar.

Tubo was forming an alliance with the Tang Dynasty. The Tubo Zamp sent back the Tuyuhun Prime Minister who had betrayed the Tang Dynasty, the abducted Princess Honghua, and the Tubo King. Not only could the Tang Dynasty not retaliate, but it had to be grateful.

In this way, not only will there be no sunk costs, but Tubo will be able to make greater use of the prestige of the Tang Dynasty to greatly intimidate other countries.

On the contrary, it was the Tang Dynasty that lost all face as one princess was captured and another was to be married to Tubo.

As for King Xuan, he was a traitor and was sold out.

Moreover, the people who instigated him were those within Tubo who opposed this marriage.

Not to mention that King Xuan has other clansmen and spokespersons behind him, so just choose a new one.

For the Tibetans, this deal was a great bargain.

……

Li Chengqian bowed to Changsun Wuji with a heavy expression and said, "Prime Minister, are you saying that all this was a plot by the Tibetan King Songtsen?"

"I'm afraid so." Changsun Wuji bowed seriously.

Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch and looked at Li Chengqian, whose face looked a little grim. He smiled with great satisfaction and said, "Prince, you are still young. You still have a lot to learn from these people's evil minds. You still need to learn more."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian bowed with gritted teeth.

The emperor relaxed, then asked Li Chengqian with a smile: "If the situation really turned out like this, what would you do?"

The ministers bowed their heads slightly, and the emperor had already started teaching his son.

"Your son, your son might have King Xuan executed by slicing him right in front of Songtsen... No." Li Chengqian said, then suddenly realized what was happening. He gritted his teeth and said, "Your son should have the Tuyuhun king do it. Before Songtsen arrives in Tuyuhun, have him shout in front of all the Tuyuhun nobles who are pro-Tubo that he hates Songtsen, and then have him executed by slicing him."

"That's right. If you kill King Xuan, the Tuyuhun people will hate the Tubo people, but they will hate the Tang Dynasty even more. So if you want to kill people, let the Murong family do it. This way, they will only hate the Murong family and the Tubo people, and will be more inclined towards the Tang Dynasty." The emperor nodded calmly, and Li Chengqian bowed to accept his advice.

Changsun Wuji below bowed and retreated.

Although King Xuan was dead, he still had relatives.

Changsun Wuji didn't need anyone to teach him how to connect with Tubo.

　It’s not that I was late. I started revising it at ten o’clock and it took me twenty minutes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)