Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 183 Li Chengqian: Your Majesty, please crown the Crown Prince! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Extra! Extra! Datang Daily!"

On Chang'an Avenue, a newsboy dressed in coarse linen clothes, with a heavy cloth bag slung over his arm, was busily moving among the crowd.

The newsboy's voice was childish and loud, and soon attracted the people of Chang'an passing by.

"Hey! Little kid, what were you shouting just now? What about the Datang Daily?"

At this time, a man wearing a brocade robe, with a round face and a fat body, stopped and asked a question.

The newsboy trotted over to him and saluted with a broad smile, saying, "Sir, I'm a newspaper boy. I have a newspaper from Jiangling. Would you like to buy one?"

"A newspaper sent from Jiangling?"

The round-faced man was not familiar with other things, but he was very familiar with Jiangling, especially the recent Chang'an, which was full of all kinds of strange, beautiful and interesting Jiangling products, which made him like Jiangling very much.

Now, when he heard the so-called newspaper boy mention the newspaper sent from Jiang Ling, regardless of what it was, he immediately asked the price: "How much do you sell this newspaper for?"

"Five cents a copy!" said the newsboy with a happy face.

"Only five cents?"

The round-faced man was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why is it so cheap?"

All the Jiangling commodities he remembered were priced far higher than those in Chang'an. This was the first time he had heard of Jiangling commodities costing five cents.

But the newsboy said with a smile: "This is the price set by the newspaper. We only sell it for five cents a copy!"

"Great, great! That's a great price! Give me ten newspapers!"

"Sorry, sir, only one copy per person!"

"what?"

The round-faced man, upon hearing this, became even more curious, thinking, "Is there anyone in this world who thinks money is too much?" Without giving it much thought, he immediately took out five cents and handed it to the newsboy, saying, "Give me a copy!"

"Okay sir!"

The newsboy took the five cents, then took out a brand new newspaper from his cloth bag and handed it to the round-faced man.

The round-faced man frowned when he saw it was a piece of paper and asked, "Why are you giving me a piece of paper?!"

“Haha, this is the newspaper!”

"What kind of paper doesn't cost five cents?"

The round-faced man took the newspaper with some dissatisfaction, and unfolded it while muttering about how expensive the newspaper was.

Just one glance and he was stunned, his eyes widening involuntarily.

"Zhang Laocai! What's inside this newspaper? It looks like it's full of words!"

At this time, a man who looked like a scholar came over and greeted the round-faced man with a smile.

The round-faced man glanced at him, then glanced at the newspaper, then immediately put the newspaper away and said with a grunt, "Poor scholar, if you want to see it, buy it yourself!"

After saying that, he couldn't help but turn around and leave excitedly.

The scholar rolled his eyes at the round-faced man and thought, "What's the big deal about a few coins? I can afford five cents!" So he walked over to the newsboy, handed him five cents and said, "Kid, give me a newspaper too!"

"okay!"

The newsboy took the money and immediately handed a newspaper to the scholar.

As soon as the scholar touched the newspaper, he couldn't help but exclaimed softly, and secretly said "good paper", then quickly took the newspaper and unfolded it to check.

It would have been fine if he hadn't seen it, but once he did, he was so excited that his face flushed and his ears burned, and he couldn't help but shout, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is mighty! Long live the Tang Dynasty!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they quickly attracted other Chang'an residents passing by.

Someone who knew the scholar came over and asked, "Mr. Yang, what's going on? What's written in this newspaper?"

"Hahaha!"

Yang Xiucai laughed like crazy for a while, then waved the newspaper in his hand and said, "I'd rather be a centurion than a scholar! I want to join the army! I want to join the army!"

"The Tang Dynasty has dignity! The people of the Tang Dynasty also have dignity!"

Chatting and laughing, Yang Xiucai rushed out of the crowd like a madman.

The people of Chang'an who were watching looked at each other in bewilderment.

With Zhang Laocai and Yang Xiucai taking the lead, many curious Chang'an citizens flocked to the newsboy and waved to him eagerly: "Kid, give me a newspaper too!"

"And me! I want it!"

"Give me one too!"

Soon, the people of Chang'an around the newsboy bought the newspapers in his cloth bag one after another.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, all the newspapers in the newsboy's cloth bag were sold out.

Those who didn't buy newspapers gathered around those who had bought them.

Among them, there was an illiterate citizen who bought a newspaper but did not know the content, so he asked a literate citizen to read it to everyone.

Soon, the contents of the newspaper were read out by this literate citizen.

The people around were all excited and amazed when they heard it.

"I never thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has done so much in Shuofang. The people of the Tang Dynasty also have dignity!"

"That's right! No cession of territory, no indemnity! No tribute, no marriage! The Crown Prince guards the borders, and the King dies for the country! This is the Tang Dynasty in my mind!"

"Hahaha! I want to join the army! I want to defend the Tang Dynasty too!"

"My Tang Dynasty is mighty!"

"Your Highness is so young, yet he possesses such courage. It is truly a blessing for the Tang Dynasty!"

As more and more people learned the contents of the newspaper, the entire Chang'an City was filled with an atmosphere of excitement.

Especially when passing by foreigners, they stood straight, as if they were naturally superior to foreigners.

This kind of national confidence and national confidence is spreading in their hearts.

Especially the war articles in the newspapers, which made them feel extremely proud after reading and listening to them.

How can these mere barbarians be a match for the Chinese people?
Anyone who offends the Tang Dynasty will be punished no matter how far away they are!

The newsboy ignored the excitement of the people around him. When he saw that the newspapers in his cloth bag were sold out, he immediately rushed back to the newspaper office to get new newspapers to sell.

He could earn a penny for each newspaper he sold, which was more than what his parents earned in a day.

So he ran quickly and full of energy.

There are dozens of newsboys like him in Chang'an City, and each of them is traveling through the streets and alleys.

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! Breaking news! General Li Jing's 3,000 cavalrymen have defeated the Turkic vanguard. This battle is certain to be won by the Tang Dynasty!"

"Shocked! How dare His Highness the Crown Prince do this in Shuofang!!"

As Li Chengqian was returning to the palace, his carriage happened to pass by a newspaper boy. Hearing the boy's call, he couldn't help but smile and asked Lai Fu to buy a newspaper.

At this moment, he was reading the contents of the newspaper, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "It seems that it was a wise choice to find Cen Wenben. Apart from anything else, just talking about his writing skills, I'm afraid even Ma Zhou can't match him!"

After saying this, he suddenly seemed to remember something and looked towards the palace gate, saying with a half-smile, "I wonder if His Majesty Li Er has seen the contents of this newspaper. If he has, then the next thing will be easier."

At the same time, in the Imperial Palace, Ganlu Hall.

Li Shimin, his face livid, held the newspaper in his hand. He looked around at Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Xiao Yu, Dai Zhou, and others, and asked solemnly, "The Crown Prince is selling newspapers, stirring up public opinion, and disrupting national order. What do you think should be done?"

Upon hearing this, the ministers looked at each other, and then Dai Zhou, the Minister of Justice, was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, I believe that this newspaper is related to Jiangling, not necessarily to the Crown Prince. Therefore, it is not appropriate to accuse the Crown Prince of these crimes."

"Humph!"

Li Shimin snorted coldly and said in dissatisfaction, "According to what you said, Changsun Anye was not guilty of distributing leaflets in Chang'an City? Don't you know who is in charge of Jiangling?!"

Hearing this, Dai Zhou was suddenly speechless.

He naturally knew who was in charge of Jiangling, but precisely because he knew it, he did not dare to convict easily.

After all, this matter is related to the prince and is of great importance.

However, seeing that he was speechless, Li Shimin did not give up asking about this matter.

But he said coldly: "I know what you are thinking, but if the emperor breaks the law, he will be punished just like the common people. Even if it is the prince who breaks the law, I will punish him severely!"

As he spoke, he set his gaze on Xiao Yu again and continued, "Left Sergeant, I remember you impeached Su Lie last time. What do you think about this matter?"

"This"

Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the other ministers and said thoughtfully, "I think whether this matter is related to the Crown Prince still needs to be investigated. However, this newspaper was sent from Jiangling, so the officials in Jiangling are to blame. We should send people to arrest them and bring them to the Dali Temple for trial!"

"Yes, the officials in Jiangling should indeed be investigated!"

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction after hearing this, and then said to Dai Zhou: "I will leave this matter to the Dali Temple Minister!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Dai Zhou bowed and accepted the order, and was about to get up and leave.

At this moment, a voice suddenly came over: "Your Majesty is wrong again!"

"Wei Zheng, what profound truth are you trying to say?"

When Li Shimin heard the voice, he knew it was Wei Zheng, so he retorted angrily: "Don't say there is nothing wrong with this newspaper. Do you know what this means?"

"Of course I know what this newspaper represents!" Wei Zheng's expression grew serious, and he immediately straightened his posture and said, "Not only do I know, I also want to thank the Crown Prince on behalf of all scholars in the world!"

"Ok?"

Li Shimin was slightly stunned, then looked at Wei Zheng with some confusion.

The other ministers also looked at Wei Zheng with puzzled expressions.

But then Wei Zheng asked again, "Your Majesty and the ministers, have you only read what's in the newspaper?"

"What do you mean?" Li Shimin asked with a frown.

Wei Zheng picked up the newspaper and said again, "Your Majesty, have you noticed that the words on this newspaper are all the same, and the size of each word is also the same!"

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Li Shimin, but also Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others, could not help but pick up the newspapers and read them carefully.

It would be fine if you hadn't seen it, but once you do, you'll be amazed.

"Yeah! How come I didn't notice that the words on the newspaper are exactly the same!"

"Not only that, but the arrangement is so neat. Is this a rubbing?"

"No, no, the characters on the rubbing are upside down, this is right side up!"

"Hey, that's weird, how did you do that?"

Just as the ministers were puzzled, Li Shimin also noticed something was wrong and said thoughtfully, "Just now, I heard what the Minister of the Central Secretariat said. These newspapers have been distributed to all the prefectures and counties. This is no small matter! Are there so many people in Jiangling who write newspapers? And the paper these newspapers are made of doesn't seem like the paper we usually use!"

"That's right! Your Majesty has finally discovered the key point!"

Wei Zheng nodded in agreement and said, "Compared to the content of the newspaper, I think the newspaper itself is the most important thing!"

"This"

When the ministers heard this, they looked at the newspaper again and nodded in agreement.

At this time, Fang Xuanling, the Minister of War who had been assisting the Ministry of Works in researching gunpowder, said thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, if Jiangling masters the new papermaking technique, it will be of great use to our Tang Dynasty!"

"No, it's not just papermaking, but also the technology of making newspapers. It's also a great tool!"

Fang Xuanling pondered and shook his head, then looked around at his ministers and said meaningfully, "If we were to produce books instead of newspapers, how many scholars would there be in the Tang Dynasty? Have you ever thought about this?"

"This"

Upon hearing this, the ministers' pupils shrank suddenly.

However, more shocking words have not yet been said.

But Wei Zheng continued, "May I ask, my ministers, can the imperial decree be disseminated to all prefectures and counties in the Tang Dynasty within a month or two?"

"hiss!"

When these words came out, all the ministers couldn't help but gasp.

Even Li Shimin couldn't help but twitch his eyelids.

Yes!

Why didn’t I think of this!

This newspaper spread throughout the Tang Dynasty within a month or two.

What a terrifying power of public opinion!
If you control this newspaper, wouldn't you control public opinion across the country?!

Thinking of this, Li Shimin couldn't help but break out in sweat on his forehead.

good boy!
I underestimated you after all!

No wonder you don’t care about my monitoring of your guards, it turns out you have more powerful means!
Thinking of this, Li Shimin looked at the content in the newspaper again. The more he read, the more frightened he became, and he became more and more afraid of his son.

He had fought all his life and was not afraid of anyone rebelling because he believed he could suppress any rebellion.

However, he was afraid of the power of public opinion.

Because he had witnessed the power of public opinion firsthand.

Why did Emperor Yang of Sui fall so quickly? It was because the princes everywhere were spreading rumors about his tyranny and cruelty! Even when Li Tang rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, he spread rumors about Emperor Yang of Sui's licentious behavior, causing people all over the country to rebel.

Therefore, the power of public opinion, although seemingly without the use of weapons, is no less powerful than any war.

Sometimes, power is even more terrifying than war.

Faced with such a terrifying power, the first thought that came to Li Shimin's mind was that he must master this power.

He came back to his senses from his thoughts and said with a firm look, "The court must keep control of this newspaper!"

The ministers looked at each other after hearing this, and then heard Fang Xuanling say thoughtfully: "It's not difficult to make a newspaper, but it's probably difficult to make it like the newspapers in Jiangling."

"I didn't say to produce a separate newspaper. I want this Tang Daily."

Li Shimin waved his hand to interrupt Fang Xuanling, then set his eyes on Dai Zhou and said solemnly, "I don't care who owns this newspaper. Without my permission, the Tang Daily cannot be sold at will!"

"But the prince's side..."

"Didn't you hear what I said? What I said is that no one can sell newspapers without my permission! This is my order! Did you hear me clearly?!"

"This"

Dai Zhou was speechless, then glanced at the ministers, and found that they were all silent, so he nodded heavily and said, "I heard it clearly."

"Okay, Minister of the Secretariat, pass on my order to prohibit all prefectures and counties."

"Report——"

Just as Li Shimin was about to issue an order banning the sale of the Tang Daily, a voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience!"

Wow!
There was an uproar.

The ministers couldn't help but sigh.

But Li Shimin narrowed his eyes, and then said coldly: "Just say that I don't have time to see him and let him go back first!"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince said there's a matter of vital importance to the nation that needs to be discussed with Your Majesty. Please consider it carefully!"

Good guy!
So exciting!

When the ministers heard the report from the palace servant outside the door, they were suddenly startled. They sat up straight and waited quietly for the storm to come.

Li Shimin was filled with surprise, wondering what on earth that rebellious son was planning to do!

Although Li Shimin really didn't want to meet Li Chengqian, in front of all the ministers, he still ordered the palace attendant: "Summon the Crown Prince to the audience!"

"promise!"

There was a response from outside the door.

Soon, Li Chengqian swaggered in and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father!"

"No courtesy, stay on your own!"

Li Shimin waved his hand casually, then said directly: "Tell me, what is the matter concerning the life and death of the country?"

"Your Majesty, I heard that you want to crown me the crown prince. I wonder if this is true?" Li Chengqian said with a smile.

"What!?"

All the ministers were stunned.

Even Li Shimin was a little at a loss.

They never imagined that the matter Li Chengqian was talking about, which was related to the life and death of the country, was actually the coronation of the crown prince!

You know, although Li Chengqian was reinstated as the crown prince by Li Yuan and was recognized by Li Shimin and all the civil and military officials in the court, he had not yet been crowned.

In other words, he is not yet a complete prince.

This is also the reason why Li Shimin dared to go back on his word and deprive him of the right to select officials for the Eastern Palace.

Because the crown prince has not been crowned, he is not qualified to legally exercise the power of the Eastern Palace.

Therefore, even though Li Chengqian caused a lot of trouble outside, Li Shimin was not very afraid deep down in his heart.

However, Li Shimin himself did not know when he had mentioned the matter of crowning Li Chengqian.

It was obvious that it was impossible for him to crown Li Chengqian at this time.

He just sneered as if he had realized what was happening, "Did the prince hear wrongly?"

"Really? Did I hear it wrong?"

Li Chengqian blinked in confusion, then looked around at the ministers and continued, "But, I remember the newspaper said this!"

Boom!

When these words were spoken, all the ministers felt as if struck by lightning, and their scalps went numb.

Even Li Shimin was stunned and speechless.

That's it!

It turns out that this rebellious son came to force the emperor to abdicate!
He had planned everything already!
He returned to Chang'an to seize power!
What is at stake is the life and death of the country!
Is this saying that if I don't crown him, he'll use the power of public opinion to fight me to the death?!
Li Shimin reacted and laughed in anger: "Okay, okay! How dare you threaten me!?"

　[Please give me a monthly ticket, please give me a monthly ticket, please give me more when the number reaches 1000]

　　
　
(End of this chapter)