Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 210 The King of Wei’s Ambition

"Envoy Zhang, please stand up."

Li Zhi personally helped Zhang Liang up.

Zhang Liang was once the Minister of Works on the surface, but in reality he was the emperor's secret agent.

This was a secret in the palace, known only to a few princes and important officials.

Li Zhi learned about it through Zhangsun Wuji.

As for the reason why Zhang Liang was demoted to Hebei Province, Changsun Wuji did not dare to say.

But Li Zhi could guess a little bit -

It’s because of Li Ming.

The false news that Li Ming was rebelling in Liaodong was once rampant.

Later, as soon as the rumor was dispelled, Zhang Liang, the Minister of Works, went to Hebei Province to seek better opportunities.

Therefore, Li Zhi speculated that there must be a grudge between Zhang Liang and Li Ming.

Can be won over.

Zhang Liang, Li Shiji and Cheng Zhijie were all from Wagangzhai.

He was also once a subordinate of Li Shiji.

Therefore, he extended an olive branch to Zhang Liang through Cheng Zhijie.

Zhang Liang accepted it.

He also asked for leave from the government office in Hebei Province and returned to Chang'an secretly.

If Your Majesty had not gone to war, he would never have dared to do so.

"I am deeply ashamed to have troubled Envoy Zhang to come all the way from Hebei because of some of my affairs."

Li Zhi said politely.

Zhang Liang smiled bitterly:
"I was in Hebei Province, but was sidelined by His Highness Li Ming's brother-in-law Cui Yi and other members of the Boling Cui family. I have been in office for more than half a year and have accomplished nothing.

"If I can serve the Tang Dynasty again, I will not hesitate to die."

The resentment towards Li Ming was about to overflow.

"Your Excellency, please be careful with your words." Li Zhi lowered his voice somewhat exaggeratedly:
"His Highness Li Ming is now the regent, and in the future he may..."

He pointed upward.

Zhang Liang sighed heavily.

With Li Ming as the leader of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Liang will undoubtedly be in trouble.

Slandering rebellion is a feud that will never end.

What's more, he was sent by His Majesty to Hebei to keep an eye on the Cui family and Liaodong. On the other hand, wasn't he himself also under the attention of the Cui family and Liaodong?

It was difficult for Li Ming to forget Zhang Liang.

Therefore, once Li Ming succeeds to the throne...

"You have devoted your life to the Tang Dynasty. It is really sad that your fate is ruined due to political factors."

Li Zhi wiped his eyes and spoke in a very sincere tone.

It's easy to tell at a glance that she's so emotional about a stranger she just met.

But how could Zhang Liang, an old veteran, not know the implication of Li Zhi's words?

He immediately pretended to be at a loss and knelt anxiously:

"Your Highness, please make it clear!"

Li Zhi did not help him up this time, but said condescendingly:

"Assist me."

Zhang Liang answered without hesitation:
"As ordered."

Honestly, he had no other choice.

For him, Li Ming becoming emperor was like the King of Hell knocking at his door, and the fight would not stop until he died.

And the "one" he originally served also abandoned him after he lost the favor of his majesty and his spies.

If he wants to survive, he can only choose another "contestant" and try his best to assist him until he successfully brings down Li Ming and lets the new master take over.

It's difficult, but not impossible.

Most people who participated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident had this adventurous spirit of risking their lives in the face of danger.

"Very good."

Li Zhi was very satisfied to be able to accept a loyal warrior from Wagangzhai.

Apart from the former generals of Wagangzhai, Li Zhi did not have much trust in the so-called "Jin Wang Party".

Most of them were political speculators hated by Li Ming, and they defected to Li Zhi because he was the most "honest" and easy to control.

But Zhang Liang is different.

Zhang Liang joined the army not for fame or fortune.

It's to stay alive.

A drowning person is most loyal to his only life-saving straw.

So judging rationally, Li Zhi could trust him completely.

Even though they met for the first time today.

"I am very curious about something, and I hope you can give me some advice."

Li Zhi then helped Zhang Liang up and asked him to sit opposite him.

"When Li Ming was in Liaodong, who told you to spread rumors that he was rebelling?"

What?! Cheng Zhijie suddenly raised his head, his eyes widened like bells, and he almost screamed.

As a military commander who did not care about political affairs, he felt that he had missed several episodes.

Zhang Liang's eyes darkened, he lowered his head and said nothing.

As a seasoned veteran, he had a thousand ways to pretend to be completely indifferent and deceive Li Zhi.

But he deliberately chose this kind of flawed acting.

Li Zhi naturally knew his concerns and said:

"Your old master betrayed you first, and now that the two of you have severed all ties, you are no longer considered to have betrayed him."

After making sure that his new master would not despise him for being "not loyal enough", Zhang Liang felt relieved and replied:

"It was His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi who gave me the direct order to discredit His Royal Highness Li Ming."

What? ... Li Zhi was stunned and almost cried out "Ah".

"Don't be ridiculous, how could it be Li You?"

If that foolish fifth son had half this much scheming, he wouldn't have been hated by his father and adopted as a son by a dead man.

Zhang Liang looked at Li Zhi, then at Cheng Zhijie, who was standing next to him with a blank face and doubting about his life.

Cheng Zhijie stood up consciously:
"I'd better avoid it..."

"No need."

Li Zhi said sincerely:
"Lord Yizhen is my teacher, how can I doubt my teacher?
"Please be sure to bear witness here, teacher."

Cheng Zhijie was deeply moved by this courtesy and sat down with trepidation.

Zhang Liang then said briefly:

"It's the King of Wei."

"what?!"

Li Zhi almost jumped up from his seat.

Li Tai, the Prince of Wei, secretly colluded with his father's spy leader to spread rumors and slander Li Ming, causing Liaodong to almost suffer a catastrophic disaster...

It was actually the fourth brother, Li Tai? !
This shock was even greater than the one brought to him by the fact that "the culprit is Li You".

"It was the King of Wei who instigated the relationship between the King of Qi and Li Ming, and instructed me to take the initiative to get closer to the King of Qi."

Zhang Liang further explained:

"Because of the adoption, the King of Qi was already extremely jealous of Li Ming.

“Plus, the King of Qi was simple-minded and easily misled, and he gave me instructions to spread false information and discredit Li Ming.

"This is actually an order given to me by the King of Wei through the King of Qi."

Li Zhi felt his mind was in a mess:
"But... why is this?"

"In order to provide an extra layer of protection for myself and to draw suspicion onto the prince." Zhang Liang explained:
"Now that I think about it, my rumor about Li Ming will be exposed sooner or later, no matter what the final outcome is for Liaodong. Your Majesty will definitely order a thorough investigation of the mastermind behind this.

"And the King of Wei had already anticipated this."

Zhang Liang's tone was dry, full of resentment and helplessness at being abandoned after his own failure.

"So, he deliberately used the King of Qi's trick and used the King of Qi's mouth to issue the order to 'spread rumors'.

"The Prince of Qi is on good terms with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Once the investigators find the Prince of Qi, they will naturally link this case to the Crown Prince."

Li Zhi suddenly realized:

"No wonder! After the Liaodong incident, the relationship between father and the crown prince took a sharp turn for the worse, to the point where they didn't talk to each other for several months...

"It turns out that the Crown Prince was mistakenly believed by the Emperor to be slandering Li Ming and causing trouble in Liaodong, but it was actually done by Prince Wei Li Tai?!"

Zhang Liang nodded heavily:
"That's right, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been suspected without any reason and has no way to defend himself.

“As far as I know, your Majesty did not continue the investigation after finding out about the Crown Prince.

"But it seems that he did not confront the prince directly."

Because his father was afraid of having a falling out with the prince in person, he did not clarify the matter in person. It became a knot in his father's heart and has been stuck in his heart ever since... Li Zhi was filled with emotion.

In this way, my father’s outrageous actions this year make sense.

After Li Ming returned from Liaodong, it seemed that his father suddenly lost all confidence in the crown prince and let his sons openly compete for the throne.

It turned out that the direct trigger of this incident was a misunderstanding caused by a frame-up, a knot in his heart caused by the misunderstanding, and his father's complete disappointment in the prince due to the knot in his heart...

The reason why Li Ming was able to surpass their three legitimate sons and win the championship was actually here!
It was Li Tai’s conspiracy to discredit him and the prince!

"Why does Li Tai want to help Li Ming?" Li Zhi asked hotly.

Zhang Liang looked at him strangely:
“How can it be a help?

“If His Majesty Li Ming had not found a way out of the desperate situation, he would have used the strength of Pingzhou to resist the entire Goguryeo and sent a trustworthy envoy to Chang'an to explain the situation.

“What will be the final outcome?
"At the critical moment when Liaodong was invaded by Goguryeo, it lost the support of the imperial court and was completely conquered. Li Ming was either killed or imprisoned, and the crown prince lost the emperor's favor because he was suspected of killing his brother.

“Who will be the winner in the end?”

Li Zhi felt horrified:

"If we get rid of the crown prince and Li Ming at the same time, then the only one who can inherit my father's cause is Li Tai..."

If it weren’t for Li Ming’s ability to commit a foul.

Li Tai almost got the throne through this conspiracy!

"He is so scheming, so... cruel and ruthless." Li Zhi murmured.

He got to know his fourth brother again today.

He originally thought that Li Tai was just a hypocrite who was pretentious and fond of empty talk.

In the competition among the four sons for the throne, the first person to be eliminated was the passerby.

Because before the four sons competed for the throne, the tool who put pressure on the crown prince was Li Tai.

If Li Tai had shown enough talent in governing a country, there would be no need for my father to set up this stage and bring in Li Zhi and Li Ming.

Just replace Li Chengqian with the spare tire.

Therefore, it can be said that "setting up the stage" itself means the emperor's denial of Li Tai.

However, this is an incompetent emperor brother who was eliminated early and seems to be only able to talk big and empty words.

They actually pretended to build a plank road but secretly attacked Chencang, and secretly created such a big thing!

He colluded with the spy and designed an ingenious trap, one link after another.

Almost put him on the throne!
His incompetence and pretentiousness, were they all just pretense? !

"I...let me think about it..."

Li Zhi wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Let’s not talk about Brother Li Tai’s ability to govern the country for now.

But his ability to play tricks really amazed him.

Is this the real succession...

To seize the throne, does one have to be so hard-hearted and unscrupulous?

Li Zhi took a deep breath and focused his scattered gaze again.

Only then did he realize that Zhang Liang had been secretly observing his every move.

Li Zhi immediately cheered up and said:
"In other words, no matter whether Brother Li Tai's plot succeeds or not, Envoy Zhang is just a pawn to be sacrificed?
"As long as Father finds out that the intelligence from Liaodong is false, Envoy Zhang will be the first person responsible."

Zhang Liang's expression showed a slight change:
"Indeed, I am thankful that Your Majesty is magnanimous and lenient.

"Not only did you pardon my death sentence, but you also allowed me to continue my official position. Your Majesty's grace is so great that I have no way to repay it."

That's because Li Ming didn't die and Liaodong wasn't lost. If the consequences were caused by you, you wouldn't have enough heads to chop off... Li Zhi muttered in his heart and continued to instigate:
"Li Tai regarded the envoy as a disposable tool, but the envoy remained loyal to Li Tai and did not betray him in front of Your Majesty. He was truly a man of great righteousness."

Zhang Liang's chest rose and fell violently several times, then returned to calm.

"But I won't. With Lord Yizhen as witness, Zhi will treat you as a stately man."

Li Zhi stood up and bowed to Zhang Liang politely.

Zhang Liang stood up in a panic:
"Your Highness, Your Highness, why are you doing this? Please get up quickly, you are making me suffer!"

The young man in his teens was born with a youthful energy that made others feel his sincerity.

Being treated with such courtesy, even a veteran like Zhang Liang would not remain indifferent.

"No, unless you teach me." Li Zhi still bowed and refused to get up.

"Your Highness, please ask, and I will tell you everything I know."

"Do you know what Li Tai's current conspiracy is?"

Li Zhi subconsciously felt that Li Tai was still plotting something bigger.

Because he has been in Tokyo Luoyang for several months.

Apart from a few trivial letters, no further news came out.

Did he just accept his fate, accept the fact that Li Ming won, and become a leisurely prince?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.

A prince who is so scheming, so unscrupulous, and so detrimental to Li Ming and the country.

There is no way we can just surrender.

He must have some other plan in mind.

Li Tai abandoned Zhang Liang because Zhang Liang was useless and no longer helpful to his next plan.

The question is, what is his next plan?
"After the Liaodong incident, my eyes, ears and mouthpiece were handed over to Li Junxian, and from then on, the King of Wei avoided me, the plague god, as much as possible."

Zhang Liang felt a little self-deprecating and a little bitter.

Then, he changed the subject:
“However, Li Junxian only took over a part of the spies.

“There are still a few of my true adopted sons who still obey me.

"So, it's not like I'm blind and ignorant."

Li Zhi's breathing suddenly became rapid:

"Please give me some advice, sir!"

Zhang Liang organized his words:

"As far as I know, the King of Wei is actively contacting the vassal kings outside."

"Prince of Qi Li You?" Li Zhi asked.

Zhang Liang nodded and shook his head:
"But including but not limited to King Qi——

"In fact, the King of Wei seems to have connections with all the princes except Li Ming and the three legitimate sons."

"They? Why?" Li Zhi felt very strange.

His Majesty Li Shimin had a total of fourteen princes, three of whom died young.

Among the remaining eleven people, except Li Ming and the third legitimate son, there are a total of seven vassal kings.

Those seven illegitimate princes can’t even compare with Li Ming.

Compared with their three legitimate sons, they can only be described as “rotten fish and shrimp”.

I won’t do politics or conspiracy.

What is the point of huddling together with those losers?
Could it be possible that the opposition of the seven concubine princes could interfere with the determination of His Majesty and the world?

Zhang Liang looked at him and reminded:
"Those seven princes also serve as governors of the Governor's Office."

(End of this chapter)