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

Chapter 740 Li Shimin's Imperial Skills
Quan Wanji felt that he had kept his head down for too long, and the blood was flowing back up, making his head swell and feel uncomfortable. His ears were buzzing and his vision was blurry. He vaguely heard someone calling him, so he quickly raised his head and saw that Li Shimin was staring at him.

An excited person quickly replied: "Your Majesty, I am here, I am here"

There was infinite pleading and begging in the voice, which made Li Shimin tremble in his heart.

"Get up and talk!"

When Quan Wanji raised his head, Li Shimin saw that his face was red, and his already fat face became even bigger. He felt a little uneasy, as if he had been showing off his power for too long, and he felt a little apologetic.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Fortunately, Quan Wanji was in his prime. If he was an old official, even if he hadn't fainted, he would have definitely fallen to the ground. Quan Wanji struggled to stand up, moved his body slightly, felt the breath flowing back to his body, and his mind gradually became clear, and he felt much more comfortable.

"Quan Wanji, I ask you, are you my subject?"

As soon as Li Shimin's words came out, the fear and panic in Quan Wanji's heart suddenly surged uncontrollably throughout his body. His legs went weak and he knelt down again.

All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are the king's subjects!
The emperor's questioning was too heavy, so heavy that Quan Wanji could not bear it at all. When the emperor questioned you on this issue, he was basically doubting your intentions, and in this case, death was usually not far away.

"Your Majesty, of course I am your subject. I am a Tang man in life and a Tang ghost in death!"

Afraid that his words would not have enough force, Quan Wanji explained frankly: "Your Majesty, I used to have some bad habits. I couldn't control my hands and feet, and I was greedy for wine and lustful. But that was because I felt frustrated and had some bad habits in the officialdom, so I relaxed my requirements on myself."

"But since the last incident at the Honglu Temple, I have remembered the emperor's reprimand and have worked diligently and conscientiously. I will never dare to do anything recklessly again. If you don't believe me, the emperor can investigate. If you find that I have committed corruption again, you can tear my tendons and skin me alive, and cut me into pieces. I will never complain."

Quan Wanji's words were very straightforward and seemed to be righteous, but Li Shimin was very disdainful in his heart. If he were a loyal minister like Wei Zheng, he would stand up straight and question himself what crime he had committed in an open and aboveboard manner.

But Quan Wanji was a coward. He first knelt on the ground and his words seemed honest, but in fact they were begging. He also implicitly put the blame on external factors such as himself not being reused. Obviously, he was not a good person.

"is it?"

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard this, relaxed his body, leaned on the soft couch, tilted his head back to look at the paintings on the ceiling of the hall, and stroked his beautiful beard with his right hand. He said casually, "I thought you were Li Ke's subject?"

With a bang, his expression was shocked, and Quan Wanji immediately understood that it was because of the matter of the Prince of Shu.

He quickly explained, "Your Majesty, I am an official of the Prince of Shu's mansion, so I usually interact with the Prince of Shu more often. But the Prince of Shu is your son, and I just think that I should do my job and be loyal to the Prince of Shu, which is to be loyal to your Majesty."

"I am loyal to the Prince of Shu County because of Your Majesty. I have no intention of putting the Prince of Shu County before Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty can understand this."

Quan Wanji's answer was within Li Shimin's expectations. Li Shimin did not move his posture, did not turn his head, and even did not move his eyelids. He nodded slightly and said softly: "Then tell me, since you are my subject, how do you show loyalty to me?"

Well.
Quan Wanji breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes rolled around, and he began to spout the usual clichés from his guidebook on survival in the officialdom: "Your Majesty, I am a loyal minister, I will serve you with all my heart ...

Li Shimin then raised his head, his eyes fixed, "So you are willing to be loyal to me like Zhuge Wuhou was loyal to Emperor Zhaolie."

"Yes, yes, I am willing to do anything. I am very happy!"

Quan Wanji nodded excitedly: "Your Majesty, my biggest dream since I was a child is to be a loyal minister like Zhuge Wuhou, to support the Tang Dynasty, to go through fire and water for Your Majesty, and to die for you!"

"Okay, I was right about you. You are a loyal minister."

Speaking of this, Quan Wanji was stunned, and suddenly had a very strange illusion. Why did the scene in front of him seem so déjà vu?

It looks so familiar, as if I have encountered it somewhere before?

Suddenly, Quan Wanji's mind emerged the scene a few months ago in the prison of the Dali Temple, where the Crown Prince and he had performed the scene of a wise monarch and virtuous minister. At that time, he felt that he had met a sage monarch and a wise ruler.

If the emperor does this again, he won't make me a traitor again, right?

An extremely complicated expression suddenly appeared on Quan Wanji's face. Could it be that he really had such a talent for being a spy? It was understandable that the prince valued him, after all, he had to deal with the King of Shu. But the emperor was the richest man in the world and had all kinds of talents, so how could he also see his talent in this area?

Li Shimin didn't care about Quan Wanji's thoughts. He felt that he was almost shocked, so he asked directly: "Then I will ask you a few questions. You must answer honestly. If the answer is good, I will reward you. If the answer is wrong, then you don't have to leave the palace!"

No need to leave the palace, what does that mean?
Let yourself live in the palace?

Then Quan Wanji's face changed drastically and he was frightened. There could not be other men in the palace. He was not a guard and did not need to leave the palace. He would definitely die in the palace. He would never be given a house to raise pigs in.

As for becoming a eunuch, there was no need to think about it. Castrating a seven-official official to serve him would cause a stir in the officialdom. Countless officials would never allow the emperor to set such a precedent for their own happiness.

Otherwise, if it's Quan Wanji who is castrated today, it might be Xiao Yu tomorrow. Who the hell can accept this? It's better to die than to do this.
"Your Majesty, please ask me anything. I will tell you everything I know!" "Okay, then tell me why Cheng Qian and Li Ke had a conflict in front of the Huichang Temple last week, why Li Ke was later assassinated, and who was the person who died in the carriage?" After saying that, Li Shimin stared at Quan Wanji with shining eyes.

Quan Wanji didn't expect Li Shimin to ask so directly, and subconsciously defended himself: "Your Majesty, the transportation of grain and grass in Taicang is very urgent during this period. I have been working in the Taicang Office day and night."

"But at noon that day, you took time out of your busy schedule to go to Li Ke's house. Although you didn't stay long before leaving, you are Li Ke's counselor, and he usually thinks highly of you. I'm sure he wouldn't hide anything from you."

Li Shimin didn't wait for Quan Wanji to make excuses and said, "You are such a smart person, and Li Ke is a teenager who is not very experienced. Even if he deliberately deceived you, with your intelligence, as long as you want to know, you will definitely know, right?"

Li Shimin's words were like a hammer hitting Quan Wanji's heart, making his face paler and paler. He trembled and stammered, "Your Majesty."

"Someone is coming!"

Ma Xuanliang immediately walked in with two guards, looking murderous!

Li Shimin saw that Quan Wanji still had hope, and his face turned cold: "Quan Wanji dared to deceive me, drag him out and behead him."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Without hesitation, the two guards dragged Quan Wanji out.

Quan Wanji was so frightened that he shouted desperately: "Your Majesty, I will tell you everything. I dare not refuse your Majesty!"

"Ok!"

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand. Ma Xuanliang threw Quan Wanji on the ground and went out again with the guards.

"Quan Wanji, you are a smart person. You know what I want to know. Tell me everything you know!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I dare not lie to you. I am indeed very busy recently and rarely go to the Prince of Shu's Mansion."

Quan Wanji took a breath and no longer dared to hope for the best: "But I still know something about the King of Shu, uh..."

"I learned all this from the palace guards. I don't know whether it is true or not, so I dare not report these hearsays to the emperor in person."

Li Shimin also knew what Quan Wanji said, and did not embarrass him: "You are just talking nonsense, and I will listen to it. I will verify the right and wrong. You just need to tell me what you know."

Li Shimin only needed some clues for reference. As long as he knew some content, he would naturally be able to judge the truth of what happened later as an emperor.

"Yes, Your Majesty, in fact, the questions you asked are all about the same thing. The assassins did not come for the Prince of Shu that day, but for the people in the carriage."

"Oh?"

Li Shimin was shocked. Sure enough, his judgment was correct. The person in the carriage was the protagonist, a guard. He must have had some deep hatred. He was hacked to pieces beyond recognition. It was obvious that they did not want people to discover the true face of the deceased.

Afterwards, Li Ke remained tight-lipped and kept the matter secret.

Li Shimin was even more interested. If Li Shimin guessed correctly, Li Ke wanted to bring this person to see him that day to report something. But because this person died later, there was no evidence, so he had to give up.

So this person must be very important?
Based on Li Shimin's understanding of the officialdom, the fact that conflicts had intensified to such an extent, and that people were killed right under his nose regardless of public opinion, must have been caused by the power struggle and factional struggle behind the scenes. It might be the fight for the throne that he was very concerned about.

There have been constant struggles in the imperial court throughout history, but the most important one is the struggle between imperial power and prime ministerial power, followed by the struggle for the position of empress, and the third is the struggle for the position of crown prince.

Now, there is no powerful prime minister in his own court, and there is no competition for the position of queen. The main theme in the future will be the fight for the throne.

Although he had appointed a crown prince, Li Shimin did not think that the other princes would just keep to their proper roles.

However, he was still young, and the princes were also young. Not only were they young in age, but they were also weak in strength. Even if they had some ideas, they were just childish tricks and would not involve a large number of court officials.

After all, the court is full of the country's elites, all of whom are smart and wise. Getting involved in the prince's dispute too early will only implicate oneself sooner, which is completely unnecessary. It is safer to wait until the emperor is old and needs to be replaced.

Therefore, Li Shimin did not think that his sons, who had just grown up, would cause any big waves.

"Who is that person?"

Quan Wanji gritted his teeth. The King of Shu was already a dead dog anyway, so he didn't need to kick him: "Your Majesty, that man is Cheng Yunliang!"

(End of this chapter)