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

Chapter 686: The Position of General of the Central Army Worth One Million Strings of Cash

Seeing that Li Ke was becoming more and more accepting of him, and had changed from being arbitrary and domineering in the past to caring more and more about his opinions, Quan Wanji had unconsciously changed from calling him by his name to addressing him as "Sir". The smile on his face became even brighter.

Quan Wanji nodded with satisfaction. It was much easier to play a counsellor than a real counsellor. He didn't need to rack his brains to weigh the pros and cons, nor did he need to be cautious about the consequences. The scripts were given by his boss, and he didn't need to worry about the subsequent developments.

I just need to make some modifications and add some expressions. It's an easy job.

Seeing that Li Ke's attitude towards him was becoming more and more respectful, and he was treating him as a guest of honor, Quan Wanji knew that he had completed his mission beautifully and the prince would not treat him unfairly in the future.

So, under Li Ke's expectant gaze, he pretended to think for a while, and then said: "I suggest that Your Highness give Hu Lixian one million strings of cash and let him get the position of General of the Central Army."

"One million strings of cash? Isn't that too much?"

When Li Ke heard this, he hesitated. It was not that he could not take it out. There was definitely not so much money in the palace's treasury. In fact, at this moment, the Shu Palace's treasury could not even take out 50,000 strings of cash, and that was the cost of maintaining the entire palace.

However, in any royal palace, there is a distinction between public and private. The money and materials in the treasury are public expenditures, and every income and expenditure are nominally owned by the palace, but in fact they are recorded by officials of the palace who are under the jurisdiction of the court. Once there is a huge imbalance between income and expenditure or a deficit, it will be reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The matter would then be reported to Li Shimin, who would summon the princes and wait for explanations.

If the explanation is unreasonable and the cover-up is not satisfactory, the person may be scolded at best, or even be punished by being grounded and restricted in spending.

More importantly, the princes' private actions, such as harassing officials, cultivating cronies and other private things, will be discovered from these account transactions. No matter what they do, it always costs money!
Therefore, each prince had his own small treasury, which was private money accumulated through various channels, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions. This was something that everyone knew, and Li Shimin also knew it.

Public is public, private is private!
It is said that one should put public interests above personal interests and be selfless, but basically no one can do it. Therefore, Li Shimin and the court have always only cared about public interests and not private interests. As long as there were no major mistakes, no one would pay attention to small actions in private. However, if you fail to manage well and something goes wrong, you will get yourself into huge trouble.

Li Ke had more than one million strings of cash in his small treasury, most of which were given to him by Concubine Yang over the past few years. After years of accumulation, he had more than one million strings of cash.

Now that all this is given to Hu Lixian to buy a military position, the people in the Prince of Shu's mansion will be in dire straits.

Seeing Li Ke's hesitation, Quan Wanji immediately advised: "Your Highness, you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb! One million strings of cash can get you the position of General of the Flying Tiger Army, which is a good deal. The larger the amount, the more serious the prince's crime will be. In the long run, with just one million strings of cash, you can invite the prince out of the East Palace, buy the position of the prince, and then get the whole world. I'm afraid no matter who calculates it, it's a sure win."

"If you are reluctant to part with the money, the King of Wei and the King of Qi who are going to Shandong will not hesitate. A million strings of cash is not a big deal for them."

Hearing what Quan Wanji said, based on his trust in Quan Wanji's vision and wisdom, Li Ke gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and decisively ordered: "An Heihu!"

A burly man who was guarding not far from the pavilion walked forward. An Heihu was Li Ke's most trusted confidant. He was a servant brought by Concubine Yang when she married into the Li family. He was a palace guard in the previous dynasty. He had been Concubine Yang's bodyguard for more than 20 years. He was loyal and had always been trusted.

When Li Ke left the palace to serve as the Prince of Changsha, Concubine Yang gave it to Li Ke to protect his safety.

An Heihu has the most seniority in the Shu Palace and is more reliable than Chang Sheng of the Eastern Palace, but he is not very smart and is a complete reckless man who only knows how to follow orders. An Heihu takes care of Li Ke's private affairs.

And the steward of the Shu Palace appointed by the court, one for private and one for public, each performing their own duties.

An Heihu stepped forward with his iron tower-like body, clasped his fists, and resolutely accepted the order: "What do you want, Your Highness?"

"Go to my study and get me one million silver notes." An Heihu hesitated for a moment, then saw Li Ke's determined face, responded, turned around and left.

About a cup of tea later, An Heihu came over with a stack of banknotes in his hand.

Taking the silver note from An Heihu, Li Ke counted it twice reluctantly. This was his savings of many years and also the largest liquid capital of the palace. Finally, he thought of the position of crown prince that he had dreamed of for a long time. In order to allow the enemy to cause trouble and do evil to the emperor, he led his elder brother astray.

Finally, he made up his mind and handed the banknote to Hu Lixian: "Lixian, don't delay, find Wang Xuance immediately and give him the banknote. You must get the position of Lieutenant General of the Flying Tiger Army."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will not fail in my mission!" Seeing Hu Lixian walking away, Li Ke was a little worried. After sending Hu Lixian and An Heihu away, he asked hesitantly, "Wanji, can this really deal a fatal blow to the prince? What if it's all in vain?"

Li Ke on the other side was obviously a little distressed, and was reluctant to part with the one million strings of cash. After Quan Wanji completed his mission, he was relaxed, waved his hand, and said nonchalantly: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I have thought it through for you. The wool comes from the sheep, and the one million strings of cash is worth spending."

"It won't be long before it comes back intact. Maybe there's even some profit to be made."

"Oh, what do you say?"

Li Ke's eyes lit up and he immediately became excited. Although it cost a huge sum of money, it would be definitely worthwhile if he could overthrow the prince. However, if he could not spend any money and could make more money and overthrow the prince, then he would have the best of both worlds.

Quan Wanji whispered, "Your Highness, Wang Xuance dared to take the money, but Hu Lixian, now that he is the Lieutenant General of the Flying Tiger Army, doesn't dare to do that? Don't forget that under the Lieutenant General there are Lieutenants, Colonels, Brigade Commanders, Sergeants, Fire Chiefs, and tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers."

"Even if the high-ranking military position above is taken by Wang Xuance, Hu Lixian can collect money from low-ranking officers and ordinary soldiers. The Flying Tiger Army is a cavalry, and each warhorse alone is worth a hundred strings of money. Add to that other equipment and supplies, and all the soldiers of the Sixteen Guards will have to squeeze in."

"An ordinary soldier can earn 100 to 200 strings of cash. How much can you make from these 10,000 soldiers? Add in the fire captains, corporals, brigade commanders, lieutenants, etc. There are quite a few grassroots officers, so Hu Lixian can sell out tens of thousands of strings of cash."

"Not only can we make up for the losses, but we may even make a fortune. Most importantly, if we can make the Flying Tigers look bad, they will soon become a laughing stock in the capital. If the truth cannot be covered up, the East Palace will be in big trouble."

"That's right. I didn't expect that you could play it this way. Wanji, you really are worthy of being my think tank."

The more Li Ke thought about it, the more excited he became. Finally, he said, "If that's the case, then while Hu Lixian is making money, he must also let the followers of the King of Wei and the King of Qi make money as well. He must make this Flying Tiger Army a joke."

"But if the situation gets to the end, Hu Lixian might also be implicated. I can't bear it!"

Seeing Li Ke's hypocritical worry, Quan Wanji secretly despised Li Ke for being a hypocrite and quickly said, "If we sacrifice Hu Lixian, we can dig the prince out of the East Palace. Hu Lixian will die with his eyes closed."

"At worst, we can wait until the prince ascends the throne and then give their family some compensation."

Quan Wanji said passionately, with a look of sacrificing himself for the sake of his majesty, "As the ministers of His Highness's palace, we were born for His Highness. It is worth it to contribute a little to His Highness's great cause, even if it means dying. Not to mention Hu Lixian, even if I have to give up my head and my flesh and blood, I am willing to do it and will not regret it until I die."

"Hahaha!"

Quan Wanji's words touched Li Ke's heart. Li Ke was deeply moved and could not help but grab Quan Wanji's hand. He was excited and expressed his true feelings: "Sir, I only knew that you have wisdom as deep as the sea before. Today I know that your loyalty is unmatched by others. It is my honor to have you."

"After today, I will not envy Liu Xuande anymore, because he is better than Zhuge Kongming."

Quan Wanji sighed inwardly, it is true that actions are not as good as words. Hu Lixian, who had just left to work for Li Ke, had no idea how dangerous what he was going to do. At this time, in the mind of the King of Shu, he was already a person ready to sacrifice, but the reputation of being a loyal servant of the master was imposed on himself, a traitor.

Hu Lixian spent millions of strings of cash to buy an official position. If his plan failed, given Li Shimin's character, he would probably be dead. Moreover, he would have to bear a bad reputation and be recorded in the history books. With such a bad reputation, Li Ke would not have had time to hide for fear of being stuck with it. How could he clear his name?
Smart people like Li Ke and Quan Wanji were well aware of this, but the reason Quan Wanji found for his voluntary contribution was so noble that it did not affect Li Ke's reputation at all and also eliminated Li Ke's psychological barriers, which made Li Ke very satisfied.

Li Ke praised: "Wan Ji is really thoughtful. I almost made a big mistake because of my kindness. I'll leave this matter to you. You must keep a close eye on Hu Lixian and don't let him play any tricks."

Quan Wanji nodded in understanding, his heart shuddering, secretly feeling sorry for Hu Lixian. Li Ke's reluctance just now was also for him to see, so that he, the strategist who needed to be won over, would not feel disheartened by his ruthless abandonment of Xia Ke.

Sure enough, those in power are all ruthless and heartless.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I have nothing to do in Taicang, so I have just enough time to control the Flying Tiger Army!" Quan Wanji was no longer paying attention to Li Ke, who was still immersed in joy and looked excited, but was thinking about another person.

He is still hesitant in his heart and can't understand why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would let him instigate the King of Shu to do this?
Isn't this just shooting oneself in the foot?
However, the short hour they spent together in the Dali Temple last time had made him feel great awe for Li Yan. The more he couldn't see through him, the more likely it was that there was some shocking plot hidden in it. This made Quan Wanji even more cautious, and he kept guessing in his heart.

(End of this chapter)