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

Chapter 688 Du Chuke

"Wait, Your Majesty, please be patient."

Du Chuke reached out to stop Li Tai, who was ecstatic, and asked, "Right now, the East Palace is only doing this in private, and it has not been fully implemented. The big mistake has not been made. Although Hu Lixian has been paid, he has not been appointed yet. Everything is uncertain."

"Perhaps the prince is hesitant, or is unaware of the situation? What if the prince pretends to agree and then secretly reports the matter to the emperor? If he hands the money to the emperor, then wouldn't this be a false alarm?"

"Your Highness, if you report this to the Emperor, he will find that it is completely false. Your Highness will inevitably be considered by the Emperor to be jealous and deliberately making false accusations. Not only will you be suspected of being a jealous brother, but you will also indirectly save the Crown Prince's life."

"Even if we take a step back, the Crown Prince did not personally appear in this matter, and he did not accomplish anything. He can just say that his subordinates did it behind his back. Can the Emperor still depose the Crown Prince just because of a little bit of negligence in supervision?"

"Besides, he has Empress Changsun to protect him, and there are many ministers in the court who support his position. This little thing will not cause any serious consequences."

After hearing this, Li Tai slowly calmed down, thought for a while, and nodded quickly: "Yes, sir, you are very thoughtful. I almost helped him."

"In the past two years, my mother has either been taking care of Li Zhi in the palace or caring about that useless guy in the East Palace. She has long forgotten the existence of the prince. Once the East Palace falls into trouble, she will definitely plead for him desperately, and this matter will most likely be left unresolved."

"So, sir, what do you think we should do?"

Du Chuke stroked his long beard calmly and said confidently, "Your Highness, do you think Hu Lixian, the nephew of Cen Wenben, can afford one million strings of cash to buy the position of a fourth-rank lieutenant general of the Flying Tiger Army?"

Li Tai was stunned. He almost overlooked this point just now. He nodded quickly and said, "Although the Hu family is a wealthy family in Jiangnan, they can definitely come up with one million strings of cash, but they won't spend it on a young boy like Hu Lixian?"

"Your Highness is wise."

The King of Wei saw the crux of the matter immediately. He was indeed smart. Du Chuke nodded with satisfaction: "If that's the case, then this one million strings of cash is not a small amount. Where did the money come from?"

"You mean"

Li Tai was startled, and a shadow of a person came to his mind. He said seriously, "Is it the money that King Li Ke of Shu gave?"

"Not bad!"

Du Chuke looked like a teachable scholar and continued to guide him: "This shows that the King of Shu was well aware of the East Palace's selling of official positions to make money. But why didn't he report it to the emperor or come forward to stop it, but instead paid out one million strings of cash to secure a position of General of the Central Army for Hu Lixian?"

"You mean he covets the military power of the Flying Tigers and wants to sneak into Chencang and take over the Flying Tigers." Li Tai thought for a while and said tentatively.

"Your Highness is indeed smart. He saw through the King of Shu's intentions at a glance."

Du Chuke first praised Li Tai, and then said: "However, Your Highness is kind-hearted and pure in nature, so he naturally cannot see the evil intentions of the King of Shu."

Li Tai was stunned and his face turned slightly red. He naturally knew that he had guessed wrong, so he looked at the other party with curiosity.

Du Chuke pondered and said, "When I first learned that the King of Shu did this, I guessed like Your Highness that he was trying to seize military power."

"But I spent the whole night last night to figure out the King of Shu's true intentions."

"This man is really cunning and sly! He knew that the prince was heading for death, but instead of stopping him, he did the prince's evil and allowed his enemies to do harm. He paid such a large sum of money just to make the prince sell the official position and title."

“When the prince is deeply trapped and unable to extricate himself, then expose this matter. By then, the crime will have been committed and the evidence will be irrefutable. Even if the queen and court officials come forward to plead for him and the emperor cannot bear to punish him severely, he will not be able to continue to hold the position of the Crown Prince anyway.”

"This is the real reason why the King of Shu spent so much money. This man has a very profound strategy."

hiss.
Although Li Tai was smart and wise, he had little life experience and political experience. After Du Chuke's explanation, he finally understood that behind the King of Shu's seemingly foolish move was such a vicious and far-reaching plan.

This made Li Tai, who always boasted of his extraordinary intelligence, a little worried. He said with a gloomy face: "What a jerk Li Ke! I always thought that he was just a warrior and not worthy of too much attention. I didn't expect that he had such deep scheming. It's true that you can't judge a person by his appearance. A barking dog doesn't bite!"

"I really underestimated him before."

"No, I know the intelligence of the King of Shu. He is stubborn and mediocre. He is just a warrior. It's not that I look down on him. It's just that he has a stupid head. How can he not come up with such a brilliant plan?" Du Chuke muttered while thinking, "I know those scumbags in the King of Shu's mansion. Who could have such courage but not such a scheme?"

At this point, Du Chuke suddenly thought of a handsome and elegant face, and blurted out, "Yes, it must be him. Apart from him, no one else has this wisdom?"

"Oh, who are you talking about, sir?" Li Tai asked curiously.

"Cen Wenben, it can't be anyone else except him"

Du Chuke then said, "Cen Wenben was born into a wealthy family in Jiangnan. He was extremely talented and intelligent. He was promoted by Xiao Yu and recommended to His Majesty. He was highly regarded by the Emperor and was highly praised by Concubine Yang. He was mentioned before His Majesty several times. He was able to hold such an important position as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat for a long time and handle the Emperor's inquiries without making any mistakes. This shows how extraordinary he is."

"This man is a great rival for the prince in his bid for the throne!"

Li Tai's eyes lit up, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes. Cen Wenben was so highly praised by Du Chuke. If he had the chance, he would definitely poach this person to assist him.

Of course, Li Tai knew that Du Chuke would definitely not be happy. Cen Wenben could come up with such a brilliant plan, and his wisdom was probably better than Du Chuke's. Since ancient times, scholars have looked down on each other. If Cen Wenben came, Du Chuke would have to stand aside.

It has to be said that, despite his young age, Li Tai's wisdom and breadth of mind were far beyond that of ordinary people. He had a hungry demand for talents and a tolerance for others that most people did not possess. He was always favored by Li Shimin and valued by important officials in the court such as Du Ruhui and Du Chuke, so naturally he was not an ordinary person.

Li Tai secretly kept this matter in mind, and instead developed endless curiosity and admiration for Cen Wenben. He did not bear any grudge against Cen Wenben because he was now following the King of Shu. He only wanted to poach people to enrich his own camp.

Du Ruhui didn't notice Li Tai's expression. He thought for a long time before he said slowly, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is stupid and pedantic, so he is not a concern. But the King of Shu should not be underestimated, right?"

"Since the trip to Suizhou, his prestige in the court and the country has greatly increased. This time he has taken over the two guard armies, and his power is almost on par with the crown prince. He has left us far behind. If he is not restrained, once the crown prince falls, this person will be the biggest obstacle for the prince to enter the East Palace."

"Yes, your Excellency is right!"

Li Tai nodded solemnly: "Sir, what do you think we should do about this matter?"

"I have thought this through very clearly. Not only can we not stop it, but we must also find a way to cover it up and prevent other ministers from reporting it."

Du Chuke said decisively: "Your Highness also took out one million strings of cash to help Zhou Yande get the position of General of the Central Army."

"Uh"

Li Tai asked in confusion, "Since Li Ke has already done that, why don't we sit back and watch the fight between the two tigers, and then intervene when both are hurt?"

"Your Highness, no!"

Du Chuke said decisively: "If we don't pay, Zhou Yande won't be able to participate in this matter. He will be excluded, and we won't know what will happen in the end. The evidence in Hu Lixian's hand is also in Li Ke's hand. If he uses this as a basis to negotiate with the East Palace in private and make a dirty exchange of interests, then we will have no way to deal with this matter."

"If something unexpected happens and the prince corrects it in time, we won't know about it."

"So, only by getting Zhou Yande involved can we have first-hand evidence and guide things in the direction we want. Besides, the current position of the East Palace is as stable as a rock. This money will eventually serve as evidence of the crime. The more evidence there is, the greater the role it will play in the end."

"Although Li Ke will be our opponent in the future, for now, we all have a common enemy, and that is the Crown Prince. Only when we work together to overthrow the Crown Prince, the next step will be for the other princes to compete for him. We must not confuse priorities."

"Your Highness, only those who enter the game and play chess are qualified to play chess. Be willing to give up. Without giving up, how can you gain? Your Highness should not be stingy with money. Being able to overthrow the East Palace is not something that can be measured by money."

Li Tai asked worriedly, "But if we spend one million strings of cash to buy a military post, will it offend our father and implicate us?"

"Your Highness is wise, so we let Zhou Yande come forward. On the surface, he has nothing to do with us, and there is no evidence to prove that we are involved. I can also guarantee that if he fails, he will fight against this matter. The Zhou family is quite wealthy. This matter was done by him alone, and no one instructed him. He dare not disobey my words."

Li Tai stood up and walked around the hall, his expression changing constantly. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Well, isn't it just one million strings of cash? I'll give it away. It just so happens that during the Chinese New Year last year, my father secretly gave me one million strings of cash as pocket money. I'll take it out right now and do my part to help my eldest brother fall from power as soon as possible."

"Your Highness is wise." Du Chuke finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling extremely happy. He looked at the chubby King Wei as if he was looking at a wise ruler.

(End of this chapter)