The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 625 Another Blow
After the court was dismissed, Changsun Wuji, who seemed to have won a great victory, excitedly pulled Li Yan outside, praising him with a beaming face as he walked: "Cheng Qian, you performed really well today. Didn't you see that the King of Shu was scolded by the Emperor in court, and he was so ashamed that he couldn't even raise his head."

"And there is Quan Wanji. Although he is young, he is resourceful, clever, cunning, and full of petty thieves. However, he was brought up by Feng Deyi. He is known as the better Zhuge Liang and is the Shu King's confidant."

"In the Shu King's small circle, he played a role as a think tank. This time he was sent to the Dali Temple. It's very dangerous. It can be regarded as a loss of an arm for the Shu King."

"Let's go to my uncle's house and have a couple of drinks to celebrate."

Li Yan smiled slightly. This was just the beginning of the feast he had prepared for Li Ke, and only a few dishes of cold dishes had been served. Wasn't the main course still to come?

Thinking about how just now at the signal of Zhangsun Wuji, a group of ministers came up to cheer him on, Li Yan, who had once sat on the dragon throne and understood a little about the minds of emperors, knew that this was absolutely a taboo.

I was the one who messed up the past today, but there's no guarantee that Li Shimin won't be unhappy about it.

This kind of thing must never be done again. Now he is weak, even so weak that Li Shimin has to personally step in to support him. But if he finds out that he is not as weak as he thought, and that he has a lot of supporters in the court, he will just sit on the sidelines and watch, or even come out to suppress him at the critical moment.

In front of a strong-willed emperor like Li Shimin, no matter how many subordinates he had, it would be useless. He would never give in just because the other side had more people. On the contrary, doing so would arouse his disgust.

On the contrary, because of his own great power, he would even deliberately support the King of Shu to create a balance of power.

This actually helped Li Ke and indirectly protected and supported him. The balance in this had to be handled very accurately, as it was a test of the superior's ability to control power.

What happened today served as a wake-up call to Li Yan. He also wanted to find an opportunity to talk to Changsun Wuji. In the future, if there is anything in the court, he can report it alone. He must not get involved with a large group of people and join in the process. That would be too stupid.

Thinking of this, Li Yan nodded and said happily: "Okay, I just happen to have something to talk to my uncle about, so I'm sorry to bother you today."

Today is a grand court meeting, and all officials in Beijing can attend. After the court is over, a large number of officials pour out of the palace.

Just after leaving the palace gate, a horse suddenly came running from a distance. A military officer covered in mud and with a bruised face and nose came to the palace gate and looked anxiously at the crowd of officials who came out.

Seeing Li Ke coming out, he jumped off his horse, rushed forward, and said in a sad and panicked manner: "My lord, it's bad, something happened in Yongtong Canal!"

Li Ke was walking and chatting with Cen Wenben at this time. Suddenly, he saw Wu Qing's distraught look. His heart skipped a beat and an ominous premonition suddenly flooded his mind. He hurriedly asked, "Wu Qing, why are you here instead of staying on the construction site with Huai Liang?"

"Wait a minute."

When Wu Qing was about to speak, Cen Wenben suddenly became excited and saw that the officials who had just finished their court session were gathering around him. He hurriedly pulled Li Ke and Wu Qing aside, distanced themselves from the crowd, and said, "Your Highness, there are too many people here. If you have anything to say, let's talk about it when we get back."

Li Ke also reacted and hurriedly called Wu Qing, and the three of them hurriedly left the palace gate.

The other officials immediately felt a little regretful. They had just heard that something had happened in the Yongtong Canal. Everyone knew that the King of Shu was in charge of the matter. They guessed that the man came from the canal construction site. Seeing that the man was covered in mud and looked panicked, it seemed that something big had happened?

The adults began to talk and speculate, and Li Yan and Changsun Wuji, who had not walked far, also saw this scene.

They were far away and did not hear what Wu Qing said, but as an old horse, he knew the way. Just by looking at the situation, Changsun Wuji guessed the general situation. He stroked his beard and said to himself in confusion, "Could it be that something happened in Yongtong Canal?"

Li Yan's eyes lit up, and he sent someone to secretly keep an eye on Chang Sheng. This guy was not on duty in the East Palace Guards these days, nor did he go to the Honglu Temple. Li Yan deliberately ignored him just to give him the opportunity to make some small moves.

Seeing Wu Qing come to Li Ke without caring about his image, it was probably that these remnants of the Hidden Prince were up to something.

I hope something that I expect will happen.
Li Yan smiled slightly: "Who knows? Anyway, it's none of our business, uncle, let's go back."

"Um"

Changsun Wuji watched the three people leave in a hurry, then looked at Li Yan who looked like he knew nothing, frowned, and said thoughtfully: "Don't forget, you are the one who is in charge of managing the grain turnover. If there is really an accident in Yongtong Canal, the emperor will summon you soon."

"Hurry up and send someone to find out. You can have lunch, but don't drink. If the emperor summons you and you get drunk, be careful of being scolded by the emperor."

"Uncle, you have thought very much about it."

As Li Yan spoke, he called Xue Rengui, who was waiting outside the palace with his horse, and handed him a token, saying, "Rengui, take people to Yongtong Canal immediately to see what happened." "If anyone dares to stop us, you can do whatever you want and investigate the cause of the accident in the name of the Crown Prince's Mansion."

"Yes, His Royal Highness!"

Xue Rengui took the token, mounted his horse, pulled the reins, and rode in another direction.

"Your Highness, this is bad!"

In the afternoon, Li Yan was at Changsun Wuji's house. He had just finished his meal and was sitting in the living room with Changsun Wuji, crossing his legs, drinking tea and chatting.

Xue Rengui came to report, dusty and exhausted: "A hole of about 100 feet was found in the Yongtong Canal downstream near the Dragon King Temple in Huazhou. This morning, when Cheng Huailiang, the Lieutenant General of the Zuotunwei Yifu, went to check it out, he accidentally fell into the water. When he was rescued, he was already dead."

"What, how could this happen?"

Changsun Wuji was horrified and stood up from his chair in panic. He frowned and asked, "What did the King of Shu do? Why didn't he find the hole of a hundred feet in advance? How could Cheng Huailiang, a fourth-rank general, be so careless?"

At this time, Changsun Wuji no longer had time to be thankful that the mission that the King of Shu was responsible for had gone wrong. The grain transport was cut off, and the court's grain could only be transported to the capital little by little via Tongguan by land. The urgent notices from the border checkpoints for grain made Changsun Wuji unable to sleep every day.

Although there were some grains from grain merchants seized by Li Yan, it could only sustain the situation. If the grain transport was blocked for a period of time, the capital would be out of food. Changsun Wuji also knew that there was grain secretly stored by the emperor in the capital.

But unless it is absolutely necessary, those things cannot be moved.

"I thought the King of Shu was very efficient and decisive in his work. Building a canal, with the help of the Zuotun Guard, was a sure thing. I didn't expect such a big mistake to happen. He is really good at talking but not doing things well!"

Chang Sun Wuji now returned to the position of a prime minister. While instructing the housekeeper to change clothes and prepare to enter the palace, he said to Li Yan: "This matter can't be concealed for long. I guess the emperor has already known about it. He may summon him soon."

"Let's pack up and go to the palace quickly to see what the emperor says."

Sure enough, before Changsun Wuji had finished changing his clothes, a eunuch from the palace came to convey the emperor's order, summoning Changsun Wuji and Li Yan to the palace to see the emperor.

The two hurried to Chengqing Hall. Before they entered, they heard Li Shimin's angry scolding from inside: "Li Ke, Li Ke, what can I say about you? You are so young, but you don't know how to restrain yourself. You are flamboyant and act without restraint."

"You went to Suizhou and accomplished a little, but you became so proud and carried away that you don't care about others. You spread rumors all over the streets, as if you were afraid that others would not know your reputation as the King of Shu? You are good at spreading rumors and creating public opinion, but I think you are also very good at doing practical things."

"You usually think highly of yourself and always think you are more capable than the prince, but what about this time?"

"The Tongguan Pass, which the Crown Prince was in charge of, was well managed and traffic was smooth, which greatly alleviated the grain crisis in the capital."

"But what about the Yongtong Canal that you were in charge of? It was a mess, with such a big mistake, wasting so much manpower and material resources, and wasting precious time. Not only was the Yongtong Canal not repaired, but a general of such a high rank also died?"

"A gap of one hundred feet, how long will it take? How will we get food supplies at the border?"

Li Ke and Cen Wenben had not yet returned to the mansion with Wu Qing when they heard Wu Qing tell them what happened on the canal. They could no longer remain calm. At Cen Wenben's urging, the three of them went directly out of the city to the construction site. When the two saw Cheng Huailiang's cold body.

Li Ke's mind was in a mess. He couldn't even believe that the man who had been talking and laughing with him yesterday and had lived and eaten with him on the construction site for seven or eight days was gone. When he heard everyone talking about the matter, he couldn't help but blame Cheng Huailiang in his heart.

Even if something unexpected happened in Yongtong Canal, there was no need to panic. But now, not only has it been of no help, but he has also lost his life. How can he explain this to the court?

Fortunately, Cen Wenben was rational. He inquired in detail about the situation and personnel at the time of the incident, and went to the scene of Cheng Huailiang's accident in person to check it out. He saw a gap of hundreds of feet in front of him, and the canal water was surging towards the mainstream of the Wei River not far away. The water was filled with mist and almost merged with the Wei River.

Cen Wenben couldn't help but sigh. The Yongtong Canal was only a few hundred meters away from the Weishui River. It was located in a dangerous place between the two rivers and was deserted. If the canal was washed out by heavy rain and some small holes were made, they would not be easy to be discovered, and it would easily cause a major breach of the dam.

One hundred zhang is nearly three hundred meters. It would probably take one or two months to plug such a breach.

(End of this chapter)